First Day of School!

 FIRST GRADE: Anna was assigned to Mrs. Kreger's first grade class this year.  She got to switch hallways to the other end of the school!  Mrs. Kreger was about to pop when school started so was only there about two weeks before she had Baby Madison.  Sweet Mrs. Bryant was her long-term sub and Anna loved her, too.  Photos from her big first day...

Silly girl!

She was so excited to actually get a desk!

THREE-YEAR-OLD PRESCHOOL: Jack was in Mrs. Long and Miss Ginger's class this year.  His two bestest girlfriends were assigned to the other class but he got to stay with his best buds Hudson and Nate.  Anna had Mrs. Long, too, so we were old pros at this.  Jack walked in like he was 30 on that first day and barely turned to wave bye.  His mama didn't quite know whether to be happy or sad about that!;)

3 going on 30!

Baby Camden is Here!!

I was so nervous about going on the Snowmass trip because I was afraid little Cam was going to come while we were gone.  He listened to his Aunt Leslie, though, and waited until we got home to show his face.  Mom had decided to come on up on the 11th so she and Sarah and Caroline had come over for dinner the night before his due date.  While at dinner, Sarah started feeling a little uncomfortable.  They left a little after 8 to head back home and get C in bed.  By 9:30, Sarah and Jason were on the way to the hospital and Cam was born on August 12th at 12:15 am, just 15 minutes into his due date!!  It happened so fast that Mom and I didn't even get to go back to see her once we got up to the hospital.  Since his birth was so fast, and a little traumatic (he had some shoulder dystocia), his precious little face was pretty bruised and purple.  We were all so glad he was here and was healthy!

A proud daddy with his boy!

The first glimpse of their new cousin!

Elite Escape 2014: Snowmass, Colorado

Due to the incredible hard work of our sweet Daddy, the whole family got to go on the Elite Escape rewards trip with Lincoln Financial in August.  This year, the trip was in Snowmass, Colorado, just adjacent to Aspen.  The kids were so excited that we were taking them with us this time!  In all the years prior, they have stayed back with Mimi and Papa but we felt like they were finally old enough to go with us.  Will grew up going on these rewards trips with his parents and so was pretty nostalgic about taking the kids along.

Jack's highlight, no doubt, was flying on the airplanes (and he will instantly tell you that we rode FOUR--two to get there and two to get home).  He took in EVERY SINGLE DETAIL and asked tons of questions.  He did not shut his mouth until I made him watch a movie and give me (and the passengers around us) a little bit of a break.  It was hilarious on the way back because since he knew the drill by then, we got a second-by-second play-by-play the entire way home.  He was so precious!

Jack's first glimpse of our plane in Charlotte.

Our hotel--the Viceroy Snowmass

Family shot the first night there.

Anna with Nannie and Pops

Beautiful views were everywhere!

During the day, Anna went to Kids Camp and did all sorts of activities.
Jack got to hang out with Mommy while Daddy was in his meetings.

Cute pancakes!

Jack and I did lots of gondola riding
while Anna and Daddy were busy.

A family adventure to Snowmass Village.

The kids loved that the pool was heated!  It was a great thing
since highs were only in the low 70s while we were there.

During the dinners at night, there were all kinds of
activities for the kids.
 Here, Anna is trying out the tight rope!

More rides on the gondola!

At the top of one of the gondolas, Jack found a
huge sandbox complete with rocks and a dump truck.
He was happy!

One of the nights, our friends' sweet daughter, Lauren,
kept the kids so the adults could go out to dinner.
From that night on, Jack and Lauren were best buds!

Beautiful view from the gondola

On the open lift headed to the top of Snowmass!
Will doesn't look it here, but he was a nervous wreck
with us so high up on an open lift.  It was pretty funny!

The Heges at 11, 000 feet! And much cooler!

Anna looking WAY older than almost seven. 

Jack was a little chilly after falling in the creek!

The last day we headed over to Aspen for lunch.
The kids were excited to get souvenirs from the Aspen Ducky Derby.

We will definitely miss the incredible views!
I just can't imagine it all covered in snow!

I think the week wore them out--
this is what we found on the final leg back to the house.;)

Family Beach Trip

At the end of July, the four of us took off for a long, relaxing weekend at the Hege's condo at Wrightsville Beach.  It was great to get away and just be beach bums for a few days.  Other than the mandatory beach photo shoot, we didn't take a lot of photos and just enjoyed time together at the beach and the pool.  So fun!

Getting a little bump!  24 weeks!

Beach bums!

Two cool dudes on an early beach morning...

Our one family photo!

Our Big Announcement

I have been putting this post off for months now.  I'm usually not too superstitious, but after all of the ordeals we have been through the past few years, I wasn't putting anything to chance.  The last time I blogged about this I had to come back and "undo" it.  So now that I'm confident that we're nearing the end of this miraculous journey, I am safe in finally getting this down in the books.

WE ARE PREGNANT AND EXPECTING A LITTLE BOY IN NOVEMBER!!

We are beyond thrilled but still full of anxiety and worry and hope and anticipation.  The incredible OBs taking care of me have developed a new plan this time around that will hopefully avoid the painful ending of prior pregnancies.  I am taking a baby aspirin and daily Lovenox injections to combat antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (a potential clotting disorder) that they think I may have (the lab tests were inconclusive) but they feel my history strongly supports.  We are taking this one final leap of faith in hopes that we can add one more little one to our family.

The first several months were long and hard--I was pretty nauseated and had the normal first trimester fatigue.  It was hard because we were trying to keep it all under wraps until the anatomy scan confirmed everything.  We heard multiple heartbeats and saw multiple ultrasounds along the way since monitoring was increased because of my new diagnosis and each one was a HUGE sigh of relief.  I went in every time with a prayer but a realistic dread of what they were going to find.  Each time was such an emotional roller coaster.  We even had a bleeding scare and I was sure I was miscarrying, only to find out that I had a blood pocket beside my placenta but that baby and everything else looked fine.  We were definitely praising the Lord that day!!
We made it to the anatomy scan and everything looked fantastic.  All of us (except for Anna, maybe) were thrilled to find out that we were having a baby boy!!!  Once Will and I talked about it some, we decided to use the boys name we had picked out from last time--Andrew James.  Thus, Baby Drew was born (in our minds, that is!).  The little boy baby doll that Anna had deemed "Baby Jack" quickly became Jack's "Baby Drew" and he has slept with it ever since.
Ultimately, we were just so relieved and grateful that Drew was healthy and thriving.  We knew we had a lot of days left ahead until we got to meet him, but we trusted that God wouldn't lead us down this path without getting us to the end.  We can't wait to see you, Baby Drew!!!