Why I haven't been posting...

Yes, this is my excuse for why I haven't been blogging much lately...I've been sleeping during Emma Cate's naps leaving little time to blog! Yes, little Gentry #2 is due March 14! We are so excited! That means I'm only around 8 weeks, but we have known for over a month so it feels like I should be farther along...wishful thinking! We were so thankful to hear the heartbeat yesterday, a good strong 153 beats per minute. The ultrasound tech got Phil's hopes up telling him it sounded like a boy heartbeat. Really he would be thrilled with another girl though and we are just praying for a healthy baby.

This pregnancy has not been as easy as the first and I have been sick for several weeks now with a few good days thrown in every now and then. I don't think I realized how good I had it the first time and now feeling sick definitely makes it even harder with a toddler running around. But, this too shall pass and I'm thrilled to meet our new little one!



We've also made another big change in our life - we bought a minivan! (sorry not a great picture of EC, but I'm not going to lie...I'm hurrying to post this so I can go grab a quick nap before EC wakes from hers!) I know, I swore I would never drive a minivan. I was going to be an SUV mom, but in the last few months I've really wanted the space and convenience. We went to Birmingham for our anniversary weekend and went to look at minivans just to see what we liked with no intention of buying one anytime soon, but we found a preowned one that had everything we wanted with the right price so we went ahead and bought it. It worked out perfectly because my parents were in the market for a car and they decided to buy ours. I really love the minivan though and think it is going to be great for our growing family!

I don't have a belly pic right now, but it's already showing. I heard it happens faster with the second child, but I have been shocked that my shorts are already too tight to button comfortably.

Ok, so now maybe everyone will forgive me for the blog posts being few and far between! Sleep is just so much more necessary right now! We are so excited and glad we could let you in on the news!

Oh, and a HUGE thankyou to my sweet friend Amy for picking up a double stroller for me that I bought on Craigslist! I had been on the lookout for a double BOB stroller because I walk with a friend everyday and have heard the BOB is really wonderful - of course also really expensive so I started looking on Craigslist and Ebay. Found one in Pensacola that was exactly what I was looking for and a great price, but who wants to drive to Pensacola? My sweet friend Amy! She lives in Dothan and drives a lot for work and just happened to be going right through there last week so she offered to pick it up for me. Then that gave me the perfect excuse to head to Birmingham on Friday to meet her and my college roommate, Katherine, (who is also newly engaged! congrats Kat!) for lunch and a quick visit and to pick up the stroller.



It was so great to see these girls and get to spend some time catching up! Also got to have a few quick minutes with my longtime friend Laura...reminder Laura and Ben - you are still supposed to be making a weekend trip here soon!

Ok, headed to take a short nap! Will post again soon with new pictures of Emma Cate - I promise!

Yes, It's Been a Month

I know. I'm sorry. Blogging has been very low on the priority list. Here are a few pictures I've taken in the last few days.

When she wants to go outside she grabs her shoes and brings them to me.





And this is the face I get when I don't do what she wants, when she wants it!



Very serious



She LOVES to be outside walking around and playing especially chasing the dogs.








Emma Cate is such a precious angel and I am so thankful for the opportunity to stay home with her. I did have my first getaway this weekend - going to market in Atlanta with my two sister-in-laws and mother-in-law. We had a great time, but I did miss little goose! My family was so sweet to come stay with her while I was gone since Phil was at work during the day.



She has been super clingy in the last few weeks since I weaned her. During the day, especially late afternoon, she cries huge crocodile tears if I'm not holding her. I'm hoping this is just a passing phase!

Mmmmmooooooooo....

...Emma Cate's favorite thing to say! She LOVES BigDaddy's cows and moooo's all day long especially when we drive past their house.

This week BigDaddy took Emma Cate to feed the cows some corn husks and I tagged along to take some pictures.









She got a little scared when they got close, but in the end she loved them!

We've also continued to have fun with the dogs outside. Jake is still doing really well with his new fence and we are loving being able to be outside with them and not having to keep him chained up or on a leash. Emma Cate loves her puppies!

Sunday Afternoon

I've been told I don't blog anymore. Every now and then I post an "Emma Cate update" but I don't "blog". So, here is a random blog post for you!

I love Sunday afternoons. I've probably mentioned this before. Especially when Phil was working an hour away every day and we didn't see him much, Sunday afternoons were our main family time of the week. We see him more now, but I still love our Sunday afternoons. We usually spend most of the time outside and today was no exception even with the heat. Emma Cate loves getting in her little pool - usually fully clothed, if we put her swimsuit on, I don't think she'd be as interested!



The dogs have loved being outside since we installed the underground fence. We have been really cautious with Jake because he's always run off as soon as he went out, but after running through and getting shocked one good time, he's pretty much stayed in the boundaries (today he did run through, but came right back...not sure what that means). It has been so nice to be able to let them run and play and not have to keep Jake on a leash. We are just hoping it continues to work!



Lucy is quickly catching up with Jake in size and even giving him a little competition when playing fetch.



Ok, headed to bed! Was that a random enough post? I think so! :)

Memorial Day Weekend at the Beach

As usual, I am trying to get a post in while cooking dinner with Emma Cate pulling on my legs and running all over the kitchen jabbering...so I'll be brief, but I know all you care about is pictures anyway!

We spent a long Memorial Day weekend at the beach and it was lovely! Phil's parents recently purchased a condo at Fort Morgan and while we have stayed there before, it was a quick trip for a wedding and we never even saw the beach so this was our first real time down there. My sweet parents were kind enough to offer to keep our dogs for us for the weekend so we broke the trip up and spent an night in Montgomery with them on the way down and back. We were gone 5 nights total and let me just say Emma Cate slept better than she ever has thanks to her new travel crib. We recently invested in a Baby Bjorn Travel Crib and it was worth it! She has never slept well on trips, causing me to dread any traveling because I know she won't sleep which translates to I won't sleep. Travel has been very draining the last year, but I think now we are on the upside!

But here are the pictures!

She didn't really want me taking her picture so I don't think we really got any smiles...just some very serious, thoughtful looks!

















She loved playing with Big Daddy



And our only attempt at a family picture didn't turn out so well!



It was a great trip and while we are glad to be back home, that beach breeze would be really nice in these close to 100 degree days we've been having since we got back!

Emma Cate at 15 Months

I know I am due for an update. Many of you have been reminding me of this lately. It's hard to find time to post on the blog when I'm chasing sweet one around all the time. And I do mean chasing...she never stops! She runs all over the house and LOVES to run around outside. The only time she is still is when she sleeps and that isn't very often now that she's down to just one nap. For those of you who care about these kinds of things, here are a few updates on what she is saying and doing now. Feel free to skip this paragraph if you want...it's going to be long, but I want to get all this down mostly so I'll remember where she was at this stage.

As I mentioned, she is running all over the place. She has no fear and doesn't slow down! It's hard to believe she's been walking for 5 months now. She takes one nap around noon and sleeps 2 to 3 hours and sleeps at night generally from between 8-9pm to 6-7am. She jabbers all day long, but isn't saying a whole lot of words that we can make out. She says mama and dada and sometimes "Jake". Every now and then she will repeat a word we've said, but usually it's just once. She moo's like a cow (her BigDaddy takes her to see his cows and she LOVES that!) A lot of mornings she wakes up mooing in her crib and usually I find out BigDaddy told her the night before he would take her to see the cows that morning. When we pass their land she points to the cows and moos. It's pretty cute. Now her daddy has taught her to say "gobble gobble" like a turkey too. We know she knows what we are saying though so I hope she'll be talking before long. We can ask her who everyone in the room is and she will point when we say their name, including the dogs and she gets them all right. We can also ask her where different animals or things are in her books and she points to them on the pages. She can show you her head, belly button, ears, eyes, nose, tongue etc...and she loves to clap her hands and waives bye bye, but usually after you've already left. She eats most anything we eat now, but her new favorites are raisins and granola bars. She still loves peanut butter and anything sweet. She is almost weaned. I thought I would wean her at 12 months, but it has been harder than I thought it would be. I hoped she would do it on her own, but that hasn't been the case. I've been a little concerned because she doesn't seem to drink much and really doesn't drink regular milk so that has made it hard for me to wean her too. I've had to give her chocolate milk to try to get her to drink it, but she won't even drink much of that. She is healthy though - still petite at only a little over 22 lbs - not sure of her height, but we go to the pediatrician in a week so we'll find out then. She loves the dogs and all animals. She loves to read and play with all her babies. She is absolutely precious and every day I can't imagine loving her more, but each day I do! Here are a few pictures of the last week or so. I made the doll in the picture of her in her bed. It was my first attempt at making a ragdoll, but I think it turned out pretty cute and she likes it.







Wheww...I'm tired from writing that so I'm sure you're tired if you just read all that! Happy Wednesday!

Just An Update

It is crazy how long it takes me to blog. I uploaded some recent pictures and started editing them an hour ago and am just now ready to post...I guess that's why I haven't been blogging much lately. Probably wouldn't have taken quite so long if I hadn't been watching the season finale of one of my favorite shows at the same time :) So here is an update in pictures of the last few weeks starting with Mother's Day. I felt like a very blessed mom this Mother's Day to have my sweet little angel!