the ole itch...

7 years, originally uploaded by Tomberlin Family (but mostly Shug).

from the looks of things, year seven is going to be an exciting year for the tomberlins. wk is coming into her own and showing more and more of her personality, which is every bit as adorable as her sweet face would have you believe and T2 is set to make his appearance mid-fall, just in time to watch some football with his daddy. life is anything but dull these days.

we celebrated our anniversary amid a family beach trip to ft. morgan (more on that to come soon). we migrated from the house to the pool to the beach and back to the pool more times than i can count and i couldn't have enjoyed it more. our celebratory dinner included leftover shrimp, potatoes and corn from the party the night before, party pizzas (totinos style) and blue box mac and cheese... it was one of the best dinners of my life, no joke!

i hope nathan knows how much i have enjoyed life with him. i am not always the best at expressing such things, but it's a daily goal just to let him know how much he is appreciated and how lucky we are to be living this dream.

cheers to you and yours and us and ours... hope everyone celebrated memorial day in style.

another era...

shug checking out the balloons, originally uploaded by Tomberlin Family (but mostly Shug).

yesterday, this boat (dog not included) went to a new home. i am pretty sure the new owners, will love and enjoy it as much as we did, but i cant help but be a little sad about the end of an era with our first boat. we bought it shortly after we were married almost 7 years ago. it was sufficiently used for 6 of those years, but after wk was born, we didn't have the time or will-power to boat and parent, so with T2 quickly growing, we decided it was a wise financial move to sell the "Brother Ray". my head fully understands and agrees that it all makes sense and in a few years we can buy another boat that both kids (and shug) will enjoy, but again... i'm a little bummed. i didn't make it home in time to watch the new owner hook it up to his truck or drive it through my yard for the last time, but as i passed it on the road, i got a little girly and emotional. we are growing up and its oh so much fun, but leaving behind some of those "childish" things isn't always easy. we have had many a fun day on the river and i feel certain our boating life isn't over, just on a temporary pause.

Can we please put today on repeat?

Can we please put today on repeat?, originally uploaded by Tomberlin Family (but mostly Shug).

all the details can be read here but it was another fun weekend as the tomberlin family!  life is never boring and in most cases i doubt it can get much more fun.

a few years in the making...

a few years in the making..., originally uploaded by Tomberlin Family (but mostly Shug).

the week before last, we had the opportunity to visit Auburn to watch Aunt Lacey graduate. she has worked long and hard for her degree and we were so excited to be there to cheer her on as she crossed the stage. as with any graduation, it was a bit long, but it was a blessing to be held in the new coliseum at AU, which had plenty of room for little girls (and big boys) to walk around and play without causing much distraction to the folks actually paying attention..

...which brings me to my one and only complaint: why are there speeches at graduations? the students are only there to appease their parents, who invested so heavily in their educations and no one, even those parents really want to sit and listen to some professor of this or president of that blab on and on about the future and such...

anyway, back on topic, lacey crossed the finish line with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Psychology (i think?) and we couldn't be prouder... well, maybe if she landed a great job, but otherwise, we are so proud of her and wish her all the best. luckily, she has chosen to remain in auburn for at least the near future, so we can visit some of our favorite places and people all at the same time!

congrats lace and war eagle!

all together now...

a big sigh of relief today when we got to see the sweet face of this baby BOY.  everything measured normal (no unexplained fluid floating where fluid shouldn't be floating) and he weighs approximately 14 ounces. and everybody says, AMEN!

 

to say this little guy is already loved, would be a gross understatement.  i am still a bit overwhelmed with the thought of adding another hungry mouth to our clan, but at the same time, my heart is so full knowing wk will have a little brother to grow up and experience life with.

in recent wk developments, we revisited her pulmonologist, as we do every 6'ish months, and were allowed to take her off her daily reglan and prilosec regimen as long as her reflux doesn't seem to be a problem.  we have our fingers crossed that she has outgrown it, but only time will tell for sure.

this past weekend decatur hosted the inaugural Dragon Boat Races to benefit the Decatur General Foundation.  nathan was suckered into posing as the captain for the FUMCrew team.  despite a slow start in the first race/time trail, they ended up in the B Division and took a 2nd place finish, behind the fastest time of the day logged by Epic Church.  wk and i spent most of the morning cheering on the boats, then took a much needed nap during the lunch break only to show up just in time to see the final races of the day.  we cheered for daddy's team, then cheered for the grand champion WMHS Rebels, who took the coveted trophy back to trinity.

what a great event for decatur and a wonderful weekend to welcome the oncoming summer weather! 

all in all, we had a great weekend, despite the fact that time seems to warp at exceptionally high speeds during the fun-filled weekends.  now we begin the countdown to our much needed beach trip in a few weeks!  i absolutely cannot wait to spend the days thinking about little more than applying sunscreen and adjusting the umbrella for adequate shade.  

cheers to a busy week, that seems to fly by on weekend time!

much overdue update...

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we had a great sunday visit with some good friends, the Kelleys.  see that sweet little blonde girl?  well, she is officially the beneficiary of many of wk's hand-me-downs... which if you have ever seen wk's closet, you know is a blessing and a curse!  sister meg funnels clothes from maddie and layla to wk then we continue the recycling to other friends.  its a wonderful cycle of some of the cutest clothes you have ever seen!

previously, we had been somewhat hording most of wk's clothes in anticipation of eventually having another baby... and since i am/was mostly convinced it would be another girl, i didn't want to give away too many clothes causing T2 to be known as the 'naked child'...  well, as fate would have it, we are in fact expecting the much touted T2, but it appears at a very early (16 weeks) ultrasound that there may be some unfamiliar parts to this mama growing down there!  the ultrasound technician seemed quite sure that it is in fact a boy, but i will be fully convinced after the 20 week ultrasound in a few more weeks.  currently at 17 weeks pregnant, i am feeling pretty good.  my appetite is definitely not lacking, nor is the presence of the ever-growing bump forming on my stomach.  we are all (well, shug is probably dreading it all, to be honest, and wk doesn't have much of a clue the rocking her world is about to experience... so guess all = me and nathan) very excited and cannot wait to embrace life as "Tomberlin Party of 4"!  Here is a shot of the little guy at 9 weeks... and a quick view of the goods at 16 weeks:

 

im sure we will figure what to do with a little boy, just as we figure out day to day with our sweet girl.  prayers, good thoughts, whatever good things you believe in would be much appreciated as we creep closer to that 20 week mark and the big ultrasound, i cant help but be the least bit nervous and apprehensive.  according to the doctors and my brain, we have no reason to think this pregnancy will be anything aside from "normal", but my mind still drifts to the "what ifs".  once we get another good long look at this little guy and verify all the measurements and lack of random pockets of fluid, pleural effusions or edema, i will feel much better... until then, we will just trust and pray that all is well in there!

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Egg Hunting, originally uploaded by Tomberlin Family (but mostly Shug).

On Easter Sunday, my girl experience a complete change of heart from the adventure of Palm Sunday. Eggs suddenly became cool and toting an Easter basket became the best thing ever invented! I am pretty positive that the pre-hunt napping greatly improved everyone's outlook on thing.

Here are a few more from our Easter fun (click for larger version):

Hope your Holy Week was as great as ours!