Scary Monster

This is Matthew's scary monster:



Here is my little sticky monster who just ate a fruit roll up in my bed!


As you might have guessed or already know, I am still pregnant. The appointment with Dr. Balthrop went very well yesterday. I am 2 cm dilated and still 50% effaced. Any day now we should have a baby. Hopefully the next post on the blog will be from Steve.

On another note, trick or treating is still on at the Downing household. The Dulaneys and Tyners are expected to make the neighborhood rounds with us. Should be fun!

Pete, Sam, Mags, and Uncle Dave!

The Neals were in town a few weekends ago! The activities were endless. Papa made a tent in the backyard, swings in the front yard, and some sort of sled. The ladies took the little boys to the golf course to ride golf carts and check out the lot. Somehow they found a mud hole!

Mud Pics

The Zoo with Mate!

Last week (or was it the week before?:) Mate met Matthew and Steve in Jackson for a trip to the zoo!

We're Still Here

Sorry I haven't blogged in an incredibly long time, but we have been busy little bees around here. I have lots of pictures to post and hopefully I will upload them as soon as humanly possible. There are other things which require my attention first, but as soon as I get them behind me I will broadcast the photos.

Baby Update:
I went to the doctor yesterday and according to the her the baby will probably be here within the next two weeks. I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. She doesn't think the baby will come over the next few days, but after that we will see!

On the home front, major progress has been made. We have switched rooms with Matthew, and baby items are out of the attic. I am washing baby clothes, bottles, etc. The baby bed is partially set up. Steve has some more tightening to do on it. We still have a little way to go, but so far so good!

I am off to eat lunch and work on laundry.

We'll keep y'all posted on baby progress!

Pumpkin Patch!

Saturday, Georgia and Anna Dulaney and Matthew and I went to a pumpkin patch outside of Hernando, MS. It was big, huge fun. Here are the photos.












Unbeknownst to me, some of you want to see a picture of me pregnant. So there you have it. And yes, I refuse to take one of those shots of me standing up holding my belly. I will spare you all that look.

Great Check-Up

My scheduled appointment with Dr. Balthrop went very well Monday. My tummy is measuring where it should and my weight gain is right on track too. As always the baby's heartbeat was incredibly strong. My next appointment is in two weeks, then the once a week appointments begin. Oh my!

Reality is quickly settling in. I had a minor freak out Monday night. Poor Steve handled my tirade incredibly well, and since then we have taken care of a few major items on the to-do list.

We moved our guest queen bed over to Precious and Papa's house and their full size bed to the Travel House for storage. Also Steve has taken many items of ours to the Travel House for storage.

I ordered blackout curtains for Matthew's new room. They are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. Hopefully I will hang those this weekend. Then we can switch rooms next week, get the baby items out of the attic, and set up the baby's room. At that point I will feel much better.

On another note, I have ordered Matthew's Halloween costume. He and Georgia Dulaney are dressing up as Raggedy Ann and Andy. It should be cute cute cute!!!


Obviously this is some kid other than our precious Matthew. I wanted you to see the costume. How long do you think he will wear the wig and hat??

I Mean It

My words are coming back to bite me.

Matthew will look at me directly in the eyes, point his finger at me and say, "I mean it." Sometimes he doesn't preface the statement. Other times he will tell me exactly what he is trying to emphasize and follow it up with "and I mean it." Obviously I am doomed...

A Hospital Stay Was Not In the Plans

We were in Atlanta last week to visit family and watch some football. I was not planning on adding a visit to the hospital to our agenda, but I got a stomach virus. Thankfully, the baby and I are just fine now, but it was one hell of a week.

Precious, Matthew and I drove to Atlanta Sunday, Sept. 9. Tuesday night around 6:00 PM I started to feel nauseated, but I dismissed it as hunger pains. By 10:00 PM I was in full stomach virus mode. After a wretched night, I woke Precious up at 6:30 AM and asked her to take me to the hospital. We checked in Dekalb Medical Center where they pumped me up with IV fluids and anti-nausea meds. I was seriously dehydrated, but the baby was just fine. Steve was scheduled to fly to Atlanta Wednesday anyway. He just caught an earlier flight.

They kept me in the hospital until Friday late afternoon. Steve went to the Georgia Tech game Saturday night while I stayed at Mags house resting. We drove home Sunday.

It is so good to be home. I had a scheduled appointment with Dr. Balthrop Monday afternoon. Baby and I are just fine. However the doctor has clipped my wings. She told me Memphis is the farthest I may travel. So I no more trips for me.

The count down to baby has seriously begun. Only 9 more weeks to reach 40. Let's hope the rest of the pregnancy is less eventful.

To the Zoo!

We went to the Memphis Zoo! Much to our surprise it is a great zoo. All three of us had a wonderful time. It was definitely worth the trip up north.

It May Be Empty Now...

We bought an empty lot on the country club golf course, and we are in the process finding a home plan to put on it. Yes, after two years of waiting and praying for a house, the Lord made it clear we need to build. Perhaps God wants to test our marriage. :)

So, drum roll please, here's the lot:

The lot is a corner lot. This is a view of the middle right.


View to the corner.


View from across the street.

Click here to view the lot from a satellite.

Neckie Poo

Matthew was procrastinating before bed. Steve and I thought he looked too cute to disturb him, so we took pictures instead. Check out that tan line!

"New" Toys

We are the proud new owners of a four-wheeler and trailer!

The Myers Farm

Our dear friend, Kathy Myers, and her parents invited us to their farm for a tour and dinner. Matthew had his pick of farm equipment to drive. His choices were a combine, a crop sprayer, and a tractor. Since he has driven a combine and a tractor, he went with the crop sprayer. Our camera was set on video mode, so instead of stills there are mostly videos.











After the farm tour Matthew spent most of his time on the small four-wheeler in the Myers backyard. I think the day was probably one of the best im his two and a half years.

Mate, Joni and Uncle Glyn's Visit

Mate, Joni, and Uncle Glyn came to Clarksdale to celebrate Glyn's birthday. Lots of fun was had by all. We went to Wildwood Hunting Camp to check out the "lodge", ate dinner at Madidi, and enjoyed having family in town. Thank y'all for making the trek and keeping your camera around so we have pictures!


Steve and Mate are enjoying the lounge chairs at Wildwood.


A backhoe is still on the property at the hunting camp. Uncle Glyn kept a close eye on our little construction guru.








All my Downing mens!

1-2-3 Jump!

Matthew is loving the pool. Yesterday we went to the Dulaney's pool. He played around in the water without his swimmies for a while and would jump to me from the steps, go under, and swim up a little. The real fun was when he (in his swimmies)jumped off the diving board. At first I would wait for him in the water and he would jump to me. By the end of the day, I had moved to the side of the pool, and he was jumping off the diving board all by himself and kicking his way to the ladder.

Today we went to the Club. They do not have diving boards but he jumped off the side of the pool so well. Here are pictures from today.

Moving On Up

Steve's hunting camp, Wildwood, has its first home on site. Steve and three other members purchased a mobile home (single-wide) months ago, but until now the site at the hunting camp was not ready for such a wonderful hunk of junk, I mean lovely home. Moving day was yesterday, and the boys are hard at work trying to make it a place where the wives will occasionally come hang out, i.e. cook dinner. It now has electricity from a propane powered generator. A well will be dug soon to provide water, and I am told they are working on some sort of septic tank. I never thought my city-raised Brit would be so excited about a mobile home. Obviously he is fitting into rural life in Mississippi quite well.

Camp Clarksdale Pictures

Whiff! This is what I look like playing golf. Oh no, I hope Matthew inherits his Daddy's swing instead of mine. Matthew is playing golf on the course Papa made in the front yard.


This is the swing!


Matthew wanted to do a "big one."


Papa made Sam's swing out of an old milk crate. He sawed off one side, sanded down the rough edges, rigged it up with some chain, and added a safety board to keep Sam inside. It was something else!