Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

My day was beautiful! Jesse made Norwegian pancakes for breakfast. Yum! My inlaws took the boys after breakfast so Jesse and I could go mountain biking together. It has been so long since we have been able to get out on the trails together. They've actually added new trails since the last time we went. We rode about 5 miles through the woods and around the lake. The new trail we went on is awesome. It is well maintained and scenic. It's also friendly enough that there are no spots on it where I feel inclined to get off my bike and walk it over hazardous conditions. It was the perfect morning ride. Afterwards, my father in law made lunch for everyone. He made hamburgers, which became my favorite food while I was pregnant with Trent and never changed back after he was born. Outdoor adventures, good food, and great company make me a happy mama!

A Cozy White Christmas

Christmas this year came really quickly. We had Sean a few days after Thanksgiving so the whole Christmas season was a whirlwind. We opted to celebrate Christmas morning as a family of four in our own house. Traditionally, we've traveled somewhere for Christmas so this was a change up for us, but we all enjoyed our Christmas at home. The morning started out different than a normal day. Trent usually wakes up between 6:30 and 7am. Christmas morning, he slept until 8:30! We were up at 5:30 with Sean, so we were waiting on him to wake up for hours. I made the men of the house matching pajamas so it was fun seeing everyone wearing their new pajama pants.


First, we opened presents. I love Christmas so much more now that I have kids. Watching children experience Christmas is one of my very favorite things about the season. This year was no different. Trent got so excited over each and every present. He would open each gift all the way up (even if assembly was required) and play with it for at least 20 minutes before opening the next gift.


Next, we had a big breakfast of eggs, Poppy's famous hashbrowns, and bacon. After breakfast, we opened stocking stuffers. Then it was time to make Jesus's birthday cake. We had a lot of fun with the cake. It was a white cake with cream cheese icing and Trent went to town decorating it with red and green sprinkles.

And the best surprise... a white Christmas! It snowed on Christmas Day!

Happy Halloween!

Trent was an adorable Peter Pan for Halloween this year. I followed a tutorial that I found online and made his outfit from scratch. He looked pretty cute. My creative side is definitely starting to show more as a stay at home mom than it ever did as a financial analyst. I love how much fun I am having creating things! Yesterday, we went and trick or treated at Grandma and Grandpa K and Great-Grandma J. Tonight, we went to the annual Tailgate Party at church. It was a lot of fun! Trent played on some of the inflatables and tried his first lollipop. He's a fan! We had a great time hanging out with friends, eating good food, and soaking up the fun, family atmosphere.

Mr. Peter Pan

Oh, those blue eyes!

Family of 3.5 ;)

TJ and Uncle Dave

Tailgate Party at Church

Long Weekend in Tennessee

We went up to my parents for Labor Day weekend. It was a lot of fun. While visiting with Nanny, Poppy, Mom and Dad; we played cards, rode bikes, went on boat rides, swam in the lake, played in the yard. We also watched Auburn's opening football game (which we won - War Eagle!) Overall, we just had a really nice time together. The weather was perfect. The lows were in the 50s and highs in the 80s and 90s. The cool nights make the views of the mountains so clear. The leaves are already starting to change color. We went on one particular boat ride up Abrams Creek in the Smokies. It was so pretty. There are steep, forested, mountain ledges on each side that go straight down to the water. It's going to be really gorgeous in about a month when the leaves are vibrant reds, oranges and yellows. Anyway, we took a bunch of pictures from the weekend, but none on the boat because the normal photographer (Jesse) did some of the driving and I don't remember to take pics as often as he does.

Spending Time with Nanny and Poppy

Playing At Grandma and Grandpa R's

Happy Independence Day!

Fireworks!

We had a fun filled 4th of July. We went to dinner with some friends at their country club. The club puts on a great fireworks show on the driving range of the golf course. So we ate some yummy food, enjoyed the company of good friends, and then headed out to our blankets on the green. Trent LOVED being on a golf course. He was excited that he could run forever in any direction. Once it got dark, the firework show began. He was a little unsure at first and attempted to army crawl away from the action, but eventually he snuggled up in Mama's lap and enjoyed the show. We thought he did pretty well for his first fireworks show!

Dinner Time

Playing on the Golf Course

Freedom!!!

Roses, Roses, Roses

Jesse, Trent and I went to the Botanical Gardens on Mother's Day. It is always a gorgeous time to go because all of the roses are in bloom. We had such a good time taking in the natural beauty of the place, the yummy scents of all the flowers, and enjoying a leisurely afternoon together.

"I like this one!"

My favorite rose

Jesse's favorite rose

Glimpse of the rose garden

Such the thumbsucker - This is while running downhill!

The boy who made me Mama

Happy Mother's Day!

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~Elizabeth Stone

Being a mother is such a special role. I love being a mom and I'm thankful for my mother and mother in law. Without them, Jesse and I would not be the people that we are today.

Jesse gave me a wonderful mother's day (and his father's day) present. We got a new camera! We are constantly taking pictures of Trent and I found I was using my phone all the time, which doesn't take the greatest quality pictures. I've been playing with it a bunch, trying to figure out all the buttons and functionality. I hardly have it all figured out, but I am loving it already. Here are some pictures from the morning photo shoot.

Belly Shot

My oldest "baby"

Funny face

Naptime yet?

Easter Weekend

Nack and TJ

My little Sailor

Grandpa showing TJ the ropes

Jesse taking over for a bit

Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa

We went up to Tennessee to visit my folks for Easter weekend. My uncle, aunt and cousin were down visiting from New York. It was great to catch up with them. We don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like. The weather this weekend was gorgeous - sunny and 80's!

We got a chance to get the boat in the water. What a difference having TJ on the water this year! Last year, every time we got on the boat he fell asleep. This year he was crawling all over the floor of the boat. He doesn't quite have his "sea legs" yet. He struggled a little bit walking around the moving boat. The carp were spawning in the marina this weekend so he also got a kick out of watching the big fish whip around in the water.

Trent and Nack (my cousin) did an Easter egg hunt on Sunday. Nack did a great job finding some well hidden eggs. Trent was content to play with the ones he found right away rather than keep looking. Trent had a good time playing with his cousin. She gave him a lot of attention and stuck right with him, everywhere he went. She spent a lot of time entertaining him. She'll be a great babysitter in the future!

Happy Easter!!!

1 John 4:10 "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

I love holidays, especially now since I have a child. Children amplify the holidays. They bring a whole new level of excitement to the day. Easter is often thought of as Easter bunnies and candy like Christmas brings Santa and presents under the tree. I love to see the look in Trent's eyes and the noises he makes when he's super excited. I love that boy! I would do anything for him. So it brings to light how much greater God's love is than any amount of love I could ever offer anyone. I can hardly comprehend how much God loved humanity to sacrifice his only son for people that mocked him, abused him, humilated him, tormented him, abandoned him. But he loves us THAT much. Thank You Jesus!

Have wonderful Easter filled with family, friends, good food and fun memories while rejoicing in God's love!

Cute Moments in Florida

TJ with bells that Poppy gave him

Patton "protecting" TJ during naptime

The trip to Florida was a lot of fun. Poppy gave Trent two bells to play with and he thought they were the greatest thing. He rang them constantly. The other pic is of my sister's dog with Trent. Trent had fallen asleep on my parents and when they got up, Patton was proud to jump up on the bed and stand guard for the remainder of TJ's nap. It was too cute!

Christmas Day

Trent in his Christmas PJs

Ready to open presents

Loving the big boxes!

Tropical Christmas Week

This year, we went to my grandparents for Christmas. They live in Florida so it was nice to have some sunny, warm weather. I actually went running in shorts while we were down there! Anyway, this year we were joined by my parents, my sister and her boyfriend and my great aunt and great uncle. It was so much fun to see everyone and Trent thoroughly enjoyed all the attention that came his way! In Christmas Eve tradition, we played chinese auction/dirty Santa. The game has so many names. In our tradition, you have to model your gift if it is wearable. Here are some pics from the evening. There were so many laughs all around.

Trent intrigued by the Christmas Carousel centerpiece

Gifts before the Chinese Auction game

Dana modeling slippers

Poppy super excited over Limburger Cheese

Chris, Dana's boyfriend

Dad showing off his oven mitt

Jesse with Spumante

Family Christmas

Slightly interested

More interested...

This one has some height

Getting some leverage

Over the top!

Jesse, Trent and I had our first family Christmas celebration as a family of three. I love the time spent during the Christmas season drinking egg nog, listening to Christmas music, and enjoying each others company. We gave our presents to Trent and watched as he figured out what to do with them. He didn't really show much interest in opening them. He was much more interested in using them as obstacles and proceeded to repeatedly climb on and over the boxes. We enjoyed the evening and look forward to many more Christmases to come.