World, Meet Asa! ..............It's a BOY!!!!

Well, I guess the Lord really did speak to Anson! I went for our untrasound today and the first thing I saw on the screen was the second picture... he was showing off his little boy parts! :o) I said "Oh, it's a boy!!!" The ultrasound technician was impressed that I saw it right away and concurred! It is a good thing we saw that first because for the rest of the time he had his legs crossed at the knees and had his hands over his face. I think he wanted us to leave him alone! :o) He is very healthy and everything is where it is supposed to be developmentally. So today we are praising God for another son! We are naming him Asa Leslie... Asa is a Biblical name and he is in the lineage of Christ (He was a good king of Judah) and Leslie is my grandfather's name, my father's name and my middle name! Anson was very excited and enjoyed calling people to tell them "we're going to have a baby boy!" Ella is excited too but can't put it into words quite yet. :o)

Ella's Birthday

Anson helped me make and decorate the cake!
Ella clapping at her birthday song!

"I'm two now!"

After clebrating her birthday twice in Florida a couple weeks ago, Ella finally had her "real" birthday yesterday! It was just the four of us, one cake, and one present and she loved it! She loved us singing to her when we brought out the cake and she loved her present too so it was a fun time! Thanks for all the "Happy Birthday" phone calls! She learned by the second or third call to say "thank you" after someone sang to her! :o)

Happy Birthday Ella!

Almost 2!

1 Year Old

1 Week Old

Happy Birthday Ella!! We can't believe that she is two already! She is such a sweet little girl with such a fun spirit. We are very proud of her and know that God has such special plans for her life! Have a happy birthday, little princess! We love you!

My Labor of Labor Day

Dusty and I thought that it was finally time to have living room curtains! We've only lived here 5 years! So I went to the fabric store on Saturday morning and bought the fabric and cut out the curtains. I sewed one pair on Saturday and the other two today! Anson helped me hang the curtain rods and Ella even helped me sew a little this morning! She likes to press the foot pedal! I think it gives our living room a warmer feel to have curtains and not just the blinds.

Today Anson helped me fold the clothes - on his own volition! And then later informed me that he would like "Subway" sandwiches for dinner with all the "gredients"! Ella told me today that she saw "two owls tee" which means two owls in the tree, and prayed for Mommy's baby at bedtime. How sweet! This was after she had to be spanked twice at dinner for standing in her chair and throwing her food! :o) Ah, the give and take! The picture above is Anson and Ella with bubble beards in the tub...

We're a Minivan Family Now!

Here is the new addition to our family! It's not brand new but it is new to us... and it is paid for! How much better could it get? We have been looking online for a couple months so we knew what we wanted. And after riding in Jared and Brittany's and Chad and Amber's Siennas, we just had to go get one for ourself. The paint combo matches our Lexus car exactly so now we have a matched pair just like Jared and Brittany! :o) Anson and Ella love it too. So now we are ready for baby #3.
And speaking of baby #3, we find out on September 15th wether it is a boy or a girl so we can start calling them by their name! I am so excited to find out!

Florida Fun

Ella helped Gramma with the dishes!
Blowing (or dumping out!) bubbles at Amy's house

Anson and "buddy" the frog at Amy's house

Ella, James, and Charlotte - cousins!

At Silver Springs

Silver Springs - the water looked blue it was so clear!

The girls in their matching dresses taking a ride in PaPaw's wheelchair

Big ol' gator at Silver Springs

Tired Baby James

Tired Charlotte

Tired Ella

Tired Toto!! :o)

We just got back from a very fun trip to Florida! The kids and I went down last Friday and spent a week in DeLand with my parents. We went to visit Auntie Amy, did a lot of swimming in Gramma and Papa's pool, roamed around DeLand, did some shopping, and got to rest too! Anson enjoyed going to the barber shop with his Papa and then going for a treat at the doughnut shop! Dusty flew into Jacksonville on Thursday and we were soooooo happy to see him! He had been in New Jersey for two weeks with one of his painting crews. We are so thankful that he usually doesn't have to travel because none of us enjoyed having him gone! On Friday we went to Melrose to see all the Rollins'! Jared, Brittany, and Charlotte (and baby Naomi, still in utero!) cam Friday also and we all enjoyed visiting. Ella and Charlotte are so cute together. They walked around hugging and holding hands! Then bright and early Saturday morning (really, 5:45 am is pretty early!) Chad and Amber joined us and we all went tubing down the Itchatukcnee River! It was a such a beautiful day and we all had a lot of fun. Ella and Charlotte stayed home with Charlotte's grandma but Anson came and had a fun time! We all rented rafts instead of tubes because the spring water was freezing cold! But the scenery was gorgeous! I wish I could have taken pictures. We saw turtles, ducks, cormorants, and even saw an osprey dive down and catch a fish! Then we ate lunch in Lake City and went to see Chad and Amber's new house and office! They plan to move there in a month to be close to Chad's new office. When we got back to Melrose, all the guys played a soccer game and exhausted themselves. Anson was so proud to be included in the soccer game this time! He is really growing up!

Then on Sunday morning we all went to Silver Springs park! Silver Springs is home to the famous glass-bottomed boats. We took a couple boat tours over the Silver River and saw lots of fish, birds, and turtles and even a few gators. We went to a couple shows where Anson was not shy to ask questions! In the reptile show he asked the man "What do alligators say?" and he proceeded to make a pretty large alligator hiss unhappily! It was great! And then in the snake show he raised his hand and said "That sure is a beautiful yellow snake!"... more of a comment than a question but that's OK! :o)

Then on Monday morning we headed back to Atlanta, and here we are! Now I need to go through all the pics I took and find a few to post here!

16 Weeks!

Yesterday I turned 16 weeks pregnant and it seems like my tummy just popped right out there! I am still tired every afternoon but not as bad as a few weeks ago. Other than that, I have been blessed with another smooth pregnancy! Anson noticed my belly getting bigger and the other night when I was tucking him into bed we had this dialogue:

"Mommy, your baby is really getting bigger! Is it a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know yet... only God knows right now!"

Anson to God: "God, is it a boy or a girl?" *pregnant pause*

"Yes! God told me it's a boy! I'm so excited we're having a boy!!"

So there you have it! God told Anson it's a boy! We will know in a few weeks! :o)

I Love Daddy!

Ella loves her Daddy! Could you tell? :o)

Yummy Krispy Kreme!

Yesterday we went to the Krispy Kreme "factory" for a treat! There is a big window where you can watch the doughnuts get made by a huge automated machine. Pretty interesting. Although the kids favorite part was eating a sprinkle covered doughnut and sharing Mommy's orange freeze! (That was Anson's idea to get another straw and have Daddy take our picture! Can you see his arm around me? So sweet. :o)

Crabs or Frogs anyone?

Today we ate at our favorite Malaysian restaurant, Penang. We are going to have to start ordering more food because Anson and Ella both like it now! They both love the satay chicken and roti canai, and of course the pulut hitam (sweet black rice with hot coconut milk) for dessert. After eating there, it is our tradition to go to the Asian market next door to see the sights. They have pigs and ducks hanging in a case by the front door! Then in the back they have all the fresh seafood... catfish and tilapia swimming in tanks, live blue crabs in a stainless steel tub, snails in a plastic bucket, and our favorite (which we saw for the first time today)... "lide frogs!" Gotta love the asian art of spelling words how they pronounce them... I think they meant "live frogs". :o)

Ella was a little grossed out by the crabs at first (or was it the overall putrid smell of the seafood section?) But she and Anson love going there so we continue the tradition!

Here are a few pics we took on Dusty's phone...