Big NEWS!!!

Wow, this has been a severely neglected blog...
Lots has happened but i'll make it short and sweet.

May: Ayla turned 2, her party was at the Aquarium and it was fantastic!
June: I bought a new car and gave Robby my old car.
June 8th: my bank (CFSB) failed and was closed by the FDIC and acquired by another institution. I was able to keep my job and the new bank was offering me a position, it was just a huge step backwards for me so not a good idea in the long run just to be able to stay in Charleston.
Middle of June: I interviewed for a new position with First Reliance Bank (which would mean a move to Florence, SC - a move I did NOT want to make but knew we had to do what was best for the family.
July: position offered and accepted (after much discussion between Robby, myself and advice from family members)
July 14th: Last "date night" in Charleston (this date becomes important later on in post)
July 21st: Move to Florence and take the next week of to get settled and learn the Florence area (for me, Robby already knew the area due his family living here and he attended FMU)
July 30th: Robby and I officially start new jobs! Robby is now with Ikon Financial originating morgages - so call him if you are buying or need a refi!!!!

Then the most shocking news of all in August we discovered that I was pregnant...
Needless to say that this was not part of the plan. We were thinking more like this time next year to start trying... But obviously, there were other plans in place for us. Gotta watch out for those date nights :)

The due date is early April and now that the news has sunk in we are very excited. Ayla is going to be such a good big sister. The age difference will be 35 months and I think that is perfect. I am actually so glad that a 2nd child didn't come sooner. Now that I am facing the reality that Ayla won't be my only baby, I am thankful for the almost 3 years that we have been able to spend with just her!

We have chosen the Charleston Birth Place (a free-standing birth center with midwives) to deliver this baby. I had the best possible "hospital birth" with Ayla, but not an experience that I want to do again (unless medically necessary). Here in Florence there are no birth centers or midwives so thankfully an hour and half drive will get us to our wonderful birth center.

After much debate, we are revealing the gender of the baby on Thanksgiving. I was 100% against this but Robby is a horrible secret keeper so... you all get to know.

The compromise for the gender reveal is that we will be using the cloth/biodegrabable gdiapers. You can visit the gdiapers.com website to learn about them (click the link). This is something I am very excited about! Robby is on board 100% even though he was fine with pampers :) I wanted to use them with Ayla but...

So anyway, thats a little bit of a catch up...
More to come!