Wednesday, November 14, 2012

A Date with Daddy!

Mrs. Mary Lou (our neighbor) brought by the cutest
little turkey cookies for the boys last night!
 
So we turned it into a skype
"hot chocolate date"
with Daddy!
 
Cute little turkey!

1st hot chocolate of the season!

Daddy joined us on skype!
 
 
Telling Daddy how yummy everything is!

They were SO excited!

Don't you hate it when the marshmallows
get stuck at the bottom of the cup?

We dug the marshmallows out with a cookie bite!
 
 
_______________________________________________
 
Yesterday was one of those rare afternoons....
both boys wet the bed during nap! 
 
So while we waited for the sheets to finish drying last night,
the boys had some 'book time'.
 
 
So cute!

Just chillin' with a good book!
 
Michael looking at a book...

Didn't even make it to the chair with the Haunted House flipbook!
 
Michael gave up books for playing with the cat on the bookshelf.

 
And finally...for Daddy....
Michael is getting pretty good at building his own train tracks!

Michael's handywork!
 
Yesterday was an EXTREMELY productive day for me...
with plenty of time for fun with the boys mixed in!
 
 
Let's hope I can maintain this energy a few more days!
 
<>< Stacy
 
 

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

9 weeks

To say I haven't posted in a while would be a HUGE understatement!  :)
A week out of town + catching up = busy!
 
Over the last week I have officially begun freaking out about considering
all of the things we need to think about and do before baby girl gets here.
 
Since Casey and I don't live together and weekends are typically crazy, too
I feel like we have left all things baby on the backburner........
and now I am realizing how much we HAVEN'T thought about or done! 
9 weeks - we have time, right ??
 
Actually, that's only 7 full weekends together -
We are travelling out of town for one.
Our church Christmas show fills up one.
Christmas gigs and festivities fill up at LEAST another one.
Such a busy season!  Even worse when you live apart!
 
 
So to make up for it, I am officially 'nesting'.
I have done more work around the house today than I usually do in 2 or 3 days.

 
We don't have a nursery since we've been trying to move, so this her stuff so far....
 
Baby girl's 'stuff' in a closet:
(sandwiched between men's clothing and an Oreck!)
 
Lots of her cute stuff came from a fun dinner shower
with my Sunday School last night!
I'm not used to 'going out' on weeknights anymore...ever...
so this was a huge treat ~ plus baby girl stuff!
 
Here's someone else who doesn't know
what to think of all the pink and purple....
 

I've had a good cry over the sadness I feel for our separated family
and all the sweet moments, planning, and baby girl stuff I've been craving,
but we're going to get ready for this baby girl now!
 
 
God is good.
 
 
<>< Stacy
 
 
 
 
 
 

Friday, October 19, 2012

Surprise weekend trip!

Last Friday, I won a free mini-session with our favorite photographer! 
The session was on Sunday, so I decided to make an
unexpected 2nd weekend trip up to Spartanburg.
 
At first, things were a little crazy with all the last minute packing,
picking out picture outfits, getting a dogsitter, leaving the house show ready,
loading the car again (pregnant), and covering all my other obligations...
but it was well worth it!
 
God must have known we needed another weekend of family fun together :)
 
We did some garage saling, relaxed at my parents' house,
ate yummy food (thanks Mommy and Daddy!),
had our mini photo session, went to Skytop to pick apples,
chilled out some more, and visited with some family.
 
First, here's a sneak peak of our pics (facebook quality...).
The kids totally did NOT cooperate or smile much...
but they are still super cute kids!
 
Family shot!
 
Christopher (2)

Michael (4)
 
I really can't wait to see the rest!
We took a few shots of the boys in aviator sunglasses
and one of Casey and me, too.
Aren't the colors gorgeous?
 
So here's how we spent the rest of our little surprise trip!

The boys getting ready for bed Friday:
 
Do they look tired to you ?????????????
They were excited about our sudden trip too!
  
Chowing down on a sprinkle donut!

Silly Boy!!

27 weeks!!!  Loving our relaxing weekend!
 
 
Picture day!
 
All smiles before the shoot.......

Enjoying a beautiful morning :)
 
All smiles after the shoot...
Looking at some seeds.

Michael made a particularly weird face for some of his pictures.
He knows it too!  He'll even do it for other people to see!
He keeps showing me the faces he intends
to make 'next time we see Miss Gena'.
Funny boy!

My 3 favorite boys!
 
 Thanks for loaning me the shirt, Steph!
 
 I love me some cute matching boys :)
 
 Love for Mommy!
 
I just LOVE them!
 
Feeling SO happy this weekend!
 
What a cheesy grin!
A quick lunch before Apple picking!
 
Okay - everyone knows my children are perfect (HaHaHaHa!)...
So I thought it would be okay to post this....

Casey: "Michael, say cheese."
Michael: "Daddy, take a picture of my bottom!" *giggles*
Mommy: seriously shocked
 
Where does he learn these things??

Ok, ok.  Enough giggling ;)
 
 
* Skytop *

My family has made a yearly trip to Skytop ever since I was little.
They are much, much busier these days!
The parking lot was overflowing, but there were plenty of apples to be picked :)
 
SO excited!

On our way!
 
 Michael was just THRILLED and Christopher enjoyed the unlimited snacking.
 
 
 
Michael climbed pretty high this year :)
 
 The rain held off!
 
I love, love, love their little overalls!!!!!!!!!!!
 
U-pick...Casey picked Michael

One happy Momma
 
Daddy climbs too
 
 
 
Yum, yum, yum!
 
27 weeks - am I really that far along ?? 
 
 
Kids do not smile for strangers

I wasn't joking about Christopher's unlimited snacking...

We got our loot!
 
Time to see the animals!
 
Ducks, Sheep, Goats, Peacocks, Chickens, Rabbits, oh my!
You could feed the animals, too!
 
Christopher was having so much fun that
he just kept giggling a happy little giggle!
It was just precious!
 


 
 
 
One happy Momma again :)
 
Running around in the bamboo forest!
 



One of the reasons Michael was so excited to go Apple picking
was because we did Apple pre-school activities leading up to our trip.
He keeps referring to the 'skin, flesh, core, stem, and seeds'
and loves to see the parts of the apples.
 
So after we saw and/or picked:
Arkansas BLACK
PINK Lady
GREEN Granny Smith and
RED Apples,
 
Michael said the day would be just perfect
if we could pick a GOLDEN apple.
(I have no idea why - one of our songs referenced Golden apples)
 
So leave it to Daddy to climb the barren trees...
and find the last few GOLDEN apples.
 
Michael said, "We solved the problem!"
He was SO happy about those Golden apples.


"I think I see a Golden apple!"
 
 
 
Daddy solved the problem!
 
Napping in the heights of the golden apple tree.
 
Now onto the playground....
 
Sitting still for a moment!?!
 
Cute together
 
Sliding down to Daddy
 
 
Again, kids don't smile for weird looking strangers.
 
Just one more slide, PLEASE?????
 
Knocked OUT on the way back to Grandma's house!!!!!
 
and a little more fun...
 
Michael -- Christopher is NOT your pet!
 
 
Chocolate ice cream - thanks Grandpa!
 
And my favorite little smiles :)
 
Precious!
 
Precious!
 
Precious!
 
Michael looks like a mini-ME!    and he snapped this picture of my belly.

Love, love, love!
 
Like I said,
God must have known we needed this surprise weekend trip!
It was just perfect!
 
Even though this weekend will be 'back to the grind'
(especially since Casey hasn't been here in 3 weeks)
the workload might feel a little lighter.
 
Happy Fall Weekend everyone! 
Enjoy your spouse, kids, family, friends, and give God the glory!
 
<>< Stacy
 
Yes, I took lots of pictures of me smiling...
because it felt so good to see my family together and
just plain happy!