First day of School!

I know, hard to believe, but today was Sarah Grace's first day of preschool! She goes on Tues & Thurs to Grayson UMC down the street from our house. Her teachers are Ms April and Ms Jennifer.

She's been looking forward to this day for MONTHS!!! Every time we'd pass her school she'd say "see you tomorrow preschool!". And today was the day! She woke up early, and in a great mood! She ate her breakfast and then paraded around the house with her backpack on.

Adam and I took her took her to school and walked her to her class. She walked right in and sat down at her seat and began crafting. When I picked her up this afternoon, she said her favorite part of the day was playing on the playground with the "bigger girl in the strawberry shirt". She loved it and when I put her to bed for a nap she said "today, after my nap, I'm going to be really nice so I can go to school tomorrow."

It's a.....

GIRL!

We went for our ultrasound on August 8th and got the surprising news that we're having another girl! Adam and I both thought it might be a boy... and you all know what Sarah Grace wanted. I didn't know what her reaction to the news was going to be, she had insisted on a brother for 5 months!

We took her with us to the appointment and she watched for a little while but then lost interest because of a basket of toys... then the ultrasound lady said "it's a girl" and Sarah Grace looked up. We asked her if she understood and she said she told the nurse she was going to have a sister named Charlotte Rose. She acted like she had never wanted a brother.

They said Charlotte looked great and, at the time, was measuring 5 days ahead of schedule!! That could change of course, but a little wishful thinking never hurts!!! The Dr. also made a comment that she has really long legs... go figure! ;0)

The pregnancy has been okay... weeks 4-14 were awful, 14-21 were GREAT, and since 21 have been rocky. I've been having a lot of pain in my upper rib cage and back. I had it with SG but it came later in the pregnancy... This time my Dr. thinks she might have a solution. I think it's working, but I'm still having some rough days... we'll keep ya posted. But all in all, Charlotte is healthy and growing, and REALLY active!!!

Here I Grow!

Hey! Just a quick update on the maternity front... We go to the doctor for our 20 week ultrasound on August 9th!!! So, if all goes well we should know if it's a boy or a girl really soon... Sarah Grace was stubborn on her ultrasound and we had to go somewhere else a few weeks later to find out. But with lots of prayer and a more cooperative child hopefully all will go well on the 9th.

I'm really starting to show now and have been in maternity clothes full time for the last several weeks or so (about 2 months earlier than w/SG). And I've been feeling a lot of movement, since about 16.5 weeks. Nothing for anyone else to feel but lots of little tiny thumps and flutters. Overall I feel really good now. No more sickness, just an occasional growing pain or two. :)

Sarah Grace still wants a brother and told everyone at the beach that her brother was in my tummy. She comes up to me all time and yells, "Hey Owen!" at my belly. For those of you that don't know, if it's a boy his name will be Owen Garrison, we're at a loss for girl names. (Owen, is after the OU football stadium Owen Field, and Garrison is Adam's grandfather's middle name.) There was a very brief period that Sarah Grace conceded to the idea of a sister but it was fleeting... so we'll see.

New Smyrna Beach, FL 2006

We just got back today from a week at the beach. We had great weather, for the most part, and it was very relaxing. Sarah Grace did great traveling! Only 1 potty break the entire trip there and just 1 on the way back today! Impressive for a 3 year old! We went with my dad's side of the family, as we have every year since birth...there were about 20 of us all together. It's a very predictable vacation, but that's why we enjoy it. We sleep late, go to the beach, go to the pool, out to for eat dinner, go to bed and repeat for 7 days! Sarah Grace loved everything about the ocean and pool. We already knew she loved to dig in the sand (which hadn't changed) but we weren't sure about the rest. But she had no fear. She ran into the ocean and was jumping in the pool quicker than you could turn to catch her! She loved the big waves in the ocean and called them "double bumpers" (a term her Paw Paw taught her). And she liked to boogie board with her dad. When she wasn't doing "double bumpers", she was either "building" or "baking" something in the sand with all her sand toys.

At night we'd go out for dinner with all or part of our family and then afterwards we'd get dessert, ice cream at the Boardwalk, or go crabbin' on the beach. Sarah Grace loved to catch "crabbies". Although, when we'd catch one she wanted nothing to do with it. I think she just liked being on the beach in the dark and playing with a flashlight.

Payton had a great 1st trip to the beach! She was so much fun!! She's always laughing or babbling and she was so easy. She loved the pool!!! As soon as her little body hit the water she was splashing' and grinning. She napped under the tent on the beach and slept in her car seat at dinner. Sarah Grace did great with her, no real jealousy issues, and she always wanted to hold her and talk to her.

Happy 4th of July!!

We hope you all had a wonderful 4th! It's no surprise where we spent our 4th. We left for the lake on Thursday and came back on Tuesday. It was very relaxing and the weather was great! Payton enjoyed her first 4th...she spent most of it either sleeping or laughing. She loved the baby pool, and napped on the boat. Sarah Grace had fun too. She's now one of the "big kids" at the lake. She played with all the neighbors and swam to everyone's docks for a visit. She even went "tubing" behind a paddle boat. She thought she was very grown up. In the evenings she'd go on golf cart "adventures" and pick blackberries with my Pawpaw and bring them back for everyone to try (they were less than sweet!). The whole family came up for the weekend and we cooked out and watched fireworks on the lake. We actually got to see 3 different firework shows this year and they got bigger and better as the weekend went on. For those of you that don't know, there are firework shows all over the lake and people get in their boats and anchor somewhere and watch. One night there were probably 200 boats watching the show...it was really pretty! Sarah Grace enjoyed the fireworks, except for the really loud ones. Although, I think she mostly saw it as a good excuse to get to eat a sucker and go for another boat ride. Well, we're back now but not for long. We leave for the beach this coming Saturday and I'm sure I'll have a lot to show and tell when we get back! Don't' forget to check out the photo gallery for lots of new picks of SG and Payton.

And one on the way...

Hello! Yes, for those of you that don't know there's a new Self on the way! We found out the day before Easter and I'm now about 10 1/2 weeks. We will be finding out what we're having, again, probably sometime in August. So, we'll keep you posted.

I took a pregnancy test the day before Easter and told Adam and Krista. And then on Easter we let Sarah Grace "announce" the news to the family at lunch. We made her wait till we were all together to open her Easter basket and we hid a note in one of her plastic eggs. Of course it was the last thing in the basket she opened and we had to coax her to open it because she said she couldn't hear candy inside. She finally got it open and handed the note to my uncle and asked him what it said... and he read, "I'm going to be a big sister!". Unfortunately, by that time some of the family had lost interest in the Easter basket festivities and had gone back to the kitchen. So, we had to read the note a couple of times before everyone figured out what was going on. I had my first doctor's appt a few weeks ago, and they said I'm due December 25th! But the Dr. also said I'm very likely to deliver early again, so I'm guessing it will be more like the 15th-20th. That would be fine, I just want to be home before Christmas morning. I go for my next visit to hear the heartbeat on 6/9. I've been sicker than I was with SG. I'll have a few ok days and then several really green days. Fortunately I've not gotten "sick" but it's still been rough. I have no appetite and the thought of food just makes things worse. I'm hoping since I'm getting close to the end of the 1st trimester there's an end in sight... We're all very excited, Sarah Grace most of all. She wants a brother!!!!! She will argue with you all day if you say it could be a girl. If you tell her it might be a baby sister she says, "but mom said we can only have one...", she's no dummy. ;0) So, hopefully the Lord is listening to her or else we're going to have dress another little girl in blue for a while until her older sister warms up to the idea!

Springtime!!!

Now that Spring is here and the weather is warm I can hardly keep Sarah Grace in the house! Even when it's rainy outside she says "it's a beautiful day to play outside!" I really think she'd play outside in a thunder storm. ;0)

Her favorite thing to do in the yard is dig in the sand. We have a huge pile of sand in the woods beside the house and she takes her bucket and shovel and will dig and "cook" forever! We have to strip her down before she can come in the house because she's a very messy "cook"!!! She also loves playing with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and riding her bikes. She also likes it when we take walks around the neighborhood and go in all the new houses. And she's a big help when it comes to yard work, she'll mow with her mower, help me pull weeds, and water flowers, she's quite handy to have around!

We have several great parks near our neighborhood and she has no fear when it comes to doing the "big kid" stuff. She'll climb up the tallest ladders and slide down the craziest slides. It's fun reliving my childhood with her and doing it all too. She and Krista have a blast racing each other down the slides and swinging.

Payton has learned to enjoy the park too... she's been on the slide, a see-saw, in a tunnel, and on the bouncy animals... but mostly it just means a breezy nap and bottle. :)

Happy Easter

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Ours was great, we had beautiful weather & Sarah Grace had 3 Easter egg hunts to go to. One in our neighborhood, one with church and one with our family on Easter Sunday. We now have more candy than she'll ever be allowed to eat!

At lunch we asked Sarah Grace what she learned in Sunday School that morning and she recited (in her 3 yr old version) the Passover story.... it was so sweet.

Payton had a fun first Easter. She got 3 Easter baskets and a stuffed bunny. She slept through most of the day but woke up in a great mood (as usual) and posed for some sweet pics! Check them out, and more, in the Photo Gallery.

8 Great Years!

Happy Anniversary to us! Yes, hard to believe but it's been 8 years already... some days it seems like yesterday and some days it feels like 8 years ago. ;0) But we have been so blessed! We have a great friendship, a beautiful daughter, a gorgeous home and it just seems to get better with time!

Tomorrow, the 21st, is our actual anniversary. This time 8 years ago I was sitting at my rehearsal dinner looking forward to night out with my girlfriends and counting the minutes till our honeymoon! I know I should've been counting down to the wedding but I just wanted to get on that BOAT!!!!

Adam surprised me Friday night and got a room at the JW Marriott in Buckhead and took me out for dinner and dessert. The hotel was beautiful and we were on the 21st floor with a perfect view of downtown. We ate at High Cotton at Perimeter and then drove around town for a while and got dessert at Cafe Intermezzo in the city (where I had gone for my "Bachelorette party" 8 yrs ago). Saturday we slept late, took our time enjoying breakfast at the hotel and then shopped all day. Not a bad weekend!! :)

I can't wait to see what the next 80 years have in store for us!

Our House...

Here is a little background on our new house and the process that proceeded it... Dad agreed to build for us again so, we started looking for property to build on (a couple of years ago). It was a long process and tougher than before because we were looking for 2 lots and not just one. Our friends, the Taylor's, were looking too and we wanted to be neighbors. It didn't take long to figure out that lots in new subdivisions were reserved for a specific group of builders and lots with any size acreage were too $$$$!!!

After MUCH!!!! searching we finally found our lot (and one for the Taylors). It was such an answer to prayer. We wanted 2 lots in a nice area in a new neighborhood with amenities. And I had some personal requests between me and God. I wanted a house with oak trees and a lake that backed up to a horse farm. The Bible says to pray specific ;0) ... and well, I got 2 1/2 out of 3. We got a great cul-de-sac lot that backs up to a lake with 1 huge oak & 3 other big ones, and there are 4 horses across from the entrance to the neighborhood that I get to drive by everyday!

We started building in August & finished in late January.

Payton Olivia...

We had a new addition to the Lord side of the family this year! Payton Olivia Gadd. She was born on December 28th and Sarah Grace got to be there when she was born (not the actual moment!).

Krista got pregnant last Spring and it took a little while, but Sarah Grace got a pretty good grasp on the concept. She would yell into Krista's belly button and talk to the baby. And she loved to give her cousin kisses.

Since Payton's arrival, Sarah Grace has been great. No jealousy issues (so far) and she does amazingly good holding and feeding her. When people ask her now if she wants a baby brother or sister she says she already has a sister, named Payton.

Winter Holidays

Sarah Grace really enjoyed Christmas this year! She understood everything, and couldn't wait for Christmas to get here! She loved carols on the radio, lights on houses, and Santa at the mall. Her favorite song was "piggy puddin'" or better known as, We Wish you a Merry Christmas. She knew every word and wanted to hear it 10 times in a row every time we got in the car!!!

When you asked her what she wanted from Santa all she said was "a Barbie and an apple (a red one)" and later she added "...and maybe some Play Dough". The first thing she went for under the tree on Christmas morning was her big red apple and took a huge bite! "Santa" had brought her tons of toys and she wanted to eat the apple! :)

Not long after Christmas was her 3rd birthday... as if Christmas toys weren't enough! ;0)

We had a small dinner and party for her on her actual birthday with some of my family and then had a "Tinkerbell Party" with her friends and more family the following weekend. She was stubborn and didn't want to blow out her candles but she eventually did... and then she and the other little ones ran around hyped up on sugar for the next hour!