Hot Hayride!

A whole bunch of mom's from playgroup and church took the kiddos to Nivens Farm yesterday for a hayride and picnic. It was HOT for the end of September...or maybe I'm too hormonal! Abby enjoyed herself, especially picking our her own little pumpkin and bouncing on the inner tube contraptions they had set up. There was a little farm to see some animals. And the best part was letting her have her first porta-potty experience. She thought the urinal on the side was a sink, but thankfully only pointed to it.

Touch a Truck

The Greenville parks and rec department sponsored a touch-a-truck event this morning. Stephen was on call, but I braved it with some friends. Abby got much braver as she saw other kids climbing aboard all the trucks. Since she loves to climb, I guess she finally decided to give it a go. Then she didn't want to leave! I'm glad she enjoyed it and I'm sure once brother comes along we'll be attending many more of these events!!

Lake Lure mini-trip

We had a really fun one night trip to Lake Lure with my parents this weekend. Lovely cool fall weather, a pontoon boat ride tour of some swanky homes, way too much yummy food, and an adventurous Abby made for a great time. Lake Lure is so convenient to Greenville...if only we won the lottery and could afford a vacation home there!

Dirty Dancing movie portions filmed right in this cove...in the middle are the steps she carried the watermelon down...everything else has since burned down.

The best family pic we could get...enjoy the beautiful river scenery if you can keep from being distracted by my large belly!


The wartiest pumpkin I've ever seen!

2.5

Today is Abby's half birthday! A reason to celebrate! I can't believe she's already 2 1/2 years old. Since Stephen was off today we decided to take her to Chuck E. Cheese, not to eat pizza (she still has a milk allergy) but just to celebrate, play games, ride the little rides. Her favorite part was seeing Chuck E. open his curtain and sing! She definitely cried when it was time to leave. She puckered that bottom lip out and said "but Daddy I want to see Chuck E. Cheese again." One hour, $3, and a successful potty trip made for a fun little morning outing on a rainy day! Yay for the rain though.






These are from yesterday and this is her new favorite activity...pack up all her baby dolls and their diaper bag in the stroller, put on her stylish boots and tutu, and pretend to go to the zoo or playground. Very cute!

more favorite mountain pics!

I couldn't resist...there are too many cute ones from our mountain trip. Abby loves looking at these pics and saying "look at my cute 'pink' tails" which I think I'll let her keep saying instead of pigtails!!

Playgroup mountain retreat

Our playgroup finally took Logan up on using her family's mountain house near the Highlands for a few days. We loaded up the moms and kiddos for a 2 night get-away. Beautiful scenery and fun outdoor adventures made for a very memorable time. And the moms enjoyed uninterrupted (except for those phone calls from our husbands missing us!) chatting after the kids went to bed. As you can tell we staged many photos of our precious toddlers. I think around 700 total pics were taken by everyone. These are just a few of my faves. We first started playgroup 2 years ago when they were all between 4-5 months old...how times have changed now!

Then....

Now...




Beautiful mountain scenery...enlarge pic to see Abby romping!!

More Sky Top Orchard fun!

Just a few more pics of the apple picking adventures...such a great place for kids to play!

Apple picking fun!

Fun, fun, fun, family fun! Sky Top Orchard is so much fun!! We didn't go last year b/c we heard there were hardly any apples...not the case this year. My parents were in town and we had a blast all morning long...picking, eating, drinking cider slushies, seeing the farm animals, eating, playing and eating. Abby consumed more fiber than any child her age should!! These are just a few of my favorite pics out of the 75 I took!! Abby's apple hand-me-down dress from last fall even still fit nicely for the occasion. I vote Honey Crisps for top apple yummyness.




She's kind of trying to cheat by standing on her toes!

Preggo Pooch at 26 weeks

Some people have been asking so here it is...to get in the fall mood I'll say that the baby bump is now more like a distinct, big pumpkin hidden under my shirt!! I'm 26 weeks and the last time I took a picture and posted it I was 16 weeks...so a lot has changed in 10 weeks. Baby Boy Jones is growing much more quickly than Abby did!!

1st day of "school"

Big day this past week! Abby started her little one morning a week "school" experience. We've read books about school and she met her teacher last week so she was all ready. Lunch packed, everything labeled about her milk allergy!, wearing big girl panties, the works!

Mommy, on the other hand, was not ready. I cried all the way home. Chalk it up to pregnancy hormones maybe, but truthfully it hit me that she is growing up and she will have experiences away from me. Thankfully the message at church this past Sunday was perfect in reminding me of this truth: I don't ever leave her alone anywhere because God is always with her. He loves her even more than I do or can. This gives me great peace.

Picture before leaving, new lunchbag in hand

Abby & Abby waiting for us sentimental parents to let them inside!

Classroom door...I just couldn't resist

Abby settling right in to playing with the kitchen stuff