But do you still love me?

Nolen asks Eric and I this question every single time he gets in trouble.  He bit Gavin today (which is not usually an issue) and got in trouble....he had to go to his room.  The first thing he said was "but I said I was sorry" and the second was "but do you still wuv (love) me?"  It melts my heart. 

When Gavin gets in trouble, he asks if we still love him too.  Kids say the cutest things.....I love my boys!

I am 32 weeks pregnant!!!

I can't believe that we are already 32 weeks!  I have been feeling pretty good.....just tired.  We pretty much finished the baby room today....we just have a few finishing touches to add.  My poor husband--I have been on a mission to get it done and driving him crazy. 

Now that the room is done I feel like I can take the time to make burp clothes, blankets and pacifier clips....all the things that I have been wanting to do. 

My shower is coming up in about 3 weeks....so I am getting really excited about that.  Especially since my Mom, Sister and Ayla are coming up!!!

Just the past few days I have noticed a few contractions.  Nothing major....just Braxton Hicks.  It is definitely a reminder that this little guy could be here soon--hopefully he will wait at least 6 more weeks!

The boys are sooo excited.  Gavin tells me everyday that he cannot wait until his baby brother gets here.  He is going to be such a great helper.

 

Our Baby Started Kindergarten....WHAT????

Gavin had his first day of Kindergarten on Friday.  At first, he was not happy about it but as the time to go got closer he became more and more excited! 

However, once we got in the car and started the 2 mile journey to school, Gavin said "now that we are getting closer, I am kind of scared." He was definitely nervous and so was Mommy, but we tried to be strong. We went in to drop him off....Nolen was going up to all the little boys and girls and saying "this is my big brother Gavin"!  He was trying to help him out.....help him meet some new friends!   I fought back tears as we left him in a room full of strangers with the most pitiful look on his face.  You could tell he wasn't quite sure about it but was trying really hard to be a big boy.  I made it to the parking lot before I started crying--YAY me!

School starts at 7:45 in the morning.....in the Gifford house we are never up and going at 7:45.....we love our sleep!  It is definitely going to take some getting used to--having to get up this early 5 days a week!!!

As you can tell in this picture....Daddy is having a hard time waking up.

When we picked him up he said he had a great day!  We found out today that he got the teacher that we were hoping for....thank you Jesus!  I think he is going to have a great year.  Wow....time really does fly!

Nolen's First Day of School!

Nolen is going to the same school that both he and Gavin attended last year......only now he is going without his big brother.  It is amazing the difference between kids.....who come from the same parents.  Nolen walked into his class, handed me his backpack and started playing with the other kids.  He did not care one bit when we left....there were no tears, no hanging on my leg and no chasing me as I left the class room.  He had a great day!

The pictures are kind of blurry...it was hot at 8:30 in the morning and Mommy was not prepared.

The name game.....

When we were pregnant with Nolen we did a poll to help name him.  Nolen was not the name that won....actually Landon did but we didn't listen and went with Nolen instead. 
When we found out this baby was a boy we had no clue what we wanted to name him.  We did know that since Gavin and Nolen both end with an N....we wanted this baby's name to end with an N as well.  We went to the internet and looked and looked and looked at names, narrowed it down to 5 and did another poll.  The name that won this time was Weston.
So, did we go with the winner of the poll?  No...ha!!!  However, the poll did prompt a facebook friend to suggest a name that Eric and I both love.  So, the poll did help lead us to our baby name.
Our 3rd son's name is going to be........................

Cohen Miles

Cohen means priest or brave

Miles means merciful, servant or generous

We chose Cohen because we just love the name and the meaning.  Miles is my maiden name so it is after every one in my family.

So, there you have it!  Little man has a name and a painted room!  We are making progress!

A Sweet Surprise!

I have been a little overwhelmed.....there is SO much to do before this baby comes.  I feel like we have no where to put anything.  I consider myself a pretty organized person but I have realized that the longer you live somewhere the more junk stuff you accumulate.  When we started cleaning out the guest bedroom to make room for baby I realized that we didn't have anywhere to put all the stuff that had been in the closet of the guest bedroom. 
So....I have to have a garage sale.  Can I just tell you how much I hate having garage sales?  I would almost rather just take it and donate it all rather than go through the trouble of pricing and getting everything ready.....not to mention getting up at the butt crack of dawn to sit in the heat for hours only to listen to people offer you virtually nothing for your items.  However, I just have too much stuff to donate and I know that I could make some money....so garage sale it is. 
Back to the point.......when I went to Florida this past week, Eric was VERY busy.  To be honest, I was getting annoyed because he didn't have time to talk to me. 
This is what he was doing while I was gone................

I had told him what I wanted so that he could go and get the paint while I was gone.  I wanted all the walls taupe and then stripes on one wall.  He apparently can listen very well when he wants to because he did exactly what I wanted.  It looks even better than I imagined.  I still have A LOT to do but I cannot even tell you the load that was lifted when I saw this.  I am not sure who hates painting more....Eric or I.  It just meant so much to me that he did this.....I love him and obviously he loves me too--YAY!  So, now time for a new fan, decorations for the walls and tons of other stuff. 

P.S.  Don't you love my uber fabulous car seat and stroller?.......I sure do!

Soooo excited!

The boys and I made a VERY quick trip to Florida last week.  The main purpose for going was to have my most favorite photographer, Amy Q take maternity pictures of me.  Let me tell you.....TOTALLY worth the 16+ hours I spent in the car with my wild boys going there and back.
My family loves her....my boys love her.  For them, it doesn't feel like they are having pictures taken....they are playing and having a great time.  However, somehow Amy always ends up capturing their personalities and I end up with amazing pictures of my boys.  I can't say enough wonderful things about Amy and really I don't have to because her work speaks for itself. 
So.....if you wanna see the slideshow she put together, click here , then click on clients toward the bottom left of the page and the password is gifford.  You better hurry though, they will only be up for a week! 
Now I have to go try to decide which ones to buy---AAAHHH!!!!

28 Week Update!....at 29 weeks.

I am already almost 30 weeks!  I can't believe it.  Little man will be here before we know it.  We have finally picked a name.....I will do a separate post soon and announce it--I know you are all dying to know! 

I am feeling pretty good.  I have been on two road trips in 3 weeks and my back has not bothered me at all!

I just keep gaining weight...I have gained 30 lbs so far!  30 lbs in 30 weeks is not soooo bad....if I average a pound a week and gain 40 total...that will be 5 less than Nolen.  It doesn't seem to matter what I do or eat...or don't eat--I just gain weight with babies.  Granted....exercise would probably help but I haven't done it yet.....so I can't start now right?

I am definitely tired at the end of the day and run out of breath walking up the stairs....pathetic I know.

He is moving all over the place....all the time.  His movement has changed from kicks to hard spots and shifting.  There is no feeling in the world like your baby moving inside of you....I am trying my best to cherish it and lock it in my memory in case this is the last baby for us.

Look out for a post about what my amazing Hubby did for me while I was in Florida last week...he is hot and sweet...what a package!

Family Vacation!

We just got back a few days ago from Myrtle Beach.  Since Eric's sister still lives in the Destin area....vacationing there is not really an option.  We tried it one year and her husband ended up working the whole time and she spent most of her time running back and forth between home and the house we were staying in. 
Anyways......it was VERY crowded.  We are used to the beaches of Destin where you have your own space on the beach and no one is on top of you.  It was a different story there......I think every person who chickened out and decided to cancel their Destin vacation because of the alleged oil (that apparently is not an issue at all) went there instead.  People were everywhere but we still had fun. 
The "adults" got to go out one night and have dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse.  The food was yum and I ate myself sick.  We also went to this great little surf shop there and got the boys a few things....which is always fun (for me anyways).

The kids played and played and played in the sand.

The boys had fun with their Daddy.....as always.

And we all had fun taking pictures of Elliott.....who ran all over the place for 6 days.  I think she likes the beach!

While Gavin was way too busy playing with all of his cousins....Nolen was happy to let me take pictures of him.

Mommy even made an appearance in a few pics.....for all those of you wanting to see the baby bump!

Don't you love the way Eric is holding my belly in this picture?

Guess Who Has a Loose Tooth??!!

Update: Gavin lost his tooth last night.....actually Eric pulled it out.  I have tried for 2 hours to upload the video of Gavin telling his version of what happened but I cannot get it to work.  He was sooo excited and did not even flinch when Eric pulled it out.  The tooth fairy brought him $5.00....and he came running in our room at 7:00 this morning to tell us all about it.

This is all happening WAY to fast! My first born will be starting kindergarten in 2 weeks and now he has a loose tooth! Not only is it loose but the permanent tooth is growing in behind it! YIKES! We told him that if his baby tooth didn't come out soon then we would have to take him to the Dentist for it to be pulled. He is VERY determined to get it out....does not want that tooth to have to be pulled!

I can't say that I am surprised though. According to my Mom, I had lost all my baby teeth and got braces by the age of 9!