A nice surprise

It has been a good weekend but sometimes they just aren't long enough, you know? Friday night the staff all got together at a co-workers new home for a sort of house warming party. We just visited and had pizza. It was really nice because we've had some stressful times here lately being understaffed and it's good to get away and just enjoy each other.

Saturday morning I met Courtney for a run. The weather was perfecto and we ran for almost an hour so we were both happy with that. I did, however have to use Kroger's facilities along the way in order to be able to make it that long though. =)

Ther rest of Saturday morning was spent cleaning - after Kennedy and I were both sick for a bit this past week, I wanted to just dunk my whole house in Clorox. Too bad it's not that easy. I had to settle for cleaning it top to bottom - whew!

Billie came over around 1 and we worked on some shower prep for Abby. Clearly I can't give it away but let me just say...oh my cuteness. =) We worked until about 5 pm and Tim said to me..."Linds, you have about an hour". Oh.....ok I thought.

You see....I've been slightly unhappy about the fact that Tim and I've not had a date night in FOREVER and I've been communicating that to him. In the latter part of this past week he said he was working on getting something together but there'd been no further mention of it so I just figured it wasn't going to happen this weekend. That is until he gave me the "you have one hour to get ready" thing. I was like "um, where are we going, what do I need to wear, whose coming to watch Kennedy, how late will we be out, etc. etc. etc." OCD Mommy coming through! Thankfully Sara Beth babysat (thanks SB!) so I was totally at ease for the evening ahead.

Much to my surprise and delight it wasn't your ho hum typical date to Applebee's and a movie. There was some thought put into this process. We went to Halls on the river, which is a restaraunt I've been wanting to try for at least a year so I was thrilled that we were finally going to go. Giddy almost truthfully. I just love trying new places. The food was really good and the atmosphere even better. I did feel like I myself had been deep fried by the time I left, but oh well. It's not an everyday thing you know? I did feel the need to detox today but it was worth it! After dinner we went to Oktoberfest at Christ the King to see The Peter Rowan Bluegrass band play. They were really good. Tim and I learned early on in our relationship that we both had a liking for bluegrass music but we've never gone to see a concert aside from Nickel Creek so it was just a well thought out date night. We had a really good time!

 We sat out on the patio and the weather was just right.

 These, my friends are deep fried oreos. We were so full from our meal we contemplated not getting them but the waiter said they were so amazing that we thought we should go ahead and try em'. Yeah...amazing is an understatement.

We clearly weren't prepared for the amount of food that would be served. You know when Tim and I are taking home three to-go containers it was a TON of food. Ha!

Thursday of this week marked my 16th week in the pregnancy so my big helper and I took some belly pictures after church today. The bump is definitely growing.

 

6 Weeks                                                      12 Weeks

 

16 Weeks                                                   16 Weeks with Kennedy

A hiking we will go....a hiking we will go......

Well...you know the rest of the song. We actually already went hiking - last weekend. Tim loves to hike and he's had his head so buried in engineering books studying for his exam that he's not had much time for that type of thing lately. So...we figured we'd take advantage of the cooler temperatures we've been having lately and on Saturday of last weekend we decided we'd go for a hike.Unfortunately our favorite hiking spot is Raven's Run Nature Sanctuary and their fall/winter hours are ridiculous so by the time we were ready to depart we weren't going to make it in time to get a hike in. They close at 4:30 - I mean, seriously? Thats craziness! Tim did some googling and found a trail system at Asbury that neither of us had done so we decided to try it. It was soooooo pretty. We'll definitely go back. For those of you who are local it's super close to their Adventure Course thing they have out there. Anywho - I snapped some cute pictures and although my baby got a blister on her pinky toe which she kept calling her "piggy" she seemed to really enjoy herself too.

The trail wrapped all around the palisades along the KY River - so pretty!

 When we realized we could get down to the river it was on because there is nothing this girl loves more than throwing rocks in the water. Endless entertainment - seriously.

 I'm fairly certain Tim still enjoys it about as much as she does. =)

 Now I call that a wind up!

 Oh the action shots - love em'.

 Happy as can be!

After we finished hiking we drove a bit further down the road to the equine center so she could see some horses. They were all gnawing on the salt block and this horse in particular was trying his hardest to bite of half of the block - so funny.

Our next outdoor family adventure will hopefully be camping. She's been wanting to go for a while because they did a little learning segment on it in school and she's never stopped talking about it. Once the weather is a tad bit cooler more consistently we'll make our plans to do that hopefully. This experience just made me more confident that she's ready for that kind of thing. 

It just keeps going, and going and going...

Kennedy's birthday that is. After our weekend in North Carolina we drove through West Virginia on our way home and of course her Nana and Pawpaw had presents for her as well as her Great Grandma.

This was probably the most exciting of her presents: a princess floor puzzle from Nana. She really likes it!

Of course her actual birthday was on the 8th and we didn't want that day to pass without doing something as a family so we decided to go out for mexican. We all really like mexican food plus we had a coupon so we figured - why not? They totally put the sombrero on her and sang to her. Hilarious! 

I think Tim was laughing so hard that the camera was shaking when he took the picture but you get the point.

Then on Thursday Elizabeth had us over for dinner and she (with two kids and a part time job) managed to make her this awesome cake:

I seriously felt so fortunate to have them as friends when I left that night. Our kids truly LOVE eachother and Tim was out of town on that night so it was so nice to be able to just relax and spend time with them and watch our kids enjoy each other. ps: did I mention that on the day she made this cake she was babysitting for Kennedy in addition to caring for her two - can we say super woman? What?!?!?!?

Despite all the celebrations we'd had to celebrate her birthday she kept getting packaages in the mail. She got one from Chelsea and one from her Aunt Neenie and Uncle Joshie. Such excitement!

This is her card from Chelsea. It is a Cinderella card that plays the music (she loves those). I figured the picture wouldn't suffice so here's a video clip:

She was clearly excited about her "Happy Feet" penguin.

And of course her Tom and Jerry DVD. Chelsea knows her so well.

And of course the present from Josh and Janine - a Pinkalicious gift. Typing it out won't do it justice - you gotta hear her say it for herself:

Big Girl

My baby is growing up...she turned three years old on Wednesday. We've done quite a bit to celebrate her birthday and she has enjoyed every minute of it.

Last weekend we went to Winston Salem because she informed me that she wanted her best friends to be at her party and when I asked her who her best friends were she said "my cousins". Luckily my sisters and I enjoy being together as much as the cousins, so they were willing to all meet up and give Kennedy exactly what she wanted for her birthday - time with them and their kiddos.

<>Friday night we drove straight into Charlotte so we could watch Melissa's husband Steve's football team play. He coaches at Country Day and they were playing their rival Charlotte Catholic. It promised to be a good game and I love me some high school football so we were there cheering Country Day on! Unfortunately after double over time - Charlotte Catholic one. I was heart sick but it was a fantastic game and we really enjoyed ourselves.

This was the first game of the season so they passed out beads and noise makers. Here we are proudly sporting our Country Day beads.

These little noise makers were passed out when we arrived and once Kennedy got the hang of it - there was no stopping her!

Aunt Melissa

I thought these two were too cute not to post. She was getting the play by play from Daddy!

By the time the game was over it was late and we didn't make it from Charlotte to Winston Salem until a little after midnight. We tucked Kennedy in bed next to Catherine Page (who woke up to say "I love you Aunt Lindsy" - gasp! =) and went to bed. Of course our little early riser was up early the next morning despite going to bed late. There was a play room and 3 playmates awaiting so who needs sleep, right?

Saturday was spent lounging and finalizing party plans. I booked 4 spa appointments for the girls at a childrens spa in Winston Salem called Simply Sassy. It was so sweet. The girls really seemed to have had a great time. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more - me snapping pictures or them having the actual services done: it was seriously cute!

First up: Manicures! Don't you love that they even had miniature spa robes?

When asked if she wanted glitter, polka dots or stripes on her fingernails, Kennedy simply answered: "yes". So....behold the final product of that decision:

Next up were pedicures:

And don't you know every girl needs a little beverage while she relaxes and is pampered!

For our toes we were a bit more decisive and elected for polka dots:

Now it was off to the makeup chair:

Cheers, sister!

Happy after a relaxing afternoon at the spa!

Me and my "baby"

After our spa appointments we went back to the house and had a delicious meal of Papa Johns pizza (tailgate special), salad and of course....the cake! For some reason Kennedy started out wanting a Woody cake from Toy Story and in the end she was all about Cinderella so Cinderella she got.....

When I asked her after her party what her favorite part of the day was she replied: "playing with cousins and my new Cinderella toy". The Cinderella toy on top of her cake was a gift from her Aunt Catina, Uncle Kevin, Catherine Page and Maggie. Looks like it was a good choice!

I would say it was quite the 3rd birthday celebration, huh? It was the birthday that kept giving though...more on that to come. I think there are enough photos in this one post for like 3! =)