All In One Post

A lot has happened over the last week so instead of doing 3 different posts I decided to just throw them all together. The first pictures are just a few snapshots of our time at Mandy's house before we headed to Kentucky last Saturday night and one at Connie's house. It wasn't exactly a picture-taking occasion, but there were some funny moments......

like this one! One dead cowboy, one dead cowgirl, and two half-dead horses!!!!

We had a flat tire while we were in Kentucky. How many people does it take to air it back up??? :)

Aunt Kasey reading to Carter, Ella Ann, and Seth at Aunt Connie's house.

We got home from the funeral late Monday night and my Mom drove down for a visit on Tuesday. She got to greet Ella Ann when she woke up from her nap, which absolutely thrilled her because I hadn't told Ella Ann she was coming or else no nap would have occurred! We had such a good time with my Mom! I had asked her to come and stay with us a few days this month because Spencer's schedule has been awful and I needed some helping hands, mainly entertainment, for Ella Ann. Boy did my Mom entertain! I think she worked the same puzzle 50 times at the request of Ella Ann! We also got a little Christmas shopping done while Ella Ann was in school on Wednesday. Since I cannot travel so close to my due date, we are trying to get a lot of shopping done before then.

We only went out to eat one night at our favorite Mexican restaurant while Spencer went to a dinner with some people from work. The other meals were cooked at our house and we got to enjoy several of them out on our deck. The weather has been great!

My Mom left Friday morning after I dropped Ella Ann off at school, which by the way, is still not going well at all. :( I know my Mom was worn out from all the activities, but the three of us sure appreciated her help and all the fun things we did! Thanks again, Mom!

Such a fun picture!

Poor Mimi's the patient at Dr. Jensen's office! She's actually very gentle and it feels pretty good!

Cuddling!

Looking at the animal slide show in Ella Ann's camera.

I've had several requests to put pictures of Ella Ann's room on the blog so here it is. I still need to find a couple more ballerina prints to hang in her room but they are very hard to find! Everything is princess!

She loves her bed! The yellow ballerina in the middle of the shot is hanging from the string on her fan.

Ella Ann's favorite thing to do in her room is jump on her knees on her bed (we won't let her stand!).

She laughs, and laughs, and laughs at herself!

Her newest addition to the already huge amount of things she sleeps with...a guinea pig! It's SO ugly but she loves it! I'm sure you can guess she picked it out!

Ballerina rug.

To the left of her bed.

I put ballerina gel decals on her window...there are 3 if you can see them.

The wall opposite her bed.

Ballerina bulletin board.

Okay so I keep buying things for the nursery but someone keeps sneaking in his room and snatching it all! Hmmmm....I wonder........

caught red handed! I knew she was in the room and she keeps gravitating toward all his new soft animals, blankets, sheets, etc. so I grabbed my camera and opened the door and this is what I found! She was actually turned around facing the closet door but I called her name and she turned around! It was so funny!

She also digs in his toy baskets and gets everything out! It's all her old toys that are too young for her now but she seems to still find them entertaining.

Ella Ann has also started going in his room with all her bedtime belongings and sitting on the glider while sucking her thumb. She is obsessed with the soft pillow behind her back!

This is just the icing on the cake too! She saw this blanket hanging in his closet and asked me to take the hanger off and when I gave it to her she immediately got in her bobbie/horsey position! Uh-oh! We may have a problem in the future! When we took the blanket away from her she cried!

Granny

Written by Spencer:
Granny, as she was known to her three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren , died last week after 85 good years. My Dad was her only child, so we were all very close and spent a lot of time with her growing up. She lived a very simple life compared to today's average lifestyle, but was always happy with what she had and always generous. She always went out of her way to take care of the people around her, even as she has been ill the last several years.

She worked as a seamstress to support herself and my Dad. She could sew about anything and was most known for her quilts for which we have 25+ in our family to remember her. I remember when I wanted a silk shirt in middle school and they were expensive, so Granny got the material and made one herself. She also fell in love with QVC and we had a run of Christmas's from QVC for several years. And her cooking was unmatched-same meal everytime we came to see her and it was always the best. She was also a very intelligent lady and her quick wit and subtle jabs(especially to Craig) were one of my favorite things about her.

The memories I have are many: walks around Glasgow, sugar cookies and banana pudding, addition and subtraction of really large numbers, marbles, raking leaves, eel skin wallets, a 1986 Buick with 50,000 miles, canned everything, French dressing expired 5 years prior, bottled Coke, her attic, Minnie, towels that disintegrated, Cheerios with sugar, and a very dinky Christmas tree.

As her brother-in-law, Kenneth, noted at her funeral, she became a Christian in 1948 and served God faithfully for 60 years. Her greatest legacy has to be my Dad, who she somehow raised as a working single parent in such a way that he somehow knew how to be a great father without ever truly having his own.

I know it is best that Granny passed peacefully at her home with my parents and she can finally rest. We will miss her everyday and will remember her and all the time we had together. She lived a life worth living and clearly touched all those who were around her. She took care of those close to her and never wanted anything back. In fact, she really never wanted anything except for the time she spent with her family. I'm glad Ella Ann had a chance to know her and hopefully will remember her.

Ella Ann making her way over to visit Granny.

Reading books with Daddy and Granny.

Giving Granny a kiss.




With her 3 great grandchildren a few months ago.

Playing doctor.

Funnies

Even though Ella Ann has been so sick recently and has now entered another phase of acting like a complete maniac with her tantrums, whining, and crying, she has managed to crank out quite a few funny things!

Ella Ann is now, for the most part, self-sufficient when going to the bathroom. The only thing I have to do is hand her toilet paper. The other day she yelled for me saying, "I'm done!" I was in another room so I said, "Hold on, I'll be right there." She responded, "Okay Mommy, but I can't sit here forever!!"

"Ella Ann, where are you going?" I asked her this morning as she was putting on her shoes and jewelry. She responded, "I'm going to work." I asked her where she worked and she said, "I'm going to the hospital to see Daddy, that's where I work."

She was playing in her kitchen this morning while talking to herself and to me she says, "Ohhh! This milk is empty! I better go recycle it." Ahhhh...she's learning how to be a good steward and taking care of the earth we've been given! Yeay!

We often play with her baby dolls and I put two chairs one behind the other and we pretend it's a car by using a Frisbee as the steering wheel and her set of keys. Yesterday we were going to Mimi and Grandpa's house in our pretend car but Ella Ann said we needed to stop at Kroger and get some yogurt. Once back in the car she handed me my yogurt so naturally I played along and pretended to start eating it. All of the sudden she turned around and yelled, "No! You can't eat yogurt now we are in the car! Put that down! You have to wait until we get to Mimi and Grandpa's house!!!" Well I sure won't forget that next time!

We were playing catch with her ball this morning when out of the blue she says to me, "Mommy, you are such-a-pretty-little-girl!" Awwwww! Too bad in the same breath she says, "Mommy, your belly is getting SO BIG!" Really? I didn't notice!

"Mommy, when I get bigger (on a side note she says "when I get bigger" for everything now) I will have a baby in my belly." I was thinking how cute she is at that moment! So I said to her, "Of course you will! When you get big like Mommy, you will marry a wonderful man just like your Daddy and you will have a baby in your belly after that." She had a grin from ear to ear and said, "Ohhh yes!"

Well that's all I can think of for now. I laugh at her all the time but unfortunately I cannot remember all the funny things she says to us.

First School Day

Today was Ella Ann's first day of preschool, since we missed her first week last week. The day started off disastrous because she woke up very tired (another story) and was crying, throwing tantrums, and asking to go back to bed. Not good. On the way to school I talked it up, as I have been for the past week, and she got a little excited. We walked into the school with her crying because I made her leave her bunny in the car so she wouldn't stand and suck her thumb for 3 hours while everyone else played. As soon as we got into her classroom the tears stopped! She met her teachers, Miss Jennifer and Miss Lynn, and two other little kids that were already there which seemed to cheer her. After speaking with her teachers for a few minutes I told Ella Ann it was time for me to go so she gave me a huge hug and off she went! I was SHOCKED! I was prepared for major meltdowns! I then floated on cloud 9 to my car because I was now ready for 3 full hours of freedom!! Ahhhhhh! I blasted MY music, not toddler music, all the way home and cleaned like crazy when I got there. I then spent my remaining hour of glorious freedom at IKEA shopping for baby boy's nursery. I picked Ella Ann up at noon and she came running to me screaming, "Rocket, rocket!!" I found out they made a rocket in class. I asked the teachers how she did and got an "okay". Well what happened?? They said she asked to go potty 8 times and only went once. After that they realized she was lying so they told her no when she asked to go again so a tantrum occurred. I couldn't believe she had thrown a tantrum in front of total strangers! She has never done that before, usually she's too uncomfortable and would never do such a thing. Miss Lynn said as long as she was engaged in an activity she was fine, but that only lasted a few minutes and then she would start crying for me. I am still very positive about the whole day, despite the "okay" report. At least I didn't get called early to come pick her up! The teachers were very kind and told me not to worry about it and that it was the first day and she's going to do great. Well, I agree because she's going anyway!

I did take a couple of pictures this morning before we left. She was in a bad mood so that's why they aren't very good!

Sporting the new backpack!

In other news, my Mom sent Ella Ann a get well present because she felt so sorry for her last week. :) It was a "Wizard of Oz" dress up trunk that included a Dorothy costume, Glenda the Good Witch, and the Wicked Witch costume. She would only put on the accessories when we first opened it, but the next day she was ready for dress up! The only thing is that I can't get her to put on the Wicked Witch costume! I think she's scared of it!

Her new thing is to look in the mirror every time she puts on something to check herself out. This is Dorothy admiring herself!

This will probably be the only time I'll catch her in the red slippers because she won't wear them! She was mad I took her picture!

Happy now, minus the shoes!

Glenda the Good Witch! She loves the magic wand and asks to eat dinner with it!

A Name For Baby Brother

After several days of watching "Dora the Explorer" because Ella Ann was unable to literally move off of the floor, bed, or couch she has picked up a few things from the very annoying, from Spencer and I's perspective and most adults, show. Yesterday we were sitting in the kitchen and I asked her what she wanted to name her baby brother. She turned to me and immediately said, "Swiper the Fox". This is the sort of bad character on the show who is always trying to swipe things from Dora and her friends. Great, she already sees him as a nuisance and doesn't like him. :)

A Party, Visitors, & The Stomach Virus

Well we are back among the living I should say...finally. I will backtrack and start off our fun Labor Day weekend with a birthday party for one of Ella Ann's friends, Audry, on Saturday morning. Several of her friends attended so she had a blast, as did I with my mommy friends!! The theme was Mother Goose so we played nursery rhyme games and had great food! That afternoon Craig and Kasey drove down from Tennessee to visit us. Craig and Spencer wanted to watch the UK vs. UofL football game on Saturday night together so that was their main reason for the visit and I got to hang with Kasey out of the deal so I was super happy! We went to a good pizza place down the street for dinner on Saturday night and just hung out around the house.

At 4:45 a.m. Sunday morning Ella Ann woke up throwing up in her bed. She continued to throw up for the next 4 days, meaning this morning as well because stupid me thought that it would be okay to give her a piece of cheese (the rule is no dairy for 48 hours until after the last vomit), well it was not. She was puny this morning, but smiling and seemed to be back to her old self...until the cheese. Woops. Spencer came home from work Monday morning dreadfully sick to the point I thought we were going to have to call an ambulance because it scared me so bad and by then I couldn't drive because I was throwing up too. Ohh what a sight we were. I will not go into anymore details because it was just awful and I don't ever want to think upon these last few days again. Just know that we were beyond help and didn't have any help so we had to fend for ourselves and take care of a sick baby. It was not pretty. This morning Spencer went back to work and I feel so much better. I scoured our house and probaby stripped paint and sealant on the floor trying to get it germ free, but boy the smell of Chlorox has never smelled so sweet!

Since Spencer and I didn't get the ferocious virus until Monday morning, we were able to enjoy our time with Craig and Kasey, in between taking Ella Ann to the bathroom. I took Kasey to IKEA and H&M, which she loved, and I can't wait for her to come back so we can shop some more! Also, the only pictures I have are from the party since we were sick so much the rest of the time. Ella Ann also missed her first week of school, but that's okay because I got a call today from the preschool she was on a waiting list for since February and they have an opening on Monday and Wednesday! Yeay!! It's the one I have been wanting her to get in the entire time, it's a little bit closer to our home, the same price as the one she is in now, they have kindergarten so no more waiting in the middle of the night to get on a waiting list, AND they have ballet....the best part!!!!!

Playing with Playdoh at the party...

Ella Ann was more interested in twirling her dress than getting her hands dirty! Oh and the birthday girl is the one to the left of Ella Ann, Audry.

Playing Duck, Duck, Goose.

Stealing some grapes while the rest of us were singing "Happy Birthday"!

Enjoying some party food with her friend, Israel.

Forgive Me, Father, For I Have Sinned...

my earthly father, of course!!!!

Sorry the video is sideways. I didn't realize you couldn't rotate it after it was done.

Okay so for those of you reading this who are not from Kentucky I will bring you up to date. The University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville are huge rivals. My entire family, mainly the entire state of Kentucky, cheers for UK....the one exception being Spencer. Spencer and I both went to UK, yet he chooses to root for the rival...shame on him! I don't really care, considering I don't watch much sports, but I will always be a UK fan. Gayla bought this uniform for Ella Ann last week and we couldn't resisist REALLY making my Dad's blood boil by putting her in it AND having her cheer for the Cards!!!!!!!! Dad, I wish I was in your office right now because I'm probably sure you had a stroke!!!

Here are some cute pictures, too, from our week:

I made a house for Ella Ann and she thought it was the greatest thing ever! As son as Spencer got home from work she demanded that he get in it with her....what a sight!!!!

Kentucky Reunion

This weekend was what is now an annual happening, a sort of reunion with all of Spencer's family. Since the family seems to expend as each year passes and people move further away Spencer's family decided to do a once a year get together at Connie's house (Gayla's sister) in Kentucky. We arrived at Mandy and Zach's house late Friday afternoon and spent the night. We all got up bright and early Saturday morning to drive to Kentucky. We had such a fun time while we were there! We caught up with one another, ate tons of good food, played games, and the men watched sports. After an early dinner we headed back with Mandy and Zach to their house to spend the night. We were all completely worn out! Ella Ann had SO much fun and was beyond excited to go to Aunt Connie's house! Her and Carter love going to visit Connie and Wayne...according to them it is the place to be! I had taken a lot of pictures so it was must faster for me to post them to my Facebook account. Click HERE to view them. Thanks again Connie and Wayne for a great Saturday with the family!

It's a.....

BOY!!! We know this now for sure and I say that because of the roller coaster Spencer and I have been in since my 20-week ultrasound yesterday afternoon. The ultrasound technician told us that she was 90% sure it was a girl because she had photographed what she thought to be female body parts. I even have a picture of the so-called female parts with the word "girl" typed across it. The problem was that the baby's legs were tightly clamped and the cord was in between them. The doctor came in soon after and tried her hand at getting the baby to move around and she thought she had found male parts. By this time everyone had left for the afternoon so she told us that she would discuss the pictures with her team in the morning and call me. So two hours later we left with very strange feelings about the whole situation. We also were in agreement that it was a girl because of the picture and I got my heart set it was a girl and Ella Ann was going to have a sister close in age to grow up with. I was very excited! If you know me at all you know I'm a very girly girl, I didn't grow up with boys, and I don't know what to do with them. When the doctor called me this morning and told me they now think it's a boy and to come back in for a reassuring ultrasound next Friday I was shocked. I really thought it was a girl! I was certainly not going to wait another week to get this mystery solved so I drug Ella Ann downtown with me this afternoon right in the middle of her nap time for another ultrasound and as soon as the wand hit my stomach the male parts were right in my face....I now have a picture of male parts! Spencer is super excited, Ella Ann told me today that she didn't want a baby brother she wanted a baby sister, and I'm now having to get used to the idea that I'm going to be a mom to a little boy. I guess were all experiencing different emotions! Even Spencer can't picture us going out and buying boy stuff! It's just so weird to me. At least now I get all new stuff! On the other hand, it will be sad to pack up all of Ella Ann's baby girl decorations and clothes and put them in storage. We also had an AWESOME girl's name picked out (no I will never tell you anyway so don't even ask just in case the next one is a girl!) so now we have to make sure our little boy's name is equally awesome! :) I'm still going to go for the ultrasound next Friday so if this little boy turns into a girl again I'll be sure and let you know!!!

So It's Root, Root, Root For?

On Friday my parents came down for a visit and to take Spencer and I to a Braves game on Saturday night. All of us are St. Louis Cardinals fans but the Braves were playing the Giants and Spencer, Dad, and Mom still sported their Cardinals t-shirts and Dad kept shouting "Go Cards!!" when the Braves would score. I'm sure the people around us thought he had dementia!

They got here late afternoon on Friday and brought down Ella Ann's new bed and dresser. Now I am finally able to get her room all set up....pictures will be posted soon! She can't seem to get enough of her new bed! She won't get out of it! We have to sit on it to play, talk, do puzzles, sing, and everything else! Ella Ann really enjoys having one of us, including my parents, sit or lay on the bed with her. She gets really mad when you try to get off of it! The 5 of us walked across the street that evening to a really good bar/oyster house to enjoy some half price crab legs and peel-n-eat shrimp. Well, Spencer, Mom, and I did....Dad and Ella Ann are allergic so they bonded over tater tots.

Saturday was also filled with activities. Of course my parents had to stock up at Trader Joe's that morning, then we went to Atlantic Station to do a little shopping and stopped to eat lunch at The Varsity. Okay so this is a famous landmark in Atlanta and in the 3 years that Spencer and I have been living here we have yet to eat there, mainly because we just didn't want to. However, my parents really wanted to go so off we went. My parents thought it was just dandy, Spencer and I.....not so much! :) We were, though, glad to have finally eaten at The Varsity just to say we've been there. Ella Ann did enjoy it because she got to eat french fries and wear a funny hat!

Ella Ann had her first experience with a babysitter (that we paid) Saturday evening while we went to the ballgame. We had never met the sitter, even though we go to church together, so I was a little nervous about leaving her. Well I don't know why I even bothered worrying because as soon as "Miss Kate" arrived (I had talked her up all day) Ella Ann was literally pushing me out the door saying, "GO MOMMY!" Kate said she did great and they had a good time together. In fact Ella Ann asked for her when she woke up!


The game was so much fun, even though none of us could've cared less about it! We had awesome seats, enjoyed good ballpark food, and great weather. Spencer and I split a massive dish of cookie dough ice cream that was fannnnntastic! Unfortunately we witnessed a couple of sad events, the first one being an older woman about 10 rows in front of us had gotten nailed in the mouth with a baseball and was bleeding everywhere and the second one being her poor husband following her with the EMTs up the steps and passing out. The last Braves game we went to Spencer had to help a girl that had passed out in the concession stand line....we think she was just drunk though. :) Anyway, it was a great night out with adults and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks again Mom and Dad for a fun weekend!

Lovin' the new bed as soon as it was put up! She refuses to get rid of the purple pillow which doesn't even match her room anymore! Oh well.

Shopping at Atlantic Satation. Ella Ann insisted on bringing her purse, phone, and "credit cards" with her just like her Mimi and Mommy!

These two silly kids. Do they belong to me????

Now this one I can excuse because of her age. :)

Before leaving for the game.

I remembered to take one picture right before we left. It's a good one, though!

This week was pretty uneventful, which was fine by me because the last few weeks and weekends have been busy. We went to the pool a couple of times with some friends, ran errands, did crafts, had a play date, and I went to Jana's birthday dinner with a bunch of girls on Thursday night. Ahhhh...a night out with my good friends...alone!!!!! What a treat!

After working 40 days in a row Spencer had Sunday off and he spent most of that studying for Boards that he takes this week. We did go for coffee again this morning before church and to Trader Joe's and Target this afternoon. That's really our week in a nutshell! Here are some funny pictures of Ella Ann!

I took this picture in honor of Katie Smallwood, since she is a major bean lover, as am I! Ella Ann is a girl after my own heart....refried beans straight out of the can! YUM!

The birthday girl on Thursday night! I think we embarrassed her pretty well! :)

All the girls!

I laughed and laughed after I took this picture! Ella Ann and I made binoculars yesterday morning out of toilet paper rolls. She loved them! I hid all her stuffed animals around the house so she could go "hunt" for them on a safari!

She even wore them to the playground that morning!

In case you were wondering what I look like these days! I'm almost 19 weeks...10 days and we find out if it's a boy or a girl!