First Day of School

Today was Olivia's first day at school. Boy, it sure was hard on this momma. She's only going two days a week from 7:40 - 11:30, but it still broke my heart because I can't believe how big she's getting. When I took her to her classroom she said, "bye mom" ... then came the tears.. from me... not her. (Yes I walked out so she wouldn't see me cry). Since today was such a mile-stone I thought I would do a little interview with her this afternoon and here are her answers...

How old are you?

Two

What is your favorite color?

Green

Who is your best friend?

Chloe

What is your favorite food?

Chicken Nuggets

What is your favorite snack?

Cookie

What is your favorite song?

Jingle Bells

What is your favorite animal?

Dora (our dog)

What is your favorite show?

Olivia

What is your favorite book?

Beauty & The Best

What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Play in the water and play with rocks

What did you do at school?

Play, play, play

I think she had a great first day at school. When I picked her up she told me that she played with toys and went to the gym. As soon as we got home she took a long nap. All in all it's been a great day. I still can't believe that she's officially "in school" but I'm loving this stage of life that she's in right now. It's just hard to believe that she's getting so big. God is so good.



Pool Days

It's no secret that this summer has been HOT! We've spent most of our days inside playing and crafting. Some days early in the mornings and in the evenings will enjoy some outside time, but for the most part we've enjoyed the air conditioning. However, the past couple of days we've enjoyed some water time.

The night before last we went to my parent's house for dinner and afterwards the kids played in the sprinkler and ate Popsicles.

They had a blast. Olivia loves water! She loves the bath, the sprinkler, the pool, it doesn't matter to her as long as it's water she loves it. She also loves Popsicles as you can see it all over her face. ha!

Owen on the other hand takes after Ben... he's not really a water person.

Yesterday we enjoyed some pool time over at my cousin's house. To my surprise, Owen LOVED it! It's the the first time that I've really seen him enjoy being in the water. I was thrilled! They also loved playing with my little cousin Katie!

They had so much fun.

I LOVE this picture of them. They are so close. I remember crying for days when we found out that we were pregnant with Owen because they would be so close in age and I knew that we would have two babies back to back, but now, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love that they are so close. They are best friends. It's so sweet. I pray that they always stay this way. They may fight, but I love the special bond that they have. It's so sweet. Ben and I are truly blessed to have these two. There's days that they drive me crazy, but then there's days like yesterday and last night when Olivia told me as I was getting out of the shower, "Wow Mommy, You're beautiful" that makes all the craziness worth it!



Kids Say the Darndest Things

Olivia has been talking, it seems like, since she was born. I know it hasn't been that long, but she's been talking full sentences pretty much since she was a year old. She says the funniest things and since I try to use this blog as my journal I thought I would write down some of the things she says... here it goes..

• Today is Ben's birthday and the very first thing she said when she woke up was, "it's Daddy's birthday today" then she said (while counting her fingers), "we need cake, presents, party hats and balloons."
• 
  "I love ________ so very much" The blank could be me, Ben, Owen, CoCo or Dora.
• Everyday she says, "I want to go to school, I'm going to go to school. I need a backpack, pencil, paper and I need to see my friends."
• "Mommy, you're so sunny" (As to say Mommy, you're so funny. She can't pronounce her F's too good right now)
• "I want a Happy Meal. Chicken Nuggets, fries and a TOY."
• "It's not Sair" (It's not fair). This drives me INSANE! She usually says it when she gets in trouble. I'm trying to break her from it but it's not working to well. Any ideas?

• 
  Every night we say our prayers and I'll usually pray first and say Now I lay me down to sleep... then she'll say who she wants to pray for and her list almost always includes, "Addi, baby Asher, Chloe" (her friends from church) and she'll always pray for Ben, Owen and me. It's the sweetest thing.

Owen has also started talking. Not in full sentences, but these are some of the words he says the most other than Momma and Dada.

He says, "Papa (for Poppy, my dad), Papaw (Ben's dad), dog, Coco (our dog), Dora (our dog), chicken, Sissy, No, Yes, church, shoe, car, hi, bye, blankie, bath and the other day before we ate he said "God is great God is good Let us thank Him for our food, amen. It was the sweetest thing. Unlike Olivia whose voice is so deep and grown sounding Owen has this really sweet baby voice. He's pretty funny too. I think both of our kids will be entertainers.

Owen loves going around playing the guitar and singing and Olivia acts like she's playing the drums and sings. They most definitely keep us on our toes, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Wednesday!

Mother's Day Weekend

Our weekend started off at the lake. We went up to my parent's trailer and the kids had a blast.

Olivia's favorite thing to do is "dig" and "throw rocks in the water." They had a time let me tell you.

I guess she got a little tired and needed a break. lol.

(Sorry for the blurry picture)

Owen has a slight obsession with putting on my parent's reading glasses and wearing them. He's just so cute with them on though. And because she's such a ham....

Our lake trip was ended short because we had things to do around the house Saturday, so we came home Saturday morning. Saturday evening was the highlight of my Mother's Day weekend. Ben kept Owen and my mom, Olivia and I all went shopping. Olivia was a little trooper. I can't explain how much I enjoy spending time with my mom and my daughter. It's something that I'm forever grateful for. We had a big time. For some reason or another I didn't get a picture of all three of us, but here's Olivia while we were eating.

 

She shopped until she dropped.

Then Sunday we went to church. I came home with a load of stuff. My mom had got a candle for me (from the kids) and then I got roses (from the kid's in children's church) and then I had made some homemade sugar scrub for all the mommas so I got that too. Ben gave me a card and the day off. ;) I did, however, make Potato Soup (his favorite), but other than that I got to enjoy a day of "coupon shopping" (as I like to call it) all by myself. To some I'm sure that sound awful, but I love it and I find it fun so I really enjoyed it. Then Sunday night we went over to my Grandparent's house and ate dinner with them. However, our time there was cut short because Owen developed a terrible rash on the outside of his diaper on his legs. He was screaming and in pain, so we came home and doctored him up. I guess that's what Mommas are for though, to be there and take care our their kids when they need us.

All in all I had a great Mother's Day weekend. I'm very blessed with my own two kids who call me mom, but then I'm blessed with an amazing woman who I call Mom. My mom truly is my best friend. She's cheers for me when I'm happy and she picks me up when I'm sad. She encompasses everything a Godly woman should. She's probably spent more time on her knees in prayer for me then I'll ever know, but I'm so grateful and so blessed with such an amazing Godly mother and also a great Godly Mother-in-Law. I love them both.

Happy Mother's Day!

Thanksgiving & Shopping Extravaganza

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Our's was eventful to say the least. Between taking Owen to the ER to transporting the turkey (while cooking) from our house to my mom's to going Christmas shopping & running on a few hours sleep, it was quite a day. Thankfully Owen is starting to feel better. He's had a bug the past few days, but Wednesday evening thru Thursday he kept running a high fever. It would only go down for like an hour & then shoot back up. After talking to the pediatrician on-call & one of doctor friends, we were advised to take him to the ER. We're not ER goers, but he was just pitiful & I think we just needed some reassuring that we were doing all we could do & we were, so now he seems to be feeling a little better, but I hate that he missed out on some of our Thanksgiving festivities. :(

Here's Ben, Olivia & our nephew Sam over at my in-laws. He's so stinkin' cute! Olivia kept saying last night, "I need to see Sam." :)

We didn't take any pictures over at my grandparents house, but the kids had a ball! I have three little cousins ages 5-10 & Olivia thinks she's just as big as they are.

After we ate, my parents took the kids home with them & Ben & I headed to Paducah to do some MAJOR Christmas shopping!!

Our first stop was Wal-Mart. They had waffle makers for $2.84 & some other goodies I wanted to score. The sale started at 10:00 & we arrived around 9:00. It was total chaos!!!! Ben & I split up so when the workers tore off the plastic we were able to get what we wanted. After trying to text & call one another we finally found each other & made our way to the check out line. It was ridiculous!! I'm a black Friday shopper fanatic, but unless Wal-Mart is giving something amazing away, I doubt I'll ever go back.... way to much chaos!! 

After Wal-Mart we made our way over to Toys R Us, Of course I'd already scouted out the deals & had my list. We stood in line for about ten minutes, but then we made our way into the store. They are by far the best & most organized black Friday store. If you couldn't find what you were looking for they had enough workers & help available. They had people stocking up the shelves as soon as they were emptied. I wish every store was that organized! We only stood in line for about five minutes to check out. It was a nice shopping experience. After we left there we went to our final stop, Kohl's. As usual, it was packed, but they had almost everything I wanted & we got some really great deals!! Other than standing in the check out line for an hour & a half, it was a great trip.

This was the view from the passenger seat in our car on our way home Friday morning. I really wasn't sure if it would all fit.. it almost didn't.

And here's most of it unloaded on our bed. I'm still not sure where we're going to put it all. We got home around 3:30 Friday morning, but our Christmas shopping is pretty much done! Yay!! I've only got to get a couple more little gifts & then I'm done.

After a few hours sleep, we went and picked up these two turkeys. I can't wait until Christmas morning to see the big smiles on their faces. 

Now onto decorating for Christmas.... Stay tuned ;)

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!

Spontaneous Trip

Last night when I got home from work Ben wanted to go to Big Lots to get some new accessories for his new desk/bookshelf at work. I really wanted to go to Paducah so I could go to Michael's and TJ Maxx. I didn't think that he would want to get the kids ready and head to Paducah at 6:30, but to my surprise he did. We got ready and off we went.

Our first stop was Michael's. I've been in a crafty mood, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything that really suited me. (I guess it's a good thing... less money to spend. ha!) Our next stop was going to be Hobby Lobby, but they close at 8:00... who knew? So instead we went to TJ Maxx.

I love TJ Maxx... well most of the time. Sometimes I can go in and find the greatest buys, but then sometimes I'm not as lucky. I absolutely love their home decor'. I've been wanting some new lamps for our living room and I found a pair that I liked alright, they were the style that I'm looking for, but they just weren't exactly what I wanted.

As I was searching for lamps Ben and the kids were over in the toy area. We ended up leaving with an Dora floor puzzle (it's going to be a birthday present) and a Dora learning book. It never fails, if Daddy comes along on a shopping trip we usually leave with some sort of toy. :)

Our next stop was Sweet Cece's. It's a new frozen yogurt place and let me tell you it is DELICIOUS!!!! They had several different yogurts to choose from, but the best part was all the toppings!!! They had gummy worms to Fruity Pebbles to waffle cone pieces to chocolate chip cookie dough to fresh fruit. You name it, they probably had it. It was really good. I got the CUPCAKE BATTER frozen yogurt and if that wasn't good enough by itself I added Kit Kat, waffle cone pieces, hot fudge and caramel. Yeah, I'm a fatty, oh well. LOL! Ben got the Hershey Chocolate Bar frozen yogurt and he added some type of chocolate bar and hot fudge and caramel. Olivia and Owen both loved it. It was a fun spontaneous night and both of the kids were so good! (That's a rare thing these days). LOL! I am really loving our family outings here lately!

To Austin & Allie :)

Yesterday went off without a hitch. It was a really good day. Everything came together perfectly for the shower and even though we didn't initially think Austin was going to be able to be at the shower he somehow pulled it off and got to be there. YAY!!! I know Allie was really happy that he got to be there.

Here's the cute couple!!!

Here's the food. It was all really good.

Here's the CAKE!!! Thanks Marla & staff!!!

The candy!! Allie's mom made the chocolate mints!! Yum!

House tea and sweet tea.

Advice/Well wishes for the couple.

Baby pictures in the entrance way.

The tables ready with the favors. :)

The gift/couple's table.

Aust & Allie with all their goodies.

To Aust (as Olivia likes to call you) & Allie:

I'm so happy for you guys. Austin, I knew when you and Allie first started dating that you two would be married some day. You two just click. And Allie, I'm so glad that over the past couple years that I've got to know you and we've become such good friends. Thanks for always being there and listening even when I sound like a crazy mad woman and thanks to both of you for always giving us good advice. We love you guys and even though we're not related, you guys are family to us! We love you and can't wait until October 22nd!!! Congrats again to the future Mr. & Mrs. Austin Guill!!!

One of the Craziest Days.... Ever!

Today has been one of the craziest days of my life. I haven't been feeling that great so yesterday the doctor called me in an antibiotic and a steroid dose pack. At 6:30 this morning, I was wide awake thinking about everything that I need to get done for the shower. Ben rolled over and couldn't believe that I was awake this early on a Saturday morning. ha! I told him that I still needed to get some things for tomorrow, so I went ahead and got up and got ready and headed off to Wal-Mart. I have decided that I absolutely HATE the Mayfield Wal-Mart!! They NEVER have anything that I need. I found the cutest party favor idea, but I needed ring pops and of course they didn't have them. I also needed rolls for my chicken salad and they didn't have them either. My mom was still at work, so I called her and she said that she would run to Sam's with me as soon as she got off. So around 7:15 am we headed to Paducah to go to Sam's. Thankfully they had everything I needed. I also wanted to run to Hobby Lobby, but they don't open until 9:00 so I still hadn't had breakfast so I went thru the drive thru at Chick-Fil-A. While we were waiting for my order, my Nanny called my mom and said my PapPaw was really sick. She was crying and then my mom was crying, so needless to say, we booked it back to Mayfield. We went straight to my grandparents house, talking to my PapPaw's doctor on the way and then they took him to the hospital. As of right now, he's been admitted and they said he has a really bad UTI.

After the crazy hospital madness, I still had to go to Murray and pick up the cake for the shower from The Cake Lady. Marla is the absolute best!! Her cakes are awesome!! When I got back home I still had LOTS to do! Thankfully Ben is amazing and had kept control of the kiddos during all the madness, but when I got back he still had things that he needed to do, so the kids took a nap and I got to work on the shower favors. They are ADORABLE!!

They're ring pops in cellophane baggies with the tag.. I do. Me too. How cute? I love Pinterest! It gets my creative juices flowing. :)

After all the crazy madness, we got to settle down a bit and go back to Murray for our friend Corrie's birthday.

We only took Owen with us because, again, Olivia wanted to stay with her Mimi and Poppy. We went to eat at Shogun. It's a hibachi grill, but they also serve sushi. Owen had never been, but he loved it. We've taken Olivia once before, but she was terrified, but not Owie. He thought it was pretty awesome. I told Ben we were raising a pyro. LOL!

Here he was with the fire.

Here he was after the fire. LOL!

Me & the Hubs. :)

Here's the birthday girl! They came out with a drum, a disco ball and the whole ensemble. It was a fun night. I enjoyed getting together with some close friends and unwinding from the crazy day.

Are You Ready for Some Football??????

Last night we took Owen to his first football game, Mayfield vs. Murray. He was so good. We would have taken both kids, but the night before dad had been over at the house and Olivia cried to go home with him so he promised her that last night she could spend the night. She was happy. I wasn't sure how Owen would react. He's not really been exposed to cooler weather and people cheering, but we took the stroller and he sat in it for awhile and then Ben and I passed him back and forth.

It was a lot of fun. Obviously if you don't know by now, we're football people. I don't care if it's high school, college or pro, we just love us some football. Mayfield football around here is a big deal. I didn't go to Mayfield, but almost everyone I work with went to Mayfield and they're huge fans and so it's been passed on to me.

The thing I like most about going to the Mayfield games is the tailgating. It's fun to sit in the end zone and socialize and watch the game.

Owen was decked out with his football shoes on. :)

This is my most favorite picture... my two guys watching the game.

We actually left with a few minutes to go in the 4th, but Mayfield had it in the bag.

Way to go Cards!!