Chandler is 3!

I can't believe this sweet little boy is 3! It seems just like yesterday he was born. I was lucky enough to be in the delivery room when he made his 11 lbs 1 oz entrance into the world and it's a day I'll never forget.
I wanted to blog somethings about Chandler that he can look back on years down the road and know about himself when he was 3...
Chandler is such a funny kid! He will say just what you want him to say on cue. He keeps us all entertained and you never have a dull moment with Chandler around.
Lately, he wants to be called Batman or Spider man and loves Jack Sparrow, pirates, and football. When asked what position he is going to play in football he declares "quarterback" but he would rather hit someone instead of throw the ball.
Chandler is the kid every parent dreams of when you talk about sleeping. He tells you when he is ready for bed or a nap and has been known to sleep until lunch time!
Chandler loves Lanier and wants to protector her. Right now, Lanier is still taller than Chandler, but he isn't far behind her, but that doesn't stop him from making sure Lanier is taken care of. Not only does he love Lanier, but he is always excited to see his cousin Gaitz. Gaitz has shown Chandler how to be a "country boy." He loves to visit Gaitz on the Rozell Farm so he can rope cows (or whatever is around) and get muddy!
Chandler is also the reason Joe and I refer to each other as Bernice! If you ask Chandler what he is going to call the baby (referring to Grier) he replies, "Bernice!"
He never wants to talk to me on the phone, instead he is always looking for his Uncle Joe! He and Joe have become good pals, probably because he can get away with whatever when he is with Uncle Joe.

We have enjoyed watching this little boy grow over the past 3 years and cannot wait for all the memories and entertainment Chandler will supply us with over our life time!

WE LOVE YOU CHANDLER!!

Chandler loves pirates right now so a pirate party is was. We had all kinds of tasty pirate treats, pirate games, and of course a pirate ship!

He isn't much for pictures so this was about as good as it was getting.

Getting Ready for Grier

Joe informed me last week he is tired of waiting...he wants Grier here NOW! Well, I can't agree more, but I want her to be nice and healthy which means waiting another 10 weeks. In the mean time, I have been trying to prepare for the arrival of sweet Grier! Hmmmm...what does this mean?

First lets start with the physical aspect...I've been sleeping on as much as possible and enjoying one lazy day a week to do whatever I want! As of this week I can tell my sleeping is starting to suffer. I have the hardest time getting comfortable in bed (poor Joe) I toss and turn multiple times before I'm able to relax. During the night I get up several of times to use the restroom, when I say several I mean on average 4 or 5. Between 4:45 a.m and when Joe's alarm sounds I usually lie awake and think about things that need to be done before Grier arrives. Once Joe heads to work I can usually snooze for a little while longer!

Another chore I have is to prepare a few dinners for me and Joe after Grier's birth. My sister shared the fact that I'll probably be exhausted for about 2 weeks after Grier arrives which means I'll need about 14 dinners on hand. Everyone who knows me knows I LOVE to cook and not so much on picking up fast food. While I was up one night I decided to make a list of dinners I could prepare ahead of time. I made this list the next morning and plan on starting my food preparation next week. I figured in the next 10 weeks I could make 1 or 2 of the dinners each week. I know all of this sounds like I have absolutely lost my mind, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to make sure those first few weeks with a newborn go as easy as possible for the 3 of us!

We go Saturday for maternity pictures/Christmas pictures! We are knocking out 2 birds with 1 stone and we are going to use a maternity picture as our Christmas card picture this year. I'm so thankful Tori is able to do these for us on our visit to Manchester this weekend. I have been looking all over for Christmas cards (one of my favorite things to do) and decided to use a local (Columbus, GA) stationery boutique. Bonnie (co-owner) has become a friend of mine over the past few years and I know she will do a fabulous job! I can't wait to pick the picture so she can get started!! Along with cards comes the Christmas card list, luckily I have lots of addresses already and this hasn't been too time consuming.

Registering is also on my to-do list hopefully before Grier arrives :-) I have been doing lots of research and relying on friends to help me with what all I need and the best and safest of everything. Thanks to everyone that has responded to my annoying text, phone calls, and emails as I TRY and turn my life baby-friendly!

The next few weeks we are busy bees! We are so excited to head to Manchester Friday for Chandler's 3rd birthday! I cannot believe my little Bernice is 3! I'm going to do a blog about his birthday and how much I have enjoyed him these past 3 years once I have some pictures from this weekend. We are also preparing for Biloxi, Baby Showers, Thanksgiving, and Christmas...whooo!

Thankfully, I started Christmas shopping a few weeks ago. In fact, I am getting ready to finish up the shopping, but I still waiting on some items to come in and I have to wrap. Most of my Christmas shopping has been done on-line which has saved me lots of time from running from one store to another.

Oh, if I forgot to mention...I am now going to the doctor every 2 weeks! Yes, it is already that time! I have gained 6 lbs and Grier is growing (so is my bump) like a weed! She is busy tossing, turning, stretching, and what feels like bouncing up and down at times! This past weekend she began to let me know when she was tired of me sitting too long by giving me a little nudge in the ribs. Of course, she already rules the roost because I will pretty much do anything to keep her happy and Joe will pretty much do anything to keep me happy so it's a chain reaction!

Even though life seems hectic Joe and I still take time each day to appreciate and rely on each other for strength and guidance, I'm so lucky to have married my best friend and to have Joe as we prepare for parenthood together!

Rainy Week In Fleming

I feel like it has been raining for weeks in Fleming, but really its only been a few days! This is what we've been doing to pass the time during these rainy days... Joe had to run to South Carolina one afternoon for work so I rode with him. It was dark when we arrived at the plant and everything was lite up. I'm not even sure what kind of plant it was, but it was neat seeing the inside of such a big production.

We've been spending LOTS of our afternoons here, in the woods. Surprisingly, Joe doesn't even hunt that much, but because he is a perfectionist, he wants things ready for everyone else! He has been making comments about me going hunting with him, but we all know that there is nothing appealing to me about that! Relationships are give and take, he does things with me that I know he wouldn't normally do so I'm not going to say never, but its not on my "things to do wish list"

Joe claims he's never had breakfast in bed. I couldn't sleep one morning so he got french toast and bacon in bed. If I'm not mistaking, he has commented on wanting french toast ever morning since! I'm more of a pancake person and on Mother's Day this year Joe made his first EVER batch of pancakes for me to eat in bed!

Sigsbee has been lazy this week. She LOVES to run and ride on the Ranger so this rain has really cramped her style!

With the rain has been cool mornings so I've been able to open the doors going out on the screen porch. Tyson, isn't much of an outside dog so he likes the fact he can enjoy the outside while being in.

All this rainy weather is driving me crazy so I did something bizarre! Yep, I chopped off my hair and went brown!! I don't like taking pictures of myself, but this transformation called for a picture. I was assured that the color on it will wash out some and my natural blond highlights will come through, also, I think this is darker than my natural color so it should lighten up ( I can already tell it's lighter than in this picture). I don't know how long it will stay like this, but I actually like it for now and it is so much easier to fix!

What You've All Been Waiting For...

Grier Gill

We have FINALLY decided on a name for our sweet baby girl, Grier! We weren't going to reveal the name until we had a full name, but we just couldn't wait any longer. It only took us 27 weeks to decide on Grier, but we both love the name! One of my dear friends that I met through Joe sent me a list of names that she had considered when she was pregnant with her two daughters and Grier was one of them. It was taking Joe so long to decided so I decided to make a list of names I liked to see if any matched up and as you can guess Grier was a match. It has been so exciting to finally have a name to call her. We haven't decided on a full name yet, but we know we want to do a family name (I have a few ideas in mind).

The nursery is finally coming together! Last week my bedding and drapes arrived so of course Joe spent Saturday morning hanging the drapes and putting together the crib. From the pictures you can't really tell but the pattern is an antique rabbit.

The crib bedding is Matteo Bambino in loomstate (appears oatmeal). I wanted something gender neutral that I could use with our next child no matter the gender. I'm in love with the look of the bedding, pictures don't do the bedding justice. The fabric is linen and has a ruffle and the top of the bumper and the crib skirt is trimmed with the same ruffle.






The brass crib was in Joe's nursery! In case you haven't been able to tell, I love vintage, antique, or old if you prefer. We still need to do a little polishing to the crib, but I'm in love with the look!

Doing What We Do

Joe had to go to Interstate Paper in Riceboro to work this week and sent me this picture. I wish I had the video clip he took because the rainbow was a complete semi-circle! I loved Joe working at Interstate because we were able to meet for lunch at one of our favorite places, Pizza Peddler!

Just a short time after Joe sent me the rainbow this was the view at our house!

We had a great weekend at home! Friday, we went to the cabin to celebrate Jay's 22nd birthday! Most of Saturday we worked at the house, the crib bedding and drapes cam in last week so Joe hung the drapes and put together the crib (blog coming soon on nursery and Baby Gill) and Saturday night we had dinner with the Kirks and the Promans. After dinner we built a camp fire and made smores!

Baby Bump!! Only 12 weeks left, I can't believe it!

We love having great friends as our neighbors!