Kindergartens and Disneyworld

I am so excited I have finally found 15 minutes to sit down and blog about things that have been going on! Life has kinda been in overdrive after we found out we are expecting our 3rd baby and then Sittre Paige started Kindergarten, then Stella started school, and we think we have finally found a routine that is working for us. Kindergarten has kinda rocked our world and we certainly have had to program our bodies to waking up at 6:15 every morning. I never thought this day would come and after a 2 week emotional breakdown I have finally accepted the fact that SP is now in school for the next 17 yrs. (i counted college in there, we are praying she goes)

After we found out we were going to have a 3rd baby we thought we should take a special vacation with our girls before their world gets turned upside down by another sibling. So things fell into place when my dad had a conference in Orlando at the end of August. We decided to take the girls to Disneyworld for their last vacation as a team of 2. Stella and I headed down with my mom and dad in the car and then Jared found this a great opportunity to introduce SP to her first flying experience. So Jared and SP took a flight straight to Orlando and then they got to go to Downtown Disney and shop! Jared said SP absolutely loved flying and I am so glad they got that experience together. Meanwhile, 10 hrs later we arrived by car with a cranky 2 yr old. yay.

I must say though, this was the most pleasant Disney trip yet. My mom and I had more fun than the girls I think. They were just amazed at everything and I think their ages this time made it so fun. We have been twice before with SP so this was Stella's 1st trip and she was most excited to see all the princesses. We stayed in Magic Kingdom for 2 days, being our 3rd trip we knew our way around, and even found some new rides we had never rode before. It was really a great time and I can't wait to go again! In 3 years hopefully.

I am officially 15 weeks pregnant and feel as big as a whale. But our fall has started out wonderful and I am thankful. Enjoy our pictures :)

The day before SP's 1st day of school started our with getting nails painted.

Of course Stella had to get in on the action also. They love going to the nail place. It is a special treat. (Aunt Joy please notice what is in Stella's lap)

Had to get in some jeep time before SP would be gone everyday from 8-3

SP got a hair feather for another special treat before her 1st day of school.

And then the 1st day of Kindergarten had arrived. Jared felt the need to be with me when we dropped her off for the 1st time.

I snuck in the amphitheater to snap a quick picture. I cried for days looking at SP's face in this picture because to me it just said "mom, I am a little overwhelmed"

So, SP is more in love with school than we had planned. I thought she would come home crying and then I could homeschool her and that would be the end. This has certainly not been the case. She begs to be at school, jumps out of bed in the mornings to get ready, has made 3 "best friends" in her class, and the 3rd week of school got the "Good Citizen" Award. I have no idea what this is or what you have to do but SP's definition is "being a good helper and staying on the blue light". Yes, I will say it again, this can NOT be MY child. Certainly Jared's, not mine.

A trip to yogurt mountain was in order for this special award, and again Stella got in on the action.

Then the time had come for Stella's "Meet the Teacher" Day. Yes, she was crying in this picture. No, she is not like SP and would rather be glued to me 24/7. Mrs. Jenifer and Miss Kasey are her teachers.

Her 1st day of 2k. (it is technically "mothers day out" but since her school and class go by the A-Beka program, its 2k to Jared and I)
We had pumped her up about school and she was actually excited. I cried again.

Her 1st backpack. Stella wanted cupcakes.

I have no idea who the other child in the picture is. Apparently it took her 30 times to get the right picture so we snuck in real fast for a picture by the sign.

My school girls

Disneyworld 2011:

Disneyworld started out with meeting Cinderella

riding the train in Downtown Disney

this is what Disneyworld does to a 2 yr old

Peoplemovers ride in Magic Kingdom

Jasmine and Aladdin

Safari Ride, Stella rarely enjoyed this one

Cinderella's evil stepsisters and stepmother

SP wanted to have her hair done at the Bippity Boppity Boutique. She chose hair that not even remotely close matched her own.

riding the shuttle to Magic Kingdom

The magic night parade

my parents watching the parade

My hubby and I watching the parade. SP had complete control over the camera this night

The girls watching the parade, notice their soaking wet hair, this is sweat

It was time for SP's photo shoot

Our cool-down method

Disney 2011

train ride

Teacups

Pops and SP

Enjoying the character parade, sorry I got caught up in the magic

had to visit Tinkerbells house, Jared actually enjoyed visiting Tink as well

Princess Tiana from Princess and the Frog, SP had to show her how to do the twist

Chatting it up with Rapunzel

"It's a small world" (afterall)

In front of Cinderella's castle

Stella loves Sleeping Beauty

and Belle

Me and my baby

Jared and his twin

We stayed at the Pop Century Resort and every morning during breakfast they have a special song that when it comes on all the workers bust out in a dance. this particular morning it was "come on baby, lets do the twist". so you can only imagine who jumped on the dancefloor with them.

Today is mine and Jared's 7th ANNIVERSARY!!! We made it another year!!! Yay!!! We have a hot date tonight and I am off to get ready. Will return.......

Party of 5

Party of 5? You guessed it, we are expecting our 3rd BABY!! We are thrilled and overjoyed and scared and anxious all wrapped up in one big package :)

I am officially 10 weeks, and ready to be out of the 1st trimester because my energy level has been, well, NONE. I am so tired and just muddle throughout the day, praying for when the clock says 8pm and then fall asleep before my head even hits the pillow. I haven't gotten sick with my pregnancies just want to fall into a deep sleep the 1st trimesters.

So far this pregnancy has started out just like the last 2. I feel the exact same way I felt with my baby girls. Although, I have noticed my hips seem to be spreading alot faster than they did with the girls????? Could this mean boy??? We will NOT patiently wait to find out the gender, as we do cheer for some blue in our household, we are thankful for whatever God has decided to give us. Even though Jared has threatened to move out if we are blessed with another bundle of pink :)

We have nailed down the boy name to Slade Michael and I am not allowed to discuss girl names until we "officially" find out what we are having!

Okay there you have it, our 3rd baby. I go to the dr. next week for another ultrasound and will post some pictures then hopefully. Also, since this is our last baby, we will be hosting a "Gender Reveal Party" for our family to all find out at the same time on the day we find out what it is. I am excited to have one of these since they are the hottest new trend going around!

Will be back.

This is where we have been

Wow. I am bad. waaaaay bad. Here are some pictures of us and our summer and basically whats been going on since my last post in April :( Please forgive me, I practically dedicated my summer to Sittre Paige since she starts Kindergarten on TUESDAY!!! yes I am very sad. No need to check on me, I'm going to go ahead and let you know now I will be a basketcase. I teared up at Meet the Teacher and Parent Information Meeting and really couldn't even think to much about the process of filling out all the paperwork because I would tear up there too. This is a sad reality, that I now actually have a kindergartener, I'm only 28, shouldn't this be years away for me?!? Bottom line, she is a precious child, she got an amazing K5 teacher, the coolest "back to school" clothing and God is good. Sittre Paige is one of those children that someone like ME doesn't deserve.

Monday will be filled with excitement as we gear her up for her 1st day of school with a dentist appointment, a hair appointment and we are getting her nails painted. I know, I know, this is crazy but she is really excited so we are going to have a good last day of summer!

Enjoy our past 3 months, these pictures are out of order, but just got to get them up for family :)

Scary picture to start out right? This was a kid-free trip to Hilton Head, SC and Savannah, Georgia for my brothers graduation weekend. That is my brother Jacob in the window of a "haunted" house while on the late night Haunted Tours of Savannah. He graduated from college in Hilton Head so Jared and I packed up our bags for the weekend with NO kids and a vow to have lots of fun!!!

Walking in downtown Savannah, look at my sweet husband across the street who made it across but sadly I did not. Wasn't that sweet he helped me get across? sarcasm.
Beautiful church in Savannah

Our tour guide on the Haunted Tour. Okay here is the background info on why we decided to take this tour. First we had no kids, did I mention that?, so we wanted to fit in as much as we could with such little time we had. We took the 10pm night tour, we took this tour more for the history of Savannah and less for the hauntings, even though by the end of the night it does get more intriguiging. This was the most fabulous tour guide filled with information! I highly reccommend this tour if you ever make it to Savannah. It is fabulous.

Shopping in downtown Savannah after eating at Paula Deen's restuarant, which was yummy by the way.

Hanging with my parents in Savannah. My mother-in-law was so precious to keep my babies so Jared and I could get a weekend to ourselves. Thank you Nanny.

My brothers graduation banquet. This was actually a great shot of my dad because the rest of the time he cried like a little baby :) Just kidding dad.

Easter, the girls dying their Easter eggs

Sittre Paige and her friend Bentley at the easter egg hunt at her school, they were scouting out where to run

The girls in their Easter dresses. Mommy went low-key this year and bought the dresses instead of making them with my mother-in-law. I know she was glad since the year before was my first dress sewing project and required lots of help :)

The girls Easter baskets, they got beach bags this year

A trip to Atlanta to see our Aunt Caris and you can't go to Atlanta without having GiGi's cupcakes.

Shrek Ears

Shrek

So Aunt Caris is actually mommy's best friend and she got myself and the girls tickets to Shrek the Musical at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, so we loaded up the girls and had a great time. The girls actually sat still the entire time, this was probably one of my favorite musicals too. We love our Aunt Caris, she gets us in to really cool shows!!

Childrens Theater with SP's 4k class

4k End of the Year program, Superhero's for Jesus was the theme

SP's last day of 4k, making a bear

4k End of the year party. thought this picture was extra cute. Stella had to help SP out with all the games:)

The girls with Mrs. Newberry, SP's 4k teacher

Sittre Paige had her dance recital in May, she did clogging last year and really enjoyed it. She will be taking her 2nd yr clogging starting in a couple weeks

SP and Poppy at the recital

Saturday morning pancakes with daddy :)

Rehearsal Dinner at Big Boltons, my cousin Kaitlin got married in June and my babies were the flowergirls

okay, please don't judge me. I have a problem at weddings. Actually me and my brother have a problem at weddings. When we hear the music start, we flood the dancefloor. Can't help it, its in our blood. we love music. and we love to shake it. I feel better for letting that out.

SP and Jacob at the wedding

My family before the wedding. Stella can never take a normal picture by the way

Stella shaking her booty on the stage

Our summer had begun once we broke out the sprinkler and the umbrellas

Fathers Day, SP made breakfast for her, Stella and daddy. forget mommy, I'm no good when Jared's around. But I had to laugh when he had to eat the cereal that had obviously sat there for atleast 30 minutes before SP was done preparing and then daddy had to eat it up :)

My 10 yr Highschool reunion, had a great night out with my hubby

The girls 1st lemonade stand. and guess who spent their time drinking all the lemonade??? They made 7 bucks with the help of our wonderful neighbors

spent alot of our time at the pool this year. please don't judge me for the swimmies. I know, SP is 5 and still has on swimmies, she has security issues. These did actually come off by the end of the summer and now she is free and bouncing around the pool without them

We visited friends in Fairhope and Daphne this summer

We went to lake a good bit too this summer

This picture makes me laugh. Jared took Stella on a date to Chik-fil-a and if they dressed up like cows they got a free meal, this picture was taken before he put on her cow ears and nose. but hey it was a free meal and a good time for just daddy and Stella

and lastly enjoyed some movies at the theater this summer

I will return with Kindergarten pictures and a few tears.

Alabama the Beautiful

I am so torn up about this whole tornado situation. I have cried numerous times. My heart is so broken for Alabama. I feel so helpless. Jared has already signed up to be a clean-up volunteer, and we have donated bottled water to the Dream Center at Church of the Highlands, but I still feel completely helpless. We had some friends lose their home in Ashville, and 2 people that work with Jared lost their home and lost their relatives.
Tuscaloosa really hits home with me, I spent 4 years of my life in that town and on that campus. I am a proud Alumni of the University. It is what I would call my 2nd home, I look at the before and after pictures and it makes me sick. I used to roam that town that is now unrecognizable. I used to shop in those buildings that are now leveled. I think about the students that were scared to death, probably wanting to be with their parents, crying, hiding while roofs where being ripped off the buildings they where in. Its just too much to take in, especially now that I am a parent myself. Tuscaloosa and many other destroyed cities will go on, buildings will be rebuilt and lives will start again. But there will always be loss. Of memories, of loved ones, of homes, of history.

I am not perfect and I certainly don't try to be, but I just want to encourage anybody who reads this blog to be in prayer for the people who are hurting and the people who are helping and the state of Beautiful Alabama. I know when I feel like I can't do anything I can always talk to my Heavenly Father. Its time for us to serve. Its an awesome opportunity to come together as one body of Christ and really be like Jesus and serve. I want to serve God, so I serve people.

Exciting Weekend

Well, this weekend was a little exciting for the Joneses. Well, I guess for Sittre Paige the most. She has been begging the past 2 weeks to get her ears pierced, and I'm not gonna lie, it was me who had the problem with it. Because I just knew it would hurt (only for a minute) but I still didn't want her in pain. This past Saturday (Jared with me) we took her to Claire's and just went for it, she was SO excited, she picked out Hello Kitty earrings and as you can see from the pictures there were some tears involved but once she saw the earrings in her ears she was jumping up and down. I have been cleaning them religiously to avoid infection but she loves them so much and she was so ready for her first pair of earrings!!

Stella and I giving sis a pep talk First Ear (look at her face in this one and then check out the second ear picture)

Second ear was a little out of control as you can tell from her face (we almost left with just one ear pierced)

All done and pumped about her new earrings!

On Sunday, Sittre Paige and Jared were on their way out the door headed to a birthday party and she turns around to tell me bye and says that her tooth hurts. I said let me look at it. We have known for a while now that her two bottom teeth are loose, well today one of them was just hanging by a thread so I took her to the bathroom and gave it a few tugs and it was out!! My first baby has lost her first tooth! Pretty sad day to me. (pictures to come soon)

She practically grew up right before my eyes this weekend.

She's a STAR!

My daughter made her way onto another blog. I mean of course its because her mom is a shopaholic but lets not get into that.
Click on this link:
http://frenchflea.blogspot.com/2011/04/future-french-flea-shoppers.html

shhh...don't tell my hubby.