Baby Watts

We found out a couple months ago that we are expecting another sweet baby on March 5, 2016!  We couldn't be more excited or thankful!  This sweet baby is a gift from God and we can't wait to hold him/her in our arms.  

I've been pretty nauseous and tired this first trimester, but thankfully both of those symptoms seem to be getting less and less.  Good riddance, especially to the all day nausea!  I will be 13 weeks tomorrow.  I've decided that hearing a baby's heartbeat while it is inside of you is one of the most unbelievably humbling and amazing sounds ever.  I realize I've done this a few times, but I'll never get over the miracle of it all.  There is a precious child inside of me.  I had a doctors visit on Tuesday and the baby had a great check-up.  It had a strong heartbeat and I got to see the baby kicking its legs and moving its little arms.  Sweet thing.  

We'll find out the gender in about a month and we are excited about that!  We can't wait to find out, but not because we are "hoping" or "praying" for a boy.  Look at our precious girls in the picture below....if God wants to bless us with another sweet girl we will be so so so excited and thankful!  And if he wants to bless us with a little boy, we'll buy some boy stuff and definitely be excited about that too!  Bert gets even more feisty on this subject than I do, but I can promise you he feels the same way.:)  We are totally good either way!  

We told the girls on Tuesday evening, after my appointment that morning.  They were soooo excited!  We videoed when we told them and we'll treasure it always.  Emily and Hannah both told the baby "good night" about 5 times last night and the baby was the first thing they started talking about the next morning.  Hannah talked to Mimi on the phone earlier and said "now we're going to have 2 babies....Claire and Margaret."  She's lobbying to name the baby Margaret if it's a girl and Tree if it's a boy.  Emily wanted to go with a  name from the Bible so she said Joseph or Judas if it's a boy, and then a few minutes later she decided Judas was the best pick.  Ha!  

This morning I picked Claire up out of her crib and Emily got a worried look on her face and said "can you carry her while you have a baby in your tummy?"  I told her yes and she said "well, when you get bigger, you'll have to let Daddy pick Claire up."  My 5 year old little worrier is looking out for me.:)  

We took the picture below on Tuesday night after we told them so that they could help us announce it to our family and friends.  I was so excited about telling the two little girls on the left.  I was so ready to be able to talk to them about it!  I actually told Claire the day we found out and have talked to her about it several times since (when it was just the two of us around).  One of the great things about 19-month-old's is that they are saying some words and understand ALOT of what you're saying, but they can't/won't tell your secrets.:)  

Also, I've had a few people ask me about the girl shoes in the picture blow.  We don't know the gender, that was just all we had, no surprise there.:)  

I'm thankful for the sweet, encouraging comments from friends and family.  We are so excited about this little life! Children are a blessing and Bert and I are so thankful for ours!  

Hannah's 1st Day of K-3

Our sweet Hannah had her first day of K-3 Preschool Monday and she loooooved it.  For several weeks now she's been asking me everyday if she was going to school that day.  I would always tell her "no, just a couple more weeks."  Finally, her big day arrived!  She's going Monday and Tuesday mornings from 8:30 - 11:30.  

Isn't she the cutest?!?!

Hannah wanted to give Claire a hug goodbye.  Speaking of Claire, after Bert and Hannah left (Emily was already at school at this point) Claire decided to pitch an all-out fit.  She had had one too many people leave the house that morning and she let me know that she was not going to stand for it.  She laid on the floor by the front door for about 10 minutes and screamed and cried.  It was a mad cry.  Ha!  She finally calmed down and we had a good morning of reading books, grocery shopping, and helping Mama get things done around the house. 

In the past it sometimes takes Hannah a little while to warm up to things, but that has definitely not been the case with school.  She's been excited and ready to go for over a year.  I wasn't sure if she would change her mind on the actual day, but she walked into that classroom and never looked back. Their class theme is the Jungle Room, which Hannah is also excited about!  

Hannah's teacher is Mrs. Bradshaw (Hannah calls her "Ms. Bwadshaw" and I melt into a puddle every time she says it.) and we are so thankful that Hannah is in her class!  Our preschool does home visits before school starts each year, so Mrs. Bradshaw came to our house and go to meet Hannah and the rest of our family at the beginning of August.  Hannah got to show Mrs. Bradshaw her playroom and swingset.  Hannah loved this and we love that she got to know our Hannah a little better before the school year even started.  Mrs. Bradshaw is so sweet and we feel sure it is going to be a great fit this year!  

When I picked Hannah up Monday she was all smiles and said her day was "great!" She said "we went on an adventure but just on the playground, not in the real jungle."  She also told us all about what they did that day, but her favorite thing to tell people when they ask about her day was that her class has "two Ava's but just one Lucas."  I asked her about some of the other kids' names in her class and she said "I don't know the other names."  We facetimed and talked on the phone with some of her grandparents later that day and the main thing she wanted to report to them was that she has two Ava's in her class but just one Lucas. :)  

Hannah we are SO proud of you and thankful for you!  We know that you are going to learn so much this year and we pray that you would be a blessing to your classmates and teacher as you are to us.  We love you baby girl!!  

Emily's First Day of Kindergarten

The night before Em's first day of kindergarten we let Emily pick the dinner menu to celebrate.  She picked pizza.  We all enjoyed it and enjoyed being together and praying over our girl.  

August 18, 2015 was her big day! She has been so so excited.  We're really excited for her, although I've been a bit emotional recently that she was a baby in my arms yesterday and going to kindergarten today.  I'm not sure how it all happened so fast.  

And she's off!  

Bert posted this prayer on facebook this morning along with the picture below and I wanted to include it here.  This is our prayer...

Lord, bless her, that she may know, trust, follow and love You, and be used by You to be a blessing to others.

Emily sitting in her seat getting ready to get started for the day....looking a smidge nervous.  I took this just as I was leaving her room.  

I was so so so excited about picking her up at 2:30.  I could hardly wait to hear all about her day!  

When she got in the car she was grinning from ear to ear.  She had such a great first day!  

When we got home we had cookies and milk and heard all about the first day of kindergarten...it was fun!!  

A few comments after her first day....

"I was a little scared at first but once I got to meet some new friends I wasn't scared at all." 

E - " I sat beside my best friend and a boy at lunch."  

Me - What was the boy's name?  

E - " I don't know."

Me - What is your best friends name?  

E - " I don't remember."

"My favorite thing of the day was computer lab."

Emily, we're so so proud of the beautiful (inside and out) little girl that you are becoming.  We're thankful for you!  We are praying for you and cheering you on every step of the way!!   

Emily's Kindergarten Meet the Teacher

Emily was sooooo excited about her Meet the Teacher afternoon at her new school!  She was about to burst with excitement earlier that morning and she said "This is the best day of my life!!!"  When we got to her classroom that afternoon she saw a little girl named Sophia that was in her dance class last year.  When they realized they were in the same class they jumped up and down while hugging and squealing for several minutes.  It was sweet!  

Emily sitting in her new seat.  Can you see the excitement?! 

Emily with her teacher Ms. Powell!  

Emily with her teacher's assistant Mrs. Merritt!

We've heard great things about both of these ladies and we are so thankful that Emily is in their class.  We feel like she is going to have a great year!  I've talked to Ms. Powell about coming in some on Friday mornings and helping out when Bert is off work and can keep Hannah and Claire.  She was excited and said she has a certain activity that she is going to be starting this year and she will need a parent helper to get it done.  Sounds like it will be perfect fit!  I'm excited about helping out and getting to know Emily's teachers and classmates.  We're thankful for, proud of and excited for our girl!!  Go Emily go!!  

Family Time at Vogel State Park

Last week we got to head over to Vogel State Park in north Georgia for 3 days of vacation with the Watts family.  It was super fun!  Vogel is awesome!  Bert and his family went there often when he was growing up, but he hasn't been in years.  I don't think I've ever been although I will say I have a terrible memory so I could be corrected on that.  

We got there just before supper on Sunday night and headed straight down to the creek after we dropped our stuff off.  The kids LOVED the creek.  So did the adults.  It was fun to see the kids having so much fun! 

Hannah Beth was proud of herself for picking up this big rock.:) 

Bert had Claire in the backpack at first but she kept saying  "wak, wak, wak, wak" (Walk). We caught on and had a happy girl after we let her down to play with the big kids.  

She kept trying to shake off my hand even though she was quite unstable on all the rocks.  Ha!:)  

These kiddos had fun together!  Rosemary - 8, Emily - 5, Solomon and Hannah - 3.  

We cooked hotdogs, hamburgers and smores on the grill the first night we were there.  Our girls started out cooking their own hotdogs but the smoke kept getting in their face so they wanted their daddy to finish it up. 

One morning we took the kids down to one of the big parking lots and let them ride their scooters.  They thought it was lots of fun!  

I thought this was a sweet picture of my man and my littlest.  

Bert and his family used to go to a stocked trout fishing pond every year when they went to Vogel, and the kids had been very excited about getting to fish too!  Emily and Hannah have maybe fished a time or two in Hartwell, but never caught anything.  On Monday morning we loaded up and headed down the road to the pond they always went to, but unfortunately it was temporarily closed.  We had to do a little driving to get to another pond that was stocked with trout, but there was no turning back now.  We were definitely going to go fishing.  The drive was just breathtaking.  We stopped at one point just to get out and enjoy the view.  Claire had fallen asleep right before this stop, so just let  her keep snoozing away.  

Hannah loves her Daddy!  

We made it and the kids were excited.  We had an adult for each kid so it worked out perfectly.  Grandmama and Emily were a team.  

Pawpaw and Solomon.  

Alison and Rosemary.  In the picture below Rosemary and Alison are actually catching our first fish of the morning.  Rosemary was doing a cute little dance as they brought it in.:)  

Bert and Hannah were a team (background) and I was in charge of this cutie.  

Bert and Hannah are catching their fish in the picture below!  

The girls were excited!  

I told them to look at me for this one, but Hannah didn't want to take her eyes off the fish.  I actually don't blame her.  

The fish were everywhere, but just not biting that morning.  It was crazy.  We're assuming that they must have been fed pretty recently.  Even being there for a couple hours we only caught 3 fish that morning...Bert/ Hannah, Alison/Rosemary and Pawpaw/Solomon each caught one, but Grandmama and Emily didn't catch anything. Emily was a little disappointed, but I was so proud of how she handled it. She didn't get upset at all.

This sweet thing didn't understand why I wouldn't let her go for a swim.  She tried several times.  

Tuesday morning we got ready and headed out for a hike around the lake.  It was about a mile hike and all the kids did great.  

We hiked down to this waterfall.  Beautiful! 

Alison and Solomon had to leave Monday afternoon so that Alison could get back for work on Tuesday. We missed them, but we were super excited Rosemary was able to stay for the rest of the trip!  

After our hike we had planned to do paddle boats, but found out they weren't open during the week in August, so we decided to do a little mini golf instead.  

This stinker made it her goal to get to the ball before you did, pick it up and keep it.  She's actually pretty quick too!  

Playing in the creek was one of our favorite things to do on the trip.  The water was so refreshing and it was fun watching the kids use their imaginations.  

I sure do love this beautiful little girl.

They were making a "house" and trying to stop the water from getting in their "house."  It was cute!:)  

She's growing up on me, but still looked kind of little in this picture, which I like!  

After our fun in the creek we made a last minute decision to let them go jump in the lake.  They have a roped off swimming area.  We didn't have time to go back up to the cabin to change before dinner, so we just let them get in with their already wet clothes on.  Again, happy campers.  

We had a really fun day and at dinner that night we went around the table and talked about our favorite thing that we had done that day.  Emily said this we hers: "Getting to hang out with Rosemary while they (her daddy and Pawpaw) were cooking dinner."  Sweet cousins.  

The porch was one of their favorite places to play.  You can't tell from this picture but it was huge and so peaceful out there.  

Grandmama had these cute shirts made for the kids!!  They WERE happy campers!  

We had such a great time with Grandmama, Pawpaw, Alison, Rosemary and Solomon.  We are so thankful for the wonderful memories we made!  Thankful for family!