10.25.2013

A Good Ole Fesh Sesh!

So it's Friday and I feel like confessing a few things to you ladies. Confessions are always a good thing, right?

One.
I've been a little too Negative Nelly and not enough Positive Polly lately. It just seems that in our family that when it rains it pours. I mean, I know it seems that way to everyone but in our family, it's true. Want proof, let me show you.
- It all started Labor Day weekend. My husband came home from work in a lot of pain. Come to find out he had a cyst on his lower back that ruptured. We made an appointment for him to see a doctor and to have it removed. Of course, doctors can remove every type of cyst except for one in their office and Kevin would just happen to have that one that they can't. The type of cyst he has goes very deep and has to be surgically removed by an approved general surgeon. So on November 4, Kevin will undergo the "knife" as I like to tell him. He'll be out of work for at least two weeks and a full recovery is going to take close to two months. And have I mentioned that Kevin's work doesn't have sick time?! Thank the Lord for saved vacations. 
- A few weeks after Kevin's doctors appointment, he and his brother were playing on their softball team when his brother was hit straight in the face with a softball. Bryan spent the wee hours of the night in the hospital ER, Kevin spent the wee hours of the night looking for Bryan's front tooth that got knocked out, & I spent the wee hours of the night worried about them all. Thankfully, there was no major damage done but my brother-in-law is having to undergo the expense and pain of having a tooth implant. 
- Then a week or so later, my in-laws had came to watch the boys play ball and as they were leaving they hit a deer. This just so happened to total loss their SUV... the one they use to ride our dog around each day. Yes, my in-laws are so amazing that when they go walk at a local trail, they come pick up our dog each day and walk him too! But now Rimy has no ride and the poor fella just doesn't get the attention and exercise that he deserves. 
- Speaking of Rimy, last week he ran away. We have a fence in our backyard and he decided to dig a hole and get out. It's happened a few times before but he's always came around the house to the front porch but this time he didn't. Kevin and I ended up scaling the neighborhood for an hour calling his name but we had no luck. It just so happened that a friend of mine headed to the walking trail near our house and found him. Of course, he refused to get in her car so she had to ride beside him the whole way down our road. When I saw him coming down the road I couldn't be more excited. Though when I got my hands on him I didn't know whether to hug him because he was home or beat him because he escaped. But I went with the first option. 
- Thanks to our canvasing the neighborhood looking for Rimy, poor Harper got sick for the first time. We were in such a panic trying to find Rimy before it got dark that we had Harper outside in the cool air with no coat. I didn't even think about it until we got back home. I thought we'd escaped the sickness but then over the weekend she started coming down with a cold. Then on Monday, Kevin got a call from her daycare telling us to come pick up Harper doodle because she was running a fever of 101.4. We ended up taking her to the doctor that afternoon and they diagnosed her with bronchitis :( It broke this mama's heart. 
- And last but not least, just yesterday, my in-laws' car caught on fire. Though the story is amusing as to how it all happened, it wasn't funny at the time. We're just thankful no one was hurt and the car didn't explode!

Now you see what I mean?! One thing after another. So when it seems like it's all falling apart, it's hard to be Positive Polly but I'm working on it. I truly am. 

Two.
Since Thursday, my heart has been heavy. On Thursday afternoon, I attended a conference with my principal and several teachers from my school. As we were fixing to leave, our principal stopped us and told us she needed to tell us something. We were in no way prepared for the information she delivered. One of our coworkers husband had been killed in a fatal car accident that morning while she was at home sick. They had been married for less than five years. As I left our conference, I sat in my car and wept. I prayed for Tiffany and her family. I can't imagine what she is going through. The thought that that could very well have been my husband, made me feel like I couldn't breath.

In that moment, I realized that life can change in a split second. In that moment, I realized that all of Kevin's "flaws" were unimportant. I realized our arguments over little things are unimportant. I was burdened by the fact that so often I get mad at Kevin and leave to head to work with hardly a kiss or a word goodbye so that he'll know he messed up. I'm ashamed to admit it but it's true. What if that had been Kevin? What if our last words were unkind ones? It makes you think. It really does. I've never been more anxious to get home and just hug my family and never let go. I've never been more aware of my actions as a wife. I've definitely got a lot of work to do! 

Three.
But onto a happier note, I may or may not have sat down this week and did Harper's Christmas list. I've been collecting items from consignment sales for a while but wanted to pick her up a few new items as well. What's on her list so far you might ask?
Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Fun with Friends Table (purchased at a consignment for less than $10)
Playskool Poppin' Park Elefun Busy Ball Popper  (purchased at a consignment for less than $10)
Plush Rainbow Stackers (purchased at a consignment for less than $10)

What's on your little lady or little man's Christmas list? Any toys that are must haves that I should know about?

Four. 
Speaking of Christmas, have I mentioned that I've already started picking up Christmas decor? Well, I have and it's become an addiction. I haven't even decorated my house completely for the fall yet and here I am now already wanting to bust out the Christmas containers and start decorating. But I'll try to at least wait until Thanksgiving passes... but only because I'll be using rustic decor this year so that I can leave my decorations out until at least February. If I start taking them out now, I'll be tired of them before February rolls around.

Five. 
Before Harper was born, I created a to-do list with all of the things I hoped to accomplish or figure out before she was born. Thankfully, I completed almost all of that list; despite how long it was. However, there was one thing that never did quite get tackled and that was cleaning out and organizing our garage. When we first moved into our house, everything got shoved in our garage to keep it from getting messed up outside. Over time we slowly worked our way through most of the boxes and began to bring things into our house or sort things into containers to store in one of our two outbuildings. Unfortunately, we never did quite finish that task and there are a number of boxes that still need to be gone through even now, three years later. There are things that we weren't sure where to put, wedding presents we didn't quite need, decorations we ran out of room for, things Harper has outgrown or still needs to grow into, things we might use "later", things someone else might use one day, things from both of our childhoods... things, things, things. It's overwhelming. Its become so cluttered that each day as I pull my car in and out of the garage, I just groan at all of the clutter. Literally, the thought of it makes me sick. I've come to the point that I just want to toss everything in the back of the truck and haul it off to Goodwill just so I don't have to see it. But of course that isn't reasonable and I need to take the time to go through it. So my task for this weeked, is to get it done. Just as soon as I figure out where to begin...

Thanks for listening ladies! Until next time...

10.22.2013

Fall Pictures

A couple of weekends back, my amazing & talented cousin came into town and took our fall family pictures. They turned out so great and I can't wait to get some of them printed and placed throughout our home. I love how she captured Harper's beautiful smile & love even more that in her images you can see Harper's multiple color eyes. (Side note.. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned that before but our beautiful daughter is very unique in the fact that one of her eyes is blue and the other is green! Even more exciting is that they'll more than likely stay this way as they've never wavered in color since her birth!)









10.10.2013

Please Help My Classroom!

My classroom is in desperate need of a lower level chapter book series. My third graders are super excited to finally be able to read "thick" books as third grade is the year they begin to read lengthier texts. Unfortunately, the majority of my class is not on grade level and our school does not have any sets of chapter books written on the levels that my students need. Being a teacher in a high poverty area, there are no additional resources that can be used to purchase these books for my classroom. With that being the case, I have started a donorschoose.org project in which I'm asking all of my friends (personal & blogger), family, and coworkers to donate money to be used to purchase seven sets of the series "Mercy Watson". If you'd be willing to donate any amount towards this great need, please click on the link below. If donations are made on or before October 16, Donors Choose will match dollar for dollar if you type in the code INSPIRE. Any amount you could give would be appreciated more than you know!

http://www.donorschoose.org/saraholt?active=true

10.08.2013

{Monthly Recap}: Five Months



Weight
At your last doctor's appointment you weighed in at 15 pounds and 2 ounces. You weren't quite as big as expected. It seems that you've began to grow longer and not wider. Trust me baby girl, one day you'll appreciate that (;

Health
Over the past month, you've had some congestion here and there but it doesn't seem to bother you. It seems to get worse at night but come morning it seems to be better and doesn't reappear to later in the evening. However, it doesn't seem to bother you one bit. You're still just as pleasant as always. We mentioned it to the doctor but he said as long as it doesn't seem to bother you then he doesn't want you to have any medicine for it!

Sleep
Your sleeping patterns haven't changed much this month. You still  fall asleep each night somewhere between 7 and 8 o'clock and  wake up between 6 or 6:30am. However this month you've gotten into the habit of waking up at some point in the night. When you wake up you never fuss or cry. You just lay in your crib playing with your feet or talking away to yourself until you fall back asleep.

Routine
During the week, you wake up around 6am each morning. We get you dressed for a new day then you get your bottle. I'll usually leave you on the bed to play while I get dressed. (Don't worry, I surround the edge of the bed with pillows so you don't fall off if you decide to roll around). At 6:30 we head out the door and get you to daycare. I'm still not exactly sure what your day is like there but I do know that you end up drinking three to four bottles while you're there and you end up taking one good nap in the morning and one pretty good one in the afternoon. I usually try to pick you up by 4:30 or 5. By the time we get home you're getting hungry again so we eat a bottle, play a bit, then we get you ready for bed by giving you a bath and lathering on the lavender baby lotion when you get out. Usually by the time we get out of the bath Daddy is home and the two of you hang out while Mommy fixes dinner. He usually gives you your night time bottle and puts you to bed when you fall asleep.

Clothes
This month I decided to pack up all of your 3 months outfits. It was bittersweet. I'm so glad that you're finally going to get to wear some new outfits but at the same time, I want you to stay little :(

Diapers
You're still in size 1 diapers this month. I thought we'd be moving you up but they seem to fit just right. I tried putting a size 2 on you and they were just way too big! If this keeps up, we're going to have to purchase some more size 1's. I had a huge box from Sam's Club that your Nana & Papa bought for you but ended up exchanging them for a bigger size thinking that you didn't need a size 1 any longer. Guess I shouldn't have tried to plan ahead!

Diet
With the exception of your morning bottle, you drink 6 ounce bottles every 3-4 hours. This month we also introduced you to baby food. We started with green beans because after all who doesn't like green beans? Well apparently you don't! You weren't having any of that. We also tried peas and that was a big no-no as well. But just when I thought veggies weren't your thing, you tried sweet potatoes and you were hooked. Guess you're going to have your daddy's sweet tooth :P

Crying
For the most part you're still a very pleasant child. You spend just about all of your day smiling and that's definitely okay with us. Occasionally you'll break out crying for what seems like no reason but as soon as you get attention you're good. So I'm thinking that someone is starting to figure out that with tears she can get her way. Wonder who that someone is?!

Milestones
- You are really doing well with your rolling this month! You've finally figured out how to go from your stomach to your back. However, if it's up to you, you'd rather cry until someone comes and flips you back over themselves. Lazy girl :P
- You finally figured out how to get your toes to your mouth. Though you don't think they taste as good as your fingers. Each time you suck on them you get a weird look and quickly pop them out of your mouth in exchange for your hands.

Likes
- Daycare: You are still loving day care!
- Exersaucer: Now that you're long enough to stand and are doing fairly better with sitting up, you're starting to really like the exersaucer at daycare. You still haven't quite figured out how the toys work but the fact that you're standing up and can look around suits you just fine!
- Your Poodle: This month you've discovered the toy poodle that hangs down from your car seat handle. You figured out that if you pull it it'll vibrate. Now as soon as we put you in you car seat you reach for it and start tugging on it!

Dislikes
- Being Alone: You still are not a fan or being alone. If I lay you on your play mat and you see me walk out of the room, you immediately start crying! But as soon as I go to pick you up, you start smiling. Spoiled? I think so!
- And based on this picture, you aren't a fan of the Heels anymore. But you're making your Uncle Andrew prouder and prouder of you everyday. He's hoping you're going to turn to the Wolfpack!



10.07.2013

Weekend Recap

Well ladies, another weekend has come and gone. It's amazing how fast they are going these days. Usually the thought of Mondays makes me want to crawl under the covers and never climb out but this Monday was a bit different. Why you ask? Well let me tell you. Tomorrow just so happens to be a teacher workday for this girl! Which means it's practically a one-day work week followed by a three-day work week and this girl can handle that! On top of that, Tuesdays are actually my least favorite day of the work week... so the fact that we're off that day... well... SCORE!

Anyways off to reminisce on the weekend!

Friday
Friday after the kiddos left, the staff had a fall celebration complete with pumpkin spice cookies, Halloween shaped cookies, & homemade fall themed trail mix! And yes, I indulged in far too many sweet treats than I needed. After the celebration our principal told us we could leave early! Hip Hip Hooray! I just wish I'd known we could leave early the day before because if I would've known ahead of time, I'd have packed our bags so we could head to the beach for the weekend and meet up with the in-laws. 

But since I didn't know ahead of time, I used my early release to head to Belk to pick up a Christmas outfit for Harper that I'd been eyeing! It's absolutely adorable and will look cute as a button for her rustic themed Christmas pictures! Isn't it precious? 

After my trip to Belk, I headed home to spend some quality time with the hubs & Harper doodle! We spent the afternoon lounging around in bed until it was time to meet the gang for some Mexican at El Parral. 

Saturday
We woke up early Saturday morning but we stayed in bed till sometime around 10 just playing around with Harper doodle. It's not every weekend that Kevin is off so we soaked up every minute of it! 

After our play session, we headed to Farmer's Table for breakfast with my parents. After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed out to a local greenhouse to pick up some items for our weekend project. My goal for the weekend was to work on our pitiful porch. As you can see from the picture, we had our weekend cut out for us!


Unfortunately, after purchasing our pumpkins & mums, I wasn't feeling like doing much since the temperatures were pushing 90+ degrees here in NC. So we spent the afternoon being lazy indoors just hanging out on the couch watching movies we had DVRed (is that a word?!).

Then Saturday night we headed a few cities over to spend the evening with Alyson & Clint (my best friend of all time & her fiance which happens to be my cousin). We hit up Fire & Sticks, a Japanese steakhouse in their town. It was delicious! Harper loved every minute that she got to spend with her Uncle Clint & Auntie Aly! She's spoiled by them! & I'd have to say I enjoyed every minute of our evening as well!


Sunday
We slept in on Sunday morning but we did make it to church! However, I wasn't sure we were going to even have church as our pastor's wife went into labor on Sunday morning, the day before her c-section was scheduled! Crazy how God's timing works :P But in the end, my uncle pastored the service and it was great to hear him dive into the Gospel even if I did have to listen to his sermon from the church nursery!  But who could deny this face a chance to play!!



After church we had lunch with my parents like every other Sunday afternoon. As usual, the meal did not disappoint. Mom fixed chicken and dressing, butter beans, corn, scalloped potatoes, & yeast rolls. I only hope that one day I'll be half the cook she is... though at this point, it's not looking too good! haha

When lunch was finished and the dishes were cleared, we headed off to the in-laws house. My mother in law & father in law got home from the beach around noon and they were dying to see their only grandbaby and of course Harper didn't mind the spoiling. So while Harper was being loved, hugged, & kissed on, we headed back to our house to do some cleaning and organizing and boy am I excited about the progress we made! Our garage is on it's way to being cleaned out and I was able to start a new pinterest inspired project that I can't wait to finish and share with you ladies!

All in all it was a great weekend & I hope you ladies enjoyed it every bit as much as I did! Until next time...




10.01.2013

Dining Room Redo

I am so happy to finally be able to share my dining room updates with you ladies! The room has been finished for almost a month now but I was hoping to have new wall decor before I shared it with y'all. My parents recently purchased us an antique mirror that is absolutely gorgeous and I was hoping it would be hung before I did this post. However, we haven't gotten around to it yet. It's super heavy and the wire needs to be redone on the back of the frame in order for our wall to hold it. So as soon as it's up, I'll do a dining room update post. Until then, here's how our dining room currently looks. To say I'm in love is an understatement!

To begin with, let me just show you what our dining room looked like before!



& here's our dining room now!!

Below are the changes we made!
{New table, light fixture, decor, & shadowboxes & paint}

What do you think ladies?!