Last Thursday, the kids and I hit the road and headed down to Lanett and spent the night with my parents. Mady’s and Elijah’s school held their annual fall festival so I wanted to take Andrew and Abigail. They just so happen to go to the exact same school where Megan and I attended. It was like going back in time. Some of the same teachers that we had are actually still teaching there. Andrew had a blast with all of the games and really enjoyed the hayride and playground.

Here are some pictures:

The cousins on the Copeland side

Mady and Abigail

Andrew fishing

Working on his putting skills

He loves the big boy swing

So handsome

How Abigail spent the evening

On the hayride

I am still here even though by the looks of things, you would think otherwise. It is quite a challenge to keep up with two kids, clean house, do loads of laundry and keep my blog up-to-date. If you are more interested in the day to day, you can follow me on twitter. We are fairly adjusted to life in a new house, new city and with a new baby.

Abigail is doing great. She just turned 2 months old yesterday and is weighing in at about 11 lbs 3 oz. and is 24 inches long. She is a cuddle-bug and loves her Mommy! She already seems to have a little bit of separation anxiety from me sometimes but I think she does fine with other people as long as she can’t hear my voice. She smiles and talks all of the time and is a great sleeper at night. I am shocked that she is only waking up once between 9 pm and 7 am. She is officially out of the bassinet and is sleeping in her own room every night.

Andrew is still doing great with her. He loves to give her kisses and console her whenever she cries. At his 2 year old appointment he weighed in at 27 lbs and is 35 inches in height. He is in the 50th percentile in weight and the 92nd for his height. I can only assume that he is going to be tall and skinny like his daddy. He loves our new house and has grown into such a big boy. He seemed to master walking up and down the stairs instead of crawling as soon as we moved here. He also can open all of the doors which has caused up to purchase safety knobs so that he can’t get into things or out of the house without our knowledge. He talks non-stop and has an incredible vocabulary. He also has the best little personality and keeps me laughing. He loves to watch movies and his favorites right now are Wall-E and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to post right now because we are quite the slackers. We have to get better! Poor second baby!!

Last year on Andrew’s birthday I started a tradition of making a pancake breakfast for him. It seemed a little more special this year because he actually enjoyed them a little more. He kept saying “pancakes, please” over and over until I had them ready. I loved creating little traditions for my family.

We wanted to do something extra special for his birthday so we found this great place in Birmingham called The McWane Center. It is a place of learning and discovery but has tons of little places for the kiddos to play. It was an awesome way to spend the afternoon and Andrew had a blast. David had some difficulty capturing pictures because Andrew ran from one thing to another. It was awesome to see him playing and learning new things at the same time.




We loved the McWane Center and plan to take Andrew and Abigail there very often.

On Sunday, my little Andrew turned 2. I can’t believe he has been in my life for 2 years already. I can vividly remember September 20, 2007 as if it were yesterday. My life changed for the better and I am so thankful that I get to share it with David, Andrew and little Abigail.

We did not have a big party this year since we just moved to the area a month ago. Instead, we decided to just spend some time with our family. We had trouble getting both sides together at one time so this past Friday night we celebrated with the Copelands and on this week we will celebrate with the Russells. Last Friday we took Andrew to Chuck E Cheese for the first time. He was a little overwhelmed but had a blast playing games, eating pizza and hanging with his cousins. I made a special cake for him and he got some amazing gifts from the family.

Last Thursday, August 20, 2009, our lives we forever changed when we welcomed our sweet baby girl into the world. She is so precious and we have loved every moment that we have spent with her so far. Andrew has been such a great big brother so far. He loves her and wants to hold her all of the time. Whenever she cries, he says “Oh Baby!” He gives her sweet hugs and kisses. He hasn’t shown any real signs of jealousy yet and we are extremely thankful for that.

A lot of people had told me that the second birth would be a lot easier than the first. I had high hopes and they truly paid off. We loved having Abigail at St. Vincent’s Hospital. Our birthing suite was huge and the nurses and doctors were incredible. We arrived at the hospital at 5 am last Thursday and they immediately got us settled into our room and started the induction process. By 11 am I was fully dilated and ready to push. I pushed through 3 contractions and she was ready for the doctor. We had to wait about 10 to 15 minutes for the doctor to get to our room. After 2 more pushes, Abigail Grace was welcomed into the world. It was so much easier the second time around. David got the honor of cutting the umbilical cord which is something they didn’t offer to him when we had Andrew. After they cleaned her up we brought Andrew in for some special family time before bringing in the rest of our extended family. Unfortunately, he was in a weird mood and wanted nothing to do with his little sister. We eventually had some special moments for him to love on her and hold her.

Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

We have been in our new home and new city for 2 weeks now. God has blessed us tremendously and we have loved all of the family time that we have had. Andrew has already been on a sleep over to his Grandma and Grandpa’s house and allowed David and I to spend some quality time together before baby girl makes her arrival. Speaking of the baby, she will here tomorrow! We are very excited to welcome her into our family and give her tons of hugs and kisses. It is such a peaceful feeling knowing that we have family here to take care of Andrew while David and I spend a few days at the hospital bonding with our newest little one. We can’t wait for him to see this “baby” that we have been talking about for the past 9 almost 10 months.

Tomorrow also marks Andrew’s 23rd month birthday. He is growing like a weed and learning new things everyday. It only took him a day or two to learn the names of members of our family. He constantly asks for Paw-Paw (my dad, David’s dad or David’s mom LOL), Nonni, Elijah, Aunt Mea Mea (my sister), Doe Doe (Eric, my bro-in-law) and Gi-Gi (David’s parent’s cat). For some reason, he will not say Grandma and insists on calling David’s mom Paw-Paw! He is a funny kid We are still trying to teach him to say Mady (which he will say from time to time), Aunt Jenn Jenn, Uncle Keith, Uncle Jon and Aunt Stephanie. A couple of days ago whenever we were riding in the car he said “Daddy, go go go!” I guess he is voicing his Daddy’s frustrations at the slow drivers in Alabama. We are still trying to adjust to that one!

Andrew is becoming extremely attached to his daddy. David has had a lot more flexibility with his new job so he has had more time to spend with our little man. We love a Monday-Friday work schedule because he has allowed us to go to church as a family which is something that we have never been able to do. I am so thankful for David and what he means to me, Andrew and baby girl (you will find out what her name is tomorrow).

Keep us in your prayers tomorrow. We have to be at the hospital at 5 AM to start the induction. David will post pictures as soon as possible so that our friends and family can celebrate this wonderful occasion with us.

After a close to 17 hour drive from DC, we pulled into our new home in Alabama last Monday. We were welcomed by family with signs and banners reading “Welcome Home”! It was so great to share those moments with the people that we love the most. We unpacked the truck and by Saturday we had unpacked and put away all boxes with tons of help from the fam! Andrew immediately fell in love with his yard and it is very challenging to keep him inside. He has transitioned very well and is even sleeping in a big boy bed. To my surprise, he will stay in bed and call for me to come and get him. What a good boy!

I have found a great doctor and we are waiting for baby girl to make her arrival. I am 39 weeks today and have definitely reached the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. Last week I had dilated to a 1 1/2 and hope that whenever I go today there will be more progress.

We are settling into our new life here but miss our DC friends dearly. It still seems a little strange that we aren’t there anymore. We enjoyed our last couple of weeks there and had some great dinners with some great people.

My heart is heavy yet excited as I write this update. We have loved every moment of our lives here is Washington, DC. God has stretched us, blessed us and even allowed us to start our family here. We have met so many wonderful people and had some amazing experiences.

In 2007 whenever Andrew was born, we knew that things would get more challenging for us because our family lives so far away. It was difficult but we also felt God had a purpose for us here in DC. He even provided a way for me to be a full-time stay-at-home mom which has been a huge blessing to me. Whenever we found out that we were pregnant again, God began to stir our hearts and we both became a little homesick. We started praying for God to either open a door for us to move closer or to give us complete peace about living here. A couple of weeks ago, God answered our prayer and David was offered a position at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama. We are very excited to be joining the team there and look forward to being closer to our family.

We greatly appreciate Pastor Mark and his family for believing in us and giving us this wonderful opportunity to live and work in DC. We will cherish the time spent here and look forward to staying connected to NCC.

Just wanted to wish my mothers and grandmother’s a very Happy Mother’s Day. I appreciate what each of you mean to me and the role that you play in my life. Thanks for all of the words of wisdom, hugs and laughs that you have shared. I pray blessings over each of you on this very special day.

I am looking forward to my second Mother’s Day as a mommy. Andrew brings so much joy to my life each and every day. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with an incredible husband, son and soon-to-be daughter. I love and cherish each of them. David is even taking me to a pick your own strawberry farm. I am so excited to share this experience with my boys!

To all of my friends: Happy Mother’s Day!!

A couple of weeks ago while shopping in Babies R Us Andrew fell in love with a Radio Flyer Tricycle. The reason I know that he loved it is because I had to call David into the store to pry his little hands from the handle bars. He had one of the worst tantrums I think I have ever seen him have. It broke my heart. I wanted to just go buy it for him to make him happy but David wouldn’t let me. Yesterday while looking through my MOTH list-serve I saw that someone was selling one for $20. I emailed her and luckily was the first to respond. I went over and picked it up on my way to the grocery store. Andrew has a really hard time seeing me from a distance and not being able to get to me immediately. After I pulled up to the house on my return from grocery shopping, he was crying at the door. As soon as David pulled the tricycle out of the truck, his little face turned to pure joy. He moved his arms up and down and couldn’t wait to check it out for himself. The previous owners even included a little toddler helmet that he has also fallen in love with. Unfortunately his little legs aren’t quite long enough to reach the full extent of the pedals so it will have to grow into it. However, this has not stopped him from playing with it at all.

Here is a little photo of him from this morning with his Superman pajamas: