Dear April

Dearest April,
Where has the month gone? Home buying and toddler totting has all but eatin you up! At the start of the month, having found our new home sweet home, we were in the very beginning process of applying for a loan and knew we were in for a long, nail biting 30 days of paperwork, appointments, phone calls and "please sign heres."

Alongside of preparing to move and packing, I've also been busy getting our Raleigh townhome ready for a new renter. More contracts, emails trails and countless calls back and forth to our favorite Raleigh realtor (not to mention miles!).

And amidst the home crazyiness, our two boys have kept us capitol "B" busy! Evan turned two on April 25th, and Bennett has grown into quite a smiley, wide eyed two month old. Because of the moving whirlwind, we're planning on having Evan's birthday party in a few weeks.  We celebrated his actual birthday with Chick-fil-a(on "all you can eat nugget night" no less), a Nemo cupcake from Harris Teeter and the best present ever-his first little four wheeler! This boy was born to ride(and eat cupcakes).

So April, we have been busy living life with you. We thought you were going to drag on forever, but in fact we blinked and are left wondering where in the world you went. Here's to a month well worn! Now, lets bring on the May flowers. :-)

Strawberries-my favorite time of year!

 

I believe the face explains it all...we came, we picked, and this little boy savored himself some sweet strawberries!

May Time Memories

 

Mr. mobility, merry and mild

 

Melting my heart with that dapper, dimpled grin. :-)

  

Mother's Day in May

 

Mommy and me: -)

Meeting a milestone-look out girls, he's on the move!

 

Mrs. McCune to be-a bridal shower for little sis!  

 

And finally, precious moments with Memorial day visitors. :-) 

 

Well' miss you May!

Marbles!

On Saturday we ventured to downtown Raleigh to go the Marbles Kids Museum. It was a great family outing and I'm already planning our next trip. :-) Evan loved every minute of our time there and really enjoyed the exhibits-and so did we! His favorites were the train table, lemonade stand(or maybe it was those sweet girls serving the lemonade), the fishing boat and well, almost everything. Can you say kid heaven?! I can't wait to make another trip when Evan is a bit older so that he can really interact with and understand all the fun things to do, like surfing and ice hockey! Between the dress up stations, life size transportation exhibits(firetrucks, buses & boats galore), pirate ship and veterinarian playhouse, Marbles made an A+ in my book!

Choo Chooo! All aboard for the picture train!

Ahoy Matey!

"I'll take one glass of lemonade please."

Future president?

Surf's up dude!

Family pictures!

Yes, two in one day!

It's the first day of Spring!

 

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." :) ~Margaret Atwood

At the Park

On Saturday afternoon, after a fun outing to our old stomping grounds in Raleigh, we found a treasure in our own backyard- "Noah's Ark Park." This bout of beautiful Spring weather made for the perfect park afternoon, and we loved discovering something new here in Wilson!

 

Yes, it's a real, rainbow colored Ark-how fun!

 

We hung out at another park prior to finding the right one, haha, but had a great time walking around the lake, watching the ducks and swinging on some swings. Like his mama, Evan really enjoyed the swings!

 

Unfortunately, he wasn't so much a fan of the slide. That's okay buddy, we've got-a-lot-a park practice ahead of us!

 

I'm so glad the groundhog predicted an early Spring. It's my favorite time of the year, and I can't wait for more easy breezy days like this one. Only in North Carolina can we get a 70 degree day in February....I can't complain though, we're enjoying the sunshine and soaking up every moment of this early Spring preview! :-)

Easter, Spring Cleaning and more!

This past Easter weekend was a full one-on Saturday our church held its annual Spring Festival and on Sunday we celebrated Easter with a great Sunday service and some good ole' chocolate bunnies! We hold the cross of Christ central and celebrate the greatness of the risen Savior all year round and every Sunday, but Easter always offers a nice pause for extra reflection and thankfulness. We have so much to be grateful for!


At 38 weeks we are so close to meeting our first son(nope, it hasn't quite sunken in yet, and probably won't until we've got him in the carseat on the way home!). A garden of lovely stretchmarks has sprouted over my belly, and my ankles have officially taken a vacation-where they've gone no one knows, lol. At this point I feel like there's a kitchen timer or sorts ticking away somewhere, getting closer and closer to the buzzer-if only I could see it and know how close we are!

Now we are in nesting mode-I want to bring this babe home to a clean house! Chris has been a great help recently as my bending over/moving heavy awkward things skills have all but gone away-who knew dust busting, vacuuming and taking clothes out of the dryer could be something to be taken for granted, lol. In any case I'm glad for the help! Otherwise I think I can confidently say we've got all our T's crossed and I's dotted as best as we can, though I'm sure I'll find room for more "proof reading" in the coming days and weeks until baby's big debut. :-)

Spring Festival this Saturday!

37 Weeks and Counting Down!

Carseat? Check!

Crib? Check!

Pediatrician? Check!

Hospital pre-registration? Check!

At 37 weeks we have been given the official green light and are ready to go...well, as ready as you can be anyways. After my doctor's appointment yesterday it looks like everything is going-or should I say growing-according to schedule. I was infinitely relived to hear that I tested negative for the Group B strep, and am thus spared the few rounds of IV antibiotics prior to delivery. Praise God!

On the downside, I feel like a whale this week and the scale agrees! In just one week I jumped 4 pounds from 132 to 136....believe me I had to double take as well. Apparently though it's all swelling, and alot of it! Though I'm showing signs of some early edema(plus 1-2) around my feet and ankles, my blood pressure and proteins look great so it's not concerning at this point. Other than that, and adding some extra iron to my diet & daily vitamin regimen, we are golden.

Aside from the normal diagnostics, this appointment took on another tone as we talked about labor signs, on call doctor rotations, and other housekeeping issues like what we have packed for the hospital and carseat safety. Just as Spring has come there is another sweet change in the air these days-baby is definitely on the way!

37 Week Stats:

BP-99/65
Baby's heartrate-140's to 150's and very healthy
Weight gain-4 pounds, 1 week...that's a record for sure!
Milestones-Hitting the "full term" 37 week mark...just a few weeks now and we'll be a family of three-plus our Piper of course. :-) Stretch marks have made their un-glorious debut and I'm feeling beyond uncomfortable by the day's end. Sleep...let's not even go there. However, the end is in sight and we can't believe April has come so soon!

The Scotts in Spring

As Spring has sprung upon us, I am:
36(almost 37) weeks and counting, 1.5 pounds heavier and waddling along. Baby Evan is head down, sitting lower and continues to grow big and with a steady heart rate. Notice the bulging belly button below; it reminds me of a cake rising in the oven or some kind of "ding!" done cooking type signal, haha. Popping buttons aside, I do love this picture of my boys :-)
In other Spring joys, I am loving the special Spring Oreo's and explosion of pastels now lining the grocery store aisles. Piper is also happy to greet Spring and the gorgeous dog park weather it brings. We've been twice in the past week and have had a dog gone good time(we told him to soak it up for now while he's still our furry firstborn!)
Last but not least, Spring has brought a nice close to our congested calenders.Praise God we are finally getting over this "busy" bump we've been whirling through this past month. It seems like every weekend since Febrary has been packed full-with work, school, church events, weddings and doctor's appointments squished in between. Chris has been especially busy lately learning and adjusting to his new job, planing and playing music for a disciple now youth weekend w/a local church, and finishing up his last online class at Southeastern.

On my front, I've been increasingly exhausted baking baby Evan while continuing to work full time and organize all of the details of his arrival-financial, work-wise, nesting and all. Thankfully after our own church's "God Revealed" conference this week and the Spring Festival next weekend, we have blank calendars for a long time-hallelujah(you know, aside from having a baby and all)! Being busy is good, but right now we are ready for a good breather :-) Especially in this beautiful Spring season!

Once Upon a Saturday

Out with the husband, and in with the girls...My mom, sister, and Mema came up for the weekend while Chris was out of town at a youth retreat near Hickory. Us women had a great time eating Chinese, power shopping and enjoying a few laughs with Martha Stewart. Saturday was full of fun surprises and good family times.

After some sister shopping at Triangle Town, we loaded into the car and made our way to Morrisville for lunch with more of the Reynolds girls and my favorite tiny cousin.

Unfortunately, our original lunch destination was closed, and after unanimously voting against Cracker Barrel for option #2, we ended up at Hooters of all places! The hilarity ensued with finding an appropriate table arrangement suitable to both A) A very old Mema, and B) a very tiny two year old. After a fun go at Goldie Locks and the three bears, we found the "just right" table, and had a great lunch! To top it off, my aunt was serenaded with a one of a kind Hooter’s birthday song. Many belly laughs were had by all as she was made to stand, yes stand, on a chair while being sung to. I do have a picture, but will refrain from posting for the love of family :)

And just for fun, look at these adorable golden locks of piggy tails! (You'll have to take my word on the golden part!)

After lunch, my mom sister and I enjoyed a Brier Creek shopping excursion. That is, after we circled back to deliver Mema’s luggage, which was completely forgotten in the prior exchange of cars and grandma bears. Much to my delight, I won the “best bargain” of the day prize at TJ Max with this new addition to our kitchen. Only $10, the just perfect amount I had sitting on my long neglected gift card. I also found a just right and long coveted apron at Kirkland’s marked down 50%. Patience pays.

When I got home later that afternoon and saw the mama and sister bears off, Piper and I made these to welcome home the hubby. Oatmeal Craisin White Chocolate Chunk Cookies.
They were a hit, and the perfect ending to a warm, delicious, just right Saturday!

Adventures in Strawberry Picking

Without a doubt, strawberry picking is one of my favorite Springtime activities. After our short and sweet visit to Goldsberry this weekend for mothers and grandmother's day fun, we have a ton of ruby red and beautiful berries in our fridge :) I'd like to do something creative with them before I snack them all away(very likely)...I think I see some strawberry shortcakes in the not so distant future. And while it's on my "to learn eventually, when I have time/burst of motivation/supervision" list, I'd love dabble in the art of jam making one day.

The rest of our weekend was pretty busy as well, with the better half of Sunday spent assembling the exciting new addition to the patio-our Chris' very first Grill. Pictures to come soon-no doubt much hamburger flipping and masculine apron searching in the near future :) Anyways, on with the busy month of May!