Baby Number 2 Weeks 5-7

So its official we are expecting baby number 2. We are all very excited. We have told Colby he's going to be a big brother but I am not sure how much he understands. He talks about baby brother or baby sister and that they will drink milk and how he wants them to play cars with him. I don't think he will really get it until the nursery is set up and then he won't really get it until the baby is here I don't think.
We are due December 11th. We found out officially a little over 2 weeks ago. I had suspicions on our trip to TN. I went to my first prenatal appointment at 6 weeks. So far everything looks good. All bloodwork came back normal. This past Tuesday I had my first ultrasound. Again everything looks good. Saw the heartbeat! I am so thankful for a healthy baby so far.
I am experiencing morning sickness aka afternoon/evening sickness just as I did with Colby. I really can't tell if its worse or not. My life was so different being pregnant with him. I was teaching so I didn't have as much time to think about it. I know I was pretty sick though and couldn't stand restaurants for the first 3 months of pregnancy. I didn't think it would come to that with this one but I think we are getting close. I have good days and bad days. Some days I barely feel it and can go on with normal life and other days all I can do is lay on the couch.
I feel bad that I don't have the energy to clean house and play with Colby. But I keep telling myself my body knows that I need rest to grow a baby so I think its God's plan to make pregnant women feel bad and sick so that they do take it easy.
I am trying to keep Colby's life as normal as possible though. I can't keep him in every day although we probably haven't done quite as much. I am planning on taking him to the zoo tomorrow we probably won't stay long but I do want to have a special day with him while he's out of school. He is also going to church tonight with my parents. I hate to miss but I feel awful at night and I don't want to get over there and be puking. I didn't want him to miss though b/c he loves church.
So far so good other then being sick. I have no idea boy or girl. I kinda feel like a girl but I don't know. I go back to the doc in mid-May. Hopefully by then we will be able to hear the heartbeat!

Easter 2011

We really enjoyed this Easter. I can't believe this was our 3rd Easter with Colby. This was definitely the most fun! I know the holidays will keep getting more fun as he gets older! Austin was off all weekend which made the weekend even better. Saturday we went to my parent's house to swim. My rule is when it reaches 80 I will go swim. Colby was beyond excited to get in the pool again this year!

After swimming we came home to eat lunch and relax. After naps we had to get busy! We were put in charge of potato salad and pasta salad for Easter lunch. We also had to dye Easter eggs with Colby. It was nice though working as a family to get all of it done.

Colby enjoyed helping and watching the eggs change color. After he went to bed we played Easter bunny and put his basket together. This year he got a couple swimsuits, a game, a couple cars, and some coloring books and Disney books to read.

Easter morning Colby was excited to run out and see his Easter basket. Still not sure if he totally understood Easter bunny leaving it he just thought it was cool to have presents. He dug into them right away. We didn't have long though to play since it was obviously a church morning. We ate breakfast and got dressed then took time for a few photos outside. Church was wonderful. We had a breakfast fellowship first thing. Colby gobbled down an entire donut. Then we had Sunday School. He was in his usual class and I think did well. All 3 of them were there today. He loves church and Sunday School and I am so thankful for that! I enjoyed seeing all the kiddos in their Easter best! It was nice once again to get to sit with Austin in worship service. It was a beautiful service. Its overwhelming to think of God's love for us. Having a child I can't imagine watching your only son suffer on the cross to die for other people's sins. I hope that one day Colby can understand and appreciate God's true love. We hope we are teaching him at a young age those things and trying to enforce the true meaning of Easter. We did the Easter bunny but did not spend a lot of time talking about him I want to focus on Christ at Easter. I don't have a problem with the Easter bunny but I just don't want that to be the focus.

Anyway back on track...after church we came home quickly changed clothes and headed to my parent's house. We had a big Easter lunch over there. It was fun to be with everyone. Although tiring at the same time. Sundays are already tiring days so put on top of that a 3 hour lunch and we were worn out. Colby did enjoy having the full attention of 13 or so adults. We did an Easter Egg hunt just for him and I think he enjoyed that as well.

Once we got home though we all crashed on the couch! After our naps though we spent some time outside it was a perfect ending to a perfect weekend. I greatly enjoyed the time with my little family!

Max's B-day Party

Colby and I were invited to a birthday party yesterday for a little boy in his class. I wanted to go because Colby always talks about Max at school. I think they must be pretty good buddies! I also knew his mom from a long time ago at Calvary so I thought it would be interesting to visit with her and her family.
I was so glad we went Colby had a blast! They had a jumpy thing and several outdoor toys. There was also lots to do inside. They had the perfect house for little boys plenty of cars and trucks. I was sad that more kids from their school were not there so I didn't get to see him interact with anyone other then really Max. There was another boy Will there from school but he goes M, W, F but Colby did play with him some.
They had finger sandwhiches, chips, fruit, and ofcourse birthday cake and icecream! Colby sampled them all! He came home nice and tired from the fun-filled morning! I wish I had taken some pictures but I completely forgot and left the camera at home.
We found out that Max lives in our neighborhood though so we plan on getting the boys together now this summer!

Our Week

Whew this week has sorta been a whirlwind! Monday Colby and I went grocery shopping. Nothing exciting that day. Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment while Colby was in school. It was a hectic morning but then we both got to come home and take naps which was nice! Wednesday we had to go to Target to shop for Easter stuff and for a b-day party Colby was invited to. That night was ofcourse church. As always Colby was very happy to be there. I had a meeting during dinner but my parents said he did well. I also got to attend church. Colby was the only kid in the younger room. Both workers said he did really well though so I was glad to hear that. I am glad I am finally getting my Wednesday nights staffed enough that I don't have to work every week. I enjoy the kids but its also nice to go in church and see the adults!
Thursday was another busy day. Colby had his Easter Party at school and I had a meeting at church. I think Colby really enjoyed his Easter Party. I hate in the MDO program parents can't attend these but I do understand. I think next year I will be able to go to his parties which will be fun! He said they did an egg hunt and he had a cupcake. I provided cheese and crackers for the class.
He came home with a lot of little goodies also. I have still yet to sort through them and decide what to keep and what to throw away! I can't believe he's out for a week and won't go back until May and then only a few weeks left until the end of the school year! I am looking forward to his Spring Break though to enjoy some quality time and do some special things with him!

Family Ministry Day @ MBC & Palm Sunday

Yesterday was Family Ministry Day at our church. This was the 2nd one and I am glad that Colby and I have gotton to participate both years. We didn't get to go as early yesterday as I had hoped b/c Austin's parents were coming in on a cruise boat and Austin had to pick them up then they stopped by here for a few minutes to check out his new bed and tell us about their trip. When we did get to church we figured the car wash would be something good for Austin to help with and Colby might enjoy too. Colby LOVED it! He actually even helped out washing the cars. I stayed out there to watch him around the moving cars while Austin worked. It would have been too much to leave him out there and Austin try to focus on working so I stayed. It means a lot to know we are working together as a family to minister to the community and that is what the day is all about! After everyone got back at 12 there was a churchwide picnic. They had asked everyone to bring sides. The church provided fried chicken. Colby enjoyed it but didn't eat as well as I had hoped I think he was too excited by all the people. We finally convinced him to eat. He sat pretty well but towards the end was getting antsy and tired. We knew if we could keep him awake on the way home he would take a nice long nap. We all crashed when we got home. I finally woke Colby up at 4:30 because I knew if I didn't he wouldn't sleep that night! We had a nice afternoon just spending time together. We were even able to eat dinner outside and let Colby play in the backyard for awhile. Sunday was a fantastic day! First it was nice because Austin was off. It seems to be few and far between that we have a normal Sunday that the 3 of us get to go together. Austin is typically off 2 Sundays a month but it seems like so often we are out of town or have something else going on. I was in the nursery ofcourse for Sunday School. We were so pleased at the turnout! We had 4 babies, 2 toddlers, 3 three year olds, the entire 4 year old class was there, and the kindergarten and plus they had visitors! Its great to see we are having a regular group or attenders for Sunday School back there. Colby enjoyed his class. He is still enjoying the 3 year old Sunday School class. He does still hang with the toddlers during church though. Because right now we are combining the 3s and 4s during church and thats just too many kids and some of those kids are near 5 and just too big for Colby. I know he gets bored since the only toddlers are 1 year old little girls but I would rather him be with his appropriate age and not get trampled! It was so nice to sit in worship service. This was the first time since early March. The prek through 6th grade children sang which was neat to watch! It will be so neat to see Colby up there in a couple of years! They also showed a video/slideshow of the preschool easter party! After church we did our normal "thing" of going to eat at McAlister's. Colby didn't seem that hungry. It seems as if ever since he was sick Friday his appetite has not come back fully! I'm still hoping he's ok. We decided to let him go home with my parents. We hadn't done that in awhile and I thought Colby would enjoy it and my parents too plus this way Austin and I would have more time to rest and have some time to ourselves. We picked him up around 5 and came home and ate dinner then spent more time outside working in our little garden! It was a great weekend and we enjoyed having Austin off so much! Looking forward to Easter weekend since he will be off all weekend then too!

Back to a Routine

This week has been us trying to get back into a routine after our trip and a busy weekend. Sunday was church and a very busy day. I had extended care which we took all the kids outside which worked well. Colby always loves playing out there. It was exausting though! Afterwards we ate our usual lunch at McAlister's then came home and napped. After naps though we had to get back up and ready to head to my parent's. Austin's parents came in for the night and were spending the night with them. They normally would have stayed with us ofcourse but with us just getting back in town and all the rearranging we did in our guest room things were still a mess. It also worked out because we were all so tired. But we did go over there to visit and eat dinner. It was nice visiting with everyone I just wish it hadn't been such a long day for us. Colby was in his glory though having the spotlight of 6 adults and 4 of those adults being grandparents! Monday we had to go grocery shopping. Austin was off that day though which was nice so we were able to spend the afternoon together and relax. Tuesday Colby had school and Austin had to work that morning. That meant I got a couple or hours to myself which was nice! Again we got to spend time together that afternoon. Also it was a big day b/c Colby's big boy bunk beds finally arrived! He's been sleeping great in them ever since also! So proud of him! Wednesday Colby and I went to the park for a little while. We don't usually do much on Wednesdays because of having to go to church at night. I try to save most of our energy for that. So Wednesday mornings are slower paced and I get to do stuff around the house too which is nice. That night I had a VBS meeting then I worked with the kids. So again another exausting time but good time. All the kids were really good. We had our 3 usuals...Colby, Zoe, and Jonathan. Colby is at an in between age...he gets a little bored in there with the little ones but he's also too young to quite hang with 3-5 year olds some are even 6. Austin got there about halfway through and the older kids were on the playground so Austin took him out there with them. Thursday was another busy morning for us. Colby had school. Well when we got to school though we found out it was cancelled for the day due to no water. Luckily my parents live right around the corner so we called them to see if they wouldn't mind keeping Colby while I still went to Bible Study. I was so thankful for this. I knew he would be upset if we had to come home so going to my parent's house was just as exciting as school. I also hated to miss my Bible study. That afternoon Colby and I were both exausted and took long naps! Today (Friday) was supossed to be our errands day but I think Colby may be coming down with something. He felt warm last night and then he slept all night after taking a 3 1/2 hour nap. This morning he still woke up feeling warm and just hasn't been his usual bubbly self. He has mainly laid on the couch which is not like him at all. At one point he even requested that we "stay home" which he also never does. I can't figure out though what is wrong with him. He shows no other symptoms right now. I am hoping its just a virus not the stomach bug. I guess by tonight we will know! I hope he feels better by tomorrow though b/c we have a busy weekend with church activities planned plus Austin is off so I guess we'll see!

Preschool Easter Celebration

Saturday we had our preschool Easter Celebration at church. This year I was mainly in charge of planning the event. I had no idea when first planning it that it would fall the day after we got back from vacation. I think it worked out well though even though we were all a little tired. Last year was the first time they did something like this. I wasn't in charge last year so I got to sit back and enjoy it more. Unfortunately Colby didn't enjoy it much last year. He was still kinda young to "get it" and he was in his shy stage and didn't like being around a lot of people.

Fortunately I had a lot of help getting the event together. We prayed for a good turnout. Our Valentine's event we planned only 4 kids showed up. We made sure to publicize this and make handouts to give out in Sunday School and it was in the church bulletin.

Colby enjoyed the event for the most part. He got a little out of sorts at the beginning. Since I was in charge I had to maintain some of the stations and I was working with some of the other kids and Colby wanted to get in the middle of the dyeing eggs station. He wanted to play with the eggs and hold the coffee mugs. I wouldn't let him so he got pretty mad. My mom ended up taking him for a walk. During their walk he was still acting up so grammy actually put him in timeout! After that he got it together though and was an angel the rest of the time.

During the event the kids did some crafts they colored their easter bags, colored a cross, then dyed eggs. After the craft time they split by age and had storytime about Easter. The younger kids babies-3s had a simple Easter book read to them while the 4s and 5s did Ressurection Eggs with one of the Sunday School teachers.

After their storytimes we got them all back together and took them outside to hunt Easter Eggs. He loved this part...he didn't get it at first but once I told him and showed him how to put the eggs in his bag he went around scooping them up. He wasn't as fast as some of the kids but he still got a good number of them! My friend Melissa took pictures of all the kids by some pretty flowers on the playground. I thought it was so sweet of her to do this. Colby was last but when it came his turn he did so well. He just stood there smiling and posing. I had no idea he would do so well!

After that we went in for snacktime. I think all the kids were starving. We had fruit, cheese, cookies and juice! Colby went to town on it all! I think this was his favorite part!

Anyway it was a wonderful morning and I am grateful for all the help and all the parents who brought their kids so this could happen! Colby enjoyed the other kids as well. We had a 5 month old, 7 month old, 1 two and a half year old, 2 three year olds, 2 four year olds, and 3 kindergartners. We had a good group!

Tennessee Trip Day 5

Today was our last and final day in Tennessee. We had plans to go out to Cade's Cove and have a picnic. We started out early and went to a shop in the country that sells picnic baskets. We ordered some sandwhiches, chips, and dessert pies. After we drove to Cade's Cove. Cade's Cove has a really neat driving trail where you drive around and see wildlife and old cabins and churches and other buildings from the 1800s and 1900s.

Our first stop was a cabin. It was 1/4 mile to get up to it. Colby did great walking most of the way. In fact most people we saw were shocked our 2 1/2 year old was walking that whole way. I think he liked having the wide open space to walk/run in. He also liked checking out the "old cabins" not sure how much he understood but it was fun to him. This time period completely fascinates me. I guess because I grew up reading Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables. I would loved to have gone back in time to see how people really lived. I really was "into" this trip this time. I wanted to check out each place and learn more about the history. I hope we can always do things like this with Colby to give him an appreciation of history. This is one reason why I like to travel is to give Colby an appreciation of different things and places. I was fortunate to get to go to many places as a kid and I want the same for him.

Our next stop was an old church. We spent a lot of time here. It was nice to just sit in the old pews and wonder what life would have been like back then. We also spent a good bit of time wandering around the graveyard. Its sad to see how many young children died back then. We saw several graves for babies and 1 and 2 year olds. You figure they either died in childbirth or some disease that we now have vaccinations for.

After those 2 stops we decided to drive on through the rest. 1) because it was getting near lunchtime and 2) there are no bathrooms on the way and we knew Colby would have to potty. So we stopped near the old Mill where they have bathrooms and also plenty of areas to picnic. We spread our little picnic out in a field by a creek. It was so nice! I love picnics! We don't do them nearly enough and now that Colby is getting older we need to start b/c I think he really liked it too!

After eating we made one more stop at a cabin. Once again Colby enjoyed walking around and checking out the sights. After this though we headed home back to the cabin to rest. We hung around the cabin that afternoon then cooked steaks, baked potatoes, and a salad that night for dinner. Once we got dinner cleaned up though we brought Colby to a playground at the elementary school that was nearby. We figured he needed to burn off some more energy especially since the next day he would be in the car all day! We stayed about an hour and he had a blast running around. He also discovered dandilions which brought back so many childhood memories for me. I don't see them often here anymore so it was fun to pick those with him.

I'll go ahead and post about the way home here. We left the cabin at 5am central time and got home to our house in New Orleans around 5 pm. That was 12 hours total in the car! Colby did well though but we were all quite ready to get out of the car! He didn't fuss much. He slept probably about 2-3 hours total. He watched a couple movies but he was only allowed to watch them at certain points the rest of the time he just looked out the window and talked to us. We probably could have made it quicker but we had to stop often for potty breaks and food breaks for him. I'm so thankful we could take this vacation as a family! Can't wait to do it again!

Tennessee Day 4

Our fourth day in Tennessee we spent at Dollywood. I was very excited about this day b/c I had only ever been to the park once before. I knew Colby would love it after experiencing Disney World plus he's older now and I figured he would understand a lot more. He got into it right away. The first place we took him was to the 50s area where they have the old timey car rides. He loved looking at the antique cars that were parked all around. I swear we could have stayed there all day! He ofcourse loved the car ride...I rode with him and Austin followed behind us in a pink car ;). After the cars we took him over the carnival section. That section had the most rides that Colby could ride. He rode the Veggie Tale rollercoaster with Austin. This was his second little kiddie rollercoaster he rode one in Disney. Austin said he was holding on tight..I think he likes it but isn't quite sure yet he isn't scared just not quite sure I guess. Next I rode the flying elephants and spinning tea cups with him. He loved both of those. He talked about those a lot the rest of the trip! Then we all 3 rode the carousel. He is really into carousels these days riding horsies he says.

Next we saw on the map they had a few play areas so we set off to find those. There were actually 2 really close together. This was so nice about Dollywood. We let him play for about 30 minutes. This was my biggest complaint about Disney World was there were not enough places for toddlers to run and climb. He had a great time burning off some energy! After he played for awhile we set out to find a place for lunch. We ended up back in the 50s area and ate outside at the hamburger place. It was a gorgeous day so eating outside was great. This allowed Colby to get up and down and run around as much as he wanted!

After lunch we chose to ride the train. We figured this would be a good unwinding activity! Colby was so excited about the train too. It was a real coal powered train. The total ride was about 30 minutes and Colby was so good the whole time he just looked and stared. Afterwards we decided to go back to the cabin to relax and let Colby nap. We planned on coming back that night but we knew he needed a break. he would have been so cranky if we would have stayed all day! Unfortunately he fell asleep in the car on the way back and naturally never did take a nap. Even though he didn't nap it was still nice to have the down time for all of us. We would have been so worn out if we would have tried to make it all day.

By about 4 we got dressed and headed back to the park. We knew we wanted to let him ride the cars again so we went straight to that. This time Austin rode with him. I think he enjoyed getting to drive both his parents around. We then decided we better go ahead and get dinner. I didn't want to take a chance waiting until close to the park closed. We ate at a country buffet. The food was ok but I am just not a huge buffett person. I think we probably could have found a better place but it was still nice. After dinner we wanted to ride one more ride. We went to part of the park we didn't get to that morning. They had a slow paced water ride that Colby could ride on. When we saw how wet people got though we hesitated. But Austin decided he and Colby would go ahead and ride. They did get pretty wet but Colby didn't seem to mind too much. It was the last ride and we were headed home to put him straight in the tub so it wasn't a big deal!

We had a great day! I love Dollywood and I think Colby did too! I can tell he's going to love rides and themeparks! It was neat to see how much he had already grown up since Disney World. Hopefully we will get to take him back to Dollywood in the next year or 2.

Tennessee Trip Day 3

Tuesday was our first full day in the mountains. We woke up to a much cooler day after the front and bad weather went through. It was cold but soo beautiful. We decided to go to the Smokey Mountain National Park right outside Gatlinburg. As we were driving there we discovered how bad the weather had really been. We passed a sewerage place where a tank exploded and apparantly killed 2 men and also a mudslide. It was quite an exciting morning in the Smokies apparantly. We got to the park and were able to park really close to some really pretty water falls or "wa wa falls" as Colby calls them. It was pretty chilly so we didn't stay out there long. We were able to walk up close to them though and even hike up a short trail in the mountain. Colby loved the steep steps! We also showed him how to throw rocks into the water. He loved that! After walking around for a little while we were all freezing so we decided to drive back into Pigeon Forge to find something to do.

We ended up stopping at The Track. We had promised Colby a ride on race cars so we figured we better fulfill that promise. We bought him 4 ride tickets. He chose to ride some airplanes first. He loved that he thought he was such big stuff! Afterwards he rode the miniature train. Next he chose the carousel. He talked about riding the giraffes all day! The last thing we wanted him to do was the toddler go carts. He was just tall enough to ride. We figured he might be able to figure it out. He got in there and got buckled in but when it came time to "drive" he just couldn't quite get the concept of pushing down on the gas pedal to make it go. I was glad he tried though. Since he didn't get to ride Austin took him to the big go carts for his last ride. Austin said he enjoyed it but also was holding on for dear life! We know he liked it though b/c he talked about it the rest of the day! After leaving the park we went back to the cabin for sandwhiches and naps.

When we all got up from our naps and freshned up we headed back to Pigeon Forge to eat at the Old Mill restaurant. We had eaten there when Colby was 8 months old and we all loved it! I figured it would be even more enjoyable now that he was older and could actually enjoy the food and atmosphere too! We had to wait a little while to be seated but there was plenty to look at and places to walk around. I think we all enjoyed our dinner. Colby ate tons of his mac n cheese and pot roast and green beans! He also made friends with a couple seated near us! After dinner we decided to go back and drive through Gatlinburg since we didn't see much of it that morning. It was a nice drive just looking around at all the stuff. We didn't get out. Once we got home it was bath and bedtime!

Family Vacation 2011 AL & TN- DAY 1 and 2

So we left Sunday for our 2nd family vacation that included just Austin, myself, and Colby. Our first one was when Colby was 1 and we went to San Antonio. We have been wanting to take another one for awhile. We decided on the mountains as our destination. We took Colby there when he was 8 months old along with both our families. It was a nice trip but we didn't get to do much since Colby was a baby and it was also a little more stressful with all the people. We knew now Colby would be able to enjoy it so we wanted to go back.

We left Sunday and decided we would only drive half way. We stopped in Birmingham/Hoover, Alabama. We took our time getting there Sunday. We dropped Allie off at Austin's parents house in Hattiesburg then drove to Merdian for lunch. We ate at Applebees there. After lunch we hit the road to Birmingham. We got to our hotel which was a 1 bedroom residence inn room. We unloaded and relaxed for a little while. We then set off to find a park so that Colby could run around. Several friends suggested Vulcan Park. The park was very pretty but wasn't a toddler friendly park we felt. There was not much to do other then running down the hills. We stayed about 30 min then decided to look for another place. The views were wonderful and it had great grassy areas for picnics but other then that I didn't see the big deal honestly. It took us another 30 min or more to find a park...strange after coming from New Orleans where there is literally a park every couple of miles. We finally ended up in a neighborhood where there was a playground. Technically I'm sure we weren't supossed to be on it but no one else was out there so we stayed for a little while. Colby enjoyed it but by that time it was getting late and he was starting to melt down. We stopped off at Jason's Deli though for dinner which he enjoyed eating his very first ice cream cone! After dinner we went back to the hotel to wind down. Since we were all in one room though it was difficult to get Colby settled until we went to bed. Finally at 10 we turned the lights off then he went to sleep. After waking up the next day we started our journey towards Tennessee.

We stopped at a Zaxby's for lunch and just took our time getting there. We arrived at our cabin late that afternoon. After getting everything unloaded Austin struck out to go grocery shopping. I felt best to keep Colby at the cabin so he could play and get used to the place. There was also a big storm coming so I didn't want to be out with him in that either. Once Austin got back we cooked spaghetti. The weather starting getting bad after dinner. Since we had a busy day we soon bathed Colby and put him to bed. We were looking forward to our first full day in TN!