Lots to share!

We haven't meant to abandon blogging, but things have been crazy for us the last couple of months!! Here's an update to let you all know what we've been up to...

Baby News:

So, we finally decided on our little girl's name...Camden Annaleigh Sims! We just loved the name Camden and Annaleigh is a combination of mine and my mom's middle name with my dad's middle name!! So...there you have it! Camden seems to be baking away...even though we've had some minor complications over the last month or so! At our 28-week visit, I let the doctor know that I had been experiencing contractions for a a few days...nothing major, but definitely something she needed to know! So...we did an ultrasound and found out that Camden may be trying to come earlier than expected! Also, she is breach, so that's something the doctor wants to keep an eye on as well! I've been going to the doctor every 2 weeks to make sure all is well...we've got another appointment this Wednesday and they'll do another ultrasound to check on Camden! I am 32 weeks along now, so hopefully we can make it through the holidays and maybe even Bryan and Amanda's wedding before Camden makes her debut! We'll see!

School News:

My last semester in pre-Nursing is coming to an end! Wow...what a year it has been! This semester has been really hard on me, as this class (or teacher, rather!) has been pretty intense!! I will be so glad when it is over! I found out at the beginning of November that unfortunately, I did not get into the Nursing program for this coming spring semester! I was SO bummed, but I was very happy for my friend Kristin, who did get in! Well...God works in mysterious ways, because about 2 weeks later, I received a call saying a spot had opened up and I was the very next person to get in....so it was offered to me!!! SO....I am in!!!! I know it will be crazy balancing classes and study time with my little man, newborn little lady, husband, etc...but I am so excited and ready to tackle this new chapter in my life! This means, if all goes well, I will graduate from nursing school in May 2012!!!!

Other News:

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year a little differently! Mom had hip replacement surgery on Monday before Thanksgiving, so our week was spent at the hospital assisting her! She was released on Thursday morning...just in time to have a mini-feast up at Sandy's house! My sister's and I divided up the menu, and with the help of our awesome significant other's...we pulled off an amazing meal that turned into a huge feast instead of the mini-feast we thought it would be! It was wonderful to be with Mom, even though we missed our extended family this year. Mom is recovering well at Sandy's house...she'll be there all this week, but will move to my house this weekend to finish out her recouperation until the doctor clears her to drive and handle stairs at her house!

So...that's the main jist of what we've been up to! Craziness! Hopefully I can get some pictures up sometime soon...Carson is growing like a weed and we've got a lot of fun times planned this month...we'll be sure to share them with you all!

2-Year pictures!!

We went to downtown Dallas 2 weeks ago and my sweet friend Michelle took some awesome pictures of our little man! He wasn't really in the picture-taking mood, but we were pleasantly surprised with the finished products!!! Here are some of the pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Welcome Mackenzie Grace!!!

We are so excited to welcome a new niece to the family!!! Mackenzie Grace was born on Friday 10/1 at 12:27 p.m. She weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz and was 18.5" long!! She is a beauty and we are all so thrilled! Her big sisters just love her so much already...Haylie even talks to her as if she is the Mommy...it's too cute! Congrats to Elizabeth, Nick, and big sisters Sarah and Haylie!!! We love you all!!!

Precious! (Despite the AU outfit!!)

Aunt Cindy with baby Mac!

Mommy and sweet little girl #3!!

Happy Birthday Carson!

Our sweet little man turned two yesterday!! We were excited to have a party here at the house to celebrate with all his friends and most of our family! We had originally planned to have the party at the playground, but for the second year now, it has rained on his special day!! So, everyone piled into our house and we decorated cupcakes, opened presents, and the kids played like crazy! While chaotic at times...we think Carson enjoyed his day and certainly loved all his presents!!

We went to the doctor this morning for his 2-year well visit and he is right on track! He is still having anxiety about going to the doctor...but this time was better than last! He received a couple shots, but that will be the last of those until he turns 4!

Life in the Sims home has been pretty crazy lately...we're getting Carson's big boy room finished up and we hope to transition him this week...fingers crossed! He seems really excited about his choo-choo room, so we are hopeful he will enjoy sleeping in his big bed! We also changed the downstairs guest room into a play room...and boy has that made a huge difference in how clean our house is...no more toys everywhere!!! Plus, now we can turn on Carson's TV and leave the living room TV off so Mommy can study!!! Work and school are crazy right now so we just take things day by day and try to keep our heads above water! We still haven't decided on a name for our little lady, but hopefully that will happen soon!

Most of the kids decorating cupcakes!

Daddy helping Carson with presents

He finally sat down so we could sing to him!!

Our BIG boy!

It's a GIRL!

We went this past Saturday for our re-do appointment for our gender-determination sonogram! We were anxious to see if the baby would cooperate this time...and luckily SHE did! We were thrilled when the sonographer showed us the baby and was 100% sure it was a girl! We are now tackling the process of choosing a name...and what a task this is going to be! We just can't decide on one! We had a boy name picked out, and now we are even considering it for a girl name...here's a list of some of the names we like!
Camden (this was our boy name!!)
Cassidy
Kameron (we'd call her Kammie)
Lainie
Harper
We're also open to suggestions!
We've also been on the hunt for bedding for both kids. We obviously have to change the nursery over to suit a girl...but I am finding that I am much more picky about choosing her bedding than I was with Carson! We are also transitioning Carson to a big-boy bed...so I am looking for full-size bedding for him...and it's really become a crazy task! To find something affordable, good-quality, and in full-size is hard to do!

Cooperation is key!

We were SOOOO excited to go for our gender-determination sonogram this evening! We had decided to NOT find out tonight...but to wait until Friday to do a gender-reveal with our family. We planned to get everyone together for dinner that night and I was going to have cupcakes made with a special surprise inside to reveal the gender of our precious baby! So...going into this appointment, we knew that the baby needed to cooperate in order for everything to go as planned! Well..much to our disappointment, the baby was very modest and would not budge it's leg from it gender-hiding spot! ARGH!! So, needless to say, we won't be having our gender-reveal party and we have to go for a re-do appointment on the 21st. We just pray that the baby is feeling free and cooperative that day!!

Here are some of the pictures we were able to get!!

Peanut

We had our very first appointment at the OBGYN today to officially confirm that we're becoming a family of four! Yes...just a family of four is all we'll be...there's only ONE baby in there!! The visit went very well! The baby is measuring at 8.5 weeks and the heartbeat is great!! The doctor set the baby's birthdate to be January 25!

The peanut-shaped "blob" is the baby!!

This shows the heartbeat pattern and the baby on the right side

Sims, party of FOUR

Well...we found out this week that we are expecting a bundle of joy towards the end of January!! This came as a shock to us all...but a good one, nonetheless!!!

We are still wrapping our heads around becoming a family of four, but we are so overjoyed that we had to share the news with our blogging world!

We don't see the doctor until June 16, but we will keep you posted (literally!) as things progress!

Can you believe this crazy kid is going to be a big brother?!?

MUSCLES!!!

Check out THESE muscles!!!!

YAY...it's May!

We've been very busy lately! School, work, our 3rd Anniversary, the JWR Cow Sale...the list goes on and on!! We are hoping that the month of May brings some calmer times!

Cindy is almost done with her first semester in pre-Nursing...this coming Thursday is her final exam in A&P and that's it until the summer term begins in June!

Johnathan has been working hard...as always!!

Carson is still growing like a weed..and getting smarter and cuter by the minute! His vocabulary has grown so much that we cannot even begin to list all the words he can say...of course, some of them only WE understand, but that's okay! He's become a picky eater...only wanting chicken, potatoes (french fries, mashed potatoes, tater tots...), grilled cheese, hot dogs, yogurt, jell-o, bananas, oranges, goldfish, fruit snacks, pretzels! It seems like a lot, but he used to be the type of child that would eat whatever you put in front of him! Now he won't touch veggies or other meat! His doctor says it is a phase, so we are hoping he'll learn to like those things eventually...because we sure do and it's hard to cook 2 meals each night!

We have also found out that we'll be welcoming a new niece to the family in October!! We cannot wait to meet Mackenzie Grace Mays!

Finally...warm weather!

The weather has been so crazy lately and we couldn't wait to break out Carson's new Splish Splash pool! This past Wednesday we decided it was finally warm enough! Miss Michelle brought buddy Jackson over for a play date and boy did these two toddlers have fun...despite the FREEZING water!!! This is the first toy that actually held Carson's attention for longer than 15 minutes! He is so easily distracted and always on the go! They played for about 45 minutes, then we took a lunch break but afterwards headed back out for another 30 minutes! It was so much fun for Michelle and I to watch them! The weather has turned cooler over the last few days, so we haven't been able to get out there again...but hopefully this coming week will be warmer! The only issue now will be the pollen...everything is turning that yellow/green color! ARGH!

Growing boy!

Carson has passed the 18-month-old mark! We cannot believe how fast he is growing and that he is already this old! We went today for his 18-month check up and Dr. Saade said he is perfect...we already knew that, but its nice to have professional confirmation!

Carson now weighs 24 lbs, 10 oz (50th percentile) and is 33 inches tall (75th percentile). Dr. Saade asked a lot of questions about his development and Carson is right on track for where he should be at this age!

Carson LOVES to play outside now...hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate! He also loves Daddy's truck...he likes to drive around the neighborhood or just sit in the car and pretend to drive! We are creating a monster and are realizing how much we are going to spend in gas if this hobby keeps up! Carson vocabulary is also growing...he tries to repeat words you tell him and his favorite words are "bye-bye," "side" (for outside), Pawpaw (his favorite person!), "eat," and "Willy" (his stuffed gorilla, but the way he says it sounds like "illy"). We love to show him pictures and see how he recognizes people...he loves to point out Daddy, Nana, and Pawpaw! When we point to Mommy and say "who's that?" he sometimes says "Cindy"...great!!!

After Carson's appointment today we went to Pigtails and Crewcuts for another haircut! This time Carson wasn't so thrilled to be there...he cried the whole time! The girl who cut his hair was wonderful though and he looks so handsome! She said his hair is SO thick and that he is going to have MAJOR hair when he gets older...yippee!

We are excited for Easter this coming weekend! We are going to church with Johnathan's family, the we are heading to the Oshinski's house for a family get-together! Happy Easter to you all!

Loves to play outside!

Check out that cheesy smile as he cuts the grass!

Carson's first outside boo-boo!

Uh-oh...something new he's learned to do!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!!

All the kids Carson's age LOVE Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! It only seemed fitting that Carson's friend Walker had his 1st Birthday party with this theme! Lindsey did such a good job planning this party...there was Mickey Mouse stuff EVERYWHERE!! The kids had a blast...Carson loved that fact that he could run free in the barn and play with all the other kids! Here's a few pictures of the extravaganza!

Walker's amazing birthday cake!

Having fun on the slide!

Walker arrives!!

Carson checking things out from inside the "clubhouse"

Carson's initial reaction to Mickey and Donald...he warmed up to them though!

Mickey and Donald joined the party!!

Happy Valentines Day...a little early!

So...I have always had a hard time shopping for Johnathan for holidays, birthdays, etc., but we don't normally do much for each other for Valentines Day...until this year!

"Carson" gave us both amazing gifts for Valentines Day! Mommy surprised Daddy by taking Carson to have his picture made at Portrait Innovations on Wednesday. It was probably one of the most stressful and exhausting gift ideas possible...as Carson did not want to sit still for the photographer! Amazingly, we got some really good pictures of our handsome little man! We wrapped up a picture for Daddy to take to his office! We were so excited that we let Daddy open his gift that day! So...since this was sort of a great gift for Mommy too...we told Daddy not to get her anything else!

Well..."Carson" didn't listen to Mommy and somehow he convinced Daddy to buy Mommy another something special! Daddy couldn't wait to give Mommy her other gift either, so yesterday she got to open up a small package that contained the most beautiful saphire and diamond ring...saphire is Carson's birthstone! Mommy cried of course!

I feel very blessed this Valentines Day weekend...I have two very handsome and loving boys that I love so very much!

Check out THESE moves!

Carson has really taken a liking to some Disney channel shows...especially Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Imagination Movers! I finally caught him on camera dancing to Imagination Movers this morning...too funny!

Bittersweet

We've had some extra noise and commotion in our home this week! On Sunday afternoon, some friends and family members were leaving a Tastefully Simple party I hosted, when we noticed 2 adorable puppies running around outside our house! Auntie Liz took Carson outside to see the puppies...he just LOVES animals! We were perplexed to realize that no one was accompanying these puppies! Johnathan went door-to-door and no one claimed to be the owner of them, so we debated what to do with them! Auntie Liz wanted to take them home, but that unfortunately didn't work out...so I somehow convinced Johnathan to let them stay in our garage for the night...we couldn't just leave them out in the cold!! Soon after, we realized it was really even too cold in our garage for these tiny little guys, so amazingly I managed to convince Johnathan to let them stay in our downstairs bathroom! (For those of you who don't know, Johnathan is not very pet-friendly, even though he likes animals...he has horrible allergies!!) Our sweet neighbor went to the store and bought puppy food and the dogs camped out in our bathtub for the night! They were great...really only crying when we had to shut them in and retreat upstairs for the night! The next morning I took both puppies to the Vet to have them scanned for microchips...sure enough...no chips! This meant we had no way of knowing who they belonged to! We honestly believed that someone just came into the neighborhood and dropped them off because they didn't want them...how awful! So...this began the 3 day process of finding them both a home! Thankfully, I had lots of help through email and Facebook...and before long I was bombarded with emails from rescue groups and families who were interested in the puppies! I found a home for the black puppy on Tuesday (he was originally named Rambo by Auntie Liz, and later re-named Herschel by me). I drove out to the school where Christy works and gave Herschel to a sweet family who I know is going to love and care for him! They are going to re-name him Carter (poor guy...he's going to be so confused)! Then I drove out to Newnan on Wednesday to give the tan puppy (who was first named Rosco by Auntie Liz, then I changed his name to Bear) to a teacher who works with Matt! Luckily...they ended up liking the name Bear...so it stuck! They thought it was funny to name him Bear since he was really so small...even though my idea behind the name had to do with Alabama football!

So...our house is now quiet (well...quieter...we still have Carson!) and I really do miss the dogs! Everything worked out for the best and we are glad we were able to help the puppies find great homes! It was also a reality-check...I don't think I can handle a puppy of our own anytime soon!

Herschel and Bear!

Fun times down on the farm!

Carson's sweet buddy Wesley had his first birthday party on Saturday! And oh what fun we all had!! It was a petting zoo at the JWR barn and kids were EVERYWHERE!! It was very entertaining for the adults as well...to see all these kids go crazy over the animals! By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted and Wesley had a mountain of presents...some of which Carson did try to steal...as if he doesn't have enough stuff himself!

Carson chilling out in the ball pit

OOO....look at the bunny and pig!!!!

Wesley with his Mommy and Daddy

Wesley and Walker...sweet cousins! They weren't too sure about the pony though!

Carson loved this rocking cow!

Almost pooped out!

Carson's turn to ride the pony!!