Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy 30 Brad!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST HUSBAND AND DADDY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD! WE LOVE YOU SO SO SO MUCH AND ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!

Shelby, Henry, and Manning

Meet Johnson

Yesterday we received the most peculiar package in the mail from the North Pole. From Santa Clause himself! It seems as though the big man thought it would be a good idea to send one of his elf's to make sure little Henry was being a good boy from now until Christmas Eve. Our instructions were to name the elf and so we put our minds together and came up with
Johnson.

Johnson has magical powers and flies back to the North Pole every night to report and then flies back to our house to stand watch the next day. He not only lets Santa know if you've been a bad boy, but he informs him of ALL of the good things you do throughout the day. It is very important that we not touch Johnson for he will lose his magic. This morning we woke up and he had decided on a new spot to sit for the day. I've heard these little nymphs can be a bit mischievous, so we'll have to watch out for some tricks Johnson may be up to over the next month. We'll keep ya posted!

Thanks TT!!!

Cinnamon Roll Saturday

Saturday mornings at the Earnst house has now been dubbed
Cinnamon Roll Saturday!

I guess it started about 2 or 3 months ago b/c this baby mama has really taken a liking to these doughy, sugary delights. And so has my boy. Just pop em outta the can and warm deliciousness in approx. 12 minutes! Ya can't beat that!

Thanksgiving 2009

We traveled home to Greenville for Thanksgiving this year and it was such a nice, but too quick trip. We had a delicious lunch around 1:00 and then all of the other cousins came over for the afternoon to play. It is so much fun to watch them together now as they are really into running around in circles with their respective balls. Soooo cute! Jean, Sarah, and I have been saying for 2 years we can't wait until the day when they are all old enough to actually play together and that time is finally here.It was great to be with the other two pregnant women at each different stage.

Bump #1-Sarah delivering Laney Sunday night Nov. 29th, 2009 (if not before)
Bump #2-Jean due with Charlie January 18th, 2010
Bump #3-Shelby due with Manning March 30, 2010

Nana and Papa did a great job hosting Thanksgiving lunch and Henro loved spending time with them!

Uncle Brad wrangling two little wild men!

Henry and Conner playing football

Bradley 1.5, Henry 2.5, Conner 2
And the ONE pic of them standing still enough to get one of them all together.

SUPRISE!!!!

So, we pulled of the biggest surprise of the century! Brad is very hard to "pull one over on", but he was TOTALLY and COMPLETELY surprised last night. See, his big Dirty 30 is next Sunday so his parents, Daniel, and I thought last night would be perfect! I had been prepping him for weeks that I was taking him out to a special birthday dinner and Mimi and Pops were keeping Henry. And I would never tell him where we were going and he was so excited about it!

We sent out invitations 2 weeks ago and asked all of our closest friends to arrive at 6:30 sharp. We had about 25 people there and everyone was waiting in the yard when we walked out on the porch. The lights flipped on and everyone yelled SURPRISE!!! And let me tell you, he was floored and for a second a little mad. He looked at me and under his breath goes: "I told you not to do this." He HATES to be the center of attention, but quickly put a smile on his face as all of his buds came up to greet him!

We had all of his favs! Home Team BBQ, collard greens, cucumber and tomato salad, Rotel, Raspberry Salsa Dip, ribs, and Daniel's Banana Puddin'! It was absolutely the most fun party and he can't stop talking about how good we got him!

One of the couples that came have 2 children so that gave Henry plenty of entertainment. He was a little shocked too at all of the people who jumped out as he just thought Mommy and Daddy were going on a date and he was spending the night with Mimi and Pops!

Everyone needs a surprise party once in their life and I'm so glad that everything turned out so perfect!

I love you Brad and am glad you had such a great night!

Halloween 2009 - A Little Late

We had our annual October trip to the mountains for Pops' birthday and Halloween in Transylvania County. Except, this year was SOGGY to say the least! In years past, we have had wonderful weather and have thoroughly enjoyed the Transylvania County Halloween Festival. This year we enjoyed our trip, but on a much more low key level.

Henry's actual costume this year was the cutest pirate you've ever seen, but my camera was broken and so you'll have to use your imagination. At the festival, since he didn't get to dress up, we let him get his face painted however he wanted. He chose Spider Man and his picture even made the Transylvania Times Newspaper.

I love how his little nose is scrunched up in this one.

He was so excited!!!

20 Weeks and Half Way There!

You're at the halfway mark — congratulations! Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (The way your baby is measured changes now.) He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (although some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).



I feel great these days with lots of energy! I cleaned my house from top to bottom yesterday which is the first time I've felt like doing that in a while. I am finally kicking this chest cold i've had for 2 weeks. Being sick and pregnant is NO fun! I am sleeping really well and unlike my pregnancy with Henry I am not getting up every hour on the hour to pee. I am feeling the baby move all around now and it gets stronger every day. I see Dr. Hargrove next Tuesday for my regular monthly checkup.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Since my camera is "kaput" I have been using Frankie's. And when I went to download a few new pics everything from her camera somehow ended up on my computer. And as I was going through them I took a little trip down memory lane! And OH how excited I am about entering this baby phase again! I am so thankful for all of the pictures of Henry's babyhood as it reminds me how sweet and chunky he was in times of his toddlerhood craziness!

ENJOY!

Headin' Shrimp!

Every fall the Earnsts take a trip out to Mclellanville to buy about 50 lbs. of shrimp FRESH off the boat. The prices are a steal and they usually split the load with another couple. The shrimp come with the heads (and eyes) still on and in order for us to enjoy throughout the year, we have to help BEHEAD them!

Henry was old enough "to help" this year and I was exempt b/c I'm preggie! Not sure how much help he was, but he sure had fun picking up the shrimp by their wiskers and flinging them around. This year the batch was especially LARGE!

So, all of the little critters have been headed and are in 1 lb. bags ready to be cooked up!
LOVE IT!!!

It's a....

BOY!!!
Enjoy the shots of our newest little boy!

And we really could not be more shocked and excited! I seriously question my intuition now b/c I would have absolutely bet my life that this was a girl. So did Brad. We had our big ultrasound yesterday and chose not to find out at that moment. We closed our eyes and had the ultrasound tech write it on a card. We went to Mimi and Pops for a big brunch and Pops opened the card and handed Henry one of two gifts that were wrapped up. Henry opened it and handed it to me and it was a little BLUE onsie! I almost fell over with joy! I would have been so excited to have a girl, but really wanted H to have a brother. So, I guess i'll really be outnumbered now and thrilled about it!