Santa

 

We took Kelsey to see Santa last night (I know finally, right?!?!).  She was excited and not the least bit intimidated or scared.  She walked right up to him (without either of us) and jumped up in his lap.  She told him that she wanted an American Doll (aka American Girl Doll).  She is very excited and asked me if Santa was coming to our house tonight!  Love kids this time of year!  

 

Look at the cute grin on her face!  

 And then we got in the pic too...just because. 

Oh wait...Mimi and Grandaddy were there too and joined us. 

I will spare you the pictures of us in the reindeer antlers that they provided.  If you must see them, there is one on Facebook.  

We are gearing up for Christmas and must be done tonight/tomorrow as we are going to be celebrating soon!  Merry Christmas to all!!!

Opryl@nd Hotel

It has been a few weeks, but we made the trip (20 min trip) to Opryl@nd Hotel to see the Christmas lights while John's parents were in town for Kelsey's birthday.  I knew that they would enjoy it and Kelsey did as well.  I hadn't been out there while they were decorated for Christmas in several years, so it was time again. 


Kelsey in front of the big tree as you enter.
p.s. - she thought the stair case was awesome and wanted to run up and down. 

She does love us! Mommy wasn't feeling great at this point. 

Gramps (she now calls him Grampsy) and Laney 

How stinkin' cute is this!!!!! 

She wanted a pic with Shrek!
There were several characters but his was the only one that we got our pic with.

Love this! 

She is so (too) big! 

 

 

 

Goofball!

We had a great time and this may just be a tradition for us know.  Kelsey really enjoyed it and did really well walking around.  We did take the small stroller for a backup and had to get a snack along the way.  Great memories with family!

We are gearing up for Christmas now.  I know that everyone is saying this but it is amazing how fast it is coming this year with Thanksgiving being so late.  We are going to be spending Christmas with John's family this year and will get some extra time with them. We have lots of shopping to do and have already started Christmas parties and get-togethers.  I LOVE Christmas! 

Our Baby is 4!!!

Hard to believe that this is where we were 4 years ago...having our precious baby girl in St. Louis.  My how our lives have changed since that day! All for the better, but still changed.  This girl has brought so much joy into my and her daddy's life that words cannot begin to describe it.  Yes, we have challenging days and sometimes I need a break, but at the end of it all she has my whole heart and I can't imagine loving her anymore.  However, that loves keeps growing and our relationship keeps growing and she keeps growing.  I tell her all the time to slow down and she replies with "Mommy I want to grow big".  Breaks my heart!  Then I see her learn something new, sing a new song, remember a new bible verse and the growing up isn't so bad. If anyone figures out the secret to keeping them small, let me know! ;-)  I am only 1/2 serious there.  I know that God has BIG plans for this one and I do ( I really do ) look forward to seeing them unfold.  For now we will enjoy her fourth year, teaching her new tricks and playing her favorite games!  Kelsey Lynn I love you to the moon and back (and then to Target). 

Exciting News from Kelsey

Yes that says what you think it does.  Kelsey is going to be a big sister!  Everyone keeps asking me if it was planned....yes it was.  Are we crazy, probably, but she has been the biggest joy in our lives.  Now we will have 2 joys!  We are very excited and Baby Robus is expected to be here in May.  

I am now in the second trimester.  Which I welcome with open arms!!!  Now just to get the nauseous and what follows to stop! Hopefully it is coming soon.  I have more good days that the other, but it is still present.  I have been tired, but energy seems to be creeping back in.  It is a good thing b/c I need it and now!  K is turning 4 (TOMORROW PEOPLE!!!) and we are hosting one of our 2 Thanksgivings at our new house next week (EXCITED!!!) and there is so much more to do of course!  Christmas is right around the corner.  So, now the blogging world knows along with the other social media outlets too. 

Few things to note:  

1. 13 weeks tomorrow
2. Official due date is May 31st (my parents anniversary)
3. Already showing and have been for a few weeks.  Maternity clothes came a lot sooner this round! 
4. Heart rate was 156 on Wednesday when I went for the 12 week appt
5. Kelsey says it is a boy and that he will be named Ice Cream 
6. She also loves to talk to the baby and give it hugs.  Adorable! 

Our weekend

 

This weekend we had our first visitors at the new house!  John's parents and grandmother came in Friday and stayed for the weekend.  They wanted to see the new house and of course us too.  Papa mommy is 95 and amaze me at how well she gets around and adjusts to new surroundings.  We had a great time (despite getting locked out of the house for the first time...soooo not my fault.  No really it wasn't my fault!).  Pictures above are from the weekend.  

1. Kelsey put stickers all over me and her one night while sitting on the couch...guess she got bored sitting around and talking.
2. We took PM to see the couch that we bought/ordered for the living room down stairs (ours will be brown though).
3. The boys put together John's grill that he had just ordered.  It came a few days early which was just in time to use it while they were here.
4. Kelsey learned to draw a house!  I was amazed and don't really know where she got it but it was great.  She did ask Laney to "draw a triangle for the roof, please".  The she drew a family to live in it too. 
5. We tried on her dance gear b/c she started back to dance yesterday (more on that later).  I was afraid some of it might have been too small since she has seemed to grow 2 inches in the past month.  We did have to go get some new ballet shoes, but everything else was good for now. 
6. Watched some FOOTBALL!
7. Kelsey rode her bike!  Her new favorite thing to do at the house b/c we have a drive way and sidewalks to ride on.  She thinks she is so independent getting to ride on the sidewalk in front of the house w/o us. 
8. SPIDERS!  The girls did a little shopping.  Kelsey found these headbands while at Kirklands and wanted to put them on for a picture.  It was her request really! 

I am sure there is a lot more to share, but that will have to do for now!  We are looking forward to LOTS of visitors in this new house!  Come and see us...just give us a little warning.  Ha!

Love for August...

....not because of school being back in session (who would).  Not because the weather is cooling (yeah right).  Not because of my bday (yup just turned 31...I am now "IN" my thirties!!!!) or the many other bdays around this time.  BUT BECAUSE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

 

Yes I get giddy this time of year b/c of college football.  The Tennessee Volunteers to be exact, but I will watch it all.  John is a Razorback fan, so I guess I have to mention them too.  AND we are season ticket holders for Vandy (hey it is SEC football in our hometown, so we are going).  So....we have plenty to watch.  

 

We kicked it off last night at the Vandy game.  It was so stinkin' hot that there are NO photos to be had.  Let me just say that football is made to be in chilly weather with some hot chocolate and a blanket!  But none the less...we still had fun.  Vandy did NOT pull out the win.  So disappointed...there is something about those Ole Miss fans I just don't like!  Of course, there are the exceptions (my college roommate and her hubs & my bosses & a few people that John works with), but overall I could do with out their fancy tailgates where the girls wear pearls and heels.  I mean come on, it is FOOTBALL and it was HOT!!  I am good with my t-shirt and flip flops!  Ha!

 

So this Labor Day weekend we will have the TVs (yes I said TVS b/c Arkansas and Tennessee games are likely to overlap) on some college football.  All while we continue to unpack of course!  

GO BIG ORANGE! Oh how I love the site of the checkered board end zone!! 

P.S. Kelsey sides with me on this one! 

We did it!

We moved.  All of our belongings are in our house.  The house that we own.  The house that we built.  There is more space in there than what we know to do with.  Here is an album with the building progress which was not all that bad.  In fact, we enjoyed it and would recommend our builder! 

It is still hard to believe, that we have this place to live that isn't in my parents basement.  We were very blessed to be able to stay with them for 10 months and save some (a lot really) money.  But we had a routine and it had become "life".  Now we are making a change.  A good change, but a change.  

Kelsey has seemed to adjust pretty quickly and well.  She does miss her Mimi and Grandaddy and each time we drive by their road she waves.  She likes her room (the only one in the house that is set up and organized).  We have to buy her a bed and dresser and hang decor and curtains, but she loves the pink and purple.  And she has a huge closet!

And this is the rest of the house.  (Not really at all actually...just the dining room which is the catch all at the moment.)  We have unpacked the kitchen.  I guess technically my mom and aunt did that all day Saturday while we moved furniture and more boxes in.   

Let me just take this little tangent to say that I have an awesome family that came to help out over the weekend.  My grandparents took Kesley Friday night and brought her to us Saturday evening.  Mom and Dad not only let us live with them for 10 months, but helped us move, unpack, wash laundry, get food, run errands, etc....  My cousins, Molly, Chase and Chad all came to help us move along with Uncle Mark.  And Aunt Debbie helped in unpacking the kitchen and washing all my dishes that had been in a stinky storage locker for several months!  Uncle Kelly was our agent and patient with us while we figured out what we wanted.  The in-laws and great grandma were huge blessings during this time as well!  Thanks to all!

OK back to the post.  There is nothing on a single wall just yet.  Oh I take that back.  I hung one picture in Kelsey's bathroom the other night and her bow holder in her closet (pictured above).  But no curtains or other pictures hanging yet.  It will come and hopefully soon!  John's parents are bringing his grandmother to see the house next weekend and we will have curtains and wall hangings by then.  YES WE WILL!  

So more unpacking and organizing for us tonight and tomorrow and the next day and the next.......

First week of school

Well I guess the first week of school went off pretty well.  We were caught off guard by K's class being combined with the 4 year olds this year, but b/c of the lack of 3 year olds registering they are in one class room.  The good thing about this is that K gets to stay with the kiddos she was with last year.  Her teacher started a Faceb@@k page and shared some photos.  I will share this one as it is just of K and I don't want to share the other kiddos photos without permission. 

Writing letters in chocolate pudding

They learned about creation last week and K loved it!  Week one down....however many more to go. 

We are back!!!

I keep telling myself that I need to work on the ole blog of mine!  Yet the time continues to pass and nothing is done.  I am not a writer and maybe that is part of my problem, but I am going to try to keep some of our happenings posted on here.  So.....

There have been a lot of changes since I last wrote on here.  Kelsey is no logger a little girl and refused to STOP growing.  She will be 4 in November and is loving every minute of testing her parents patience.  HA!  

First, we have moved.  We said goodbye to St. Louis last October and made our way back down south.  John was able to find a job in Nashville and we moved in with my parents while the condo was on the market and I found a job.  Well....me finding a job was MUCH easier that selling that silly condo!  Finally in February we closed on the condo and could start looking for something here!  While we left some great friends in St. Louis that we miss dearly, we are all very happy to be around family and in the south.  

Once I found a job it was time to find care for Kelsey.  We really wanted to find something that she would love and learn.  We put her in a private Christian school back in January and she LOVES it!  She has done wonderful (for the most part) and made lots of friends.  She just started back to pre-school this week after summer break and was so excited.  

K's spring picture at school last year

K with her teacher and best friend at school

Collecting coins for a fundraiser at school

First day of pre-school this year

After the condo sold we started looking for a place around here.  Luckily my uncle is an agent and was there to help!  Anything we would look at would sale before we could even get there to look at it.  One weekend we 1/2 jokingly told my uncle that we were looking until we found something.  Well...we found something...that we could build!!  So that is what we did.  The building started in May and we will have our finished product August 23rd!  The process has been great and alot more relaxed that either of us thought it would.  

Seeing her PINK room for the first time

I guess that brings us to now....although there sure was a whole lot more that went on during that time (birthday parties, trips to St. Louis, Arkansas and Indiana, concerts, graduations, swimming, picnics, new babies, and LOTS OF FAMILY!  Here is to updating more and keeping friends and family informed.  Wish me luck!