Second Trimester

We are so excited to be having a sweet baby girl! I always kind of thought we would be an all boy family and sometimes got really excited about the idea of having all boys. 

Baby girl you are going to be so loved by your big brothers.

At your gender ultrasound dad and I didn't want to wait to find out your gender. After checking all of your major organs to make sure you are healthy and growing well we were so excited to find out you are a baby girl. The ultrasound tech showed us and asked if we knew what you are and dad knew right away. I took a while to be convinced. It was such a special moment, I couldn't help but start to cry. We are so excited to meet you sweet baby girl.

14 Weeks March 22nd:

I am officially in my second trimester! My morning sickness has finally come to an end but now I have a double ear infection that has been horrible.

We listened to your heartbeat at home with the doppler and Everett thought it was very exciting.

16 Weeks April 5th:

Starting to feel you kick.

17 Weeks April 12th:

I got very emotional rocking Nathan at nap time while feeling baby kicks at the same time. It is such a special feeling to be holding my two littlest babies.

Starting to get anxious to find out what gender you are.

19 Weeks April 26th:

We were talking with the boys about baby names and Everett thinks I get to name you since I am pregnant with you.

Daddy felt you kick for the first time.

20 Weeks May 3rd:

I have started getting a lot of braxton hicks. They happen every morning on our walks and whenever I am in the car.

26 Weeks June 14th:

I am starting to feel sick again. I am lightheaded a lot and getting nauseous again.

It is so fun starting to feel bigger kicks and being able to tell where your bum and feet are.

June

June always seems to be such a refreshing month with it bringing the official start to summer. 

The garden is doing really well this summer. The boys love eating the mini tomatoes right off the plant every morning when we water. We have been making so many summery foods with the tomatoes we are getting. Everett has been fascinated by the carrots in the garden. He loves picking them even though it is still a little bit early.

Nana came to visit and it seemed to rain every day she was here but we still had the best time. It is always so fun when family comes.

Everett had two weeks of summer camp and had a really good time. It was the perfect thing for him to get out for a few hours every afternoon. It was great for me to have some nice resting time while Nathan napped every day. This pregnancy has been making me really tired.

With summer time here it means beach days are starting back up. We have missed the beach so much.

I have noticed the fireflies in the backyard this summer a lot more than any other summer. They are so magical to watch in the early evenings.

I hurt my back really bad for a couple days and took some really nice relaxing baths to help soothe it. One night I put a bucket of gardenias from the yard in the tub and it was amazing.

The sunflowers will be blooming any day now which is always my favorite in the summertime.

Mountain House

We have been talking about doing a mountain trip in the Asheville area ever since we moved to North Carolina. Every year we find some reason to put it off. This year especially we had a lot of reasons we could have put it off and not made it happen. I am so glad we did it anyway. It was such an amazing weekend together as a family. This was our last mini vacation as a family of four and I won't ever forget it. We found this cabin on air bnb about two years ago and I had saved it hoping we'd be able to go sometime. It is on 26 acres of land. The owner and her sister who live in the two houses on the property were the only others around. It had a beautiful little pond on the property with a paddle boat, had two swings for the boys, and had walking trails through the woods all right at our doorstep. We brought all of the food we would need for our entire stay. We stayed for three nights and only left the property twice, once to get ice cream in town and second to drive just to the bottom of the hill to a little gem mine for Everett.

The cabin was 5 hours away and the boys did amazing on the drive there. It felt like just our normal quick drive to the beach. The drive home felt much longer and was a bit rough but I am always so impressed by how well the boys do on long drives.

Boat rides in the pond were probably our favorite thing to do. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Listening to the birds was so nice and everything was so green. The weather the days we were there was perfect, not too hot.

The property this little two bedroom cabin is on is magical. The most magical thing about it were the hundreds of fireflies every night at dusk. We tried waking up Everett one night to see them. We even carried him outside but he just wouldn't wake up. He got pretty worn out exploring during the days.

Everett absolutely loved the gem mine. He had so much fun sifting the sand and found so many fun gems. He thought it was the greatest thing ever. Nathan thought it was silly feeding the goats but had a very frustrating time when it came to sifting the sand. He couldn't figure out why he couldn't dump the sand right into the water instead of the bucket.

We grilled every day and night. The grill took a little getting used to because of the coals but by the end of the trip Stephen was a pro. We had s'mores almost every night and they were so good. He ate so well for every single meal.

There are so many doors in the cabin and it was fun to open them up while we were hanging out and cooking and the huge deck was so fun.

Our last morning there we took the boys "fishing" on the pond. They were so cute to watch. Everett got really good at casting his pole and Nathan lost his mini pole. It was pretty sad but he was fine when we told him we would get him a new one.

What was so amazing about this little getaway was the escape we all desperately needed from this trialing year. It was just what we needed to reset and relax.