Weekend in Myrtle Beach

We spent the first weekend of November in Myrtle Beach. It was a weekend that brought back SO many memories. Memories of my dad, memories of how and where it all began for Danny and I, and then many new memories. Surprisingly, I hadn't been back to Myrtle Beach since the summer right before Danny and I got married. It was crazy to be back there with my husband, our first child, and a big ole' baby bump! We spent an afternoon at Coastal Grand Mall; the same mall where I would spend all of my time while danny was at the baseball field, etc. This time instead of shopping for hours, I spent the afternoon riding a children's train through a crowded mall, followed by a long stay at a fun bounce house. I laughed out loud several times thinking about how the times have changed (and I wouldn't change a thing)!

For the last twenty-some years, my parents went on a golf/shopping trip to Myrtle Beach every November with a large group of friends. It was on one of these trips about 8 years ago that I was introduced to my future husband! The Lord had some seriously big plans for us back then, and we had no idea.

My mom hadn't been on this trip since my dad passed away, and the guys say that the trip has never been the same without him there. When my mom started planning to go back this year, we knew it was something that we didn't want to miss. It always does my heart good to be around my dad's closest friends. And I KNOW that he was smiling down as Danny was out on the golf course playing with these guys. It was so great to spend the weekend talking about the sweet memories we had with dad there. Comical, for sure!

When the rest of our VA family found out that we were going, they all decided to come too! It worked out perfectly for us all to be together, especially since we won't be going home for the Holidays this year. Eli was beyond excited about going to the hotel to sleep. Leading up to the trip, I must have heard him say, 'go to de hotel' about 962 times. This was the first time we'd been as a family to stay at a hotel. The suite was set up perfectly. Eli had a queen size bed to himself, and slept amazingly well both nights. He even took a voluntary nap on Saturday afternoon. We certainly wore him out that weekend! He went non stop for 3 straight days, and took full advantage of all the special attention he was getting from family. He stayed up late, ate way too many sweets, went for a late night swim, and 'hung' with the guys.

On Saturday morning before the guys went to play golf, they threw a surprise shower for us. They were all so excited to show us the sweet things that each of them had found for Layla.
Eli was so sweet as we opened each girly gift. He learned many months ago that Pink=Layla. He always says, 'Ohhh! So beautiful!'
My grandma bought her her first smocked dress.
Eli had a big time playing in his 'big bed.'
We all had to take turns laying in the bed with him.

Eli and Grandaddy had a great time together as usual, too! He even stayed happily at the hotel with him while we went shopping Saturday afternoon. I was sure he wouldn't have any parts of me leaving him there...who was I kidding! I took this picture right after asking him what he wanted to do...stay or go. Obviously I didn't win :). I called the room once to check on them, and my grandad had everything under control. Eli even did ALL of his business on the potty for him while we were gone. Lovely!
He loved being able to look out of the room and see the waves crashing on the beach.
He was SO happy to have an abundance of playmates for the weekend. He had a few new trains to play with, and I think he and Blake just about ran the wheels off of them!


That Mimi...she's always got something good to eat! After the weekend was over, we decided that Eli would be absolutely ruined if he lived anywhere near my family!
I'm so grateful for this time together! This was our 'last hoorah' before Layla arrives in just 7 short weeks. The next time we see everyone, we'll be introducing them to our baby girl!

Fall Festival & Halloween

We had a really fun Halloween weekend again this year! Although we didn't get creative this year with Eli's costume, he still loved getting to wear his fireman get-up several times. Our church puts on a Fall Festival every year and opens it up to the community, and it was full of great fun for the kids...and adults too!

Nana and Pop Pop even stopped by the church to see their little fireman!
The highlight of his night was definitely getting to drive the firetruck and hang with some real life firefighters!
He was just chatting away with them like he was one of the guys. It was so sweet for them to come and pay such special attention to the kids. Eli was very disappointed when we pulled into church the next morning and there was no firetruck to be found!

On Sunday afternoon we had some friends over to carve pumpkins. This was the first year that Danny and I had actually carved pumpkins together, and I know it's something we won't skip from now on.
I thought he did a great job! I can't take any credit, though. The pregnant wives very much enjoyed some pizza eating while the guys carved away :).
Eli was fascinated by the pumpkin gunk!

We decided to change things up a bit this year and head over to Nana & Pop Pop's neighborhood to trick or treat. Our neighborhood takes Halloween to the extreme, and bus loads of families come in from all over. We decided to skip the crowds and we're so glad that we did! Eli got the hang of things pretty quick, and really had a lot of fun with it. He was intent on finding a green sucker, and once he did he was good to go.
First stop...Nana & Pop Pop's house!
He kept saying, 'Oh! For me?!' Like he was amazed that people kept dumping candy into his pumpkin.
A quick family photo before we hit the streets.
All ready to go!

Nana walked from house to house with us, and Pop Pop stayed back to hand out candy.
Someone was handing out these crazy glasses that light up & flash...Eli is still wearing his on a daily basis :).
Once we got back home he couldn't wait to rip into his green sucker.
And we finished off the night with some story time with Nana.

We can't wait to take our two little trick-or-treaters out next year!

Life at 2 1/2

I can't even believe that we have an almost 2 1/2 year old. This age is so fun, so challenging, and always comical. We have our fair share of 'will he make it to 3' moments, but quickly buck up and realize, 3 will most likely be even more challenging :). Eli is a serious talker. He talks all.day.long about anything and everything, and to anyone that will listen. He's been coming up with the funniest things lately, and it's definitely time to put some of them in writing before we forget them. So get ready for some random pictures I never blogged & more facts than you care to know :).
We're so thankful to have him completely potty trained (except for bed time), and are so proud of him for making this such an easy transition. Once we found out how to make #2 on the potty less traumatic, there have been no tears involved! That has made life much less stressful for the little guy, and for me too :).

He's still very social everywhere we go, and refers to kids of all ages as his 'friends.' He talks about 'school' all of the time, even though he's never stepped foot in a real school. He thinks that when he goes to our sitters house, that its school. Poor kid is going to be in for a shock when he realizes that school doesn't consist of hours of Thomas the train play.

He's still pretty scared of thunder storms. Here he is hiding out in our pantry during one...
He and Danny have been going golfing together at least once a week for the past few months. I love that this is their 'guy time,' and know that they both love this time together. It won't be long before Eli is golfing right along with the big guys. But until then, he'll stick to raking sand traps and 'helping' get golf balls into the hole a little faster. They also spend a lot of time golfing in the front yard after dinner every night.


He now knows his ABC's from start to finish. He loves to sing, and there's no way you're stepping foot out of his room at bedtime without singing at least 2 songs with him. And he's always doing a little dance jig while we sing. His first requests are always 'Jesus Loves me' and 'You are My Sunshine.'

He's moved into the 3 year old class at church now that he's potty trained and feeling oh so big. I love that he's finally getting a Bible lesson every Sunday, and is getting use to more of a classroom setting. He just eats up this time each week with the 'big kids.' We always ask him on the way home what he did at church, and his normal responses are that he played with Kres, ate goldfish, colored a picture, played in the tent, and drew on the chalkboard.

He had his very first ice cream truck experience last week. I lost count of how many times he said the word 'delicious' while scarfing that ice cream down.
'Mmmmmm, delicious!'

He loves to be outside.
And I guess you could say he has quite the sweet tooth...
He's a lover of hide & go seek, and is finally starting to play somewhat by the rules. He pretends that he can't find us when we're hiding, just like we do him. He says, 'Hmmmm, where could that mommy be?!'

For some reason in the last week or so, Eli's started calling me mom. Now he thinks it's funny and does it on purpose. To me it just makes him seem like he's 13, not 2. I'm hanging onto my 'mommy title' for as long as I can! I'm just not use to hearing 'Ok, MOM!'

And now for some fun Eli-ism's....
-Okie dokie = 'dokie dokie'
-Last week we were checking out at Ross, and the cashier was putting my receipt in the bag. Eli looked at her and said, 'Watch out!!! There's a snake in the bag!' Completely random...and got a great response out of the cashier!
-He's called me 'son' a few times recently. Like just today he said, 'Hey! Where ya going, son?!'
-In true 2 year old fashion, he's found ways to spice up the typical NO. Instead of just saying NO, he now says 'No sireeee' or 'No way.' Lovely...
-Just yesterday he was telling me something in the car, and I said, 'Oh! how cool!' and he replied with a, 'Yep, actually it is.'
-He uses the phrase, 'I almost forgot' a lot, but never at the appropriate time. And it sounds more like, 'I almostsss forgots.'
-I guess he's heard me say, 'In a few minutes' or, 'in a second.' Because this week he told me, 'Ok mom, in 3 seconds.'
-He's really started copying everything that we say and do. Whenever we walk into the house, he opens the door to let Bailey out of our bedroom, and greets her with a 'Hi Bailey girl' or a 'come on honey.' And just this morning with a, 'wake up silly girl.'
-He says 'I can't do it' in an English accent. We have no idea how that started.

We're SO thankful for this sweet sweet boy. I can't imagine our days without his contagious laugh and fun personality. We never lose sight of how important our role is as his parents. Such a great responsibility. So humbling each and every day.

In everything set them an example by doing what is good. Titus 2:7

Belly Update - 28 Weeks

This pregnancy is absolutely flying by. I can't believe that we just hit the 7 month mark! I'm feeling great, and trying to slow down & not rush these last few months by. Here are some fun pregnancy highlights & a few belly shots...
How Far Along: 28 weeks
Size of baby: About 15 in. and 2.5 lbs
Gender: A GIRL!!! Layla Grace Morgan
Maternity Clothes: Yes and yes! It would be helpful if the weather would get cool & stay that way, because I have way more fall & winter clothing options!
Weight gain: 12 pounds. I learned at my appointment yesterday, that at this point in my pregnancy with Eli, I weighed 9 lbs more! I'm finally starting to gain the right amount of weight each month. I had a lot of catching up to do after losing several pounds during the 1st trimester.
Movement: This girl is a mover! We love sitting on the couch as a family and watching & feeling her every move. I just love this point in the pregnancy.
Sleep: Something that I'm starting to get less & less of. Between the sciatic pain and trips to the bathroom, solid stretches of sleep are getting harder and harder to come by.
Symptoms: Back pain, sciatic pain, shortness of breath & dizziness are my biggest offenders.
Cravings: Mexican food, sweet tea, cereal, pizza, anything dipped in buffalo sauce...I could go on forever! These are just a few of my favorite things lately.
Best moment this week: Hitting the 3rd trimester, and getting a great report at the Dr. yesterday!
Eli loves to put his hands on my belly and wait for a big kick. He talks non stop about what Layla is doing, and what she's going to do when she 'gets big.' He's also just recently started reminding me before we leave the house that, 'Layla comes too.' That's one thing I don't think we could forget at home right now! I just love that he's so interested and concerned about her.
And here are a few of our big boy before church on Sunday. I don't know what's up, or if it will last long, but he's been all into posing for pictures the last week or so!
I've got a fun Eli update in the works. He's doing & saying things that I need to document before I forget!

the Great Pumpkin Patch

We spent this 'way too warm for fall festivities' day at the pumpkin patch! We decided to try out a different place this year that we had heard great things about. You have to be willing to drive a little farther in order to find the best pumpkin patches around here. We visited the 'Great Pumpkin Patch' at Holiday Farms in Ridgeland, and it did not disappoint!

Is that my child posing on a pumpkin with a smile on his face?! Certainly wasn't expecting to get any pictures of him actually sitting still today. Except the unexpected with a 2 year old, right?!
Eli LOVED this duck water racing game.
He still refuses to use the pedals consistently, but that didn't stop him from racing around the dirt race track on his john deer trike!
They had a petting farm, which of course Eli loved. He spent a good amount of time loving on & talking with all of the animals.
These baby pigs were the sweetest things ever. We even got to witness an official pig race!
We went on a long hay ride to go pick out our pumpkins. This was Eli's first hayride, and he loved every second of it. He very quickly picked out our pumpkins, and then was ready to get back on the tractor.


Thankfully we ran into several friends while we were there, so we even came away with a family picture!

They also had a bounce house, swings, a giant sandbox, and tons of fun farm games to play. After we were all played out, we had a picnic lunch in the shade. Eli was not so much ready to leave, but we were all tired. We all came home and slept the afternoon away!

I always look forward to fun family days like this. We couldn't help but think about what our trip to the pumpkin patch will be like next year!

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!