Laurel Falls and Clingman's Dome - Smoky Mountain National Park

We went to the National Park on Monday for some hiking, fresh air and fall weather/color. We ended up doing 2 shorter hikes - 2 1/2 miles round trip to Laurel Falls and 1 mile to the summit of Clingman's Dome. We did this same combination of hikes in May of 2006, when Will was just 5 months old. I think he enjoyed it a bit more this time. Mostly Will rode on Todd's back in his backpack, but he did do some hiking, too.

On the way to the falls


At the falls - with a comparison picture for how big Will was last time we went. Notice how much more water there is in the falls in May than October?





With both of my babies at the waterfall



For comparison, here's May 2006.


Then it was back to the car and up to Clingman's Dome. It would have been a great drive had I not gotten so car sick. UG.

To start, here are pictures from the last time we went. It was SO cold and terribly overcast.


Cool guy posing on the way up.





View from the top

18 week update

Our big ultrasound is FAST approaching. Tomorrow is the day. I can't believe that tomorrow we'll find out who is going to complete our family. Hopefully he/she will cooperate and the suspense will be over.

I've talked to Will about some of the names I like and he's picked a couple that he likes. While he still maintains that the baby's name should be Pancake, he seems to have picked another favorite as well. When I was putting him to bed last night I said "in 2 more days you and mommy and daddy will go to mommy's doctor and the doctor is going to tell us if the baby is a boy or a girl baby". And Will said with such conviction "It's a girl baby, mommy. That's my baby sister and her name's going to be Reagan". OMG, talk about passing out. If he's right, I guess we'll HAVE to name her Reagan. HA HA

So, standby tomorrow for the big news.

In other news, I went to the high risk specialist for my diabetes on Monday. I had to take them my 24 hour urine collection. They called yesterday to tell me that everything with the test is normal and there's no damage to my kidneys. Hooray!

They also told me they're not happy with my post breakfast numbers, so I've begun to take insulin with breakfast every day - oh joy.

So, that's all for this week, so far. Big news in under 24 hours. :)

Our trip to the pumpkin patch

We went a little early this year, but Todd wanted to make sure we could go before he deploys. He said he'd be heartbroken if we went without him.

So, without further ado, here are this year's pumpkin patch pictures. I'll include some from previous years as well, for comparison sake. :)

Will was so excited this year about picking his pumpkins. He went on and on about finding one "just my size".

The first stop is always by the sunflower patch. Will enjoys seeing and smelling the flowers.


After the sunflowers, we usually stop to get Will's picture taken with the Maple Lane Farm's "How Tall This Fall" sign. Previous years have been included for size reference. :)

2008



2007




2006


After a few more (new) photo ops, we headed to the hay ride out to the patch.


They had a combine at the farm and Will about lost his mind. HA HA He kept saying "It's FRANK!!" Anyone who has been forced to watch Cars 100 times will know who that is.


So, we're finally on the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch.

And they're off - looking for the perfect pumpkins.


I'll say, this year was by far the best crop we've seen at MLF - and this was our 3rd year. They had tons of really large, nice, orange pumpkins. We had a hard time narrowing it down to which ones we were going to buy.

Will found one that he likes


For comparison sake, here's Will with his pumpkin last year.

And the year before




I did, too. And no, there's not another pumpkin stashed under my shirt.



We had to take the time to snap a few family shots, too. I think they turned out pretty well.

17 weeks and other news

I'm 17 weeks pregnant today. Time is F-L-Y-I-N-G by! I swear, this baby is going to be here before we know it.

Only 11 more days until we find out what this baby is. Anyone have any guesses? Almost everyone has told me this baby is a girl. Either way, I'm thrilled, of course. But I really wonder who is going to complete our family.

In other news, right after we find out the gender of the baby, Todd's leaving again. He'll be overseas in the Middle East for about 6-7 weeks. Lets pray that Will handles this trip better than the last one. I'm really stressed now that I know how poorly he handled it last time.

In the meantime, we're going to enjoy our time together as a family. One more day out on the lake before Todd cleans up and winterizes the boat. We're going to the pumpkin patch next weekend - it's now our tradition. And we might even go hiking at the National Park to enjoy the fall weather and leaves turning. Then right before Todd leaves we're getting our family portraits taken along with Will's 3 year pictures.

There's no denying he's mine

Last night I convinced Todd to go out to Red Lobster last night for dinner. As far as seafood restaurants go, it's nothing too fancy or special, but I just love crab legs. Todd relented (I think he feels sorry for me) and away we went.

So we tell Will we're going to Red Lobster for dinner to eat crab legs. He is THRILLED. He tried crab on vacation in Florida back in August and loved it. So we decided when we ordered that we wouldn't get him a kid's dinner, but just feed him off our plates.

I couldn't crack shells fast enough to feed this kid. I ordered 1 lb of legs and he was going through them like Sherman through Georgia. I ended up having to order an additional 1/2 lb to ensure that I at least got to eat. HA HA

That's my crab leg loving little boy. :)

And the best part happened when we left. One of the employees pulled a lobster out of the tank for Will to touch. And he ACTUALLY TOUCHED IT this time. HA HA He even got to hand the lobster a crayon and it took it from him. I think Will thought that was the coolest thing ever.

Tucson

We just got home a few days ago from a 5 day trip to Tucson, AZ. Todd and I went for a friend's wedding (Todd was the best man) and Will stayed at home with Todd's parents. Everyone had a great time. I thought I'd share a few pictures from our trip. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night Catie's parents had a get together at their house. It was an informal meet/greet type event that was a lot of fun. Thursday Todd went with Brian and Doc M (Catie's dad) to the Boneyard for a tour and I went for a pedi, massage and lunch. I think I got the better end of that deal. HA HA I'm skipping the boneyard pictures for now since I wouldn't give good enough intel on everything. Thursday night was a party at Casa Molina - a local Mexican restaurant.

Friday during the day Todd and I went to Saguaro National Park for a while. It was pretty cool. We look tons of pictures, but here are a few. Friday night was the rehearsal and then rehearsal dinner at Catie's cousin's house at the Tucson Country Club.




Saturday, of course, was the wedding.


No country club wedding would be complete without fireworks. :)



Sunday we had brunch with the bride and groom and then came back home.