WV Trip & Family Reunion

Memorial Day weekend we headed up to West Virginia for what will sadly be our only visit this year.  Grace did fantastic in the car both ways and even took a nap on the way home during the day which never happens!  We were grateful to see alot of my Grandma's side of the family for our family reunion while we were there and of course get to see more of my immediate family.  We were thrilled to be out of the 95 degree heat of Atlanta and enjoying the mid 70s in WV and took advantage of it by going out for walks and to the playground every day!  We stayed with my mom and Grace loved having all the attention of Grandma & Grandpa lavished on her 24/7.  We spent some quality time with my Grandmother too which was wonderful.  She'll be 90 next month and I treasure any and all time we get together.  Grace loves her (and her cat Roxy!) and she had a great time with Great Grandma.  It was really a wonderful visit.

Since it was such a short trip, Nana & Grandpa (who Grace currently calls Papa) were able to come up an join us for lunch and time playing at the playground. Grace had a blast and actually got to see all 3 sets of Grandparents in 3 days, a first since they were all here for her baptism a year ago.   This playground is new and we spent well over an hour playing, which is alot for any little girl, especially when she has 4 adults to spoil her while she plays.  She is really getting adventurous and is big enough now to climb up the stairs and go down the slides by herself, which she loves.  She even did the see-saw with Daddy, a first as last time we put her on one she freaked out.  It's so fun to see her grow up and become more confident and mature.  I can't believe she's so big already!   Here are a bunch of pictures I took at the playground, I couldn't decide which ones to post so I posted all my favorites...it's my blog deal with it. :)

In the tunnel - Grace LOVES tunnels!

On the See-Saw and loving it

She loves to go "Wee" and really enjoyed swinging with Daddy, Nana & Papa at various times throughout the day while Mommy took pictures.

Trying to climb UP the slide.  We have been trying for months to deter this, but everyone else does it...we figure we should just let her and teach her how to get out of the way, lol

We spent Saturday out at Rock Lake at my Aunt & Uncle's cabin for the family reunion.  It was a wonderful relaxing time with family and we had a great time.  Grace, and her cousins Maggie & Truman, had alot of fun playing together on the playground and enjoying chasing the bubbles David made with Grace's new bubble wand.  She loves her cousins and had a great time with them.

While we were there Grace got to go on her first boat ride - which she LOVED.  She also got to swim in the lake with Daddy and she had a blast!  The shallow water near shore was just her speed and she was splashing away having a wonderful time.  It prompted us to find her a kiddie pool that we have bought but not yet had time to put up.  We're hoping she'll learn to put her face in the water if it's shallow enough...the only task she hasn't mastered yet from her swimming lessons.  I was so busy enjoying family that I didn't have my camera out much to capture the moments.  I did get a few good ones though...

Grace & Truman

Grace & Grandad

Truman is too cute!

Grace loved Maggie's sunglasses

It was a really great trip. It's surreal to think the next time we head up there we will be a family of 4.

Sillyness

This is Grace's new favorite face, it cracks me up every time she does it!

Mother's Day 2011

I owe quite a few posts from May since the entire month went by in a blur. I'm gonna try to catch up now that I've loaded all the pictures onto the computer.
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For Mother's Day David surprised my by buying me climbing roses to go the trellises beside our garage.  I've wanted them for a while, but we haven't had the money to buy them or the time to plant them so it just hasn't happened.  I was thrilled when I found out his plans and this is the first cut of one of the 3 different rose bushes he picked out for me. 

I can't wait until the shock from the transplant wears off and they start really climbing and blooming.

A Cat's Dilemma

The other night we had roast for dinner. David got up to go do something and Scotty jumped in his chair. I could tell by his look that he was going to go for it so I grabbed the camera and while making a tripod out of my arms to make sure the camera stayed steady while I laughed hysterically I caught these pictures. I've posted what I can only assume is this progression of thought...

"I know I'm not supposed to eat people food and I know I'm not supposed to get on the table. Mom's watching me, do you think she'll notice if I just have a little?"

"I mean that looks REALLY tasty...surely she wouldn't notice if I just had a little nibble..."

"Ah to hell with it, I'm going in!"

"Oh man, this is going to be tasty!"

"Crap, she saw me and yelled.  If I keep trying I know she'll pull out that blasted water bottle and squirt me.  It's not worth all that.  Oh well, no roast for me tonight..."

32 Weeks

We'll actually be 33 weeks tomorrow, but it has been a CRAZY week and I'm just now getting these pictures loaded onto the computer.  Things are going great with the baby and we couldn't be more thrilled. We had our ultrasound on Monday and the specialist gave us the all clear to stop having ultrasounds unless something else comes up - woohoo! We still may have to have one at 38/39 weeks to determine position, but this baby is placenta back instead of placenta front and I can often times feel the baby's position myself so I'm sure the Doctor could tell. He also said that he didn't see any reason to change my due date even though the baby is measuring big. Another blessing! He said all the organs looked beautiful, especially the heart which was also great to hear. We took Grace with us to the appointment and she cried most of the time. We couldn't really figure out why, but at least the next time she gets to see her little brother or sister it will be in person, without someone putting a scary wand over my belly.

Before I dive into baby pictures, I have to post a picture of my big girl. I found this super cute smocked dress at a consignment sale this spring and I couldn't wait to get her in it. She LOVED wearing it and didn't want to take it off all day. She was playing with Scotty after lunch (you can see the animal crackers in her hands) and she just looked so pretty I had to snap a few shots. I wish it hadn't been 95 degrees, I would have loved to do a mini shoot outside, perhaps another day. Anyway, here's my favorite...isn't she stunning? :)

Now onto the baby pictures. We didn't have a very long ultrasound this time since they were mainly taking measurements, but we did get a few good pictures of our little bean...

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Face & hands

Finally, here are some belly shots. When I look in the mirror, every single time, I say "whoa - that's a big belly." I don't remember thinking that with Grace, but I FEEL huge with this kid. I posted a picture of me at 32 weeks with Grace (in the red shirt below) for comparison, I am much, much bigger this time around. It's fine with me except that I've had to buy a few more pieces of clothing since I was probably this size when I delivered and I still have quite a few weeks to go. Oh well, it's all worth it and I can't wait to have the payoff of having my beautiful child in my arms!

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29 Weeks

Somehow I didn't publish this post 2 weeks ago, and we forgot to take 28 week belly shots.  SO, I'll post 32 week belly shots with the photos from our next ultrasound in another week or so.

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Holy cow, and just like that we've finished our 1st week in our 3rd trimester!  We can hardly believe that we are less than 3 months away from meeting this precious child.  I am feeling the baby all the time with kicks so strong that it often takes my breath away...I LOVE it!  Grace often comes up to me and pulls my shirt, looks at me and says "baby" and then hugs, kisses & tickles my tummy, it's really sweet.  I think she can feel the baby kicking her when we I am giving her a bottle before nap & bedtime as the baby is always moving when big sister is laying beside him/her.  I am really enjoying these last few weeks where the 3 of is are together in this way.  It's almost surreal to think about having them both in my arms and to be able to hold them at the same time...I can't wait!

I finally feel "nested" now that we have the new dresser put together and all the gender neutral layette washed, folded and put away.  The dresser is technically going to be Grace's when we move her into her big girl room around Christmas, but for now it has all the baby things in it and I am so excited.  The dresser was a gift from Nana and my friend Bethany helped me put it together.  Not that David wasn't willing to help, it just worked out that way.  :)  It was fun having Bethany help since I helped do her nursery when baby Tyler came early.  I do have quite a bit of shopping we need to do for things we still need, but thankfully the list isn't too long since we did everything gender neutral with Grace.  Ironically, most of what we need is for Grace, not the baby - I guess that's just the beginning of being baby #2, poor kid.  :)  We did get a new double stroller from Grandma and Grandpa is going to buy Grace's big girl bed so most of the really big stuff is taken care of.

We had our monthly ultrasound May 16 with the specialists we saw with Grace and we felt MUCH better after our appointment.  The Doctors there actually come into the ultrasound room and look at the baby with us, they are very thorough which we appreciate.  The baby is still measuring ahead, for which we are grateful.  Here's hoping I get the chance to try for that VBAC.  :)  The baby was putting on quite a show for us, grabbing his/her feet and smiling at us.  Everything looks great and we get to go back again at 32 weeks for another peek at our sweet one.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of our little bean at 28 1/2 weeks!

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Baby's Face, smiling!

Feet

Hands grabbing feet