Drew's Birthday Week

Drew had what we call, a birthday week! His birthday was on a Tuesday, and he was supposed to have a meeting that evening ( of course it got canceled). So we dropped Peyton off at Nay Nay's house and went to a matinee. We saw "Mud" which was great except for one of the young boys in it who loved to cuss. WHY do they have to do that? Anywho, we ate way too much popcorn which thankfully didn't bring my sugar up.

Since we didn't have to rush home for his meeting, he wanted to stop by a shooting range. That's right - we are now a gun owning family. Apparently it's a must in Mount Airy. ;) I got him one for his 'graduation-birthday-father's day- and anything else I can think of' present. Shooting scared me too death at first but I got used to it and didn't do too horribly. 

 That night we ate out, and then ate the yummy cake I made him. We are a house divided in the debate over vanilla/chocolate. So we compromise. :) DE-LICIOUS.

I made him a favorite dinner that Thursday night. I would have done it on his birthday but you remember, we thought he had a meeting. Anyway, he loves a steak sandwich out of Pioneer Woman's Cookbook so that's what we did. We spent that evening playing with Peyton's new water table. :)

Saturday morning we went to North Surry's graduation to see a couple teenagers graduate. After that some Roanoke friends came to our house to hang out for the day. It was a wonderful day of bbq, Putt Putt, Battle of the Sexes, Ice Cream at Opie's Candy Store, Chili's and some downtime while the kids played.

Monday we celebrated Drew's and Jeremy's birthday with my mom and sister. That's for another post.

20 weeks - the big reveal

 It's a girl!!! We are so excited to start preparing for Sadie Elisabeth's birth! Bring on the tutus, bows and painted toes! :)

It was such an encouraging appointment. The sonogram showed healthy measurements and organs. My sugars are staying intact, and I'm not gaining a ton of weight thanks to my diet. ;)

Look at that foot! She definitely doesn't have daddy's flat foot. :) SOOOO CUTE.

16 months.

I don't even know where to start. I am amazed at my little man and how much he is growing! He is definitely a handful at times but Drew and I can't imagine life without him. Peyton is still such a sweet boy who has the biggest smile. He can also be extremely shy and cling to Mama or Daddy whenever he starts seeing a bunch of people coming his way. He has started to show his stubbornness when he doesn't get his way. Thankfully he is compliant semi-quickly so a stern voice usually does the job. :) He went through a hitting/biting stage where he would do both - at our faces - anytime he heard us say 'no' but it is already calming down a good bit. Now it is usually a quick scream or laying his head on the ground. We can usually avoid the biting/hitting by saying 'gentle' and 'kisses not bites' which miraculously helps. There was about a week where we didn't think that would work.

He is starting to talk and repeat what we say more often. He says "hi" "bi" "mama" "dada" "dah(dog)" "duh(done)" He recognizes most of what we say which is lovely. He is a squealer and while he used to laugh uncontrollably when he was tickled, he now gets mad if you do it too much.

He can also make a few animal noises although at this point they all sound pretty similar, which is a high pitched squeal. He can tell you what a duck, birdie, monkey, and dog says.

Peyton shows you where his belly and mouth are. He points to our eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

Oh my word does this kid love 'driving' our cars. He drives us crazy wanting to grab our keys and go. :) He also loves running around outside, playing with chalk and crayons, and playing with anything involving water. He knocks Daddy's towers down quicker than Drew can build them and is a big fan of putting things in containers. If I give him a spoon and a bowl or pot he will cook with me which can be helpful. He loves balloons and helping with laundry and shoes. He tries to get them on himself but that still needs some work. :) This kids loves shooting his basketball and playing with his little tee-ball set. He was so proud of himself when he figured out how to twist things and not loves trying to screw lids on things. He has started to play with toy cars more and will occasionally make noises when he makes them go. Peyton loves when you clap for him and will often join it. He will watch you to make sure you are watching him and cheering appropriately.

My goober sure does love snuggling. The three of us watch Sesame Street in bed when he first wakes up. If he looks sleepy I will ask him if he wants to snuggle and he will either run to the couch or glider and pat it for me to sit down. He LOVES holding my hand, and hates being put down to sleep if he is still awake. sigh... we're working on it. He still plays with his hair (or mine if he can reach it) when he is sleepy. It just melts my heart.

Sure do love this boy!

I'm a mama and we celebrated

 This was my second Mother's Day and it did not disappoint. :) I am so blessed to have a sweet one-year-old and a 18 week baby growing inside of me. I am not going to pretend that motherhood is easy and wonderful - but it is exactly where I want to be. I cannot imagine being anywhere else and life, (and when I do imagine those long ago dates of plenty and mornings sleeping in) I quickly realize it is not worth not having my babies in my life. 

We went to Sunday School and church where I 'won' a Chick Fil A gift card for tying Jade as the youngest mother. That gift card is already half gone by the way. ;) After I was finished singing in the choir I slipped into the nursery to get my baby. Our church is very kid oriented, and most parents keep their young ones with them through most of service. Peyton is way too active and loud for us to do that, but I decided today was my day and I wanted to snuggle my baby... especially since graduation the day before was full of the crazy that did NOT include good snuggles with him. I LOVED snuggling with him during the sermon and he was almost completely cooperative. :)

We all took afternoon naps which was MUCH needed and WONDERFUL and then got ready for the Naff clan and Mom to come over for dinner. 

I am super blessed to have a mom who has always been there for me (even when I didn't think I wanted her to be there ;)). She is a constant and loves Jesus even more than she loves Katie and me. Since that is the case, we thought she deserved a nice dinner. They all trekked up to Mount Airy and we grilled steaks and had macaroni, green beans, and red lobster rolls. An hour later we consumed angel food cake, cool whip, strawberries, and melted chocolate. MMM.... It was a wonderful evening that included the boys doing dishes, kids playing outside, and lots of chatting. I was a fan. :) 

Yay for being a mama. This day was a day well spent.

PS- We saw Drew's mama the day before and we are also super grateful for her as well. I am so blessed that she loves Jesus and raised such a godly man for me to do life with. She did a superb job on him! :)

Article about Highland Park's Missions Trip

A reporter came to the church and talked with Drew and a few others about the upcoming missions trip. Drew and a team from our church is headed to the Dominican Republic June 8th. The article is below if you want to learn a little more about it.

Mt Airy News

Liberty University 2013

 Well we did it. Drew and I headed up to Lynchburg Virginia on Friday so that we could get ready to graduate. We spent the evening walking around campus ( which included a chat with Brandon - Drew's SLD and groomsmen in our wedding). Then we headed to Bryan and Sarah's where met them and Drew's mom for some chatting, fingernail polishing, cotton candy nibbling, and a trip to Outback for dessert. :) Yum. We spent the night with them, and then woke up early for the day of crazy.

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Religion. I thought I was going to graduate with honors and get a cool tassel. Once I got there I realized that if you graduate with less than 60 hours at Liberty you have to have a higher GPA than if I did all classes through Liberty. I'm still proud of my 3.54.

Drew graduated with a Master of Arts in Religion with a concentration in Discipleship. He graduated with High Distinction with his 3.97 GPA. I'm a tad bit proud of him and his cool gold medal. ;)

We were able to walk together which was a wonderful thing that we will always remember. I sure do enjoy doing life with him!

 Drew is already itching to start his next degree, but I think I've convinced him to wait until Spring since, you know, we have a baby coming in October! :) 

We are so grateful for all our family who supported us through our crazy endeavors. My mom threw us a party in Roanoke that evening. We had so many of our wonderful friends and family there and it was a nice relaxing evening after the blurr of a morning. I was able to take a few pictures but most are on other people's cameras that I might be able to steal later. Over all it was an exhausting and encouraging day and I am amazing at how much God has blessed us!

16 weeks

I had my 16 week appointment on Thursday. The baby's heartbeat is wonderful at 143 BPM. He/she is super low right now which is the first real difference I have seen between my pregnancy this go round and with Peyton. Everything else has been about the same. The heartburn is here already, along with soreness. I can't quite feel baby 2 but I think it'll be soon. I'm pretty tired, but way less dizzy and nauseous which is wonderful.

I did have the glucose test at this appointment and I do in fact have gestational diabetes again. Honestly it is probably a good thing. Well, as far as accountability for eating healthier and keeping the weight gain to a minimum. ;) I was a little frustrated when I found out, but mainly because I just want the doctors to make up their mind and stick with it. I can handle the diet and pricking my finger - although it's annoying and I do get emotional and frustrated at times - but I can't handle the 'eat what you want' no 'you've got diabetes' back and forth.

Anyway, we will find out what this little one is on May 28! We are very curious and excited and are narrowing our names down. :) People are asking what I think it is and honestly I don't know. Like I said, my two pregnancies have been pretty similar so initial thought is boy. I would LOVE a girl at some point, but can't say I would mind not having to buy a bunch of stuff, so boy would be great as well! Yes it would be cool to have another boy since they are close in age, but I think brothers and sisters can be best friends also. Bottom line, we want to know, but only so we can personalize this baby and stop calling him/her 'baby2.'