in other related news

this was a BIG weekend.

birthdays. med school graduation. friends moving. saying bye. kids running everywhere. studying for a shelf exam.  visitors in town staying with us. oh and also 3 different ice cream cakes. Heaven??

and I have pictures of all of that to share at some point.

But first I must share this:

THIS LITTLE GUY FINALLY TOOK HIS FIRST STEP:



Just snuck it in while he was still 13 months old for 3 more days.

and while his dad was home too! 



I swore up & down he wouldnt walk until 15 months. (and maybe he still wont?) But this morning he took 4 more steps so I see him running any day now.

PS: I love summer pajamas on babies. I mean toddlers. actually both. 

these deserve to be shared

First of all - these are not my photos! I just want to clear the air. They are photos that we plan to order.

They are all by Ruth Eileen who was the photographer at Andrew & Elizabeths wedding. She set up a photobooth and they got some awesome pictures. Check out her site because she is very talented!

Here are the ones with our family in them. They crack me up. I had to share them. If only this was around back in the day (ha) at our wedding! I love it.

I guess this is what we do when we go out with out children around now: 










paparazzi photo  ... i love it.






hilarious












this is my father.


i love this photo




trying not to pee


we . are . family .


boys scratching their "bumps" while I scratched mine.

and my favorite:

giving the baby a bowtie.


I love these pictures. Im thankful Andrew & Elizabeth had this set up at the reception. If I were in Arkansas I would definitely hire Ruth Eileen to do this at all our parties! There are some adorable pictures of Tracy's nephews too! seriously cute photos!

2 little monkeys jumping in the bed

when Henry is over and River wakes up from his nap, this is what happens:



adorable, right?

it normally last longer. But Im thankful for the short video I have to show how silly Henry is. 

hard to believe before we know it Elliot will be up there jumping with them.. and then our son!

4 little monkeys jumping in the bed


*this is my way of ignoring that in less than a week they wont be living just 10 minutes away.

sharing the news on Baby #2 (part 2)

After I wrote that post yesterday I realized there were so many other stories of us telling friends .. like Freeland telling Adam because he just couldnt keep it a secret. (our plan was to wait & tell them in person when they got back from their trip home) and then me letting it slip to Camille on accident after just getting mad at Freeland.  Typical.

Or me emailing Freelands cousin, Mary, who is a pro at having babies back to back! :) And getting the most encouraging email full of lots of great wisdom back that helped a ton!

Or when we told Sarah & Drew and Sarah screamed so loud she scared River! ha. And then there were all my besties in Texas who of course were so encouraging and so supportive!

There are so many more. Of course - there always is.

But here are some pictures from Christmas day when we told my grandparents. (which BTW.. we would have done the same thing for my dad's side of the family but he didnt know that it was our plan and ended up telling them before we had the chance! Same with Freelands extended family too)

So we mailed the same picture that we gave Freelands mom to my mom's house and had her save it for my Nana & Pop to open on Christmas Day. The plan was for her to tell them it was just a little gift from River. We had them wait until they were all done opening gifts so we didnt distract everyone from their Christmas together. Then they called us on Skype to exchange our gift that way.  It worked out perfect because everyone was together.

We actually happened to be at Adam & Camille's with all our friends so we jumped on their computer. Im sure everyone else had a hunch about what was going on but I dont think my Nana & Pop did. So we sat and watched them open their gift from River over the computer:





wait for it ...



yep! There it is...





and some pictures my aunt took from their side of things:








It was hilarious getting to see everyone's reaction. Im so thankful for technology! (that sounded super nerdy)  And Im thankful that everyone in our family (and all our friends) have been so supportive.  Its nice having people understand that we trust the Lords plan with our life & our family.

I have a doctors appointment again on Thursday. After that I'll post an update on the baby bump! It continues to grow. and drop. and go bump. bump. bump.

sharing the news on Baby #2

Ive been meaning to share these stories/pictures for a long time.

As you may remember, Freeland & I found out that we were pregnant ON Thanksgiving morning. And like I have said before: I will never forget sitting with the HUGE mess in the kitchen, River upstairs asleep, turkey about to go in the oven, food everywhere, preparing for a house full of guest .. just sitting on the kitchen floor with tears running down my face (happy/shocked tears) trying to comprehend what was happening. rejoicing. praying. & laughing together.

Well, there was absolutely no way we could keep this secret to ourselves like we did last time but we also wanted to make it a fun surprise so we thought about what to do. After thinking about it we decided just to call my mom & dad and tell them both then.



My mom & step dad got on Skype and we had River hold up a sign that said "I'm going to be a big brother!" Both just sat & stared with blank faces. Then asked if we were serious. Then they celebrated (over skype) with us! It was pretty funny since they just thought they were randomly getting on skype to see River and had no idea what was coming!

When I called my dad (at the time he didnt have skype) the plan was to somehow get both him & my step mom on the phone so I was going to tell him that River started saying "dada" and to put Tracy on so she could here too. Right when I said "guess what?" (where I was going to answer that River was talking) he just happened to respond and say "you're pregnant?"

"yep!" and he just sat there for a second. I was cracking up. I couldnt believe he just guessed it. Probably not thinking I was actually going to say yes! Then Tracy got on the phone & we all celebrated.

Then it just so happened that Freelands mom was coming in town the next week. (just like last time with River when my mom came right after we found out) SO she got to be the lucky one who found out in person! It was a special treat.

We wrapped an "early Christmas gift" for her to open. It was the picture above framed that said "Im going to be a big brother".

I'll let the pictures explain themselves because they are that good:













Hilarious right??? I think she wins this round for the most excited.

And if I remember correctly her first question was "does this mean you will also have a third??" Just straight to the point Rhonda!

It was definitely a treat to get to share the news in person & try to do something fun even though we felt like we couldnt wait forever to make it a 'huge surprise' like we did last time with River.

So the news was out to all the parents. After that we decided it would be fun to take advantage of Christmas and share the news with the rest of the family then. I'll post those pictures next.

PS: if you want to see how we shared the news with River you can click here, here, & here

squeaky-clean

I think its pretty standard that most kids love the bath. River is no exception. If we let him, he would stay in there all day. (reason #134987 I cant wait to pull out our swimming pool in the backyard again)

Ive been meaning to take pictures forever of him going crazy in there. Finally on mothers day I remembered to pull out the camera. Nothing cuter .. seriously.




standard: Mohawks in the bathtub


his favorite is splashing.

well, its also when you poor water on him

and also when he dunks his own head under water .. but thats a little frightening.






note: second favorite - drinking the water in the bathtub.







Im telling you. The kid is normally always happy. (thank you Jesus) but Ive never seen him happier at times! He is in Heaven when I say "want to go take a bath?" He goes Ca-Ra-Zy.

And while his favorite is playing in the bathtub .. ours is having a squeaky-clean little boy to cuddle with when he gets out.