Not Quite 39 Weeks

Well very differently from her brother - our Little Miss decided to come early!!  I went into labor at 38weeks 6days.  So this is a picture right as we left for the hospital and not quite a 39 week photo.  The birth story is long and crazy - but not nearly as long and crazy as the AFTER story.  Lets suffice it to say that it includes the ice storm of the decade, power outages, and earthquakes.  UNBELIEVABLE!

Our little miss M entered the world via C-section (sad face) but happy and healthy and screaming (until she saw her daddy and she stopped immediately and looked right at him.  Can you think of a quicker way to wrap him around her little finger?)

She was smaller than her brother at 7lb 7oz and 20.25in long.  She is long and slender and dainty.  She looks like her brother but has her own girlie look to her (and almost no eyelashes and eyebrows - very different from little e's eyelashes that came half way down his cheeks).

There is a lot more to tell - but this is just a quick update to let you know she's here!!

Bedtime w Pops!

Pops stopped by on his way to FL for work and spent a fun day with us.  Best part is 'story time' at bed.   When Pops left little e said all day "Pops hold me" - we sure miss him.

Come back on your way home Pops!!

Halloween

We had trick-or-treat Halloween night and again went with our good friends (same as last year).  Little e's best buddy H and his family.

Last year - Alfalfa and and Owl

This year - Curious George and an Engineer

I can't believe how much they have grown and changed in just a year!!

Eric made e's wagon into Thomas the Train - which was really the biggest hit of the night with both of them.  I'm not sure the dads loved dragging them around in the wagon all night - but it beats carrying them I guess.  They both did pretty good saying "Trick or Treat" and "Happy Halloween" and H was cute bringing his candy back each time saying 'treat! treat!'  I have never seen e run so much - he was so excited and loving it once he got the idea.  He also wanted to get the treat (or more than one) out of the baskets himself.  Too funny.

This year I decided with my craft room being converted to a nursery (and having a 2 yr old and being pregnant) it was a better idea to aim at some part of his costume being homemade vs. all of it (like last year's masterpiece!)  I made his hat (actually in time for the fall festival at church I already posted about a week ago) and bought overalls (and had a bandana).  I did help Eric paint the train but we didn't overshoot this year.

Totally homemade - crocheted hat, hand-dyed shirt,  each feather sewn on

This year - only his hat is homemade

We also took some 'family photos' when we stopped by Lenny's house.  (He has a good setup for it with a nice bench on his front porch so you get a little more light).  e wasn't feeling the picture so its just Eric and I (and #2 - who is making her photographic debut with a smile and a pink bow on her head - lol!)  My friend Lydia gave me this shirt and I love it!!  Too bad Halloween is the only acceptable day for me to walk around wearing it.  (24 weeks)

Oh Yeah!!  Did I forget to mention the H's dad dressed up as The Man in the Yellow Hat so you knew exactly which monkey H was?!?  Too funny!  H's mom made both of their costumes as well. 

I would say all in all, it was a great Halloween.  The weather was amazing - 70 and breezy - the boys had fun, the parents have baskets of candy their 2 yr olds can't eat yet (well certainly not all of it!) and we all have some great memories (and adorable pictures).

Lunch Date Round 2

This post.... is still one of my favorites.  About how happy I was to be home while looking at my 'lunch date' that day.  It happened again this week.  I think it was the tomato soup.  :)

One day while we were gone last week Mom asked e what he wanted for lunch - and he promptly replied "soup!"  She had no idea what kind of soup he might like so she called.  He loves this roasted red pepper tomato soup we buy.  He dunks goldfish crackers in it (like mommy and daddy) and dips his grilled cheese sandwich (like mommy).  We had it again the other day for lunch and he was cracking me up saying 'yum!' when he ate it and 'screaming' as he dropped the fish into the soup 'ahhhh!' he would say.

Dropping the goldfish into his soup

I am still a pretty lucky gal to get to spend my days and lunches with this handsome guy.  He tests me a lot more than he used to (and he normally doesn't eat a good lunch like this) but there are days with the sun shining in the back window, with tomato soup all over the place and goldfish screaming for their lives, that you just can't replace the memories and fun we are having.  I wouldn't trade it.

If you're happy and you know it...

Sunny. 70 degrees.  No humidity.  Fall tights and boots.  On the back deck.  Knitting.  Watching my son play with his dog.  Feeling my baby girl kick in my belly.  I'm not sure how many more blessings a girl could take at one time.

*that was earlier this week - its been a MONSOON all day - but still a great week*

End of a Fun Week

Well our time with Grammie (very sadly) had to come to an end.  The night before she went back to Ohio we went to dinner at Mellow Mushroom.  I had planned to take her out just the two of us to a fun place downtown, but when MM came up she got so excited (and I don't think she wanted to leave e out of her sight for even a second once her time in SC was coming to a close).  So we met Eric near his work and had pizza - and a good time.

I don't think e sat down for one second the whole night.  He ate his meatballs pacing in the booth and 'jumping' off his booster seat.  He played with straws and flicked rolled up balls of paper.  We contained him (barely) but he is really quite the fireball to be taking to a restaurant at all anymore.  We need to find babysitters - STAT!  :)

The Zoo

While Mom was in town we used our zoo pass and met friends in Cola on Monday.  It was perfect weather and we thoroughly wore little e out!  (he was quite literally asleep BEFORE we left the parking lot)  We have used our pass enough times now that as soon as he saw the Tiger he went over, posed with it and said 'CHEESE!' :)

This particular trip to the zoo was really great.  The animals were very fun and active (I think because it has cooled off a bit) and we met friends with a zoo pass that gives you wrist bands for feeding the birds, giraffes, riding the choo-choo and other fun things.  The tiger was even roaring for us - right on cue!  I asked e "what does the tiger say?"and almost immediately you start to hear a roar for real.  (not a scary one, more of a yawny one... but still!)  We heard him a few times while we were in the area and it was super awesome!
While e (and Grammie) weren't real sure about feeding the birds (they screech and land on you to eat - which is why Mommy sent Grammie in with him in the first place) but we all loved feeding the giraffes and of course the train rides (we had to do that a few times!)

It was a really wonderful day to add to our great week with Grammie in town.  We sure miss her bunches already!

Fall Carnival

Our church held a Fall Carnival this weekend while Mom was in town.  We got home Sunday just in time for me to FRANTICALLY make e's hat for his costume.  Good news is that I got it done, bad news is he didn't want to wear it (or the overalls or the bandana - AT ALL!)  Eric had to put his overalls on at the house and convince e it was an okay thing to be wearing.  (even his Mickey Mouse shoes didn't help me!!) I wish I had a picture of Eric in his overalls, the hat and bandana walking around going 'chop-choo!' - what a great dad!!
After we got to the festival he was so busy watching all the kids and their costumes he didn't notice the bandana or the hat and he looked pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. :)

He played lots of fun games and we ran into this adorable fisherman too!

Surprise - Golf was his favorite - though we hadn't done much 'putting' before

He caught a fish!!

I love that our church has these events.  They are great for the little kids, the HS/MS youth run all the games and the $ goes to their fundraiser.  It just is all around good stuff and fun to do with friends.

Buddies!

Of course, it was really nice that Mom got to see e dressed for Halloween (even though its not Halloween yet) and that I don't have to worry about getting his costume finished in a panic next week.  :)

Anniversary Weekend

We headed back to the mountains this weekend to celebrate our anniversary properly (sans kiddo and other family). Only problem being a trip with just the two of us didn't allow for much more than another  'self-portrait' when we finally remembered on Sunday.

Saturday we spent just shopping (after an amazing breakfast at Tupelo Honey).  We talked about the Biltmore or hiking but decided we have been joking about a 'shopping spree' for awhile (Eric was in desperate need of new clothes) and I wasn't in much shape to go hiking all weekend. I also wasn't in much shape to spend my $ on new clothes so I shopped for baby girl's nursery (so fun!!  can't wait to get it all done and show you) and YARN!!  We found the cutest town and greatest yarn shop I've been to in years in Black Mnt, NC.
I hate to admit that we rented a cabin for the weekend and in our rush didn't check the 'amenities'.  - BAD IDEA!!  Its the Saturday of the Clemson (#3) v. FSU (#5) game and we don't have a TV in our cabin.  Luckily we worked out staying at my uncles cabin not too far away - unluckily it wasn't a good game and really ugly for us Clemson fans.
We comforted ourselves with AMAZING apple cider donuts the next morning and all was right with the world again :)

It was freezing!!  41 degrees so we decided just to head home and get back to our little man!  We had a great time celebrating our anniversary and mommy enjoyed her first weekend away in two years.

Moving into Fall

Fall is admittedly my favorite season and I always look forward to all it brings - fairs, football, fall colors, chili, bonfires, Thanksgiving - ahhhh!
 

But this year I am actually sad to leave some things from summer behind. Trips to the park, summer vacations, festivals and outside fun with our friends...

But strangely the thing I think I am going to miss most about summer being gone this year is something entirely new and different...

Clean lovies and cloth diapers hanging out on my clothesline drying in the sun.  (I loved it so much I made that cute bag for my clothespins!) :)

Anniversary Apple Picking

This is again playing catch-up, but three weekends ago we travelled to Knoxville to visit my cousin and his family (and see their awesome new house) and they loaded us up with AMAZING hand me down baby stuff.  Eric's truck is literally full to the brim with things such as swings, bouncy seats, highchairs, toys, linens etc etc.  The list goes on and on.  I looked at the registry last night and *somehow* we still need alot of stuff.  Its AMAZING what all a itty bitty thing could require!

Anyway, after filling our truck up with baby goodies we headed to the mountains with Ned, Angie and the kids and shared our annual anniversary apple picking trip with them again this year.  Eric and Hadley made the ultimate apple picking team again this year and vowed to leave no apple 'out of their reach' and that was pretty close to true.

Tripp really got the hang of picking apples this year and was ADORABLE - including riding in his wagon eating his apple.

There was plenty of adult craziness going on...

Anniversary pictures...

and general fun pictures...

 as well as PERFECT family photos...

 We left with a 'normal' amount of apples (ha ha ha!) and great memories once again...