36 weeks

Here is the 36 weeks comparison picture, as promised. 

Tillman on the left - Carter on the right

3 weeks to go! 

I went to the doctor today and apparently Miss Carter had herself a little growth spurt since our last visit. "We" gained a whopping 6 lbs in 2 weeks. At the two previous visits before today I had gained 1 lb. at each appointment. I guess I was due a few pounds. At the last check-up Carter also measured exactly to the day, and today she measure almost, but not quite, a week ahead. At this point in Tillman's pregnancy, she was already measuring 3 weeks ahead, so Carter still has some catching up to do. All my other stats looked great and I was sent off with the old, "Keep on doing what you're doing," sum up. 

This is Tillman's new vinyl quote in her room. 

I love it.  "I read past my bedtime."

Carter got a vinyl sticker for her room as well, but one of the colors isn't "popping" like it needs to so I am in the process of getting a color change. It's not the same quote...

This is my mess of a child after dinner. She's thankful McKinley was over for dinner because that meant she got a popsicle afterwards. Oh, and this is Cowgirl Tillman.

Meet Cowboy Josh.  According to T, this is Daddy's new cowboy hat. Whenever he wears it she refers to him as "cowboy" and "partner".  

What better to do than play a little horsey. T saying, "Giddy up, Cowboy! Yee-haw!"

Busy Bees

This post is going to be picture-heavy, so I'm going to get right to it. We have been doing well and staying busy. This nice weather seems to help our activities pick up, too. I have the majority of my maternity leave sub plans completed, and only 9 days left until I begin my leave! Luckily I get the week of Spring Break off right before Carter will be born, and those day won't count against me. We spent a little bit of time in her room today, but in my eyes, still have a little ways to go. According to Josh, we're good to go. Ha. Men.

So I was messing with Josh's phone for some reason today and stumbled upon some pictures from Mom and Dad's visit a few weeks ago. I wanted to go back and share some of these too.

Tillman reading a baseball book, pirate-style. 

Dinner at The Starving Artist Cafe downtown Easley. 

This was such a nice change of pace, change of scenery, and had a good ambiance for our dinner, including live music, which Tillman loved and Dad kept playing "Guess That Artist." 

Me and the Mr.

Big Dep and Little Dep

Tillman has been doing an outstanding job sleeping in her "big girl bed" so we decided to take her to Toys 'R Us this week and let her use some of her Christmas giftcards that we are still rationing out. This is what she choose. 

And this is how she slept that same night. She had to have the Jessie, Woody, and Buzz Lightyear dolls with her in bed, along with her usuals. I tried to tell her there wouldn't be any room left for her with all those toys, but she found a way to manage.

Carter got a little treat in the mail this week. I can't wait for football season!

This weekend our Sunday School class had an "in-house" marriage retreat Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon. It was a great experience, and Josh and I both took away some valuable insights and perspectives. It was great spending some quality time with our other class members, as well as focusing in on our marriage, what works for us, and how to we can improve it.  There were a lot of laughs along with a lot of "hmmmm" and "Oh, wow. That makes sense" moments. 

Unfortunately we missed the last session of the retreat because we wanted to participate in the preschool Easter egg hunt, also put on by the church. We had McKinley bring Tillman up to the church to meet us so we could have some fun with her too. 

A blurry shot, but she was ready to run! She was scoping out all the fun.

There were inflatables, train rides, crafts, food, and an egg hunt.

Making our way to line up for the 2 and under egg hunt.

I think Josh was talking strategy with her too. 

Scoping out all the eggs before Mrs. Kalah said, "Go!"

Surrounded by eggs. Per Josh's suggestion, Tillman ran all the way to the end of the field, past all the other kids and eggs, so she could find a spot to herself to collect eggs undisturbed. 

As you can see, there were plenty of eggs to go around.

I'd say she was successful.

Having too much fun! & wanting to get started eating those suckers. 

Team Christopher

This was all the help I was..."Look, there's an egg right there." 

Sorting through the eggs after the hunt.

If you look closely, you can see how Tillman organized all the loot. The bubbles are all together, then the ducks, the chocolate, and the sour candy. Proof that she is my child, too.

Cracking open and sorting. She had it down to a science by the end of it.

Collecting eggs

Playing on one of the inflatables. 

Somebody was worn slap out when we got home from all the fun and decided to have a meltdown on the kitchen floor. I jokingly put her blankets on her and told her she could just take her nap right there. Josh got down on the floor to tell her night-night and this is what we get.

Going from a full blown tantrum to hugging on Daddy...

Convincing Daddy to take off his glasses...

and giving him sweet kisses...

Who do you think she has wrapped around her little finger???

And this is what my monkeys do when we have 5 minutes to spare before heading to church this morning...

Love it

Good morning, everybody!

For those who are aware of the St. Baldrick's fundraiser Josh was in charge of for LMS's Student Council, the final culmination event was this past Friday afternoon. Josh and the other students of LMS worked very hard to raise $5,700 towards a children's cancer foundation (after setting a school goal of $1,000). 35 heads were shaved at the event (a school dance), including Josh, Mr. Edwards, the principal, 3 girls, and 31 boys. I'm beyond proud of Josh for heading up this fundraiser, the final event, and encouraging and motivating the students of LMS to put forth such caring and character for children they will likely never meet, but will undoubtedly help change their lives.

A quick "before" shot

During the head shaving... Thank you, Emma for this lovely look.

And an after shot.

Thank you, Emma for helping out with the event and making Josh look good by the end of it! 

So we've been all over with this post and my brain is already permanently scattered. So with that, I'll hopefully be back on tomorrow for a 36 week / 9 month picture comparison post of Tillman and Carter, assuming I remember. Goodnight!

Big Changes

Big changes that have been going on here:

*We are still working on potty training. It is going well most days, but we still have accidents here and there. I am ready for Tillman to start telling me more consistently when she needs to go to the bathroom as opposed to me intently watching the clock and putting her on the potty whether or not she tells me she needs to go.

* Tillman is now sleeping in a "big girl" bed. Tonight is her 3rd night with this big step, and she is doing great!! I know it is still new and fresh, but we have not had any troubles with it at all. Once we leave, she has stayed in bed. (Yay!) We do talk with her each night and put the fear of God in her, letting her know we can hear her on the monitor, etc.

Morning #1

Morning #2

Tillman and Daddy doing what they do best: playing, being rowdy, dangerous, and scaring Mommy.

She's loving it.

A video of my two monkeys.

* Another big change is the weather. This week has been quite pleasant so far, so we have been sure to take advantage of the sunshine and warmth. We've pulled out cornhole, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and more. It makes me excited for what's to come this spring/summer with our family of four. Tillman loves being outdoors and going nonstop!

The cornhole set my Uncle Dan made for us

I love these action shots.

Two at a time.

She was so funny. She felt every bag needed to make it into the hole.

* The next change would be a change in our dinner routine. Josh went out for softball practice, so I spoiled Tillman by letting her eat dinner picnic-style on the den floor while watching Mickey Mouse. We haven't done this before, but it was a huge success. She was the most still and quiet I think I have ever seen her, especially for a meal. The best part is, she ate every bite of her dinner!

Excited for a change in pace from the dinner table

She was a member of the clean plate club by the end of the meal.

After dinner puzzle time

More outside playtime this afternoon before heading to church

* The next picture and video are somewhat random, but I loved them and wanted to include them. My students are learning about electric circuits in Science right now, and we've been discussing series circuits versus parallel circuits. I gave the students some experimental/explore on your time this Monday, and this is what some of the kiddos came up with:

A parallel circuit constructed of 2 batteries and 10 light bulbs. I was pretty impressed!

We all agreed that this circuit resembled Christmas tree lights, so I took a video of them connecting and disconnecting the wires to make them blink like lights while one student tried his best to sing the song. I love these kids!!

Always Late, but Worth the Wait

This should be my new personal motto when it comes to blogging. Seriously, I have had intentions of blogging way before now. I've had several "urges" to blog, just not the urge to sit down and take the time to upload and organize pictures and think through what to say.

Last weekend Mom and Dad came up so Dad and Josh could run the Reedy River Run downtown Greenville. They also brought the third piece of Carter's nursery furniture. So now we can officially put all the pieces together and get ready for the arrival of this little girl...who will be here in less than a month! While in town, our Sunday School class had also planned a baby shower for Baby Carter, so I was happy that Mom was able to attend that with me. It was a great shower and was accompanied by a day of snow and sleet.

Tillman playing with so many different toys at once, including one of her new favorites from Mom and Dad, a Dora karaoke microphone.

Sunday lunch

Reading before nap time. This is Tillman's new favorite way to read in her chair, sitting side-by-side. I personally love it because it's very uncomfortable with this big belly to have her sit in my lap and try to get comfortable for an extended amount of time. 

The third piece of furniture for Carter's nursery. I love it all!

I didn't have a problem filling it up quickly either.

A few of the girls from Sunday School. 

The amazing cake Amanda made from scratch. Isn't it beautiful!!

The spotlight.  Carter was blessed by some very generous girls with some super cute gifts and necessities.

Holly's mom made this cute little hat for Carter. I don't know if it's knitted or crocheted, but it's one of those handmade from scratch projects. So cute and so soft. It's already packed in our "starter bag" for the hospital. 

Blessed!

I love these girls. The majority of our Sunday School class.

Proud Grandma; she's already counting down the days. :) 

Random cuddle time with soon-to-be-big sister. I love this because this time she wasn't sick.

I thought those hands folded were too cute. 

This weekend Josh was gone to Pawley's Island for a Student Council convention from Thursday until almost 6:00 tonight. Tillman and I got in plenty of Mommy-daughter time and got to spend some quality time together. I was skeptical of the amount of time I would be with her by myself because she listens to Josh soooo much better than she listens to me, and I have a pinched nerve in my back and am not supposed to be lifting heavy objects (aka my 30+ lb. child). However, I must say our time together was great. We did some fun things, got spoiled a little bit, and were ready to welcome Daddy home this evening. 

Friday was a professional development day in our district, but could also be used as a flex day for those teachers who had earned extra hours throughout the year with other workshops and meetings. So, Kasi had the awesome idea to take Tillman to Robin's house, she would take Hadley to her daycare, and she and I would spend the day together out and about having a girls' day. So Friday morning we got an early start and headed to downtown Greenville. It was a great day and it continued into the evening with Kasi and Hadley over at our house until bedtime. 

Downtown Greenville is ready for St. Patrick's Day.

Kasi and I started our day by walking part of the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The weather was beautiful and beyond cooperative! It felt great to get out and get some fresh air. 

After our walk we strolled around the shops downtown. I found this cute onesie at Mast General. I passed on it though. I got myself a beautiful picture frame instead. I figured it would last longer to get my money's worth. :) 

Then it was lunch at this amazing restaurant!! I think it's fairly new, and yes, I will be going back.

Pimento cheese burger, white truffle and parmesan fries, fried pickles, sweet potato fries, Madagascar vanilla milkshake. Yum! Yum! Yum!

After walking, shopping, and lunch, it was time for me to go pick up Tillman from Robin's. She got in a forced nap, and after that Kasi and Hadley came over to play outside and continue girls' day/night.  

Getting the fun started by having popsicles on the deck.

My big girl

Kasi and Hadley

The girls playing with beach balls

This one is pretty cute. The ball gets stuck on the ledge.

Slide time on the playground. I don't know if you can hear it, but Hadley would say, "Come on Tillman!" and Tillman would respond, "I'm coming!" They said this every single time they went down the slide. 

After playground time, we moved to bubbles. 

Intently following the bubble trail. 

Dinner time - matching applesauce pouches. They both out-ate Kasi and I and sat in big chairs. They are over the booster seat phase. They must have worked up a pretty big appetite. 

After dinner game of tag. They are so cute. 

Well, needless to say, Tillman went down easy Friday night. I was able to enjoy some quiet time to myself and get some things done around the house. 

Saturday we slept in a little, watched some cartoons, then set out for the day. We ran some errands and ended up at McKinley's softball game later in the afternoon. After the game, we went to dinner and then McKinley came over for a sleepover. I was thankful for that because I hadn't slept well Thursday and Friday nights knowing that Josh wasn't home. 

Tillman reading her new book about Easter while I got dressed. 

She's a cutie. 

Kamden and Tillman at dinner posing for the camera. Kelsey told them to make "duck lips."

They look like they're pouting, but they're not. 

This one is too cute. They were holding hands and hugging the whole time we were playing photo-op.

Sunday morning pigtails - getting ready for church. 

McKinley did this while I was in the shower and I love it! They were sooo cute!! 

Somebody insisted on wearing her Dora bookbag to church this morning. I couldn't argue with her. I mean, look how stinkin' cute this girl is. A bitter pill at times, but so cute and worth it! 

After church we went to lunch, shopped at the new Marshall's that opened in Easley this week, at which I spent too much money, and grabbed icecream from McDonald's on the way home as a way to wrap up our girls' weekend. It was fun and I'm glad I got to spend some quality time with my girl, but I'm also very thankful to have Josh back home with us. Now he gets to do baths and bedtime routines for the next four days by himself. :) Just kidding, unless I can get away with it. I mean, my back hurts, right? 

So now my focus turns to finishing out the next 3 short weeks at work (one of which includes PASS testing!), prepping my lesson plans for maternity leave, getting Carter's room ready, making sure we have everything we truly need, and enjoying our Spring Break (with a pedicure) before Carter's arrival on April 9th. Phew! Oh, and getting as much sleep as possible between now and then.