Another Great Trip

The boys, mom and I headed to St. Louis for a visit with Scott and his fam! As always, the trip was highly anticipated by all. Because of the boys' excitement, the car ride up was particularly annoying...I think it hadn't been 10 minutes after leaving my parent's house that Noah asked where The Arch was. He asked how many hotels we would see on our way, so I said 100. Yes, he then began to count the hotels we passed. Time is such a hard thing to grasp for the little ones! Once we arrived, all was well with the world and the three amigos settled right in to their normal task of playing. I mean, those three can play together like no one's business. I'm so glad that they truly enjoy each other's company.

We always do a lot of fun things when we are at Scott and Ab's and this time was no different. We made our second zoo attempt on St. Patty's day and this is when I got most of my pictures. Lots of green people!

Lila is too much. I mean, I could eat her up!

Mimi and two of her 4 grandkids. Look at how tall Nate is!

I asked the boys to make a silly face. This is when Nate decided to give a perfect smile!

Lila's outfits are too perfect. I have informed Abatha that if I have a girl, I will be in need of a personal tutorial on where she shops!

I actually took pictures of all of the adults too! We do exist!

I love my family and I love spending time with them. If only it could be more often! It's hard to believe that the next time we visit together, there will be another little one in the mix!

My "Baby" is Three!

My littlest one is three! To be out of the toddler stage, for a short period, is crazy. I feel like my Gavey grew-up over night. I am so blessed to be his momma!

We started off the big day with our traditional birthday pancakes! He is so proud that he can hold up three fingers!

A few presents for the big man. (If you are around us long enough, you will see that my kids rarely ever wear all of their clothes...hope it's not offensive!)

We had a great lunch with David and friends, took a nap, and headed to my parents that evening. Thankfully, we also got to see Kortney and her kiddos at the park while we were there! The birthday boy blew out his candle and ate an awesome cupcake!

Gavin, You are one special little boy! I love that you love to cuddle with me and give me lots of hugs and kisses. Thank you for asking to hold my hand when we are together. Though are personalities are quite different, thank you for teaching me new things about myself and for challenging me (and for testing my patience often :-) You are such a gift, and you are going to make an awesome big brother and a PERFECT middle child!!! I love you Gav-Man!

*More pictures from his party at the zoo in a later post!

Our Kitchen "Remodel"

I have wanted to change the color of our kitchen for awhile now. The remodelers did a good job picking neutral colors for the house, so it wasn't a necessity to paint immediately. The kitchen was a dark gray/green color. I wanted to lighten the room up a bit, so I picked a "muted" olive color. We also added beadboard around the table nook, so the wall didn't take such a beating from the chairs. Well...it is much BRIGHTER than I imagined... I am getting used to it, but I don't think it's what I expected. I am also super frugal, so spending money on repainting is not an option at this point. Hopefully, with each passing day, I will be happy with our choice. On that note, if you come over to our house, please compliment the color. The last man than came over said, "Well, I just don't like green." What a perfect thing to say!

The before shot.

The collage wall before new paint.

In the process. Beadboard is not easy to put up-especially when you live in an older home with warped walls! Good job dad!

The boys had to get on their tool belts to help out. Our friend Kevin from church is a master carpenter and came over to lend a hand.

The finished product, plus the mess.

The finished wall.

We'll see how it goes! At least it's brighter... a lot brighter!

21 weeks!

We are at the halfway point in this pregnancy! There's only a mere 19 weeks left before we become a family of 5! I love it yet am a little nervous at the same time. I am a creature of habit and routine, so change always throws me for a loop. Of course, this change is perfect, so I welcome it with open arms.

Today was the day of our 20 week ultrasound. I had decided a while back that I wanted to be surprised with the gender of our next baby. This is something I definitely said I would never do...but God changed my heart. I love my two boys and a third boy would be gladly welcomed. On that same topic, I can be completely honest when I say I would love a baby girl. I know that God designed our sweet little family long ago, so to fret over it is pointless. Let's also be honest in saying that the world around us has an opinion...and it goes a little something like this, "I hope its a girl", "I can't wait to celebrate when you find out its a girl", "Can you imagine your house with 3 boys"...you get the picture. So, with that, I want to enjoy being pregnant and not worry about the responses of others. God provides peace that passes my understanding, so I trust that this sweet little bundle is exactly what He desires for our family. Period.

We had a crew join us for the ultrasound. David's dad thinks he saw one gender, David thinks he saw another, and I think they are both crazy and need help!

Here are the sweet pictures of Little Bit. The baby was very calm and still for the session. Its feet were up by its head, and we saw a wave a couple of times.

The boys did really well at the doctor's office. They thought we were going to get to bring the baby home. Noah understood what was going on once I explained, but then he asked the inevitable question, "How does the baby get out?"

Ultrasounds are so amazing! Thank you Lord for this baby!

Chicken Hair

Gavin's hair looks like this every morning...

...and one time, I left it like this all day because I just love it!

*On a side note, Noah got the honeybee for the second time this year. My little superstar has never had to pull his timeout stick, so he received the prize of bringing the class honeybee home for the weekend. Way to go little man!

Happy Valentine's Day

I LOVE celebrating "holidays" with my kiddos. Of course, once I met David and found my forever Valentine, I have enjoyed this holiday more than my high school and college years. But now that the kids are into all the hoopla surrounding special days, I take pure pleasure in doing the day up with all sorts of themed food and special treats.

We started our day with heart-shaped boberry biscuits from Bojangles courtesy of Mimi!

Then, the boys and I headed to Noah's class for a special Valentine's Day party.

After going through Noah's Valentines, having lunch, and an extra long nap, we ate our traditional Valentines' supper...beef dip sandwiches, tater tots, and green beans!

We had a wide-variety of sweets to munch on this year.

David and I went out on a date on Monday to celebrate our 8th valentines together. Where does the time go? There is no one I would rather spend my time with. He continually amazes me, and I fall more in love with him each day...really! He is my all-time favorite!

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping

My dear, sweet husband loves me so much. Living here in the sticks has its benefits, but this city girl misses her frequent shopping trips, fun lunches, traffic...just kidding on that last one. Anyways, this last Friday, Davey had a boys day with our little guys and mom and I headed to Greenville for a day of shopping. We left around 9 am and returned around 7 that evening. My goal was to take a picture of every story we went into, but I failed miserably after the first couple of stores. Oh well! Here's a rundown of our trip...

The Greenville Mall

This mall is not spectacular, but has a Gap, which is a staple in my life. We also found a super cute boutique that had some great jewelry!

Jason's Deli

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (can't say it enough) LOVE Jason's Deli. I always get the JB's Bagelini. It's not on the menu, but they will make it for you just the same.

Babies "R" Us

It's that time again!

Kohl's

World Market

Buy, Buy Baby

This was my first time in this store. It was fun...but I am a bit partial to Babies "R" Us. It is nice to have more than one option when shopping for the babe.

Ross

Marshalls/Home Goods

I wish I lived in Home Goods. We spent the most time here.

Old Navy

McDonalds

At this point in our trip, I had literally overdone it. I don't get sick too much these days, but without sharing too much information, I needed a bathroom.

Home for a bath

What a perfect day! I LOVE to shop, and I LOVE to shop with my mom. If I had it my way, my mom would shop with me during every grocery store trip. I see another shopping day in our future...honey?

I'll leave you with my first baby purchase. We aren't finding out what we are having (ha...we're having a baby, but you know what I mean), but I know I will have to have a going home outfit for Little Bit. I'll buy one for each option to be prepared. Maybe I will have a sweet little boy bundle to wear this teensy outfit!