Happy Birthday, Pop

After the ballgame, we hit the road for Columbus. We were so happy to get to celebrate Mr. David's birthday on Saturday. J's brother's family came into town as well and we had a big time together. 

I think it's safe to say that there were some very happy grandparents in Columnus!

These 2 are two peas in a pod! Crazy to think that our first nephew is almost 13 years ago! I feel like it was just yesterday that we got the call that he was about to be born! 

Gregory and EK had a blast together. I've always thought about the boys as so much older than EK, but G is only 2 grades ahead of her. This is the first time they have really interacted and played together and they were great. I guess she doesn't seem like such a baby anymore to him!

I tried to get a picture of the grandkids together. It didn't go well. 

We had such a nice visit and look forward to being together again!  Our visits are few and far between because of everyone's crazy schedules, so that makes the time when we are able to be in the same place even more special!

Fear The Bow

EK had the very best time cheering on the Patriots on Friday night!  We may have lost the game but we definitely won for the best cheerleaders!

EK got to perform at halftime and then the whole third quarter on the track with her grade. The highlight was when the big girls lifted the little girls in their little stunts. They LOVED it!

Sweet friends! 

EK had some good support in the bleachers! Walker kept yelling "I love you, Ella Kate" while she performed.  He and Em were also big fans of the "boom dynamite" chant and joined in several times. 

It was about a bazillion degrees but Kay Kay and G let kids crawl and sit all over them! Thanks, guys!

Have I mentioned that my parents have been Patriots for 30 years!  That's a lot of time in those bleachers!

Future Patriots. 

The night was made even more spectacular when J happened upon a high school classmate of his who just happens to be a firefighter!  The kids got to play in his truck and wear all his gear. Walker even convinced Andrew to put on his full suit including air tank and mask. The kids were thrilled and Andrew was incredible with them. Such a fun ending to a great night!

1st Day of Preschool

Walker, Emma and I started preschool on Monday.  Walker is super excited to be a Brown Bear and reports that his favorite part of school is the fire truck that his teacher found for him. 

Emma is a Yellow Duck and she says her favorite part of school is playing with the blocks. I am so proud of how big she is acting each day!  She just walks right in to her class and never looks back! My babies are growing up so quickly!

It is so much fun to be at the same school with my littles!  I love peeking into their classes and catching a glimpse of what they are doing!  Our preschool director always says our school is "the happiest place on earth," and I am fairly certain Walker and Emma would agree with her!

Bright Lights, Belhaven Nights

Some sweet friends invited us over to their home to take in the sights and sounds of Bright Lights, Belhaven Nights. The music was super, the food was fabulous, the people watching provided plenty of things to talk about, and the fellowship was incredible but the highlight for my crew was without a doubt getting to love on the Scott boys! These precious souls made an early appearance into the world 4 months ago at just 33 weeks. They are tough little guys who literally fought for their lives and here they are now at 4 months and thriving!  Our family devotional time was full of prayers for Jack Willingham and Thompson for months and what a joy and privilege it is to now get to love on these angels and hold the proof that the Lord answered all those prayers!

These little mamas loved helping take care of the babies!  Why does my baby Emma look so grown up???? 

Walker is smitten!

After the babies were all fed and changed, we spent some time outside listening to the music and visiting. Thanks to all this crazy rain, the weather was so pleasant and not at all August-like. It was amazing! Emma convinced Jason to spin her no less than 100 times. She had the best time.  Jason? Well, he had to sit down to keep from getting sick!

The girls got some pretty sweet tattoos when they went to explore the festival with their dads.  Luckily, J thought it wise to get the painting done on places other than their faces so they would still be good to go to church and school! Good thinking, J!!

Walker chose a lovely snake in his signature color. Thankfully these beauties washed right off during bath time. 

As if rocking babies and a red snake on his leg were not enough to make this the best night ever for Walker, he got to hold a real, live alligator!!!! Seriously, he was beyond thrilled!

BLBN 2016, we had a blast! 

First Day, Hooray!

EK started second grade a few days ago. She is LOVING every minute!  She has made some new friends, taken countless AR tests, and reports that her favorite part of school is "everything."

The classes jumped right in to all of their enrichment classes and STEM lab. She was excited to tell us all about the human body project she got to work on one day. Future doctor???

I'm so thankful that her year is off to such a great start!  

Let's Celebrate

Last night, we celebrated an incredibly special milestone for our sweet Emma. Yesterday marked the day when she has been a Nelson for more days than she was in the orphanage. We are always in awe of the way the Lord saw fit to make our family complete but on a day like this one, we are especially thankful that He writes stories far greater than we could ever dream!

Ice cream and milkshakes seemed only appropriate for such a celebration!!!

Lulu, we are so thankful for you!  People tell us all the time how lucky you are to be in our family, but we are absolutely the luckiest family ever to have you!

Meet the Teacher

After stalking the mailman for what seemed like forever, the kids finally received their letters from their teachers. We had the chance to meet Ella Kate's teacher on Wednesday. 

We are over the moon that she ended up in Mrs. Mann's class. It's going to be the best year!

And to make the day even more perfect, EK and her precious best friend Sienna were reunited after Sienna was away all summer. They are the sweetest things ever!  

Walker and Emma had their chance to meet their teachers on Friday. 

Walker is so excited to be a Brown Bear with Mrs. Hartlien.  He thought it was the best thing ever when he found out she grew up in Columbus with Uncle Ren!

Emma is going to be a Yellow Duck with Mrs. Keyla. They are going to have so much fun but it should be interesting to see how Em does since she will be in the room next door to me and will see and hear me a lot each day!  Hopefully she will ignore me just like Walker does at school!

The preschool may never be the same when these two finish with it!  We are ready for Monday (or at least they are!)

Peace Out, Summer!

My alarm is set for tomorrow morning which can only mean one thing, it's time for school to begin!  I start back in the morning, EK starts later in the week and the little 2 start back next Monday. I can't believe it is already time for school, but here we are, ready or not!  We have enjoyed a fairly clear schedule since surgery and it has been just about perfect!  EK went to cheer camp and loved every minute of it!  She even won an award for the craziest hair on the crazy hair theme day!

The girls had a pep rally on the last day of camp. We are all ready for football season thanks to all the sweet little cheerleaders. 

Walker wanted me to take a picture before church one day, so of course I was happy to snap a few!

Emma gave us quite the scare yesterday morning! She woke up with blood all over her face and bed. There was so much blood, it was hard to tell where it was coming from and I was just praying that it was not some sort of post surgical complication.  I messaged our favorite pediatrician/friend Pam, and our surgeon's nurse practitioner who happened to be my college roommate.  Both said it could possibly just be a nose bleed but it would be best to call and check with the plastic surgeon on call. I talked with her and she encouraged me to bring Emma in to the ER to be checked. Luckily, after several doctors examined her, they decided it was just a nosebleed and her palate all seemed to be ok. Yay. That was a positive for sure! The negatives......4 hours in the ER and 3 grown men having to hold down the strongest 3 year old ever as they tried to draw her blood. Horrible!  Let's just hope that is the only excitement we have during the 3 weeks of this surgery recovery we have left!  

It has been a good couple of months at home with my people. We are all looking forward to starting this new school year. Let's do this!