Engine One

This past Saturday we visited the Cleveland Fire station headquarters. It was a treat for Javan who loves fire engines. When we arrived we were greeted by the captain. Javan was too excited, which manifested itself in shyness. He did not say a word and just clung to Veryll and I the entire tour.

The tour was very interesting. We learned about each truck in the station and its purpose. We also saw the map that marked out the zones that each station was responsible for. The captain even turned on the light, blew the horn (wow ... its loud), and showed us the inside of the trucks.

Hopefully Javan will be less in "awe" next time and actually engage the firemen who were constantly wanting to give him a high-five ... lol. He loved the stickers and fire hat they gave him and as soon as we got into the car he started talking about the firetruck. Go figure!


Captain Donnie Sherlin - his wife works with Veryll so he was very willing to give us a personal tour!




Jermaine

Birthday Fun

It's always fun celebrating birthdays and this past week we had two parties to go to - both first birthdays.

We celebrated with Rody on Thursday evening:


and with Addison on Saturday afternoon


It's so much fun watching all our friends babies grow up!

~Veryll

Pregnancy Update - 33wk appt.

I went to see Dr. Childs yesterday - it was one of the uneventful appts but I wanted to have a record of it anyways.

baby's heartbeat: 150-160's
my blood pressure: 120/70
my weight gain: gained 1 (total of 13)

I did have the NST (non stress test) so they could monitor the baby's heartbeat and check for contractions. Whats funny is that i was having contractions before they hooked me up and then for the next 20mins while I was hooked up, I had NONE. The minute, they took the monitors off, the contractions started again! Dr. Childs laughed - he said thats how it always happens! Baby also kept going of the monitor - on several occasions there would be no heartbeat and then the baby would come back in and we'd have this really high heartbeat! Crazy baby! He was pleased with my morning blood testing results - my sugar levels are definitely doing great and I am coming under the reading that I need to be at so thats good. I go back next week and he's going to do an ultrasound to check the baby's growth.

~V

Life in Pictures

Its so hard getting family pics these days and the reason is simply cos
a) Javan won't cooperate
b) he wants to take the photo
c) he has to immediately see the photo
d) he refuses to stand with you
e) or its just J or myself behind the camera unless we set it on timer!

and I guess the list could go on! I miss those days when I could just sit him down and do some goofy thing and he'd instantly smile! Anyways I've been trying to get some pics of us together before the baby comes(key word trying and having the intent to but not always doing so!) I guess its more for Javan to have in the future but really I just want to remember our times as a family of 3!

This was Sunday after church - he's such a little stinker playing camera shy when he isnt at all:

he looks so grown up here ...

and so tall...

I know when the baby arrives he's going to look even more grown up!
~Veryll

The Ducks...

Saturday afternoon we stopped by the JBF consignment sale so while I was inside browsing J took Javan to see the ducks that were playing in the pond nearby. I think he enjoyed that more than having to walk around looking at stuff with me!





~ V

Saturday Soccer

On Saturday we went to watch Brooklynn play soccer. I knew Javan would love this and of cos it would be a fore taste of things to come for us in the future! Brooklynn was so cute all dressed up in her outfit. She really wasn't into kicking or running after the ball! Here's a few pics that Jermaine got from the morning:








snacks were more fun than the game itself!


Saturday was like a flashback to my childhood cos we spent most of our weekends on the soccer grounds watching my dad play or referee games. I'm looking forward to when Javan can play!

~V

Happy Birthday Eleanor!

Yesterday we got to celebrate Eleanor's birthday with her. Dinner was yummy and fun. Javan of cos was eager for the cake!




~Veryll

A Big 'Little' Boy!

Saturday was a big day for our little man! Not only has he been going pee pee on the potty for a while, but he decided he'd actually poop on the potty! Sorry if that's TMI, but when you have a toddler that's a big deal:) He wants to wear his big boy underwear all the time now which is awesome! Yesterday he went to school in his underwear for the first time and had no accidents. We're so proud of him.

But the biggest event of the weekend was Javan transitioning from his nursery into his BIG BOY BED! He was so excited. Since it was such a rainy day, we stayed home and spent some time cleaning out and organizing our guest room / office area and we rearranged the bed and put in his new bedding. The room is no where near complete since we still have the computer desk in there and I'm in the process of cleaning out the closet in the nursery and moving his clothes over to the new room. I also need to get stuff up on the walls, but we're making progress and our little guy is so thrilled! Today is day 4 in his bed and he eagerly gets into it.

The room has a train theme and it couldn't be more perfect for Javan. It's not full out trains but just a few train accents - I found most of the stuff on ebay since the site I wanted to order from has the set on backorder til June 30! He was so excited to sleep on his train pillow the first time that it took him awhile to fall asleep. He looks so tiny sleeping in such a big bed! Sunday morning when he woke up, I heard him talking to the trains on his pillow.

Once I have everything more set up and organized I'll share pics but here's some from Saturday:

Excited about his train pillow
He really wanted to nap on his blue bed!

first night in his big boy bed

When I'm putting him down at night he says 'mummy come lay down with Javan!' Its so sweet. I usually lay with him for a few mins and then leave before he falls asleep. He's growing up but he's still my baby:)

~Veryll

Florida Fun ... Of To Destin We Go!

On Monday we headed to Destin. We really love Destin. It might be touristy to some people, but we don't find it that way, especially the beach that we go to. The very first time we went to Destin, J's friend who lives there told us about this very secluded beach and we've been going to it ever since. Its really become our beach!

We met up with our friends Steph and Matt since they were spending a week in Destin. Steph took some pics of us (incl some belly shots for this pregnancy) on the beach outside their condo - I hope we get some good ones cos Javan was very intent on sticking his tongue out for pretty much all the pics! We hung out with them for most of the afternoon. Javan loves playing with Nathan and of cos Steph and I got to spend some fun girly time while J and Matt chatted.








watching the airplanes








after our visit there, we headed to our fave beach ... Topsail Beach









I just LOVE these 2 images of my guys!


I have to admit I was pretty emotional leaving here - this was the last trip to the beach with just the 3 of us and in a couple of months it won't be just Javan. It's kind of hard to explain cos even though I am excited about the new baby, a part me of me just loves our little family of three.

Tuesday morning we headed back to Atlanta - the flight was quick and Javan once again did great. We were so proud of him. The minute he walked onto the plane, he chose his seat and buckled up!

And as always all good things come to an end way too quickly. Thanks Ida and Steve for such a fun time. Hopefully we'll be able to go back late summer.

~Veryll