Beach Trip

We just returned from a wonderful mini-vacation (3 nights) to Surfside Beach. We planned our trip in order to be there the same time as the Fisher family whom we met last year. Ella and Casey had a ball together. Casey celebrated her 3rd birthday while we were there, and Ella was thrilled to go to her party. And Leigh, Casey's mom, is expecting her 2nd as well. She's due in January and Casey's getting a baby brother.

Here's a short video of them doing "Ring around the Rosie." Sorry for the noise in the background (I guess it's the wind/waves or just a bad videographer :-)) ,but if you listen closely, you can hear them singing. Oh, and you'll need to scroll down and pause the music first, so you can hear the video.



It was just wonderful for me to watch Ella run and play on the beach. It was important for me that we do this for her as this will be her last vacation getting all the attention-occasionally it's good to spoil your child. :-)

And yes, I was praying the whole time, "Lord, please don't let me go into labor," especially considering I had to walk 3 flights of stairs to get to our condo. Great exercise, just not when you're so close to delivery. And Will said I got some interesting looks as we took walks down the beach. I'm sure people were expecting me to double over in pain at any moment, but all went well and baby's still safe inside. :-)

Oh, by the way, I got my hair cut short. I knew I would do it when the baby came, so I figured I might as well get it done now when I had a little more time to decide on the cut and style. The choice? A layered bob. I was supposed to leave the salon looking just like Katie Holmes...okay, so no stylist can work magic. And my hair is rather wind-blown in the beach pictures, so you'll just have to wait to see what it really looks like. :-) Overall, I'm pleased though, and it's pretty easy to style, which is always a plus.

Oh, and here's my belly shot at 36 weeks.

The Perfect Place to Give Birth

Will and I went to the mountains for a babymoon last weekend. It was our first time leaving Ella for 2 nights. And yes, it was harder on me than her. Especially considering that the mountain cabin is so well-equipped for kids-there are toys, books, swings, and even a huge playhouse. So, everywhere I looked, I kept thinking, "Ella would love playing with this or reading this."

There was only one time during the trip that I was glad she wasn't there. And that was when we took our "hike" to the waterfall. Actually there's a new path directly from the mountain cabin so you don't have to go through Aunt Joan and Uncle Will's yard, and it is more of a hike-especially when you're very pregnant (34 weeks). Upon arriving there and sitting on a huge rock, I felt such calm. And I was thankful there wasn't a 3-year-old vying for my attention. As I listened to the water cascading down and talked to my littlest one, I couldn't help thinking, "This would be the perfect place to give birth." When I voiced it to Will, he actually said, "You're right-how can we make this work?" Hmm...."Aunt Barbara, Uncle Langdon, can I camp out in your cabin for a few weeks-I'm planning on giving birth at the waterfall." Somehow I don't think it would fly. And I certainly won't be able to drive 5 hours once I'm in labor to birth there. So it was just a dream. A wonderful birthing dream. I just couldn't imagine feeling any pain if I was in such beautiful surroundings and hearing the falls. But I'm sure that's a dream too. I'm sure there would still be pain, though probably quite lessened. Instead, I suppose we'll settle for listening to a CD which has waterfalls and ocean sounds. :-)




Before we went to the mountains, Will had a conference in Alabama and we went with him. We were able to see Letisha, Daniel, and their 5 kids and it was such fun. Ella especially loved the Birmingham Zoo. "I saw a baby raffe and baby zebra," she'll tell you. But I think the kids had the most fun with the monkeys-I never tire of their antics either. And Ella did so well with Joshua and Caleb-usually she's terrified of older boys. Joshua would hold her hand and she went happily along. When she sees his picture now, she'll ask, "What's his name 'gain?" I'll tell her and then she'll say, "He's oldest." At their house, Ella enjoyed the steps the most-so now I know-our next house will be a 2-story and I'll have an automatic built-in toy for the kiddos. :-)







On the way back from Alabama we stayed a night with Em and Jeff. And of course Ella enjoyed seeing Benjamin and now can't stop telling everyone how he's walking now. "But sometimes he falls down, but that's otay." :-) We had a wonderful visit to Tribble Mill Park. Ella asks about going there all the time now. And she so enjoyed reading All the Place to Love to Benjamin.






This pic is blurry but I think it's so cute. As if Benjamin is saying, "Eh? Read a little louder, Ella."


Before the Alabama trip my dad, his fiancee, Marna, Marcelo and their 4 kids came up to see our house for the first time. Here's some cute pics from that visit.

Kaitlyn looks more and more like Marna, I think.


Ice cream and summertime-what could be better?


Dad and Nancy


As far as baby goes, I'm fine but just really tired and have been pretty much the whole pregnancy-so much for that boost of energy you're supposed to get during the
2nd trimester. I suppose being 4 years older and having a toddler to look after has something to do with it. I found out a few appointments ago that my blood sugar is high and hemoglobin very low (a 9-I was a 14 at 20 weeks). So, I'm watching even more carefully my sugar intake-so hard to do!, especially when I need to cut out most fruits too-and taking some food-based iron supplements. At my last visit I was up to a 10.9 for my hemoglobin but I really can't tell a difference in my energy level. I'm hoping I will have a great energy boost after the baby's born-ha!

We're still deciding on names-let's see, we've narrowed it down to 4 boy names and about 15 girl names. That's actually good-if you could have only seen my list when I started. Hopefully, in the next few weeks I can narrow the girls' names down some more and then when the baby comes, we'll just have a few to decide upon based on how the baby looks. Hmm, not sure how that will go. When Ella came out, she was quite purple, screaming very loudly and rather funny looking :-); I don't think based on that I would have decided on Ella had it not already been chosen.

Thank you all for your prayers as we prepare for our newest arrival.