Happy July 4th !!

Let freedom ring ! I can't believe it is already the middle of summer - JULY is here and pretty soon it will be time for baby Violet to arrive... so crazy. We had a very relaxing holiday weekend - most of our friends and family were out of town so we took advantage of REST and some quality family time!! We headed to downtown Franklin ( just a few streets away from our home) to celebrate the "small town " way ... shopping, kettle corn, french fries, frozen lemonade, live music and LOTS of water in this HOT HOT SUMMER HEAT we are having! The fireworks display was starting late this year (9:45) and little miss Georgia was laying on the blanket by 9:00 - so we headed home without a grand finale. Bummer !! BUT, she did get to wear a "glow in the dark" bracelet !! ha ha! I am so thankful for our freedom here in America and so thankful for my freedom in Christ and that we can freely worship HIM here - what a blessing! Here are a few pic from our HOT day!

Mmm.... kettle corn !

yep.. this is our dog "Pischu" sporting her patriotic gear ! ha ha !

Family of 3 ... soon to be 4 !

We had some pictures taken last month by a sweet friend - kelli Trontell. (www.kellitrontell.com )

Sammy and I wanted some photos taken of the three of us before the new little lady arrives in September... and we were thrilled with what Kelli captured. She has such a great eye for photography and the sweetest and most giving spirit. THANKS KELLI for these "moments" that you captured for us. We are so thankful! Here are a few favorites!

20 week ultrasound

well... we are at 25 weeks ( so hard to believe) ... and should have posted this picture weeks ago... but time slips away from me each day and I find myself WAY behind in blogging lately!! So sorry! Our ultrasound appt. was so great and we had a fantastic nurse who let us sneak a few 3D images of our baby girl. Unfortunately, she kept putting her arms and hands in front of her face but this is the best shot we could get. We have decided to name her Violet Joy !! We just love her so much already!

Baby Ward # 2 ... 19 weeks

It's a GIRL !!!

We had our 19 week ultrasound on tuesday and it went wonderful! Baby #2 is a girl and we were quite surprised! This pregnancy has felt so different than the first ( WAY MORE SICKNESS) and so we naturally thought - this must be a boy?? Needless to say we are thrilled with having two little beauties in the house and it will be easy and fun to share clothes and toys! ( and easy on the budget!) ha ha! We are still tossing around names but will let you know soon ! Here are a few pics !

Tiny foot !!

The proof of a "girl" - this is her behind , the back of her legs !

Waving hello from the womb !

Easter... and remembering" Memaw "

Well, we had a very eventful easter .... my parents had decided to come visit for several days because we had not seen them since Christmas ( too long!) - and we had such a long weekend planned . Sadly, on the tuesday before easter and the day before they were to arrive, my "MEMAW "(mom's mother) went to be with Jesus. Long story short, we spent the weekend making funeral plans and were in Knoxville all day saturday. It was a really sweet service and we were able to see lots of family that we do not see regularly and that was very special! We had lots of fun talking about childhood memories and were able to laugh in the midst of sadness. Memaw brought so much Joy to our family and she will be missed. All that to say - Easter looked different and the Lord had other plans... but my parents ended up driving back to Nashville for Easter to be with us which was SO FUN and such a blessing. ( especially because my mom is the most AMAZING COOK and she made 2 pies while she was here!!) lucky me ! Here are some sweet pics of Georgia after church on sunday. Thank you Lord for the cross and your redeeming love for me!

Baby Ward # 2 ... on the way !

We are officially headed into the 2nd trimester with baby #2 and we are very excited and blessed! We went for our 12 week ultrasound last week and just watched in amazement at the tiny little life growing inside me. Pretty crazy how at 8 weeks the baby looked like a small "blip" on the screen and then at 12 weeks ( just 4 weeks later) it looks like a BABY! We did not find out the sex with Georgia, but I think we will find out this time - we just can't stand it! GOD is so amazing and so good .... and we know that children are a GIFT from HIM!

Guys and Dolls

Valentine's Day was a 1920's party this year " GUYS AND DOLLS" ... and we celebrated with our dearest and sweetest friends ( and some family too ) We were all in our choice of 1920's attire, had dessert, hor 'derves, and virgin martinis ! ( the cigarettes are not real either but they sure were hilarious! ) We ate and played the game "mafia" until midnight!! We all had so much fun we decided to make it an annual Valentine's Day tradition .... we are so THANKFUL for the friendships we have here in Nashville! * we also had NEW names , we had to be in character right? ha! ha! Here are a few pics...

Sammy and Aaron - aka : Johnny "tight lips" and Frankie

Yes - she DID finger wave her hair !

Rose and Thurston ( John and Laura)

Johnny "tight lips" and Eleanor ( me and sammy!! )

Rocco !!! (Anthony )

Eleanor and Bitsy

THE GUYS and DOLLS !