Baby Eve

So, tonight is our last night as a family of 3! Weird. Just as weird as it was on our last night as a family of 2 was, exactly 17 months ago. That is right, little E will be exactly 17 months old tomorrow AND our son will enter the world. Unbelievable. So, in light of that, G and I are leaving Em with my parents tonight and we are heading out on a much needed date. No worries though, we have spent some quality time with our little cupcake over the past few days. I am gonna miss this little girl so much while we are in the hospital. It is amazing how much we love this girl.

So, Em, this is a little tribute to you. Your brother entering our family will never change the way we adore you. We can't wait to see they way you love him (and the way he will love you). Although the past 17 months have brought many challenges for our family, the Lord has blessed us beyond imagination with you. We can't wait to see you with your brother for the first time tomorrow!

Here is a snap shot of our last days as a family of 3.

Celebrating GiGi's birthday at Mary's Restaurant (holy smoke that place is yummy)

At the park looking sad....weird because we actually had fun. Where are the smiles people??

Emerson being her joyful self...makes my heart melt.

We couldn't not love this little girl any more.

How on earth did she get this big??

Stay tuned for baby updates!!!!! I will try to get them up ASAP.

Appy Appy Appy (that's for your Em)

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since I posted anything to this little blog. Between work, doctors appointments, trying to keep up with Nana (my almost 94 year old grandmother who lives with us), and trying to spend time with friends before #2 comes...I have been busy. One day when I have time I will write an entire post or 2 on what life with a 94 year old woman is like. We have been trying to get little Nana into an assisted living place but she has been more than resistant. But the reality is, she needs more care than any of us can give her. The sociologist/counselor in me has found watching my mom (and her siblings) deal with her aging mother extremely interesting. Like I said one day, I will give it a post or two. Until then, just know that life with your 16 month old and 94 year old grandmother all while being 9 months pregnant is exhausting but fascinating.

Since I have been able to be in Greenville more over the past few months, I have been so thankful to get to spend time with some of my favorite people. Among these people are two of my best friends from growing up, Lindsay and Kellan. Little E and I had the pleasure of dining with them last night. I could spend hours talking about these girls........because they rock. I love that when I am with them I have just as much fun as I did in the 7th grade.

To give you an idea of how close these girls and I are, right before this pic was taken Linds informed me (and the high school kid taking the picture)that it was ok that I was this fat because I have been pregnant for 2 years now.

It's ok though because I know they love me. Otherwise they wouldn't get on the ground in a parking lot to play with my kid.

Or maybe they just really love Emmy.

Speaking of Emerson, Garrett and I took her to Sky Top Orchard when he was here visiting a few weeks ago. It was cold and rainy but we didn't care....when you only have one day together as a family, you take advantage of it. Good thing we did because Emerson LOVED it. In fact, all she talks about since then is "appy's"...which is funny because she can actually say the word apple but she prefers to call them "appy's."

Em running around the orchard saying, "Appy appy appy appy appy." She loved playing with the rotten mushy ones that were on the ground. Yes we let her do that. :)

We also let her ride in the apple cart, which apparently is a big "no no." We discovered this when we returned the cart to the same place we got it from (under a giant sign that said, "do not let children ride in carts"). As I was reading a sign, one of the orchard workers proceeded to tell me why this wasn't allowed and continued to proceed for like 15 minutes.

I'm not gonna lie, Em had so much fun that it was worth the lecture (he was very nice while he lectured). Anyway if you have never been to Sky Top you are for sure missing out. No fall would be complete without a trip there (and a dozen freshly made apple doughnuts.....yum)!

Anyway, baby #2 is scheduled to be born a week from today. My dad gets back in to town tonight and Garrett gets back late Saturday night. So, once we get them both here, I will be ready. I mean as ready as you can ever be to have 2 kids and be living with your parents and 94 year old Nana, all while your husband works 8 hours away. Wish us luck and pray....a lot.

Just Some Random Thoughts

Hmmm....blogging....I'm not even sure I remember how to blog because I do it so seldom these days. Let's see if I can figure it out. Ok, have I ever introduced you all to one of my fave people ever, McKenzie???? If not, meet her now.

Hey McKenzie!

McKenzie was little E's first real babysitter. The Lord introduced her to us right after we moved to Durham a little over a year ago and it was love at first sight. E was only 3 and half months old but they became instant friends. Not only was McKenzie the best babysitter ever, she quickly became an amazing friend to me. The picture above was taken the day before we moved. McKenzie, WE MISS YOU SO MUCH and we think of you and pray for you constantly. It should also be noted that McKenzie has a super awesome boyfriend that we love too....Emmy wants to be their flower girl one day. :)

Wow, it was good for me to reflect on McKenzie and the time when our little family was all living under one roof because lately, E and I have been feeling a little like this.....

The first week or so without Garrett made my heart hurt bad.....seriously I cried a lot. Morning, afternoon, night, I was probably crying. Emerson dealt with missing G by doing this,

wearing a 4th of july hat sideways and carrying a dust pan....

and sorting and moving around pine straw...this is her new favorite activity. In fact that is how she busted her chin...by throwing pine straw into the pond and tripping into the side of it in the process.

Luckily, Garrett sensed my overwhelming depression (or maybe all the crying gave it away), and he surprised us by driving 8 hours at night for a one day visit. Oh man it did my heart good. I think the move happened so fast that I wasn't able to process it all until after it was a done deal so it was so nice to spend some quality with him, processing things together.

We took advantage of every second of our one day together as a family. We spent lots of time downtown and although we hadn't really planned on it, we let Em get into the water park thing down by the river (i have no idea what the thing is actually called). Hence all of the other children pictured are in their bathing suits while E is not.

Oh man he is the best looking man I have ever seen...for real.

The baby standing behind Em in this picture fell and busted her head on the ground seconds after I took this picture....I hate to say that I saw it coming, but "I saw it coming." Parents please don't let your 8 month old run around on wet concrete unattended.

Em sitting down and protesting "No, no, no, no, no" as G told her it was time to go.

In the short time Garrett was home, he managed to take this picture and leave it on my camera. Seriously he has the grossest feet ever. There were actually 2 pictures of his feet, this is the less gross one. Warning, it could make you vomit a little.

So, after Garrett left, I said to myself, "Allison, you have got to pull it together ASAP." So, I enrolled Em in a Mothers Morning Out program from 9-1, two days a week, and conned K.Lo into watching her from 9-1 one other day a week. Then I got myself a job. That's right, 5 weeks before my scheduled c-section, I have started a new job.

It may sound totally nuts but after a year and half of not working consistently and living outside of community, I needed to do something. So, my sister hooked me up with a little 10 hour a week job at the design firm where she works. Basically, I sort, fold, price, and organize fabric samples and I LOVE IT! Plus, I get to work with my sister which is even better than I could have ever imagined. Thanks for hooking me up Amanda, you rock. The only negative thing about the job is that I get to play with beautiful fabric that I could never afford (I priced on that was almost $400/yard today....not a joke).

Did, I mention that Em and little Bryson are in the same preschool class??? Well they are! Along with my friend Jenn's little boy, Keegan....it makes my heart happy.

E and B on their first day (we could not get them to look at the camera to save our lives).

They both started screaming the second we dropped them off. It was sad but cute all at the same time. By the time we picked them up they were happy as can be. In other news, E and I went to Spartanburg this past weekend b/c my sweet mother-in-laws friends threw us a baby shower. It was so sweet and beautiful and Emerson loved every second of it. I have never seen anyone enjoy attention as much as my little lady. She stole the show for sure (even though I told her that morning that the day was about her brother and not her)!

Emerson showing her Great Aunt June the new blanket her brother received.

She literally stood in the middle of the room the whole time. And she opened most of the presents before I could get a chance to.

E enjoying herself a little more.

Anyway, we are still missing Garrett and I might still tear up when I see him on Skype every night but I would say I'm doing better. I'm staying busy which is definitely a good thing for me right now. If you are in Greenville and we haven't seen you yet please holler at us! We want to see everyone while we are here and have the chance. Plus you can marvel at how large I am. I seriously need to stop eating so often and such awful things. I'm sure I will be blogging about my weight loss plan after #2 arrives. But until then....well let's just say I made plans just a little while ago to eat breakfast at Broadway Bagels with some friends from high school on Friday!

Holy Smoke....

Our life has taken a turn for the crazy....shocking I know. Well when I got back from California 2 weeks ago, Garrett told me that he had gotten a phone call saying they were moving him to an assignment in Northern Virginia and that he would need to be there by the end of the month. They said it would be a short assignment so we decided there was no way little E and I could go. You know since I'm scheduled to have a baby in 7 weeks. So, I got that news on Wednesday the 11th and on Wednesday the 18th the moving truck was packed and Garrett was driving E and I to my parents house in SC.

The memorial service for Amber's dad was that same Wednesday in Gastonia, so we drove the moving truck there. Really classy. The service was really beautiful and it was so good to just get to wrap my arms around Amber....she is such an amazing person and I am so blessed to have her as a sister-in-law. And I am beyond thankful that she and Cullen are finally back in the states and living so close to us know!

We got the Penske truck (we have permanently boycotted U-Haul...i can't believe i even just drew attention to them by mentioning their name) unpacked on Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday, G and I went to stay at the new Marriott in Greenville to celebrate 5 years of marriage! I think we would both agree that the 5th year has by far been the most challenging. Having our first child, being separated a lot for work reasons, and being in an extremely difficult position career wise has definitely presented us with challenges that we never could have imagined. I definitely think we both dream of living a "normal" life....whatever that means. All that to say, I love him more than ever and as we deal with all of these challenges together, we are both reaffirmed that the Lord ordained our marriage and that we were meant to walk through these challenges together.

So, our 6th year of marriage began with Em turning 15 months old, us being exactly 2 months away from having baby #2, and Garrett leaving for Northern VA for a few months, while E and I stay with my parents. Emerson is pretty amazing these days. She is walking and talking up a storm....in fact I think she probably had 10 or 15 words in her vocabulary before she ever took her first step (which happened on July 22nd). Her favorite thing to say is "No M'am." It's starting to drive me crazy. I working on "Yes M'am" but she doesn't seem interested.

Our little man is scheduled to be born at 9:30am on October 19th....hopefully we will have come up with a name by then. I'm thinking we will have to decide on something at the hospital b/c G and I really wont' be together to discuss it until then. Speaking of, G will have to fly home for the birth so please pray that our little guy doesn't come early...otherwise my sweet sister will be going into the operating room with me.

Ahhhh.....I'm too tired to update the world on much else. If I ever seem like I handle the chaos in our life gracefully, I assure that's all a big facade...not an intentional one but one none the less. I am tired and I miss my husband, bad. I miss having a home where my little family can all dwell together (G is living in a motel in Northern, VA...it drives him crazy when I call it a motel...he, he. I'm sure the Candlewood Inn is very nice). I would post pics of my precious little daughter but my parents will only give me guest access on their computer so I can't (this is not a joke). Nothing says "make yourself at home" like denying you full computer access. I love you mom and dad.

I am confident the Lord is doing something big in our lives amidst all this craziness and I am clinging to His promises but darn it if I'm not ready for a little relief. Selfish I know, but that's where I am.

Please Pray.....

Friends, PLEASE pray for my beautiful sister-in-law, Amber, who lost her father extremely unexpectedly this week. Amber has actually been in India at a yoga school for the past 2 weeks (and was supposed to be there for almost 4 more) and had to travel back alone as soon as she got the news. I cannot imagine the depth of the loss and shock that she feels. Please pray for her and her family as the begin to process all that has happened and as they have to move forward with life....which I am sure does not even feel possible right now. Amber has three teenage brothers, Joey, Jake, and Daniel, please please pray for them as well.

Amber I love you so much. My heart aches for you and I cannot stop thinking about you and praying for you.

Greenville....we love you

I've definitely been MIA...which is killing most of you I know. :) But, it is only because little E and I took a week long trip (that turned in to an almost 2 week trip) back home to Greenville. It was lovely to say the least. The trip started with throwing a baby shower for my friend, Kelly, who is pregnant with her first little baby. It was so much fun to celebrate her and her little girl, Harper, who will be here in October (Kell and I are due 10 days apart)!

My time in Greenville really was amazing. We spent so much time with friends and family....it was definitely what my heart needed. Our (our being me, Em, and a little bit of Garrett) time in Greenville included but definitely is not limited to:

• A birthday cookout for our favorite 33 year old, John Childress
• A SURPRISE baby shower thrown for us by our closest friends, they rock.
• An abundance of time spent with the McCall family (trips to the pool and to the Greenville Children's museum were some of the highlights....well the pool not so much, our kids turned that in to more of a nightmare but the museum was great)
• Emerson's first haircut (which was way more dramatic than I ever could have imagined)
• Hang time with my freakishly cool artist friend Nina...check out her work here.
• Multiple lunch dates with my mom aka GiGi....we love her
• Lots of hang time with my amazing sister and brother-in-law
• Not one but TWO dinners with my best friends from Middle School/High School, Lindsay, Kellan, and Brooke. Lindsay and Brooke's families were nice enough to host dinner for all of us.....It was seriously great to hang out with these ladies.
• Dinner with my old co-workers from the church, aka some of the best friends a girl could have...Sandy, Jenn, and Leah, I miss y'all mucho.
• Some wonderful time with my friend Shannon and her little boy Liam
• My 10 YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION....it was so great, I have no way to describe how much fun I had.
• Watching one of my best friends from high school, Alexis, baptize her daughter Scout. I cried lots and loved it.
• And last but definitely not least, little E and I got to spend some time with my dad who got to come home from Memphis while we were there.

See, I told you we have been busy. But man has it been great. We have officially lived in Durham for almost an entire year. I really cannot believe it. We thought we would only be here for 4 months! Quite honestly, it has been one of the loneliest years of my life. It has been so hard yet so good for me in lots of ways.

I was telling my mom while I at was home that two years ago, before we moved to Charleston, I think I had become bitter about a lot of the blessings the Lord had given to me (ridiculous I know). But, when we left Greenville, I felt over involved and over committed to the community the Lord had blessed us with...all I wanted was a little time to myself. Well, the Lord let me have what I swore I wanted...lots of time to myself. I could probably go on for the next few days about what the Lord is teaching me about my heart, but for now it will have to wait.

I just got back from a trip to California for work, on which I ended up in the hospital because I thought my water had broken at 29 weeks. Luckily, I was wrong and I am now at home with my family (and refusing to get back on a plane until this baby comes). Anyway, stay tuned because there are BIG CHANGES in the works for Team Reed. Hopefully, I will be able to share the details soon. Until then, enjoy some pics from our time in Greenville. I must have had so much fun that I forgot to take very many pics.

Em not so sure about her first hair cut.

Suddenly she is sure that she isn't feeling the hair cut.

Kristin and precious little Hannah Claire.

Em doing some serious grocery shopping at the Children's Museum.

Em pushed the cart while Bryson filled it up....they looked like and old couple.

Bryson wanted to load up on junk food and Em said, "We don't need all that syrup, get some veggies."

Water=fun and two soaking wet toddlers.

Garrett calls Bryson "the foreman" b/c he walks with authority and that combined with his little belly make him look like he should be the boss on a construction site...G this pic is for you.

My 10 year high school reunion! I got a little bored during the comedic routine so I took random pics. Here is my friend Kristen who is pregnant with twins! And the newlyweds, Kirk and Kristy Harmon. I love them all!

Garrett's face looked like this most of the evening....and I have no idea what Kellan is doing in this picture. However, I love these two so much, therefore I kind of love this pic.

Linds, this pic is especially for you. This is my BFF, Linds, she has been pictured on this blog several times before. The handsome fella with her is Jay Lee. He is pretty much one of the coolest people ever. He is a corporate attorney in NYC and lives in the East Village. He has a girlfriend but I still kind of want him and Linds to date. They would make a cute couple don't you think???

And last but most definitely not least, my friend Alexis baptized her daughter, Scout, while I was at home. Alexis has the most amazing life story and I could not hold it together watching her baptize precious Scout. I'm so thankful that they have let me be a part of their lives and that I have been able to watch the Lord do amazing things in their family. Lex, I love you and your kiddos so much!

This Is NOT a Joke

Here are a few things that are NOT a joke.

Thing #1: On our recent trip home, Garrett and Marshall sat in this baby pool in my parents yard just like this for over an hour. It was awesome and definitely not a joke.

Thing #2: When I pulled back into our apartment complex after being gone for two weeks, I noticed that they had begun painting the buildings these colors. The pictures do not do the colors justice. I'm not sure what was wrong with the tan color they were before. Unfortunately, not a joke.

Bananas and Split Pea Soup...a true inspiration

Not feeling banana yellow and puke green??? How about burnt orange and peach??

Thing #3: Garrett and I went on a date last night. Outside of the movie theatre was this guy with his three daughters. They qued the music and ran sound while he flailed around and impersonated Elvis, for a long time. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the flailing aka dancing on video. But you get the idea. Sadly for his daughters, this was not a joke...but still really funny.