Great Wolf Lodge

With baby #3 coming summer of 2016, we decided to do a few low-key vacations closer to home. I found a great deal on Groupon for a visit to Great Wolf Lodge (Charlotte) and we booked it! It was our first time there and it was such a fun time. We played at the giant indoor pool, went mini-golfing, played at the arcade, etc. It was a great weekend!

Amelia and I beat the boys at mini-golf. 

The fire alarm went off at 1 in the morning waking all of us up. The whole place got evacuated as the fire trucks came and looked into the problem. We waited in the car until we could go back in.  It ended up being a false alarm and we were able to go back into our room to sleep. 

 

I just love these two. 

Friends in CLT

We had our friends from Raleigh come visit us one weekend in the spring 2016. It is always so fun to have the Wrights in town. We love getting to spend time with them. For this trip, both Julia and I were pregnant - yay! All our kids are within 6 months apart of each other. It's so much fun having friends with kids the same ages. It makes things so much fun when we get together since every kid has a buddy their age to play with. We played a lot at our house and also took our friends to Lazy 5 Ranch (2 pregnant women and 4 kids under 5 was an adventure for sure)!

This picture makes me laugh because L brought her monkey costume down to CLT and she would not take it off. It was so funny! Love that little girl and her personality! 

I'm just noticing Amelia and V's matching GAP sweatshirts. Cutest kids! 

My kids are always the happiest when friends/family come visit. 

Matching pregnant bellies - our third babies ended up being born exactly two months apart. Eleanor in June 2016 and O in August 2016.

Amelia foot injury #1

This is the start of Amelia and her foot/toe accidents.

Take #1 (April 2016)

The kids were outside playing on the driveway while I was getting groceries from the garage to the kitchen. I was putting things in the pantry when I hear this piercing scream followed by intense crying from Amelia. I rushed outside to find her right foot was bleeding/bruised and a paver stone was moved to the side. Oh no! I quickly grabbed her and comforted her. I asked what happened and Hudson told me he lifted the paver stone to look for bugs (and therefore did not realize that Amelia's foot was underneath when he dropped it back down). The worst part was that she was not wearing her shoes while playing outside, so it did not look pretty. I was nervous that she broke her foot, so I called the pediatrician's office and asked them if we should come in. I talked to a nurse and she had me scheduled to come within the hour.

My sweet neighbor, Megan, was just getting back from walking her dog and saw the paver stone, our back door wide open, and Amelia crying loudly. She quickly came over to make sure we were all okay. She's the best!

I called Logan and told him what happened. He left work and met us at the pediatrician's office.

This was the paver stone that leads to our back door. I don't know how Hudson managed to lift that thing on his own, but my guess is he tried to lift it, realized it was too heavy, and then accidentally dropped it - not realizing Amelia's foot was underneath. So sad. 

We spent time at the pediatrician's office. You can see how nasty the abrasion was. They sent us over to an orthopedic doctor to get x-rays done. Thankfully, it was not broken - just very bruised and swollen. She couldn't walk or put pressure on it for a few days.  

She was such a tough girl through it all. Oh and the irony - we had just finished painting her toes before this all happened. 

Camping near Asheville

The first weekend in April 2016 was spent with my parents! They decided to go camping with us (their first time ever). It was so much fun planning and then going with them. We spent two nights at Lake Powhatan Campground in the Pisgah National Forest (about 20 minutes from Asheville, NC).

We spent a few hours in Asheville before going to our campsite. It was our first time there. It's a really cool city! We grabbed lunch and explored the streets for a few hours.

This picture still makes me laugh. Hudson didn't want to be in the picture so he was hiding from the camera, but he didn't realize that we still got him in the picture. So funny. 

At the campground, we spent some time hiking and fishing and looking for critters. I remember the second night was really windy and Amelia was ready to go home (she's not our camper....yet).

This was when we decided to go for a walk and ended up walking over 2 miles because we got lost. 

We didn't realize until we got there that Hudson had packed his reptile/amphibian pocket guide in his backpack. It's a good thing he did because he found so many different critters - here's a red salamander. He was in boy heaven! 

Down to the lake to go fishing

 

This is my all-time favorite picture of Hud and Mia. It captures the two of them perfectly - happy, adventurous, and partners in crime. I love these two! 

31 weeks pregnant right here. 

Easter 2016

I remember a fun few weeks leading up to Easter. We had a bunch of different Easter egg hunts we went to including our church ward and a local one at a park. The kids always have so much fun with all the Easter activities, and focusing our thoughts on Jesus Christ.

Yes, she is wearing her Christmas jammies on Easter morning. That's Mia for you. 

I wanted a family "selfie" picture, but Mia was the only one happy to take a picture and with her dad. 

Hudson had to give a talk in primary on Easter Sunday. Here he is right before he goes up. A little nervous.  

He gave such a great talk in primary and shared his testimony about Jesus Christ - how he died for us, was resurrected, and wants us to be happy. My heart was so happy because he not only came up with the talk on his own - he believes those things and confidently shared it with others. It was such a great Easter week reflecting on those truths with my family. I remember feeling so blessed and grateful this day for my family and my Savior. 

March 2016

March 2016 Highlights - 

I remember it being the perfect spring weather and we squeezed in a lot of time outdoors. Hudson was really interested in riding his bike. The few weeks in March was when he really perfected riding his bike (at 4 1/2 years old) at the different parks near our home. 

Logan also completed his 3rd half marathon. He caught a nasty stomach bug a few days before and almost didn't run it, but did it any way and finished with a PR of 1:49. We were able to go cheer him on at the finish line. 

We spent a Saturday at the Columbia Zoo in South Carolina. It was a perfect day and we learned that Logan is a bird whisperer.

I continued to get bigger and more uncomfortable. I also had the added bonus of dealing with two kids who didn't take naps during the day - insert sarcasm. I never really got a moment to rest throughout the day, and the kids capitalized on that and kept me on my toes which is probably why this was my hardest pregnancy yet. 

We went 4 1/2 years without a kid coloring on the walls and then Amelia the little artist appeared everywhere.  

I still remember this night. Amelia was having a hard time going to bed. She kept saying she wanted to hug the baby. Of course it was her way of stalling to go to bed, but I secretly loved it. She loved to be close to my belly. 

My aunt (Martha) came into town for a work trip and we were able to meet up and show her the city for a few hours. It was so fun to catch up with her! 

Pink half-cake, pink frosting, pink sprinkles, and the happiest little 2 1/2 year old there ever was. Love my Mia Bee!

Grandpa Corbett had a work trip on the east coast and we got to see him one night. What a treat for the kids! 

I decided taking the kids to Dan Nicholas Park while pregnant was a good idea and it was! We had a blast going on the train, carousel, and gem mining! It totally wore the kids out (and me too). What a fun day!