Where did January Go?

It took until the middle of February to post about Christmas. But at least our “news” is out and I’ve got a good excuse as to why I’m behind on just about everything and moving slow. Nap time (& I don’t mean for my kids) is an almost daily occurrence (& necessity) in my life right now. :) Growing a baby is hard work- add in a 2 & 5 year old- and the fact that someone is in her 30’s now and it means naps are priority.

In an attempt to catch-up – A few I-Phone pics (because I haven’t used a real camera all month long… I don’t even know who I am anymore) from January thru mid-February…

- New Year’s Eve we ate fondue with the in-laws and were back home by 8:30. Annabelle insisted she wanted to see the ball drop, but she fell asleep and missed it. I did, too. :)

- I’ve been working on cleaning out drawers, cabinets and closets in our house. (I know this is probably the last time I’ll get around to it for at least three years. Ha) DW worked in the garage and outside while I worked inside all day one Saturday…there was still lots to do, but we decided to call it quits around 4:00 and take the girls to the park and dinner at Blue Highway. Work is really important, but so is playing…

- The last day of Christmas break was a teacher workday which fell on the first Monday of January. Our nephew Warren stayed the day with us. We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and went to Target. Warren was so excited to hear that day that Aunt Lauren was naming her baby “Parker” and he’s sure that it’s after Spiderman, Peter Parker. :) (I had to write that down for memory’s sake).

- It got cold enough to make icicles! I remember my Dad always doing this for us when we were kids, so I asked Devin if we had a sprinkler so he could make some for the girls… They LOVED it…

- The middle of January, we planned a last minute (as in two days before) trip to Macon to meet up with my Georgia aunts and cousins. Stephanie was flying back to Houston (then to Oklahoma City) the following Monday, so we really wanted to get to see her before she left). My mom and I had a great time and we all decided we should do a half-way meet up more often. We made it to Macon Friday night in time for dinner. That’s when Steph broke the news that she and Henry are expecting their first baby and then I got to tell everyone that we’re also expecting again! It was so much fun telling the girls together, which was a huge reason Steph and I really wanted to get everyone together that weekend. She and I are due within days of each other. I’m due the first week of August and she’s due the second week. I can’t describe the sweetness it’s already been getting to be pregnant together. We are so excited to get to have little ones who will be the same age. We checked into our hotel and stayed up way too late eating our to-go desserts and laughing our heads off. We did a bunch of old wives tales to see what Steph and I are having and none of them were conclusive. :) Saturday we had brunch at Market City Café and ended it with the banana pudding of our lives… and a few of us don’t even really like banana pudding…it was that good. We visited the Parks Hay house

and took in the beauty and reverence of the Saint Joseph Catholic Church.

We wrapped the day up with a little maternity shopping.

By mid-afternoon, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. It was such a fun 24 hours and I hope we make a habit of doing it at least once a year.

- The kids were out of school for MLK Day, and Warren had asked to spend the day with us again. My Mom & I decided to take them down to Crystal River to see the manatees.

This time of year they’re all making their way to warmer water and there were tons of them out. The kids loved it and afterward we picked up Sonic for a picnic in the park.

- We finally (a month later) got to do Christmas with Carrie, Allie & Whitt. We met them one Friday in Lake City (which is about an hour for both of us and half way between our houses). We had lunch at a new place, “Ray’s Deli & Grill.” Lunch was good, but the highlight for the kids was Ray’s Sweet Shop. Mamie was in “pop-pop” heaven. 

After lunch we took the kids to Chick-fil-A to play on the playground. It was too cold to go to the park, so we bought a tea and watched them play.

We exchanged our gifts in the back of my car in the parking lot. We only got a few stares.

- Mamie got her first haircut! I decided to cut quite a bit and give her a cute bob.

She was such a big girl and I was so proud of how well she did. It turned out so cute. 

- We had the brothers/sisters over to eat for the Super Bowl. I didn’t even know who was playing- but who cares- its all about the snacks anyway. We had an embarrassing amount of food. Everyone brought something. I was afraid we were going to flip the breaker because we had five crock pots plugged up. We had meatball sliders, five different dips, three different kinds of chicken wings, gizzards (gross- but Adam fried those up for he and his brothers), & jalapeno poppers. We were a bad case of heartburn waiting to happen and not just for the two pregnant girls. On top of that, we had three desserts. It was a “go-big or go-home” meal for sure. I’m just thankful for full-panel maternity pants.

- Mamie has become our “cat-lady-in-training”- she is obsessed with “ki-ye cats” and I had to snap this picture of her one day while she was napping with ALL of them in her crib. I am not much of a pet person and really only prefer the occasional outside dog, but I REALLY don’t care for cats, so it’s so funny to me that she’s so crazy about them. It’s pretty cute, though. 

~amw~