A Valentine's boogie with Joseph....

And then walking to lunch in ATL on Sunday w/ Daddy -

I was going to rant and rave in this post about some things, like trying to sell our house and trying to find a job when you are pregnant, but I just decided to show you these sweet pictures and move on! Hope you are all doing well out there in blogger land!

Hello!

How cute is this little peanut??!!

Well, I wish I had some sort of exciting news to report, but I don't. Oh, other than the fact that I passed my sugar test! Yahoo! Seriously God knows me better than to make me stop eating sugar right now - that would be something I could not handle, and I agree with what the Bible says, you know the part that says He won't ever give you anything you can't handle? So anyways, that is some exciting news!

It's February 7th, and I feel like we are sort of winding down this pregnancy. I will be 27 weeks this Friday, so I know I still have a little bit to go, but I think I am almost in my 3rd trimester, right? What is that timeline again? We are headed to FL in one month! Wes will be down there for a trade show with Grainger, and then Abbie and I will join him for several days, and the plan is to go to Disney one day! Yep, I am starting to think I am crazy, but it's just one day, and Wes will be there to rescue me if I collapse in the middle of Frontierland, or whatever...Point is, I'm getting big and uncomfortable and I'm getting looks when I tell people I'm not due til May. Yesterday someone said, "Early May, right?" Funny stuff.

We have a back up plan, I think. A plan to be together when the baby gets here even if we go broke. I don't want to be alone here with Abbie and baby boy. I mean, I'm sure I could handle it, but I'd rather be broke and happy and together with the four of us than living like this still - so we have a plan to do that if we need to come May.

Still Plugging Along

Well, I am still here in NC w/ Abbie, and Wes is still in GA. And we are still trying to take it day by day and week by week, and now month by month (ugh!). It's tough, let me tell ya. Although managing Abbie and work and just doing it by myself has gotten a little more routine for me, being apart from Wes is tough. And that part is not getting any easier, for any of us. We aren't losing hope or faith that it will eventually work out (I mean, it has to at some point, right?), I guess we just never thought it would take this long. As of now we don't have any prospects for our house, to sell or rent, and nothing has come open yet for me for a job w/ Eaton. Being pregnant sort of gets in the way of finding a new job at this point - and please don't get me wrong, this pregnancy and baby is nothing but a true blessing to us, and I wouldn't have it any other way, but I can't very well get a new job at 6 months pregnant. Or at least I don't think I can! So we just try to be patient and enjoy the time we do have together, which is every weekend, and those moments are critical to our hanging tight. We don't do much else with our weekends aside from just spend time together, the three of us. So as we get ready to start a new month, I am praying for new hope and new opportunities to get our family together again, under one roof. Thanks for listening, and encouraging!

A few more snow pics....

Here are a few more snow pics for my family since they aren't on Facebook : )

And the last one is just because.

It's a balmy 41 degrees today so hopefully it will be melting a little bit!

Abbie playing the piano half-naked at Mommom's and PawPaws in Florida....

Here's a little belly pic - we were getting ready to go out to eat and see the Avett Bros. on NYE...

Since I am home for the second day in a row because of the crazy snow storm we've had here in Western NC, I figured maybe I'd blog a little. Abbie and I spent this past weekend down in Atlanta with Wes in his "new" home for a little while. He is living with a friend of ours until I can get down there, which is much better than a hotel. It's a great house, in a really urban area of Atlanta. You walk most places to eat, there is a market on the corner, a bakery, etc, and everyone is young and hip, it seems. Not a lot of families and kids. But we did drive around down there and find a few neighborhoods we like. See we can't live out in the suburbs of Atlanta, really, because that won't be convenient for Wes. So we probably, when we move, will be living in one of those little urban areas of the city, but for the sake of our kids, I do want to find somewhere somewhat family friendly, where I can take the kids and not be stared at like I'm disrupting everyone - that is sort of what happened when we took Abbie to a few places this weekend right around where Wes is living now...

So anyways, as far as updates on my move down there, a few job opportunities have presented themselves in the last week. Well, really just one so far, and I could hear today, any minute in fact, that it's kaput, but I am holding on until I hear otherwise. And I have applied for several positions where I feel like I might get a call back. We'll see. I truly hope and pray that God works something out soon for us! We are both over being apart! And Abbie is too, of course. We both cried Sunday as we left Georgia - Abbie calls wherever Wes is Georgia, by the way. Like everytime we would leave the house last weekend, she'd say, "I want to go back to Georgia!"

We also took her to the Georgia aquarium Saturday - it was pretty awesome. I have only been to the New England Aquarium before that, and it was nice and all, but this one was really, really impressive. And it was only 2 miles from where Wes is living. So very cool.

Let's see, what else. Oh potty training. It's going great. Really great. I think anyways. I mean she has accidents, mostly just pee accidents, but she recently has started being able to go on big potties, like when we are out in public and stuff, which is wonderful. She even pooped at a rest area on our way home from Atlanta Sunday! I was pretty impressed with that, considering I wouldn't even do it!! She definitely doesn't stay dry at night, but I also don't limit her milk or anything else before bed. I just figure her bladder will develop on it's own. She is still in a crib too, and probably will be until we move, so there is no point in getting her up in the middle of the night to go.

Oh and I almost forgot to update you on baby boy! I went back to the doctor last Thursday for another ultrasound - last time they couldn't see his heart really well - so anyways, they were able to see all four chambers this time, which I was very thankful for, and everything else looked good, even though they really didn't look at anything else. But he's definitely still a boy. They did say something about me possibly having a bladder infection, but told me they'd call if I tested positive, and I haven't heard, so I am assuming I don't have one. I told her I'd been getting dizzy here and there, and she told me it was because I have low blood pressure, so I just need to be sure to drink lots of water and keep food on my stomach at all times. I am definitely feeling him move a ton more, and it's much stronger this time around because I have a posterior placenta instead of the anterior like I did with Abbie, where you have the cushion.

So that's the latest on what is going on here - is anyone else ready for spring already like I am? We might as well just move back out west if you ask me, since at least there you can snowshoe and get out in this stuff! Here we are sort of just stuck because the road conditions!

Happy January, I suppose!! I will keep you all posted if I hear more on job or house stuff.

Things I am loving right now...



1. All three of us in one house! Our week is coming to an end now but it has been nothing short of wonderful.

2. Peppermint chocolate chip milkshakes from Chick Fil A. Well I've really only had one, but I loved it and I plan to get another one very soon, before they go away until next

Christmas!

3. The excitement of some new Christmas gifts that I will be using very soon - my new Color Nook from Wes, and a stand up mixer I got from my family in Florida! (I am finishing up reading Water for Elephants ((thanks Amy Bazley!)) and then I plan to start using my Nook.)

4. Feeling our little boy kick more and more!

5. This cute little butt running around everywhere - because we are potty training in full force! It's going great, I might add!

6. And one more to add to the list - my new MAC make up! Oh I highly recommend it if you are looking for a new line or just a new look - whatever it is.

I wrote this post a few days ago in hopes of being able to get my computer to upload pictures from my camera but it's still not happening, so this is a pictureless post.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Family

We just got back from a busy and fun weekend in Pigeon Forge – my whole Mom’s side of the family (minus my Mom basically) got together at a cabin up there again this year to celebrate Christmas. As always we had a great time, and the kids had a blast too! We had 21 people, and 17 of us stayed in one cabin, so needless to say we had a full house!

It’s so fun to watch each of the kids because everyone’s personality is so different –

First there is Troy and Michelle- they have two boys, Joshua is almost 4 and Brennan is about 6 months. They are both so sweet. Joshua is still pretty quiet compared to Abbie – he is all boy though and loves sports and the Wii! Brennan is the sweetest little baby and so content. He just smiles all the time.

Stefanie and Jay (Jay wasn’t there because he is the one I’ve told you about that is in Iraq) have three kids, so they were all there with Stefanie. The two older kids, Kaylee and Zachary, are wonderful and they are not shy by any means, but mostly you have to engage in conversation with them. But they are so sweet. Then there is Andrew. He is the jokester of the three, for sure, and the youngest of them at 8. He is such a ham, but more on him later…

Then there is Kristen and Ryan, who have Evan. He just turned 2 in November and is sweet as can be too. He talks and about half the time you get what he is saying, but he has the cutest jibber-jabber I’ve ever heard! He and Abbie had a lot of fun going up and down the stairs about a million times! They chased each other around and played really well together!

Last but not least, there is Marc and Kendra. They don’t have children just yet – but they have plenty of others to play with and are so great and patient with all the kids!

So anyways, talking about personalities, Saturday night after opening presents Andrew wanted to sing everyone a song. It was basically about the 12 days of Christmas, but it was about Jesus’ salvation and really had a great message. Still there was this one part, on the fifth day of Christmas, where the regular song goes “Five Golden Rings” real loud and pronounced, he said something else and was really animated and I can’t remember it now but seriously, he was a ham. As he got to about the 7th day, I think Abbie grew tired of watching and wanted to join in, so up she went, stood next to him, and looked at him and said “Let’s sing our song, Andrew.” She started dancing next to him and singing as much as she could, and then at the end she did her famous “Clap Mom!” to me, and I clapped and she bowed her head, her blonde hair flinging over, and said “thank you, thank you!” Oh if it wasn’t the funniest thing I’ve ever seen, I’m not sure what is. I’m telling you, those two could be on stage.

Now we are off to Florida for a few days to enjoy some hopefully warmer weather! Merry Christmas!!