I am really enjoying this pregnancy! The only complaints are a little lower back pain and some indigestion, but I am looking forward to the progression of everything, especially feeling baby kick. I think I already have, but haven't been certain about it yet :)
For fun, here's a comparison picture from when I was 16 weeks with Kate (wow, huge difference!):

What a precious thing, those two little toothbrushes next to ours.

Our bathroom remodel is finished, finally! I will take pictures as soon as I get a few more decorations on the walls.

On Saturday night we all had a big date...Aaron and I went to downtown Roanoke to eat dinner, and V and K went to every kid's favorite place in the wintertime: Chuck E. Cheese :) Mattie and Scottie, the wonderful babysitters that they are, took them to play their little hearts out. It made going out really enjoyable for me and Aaron because we knew they were also getting a chance to get out and have fun. We are thankful that our girls look forward to having sitters every once in a while!

I wanted to share this video especially for my parents because every Thursday morning when we leave their house, this is where we go. Jill, our children's director, and Gretchen, our worship director, lead this worship time for the church's day care each Thursday morning and they invite the stay at home moms to join. The girls really love it. After singing about 3 songs like this, Jill teaches them about God. They are soaking in so much.

Sorry the video is blurry...I had it out of focus the whole time and didn't realize it.

Vivian has on a light pink shirt, Kate has on a darker pink shirt with a skirt over her pants. They are standing in the back. Other friends in the video are Julia, Mason, Seth, and Macy!

Give thanks to the God of gods,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who alone does great wonders,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

(Psalm 136:2-4 ESV)

My parents are putting a new roof on their house...not just any roof, but a metal one! My dad says he has dreamed about having this kind of roof for a long time, so they are pretty excited.

I have always loved this house and I think my parents did a great job designing it. We moved into it in 1990, when I was 7 years old. It sits on a hill behind the Cherokee Hills neighborhood and is wooded all the way around. Vivian and Kate love to be there and I'm thankful that they will grow up with a chance to play there.

Ironically, Aaron's parents designed and built a house very similar to this one when Aaron was about 12 or so. Our parents have great taste :)

We joined in on a few low country boils when we were living in Georgia, so we enjoyed reminiscing last night at Pastor Eddie and Anna Marie's house with another one! They hosted us for our February unity dinner, along with the Carroll family, and it was a real treat.

Low country boil: corn, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, all in the same pot, and then dumped out on a table for everyone to start grabbing :)

yummmmm

The little ones did okay at their own table together...lots of silliness, though :)

And the big ones did okay, too...our own share of silliness!

We love our church family.

On Tuesday night I had the great pleasure of going out with some girlfriends for dinner and ice cream. It was so nice to stuff myself and be encouraged by the conversation with such sweet friends. Happy February birthdays, Erin and Kristin!

We've had a good snow this year, finally! It started on Sunday after church, and finished sometime that night. It was beautiful but didn't cause too much trouble for the roads, so it was perfect. V and K were excited to play in it Sunday evening with Aaron, and then again Monday morning. Enjoy some pictures of it all!

On Monday morning we went over to Papa's to find a sled so they could try it. They gave it a shot at the bottom of the hill at their house. Kate didn't like it, but Vivian went several times.

Last Sunday evening we were all going a little stir crazy at the house, so Aaron started doing some exercises with the girls to get them moving. They've done exercises together as a sort of nighttime routine before, but never as involved as this night. It was so interesting to watch. I couldn't decide which video to include for you, so I added all of them!

This video shows the obstacle course he set up for them. They did this for at least 30 minutes straight. They were worn out and ready for bed after this!

...until baby gets here!

This past Saturday I spent the morning organizing V and K's room. Even though they've been sharing the room since June, Kate's clothes were all still in the other room. I moved them all over, so everything they have is together in this room. Kate's closet is on the left, and Vivian's is on the right. The cabinet holds their shoes and suitcases, and the drawers have everything from pajamas to hair accessories to toys. The room is not that big, but thankfully the two closets and drawer space make it easy for them to share! Forever! haha

This is what the hutch looks like now, for the nursery. Ready for little newborn clothes again! I was so relieved to have this finished! I have about 5 or 6 more projects like this before baby comes in August :)

We had an enjoyable Valentine's this year. Vivian and Kate were pretty into it. On the way home from our music class that day, they made up a hilarious game of saying, "Happy Valentine's Day, ______" and then filling in the blank with a random word like "tree" and then cracking up at each other. I was laughing from the front seat. Anyway, that gives you an idea of how aware they were of the holiday.

This little mailbox was my favorite part of the celebration. Thanks to some cute blank love notes that Kristin gave me a few weeks back, I wrote a little note to Aaron, V, and K each night for a week leading up to Valentine's Day. They were short and sweet (You are a blessing to me, You are a sweet, fun girl, I love to play with you all day, etc), but each evening when Aaron got home from work the girls were begging him to open the mailbox with them! But the best part about this was that our precious Vivian was able to read all the notes by herself this year. She was responsible for reading each one and then passing it out. It just makes things so much more fun and exciting and "worth it" when she can do it herself. I am excited about this new season with her: reading! It sounds so cliche to say this, but a whole new world is really opened up to her now and it's fun to watch as a parent.

And here is a picture of the aftermath of Valentine's Day. Before kids, I had no idea that a holiday could take over my whole kitchen. This picture features activities we did, valentines they received from two different places, and valentine projects we were still working on to pass out to friends. Wow. It was a little frustrating to have the extra clutter for a week, and I'm glad to have moved it all to the basement now!

6:17 a.m. early love note on the bathroom mirror

7:22 serious bed head

7:22 Playing with puzzles together when I went in to get them up.

8:05 a.m. sugary cereal on vday plates

8:46 a.m. Preparing Valentines at the last minute, because that's how we do things at our house :)

9:12 a.m. more valentines, more bed head

10:24 a.m. Visiting Mrs. Becky and showing her the Valentine they made

7:45 p.m. sitting down to dinner together, alone...take out from Mama Maria's: perfect Valentines Day dinner!

8:47 p.m. Little bit of laundry...

9:01 p.m. An episode together of How It's Made on Netflix