Strawberries!

Strawberry picking season is one of my favorites!!! I loved picking strawberries as a child and was eager to share this experience with Hannah during her childhood. Last year, Aunt Susan went with us and we had a blast picking a few large buckets of strawberries. This year, Wes took us over Mother's Day weekend as a fun family outing. As an added bonus, we also picked strawberries a couple weeks later with Hannah's buddy, Kevin. Needless to say, our house was busting at the seams with strawberries. 

The joy of picking strawberries is contagious! Hannah was thrilled when we told her our plan. She picked out her own clothes for our family picking session. She's on a Princess Anna kick right now, so we braided her hair and she insisted on wearing her wool, winter hat (it was humid and in the 80's that day), Sophia socks, and pink crocs. She rocked her look, I must say :)

Our sweet girl loves strawberries and spent equal amounts of time picking and eating. We tease that they should weigh her pre- and post-picking and add the difference to our total.

In the mouth...

Selecting the perfect berry...

This one looks juuuust right...

In the bucket....

Wes and I spent some time teaching her how to choose the perfect berry.

Look at those beautiful berries!!

The strawberries were so big, juicy, and sweet! 

We had a blast at Page Family Farms and can't wait until the next trip!

We chose another local farm for our berry pick with the Jees. Kevin and Hannah are in the same preschool class and love to spend time together. They both frequently ask the moms to set up a play date.

Kevin isn't a fan of eating strawberries and kept telling Hannah to stop and just put them in her basket, ha!

These two were cute picking berries and filling their buckets and sharing by their harvest.

Unfortunately, it was extremely hot that morning. We started picking at 9:30am and were already dripping sweat by 10. The kids got cranky quick and begged for shade. I had to agree with them. It was toasty!

Nonetheless, we got a basket full of goodness for the week. There's nothing like fresh strawberries! 

Our bounty was plentiful, so I pulled out lots of strawberry recipes. First up, strawberry cobbler...

This was so yummy!! We devoured it!

I also decided to try making hot jam to can and store a supply for the year. My mom did this when I was little and I can still taste the amazing homemade sweetness when I think of it. 

The supplies... Yes, there are two full trays of ripe, fresh strawberries. Yummy!

Smashing the berries was fun and made our house smell deliscious! 

Bringing the mixture up to the perfect setting temp.

The finished product! I was crossing my fingers the jars would seal. The little pops of the tops was music to my ears!

We even made some to package as a thank you for Hannah's teachers!

Last day of school

How can it be?!? The last day of preschool for the 2013-14 school year? My little one is really growing up so fast! We couldn't have been happier with our experience this year. We were so lucky to even get a spot in the preschool and only found out in June that she had secured it. It was certainly a "God thing," as we like to say. And certainly an answer to prayer for me! You see, H's very first friend in NC just so happened to attend that school. The girl's mom connected us to other families in the preschool during our first weeks in NC. Those women and children have been our core group of friends over the past year. I'm not quite sure what we'd do without them. 

H's experience at the preschool was wonderful! She learned so much and grew by leaps and bounds. Her teachers were two of the most caring individuals and made each child feel so special. I'll have to create a seperate file box for the beautiful art work brought home throughout the year. I hear these teachers are the best at personalized artwork! I made sure to save most things H made. 

First day of school 9/4/13:

Last day 5/21/14:

This moment...

While I was cooking dinner recently, Hannah told me she was "going to work." I peered into Wes' office and this is what I found.....

27 weeks

Wow, another 5 weeks have gone by in this pregnancy. It is flying by this time around. I think chasing a preschooler has a lot to do with it. Our days are filled and time slips by, much more so than the first time. 

BV2 is on the move all the time! The kicks are getting stronger by the day. Wes finally felt some kicks about two weeks ago. That was fun! Most movement is in my lower left groin area and upper right rib area. Recently, it's been reaching up under my ribs. 

I haven't had another doctors appointment since the last baby post. I've have had a great pregnancy and no medical issues, so they allowed me 7 weeks between appointments this go around. My next one will be at 28 weeks where I get the pleasure of drinking a wonderful glucose cocktail and getting my blood drawn. Lovely! 

I haven't started craving anything just yet. I know that's around the corner! I do, however, really enjoy a five guys burger and find myself pulling into that parking lot every week :) My energy levels are still pretty good, although I've noticed my workouts are getting tougher. My belly has really "popped" over the past 2 weeks and I'm pretty much in all maternity shirts now. I have noticed that if I skip a work out or two, I get terrible heartburn and my joints hurt at night. So, exercise it is :) heartburn has been my chief complaint and most anything will set it off..even a salad. Again, exercise helps and a tums or two when it's really bad. I started having Braxton Hicks a few weeks back, so that's been interesting. I don't remember having them that early with Hannah, but I also know what they are and feel like this pregnancy.

Hannah has really come around over the past four weeks to being a big sister. She constantly talks to the baby now. During a birthday party, she hugged my belly and kissed it (and subsequently hugs my belly a lot now). She told the baby she loved it. It was precious! She also regularly dresses the baby up by holding various pieces of clothing up to my belly. Her conversations with BV2 are great! She asks the baby questions and then pauses as if the baby is responding. After a few seconds, she'll announce what the baby's answer was. She now believes she's having a brother and it's been that way for about a month. We'll see if that holds true! 

That's the BV2 update! More to come.....

This moment....

I'm a bit behind on posting, but I've just been having too much fun with this love bug!