The Catch All Post: February & March

Hi blog. 

It's been a while. 

:) 

Warning you now, this is going to be a catch all post, 

because I'm a little OCD and can't update new things until I go over the little things I had planned on posting about...but obviously haven't yet. 

Wondering what has kept me away? 

I'll give you two hints. 

Okay, I'll just tell you. 

Two sweet, ornery, stinkin' cute, crazies.  That's what (or who).

February:

Seems I left off with Case's surgery date.

A few days following the surgery Case was able to take the gauze off and just stick on some band aids. 

Isn't it wild how something that we were so nervous and anxious about, 

can turn into ancient history in a few months? 

We hardly even think about it anymore! (So thankful for that!) 

Here he is taking his gauze off 3 days after surgery.

 ...and here he is after his 2 week check up. 

Cleared to take band aids off...and to finally immerse thumbs in water! 

Hello Bubble Bath!

 Gunner celebrated his 3rd birthday, big sweet boy! 

Clean bill of health from our vet, and found out he's a whopping 101 lbs. 

Cy and Griffin turned 14 & 16. Cy got his permit. 

OH MY WORD. 

and, last thing in Feb, Little Blessings had a fun field trip to the Children's Museum!

Hmm, let's see. 

March

• Matt had his annual golf trip with the boys. Me and the little boys stayed home and did lots of fun little things together to pass the days. 
• Matt accepted a new position at HDR, and put in his notice at Summit Engineering. 
• FINALLY had some nice grilling weather, and took full advantage. 
• Case came down with Scarlet Fever, no fun! (antibiotics kicked it right out, thank goodness!)
• Started a Wednesday night class at Southland, so so good.
• ...and one of my favorites, Baby Henley Owen Bastin was born!  

 

March 21, 2013

8:46 pm 9.3 oz 22 in long!

Love him so much already! SO happy for my Kara and her precious family! 

• Matt started his first day at HDR on March 25! 
• Celebrated Easter, with an Easter Party at Little Blessings. On Sunday we had church, lunch with Mom and Dad and brought an Easter Basket to Granny! 

Had a wonderful time celebrating our Savior. Case came home from preschool that week telling me all about the story of Jesus, and how he rose after 3 days. "Mommy they were mean to Jesus, and he died and they wrapped him up and covered him up with a big rock, but on Day 3 Mommy he rose again!"
Talk about just melting a heart. 

• T-ball started back up! Practices back in full swing, with weather that wasn't quite sure it was almost Spring yet. We have had a long, drawn out winter this year. That groundhog was soooo wrong! 

Okay, I feel much better about catching up now...
on to April! 

This 21 Month Old Boy

I feel like it's time for an update on the Rhetter man.

Besides, the reason I'm so far behind on my blog is mostly his fault. ;)

Can I blame it on my 21 month old? 

Hee!

Seriously though, that boy is b.u.s.y. 

I've heard a saying recently, 

"The Mother of boys is awake from son up till son down." 

I have to say, I completely agree! 

The boy loves his sleep, probably because he doesn't stop while he's awake. 

He's still napping 2-3, sometimes 4 hours a day. 

Bedtime is around 7-8pm, and he wakes up around 8-9am. 

For a being a fat baby this toddler has lost every ounce of baby fat 

since he's been walking/running/climbing/jumping/sliding/wrestling.

He's got the sweetest heart. 

He's a snuggle bug. 

He adores his big brother. 

He loves his Mama. 

He worships his Daddy.
 He loves his big dog, and leads him around by his collar like a horse.

He's wild, and has no fear. 

He is tough. 

Really tough. 

He's a picky eater. 

He loves loves loves fruit. 

He hates cheese, noddles and most meats. 

(Where did he come from?)

He is talking more and more every day. 

(Our favorite right now is "Luh you")

He loves girls. 

(Seriously, we are in trouble. I watch a few of my friends little girls every now and then, and he always says "Hiiii" in the most flirty hilarious way, and pets their heads and arms, & hugs and kisses on them!)

He loves his toy four wheeler, and rides it down our little hill in the backyard - over and over again.

He loves walking up the stairs by himself (with Mama close behind)

He wants Mama to change him, but Daddy to read books and put him to bed.

He wants to do everything Case does.

He is becoming very vocal about what he wants.

He loves trucks.

He loves trains.

He loves dinosaurs.

He loves cows. 

He LOVES Buzz Lightyear and Woody. 

He is precious. 

He is fun. 

He is almost 2!!!

Big Decisions

Remember this? 

This was his first day at Maxwell Street last year. 

Oh look how little he was! 

I just packed those shorts away. Along with the pile of  his 3T clothes that don't fit him anymore. 

But that shirt and those little shoes haven't fit in I don't even know how long! 

It's that time of year again, summer is fading away, and fall is just around the corner. 

 All the stores are stocked for back to school shopping.

(I just love a fresh box of crayola crayons and colored pencils.)

The anticipation & excitement of a new school year, new teachers, new friends, learning new things.

I swear each year I am turning more and more into a fall girl instead of a summer girl! 

So getting to the big decision:

As of recently, we were all signed up to return to Maxwell Street Nursery School. 

Where I have taught off and on since 2008. 

I decided last year, that I would be taking a year off from teaching this school year. 

With the plan of returning to Maxwell, that would mean Case & Rhett would both be in my room. 

The program is for 2-4 year olds, so starting in November we would have brothers in the same room. 

Siblings in the same room, can absolutely work. 

However, siblings in the same room, with their Momma in that same room, might not. 

Actually - I just know. It would be very difficult. I know we would all adjust, but if you have little ones you know that they are much more comfortable being whiny around Momma. If they are tired, hungry, hurt etc. 

It was difficult at times with just Case man in my room last year. Any time I would drop him off on the days I didn't work they said they didn't hear one whiny word from him. 

Your babies are just comfortable around you, and can release all that emotion. 

So as of last May, we were all set up for Case to go back to Maxwell. 

He turns 4 in September, so he would most definitely be one of the oldest there. 

Meanwhile, our home church, Southern Acres opened their very own preschool. 

Little Blessings would be launching their new Christian curriculum based preschool, come September. 

In the end, after lots of talking (and praying!) Matt and I decided that Case would really thrive in a curriculum based preschool. Maxwell is a wonderful start for little ones. It's a great place for kids to get their first taste of playing, and interacting with their peers. It has structure, and lots of fun activities. 

We felt that Case had a smooth jump start into a preschool type setting at Maxwell, but that he was ready for the next step.

So after praying all day about it, I finally e-mailed the director of Little Blessings, and much to my surprise they still had just a few spots open - and Case was in! 

I immediately e-mailed my Maxwell family, and told them the plan for Case. 

I also made sure to tell them all though, that I was certainly still interested in subbing, and for Rhett to drop in from time to time! :)

The sweet teachers, both responded so positively. I was so sincerely happy and relieved. 

Both had mentioned that they were thinking about things to do with him, to keep him from becoming bored - which just confirmed that we had made the right decision for our little guy. 

So we are all geared up and ready for preschool! 

My sister, Amy and I went school shopping together one early Saturday morning - 

and it was SO MUCH FUN! 

Love love love buying school supplies. 

Matt and I are looking forward to attending the Parent Orientation at the end of the month. 

We are actually missing the first two full days of school - we won't be complaining too much though because we'll be at the BEACH! :)

Also, very excited for Maxwell's open house for Rhett! 

Can't believe my little Rhetter man will be old enough to go there come November! 

We are all excited for this fall! 

Case is PUMPED, he keeps asking me when church is opening their school. 

:)

Car-less no more!

Oh my goodness! 

I have a truck! 

Okay SUV, but saying SUV just sounds annoying and it's more like a truck then a car - so I'm calling it a truck.  Besides it is on a truck axle.

(Had this conversation with my 13 year old nephew Griffin ;)

We finalized everything with the refinancing at the bank, everything went really smoothly, and it felt SO SO SO good to be d.o.n.e. 

I had been on a Ford Explorer kick, I love the shape and look of them, and they are everywhere. 

Very easy to find, just hard to find the right price along with lower miles. 

Our friend Kelli's hubby Anthony is a mechanic and didn't love the older models of Ford's. 

Along with the Consumer Reports account Matt's Mom and step-Dad Roger had - they didn't have the BEST reviews. 

We even went to look at one, a 2007 I think that only had 70k miles on it. 

I thought I was in LOVE from the online pictures - but I test drove that thing and H.A.T.E.D. it. 

It was tiny, and felt so tight. Even smaller then my Rover and that's saying a lot!

I would have rather had an older model, but Matty wasn't going for it. 

I was in such a truck finding funk. 

I didn't want to look at another vehicle. 

It was exhausting.

Thankfully, Matt never stopped looking. He was sending me 10 trucks a day sometimes. 

I'm so glad he never stopped looking, because just in the nick of time - he found the one. 

The perfect one. 

I was so, honestly over thinking I might be getting a truck I might really love. 

I just wanted something that was big enough to fit a double stroller in, and that would safely take my boys and I from point A, to point B. 

So, when this 2003, one owner, White, Limited Sequoia with tan leather seats, DVD player hook up showed up in the radar...I just knew it was too good to be true. 

I had gotten very used to preparing myself not to get too excited. 

However, we just were SUPER lucky...or blessed I like to say. Matt quickly called the guy, and we drove down Saturday morning before Annabelle's first birthday party. 

It was in Jamestown, near Lake Cumberland. We found it on Cars.com. 

The guy had a private gravel lot, no more than 20 or so cars and he was so down to earth and nice. 

Well, it didn't take long until we signed the papers and I got to drive the new baby home. 

I was in truck heaven...and still am ;)

 I wasn't sure about that brush guard on the front, but turns out I actually kind of like it! :)

Lots of room for the babies! 

...fits a double stroller AND groceries! WOO HOO!
& yes that is a 3rd row! 

Matt's also pretty excited about my first Toyota, and so am I!

By the way, I'm fully aware I am being so silly - it's just a truck. Trucks come and go, but I am just so thankful God was with us through this and we were able to afford something very reliable and great for our little family.

Feeling very blessed.

Waiting

So, I have been without my truck since April 7th.
(I just looked through my text messages with my sister to figure that out ha!)
Today is May 3rd.
Which means it's almost been an entire month without my own truck.

I guess I shouldn't say I'm completely without a vehicle, because our long time neighbor Joe, has sweetly let me borrow his second car for the two days a week that I work at the preschool.

We decided to refinance the house, pay off student loans etc. to make room for a new car payment.
It was a great option for us, but unfortunately it takes about 30 days to process a refinancing.

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel though - we are hopefully finalizing everything in two weeks, on the 14th, and then after a 3 day grace period we will be able to FINALLY go truck shopping for me!

All this waiting is making it that much more exciting, almost feel like I'm 16 again getting a new truck!

Stress & Blessings

This has been a really stressful week for us here in the Williams' house. 

1. My Land Rover started leaking ridiculous amount of anti freeze. 
2. Matt's PE Exam was coming up. (It's today!)
3. We all have sinus crud.
4. I have a couple of boys that are testing every single one of their limits lately.
5. Matt called me on Tuesday, and told me the bad news. My Rover, my baby, my favorite truck EVER, is dead. Gone. Would cost more to fix her than to sell her.

SO....yay us. ;)

 With all this happening a week before Matt's exam, we have to just push the pause button. 

His main concern right now, is the test. 

He's been studying after work, and we've been trying to talk about the next step 

when he gets home around 9pm.

We got through it though, he's been studying, preparing and it's finally Friday.
Exam day. 

Been praying for that man of mine. Praying he'll just kick that exam's BUTT. 

I'm just so proud of him. He works so hard for us, and I am so thankful for everything that he does. 

So, today, when he comes back from the exam we are going to do our best to figure out all the details. 

To fully prepare our budgets and minds to buy me some kind of new truck on Saturday. 

I have had a couple of mini meltdowns about everything. 

It's just sucks, for lack of a better word. 

I love love love my truck.

I hate that it broke down, and caused all of this stress on Matty a week before his exam. 

I hate not knowing. 

I hate waiting. 

Blah blah blah. 

THEN, like a ton of bricks it always hits me how incredibly blessed we are, 

and that it is just so silly to worry. 

He will take care of us, He always, and will always provide and be there for us. 

No matter what the circumstances are. 

Wednesday evening, He reminded me of this. Through a conversation with the Case man. 

I was tired, and grumpy.

I quickly read through Case's bedtime story, agitated and ready for him to be in bed. 

Rhett had already been in bed for about an hour, so I was ready to just crash on the couch and watch mindless DVR. 

Well, while we were praying, I made sure to talk about Case's good listening ears.

He had gotten into lots of trouble that day, and I wanted to pray about it with him. 

We were praying that God would help Case with his listening ears,

 and that he would help him obey Mommy and Daddy. 

Then this happened: 

"Mommy, God takes all our troubles away...and puts them in the trash."

I swear my heart just melted away right then and there. 

I had tears flooding my eyes, and all I could say was, 

"Yes Case. Yes he does. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because He loves us SO MUCH." 

Oh my goodness. 

That was exactly what I needed.

All I needed to know was that my three year old gets it. 

Whether you are twenty something dealing with trucks breaking down, 

or a three year old dealing with time outs, 

we just need to remember:

God takes all our trouble away, and puts it in the trash.

Love that our big boy is learning about God's grace. 

...

Well, Matty is about 3 hours into his exam now, you can do it Matty! Love you!

Mamaw & Papaw are Moving

Will never forget, on Case's birthday last year, they came over early to tell us they had decided to put their house up for sale. 

They explained that they had mixed emotions about it, as did Matt and I. 

I mean they live RIGHT next door to Sally & Roger (aka Nanny and Poppy)

It has always been so nice to have them all together when we visit. 

Case knows he can walk right next door to visit, 

and it's so easy for them to come up when everyone was in town. 

Now, not to say it isn't going to be easy to all get together when we come in, I guess it will just be a little less easy. ;)

We got the call just last week that the house had sold. 

Mamaw and Sally have been working all day every day, 

going through everything, and getting the house organized. 

Deciding what was going to their new apartment, and what was staying behind. 

They decided to have a living Estate Sale, 

and wanted Matt and I to come down and take anything we could use.

I called Mom and asked her to stay with the boys, so we could go down on Saturday. 

It would be very hard with two tiny helpers running around, to really help them move things and to search through the things they wanted us to look through. 

Turns out the big Kentucky, Louisville game was that evening at 6:09pm, so Matt and I got our butts up at 5:00am and headed out of town around 5:45am! 

We wanted to have plenty of time in Ashland, and to be back with plenty of time before the game.  

(Oh and the CATS won, duh. GO BIG BLUE!) 

So before the sun came up, we hopped in the truck, 

well more like climbed - not sure we were hopping that early.

Made it down, and started the process. 

Papaw took Matt down to his building, to search through the tools. 

I loved it, Papaw is an amazing wood worker, and it smelled so wonderful with all the different types of woods on the shelves. 

Papaw gave him lots of tools, some of which were Matt's great Grand-fathers. 

Meanwhile, I headed back up to the house and helped pack a few picture frames in a box. 

I got to see a few pictures of Mamaw as a baby and a little girl, just beautiful! 

We spent the day looking through rooms, closets, buildings, sheds and attics. 

We came home with lots of tools, and useful things for the garage and the yard.

Wonderful fishing, and camping gear. Beautiful and useful things for the house. 

I kept asking over and over, are you sure you don't want this?? 

As Sally said, it was amazing how many things you accumulate over 60 years of marriage.

How amazing that they have been married for 60 years this year! How bittersweet to look through it all, and have to pick and choose what to keep, I bet it was so fun looking through everything though. 

I think they said moving day was Tuesday, it's going to be so strange having new neighbors living next door, especially for Sally & Roger. 

Can't wait to see their new apartment though, it sounds really nice and sounds like it will be fun!

Better make room for some visitors next time we are in town Mamaw & Papaw! 

:)

Lazy Days

First, can I just say I have been the WORST picture taker EVER lately? For someone who usually takes a billion pictures a day, I'm really slacking. ;) I've somehow lost the charger to my new camera (we think it might be in Myrtle Beach somewhere) but thankfully I just got one off of Amazon with a gift card from my birthday. Should be here tomorrow! (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

We've had a relaxing weekend, but with this time change I just can't seem to wake up! I know we gained an hour, and it was awesome Sunday morning, feeling like I had an extra hour to get everyone ready for church. Now though, I feel like I could sleep all day! Blah! The boys have actually done pretty well though, thank goodness! 

Today, the boys woke up around 7 (which felt like 8) and poor little Rhetters was fussy all morning. He has been clingy and fussy all week actually. He went down for his nap this morning, so early! He was down for his nap by 9:30am!
He's usually such a happy mellow little guy, I think the teeth that just will not come out have been making him pretty miserable. Which breaks his Mama's heart. I hate seeing him hurting, and he only seems to be happy when I'm holding him, which can make for a long day sometimes. Must have been extra tired from those two big steps he took last night! ;)

He just woke up from a three hour nap, and seems to be pretty happy! Yay! (Knocking on wood)

Matt's bowling tonight, and we our small group meets tomorrow night; we're off from school tomorrow for Election Day. So, I'm excited about having a few more lazy days with my boys. Maybe we'll work on this walking thing some more, only if we have orajel on those gums. :)

Here's a picture I just took with my iPhone, look at me taking pictures today, woo hoo! ;)

Rhett got in that rocking chair all by himself, and guess who needed his chair too? ;)

Just a Little Random Update

Lots of little random things on my mind, and not a whole lot of new news.

Just wanted to share the little things before I forget. 

• Case is hilarious, and talking more and more each day. If you know him, you know he hasn't been leading the pack on his speech. But every day I notice him using new words, and enunciating words a little more each day. It's so fun to watch him learn new things and to really start having conversations with him! 
• I was so proud of the art Case did last week at school. It was just four shapes, and the idea was to get them to paint each shape a different color. The class is a very young group, just a couple of them are three or close to it - so most of the little ones dabbed a few globs of paint and ran off to play with the leggos or blocks. Case isn't always into the art, but this day he totally got the concept of painting each shape a different color, and it was so neat and precise! Maybe he has a little art in him like his Mama. :)
• Little Rhetter man is growing SO MUCH. Every week I look at him and he seems like a new little man! He has really thinned out as he has gotten taller and taller. However, he is only 8 oz away from outgrowing his car seat limit which means we are on the look out for a new car seat. Probably going to buy Case the next size and let Rhett switch over to Case's convertible one. I can't get over the fact that he will be 11 months old this month, and that we are already switching his car seat. That means he is closer to being a toddler than a baby! Breaks my heart!
• Matt has his PE Test coming up at the end of the month. Praying that he will pass that mean ol' thing. I still can't even fathom how to study for an 8 hour exam that is basically over his entire college career in Engineering. He is in total study mode right now, he is staying late every day after his already long days and studying a section every night until his test on the 29th. I am so proud of him. 
• My friend Kelli's husband has headed off for basic training, he will be gone until December when he graduates, then will return home for just a short trip and then leave again for another four months. I think about and pray for her all the time. I am so thankful that she has such close family and friends that are able to help her pass the days. I just can't even imagine what she is going through, she has three little girls and she is just a hero in my book. Matt and I talk about how amazing Anthony is for his service to our country. We are so proud of both of them for what they are doing.
• Feeling very thankful lately for all of my wonderful friends and family. As I am making some new friends at church and becoming closer with them, and keeping up with friendships I have had for years - I just love the people that God has put into our lives.(Also really missing my sister, we have both been so busy lately - we need a sister date ASAP!)
• We are missing out a lot lately in our Activate Group (small group at church) and I am missing all the lovely ladies at LOL (Ladies of the Lord) bible study at church. Matt's work schedule has just been so crazy, and between that and the boys both getting sick back to back the last few weeks it hasn't been in the cards for us to make it. We love the time with our church family in the evening so much, and I am aching for conversation with the wonderful women on Wednesdays - especially on these long nights without Matt here in the evenings. Thankfully, this is just a season in our lives and there will be plenty more Activate Groups and Bible Studies. :) 
• Well, I'm realizing now that Case has eaten all of carrots and none of his chicken, so I'm going to try to persuade him to finish his dinner before bed. ;) Rhetter man has been snoozing for about an hour already now...and Mama will be in bed pretty soon I think. :)

First Day of "School"

Well, Maxwell Street Nursery School has started back up this year. The same one that I worked at a few years ago, and the same one I worked at while pregnant with Case. Then, I decided to stay home with my baby boy, and didn't return the following year. I have always kept in touch with the Director and the teachers though, and subbed for them when I could.

So, I e-mailed the head teacher a few days ago and told her not to forget to send us a Open House Letter for Case man this year, and that I could sub! We started e-mailing back and forth a little bit, and she asked me if I would be interested in teaching on Tuesdays & Thursdays if their numbers went up. I quickly responded "YES!"

Well, days went by and they still weren't sure what the numbers were, she told me she would let me know as soon as possible. The Open House rolled around, so I brought my boys, Case dove right into the toys, and Rhett was wiggling like a crazy monkey trying to get down and play with everything! By the end of the open house, the director offered me the job! Woo hoo! It is SO perfect for us. It's only Tuesdays/Thursdays from 9am-12pm. Case gets to come for free, and Rhett gets to stay in the baby room while we are there for a ridiculously discounted rate. 

Such an amazing blessing for us!

I, of course was SO stinkin' excited to be a nursery school teacher again. I just love it. I still remember all of my little babies from all of the classes a few years ago. I'm already in love with our little class this year, the program is for 2-4 year olds, but this class is full of little babies that just turned two. Case is the oldest one in the class! There is one little boy is just a few months younger than him so I think they might become little buddies. 

I'm also excited to get my creative juices flowing again for crafts, and decorating the classroom.

I am just so thankful! 

 Rhetter bug stayed with Kelli and my Mom the first week, but he'll start coming next week, I think he is going to have so much fun being around little guys and girls his age! 

Case and I's first day was Tuesday, August 30th and let me tell you, I had one excited little boy. 

I found a little backpack at Old Navy on clearance, and the boy wanted to sleep with it on. 

Found this idea on Pinterest (my new addiction) and would LOVE to keep this going through the years with our boys! 

He did SO great on his first day, he played so well, helped pick up the toys, sat nice and still for snack time, and had a blast on the playground. I'm hoping that he will continue to share his Mommy like he did the first week, I'm sure we'll have a day or two or fifteen (hope not) that he will realize his Mom is there and not paying him 100% of her attention. My sister also taught at Maxwell when her boys were little, Griffin was about Case's age in the class with her, and she said there were some days where it was pretty hard. (Another reason Amy and I are total twins! Ha!)  I know we'll have some tough days, and probably some sick days getting exposed to all kinds of new germs. That's just part of it though! :) 

Here's the little man after his first big day at nursery school: 

So much fun!

Lately

Lately we have...

Lowered the crib for Rhetter man. His newest trick is rolling in every direction, and he is now able to sit up from a laying down position. BIG BOY.

We love watching the boys interact with each other. They crack us up!

Rhett goes absolutely crazy when he sees his brother. His arms start flapping, and his legs start wiggling and he almost snorts he's laughing so hard! Case makes this shy little smile at him, then tickles him like crazy. 

It's so cute I can't stand it! 

Matt's work had their annual outing last weekend, and Nanny & Poppy came into town to watch the boys and give us an evening out. (Thanks again guys!)
It was so much fun!

Here's the only picture we have...

(Hate when I forget my camera! iPhone's are pretty handy though)

We had a random and fun Orange Leaf trip with Mom & Dad with Cy & Griffin the other day. We missed Avery, she was at brownie camp. (She had her first over night camping experience last night, she told her Mom the only way she could do it is if she could bring her box fan...so box fan and bag in tow, she was ready to camp! How precious is that??)

After frozen yogurt, we headed to the park so the boys could play basketball and tennis. 

Rhett, Mommom and I hung out in the shade :)

 Griffin couldn't resist some snuggle time with Rhett. :) He LOVES babies, and I love that he loves babies!

...and a Big Happy Birthday to my beautiful big sister today!
Can't wait to have our
Annual Birthday Sister Date soon!

Looking forward to all sorts of fun things this summer! 

I love me some summer.

Ramblings

It is FREEZING today. 

Weather.com tells me it is 43 degrees outside, but that it feels like 36. 

It is May. MAY. 

(sigh)

Thank goodness we had beautiful weather last weekend. Matt and I worked so hard on the yard, and it looks so much better. 

We actually put landscaping fabric down beneath all of the mulch this year, so hopefully we can win the war against weeds this summer! I worked a little, but not nearly as much as my hubby. He unloaded two truck loads of mulch, spread it out, mowed, helped me move bricks, and we even added another mulched area in our backyard. (The whole back corner, Gunner's favorite place to bark at people as they walk by) So far we've only had to re-do a few places where Gunner has already tried to rip it up. UGH!

I had a bunch of really great pictures...pictures of the mulch, our yard, the beautiful Iris on the side of the house, and an awesome shot of Case in perfect dusk lighting eating an orange popsicle in our front yard. However, they are lost. Lost in wherever lost pictures go when I ruin the memory card somehow. Matt tells me it's because I didn't "safely remove the hardware before removing it from the computer."

Broke my heart.

I mourned the pictures for about 10 minutes, and then told myself to get over it. I am just SO VERY thankful I had recently uploaded all of my Easter pictures etc before this little tragedy happened!

I'm hoping to recapture the pictures...if it is EVER above 50 and if it EVER stops raining! 

Tomorrow looks a little promising : 64 degrees and partly sunny.

Shew. 

In other useless news, I am ridiculously, unbelievably, annoyingly addicted to the Angry Birds game on my iPhone. I hate those stupid pigs that smile at you when you don't kill them. UGH!

Update in a List

1. Potty training is going VERY well. He is becoming more and more independent every day. We have moved the little potty seat into the bathroom (as opposed to in the middle of the living room floor) and he goes in there and does his business! If we are just hanging out at home though, I let him run around naked and help him get on the big potty with his Cars potty seat when he needs to go. He calls it his "Racecar! potty seat" :) He LOVES getting his sticker afterward. :) At church last Sunday, he even told me as we were leaving KidStuf that he needed to go! First public potty usage! HA! :)
2. Rhett is the best baby ever. He smiles all day long! I'll be doing chores or something, and look to check on him and he's just cheesing at me. It always makes me laugh, and melts me every time! 
3. Case and Rhett playing together is probably the best thing in the entire world. Case is constantly saying "Hi baby Rhett! Hi!" and Rhett always gives him the biggest gummiest smile when he sees him. Rhett is in awe of his big bro. I love it. 
4. My sweet husband stopped by Wal-Mart for me this week, after a long day. (I begged him to so I wouldn't have to go out with two little ones the next day just for a few things.) When he came home he said "I'm glad you asked me to stop, I was able to give $10 to a homeless couple walking by the Shell Station." I absolutely love that sweet man of mine. 
5. My nephew Cy played in his first Freshman/JV baseball game over at Dunbar this past Tuesday. Ugh he's so big! It's SO much fun seeing him play high school baseball. LAFAYETTE baseball. We're so excited for baseball season and to watch Cy, Griffin and Avery play! LOVE IT!         
6. I am having so much fun working on things for baby showers. I can't believe four of our friends are pregnant! Can't wait to meet all of these sweet babies!

Complete

Matt had his annual golf trip this past week, had a blast and even got to go to the UK vs TN game in TN on the way home!

Amy and I went to the Eric Church, Jason Aldean concert and had SO much fun, even sitting in the nose bleed section :)

Case and Rhett got to spend a fun weekend at Nanny & Poppy's.

We all had a fun packed busy week and weekend, but my most favorite moment of all of them was when Matt and the boys and I were all back home together again, relaxing under a blanket on the couch.

:)

Pure Bliss

Pure bliss is when your 2 month old sleeps pretty much through the night for four nights straight!

Pure bliss is putting the baby down around 10pm and not hearing a peep out of him until 8am.

Oh my word, it's wonderful.

That week at Granny's did the boy good. He slept in my room in the pack n play that week. Having him right next to me, when he woke up during the night I would put the paci in his mouth instead of picking him up or feeding him. He would settle right back down and fall asleep for usually three or four more hours. So, for a week he began to quickly settle down, and not expect any kind of contact or feeding during the night.

As soon as we settled back into our routine at home, I did the same thing, and this past week he has pretty much stopped even waking up for the pacifier to be stuck back into his mouth.

  

Holy cow, it has been AH-MAH-ZING!

Today

Today it's rainy, and dreary, but perfectly relaxing. Perfect for getting the last few things around the house finished and snuggling with my sweet little man. 

There is a pot roast, potatoes, carrots and onions bubbling in the crock pot. Mmm.

The house is clean. 

The baby gear is ready and waiting.

Our lives are about to change forever. 

We are headed to the hospital tomorrow morning, and will hopefully meet our sweet baby boy before midnight! 

I've been teary all day watching Case play, he is totally oblivious to how his world is about to turn upside down! I just pray that I can balance everything as best as I can. I know our hearts will double with love not divide. I know there will be some hard times in the beginning adjusting to everything. But I also know the moments that absolutely steal your heart and catch your breath will outweigh all of the difficult ones.

It's surreal that it's all happening tomorrow. I keep going back and forth between total calmness and excitement to pure panic and anxiety! It's happening! TOMORROW! 

We appreciate all of the prayers and support as we welcome our littlest man into our family very soon!

As of Lately...

Well, let's see... I turned twenty four. It's so wild how your twenties slip by without you even knowing it. I still feel twenty years old. 

Sometimes I just sit back and think about how unbelievably blessed I am. I am exactly where I wanted to be at this point in my life. I always said I just wanted to be happily married and have babies. I knew then like I know now: it's where I am supposed to be.

  I am married to an amazing husband who loves me more than anything. We have a sweet sweet toddler, and we have another sweet baby boy on the way. How extremely amazing is that?! My heart melts thinking about adding another baby into our family. I cannot wait to meet him, to see what he looks like, to hold him in my arms and snuggle, to bond with another sweet child that God has given us.(Only about 4 months to go!)

This month we also celebrated our FOUR YEAR wedding anniversary! We didn't do anything special this year, and it was almost comforting knowing that we didn't have to! We have vacation coming up soon, and we agreed that was our present this year. :) We have some ideas for our five year though. Talon Winery gave us a signed bottle of wine from our wedding, and we meant to drink it on our one year anniversary and totally forgot. So, we are going to pop it open on the big five year anniversary. I'm hoping we can sneak away for a weekend for a Cincinnati Red's Game or maybe a Dave Matthews Concert! Something super fun that we both would love to do. Looking forward to spending all my years with my man! :)

Other than that we are just waiting for Hilton Head! We leave THIS Saturday, we cannot wait!

Crazy, Busy, Wonderful Summer Time

Summer has been flying by! 

We've been pretty busy around here, even though our big plans for the summer are yet to come, we've had lots of fun little plans and visits that have seriously made the days soar!

• Mamaw & Papaw came into town to bring us the new Adirondack chair Papaw made for Case! The one he has now is just his size, and by the time baby comes and will be able to fit into it, Case was going to need a big boy chair! :) He loves it!

Papaw surprised us by also bringing Case a beautiful bowl he made! He signed both of them, and we love how special they are and will become to our kiddos for years to come. :) We had such a great time visiting with them!

• Case has been obsessed with his Daddy's camo hat lately, and I can't get over how cute he looks in it!

  

• We've had some pool days here & there...

• We had a crazy wind storm, and had to remove a tree that went down, Case and Gunner enjoyed watching :)

As you can see, Gunner has grown like a weed! Case and Gunner still get along beautifully, and I even caught Case draped across Gunner's back, and laying his little head down while our puppy gobbled up his dinner, and the sweet puppy didn't even flinch a muscle. I about melted!

• This baby in my belly has been moving around like CRAZY! I know it won't be long before Matt will be able to feel it too! Can't wait!

Coming up this month:

• July 8 - Our Big Gender Revealing Ultrasound!!!
• July 11 - Taking Case to the Zoo!
• July 31- Leaving for Hilton Head!

Second Trimester, and Weekend Fun!

I'm finally there, I am 14 weeks, and officially in the second trimester! Woo hoo!

I started to feel 90% better around the 10 week mark, I still have a rough day here and there, and I still have days where I'm just exhausted, but overall I have been feeling so great! So thankful!

Also! I'm pretty sure I have started feeling the baby!!! I felt something sort of twisting and turning Saturday morning (May 22, 2010), and have felt it here and there since then...so exciting! :) 

...

 On a different note, Matt and I had such a great weekend! Our friends Kyle and Kimmie were getting hitched on Saturday, and since Matt was in the wedding and had rehearsal, and pictures and the whole wedding thing going on... and since we had hoped to spend a day at the lake with our friends, Chase and Alisa, we asked Nanny and Poppy if they'd like to watch Case for us! They said "Yes" (of course :) and so I met Case's Mamaw and Papaw in Moorehead on Friday so they could all spend some time with our sweet little man!

Matt's Mom had saved all of Matt's special toys from childhood (I have vowed to do this now!) and Case had an absolute blast! She had Matt's old playhouse, play car, sand pile, and Matchbox City ready for Case to play with, checking in she told us that he was playing so hard and was having so much fun! I love that Case has such a blast there!

When picking up Case Sunday evening, Matt and I were thanking them over and over again for watching little man so that we could have a busy but fun weekend, and they just kept thanking us for letting them watch him! I know that could seem like a little thing, but it means so much to me and it makes us so happy that they love him so much :)

Where does it go?

I'm talking about time. 

Yesterday, I realized that Case is going to 20 months old on the 22nd of May. 20 MONTHS OLD! That sounds too close to 24 months, which means he's going to be a 2 YEAR OLD! Where did my baby boy go? 

Then I started thinking about the fact that it really is only 4 months until his birthday...and then I started thinking about how Case will be 2 years and 2 months old on the baby's due date...so that means baby is due in only 6 MONTHS?!

I have a feeling that this summer is going to fly by, this pregnancy has already been going at record speed because I am so busy with little man, and I simply don't have the time to think about how many weeks and days I am...I almost forgot I was 13 weeks this week!

I'm sad about my little man becoming a two year old, but excited about him talking more, and becoming more and more like a little person. Also, I'm so anxious to start feeling baby move and twist inside my belly. That is one of the very best things in the entire world. So, I'm having mixed feelings about this whole time flying thing :)