See you LATER!!

Today, my best friend, Julie is on her way to a new adventure and a new chapter in her life. She is moving to Florida. We choose to say "see you later" instead of "goodbye"!!! I am going to miss her sooooo much, but I know things will not change between us. We'll still talk a lot...and after all...she was behind the idea of this whole blog thing :-) I am very excited for her, I know she'll make new friends and have FUN soaking up the sun!

We have been connected at the hip for over 18+ years. Our friendship is truly a blessing and one of a kind. We sincerely LOVE one another, our kids love one another...we are like FAMILY! We started out as little girls in middle school that loved to have fun and push our limits :-) We have been through so much together, good and bad. We have drastically changed as individuals, but our friendship always remained the same. There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord placed us in each others lives, I am so thankful for that.

the Desperado Days...no worries, no responsibilities

all grown up now with our babies!

Ansley and Brayton (we're gonna burn those shirts!!!)

Brayton with his girls!

I'm looking forward to making new memories and visiting FLORIDA as often as possible!!!

8 months

This was supposed to be posted on Jan. 22,
so let's pretend ;-P

8 month picture

(one day I'll get around to posting all her "month day" pictures on here...she has changed so much!)

Little Ms Brinlee is 8 months old already!! I can not believe how fast it is going by. She is crawling like a champ, pulling up and waving bye bye. She also says "bubba" and "da da". Her other two top teeth are coming thru also. So she now has 4 top and 2 on bottom. She grinds those bad boys at night...and the sound drives me CRAZY!!! Poor thing, they all came at once, so she doesn't know what to do with them. She was sleeping thru the night, but is now back to her old habits....getting up once or twice to snack and snuggle. It's all fine with me, though...before you know it, she'll be starting Kindergarten!

there she STANDS...don't worry, the side of the crib goes UP when I'm not standing there taking pictures!

crawlin' around at PaPa JT's

And speaking of Kindergarten, Frank and I went on a tour of Knightsville Elementary. We were on the fence about sending Brayton to a private school. We were impressed, and have decided to keep our money for college...he'll be going to public. It's a cute little school and the staff was super nice. It's going to be exciting to volunteer and do all the neat PTA stuff. I have to put on brave face and really pump this school stuff UP, because inside...it is KILLING me!!! The thought of sending my boy off for a full day ALONE, ugh!!! He has to grow up, I know this...but why SO FAST? Lately, he just wants to play in his room alone, and while it's a nice little break, it's kind of sad, too. Am I nut job or WHAT?!!?! I sure sound like one :-)

Brayton playing with his "men"

he wanted me to put this put this picture up...CLONE TROOPERS!

Feeling Patriotic!!!!

To say I was moved and inspired by today's inauguration is an under statement. I was glued to the TV the entire time. I didn't realize I would be so taken by it all, but I was. I didn't vote for Obama, and to be honest, was quite closed minded. Today, I have a new feeling and a new hope for our country. I will support and pray for our new president and for our country.

I tried to get Brayton interested, because after all, this is HISTORY in the making. He sat with me for a while and watched, then was off to play again. He heard one of the announcers say "Hillary Clinton" and he thought they said "Killiri"...so he said to me...

" Mommy, some of our people are there!!!" I thought that was cute!

I took a few pictures, would have LOVED to take more, but...my camera is still messing up!! Guess I need to bite the bullet and send it in for repairs.

Here are a few more "patriotic" pictures that I took the day we went to vote.

My All-American Babies!!

Weekend Fun...

So this past weekend was COLD and RAINY, and we did A LOT of relaxing and chilling out. Friday, Brayton and I baked cookies and made chicken and dumplins, then he left me to spend the night with Ge Ge. On Saturday we only left the house long enough to get his haircut and grab lunch. Then Sunday we met Julie and her girls at the skating rink...yes, we went SKATING...and let me just tell you, it was FUN!! I'm ready to go back without the kids to get my "skate on"! I've been wanting to take Brayton for a while now, so I'm glad we finally did it. Thankfully, Frank came along to help out with Brinlee...I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND EVER!!!

After getting pass the gross factor (wearing skates that God knows who else had on, the dirty carpet, etc.), we had a good time. Brayton hugged the wall a while, then decided he didn't have to hold on..AND he didn't need me out there with him...he's way too cool for that.

Brayton and Ansley, buds forever!

Our babies, Ella and Brinlee!

Julie with the kids...I'm sure gonna miss her!!

We took a lot more pictures. There are a few of all of us, and some with me and the kids...I'm sportin' a huge fever blister right now, so you will not be seeing those :-)

Hope everyone has a GREAT week! Stay warm!

Cutie Pie

I found this picture of Brayton and I'm convinced this is what Brinlee will look like in a year or so (with a bow, of course!) My child was normally dressed, but we were at the beach ;-)

You Might Be A REDNECK If....

• All you wanted for Christmas was a "Fo Wheela"
• You insist on wearing the same "deer" shirt everyday
• When your friends come over to play with you, you make them play "deer process"
• Cowboy boots go with EVERYTHING!
• Your jeans with the hole in them are your favorite
• You walk around with an empty apple juice bottle "spitting" in it
• Riding in Daddy's pick up truck is the highlight of your week :-)

I DO LOVE MY LITTLE REDNECK!!!

TEETH!!

My little darlin' now has 4 teeth...but we're working on 6! She has two on bottom and two on top. The two on top are her eye teeth, so she's sportin' the vampire look :-) The top middle two are working their way down, too.

I took her to the doctor today because she has had a cough and runny nose. They think it's due to allergies. However, her ear did look a little red, so she's starting amoxicillin. They said she weighed 19.5 lbs!! I almost fell over!! That was with all her winter gear on, though...sweater, onsie, jeans, etc. So it's not completely accurate.

Did I mention she's my baby and I don't want her growing up too quickly? Well, I think I may be going a little overboard!! I didn't even realize that I was still feeding the poor dear Stage 1 baby food!! So, needless to say, we moved up to Stage 2...and 3!! My girl likes to eat, just like her momma :-)

Happy New Year!!!

2008 was a wonderful for year for this family! We began settling into our new home and completed our happy little family with our new baby girl! She has been such a joy in all of our lives! I have so many resolutions this year...I'll be pleased if I can keep 1/4 of them!! So far I'm off to a bad start :-) It's always nice to start fresh with a new year, though. Frank goes back to work tomorrow after almost 2 weeks off! We're sure gonna miss Daddy!! It's been so much fun having him home. Poor little Brinlee is teething and she is having a horrible time with it all. She already has her bottom two teeth, now her top "eye" teeth are coming in. I can't believe how quickly my baby is growing up. She scoots all around the house and she gets in to everything already! She was trying to pull herself up in the crib tonight when I went in to check on her.
Brayton is enjoying all of his Christmas presents. He loves to play his new video games, and when he's not doing that...he's on his new 4wheeler outside. He is so into Ben 10 right now. So, I have to be careful, because I never know when he's going to turn "alien" on me....he is so funny and cracks us up everyday!! I can't believe he goes back to school on Tuesday. He has an official "girlfriend" named Abby. I say official because he actually asked her to be his girlfriend. He has been missing her terribly during the Christmas break.
I have lots of pictures to download and get on here. I am working on a 2008 slideshow...so much to do, so little time! That's one of my goals for the year...mainly to get them all printed out!!!

I wish everyone a safe, happy and healthy 2009! Blessings to you all!

Update...

I have been really slack with keeping up with this blog thing, I'm still learning! I promise to do better, though. I wanted to post Brayton's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving and ALL of little Ms. Brinlee's milestone's. We are just too busy and time goes by way too fast. I'll throw together a few slide shows and try to put the highlights in. Brinlee is sitting up and has two bottom teeth now. It's hard to believe she's 7 months old. She is a great little eater. She'll eat anything I give to her, even green beans and prunes! However, she still will not take a bottle...or sippy cup (she's a nurser ;-) ). I have been working on the sippy cup with her, so with time, I'm sure she'll get the hang of it. She's my last baby, and I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible. Her hair is finally coming in and it's actually pretty dark. She is such a happy little baby. She visited Santa and slept thru the entire thing, of course with thumb in mouth!

Brayton is a big helper who still loves to stay in her face! His new obsession in Ben10 Alien Force. Trust me, you DO NOT want him to turn into an alien, he is so funny! He asked a classmate to be his "girl friend" before Christmas break. Her name is Abby and he wants to take her to the movies. I don't know what I'm going to do with him. They are so much fun...I live for these little moments ;-)

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Ours was just WONDERFUL! WOW- what a busy month. In a nutshell, we've been to see Christmas lights in James Island, the town tree lighting, the Living Christmas Story, a visit to see Santa, Brayton was a king in his school program and a shephard in the church program. We've had school parties, church parties and family dinners!!! Oh, and Daddy's (Frank) birthday!!! Brayton really got into Santa this year, so we had a lot of fun with him. Brinlee was clueless, she didn't even get into opening her gifts. She mostly wanted to eat the paper...maybe next year :-) We went to church on Christmas Eve and then to my moms (A.K.A. "Ge Ge") to open gifts. We also had a special surprise on Christmas Eve. Pa Pa J.T. got to come home from the hospital. He's been in there since before Thanksgiving. This was a pretty big deal for our family, mainly because the doctors had told us that he wouldn't even be here on Christmas. Christmas is such a magical, special time of year...and I just happen to believe this was a Christmas miracle! He's a strong man with a lot of will power. He also has the Lord in his corner, so with that combination...we shouldn't have been surprised! So after Ge Ge's, we came home to leave cookies for Santa and to feed the reindeer. Brayton also leaves carrots for Rudolph each year. Apparently Santa told Brayton a secret this year...he told him to leave the cookies UNDER THE TREE, guess he's getting too busy to sit at the table. As I laid down with Brayton, we thought we heard sleigh bells, so we tried to go fast asleep!





Christmas morning didn't come too early (8am), my child is NOT a morning person! Brayton REALLY wanted a 4wheeler from Santa, as a matter of fact...that is ALL HE WANTED! Well, of course we didn't know Santa left the 4wheeler until all the other presents were opened. It was sitting right outside were the reindeer food was!!! He was soooooo excited. The look on his face was priceless! We had breakfast and stayed home for most of the day. Around 1:00 we went to visit Pa Pa JT. Then we had lots of company. Nana, Grandpa and Suzanne, Ge Ge and Pa Pa, Tiffany and Haven, and Debbie and David. I also started a NEW tradition...Christmas Dinner at OUR house. Nana ate with us, and I must say, it was pretty good! Brinlee had fun playing with her new toys, but would have been just as happy chewing on a box.




We all had a great Christmas filled with gifts, food, family and FUN. The best gift of all, though is My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am nothing without Him. I am blessed beyond measure and have so much to be thankful for. I am so thankful for that starry night that our King, our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ was BORN!!! I am thankful for all that He is and for all He has given me.

( I took LOTS of pictures during this time, I tried to make the slideshow short and sweet