closing out another month

The next part of our vacation month of July was spent in East Texas in a town on Lake Palestine. The piney woods were nice and quiet. I enjoyed the week long stay, partially with my parents and nephew BT. Emmaline & BT played together great and he is so sweet to let her act silly and climb all over him! The other part with my good friend Amy and her adorable daughters Avery & Ansley. There was a great kiddie pool that the girls loved and lots of other things to do, but for sanity sake we just swam multiple times a day, played in the room and roamed Tyler. We didn't even mess with the lake with is kindof sad, but the girls didn't have a clue, so we stuck close to the room and pool. I wish I had a pool like that in my backyard!! We did take the girls to the Tyler zoo on a hot day, but it was great. They have lots of shade and places for the girls to play..their Africa area with the elephants and such is awesome and they have penguins who have air conditioning!! It was a great day and a lot of fun!
It was great to see Avery and Emmaline, who are 6 months apart, play together. They did fairly well, but are funny because they fight like sisters. It happens over nit picky things and then they are back to hugging on each other and smiling! And Ansley is almost 7 months old...she is so sweet and so quiet and calm! Love her!! It was fun seeing how G reacted to her..(she was fine unless I held her)!
This past weekend I had a MOPS steering retreat. It was definitely a learning experience and a fun time of fellowship with some old and new friends! I really am excited to be a part of the committee this year and feel more into the group and have a hand in what is going on. It is new to me as I do not like to speak in front of people but I think it will be good for me as a wife, mother and friend! Everyone can use a gentle nudge out of their comfort zone now and then..We stayed up too late and ate too much yummy goodness (thank God I don't have gestational diabetes) but now I feel like I really need to get moving a bit. The next day (it was a Mommy minus kids sleepover!!) I had my best friend Carrie's shower for her 1st boy, Jackson Jay. She got some cute stuff..I am jealous, I will admit..and it was fun to finally get a pic together..will post it soon! She is due just shy of 3 weeks after me! It is fun to see her in the 1st time Mommy role and me in my 3rd..things sure do change fast!! Daniel and her husband Craig have been hanging out more and Daniel tells me about him getting nervous about not knowing what to do and what is going to happen! It is cute!
Goodnight, I am exhausted and ready to get some sleep! And I am having some major contractions..(my 1st real-feeling ones this pregnancy). I have had lots of Braxton Hicks but these feel more real..I hope they slow down so I can sleep tonight!

Good things come in 3s

Today I am 30 years old
32 weeks pregnant
With my 3rd baby
who happens to be a BOY..or so they say!
So I believe that good things do come in 3s!!
It has been a good birthday. I received lovely emails, calls and messages from family and friends, not to mention some wonderful gifts! I even got a night away from my sweet girls to get a pedicure, see a movie, eat dinner & have an old fashioned sleepover with my great girlfriends, Carrie & Gene (courtesy of my inlaws)! But Daniel did come through with tickets to a fun concert..Ke$ha and Rihanna..nothing like celebrating the last night of your 20s with a bunch of wild teenagers so excited about a song called "Take it off"! Who knew??! The concert was good and entertaining and hey, it was free!!! My favorite kind! And I will note here, not that many will be surprised if you know "Crazy D", but I am pretty sure Daniel enjoyed it more than me!I also knew I was old when I put Tums in my purse just in case I got heartburn! He also brought me flowers and yummy cupcakes! Then the next day he brought home Cheesecake Factory with some Godiva cheesecake..yum!! I also got a Wii Fit which I guess is a nice hint to get in gear..so no more excuses of the heat!! Emmaline surprised me with flowers and has repeatedly been singing Happy Birthday to me all week..she parties like I like to!!
I have been reminded that the best is yet to come and I do believe that! I am really looking forward to this year..the laughter, excitement, exhaustion, change, love..all of it! And I am seriously getting giddy thinking about football season just around the corner! And it may have a little to do with the fact that I will be meeting my little man right around week 2 of College football, but who's counting?!

So Cheers to a new decade of life!!

Louin

Our last stop on this roadtrip was our old stomping ground in Mississippi. We had a blast. We: ate snacks by Jerry's pond
looked for turtles and fish
spent time swinging in the backyard
got a new bird book & clock..Emma's new favorite pasttime
sat in our new ladybug chairs from Aunt Jennie
ate more blueberries than we put in our bucket
drove the Jeep around the land
enjoyed a boat ride while watching a storm blow in
paddled on Lake Jennie
went fishing with our new Barbie pole

It was a short, but sweet visit and we are excited about going back in the fall when it isn't quite so humid!!

Fairhope

Our next stop on our vacation was in Alabama. It was really nice of my parents to meet me there so I didn't have the girls by myself. We found some fun parks and a great beach that had shade and a playground. Not to mention the amazing peaches and squash we got...
This is where Georgia started to lose fear in the pool. For about an hour she just wanted to pour water in and out of a cup on the side of the pool, but all of a sudden, as soon as my parents left to run errands, Georgia decided she wanted to jump off the side. She didn't really care if I could catch her or not. She was a wild girl and she didn't care if she went all the way underwater either. Before this day, Georgia didn't really seem to like pools for some reason and would even cry if we tried to get her in with us.I am not really sure what changed all of a sudden, but ever since then she has not looked back and loves the water and pools! I like her no fear attitude but it is hard to handle when I am by myself! Either way, Bama was nice and we definitely want to go back to the bay and for a football game or 3!!