Children's Museum

My friend, Dawnielle, had a few free passes to the Greenville Children's museum that were expiring at the end of the week, so she asked if we'd like to go.  Bert was going to be at out of town at a conference and my mom was coming to town to spend the weekend with us, so I told Dawnielle we'd love to.  I'm almost positive Claire has never been and Hannah was a baby the last time we went.  Don't quote me on that, but I do know it's been awhile.  

When we got there (right when it was opening) their computers were not working and since we already had 3 free passes they just let us go on in with out paying for the other two.  So our trip was completely free!  Any trip to the children's museum is fun, but a FREE trip is even more fun!    

Our first stop was the grocery store.  It's so cute to see them loading up their grocery carts and pushing them around.  

It was difficult for the little one in the picture below to understand why we needed to move on to another exhibit.  I had to literally pry her hands off the handle.:)  

Sweet thing.  

Another favorite is Grandma Betty's Farm.  This exhibit is just for kids 5 and under so Emily just made it by a few months.  

All three loved the slide in Grandma Betty's Farm.  As soon as Claire got to the bottom she'd say "I do 'gin." 

They have this really cool two story climbing thing in the middle of the museum.  Our kids haven't ever done it before because they've been too young, but this trip Emily and Hannah got to do it.  It's actually just for kids 4 and up, but Hannah really wanted to do it and I decided to be wild and break the rules and let her. Thankfully she did awesome--it would have been very unfortunate if her pregnant Mama had to climb up to the top and get her down!  

They made it to the tip top!  Later that night they declared that this was their favorite thing at the museum.  I was proud of both of them!  

The water tables are always so fun!

We finished out the morning with some arts and crafts.  They painted using apples slices.  

We had a great time!  Thanks so much to Dawnielle for the free passes!!  

25 Weeks

I had my 24 week check up last week and it went really well!  It was just a heartbeat check, so I didn't get any pictures of my sweet girl, but I just love hearing her little heartbeat, so that's fun too!  Her heart was beating 144 beats per minute, my blood pressure was good, so we both got a thumbs up.

I'm actually 25 weeks 2 days by the time I'm getting around to posting this.  In just a few short weeks I'll be 30 weeks and we all know it FLIES by at that point (until you get to that last week or so, then I feel like she's never going to come.)

I was telling another friend that is pregnant the other day that if I think about delivery and the pain of it all I'm still super nervous.  This is how I've been with every pregnancy. By about 33 weeks or so I'll start getting more and more mentally and physically ready to deliver (not at that exact moment, but close to her due date). You just get so big and so uncomfortable at the end of the pregnancy that you're ready to go through whatever pain is necessary to have your baby out of you and in your arms.  There is absolutely no more room in the inn.  I just think it is so fascinating how God designed the process.  The months of being pregnant and delivery are hard and wonderful at the same time.

I got to go to my cousin's wedding a couple weekends ago and I had someone there ask me how my pregnancy was going.  I smiled and said it was going really well.  She gave me a surprised look and said "Really?!  So no nausea or pain??" I responded with "Oh whoa...that's not what I meant.:)" and had to let her know what I meant by "going really well." She hasn't ever been pregnant before, so maybe I need to be a little more clear when I'm responding to that often asked question.:)  By "going really well" I mean that I've had no major complications with the pregnancy, all Abigail's check-ups have gone really smoothly, and I'm not on bed rest (PTL).  BUT, just to be clear, I've decided pregnancy is super hard on the body.  I had plenty of nausea and tiredness during the first trimester and the second trimester, although much better than the first, has brought its own aches and pains.  I've had a good bit of heart burn (which I feel like started earlier than with my others), leg pain, trouble with my sciatic nerve, etc.  Honestly most days I have something that is hurting at least for part of the day and then it goes away and tomorrow it will be something else.  For about an hour this morning I was literally limping around the house because I had a sharp shooting pain on the top part of my right leg.  That pain seems to be gone now though, thankfully.  I guess after 5 pregnancies you just get used to the normalcy of pains coming and going.  And it's all SO worth it and passes so quickly that it's hardly worth mentioning.

I've been able to feel Abby kicking more in the last 3 weeks or so, which I'm super thankful for.  I love that part of pregnancy! Sometimes when I lay my arm across my stomach she'll just kept kicking it over and over.  It makes me smile.

Here is my 25 week picture....

Abby, you are precious blessing.  We're praying for you and love you!

David and Alyson's Wedding

My cousin, David, married his fiance Alyson last weekend.  They've been dating for several years and we all just love her.  We were all so excited about getting to celebrate with them!  

The wedding was in Fayetteville, GA, which is about an hour from Jackson, where Bert's parents live.  We dropped the kids off with Bert's parents just before dinner late Friday afternoon and then headed over to Fayetteville for the rehearsal dinner.  It was so much fun to get to catch up with extended family at the dinner and then also back at the hotel that night.  We all sat down in the lobby for an hour or so just chatting and catching up.  

On Saturday we had a some time to kill before we needed to start getting ready for the wedding, so we went to lunch and did a little shopping at Target.  We missed Stanley for this part, but he was a groomsmen in the wedding, so he had to be at the church and ready for pictures much earlier than us.

We really enjoyed our Olive Garden lunch. There is just something glorious about a kid-free meal when your babies are little.  No cleaning up spills, telling them to take another bite or sit back down.  I know these years with 4 so small will pass quickly though so I'm not going to wish them away, but I am going to cherish my kid-free dinners when I get them!

The guys got to watch some of the Georgia football game while the ladies were finishing up getting ready. 

The wedding was absolutely beautiful!  Seeing two people who love Jesus and love each other so much is such a blessing.    

Miles (my cousin Mike and his wife Alli's son) and Collins (my cousin Kristi and her husband Jay's daughter) were their ring bearer and flower girl.  They both made it all the way down the aisle and did such an awesome job!  Miles is 2-1/2 and Collins is 21 months.  Collins is 6 weeks younger than Claire and I must say I'm not sure if Claire would have cooperated as well as Collins did! It would have just depended on if she was in the mood.:)  You never know what you'll get with that age.

We had to take a pregnancy picture.  My cousin Kristi (left) is pregnant and due early April.  Allison (right), my cousin Mike's wife, is due early January with Piper Kate, and I'm due early March with Abigail Kate.  We're all about 8 weeks apart.  These babies are going to have fun growing up together! 

Our cousins picture that we take at each wedding.  Just two more cousins left to get married.

The 8 cousins plus the new bride:

The cousins plus spouses!  

My mom with her brother, Jim, and sister, Ann. Uncle Jimmy was the proud father of the groom.  

A Roberts family picture minus our sweet babies, who we did miss.  

Brett's parents kept his and Katherine's kids and ours were with Bert's parents.  Such a huge huge thank you to Grandmama and Pawpaw for keeping the girls.  They had SO much fun at their "spend the night party!"  They got to see some animals at a park, have a picnic, bake a cake for Pawpaw's birthday, watch movies, celebrate Pawpaw's birthday, and go to a craft fair.  They stayed busy and had so much fun.  They were all three worn out when we picked them up after the wedding on Saturday night! :)  

Congratulations to David and Alyson!!  We love y'all!  

Emily's First UGA Game

A few weeks ago we were in Toccoa for Katherine's birthday dinner, which was supposed to be Saturday night and Bert decided the night before that it would be fun to go to the 12pm Georgia football game.  The tickets were selling for really cheap since it was so last minute and they were calling for rain earlier in the week (although it didn't rain on them at the game).  He asked a friend or two if they wanted to meet him there and when they couldn't I suggested that he bring Emily. Bert immediately got SO excited about taking one of his girls to the game.  We didn't tell Emily until 15 minutes before they were leaving the house.  She had never been to any type of college football game, so she really didn't know what to expect anyway.  

Before the game, Bert took her to the UGA bookstore to get an item to remember her first game and she picked this hat.  I think she looked adorable and made a very good pick!

She had her binoculars and pom-pom in hand and she was ready to cheer on the Dawgs!

I love this picture of them. My hubby in one of his happy places and my baby so excited she is about to burst.  Bert texted me these pictures throughout the day and it made my day to see them having so much fun. Bert said that Emily didn't complain or whine one time the whole day. He said that he kinda expected to be up and down with her throughout the game, but she didn't ask to get up from the seats one time! They had a blast!

When they got home Emily was telling us all about their day and one of the first things Bert told me is that he can't wait to take Hannah, Claire and Abby to their first game when they are about her age...he loves his girls! He thought it was the perfect age for their first game and from the pictures I would have to agree! 

Kindergarten Field Trips

Emily's class took a couple of fun field trips in the month of October!  In early October I went with her class over to Paris Mountain State Park and in late October Bert went with her class to Stuart Farms near Enoree, SC.

On our trip to Paris Mountain State Park the Park Ranger did an awesome job talking to the kids about the different wildlife and vegetation around the park.  She talked about the all the changes they were seeing as fall had had begun.  She stopped and talked to them several different times along our hike.  

All the kids were supposed to find some type of animal (snail, worm, bug...anything) to put in their container and then before we left they were supposed to put the animal back exactly where they found it.  Apparently I'm not that great at finding little critters.  I was actually trying to help Emily look for something and she was still one of the last kids to find something.  Ha! One of the dads chaperoning the trip was finding things for several kids and found something for Emily.  

This is a picture of Emily with her friend Charity.  Charity and Emily have the same tennis shoes which they think is just SO FUN!  We've heard about their twin shoes since the first week of school.  They call themselves the "cool shoes girls."  :)  

Emily took this picture with my camera and I thought it was good!

After lunch we went on a hike around the lake and stopped to let them see the waterfall at the dam.  

While we were at the waterfall we spotted two baby copper head snakes and their Mama.  Yikes!  We were up on a bridge and the snakes were on the rocks below, but when one of the baby snakes moved a little closer to the bridge we quickly moved the kids on along.  

I'm so thankful I was able to go on the trip with her, we had fun!  And when we got home from school she actually took a nap...all the walking wore her out!  

A silly picture with friends, Sophia and Maggie.  Sophia and Emily were in the same dance class last year and were SO excited when they found out they were both in Ms. Powell's class.  

Here is a picture of Emily's class with her teacher, Ms. Powell!  Em has such a sweet class and teacher this year!  

The field trip to Stuart Farms was on a Friday, which is usually Bert's off day, so it was a perfect trip for him to be able to go on with her. 

One thing they were both excited about was going through a corn maze.  

In the picture below they had just heard how many bees were in this certain bee hive and it surprised them.  I wasn't there, so I'm not sure of the number they heard, but I thought this picture was cute.  

She loves her Daddy so much!  

Emily with a few of the kids in her class. 

The whole class getting ready to pick their pumpkin!  

They got to have some fun play time to run while they were waiting for their hayride.  

They hayride was the thing Emily was most excited about.  She had been talking about it for weeks.  

Emily with her friend Zoe on the much anticipated hayride!  

Both trips were super fun and we loved getting to hang out with our girl and watch her interact with her friends!!  Thankful! 

Claire's First Hair Cut

Emily and Hannah were scheduled for haircuts (trims) last week and I decided at the last minute to get Claire's trimmed as well.  I definitely wanted to document Claire's first official haircut, even though calling it a trim is probably overstating it.  

My friend Heather cuts my hair and the girls'.  The girls love going to see "Ms. Heather."  Emily drew her a picture this time to give to her.  

I held Emily in my lap for her first haircut, but I was 99.9% sure that would not be necessary with Claire and I was correct.  After both of her big sisters had gone and we told Claire it was her turn she started trying to climb up by herself.  She was ready!  

Sweet baby curls!  I saved a few of these curls.  I also saved Emily and Hannah's and I have NO idea where they are.  Oh well....I guess I'll run across them at some point.  

She was laid back the whole time. She was definitely interested in what Heather was doing, but she kept looking in the mirror and then would look back and smile at me.  When her Daddy got home from work later that day she kept patting her head and saying "I got haircut."  My baby is growing up!

Halloween 2015

This year's Halloween started out great!  My friends Sara and AJ ran in a half marathon in Greenville early that morning and AJ, Sara, and all the Greenville girls met up for lunch at Brickstreet Cafe after their run. Sara lives in Columbia and AJ lives in Atlanta and I don't get to see either of them very often.  Actually, we were saying that even though the rest of us (me, Jennifer, Angela and Kristin) only live about 15 minutes apart we do a terrible job of planning get-togethers. We've committed again that we MUST do better about scheduling a dinner once every couple months.  

We enjoyed a nice lunch and lots of laughs.  I love my Clemson friends so much and I'm so thankful for their friendship.  It was definitely a great start to the day! 

Our church usually has a fall festival on Halloween night, so our girls have never really gotten in on the trick-or-treating, but this year we switched some things up and instead of doing a fall festival at the church, the church decided to take the ministry event to our neighborhoods so that we could reach out and love on as many people as possible.  The event (called Light up the Night) was definitely a success.  We had host homes in different neighborhoods loaded with candy, hot chocolate, info on our church and gospel tracts.  A couple of different families were at each host home.  Our friends Chase and Jacinta came to our house to hang out with us that night and help us love on our neighbors.  Jacinta is pregnant with their first and she is due 5 weeks before me.  It's fun to have pregnant buddies that you go though the pregnancy with!   

We were super laid back about the costumes this year and just pulled some things out of the dress up bin for Emily and Hannah.  Claire was a Strawberry, like Hannah had been when she was her age, and loved her costume.  She didn't complain one time about having the little hood up.  Emily was Doc McStuffins and Hannah was Elsa.  The were a smidge excited about the candy, trick-or-treating, Mr. Chase and Ms. Jacinta coming over, the pizza they were about to eat....all of it really!  

Emily looks older to me in this picture.  After Bert dropped her off at school this morning he sent me a text that said "Emily just told the girl (5th grader) helping her get out of the car, 'You look very pretty today.'" So proud of her and how thoughtful she is.  

Jacinta and I took a loop around the neighborhood with the girls and let them do some trick-or-treating.  I pushed Claire in the stroller and Jacinta held both of the big girls' hands.  Sometimes we would walk up to the door with them and sometimes we would stand in the street and just watch as Emily and Hannah ran up to the door.  When Hannah and Emily would walk up to the door by themselves one of them would ring the door bell and then Hannah would turn around and look at us with the biggest grin on her face and give us a thumbs up.  Little cutie!!  

About once a week when I pick Hannah up from school (she only goes two mornings a week) the teacher helping her to get in the car says something to me about her smiling all the time and how beautiful it is.  The teacher that helped her in the car this morning asked me if she woke up with that beautiful smile on her face?! Her smile lights up her whole face and makes others smile.  I definitely don't want to give the impression that this 3 year old (who can be stubborn!) is literally smiling all the time because that's just not the case, BUT she does smile often and it is a blessing.

This cutie was laid back and just enjoyed the ride.  She managed to get lots of candy too.  

After we got back from trick-or treating we let the kids play in the front yard for awhile before we headed in. Sweet Claire kept falling down in the grass and couldn't get back up by herself.  She would just lay there and grunt or fuss until someone came over to help her up.  I guess the big ole strawberry outfit just made it too hard to even attempt the getting up process for a 22 month old.  The adults may or may not have had a few chuckles when she got stranded before one of us went to help her up. It was cute!:)  

It was a super fun Halloween!  Excited that next year we'll have another little baby dressed up as a cow, just like all three of her sisters did on their first Halloween!