Warning: Another photo overload post (I know, I know, how’s that different than normal?! They pretty much all are…)

I have been promising to blog about this for several weeks now, but that also meant I had to go through all the photos first, so I have just now had the time to do that! I know I say it all the time, but I can’t believe how busy a 9.5 month old keeps me…and she’s not even walking yet! :)

The last weekend in September, Jon, Hadley, my parents and I took a nowhere near long enough short weekend beach trip to Pawley’s Island, SC. We had never been there before, but I think it’s safe to say that this will not be our last trip there…it was gorgeous! And nowhere near as crowded as Myrtle/North Myrtle/Cherry Grove, where we have been going for years. Anyway, the plan was to leave early Friday morning to get there around lunch time and have the afternoon on the beach… but long story short, we didn’t make it out of here until around lunch time (Jon ended up working until 3 a.m. the night before) so we got to the hotel around 4 p.m., which luckily was still enough time to go check out the beach!

It was a nice afternoon, so after getting our stuff unpacked, etc., we went on a long walk on the beach. This time, Hadley at the beach was SO different than the first (she had just turned 6 months old when we went back in June). She loved watching the ocean and the birds, and just kept laughing and squealing (the true sign of excitement for her). She even got a nice long ride on Daddy’s shoulders…and loved that, too. One thing she was not too sure about was the sand…when we let her stand in it, she kept picking her feet up and staring at them like “what in the world is this stuff?!”. 

Side note before these next pics because I know people will wonder…the night before this, H and I went on a nice long walk around the neighborhood, and she (and I) got attacked by mosquitoes. Poor thing!

Funny story…Jon’s Grandpa Aldridge loves to tell about how when Jon was little he used to ride on his shoulders and would always hold onto and pull on his ears. It appears Hadley is paying him back for that! :)

While on our walk, I took the opportunity to snap a few pics of Hadley with my parents (“Pop” and “Meemaw” to Hadley). I realized that somehow in 9 months, I didn’t have a single photo of the two of them together with her! I am going to have to do better with that. Anyway, I LOVE these photos. It is so apparent how much they love her!

After our walk, we headed in to get ready and went out to one of the restaurants my family always went to every year growing up, Drunken Jack’s in Murrells Inlet. It was just as delicious as I remembered… and Hadley LOVED her first taste of hush puppies! :)

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel, gave H a bath, read some books and then it was bed time for all of us—we were exhausted!

The next day, H and I had a delicious breakfast at the hotel with my parents while Jon slept in—he was so tired (after working so late the night before)! Then, it was time to hit the beach!

Jon came out to play for the first couple of hours, and they had a ball playing on the towel with her toys.

For some reason, she thought it was really fun to play in the sand this way…

We decided to let her walk around in the sand for a little while… and she was just not too sure about it on her feet!

She wasn’t too sure about sitting in it, either…

We found a little puddle for her to sit in. Bad idea. She was getting tired at this point (almost nap time), and she was really not happy with us for putting her in it. Bless her heart. ;)

I rinsed her off in the ocean and she was happy again, but it was time for her nap! It worked out perfectly because it was also time for the NC State football game (which no beach would keep Jon from watching…) so the two of them went up to the room and I got some much needed time in the sun!

H woke up around halftime of the football game, and after feeding her lunch, Jon brought her back down. She was in the BEST mood and had a BALL playing on the towel…for several hours!

And of course she got some love from Meemaw.

And H’s face in this one makes me laugh!! So serious. And those thighs!

Finally, the game was over (still don’t want to talk about it…State blew it) and Jon came back out to hang out with us for a little while. We played some more in the sand and water, but my camera battery died shortly thereafter. :( Anyway, we had a great afternoon and perfect beach day!

We ate dinner at Austins Ocean One, which was actually in our hotel and a little nicer than we expected—H’s first “fine dining” experience! I am sure that when we walked in with a baby, everyone there was thinking “grrrrrreat”, but she was a perfect angel and smiled and talked to the people sitting next to us and our waitress the whole time. She loved getting tons of bites of the food we were eating (it was DELICOUS—I cannot possibly rave enough about this restaurant…if you are ever in Myrtle/Murrells Inlet/Pawleys Island, do yourself a favor and GO—I have been to many, many good restaurants and this one is near the top of the list). 

Sunday morning, it was cooold and rainy (boo), but we weren’t too sad since we needed to head home anyway. We said that next time we go to the beach for a “long weekend”, we need to go for at least three nights (preferably four), because two was just not long enough…we only really got one full beach day! We had a blast, though, and it was nice to get away for a weekend and for H to get some QT with her grandparents. 

Hope everyone has had a great week, so happy tomorrow is Friday! H and I have MOPS in the morning, and then the Aldridges are heading to LKN tomorrow for the weekend for some fun with my family (I think all 17 of us will be there…big families are the best!). Looking forward to enjoying a nice fall weekend!

-S

Happy Tuesday! I meant to write a weekend recap yesterday, but as is always the case when we have company for a whole weekend, my Monday was spent trying (and subsequently failing) to get the house back in order, sheets and towels washed, etc. etc. etc. It looks like it might be more of a week-long task as it seems Little Miss is becoming more and more demanding (and less and less keen on taking long naps) for my attention these days. Not complaining, though, because there isn’t anything I’d rather be doing than hanging out with her all day long! :)

Friday night, Jon’s parents got in around 7:30, and we ate dinner (I made one of Jon’s favorite meals for his early birthday: country-style steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, yeast rolls and the best part—Sun Drop Cake!). 

After dinner, we just hung out for a bit and Hadley got plenty of love and attention from her Mamaw, who loved getting to feed her (not many people get to, since she only gets one bottle a day, and only sometimes!). 

Saturday morning, we got up and went on a shopping trip to Lowe’s, to get some things for the yard and also for us to get our big birthday present from Jon’s parents—a new grill! While it sounds like this gift may be more for Jon since he is the resident grill master, it is also surely for me since it means I will (hopefully) be getting some help with cooking dinner now! :) Anyway, Jon got his “dream grill” (a Weber) and I haven’t seen him so excited about something in a long time! A HUGE thanks to Kim & Tim for this—we promise to grill for you guys every time you come to visit, as a continued thank you. :)

When we got back from Lowes, the girls just hung out inside while Jon and his Dad worked out in the yard. For those who haven’t been to our house, we have a lot of trees in our yard, and about 90% of them are Sweet Gum trees. These trees are the bane of our existence, because they drop these stupid, sticky, ANNOYING balls that look like this:

So, every year, it takes Jon and I an entire weekend to rake out our beds and the yard to get all of the stupid balls up…except this year his Dad volunteered to help (and I was off the hook)!! They worked hard while H got plenty of attention from Aunt Heather and Mamaw inside. 

Saturday evening, we went out to dinner at one of Jon’s favorite restaurants, Tony’s Oyster Bar. The food was delicious, as usual and H slept through the entire meal—score!

Sunday morning, the guys decided that if they were going to get everything finished in the yard, that we needed to stay home from church (heathens, I know). We woke up early and even though Jon would have waited all day, I insisted that he and his mom open their presents (I LOVE presents!!) first thing. 

Jon got some help from H opening his:

Jon and his mom both got some frames for their desk at work with photos of (what else?) H in them… and Jon also got some undershirts (boring, huh?), cologne, new Rainbow flip flops, and a Blu Ray player (he might be the last guy in the world to finally get one, haha!). Kim also got some gift cards and a small photo album full of (again, what else?) photos of H for her to take to work. 

The guys headed out to work in the yard, and H had play time with Aunt Heather, Mamaw and me.

For lunch, of course Jon had to fire up the new grill! We had hamburgers and hotdogs, and we all agreed that they were the best hamburgers and hotdogs that we’d ever had…hahaha. ;)

When Hadley went down for her nap, I started my own little project, planting a garden! It may or may not be a garden in a box from Lowe’s that I am 99% sure is for 8 year-olds, but it is still a garden (don’t judge me, this is probably the only way I will ever actually do it—and when I am harvesting tons of produce I promise I will share with anyone who doesn’t make fun of my garden in a box!). I planted tomatoes, green peppers, carrots, cucumbers, oregano and basil. I promise that I will post photo updates if when my vegetables grow! 

After H woke up, she got a little more loving before they all had to leave to head back to Concord. 

We had an absolutely fantastic weekend, and we could not be more blessed or thankful for all of the help and the company. Jon’s mom said that it was the best birthday she could remember, and Jon agreed! 

Here’s to many more family weekends, we can’t wait!

-S

Just wanted to take a quick minute to wish my sweet hubby and awesome mother-in-law a very happy 31st and ?? birthday today! We have had a fantastic weekend, and I’m going to go enjoy the last little bit of it with our little family…but be on the lookout for a weekend recap soon. :)  One more time, HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jon and Kim, Hadley and I love you very much!

-S

Some of you may have noticed that we have spent a lot of weekends over the last few months at the lake or in Concord. While some of the trips have been for weddings, birthdays, or other family events, several of them have been just because we (ok, really probably just me) would just rather be at “home” (I think I will always refer to Union Grove/the lake as “home” even though I’ve lived in Raleigh for almost 10 years now) than anywhere else. The lake is my favorite place to be, period, in the whole world. I grew up there and feel the most relaxed there than anywhere else!

Here recently, I sometimes often I have these extremely strong feelings of wanting nothing more than to move back toward “home”.  I am not sure where, exactly, but just somewhere closer to my parents (Lake Norman since they will be retiring there in a few years) and Jon’s parents (Concord), and also Bekah (Mooresville), Miki (Matthews), and Heather (Kannapolis). So, maybe somewhere around the Mooresville/ Cornelius/ Huntersville area? I’m really not sure. I still have several good friends who live in or around Statesville, and would love to be closer to them, too. Don’t get me wrong—I have never and will never be one of those people who want to live next door to my parents or my in-laws (no offense to them), but it would definitely be nice to be close and to have free built-in babysitters.

Growing up, we never lived super close to either of my sets of grandparents (when my Dad was in seminary, we were about 3 hours away, and then about 45 minutes away when we moved to UG). I was always jealous of those friends that got to stay with their grandparents often and do fun things with them, because I rarely (really never) got to do that. Jon was a military kid, so he pretty much always lived really far away from his grandparents, but his parents and grandparents both made it a point for them to see each other often…they took trips together, etc. It is really important to both Jon and me, though, that our kids get to spend as much time with their grandparents as possible, and I guess that is a lot of the reason for my recent yearning to move back home.

Another factor attributing to my desire to move is that the current plan is for me to stay home once Hadley arrives (I’ll blog about that some other time).  My mom stayed home with Bekah and me, and I really have never considered anything other than staying home with my kids at least until they start school. I currently don’t have any other friends in Raleigh who stay home with their kids or who are planning to, so I am a little worried that the during-the-week playdates with other kids will be limited or nonexistent, since most of their moms will be back at work and the kids will be in daycare of some sort. I am hoping that we meet some other families/moms with small children at church soon so that I will be able to do those kinds of things with Hadley and more importantly, have her socializing with other kids her age early on! I just can’t help but think that it would be so nice to be back toward home and closer to friends/family who stay home with their kids and have play dates and plan other fun activities during the weeks. Also, it would be nice once our parents are retired to be able to plan things with them during the weeks, too. I guess I just have an idea of how I would like for things to go…but we will see how it all plays out, I suppose.

With all this being said, it is hard for me to imagine leaving Raleigh after being here for almost 10 years. Jon has lived in Raleigh longer than he lived anywhere else in his life (because of the aforementioned military kid thing). We have so many great friends here, and my brother and his wife live just a few minutes from us now. I am not sure what it would be like to have to travel a few hours to come up for a State football game (because let’s be honest—regardless of where we live, we won’t miss those) and then have to drive a few hours back home afterwards. And, of course I would be sad to leave my bestie and all of our other friends…I don’t even like to think about that.

The reality is, we aren’t moving anywhere any time TOO soon. We bought our house at possibly the worst time ever, back in 2007, RIGHT before the market crashed. Houses in our neighborhood were staying on the market an average of 2 days when we bought ours. We actually offered $1,000 more than the asking price in hopes that the sellers would accept our offer. It is crazy to think about now! Houses in our neighborhood are now staying on the market for months, and some for even over a year…and when they finally do sell, they are going for significantly less than the asking price, and people are losing quite a bit of money on them. If only we could have known back when we bought it what was going to happen with the market…if only. So, long story short, the longer we stay here, (hopefully) the better we will make out on our house. We really don’t want to lose a lot of money on it, and since nothing is forcing us to move, it really makes the most sense to just wait it out and hope that the market improves.

The only sort of time constraint that we have, Jon and I have both agreed on. Like I said, Jon moved around a lot because his Dad was in the Air Force, and as a result, he switched schools a lot. Due to this, he feels very strongly that he doesn’t want our kids to have to switch schools. I have told him that I had to switch schools (we moved once, between 1st and 2nd grade for me) and that it was not the end of the world for me, but he really wants our kids to grow up in one place. I am totally on board with this…but this means that the clock is ticking. Hadley will start school in a mere 5 years, so we have to start thinking about it before TOO long!

Who knows what the next few years will bring…it will be interesting to see it all play out. For now, I am feeling very happy and blessed to be where we are…I love our house and I love living in Holly Springs and being close to some of our family and friends. However, that doesn’t stop me from that sad feeling in my gut every time we have to leave “home” to come back to Raleigh…I can’t help but think how nice it would be if our drive back to our house was more like 30 minutes than 2 hours and 30 minutes. I have faith that it will all unfold as it is supposed to, in God’s time.

-S

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! We most definitely have; we have been super busy but also very productive! We survived Hurricane Irene with only minimal effects—just a few limbs down around the yard. I hope all our friends closer to the coast stayed safe and sound and got through it with minimal damage!

My parents came in on Friday evening, and after dinner we just hung out and relaxed for the rest of the night. Before she came, my mom told me that she was bringing me something very special…I couldn’t wait to see what it was! She gave it to me shortly after they arrived on Friday night, and it was so sweet! She had saved the pillow that my Granny had given to me the day I was born, and it went in my crib with me when I was a baby. I think it will probably end up in Hadley’s crib as well, since the color matches perfectly, and it is so special to me!

Jon’s parents came in first thing on Saturday morning, and they brought presents, too! Jon’s mom handed me a bag full of (cute!) clothes for our little girl and a gift that she said was from PaPaw (Jon’s Dad)…Hadley’s very first barbie! They said that a friend of theirs had told them that there was a Barbie out there named Hadley, and they said they just had to get it for her! I’m sure this is only the first of many of these! ;)

After that, we got to work! The guys immediately went to work painting the nursery (pink, ahh!), and since the room is so small and we didn’t really need that many bodies in there, my Mom, Jon’s mom and I all went out for a little shopping for some arts and crafts projects. :) We went to A.C. Moore to pick out some yarn for the baby blanket that my mom is making for the nursery (we matched it to the crib bedding)…I cannot wait to see the finished product. For those of you who may not know (or haven’t been lucky enough to get one as a gift), my mom is a crocheting machine—she makes crocheted blankets for pretty much everyone she knows for babies, weddings, etc, and they are beautiful!

Also at A.C. Moore, we got supplies to make a bow holder for Miss Hadley! I ran across this blog, which gives pretty detailed instructions on how to make one, sooo even though I don’t really have an artistic bone in my body, I decided I’d try my hand at some arts and crafts (with a little help, of course). So, we picked out the wood, paint, ribbon, and letters to go on it, and we were finished! On the way home, we made a little pit stop by the GreenPea Baby boutique in downtown Apex for a little baby shopping. They have the cutest stuff in there! I didn’t end up buying anything but sure do have a mental wish list! My mom bought some sweet little white crocheted booties (that I’m pretty sure she could make—she is going to see if she can) that I can’t wait to put on miss Hadley. 

When we got back home, the guys had finished painting the nursery (it looked great!) and had gone to the brewery tour at Carolina Brewing Company (If you haven’t been, you should check it out! It’s in Holly Springs, about a mile from our house, and they do free tours, with all you can drink beer, every Saturday at 1:00!), so Jon’s mom and I got started on the bow holder. I started painting the plaque part (ok I’ll be honest, that’s all I really did on the whole project), and Kim started making the bow. Jon got home a little while later and helped, too (not sure it was a great idea for him to be painting something immediately after getting home from the brewery tour, but he wanted to help!)…he painted the flowers and the “H”, and did a great job! Some hot glue and a few coats later…we had the finished product:

I am so happy with it, and I can’t wait to find a place to hang it up once we move the furniture in! And yes…she already has that many bows, let’s hope she has a lot of hair! ;) If she takes after me or her Daddy, she definitely will.

Jon’s dad, Tim, put his electrician skills to work on Saturday afternoon, and hung up a new fan in the nursery. I wish I would have taken a picture of the old one…but trust me, it was heinous. It was white, tiny, and had flowers on the globe. Like I said, just trust me. The new one is much better, it looks like this:

I know, a picture of a fan is very boring. Would have been WAY more effective to have a before and after picture. I promise that this one is much better than the old one! 

And, a picture of the finished paint job:

Sorry for the crappy pic—I tried to take it both with my flash on and off, but neither one really shows the true color of the room…it looks way more pink in this picture than it actually is. The color is called “Pink Whisper”—just barely pink—so I promise it’s not as pepto bismol-ish as it looks. I actually love it, even though I’m not a huge fan of pink! I think it is going to look perfect once we get all the furniture moved in (which is supposed to be in mid-September, we think). I just can’t wait to see it all come together!

After a yummy dinner at our favorite Mexican place in downtown Apex, La Rancherita, my parents left to go visit my brother and his family, and Jon, his parents and I went back home. Today, we went to church, then lunch at Tobacco Road (yum), and made a quick stop by the Go Pack store for some game day apparel (first game is in less than a week, YAY!).  This afternoon we have done some touching up to the paint in the nursery, laundry, cleaning, etc… but have finally called it quits for the day to relax for the rest of the evening!

I think that catches up on all of the progress we made this weekend. It’s been a great weekend, and I am NOT ready for it to be over! I sure hope this week goes by quickly because I sure am ready for some Wolfpack football! :)

-S

Week 16 is almost over, wow! I am 16 weeks, 6 days today. As you know…this was a BIG WEEK for us, as we can now refer to Baby A as not an “it” but a “SHE”!!!!!! It’s a sweet little girl! We both cried, and we could not be more excited. As you know, we were not scheduled to have an ultrasound at this doctor appointment. So…the way it happened went like this:

We got called back by the nurse, and they put us in a room without an ultrasound machine, and I very nonchalantly asked the nurse if we were going to have an ultrasound at this appointment. She replied that no, they don’t usually do them at the 16 week appointment (which of course I already knew, because they gave me a schedule of when to expect to have them). Well, Dr. Brannon just happened to be walking by and I guess he overheard me ask the nurse, but he didn’t say anything, he just kept walking and went into another room with a patient.  

A few minutes later, he stuck his head in our room and said sarcastically, “Soooo needy, can I have an ultrasound? Can I have an ultrasound?” mocking me! I said, “I didn’t ask for one, I just asked if we were going to have one today!” He smiled and said “Of course you are, get over here!” and led us to the ultrasound room. I was SOOOOO excited! I explained that I am possibly the most impatient person on the face of the planet and that we were dying to know the gender. He put the wand on my belly and we were both shocked—the baby had changed SO much since our last ultrasound! Finally Baby A looked like a BABY instead of like a blob/peanut! :) Looked a little something like this:

After only maybe 30 seconds, Dr. Brannon changed the angle of the ultrasound and we saw this:

In case that’s hard to see…that is a direct crotch shot (Jon said she should have been a little more lady like and had her legs crossed! haha) and as you can see—no boy parts there! Dr. Brannon’s exact words were “Well…I’m 99.9% sure it’s a CHICK!”

I immediately looked at Jon and asked him if he was excited… he has mentioned several times that he would love to have a boy…but when I looked at the tears in his eyes and smile on his face, I knew the answer before he even said it… he was SO excited. He said he can’t wait to walk his daughter down the aisle one day (sigh). He says he already know he’s going to be such a pushover… I know it’s true, too!

After asking Dr. B the few questions I had, we scheduled our next appointment and headed out to the parking lot. We knew we wanted to make the phone calls together so we could hear everyone’s reactions, so first we called my mom, who I heard cry for only like the 2nd time in my whole life! She has been really hoping for a girl (she says that’s all she knows how to deal with! haha), so she could not have been happier. Then we called Jon’s mom, who also cried and said she couldn’t wait to go shopping! We then called my Dad, and Jon’s Dad, and they both said how happy they were and also something to the effect of how spoiled this little girl is going to be. :)

We also called both of Jon’s sets of grandparents, and talked to Grandma Aldridge & Grandpa Kluttz. They were so excited to know that their first great grandchild will be a great granddaughter!! Grandma Aldridge said that she was going to go out to the shop to tell Grandpa the news, but Jon told his Grandpa Kluttz to have his Grandma K call him when she got home. He says that when she called him and he told her, she just kept saying “It’s a girl?! It’s a girl!!!!!” 

I then had a special phone call to make, to my Granny. She has been sick lately, losing blood and really not feeling well, so I first asked her how she was feeling, and she said it had been a rough day.  I told her that I had some good news that would hopefully make her feel better, and that her 16th great grandchild was going to be a GIRL, and not only that, but that she would be named after her, with the middle name Jo! (Side note: Jo is my Granny’s middle name, and is also mine…along with 2 cousins and my niece.) She cried and told me I had made her whole week. :)

Believe it or not, there were even more phone calls to make! We then called our siblings! We talked to them all right away, with the exception of Bekah, who even though I told to keep her phone close by that day, was not responding to texts, calls or emails. The general consensus was that everyone was thrilled! My sister-in-law Kelley told me that she had already started gathering baby things for me but now she would start getting together a bag of girl clothes (hand-me-downs?! YES PLEASE!!). Miki basically said “I knew it!!” and it’s true—she called it a looooong time ago, sometime around week 7 or 8 when I was throwing up all the time, she said she just knew it was a girl. Heather was in class, but she said it looked like she’d be leaving class to go buy some girly clothes! 

At this point, we realized we both had to go to work… though we were pretty sure that there was no way we were getting any work done. I have done really well the last few months to not shop online for clothes, etc. until we knew the gender…but now that we know, Lord help our bank account us!

I ended up FINALLY talking to Bekah a short while after I got to work. She was also very happy, but she didn’t seem surprised at all— she has said she thought it was a girl from day one. She is going to spoil this little girl like crazy (especially with her new MUCH higher paying job! haha). 

Later that morning, we sent some texts to some other friends/family, and of course posted the news to facebook…and the congratulations we got were innumerable. We are so blessed to have such awesome family and friends who are genuinely so excited for us during this exciting time.

Ok, now for some stats:

Size of Baby A: Avocado

Weight Gain So Far: 1.3 lbs (down from what I thought was 3…the 1.3 is based on the doctor’s scale from our appointment this week). I was a little worried that I might not be gaining enough, but Dr. Brannon assured me at our appointment that it is fine, and said I will laugh at the next appointment because I ever even asked that!

Cravings: Anything cold. It has been SO hot (over 100 degrees today!), so fruit, ice cream, pickles, you name it…as long as it’s cold!

Aversions: Nothing that I can think of…

Symptoms: Just when I thought it was gone forever….I had a small bout with morning sickness (again) 2 days this week. I thought it was just nerves about finding out the gender, but it happened the day after as well. The good news is that it didn’t happen today so hopefully it was just those isolated incidences. I have been feeling slight cramps the last few days, which I’m wondering if this could be the first signs of feeling some movement, but I’m just not sure!!!!

What I Miss: I’ll switch it up a little this week… beer! On Saturday, Jon’s parents, my Mom, and Bekah & Kyle were in town, and I took Bek, Kyle, Jon and his dad to the brewery tour at Carolina Brewing Company up the street from us. I was so sad to not get to go!!!

Things I am Thankful For: Family! Like I said, we had my Mom, both of Jon’s parents, and Bekah & Kyle in town last weekend.  They came to bring us our china cabinet and help move it in, arrange it, etc. We had so much fun, and I appreciate all of their help more than they know! They are all so excited about Baby A, and they all offered to come back another weekend to help move in nursery furniture/paint/organize the nursery. Can’t wait for that!

Signs of a Bump: Just when I said there were signs of one… I am just not sure if there really is or not! Sometimes (ok, mostly just after I eat, haha), I feel like you can really tell…but other times, I look down and see nothing! Dr. Brannon told me that he doesn’t expect me to really start showing until around 20 weeks… so it won’t be long.

Next Doctor Appointment: August 15 (my mom’s birthday!)

This was the best, most exciting week since we found out I was pregnant. We cannot wait to meet you, hold you, kiss you, Baby Girl! Your Mommy and Daddy are so in love with you already. 

-S

The past two weekends have been full of excitement. The weekend before last was Memorial Day weekend (I was 9 weeks at this point), and we spent it at the lake with my family.  It was a great, relaxing, low-key weekend, which we both needed.  Saturday, we went out on the lake with Dad, Mom, Bek, Kyle, and Kyle Turner.  We went to our normal “party cove” and I can say that this was the first time I actually was sad not to be able to drink a beer!  They all enjoyed their Coors Lights, Heineken Lights and Budweisers while I sipped on my water… but it didn’t kill me. ;-)

Sunday, we went to Lake Tillery for a graduation party (and also going away party) for our friends Michael (“Smokes”) and Brooke Smolka (my college roommate).  Smokes just graduated from medical school at Virginia Tech, and he and Brooke are now moving to San Antonio, Texas (actually, as I write this, they are already there!) where he will do his residency.  We had only been there for about 20 minutes when Brooke sat down beside me, looked at my 24 oz. bottle of Aquafina, and the following conversation ensued:

Brooke: “Any particular reason you’re drinking water instead of beer?”

Steph: “No, just really hot out here.” 

Brooke: “You liiiiiiie!”

I couldn’t take it, I had to spill the beans right then, I showed her the most recent ultrasound picture, she cried, we hugged, etc etc etc. I am so glad I got to tell her in person. She is so excited for us and I forsee a lot of phone dates in our future to update each other on what’s going on in our lives!  

Also at the graduation party were our good friends Will & Brannon Howie. I went to college & grad school with Will, and Jon and I have grown to be great friends with him and wife Brannon. They were sitting there when the conversation with Brooke went down, and Brannon said “I KNEW IT!!!” as soon as I told them. :) She said she had a feeling that we were going to tell them that we were expecting that day…and she was right. Shortly after this, Brooke and I called Meagan (our other roommate in college) and I shared the news with her. She reacted much like Brooke (and like I knew she would), lots of tears and lots of excitement! I only wish we could have told her in person… but here’s hoping she and Michael will be back in NC by the time Baby A arrives! We had a great time at the party and definitely can’t wait to visit the Smolkas in San Antonio. Now, Brooke & Smokes… Will & Brannon, Meagan & Michael….it’s YOUR TURN!! Hurry up so Baby A has some playmates!

On Monday (Memorial Day, yay for a 3 day weekend!), we hung out at the lake with my parents and also Miki, Frank, Natalie and Caleb.  We had a fun day out on the water, then packed up and headed to my Uncle Mike’s house for a cookout with the Kirbys. 

Those of you who know me well know that my Kirby side of the family is h-u-g-e. Not sure what the official count is these days, but it’s a lot.  Mom and I counted, and Baby A will make the 16th (yes, 16th!!) great grandchild for my Granny and Paw Paw.  Crazy, right? We talked with my parents on the way to Uncle Mike’s about how we were going to share the news, but we couldn’t come up with any really great ideas, so we decided that we would let my Daddy tell everyone. So, just like usual, they asked him to say the blessing before we ate. He thanked God for us being together as a family, for the soldiers past and present who have fought for our freedom, and finally, “for the baby that is growing in Stephanie’s belly”.  I believe that was the first time I have ever heard cheering and “Praise the Lord’s” during the blessing, but it was awesome. :) Everyone was very excited for us, and my Granny told me she can’t WAIT to see him or her. I can’t wait for her to, either. I am so happy that Baby A will get to know my Granny & Paw Paw, I only just wish that my mom’s parents could be here to experience this with us, too… I know they would be thrilled.

Fast forward to the next weekend, the weekend of June 3-5. June 3rd was my Daddy’s 62nd birthday, so we headed back to LKN on Friday to celebrate with the whole immediate family, minus Bekah who wasn’t in town.  We had dinner, fished, and enjoyed each other’s company on Friday, and had a great day out on the water on Saturday.  

Early Saturday afternoon, Jon and I left to head to Concord to celebrate his Grandpa Aldridge’s 75th birthday at a party with the whole Aldridge family at a local park.  We had devised a pretty clever plan to tell the family…we just had to get through dinner and to the time for present opening! We were both soooo excited, and as Grandpa Aldridge started to open his gifts, I actually started shaking I was so excited! Unbeknownst to the rest of the family, Jon had slipped a special card in at the bottom of the present stack, making sure that it would be the last thing he opened.  So we waited and watched while he opened the rest of the cards and presents… then he finally got to the last card, where he saw:

Grandpa Aldridge just sat there for a minute, then got a big grin on his face. Then he handed the card to Grandma and said “you need to see this, but you better hold on to your seat little lady” (how cute is that?!)…their reactions:

There were lots of tears, hugs, and sweet congratulations. This is the first great grandchild for the family and everyone could not be more excited. It was the best experience ever for Jon and I to see the joy in all of them, and I will never forget this day.

After the party, we headed back to Jon’s parents house for a few, then went over to his Kluttz grandparents’ house (just across the street). We had come up with yet another fun plan to tell them, and we got Jon’s mom, Kim, involved in this one.  Shortly after we arrived, she told Grandma & Grandpa Kluttz that she had just gotten a new lens for her camera and wanted to try it out, so for them to come sit with Jon and me on the couch. She was actually holding my camera, but they didn’t know the difference. ;)  To sum up the events that followed:

Kim: “Say cheese!”

Kim: “Ok one more… Stephanie’s pregnant!”

Grandma Kluttz: “Ahhh, let’s go shopping! Just white clothes for now until we know if it’s a boy or a girl! Goodness I feel like I need to put it in the newspaper!”

Grandpa Kluttz: “Just leave Doris here at home alone with the phone for a few hours and just as many people will know!”

To say they were excited is an understatement. We were only at their house a total of about 30 minutes and Grandma K had already called quite a few people, including Jill, Jon’s aunt, and Heith, Jon’s uncle. She told them “We’re having a baby!”…which they quickly figured out meant that Jon and I were having a baby. :)

How blessed you are, Baby A, to be being born into such an amazing family…and to get to know 6 of your great-grandparents!!  You are going to be one spoiled, loved, doted on, prayed for baby.  You will definitely be brought up knowing the importance of family. It makes me cry now to think how truly blessed we all are. 

That was long, but that about covers it as far as “telling the family” goes.  We are having a get-together at our house this weekend to tell most of the rest of our friends who don’t know yet, and we are really looking forward to that. 

More to come soon, I will update you all on the pregnancy and how things have been going the last few weeks. I will be 11 weeks tomorrow…time is flying by!

Love you all so much!

-S

Last night, we had dinner at Big Daddy’s in Mooresville for my birthday with our parents.  We have been planning/plotting all week how we were going to tell them, but we knew from the beginning that we wanted to be able to tell them at the same time. So, earlier this week, I emailed my mom and told her I was going to invite Jon’s parents to dinner Saturday night as well…we have done this several times, so she didn’t think anything fishy was going on and said she was excited to see Jon’s parents because she hadn’t in a while.

So, we met at Big Daddy’s at 7 pm, sat down, and ordered our food… at that point Jon gave me the go ahead and we gave both of our moms their “early mother’s day gifts”, which I had picked out earlier this week. Both of our moms collect Willow Tree figurines, so I went online and found a “grandmother” figurine, which I thought was perfect! (See it here) I overnighted them to our house, and wrapped them up for them to open at dinner… no card, no lead in…we just told them that we had gotten them an early mother’s day gift since I wasn’t going to be able to be here next weekend.  They opened them at the same time, and the pictures above are their reactions! Jon’s mom, Kim, cried, which we were sure would be her reaction.  My mom was in complete and total shock (and still is a day later), but they were both so happy.  Our dads were also both so excited (and surprised!).  We spent the rest of dinner talking about the baby and telling them all the details of the last few days.

I invited Miki and Heather to come to dinner, but neither of them were able to come.  As we were almost finished eating, I got a text from Miki saying she was sorry she couldn’t make it and was sad that we didn’t get to hang out.  I texted her back and said “well here’s what you missed at dinner”… then sent her the two pictures of our moms’ reactions…then the picture of the positive pregnancy test. :) She called me immediately, and her response was “NO FREAKING WAY!” hahahaha. Then she said “wait, how did this happen?! Wait, I know how it happened, don’t answer that.” Lol! She was also super excited and told me she would have a glass of wine in celebration since I couldn’t (meanie!). 

We called Heather to tell her, too, but for the first time ever, she didn’t have her phone on her, so we weren’t able to tell her while we were there with the parents… She finally responded when we were on our way back to the lake, so we sent her the same pictures that we sent Miki. She called us, crying, and was so excited to be an aunt for the first time. She told us she was going to have to start saving her money now so she could spoil the baby instead of spoiling herself! Hahaha. She is going to be a great aunt!!

I also got to talk to Kennette (my best friend since 2nd grade) today after church. We were talking about her upcoming bachelorette party next weekend, and I told her that I had some not-so-great news, that I wasn’t going to be able to drink any alcohol next weekend! She immediately knew what that meant, cried and hugged me, she was so happy for us…it was so sweet. I told her that I was sorry that I wasn’t going to be able to drink and party it up for her bachelorette party or for her wedding, but she said not to be silly and that she was so happy for us. :) 

It has been a great birthday weekend full of fun & excitement… we have asked everyone who knows the news to keep it quiet for a while until we have the doctors appointment and find out that everything is good.  I don’t want to rush this, but the next couple of weeks can’t go by fast enough, because we can’t wait to hear the heartbeat for the first time! :) Hope everyone has had a great weekend… we definitely have!

-S