Happy Halloween

Hanging out with Owen in their new Halloween pajamas (Thank you, Mandy & Jason!)
Jason, Mandy and Dread Pirate Owen
Stella loved swinging and stacking numerous toys on Owen

Mandy and her precious pirate

Stella and Owen really hit it off

Ballerina Stella

Pickin' out a pumpkin

Swinging at the park

Sorry for the lack of updates. We have been so busy around here! We have moved into our new house (pictures will come as soon as it doesn't look like a tornado went through), celebrated Halloween, and had the Black family in for a visit. As you can see, taking pictures has become increasingly difficult with Stella. I can take 25 pictures and only get one or two that are not the back of her head. There was a professional photographer at her school for school pictures and another for Halloween and she refused to pose for both. I was heartbroken because on both days she looked adorable, but she would not set foot in the room with the photographer. She also refused to wear her costume to trick or treat, but wore it all day at school. Two year olds can be tough to convince to do anything.

We had the Black family come to visit this weekend. We had such a great time with them and getting to know Owen. He is adorable! Stella showed her tender side with Owen ("Coen") and we were really proud of how sweet she was with him. We hope she will be that way with her little brother or sister.

SOLD!

Stella and Andrew at the Greek Festival
Being her silly self
Family pic
Yes, it is finally ours! We will be actually living there in 5 days. We can't wait. Painting, carpet removal, floor refinishing, electrical work, etc. has kept us away from our home since the 6th, but we will finally be there on the 20th! I can't wait to post pictures of the inside. It looks so beautiful and home-y. Have I mentioned we are ready to get out of this apartment?

Stella update-Talking like crazy, repeating everything(mom and dad are editing and spelling a lot of things lately), singing and changing words to songs, loves Maybel, loves dressing up, tells me what she wants to eat/drink/do now, wakes us up every morning singing on the monitor, recently started saying "I love you, momma/daddy" and completely melts our hearts

Embarrassing mommy moment-I had to take her to the ob/gyn appointment last week and she kept calling the doctor "daddy." The whole time he was talking to me, she kept saying "Hi, daddy!" elevating her voice until he responded to her. I just kept saying "Stella, that's not daddy. Silly girl." Awkward. To her credit, he does look a lot like Josh, but she knows that is not daddy! Why do kids do that??!?!

So as for Baby #2-very active little thing! The ultrasound tech kept trying to see the sex and the little one wouldn't be still long enough. I guess we have to wait for 20 weeks now. I am still feeling extremely tired. I am just waiting for the second trimester energy boost to happen.

November is going to be an exciting month for us! The Blacks are coming the first weekend, the Brunettes the second, the Bensons the third, the Newmans the fourth, and then we are going home for Thanksgiving the last week in November. When it rains, it pours! We can't wait.

Countdown to Closing

Ready for school! "Cheese!"
Georgia Peach

OK, we are so excited about closing on our house we can hardly stand it. We are set to close next Monday and it can't come soon enough! We are so cramped in our little apartment. We were driving though our neighborhood yesterday to show Andrew and Lisa our house and they were having their estate sale! We got to go in and look around again and dream about what it is going to be like when it belongs to us. Stella kept running out to the back yard. I have a feeling that is where we will spend most of our time.

Oh yeah-and in case you haven't seen headline news lately, Atlanta is having a serious gas crisis. There are lines everywhere at the stations that actually have gas. I have to venture out this week and try to find some and sit in a line to get it. Curse you, Hurricane Ike!

Hurricane Ike

We just want everyone that we love in Texas to know that we are thinking about you and have been glued to the weather channel for the past two days. We are praying for you and hope that you are all safe and sound.

4-21-09

OK, now we are excited. I have to admit it took a while this time around. Maybe it was because we weren't planning on it happening so soon. Maybe it was because I took the test fifteen minutes before I left for my first day of work at my new job (and Josh was out of town and I had to wait ALL DAY LONG so I could tell him in person). It could have been because we are still in the process of buying a house and all that comes with it and the first trimester is always a drain emotionally and physically. I also had food poisoning at the 6 week mark and thought it was morning sickness and literally thought I was going to die. We bought Sea Bands, saltines, ginger snaps, peppermints, Gatorade, etc. Two days later, I felt fine-thank goodness! I think God knows I am not strong enough to go through morning sickness. Kristi and Nikki-I have a newfound respect for you and bless you for not hating those (or at least pretending really well)who do not have morning sickness. I have had a cold for a week now that is hanging on and I am afraid to take anything. And, I haven't really felt anything except really tired and questioned several times if I had read the test(s) correctly.

But then.....

we had our appointment yesterday and got to see the baby. We saw the big alien head and little arms and legs wiggling around and it made it real. The doctor is great and says everything looks fine and seems pretty happy with the way things are going. We are going to have another baby! Stella is going to be a big sister in April.

Fashion Week and Sesame Street Live

Stella has a style all her own-here she has paired a floral onesie with a black satin handbag and pearlized blue shades
For September 11th at school, we had to wear red, white and blue...this was as close as we could come on such short notice

Last weekend, I was sick with a cold so daddy took Stella to the park. I usually take her for 45 minutes to an hour and that is my limit. They were gone for almost two hours! I was so shocked that she (and he) lasted that long! Needless to say, she was exhausted and took a great nap that day.
What two year old (almost) can say they had box seats to Sesame Street Live? Well, probably none because they don't know what that means, but anyhoo....Josh's company sometimes has tickets available if the bigwigs don't want to go to shows and who knew? They didn't want to go see Elmo! Stella enjoyed playing with Lucky, the stuffed Aaron's mascot. Funny-she didn't want a thing to do with the guy dressed as him. She'd rather have him stuffed and stationary.
Sesame Street was during nap time-can you tell? She looks exhausted!
Enjoying the show-we brought our favorite blankie to the event
Sesame Street Live!
As the show drew to an end, so did our patience with Elmo. Stella is praying that the show will be over soon. So were mommy and daddy. ;-)

Gatlinburg

The first home in Gatlinburg built in 1907-I'm not kidding....nine people lived here
Downtown Gatlinburg
Playing in the pool at Cobbly Knob
Stella commandeered my shake and wouldn't give it up!
This picture is out of order, but this is how they looked after our road trip home

The Smokies
Daddy and Stella taking it in
Mommy and Stella-I was trying to get behind the rock, but feared falling to my death
Babbling brook
Stella and her Smoky Bear and purse

We took our first little weekend trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to see the Smoky Mountains. We decided to do this on Friday afternoon and after calling a gazillion places, I finally found a pet friendly cabin in the woods. The drive was breathtaking and we had such a great time!