4D Take Two!

Just like her big sister, she cooperated much more the second time around. So here is Miss Ella in 4D at 32 weeks along. Don't those chubby cheeks look adorable?!?







We cannot wait to meet you, Ella!

Global Wildlife Center

During our trip to Louisiana to celebrate Thanksgiving, we decided to take Molly to Global Wildlife Center to see and feed the animals on a safari wagon tour. We invited all of her cousins to come along, so we had a large group fill up the wagon and head out on safari with us!





Molly had so much fun and had no fear of the animals. When we got to the llamas, they would come right up to the wagon and eat out of your hand. With a little help reaching out, Molly was all about letting them eat from her hands.



It was so much fun to watch her have a fun time and we will definitely have to make plans to visit again!

Baby Bump!

Today I put Bobby behind the lens and asked him to take some pics of the baby bump. I think he did a pretty good job! Here are a few of my favorites from our little photo shoot at 31 weeks along!

4 Years

Today Bobby and I celebrate four years of marriage. It seems like such a small amount of time, but so much has happened in our lives. We have grown as a couple and become a family, ready to welcome a second daughter to our lives in the near future. I am thankful everyday to have found such an honest, hardworking, and loving husband and father for my girls. Happy Anniversary, love!

Ella in 4D

We had an appointment today to get a sneak peek at Ella in 4D. Unfortunately, she was less than cooperative, despite the fact that I drank a coke right before the appointment. She was sound asleep the whole time with both of her hands comfortably resting in front of her sweet little face.






And, just for comparison, here is Molly in 4D around the same time. I definitely think the second picture of Ella shows a resemblance...do you see it?



Maybe it's easier to see them closer together...






It's funny, in the first picture I see Bobby's nose, but in the second, it looks more like mine. I guess we will have to see if we can get a better glimpse when we go back for our follow-up. It's scheduled for November 22 and we hope to get a better view of her then. Stay tuned!

One More Sneak Peek Photo...

I am so excited that today we got our full gallery from Chryshelle Spurgeon Photography from our family photo session! While some of the pics are being kept "secret" because they will be used for Christmas cards, I wanted to share one more. I asked Chryshelle to crop this one to focus on Molly's face (the original was full length of all of us) and she was sweet enough to email me the picture. So here it is...what a cutie!



Note: For some reason, it is cutting off the left side of the photo (it does this on all of them, now that I am looking at it! So you can click the photo to see the full size image on Flickr...Just FYI!)

Princesses on Ice

This weekend we had tickets to see Disney on Ice Princess Wishes with several of Molly's and mommy's friends. Before the show began, we got to view a Princess Trunk Show where all the gowns of the princesses were on display. Of course, Molly's favorite (as always) was Belle.





As an added bonus, granny and pawpaw called on Wednesday and asked to come and visit for the weekend, so Molly got to watch the princesses from the comfort of her granny's lap. She was even delightfully excited to get her hands on some cotton candy at the show!



Of course, Molly enjoyed the princesses and was quietly mesmerized for the entire performance.

Perfectly Imperfect

We took family pictures this past weekend in downtown Richmond, TX with Chryshelle Spurgeon Photography. We spent almost an hour taking photos on the streets of the historic small town. Towards the end, Molly was tired. Tired of walking, so daddy carried her on his shoulders. Tired of wearing shoes, so she kicked them off. Tired of posing, so the last photos of the day were unplanned and unposed. The resulting photo was at the end of our shoot and completely candid of her giving daddy a big kiss on his forehead.

I love how it so perfectly captures so much. The way her hand falls over Bobby's eye, the sweet focus of her giving him a kiss, and the resulting smile on my face that comes from watching her love her daddy. If you look closely, you can even see her stocking feet with no shoes. It's just a perfect capture of a sweet moment for our little family.

Dino-ROAR!

This weekend we went to Ryder's birthday party at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Ryder has a current love of all things dinosaur, so his party was dinosaur themed. The kids were treated to a special tour of the paleontology hall of the museum where they learned about the models in the exhibit. After cake and ice cream, they then got one on one experiences with learning about and touching several animals, including a totroise, a salamander, a bearded dragon, and a snake. Molly bravely touched them all except for the salamander. Mama kept her hands to herself!

Here is Ryder's awesome dinosaur cake that his mom made...talk about impressive!



Blowing out the candles



Molly at the party



And Molly in between Garrett and Ryder, wearing their dino masks. By far the hit of the party, as soon as all the kids put them on, they starting to ROAR and chase on another all over the party room. They had a great time!



Happy Birthday, Ryder! Thank you for including us in your celebration!

Baby Update

I write this approaching the 29 week mark of my pregnancy. It is surreal to me that in 11 weeks (or less!) we will be welcoming our second baby girl, Miss Ella Kathryn, into our family.

Today at my doctor's appointment, Ella confirmed that she does not enjoy having her heartbeat detected as she promptly kicked the nurse the moment she set the doppler on my stomach. She constantly moves around all day, every day, and continues to make mama suffer from bouts of morning sickness. I have a feeling, if her movement is any indication, that she will be a strong baby, just like her big sister was.

We have also made some progress in preparing her room. We ordered her furniture about a week ago (thank you, Granny and PawPaw!) and cannot wait for it to get here to see how it all comes together. Here is a sneak peek:





Molly continues to be excited about her baby sister, continuously telling her teachers about Ella, calling her by name, and sharing her excitement with anyone who asks her about the baby.

There are a lot of moments of quiet reflection for me lately as I watch Molly day to day and wonder how it will be when another baby girl has joined the picture. Molly is such a happy child, full of life and innocence, and it is almost impossible to imagine rocking her world with such a major change. Part of me wants to protect her from the uncertainty that will inevitably accomany the arrival of Ella. Part of me cannot wait to see her as a big sister, because I know she will amaze me and be instantly in love with her baby sister. Part of me wants to hold her tight and rock her to sleep and assure her that life will be no different; part of me knows that she needs to grow and understand that it will indeed be different. Despite how our lives will change, all of me knows that our family will grow stronger and closer once we welcome Ella.