Happy Birthday, Kiki!!!

I LOVE YOU!
LOVE, WILL

My Little Lion

Yesterday we hosted a little Halloween party for our friends with kids. It is just a good chance to get all the kids together in their costumes since we all live different places and don't really trick or treat anyways....

Will was a lion. His first costume was the football from Pottery Barn Kids. He screamed bloody murder every time we tried to get it on him, so I figured that was probably a no-go. So we (I) decided on the lion instead. How adorable is that mane???? And he did decently well keeping it on.It was especially cute that anytime you asked him what a lion would say, he would reply "ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!!!" in his deepest, scariest voice :)

Will thought it was especially funny that Bentley was dressed up as a hot dog, his favorite food.

When the guests started arriving, Will felt better that he wasn't the only one dressed up-it was like it made sense to him...This is his cutie patootie cousin, Emma, who just turned 1 last month. She was about the cutest thing dressed up as Minnie Mouse!!Cousin James came as a racecar driver!!! He and Will have SO much fun playing together!!

A few group shots....it cracks me up how serious Will looks in all of these. I think it was confusing to him that he was lined up in a row with some of his friends, who didn't look like themselves, and all of the parents were playing papparazzi!
James (2), Laurie (7.5 months), Will (21 months), Alexa (7 months), Emma (1), and Anna Sophia (9 months)

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday John was a trooper. He got a call Friday that he had a ticket to the Auburn game. I was excited for him and wanted him to go...but I didn't feel great. I was just really nauseated and the thought of entertaining Will all day on Saturday make me feel even more sick. But I still told John to go. And he still chose to stay home. He earned some major brownie points in the bank! For those of you who know my husband, staying home was a HUGE sacrifice. The best part, he didn't even act like it was hard (though I know he was twitching a little on the inside).
I pretty much knew I was not going to feel great, regardless of our day's activities, so we decided to take Will to the pumpkin patch. We hadn't taken him yet this year, and I wasn't really sure when we would get another opportunity. So we dressed Will in his fall attire and headed to Clanton!The Grand Ole Pumpkin Patch in Clanton is SO much fun. There is tons to do! Last year, it was freezing...this year we burned up. Alabama weather is so crazy. Will enjoyed it a lot more this year. We took him down the BIG inflatable slide. I obviously didn't realize how big and fast it was because I took him first. I let John take him down after that-it was super fast and I was scared I was going to fly off and let go of him. John enjoyed it just as much as Will.Then we went on a Twactor Train ride. Will thought it was a real choo choo and kept saying "Choo Choo" and waving his hand for all aboard!Our last activity was the hayride to go and pick out our pumpkin...Will loved this! He loved riding to the patch, he was very picky in selecting a pumkin, and walked up and down the patch making sure we had the best one. He cried when we had to put him back in the wagon...but daddy would have been crying had we not made it back home in time for the Auburn game....

BIG News!

Will has something he'd like to announce.....

We are super excited that baby #2 will join our family around June 1! God is so good and we feel extremely blessed!! It was borderline impossible for me to get a cute picture of Will in this precious shirt my sweet friend Shealy made for him. I guess it is his age, but when I pull out my camera he darts the other way, refuses to give me his paci without a melt down, so I just don't fight it. We kept asking Will what was on his shirt and this is what he would do....
We had our Dr. Appt yesterday-hysterical story that I will blog about on another day. We asked all of our immediate in town family to come to our house for pizza as a thank you for keeping Will last weekend when we were in Charleston (both grandparents shared the duty). They came over and we just let Will wear his shirt. It took what seemed like forever for anyone to see it/get it. Stephanie, John's sister was first and she read it three times before she gasped and realized what we were trying to say :) It was very fun. I am so sad that I didn't snap any pictures of Will with our family (or Will with John and me)...I don't know what I was thinking. There was just a lot of excitement. Yay for Baby #2!!

1,825 Days and Couting...

Five years ago today is one to celebrate! My best friend became my husband. Isn’t it funny how once you are with “the one,” time seems to creep by. Engagement feels like an eternity away. You talk together about it all the time, make plans in your head, dream about the ring, etc. And then, before you know it, you have been married for five whole years! It seems so crazy to me!! Our wedding day is a big blur now. It seemed to be here and gone in a blink. All those months leading up to it I wished away, and then once the big day had finally arrived, I wished I could freeze time and stay in that spot in our life where we had pledged and promised our lives to one another. Life is funny like that…time doesn’t stand still. Days turn into months and months turn into years and before you know it that upbeat newlywed couple is now having trouble staying awake on the couch past 8:30! That would be us!! In our “newlywed days” our biggest concern was where we were going to go out to eat on Friday night and what piece of furniture we were going to add to our house next. Now our worries are focused around having enough money in Will’s college fund and making sure our DVR is set because goodness knows we don’t watch television in real time anymore! Our life together over the past five years has certainly been an adventure. There have been moments of pure joy and moments of near breaking point…but I am so thankful that John is in it with me. We are a team. We do it together. Isn’t it funny how the person you love the very most and who means the world to you can also be the person who can irritate you the most. I think parenting brings this out. There is not a lot of down time, so at times it feels like we are constantly on edge. But at the end of the day, every day, it is my best friend laying beside me…happy or irritated, there is no one else in this world I would want there.

Our first dance at our wedding was to “At Last.” Super overdone…I know, but I liked the song and it was truly how I felt! When Uncle Kracker’s latest song, Smile, came out, I told John that if we got a “do-over” and had another first dance, I would want it to be to this song!

You’re better than the best
I’m lucky just to linger in your light
Cooler than the flip side of my pillow, that’s right

Completely unaware
Nothing can compare to where you send me, lets me know that its okay
Yeah, it’s okay
And the moments where my good times start to fade…

You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed
Sing like a bird, dizzy in my head
Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a food, forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile

Even when you’re gone,
Somehow you come along just like a flower pokin’ through the sidewalk crack
And just like that
You steal away the rain, and just like that

You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed
Sing like a bird, dizzy in my head
Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile

Don’t know how I lived without you
‘Cause every time that I get around you
I see the best of me inside your eyes
You make me smile...

You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed
Sing like a bird, dizzy in my head
Spin like a record crazy on a Sunday night

Oh, you make me smile!

We are Charleston bound as soon as work is over today! It cannot come soon enough. We are leaving little man here with the grandparents and not coming home until Monday. Lots of people who have been have asked us what we are going to do, and suggested activities for us....my reply is always the same. Sleeping in and eating are on the agenda....anything else will just be an added bonus :)

Happy Fall!

This is how I sent little man to school today. He completely melts my heart. He was a little confused why I had him out in the cold taking his picture so early in the morning, but I had to snap a few pictures of his precious fall outfit. He got lots of compliments when we got to school this morning. I am going to be SO sad when he can't wear these "outfits" as John calls them (John on the other hand is counting the days until we can pack up the John-Johns).

"Seriously Mom...It is SO early!"

And we are thouroughly enjoying this cooler weather! Most of our nights after dinner are spent just "lounging around" in the backyard!

Trix are for Kids!

Of course I documented Will's first bowl of cereal...Trix in milk! He has eaten dry cereal for a while now as a snack, but this was the first time that I added milk, gave him a spoon, and waited for what he would do. He loved it. He got a little frustrated when it slipped off the spoon, but he just used his fingers to put it back on there and eat it up!Rockin' some major bed head!!! :)