Halloween 2013

This year Emily was Princess Aurora and Hannah was a Strawberry! They were both too cute!:)

 

The picture below was my favorite of the night!  You can click on it to make it bigger.

After the girls were all ready we stopped by and visited with one of our neighbors for a little while and then headed to our church fall festival!  They had a free hotdog supper, a cake walk, and about 5 huge inflatables for the kids!  

Hannah with her friend Hudson!  

Emily loved the slide!  She probably did it at least 30 times tonight.  This past summer our church had an event with several inflatables and Emily cried if we took her near any of them...especially the slide.  It's safe to say she's overcome that fear!:)   

  

Bert was busy, busy helping out with different things tonight, but not too busy to spend some time playing with his girls.  Hannah wanted to do the bouncy house soooo bad.  All night, every time we walked by it she tried to get in, but there were always bigger kids in it.  One time Bert noticed that no one was in it so he and Hannah ran over.  She was SO excited!  

He also did the slide with them.  Things their preggo Mama couldn't do this year...

Me and Em with my good friend, Dawnielle, and her daughter, Shaelynn!  It was a fun night!  

Happy Halloween!!

Women of Faith and Fun with Daddy

Last weekend I got to go to the Women of Faith Conference in Atlanta with my mom and my sister.  I was very excited about being able to go to the conference this year (I've never been, but heard good things), but I was just as excited about being able to spend time with Mama and Katherine.:)  

We got to hear speakers like  Charles Stanley, Max Lucado, Mark Lowry, Angie Smith, Missy Robertson, and more.  Third Day and CeCe Winans were in concert.  They were all amazing and it was definitely an encouraging and challenging weekend.  So thankful to be able to go!  (30 weeks in the picture below)

Bert's mom was also at the conference with some ladies from her church in Jackson.  I was able to see her on several of the breaks, which was so fun!  

Bert had some fun daddy-daughter time while I was away.  He really was so excited about spending time with his girls last weekend.  I'm so thankful to be married to such an amazing husband and father.  I left the camera with him last weekend with instructions to take pictures of all the fun things they did together.  

Would you believe that the picture below was the only picture he got all weekend!?:)  

Haha!  He's not going to win any awards with that one, but it made me smile.:)  

On Friday night he decided to take the girls out to dinner by himself.  Brave.  Not only that, but he decided to take them to a restaurant that he had never been to before.  Very Brave.  He took them to a Mexican restaurant and he said they did SO good.  While he was helping Hannah, Emily just ate her dinner by herself like a big girl.  This is huge for my little non-eater, who usually needs encouragement to eat every bite.  Good to know she can rise to the occasion.:)  

On Saturday they ran several errands together, went to the church to set up for a youth event Bert was having later that night, and just enjoyed being together!  

I'm thankful we all had a great weekend, but I was so excited about getting home and seeing my sweet family.  Love them!:)  

Emily's First Trip to the Dentist

When I first told Emily that she was going to go to the dentist she wasn't very excited about it.  She kept telling me she didn't want to go.  A few days before her appointment I kept naming (in a really excited voice) her friends who go to the dentist.  She was starting to warm up to the idea, but then I told her that babies didn't get to go to the dentist...just big girls.  That did it.  She was sold.  After all, she is a big girl!  

My big girl in the dentist chair.  

Emily did so great!  She didn't even begin to get upset. In fact, she was super excited.  She was mostly excited about the movie that they had playing for her while she was getting her teeth cleaned and checked out.  

A happy girl with clean teeth.  

Hannah had fun too!  She was keeping a close eye on everything they were doing to her sister. She got a toothbrush and got to pick out a sticker and a prize just for being so cute!   

We had such a great experience!  Dr. Crockett is a pediatric dentist in Greenville and I would definitely recommend her office to anyone.  Everyone that we talked to was friendly, helpful and kind.  We'll be back.:)  

Star Restaurant

Emily has wanted to go to the "Star Restaurant" for awhile now.  You might ask, "What's the 'Star Restaurant'??"  

Hardee's, of course.:)  

Almost every time we pass by the Star Restaurant (there is a Hardee's about 1/4 of a mile from our house...so we pass by it often), our conversation goes something like this...

Emily:  Can we pleeeeeese go to the Star Restaurant today?  

Me:  No, not today.  We'll go sometime soon.  

We'll blame it on the fact that I'm pregnant and certain foods just turn me off right now, but I've had NO desire to eat at Hardee's.  Poor Em.   

Anyway, one morning last week we decided to we'd take a family outing to the Star Restaurant for breakfast and surprise Emily!!  

She was soooo excited!  

Hannah really enjoyed herself too!:)  

It was a fun morning, and Emily was glad she finally got to go to the Star Restaurant!  I love spending time as a family!!:)  

Wordless Wednesday: Playing Together

Pumpkin Pickin' and Pumpkin Carvin'

Monday evening we took the girls to Mini Miracles Farm (which is about 10 minutes from our house) to pick out a pumpkin.  They had such a great time!!  

There were several of these saddles sitting around on hay bales for the kids to climb on and pretend they're riding a horse.  Perfect for our age kids!

I love seeing them play together!  

Almost every pumpkin Hannah walked by she would get so excited and point to the pumpkin and say "Apple!"  It was cute!  She actually did the same thing when we went to Wal-mart earlier today...she saw several displays of pumpkins and she insisted they were all apples.  

The girls loved that they had several different animals to see... 

In the picture below you can see a baby calf that is laying down.  Hannah was SO excited to see this animal and kept saying "a doggie, a doggie!"  In her defense it did look smaller since it was laying down!  Cutie!  

They usually give hayrides around the farm, but weren't giving them the day we went.  No worries though...our girls were thoroughly impressed with all that they did have!  

After dinner Bert started carving the pumpkin.  The girls helped him clean out the inside...  

Hannah wasn't too sure at first about sticking her hand down there and getting all messy, but she warmed up to the idea!  

Daddy and his girls with the finished product!  

Bert did such a great job!  

Happy Halloween!:)  

Mornings with Hannah

I get to spend Monday and Tuesday mornings with my Hannah while Emily is in preschool.  We have so much fun and I love getting to spend that time with her one on one!  On Monday's we read books, play in the playroom, wash clothes, dance, sing and just catch up around the house after what is usually a busy weekend.  She's a big helper and pretty much doesn't leave my side...I love it and I love her.    

She's growing up on me.  The other day at lunch we were talking about birthdays and I asked Emily how old Hannah was going to be on her birthday.  I said "she' s one now so how old will she be?"  Before Em could answer Hannah said "TWO!"  What!?  After I jerked my head over at her and cheered and clapped I decided to see how many of her numbers she knew.  We went back and forth, with me saying one number and her saying the next until she got to nine.  Go girl!!  

Later that day I was in the office working on something at the computer and Hannah walked in the room.  I ask her questions and talk to her all day long, but unless it's a yes or no question I often can't understand her response or she doesn't give me one.  Anyway, this afternoon I said "Hannah, where's Emily?"  Without missing a beat she said "At da potty."  And she was right...Emily was going to the potty!  She's been saying lots and lots of words, but sentences!?  My baby is growing up before my very eyes.:)

She also opened a door all by herself yesterday.  Yikes!  I'm really hoping it was just a fluke and that she won't do that again for awhile.  It's nice to be able to just shut the door and keep her out of certain rooms.:)  

Back to our mornings together...

On Tuesday mornings we usually take our weekly trip to the grocery store.  She loves it!  Who wouldn't want to go to the store with this cutie??  

I love, love, love our sweet Hannah!  Just the other day I was thinking about the fact that she's already 20 months old and thinking that she's basically two.  Seriously, she'll be two so soon.  And then I remembered that before she turns two (which I feel like is tomorrow) we'll be welcoming another sweet little one into our family!  Lots of big changes coming our way in the next few months...we're excited and thankful!  

FBCNA Fall Retreat

Our good friends Patrick and Keri Harmon live in North Augusta, where Pattick serves as the youth pastor at First Baptist Church NA. Patrick asked Bert to be the speaker for their youth fall retreat at Lookup Lodge (just a little above TR) last weekend.  We had such a great weekend!!  They had about 70 students come up for the retreat, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and Bert did such a great job!  

Keri is one of my very best friends, so I'm always excited about spending time with her!

On Saturday afternoon they had free time for the students and Bert and I decided to take a paddle boat out on the beautiful pond/lake.  It was fun and peaceful!  I love spending time with my hubby!  

It was encouraging to see the Lord working in the students' lives.  They really were a great group of kids and we really enjoyed spending time with them.  

Mimi and Papa offered to keep the girls for us so that I could go on the retreat with Bert.  We really appreciated their help and it sounds like they had a fun weekend!!  On Saturday they took the girls to Toccoa Falls.  Emily loved it but they said Hannah was a little scared when she came around the corner and saw the falls.  If you click on the picture below you can see her crying...cutie!:)  

Papa Stan has to work most every Saturday, but he took of this particular Saturday just to spend time with his girls.  Hannah was fine as long as her Papa was holding her.:)  

After naps they took the girls up to my parents' church where the youth group was selling pumpkins to raise money for some of their activities.  

I loved the picture below! 

Thanks, Mama and Daddy, for taking such good care of our girls! It was a fun weekend for everyone!  

Busy

Hannah is really busy these days....which keeps us busy!:)  I was cooking dinner one night last week and Hannah was sitting about 3 feet away from me on the floor in the kitchen.  I turned around for just a second and when I turned back around she was writing all over her face.  I have no idea where she got the pen... 

She was pleased with her artistic abilities!:)  

Keeping up with this 20 month old is a full time job, one that I'm thankful have!:)