Monday, July 2, 2012

Zoo, River, Sesame Street Live, Parties and Kiddie Carnival, Oh My!

I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a great blogger...most of you already know this:) I'm not a big fan of just writing about nothing. I feel like I need several things to post about before beginning an entry so here goes...

In May, the girls and I met our new friends Danielle, Addie Joe and Wilson at the Nashville Zoo. We had a blast checking out the animals, riding the carousel and playing in the play area. Hannah adores Addie Jo and Danielle and I have become good friends also. We feel very blessed to have met the Hays!



We headed to Dado's River for some sun, fun and family time over Memorial Day weekend.




My cousin Kimberly's daughter, Laramy is 5 days older than Hannah so we traveled to Athens a few weeks ago for her birthday party at Onyx. The girls had a blast jumping, sliding, and enjoying yummy birthday cake. Brett stayed in Nashville so I was by myself trying to keep up with the girls. Needless to say, I was worn out:)





 We took the girls to Sesame Street Live at Bridgestone last weekend. They loved it!


 

We headed back to Athens this weekend to celebrate Hannah's birthday. On Friday, she and I spent the day together running errands and seeing some of our favorite people. We met Melanie for a cupcake then headed over to Whitney's to spend some time with Collier and Noah. We miss them so much and always have a good time when we get the kids together. The best part of the visit was seeing how excited Noah was to have us over...love my buddy!


 Fun Times with Melanie!


Saturday was Hannah's Snow White party. She was so excited as we were setting up and kept saying, "This is the best birthday ever!" It was so cute. She rounded every body up so she could bless the food. She was eager to get to her birthday cake and presents. After playing outside in the sweltering heat, we headed to the Kiddie Carnival with Jamie, Amanda, Bronner and Parker Reese. We had a blast!



My 3 year old:(







Sweet Parker


Bronner enjoying Hannah's Dora Trike




  Kiddie Carnival



Thursday, May 3, 2012

Let's Get it Started!

Well, I'm back. I know, I know, I have made this statment several times before but part of the reason I didn't enjoy updating my blog was how blah it looked. Thank you, Whitney for the much needed inspiration and blog facelift!

Where do I begin? Since my last post we've celebrated several major holidays, renovated and moved into our new house, taken a beach trip and a new job,  and ran my first half marathon. Whew! Here goes nothing...

Last post I showed pictures of the house we purchased. It needed a ton of work. The pictures were pretty deceptive. We painted every wall, replaced carpet, lighting fixtures, sink faucets, added a tile backsplash along with several other updates (thank you, Pinterest). The best part? We did it all all by ourselves! Well, we have help from my aunt and uncle but we didn't hire out any of the work. It's so nice to look around and say "we did this." We still have several projects on our list but who doesn't? I have been so impressed with Brett. He's been a carpenter, painter, tile layer, plumber, electrician, landscaper...you name it, he's learned how to do it.
I don't have the "after" pictures yet. I keep forgetting to take them when the house is really clean and let's face it, that isn't very often with two little girls running around:)

We moved into our house the week after Christmas. We are enjoying our new location. It is just far enough outside of the city and covenient to everything we need. After all this work and moving 3 times in the past 2 years, I 'm pretty sure we are here for a while.

Instead of boring you with the details of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter I'll just post a few pics. Pretty sure I couldn't remember details at this point anyway!:)

For the past 4 months, I have been searching for jobs. It has been a long, discouraging, humbling experience. I haven't worked full-time since June 2009. The cost of daycare for 2 is RIDICULOUS!! I wish someone would pay me that much to take care of my children. Needless to say, nothing was working out. The job either didn't pay enough money for me to justify working and putting the girls in daycare of it would take me 45 minutes (without traffic) to get there. Discouraging!!
About 6 weeks ago, my new friend, Danielle, introduced me to a company called Melaleuca. I'd never heard of the company but trusted her opinion so I checked them out. They are a health and wellness company that manufacture products that people use every day in their home (cleaners, detergents, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, vitamins, baby needs, etc) but without the harsh chemicals and a wholesale price. I decided to not only become a customer but also a business builder. I began mid-March as a Marketing Executive and just Monday made it to Director all while staying at home with the girls! All I do is educate people about the company and my favorite products...so simple! It has been really nice to have something else to focus on for a change. Not that I don't love being a SAHM but I needed something for me. A special shout out to my family and friends that have listened to me talk about this and watched the webcast. A special, special shout out to those of you who have trusted me enough to try out the products!

We took a family beach vacation at the end of March to Gulf Shores with Brett's family. The girls and I went down a week early and stayed with my sister-in-law and the kiddos in Fairhope. It was the best vacation we've had by far. The girls LOVED the beach and the sand. They played and played and played. It actually seemed like a vacation!

I began training with Fleet Feet back in January for the Country Music Half Marathon. I had planned to train/run this race a few years back but then our sweet Ryleigh suprised us:) It was a vigurous training program and took up every Saturday morning for the past 12 weeks. Well, last weekend was the race. Lucky for me, there was a stomach bug going around our house. It started with Hannah, then Ryleigh, then Brett and then guess who got it Saturday morning at 6am before the race? Yep, you guessed it. It was horrible. I made three pit stops during the race which was so discouraging...I.had.no.choice. I was so glad to see that finish line. I finished after 2 hours and 43 minutes of misery BUT I can say I've done a half marathon. I'm hoping to run another one in October so I should at least be able to beat my previous time:)

The girls are growing up so fast! Hannah will be three in 2 months...crazy! She is so bright and funny but has given the "terrible two's" a new definition. OMG, what a rough 10-12 months it has been. She is as strong willed as they come and it has been one of the most challening years of my life. I know that later in life this is going to work in her favor but for now it just makes for a long day/week/month/year:)  I think this is the Lord's way of reminding me that I need time with him daily. In fact, one day I was crying/praying "Lord, please help me.Please help me!" and Hannah walked in. So now every time she blesses the food or prays before bedtime she begins with "Lord, please help me." Isn't that all He wants from us any way?

Ryleigh is 20 months now and is BUSY! She never sits still, always into something, Her vocabulary has really taken off in the past month. She probably says 20 words and has begun putting phrases together. She loves to cuddle and put on a show. She is our little clown.

Well, this is more than I've blogged EVER I think. This post is dedicated to Whitney who made me promise to update more since she worked on my page.






Christmas 2011


Gulf Shores 2012



Sam Davis Home Easter Eggstravaganza 2012


Easter 2012



Country Music 1/2 Marathon with Anna



Saturday, November 5, 2011

It's Been a While...

I haven't exactly had much extra time to blog lately but wanted to post an entry to update before things get even crazier. We are about to be home owners again! We are so excited and looking forward to getting settled. The townhouse we've been renting the past year has been great for our "in between" situation but I cannot tell you how excited I am to have a fenced back yard again! It's the little things! We should close at the end of the month and are hoping after a little TLC to be in by the beginning of the year.

I've also been crazy busy teaching my classes lately. My normal schedule is 3 classes on Monday and 1 on Wednesday night but I've had several opportunities to sub so my weeks have been filling up.

Hannah LOVES going to her school (MDO) two days a week. She wakes up every morning asking if we get to go. She has learned so much since starting including the Pledge of Allegiance!! What? She's not even two and a half! I'm pretty sure I learned the POA in kindergarten. She currently knows her ABC's and recognizes several letters, counts to 15, all colors, shapes, and loves to sing! She is really into Bubble Guppies, 25 Favorite Sunday School Songs DVD we have, and The Wonder Pets.

Ryleigh LOVES running after her sister, babbling, books, peek a boo, dancing and recently singing...so cute! She knows several body parts and recognizes many words including book, bear, paci, diaper, milk, juice, ball, block, baby and knows all family members. She is such a joy and loves making new friends. You can ask her to give you "love" and she lays her head on your shoulder. She and Hannah are beginning to play together...yay!

I completed my first 5k last weekend with my best friend, Amanda. I. LOVED. IT. I know exactly why people say you are hooked after your first race. I can't wait for our next race in a few weeks. I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather be doing this with! Happy Day Before Your Birthday, Amanda! What a blessing you are to my life!



Our House!

Great Room


Kitchen


Backyard (yay!)



Hannah, 2 years, 4 months



Ryleigh, 13.5 months


Hannah with her friend, Addie Jo at Fall Festival Party



Life Without Limits, 5k



My Pooh and Piglet

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Toddling, Two and too Tough!

I haven't completely abandoned this blog but I'll admit it hasn't been on the priority list lately. Whew, where do I begin?! The month of June has flown by and we have kept the roads hot traveling every weekend. We are in contract with our house right now and should close within the first few weeks of July so we've been working there for the past few weekends to get it ready. We are excited to finally have only one set of bills however, it is somewhat bittersweet. We've brought both girls home to 142 Cottonwood and have made many memories there but we are also looking forward to moving on with our lives here in Nashville.

So much is going on with the girls. For starters, Ryleigh is toddling...toddling at 9.5 months! It has been a bit more difficult to keep up with her during the day needless to say. She can take about 10 steps now before falling and is improving every day. She is such a joy and is always so happy. She still only has 2 bottom teeth and recently started babbling, "dada, bubba, papa, baba (bottle)." No love for "mama" yet. She can sign "more" and loves to clap. She also loves table food and will eat
anything!

Hannah will be 2 tomorrow! Crazy! I really cannot believe how big she is getting. She doesn't even look like a baby anymore:( She's just like a sponge and soaks up everything...the good and the bad:) Her new favorite phrase to say is "Oh My Goodness!" She says this all the time no matter if there is something to be excited about or not...so cute! She still loves Barney but has begun to show more interest in The Wonder Pets, Olivia, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She LOVES Beauty and the Beast and I bet she asks me 10 times a day to watch it. She's every memorized some of the lines! Brett plays softball a couple of times each week and we've been going to some of his earlier games. She loves watching her Daddy play softball and yells, "Let's Go, Daddy" each time he's up to bat. She is FEARLESS. We went to Jack's birthday party on Saturday at Jump Zone in Madison and she was right up there with the bigger kids going down the biggest slide they had unassisted. I love that she's so adventurous and hope she continues to be. We went to her first cousin, Laramy's birthday party on Sunday also. I walked out of the playroom for literally 10 seconds and I hear her crying. When I see her, she has blood all in her mouth and I start freaking out. She apparently fell and her tooth went completely through her lip and out the front! She cried maybe 1 minute...so tough! She has used the potty several times but I'm not pushing it. I'm gonna save that task for when we are home more next month.

We had her birthday party a few weeks early at The Little Gym in Hunstville. It was the perfect place for Hannah's age and boy did she have a ball! She was eating up all the attention and couldn't stop talking about her Barney cake. We had a great turnout of family and friends. I am a big fan of having the party at a facility where they do all of the work for you...I actually was able to enjoy the party!

I started teaching Zumba at a friend's dance studio a couple of weeks ago...love it! I teach Wednesday and Thursday nights while Brett stays home with the girls. I also found out yesterday that I'll be teaching a Body Sculpt class at Dell beginning July 11th! This summer is shaping up to be a busy one for sure!

We are traveling again this weekend to the river to celebrate the 4th with our families. I'm really looking forward to playing on the river and relaxing a bit.



Ryleigh, 9 months


At Dado's River


Hannah's Barney Cake


Collier and Ryleigh at The Little Gym


A little excited about her cake!


Elly and Hannah at Jack's Birthday Party

Friday, May 6, 2011

Easter and Naples

April was a busy month for our clan. We went to Gadsden to spend Easter with Mimi and Dado since we haven't found a church home yet. Hannah had a blast hunting Easter eggs and even found the first place egg...well, she had a little help from her super-competitive Mommy:) Ryleigh was mesmorized by the Easter Bunny. She watched her every move.



The Wednesday after Easter we flew to Naples, FL for Brett's cousin's wedding. I had really been dreading the flight since we booked it. It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done but wasn't as bad as I had anticipated either. We really enjoyed spending time with family we don't see often. Hannah LOVED being with her cousins...makes me wish we lived closer to family.



 
  
I've been so amazed at how fast our girls are growing. Here are a few updates on each:

Hannah
Still LOVES Barney but also watches Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and The Wonder Pets
Sings her ABC's and can count to 10
When asked "who is the President of the United States?" she replies, "Obama, boooooo!" So cute!
Would eat yogurt for every meal if given a choice
Thinks that Robert (a Latino kid from Barney) is her best friend...she talks about him all the time
LOVES to Dance

Ryleigh
Began army crawling at 6.5 months...she has yet to crawl on all fours
Began pulling up on furniture this week...yikes!
Holds her arms up when she wants to be picked up
LOVES to watch her sister
Has 2 bottom teeth with a third coming through
Babbles and squeals constantly but still no clear "mama" or "dada"
Attempts to way bye-bye