Weekend Re-Cap

This past weekend was pretty laid back... lots of working around the house. Matt has been busy building shelves in the garage (LOVE my handy man!!) so the the clothes bins, bicycles, tools, everything has a place. And it's not in a pile in the middle! :)    Thursday night we went swimming over at my mom's pool... it was Ella's first official time in the pool and she LOVED it!  Ethan is still as unsure as ever... he is always SO cautious, especially around water. Most days showers are a forced event... with one of us having to hold in the water the whole time.... the other kids we have to use our hands to drag them out! :)    We met my Mom & Dad there, and ordered pizzas and let the kids swim a bunch of energy out and then Savannah, Eli and Lucy went to spend the night at MawMaws.  What a wonderful bedtime break! I laughed that night thinking to myself how excited I was to "only" have 2 kids, even the littlest ones at that! That must mean we have a bunch of littles running around when 2 is a break (when that's still more than the "typical" family has!).  Bedtime was super easy, both babies laid straight down and slept all night. What a blessing both spending some quiet time with my husband was, and solid sleep for a few hours!  A good time was had by all!
   Saturday was spent around the house mostly, working on some projects. We did run to town for a few errands and found our way back at my favorite sno-cone hut for a little refreshing. I don't know how that happened! :)   Sunday was Church in the am, then later we went and got a new (to us!) crib for the new baby! Exciting!  I am 30 weeks this week - SO hard to believe and the "big" day will be here before we know it!  Can't wait to meet this little person and put a name to him or her! :)   I'm so thankful there has never been a major disagreement over names between us - we know some people who are seriously in a pretty heated debate over their next babies name, and they are not even pregnant yet!  Lol .  Crazy!   I mean sure, there are some I like he doesn't and vice versa, but we always come to a compromise. At least before delivery day :)    Sunday afternoon S, E, & L had Bible Fact Finders and then we all had worship. Of course we had to play "wall ball" after service - Eli's new favorite thing EVER.  It's very complicated - all the young (and some not so young!) boys stand in the grass and throw a tennis ball at the wall. Serious stuff here folks. At least to the boys that play it. Eli even asks to wear certain shoes/socks/shorts based on their "fastness" for him to play in. :)   Love it!    After church the Sims family came over to look at the "supermoon" we had last night.  We certainly enjoyed their company as usual, and the kids loved having them over as well!   I am still amazed every time I look through the telescope... God was so amazing in His detail! If you have never seen the moon, Saturn or ring galaxies through a telescope, you seriously need too!  It is truly breathtaking!  Today, Monday, Savannah was up at Church with the K-3 group helping to pull weeds around the playground, and in the flower beds. She was a very hard worker! And they rewarded her with 3 popsicles. :)   Afterwards we headed to Costco to pick up the cake for tonight's team party. Matt's two baseball teams, the Dixie Darlings and the Bad News Bears are having their end of the year party tonight. Everyone is super excited!  It is at the Scottsboro splash pad... so awesome if you have never been!!. So looking forward to seeing everyone, enjoying watching them play in the water, eat some cake and ice cream and celebrate baseball being over  :)

4 years, 11 days

So it's been 4 years, 11 days since I have written a blog post. Wow!  I have thought often, desired much about writing but have let "life" stop me...   or something!   So much has happened there will be no way of recapping everything... but one reason I desire to blog again is not for others, but for myself. Every time I look through old pictures, I am always amazed at how fast the time is literally FLYING by!   My itty bitty girl I was posting about last time is now a big sister to almost 5 siblings, and she is a very busy, active, amazing tender hearted 6 year old girl. And I don't want to forget a moment of this, nor any of the moments with the other kids. The good...the bad...and the ugly, I want to remember it all! I am SO beyond blessed by this life and I see it passing all too quickly! I want to remember the funny things they say...  all their little "quirks"...  and so I want to start blogging about daily life again.  It will probably be boring to anyone else who stumbles across this... but it's my life. Our life. And I want to remember every detail of it!  :)     Here is to daily blogging! 

Just one of those days!!

Yesterday was just one of those days! I thought it would never end, or would I live to even see the end of it?!  Potty training a stubborn 2 year old and having a newborn is beginning to not seem like the smartest idea that I have had.  Savannah has been going on the potty since she was 18 months... just not consistently. So yesterday we "gave " Eli her diapers because he is a baby and needed them.  After hours of screaming (from both kids, non the less - why is that, when one cries the other feels obliged to chime in??) she knew I wasn't giving in. And so she stopped crying, but her mischievous side kicked in. I was trying anything to take her mind off of not wearing a diaper, so I let her paint with her water colors in the kitchen. Well, Eli decided in the middle of that to be hungry, so I stepped into the living room to feed him. So I just got that Mom gut feeling to check on her, and I could NOT believe what she was doing. First off, this child has painted hundreds of times before.. this was not her first go at it. But today was special...  today was the day she decided to drink her "paint water"... oh my!  Thankfully it was non-toxic, so one short call to the Poison Control just to be sure later, all she had from it was a very colorful circle around her mouth. Only my child.  As if that was not enough, while I on the phone with Poison Control, she peed all over the seat cushion on the table, into the floor, and of course soaking her 20th pair of clothes for that day. Ok, maybe not 20th, but at least 5th! So the day goes on, with accident after accident and crying child after another and by lunch I was ready to give up - but I stayed strong! I am SO ready for her to be out of diapers... and if we could have a good hang of it before 4th of July beach trip, that would be GREAT!    We made it to lunch, and then things went down hill, again. I was cleaning up an accident that she had in our bedroom, and I was using the resolve. Well, it was my fault that I left the bottle in her reach while I took her clothes to the laundry room, and boy did I pay for it. She comes running down the hall, EYES BURN, EYES BURN!! Yes, my beloved child sprayed resolve in her own face! I think, if I call poison control again today, Child services will surely be knocking at my door any minute! So I poured lots of water on her face, made her drink, and gave her a quick shower.  SIgh... ok, done with THAT. Or so I thought! Savannah then began to show me that before she sprayed her self, she did some cleaning of her own. She had sprayed Resolve all on the carpet, the WALL, her quilt on her bed, the hardwood floors,.. it was everywhere!! I was beyond frustrated! And of course, Eli was crying needed something during all this, adding to my stress. Again, I thought, will this day EVER end?!  After a very desperate prayer, Savannah and Eli both laid down for a nap. Ah... silence. Thankfully, no other major episodes happened, and I did make it to the end of that day. Savannah even went potty while we were out to dinner.  There just might be hope after all!  

Close to meeting our new angel!!

I am so excited (and nervous, too!) that this week sometime we will be meeting our new angel!!  My Dr. has scheduled to induce me on Thursday, April the 9th, if I do not go into labor on my own before then - how exciting!!!  I have been having many symptoms that make me think it's getting really close, but who knows!  I can't wait to share pictures of our new little one, as well as the name!!  Pray that all goes smoothly for us, and the new baby, and for Savannah, too! She is going to have a big change this week!  She seems to be catching a cold (sigh) so I pray that she gets better before the new baby gets here, too, and that neither Mommy or Daddy get sick from her.  In just 4 short days we will be a family of 4!!! 

A Beach Get-A-Way & The National Peanut Festival

We had been planning on going down to the Peanut Festival in Dothan, AL for quite some time... it's one of our favorite yearly events that we look forward too. As the weekend grew closer, we began talking about the MAJOR calling the Beach was doing to both of us, and so we left Thursday afternoon and headed to Panama City Beach for a quick get-a-way. We both love the beach SO much... it is so calming & it always feels like home!  It was amazing to see how much Savannah had changed just since we were last there in July. 

Last time she really did not like the sand at all, and was not a big fan of the ocean, either (Mom & Dad were a little disapointed about that!) but this time she was running around in the sand and even ran into the water to play w/ her clothes on... and in 60ish degree weather! She had so much fun, and I love watching her have so much fun! 

 Matt also got to have a proud "Daddy moment" with Savannah...  I was in disbelief, but it was a cute bonding moment all the same...   

This is Matt & Savannah laying on the dock, having a spitting contest....  yes, this is every Mother's dream for the little girl....   :)

We also were lucky enough to be at the beach the same time the Ironman competetion was taking place...  all I can say is wow, what althletes!  They swam 2.4 miles, biked for 112 miles, and then ran for 26.2 miles...  talk about endurance!  Here is a quick look at some of the athletes

After leaving the Beach on Saturday morning, we were headed to Dothan for the Peanut Festival that night..  now, for those of you who have never heard of the Peanut Festival, hold back your laughter, please.  When Matt & I were first dating & he took me to this, I was like what in the world... a festival for a peanut??   This is a MAJOR deal in Dothan, and has people that come from all over the country.  It's like a good old fashioned fair, but so much more!  How happy I am that this has become a family tradition for us!     Savannah got to go on her first "big-girl" rides, which made Mommy a little sad...  but she had so much fun!  

Here she is on her first roller-coaster!  She was not sure at first, but then she started 

screaming & having a blast! 

So funny!

Savannah & Daddy riding "Dumbo"!   She loved this, too!  (Not as much as Matt did, though!)   :) 

Well, all great weekends must come to an end, and so on Sunday morning we headed back to Huntsville.  Matt's grandmother (his Mom's mom) lives in Dothan, also, and she has been in declining health (mostly mentally) for a while, and we are bringing her home with us to stay for a little bit.  She has one daughter that lives in Dothan that has been taking care of her basically around the clock for a while now, and we thought it would be nice to give her a little break. So Nanny is coming home with us. I hope that goes well...  honestly I am a little nervous! 

Where does the time go??

I can not believe that it's been 2 months since I last posted anything!!  Where does the time go to?  We have been so busy, and doing so much I think I have just been trying to keep up!   I promise I will try to do better...  :)

We went to Tucson the first of Sept. & we had a great time!  I know Matt loved returning to a place he loves so much, and I really enjoyed him showing me around & seeing the beautiful sights!  What a different side of the world, but how beautiful it was!  Savannah enjoyed seeing her Grandparents (Matt's mom & dad) and I know they enjoyed seeing her & spending time catching up on getting to know her little personality..   so much fun!

Savannah did so good 

on her first plane ride! She loved taking off & 

once we were in the air she fell asleep for a good portion of the trip!   While we were in Tucson we did LOTS of things, including going to the Zoo, the Airplane graveyard (where there is literally 

thousands of retired airplanes), we must have eaten 100 different times, seems like we were eating every 2 hours!  We spent lots of time in the pool, also which Savannah LOVED!  She has NO fear, which is not always the best thing!  She would just run & jump into the water, whether you were ready to catch her or not! 

We had Savannah baptized

 - finally!  We wanted both sides of our family to be able to be there for that, so it took some time to get everyone on the same side of the county at the same time!   We are so very thankful for our wonderful pastor and church family who made this day very special & meaningful! 

We also went to Veggie Tales Live while it was here in town, and Savannah seemed to have a great time!  We were not so sure if she would sit through it, but she was up dancing almost the entire time!     We had a full week of shows... Disney on Ice was that week, also.  Savannah had such a great time, and I love watching her see new things & seeing her reactions to them!  What a great show & a great time for all of us!

     

 

We went to Tate Farms this last week...  what a special family time we had!  I love it & c

an't wait to make a million more!  We are SO blessed!

Noah Lee Cantrell

He is here!!  Our beautiful, precious, and HEALTY new nephew, Noah Lee Cantrell!!!  He was born at 8:40am yesterday morning , weighing almost 5.5 lbs, and the Dr's say he is just perfect... I could have told them that!   He stole my heart the moment I looked at him, and I could not get enough of him!   I found myself missing him while I ran erronds yesterday afternoon, so we went back last night for more baby loving before our trip.... how on earth am I to make it a whole week without seeing/loving on him??    I think I just might be a proud Aunt.  :)     Speaking of our trip...Savannah has been "helping" me get packed. Here are some pictures:

                    

Well... last minute things must be done. Cleaning, hair cut, and last minute packing to do!   I will miss everyone until we return!!