Random Notes

I have been so bad at taking pictures lately of me and Anna-Kate in just normal, everyday world. Instead, here are a few random notes from lately:

- Pregnancy - I am 22 weeks. I can eat most things again. I ate a piece of pizza and didn't die! I still have bad days and pay for it when I cheat on my reflux diet, but nothing like before! (I went two weeks only getting sick once or twice. Then this week I have gotten sick everyday at least once. Go figure!!) Baby boy is moving more, which is so nice! And, now that I know boy, I am obsessed with looking at boy sleepers! I broke down and bought one today that I just could.not leave in the store, so fun!

- I have appetite again!!! which means I am enjoy cooking again! Because of that I have tried 3 new recipes in the last 5 days and I am going to try another new recipe tonight. My normally neglected recipe blog has felt quite loved this past week! wbskitchen.blogspot.com

- Will and I are loving listening to Anna-Kate lately. Her sentences are more and more put together all the time. Last night, in her sweet little voice, she looked up at Will and said, "What are you looking at daddy?" She is also enjoying being bossy lately. "Sit down here Mommy." "No, Mom that goes here!" And, she is saying "mom" instead of "mommy" lots more now. So old!

- Anna-Kate loves preschool!! She absolutely loves music time! Of course, getting to play outside on the playground is a highlight of every day. She adores her teacher Mrs. Kellie. She talks about her friends all the time. Friends, music time, swings, ..... her favorite is when she gets to paint. I included her first ever painted pictures and the farm they worked on for three days below. She told me about painting her barn red for at least 3 days! She loves it!

A Quote for Clarity

Will: "Anna-Kate, be gentle with Mommy. Remember she has baby Benjamin in her belly too."

A very emphatic Anna-Kate: "No Daddy! Mommy has baby boy in her tummy! I have baby Benjamin!"

A Mountain Retreat

After a weekend at the beach, we were treated to a long weekend in the mountains. Aaahh, so nice! Because it was such a nice, relaxing time away from the norm with family, I didn't take many pictures. Here are a few glimpses into our wonderful weekend away:

We Millers love playing games! Sorry married-ins, we love it! As kids, Dad would declare "Family Fun Nights," and we would sit around for a couple hours playing games and laughing. It's a tradition that stuck; therefore, no family weekend would be right without a game night or two!
Sleeping late! Anna-Kate slept 'til at least 8 every morning. It was so nice to wake up lazily, without alarm clocks. Of course AK woke up at 8, and I woke up at 7:15. The irony of life!

Even the mountains has Blue Bell ice cream! Raleigh, a city named best to live in, it's time to catch up!

I love going on hikes! We started our hike this way...

...and ended up here!

The fall leaves were such a pleasant teaser!

And, a fun family pic to end on.

Mountains (in Highlands, NC), we love you! Miller Family, what a treat to spend a long weekend with you!

21 Weeks Names the Baby

Is it just me, or is my belly almost as big as that cliff?!
Now that everyone knows boy, the question I get all the time is "are you sharing the name?" and "do you have a name yet?"

We have gotten some wonderful suggestions for names. I think the most obvious contender was from my sister. Thinking we might want to continue the double-name trend, she suggested

Dwayne-Wayne Simmons.

Even though we felt like this was an amazing name, we decided that it wasn't time to use this name.

We actually picked out a name for our first son one evening while we were engaged. We were having one of those sweet conversations, dreaming about our future family. I mentioned that I liked the name Caleb. He said he did too. He said he had thought about using Thomas as a middle name. Thomas is Will's middle name and his dad's first name. I liked the idea of honoring both my husband and his father. So, we had planned on

Caleb Thomas Simmons

for a long time now. Then almost two years ago a friend named their son Caleb Thomas. I've recently made a friend who has a son named Caleb. Another couple in our Sunday School class has a son named Caleb. I still like the name. But, I no longer see my son when I hear the name. It is still a contender for a son we may have in the future, but I couldn't use it this time.

When Will and I went to our ultrasound appointment, I had been thinking about this but hadn't really decided what my favorite option otherwise was. I knew the other names we liked so had those turning around in my mind. In the first minutes of our appt, our little guy showed us that he was definitely a boy. So by the time his sweet little face appeared on the screen, we knew he was a boy. When I saw his face, the thought that I immediately had was, "that's my Benjamin."

Luckily for me and my boy, Will was totally fine with not using our original pick (Benjamin has been one of our two other favorites). So, after a really long story, our little guy's name is

Benjamin Thomas Simmons

Top Reasons and Quotes

One more beach post....because wouldn't you love to go back too?!

Top Reasons to Go back to the beach:
- Meal Planning
Alright moms out there, don't you agree meal-planning is one of our not-so-favorite chores? With this view and some sandwich stuff, meal planning is just not so bad.
- Aaahh, Blue Bell Ice Cream
Maybe if enough of us Raleigh-ites post about wanting Blue Bell, they will bring it to us.

- Lots of Family Time

Love time with this girl and my man!

Some Favorite Anna-Kate Quotes:

- "No, Mama. That is not a bird. That is a seagull!"

- After listening to AK talk through the monitor for more than an hour and a half, I went to get AK up from her nap. Her first comment was, "Hey Mama, I slept well!"

- During supper one night, AK and Will had this conversation:

AK: "Daddy, Anna-Kate have a bite?"

W: "Sure...Do you like it?" after giving her a bite of crabcake

AK: "Uuumm, it's a little spicy."

W: "Would you like to try a bite of this?" pointing to his salmon

AK: "Okay. It's chicken."

W: "No. It's fish; it's salmon."

AK: "It's pink."

W: "Do you like it?"

AK: "Mmm, tasty."

W: "Want another bite?"

AK: "No thank you."

Beach Favorites

Aaahh, the beach!

The beach with a two year old. How long did it take these two year old toes to touch the water?

Everyday Anna-Kate had to be carried around for the first 45 minutes at least before she would touch the sand or water. Will tried this method to ease her into the water. If it was before her ever-changing moment of readiness, she would freak when the water touched her toes.

But don't worry! When she was ready for the water, she was very ready! She had a blast in the ocean!

Anna-Kate was obsessed with all the animals of the beach. Will loved it! He spent so much time searching for just the right crab to show AK. She loved it! He was so proud that she would hold it!

Did Anna-Kate build a sand castle with a mote?

Or, did Will say "I am going to build a blog-worthy castle just for Anna-Kate"?

What a wonderful, blog-worthy sand castle!

Everyday when we left the ocean, she had to stop by the pool.

I agree with AK; that does look like fun!

When we weren't by the water,

we could definitely be found at Barefoot Landing or Broadway at the Beach. We have a spot at Broadway that we love to go to and feed the ducks. These ducks were quite bold, coming really close, and allowing Will and Anna-Kate to pet them.

What trip to the beach is complete without a ride on the local cow?!

How sweet is it to see this cute girl on the beach!

Are you sure we can't go back tomorrow?

Beach, we miss you!

We just got back from our long weekend at the beach, and we already miss it! Here is one super sweet teaser of our beach pictures!

It's a ...

BOY!

Look at that sweet little boy, already with his hands on his ears. He probably didn't want to hear us talking and chuckling about how quickly he turned and showed us that he is definitely a boy!

I absolutely can't resist these baby foot pictures!

Boy and proud! (sorry little man, had to show you off!)

Okay, get ready for how sweet this little picture is. Because of his hands at his face, we never got a really great profile shot. But, this sweet little face made up for it! Look at that amazing nose, and those full lips! I am now officially enamored with this little man!!!

This ultrasound appointment is always such a sweet moment! Will definitely had a twinkle in his eye when we saw that little guy! To say we are excited is such an understatement! (The name will come later; we are pretty much debating between two.)

First Day

This sweet little girl is a preschooler! Since I took the camera in on Meet the Teacher Day, I decided to just enjoy watching her today. So, we took this shot as we walked to the car. Don't worry Duck did not make it into the classroom, only rode in the car with us.

Anna-Kate did great. She looked a little unsure when we said we had to go, but then was fine. Her teacher Ms Kellie said that she had a great day and was happy the whole time! Way to go Anna-Kate! I am looking forward to all the stories she is going to tell me in the days to come.

I did well too. I think I had enough distractions this morning that I was okay. (insert big grin) I was definitely more than ready to pick her up, though! We'll see how I do on Friday when it is just me without my constant buddy.

And, random note, Anna-Kate was so wound up after her fun morning that it took her more than hour to fall asleep. I went up there to lay her back down, and she said, "Mommy, I go downstairs. I awake! Play!" And, I thought she might barely keep her eyes open after such a busy morning!

19 Weeks and excited

Here is the 19 weeks picture, but the real news is to come!

We are excited; we are going for our big ultrasound appointment on Wednesday!

Less than 48 hours until we get to see our little one!

Random Tidbits: these pictures were taken at a wedding for Will's old roommate in Southport, NC. What a beautiful setting for a wedding!

And, last week we fought croup at our house. Anna-Kate was just enough better that she could go to her meet the teacher day and we were able to still go to the wedding.

Most random tidbit: this is my 500th post!

Meet the Teacher

Next Wednesday is Anna-Kate's first day of preschool. Today was Meet the Teacher Day. We went for half an hour, and I stayed with her.

Her teacher is Miss Kellie. She seems really nice and like she is going to make the class a fun place for Anna-Kate to be. I loved getting to watch AK interact with her teacher. I am so excited for her to go to preschool, but it is so hard for me to think about her having experiences without me there to watch her experience them. Though, I imagine that theory of parenting would make her prom experience a little awkward!

Mom, did you see that playground?! They have swings! I am definitely coming back here! (The playground is on the other side of that fence behind her.)

18 Weeks

Best Moment this Week:

I have started to feel the baby move more! It's still inconsistent, but definitely feeling the baby now.

AND, Will felt the baby move last night! The baby was moving quite a bit while we were relaxing on the couch. I made him sit there for at least 5 minutes with his hand on my belly, but he felt the baby give a pretty good kick!

Less than a week now until the big ultrasound appointment! Can.not.wait!