The Harwood House

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Glorious Day

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises

One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He's coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He
Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He's ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my Beloved One, bringing
My Savior, Jesus, is mine

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He's coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

Glorious day, Oh, Glorious day

By: Casting Crowns

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

What's in a Name...

Carter Anderson Harwood

How did we come up with this name?? Well let me just say coming up with a boy name was HARD! Even frustrating at times! See ever since I was in elementary school, I knew what my daughters name would be some day. But a boys name, I didn't have a clue. Add in that Kevin wouldn't even talk about baby names until we were pregnant. It was actually always a joke. I would be like ohhh what do you think of this boy name. And he would never have an opinion; said he wouldn't until he had a boy to name. Silly Kevin!

Well the day came and we found out we were pregnant, so of course I was ready for Kevin to come up with some boy names he liked. Finally over a few weeks he looked through some baby name books. BUT we could never agree on a name! There were some I liked that he thought were "ok" but not good enough in his mind. So at times, I was like man we better have a girl since we can't come up with a boy name!!

Finally there were a few we were throwing around and in the end we came up with Carter! I think we always both liked the name Carter, but I think Kevin started to like it more, once we realized that Carter was actually a family name too! It was Kevin's great-grandfather's name on his dad's side. His grandfather, who passed away last year, dad's name.

And then Anderson is my mom's maiden name. So obviously it has some significance to my mom, but when I think of the name Anderson I think of my mom's dad. He passed away when I was a junior in high school and I loved him dearly! Honestly I still miss him so much to this day! I wish Kevin could have gotten to know him, he was such a great man! I loved my granddaddy!!

The two middle names I always contemplated were Anderson and Adams (my grandmother's maiden name (mom's mom)). But I just really wanted Anderson so I could honor my granddaddy as well as my mom and grandmother! We were always close with the Anderson family growing up too! We got together monthly for Saturday dinner or Sunday lunch to celebrate someone's birthday! Its a big family as my mom has 2 sisters and a brother! So we were always really close with all of them, so that name means a lot to me!

Also neat side note about Carter is that a couple of months ago unfortunately Kevin's grandmother passed away (his dad's mom). While we were in Alabama going through her place, Kevin's dad pointed out a chest and said that it was his grandfathers chest, Carter Harwood's. He asked Kevin if we wanted it. Kevin immediately said yes and told me, see if we name our son Carter, how neat will it be for him to have something of his great-great-grandfather's that he shares a name with! So after that, I was sold on Carter! It will be neat for our son to have that!

So Carter Anderson Harwood! We are so excited for you to come into this world and bless us! Naming you was such a huge responsibility as it will be with you for the rest of your life and beyond!

Monday, May 14, 2012

It's a BOY!!

We were told they thought it was a boy at our 12 week appointment, but today it was CONFIRMED!!!

We are having a BOY!!!

Carter Anderson Harwood is his name!! We are so excited! Of course Kevin is over the moon because he has his little sports buddy now! I don't have any brothers so I'm not quite sure what to do with a boy, but I'm really excited to learn!

Now its time to plan his nursery and all the other fun stuff! YAY!!!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Car Shopping

Well it looks like Kevin and I are both going to be purchasing cars for us in the coming months!

I'm going to need an SUV. I'm not a "BIG CAR" person as I've always had a car, but obviously having a kid I will need something bigger and something that will be good for traveling and hauling baby stuff mostly to and from Dallas! So I'm not looking for something HUGE. Anyone out there have suggestions on favorite SUVs? Right now I seem to like the Acura RDX and MDX the most, from solely looking online. I just don't know if the RDX is too small. I do like the option of a 3rd row in the MDX but obviously it costs more.

Kevin's looking at getting back into a car and getting something more fuel efficient for his travels to and from downtown. Any suggestions?? We are all over the place on him. We could keep the BMW and he could start driving it, but premium gas sucks with gas prices as they are right now. Otherwise I've been looking online at Volvos, Camrys, Audis, Lexus, and so many others.

Choices Choices! I think we might be going out and looking at some cars today just to get a feel. Although knowing Kevin, we may come home with a new car! We've bought 2 cars since I've known him, the two we have now...BMW and 4Runner. On both occasions, we are just going to go "LOOK." But both times we came home with a new car!

Any suggestions or advice would be great!

Friday, May 11, 2012

16 Weeks!

Today I am 16 weeks! It feels amazing to get to this point.

Kevin & I have been on a roller coaster ride of emotions for almost the last year. We had several ups and downs with getting pregnant that definitely took a toll on my emotions at times, but I will say it made me trust in God more than ever. This was completely in HIS hands. He is the creator of all things and God has a plan for everyone!

One Saturday morning in February I was dying to take a pregnancy test as we knew this would be the day we found out if it happened this time or not. I'm very impatient, but waited til that day, but honestly couldn't wait once I woke up and it was like 5AM. I took the test and waited and got back in bed with Kevin. We actually got to see the results together, which was a great experience to share! I cried, I was happy, I was so thankful to God for blessing us in this way after many many months.

I have been super nervous though throughout the past 16 weeks of something happening. I have been cautious with my emotions knowing that it could be taken away at any moment. Around 12 weeks I felt a bit of relief to get to that point and to see my baby actually moving around for the first time. It was more real to me than ever and I let my guard down a bit.

But now getting to 16 weeks, I feel more confident that this happening. Not that I didn't think it was before, but just I was cautiously aware that something could happen. I just think with all the ups and downs we've had previously, I was more guarded once it became a reality.

Monday we have a doctors appointment and I am really really hoping that they confidently confirm if we are having a boy or a girl. The sonogram technician told us she's 80% sure of what we're having at our last appointment, but this time our doctor will be looking. I hope he is confident in what he sees so we don't have to wait another 4 weeks to know for sure! I'm ready to start planning!!!! This is the time I've been waiting for since we found out we were pregnant.

Hopefully next week I can share what we are having!

Today our baby is 4-5 inches long and about the size of an Avocado!!!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Stronger

This made me cry today when I saw it! Seattle Children's Hospital Cancer Patients and Nurses made this video to Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger."

And then Kelly made this video for them: