we're expecting...

two nephews (or cousins, depending on who you ask) this summer!

(bet you thought i was going to say we're pregnant, didn't you?!)

this post is looooooong overdue, but here it is anyways...

seth's brother robert and his girlfriend victoria will be having their second child, a boy, around july 1st. aubree lyn is excited to meet her brother, brayden noah, and i'm sure will be a wonderful big sister!

also my sister, natalie, and her husband john will be having their second child, a boy, around the 24th of august. or if it's anything like milana, he'll come super early, around the first of august! milana loves her time with momma and dada but i know she's going to absolutely love her little brother (name to be finalized)!



it's been quite a full last year and a half in both my family and seth's family...

in nov 2009 my sister's sister-in-law and her husband had their first daughter.
in jan 2010 we had our first daughter.
in mar 2010 seth's younger brother and girlfriend had their first daughter.
in march 2010 my sister and her husband had their first daughter.
in july 2010 seth's older brother and his girlfriend had their first son.

in jan 2011 we had our first son.
in july 2011 seth's younger brother and his girlfriend are expecting their first son.
in aug 2011 my sister and her husband are expecting their first son.
and i'm not sure the month, but i believe also in aug 2011 my sister's sister-in-law and her husband are expecting their first son.

CRAAAAAAAZY!!!

following suit

not only is jack a wolfpack fan, but apparently he also goes for the braves, just like his dada. shocking, i know.
nana gave us three braves onsies back when jack was in my belly.
boy was seth a happy man:)

mixed emotions

so if i've ever given the impression that it's all fun and games having 2 kids (or even just one), i assure you it's not. don't hear me wrong - i count it a pure blessing and gift from God, both Lilly Jo and Jack Lewis. neither seth nor i deserve them and we are so thankful for their lives...they bring us so much joy.

but again, it's not all fun and games. many days are very hard. there are still fun and lots of cute moments of the day. but the days are very hard. to me at least. i rarely get a chance to take a picture of the kids as they're melting down when it's 15 min past naptime, or 5 minutes past feeding time. i'm too busy trying to get my act together to fix the screaming that's occuring, so pictures are not my first thought. i promise, however, that there are many of those moments:) i'll try and take a picture of it next time...

this past sunday seth and i dedicated Jack Lewis to the Lord at our church. this is where we stood in front of our church members and committed, by God's grace, to raise Jack up according to God's Word and his purposes. to pray for him. to love him with God's love. it was a very special time. we chose a verse of the Bible, Psalm 33:18, as a prayer for Jack's life -

"But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love..."

BUT.

not 2 hours after dedicating jack to the Lord (what i consider to be a highlight and honor in the life of a parent), we went to lunch with my mom and aunt cathy...and i had a meltdown in the restaurant and left. jack was hungry and fussy, and lilly jo was screaming because she didn't want to eat and it was past her bedtime. and i guess my nerves were shot and my patience was gone. so i told them i needed to leave and i got up, left my half-eaten plate of food and took jack home to feed him.

end. of. rope.

or

i.have.no.rope.

either way, you get my point.

so that afternoon my sister called and asked if she could watch lilly jo for me for not one but 2 nights. so i can take a few naps and help jack learn to take better naps.

ahhhh. sigh of relief. mixed with sadness.

it's humbling to again realize i need help and can't do it all on my own, all the time.

so tonight, seth and i are sitting watching A.I. and playing with jack, missing lilly jo and the sound she makes as she plays with every single toy in the house, as she runs her little fast feet to the bathroom to take a bath, as she screams with excitment when seth chases her and picks her up and throws her in the air.

but i'm thankful for the chance to breathe a bit and focus on jack. and that makes me think about everyone else who's been so helpful to me/us... my wonderful husband, my mom, seth's mom, carol, nat and john, brooke, austin, and so many, many more. people have helped with laundry, making meals, watching kids, changing diapers, letting me nap, etc.

i would have had many more breakdowns without you all!

one of the many pics nat has sent seth and i of peanut and binanas having tons of fun together:)

back from boone, pt 5

i promise we didn't spend our entire vacation on the porch. i don't think i would have minded if we did, however, we were able to get out a couple days to do some sight-seeing. one day we went up to grandfather mountain with the kiddos. it was highly recommended by our friend debbie lowther so we figured it'd be a good idea:) we had no idea how neat it actually was until we got there...next time we go we'll be more prepared to spend the entire day on the mtn because there's so much to do and so much to take in!

above is a view of the mile high swinging bridge
the girls wore their "1" onsies:)

jackman and mama

the morreale's braved the swinging bridge and enjoyed seeing the view across the other side...we stayed to welcome their return:)

checking out the bears

relaxing at one of the many places you can pull off for a picnic lunch and to enjoy the view!

back from boone, pt 4

for the most part the weather was amazing...warm enough for jackman to be half nakie outside:) love it...

mornings were spent on the porch in our pj's...aaaand sometimes afternoons on the porch were still spent in our pj's:) ahhh, life with toddlers....gotta love it!

back from boone, pt 3

usually, once the girls were down for the night we got out the dessert and played some intense games of settlers of catan. jack joined us a couple of games and helped out her awesome autie natalie:)

back from boone, pt 2

bubbles were a big hit on the porch...

back from boone

this past week we went to boone with my sister, john and milana. back when i was first pregnant with lilly jo we went to a peach festival in a small town near carthage and we all entered a raffle to win various prizes. wouldn't you know nat would win the grand prize of a week in a condo in boone?! and then wouldn't you know she'd get pregant and find out her due date is the week before the condo vacation was scheduled? thankfully, they let her reschedule for a year later. so off we went...

we had a fabulously large porch that we took advantage of as much as possible. we blocked off the stairs and played outside quite a bit.

gangsta

fo shizzle.

playing with dada

melts my heart seeing them play together:)