Dump Trucks, Babies & Everything Else

Bas-kick-ball

2012-01-30T13:31:00.001-05:00

Saturday Annabelle had a big day planned with her Daddy. She was going to the “Bas-kick-ball” game.

DW had been promising to take her to a Gator basketball game and a weekend game always works out great for that.

She started the morning off with some breakfast and then Uncle Adam & Aunt Nen came and picked her up. They’re getting a new puppy and they took AB over to meet him. She thought she was big stuff getting to go somewhere with just Uncle Adam & Aunt Nen!

When they got back, we fed her lunch and got her changed for the game! She was so excited! She was chomping and yelling “Go Gators” all around the house!

One of her favorite parts, as always, was riding the bus from the parking lot to the O’Dome!

DW said she was so great at the game. He said she loved it and really got into it, too.

Of course she was excited to see another fave, Albert!

She ended the day with a few hours at Grammy’s house Saturday night. I’d say it was a pretty perfect day for our girl. :)

~amw~

Beauty & the Beast…

2012-01-20T15:32:00.001-05:00

My mom and I were so excited when we saw that Disney was bringing Beauty & the Beast back to the theatre in 3D. Annabelle (like her momma & Grammy) LOVES the movie and will tell you quickly her favorite princess is Belle. We knew we’d have to take her to see it!

We decided to go on a weeknight and leave Maybree at home with her Daddy for a couple hours while we took AB to the movie.

Wednesday was the night our big girl had waited all week for!

We kissed Daddy & Maybree goodbye and grabbed some quick dinner before heading to the theatre. We got our tickets and 3D glasses and AB was so excited to see the special edition kids’ Beauty & the Beast glasses she got.

She was so adorable waiting for the movie to start. We got our seats (we ended up being three of about 15 people total in the whole theater…it was perfect) and then mom went to get some popcorn. The previews started and AB yells, “Grammy, come on, you’s fixing to miss it!!!” She was relieved to see Grammy make it back without missing anything, but even more excited about the popcorn and M&Ms Grammy was carrying.

She was so into the whole thing, even the previews, that she wouldn’t even look over to get her popcorn. She had those tiny glasses fixated on the screen and without moving her head, she’d reach over and grab another handful of popcorn every few minutes. It was the cutest thing ever. Mom and I were dying over how stinking cute she was.

She was over the moon excited to see her other favorite, Tangled, in a short movie during the previews! AB thinks the little cupid guy on Tangled, is “Ho-Ho” so she yells, “look, even Ho-Ho’s at them’s wedding!” Ha…

She did so good with the 3-D glasses and wore them for about 3/4 of the movie. The problem was she would touch them with her greasy buttery fingers and smudge them and then take them off. Mom and I were cleaning glasses half the movie! :)

The movie was so great in 3-D and there is nothing like those Disney songs. Mom and I sang and hummed along the whole time! Thankfully the theatre was empty enough for us not to embarrass ourselves! :) How can you NOT sing along to “Beauty & the Beast”??? In fact, I loved that during the credits, they played the song again (the Celine Dion/Pebo Bryson version) and not one person got up to leave until it was over! Such a sweet song…

When we got home, AB was excited to tell Daddy & Mamie all about it…she even insisted that Mamie wanted to try on her glasses. :) Baby girl looks thrilled about sister’s request.

Speaking of little miss… She had her one month well-check on Wednesday morning!

Waiting at the dr’s office

Her stats are:

9 lbs 15 oz (75th percentile) & 22 inches long (50th percentile)! She’s growing, growing, growing!

~amw~

Photo Shoot

2012-01-17T21:11:00.001-05:00

I’m working on a few projects for the playroom. One of which had me wanting a picture of both our girls. I found a big frame in one of our closets that I am going to hang in there but I wanted to get a (black & white) picture of the girls together to go in it. Since the weather was so great today, we had a little photo shoot to try to get one.

Trying to get a perfect picture is impossible with a three year old and a one month old! :) At least for me anyway. But I don’t think I could love these pictures any more if they WERE perfect. They are going to be great in the playroom. The only problem will be deciding which one to frame in the big frame! :)

~amw~

Maybree–1 month

2012-01-15T10:00:00.001-05:00

Scooter Girl…

2012-01-11T20:09:00.001-05:00

AB got a scooter for her birthday. We hadn’t had a chance to let her try it out until this past weekend.

She was so excited about “skating” on her scooter and was the cutest thing ever “riding” it around our yard.

She was quite proud and worn out by the time she got to the front of the house. She stepped off, and started walking back toward the garage and yells to us, “Yall put it up.” Riding a scooter is hard work and apparantly she likes exercise about as much as her momma.

~amw~

Lately…

2012-01-10T15:45:00.001-05:00

We’re still staying close to home these days. We’ve been out a couple of times for doctors appointments and when we have been we’ve been sure to keep baby girl covered up and out of the germs reach! :) We’ll start to venture out more once she hits that 8 week mark…maybe…I still don’t know how it will be to keep up with a three year old and a newborn, so we’ll see how brave I am. :)

Here’s what we’ve been up to…

We spent New Years Eve at my in-laws.

My New Year’s Cuties

They do fondue with some friends every year and invited us to crash this year. :) Dinner and dessert was so good and we even got to spend some time with Sam, who was in town. AB had the best time playing dress-up with her cousin, Gracie.

Maybree had her two week well check. We switched pediatricians recently and couldn’t be happier. (Our previous dr., who we’ve been using since Cooper was born, and we LOVED, retired…I wasn’t really happy with the rest of the group she was in, so we decided to switch). We LOVE our new doctor and the entire practice. I’m SO glad we switched and so thankful for a good friend’s recommendation of them.

Baby girl weighed in at 6 lbs 14 oz! She’s growing so much and I cant wait to go back next week for 4 week appointment to see how much she weighs.

We had AB’s 3 year well check, too, last week. She weighs 28 lbs and is 35 1/2 inches tall. She was adorable during her visit. She was such a big girl and I was so proud of her.

Nurse Jayne taking AB’s blood pressure

Since we chose to spread our vaccinations out, we are a little behind on them, so she had to get a couple of shots. She also had to have her finger pricked and I was so shocked that she didn’t even cry during that! The shots were a different story. Thankfully my mom went with us. I knew she would need to held and carried (and since I still can’t pick her up, Mom went with us). We were both glad Grammy was there.

Later that afternoon, Nie-Nie & Aunt Kels came down to check on AB and bring her a prize!! It was a Minnie Mouse dress up set and she wore it all afternoon.

Maybree wore jeans for the first time to AB’s dr appointment and that’s definitely a recordable milestone. :)

AB had some Christmas cash, so last weekend we took her to Target to let her pick out a new game for her “tablet.” (Maybree & I sat in the truck while DW took AB in the store…and AB was the cutest thing walking in with her daddy with her owl hat and piggy back pack on…) Precious! (The owl hat was a Christmas present from Aunt Kristy & Uncle Beau and she wears it ALL the time…the pig back pack was also a Christmas present, from Aunt Nen & Uncle Adam…AB takes it around everywhere, too!) :)

AB’s been doing lots of playing with all her new Christmas toys. She’s thrown countless tea parties in our living room over the past few days and at every one, she serves up birthday cake. It’s always someone else’s birthday, too…and we have to sing, of course.

“Mamie” (AB’s nickname for her sister) still sleeps a lot, so we spend a good part of our days snuggling with her. Nothing sweeter…

I’m pretty sure that although what we’ve been up to lately isn’t the most exciting, it’s some of my most favorite days.

~amw~

A Tangled Birthday Party…

2012-01-04T06:52:00.000-05:00

Soon after her second birthday party, AB was ready for another one! She told us right away for her next birthday she wanted a Mickey Mouse party. A few months ago, I started pinning ideas on Pinterest for a Mickey/Minnie Mouse Birthday. Thankfully, before I started buying or making anything Mickey mouse themed, AB announced she wanted a Tangled a party instead.

Our girl loves Rapunzel, even though she never calls her by name…always “Tangled.” The movie is a favorite of hers and we’ve all seen it at least a hundred times.

I found lots of cute ideas via Pinterest and the birthday party planning and prep began! My mom and I worked on party stuff for two weekends straight. By the time it was over, we had braided more tiny little braids than we ever want to again, that’s for sure!

First the invites: (a copy cat Pinterest idea, and super easy…)

We had the party in our sunroom and in the area outside of the sunroom in our backyard. The weather was great that day and worked out nicely to have the eating tables outside. It was a little windy, so everything got blown around, but it wasn’t raining, which was perfect to me! :)

This year, we went with a smaller crowd again, and only invited our immediate family. We did let AB invite a couple little friends, though. She was so excited about her party and her “fwends” coming to her house! :) She invited her BFF, Allie Claire and a little friend from church.

“EJ” (AB’s church friend) Allie Claire, AB & cousin Warren

For an activity, we had the kids paint canvases, since Rapunzel paints in the movie.

I got the cute purple and pink “castle” tent for $5.00!!! I saw it in several stores’ sales ads for Black Friday. I think the cheapest it was that day was like $19.99. I thought it would be cute for the party, but passed on buying it. Then, the week of the party, I got a coupon in the mail for $10.00 off any purchase at JCP. The Sunday paper came and JCP had a sales flyer that advertised the same castle tent for $14.99 that week! So I used the coupon and got it for $5.00!!! It was meant to be. :)

The kids (and Aunt Nen) enjoyed playing in it that day…It was a cute addition to the party and AB has LOVED playing in it since!

We also put the play table outside with a Rapunzel playset on it for the kids to play with.

For food, we went super simple… I made up some Italian and Turkey subs, had PB&J’s for the kids, pasta salad, chips & dip and a fruit/cheese tray that my Mom did for me.

For the cake, I decided cupcakes would be easiest and since I was 4 days from having a baby, EASY was GREAT! :)

BUT, I wanted to try to make a “Tangled Tower” as AB calls it, out of fondant, so I baked a small cake and made the tower for the topper. AB LOVED it, which made it so worth it. :) I made the base of the tower out of rice krispy treats and then covered it with fondant.

Decorations were pretty simple, too… I bought a bunch of purple chinese paper lanterns from Hobby Lobby and had DW hang them in the sunroom.

We blew up some balloons, and made some pennant banners to match the ones in the movie. My Mom & I made them with scrapbook paper and cut the sun from a Cricut cartridge. DW’s aunt has EVERY cartridge there is, so I didn’t even have to buy a new one, I just borrowed hers. :)

We made a backdrop for the cake by using cheap plastic table cloths, then just added some of the pennant banner to it.

I did make the Towers on the table from a Pringles can and a christmas tree cone I found at Hob Lob. For the windows and castle part, I used scrapbook paper and hot glue.Then just added some moss and flowers… The first one took me over an hour to make and I almost didn’t make a second one, but it went lots faster, so I’m glad I did!

This cabinet sits in the sunroom, so I just used it to display the party stuff. DW’s saddle also sits in the sunroom, too, and instead of moving it out for the party, I left it and we said it was “Maximus’” (the horse in the movie’s) saddle. :)

My mom made the long tangled braids for the centerpieces (another Pinterest inspired idea).

We also made Pascal party horns and while they turned out looking silly to me, the kids loved them…

Instead of party hats, we had party crowns with Tangled braids. I’d made plenty in case AB insisted that everyone have one (you never know), but the kids were the only ones who ended up with them.

“Rapunzel, let down your hair!”

Even cousin Warren was a good sport and wore one… I said they looked like little rat tails and they really did on him. Ha…

We only had 4 kids (2 boys and 2 girls), so party favors were easy. For the girls, I found these little wooden castles at Hobby Lobby (they were even the party colors, pink & purple!) for like a quarter each. I added a “Tangled” braid to them and a ribbon to make them into bow holders and stuck a couple hairbows on them. (This was the only thing I didn’t copy from Pinterest!) :) The girls also got some other hair goodies, including a brush set so they could, “Brush and Brush and Brush their hair.” We found the Tangled coloring/sticker packs in the dollar bin at Target.

The boys were a little harder, to come up with boyish treats that were movie inspired. They got a horse (“Max”), a Pascal wind up toy, and then hand-cuffs and a Wanted Wollie Willie (these were because of Flynn Ryder being a criminal in the movie and the Wanted posters they put up of him.) I was reaching, but if you saw the movie, you’d get it. :)

Ready to pass out her party favors…

It was a fun few hours and everyone was so sweet to come celebrate our girl.

Cousin Taylor & Allie helping the birthday girl with her gifts.

When she laid down that afternoon for her nap, she said, “Mine’s party was so fun, Momma.” Just the words this momma wanted to hear.

~amw~

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T16:03:00.001-05:00

During the week leading up to it, I kept telling DW I felt like we already had our Christmas this year. A new baby is the best gift ever.

Maybree and I were the first ones up in our house on Christmas morning. In fact, we welcomed Christmas Day around 2:00 a.m.

With all my children, in those wee hours of the morning, I have often used those feeding times to pray. Christmas morning was definitely one of those times.

I looked at our sweet girl and fought back tears as I thanked God for her, for all He has given me, but above all, for the tiny baby boy born to Mary & Joseph all those years ago. The baby boy who was sent to save us all.

I love Christmas so much. I always have. I love the decorations, the carols, the traditions…I love the pretty packages and I love the expectation and anticipation that comes with them! I love the shopping and baking and the lights and programs and parties. Its all so good and wonderful…and what makes it so good and wonderful is knowing the TRUE meaning of the season. We made sure our girl knew the reason we were celebrating was because of Jesus’ birthday. That’s always first and foremost, but we also have lots of fun with the Santa part of Christmas, too.

This year we decided the only thing better than Christmas as a kid, is having kids at Christmas! Annabelle was at such a fun age this year. She enjoyed all the Christmas festivities so much. She loved picking out or making and giving gifts to her friends and family -- She loved finding where Elf-Elf was hiding everyday. (Next year our Elf-Elf will do better…lots of our friends’ elves did way more fun stuff than ours (I’m looking at you Crystal & Ashley), so next year he is going to step it up!) The cutest thing he did was eat some leftover birthday cake after AB’s party…

She loved talking about “Ho-Ho” and what he was going to bring her! Her list was as follows:

- Belle Barbie doll from Wal-Mart. (“Belle Barbie doll” was actually the ginormous Story-time talking Belle doll)

- More play-doh (“because Mommy frowed mine away”)

- a Tabwet (leap frog leap pad tablet…I could do a post all of it’s own on this one… they were SOLD OUT everywhere for weeks…We checked every store and online daily for weeks just hoping to find one in stock…we even had my dad look in China when he was there for work… no luck… we got a small Christmas miracle the week before Christmas and we found one online!)

There’s no comparison to the feeling of getting your child something you know they really want and then to see how much they love it. It really is the best.

Christmas Eve, Little Miss was so excited she could hardly go to sleep. She was wired up when I tried to snap a picture of her in her Christmas jammies before bed…

Before going night-night, she made sure to tell Elf-Elf goodbye, since he would be flying back to the North Pole that night. She also sat out cookies for Santa.

When DW got home from the Christmas Eve service at church, we started to get everything ready for Santa’s arrival. I’m not sure I’ve ever loved him more than when he actually ate the cookies for Santa. He takes this Daddy thing and all the “parts” that come with it seriously. :)

Stockings were stuffed…

and Santa kept with our family’s tradition and sat out our nativity set…

My parents were still staying with us, and I think my Dad was more excited than AB was. We all woke up around 7:00 and waited in the living room for her to wake up… it was after 8:00 before she FINALLY did (with some help)…

She was still half asleep when she came into the living room, but she was excited to see that Ho-Ho had left her a “Belle Barbie Doll!” She had a big time opening the bag to find her presents.

It was so fun letting her just take her time and take it all in. She was sweet and wanted to play with everything right then as she opened it.

That Santa did good this year… he managed to get all three things she had on her list! Plus a Cowgirl Jessie doll and a Barbie hair set!

After she had opened her gifts from Santa, she opened her present from Grammy & Pop…

Once AB was all done, we all opened our gifts, too. It was a sweet morning together.

Of course Ho-Ho couldn’t leave Maybree out… she got a baby doll, an outfit, and a couple pairs of little shoes…

Here’s AB showing her the ladybug night-light from Grammy & Pop… “Mamie” (may-me) is what AB calls her, slept through the whole Christmas morning and this is the only picture I took of her during the gift opening…

Playing Play-Doh with Pop

Mid-Morning we made our way down to my in-laws for Christmas there. We usually do Christmas breakfast in our jammies, but this year had lunch.

It was a fun few hours and we all got some really fun stuff! AB had to take a break mid-way through opening her packages to open the toys and play with them! She’s too much…

We did take a picture of DW’s siblings, the inlaws and the kids, even though some of us were sans make-up. :)

We spent the afternoon at home and AB went back and forth playing with all her new toys. It was too cute. She would play with the tablet for a while, then go out on the sunroom and play Play-Doh and dollhouse.

I’m not real sure how long this play-doh will last at our house. I can’t take the mess it makes… I have a feeling she might be hoping the Easter Bunny will bring some more…

Pappy & Nie-Nie knew she was getting the doll house from Grammy & Pop, so they made sure she had furniture for it and a car for the people, so she was all set! And yes, she’s wearing a princess dress…I wasn’t lying when I say she changes forty times a day and 9 times out of 10, its into a princess dress…

My Mom (with some help from Dad) :) cooked a big Christmas dinner for supper that night and my in-laws came down to eat with us. It was a great way to end an already wonderful day.

Christmas is always good to us…

Our 2011 Christmas Card:

~amw~

December Recap….

2011-12-30T21:31:00.001-05:00

Our December, like most everyone else’s, was super busy.

We had a birthday party, a new baby and Christmas festivities to keep us running all month long!

Since the new baby, I’m a little behind on my blogging, so I’m going to try to catch up, for memory’s sake…(and since I will have this year’s blog book printed, I want all of the 2011 stuff together!) :)

Since we knew Maybree was scheduled to arrive on the 15th, we got our Christmas decorations up early (I started mid-November this year!). I was so excited to use all the stuff I got after Christmas clearance last year. It was so fun to open all those bins and find all that brand new stuff. What was even more fun was seeing the price tags and knowing I only paid 10% of that cost! There’s just something about getting some 90% off that makes you feel great! Ha…

Most of the stuff I bought last year was for the dining room and play room. Here’s the dining room:

The Playroom:

It was probably my favorite room in the whole house! I did the garland around the door with mesh and lots of candy ornaments. I also got the elves from Hobby Lobby and thought they turned out so cute!

A few living room shots…

I did a little decorating in our bedrooms this year… Some garland, mesh and ornaments in our room…

AB had a tree in her room this year and LOVED it!

I put up the little “My First Christmas” tree that one of DW’s cousins made for AB the year she was born in Maybree’s room.

I was also excited this year about the garland and ornaments I got last year after Christmas for the outside of the house. The columns got wrapped and I LOVED them. The only thing we need to different for next year, is add more balls to the old garland… it didn’t really match the new that I made, so we’ll fix that next year! :)

The week of AB’s birthday, we went to a “Stay & Play” class at a gym. AB had the BEST time and I can’t wait until we aren’t “homebound” anymore and I can take her back! There were lots of mats, rings, a ball pit and two bounce houses to keep all the kids busy.

I thought she might be shy around all the different kids, but she ran around the whole time and every time she’d pass me, she would yell, “dis so fun, mommy!”

Totally worth the time and money we spent that morning! Aunt Stephanie, Willie & the triplets went, too! Ms. Danielle, Cori & Finley were also there, so afterward we all went out to lunch.

AB’s actual birthday was Friday the 9th. She celebrated by opening some gifts… Aunt Kristy & Uncle Beau mailed a package and it arrived perfectly on her birthday! That night, she wanted to eat at Red Lobster, so we took her there.

Her party was on Sunday afternoon, and I still have to blog about it!

On Monday night (the 12th), we took AB to the mall to pick out our yearly Christmas ornaments. It’s a tradition we started with our Cooper his first Christmas and we’ve done it every year since. This year, AB was old enough to pick the ornaments herself! So fun… She picked a Buzz & Woody for Cooper’s tree, a Mickey Mouse for her tree, and the Sister ornament for Maybree’s tree.

The three little trees are in our foyer and they each hold the kids’ ornaments.

Tuesday we went over to cousin Willie’s house for a cookie decorating party. The kids made crafts and decorated cookies.

Wednesday I had my last doctor’s visit and afterward we met up with Aunt Carrie, Allie Claire & Whitt to exchange Christmas gifts and have lunch at the mall food court. Carrie got me the funnest gift this year… it’s a subscription to Birchbox. Each month they will send me a box of sample make-up, hair stuff, etc. to try. The first box arrived that afternoon! Carrie couldn’t have planned that any better! :)

Wednesday night was my “last supper” before having Maybree on Thursday! I requested Blue Highway, so we went there for dinner when DW got off work. That night, he also surprised me with a sweet eternity band with Maybree’s birthstone. Although he gave me a piece of jewelry with our first two kids, I really didn’t expect anything this time around and was very surprised. So sweet. I had always planned to give Cooper’s one-day wife the diamond earrings DW gave me when he was born and AB will get the necklace and pendant her Daddy gave me the day she was born when she’s old enough… So I love that Maybree will have something, too. DW said there wasn’t any way to leave her out! :)

Thursday was Baby Day! Such a sweet, sweet day…

The week we came home from the hospital was the week leading up to Christmas. AB had lots of fun that week to keep her busy and make her feel special, too!

She baked cookies TWICE with Grammy. She even made Pop get in on the action the second go around!

She got to spend the day Christmas shopping with her Nie-Nie and her cousins. It was so sweet… My MIL got the kids and took them to town to pick out gifts for their parents and their siblings. They had lunch after and then wrapped all their gifts. AB came home with her three presents and proudly announced to DW that she’d gotten him a keychain. :) Christmas morning, she passed out her gifts and did the same thing and told him what it was before he opened it. It was so cute! Nie-Nie told us that AB picked everything out herself, which made it even that much more special. She did get DW a gator keychain, and got me a cupcake bead for my Pandora bracelet. Maybree got a purple (AB’s favorite color) outfit and a little horse stuffed animal.

Mom & I made a few Christmas goodies on the 22nd. I always do a big baking day, but this year, opted out. I just couldn’t do it, but I also couldn’t have Christmas without some Martha Washingtons. So mom mixed them up and then I dipped them in chocolate. That night, we all packed in DW’s truck and took a ride around town to look at Christmas lights. Of course we took a sack of cookies and some punch. :) I wore my pajamas (which have been my outfit of choice for the past two weeks) and that made it even more glorious. AB loved that we both had our jammies on. :)

We did our yearly picture of AB with the baking-day finished products.. it was so sweet to add Maybree this year, too! The pictures of course didn’t turn out like I wanted, but are pretty funny…

DW was off work on Friday, so he took our big girl to see her first movie in the theatre! They saw what AB calls the “Chicken-munks” movie. AB did great and sat through the whole thing! Daddy even took her for a milkshake afterward.

That catches me up through Christmas… so maybe I’ll get that one done tomorrow! :)

~amw~

Meet Maybree…

2011-12-22T21:00:00.001-05:00

I can hardly believe she’s a week old today!

Maybree Miriam was born Thursday, December 15th at 8:40 a.m. She weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs 9 oz and measured 19 1/2 inches long. Of the three, she’s our heaviest and shortest baby!

She is precious and perfect and we love her so much already!

Her name... "Maybree" is a name I heard when I was pregnant with AB. It was actually at Carrie's baby shower in Callahan. The girl who made the shower cake was named Maybree and I thought it was such a different and pretty name. "Miriam" was Devin's grandmother's name. She passed away when he was a little boy, so I never had the privilege of knowing her, but I do know the three daughters and son that she (& DW's Granddaddy) raised...I think the world of Devin's aunts and his Daddy, and I know that his grandmother was a wonderful woman just by knowing them. I love that both our girls' middle names are after our precious grandmothers.

Big Sister is adjusting well. Although she’s had a few “show-out” moments, she loves her sister and is so sweet with her!

Maybree isn’t fussy and the only time we “hear” from her, is to let us know she’s hungry! So far, she’s such a great baby.

She’s so tiny and it’s beyond precious having a newborn around the house again. There isn’t anything like the sounds and smells of a brand new baby!

She’s eating every 2-3 hours, so we’re spending lots of one-on-one time together. :) We had her first dr. apt yesterday and she’s already gained weight! She’s up to 6 lb. 14 oz.

Her delivery went perfectly and we are so thankful for that. We had another scheduled c-section and I don’t think it could have gone better.

We got to the hospital last Thursday morning just after 6:00 a.m.

One last belly pic!

Nie-Nie came and stayed at our house with Annabelle and my parents met us at the hospital. Shortly after our arrival, they started my IV (which I still think is one of the worst parts of the whole deal). They pumped me so full of fluid that my feet and ankles are STILL swollen. :) It felt like it was taking forever for 8:00 to get there (that was our scheduled time), but the closer it got, the more nervous I was. I am a complete sissy when it comes to pain. I don't do shots or blood work and certainly not IV's, so the thought of having my tummy cut wide open REALLY freaks me out. Of course all the waivers you have to sign about anesthesia and surgery help things. I mean what's more reassuring than signing the consent forms that say this may lead to death. I did however, get my refrigerator cleaned out the night before, so that made me feel a little better. DW came into the kitchen around 9:00 that night and asked WHY in the world I was cleaning out the fridge...he didn't understand that if something happened to me in the O.R., I didn't want people bringing him funeral food and us not having a cleaned out fridge.

8:00 rolled around and they wheeled me to the O.R. -- DW was left behind to get dressed. The nurses told him they'd be back for him in 10-15 minutes. He was getting a little worried when they didn't come back for 25 minutes... it took the anesthesiologist a little longer to do my spinal block than usual. But Hallelujah that thing worked. I am always worried it's not and I'm going to feel something! While he was doing it, my left leg went all tingly and numb and I may have freaked out a little and told him I thought it was only working on one side, and I might have told him my mom's epidural story when she delivered my brother and how it only worked on one side...my dr may have laughed a little at my worry and assured me it was just the way I was having to sit that made my leg tingly... they did the pinch test and we were good to go. DW came in and it was time to meet our newest baby!

They started the incision at 8:31 and at 8:40 we heard our girl's first cries. So sweet. She came out louder than both her brother and sister.

Maybree and Daddy headed to the nursery while the doctors finished up my surgery and sent me back to the room for recovery. After an hour of recovery, they finally brought our girl to her momma!

In the past, visitors have been able to go in the nursery with DW and see the babies, but this time was different! They did see her through the nursery window, but no one was allowed in, so everyone was anxious to see our girl up close!

Grammy & Pop

Aunt Nen

DW's Aunt and our pastor had been in the waiting room, but they headed home after the baby came, so I don’t have pictures of them.

We wanted to wait a couple of hours after surgery before having my MIL bring AB up to meet her sister. I know how scary I probably looked right after, and we thought waiting a couple hours would be the best thing for her. Around 10:30, Nie-Nie & Aunt Kels brought her up to meet Maybree!

Nie-Nie & Aunt Kelsey

Annabelle was stand-offish at first, but warmed up fast. She didn't want much to do with me, except to ask me, "What happened to you's clothes, Mommy?" I still had my hospital gown on and she KNEW that didn't look like mommy's jammies. :)

She was excited that the labor & delivery floor had a Christmas tree with PURPLE ornaments (her favorite color), but not nearly as excited as she was to hold her new baby sister! (Thanks, Aunt Stephanie for making her "Big Sister" shirt!) :)

Everyone left around lunch time and that afternoon Pappy & Uncle Adam stopped by to meet their newest granddaughter/niece...they'd been in the cow pens all morning, so they didn't hold her, so no pics of them either.

Devin's mom and her husband also arrived from Georgia late that afternoon. No pics of them either...(Grandma had a little cold, so they didn't hold Maybree either)...she did come back the next day though, and got to hold her.

We waited so long to name her, that we ALMOST didn’t have anything with her name on it for the hospital! Aunt Carrie came through though, and brought Maybree a hat with her name on it!

We could have stayed another day in the hospital, but I was ready to come home! Two nights was plenty for me! We came home Saturday at lunch. My Mom bought her going home outfit a couple of months ago when she was in Tampa for a meeting. Oh, it’s so sweet…I plan to have all the kids’ outfits framed in shadow boxes and hang them somewhere??? Maybe a project for 2012! :)

Dressed & ready to go!

Daddy & Maybree getting ready to head home! She IS tiny, but looks even more tiny when DW holds her. :)

All strapped in! (She looks so tiny in that big carseat!

I am healing good and have been well taken care of. My parents have been staying with us to tend to AB and Maybree and the house… my duties have been feeding the baby and napping. I warned everyone I would be taking full advantage of all the extra help this time, and I have! I’ve napped every day and am letting everyone else handle everything else. I think we’ll all be spoiled when Grammy & Pop go home. It's been super nice, though. :)

We are just soaking up the sweetness that comes with a new baby and handling everything else that comes along with it, too. There have been tears as we remember the sweetness of bringing home her big brother and big sister, and as we imagine how things would have/should have been... there have been some "show-out" moments from a big sister who's getting used to sharing the spot light, and even some snaps out of some tired sleep-deprived adults. But that's how it goes. The good with bad. The happy with the sad. Through all of it, though, we know how blessed we are and we are thankful.

~amw~

Three!

2011-12-12T08:40:00.001-05:00

I am not sure how she turned three years old on Friday. It just doesn’t seem possible.

It seems like yesterday we were finding out she was a girl and through tears I wondered how in the world I would mother a daughter. I had no idea what was ahead. Several months later, on December 9^th we welcomed that pink bundle of pure joy and the moment I saw her, I felt sure we’d figure it out.

Three years into it, we haven’t figured out much, except that she is a blessing in her own little right and has brought so much life and happiness to our family. There have been times when I am quite certain any person on the planet could mother her better than me, but I am certainly thankful that I get to be her momma.

We had a Tangled birthday party to celebrate yesterday afternoon and I’ll share those pictures soon.

But, I’ve been terrible at writing down all the things she’s doing, so for memory’s sake, I want to try to record a few…

Annabelle, you…

- Can count to 12. After 12, you skip around to 20, but you’ve got the 12 thing down!

- Know all your colors. The only two you get confused on is black and brown.

- Love to make matches. You will see two things that are the same and you get so excited that “they match!”

- Also love to play cards…I’m certain this is a gene straight from your namesake, Great-Granny and your great-Papa Quincey. They did love some cards. Although, instead of Spades, you’re more of a Go-Fish & Match girl, for now.

- Love music and to sing. You make up little songs all the time, most of which involve the line, “all my fwends”

- Love to dance. Your signature move is a little bounce and then a twirl with a couple sways.

- Love to write and doodle. WITH PENS. It’s gotten us both into some trouble and we’ve got a couple of marks on our leather couches that we can’t get off, but you get these gene honestly, too. J

- Are obsessed with clothes. So much so, I am planning to discuss it with your pediatrician at your next well-check visit. You’d change clothes 25 times a day if we’d let you. We have to keep the door to your dressing area/closet closed all the time, or else you drag all your clothes out and change all day long. I’ve started to take out two outfits a day and you change back and forth between them (and of course your princess dress-up dresses).

- Speaking of your princess dresses…they are your favorite. You’d rather be wearing a big ole poofy itchy princess dress and plastic heels than anything else. (except for maybe your jammies…you do love your jammies…you get that honest, too.)

- Love steak and shrimp. They are your favorites. But a hotdog is close behind. Gummies, Goldfish, string cheese and “gween” grapes are your favorite snacks.

- You are much like your Pappy & your Daddy and you love some orange juice…anytime of the day.

- If given the choice of where we are going to eat, you almost always choose Sonny’s (you love to get a hotdog there) or Chick-fil-A. Although when we asked you the other night where you wanted to go out to eat for your birthday, you said, “Red Wobster” :) Daddy says, of course you can’t be the kid that picks the Pizza Hut. :)

- Are still pretty shy. You don’t say much around others, but you don’t stop talking all day long at home.

- Make us laugh all the time. You are so silly.

- Love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Little Einsteins. You are also into movies right now, and your two favorites are Toy Story 3 and of course, Tangled.

- Speaking of Toy Story 3- there have been several times when I’ve had to make you take a nap and carry you into your room. You don’t like it, and as you’re having a little fit, you tell me, “Put me down Big-Baby!” (Big Baby is the big baby doll/bully on Toy Story 3.) I almost fell out when you said it. Of course I told you how it wasn’t very nice, and then laughed my head off when you were asleep. :)

- Are starting to really be a big helper around the house. You love to help me with whatever I am doing. I know you’re going to be such a little mommy to your baby sister.

- Get so excited over the littlest things. I LOVE this about you! You make everything so much more fun. Christmas decorating was too much fun this year because everything I pulled out, you loved. It’s been the same way doing your birthday party. You see something new and say, “awww, that’s ‘dorable, Mommy” or “boo-tiful” or “SO cute!” You’re such a girl and I love it.

- Have the best memory. You are always asking us if we “member” something and you will recall the whole event for us. Even things that happened months ago.

I took Aunt Carrie’s advice and started writing down funny things you have said several months ago, but have never posted them. We have quite a list, but here a few favorites:

- “You’s my co-pilot, Mommy.” (“co-pilot” heard after a mickey mouse clubhouse episode).

- You love jewelry and always want to hold my rings and watch. I know better, but sometimes I let you. One day you were holding my engagement ring and said, “what is dis mommy?” I told you it was a diamond and you said, “ooohhh, me wike diamonds.”

- You call all of your stuffed animals your “pets.” One morning we were getting in the car and you found your stuffed turtle and when you grabbed him up, you said, “dere you are! I been looking all over dis house for you!”

- One day when I laid you down for a nap and was walking out of your room and you yell, “wait, come back here, little friend!”

- You add the “y” sound to words when you are being silly, and so “yes, ma’am” turns into “yes, Mammy” quite often around our house.

- If you want to hold mine or Daddy’s cell phone or something else, you always try to talk us into it by saying, “it be mines turn, then it be yours turn. That be okay.”

- Anytime we pass a car, you say, “you driving like Kyle Busch.”

- We put footie pj’s on you one night and you said, “oooh, I’m so nice & toasty”

- If you ask us a question and we don’t answer right away, you’ll say, “talk to me!” The other day you were hollering out the window at the cows and said, “moo to me, cows!”

- When you ask a question and we do answer, lots of time, you’ll repeat the answer we gave you, then say, “got it.”

- Anytime you want to do something longer than what we want you to, you’ll always say, “just a couple minutes.”

- Clothes that are inside out, you call, “inside backwards”

- You shorten “mommy and momma” with mom now, and I can barely take it. You sound so old and grown up calling me mom.

- When we are leaving once place or finishing up something, you ask, “what’s next?”

- You are undoubtedly our favorite three year old girl.

love, Momma

~amw~

What a weekend… one for the books.

2011-12-08T09:01:00.001-05:00

What? It’s Thursday? Already?

We are still recovering from quite an eventful weekend, all the while trying to get ready for AB’s birthday party and two family Christmas gatherings all happening this weekend, AND finishing up last minute things before our tiniest little miss arrives.

Saturday DW worked in the yard to get it all party/Christmas ready and Mom and I worked on projects for AB’s birthday party,and washed all the newborn baby girl clothes and got them put away and ready for baby girl.

That afternoon, we picked up my Granny and made our way to White Springs. We stopped for dinner, which was colorful, to say the least. The most memorable moment would have to be after dinner while walking to the car, when DW & my mom stepped in wild-cat poop and we didn’t know it until we were driving away. The smell was killing all of us within seconds of pulling out of the parking lot, so he stopped at the next parking lot, but it was too late. I was gagging and throwing in front of the gas station as cars were buzzing by. Oh the shame. I know the poor people that were working there thought we were crazy when we all bailed out with me getting sick everywhere and DW and mom dragging their feet in the grass. It was a show. Granny got a good laugh, so that was plus. She’s always been one to love to laugh. She’s also always been one to laugh at all the wrong times. I get it honest. :)

We finally made it to the Festival of Lights. This was our 3rd year and it did not disappoint. Those light-wrapped oak trees are my most favorite and one year, when I can wear DW down and talk him into it, we’re going to wrap our oak tree. :)

DW gets man of the year award for hauling these four generations to dinner and to see the lights. I know my Dad was probably glad he was still in China that night. Ha…

We did have such a good time, though.

Sunday morning came early, so DW went on to Sunday School by himself and we had planned to meet him at church later that morning. I’d gotten us ready and we were on time. As we were making our way up the sidewalk, my shoe caught on some un-even concrete and down we went. I was carrying AB…I know, I know…I shouldn’t have been…but I was. My knee caught a big part of the fall, but I still landed face down on top of AB. She hit her head, but was more scared than anything. Two people saw us go down and ran to help us. I got us up and saw that my stockings were ripped on both knees, but didn’t notice how bad my one knee was bleeding. AB was a wreck, but I kept my composure, until DW’s aunt ran inside to get him and he came running out. Then I stood there, knee throbbing, worried about the baby and mortified all at the same time. Which only lead to tears. :) We left AB with her Nie-Nie & Pappy and called Labor & Delivery, who said to come up right away.

We made it to the hospital and DW let me out up front. I didn’t realize how bad off I looked, until a security guard ran out and asked if I needed a wheel chair. I assured him I was okay to wait there for my husband. DW came running out of the parking garage and we went up stairs, only to find the same security guard holding the normally locked door open for us and told us, “they’re waiting for you.” It was really sweet how concerned he was, but I felt a tad dramatic for sure. Even more so, when they actually PUT US IN A ROOM and made me put on a gown.

The ripped up stockings made it look worse, but the hospital gown does add a certain flair of drama to the pic. Ha…

I thought they’d just take a look at the baby, make sure she was okay, hopefully give me a bandage for my knee and send us home. Turns out I was having a few contractions and we had to stay for 6 hours for monitoring. Baby girl’s heartbeat was thankfully perfect and she was kicking around like normal all afternoon. The contractions didn’t last long and around 6:00, the released us to come home. I felt like a big clumsey dork for sure. It was almost like we were those people who just want to go stay at the hospital, like it’s some kind of hotel or something. We did have a restful afternoon, though. DW got to lay on the couch and watch the whole Broncos game and I twiddled my thumbs in the bed and made some to-do lists on the back of a reciept he had in his pocket. :) We are so thankful everything was fine with the baby and the only thing really injured was my pride. :) We’re even thankful for the forced rest we got. I just wish I didn’t have this skinned up sore knee that came with it. :)

We’ve been taking it easy this week, trying to recoup and rest up for another big weekend ahead.

I’m going to attempt making a Tangled castle out of fondant today. We’ll see how that goes.

~amw~

Christmas Kick-Off

2011-12-02T20:47:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe its December already! We’ve got a REALLY BIG month…

This girl turns THREE a week from today…

Not really sure how it happened that fast, but it did. We’re doing a small party next weekend with a Tangled theme per our girl’s request and I can’t wait! We do love us a party around here!

Little Sister will be here in less than TWO weeks! It has FLOWN by, too! I can’t believe this time two weeks from now we’ll be smelling the sweet smell of a newborn and rubbing our faces on hers. We can hardly wait!

Christmas decorating began two weeks ago. I know people thought I was crazy (and I borderline am), but I decided to start mid-November this year. I was just worried that by the time two or three more weeks had passed, I really wouldn’t feel like getting it all up… and I got SO much new stuff at the after Christmas clearance last year, that I REALLY wanted to see it all up this year! I am afraid having SO much time to decorate has translated in our house teetering on the side of tacky. As DW pointed out, “there’s a little Christmas everywhere.” Annabelle on the other hand LOVES it all. She has been the most fun this year about Christmas! She is so excited and every little thing I pull out and put up, she notices. Its precious. She says, “that’s so cute, Mommy!”

We saw Ho-Ho last weekend while on a trip to the Bass Pro. AB was SUCH a big girl, walked right up there to him BY HERSELF and jumped on his lap. Shock of my life. He asked her what she wanted for Christmas which she replied, “Belle Barbie Doll at Wal-Mart”…

Last night Carrie and I hosted our annual cookie swap. We had a great time with lots of fun girls and lots & lots of cookies! :)

Our Elf on the Shelf arrived today and AB named him, “Elf-Elf.” We like to be original, if nothing else. Ha.

This girl’s ready for Christmas from her head… (her “Aunt - Nanny” got her this Rudolph head band)

to her toes… (AB wants to wear the “Ho-Ho” socks Nie-Nie got her almost every day!).

Lots of fun things going on this time of year but we’re especially thankful for the true meaning of Christmas. I think having a baby during this season is also really special and as a mother, makes me think of our Savior’s birth in an even sweeter way.

~amw~

Burlap Love

2011-12-01T15:17:00.001-05:00

I do love some burlap. I used to only think of it as “farmish” and “fallish,” but the past few years Ballard Design has made it anything but that.

From covered lampshades to curtains and table coverings, they’ve made some serious drool-worthy things using burlap.

Lately, I’ve also been seeing so many great ideas using burlap on Pinterest. I saw these football door hangers at the beginning of football season and decided to make one…

Then I made two more and passed them along to my SIL & MIL…

Such a cute and easy project… I hung mine on our front door and it was cute, but not cute enough to help the Gators have a decent season. Oh well, maybe next year…

The best thing about burlap is how CHEAP it is…(unless you’re buying from Ballard…ha)

Because I am border line insane and thought I needed one more thing to do on my project list, I decided a couple months ago, that we REALLY needed to start working on re-vamping our sunroom. For years, its just kind of sat practically empty, or been used as a storage room.

The first thing I felt like we needed was some curtains to warm up the area and make it feel more like a room. There are three large sliding glass doors (which will be the PERFECT spot for 3 sets of french doors that lead out to a pool someday…amen?) Anyway, since there are three sets of doors, that meant 3 curtain rods and 3 sets of curtains… curtains and window hardware is not cheap to say the least… I started looking around for some large, but inexpensive curtain rods and found some great ones at Ross for $16.99 each! Such a steal… then it was to decide on curtains… I love the burlap panels I’d seen in Ballard (except for the fringe on the bottom) and decided that would be SUCH a cheap project and I thought the texture of the burlap against the red brick in the sunroom would look good, too…

While discussing the plan with my BFF, Carrie, she said she’d made burlap panels for Whitt’s nursery and gave me some advice and said wash it first. Since it was going on the sunroom, I decided not to take the time to wash it before. I also took the EASY route and HOT GLUED my panels instead of sewing them. I just glued a top seam and a bottom seam and then pinned them up Nester-Style, and I LOVE them.

The only thing I would have done differently is listened to Carrie and washed the burlap before… we’ve been airing out the room for weeks and you can still smell the burlap. My mom walked in and said it smelled like her childhood---a tobacco barn. :) Other than the smell, (which doesn’t really bother me either, because I too, have some fond memories at the tobacco barns), I am so pleased with how they turned out and how they warm up the room. Best part is, all the burlap cost me around $30.00 AND I had some left over! The big area rugs also help warm the space up. They are hand-me-downs from my parents’ house. :)

While my glue gun was still hot and the left overs were there, I decided to make a ruffled table runner. I’d seen some on Pinterest and even found a toutorial on how to sew one, but I decided to just go the easy route again and glue it. I just glued a seam around all four edges,

made my gather for the ruffle and glued it on.

I love how it turned out, too.

I had it on our dining room table for a couple weeks, but then moved it onto the table in the sunroom. I got the table at Goodwill with all the chairs for $55.00!! We were looking for an old junk dresser for another project I’ve got on my list, when my mom pointed out the table and chairs. DW and I really like having a table area on the sunroom and have eaten out there several times already.

The last thing I thought I’d do with my leftovers, is cover a lampshade. I bought a couple of white lampshades at Old Time Pottery when we were in Destin this summer for $2.00. I wasn’t sure at the time what I would cover them with, but for $2.00, I thought I could come up with something. I covered it, made a ruffled edge for the bottom and then tied a bow on it. Super easy and I think it turned out pretty cute, too…

I’ve decided that’s probably enough burlap for one room, so I’m quitting with it there! :)

We’re in Christmas and birthday party and get-ready for baby-sister mode around here, so the rest of the sunroom re-do will have to wait until the Spring, too! :)

~annie~

10 & 4

2011-11-23T07:28:00.002-05:00

Ten years ago today, it was November 23, 2001.

It was a Friday and the day after Thanksgiving. I was on the home stretch of wrapping up my first semester of community college and was working part time at the bank.

The banks don’t close the Friday after Thanksgiving, so I woke up early that morning to get ready for work. I packed a bag with a change of clothes, some hair spray, my teasing comb and my make-up bag….all the necessities for after-work plans. Even after all the extra preparations I had done that morning, I still managed to be on time, which was always star worthy for me. I was excited for the day to be over, but nervous for the evening to begin. I had a big first date that night.

There was this guy I’d been talking to for quite some time, who worked as a financial advisor for the bank. We’d become friends several months earlier and he had finally asked me out! He was in fact young, although I was convinced he was a grown man in every sense of the word. He was, after all, four years older than me. He’d been to college and back, and even owned his own house. The idea of going on a date with a “grown man” had my stomach in knots all day.

The day dragged by and finally it was close to closing time. The generous head teller let me balance my drawer first and have a few minutes to change and get ready. Devin was right on-time and picked me up at the bank at 6:00. I got in the truck with that “grown man” and we made the drive to Gainesville. My palms were sweaty and my knees were shaky, but the conversation came easy. By the time we’d made it through Archer I was completely calm and was certain I wouldn’t pass out after all.

DW was still driving the 2-Door Z-71 Tahoe he’d bought to go to college in. It was navy blue with grey on the bottom and had a BEEF sticker on the bumper. I loved it- his Tahoe and the Beef sticker. We were having steak (imagine that) for dinner that night, and when I ordered mine, “well-done,” he caught me completely off guard when he looked at the waitress and said, “no way, at least medium.” WHO.THE.HECK.IS.THIS.GUY.? Did he REALLY just change the way I get my steak cooked? “You can’t eat a burnt steak,” said the guy with the BEEF tag on his truck. I was so shocked and caught off guard, that I just shrugged my shoulders, laughed nervously and silently wondered how in the world I was going to eat a medium cooked steak. We talked and laughed and before I knew it, the pink-centered steak was in front of me and I did what any girl would do on the first date with a really nice guy… I ate it. We finished our dinner and went to see a movie.

The date ended that night with what DW calls the worst hug he’s ever had. We laugh about it now and I always tell him I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea about me. He didn’t know what it took for me to convince my Dad (even though I was out of school) that he didn’t need to pick me up at our house and meet my parents that night! I mean hello, I was a good girl…and he was a grown a man and he did own his own house. :)

Neither of us knew that night ten years ago what the future held for us. We had no idea that exactly one year, one month and one day later, we’d get engaged and by May of that year we’d be married.

We certainly would have never imagined that exactly six years later, when November 23 fell again on a Friday and the day after Thanksgiving, just like it had on our first date, we’d lose our son in a tragic accident.

It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since we had to say goodbye to our Cooper. One of the cruelest things about losing a child is having to go on. Life doesn’t just stop like you think it should. As hard as it has been to go on, though, I am thankful that we have. I am thankful for a God who restores our joy and happiness here on this sometimes hopeless feeling earth. Four years ago, I never thought I’d ever even smile again. And while it did take time, and there are still very hard days, I can honestly say I have happiness and joy in my life. All of which comes from the Hope that only the Lord gives. I know that is true.

Thanksgiving and this time of year will always be a tough one for us, just because it brings it all back. I feel like I’ve been walking around with a lump in my throat and stinging eyes for about a week now and I know today I will have my moments. But I’ve decided that I’m going to remember 10 years ago. I am going to remember that precious first date with the grown man who later asked me to be his wife. Who would have ever thought he’d call for a second date after the horrible, “worst hug of his life” that I gave him on our first date? I’m going to smile when I think about him changing my order at dinner because I know it wasn’t out of control or bossiness that he did it. He did it because he wanted me to have something better. I’ll probably cry when I start to think of that, because he’s still that way. He changed the way I ordered my steak that night, because I haven’t ordered a burnt one since, but he also changed my whole life. I love the line in the song, “God gave me You” that says, “we are stitched together, and what love has tethered, I pray we never undo.” I feel like life has certainly stitched DW and I together. I am thankful that for the past 10 years we’ve walked this road together…on the happiest, highest mountain peaks and in the darkest valleys, too.

We are so blessed to be loved and cared about by so many others, too. We have wonderful family and friends who have and continue to love us through the difficult times. I am so thankful for them, too. I will always be overwhelmed at the way we have experienced God’s love through other people.

Ten years ago, we didn’t know what our futures looked like. We were just a fresh out of high school girl and a grown man going out on a first date. But God knew.

I have a scripture calendar on my desk and this was Monday’s scripture:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you…Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; there is hope for your future.” – Jeremiah 31:3;17 NRSV

Yes, you have, Lord. And I am thankful.

And in case anyone’s wondering, here’s what a fresh out high school girl and a grown man look like… What babies we BOTH were. (And funny that I look like the OLDEST!) :)

~amw~

Peanut Butter & Parades…

2011-11-04T14:59:00.002-04:00

Last weekend was the Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville. It’s always a favorite!

We rode up with Adam & Lauren and tailgated with Sam & Marianne and some friends of theirs. We ate well and had a great time with everyone.

The game pretty much stunk, because let’s face it, who enjoys loosing? The highlight of my day was definitely the Chocolate-Peanut Butter cupcakes I made for dessert. OH.MY.WORD. I do hate to brag, but they were divine. I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to recreate them, since I made up my own icing recipe, but their goodness will forever be part of my memory. :)

I put peanut butter chips in the cupcake mix, and filled the centers with the peanut butter icing. Maybe I should try to make them again soon. :)

Yesterday was the homecoming parade in our town. We dressed AB in her Daddy’s high school alma mater colors and sat with a bunch of the family on a lot in town waiting to see the parade! AB was most excited about seeing her aunt Kels (who’s Sr. class float was being pulled by Pappy & NieNie) and cousin Willie, who was in the parade because he was the Baby Peanut King at this year’s Peanut Festival. The theme for homecoming was something about the decades. So each class had a different decade… the Freshman class had the 1950’s and their float was really cute…

The Sr. Class Float: (they had the 80’s) the big boom box was so cute…

This is my favorite… Nie Nie hanging out the window waving at AB… It’s a shame our girl isn’t loved any more than she is. :)

We also saw lots of other cousins in the parade and caught lots of candy that we don’t need.

The funniest thing was when AB insisted that her daddy hold her, because she “was ‘bout to get runned over!” She was into picking up candy at first, but then decided it was too dangerous and her daddy needed to do it for her. Either way, she left happy with a bucket filled to the brim.

~amw~

Trick or Treat 2011

2011-11-02T13:20:00.001-04:00

AB was an owl this year for Halloween.

We decided to Trick-or-Treat in town on Monday night and it was so fun! Lots of people pull trailers with their trucks, 4-wheelers, Gators, etc, around town and we decided to try it out this year. So fun…

We met at our cousin, William & Stephanie’s house in town and started there.

AB & Willie (for AB’s treat bucket, I just used a galvanized tin that we had and tied some ribbons on each side that matched her costume. So easy and she loved it!

My parents and Granny met us at William & Stephanie’s to see AB all dressed up and ready to Trick or Treat…

After we “Trick or Treated” Great Granny & Grammy & Pop, we loaded up on the hayride to start our trek around the neighborhood.

Aunt Nen (and her mom who was visiting from out of town) rode on the trailer with us. And my other SIL, Amber, and our nephew Warren came along, too. Warren was definitely most excited about all the candy!

Warren & AB on our “hayride”

AB wasn’t sure about it at first. She’s pretty shy, but as long as her Daddy was carrying her or holding her hand, she was good to go!

Especially when the candy started rolling in! She’s so cute saying, “Trick or Treat” – she calls is “Trickin’ Treat.”

We rode around for about an hour and the kids had such a fun time. It’s so fun, too, because everyone else is on trailers and you get to see lots of other people you know.

When we finished up, we tried to get a picture of the kids, but Willie wasn’t having it…

On our way home, we stopped by a few of the aunts’ houses on our road and made a stop by Pappy & Nie Nie’s house.

Walking up to Pappy’s house

We had to stop by Adam & Lauren’s, too… Uncle Adam was out of town, but Aunt Nen is so fun and even dressed up, too!

By the time we made it home it was time for a bath and bed, but not before we surveyed the goods…

AB was SNORING within 5 minutes of laying down that night. The next afternoon, she told DW, “I pwobly go Trickin-Treat again today, Daddy.” I’d say Halloween 2011 was a hit.

~amw~

Fall Fun…

2011-10-24T20:41:00.001-04:00

We finally got some fall weather at the end of last week and the weekend was perfect!

Saturday morning my SIL, Lauren and I went to the McIntosh Festival. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. We both brought some treasure home… I loved these dried okra stalks to add to my fall foliage. I also picked up some cute hair clips for AB, and this sweet vintage bib to hang in Baby Girl #2’s room. (Yes, our baby is STILL un-named…we’re getting close to deciding, though!! I THINK…)

Lauren and I both marked a couple of names off our Christmas lists, too! That’s always exciting!

It was such a fun morning and we ended it with lunch at The Ivy House…perfection.

That afternoon, DW & I took AB to the “Pickin’ Patch.”

William & Stephanie had been last year, and they met us there, too.

AB was excited to have Willlie & his new THREE babies there, and Willie-Boy loves, “Belle-Belle.” That’s what he calls her---Isn’t it the cutest?!?!?

The Pickin Patch was precious. They had this big tent with lots of great photo ops set up when you first got there.

Then you grabbed your wagon, and set out to the field to choose a pumpkin!

William had two of the triplets in the double stroller…& Stephanie was “wearing” one in the sling and pulling Willie in the wagon.

Willie & AB had a big time picking the perfect pumpkin.

They also had different varieties of corn and even a sunflower patch planted.

For the bigger kids there was a hay fort and a corn maze.

We even got a picture of our tiniest “pumpkin”! Only 7 weeks to go!!!

Such a fun fall day!

~amw~

Potty for the Princesses

2011-10-20T07:41:00.001-04:00

DW isn’t one to break a promise. Soon after her 2nd birthday, he promised our girl Disney World, Mickey Mouse and the princesses in exchange for potty training. He kept true to his word, even when her momma suggested we take the cheaper route and take her to Mickey’s Halloween party or to a character dinner at one of the resorts and skip the park all together. :) I was just trying to help the bank account and my swollen pregnant “cankles.”

On Sunday we headed for the Magic Kingdom. The day did not disappoint, either… it really was MAGICAL, and so worth having swollen cankles by the end of the day!

This was the first time we’ve ever been and not gotten a hotel. I was a little nervous about how AB would do without having a place to go take a break and get a nap. I don’t know why I worry, because in her true normal fashion, she did great ALL day long. The park closed at 7:00 that evening and we ended up staying until then!

My parents went with us, too, this trip. My mom said she just couldn’t hardly stand the thought of AB getting to see “Tangled” (AB doesn’t know her as “Rapunzel”) and them not being there to see it! We were so glad they were there, too, to help with everything…it certainly took a lot off of this oh-so-pregnant girl (& DW who would have been chief pack-mule for the day since I’m not much help these days) and AB loved having Grammy & Pop there!

We got to the park so early that we didn’t even have to ride the tram in! We parked THAT close! We bought our tickets and jumped on the mono-rail. The park was decorated for fall with lots of pumpkins and fall colors everywhere.

We made it in plenty of time to see the “Welcome/Opening Ceremonies,” which was so fun! AB loved getting to see all the characters ride up on the train!

The neatest thing about it, though, was we literally walked into the park WITH them! So fun…

See Alice to the left of DW & AB? And to the right is Chip & Dale.

The crowd couldn’t have been any better. It was unbelievable. Wait times for the rides looked like this:

CRAZY!!! I’ve never seen a wait time that short! Some rides were even no wait AT ALL!

Our first destination, though, was to meet Tangled! AB LOVES the movie and will watch it OVER AND OVER AND OVER if we let her. Meeting Tangled, was a top request of AB’s and I had a feeling the line would get pretty long, since she’s the newest of the Disney characters, so we headed there first.

This ended up being the longest wait of the day and it was about 20 minutes. They had a big round “table” set up with coloring sheets and Tangled crayons for the kids to color while the parents stood in line. SUCH a great idea! One of the workers was also going down the line with a stuffed “Pascal” for the kids to have their picture taken with. So fun!

After coloring and waiting in line, it was finally our turn! AB ran right up to “Tangled” like they were long lost friends and gave her a big hug. She surprised us all day by how much she loved seeing all the characters and how comfortable she was with all of them. She wasn’t shy at all! Tangled asked her if she knew her friend, “Pascal”- to which AB replies, “Yea! Where’s you’s horse, Max?” Rapunzel was so sweet and played right along, “What?!! YOU know my horse, Maximus? Well he’s with Eugene back in the kingdom!” How precious is that?

The whole crew with Tangled… I think we’ve ALL seen the movie at least 15 times. Ha…

Next, we thought we’d ride some rides. AB & DW headed for the teacups, but AB quickly changed her mind and decided she didn’t want to ride that! She DID want to meet Alice & White Rabbit, though.

When we first got into the park, we bought an autograph book and pen so she could have all the characters we saw that day sign her book. We had them skip pages and I’m planning to put her picture with them beside their autograph. I’m thinking that will be fun to do from year to year and look back on one day.

Little Miss DID want to ride the “horsies,” so she & Daddy rode Prince Charming’s Royal Carousel.

We all rode on “It’s a Small World,” and of course AB had to throw some coins in the water again.

We rode on the Liberty Belle Riverboat Cruise, which we’d never taken the time to do before, and we were 5 of the 9 people on board for that trip!

While in Frontierland, we went to see Frontier Donald! AB was SO excited to see The Duck!

DW & AB watched the “Dreams Do Come True” show in front of the castle while Mom, Dad & I sat on the benches and watched from a distance.

This was the back of the crowd. Usually it’s backed up all the way back to Mainstreet!

We were the only ones on either side of the “road” sitting on those benches… It was unreal how great the crowd was!

We had decided to get a Fast Pass to see Mickey & Minnie and the Princesses for later that afternoon. While DW & I went to get those, Grammy & Pop took AB to see Ariel (“Ariel Mermaid”) & Prince Eric.

We’ve never done the FastPass thing, but WOW is that the way to go! The wait was only 25 minutes for Mickey & Minnie, but we decided to get passes anyway…I was so glad we did! We were to return between 12:15 & 1:15 to see them, so we got some lunch at Cosmic Rays Café, changed AB into her Minnie Mouse outfit and then headed to the MainStreet Theatre to catch up with our favorite Mice. We made it to Main Street just in time for the Celebrate! Street Parade…

We got to the theater to see Mickey & Minnie, handed them our fast passes and the girl led us down a hallway where we were all by ourselves.

Everybody giving the FastPass a thumbs-up!

Within minutes we were in the room with Mickey! Minnie, sadly, was “out buying new shoes,” so we missed her. We also forgot the autograph book for Mickey to sign, so we decided to go back later in the day to see Minnie & have them sign her book. The really crazy thing is, that the lady forgot to take our Fast Passes, and we didn’t know she was even supposed to take them from us until we went into the Princesses and they took ours there, so we got to use them again later in the day to see Mickey & Minnie!

After we left Mickey, we went straight to the Princess line. Since we had our fastpasses for that too, we thought we’d get right in. We ended up having to wait a couple minutes, but when it was our turn, they let JUST US in the room! It was just us and all three Princesses; Cinderella, Belle & Sleeping Beauty. Cinderella came walking toward us, and we thought she was going on break (aka “going shopping for new shoes”), but she was just coming to greet AB and lead her over to her spot to have her picture taken!

So sweet! They were all so sweet with AB and took so much time with her… it was precious!

After all the excitement of meeting Mickey & The Princesses, we decided we’d take a ride around the park on the train and maybe AB would fall asleep and get a power nap in. We got to see the new under-construction part of the park, too! I can’t wait to go back next year to see it open! After two trips around the park, AB’s eyes were heavy, so we stopped in Frontierland, put her in her stroller and just a few steps later she was out! We found a spot in the shade and rested for about an hour. It was glorious for our girl and her pregnant momma.

When AB woke up from her nap, it was time to pick a spot for the parade! We got our spot and waited for the parade! I LOVE the parades…AB does, too! They’re always a favorite part of the day!

Once the parade was over, we set out to find Woody & “Cow-Jessie,” more favorites of AB’s. We were the first in line when they made it back to their spot for pictures and they were SO MUCH FUN when they got there! My parents were sitting on one bench with AB and DW and I were sitting on the other. Mom & Dad, thinking they were sitting in their spot, jumped up when they got there, and Woody goes over and shakes my Dad’s hand. It was so cute… the benches aren’t where they taking the pictures, but Jessie sat right down and pulled AB in her lap and hugged her. Then Woody came over, and they took AB over to the spot where they did pictures. They spent so much time with her, I was feeling bad for all the people waiting in line! It was just the neatest thing ever…

Pop insisted that we find Goofy next, since he, too, is one of AB’s faves. He stopped and asked one of the Disney workers where Goofy could be found, and we headed for Pirates of the Caribbean to meet Pirate Goofy. As soon as it was AB’s turn, she walked up to him and said, “You really tall, Goofy!” She even kissed him goodbye!

We headed back to see Mickey in hopes that Minnie would be back, and as luck would have it, she was! We were the only ones in the room again, and we spent at least 5 minutes with them. In the past, we’ve waited close to two hours, and only gotten what felt like 30 seconds to get a picture with them. It was so awesome this time! AB was so excited that Minnie was back from “shopping” and asked her, “you’s got you’s new shoes on?!?!”

We ended the day by visiting Tomorrowland, where we’ve never really spent much time. We saw the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor show and then headed back to Fantasyland for a couple more rides.

The carousel was a must, again. This time, though, AB wanted Grammy & Pop to ride with her. After that, she wanted to ride “Bumbo” with Daddy & Grammy.

Our last stop of the day was to shop for some souvenirs, of course! But more on that, later.

It was such an awesome day. There is nothing better than seeing your child enjoy something so much. Disney is such a magical place and to see it through the eyes of a child, ESPECIALLY your own, is almost too much to take. It’s a day all of us will cherish always.

~amw~

Potty Training

2011-10-19T16:33:00.001-04:00

Praise the Lord, we will have a few months of not buying diapers before baby sister arrives!

For memory’s sake, I’m writing out our girl’s potty training story…

Annabelle has been officially potty trained since August and has been doing great. She still has the occasional accident, but she’s done so awesome with it!

I held off even starting to try to potty train with her as long as possible. I was scared to death, to be honest. I’ve read and seen horror stories and I just didn’t think I was going to be woman enough to handle puddle after puddle of tee-tee on the floor, in my car, or heaven-help-us-all, IN PUBLIC.

My Mom bought AB her first big girl panties just before her 2nd birthday, along with the Elmo Potty Time DVD. Her Nie-Nie, not knowing that Grammy had already bought it, bought Elmo’s potty video for her, too, around the same time. I got the hint loud and clear from the grandmothers, but I still held off. :)

DW was yelling from the sidelines, “encouraging” us OFTEN to get going on the potty situation… he even promised AB a trip to Disney World to see Mickey Mouse when she started tee-teeing in the potty and wearing her big girl panties all the time. I know, I know, I shook my head, too. But he is a spoiler, he can’t help it… and he’s shameless when it comes to his girls…especially the one who calls him “Daddy.”

In the spring, we tried a few times, but she just wasn’t interested AT ALL. I kept reminding her of her Daddy’s promise, and even found Minnie Mouse hand soap at Target to keep in the bathroom as a reminder. But NOTHING worked. I’d ask her if she wanted to use the big girl potty or wear big girl panties and all I got was, “no fanks, Mommy, me just wear my diapies” Oh, mercy… I just knew we’d be going to kindergarten wearing “diapies.” But, I kept reading to WAIT until they are ready and it would be so much easier. EASIER, you say? Well that’s more my style. So I didn’t push it and we WAITED.

Then, as the summer was coming to an end, I finally decided it was time and if she wasn’t ready she had better get ready, because there was no way we wanted to be buying, or changing, for that matter, diapers for two!

So I made a little “potty chart” on an Excel spreadsheet, taped it up, got some stickers, M & M’s (why yes, I support bribery) and the big girl panties out, and we gave it a shot. She did AMAZING. It totally blew my mind on how “easy” it really was. That first week she had a couple of accidents, but thankfully they were all on non-carpeted surfaces… amen?!

I soon learned that what I had feared was not at all the way it was. In fact, I’d not seen the first puddle! We stayed close to home that week, but by the weekend we had to take a 2 hour trip to Callahan for Carrie’s baby shower. I was scared out of my mind taking her sans diapers in the car for TWO hours and to SOMEONE else’s house!!!! Oh Lord, PLEASE don’t let her leave her first “puddle” at Carrie’s mother-in-law’s house OR in my car… but if it has to be one of the two, let it be my car, PLEASE!!! Would you believe she yells from the backseat, “me need to go pee-pee” about an hour into the trip?!?!? I whipped that car over, pulled out our portable potty and she went right there! I felt like we’d climbed the Mt Everest of the potty training mountains.

Since then, there’s been no stopping her. It really was such a painless and I may regret saying this, but easy thing to do. The worst part has been having to use public restrooms. I have always had a SEVERE phobia of public restrooms. I use them ONLY in dire emergencies, which isn’t often. One day I’ll need bladder reconstruction, I’m sure because of this phobia, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Over the past two months I’ve used more public restrooms than I have my entire life, and I am not kidding. It’s been SOMETHING, but I’ve managed to push through for the sake of my girl, and for the fear of her leaving a puddle on Isle 3 at the Target. Amazing how things change when you have kids.

I’ve held off writing this post, for fear that she would regress and we’d have to go back to diapers, but we’re going strong on two months now, and she got her reward trip to Disney this weekend, so I decided it was time for it to make the blog and go down in our little family’s history book.

For the record, there has yet to be a puddle left anywhere… who knew potty training could be so CLEAN and easy??? I’m already praying it goes as smoothly with baby sister when her time comes.

~amw~

Pumpkins & Pals…

2011-10-13T06:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, we met up with our BFF’s at the Pumpkin Patch. This was our first of what I’m sure will be several trips to local “patches” this year. AB was so excited to see all the “pun-kins.”

We met Allie & Carrie after naptime to let the girls pick out some pumpkins and play for a little bit.

We’ve all been so busy lately and we haven’t gotten to do much together the past few weeks, so these two were so excited to be reunited!

Too excited to look at the camera that’s for sure. Although come to think of it, that’s becoming a regular thing for our little miss…so is the hand on the hip pose. :)

Thankfully I can still bribe her to look every once in a while!

The girls walked all around the “patch” rolling and carrying pumpkin after pumpkin.

After picking just the right teeny-tiny pumpkins, we headed for an afternoon snack at the TCBY.

It was a quick little outing, but we were glad to see our BFF’s… when we left I told Carrie how crazy it was to think that we probably won’t see them again until Whitt is born! We can’t wait to meet Allie Claire’s baby brother soon, and before we know it our baby sister will be here, too! :)

~amw~

Pappy’s Peanuts…

2011-10-11T06:35:00.000-04:00

I think my father-in-law, (MIL, too), my two brother in-laws (and I’m sure even my SIL’s) sang the hallelujah chorus last Wednesday evening.

All the peanuts on the farm were finally dug and picked! The crew has been working seven days a week for quite some time, stopping only long enough on Saturdays for Florida Football and for church on Sunday…it’s all about the priorities. :) They’ve all been working so hard and we’ve barely seen each other lately, and when we have, they’ve all been covered in dirt.

It all started back in May…

We rode out to the field one evening so AB could see Uncle Van plowing and laying out the rows, getting ready to start planting…

We rode back out several weeks later to see those seeds had sprouted right up!

I don’t really know all that went into it over the next few months, but I know there was lots of spraying involved.

The plants grew and grew, though…

By mid-September, the peanuts were ready for digging.

fresh from the digger…

I’m always interested to see how all this works, so we went out to the field one afternoon so I could see…(& AB, too) :) My Papa grew peanuts, too, back when he farmed, but I was so small then I don’t remember anything about it…

Little Miss showing off some peanuts she picked off the vine

This is the peanut digger. It’s pulled behind the tractor and digs the peanuts up, laying them in perfect rows on top of the ground…

Freshly dug rows, drying…

Then it’s the pickers turn.

AB & DW checking out Uncle Adam’s picker

The peanut vines are sucked up by those tines and the peanuts are shook loose. They stay in the top bin and the empty vines are shot back out on the ground.

vines that have been dug & picked

AB & her Pappy

After the peanuts are picked, and that basket on the top of the picker is full, they get dumped into the trailers and then taken to the dryers to be dried even more. After that, I don’t really know. :) I forgot to ask that question… All I know is the last time we saw them was on the trailer heading to the dryers.

Even “Nie-Nie” helped with the peanuts! She was the official trailer hauler. AB just HAD to sit on the tractor with her and “drive”.

Our girl showing off the finished product… a trailer full of peanuts!

We’re all about home-grown around here! :)

~amw~

Family Reunion 2011

2011-10-09T20:31:00.001-04:00

Every 2nd weekend in October for the last 12 years, the Clyde & Peggy Quincey (my grandparents) family has gotten together for a weekend-long family reunion.

It’s crazy to think that if we were all to get together, there would be over 100 of us. That’s just my grandparents’ children (my aunts & uncles), their kids (my first cousins) and our families! It’s a crew for sure…

This year was probably the slimmest year ever at the reunion, but it was still a fun time. We sure missed seeing everyone who wasn’t able to be there.

We always kick off the weekend with a big fish fry on Friday night. Fried mullet, shrimp, swamp cabbage, grits and hush-puppies are the main attraction.

Some of the men fry the fish while the others stand close by to help “supervise” and sample…

and the kids all run around the yard and play…

This was one the most precious things about the weekend… Annabelle & her cousin Anna. They are the same age difference as their mommas who grew up so very close, too! I loved seeing mine & Amy’s girls loving each other and playing so well together. AB would say, “’dats mine’s cousin, Anna” all weekend. So sweet…

Saturday we all meet back up at Granny’s for a day of visiting and catching up, along with some friendly competition mixed in.

My mom’s siblings are scattered between Florida, Georgia & Alabama, so we always have a “War between the States” to see which state will take home the beloved turtle-shell trophy at the end of the weekend. The first few years, the big volleyball tournament between the states was the determining factor on who won the turtle, but for the past several years, we’ve had different competitions to see who wins. We also have a theme every year and the games and contests are planned to match that. We’ve done almost every theme you can think of. This year’s theme was “Swamp People…”

We planned the games around the lingo of Troy and the rest of the gang on The History Channel’s show, “Swamp People.”

setting up for the events…

We had 10 gator tags that the 3 states would be battling for over the weekend. The first 5 were hidden in different spots around my Granny’s yard. Clues were given and the family had to be on the lookout to find them… One clue was “Granny & the Buzzard.” Anyone in our family should remember Granny telling her hilariously funny story about the time she hit a buzzard with her car. It got stuck and she had to drive with that big bird’s legs hung under her car’s hood with it’s wings spread open for 5 miles until she could get to the county road department and find some men to help her get it off. Obviously that gator tag was hidden on her car.

The other 5 tags were timed events that were planned around the lingo of “Swamp People.”

“He a tree shaker” was the first event. Each team had to have a Troy and a Willie (who would push/pull the “boat”) over to the tree where the “Tree Shaker” was hanging. The teams also had to have a ‘Lizbeth riding in the boat. When the team got the gator untied, they had to get it in the boat with ‘Lizbeth and race back to the finish line.

Georgia’s Team going first…

Alabama was up next…

then Florida. We ended up tying with Alabama, but in a re-do for a tie-breaker they beat the Florida team.

“How ‘dem snakes get in ‘dat jar” was the next event. For this one, each team had to have one of their kids (under 6 years old) reach in a big jar of plastic snakes and in one handful see how many they could pull out.

Anna trying for the Georgia team.

Reid representing Alabama

& Florida’s snake grabber, AB! :)

“ dos gator eggs good to eat” was the third event. One member from each team had to see how many gator eggs (ping pong balls) they could toss in a bucket in 60 seconds.

watching the gator egg toss

“ ‘Choot ‘em” was the next event. We made a gator out of cardboard, attached a bunch of balloons and then each team had to see which one could “shoot” the gator the most times with the 6 darts they were given.

“ ‘use ‘dat ‘dere snare” was the last event. For this one, each team had to have 3 swamp people--- one to ride in the “boat” and the other two to push it to the “swamp”…

Once in the swamp, the person in the boat (who was also blind-folded had to use the gator “snare” to pull the gator out. His two partners had to tell him which way to move, when to pull, etc… and once the gator was loaded up, they raced back to the finish.

The Florida team which was my Dad, DW & my Uncle Jerry…

In the end, it was Alabama who won the prized turtle. They found 4 of the 5 hidden tags and won ALL 5 events. I also feel it fitting to say they had the most attendance for the states, too.

Team captain, Uncle Clifford showed off the lanyard with all the gator tags their team won…

Georgia was missing my Aunt Cindy and her whole family, and Florida was missing all of my Uncle Bert’s family and two of my Aunt ZoAnn’s kids and their families… excuses, excuses, what can I say. :) We were such losers, we couldn’t even all look in the same direction for a picture! Ha…

Granny & AB look the most disappointed about loosing. ha…

Everyone spent the rest of the afternoon visiting.

Saturday night, we all came back together for a big BBQ. Again, some of the men do the cooking, while the others “supervise, visit & sample”… :)

It’s a full weekend, for sure!

It’s always nice to see everyone and to remember that while family is what we’re born into---we may not always see eye to eye on everything, or share all of the same interests, but they’re still really good to have. :)

~amw~

Riding Around…

2011-10-05T06:55:00.000-04:00

At least once a week, sometimes more, we take a ride around the farm. It’s one of our favorite things to do together. I love it because it always reminds me of when DW and I had just started dating…he used to bring me riding around the farm all the time… Sometimes before our dates, sometimes after our dates, and sometimes that would be our date…I love that we fell in love on the land he grew up on, and where our children will grow up. I love that I’ve done a little growing up here myself, too. :)

Usually we take the 4-wheeler on our adventures, but being pregnant and riding the 4-wheeler really doesn’t mix… at least for this oh-so-big girl. :)

There’s nothing better than wide open spaces and the weather this weekend was perfect.

Sunday afternoon, we loaded up and took a ride. AB insisted on wearing her pink “cow-boots” (hand-me-downs from cousin Anna), and since she was looking so cute, I grabbed my camera to get some pics of her.

There’s a big pile of rocks that makes a great spot for pictures, so we made a stop there, and she loved getting to be “tall…”

I am not sure when our girl started looking five years old… ????

I’m sure she’ll seem even bigger when baby sister gets here!

How fun it will be to add another sweet little one to our riding around traditions… we’re going to have to get another pair on pink “cow-boots” for sure. :)

~amw~

Big Girl…

2011-09-26T10:25:00.001-04:00

We are on a serious, “Big Girl” kick at our house.

AB discovered her independence BIG time this summer, and if we heard, “Me do it myself” once, we heard it ten-thousand times.

It was at an all time high around July when she insisted on doing everything “by mine’s self” --- thankfully she’s learning that there are some things she still needs her momma & daddy for. I was getting worried that she’d be ready to get her own camper and start sleeping in the backyard by “her’s self” by Christmas.

It’s such a double edged sword, this growing up thing… On one hand it is SO much fun to see your child learning new things and becoming such a little person and on the other it just comes way too fast. I want to encourage her independence and confidence as she takes on new things, but I also never want to push her into it.

The latest milestone we’ve checked off, is moving Annabelle from her crib to a big-girl bed. I know most people would have already moved their toddler out of the crib WAY BEFORE now, but she’s never tried to climb out, and it’s just worked for us to leave her in the crib.

We’ve always had a full size bed in her room too, with bedding that matched her crib bedding, so we knew when we got ready to move her up, we’d probably just move her to that instead of doing a toddler bed. (that’s another reason we’ve waited so long to move her up, too)…

We knew it was time to take down the crib, so we’ve been talking about her big girl bed for a few weeks, and she’s even started taking her afternoon naps in it. (I was so worried nap time would be over when we moved her out of the crib, too, but thankfully we are still taking our 2-3 hour afternoon nap.) Once I saw how great she did in the big bed at naptime, I felt better about the “move.”

She even started asking to sleep in her big bed at night, but since we hadn’t gotten rails for it yet, we held off. She knew she needed rails, so everyday she would ask if Daddy had gotten some rails for her big girl bed yet… She was in a hurry to move up to the big bed, but Momma wasn’t…imagine that. I knew it was time, though, so we bit the bullet… well, DW did and ordered the rails. He knew I wasn’t' ever going to do it, so he better. Ha…

AB’s new rails came in on Friday and you would have thought it was Christmas. Her Daddy came in carrying a big box, and they opened it together, and AB just squealed… “My wails, my wails, you get dem (them) for ME, Daddy?!?!?!?” It was so sweet…

We thought we would put them on her bed that afternoon, but then I started thinking that I hadn’t gotten a picture of her on her last night in her crib the night before, and we hadn’t really taken it all in, that when we laid her down the night before it was the LAST night we’d lay her down in her crib. We quickly decided it would be Saturday night before she slept in the big girl bed. :)

Here’s our big girl on her last night in her crib:

She’s changed a lot since then:

On Saturday afternoon, we (meaning DW) put the rails together. Annabelle was so excited, she grabbed the instructions from the box and said, “let’s see, Daddy..Step 1…” She was quite the helper and insisted on holding the poles for him.

Trying out her new rails:

(please note that I did not put the newborn headband on her…we’ve been going through bins for baby sister and she’s been happily reunited with the bands she sported as a newborn…only when she was an infant, I don’t remember her looking like a hippy in them.)

Her first night in the big girl bed, all tucked in and a thumbs up:

She was so excited to be in her big girl bed! When DW and I went to bed that night, I got a little worried… I played every scenario in my head and out loud to DW—what if she gets scared in that big bed? She’s used to having rails on all four sides and not that much space… What if she fell off the bottom of the bed? What if she managed to squeeze in the 8 inch open space at the top of the bed? What if she got up in the middle of the night and it was too dark for her to see down the hallway? --- We turned on the hall closet light, and DW finally said, “Honey—are you kidding me? Scared? She’s FREE. She’s been sleeping in a cage. She LOVES it and she’s not going to fall out.” And right he was. She woke up Sunday morning giddy and proudly announced, just in case we had missed it, “I slept in my big girl bed!!!!”

Last night, after we laid her down (surrounded by all of her pillows and half a dozen “pets” (she calls her stuffed animals her pets), we watched & listened on her video monitor as she sat straight up, looked at her animals and yelled, “I in my big-girl bed, er'-body (everybody)!”

I guess she was ready.

~amw~

Summer’s Last Hoorah

2011-09-14T20:28:00.001-04:00

We ended Summer 2011 on a great note by spending a week in Destin with my parents.

My brother and his family and my parents all got there on Saturday and we went up on Sunday.

An uninvited guest, Tropical Storm (later turned Hurricane) Lee was waiting for the crew when they arrived on Saturday. He brought strong winds, lots of rain and the biggest waves any of us had ever seen on the normally calm Gulf coast! It was actually really neat to see a storm like that at the beach.

I was glad Momma rented such a great house, though. She spent weeks picking out the perfect one and I think we all agreed, it was! It was gorgeous and made hanging-out inside actually enjoyable! Plus, with three stories, there was plenty of room for everyone to spread out and have their own space. A few pics from the floor we stayed on… Each level had a front and back balcony, too! Such great views!

AB, Garrett & Caroline waiting to head to the water!

In between the rain showers, we braved a walk on the beach, but couldn’t get in the water because of the strong current and huge waves…

Beau & Garrett

Sunday night, we went to the harbor and had dinner at Dewey’s…I was a terrible picture taker the first few days and I hate that I didn’t get one single picture of all of us. :(

The kids all watching a movie after dinner…

Monday morning, we woke up to find the back glass had been blown out of the back of Beau & Kristy’s car. Crazy, right?!?!? The guys made a makeshift one until they could get back to Georgia to have it fixed.

The kids got to play in the “sandbox” which was such a neat feature to the house. It was a covered, open-air sandbox filled with beach sand and beach toys… perfect for the kids. After lunch, Beau & his crew headed back home.

We had dinner that night at a great BBQ place and visited the Bass Pro Shop. AB LOVED the huge fish tank with the massive saltwater fish and DW shopped for some new binoculars.

By Tuesday, the storm had passed, the sun was out and it was BEACH time!

I LOVED this board and block letters in the house. I’d love to have one! I made a little note for Lee on it! :)

Because of the dune restoration, you can’t access the beach right in front of the homes, you have to use a beach access, and while it was really close to the house, when you have a kid, you have A LOT of stuff… So, we borrowed my in-laws yard wagon to haul everything down to the beach every day. It was PERFECT and we were the envy of everyone on the beach. AB rode on the cooler every day and would say, “giddy up, ride ‘dat horsey!” on the way down to the water.

Our days were spent pretty much the same way everyday… beach, pool, nap, beach, dinner. Then we’d wake up to do it again the next day. Absolute Perfection.

We played in the waves…

Played in the sand…

Hunted for seashells…

And laughed at AB doing “Sneaky Pete” all week…

The pool was a shared pool by all of the houses in the Destin Pointe Community and it was PERFECT for AB! It had the gradual entry and one whole side of the pool was no deeper than 3 foot. She was able to walk all around and LOVED it!

She thought she was even more grown than she already does!

The warm, crystal clear water on Florida’s Panhandle beaches is hard to beat.

The neat thing about the clear water, too, is all the sealife you get to see… we saw a small school of needlefish, a pufferfish, & even SHARKS on the last day! We were amazed at how close they swam to the people in the water! (Not us, because once we saw them we were watching from the shore! Ha…) I was glad it was our LAST day! We also saw lots of jellyfish the evening of our last day…

On Tuesday night, we went to the harbor to see all the boats and watch the sunset.

DW had to head back home on Wednesday night, after dinner, but told us to just stay the rest of the week with my parents. I KNOW, I KNOW… I married a really great guy. We all hated to see him go, and missed him like crazy the rest of the week…

That night, after we’d had dinner at Longhorn (if you haven’t had the Wild West Shrimp appetizer there, get it…so good), and said goodbye to DW, we took a drive down the coast through Watercolor and Seaside. SUCH fun little beach communities.

The famous row of “Baked-Potatoes” in Seaside…everything from smoothies, to BBQ. I saw these in Southern Living a while back and had been dying to see Seaside in person!

Thursday we beached all day, took a little fieldtrip to “Old Time Pottery” where we got a few things, including these pilgrims for $5.00, and this fall ribbon for $1.00!

That night, we had dinner at The BackPorch.

It’s right on the water and was an open-air restaurant. The breeze was so nice and hearing the waves while you eat great seafood is pretty close to perfect.

Friday was our last day and we soaked it up all day and even watched the sunset over the water.

We went out for a late dinner and started packing up…

Saturday morning, we enjoyed one last morning on the back balconyand loaded down my dad’s truck to make the drive home.

AB riding with some luggage on the elevator. That might have been her favorite part of the house!

Such a great week to end Summer! Now bring on Fall, and Winter and our new baby girl!!! :)

~amw~

Good-bye Humidity….

2011-08-22T11:34:00.001-04:00

I got back from my girls’ trip on Sunday, only to leave my suitcases waiting to be re-packed for Wednesday…

We took a quick trip with Pappy, Nie-Nie, Kels, Uncle Adam & Aunt Lauren to the mountains.

We left mid-afternoon on Wednesday and pulled into the drive of my in-laws’ friends’ vacation house around 11:00 p.m.

AB did so good on the trip, even though she only slept for about an hour!

She had plenty to keep her busy in the car…crayons, coloring books, stickers, snacks, DVDs and even some new jewels…she insisted on wearing her rings on her toes…

We woke up to this beautiful view on Thursday morning…

Our first stop was for pictures on a scenic WAY-TOO-CURVY-for-this-Florida girl road. The crew’s been taking pictures here all their lives, and over the past (nearly) 10 years, I’ve managed to be in quite a few here, too…

We made it off of the road-from-heck and our next stop was Cherokee. On our list was to see the Indian for a picture and get some fudge. Both were checked off, and we even made a stop at the new part of Harrah’s to see about Paula’s new restaurant. AB managed to get a pink feather head-dress and drum (which she kept us entertained with the rest of the trip)and even got to ride a couple quarter rides. Because who doesn’t drive 11 hours to do something they could have done at their local Wal-Mart?

It was back in the car for another scenic drive up the Smokey Mountain Parkway. Of course there were stops for photo-ops…

We made our way through Gatlinburg and then up to Pigeon Forge. We did a little shopping at the outlets… Kelsey and Lauren got some “back to school/back to teaching clothes”…and I got a few “I’m too big to fit in any of my other clothes”, too. :)

We stopped in at a family favorite, The Apple Barn for dinner…the apple fritters are a fave.

The next day was DW’s birthday! We got subs and had a picnic by the Nantahala. The crew had reservations for River Rafting that afternoon. AB and I sent them off and stayed back at the outdoor center, where we played in the river, picked up rocks, ate some snacks and did lots of walking around and picture taking…a wardrobe change was necessary after a slight rock-gathering malfunction left AB soaking wet…

We’d planned to take some pictures of the crew and even tried to walk down to the falls to take an action shot of them coming down, but they made it back so fast, we missed them!

It was back to the house that night for DW’s birthday dinner… steaks on the grill. We’d packed some Transformers party stuff to add some birthday fun… AB wanted to get Tangled, but I was able to talk her into Transformers.

AB, her head-dress & party horn…

blowing out candles with Daddy…

Saturday was our last day in the mountains, and we decided to try a place in town that DW and Lauren had read about online. The kicker… it was in a gas station.

I was a little nervous at first, but the reviews were right and we were glad we’d tried somewhere new. The inside looked nothing like a gas station…

and the food was amazing…We drove up to Highlands and stopped at Dry Falls on the way. Just as we were making it down to the falls, it started pouring…

We made it to Highlands…

Highlands is fun for window shopping, and it got me itching to come home and pull out my fall décor.

We walked around town and into a few shops…

We stopped by the Dillard House on the way home to let AB see the animals. AB was going on her third day in a row of about a 30 minute nap, so that left her feeling a bit like this… But once she saw the baby goats, she was back to Miss Sunshine…

She was feeding the goats and I felt bad for the donkey who was feeling left out… I was scared to death he was going to bite me, but I swallowed my fear and stuck my hand out…

That night we went to dinner and had game night back at the house. After a hilarious game of “Things,” we called it a night…

We headed back for the Sunshine State Sunday morning and pulled in our drive around 5:00 p.m. It may be humid, but it’s home. And there’s NO PLACE like it.

~amw~

Fun Friday–Butterfly Farm

2011-08-17T15:19:00.001-04:00

A few Fridays ago, Mom and I took AB down to Homosassa Butterfly farm.

After you pay, you’re lead to the film room, where you watch about a 20 minute video on the life cycle of a butterfly. We weren’t sure how long AB would last and my Mom even told the guy, we’d probably come out early. To our surprise, she sat for the whole movie.

They had such a nice little theater and we were the only ones in it for that viewing.

After the movie, you take a personal guided tour through the three rooms as you follow the life cycle of the butterfly up close. For each stage, they have a glass case that has actual eggs, caterpillars, cocoons and then butterflies in them. The cases all open and the guide was happy to give us an up close look at all of the stages.

The walls were all painted so cute with big flowers and butterflies and they even had 3-D caterpillars and flowers coming out from the ceiling.

After the tour, we were given our own butterfly to release in the butterfly garden.

Then we got to walk around and see all the different butterflies, plants, and even enjoy the fish pond.

It was such a neat little trip and AB has been obsessed with butterflies since we left!

~amw~

A Bunch of Girls….

2011-08-15T14:12:00.002-04:00

I think I counted up that of the past three weeks, I’ve spent a total of 6 nights at home.

It’s been a busy month around here, but busy is sometimes just what you need to get your mind off of other things. Since this time of year is always a hard one, anything to keep us busy is a good thing. Another thing that’s good for that is just some girl time… (when you’re a girl, of course). :)

On August 4th, AB and I packed the suburban and headed to Orlando International Airport to pick up several of my favorite girls, who happen to all share in my bloodline, too. My mom followed behind us in her car, because she also had a pick up to do.

I never had a sister growing up, so these four cousins have always been my stand-ins. Steph didn’t have an actual sister either, so we’re pretty much it for each other. Every summer I’d head for the hills of Northeast Georgia to spend a few weeks with all of them, and gain at least 10 lbs from eating a Dairy Queen blizzard every day. Although we grew up hundreds of miles from each other, you’d never find closer cousins.

The first flight that landed was from Atlanta and had my Aunt Kay and her girls; Becky, Krissy & Amy on it. The next flight, all the way from Salt Lake City had Stephanie on it. With all the girls and luggage accounted for, we headed to grab some dinner before going our separate ways.

The Cheesecake Factory called our names and as always, never disappoints. We got mom, Aunt Kay & AB all loaded up and headed north on the turnpike and we other five hit I-4 toward Daytona.

We hit the grocery store early Thursday morning, for the essentials and then hit the beach. The next three days were pretty much the same routine… sun all day, with a little pool time mixed in, PB&J’s for lunch (we were living just like we did in the 90’s) , then out to dinner every night.

Becky, Amy, Me, Stephanie & Krissy

I feel like all we did was lay out and eat. Which are the makings of a great trip, in my book. Steph & I did get a few early morning walks down the beach in, so surely that counts for some sort of exercise.

The Georgia girls brought matching towels for all of us… and we all got a float for the pool…perfect for me, since floating on my tummy in the pool is the only way I can get any sun on my back these days. :)

We went all kinds of crazy and actually saw TWO movies on our trip, and even had frozen yogurt at 10:00 one night. Just a bunch of old married girls (four of which are mommas, too) living it up. Ha…

What’s REALLY crazy, is Steph & I shared the “date pack” at one of our movies, which came with this huge popcorn and we both laughed thinking we’d never even put a dent in it. We must have been feeling cray-cray for sure, because before the movie even started we’d made it half way through our bottomless bucket.

We bought a new board game, “Things,” one night and laughed so hard we cried. Such a fun game. Especially with people you really know… funny how even when trying to be off the wall with your answers, you manage to have some of the same ones! Too fun.

Of course, we managed to get some shopping in one night, too… We had a good laugh in the dressing room when deciding WHO could wear the strapless, MC-Hammer leg romper…

A girl who isn’t pregnant?

Or one who is?

Our vote was NEITHER. Everyone will be relieved to know none of us purchased it.

Something I’ve always loved when a group of girls get together is the endless supply of hair products and makeup that follow. The great part is trying everyone’s stuff and deciding if you love it before you go get it for yourself. Steph laid the smack-down this year when she shared her lipstick with us. It’s Clinique’s Almost-Lipstick in Black Honey.It’s the coolest thing ever—and shows up a different color on EVERYONE. We hit the Clinique counter and all got some.

It was such a nice break from reality and so great to spend some time with “the five”. I’m thankful for all our memories growing up and thankful we are still making some. I think it’s fair to say we have some pretty awesome husbands, too. How many men would stay home with the kids for four days or be excited for their wives to get to have a five day girls’ trip? We’re lucky girls, for sure. And what about my mom who took time off work to keep AB during the days while DW was working? And my awesome in-laws for letting us stay at their condo? My life’s blessed with some pretty great people.

“I thank my God every time I remember you” – Philippians 1:3

~amw~

Six

2011-08-09T21:10:00.002-04:00

Six years ago today, on Tuesday August 9th,

We learned what the purest form of unconditional love is. We felt what real joy was like and for the first time in our lives we knew exactly what it felt like to have our hearts outside of our bodies.

Our lives have changed so much every year, but one thing that never will is how deeply we love and miss our Cooper.

While our hearts are still very broken, today on his birthday, we are able to smile through tears as we remember that Tuesday morning when we first laid eyes on our precious son.

It’s hard to believe he would have been six today.

It’s a……

2011-08-08T10:36:00.001-04:00

Someone was camera shy when we tried to take these pictures… but her little sister certainly wasn’t last week when we went in for our 20 week ultrasound.

Looks like come December our house will be filled to the brim with ruffles and bows!

We can’t wait to meet this little girl and we are so thankful for her healthy report at our appointment last week!

~amw~

Blue Run 2011- The Pictures

2011-07-29T22:10:00.002-04:00

Last Friday, we headed to the river house for our family’s week at Blue Run.

It’s one of our favorite places for sure. We say it a lot, but DW and I want to retire there someday…with a house that also has a shed big enough to park his future motor home in. :)

We’d packed the car with everything I thought we’d need. But of course, I always forget something. When we got to the river, I realized it was the ONE thing AB requested we bring… her “ninos”, “Pinky & Pete”… In the most dramatic show of her life, she threw her hand over her face and said, “Oh, NOOOOOOO! My Ninos!!!” Thankfully Pappy & Nie-Nie picked them up on their way back down on Saturday morning. All was right in AB’s plastic-yard-ornament-loving-world, until Tuesday when she saw them getting rained on. I assured her they were fine and they were just “getting a bath.” We have a beach vacation planned at the end of August with my parents, and I am sure Pinky & Pete will be headed to Destin with us then, too.

The weekend was filled with nothing but sunshine, refreshing cold water, sweet family time and lots of yummy food. It was the perfect Blue Run weekend and just like we like it.

DW, Me & AB

Our nephew, Warren, doing a flip the SECOND time he’d ever jumped off the diving board! He’s FOUR and FEARLESS.

“Aunt Nen” looking oh-so-cute in her flippers and float!

The boat crew…

Taylor, AB & Kels

DW & Pappy taking a river-bath. Nine summers ago, on my first trip with Devin, I thought they were all crazy when they busted out the shampoo and soap to bathe in the river! It’s a tradition and one I’m thankful to now be part of. :) The men in this family will proudly tell you they’ve NEVER stepped foot in the bathtub at the river house. The women will all tell you we have. :)

Our girl and her favorite part of ANYWHERE we go…playing with her #1 guy, Daddy.

The week offered a little less sunshine, but that’s okay, we still had lots of fun.

Netting for minnows…

Having tea parties…

and just watching AB be so dang cute…

Baby Sister got her first fishing pole, the pink princess one, of course, (which she calls a “Fishing Rod”) and caught her first fish!

She also showed off her swimming skills and ventured into the water by herself. The water was low, and she scored a new pair of swimmy shoes on our of our Wal-Mart runs, so she was able to stand and walk in the water alone.

The first day we were there, she even dove down to the bottom to pick up rocks, but for some reason wouldn’t do it again the whole week. Who knows… She’s definitely two & a half years old, and has a mind of her own.

She also got some fish cards on a Wal-Mart run and so we played lots of match and Go-Fish. She was so cute playing and by the end of the week could identify the fish on the cards!

Of course there are tales to tell from our week on the river, but I’ll save those for another day…

~amw~

Pinkie & Pete

2011-07-12T07:33:00.000-04:00

Remember “Pinkie & Pete” from our July 4th picnic on the beach?

AB fell in LOVE with them, so Pappy gave them to her and they’ve officially found a new home…

She is crazy about them and I’m thinking they’re the best pets we’ll ever have.

~amw~

Swim School Grad

2011-07-11T07:08:00.000-04:00

Our last swim lesson was on Friday! With the way week 1 went… I was so surprised as to how week 2 turned out!

We’ve got four little fish on our hands who all did so good during lessons! (Even during the crying-week) :)

Allie, Gus, AB & Noah

Friday was “Fun Day” and they got to show off all of their new skills AND go down the slide if they wanted! As for the slide, some were more eager than others… AB is like her momma, so she was a little cautious at first. But after a pep-talk from Daddy (who, thanks to the rain, got off work early so he could come to her last lesson), she was ready to go! Of course it also helped that the beloved, “Miss Emmie-Cake” was going to go down with her!

They all seemed so much bigger and older on that last day than they did on the first. They laughed and splashed and walked with a whole new pool-confidence at the end of our two weeks. It was so neat to see them grow so much in just two weeks.

Ms. Brooke & Miss Emma Kate were such great teachers and we’re so glad they didn’t kick us out during that first week of tears. :)

Before we said our good-byes the kids gave their teachers a little thank-you gift.

We’ll miss seeing our friends everyday, but we’re already thinking of fun places we can meet up over the rest of the summer!

AB received her first “diploma”, which DW says we’ll frame and hang right below our college ones. :)

We had celebratory dinner afterward with our little graduate, followed by ice cream at the “Cow Shop” as AB calls it.

~amw~