No cheese!

Don't ask this girl to say cheese if you want a good picture.

Don't believe me. Let me just show you.

For some reason, right now, "cheese" means close your eyes and squint really tight. I have to watch what I say when I pull the camera out. How funny is she?

Of course, here's the classic- "say cheese." "CHEEEEEEESE!"

And Chey taking Mommy's picture while Mommy takes hers. Click.

Ah, this girl gets me everytime. Love her to pieces.

Expansions

You know I'm behind on blogging when the giant offers to clean the kitchen after Chey's bedtime if I'll just update the blog. Oops. Yeah, I'm that behind.

But can I finally tell you the real reason my entire life seems to be behind these days?

If we're facebook friends, you probably have already seen what been going on here in the Wood house recently. With all the Giant's traveling, Cheyanne and I were left alone for a while. You already know about our last minute trip to see my sister in Virginia. We also took a last minute trip a few weeks later back to Virginia, but this time we went home to the mountains instead.

With everything that's been going on this month, I completely missed an exciting post about my new niece Libby. I'll show you pictures of that sweet bundle of cuteness in a different post.

Instead, for now I'll just have to show you another sweet bundle of cuteness.

That's right. That's ours.

This Wood House is expanding. January is going to be an exciting month for sure.

Hopefully now it makes a little more sense as to why I've been so m.i.a. around here. If you've been with me since I started this blog when I announced we were pregnant with Chey, you'll remember that first trimesters do not agree with my body at all. Sick sick sick. Thankfully, this second trimester is much easier than last time. Besides the unusual tiredness, I have felt pretty great overall. I don't think I can blame the tiredness completely on this new baby though. I'd say parenting a wild toddler with an abundance of energy might have something to do with it.

Thanks so much for all your support and continued care for our family despite my severe lack of blogging. We truly appreciate the friendship and look forward to sharing all the joys of our growing family with you.

And I can't close this post without saying a BIG congratulations to my dear friend Kate over at Barefoot Daydreams. She also just announced her first pregnancy which I have been waiting to hear for a looong time. I couldn't be happier for her! I think we're just days apart too. How fun.

Daddy's so much fun

My two loves are such monkeys together. You never know what kind of mischief they are getting into. One thing that Daddy can do that mommy most definitely can't is monkey around like this. Long are the days that I can toss around my little heavy weight champ. That's what Daddy's muscles are for.

We sure do miss our giant when he's gone. The house gets a little less exciting that's for sure. Hopefully he won't be gone for too much longer though. Somehow this 6 day trip seems to have almost tripled in length. But whats new about that? It seems that most of the Giant's missions tend to get extended for whatever reason. I hear that there may even be talk in the squadron of a bad luck curse that apparently my husband seems to hold. Its become a joke that no matter what flight he's on, it gets delayed. I'm not laughing at that joke…! I wish I could just say "Come home!" For some reason though, it doesn't get to work like that. Pout.

Oh well, kisses for Daddy wherever he is.

Last minute trip to Virginia

We're home! Did you even know that we were gone? Probably not due to the severe lack of blogging I've been doing. Well, we took a mini last minute trip and now we're back.

Almost two weeks ago, the day after Independence Day (Thursday), the Giant left on yet another trip for who knows how long. That night, I decided Cheyanne, the dog and I would pack up and head north to Virginia (Saturday) to see my sister Dr. T that just moved back from California. Say a little what what!! for us sisters being on the same coast finally after almost four long years apart.  The plan to make the 8 hour drive quickly changed and thanks to the in-laws, plane tickets became the better option. This was a God-send since this girl hates to drive and quite frankly was terrified out of my mind about making the long haul on my own with the kiddo(s). So, in 24 hours, I frantically got dog records, found a boarder, got dog to said boarders, repacked airplane style, and made us to the airport on our own in one peace. I have to brag for a moment, I swear, Chey is the best kid flier that there ever was. I don't even have to stress about her on a plane anymore.

on the plane watching the clouds go by

Not once in her life has she ever not enjoyed a plane ride or in turn caused anyone else to even really know she was on the plane. Ah I love this kid. And yes I know there were a few too many negatives in that last sentence, but you get the point. She rocks on a plane.

We had a great 5 day trip to Virginia Beach. I can't even begin to explain how great it was to spend time with my sister. Its hard to believe that we hadn't actually been together since Christmas. Thank God for Skype. Cheyanne was a little confused at first when her Auntie T, "TT" or "T" as Cheyanne calls her, and her dog Kaya were not in the computer "box", but she figured it out by the time we got in the house. Again, thank God for Skype.

We packed so much into 5 days. I'm sure it was much easier on me than it was on my sister who had just moved in to her new place the day before we arrived. Even though my main goal of the trip was to help my sister, I think we did a lot more distracting than we did helping.

Although, we might have helped a little.

We had so much fun. My parents even ended up surprising us the day after we got there. Cheyanne loved getting surprised by her Nana and Skipper.

After my parents left, T and I even took advantage of a babysitting offer from my mother in law, and enjoyed a little sister time on our own. I am so thankful that my mother in law was so willing to give me a few hour break away from Mommyhood. Cheyanne loved spending one on one time with her Grandma and I think the feelings were mutual. Our few hours of sister freedom was just what the doctor ordered- uhyhuck uhyhuck. Wink wink to you who got the joke. Would you believe that until this trip, I had not had my nails done since my wedding- almost 4 years ago?!! That's right. Four. Years. Ago. What was I waiting on? I've already told the Giant that I will not be waiting another 4 years before my next mani-pedi, that's for sure.

Just look at my pretty new blue toes and painted nails. A week later and my toes still look pretty.

The time went by so fast, as it always does when having fun. I'm so glad that my sister and I are back on the same coast again finally. No more 6 month hiatuses for us. I can't wait to get together again soon, hopefully sooner than later. We missed the Giant the whole time of course, but what a nice distraction if we had to be without him. We hope to see him again soon too…

Tea Time, anyone?

Would you like a spot of tea?

Cheyanne did the other day, so we had our first tea party. This may not seem that big of a deal, but tea parties were one of my favorite things to do as a child. I have many porcelain tea sets to prove my love of tea parties as well.

I even had a 6th birthday tea party. Oh where are my old pictures?!! Some of you know what I'm talking about… in your mom's nicest negligees and fancy hats. And a certain Papaw of mine that dressed in women's clothing so he could attend the girl's only party- the one rule that I was pretty set on- no boys!! :) Don't worry Papaw- I couldn't find the picture in time for this post.

Here's Cheyanne's first tea party.

Mmmm tea! 

It must have sugar in it! No tea is complete without sugar. Stir stir.

That is some delicious tea, my dear!

Why bother pouring it in a cup? Sometimes you just have to go straight to the source.

So Nana, how excited are you to have your first Cheyanne tea party?! Its the moment you've been waiting on since we found out Chey was a girl. I know you are excited.