Weekend Update

This weekend was fairly low key. Kinda nice though! Friday night, we just went and ate at Black Eyed Pea. Yum, yum! We don't go there very often, but the food is so yummy. I always wonder why it's never crowded...
Saturday, we went to Babies R Us to get a few more things needed for Sawyer's arrival, and then we came home to get Sadie down a little early for her nap. We had our neice, McHaney's 2nd birthday party to attend Saturday night. Thank goodness, Sadie took a great nap. We had to wake her up to go, but she was in a good mood nonetheless. We headed to Franklin to my sis-in-law's parents house for the party. It was a Teletubby-themed party, and Dennis had the privilege (ha ha) of dressing up as Po, I think. He was the red one. Sadie hasn't ever watched the show, so she was a little less than impressed. Actually, she ended up being a bit frightened. Dennis' brother, Daren dressed up as Laa Laa, the yellow one. See below:


It was pretty comical. Dennis was happy to do the favor though. I just hope Daren realizes that Sadie may want a Strawberry Shortcake or Tinkerbell theme at her 2nd birthday party, and guess who we'll be asking to dress up????
The party went great. Everyone seemed to have a great time. McHaney got tons of presents. We had to end up leaving in the middle of her opening them all because we were afraid we might be there all night long! ha ha Sadie seemed to have a ball. She was running around everywhere, which made me a nervous wreck, b/c the party was held outside by the pool. I wish Dennis had brought his swimming trunks so that he and Sadie could've swam with the others, but we forgot, so she had to settle with sitting on the side and kicking her feet in the water. Here are a few more pictures from the party:




Sadie had a small "first" at the party. She drank out of a juice box with a straw all by herself. We hadn't conquered the straw thing until tonight, so I was pretty proud of her. The sooner we can get rid of sippy cups, the better! Here's a quick picture that I captured of her drinking her juice box. I think it helped that it had Elmo on it!

We left the party and Dennis quickly ran me by to see Rachel and Daren's new house that they are building. It's been framed and it seems to be gorgeous! I cannot wait until it's finished.
Sunday, we went to church, and it was one of the best! I boo-hoo'd during part of the service when a guy gave his testimony (via video) about losing his wife and little girl a little over a year ago in a car accident, which left him to raise his 2 month old daughter all by himself. At one point, I thought I was going to have to leave the service, because I didn't want to embarass myself or Dennis. It was an awesome testimony of how God brought him through such a tough time though. What a strong Christian man! Bless his heart. We went to eat at Salsaritas after church, came home and took naps, then went to dinner at Uncle Buds. (thanks to Bro. David going on and on about the catfish during church today)
Tonight, we took Sadie for a walk in her wagon, played on her swingset for a while and put the little darlin' to bed.
Let another week begin!!

1st Attempt at Hair-do

Today was my first attempt to put Sadie's hair in some sort of ponytail. Not too bad for my first try, huh?


My mom put it in pigtails last night, but I couldn't get it to work this morning, so I went with the ponytail. So far, Sadie hasn't noticed, so she hasn't tried to rip the bow out yet. We'll see how the rest of the day goes!

The 1st of Many "Uh-Oh's"

I was in the kitchen last night preparing dinner, when I heard Sadie say "uh oh". You know that's never good...
Dennis was in there too, and we looked over on the other side of the counter, and this is what we saw...


We both just started to laugh. I couldn't get mad at her, because I had left the pantry doors open, which I try not to do, but I had forgotten to close them back. So, I guess she decided to do some exploring and this is what she found!
I kept thinking to myself...I wonder how many times things like this are going to happen once little Sawyer arrives, and I can't follow Sadie around everywhere???? Too funny!!!

Into the Jungle

Is a jungle and rainforest the same thing??? Oh well...anyways, last night, Dennis' grandparents took us, along with his cousin Brent, wife Jen, and their 3 kiddos to Rainforest Cafe @ Opry Mills. I'm sure the hosts were thrilled to hear "we have 4 kids and 6 adults". What a handfull for our poor waiter! You should've seen our table and surroundings when we all got up. We tried to clean it as best we could, but it still looked like a small tornado had come through. Sadie loved it though. I wasn't sure how she would handle the loud thunder, big gorillas, huge elephants and flashing lights, but she seemed to think it was pretty cool. The only time she "grabbed on" was when the big hippo outside started coming out of the water. She laid her head down on my shoulder, so I assumed that made her feel safe. I got a few pics of her and Dennis over by the big fountain/waterfall inside the restaurant. He was acting like he was going to throw her in and she thought it was hilarious.


It was great to be together with all of them. We don't get to hang out with Brent and Jen as much as we used to when we first got married because of the busyness of all of our lives, but it's so much fun when we get to see them. And, it's always a treat to be with Grandma and Grandad. I think they just sit back in awe watching all of us chase our kids around. I'm sure it brings back many memories for them. Below are 2 attempts I tried at getting somewhat of a group photo, but as you can see, I was unsuccessful. But, they are still pretty cute.


Anyways, all in all, it was a fun night. That place is such a great place to take the kids because there is so much to look out and it's so loud in there so you don't have to worry about your kids being loud!

Weekend Update

This weekend was my baby shower for Sawyer. It was a wonderful shower. Thank you so much to my sister-in-law Rachel, Dennis' cousin Anita, and my 2 girlfriends, Shelly and Cayce for giving me such a wonderful shower. It was so thoughtful and everything was perfect. The food was incredible, and I got so many nice things. It was so crazy to receive so many "boy" items. I'm just not used to it yet. I love it, but I'm just not used to it quite yet. I really had a great time though, and I hope everyone else did too. It was good to see so many faces that I don't get to see very often. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the shower.



Saturday night, we had Travis, Anita, and Cole over for pizza. It's been a while since we've all gotten together, so we wanted them to come over and let Sadie and Cole play together. We had a great time. Sadie seemed so excited to have a playmate. We took them on a walk to see the horses in our subdivision. Sadie was impressed, as usual, but Cole seemed a little less than enthused. He's only 10 months old though, so give him a few months and I'm sure he'll love them just as much.




Sunday, we went to church and it was sooooooo good. We sang what I call my "theme song", which is "You Have Made Me Glad" by Darlene Zschech. I love, love, love it. It was the song that got me through a very rough time in my life when I had my miscarriage in the fall of 2005. I remember listening to it over and over and over again in my car, and I would just cry and cry, because I knew that the Lord was with me, and I wanted Him to know that even though I didn't understand what I was going through, I still trusted Him through all times. He definitely was my "very present help in time of need". If you are ever going through a rough time, please listen to the words of this song. Anyways, the message was great. Sadie did great in the nursery, which always makes things better. She even had to be put in a different room because hers was closed, but she did great. We came home and ate leftovers for lunch, tried to nap while Sadie napped, but was unsuccessful for different reasons, and then went to dinner at Cheddars. Our service wasn't great there, as usual, but it was still pretty yummy!
All in all, it was a great weekend! Thanks again to my girls for giving me that shower. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know!!!

Quick Update

Sadie had her 15 month check-up yesterday, and everything was perfect. Besides her screaming when the doctor was checking her out and of course screaming when she got her 2 shots...bless her heart.
She weighs a little over 21 pounds and is about 31 inches long. Still petite!
I went in for my 34 week check-up this afternoon. No changes with me. Thank goodness!! I told Dr. Adkins that when I was pregnant with Sadie, I PRAYED every time I went to the doctor that he would tell me that I was dilated and that it was "time to have the baby". This time, I PRAY that nothing will have changed and I can just wait until July 30th. I'm perfectly fine waiting this time!! It's so completely different than last time. I went over and pre-registered at Baptist for my C-section. It was so weird to walk the halls of the maternity ward. Brings back memories! Even the smell freaked me out a bit. I put in a request for a "suite" for our stay at the hospital. Some people may think it's stupid to pay the extra $100 a night to have a suite, but I just felt like our regular room was so stinkin' small when I had Sadie. I truly felt claustrophobic the whole time I was there. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with horomones, but I just thought if it works out, it'd be nice to have a little more room. Plus, the $100 includes 24-hour room service for you AND your spouse, so Dennis wouldn't have to worry about getting himself meals the whole time. So, I'm praying that one will be available that morning. It's on a "first come-first serve" basis, so we won't know until we arrive that morning if one is available, but we'll see...
Sadie has been at her Grammy's all day, and we're about to head out there to eat dinner and pick her up. Although it was nice to be able to run around all day without getting her in and out of the car, I do miss my little baby girl!!!! I can't wait to see her smiling little face!!!

Father's Day Weekend Update

This weekend was wonderful. We headed to my dad's in East Tennessee for Father's Day weekend. We just hung out with him on Friday/Friday night. He cooked us a big dinner and we waited on Mimi (Ms. Cathy) to get home from work that night before we had yummy blonde brownies and ice cream for dessert. It was so good!!!! Saturday, we got up, hung out for a little while, and did some shopping. I've never seen so few people in Pigeon Forge in my life! It was wonderful. No traffic!!

This picture above is of Sadie watching cartoons in her special chair that Poppy and Mimi set up just for her. She felt like such a big girl.

Although Sadie looks like she is dancing in the picture above, she's actually just learning to walk in her new Stride Rites that NaNa bought her for her birthday. It took her a little while to get used to walking in them. We just thought it was hilarious watching her walk around in tennis shoes.

After Sadie's afternoon nap, we all went to Metcalf Bottoms...one of my most favorite places in the world. Dad grilled burgers (yum!) and bratwurst (yuck) , and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was about 71 degrees outside since we were in the mountains. It had been raining, but had quit before we arrived, so it ended up being a gorgeous night.

Sadie didn't know what to think when we took her down to the river to see the water. At first, she was a little hesitant to let Dennis put her down, but then he started "teaching" her how to throw rocks into the river, and she loved it! Then, she wanted to do it all by herself...over and over again. She was not a happy camper when it came time to go back up to the campsite and eat dinner. But, all was well soon after. Here are a couple of video clips of her throwing the rocks and playing in the water.

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We ate a wonderful meal and on the way back to my dad's house, we spotted a bear!!! He was crossing the street, and we spotted him just as he was headed back into the woods. I think it's the first time I've ever seen a bear like that! I tried to snap some quick pics, but they turned out too dark. It was so neat though! I wish Sadie was old enough to have appreciated it, but she was busy watching Elmo and could've cared less. We let Sadie play out on their screened-in porch with all of the toys out of "Mimi's Toy Box". You would've thought it was Christmas, because they were all new toys to Sadie...lots of Elmo toys, Barbie dolls, Mrs. Potato Head, trucks, etc. She definitely had no problem entertaining herself with all of those toys. Ms. Cathy has 7 grandkids of her own, so she's definitely fully stocked in the toy department. After Sadie went to bed, we had dessert again, and then we actually got to engage in some adult conversation out on the porch until about 11:15 that night. It was quite nice! That just doesn't get to happen very often with a little one around, but it was soooo nice. I wasn't ready to go to bed! We woke up this morning and hung out for a while, packed up the car, and headed on home.

This is a picture of Dennis reading to Sadie this morning. What a precious dad to be so unselfish on "his" day.

I thought this picture was so cute of Sadie playing with Mimi's earring. What a girl!!!

Sadie missed her nap today, because she won't sleep in the car, so after a lot of drama when we got home, she ended up falling asleep on me at 5:30, and we put her to bed at 6:30 in her clothes with no dinner, no bath, nothing...I felt like a horrible parent, but we tried everything, and she was just sobbing because she was so tired. So, as we speak, I'm waiting for her to wake up starving to death! Who knows what the night has in store for me!!! Bless her little heart. I don't think I've ever seen her like that. Normally, if she misses her nap, she survives...it may not be fun, but it's not the end of the world. I guess the weekend was too exciting for her and it must've wore her out! Not to mention, I have to wake her up early tomorrow morning for her 15-month check-up. I'm sure that'll be fun!!! "Sadie - time to get up early and go get some shots!" Fun, fun!!!!

Update: Sadie ended up waking up at 8:00, so I got her up, we fed her some dinner, let her play for a few minutes, gave her a bath, and put her right back down to bed around 9:00, and so far, she seems to be snoozing. So, maybe my night won't be so bad after all! Praise the Lord!!! Last but certainly not least, I have to give a shout out to my precious hubby on Father's Day. What a wonderful daddy he has become over these past 15 months, and I absolutely cannot wait to see him with a little boy. He is so good with Sadie and she just eats him up. I couldn't ask for a better companion to raise these precious children with. God has blessed me beyond anything I could ever imagine and I am so thankful for Dennis and what he means to me! Thank you honey! Happy Father's Day!!

Story Time

Every Monday (& Saturday, I think) at 11:00, Barnes & Noble has "storytime" for kids of all ages. A girlfriend of mine was taking her kids yesterday to the new one in Hendersonville, so I thought we'd give it a try too. It wasn't very successful as Sadie was not about to sit still during the story, but it was still a neat concept. After the girl read 2 stories to the crowd, (the natives were getting very restless after story #1), they give all of the kids an activity to do, such as color, etc., and then they hand out milk and cookies. All in all, we were there for about 45 minutes. Most of the time, I just let Sadie walk around. She even knocked a whole shelf of books over at one point...whoops! It was mainly because there were 2 brackets missing from the shelf, and had it fallen on her, it would've been awful, but luckily that didn't happen.
But, I thought when she gets a little older, this will be something fun to do, so I wanted to pass along the idea to other moms who are looking for summer activities for their kiddos. It seemed as thought the majority of the kids behaved for the most part. There were a few kids that threw themselves on the ground when it was time to go, because they had found a book or two that they wanted, and I guess their moms weren't up for buying them, but besides that, it seemed fairly organized.
Plus, there is a great fountain out in the middle of all of the stores, and tons of kids went to play in it afterwards, so I thought that was neat too.

Weekend Update

Another HOT one! Wow! It seems to just keep getting hotter. I saw last night on the news that this is the hottest start to June in 60 years. Are you kidding me? I won't continue to elaborate on how dang hot it is outside, but just sympathize with the pregnant chick, please!!!!

Friday, Sadie and I just ran some errands together. It was so hot outside that about halfway through my errands, I turned around and came home. I was just sick of getting us both in and out of the car a hundred times. Friday night, we went to eat at Red Robin. It was Dennis' first time, and it was mine and Sadie's 2nd. It was so yummy!!!! I think their cheeseburgers are the best around, and I am definitely a cheeseburger connoisseur. Dennis got their "famous shaved prime rib sandwich", and he said it left a lot to be desired. So, if you go, stick w/ the burgers! We had the best service too, which is unusual for us. This sweet little girl was on top of everything. Then, since we didn't seem to be full enough from a huge dinner, we went by Maggie Moos and got milkshakes. Mistake!!! I felt like I was going to barf for the rest of the night. I was so incredibly full!!! But, it was delicious, I must say.

Saturday, Sadie slept until almost 10:45, so Dennis and I got to hang out a bit together and drink coffee, etc. We all ran a few errands, but came on back home, because it was really hot again. My dad came in town this weekend, so he came over, and we all went to eat at McAlister's in Gallatin, b/c I was craving just a good ole sandwich and some yummy sweet tea. Well, we pulled in and discovered it's no longer there. Bummer! So, we settled for Zaxby's, which wasn't quite as yummy, but served the purpose. Afterwards, yes, we went BACK to Maggie Moos, b/c my dad had never been there. Again, it was delicious. We all came back here and just hung out until it was time for Sadie to get her bath and go to bed.

Sunday, we went to church, and I think Sadie cried most of the time in the nursery. The lady said that all of the kids seemed to be upset, which was probably why Sadie cried. We found her on the "bye bye buggy" when we went to pick her up. She didn't look too enthused. But, church was great. Bro David was fired up! Afterwards, we came back home for sandwiches and chips. During Sadie's nap, I layed on the couch and Dennis went down and organized his "shop" (aka crawl space) all afternoon. He has turned it into "Dennis' playland". He even set it up to where he can shoot his bow down there. I guess every guy needs a place to escape like that. After Sadie had dinner, we put her in the swimming pool, which she didn't seem to care too much for, then we took her for her first 4-wheeler ride.

We just rode around the neighborhood a few times, and took her to see the horses that live in our neighborhood. We showed up just in time for feeding, so she enjoyed watching that. They are beautiful horses, and the 2 females just had 2 baby girls about 2 months ago, and they are too cute. One of them was nibbling on Dennis' elbow. It was a good time though, and Sadie seemed to enjoy the 4-wheeler ride. I think in the picture below, she's asking "why are we finished riding?"

All in all, it was a good weekend, but too short, as usual.

Sadie's New Pool

This is my first attempt to post a video on my blog, so we'll see if it works. We put Sadie in her new pool today, and although she was a little skeptical at first, she ended up enjoying it. She just sat and played with her princess dolls and then walked around the perimeter of the pool. When her lip started quivering because she was cold, that was my indication that it was time to get out. I officially feel completely redneck now having a blow up kiddie pool sitting in our yard. I actually went out and got in it myself during Sadie's nap and pretended that I was on the beach in St. Maarten. It kinda worked! It felt wonderful. I think it was the most relaxed I have felt since I've been pregnant. I plan on doing it often during these hot summer months.

Here are a few of my favorite pics, and hopefully, a little bit of video at the end on the bottom picture!

July 30th - The Big Day

Well, the "big day" was set today. Sawyer will arrive sometime on July 30th. We were hoping to get out of July because we have 13 other birthdays and our anniversary in July, but surprisingly, we don't have anything on the 30th, so it will work out fine. What's one more??? ha ha We're now taking up almost half the month!
Dr. Adkins was planning to call Baptist after our appt. to set up the OR, etc., so we won't have it exactly set in stone until I go back in 2 weeks, but he was confident it would be done on that date. We pushed for Friday, August 1st, but Dr. Adkins will be out of town that day, so we moved it to the 30th. Now I can officially say "I'm due next month"!
Everything else looked great, and his little heartbeat sounded good too. I'm getting so excited!!!
We went and got Sadie a baby pool today at KMart; if that's what you want to call it. It's pretty big! It was only $29.99 and it is HUGE! Dennis looked at me like I was crazy when I told him it was Sadie's "baby pool". It supposedly will fit about 6 people in it. He's blowing it up as we speak so that we can use it tomorrow. My friend Shelly told me about it, because she bought one for Greyson and she said he loved it. Plus, she said she got in it by herself when he went down for his nap, and I thought that was a great idea. I need some sun so bad! My legs will absolutely blind you!!
Quick doggie update: I spoke with the lady next door yesterday for a while out in the yard, and she was so sweet. I started to feel guilty for "dogging" (no pun intended) her dogs out. She was apologizing for how much they've been barking, and she promised they would stop as soon as they get used to the new house/new neighbors, etc. She's actually pregnant too and due one month after me and is having a little boy as well. You'd never know it, b/c she's so tiny. She also seems to be a little older. I'm guessing she's in her late 30's at least. She's a c-section recovery nurse at a hospital in Bowling Green right now, but is looking for a job around here. Anyways, I am going to try my best to lay off of the dogs for a while and change my bad attitude towards them. Hold me accountable!!!!

HOT Weekend Update

Boy, is it getting HOT outside!!! Oh my goodness. I can't believe I'm going to be pregnant during these next 2 months. Wow...I broke out in a full sweat today just putting the groceries in the car. It took me all of 2 minutes, and I was sweating profusely. I was hoping that June would allow 80 degree temperatures and that the 90 degree temps wouldn't kick in until July, but NO! It's supposed to be 90 degrees all week! Oh well, what's a girl to do? I know one thing...I will be getting Sadie a baby pool to sit in our backyard so that we can both cool off.

Thursday, our little neice, McHaney, had heart surgery at Vanderbilt. She is doing fabulous, Praise the Lord! She was born with a heart murmur, which I think was causing one side of her heart to grow faster than the other, thus needing surgery. Rachel and Daren did great. Much better than I would've done. I think I would've had to have been put to sleep too if Sadie was undergoing heart surgery. But, they all did great, and McHaney pulled through like a champ!!!

Friday, my friend Shelly and her little boy Greyson came over to play. Sadie and Greyson had so much fun together. Greyson even cried when he had to leave. It was precious.

I need to mention on a side-note that my child is now WALKING!! Yippee!!! Yes, it took her 14 months, but she is now walking all over the place. She started a little over a week ago, and she has not stopped. It's amazing how she went from scarily taking a few steps here and there, to now walking all over the place and never slowing down. This huge milestone got a little lost during the move last weekend, but it's oh so important to mention now. I told her that she only 2 more months to learn to walk, because I can't carry 2 babies around at the same time, so she got her little tooshie into gear and started to walk. ha ha

This picture is of Sadie on her new bean bag that DaDa insisted that she and Sawyer have one each. It's hilarious, b/c it swallows her whole! I think we got them a little too big, but we know they'll both love them one day. She loves her new playroom with all of her toys.

Friday afternoon, Dennis put his new grill together that he got for his 30th birthday a year ago. We wanted to save it until we moved. He has become the ultimate handyman. I swear, that man can put together anything. It really does amaze me. I guess from a girl's perspective, it's quite impressive, because I can't put together anything.

Afterwards, we ran to Belk to get Sadie some PJ's and grabbed dinner at Zaxby's.

Saturday, we all got up and went to Lowe's to get some things for the house. I never realized how many trips to Lowe's you can make once you move into a new house. Goodness gracious! We need to purchase stock in that place for cryin' out loud! After Sadie's nap Saturday afternoon, we went and got Outback to-go and took it out to Daren and Rachel's house since McHaney had been in the hospital. It was so much fun to watch the girls run around together and play. Sadie was in RARE form! They have a mini weiner dog named Utah, and although Sadie has seen her numerous times, she got the biggest kick out of her on Saturday. It was hilarious! I'm not sure I've ever heard Sadie laugh so hard. She fed Utah almost all of her grilled cheese sandwich and crunchies. Everytime she would throw food down to Utah, she would just start to hee-haw at herself. McHaney was looking at her like she was a crazy person, which I don't blame her.

Uncle Red (aka Daren) read the girls a book and I thought this picture was so precious.

Saturday night, we had horrible storms and we experienced our first power outage at the new house. Not fun in the middle of the night. Not fun when you're hot and pregnant. Not fun when your child is used to sleeping with a fan to make background noise....But, after about 2 and 1/2 hours, it kicked back on and all was well.

We went to church on Sunday morning and the service was great. We sang "I Saw the Light" and it felt like we were in an old country church back in the 1940's. It was great! We picked up Sadie from the nursery and for the first time, she came walking towards us instead of just sitting in the floor playing. It was neat. Afterwards, we grabbed a quick lunch at DQ in Glenbrook, which I don't recommend, because I had a big hair in mine. Yuck!!!!

Dennis' dad and stepmom stopped by to see the house and to see Sadie for a quick minute before her naptime. Then, we all sat out on the screened-in porch and chatted for a while. Despite the 85 degree weather, it actually felt quite nice out there.

We took Sadie for her first ride in her new wagon that she got for her birthday. She loved it! I think we're going to love this neighborhood. Everyone seems so friendly.

Dog Update: The 2 dogs next door are about to see their last days. They are barking non-stop and it's driving us crazy!! For a few days, they were fine, but we think it's because the owners put them inside. Now, they've trained them to use the underground fence, so they pretty much let them outside all of the time now. When we go outside, or when we walked past their yard last night on our nice, leisurely walk, they just run as close to you as they can and bark their heads off. You just want to give them both a swift kick in the ribs!! And, I'm sorry, but they're about the ugliest dogs in the world. If they were the kind of dogs that would bark at first, but then wag their tail and lick you or something, that'd be great, but I think they have small dog syndrome, and they don't plan on being friendly to anyone. Pray for us. We need to stop planning our attack. But, come on people, if you have just moved into a new neighborhood, wouldn't you NOT want to tick off all of your neighbors?? In the whole neighborhood that we walked last night, those were the only 2 dogs that caused us any trouble.

That's all for now. I'm bent out of shape thinking about the dogs now, so I will go...