Happy Birthday Sammy C!!!!

Sam had a GREAT birthday!! Daddy woke up early to make him special birthday "pantakes"!! We had our families over to celebrate that evening with a "hoops" theme basketball party!!! (for those that don't, Sam can take some serious reps on his Little Tikes goal!!)

We got Sam his first "real" golf club!!! and OH MY how he begs to go "ou-tide" (outside) to hit his "cub" (club) because he just wants to "sing" (swing) it!

Check out that cousin of Sam's with purple hair!!!! Sam LOVES him some "buttons" (Backyardigans)!
Sam did not know what to do with all the singing...Serious Sam set in and he did NOT crack a smile the whole time!!

We tried to get him to dig in, but we might possibly be parents to the ONLY 2 year old who hates to be dirty!!!! He would not go in for the kill...we eventually had to get him a fork!!!
Look at the great cake that Amy W.'s mother-in-law made!!! (Jane's website is on Amy's blog)!!!!
We had a great day with our BIG boy!!!! But remember how I joked about us celebrating in the hospital...well...it almost happened!!! Sorry boys but once again...girls I know you would want to know....I had contractions all night Thursday, nothing painful, but enough to keep me up all night!! I continued to have some contractions during the inservice and by the time I got to the doctor's office and hooked up for my non-stress test they were coming every 6 min!!! The nurse kept saying, "oh, that's a big one" and of course I was barely feeling ANYTHING and then she said, "looks like someone is having a baby tonight"! When the doctor checked me, I was still 2cm and 50 percent and because she knew I was having Sam's party she said to go home and rest (or I might not make it through the party) and to call when they were regular at 6 min. apart! She even went as far as to get the on-call doctors name and laughed when I checked the time for my Monday appointment "just in case"!!! Well needless to say I went home, had a great time at the party, ....and the contractions STOPPED!! I had maybe 4 all night!!! Here I sit Sat. evening, and while I still have contractions, they are not regular and not painful. I even tried the whole walking and eating Mexican thing...still nothing! So I went from a nurse saying I was in labor and going to have a baby that night to sitting on my couch TWO days later...in the middle of our first real SNOW!!!! We are supposed to have 2 more inches (edited to note, they now say 3-6 inches!) by Sunday night so this whole labor thing could get REALLY interesting!! Pray that everything goes smoothly, Charley is healthy and my nerves will rest!!

My little helper...the big bro!!!!

As if I'm not having a serious mommy moment already given the fact my baby boy is TURNING 2 TOMORROW...its also my 100th post! Where has all the time gone...:)

We have been busy at the "Dowdy House"! Getting ready for baby girl! The bag is packed, new batteries in the baby swing, and clean sheets on the guest bed ready for aunt mammie!!! Here is a sneak peak of Daddy and big bro putting together Charley's bassinet...


Then they got down to serious business with a little "fumble recover"!!


Now that we have almost all the boxes checked this little girl can get a move on...tomorrow I have an all day inservice that I don't mind at ALL missing, but then again...Charley and Sam would share a birthday...your thoughts???? I'll try to update tom. with pics from Sam's birthday...we kept it small this year, just family...JUST IN CASE...we are celebrating in the hospital!

It's still a.....

GIRL!!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers today for the ultrasound! My fluid levels were DOWN by 4 points (whatever that means). I'm right around 21 (once again...whatever that means). I do know that is the cut off number for just barely having too much fluid. Doctor Martin is pleased that they dropped 4 points and says that most likely, as she suspected, it was my too-high in sugar diet! (she also advised Chris to keep up the healthy breakfasts in bed..doctors orders, today he made me a fruit cup full of fresh cut up fruit and peanut butter to dip in!!!!) I still have to go in for a non-stress test on Friday...does that date ring a bell...a certain little boy turning 2!!! I also have another ultrasound next Monday! Continue to pray that my fluid levels go down!!! Also, (boys this is where you scroll down without reading but girls I know you really want to know....I am almost 2 cm dilated and 50 percent effaced!!!) So I might make that ultrasound and might not!!!:):)

Here are a couple pics from the ultrasounds. They are hard to see, especially after being scanned in, but ohh how I love to see that cute little chubby face on 4-D. She kept sticking her tongue out, and mom SWEARS she has the Coleman nose...poor, poor girl!!! Here's to hoping she doesn't get the Coleman teeth!!!

This one cracks me up...apparently she is kicking her left eye...homegirl is F.L.E.X.I.B.L.E!!!

This one is hard to see, her eyes are covered up by some part, but try to find her nose in the middle of the picture and right below that you can see the cutest little pout!!! I was just telling the ultrasound tech that her daddy had practice and couldn't make it this time and apparently we have quite the little Daddy's girl on our hands, because right when I said that the ultrasound tech clicked this picture of her pouting!!!!...look at that bottom lip...Chris has no idea that his little princess is about to take her throne!!!!
Here is another shot of her kicking her face!!! Her foot is over her left eye...
There was a really funny one of her sticking up her middle finger...the ultrasound tech even wrote on the screen and labeled "middle finger" just to be funny...I have the picture to prove it!!! Chris got a good laugh out of that when he got home but then followed the laugh with, "no honey, you can NOT blog that"!!!!

Also check out April's blog about "Super-Star Sam"! Chris said, (and I quote), "It was so cool to be Sam's dad"! He also said he was pretty sure that had Sam been able to write he would have had to sign autographs!!! Apparently there were over 1,500 fans who thought I had the cutest 2 year old ever!!! And no offense to the cheerleaders but Chris said people kept coming up to him saying, "that was the best halftime show the whole season!" ! Our Sam...the entertainer!!!

(sidenote: I had no idea until April pointed it out to me but you will NEVER guess what the background of my blog is called...CHARLOTTE...coincidence...I think not!!!!

Look who had a birthday....

Since Dylan and Danielle's birthdays are so close they decided to have joint party at "Pump It Up" on the 13th!!! I don't know who was more excited...Sam or Chris!!!!
SAM WAS IN HEAVEN!!!!! He loved everything!!! and since I planned this out perfect, to be 9 months pregnant and all, I got out of all the heavy lifting! Sammy C can talk his Gee-Jo into anything, even hoisting him through the obstacle course!!!
Chris and Laura had a "not so friendly" competition on the obstacle course....
Chris apparently went all out!!!!
Next up was Gee-Jo and Danielle!!!
This boy might have gone down this slide approximately 50 times....pure bliss!!!
On the way up to the top Sam bumped his nose, so Daddy had to "kiss it better:!!!
I LOVE MOM'S FACE!!!!! The only thing better is when she rides roller coasters!!!!! Her Grandkids have her W.R.A.P.P.E.D!!!!

A friendly cousin tackle!!!!



We had a blast!!!! Be on the lookout for some PRETTY entertaining post that include but are not limited to:
1. a girls slumber party at my house!!!!
2. getting ready for baby girl
3. Sam (a.k.a. the halftime show star!!!!)

On a more serious note...last week I went for an ultrasound (because I have my doctor wrapped...:) and they found that my amniotic fluid level was slightly high. She is almost certain it is because of my diet being high in sugar and starches...i.e. I've had to cut out the Swiss cake rolls and Reese Eggs:) Please pray on Tuesday when I go back that my fluid levels are down!!! Even though I promised my doctor I wouldn't...I googled...they HATE when we pregnant gals google...so I've been slightly worried, pray for lower levels and my nerves:)

Charley's Baby "Sprinkle"

Two weekends ago my very loving family threw a baby shower for baby girl...something about not wanting Charley to walk around in soccer onesies! (Not that naming her a predominately boy's name isn't going to scar her for life anyway:) I tried to keep the fam thinking simple..instead of a shower...more of a sprinkle...but you know us English gals can throw us a party, and what a beautiful shin-dig it was! Mom made all her classics and in true-Jo style we had enough food for a football team! Laura and Amy did some cute games (I'm planning on making that another post!), because you KNOW how much Amy Jo loves her a good shower game (no sarcasm noted), and EVERYONE out did themselves with the cutest things for Charley! I have such wonderful friends and family!!! Thank you for caring for little Charley and our family so much!!

Here is the belly shot from the shower...

We had the shower at my house and it worked out perfectly!! Everyone got to see the nursery (pics to come), we didn't have to haul gifts anywhere, and everyone pitched in to clean the house (and they thought I was being nice by offering my house...ha!) One little five (now six) year old even got to spend the night and we put her right to work....
Don't worry Danielle got paid in lawn mower rides from unkie Chris! And I'm posting this pic of Amy because she said not to!!!! P.S VERY SAD DAY...Sam official calls Amy....Amy...no mammie, no more:(:( tears I tell you, he is just growing up so quick!
Amy took her job with the camera VERY serious!!
Of course Danielle was my little helper when it came to opening up gifts! Charley will officially be the best dressed baby of the summer!!
The English Girls!!!
More to come about these little PRECIOUS letters in the nursery post...have I told you how much I want to pick up my college roomie Cam and squeeze her! She hand painted those to EXACTLY match my fabric in the nursery...AS IN, hand painted the paisley pattern and everything...yeah I love her!!! PS. speaking of names Sam calls people...lets just say Sam substitutes his "C"s with "D"s, so you guessed it...Cam comes out as....yep...I just keep telling myself, "as in the beaver's home, not the bad word!"
Can you tell my friends and family know me...Charley will def. be the first one in Sunday School to be able to spell her name, she got so many CUTE monogrammed things!! Nana got her these cute burp clothes and Sam and Charley got matching adorable bath towels!!
I posted this picture for 2 reasons:
1. Look at this incredible cute blanket and lovie that has Charley's initials on them from April (as Sam's says A-Pool)
2. Look at MaJo in the back SAVING PAPER! She is literally rolling up the paper because Jo does NOT let good paper go to waste!!! Anyone want to take a stab about how long Christmas lasts at Jo's house...its not pretty people, the same holds true for boxes!!!:):) Oh, and don't get mad at me! I'm allowed to make fun of my mother...she put me in "It's a boy clothing" as a baby...with the excuse...you never left the house in it...that's our Majo, she apparently doesn't let good articles of clothing go to waste either!!

In all seriousness people...how could you not love Majo...just look at her...AND she can ride a motorcycle...she is basically the coolest ever!!!

I hope you all had a wondeful Valentine's Weekend!!

FTR...I am one of...those...Don't get me wrong, I love a good "Fun Dip" Valentine just as much as the next first grader (seriously...remember "Fun Dip, with the edible stick and powder...they TOTALLY make Valentines with Fun Dip, and I TOTALLY got two from my sweet first graders, and I TOTALLY ate both of them in 5 seconds!!) But really people, flowers and "just because" notes are way better on a random day than on a "I have to because Hallmark tells me I have to" day! So when people asked what we did for Valentine's Day I do not mind telling them that we woke up, gave each other a huge hug and a kiss and said "Happy Valentine's Day", and both of us were completely content! In all retrospect, we DID go to Chick-fil for breakfast and then finished up shopping for Charley on one of our last shopping trips as a family of three! So in my mind it WAS the perfect day! Later that night we met up with the Jones' for dinner and a movie! We thought we were being smart by going out early for dinner but apparently so did the rest of Southwest VA, and even though preggo was craving her some alfredo she was not prepared to wait over 2 hours to fulfill her craving! After driving by crowds of people waiting outside every restaurant Kelly and I looked over and saw a lonely restaurant with not a single person waiting outside...we struck gold people...you guessed it...some GOOD OL' IHOP!!!!

After convincing the boys that we "were indeed serious" about going to IHOP, we pulled into our VIP parking (hence how we knew there would be no wait), and Kelly and I were as giddy as school girls ordering us some delicious breakfast! I have no idea what I got, all I know is that it involved some cinnamon raisin cream cheese little slice of heaven thing and some hash browns so home girl was happy! We laughed all the way through dinner and I didn't even have to miss half the movie due to bathroom runs...we like to call that a little Valentine's Day miracle for this little Valentine's day rebel! By their sheer enthusiasm you can tell the boys were SO excited for us to take their picture!
In my husband's defense he has had some pretty good Valentine's Day surprises. Let's take this time to take a little walk down Valentine's Day Past...aka, make you want to vomit about how young love can make you do some pretty crazy things...aka, my husband knew how to make me smile from the very start!!!

I kid you not when I tell you this story and somewhere there is a picture to prove it...
On the Valentine's Day before we were married Chris rented out the space underneath the Sam's Corner Hotdog sign...you know, where it normally reads...2 hot dogs, fries, and a drink only 3.99....and instead it read, "Emily, I can't wait to marry you, only____(insert however many days it was until our wedding) days until you will be my wife! Love, Chris" While I can't remember the EXACT wording...that was the jest...and because they thought it was so romantic they only charged him something like 5 dollars! Needless to say we got to take some cute pictures below the sign, and we might have eaten a hot dog or 2!!

The year after we were married we were beyond poor! I'm talking, huddle real close while you sleep, not because "I finally don't have to drive back home to the funk house but I get to sleep beside my hunk of a husband" but because I was pretty sure I would die from hypothermia from lack of heat! We had discussed that we wouldn't do much for Valentine's Day and I made him PROMISE he would NOT under any circumstances get me flowers on Valentine's Day, and waste good heat money! Like always we was a man of his word! He did NOT get me flowers on Valentine's Day. Instead, every day, the 5 days leading up to Valentine's day I came home from student teaching to a different type of flower! So by Febuary 14th I had the MOST BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers known to man-kind! He literally went the week before Valentine's day, meet with the florist to discuss which flowers would go well together and which ones would last the longest so he knew which ones to start with!!!! The ladies at the flower shop just ate Chris up! They even demanded that on Valentine's Day Chris bring me by the flower shop to meet them, because they just had to meet the "lucky lady", and they gave me a dozen roses to add to my bouquet "on them" !! They told me that for the last 5 days the highlight of their busiest week of the year was when Chris dropped in to get the "flower of the day" and to hear him describe my reaction as I watched my little "bouquet grow"!!!....I know ladies...I have my very own little "Marlboro Man"!!!

Super Bowl!!!...

...I know at this rate of updating the blog I'll be introducing baby girl in June...but I just knew you internets did not want to miss these captivating pics (courtesy of Aunt Cam)...

Not really sure what Sam is doing here but as his face clearly states, he obviously enjoyed daddy's chili and ham biscuits!!
Lucky for me I we needed last minute super bowl essentials, me and the rest of Vinton..however I did score these awesome 3-D glasses at Kroger! Check out that action shot...I mean really people...how is my son's nickname "serious Sam"???? clearly he takes after my serious side...

This would be Sam reaching ALL the way into the chip bag!

Here are the rest of the girls rockin there 3-D's! The answer to your question is yes...YES, I am wearing a vintage Redskins super bowl shirt and you guessed it...sweatpants!!! I figured with the paper plates and all, I should probably dress up! and do you see that yummy dip April made sitting RIGHT IN FRONT ME...and see how it is half eaten...yep...that was ALL me too!!

Where are Elli's 3-D's???

Sidenote: not that we are trying out for Super Bowl party of the year but I would like to state that the Dowdy Super Bowl Party '09 came complete with a super bowl quiz made by Chris!!! (FTR... Cam won) And while we were checking our quiz at the end of the game Chris said 'This is quietest class I've ever had'!!! gotta love working in the city!!!

Global Domination...at its FINEST!!!!

So I'm just going to come right and say it...I'm behind on blogs...here is our "Risk" party that we had a couple of weeks ago with the Collins and Wolfords!  For those that don't know Risk is a board game in which basically the point is to take over the world one country at a time.  You have cute little army men and you "battle" over territory using dice!  Let me first say, apparently I'm more competitive than I think, or maybe I'm just more pregnant than I think...one of the two, because when Tony and Chris starting whispering/conspiring against the rest of us...this pregnant lady in charge of the red troops wasn't having ANY part of it!  Lets just say at one point I believe my exact comment was "This is the last time I'm playing this game with my husband..while being VP (very pregnant), because its just not good for our marriage! :):)"  I'm sure I had a couple other good one liners in there!  To make a LONG story short...nobody could stop this hormonal pregnant commander and she victoriously led her red troops to VICTORY!!! (even when it was 1:30 in the morning and the only two people left in the game were Chris and I...and even though it was APPARENT I was going to win, Chris STILL made me roll the dice until EVERY LAST LITTLE grey army man was gone!  And a huge thank you goes out to Brad and April for staying up until 1:30 with us to ensure that neither Chris nor I harmed each other in the process of my global domination!:):))   

Nobody even realized I clearly had an advantage...just look at the red army's 2nd in command!!

See the little conspirators sitting on the couch beside each other...and look who is saving the VP gal's recliner...thanks 2nd in command...
Yes I made them stop and smile JUST for the blog, I refrained from making them sign photo release forms! 
And because I just counted and referred to pregnancy 5 times already in this post...here is another pregnancy pic from last week!  I went to the doctor today and while this may be TMI...I have not started dilating any but the baby is head down!  Let's rewind when I went into my 36 week appointment with Sam and I was already 3 cm...you can imagine the frenzy that sent me into...however, least we forget how I stayed at 3 cm for 3 and half weeks!!!  I also asked how I would NOT like to be teaching first grade at 6 cm and not even know it until I go in for my regular doctor's appointment this time (i.e. how it all went down with Sam).  She reassured me that was a "unique" situation and would probably not happen again!   I go next Wed. for my last ultrasound!!  
More posts to come including pics from my baby "sprinkle"!!!  OH MY HEAVENS did Charley get some adorable things!!! 

Happy Snow Day to Me!!!!!

I had a wonderful day off with my little buddy!  He is so funny and talkative!  He is really like a little man now...ok, I'm back now from wiping "where has the time gone tears" off my face!  But really...HOW IS HE ALMOST 2????  

Last week we had a random day where the temp. got in the 60's!!! We decided a family trip to the park was in order...YES of course...Elli got to come!!!  

Can't you just eat up the daddy/son cuteness...

Monkey see...Monkey do...
Back by popular demand...the belly shot...now I know what you are thinking..."Isn't that great, Emily got to go home and change into comfy clothes to wear to the park!"  Nope, Nada...I totally wore that to school...yep, no need to adjust your computer screen...those are SWEATPANTS!!!  What are they going to say to the pregnant gal...:) (sidenote: we are NOT discussing weight gain:) )   
Speaking of monkeys...

Love the slide hair static!!!