A Day of Football

Two or three weeks ago Bert told me that GA was going to be playing Florida on Oct. 29th and we were going to need to watch it.  He never turns down the opportunity to watch a GA game (and he doesn't miss many), but I could tell this game was different.  He HAD to watch this one.  He reminded me a couple times over the last few weeks about the game...which is also unusual....I'm usually the one reminding him about things.:)  

Game day finally arrived and Alison and Stephen came over to watch with us!  Here we are in all of our GA apparel.

Emily didn't pay much attention to the game, but anytime Bert yelled, jumped up, or clapped loudly she just froze and had a very serious look on her face.  She didn't start crying, but she would just stare at him.  It was almost like she was making sure everything was okay before she continued with what she was doing. 

Em got really good at saying "Go Dawgs" during this game.  She said it several times just out of the blue and I think it made her Daddy happy.:)  

Just watching the game with Daddy....

Bert did not stay in this position for long.  I believe he jumped up 2.5 seconds later.  "Laid back" would not be the way to describe him when he's watching a GA football game.:)  I love watching games with my hubby...I can't help but smile over how excited he gets!!  

GA beat Florida 24 to 20.  Woohoo!  It was definitely past time for GA to pull out a win in Jacksonville.  We were all very excited!!  

Clemson also played last night.  They played GA Tech and were 8-0 going into this game.  BIG game.  Bert promised that IF Georgia beat Florida that he would put on an orange shirt for the Clemson game.  He said that if GA lost that he just wouldn't be able to do it.  Thankfully, the Dawgs won so once 8pm rolled around it was time to put on the orange and cheer on my Tigers.

Putting on an orange shirt at all is a huge step for Bert.  When we got married he didn't own one piece of orange clothing.  I'm slowly but surely working on that.:)  

Sadly, the game didn't start until 8 and Emily couldn't stay up, so we'll have to work on her "Go Tigers" another day.  

Clemson ended up losing to Tech.  Sad, but it was still a GREAT day!  I'm thankful for my family.  

Emily - 18 1/2 months

Emily had her 18 month check up yesterday. She got a great report!  She weighed 23lbs, 13oz and was in the 35th percentile for her weight.  She's 32.75 inches tall and is in the 75 percentile for her height.  Her doctor was happy with her weight gain as she's gained a couple pounds since her 15 month check up and moved from the 25th percentile to the 35th. He said that we could give her a little less milk (he had asked us to up the amount of whole milk we give her at her 15 month check up b/c she hadn't gained much between her 12 and 15 month check ups). I'm thankful that we're able to decrease her milk intake b/c I am hoping it will help her to eat a little better.  My girl is already a bit of a picky eater and when she was filling up on whole milk through out the day it made for some stressful meal times.:)  She had a major growth spurt, growing almost 3 inches in 3 1/2 months.  No wonder I feel like she's been out-growing her clothes a little fast these days.


Emily's Favorites at 18 1/2 months:
Food:  Oranges, Pineapples (she calls these "apples"), broccoli, crackers, bananas
Movies:  Baby Signing Time
Books:  But No Elephants!, The Very Hungry Caterpillar; There's a Wocket in my Pocket
Activities:  Playing outside, swinging, dancing, "changing baby's diaper", reading books, taking baths, coloring
Phrases she can say:  Good Morning, Night night, Hey Daddy, Hey Mommy, come here, stop it, come in, love you, up please, thank you, bless you (she says this when anyone coughs or sneezes), excuse me ("'scuse me!")

Sleeping Habits at 18 1/2 months:  
-Takes 1 nap a day. She usually naps for about 2 hours in the afternoon.    
-It usually takes her about 10-15 minutes to fall asleep for naps and about 1 or 2 minutes to fall asleep at bed time.  
-She sleeps 11-12 hours at night, and she almost never wakes up in the middle of the night.  
-She sleeps with her bunny (she MUST have the bunny!)

Things I treasure about my 18 1/2 month old:  
-She loves to take care of her baby.  Today she "fed" her part of her banana.  
-She LOVES to be outside.  It doesn't matter what she's doing, but she just loves the fresh air.  
-She's so friendly.  She's quick to say "HEY" to anyone she meets in the cutest little voice.  
-She loves music and she loves to dance.  
-Tonight she was having a hard time falling asleep and I got to hold her while she fell asleep.  This almost never happens and I loved every single minute of it.
-When she has a temp it runs high. Her temps usually run in the upper 103's (she made it to 104.9 one time.  No.Thank.You....literally almost gave her Mama a heart attack).  The doctors are always afraid it's an ear infection, strep or a UTI, but so far it always turns out to be just a virus of some sort.  
-She changes her L's to Y's.  "Yites" (lights), "Yap" (lap), etc. 
-She's in the middle of a phase where she doesn't like staying in the nursery for both services at church.  She's totally fine during the first service, but during the transition between teachers she has a complete meltdown and they usually have to come get us.
-She loves dogs.
-She tells dogs and babies that she sees on TV to "Come Here" while doing the hand motion to go along with it.  
-I haven't found the perfect distraction for her while I'm cooking dinner.  She usually gets fussy during this time.
-She's basically a vegetarian at this point. We're trying to give her meat, but she's very selective about what and when she'll eat it.
-She can tell you what sounds the following animals make:  Ducks, dogs, cats, cows, frog, sheep and elephants (with a hand motion for the trunk!)
-When she hears a car coming she says "car, beep, beep."  
-When we're asking her to do something she doesn't want to do she'll say "No, 'Top it (stop it)"
-She often says "no" in the wrong context.  The other day I asked her to come give me a hug and she said "no" while running to me.
-Seeing her run is one of my favorite things.  Too cute!
-She's learned to climb on furniture in the last couple weeks.  She can climb on the couch, kitchen chair and our bed all without help.
-She loves phones and she will walk around "talking" on the phone.
-She talks all the time...all the time, people.  The doctor asked me if she could say 15 words and I just said "Oh yeah and SO many more!"  
-She loves her play time with Daddy when he gets home from work!  As soon as he walks in the door she's wanting him to get on the floor to play with her.  
-Any time my phone rings during the day she immediately starts saying "Daddy, Daddy."  
-She's associating people.  Ex.: If we're talking to Mimi on the phone she'll start saying "Papa.", etc.  
-She tells herself to be careful when she is getting off the bed, couch...She just repeats "careful, careful"....I guess we've drilled it into her head.  
-I love hearing her say "Hannah."


We love you, Emily Jean Watts.  You are an absolute joy and a precious gift from the Lord!!  

Friends and Babies

Our friends Rhett and Shannon came to Wake Forest for a short visit a few weeks ago.  It was SO great to see them!  They moved from WF a little over a year ago and we miss them dearly.:)  Thankfully we're able to stay in touch via e-mail and skype! 

Us with Rhett and Shannon.  

A picture of part of the old small group...good times, good times!:) 

The picture below is of Sue, Shannon and me...we were all in the same small group and got very close as we just loved and challenged each other week in and week out.  We all three found out at right around the same time that we were all expecting!!  I'm so excited for these ladies as they are going to be such AMAZING mom's!  We couldn't pass up the opportunity for a preggo picture while Shannon was in town. 

Shannon is due January 31st with Hudson James
I'm due February 17th with Hannah Elizabeth
Susan's due February 18th with Evelyn Ann AND Abigail Elizabeth

It's so fun to be able to walk through pregnancy with these ladies.  I can't wait to hold all of these sweet babies!:)  

Women's Day

Every October the women's ministry at our church hosts a "Women's Day."  This past Saturday was my third Women's Day and I just can't tell you how much it blesses me to be able to go and be surrounded by so many godly women that are seeking to grow in their relationship with Christ and serve their families well.

They absolutely spoil us rotten while we're there.  We have an amazing breakfast, lunch and dessert time.  We have one joint session where someone speaks, and then we're able to go to up to 4 of the break-out sessions (they probably offer 15ish).  Stephanie Lyon did an amazing job speaking on Social Networking in the big session this year.  She definitely gave us some good things to think about!  The break out sessions touch on a wide range of topics from adoption, to cooking, to sewing, to marriage, to parenting, to fashion....you get the idea.  Every single speaker for the different break out session does such a great job of pointing out how the Gospel applies to what they're speaking about.  We're reminded again and again through out the day that it is only by His grace that we are saved.  It's nothing we've done or deserve.  Praise Him! 

There are so many things that I got out of each session, but we'd be here all day if I tried to re-cap everything.  The parenting session that I went to kept reminding me of the importance of helping our our children to cultivate a love for spending time with God.  This will look different as our children grow, but when they're young its so important for us to have some kind of family Bible time.  We want it to be fun and short, but we want them to start to see the importance of spending time with Him.  Through the years hopefully they'll start to notice Bert and I spending personal time with the Lord and they'll see the high priority that we place on that time.  That time is SO important.  God has blessed us with this amazing opportunity to raise these girls, but we need and want his guidance and wisdom that we can only get through spending time with Him and in his word. 

The marriage talk that I went to was also really good!  I took SO many notes and she had so many great things to say, but if I had to pick out the one thing that sticks out to me the most it would be the importance to pray for my husband.  This is an area where I have good intentions, but I often fall short.  Who better to pray for Bert through out the day....for his relationship with the Lord, for his leadership of our family, for his fight against sin, and for different things that are going on through out his day....than me??  I love this man more than anything!  I want to see him continue to grow in his love for the Lord.  I'm thankful for the reminder to pray for the amazing husband that God has blessed me with, I'm so thankful for our marriage, I'm thankful for the ways that Bert encourages me and challenges me, and I'm thankful for the way that he leads and serves our family. 

I love you, Bert, and I'm praying for you!:) 

Hannah's Day

Wednesday was all about Hannah.  We started out the morning with an ultrasound at Pregnancy Support Services.  Pregnancy Support Services (PSS) is a wonderful ministry in Wake Forest to women who are experiencing unplanned pregnancies.  They offer free pregnancy testing, free ultrasounds, and support/counseling for women who are walking through what can be a difficult time.  A few weeks ago PSS asked for "Ultrasound Models." They wanted women in their 1st or 2nd trimester to come in and have an ultrasound as they're in the process of training a few new ultrasound techs.  Let me just say that with this growing belly I don't think I could feel less like a model, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to help them out AND get to check on my little Hannah.  Bert had to work so my friend Jen volunteered to go with us.  Emily loves Jen!  When she says her name it sounds more like "Den," but she's trying.:)  Thanks so much for coming with us, Jen!  We love you!:)

That same afternoon Emily and I headed down to Raleigh for my 22 week check-up at my doctors office.  Bert met us there and we were both excited to see him!  This appointment was just a heartbeat check, so nothing too exciting, but I always look forward to my appointments.  I love getting to hear or see my baby!  Her heart beat was 150bpm....the doctor said it was perfect.:)  

 We're thankful for the good report for Hannah and me...praying that it continues!:)  

Getting Ready

Emily is already getting ready for Hannah's arrival.  She is so sweet with her baby doll....changes her diaper, rocks her, pats her, tells her to "shh shh."  I got a few pictures of her taking care of her baby.

Changing baby's "biaper." 

Patting baby's back to calm her down.:)

Rocking baby...

She's going to be ready for little Hannah in no time.  The only thing is that she can still be a little rough at times too...she'll also throw her baby down, step on her, etc.  

Don't worry, sweet Hannah, we're going to keep a close eye on your big sister.:)  

I just really liked these next two pictures.  Isn't she beautiful?!

Cousins

Emily and Jacob are cousins and already best buds.:)  In the picture below Emily's 17 months and Jacob is 1 month. We decided to take a picture of them together, but Jacob was not overly happy being set down on the chair to have his picture taken and Emily just isn't sure what's going on.  

Jacob is actually still screaming in this picture, but it looks like he's sleeping.  He must have been in between screams.:)  

We got to keep Jacob one night while Brett and Katherine went on a date night.  I decided it was time for another photo op. 

In the photos below Jacob is 8 weeks and Emily's almost 18 months.  He was very interested in watching Emily and trying to figure out what she was doing.  Please just look at how much Jacob has grown from 4 to 8 weeks.  Crazy!  Emily better watch out b/c her cousin Jacob will catch up with her in no time!  

When I was growing up our family took sooooo many "cousins" pictures.  We have a certain order that we all had to be in...oldest to youngest.  I love looking back at all the pictures and seeing how each of us has changed. 

The picture below was taken at my cousin Jackie's wedding...it's all the cousins from youngest to oldest.  I'm not sure why we lined up that way...it really never happens....but we'll just blame it on the fact that it was hot outside and the photographer had lots of pictures to take so people were running in and out of pictures trying to get Jackie inside to the AC as quickly as possible.:) 

Emily and Jacob better brace themselves b/c there are many more "cousins" pictures to come!  I can't wait until little Hannah is in the picture with them!:)

Wordless Wednesday

Labor Day at the Park

This past labor day (which I realize was almost a month ago now) we so enjoyed having a family day with just our family of four (Emily 17 months and Hannah 17 weeks in utero).  Because we live so far from our families it seems that most every holiday we're traveling somewhere, so we don't often get a whole day to just spend together as a family. 

To enjoy our day together, we decided to get outside and go to the park.  Emily L.O.V.E.D it!  I took so many pictures that it was honestly a little overwhelming for me to decide what pictures to edit, so this post is a little picture heavy.:) 

Here's Emily swinging with her Daddy...



This girl loves to swing.  I don't think she quit smiling the entire time. 

I love this picture! 

She also enjoyed sliding, but her shoes kept messing her up and she kept getting stuck.  She ended up getting turned around in the slide and she was coming down head first by the time she reached the bottom.  Thankfully, the slide was short.  We'll have to try sliding again later...when we can explain to her that she needs to hold her feet up a little. 

Sliding with Mama...

I love this girl! 

For the past month or so she has started getting so excited about picking up leaves.  She will pick one up and hold it until she finds a better one, then she'll drop it and pick up the new leaf.  Last week we were at the park and I had to take her leaf away when I was ready to put her in the car seat.  (I didn't want her eating the leaf on the way home.)  Let's just say that she was not very happy about the leaf being taken away and she cried "leaf, leaf" for most of the 5 minute drive home. 

She is actually calling anything that she picks up on the ground a "leaf."  She was absolutely positive that this pine cone in the picture below was a leaf, and she kept telling us about it.  She also calls bark and pine needles "leaf." 

We've tried to correct her, but she insists that everything is a leaf........so......we just smile.  Love this age.:)