March 11th

Here I am with Daddy doing one of my favorite activities: swinging. Lately, I really like it when they wind the rope up and let me spin around!

Funny Girl

This was just a cute video of us messing around a couple of weeks ago.

Wondrous Music

Only from the mouth's of Southerners would you hear such a lovely tune. What a neat site to see three generations singing together. Grandmoney, you are a joy to watch play. With no sheet music I might add!

Can someone please just say "Cheese"

There is nothing funnier than multiple people trying to take a picture of the same scene. Add in four children under the age of 5 and 2 great-grandparents trying to wrangle them and you've got yourself an "America's Funniest Home Video" contender.

Rain Dance

I'm not sure if she was trying to bring on the rain with these moves but it got us laughing nonetheless. And yes, I too think I resemble Michael Jackson with the white socks and black shoes. Editing will only let you do so much though.

Feb. 26th and beyond

The last three weeks have been bananas so we don't have a lot of pictures but a lot of stories. After getting back from our familypalooza (more about that in another post) we got back to our regular schedule. Katie Jo had been attending the Mother Goose group at the library on Wednesday. And on Friday's we have had Tumblebugs at the YMCA. She loves both and we're continuing the Tumblebugs class for now. Saturday, the 24th, I had my first Bossy Bows (read about in next post) event and that afternoon we went to buy a new kitchen table and chairs. The next week we spent getting ready for our MASSIVE yard sale that we had on Saturday the 3rd. It was amazing what treasures I found in cleaning out every room, closet, corner, cabinet, and cranny. I found my favorite maternity top from last pregnancy hidden away in a corner and so many items I'd never even opened. Our yard sale started at 7 am and at 6:15 we had someone blocking our driveway to get first dibs. By 6:40 we had a crowd of 10 or so and Jay told them to just come on. By 7:15 the first rush of people had left and we felt like a tornado had come through. It was the most exhausting event ever and I won't do it again for 10 years! It was so worth it though. Our house is so much cleaner and clutter free. We sold 85% of what we put out and took the rest to Goodwill. Yipee!! This past Monday I took Katie Jo in to the doctor with a fever and came out with a positive test for the flu and a double ear infection. This past week we've been stuck in the house for the most part and I'm looking forward to a better week next week. Hopefully more pics too!

Here's a picture of Katie Jo sitting in the kitchen. It's empty because Jay was sanding, staining, and painting our new table in the garage. She's shirtless because I was getting ready to take her temperature. She's such a little girl these days. We bought her a doll to practice being big sister to when we found out it was a girl. We named the doll Clara and put her in a doll bed I'd gotten as a gift when pregnant with KJ. She loves giving her a bottle. When she thinks no one is looking she'll pat the doll's tummy like we do for her when it's sleep time! She's been talking more in her own language. She sings now and I can't make out the words to figure out what song it is but she repeats the same lyrics over and over. Her favorite thing to do lately is hold our hands on a walk or going down the stairs. She still loves to jump and a trampoline for her birthday seems more and more logical!

Bossy Bows is open for business

My friend Kayci and I decided to start a bow business a couple of months ago and it turned into Bossy Bows. We have been out to a couple of soccer games to sell our product and have samples in a couple of stores. We also are signed up for a booth at an elementary school's Spring Fling so we'll see where it takes us after that. I don't think we'll be trying out for "Apprentice" or making the Forbes list anytime soon, but it's been a fun, easy way to make an extra buck. So if you need a bow, bow holder, headband with bow, or flip flops with bows just let us know! Yes, these are all handmade by us which blows my mind considering I'm not the frilliest person in the world.

Familypalooza Feb. 16-18

During this weekend we traveled to Lyman to see a whole lotta family. Jay's dad and Sarah came by Wednesday and stayed the nite along with his parents and we all were able to visit together before they headed on to the upstate. On Thursday we had our ultrasound and found out the baby was healthy and was a girl! That was great timing for sharing it with everyone important to us. On Friday we headed upstate. It was a fun weekend filled with visiting. On Friday I was able to take KJ over to my grandparents and have lunch together and let her show out for them. Friday nite Katie Jo got to see her Gran and Pop and Uncle Brian. Saturday morning we went by to visit with Papa and then we spent the day at Jay's Grandmother's house. We were able to visit with all the out of town family that had come in for the day. Saturday evening we went to Grandmoney's for Jay's sister, Jessica's, birthday party. On Sunday we visited with Grandmother and Grandaddy again along with Jessica's family and after that it becomes a blur. Oh, my cousin, Sara, came over from Greenville and cousin Fred and his wife Paula came from North Carolina for the nite. We all had dinner at my parent's house and were able to catch up. Monday we left for home and were pooped from all the excitement. It was nice for Katie Jo to see so many people she rarely get to visit with. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can all get together again.

Grandaddy and Grandmother with Katie Jo, Caleb, Brandon and Ruby.Jim and Joni Jim and Jay

Jim, Katie Jo, Jay and Grandaddy

Amber, Jay, Lee, Jennifer, Scott and Robin
Jay and John Paul

Katie Jo and Aidan
Joni and Katie Jo



Sarah and John Paul

Karen, Grandmother, Mickey, Jim, Jay and Grandmoney
Katie Jo, John Paul and Aidan

Amy and Katie Jo
Jessica and Katie Jo
Katie Jo on the tractor at Grandmother's

Ultrasound Results

On Feb 15th I had my first ultrasound. We were able to see the baby for the first time on live tv and watch it kick around and move. The technician did all her measurements and checked for all that she had on her list. Then we got to have some fun. She showed us all the parts and said we had a mover since the baby had flipped completely in the time she had been working. We told her if she was able to tell that we'd like to know the gender. She had a little trouble at first but then the baby moved and she could clearly see it was a girl. We were very excited to find out she was healthy and that this meant we could reuse everything! I'm most glad now not to have to change the room since we've got so much else going on between now and the birth. When she got ready to take some photos to print out the baby had flipped again and had her back to the camera. The technician tried unsuccessfully to get a profile shot. We did get a good photo of the head and spine and a couple others that were so unclear I'd never show they to the general public! :) It was an exciting visit!

January 28-Feb. 4

What a sweetie! She loves the little animal that she sleeps with. Jay has nicknamed them Ted, Turt, and Cammy. Then there's Daisy, her faithful sleep mate, of course!
The weekend of February 2-4 Mia and Aunt Joni came for a visit. Mia bought a birthday cake for Daddy and we all enjoyed eating it, but KJ enjoyed it the most. Joni helped us with our extreme home makeover moving while Mia kept KJ entertained. God Bless Mia who taped off half our bedroom so we could start painting. Pictures will follow of all our new projects once they are finished.

Preggers update 21 weeks

Well today I had another doctor appointment and all is still going swimmingly. I had gained 7 lbs putting me up to 107. This was very good. My blood pressure was 110 over 62 and the baby's heartbeat was 157. The doctor said everything seemed to be going perfectly. I had had some blood work done and all that came back normal so that is another item checked off the list.

Lately, she has been kicking more vigorously and sometimes I can see the little bumps outside my belly. She moves the most when I wake up in the morning, at church, and after I eat. So that tells me she'll be a morning person, love going to church, and have a hearty appetite. Or so we'll see.

Katie Jo still doesn't have a lot of awareness of what's happening but she loves to pull up my shirt to check out by belly. Last week she laid her head down on my stomach for a few moments so maybe in her own way she knows.

Here is a picture of me at 20 weeks.