Winnie Ann

Winnie girl is 16 months old and in full-swing toddler mode. Winnie's joy for life and big imagination at such a young age continues to amaze us. We love watching her learn and process so many new things we teach her. This is such a fun age!!

She loves to smell flowers :)

Fun facts about Winnie: 

• Winnie loves apple juice. She would drink it all day long if I let her. 
• We are currently transitioning her from bottles to sippy cups for milk. She's not a huge fan, which makes drinking milk during the day pretty much nonexistent. We are still doing her bottle at night for now.  
• Mommy & Daddy's favorite words she is currently saying are "Uh-Oh" and "Thank You". It's the best!! She has a little bit of a southern twang when she says uh oh, it's hilarious. 
• Winnie hugs and kisses my belly when we talk about her baby brother Darren :)
• I'm gonna go ahead and say her favorite season is Fall since we are spending more time outside because of this amazing weather. 
• Winnie loves the park, running around our driveway picking up sticks, taking our neighbor boys basketball, and playing with her friends.
• Winnie truly dislikes having dirty hands or anything on her hands for that matter. 
• She loves books, we read through them all the live long day. I have almost all of them memorized. haha
• She also loves puzzles and has recently started taking them apart and putting them back in the right places!
• Winnie plays picnic multiple times a day on our bay window bench. It's so adorable!!
• Winnie's all time favorite show is hands down, Barney. Her excitement is amazing even if you just say his name. 
• She had her first weekend away at her grandparents house this month. She did amazing! 
• Winnie is also our wanna-be-chef. She loves being held while we cook or standing on a chair watching/helping with whatever I'm making. 
• Over the past 2 weeks Winnie has cut 4 new teeth, grew in inches [30 something inches now], and is just about out of her size 5 shoes.

Age: 16 months & 3 weeks
Weight & height: 23 lbs
Favorite book: Apple Farmer Anne, Goodnight Moon, and any of her first word books.
Favorite toy: Picnic, balls, any blocks, chalk
Favorite animal: Dogs
Personality: Independent, extremely observant & smart, very silly, and sometimes a bit sassy. She is always making us laugh.

This box has entertained Win all week long! haha

Wearing Daddy's shoes

Loves: The park, outdoors, reading, apple juice, when daddy comes home from work, watching mom cook from a chair (and sometimes helping), climbing on everything, playing daddy's drums, and dancing.

Words: "mama", "dada", "Bumpa", "nana" (banana), "up", "off", "on", "hi", "turtle", "ball", "tickle", "Gigi", "hot", and so many others. She is really starting to grow in her vocabulary.

Foods: Cheese, Pizza, Eggs, Yogurt, Craisins, Fruit, Peas, Spaghetti, and meat- depending on what it is and how it's flavored.

love <3 

Hope everyone has a great Halloween! 

Babymoon weekend

This past weekend Taylor and I did a stay-cation for our babymoon, which meant Winnie spent the weekend with her Gigi, Pop pop, and Aunt Miri. This was my first time leaving Winnie for longer than 4 hours... I admit, I couldn't stop thinking about her, but I think I did pretty well all weekend. Taylor and I had a blast! It felt like life when we first got married, always out doing planned or spontaneous things and laughing a ton. All 3 of us made some wonderful memories!

The following pictures are from our time together and pictures Gigi sent me of Winnie's weekend. Thank you so so much G for the pictures and updates, that made it a TON easier. <3 

Friday morning we went out to breakfast at a family diner, Parkway House, it was delicious and such a fun spot. Afterwards we were planning on going shooting at the gun range, but I wasn't allowed to shoot due to lead exposure, so we went shopping and to the movies to see Fury instead. :) Great movie! 

 Pictures from Winnie's first morning with Gigi, Pop pop and Miri:

Playing Scrabble Upwards 

The finished board.

I got my Chinese!!! It was worth every bite. :) 

My FAVORITE

Saturday we visited Billy Graham Library then checked out Not Just Coffee and laid in the park, reading books and doing absolutely nothing. It was glorious! 

Beautiful!

Taylor's itty bitty baby coffee. We laughed so hard! 

The perfect afternoon in the city with my Love <3

Reading & resting with baby D & Tay :)

Winnie played at the park a lot this weekend :)

Love these 2!!! 

One of her favorite spots at Gigi's

Heading out to dinner

Sunday we had a slow relaxing morning, then we went to our rock where Taylor proposed. This year marks 4 years since that fabulous day!! 

I'd say yes a million times over

Winnie exploring Gigi's backyard 

Winnie coloring at Gigi's

Reunited and it feels so right <3 

Why hello there 3rd trimester. . .

Like every post, let me just go ahead and say it... this pregnancy is flyin' by. Today I said a big hello to my third trimester. Of course it began with my fabulous glucose test and then a routine check up after.

Darren is doing well. His heartbeat is 141 and my belly is measuring at 27.5 cm, right on track. All of those baby apps say baby Darren is about 14.8-16 inches, and roughly 2.5 lbs. As big as an eggplant or a Chinese cabbage.

We have officially scheduled my c-section, so unless something changes, i.e.: he surprises us and comes sooner, we are planning on early January. :) I've been asked questions about why or why not I'm doing a VBAC or c-section, so let me just answer it for you here.. I decided after I had Winnie that I would do c-sections with any other babies we had. I don't want to take any chances on things not working out during a VBAC. Simple enough? Anywho, I am excited but also really want these next few weeks to go slow enough so we can enjoy our little family of 3.

How far along: 28 weeks
Gender: Boy 
Weight gain: 24 lbs
Maternity clothes: Yes & my lovely ted stocking. Ow ow!
Stretch marks: None
Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty good lately. It has been so nice!!
Best moment this week: This week has been great, but I think my weekend with Taylor will be the best part!! :-)
Miss anything: Not gonna lie.... my pre-baby body. Though I love my bump and what it represents. It was just a whole lot easier to move around with a toddler before I had this big bump. haha.
Movement: Darren moves all day long.
Cravings: All the Chinese food you could come up with & Avocado Egg Rolls from CPK. Yum! Tay can we make this happen??? ;) 
Queasy or sick: No
Labor signs: None
Symptoms: Leg pain, that's why I'm wearing my trusty ted stockings. Here's to hoping they help a little.
Looking forward to: Our babymoon, which also starts TODAY! Hallelujah. Though this is my first time leaving Winnie longer than a few hours... I hope I'm not too emotional. I'm going to miss her like crazy! 

i love my girl!! 

right after kissing Darren. haha <3

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Shout out to my brother and future sister-in-law

  HAPPY ENGAGEMENT!!!!!! 

We are so thrilled and can't wait for your wedding!

Pumpkin & Apple Picking

This time of year is becoming my favorite. Though nothing can top Christmas, I'm certain. Fall has been such a blast. So far we've gone pumpkin picking and apple picking. Winnie and I joined our friend Becky and her son Sam to visit the pumpkin patch. Then this past weekend we went on our annual trip to Grandad's Apple Farm, one of my favorite traditions we have as a family. The Rosses, Gisele, and Miri also came apple picking. We had a great time. Winnie was very tired, so there are almost no pictures of her smiling, but her facial expressions she gave us were hilarious. Even missing her nap and being tired, she did so well. I love her sweet little self. 

Here's a bunch of pictures from those trips. :)

Hodges Farm

Winnie & Sam

so adorable!!  

Grandad's Apple Farm

Our tiny explorer 

Choo choo train

Winnie, Zach, & Will

She clearly wasn't feeling our photo op session... lol.

This one though... !!!!!

I love this.

Ready to go home... her face!