We Have Feet!

I was told the footers were going in today. I have NO idea what that means, and I could easily google it, but I didn't want to ruin my title to this post.

I'm just going to assume that we have footers and our foundation is underway. 

There's some trails of poured concrete and wood markers - more than what was there a couple of days ago, so I'm happy to see the progress!

We let Miller run around the property tonight and she had a blast! She came home with orange hands, bits of clay in her hair and as one tired girl. Success.

Our builder brought his daughter to the site & she entertained Miller for a while.

Can't wait to see what they do next and I know Miller can't wait to go back & play in her new backyard! 

We're Going to the Zoo... Zoo... Zoo

One of our favorite parts of living in the Midlands is the Riverbanks Zoo. It's a quick 15-20 minute drive to the state's best zoo and Miller loves it! 

We try to go once a week or every other week when the weather is nice. There's more to do than just see & touch the animals - a playground, train ride, rock climbing, carousel, etc, so you can go often and never run out of things to do.

This past Friday we spent the morning there with some friends. 

Miller flipped out to ride the monkey on the carousel, then flipped out when I tried to put her on it. Story of my life with this girl.

We ended up riding the stationary peacock sleigh AGAIN.

This is how we roll.

The aquarium is one of my favorite spots. Hers too.

I can't wait to spend tons of time here this Spring!

This is Ground Breaking

We have FINALLY broken ground! This seems like a long time coming. We were originally supposed to close on the new land last August, but because of setbacks from the county and the sale of our own home falling through, everything got pushed back.

We closed on the land, a completely wooded lot, a few weeks ago & today the land looks like this.

The builder will begin on the foundation next week & I. AM. PUMPED!

We go out to the land every evening to check the progress and each day gets more & more exciting.

 

Hawaii

Ryan & I just returned from a week in Hawaii and we had a blast! Ryan qualified for the trip because of his hard & excellent work in 2014. We feel so blessed with his job with State Farm. They're a wonderful compay who believes in rewarding employees that work extremely hard.

We flew out on a Monday and set off on what was supposed to be an 11-12 hour trip that would follow this route:

Columbia - Dallas - Maui

 

Instead, what we got was an almost 24 hour trip that looked like this:

Columbia - Tyler, TX - Dallas - Honolulu - Maui

 

We were originally supposed to land in Maui around 2:15p (8:15p EST), but instead we finally checked into our hotel shortly after midnight (6am EST). There were terrible stoms in Dallas that kept us from making all connecting flights to Maui, but we FINALLY made it & crashed until about 4am becuase our bodies thought it was 10am. Oh. My. Gosh. We missed a half day in Maui because of the bad weather, but soldiered on.

 

Here we are leaving Columbia, then finally arriving in Maui. Notice the undereye bags & lack of makeup!

 

Our first full day in Maui was spent exploring the resort, The Grand Wailea. One of those places we'd never stay on our own dime, you know what I mean? We caught our second wind and were able to stay awake the whole day, which was an absolute miracle! We also laid out by the pool even thought it was overcast.

Our first dinner out was at MiGrant, with chef Sheldon Simeon from "Top Chef." The food was delicious and the company was even better! We had dinner (and spent most of the week) with two other couples that you'll see below.

 

The next day we decided to take a break from the sun (we got pretty burnt the day before) & we went on a whale watching tour & meddled around the town of Lahaina. This was our favorite part of the trip! We loved spending the day together with absolutely no agenda.

We were able to see the humpback whales upclose & it was magical!

Wednesday night, State Farm put on a luau at the resort. We had delicious food & fun entertainment! I was hoping there would be a fire twirler & I wasn't disappointed. There were also baby hula dancers, then authentic hula dancers!

Thursday, Friday & part of the day Saturday were spent relaxing on the beach and at the pool with friends. I got in two books during the plane rides, something I haven't done in years!

I've metioned before that I have no "bump pictures" (turn to the side and awkwardly hold my belly) from this pregnancy, so I decided to go all out with this one. Yes, I wore a bikini. I felt a little self-conscious at first, but there were two other pregnant women there also in bikinis, so I blended in pretty well. This picture was taken one day prior to turning 25 weeks.

 

Friday night we had an incredible dinner with friends at Humuhumunukunukuapua. I'm not making that name up! This place was voted one of the best on the island & it didn't disappoint. 

 

These friends made our trip so much more fun! The couple on the left just moved to Greenville. The husband is a sales leader. The couple beside me are also in Greenville & he's an agent. The couple on the very right live in the Clover/Charlotte area & they're both agents, God bless them. They REALLY needed this trip!

 

We left a day early because we knew 5 nights away would be enough for us, so Saturday evening, we boarded a plane back home. We flew through the middle of the night & slept on and off, but we couldn't wait to get back to Miller. We had a fantastic trip and hope we get to go back to Hawaii one day!

I'm Bringing Blogging Back, Yeah!

It's been a year and a half since I last blogged. A YEAR AND A HALF! I've missed blogging, but hadn't felt the desire to start back. To be honest, it's time consuming and when I was blogging before, I was working outside the home and I would blog at work (what, are they going to fire me now?) Also, when I was blogging before I didn't have a whole lot going on in my life besides keeping a tiny human alive, and as luck would have it, I've been really successful at it! I didn't feel like I had much to talk about, but now I do.

I finally felt the urge to start back when my mom started in on me about our upcoming arrival. For years I ragged her because there weren't many pictures of her pregnant with me, but there were millions of her pregnant with my older sister. In fact, at one point in my life my sister had me convinced I was adopted. I swore I would give equal attention to each and every pregnancy. Wrong. I haven't taken the first belly picture with this pregnancy and I'm 23 weeks along. With Miller I had a weekly play-by-play of my belly growth, hormones and cravings. Poor baby boy won't have as many pictures in the womb, but I intend to have enough so he realizes he was, in fact, carried by me for 9 long (hot) months.

So, there you have it. Guilt has gotten me back in the game, but I'm glad to be back! And what have we been up to in the past 19 months? Here's a very quick recap.

Went on a cruise to the Bahamas 

celebrated Miller's 1st birthday

started a new business

said goodbye to our precious MaMa

celebrated the arrival of our nephew, Graham

Went on a couple of family vacations 

went to Paris

went to Laguna Beach, CA

Enrolled Miller in preschool

found out we were expecting baby #2

bought new property (not on the lake, but 3 doors down) & sold our first home in Lexington

Found out it's a boy!

Celebrated Miller's 2nd birthday

I guess we have been pretty busy these last few months, but we are so excited about the newest journey we've started. As I mentioned before, we sold our home & bought some land. We are getting ready to break ground on our next (and hopefully long-term) home! We are beyond excited and I can't wait to take you on the journey with us!