She's here!

Isla (eye-la) Charlotte Sale was born at 1:29 am on October 30th. She weighed 8lbs 9ozs and was 21 & 3/4 inches long. We are thrilled and enjoying every minute with our new baby girl!

big brother knox
 

dorothy & the scarecrow- happy halloween!

blythe changing isla's diaper

our sweet isla

October 27th- a ring bearer and no baby...

Since the spring we have known about our friends Taylor & Rebecca's wedding.  Their special date was scheduled for October 27th and although I was disappointed,  I was certain that I wouldn't be able to be there to celebrate with them.  Of course this baby would not be late like Knox was.  Well, as usual with parenting I had no idea what I was talking about and we were able to attend their wedding last night.  I'm so glad we were too! Knox was the ring-bearer and his sweet friend Blythe was the flower girl.  I was nervous about how he would do- would he even walk down the aisle when the time came? Would he get shy and refuse to go?  Well, I shouldn't have worried. Blythe & Knox literally stole the show! Here are a few pre-wedding pics, it was hard to get any good shots because they were running around so much...

...The mothers were seated and groomsmen and bridesmaids had already walked down the aisle. All that was left was Knox, Blythe and the beautiful bride.  Knox let out a squeal and starting sprinting down the aisle. Blythe followed him and they ran all the way to the alter with the crowd cracking up at their antics.  Whew!  It seriously could have gone either way and thankfully it went really well.  

Knox starting his sprint

Running to his promised lollipop at the alter

Oh, what a 2 year old won't do for a lollipop....

Once we made it through the ceremony (iPhone aps and 3 lollipops later) Knox had a blast dancing it up with everyone.  I have never seen him dance so much in my life but he literally had the time of his life.  Needless to say, I was very glad this baby decided to be late and we were able to have such a fun evening celebrating with Taylor and Rebecca! However, the wedding is over and I am tired of waiting so she can come out now...

-Stacie

A smorgasbord before the storm...

Kyle & I keep referring to these last few weeks as the calm before the storm. It is a strange state to live in with the awareness that your life could and will change very soon and never be the same again.  We're excited to get to meet our little girl and anxious for her to arrive for sure, but a little apprehensive as well.  We've really enjoyed these last few weeks with Knox getting ready for her arrival. 

As requested by a few friends, here is the belly at basically 40 weeks and ready to pop! 

40 weeks! 

My mom came through again this year and made Knox the most adorable Halloween costume ever! It took some convincing to get him to wear it and not be afraid of it, but we finally convinced him.  He is going to the be the Scarecrow from the 'Wizard of Oz' and his buddy Blythe is going to be Dorothy. I don't have pictures of them together yet, but I definitely will...

These two clowns are always making me laugh! 

I mean, could you find a cuter scarecrow?

A few weekends ago we had our annual Halloween Extravaganza.  Basically, it is my excuse to get to make lots of halloween treats, go to a pumpkin patch and watch 'Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin'- all of which are some of my favorite things.  Unfortunately, it poured down rain while we were at the pumpkin patch, but we still had fun!  

Knox checking out the petting zoo at the pumpkin patch in Elgin 

I made him pose in his costume at the pumpkin patch too- man he is going to hate me when he's older :) 

Finally, I have been trying to continue to practice my photography and got the chance last weekend to take some family shots of our good friends the Assuntos. Here are my favorites from their shoot:

This should definitely be my last post before the baby arrives.  My official due date is Saturday and then I go back to the doctor on Monday to talk next steps in case she decides to be late like her brother was- exciting times!! 

-Stacie 

Obsessions of an almost 33 year old...

The title is kind of a joke (Kyle is almost 33- not me let's be clear here!!) because if we are being completely honest there is a special place in both Kyle & my hearts for Volkswagens.  Don't ask me why but we both love them.  Kyle also loves other old cars, but I confine my appreciation to only VWs.  We are on our fifth VW as a married couple if that tells you anything :)  And like all parts of your family they have to have a name....Our first was Stewie (2000 Jetta), then we had Bailey (2002 Beetle), Abba (1973 Beetle), Old Si (1970 Camper Bus) and now Gloria (1974 Camper Bus). I could lie and say that Gloria will be our last but we all know that simply isn't true.  We plan on buying another old school beetle once our lovely 'Old Girl' (the super sweet 1993 Nissan Altima that Kyle drives to work) dies.

All that said we have taken to making our affinity for Volkswagens part of our family culture.  Knox in his almost 2 years here on earth has already been to two VW shows.  And as true to his DNA he LOVED them!  This past weekend was the annual VW Harvest Show in Leander, TX.  It started with a cruise (basically a line of lots of old VWs traveling together) from Leander to Top Notch Burgers in Austin where we all had dinner and they played the 'Herbie' movie on the projector.  There were about 60-70 old VWs crowded into the burger drive-in on Saturday night, it was definitely a sight to see! On Sunday, we headed to the actual show at a park in Leander.  We entered our bus (just for fun, she is not quite show quality- but we love her) got to walk around and see all the other VWs.  There were about 170 or so at the show or so the announcer said.  It was a fun weekend of seeing cool cars and watching Knox have a blast!

The photo-montage:

Just a quick pregnancy update- we are at 18 days and counting down to the due date!! Crazy!!! 

-Stacie 

Obsessions of an almost 2 year old...

Before I had a toddler, I never understood the "obsessions" that children have or the indulgence that their parents provide in these obsessions.  My how the tables have turned...Much to my chagrin (because I had heard how addictive it is) Knox saw one episode of 'Thomas the Train' during our potty training boot-camp weekend and he was hooked.  It is "Thomas Choo-Choo" this and "Thomas Choo-Choo" that and "Percy" and "James" and on and on it goes. Needless to say, when Kyle saw that a life-size Thomas was coming near Austin we had to buy tickets.  So, we drove an hour on Sunday to the city of Burnet to watch Knox get seriously excited about seeing and riding Thomas the Train.  I have a feeling this will be the first of many such indulgences in our kiddos lives and I guess I am okay with that.

Knox with his 'Percy' tattoo 

Knox & Kyle

Playing with trains

Aboard Thomas 

This was the face Knox made when Kyle told him that it was Thomas' whistle he just heard!  

Knox & Me in front of Thomas

"Thomas Choo-Choo" 

Knox & his buddy Avery posing in front of Thomas

The 4 of us (less than a month to go!)

Knox with his buddies Charlie & Avery

-Stacie