Andrew's Baby Shower - Jan. 31st

My Aunt Barbara blessed us immensely by hosting a shower for Andrew at the end of January. The shower definitely helped fill our home with many items we were lacking, including lots of BLUE, bath towels, adorable boy outfits to fill Andrew's closet & other baby essentials. We are so thankful to have such great friends and family. Below are some pictures from the shower:

Sue, Me and Aunt Barbara (my mom's best friend for over 40 yrs)
Blue balloons, plates & napkins w/ tiny footprints and lots of yummy food!

Some of the guests that made the extra effort to make this day truly special
Andrew's 1st Boy Toy...a pop and roll choo-choo train!

My dear friend, Jennifer, who is expecting a baby in April (if not sooner).
We can't wait to meet Andrew's playmate.

Lots of Prego's from our Young Married Dept at church --

yes, the nursery will be exploding soon!

Thanks to all of the wonderful gifts we received, we are now all set for Andrew's arrival!

Glamour Girl soon to be BIG Sister!

Caroline has become quite the "Lil' Glamour Girl" lately. She loves to priss around the house, help mommy put on makeup, wear mommy's high heels and host tea parties. She is such a nurturing mommy to her babies, bunny and elephant. I am confident that she will be a great help to me once An-rew (as she calls him) arrives next week. She has regressed somewhat with the potty training, but she definitely gets the concept. We are amazed each day at her expanding vocabulary. She is a very vocal little girl (gee, I wonder who she gets that from). Thankfully, she still continues to be a great sleeper...taking 2-3 hr naps each day and sleeping 12 hours each night....yes, Ben and I are spoiled and somewhat fearful of going back to sleepless nights once Andrew arrives.

Current Caroline Favorites:

Books: Dear God & God Bless (which she can practically recite)
Food: chick'n nuggets, ketch up (which she says with a big pause), french fries
Restaurant: Chick-fil-A
Place: My "new" house, in my play room
Show: Caillou
Movies: Care Bears
Toy: My Lil' Ponies
Clothes: Anything Princess
Animal: Nee-haw, giddy-up, giddy-up (her terms for horse)
Place to Visit: Mall of GA Play area or the Park

This is what Caroline does when you say, "Say Cheese!" If she'd only open her eyes, we'd have some great photo opportunities...but she always squints when she does this.

Our Lil' Glamour Girl!

The Incredible Expanding Woman!

It's hard to believe that this pregnancy is quickly approaching the end. At my 38 week appointment, the doctor went ahead and scheduled an induction for Wed, Feb 18th. So...unless Andrew has other plans, we will meet our precious, baby boy next week! The reason for the induction is to put me in a controlled environment to ensure I receive an epidural (which is a definite desire of mine). Since Caroline arrived in just over 5 hours after my water broke, and it is typical that your second child comes quicker, the thought is that I may not have time to get an epidural if Andrew decides to come on his own. Either way, keep checking back in next week as we should have a post announcing Andrew's arrival (hopefully with pictures).

nearly 38 Weeks
36-1/2 Weeks

34 Weeks (above & below) --The belly is taking over me!!

29 Weeks--Christmas

20 Weeks--The day we found out we will be blessed w/ a BOY!

16 Weeks--Old House

9 Weeks -- 1st Ultrasound

Christmas Memories

It's hard to believe that it is already mid-January, and I am just now finding the time to blog about our Christmas memories....who knew a toddler could keep you so busy!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with both of our families. The week leading up to Christmas, Ben took part in a Trans Siberian Orchestra music presentation held at our church. He was one of the lead, electric guitarist, and I must say I was swooned by his talent yet again as I proudly watched from the audience. I will try and remember to post a music clip from the DVD once we receive it.

December 23rd was spent with the Applings along with Christmas Eve day. We enjoyed a wonderful turkey feast along with GG's best ever, dressing. Caroline was so cute as she opened her presents. She would open one gift and then say, "thank you," "mmm...I want to open mmmore presents!" It was so cute. She received a HUGE Care Bear (nearly 1/2 her size), Care Bear movies, a stick pony to ride, coloring books, pop up Princess tent and many other fun, girly things. I felt like I was reliving my childhood when she opened the Care Bear items and a Cabbage Patch Kid. Caroline had a blast playing with her Uncle Chris, Papa Joe and GG. We attended the Christmas Eve service at our church, where Ben played an acoustic solo of Noel. Caroline just kept pointing at the large screens, waving to her da-da. Of course, it was difficult for Caroline to sit through the service since church to her is seeing her friends and playing in the nursery.
After the service, we drove on to Winder to join up with the Mays clan for a traditional, Christmas Eve dinner....yes, I was thankful for stretchy, maternity pants yet again! Eating two big meals in one day is quite an experience in itself :)

Exhausted and tired from a long day already, I was thrilled to discover that my mom had already made cookies for Caroline to leave out for Santa. Caroline enjoyed setting out the goodies and hearing all about Santa's expected arrival. Before putting Caroline to bed, Ben and I read the "real" Christmas story to her along with "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Caroline nestled down in her bed, tuckered out from a long, eventful day.


Christmas morning was filled with chaos and excitement with 3 dogs (ours, my brothers and my uncle's), one sleepy 2 yr old (yes, we had to wake her up around 7:30 a.m.) and presents waiting to be unwrapped. Caroline was thrilled to find the empty milk glass & cookie crumbs left by Santa. I think she was overwhelmed to see all that Santa had left her. She received a table & chair set along with several craft supplies, a pink puppy kennel, sit n' spin (again something from our childhood days), and a baby jog stroller w/ car carrier (this is so she can carry her babies around like I'll be carrying Andrew). Her stocking was filled with all kinds of goodies fit for a princess, including a crown, necklace, bracelets, etc. I guess you can say, Santa felt she was a very, good lil' girl this year (plus he blessed mom & dad w/ lots of great value finds)!




We enjoyed opening gifts with my family and then it was time to say good-bye to my brother & his wife Ansley as they headed back South to spend Christmas day w/ Ansley's family. Caroline was definitely sad to see Callie go. The evening of Christmas day was spent with some more of my dad's family. Caroline had a ball being entertained by everyone.

My mom helped me make matching Christmas jeans for Caroline and me. It was fun wearing matching outfits, but by the end of the evening I folded up the jeans, knowing they would never be worn again -- hopefully, mine will not fit next year :) and sadly, Caroline will be too big for hers.

Our New House -- A Photo Peek!

It's hard to believe we have been in our new home for nearly 3 months. We have been in constant motion since moving...working hard to make our house a "home." We finally have the first floor completed. We recently finished Caroline's room (aside from adding some drawer knobs to her dresser). After Christmas we plan to paint Andrew's room and get the nursery all ready for his fast approaching arrival. Ben and I are also eager to paint our room and upgrade some of the fixtures (our gift to each other this year for Christmas). Once those two rooms are completed, and if we are not completely pooped, we'll begin work on painting the guest room (low priority for now).

Enjoy the photo tour of our new home located in Lawrenceville, GA (email me at barbaraappling@yahoo.com if you need our new address)...better yet, come by and visit us soon!

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the outside of the house and our backyard (I'll post those later).

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

29 weeks and GROWING!

Here I am at 29 weeks. This preganancy has definitely been different from my first (which was pretty uneventful). I am definitely feeling like the "incredible expanding woman" these days! While I don't seem to growing anywhere but in my belly -- my belly does feel HUGE...maybe I just don't remember everything from last time (selective memory) :)

I received the results from my glucose test -- Aced it...whoo-hoo! However, I did fail my iron test miserably and I am now taking a supplement. So perhaps that can be my new excuse for being so tired lately -- instead of, chasing a 2 yr old, taking care of a sick husband with hectic rehearsal (guitar solos galore at church this season) and work schedules, moving while pregnant, decorating for Christmas, and the list goes on!! Just pray that I don't "pop" before the next 11 weeks are up :)

He has a NAME!

After much debate and careful thought, we are pleased to announce that our Baby Boy (previously referenced as "BB") has a name! The day before Thanksgiving I pinned Ben down and made him "talk" names again. While there were few options that he would even consider, we did finally go back to our original boy name from when we found out I was pregnant with Caroline and did not know whether we were having a boy or a girl. The name has always been on the list, however, nicknames have been the real issue. The name we have chosen actually has two, popular nicknames -- of course, I like one and he likes the other...I don't prefer his and he doesn't prefer mine :) So finally, we agreed to just go with the full name instead of eliminating a good, fitting name due to the "nickname battle!"

So without further explanation...and for those dying to know what are "son" will be called...

We are pleased to now call our wonderful gift from God by the name:

"ANDREW" BENJAMIN APPLING

This ultrasound picture was taken at 24 weeks on 11/7/08. I had to have another ultrasound so that the doctor could get better facial images. The doctor said everything looked great and that Andrew and I are both doing well. I had my 28 week appointment on 12/3/08. February will be here before we know it!