Happy 85th Birthday Great Grannie!

Last night we celebrated Grannie's 85th birthday with dinner at a local bed and breakfast and then cake back at my parent's house.  We had a great time with friends and family celebrating a remarkable woman.   Happy Birthday Grannie!  We love you!  Here is Kate dancing for everyone at dinner.

Kate and Scarlett admiring Kate's card (full of Dora stickers) she made for Great Grannie.

Kate and Scarlett "practicing" for their concert.

Kate and Scarlett giving their concert (after a few creative differences!)

The grandkids!

Craft Day at the Matthews Homestead

Last weekend Kate and I joined Scarlett and her parents for a craft day and Grandma and Grandaddy's house.  We made some pretty cool stuff.

Kate's Scarecrow.

Carving the pumpkin.

The finished product

The State Fair

October has been a very full month of fall festivals, the state fair, and getting ready for Halloween.  We had a great time at the fair.   Kate got to ride every kiddie ride with Daddy and then again with Grandaddy when he and Grandma met up with us.  From watching Kate slide down the super big slide to the pony rides to milking a cow to the food, it was a fun day had by all.

The State Fair cont.

More pics! Here is Kate milking a cow!

Kate has her first official "crush" on Wyatt from the PBS show Super Why!  You can see on her face how excited she was at getting her picture take with "him.  It is seriously like an 11 year old seeing the Jonas Brothers.

Oh Boy! It's a Boy!

We're having a boy and he's a Tarheel already!  Everyone is very excited, including Kate who is happy about having a baby brother.

Fall Festival Time!

Nana and Papa Tom took us to Hill Ridge Farms today as an early treat for Mommy's birthday.  We had a fun time looking at all the animals and watching Kate explore lots of different things from a fort to a hay maze.  We even had a hayride and picked out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.  Thanks Nana and Papa Tom for a fun day!  Here are the three pumpkins getting ready for a train ride.  Don't they look cute in their orange!?

Kate loved the HUGE slide.  She and Daddy were going so fast they almost flew onto the gravel.

Here comes Papa Tom...

Here is Nana going through the hay tunnel with Kate cheering her on.

Even I got in on the action by racing ducks-Kate won every time!

Time for the hayride...

Here are the lucky pumpkins Kate chose to come home with us.

We are ready for Fall!

Baby Update-Week 16

I'm borrowing this idea from a friend who is also pregnant, thanks Christy, who borrowed it from a friend of a friend.  I've made a few of my own modifications, but all my girlfriends out there who are also pregnant-feel free to use this too!

How far along? 16 1/2 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: not sure, probably about 10 pounds
Maternity clothes? sometimes, it's still mix and match, but a full maternity wardrobe is fast approaching!
Stretch marks? not from this baby
Sleep? I'm up a lot at night between the backaches and bathroom breaks-already using a body pillow
Best moment this week:  finally, not feeling exhausted all the time
Movement: not sure, hard to tell
Food cravings: anything salty-especially french fries
Gender: we'll find out on Tuesday
Name: no-this will take a while
Belly button in or out? in
What I miss: getting a full night of sleep
Weekly wisdom: Eat iron rich foods, even though some of the foods on the list are not very appetizing.  I've been anemic most of this pregnancy (that didn't happen until much later with Kate) and, until recently, it has certainly affected my energy level.
Milestones:  We're into the 2nd trimester-energy level is up.
What Kate is saying this week:  "Don't squish my little baby sister or brother!"  (this is when Jeff hugs me or when other little kids climb on me-except, of course, when Kate is the one climbing on me)