1 year. 16.5 weeks. New Look

A year ago today I started this blog. It is really hard to believe it has been a whole year. So much has happened and so glad we have this blog to document some of the main events. I really have enjoyed doing it, really enjoy reading all of your comments and emails, and appreciate the support. They really make it all worth it! I also decided it was time for a new look. Something a little more "fallish" since the fall season officially begins tomorrow. Even though when you step outside it still feels like the heat of the summer.

Today I am 16.5 weeks (the picture above was at 15 weeks apologize for picture quality it was taken with phone camera). I promise not to bore with too many belly shots mainly more for us and not for reader entertainment. I also promise there will not be ANY bare belly shots and I will always be fully clothed. No offense but when people take bare belly shots with a mere sports bra on and post it on the internet for the world to see it makes me feel uncomfortable. I feel like this pregnancy is going by pretty fast. I am trying not to wish it away because I am anxious to meet this little one but try to take in the moments since reality tells me this may be the last. I can't complain I am feeling great and sleeping ok. I have had a couple of weird cravings. One consisted of Krystal's for lunch...fyi it did not live up to my expectations...surprise surprise. The other was Olive Garden. The salad and bread sticks were delicious and did not disappoint. The actual dinner was not so great. Does anyone else wonder why that place stays so crowded all the time?? Always packed whether it be lunch, dinner, or any day of the week. Anyway, to fulfill my pasta/Italian food craving I requested that Papop make me some of his famous meatballs and homemade sauce. It was oh so good and just what I wanted and the best part is he made extras for me to take home to have later. Other than that I really enjoy salads (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, parm cheese and my new favorite salad dressing, Ken's Lite Olive Oil and Vinaigrette), milk, pickles, and blueberry cake donut from daylight donuts...not all at the same time of course :) This past week was pretty significant as I felt this little one move for the first time. It was so great and such a wonderful reminder of how amazing this whole process truly is.

Oh and for those who are keeping up this makes 50 posts for the Stracener Scene hope to have many more!

James - Pledge of Allegiance

I know I know the video is sideways. Chad and I tried very hard to figure out how to rotate it but we did not have any luck. If anyone knows how to do this please let us know. Thought everyone needed a Monday morning chuckle. We did not even know James knew the Pledge of Allegiance until yesterday...

Labor Day Weekend and Day at the Farm

Ok I feel like I need to start this post before it gets away from me and I forget the details. Labor Day weekend we decided to head to Birmingham for a visit and take advantage of the extra day off. It was such a great weekend and I think we all thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Chad and I enjoyed 2 date nights, one just the 2 of us for dinner at Chuck's (hands down best bread pudding in Birmingham or anywhere for that matter in my opinion) on Friday night when we arrived and the other night we spent watching the Auburn football game (War Cam Eagle! apparently that is a new phrase going around since everyone is pumped about Auburn's new quarterback) with our good friends Chandler and Kristen. And I am pretty sure James enjoyed his nights with only KK and Pop. Saturday during the day we all met Anna and Jeanna for lunch at Chuy's and might as well as say our waitress was there too because she talked our ears off jabbering about pointless topics. We should have mentioned to her that most women shave above their knee especially when wearing short shorts...

Sunday we woke up and headed to the "farm". Early last fall Pop purchased a large piece of property in Blount county near Oneonta. He has done a lot of work clearing the property, building gates, etc. Last year he had a trap house built that apparently throws skeet to shoot at ( you can see a picture of it in a picture below)...I do not know much about this stuff as I am not your typical outdoorsy kind of person. The property was prettier than I expected and the views were unbelievable. There is a large pond on the property that has LOTS of small fish maybe brim and several small bass. Chad purchased James a child size fishing pole (a Toy Story one...surprise surprise) and we let James catch some fish and we did some fishing ourselves. He was really good at reeling the fish in by himself! These fish were super hungry...the line was only in the water for a few seconds and you would have yourself a fish...my kind of fishing much more entertaining then playing the waiting game...Here are several pictures from our day at the farm.

James: "look at all these fish!"

James caught his 1st fish!

He was not big on holding it or touching it...I don't blame him :)

There is some serious concentration going on in this picture.

Chad excited about his fish...check out that manly rod he used.

Feeding the fish with Pop

After James fed the fish he decided to throw rocks in the water. I sure the fish were pleased.

Pop, KK and James

View of the farm. At the top of the hill Pop plans to build a cabin that will have the view below

Entrance to the farm

It was a fun day at the farm and we can't wait to go back!

After we left the farm we headed to the Straceners' to celebrate PawPaw's birthday and see all of the family. James had a great time playing his cousins and acting as if he were their age. We also saw the Huffstutler family that afternoon. It was so great to see everyone when we were not celebrating a major holiday! Labor Day weekend we got a little tease of fall weather and it made me realize how much I am ready for it! Bring on the pumpkins and the mums and all of the fun football games!

Happy Friday!

Even though this is a short week I feel like it was so long. I am glad it is Friday. Today I have to say I am a very proud mom. 3 reasons why:
1) James had his very first on stage (a big one at that) performance last night with his class from school at the school's fundraiser event. His class sang and danced to "The Wheels on the Bus". I will have to say James and one other child did the best (trying not to be bias). But most parents were talking about how great James did so it made me feel so proud! James danced and did the proper motions for the whole song and was right in front. Chad and I were wondering what he was going to do and we thought he might just freeze once he was on stage in front of so many people but he "hammed" it up! I did not take any digital photos :( but we do have it on video. Once it was over I told him how proud of him I was and that he did so good...his response " I wanna go home and play with my Buzz and Woody". Well ok then. Worked out well for us because we were ready to run home too because the Auburn game against MS State had already kicked off. I will have to say Chad made a huge sacrifice to miss part of the game for James' debut. Most of you know how big of an Auburn football fan he is, he did leave immediately after James came off stage in a separate car. 
2) I think we can officially say James is potty trained!! We have not had one accident in 3 weeks. It literally was like one day it all clicked and he never looked back.
3) I also think we can officially say the paci is gone gone! I didn't really plan on this one (if you can imagine that) but this past Monday night after we got back home from Birmingham and unpacked I did not put his paci back in his crib. Well that night when I put him down I think he was so tired he just didn't ask for it so I didn't offer it up. The next night he asked for it and Chad told him he gave it to the babies at school and he claimed he was a baby (good try) but eventually gave up and went to sleep without it. He asked for it again the 3rd night but didn't put up a big fuss. We are now on 4 nights without it with no sleeping problems at all. I am thinking this was way too easy.

I am having talks daily with baby #2 because I am afraid he/she may give us some payback. Potty training and giving up paci were way too easy with James so this one has some big shoes to fill!

I hope to start a Labor Day weekend post soon but work keeps getting in the way...