Beach Trip: This and That

Last beach post, finally! Here's a bit of this and that from our week there:

Kirsty and Andre making yummy kebabs for supper one night


Grandpa's boy

He loved playing in the sand although the ocean wasn't such a hit

Playing with Grandpa

All tuckered out

Kirsty tried paddle boarding and conquered it like a pro!

One evening Mum & Dad babysat Jack while Andre, Kirsty and I
went out for dinner and dessert. We had such a great evening together!

Delicious macarons and chocolates

Beach Trip: Photos Round Two

Due to a cranky baby, we decided to have a second round of photos done and finally all managed to behave ourselves this time! Thanks Kirst, for being so patient with us!

23 week belly shot

Beach Trip: Family Photo Shoot

While at the beach, Kirsty did a family photo shoot for us all. The lighting was perfect and she did an amazing job, taking some gorgeous pictures of the kids. Thanks Kirst!!

Jack Evan (17 months old)

Michaela Grace (3 years old)

Alexis Ann (18 months old)

Our three families

Ness, Dad, Me and Mum (missed having my brother there too!)

Love this one of Ness with her girls!

All of us together

Nana and Grandpa with the Grands

Jack kept trying to get away!

Flying high with Daddy

Me and my bestie

Beach Trip 2011: Getting There

I'm finally getting around to posting our beach trip we took the middle of August, while Kirsty was here visiting from Australia. We planned her visit so that she would get to come with us to Florida, as she loves the beach and needed a good break from the Australian winter.

We flew down there and took Alexis with us, so she (and Ness & Sean) could avoid the 8 hour car trip! As usual, she was an angel the whole time and while Andre had charge of Jack on the plane (the child never sits still!), Alexis sat on my lap during take off, promptly fell asleep and didn't wake up until we landed!

The Cousin Twins at the airport (18 months old)

Mum and Dad have a time share every year in Siesta Key, FL and we all try to go together as a family, whomever of us are able to. This year Steve and Rachel couldn't make it due to work and we missed them! But we had a really fabulous time having Kirsty with us. For some reason, this year, I was REALLY looking forward to this trip and relaxing on the beach and it was wonderful indeed.

And we're here!!!

Watching the sunset with Kirsty and Baby Girl :)

View from our condo

Loving the beach!

Thank you Mum and Dad for giving us such a great time!

First Day of "School"

So this morning was the first day of the Parents Morning Out that Jack is attending this year. Even though he's the youngest in the class, I figured we'd give it a try and see how he does. He screams his head off whenever we drop him at nursery on Sundays and Wednesdays so I was interested to see if he did any better today.

I dropped him off at 8:30 am and went to Panera for a cinnamon roll (ostensibly to calm my nerves about leaving him...maybe it was just a sugar craving! Ha!) and then headed back to church (where the class is being held) to set up for a big event we're doing tonight, our annual Church Dinner. This is the 5th year I've done it so I know the drill and was really thrilled to have a whole morning Jack-free to set tables etc.

Apparently he cried for about 10 minutes and then settled down nicely. Around 10, I saw them head out to the playground. He was so cute all lined up with the other kids and got so excited to go outside! Then at 10:45 they brought him to me, as he'd started up crying again and wouldn't stop. So he made it two of the four hours and I was proud of him for lasting that long! We'll see how next week goes. I may just keep him out for the rest of this semester and then start him up in January again, but I kind of wanted him to get used to it before the baby arrives.

Dressed for "school" and so excited to have his backpack on

All ready to go!

Andre picked him up and when they got home,
Jack walked in with this bunch of roses for me.
He was so proud to hand them over!
('scuse the no make-up look here!)

Surprise!

Sooooo...here's the big news in our family: my sister AND my sister-in-law are pregnant too!! Woohoo!! Vanessa and Sean are expecting Baby #3 mid-March and Rachel and Stephen are expecting Baby #1 just a week earlier! So, with our little girl coming in December, we're doubling the number of kiddos in this family in the next year and all us girls are pregnant at the same time. Pretty crazy, huh?!

Baby Jones, due March 11, 2012

Baby Henry due March 20, 2012

Praise the Lord for these new little lives....we can't wait to meet all these babies!

Night on the Town and Sad Goodbyes

While Kirsty was here, our special friends, Pip and Dave, left to move back to their homeland after a four year stay in the USA. Coincidentally, they are also from Australia and so it was fun for Kirsty to meet them and hopefully they'll stay in touch once they're all back home over there.

Before they left we all got babysitters and went out for a fabulous dinner together. It was such a great evening and included delicious wine, steaks and even free dessert that the restaurant served us in honor of Pip and Dave!

All dressed up and ready to go!

Me and my man

Me and Kirst

Pip and Dave with the yummies!

All of us ready to dig into our steaks

Pip and Dave have become really special friends to us and we were so sad to say goodbye to them. Lots of tears were shed and hugs given! We wish you well, sweet friends and hope to see you down under one day soon!

Bestest Buds

Bad me. Haven't been consistent with this poor old blog, AGAIN! Well, here come the updates :)

The last two weeks have been such a special time for us. At the beginning of August my bestest bud, Kirsty, came for a two week visit, all the way from Australia. Our parents were friends in high school and we met when we were two months old and have been friends ever since. That's a long time when you think we'll both be celebrating our 32nd birthdays in October! The Lord has been good in giving us a special friendship over the years and allowing us to see each other every two to three years.

And this visit, she got to meet Jack for the first time!

We all went swimming together

Cooked together and ate lots of yummy food

And here's Jack showing off his brand new leather jacket from H&M!

I've just dropped her off at the airport this evening, amid lots of tears and am enjoying reminiscing about our lovely two weeks together, which included lots of shopping, eating out together, a beach trip and hanging out with some of our friends. Miss you already Kirst!

Sunday Afternoon Fun

I feel like we've been hibernating ever since we got back from our big trip due to preggy fog! But this weekend we actually got out and spent most of our time visiting with friends. On Saturday we had lunch, tea and dinner with different friends and then on Sunday afternoon we went to visit some Russian friends who have just immigrated to Atlanta from Moscow. They stayed in our house while we were up in Peoria and have just moved into a lovely apartment, so we were their first guests. We had a great time with them and even enjoyed the splashpad at their apartment complex. Jack was in heaven!