Growing

If you ask Eli what baby Layla is doing, his latest response is always, 'growing.' I ended up having to take him with me to a check-up last week, and he was SO good. It helped that I have the most incredible OB ever, who loved spending time with Eli. He and Dr. Royal played Thomas, raced cars on the exam table, and then played the drums using giant medical swabs and a box of tissues. He sat in the chair and had a snack while I was on the table, and his eyes lit up with joy when he got to hear the baby's heart beating. He was cupping his ear to help him 'hear better,' and Dr. Royal talked with Eli a lot about his baby sister. It was so sweet! Eli's also been very interested in my belly lately. I guess it's finally big enough for him to notice all.of.the.time. Just last night before bed the two of us were resting on the couch. He pulled up my shirt and had both of his hands on my belly. He talked to her for the longest time and then began to sing 'you are my sunshine' in his soft voice. My eyes instantly welled up. I love that even before his baby sister arrives, he's learning to be gentle and protective, & soft and sweet to her.

My mom bought a huge box of ice cream cones and some ice cream while she was here for her ice cream loving boy. He's been enjoying his special treats as rewards for good behavior, etc. There's not much that he won't do for an ice cream cone!

I had to sneak in and get this picture of Eli in his bed last night. We've made major progress in the being terrified of thunder storms department, and this was him being very 'brave' last night. He tightly covered his ears and actually fell asleep during the worst of the storm, which is major progress!
We've made some major progress in the nursery this week. Danny got all of the painting done this weekend, so now we can really get going. Her walls are a very dainty 'ballerina gown' pink, and we're thrilled with the final color decision. We laugh about it though, because we were both so sure that we wouldn't paint her room pink, and then we both fell in love with this color. Pictures soon to come!

Our week with Mimi

It's back to reality for us around here. My mom left yesterday afternoon, and we were NOT ready for her to go. We had such a fun visit. Filled with lots of playtime, good eating, so many laughs, full days of shopping & girl time, and lots of loves for the boy. We started really working on the nursery this week, and got SO much done. Much more than I thought possible in one week. I know I will be ever so thankful in a few months when it's a struggle to even get up & down the stairs to her room. My mom is the perfect shopping partner, knows my taste better than anyone else, and is truly the one person that I could shop for day after day with. Needless to say...we called ourselves the dynamic duo this week! We ordered all of the crib bedding, drapes & extra fabric(which will be arriving at our house ANY minute!), found the perfect lamp, a rug, lots of pink & green storage baskets, and maybe a few outfits :). Our favorite find of the week was a gorgeous antique white armoire/dresser. We both stopped dead in our tracks in front of it at Home Goods, looked at each other, and knew we wouldn't be able to leave without it. It's exactly what we've been looking for, but just hadn't seen anything like it yet. We've picked out paint for her room, so once we get the room painted this week, we'll be able to see how everything looks together.

In the weeks leading up to my mom's visit, everytime we talked about her coming, Eli would say, 'Mimi come in the car tent!' So that's exactly what she did! I can't even tell you how many hours these two spent in this tent. Mimi was a trooper, and Eli loved every single second!
We did something fun with Eli every day, but his all time favorite as always, was our trip to Lawton Stables. Except this time, he got to experience his very first pony ride! He's always loved horses, but sometimes seemed skiddish around them. This time he was kissing & petting the Clydesdale and waiting patiently in line for his turn to ride a horse. My mom had brought him a special cowboy hat all the way from San Antonio, Tx, and he insisted on being a cowboy for the day!
Oh the memories we have here! One of our favorites from the day was when Eli walked up to the sheep, stuck his hands out and said, 'have you seen the bunnies, huh?!?' The bunnies were sleeping in their beds and you couldn't see them too well, he was very concerned about where they were!
He held on and truly enjoyed the ride! My mom and I walked close by and listened as he talked to all of the animals we were passing. It was precious!
After a week of shopping, date nights, help around the house, and even a quiet manicure & pedicure, I'm feeling so blessed and refreshed! Thank you mimi for a week of sweet sweet memories! We can't wait to have you within driving distance!

Layla Grace

So much goes into naming your babies, but for us, this time, it was really quite simple. Ever since before we were married, literally, we've talked about the name Layla for a baby girl. There was only one other girl name on the top of my list, but due to how trendy and popular its become since Eli was born, that one was out. We did spend time going through hundreds of other baby girl names, but each time we just fell even more in love with her name. I'm thankful that Danny and I were on the same page with this name, and that we finally get to use this long time favorite of ours! We debated on whether or not we should share her name before the birth, but quite frankly, my love for etsy and monogramming made that decision pretty simple :).

I finally got around to taking the first belly photo of this pregnancy. We've noticed some major belly growth in the last few weeks, so I felt it was a good time to start. Eli (who typically hates his picture taken) was all about cheesing for the camera, so he got right in on the action!
Layla Grace at 22 weeks
kisses for sister!
Me and my boy. Can't wait to see him love on his baby sister!

We appreciate all of the prayers being said for our family and for this precious new addition on the way. We pray daily for wisdom and strength as we seek to lead our children up in the Lord.

Choo Choo!

We had been anticipating our visit to the Tweetsie Railroad for such a long time. We had been talking about it a lot with Eli in the weeks leading up to our trip, and he had told just about everyone he knew that he'd soon be riding on the big 'twain.' We weren't entirely sure of what to expect, but we went into it hoping for a great time and a happy toddler! Of course Eli slept horribly the night before, and was up WAY earlier than usual that day. I wasn't so sure that the happy toddler part would be in our cards for the day, but boy did he surprise us! At breakfast that morning we were telling him that it was finally time to go ride the big train. He put his spoon down and started clapping and screaming, 'Oh, oh, oh! I'm SO exciting!!!' Danny and I died laughing, and knew that it would be a great day afterall!

We got there right when they opened at 9am on Friday. The weather was absolutely gorgeous out. We walked in just in time to see the train pull into the 'station' for the first time that day. Their big train runs continuously throughout the day, and it's about a 20 minute ride through the mountains. There are 'cowboys' on board the train, and they stop and do little skits together that are hilarious! We were worried that Eli would be scared of the loud sounds, but he really surprised us! Can't say the same for the screaming toddler sitting behind us though. The cowboys each had fake guns that they were shooting, and they were super loud, so I can understand why it would be a little traumatizing for the little ones.
walking into the park
clapping for the train!
just enjoying the ride!
These guys were so good at their jobs...I just couldn't imagine doing it everyday.


After our first ride, we were off to exlore the rest of the park. They have a chair lift that carries you up the mountain, to another part of the park called 'Miner's Mountain.' We stopped and let Eli play for a while at a little park, and then it was on to some fun rides! As with everything, you never know how the first time on something new will go. Eli hopped right up into that airplane, buckled himself in and was ready to take off! At least we know he doesn't have problems with motion sickness! We rode a few other rides, and then got done just in time to catch a little musical show done by 'Hopper the Bunny' and 'Porter the Turtle.' They kept all of the kids attention the whole time, and had them all up dancing with them. Our boy loves to dance, so he was right up there with the bigger kids.
On our way up...


Off he goes!
And a proud wave for the crowd :)
enjoying the show
We were starving by this point, and I had been smelling barbecue all day, so lunchtime it was! Eli could hardly sit down long enough to get his lunch down. He was way too excited to eat, and was ready to get on to the next fun thing. We spotted the big go cart cars on our way down the chair lift, and knew that Eli would love doing that with his daddy. I have such sweet memories of riding in these same type cars with my dad every summer at Busch Gardens and Myrtle Beach...such fun! Eli obviously wasn't old or big enough to drive, but he did a great job helping steer. I think Danny enjoyed it just as much as Eli! This part of the park was full of carnival type rides and games, cotton candy & funnel cakes were on every corner, and it just made you feel like a kid again. Eli and I rode the Carousel together, and then Danny wanted to take him on the Ferris Wheel. I had seen this thing running all day, and I instantly opted out. I'm usually the daredevil and the one who will ride ANY ride out there. But not at 5 months pregnant with a very full stomach from lunch! This was not your average ferris wheel. It had one speed...fast! The look on Eli's face when that thing took off, oh I'll never forget it. He had his lips puckered up real tight and was holding on for dear life. Danny did a good job of distracting him, and he did get use to it after a little bit. I was just thankful that he didn't puke, because I had my doubts there for a minute!

He talks about riding the ferris wheel ALL the time. I think it made him feel so big!

Another fun train ride.
'Go fast, daddy!'
We rode back up to the top of the mountain again and spent some time at the animal park. We picked up some ice cream cones filled with animal feed, and made our rounds. Eli's always been excited about animals, so he really enjoyed this part. His favorites this time were the bunnies and the baby goats.

He loved this baby goat 'on the loose.'



He rang the bell a million times during this little boat ride.

By late afternoon we were all starting to tire out. We rode the big train one more time, did some shopping and picked up some cute souveniers, and then made our final stop of the day for...ice cream!!! Eli sat very tired & still in his stroller while enjoying his/our ice cream.



Loves for daddy from a very tired boy.
Never too tired for ice cream!

Danny and I felt so blessed to be able to experience this with Eli. It was by far, without a doubt, one of our favorite family memories together. It's always fun to experience new things again through the eyes of a child. We're planning to visit the Tweetsie Railroad again this same time next year. We're hoping that Mimi and Papa Tom will be able to go with us then!

Mountain Trip

We got back on Sunday afternoon from our little family getaway. It was SO nice to have some time away with just the three of us. Somewhere different. Somewhere with cooler temperatures. Somewhere with some really neat things to do. You could tell that Eli just loved his time away with us. We hadn't been back to stay at my mom & Tom's mountain house since Eli was 5 or 6 months old. Last time we were there, we tucked a few fun ideas away for the next time we came back. We definitely want to start going at least once a year, and this seems to be the perfect time of year to go. The biggers kids are back in school so places aren't at all crowded, and the weather is as close to perfect. It's also nice to go in the fall to see the colors change, but sometimes its already too cold for a lot of outside activities. Needless to say, we had a great time!

We got there on Wednesday afternoon just in time for Eli to take a short rest. He's never been one for sleeping in the car. We then went out for an early dinner and to stock up on groceries. After that we went for a long walk in the neighborhood. As fun and beautiful as it was...those hills are not made for pregnant women!
But these 3 could have walked for days!

Our Bailey girl LOVED being back in the mountains. She's such an easy dog to travel with, so we were happy to be able to bring her along on the trip.

We didn't really have any big plans for Thursday, which was kind of nice. We got up and ready, and then went into town for breakfast. Eli had breakfast #1 at the house, and then ate again with us. There's no denying that he's my child...we love our breakfast! :) I love going out to breakfast, so that was a great way to start the day. After breakfast we decided to hit the outlet malls and do a little shopping. We shopped until about lunchtime, and then went back to the house for family naptime!


We spent a lot of time out on the front porch again this time. It's the perfect place to rock, play, and eat cookies!



Eli was pretty fascinated with the cabin. He kept calling it the 'cool house.' He especially loved bathtime in the giant jacuzzi tub! Fun...but not such an easy way to scrub down a busy toddler!
We were all most looking forward to our trip to the Tweetsie Railroad on Friday. I need to dedicate an entire post to that though, because it is by far one of my favorite family memories thus far!

On Saturday morning we woke up and went out to breakfast again. The sky was pretty gray, and we were getting a little wind from hurricane Irene, but we still had a few things we wanted to do outside. We brought some of our leftover bread from the house, and went to a cute little duck pond near one of the local colleges. There were walking trails all over and gorgeous scenery in every direction, so we were hoping to snap a few pictures.
Eli had never seen that many ducks at once before. They were EVERYWHERE. At least 100 or more. And it's obvious that they get fed very often!

We fed them from the bridge, that way we didn't get attacked by the geese. I may or may not have been scarred by a goose as a child.
We even made out with a family picture from this trip! A nice elderly gentlemen stopped his car and offered to take our picture. People are so out of their way friendly around there.

We decided to go on a little walk, and boy are we glad that we did!
We were all mesmerized by this gorgeous waterfall, and didn't want to leave! Eli kept saying, 'that's amazing!' and 'that's so beautiful!'


This was another morning filled with such sweet memories for us.
And a very happy boy!

Later that afternoon we had planned to go golfing as a family. This is something that Danny has been wanting us to do for a long time. As soon as we booked this trip, he knew it would be the perfect opportunity. Golfing in the mountains with much cooler temperatures sounded much more appealing to me than in the sweltering heat of Hilton Head anyways. Eli loves to go golfing with his daddy, but I'm never there to get any pictures of it, so I was excited to tag along with my camera. It was a little breezy out that afternoon, but the guys didn't seem to notice.
Ready to go!
Eli's favorite part was always running up on the green to help hold the flag. He was such a cute little coach/caddy, and cheered his daddy on the entire 18 holesHe always picked his ball and daddy's out of the hole, and came running back to show me with such excitement.

Taking a short breather.
So proud!!
It was neat for me to be on the golf course with my hubby. Something that he's always been so passionate about, but that we've never really done together. I can tell that Eli and Danny will play many rounds of golf together. I'm glad that I went now, because taking your mom to the golf course won't be so cool in a few years :)

My body may have been aching by the end of our trip, but it was so worth it! We made the sweetest of memories, and are already looking forward to our next trip. Our next trip...as a family of 4!