Five Years, Full of Love

 Five years ago, on July 21, 2006 we were married on a beautiful July evening in a vineyard. 

For five years I have been married to my best friend. Five unbelievable, beautiful, exhilarating years.

We knew we wanted to do something special for our five year anniversary, so after thinking about it we both decided on Gatlinburg, TN. We both love it there, it's far enough away to feel like a little vacation, but close enough to not take away an entire day of traveling. 

So, the plan was to leave Thursday evening, and spend three nights down there in a cabin. 

Mom & Dad watched our boys for us, we were SO thankful. The boys had so much fun with them, Case couldn't wait for them to get there that Thursday afternoon. He woke up from his nap, and when they weren't there yet he just cried and cried! I knew that he would be just fine with them for the entire weekend - and Rhetter's loves everyone so we knew he'd be fine too. :)

So the time rolled around for us to head out for our Anniversary Getaway. 

We were SO excited! 

 The first night we hung out at the cabin, unpacked clothes, and settled in. We relaxed in the hot tub, and enjoyed the view. I also surprised Matt with my Secret Anniversary video I made for us. I collected all of the pictures I could find of "Just Us" adding babies along the way, to a 20 minute DVD of pictures and a few short clips of Casers and Rhetter's when they were itty bitty. I think he liked it, pretty sure he teared up. ;)

I was a bawling mess even though I made the thing. HA! :)

The next morning, we got up early (thanks to me, I couldn't sleep in for the life of me! I kept thinking I heard Case saying "Mommy!" when I was half asleep ha!) I was just kind of walking around, then Matt got in his "wake up let's go" mode! We ended up getting ready for the day...and headed to pick up our JEEP WRANGLER for the weekend! WOO HOO! We were going to just rent it for one day, 24 hours but Matt said "What the heck" so went ahead and rented it for two. 

SO MUCH FUN.

So that Friday morning, we headed out to Cade's Cove, we both love it out there. It is so refreshingly natural, and beautiful.

 

  

Breathtaking. 

After Cade's Cove we went adventuring a little further with the Jeep.

  Then we headed into town for lunch and the outlet malls. 

We walked around forever, and the only thing we bought was ice cream!

A monsoon came out of nowhere, so we sat on a bench and ate our fast melting treats. I called Dad to check up on the boys. He said Gunner was a big crazy dog, but so perfect for the boys, and that the boys were doing so well. He also made sure to tell me we had two very sweet boys.

(Made my day!)

Then we hopped in our wet Jeep and went back to the cabin! 

 We literally crashed in front of the TV, it was so nice being just completely lazy without a care in the world. Finally, we got motivated enough to get ready and go on down to downtown Gatlinburg. 

I made him take a ton of pictures. :) 

We found a Mellow Mushroom, we have one in Lexington but we have been there maybe once or twice. It's so far away from the house, we never think about going there. So, it was a treat to have it right there on the strip. I was excited about the pizza, but Matt was even more excited about his favorite beer Fat Tire...on draft! Sooo yummy. We had a Pitcher (or maybe 2) and the Caesar Pizza....Holy Cow it's yummy. 

It was so SO SO much fun having Matty all to myself, just holding hands walking from store to store together. Simply enjoying each other. 

That evening, I checked my e-mail on my phone, and Mom had updated me about the boy's days there. I LOVED LOVED LOVED that she did this for me! Matt and I just read them and smiled and laughed, she talked about how the boys played so well together, and she loved making Rhett smile. That when Case ate her carrots he said "Yum yum" and that it made her day. Told us about Case and Grand-Dad watching the Red's play, and that Rhett was such a happy baby. About Case praying at night, and making her sit down next to him. So priceless. :)

The next morning was our big trip over in Cherokee, we had planned on spending a day driving around with the Jeep from the beginning, and we were so excited. We woke up early and headed out. It was an hour or so drive just to get to where we were going to drive, and it was fa-reezing in the Jeep going 45+ mph! I was SO thankful I had a baseball hat and had brought my rain jacket just in case! Kept the wind off of me a little bit! We stopped for a picnic lunch right before we entered the trail...then we headed out for our 28 mile route down the mountain.

It was absolutely beautiful. So refreshing, and perfect. 

 

After such a wonderful day out adventuring, we were e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d. when we got back to the cabin. We both agreed that we couldn't sit around for a long time, or we would both just crash and probably not wake up! 

So, we hung around for just a little while, and got ready and headed downtown for another night on the strip. Somehow we ended up at Mellow Mushroom again....no complaints from either of us! This time we had the White Gourmet pizza, and of course Fat Tire on Draft again. The White Gourmet was SO GOOD. 

We walked around, went shopping for Rhett (we got a toy for Case in Cherokee) and were deciding on going on the sky lift or go back to the house, play cards, drink a few beers and hit the hot tub again. Then it started to sprinkle, so we decided to head on back. We were still a few blocks from where we parked the Jeep when it started pouring. I mean, a torrential downpour. We were just cracking up, it was even funnier jumping into the jeep with puddles in the floor board mats! It was like Forrest Gump rain, it was coming in sideways. 

 We loved it though, just took it all in as a memory. :)

& for Memory's sake, here are some pictures of our cute little cabin. 

On the way home we stopped at the Christmas Store (one of my favorites!) and bought a few ornaments. We spotted a Mellow Mushroom across the street and ate there AGAIN.
I think they should have given us a couple of T-Shirts for free. 
 We couldn't WAIT to get back to our boys, I was so giddy when we pulled into the neighborhood...we couldn't wait to smoother them with hugs and kisses!

What a beautiful five years it has been. The most wonderful, challenging, exhilarating, breathtaking five years of my entire life.
Wouldn't change them for anything in this entire world. 

So very thankful for everything God has blessed me with, but especially thankful for such an amazing man to spend my life with, and our unbelievable babies. 

With little ones, it is so easy to slip into a routine and forget to find time for each other sometimes.

The weekend we spent in the Smokies was everything we had hoped for, an amazing, memory filled trip we will never forget.

Love you Matty. Thank you for everything. :)

Ouch.

See that? 

That, almost made it's way through Case's foot. 

Matt and our neighbor were cooking out in our driveway. Case & Rhett were playing in the front yard. I had been out on the back deck painting our kitchen table and hall tree, then washed up and went to get Rhett to put him to bed. As I was walking back downstairs I heard Case crying and Matt and our neighbor Joe walking in and saying "It's okay Case, let's get to the sink. It's okay buddy. Where's the hydrogen peroxide? It'll be okay little guy" The first thing I thought was that he was actually pretty hurt, because usually when he falls he gets the old "You're alright buddy, shake it off" I figured he had fallen and busted his knees or maybe stubbed his toe and it was bleeding like crazy.

As I made my way around to the kitchen where they had him sitting with his feet in the sink, all I saw was blood. His foot was covered, and his little black sandal was drenched. "What happened??" 

We have a ton of monkey grass in our front yard, it wraps around the sidewalk leading to the front door, and apparently he had lost a football in there and stepped through it to get it. The wooden piece was probably dropped from where we got new hard wood floors last year. It was a small piece of quarter round that goes against the base boards. He stepped on it just right, Matt said he had to pull it out...EEK. I have to say that I am thankful that I wasn't there when it happened. I'm afraid I would have been panicked and scared Case even more. 

We cleaned it out with soap and water, and poured hydrogen peroxide on it, and by the time I had gotten to the sink Case was laughing and playing in the water. He kept asking me "Mommy, I wanna go back outside. Mommy?  Outside?" Matt and I just kept looking at each other, how is it that he is totally okay right now?" 

We let him down, and he walked around like nothing had happened, the kid was jumping up and down. We both were just cringing, thinking about what had just been in his foot. Thankfully, it had pierced his foot at the very top of his arch, I think any higher and it would have gone right through his foot. BLAAAH, can't think about that. 

We called our pediatrician's number to get the on call number. After about 20 minutes, we finally reached a nurse, we talked to her about everything we were concerned about. (Tetanus of course) She pulled his records, and confirmed that he was vaccinated at 6 months and his 12 months appointments for tetanus, so he was just fine. Informed us to (of course) watch for infection, swelling, puss all that good stuff. So, we rubbed some neosporin on it and put a band-aid on it. Kid acted like nothing had even happened.

That night, when Matt and I went to bed he kept saying "Ugh, Ouch. Ahhhhh. Ohh." 

"What are you doing? Replaying it in your head?"

"Yes, I can't stop thinking about it, I've had a nail go through my foot, and I know how bad it hurts. You know how they say when you are a parent you feel your child's pain? I felt it. I can't stop feeling it!"

 Bless both their hearts. (I am again, so thankful I didn't see it when it happened!)

We are so blessed that it didn't do any other damage, we watched it carefully over the next week or so and it healed so quickly. 

 Shew.

Twenty Five

I turned 25 this year, on July 15 I turned a quarter of a century. 

I still feel like I'm 20, I just don't know how five years have gone by so quickly!

Matt and I's five year wedding anniversary is just around the corner, and we have been so blessed with two unbelievably amazing little boys.

I thought for fun, I would make a list of twenty five things that I absolutely love about my life right now. It will be fun to look back on later in life. 

:)

1. I love that Matt and I kiss each other Good-bye and Good-night every single day. 

2. I love that Case wakes up saying "Mommy!" (even if it is followed by "I need to go pee pee!")

3. I love that Rhetter man sleeps in, and starts jibber jabbing when he is ready to wake up.

4. I love staying home with my boys, I love our little routine.

5. I love our big, crazy, floppy, bull in a china shop Chocolate Lab. 

6. I love talking about the future with Matt, and the places we want to go.

7. I love our church, and getting to know more people in it. 

8. I love knowing that I am being nudged to have a closer relationship with Jesus. 

9. I love that Case prays at night, there is nothing sweeter than hearing your child's voice pray.

10. I love watching Case and Rhett's relationship grow, Rhett is in total awe of Case, and Case loves him so much. 

11. I love how Rhett wrinkles his nose, and smiles SO big when we just look at him! 

12. I love how Rhett scrunches his little face into a square when he cries for something, it is so cute!

13. I love just watching my boys play, and noticing how different they are starting to look from each other.

14. I love when Matt cooks out in the drive way, we have a couple of beers and the boys play in the front yard.

15. I love that I talk to my big sister almost daily, and that we are so close. We can talk about anything. Also love that every person on the planet thinks we are twins.

16. I love decorating, and rearranging the house. I love reading blogs for inspiration, and actually making and trying what I fell in love with.

17. I love that Matt is my best friend, and knows me so well. 

18. I love that Case is such a boy. He loves cars, airplanes, trucks, baseball, baseball hats, running and jumping around like a crazy monkey, and his favorite song is by Brantley Gilbert. LOVE IT! 

19. I love my Country Music, and getting lost in it while doing chores around the house. 

20. I love random country drives with my boys, just the other day we went looking for cows and horses.

21. I love my boys laughs. All three of them. 

22. I love how much Gunner loves our boys, and how much they love him too. He is so sweet with them.

22. I love all of my friends, and so thankful for such wonderful relationships in my life.

23. I love that Matt let's me call him throughout the day, just to ask him something dumb. 

24. I love how excited the boys (and I) get when Matt walks in the door after work. 

25. I love that at the end of the day, I feel so unbelievably blessed and content in my little life.

I am so thankful, for everything that God has given me. So thankful for such a beautiful twenty five years, and so excited for what the future years will bring.

Date night on my birthday was so fun. We had my "niece in law" Shelby Lou watch the boys for us, she is so good with them! 

We were originally going to go to a Legend's Game, but it looked a little rainy when we left so we headed to The Pub for a few beers on the patio. Then, we headed to the Tin Roof for about half an hour...we got to see Ashton Shephard play for a little bit - fun but was too packed and I wasn't really feeling it. Then we drove down to the Penguin a piano bar. We parked in front of it and I just started crying. 

"What is wrong?? It's your birthday don't cry!"

"I just don't want to go to a bar tonight, and I feel old and pathetic! I just want to go to a movie I think, and I just feel so lame and old! I feel like you want to go out and I'm just your boring old wife!"

"Baby, if you want to go sit in a parking lot, or a field and just stare at each other, that is what we will do! All that matters is that we are together,  it's your birthday, I want to do WHATEVER you want to do!"

"Are you sure!?"

Nothing like an emotional break down on your twenty fifth birthday! Ugh! I just couldn't stop crying like a complete idiot! I KNOW that without a doubt I am no where near old, but something about twenty five just got to me. Matt helped me dry my silly tears though, he mentioned Target then a movie and I perked right up. :) 

Other than my melt down, we had an amazing night out. 

So thankful for my sweet hubby, and can't wait for our anniversary trip coming up soon!

Crawling. Oh my.

Boy, are we in trouble now! 

Littlest man had his first successful crawl today!

Kara (Aunt Gaga) and Annabelle came to visit today, and we were trying to think of something interesting enough for Rhett to crawl towards. So, we put sweet baby Annabelle on a blanket a few feet away from him - and the boy just started crawling towards his future wife! ;)

I was so giddy, I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I thought for sure we were still a few weeks away! 

Like all new milestones, I thought it was a one time fluke, but like always I was wrong.
He crawled again and again. Then again when Daddy got home. (Yay!)

Sooo...I think it's safe to say we better put the baby gates back up around the kitchen, and that we officially have another little crawler in the house. 

:)

Here are a few pictures of big brother showing little brother how it's done...

So proud of our little guy, even if it does mean he's growing up :(

Fourth of July

Celebrating our country's birthday, is always one of my favorite times of year. 

Our pastor led a wonderful sermon this past Sunday, reminding us how very blessed we are to live in our country, and reminded us that instead of God Bless America, maybe we should think about how 

America Can Bless God.

We are so unbelievably blessed to live in the country we live in,
and it is so easy to forget how truly fortunate we are. 

This year we celebrated on Sunday night in the park behind our house, we picked up some fireworks after church...and after our latest trip to the Legend's Game, Case remembered fireworks and was pretty excited.

He's saying "BOOM!" ...and please ignore the dying grass behind him. ;)

Rhett didn't really care about the fireworks, but was pretty intrigued by an orange bucket. :)

We had planned on heading to a cook out with friends on the actual fourth, but poor Case man came down with a fever of a 102.1 that day. So, the boys went to bed very early, and Matt and I just snuggled on the couch and watched the New York fireworks show on TV. 

:)

The Ocean

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

June 25 - July 2

 

Very early, on a Saturday morning we scooped up our sleeping boys and buckled them into their car seats.

We couldn't wait to head to South Carolina for our family vacation!

I especially couldn't wait to actually be on our way, since my dear sweet husband told our two year old a few days too early that we were headed to the ocean...and for those few days before our departure I heard this...

"Mommy, I wanna go to ocean!" 

"Mommy I go to ocean?"

about 5,394 times. 

...and even when we were in route for our long haul to the beach, we heard those sentences about 3,643 

more times.

:)

But, like my Dad said...the destination makes it all worth it. 

 

After finally making it to the condo, and after dinner out, and after me getting stung by a fire ant, and after waiting for a table for said dinner for what seemed like hours, and after making it back to the condo...it was dark. 

Matt and I couldn't stand not taking the little guys out to see the beach though...so we made it out there to that ocean before putting our little men to bed. 

We had a promise to fulfill after all. :)

The next morning, Case was apparently so excited to see the ocean again that he woke up at 6:15 am. 

6:15am.

We headed out to the balcony over looking the ocean, and as it turned out, waking up that early on the beach wasn't so bad after all. 

:)

First day, we all packed up and went down the ocean...and I forgot my camera! 

Hate it when that happens!

We brought the pack n play out to the beach for Rhett to nap in, but that was a joke. He just sat and played the entire time! He was totally content in there though, and Case just played and played and played.

We all had a fun, first beach day. After the beach, we all took it easy before dinner. We all took turns cooking dinner each night, except for the first and the last night. You should have seen how stocked we had that kitchen - we could have eaten for weeks! 

Kelli cooked the first night, because she left us early in the week for a mission trip to Haiti!

We all missed her, but were so excited for her too.

During the down times of the trip, Case had SO much fun playing with Mamaw and Papaw. 

Mamaw has a farming game on facebook, and Case would climb up and snuggle with her on her lap and they would "play farm" as Case said.

Case & Papaw started acting out the pages on a new baseball book Mamaw found for Case, it was a huge hit the entire week. They also bought him a new car toy set he did not stop playing with!

 (He's running the bases in the one above, ha!)

It was so sweet watching them play with the boys all week, 

I know Case and Rhett truly enjoyed it, priceless memories!

Case also played a little Just Dance on the wii, with his Aunts Kelli & Erica, and Uncle Eric. So funny!

. . .

Beach Day...

 

One evening, Matt and I took the boys out for a walk on the beach. Daddy held Rhett with the baby carrier, and Case and I let the tide chase us. We met a guy fishing, and he caught a baby black tip shark. He let Case pet him, and we watched as he set him free. Case hasn't stopped talking about sharks - especially since we found him some shark flip flops at the Old Navy outlet.

. . .

 

More down time...

 Boys figuring out how to work the projector.

More Beach Time...

 Sweet boy fell asleep sitting up!

Last day, we soaked in the ocean one more time. 

Afterwards, we all headed out for dinner, then met up to walk around Broadway at the Beach.

We walked around for a little while, then our boys made it very clear they were ready for bed.

That evening, we all packed and cleaned. Getting ready for our long trip home. 

We made some great memories that week, our boys had so much fun at the "ocean". 

So neat the think that last year, Case was almost two, and Rhett was still growing in my belly. 

This year Case was almost three and Rhett was sitting up and already 7 months old. 

So amazing to see how much they grow in pictures from the beach each year.

Looking forward to so many more vacations on the beach, and so many more memories to be made.