Little Einsteins!

16 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:


How far along?
16 Weeks

Size of the baby?
About 4 1/2 inches, 2 3/4 ounces- an avocado

Maternity clothes?
So happy that the pants are fitting a little more right now. Also happy that I got some more (really cute) from Kim's sister and a friend- Thanks Jen!

Stretch marks?
Not that I can see!

Weight gained:
about 5 pounds- I'll find out tomorrow at my doctor's appointment

Sleep:
I am finally getting some good sleep. Of course I don't sleep in on the (few and far between) days that I can.

Best moment this/last week:
Rachel giving up her paci! We also had a great breakfast at Chick-fil-A on Saturday where we happened to see a few friends. Rachel had a great time playing with the other 3 kids in the play area- not so sure how I feel about her kissing Trey goodbye though!

Movement:
Pretty sure, but honestly, if I sit still for too long, I fall asleep!


Food cravings:
Food in general is tasting really good right now. I'm usually not a huge krispy kreme fan, but I had 2 this morning and could have had at least 2 more!


Gender/Names:
Still waiting till we find out what the gender is before really discussing names.

Labor Signs:
No

Belly Button in or out?
About half in, half out

Wedding rings on or off?
On, a little tight at times

What I miss:
Not having to go to the bathroom every hour!

What I am looking forward to:
My brother is coming up for the weekend- it'll be nice to spend time with him. I hope he feels better so he can run in the mud run and enjoy the LU game!

No More Paci!

We've been working with Rachel on the whole paci thing this summer. She's only used it at night and during naps at home for quite a while. She hasn't used it at all at the sitter's house in a really long time. So this summer, we tried to just take it away, which didn't work so well. So we decided to cut the end off. We were sure that she would be that kid who decided it was broken and she didn't need it anymore. We were wrong again. She cried for about 5 minutes every night for weeks. We didn't know what to do next. Last week at our Life Group, a couple other moms and I were even talking about how to transition. Since we were out late, Rachel fell asleep in the car on the way home and we didn't even change her into her pajama's when we got home (don't worry, the diaper had already been changed), so she went to sleep without the paci. Then we had an away game Friday night and it was the same story. So nap time Saturday, we tried without it and she called out for just a minute. That night she asked for it when we tucked her in, but we just told her goodnight. After a few minutes of crying she went to sleep. Since then, she's done great! For the last 2 nights she hasn't even made a wimper!

So, now that that's out of the way- we're on to the toddler bed and potty training. Not necessarily looking forward to either of those!

Where were you...?

10 years ago, our lives were changed forever. People often ask "where were you?" when major events happen. The death of a president, natural disasters, and of course the attacks on September 11, 2001. Although I wanted to be close to family, I believe that I was in the best place for me that day. I was a sophmore at Liberty University in Mrs. Sherman's education class watching a classmate give the first presentation of the semester- she was from New York. I remember Mrs. Sherman as a short lady that was one of the biggest prayer warriors I had ever met. She told a story our first day of class that when her house was being built, she walked around to every doorway and wrote scripture on the drywall. That way, God's word would always be surrounding her and her family. That morning she kept slipping in and out of the classroom, which we all thought was a little strange. After the first presentation finished, Mrs. Sherman, with tears in her eyes, said that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers and we needed to stop presentations and pray. As we did, she interrupted us a few times to give us updates. When it was clear that it was a terrorist attack and a plane had crashed into the Pentagon, she told us that how we were praying was not good enough, we needed to get on our knees. So our class of elementary education majors got down on our knees beside our desks and prayed in small groups. I'll never forget holding hands with Rebecca Gardner, crying, and not knowing exactly what to pray for, but spending a lot of time asking God to keep the terrorists away from Virginia Beach and the military bases around that area. After a little while, we were dismissed and the rest of the classes were cancelled for the day. There was a convocation that was held that I just remember a lot of prayer, a lot of American flags, and just an eerie feeling around. After that, we all crowded in the commons areas and watched CNN in silence.

I think one of the scariest moments wasn't until days later when the first planes were back in the air. We were in convocation and the plane that flew overhead sounded so loud since we hadn't heard one in so many days. Everyone kind of took a breath after it passed and I think we were all relieved when planes sounded normal agian.

So 10 years later, I still remember that day like it was yesterday. But at the same time, it seems like a lifetime ago. I'm so thankful that I was in a place where prayer was a priority, and patriotism was so apparent, even among the international students.

Labor Day

We headed over to the beach over Labor Day. It was nice to spend some relaxing time, since this summer was a little hectic. I only wish I could say that the pool temperature had raised some and we were able to spend a lot of time in the pool- too bad it was only 82 degrees! That may sound warm- not so much though!

The guys got up early on Sunday morning and headed down to the beach for the Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon. Dustin got some great sunrise shots and fun shots of runners and race fans- but he'll be posting those on his blog.

That afternoon we went down to the bay with the extended family. Nothing like 6 grandparents, 6 20-30 somethings, and 6 kids to keep the beach nice and calm! Really, we had a great picnic dinner, all the kids were great, and it was fun to catch up in a relaxing environment. We don't have any pictures of that, either (I'll have to steal them from someone else who had their camera out there!) Rachel had a great time with Megan in this plastic beach wheelbarrow that Jen and Joe have. Papa Joe had them floating in it out in the (little) waves, and at one point he took Blake, Anna, Megan, and Rachel for a walk down the beach in it. I will definitely need to get that picture! I'm pretty sure that he had just as good of a time as the kids did. I was really excited to get out on the kayak for a while, too.

Here are some pictures of the kids hanging out.

Alli was a little sleepy, but didn't want to miss anything at the park!

Love this picture!

Rachel got a little twisted on the twisty slide!

Poppy with Blake and Rachel looking for sticks and other cool stuff in the field by the park.

Hurricane Irene

Thanks to Hurricane Irene, we had a few visitors for the weekend. Irene looked like she was going to make quite an impact on the coast, so mom, Kim, Blake and Alli came for a visit. They weren't worried about damage, just didn't want to be stuck in a house with no power! Can't say I blame them! They got to go to a football game. I was so proud of Blake when he announced when we walked in the gate "We're here to see the band!" That's my nephew! I also thought it was great when Hidden Valley fumbled and he said, in a not-so-quiet voice- "They need to practice!"

They sat with their arms around each other for a while- it was pretty cute!

They liked playing wii bowling- only a few meltdowns, but it worked out! Blake is pretty good!

Alli liked playing with some of Rachel's doll things- again only a couple meltdowns from Rachel!

Some family friends came up to visit, too. Carole and her daughter, Rachel, left their husbands at home and brought the dogs up to get away. They spent the night in a hotel, but spent the day Saturday with us. We did a little shopping, and went to Frogurt for dessert!

Enjoying dessert downtown!

I absolutely loved seeing all three of the kids on the swingset! They had a great time together.

What a big girl!

Blake liked riding the tricycle in the front yard for a while!

Loved spending some girl time together!

The only 2 boys of the weekend- had to stick together! Uncle Dusty even took Blake to a park because there were too many girls in the house! They snuck away after dessert to look for trains for a few minutes too. No trains, but the garbage truck was a better find anyway!

Blake loves his Uncle Dusty- and Uncle Dusty is pretty fond of Blake, too!