I'm Back!

After several "are you EVER going to blog again" comments from friends and family...here I am!  My apologies for the lack of updates, but between my laptop crashing (MAJOR PAIN) and just the lack of time and quite frankly energy, this poor blog has been put on the back burner.

I honestly have no idea where to begin, so I have just picked a few random pictures from the last few weeks to hold everyone over.  I hope to get back into more of a routine soon!


I still can't believe I am posting these pictures of myself.  Here I am in my almost 31 weeks of glory!  I cannot believe I am 32 weeks now.  Time is flying!

Before dance one week.  We spiced up the pink leotard with some fun tights and a zebra bow :)

I debated whether or not to do bunny pictures this year...but I am so glad we did!  Check out this sweetness.  Amee and Don Hayes did a fantastic job!!

When I heard TCA was putting on a production of "The Wizard of Oz" I knew we had to go.  Ellie loved it and did so well sitting through a very long play.  Aunt Jenny joined us which made it extra special.  She is such a big girl!!

Our little artist is constantly drawing, coloring, or painting.  The other day she traced her hand and wrote her name for me.  She loves anything arts and crafts!

This has been the sickest winter poor E has ever seen.  Three ear infections, strep, and now a mystery virus.  Poor girl was pitiful last week so we were homebound for 4 days.  She was well enough for church Sunday and of course looked extra sweet!

Her imagintation amazes me daily.  She will play and play and play all day long.  She comes up with the most creative ways to use her toys and just has the best time.  Just the other day she used a baby blanket as a table cloth and stuck a silk flower into a cookie tin to use as her vase.  I wish I could peek into her mind and see what she's thinking!

We cannot forget baby brother!  My sweet, dear college friends took me to dinner last night and spoiled baby Miller rotten with tons of precious goodies.  They know me well...lots of clothes and most of them personalized!  We had a great time chatting and catching up.  I miss those girls so much but I love how we always manage to pick up right where we left off.

We have finally begun on Miller's room and moved Ellie to the big playroom.  I wanted to give her plenty of time to transition to a new room and so far it is going well!  We still have a long way to go, but at least we have made some progress.  For the nursery have a crib, glider, curtains and a dresser and his bedding has been ordered.  We did a major clean out in the playroom before we moved Ellie's bed to make room for her things and to hopefully keep it a little more organized. 

This weekend we are headed to Memphis to "Sprinkle" baby Miller and celebrate Easter with my family.  Don is on Spring Break next week and we CANNOT WAIT to have hime home!  We may even have a special "big sister getaway" planned for Ellie.   I will definitely have to recap our adventures once we return!

Nice weekend

We had the best long weekend!  Not much on the agenda, and lots of rest and family time.


Sweetness before church.

27 Weeks!  I head back to the doc next week for an ultrasound and glucose test.  It's flying by and I have still done NOTHING to prepare for this poor child.  It will get done, I hope.

Ellie insisted that we walk to church.  This was just too sweet not to snap.

She also surprised us by writing her name yesterday!  Out of the blue, instead of telling a little girl her name at a restaurant, she just came out and wrote it down.  We were shocked but very impressed!  We clearly still need to work on our lower case "e".

Since we were both off yesterday, I asked Ellie what she wanted to do.  All she said was "go to the store and get groceries".  Poor thing got her wish.  She even said "mommy, I just love Wal-Mart".  We really need to get her out more!

The Past Week

This has been a long week!  I still managed to take lots of pictures (of course) and now we are looking forward to a nice, long weekend with few plans.  I can't wait.

We started off last weekend with a trip to DeDe's!  Don was at a coaching convention and met us there on Saturday.  This little cutie was excited to go!  How cute is her suitcase?  It was mine when I was little.  Love that she is using it now!

Friday night we watched The Little Mermaid that Rachel and Matt gave Ellie for her birthday.  I'm pretty sure I love Disney Princess movies more than she does.  Her Disney collection is really growing!

Saturday we went to Pump It Up for Turner's birthday and that night Don took me out out dinner for my 30th birthday.  THIRTY.  Wow.

Matt and Rachel joined us and we had a great time!  It's always fun to hang out with them when we are in town.  It's also lots of fun to indulge with people that love to eat as much as we do.  Ha!  We ate at Folk's Folly and it was delicious!!

Have I mentioned that Rachel is due 9 days before me?  How fun and crazy is that?  We cannot wait to meet baby Evie!

Sunday is when things started going down hill.  Ellie woke us up in the middle of the night (in the middle of our bed) throwing up.  Fun times!  We were convinced it was the stomach virus because it has been running rampid around town.  So we were up half the night doing laundry and nursing our pitiful girl back.  Thankfully Don called in and took a sick day to be at home with us.  I am so thankful for that.  Poor girl was so pitiful that we decided to give her her Valentine "happy" a little early.  We needed some sick day entertainment!

You know this girl is sick when my usual no-napper naps twice and sleeps 13 hours at night.  VERY unusual for her!  Poor thing.

After she ran a fever all day Monday and complained of an ear ache, we were off to the doctor.  Come to find out it wasn't stomach virus...it was Strep and an ear infection.  Who knew?  Thank goodness for antibiotics.

Wednesday was a fun mail day!  Lots of fun Valentine's treats to cheer her up.  So glad she is finally feeling better.

Yesterday she was finally well enough to go back to Ms. Carla's.  They had a fun party full of crafting and treats.  Here is my little Valentine with a few of her cards.  

 

I went the easy route this year on her Valentine's.  I thought they were pretty cute!  Bubbles for "you blow me away".

Don and I cooked a yummy meal at home and rented a movie.  He even got me flowers!  Don't get me wrong...I love flowers.  But he did the dishes.  I'll take dishes over flowers any day.  Love him!

 TGIF!!!!

First Dance Class

Last week Ellie attended her first dance class.  I called a local studio right after her birthday and to my surprise, they were holding their "visitors day" the following week!  We decided to go and check it out.  I really did not go into this with high expectations.  Ellie has a tendency to act very excited about something right up until the moment she is to begin.

I know how much she loves to dance around at home, so I had a feeling she would enjoy it but I didn't know how she would feel about jumping in with a group she did not know and start dancing.  She really surprised me and did SO well!  She has talked about dance class non-stop ever since, so I guess we are really doing this!

She got this leotard and tutu for her birthday so we of course had to wear it after our class.  Such a pretty ballerina.

Only problem...her recital is May 17th...4 days before my due date!  This could get tricky, but I guess we will just take it one day at a time.

Here is a little video I took from the class.  I am so proud of her!

4 years

Happy Anniversary Don!  I love you more today than yesterday, and can't wait to see what the future holds for our family.  You are a wonderful father and husband.  You go above and beyond to make sure we are happy and taken care of.  You work extremely hard and we are SO proud of you and your career path.  You make us all very proud.  

Thank you for always being patient and providing our every need.  I love you to the moon and back!

Introducing...

Little Brother finally has a name!

Let me just preface this by saying that naming children is not my favorite part of this whole process.  Trying to come up with names that flow with last names, sibling names and middle names is not easy.  Worrying over approval of others is also difficult, although we have finally come to terms that not everyone is going to LOVE what you name your child, and that's okay as long as WE love it.  And I will admit that the way it looks in a monogram may or may not have to come into play in the decision making process.  I kid, I kid:)

So, here it is...

MILLER LEE 

A little explanation...Miller we have both liked for a while.  It is truly rare that Don and I come up with a name that we both really, really like.  It is masculine, yet different and it sounds good with big sis's name.  Ellie has also been pretty dead set on this since the day we told her she was getting a sibling.  She would have been devastated if we didn't actually use it!  

Lee was Don's dad's middle name.  We wanted to keep it in the family somehow and thought Lee went well.  Lee also happens to be Grandon's middle name, too!  

Yay for little brother's with names!  Let the monogramming begin!!

THREE.

I've said it a million times, but it's true.  We have a THREE year old and I simply cannot believe it.

Here is a little update on our BIG girl!

Ellie, you really are full of personality.  Even though you may act shy in front of crowds, you really have a spunky and VERY animated personality 90% of the time.  You can be dramatic (wonder where you get that?) and a tad emotional.  You can also be bossy and sassy, something we are working on.  I know it's mostly your age, but I always want you to be sweet, compassionate, grateful and kind to anyone you come across.  You are a work in progress!

You can also be very sensitive.  If you get in trouble or witness anyone else getting in trouble, you automatically tear up and get very clingy.  You are starting to take directions well and your listening is steadily improving.  I know picking up toys isn't fun, but you are learning to love it:)

Your eating is still less than stellar.  This is our biggest battle.  It is a daily stress for me but I just have to stay patient and hope that the day comes sooner rather than later that you decide you want to eat.  You definitely aren't starving, but your choices just aren't ideal and the amounts you eat don't seem to keep a bird full.  Still not sure where this habit came from!

You are very loving and sweet to your Daddy and me, and you cannot wait to be a BIG SISTER!  I hope this excitement doesn't fade after he is born.  It will definitely be interesting when you are no longer the star of the show.  I'm a little nervous about this, although I know you will be a big helper to me...probably more help than I will ever need!

You love books, puzzles, dress up clothes, princesses, Barbies, and baby dolls the most.  Anything pink, sparkly and GIRLY!  You got a Leap Pad for your birthday and it has been a big hit!  I am hoping this will help with learning your letters.  I can already tell it is!  You have a great memory and you love to make up songs and stories.  Your little imagination is constantly running wild.  You have a little "friend" Molly that you talk about constantly.  She apparently goes to school with you and you play with each other on a daily basis. We just go along with it:)  I LOVE your imagination!

Your weight:  36.6 lbs
Clothing size: 3T, some 4T
Shoe size: 8

1st Birthday:

2nd Birthday:

3rd Birthday:

We love you with all our hearts and can't imagine how boring life would be without you here.  I am so thankful God chose me to be your mommy!