bella = future big sister

yes, you read correctly!! bella is going to be a big sister come may!!

we found out in August that i am with child and that my due date is may 16th. we are thrilled, as we definitely want/wanted bella to have a sibling.

so far this pregnancy has been drastically different from my first. jason often says that i only spent an hour vertical during the first trimester of my pregnancy with bella. this time around, thankfully, that has not been the case... if anything i have been too vertical : ) just been tired and had some nausea here and there... but i am now in the second trimester so even that little bit of discomfort should be on it's way out very soon!! as friends & family keep reminding me- maybe this time we'll have a little boy... who knows?!?! honestly, i will be happy with either- i love dreaming about having 2 little girls only 2 years apart who i can dress in matching clothes and watch be best friends... but then i also love the idea of having a little boy, esp. to see jason experience a son and because neither of us are convinced we'll go for a third : )

either way we are praying for a healthy and happy baby!! and are so thankful for a great ultrasound at 8 weeks and getting to hear a strong heartbeat at 12 weeks!!

i have started pointing to my belly and telling bella that there is a baby in it... she then lifts up her shirt as if searching for the baby in hers ~ don't think she quite knows what is going on : ) but in due time, she will!!

**note to my valued readers: you can comment at the bottom of each entry, even if you don't have your own blog : )**

our little monkey

we had a great halloween this year. it started off with going to the college heights fall festival - where jason graciously volunteered by grilling almost 100 hotdogs and hamburgers. bella and i played in a ball pit and tunnel, walked around and then enjoyed lunch with daddy and friends. afterwards we came home for bella to nap ( and mommy : ).

after naps, it was time for the GA/FL football game. we went over to our neighbors for a party which was great fun and then headed home at about 5:45 pm. at that point our friend heather and her daughter grace, along with ariel & chris and their daughter aubrey joined us. we got the girls all ready to go trick or treating and then headed out. they had a blast. they "stair step" eachother in age - grace is 28 mths, aubrey is 24 mths and bella is 20 mths... so it was so funny to watch each of them with where they are in understanding the process. grace was definitely "cool as a cucumber", aubrey was a bit scared by some of the skulls, bella was just trying to keep up w/ her friends by walking the whole time and also enjoyed waving and saying "bye, bye" to each homeowner. so fun!!

afterwards we came home to eat pizza that chris & jason went to pick up for us... and each of the girls enjoyed a lollipop... bella probably only had 3 bites of pizza because she couldn't stand to put her sugar down!! then the girls just played and the adults enjoyed talking.

grace- the fairy princess, aubrey- spot the dog, bella- the monkey

the monkey & mommy

making sure the candy was really staying her bag

chris, spot the dog & ariel

the monkey with her daddy

they tied the knot

shaune & ella that is : )

it was a beautiful wedding weekend away in dahlonega ~ north ga. jason was a groomsmen and i was in charge of doing all the bridal hair (the bride, the mother of the bride, 5 bridesmaids and the flower girl to be exact : ). we enjoyed getting away and staying at a hotel for the weekend...

marni & pepere and then the armistead clan all took care of bella ~ thanks y'all!!

jason, shaune (the groom) & daniel (the best man)

at the rehearsal dinner

at the wedding

ella (the bride) & me

she's italian!!

a couple weeks ago i made spaghetti for dinner and it was enjoyed by all of us ~ but especially this little one : )

**we have a really cute video of this but due to technical difficulties, we haven't gotten it uploaded yet ~ hopefully soon**

surprise!!

poppa (jason's dad) turned 65 yesterday, sept. 6th... in honor of him, teenie (jason's mom), spoiled him like crazy!! a surprise party with a bunch of friends and family at pappasitos~ a wonderful mexican restaurant in atlanta... and then, in addition to that, we all surprised poppa this past weekend at a cabin in pigeon forge! he told jason that it was his best birthday ever!

we played games, watched movies, went in the hot tub and one of the highlights was the horse-back riding on saturday. some of us were more scared than others (please no one point their finger at me too quickly : )... the whole time we were on the trail the guide would yell "tina (my horse) get a move on, stop eating" to say she was slow, is the understatement of the year, yet that fit me just fine~ considering i was contemplating jumping off of her and walking back to the stables : ) our sweet baby girl was the complete opposite of her mama~ so relaxed on henry, the horse, with her daddy that she was asleep within minutes. ha! check out the pics.

thanks teenie for a wonderful weekend away!! poppa~ we love you & are glad you felt so celebrated!!

aunt staci & bella

daddy with our sweet, sleepy girl

so tired.....

me on tina~ doing what she did best~ eating!!

uncle johnny & aunt lizzie

driving the big tractor

twins!! not really, but that is what everyone thinks : )

christian hanging out

the guys

the gals

sweet cousins modeling their hats

could she be any cuter?!?!

poppa & teenie

red bull soap box race

this past saturday we went to the race at piedmont park. we had a great time. one of our neighbors works for red bull so we got to visit with her and saw some other people we knew there. they handed out cans of red bull, pink beaded necklaces, paper fans, etc. bella loved holding everything. we visited the pits, which were fun to see, then had hotdogs and funnel cake and watched a little bit of the race. the race itself didn't start until 1pm which is bella's nap time so we only watched about 2 races and then headed for the car to eliminate melt-down : )

happy birthday uncle david!!

one of the most wonderful parts of having marni & pepere here is being able to celebrate holidays, birthdays, etc. and simply "do life together"... right before uncle david left for NYC for his first year of law school at NYU, we celebrated his birthday. bella had a blast helping blow out the birthday candles! the funny part was that nanni had brought these candles with her from her kitchen in AZ and they were trick candles that took FOREVER to blow out : )