Baby #2

We had our ultrasound yesterday. I was so happy (and relieved) to see a beautiful baby with a healthy heartbeat. Emily kept pointing to the screen saying "baby" the whole time. We also did the 4D ultrasound. It was really cool to get an amazing view of everything going on in there. Andy counted to make sure she had ten toes and fingers. That's right, I said "she." We are having another girl!!! We couldn't be happier. Here are some of the pictures. Granted, I am only 17 weeks, so the baby is looking like a little skeleton, but it was still neat to see her squirming around in there.

Emily is getting all ready to be the big sister. She says "sista" a lot. We are pretty sure about the name for this little girl... Sarah Elizabeth.

We will probably call her Sarah Beth and Emily is so cute when she says "Sarah." I love it.

Parties,Parties and more Parties

Whew! We have had some really busy (and fun) last few days. I am thankful to finally be able to sit down and relax. However I do have a messy house I should be tending to. Here is a rundown of the past few days and some pictures to go along....

Thursday: I got my hair chopped off, very short. I think I am finally used to it. However each day it looks different to me - I don't understand that, but I am working with it.

Friday: We went over to Jennifer and Jonathan's to watch a movie. Emily and Simon had a blast together. Emily loves being chased and Simon was more than willing to chase her. They were screeching and squealing so loudly we had to keep turning the movie up. They finally went down around 10 pm. They are such cute buddies!

Saturday: We went to a pool party for Emily's friend Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday. It was a really nice pool with a spray area and really had a good time. It was cute to see all the kids from nursery playing together. Andy had a fun time throwing Emily up in the air and our friend Christy got some amazing pictures of her.

Then we went to a wedding for my friend Connie. It was so much fun to see all my girlfriends that I haven't seen in awhile. And Emily was a dancing machine. She found the cutest boy there - the ring bearer and choose him as her dancing partner. I can't even explain how CUTE they were. Here is a video...

Sunday: After church, we went to our neighbor's Katelyn's 2nd birthday party. Emily made herself right at home and walked right in and started playing with all her toys and then opening all the presents. We fed the girls their pizza at a kids' table and they looked like such big girls. They were so proud of themselves eating out of their high chairs. They were so cute switching places and eathing off each other's plates. We are so sad Katelyn is going to be moving in a few months. Even the mere mention of the name Katelyn elicits a very loud shriek from Emily. I am going to have to get it on video one day. It is hilarious.

Monday: I spent the day with my college girls. Courtney spent the night Sunday night and then Katherine and her girl Avery and Michelle came over Monday. We hung out all day and then went to Ashley's house for a baby shower for Erin.

Tuesday: My mom and Katie and her 2 girls came up for the night. Katie's little girl needed to have surgery at Duke, so we watched her other daugther during her appointments. Emily loved having a playmate over and having her Nana here.

We have had some major accomplishments with Emily's separation issues -- On Monday Emily let my friend Michelle actually pick her up and put her in the car, carry into Moe's, then into the grocery store and then read her stories and put her down for her nap. *Big sigh of relief* My daughter might not be permanantley attached to me after all. (Michelle - when are you moving back??!) And then today I left Emily with my mom while I did my visiting teaching for church --- and no major tears, just whining! Woo Hoo Emily!

And Thursday.... we have our ultrasound!!!!

Emily - 20 months

Emily are having a fun and relaxing summer. Every morning (before it gets steamy hot) we take a walk up to the park (and this really is a walk UP, so I am getting in lots of exercise going up hill). She plays at the park for awhile and then we finish our walk around the neighborhood and come home and cool off in the pool on the deck. Actually only Emily is cooling off since the pool is too small for me to fit in. Hopefully I can find a bigger one. Emily is also really enjoying "craft time" and playing with paint and play doh. Fortunately the paint is washable paint and comes off very easily, but I also need to find a good kid's table for her to do her crafts on.

She enjoys dressing up too. Her favorite outfits are bathing suits and hats. She wears the bathing suit around her neck and struts around the house all day long thinking she is so cute. Sometimes it her bathing suits, other times it is mine. It is pretty funny when it is one of mine or Andy's hats.

She is saying tons of new words a day. "Mommy" and "Daddy" are still her favorite words that she sings all day long, but she also repeats everything we say. She isn't putting two words together yet, but we are working on that. It is amazing that even with her limited words we can have complete conversations. She follows my instructions very well and is very obedient, most of the time. However when I tell her it is time to get dressed in the morning, she runs laughing the other way. And she tries to stand up in her chair when I turn my back. She has this guilty smile and sits down real quick when I turn back around.

Oh Baby!

I have been meaning to post this for awhile.... we are pregnant again! I know this is not a big announcement for many of you, but thought I should dedicate a post about it. I am 16 weeks and we are very happy to have gotten pregnant so quickly after the miscarriage. We have already had 3 ultrasounds and everything is looking good and have been feeling pretty good, just tired. The due date is December 1st, which makes Andy happy that he won't have to pay another deductible since we met our deductible with the miscarriage. He also wants a girl so we won't have to buy more clothes. For those that don't know Andy very well... everything comes down to money! Anyways, back to the baby... Emily and the baby will be about 26 months apart. I am thinking the baby will be born on Thanksgiving Day, just like me. We have our next appointment next week and hopefully we will be able to find out the sex. We are hoping to get some 3D pics so we will post them. Until then here is my baby bump. It is sticking out more than usual in the pic, I think I had just eaten dinner.

A week with Nana!

Last week Andy had classes to attend all week at Campbell University, so Emily and I went to spend the week with Nana and Larry. We had a very nice visit. Emily is still dealing with her separation anxiety. She wouldn't let anyone else hold her and would cry if I left the room, but at least she didn't want to be held all the time. She had a fun time playing with Nana's toys and exploring her house. She had new many cabinets and drawers to go through and she enjoyed playing with Larry.



We spent a few days at the pool. The first day Emily just walked around the baby pool. I thought she would get in with me, but she didn't really care to. She just wanted to dip cups into the pool and throw toys into the pool. The second day Katie and her kids came to the pool too. I just got into the big pool with Emily and she loved it. It was nice visiting with Katie and her kids at the pool. We always enjoy visiting with Katie and Tyler and their kids whenever we come in town. They are in my mom's ward and have become friends with all of us. Mom and I watched their kids one morning and Emily loved following Hannah around and eating lunch with the big kids.

My mom likes to say she lives in a retirement community which I always correct her and say that it isn't officially a retirement community it just so happens that a lot of Northerners have retired to her neighborhood. However the fact that the pool opens at 6 AM (that is really early)and that when we got there at 9 in the morning there was at least 50 women over 50 in a water aerobics class, makes me think it is correct in saying it is a retirement community. The neighborhood is also on the sound and has a really nice marina that we took a walk on so Emily could see all the boats (one of her new words).

Happy Father's Day

AHHH... I have so much to post, but it is already past my bedtime. I guess tonight I will just post the pictures of Emily giving Andy his Father's Day present.





I forgot to take a picture of his actual present. We bought him a new pair of shorts and two polo type shirts. All of which he really likes, so I think Emily and I did a good job. Happy Father's Day, Andy (aka Daddy)! We love you!

Emerald Isle Vacation

We are back from our vacation! We went to Emerald Isle for the week with Andy's family. We rented a oceanfront house and crammed 11 adults and 8 kids in the house. Overall, it was a nice trip and we enjoyed spending time with the family. Unfortunately, Emily was horrible! And since I am her mom and love her beyond words I am allowed to say this. She wanted to be held the WHOLE time! The few times she got off our laps or out of our arms, she would scream hysterically if we walked one step away. She would not let anyone else hold her or anywhere near here. Granted there was a lot of people there and lots of bigger kids running around, so I think she was a little intimidated. Maybe she warmed up by Thursday, but not a whole lot and that was the day we left anyways. At home, there are various time when she gets really clingy and wants me to pick her up. I try not to pick her up and let her get over her fit by herself, however I didn't want to do torture everyone else with her 10 minute crying fit.

My favorite thing to do was lay out on the beach (and I have a lovely sunglasses tan line to prove it!). We also went the NC aquarium one day. Emily really enjoyed that and was walking from tank to tank pointing at all the fish. Another day we took a ferry to Cape Lookout to see the lighthouse. The ferry was actually a small speedboat that was very bumpy and got some people soaked, but Emily really enjoyed the ride and playing around the lighthouse. We also went to Beaufort and shopped, went to the Maritime museum and ate lunch on the waterfront.

We took a TON of pictures, and I added a slideshow with only some of them. But there are still a lot.

As for Emily, my plan is to actually start leaving her every once in awhile. My mom and Andy's aunt are going to start coming over to watch her while we go out. I think it will be good for her to form relationships with them and for Andy and I to go out.