Baltimore - Day 2

Day 2 started early for Colin, Bryan and Mike as they got up early to play golf. Surprise. We all eventually got up and had a nice breakfast and got the kids dressed in their Ravens gear.

The Cousins: Madelyn, Connor and Cora

Madelyn and Cora

Wrestling with Uncle Mike

Connor and Pop Pop. After lunch we headed to Baltimore to meet up with Caitlin, Greg, Erica and Mike for the Ravens game while the kids stayed in Hagerstown. Mary met us at the tailgate and so did the infamous Carne Cabeza.

Mary and Me

Me, Carne Cabeza (aka Neal) and Caitlin

Me, Colin, Chip and Lynne (we went to their awesome wedding last April)

Mary and Colin

Rear View of Carne. After the game we (hmm I) drove back to Hagerstown so that Colin could wake up at 4:30 and catch a ride to work in DC with Bryan. It was a long day but we made it and the game was fun - especially since the Ravens won!

Our Week in Baltimore - Day 1

When Colin first saw the Ravens schedule this year he had a spark in his eye. I know that look. We usually try to get back for 2 games (since we have season tickets) but some years that is easier than others. December is usually a really busy month for him at work so when he saw a Sunday night game followed up by at Thursday night game - I knew this was the most cost effective way to see 2 games, family and friends. Plus, the Orioles ended up doing well this year and they were at home too! A sports extravaganza. We left Birmingham bright and early on Saturday morning. The kids were confused why it was still dark out. We had 6 checked bags, 2 car seats, a stroller and 4 carry-on bags. We travel light! Luckily we fly Southwest and there was no additional charge for any of this (although a few of our bags were testing the weight limit at 48.5 lbs. If you don't know this (it is a secret that our friend Leslie shared) - if you are expecting you can pre-board. Obviously when I paid for Early-Bird Check-in I didn't know I was pregnant. It didn't matter that we were numbers 18, 19 and 20 (Cora in my lap) - I got to board first! This was important as Connor has been eyeing the front row of the plane. And, we got to sit there. He was confused as to why he had to wait for his bagel (in the overhead bin) - but once we were in the air and bagels were in hand - all was good. I like the front row with kids. Especially since they can't kick the person in front! We landed and after a small argument with the rental car company we were on our way - we rented an SUV but we barely fit all of our stuff in it - barely. First stop, Cousin Brandon's soccer game. We should have been there a few minutes early but I have been in la la land in Birmingham and forgot all about traffic. Traffic was horrendous. I navigated the back roads following my map on iPhone. We arrived and the kids were happy to run around (although I left Cora's shoes in the car). The kids were still in their pjs because I assumed we would have plenty of time to change. Wrong. Connor enjoyed watching Brandon's game and we met sleeping Cousin Lily for the first time.

Sweet Lily

Brandon and Connor - Connor looks mad. He is angry because I told him it was time to go. After soccer, we headed across the street (which took 10 minutes) to Atlanta Bread Company for lunch with Colin's mom, step-dad and brothers. I had a delicious avocado sandwich and cupcakes courtesy of Pat. Yum! After a nice visit we headed up the road a few miles to Grayson's first birthday party. We miss almost everyones birthday because we don't live in Baltimore anymore. So, it was fun that this party fit right into our busy Saturday. I didn't get a picture of the birthday boy but here is the cake.

A few hours later we got back in the car and went to Hagerstown for the night. We watched Auburn nearly edge out a win over LSU (nearly) and relaxed, finally. All to start again the next day.

14 Months/ 18 weeks

Cora is 14 months old.

She is finally drinking out of a sippy cup or straw cup that isn't leaking everywhere. They still leak a little bit but we are so happy that she has mastered the no spill cups. She has 9 teeth. 4 on top and 4 on bottom plus one molar (more arriving soon)!

Cora is wearing a size 3 diaper - size 4 overnight. She is in 12-18 month clothes. Her newest favorite food of the month is squash. She seriously ate 2 entire squash at one meal. She is a hungry monkey. She is walking pretty much 100% of the time. She is actually a good walker. She loves her some shoes (sometimes loves taking them off) but the shoe itself she loves. She is talking and also babbling all the time. Someone asked me how many words she says. I would guess about 10-15. The ones I can remember at the moment: Uh Oh!, Whoa!, Dada, MaMa, All Done, Diaper (sounds like Biper), Night Night, Thank you, Shoes, Yeah, yeah, yeah. She understands words like Milk, Eat & Hungry, Outside, Inside and Bath. At the mention of these words Cora starts heading toward the correct location (fridge, her eat seat, stairs, or Connor's room - her favorite way to get to the bathtub). She also knows what all fruit snack packages look like and will beg for at least 3 packages if she sees 1. Cora is climbing the stairs (by crawling) and can scoot/slide down on her stomach too. Of course our stairs are too hard and slick to do that. She wants to walk up and down the stairs after watching Madelyn, Jenna and Josh.

We recently returned from a week long trip to Baltimore. We had a great week and learned something new about Cora. She loves Carpet - real carpet. We have some carpet in our house but it isn't plush. Cora loved the carpet at her grandparent's house.

Cora is also riding her riding toys instead of just being able to climb on and sit. She is on the move and really loves going in circles around the house. She has also found a new use for the toys. Climbing on the couch. Just a little dangerous and by the photo you can tell she is quick.

She still loves her brother more than anyone else. Mini Carousel at Hagerstown Outlets.

More pictures and stories from our Baltimore trip coming soon!

Another One

So, August wasn't the only month of surprises. September started off slowly with a trip to the Lake for Labor Day Weekend. A weekend of relaxation until Connor decided he wanted to "swim in the lake". Colin, Ben and I did a double triple take. The lake? Most of you are probably laughing because who goes to the lake and doesn't swim in the lake? Us! There is a pool - who needs the lake? The lake is for driving the boat, looking at it as the sun rises and sets, not swimming! Connor's friend from school stopped by and she jumped right in off the boat so of course Connor wanted to jump in too! Go for it!

He loved it. A few short days later, I had heartburn. I NEVER have heartburn. Like ever. It wasn't bad enough that I needed to even take a Tums. I mean, the last time I had heartburn . . . I was pregnant. Since, I had a dentist appointment the next day I thought, they take x-rays - maybe I should take this old pregnancy test that has been sitting around forever. Fully expecting it would be negative. Like 99.9% sure. Well, it was positive! Surprised again! Wow! 3 kids! My mind started racing. Luckily, my doctors office is so wonderful (thanks Chrissy for the recommendation). I LOVE this office! They saw me right away - like the next day. Sure enough, that old test wasn't expired or faulty. In fact, a quick look showed I am already through my first trimester - WHAT? How does that happen? How can someone who has been pregnant before continue to not know for that long? Seriously, I had NO clue - and heartburn was my only clue (at week 14 1/2 I might add). Since I found out, I haven't felt great - not terrible but not wonderful either. Weird how that happens. I had to have a nap the day I found out but the day before - take one or not - no sweat. Weird. Anyway, so my next mission (besides trying to figure out how to fit 3 kids in our house, who will ride in the back seat since both my kids now get car sick, etc) was to figure out how to tell Connor. He is 4 so he gets it. I have been less than creative breaking the news of pregnancy to our families in the past. Just a phone call or a dinner to share the news. Exciting right! I actually don't even remember how we told Connor about Cora. I know we waited until the big sonogram so we would know boy/girl (I think it is easier to tell a child you are going to have a little brother/ sister than you will have one or the other - wait and see). It is all about managing expectations. Connor is still totally into puzzles. We actually bought a 1000 piece puzzle for his birthday that he and I (and Colin too) slowly put together over a couple of weeks. We plan to puzzle save it and hang it in his room - it is a map of the USA made out of license plates. So, back to the puzzle. I ordered some small blank puzzles and quickly wrote a fairly simple sentence on it. I used different colors to make the assembly faster. We gave it to Connor on Wednesday night. He quickly and quietly worked on the puzzle. I told him after he finished he could read it and there would be a surprise. Here is the VIDEO EVIDENCE. And a follow up Q & A. Make sure you watch both so you can find out boy/girl and the due date! As you can hear in the background, Cora is thrilled!

Shoe Shopping

Since Cora started walking last weekend, I have been ready to go get the girl her first pair of shoes. We actually got 55 pair of shoes from my friend Kelly as hand-me-downs - unfortunately, all of them are too small! I stuffed her feet into the biggest pair and off we went with JoJo to Sikes (where everyone gets the first pair of shoes in Birmingham - even I did). Cora has loved shoes for awhile - trying on Connor's Crocs and showing an interest in all other shoes. I had high hopes that she would be so excited for the trip. She didn't hate it - She also wasn't jumping up and down. She just calmly let us try on shoes and then walked around. Because she is spoiled, she got 3 pair!

Chilling

Waiting

Sneaking a look at herself in the mirror

The goods!

Surprised

I'm not really a fan of surprises. Surprise, right - a control freak that doesn't like surprises! My mom is even less of a fan. Again, shocking. Back in November my friend Mary was down for a visit and Cora's Baptism. She told my mom, in passing, about the 40th Wedding Anniversary Dinner she and her siblings hosted for her parents. My mom, (probably just being polite), said and I quote "Oh, How nice. I wish my children would do something like that for me." And with those few words a Surprise 40th Anniversary Party was born. Since my parents were married Labor Day Weekend of 1972 and we live in the South - the weekend of the actual anniversary wasn't going to work. Football rules and seriously maybe 5 people would have come to the party. So, with football opening early September I chose the last weekend of August for the event. Although there were many moments I thought the surprise was out of the bag. I am happy to report that they were indeed surprised and the party was a great success!

Walking into the party - See, surprised!

The Wedding Party, back together again

Mom and Me, I am wearing her Rehearsal Dinner dress. For a woman that doesn't keep anything - she held onto this dress for 40 years. Luckily I was able to swipe it from her house without her knowing AND fit into it.

Family Photo

Good Friends

and Family

The decorations I did after Connor was in bed each night (because he cannot keep a secret for 2 seconds!). Each night I would work and work and then put away what I had finished only to bring it back out the next night. Plus, I had to hide the evidence from my mom, who is over here often helping with the kids. As with everything on Pinterest - easier in the photo. I made wood block photos using some old photos from the wedding and a few new shots. These were super easy and actually worked like the video said it would.

Close-Up

Before the party, setting up the tables

I tried a photo-to-canvas DIY. Honestly, it didn't look as good as the one on Pinterest but it did the trick. I can probably do another one and it will turn out better. Here is the link

This was the biggest undertaking. When I initially saw the initial I thought "perfect", then I went looking for the actual letter. No luck. JoAnn's was out of D's and J's. I waited and waited. One day I went online and checked again. D's and J's were in stock! So I ordered 2 J's and 1 D for my parent's monogram. Once I started working it occurred to me 1. I should have painted the letters black before beginning and 2. I should have done the D first in case I ran out of pictures/time. I did the J first, then the other J, then the D In the end, I'm glad I did all 3 because it looked really cool above the fireplace (which I didn't know was in the room) and it was far enough away to hide the imperfections.

Finally the food. Delicious with plenty to spare

and favors (Neal, my immensely talented brother-in-law created the artwork for the wine-bottle coozies) The explanation of the graphic (broom and a rose) will have to wait for another day... August left me exhausted. 3 parties and school starting back (did I mention I am the Room Mother?). Stay tuned. The blog is about to start rolling again!

Look Who's Walking

UPDATE - Video changed from private to unlisted . . . Should work now!

We packed up Friday to head to the lake. In celebration of Connor having a teacher workday at school we got Colin to sneak out of work early too! We timed the trip perfectly and Cora slept the entire way. As we pulled up to the house I started not feeling 100%. Nothing horrible. Colin took care of the kids and I rested. As the day went on I felt worse. Ugh. Then out of nowhere. Cora did this. She is now a maniac walking everywhere all the time and far distances. This is great news!