Update Through Pictures

Here are a few pictures from my last camera upload---just putting them on the blog to serve as an update of what we've been up to lately...

Evie with her cousin Lily during our last trip to Birmingham. Even though they are cousins they don't resemble one another in the slightest. ha! I pray these two will be best friends since they are only 4 months apart in age.

Hanging out in our awesome front yard a few weeks ago. Took a blanket, toys and books and just had a blast. Check out the amazing shade trees in our yard behind the girls.

All set for a walk in the neighborhood. She loves to honk her little horn on her car whenever we are strolling.

Recent Day trip to Atlanta. Mara Kate and I headed out early this past Saturday morning to spend the day in Atlanta....seeing friends, shopping and eating!

We spent the morning with my friend Katie and her daughter Ella Ann. The girls hadn't seen one another in too long, but they picked up right where they left off and played for almost 3 solid hours!

Next stop was Trader Joe's. Mara Kate had fun pushing around one of the child-sized carts! The small pumpkin in her cart was a treat I bought her for being so good all day while we ran lots of errands.

After Trader Joe's we met a friend at Pappasitos for a late lunch. I love this place and cannot go to Atlanta and not eat there. They brought MK a ball of tortilla dough to play with at the table...she made a person and the waiter even complimented her on her creativity!

The temps are dropping and we are ready for Fall! Love the crispness in the air. Evelyn got to try out some fleece pjs that belonged to Mara Kate. She loved them!

Almost time for bed!

Had to take a picture of her in this outfit. It was one I got at a consignment sale and it was one of my favorite finds for her. Leggings that match the onesie, a corduroy skirt.

...and we put a little purple butterfly clip in her hair to coordinate! She's growing fast! Also, if you look closely you can see 2 little scabs on her face...one on her nose and one on her forehead. She got these from taking a tumble the other day in our carport---poor girl!

Another Big Girl Sleepover

A couple months ago we had Mara Kate's best friend, Ella Ann come from Atlanta to spend the night with us. It was the first sleepover the girls had had with one another and they had a blast together! Since that sleepover went so well Katie invited Mara Kate to come to their house for another sleepover! The plans had been in the works for awhile, but it took some time to find a time that would work for both of us, but it finally worked out this weekend.

On Saturday afternoon we drove Mara Kate half way to Atlanta to meet up with Katie and she took Mara Kate back to Atlanta with her. Kane and I took advantage of the time she was gone and went on a nice, real date together. It was a special time because it is probably going to be the last date we have before Evelyn arrives. Mara Kate had a blast and was so excited to tell me all the details when she got home. She also got pretty worn out from playing so hard and so constantly for 24 hours that she crashed early the night she got home and slept in much later than usual this morning too.

I stole this one picture off of Katie's post about the girls time together, but if you want to see more pictures and hear about the details of their sleepover click here to go over to Katie's blog!

Best of friends!

Baby Shower

Saturday morning my friend Katie, my friend Christy and my sister Heidi gave Evelyn and I a baby shower. It was held at my friend Katie's house and it was just lovely!

Katie made sure there was lots of PINK around as one thing we did differently with this pregnancy was find out ahead of time the gender of the baby. The baby showers I had when pregnant with Mara Kate were all very gender nuetral because we waited until she was born to find out what she was, but this time around we did it a bit differently and it was fun to have so much pink at my shower! :)

Katie and I. She wasn't the only host, but the shower was held at her house.
Thanks Katie for making it a special morning for me!

Here's the lovely table of yummy food!

If you look closely you'll see a little tray of bean burritos from Taco Bell. These were set out as sort of a joke as they have been my main and intense craving this pregnancy and I literally would eat one a day most of my first trimester. They really helped calm down the nausea and so I simply had to have one each and every morning! There were a few weeks where I would go through the drive-thru and buy 4 or 5 at a time and just stick them in my fridge and I would heat them up each morning whenever I was feeling sick to my stomach. It really helped! So, Katie thought it would be funny to serve them at my shower! ha! Maybe it was funny, but they were all eaten, so others must have thought it was a good idea too!

Some beautiful hydrangeas which Katie sent home with me.
Can't wait to get them planted! The blooms are huge!

The little girls enjoying their food at their own small table.

There were also three little babies present at my shower, which was fun. They just all squirmed around on this blanket together at one point. They are all just 2 weeks apart from one another. Lily at 11 weeks, Alexis at 8 weeks and Jack at 6 weeks. :)

Mara Kate got to open a few "big sister" presents too.
She was very excited about having presents!

Lovely friends, gathered to celebrate Evelyn's coming arrival.

Mara Kate was very interested in seeing what each gift was.

Me and my biggest girl!

Heidi drove in from Birmingham that morning to help host the shower, leaving her house at 6:30am! What a great and loving sister I have!

My friend Ruth and I sporting our baby bumps. Ruth is due just 4 days after me!

I'm sad to say that I didn't get a picture with my friend Christy---the other hostess! She was on her way to the airport to catch a flight and had to leave quickly to be sure and not miss her flight!

After the shower we stayed awhile at Katie's to visit a bit and also give the girls a little more time to play. They love playing inside the trampoline in the backyard...even while wearing pretty dresses!

Then, Mara Kate and I had to run a couple errands and my friend Bobbi Jo (who wasn't able to make it to the shower) met up with us and went with us to run around. It was fun to chat and visit with her for awhile too.

Bobbi Jo and Mara Kate took a little break at Target for a visit and a snack while I finished my shopping. :) Bobbi Jo bought Mara Kate a cookie and a red slushy drink and Mara Kate thought it was a great treat!

After our time with Bobbi Jo, I met back up with Heidi who had spent her afternoon at IKEA and we ate supper together before she went back to Birmingham and I headed back to Rome. It was a GREAT day overall!

Mara Kate with her youngest cousin, Lily! Lily is at a really fun age as she is just starting to really make good eye contact and smile. So sweet!

Such a sweet and happy girl!

Fun with Friends

Earlier this week Mara Kate and I made an overnight trip to Atlanta. I had really been wanting to get my hands on my friend Christy's new baby, Jack and we also made plans to see the Lopez family (since Andria and I had been wanting to catch up for awhile. We are both pregnant and due just days from one another, so we thought it would be fun to talk about our coming babies and just hang out too). Also, Katie and I had been talking for awhile about getting the girls together for their first official sleep over so since I was going to be in Atlanta we made plans to just bring Ella Ann home with us. So, even though I didn't get to see everyone this visit, we did get some good quality time with a couple people and had fun bringing a friend home with us to play with Mara Kate and spend the night.

We arrived at the Lopez's house Tuesday afternoon and the kids had fun playing outside for awhile before supper time.

Mara Kate and Diego playing with an outdoor rocket toy. Very fun!

Alexia just enjoying being outside with everyone---what a happy girl she is!

More rocket fun!

Once Ricardo got home from work we all loaded up in their van and headed over to Home Depot. The Lopez's are planning to plant a few new trees in their yard soon and wanted to get an idea of what was available. The kids enjoyed looking at all the trees and herbs too and just running around together while we were there.

After our stop at Home Depot we headed out for a fun and yummy supper at La Fonda Latina. Their chicken tacos, beans and rice were oh.so.yummy. I want to go back again soon!

Andria & me

And us again with our babies! We are due just 3 days apart!
It'll be fun to see which baby makes it's appearance first when the time comes!

Mara Kate and Diego hanging out in the back seat of the van, just having fun!

Mara Kate & Alexia sitting together at breakfast the next morning. Enjoying the beautiful morning and the pretty back yard.

"Hi girls!"

After our time with the Lopez's we went to see Christy, Andre and baby Jack. It was great to see Christy and catch up a bit, hold baby Jack and also let Mara Kate get in a little snuggle time too.

Mara Kate & baby Jack.
Still seems hard to believe that in less than 3 months we'll have a tiny baby like this around our house again.

Then, it was time to go over to the Jensen's. Katie had planned to surprise Ella Ann about us being in town for a visit and also the plan of her coming home with us to spend the night. Mara Kate and I went with Katie to pick Ella Ann up from preschool. It was fun surprising her and she was very excited to see us and to find out that we had invited her to come home with us for lots of good play time with Mara Kate.

Sweet friends excited to be together!

The sleepover went well and we'll meet up with Katie this afternoon to return Ella Ann, but until then the girls are having a blast playing, playing, playing.

I'll be posting about the sleepover soon, so stay tuned for pictures and details. :)

Atlanta

Yesterday we spent the day in Atlanta. Although I was reminded once again of the traffic there that I definitely don't miss, I did have a great time spending time with some good friends.

Kane and Mara Kate dropped me off at my friend Christy's house to attend a baby shower for her sister Vanessa. Vanessa just had a little baby girl the middle of February, so this shower was fun because her new little girl was present at the shower and just got passed around the whole time.

Kane and Mara Kate went to IKEA to get a few items and to Chick-Fil-A as well, so they had some fun while they were out too. Unfortunately one of the items we purchased was a dresser and when Kane tried to assemble it last night we realized that one of the pieces was damaged, so that means a return trip to Atlanta to exchange/return sometime in the next 90 days (hopefully sooner).

Here's Christy with her new niece, Alexis. Christy is also about to have a baby any day now, so it was funny watching little Alexis sleep in a curled position over Christy's baby bump. Someday she'll be playing with her little cousin Jack who is currently still in utero, but they will be less than a month apart in age.



After the shower was over Kane and Mara Kate came to pick me up and Mara Kate was excited to have a chance to cuddle and hold Alexis too. She loves seeing and holding little babies and we've been talking about her having a little baby sister soon. She is getting more and more excited!

After the shower we went to see our friends the Jensens. Mara Kate hasn't seen her dear friend Ella Ann in too long, so they were super excited to get in some play time and Katie and I had a blast just hanging out and catching up on everything. Thankfully Kane brought some grading he needed to get done so the time was actually a bit productive for him as well.

Ella Ann and Mara Kate dressed as Princesses,
which is what they are dressed like most of the time they are together.

After our time with the Jensen's was over we stopped at Target to get a couple things (we don't have a Target in Rome, so we have to go there whenever we have the chance) and then headed over to Pappasito's for a wonderful supper on our way out of town. We love this place and I'd been looking forward to eating there all week. It was a great day spent in Atlanta!

Day Trip and Visitors

On Saturday we spent the day in Atlanta. In the morning I helped host a baby shower for my friend Christy and it was really fun! It was great being there for the shower and it was also fun seeing a lot of Atlanta people that I hadn't seen in awhile.

The guest of honor (Christy--in center) with the hostesses

After the shower we went to the Jensen's to hang out for the afternoon. We hadn't seen them since November, so we were very overdue for a visit. Mara Kate and Ella Ann played so well together that we barely even knew they were there and little Rane sort of attached himself to Kane, which was sweet to watch. Kane ended up playing Wii while Katie and I chatted, which worked out just fine.

Ella Ann & Mara Kate---the only picture I was able to take of them as they were TOO busy playing the rest of the time

In the evening we dressed up and headed out to attend a wedding and reception of some friends from our previous home group. It was a beautiful wedding and the reception was a lot of fun too. Mara Kate especially enjoyed the dance floor!

Slow dancing with Daddy--so sweet.

She also found a dance partner that was more her size.

Anna--the beautiful bride

The bride with her groom

Beautiful cake...

...and a close up shot of the detailing.

We had brought Mara Kate's pj's and after we left the wedding we changed her in the car. She was wiped out from all the dancing she had done, plus it was past her normal bedtime, so she fell asleep literally one minute after we started driving and slept all the way home. We easily transferred her to her bed and she slept soundly the rest of the night. On Sunday afternoon Kane's parents arrived for a quick overnight visit. We had a fast visit, but it was really fun. Mara Kate went with Kane's dad to tour Shorter College, Kane's office and lab so that was fun for them. While they were gone Kane's mom and I ran several errands and she helped me pick out some fabric I'll be using to make a valance for my kitchen window, so it was great to get that fabric bought. I actually ended up sending it home with her as she is going to sew the valance for me---which was a nice treat. I am looking forward to getting a pretty window treatment on that window soon. She also helped me alter a pair of my maternity pants to help them fit better, so we did several little things that just needed to be taken care of. Before they headed home last night we met Kane after work for Mexican at the place in Rome we've found we like the best, so that was fun too.

For some reason I literally took one picture while they were here...

It's of Mara Kate with her Tuie.

They were out in my flower bed digging up weeds. Kane's mom was teaching Mara Kate how to dig with her new gardening tools Santa brought her.