After leafing (pun intended) Asheville, Jamie and I took two days to explore the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The leaves were GORGEOUS and soo very colorful and it was great to just drive with no destination in mind…

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…

2009 was filled with lots of good memories…

January: We went to the Winter Park Farmers Market, took some “surprise” pictures for my Mom and enjoyed the cooler weather.

February: Jamie and I traveled traveled to St. Augustine to celebrate my Mom’s 50th birthday in style with the help of my brother and sister-in-law.

March: We went canoeing, spent lots of time with Piper outside and in the water and traveled to Chicago to vist our dear friends Aimee and Marc where we ate good food, visited the “bean”, and relished in the joy of good company.

April: We colored eggs, always had fresh flowers in the house, enjoyed time in the hammock, hosted our annual Shrimp Boil and celebrated Pipers 2nd Birthday…

May: We traveled to California, celebrated Kenny’s graduation, and found out that we were expecting!!

June: I finished my last year of teaching, said goodbye to dear school friends and we shared the exciting news with our families.

July: We (I) rested a lot (first tri-mester sleepy style), baked a whole bunch and spent a ton of time pool side!

August: We swam some more, went through old photo albums, organized and cleaned out our once spare rooms in preparation for the baby.

September: We announced officially that we were having a boy, started setting things up in his room, and continued to document the progress of my ever growing bump.

October: We celebrated Jamie’s birthday, said goodbye to my feet, hosted a pumpkin carving party and took a two week road trip that included stops in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Asheville, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Raleigh and Charleston.

November: We counted our blessings and all that we are thankful for with a large group of Jamie’s family, continued with our baby preparations and I baked some more.

December: We visited friends in Tallahassee, celebrated a very special little boys first birthday, decorated the house for the holidays, attended a shower thrown in our little guys honor and celebrated the holidays with family and friends.

I love to look back and see just how blessed we have been throughout the past year but I am also really looking forward to all that 2010 is going to bring.  Hope your 2009 was as wonderful as ours…

I have a new nephew, his name is Chase.  I think I love him, even if he does chew on my fingers and toes from time to time…

makes me melt

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…

I have been on a huge baking kick lately, which has included decorating sugar cookies.  I am not sure if this is just a part of the nesting phase of pregnancy or if the hobby will last, either way I am having a blast.  Check out some of my latest creations below, this week I am going to try and make some chiefs for the FSU game that we will be attending this weekend in Tallahassee.  By the way, if you have any interesting recipes send them my way!

some FSU cookies for the game this past weekend

cookie supplies from my most recent adventure

an attempt at cute and silly faces- the bright colors were so much fun!