Short Trip

Bert went on a mission trip to West Virginia during Emily and Hannah's fall break from school so we decided to go to Toccoa for a little play time.  

We had an all-girl morning while Jacob was in school.  

Claire and Ressie are starting to really play well together and it's fun to watch.  Their birthdays are in January....Claire will be 3 and Ressie, 2.  

The girls were so excited to see Jacob when he got home from school. He was taking his cousins on a ride in the wagon.  He may have been straining a little, but he was pulling them all over that yard. He's five years old and probably already stronger than me.  

Emily had the idea to make a scavenger hunt for the other kids on Saturday morning.  She planned all the clues, wrote out he clues and put them in their spots.  She was also the clue reader.  It was cute and they had fun!

Mom picked up some flat rocks while she was down at the lake house a couple weeks ago and bought paint so that they could have fun painting them.  They loved it!  Jacob was "finished" first and ready to head back outside to play. Hannah finished last and worked really heard on a specific design she as going for.  

This cutie wanted to paint her rock black (and only black) and did it all by herself.  

This might be the last time we get a picture of all 6 of them in the wagon...they look like they are about to bust out. 

We had a fun, relaxing couple of days and I'm so glad our girls got to spend the time with their cousins!

Anniversary Trip

Sara, one of my good friends friends from Clemson, was planning to get married Oct 8th, so a few months ago Bert and I decided to take our anniversary trip that same weekend because we would be traveling to her wedding anyway.  A sweet couple in our church had offered for us to use their condo in Myrtle Beach sometime so we thought that would be a perfect weekend since it was only a couple hours from where the wedding was to take place.  

Hurricane Matthew came through the week of the wedding and changed everybody's plans.  We definitely weren't able to head down to Myrtle Beach and Sara ended up moving her wedding from Saturday to Thursday.  She didn't decide until Wednesday of that week to move the wedding to the next day. Sara was impressively laid back about it all and her wedding could not have been more beautiful.  So much planning went into her wedding and all along God knew their wedding date would be Oct 6th.  I love that He writes out His perfect story.  

Congrats to Sara and Ryan!!  Abby liked her bracelet.  

Even though it was short notice and at least a 2 hour drive for all of us, the Clemson girls wouldn't have missed Sara's big day.  She is loved! 

We got back to Greenville late Thursday night and on Friday Bert and I went to lunch at a fun restaurant in downtown Greenville.  My mom had gotten into town on Thursday to watch the kids. Abby was with us for a lot of our anniversary weekend because she likes to eat, but it was fun to do this one thing with just the two of us.  

Friday afternoon we headed up to the North Carolina mountains to spend one night at a the Lake Lure Inn.  Lake Lure is where they filmed part of Dirty Dancing and is located about an hour from Greenville.  It is a super cute little town with beautiful views and we definitely plan to go back. 

We had such a fun, relaxing 24 hours.  It was a quick trip but as usual it felt like longer.  

I loved Abby's expression in this picture.  Adorable little thing.  

We all three enjoyed our morning walk around the lake.  

On the way home we stopped by Hendersonville to do a little shopping and a lot of just walking around.  It was a beautiful day.  

Our plans may have gotten changed at the last minute, but we both said it was one of our favorite anniversary weekends.  I feel like we say that every year, but I mean it every year, so whatever.  I'm so thankful for these anniversary trips!  We get to celebrate in October and December...for sure a win-win for me.  Happy 9 years to my favorite.  

Abby - 7 months

Our Abby is just over 7 1/2 months now, so I'm a little behind on my 7-month post, but better late than never. 

She's crawling all over the house and pulling up on everything in sight! She's also been caught standing up on her own (with out holding onto anything) a couple times....she quickly falls from that though.  

She puts E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G in her mouth. It's special. I'm probably a lot less picky about what she puts in her mouth than I used to be when Emily was this age.  Fourth child perks....or maybe that's not a perk....Oh well.  

She quit using a sleep sack in her crib last week because she's so mobile and kept getting tangled up in it as she was waking up.  She's now having a little more trouble going to sleep because she will pull up on her crib and stand there screaming at the top of her lungs until I come back in.  I usually have to go back in once to hold her for a second and then lay her back down.  It's not that she doesn't know how to lay back down on her own, but it's almost like she gets so mad while she's standing there in her crib and is so tired the poor thing can't even think straight.  Ha!  

Nursing is still going well.  She eats 5 times a day. Some of the feedings are 30 minutes and some are 15. Since she won't take a bottle sometimes I feel like I'm on lock down, but I promise I wouldn't trade this time for the world.  

One night a week or two ago I had just finished nursing her and I literally thought my heart might explode with love for her.  She's getting so big so fast.  Sometimes I look forward to a little more flexibility with our schedule between naps and feedings, but mostly I know I'll miss this sweet one on one time. 

You are loved more than you'll ever know, little one.  

Family Pictures

We had some family pictures taken in late September and I'm so thankful to have them!  Jennifer Williams with Delicate Details Photography took them for us and did such a great job! She was so great with the kids and made the whole experience as laid back as possible.

Jennifer asked Emily if she could hold Abby and she of course said she could.  Em thought she was going to sit down and hold  her in her lap, but Jennifer handed Abby to her while she was standing up.  Emily's eyes got wide and she just smiled big.  She was proud and Bert was right outside this picture ready to grab Abby Doodle if Emily started slipping.  :)  

I love this one of Emily!

This is so Hannah!  

I could just squeeze this sweet almost 3 year old.  

Abby didn't pass out a lot of smiles that evening, but she also wasn't fussing or crying so we're counting it a win.  

It is quite the job getting outfits picked out, schedules figured out, and everyone ready, but as usual it was totally worth it.  Thankful to have these!  

Apple Orchard

We took the kids to Sky Top Apple Orchard last weekend and had a great time!  We got there about 20 minutes after it opened and it was already packed.  We had to do the annual "How Tall This Fall?" picture. I even helped Abby stand up so that she could be in the pic too! 

My people.  

This little love muffin liked riding on her Daddy's back.  

These three had fun and Bert and I had fun watching them get so excited about being there!  

They have about 5 of these play-sets in a row and the playground may have been the girls' favorite part of the morning.  

Last year when we came we got yummy apple cider donunts, but this time the line was waaaaay too long, so we settled for apple cider slushies, which I actually liked even better than the donuts. They were soooo good.    

Last year we went to the apple orchard a couple weeks earlier and we were all in pants and coats. This year it was a smidge warm but not too hot.  I guess that's fall for ya, keeps us guessing.  

We all like apples, but Hannah is our apple lover and has eaten the large majority of the apples we picked that day.  If we tell her she needs to eat a fruit an apple is her pick every time!  Glad we have a place like this close by to pick some good fruit and make great memories!