Great Times: Work Showers, Father's Day and Another Year End for Alan

Alan's Work Shower at the Strode Home

Natalie and Sean Strode hosted a beautiful shower for us at their home. Natalie has been such a great friend to Alan during medical school and residency, so it was very special to celebrate our baby's arrival with them, Alan's colleagues and attendings. Alan enjoyed getting to have his own "party," so it was very special for him. We were so very grateful.

A Family of 3.

Sean & Natalie and Amber & Alan.

All the wonderful food...

...and cake!

The Wilsons and Bagleys.

Proud Bagley Grandparents

Proud Wilson Grandparents

Enjoying some of the gifts. . .


. . . and the precious diaper cake.


Alan with his buddy, Liam (Natalie and Sean's little one).

Alan, Melissa, and our precious nephew, Neal. He was very well behaved at the shower, especially for a 4 year old.

My Work Shower at CGWG

My work hosted a lovely shower for us at the firm. We enjoyed getting some really cute things, too. It was a great day.

"Momma (32 weeks and counting) & Daddy"

The Wilson Girls.

Great food...

... and more great cake!

Two of my favorite lawyers: Elizabeth & Missy. They organized the shower for us!

Father's Day 2009: Alan's First Father's Day

Alice greeted her Dad with a special ribbon and gifts when he came home from work on Friday.

Alice, giving her Dad special kisses. She is a "Daddy's Pup."

Many of our close friends know that Alan "killed" his beloved i-Phone when we went to the beach in April -- he jumped in the ocean with it in his swim trunks. His "girls" bought him the new 3GS i-Phone for his first Father's Day. He was very happy, and we hope this one will survive a little longer than the last one!

Alice and I went to Pine Bluff to celebrate Father's Day with my Dad! (Alan went to see his Dad and Family.) Rocky also celebrated his first Father's Day as Gus's father. :) We had a great time at the pool!

Go Alice Go!

All three pups: Gus, Mac, and Ali.

New pool tricks...

These pups can do it all!

I am so thankful for the wonderful men in my life. Happy Father's Day, Dad, Alan, David (and Rocky, too)!

UAMS Psychiatry Dep't End the Year Banquet at Chenal C.C.

Alan completes his 3rd year of residency on June 30. We have enjoyed celebrating the end of this year and looking forward to his 4th and final year of residency. Congrats, Alan, on yet another year and your award for resident teaching!

Alan with two of his favorite attendings, Drs. Miller and Thapa.

Alan's residency class, minus Natalie, who was home with a sick Liam.

The UAMS Dept of Psychiatry.

A Fabulous Weekend!

OBU Baby Shower

The Hostesses: Laura, Julie, Dayle, Katie, Erin, Megan, Mary Carole, & Scarlett.

Katie surprised me by painting this beautiful canvas for the baby's room. I cried as soon as I saw it. It is just what I wanted for the wall, and I will cherish it forever!

The proud grandmothers!

Mom's smile says it all -- I believe she is excited!

Sweet Ludy!

Alan's Sister, Melissa, and Mom, Linda, enjoyed the special day, too.

Meg, Grant, and Brooke flew in from South Carolina for our special day. I love our Brookie!

What a beautiful face!

Brooke and Karoline (turned around) were having a big time playing with the gift boxes after all the gifts were opened!

Terri and Mary Carole

Sara joined our party to meet my college friends. It was so great to have her there -- and, as a side note, she passed down the dress that I wore! What would I have done without all her clothes!?!

Mrs. Mary Jo, my neighbor and dear friend!

Our GROWING group -- the girls with some of our kiddos (some stayed home with dad or grandparents!)

Mary Carole made sure that Baby Bagley had plenty of recognition in the group picture! She is a mess!

Karoline loved Ludy, probably because Ludy shared jelly beans with her! :)

Alan came at the end of the shower to help collect the gifts -- and it was great to share part of it with him. He obviously adored the painting, too!

The Bagleys

Grant also came at the end of the shower to pick up his girls. I had to get a picture of these two -- they have been friends as long as I have been friends with the girls. We all miss the Bennetts!

____________________________________________________

My mom and dad have always said that I had a very special group of college friends. After graduating more than 8 years ago, it is rare to find a group of friends that, no matter where they live, have stayed extremely close to each other. I can only credit Ouachita.

This same group of friends showered us with a fabulous baby shower at the Kirkpatrick Home this weekend! Everyone made a huge effort to make the shower amazing, coordinating every little detail down to the personalized party favors, and, in some cases, making extreme efforts to attend, coming from South Carolina (Meg), Texas (Scarlett), and Tennessee (Julie).

Because we were all together for the shower, we met up (for a pre-party and a gathering for my 30th birthday) Thursday night in Hot Springs (Katie and I already had to be there for the Annual Ark. Bar Meeting). We had such a good time!

Alan and I love all of these girls so very much! I can only hope that our daughter will be blessed with so many wonderful friends in her life. Thank you for memories that I will cherish in my heart the rest of my life! It was a very, very special day.

_____________________________________________

June 14: 6 Years of Marriage!

Today, Alan and I celebrate 6 years of marriage. It is amazing how our lives have changed since we celebrated the 5th year -- among other things, a baby soon to arrive and, of course, the arrival of our very loved pup, Alice. In sum, this year gives a whole new meaning to the word "family." For all the things that life has given me or could ever give me, it would mean so much less, if anything at all, without my family. Alan's love continues to enrich my life in so many ways, and I know God's most precious gift was to give me such a wonderful life partner. Happy Anniversary, Alan, with all my love!

I gave him a watch on our wedding day, and I gave him a new watch for a new year! Maybe this one will last another 6 years?!

Pampering for Pregnant Amber: Alan gave me a facial to enjoy some relaxation before our bundle of joy arrives. Also, Alan arranged for another peak at our baby, which was my favorite gift -- Brian, a classmate of Alan's, did another ultrasound of our girl yesterday. To my relief, our girl still looks great, measuring on average about 5-6 days before her scheduled August 18 arrival. Stay tuned!

What a gift: our "first little girl:" Alice!

She is a little love!

"30 years" and (almost) "30 weeks"

The birthday girl at 7 months pregnant

"Sympathy Pains:" The 7 months have also been hard on Alan. He, too, had "back pain" (after hurting his back at the gym), and my folks really babied him with special care. Poor thing...

...Please notice the heating pad.

Beth, loving on her grandbaby on my "real birthday." Ludy, Beth, and I lunched at Scallion's -- our favorite.

Rocky came home, too, so our family, including our pup family, was complete!

Gus, Mac, and Alice

Mac and Gus

Alice and Mac loved swimming (Gus was back in Jonesboro)!

Please look at their sweet paws in motion under the water.

We had a week long celebration of "Amber Birthday Bliss" (as Alan termed it). It started Memorial Day Weekend and continued through the week. I must say that turning 30 was a lot of fun! This year's birthday presents were reflective of my upcoming stork arrival: two cameras - the new Nikon D5000 and a video camera. I don't think the blog will be in want of pictures once girly arrives. Until then, I have some beautiful pups to capture. :)

May Days

Mother's Day 2009: My first Mother's Day Celebration.

We had a great Mother's Day Celebration. On Friday, Alan surprised me with some wonderful first Mother's Day presents (from both Alice and Baby Girl). On Sunday, my family came to Little Rock for a lunch celebration. I am so thankful for the amazing mothers and women in my life. 4 generations on this one bench (you just can't see the littlest one yet)! Please notice Beth's button that we gave her with her card! She loved it!

The Wilson Gang!

Work Trip to Huntsville, Alabama.

I had to travel to Huntsville (Space Camp Central) for a deposition earlier this month. Mom and Dad graciously drove me so I could work on the way. It was a quick trip, but we made the best of it. I have amazing parents!

We also had "Space Camp" in our hotel!

American Idol/Kris Allen Mania!

My firm overlooks the river amphitheater, so we had a wonderful view of the A.I./Kris Allen Concert!The Kris Allen Motorcade.

Lauren and Erin joined me at work for the fun!

Mom didn't want to miss out on the A.I. fun, so my folks were crowd participants!

Babymoon: 6 months Pregnant at the Beach!

24 weeks

A self-taken pic. It was very windy, and we could not find a single person to take our picture!

More windy baby pics!

In the village at Sandestin

Sandestin, Florida- a beautiful place for family vacays.

Back in January, Alan and I committed to taking a beach trip prior to my last trimester. Our "babymoon" was terrific: relaxing and lots of sun. I apologize for not blogging more. We have been taking belly shots (Meg!), but, lately, I find myself so tired at night that it's hard to sit down and create a post. However, I feel great otherwise. I am now 25 weeks and getting ready for the last stretch.

As a side, we have decided to make our blog private in the near future. If you are a friend but I don't have your email in the ordinary course of my daily emailing, please leave your email on my comments page (with your name, if it isn't obvious from the email), and I will include you in the invite to view our blog. Thanks so much, Amber

Ultrasound Day!

Proud Parents waiting to see our little monster, with our gift Mom and Dad brought us for the special occasion: Bible stories for Babies. We love it! The Children's Bible that Alan and I used as children was not appropriate for a baby/toddler, so this gift is perfect!

A growing Wilson Family and Baby Bump! :)

Waiting outside in the Baptist Waiting Area.

Sara's 30th Birthday

In honor of Sara's 30th Birthday, Sara and Jimmy invited us to Oaklawn to see their horse, Quiet Thanks, race. Quiet Thanks came in 2nd Place, just losing by a "nose." It was an awesome race! This is a picture of Alan with Jimmy and Grant (the horse's trainer), after saddling Quiet Thanks for his race.

Jimmy and Alan getting ready for the big race in the race preview area!

Somehow we got out of the races without getting a picture with the birthday girl, so I thought I would attach one of my favorite pictures of us from a few years back. Happy 30th Birthday, Sara! We love you!

Survery Says...

...that Baby Bagley is made of sugar and spice and everything nice--

It's a Girl!

More to come soon! Love, Amber & Alan