34 Weeks....Almost

Today I had my 34 week appointment a little early since we are leaving on vacation for the rest of the week. Everything looked great. Heart beat was strong. Cooper is measuring right on target, blood pressure was good, weight was down by 1 pound, but it balanced out from the last appointment-overall total weight gain is great. My next appointment is in a little over 2 weeks for my Group B Strep test, then I start having appointments every week!

Praise the LORD for Air Conditioning!!

Yipee! They fixed it this afternoon, and the house is cooling down! It was the capacitor-whatever that it....

The Invasion

Reid and I went to see "The Invasion" this afternoon. (Thanks Kelly for taking Ella swimming!! :) ) Gotta love free movie passes too!

It was a GREAT movie! Definitely go see it!!


p.s. By the way-for those of you wondering how we are surviving without air conditioning--we are mooching off my parents air conditioning and staying at their house until Monday when they come to fix the air. So glad we had somewhere to go! THANKS DAD AND MOM!!! :)

Preschool Open House!

Today was Ella's preschool open house! She met her teacher and got to see her new room. She did GREAT and loved every minute there! When we were leaving, she asked if she was going to go back to her class and we were going to leave. haha! I don't think we will have any problems wih seperation anxiety. :) Here are a few pictures. More pictures are on the website! (Link to the left)

Recipe for No Fun

7.5 months pregnant+ 100 degree heat +air conditioning breaking and not being able to be fixed until Monday=NOT FUN!!

A Parent's Prayer

Tonight Reid and I went to Parent Orientation Night at Ella's preschool! It was great getting to see her classroom and meet her teacher. We are really excited for Ella to have this opportunity to go to preschool! Her teacher was great, and had the room set up so cute. It looked like so much fun! Tomorrow is Open House, so Ella gets to go see the room and meet her teacher. She is SO looking forward to school!

Anyway, the following was in the handbook they gave us. I thought it was really sweet, and wanted to share!

A Parent's Prayer

They are little only once,Lord.
Grant me wisdom and patience to teach them to follow in your footsteps and prepare them for what is to come.

They are only little once, Lord.
Make me take the time to play pretend, to read or tell a story, to cuddle. Don't let me for one minute think anything is more important than the school play, the recital, the big game, fishing or the quiet walk hand-in-hand. All too soon, Lord, they will grow away and there is no turning back. Let me have my memories with no regrets.

Please help me to be a good parent, Lord.
When I must discipline-let me do it in love; let me be firm, but fair; let me correct and explain with patience.

They are growing up, Lord.
While I have the chance, let me do my best for them. For the rest of our lives, please Lord, let me appreciate them without possessing them.

They are only little once, Lord.
Please help me to remember this and treasure these days.

We have a swimmer!

Today Ella and I went to my Dad and Mom's neighborhood pool for a swim after naptime. For the first time, Ella swam from the wall to me, and then from me back to the wall! We were there for about an hour and a half, and she did that for about an hour of that! I was so proud of her! She also jumped in off the side, going under water and coming up and swimming to me!! Yipee! Way to go Ella! :) And yes, it was all without her swim vest on! I'm glad we will have a week in Florida next week to practice our new found swimming skills!

Another thing checked off!

I washed all of Cooper's 0-3 months clothes today as well as all his blankets. :)

7 weeks and 3 days!

Teaching Children Respect

First of all, letme appologise for the last post and this one being rants-but I just had to blog this!

So, today we were at my parents neighborhood pool swimming. They have a really nice pool in their neighborhood, complete with a kids area that has all these like spraying, water park like things in it. It is very neat and fun! The kids part just opened at the end of last month, so it is fairly new. Anyway, there is a giant rules thing posted on the fence of this kids area that clearly states that the area is for children under the age of 5. Seems like a no brainer, right?

Last weekend while we were there, I was very impressed with the life guard staff and how they strictly enforced this rule. Gathering up kids that were too old, walking them over to the rules poster and reading the rule outloud to them. Way to get the point across! I have to admit, it made me laugh when I saw the life guard do it, and I wanted to walk right up to him and say, way to go! ;)

Fast forward to today while we are there. We were headed to this kids area, when a group of like 10-12 9 year old girls head over to this area, along with a few boys around the same age. As I am about to open the door, I say to them, "You have to be under 5 to come in here, sorry!" (hehe) I mean, there are several little kids in this area, and they don't need a bunch of older kids splashing them in the face, etc, etc... So, all is well and good and I am proud of myself for saying something. Then one of the Moms of the girls goes over to the lifeguard, and then brings all of the girls into the childrens area and lets them in. WTH? I am thinking....

Turns out, the President of the Home Owners Association (emphasis on the Ass part), told the life guard that he is not allowed to enforce the age limit, and that anyone can go in there. Nice.

So, this all got me thinking and really bothered about the situation! First of all, what message are these parents sending to their children? "I can break whatever rules I want if I don't like how it effects me." Forget the fact that the rules for the baby area were created to ensure the safety of the little ones that should be in that area. So, these parents are also teaching their children a lack of respect for others.

So, congratulations to all the parents that were there today that let their overgrown brats take over the baby pool today. Congratulations for raising the next generation of self-absorbed, rule breaking, disrespecting people! Way to go! I hope you are as proud of them when they are breaking curfew, drinking under age, and just blowing off your rules as you are today-when you were laying the foundation for it.

One of those days...

Do you ever just have one of those days that you just feel irritated the whole day and you don't know why? Today was one of those days. I hate that! :(

Ella's first non-family babysitter, and 32 week appointment!

This is a double duty blog today.

Ella had her first non-family babysitter tonight while Reid and I went to small group! I had been having the hardest time trying to find a babysitter for small group this Summer, and this week I remembered this high school girl (Nicole) that helps out in Ella's Sunday school classroom every week. Perfect! She already knows her! So, Nicole came and babysat for Ella tonight and it went SO well! First of all, Ella was SOOO excited that she was coming over! When she called right before she got to our house to make sure she had the right house, Ella said "Ok, you can leave now Mommy!" I told her we should probably wait until Miss Nicole actually gets here. haha! Then when she got here, Ella was bouncing off the walls and was just so excited! She did really well while we were gone, and went to bed without any problems. And to top it all off, "Miss Cole" (as Ella calls her) said she is available every Thursday! woohoo! :) Oh! and come to find out that Nicole is in my sister Leah's high school small group that she leads. Cool, huh?

Let me just tell you, it is so great to find someone who wants to take care of your children that genuinely cares for them and enjoys being with them. It definitely makes going out stress-free and enjoyable. You know that if your kids actually WANT you to leave so they can stay home and play with the babysitter that you are leaving them in good hands. :)


On another note, I had my 32 week check-up today and everything looked great! He is facing head down, and heart rate sounded good. Still measuring 1 week behind, but well within range of a healthy measurement. Another appointment in 2 weeks!

Cute Statement of the Day

As Daddy is getting ready to leave for work:

Mommy: I'm sad Daddy is leaving!

Ella: You don't have to be sad Mommy! I will take very good care of you.

How cute is THAT??



Also-Ella dressed her self today! From the dress, panties, shoes, dress-up earrings and headband. She is my little fashionista! ;)

White Vinegar Hair Residue Remover

I was reading a magazine this weekend, and I found a great residue remover for your hair!

It's simple:

Combine 1/4 c. white vinegar and 1 c. of water.
Shampoo your hair and rinse out in the shower.
Pour the vinegar rinse through your hair. Use your fingers to work through your hair for about a minute.
Rinse with clean water.
Apply your conditiioner (if you use it)

Do this once a week to remove product build-up.

I just tried it today and it works GREAT! Clean and shiney hair!!

More wedding pictures!

Check out this slideshow on the photographer's website!

http://www.6offourcreations.com/Zach&Gretchen/

The pictures are GORGEOUS!!

Is this what Hell feels like?

Ok, I know I am 7 months pregnant-but I don't care if you are pregnant or not, IT IS DANG HOT!! I mean, seriously! You know when your 3 year old says "It's too hot, Mommy!" then it is hot! The past three days we have been to my parents neighborhood to go swimming, and even the pool water is hot it is so hot outside! But the crafts, games, playdough, movies, etc... have been "played out", so we went swimming in the bath water anyway. :)

Yikes! Come on September and some cooler weather!!

Justin Timberlake...Round 2!

Last night my sister Leah, her friend Lauren, my friend JJ and I (JJ and I brought pregnant sexy back) went to see Justin Timberlake in concert at Gwinnett Arena! To top it off we got to sit in the Coke Suite thanks to my Dad! For those of you that don't know, this is my second JT concert in 6 months....haha....What can I say. it's an awesome concert! One time is definitely not enough! :) If you haven't seen him in concert, you definitely have to go! The production, band and dancers are incredible. And need I even say anything about JT? I think not. ;)

Anyway, we had a blast and I would definitely go again!

Wedding Pictures!

We're back, and we had a great weekend at the wedding! We are definitely all partied out-especially Ella. :) The wedding was at Berry College, and it was such a beautiful place for a wedding! We really enjoyed our stay on campus in the apartments up at Winshape. The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was lots of fun! Ella didn't quite make it down the aisle, as she took one look at the 500+ guests that were seated in Berry Chapel, and her wide smile turned to a look of sheer terror! Poor baby! :( But, she looked cute in the pictures, and that's the point of having a flower girl, right? :) speaking of pictures- here are a few pictures from the wedding. Lots more are on the August section of our website!

We're gone again!

We are headed out to Rome, GA for the weekend for my cousin's wedding! There isn't internet access, so I will update (with pictures) when we get back!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

30 Weeks!

I had my 30 week appointment, and all is well! I am measuring a week behind, but I was the same with Ella. The doctor asked me how much Ella weighed when she was born (6 lbs. 15 oz. 5 days overdue), and she said that I just have small babies! Lucky me! :) So, the doctor wasn't concerned at all. His heart rate was great, blood pressure was good and a total of 16 pounds gained. Not too bad!