Little Creek Ranch

What did we do today in the hurricane? We went to a local cattle ranch!

Welcome to Little Creek Ranch!

It is an hour's drive west of Raleigh. The drive alone was worth the trip! Such beautiful country scenes!

The first stop on our ranch tour was to meet "the man" of the ranch. Anna-Kate kept saying "I want pet the cow." Uummm, let's not pet the bull Anna-Kate.

The rancher, Mr. Ronnie Teague, was a great host! He heard Anna-Kate say that she wanted to see the chickens, so he made it happen.

When he offered one for her to pet, Anna-Kate was a little more unsure about the chickens.

Mr. Teague checked on the eggs and saw the chickens had been hard at work. He let Anna-Kate have one of the freshest of farm-fresh eggs. She carried it around like it was the greatest treasure the rest of the visit.

Then Mr. Teague introduced us to Peanut, his pet cow. He has had Peanut for fifteen years now. Anna-Kate couldn't decide whether to watch the cows or the dogs. So fun for my animal-loving daughter!

I loved introducing Anna-Kate to the farm world!

We bought some of their beef! I have been craving hearty meals, especially some yummy red meat lately. Now my freezer is full. :) Anyone else want burgers tonight?

Bye Simmons! Come again soon!

If you're interested...

http://www.littlecreekranchnc.com/OurRanch.aspx

Flashback Friday

I have been quite uninspired lately in picture taking for the blog lately. Inspired by a friend's "flasback friday" and Anderson's quilt from a week ago, I thought this might be a good flashback story.

G.B. and Bertha Miller were dating in the 1940's. They knew they wanted to get married, but G.B. was drafted. Bertha remembers very vividly this one particular day. She was working and had this sudden, strong urge to pray for G.B. She had no idea why, but the feeling pressed for about 30 minutes. She prayed the whole time. When she got home from work, she immediately wrote a letter asking what was going on with him that day.

Two letters probably passed each other en route. G.B. had written a letter describing an allergy test he had. The test had to be done in his back, which made it a risky procedure. The time that Bertha was praying for G.B. was the exact time the procedure happened. The doctors told G.B. that his procedure had gone better than any like that ever. When G.B. received Bertha's letter describing her prayers, he told his roommate that now they knew why everything went so well.

How cool is God to use people in such cool ways to make us feel connected to Him and to each other!! G.B.'s roommate became a believer through that witness too!

After that allergy test, G.B. got a medical discharge from the army. G.B. and Bertha were married on April 3, 1942. Forty years later, their beautiful granddaughter, Me, was born!

Bertha had always wanted one of these baby doll quilts. For a wedding present, Bertha's mother-in-law sewed this quilt top for her, but the top ended up folded up in a drawer.
65 years later, Bertha's granddaughter quilted it for her as a gift.

First Haircut

Anna-Kate has had her bangs trimmed. And, when she was 11 months I trimmed her hair. Yesterday, 2 years old, Anna-Kate got her first official hair cut. I got just enough cut to have one length, rather than the 4 layers she had. I am obsessed with how cute it looks! This is the best photo I could get. I will have to stage a "first hair cut" picture. To even get her hair cut, she had to sit in my lap. My super cute cautious little girl!

A Nephew Tradition

Three years ago, I made my super cute nephew a quilt for his bed. Ashley wanted something simple for him and couldn't find it. I needed a project for the summer and volunteered to make it. The timing was that she was pregnant with Anderson. Now the boys are going to share a room. Ashley is pregnant with their third little one. Anderson needed a quilt to match his big brother's. Camden's quilt is brown on one side, blue on the other. Anderson's is brown with green on the other side.

It is such a treat to be in these handsome boys' world!

Quotes of the Day

The first quote needs no story and is a great life lesson.
"That's bird stinky. You can't eat bird stinky."

The second quote would be tons better if you could have seen her focused face and heard her serious tone. We had just gotten to the door to leave for a grocery run. Anna-Kate says:
"Oh no. I forgot my purse."
She promptly turns around, gets her purse, and comes back now ready to go.

16 Weeks Picture

He or she is growing! I love that it is slowly becoming a clearly pregnant belly. I had my first stranger comment on my pregnant belly this past weekend. (That didn't happen 'til 20 weeks with AK.)

16 Weeks

Picture coming soon. Until then, here are some of the facts of baby 2 so far...

How far along: 16.5 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: About 6-7 lbs.

Maternity clothes: Some. I am in that awkward stage of almost all normal clothes are too small. But, most maternity tops are too big to look cute. I do wear maternity skirts or elastic-band-skirts only.

Sleep: better now. I don't wake up 3 times a night to have a potty break, just once or a couple times none!

Movement: I would like to say some, but not sure. I think I want to feel the little one so much I try to believe I am feeling him/her. Hopefully soon!

Food Cravings/Best Moment this week/What I miss: All of these surround food! My best moment this week was eating at a steak house with my family. The company was good, but the steak and salad with ranch dressing was soooo yummmy! I miss getting to eat like a normal person, not worrying if it is going to make the reflux monster wake up or make me get sick. I really miss coke zero, salsa, pizza, icecream, salsa, queso, spaghetti, salsa, ... With that said, my cravings, the ones I can actually follow through on, are sandwiches. And, I would not say no to another steak and salad with ranch dressing!

Gender: Find out in 3 weeks!

Labor Signs: none

Belly Button in or out: In. (with AK, it just got flat the rounder I got)

Weekly Wisdom: I am allowed to not be super woman. I am allowed to give into a food craving. I am allowed to not feel up to it all the time. I am not allowed to be pregnant and wimpy, but I am allowed to be pregnant.

Milestones: I have gone longer between times of getting sick, even gone a couple days in a row.

Excuses, excuses

A longer absence than normal from posting, and I feel like I should let you know what has been going on here:

- I introduced Anna-Kate to checking books out from the library. She loves it! 5 new books on the same day! For 2 weeks, we read the same 5 books at least 18 times each! Maisy is a new favorite "friend."

- Though I am having more good days than I had been, not every day is a good day. The not so good days mean that I sit on the couch during nap time and zone out.

- We went out of town with my familiy this weekend. Yay Aunt Amanda!

- We were attacked by lovies!! (I have mentioned to all new parents: don't let the lovie situation get of control the way Will and I did! 4 lovies plus multiple stuffed animals to play with can overtake you before you know it!)

- I did make two new recipes and posted those (wbskitchen.blogspot.com). And I am almost finished with my nephew's quilt for his bed, which I am working on most nap timese.

Okay, so we all know the truth. What has been going on here to keep me from posting? Mindless nap time TV...snacking....enjoying other people's blog too much to make a post of my own......

Daddy Date

This weekend marked a special moment for Will and Anna-Kate, their first daddy-daughter date! How we daughters love to be doted on by our daddies!! I went to a baby shower for a friend. Will took Anna-Kate to the mall and enjoyed lunch at Chic-Fil-A. They had such a good time. Will let AK go to the "Mickey Mouse store" (Disney store) both before and after lunch. He took her to Barnes and Noble and read books to her. When I got home, Anna-Kate came over to give me a hug, and then sat back down with daddy! I would say she loved it!

And, it has to be noted: does AK not look so much like her daddy in these pictures?!

A Family Chore

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is time. A sad and sentimental time at the Simmons house. It is time to sell Will's jeep. Will wanted to give the jeep a good bath before starting the process to sell. (Anyone want a great jeep that is ready for off-roading?)

Anna-Kate felt like she could be helpful in the washing process. She is getting her bucket ready, just like daddy's bucket. When Will turned the hose on, Anna-Kate was not sure what to think. She did inspect his progress.

She found other things to keep her occupied while she got used to the hose.


It didn't take her long to figure out that washing a jeep in August heat was much better when wet!

When she decided she liked the water hose, we couldn't convince her to go back in the house. She loved it!

I don't know that she helped clean the jeep, but she had fun!

14 Weeks

Aaah! the beginning of the second trimester! I have to say, my first three days of second trimester have treated me pretty well. I went to the doctor yesterday, so I thought that and being out of the first trimester would make a quick update worthwhile. Here are a few pregO facts:

- My energy is slowly returning! I have actually not required at least 30 min of staring into nothingness or napping in the afternoon. Huge victory!
- My diet is still mostly boring, but....I ate a brownie! I ate a brownie and didn't feel awful afterward! That is a huge diet-victory. Something sweet like a brownie for weeks meant I would be getting sick an hour later. Of course the doc (Zim) told me yesterday to enjoy the second trimester; it would get bad again during the third trimester. Thanks for the encouragement.
- I did go to the doctor yesterday. Heard the sweet little heartbeat. It was one of those super-short appointments, but everything looks fine.

- The fun news: my next appt is 5 weeks away, the week of labor day. At that appt, I have to do my early glucose test AND we get to have our ultrasound. So after drinking that sugary, yucky liquid, I get to see if we are having a little boy or girl. What an exciting day! (To make it more exciting, that is also AK's first day of preschool. Will will go to that appt with me, so this means he also gets to help me drop AK off for her first day of school! Nice timing!!)

2 or 12?

Occasionally I let AK spend a few minutes on the computer (which is why AK will surpass my technology abilities by age 4). Sesamestreet.com has some toddler games. Big Bird or Elmo talk to her about her letters and numbers, and she is so excited that the game allows her to touch buttons on the computer.

Nature Lesson

We went on a walk after the rain yesterday. Will spotted some snails. His immediate response was, "Let's take some home and show Anna-Kate a snail upclose." Okay. Snails in my kitchen. Okay. I was a little uncertain, but Anna-Kate was thrilled!

There was one snail in particular that never felt comfortable enough to come out of his shell because Anna-Kate kept wanting to pick it up.

Enjoy your stay here at Casa Simmons, because it will be short-lived, my snail friend.

Will told Anna-Kate snails like water. He thought they would put the snails on the dry side of the drain. But, he told a 2 year old that snails like water. A very literal 2 year old. She would not go inside until she had put all the snails in the pool of water at the bottom. She was very determined about that. Will slyly moved them back when she got inside the door.

For you literary buffs out there....I couldn't help but chuckle and call her Lenny every time she picked up one of the little snails.