Archer’s Birthday Party

I can’t believe he’s already 2?! It just doesn’t seem possible! Jennifer and Daniel had the ENTIRE family out to celebrate! Jennifer did such an awesome job with the decorations, Mickey Mouse Club house themed! And the cake was adorable!! I wish I had gotten a  picture of it to share with you, it was so cute. We had a great time! Stratton had loads of fun! I had my small camera and it didn’t take any good pictures in the house- bummer.

We tried to get a shot of all the “great” grands with Memaw, but you know how that goes!

Landon, Avery, Kylie, Archer & Stratton!

Poor Archer! He looks miserable! And you gotta love his boots! He got those from his other aunt for his bday and immediately had to put them on! So cute! Notice my child- again with no shoes!

2 of us taking pictures and 2 trying to keep the kids attention! And a lot of spectators laughing!

After a lot of people had left, we sat outside on their back porch (no bugs!) Anyway the boys had a couple of balls they were throwing and chasing, and getting quite hot and sweaty! First they both shed their shirts, then Archer started pulling off his pants, and of course Stratton had to do it too! But he’s a lot faster than Archer as you can see! And about 2 seconds after I snapped this picture he decided to pull down his undies as well! I couldn’t get a picture of that, as we were all laughing so hard we were crying?! I mean we were out in the county, but really?! He is such a mess! And apparently Archer and Stratton already have a secret language. They just jabber and “talk” to each other, but it makes no sense to any of us?! Silly boys!

A Full Friday!

After the doctor's appointment we took Stratton to All Aboard for lunch. He loved it!

After lunch we went to the mall for a couple of hours and did some shopping. Stratton took a short nap in the stroller. I even bought baby girl a fabulous frilly dress for next spring!

 

We had a "double doozie" cookie break, finished up our shopping  at the mall and headed for Gene Lockwoods. We got Stratton the cutest pair of Chaco's! I just love Gene Lockwoods! I refrained from buying the itty bitty Toms. . .this time anyway! Next stop was Gander Mountain before meeting up with Jarrod's parents and Jennifer, Daniel and Archer for dinner. Then we all went back to Terry and Margie's house so Margie could open her Mother's day gifts (finally!). The boys played for awhile before Jen and Daniel took Archer home. It was such a fun (and- whew!-Full) day. I was exhausted!! I think I went to bed around 10pm? Even though I was tired, it was still hard to relax from the day's excitement!

It's a GIRL?!!

Our 24 week appointment: We got right in at the Dr.'s office. I knew I was scheduled to have my glucose test, so I asked the nurse if she could get my yummy glu-cola drink so that we wouldn't have to be there any longer than necessary! With Stratton, you just never know. . .So I chugged the drink and then we went in for our ultrasound. The tech was super nice, we had never had her before so we filled her in on the past few appointments, and the past ultrasound problems. . . .no pressure! Luckily she found what exactly what she needed to to tell us the news we'd been waiting so long to hear!! And wow! I was shocked! I was mostly shocked because the baby was in the perfect position to see the "money shot" and the tech had no problem with seeing everything she needed. But the second shock was the news that we are for sure- 100% having a girl!!

Everything looked great! Her hb was at 144, and she weighs about 1 lb 5 oz!  She's right on track! I am also doing pretty good. I've gained 6 lbs since my last check-up which brings the grand total to 13 lbs. I did my glucose test and they should have those results in the next couple of days. If I do fail, I will have to go back for a 3 hour test, but hopefully we won't have to cross that bridge!

We are excited, but I don't think Stratton is very happy. But I think he'll come around! He did tell us right after the u/s that he would love on her, so I think we'll be ok. But when we got back into the car and called my mom and dad he wouldn't talk to them and tell them the news. I think he was in denial for awhile!! 

Pregnancy Stats:
How Far Along: 24 weeks
Size of baby: About the size of an cantaloupe, 
Gender: It's a GIRL!! Finally we know!!
Movement: She is rockin' and rolling in there!
Sleep: Maybe getting a little better, but I think that's because I'm so tired at the end of the day!
Cravings:Cravings have slacked off a bit, but I'm still really hungry most of the time!
Symptoms: Leg Cramps and other cramps, backaches, and allergies!
Best Moment This Week: Finally getting to find out the gender!!

Pictures from last weekend. . .

We've been gone so much and also have been re-arranging the "office" to make that room into the baby's room. . . that I've just now downloaded pictures from my camera!

Laney's birthday party last Friday night:

 

 

Our visit with Matt, Carla and baby Sawyer:

Will tomorrow finally be the day??

We are cautiously excited about tomorrow- MAYBE we will finally find out what this baby is!! I’m trying not to get my hopes up again. Being disappointed twice already has made me skeptical. And if we don’t find out this time, I’m afraid by my next appointment the baby will be too big to really tell! You know it gets kinda cramped in there! Please say a prayer for us! I am dying to know! It’s driving me crazy!! And I also have another glucose test, so please also say a little prayer that I pass! I am optimistic about it, since I feel so good. . .but as Jarrod {so kindly} reminded me, I felt good when I was pregnant with Stratton and took the test and failed. . .thanks honey. My appointment is at 9:30 in the morning so since Jarrod is already in Little Rock this week, Stratton and I are heading to Searcy tonight and going to stay with Jarrod’s parent’s, leaving their house at 8:30 am is WAY better than us leaving ours at 7:00 am!!

Here is Stratton holding his pretend “baby” which he named Sawyer! Haha! The funniest thing about it is he told me to hold the baby, but when I did he said I was making it mad and to give it back! Haha!! What a funny boy!

We have had a busy/crazy week this past week . . .I’m exhausted!! But more on that later. And I have some really cute pictures from Laney’s bday party last Saturday and from our visit with Matt and Carla and their new baby Sawyer on Sunday. But I still need to get the pics off my camera!

We are looking forward to a busy weekend in Searcy! We will be doing Mother’s day dinner with Margie & Archer’s 2nd birthday! I’m sure I’ll have some cute pics of Stratton and Archer- they are a mess when they get together!!

Never a dull moment

Jarrod has been looking for a gun safe since we moved to Jonesboro, but hasn’t been able to find what he was looking for at the price he wanted to pay. . .isn’t that always the story? Anyway he came across one yesterday at Orscheln’s Farm store in Paragould, so after work we went to pick it up. Stratton loves any sort of farm supply store. He likes TSC and asks to go all the time. He of course likes that they have a ton of John Deere toys/tractors, ect. . Last night he got to take home a set of monster trucks. That’s his current new favorite thing. His favorite things to play or play with seem to go in phases- Tractors/Monster Trucks/Baseball and Football. . . He also picked out a little plastic snow owl from the Schleich animal display. There were every kind of animal you could think of- cows, horses, all sorts of farm animals and then just about any and every animal you would see at the zoo. What does my kid pick? A creepy looking owl sitting on a branch?! And it was $7!! Strange kid. I think we lost before we even got home. Oh well.

One funny thing he said about the owl, was when I asked him what an owl eats. . .Jarrod suggested worms? “Nooo!” he said “birds eat worms, owls eat porcu-noes!”.(prounouced ‘pork-you-knows’) I don’t know if he was trying to say porcupines? And if so, what in the world?! Then we asked him where porcunoe’s live and he said “the farm- there are some on Pops’ farm!” Hmmm. . .I have going to have to ask my dad about that!

After we picked up the safe we ran to Lenny’s and got a sandwich then headed home. Our friend Matt came over and helped Jarrod unload and unbox the new safe. Stratton liked playing in the box (of course) and we told him he could just sleep in it outside- guess what? He was totally ok with that?! Silly boy?! Matt was calling him a hobo since he didn’t have shoes on (he is always barefoot) so the box home fits him! After playing in the box he was filthy! His feet were black. I can’t get over how dirty he can get?! Sometimes when I pick him up at school he looks like he has rolled in the dirt- which from what some of his teachers tell me sometimes isn’t too far from the truth. One day they told him he was sitting at the bottom of the slide raking pea-gravel in his shorts? If he wears anything with pockets you can bet he’s going to come home with rocks in them. Boys?!

Stratton the hobo. . .

Popping the bubble wrap

He demonstrated how he could sleep in his new home. . .

The new safe in the garage

I can’t believe we’ve been back from vacation for a week now. Things are busy for both Jarrod and I at work, and we have something going on every weekend for the next several weeks, plus our friends Matt and Carla will be having their baby (she’s being induced)on Friday! We are also looking forward to next Friday (the 25th) when I go back to the doctor. I am anxious to get another ultrasound! By this time in my first pregnancy we had a name picked out and I think we even had announcements ready to mail?!!! Stratton is doing fantastic with his potty training. He is no longer wearing pull-ups to bed and has been doing great!

He hasn’t said much about the baby lately. Last week on vacation, when we were talking about it maybe being a girl (we try to talk about it and prepare him!), I asked him “What are you going to do if it is a girl?” His response? “I’m gonna throw her in the trash can!”. Then he laughed. And he told my mom the same thing, so he wasn’t just being silly. Hmmm. . . .well we might have some work to do!

Another funny thing he said to me this morning. . .my stomach growled while we were sitting in the chair watching the Disney Channel while he was drinking his chocolate milk, I said “did you hear my stomach growl?!” He said “Mommy, that’s the new baby tooting!!”.

Where in the world does he come up with this stuff?!

Beach vacation!!

I realized something. My baby boy is so spoiled! He is only 2 and he’s been to the beach now 3 times in his life (4 times if you count while I was pregnant with him)?! I guess that’s what happens when you have a momma that loves the beach like I do!! I just can’t stay away for longer than a year- most of the time I find a way to go more often than that?! In the past 10 years I think I have gone at least once a year (sometimes more) except for 1 year. I have now been to the beach during both pregnancies, too?!  Haha! There’s nothing like that smell and the sound of the waves crashing. . . ahhhh, I sure do love it!

We had such a good time on vacation. Stratton was pretty good, for the most part. And the weather was awesome (for once) most days. We stayed at a condo in Orange Beach and it was on the smaller side, but it worked fine. We have been to Gulf Shores/Orange Beach at pretty much every time of the year- but so far this trip was the best as far as weather and it wasn’t crowded at all! I think we will plan to go back this time next year!

Wednesday:: Left Jonesboro around 4pm. Stopped for supper along the way and made it to Jackson, MS by 9pm. Checked into our hotel and hit the hay!!

Thursday:: We were in no hurry to get up early, since we couldn’t check into our condo till 3pm, we ate breakfast at the hotel and took our time getting ready. We left Jackson around 10am. Had lunch in Hattiesburg, and made it to Orange Beach around 3:30pm. We got all our stuff unloaded and went to the beach for a little sand digging before heading to supper at The Hangout. Stratton was really tired and was quite cranky. We still had to get some groceries, so we ran to Winn Dixie really fast. We got back to the condo and crashed. I was hoping that he would sleep late. . .

Friday:: Hit the beach early in the morning, Stratton got us up at 6am!! We got rained out around 11 am. Had lunch in the condo and a nap. Had dinner at Lulu’s and went into Foley for a quick trip to the outlet mall.

Playing in the sand on the beach

Playing in the sand at Lulu’s

We really love Lulu’s!

Saturday :: We were on the beach by 8 am, and S played hard! We went to the pool for a bit, then back up to our condo for lunch and a nap. Stratton had noticed the “race track” across the street from the Lulu’s entrance the day before, so Jarrod looked it up and to ride the go carts you only had to be 3 ft tall! So, after dinner at Doc’s we took Stratton to the Track and he got to ride with Jarrod in a go-cart! I was really nervous, but he loved it. I shouldn’t be surprised! We tried to get him to ride the bumper boats but after he saw some kids spraying each other with water guns, he decided he didn’t want to do that afterall, so they went for another ride on the go-carts.

There were lots of parasail boats

Yep. That’s my BABY on a go-cart!! He loved every min. of it!

Sunday :: I started feeling bad Saturday night. I was extremely sore and my whole body ached.  I woke up in the middle of the night with a fever. I guess it was just a passing thing, because after I rested Sunday morning I felt better by that evening. Jarrod was nice enough to take S to the pool Sunday morning so I could rest. Then we all took a nap Sunday afternoon. We went back down to the pool around 3pm and stayed for about an hour and then came in, got cleaned up and went to dinner at The Oyster House. We browsed the shops there, before heading in.

Haha- love this pic! They are really tired of the camera!!

Much better!

Can you believe how big he looks?!

“Stratton say cheese!”

Monday :: Our last day. Sigh. We spent the morning at the beach, it was so nice! The breeze was blowing and the temperature was perfect. Stratton had gotten much braver and would go up to the water by himself and even played right at the water’s edge. We stayed on the beach till after noon, till Stratton actually said “I wanna go in”. . .haha. This gal didn’t want to leave but I had to give in. We had planned to take S on a Dolphin Cruise. I had called on Friday and they said they had private parities till Monday, and the cruise time was 4pm. So I knew we wouldn’t have time to go back to the beach that afternoon. After we got S down for a nap I hurried to get ready. Jarrod just happened to ask about calling to make sure the cruise was still going out, so he called and guess what?! They were booked already?! On a Monday night?! Soooo. . .I was really disappointed. And I knew Stratton was going to be too. After all that’s what he’s talked about for weeks! We decided to just run down to the Crab Trap for dinner and then go back to the beach till dark and let S play. He didn’t mention the dolphin thing till on our way back to the condo and he teared up and threw a little fit, but once we got his bucket and hit the beach, he never mentioned it again! We stayed on the beach for a long time and then played in the pool for a little while before going in. It was after 9pm before we got Stratton in bed. Then we stayed up and packed everything and loaded the car. AND I had somehow come in contact with something that made me break out in an awful, ichy rash! I started taking benedryl every 4 hrs, but it looked horrible and man it was ichy!!

“Farming” in the sand

Jarrod and Stratton WAY out there. Stratton loved it.

Playground at the Crab Trap!

See what Jarrod does on vacation? Always with the Twitter?!

They are trying to write Stratton in the sand. . . .

. . . .before it washes away!

Tuesday :: Sad day. We were up and gone by 7:30. We made it to Hattiesburg and stopped to eat brunch at Cracker Barrel. We had to stop several time throughout this trip. Traveling with a pregnant woman and potty training child don’t really equal making “good time”. We actually stopped in Memphis at Gigi’s for some cupcakes!! Yay! And then had supper at On the Border- Mexican sounded so good after 5 days of seafood! We got home around 5pm.

We had such a good time. I’m so glad we are blessed with jobs that allow us vacation time. It’s the first time that we have been to the beach just the 3 of us and it was sometimes hard- but worth it. I just can’t even think that the next time we go it will be four of us!?

Stratton's diggin' the beach!

First full day at the beach and its been a long one! We got woke up by a beach ready boy at 6am! We made it down to the beach about 8am and stayed till it started to rain around 11. We ran up to the condo soaking wet! Then we had lunch took a nap. Stratton got up around 3pm so we decided since there was still a chance of rain that we'd go to Lulu's a little early and then hit the outlet mall. Stratton loved Lulu's probably because of the sand pile! We did some shopping and got back to the condo about 9:30, Stratton fell asleep in the car of course. It's been a good day but I'm tired! Looking forward to a couple of days with no rain in the forecast. . .hopefully!