Nashville

Last weekend we took a trip to Nashville. We went to visit Matt, Jessica and Patrick and to go to the USC/Vandy game to celebrate Matt's birthday. We had a great time. Alina and Patrick had a lot of fun playing together.

Here they are being cute in the back yard. They were playing in the leaves. It was really cute, but it was really hard to get two toddlers to pose.

Relaxing on Saturday morning

Game day: Tailgating at the house. You can't stop these guys!

Alina and Patrick also enjoyed tailgating.

We got a babysitter for the game and all headed out to watch Carolina beat Vanderbilt. Well, in the first half we weren't really sure if this was going to happen.

Matt, Dave, Chris and Jess enjoying the game

Mary Catherine and Douglas

On Sunday morning we went to church with Matt and Jess and then headed to brunch at a cute place in downtown Franklin. It was a short walk from the church, so the kids rode on their daddies shoulders.

After brunch, Alina and Patrick played in an 'alley' across the street. Putting them in a container is about the only way to get them to 'pose' together.

Beautiful stop on the way home

Apples!

My friend, Pauline (blog is Roger's Neighborhood on the left), went apple picking with her family last weekend and wanted to do some baking using apples this week. So we made one of my mom's pastries on Tuesday night. It was fun and the pastry was good!

Tons of apples!

Pauline in her kitchen

We improved my mom's recipe by making one of the pastries with apples AND cream cheese filling, it was delicious!

Waiting

So good!!!

Grandmas

My mom came to visit for about a week in late September. It was very helpful to have her around to take care of Alina and to help me around the house. At the end of that week, she took Alina to Texas with her, so I could get some more rest and Justin could get some more written. The following weekend I went to Texas for Lily's birthday and picked Alina up. Pictures of Lily's birthday will come soon, or you can check out Irina's blog:)

The week before Nina came, she and Gigi (Justin's mom) sent us a surprise package. Gigi sent some pajamas, which Alina loves. Here she is insisting that she can put them on!

Friends in Town

Last weekend our friends Matt and Jessica came in town from Nashville. Alina was so happy to have her friend Patrick to play with. While everyone was at the Furman v. Carolina game, I stayed home with Patrick and Alina. We had a blast! I was glad to stay home, because I've been pretty queasy, and having these two entertain one another was even easier!

A romantic Italian dinner, canned ravioli and green peas!

Taking a bath together was fun. Patrick helped me rinse Alina's hair.

They had so much fun in Alina's room. The took everything out and played with all of it. They especially had fun with the doll house. Alina would ring the doorbell and then she and Patrick would open and close the door. They were laughing so much!

The next day we had some fun outside. One of Alina's new favorite activities is to have Justin push her around in the wheel-barrow. She requested this and then wanted to share with Patrick.

Learning to play tailgate toss at a young age!

We love hanging out with our friends and are excited to go back to Nashville in October to visit and go to the USC v. Vandy game!

Soccer Game

On Saturday morning, Alina and I walked to the YMCA to watch Jesse's soccer game. It was a beautiful morning, perfect to be outside with friends.

Here's Jesse running after the ball, he is a great soccer player!

Alina insisted on sitting in Josaih's chair, which was perfect for her, luckily he was willing to share:)

Our friend Riley

Big Girl

So Alina wants to do everything like a big girl, and of course we encourage this, even though it means my baby is growing up way too fast. Justin has been working with her to wash her hands like a big girl, using a stool to get to the sink. Here is our big girl:)

She loves being a big girl, which makes us excited because we know she will be a wonderful big sister!

Our little kidney bean

On Tuesday we went to our first doctor's appointment for this pregnancy. We were excited to get an ultrasound and get to see our little kidney bean. They measured the baby at 19mm with a 150 beats/minute heartrate. This means everything is right on track. The due date is set for April 10th, adding one more to a month full of birthdays in our family!

Road Trip

Last weekend Alina and I went on a road trip to Atlant and Nashville. We had fun, but we also had some adventure!



In Atlanta, we visited Marcie and Chris and their new baby, Marianne, who is seven weeks old. It was fun to catch up with them and see the baby. Alina liked looking at her, but wasn't too sure what else to do.

On Saturday, we drove to Nashville to visit Matt, Jessica and Patrick and see their new house. This was the "adventure" part of our trip. Alina apparently got car sick during the trip and threw up about 4 times. Once in Arbys, then the Arby's bathroom then twice in the car. Traveling alone, pregnant in the first tri-mester with a puking toddler, not that much fun. We made it to Nashville and things improved!

Alina and Patrick had so much fun playing together. It was tempting to let her stay with them, as Matt kept asking, just because she loves playing with Patrick so much. But obvisouly, that wouldn't work out too well for us:)

On Saturday night Matt and Jessica arranged for a babysitter and we went honky-tonkin' in Nashville. Or as much as a pregnant lady can do, luckily there were some non-smoking bars. The music really is good up there and we had a lot of fun!

We even had a "celebrity" sighting. I noticed the person standing next to our table kept getting his picture taken with people, so I took out my camera and took a picture too. Its one of the guys from the bachelor that is now on the bachelor pad, can't remember his name, but here he is.

On Sunday we went to church and then had brunch at a place in downtown Franklin. We walked around a little. Alina and Patrick were so cute holding hands!

We had a great time visiting with friends, but the trip home was a little long. I think it may be a while before I am ambitious enough to travel alone with a toddler for that long!

Kate and the Zoo

The first week in August our friends Kelli, Kyle and Kate came to visit. They moved to Texas last year, where Kyle teaches at Baylor. Kate is about six months younger than Alina and it was a lot of fun to see them together. They came over one night and then we went to the zoo the next day.


It looks like the girls were discussing something serious here:) A lady asked us if the girls were sisters. They both have curly brown hair and blue eyes.

We met up with our friends Burton and Ted while at the zoo. The girls don't seem to know for sure what to do with Burton, but he was really sweet with them!


It was fun to spend time with friends who are so far away now. I guess we need to do a better job of visiting them when we are in Texas!