Happy Birthday, Ava!

We celebrated Ava's 3rd birthday at Premier Athletics last weekend. Payton had so much fun running, jumping, flipping, and having all the freedom that she wanted. Ava, thanks for letting us celebrate your birthday with you!

Granny's 80th!

We celebrated Granny's 80th birthday at the lake last weekend! It was great to hang out and celebrate such a big day. Enjoy the pictures. (Be sure to see below, I am on roll posting today!)

Big Girls

I stole my parent's camera to get some pictures off of it that I didn't have. After looking through the 1,500 pictures on their SD card, I couldn't help but post these. Here is a picture from the first day of preschool in August, and the last day in May. It is so crazy how much they have grown!!
August 2010



May 2011

Sweet family and friends

My sweet family hosted a baby shower for us last week. I have to say that I was and still am overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity of everyone there (and those who were unable to make it). Sweet baby girl is so lucky to have so many people to show their love and excitement for her upcoming arrival. We got several things that we needed, but most importantly, enjoyed a wonderful night with some of the people we love the most. I have to say, it was a little crazy with 5 kids under the age of two present, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Payton had been looking forward to the "party" for days. Bamama even took her shopping for some necessities....pacifiers, a new book, a sock monkey, etc. If you ask Payton what all we got at the shower, she would only name the things that she gave to her. Overall, we got lots of wonderful goodies that will be useful in the coming weeks! Thank you so much to my sweet aunts and cousins who helped host the shower. Everything was amazing!

Big Sister in Training

Let the countdown begin

It is now less than a month away before baby Wood makes her debut! We are so ready to hold her in our arms and get used to a new kind of crazy "normal." I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about the adjustment to how two kids is going to go. However, I just remind myself that we're just going to go with the flow like we have done with everything else. Payton is so excited about having a baby in the house. I told her the other day that she is going to sit in the backseat of the car with her in her baby seat. She has been talking about it non stop! We'll see if she's still excited when she has to sit back there with her when she's crying. HA! I've been slowly trying to pull things out so it's not such a shock to her when we all of a sudden come home with a baby and all of her gear. We shall see!

In the meantime, Payton and I have been loving every minute of summer. I've been trying to stay somewhat busy and get out as much as possible while it's still relatively easy. We've spent time swimming, hanging out with Aunt Ashley, napping, and anything else that we can find to keep ourselves busy. I don't know that I can say that I have really been "nesting." I was in a panic to get her clothes back to our house from my parent's house and get them washed. Ever since I got that accomplished, I've been pretty relaxed about the rest. I'm trying to get a few things done ahead of time for my maternity leave in the fall, but other than that, we're just enjoying our time together. I've tried to really cherish this time that Payton and I have to spend together. I've enjoyed extra cuddles when she's willing to give them, reading with her without being interrupted, building castles, and anything else that comes our way. I realize that this undivided attention that she's getting right now may make it all that much harder when baby sister gets here. Oh well, I have to enjoy it while I can.

26 days...

Memorial Day Weekend

We spent Memorial Day weekend at the lake enjoying the sunshine, visiting with friends and family, and doing a whole lot of playing. Payton is still recovering from all of the excitement. She has had so much anticipation about going to the lake. We've talked about riding the golf cart, swimming at the beach, riding the jet ski and boat, fishing, and the list goes on. When we got there Saturday morning she was so ready to get it on the action. Saturday a lot of my family came up and Payton and Emmerson got to play together. Payton absolutely loved swimming at the beach where she could touch, play in the waves, and build sandcastles. Pawpaw even came down and got to spend some time with us! Paxton and Barrett also came over on Sunday, but I didn't manage to take any pictures past Saturday. On Sunday and Monday, some of Jonathan's family came up. We had a great time. Thank you to everyone who came and made the weekend so much fun!