I’m really moved to see so many Americans joined together in Washington for a common purpose. I love patriotism and any time I see millions of American flags waving around I’m going to get choked up.

I am, however, disappointed that so many people are wearing shirts with Obama’s face on them and hats that say “Obama.” Why not just a shirt that says “America?” I am so tired of hearing this person be glorified and tired of hearing people talk like he is the savior they’ve been waiting for. He is a man. Just a man. I just think it’s really unhealthy to treat a human being this way. He has big shoes to fill and really high expectations to meet and I think Americans are making those expectations bigger and bigger every day as they build Barack Obama up to be this savior.

As I saw all of the flags waving around this morning, I thought, “Wow. Wouldn’t it just be incredible if that many people got together to glorify Jesus Christ? What if that many people got together and instead of shouting ‘OBAMA’, they shouted ‘JESUS?'”

Can we have a $150 million celebration on Easter Sunday?

I heard Oprah say the other day about inauguration day, “What a day of rejoicing that will be!”

I’m sorry. Those are the words to a hymn. It goes, “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.”

I’ll be praying for our country, for the Obamas as a family, and for our new President. I hope these next four years are the best our country has seen. But I don’t plan to praise Barack Obama after that happens. I will surely thank him, but I’ll be praising Jesus.

I didn’t do anything today, so this post is going to be a little scattered.

1. Todd and I attended our new Sunday school class for the first time yesterday. I’m so excited because it’s just for newlyweds and I’m already committed a ladies weekly Bible study and lots of upcoming gatherings for the Super Bowl, a ladies retreat, Valentine’s Day, etc. And to make it even more exciting, I just found out that Elizabeth from No Worries Wynn in Love and her husband go to the same church that we do and will be joining our class! We’ve yet to meet in person, but we will soon!

2. Snow is coming to Columbia tonight/early tomorrow morning. I doubt that USC will cancel classes/work, but it’s always a possibility. It never snows here. We got a little bit lat year, but it didn’t stick.

3. I’m getting so anxious about finding out the sex of the baby. It’s hard because I’m reading other blogs where they’ve already found out the gender and they’re a week behind me. We go in on January 27 and I promise to let you all know as soon as I know. I’m also worried because I pretty much know my boy name, but can’t decide on a girl name. I know I don’t have to until the baby arrives, but I just want to be prepared. My instinct has kind of been telling me that Baby Carroll is a girl, but I could be totally wrong.

4. I didn’t make it to see Doubt or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button this weekend. I don’t want to go tonight because I like to be at home the night before I go back to work after having a few days off. And The Bachelor and Gossip Girl come on tonight, so why would I leave the house?

5. The armoire that you can see in the background on this post was just taken to be refinished and repaired. I plan to use it in the nursery. They’re going to repair it, take off the top two doors so I can leave it open for books and frames, and then we’re going to paint it black. The inside of the shelves will be green or pink depending on the sex of the baby. I promise to post pictures when it’s finished.

I think that’s a good little summary for now. I’m hitting a bit of a writer’s block. I’m sure it’s because most of my thoughts are consumed with, “I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl.” Believe me, I’d love to have something else really interesting to think about.

We saw Gran Torino on Friday night, and it was honestly one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I was never bored (as I tend to get in lot of movies that are nominated for stuff) and I think I experienced every emotion imaginable while watching it. Ladies, take your husbands, boyfriends, fiances, brothers, Dads to see this movie. You’ll like it, too. The story is incredible and Clint Eastwood’s performance is so real and convincing.

Then we saw The Reader on Saturday afternoon and liked it, too. Kate Winslet was really remarkable. I haven’t read the book, but I knew a little about the plot going into it. Todd and I even had a serious conversation about history when we left the movie. We enjoyed the movie, but we probably could have rented it once it comes out on DVD, too.

Both movies were really thought-provoking and I recommend seeing them both at some point!

I’ll give updates on Benjamin Button and Doubt once we cross those off the list.

Also– I want to congratulate MMM! Her Baby J was born today!!!

I finally have a picture so you can all see how I’m progressing and so I can have a record of what I looked like when I was pregnant with Baby #1. So… all of you superstitious ladies… any thoughts on whether the baby is a boy or a girl based on the way I’m carrying him/her?

I’m standing in the future nursery for this picture. It’s kind of a pig stye right now because we’ve started moving things out of it, but the dog crates are still in there. I’m not sure what Boudreaux and Fiona are going to say when we tell them they have to give up their room for the baby. Right now, they’re still looking happy! (All pictures taken with the new Rebel– and Boudreaux’s eyes no longer reflect the camera flash)