Mimi's in town...

It's been HOT, I have sweet cravings & we all LOVE Ice Cream!!!

Especially APPLE GATE'S Ice Cream!! :)

We've been having a GREAT time!!! The kids are in heaven and I'm liking the break!! :)

3/4 of the way through now...

Still feeling really great!!!

New Baby WILL NOT STOP MOVING!! I'm often woken up in the night by this little one! I've been staying quite active & haven't let the constant motion slow me down... in any way! :)

I'm seeing my new OBGYN this week, he specializes in Natural Childbirth (works closely with Midwives) & operates out of the Natural Child Birthing Unit in the hospital I'll be delivering at. I'm excited to meet him, I hear he is absolutely WONDERFUL!! He's one of the top delivering Dr's in North NJ, he has a very low c-section delivery rate! So, that's great!

I'm getting pretty big now, however I've only put on about 8 pounds, since pre-pregnancy. I'm supposed to gain one pound a week for here on out, so when all is said & done, I should be in the 18-20 lb gain range.

Still, no name has been decided - probably, we'll announce it after she arrives.

As this pregnancy progresses, I just keep thinking about all my other, wonderful pregnant friends, especially one who should be expecting her second any hour now!! So, so many babies this year!!! :)

Anyway, my mom took this pic of me yesterday:

(again, my goal is to take at least once a week - I gotta start documenting my own changes more, so that I can show my girls what they can expect when they become mommies! :))

This is from back in April!

 These are from the couple weeks before Garrick's graduation. So, I guess I was taking some pictures... just not looking through them. I think I'm up-to-date now, after this one... which is good because, I want to post more pictures, especially as we get ready for the newest addition. 

Two weeks before Garrick graduated, Mimi came for a week-long visit, it happened to fall on the weekend of the Orange & Blue game... which was nice, because my mom got a chance to see some of UF's Football spirit. We also went to a painting craft store & one of our favorite places from back in Gainesville, Haile Plantation. But, mostly we just hung out with the kids, at home.

The following week was Holy Week... which was busy and of course we also had to paint eggs & then there was Easter. We went to an Easter festival, brunch & then had a low-key Easter egg hunt & ham dinner at our place.

Doing arts & crafts with Mimi...

Haile Village (Plantation)

Little water-bugs! :)

Garrick got some good luck.... he found this 4-leaf clover & in April Gainesville is covered with caterpillers! :)

Orange & Blue Day

(no better way than to start the day with some face-painting!)

Pretty Alberta (one of UF's mascots)

These two guys are buddies (Preston & Cole)... I like the brick about being a Buckeye by birth & a Gator at heart, because that's going to be Coley-Poley! I just know it!! :)

Easter Egg Coloring

Easter Festival

(Preston LOVED those peeps dipped in chocolate & sprinkles!!)

Aubree did too, but not quite the fan that Preston was of them! :)

Easter morning

(surprised with their Easter baskets in the morning)

I'm not going to lie... I'm totally in love with my little guy Preston! While Aubree is becoming increasingly more independent... I've really had a little buddy, in Preston. He's my guy... ALWAYS wanting to be with me.

We visited Manhattan again last week & took a nice 3 mile, or so walk up Riverside park - we stopped at the "Hippo Park", which has the cutest Hippo & Animal figurines spouting out water. Preston kept himself busy looking at the fake animals, jumping in the water & also following the live birds around in the park - he's an animal lover! Aubree, on the other hand, made about a dozen new friends & cruised the park by herself with all of her new friends. I love how the NYC parks are all safely locked up & secured, so I know she can never be too far & I can always take a quick glance around & spot her every few minutes.

Preston looking at all the animal statues built into the rocks....

 Aubree & a "friend" playing in the water

The water was cold, so after a good 1 1/2 hours of Aubree playing, she quickly changed into her second outfit of the day...

 This little one loves being in the swing too! :)



4th of July was pretty uneventful for us. After a long day in Philadelphia the day before, we decided to just relax at home. Garrick & I ended up watching the very long movie, "1776" (of course, only after watching the Nathan's hot dog eating contest), the movie 1776 seemed to hit the spot perfectly for us because we were all into the history of the day - despite the fact that 1776 is somewhat of a musical... that we could have done without! :)

After an early dinner, we packed up some popcorn & snacks & headed over to Weehawken, NJ to watch the Macy's Firework show on the Hudson. We loved the idea of seeing the fireworks over the NYC skyline. However, after driving around Weehawken, for a good 45 minutes to an hour, we kind of gave up. Not only was the parking situation looking impossible, the crowds were also a little too much for us to handle. So, in a crazy moment, we changed our plans & drove west over to Hackensack, literally parking minutes before the show started. Good thing we packed blankets, because we set up camp in an abandoned parking lot & caught the whole show just in time. The kids loved it & it was a great end to our long, busy & fun weekend.

After any long weekend, filled with parks, new cities & play dates you always run the risk of the kids coming down with some sort of sickness. Unfortunately, that did happen... just days later, the kids had some 72-hour, up all night 103+ fever, flu's. Good thing they recovered by the weekend - because that following weekend was the wedding on Chelsea Piers & we didn't want to miss that! :)

My little sick girl... looked like this for a few days! :( But, still managed to start her days bright & early... getting dressed, first thing in the morning, despite her not feeling well.



We spent this past weekend in Manhattan, for a good friend's wedding. Unfortunately I missed the ceremony, because I had to get the kids settled for bed - but, the reception was absolutely beautiful!! I am so glad I made it & that the kids were good for Uncle Timmy (thank you Uncle Timmy for watching the little ones!)

Of course I took a few pictures - the views from the venue (Chelsea Piers) was amazing!! It looked right over the busy Hudson River, to Jersey City & Hoboken. I was in love with the sunset... It's been awhile since I've watched the sun set over a body of water.

Ok... So, here are a few pictures of the view, because it was just too beautiful, not to share.

And a couple pictures of the beautiful newly weds! :)

Other pictures from us at the wedding...

My pretty sister! :)

And one with the baby in it - man! I'm getting BIG!!! ;)

 A few cute details - and now... I gotta go! :)