ITS OUR WEEKLY PICTURE ROUNDUP! WOOHOO!

This week was a great low key week.  Mornings spent at preschool or the pool and nice long leisurely afternoons of movies in our bed or the park on a cooler afternoon.

Tuesday morning I kept Elle out of preschool for her very first dentist appointment.  I was really worried that I put this off too long but I am so glad that I waited because she was actually kind of excited and I was able to reason with her and bribe her to do the things she asked.  She was also excited because she has seen some Curious George episode or book about the dentist and his funny chair.  She couldn't wait to climb up in it.  Now getting her to lay down was another story.  I ended up sitting up there with her legs draped over my lap.  I didn't mind!

She got a great report on her teeth! Cavity free and she was thrilled that her teeth looked like princess teeth after they cleaned them. (the dental tech's words)

Having a chat about how things were going to go down.

Getting her teeth tickled. The noise of that tool they use makes my mouth pucker and gives me shivers just hearing it!

Leaving the dentist office with all her goodies.  She was so good and was so happy with all her loot.  I took her to Chick Fil A for a mommy daughter date afterwards too.

We spent a long morning at the pool with friends one day and had a great time.  Elle is getting more confident in the water and she is loving the pool this summer.  We finished off the day with a ice cream before heading home for showers and movies.

She has discovered that the push up pops are her favorite out of the ice cream case.  She was totally wiped by this point and half away while she ate this.

And I just had to include this picture.  We had just finished family dinner and Elle was helping me clean up.  Kenny snapped this picture because she just looked so cute and grown up all at the same time!

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A FABULOUS 4TH OF JULY! WE WILL BE CELEBRATING WITH FRIENDS AND FIREWORKS! RECAP TO COME I AM SURE!

BUSY WEEKEND WITH FRIENDS

As I mentioned yesterday, our week was crazy last week.  I got home late Wednesday, we had preschool and Elle's little best friend Abigail's 3rd birthday party Thursday afternoon and then we left for Memphis for a long fun filled weekend on Friday.

Let's do a little photo recap shall we!

Abigail's sweet birthday was at our local pottery painting place.  Sarah had a great idea in just inviting a few little girls.  Big birthdays can be so overwhelming and I think all the little girls had a lot of fun.  Elle was thrilled because it literally was all her best friends from preschool. (minus two because they were sick)

I took a ton of pictures because with it being such a small town I feel like these pictures of all these little girls will be the ones in their senior videos.  It is strange to think that these kids will be together their entire school lives.  

The invitation asked for each girl to wear their favorite princess dress.  Elle chose her Cinderella dress because it plays music and lights up, naturally. 

Painting their princess tiles.  Elle's was quickly all one shade of gray.

They were having a blast even though they don't look like it.  Getting ready to have their hand prints done.

This place had a little playroom the kids could go play while the paint dried and while we got their plates of food ready.  Love this picture.  Miriam on the right, Abigail in the middle are two of Elle's favorite friends!

Elle and Abigail.

Enjoying some snacks.

Friday we headed to Memphis to stay with my sister and stayed very busy! Friday night, my sister kept Elle while Kenny and I went out for a nice dinner and then went to see the Book of Mormon.  I was so excited to finally see this play.  It was very good, very funny and very very raunchy.  Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Saturday morning we woke up and took Elle to breakfast at Blue Plate cafe and then let her hang out with my mom for  a while we ran some shopping errands.  Have to take advantage of good stores when we can!

Coloring at breakfast.

The weather in Memphis was really really terrible all weekend. Like stormed and stormed.  But that did not stop us from cooking out with our old crew at Mollie's house.  This was really the first time we have all been together in ages especially with all the kids. There were a lot of kids! They had a ball!

Sweet friends reunited.  Loftin and Elle have been friends since they were babies.

Playing a game of some sort.  Quiet for a quick moment.

Mack modeling some sunglasses.  Baby Charlie who will be 1 very soon in the background!

Enjoying some dinner. Loftin, Elle and Lizzie.

And some Popsicles.

The boys having some delicious dessert.

Sunday morning I was so happy to be able to meet my friend Susan for brunch and to go see her new studio space.  So excited for her business JPress Designs!  Then it was time to head to Loftin's 4th birthday fun.  Elle had so much fun and then we piled in the car to go home.  We got home late and were all wiped!

WEEK 16 AND 17 UPDATE

16 & 17 WEEKS

Last week was just pure craziness.  We were so insanely busy and I was at camp on my actual baby update day and then only in town one day out of the week so we are doing a update combo this time!

How far along 17 weeks exactly today.  My What to Expect App says Walker is the size of a turnip. Last week he was an avocado.

Total weight gain/loss? I had a normal checkup last week and then had an unexpected doctors visit yesterday for some worrisome things that all turned out fine and well..... I think the weight gain has begun. I am really not sure exactly how much.  But I think I am around 5-7lbs.  This is WITH working out consistently.  Not exactly pleased with the gain but know it is part of it.  Time to kick up the cardio now that I am finally feeling up to it!

Maternity Clothes? Yes.  Although I am already sick of all of them.  Excited for fall so I can get some new seasonal things. I am extra pumped because I ventured into Lululemon just wondering if they might have some running crops that were different from the ones I already have and they did! They just came out with some that have a way bigger top panel that pulls over a preggy belly perfectly!  Plus I will be able to wear these after Walker comes!  So this was a special treat!

Stretch Marks- None but it just occurred to me that I need to start lotioning and Bio-Oiling.  

Sleep? Sleep is actually great! That clock is amazing! Elle is sleeping later and staying in her room until 7 on most days! This is a huge improvement.

Best Moment Last Week? Since we are doing two weeks I have a few.  One was hearing his nice strong heartbeat and starting my progesterone shots to keep him baking for as long as possible.  This week it was actually getting to see him and see how much he has grown so much and appears to be healthy.  We will have our anatomy scan in a few weeks and know  for sure! We also were able to confirm that he is indeed a boy yesterday.  We knew already for our Panorama results but it was still nice to see it.

The only picture of my son's you know what you will ever see! But had to include it!

  

Movement?.I would say last week I was still on the fence about whether I was feeling him or whether it was just tummy stuff but these last couple days I have started noticing it more and more.  I love love love it. This is my favorite part of pregnancy by far.  Can't wait for Elle and Kenny to be able to feel it too!

Food cravings?  Not a whole lot that I can think of besides cold cold fruit.  The colder the better.  I will say my appetite is getting better.  I have actually managed to get some chicken down.

Gender? It's a boy! Kenneth Walker.

Labor Signs? None. But started my progesterone shots last week and will get one weekly until late into my third trimester.

Belly button in/out? In and hoping it stays in. It never came out with Elle.

What I miss? Being able to breath and work out really hard.  I have lost a lot of my stamina and strength and I want to stay strong through this pregnancy in hopes of rebounding after delivery really quickly.

What I am looking forward to?  I am already looking forward to the anatomy scan and also having Elle and Kenny feel walker kick.  I am also looking forward to spending the Fourth of July with friends!

Funny things Elle has said this week about Walker:  Can't recall anything in particular but she is very excited about anything having to do with him.  Kenny put our crib together while I was at camp and she was so excited to show it to me! She also tells everyone she is going to have a little brother.  Which I appreciate because I am in that stage of pregnancy where people are scared to say anything in fear of them being wrong and I am just pudgy!

YOUNG LIFE CAMP AT SHARPTOP COVE

I am getting sentimental in my old age.  I take so many pictures and then can't narrow them down for a blog post because I can't bear to not include all of them.  Anywho.....

The first part of the week I travelled to the Georgia mountains/foothills with three of my friends to a Young Life camp called Sharptop Cove.  My friend Christina and her husband Frank moved to Starkville to start Young Life in Starkville and Sarah, Courtney and I are all on the Young Life Committee.  Despite being on the committee we weren't all that familiar with Young Life and their camps and ministry so we went to see what it was all about.

This camp was so incredibly beautiful and oh my lordy nice.  We could of been at an amazing resort.  That is how nice it is.  I have heard all of Young Life's camps are that nice and I am thinking it is now my mission to visit all of them all over the country.  

Looking out from our perch at the Adult Lodge.

 The pool and the lake and some other things.  

 The sun setting. The beauty was so awesome.

 We had just arrived and were on our way for our first dinner at The Meal.

 Courtney and I.  I am 16 weeks pregnant.  This angle wasn't doing me any favors.

I have to say the energy at this camp and what the Young Life ministry is doing totally overtook me. "Club" which is their nightly worship was energetic fun and the kids were so happy to be there.  It was so refreshing to see kids that excited about Jesus and God.  This weeks speaker did a great job and had the best way of simplifying a message so that the kids and adults like me were totally sucked it.    The activities and entertainment were all so well thought out and just so much fun.  I am so incredibly sad we had to leave early and am already dying to go back.

Waiting to eat one of the meals.  I don't remember which one.

The tables were set beautifully and differently for ever meal.  Most had some sort of flare that gave you a clue as to what was on the menu. It was such a sign of the overall servant hood of the camp.

 The entire dining room before the campers came in.

Think this picture is out order from some of the others but I wanted to include it because it is cute.

One night they had a western themed nightly activity and it was so pretty and a lot of fun. This camp's attention to detail is so indescribable.

Hanging out enjoying the views before Club.

One afternoon we all went over to this brand new and awesome ropes course at the camp.  I was not able to do anything since I was pregnant but I am not the biggest fan of heights and Christina just did not want to.  But Sarah and Courtney did and they did so great at it! I was a proud cheerleader for them and took a ton of pictures!

Sarah and Courtney all harnessed up and ready to go.

They were almost finished in this picture and had already rocked most of the obstacles and were about to zipline off.

This is a group picture of all the adult guests that were staying in our lodge.  It was great to meet other adults involved with Young Life from all over the country.  The guy in the blue is Mike and he was from London!

SMELLS LIKE SUMMER

We have had some wonderful summer days this past week.  I would say that our highs have been high and our lows have been low. Those lows have come in the way of some major discipline issues and meltdowns that I am a little unsure of how to handle next but for now I am doing the best I can.  A friend and I were talking about our three year old girls and how they are just so sweet and then they can be so terrible too.  Still, I am so incredibly grateful that I get to spend these summer days with Elle.  We really have been having more fun than trouble.

My favorite thing about summer is that Elle always smells like sunscreen. Even after she has had a nice long soak in the tub she still emerges smelling of sunscreen.  And smelling like sunscreen means that we have been outside and we have been having fun!

One day after spending the early morning working out at the gym we met our friends Sara, Abigail and Anna Claire at the splash pad.  This was our first splash pad experience and it was an absolute hit! They had the best time.  Only problem now is Elle looks like she has been in a battle because the splash pad surface was slick and she kept slipping and skinning her knees!

Any day that we do something like the splash pad or pool in the morning we come home and crawl into our bed and watch movies in the afternoon.  Elle rarely naps but just the rest is all she needs most days. Then she falls asleep in 2.5 seconds at night. So we can handle no napping I guess.

Elle relaxing in our bed.  This day I put out a nap time mat in case she fell asleep and wet the bed.  She didn't fall asleep. 

Another afternoon we met Sara, Abigail and Anna Claire at the pool again for a little bit.  It ended up thundering so we had to get out. But they still had fun.  We made up for them having to get out with ice cream.

Friday morning we met up with a bunch of our friends and lots and lots of little girls that Elle loves to play with at the pool.  We were so happy to play and relax by the pool.  Elle even ventured off the shallow end steps wearing her floaty and was soon all over the pool.  This was a huge deal and Kenny and I are so excited that she realized that she can be a little more mobile in the pool!

15 WEEK UPDATE

15 WEEKS

How far along 15 weeks 1 day.  My What to Expect App says Walker is the size of a naval orange.

Total weight gain/loss? I think I have gained 2-3lbs.  I definitely have the bump to show for it though.  Kenny came yesterday and asked if Walker grew overnight because I was looking bumpier. I regretted now not having more bump pics with Elle so here I am in all my glory greasy hair and all!

 

Maternity Clothes? Yes of course.  I'm headed on a girls trip this weekend and also have a trip to Las Vegas with Kenny planned and I am getting worried about what I will wear on these trips.  I pretty much wear shorts and tshirts during my days with Elle and then my white jeans and non maternity tops/tunics for dinners and nights out.  Will also need a maternity swimsuit soon.

Stretch Marks- None.  

Sleep? Sleep is pretty okay. I am getting up to potty fairly frequently but I did buy this clock for Elle where she waits for it to turn green to be able to come downstairs and that has helped a lot.  She is still waking up around 6-6:15 ish but she is allowed to play in her room until the clock turns green and alarms at 7:00 AM.  Sleeping until 7:00 AM makes a big difference compared to 5:45.

Best Moment Last Week? Taking Elle to the river and boating with our friends.  Also spending Father's Day with Kenny and Elle and expecting Walker.

Movement? I am up in air about this one.  I think I feel him but then I talk myself out of it.  I am so excited and ready to feel him move. A lot of my friends said they started feeling their second babies around Week 16 so I am hoping soon if I am not feeling him already.

Food cravings?  Cold fruit and really cold drinks.  With the temperatures being so hot I stay really thirsty so I've been mixing water with orange Gatorade in my Tervis tumbler because it keeps my drinks so cold.

Gender? It's a boy! Kenneth Walker.

Labor Signs? None. But I have talked to several people about the progesterone injections to prevent preterm labor and I am sure that we will do them.  They seem to be really effective and I will do anything to keep Walker in as long as he can be.

Belly button in/out? In and hoping it stays in. It never came out with Elle.

What I miss? Not too much I am missing this week other than just feeling normal.  I can go up three or four stairs and be out of breath.  And that is working out very regularly.  I get embarrassed when I am trying to talk and I get out of breath because I feel like it is too early to do that.

What I am looking forward to?  I have a doctors appointment Thursday and I am excited to hear the heartbeat and know that all is well with Walker.  I also am anxious to get more info about the injections.

Funny things Elle has said this week about Walker: I can't recall anything in particular that she said this week but I did go through a bunch of boxes that we never unpacked in the room that is going to be Walker's and Elle had a blast letting her babies play in all our baby gear.

She has continued to be so sweet whenever we talk about Walker and likes to give my belly hugs and kisses and tell him she loves him.  Which just makes our hearts want to explode.

ROLLIN ON THE RIVER WITH ELLE AND FRIENDS

This past weekend we traveled North to Tennessee to spend some much needed time with our friends, Tracy, Joe and sweet boy Mack.  Tracy and Joe just built a new house and we were dying to see it so we stopped in Jackson, TN to check out the new place.  It was absolutely beautiful and Elle and Mack were became fast friends while we waited on Joe to return home from work.

Elle and Mack playing on Joe's new "tractor." 

Once Joe came home from work we headed to Tennessee river to their river cabin.  A place where we have visited many many times with our friends but this was our first time to take Elle.  I finally felt she was old enough to spend the day on a boat.  I was so excited to have her with us.  

Saturday morning while the boys put the pontoon in the water we took a golf cart ride around the water.  We could not of asked for better weather.  It was almost cool and felt like fall.  

Love this golf cart selfie with a best friend our children!

Once the boys got everything situated it was time to hit the water.  Elle was so excited to get on the boat.  

Headed out for a day on the water.

Cheesing with Daddy and her new mermaid I bought her to play with.  She lost the tail and we were all devastated.  She was so sad.  I already ordered her a new one. 

We beached pretty quickly so the kids could get out and play and Elle just loved it! She liked being able to walk in the water and it did not intimidate her without the waves like the ocean.  She and Mack set to digging and Elle playing with her mermaid.

Playing on the beach.

Family pic on the beach.

The guys.  Drinking beers.

Trace and me.  You can kind of see the top of my baby bump in this pic.  I am large in charge already!

Sweet Mack on the boat.

Getting tickles from his Mommy.

Mid afternoon we set out for a cruise to try and get all the kids to nap.  We also had Brooks on the boat with us who was 9 months.  The littles went to sleep pretty quickly but Elle took some coercing.  Elle eventually passed out on me completely out in the open sun and with me in the most uncomfortable position ever.  The things we do for naps!

I had to completely cover her with towels which made both of us pretty hot.  

I was so worried about her getting a sunburn.

Thankfully the nap payed off and she was in a great mood when she woke up.  So we beached again to play a little more and enjoy a lazy late afternoon on the river.  It really was all so fun and relaxing.  It just makes your heart so happy when your kids are having a ball too.

Love this sweet picture of Elle and Aunt Tracy!

Digging in some river mud.

On the boat ride back in Elle wanted to drive the boat home with Mr. Joe. She was so excited and he really did let her steer it some.  She wasn't great at it but it made things interesting.

After a great day on the water we came back to the cabin for baths and dinner before all falling asleep extremely early.

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early and headed home.  To celebrate Father's Day Kenny requested to come home and relax and be able to watch the U.S. Open all day.  We did enjoy the day at home and I cooked Kenny one of his favorite meals.  It was a great Father's Day and a great weekend.