Family Reunion

It just happened that as we were already in Missouri last week,

we got to go to Ben's Family Reunion.

We've never been able to go before,

 so this was an extra special treat

not only was it Olivia's first family reunion,

it was our first family reunion to go to as a family.

We had a really good time.

Below are some of the pics...

I hope you enjoy!

Olivia with her Daddy

Cousins playing

Sittin' around talkin'

Olivia with her Gran Gran

Olivia and her Aunt Ellee

Olivia playing the guitar with her Papaw 

Olivia's First Show

Last week we went to Branson

with my parents for the annual Pastor's conference

at New Life Temple.

It was a much needed break for me.

I was ready to getaway for a bit and

I have to say I enjoyed every bit of it. =)

While we were in Branson,

Ben came up early Thursday morning

and Thursday night we went to The Presley's.

If you've ever been to Branson, you know that there are tons of shows...

No, we don't go for the shows... it's mainly "old people" (ha.),

but we have a very good friend who is in The Presley's,

so we had to go see him.

This was Olivia with possibly her future grandfather-in-law, Bruce.

I say future grandfather-in-law because at church one night

Bruce's oldest grandson, Wesley, who's 3,

came up and gave Olivia a kiss!

It was her "first" kiss!!

It was pretty cute.

This was Olivia's first time going to something like this.

I have to say, she was very good.

Ben and her left at intermission to go back to the room

because they were both really tired.

When they left, we heard several people around us say

"She was the best behaved baby."

I have to say that makes one Momma very happy

when I hear things like that.

I hope that she stays that way.

Olivia 11 Months Old

Sorry for the short blogging break,

but we were out of town all last week.

It was MUCH needed and we had a great time.

However, while we were gone

Olivia turned 11 months old!!

I can't believe that in less than a month she will be one!

That's just CRAZY!!

What is she up to these days????

She is getting sooo big!

I'm not exactly sure how much she weighs,

but I'd say around 20+ pounds.

Needless to say,

she doesn't miss a meal. ha.

This little girl LOVES to eat!

Usually she will eat 4 to 6 baby food jars a day

with a couple bottles in between.

She's also found a new love for the Gerber puffs!

She eats them like there's no tomorrow.

She loves gravy!

Every Monday her Mimi & Poppy take her to Hill's

 and she eats a whole bowl of gravy!

She's started eating more and more table food,

but she still loves her baby food.

She's wearing sizes ranging from 6 to 9 months to 9 to 12 months.

We're pretty excited about this cooler weather because

she'll get to start

wearing all of her new fall clothes. =)

Just over the last month,

she's had several teeth to come in.

I'm not exactly sure how many she has,

but I'll say somewhere between 6 to 8.

She definitely has a mouth-full. =)

She crawls around like a wild woman!

She just flys through the house.

She's not walking just yet,

but I don't think it will be too much longer.

She's pulling up on everything and she's very mobile,

but she just hasn't figured out how to "let go" yet.

I wouldn't know where she gets this from,

but she's a talker! Ha!

She just rattles and rattles.

Her most common words are:

Momma (yay!!), Dada, Pop-pee (Poppy), bye bye, ba ba & hi.

Every now and then she'll throw some other words in there,

but those are the ones that she has down the best.

She also "Praises the Lord."

It's the cutest thing I've ever seen-

When we say praise the Lord,

she'll just raise her little hands and smile.

It's sooo sweet!

I don't remember our lives before we had Olivia

and I don't want too.

She is the greatest blessing we could ever ask for.

She's such a good baby.

She usually sleeps through the night

and she always has the best disposition.

I'm so happy that she's our little girl!

WE LOVE YOU SISSY GIRL!!

Mommy & Daddy

Random Thoughts

I've got lots on my mind today.

I feel like my mind is going 90 to nothing.

This weekend was KICK-OFF for NFL!!!

WHOOP WHOOP!

When I was pregnant with Olivia

I bought her a Rams cheerleading outfit.

Ben is a huge Rams fan and I'm a Patriots fan.

Yeah, totally opposite. ha.

However, my two sweets looked pretty cute yesterday.

(No, Ben did not wear his jersey to church). Ha.

But as soon as he walked in the door, he changed.

Even Poppy was kind of dressed in Rams colors. ha.

(I'm sure he did not plan it that way).

I wanted to get a cute "Kick-off" pic of me and Olivia,

but as you can tell from the picture above

she was obviously tired of getting her picture taken.

Of course when the game is on,

we have to have game food.

A couple of our friends came over after church

and we enjoyed: tacos, rotel dip & chocolate cupcakes.

I'm proud to say that the Patriots won-38 to 24

and even though the Rams lost- 13 to 17

they still played a good game.

I'm pretty happy with the new QB, Sam Bradford.

Other randoms from this weekend:

*My new wreath is now hanging on our front door.

I'm pretty happy with the finished product.

*Saturday Olivia took a dive-HEAD FIRST- off of her changing table. It scared me half to death, but thankfully she is OK. I just happened to turn for a split second and the next thing I know she was flying off the changing table.

*Please remember two families at my church..

Mary Lou Milby lost her husband Bill a few weeks ago and I know that she's going to have good days and bad days, but please remember her and her family in your prayers. They were married for 54 years and one morning she woke up and he didn't. I know that she has a long road ahead of her, but when you pray, please speak her name.

Also, another lady in my church, Sis. Nancy, was diagnosed with stomach cancer two years ago. She underwent surgery and chemo and radiation and from the reports, all the cancer was gone. However, last year she was diagnosed with brain cancer. She underwent surgery, chemo and radiation and again, they thought they had got it all.

Well, earlier this year they were told that there was a spot on her brain that they didn't get with surgery and she would need to undergo more treatments. She just finished her last radiation treatment a couple weeks ago and she doesn't go back for repeat scans until October, but please pray that the cancer is now gone. This lady is an AWESOME woman of God. She loves the Lord and her church family with ALL of her heart and it breaks my heart to see her and her family go through all of this.

So, please when you pray, please say a prayer for these two families.

Like I said, my mind is going 90 to nothing, but I hope everyone had a great weekend.

My only complaint is that they're just too short. =)

Rag Wreath Tutorial

If you follow my blog,

then you know that I love fall.

I don't think I can say it enough. ha.

I've wanted to get a new fall wreath for our front door,

but everything that I've liked has been way too expensive.

The other day I looked on etsy and I found the cutest Rag Wreaths.

I figured, heck, these can't be too hard to make..

turns out I was right.

I made this one last night and

I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

I've still got to attach my "H" with my ribbon,

but overall I love the colors and fabrics that I picked out.

I also LOVE that it incorporates our love for football

because it has some football print fabric on it too.

If you want to make your own, go to Rag Wreath Tutorial

or if you like the way this one looks,

I have PLENTY of fabric left over and

I'd give you a good deal. ;-)

Plans

Hello all!

Sorry I've been so lazy...

I just haven't really had anything "that" exciting to blog about.

However, I'm soooo excited because I

know that fall is just right around the corner.

I LOVE FALL!!

It is my most FAVORITE time of the year!
The past few days we've enjoyed the beautiful weather--
we've had our windows open
and it has been so nice.

Since it was a holiday weekend and work has been slow..

I took off Friday in anticipation that Ben would also be off

and we could get some much needed work done around the house.

Needless to say, things didn't go as planned.

Ben went to a respiratory conference in Memphis Thursday night and

he did not get home until EARLY Friday morning.

I just figured he would take the day off or

at least work only half a day Friday.

However, he ended up working all day.

 Then, I thought he would be off Saturday...

well that didn't work out either because he worked then too.

Needless to say, my "plans" did not go as planned.

I really wanted to work on Elijah's room, possibly paint our

living room and bathroom

and then just spend some quality time together,

just the three of us.

However, sometimes things just don't work out.

If things would have gone according to my plans,

then we had anticipated on going up to the lake Sunday night

and spending the night and then enjoying

Labor Day with our friends and family.

Since Ben worked all weekend,

we decided to stay home Sunday night and

we ended up going to the lake yesterday.

I had also made plans to go to the

arts and crafts festival in Grand Rivers

with my mom yesterday.

However, that also ended up falling through

and it ended up just being me, Ben and Olivia.

(Thanks babe for being such a good sport and going with me).

After we left the arts and crafts we went to my parents trailer.

I must say, even though everything seemed to "fall through,"
we had a really good time at the lake.
Several of our friends from church and some of our family
came up and we enjoyed LOTS of good food and good company.
All in all, even though "my plans"
were shot out of the water this weekend,
I must say, I enjoyed spending some much needed time at home
doing laundry and playing with Olivia and cleaning the house.
Sometimes it's just nice to just set back and relax.
However, I can't end this post without thanking my hubby
for everything he does for us!
Considering he was dog tired, he worked all weekend
and I never heard him complain.
Thank you babe!
I love you with all of my heart!!