priscilla the (pretty) pink pig!!

a huge tradition here in atlanta is to ride the macy's pink pig during the holidays. we didn't make it before Christmas due to the LONG lines, so we headed over on tuesday with our good friends heather & grace. what fun we had!! the girls loved the ride and then we went and had chick-fil-a for lunch ~ what could be better for 2 little ones?!?!

bella LOVED putting all these pink pig back packs around her neck : )

heather, grace, bella & me

redecorating

now that we have another baby coming, it means that i am doing quite a bit of rearranging in our home. upstairs is the guest room & bella's nursery along with our master bedroom. around mid to late february (right at bella's 2nd birthday), we plan to move her into the guest bedroom which is going to be transformed into her big girl room... we are talking stripes being painted on the walls, pillows being sewn, cornice boards being built, furniture being refinished, etc. we are quite excited!! the nursery will then be changed a little bit for our next baby girl and the hall bath is going to become a bit more whimsical.

in addition my christmas present from jason this year is to re-do our master bedroom... i really haven't done much to personalize it b/c of us thinking we might move... but now that our plan is to stay put for a while, we have decided to truly make it our own little get-away... so bedding has been purchased, 2 chairs (that i am in LOVE w/), a new dresser... and an accent fabric has been chosen...

so below are some before pictures and as soon as the after pictures are ready, i will post them!!

stay tuned!!

a dresser for our room~ that will be refinished

the guest room (pls. ignore the storage bins & Christmas presents ~ it is serving as a "catch all" for me : )

the hall bath

nursery

master bedroom

trey ceiling ~ can't wait to "play this up"

2 new (well to me ~ they are antiques) chairs for our bedroom

santa baby

on sunday, bella, daddy and me headed to lenox mall... we went to see santa and potentially ride the pink pig... the former happened, but not the latter... we were "waited out" by then (i.e. done being lines w/ an almost 2 yr. old : )

the whole time we were at the mall bella had a blast... she ran around, helped me buy gifts for her cousins, christian & noah, and wanted to run up behind the ropes surrounding santa & his display constantly... however, the mood suddenly changed, as reflected in the photo below, once mommy put her in santa's lap... she looked at me like "how dare you leave me with this strange man and walk away... and then on top of that let daddy take pictures?!?!" : )

no tears tho... then we saw the lengthly line for pink pig and opted to fill our tummies with some good food at the mall rather than wait... afterwards we headed to marni & pepere's and bella was out like a light within 10 minutes or so of leaving the mall.

btw, this frame is from Glory Haus... they have beautiful things!! my friends, ashley & claudia, have an annual "merry marketplace" where they sell numerous items from Glory Haus... this frame was one of my purchases this year : )

a little elf

oh how i adore bella & this age... she tells me thank you all the time ~ even after changing her diaper and putting her shoes on... she loves to give hugs and kisses... max is her favorite. she is a social butterfly ~ loving when we have friends come over to play or when she goes to nursery & school.

today we brought her teachers some little christmas goodies and she made a glitter ornament... upon picking her up, one of her teachers was quick to say that she is very motherly and likes to take care of everyone in the class... i quickly asked if she meant this was a good thing (didn't know if she was trying to kindly say that bella is bothering everyone or nosey)... anyways, she said yes, it's great... that she is wonderful to have in class ~ so that was so fun to hear ~ esp. since she is going to be helping me with her little sister soon enough!!

It's a...

GIRL!! And we are beyond thrilled!! Obviously, we would be happy with either ~ but we love the idea of Bella having a little sister, especially with them being so close in age.

Jason & I found out on Monday when we went to Nestled Newborn in Marietta for an early gender determination (the Dr waits until 20 weeks and I just couldn't wait that long : ). We had a great time... it was funny b/c she didn't want to unlock her legs- they were crossed very tightly (which of course Jason & I said we hope they stay that way for a VERY long time : )... anyways, after a bit of trying to move around the tech had me drink some Coke to really see if she would get moving... a little bit after that, sure enough, she was moving all around. Opening her mouth, putting her little hand b/t her legs, etc. We saw a very healthy spine and 10 fingers & 10 toes!! Right at the end the tech asked if we wanted to know and of course we said, Yes, and that is when she told us it is a girl and that she saw "that" 5 to 10 times so she is very confident : )

And, we have about two or three names that we are considering... as soon as we've decided we'll be quick to share : )

foot

waving at mommy & daddy

face

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