It has been over a month since my last blog post, and since we have celebrated Thanksgiving, Jeremy's birthday, Christmas, my birthday, and New Years, a lot has happened in that short period of time. Here are the highlights:
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I was excited to get to host Thanksgiving for the first time. We started the day downtown for the Grateful Gobbler walk, a tradition we hope to do with our little family. Though I was not pregnant enough to be waddling too badly, we did have to cut our route a little short to be sure I would be able to make it back to the car. For those who have been pregnant in the past, you might remember feeling as if your hip joints are about to come out of socket - that was me. And the load in my belly was also getting a bit heavy, especially after being on my feet a lot the previous day getting ready for Thanksgiving company. But, it was a beautiful morning, and I am thankful that we were able to do it. I was also thankful that my parents were coming over to the house after the walk, so I had my mom to help me get my part of Thanksgiving dinner ready. Much to everyone's amazement, we actually ate on time! Here are some pics from the occasion:
Kitchen table - we got out the leaf so everyone would have plenty of room
Dining table
I apparently forgot to take any pics of people - whoops! Oh, well. We also began a tradition with Cora this year of going to a Christmas tree farm to get our Christmas tree (as opposed to Lowe's or Home Depot as Jeremy and I had done in the past). Jeremy's parents went with us so we would have a way to get the tree back to our house - 2 mid-sized sedans make it difficult. :) We headed up to McDowell's tree farm on Suck Creek Mountain. It was a really pretty day, and perfect weather for tree picking! They had several types of trees we could choose from, and we ended up going with a Norway Spruce. The needles are "pokey", but we really liked the look of it and it also has very sturdy branches for those heavy ornaments. It was quite entertaining to watch Jeremy get down on the ground and saw it, but we eventually got it down and loaded in the back of the truck. Cora almost started crying when it fell down, but she eventually warmed up to our Christmas tree.
We finally settled on one!
It was a little bigger than we expect when we got it inside (which is almost always the case), but we were so happy with how pretty it looked in our living room. I've cleaned up a lot of tree needles this month, but it was well worth it. :)
We got the lights on!
Cora helped with the ornaments
The ladies on my mom's side of the family traditionally have gotten together for a Christmas shopping trip, but we decided to make gingerbread houses. It was definitely a memorable experience! I think all but 2 or 3 of us had some structural issues and at some point had walls falling in or out. My poor Mamaw never did get her walls to stay up!
Aunt Joy trying to help Mamaw
Mom concentrating on her construction
Mandy & Amye
Aunt Joy having some structural issues...
Amy trying to will hers to stay together
This was pretty well Mamaw's finished project :)
Uh-oh, Mom's walls fell down
Aunt Joy's finished product
Mandy's gingerbread house
Amy's - she had some issues with her icing. :)
My gingerbread house
Mom's - she didn't get around to landscaping :)
Amye's house
We got to try some other Christmas activities with Cora this year. We went to the parade of lights in downtown Chattanooga. As much as Cora loves music and lights, we thought she would really enjoy it. And she did....at first. Unfortunately, it was a very slow-moving parade and when the semi truck was creeping in front of us and kept honking, she was not a fan. Then there was the kid with the fog horn who was pointing it right toward us and sounding it repeatedly. She was absolutely beside herself. So, we left. Our next family outing was MUCH more successful. We went to Rock City to see the Enchanted Garden of Lights, and Cora loved it! She especially loved the toy soldiers, snowmen, and the manger scene. It was a wonderful evening. Here are a few pics.
Our outside lights that Jeremy was mostly responsible for - looked so festive!
Cora really loved the snowman
Next to the soldier at Rock City
Smiling with Daddy
Cookie decorating!
She eventually started eating more sprinkles than were making it onto the cookies. Her hand and mouth were very colorful!
Jeremy's birthday celebration - getting old!
Smiling for Mommy before church
That gets us halfway through December....I think I'll save the rest for another post!
It sure has been a beautiful fall this year in the Chattanooga area!! I have really enjoyed driving around this year, seeing the beautiful colors - especially those drives with mountain views. Since our subdivision is at the top of a hill with a view of the mountains, I have been daily reminded of the beauty of God's creation. I've enjoyed getting to go out in the back yard and play in the leaves with Cora, and we also found some really cute baby acorns that had fallen off one of the trees. We collected some nice leaves that weren't too crispy and some of the acorns and made some adorable fall artwork for the grandparents and for our refrigerator. The girl loves a glue stick!
We also got to take a family outing to a pumpkin patch that was nearby - Old McDonald's Farm. It was SO much fun! They had a play area set up for kids, and Cora loved playing in the corn crib. She also loved going down the bumpy slide with Daddy! They had a pretty impressive petting zoo - Cora got to pet a toy pot-bellied pig, several baby goats, a rabbit, some sheep, a cow, a donkey, and a horse. We also got to take a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and pick out our pumpkins. Admission was $10 per person (Cora was free), and it included a pumpkin with each paid admission. Not a bad deal! We got a couple of really nice sized pumpkins.
Jeremy carved a pumpkin for Halloween. We tried to get Cora to participate, but she was having no part of it! She did love the "silly face" on Daddy's pumpkin. We recently had to throw it out, and she didn't understand why she could no longer find Daddy's pumpkin outside. Cora and I both painted pumpkins. She was very good about using her paintbrush! She had such a look of determination as she painted. She is very proud to show her pumpkin to anyone who comes over to the house, as it is proudly displayed on our mantle.
Cora and I also hosted a Halloween party this year! Daddy was gone to a football game, so he missed out on all the fun. We had yummy, spooky treats to eat and played some fun Halloween themed games. However, the highlight of the night was without a doubt bobbing for apples. After the adults finished, which was amusing, Cora and her cousin, Hayden, decided to get in on the action! They, of course, had no idea what the point of the game was, but they loved dipping their heads in the water! At one point, Cora did start to step into the bucket, but we drew the line there. Those girls were soaked by the time they finished....as was the floor around them. :) They did pick up the apples with their hands and then would drop them into the bucket and listen to them clang on the bottom. Eventually, Hayden decided that it was snack time and started eating one of the apples. :) Here is a video of the fun.
For Halloween this year, Cora dressed up as an ice cream cone, and Hayden was a cupcake. They were adorable! We went over to see Aunt Amye, Uncle Bryan, Hayden, and Aunt Mandy for a little while that afternoon. The girls had a blast playing outside in their costumes, and we got some really cute pics. Later that afternoon, after Daddy got off from work, we decided to take Cora trick-or-treating in Birchwood where she could see Jeremy's aunts and uncles and also his parents. We knew she wouldn't enjoy trick-or-treating much this year since she is terrified of strangers. Little did we know, she wouldn't do much better with Jeremy's aunts and uncles. We went to see Aunt Reba and Uncle Billy, and Cora had a total meltdown. She eventually warmed up to them and ate a Reese's cup that they gave her (her first one - she LOVED it!). They had also bought her a Dora ball that she enjoyed playing with. We moved on to Uncle Dennis and Aunt Anita, and Cora was being so bashful, she would not even look at them. She kept her head buried in my chest the entire time we were there. At one point, Dennis was talking in fairly close proximity to Cora, and thus began meltdown 2! We had thought about going to see some of Jeremy's family friends, but we knew at that point that it would not go well. So, we went on to Nana and Papaw's house, and finally she was happy! :) It certainly was not the ideal first trick-or-treating experience.
Here's another video of one of Cora's new favorite songs to sing: "Oh, How I Love Jesus". It is the sweetest thing. :)
She is also enjoying some Christmas music since her mama is listening to it. She loves Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, and Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, particularly Harry Connick Jr.'s version of those last two. She also requests the Chipmunks fairly often now. We have also talked about how many of the Christmas songs we listen to are about the birth of Jesus. For whatever reason, Sara Groves version of "Angels We Have Heard on High" has stuck with her, and as soon as the song starts, Cora will say "Jesus was born" or sometimes "Jesus was a' born." She sings along with the Gloria's which is just precious. I love that she shares mine and Jeremy's love of music! I also love that she sings on pitch now. :)
Baby brother is still doing well. He's moving around a lot these days, and certainly has enjoyed punching and kicking my bladder! I'm essentially carrying around a 15 pound bowling ball on my abdomen these days which is starting to wear on me a bit. Carrying laundry up and down the stairs is not as easy as it once was! I am 25 weeks along today, so only 15 weeks left to go! Or possible as few as 13 weeks if he's early like Cora. We have decided on a theme for the nursery - we're selecting items from a Carter's collection that is a Monkey playing a guitar. It is really cute. However, that is as far as we've gotten, so we have lots to do in the next 3 months!
For anyone who has not already seen this on Facebook, we found out at our 15 week appointment that baby 2 is a boy!! It was confirmed at my 19 week appointment, so it looks like we're going to be buying blue. :) Everything Dr. Barker checked out at the 19 week appointment looked great. Everything on the ultrasound pointed to a healthy baby boy! I can't believe that I am going to be 21 weeks along in this pregnancy tomorrow - more than halfway there! We're starting to get some ideas for the nursery, and I am hoping that we'll be able to commit to a name soon.
We decided to go ahead and switch Cora to her big girl bed around her birthday - took advantage of some of the Labor Day sales! I am SO thankful that a couple of weeks prior to her birthday, Cora started going to sleep on her own in her crib. One night, this pregnant Mommy was just too tired to keep rocking her. I was actually going to get her daddy who was.....busy...for a while......and so I ended up just sitting by myself and listening to her cry. I had no real expectations since crying it out had never worked before, but after about 10 minutes, she got quiet and went to sleep. I decided to try again the next night and she only cried for about 30 seconds. She got quiet when I shut the door. The next night, she just whimpered a little bit. Ever since then, our big girl has been going to sleep on her own! We were really worried about how she would do with her big girl bed, but the transition was seamless. Unfortunately, she did manage to roll off the end of her bed one night and fall in the floor. She was a little less enthusiastic the night after, but she has really done great. Thankfully, we haven't had any other issues with her falling. My mom and sister were kind enough to come over last Saturday and paint Cora's big girl room. The beige walls were really bothering me. :) Below are some pics of Cora's new room.
We have also had another addition to our family! Meet Moe, our new kitten. We were glad to get a buddy for our cat, Lucas, since he lost his brother over a year ago. It's been nice to see him running around, playing again, even if he isn't always happy about it. :) Moe (short for Elmo...Cora's choice) has really come in and fit in perfectly with our little family. He's also Cora's little buddy. Here are some pics of our sweet kitty.
Cora and Moe hanging out
Aww, snuggled with Hazel
Haha! Lucas figured out that Moe was too scared to jump in the big tub. He would lay in the tub and Moe would just pace. It was quite funny. Moe has grown some since then and is in and out of the tub, so Lucas' safe haven is no longer.
Cora loves to carry Moe...poor guy. He does great with her!
Two months without a blog post I believe is a new record for me! Something about being pregnant, moving, going on vacation, taking care of a toddler, trying to finish a dissertation, and just keeping up with everyday life has kept me pretty busy. But for now, Cora and Jeremy are napping, bills are paid, the house is in decent order, so here goes my attempt at sending out an update.
Shortly after we moved, we also took a vacation with my family - my parents, my sister, and my brother, sister-in-law, and niece - to Isle of Palms, SC. We had such a wonderful time, and I will have to say that after everything that had been going on, I needed a vacation. I was so thankful that I started feeling better that week and was able to enjoy some yummy food. Cora absolutely LOVED the beach! She loved playing in the sand and the water. For whatever reason, she thought it was great fun to grab handfuls of sand from the beach and take it to the water and drop it. She also loved the swimming pool, especially when her daddy would throw her up out of the water. We had beautiful weather that week, though it did cool off the last 2 days we were there. We opted to enjoy the beach for the first 5 days, and the last two we visited Charleston. On Friday, it was Cora's 2nd birthday! We did not do anything elaborate for her birthday, though I think it turned out to be a fun day for her. We took she and Hayden to the Children's Museum in Charleston, and they had a ball. Cora especially enjoyed playing with the balls, playing in the water, shopping in the kid's supermarket, and art time. The next day we went to the Aquarium in Charleston. Cora liked looking at the fish for a while, but kind of got bored with it. Luckily, this aquarium was set up fantastically for toddlers! They had several play areas spread throughout the aquarium, so there was really more playing going on than looking at fish. :) Here is the link to my vacation facebook album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100319844500980.2578768.12924167&l=4479e647c5&type=1
After we returned to Tennessee, it was time to prepare for Cora's birthday party! This year, Cora was able to give some input regarding what she wanted, so we had a Sesame Street theme, and she decided on hot dogs and french fries for the menu. I added the baked beans and veggies. :) We had a wonderful time!
Cora eating her birthday dinner
A fun tablecloth and centerpiece and Hayden eating her dinner
Cora loved the cookie monster balloon
And, of course, Elmo! Lots of fun gifts.
Sesame Street bus and characters
Books about a new baby and sharing - both much needed :)
The Sesame Street chair/napper that Jeremy and I bought her - the girls loved it!
They both wanted to take a nap. :)
Chocolate cake - Cora's favorite
And a little cake for Cora
She very neatly decided to eat the "2" off the cake
Once the "2" was gone, Cora requested a fork. :)
I still have lots more to update, but it's time to get ready for church tonight. Stay tuned for updates on baby 2, Cora's big girl bed, and another addition to our family...the four-legged, furry kind. :)
Our new house in Hixson is coming right along. In fact, they are supposed to be moving in the appliances this week! We went to see the progress last weekend, and we now have carpet and a tile backsplash in the kitchen. All of our lights are in now too, and we have garage doors! They have seeded the yard, so hopefully we will have some grass soon. Here are some more pictures!
Tile backsplash - we LOVE it!!
Light in the entry
Shot of the carpet in front of the fireplace
Breakfast nook
Formal Dining
Garage door and straw in the yard - starting to look like home!
We met with the bank this week regarding our financing and locked in an awesome rate! We are still waiting to hear that the financing for the guy buying our house in Lexington has officially been approved...hoping to hear by the end of the week. In the meantime, we have a tentative closing date on our new home - August 30th. We may be able to close sooner, it just depends on how everything goes. We are SO excited to move into our own home again!!
Our new house is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with an unfinished basement plumbed for a 3rd bath. We are going to finish the basement ourselves, which will eventually be Jeremy's man cave. He'll finally have a place for all of his UT memorabilia, and I will also be happy that all the UT stuff will be confined to the basement. :) Jeremy and I are very excited about our bedroom as we will have his and her closets and his and her vanities in the bathroom. We won't know what to do with all that space! Cora has already claimed her bedroom. The third bedroom will soon be filled with Cora's baby brother or sister, due February 29th. :) I am 10 weeks pregnant today and so ready for this first trimester to be over! I was nauseated all day when I was pregnant with Cora, but the nausea has been much more intense this time around with occasional vomiting. I can't help but wonder if that means we're having a boy this time...that or maybe I'm just older and not handling the rush of hormones as well. We would be thrilled either way, boy or girl. We're just thankful to have a healthy baby, even if mama feels not so healthy. So, for those of you who did not know we were pregnant and just thought I was gaining weight in my midsection, indeed there is a reason for my little belly bulge! It seems to have come sooner this time around, despite all the nausea and some weight loss.
I am happy to report that Jeremy and I have accepted an offer on our house in Lexington! Even if we weren't able to sell for anywhere close to the amount we wanted to sell for, at this point, we are just glad to be getting rid of it. I told Jeremy that we could just look at it as charity. :) We are scheduled to close on August 15th. We'll be going up this weekend to pack up our stuff. Our house in Hixson that we have a contingent offer on is coming right along. We expect that it should be finished about the time we close on our house. We are so excited to finally be getting close to settling into a home of our own here in Tennessee. Here are a couple of pics of our new house.
Kitchen - we're waiting on the tile backsplash to be added
Pic of fireplace in the living room, Cora checking out her new house, and dining room in the background
Master bedroom
Outside view
Cora is still doing well. We had a lot of fun celebrating the 4th of July with my family at my brother and sister-in-law's new house, followed by a Chattanooga Lookouts game and fireworks. Cora had a blast. We also had gone to another fireworks show in Collegedale on July 3rd and heard the Eastern Tennessee Symphonic Orchestra. We had a really great time, and Cora LOVED the fireworks! She still talks about how she watched, and they went "boom, boom!" She also likes to tell us what colors they were. She has really got her colors down now - all the basics plus black, brown, white, and gray. She's starting to figure out shapes a little bit. She's almost learned all of her ABC's too - it gets a little muddy in the LMNOP section. She doesn't just know the song, she can also pick out the letters if you ask her or she can tell you what they are. Cora has loved the warm weather and getting to play outside, particularly if there is water involved. Below are a few cute pics from the past month or so.
Cheesing with Daddy at the fireworks show in Collegedale...it was hot
4th of July fun with cousin Hayden!
Watching the ballgame
Oooh, water slide!
If you look closely, you can see where Cora gave herself a marker mustache during craft time.
Just this evening, Cora decided to go to bed with Hazel. She got in her crate, shut the door, and said "Night, night!"
