Our new addition

Life has been a little crazy since our precious Annie Thatcher arrived. I've found myself napping (trying to recover from the sleepless nights) if I ever have any free time during the day...which is not often. That is why it has taken me so long to blog about Annie Thatcher.

Annie Thatcher was born August 16, 2011 at 8:27am. She was 7lbs 5oz and 20.5 inches long. I was scheduled to be induced that morning, but Annie decided to come on her own, with the contractions starting during my date with Eliot at Dianne's on Devine (a really nice restaurant in Columbia). I remember feeling the contractions and timing them throughout our dinner. When I realized that they were probably the "real thing" I texted my mom (who was already at my house watching Bradford) that it had begun...but told her I was staying through dessert. If you have ever tasted Dianne's Toffee Crunch Cookie Sundae, then you would have stayed too.

Below is a picture of Annie the day she was born. Such a precious gift from God. "Praise God from whom all blessings flow..."

Cherry Grove 2011

Shannon's (my new sister-in-law) family has a house at Cherry Grove Beach, just north of Myrtle Beach and they offered to let our family use it for a week this summer. We all marked our calendars for June 9-15 and were looking forward to a fun and relaxing week.

          Bradford was excited to ride the waves....

...build sand castles with daddy...

 ...and with Grandpa...



..steal Aunt Shannon's chair...

 ...and her hat...

 ...watch the big boys play horseshoes...

...interrupt their game of corn hole....

...hang out with his Grandma and Grandpa...

...and his mommy and baby sister.

     It was a wonderful last vacation as our family of three. Baby Girl, we look forward to many vacations in the future as a family of four! It was also the last vacation of traveling as a family in our Camry. From now on, we will take the minivan!

Isle of Palms

Ever since I have been "in the picture" with Eliot, the Peace family has only gone to the beach for long weekends. This year, we all got a nice treat in honor of Mr. Peace's 60th birthday. We all checked our schedules and found a week where we all (yes, even Madison who lives in NYC) could go to the beach for an entire week together. We went to the Isle of Palms and stayed in a house complete with everything we could possibly need for an enjoyable beach trip, even a room full of toys for the boys.

It was so much fun watching Bradford really enjoy the beach. Last year, he mostly just took naps in the sun tent. This year, he was all over the place.

Malcolm and Bradford loved taking rides in the golf cart.

Playing in the sand...

                                                                        

The water...

The cool sunglasses...

Lounging in the beach chairs while sipping on some ice cold apple juice....

Jumping the waves with daddy and granddaddy...

And even being hit by the waves.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching every moment and I look forward to seeing him at the beach with my family in a couple weeks.

Baby Girl's Nursery

Baby Girl Peace only has six weeks until her anticipated arrival. She is kicking and punching like crazy, which must mean she can't wait to get out and come meet us. I am excited beyond words of having a daughter. I love all the little pink things, the hair bows, the jewelry, the baby dolls, and all the cute clothes.

Eliot and I had many long discussions as to whether she would get her own room or share with Bradford. We finally decided that, for now, they will have separate rooms. At least until she is sleeping through the night, like Bradford. So, for now, her room is a combination of a nursery and the guest room. If anyone needs a place to stay, she will just transition to our room and sleep in the pac-n-play. And, I imagine, that for the first 4-6 weeks she will be in our room all night...if she eats anything like her big brother did.

Here is the view from the hallway. Notice the antique pink arm chair that was given to me by my parents. It was given to my mom by my grandfather. I'm so excited to use it in her room.

This is her crib (Wal-Mart $99), bedding (Pottery Barn Outlet $50), and wall decal (Kohl's $12).  I'm not quite sure about the wall decal, but thankfully it will just peel off if I choose to remove it. The wonderful Aunt Madi is quite the artist and one of her paintings might end up replacing the decal.

I am so excited about her hair bows. I just hope she has enough hair so she can wear them. If not, I'll be pulling out the head bands.

Here is some wall art I made to fill in some empty space on the wall.

Now, all we need is Baby Girl Peace to complete the nursery. Six more weeks...

Mother's Day 2011

Well, this was a special yet sad Mother’s Day for me. It was special because I have a handsome son of 15 months and a little girl kicking within the womb. "Double the love” as my cousin says. Yet, sad because we just buried my grandmother, the last surviving grandparent that I had. My grandmother, Carolyn Young, lived to be 89 years old and passed away four days before Mother’s Day. It was weird not going to visit her on Sunday and taking her flowers. Instead, I was going home with beautiful pink peonies that the women at her church gave to me after her funeral.

These flowers remind me of my grandmother. She always loved the color pink and she especially loved flowers. Most of my memories at her house included beautiful flowers on her dining room table. She took great pride in keeping her house clean and having beautiful flowers to brighten the room. Maybe that’s why I love having flowers on my kitchen table.

We spent Mother’s Day morning with my mom. All of the family had been home for the funeral and were able to stay to celebrate Mother’s Day together. We had yummy waffles, which have become a staple on Sunday mornings for my family as well as Eliot’s. Then, we went to church, where it was Youth Sunday at Westminster. Ryan participated in the service; however, I got there too late to hear him say the Assurance of Pardon. Sorry Ryan. After church, we had an enormous and delicious lunch at the Country Club. Even Bradford ate a lot. After lunch we packed up and headed back to Columbia to have Mother’s Day with just our family. Bradford gave me a gift certificate to have a Prenatal Massage at Urban Nirvana and his other gift to me got lost in the mail. Apparently, he ordered me the new Laura Story cd (which I have been dying to get) but he accidentally had it shipped to our old address. We went to our old duplex and left a note. The current tenant called back to say she wrote “no longer lives here” on the package and sent it off in the mail. I sure hope it turns up soon. This was followed by a short trip to Sandhills and then dinner at Chipotle. I then convinced Eliot to run in to Fresh Market to get us some cookies. With our yummy cookie and a glass of milk we turned on a movie. What a wonderful Mother’s Day! I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful son and husband who spoil me rotten!

I love being a mother and I am so blessed to have such wonderful mothers in my life to show me the way. I could not ask for a better mom, mother-in-law, nor grandmothers. Every one of them have made a huge influence on my life and have shown me by their examples how to be a good mother. Motherhood is a blessing. It is a blessing I will always cherish.

25 Weeks and Counting...

      This past weekend marked the 25 week mark in the pregnancy with Baby Girl. I wish Baby Girl had her real name already, but her daddy and I just cannot decide on the perfect name for our perfect daughter.
     
      However, we do have a nice list of potentials. Hopefully, we will know which one it will be before she enters this world--which means we only have 15 weeks. And those 15 weeks will fly by, as the summer always seems to do.

      Here is a picture of me at 24 weeks pregnant. It was taken over Easter weekend, and we were in Greenwood celebrating with the Peace family. Mrs. Peace arranged for a photographer, the wonderful Caroline Jackson, to come take some pictures of the entire family. All of the pictures on this blog post are Caroline's photographs. Thanks Caroline!

      I have just recently transitioned to my lovely maternity wardrobe and have only gained 6 lbs. At this point in the pregnancy with Bradford, I had already been in maternity clothes for at least two months and had gained a total of 15 pounds.  Eliot says it is because she is a girl and is dainty. However, being that I am almost 5’11’’ I highly doubt any child of mine will be “dainty.”

     This pregnancy has been relatively easy thus far, and some days I even have to remind myself that I'm pregnant. The morning sickness is thankfully in the past--but the nighttime leg cramps and heart burn have made their debut into my normal routine. One night the leg cramps were so bad I wanted to take myself to the ER, but I knew I would just be laughed at . . . so I stayed put, ate a banana, and whined to Eliot.

      Bradford is busy getting ready to be a big brother. He is walking and talking. Well, talking his limited vocabulary of only four words. He is super excited about having a sister, can’t you tell…

    We love Bradford and cannot wait for our family of three to become a family of four when Baby Girl joins us in August!

With My Own Two Feet

          This day has been anticipated for a long time, the day Bradford would take some unassisted steps. For several weeks, even months he has been walking around pushing his walker out in front of him, pushing a chair, holding a hand of someone else, and even going from one piece of furniture to the next. But never would he take a step without holding on to something or someone. He was scared to let go and uncertain that he really could walk by himself.

         So, my smart husband made a little game out of it. We were in Charleston and stopped at Waterfront Park to lounge in the grassy area for a while. Eliot sat down and held his arms out, in front of him, hoping Bradford would run into his arms…and he did! 

Well, not the running part, but he walked 5 steps into daddy’s arms before tackling him...

and making him fall backwards. 

Woohoo! So,  Bradford can walk. Now, we have exactly two months to perfect this walking thing before he has to walk down the aisle, as the ring bearer, at Uncle Michael and Shannon’s wedding.

Half Way

     This Saturday marks 20 weeks with the pregnancy of Baby Girl.  We have known she is a “she” for only two days and she already has the cutest Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag, a crib (thanks to my cousin Kathryn), six dresses, three sweaters, two pair of shoes and a pink and white lamb lovie.  Can you imagine how much stuff she will have when she arrives?  I should have known it would be like this if I ever had a girl.  However, don’t freak and think I have gone on a shopping spree.  The $180 diaper bag was a major steal for only $25 at a local consignment shop.  The crib was being given away by my cousin’s neighbor, so …free!  The pink and white lamb lovie was actually a gift to Bradford, but I thought it was too girly for him so I saved it for a girl.  And the rest, I got yesterday at the Columbia Tot Trade.  I’m pretty proud of myself to be honest.  Now, we just need to clear out a room in the house for her.  The question, though, is which room?

     Baby Girl is 20 weeks and about the size of a cantaloupe (6.5 inches long and approximately 10-11 oz.).  According to an online article on pregnancy, I should have gained 10 lbs by now, but thanks to morning sickness and chasing two one- year- olds around, I am at a weight gain of zero.  Yes, I have a “baby bump“, but according to the doctor I lost the three pounds I had worked so hard to put on (ice cream, subs, an entire 8x8 pan of brownies, etc…).   I know I am supposed to eat healthy, but hearing that only makes me want to eat more of the things I don’t normally allow myself to eat.  Thanks doctor.

It's a ......

For weeks I have been wondering if this baby in my belly was a boy or a girl. Finally, today was the day that question was answered. I packed Bradford up and took him to a friend’s house where he played while Eliot and I went to find out the gender.

We walked in the ultrasound room and the lady told me to have a seat on the table. She pulled out the “magic wand” and placed it on my stomach. Now, when we went to find out the gender of Bradford, I knew the answer as soon as the wand hit my stomach. Bradford was not shy in hiding his male parts. This time, I studied the screen hard and thought I was looking at another boy. The lady, however, decided to measure every little body part before searching for the gender. We saw two arms, two legs, four chambers of the heart, two kidneys, a bladder, ten fingers, ten toes, and the cutest little nose since Bradford. Then, it was time. She positioned it to search for the gender.

Our question was answered and tears filled my eyes. 

IT’S A GIRL! 

Not only did I win our in-home bet on whether it was a boy or girl, but I won the opportunity to be a mother to a daughter.

So, now I must try to refrain from buying every cute little pink outfit and all the pearls I lay my eyes on. This little girl will be spoiled. But I have a feeling, it’s going to be by her father.

A Weekend Away

As our trip to Charlottesville, VA approached I became overwhelmed with anxiety over leaving Bradford for the first time. I had never been away from him for more than a few hours and never over night. This trip required three days and three nights at a distance of six hours away: not a good type of trip to be the first one away from our baby.

I never doubted that Bradford would be in good hands. I knew Grandma and Grandpa would take really good care of him and even spoil him. I just didn’t want to leave him. He is my wake-up call every morning and my little bundle of joy.

I only teared up three times, yet I think I must have looked at every picture of him on my laptop including some videos and called to check up on him and hear his voice three times a day. A little overboard?  Probably. But, I survived, and we had a good trip.

I had forgotten what it was like to stay out late, to wake up when I want to, and to eat a full meal in peace and quiet.  I also enjoyed all my grown-up conversations with Eliot and our friends.

We stayed at a little house surrounded by a beautiful mountain view and even a lake (they called it a lake, but it looked more like a pond).  The décor of the house looked like something out of Restoration Hardware and it even came complete with a ping pong table. So, of course ping pong games were part of the daily agenda. I thought I was pretty good. Anna, however, humbled me. I still blame my ping pong losses on her 120 pound Great Dane that kept bumping into me as I played.  Sophia just wanted to be a part of the game I suppose.

 

The entire purpose of the trip was for Eliot and his friend to attend the Federalist Society conference. While the guys attended panels and symposiums, Anna and I shopped. While I say “shopped,” I really mean window-shopped. Shopping with a budget of $2.50 was a little hard. We did tour the “famous” Pedestrian Mall in down town Charlottesville and then attempted to find a real mall. Instead, we just found another outdoor shopping center, but at least this one had normal stores that we had heard of before.

Now, this was a short trip, so we took advantage of our drive home and turned it into a sight-seeing, educational time. Eliot took me to the Rotunda (designed by Thomas Jefferson), Monticello  (Thomas Jefferson’s home), and even the Appomattox Courthouse (where the surrender of the Civil War took place).  Therefore, Bradford’s souvenir from our trip was a children’s book about Thomas Jefferson.  I wonder if he will love history as much as his father.  

 

The Rotunda

Appomattox Courthouse

Statue of Thomas Jefferson

As we got closer and closer to Columbia we began counting down the miles and minutes until we got to see Bradford. When we pulled up into the parking lot of the restaurant where we were meeting my family and Bradford; I jumped out of the car and ran inside to see him. He, however, did not seem as excited to see me. Sadly, he looked at me as if he didn’t know me. When I held him, he reached for my parents. It was heart breaking. I guess that is my punishment for leaving him. Therefore, I will never leave Bradford again…well, not in the near future at least.