This is where the (sometimes) comes in to the title since I'm not really feeling beautiful here!
We are all so thankful she arrived safely and is a healthy girl! Our world has changed so much since her arrival!
For the past 5 months I have been generally exhausted with life! Trying to keep up with a 10 year old and an 8 year old while taking care of an infant apparently isn't easy. Anna Kate has had lots of life experiences by now that the other two had never seen at this point in their lives. I can tell she is catching on quickly though.
Gracie and Caroline have proven to be awesome big sisters. They enjoyed a summer of playing outside with our neighbors and the occasional visit to a friend's house which was a welcomed break from the door opening and closing all day long for me! We had to get some WD-40 a few weeks after the baby was born because every time the door opened, the baby woke up, and I was ready to SCREAM! I love WD-40 now!
We have taken two trips since Anna Kate's birth. She enjoyed her first trip to the cabin at Oak Haven Resort in Sevierville.
It was really a good trip. The kids had a good time visiting with the Hall family. Anna Kate got tired with all the traveling and different schedules, but she made it okay too. We took this trip to meet most of the Halls for a family reunion. There was good food and fun for all. We rode go carts and Caroline let me drive her around the track...she may never want me to do that again because my competitive side came out! I think we won, but it has been a few months since the race.
It is a family tradition for us to go to the Chop House on the first night we arrive at the cabin and then we usually end up there at least one more time while we are visiting. We held to tradition on this trip and it was delicious as always! I guess that is just a small piece of Josh that we like to hold onto when we're there. He would order the biggest steak I have ever seen every time we went! I think it's called the DelMonico Rib-eye. I'm just waiting for Gracie to ask if she can order it one of these times when we go. I think I will let her just so she can say she ordered it.
We also just came back from Hilton Head Island. This was my first visit there. It was a really nice place and the beaches were prettier than I expected them to be. I have been to the East coast before and my memory of the beaches was not good...
It is a family tradition for us to go to the Chop House on the first night we arrive at the cabin and then we usually end up there at least one more time while we are visiting. We held to tradition on this trip and it was delicious as always! I guess that is just a small piece of Josh that we like to hold onto when we're there. He would order the biggest steak I have ever seen every time we went! I think it's called the DelMonico Rib-eye. I'm just waiting for Gracie to ask if she can order it one of these times when we go. I think I will let her just so she can say she ordered it.
We also just came back from Hilton Head Island. This was my first visit there. It was a really nice place and the beaches were prettier than I expected them to be. I have been to the East coast before and my memory of the beaches was not good...
This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip - the colors just came out perfect - almost postcard worthy!
It was so windy when we first arrived! There was some rainy weather moving out and the wind was totally unbelievable! I took the girls to the beach on that first day - this picture shows just how windy it was!
It was so windy when we first arrived! There was some rainy weather moving out and the wind was totally unbelievable! I took the girls to the beach on that first day - this picture shows just how windy it was!
Caroline is cracking me up here, but it really is that windy! I don't know if there is a picture of it or not, but one of the days Heather and I took a blanket to sit on while the kids played and the blanket ended up wrapped around us while we were sitting on it and the kid's toys were about half a mile down the beach by the time they caught them. CRAZY!
We did manage to get a family picture that I think will be on my wall soon!
We did manage to get a family picture that I think will be on my wall soon!
I'm not thrilled with myself in this picture, but everyone else looks good...it's kind of hard to get 5 people to look at the camera and all smile without someone's hair getting crazy or eyes blinking, etc...
I love how the baby is looking at the girls because that is pretty much how it is when they are around.
Caroline spent most of the week hunting for shells and sand dollars while Gracie and Andy were more interested in getting out to the "big" waves. Caroline was very successful finding 3 sand dollars and 1 starfish. We tried to bring the starfish home but it was not happening - it broke into a million pieces. She gave one sand dollar away to a lady who wasn't as lucky as she, and we brought the other two home - one for us and one for Andy.
I can't say that we will go back to HHI anytime soon. We much prefer the emerald coast with its white sand and crystal clear waters, but I'm glad we experienced it. I don't know that I've ever been that close to a gator before unless I was at a zoo! There were some different things to do there like ride bikes! The kids loved being able to ride all over the place with us.
We were able to take the kids on that awesome Exploring Savannah tour that Jon and I took last year while we were there. Savannah is only about 45 minutes from HHI. It's a walking tour and the weather couldn't have been better! Anna Kate got to "ride" in her favorite position most of the time. The kids got to sit on Forrest Gump's bench and see Forsythe fountain. Mr. Bobby Davis taught us all about the great city in his own "southern" way! We ate chicken tenders at Spanky's on River Street and ice cream at Leopold's Ice Cream shop. I would recommend this tour to anyone!
If you get the chance be sure to ask Caroline about the "certificate of appropriateness" that she learned about. She has a great southern belle impression!
I have a few more things to blog about, but I feel like they deserve their own post. I will get to those soon...I think!
I love how the baby is looking at the girls because that is pretty much how it is when they are around.
Caroline spent most of the week hunting for shells and sand dollars while Gracie and Andy were more interested in getting out to the "big" waves. Caroline was very successful finding 3 sand dollars and 1 starfish. We tried to bring the starfish home but it was not happening - it broke into a million pieces. She gave one sand dollar away to a lady who wasn't as lucky as she, and we brought the other two home - one for us and one for Andy.
I can't say that we will go back to HHI anytime soon. We much prefer the emerald coast with its white sand and crystal clear waters, but I'm glad we experienced it. I don't know that I've ever been that close to a gator before unless I was at a zoo! There were some different things to do there like ride bikes! The kids loved being able to ride all over the place with us.
We were able to take the kids on that awesome Exploring Savannah tour that Jon and I took last year while we were there. Savannah is only about 45 minutes from HHI. It's a walking tour and the weather couldn't have been better! Anna Kate got to "ride" in her favorite position most of the time. The kids got to sit on Forrest Gump's bench and see Forsythe fountain. Mr. Bobby Davis taught us all about the great city in his own "southern" way! We ate chicken tenders at Spanky's on River Street and ice cream at Leopold's Ice Cream shop. I would recommend this tour to anyone!
If you get the chance be sure to ask Caroline about the "certificate of appropriateness" that she learned about. She has a great southern belle impression!I have a few more things to blog about, but I feel like they deserve their own post. I will get to those soon...I think!
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