The Pink House

Our annual trip to the Pink House in Grayton Beach was the last weekend in September. We have been going now once a year since 2008. It started as a girls weekend, James included, to celebrate my aunt Ann's 60th birthday and now has turned into an annual thing. This year we celebrated my cousin April getting married this October. Ann came up with a cheesy idea that we would all dress up in tacky bridesmaids dresses and hang out. Since I am pregnant and didn't really feel like trying to squeeze into a tacky dress I was a judge. The rest of the girls pranced in their dresses in a beauty pageant format as myself, April (the bride), and 2 of the other younger boys there gave each one a score. It ended up being hilarious and more fun than I anticipated. Anna won by a tie breaker and she did her rendition of Bon QuiQui...leave it to her. Saturday we spend a few hours on the beach and watched football. It is always nice to spend a weekend with this side of the family as we do not get to see them often. Here are a few of the pics I took from our time at the beach. I don't have any pics of the "beauty pageant" unfortunately nor do I have any pictures of the "Pink House".

The young kids having so much fun building sand castles with Ann. She is a crowd favorite among all of them. James especially loved playing with her!

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...

Secret

(can you tell i used bribery to get this picture...such a fake smile)

Guilty. For the past 2 months it really has been so hard for me to blog because I have been keeping a big secret from the blog world. It is hard to write what you really think or feel when you can't be completely honest. After taking 6 pregnancy tests all with positive results, I am happy to finally be able to officially document that The Stracener Scene will be adding a new member March 2011. We are so very excited and a little nervous too but we cannot wait to meet this new addition and to see what is in store for us. I think James is going to be a great big brother even though I don't think he quite understands exactly what it means as he likes to claim he is the little sister...(this is the usual response when we ask him if he wants a little brother or a little sister) it prompts "No I am the little sister"

So anywho, I am 13 weeks and baby strace #2 is apparently the size of a medium shrimp (not large in case you were wondering), almost through the 1st trimester thank goodness. March 4th is the official due date. Some of you may recall that James' due date was March 16th, he arrived March 20th. I am very excited about having 2 March babies. I personally think it is a great time of year for a baby to be born just before spring! It also works out perfectly that I will be going through those last few months during the dead of winter. I remember not even turning the heat on last time and sleeping without covers. I do not see how women do it during the summer. I am not sure I would survive. This pregnancy has not been too different from the first as far as sickness goes. Maybe a little more nauseous than before but the exhaustion and mood swings have kicked me in the rear. Well the exhaustion has kicked me the mood swings have probably kicked Chad a time or two. Fortunately he tries really hard to be patient and ignore half of what I say. No specific cravings just yet honestly everything sounds really good whenever I day dream about food.

Also the plan as of now is to not find out the gender this time...keeping my fingers crossed that both Chad and I can do it! I think it would be such a fun surprise for everyone and honestly we really do not care whether it is a boy or girl as long as he/she is healthy!! I know such a typical line but it is the truth! I think it would be great to have a girl and have one of each but then again I think it would be great for James to have a little brother to grow up with. Just for the record my initial feeling is boy :) Oh and we have pretty much decided on our names for each but sorry to disappoint that will also be kept a secret...

Other very random thoughts, 1) still trying to figure out why our 2 yr old LOVES the show "Minute to Win It". If you haven't seen it comes on Tuesday nights and it is great! I think James loves the excitement when the contestants win their challenges. But seriously his eyes are glued to the tv while it is on. You would think Woody or Buzz had taken over our screen. 2) James has a new phrase that makes me laugh every time he says it..."that'll be fun" Not sure where it came from (someone reminded me that I tend to say it often...i never realized). Usually he uses it to get us to do something with him. For example the other night we were on our way home from dinner and this is the convo:
James: "We go home"
Me: "yes we are going home"
Chad: "We are getting a bath when we get home"
James:  "We go home, Get bath and then go in the play room, that'll be fun!" wink wink
3) I am no longer "mommy" I have been downgraded to "mama". Out of no where just one day he started calling me Mama. A little sad about that because I know the inevitable is coming the day when I am just plain "Mom"

Congrats to all our friends who are expecting babies Jan/Feb/March 2011! James and baby strace have lots of future playmates I know they can't wait to meet!

Sweet Summertime

Ok I am going to try this one more time. Long story but this post has been in the works since June and I kept adding to it then had problems with the pictures I added, etc, etc. So I am giving it one more shot and keeping my fingers crossed. I know most of my faithful readers are thinking where have you been?...the few that I do have. Well it has been one busy hot summer for us. Weekends are crazy, work is crazy, weeknights I am exhausted thus my blog has suffered. I hope to make more effort for the month of August!! So this post I am going to try to recap our summer so far. I have hit some highlights such as my girls beach weekend and the 4th of July. Other things we have been up to lately...
1) We have spent many many days at the pool. Chad and I decided to join a local pool and we have agreed that it is one of the best decisions we have made lately. James LOVES the pool and every time we go he is just as excited as the 1st time he went. He has become such a good little swimmer too (with the assistance of his swimmies). He jumps off the side all by himself and goes under water. Swims and kicks his little legs and repeats the whole process over and over. It has made for some good long afternoon naps for all us. Here are a few pics from our time at the pool.

2) We have added to our Toy Story Collection. These little characters have provided countless hours of entertainment and laughter. James treats them like real people and it cracks me up. They watch him eat meals, watch him go potty, and they are told "bye-bye" and given kisses when we leave. He reassures them with "Be right back" too.

3) We have been "working" on potty training. We have made great strides but still not there. This week has been a pivotal week as Wednesday his teacher asked for me to put him in big boy underwear. And I am happy to report he only had 1 accident. I think that is pretty good for a first day. However I am not happy to report that this morning after he is dressed (in his big boy underwear) and I am dressed for work waiting on my coffee to finish brewing noticing that something has gone wrong with the coffee maker and all of the coffee has not really made it into my mug...I hear "Mommy I go poopy". I am thinking please no and I pat his bottom and think "Oh s#$%" (literally). I know probably too gross but it is reality. I can't be mad at the sweet boy we are still "training" but that is the LAST thing you want to do at 7:00 am trying to head out the door. For a moment I think it would just be easier if you were still in diapers...
4) We are down to only one paci in his crib and trying to get up the courage to make that one disappear. I really think James will be fine but I am dreading those first few nights.
5) We have made a few steps towards planning for his big boy room. I have purchased the bedding and still looking at furniture. Poor James is in for lots of adjustments over the next couple of months...no more diapers, no more paci, and no more crib. Don't worry I plan to spread them out so it is not all at once.
6) We have had a few visitors this summer and have a few more on the calendar in the next month. Just recently my good friend Lorie and her daughter Ashlyn came to visit. James and Ashlyn are exactly 1 year apart. They came to visit us last year here is a picture of them watching morning cartoons.

What a difference a year makes! We had a great time with them again this year. We went to the pool, we watched movies, we made cupcakes and we laughed alot too (mainly at me...I had few clumsy incidents). One involved a swim diaper ripping at the seams and poor James hit the floor. Fortunately when I realized he was ok. We laughed very hard at the scene...I was just trying to test his reflexes :) He has some good ones! Here are a few pics from their trip this year...

7) We have only made one trip to Birmingham this summer and that was for a wedding which is odd for us. And I don't think we have an available weekend in August. Hopefully we will be able to come visit in September!

I think that is an update on us for now. I hope to be back sooner than the last time!