Baby Buddy

Gavin has deemed the new baby as "Baby Buddy". He always wants to kiss and hug Baby Buddy. So far he's only interested while we're at home, thank God! I'm not sure what I'll do when we're in public and he wants to pull my shirt up! We made a trip to Barnes and Noble this week and picked out a couple books for Gavin and a baby name book for ourselves. Let the naming ideas begin!

Gavin's new books...
Lots of name ideas!

Hanging out with Baby Buddy... :)

Not sure what his thoughts will be when the baby is actually here, hopefully he'll still be as excited!

Recent Cell Phone Pics

"Can I get a motorcycle, Mama?"

What Gavin is capable of while I run to answer my ringing cell phone... He threw all the folded laundry off the bed :(
Mr. Potato Head, according to Gavin!

A new talent...

Xbox with daddy... a favorite evening activity. Gavin's controller is off, but he imitates everything Jas says and does.

Cuddles with mama!

His pajamas inspired a whole conversation about bones. We watched YouTube videos on the song "The foot bones connected to the leg bone, the leg bones connected to the knee bone..., etc". He walks around the house saying "I wear da bones, mama". Too cute!

Water Boy

Gavin loves his pool and sprinkler!
JUMP

The best part of pool time is the Popsicles. He always asks for the blue ones.

New shoes?

This is what I should be doing, instead of blogging!

Whew - laundry sure builds up fast!

Justin and Devyn are Married!

First act as a married couple, a prayer

CPT and Mrs. Lovejoy!

Loved the cake, it reminded me of our wedding cake, minus the topper!

My boys, looking stunning!

Our family

First dance

Lovejoy Family

Mother/Son Dance

At this point it was clear my pregnancy hormones are taking over! I was a cry baby thinking about the day MY son and I have this dance!

Cutting of the cake

Gavin was teething and would rarely let me out of his sight, let alone even allow me to put him down for a moment. It let to a sweaty night and sore arms the next morning!

A brief moment of relief! Daddy to the rescue!

We had fun on the dance floor!

Lindsey stole Gavin and took him outside for a bit so Jason and I could dance, thanks!

Ready to go home!

Finding a Lab!

I've been testing out and ordering from a couple photo labs lately to see which I like best. I was really impressed with one and made my first "official" order from them last week. I was really impressed when it arrived in the mail! I hope the client was as excited with their order as I was!

The Packaging
8x10's, 5x7's, and 4x6's are individually wrapped in the packaging.

Let me know if you are interested in booking a session!
www.karasmithphotographyonline.com

The Beach and Welcoming Home a Hero

Thursday evening Starla and Lindsey arrived for the weekend. On Saturday family friends of ours are getting married in South Carolina so it made more sense for everyone to meet at our house so we could all carpool! It was also a chance for Jason's mom and sister to soak up more Gavin time and to spend another weekend with Jason before his upcoming deployment. When they arrived we had tacos and relaxed at home for the evening. Jason lucked out and got an unexpected three day weekend. We got up Friday morning and took them to our favorite local bagel shop (Midtown Deli) for breakfast and then drive out to Tybee. The sun was in full force by the time we arrived so we were glad we had strong sunscreen and our beach umbrella!! Jason caught a sea snake and then the unfortunate happened - his fishing pole broke. :( So much for fishing! A little while later Starla said she just saw something huge come out of the water right by the shore. We laughed saying it was probably the minnows swimming or a little whiting jumping. Boy were we wrong - it was a MANATEE! We'd never seen one at Tybee before and couldn't believe how close to shore it was. We were afraid it was stuck or had been injured by one of the many passing boats so we called the Tybee Wildlife Rescue. We knew we'd be packing up to leave soon so we explained the manatees location and they said they'd come out to check on it. We left by the time they arrived so we missed out on watching any rescue mission. The funniest part was when we were all standing thigh deep in the water trying to find it and it came up inches from Lindsey- she started screaming! So funny...

Jason's one catch of the day
Dig, dig...

At first all we saw was the manatees snout and weren't too sure what it was.

Then it showed itself!

About 2 seconds before I snapped this picture you would have seen Lindsey standing here, but she ran once it appeared!

Later that evening Jason and I headed downtown to Wild Wing Cafe to welcome home a hero! You can see the story of his arrival home in the video below.

Anyone that knew Cory was invited to a party at Wild Wing Cafe that evening to welcome him home in style. We had a great time reliving our B Co days with everyone. This was the first time Jason or I had seen Cory since the incident happened October 1, 2009. We read his daily CaringBridge updates to follow his progress, but it was great to actually see him in person and to meet his family.

Jason with a few B Co guys

You can also follow Cory's story on Caringbridge:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/coryremsburg/journal

Exciting News!

***We'd prefer to keep the news off Facebook for a couple more weeks, so please only leave comments on the blog for now - THANKS!***


We are so excited to announce that we are expecting baby #2! We're about 2 months along and are due January 31st. We found out on May 24th and have had the hardest time keeping it a secret over the last month! We had our first ultrasound on Tuesday - everything was great. The baby measured right on track and had a heartbeat of 167. Our next appointment and ultrasound are scheduled in about a month (12 weeks).


Gavin and the baby will be about 2 years and 4 months apart. We think it'll be a great age spacing!


This baby has been a breeze so far, just like Gavin was. No morning sickness! I am extremely tired, but I blame that on chasing an energetic almost 2 year old around all day! I was so thankful for our block leave earlier this month, as we had lots of help with Gavin and I was able to rest more. Now we're back home and on our normal schedule, and I'm more tired then ever. I'm thankful we're only a month from the 2nd trimester when all my energy should come back full swing!


Gavin doesn't have many thoughts on it yet. Anytime he sees my belly he will say "Baby in mama belly" so he is understanding a little. We know he will be a fantastic big brother, minus being a little rough! What can we say, he's all boy!


Jason's current "plan" is to be the father to three boys, so he obviously is rooting for another little boy! My mind changes everyday. Sometimes I think about the little newborn baby Gavin and I couldn't imagine anything other then another little boy. (I love my mama's boy to pieces!) But other times I really wonder about what it'd be like to raise a little daughter. I didn't have the best father in the world and never considered myself a daddy's girl. A part of me wants nothing more then to have a little daughter so I can witness the "daddy's girl thing" through my husband and daughter. (Makes my heart smile just thinking about it!)


We haven't even begun to think about names... You all know I'm a planner, so it won't be long until we start thinking about it!


Well, here are a few pictures from our pregnancy #2 experience so far:

Positive test: May 24, 2010
Having a celebratory dinner that evening... Gavin in his "Big Bro shirt" and pink and blue balloons as decoration. Ignore the bottle of wine on the table, it was just to hold the balloons down!

1st ultrasound: June 22nd

8 weeks 1 day

(These are taken from my cell so they aren't the best quality!)

Advice on becoming parents the 2nd time around?

Double stroller/jogger recommendations?

Father's Day & Anniversary Celebration

Tonight was dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse to celebrate to special occasions - Father's Day and Jeff and Starla's 28th Anniversary (June 26th, but he will be deployed). It was a special dinner for sure! Our waiter brought them out a dessert to share!

Then we went down to the tidal basin by the Jefferson Memorial for a walk and to see the sunset!

Looking at the lightening bugs

Jefferson Memorial

(under construction)

Three Generations of Smith's