Friday, September 30, 2011

And her name will be......

This is great. My first post on The Watts Spot is one where I (Bert) get to tell you, loyal reader, the name of our second daughter.

Picking out a name is tricky business. It can't be just anything, and so you go through this whole process and a whole host of names, in what looks on the surface to be a simple process, until you have the One.

Stephanie's middle name is Jean. Jean was her grandmother's name and her mom's middle name and is now, also, Emily's middle name. It was on Nanie's birthday (Stephanie's grandmother, Jean Thompson), near the end of her grace-filled battle with cancer, that we were able to tell her that her first great-granddaughter would be named Emily Jean. My name is Albert Sanvidge Watts, a name I could not be more honored to carry, which was given to me for my uncle, Albert Lewis Sanvidge, who passed away a month before my birth.

In the same way, for our second daughter we wanted a name that was beautiful for our little girl and holds significance for what we value: our faith and our family.

The Scriptures tell the story of a young lady, barren and heartbroken, who goes before the Lord in the Temple to pray. Month after month, year after year she has waited and yet, still without child, she prays to God for a son whom she will then raise to serve the Lord all the days of his life. Encouraged by the priest to "go in peace," she leaves the Temple, trusting in God to answer her prayer, despite all the years' worth of reason she has to doubt it. Hannah's prayer was answered, as we know, and the Lord gave her a son named Samuel, who would go on to be the prophet to lead Israel and ultimately anoint David as King over God's people. The grace that God showed Hannah in answering her prayers helped to set the stage for the greatest act of grace, the one in which God sent his Son to live, die and rise again for his people.

In the line of biblical heroines, Hannah shines brightly. Her name means grace, and that trait clearly describes what God gave to her and through her to his people. Marked by this grace and faith, by perseverance and strength, by love and hope, Hannah shows us today the qualities of a godly lady.

Beth (Elizabeth), Stephanie's mom, is not unlike Hannah and is characterized by the same traits. With the grace and faith given to her in Christ and with all the beauty, strength and hope of a godly woman, she has given her daughters an outstanding example to follow as they follow Christ.

With these two godly women in mind, we could not be more honored and pleased to name our daughter

Hannah Elizabeth Watts

Hannah, may God give you grace through his Spirit to live by faith, and may his kindness to you be evidence to the world around you of the reality of Christ Jesus. We love you and wait for your arrival with great anticipation!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

19 Weeks

I finished my 19th week last Friday!  Woohoo...almost halfway there.:)  I'm feeling great! 

This sweet little girl is kicking all the time and I LOVE it.  Bert was able to feel her kick several times on Saturday night (9/24) for the first time.  I also love it when he's able to feel her.  He gets so excited and usually starts talking to his baby girl.  It makes me smile. 

I didn't really start feeling Emily kick until closer to 25 weeks.  I felt her kick before then, but it wasn't often and she definitely didn't go on any kicking spree's.:)  The doctor kept telling me that I wasn't feeling Emily kick b/c of where my placenta was.  She was actually having to kick through my placenta for me to feel her so it took a little longer.  That's not the case with this little one.  It's so fun to be able to feel her so much earlier.  Especially since this is definitely one of my favorite things about being pregnant! 

We love you sweet girl, and we're so excited about meeting you in just a few months!:) 


Wordless Wednesday: Daddy's Shirt




Sunday, September 25, 2011

Changing Bunny's Biaper

"Bunny" is definitely Emily's most prized possession.  She doesn't get out of her crib without it.  I really do feel like she's becoming more and more attached to it every day.  She usually has Bunny close by, but if she accidentally leaves Bunny somewhere she'll start walking around the house and calling "Bun-ny"....."Bun-ny."  It's like she's waiting on Bunny to say "I'm right here, Emily.":)



This afternoon Emily started taking things out of her diaper bag.  She pulled out her changing pad and wipes.  Next, she carefully laid her beloved Bunny on the changing pad.  We realized what she was doing and she was having a little trouble getting the wipes case open so Bert opened it and gave her a wipe.  She started wiping Bunny while saying "Biaper, Biaper"  (this is her version of Diaper....see previous post).  After she finished wiping Bunny she picked Bunny up held her tight and said "Come here, come here."

This little girl melts our hearts Every.Single.Day!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Our Talker

It's official....Emily is a TALKER!  She's 17 1/2 months, but has been talking for months, but now this child never stops!  I love it!  I would say about half the time I can understand what she's saying and the other half she's just "jabbering" (only she knows what she's saying).  She is literally learning new words every hour it seems.  She'll say most anything we ask her to say.  I started a list of some of her "favorite" words a few weeks ago.  I haven't posted it b/c I kept adding new words and thinking of words that she's been saying that I didn't have written down.  Oh well.  This is probably only half the list, but my perfectionist self is just going to have to be okay with it.  Anything in parentheses is my best attempt to spell how Emily pronounces it!:)  If there is no parentheses beside the word then her version is pretty close to the actual word....even the "untrained" ear should be able to understand what she's saying.:)

Thanks (Kanks)
Please (Peese)
Outside (Oww-side)
Water (Waters)
Jacob (Baycup)
Brush (Buhsh)
Stop (Top)
Baby (Bay -Bee)
Cream (Ceam)
Blueberries (Bueberries)
Bow (Bowww)
Up Please (up pease)
Quack (Kak)
Hurt (Hurrrrt)
Sorry (Sowee!)
Precious (Pre-shus)
Yogurt (Gogurt)
Night, Night (nigh, nigh)
Hello (Hewo)
Spoon (Poon)
Bless You (Bess You)
Amen (A-Mennnnn!)
Diaper (Biper)
Cereal (Cerel)
Cheerios (Cher-ros)
Remote (Mote)
Camera (Cama)
Pajamas (Jamies)
Brush Teeth (Buush Teeth)
Diaper Bag (Bi-Bag)
Book
No, no
No ma'am
Hi
Hey
Pen
Hat
Dog
Cat
Juice
Hair
Head
Nose
Toes
Eyes
Socks
Shoes
Potty
Away
Carrots
Milk
Bath
Yay!
Duck
Bye
Chicken
Come On
Come Here
Bunny
Shirt
Pants
Hot
Bubbles
Kiss
Keys
Hug

Two days ago the three of us were sitting at the dinner table and someone knocked at the door.  I started to get up and Emily said "Come In!"....as clear as day!  What??  When did she pick up on that???  Bert and I both started laughing!  We love our little "talker!"  Can't wait to see what new words she'll say tomorrow!:)  

Monday, September 19, 2011

Kisses

Any time we ask Emily for a kiss she just smiles and leans her head forward for us to give her a kiss.  She doesn't give us one and I've never heard her ask for one. 

This morning as Bert was wiping off Emily's hands after breakfast she looked up at him and said "kiss?"  He leaned down and kissed her hand.  She said "thank you" (signed it and spoke it).  Then, she looked up and said "kiss" again.  Bert leaned down and kissed her on her forehead this time.  She said "thank you" again.:)

Emily loves her Daddy....And he loves his girl! 

Our girls have the most AMAZING Daddy!:)

Friday, September 16, 2011

Slidng with Mimi

At the medical fundraiser that we all went to on Saturday night they had a huge slide.  Mom and Emily decided to try it out.  It looked like so much fun and I really wanted to do it, but I wasn't sure if I should or not being pregnant....so I decided to sit this one out.:)  Alison and I had a GREAT time just watching them!


Emily and Mimi heading up...


You can click on the picture to make it bigger, but doesn't it look like Emily is having so much fun?:)  





Mimi was definitely having fun too!  



As soon as they landed Emily was ready to do it again.  She would start crawling towards the stairs to head on up.:)  Mimi kept saying "Okay, just one more time."  I told my mom that Emily wasn't going to believe her when she said "one more time" and mom replied with "that's what Mimi's are for!":)  



It was so much fun watching my mom and my sweet Emily have so much fun together!  Thanks for playing with my girl, Mama!  Love you!:)  

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Saturday Morning Walk

Mom and Dad came up for a visit this past weekend.  They didn't get to Katherine's house until really late Friday night, so Emily and I headed over on Saturday morning to hang out for a few hours.  We decided to go for a walk.  Katherine and Brett live on a busy road and also right next to their church, so we usually walk laps in their church parking lot.  We had a great time!   

Emily thinks "no, noooo" is the answer for most everything right now.  Sometimes she uses it correctly and sometimes she doesn't.  Em loves Kate's dog, Chloe!  Saturday morning Chloe kept walking away and Emily would say "Chloe, no, nooooo" over and over again.  I think she wanted her to stay with us.:)  



Papa Stan and Emily decided they might have more fun on the play ground, so off they went.  I really like this picture.:)  



Swinging...



Sliding...



She loved being inside this little play house and closing the door.  


Playing with Mimi!  



It was a great Saturday morning!:)  

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Weekend Fun

We've had a great weekend.  Linda (Bert's mom) flew up on Thursday morning and my parents drove up late Friday night for a quick trip.  It's been a busy, fun weekend. 

Emily is very talkative these days.  I'm going to be posting a list of all her favorite words soon, so look for that.  She loves telling people "HEY!"  She's so excited when she says it, it almost comes out as a yell.  I can't tell you how many times she told her Grandmama "hey" over the last few days.  Every time she would walk into a room she would say "HEY" like she was SO excited Grandmama was still there to play!:) 


We all went to a medical fundraiser for a girl in Katherine and Brett's youth group on Saturday night.  They had a silent auction, live auction, great food, play things for the kids, and the weather could not have been more perfect.  We had a great time!  Here Emily is jumping with her Daddy.  She definitely needed a little help.  We caught it at a time when no one else was in there, but as soon as some big kids came to jump Emmy had to get out.  




Linda was so sweet to bid on a couple items for her kids at the silent auction...and she WON both items!:)  She gave me a manicure and Alison and Stephen an oil change.  Thanks Linda!:) 

Taking a walk with Uncle Stephen and Daddy.  Emily's still not very good at saying Stephen.  She has said it for us once or twice, but most of the time she won't try.  Stephen's a good sport about it, and she'll get it soon enough.:) 



Drinking some milk with Grandmama.  Emily loves looking at pictures.  She likes to tell us who is in the picture.  Grandmama even let her walk around with her camera some this weekend.  That's definitely a privilege that she only gets while Gradmama is here.  We don't let her near ours right now.:)  



 We went over to Katherine and Brett's to watch the GA game after we got back from the fundraiser.  The game started at 4:30, but they Tivo'd it so we just watched it a little later than everyone else.  I love watching my husband watch Georgia football games.  He'll be so excited and then so frustrated all within what seems like 2 minutes.:)  Love him!!!  I asked Linda to take a picture for us and just as she was snapping the picture Bert looked away b/c something happened in the game that he "needed" to see.:) 

Take two...I love this man!:)  



Emily and Grandmama reading books and looking at pictures.  



Emily probably says "Up, please!" about a million times a day.  If you are sitting on the floor with her she'll still say "up, please!"  She means that she just wants you to hold her.  She'll usually let you hold her for about 2.5 seconds and then she's off to the next activity.  Silly girl.:)  



We had a birthday celebration for Linda and Stephen last night.  Linda's birthday was Sept 6th and Stephen's is Sept 15th.  Alison made them an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. cake!!  I must get the recipe! 




Happy Birthday Linda and Stephen! We're so thankful for y'all! 




Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

It's a GIRL!!

We're SO excited to announce that we'll be welcoming another sweet little girl into our family in mid-February!  She got a great check-up today!  Everything on the ultrasound checked out perfectly.  We're so thankful to our Father for blessing us with her.  She really is just so sweet.  She kept rubbing her eyes during the ultrasound and it just about melted my heart.  I love her.

Her Daddy is really excited too.  He's already asked me several times this afternoon "How's my baby girl?"  He loves his girls so much!

We've taught Emily to say "sister."  She's going to be such a great big sister!  I'm so excited for her that she's going to have a sister and that they're going to be so close in age.  They'll be about 22 months apart.

My sister, Katherine, and I are 19 months apart.  We shared pretty much everything.....clothes, toys, rooms, bathrooms, stories, shoes, a wedding dress, etc.  Sometimes it was hard.  We can still get in an argument about clothes if you really want us to:), but I love her so much and I couldn't be more thankful for her!

On the way home from the doctor today I was thanking God for our baby's sweet life and praying that she would see her need for Him at an early age.  I pray that she would trust in Him and walk with Him!  I was also praying that Bert and I would be faithful to point our girls to Jesus.  We're thankful for the opportunity to raise these precious girls, but He must be our guide.

Bert and I are SO SO excited about meeting our baby girl in just a few months.  We haven't picked out a name yet, but we're working on it....so stay tuned.:)

Monday, September 12, 2011

Pregnancy update - 18 weeks

I'm finishing my 18th week this week!  This pregnancy is flying by and so far has been wonderful!  I'm so thankful for the sweet little life growing inside of me.  I feel him/her kick every once in awhile, but not often yet.  This is one of my favorite things about being pregnant....so sweet to be able to feel the baby move.  One of my least favorite things is having to sleep on my side at night.  Hopefully my body will adjust to this new sleeping position quickly.:) 

I was nauseous for about 16 weeks with this pregnancy (15 with Emily).  I was nauseous most of the day, but it was definitely worse around meal times.  I couldn't stand to look at (much less eat) cheese, marinara sauce, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, popcorn, and many other things that I can't think of right now.   I was so exhausted during the first trimester, but I started getting my energy back around 13 weeks.  Woohoo!  I'm enjoying being able stay up later at night and get things done during Emily's nap time (instead of napping at the same time). 

We've told Emily many times that there's a baby in Mommy's tummy.  We have to keep reminding her to be careful and not jump on Mommy's stomach.  Sometimes when I ask her where the baby is she'll come and point to my stomach and sometimes she'll lift up her shirt and pat her stomach.  Haha.  She's still a little confused, but she'll get it.:) 

We find out if Baby Watts is a boy or a girl TOMORROW!!  We'll be SO excited about either!!  We honestly don't care which one....we're just praying for a healthy baby!


Friday, September 9, 2011

Babies Everywhere

This afternoon we had 4 babies under 17 months at our apartment.  It was busy and lots of fun!:)  My sister-in-law, Alison, is a nanny for 3 month old twins (Colt and Brady) and they came over for a visit.  My sister and her 1 month old little boy, Jacob, also came over to hang out.  

Emily LOVED all the action.  When everyone first got here she kept looking around the room and saying "baby! baby!  baby!"  Too cute!  I snapped this picture when Emily was still taking her nap, so she's MIA.  


Colt and Brady....aren't the soooo cute?!:)  

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Books

Emily LOVES books!  She brings me about a million books throughout the day to read to her.  She just holds the book up and says "book, book."  I love that she loves books....makes this Mama happy!!:) 

Yesterday I had groceries to bring in and I was going to need to make a couple trips to the car.  I decided to set her in her crib so that she would be "contained" while I was running in and out of the apartment.  I actually thought that she would be screaming by the time I was finished, but this is what she was doing when I walked in her room.  So Sweet.:)  


Showing me the book she's been reading...  


This morning as I was drying my hair (in the same room with her) she managed to pull down all of the books off my book shelf in about 2 seconds flat.  She was quite proud of herself.