Six Year Anniversary

Our wedding, June 30, 2001









Rob and I dating in high school. (Check out my awesome shoulder pads!)
Rob 17, Kelli 16

Well, Rob and I have been happily married for 6 years now and we've actually been together for 10 years if you count dating. It's amazing to look at our lives today and think that six years of marriage, two houses and two kids later we are still as happy as we were when we were first dating. Here's the official story of how Rob and I met...

We actually met in elementary school where we both attended. He was in a grade above me and his mom was actually my second and fifth grade teacher. It did take awhile to begin calling her Judy after calling her Mrs. Bates for so long. :) We weren't really friends until we met back up in high school where we started a friendship my Freshman year, his Sophomore year. He was on the football team and I was a cheerleader and we always managed to talk to each other on the bus rides to and from games. We also enjoyed hanging out in the library during our study halls. Our friendship continued for the next few years until he became a Senior and I a Junior. That's when "it" happened. He asked me to homecoming that September of 1996 and we've been together ever since. Dating through college was hard that first year with him being up in Illinois at Greenville, but we made it work with frequent visits to see each other. That following year, I received some scholarship money to Greenville and I was on my way to Illinois. We both later moved back home to Florida for Rob to persue his band "Paging Paul" and I to finish my teaching degree. The year before I graduated, we were married. Our first "child" Riley (our Golden Retriever) came along shortly thereafter and then Avonlea and now Lincoln.

I can't imagine my life without my incredible husband. He's an amazing father, friend, soul-mate, servant and hard worker, not to mention his stunning good looks and amazing personality! :) I thank the Lord for him daily and I pray that our happiness continues until we meet our Father in heaven.

Another Picture Update

So I got three rolls of film developed over the weekend and finally got them all scanned into the computer. Sorry for the delay, but here are some new photos to look at...

The photos contain my brother Nate's high school graduation (congrats Nate!), hospital photos, a final pregnancy picture of me at 9 months, a picture of Avonlea trying on Daddy's shoes, Avy's first attempt at corn on the cob, and a cute picture of her in the bathtub with her clothes on! She's been really into doing things herself lately so when Rob started her bath the other night, she climbed right in "all by herself" and I had to take a picture. :)

Slowly but surely, Avonlea is getting better and adjusting to all the changes. Yesterday she was a complete angel and this morning is so far so good, although while I went to my 2 week doctor appointment, Rob was watching the munchkins and he did report that she had a time out. :( We're just taking it day by day around here.

I'm very excited with the next month approaching because not only does Rob have off work a whole week (his company shuts down the week of Christmas and July 4th every year) next week, but my college friend Melissa and her family will be down starting this Saturday AND my mother-in-law and her friend Connie will also be down soon. So there's much to be excited about. No plans for the fourth yet. I don't know if we'll attempt a firework production or not, but we'll see.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Avonlea Adjusts

Okay, so for all of you parents out there with one child, take notes...the hardest part of having a second child is keeping your first child happy and content. No one prepared me for this change that has taken place. I knew that Avonlea would have some adjusting to do, but the past few days have been really rough. Avonlea has always been such a content child. She's very good at using her words when she wants or needs something. She knows how to be patient (90% of the time) and kind and she has always had a very large vocabulary speaking in sentences for months now. All of the sudden, she's been whining and crying sporatically throughout the past few days. What's up with that??? Well, I do know why (baby brother has arrived), but I guess I just wasn't as prepared emotionally as I thought. Anyway, Rob and I are really trying hard to give her as much attention as possible and I always make sure that I'm spending some alone time with her when he's at work and Lincoln is sleeping.

Today was definately a great day however. The weekends are easier now because I have Rob home. We had a pancake breakfast, watched cartoons together in bed for a bit, Rob went to get a haircut, and after lunch, I headed out to the mall for some much needed "me time". I'm not even supposed to be driving yet, but oh well. :) I got some shoes for Avonlea, a sun hat for Lincoln (my good friend Mel is coming down from Illinois next week and I'm sure we'll hit the beach) and a smoothie for me. I will admit that I went into a few stores to try on some non-pregnancy clothes, but I probably shouldn't have done that. AFter all, it hasn't even been 2 weeks since I had the little guy. I'm losing weight a lot quicker than I did with my pregnancy with Avonlea, but it's still not quite enough yet. It's always such a race to see what women fit back into their pre-pregnancy clothes the fastest. I'm sure I won't be one of the top contenders, but slowly and surely, I'll get there.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday tomorrow is able to find time to worship our Father.

Mommy Bates signing off...

Doctor's appointment

Today was a follow up visit to the pediatrician for Lincoln. He has lost 10 ounces when we went last week, but the little guy gained back 12 ounces as of today!!! That made me feel so great that I'm able to provide enough nourishment for him. Everything else went great. A friend from Northside (you rock Bev!) drove the kids and I to the doctor's this afternoon and then she stayed for a little while to get her "baby fix" and just visit. It was nice to have the company as Rob went to work this afternoon. We did wind up going to the park this morning for our MOPS group and Rob was such a trooper and went too. He got to participate in all the "girly" conversations. What a great husband and daddy!!!

I still can't drive yet so Rob is out at the grocery store getting some much needed things tonight. I was able to put Avonlea to bed for the first time in awhile tonight which felt soooooo good. She always gets a sippy cup of warm milk and I rock her and sing her to sleep each night, but lately Rob has been taking that over as well (he also does bathtime and jammies too). Avonlea hasn't been able to sit on my lap due to me either being huge and pregnant or healing from the c-section. It felt so good to be able to sing her to sleep like I used to. I'm still not allowed to technically lift things, but a little "boost" to get her up in my lap can't hurt right?

Tomorrow and Thursday we are home-bound with no visitors and Rob is working two full days. Friday my Aunt Patty and cousins Nikki and Stephanie are coming down to visit. We might even get out of the house by going to the library or park. Yeah!

Thanks again to church friends for the food. It's awesome!!! Tonight we had Outback, complimentary of Rob's office at work. They also bought us some adorable outfits for the baby. Thanks America II!!!

We're getting lots of pictures developed soon so sorry that all the photos have been blurry and hard to see.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! This morning we took the kids to church and it was so good to see all of our church family after being cooped up for a week. Rob and I have so many wonderful friends at our church who have offered so many different services to help out, from bringing meals to watching Avonlea while I rest to offering to run errands, etc. Thanks everyone. You are loved!

Avonlea wore a cute new t-shirt to church today with "My Dad Rocks" on the front. The nursery workers got a kick out of it. I was going to dress Lincoln in a onesie that says "If you think I'm handsome, you should see my Dad", but it's a 3-6 month onesie and believe it or not, doesn't fit yet. :) He's still in newborn to 3 month clothing, yet he's already out of his newborn diapers. I've got a good friend who's having a baby in September whom I'll give them to.

Rob won a prize in church this morning. It was a competition amongst the congregation and one of the prizes went to the dad with the newest baby being born and we won! He won a Home Depot gift card which I'm sure he'll find a new "toy" to spend it on.

I'm feeling better and better each day. I'm on a lighter medication now along with Advil every 6 hours for pain. I still have a hard time sitting up at night to feed the baby, but Rob is awesome and always brings the baby to me and helps me get situated. I must say that Lincoln is a good burper! :) My tummy won't be back "in shape" for awhile, but I will say that it has gone down a lot quicker versus my first pregnancy which is great. I can now fit back into my 4-5 month pregnancy clothes and after only 6 days of giving birth, I think that's not too shabby. Of coarse there's always the women who lose thier pregnancy weight in a week or two and are back into pre-pregnancy clothes quciker than you can blink (I'm not one of those lucky women!), but between feeding the baby and eating well, hopefully I'll make a quicker come back than last time.

I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday.

Weekend Update...

Well, it's been three days since we've been home and things are going well. Lincoln Cole has stolen my heart!!! :) We had his first doctor's appointment Thursday and he has lost 10 ounces, weighing in at 9 lbs. even. For such a big boy, I didn't think he could lose that much but he did and the pediatrician said he's perfectly healthy, just a little tired from coming into the world and that his appetite would pick up soon. That it did!!! I don't think I was separated from the little guy all day because he wanted to eat so much! I was glad though, knowing that he's getting the nourishment he needs. My grandma came over to help out the past two days and I couldn't have done it without her...thanks Grandma!!! She helped out a ton with Avonlea, helped get lunch ready, did laundry, did dishes, helped change diapers and was always there when I needed her for the littlest things. I'm going to miss the help, but it's the weekend and Rob is home for today and tomorrow so hopefully that'll be enough time to get me strong enough for Monday. He's also going to take half days all next week so I'll only have to get through half of the day alone.
I was a little worried last night because I noticed that my c-section incision had (sorry if this is gross) come open the slightest bit. I started to get worried, but I called my OB and she said that it can be perfectly normal and that it was a good thing. I'm just supposed to watch out for any type of fever or an increase in pain which could mean infection. I have an appointment tomorrow so she can check me out and make sure everything is okay.

Avonlea's jealousy is definately setting in. Yesterday when I was feeding the little guy, she kept saying, "Baby brother, all done". I've tried to do my best in giving her the attention she needs throughout the day...reading with her just the two of us, coloring together, doing playdough together and when Rob gets home she gets all his attention. I know it could be worse, it's just different seeing her react in certain ways that she never did. I know it will eventually subside, but until then she gets lots of extra kisses and hugs.

Father's Day is tomorrow and I must say that I couldn't be more proud of Rob. I am amazed at how wonderful he is with the two kids (isn't that WEIRD?...we have TWO kids!). He's so patient and understanding and yet a disciplinarian when need be. Avonlea has him wrapped around her finger! I hope all you dads have a wonderful day tomorrow. Ladies, let's shower our hubbies with lots of extra kisses and hugs for all they do.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

LINCOLN COLE IS HERE!

Lincoln Cole Bates arrived Monday, June 11th at 5:52pm.m weighing 9 pounds and 10 ounces, 21 and 1/2 inches long. The cesarian couldn't have gone more smoothly and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Dr. Cuadra did a fantastic job and the "little" guy was out in 5 minutes. We wound up in recovery for 4 hours and then they wisked us off to our room. We had a little scare when Lincoln had to go off to the NICU for x-rays. The doctor said that he had extra fluid in his lungs and they just wanted to kee him over night to make sure everything was functioning correctly. Come to find out, that's all it was and he's just fine now. A little jondis (spelling?)came into play this morning but nothing to get worried about. He's SO cute and handsome just like his daddy! Nursing is going like clockwork, he's a great sleeper and my incision couldn't be healing any better. I'm on two medications and they're really helping. This c-section is healing twice as fast as the first and there's barely any pain. Yeah! I still can't pick up Avonlea for 4 weeks, but she's getting so good at climbing on things (using her stool) that diaper changes and getting her dressed shouldn't be a big problem. Our church is setting up food for us starting this Friday (thanks Karen!) and we're really looking forward to it. :) Who could turn away free, yummy food?!!

Avonlea had a pretty difficult trasition with me not being home, but today when we were pulling away from the hospital with me in the car, Avonlea was saying, "Ma ma's home!" and I was so glad my doctor let me go today. It's good to be home. My grandmother is coming to help out tomorrow and Friday so I'm definately looking forward to that! Rob will have some half days the following week and then Rob's mom will be here the first week in July (yeah!). I also found out that my old college pransta buddy will be down at the end of June for a few days. I'm super excited about that and our daughters will be able to play together. The last time they saw each other was when Avonlea was 6 months old and I think Emily was just about a year and a half.

Well, I'm off to "set up" for the night (getting diapers, wipes, alcohol swabs, onesies, etc. ready). It's so good to be home and as soon as we pulled into the driveway, Rob and I said a prayer thanking God for our two little miricles and all of His blessings. Thanks for all of your prayers!

Signing off..."Mommy Bates"

Last Doctor's Appointment Today

Today was my last and final doctor's appointment until little guy arrives. I've pretty much had "by the book" pregnancies with nothing complicated or unexpected which is a blessing. The doctor did notice how swollen my tummy was today and said, "Yep, he's getting ready." I keep thinking about how many things I need and want to get done around the house, organizing, etc. but I know that the most important thing I can be doing right now is resting and enjoying my last moments alone with Avonlea. I was talking with Rob last night after putting her to bed thinking how much I'm going to miss her when I'm in the hospital. We're together everyday all day long and it'll be weird not being able to wake up to her saying things like, "Hi Mama! Good morning!" or "I love you" which melts my heart. I am very excited about having some alone time with our new son though. My grandmother is going to come and help out for the first few days I'm home which is a total answer to prayer. I've been wondering this whole time how I'm going to even change Avonlea's diaper, help her brush her teeth or pick her up to get her into her booster seat for meals. After having a c-section, it's so painful to recover and for the first few weeks bending down or putting any kind of pressure on your incision really hurts. Even wearing clothing that isn't VERY loose hurts. I'll just be praying that Avonlea doesn't run and jump on me. I've been teaching her how to climb up on stools to get onto our bed so I can at least dress and change her. It's the snuggling and hugging that I'll miss for the first few weeks.

Okay, so the part that I mentioned about getting sleep...I'm going to do that right now by taking a nap. :)

Praise the Lord!!!

So, those of you who know the changes Rob and I have been going through know that we're probably crazy people!! :) We moved into a new house (didn't sell the other one...renting it out to 2 college kids), are having a baby on Monday and are planning on beginning demolition of our new house in a month or so (we're re-doing the kitchen, family room, adding a bedroom, re-doing both bathrooms, new flooring, new appliances, etc.). Basically the most stressful things a married couple can go through all within a month to two months. We're been handling it very well actually until just yesterday. We've been planning on our renters moving in today, June 5th, but we haven't heard from them in weeks! They are supposed to be moving down from New York and after calling their cell phones a million times this week, Rob and I were convinced that they were scamming us and weren't planning on showing up. Soooo...I made a final phone call and told them that we would be putting the "For Sale" and "For Rent" signs back out and we'd be canceling their contract for rent. Rob came home tonight and we decided to resort to the last and final piece of action...going to the house where the college girl's dad lives to get to the bottom of things. Come to find out, they just got back into town today and had lost our phone numbers to contact us to open up the house and move it. PRAISE JESUS!!! So, the girl is supposed to call me tomorrow to get the keys and move in. We're so glad because the last thing we need right now is to worry about paying two mortgages, payments for reconstruction and hospital bills.

I will admit, since I've been a stay-at-home-mom, I've always thought that my contribution to raising our kids has been the most important thing I could be doing. However, at times like these when stress is high and money is tight, I feel as though I'm not contributing. The most important thing that I have been involved in as far as providing financially for our family has been to make sure we had good renters in our house (making sure the mortgage is paid) and I felt like I let Rob down. He was so understanding when I told him this and said that I should never feel like I'm not "contributing". Childcare for two children is EXPENSIVE and would basically be my paycheck as a teacher, therefore I stay at home. I know that every mother goes through a time of having to decide whether or not they want to stay at home or continue to work and everyone is so different. I decided to go back to work after having Avonlea and loved being back teaching my precious middle schoolers, but after finding out I was prego with #2 baby, for us, the best decision was for me to be at home. All mothers are different and we all raise our children to the best of our ability and whether you're a mom that works full time, part time or stays home, the love that we have for our children is what we all have in common and we do our best at raising them the way the Lord would have us to raise them. Three cheers for moms!!!

Sorry there are no pictures tonight. The pictures I do post are always blurry anyway due to the fact that I use a video camera and the camera that takes my good pics is a Minolta still camera which uses film (I will still continue to post them though). We're hoping to save up for a good digital someday that I can throw in my purse and snap shots anywhere although I've heard it can be addicting and hard to choose pics you acutally want to develop and throw in scrapbooks. Speaking of scrapbooks...I'm off to finish up a page in Avonlea's book. I have yet to begin our Bates Family Album and hope to start it tomorrow. I know that the chaos is about to begin in a few days becoming a mommy to two beautiful children. (Yikes! Two right? Did I say that? I'm still letting it all sink in.) I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday (two more days until Friday-yipee!).

For those of you who need my new e-mail address, it's we4bates@tampabay.rr.com

Chuggin' Along...

Today is Monday and it's hard to believe that a week from today, I'll be a mommy to another little miracle from God. I know that I already am, but I just remember the second I saw Avonlea after she was born, it was love at first sight. I know that the sleepless nights are about to begin, but the great thing about having a second child is knowing that it DOES end and I have a confidence I didn't have before (with Avy)about caring for a newborn. I can't wait to meet my son.

This afternoon, Avonlea and I hit the grocery store stocking up on frozen dinners and easy-to-make-meals. We recently switched grocery stores (still at Publix though...LOVE Publix!) and this one is a little different. Our old grocery store gave out free balloons to the kids and this one doesn't. Avonlea automatically knows that when we go to the grocery store, she gets a balloon (if she behaves herself) so trying to explain this to her today was a little bit of a challenge but I think she'll live without getting a balloon every week. :)

We also went to Music with Mar. this morning and I was so proud of Avonlea. (To those who don't know what Music with Mar. is, check out the link on the side of the blog. It's a music class for kids ages 6 months to about 5 years old. It's fantastic!) We were on our way to church (that's where our class is held) and we were practicing the "Mr. Froggy song" and she sang it all by herself!! Of coarse, she didn't sing it in the class for everyone, but when we got home and were eating lunch, she sang it about 6 times through. How fun.

Here are some more pictures of the new house. The picture of the turtle with the lizard on its back is so funny because there's this turtle in the front yard (fake of coarse), but it has a little hole on the side and there is a family of lizards that live in it. They poke their heads out when we walk by and Avonlea loves to say "hello". There are also some more outdoor pics, back porch pics and inside the house pictures. I know my mother-in-law checks this site (Hi Judy!) and our dear friend Connie (Hi Connie and Seth!) as well so I'll be sure to keep the blog updated with house pics so you can see the transition as it happends. For those of you who know the house, Connie's old room is now Avonlea's, Seth's old room is now Lincoln's nursery and Judy's old room is now ours. Things will be switching around in years to come, but for now, that's where everyone is.

Please send up a little prayer today for us. We're a little nervous because we're supposed to have our renters driving down from New York this past weekend and moving into the house tomorrow and I haven't heard a thing from them. I've been calling cell phones (they're obviously going to need keys and a few pointers on how to run things at the house) all week and no one is picking up. They've signed a contract and we have a pretty fat check from them so I don't think they'd just bail, but still...some word of mouth from them would be good.

9 More Days!

So we survived the Tropical Storm Barry this weekend. It came late in the afternoon yesterday and lasted until about 12:00 noon today. The winds weren't bad and we only suffered a few branches down in the yard as well as an overabundance of well needed rain. We were quite happy about that since the power is off at the other house and the sprinklers haven't gone off in a few days.

Today was quite relaxing...we stayed home most of the day and got the blinds put up in the bedrooms. We purchased the really thick, wooden, plantation blinds that block out every ounce of sun. They're not the cheapest, but we got them for our old house and they work SO well that we just had to have them for the new house. Eventually we'll have them in all the rooms, but it'll be a gradual process.

We met with our contractor this afternoon to sign our contract to begin construction. We're quite excited about all the changes going to take place. The next step is the fun part where we are going to pick out cabinets, paint colors for the rooms, tile, flooring, etc.

Rob, Avonlea and I took a drive out to the beach tonight. It's so nice only being (literally) 5 minutes away from the beach. We used to be about 15 minutes away, but it was highway. Anyway, we played with the sand, splashed in the water and kicked Avonlea's soccer ball. We were having so much fun and then Avonlea got a little brave and ran right into the water just as a huge wave was coming in (the water was really choppy today due to the storm) and it literally took her down with it. She was soaked and shivering. Rob, being the amazing daddy he is, took his shirt off and we exchanged Avonlea's wet and sandy clothes for his big t-shirt. She looked so cute. I didn't have the camera on me at the time so I took a picture of her as soon as we got home. She looked so cute. We were planning on grabbing some dinner as well, but Rob didn't have a change of clothes so we're home now and he's out and about getting pizza from one of the little "mom and pop" pizza shops down the street. We figured we've just got to try out some new things in this area and it's been so much fun. I splurged today and got a much needed pedicure. :) Once I reached the 8th month of pregnancy, I was no longer able to paint my own toenails so I really enjoyed today.

Well, Rob's back with "nummies" as Avonlea calls it. :) I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Changes still happening...

Wow! I had forgot how many things you have to do when you move! We've had to change our address for mail, internet changed, cable hooked up and installed, bills transferred, magazine subscriptions changed and SO much more. Even our e-mail is going to be different now so for those of you trying to e-mail Rob or myself, those e-mails don't exist anylonger. We'll have one set up shortly and I'll e-mail out all of our new information (address, home phone number, e-mail addresses, etc.) as soon as we get it going.

I have to say that being here is amazing. It's so much bigger (which means more cleaning!) and spacious than our last 928 square foot house. The yard here is 4 times the size and the bills are lower due to the fact that it's so shaded whereas our last house was full sun in the front and back yards. Rob and I LOVE to landscape. We've created (from scratch) backyard ponds, gardens, and lots of planting, etc. at our old house. This house already has some REALLY cool natural landscaping so we can't wait to start tying things into the natural beauty of the yard. There are so many neat plants that I never took the time to look at before and now it's going to be a whole new experience dealing with shade plants versus full sun plants. It should be fun!:)

Our contractor stopped by this morning to take final measurements of the two bathrooms (we're totally re-doing them as well) and we're meeting tomorrow morning to go over paperwork and get things rolling. We're very much excited about this.

Oh! My friend Lisa whom I've known since we were two (literally, we went to the same preschool/elementary schools and later met up in high school) just had her precious baby girl May 30th (two days ago). If you get a chance, check out the "Lisa and Erik" link on this page and there are darling pictures. Congrats Lisa and Erik!!! You're officially parents!

Well, I'm going to finish up some much needed work around here and then pick out a fun outfit (which is limited with this belly!) since Rob and I have a hot date tonight. We haven't been out in awhile and we figured this could be our last date for awhile. Ta ta for now...