Another week in review (actually two)

The above pics are from a birthday party we went to on Saturday, June 2. Please notice my child is the one eating the birthday girl's cake in the group shot!



Another week in review? I'm as shocked as you. I still only have 24 hrs in a day but for some reason they have gotten more manageable and I am finding the time to keep up with this blog. Instead of just a running list of what we did this week I thought I'd insert some facts about Katie Jo along the way to keep it interesting.

Sunday- Church, home, church, and home again. That was our day. But the really fantastic part was Sunday nite when Jay taught KJ to do a front roll. He demonstrated and she quickly figured out how to tuck her head and roll- all around the room-and into the tv stand. Lesson learned quickly. It was fun to watch. Sorry no pics. I'm at the point now where it's more important to watch and enjoy instead of capturing on film. Just use your imagination.


Breakfast on the farm!

Monday- Pool date with MOMS club, home, nap, dad came home early, trip to park, picnic, and played on the playground. Great day! Poor Georgia is already getting lost in the shuffle and she isn't even here yet-although that horizon is quickly approaching. I realized there are just some things you can't pass from one child to the next so I ran out this morning and got her her very own baby book and keepsake box. The book will probably stand empty as KJ's has but at least I thought to get one. Katie Jo is learning so much and remembering the things we tell her which is nice. We have been working on safety lately and she has gotten so good at holding my or Jay's hand in the parking lot to "stay safe." She does like to jump while holding it but at least she's holding on.

This is her "cute smile." You ask her to do it and she cocks her head to the side and gives the sweetest smile ever!

Tuesday- First movie, Curious George. We have a summer series at the movie theatre where they have a morning G movie for FREE! She loved it and sat through the whole thing. Popcorn helped, along with skittles. Katie Jo has started following directions really well. So far she can "bring that here," "turn around," "look under," "go around," and some others that I'll think of later. She's brought me the phone twice when it was ringing which was great so I didn't have to get up. I'm very pregnant people, not lazy! She also can pull her own pants up, put on most shoes, put her clothes in the hamper and get out her own diaper. Next week we start driving lessons!

Wednesday- Beach with friends. We had just the best time out at the beach. She's at that perfect age where she enjoys the sand and water but doesn't want to venture too far. She's especially intrigued with digging a big hole in the sand till it fills with water and sitting and playing in it. She also was quite content to sit at the water's edge and let the tide come to her. This of course is all up my ally since it only requires me to sit. Katie Jo has a new love of chalk and thankfully it is a big bucket left over from teaching so we have plenty for awhile. She loves for me to draw pics in the driveway and let her name them. Her favorites are cat, dog, moon, star, car, mom, dad, and a baby. This has also been a good way to learn colors and so far she's gotten blue, pink, and yellow pretty down pat.


Thursday- Today was our lazy day. We ran one errand to Mt. Pleasant but that was pretty much our excitement for the day. This afternoon we sat outside and ate a Popsicle. I found out that Katie Jo is not into sharing without holding it herself so I ended up getting another and we sat side by side and ate our Bomb pops in peace.

Friday- We didn't have anything on the agenda so we decided to get out and have a cheap date together. We made our way to the sprinklers at the park. It was much more refreshing this time and the water was a huge relief from the blazing heat. Katie Jo ran around like a monkey and had a great time playing in the shooting water. Afterwards, we had a nice little picnic in the grass. Tonight we had a family cook out and enjoyed some steaks! Katie Jo has taken to covering her mouth when she coughs! It is the cutest thing and we have Gran to thank for teaching her this. Sometimes she'll give a little fake cough just so she can cover her mouth. So sweet!

Saturday- We had a party at the park with our Sunday School class. It was hot. Let me repeat, it was HOT! I kept my shirt on for about 15 minutes and finally had to take it off. I did have on my bathing suit underneath. We played on the playground for awhile, ate lunch, and then made our way to the sprinklers. I let Jay take over and I had a seat in the shade. Later, Jay and I got out while Katie Jo hung out with Sara, her favorite babysitter. We ran some much needed errands, went out to eat, and to a movie. I figured we're not going to have many more dates for a while so it was nice to get out on the town.







Sunday- Church, home, lunch, nap, and birthday party. We had a party to attend for a friend from our MOMS group who turned two. Katie Jo had a fab time playing with her little friends. Lately she has gotten into jumping off of things. When we come upon a step down, curb, or bottom step she loves to jump off of it all by herself. As long as it's the bottom we're fine. I almost had a heart attack when she tried to jump down the stairs. I think the great sucking of wind sound I made scared her enough to not try it again.


This week we had Vacation Bible School so there is very little to report. I worked with the fifth grade class and had a good time. I did get increasingly tired as each day passed and I truthfully was glad it was over today. My patience with fifth grade boy nonsense wasn't what it usually is and by today I found myself in the hospitality room more than with the class. Good thing I wasn't teaching this year! Katie Jo was in the young two year old class which meant she got to go to crafts, music, and recreation. She had a blast and every day I picked her up she was full of chatter which I couldn't understand but I'm sure was all about her day with her friends. Everyone said how cute she was and how easy-going she is. All I could think is Georgia will have a lot to live up to (and look up to!). Besides that we have come home and taken a long nap, piddled around the house and waited on Dad to get home. In other news Katie Jo loves orange juice. When I say love I mean LOVE. I try to limit it but it's hard when she comes down stairs with an empty cup and says "more." She gets a couple more ounces for effort!

I call this picture "big un and little un."

The week in review

Don't get too excited about a weekly update because this may be the only one I do for awhile. I had a little extra time so I thought I'd give a blow by blow of our week via Katie Jo.

Well, this week Mommy and I had a busy time. On Tuesday we went over to a friend's house to play with a bunch of other kids. My favorite part was going outside and playing with the bubbles. On Wednesday we went to the beach, my new favorite place. The water was real loud and rushing towards me which i wasn't too thrilled with so I sat myself in the sand and dug a hole. After the water went out a little ways I let Mommy take me down to play in the edge. I had such a good time I ended up getting wet from head to foot. It was a great time! Yesterday, we hung around the house all morning and played outside a little bit. I love playing with my strollers in the driveway. Today we went to a friend's pool. It was cold water. I liked laying in a ring float and Mommy pulled me around. Afterwards, we went over to the playground and I slide down the slide about a hundred times. I think that's it.

Here I am laying on the floor watching my Elmo video. Mommy liked this photo the best. She said she couldn't think of a word to describe my expression but something like sneaky would come close.
I don't know about this photo yet since I'm still asleep but Mommy would title it "didn't quite make it."

Pregnancy update 34 weeks

Today I had another doc appointment and weighed in at 123.5 lbs. This was a pound and half gain from two weeks ago. The baby's heartbeat was 150. That was about all for today. I go again in two weeks and then every week after that.

We got our new bedding in the crib and today I straightened up her room. We still have a few odds and ends to cover before it is ready. I guess in a couple more weeks I'll get out all the 0-3 clothes we had for Katie Jo along with blankets and burp cloths. Won't be long now and we'll be packing a hospital bag and counting down.

I still feel reasonably good. It's harder to get comfortable on the couch or in a chair. I can still sleep well at night and am able to take a little nap everyday when KJ is asleep. Besides that we are staying busy and keeping out of the ever increasing heat.

Katie Jo enjoyed getting in the baby's crib today with all her stuffed animals. She thought it was a real treat to sit and play while I cleaned and she could see so much since the mattress is moved back to the highest level. We'll see how she feels when another person is in there.

Memorial Day Weekend 2007

This past weekend Gran and Pop came down for a visit. We spent a lot of time at the pool and just enjoyed hanging out and relaxing. On Monday we went to the Kiawah County Park at the beach and spent the day. The weather was beautiful and Katie Jo had such fun playing in the tidal pool.

Easter 2007

Well, a month and a half later here I am writing about our Easter. It has taken me awhile to get around to it so hopefully it'll been worth the wait.
On Friday, April 6th we spent some time with Papa and Mama. Katie Jo got to play with Mama's Easter Egg tree and much to her dismay those eggs didn't have any candy in them. Mama took some off and filled them with goldfish and we hid those. It was lots of fun. Looking back at these pictures reminds me how cold it was that weekend.
On Saturday KJ got to attend Wellford's Easter party. We missed ours at Old Fort so this made up for it. She got to play lots of games, listen to a story, go on an Easter egg hunt in the sanctuary (since it was too cold outside) and then have snacks and drinks. It was such fun seeing people we don't normally get to catch up with and their kids.

Here's Katie Jo with the bunny ears Mia gave her.

On Easter morning Katie Jo got her bucket of surprises from the Easter Bunny. In it she got a new sun hat, sandals, bubbles, an elmo dvd, and some candy. Gran and Pop gave her the Happy Feet dvd.

After our exciting Easter morning we got ready for church. We had lunch with Gran, Pop, Brian, Mia, Joni, and Matt. After lunch we hid eggs in the backyard and Katie Jo had a blast finding all the eggs we had hidden. Later on that afternoon after naps we headed over to visit with GG and Aunt Linda. It was a great day with lots of family!

Some random pics

Here's Katie Jo with Gran at our Easter Egg hunt with our MOMS club on April 2nd. We got to go on an egg hunt, paint eggs to take home, play on the playground and decorate cookies. It was a lot of fun.


The morning before our egg hunt we celebrated Pop's birthday with breakfast and some whoppers.

Katie Jo's Second Birthday Party

We celebrated Katie Jo's birthday on Saturday, April 28th with a little party for her friends. We rented a jump castle for the backyard and had the usual snacks, cake, ice cream, and drinks. It was a very relaxing time and Katie Jo had a great time with her friends and their siblings. The jump castle was a big hit and all the kids had a blast bouncing around in it for two hours. Some that have been back since think we have it in our backyard all the time and are disappointed to find out it's not here anymore! Here are a few pics of our fun time.

Katie Jo got lots of nice gifts including a couple of puzzles, a puzzle book, some dress up clothes, bubble blowers, a new outfit, and a singing elmo.

Helping Daddy

Katie Jo and Jay planted and watered the flowers yesterday. Here's little video of them getting their work done together.

Disney Trip 2007

So a couple of weeks ago we took a family vacation to Disney. We decided to go about a month before that so you could say it was a last second trip. This was especially hard since most people spend 9 months planning their trip. And as we soon found out Disney is now a machine with so many parts to it and so many decisions to make that we were lucky to get their with our sanity in tact. It was worth it to do all the planning ahead though because when we got there we just got to enjoy every day without making any decisions. Most of you already got the album of pics thru email but I thought I'd give a little cliff notes version of each day.

Day 1, Tuesday:

We drove to Maitland, FL the first day and stayed with Jay's aunt Mickey. We had a nice dinner waiting on us and cousins too. Mickey's daughter Anna was there with her husband, David, and children, Austin and Ashlyn. We had a great visit with them, as well as, Mickey's son Ben. The kids had such fun playing together and by the time they left Katie Jo was wired for sound.

Day 2, Wednesday:

We got up early and headed out. We checked into the Animal Kingdom Lodge resort and made our way to the bus headed to the Magic Kingdom. When we arrived at Magic Kingdom there was a show in front of the castle and this was Katie Jo's first exposure to the "magic" of Disney. She sat atop Jay's shoulders and watched with awe. We had a great time riding the carousel, tea cups, small world, and snow white's scary adventure. Our lesson learned the first day is that Snow White's Scary Adventure lives up to the name and is not the ride to take a two year old on! We didn't get back until 4 that afternoon and finally got in our room, quickly laid her down for a nap, and went out on the balcony to enjoy the site of zebras, giraffes, and other Savannah animals roaming around. We had dinner that nite at Boma, the African buffet, and learned our second lesson for the day: Disney food is GREAT!

Day 3, Thursday:
We had a character breakfast at another resort with Pooh, Tigger, Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatter, and Mary Poppins. They came around to the table as we ate and made pictures with us as well as signed autographs. Katie Jo was wary at first but then by the time pooh and tigger came around a second time she was reaching out to touch them. And once again we all ate like fattening hogs. After that we went back to our resort, napped and hopped the bus to Magic Kingdom again. We spent the afternoon in the other parts of the park and rode the magic carpets and pirates of the Caribbean. We saw lots of shows in the street and basically just enjoyed roaming around and enjoying the sites. We had dinner at a place that was futuristic with a alien lounge singer in the front that resembled Alf from the old TV sitcom. I know this all must sound like craziness but the point is Katie Jo loved it and we were able to sit and eat together while enjoying some alien lounge tunes. We made our way over to main street and shopped a little. At 9:00 they turned all the lights off and the electric parade began. Katie Jo was truly mesmerized by the floats, music, and characters. She waved to everything that passed by and it was one of the best things ever! We didn't get back to the resort until 10 ish and we all went to bed at the same time.

Day 4, Friday:

On this day we got up and left in time to make it to Magic Kingdom by the time it opened. We took our time and enjoyed just riding what we wanted to with no agenda. We finally got to ride Dumbo, which always had the longest line, and it was worth it. We rode the carousel for probably the fourth time, which always had the shortest line and Katie Jo loved it! We made another passage thru small world since it was the coolest ride and you got to sit for a fairly long period of time! Then we headed over to Toon town to enjoy walking thru Minnie and Mickey's house. They live separately of course. And then Katie Jo played on Mickey's playground for a while. We ate lunch and headed back to the resort. We got back just as Jay's Dad and wife Sarah arrived for a visit. They had driven over from Tampa for the day. We hung out for a while and then went to put Katie Jo down for a nap since it was almost 2:30. Later, we hung by the pool and played on the resort playground. Around 6 we had to get ready to head to dinner and said goodbye to Grandaddy and Mema. We hopped the bus back to Magic Kingdom for our dinner at the Crystal Palace off of Main Street. There we got to see all the Pooh characters while we chowed down on another spectacular buffet. Every 30 minutes they do a parade thru the restaurant and Katie Jo especially loved that. After dinner we walked out to watch the fireworks over the castle. Once again Katie Jo was in awe and speechless. It was just such a great end to the day.
Day 5, Saturday:

Today we had no agenda which was much needed. We had a leisurely breakfast and took the bus to Downtown Disney. We shopped and bought some nifty souvenirs and Katie Jo played on the Lego playground. We stopped for a ornament in the Disney Christmas store and made our way back to the resort. After naps we got ready for our dinner which was the first early one at 5:30. All the other dinner reservations we got were at 7:30 or later so it was nice to finally eat at a reasonable time. We trekked over to the Coronodo resort and ate at the Mayan Grill. It was good but by now we were all so worn out we just wanted to get back to the room and relax. By the time we got back we spent a little time on the balcony watching the animals and then put Katie Jo to bed. Jay and I had all intentions of packing to leave but ended up watching a movie instead.

Day 6, Sunday (and Mother's Day):

We got up and at 'em to get the heck out and we were in our van headed north by 9 am. We got home early afternoon and as I write this two weeks later there are still things that have not been put away from our trip!

Overall, it sounds like we exhausted ourselves, but to live what I just wrote about was nothing but pure fun. Katie Jo had such a great time and I never expected her to enjoy it to the extent that she did. We really did relax and took our time doing everything. I was 31 weeks pregnant for Pete's sake! The weather was beautiful and we were blessed to visit the park at one of the lower attendance times. Jay can't wait to get back and I can honestly say I don't think it'll be long before we're planning our next trip there.

Katie Jo's two year visit

Katie Jo had her two year old well check up last Wednesday, May 16th. She now weighs 25 lbs and 10 oz. She measured 32 and 3/4 inches in height. I was happy to report to them that she is thriving and growing like a normal two year old. This can be interpreted to mean she runs a lot, doesn't like to listen to often, and has a pretty good idea of how she likes things to go. The doc asked nine thousand questions about everything to do with health, eating, drinking, sight, hearing, and a bunch of other stuff that I simply answered no to. We talked about potty training and I expressed my desire to wait as long as possible seeing as how we will have another bottom to take care of soon and I don't think I'll have the will to worry about one needing to be "taken" and one to be "changin." I think I'll just wait until the golden day when I find Katie Jo on the pot doing as she supposed to and flushing behind herself. Washing her hands afterwards would be nice too but we don't want to set our expectations too high! Just kidding. She also had to get one shot and a finger prick and just like her mother the finger prick was more terrifying to her than the shot. If I had to see her mess with that finger one more time I thought I was going to pass out. We have learned that she does not like wearing band aids. I don't know if it's the association that they follow a shot or if it really bothers her to actually have one against her skin. Besides all that she is just doing great and we are enjoying every moment of her.

Here's a little pic or two from this past week when we went to the sprinklers at a local park with some friends.

Pregnancy Update 32 weeks

Well last Thursday, May 17th, I had another doc appointment. I gained a couple of more pounds and was up to 122. My blood pressure was 100 over 60 and as far as I know that sounds fine by me. I am not showing any signs of swelling yet which is nice considering by this point with Katie Jo I believed I'd had to quit wearing my rings. Hopefully that will hold out a few more weeks. I'm feeling good but a little slower. The baby's heart rate was a steady 158. We had our 30 week ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and everything checked out as normal. It was still a girl as far as they could tell and now I feel confident in putting in the new bedding for the crib.
My neighbor and I still are continuing our daily walks and I figure if I can still carry on a conversation by the end then I'm doing OK. I have stepped up the water intake since we're nearing the end of this pregnancy and it is getting hotter outside. Starting next week our neighborhood pool officially opens during the week and I am really looking forward to enjoying that each day. Besides that there isn't much else to report. I'll have to say I've felt blessed, as of late, to of had such a great pregnancy thus far. I can't believe it's only 5-7 weeks away. We still have a few loose ends to tie up but I'm sure it'll all get done.

Here I am at 33 weeks!

Preggars Update 30 weeks

Today I had another OB appointment and everything checked out perfect, as usual. I weighed in at 120 which was a 6 lb gain and I was very pleased with that. The baby's heart rate was 153 which was healthy. Besides that there were no other big happenings. I was in and out in less than 15 minutes which was nice. The picture above is me at 28 weeks. I'm probably not a lot bigger now but will be soon enough. I'm still feeling great and continuing to walk everyday with my neighbor Emily and her son. I think that has helped a lot this pregnancy. The baby has still been moving around a great deal and is starting to run out of room. We have our 30 week ultrasound tomorrow so it'll be nice to see the baby one last time before her arrival in July.