Brandon and Cheryl

The following weekend (April 6) we headed to Atlanta to celebrate Brandon and Cheryl get married! The weather was absolutely beautiful for an outdoor event and the venue and decorations were just perfect!

Reception time! The little girls were in awe of watching the bride and groom dance their first dance. They were anxiously awaiting their turn on the dance floor.

Harper ate lots of fruit and took it all in.

I don't think Payton sat down the entire three hours of the reception. She had such a great time!

Even Great Bamama made an appearance on the dance floor.

Later in the night, several of the bridesmaids dancing were holding their kids because everyone was getting so tired. Cheryl said she needed a baby to hold so we gave her Harper. She wasn't so sure!

We wish Brandon and Cheryl the best in the future as Mr. and Mrs. Reed!

Easter

We started Easter activities on Saturday night dying eggs at Nana and Pops house. Both girls took it very seriously.

We got up the next morning and made it to early church. Payton spied what the Easter bunny left just before we got out the door. Harper wasn't interested at all because she wasn't quite ready to get up and going. Instead, Payton told Harper all about the fun things she got. They both got new swimsuits. Payton got a t-ball set and Harper got a bubble gun like Payton's so now they can each have one.

After church I attempted pictures in the front yard. It was really sun at that time and the girls of course weren't wanting to cooperate.

I was trying to get Harper to look at me so I told her to play peek-a-boo. This is what I got from Payton.

After naps we went to Nana and Pop's house for an egg hunt and Easter dinner. Harper was a pro at egg hunting at this point and took it just as seriously as the big kids. 

Emmerson's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Emmerson's third birthday the Saturday before Easter at Frog Legs. That place really stresses me out, but thankfully they were really slow so even Harper got to play around a little. 

The best picture Jonathan got of the birthday girl. It was her party, can you blame her for chowing down on cake?

Our little gardeners

The day after we got home from our trip, we wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather with the girls and spend some quality time with them. Payton asked her Daddy to go to Lowe's and buy some pink flowers to plant. And that's just what he did. These great helpers loved getting their hands dirty to make our front yard look pretty.

Payton assigned everyone a different job to do so that we could all work together.

Harper lost interest for a little while and found her fire truck instead.

Hard at work.

I didn't take a picture of the finished product, but we now have beautiful pink flowers at the entrance of our front door!

Getaway!

You may remember that Jonathan surprised me with a trip to Mexico for Christmas. Over my spring break we left the kids for 5 nights to get away. We left Payton when she was 3 months old for 4 days or so to go to Vegas, but other than that we haven't been away from them for longer than a night and that was usually just to leave them at a grandmother's house at 8pm and pick them up at 10am. You get the point, this momma was anxious! I knew we needed some alone time, but goodness it was hard. I may or may not have cried when we left them at the airport. All I can say is thank goodness for technology and face time. We were able to talk to them several times a day. I'm not sure they missed us at all because they were having so much fun at Nana and Pop's house. Of course that was nice to know they were having a great time. In the meantime we enjoyed 75-85 degree weather while it was in the 40's in Auburn. The water was absolutely gorgeous...crystal clear and prettier than I've seen anywhere. Jonathan even spent some time laying in the sun with me and enjoying peaceful rest that we don't get very often. It was certainly strange to go to dinner and not feed a child first. We had a great time and enjoyed the relaxation and great conversations. I can't say that we did too much other than sleep, lay in the sun, eat, and shop. I don't think I anticipated just how much it would stink not being able to drink, especially when staying at an all inclusive. Jonathan enjoyed some delicious looking Mexican margaritas for me. Of course baby boy is completely worth it! We did go snorkeling one day which was a lot of fun. They took us out to two different reefs and it was really neat. I would be lying if I said that we weren't ready to get home to the girls, but I think Jonathan would agree that it was a wonderful and much needed vacation. I am so thankful for the extra time to spend together and so thankful for Nana and Pop to watch the girls so we didn't have to worry about them a minute. Maybe we'll get another vacation like that in 10 years.

20 Weeks

Half way. Wow. Some moments I wish he was here now, and then the next I think that we really need these next few months to get ready to be a family of five. I went back to the doctor yesterday and the heart rate was 157. The nurse said it sure sounded like a girl's heart rate. Ha! Anyways, I guess I am going to have to finally accept my new due date. I measured right at 20 weeks yesterday. I told him that I knew for sure I would be measuring big since I feel way larger than I was even with Harper. He just assured me that was the third pregnancy. Nice! Thankfully, I have continued to feel great and it had been a very smooth pregnancy. I have started feeling him move more frequently which is so much fun! The girls love to hug and kiss on baby brother and Payton reminds me often that we need to go shopping for boy toys. I keep telling her we have plenty of time! Only 20 more weeks to go!

Easter Chapel

Payton had an Easter chapel and egg hunt at preschool the day before spring break. I was so proud of her participation! You may remember that she did well at the Christmas program, but not so much at the Thanksgiving. She is getting to be such a big girl and you can really tell at times like this! They came in singing "Sing Hosanna!" with the palm branches.

She was paying such great attention to her teacher.

Her class also sang "Oh, How I Love Jesus". I was so proud when she was answering questions that Mrs. Rachel was asking during the chapel. Afterwards, we headed to the "ball room" for the egg hunt. 

It was rather chilly that day so they moved it inside.

Ready to go!

Sweet friends enjoying their picnic lunch.