Girly girl.

Saturday, I had planned to go shopping somewhere to get a few Christmas decorations but Mallory insisted on staying home to play & since we never really hang out at home much on a Saturday, I gave in.  I think she has finally gotten over her dislike for the camera a little bit because when I got it out, she actually started posing!  She is in the habit of saying 'cheese' instead of giving a natural smile which makes for a weird face, but I have to remember she is only 2 :)

We Mema & my mom started working on potty training again on Friday.  Mallory is doing extremely well with it!  She is only wearing a diaper at night or when we leave home now.  If she is here or at her sitter's house she is wearing panties and she has had only one accident so far.  She is so proud of herself whenever she tinkles in the potty & so am I!

See her shoes?  She has at least 20 different pair of shoes that she can wear right now & she chooses to wear these every single day, all day.  She calls them her 'walking shoes'.  Not sure why or where she got 'walking shoes' from.  It is becoming a little difficult to find outfits to match them since they are such bright colors, but I really like them too so I'm not complaining.

So serious...

Now some smiles after the bunny started trying to eat Mama's phone ;)

Aunt B bought Mallory the Elf on a Shelf set.  The creator of that little fella is genius.  She named her elf Jack & all I have to say for a little attitude adjustment is, "Remember, Jack is watching!  He's going to tell Santa to not bring you a car" & we have a little girl who goes from naughty to nice.

We had a few minutes to spare before school this morning so I took a few more pictures.

She asked to see the picture after I took it & said "Where's Snooki?"

So here's a picture with Snooki :)

Thanksgiving at home.

Thanksgiving was very special this year.  With Patrick & I having Mallory, another little girl on the way & a brand new house, we are very thankful for all of our many blessings.

My first year hosting was a success!  Especially considering we have only been in the house for two weeks.

The kitchen was busy!

One of my absolute favorite dishes - cucumbers & vinegar.

Aunt B & Mallory

Our dining room table just came in on Monday.  Here it is sorta kinda set :)  Maybe next year I will be more 'in the season' and have decor on the tables.

All the food I had prepared.  Just kidding!!

I had a lot of help in that everyone brought food.

The spread

My amazing mother who was at my house at 7:30 Thanksgiving morning to cook the turkey, dressing & gravy which was all very good!  My lunch would have been impossible without her.

The guys table (with the exception of my Grandaddy & Dawson)

Group shot of everyone:

I hope this was the first of many, many holidays we all share in our home.

Big things.

I started this post over a week ago, got interrupted & never finished, so I'm trying again for a third time:

The past week has been a big one...hence my lack of posting. 

• First and foremost, last Thursday (two weeks ago now, the 10th) we went for the big ultrasound for baby #2.  It's a GIRL!!  The ultrasound tech told us as soon as she saw the baby that she was in an awkward position - she was doing a perfect head stand and never changed positions during the entire ultrasound.  The tech told us it would be impossible for her to see everything she needed to see if the baby did not move and since she didn't, I will have another ultrasound at my next appointment.  No complaints here - I just hope everything looks good next time.  I am over the moon about having two little girls & Patrick is stressing already about boyfriends, weddings & 3 'cycles' going on in our house at one time, ha!
• We moved!!!  We spent the first night in our new house last Wednesday, Nov 9.  We still have A LOT to do and there are still a few boxes sitting around as well as some empty rooms, but it is slowly getting there.  So far, my favorite things about the house are the garage, dishwasher & laundry room...no surprises there!  The scary thing is, I have offered to host Thanksgiving for my family in exactly one week.  Yes, I am crazy.  Should be interesting...
• I took off work Nov 9-11 to move and on that Friday, the 11th I received a phone call from work that I was not expecting.  My boss had died.  It was like a bomb had gone off & everyone was beyond shock (& still is).  He was the man that hired me 10 years ago to work part-time between my junior & senior year of college, and then he re-hired as a fresh graduate from NC State University to come on full-time.  I've worked for the same company ever since.  He has made me laugh and he has made me cry, but I've never known or met anyone else like him.  His list of accomplishments is a mile long (literally), he was a natural story-teller & always the life of the party wherever he was at.  The following days at work have been very sad.  He is irreplaceable to this company and he will be missed dearly. 
• Moving onto something a little more positive - here is my first belly shot at 18 weeks :)

• Now, tomorrow is Thanksgiving so I hope to post again on Friday with lots & lots of pictures of our first Thanksgiving in our new home.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

1st Haircut.

It took two years and almost four months for Mallory to get enough hair to get her first haircut!  Her hair is still really thin but it was getting long enough that it desperately needed to be evened and shaped up in the back. 

As I have learned since becoming a mama, nothing goes as planned when a child is involved so it was an experience.  My plans were to pick Mallory up from Mema's and go straight to the hair salon where she would sit pretty in the chair and I would take lots of pictures.  Big fail.  When I got to Mema's house, Mallory was still napping.  This hasn't happened in....ever.  So of course, the one day where we have somewhere to rush to, she is asleep and in NO mood to wake up or leave her bed at Mema's house.  She cried the entire way to the hair salon, which is about a 25 minute drive.  The whole time, she was saying 'I don't want my hair cut, I'm not getting my hair cut' along with yelling out a few 'NO's' here and there.  I almost called and cancelled the appointment but I desperately needed my eyebrows waxed, ha.  I stop before we get there and get her a juice and a snack and this seems to ease her off a little.  At least she had quit crying by the time we walked in, but she was still refusing to get her hair cut.  I got in the chair first and just got my bangs trimmed a little and she textured my hair a little and Mallory stood and watched.  She seemed to be warming up to the idea, but when it was her turn and Lindsay told her she was going to get her 'special seat', she freaked again.  So...I ended up holding her in my arms while she got her hair cut. 

Which means...I have zero pictures from my little girl's first haircut :(  We did save the hair though so I guess that is the most important thing.  Afterwards, she was tickled to death, in the best mood and even had to call daddy as soon as we got in the car to tell him she got her hair cut. 

That's life with a 2 year old!

15 weeks.

How Far Along: 15 weeks and 4 days




Size of baby:  Baby is the size of a naval orange-

Gender: We find out next Thursday!  I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going by.  It seemed like I was pregnant with Mallory for 3 years. 




Maternity Clothes: Wearing mostly regular clothes but some maternity jeans and I've worn one maternity shirt.  My cousin, Ingrid, HOOKED me up with all her maternity clothes.  She was due in May so the seasons work out perfectly and they are a great mixture of casual and dressy and she even gave me a great black maternity coat.  I won't have to buy one single thing & I am so grateful for that.




Weight Gain: Around 5 pounds I think.  I have been eating HORRIBLE.  The only things I want to eat are really unhealthy.  I'm going to work on that starting tomorrow since I've had fries for breakfast & lunch already today :/




Movement: I think I have felt the baby a few times, but nothing certain yet.




Sleep: Still sleeping good with the exception of getting up to go to the bathroom at least once a night.  I hate that!




Symptoms:  Going to the bathroom A LOT more.  Like every hour except when I'm sleeping :(




What I miss: See question above.




Cravings: French fries.  Bad, I know. 



What I am looking forward to: Next Thursday...can't wait to find out what this baby is and hopefully see a very healthy baby that is growing on track!

Next week this time...

we should be living in our new home!!

I'm trying not to get overly excited because it is always possible that something could go wrong at the last minute, but if everything goes as planned the house should be finished by Friday.  It doesn't even seem real.

Here are a few pictures that I took weekend before last (I think).

They aren't very good because I had the wrong lens on my camera, but anyway they show the newly stained floors pretty good.

We finally have mirrors.

Shower is all done.



Won't be long now!

Halloween Weekend.

Yes, that's right...it has been an all weekend affair.  Three days of Halloween festivities.  At least I feel like we got our money's worth out of the peacock costume :) 

I'll just start with the pictures now...which none of them turned out too great.  Not sure what was going on with my camera and me this weekend...

Saturday, we had the trunk or treat at church.  Mallory & Grandma Deb 'riding' the cows. 

Such a sweet & beautiful family - the Suttons.

(Sorry this is a little blurry, Sheila!)

We went over to see the Garrens' after leaving church & everyone enjoyed oysters (except me).

We figured out what Santa can bring Mallory for Christmas this year - this little golf cart.  She LOVED this thing & kept calling it her 'car'.  She was terrible at driving it though, so she finally let Charlie drive and we said it was their first date.  He was so proud, driving them around.  It was funny.

On Sunday, Nikki had a kids Halloween party.  She did an AMAZING job putting it all together & it was fun.  There were toddlers everywhere.  It was madness...but in a good, fun way :)

Tyler Kate as a cute lady bug.

 I couldn't get any of the kids to look at me...

I'm not sure what P is doing in this picture, but since we rarely get pictures together I posted this anyway!

Another idea for Santa was Jack's horses.  Mallory loved them!

Time for hugs.

I love this pic...chocolate cupcake around the mouth & all.

Mallory had her preschool party this morning & then we went trick or treating tonight to see all of my family since we missed them yesterday.

She was making her peacock sound here :)

Happy Halloween!!