Boston Marathon

Phil and I had a wonderful weekend in Boston. My dad ran his 7th Boston Marathon, and we were thrilled to cheer him on during the race. The 4.5 of us will have wonderful memories for years to come. There are more photos on our Shutterfly Album link.

On one of the MANY subways that we rode this weekend.

We were on our way to cheer on my dad.
This was on the pier, and my mom snuck this cute picture.

Our first GARDEN salad!!!

Last night, Phil and I devoured our first salad...fresh from our garden. We picked fresh romaine, radishes, green beans, snap peas, peppers, broccoli, and a few other goodies. Phil grilled chicken, and we enjoyed gigantic salads. YUM! Phil putting the final touches on his salad.

Some of the goodies...before they were washed clean of the bugs.

I was SO EXCITED...
in case the picture doesn't make that obvious!

Phil cutting off the first crown of broccoli.

Just one small handfull of green beans. We picked a bowl full.

Corrie picking some green beans!

An evening with Mandy and Nana!!!

Mandy Pomp, a dear friend from Holland, was in town this past weekend. Phil and I had the honor of spending an evening with Mandy and Nana. We truly enjoyed meeting this special man in Mandy's life, and we were thrilled to share in their joy.

Back Home!

We are back home now, and it was a WONDERFUL week. There were SO many highlights, and we have dozens of pictures that give little glimpses of the different experiences that we enjoyed. Instead of picking out a few, I've included the link to our Shutterfly albums (with our family and friends link list). From there, you're able to view all of the pictures and their descriptions. The link is http://hillary777.shutterfly.com/. ENJOY!

Greetings from South Carolina

Greetings from Charleston, South Carolina. Phil and I are having a GREAT week. We have dozens of great pictures to share, but we're about to head off for another adventure (Cypress Gardens). We just wanted to say hello, and we'll have more updates later. :)

Traveling north to feel like we're in the south...

Phil and I are THRILLED for our upcoming road trip. We are heading up to Charleston, South Carolina (for four nights) and Savannah, Georgia (for two nights). It's my spring break, and Phil took the week off of work. We are going to see the sights, relax, and enjoy our time together. Living in Florida isn't considered "the south." I know that sounds strange, but Florida is full of so many transplants (like Phil and myself) that we aren't considered "southern." Georgia and South Carolina, on the other hand, are truly "the south." Go figure. So, we're driving seven hours north so that we can experience the south. :)

Busting out Belly!

I suppose it's time for some belly updates. For those of you who have asked, here you go. I feel as though our little girl has made herself known in the last few weeks. Not only has my belly popped right out, but she is moving all over the place. Phil and I love talking to her every night, and she moves all around so that we can get to know her a little bit better. Other than the fact that I feel somewhat gigantic for 22-weeks pregnant, everything is going very well. I've been feeling great, and we're enjoying the stage very much!

22-weeks 21-weeks
20-weeks

Best Hubby in the World!!!

I just have to write about how much I love my husband. While the goofy picture shows his never-ending comical side, he has a sensitive side that I am priviledged to know better than anyone else. There are SO MANY little things that he does, and it would be impossible to capture them all in a blog. A few small examples come to mind, and I want to share them...for those who are interested. On Sunday evening, I was craving McDonald's ice cream. It wasn't one of those crazy pregnancy cravings; rather, it was a whimsical, ice cream sounds good right now kind of thing. We drove to the closest McDonalds, and their ice cream maching was BROKEN. Go figure. It wasn't that big of a deal to me because I knew I could find a replacement. That wasn't acceptable to my husband. He drove all the way across town to a different McDonalds, and he treated me to ice cream. On Monday, he worked through his entire lunch so that he could make it to our afternoon doctor's appointment. Even though it was a very basic check-up, he refuses to miss any part of our pregnancy. I love that! Today, Tuesday, he woke up early with me (even though it was his day off) in order to make me a delicious breakfast. He has such a servant's heart, and he makes me feel incredibly cherished and treasured. For those of you who don't know Phil, he is one of a kind. I wish you all the same happiness and joy that we're experiencing down here in The Sunshine State.

Fun with The Allens

Sarah and Tory Allen are our dearest friends in Florida. We met them a year ago at our "Engaged Encounter" weekend. We were randomly assigned to be their roommates, and it couldn't have been a better fit. They were married at the end of May, and we have countless things in common. We enjoy hanging out with them whenever possible, and we feel truly blessed by their friendship.

Sarah made a DELICIOUS meal for us on Saturday evening, and then we played games and laughed a lot.

The girls whomping on the boys in "Apples to Apples." WHAT'S NEW???

There is NO LOGICAL explanation for this, so I won't even try. All I can say is that it becomes a bit "dangerous" when these boys spend too much time together. :)


Phil LOVED the fact that Sarah's Easter basket was still FULL of candy. For most of the evening, he was arm deep in the goodies. BUSTED! :)

Grapefruit Hunt #2

Phil hopped the fence again because we were craving some enormous, fresh grapefruit. He shimmied up the tree and came back down with a bag full of grapefruit. The small one is from Ruskin. The rest of them are from our house...in Valrico. They are HUGE!

Papa Fruit, Mama Fruit, and Baby Girl Fruit

Keeping up with the Jones'

Don and Sara Jones are in Florida for spring break, so Phil and I met up with them in Venice Beach. We had a nice dinner at Chili's (because everything else was so crowded), and then we hung out at Joe Muggs for some coffee drinks and good conversation. It was great seeing old friends, and we're doing our best to convince them to start a blog. Come on Don. Get with the program!!!

20 Weeks...Half-Way to the BIG DAY!

Today marks the half-way point in our pregnancy. Baby Girl Hillary is 20-weeks old today, and she is the size of a banana (hence the cheesy pose with one of my favorite fruits). I've been feeling great, and our little girl made herself known yesterday morning. I clearly felt her for the first time (without questioning whether it was indigestion or something else), and it was amazing. Hopefully the second half of our pregnancy goes along as quickly as the first.

Here is the progress in our garden. Despite the sudden influx of weeds, everything is growing very nicely. Our little Banana Girl is bound to love fresh veggies from Daddy's garden.

The Finished Room

We love our new room. We still have a few last minute touches, but nearly everything is back in order at this point. Phil did an excellent job of painting, and he's already making plans for the next project. Hopefully you'll be able to see it in person someday. :)

HAPPY St. Patrick's Day!!!

Now that I'm part of a proud Irish family, I have (GET) to adopt the traditions of this "sacred" day. The Hillary family would NEVER let a St. Patrick's Day go by without a belly-filling meal of corned beef and cabbage. Even though we're hundreds of miles away from the gang, we still celebrated in full force. Phil made the feast in the crockpot, and it was stewing all afternoon. I made the Hollandaise sauce (in attempts to mirror his mom's famous recipe), and we stuffed our bellies on corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and rutabaga. Our little baby girl needs to be trained early, and today was a good start for her. :) The only bummer was the our feast "had" to be eaten in our bedroom. The living room and dining area are completely "under construction" as we finish the painting project (see below). That didn't alter the taste. It only forced us to walk a little bit further for seconds. Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

The Watermelon Room

After the last painting project, we kind of got the bug to paint our living room. We both enjoy bright colors and the sunny Florida atmosphere. We spent several days rotating different paint swatches throughout the room, and we finally decided on this fun color. Phil was the busy painter, and I did the behind-the-scene stuff. The room looks great, and we'll post some more pictures when it's all back in order.

Phil HARD at work. He spent the afternoon and evening painting our living room. Without really intending to, we have created a bit of a watermelon room. He's still painting as I type this. See below for my contribution. :)

Corrie hardly working. Phil didn't want me to inhale the fumes, so I wasn't allowed in the painting room. We posed this little scene with the ice cream, reading, and face mask. The only real part of this scene was the consumption of ice cream. :)

FUN with The Carlsons!!!

Chad and Kathi Carlson were in Florida for a few days, so they made a little stop in Valrico. YEAH! We had a GREAT time on Tuesday evening. Phil made steaks, salmon, sweet potatoes, and grilled veggies. I made the ice cream for dessert...with a little help from Edy. It was such a blessing to spend an evening with friends from home!

It was SERIOUS business in the Hillary Home. No fun. No laughing. No jokes. No smiles. That is how we roll down here in Florida!

JUST KIDDING! This was more like it. If all truth be told, it took us a few shots to actually capture a picture without any laughter. What a FUN evening!!!

"It's a..."

READ THIS BEFORE PEEKING...

Today was our big appointment where we got to learn about the little life that we are expecting. Phil and I have anxiously awaited this day, and we wanted to make it special and memorable. I created a little card for the doctor to fill out (which will also go in the baby book), and then we asked her to keep it a secret while we were in the office. She quickly determined the sex of our little bambino, and then she printed a few "revealing pictures." At that point, we were convinced that it was a boy...even though we hadn't seen ANYTHING yet. The doctor had a fun time with our little card, and she sealed it all up so that we wouldn't peek until our special dinner. Then she showed us the baby on the screen, and we LOVED watching the fluttering heart and moving hands/legs. It was very exciting!
After the appointment, we went to one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate the big reveal. Phil had the sealed envelope in his pocket, and he wouldn't pull it out until after we ordered. We said a prayer before opening the envelope...simply asking that God would continue to prepare our hearts to be parents of our little boy or girl and that He bless this new stage of our journey. Then, with great anticipation, we opened the envelope...

The doctor told us that she was 100% certain...and the "revealing picture" (which is too PG-13 for this blog) makes it quite obvious that we are expecting a little girl in the Hillary home! :)

MISSING MY HUBBY!!!

Phil is in Birmingham, Alabama all week (for a zoo conference), and I miss him VERY MUCH!!! I don't like coming home to an empty house, I don't like eating dinner all by myself, and I don't like saying goodnight over the phone. It's like the old days...when all of our communication was over the phone, and we were hundreds of miles apart. I don't miss those days at all. On the other hand, I know this is a GREAT experience for him, and I'm really glad that he is able to enjoy this opportunity. He will be home on Saturday night, and Turnip and I will be very excited to see him.

"Cat's Eye Green" SURPRISE!!!

Phil had Friday off, and he was a busy guy while I was at work. First of all, he snuck my car from the parking lot at school and took it for an extremely overdue oil change. Then he washed it so that it was sparkling clean by the time I got out of school. WOW! BUT, that was just the beginning. When I got home from school, I quickly recognized Phil's guilty grin. I knew that he had been up to something (as if the oil change and car wash wasn't enough), and he followed me into the kitchen with the same little grin on his face. All of a sudden, it HIT ME! He had painted the dining room area, and everything was already back on the walls. WHOA! It looked GREAT, and I was absolutely shocked. Apparently, he spent the afternoon running around, painting, cleaning, drying out the house, and having it all set up by the time I made it back home. What a fun surprise! What a guy!!!

Thanks to Rachel Dieleman and Heidi Vissia...

Thanks to some of my recently pregnant friends (Rachel Dieleman and Heidi Vissia), I'm completely outfitted with cute maternity clothes. YEAH!!! These shirts somehow made a number of people think that we're having a boy. More than four people said, "You look like you're carrying a boy." That would certainly fit the Hillary style. :) We'll find out VERY SOON (March 10th).

Seafood Spectacular

There's a new store, called Land & Sea, and it's like a candy store for seafood lovers. We had a fantastic

seafood feast of grouper,

swordfish, scallops, and salmon.

Dessert was perfect as well...ice cream for Corrie and oysters for Phil. We were both perfectly happy.

Birthday Dinner at Bonefish Grill

This was Corrie's birthday celebration at Bonefish Grill. Mom and Dad treated us to a fabulous meal at one of my favorite restaurants, and it was a delicious evening.