9 hours at the fair!

Yes, you read that correctly! We arrived at the Dixie Classic Fair at 12:00PM on Friday and stayed until 9:00PM! We had such a wonderful time, and this particular family event is something that we look forward to every year. This was the first year that JD jr was old enough and big enough to actually get to ride some rides, and boy did he ever!! I can't tell you how much fun JD Sr and I had watching JD get so excited about climbing aboard ride after ride and simply beaming with excitement and waving to us each time he passed by on whatever it was he was riding at the time.

He rode mini-roller coasters (COMPLETELY ALONE!), went down large inflatable slides, jumped in the jumping-house, and tried a variety of rides that just went around a small track. All of this was perfectly fine with me, but when he said he wanted to try the swings (yes, the kind that swing the children up and out in the air), I almost had a heart attack. I wasn't about to discourage him if it was something he really wanted to do, and he was surprisingly the right height to be allowed to get on. I just held my breath and actually felt a little nauseated as the swings began to take off. Would you believe that he LOVED it?? Each time he passed by, he was grinning with a wide-open mouth and saying, "Whoooooo Hooooo!"

Once the sun went down, we made our way over to watch the Demolition Derby. JD was fascinated by all of the smoke, roaring engines, and cheering crowd. You can see in a couple of the pictures just how captivated he was by the show. Later that night as I was tucking him into bed, he said, "Mama, those cars weren't being very nice!" At least he knows that that's NOT how we're supposed to act when we're behind the wheel of a car!

We wrapped up the night by taking a ride on the enormous ferris wheel, and although I had looked forward to it all day (I've always enjoyed riding ferris wheels at night), I have to admit that I panicked when it reached the top! My palms were sweating and I had to close my eyes until we began to descend. That has never happened to me before...could it have anything to do with being 30?

We packed food, the camera, chapstick, and of course, anything else we could think of that would allow us to stay for as long as we did. Being almost 7 mos pregnant resulted in my feet and tailbone throbbing by the end of the day, but it was so worth it!

Hangin' out with my best buddy, Hank

Just a few pictures of JD jr and his friend, Hank, at the putt putt golf course a few weeks ago. It has been so much fun to see the two of them grow up together, as they met when they were both only a handful of months old. Any time I ask JD, "Who is your very best friend?", he says, "Hank!" Great friends just can't be beat, and I treasure my friendship with Hank's mom just as much!

A 2 and 1/2 year old's dream come true!

We recently made a trip to Greensboro to visit Pump It Up, a giant warehouse with wall-to-wall inflatable play equipment. JD jr was mesmerized when we walked in, and it only took him a few seconds to realize that this was intended for one thing and one thing only...JUMPING! He and JD Sr had a blast chasing each other around and sliding down the enormous slides at warp speed. We will definitely be making another trip back very soon. Both JD Sr and jr were completely wiped out and STARVING by the time we left. They both kept repeating, "I'm so hungry" and "Let's eat!" all the way back to Winston-Salem. I obviously didn't get to participate in the jumping extravaganza because of my growing belly and dr's order to "take it easy", but I had just as much fun watching the two of them having a wonderful time together.

Summer's almost over...

These are just a few random pictures that we've taken during the last few weeks of summer. I am now 25 weeks along, so my belly has grown even since the picture shown below. Everything is continuing to progress very well, and for that we are so thankful. JD jr is getting so excited about having a baby brother in the house. He tells me all of the things he is going to do when his brother arrives - give him a bottle, sing songs to him, give him a pap-pap (pacifier), and snuggle with him. He has recently begun to thank God for his baby brother when he says his bedtime prayers. Too sweet!

I FINALLY took JD to get another haircut. His hair just grows so fast between cuts! Notice the before (eating ice cream) and the after (close up). Did he need to visit the barber or what?

We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this wonderful fall weather as much as we are!

Fun Time with Daddy

I just love it when JD Sr and jr get to spend some guy time together! JD Sr recently got home from work early and treated JD to a trip to the mall where they played arcade games, visited the candy store where JD was allowed to pick out a bag of candy from their vast array of choices, and listened to music in the bookstore. As they were leaving to go out on their adventure, JD yelled to me from the backseat, "Mom, we'll be back, ok?" I guess he felt like he needed to reassure me the way that I do him when I drop him off for Sunday school each week.

The other pictures are from a recent Saturday that Georgia Tech was playing a televised football game. Fortunately JD Sr had the day off and was able to watch it, and JD jr was all too eager to share in his Daddy's excitement about the game, while wearing his fuzzy yellow hair and Buzz hat! Boys and football...I'll never understand!