Finally out and about!

This past weekend was the first time I had actually gotten out of the house and gone anywhere (besides my mom's house) all summer. Maddie and I got up on Saturday and went to Katie's 6th birthday party. It was a Fancy Nancy party and it was adorable! The girls got to make hats and dress up, and then they had a tea party. Maddie looked so sweet all dressed up even though she would not smile for any pictures. (by the way, a picture is coming soon). While we were at a tea party, Ryan, Ian and Grandaddy went fishing at the pond in Eva. They
caught 8 bass and Ian reeled in 3 of those. Ryan said that some guys were down there fishing along with them and they asked Ian how many fish he had caught. He told them he caught 10 or 20, so I believe that we are raising a true fisherman - the catch always seems bigger than it really is :)

Sunday I finally went to church. It was the first time I had been back since getting sick. It was so good to see everyone and fellowship with friends. I was a little afraid, however, that they just might make me place membership again :)

On Monday I went for a checkup at the OBGYN. Everything looked good and the baby's heartbeat was strong (163 bpm). And yes, still just one heartbeat! My next checkup will be at the end of August and will include an ultrasound. Ryan and I are still trying to decide if we want to find out the sex of the baby or let it be a surprise. A part of me thinks it would be fun to not find out and then again the other part really wants to know so that bibs and burpcloths can be monogramed ahead of time. We will see which part wins out...

Big News for our family!!!!!

If any of you follow my blog regularly I am certain that you have noticed my lack of blogging. Well I have a very good reason. I am pregnant!!!!!!! Yes, our third baby is on the way, due in January and I am soooooooooooooooo sick. "Sicker" than with either Ian or Maddie which constantly prompts people(even total strangers) to say "Maybe it's twins"! Which prompts me to say lots of things I shouldn't. Twins - I don't think so!!!!!!!!!

While I am on the subject, I want to thank all the people that have helped out while I have been sick. Lots of friends brought food and have helped with the kids. Nana and Bopa came and helped and then took the kids home with them for a week (we didn't have to twist their arms). Mom and Dad have been off and on and that is where I am now. Lots of babysitters here. So for all of you that helped we love and thank you so much. What a blessing you are in our life.

And aside from the sickness, we are all very excited. Ian wants a boy and wants to name it Sporticus and Maddie wants a girl named Ryan. Ryan and I just want a healthy baby (notice the singular use there?). I feel certain that soon this sick period will pass and I am looking forward to a great pregnancy and having lots of fun preparing for this new bundle of love. I will catch everyone up on our happenings soon. Say a prayer!!!

Swimming, a Birthday Party, & Fishing

This last week has been really fun for the kids, and busy for me. We have spent quite a lot of time with Katie and Hannah (and we always love that!)On Tuesday we met them at Chick-fil-la and spent about 5 hours there (the kids were playing great, why mess with a good thing). And then on Wednesday I kept Lila while Kim went to the doctor. She is always sweet and good and Maddie loved trying to play baby dolls with her. I say "trying" because Maddie would tell Lila what to do like feed the baby or hold it a certain way and then Lila would look at her like she was crazy and throw the baby down :) On Thursday we met Katie and Hannah at the park. We had a picnic and the kids played for a few hours. We finally let them play in the creek. Not sure if that was a good idea, but they loved it and got completely soaked. On Friday we went to Hannah's house to eat lunch and let the kids swim. Kim, Addi, Levi and Lila were there.The water was a little cold at first, but that didn't stop the kids from getting in. After they played for a while they got push up pops. Maddie and Lila got it all over there faces. Not to be outdone, Hannah got it not only on her face, but all over her arms and legs. It was hilarious!




On Saturday we traveled to Decatur to go to Hudson's birthday party.It was a really cute party. They had it at a firehouse there in Decatur. The cake was adorable and Melanie did a really good job with the decorations. They had a firetruck that the kids could climb in and after the kids ate pizza and cake and Hudson opened his presents, they went outside to play games. The firetruck then came around and sprayed water and let the kids run through it. Ian thought that was really cool. He hasn't stopped talking about it since. After we got back to my mom's, Ryan decided to take Ian fishing. Ian has been asking to go for a month now and Ryan just couldn't tell him no :) They didn't catch anything, but had a great time.

Mobile trip

Here are some pictures from our weekend in Mobile. We went to Lambert's one night to eat. That was really fun! I had never been there before and didn't realize how much food they gave you. Needless to say we had alot of food left over. Ian got to catch a role and he was really excited about that. Later we went to the beach. Ian and Maddie had watched a cartoon about going to the beach so they have been asking for weeks to go. Maddie wasn't too excited about the water at first. I think the waves scared her, but eventually she warmed up to it. Ian, however, loved getting wet and letting the waves "chase" him.

Bluebirds!!!

We finally have bluebirds in our bluebird house! Ryan tried to get a better shot (he wanted one of the bird flying out), but this one is all we got. We actually saw them and thought they were building a nest because the female kept flying out and returning with what we thought were twigs. However, Ryan was standing close to it and he could hear lots of baby bluebirds chirping, so the mother bird must have been bringing worms to her babies. How sweet!

Getting ready for Easter!

Here are some pictures of the kids coloring easter eggs and icing cookies. They were really excited about easter. After Ian's nap that afternoon (Saturday), he came up to me and said "Hey, were is that rabbit?" I guess he thought the Easter bunny should have come while he was taking a nap :)

Easter Party

We had an Easter party at the church yesterday. We were going to have it at Emily and Jared's house but because of the rain, we decided to have it at the church so that we could hide the eggs inside. The kids had a really good time and ate tons of candy! Thanks Emily and Jared!