The Highlander Family: September 2011

Another month has passed and I'm finally getting around to updating the blog. It's sad really, I have so much to share and update our friends and family on but I just can't seem to squeeze out 5 minutes to get on here and type it up and upload the photos. I was saying to Josh this morning that I feel so overwhelmed...not in the "i'm super busy" kind of way but in the "i'm getting things done but nothing very well" kind of way. I manage to be everywhere i'm supposed to be for work, family and junior league and all the other things I'm doing but I definitely don't feel like I give any of them my full effort. It's not a very good feeling. Especially when one of those things is time with my son and husband! So, after this weekend (because it's a busy one and no sense in kidding myself about adding anything else to the list) I will set aside some time to plan and to regroup and then hopefully I can get back on track and start to feel a little better about the effort I'm putting forth in all areas of my life. I really do want to be better about documenting things for Colton and also for capturing the same for baby boy Highlander 2 (known currently as Tewey).

So on to the more fun stuff. Since I last wrote we have been on two fun trips. The first was to Athens, Georgia for the wedding of a sorority sister. My friend Christina married a really great guy, Gabe. They had a gorgeous (not just saying that, it really, really was!) wedding in a small town called Monroe. They were married at a restored cotton warehouse and Teen (as we call her) did an amazing job with all the wedding details. It was rustic but yet really sophisticated and beautiful. I was able to spend time with some of my favorite women. We had two who traveled very long distances to be there - from London and from Orange County, CA. I really cherish every second I get to spend with these women and it was so great to see how our lives have changed in the last 10 years since we graduated. Teen was stunning. The ceremony was a tear jerker and this pregnant lady even made it on the dance floor a few times! We stayed at a great inn in Athens called the Foundery Park Inn and if you are ever passing through I highly recommend it. On Monday Josh and I hit up the big outlets in Atlanta but left with next to nothing. Apparently the labor day weekend crowd had cleaned everything out, bummer!

We got back into town Monday night and celebrated my birthday (31 years) with my parents who were watching Colton. We had a great dinner at home and a delicious chocolate pound cake that my mom made. Josh and Colton had a wonderful birthday surprise for me (a professional series Kitchen-aid mixer that is so big and pretty i'm nervous to use it!!) and they took me to dinner in downtown Alachua. It was a wonderful birthday and it was so nice to celebrate in a low-key way with my family.

Following that weekend we headed to Crestview to spend the weekend with Josh's family since I had to be in Panama City for work on Sunday evening. We took Colton to the beach in Destin on Saturday and it was a gorgeous day. He absolutely loved the sand and the ocean and everything about the beach. He was literally hopping in the air as he ran into the water - a bit scary for mom because he wasn't quite stable in the waves but we stayed on him like glue so it worked out. He also had fun burying his feet, throwing sand on Papa and chasing seagulls down the beach yelling after them "COME HERE!!" Of course they didn't listen. I can't wait to take him back soon although i'm thinking our opportunities for swimming in the gulf are coming to an end. We will definitely make more time next summer!

I'm going to save it for another post but I need to capture some video of Colton talking. He is saying so many words and phrases now. He seems to know every animal there is and throws out new ones all the time - porcupine, zebra, squirrel, etc. He also LOVES to be a backseat driver with Josh which makes for some seriously funny conversations in the car. If Josh does something he doesn't like (like drives over a speed bump) he points his finger and says "Be careful daddy!" and gives him a stern look. The first time he did it Josh and I just fell out laughing which means he does it even more often now.

Baby Number 2 is doing great. I'm somewhere around 26 weeks now and things are going very well. My belly is getting quite big, just like with Colton. I start my every two week appointments next week and then we move into the final stretch. I really need some more time because the nursery is still just a project on the list that hasn't even been started, yikes! Colton knows that the baby is in momma's belly but I definitely think he doesn't understand the concept of brother just yet. We do work on saying "brother" though and he has a special book that shows him pictures of babies in the animal's and mom's belly to help him understand. Baby Tewey is probably just tired of Colton mashing up against him and yelling, which I'm sure he can now hear :)

More posts to come soon. I promise not to let it go another month without an update! If I owe any of my friends and family an email or facebook message please know that I'm sorry and that I will respond soon!! I haven't forgotten :)