Anna-Leigh is here!!!

A lot has changed since my last post! Anna-Leigh Love arrived three weeks early, on June 10th! She weighed 7lbs.10.5 oz. and was 20.5 in. long. I've been wanting to post pictures of her, but I'm just now getting a chance to do it!! Things have been a little busy around here!! So, here they are-hopefully it won't be too many-is that possible?! She is absolutely precious and she has been sleeping very well : )

Anna-Leigh: Just a couple of minutes old!



Proud Mommy and Daddy!!!




Big sisters see her for first time!



Proud big sisters-who waited patiently for 9 hrs. for this moment!!



Precious girl!

Okay, I know it's been quite awhile since my last post.....

But I have had my reasons, really! : ) We have been so busy with school functions,sports, work, getting the condo ready to go on the market, and oh, yea, my pregnancy has slowed me down a bit! I am now nearing the end of my pregnancy, finally!! I'm at 35 weeks now; and I had Isabella at 36 weeks and Madison at 38 weeks, so it could really be any day now. My feet and ankles are swelling soooooo bad!! This has never happened to me before, but I guess it's the heat!(I was at the end of my pregnancies with the girls' in the winter months fortunately!) So, the last couple of weeks I've had to slow down a bit, which I do not like! I can't go as fast as usual, which really bugs me, b/c I'm a big multi-tasker and there's so much to be done. But everyone is pitching in and being a big help. I'm going to post a few recent pics-ENJOY because I don't know when I'll get more posted!!



Me! 8 months pregnant




The girls-Memorial Day weekend



Our 10 Year Anniversary(May 16th)



Mother's Day Brunch-4 Generations-Granny, Mom, Me, & Madison(Isabella was sick)



Later Mother's Day-Isabella was feeling better! : )

Random pictures.......

Madison won 1st place at 4-H Regionals in a speech contest! She competed against 8 other 6th graders from surrounding counties. We're so proud of her! She takes after her Aunt Jen-she loves performing and it seems to come so naturally!(She definitely doesn't get it from me!!)



Isabella about to go to school for "Wacky Day"! She just had to wear her Ramones shirt that she's had since she was I think 2!! (from her Uncle Eric, of course!) She was very excited this day because they have Standard School attire normally, and this day they could wear whatever.



My dad's 61st Birthday, Feb. 23!! (Me, with my baby brother, who will be 30 this year!)



March snow day! Isabella had fun-she had been waiting for snow! This was our attempt to build a snowman, not too pathetic!



Me, obviously, almost 6 months pregnant!!



I've been meaning to post a picture of this! Last month, Madison had her hair straightened for the first time-it lasted a couple of days, until she washed it. The guy that cuts my hair had wanted to see what it would look like and so had Madison. It took him a little over an hour. At first she seemed to like it, but then she decided, no so much. It made her look so different! It's amazing how long her hair is!! And she had just had it trimmed the week before! I definitely prefer her beautiful curls!

Madison's 12th Birthday!

Well, my "little' girl turned 12 last week(2/11)!! Almost a teenager, scary!!!!! I can't believe she is getting so old! This year she had an ice-skating party and invited 15 friends! This was one of her biggest parties yet! They had a lot of fun and Isabella was able to ice-skate for the first time. She loved it! Since I'm pregnant, I didn't skate but I really wanted too! Matt did instead and it was only his second time to skate in his life so he basically never let go of the wall! Here are some pics from her special day.

Well, yesterday was the day........

The day of my 20 week sonogram! And we found out we are having a ..........................can you guess?






It's a girl!!! The top picture is a great close-up shot of her profile and the bottom picture is her complete profile-you can see her kicking up her leg! She was moving quite a bit! I was a little surprised when they said it was a girl(and a little sad I must admit), because this pregnancy had really felt different so far, especially my morning sickness, so I really thought it was a boy. And I think it was only natural to hope for a boy after having 2 girls. But we are of course very thankful for whatever God gives us. We know that we are blessed and we are thrilled to welcome another girl!(I guess this just means we'll have to try for #4!!) All of her measurements were great-everything was right on target. We've chosen Anna for her first name, but haven't decided for sure on her middle name. It may be Anna Leigh(Leigh is my middle name), but we are still considering other names too. Continue to keep us all in your prayers and I'll try and do better about posting! : )

it's about time, I know!!

It's been awhile since my last post-sorry! We've been busy non-stop since Christmas it seems! But I'm making myself sit down and do this. I need to have a new post for the new year.

Isabella turned 6 last Monday(Jan. 14)!! Can't believe how old she is getting! She had a puppy-dog theme party with family last Sunday, then today she took two friends to Chuck E. Cheese's! What a blast if you've been to those parties, well, not really!! : ) Atleast there were only 3 kids to keep up with! They had a lot of fun though!





Here's one of the happy family!


And here's one of her favorite gifts-her cool biker jacket from Uncle Eric-who was unable to be with us because he had to work: (

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!! We will be in Nashville Christmas Eve with my family, then wake up and celebrate Christmas morning at our house with my family over for our traditional breakfast of coffee cakes, sausage cheese balls, and strawberries and cream! Yummy!! Then we head to Columbia to be with Matt's family Christmas Day. Hope you all have a blessed Christmas with family and friends!!

8 weeks today

Well, today was my 8 week visit. It was just going to be blood work basically, and talking to my doctor about any questions I had, but I ended up getting an ultra-sound! And,yes,everything is fine. Yesterday I started having a little discomfort on my lower left side, kind of like a tearing or stretching feeling when I would cough, laugh, etc.(most people that have had kids know what I'm talking about). I knew this could just be typical pregnancy discomfort because the uterus is starting to stetch out and all, but just to rule anything out, my doctor said he'd give me an ultra-sound. Which I was thrilled with, because I had really wanted one to see if we were having twins or not; and usually your 1st ultra-sound isn't until 20 weeks! Well, all looked great and we are NOT having twins! There was just one baby! In a way I'm relieved, but at the same time, having twins would've been pretty cool: ) I say that now that I know I don't have them! We are just so excited!! Actually seeing the picture makes it so real!! And I know it's hard to see a lot in the picture, but when looking at it, the head is on the right and the body on the left. Don't really know if it's the profile or head-on, but it's amazing!! I definitely have been feeling worse this pregnancy, with constant nausea and very tired! Fun, Fun!! I'm not actually throwing up, just that wonderful 24/7 nauseous feeling!!! My doctor gave me a prescription for it, but I'm trying to hold out on that and just tough it out. Surely it will pass soon! I go back in 3 weeks and will get to hear the heartbeat! We could see it beating on the ultra-sound today-so awesome! My official due date in June 30, 2008!

I almost forgot........

.....to post a picture of my costume! Yes, I dressed up this year for work at the pre-school. Some of the other teachers were going to dress-up, so I decided I would too! Isabella took my picture that morning since she and I were the only ones home at the time, so that explains why I appear to be looking down in the picture : )

I decided to wear a dress of my mom's from 1973 that yes, once again, my grandmother made. But here's the catch, my mom was almost 8 months pregnant when she wore this dress!! She and I obviously have a different build(I am about 4 inches taller than her)!! I thought the costume was appropriate this year since I'm pregnant too!!!!! For those of you who haven't heard the good news, I'm 6 weeks pregnant!!! I'm due the end of next June! We're soooo excited!! Well, here's the picture!!

Halloween Fun!!

The kids had another great Halloween! This year, Madison dressed up like a girl from the 60's. She wore a dress that my mom actually wore(that my grandmother made in the 60's)! It turned out cool! Isabella was a leopard-BIG surprise!!! I think that's what she was last year!! They loved carving their pumpkin with Daddy(thats' his job!) I get to deal with finding and buying all of the costumes : )

Not much going on here....

Well, I realized it had been awhile since my last post, so thought I better find something to say. I've been sick all weekend with a cold/allergies-who really knows! I've just felt lousy! But I don't go back to work until Tuesday, so hopefully I'll be better by then!

We are staying pretty busy as usual! We always seem to be on the go with some activity, which may explain why I'm not feeling well : ) Madison loves her new school and is always busy with school work-which mostly involves the computer. So different from my days of 6th grade!! And she's having to share computer time with her Dad, who is back in school on-line finishing his Masters. So, that can be a challenge at times! And Isabella is loving kindergarten!! She is still coming home daily with new love sagas! She is learning, too!! LOL

Here are some pics of our annual "Back to School" visit to Bobby's-a 50's style place(basically a hole-in-the-wall) with great ice-cream, hamburgers, fries and shakes, etc!! I highly recommend it if you haven't been but expect a wait. We go at the beginning of school and sometimes at the end of school too. A tradition we started a few years ago with my parents.





The ice cream is very yummy if you can't tell!!!

It's over as soon as it started...

Well, no sooner than I wrote my blog, Isabella informed me the next day that the romance was over!! After I picked her up from school, I asked her how Ethan was. She said, "We broke up Mommy-he broke up with me first, then I broke up with him". I told her I was sorry and asked her what happened. She said, "It's okay Mommy, I already found another one, his name is Dalton!" How quickly they move on!! She acted like it was no big deal. She said they were still friends and that Ethan was still a part of "their family"(her and Dalton's). She also said, with a sad tone in her voice, that Ethan told her he didn't like her boots that day! Now Isabella is very proud of her pink boots, so I'm sure that didn't go over well!! Each day, I can't wait to hear what she will tell me next!! She's so funny with her stories!! So stay tuned....

We fell in love in the lunchroom...

Yes, it has happened!! Isabella is in love, at age 5!! Everyone I told this story to, died laughing and thought I must put it on my blog, so here goes!! Last week after school, Isabella exclaimed, "Mommy, I FINALLY found someone to marry!!"(because you know, she's running out of time! LOL) She went on to tell me they would be living on the beach and would probably go ahead and get married on the beach, since that's where they would be living anyway. She said she wasn't sure what he was going to do for a job, but he was thinking about it. She thought they would have their honeymoon in the jungle, but they hadn't decided yet-she said she'd need to talk to him about it. She also informed me they would be adopting 5 babies from Africa, because acutally having babies hurts too much(she has been saying this for a long time)!! By the way, his name is ETHAN! I asked her what he looked like and she said, "He's really cute with blond hair, and I think blue eyes".

Then later on that day, she told me the rest of the story. As I was tucking her in(after she had made Ethan several cards!!), she blurted out, "We fell in love in the lunchroom, Mommy, and I dropped my juice box on the floor when he asked me to marry him!!!!! I thought, did he just ask ME to marry him?! I couldn't help but drop my juice box!!" Then she added, "He kissed me on the hand, but then he got in trouble, so I knew I shouldn't kiss him back." He also told her he loved her in the hallway, and she "had to tell him she loved him too!"

After all of this, I just had to laugh!! It was sooo adorable her telling it, with all her drama and facial expressions!! She's never been like this about a boy, with so much detail and planning her future!! It's kinda scary really, but all so innocent!! Just had to share this with all of you-hope you get a kick out of it too!!

If You Haven't Already,.......

Please look at my best friend, Anne's, Flickr site!!(and her Etsy shop while you're at it!!) Just click the links over to the right in my most viewed sites. She has taken and posted beautiful pictures of my girls on Flickr!!!(make sure you go to page 2 as well, b/c there are several of my girls) She took other pictures too of her friends children, and they all turned out remarkable! They are beautiful portraits!! She hopes to do this professionally and is trying to get all of the business she can. It was great because she came to my house, so that made it a lot less stressful for Mommy!! I hate getting them "packed" up for a portrait appt.!! Thank you Anne so very much!! I can't wait to order the prints!

Happy 4th Birthday, Micah!!!

Happy 4th Birthday to my aborable nephew, Micah, on August 29!!!! As some of you know, Micah and his family(my sister Jennifer, Uncle Daniel, Samuel, Elijah, & Sophia) live in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., so needlesss to say, we will not be celebrating together,unfortunately!!!




These are pictures from a year ago, when he was last in the states, so he's grown up a lot since these!! I hear this year he is having a Spider Man party!!! Have a great day, Micah!! We love and miss you!!

Finally!!

Well, today my kids are finally going full-days of school!! As some of you may know, it has been extremely hot in Nashville(over 100 degrees!!) So, all last week, which was just the second week of school, our county went to half-days because some schools AC's had gone out and afternoon temps made buses sooo hot-117 degrees in the bus-YIKES!(and a student, probably more than one, had actually passed out at school). So, I'm sure metro did the right thing, but it sure through my schedule off last week!! I start work next week, and this week I have inservice, so last week was my last full-week off with no kids from 8-3!! I know, poor me!! : ) I'm not used to being home with no children, as Isabella is now in school all day!( And she loves it by the way!!) But this week I can still get a lot done around my inservice hours, and the girl's were ready for full-days. Madison is so happy at school, too!! I'm glad they are adjusting so well, as they are both at new schools this year-new to them : )

Madison couldn't wait for midnight!!

This is Madison at the Harry Potter book release party last month!! She had a blast and had her copy of the book by 12:06a.m. My talented daughter(yes, I'm allowed to brag on her) made her tie!! She bought the fabric and made it in 2 days!! We searched so many stores for a tie with the "house" colors, but had no luck, so what else could we do! I'm so proud of her-I can't even sew on a button, and no, I'm not kidding!!

Here he is......

Thought it only fair to post a picture of my wonderful husband, Matt, with the girls!! Here they are at the beach.......all smiles!!

1st day of School.......1st Day of Standard School Attire!!

Don't they look so cute?!! This year is the 1st year kids in our county are having to wear Standard School Attire( S.S.A.)!! It actually makes my life easier because they can't argue about what they wear!! It was a pain having to buy it all because they didn't have anything-we had to start from scratch, but they seem to be liking it. No complaints, yet. But of course they've only been in school 2 weeks, so we'll see!!

A Day at the Beach

This was on our vacation to Ormond Beach (near Daytona) this summer. We had a wonderful time!! It had been 2 years since we'd been to the beach, so it was long over due!! Isabella didn't remember the beach at all and had a blast!! Madison loved every minute of it!! Matt was with us, but unfortunately there are no "family" pics, as one of us was always taking them!!(But I don't think Matt minds that!) So, this is one he took of the girls and I after we had just had a yummy dinner out!