The reveal party

After finding out we were expecting a baby girl, Greg and I wanted to tell our family in a special way! I got the idea from my sister-in-law Cristie, who revealed to the family she was having boys with a blue balloon and a blue cake, so I came up with an idea myself...

Everyone arrived in the color of their guess... we had a nice mix!

My mom had everyone fill out either a blue or pink heart with why they thought it was a boy or girl. 

This was while reading Steven's answer "I think it's a girl because Greg is a woman" Oh brotherly love!!

Once all the guesses were read, I couldn't wait any longer! I handed everyone a "mystery" cake ball...

and when I said "Go!" everyone was to take a bite and see the color inside!

Here are the priceless reactions!

Sorry Steven... I had to put this one up! It's my favorite! haha!

And then I got to display all the fun clothes I bought immediately after my doctor's appointment! 

Thanks mom and Ciara for putting together such a cute and fun reveal party! 

It's a Girl!

My 20 week appointment is finally here! Greg and I were so excited, it felt like an eternity to make it into that ultrasound room! I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was to see that little baby. The ultrasound tech pulled up the first image and asked if we knew the gender yet. We said "No! But we want to find out!" And that is when he said "It's a girl!"

Greg and I looked at each other with such excitement- we are having a baby girl! I had to try so hard to stop laughing for joy so the tech could get more pictures! haha!

And here is the little princess. She was being a little "shy" and wouldn't show her face, but you can see a side view with her hand covering her head and her legs folded against her body. 

She is so beautiful :-)

As soon as we left the office, I couldn't hold it in anymore! I immediately started crying my eyes out! I was overwhelmed with how much God had blessed Greg and I with a beautiful, healthy, and perfect baby girl!

Now the fun part.... the reveal party!

California Road Trip

Greg and I have been planning a trip to California for the past 2 years, and every time we are ready to book it, something comes up (like a broken ankle!) so we decided that this HAD to be the summer, because it was going to be a good while before we had another chance! Here are some pictures:

Day 1: Thursday Night- Drove to San Antonio to get a "head start", but really we were just so excited to get started on our trip! Here is the first picture I took- How cool is that!

Day 2- The forever drive through Texas!

Getting out of the "flat lands"

And this is Juarez, Mexico- we of course are on the New Mexico side! But I-10 sure gets close!

 This was on the side of a mountain in Juarez- it reads "The Bible is truth. Read it"

Love seeing mountains!

We made it all the way to Phoenix by late afternoon, so we thought we'd catch a Diamondbacks game!

They have the best fans!

Day 3- Arriving in Cali!

 This definitely HAD to be the first place we ate in California! 

Our hotel room in Huntington Beach

Driving to Laguna Beach- there is really nothing like the California coast line.

Outrageously priced homes. 

My FAVORITE part of the entire trip! This is at the Ritz Carlton at Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point. Absolutely the best view of a sunset. 

God's creation is breathtaking. 

Day 4- Swap meet and golf!

 Took this just for you dad!

Trump National Golf Course!

Only the Donald would put his face on the water bottles... the 7.00 water bottles!

I'm wearing a jacket... in June! Not only does California have the best scenic views, they are blessed with gorgeous year-round weather. 

This is Greg on the last hole- the tee box was on top of a small cliff. So naturally, he wanted to hit a golf ball right into the ocean! 

Day 5- Hollywood!

Can you see the Hollywood sign in the background? :-)

I found my first car! In Beverly Hills!

 Rodeo Drive

This was another highlight of the trip. Jay Leno Show taping! It was a blast!

Day 6 and 7- Chillin' out. Greg has the best beach pictures on his phone, so I am going to need to update this section later :-)

Day 8- Headed back home, but first, Las Vegas! We only stayed the night, and thank goodness. I can only take so much of the crazies in this town! Again, Greg has these pictures so I'll have to add more later!

Waiting for the fountain show at the Bellagio. 

Days 9 and 10- The drive back home. There are no pictures for these days, because, what's so fun about leaving a vacation?!

The announcement

Telling our parents about the pregnancy was one of the most fun and exciting things! We visited my mom and dad first, and I was so nervous knowing my mom was going to go crazy! I called earlier that day and said Greg and I wanted to come over and show them the upgrades we chose for our new house.

As we went through the pictures... 

"Here are the counter tops and the sink we chose..."

 "Here are the cabinets for the bathrooms..."

 "Here are the kitchen cabinets..."

"And here is the best upgrade of all!"

As soon as my mom saw, she grabbed the picture and screamed! Then turned to my brother and said "Do you know what this is??!!"

After celebrating with tears, laughter, and plans to teach the new baby how to sort ammo.... (Trey!) we headed right over to Greg's parents!

Once we arrived, we tried to play it cool. Greg talked about UH sports with his dad I just sat wondering what the reaction would be like! After waiting for what seemed an eternity, I gave Greg "the look."

And out of his pocket came this...

He threw it to Allison and said "We picked this up for you at the store, thought you might like it!"
After looking at it for a while, Allison said "Oh! Hey! I am the baby Mercer!" Knowing she hadn't quite caught on, Greg said "Well, not anymore!"

I wish I had a picture of her face!!

I don't think I'll ever forget those moments!

The first of many "Mercer Memories"

I am back in the blogging world with a new name, "Mercer Memories," and new motivation to keep up this online scrapbook... because "Simply Savannah" simply won't do anymore. My life is soon to be far from simple in, oh, say, 6 months from now!

Greg and I are so happy and blessed to announce that we will be expecting a little one in November!

We couldn't be more excited as we enter into this new stage of life for us and for our marriage. I have always felt that becoming a wife was the ultimate opportunity in taking part of God's amazing plan for women, but now with me becoming a mother very soon, I am overjoyed at the thought of raising a family to bring God even more glory!

Here are some pictures and "memories" from the last 3 months!

Greg and I both knew that we were ready to start our family, so I had spent the past 6 or so months spending way too much money on pregnancy tests and nervously waiting those dreadfully long 3 minutes! I had told myself that this month I would "take a break" from this madness; googling everything I thought was a pregnancy symptom and staring at a test long enough until I swore I saw another pink line! So on Wednesday, February 29 (after a month of "relaxing") I came home from work and while organizing the bathroom cabinets, I came across an old test, that my sister-in-law Cristie gave me a couple months before! I said "what the heck" and took the test. 3 minutes later I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that pink line- and I didn't even have to squint!

15 minutes later I was at CVS buying every brand of test and thinking "this cashier girl must think I'm crazy!"

Another 15 minutes later and I was drinking a gallon of water and frantically scrubbing my kitchen counter tops (anytime I am anxious, mad, stressed, sad, happy, hungry- I clean!) while I waited for all 5 of those tests to be ready! And here is what I saw as I walked into my bathroom looking through my fingers covering my eyes....

I remember walking in circles around my couch saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh" over and over! How am I going to tell Greg!!??

If you know us well, then you know from the very beginning of our marriage, we have a little stuffed friend named "Porchee" that has been hidden in every place imaginable for each other to find (on ceiling fan blades, a yogurt carton in the fridge, a shirt pocket, golf bag, lunch bag, to name a few...) We find this incredibly funny. So what better way to tell Greg than have Porchee do it :-)

As soon as Greg saw, he looked at me with his mouth open in disbelief, frozen for about 5 minutes! As soon as we took everything in and rejoiced in this exciting news, we couldn't wait to tell our family! (next post....!)

I'll leave you all with this beautiful photo. This is our little nugget at 8 weeks :-)