June!!!!

June was busy and full....just like the beginning of summer should be! I had to work until June 2nd....so that was a tad annoying, but I had alot to do to prepare for being off...so it was busy everyday! I even stayed late on that last day to finish stuff up!

We began the first weekend in June with a pool party with some of Brad's extended family. We try to get together at Christmas and in the summer. It's always fun. We had a good turn out- and we had missed the summer get together one year due to moving so we were glad to be a part of it this year! There are lots of kids and the boys really enjoy pool time, so they rocked and rolled all day long!! No hint of a nap in sight! Here are some pictures from the long, hot, but fun day!!

Hot Tub with Pop!!


Even bowed up you can still see those ribs!!


Floating with Daddy


Sunday morning we packed up and got ready to head to the beach for the week! Usually we go to the beach later in the summer, but due to some other big event that will be taking place in July, everyone was willing to get it done early this year. Bebe, Pop, the boys and I headed out Sunday midday...Pop drove us- so I could put my feet up- the Tahoe was packed down. After a stop at Steak-n-Shake, which took almost 2 hours, we made it to Navarre Beach, Florida early evening. We have never been to Navarre, but it was fabulous! We spent the week on the beach- playing, looking for shells, building castles, riding in the boat, swimming, eating, and tried to fit in a little bit of rest! Thursday afternoon, Leah, Guncle and Kerrigan joined us- and Thursday night Brad finally joined us! He's got limited vacation time again since he changed jobs, but we were glad he got to come at all!

Some highlights from the week:
Carson and Parker getting CARS 2 cars, just for finishing dinner- hmmmm, was Pop a part of this trip?!?!

The boys being flipped out of the boat as a huge wave came in- Parker bruised face, both screaming/crying/covered in sand, people offering to help a 32 week preggo mom- apparently I looked like I needed help since they were crying! Parker was taking a nap well after the crash and it was almost impossible to wake him up!

Carson getting into hats...he got 2 new ones while we were there and I think he still wears one most days!! PS...both of his new hats are really for grown men, but he doesn't care....he wears them anyway...no matter how big they are!!

Both boys really started to embrace pool time....Parker putting his face in and floating around in a ring, while Carson is all over the place- arm floaties, rings, sometimes with nothing...wanting to "swim" to everyone!

Lovin' the Beach!!!






Under the Umbrella with BeBe....looking for snacks I'm sure!


Parker spent ALOT of time at this bar.....he's in NO RUSH to eat a planned meal!!


Carson LOVED the boat....inside or out!


Hunting shells with Pop!


Family Photo Shoot @ the Beach








When we got back from the beach, I had my 33 week appointment with the doctor and....dun, dun, dun.....my blood pressure was up, just a little, but it was up. She told me to start "resting when I could", which is not done easily in this girl's world;) I quit doing softball that week, and rested more than normal, but that weekend was busy....we had family pictures taken, bought a new car, and celebrated Kerrigan's birthday!! We bought a GMC Acadia, which I LOVE...but haven't driven it much! The boys really had a good time at KJ's party- I sat with my swollen feet up and took pictures! Happy Birthday Kerrigan!!

After the busy weekend.....dun, dun, dun.....my blood pressure was through the roof and I went to see the on-call doctor. He sent me for lab tests and after the all clear I was put on strict bedrest at home. I knew that I had to take it seriously, so I spent the rest of the month on my left side in my bed, on the couch, and on the floor, just to change up the scenery!! The boys did well, and we had offers from pretty much everyone we know to help out with anything and everything we needed. Family and friends brought food, played with the boys, went shopping for us.....we are truly blessed to have such an amazing support system! I did sneak in a trip to my friend Monica's house, which is just around the corner, for a shower from our Sunday school class- and a few other friends too! My friend Nora and I are due 2 weeks apart, so we celebrated the upcoming arrival of 2 sweet little boys together! I don't have any pictures from the shower because everyone made me stay on the couch with my feet up! Brad even went afterward to pick up the gifts! It was a good distraction from my "jail time"....and so sweet of our friends to do it for us!

Family Pictures by Angie:)










Kerrigan's Birthday Party

Our Month of May

Our month of May was another exhausting one. Our community endured some pretty devastating weather on April 27th. The morning brought severe winds and storms...although there were no tornadoes that morning, we had wide spread power outages and damage to trees, houses and property. I attempted to get the boys to school and report to work, only to find their school closed when I got there and my school system closing at 10am due to only a few schools having power. After driving for almost 2 hours (normally about 30 minutes), being turned around several times because of huge trees covering every path. I made it to work, with the boys in tow....and only had about an hour until closing!! Many tornadoes ripped though town later that night, a few of them just missing us directly. Many people in our community and surrounding areas, including people I work with, lost homes and loved ones that day. It was definitely a day we'll never forget.

The first weekend of May, Brad became part of the United Methodist Disaster Response Team- which allowed him to be part of the first responder team. He worked the next several weekends on tornado recovery. My school system missed another 3-4 days of school as we tried to help clean up and wrap our minds around what had happened. We ended up NOT having to make those days up, as the President and the Governor declared our county a federal disaster area.

We enjoyed Mother's Day with church and lunch at the Bright Star with BeBe, Leah, Guncle and Kerrigan. It was Leah's first mother's day....so it was extra special for her! My boys got me Dunkin Donuts for breakfast (In case you don't know, this girl LOVES donuts....even when I'm not preggo!!) and a trip to the spa! Can't wait to use that!

Next up was Rachel's graduation from UT. The actual ceremony was mid-week and since I was trying to save up my sick days, we headed up to Knoxville the weekend after to help her celebrate! We enjoyed hanging out with her! Granny and Gramp took the boys on a trip to Toys R Us....Brad and I were informed that this was a trip just for them and that we weren't allowed to go! Ummmmmmm, no problem at allllllll!!! They came home with a few new things....and were very excited! Chuggington trains seem to be the latest infatuation....I was letting them pretend their Thomas trains were Chuggington trains, but you know Grandparents....they don't think like that!!

Playing our new game with Granny


The following weekend was BeBe's birthday, so we celebrated with a trip to Costa's on Saturday and followed up with lunch and pool time on Sunday! Happy Birthday BeBe!!

We are so glad that Pop got the pool ready!!


Lovin' the hot tub!


Ummmm....Carson, did you forget something??


The boys finished up the "regular school year" with a trip to the zoo. Daddy took the day off and took them this year- and they had a blast. He was sending me picture messages so that I didn't feel left out:) It's fun getting to see them with their friends from school. I mean, we hear all the stories, but to see them interacting with them is just plain fun. Please notice the "binonculars" around their necks in some of the pics. They made them at school and were so proud. Brad said they used them the whole time!!

We're ready!!


The new Africa exhibit was awesome!!


Thank you Grant for being the only one looking at the camera!!


Please Parker.....Don't jump in!!


I had my first pre-baby baby shower at work. My sweet friends Tracey and Daphne organized it....and we got some sweet stuff for our lil guy! It's wonderful to work with people that are also some of my dearest friends. It was fun opening all that little stuff again!! I did catch some flack for not having a name picked out yet....we have some girls that like to monogram and they wanted to know his name!! Ummmmm, Brad?!?!?!?!

I also started coaching a 14 and Under Viper softball team the last few weekends of the month....so we spent Memorial Day weekend at the softball field....just like old times! It's something I sure do miss....but my legs and ankles did NOT thank me for being out in the 90 degree heat at 30 weeks pregnant! I was helping out while I was able....and enjoyed coaching again. Of course, it was short lived-but I was glad to be a part of it while I could!

April- I will catch up....eventually!!

One important note that was left off the March update.....the boys got bunkbeds!!! Lord help us not visit the ER anytime soon! Carson is the top bunk and Parker on the bottom (which is the safest option for all of us!!) They passed on their "little boy" beds to their little brother and slept in their "big boy" beds all night the first night! They LOVE them!!!



April began with a trip to Arkansas.....yet another state on the boys' traveling list!! We headed to Little Rock for my Uncle Mike and Aunt Tina's 25th wedding anniversary and renewal of vows. Uncle Mike is one of my mom's brothers, one of the twins, from which the twin curse, I mean blessing, comes from:)

The weekend was filled with family and good times. My sister and her family came (minus Tyler, who was playing baseball that weekend), my Aunt Sherry, Uncle Roger and cousin Kim from Illinois and my mom and one of her cousins also came. It was a beautiful day- and it was fun to be part of their 2nd big day!

Some memories from the weekend include, Kim and I taking the boys to a church playground for some sliding and monkey bar work, Carson yodling- at breakfast, in the car, even on the toilet- "Yodellaheeehoooo!- Can someeeeoneeeee wiiiiipeeee myyyyy bottttttoooommmmmmm?" (Kim's favorite), swinging on an outdoor porch swing with a set of triplets and running back and forth between our room and Kim's room, which was right across the hallway. They thought they were big time to go "by themselves" to Kim's room:)

We got lots of questions about Arkansas....I guess since we'd never been before. Most of the way there we heard... Is this Arkansas? Is the Funky French Fry in Arkansas? Do they have chocolate milk in Arkansas? Where are we going to sleep? We stayed at a Best Western close to my aunt and uncle's house.....and now everytime they see a sign for one, they will say, "Hey!! We stayed there when we were in Arkansas!!"

We were at Golden Corral for breakfast Sunday morning, as I put pancakes on his plate, Parker said, "We get syrup, right?? Because we are on vacation!" Carson said, "Yes Bubba, when you stay in a hotel that means it's vacation!" Yes, Gramp....I realize you think that limiting the intake of syrup is child abuse;)

Here are some pics with the family

Uncle Mike....one of the twins that are responsible for passing the trend!!


Aunt Sherry, Uncle Roger and Kim


We went to the Funky Fish Fry, a fund raiser for the boys' school and the Autism Society. They call it the Funky French Fry....I love that. April also brought a trip to Chattanooga for Emma Kate's 4th birthday, St. Jude Trike-a-Thon @ school, and Easter- including egg hunts at school and church and egg dying with the Harbarger's....wow....that's a busy month!

Funky Fish Fry




Emma's Birthday- hangin with Granny and Gramp


With JenJen in the foam pit!!







Trike a Thon for St. Jude!!


Watching our Friends Ride




Church Egg Hunt


Clearly we love our friend Harrison!!




Countin' the stash


Dying Eggs with the Harbargers




Sweet Easter Sunday Pictures- Gosh these kiddos are cute!!

March was a Busy One!

So I posted this back in like April and then it disappeared from blogger. When I got back on to blog about our summer....here it is!!! Weird....very weird.

The first main event of the month was our trip to the doctor for the 20 week ultrasound....and contrary to all popular belief we found out that we'll be having ANOTHER little BOY!!! Lord help me, I'm so outnumbered!! We are so grateful that he is healthy and right on track- what would I do with a little girl anyway?!?! Not her hair or make-up, that's for sure! The only objection I had was that Brad and I were closer to agreeing on a girl name than on a boy name, so he still remains unnamed--and probably will until he's born!

Brad has many rules for the name- no P's or C's (the boys already get called the wrong name all the time!), no -er or -son ending (some on Brad, that's a little picky) and lastly, he wants it to have 6 letters since Carson and Parker both have 6 letters! You can see why he's still referred to as Baby C, Baby Douglas, or little boy:)

We took a quick Spring Break trip to Destin with BeBe and Pop- an extended weekend was all daddy could get with his new job, but we figured that something was better than nothing so we packed up and headed that way! As we pulled into the parking lot of Aunt Pokey's condo this is what we heard from the backseat--
I can seeeeeeeeeee theeeeeeeeeeee condoooooooooo!! Look mama, there it is!!! It's the condo- we're here, we're here!!! Are we here? Are we at the condo? Geez, who knew that just seeing the condo upon arrival would be the most exciting moment?!?!

We got sunburned the first day and were miserable the rest of the time- the adults that is:) Apparently, I am good at remembering to cover the boys, but not myself:( The boys really enjoyed making "moats", crashing each others sand castles,running in and out of the water and, of course, eating snacks and lunch on the beach!

The boys went to The track for the first time....but I'm sure not the last. Their highlight was seeing Grant, their main man from preschool! They were so excited to see him at the beach!! Daddy's favorite part was beating mommy in the go-karts....but I must say that I was a little apprehensive as I drove around that track preggo!! Pop provided ice cream and donuts on the same night and the next day we did some shopping at the outlets, where Pop again gave the boys their share of snacks!! I guess you have to make shopping appealing to males;)

Here are some pictures from the beach:

Burying brothers in the sand.....they thought this was soooo funny:)




Sweet boys....still for one second.....






We also enjoyed a weekend in Chattanooga watching Tyler play ball and visiting with Granny and Gramp. We celebrated my and Leah's birthdays with dinner out with the Birmingham family. Brad and I also celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. It landed on a Sunday this year, so we dropped the boys at church for kids club and headed out to dinner at The Tavern @ the Summit. It was "yummo!" as Carson would say!