Weekend Roundup

It's Monday and I'm doing a quick blog update from my phone since we won't have Internet until Friday. We had a great first weekend in our new home. I say home because it instantly felt like that to us. We've all slept like rocks (it helps we're exhausted from moving) and would rather just stay home than go do anything. Plus it's really clean right now :)

Here was the house with a skiffy of snow on it Monday. Georgia was in the yard playing with the pumpkins on the porch and the snow in the yard ha!

 

Our biggest headache has been finding furniture that will work for our living room. This is sectional/sofa #3 and it's the winner! We have a long narrow living room with a big hearth and lots of doorways so it's tricky but this layout allowed us to have a sectional (which is what I really wanted and thought would provide the most seating for us) and a recliner so husband and wife are both happy :) More furniture and decor to come but so glad to have the heart of the room finished!

AKK does holiday units every season and for Thanksgiving they always ask every child in private one thing they are thankful for. There are days I doubt my abilities as a parent and then I get a little reminder like this that we must be doing something right :) I am SO proud of her.

The highlight of the weekend was celebrating my mom's 50th birthday! Yes, fifty and she looks thirty. I really really hope I get her genes :) More pictures to come from the good camera of the surprise party we threw her!

Saturday night we did some house/Christmas shopping. We went to the mall for our bedding and Georgia Grace loved seeing all the Christmas decorations. And we rode the escalator at Macy's which could have been her first time and was a big hit!

 

The icing on the cake this weekend was getting a sneak peek at our family pictures that Kasey Inman Photography took last weekend. I love every one I have seen! Christmas cards and framed pictures for the house-check :)

It's thanksgiving week and I have so much to be thankful for. We're going to enjoy this week spending time with family and hosting our first Thanksgiving! My heart is full.

20 Weeks

 

(picture taken Monday on our snow day)

Pregnancy Update:

How Far Along: 20 Weeks

Size of baby: baby is the size of a banana

Total Weight Gain: Gained 1 lb (have no idea how this is possible with the size of my bump!)

Maternity Clothes: My maternity tote is out of storage and sitting in our room but I'm still able to squeeze in regular clothes. The rubberband pant trick has been my best friend for several weeks now :)

Gender: It's a boy!!! We are so excited we will have one of each now!

Movement: Marcus felt him for the first time this week! And every night when I eat my nightly bowl of chocolate ice cream he goes wild. 

Sleep: I'm sleeping like a rock and could sleep 24/7 if I allowed myself ha!

Cravings: Just anything and everything

Symptoms/Sickness: Heartburn and some nausea but nothing to complain about

Best Moment this week: Moving into our new house! Now we just need our little guy with us to make it a home (in 20 weeks though ha!)

 

So as I mentioned we stayed at our new house for the first time last night! The mattresses arrived yesterday afternoon so we worked all afternoon and night getting everything ready to stay for good. Even though we are in there is still so much to do. But each day our garage full of stuff gets a little less full and the house becomes more full. It was sad to leave my Dad and his house where we have been for almost six months but at the same time we were so ready to have our own place again. Even though rooms are missing light fixtures and there's not a TV in the house it already feels like home :)

Weeks In Review

Today I'm doing a little recap of the day to day things we have been doing over the past few weeks.

 

 We moved 90% of our stuff this weekend (THANK YOU to our "framily" that helped us! You are invaluable!) and now we are waiting for our mattresses to be delivered and getting everything into its place. If the mattresses aren't delivered by Friday we are just going to sleep on an air mattress! We are ready :)

 

 

In other news, Georgia Grace officially became an Aunt Kay's Kids preschooler last week! After her second birthday she could officially enroll so now we have a big preschooler in our house. She comes home singing songs about Thanksgiving, telling us the colors and naming all her friends. She loves her days at AKK and I'm so thankful she is there.

 

Owen photobomb ;) This is about how close he stays to one of us at all times when we are home. He loves his people and we love him!

 

They have started their Thanksgiving unit at AKK this week and every child was asked "If I were a passenger on the Mayflower I would take"...

Age 2:

Georgia- Uncle Jake

That lucky ol' Uncle Jake! There were some funny ones as always-iPads, dinosaurs, broccoli! Those kiddos are a hoot.

 

Last Saturday was a house errand day. We still have so many things we need to purchase so we tried to tackle a lot of that. She was such a good girl going in store after store filled with things that didn't really interest her. She kept us entertained regardless :)

 

Her treat was Chic-fil-a for lunch. Right before I took this picture she said "I gotta dip it" and we were eating at "Chic-a-flay"!

 

My husband is a 4th grade math/science teacher and last Friday a group of high schoolers came to his school to perform a magic show. He was nominated by the students to have his hand set on fire and a student got a great picture of it! He said he didn't feel a thing and the kids went wild.

Saturday we had family pictures made. We had them scheduled for the end of October but we were rained out and had to reschedule. Since it was later in the year and the fall foliage is mostly gone we changed gears completely and did more of a winter/Christmas theme. And unfortunately it felt like winter that day! It has turned super cold here and it was barely above freezing when we took our pictures. She was a trooper! And I'll admit there was some bribing for smarties that went on. I'm not above that :) I can't wait to see them!

 

When we got home and settled in I (and hello baby boy!) started cooking supper. She really wanted to watch me so I set her on a barstool and she watched every move I made. This will probably be one of the last meals I cook at my Dad's house before we move so it is a sweet memory for me.

 

Saturday was also moving day and I failed to take any pictures of the action since I was mostly inside cleaning and boxing things up. We used Nathan's covered trailer to haul everything and that was a huge help! We moved almost everything in about half a day thanks to lots of helpers and the fact we kept a lot of things boxed up from the old house.

 

This picture makes me all kinds of happy because I have never had a place to store serving pieces. At our old house this stuff lived on the top of our clothes dryer or shoved in the back of a cabinet making it almost impossible to get to. They now live in extra cabinets in my laundry/mudroom. So thankful for space!

 

This girl didn't miss out on the moving fun. She helped clean her vanity mirror with Ma amongst several other things. Some productive, some not so much :) She loves her new room and playroom! It's going to be a fun weekend staying in our new house permanently!

 

And Sunday night we went to bed like normal and Monday we woke up to a....

snow day!! This was my first snow day as an adult and I felt like a kid at Christmas. My boss allowed me to work on my school menus from home so I got to enjoy the day at home with my family. It was such a treat and my friend put this on my FB post and I think it makes perfect sense: "snow days are God's way of smiling down on pregnant mamas!" I love it.

 

That really set our week off on the right foot and help counter the early entrance of winter we are experiencing. Stay warm friends!

19 Weeks

I'm hoping this little corner of the www will hold me accountable to continue my weekly updates like I did the first time around. We have had so much going on so I'm just now starting them but we're getting to the interesting stuff now anyway :) Even though it's harder to find the time with baby #2 I want this pregnancy to be just as exciting and celebrated! So here we go for the next 21 weeks---really, that's all I have left?!?

 

Pregnancy Update:

How Far Along: 19 Weeks

Size of baby: baby is the size of a mango

Total Weight Gain: Gained 1 lb (have no idea how this is possible with the size of my bump!)

Maternity Clothes: My maternity tote is out of storage and sitting in our room but I'm still able to squeeze in regular clothes except my maternity swimsuit for our beach trip last week. The rubberband pant trick has been my best friend for several weeks now :)

Gender: It's a boy!!! We are so excited we will have one of each now!

Movement: I'm feeling him quite a bit through the day. I'd say in a few weeks Marcus and Georgia Grace will be able to feel him too. I'll never get tired the feeling of a baby in my womb!

Sleep: I'm sleeping like a rock and could sleep 24/7 if I allowed myself ha!

Cravings: Salty and hearty! I want steak, beef jerky, peanut butter, soups. And then a bowl of chocolate ice cream before bed! I'm sure I will make up for lost time on my weight gain at my next appointment.

Symptoms/Sickness: My sickness has improved over the last few weeks. I still am sensitive to smells and can gag at the drop of the hat but no vomiting. As long as I keep food on my stomach I am a-ok.

Best Moment this week: Seeing his nursery painted, carpeted and ready to furnish and decorate!

 

This pregnancy is almost half over and I feel like it just started. I knew it would go fast this time around. We are moving this weekend (!!!!!) and I can't wait to be settled and be able to focus on baby boy. And we have to name him sometime too :) We're working on it and will announce once it's official.

All in all we are doing great and just getting excited about starting traditions in our new home this holiday season. I watched my first Hallmark Christmas movie last night and I'm completely in the spirit. It's such a special time of year!

24 Months

Keeping with tradition I'm doing a three month "check-up" post on our Georgia Grace to showcase what a sweet little girl we have! I was looking back at my 1 3/4 post and we have seen LOTS of changes over the past three months. The most monumental being switching from building a house to buying. When I wrote the last check-up post we already knew baby #2 was on the way so we prayed about it and decided buying a home would be the best option for us. And then the house we bought kind of just fell in our laps and we saw God's hand in the process.

 

Besides the house, we have seen our toddler baby change in lots of ways too. Here are some of the highlights from the past three months:

 

Georgia, you are now 24 months old making you a big 2 year old and officially ending the need to give your age in months :) This all happened way faster than your Mommy or Daddy cared for but nonetheless we have a healthy, happy daughter so no complaints here.

 



• At your two year check-up on Monday you weighed in at a whopping 22 pounds (5th percentile) and are 34 inches in stature (50th percentile). If it's true that your adult height is double your height as a 2 year old you will be 5'8 which is pretty tall for a girl! As far as your weight your pediatrician said he would be happy if you had gained more but he wasn't unhappy. You are a skinny mini and probably always will be. One day you will enjoy your metabolism, right now it's just worrisome for your momma ha!
• You wear 18-24 month clothing comfortably, some size 2's will fit you also. You wear a size 6/7 shoe and size 2T panties.
• You are potty trained and have been since you were about 20 months! You still wear a diaper to bed because we haven't perfected night training but the rest of the time you do a good job. We are proud of you for this!

 

•  You have always been a great nighttime sleeper (9-10pm to 7am is your normal) but naptime has been hard for you. You don't require as much sleep as some kids so the routine of napping isn't your favorite thing. But just this week you have really turned into a good napper and value your extra sleep.
• You continue to be a big talker. You have a strong gene pull for that so we never doubted you :) Your exposure to preschoolers at AKK has really helped you to meet milestones early and develop a big vocabulary. Your favorite things to say right now are to call my mom's cat Peanut a "cotton-headed ninny muggins" (Elf is right behind Frozen in popularity for you right now), give your order at restaurants and to boss Owen.
• You love to sing. You can sing your ABC's, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and a few nursery rhymes. You know them by word!
   

 

• Your obsession with Frozen continues but you have broadened your interests. You like to watch Charlie Brown in the car so this week we changed from It's the Great Pumpkin to the Thanksgiving special. You also like Mickey and Minnie, baby dolls and Peppa the Pig.
• Your favorite color is orange.
• For Christmas you have asked for "orange baby dolls".
• You love to write. We have to remind you often that we just write on paper!
• You aren't a picky eater but it doesn't take very much to fill you up. Two or three bites and you're on to the next thing unless we lasso you in your chair. Your favorite things right now are milk, apple juice, cheese and crackers, string cheese, and ice cream/popsicles. What a variety!

 

(Veteran's Day 2014)

• You are officially a preschool in AKK's preschool program! You love going and some mornings that's the only thing that will motivate you to get up and go is to "go see friends". You take a show and tell everyday to show the group and you participate in all the activities that they do. For instance the other day everyone had to say their full name before they could go down stairs and you proudly said, "Georgia Gwace Hairson" :) And my favorite show and tell to date was from last week. You grabbed Aunt Shannie's phone, scrolled through the pictures and said "Kids, this is Uncle Jake's deer" and then you scrolled to another picture and said "it's bleeding kids" HA!
• You still aren't a big TV watcher. You are just too busy for that.
• You aren't a fan of mornings and you hate to brush your teeth. It's a battle we fight everyday. You will thank me for making you brush them one day :)



I love you so much Georgia Grace!

 

Love,
Mommy

Rosemary Beach 2014

Last week we took a trip to the beach for our friends James and Ashley's wedding. The wedding was at beautiful Rosemary Beach, Florida. This was our first time to this beach so we were excited about exploring a new area and enjoying the wedding festivities.

 

We flew from Nashville on Halloween because the rehearsal dinner was that night. I should note that at this point we were suspicious we might have a sick girl on our hands but couldn't confirm it. This was the best picture I could get of our Princess Anna at the airport so that should tell you something. She was actually originally wearing Halloween pajamas but threw up on the way to the airport so we made a costume change into our Halloween attire. The cape served as a blanket so it worked well.

This girl missed getting a free plane ticket by 24 hours! She turned two on Thursday and we flew on Friday. We did have frequent flyer miles that paid for our tickets so that made it easier to swallow. Plus the extra seat for space was nice to have.

When we arrived we unloaded everything into our house and headed down to the beach for a few hours. She wasn't feeling great but I think the sun and sand perked her up a bit.

And then the next day it was wedding day! My beautiful little flower girl. I thought she looked like a little princess. And her wool cardigan was the perfect accessory until we walked down the aisle :) She enterained us while we all got ready.

 

And the beautiful bride!!! She was absolutely radiant. I've never seen her look so beautiful.

 

It was so cold on Saturday for the wedding. Like my body was completely numb by the end of the ceremony! So we had moments like this...

 

And moments like this :) She was a trooper though, I was proud of her!

 

I love this picture of her lining up with Pastor Gregg, James and the groomsmen. At this point I was hopeful she was going to walk down the aisle with the other flower girl Lola.

 

But plans changed at the last minute and she walked down the aisle with mommy :) That's a big job for a barely two year old and I know Ashley was proud of her regardless of how she got down the aisle. She did walk most of the way once we got in the sand. I just love this picture my boss's wife Gina snapped!

 

But then she spotted Gammy, Daddy, Mamaw and Gran Stan and she was done. This was her last appearance in the wedding ceremony ha!

 

 Despite the cold it was an absolutely beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky.

 

Now pronouncing Mr. & Mrs. James Runion!

 

Ash was one of my very first friends so to be able to share this day with her means so so much. I have prayed for her husband often over the past several years and the good Lord provided. Congrats Aunt Ash and Uncle James!!

 

Just a few highlights from the big event. It was eventful for us but very fun!

After the wedding we took wedding party pictures and then headed to the (heated) reception. It felt so good to get warm!! We ate, let GGH dance, watched them cut the cake and then headed back to the room to check on Marcus. It was a balancing act all day but we made it work.

Rhonda (mother of the bride) and my Mom. They are the best of friends and more like sisters! Love them both dearly.

 

 

 

The bride and her lovely bridesmaids all in a row. The reception was gorgeous! We had the best time while we were there.

 

Flower girl down! She lasted long enough for us to get her home and in her Christmas flamingo pajamas (they are a hand-me-down, Carters brand) before she was gone.

 

We decided to stay two more days after the wedding since school was out on Monday and Tuesday for the election. I'm really glad we did because it would've been a super short trip and it warmed up so we could enjoy the beach.

 

The rest of the week the weather was great so we spent as much time in the sun as we could. The pool was too cold to swim in so we stayed at the beach and in the grassy area by the pool overlooking the ocean. It was snacktime! Actually it's always snacktime :)

One afternoon it was just me and baby boy on the beach while the baby and Daddy napped and the rest of the family hung out by the pool. I have had very little time to just slow down and enjoy his company between having a toddler and renovating our house. This was a nice little retreat :)

 

We did a little shopping in the morning when it wasn't quite warm enough to put our bathing suits on yet. This girl picked out everything pink. She claims her favorite color is orange but I beg to differ.

 

I just love this sweet picture of my two favorites. The beach was empty so it felt like we had it all to ourselves. She had the best time just playing in the sand with us. These moments of just the three of us on the beach I will always cherish.

 

The last day we stayed until nearly sunset because why not? We always take a summer beach vacation but with the baby coming in the spring who knows what next summer will look like. We wanted to soak up as much as we could.

 

I don't mind getting sandy for my girl!

 

Even though the week started out hard with two under the weather it ended on a much higher note. And it was nice to take a little break from the normal, everyday life. The beach is definitely our happy place. 

A Memorable Second Birthday

We are back from the beach and this week I am attempting to play catchup on the blog. I want everything to be documented and up to date before we submerge ourselves in the holiday season which is nearly here! And we hope to move into our house this month also so lots of fun events and memories being made :)

 

Last Thursday was Georgia Grace's actual birthday and we tried to make it special despite our busyness.

 

She went to bed as an one year old...

and I have no picture of her waking up because she was NOT in the mood ha!

 

Last year she had a much better outlook on waking up :)

 

We got up and got ready for the Halloween party at AKK. I was off for her birthday last year but I decided to work this year so she could go to the party and leave a little early for our afternoon plans.

 

They made it a special day for her and she had a cake and received a gift (Anna doll) from AKK.

I think she thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

And then it was time to party! She went right for the Olaf apples. 

And like always bit the nose :)

 

Before they got in their costumes they did a little pre-party dancing. She had decided she wanted to wear pjs and if you want to wear pjs on your birthday you get to.

 

Wardrobe change and the birthday girl transformed into Princess Anna! There were a million Elsa and Anna's for Halloween this year but you think this girl minded? Her costume was completely homemade by Grandmomma! Everything but the boots which were my Mom's. It was so beautiful and I know she will be wearing it for dressup for years to come. 

 

The partying preschoolers! Love that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law join in on the costume fun!

 

Grandmomma made Shanna's costume too and Grandmomma wore antlers (Sven) so the whole Frozen cast was represented :)

 

A sweet picture of her with one of her boyfriends Thomas. He says he will marry her someday and that would be alright by me! He's the sweetest thing.

After the party and a nap we picked her up early and headed to the pumpkin patch! She has been once with Gammy and Gran Stan this year but we never got to take her so we decided her actual birthday would be a perfect opportunity.

 

I asked her if she wanted an apple cider slush like Mommy and she said, "No, ice cream!"

 

And then the unthinkable happened. We took her to the petting farm section of the Orchard and a pony bit her finger! Yes, a pony bit her on her birthday-is that not the worst luck ever?!? After cleaning and disinfecting her finger and getting her calmed down we knew the pumpkin patch trip was over. Bless her heart we felt so bad about what happened. She is fine (after I sent my NP friend text after text of worries!) but I have a feeling she won't be asking for a pony like most little girls do...

 

She passed out on the way home. It wasn't the exact birthday we had in mind but one we won't forget.

 

Regardless of her age my baby she will always be. Bring on year #3 and all the fun memories that come with it!