Sentimental Sunday: Pregnant Sisters

I decided this week's Sentimental Sunday would be of me and my sister, Emily, pregnant together.  These photos were taken in October 2006.  Emily was a couple of weeks away from giving birth to my niece, Ella (her first child).  I was about a month and a half away from giving birth to Grant (my third child).

It was so much fun being pregnant at the same time as my sister.  We got to share the fun and not-so-fun moments of pregnancy together.

It has been really neat for Grant and Ella to be about the same age.  They get along really well.  It made cute pictures of them together as newborns too (I will have to do a Sentimental Sunday of those pictures later).

Nathan took these photos of us.  For whatever reason, we forgot to get an individual shot of me pregnant.  But he did get some cute ones of Emily.  This one is my favorite.

It's hard to believe that Ella and Grant will be turning 4 very soon.  Time once again flies!

Family Fun Saturday

We had a very fun and busy day today.  Cooper and Nathan are now taking karate on Saturday mornings.  Also, Cooper and Kindle started rehearsals this morning for the Nutcracker.  They will be in the Nutcracker on December 17 & 18 at Reinhardt University.  They are really excited.  Cooper will be a soldier again this year and Kindle will be a mouse.

Cooper as a soldier last year.

Kindle as a snowflurry last year.

After rehearsals, we headed out to the land to see my parent's house.  We were curious to see the progress being made.  The kids were so tickled to discover how much had been done.

The framers were up there working on the house while we were there.  The kids were tickled about that also.  Nathan and the older 4 went inside (see photo above) and even went up the stairs to the 2nd floor.

 
Nathan wanted to check on the deer stand that he, my Dad and his brother, Michael, have been working on.

This deer stand is 15 feet tall.  He is adding a railing so it will be safer for Cooper.

Here is the view of my parent's house from the top of the deer stand.

The kids had a lot of fun throwing rocks and getting all dusty while Nathan was checking on the deer stand [no photos because Nathan obviously took the camera to get these photos].

After we went to the land, we headed to Dellinger Park in Cartersville.  The kids had a great time on the playground.  One of the great things about my kids is that they are very outgoing.  They made friends with all of the kids and played hide-n-go-seek and tag with them.

Grant counting

Kindle hiding

Celeste went on the slide over and over again.  She also figured out how to hang from the top of the slide.  She was so proud of how strong she was.  She had a wonderful time.

Gunnar hung out with me in the sling.  Nathan captured this photo of Gunnar and I.  

Cooper was too busy for a good photo of him at the park.  I *tried* to capture one, but he was always moving and never looking at the camera.  Oh well :)

We concluded the evening with Mexican for dinner and a little Super Mario Bros. on the Wii.  We had an awesome, fun-filled day together.

Lesson Learned for the Day: Always Bring the Kid's Shoes in the Car

Nathan is always saying to me that no matter what we are doing the kids should wear their shoes in the car just in case.  I learned why this was a good idea this evening...

The kids and I decided to grab a bite to eat through a drive-thru since Nathan was out of town on a photoshoot in Alabama.  I got some food and then headed to the gas station.  After I pumped the gas, I went to start the car and it wouldn't start.  Prior to leaving the house, I actually thought "maybe I should put the kids shoes on?"  I decided not to worry about it since I was in a hurry and we weren't going to be getting out of the car.  So here I was at the pump at the gas station, Nathan is in Alabama, all 5 kids are getting hot in the car, they have on no shoes so I can't go inside the gas station to ask for help and I have no jumper cables or clue what to do.  I talked to Nathan and ended up calling my parents.  God Bless them because they had just sat down at a restaurant for dinner.  They left the restaurant and headed towards me.  I decided to ask the man at the pump next to me if he had jumper cables.  Unfortunately, he was on the phone, so I pushed the call button on the pump and let them know I couldn't drive away from the pump because my car wouldn't start.  They said they could send someone out to help me.  Just then, a lady and her son pulled up behind me waiting their turn to use the pump I was pulled up to.  The completely wild thing was that there were over 20 pumps and only a few were occupied, but she decided to wait for mine.  Since I was waiting, I walked over and told her that my car wouldn't start and that she might want to pick a new pump.  She told me that she had jumper cables and could help me.  Just then, the man sitting in his car on the phone overheard my conversation, and said "oh, you need a jump?" and he whipped his car around to help me.  He discovered that I had corrosion on my battery and he cleaned it off and jumped the car for me while on his cell phone the entire time. LOL.  I thanked him and the lady in the car behind me many times. [Side note: I was really blessed that 3 people offered to help me!]  I made it home without anymore problems.  Since my parents were headed my way, they asked me to park in the driveway, so the kids got out barefooted (they thought that was awesome).  When they arrived, my Dad took a look at the battery which needed water as well.  He cleaned everything up too.
P.S. I will be putting jumper cables in the car asap!
[There are no photos of this "event" because I would like to forget that it happened and not memorialize it with photos.  ha ha]

In other news, while I was getting the older 4 kids ready this morning, Gunnar fell asleep on my bed.  He looked so sweet, I had to snap a couple of photos.

Sentimental Sunday: Celeste's Baby Dedication

Continuing with the theme from last week of baby dedications, I thought it would be fun to look back at Celeste's baby dedication.  Hannah "Celeste" Martin was dedicated on August 31, 2008.  She was a little over 2 months old at that time.  Celeste wore a dress that my Mother, Sister, Kindle and I all wore for our baby dedications.  It was made by my Great-Grandmother.  My Mom bought a handkerchief bonnet when Kindle was a baby that she and Celeste wore for their dedications.  One day, they can use it as a handkerchief on their wedding day, if they would like to.

Celeste was dedicated at our church by our Pastor Marc Lawson, just like all of the other children.  It was a very sweet dedication.  Celeste was wide eyed and checking it all out.

Praying blessings over Celeste and handing her back to her Daddy :)

After the dedication, we ate lunch and came back to take some photos together.

Table for 15 + a Baby, Gunnar's First Words & My New Hairdo

Earlier today, I got a new haircut and color.  I decided to go a little darker for the Fall.  I also decided to do some bangs to change it up a small bit.  I go to Ashley Valdes at Kara Christian Styling Studio in Woodstock.  I would highly recommend her!

My sister, Emily, her hubby, Gil, and my niece, Ella

This evening, we went to Jim 'n Nicks to celebrate my brother-in-law, Gil's, birthday.  There were 16 of us because my parents, brother, cousin Ben, and my grandparents came along as well.  We all sat at a very long table in the middle of the restaurant.  We discussed how wild it is that our family has expanded so much in size.

We had a very yummy dinner.  If you haven't tried Jim 'n Nicks, I recommend the smoked turkey, macaroni and cheese and their cheese biscuits with honey butter.  Yummy!

Everyone did great as always in the restaurant.  Gunnar was completely enchanted by the bright lights and fans.  The other children enjoyed coloring their pictures.

It was a nice evening.  After dinner, Nathan and the older kids played Super Mario Bros. for Wii.  They are on World 8 (the last one).  I was holding Gunnar and he said "Mama" as clear as day 4 times.  We all heard it.  All 5 of our kids have said "Mama" first.  You gotta love it!

A Day at the Land

Grandpa & Grant on the tractor named Grant :)

At the end of 2009, my parents bought land in Kingston, GA .  They are in the process of clearing the land and building a house there.  One day, hopefully sooner rather than later, we will be building a home up there as well.  My Dad, who is now retired (yay!) is going up there daily to work.  We wanted to go up to check out the progress he had made and to get photos to document the journey of the property.

The future driveway

Some of the pine trees that are being cleared

They are really making some good progress, this was all brush and small pine trees before

The kids had so much fun going up there.  They even go to wear their new boots I bought at the consignment sale the night before!  So glad I made that purchase!

Grandpa, Grant & Cooper heading out to check out the tractor

Cooper thought he was so awesome getting ride in the back of Grandpa's truck

Kindle insisted on wearing this hat despite the fact that it didn't match at all

Gunnar and I stayed in the car so he could eat.  Celeste had to stay in the car too because she was still finishing her lunch.  She has been such a slow poke at eating lately.  I did get a picture of her before we left in her new boots though.

Her cheese face is so funny.  She squints her eyes.

We are very excited to see it starting to come together more each day.  I can't wait till the kids can just run around and play there.  It is going to be such a blessing!