Strawberry Picking

This past weekend at Emily's 30th birthday party I had a plate full of fresh strawberries. -Happy Birthday Emily!- This got me super excited for out playgroup outing on Tuesday. The date had been set for a few weeks to visit Hall Family farm in south Charlotte, but since Saturday all I could think about was fresh strawberries. I've been to Hall family farm a few years ago, but for some reason this trip was a whole new experience. Maybe the hay/tractor ride, strawberry slushy, and my sweet baby had something to do with it. The kids were just so excited that you couldn't help but to act like a kid again. We sat in the mulch, ordered a slushy and looked for the black cat on the scavenger hunt. Samuel loved the trip and the geese swimming in the pond! Add bonus they had bluegrass playing on the loud speakers.

We are almost out of strawberries and it's only Thursday! I'll have to plan another trip soon.
xoxo,
a

Week Ten

Baby Hopkins you are now at 10 weeks! The past 3 weeks we've been busy with 2 ultrasounds and lots of nausea. I don't remember feeling this way with Samuel so I keep telling myself and everyone else each pregnancy is different. Here's a little recap of your tenth week:

Week Ten Stats: from thebump.com

With bones and cartilage starting to form and vital organs beginning to function, baby is making major progress. Body length will almost double in the next three weeks, and arm joints are now working. (Soon, legs will too.)

How far along: 209 days to go! We can't wait to meet you.
Weight Gain: I've probably have lost a few pounds from not eating as much and morning sickness. In due time
Sleep: We love to nap and go to bed early. Just have to get up and go to the ladies room once or twice.
Missing Anything: Just a settled tummy.
Movement: too soon
Food craving: I love BLT's and strawberries
Any Aversions: Everything I cook, so weird.
Best moment this week: So far telling a few friends at Emily's 30th birthday part
Looking forward to: Doctors appointment next Tuesday

love,
mama

Cooper River Bridge Run/WALK

We have been one busy family over the past 3 weeks! Hence the lack of blog postings over the past month. Oh well blogging is just for fun right?!

Sometime I'm not sure why we blog. You could just recap everything from Facebook!

On March 29th I headed to Charleston, SC with Ms. Heidi to walk/run the Cooper River Bridge Run with Margaret Hooks and 43,000 other people. Yes, I said 43,000. The number still makes my head spin. The race was fun, exciting, oh and HOT. We started the race an hour late, not the best start experience but still fun. And at the end of the race there was no cop car behind us, goal achieved. Not to finish dead last.

Margaret, Heidi and I had a great girls weekend. Lots of yummy food, hat modeling, and sunshine.

                        Love the hats!  I wanted to take home one of each. Until next bridge run, next time I think I'll train more.

Thanks for an amazing weekend ladies!

Cheers,
Aundrea

March Madness...

Most of you know that we are not into sports at all! But our house sure does feel like March Madness. This past weekend we traveled to Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins house in Pilot Mountain, NC. We talked, worked in the garden, well the boys did anyway, and played lots of rook! I'm really bad at rook and love the talk across the table. On top of traveling the time change this past weekend, note to self: do not travel on a time change weekend. I feel like we are all really tired today.

We didn't start the week off slow either, Samuel had his swim/floating classes this morning. He is so relaxed in the water and loves to float around, not like the other toddlers splashing and putting their whole faces under the water.

Samuel: 13 weeks and 4 weeks
Big news, Samuel is walking now! Not just 8 steps at a time but across rooms. I love his little wobble! He loves to stick his hand in Franklin's water bowl.

Baby Hopkins: 5 weeks along
Symptoms: This morning I got nausea from the smell of coffee and it was hard to eat my morning muffin. But after a few minutes of deep breathing I got it together.

Baby Size: Sesame Seed Tiny Tiny Tiny still an embryo

I'm going to make a doctors appointment today! We can't wait to see this little bean on the big screen and listen to the pidder patter of the tiny heart beat.

xoxo- mama

The Big Screen

Michael and I are so thankful that our little family will be plus one in November! Over the weekend I got a little nervous, I'll spare the details but it was enough to call the doctor first thing Monday morning. On top of the baby anxiety Samuel needed to go to the doctor for a barking cough and runny nose! What a Monday. Samuel's appointment at 9:10 and my appointment set for 10am!

I'm sure Blue Cross Blue Shield loves the Hopkins family today. First our little boo bear has the "start" of an ear infection. Dr. Y said we caught it at a good time. He weighted in at 24.4 lbs. I'll move on because you will actually be reading this 5 weeks since the doctors visit. But we are thankful that we don't have a full on ear infection.

We got to see Baby Hopkins on the Big Screen! Baby Hopkins 7 weeks along, measuring in at 7 weeks and 2 days! I wonder if we are going to have another off the charts baby?! The heart rate was at 151, we didn't get to hear it but saw it thumping.

Baby Hopkins is the size of a sweet blueberry! Dr. S was the on-call Dr. today, we LOVE Dr. S mostly because he delivered Samuel. Best Dr. to have in the delivery room! He wants us to keep our April 10th appointment to monitor the progress during the first trimester so we will get to see the little butter bean again.

I've already started to look at my belly to see if I'm showing. Silly me, I just get so excited I know that I'm several weeks from showing. But I have read that with the second pregnancy you start showing sooner. Only time will tell.

Right now my mind is going in so many different directions here are just a few examples: are we having a boy or girl? will this pregnancy be as smooth as Samuels? do we sell our house? if so, where do we go? do we need to have two nurseries or one? Will Samuel even be ready for a big boy bed (absolutely not, he will only be 22 months still a baby right?!)

In the end I need to remember that it's all in Gods hands.
xoxo- a

Take a Walk

Samuel started taking a few steps several months back, I'd have to look in his journal to see exactly when. But as of a week ago Samuel is full on walking. It just makes my heart melt how fast he has become a toddler, some people call babies toddlers when they start walking.  What is a toddler? According to Webster's.com : one that toddles; especially : a young child
Well he toddles and is a young child. I guess I just still think of him as my little baby. He is a sweet toddler, lots of kisses and hugs for Mommy. The kisses I wonder if anyone else kisses their baby as much as I do, Michael says yes.

Looking around at story time, playgroup, and the park wondering when will Samuel start doing that? It happens in a blink of an eye. I have always said that I'm ok with him not walking yet, he will when his ready. Boy was he ready. We don't play with many toys, just chase the ball and let's see how many times I can go from the kitchen to the living room.



Here is a video taken last week of Samuel walking:

xoxo- mama

March Already...

Michael and I can't believe it's March already! We keep looking at each other saying "can you believe it's March ___?"

These winter months have been mild and flying by. This weekend I learned a "common" saying "march in like a lion and out like a lamb", the weather has certainly brought truth to the saying.

The wind and rain this weekend were in like a Lion. One day it's in the 40's and the next it's going to be 78 degrees! What?!

Since I haven't posted in a few weeks I'm going to be brief but bring you up to speed with pictures of course. That's the only way I can remember what goes on, oh and my refrigerator calendar. We went to the park and library, a lot! This past week we had a little bit of family time too, on Saturday we visited with Granny and Poppy. Then on Saturday night Michelle, Izzy, and Thomas stayed the night. On Sunday the wind didn't stop the U11 Hurricane Soccer team from winner 4-0, tournament champs. Cameron's soccer game was in Moorsville, boy was it cold and windy.

Well I've tipped toed around the BIG news enough! Can't you tell I've been talking about the weather?!

On Monday, oh yeah that's today, I was suppose to take a pregnancy test. I just couldn't wait until Monday, plus the box says you can take the test 6 days before your missed period. During Michael's evening family prayer he asked that our family grow, according to God's will of course. I thought to my self, he has no idea that I'm going to take a test tonight!!! So I told him to get ready that I was planning on taking a test. The whole gift of life is a blessing and the fact that in three minutes you can find out that your prayers have been answered is amazing! Yes, three minutes later test results in! You guessed it we're pregnant. The rest of the evening I just prayed and prayed, that we meet this baby in 40 short weeks.

Here's a pinterest inspired photo shoot picture. Michael asked me if I felt like a copycat, nope I'm thankful that someone shared the idea. Ok, two pictures one I'm smiling more & the other I have better posture.

We are 4 weeks along! The baby is now the size of a poppy seed. I haven't made a Dr. appointment yet, next week I'll call. Baby Steps.


Back to the photo recap I promised! Oh, we celebrated Dr. Seuss 108th birthday this past Friday. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss.

Bed Head

Sleepy Eyes 

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess! One Fist Two Fish  Red Fish... Green Fish

Peek A Boo 

hi ya 

Hi Harry 

The Boat.... Not toddler friendly. We had a mouth injury, but he looked so cute as the Captain 

Look Mama I found Dirt 

xoxo, mama

Week In Review

We're going to use pictures to recap this week! There has been a lot of love and a few tears.
Tuesday Valentines Day, Wednesday no pics, Thursday no pics stayed at home, Friday Park, Date with Papa, Saturday Meet Cat and the Hat!

lots of reading

I Love My Daddy! 

The New Tooth Monster has taken over our sweet boy! We want our sweet baby back & take your diaper rash with you.

Big Bird, I Love You! 

Mantel of Love! Samuel painted the "love" for Mama and Papa. 

Mama, I can't believe you found my favorite book at the library! Chicky Chicky Chook Chook. Can we read it six times tomorrow? We only read it five times today. 

Where are you going? Read it again!!! 

Taking over the slide! We have a climber. This week Samuel has climbed on the chair, kids bench and table set, and now the slide 

Date night with my mountain man! 

Samuel- Mom, do you know it's going to be 64 degrees today? Why do I have on  all of these cloths? I know it's your favorite sweater, but I'm HOT! Mom- Whoops! 

Cat in the Hat, Samuel 13 months, and Aundrea aka Mama 

xoxo- Mama

{this moment}

{this moment}- A Friday ritual. A single photo- no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Kissing Bandit

It is the month of LOVE, but we've got one kissing bandit on our hands!

A few months ago Samuel and I were having story time at our house, after we finished reading he pointed at a stuffed animal next to us. I handed Samuel the stuffed animal and he kissed it! It was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. Oh but we didn't stop with one stuffed animal, he pointed to every single animal on the shelf and you guessed it he KISSED each one. He's never stopped kissing and I love every KISS. Michael thinks I've created a kissing monster. I could think of worse things! But on one hand I would have to agree with Michael, because Samuel kisses everything! On the other hand, I get LOTS of kisses from my sweet baby boy, that makes me one happy Mama. Here are a few kisses that he has stolen in the past few months:

• No stuffed animal is safe around Samuels lips 
• Book Characters- yes Samuel kisses people on the paper 
• Pine cones, we collect them on our walks 
• Sliding glass door 
• His reflection in the mirror 
• Family Members
• Mommy and Daddy- these are a bonus for us! 

I love those kissable little lips! Here is a picture from one of our park trips last week, it's was 72 degrees in February. 

xoxo- mama 

Weekend Update

Friday: It was a fun filled Friday, story time, an afternoon walk and most important a Date night with Papa Hopkins at Pure, yum! 

Saturday: Play date with the Choate boys. We meet Gray and Ben at Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville in the morning. Thank you, Ms. Paige for bringing Samuel's friends to play. Fun times were had by all!  A few things Samuel loved at Discovery Place Kids: the submarine room, splash pool and bridge. Thank you, Great Grandma and Papa Gardinier for our family membership to Discovery Place Kids, I see lots of there trips in our future. We only made it to three rooms and the baby area, who knows what we will enjoy next time. 

A Samuel "first": For the first time on Saturday night Samuel sat up after nursing and pointed at the nail clipper. I started to clip his nails wondering how long he would stay still, I got 8 out of 10! After your manicure Samuel pointed to his crib for night-night, he was out like a light! Magic!!!


Sunday: Brother Hammel at Grace Baptist Church had vocal competition in the congregation this Sunday! Samuel was talking up a storm and not using his "inside" voice. After his nap we went on a wagon walk. Mimi Vee got the wagon for Samuel first birthday, thank you! Samuel has always been a relaxed baby, check out the photo and see what we mean. 

all aboard 

this is the life: cool winter breeze, snack pack, and  being pulled in my wagon

xoxo- mama hopkins

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.