Today is my first day at the gym since having a baby, knee surgery and... well it has been a long time. My knee that hasn't been surgically fixed is wrapped and ready! I have 30 pounds that I want to lose. Sweet jeebus keep your fingers crossed for me! This won't be easy!
If you give Finley a crayon and paper, he'll usually walk away. If you give him a page full of math problems, he'll smile and fly through them with zero errors! So, being an artist, you can't even imagine how excited I get when Finley quietly draws for nearly 20 minutes!!!!!
The only thing that I had planned on doing this past weekend was taking us all to a children's museum about 30 minutes away. In a crazy turn of events we got snow, we got ice, and we got Grandma. Jeremy's mom was a couple of hours away visiting a sick family member and decided to stop by and hang out for a few days. This combination of happenings made for great sledding!
We had a lot of ice on top of snow which made our sleds fly! You could also sled on the sidewalks. I took my cell phone with me to snap some pics. What in the world did we do before cell phone cameras? I hate that I rely on it so much!! There's nothing that drives me crazy more than taking a good pic and realizing that it's cell phone quality. That's my photog vent for the day. :)
I took these photos of the kids when I was in Clarksville for Christmas break. These are my parents grandkids (minus Sloane). Woowee what a bunch of loud mouths! They sure are lucky that I love them like I do! :)
You can always tell when I'm lacking computer time because there are a lot of cell phone updates (see this weeks posts!). To top it off my computer was at its max on space again which is a problem that I constantly run into because I don't keep it cleaned up enough. So, the other day I spent a couple of hours removing tons of stuff and now the computer is happy again.
This brings me to my next topic. When things are removed it allows me to pay more attention to the pictures that I still have on the computer. The ones that you haven't seen. The ones that I neglected to edit and post because I am easily sidetracked and take WAY too many photos.
This is my blog and it is a documentary of our lives. The day that I gave birth to Sloane I had a blast updating everyone moment by moment via cell phone. I wouldn't trade that for the world. Then, when we got home I started posing Sloane and editing those photos that had to be done in the first few days of her life. Perhaps I am posting these a year too late but I want them included in our documentary. So here they are. Sloane's birth... beyond the cell phone. The first 3 were taken by me and the rest were taken by Jeremy (who was so nervous about using my camera wrong). He did great and I love having these.
This is part 1 of 2. Enjoy my life and the beginning of Sloane's. :)
5 minutes before birth....
This past weekend, Addison and 4 other girls got together and opened up a hot chocolate stand. It was FREEZING outside and they stayed out there for nearly 4 hours. They charged $1.50 per cup and donated all of the money to a charity for abused animals. They made BANK! Seriously, how cute and fabulous is that?!
This is what a 3 hour nap does to Sloane.
Sent from my iPhone
Help!
Jeremy kidnapped me and Sloane and forced us to go to an art museum in DC!
.... Ok, I forgive him. Loving this!
The ladies of the house (via blurry cell phone).
Sent from my iPhone
Sloane is wearing Addison's fleece baby suit and white beanie. Sure is cool to see these clothes worn again after 9 years!
Ugh! The one thing that I always write on Addison's school records every year is "frequent nose bleeds". They have become less and less over the years but she still gets them at least once a month. They are usually small and easy to deal with but every now and then... YIKES! Last night was one of those yikes nights. It was her worst one ever. It started at 8:15pm and continued to be super heavy for the next hour and 45 minutes. It would stop for 5 minutes and then pour again. When we reached the hour and 45 minute mark, we decided that she needed to go to the Emergency room. She was getting dizzy and because it was so late she was tired. He loaded the 2 of them in the car and headed out after calling the doctor in advance. About an hour later he called me to tell me that they were still waiting because the Emergency room suddenly became super busy. Addison's nose hadn't bled since they left the house and she was able to clear her nose without it starting again. So they got home and I made the guest bed "nose bleed" ready. I slept with her downstairs and she made it through the night fine.
So, if you are keeping up: The horrible cough that I had for a solid before Christmas + going on Christmas vacation + stomach viruses with everyone when we returned + nose bleeds = I have only slept in my own bed about twice in the past month!
Addison and Finley love to look back at their lives on this blog. I'm so thankful that I've stuck with it. I wanted to write a little letter to Sloane for her birthday so she can someday look back like the others and read it. I've also added some photos that I took of her on her big first birthday!
Sloane,
Wow, you're one! Time sure does fly. By now, you are used to the camera in your face all of the time. You usually pause to give me a moment to snap a few photos before trying to pull my the camera out of my hands. You continue to be super easy and happy all of the time. You have two teeth, light brown hair and your Daddy's eyes. On the day before your birthday you took 5 to 6 steps out of nowhere. It was your first attempt at walking and after landing on your face, you looked up and laughed. You've started talking and can say "Mama", "Dada", "up", "what's that" and "hi". You shimmy your shoulders when you dance and you make the best silly faces of any baby that I've ever seen. You're really shy when strangers give you attention but you're learning to warm up pretty fast to people. You're always laughing, eating fuzz off of the floor and getting into anything that you can. You are everything that we could have hoped for and more.
Happy 1st birthday! We love you!
Happy Birthday to the happiest baby on earth! We love you, Sloane!
This is why I don't let Finley fix his own hair! A combover? Really? He looks like Donald Trump! It's a rainbow on his head without the fancy colors. See how the curls above his ears form clouds on both ends?!
Sent from my iPhone
This is what happens when you leave town the day after Christmas, return with the stomach bug, and barely have any energy to unpack the car. Am I ashamed? No! I am proud! Proud that no one has vomited in the past 12 hours!!
Funny thing happened on the drive home from Tennessee. No wait.. back up. Funny thing happened a couple of days before we left Clarksville. Sloane threw up. And she was fabulous right after. Then she threw up. Fabulous. Diarrhea. Fabulous. And more of her being fabulous.
Fast forward... Funny thing happened on the drive home from Tennessee. I didn't want dinner. I still "felt full" from lunch. Then, deep into the night when we were 20 minutes from our house, I felt odd. "I feel like I'm getting car sick." and I had been fighting the super sleepies all day. I already took 3 naps which is super odd for me. Hmm... So the closer to home we get the more I feel the vomit rising. I told Jeremy that he might have to pull over. Thankfully, I made it home. I ran up the stairs and came in the door and immediately threw up. Then NINE MORE TIMES IN THE NIGHT I threw up. NINE! And Jeremy and Sloane threw up too. So, on January 2nd this was a sad, sad house! Addison and Finley seemed to be OK and managed fine without parents for the day. Then today, Addison woke up with stomach pains and I kept her home. No puke so far. Then at the end of the school day I got a call from Fin's school telling me he threw up. Yay!
Jeremy and I were better today but weak and dizzy. Sloane's back to fabulous and Finley is the sad one now. Addison seems normal but I think that she wants to throw up so she can feel part of a team.
Ugh! That's my update. You're welcome.
We're on our way home. This drive is so pretty!
Sometimes I'm artsy.
In Louisville, Kentucky and headed to Tennessee!
We are about to leave Jeremy's moms house and head to my parents house. BUT not until Sloane finishes cleaning the glass doors with her tongue!
Nothing weird going on here! Carry on!
We turned her chair around because she's so close to being ONE!
Ok, who brings gourmet cheese and crackers on a road trip? JEREMY! He had me open the container in the car and the smell of stinky cheese vomit shot straight up my nose! Stinky cheese gets you banished from the car! Enjoy your fancy food in the cold next to the gas station, brotha!
We're headed to Kentucky for a visit with Jeremy's parents. We'll be in Tennessee in a couple of days. Christmas on the road!
If I don't figure out how to trick this blog it will be the death of me!
I'm trying to trick the cell phone by taking a sideways photo and having it straighten it right side for me.
Anywho, here's one of Jeremy's gifts.
Dear people who have come to visit me (including my mother),
I'm sorry that I haven't taken any of you to the antique store 15 minutes from my house. This cabinet is from their stores and they have even cooler things than this. You should all punch me in the face for neglecting your antique needs!
~Courtney
Our Elf's name is Elfie. Original, huh?! The Elf on the Shelf watches the kids everyday and reports back to Santa every night telling him about the behavior in the house. Every morning we find the elf hiding in a new spot in the house. My kids LOVE him!
The Elf's have gotten a little crazy this year and judging from pictures that people are posting on facebook, some Elf's have been completely insane. Ours normally just hides and we find him in the morning. A few times he's been a little sneaky and done something really silly. For example, one morning our stockings were missing and in their place was the kids underwear. Oh the embarrassment! One morning, one of our Christmas trees had been toliet papered. Finley said, "Oh, it's new garland!". Our favorite was when we found him hiding with a dry erase marker and found that he had drawn on our family pictures. It was really funny. Here's some pics from that one. :)
LOVE when my kids play and laugh together. HATE that my new cell phone displays photos on the blog SIDEWAYS!!! My brain can't handle this.
Leave your politics at the door. The day that I took the kids to the Christmas parade, Jeremy was playing a gig at the Vice Presidents house. He played the same gig last December and received an official Vice Presidential Christmas ornament. We were hoping he would get another one this year.
So, Jeremy left for his gig and I scrambled around the house trying to get everyone ready for the parade in time. When we got there and found our spot on the sidewalk, I sent Jeremy a text with a photo of the kids letting him know that we indeed made it in time. His response was to let us know that he made it to his destination as well by sending a picture of the front gate to the Vice Presidents house. Here's the text...
A few minutes later, he sent me another picture from the Vice Presidents pool house. THERE IS A PICTURE OF JEREMY ON THE WALL! If you look at the photo, Jeremy is in the background to the right of the pole. Um... he is in a picture on the Vice Presidents wall. How cool is that?!?!
On the text below you can see a text at 12:27. By this time we were home from the parade and had just walked downstairs to relax and get warm again. The phone rings. It's Jeremy's cell - so I answer.
Jeremy: Hi. Ask Addison if she would like to talk to the Vice President. He is making phone calls to the family.
Me: Umm.. WHAT!? YES SHE SURE WOULD!
I put the phone on speaker so I could hear and I'm kind of wondering if this is a joke. Then I hear Joe Biden, THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, say...
The VP: Hi, Addison! This is the Vice President, Joe Biden. How are you?
Addison giggles.
Addison: Hi. I'm good. How are you?
The VP: I'm good. I just wanted to call you and thank you for letting your Daddy come to my house on a Saturday and play music.
Addison: You're welcome.
The VP: Well, I really appreciate it. Listen, I'm want to open up the pool at my house next summer and have you guys over to swim. OK?
Addison giggles.
Addison: OK.
The VP: Well, you have a great Christmas and thank you again.
Addison: OK. You're welcome.
The VP: I'm going to hand the phone back to your Daddy. Bye.
Addison giggles.
Addison: Bye.
Then we all fainted.
Jeremy's text at 12:27 immediately followed.
The phone call was a little more than that but that was the jest of it. He asked about her Christmas and such. We were freaking out! The whole time I was wondering how I could record this but I couldn't get to anything in time. The great thing is that it was his idea to call the bands families. How awesome is that?! She will never forget that. What an insane experience.
And here's this years ornament. :)
It's all fun and games making Finley's hair really big. We laugh when we push it in an upward direction and make him look like he just returned from the salon after getting his perm combed out and hair sprayed for the week. Yep, all fun and games UNTIL he gets off of the bus from school and his hair actually looks like this! Did he go about the day with this hair? Do people think that we send him to school like that? What happened to the boy that I sent to school with little kid hip hair? He left looking like a cool little kid and came back looking like my grandmother!
I dread that moment when I realize that my kids feet are not longer soft and sweet and kissable. That day when they are smelly and rough and lived in. Funky, normal and grown. Until then...
(these belong to Fin)
Last Saturday, while Jeremy played a gig at the Vice President of the United States house.... (this is being a normal part of life, weird) the rest of us peons went to the town Christmas parade. I completely failed in the weather preparation area because I should have put us in snow suits for the parade. Note to self: winter makes the cement feel like ice. And must bring blankets next time! We were FREEZING but had a really good time at the parade. Here's our pics. :)
our neighbor on the tuba
smiling because that's Santa in the red convertible coming up the street
I'm a little under the weather. However, there's lots to post about. Coming soon: the Christmas parade, the Vice President of the United States, the Elf on the Shelf and a partridge in a pear tree...
Here's a pic of my cute kids at the parade yesterday. More very soon!
I got a new phone! It actually takes fantastic pics but this one was taken in crappy lighting. Yay phones!! Oh, and it's a new iPhone so I'm actually talking this message instead of writing it!
BAM!
On Sunday, Jeremy (and the rest of the Navy band, Country Current) played the halftime show at the New Orleans Saints game. Um... nearly 80,000 people in attendance. Insanity! They didn't air the halftime show on television because of commercials and recaps (and this ain't the Superbowl people).
Anyway, I *should* have a video soon of their show but for now all I have is a couple of photos from the Saints website AND a video of Kenny (the singer) singing the National Anthem before the game. Yay!
And a pic of Jeremy...
Here's a photo taken during the anthem.
Pinterest is the new black. Huh? Anyway, you can see my "collection" of fabulous things if you click the "follow me on pinterest" tab in the right column. You can find everything on there (as I recently mentioned). Jeremy and I decided to put pinterest into action and actually use it as it should be used. You are supposed to be inspired by things that you see on there and then make them. It could be food, decortations, furniture, clothes or just inspiration. Here we go...
Two of the recipes that I have collected have now been made in our house. Here's the first. For Thanksgiving, we needed side dishes and I found one for corn pudding on Pinterest. It was great. Success #1. Here's a pic from the site and a link to the recipe {HERE}.
The weather here has been super crazy. It snowed in October, remember? Jeremy took the kids to the park last week because it was a beautiful day. At first I asked if I should join. He quickly reminded me that he was letting me have the house to myself in silence. Silence? Alone? Yes, please! When they returned HOURS LATER, Finley was really upset about his hands. After about 20 trips across the monkey bars, he had ripped off blisters on his hands. Both of them! Ripped as in: Started with normal hands, formed blisters while passing back and forth and then tearing them off due to continious monkey bar action. I can not even imagine the pain! For the next 3 days he wore gloves because he was so scared to touch them or see them. He even wore them to school.
Such a fashionista!
When we returned home from Tennessee (back at the beginning of November), I put up one of our Christmas trees. I always put our tree up on the week of our anniversary (Nov 8). I love this tree because it's fancy. We have our fun tree downstairs with all of the great kid ornaments and the ones that carry the memories. This one is the "decorators tree". Let me remind you that it has an insane amount of ornaments on it and I paid less than $100 for ALL of them! Shopping on December 26th paid off! That's basically the only reason why we have two trees... because of the bargains. haha.
I love having the tree up early because I LOVE the lights in the house so much.
I'm finally getting around to posting the last of our trip to Temple Hall Farm back in October. I have such a hard time deleting photos that aren't necessary and narrowing a family outing down to 30 pictures when I've taken over 100. I'm working on this problem.
I love going to this farm because it has a huge corn maze! I just love going through those with the kids. October was a really rainy month for us and when we got to the corn maze, I didn't even think about how much mud the paths would have. After about 15 minutes of walking around we heard to boys laughing and screaming. When we turn the corner in the path we found one of the boys in the middle of a mud pit with the thickest, stickiest mud all the way up to his knees. To top it off, his shoe was stuck somewhere down in the hole that his foot had been in. I snapped a pic, of course. :)
I was really thankful that those kids rounded that corner before we did because I really didn't feel like pulling anyone in my family out of that!
Finley was in a great mood and had continiously posed for pictures for me. Seriously... posing!
And thanks to Robyn's son (Hudson), I now pay attention to tractors that are around. :)
Here's the rest of the photos from the day...
On November 8th, the day of my grandmothers funeral, Jeremy and I celebrated basically ignored that it was our 14th wedding anniversary. He gave me a card and I supplied nothing in return. My mind and heart was with Nonnie and I simply forgot. And with that I wanted to give our anniversary the public declaration that it deserves.
Everyone always says "On this day so-and-so years ago, I married my best friend."
I say this...
On November 8th 1997, I married a man who I don't put in the best friend category. I put him somewhere different. Somewhere higher. Here's a metaphor: If best friends were food in the refrigerator of life, then Jeremy would be the system that keeps them cool. He's not my best friend, he's what keeps me from spoiling and being thrown out. He's what keeps me comfortable. I married someone who challenges me, agrees to disagree with me, likes me without makeup, and still acts surprised when I say in word with a full-on country accent. He is my opposite but will bend enough to help keep things balanced. He gave me 3 of the most adorable and hilarious kids ever! He is the constant in my life. We laugh, argue, and love each other. 14 years. That's a long damn time! I am grateful that we are celebrating another year together. You are a superstar husband. I love you (and your fabulous, gray hair). xo.
I'm STILL working on my photography website. I'm struggling with prices. Also, I have to have a price list for Virginia and then a different one for Tennessee because the cost of living is insanely different. I want everything to be right and images to look fantastic and... ugh... I hate this part of it all!
So now I'm lumping a session together like this to save page space and make it more fancy. I think that I may use this method on this blog too because I love it ever so much. ;)
I have a feeling (be warned) that the next two days are going to be super blogging days for me! I'm realizing that I have all of these fall pictures and stories and um... it's nearly winter. Time for catch up.
Hope you are all having a happy holiday weekend. :)
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