Baby Update and Quick Week Glimpse

I realized that we haven't done much of any updating on our baby girl! We are 32 weeks along now, although, because I wasn't given an option as to whether or not to have a C-Section we technically have a maximum of 7 weeks to go from today! In short, our C-Section is scheduled for May 19th (unless this little girl graces us with her presence before then). :o) We are extremely excited to meet her and Graham can't wait to give her "real" high fives! I am, however, realizing that 7 weeks is going to fly by so I have been in a bit of a craze trying to get projects done around the house before she arrives... and there's a lot left on our list! Nat and I haven't come to any kind of agreement on names at this point. We had decided that we were going to go ahead and tell the name when we decided on one, but it might come right down to the end! Whenever we ask Graham what he wants to name her, his answer is always "Baby Sister" - I suppose that's appropriate! She moves around almost constantly (much more than Graham did) so it has been fun to watch my stomach jump around. Here's a belly shot!

This week really has been extremely busy... we had something to do (if not multiple things) every day of the week. Several friends came by to see Fig the kitten and we had a lot going on at church too.

One event was a bike rally by the children's ministry... Graham had a lot of fun with his bike but couldn't get enough of the bubbles!

Our church also had an Easter Egg Hunt... his look of horror when he dropped the eggs out of the basket!

And the post wouldn't be complete without some pictures of the fun we're all having with our newest addition...

Aslan and Fig really do have so much fun together! They play and play until they wear each other out, sleep for a little while, and then start playing again! It almost seems like Aslan has gotten a fresh wind of playfulness too (he's always been playful but this has given him quite a burst of energy)!

What basket is complete without a kitten?

Aslan's New Friend

Meet Aslan's new friend and brother, Fig!! We brought him home on Saturday and have had so much fun having a kitten in the house! Graham loves him (and is sometimes still a little tooooo excited to see and hold him) and after the first day of "who are you and what are you doing in my house," Aslan has really enjoyed running around and playing with him too! Here are some fun pictures from the past couple of days...

These two don't have Fig in them, but we still need to give Aslan some love :o)

This I just thought was fun because he's mid-air!

Karaoke Anyone?

Graham and I enjoy watching American Idol (I am somewhat ashamed to admit!) together and we like to make music on his "piano" and drums. Tonight he added a microphone...

Like Father, Like Son

Trip East: Heading Home

We left Virginia after breakfast last Monday morning, drove back up 81 and made it in time for lunch at Nat's parents' in Maryland. It also gave us a little bit of time for Graham to run around before being confined again!

It just so happened that Mariah had a flight into Baltimore at the same time that we were needing to check in for our flight there, so we had a little bit of time to see her in the airport before we flew home!

Flight #2 for Graham was not as easy as flight #1, but we couldn't blame him after such a long day! He did enjoy the window seat though (mainly because he could slide the window screen up and down)!

Not a great shot, but this is a view of DC from our plane... so long, East Coast!

We truly enjoyed every moment of our trip and came home refreshed and encouraged... We can't wait to see you all again soon -- we love you all!!

Trip East: To Virginia!

We made the beautiful drive down 81 to get to my family's house in VA - even through light snow showers! The day after we made it to my parents' we went exploring on Mill Mountain. They have a great Discovery Center there that Graham was even interested in, a new little park, and the Star! They also have a zoo, but we didn't go there that day :o)

Here is Graham rock climbing up with Grandaddy to the top of the slide!

Walking to see the star with Gramma!

A great view of the city and valley from the overlook in front of the star...

My Aunt Jenny came to visit one night for dinner - it was a treat to see her again!

Some dear friends from seminary came to see us while we were in town too. Danielle and Brian now live in Blacksburg (only 30 min away) so the Creasons drove up from Charlotte to stay with them for the night and they all came over for lunch on Saturday. It was so special that they would take the time to make the trip up and we appreciated my parents' hospitality to have us all there!

Another treat was the snow... Graham loves snow.

We were also able to see some good friends that I grew up with while we were in VA... I was excited that they were able to get together on such last minute notice! This is Lisa, her husband Aaron, and their little girl Vivian! They have another baby on the way in August :o)

Kisses from Miss Vivian

The three of us - me, Carissa, and Lisa - and the babes :o)

Carissa love

Graham loves his Grandaddy and learned a new trick from him that he is still playing... "Bore a hole, bore a hole..."

Riding the horse!

And he loves reading with Gramma :o)

Cheese!

And we can't forget Izzi... Izzi was extremely patient with Graham, especially when he wanted to ride her like a horse!

Trip East: Off to Maryland!

Our first destination was to see family and friends in Maryland. Before we actually got there, though, we had a first for Graham -- his first flight in an airplane!! He was thrilled to be at the airport to watch the planes take off and land. He understood that he was riding on a plane, but I'm not sure how much he actually understood that he was flying in the air. Thankfully, he did great on his first flight!

Here's Graham having fun in Pop-Pop's "new" Bug from the 60s!

That Monday, some of Nat's extended family came by for brunch - it was great to see them all! Todd and Chelsie also came by with Joel... My camera was loving the Graham/Joel time so much that I didn't really get any shots of Nat's other family who joined us that day. But aren't the cousins so cute together?!

The piano was a HUGE hit the whole time we visited!

Group shot of Nat's immediate family (and significant others) after dinner! Bridgette, Randall, Joel, Todd, Chels, Gram-Gram, Pop-Pop, Nat in back... and Jackie, Graham, and me in front. We missed having you there, Mitch!!

Our friends the Wileys had us over for lunch one day... it was great to spend a few hours with them, catching up and enjoying each others' company!

A picture was needed of the 7Eleven... we have not seen a single "Sleven" south of VA.

Some of you might not know, but my sister, Mariah, lives with Nat's family! We were able to spend some good quality time with her and Graham loves his "Aunt Riah." One of his favorite things to do with her this time was to go down the stairs and count every single one of them!

Tickle fight with Pop-Pop

Our good friends the Hackenbergs had us over for dinner one of the nights we were in MD... Their little boy Moses has gotten so big! It was fun to have the boys together, and we were thankful for the opportunity to have some quality time with Jeremy and Hannah :o)

Getting a re-cap of pictures with Gram-Gram

More fun with Aunt Riah

Swinging!