Allie & Aust's Wedding

I've been a bad blogger lately. We've been so busy gearing up for Halloween that I haven't had a chance to sit down and post about the wedding. Yes, Allie is now Mrs. Guill!! YAY!!!  I would say it's been a long time coming, but they've only been engaged for FIVE months and on Saturday, October 22, 1011 they tied the knot!!! 

The venue... was AMAZING!!! It's called The Grand Lodge on Fifth. The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner were held there Friday night and afterwards the girls spent the night upstairs in the apartment that's provided. It was so nice. Here's the bride and me the morning of the ceremony. Fixing to get ready. :)

Allie looked beautiful!! I was with her when she bought her dress and I knew it was beautiful then, but wow, I totally forgot how gorgeous it really was.

(Photo courtesy of Britney Deshea Photography)

Britney Hargrove took her pictures and the sneak peeks have turned out really good. She really takes great pictures!!

Here we are again after getting "fixed up". ha. (I'd say we look a little bit different). LOL!

(Photo courtesy of Teris's Facebook Page)

Here's the bridal party during the ceremony. Aren't those chandeliers BEAUTIFUL???? I can't say enough about the venue... simple, but elegant... just perfect!

Here's Ben and I. We didn't walk together, I got to walk with "Jets Fan" (lol!), but I loved that we could actually get a few good pics of us together all dressed up. ;)

(Sorry for the poor quality, IPhone pic)

I think Olivia and her Poppy had a good time.

 I have to give a special thanks to my parents for watching the kids for us Friday night thru Saturday night while we were with the bridal party and to my mom for watching Olivia during the ceremony since Ben, Dad and I were all in the wedding. :)

The father/daughter and mother/son dance.

THE CAR!!!! To the boys who did this... you know who you are... I would've killed you. :)

(Photo courtesy of Britney Deshea Photography)

To Austin & Allie,

We are so happy for you guys! It really seems like yesterday you guys were pulling into our driveway to show off the ring and now, you are husband and wife. Thanks for letting Ben and I be a part of your special day. It truly was amazing. All the hard work really paid off because it was just gorgeous. Friends are easy to make, but true friends are rare. I can honestly say that you two are true friends! I cherish our friendship! Thanks for being there for us and for our kids. We love you both!!

Congrats again Mr. & Mrs. Austin Guill!!!

(Every time I say that, I smile).

:-D

Girl's Weekend

(Disclaimer: Sorry it's taken me so long to post this, I'm just getting around to uploading the pictures). :)

It's no surprise by now (if you read or follow my blog) that our friends Austin and Allie got married this weekend!! (I'll post about it tomorrow). Well, a couple of weeks ago we went to Nashville for Allie's Bachelorette party! We had so much fun!!

We decked the car out with Bachelorette stickers!!

Here's the (soon-to-be) bride holding the car flag that happened to fly out the window as soon as we turned onto the interstate. LOL! It about gave Carly and I a heart attack, but it was hilarious.

When we arrived to the hotel, Lindsey had it decorated in our "Allie Cat" theme. It was too cute!!

She even had goodie bags fully equipped with all bachelorette attire... stickers for the night ("Take Me Home Tonight, Cutie Patootie, Show Us the Gun Show, Moves Like Jagger, Mc. Steamy") I'm sure you get the point. Believe me we had lots of fun with those. Ha! She also gave us a button to wear and some cute bracelets. It was really adorable!! Thanks, Lindsey for putting so much effort into it. It was great!

We "showered" the soon-to-be bride with some must need newly wed attire and also with a snuggie sutra book. (Very detailed). Ha!

Then we got ready for our night out and went to eat at The Old Spaghetti Factory. It was delicious. After we left there, we headed out for our night on the town.

We ended up in the V.I.P. section at this dance club called Chase's where "lover" gave us all massages!!! Yeah it was nice. ;)

We had an awesome view overlooking the river and LP field. All in all is was a great night out with some fun girls.

I have to give a special thanks to my hubby for taking care of the kids and letting me have a night with the girls. (He's pretty great!) Thanks, honey!! :)

It's My Party

Sorry for the extreme amount of pictures, but I couldn't help but post them. This past weekend we celebrated Olivia's 2nd Birthday at YaYa's Island. We had been there once before for Olivia's friend, Addi's birthday. Olivia loved it so we thought we'd give it a whirl. Her actual birthday isn't until Sunday, but as you probably know by now (if you follow my blog) our good friends Austin & Allie are getting married this weekend!!! Since they're the kids God-parents and we're in the wedding, we moved her party up one weekend. :)

Here's her cake and cookies from The Cake Lady.  They are absolutely amazing!! I love all of their goodies! They're always delicious and ADORABLE!!!

Here's a pic of the table. Ben cut out the owls for the gift bags. I don't think he would do that for anyone else except his daughter. :) (I think she has him wrapped around her little finger). ha!

Here's the BIRTHDAY GIRL!!! I ordered her outfit from Ribbon Chix. As you've seen by now, we had an "owl theme." It was really cute!!

She had so much fun playing. It was kind of a struggle to get her to sit still to open her presents.

After opening a few, she seemed to get the hang of it. :)

She got lots of Dora stuff... she happened to get two Dora guitars. lol!

Dora...

And more Dora...

And more presents. It was like Christmas!!! I'm so glad so many of our friends came to the party and spent her special day with us, but she got LOTS of stuff!!!

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!! How cute??????

Blowing out her #2 candle!

Playing with Owie!

Look at my little man!! He's getting so big!

And look at those blue eyes , they make my heart melt!!!!

I can't believe how fast they grow up! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing Olivia home from the hospital and this past weekend we celebrated her 2nd birthday!

Olivia,

I can't believe you're almost two!! It's crazy how big you're getting. You talk all the time. (I'm not sure who you get that from) Ha! And it's not gibberish, but you talk in full sentences!!! Just tonight you told Owen, "Come on Owie" except you said come on in this crazy growly voice. It was hilarious!! You are one funny girl, but there's one thing for sure you sure do love your Owie!! You are my sunshine!! Your daddy and I love you so much!! You make our lives complete!!!

Happy Birthday my sweet baby!!! We love you!!!

love,

Mommy, Daddy & Owie

Cooking Extravaganza!

Today has been a crazy day! I woke up and found our freezer to be completely thawed out!! Yeah, lots of food, lots of money, I couldn't see it all go to waste so I decided I'd start cooking like a crazed maniac!! lol! It kind of worked out because Ben and I had been talking about setting up a weekly meal plan. I hadn't really given much thought to freezer meals, but let me just say, I'm definitely thinking about it a lot more. I spent about 3&1/2 hours in the kitchen cooking, but I now have SEVEN prepared meals!! SEVEN!! (Actually nine because my Taco Soup & Chili made a double batch)!!

Here's some of the ingredients for all my lovely little meals. :)

I made Tater Tot Casserole (from the Duggar's), Chicken Alfredo Lasagna, Roasted Chicken with Vegetables, Chicken Pot Pie, Taco Soup, Chili and Baked Chicken Parm. (I'll add the other recipes to my recipe blog soon, but I'm a little bit exhausted today). :)

Here's all the food cooling down. YUM!

Packaged up and ready to go into the freezer.

Somehow I managed to fit everything in there.

I definitely think I'm going to like this freezer meal thing. As long as you have a plan in place, it's pretty simple. I think it will help cut down our grocery bill and it will give me more time to spend with my family. I look forward to not being trapped in the kitchen while they're all playing together. Even if we don't stick to the freezer meals, I still plan on using my planner and soon to be Erin Condren planner (thanks to my hubby) to make out our meals hopefully a month in advance.



Eight Years Ago Today....

Eight years ago today, I married my best friend! I was only 19 and he was 21. Yes, we were "young and in love." We dated for about 6 months and then he proposed and within a year we were married. I just knew on our first date that we would get married one day. There was just something in me that said, "you will marry him one day." 

We've had lots of good, fun times together and we've had times where we've cried together too. He's always been my rock. When I've fallen to pieces he's always been there to pick me back up.

We've had our surprises. :) And we've had our disappointments.

We never knew our life could be so full until we welcomed this sweetie.

And we really never knew what to expect until he came along too. ;)

It's been an exciting and interesting journey these past eight years. Can I say it's always been easy? No. But I can say it's always been worth it!!

Ben,

Thanks for choosing me to spend the rest of your life with. You could of chose someone else, but you didn't. You chose me. I can't put into words how you complete me, but it's true, you do. We're sometimes as opposite as you can get, but I think that's what make us, us. I'm so glad we've shared our lives together for these past eight years. We've had some bumps in the road and some curve balls thrown our way, but all in all, we've endured everything that has been given to us. We've even had some crazy unexpected moments (finding out we were pregnant with Owie), but we've seemed to get through them too without a hitch in our step. I love you with all of my heart!!! You are truly a great husband and a great father! You set the bar pretty high! Thanks for always standing up for what you believe in and for always staying true to the word of God. You inspire me. (yes, you). :) I love you more and more everyday and I can't wait to spend even more wonderful years together with you!!

Happy Anniversary!!

With love,

Amanda

Ramblings...

We've spent the last few days cooking, cleaning & watching "Beats" (The Fresh Beat Band). Since the kids haven't been feeling very good we've just had some low-key pajama days around the house.

This is Olivia's new favorite thing. She likes helping me cook and I can't say that I don't like it just as much as she does. :-) I have to say she's been so sweet here lately. I blame it on her not feeling good. lol! Since we've been cooped up at home the past few days I've been cooking breakfast. Olivia definitely gets it honest because I believe she likes breakfast just as much as I do. When I cook I'll set her up on the counter across from the eye that I'm using. The past few mornings I've made biscuit and gravy. She likes to help me stir the gravy.

Other than kickin' it at the house we took the kids over to my mom and dad's house last night. I think they were just as excited to see the kids as they were to see them.

Mom and Olivia had fun pushing Owen around in the car. :) Olivia ended up spending the night with them. She knew we were getting ready to leave and she kept saying "Poppy, big bed". Usually when my mom is home she doesn't spend the night with them because she keeps them up half the night. I guess mom felt bad so she told her she could stay. I think she probably regretted letting her because like usual she kept them up all night. My mom gave her a bath at 3:30 this morning!! Mom said she kept saying, "WaWa" so she gave her a bath. ????? ONLY A GRANDPARENT WOULD DO THAT!!!! 

Today since it was so nice out I took the kids to the park. It was an experience to say the least. I'll start by saying I really love our new parks that our town has; they're clean, well kept and convenient. When we arrived today there were two teenagers, a boy and a girl, underneath the play area that were literally messing around. As I walked up the guys legs were around the girl and hers around him. His pants were down and the girls breasts all but her nipples were out!! I swear they were also doing drugs because when they weren't grouping one another they were snorting something. I have never been so disgusted in all my life!! Needless to say we didn't stay there very long and then we called the cops. I also have to say I'm very disappointed in our police force because when we first called them they said as soon they had an officer available they'd send someone out. I understand that this wasn't a shooting or a car accident or a robbery, but to me, this was just as important. My little girl who has never been exposed to any kind of sexual activity was running around the play ground, breaking her neck looking at them!! Thankfully after Ben called them they said they had sent someone out. I'm hoping that they were still there when the police arrived. I've never been in that type of situation and I hope that I never have to go through it again. I'm just disgusted.

Our 1st & Almost 2nd Trip to the ER

Our weekend has definitely started off with a BANG and not in a good way! The kids have been battling sinuses/allergies for a couple of weeks now. We've been really lucky that neither one of them are hardly ever sick. So a couple of weeks ago they both were started on an antibiotic (The 2nd antibiotic that they've ever been on). They've since gotten better, but the last few days, they, well Owen seemed to get worse. I called the doctor on Wednesday and told them that he was getting the greenish colored mucus/snot coming from his nose again, but I told them that I really didn't think he needed an antibiotic, he just needed something to dry up the mucus. They told me that I could give him 2ml's of Benadryl before he went to bed and that if he wasn't better I'd need to bring him in because he'd need another antibiotic. Thursday morning he still didn't seem like he felt very good, but I went on to work, but by lunch I was taking him to the doctor because he was really congested. Unfortunately, his doctor wasn't in so we had to see another doctor and she said it was probably just allergies and she prescribed him Zyrtec. :( I really didn't want another antibiotic, but I definitely thought he needed something stronger then Zyrtec.

This is what he looked like Friday morning! Yeah, I changed my mind and definitely thought he needed an antibiotic! He was pitiful. I called them first thing and they called him in another antihistamine/decongestant :( Unfortunately, they don't make it anymore, so I had to call them back and thankfully the wonderful nurse I talked to on Wednesday reviewed his chart and all the umpteen dozen phone calls I made and said yes he needs a different antibiotic! HALLELUJAH!! Thankfully he's feeling much better now! YAY!!!

So as you can see, this is just the start of what we've been dealing with...

Friday night when I got home Olivia was laying in the recliner with Ben. If you know my daughter, then you know this NEVER happens. It's rare that she'll sit in your lap for two seconds. She's just busy. We knew that she didn't feel very good, but we didn't really know what was wrong. I went ahead and started supper and as I was coming to get them to eat, she threw up all over Ben and herself! It was disgusting. When we went to clean her up, we changed her diaper and we noticed blood in her diaper. I immediately panicked! We're not ones to go to the ER or take our kids to the ER. (I mean usually our kids only go see the doctor for their well-checks), but I knew that something was wrong and we didn't have time to wait, so my dad came over to watch Owen and we headed to the ER.

Initially we were going to take her to Mayfield to the ER. Since Ben and my mom both work there, that's where I felt most comfortable, but Ben called the ER and they were covered up with a bus accident, so we weren't sure how long we would have to wait, so we decided to take her to Murray. Her pediatrician is in Murray, so we thought that would be okay too. Boy, were we wrong!!

Don't get me wrong, the registration staff and the triage nurse were wonderful. They were all very sweet and caring. It was pretty obvious this was our first trip to the ER and we were concerned for our little girl and they seemed to understand that. However, when we were taken back to a room to see a doctor, that's a whole other story!

The doctor came in, but we thought he was a nurse. He never introduced himself and he wasn't in our room for no more than two minutes!! I'm used to when I go see a doctor they introduce themselves and try to figure out what's going on. He was very hateful and just kept ordering Ben (as Olivia is screaming because her belly hurts and because she has no clue who this guy is) to "just lay her down, just lay her down." It was a God-awful experience!! Needless to say, we WON'T EVER & I mean EVER go there again!!!! He said she had an ear infection and she was constipated. The nurse gave us a prescription for an antibiotic and sent us on our way. And like I said, all of this happened within two minutes. He didn't really explain why she was bleeding or what all we should do other than give her a glycerin suppository. It was ridiculous!!! We came home feeling more confused then we were when we left. We gave her a glycerin suppository hoping that would help her go to the bathroom.

Yesterday Ben had to work, but when we all got up I changed Olivia's diaper and she hadn't pooped or peed and there was still a little blood when I wiped her bottom. I was very concerned!! Then I put her down and she was walking around patting her bottom and crying. It was pitiful!!

This is what she looked like. :( I called Ben and told him what was going on and I needed to take her to the doctor and I didn't know if I should just take her to the ER at Mayfield since he was there or if I should take her to her doctor's office to see the other pediatrician. We decided that since her doctor wasn't working that I would take her back to the ER. Thankfully, as I was getting ready to put her in the car, she pooped! I don't think I've ever been so happy. lol. It was still a little hard, but nothing like it had been. I could tell that made her feel so much better. I decided that since it was still a little hard and there was still a little blood that I would just call her doctor's office. The nurse called me back and told me to give her some prune juice and give her more fiber that should keep her going. So far, she's been better. The bleeding has stopped and she's gone to the bathroom once since then. Now we're just fighting these crazy allergies that we have going on around here, but thanks to everyone for keeping us in your prayers. It's a little scary when something is wrong with your child and you don't really know what it is and then to top it off you see an extremely rude doctor who's on some power trip and that just makes it all worse, but again, thanks for all the prayers because I believe that's what has helped the most!