A Peek Inside...

Christmas Pageant

2011-12-14T07:20:00.002-05:00

Today was a day I've dreamed about for a long time. I got to go see my baby in his first Christmas pageant. Is there anything sweeter than seeing your baby singing about baby Jesus?!

He kept telling us at home, "I don't know the words." I guess he was planning a surprise performance, because he didn't seem to skip one word.

We were sitting about 8 pews back, so it took him a while to see us. He saw his Papa first and didn't seem to care looking for the rest of us at that point!

It was then back to the classroom for some crafts and a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake.

And I've got to add what a blessing it is to be able to enjoy these events while Hadley is being taken great care of. I think I dropped her off with nothing more than a sippy cup. Thanks, Aunt Kelly!

Chattanooga Choo Choo

2011-12-11T06:56:00.002-05:00

This past weekend, we gave Luke a Christmas present that we thought not only would he love, but would create memories lasting much longer than any toy could last. We spend all day Saturday in Chattanooga checking out the Chattanooga Choo Choo and takinga ride on the "Polar Express". We spent the night in a train car converted in to a hotel room. Luke had us all to himself while Hadley had Nanni and Papa all to herself, quite a treat also!

We Spent Saturday exploring downtown Chattanooga.

and all of the choo choos around the hotel

We went to the model railroad museum where they have built a scale replica of Chattanooga and the Cumberland mountain country.

I'm sure you can find something new everytime you look at it.

They haven't left anything out.

After exploring, the Chandlers met us to get ready for the train ride. These two buddies were super excited!

We enjoyed an afternoon treat

Then it was time to get ready to head to the train, in our jammies, slippers, and blue robe, just like the boy on the Polar Express movie.

There was a little game going on while we were riding the train

another reason proving how great these daddies are!

Hot Chocolate (which was Yoo Hoo) and cookies

and a visit from Santa when we reached the North Pole

I must say, for those of you reading this and thinking about taking the same trip, that Andy and I were a bit disappointed in the Polar Express train ride and if we were to do it again, might check out a different one. We had imagined more of a ride and less sitting in the train when we arrived a couples miles down the track at the "North Pole".

However, the boys were not a bit disappointed! They loved every minute of it and a day hasn't gone by that Luke hasn't asked to go again.

This Fall

2011-12-09T13:36:00.000-05:00

Catching up...

2011-12-02T15:24:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure where to start catching up on the past 6 months, so I'll just dive in.

We had a busy summer with a major highlight being these sweet baby girls born on August 11th.

Cousins, Emma and Sophie

These girls are loved more than they'll ever know- especially by Luke. He is so gentle and loving with them.

Isn't he handsome? This was the morning of picture day at school.

Our morning rides to school are made special with our extra passenger, Caleb.

This sweet angel...

...has said good-bye to her easy going days.

She is into everything. I can't turn my head for one second.

(No, she isn't allowed on the table, but I had my phone with me when I saw her and had to take the photo)

It helps me to call it "personality".

Something both my kids have a lot of!

This was after we finished hiking Kennesaw mountain. Needless to say, he enjoyed it!

They love each other.

Life with these two is great, ~~hard, busy and exhausting~~!

A rare treat- riding in daddy's truck side by side.

ok, much, much, more to come! I promise...

Happy "1" and "3"

2011-07-20T14:36:00.000-04:00

We celebrated "1" a few weeks late for Hadley and "3" a week early for Luke. I decided this was the year for SIMPLE and opted to reserve the arcade room at Fuddruckers for our family.

It was so much more enjoyable being able to not worry about setting up, cooking, cleaning, etc.

A day in the life...

2011-07-20T13:04:00.000-04:00

...with 2 busy kids!

One!

2011-06-27T07:18:00.001-04:00

I WILL be back with LOTS more, but for the meantime here are a few pictures.

She's ONE!, she's SO sweet, she's walking all over the place, and she has birthday earrings!

The Art Barn

2011-04-29T21:20:00.000-04:00

A few of us from our playgroup headed up to the Art Barn today.

We couldn't have custom ordered more perfect weather and the play date was so much fun!

Farmer Sue is fantastic with the kids and they had so much fun seeing all the animals, painting a picture of a pig, and finishing the morning with a picnic on the farm.

Luke's favorite part was, of course, the tractor ride.

My dad had the day off to watch Brooklyn and was able to come with us; an extra set of hands is always nice.

Brooklyn, with Luke checking out the trailer

Caleb

Colby

Dylan

Hadley and Papa

Hadley on the tractor

Maddy

Papa and his girls

Luke and AJ

Luke

A.J.

Brooklyn

Playing Catch up...

2011-04-29T14:54:00.001-04:00

We've been busy and haven't been blogging!

In a nutshell:

This sweet girl is quickly losing those cute, chubby cheeks! This is her at 9 months, althought we're quickly approaching her 11 month mark! She's all over the place and I suspect any day is going to let go of my fingers and walk off all by herself; how bittersweet!

We went to the beach and stopped midway at Papa's "work" house. I think Luke would have stayed the whole time there and considered it the best vacation ever!

I was horrible at taking pictures at the beach but snapped a few at miniature golf.

Easter was a blast this year. It was the first year I could tell Luke the Easter story and he seemed to grasp a bit of it. He of course, didn't miss out on any of the fun of it either!

So excited to see daddy come to his school Easter party!

Picture day at school

Our Weekend, Trains & Trucks

2011-03-22T07:08:00.000-04:00

We dropped our kids off at my mom and dad's for the night this Friday. I was so excited to have a night "off" just to relax. We had dinner and saw this train as we were leaving. At that moment, I decided I would have given up the night off just to have Luke here with me to see the "choo choo" that he looks for everyday when we drive by the tracks.

I sent the picture to him and mom said he loved it. Although I'm sure he glanced at it, loved it for a second, and then went on playing his heart out at Nanni and Papa's.

Luke has become quite a daddy's boy lately and Andy is loving it.
Andy missed his little buddy also and decided to spend some quality time with him on Saturday. I'm pretty sure he couldn't have taken him to a better place in the world...the construction yard his work has at the "BIG Airport!"

Papa went also and I'm so thankful he sent me pictures of their adventure.

Some days I pick my battles...

2011-03-04T15:13:00.000-05:00

Okay, so with 2 little ones at home, I pick my battles everyday. But this particular one needed to be documented. I really couldn't think of any good reason why when we had nowhere to go, he couldn't wear his wetsuit on top of his jammies. It made him happy and made me (and the neighbors) smile.

And while Luke was out fighting sharks, my little miss just took it all in. She loves to be outside.

Firestation Visit

2011-03-02T09:50:00.001-05:00

I promised Luke that he would be able to get on a firetruck when he learned to use the toilet. I'm so proud of how well he is doing so I was thrilled to make good on my promise this past Sunday. One of Luke's best buds, Caleb, has a grandfather who is a retired fireman and graciously invited us to visit Fireman Binny at the firestation. BIG thanks to Pop and Binny! They came through in a big way and let the boys explore their hearts out.

The look on Luke's face in this picture says it all:

These boys didn't leave anything untouched!

4 Years

2011-02-28T11:17:00.003-05:00

Andy and I got away for two days this weekend to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. Who knew that only about an hour drive away was one of the most fun places we have ever been! We dropped the kids off at my mom and dad's and headed over to Banning Mills. We spent Friday hiking around and learning a little about the history of Banning Mills. There were old Paper Mill ruins and this old Cotton Mill; it was beautiful.

We also got to see the fun that awaited us. This was certainly the highlight of the trip! We spent about 4 hours doing a canopy zip line tour Saturday morning. I was so scared that I dared not bring my camera; however, after the first zip line I was having a blast and really wish I had brought it along. Maybe next time, because there will be a next time! It was so much fun! This was the view from our room.

Video of the "Screaming Eagle"- a 1/2 mile long zip line. It's a little hard to make out the person starting out from the tower, but they eventually come in to view. This video doesn't do it justice!

Perhaps the scariest part of the tour was crossing these bridges over the creek.

I missed my babies terribly but mom and dad did a great job of sending photos throughout the day. They had a great time at Nanni and Papa's.

Mr. Sunshine

2011-02-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

60 degrees was good,

70 degrees was even better,

and looking forward to it getting warmer!

We have enjoyed every minute of this beautiful weather!

Mom and I took the kids for a "walk" in the woods.

Potty Training, Firetrucks and Trains

2011-02-18T06:22:00.000-05:00

What do you spy?

If you answered, "big boy underwear", you're correct!

It brings me great joy to write this post! Potty training was something I was putting off until it just couldn't wait any longer. Luke's doctor advised us to start and I am so glad we took the advice.

I woke Luke up in the morning and told him that the firemen called me and told me that when Luke started using the toilet everyday, he could get on a firetruck. And if he tried all day long, the next day, we would go ride Thomas the Train at the train show.

Before this, Luke had no interest whatsoever in using the toilet. Thankfully, this motivation is just what he needed.

We had only one accident the first day and to my disbelief the next morning, he was completely dry. 6 days later and he has woken up from every nap and nighttime DRY and we haven't had an accident all week! He truly exceeded my expectations and I am SO PROUD!

Way to go, Luke!

Now I need to really talk to some firemen...

Day 1

Day 2 on the way to ride Thomas

Hadley was just as impressed watching the trains. Such a sweet girl...

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-18T05:03:00.000-05:00

It's been a while...

2011-02-17T08:56:00.001-05:00

I shudder to think of how long it's been since I last updated this blog. We've been busy and there's actually so much to share that it leaves little time to sit down and blog about it. But each day I'm reminded of why I started this blog in the first place, to remember all things big and small about our everyday life: the milestones Hadley is accomplishing and the funny things that are starting to come out of Luke's mouth, along with so much more.

I'll post a few pics to somewhat catch up and share a couple short stories that are popping in my mind right now.

Luke coming home from school:

Me: "Luke, did you get in trouble today?"

Luke: "Yes, I hit Carter with a book."

Me: "Did you say, "I'm sorry"?"

Luke: "No, I said, "I'm the BOSS MAN!"

~~~

When Kelly served Luke homemade mac and cheese (instead of boxed Kraft), he yelled,

"Telly, that's NOT NICE!"

Christmas Day

Kelly announced as this picture was taken that Nanni & Papa would be holding 4 grandchildren next year.

She found out of few weeks later that we wouldn't be adding one but TWO!!!

We're excited beyond words.

Enjoying the snow!

Happy Thanksgiving...a year full of blessings!

2010-11-24T14:09:00.001-05:00

Free Shutterfly Christmas Cards

2010-11-23T14:34:00.001-05:00

There are so many choices when it comes to choosing a Christmas card. My decision was made very easy when I read about Shutterfly's offer of 50 free Christmas card to bloggers!

There are so many cute designs to choose from and you can check them out HERE.

Getting a photo Christmas card in the mail always brings a smile to my face.

I love seeing photos of families and/or their little ones and the more artistic and original the better!

My dad recently purchased an old iron, claw-foot tub at a house in south Georgia that was about to be demolished. It will be on it's way here today and I plan on getting pictures with my kids in the tub, outside, in all the leaves. There just might be some christmas lights and garland decorating the tub!

It makes perfect sense in my head and I'm hoping I can make the picture a reality and really hoping that my babies cooperate!

I can't wait to pick out the perfect Shutterfly card to display the photo on.

If you're a blogger, you can check the deal out HERE .

There's He is!

2010-10-14T07:55:00.000-04:00

LOCATION CHANGE for Holiday Harvest Market

2010-09-21T15:08:00.000-04:00

Please note that we have CHANGED LOCATIONS!!!

Holiday Harvest Market

2010-09-16T14:13:00.006-04:00

As many of you know, I like to sew. I love a cute monogram and a cute design for my children to wear. After a lot of consideration, I finally decided to create my own "store". It's a process in the making and I have so much work to do. I'm honored to be a part of the "Holiday Harvest Market" this year with 5 other ladies who have some great stuff to offer.

If you're in the Atlanta area, please stop by October 2nd. It's a drop in event from 10:00-3:00 at the clubhouse in Heritage at Vinings neighborhood. Not only will you find adorable clothing items for your children to wear for the holidays, you're sure to find great teacher gifts, tons of adult gift and home items, and some of the yummiest cupcakes you've ever tasted available for catering your holiday event. And you're sure to find treats for yourself as well!

My website (in the making!) is Hopscotch House. Lots of embroidered items for your little one. If you don't see exactly what you want, email me and I'm sure we can come up with a design you'll love. I have a lot to add in the coming weeks.

Ashleigh is the creator of Rowan and Rae. She is the mother of 4 and still somehow finds time to create beautiful, coordinating outfits for her adorable children. She's turned this passion into a business. You're sure to find a precious outfit whether you have one child to buy for or multiples!

Ann offers ThirtyOne Gifts . These are some of the cutest purses bags and children's items I have ever seen. I own a few items and they are great quality and the new fall designs are so cute. The company's name, ThirtyOne, is based from Proverbs 31 all about a virtuous woman.

Davis creates beautiful handpainted boards. Every board is unique and customized for you. I posted THIS picture of Hadley with her board that I absolutely love!

"Cupcakes by Kelly" offers cupcakes that not only taste great but look great as well. She is available to make cupcakes for any of your holiday events (as well as baby showers, etc.)
If you ask very nicely, she just might provide you with any other catering service you might need. I've seen firsthand so much of her creative work and it guarantees to be the talk of any event!

"Ibous Designs" offers handcrafted sterling silver jewelry. I've only seen pictures of the jewelry and I'm so excited to meet the creator and see all of her pieces in person. I may just need to go home with some of it! Maybe those bracelets...

Hadley's 2 month Check up

2010-08-31T20:01:00.004-04:00

Even though we're closer to 3 months than 2, Hadley went to her 2 month check up this week. She's healthy girl! Weighing in at 14 lbs, 10 oz. and 25" tall. That puts her at the very top of the charts!

We got those horrible vaccines, but she was such a trooper! She's really such a great and content baby. She cried for a couple minutes and then took a nice long nap for me!

Luke starts School

2010-08-23T14:23:00.010-04:00

Luke started school last week. I was told by my husband that his outfit was not a good choice :)

I thought it was cute: first day of 2 year preschool and a chance to reuse his 2nd birthday shirt.

I sent him the next day in a much more manly shirt.

It's just 2 days a week for 4 hours in the morning. So far he's done really well. Only a few tears each day. It's so nice for me to be able to get some things done and spend one on one time with Hadley. I miss him terribly and get really excited to see 1:00 approach.

He's very proud of his Thomas backpack and needed to show it off..

His first day I promised a surprise when I picked him up, he loved the Nemo fish. I am amazed at the small things that can make a little boy so happy!

He cracked us up last week when he came home and told on himself. He kept saying things like, "push AJ", "AJ fall down", "no no no no". We asked him why he pushed AJ and finally the next day he said, "AJ take tractor".

AJ is one of my best friends little boy so they already knew each other before class. His teacher said they both get really into their play, push each other and act like brothers.

Luke & AJ

A new "first day of school" tradition was started: choice of dinner which was of course, pizza!

and a special cake!

Happy about the Truth!

2010-08-19T13:47:00.001-04:00

Board by Davis Mitchell

Hadley- 2 months old!

2010-08-13T15:13:00.006-04:00

The past 2 months have been the fastest 2 months of my life! They have also been probably the most happy and blessed of my life as well. A healthy and happy 2 year old and 2 month old, what more could we ask for?

Miss Hadley has been the most angelic baby! She is so laid back and content nearly all the time. If she cries, I know she is hungry, sleepy, needs a diaper change, or change of scenery (or wants away from big brother crawling all over her!). I can count on one hand the number of times I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

She is the most fantastic sleeper! Before she was born, I set myself up for the worst and received the best! At 3 weeks old she started waking up once a night and by 6 weeks old has slept 8-10 hours! Certainly the icing on the cake in my opinion!

I can tackle anything 2 babies throw at me during the day if I've gotten a good night's rest!

The transition from 1 child to 2 has been fantastic for our family. Far easier than what most people warned! We are truly blessed!

Enjoy the pictures of my little beauty at 2 months old...

Loves playing on her play mat.

I love all her hair!

She won't take a pacifier, but she loves to find her fingers.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Luke!

2010-08-05T08:09:00.008-04:00

I can't believe my baby boy is 2 years old! What a blessing he has been in our lives! I love watching him change and grow up everyday. Lately, he has been saying more and more words and putting them together in small sentences. He continues to LOVE anything with wheels on it and points everything out to me when we ride in the car. He is such a great big brother and loves to be around his little sister.

I'm learning there's a reason they call it the "terrible twos"! He can go from being so sweet to falling on the floor & crying uncontrollably over something so small back to being sweet in a matter of seconds. Luckily the good moments far outweigh the bad and I know the discipline will reap great rewards as the days pass.

I can't wait to see what the next year holds!

These pictures are from his birthday party with all his little buddies!

The result from me asking Luke to show me his happy face while he was eating.

Yep, Aunt Kelly got him a fish! He named it "Luke" and thankfully he's still alive!

Dragging Papa wherever he wants to go. Poor Brodey's face, he's so sad that it had been storming and couldn't swim yet.

Daddy and Robert hard at work grilling for everyone.

My super talented friend, Ashleigh, made this cape for

Luke. One side is Superman the other is Batman.

Counting down to the big jump...

Jump! So proud of Luke and how much he's learned to "swim" this summer!

Hadley and her first picture with the O'Kelley girls.

Mama O, Me, Mandy, & June.

Hadley's Arrival

2010-06-30T18:59:00.000-04:00

Hadley arrived Monday, June 14th at 9:16 am. She was a healthy 8 lbs, 4 oz. and 20" long. She looked a lot like Luke as a newborn except she had a lot more hair that was dark brown.

I was hoping to attempt a VBAC, but at nearly 41 weeks pregnant I ended up with a repeat c-section. Thankfullly, the second c-section was SO much easier than the first. What a great surprise!

Here's Miss Hadley on day 1

Hadley & Nanni

Hadley & Mama O

Leaving the hospital on Wednesday morning. It was so nice to have a healthy baby girl and a healthy recovery for me and go HOME a day early!

Cousin Brooklyn looks so big now!

Luke was so good at the hospital.
He loved playing with his trucks and checking out everything in the room. The best part was our view out of the window of the construction going on at the hospital. He loved watching the trucks and tractors.

He loves his sister and she gets many, many kisses everyday. He is occasionally jealous but gets over the jealousy pretty quickly.

At the Doctor's, 4 days old with daddy.

5 days old.

1 week old.

2 weeks old.

Cousins.

Hadley's Nursery

2010-05-30T11:35:00.010-04:00

With a little more than a week until my due date, Hadley's nursery is about as done as it's going to get. Here are some pictures of her room.

I used "Penelope" bedding from Pottery Barn that I fell in love with when I was pregnant with Luke and didn't know if I was having a boy or girl. I love the birdies on it.

Hanging is the outfit I wore home from the hospital and Hadley will also.

Beside that are some shoes my mom wore when she was just 3 months old.

My favorite piece in the nursery is the dollhouse bookcase.

I found one in the Pottery Barn catalog, but didn't want to spend $400 on it.

My talented husband built this bookcase for Hadley!

(and even had one whipped up for Miss Brooklyn a couple weekends later!)

Home Depot Workshop

2010-05-02T16:13:00.005-04:00

Our friends Mr. Chad and Caleb told us about the free Kid's workshops that Home Depot offers the first Saturday of every month. This sounded like a perfect outing for Luke and Andy so they went to check it out this past Saturday. I came at the very end to get just a few pictures.

They built picket fence planters.

Buddies

Hadley's 4D

2010-04-12T19:11:00.005-04:00

We had Hadley's 4D sonogram when I was 31-1/2 weeks (exactly when I had Luke's).

Here is her little face. We think she's beautiful and looks a lot like her older brother (bottom picture).

We were excited to learn that Hadley is head down. She had been following in her brother's footsteps for a while and didn't want to turn head down. Our plan now is to try a VBAC. (please keep that in your prayers!)

About 5 more weeks and we get to see this precious face in person!

Here is Luke at 31-1/2 weeks.

The Zoo

2010-04-12T13:11:00.009-04:00

We went to the zoo over Spring Break. Nanni had the week off so it was a perfect time to have some extra hands. We certainly needed them because the zoo was so crowded!

Most exhibits, Luke was mainly interested in just running around. Most of the animals weren't moving, so he didn't quite know where to look.

Until we got to the exhibit they were doing construction on. It was by far Luke's favorite! I had a hard time getting him away from it. Go figure, this boys loves all things "boy"!

Playing with Maddy

Hello?!

Showing off his Panda sticker

Bunny Pictures

2010-04-07T20:31:00.010-04:00

Jill at Jill Samples Photography did an amazing job with these bunny pictures. This was our gift to the grandparents for Easter.

How in the world am I supposed to pick my favorite to frame?!

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-06T20:42:00.016-04:00

We took Luke to the Cedarcrest Egg Hunt. He had a blast!

They had jumpies...

and in the middle of all the action, Luke couldn't resist dancing to the music over the loud speaker.

Andy showed him how to "hunt" for eggs and Luke caught on right away...

here's the best family picture we got...

and then it was time to dance to the music again.

Here's Luke with some of his friends:

Brodey, Lyla, Maddy, Ava, Caleb, and Brock.

Sitting so sweetly...

until he couldn't stand it anymore and needed to get up and dance...again!

Ashleigh caught a video clip and posted it at the end of her post here. I love my little entertainer!

Chad and Caleb, Andy and Luke, Greg and AJ

and I can't leave this beautiful picture out...this was Kelly's first full day back at work. Jason brought Brooklyn and she was such a good girl, slept the whole time!

Springtime!

2010-04-06T20:28:00.003-04:00

We have really been enjoying this springtime weather! And I really enjoy watching these two play together.

Happy 30th to me!

2010-03-28T20:22:00.000-04:00

I am quite grateful to have such a thoughtful husband. He told me we would be going out to eat and then surprised me with a stretch hummer filled with some of my best friends! It was a great way to welcome in my thirties!

Happy Friday...

2010-03-26T20:18:00.004-04:00

Our Friday night entertainment...

Hadley's Nursery- Getting Started

2010-03-17T18:25:00.008-04:00

I finally started on Hadley's nursery. I was waiting until I got a chance to check out some consignment sales and see what I could find. Obviously, as you can see in the picture below, I have a looong way to go until it's done.

I can say this... it will be pink and it will be girly!

And I couldn't help but post this short video of some shots I took of Luke. He loves to go into the baby's room and climb into the glider. Having a pregnant mommy squatting & losing her balance to get a picture is apparantly one of the funniest things Luke's ever seen. :)

If only there was sound to these pictures. I could listen to him laugh all day long.

Music Class

2010-01-28T18:18:00.005-05:00

This little boy loves to dance.

20 Weeks, 18 Months, & a stomach bug...

2010-01-25T13:07:00.012-05:00

...that pretty much describes last week for us.

20 Weeks...I can't believe I have reached the half-way mark of this pregnancy! It has gone by so very quickly. I have learned to not wish one day away; to cherish each little movement and milestone -it goes by so quickly.

18 Months...My little man is 1-1/2 years old! Again, hard to believe. I guess I can officially call him a toddler. He's doing all kinds of new and exciting things lately.

When he was in my belly and I told people it was a boy I would hear so much about how very much little boys love their mommies. I am learning that this is SO true, he melts my heart everyday with the love and affection he shows me!

3 fun things he likes to do all in one picture: coloring, praying, and wearing his gloves.

We woke up this morning and headed straight to Luke's 18 month well check.

He's a healthy boy and I'm a proud momma.

The downside of an 18 month old?

Getting a good picture!

I try so hard and most turn out like this:

and finally, the stomach bug:

Andy started the week off with a stomach bug. We thought we were in the clear until Wednesday when Luke woke up sick and I got sick the following night.

Thankfully, we are all much better and looking forward to a healthy and fun week ahead.

Happy Monday!

She has a name...

2010-01-19T07:48:00.005-05:00

Hadley Elizabeth O'Kelley

"Peaceful Spirit"

Psalm 25:21- "Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You."

(Meaning from The Name Book)

It's a GIRL!

2010-01-14T17:29:00.003-05:00

We are excited to announce we are expecting a

GIRL!

More exciting than finding out the gender of our baby was finding out that everything looked healthy on the sonogram!

So far, this little girl has been more active than Luke; I've been feeling her since about 16 weeks.

We are coming very close to deciding on a name. When we know for sure, I will let y'all know.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Luke with Brooklyn

2010-01-06T18:59:00.002-05:00

Luke has been great with Brooklyn. He is very gentle and hasn't shown signs of being jealous of another baby being around.

He loves to wave at her and say, "hi!".

Then he loves to check out all of Brooklyn's things....

Christmas 2009

2010-01-05T13:27:00.008-05:00

Our Christmas 2009 in pictures...

Introducing...

2009-12-22T08:35:00.003-05:00

...my new little neice, Brooklyn Hope.

Born Dec. 21st, 5:56 pm. 7lbs, 8oz. and 19.5".

She's healthy and so beautiful!

I'll save the details for Kelly to share on her blog, but here are a couple pictures.

We're still here!

2009-12-18T13:03:00.005-05:00

I've been neglecting my blog lately mostly because I have been so sick this pregnancy. I'm finally feeling much better and have vowed to myself to start doing much better at updating.

The big moving day was October 31st. Here is Luke his last day at our old house:

We moved to a much smaller house about only 5 miles away. We are planning on staying here for 2-3 years while we design and build a house we hope to stay put in!

It was bittersweet moving away from the house we took Luke home to, but we're exciting to be moving closer to our goal of building our own house.

In the meantime, so much has happened and I have so few pictures.

Here's one of Luke getting his first haircut.

Big Brother Picture

2009-10-27T12:09:00.004-04:00

I failed to mention in my previous post that I'm losing my brain lately too! I guess too much going on.

I meant to post this cute picture that we used to tell my family we're pregnant.

#2

2009-10-26T13:25:00.007-04:00

I've been slacking quite a bit from blogging lately. But for good reasons:

We closed on our house last Friday and are renters in this house until we close this Friday on our new home. That means lots of packing and preparing!

I've found it really hard to get anything done because I am tired and so sick.

Why?

Because I'm 8 weeks pregnant!

What better reason to be tired and sick.

We had a sonogram last Friday. Everything looked great and we got to hear the sweetest sound... a strong heartbeat! Praise the Lord!

Looking forward to June 9th, 2010!

(and being settled in a new house)

Here's a picture of our little raspberry:

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-24T10:53:00.008-04:00

Here's our playgroup at the pumpkin patch this year. Luke is quite the adventurer and ran all over the place. I can't believe he sat still for this picture.

Luke loves faces, and especially sticking his finger in mouths.

Quite a change from a year ago!

and this picture from last year still cracks me up!

Santa at Phipps

2009-10-05T10:00:00.003-04:00

Can you believe this time of year is starting? Here's your reminder for the most popular Santa in Atlanta...

It's October!

2009-10-01T15:29:00.004-04:00

I absolutely LOVE fall! The weather here is beautiful and we've taken advantage of being outside every minute possible.

Here's my recommendations to kick off fall:

Chili

Cornbread (you gotta try THIS RECIPE from Paula Deen)

and a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte!

Sold House and LOTS of rain.

2009-09-22T09:40:00.010-04:00

We've been quite busy lately. After our house being on the market for nearly a year, with tons of lookers but no takers, we finally got 2 offers in one day! We negotiated both, worked a deal with one, and got a signed contract. Now comes the month of waiting and inspections, appraisals, etc. Keep us in your prayers that all goes well.

The rain here has been unbelievable! Here are some photos we took.

The ramp to the dock that your normally go down.

Monday morning:

Monday afternoon:

Tuesday morning:

can't even see the ramp

Thursday..wow!

In other news, we've been learning to steer,

learning to use markers,

and had our first goose egg on our head!

Featured!

2009-09-09T07:30:00.005-04:00

Here is a special THANK YOU to "Design Dazzle", they featured Luke's nursery on their website HERE! and I think they did a great job!

Busy Week, Busy Boy

2009-09-06T08:50:00.001-04:00

We have been super busy this week. I have had to clean my house for showings this week, which is NOT easy with a 13 month old little boy. Lately, he has entered into this stage where he needs my attention at all times. If I'm not paying attention to him, he's at my feet whining to get up, see what I'm trying to get done, watch a show with him, play with him, and his favorite thing- go outside. Which when he points to the door and whispers in my ear, "owsigh, owsigh", who can resist?

Here's some pictures from today. It was just Luke and me at home today during UGA's first game...

without his play buddy there, he actually sat on the couch with me for about the first 20 minutes.

and then we had other things to do and play with...

Pumpkin Dress

2009-09-05T20:09:00.002-04:00

I don't know if I've mentioned that my niece has a name now!

Brooklyn Hope

Here's her first little dress I made her. She can't wear it for a year, but I just couldn't resist.

Football Season

2009-08-26T14:47:00.005-04:00

Are you ready? Less than 2 weeks to go. I can't wait, partly because that means cooler temperatures are on their way also!

Luke got a new jersey today and we had to try it out...

You wanna piece of me?

2009-08-25T11:41:00.000-04:00

Watch out!

Tractors and our Weekend

2009-08-17T11:25:00.014-04:00

It's not uncommon for Andy to come home from work hauling some type of ~~man toy~~ equipment behind his truck. I didn't realize how common it was until he came home Friday with this...

and I never even asked about it.

Andy couldn't wait to show Luke what he had and let him try it out.

Luke was quite impressed.

The rest of our weekend was pretty laid back. Luke and I rode with my mom and dad to some outlet stores. Luke would try and make friends with all the little kids he would see, including these:

He also got some new shoes:

and his first shiner from the lego table:

It actually looks worse in person than in this picture.

Happy Monday!

Hope you all have a great week!

It's a...

2009-08-15T12:10:00.009-04:00

My niece is going to be a...

GIRL!

We are so very excited about this news!

I'm thinking cute monograms, pink ruffles, dresses, bloomers, bows, pony tails...

p.s. Kelly tells me she is really close to finally starting her own blog now that she has found out what she is having!

Baskets of Veggies & Bundles of JOY

2009-08-14T12:50:00.007-04:00

If you live in the North or West Cobb area, I've got a find for you!

Farmer's Market Baskets

This is a business created by a stay at home mom (of 7!). She goes to the State Farmer's Market and then sells baskets ready to pick up in our community.

I thought this was a fabulous idea for it's convenience, price, and our family's need to eat more fruits and veggies.

I went to pick up my first basket this week to see what a "Farmer's Market Basket" was all about. I was so surprised to find my $15 basket full of fresh potatoes, tomatoes, peaches, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, bananas, cucumbers, pineapple, and corn. (I think)

Here's it is:

The owner was super nice and the place was packed full of people getting their baskets.

Check out their website above to see all of the pick up locations.

So after picking up my fruits and veggies, I started preparing them, hoping that I won't let anything go bad.

So what was Luke up to while I was busy in the kitchen?

Figuring out how to climb in and out of the cabinets:

and figuring out how to put on mommy's flip flops:

and many, many, many other things that I did not get a photo of.

And last, but certainly not least for my Friday, we get to find out if Luke's cousin is going to be a GIRL or BOY!!!!! YAY!!!!

I've been waiting for this day for months.

Stay tuned...

Why we Love Alden...

2009-08-12T11:38:00.009-04:00

He comes to visit and totally makes Luke's day!

And he comes bearing gifts...precious drawings he made for Luke.

The drawing above is Luke in this outfit.

Alden is my cousin, Matt's son. Matt is overseas serving our country right now. Say a prayer for Matt, can you imagine being away from your son for so long? I sure can't...but thank you Matt and all of our other soldiers for serving!

We love you, Matt

and

We love you, Alden

Weekend at Nanni & Papa's & Lawn Lessons

2009-08-11T14:03:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday! We just ended a great weekend- with only 1 photo to post...

This is Luke hanging out with Papa on their back deck.

Luke and I spent the weekend with my mom and dad because Andy was away on a guy's weekend at the lake.

We had a great time, Luke was spoiled all weekend of course, and I was spoiled with time to myself! I ran all kinds of errands and did all kinds of chores, all without a schedule!

I even attempted mowing the lawn for the first time...ever.

I wanted it to be a surprise for Andy when he got home.

It only took about 10 calls to my dad before he said he was heading over to help.

I even did the diagonal lines to make it pretty, not too bad for my first time, right?

It might even look better if I took the picture from the road, but this is a public blog, so you don't get to see my house.

I also went with Kelly to Babies R Us to help get her registry started and look what I found:

It's a Nana Saver. I had been wondering if anyone else shared my half banana problem. While it still makes the end of the banana brown, it does keep it fresher than just exposing it to air. And keeps away any fruit flies. Not bad for $2.99.

It makes me want to try out my friend, Beth's recommendation, the Avo Saver.

Beth, is it weird that we're both so concerned about saving our fruit?

Easy Blueberry Crumb Cobbler

2009-08-10T11:31:00.007-04:00

Super EASY and super YUMMY

(and super rich)

All you need is this:

to make this:

You can print the recipe ...here.

PB&J

2009-08-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

When's the last time you had a PB & J?

Did it make you this happy?!

Squash Book

2009-08-04T16:00:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd pass along a wonderful idea my friend, Kristin, introduced to me.

A "Squash Book".

Mine is more of a squash card than a book because I left off the cover and back.

If you google "squash book", you'll find tons of directions on how to make one.

I spent less money on this than some cards cost and only 15-20 minutes making it.

They are:

Cute,

Simple,

& Easy.

Here's the front:

and the back:

and the inside:

(If you're a true scrapbooker, don't look too closely!)

Watching Luke...

2009-08-01T15:45:00.005-04:00

On any given night, when Andy comes home from work he will play with Luke while I get dinner ready. This particular night, I heard silence and had to go check. Lucky for me, my camera was nearby and I snapped this before Luke or Andy knew I was there. For those of you that know Andy, the second picture below will be quite humorous.

I first saw Luke reading his book. He LOVES books....

and then I saw Andy, deep in concentration:

How to post Big photos on your blog!

2009-07-31T09:24:00.027-04:00

Ever wonder how to get big photos on your blog? I have for a long time and I finally sat down and researched it enough to figure it out. There seem to be a few different ways, but this seems to be the most simple! So here goes...

1. Save your template! If you mess it up the first time, you can always go back to what you started with.

2. Alter your blogger template- You only have to do this ONE time. You have to have 'minima stretch' as your chosen template. Then, go to "Customize", Layout" and then " Edit html". You want to make sure your posting area is big enough to accommodate the larger images.

Under "outer wrapper", change only what you see in RED below:

(note: for 2-column blogs, I believe you can go up to 915 instead of my 700 under the main wrapper.)

Outer-Wrapper

-----------------------------------------------

outer-wrapper

width: 1150px;

main-wrapper

width: 700px;

3. Upload your photo to your blog post. Choose the "large" option. The photo below is how it originally looks:

4. Alter HTML codes for your picture. Click on "edit Html" in the upper right hand corner of your post, next to "compose".

5. There are 3 numbers to change: Change the numbers in red to the blue numbers below:

300px; height: 400px; src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DKxUFD7O5Iw/SnLw2FkPq_I/AAAAAAAAAkU/i3Jf2gAeqVo/s400/100_2562.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364614918149483506" /

480px; height: 640px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DKxUFD7O5Iw/SnLw2FkPq_I/AAAAAAAAAkU/i3Jf2gAeqVo/s640/100_2562.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364614918149483506"

Here is the altered BIGGER photo...

5. Here's the only confusing part: The numbers you change depend on the original size of your photo. Whatever the size, add (up to) 60%, and that will be your new number. For example, 200px + 60%= 320 px.

Smokin' Husband

2009-07-29T07:01:00.006-04:00

Here's a little something about my husband.

I am proud to say he's one of the hardest working people I know. When he gets an idea in his mind, there's nothing that can stop him until he gets it completed!

I like it- hard work, good work, and completing the task.

Here is his latest side project at work.

A Smoker. Built mostly with scrap material.

(They don't typically build smokers, they are electrical contractors and the smoker is for 'morale and reward' -I made that up, but you get the point).

Misty 6232

2009-07-28T10:25:00.011-04:00

I have found a new paint color to go into my list of favorites!

"Misty" by Sherwin Williams.

(second color down)

I can be picky with paint colors, so my list of all time favorites is short. This color made the cut!

It's a light blue-gray color and looks fantastic in my laundry room. Our house is on the market, so as soon as I had a small square of test paint on the wall, of course a realtor calls and wants to show our house the next day! So, about 3 hours later (Luke took an awesome 2 hr nap for me!) I had the laundry room painted.

Here's the boring white walls before...

and the peaceful "Misty" walls after.

After painting, we headed to Publix and picked up a box of Borax and some Fels Naptha bars.

And I made this arrangement.

What are Fels Naptha bars? I really don't know, I just needed something to put in my third glass container and decided on these in the laundry aisle. They make the room smell SO clean!

Maybe next time I have a stain, I'll try them out.

12 Month Well Check

2009-07-27T15:39:00.016-04:00

We had Luke's 12 month well check today.

His height is 32" (90th percentile) and he weighs 24 lbs. 3 ounces. (75th percentile).

He's a healthy little boy!

On the way to the Doctor, so peaceful...

We spent about 1-1/2 hrs. at the doctor's office! Do they seriously think a 12 month old is cut out for that? I don't understand at all! Anyway, Luke did really well for the first 35-45 min.

We spent a good bit of time playing with the curtain.

Once the Dr. came in and checked him out, he was done!

We then had to wait, again, for the nurse to come back with his 4 shots. One in each arm and each leg. It was the first time I got tears in my eyes along with all of his tears. I sucked it up, checked us out, and headed to meet Nanni for lunch for his first PB&J sandwich. (now that the doctor gave us the go ahead on the PB) He ate every bite and has been cheery ever since. He's a tough boy!

Friends Birthday Party

2009-07-25T20:46:00.012-04:00

Luke's second party was for all of his "baby friends". It was low key...lunch and swimming, and it turned out great!

Everyone tried to grab something to eat in between keeping an eye on all the babies and kids around the pool.

Luke likes his swing by the pool better than being in the pool. He also loves to find his belly button.

Mr. Clint, keeping his eye on two at one time. Good practice for his coming arrival in February.

We sang to Luke and gave him his cake.

After eating his cake.

We gathered inside to cool off and opened all his fun gifts!

Happy, Happy birthday boy!

ALL the kids were into ALL the gifts...

and Luke was into Brodey's belly button!

Luke thanked everyone by clapping after all the gifts were opened.

Thank you to all our friends who came to celebrate Luke's birthday! We feel so blessed.

Family Birthday Party

2009-07-25T20:45:00.010-04:00

Luke's first birthday party was with all of our family. Luke had so much fun; he ran around like he knew everyone was there for him!

I did a simple construction theme and had dessert for everyone.

My favorite (and by what was left, everyone else's favorite) dessert was the dirt cake in the dump truck. Yummy!

The favors everyone went home with, candy coated Oreo cookies.

If you want to make fast friends with Luke, offer him a bite...of anything!

Luke's first gift of the day came from the sweet lady at Publix.

And the second from Nanni and Papa. Both were hits!

Did you see those 2 seats in the wagon above? Yes, we already have the next space filled. See the sweet, tiny bump below? Baby Evans is due to come January 1st!

Luke trying out his first chair. He loves his chair, although because it talks to him and spins around, he's still a bit cautious.

Cake time. I thought because Luke loves to eat so much, he would surely dig into his cake and have it everywhere. To my surprise, he was very gentle with it. Maybe it was because he had about 30 people staring at him and singing to him.

Thanks you so much to all of our family for not only sharing Luke's birthday with him, but for being there this entire past year for our family! We love each and everyone of you!

Happy First Birthday!

2009-07-25T09:49:00.005-04:00

Here's my sweet boy on his birthday! I am so blessed to have spend a whole year with my buddy! I love him to pieces, more than words could do justice! More to come on all the birthday happenings...

A Year Ago Today...

2009-07-23T07:21:00.005-04:00

This was me a year ago today in surgery, hard to believe! The video is very "g-rated" but not for those of you who are squeamish about surgery.

Happy Birthday, Andy & A Weekend Away

2009-07-21T12:14:00.021-04:00

Andy turned 31 this past Wednesday! Because I was 8 days away from giving birth last year, for his big 30th, we didn't really do anything special. So, to make that up to him, I planned the most fantastic weekend away at the Ritz Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation as a surprise!

The surprise could not have gone more perfect. I had gotten him off work for 1/2 day on Friday without him knowing it. (It's nice when his boss is his uncle and his mom works there also to make sure the surprise would go flawless!)

As we were on our way, he figured it out by looking at my GPS, even though I told him not to. I then filled him in that our friends were coming on Saturday morning to join him at the golf course and me at the spa! As always, I didn't take enough pictures.

If you've never been here, I HIGHLY recommend it! (It's only about 1-1/2 hrs from Atlanta.)

The whole group at the infinity pool with Lake Oconee behind us. Beautiful!

The hotel has s'mores every night at the firepit.

Everything about this quick weekend vacation was absolutely perfect! It was my first time away from Luke and I missed him like crazy! However, it was good to have some time away and without a schedule and I knew he would get quite spoiled by Papa and Nanni while I was away! When I got home, I had imagined Luke's huge grin and how he would run straight into my arms. Instead, he stayed right by Nanni and hugged on her and just stared at me! What?!?

When we arrived on Friday, Andy & I spend a couple of hours touring some of the model homes and cottages at Reynolds Plantation. If you're interested, here is a slideshow of some of the photos I took...

Playground

2009-07-14T09:24:00.002-04:00

We visited Nanni at work today. The kids aren't back in school yet, so we couldn't resist the empty playground!

Dress like a Cow, eat free Chicken

2009-07-11T07:50:00.005-04:00

Yesterday at Chick-Fil-A if you dressed like a cow, you get a free meal. We met our friends, Kristin and Clint, at Chick-fil-A (a normal "night out" now that we have babies!). While all of us refused to dress like a cow, we did dress Luke and Maddy up! They were the cutest 2 cows at the restaurant!

"Can we PLEASE get these stupid ears off?"

He's a WALKER!

2009-07-07T14:32:00.003-04:00

Even though Luke knows he can get from place to place faster if he crawls or walks with someone's assistance, I think it's safe to say he is officially walking!

Dancing, Walking, Clapping, & showing his tongue!

2009-06-25T10:35:00.010-04:00

Luke cracks us up with how he dances. He just likes to move his head to the music. I also caught him on video taking steps, he's been walking small distances from one thing to another!

His response to "Where's your tongue?" is also so funny!

Brad & Mandy's Wedding

2009-06-14T09:48:00.002-04:00

Andy's brother, Brad got married last night. It was absolutely beautiful and everything went so well. Luke was ALL over the place, so this is the only picture that I took! I will post more when I get them.

Before the wedding with Daddy, Brad, and Chad

Fire truck Walker

2009-06-04T08:22:00.005-04:00

Luke has been walking with the help of our fingers for weeks now. It gets tiring and very hard for me to get anything done. Thanks to Alden, I now have a bit of relief. He came over yesterday to help out Nana while she watched Luke and to swim when I got home. He brought Luke his old firetruck walker. Luke absolutely loves it and has walked all over with it! Luke even took about 3 steps on his own last night after walking with his firetruck all day!

Here is Luke figuring his truck out. He loves to walk with it and to make it play songs.

Alden pushing Luke

I caught you!

2009-05-19T15:51:00.004-04:00

I was right beside Luke at the island cleaning up the kitchen. I thought he was playing with his fridge magnets and the container of Puffs. Apparently, he knows how to open the container! I looked over and found him with as many puffs as his little hand could hold stuffing them in his mouth as fast as he could!

I can't keep up with how quickly he is learning to do things lately!

Sweet little man, he got so mad when I started cleaning them up.

(Late) 9 Month Well-Check

2009-05-12T12:55:00.003-04:00

Luke went to his 9 month well check last Friday. He is 30-1/2" and still in the 95th percentile for his height. He weighed 21 lbs. 14 oz., dropping him into the 80th percentile! I guess with all this moving around he has slimmed down a bit. Not surprising to me because he is one BUSY boy!

Luke Giggling

2009-05-07T19:32:00.003-04:00

I could listen to these giggles all day long! Andy was sipping water and spitting it back into his cup...who knew that would be so funny!

A Sweet Picture to Share

2009-04-30T09:51:00.002-04:00

Luke gets so excited when his daddy comes home!

Naked Farmer

2009-04-24T19:01:00.003-04:00

I remember when Luke was little he would LOVE to lay on his changing table and get his diaper changed. No longer will he just lay there...he will usually fuss when you lay him down, roll over, and crawl away as fast as he can. After Luke's bath, it's all I can do to get a diaper on him. He's usually trying to escape and he really loves to climb on this tractor. So here he is after his bath tonight...

Learning to Climb Stairs

2009-04-24T18:17:00.003-04:00

Did I mention that Luke is into EVERYTHING?! I have been avoiding taking Luke over to the stairs in our house, knowing that once he found them, that's what we would spend our days doing. Well, he found the stairs at Aunt Kelly's house this week when she was babysitting and the very next day he wanted to explore ours. Every day since then, Luke has spent more and more time at the stairs.

Is he cute or what?

Happy 9 Month Birthday!

2009-04-23T18:13:00.007-04:00

Happy NINE month birthday to my little buddy! I never did an 8 month post, I guess because nearly to the day he turned 8 months old, he started crawling! Since then I have spent most of my time following Luke everywhere he goes. He has gotten quite fast and is now pulling up on EVERYTHING in our house ALL the time! He likes to go to different rooms so that he can find different things to climb up on. He loves opening drawers and doors. He is such a handful! He is still such a happy baby and I enjoy every minute of him.

He loves to sit with his feet crossed!

I tried feeding him a 1/4 of my Chick-fil-A sandwich the other day. He ate it all and smiled and kicked his legs with every bite. Here he is asking for some from Daddy.

Such a happy baby in the morning!

Who does Luke look like?

2009-04-23T11:50:00.006-04:00

So most everyone says that Luke looks just like his daddy. I'd have to agree that he really does look a lot like Andy. Although I have to argue that he looks a little like me too and in fact he really looks a lot like his Aunt Kelly when she was a baby!

Here's Andy's baby picture...

My baby picture...

and Kelly's baby picture...

Playtime with AJ

2009-04-21T13:09:00.006-04:00

Sarah dropped off AJ last week for about 1-1/2 hours while she ran an errand. It was my first time without any help and 2 babies! Luckily, AJ is a super sweet and easy baby and we didn't have any problems! Luke enjoyed the company and thought AJ blowing raspberries at him was pretty funny!

(There is really not too much to this video, just two cute babies!)

Uncle J's Baseball Game

2009-04-21T11:39:00.006-04:00

We went to see Uncle J coach an away game at N. Paulding High School this past Saturday night. Luke was of course the cutest fan with his Hilgrove

Baseball t-shirt on. (Thanks, Tracey!)

Luke had a blast watching all of the action. He got special treatment from Uncle J and got to walk around on the field and in the dug out while the guys warmed up.

I'm sure when Luke learns to talk he'll be asking all the time when he can go play with Uncle J!

Easter Pictures

2009-04-12T11:17:00.004-04:00

After we got home from church this morning, we took Luke outside to get some pictures of him in his Easter outfit. I couldn't choose the cutest, so I've posted quite a few!

Clapping and Waving

2009-03-17T10:37:00.003-04:00

We've been teaching Luke how to clap and wave for a little over a month now. This past Sunday evening, he started doing both! He prefers to clap, but will wave every now and then also. I'm so proud of him!

Bathtime

2009-03-11T20:17:00.002-04:00

Luke absolutely loves his bathtime! He's learning how to splash the water and play with all his toys. He's so much fun!

Hard Hat

2009-03-06T15:27:00.002-05:00

Will you hire me, Daddy?