Just catching up

Nothing major to report, and this is a first for me...a post without pictures! But I just thought I'd catch everyone up on the little stuff and include some cute Catherine and Will stories.

• Will had his first run-in with the police the other week. We were downstairs in the bonus room playing and heard a knock at the door. Jay went upstairs to find a policeman. Apparently, Will called 911. He had gotten the phone off the hook a few minutes earlier and in his random number dialing, called the police.
• The other night I got them out of the bath tub. Jay was out of town, so I was doing my best to get everyone dried off and ready for bed quickly. This is when they think it's best to be super silly. So Will kept running around naked and Catherine kept saying "Will, don't go pee-pee." He then ran back into the bathroom and promptly peed all over the floor. We all actually thought that was funny. So I told them to stand still while I got a towel to clean up. Before I could do that though, Will ran right through the pee, slipped and fell in the middle of it. Now they're both crying and he's completely covered in pee. But I still thought it was funny!
• I love how Catherine phrases things or still gets a few words messed up. For example, she likes to put Vasoline on her lips, but she calls is "gasoline". She informed the other day that Daddy is tall and Mommy is low (I'm assuming she means short). And her new thing to tell us about every morning is what she dreamed the night before. It's usually about mommy or daddy or heaven.
• Will is doing much better with his speech. He's working on putting 2 and 3 words together at a time. His favorite 3 word phrase is "I don't know." It's really cute when he says it. We are having him seen by an ENT in November to have his hearing checked and make sure there are no physical abnormalities in the back of his throat or mouth that would be causing his speech to be slower than expected. I expect that it will be fine, but we just want to be sure.
• Catherine LOVES her dance lessons each week. She is so excited to show us what she has learned--plies, first position, her stretches, etc. It's definitely one of the highlights of her week. Jay took Tuesday afternoon off work this week to take her dance lessons and she was so thrilled about Daddy going with her. It was precious.
• Catherine and Will are both very excited about the baby in mommy's tummy. Will often wants to pray for the baby at night and loves to give it kisses and blow raspberries on my tummy. Catherine is fascinated by the whole process and she has babies in her tummy almost every day. She pretends that she's having baby showers, going to the doctor, picks out names, etc. It's so encouraging to see them excited about God growing our family. We'll be 16 weeks this weekend and are thrilled for this new little one.
• Jay and I are headed out of town this weekend for our fall weekend away. Mimi and PopPop will be here with the kids. I love having some time with just my husband. He's my favorite person in the world!

I'll post more (including pictures) soon. Happy Fall!

Will's Birthday Party

We had a little birthday party for Will this morning with my family. We just enjoyed some time outside in the yard playing with his t-ball set, tennis racket, soccer balls, and any other kind of sports stuff we could find. Will had a great time!

He really enjoyed having his cousins here. These are Amanda's daughters--Kennedy, Maddyson, and Brooklynn. Riley was here too. Will will be excited when he new baby boy cousin arrives next year and he's not the only boy.

Will quickly blew out his birthday candles. These are his "baseball" cupcakes.

He really liked eating the cupcakes!

We had a great time celebrating Will's birthday.

Will is 2!

Will turned 2 years old yesterday! It's really hard to believe that he's 2. He's such a fun little guy and was super excited about his special day. He was at his preschool, so we celebrated by having some special birthday cookies with his class. He loved blowing out the candle and his birthday sticker and balloon. It's so much fun to watch the excitement in his eyes.

He was also very excited about his birthday presents. He was checking out all of the balls on the wrapping paper beforehand. I think he thought that was the present part.

Every time we asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said "nennis" (tennis). So we got the smallest tennis racket we could find and he is thrilled. Jay was a very good tennis player and is excited to teach Will how to play. He also got a t-ball set, a little school bus, and a remote control airplane. He has had lots of fun playing with his new toys today. We're having a little birthday party for him tomorrow with my family, so we'll have more to share later.

Happy Birthday little guy! We love you!

Sky Top Apples

Nothing says fall like apple picking! We went to Sky Top orchard in Flat Rock on Monday with Jill and Eddie. It was finally a beautiful sunny (and very windy) day after all the rain we've had. The kids had a great time exploring the orchards, playing in their playhouses, going for a hayride, seeing the little petting zoo, and of course, getting an apple or two.

One of the best things at Sky Top are the apple cider donuts they make. All of the kids (and mommies) really liked the donuts! yum yum!

Fancy Nancy Party at Chick-fil-A

Today, Catherine and I went to a Fancy Nancy tea party at Chick-fil-A. Fancy Nancy is one of her favorite characters. We have books, puzzles, a doll, dress-up clothes. It was a really cute event. They had the restaurant all decorated with table cloths and balloons. The fancy little girls got to decorate their silverware with rhinestones and gems, decorate butterfly placemats with stickers, and make beautiful necklaces. They had lemonade in teacups and little cinnamon rolls. For lunch they were served chicken nuggets, fries, and fruit on a beautiful pink plate and then had a "parfait" (ice cream with sprinkles) for dessert. Catherine thought the whole thing was wonderful and looked beautiful in her fancy dress. How fun!

First Days of School

Catherine and Will started their preschool a week or so ago. Catherine was so excited to start back and see her friends. She missed them this summer. She thinks school is fantastic and is ready to go! I can't believe she's already in K3. I'm okay with her at school for 2 mornings a week, but I'm already thinking about how it won't be long until she goes to school every day, and that makes me both sad and excited that she's growing so fast.

Will is also going to preschool two mornings a week this year. He is very excited about the idea of it and super excited about his lunch box (it looks like a dog). He was not excited though when he realized that Mommy isn't staying with him at school. So we're working on that. It may just take a few days for him to be comfortable with the separation after not really being separated from me all summer.

Their program is great and I think is really good for both of them. And we're thankful to be getting back into a routine for the fall.

Happy Labor Day

We enjoyed a great labor day just running some errands and doing things around the house. We did head to Chick-fil-A for lunch to get our free chicken sandwiches. If you wore a shirt for your favorite sports team, you got a free sandwich. So Jay had his Marshall shirt, I wore Furman, and Will had this really cute football jersey for the Navy that Jay's aunt gave him. He looked so cute and like a little football player himself, I couldn't resist taking his picture! (Catherine didn't want to wear a football shirt; she wanted to get all "fancied up"--surprise, surprise. So she and Will just shared his sandwich.)


This is what Will does when you tell him to smile for the camera. He smiles so much he closes his eyes.

Such a big and strong boy!

Such a beautiful little girl!