Cat's out of the bag

I have been absent from blogging lately for several reasons. First, summer is a busy time for me at work and at home, and I just haven't had a lot of spare time to blog. Second, all of my friends and family are on facebook now, so I don't feel as much of an obligation to share Mimi pics here since it's so much easier to share them there. And thirdly, I haven't been feeling very good the last couple of months. But all is well.

I'm just pregnant.

Yes, Amelia  is going to be a big sister! We found out the week we got home from the beach, and since then I have been doing a LOT of gagging and sleeping, ha. Of course we were nervous for the first couple of months that something might go wrong, and there is still a chance that something could, but for now everything looks good, and we are praising God for a healthy pregnancy and baby so far. We kept it a secret for what seemed like FOREVER, partly because we didn't want to share with everyone in case something went wrong, and also because we wanted to wait until after baby Jackson was born so Mare and Justin could have their special time all to themselves. But we finally told our families and closest friends a couple of weeks ago and shared the news on Facebook the other day, so the cat is officially out of the bag.

I do have a tiny baby bump already, which could easily be mistaken for eating a lot, but I haven't been able to eat much lately and had actually lost a few pounds at my last appointment. However this week my appetite and energy level seem to be picking back up. I am 12 weeks along and due on March 19, which happens to be Cliff's mom's birthday. Not sure if I'll actually deliver that day, but nevertheless it is special to be due on her birthday.

So that's what's been going on with us. Hopefully I'll feel more up to updating soon. I loved having a record of my pregnancy with Amelia and her tiny baby months, so I definitely want to do that for number two. Since I definitely won't be doing any scrapbooking, this is the next best thing. As for Big Sis, she doesn't quite understand, but I know she is going to be a great big sister and helper. She adores her new baby cousin (pics of him coming soon), and is really into helping right now, so I think she is the perfect age for a sibling. Next big thing up for us is finding out the gender. We should find out sometime next month, and I can hardly wait! Amelia says it's a girl and her name is Molly. Not so sure about that, but it is a cute name. I don't know where she comes up with this stuff. Boy or girl, we will be thrilled.

Over-due Mimi update

I am so overdue for a Mimi post! I have no excuse at all, other than being kind of busy at work and just not making time to record some memories, and for that I am so over myself!

We have had a busy and fun summer. Here are a few recent pics:

She had a blast at cheer camp at Co-Lin. This was her first time to wear anything resembling athletic gear and tennis shoes, ha. We couldn't get over her in this outfit! I laughed because she was really just dressed like a regular kid, but this was a rare occasion for us not having her all dolled up

Amelia is blessed to have lots of little friends, and that means she gets LOTS of birthday party invitations. We try to make as many of them as we can, and I think we probably average 3-4 parties a month! It's exhausting (and expensive) for me, but she always has a good time. We especially enjoy when they have waterslides.

I've already shared pics and video of her time at gymnastics camp, but here's one of her and her BFF Joy. They are in the same class at school and they just started their weekly gymnastics classes this week. These two are a mess together! If they are not loving on each other, they are arguing or bossing!

Mimi was so lucky to have Katie off this summer to hang out with her every day. They did lots of fun things like going swimming, going to the library, the splash park, arts and crafts at home, etc. This was them making rainbow cupcakes on their last day of the summer together. She has been giving Katie the cold shoulder lately and I think she's mad at her that they're not playing together every day, ha.

 And to end up the summer, we took our annual trip to the local Exchange Club Fair. As always, it was HOT. But we always have a good time eating and seeing everyone we know. The past couple of years haven't been that much fun for Mimi, but she had the time of her life this year! Cliff and I just smiled our faces off the entire time getting to watch her have so much fun.

Classic Angela moment. My camera died shortly after we got there, ugh! So I only got a few pics. If it had been working, I would have gotten pics of my little daredevil and her Daddy on the giant ferris wheel. I was a nervous wreck with her being up so high with nothing more than a bar protecting her, but she begged to go on it and Cliff took one for the team and did it with her. Love my boo for that one!

Funny sidenote: The Exchange Club owns the park that the fair take place at, and the rides are there year-round, even though the fair only goes on once a year. Katie and Amelia went to get some ice cream near the park a few weeks ago, and Amelia looked over at the ferris wheel and said, "Oh, Katie, I wish I was a little girl on that ferris wheel!" Ha. Well, she got her wish.

We attended a baby shower for Mare and baby Jackson a few weeks ago. He got some precious things and we can't wait to hold him in 6 more days!

Amelia has really gotten into painting and doing art projects this summer. Here she was working on some frames for Father's Day gifts for Cliff, Papa and Grandbob.

So that's a little update on some things I've failed to blog about this summer. I am going to try to do better about blogging, because this funny girl is getting more hilarious every day, and I've got to get better at recording some of the things that she says and does!

4th of July at the Beach

So the last full day of our trip was the 4th of July. This was the first year I can remember spending the 4th at the beach. It was a lot of fun. Mimi and I woke up that morning before everyone else and decided to walk across the street to have breakfast at a little cafe and watch the parade the town puts on. It was cute and Mimi had fun, but I forgot to grab my camera, so no photos, oops.

Then Katie took Mimi into Seaside with her to walk around and shop and take some photos. The "daytime" 4th of July outift I had prepared for Mimi to wear was too big, so I threw together a last minute patriotic ensemble, and I ended up loving the snaps Katie took of her in it.

Then  it was time for more beach playing. And of course Mimi had to break out her patriotic bikini.

We spent the whole day soaking up the sun on our last day on the beach and came in that evening to get dressed for the night's events in town and to take a few beach photos. We were so glad to have Katie there to do this for us. It's a blessing having such a good photog in the family!

Some of us weren't feeling it.



 But a bribe of some Skittles quickly took care of that.

Someone had dug a giant hole in the sand so we decided to do a "Jolliest Juniors" yearbook photo, ha.

The water was perfect, but a bunch of sea grass and stuff had washed up on the beach. I thought it would ruin our pics, but I kind of like it.

After our quick photo shoot, we went to town for Seaside's 4th of July festivities. Talk about unprepared! It was SO crowded. We totally should have gone earlier in the day and set up our spot in the grass in the ampitheater. There were tons of people there. We ended up sitting at a picnic table in front of my fave air stream food trailer, Barefoot BBQ, and we were able to listen to the band, eat, people-watch and we had a great view of the fireworks. I am still thinking about that BBQ and wishing I had some right now.

 Mimi was just glad to enjoy her Skittles for being such a good little model in our photos. Whatever it takes, y'all. For the memories.

Blurry pic I snapped of Mimi and Katie watching the fireworks.

 

Better pic Katie snapped of Mimi and I watching the fireworks.

I worried Mimi would be afraid of the loud popping, but she loved it. I adore fireworks, and it was the best show I have ever seen. We haven't talked about when we will go back next year, but I wouldn't mind going back for the 4th again for the fireworks alone. Someone was singing the national anthem on the stage behind us, the fireworks were gorgeous, I had my sweet family with me, and I'm not going to lie, I got chill bumps and a litle teary-eyed thinking of how blessed I am. Of course, I had to snap out of it when Amelia announced she had to poop and we had to scurry around to find a bathroom, ha. Nothing like life with a toddler to keep you on your toes.

Until next year, Seaside!

Vacation at the Beach

What a blog slacker I've been lately! Unlike some people for whom summer is a time to slow down, it seems that we are busier than ever. The month of June is a blur with Cliff gone all the time for basketball camp. My job starts getting pretty busy in the summer also, preparing for summer alumni events and Homecoming, which is creeping up quickly. It has been easier not having to get Amelia up and ready for school every day. She has been getting to hang out with Katie at home everyday and they are both loving it! Their days have been filled with swimming, visits to the library, art projects, trips to the splash park and much more. Yes, I believe the word you are looking for here is spoiled. rotten.

We were so glad we had a chance to go on vacation a couple of weeks ago to Seaside, Florida. We stayed at the same place as last year and it was just as great as we remembered. Amelia had been talking about going to the beach since February, and we all had been counting it down for months. I didn't know how she would do this year since last year she was still a little young to hang out on the beach for long so Cliff and I ended up taking turns with her at the pool while the other got to hang out on the beach. Luckily for us, this year Mimi LOVED playing in the sand and in the water, so we all got to spend lots of time together on the beach. Of course we took a million pics, so I will try to narrow it down to my faves.

First afternoon at the beach. Got right to work playing in the sand and water!

Posing just like Daddy while waiting to eat at Louie Louie



Showing off her gymnastics moves at the Ampitheater in Seaside. She wore herself out before the outdoor movie began so we went on home. Maybe next year I'll get to fulfill my dream of getting to watch a movie under the stars in Seaside.

It's not a beach trip without ice cream. Mimi chose "green."

We were pleasantly surprised to find out one of my college friends and her family were vacationing near us and they came over one day to hang out and let Amelia and Brantlee play together.  We had a great time with them.

After a couple of days time with just our family of three, Katie came down and joined us for the weekend. After she got there, I pretty much stopped taking pics, and Mimi saw a lot of this:

From here on out the pic quality vastly improves, ha. Katie got an old film camera at an estate sale recently and she had fun taking some pics with it. She had a roll of black and white film so a lot of these B&W pics were taken with that camera, althought I don't think this one was.

Believe it or not, Mimi loved getting buried in the sand. She was so still while I completely covered her in it.

Then we decided to bury Daddy.

A couple of fun ones with the old camera.

A lot of these are out of order, but I just couldn't deal with moving them around.

Mare and Justin recently moved to Fort Rucker, Alabama (I can't even talk about it), which is only about an hour and a half away from where we were, so they came over to spend some time with us. These are the only pics I have of them that I am brave enough to share because Mare is very pregnant with our sweet baby Jackson, and she would probably murder me for posting pics of her in a swimsuit at 9 months pregnant. But anyway, Mimi was pumped to get to hang out with them, and we all had a great time together.




This pic makes me laugh because Katie told Mimi to give the thumbs up and this is what she did.



One day she came in from swimming in the ocean (on a little inflatable ring) and curled up in my lap under the umbrella and just crashed. Sweet girl.



Katie captured this sweet pic of me and my favorite girl when I wasn't looking. Love it.

Whew, that was a ton of pics. I will have to pick this up in another post. Next up, 4th of July and family beach pics!