My sweet friend Nan and her adorable boys came over on Sunday to hang out and grab some family pictures.  Although, the boys were less than cooperative we were still able to grab some frame worthy shots.  I love this time of year, it’s SO pretty outside.  Thanks friend for letting me pass off my camera!

my favorite from the day

my whole crew

the knight crew

Jamie and I have been blessed to live in a wonderful neighborhood since moving into our home in April of 2008.  We live off a quiet street where our kids will be able to play outside without worrying this Mama to death.  However; the nicest thing about our location is the neighbors, we have really friendly sweet people living all around us.  Christina and Scott moved in directly next door some time after us and we were delighted to get to know them.  We were even more delighted when we found out that they were expecting a little boy only months after Jay was due.  I have enjoyed sharing pregnancy woe’s with Christina, introducing our little ones to each other and now being able to walk in the mornings or commiserate about the lack of sleep with her.

I snuck over to their house one afternoon to grab a few shots of their sweet little one, C after he was born.  This was no easy feat since we were coordinating two non-existent schedules (his and Jay’s).  Little C was and continues to be so sweet.  I am so excited to be able to watch our little ones grow up together; how wonderful it will be for Jay to have a buddy that lives so close and for me to have a Mama friend literally a doorway away.

Please excuse the excessive amount of photos but I just couldn’t choose what to post and what not to.  I mean can you blame me with that adorable squishy face?

My sister-in-law Nicole is a big time hooper, hula-hooping that is.  She has multiple hula-hoops and when we were visiting with her in Asheville she added an LED hoop to her collection.  Before we left, she did all of her tricks for us and Jamie and I played around with some long exposures.  We did get some really cool shots but this one is by far my favorite, talk about really loving what you do…

While waiting for our little one to make his grand entrance I have been trying to update some of my older image galleries; or at least doing what my back will allow me to sit for…

In the fall we took a relaxing road trip through North Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.  We had a wonderful time and were able to stop in Asheville to visit with Jamie’s sister Nicole and her boyfriend, Nathan.  While we were there they took us rock climbing- don’t worry I didn’t stumble up any rock faces 6 1/2 months pregnant but I did go along for the ride and waited at the bottom camera in hand.  Jamie LOVED it and well so did I- what’s not to love about fresh air, colorful leaves, and time with great people?

love this shot

my hubby, Jamie

Nathan setting the line- really, this was amazing to watch him do

my sister-in-law, Nicole

both Jamie and Nathan climbing

Jamie and Nathan again

view from the top- amazing!

looking down- me, camera in hand and bundled up

one of my favorites of Nicole

MySpace style picture at the top

view from the "bottom"

Nicole and Nathan's friend, Tueday

a long way up

Just for posterity’s sake I though that I would post a few of our most recent “family” pictures; me, Jamie and the bump.  Man do I love my boys…

These lovely ladies are family- yup I can claim these three gorgeous things!  During Thanksgiving, Jamie and I got to visit a portion of his Dad’s extended family.  I say “portion” because there were 28 people there for the Holiday but we were still missing two of the Uncles and their families (they were missed).  I really do love getting together with this bunch because when we do there is always laughter shared and old stories to be told- not to mention fabulous food!  Before the weekend was out, Jamie and I were able to get a handful of pictures for his Aunt to use on her Christmas Card this year and they were so precious that I had to share…

the three lovely ladies

just the girls- I am sure they will drive the boys nuts in a few years :-)

When Jamie and I went on our trip we were blessed with the opportunity to visit a lot of family; something we don’t always get the pleasure of doing as often as we would like.  One of our destinations included visiting with Jamie’s youngest Uncle (on his Dad’s side) and his family in Charleston, SC.  My camera was on over drive when we were there;  not only was the city beautiful but these two little girls can melt your heart in just the blink of an eye.  We will be seeing them again for Thanksgiving in just a few days (yippee for family get togethers) so you may see a few more of them pop up soon.

Until then these are a few of my favorites- there was so many to choose from!

E enjoying the beautiful evening at the beach

the water was deeper than she thought, but definitely more fun than she thought!

more fun to be had, the dirtier the better

priceless face from little L

sisterly love at it's finest

talk about baby blues will ya- it's she gorgeous?

This little one is growing right before my eyes!  Today I received a text from his proud Mama (and my best friend) saying that he has taken his first steps!!  It seems like just yesterday that I was anxiously awaiting his arrival at the hospital- where does the time go??

These are a few pics that I took of little L at the pumpkin patch before we left for our trip.  He is a sweet, sweet boy and I cannot wait to see him dressed up in all of his Lobster greatness tomorrow…

my favorite from the day- snagged by my hubby :-)

I don't wanna work, I just wanna drum on my pumpkin all day...

fascinated with the pumpkins

beautiful day, beautiful family

with this guy :-)

Jamie and I are hitting the road for the next two weeks, woohoo baby-moon here we come!!!  Check back for updates…

Jamie and I had confirmation almost a month ago that the little butter bean I am carrying is going to be a boy!  We are so excited and can’t wait until his arrival.  Even more immediately, I am really excited about being able to call it a “he” and not an “it” anymore.  In preparation for our little man we have begun working on the his room.  We aren’t going with a theme, but have rather chosen a modern fish pattern for the bedding (this kid will love to fish, by the way) and are going to decorate with colors.  Check out the progress that we are making and all of the steps in between; by which I mean all of the furniture that we had to put together.

the many, many pieces of the dresser- there was a gazillion, I swear

finishing the dresser drawers with help from Piper- probably at least two hours later

all of the many parts for the crib, are you sensing a "many pieces theme" yet?

crib construction phase 1

the bambino and me with the crib, check out the finished dresser behind me

the finished room thus far