And then there were FOUR!

Anna Kate has a big announcement she would like to make...


That's right! Anna Kate is going to be a big sister on or around October 16th! We couldn't be more thrilled about this blessing God is giving to our family!

We just got back from our second doctor's appointment (yes, it's been hard to keep from updating the blog for the last four weeks since we found out, but we wanted to wait a little longer), and everything looks great! Baby is measuring right on schedule (11 weeks) and the heartbeat looked fantastic. This was a very special appointment too because we took Anna Kate with us for the first time to see her baby brother or sister on the "TV". She thought it was pretty cool, but to be honest, she was more excited about the poster of puppies that was on the wall of the exam room. Oh well! Here she is being a good girl in the waiting room.


And of course, I am sure you want to see pictures of the new baby! So here is Baby Tolbert #2 at 7 weeks...not the best quality, since I just took pictures of the pictures, but it's something!


And here is the picture we got today at 11 weeks...a little easier to tell that it's a baby in there!


In case anyone is wondering, I am feeling about how I did with Anna Kate's first trimester...pretty sick! But I know that means that things are progressing like they should, so I am trying to "consider it all joy!" It would make it a little easier if Anna Kate didn't think it was funny every time I need to dash to the bathroom after something doesn't sit well on my stomach. She felt bad for me the first week, but now she just laughs...thanks for the sympathy!

Other than that, there's not a whole lot to report yet. I feel like I'm getting a little thicker around the middle, but not exactly "showing" yet, so we'll probably wait a week or two to put up a picture of me.

So that's our big news! It's also why I went on a blogging hiatus a couple weeks ago...my blogging time is usually during Anna Kate's naps and lately I've been needing the naps too!

Lunch with Daddy

Today has been an absolutely beautiful warm spring day, so Anna Kate and I decided we would meet Daddy for a picnic lunch. He suggested we go down to a state park just a mile or two from the church. We'd never been there before and after going today, I have no idea why we haven't gone sooner! It was so fun to just sit out by the lake and enjoy some peanut butter sandwiches! After lunch Anna Kate was ready to go exploring. I took a bunch of pictures and it was too hard to choose just a couple, so here they all are!

"Let's go, Daddy!"

"You sure you don't want to come, Mama?"

"Can we get in it, Dad?"

"Oops, I fell down!"

"See the birds?"

"How 'bout a shoulder ride, Daddy?"

"Ok, I think I'm ready to head back now!"

"On second thought...let's go that way!"

And Mommy's favorite shot of the day...

If anyone wants to join us for our next picnic, just let us know! We have lots of fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

When I woke up this morning, I realized that Anna Kate didn't have anything to wear for St. Patrick's Day, so I grabbed a green shirt she had (that has an applique of a little girl and flowers on it) and cut out a clover out of some extra green cloth (er...one of Luke's t-shirts...thanks sweetheart!) and sewed it on...perfect and it only took 30 minutes! Anyway, she got to wear her outfit to the library for story time and then we came home to take some pictures. Unfortunately, she was tired and hungry, so this was all we got on take one:


After eating some lunch (who doesn't love some peanut butter and banana?) she felt much better and was willing to pose for a picture (sort of)!

But then she realized how cool my camera looked, so here she is signing "please" asking if she could hold it:


How can you say no to that? I still wanted to try to get a couple more pictures though, so I handed her my cell phone instead:


So there you have it. That was the best we could come up with for our photo shoot. It used to be so much easier to take her picture when she couldn't move...here's a picture of her on St. Patrick's day last year at 5 weeks old. What a difference a year makes!

I will leave you with the same quote I shared last year from the great pastor, missionary, and evangelist, St. Patrick himself:

“Christ shield me this day: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me.”

Our little world traveler!

Well, soon-to-be world traveler!

Anna Kate and I were so excited when we went out to get the mail the other day and saw a package from the United States Federal Government addressed to none other than Anna Kate Tolbert. What could the United States of America need to mail Anna Kate, you ask? Her passport, of course!

That's right, Anna Kate has some pretty important trips coming up! First, in April, she and mommy are meeting up with Aunt Sarah, Wesley and Cooper in Oregon to visit Grandma and Grandpa Burgin, along with some very special aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins! Cooper and Anna Kate have never been to Oregon, and we can't wait for them to meet all of our family out there (and see the beach house, of course!).

Anna Kate's next trip is the one she actually needs the passport for. Anna Kate's Uncle Andrew will be graduating from high school in May in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and we are so excited that we get to go! We love Uncle Andrew so much and are so glad we will get to be there to celebrate his big accomplishment with him. Bolivia holds a special place in my heart since my parents have lived there for the last 8 years and I have spent many months there with them. This will be a bittersweet trip though, since they will be moving this summer and this will most likely be my last trip to Bolivia. So a very special one it will be and I am excited to take my sweet girl to meet some wonderful friends!

Here are a couple more pictures of Anna Kate with her passport.

"What do I do with it, Mom?"

"Play hide-and-seek?"

Finally, I figured it wouldn't be a very good idea to take a picture of the inside of Anna Kate's passport with all her personal information (don't want her identity stolen!), so I thought I would just take a picture of the extra passport pictures they gave us. So this is the picture that's inside Anna Kate's passport. When we had it taken, she had to sit on a special stool and look right at the man's big camera and she took it quite seriously, which is why you don't see the famous Anna Kate smile. She did a great job, though!

Bad hair day!

Anna Kate's hair is definitely coming in now...this was her bedhead after nap today!



I did a pretty similar post back in December...this was her bedhead back then:


As a side note, not only is her hair getting long, but she is getting longer (or rather taller) too! I forgot to post her stats when we went for her 1 year appt. last week (I know, a little bit late), but she weighs 22 lbs. 9 oz (75th percentile) and is 31 1/2 inches tall which is the 90th percentile for height! She's a growing girl!

Blog catch-up!

I know, I know, it's been 2 weeks since I posted...I'm sorry! I do have an excuse for one of those weeks...I misplaced my camera...apparently I left it at church and when Luke cleaned up his office, he found it. Anyway, I have it back now and I should be back to regular blogging! Today's post is going to be all over the place, but here's just a little of what we've been up to the last couple weeks!

Daddy took his girls on a date to Starbucks...Anna Kate thought it was pretty special!


Our church had its annual fundraiser barbecue this past weekend...we sold nearly 1000 plates of BBQ pork, rice with hash, baked beans, coleslaw, and hush puppies. Luke, along with a number of the men in the church, especially Mr. Buster (our music minister and BBQ chef extraordinaire!) spent many hours cooking and preparing, then we all got to help set-up and serve! We raised a lot of money for our international mission trip, as well as our youth group! Here are some pictures from the day:

The master chef at work with his kitchen crew!

The youth did a great job serving drinks and doing all kinds of odd jobs!

The dessert table...my favorite!

Luke's job was to make the sweet tea and keep it coming...
People drink it by the barrel here in South Carolina

In other news, Anna Kate has started to become very good at playing independently lately. I will often notice that it is very quiet while I am doing housework and I will look for her and find that she is just sitting and looking at her books, or playing with her kitchen set, or trying on shoes (a new favorite pastime!). Anyway, here's how I found her yesterday just reading her stories and minding her own business!


Last but not least, I think I mentioned in AK's 1st birthday post last month that she had started to take some steps on her own, but I don't think I've updated about her walking since then. She is definitely walking all over the place now as her primary mode of transportation. She definitely takes some tumbles on occasion (or daily), but she's doing really well! I don't really have any pics/videos to show you, so I'll just leave you with a sweet mommy/daughter shot we took the other day!