Fourth of July

So I've been out of the blogging world for the past week... All for a good reason, though! We went to Texarkana late Tuesday evening and stayed through the weekend so I could go to the wedding of a friend. We had a full week, so I'll just start with our Fourth.

We hung out at my parent's house and my grandparents came over for lunch! My dad grilled hot dogs and my mom made chili... Combined with my Granny's bread and butter pickles and some cheese dip, it was the perfect lunch!!

After Elizabeth's nap, we played around the house. Elizabeth's outfit was a little too big, and she decided she wanted it around her waist instead of where it should've been. Silly girl!














After a yummy dinner of steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli cheese casserole we took Elizabeth swimming. Of course, she loved it!

















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22 Weeks with our Little Man

Pregnancy Highlights

22 weeks, 2 days

How far along? 22 weeks and 2 days!

Baby's size? 

Gender? It's a boy!!!

Weight Gain? +10.5 lbs...

Maternity clothes? Yup! I can still wear my t-shirts, dresses, and "comfy" pants/shorts, though. 

Stretch marks? No new ones yet.

Belly button in or out? In, but starting to look funny

Sleeping? I'm sleeping much better!! ::knock on wood:: I fall asleep quickly and only wake up once or twice at night!

Foods I'm loving? Burgers, chicken salad, steak and German potatoes (caramelized onions, potatoes, and butter), the occasional sweet 

Foods I'm hating? Nothing really!

Best moment this week? Working on changing Elizabeth to her big girl room so we can start to get his room set up!

Movement? Yes, just waiting on Alan and Elizabeth to feel him, now!

What I'm looking forward to? Getting baby boy's nursery all set up

What I miss? Nothing at this point, really.

Symptoms? Frequent potty breaks, exhaustion, the occasional nosebleed, and food cravings

Milestones? We over halfway to meeting our little man!

Emotions? I cry over just about anything these days...

My favorite place to go...

The final topic for the commenting challenge is to tell everyone about your dream vacation. This is such an easy one for me!!

If you asked Alan, I'm sure he could tell you where I'd like to go in a heartbeat! I've already been there 3 times, but have never stayed at this particular place. This is a picture of the beach at Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda (one of the British Virgin Islands). Alan and I got to go there with my family the summer before Elizabeth was born (in fact, I found out I was pregnant with her a week or so after vacation). We dined at Little Dix Bay, and I must say, they had the best food on the island!!

Picture of Little Dix Bay

Most of the time when I've gone, we've stayed in a villa, which is also great! But I'd LOVE to go with just me and Alan and stay at a resort so I don't have to do anything. :) And this resort will shuttle you around to semi-private beaches where you can snorkel/lay out to your hearts desire! I keep telling him that we need to go there for our 10th or 20th anniversary. ;)

Here are a couple other pictures from around the island the last time we went. It truly is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been!

Here we are at Little Dix Bay
(we went there for brunch... it was DELISH!)

The Copper Mines

Beautiful sunset from the villa

Devil's Bay

Scary road

Devil's Bay

The most beautiful double hibiscus ever!

What I love to do...

So I dropped the ball on Jenna's commenting challenge yesterday... I didn't post or check out any new blogs, but it was all for a good reason. Elizabeth was up for quite a bit Tuesday night, woke up crying an hour and a half early yesterday morning, and then didn't take an afternoon nap once we got home from VBS. I was one sleepy Momma! Alan was gone to our Sunday School men's Bible study, so I essentially went to bed at 8:30 last night. Today, I feel much better (especially since I just woke up from an hour and a half nap!!). 

Today's topic is all about what you like to do! And I could go on for hours about this one!

My most favorite thing in the world to do is read! In fact, my mom had to take away my books in fourth grade because I was reading too much... I would spend hours in the bath tub reading, read instead of doing homework, and I think the final straw was when she caught me reading a book by the nigh light in my room. I don't think she and my dad wanted to take my books away, so to speak, but a girl does have to do homework and get some sleep!

I don't have as much time these days (plus my favorite authors don't have any new books out), but any free time, I enjoy picking up a good book. It's also hard for me now because once I start reading, I don't want to stop until I've finished the book, which doesn't bode well for my quality time with Elizabeth. I love Christian fiction and once I've found a good book, I will read it until the cover falls off! My two favorite authors are Liz Curtis Higgs and Francine Rivers. I pretty much own every single book that they have written and read them all 4+ times. 

I also like to dance. I don't know if that stems from taking dance for 11 years growing up, or if it's just because A&M had some great dance halls, but give me some country music and I'll go two-steppin' across the room! I haven't danced much since Alan and I got married - neither of us really enjoyed the smoke in the local dance halls in College Station, but any time I hear music that used to be played at the Texas Hall of Fame, I am reminded of the good ol' days.

Well, that's about all I have time for these days... My little munchkin definitely keeps me busy and on my toes... 

ready to take the steering wheel!

Why I blog...

The topic for day 2 of Jenna's Commenting Challenge is to tell everyone about your blog. When I first started blogging in 2009, I didn't blog much at all. I was in the throes of getting my Master's degree in Early Childhood Education and working part-time in our church's preschool. As I started to get the hang of everything, I turned to blogging about our every day life out in College Station, which still wasn't too often. It all really started in July 2010 when I found out I was pregnant!

Our families didn't (and still don't) live too close to us, so I mainly use the blog as a way to keep them updated on our daily lives. I adore posting pictures of my daughter and sharing them with friends and family that I don't get to see very often. I also don't scrapbook, so this is my way of remembering all the fun stuff we do as a family. I plan on printing out each year of my blog so that we can look back and see/read about what went on that year.

And because I can't end any post without a picture, here are a couple favorites from our recent vacation to the beach...

The reaction we get when
giving Miss E a popsicle

All About Me

I'm linking up with Jenna's Journey this week for her 3rd annual commenting challenge. Each day she will have different topics to blog about, and today's is introducing yourself. :) So here goes...

Photo by Natale Blazei Photography

My name is Jennifer and I live with my husband of (almost) four years, Alan, and daughter, Elizabeth, in Texas. I am also pregnant with our second, a little boy, who is due November 3! We have two Yorkies, Gracie and King, who pretty much rule the roost with Elizabeth.

While I was working on master's at Texas A&M, I taught at the preschool at Central Baptist Church. It was the best job ever! I loved all of my co-workers, and the students and their parents were the best! We moved  in January of 2010 and I wasn't able to find a teaching position in our new city. It all worked out great, though, because I found out I was pregnant with our first that summer!

Elizabeth was born 11 days after her due date, on March 26, 2011. On March 30, we took her to a routine pediatrician check-up and she was doing well (minus a little bit of weight loss), but shortly after that, we rushed her to the ER. She was diagnosed with a bacterial infection and it was an extremely scary time! Luckily, we live close to Texas Children's Hospital and they took GREAT care of Elizabeth! You can read the all of the details here.

Elizabeth is now doing great and is a very active 15 month old. She and her little brother will be 19 months apart! Life is busy and fun as a stay at home mom of one, and I can't wait to see what is in store when our little man arrives in November!

Wordless Wednesday -playing outside

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