Baby Update...

Not too much new news to tell. I'm now 33 weeks. Charlotte is still doing great. She's very very very very ACTIVE!!! But best of all, she still measuring ahead of schedule! My Dr. thinks she will still be early, but he's not sure how early (SG was 11 days early). I'd love for that to be the case, but I'd be okay if she was few days late too. I just don't want be in the hospital on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. I don't want Sarah Grace to get left out...I want her to have all the attention and Santa festivities she deserves. She's already making her Christmas list... :)

I'm still in a lot of pain. I can't drive anymore. It's hard to sit at the table long enough to eat and I'm not sleeping. I spend about 20 minutes out of every hour trying to get comfy during the night. Adam and I are now in separate rooms because I'm so restless and propped up on so many pillows there's not room for both of us in one bed... BUT, hopefully there's an end in sight (other than childbirth). My Dr. told me last week there's a chance I could go to a pain clinic and get a type of epidural that will numb the areas that have been bothering me. I'm still waiting to hear back... I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks so much for all of your prayers!!!

Boo Y'all!

Happy Halloween!!!!

If the first few weeks of October weren't busy enough... We had a really fun Halloween this year. It all started on Friday, the 27th, with a kids' costume party at our neighborhood clubhouse. It was really cute. All the kids dressed up and there were games and crafts and goodie bags for everyone.

First, we iced and decorated cookies. Then Sarah Grace made a ghost out of marshmallow looking crafty things. Next it was time for Halloween munchies. And last, but not least, the dance contest. It was SOOO cute! All the kids (ages 2-13) got in the center of the room and danced to Halloween songs. When the music stopped, they'd have to freeze in mid-dance. To say the least, they had mercy on the little ones who didn't quite grasp the freeze concept.

Monday night was our pumpkin carving party, at home. Mom and Dad came over and helped us stuff popcorn witch's hands (for SG's class party), bake Halloween cupcakes (for the church festival), and carve our pumpkin, Mark (I have no idea how he got his name).

The next day was the big day! Sarah Grace got to wear a costume to school. I let her wear her flower costume from last year (that still fit perfect) incase there were spills, which there were. When I got to the school they were lined up to go trick-or-treating with little brown sacks they had decorated. It was so cute. While they went door-to-door trick-or-treating throughout the school, some of the other moms and I decorated the room for a huge class party. There were so many things on their plates Sarah Grace asked me if she had to eat it all! There were cookies, fruit, cheese, popcorn, candy, toys...The parents went all out and the kids loved it!

After a quick nap we headed to Krista and Jonathan's for our annual costume party and dinner. Every year she throws a huge party and we ALL dress up and bring Halloween themed foods. This year we had mummy dogs, brains (shrimp cocktail in a mold), witch's breath pasta, eyeballs, and a ghost cake just to name a few. After we ate and took pictures, we took the kids trick-or-treating. We get quite a reaction from the neighbors when we knock on the door and there are 6-7 adults for every child and we're ALL dressed up. It's so much fun! This year we went as Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, and a pregnant nun. The Gadds were Ma and Pa farmer and their prize winning chicken. But the winner this year, by far, was my cousin Stan, who came as Buckwheat from the Little Rascals.... it was GREAT!

Sarah Grace had fun getting candy. After about the 5th house she said, "we still have 17 more to go!" I think we did more like 25. This was one tired nun! Luckily hunger got the best of her and we went back to Krista's for more grub. Payton only made it to about 6 houses before she fell asleep on Jonathan's shoulder...she was a sleepy little chicken.

Fall Festivities

Well, we've had a very busy October... First, we went to a pumpkin patch as a family with our Sunday School class. Then we went to a Fall church social/BBQ at a farm. And, finally we had a field trip with Sarah Grace's preschool to a tree farm/pumpkin patch. And this was all before Halloween!

The pumpkin farm was great. We went with our SS class and we had a great turn out. Krista, Jonathan and Payton came too! Sarah Grace had a blast. We got to pick our pumpkins right off the vine, go on a hayride, and picnic. They also had a petting zoo, playgrounds, and a Cow Train. We did it all and Sarah Grace didn't want to leave. When we were walking to our car she stopped in the middle of the parking lot and said, "I'm not walking anymore...I'm NOT going home!".

The next weekend was the church BBQ. One of the older SS classes at church hosts a huge BBQ at their property every year with horses, music, kiddy games, and great BBQ...all for FREE! So we decided to go and had a great time. It was a little chilly but the food was good. Sarah Grace played on the Moonwalks, rode on a another hayride, and rode her first REAL horse, not a pony, a HORSE! I was so proud. She marched right up and got on and had no fear...she loved it! Yet another thing she gets from me I guess...;0)

Next was her first school field trip. It felt so strange being old enough to have a child going on a school field trip. A true "Mom moment". We were told we were going to a Pumpkin Patch but it was really more of a Christmas tree farm that had a hayride and a few store bought pumpkins sitting around.... but it was cute and the kids didn't care. Mom went with us. When we got there they listened to a storyteller; and then they got to feed some goats. Next was the hayride that dropped us off at a picnic spot where the kids ate lunch. It was fun to see Sarah Grace with all the kids she talks about all the time. I think she has a crush on a little boy named Jason. :)

Coming soon.... Halloween!!!

HAPPY Birthday to ME!!!

For my early 30th birthday present Adam took me to Las Vegas! It's somewhere I've ALWAYS wanted to go, and he asked me a while back if I'd rather have a big party for my 30th or go on a trip... We left on Saturday morning at 10AM and got to Vegas about 5:45PM (8:45 our time). It was a very long day! We had made plans to go eat and check out some hotels that night but were so exhausted we ate at our hotel and watched tv in bed.

On Sunday, (the single best day I've ever had on a vacation) we checked into Bally's on the strip. Our room was upgraded to a suite with an amazing view! Bally's and the Paris hotel are connected and our room looked out to the Eiffel Tower and the fountains at the Bellagio across the street (they were so close you could hear them)! And it was gorgeous at night!

After we checked in, we went shopping at Ceasar's Palace, ate crepes in Paris, and went through the Aladdin hotel & shops. After a few hours of resting in our room, we got dressed up and went to dinner at the Bellagio. We had an amazing table on the patio overlooking the fountains, that went off several times while we ate. We were so close we got wet!

After dinner we got pastries for dessert, walked through the conservatory gardens and then went to see "O" by Cirque du Solei. I've always wanted to see "O", especially after seeing other Cirque shows, it's the show where they do everything in the water. Our meal was great, dessert was great, the show was great, our seats were great, and overall the whole day was the greatest! And that was just the 1st day...

On Monday, Adam went to a bakery in Paris and got chocolate criossants for breakfast then we started our day. We went to the Flamingo where they had really pretty pools/gardens, waterfalls and ton of tropical birds! Then we went to Circus Circus, Wynn, a mall for a snack, back to Wynn and then to the Venetian. The Venetian was fun, the canals were pretty, although not as long/big as we thought. We walked around the shops for while, they had some neat stores and art galleries. After that we went into the casino and played nickel slots for a while until it was time for dinner. I won 88, nickels that is. :) We had a GREAT dinner and dessert at sister restaurant of the Cheesecake Factory. After dinner we set out again to see MORE hotels.

We went to Treasure Island and watched the "Sirens" pirate ship show, saw the TI hotel, & went to the Mirage hotel. At the Mirage, we watched the volcano eruption, walked through a rain forest and saw a really fun aquarium. From there we walked back to Paris and went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower (which really showed how much Adam loves me, he's afraid of heights). We took great pics of the strip and watched the Bellagio fountains from the top of the tower.

On Tuesday, we ate at a breakfast buffet in Paris (which was great) & we tried to pack in the remaining few hotels we hadn't seen before it was time to go to the airport. We went to the Luxor, Excalibur, NY NY, and MGM Grand. We stayed at the MGM for a while watching lion cubs in the lion habitat. The were so sweet. We also went back to the Bellagio to see the conservatory during the day. Then we left for the airport, flew all night and got home at 12:55AM!

Thanks SO SO much to all of you who were praying for me while we were on our trip. I did great! We walked 2-3 miles a day and I was in very little, to no pain at all. The pain was never so bad that a Tylenol couldn't fix it.

The Fair!

As always, the fair marks the beginning of Fall. Sarah Grace had a great time! She loves seeing all the animals, pony rides, and riding the rides. She gets more and more brave every year. Last year she wanted to ride more than the year before, but she still wanted someone to ride with her. This year she would've done any ride there, all by herself.

This year was Payton's first time at the fair! She had a great time! She got to pet the animals ride a pony, eat her first funnel cake, and even went on the Bumble Bee ride! She was a trooper.

Self Family Vacation

We just got back from a 10 day road trip through Oklahoma and Texas with Adam's family. It started with 2 nights in OK and then we moved on to Dallas, TX. Tyler and Lauren just moved into a great new house there and we went for the night before we went on to Austin where we spent the next 4 days.

We stayed in a great condo in Austin and from Austin we took day trips to Fredericksburg, and San Antonio. Austin was beautiful. It's centered around a huge lake, Lake Travis, and is in "hill country" which reminded us a lot of San Francisco. Fredericksburg was a little old western town with fun little shops and San Antonio was really neat. We walked along the River Walk, saw the Alamo, and took a boat ride down the San Antonio River.

After we left Austin we went to Houston for a couple nights. We visited Adam's other grandmother, and tried to make all the rounds to places we like to eat when in Houston. It was a packed trip with lots of traveling but we had great time!

Go Sooners!

Sarah Grace and I got to go to our 1st OU home game! We flew to Oklahoma City to see Adam's grandmother and meet up with the rest of his family for our annual Self family vacation. Our first stop on our 10 day road trip was Norman, OK,

home of the Sooners!

Sarah Grace was excited. She had been to a GA Tech/Clemson game last year and really liked the band and mascots... So, she was pumped to see the horses (Sooner Schooner) and hear the band. Little did we know at the time that was all she planned to see.

We got into the game and within 10-15 minutes after kick-off she was ready to go (in a sobbing, "I want my blankie!", crocodile tears kind of way)! In her defense it was HOT and past her nap time already but Adam and I wanted to see the game... Luckily Bonnie and Lauren were going to leave early and watch the game from the student center, so they took Sarah Grace with them and she took a nap.

The game was great, we won, of course! And we found out when we got home that night that SG had told Adam's grandma that morning, before we left, that she was going to see the horses, hear the band, and take a nap.