Catching up with sweet friends

The last weekend in February, we enjoyed spending time with my good friend Amanda & her mom Ganene. Amanda is my friend that worked with me in Dallas & Orlando & then got married in Virginia last fall. Amanda & Ganene also invited me & my mom to join them on a Disney trip in January 2007. We did accept that invitation & had a blast : )

Anyway, back to the current year..... these two lovely ladies took a little girls trip to celebrate Ganene's 50th birthday. Robby, Charlotte & I joined them for dinner & dessert in their suite at the Bay Lake Tower. We had a perfect view of the castle & enjoyed the fireworks from our patio. Charlotte was in awe of each & every firework that went off. Too cute to hear her say "wow" or whoaaa."

Here are some photos of our time with them:

Here is the cake I made. I am awful decorating with icing so I have resorted to sticking scrapbooking things on top of the cake : )

The birthday girl with Charlotte

Amanda & Charlotte having a great time. Amanda hung Charlotte upside down by her feet about a million times. After each time, she would say "mah mah" while doing the sign for "more."

I love this girl....it is a bummer to live SO far away from each other!

One exciting thing is that I GOT TO SPEND THE NIGHT!! It was my first sleepover since becoming a mommy : ) We relaxed in the hot tub, (Just for the record I perched on the side every few minutes so I wouldn't cook Eloise too quickly) chatted & hit the sack early. I got to sleep in my own room, which made me miss my husband but I definitely survived with the black out curtains, freezing temperatures & cozy bed.

When Robby did some traveling last fall, he said that he slept with 9 pillows....YES 9 PILLOWS at one time! Leading up to Christmas he would say "all I want for Christmas is 9 pillows." This made me laugh but I was thinking, "Really? 9 pillows? That is ridiculous!" Once I laid down surrounded by 9 pillows I texted him & said, "we SO need new pillows, 9 each, at least!" Really though, I was so comfortable that even when Eloise was dancing on my bladder at 5 am I figured I would just hold it instead of trying to climb out of my little cave between all my pillows : )

I slept in until 8:30 (late for me these days), enjoyed a blueberry muffin on the patio while talking with Amanda, watching all those crazy people load up their strollers with ridiculous amounts of stuff heading over for a day of torture at the Magic Kingdom. We left before lunch, I dropped the vacationers off at Universal then headed to work to pick up some extra hours. This put me being away from my little Charlotte for over 24 hours.

I received this via text message part way through my day. I could not stop laughing!

Thanks sweetheart for letting me spend some time away! I missed you & Char so much.

Amanda & Ganene, we love your visits to Orlando & hope for one each year : )

Viability

24 weeks pregnant= VIABILITY!!

24 weeks is an exciting point to reach in pregnancy because if she were to arrive, a medical team would intervene to help keep her alive. As many of you know, 24 weeks is still SUPER early but it is amazing to know that she is already to that point! I remember being about this pregnant with Charlotte & having the opportunity to deliver a patient that was 24-25 weeks along. I went to visit the family in the NICU the following week & was just in awe as I watched her move around. It was funny to see the little jerky movements with her arms and legs & realize that those are the same movements they make inside their mommas. I smiled and thought "so that is what Charlotte is doing when I feel that funny wiggle!" So, we will pray that Miss Eloise can stay growing inside me for at least another 14 weeks while still believing that God has already picked the perfect day for her to arrive.

I am feeling great this week. I mentioned before that we have dealt with all kinds of sickness around here. To top it off, the day after Valentine's Day, I lifted Charlotte to put her in her car seat & immediately felt this AWFUL pain in my lower back. The next 2 days, I was unable to sit up or stand without Robby doing all the work. It was a little scary & frustrating really. We had some wonderful friends that were willing to show up at my house & spend the day with me to help with Charlotte. This was all we asked them to do....they did SO much more! Cleaning and cooking + keeping me company or letting me take a 3 hour nap....those things combined with a pain medication, muscle relaxer, heating pad & ice packs helped me make it through Wednesday-Friday. Over the weekend, I felt much better & today I would say I am almost back to normal. Although normal now includes being extra careful when lifting my little chubster ; ) I will say I greatly enjoyed feeling every movement Eloise made while spending so much time in bed or on the couch.

Eloise has been showing off some pretty crazy dance moves the past few days! She should weigh over a pound now & it definitely feels like she is long and lanky when I feel a foot on one side of the belly and a head on the other : ) We are excited to get moving on some projects in the girls room! Robby is going to build Charlotte a toddler bed that she can move into sometime between now and when Eloise is ready to move from the cradle to the crib. I have some bird houses to paint & hang, some floor pillows to make for in front of the bookshelf, flat sheets to match for the toddler bed & a blankie for Eloise. This on top of getting up into the attic to pull out the little bitty clothes, setting up the bouncer & thinking about how to take care of a newborn again will probably consume a good amount of time in the coming weeks.

We are anticipating a week spent with each set of grandparents in March. I am looking forward to having someone here that loves playing with my busy toddler so this momma can put her feet up and relax!

Living in the Sunshine State

Oh how we are enjoying the warm weather! I cannot imagine living in a place where I was cold in February ; ) Central Florida has been absolutely lovely this past week and we have been taking advantage of being outside.

We enjoyed popsicles as a family after her nap the other afternoon. She took FOREVER to eat it, savoring every bite, just like I do with Reese's. She was sticky from head to toe and got a bath afterward but I think this cutie pie loved her raspberry popsicle!

Quite the goofy pair pictured below. Bennett is sillier than Charlotte sometimes & the combination of the two is always good for a laugh. I will say that he tolerates Charlotte & her antics pretty well but when he is done, he is out of sight!

Sunday morning, we decided to head over to downtown Celebration before church and spend some time as a family. I thought we would take a leisurely walk around part of the lake then turn back. What actually happened was Charlotte ran the entire way! I think we may have a future track star on our hands ; ) I was more tired than she was when we got back in the truck! We saw lots of ducks & squirrels but missed the gator this visit. She waved at all the doggies that walked past us but shook her head "no" when an older man or woman said "well aren't you just the cutest thing!" We are working on being cordial in public.

Charlotte is 19 months old now & still growing so fast!

My favorite part was just after the above picture was taken. She stopped and reached her hand up to mine and wanted us to all walk together holding hands. This is rare...I have to fight to hold her hand to walk across a busy street! Sweet time though with the three of us. I couldn't help but remember doing my maternity pictures & Charlotte's newborn pictures around the lake. Overwhelmed once again as I watched Char and Robby enjoy those same surroundings while feeling Eloise wiggling around in my belly. The Lord is oh so gracious to us. For those of you who are not experiencing as much sunshine as we are, please, get on a plane (if you can) and come visit!

Visit with GG & Grammy

What is better than having a Great Grandma & Grandma visiting the same weekend? Not too much : ) Robby's Mom, Jeannine & Grandma Virginia spent the weekend before Valentine's Day with us & we had a ball! The girls got PLENTY of loving, the kind that only Grandmas' can give; )

Here are all the pretty ladies

Robby's Grandma Virginia had 5 grandsons before welcoming her first granddaughter, Caroline into the world. Since then, she has been overjoyed to be blessed with Charlotte, Karis & the news of Eloise to add to all the boys in her life! The girls weren't the only ones spoiled, GG & her sister in law, Edna watched both girls on Sunday night while we went on a double date with Steve & Jenny! We have not done that since before Charlotte was born.....sad but true. We had such a wonderful time catching up uninterrupted! Thank you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Another Valentine's Day to celebrate as a true Valentine! I have loved my last name since I knew I would be a Valentine & it is too fun that we have a holiday named after us ; ) Today, I did not think my last name was as fun as the medical staff at the doctors office thought it was....it was not my desire to spend the morning waiting to be diagnosed with either an upper respiratory infection or major allergies...although I was glad to brighten their day with a "cute" last name.

This has been a sick house for the past week with a double whammy of stomach flu & respiratory infection for Robby & me bringing up the caboose with a combo of coughing, runny nose & sore throat. In fact, the total amount of days we have been sick in 2011 are more than the days we have been well! We seem to be sick at the start of each year & through that small amount of suffering we rejoice in another great promise of scripture:

"So, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." 1 Corinthians 4:16

We have found ourselves thankful lately. The Lord continues to renew our hearts, keeping us faithful to serve here in Florida & causing us to delight in Him alone as He is the ONLY one who can satisfy.

Valentine's Day for us over the course of 7 years has consisted of a couple romantic evenings in or out, a couple parties with all sorts of people or just plain relaxing with the 2 of us. Due to our illness/recovery for 2011 Valentine's Day, we plan to eat soup for dinner, spend some time with sweet Charlotte then enjoy a giant cupcake coupled with some previous years Valentine's Day Office episodes......maybe by candlelight ; )

Here our some pictures of the littlest Valentine in her "Be Mine" outfit......she went from serious to silly very quickly which made for an assortment of cute faces!

one pic of the family

and of course, we had to capture Charlotte's interest in baby Eloise

So, however you decide to spend your day & evening, we hope you enjoy it!

Love-

The Valentines

E is for....

E is the first letter of many words & many names. In fact today, Charlotte & I went shopping and purchased this to add to the decor of the girls room at the Valentine home:

this E stands for ELOISE

It's official! Baby Valentine #2 has a name & we love it : ) Robby actually picked the name Eloise when we were on vacation early last summer & it took some time for me to agree that it was adorable. We feel like it has the same sweet, charming & antique sound as Charlotte does.

Eloise means multiple things as any of you who have looked at baby name meanings know information doesn't always match.....

Here are a couple we found:

• 
  
  famous warrior



• 
  
  healthy & wide

We find it humorous that Charlotte means petite & womanly which seems like the opposite of Eloise ; ) Also humorous, Charlotte is definitely not petite at this point in her life, but is a healthy little girl!

We are still discussing possibilities for a middle name but think we have it narrowed down to a few.

Eloise is getting bigger and crazier with her movement throughout the day but mostly during the night. She wakes me up around 5 with her morning exercise routine..... it is absolutely amazing. She is loved dearly by her big sister who is more interested each day with the growing bump. Charlotte has attempted to say "Eloise" a few times. It has come out as "eee-ooo-sss" & "ee-oos." Can't wait to hear it when she says it to her for the first time when she is out of my belly : ) Speaking of that growing belly, I feel like I am starting to waddle a little bit, but I like waddling so that is great!

Eloise Valentine, what a sweet name you have. We can't wait to meet you this summer & will continue praying that God grows your body healthy & strong.....and wide ; ) We love you.

Beyond

As many of you know, Robby & I moved to Central Florida in May 2008 to be part of a church plant called Celebration Community Church. Our church has been meeting at Celebration High School each and every Sunday for quite some time. We are thankful for what we have but are looking forward to having a place to call home : ) We are in the beginning weeks of sharing the vision for the future of our church with others & Lord willing will break ground in the coming weeks on our building!

Check out the link below to watch the video on our website:

LINK TO VIDEO

Please join us in praying for the Lord to provide abundantly as we believe He will & check the website for future updates!