Puddin' Face and Blue Eyes

My Everett

Last night over coffee with my friend Sally Ann, I explained how I love Everett for his unique and somewhat eccentric personality. It is also just fun having a 3-year old. For me it is not about milestones or what my child can "do", but really who they are. There are several things I want to remember about Everett:

-He loves The Nutcracker. We have the movie and he always requests to watch it. He even recognizes a piece if he hears it while we're out.
-He has a book about DaVinci and he loves the Mona Lisa. Not so sure what sparked this love.
-His preschool teacher has told me that his favorite color is pink. I too have found this to be true. Needless to say, he loves Eleanor's nursery.
-He has such a great imagination. He can discover a shape and name it in the clouds. He also has been pretending a lot lately. For example, "Mama I'm a dog" as he crawls around. Unfortunately this sometimes involves biting people, including his brother.
-His Thomas trains come alive! He tucks them into bed, feeds them, etc. It is too funny.
-He is a very sensitive and caring boy. He tends to take on the emotions of others. For example, the other day at the bookstore he saw a little boy crying. He was so concerned and wanted to get involved. He is sweet.
-When we get in the car he wants to listen to the Beatles. He knows the words to several songs (i.e. Yellow Submarine).
-He is fun, creative, sensitive, loving, emotional, and sweet. He can go from zero to sixty in a matter of a second. I love him for who he is. He's my boy!

A Full Day

Since Tuesday we spent all day in our pajamas (well leggings and an old undershirt of Eric's for me), we decided to face the world yesterday. It is funny what is now considered a "full day" now with the boys. With my exhaustion level and lack of endurance, we have been staying in much more these days. I only imagine this will be the pattern when Eleanor is born as well. We may just have more of this.......the boys watching their morning video. Then we went to the library's story time. Here is Everett "feeding" the ladybug. Today's theme was bugs.

After the library, we had a little bit of time to kill, so we went to Walmart. I had done our grocery shopping the evening prior and Everett told me he didn't want to go with me. Later he regretted his decision and threw a fit with Eric. So that morning he had been asking to go to Walmart. It was actually really fun because I let Everett pick out all our groceries, including his lunch. He picked out meatloaf, chicken nuggets, and blueberries. Random. Other fun things we normally don't get ended up in our cart as well such as bagel bites, pizza, pretzels, guacamole and chips, and other such things. Very fun.

After lunch we all napped. Then later that afternoon I had an OB appointment. I am now 32 weeks and feeling it. Everything looks really good and according to the doctor, I will more than likely have Eleanor in about 4-5 weeks. I asked what are the odds I will make it to my due date and the answer was less than a 5% chance. That is based on all the crazy Braxton-Hicks contractions I have been having and the fact that I delivered both the boys 3 weeks early. We are getting so excited!

I finally ended the day with a coffee date with Sally Ann. It was nice to unwind after my "busy" day.

Waiting for Gigi

Gigi came to visit yesterday. Everett was very excited. Here he is waiting for her red car to pull up into the driveway. Looking for the perfect flower (or weed) to give her.

He found one!

A warm and happy embrace.

And when little brother woke up from his nap he was pretty happy too!

Showered with Love

This past week I have felt an overwhelming amount of love, blessing, support, and encouragement. Last Wednesday Eric's office threw us a baby shower. The ladies took me out to lunch at a really nice restaurant at a bed and breakfast. The food was so good and it was just nice to eat in peace with the ladies. After lunch we went back to Eric's office and everyone had cake. Eric had taken the boys to the playground during the lunch and they had returned to join in the cake as well. Everett was of course pleased with dessert. The cake was almond from the Black Mountain Bakery. It was so good! Most everyone went back for seconds.

Hampton had some as well.

Then last night the girls from our home group threw me a shower. I was so excited to just have a girls night. They definitely went over the top and again, I felt so blessed. We ate outside and the table was set to perfection. One of the girls made up a menu and everyone had name plates.

The menu included: roast beef and arugula sandwiches with goat cheese, a strawberry salad in a Parmesan bowl (which was edible and delicious), cheese, apples with caramel dip, and yeast rolls. Yum!

Jordan, who hosted the shower, made this cake. I can't believe her talent. She will have to share her baking skills with me.

If the shower wasn't enough, they blessed us with some sweet gifts for Eleanor Jane.

So grateful for these girls and their friendship.

It's been so fun to add to Eleanor's closet. I am definitely getting more and more excited about her arrival. It won't be long!

Biltmore Gardens at Dusk

After a day at home, we decided to have a picnic dinner at Biltmore Gardens tonight. I guess we did not consider it was at least 90 degrees. No one complained though and we had fun. Everett liked watching the bees and he kept telling us he was looking for a snake. Thankfully we did not find one.

Playing with rocks. We had an amazing view for our dinner.

So many stairs! I was exhausted.

Beautiful evening with family.

Yesterday's Happenings and 30 Weeks

Yesterday was just a typical stay at home day. We started off with a big breakfast. We then played in our playroom which consisted of blocks, trains, and Everett's favorite activity-cooking. Hampton cooking for us.....

And Everett cooked for us as well!

While Hampton took his morning nap, Everett and I played several games of Don't Break the Ice. He is getting better at the following the rules of a game and turn taking. We also played Memory. While he was watching a video, I dusted, cleaned all the bathrooms, and did some laundry. I am able to get so much done during that time. Once Hampton woke up we played some more and then had lunch. Then we had afternoon naps. I was able to relax and finish up some continuing education stuff. After naps it was raining so we stayed in. Once Eric came home and we had dinner, we broke out the ball pit.

They love this and I only bring it out occasionally so it won't lost its novelty.

It was a good day at home, however even the mundane everyday normal stuff can be exhausting at times.

I was happy this morning to go to my 30 week OB appointment. Everything looks good. My doctor checked and I am not dilating. I was so relieved since I have had so many contractions lately. She is measuring right at 30 weeks and her heartbeat is strong. I had to laugh because she had a hard time catching her heartbeat as she is active. She will fit into this family just fine!