Thanksgiving in Gatlinburg - 2013

Each year since Vince and I have known each other, we spend Thanksgiving in Gatlinburg. This year was no exception. While being 8 months pregnant was a lot more tiring while walking from the hotel to downtown, it was worth it! This year the weather was biting cold, with temperatures around 25 degrees. We bundled everyone up and still enjoyed the local shops and attractions. Since bad snow hit the area on Wednesday, we decided to leave on Thursday morning.

 

Our Thanksgiving buffet appointment was at noon. We arrived early with time to spare even though we drove down some icy roads to get there. Evan is a great little traveler. He just goes with the flow. He was ready to eat when we arrived. In fact, he grabbed the roll right off my plate when I sat down and started chowing down. He loved the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, salmon, rolls, and chocolate pudding. And we all loved all of it. We stayed at a great condo within walking distance of downtown Gatlinburg.

 

The first order of business was to baby proof the room by rearranging the decor and plugging in safety plugs in all the outlets. The Gatlinburg Convention Center always has a Christmas tree show for free.

 

 

 

This year they had a free Santa as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took our time with Evan since no one was in line. He was a great Santa!

 

The next day we drove to Sevierville to the Bass Pro Shop.  Evan and Vince rode the merry go round at Bass Pro. Evan rode on a polar bear.

 

 

 
 

Despite the freezing cold weather, we had a wonderful visit.  Our time passed by way too quickly.  I wish we had had time to do so much more (as well as more energy). 

 

Luckily, Evan had enough energy for all of us. He even did some yoga while there.

 

Fall Family Photos

We had our favorite photographer, Jessie, take our family photos for the upcoming Christmas season as well as the maternity pictures for the new baby, who by the way finally has a name! His name will be Edward Alexander Williams and we will call him Alex. Edward is Vince's first name, so both boys now have part of their dad's name. Jessie was able to capture the best pictures ever for us. I'm so pleased with how they turned out. We used our new home's backyard as our backdrop.

Halloween 2013

This was the first Halloween in our new house. We weren't sure what to expect in the new neighborhood, but we had a blast. They have a pre-Halloween block party that starts around 5:30pm at a neighbor's house. The kids went on a hay ride (minus the hay) and they provided pizza and drinks for everyone. Around 6:30pm, folks left to go trick-or-treating or to go home & pass out treats. We went to a few houses with Evan, but only one neighbor was home yet. We then went home & passed out treats to over 100 kids. They came by the car load! I saw cars lined up on the streets with their hazard lights on. Evan had a good time watching kids come to the door all dressed up. He was a great little pirate! He also enjoyed his Halloween party at school that day. The dinosaur was his back up costume. Luckily, he did not need it.

Baby Boy Williams 4D Ultrasound

On Friday night around midnight, I felt the baby do some serious flopping and moving around. Since he has been transverse, I was hoping that meant he had flipped to head down position. We went Saturday to Greenville to see the baby in a 4D ultrasound. Vince's parents, my mom, Vince, Evan and I got to see the baby. She verified that he had moved to the head down position!

The baby had his hands and feet up by his head. He looked like a little pretzel with all his limbs up in one area. We also got to see his dimple in his cheek so I think he will have Vince's dimples!

Evan's Pumpkin and my Birthday

Evan still loves Mickey Mouse. Every time he sees Mickey on a shirt, toy or TV, he says "mouw!" which means Mickey Mouse. I found the cutest pumpkin decorating kit at Target that has pieces of Mickey that are like a Mr. Potato Head. You just stick them in the pumpkin. I bought a plastic/foam pumpkin for Evan to help me decorate. He loved all the pieces.

I celebrated my 41st birthday on Friday by going to eat at P.F. Chang's with Evan, Barbara & Jerry. Vince drove to Atlanta for the races so he missed out on the good food. He did great with flowers & some awesome new bar stools for our new kitchen. My friend Kaye also sent me some pretty flowers. It was a very nice birthday!

Baby Boy 2 Ultrasound at 28 weeks

Last Thursday we had our 28 week ultrasound on baby boy number 2. He is growing well. He is up to 2 lbs 2 oz with a heartrate of 141. He is a very active baby and kicks and moves all the time. He waved to us during the ultrasound as well. The fluid looks good around the baby. His heart and blood flow through the umbilical cord look great. He is currently breach, with his spine down and his head to the right side below my rib cage. He held his feet up near his face and hands, just like Evan did. Hopefully, he will move head down by week 34.

Getting Settled

We closed on our new house on Friday the 13th. Since then, it's been a whirlwind of unpacking, cleaning, paperwork, changing addresses, and more. I am still missing a few key items, but hopefully will find them soon. We have listed our old house for sale and hope it will sell quickly. I can't wait to take Evan trick or treating in our new neighborhood and see how he does with our Christmas tree. Evan started school last week and is going again this Tuesday and Thursday. He brought home his first official art project - stamp art with orange dots. He's saying words and walking 4 or 5 steps, and falling all over everything these days. He can climb over his gate or just push it over. He is a very determined toddler.

We took a family picture in front of our new house yesterday, but Evan was not in a smiling mood.

I am now in my 26th week of pregnancy with boy number 2. We are still discussing names, but haven't settled on one yet. He is kicking a lot and moving around all the time, just like Evan did. So I think we will have 2 very active little boys. I am doing well on my diabetic diet and I feel pretty good. I haven't been sleeping as well as I would like, but I refuse to get out of bed when I'm wide awake at 3am. I have 3 more months to go!