Mini Post: Pregnancy Update

So today we had a doctor's appointment.

Just a regular check up (check-in)

No ultrasound, no special tests. Just a "hey doc, yep still pregnant" kinda appointment.

Well, one new update - thought I was 22 weeks, well I'm 23 instead. So that's exciting!

One week closer than I thought I was. 

First week of February out little one will be here! 

Next appointment I get to do the fun glucose test- woohoo.

& we also get to pre-register for our hospital stay!

So that's something to look forward to!

The weeks have been flying by!

We've been so busy I've hardly noticed the time passing so quickly.

Hadley will be here before we know it :)

Mini Post: It's Here!

I get very excited over the little things.

[personally, I think that's a great quality if I do say so myself]

Caroline's Halloween costume has arrived!

I prowled the internet in search for the cutest. costume. ever.

& I found it!

Unfortunately though- when I found it, they didn't have Caroline's size.

Needless to say, I was extremely bummed.

I almost gave up but I continued scouring the internet 

& thank goodness I did because

I FINALLY FOUND IT. in her size.

So it has arrived! & It is now in our possession!

 I've tried it on her of course.

It is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

[it could be my child though] ;)

I can't wait for Halloween to reveal it!

& take 100's of pictures of her in it lol 

Mini Post: New Morning Ritual

Since the fence was finished we have been spending a significant amount of time outside

and every child should.. it's good for them. 

We have developed a new morning routine in just a short amount of time.

Now, when Caroline gets up in the morning we still have a few ounces of milk,

but instead of following it with breakfast- 

we now go play outside for about 30 minutes (give or take).

& since it's in the comfort of our privacy fence, we're in PJs or no clothes at all

[^Caroline of course, I'm fully clothed]

We play tee ball and we hit golf balls, 

we play on the grill and make ketchup covered everything

(pretend ketchup... don't get crazy now)

we chase Ace and play with our shovels and buckets.

You name it, if we've got it- she's playing with it.

No toy gets left behind.

After playing outside, and only then, is she ready to have her breakfast

and morning dose of Disney Junior or Little Baby Bum videos. 

No complaints over here, it's not a bad morning.

I even get to get some sun during this new ritual. 

This Weekend

This weekend we were, once again, on the road. 

First stop: Niceville

My Aunt & Uncle were in town all the way from Texas so we went one night early to spend a little more time with them. 

College football consumed our morning, afternoon & evening. As it should. Haha. 

Go Noles. Roll Tide. 

I woke up Saturday morning craving donuts after dreaming about them all night.

When in Niceville, the only place to satisfy that craving is Tasti-o's. 

Best. Donuts. Around. 

[if you aren't familiar with them and you're in the area, you really need to check them out. great choices, extremely fresh & a lot of southern hospitality]

I was specifically craving a raspberry filled pastry- so I made sure to get one.

Then we did the usual, chocolate with sprinkles and the never just basic glazed. 

And of course, my dad & Jimmie went all out with breakfast that morning as well.

Eggs. Pancakes. Bacon. Toast. & then donuts :) 

That evening was the main reason we were in town for the weekend.

We had a fundraiser dinner for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

The Harley Raffle.

[ if you aren't familiar with the foundation or the event, please look in to it! ]

[ if you'd like, I'd love to give you information on how to get involved ]

The evening was filled with laughter and food and catching up with people we hadn't seen in years. 

Caroline danced with Uncle Matt a good bit - on his shoulders and all.

Their most well known number that evening: "Born in the USA"  - Bruce Springsteen

She also had Nonnie, GiGi and Opa chasing after her a good bit. 

She waved to everyone hello and when we were done talking she would say Bye-Bye and blow a kiss. She was a huge hit.

Caroline even made friends with a little girl that was her age. The pushed chairs around for a little while, explored the military uniform shadowboxes and had some fun stare downs. 

None of us won anything but it was a successful evening anyway.

You'll find us there every year. 

Second stop: Brewton

Sunday we were headed back to Alabama for a Baby Shower & for (of course) a round of golf.

Sweet little Harper will be here in November and it was so exciting getting to celebrate her arrival and her sweet momma that day.

It was such a pretty shower, with lots of fun favors.

Caroline was tired by the end of it for sure.

She did a lot of running around with her friend, Pheriby. 

[could've had a sugar rush from the m&m's she was obsessed with]

But now we're home & plan to be here for a few weekends in a row.

Ya know, unless something comes up ;)

19 Weeks Appointment

Are you serious? We're already at 19 weeks..

So I'm seeing that it's true what they say- you're so busy with your other child(ren) that time will fly by during pregnancy. It's fact, not fiction.

I'm going to admit, I feel like a bad mom already to this second child. Because time is going so fast, and because I'm trying to keep up with Caroline and fill her days with productive activities- if you were to ask me a question about where we're at in this pregnancy- I'd have to check the app (because it's not something I do on a regular basis)

I couldn't tell you what fruit/veggie she is this week,

or how much she weighs and her length.

I consider myself doing pretty good when I don't have to count back the weeks to tell you how far along I am, OK. 

Soooo- yeah. I'll try to get better though, I promise. 

Any of the who- I was fully aware of this appointment and I've actually been looking forward to it since the last appointment. This week was ultrasound week!!! Which means we got to see our precious Hadley (Haddie). 

It was such an enjoyable experience. We got to watch her kick around and "jump." We got to see all different angles :) - She was laying face down though, so we couldn't get a view of her little face. But, she was healthy & active which is all we care about. 

& Caroline was the sweetest during the ultrasound. She seemed just as excited to see baby Haddie as we were. She sat with me on the table and held up my shirt. Every once in a while she would touch my belly, say "hi Haddie" and get some of the gel on her haha. We were melting. 

Next appointment is in 4 weeks! Yay, October! 

We're getting closer every day to becoming a family of 4. 

Mini Post: We Have A Fence!

The Fence is done, The Fence is done!

I'm having a little party over here.

And so are Ace & Caroline!

We have a fenced in backyard!

We are ready for lots of running around and playing

& all in the privacy of our own fenced in yard!

I know, I'm maybe a little overly excited. Sue me.

We have been patiently waiting & the day has finally come!

A big shout out to my boys Joseph & Ben.

You guys made it happen.

The 3 of us thank you.

Beer and Dinner on me, anytime y'all want!

Labor Day Weekend

This last weekend was Labor Day weekend and we spent it at the beautiful Lake Martin.

No matter how many times we're there at the lake house, the view will never get old. There is just something about it. I couldn't possibly do it justice to make you fully understand but it is just gorgeous and completely relaxing.

The weekend was full of boating, swimming, football and family.

We take the boat out quite a bit while we're there and always give the dogs a few trips to go play in the water and get some energy out. The boys got 3 trips this time - and if you know Ace or have been with him on a boat, you know that I have the best husband in the entire world for allowing him to go 3 different times. :)

Caroline loved it, as always. She is such a water baby- the only time she gets upset is when we take her out of it haha, and even then the sadness is cured in an instant. In the morning you just ask her "ready to go swimming?" and she is ready to go!

This weekend was the opening weekend of college football. Saturday our teams played & Saturday our teams won! So excited for this season! Go Noles & Roll Tide, y'all!

We had such a great time- now it's back to reality. But hey, we have a lot to look forward to this week:

Tuesday we go to Brewton for the afternoon so I can take care of some business

Tuesday night Aunt Kitty is coming to stay the night with us

Wednesday we have a doctor's appointment with an ultrasound

Friday we go to Niceville

Saturday we have a fundraiser

Sunday we have a baby shower in Brewton

If there is one thing for sure around here....there is never a dull moment- we keep things moving! 

Mini Post: What It's All About

This morning came extra early (which is extremely rare. We've got a little one that loves to catch her zzz's).

But this morning was different.

I woke up to my sweet baby singly poking my face and saying "mama?" and doing it repeatedly until I opened my eyes.

The second my eyes cracked open her tone changed "MAMA!" :) :)

The excitement in her voice when she realized that I was awake got me right in the feels. She just lit up.

And then she wrapped her arms around me as in to say good morning with no words at all. oh my gosh, you are seriously the sweetest. 

& that's what it's all about. That excitement she gets from me. Little old me, I make her that happy. I didn't even do anything, I just simply woke up when she wanted me to. & that's all that she wanted.

That is all. That's all I have for this morning. My little is currently eating her breakfast and watching some early morning cartoons - so I'm going to get back to enjoying watching her watch those.

Have a magical day everyone!

Mini Post: Pregnancy #2

Pregnancy #2, you've been good to me for the most part. 

The First Trimester, you made me tired (that's to be expected)

You have me some headaches BUT

you only gave me one migraine- I'm very thankful.

Second Trimester, I was just bragging on you the other day.

Why do you make me a liar?

Can I please wake up & go to sleep one full day without a headache, please?

Or send me a sign & let me know what I can do that might make you rethink

cursing me with these awful headaches..I'll do anything.

I love you, Hadley.

Everyone knows I'm not a fan of pregnancy.

But I'll do whatever it takes to get to you. 

I know the second I lay eyes on you I'll forget about what it took to get there.

Time has gone by quickly so far, I'm 17 weeks and didn't realize it.

Lets.Keep.It.Up

Minus the headaches, you can scratch the headaches at anytime!

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

"Celebrating our 2nd anniversary on August 24th- It's been a busy two years- to keep it short I'll just say that I love doing life with you. I wouldn't trade it for anything. You're a wonderful husband and an even better father. Your girls love you more than you know. Happy Anniversary babe, cheers to many more"

We spent our anniversary this year in Biloxi, just the two of us. [Caroline went to Sassy & G's house and got to spend a couple days with them & Aunt Kitty & a few other members of the family]. 

We gambled and ate, and gambled and ate and most importantly- spent those 2 days just us, enjoying one another's company. [with all the eating we did, thank goodness we had comps for all of it, otherwise we would have burned a whole in the pocket! haha]

The food was phenomenal. 

When we checked into our room we had a nice spread of meats and cheeses with some wine waiting on us (compliments of my dad, mom, Jimmie & Matt). Thank you again, seriously so sweet!

[as much as I wanted to, I couldn't drink the wine...so we saved it for a later date]

-I know you were just thinking "but wait, you're pregnant??"

:D

After a little rest and a little gambling - we had dinner at the Half Shell Oyster House at the Hard Rock. Once again- phenomenal. Our entrees were great but I want to single out the appetizer and the dessert that we had. Oh. My. Taste-buds. We started with their Fried Green Tomato & Blue Crab Cakes. Heaven in my mouth. We like fried green tomatoes and we like crab cakes - so it was a killer combo! Dessert was another excellent combo: banana fosters cheese cake. Yum!

After dinner, I willingly stayed up until 3:00 AM... AM people! (if you know me well, I'm in bed by 10:30, every.night.) So this was one for the books! It was all in good fun though. & of course Joseph & I said to each other "ahh, can't wait to actually sleep in tomorrow" Yeah, that didn't happen- we both popped up by 9:00. Eh, I was thinking more like 10 or 11, come on body get with it!

We had the lunch buffet at the Hard Rock - The Satisfaction Buffet. A ton of choices. After one small plate, this momma hit up the dessert buffet. Oh, Hadley. I think the soft serve swirl of vanilla and chocolate ice cream was the winner for us! 

Joseph & I gambled again- for the rest of the day, side by side at our new favorite game! We had such a blast. It was so cool to find a new game that both of us actually love. It's fun gambling but it's much more fun gambling together. 

We had dinner that night over at the 24/7 Grill. Another great choice. AND they had fried pickle spears for an appetizer- which i just could not say no too! 

Due to our extremely late night the previous night - we hit the hay early. We enjoyed an awesome "Cage Rage" marathon (we love Nicholas Cage) and a comfy bed for the rest of the evening. 

We finished off our trip the next morning with the Satisfaction breakfast buffet. I had to have a little caffeine to start my morning and can I just say the fountain Coca'Cola was the bomb! haha, really though. I don't know what it was - but I liked it! 

We had a wonderful trip and we received such love while we were there from all our family and friends. It was truly great to receive texts and Facebook messages and phone calls of people wishing us the sweetest wishes and reminiscing with us on our special day 2 years ago! We're truly blessed.

Did I mention that I'm really craving some of those Fried Green Tomato & Blue Crab Cakes????

of course- now that we're home! 

Caroline's First Day of Nursery School

My little bean is growing up.

Caroline had her first day of Nursery School today.

She LOVED it. 

We started the day off with a good laugh. Caroline had no idea why on earth I was waking her up at 7:30. (This little one will sleep until noon if you let her). It was the funniest thing watching her try to go back to sleep while I got her changed- by the time we got to breakfast and our Disney Junior she was good to go though. 

She is such a little social butterfly. She loves other kids and meeting new people. 

Literally nothing scares her. She is so curious about everything.

Little miss independent.

As I drop her off:

1) I'm the one sad about leaving, she's pulling my hand trying to get us there just a little faster

2) I ask for a hug and I just get a swift "bye-bye" with a wave as she goes on her merry way over to everyone else.

When I picked her up though she was happy to see me. Just "talking" away about her day. Her teachers had nothing but good things to say about her. 

After getting home you could tell she was past ready for a nap. She was wore out from an adventurous day!

I'm so happy for her starting her school adventure, even if it is just nursery school. It's the first step.

We're looking forward to next week!