Love Was Born at Christmas

Love was born at Christmas. This takes on triple meaning for us because not only do Scott and I celebrate the birth of our Savior, but we celebrate the births of our children, both born in December. During this holiday season there is so much to celebrate, and more importantly, so much to be thankful for. I have posted a slideshow that replays the events of our family over the last 2 weeks. We had a small combined party for the kids this past weekend and we are grateful to our family and friends for making the trip to come celebrate this special time with us. The toys in the house are overwhelming-- which is only going to get much worse in 9 days! Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to my babies!

Happy Birthday also to my sweet mom, Kristy, Brooke, and Lindsey!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Cheer

It's the most wonderful time of the year. The time when our eyes twinkle in merry wonder, we "accidently forget" to check our bank account balance, and pictures of me seem to always come out with red-eye that can't be removed because it's not from the camera! Two children with December babies, a mother with a December birthday, Christmas, whew, getting tired already.... BUT it is the most wonderful time because we have so much to celebrate!! Having young children lets me feel like a little kid all over again. I just wish my daddy still paid for everything!! Santa, I believe.... I believe!!!!!!
Dear Santa, I would like to have all the toys....

Eli: Santa, I want cars and trucks, and uh.... would you come home with us?

Caroline: Santa is kind of a bore. Santa: Finally, a kid that can't talk....

Good smile = Getting everything I want....

Can I eat him???

Hope this Frosty doesn't melt......

On Dancer, on Prancer, On Dasher and Vixon

And please notify 911 that Eli is driving........

Working 9 til...11

Sweet Caroline--- the last 3 months you have kept us really working... working to keep you off the steps, working to keep you in your bed at night, and working to keep up with your speed crawling-- and now possibly walking... as of today you have taken 12 steps in a row. Your favorite expression is "uh oh" when you purposely throw things on the floor. We can't exactly get you to say bye-bye to anyone, and I suspect it is because you can't possibly imagine why anyone would want to leave you to go anywhere. Needless to say, you love people and love social activities. At Thanksgiving you did your own performance where you told all of us that you were "SO BIG". You kept raising your hands over and over again because you enjoyed the explosion of applause you received from all your grandparents.
You are easy to please- except when hungry, and when you are put in your highchair, you're all business. So far, you eat just about anything which continues to make your brother very happy- especially when he can feed you something off his plate that he doesn't want.

You call for Daddy all the time, and call for "ma ma ma ma" when you are mad or upset. You had some great quality time with your Dad and me while Eli was in Disneyworld and we loved every minute of you having our undivided attention.

You represent everything good in this world, and we love you with all of our hearts.

Loving Life

That is Eli.... loving life in Disneyworld right now with my Mom and Dad. At 10pm last night (11pm their time) my mom called to tell me that Eli had "worn them out." They had been at Magic Kingdom all morning, and at 3pm they told Eli they should all go take a nap. Eli told them matter of factly,"Meeps there are just too many things..." (to do he means). At 10pm they finally dragged him out of the park only after him saying repeatedly, "just 2 more things, just 2 more things."

Don't we all wish we had that much energy???

Hopefully some new pictures to post this week. Caroline is here with Scott and me and REALLY enjoying playing with all of Eli's toys!

"Falling" in Love

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I'm Back!

Physically-- not mentally. It's been so busy that if I don't get with it and do laundry soon I will be forced to find my swimsuit bottoms (don't act like that hasn't happened to you..... :o). Seriously though, Scott and I just got back from a week trip to Las Vegas where I had a business trip and then we drove to the desert to see David and Caylen in Phoenix. (Las Vegas is the desert too I guess, but we were staying at the Four Seasons and were surrounded by palm trees (correction- Scott was surrounded by palm trees) so we didn't notice as much)). The day before we left, we spent our first night IN OUR NEW HOUSE!!!!!!!!!! Whoopee!!! Love the house, not the unpacking. 5th move in 5 years-- not planning on doing it again for A LONG time!!!

We don't have Internet at the house because Comcast is incompetent and cannot tell us when they expect to come, so once the mothership is back and running I have cute pictures to post from our many events over the past few weeks. Eli went to his first Auburn game 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, the team didn't show up, but Eli was most enthused by the bucket of popcorn he ate himself, the band, and the "really big TV."

Caroline is close to walking and I am close to a mental breakdown. Not really, but it really has made me appreciate the stage where you can just set them somewhere and they don't move. She is talking and patty caking and enough of the jabber, I will post pictures of her soon.

I just wanted to give you an update. Talk soon!

The Fabulous Five

Five years ago today I became an office supply necessity..... a Stapler. I love everything about being a Stapler, and I love the transformations in my life as a result of marrying Scott. For example, I have developed a strong appreciation for basketball and kicking Scott's butt in the NCAA March Madness bracket, I've become much more mellow during adversity, and I have developed a much deeper love for carbs and fine cuisine. As a result, I blame my husband for the excess dimples on my thighs. I have learned to try to take life one day at a time because the journey is never as you expected it would be. In the midst of it all, we have both seen firsthand that God always provides you with a flashlight and a navigation system so that you will never feel alone or lost for too long. I never thought that I would live 2 years of my life on the ocean far away from family, nor did I ever think that I would experience the loss that comes from losing a child in miscarriage. However, those events helped develop who we are today and definitely made us more dependent on each other and our Savior. We have had many ups, some downs, and always joy.

I am thankful to be married to someone who is so funny and quirky and paticular and easy-going. I am glad that he has taken my advice on getting rid of all of his XL shirts that went down to his knees, his $55 haircuts, and his need to get out 45 different pans when he cooks. NOW, if I could only get him to see that wearing black socks to bed is not sexy....

Thank you Scott for loving me--so good--- you are my #1 favorite, and I love you... infinity and beyond!!!

She "EIGHT" Alot!

My 2 year old might be on a hunger strike, but not my 8 month old! Caroline loves to eat anything, and everything. (and she has 4, almost 6 teeth) We order a happy meal for Eli and almost every time Caroline seems to go ahead and take care of it for him. We were so cautious about what Eli ate, and now with our 2nd, well, let's just say we TRY really hard.... Eli has really enjoyed the fact that she eats alot. "Eli, did you eat all of your peas?.... Yes, mommy, I did....."Hum, well Eli, what is that green stuff hanging from Caroline's mouth....."
Caroline is about to turn 9 months, but over the past few weeks she has achieved so much. My little cuddler is going into extinction, and instead she wants to be down and crawling and pulling up on to something. I think she is close to walking, and possibly because she knows she has to have more defense mechanisms for an Eli attack. Some people ask me now that I have one of each if can tell if there is truly a difference in boys and girls behavior. My answer, UH, only about as much as there is a difference between Jude Law and Michael Moore. For example, at 8 months when Eli used to take a bath, he would automatically get into Olympic swimmer mode & the way he would kick would make even Micheal Phelps tired. Caroline at 8 months, well, she just likes to sit and play with the bubbles and smile- just so princess-cute like.

There was a couple from our church in Huntsville that we had recently met. Probably 2 of the nicest people I have ever been in contact with, and they have 2 adorable girls, age 2 and 4. Last week, the husband Tim, age 31, was found dead in his car from a possible heart attack. He was on his way to pick up his girls from pre-school. I didn't know Tim very well, but his death serves as a reminder of the harsh reality that it is not a given that we will see our children grow up. Everyday of life is a gift from God, and even the most stressful of days should be considered a blessing. I'm so thankful for Scott who is such an incredible father and husband, and am so very thankful for my children. We have been doing a lot of "group hugs" around our house lately, and when we have to get up with them sometimes 4 times a night, it just doesn't seem to bother me as much anymore. I know one day I am going to really wish these days hadn't gone by so fast...

Posing and Playing

Eli: Grayson, you want to play with me? Grayson: Eli, you are my bestis friend.
ASSUME CRASH POSITION.......................................

Going to Carolina

Well, actually, we are coming from Carolina. We are officially Alabamians, and our beach cottage is now just a fond memory. Living in South Carolina will always be one of the most treasured times of our lives. There were so many special memories there, most importantly, the birth of our daughter. There are some things that I don't miss: Bike Weeks, 11 hours from grandparents, 9 hours from most of our friends, cut-off t-shirts, overweight women in string bikinis, "the strip", horrible BBQ...BUT, below are some pictures of the things that I do miss and will always miss of my Carolina home.

Family walks on the beach..........

My family away from home.... Lindsey (above) and Brooke (below). I first met Brooke after about 3 weeks of living in South Carolina. Her husband worked in the athletic dept at CCU, so we automatically hit it off. Brooke was my lifesaver in so many instances, and I don't know what I would have done without her the first few months of our move. Lindsey moved to Myrtle Beach the end of the summer last year, and we met her and her husband and son through church. Ironically, her husband also works at CCU as a stat professor. All 3 of us shared similar stories in that we were far away from family and had to learn to do things on our own. I shared many many "growing" moments with them and a lot of "venting" sessions with them when I was worn out from all of Scott's travels and lonely with a 1-2 year old. Girls--- You will always be considered family to me, and I look forward to many adventures with you. Even though I am a few miles away from you momentarily, you are super duper close in my heart. I look forward to the day when Brooke's husband, Patrick, is the Athletic Director at Auburn and can give me all the free tickets to football & basketball games that I want (with free food of course) and also to the day that Nick, Lindsey's husband, can be the Stat professor at Vanderbilt and give my children all A's in their stat classes. (And of course, most importantly the fact that you would be just a hop skip and a jump from us :o))

The Marsh of Murrells Inlet (our sweet town)

Thank you God for all of the precious memories, and we hope that we will be "Going to Carolina" again very soon.

Let's Talk about Six.... and Seven

I forget how much I love the 6 month and 7 month old baby stages. They have so much personality, but they can't go anywhere! Right now, her personality most resembles that of a black bear. She's laid back, extremely cuddly, and quite fun to look at... but watch out, because if this little bear gets hungry, you better take cover immediately (and buy some earplugs). I love the fact that she has some fiestiness in her.

Caroline, at 6 months you were sitting up on your own and babbling "da-da". You LOVE to dance, and Eli has dedicated the song "I Like em Big and Chunky" from Madagascar 2 to you. Now I never want you to be self-conscious about your body, but if your thighs remain their same consistency 2 years from now, I'll be forced into signing you up for Toddler Weight Watchers. You're up on all fours all day long, but haven't quite figured out how to quite move those chunky thighs. You kind of have a bear crawl thing going, which again, fits your personality. I'm really ok with you waiting a bit to crawl, if it's at 25 months, just know that I am TOTALLY fine with that.

We love you with all of our hearts Caroline Bear.

A hungry bear who loves to suck her toe- gross I know-- but what can you do?

Watch out.... she's growling........

A Summer of Blessings

Time is truly something to be treasured. I have spent a lot of time this summer really trying to put a lasso around some of it and hang on for dear life. I'm hanging alright, but kind of like the blood being sucked out of your fingers and face kind of hanging. Instead of doing 40,000 blog posts to play catch up, I have made a slideshow with many of the great pictures that capture our "treasure moments" from the summer. We have had a lot of chaos, a lot of excitements, some disappointments, terrible anxiety, but more than anything, just pure and simple thanksgiving. Our bank account sure doesn't show it, but we are millionaires. God's blessings are endless, and sometimes disguised. Through our house hunting I have realized that the riches I have are far greater than the $750,000 dream house on the Appalachain mountains.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

MIA

Sorry for the lack of updates and pictures, but I hope to be caught up by the end of the week. I have great news though-- we have a contract on our house and are set to close August 20th!!! This summer has been absolutely the busiest yet, I guess because I now have 2 kids, a self-employed husband, my own job, and add looking for houses all in the mix.

I will have Caroline's 6 month post, 4th of July, other summer fun times, and family reunion pictures to post soon!

Summer Beach Fun

It's been a while, I know. I wish someone would pause our video entilted "LIFE" so I could at least take a bathroom break. Can you believe it is soon to be July? The house remains on the market, but it is showing a lot, so we consider that a blessing.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling. Back to the fun stuff that happened the 2nd week in June.... a very fun girl's trip with my college roomie and her "little person" Addison. Kristy invited me to the beach, so Caroline and I loaded the car from top to bottom and headed to Destin, while Eli stayed with mom and dad for the week. So, again, I forgot what it was like to take a baby to the beach. Definitely not as exhausting as say, well, my 2 year old, but exhausting enough and SO BLASTED hot!!!!! The girls were automatic friends though so I am glad that I have "find Caroline's college roommate" already checked off my to-do list. We did have some relaxing moments after the girls were in bed and 2 fun dinners. Oh how I had missed my sandy white beaches. AND, I realized that we didn't really stand out as much as we did in Myrtle Beach. There were actually other families there who had their children in smocked clothes instead of gym shorts and a spiderman sleeveless t-shirt.

A few pictures from our trip below..... more posts soon to come!!

BFF: Hooty-hoot!!

Nothing like a little sand for dinner............


Scott calls this her "milk maid" outfit. It was supposed to be for the beach, but I didn't want to deal with another sandy poop.

Hum, maybe 2 for the price of 1? A roommate for Caroline and a wife for Eli????? Mom brought him down the last day we were there.

Settling In

To give a quick update on our family.... we are officially in Huntsville. We are currently very fortunate to be living with Scott's parents until we sell our house in Murrells Inlet. We have one couple that is most likely going to make an offer, but your prayers will be appreciated. We are competing with the builder of our neighborhood since it has not finished being developed. I am trying to remain calm about the situation, but it is definitely a shadow hanging over our heads. Eli started preschool 2 weeks ago at Mayfair Child Development Center--- a part of Mayfair Church of Christ. I was a little apprehensive about how he would react to being in an entirely new place with all new people, but my fears were eliminated when we went to pick him up after his first day and he looks at Scott and me and says, "Leave." Wow, glad you missed us son.

Nana is keeping Caroline 3 days a week while I continue to work for my same CPA firm in Birmingham. I am very blessed to have someone who loves my child so much be her caregiver. Caroline is definitely very attached to her.

Scott's new job as the owner/Director of the Alabama Basketball Academy is doing better than expected. I think it is amazing what God can do if we just open our hands and let him take control. I am so proud of Scott for his vision, his determination, and the guts he had to take a leap of faith and do what he thought God was leading him to do. He is the most content I have seen him since I have known him. He is doing what he was born to do and it makes my heart very happy.

I also didn't realize until we moved back how homesick I had been. It is amazing to be able to hop in the car and see my parents in 4 hours or my grandparents and friends from B'ham in 2. I dearly miss Brooke and Lindsey (I have a new post coming about the 2 of them) but they will ALWAYS be very dear friends of mine and I look forward to seeing them in weeks to come.

Eli is staying for the week with my parents and attending their VBS. This is the longest I have been away from him in his 2 and 1/2 years, but I think that it is good for him to have some individual attention. He is loving life and getting spoiled rotten. He did melt my heart today when he asked me "You coming to get Eli Mommy." Um yeah, I was ready to jump in the car right then had it not been for the fried dill pickes from Buster's. Caroline is with me in Destin with one of my best friends and her little girl Addison. It has been wonderful to catch up with Kristy and get to know her precious little girl. It has also been nice to spend one on one time with Caroline. She has me wrapped-- emotionally, physically (I'm still nursing :o)), and financially---CRUD for all the cute girls clothes!

If you have made it through the end of this post, please say a prayer that our house will sell soon. More updates to come....