Back to Blogging

I'm really trying to get back in the mindset of blogging regularly.  It is HARD because I have so many unwritten posts floating around in my head...and so many pictures in my Flickr account that I need to post!! 

I've decided to just start fresh and not worry about the fact that I have six months worth of pictures & stories & adventures to share!  I might not ever get around to posting them, but at least I won't get farther behind.

Here's to a fresh start!!  See you soon.

Excuses, excuses

Actually, I would like to think I have good reasons for being absent from my blog...not just empty excuses. I'm pretty far behind, so here I offer a quick re-cap of what's been going on around here.

I headed down to Charleston a few weeks ago with Tara & Sally for some much-needed girl's time. While there, I picked up an Easter basket for baby D. I thought it was very close to the size of Mason & Roper's baskets, but turns out it is slightly larger. I guess the baby is already getting spoiled. :)



When I was writing out the check to the lady that made the basket, I commented to her that I recognized her name and I was sure she also made the last basket I bought (which would have been Roper's Easter basket). I checked when I got home...puzzling...

Roper's basket...



Duncan's basket...



Moving on...two weekends ago the boys and I headed up to the NC/TN mountains for a long weekend with my mom, aunt, sister-in-law and all the children. That trip deserves a post of its own...pictures to come.

Some of my closest friends were very sweet and generous to host a shower for me & Duncan with a group of my local girlfriends. I felt pretty spoiled to have a shower for my 3rd baby boy...but goodness I got some CUTE things and I'm so thankful to have friends that love my children so much!

In between the trips & partying, I've been doing my best to get the nursery in order. The closet was full of my off-season/non-maternity clothes, which I weeded and re-located. The dresser was full of random stuff which had to be purged, since it is now M&R's dresser. I got distracted inspired by all the cleaning/weeding/purging and tackled our upstairs linen closet, which was an absolute mess. I had seen a suggestion on Pinterest to store sheets in their pillowcases.



Genius! No more searching through the closet for the matching set of sheets and pillowcases! Admittedly, mine don't look as nice and neat as those pictured, since I'm still mastering the art of folding a fitted sheet. So my stacks are a little lumpier, but nonetheless, its a good change and I highly recommend this system!

In the process of cleaning out the nursery closet, dresser, linen closet, my closet (to make room for stuff from the nursery closet), I filled up 9 big trashbags for a LICS donation. That felt good!

This past weekend we made the most progress on baby D's room...but I still have a few finishing touches before it is picture/blog worthy. :)

And here I am at 34+ weeks pregnant, and I keep reminding myself that M&R were both born at 37 weeks, which seems way too soon for Duncan to make his arrival! With all 3 of my pregnancies I have felt like the first half DRAGS and then the second half FLIES by! The clock is ticking...

On the Market

My cousin Kate is now officially on the market! :-) Her debutante ball was last weekend. We had a great time and it was fun to get all dressed up, even in my very pregnant state! Kate looked lovely in her gorgeous white gown.

My brother was her escort. He looked so dapper in tails and white gloves...and he and Kate waltzed during the presentation! I never thought I'd see the day! :-)

We couldn't take pictures during the ceremony, so I snagged one from the photographer's website...


And here is one of me with Kate and Sydney...I honestly had no idea that they were doing their best to bring attention to my belly! :-)



It is so hard to believe my sweet Kate Kate is all grown up. I can remember the day she was born! My mama picked me up from Bell Street Middle School {I was in 6th grade at the time} and we headed straight to the hospital to meet my newest cousin! Needless to say, she makes all of us very proud!

Knoxville

It seems like forever ago, but weekend before last Graem and I headed up to Knoxville for the Carolina game. I won't bore you with all the details of the weekend...details would mean that I would spend most of this post complaining, and I know yall don't want to read that! Instead, here's a quick recap:

Knoxville is nice, especially if you like hills (they don't call it rocky top for nothing).

Neyland Stadium is the pits (this is where my complaining could get really out of hand...suffice it to say that I'm thankful that rocky top is not home sweet home to me!).

We won (yay!).

I ended up sick on Sunday, and I'm still not entirely sure if it was a reoccurence of really bad morning sickness, or we overdid it on Saturday, or I picked up a GI bug.

The leaves on the drive up and drive back were beautiful.



Tailgating on the water looks like fun!


We tailgated most of the day with our friend Blake, who works for Colonial Life in Nashville. This picture of Graem and Blake cracks me up...


All in all, it was a nice little getaway and I know the boys were glad we took a trip, because they had a blast with my parents at the farm. We try to do one away game each year and I'm glad we went to Tennessee this year, but its not at the top of my list for future trips! The ironic thing is that Vanderbilt, also in Tennessee, might just be my favorite road trip for a game!

Why is Roper scared of horses?

Doesn't he know his mama was riding horses from a much younger age?





Alice, David & me on Molly the pony...


And one of me in high school...yes I was wearing Wranglers (how embarrassing). No, I didn't wear them to school. Just while riding. :)



Did you know that you can ride your horse on the beach from Nov-Feb in Garden City?

Happenings

I have been itching to update my blog this week but have had a hard time coming up with a subject. I scrolled through my camera looking for new pictures...and the only new ones I have are from work. While I have appraised some really interesting properties in the past few weeks, I realize y'all don't want to read about them. :) So...I thought I would do a general update on what has been going on here, sans pictures.

Mason is thoroughly enjoying his new age of 4. He announces to random strangers that he is 4, with such pride in his voice. He has told me that he is now an adult (ha). He is doing well in his pre-school class this year; he loves to tell me all about his buddies in class. I think the highlight of each preschool day is the playground -- they either go to the "big kid" playground or the "little kid" playground. He has also been meeting with a speech therapist once a week for the past six weeks and he adores her. We have seen lots of improvement with his speech. Soccer is going *okay*...he says he would rather get to tackle like they do in football.

Roper has to have a minor outpatient surgery next week for a hydrocele. So if you want to know what it is, you will have to click the link because it makes me uncomfortable...or I can just tell you that it involves his private parts...and if he ever reads this later in life I'm sure he'll be humiliated. Other than that, he is doing well and is also loving pre-school. He is so sad on the days we drop off Mason and he doesn't get to stay.

New Baby is giving me fits, but its getting better. :) My first 2 pregnancies were so easy...now I have seen the other side. The nausea has subsided a little but I still have a terrible metallic taste in my mouth and have had some killer headaches that last for days on end. I had an ultrasound last week but it was too early to tell if the baby is a boy or a girl. So...I'll have to be patient and wait for my next ultrasound on November 10...which seems forever away!

Graem & I are doing well too...we are taking a class at our church on Wednesday nights by Paul Tripp, "Getting to the Heart of Parenting." It is reinforcing so many things that we know about parenting, but it is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and routine that we kind of forget about them from day-to-day. The most important thing I've taken away so far is that for your children's behavior to truly change you have to get to their heart. The concept is straight from Scripture -- "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34. I correct my children all the time when it comes to behavior, but how often do I use those opportunities to minister to them and teach them about grace?

So hopefully this post in all black and white wasn't too boring. :) I promise to post new pictures soon.

Muffins with Mom

Mason's preschool class had a "Muffins with Mom" program this week in honor of Mother's Day. If you are friends with me on Facebook, you already know that Mason decided to be a leader and not a follower during the music segment of the program.



The children sang 4 songs for us...for the first song Mason sat quietly and just smiled at me. The second song started up..."The Wheels on the Bus"...a few words into it and Mason starts belting out the words to the Fireman Sam song. Yes, he is still Fireman Sam's biggest fan. It was equally hilarious and embarrassing! I didn't want to laugh because I didn't want him or his teachers to think I encourage/endorse this type of behavior...but it was really funny! The other mothers sitting around me were all asking, "What in the world is Mason singing?" One of them said, "His voice really projects!" Between songs one of the little girls in his class said, "Mason isn't singing the right notes!!"



During the third song, Mason picked back up with Fireman Sam. He was singing his heart out! They finished up with "Happy Mother's Day to You" (a la "Happy Birthday")...and thankfully, he sang along with the right words for that one!



How blessed I am to be the mama of this little man!

For Kate and William...

My visit to the palace...this was 10 years ago! Wow.

Amanda, me, Jessica & Jenn.



Although I didn't get a photo with one of the Buckingham Palace guards (you know, the ones with the tall fuzzy hats)...I did get a photo with this handsome guard outside of Edinburgh Castle. I know, such a shameless tourist!!