Baby Girl's Blog Debut (sort of...)

Some of you have been asking for a belly pic, and it occurred to me that I actually haven't shared one at all in the past 6 months. So this is baby girl's blog debut! This sweet thing is sitting a lot lower than Sam did (her favorite position is smack on top of my bladder!), and she's definitely moving all around now. Can't believe she'll be here in about 3 1/2 months!

Anyway, here I am, at 25 weeks, during our adventure to Fort Caroline this weekend.

AND, it's appropriate that her blog debut take place from Fort Caroline, because that's what her name will be!

We both just love this name, and we figure that if her name is so close to "Carolina" then hopefully her heart will be too :)

We've also chosen the middle name Ray, which is very special for three reasons. First, it was my grandfather's (my mom's dad's) name. Second, it was Clay's mom's middle name. And third, we also think it is a nice way to remember her Aunt Kati, whose last name was Bray. If she takes after these three very special people, then she will be gentle, generous, joyful, strong, and dedicated to her family. Who wouldn't want that namesake?

Just 15 more weeks until we get to meet her... Caroline Ray Tousey :)

Our Perfect Weekend

After a Fall full of travel and the busy holiday season, a fun weekend at home was soooo nice!

Part of the weekend was dedicated to preparing for Baby Girl Tousey! We went to get her furniture on Saturday morning, and we spent the better part of Sunday afternoon starting to move rooms around (Clay room becomes guest room, guest room becomes Sam's big boy room, and Sam's room becomes the new nursery...I am so excited to get it all ready, but we have a lot of work ahead of us!).

The best part of the weekend, though, was our trip to Fort Caroline. Sam loves going on adventures! He had a great time exploring the fort itself...

...and then taking the nature walk ("nay-nay walk"). He walked the mile-long trail like a trooper, and stopped to pick up plenty of shells and rocks and sticks along the way. I told him straying off the trail was a no-no, and he kept stopping and pointing into the woods, saying, "no-no-no!" Hilarious :)

We stopped in Mayport on the way home for some fresh shrimp, which Clay whipped into an awesome seafood pasta for dinner, which we ate while watching some football. It was such an awesome day.

Before church the next morning, I decided it was time to do something I'd been threatening for a while... I gave Sam a HAIRCUT! Clay did NOT want Sam's hair cut, but we were at full-on mullet status, and I couldn't take it anymore. Here's our "before" shot - judge for yourselves!

Once Clay gave in, he somehow convinced me it was better to do it myself than take Sam to a professional. After running away...

...Sam was so good and sat relatively still while I trimmed away. No more mullet!

We're not closing down bars anymore, but these days we think this is just about as perfect as a weekend can get :)