The Nichols Family

When did we get here?

2012-01-03T15:37:00.001-06:00

I try really hard to be an enjoy the moment kind of girl. I try really hard not to wish my life away, always trying to rush nap time, bedtime, the weekends, vacations ect. I'm not always successful but I try hard to enjoy life's everyday moments because I have always noticed that they pass rather quickly. I am the mom that is sad that school starts back tomorrow and that before I know it, in this new year, both of my children will be turning another year older. Yes, I am that mom that secretly (or not so secretly) cries the night before my kid's birthday because that means they are getting older....it is a happy/sad cry of course because I am so thankful for every year but sad they are moving further away from being my baby. Back to the point, even though I consider my self to be "stop and smell the roses" kind of person there are many moments when life kind of just hits me. It stops me in my tracks and I think to myself, "I can't believe I'm married with two children. Seems like I was just a little girl dreaming of these days." It is hard for me to believe I have been out of high school for over 10 years, (but if I am being honest those were the days I tried to soak up the least) or over 7 years since those super fun college years. Seems like my wedding was just yesterday, I've always felt like I didn't get enough time in that dress. And gosh, I remember every day of both pregnancies. I was that pregnant girl that was never "ready." I liked having those babies in my belly, I savored the pregnant days and the days before the changes their deliveries brought.

The Tuesday before Christmas my Grandmother had to be taken to the hospital with some seriously scary health issues. She has been in the hospital ever since and in and out of ICU twice now. Her first day in ICU I drove up for the day to be at all the visiting times. Having to leave the hospital was really hard that day with so much uncertainty. As I left her room from my last visitation I think I had already told her I loved her 10 times but the last time I said it, I was closing the curtain and this time she replied, "I love you more." Yes, I lost it. Yes, I am crying now as I type this. She tells my girls this all the time but it was the first time in a long time that I had heard her say it to me, like that. It is hard to explain exactly but on my quiet drive home her words rung in my ears and then it hit me, how did we get here so fast?

I remember exactly where on the highway I was when this question literally slapped me in the face. How is it possible that my grandmother is at an age where my family sits nervously in hospital waiting rooms. It hasn't been that long since we came to "live" with her for the summers and slept on horrific blue futons with bright pink bunnies. It hasn't been that long since I was the child, even as a teenage, that loved to spend the night at grandmother's house and now I have two children that beg to spend the night there. I mean werent we just gathered in a dressing room buying my wedding dress? And the day she officially became "Great-Grandmother", when she walked in the room during an unpleasant contraction grabbed my hand and said "I am so proud of you. Grandmother loves you so much," that really was yesterday, not four years ago. How could all of this passed me by so quickly? When did we get here and how could I be so unprepared for this?

Recently after knee replacement surgery, my Granddaddy had to come to the realization that it was going to actually take him more than just the day he had expected to recover. You have to really know him and his positive, love life attitude to appreciate that he told us, and I quote, "I'm not sure what happened. I just woke up one day and I was old."

That was what I felt driving home in that moment. Like I had just woken up and realized my grandparents, my grandmother, is old. In that moment, I longed to go home, pack up my girls and camp out at their house for days spending as much time with their great grandparents as possible. The I realized that our next camp out will not be taking place any day soon, I am confident we will have the chance to do this again but it will not come soon enough.

Do you ever have those moments where you just wake up and say wait, how did I get here so quickly??? I think I have those moments more than the normal person. I think the normal person just thinks 'that's life.' They would be correct, that is life. I just wish 'that life' happened a little slower sometimes. I bet my grandmother is feeling like 82 years went by pretty fast too right about now. Thank God for vivid memories.

p.s. After several setbacks, my grandmother was moved out of ICU again yesterday and finally seems to be improving. We still have a very long road to go but I am so thankful there is a road ahead.

Christmas thus far

2011-12-17T11:09:00.001-06:00

We have had some fun Christmas activities so far this December. Mary Selwyn has had two performances and both of the girls have had some Christmas parties. Nana and Poppy came to visit this week and got to watch Mary Selwyn's school program. Mary Selwyn had a speaking part in the program and she did so well speaking clearly. She was one of the easiest kids to understand. She did great. We also got to have a mini Christmas morning with the great grandparents, exchanging presents with them, which was a fun treat this year.

Last night we took the girls to 'A Drive Through Bethlehem' at a local church. It was neat and the girls loved it. Before you entered the gates of Bethlehem the soldiers standing guard at the gate approached the car and said to Mary Selwyn, "Why have you come to Bethlehem, young lady?" Shay and I thought for sure she would be a little scared and freeze; instead, she looked straight at him and said, "We came because we want to learn more about the Bible." The guard was impressed by her answer and needless to say we got in the gates to see Jesus. It was a small but proud moment for this mom and dad! Adeline didn't say a word, (very unlike her) she just flashed a quick smile to the gaurd on her side....I'm sure we could have gotten in on that alone. ;)

It has been a busy Christmas season already. Now that school is out for a few weeks I hope we can take at least a few days to just snuggle and be lazy around the house.

Our church program. I didn't have a great seat so I didn't get super great pictures. Mary Selwyn and bff Owen held hands the whole time they sang. Precious!

Before our school program

with Nana and Poppy

can't leave out tiny liney

MSN and her sweet teacher Mrs. Young

"I give my heart for loving, and promise I will pray."

Our very own smart car!!

This is a video of the girls opening their power wheels from Nana and Poppy. It was so fun to watch them. After a while, MSN said, "I didn't need this, but I REALLY wanted it." We have enjoyed it so far and are starting to learn how to drive, however, I don't think I will be trusting Adeline anytime soon.

The North Pole Express

2011-12-07T13:04:00.000-06:00

Our trip to the North Pole....

leaving the station, waving to bye to everyone

excited

singing christmas carols

admiring mrs. claus' jewlery of course

i love this picture!

Thankful

2011-12-05T18:38:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did. The girls helped me cook dinner for the four of us and it was yummy. We had a minor accident when Shay hit his head on the car door and got a nasty gash. We were fortunate enough to avoid the emergency room, thanks to the doc (obgyn) across the street who looked at it and said we could make it without stitches....close call. We finished up our night with a family sleepover in the living room, a favorite past time of ours.

Our Thanksgiving decor....high dollar stuff right there.

Silly wild indians.... it is hard to get a serious smile face these days.

Kitchen help

Yummmm... look at that mess.

Thanksgiving bath, is that a bubble bath or what.

Last week Mary Selwyn had her Thanksgiving feast and program at school. It was cute and the "pilgrims and indians" sang lots of cute songs.

My little pilgrim, who also had an indian identity, princess wild flower.

her 'feast' which she didn't eat a bite of

It was a happy Thanksgiving...now lets see if I can really get caught up.

absent blogger....

2011-11-15T20:07:00.000-06:00

....that's me. I have been distracted by life, and maybe, possibly PINTEREST. It is my new obsession and has thrown me into project mode. I've refinished a table and am working on two more. We have also done some fun crafts and I have more projects lined up.... now just to find the time. We have been super busy lately, school, church and lots of friends having babies that I need to spend time holding. Yes life has been busy and not without drama unfortunately. Very sadly and unfortunately my brother and Jess called their wedding off and ended their relationship. This has been difficult for everyone, especially me and the girls because we loved her so and wanted so desperately for her to be in our family. It is for the best though and we are thankful they made the right decision before the wedding. God has bigger plans for both of them I'm sure. I will try to be better about blogging, especially with the holidays coming up. I know there are so many people out their distraught because I'm not blogging (insert sarcasm here). In the meantime I will share some family pictures that my neighbor took. I'm loving them so far.

a little pixelated but that is because i saved it from my email and don't have the actual cd yet.

Bakefulness

2011-08-22T17:09:00.001-05:00

In the first two weeks of school, Mary Selwyn is learning the Fruits of the Spirit. This is how the conversation went:

MSN: "Mrs. Young told us about the Fruits of the Spirit."

Mom: "Really, that is neat. Do you know what they are?"

MSN: "Yes, Love, Joy, Peace, Goodness, Kindness and Bakefulness."

Mom: "Bakefulness? What is that?"

MSN: "You know, like when you bake something for someone!"

Duh, Mommy! She was so confident in her answer....how dare i be confused. I'm thankful that she is learning this at such a young age. Also I feel very strongly that 'Bakefulness' should indeed be a Fruit of the Spirit. Precious memories.

Time for School

2011-08-17T14:28:00.000-05:00

This year Mary Selwyn starts 4P. She will go every morning, 5 days a week. She is beyond excited and I am excited for her. I know she is going to LOVE it. It makes Shay and I both happy and proud to see her excited. I am also a little sad because I am just not sure how we got here so fast! Seems like yesterday I was pregnant and today I have this beautiful, smart, polite, loving and mature 4 year old. I hope she loves every minute as I try and soak them all up as slowly as possible.

We met her teacher yesterday and we love her already too! I think Mary Selwyn is going to have a great year with her friends, old and new. I was nervous dropping her off this morning but she begged to go in the classroom (before I was ready of course) and we watched her put her bag in it's place and sit in her seat. I'm thankful that Shay was able to experience the first day of school with us. We are proud parents. You will be happy to know that I did not cry until we got back in the car. I can't wait to go get her in just a little bit and find out how fabulous her first day of school was!

Mary Selwyn and her teacher Mrs. Young

Mommy and Mary Selwyn sitting at her desk

First day of school. Color of the day is red. We wear a different color for the first week. So fun!!

Sweet sisters. Louise is going to be very lonely in the mornings with out her partner Thelma!

Proud daddy

Outside her room

About to send her into her room

Here we go!

And this little munchkin can't be left out. She went to Mother's Morning Out for her first day on Tuesday. I thought she would be my clingy child but she went in her room without looking back too. She was so excited. It felt like she was starting high school. She is also very proud of her backpack. Don't call it a bag, she will correct you, it is a backpack. She has such a big personality and a huge imagination. She can hang with the big girls and loves to play. She is growing just as fast as her sister did. I'm a sad, sentimental mommy this week. At least they both had great first days at school!

Ready to go!

Mermaid Splash Party

2011-07-25T19:09:00.001-05:00

For Mary Selwyn's birthday party we rented a huge water slide and had a splash of a mermaid party. We rented a slide from an awesome company called B & B Rentals and they let us keep the slide for a very long time. We had plenty of time before and after the party so the adults got to play too.... and wow were we sore. Mary Selwyn was of course most excited to spend the party sliding with her friends. This is a girl who loves her friends. We had hot dogs and mermaid cupcakes and although the rain threatened my party it ended up being perfect. Here are a few pictures. Mary Selwyn said, "It was the best party every." After hearing those words I always consider myself a successful party thrower....hopefully she says it every year.

Mermaid tail cupcakes, thank you Mrs. Dork.

Also thank you Goon because Mommy struggled making them thick enough.

Can't believe she is 4!!

If you have noticed I'm enjoying making these collages because it shares a lot of pictures at one time. Sadly this isn't even half of the pictures from the party. Thanks to all our sweet friends for making this her best birthday yet!

The Koonz Wedding

2011-07-10T18:05:00.000-05:00

Oh my, I don't even know where to begin. This week Shay and I traveled to Dubuque, Iowa to be a part of our best friends, Jeff and Maura's wedding. It was one of the very best weddings I have ever been a part of. They had an absolutely fabulous wedding party. Of course, I knew none of the other bridesmaids before I arrived but they were the sweetest bunch of women. They immediately included me and made me feel like I had known them all forever. It was the same throughout the whole wedding party, it was like we traveled across country, met strangers and left with best friends. What a wonderful group of people. Overall I have decided that people in Iowa are the nicest people in the country. Sorry southerners, but I have never received more compliments or been flattered more than by the people I met in Iowa.

Now on to the most important part, the beautiful bride. I'm sorry Kate Middleton but you have nothing on Maura. She was drop dead gorgeous. We decided that she would look good in a wet paper sack but of course she dressed up for the occassion. Maura's mother, Margie, passed away in 2003 I believe of breast cancer. I cannot begin to imagine my wedding day without my mother and I wondered how Maura would do it without Margie. Let me assure you that we were not without her. Margie was honored and represented in every part of this wedding. I have never even met her but I could feel her very real presence in each moment throughout the day. The most beautiful way Margie was honored was in Maura's wearing of her mother's wedding dress for the ceremony. Oh it was breath taking. All of us bridesmaids watched in silence with tears in our eyes as she slipped on the dress. How special for Maura and her sweet dad, Ray.

We also got to sneak a peek at the first time Jeff saw Maura in her mother's dress. It was hard to be quiet and hold back our excitement and tears. We were sucessful in being quiet but not in holding back the tears.

I am so glad I captured this look. This is when she was walking up behind Jeff for him to see her for the first time. Also when my tears started flowing, no surprise there.

When Jeff caught us peeking

After a very beautiful and spiritual Catholic wedding service, we loaded the trolley and headed to the party. I can't even put into words how much fun the reception was. Everyone danced, EVERYONE! I don't think a single guest left before it was over. Almost 300 guests danced 'til midnight. It was a party for sure. Shay and I haven't danced that much......ever. I also haven't laughed that much in almost ever. The company was great. My whole body is still sore from the dancing and laughing and I am still worn out. I hope I can recover soon.

Maura in her reception dress with her handsome groom

Again I can't say enough how wonderful the whole weekend was. Jeff and Maura are two of the kindest, most thoughtful and genuine people we know. I am so thankful they have found each other. I remember in the beginning of their relationship Jeff called me and said, "I have been praying for a long, long time for the right girl to come along and now here she is." It was very special to witness them finally becoming husband and wife. They way they both glow when they look at each other is so sweet to see and maybe a tad disgusting..ha ha just kidding. I'm just so happy they are happy and starting the next chapter in their lives. I look forward to sharing a lifetime more of memories with them.

another way to honor her mother

Our Trip to Texas

2011-07-04T17:04:00.001-05:00

I have to hurry and blog about our trip to Texas because tomorrow we leave for Iowa. I have to get caught up on my blogging before I get too far behind. It has been a busy summer. Moving on, after our horrific trip out there, I am happy to report that the rest of the trip went perfectly and was tons of fun. The girls LOVED being at Nanny and Poppy's house. (side note, her name is actually Nana but MSN has successfully changed it to Nanny. I guess when you are a great grandchild you have that kind of power.) They loved their dogs, especially the little one, Arnie. I'm pretty sure that dog has never had so much attention. We also got to see some aunts, uncles and cousins that we never get to see. This was the first opportunity my family there had to meet Mary Selwyn and Adeline.

Also while we were in San Antonio we visited Sea World. Obviously this was the girls first trip there and saying they loved it is an understatement. We went three of the five days we were there. They had the best time seeing the shows, playing at the water park, riding rides, watching the shows, feeding the sea lions and feeding and petting the dolphins. Adeline's favorite was the penguin house and the "Shampoo" show. She came back with a penguin t-shirt that she refuses to take off. She has a literal melt down if you make her take it off, sheesh. Mary Selwyn's favorite was the "girl show" with the divers, acrobats, dolphins and beluga whales. I think Sea World is my favorite amusement park. I love seeing all the shows and I day dream like a little kid about being a whale trainer. Then I snap out of it and realize I would be too scared to get in the water with that huge fish and I'm not that great of a swimmer, actress or acrobat so that leaves me with the scooping poop in the penguin snow, or worse concessions. Whew it is hot out there.

Overall we had a wonderful trip. My girls got some good quality time with Nana and Poppy, which they never get and time with great grandparents is very precious in my mind. Our trip home was a dream, so easy with no missed flights or stress. The girls had a wonderful time in Texas and spent every minute being spoiled. They are already asking when we are going back. We are glad Nana and Poppy invited us to visit and it was very sad leaving them. Luckily we will get to see them again in a few short months.

This is my favorite picture from the trip. The girls are still talking about their trip to Sea World and telling everyone how the "ate dead fish!"

Happy 4th Birthday Mary Selwyn

2011-07-04T16:05:00.001-05:00

Today this beautiful, silly and sweet child turns 4! Mommy and Daddy are having a hard time believing it. We had our little family "surprise" party with cupcakes for breakfast. It is becoming quite a fun tradition. We are headed to the beach to celebrate for the weekend. (I know I'm behind on my blogging. will catch up soon.) We love you Mary Selwyn and are so proud of the sweet girl you are! Happy birthday to our big girl!

Angels Among Us

2011-06-17T17:59:00.000-05:00

Well the girls and I have made it to Texas, but not without some drama, of course. I will share all the "fun" details later but I have to go ahead and share this part of our trip with you. You should first know that the night before I left at Bible study we talked about opportunities the Lord gives us to help, minister to or reach other people in some form or fashion. We talked about how often we "miss out" on those opportunities and regret it. It was a great discussion and fresh on my mind as I left for my trip.

On to the story, the girls and I spent several hours in Atlanta waiting for our plane which was delayed because of weather. The girls were very good in the airport. They were getting a little antsy right before we boarded, so like a bad mom I let them run a little of that energy off right in front of the gate. The first class passengers were lined up and waiting. The first woman in line, who I apologized to for the craziness, just politely said, "They are so cute."

We were rushed on the plane in hopes to not delay take off anymore than it already was but on the runway a small thunderstorm delayed us once again. All this to say that it made making our connection in Denver impossible. I was of course panicked in the air and asked the flight attendant if I could get assistance getting to my gate because it was going to be so close. The answer was no, so other than an announcement to let those that had tight connections get off first I was on my own. You can only imagine how fast you can actually move down the concourse with 2 small children and a heavy carry-on bag.

As I was running off of the first plane I was met by that same polite woman who said my kids were cute in Atlanta. Please keep in mind that her one comment was the ONLY interaction we've had up until this point. Emphasis on ONLY interaction. She sat in the front of the plane and we did not see her during the flight, (although she probably heard us,ha ha). She came directly to me and said, "You are going to B23?" I don't know how she knew that....I answered with a panicked yes and she said, "Okay, give me your bag, I am going to help you get there." Her name was Nancy and in her cute business attire and heels she took my heavy bag, along with hers and ran with us down the concourse. She then ran ahead of us, because we were having trouble keeping up to try and catch the plane. I was overwhelmed to see this sweet stranger running with my bag.

Of course as soon as we got to the gate we saw our plane pulling away. The United attendant simply said, "You have to go to gate B39 and they will set you up on a flight but it will be tomorrow." As you can imagine....I fell to pieces, then of course Mary Selwyn did too. It is 10:30 our time so we are all tired anyway. Sweet Nancy just hugged me tight and said, "It is okay. I'm going to take you to the Red Carpet Club Room, get the girls a snack and we will find you another flight and hotel." All of which we did. Then Nancy took us herself, instead of making us waiting for the shuttle, she loaded us up in her car and took us 25mins (out of her way I am sure) to our hotel and made sure we were okay. When Nancy left us at the hotel, which she was hoping to stay at also but they were fully booked, I fell apart and began to cry again. She gave me such a tight hug and just said she was so glad she could help me.

Why in the world would Nancy, a complete stranger, wait just to help me???? She told me she just had a feeling I was going to need help. Let me tell you I would have never made it without Nancy. I do not know what I would have done. How would I have gotten everything organized or gotten to a hotel or gotten United to pay for my hotel, thanks again to Nancy. I wouldn't have, I would have been in the airport all night. She was a true gift from God. He very literally placed her on my flight to help me. I believe He told her to wait for me because I would need help. There is no other explanation for me. You know the saying/song, "Angels Among Us" that was Nancy. A huge blessing to me and the girls. Thinking about her kindness even now makes me teary.

Back to my bible study, Nancy is a woman who did not miss an opportunity to help someone. I don't know much about Nancy, I don't know for sure if she is a christian but I do know she is the epitome of a good Samaritan. She didn't miss the opportunity to help me and she makes me want to look harder for opportunities the Lord may give me to help others. Not just me, but all of our family is very thankful for Nancy. Especially poor Shay who was a nervous wreck. Thank you Nancy for helping us..... you will never know how much we appreciate you and thank you Lord for sending me Nancy!

Date Night

2011-06-14T06:58:00.004-05:00

Friday night this girl had a hot date. She took a shower all by herself, blow dried her hair, put on a fancy dress and applied lip gloss. She was beautiful and ready for a fun night.

Her date politely rang the doorbell for her.

He also brought her a flower. Very impressive.

Mary Selwyn and her date, Daddy!!

Shay took Mary Selwyn on a very special date Friday night, just the two of them. She got to pick the place and he even took her for ice cream after. She was very excited. After she was ready she looked in the mirror and said, "Mommy, do I look so beautiful that Daddy might cry?" So sweet, made mommy want to cry. Hopefully it was a special memory for her and a new tradition..... she is already asking when her next "hot date" will be.

P.S. Tomorrow the girls and I head to San Antonio to visit grandparents. Prayers for safe travel and mommy's nerves would be appreciated. We are very excited.

Let the Summer Begin!

2011-05-20T13:31:00.001-05:00

We have a very busy summer planned. It will be a lot busier than a normal summer for us. We have many trips planned, one of which includes a big plane, one mommy and two little girls. In a few weeks the 3 of us are flying to San Antonio to see my grandparents. My girls are SO excited... I am so excited too but slightly nervous about the to and from. We will worry about that when it comes.

This week we took our first trip to Pensacola to visit some old friends. It is only a 3 hour trip but when you have kids no trip is only a 3 hour (or any hour for that matter) trip. My girls were absolute angels on the way there. It was a fun car ride with lots of singing They ride home may not have been as pleasant but wasn't the worst trip in the world either, so I can complain.

While in Pensacola we enjoyed the beach and park and old friends. We stayed with our friends Brad and Maile and Addison. Brad and Maile were our dear friends in the early years of living in Dothan. They were wonderful friends and I miss having Maile around something terrible. We got to have dinner with my BFF from high school Rachel and her family. It was fun to visit with them and see our kids together. I wish we didn't live so far from all of them.

Maile

Rachel

Mary Selwyn, Adeline, Turner and Anna Cate

I LOVE this picture

They would be best friends if they had the chance.... I can tell. Maybe they can be roommates at Auburn one day.

enjoying the beach, this girl loves the sand

this girl loves the water... thank you Lord for creating such a beautiful beach area both of my children love..if only it wasn't 3 hours away.

sweet Addie playing on the beach

Let the madness of summer begin

Shay turns 30!

2011-05-15T18:54:00.000-05:00

Shay turned 30 yesterday!! We went to the beach last month with Adam and Amy to celebrate his 30th but I had a few surprises for his actual day up my sleeve. The girls and I spent all day Friday cleaning the house, making cards and baking him a cake. We also went to the party store and bought him birthday plates and napkins, party hats, a 30 balloon and a very special flashing 30 button. That was definitely the crowd pleaser. We had a little party just the four of us first thing Saturday morning with sausage balls (thanks Mitzi) and muffins, one with a trick candle. We tried to let Daddy sleep in but that didnt go so well. Later that afternoon another surprise showed up. Shay's cousin Andrew and his wife Hartley drove all the way down just to spend the night with us and celebrate Shay's birthday. Shay was so surprised! I've never pulled off a real surprise for him before so I was so excited to see him so surprised. Andrew and Hartley also brought their dog Marpie, which was a fun "surprise" for the girls. The adults went out last night and enjoyed a kid-free dinner. We've realized that we are too old to stay out late but it was really fun. Thank you Andrew, Hartley and Marpie for driving all the way down here to spend less than 24 hours with us. It was a fun weekend and hopefully a memorable 30th birthday for Shay. Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you and look forward to the next "decade" with you!

Lets try this again...since the virus

2011-05-13T16:05:00.003-05:00

(I have already done this exact same post but somehow it was deleted.... who knows what is going on. This virus has ruined my "computer life." ha ha.) Of course now it is posted twice... ugh. Enjoy it twice.

My computer has had a terrible virus and has been out of commission for a while. Who in the world sends people computer viruses? What is the point? Just to ruin a strangers computer? The "virus" people must be some of the meanest people in the world... jerks! There are still some blogs I can't open, maybe because the layouts are too complicated for my sick little computer. It will apparently never be the same. Oh and Adeline popped off some of the keys on my computer and they cannon be replaced without replacing the whole keypad. Don't worry it was only the important keys like say, both shift keys, the enter key, caps lock and backspace. As you can imagine it is making typing this blog, and anything else on the computer very challenging.

On to the good stuff. We had Adeline's birthday party a few weekends ago. It was a very sweet and perfect party, if I do say so myself. I'm finding that simple is always better. As always I took a million pictures so I just made a little collage of the most important pictures.

Mary Selwyn had her end of the year program at church. It was the first time the three year olds performed in the sanctuary in front of a large crowd. Although Mary Selwyn loves choir, had practiced in the sanctuary twice and volunteered to sing a solo from Annie (which of course they respectfully declined), I was worried she might get overwhelmed or shy in front of the crowd. I was wrong. She sang and she danced! She seemed to love performing.... apparently she takes after Shay who was quite the performer as a child as well. It was cute and hilarious. I know their performance made the Lord smile.

since the virus

2011-05-11T16:31:00.000-05:00

My computer has had a terrible virus and has been out of commission for a while. Who in the world sends people computer viruses? What is the point? Just to ruin someones computer? The "virus" people must be some of the meanest people in the world... jerks! There are still some blogs I can't open, I'm thinking because some blogs have more complicated layouts or backgrounds. So everyone change your blog to a basic layout just so I can read them, thanks, ha ha. Oh and Adeline popped off some of the keys on my computer and they cannon be replaced without replacing the whole keypad. Don't worry it was only the important keys like say, both shift keys, the enter key, caps lock and backspace. As you can imagine it is making typing this blog, and anything else on the computer very challenging.

On to the good stuff. We had Adeline's birthday party a few weekends ago. It was a very sweet and perfect party, if I do say so myself. I'm finding that simple is always better. I took a million pictures, shocking, so instead of sharing them all I just made a little collage of the most important pictures from the party.

Mary Selwyn also had her end of the year program at church. This was the first time the 3 year olds had performed in front of a large crowd in the sanctuary. Although Mary Selwyn loves choir, had practiced in the sanctuary twice and even volunteered to sing a solo from Annie, I was still a little nervous that she would get overwhelmed by the crowd and be shy. I was wrong. She was the opposite of shy. She was a total ham. She sang and danced! I'm not sure where all of that came from but it was hilarious and sweet! I know all the little children made the Lord smile.

Here are some videos from the program. I had to use the link to facebook because my blog wouldn't let me upload videos. Dumb virus. WARNING I am a terrible "videographer" (is that a word). It is shaky and very blair witch-ish.... sorry!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10100207770173771

http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=7026226#!/video/video.php?v=10100207766206721

He is Risen, Indeed!

2011-04-24T17:39:00.000-05:00

Our Easter Sunday in pictures!

Little Bit is 2

2011-04-20T09:25:00.000-05:00

Today my Adeline turned 2. I would sit around and cry all day but that wouldn't be fair to Adeline now would it? Yes, I am THAT mom that doesn't want my kids to grow up, especially my baby. Mary Selwyn there is no stopping, she is growing fast as she can and loving every minute. She is always worried about the next birthday. Adeline not so much. She enjoys being the "baby" and milking it as much as she can.... probably not a good thing since I'm letting her.

Bright and early this morning we had a little birthday party before daddy left for work. I know most moms feed their kids chocolate chip pancakes or french toast for their birthday breakfast treat but I'm a bad mom and give mine straight up cupcakes.

Adeline is the most hilarious kid. She is so goofy and silly all the time. She makes hilarious faces too. She is big a snuggle bunny and gives the best hugs. She always tells us she loves us "so much" or "the most." She is the wonderful blessing that always keeps us laughing.

Right now Adeline is obsessed, and I mean OBSESSED, with the movie Annie. She can sing words to every song and can even act out some parts of the movie. We literally watch on repeat these days. So for her birthday Mommy got on e-bay and lucked out. I found a little orphan Annie doll and a Punjab doll for cheap....which was tricky because these vintage toys aren't cheap. Punjab is her favorite character because at the end of the movie, "Punjab saves Tomorrow" is how Adeline tells the story. During the end of the movie Adeline stands at the TV yelling, "Punjab get Tomorrow, help Punjab." (Sometimes she calls her Annie but mostly Tomorrow.) So the Punjab was a must have with the Annie doll and Adeline is in love. She hasn't let them out of her sight yet.

Happy birthday to my little Liney. We love you so much!!! I'm going to enjoy the day watching Annie with my little birthday girl and her sissy.

Love my Annie doll

Birthday Beach Trip

2011-04-13T17:02:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Shay and I went to the beach to celebrate Shay's 30th birthday. It isn't until next month but this weekend worked for our BFFs to come too. Shay isn't really a party person so we decided a trip would be a better celebration for him. We had a great time. So relaxing and lazy. Nothing better. Our sweet friends Adam and Amy, with twin boys in belly, came and spent some time with us. It was a long distance but short stay for them but we appreciate them driving just for us. We totally missed Jeff and Maura, we were hoping to recreate our couples trip from last year.... oh well, next summer will do.

Happy early birthday to Shay.

It's called improvising

2011-03-30T08:45:00.000-05:00

This child wants a pink, three wheeled princess scooter something terrible. She must ask me for it everyday. I told her she could have one for her birthday. Sadly her birthday isn't until July, so in the meantime she has decided to take matters into her own hands and create her own scooter. This used to be the pink shopping cart that Santa brought the girls. Mary Selwyn took off the basket part and voila, a pink scooter (sort of). Mary Selwyn is quite proud of this scooter and calls it just that her "scooter." She rides that thing in circles around the house and begs for me to let her ride it outside. Of course it isn't as sturdy as a real scooter because, well it's not actually a scooter, so I havent let her ride it on the concrete yet. The tumbles in the house are enough for this mom.

Wearing the new bathingsuit Meme sent her, riding in style, duh!

ZOOMING past.... I promise it's not as fast as it looks, just good photography (or bad) ha ha.

Poor kid, I guess she will be riding the shopping cart until July. A scooter is a little too large of a gift for the Easter Bunny to carry. It's tough being three.... at least she is inventive.

Blog Friends

2011-03-28T14:14:00.000-05:00

This is Sipsey. Her mom, Lauren, and I were pledge sisters at Auburn. Thanks to blogs we have been able to really keep up with each other and all of our life happenings. I love that about blogs (and facebook). Mary Selwyn LOVES to look at blogs with me and see the pictures of all the kids in the other families I keep up with. Lauren's blog is one of her faves because of that fabulous picture of Sipsey in her pig tails that used to be at the top. Sipsey always makes the most hilarious faces in her pictures and MSN could look through them for days and never get bored.

Well this week we Mary Selwyn had the opportunity to play with the one and only, real live Sipsey! I don't think she could have been more excited and must have asked me one million times when she would be arriving. Even though they have never actually met, both Mary Selwyn and Sipsey insist that they have been friends forever. The girls had the best time spending the afternoon together playing in the sprinklers and just being silly. It was such a treat for me to get to visit with Lauren too. I haven't seen her in several years but it felt like we see each other all the time. It was a super fun play date and Mary Selwyn and Adeline have talked about Sipsey and when she is coming back to visit ever since. I don't have the heart to tell them that she lives 9 hours away. They are both a little dramatic and I don't think they would handle that news very well. Although Lauren and I knew each other long before the blogs, I consider Mary Selwyn and Sipsey "blog friends." It's like a new type of pen-pal. (: Thank you Lauren and Sipsey for making time to play with us during your visit to Alabama. We so wish you lived here!!

Our first Betty

2011-03-21T09:08:00.000-05:00

This is Betty. She was Mary Selwyn's 3rd birthday present. Well, we had our first experience with "pet loss" this week when little Betty went belly up. Poor Betty. She had terrible caretakers and was for the most part pretty neglected. We did feed her regularly but the whole changing of the water thing wasn't really for us. I had a fish like this in college named Carl and I took much better care of him, not sure why Betty didn't get the same treatment. Anyway, Betty was a member of our family for 8 months, which is impressive considering her accommodations.

I'm not sure why but the fact that Betty died made me laugh. Mary Selwyn on the other did not take the news of Betty's passing as well as I had anticipated. When we told her she burst into tears of course and had a complete melt down. Seeing her that sad made mommy cry too..... except while I was crying I was laughing a little too. Again, not sure why. She has said several times that she "still misses Betty." I told her one day soon she can pick out another fish. That is the beauty of fish, they can easily be replaced. So I'm positive this was the first of many Bettys for us. Rest in peace Betty. Hope you are happy in that big fish bowl in the sky (Lord knows it is much cleaner).

The Sweetest Things

2011-03-07T18:56:00.001-06:00

Nothing better than clean and happy children!

Girls Night and Basketball Game

2011-02-23T13:32:00.003-06:00

This past weekend I attended both. Friday night my college roommates and I spent the night together at the Renaissance downtown Montgomery. Instead of going out we opted to have a pajama party, play games and just hang out together. Most people might think we are boring but we had the best time, as always. I am extremely thankful for each of them and any time we get to spend together. Next weekend we will get to have all our kids together too to begin celebrating birthdays!!

I love this picture.... how could I not have fun??

On Saturday we took the girls to Auburn Basketball Game with some of our cousins. It was the most beautiful day. We wallked all over campus, (which hopefully made up for all the junk I ate the night before), had a picnic, took a million pictures and enjoyed the game even though Auburn lost. The girls were perfect angels. They walked all over and played and even sat (mostly) for the game. They maintained happy moods the whole day inspite of having no naps. Adeline was enthralled by the players warming up. She just wanted to sit and watch them play. She had no interest in the coloring or face painting. She is definitely her daddy's child. I'll share ~~all~~ some of the pictures we took.

This is what I would call riding in style. (: Lucky duck.

Where we had our picnic... appropriate huh? ha ha

Yes, our belly hung out all day... apparently our shirt is a little short. oops.

Mary Selwyn wanted her face painted so bad.... then she screamed the whole time. I guess the airbrushing made her nervous. I gave her the option to only do one cheek but she insisted on two and screamed during the other cheek too.

Shay and I attended almost every basketball game when we were in school and we were excited to watch a game in the brand new arena. I love our new arena, however, the one complaint I have is that it doesn't allow much access to Aubie or the cheerleaders, which is what every kid really comes to see. Adeline spent the whole game calling for Aubie. "Aubie, Aubie. Aubie hold me" is all heard for the majority of the game. Well we FINALLY got Aubie's attention and he was so sweet to walk up and see us. Of course, Adeline was terrified once he finally got up there but the big girls LOVED him.

Worth the screaming??

Trend Setter

So excited

Super cool cousins

Callie, Mary Selwyn and Adeline

It was a fun weekend. War Eagle!

Our Funny Valentines

2011-02-11T08:01:00.001-06:00

Shay and I will be spending Valentine's Day with the little loves of our life. They are so silly and funny and daily remind of us what unconditional love is.

Adeline is a camera hog. For some reason she was squinting her eyes in every picture...she refused to make any other face. Little stinker.

Mary Selwyn apparently practicing for America's Next Top Model with her fierce fish face.

Happy Valentine's Day all! I know it is early but as usual we just couldn't wait.

A heart of thanksgiving

2011-02-02T20:06:00.000-06:00

I don't know what the actual title of the song is but that is what I have when I hear her precious voice sing this!

I told you...

2011-02-01T16:13:00.000-06:00

...she was a sweet little mommy!

Little Shay and Little Denise

2011-01-30T14:50:00.001-06:00

Little Shay. Mary Selwyn has been called little Shay since the day she was born. I will admit she might look a tad more like her daddy than like me but as I have mentioned before her personality is just like her mommy's. Mary Selwyn is a social butterfly. She loves to go, go, go. She gets upset if we aren't on the go. She loves to have her friends over to play and loves even more to go their house. All she talks about all day long are all her different friends (she is slightly boy crazy, I'm afraid). She has so many already it is hard to keep track.

Mary Selwyn is already a people pleaser. She hates for people to be upset with her and if we even raise our voice she immediately says, "Don't be mad at me." This is not a trait of mine that I am proud I've passed on to her. It isn't necessarily a bad thing to want others to be happy but lets face it, you can never make everyone happy. If she truly is like me in this way then she has a long life ahead of her worrying about, stressing over and killing herself to make everyone else happy. Oh how I pray this wont really be the case for her....not loooking good so far. She is also extremely sensitive. I should apologize to her for passing on all these traits....oops.

Mary Selwyn loves to play with barbies and little people. She has a great imagination and can be very particular about the way she plays. She loves to line them up or sit them all around tables and gets very upset when Adeline (her not as delicate little sister) gets things out of order.

Mary Selwyn is also a little fashionista these days. She wants to get dressed immediately when she wakes up in the morning and she NEVER wants to wear "warm clothes." This is a challenge since it happens to be WINTER right now. She can put together some interesting outfits and she always has to have shoes on to complete her "outfit." She also refuses to wear pants. Only dresses and skirts! I believe I have created a monster in her when it comes to dressing. (:

Our Melbo is sweet, smart, funny, silly and dramatic. She still tells us she loves with almost every other breath. She is a tad bit of a whiner but we love her anyway. Since we have identical personalities there are many days we "bump heads." She is growing so fast I can't stand it. When I try to tell her to stop growing up she responds, "Mommy I have to grow up but don't worry I'll still be your little girl." She is so right!!

Little Denise Oh Adeline....my little mini-me in looks but such a little Shay is personality. Adeline is such a hoot. She is goofy and silly and always keeps you laughing. She is messy and not nearly as dainty as her sister. She is the opposite of Mary Selwyn in so many ways. She has what I like to call an "irritator" type personality (not that irritator is a real word). She picks on all of us but can't stand to be picked on....uh-um can you say SHAY!! She loves to bust up in the middle of MSN playing so nicely and knock over her barbie house like King Kong. She can infuriate her Sissy so easily already. We are definitely in for it. Mary Selwyn always wants mommy and daddy happy and Adeline, not so much. She will probably be more of a challenge to raise, hope we are ready.

Adeline loves babies. I mean LOVES babies. They are the only thing she plays with gently. She carries them around, feeds them, rocks them and soothes them. She is always whispering when they are in her arms and says, "baby crying." Her favorite baby these days is actually my baby doll, Elizabeth. She is 25 years old and looks like it but both the girls love her and say she is "very special." Adeline calls her "baby bis-a-beth." It is the sweetest thing. She holds Bis-a-beth's hands and makes her walk. She is always so proud to show us her baby walking. She is already a very good mommy!!

Liney has a serious temper and a very loud scream/cry. It is like there is a mega phone attached to her mouth sometimes. She gets frustrated easy and just does not understand when she doesn't get her way. Sometimes you can't help but laugh but again, we know we are in for it.

She is still very much a "mommy girl." Most days she is perfectly content being attached to me, sitting in my lap, ALL DAY LONG. It makes it difficult to get things done some days but the snuggles are just so sweet. There are literally days that she feels like an extra extremity on my body. She is also very jealous and doesn't hesitate to yell "MY MOMMY!" Sharing is hard for her when it comes to me.

Adeline is a dance machine. She loves music and dances at the first note she hears. She concentrates very hard on her dancing. She asks for "songs" in the car so she can jam in her car seat. We borrowed Just Dance on the Wii from my aunt and Adeline would beg to dance all day. She sings a lot too and her real crowd pleaser is You Are My Sunshine, of course.

At almost 2 she can say any and every word imaginable. She is a smarty pants too and is learning a lot from her sister. She has a great imagination at such an early age because she is always playing with Mary Selwyn and her friends. Adeline always has to be the baby when they play but luckily she has that role mastered.

Adeline is extremely loving and affectionate. Her sister has taught her well. Just like Mary Selwyn, Adeline tells us she loves us all the time too. She says "Wove you the most...mommy/daddy/sissy." I definitely hold on to every ounce of baby left in her because I know that she is my last. Luckily she doesn't mind one bit. I can't believe she will be 2 in April. How does time go by so quickly???

Both of my girls are very polite. MSN has her yes ma'am and sirs down and they are both great at saying thank you. Mary Selwyn is a wonderful big sister and I love that Adeline wants to be just like her already. What I love the most about having two girls is that not only do I have built-in best friends but so do they. I know they will have times when they will be enemies but I believe their friendship will always outweigh that. They are both as sweet as they can be and we are so thankful for both of them. It is such a blessing to have two great, healthy and beautiful children. Shay and I are very proud and pray that we can be the kind of parents they deserve.

WAR EAGLE!!!!

2011-01-11T10:52:00.003-06:00

To say that we are excited in this house today would be an extreme understatement, however, I think we may still be in shock!! We had so much fun watching the game last night. We let the girls stay up later than usual and all four of us were jumping and screaming and acting crazy. It was so funny to see Adeline running around screaming, "Go, Go Auburn," like she actually knew what was going on. We are so proud (and tired). Of course we rolled our front yard at midnight last night, which seemed like a great idea at the time. I doubt the home owner's association would agree! It wasn't much and was done as tastefully as possible. (: War Eagle! IT'S GREAT TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER!

I'm behind....

2011-01-04T21:05:00.002-06:00

....on my Christmas post so let me try to catch up. I'll start with the happy news from Christmas. My baby brother, Taylor, proposed to his sweet girlfriend Jess. They have been dating about a year and a half I think. We really love her and she seems to fit into our family perfectly. She is so sweet and thoughtful and loves my girls so much. She is very good to all of us and we are happy to have her as the latest addition of the Bohannan family.

Unfortunately I have sad news from our holiday break as well. I've mentioned the Matthews before in one of my Christmas posts last year. They are Shay's distant cousins that we have been blessed to discover while living in Dothan. The girls and I try and visit them as often as we can and we have really enjoyed getting to know them. Sadly Mr. Matthews passed away last Thursday. He had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and at 87 it took him quickly. He was such a precious man who took wonderful care of his wife. His love for her was definitely demonstrated in the way he waited on her. She was always his primary concern. When he received the diagnosis his only worry was who would take care of Mrs. Matthews in his absence. The hospice nurse said that the last thing he said to her was, "Please tell Jeanette how much I love her." That makes my heart swell. I pray that I will have that same kind of marriage after 63 years as well. My children adored "Mr. Mackews" as Mary Selwyn called him. He would always fill them full of cookies and drag out blocks for them to play with. I am very sad to see him go because we only had 3 years with him and I don't feel like that was long enough. I am very thankful we have had the opportunity to get to know them and that our move back to Dothan gave us a little more time with him. We will miss him dearly.

Okay, now on to pictures, pictures and more pictures. These are pictures from Christmas Eve, which we spend with my family, Christmas Day we spend with Shay's family and then New Year's Day, we spent that with my family again. Mary Selwyn was so sick on Christmas Eve she was hardly able to enjoy any of it. So you will notice she looks pitiful in those pictures. Thankfully she felt better on Christmas day. Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve morning because he knows we are always out of town on Christmas morning. This is very helpful for mom and dad with all the traveling.

Trying to trick Santa by pretending to be asleep

So excited! When I put Adeline to bed she looked up at me and said, "Ecited Mommy!" She knew Ho Ho was coming.

Putting out cookies for Santa....Adeline might have snuck a little bite.

Getting ready to see what Santa left in the back yard

It was a playhouse from Nana and Poppy and Grandmother and Granddaddy. They LOVE it.

My cousin brought his family in from Arkansas for Christmas this year. This is his little girl Chloe with MSN and AWN

With Goon and Grampaka on Christmas Eve...can you tell Melbo isn't feeling well?

Christmas Day

Greatmama

Many of the cousins getting ready to open gifts. My girls LOVE to be around all their Shackelford cousins.

Our only family picture...and its not even that great.

New Year's Day with Great Grandmother and Granddaddy

Great Granddaddy and his 3 Great Granddaughters. Their mouths are blue from popsicles.

I have many many more pictures but since I'm a slacker there are too many to try and pack in to this post. I will spare you the pictures of a few of us girls playing Just Dance on the Wii on Christmas Eve. It is the most fun game ever, especially the Michael Jackson addition. We played for 3 hours. It was a great way to work off all the food we had just inhaled. We had Christmas with Shay's sister and her family over New Year's weekend but all those pictures are on Papa's camera. Overall Christmas this year was long and exhausting but good. It was nice to spend time with our families and the few friends I got to see. I'm not normally one to rush time, especially since I have had children but I will say I have never been happier to see a new year come. I couldn't wait to kiss 2010 good-bye! Hope everyone had wonderful holidays and is having a very happy new year thus far!!

We wish you a Merry Christmas....

2010-12-23T10:18:00.000-06:00

...and a Happy New Year!! Merry Christmas All!

My Favorite Decoration, Christmas Singing and Christmas Cake Party

2010-12-20T16:01:00.001-06:00

Can I share with you my most favorite Christmas decoration??

Charlie enjoys them too!

Every year I enjoy decorating my house with pictures of my family and friends. For the 25 days leading up to Christmas I get overly excited to go to my mailbox and open up my Christmas cards. I love to see every one's smiling faces from year to year....it definitely fills my house with Christmas joy.

Last Wednesday night Mary Selwyn's choir class had "share time" for the parents. They are a little too young to participate in the actual Christmas programs at church so all the parents met in their classroom to hear what they have been working so hard on. They sang Away in a Manger and they sounded like little angels, of course. Shay and I have been enjoying hearing MSN "practice" every night over the monitor before she falls asleep. It was fun to watch her sing with her friends. I must say that Mary Selwyn and Owen definitely sang the loudest. (They were kind of the stars of the show...shhhhhhhh.)

Today we had a Christmas cake decorating party with Mary Selwyn and Adeline's friend (We missed Owen and Collins and hope they feel better soon). The pumpkin cake party was so much fun we decided a Christmas party was a must. We had a great time and appreciate Mitzi making all of our cakes. During this party we also had Jenna from The Polka Dot Pavilion come and let the kids decorate ornaments for the tree. They turned out adorable. We are so happy that our friends could come and help us celebrate Jesus' birthday in this way!

Outfit (and almost all in this post) courtesy of Cathy Cole Designs

Our finished ornaments

Just for the record TLC...

2010-12-13T08:28:00.002-06:00

I have lived in Dothan for 5 years now and have never once participated in or even heard of lawn mower racing. Thanks Bama Belles for telling the world that lawn mower racing is regular past time in Dothan. I have taken a poll of friends who have lived here longer than 5 years (like all their life) and turns out they have never heard of this activity either. Thanks TLC for making us look like Hick Town USA! I give this show two thumbs down....minus Jana and her story because my heart breaks for her. Jana had an appointment with my doctor last night on the show, Dr. Nicholls, who is fabulous. I can't wait to ask for his autograph when I see him in January. Also I found out last night when I was watching Bama Belles that "anybody who is anybody in Dothan goes to Cowboys." Guess we are nobodies! (:

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

2010-12-10T19:36:00.000-06:00

Tonight we went to see Santa but we are too cheap to pay $16 for one 5x7 so we just took pictures from afar. I didn't take the good camera because I didn't think they would let us take our own pictures. I only had my small one so the pictures didn't turn out great. I wish we weren't so cheap because the picture they took was very cute. Both of the girls did surprisingly wonderful sitting in his lap and telling him what they wanted for Christmas. Mary Selwyn is insisting on having a mermaid barbie (?) and Adeline is easy to please, she just wants four babies!! It was a painless and sweet experience. The first year that seeing Santa was a success. Merry Christmas!

La Tech

2010-12-08T07:14:00.005-06:00

Last weekend Shay and I made a trip to Choudrant/Ruston Louisiana to watch our best friend Jeff coach at Louisiana Tech University. This is the first time we have been to one of his games since 2005 when he was at Texas. (Sadly we never made it to Iowa.) Unfortunately Tech lost but they hung in there with a great Nevada (quarterback) team. We have had plans to attend this game since July and Shay was such a good sport to go support our friend even though he had to miss the first half of the SEC Championship. WAR EAGLE, by the way. It was a long 10 hour trip for such a short weekend but it was worth it to spend some time with some of our greatest friends. We just do not get to see them enough.

Maura and I had the best girl time...she colored my hair (for the first time ever) and we had tons of fun talking wedding stuff! It was fantastic. Maura was a fabulous hostess and tour guide.

Jeff coaching... Shay and another friend spent the whole pregame on the field but I forgot to take a picture of them down there.

Thanksgiving for 4

2010-11-27T20:05:00.013-06:00

This year, I decided that we were staying home for Thanksgiving, just the four of us. There were many factors that played into this decision but the main one is that the last year of our life has been utter chaos. It has by far been the hardest year on my marriage, my kids and our family as a whole. I could think of nothing better than staying at home for a calm, non-traveling Thanksgiving. Thankfully Shay agreed. Shay made a delicious ham and I made all the sides (minus the dressing Mitzi contributed). I had very messy, I mean good kitchen help. I'm proud to say our Thanksgiving dinner turned out very yummy. We plowed through our leftovers.

Although I love seeing our families, especially on holidays, I am so glad I made this selfish decision. More than ever it was so important to me for it to be just the four of us spending time together and being thankful for one another. It was so special and my heart was so full that I cried at the dinner table during our meal. I am truly thankful for my family and the weekend we have had together.

The Kitchen Help

Notice how much flour and brown sugar ended up on the counter instead of in the casserole. (:

I almost forgot to mention that when we were eating Shay asked Mary Selwyn what she was thankful for and she said, "I am thank-you for me because I am the best cooker. This food is yummy." It was pretty funny. Shay said, "That wasn't really what I was thinking," and she said, "I am thank-you for Mommy, Daddy and Adeline too." That was more like it!

Our little Indians. Mary Selwyn made an Indian dress with her cousin Kate. Mommy tried to make Adeline one out of the only paper bag in the house....it was a pretty sad attempt but it worked for the 30 seconds she wore it.

Notice the color of our feathers..... War Eagle! What a stressful dream season! We enjoyed watching the game a celebrating just the four of us too!

Of course we spent the rest of the weekend decorating for Christmas. The girls are loving all our lights. We put a tree up on our front porch and garland on our white picket fence. I told Shay our house really does look like that white picket fence house they say every little girl dreams about. I'll have to post some pictures when I take some.The girls also have little trees in their bedrooms this year. Adeline drags you to her room every chance she gets to show you her tree and tell you, "Mineeee," just in case you were confused as to who it belonged to.
I am also very proud to say that I addressed, stuffed, stamped, licked (with a little help from Shay) and mailed my Christmas cards. I must admit it is so nice to have that done and out of the way.

I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was as special as mine. Now we are in the Christmas spirit, are you?

Halloween Hangover

2010-11-01T14:22:00.003-05:00

After a trip to the pumpkin patch and scarecrows, two fall festivals and trick-or-treating, we are one worn out bunch. I have definitely had enough Halloween for the year. I'm exhausted. It was fun and now it is time to muster up the energy for the rest of the holiday season.....which I really am excited about, just too tired to be excited today. I'll start tomorrow, or next week. Here are a few pictures from the seeing the scarecrow's at the botanical gardens.

MSN and Natalie posing with the Lady Gaga Scarecrow....they thought she was just as weird as the real one ha ha. Happy End of Halloween!!!

Fall Fun

2010-10-26T19:33:00.014-05:00

Even though most days here it feels like the middle of summer we have been enjoying some fall activities. The girls and I made a quick trip to the pumpkin patch one Monday morning. We didn't do the whole hayride excursion but that was just fine with all of us. It was a fun morning.

Last Friday we hosted a little fall party with Mary Selwyn's friends and their mommies. My sister-in-law Shannon gave me some holiday cake molds and of course I couldn't wait to try them out. It took me a couple tries to perfect the pumpkin cake but I finally did and I made 7 for Mary Selwyn and her friends to decorate. Adeline had a few friends come also. They decorated pumpkin sugar cookies. It was a fun time full of fellowship. I'm thankful that I can be a stay at home mom and plan activities like this.

Before I perfected the cake

After

Big Kid table

My Centerpiece

Almost all the children at our party, some are missing. They weren't in a picture taking mood.

One of the decorated cakes

Decorating cakes

Little Kid table

This is Mary Selwyn's friend Austin. She LOVES Austin as you can tell. She told me, "he is SOOO sweet." The play so sweetly together too. They were playing grandma and grandpa, so cute right? I'm afraid MSN may be a little boy crazy but at least she picked this precious boy!!

Last but not least we had our neighborhood fall festival. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my neighborhood. It is so fun and kid/family friendly. We dressed the girls up in their costumes and headed to the park. I won't post many pictures from the festival because I'm sure I will have many more from Halloween night but here is a little sneak peek.

Mary Selwyn is obviously a clown. Shay's Mom made this costume for Shannon when she was little. It is really cute. This was my first face painting experience. It went fairly well I think.

As for Adeline..... remember Scardey Cat blog from Halloween two years ago? (I don't know how to link to my old blog, sorry) It is A's turn to dress like Silas for Halloween. This picture turned out a lot cuter than the one of MSN and Silas. I guess he isn't scared anymore.

Great Daddy

2010-10-13T11:13:00.011-05:00

Last Saturday, after 92 years, Shay's sweet Granddaddy went to be with the Lord. As a farmer, he lived a long life full of hard work. He definitely deserves eternal rest. Great Daddy, what his 19 great-grandchildren called, was such a precious man (FYI he could call all 19 great grandchildren by name too). I thought of him as a quiet man with a very commanding presence. In a chaotic room full of 40+ family members during holidays I always knew he was in the room just taking in the family he created. Shay's family has always been so special in that we all get together, 4 generations, for every holiday. Our cousin Colbi has been telling me for the last year that Alan Jackson's song "Small Town Southern Man," describes Great Daddy perfectly. Not to be cheesy and use a country song as the basis of this post but Colbi is right, the song really does sound like it was written about our Great Daddy. The song says something like, "his greatest contribution is the ones he leaves behind," and I couldn't help think about how true that was of this family as we all spent the day after he passed in his home. I think it was one of the longest visitation lines people have ever walked through. Everyone who came through made comments about the how family was never-ending. They also said what a beautiful family we had and I couldn't agree more. I am so thankful for the family that Great Daddy and Great Mama founded and I believe I am one lucky girl for marrying into it.

The song also talks about the man only loving one woman. Three weeks ago Shay's grandparents celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. If that doesn't give you chills I don't know what does. In the 12 years I have been a part of this family I have never seen Great Mama go more than 5 minutes without reaching over to touch Great Daddy's hand. I can only imagine how much she is missing that hand and I wonder how many times she has reached next to her just out of habit. They sat in a double recliner for as long as they were able and once he had to move to a lift chair or hospital bed she inched her chair as closely as she possibly could next to him. What a love story. They are all I hope my marriage to be.

Shay is 100% the man he is today because of the amazing male role models he has had in his life. I know for a fact that he is truly thankful for his Granddaddy and impact he had on Shay's life. I've done my best, though it doesn't even come close, to express how much Great Daddy was loved, admired and respected. We will definitely miss him and that sweet smirk. We give thanks for his long life and rejoice in the fact that he is finally with his Heavenly Father.

Our Friday Night

2010-10-01T19:36:00.002-05:00

This is how we are spending our Friday night........

We are having a sleep over. Well Daddy is planning on sleeping in his own bed but he was sweet enough to pull a matress in the living room for me and the girls to snooze on. We rented Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue from Redbox. Super cute movie. Fun night....hope I get some sleep.

Since we've been gone...

2010-09-06T15:34:00.007-05:00

I've been missing from the blog world lately. I don't know why but I just can't seem to find the time to sit and do a blog, but I assure you it is not from lack of trying. So here we go. Buckle up, it is going to be a long one.

Since we've been gone....Both of my sweet girls had their well check ups. We are definitely glad to be back in Dr. Barron's office. Okay, lets start with our big girl. Still hard to believe Mary Selwyn is 3 years old. She still weighs 36 pounds. She has been the same weight for a year. She was 75% in height and weight so I guess her growth is evening out and we are no longer in the 95+ percentiles. She is smart and beautiful and polite. The doctor is always impressed with her. Mary Selwyn got a very unpleasant surprise while were at her check-up. TWO SHOTS!! I told her she wouldn't be getting any shots......boy was I wrong. Apparently there was a shortage of 2 vaccines when she was a baby so she missed the the last 2 and had to make them up. Ouch! She was NOT happy to say the least. A chocolate milkshake eased the pain, but only a little. She should be good on shots until she kindergarten so hopefully I won't unintentionally lie to her next time. The drama factor has definitely been increased since we turned 3. Mary Selwyn loves barbies these days. She also loves Toy Story and all Princess stuff, well rounded right? She is getting really good at drawing, or what I think is good for a 3 year old. She is still my little song bird and I love to hear her sing real or made up songs. Looking at Mary Selwyn is like looking at Shay, but she has my personality 100%.

Now onto Liney girl. Adeline weighed 24 pounds and was 32 inches long. She is our little runt! She was 50% in weight and 75% in height. She can say juice, cracker, more, mine, mommy, dad-dy, papa, meme, grampaka, down, out, poop, gone-gone, shoes, juice, cracker (she says this ALL the time. All she ever wants is a cracker) rock-rock, car, ride, hi, bye, don't know, sit, gum (because big sis always wants gum) meow (does that count as a word) and love you. So love you is more just mimicking the sound and sounds more like "wub woo" but it counts. I'm sure I'm forgetting other words she says...it is getting difficult to keep up because she says a new word (or 10) everyday. My most favorite word she says is "Sissy." It is so cute and sweet and she walks all over the house calling for her sissy. She can also say a few sentence like: I want juice, I want more and I want cracker. She's becoming a smarty pants. Adeline started taking a pacifier when I stopped nursing, not looking forward to breaking that habit either. She calls her paci a "happy" and that makes the habit a lot cuter. She is still very cuddly and loving but she can also be a real bully. She picks on MSN and is a little jealous of her... you wouldn't think I would describe my second child that way but it is the truth. Adeline is such a ham. She is so funny and goofy and has the funniest facial expression. People say she is mommy's mini-me but so far she seems to have daddy's personality!!

My girls have been "fighting" lately. We are getting to the point where they are starting to fight over toys, over mommy, over food and whatever else. You can always tell this is happening because you will hear MSN let out a scream followed by Adeline letting out a big, "MIIIIINNNNEEE." It was bound to happen but they love each other twice as much as they irritate each other. Most of the time they can't even stand to be in separate rooms. I love it. Everyday with my children is such a precious gift and I am loving every minute, even the hard days. The other day I told Shay that I had the best job in the world even if my employees are sometimes difficult.

Since we've been gone...My girls started "school" or Little Lambs (MDO) and they are loving it. Well, Mary Selwyn is loving it. Adeline would rather be with mommy but she is tolerating it. Mary Selwyn would go everyday if she could. She loves to play with other children and get out of the house. Maybe Adeline will learn to love it. I'm glad they are back at First Pres with their sweet staff. This is the best "first day of school" picture I could get of them.

Since we've been gone...My grandparents from Texas and my Uncle Larry from California came to visit. It was such a fun visit because we miss them all so much. It had been way to long since we have seen Uncle Larry. This was the first time he had met Adeline and she loved him. They were instant buddies. Both of the girls enjoyed Nana and Poppy's visit and they keep asking me when they are moving closer???? Hmmmm.... still waiting for that answer. (wink, wink)

Since we've been gone...We have gotten all geared up for football season. War Eagle! The girls sweet "Aunt" Amy made them these Auburn dresses and they couldn't be more perfect.

Since we've been gone...We took our annual family beach trip this Labor Day weekend. It was great. This year, Mary Selwyn finally loved playing in the sand and the waves. Adeline enjoyed the sand, not so much the waves but at least this year we did get to spend some time on the actual beach, not just the pool. However, the sand and salt water are not good on Adeline's skin. It made her eczema flare up again. We went from her skin finally being virtually free of all eczema to her looking like a leopard with all these eczema spots covering her body. Poor thing. The girls had fun playing with their cousins Kate and Kinley and staying up late watching fireworks. It was a fun family trip as always. We are worn slap out.

Okay, I think that is a pretty good wrap up. I will try not to get this far behind again... I've missed blogging!

P.S. If you notice Adeline makes a silly face in almost every picture....that is her "cheese" face. Whose idea was it to teach our children to say cheese when taking pictures?? It makes my kids have silly faces.

Pinkalicious Party

2010-07-25T20:05:00.007-05:00

This weekend Mary Selwyn had her Pinkalicious 3rd Birthday Party. Pinkalicious is a story book. If you have a girl and don't own Pinkalicious, GET IT ASAP!! Pinkalicious is a precious story/series that my girls love, especially MSN. We read it to her every night before bed. She can recite the whole book to us so I guess we don't technically "read" it anymore. Since she is a Pinkaholic, this made for the most perfect birthday party. Meme and Papa are always so sweet to host our parties. They probably didn't realize when they built their house it would become the grandkids party palace. Anyway, it was a girls only party. Mary Selwyn was dressed in her Pinkalicious shirt, wings, skirt, crown and "pink-tails." We did make-up, read the book, played pin the cherry on the cupcake and of course ate pink cupcakes. It was so much fun...it is going to be a hard party to top. Mary Selwyn seemed pleased also.

There are a million more pictures from the party and from her actual birthday that i never shared. You can use these links.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2465132&id=7026226&l=8675064252

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2457022&id=7026226&l=874d9c4ab7

Back to the beach

2010-07-20T08:11:00.005-05:00

In my last post I briefly mentioned the beach trip we took recently with our best couple friends Adam and Amy and Jeff and Maura. This trip was way too fun not to blog about. We spent 3 days in Orange Beach. The weather was beautiful, the beach was beautiful, the food was fabulous and the company was the best. It was such a fun group dynamic. We all meshed so well and it made it the trip very relaxing and fun. More fun than we have had in a long time. I also haven't laughed like that in forever. We are making this an annual trip, however instead of the beach next year we will be in Iowa for Jeff and Maura's wedding. Yay! Here are just a few pictures..

These pictures were taken at the Flora-Bama... I'm convinced that place is the 8th wonder of the world... it is definitely a place like no other. We had way too much fun with these face in the hole pictures... hilarious!

This picture is a flashback to our Auburn days. Good times but I am thankful that Amy and Maura are in the picture now.It was an awesome trip with great friends and memories. Thanks guys!

Congratulations

2010-07-16T14:57:00.005-05:00

This is one of our best friends from Auburn, Jeff. Last night he proposed to this lovely lady, Maura. We were lucky enough to spend last weekend with Jeff, Maura and our other best couple friends Adam and Amy. Jeff and Maura have been dating for 2 years and last weekend was the first time we had actually met Maura (because she has lived in Iowa and Texas...far away from us). Turns out we love her. Actually I already knew I loved her because we have been emailing for the last year and I decided after about two emails that she was fabulous. She is precious and genuine and fun. Perfect our friend who we truly consider family. We love her for who she is and for making Jeff so happy. To see them together is so cute. I am so happy and excited for both of them. Marriage is such a blessing and I can't wait for them to experience it. Congratulations Jeff and Maura! We love you and are thrilled for you both. Welcome to our family of friends Maura... you are a perfect fit. Can't wait for our trip to Iowa next summer!

Mary Selwyn is 3

2010-07-02T07:31:00.003-05:00

Hello blog world. I know I have a lot of catching up to do but this move has us very tied up. I won't be catching up today either (but soon I promise) because I will be spending the day celebrating this beautiful girl's 3rd birthday!

Wow, it has been a fast three years! Mary Selwyn has truly been a blessing to our family. She is so smart, sweet and polite. She has fabulous manners and makes Mommy and Daddy so proud. I always appreciate what an "easy" child she is but I especially came to appreciate her this last month when Shay and I were living apart again. She is so fun and loving. She tells us she loves us every 5 minutes. She is very giving with her hugs but says she doesn't like, "kissets." Mary Selwyn is also one of the most appreciative children I have ever met. She never fails to tell you thank you and she really means it when she says it. She has already told me a million times this morning "Oh thank you so much mommy for my presents."

Mary Selwyn definitely looks like her daddy but has her mommy's personality. For Shay I'm sure it is literally like looking in a mirror but is for me too just in a different way. MSN is a people pleaser.... she wants everyone to be happy at all times and doesn't want to hurt any one's feelings. I have been the same way my whole life. She will often ask if you are happy or upset. She is very aware of other people. She is thoughtful and mature and growing up WAY to fast! Happy Birthday Mary Selwyn! We love you big girl.

10 years, really??

2010-06-22T20:54:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it has been 10 years since I graduated from Prattville High School. That seems so crazy. We celebrated with our reunion this past weekend and it was so much fun. I really underestimated how much fun it would be. It was waaaayyyy better than high school ever was. I enjoyed seeing everyone and dancing the night away, which I haven't done in a very long time!! Shay was such a trooper and wonderful date.

Some of my most favorite ladies!

Class of 2000 girls

Father's Day

2010-06-21T22:01:00.003-05:00

Father's Day was great this year. We were able to spend time with our dads and we took Mary Selwyn to see Toy Story 3 in 3D. It was Mary Selwyn's first 3D movie, she did great, and the first movie Shay has been to see with MSN. It was so fun and the movie was so sweet! Too sweet in fact because I cried like a baby. I mean sobbing! Go see it but be prepared for tears. Happy Father's Day Shay. We love you for being such a wonderful man and father. Thank you for adoring us as much as we adore you!

Summer So Far....

2010-06-12T08:25:00.005-05:00

So far Summer has been crazy for us.We have been traveling more than usual, hard to believe since it seems we are always on the go. Shay was working in Birmingham two weeks ago so the girls and I decided to tag along and see some friends.

My girls love Adam and Amy....

We went to visit Ashley and her family in Tuscaloosa. MSN had a hard time being in the same town as "Boo Bama," but playing with Sydney and Gracie helped ease the pain. Adeline is naked because she threw up all over her outfit, it was in the wash.

I love this picture, even though everyone is doing their own thing. It just captures all their personalities. I'm said I didn't get a picture with the girls and K.K. or Andrew and Hartley or our Dothan friends. Boo!

We also snuck in a puppy visit. My aunt's German Sheppard had puppies so we took the girls to play with them. Mary Selwyn likes them okay, more from a distance or one at a time. She didn't enjoy them climbing all over her in the "puppy pool" for long. Adeline on the other had was in absolute heaven. This child LOVES animals of all kinds. She can spot them from a mile away and immediately starts ooo-ing and awe-ing over them. Birds, ducks, dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, chickens.....everything. If there is an animal on TV she stops what she is doing to giggle and "talk" to it. She is obsessed. I think I have a future vet on my hands.

After Birmingham, we headed to Dothan for MSN's best friend Owen's birthday party. We also bought a house while we were there. It is a great 4 bedroom AND a playroom in Grove Park. We are very excited, mostly about the playroom, but also the neighborhood and having more room for our family to come visit. I don't have any pictures yet but we should close in 2 weeks so I will have some soon. Things have been nuts around here. We definitely feel like gypsies bouncing around in different towns, houses and hotels. We are truly looking forward to getting settled into our new home and staying put for a while.

In other Summer fun, we went and played in the fountains at Bridgestreet yesterday. It took Mary Selwyn a while to get the hang of it but in the end both girls enjoyed it. I'm definitely going to miss that place.

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T18:09:00.005-05:00

We spent Memorial Day with the Yates, some of our most favorite friends. Allen made yummy burgers and the kids had a fun time in playing in the sprinkler. Thank you to all of our soldiers!!

"Gynastics"

2010-05-24T08:38:00.010-05:00

For the last 6 weeks or so Mary Selwyn and I have been doing a Mommy and Me gymnastics class at The Little Gym in Providence. We absolutely love it and we are REALLY going to miss it when we move. This week was show week and Goon and Aunt Daphna were here to watch MSN show off and get her end of the year medal.Wheelbarrows. So fun.Forward rolls...I'm really good at these.The balance beam. I used to be scared but not anymore...see me walking. Next challenge is the big beam.Adeline isn't scared.Swinging from them rings, another fave. ( I realize that I wrote them instead of the rings. It was a typo but it sounded funny when I was proof-reading so I left it just to crack myself up.)Monkey ClimbAdeline enjoyed show week too.

Getting my medal.So proud.

Done taking pictures.Shay and I had our own little in-town getaway this weekend. For Shay's birthday I got him tickets to the Alabama Vipers Arena League Football game. We used to watch it on TV all the time(sports junkies, right?) and Shay had mentioned he would like to go. I figured now was our chance since we live where they have an AFL team. It was a lot of fun and we got these cool free visors. I'm thinking about making it an addition to my daily wardrobe. What do you think? We also got a room at the Westin and enjoyed 2 kid-free dinners and lots of sleep. It was a nice way to celebrate Shay's birthday.

Kinley's Christening

2010-05-17T08:25:00.005-05:00

This weekend we traveled to Georgia for our niece, Kinley's, christening. It was such a quick trip with a pretty terrible car ride but the pain and screaming was worth it to be with our family for this special moment. Mary Selwyn and Kate LOVE each other. They are always excited to see each other.

Kate loves Adeline too.

Kinley

Adeline and PapaTrying to get pictures of everyone together it tough!

Adeline loving on Kinley....she loves a baby.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-05-14T08:25:00.006-05:00

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Daddy! Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday to the best daddy in the world.... we love you oh so much!

Mother's Day and 12 month Stats

2010-05-12T08:35:00.006-05:00

What a lucky mom I am... Sunday morning my family let me sleep in. Then they made me breakfast, gave me a gift certificate to the spa, took me shopping and took me to dinner. It was a lovely and relaxing Mother's Day. I have a pretty great family. I'm so blessed to be the mom of these two beautiful, smart and silly little girls. Of course we missed spending the day with our moms but we will get to see them this weekend.

Monday we took Adeline to the doctor for her 12 month appointment. She weighted 22 pounds, 75%, and I can't remember exactly how long she was, but she was 80% in height. I forgot her stat sticker at the office, I have to go back and pick it up. Liney did not handle her shots very well. She was extremely upset. Mary Selwyn used to cry when she got shots but if you picked her up she was easily consoled, not Adeline. She wasn't happy until....I let her have a sucker. That makes everything better, temporarily at least. She has been out of sorts since her shots. Hopefully today will be back to normal.

Dr. Meadows said Adeline is right on track for development and that she is super smart...which I already knew. Adeline is very vocal these days. She "talks" and "sings" all the time. Real words she does say are mama, dada, mum-mum, bye, uh-oh, light, book(gook) and poop (always a good word to know right?) Also, hard to believe but I promise she said Grampaka. She can show you her nose and her foot. She can tell you what the puppy dog and the duck say. She can also shake her head yes and no and she knows exactly what she is saying. It is funny that she knows how to appropriately use them. She definitely doesn't say as many actual words as MSN did at this age but sometimes I think she is even smarter than Mary Selwyn was, if that is possible. She also has quite the little temper, which she totally gets from daddy, ha ha. Adeline definitely keeps us on our toes. I just wish she wasn't growing so fast!!

Once Upon a Dream....

2010-05-06T19:03:00.004-05:00

Mary Selwyn singing her favorite song, from Sleeping Beauty.

Now for little sister's version. Adeline usually sings much better and much longer than this... she was distracted by the camera. It is too funny.

Wishing on Stars

2010-05-05T07:45:00.006-05:00

A few nights ago Mary Selwyn demanded that we open the door to the porch and push the ottoman close to it so that she could sit there and wish on a star. We agreed, of course. She plopped down, looked up in the sky and said, "I wish I would live happily ever after.....and for some candy," a girl after my own heart. I would wish for the same thing except I'd wish that I would be incredibly skinny despite eating all the candy I just wished for. I guess therein lies proof that wishing on stars doesn't always work, but wouldn't it be nice if it did. Instead of wishing on stars we have to rely on prayer and faith. We don't always get what we "wish" for with God either. And if you are anything like me, understanding why God works the way he does rarely happens either.

When we moved from Dothan I was so confused as to why we were having to leave a place that felt so perfect for our family. We were so established there. We had made it our home. After a short while I was able to see where Madison could be a town that we would be happy in. We have enjoyed exploring the town and the fun things to do. Maybe it wasn't so bad here after all.

Last Thursday Shay received word that his account here would be closing June 1st. That means we will be moving, AGAIN! Any guesses as to where we might be moving??? DOTHAN!! Have you ever had one of those, "Seriously God?" moments? Just utter confusion. Thats how I would describe my feelings toward this situation. Confused. Don't get me wrong I'm thrilled to be heading back to Dothan. Dreading moving but if I have to move, again, I'm thankful it is back to Dothan. It is frustrating that exactly 29 days after I sold my house we found out we are moving back. It just doesn't make much sense to me that we would move here for just 4 months to turn around an move back. I will say that moving here has been a financial blessing and maybe that was the purpose for this little whirlwind. At any rate the Nichols family will be on the move again, very soon.

As you can imagine our current situation has my little girls out of sorts. It is obvious to them that things are very unsettled so I am anxious to get this problem resolved. Mary Selwyn has struggled the most with all the transitions, so while it is clear that we watch entirely too many fairy tale princess movies, it is sweet that she wants to wish on stars. Oh to be young again and believe that things are just that easy. Us grown-ups will just continue to trust in the Lord, even when we don't understand.

MSN has been asking regularly to wish on a star before bed. Once she wished, "for my heart to be happy." That is not only my wish but my prayer for both of my girls no matter where we are.

My Party

2010-04-27T09:26:00.020-05:00

Hey everyone, I'm Adeline. A few months ago my boyfriend Luke wrote a blog about his party so I thought I would take a shot at blogging myself. Mommy might lose her job. This weekend my mommy and daddy planned a really great party to celebrate my 1st birthday. It was supposed to be on Saturday but the weather was really bad so we had to move it to Sunday. Mommy was really stressed out and sad we had to move the party but it didn't make a bit of difference to me. Turns out the party was even better on Sunday because almost everyone could still come and the weather was beautiful.

My party was pretty perfect. Luke's mommy Mandy made me a beautiful banner with my name on it. She also designed my cake table and made cookies from scratch for my party favors....she is one super friend! My family and friends were so sweet to bring me lots of fun presents that I think I will share with my big sister. Then mommy and daddy gave me a little cake to eat all by myself. I decided eating it is cute and all but I thought it would be more fun to rub the icing all over my legs instead. I covered my legs so good that daddy had to put me in the bath tub in the middle of my party. All the excitement was a lot for me to handle so a mid-party nap was necessary while everyone sat around and visited.

Now that I am one I have decided I need to start exploring and learning more so I am now getting into EVERYTHING! I think it's fun....mommy isn't so sure. Turns out she doesn't appreciate my help with the laundry. Mary Selwyn and I are trying to talk mommy into taking us on a ride in our new wagon so I will wrap this up by saying my party was so much fun. I'm a lucky 1 year old. Also, I think from now on I'm going to leave the blogging up to Luke. As much as I enjoy pressing all the keys, I would rather be playing with my sister!

P.S. There are way to many pictures from my party to post on the blog so you can look at all of them if you use this link.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2436816&id=7026226&l=ff8d931ea3

Happy 1st Birthday Adeline!

2010-04-20T08:04:00.003-05:00

It is hard to believe that at this exact time last year I was sitting in a hospital room waiting to meet my Adeline. We didn't even know that she was going to be an Adeline and now here we are celebrating her first birthday. I will never forget hearing them say, "It's a GIRL!!" What a precious girl she is too. She has been a perfect fit into this family since the moment she arrived. She truly brings us so much joy. She is growing into such a sweet and goofy little girl. She is definitely a ham and keeps us laughing. She makes silly faces and noises, I dread the passing of this phase because it is so fun. Adeline is a loving child passing out hugs and kisses to everyone around her, especially to her big sister!! She loves Mary Selwyn and mimics everything MSN does. Adeline thinks she is just as big as her big sister.

Adeline can say Mama, Dada, Uh Oh and does her baby signs. She is the queen of the fake laugh and it is hilarious. I let Adeline have a lot more freedom then I ever let Mary Selwyn have. Funny how you are different with a second child. She is definitely more independent and entertains herself very well. She is changing everyday at a fast pace. Even though she is growing up so fast, walking, climbing and talking a little, she still feels like my baby. Maybe because I refuse to think of her as a toddler, maybe because she is still a mommy baby that likes for mom to hold her as much as possible....either way I'm trying to savor every inch of baby that might still be in her. First birthdays are so bittersweet to me!

We adore this baby and cannot imagine life without our little Liney Lou. The Lord knew what he was doing when he placed her in our family. I am so thankful for this day last year when we welcomed her to the world and for the wonderful year of her life. She is truly a blessing. Happy Birthday sweet Adeline. We love you!!!

Happy Birthday!!

One year later...a silly girl!!!

Mary Selwyn and Goon made Adeline mini cupcakes for her first birthday. She had one for breakfast...yummy!

"It's my birthday!"

2010-04-15T08:06:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I turned 28!! To be honest, at this point it is really just another day except I can get away with things I normally couldn't by simply saying, "It's my birthday!" I can eat TWO pop tarts for breakfast because, "It's my birthday!" I can rudely answer my cell phone during lunch and dinner because, "It's my birthday!" Can't miss calls on your birthday! I can refuse to do laundry, dishes or any other household chores because, "It's my birthday!" Several times yesterday I said, "Adeline, stop crying. It's my birthday!" and "Mary Selwyn, no whining. It's my birthday!" Oddly enough they didn't follow the rules of the "It's my birthday!" phrase! Oh well, better luck next year.

It is really too bad that your birthday is only one day a year, we should really start extending it to a week or once a month or something. I now have to wade through the toys to take care of the stack of dishes, piles of laundry and dirty bathrooms I ignored yesterday because today is only the day after my birthday. Turns out that doesn't count. The whining began first thing this morning and it is back to life as usual. Luckily I wouldn't trade a minute of it, even if every minute does bring me closer to 30!

Getting Ready....

2010-04-12T08:19:00.003-05:00

Whirlwind

2010-04-04T20:50:00.005-05:00

The last week and a half has been quite a whirlwind for us. I feel like I have been all over this state and truth be told I almost have. My first stop was in Auburn to meet Stuart Timothy Patton, Jr. He is the last, but certainly not least of the roommate babies to arrive. He was a Mary Selwyn size baby being 9lbs 6oz so Brooke had to have a c-section also. I think it is so funny that as a group of best friends we all 4 had c-sections. Baby Tim is precious and I was glad to finally get to hold him.

Shay and I then headed to Dothan to pack up our whole house and attend a wedding. Shay had to come back to Madison for work, obviously, so the girls, my mom and I stayed in Dothan for the week to get everything squared away and close on the house. We were able to spend time with all our wonderful friends in the midst of the official "move." We enjoyed pretending like we still lived there for just one more week. Unfortunately it was so chaotic we didn't get to take any pictures, sad. You will all be proud to know that I made through the actual closing without crying and I managed to resist the urge to snatch the keys back out of their hands and scream "It is my house! MINE, MINE, MINE!" That's good right?

With that chapter officially closed we headed back to Prattville to spend Easter with our families. Turns our celebrating Easter wasn't in the cards for us this year. Mary Selwyn and I developed high fevers and couldn't attend church or any family get togethers. This was extremely disappointing!!! It is such an important holiday and we were sad to miss the celebrations. No Easter dresses. No church. No family. No fun! The sickly crew did manage to finally get out of bed to see what goodies the Bunny left for us. These are all our Easter pictures. Hopefully we are on the mend now. MSN has visited the doctor yesterday. She has an ear infection so hopefully the meds will knock it right out. We are a worn out, pitiful bunch of girls....guess an exhausting whirlwind of a week can have that affect on you!

Can you tell we aren't really feeling well??? This is the best picture I could get of the both of them...ha ha.

100th Post

2010-03-29T19:23:00.003-05:00

I've FINALLY reached 100 posts. I do not know what has taken me so long I feel like I blog all the time, oh well, I'm here now! So as I type my 100th post I am sitting in what used to be my dining room in Dothan. It is now filled with boxes and will be empty tomorrow. This is my very last night in my first home. I must admit it is very emotional. Empty rooms. Empty walls. What I feel like is our whole life and all our memories in this house in boxes.

I love this house. I loved it the second I stepped in the front door and knew I just had to have it! This house was made for us. It was the perfect first home for Shay and I as somewhat "newlyweds." We were so proud to own this house. It was even a more perfect place to bring our first baby and second baby home too. It kills me to see their rooms boxed up. It hurts actually. All Mary Selwyn's "firsts" happened here and some of Adeline's too. It is going to be hard to walk away tomorrow and even harder to hand the keys over to the new owners.

When Shay and I returned on Thursday to pack up the remainder of our stuff the first words out of Shay's mouth were, "Man. This is a good looking house. I'd buy it again." This has been a wonderful first house. We were very blessed to be able to make it our first home! The new owners are a young couple and this house will be there first home as well. That excites me because I know it is the most perfect place for a young couple to start their lives. I pray they will love this house as much as I do and it will bring them just as much happiness as it has my family. I will forever cherish the memories of our first home and will miss it dearly! Needless to say I need a Kleenex!

11 months & 2 1/2

2010-03-24T07:11:00.004-05:00

These are the ages of my girls. It is hard to believe Adeline will be 1 year old next month. It is so bittersweet. We are excited about celebrating her birthday but very sad that she is growing up. She can say "Mama," "Dada," "Mum-Mum," and she attempts "bye-bye" and "baby." (Mum-Mum, is a baby snack, in case anyone thought that wasn't a real word.) She can sign more, thank you and all done. That will be all she will sign because mom doesn't know any other signs. She loves to play with baby dolls already. She also loves to sit on your lap and will back up and plop down in your lap whether you want her to or not. She can climb on certain things, scary!! If she needs her diaper changed all you have to say is, "Lay down Adeline so I can change your diaper," and she will find a spot to lay down and wait for you to change her. It is hilarious!

She loves Mary Selwyn and wants to do EVERYTHING she does. I didn't realize this would start so early. Adeline follows big sister's every move. She plops down in Mary Selwyn's lap all the time too, which MSN only appreciates half the time. Adeline is extremely loving and passes out kisses all the time. That is definitely a trait she gets from big sis! I love this little monkey. She still feels like my baby even though she is growing up so fast.

My 2 1/2 year old is a mess these days. She has definitely turned up the drama lately. Sometimes we fall apart over nothing.....just a girl I guess. It isn't too bad because Mary Selwyn is the sweetest and most polite child. She always says thank-you and your welcome without having to be told to. She thanks me for making her breakfast, lunch and dinner and for many other things I do daily that I wouldn't even expect a thank-you for. It makes us proud. She is going through a phase where she doesn't like kisses or "hugits" but I bet she tells us 15 times a day that she loves us out of the blue! The sweetest words. Mary Selwyn has become a real Disney Princess lately. She loves Snow White and Tiana from Princess and the Frog. We watch these movies almost on repeat and she sings along to every song. I love her singing. She also loves Sleeping Beauty but will not watch that movie for some reason. She got a Snow White dress to wear to her cousin Callie's birthday party this weekend. She couldn't be more excited and plans to wear her Sleeping Beauty shoes. It's two princesses in one!

At this age they don't have too many new tricks because it seems like they can already do everything but one new thing MSN can do is impersonations. She can do funny voices and mimic certain voices. This hilarious skill she gets from her daddy. I will try to catch it on video soon to share it because I cannot even begin to describe how funny it is. Last night Mary Selwyn and I went to a mommy and me gymnastics class. She had the best time. We are looking forward to doing it every week.

I'm lucky to have two precious girls that are sweet, sweet sisters. I'm also thankful that I get to stay home with them and really enjoy them, especially since time passes so quickly!

Early Easter

2010-03-15T07:49:00.011-05:00

We have been celebrating Easter a little early around here. Since our closing is April 1st, we are going to be in Dothan for the whole week before Easter packing, so we decided to do our fun Easter stuff this week.

We made Easter Egg Garland and hung it up. The first egg has Mary Selwyn's hand print and the last egg has Adeline's. It really brightens the apartment.

We made footprint butterflies.....aren't they the sweetest.

We made a strawberry Easter cake.The best part.Telling me what to do next.

We are no Ace of Cakes but happy with our 2 layer strawberry cake.

All that hard work was worth it...yummmm.

and we dyed some eggs

Daddy dyed some too....

Adeline in her cute lamb ears and cute bunny sweater.....sadly they are both cut out of this picture....oh well. We have been having some fun around here. Happy Easter!!!

Babies and Showers Round 2

2010-03-09T08:24:00.011-06:00

Last week was such a fun week, well until Saturday afternoon but I will get to that in a second. On Wednesday the girls and I packed up to head to Montgomery to meet some very special new arrivals.

Allow me to introduce The Weimer Twins, born Thursday, February 25.

Caroline Landry.

Avery Noelle

These precious girls were scheduled to arrive on March 10th but I guess they ran out of room and decided to make their appearance early. I was extremely sad that they didn't wait for me but I'm even more thankful that everything went well and they are healthy. I enjoyed getting to hold them and kiss their tiny little faces. They are precious. I wanted to put them in my purse and take them home with me but Megan wasn't willing to give them up, not even one. Guess I will just have to love them from afar. I can't wait to see them again.

Now this handsome little man is Andrew Morrison Sanders. He was born on March 2nd and is just as precious as the twins. He has a head full of black hair. Baby Drew is beautiful and looks like his big brother and sister mixed together. He is definitely a Sanders baby and we are very excited he is finally here.

I spent three days going back and forth between Megan and Mary's and loving on their new little munchkins. It is amazing how much you can love someone else's children. I can't wait for the rest of my friends to have their babies, there are a lot coming, so expect more rounds of baby blogs in the next few months.

Saturday was a busy day. My niece was having her 2nd birthday party, which I unfortunately couldn't attend because I was hosting two baby showers. So I left Shay and the girls to celebrate Kate's birthday and headed to my showers. My morning shower was for my dear friend from high school Amy. She is having a little boy in April. Then I headed to my afternoon shower in Auburn for my friend Leslie from college. She is having a girl in April, maybe one of the two will be born on my birthday. Both of these girls look way to good for pregnant people, very unfair. The showers were great and they got tons of good stuff.

Amy and baby Collier

Leslie and baby Girl, who has yet to be named

This is the wreath I made for Leslie's shower. Her nursery has a bird theme so I was proud of the bird rattle I found for the center of my feather wreath.

Sadly these are the only pictures from Leslie's shower because in the middle of the shower I developed a terrible migraine and had to leave. This is the not fun part of the weekend. I very rarely have migraines. I actually never had them until I had Mary Selwyn. The doctor says they are hormonal migraines that have come about as a result of having children. I haven't really had any since Adeline was two months old until this week. They are awful. My hands and face go numb and my vision gets weird right before the worst headache ever comes on. That of course is usually followed by vomiting. I'm not sure what it is about migraines that make you throw up but that is the worst part. Luckily Brooke lives right around the corner from where the shower was held so I made it to her house and laid on the bathroom floor for a few hours until Shay could come pick me up. How embarrassing right? I am so thankful that Brooke and Tim are the kind of friends that you can just show up at their house and throw up in their toilet. I mean that is what you call best friends. Needless to say it is not the way I would have liked to finish such a fun weekend. Minus the headache it was a great trip. We got to see lots of family and I got to spend time with all my best friends. It was fun but we are glad to be home, being gone for almost a week wears you out for sure.

Some of the cousins at the birthday party.

Not-So-Crafty Mom

2010-02-24T11:24:00.003-06:00

Once upon a time I thought of myself as a creative and crafty person. Turns out I'm not as creative or as crafty as I thought I was. Mary Selwyn has really been missing her mother's day out time. She misses playing with the other kids and getting to do fun crafts to bring home. We have been to story time at the library some but with Adeline walking it is hard to keep her contained and I decided I only have the energy for story time every few weeks. I figured we could come up with some crafts to do here at home to make her life a little more exciting. Shay's sister gave Mary Selwyn a bag of craft stuff for Christmas so we dug it out this week.

The first craft we made was a paper bag puppy puppet. He turned out cute enough and what girl wouldn't want a pink and green spotted puppy. It was so fun and easy I thought we could do anything. So I googled preschool crafts and we decided to make a caterpillar and leaf, again pretty easy and fun, but maybe a little boring. So I got brave and decided we would make a stain glassed butterfly. I took all this time to shave crayons and let MSN sprinkle them in the butterfly shape I drew on the wax paper. All that was left was ironing the halves together. Piece of cake, right? Wrong. I'm not exactly sure where I went wrong but my butterfly will not melt together. I even tried a new piece of wax paper on top because I thought maybe I used the wrong side. Still nothing. So all that work for a bunch of melted crayon shavings that won't stick to anything. I'm very disappointed. Clearly I would make a terribly, uncreative preschool teacher! Oh well, I guess we will keep trying to find new crafts that I CAN help her do. Is it too early to make our Easter garland??? Here are some pictures of our crafts.

On another note, our house is officially under contract as of yesterday. If all goes as planned we will close on April 2nd. We have diligently been praying for this and yesterday God gave us our answer. Shay said he had a feeling that our house would sell by then end of February and he was right. We are very thankful. Thanks for all your prayers. Once the house is sold I think we can work mother's morning out back into the budget and then Mary Selwyn won't be forced to suffer through her mom's lack of crafty ability!

My Surprise Valentine Trip

2010-02-14T13:51:00.016-06:00

This weekend Shay took me on a surprise trip. This is something he has never done before so it was very sweet and unexpected. I had no idea where we were going until we discovered the road to our getaway was closed because of snow. Luckily there was another route to Gorham's Bluff.

Several months ago my friend Jenny blogged about this place she and her husband spent their anniversary. I thought it looked like such a fun and cozy place. I showed the blog to Shay and said, "We should go there sometime." I guess he does listen sometimes....When the road we wanted to take was closed he said, "Okay, we are going to Gorham's Bluff. Go ask that lady if there is another way to get there." I think I said, "Where?" He had to remind me of Jenny's blog so I guess in this (rare) case his memory was better than mine.

Gorham's Bluff is one of the most adorable places I have ever been. It has this beautiful lodge that overlooks the bluff and the streets are lined with quaint cottages. The views are amazing. Shay and I day dreamed about what living there might be like and we decided it wouldn't be half bad.

Friday night we curled up by the fire and played a game of trivial pursuit DVD that someone must have left behind. Saturday we slept late, went on two snowy hikes, enjoyed a gourmet lunch, hot chocolate and a nap all before a nice surf and turf Valentine dinner at the lodge. It was a wonderful weekend! WONDERFUL! Valentine's Day isn't something Shay and I normally celebrate so this was extra special. This trip doubled as an anniversary trip too since we were living in different towns back in November. I'm a lucky girl with a very sweet and thoughtful Valentine! Happy Valentine's Day!

Our cottage

Hiking

I thought the icicles were super neat

Our tiny snowman. Shay added the beard and hair.

We took a million more pictures. Here is a link if you decide you want to browse through them. Copy and paste it in your address bar and it should pull the album right up.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2416621&id=7026226&l=1357b77309

Also on Valentine's Day, Happy 29th Anniversary to my parents and 14th Birthday to my little sister.

9 Months & Snow

2010-02-10T15:41:00.008-06:00

This week we took Adeline to her new doctor for her 9 month check-up so I thought I would share her stats. She weighs 19 pounds and was in 60% for weight and she is 29 inches and 90% for height. Wasn't it just the last post that I called her short?? I guess that just goes to show Shay and I are not great judges for baby height. The doctor was impressed that she was walking and so independent, I must not have been completely honest with her because this baby seems pretty attached to me.... Overall we got a good report. No shots because they haven't received her records yet so we will have to make a special trip for that torture, booo! It is always hard to go to a new doctor, at least it is for me.

Friday morning we also got our first "snow" since we moved here. It really wasn't much but it was enough for Mary Selwyn to play in for a bit before her hands got too cold. Here are some pictures.

Snowballs from daddy's car

"Mommy my hands are cold."

Yummy hot chocolate warmed us right up.

We have a walker

2010-02-06T15:36:00.006-06:00

Adeline is officially walking. Her sister walked at 8 months, which was way too early. I guess Adeline thought she would let me think I had a baby for a little longer by not walking until 9 months. For the record I still think it is too early. It looks kinda funny when she walks because she is so short and tiny. She still crawls some if she falls and realizes she can get where she wants to go much faster if she goes on all fours. For the most part though we have a walker! Mary Selwyn is very excited because she can hold her hand and walk with her across the room. Here is a video of our tiny walker.

Have I mentioned lately how much fun it is having two girls? They are enjoying each other so much and play together really well. Adeline follows Mary Selwyn's every move, especially now. This week they have been playing mommy/baby, Adeline is the baby of course and Mary Selwyn is a very good mommy. It is so fun to watch them entertain each other and share. They adore each other, and we adore them obviously. Putting them in the laundry basket kept them entertained (and caged) for a surprisingly long time.

Mary Selwyn's First Haircut

2010-02-03T07:44:00.009-06:00

I FINALLY took Mary Selwyn for her first haircut. I had been putting it off hoping that the rest of her hair would catch up with that curly rat tail but it never did. It was so weird that these three curls grew so much longer than the rest. I should have taken a picture of the rat tail before we cut it off but you can see it in the big picture at the top of the blog. It was so long. So I searched for the perfect place to take her and found a salon called Spoiled Rockin Kids. We put on her new pink princess dress up shoes and we trucked all the way across Huntsville just for her to sit in a pink car to get her haircut. She loved it and did so good so the drive was well worth it. She can be a little bit dramatic when it comes to doing her hair. She screams when I wash it and most times when I brush it so I wasn't sure how she would act getting her haircut. Of course she did fine. Better for a total stranger than her mommy, figures right? Adeline stayed with Daddy and I told MSN it was just a mommy and Mary Selwyn night. She was very upset that her little sister wasn't going too, very upset, but once we got there she didn't seem to mind so much that it was all about her. She's a sweet kid! It was fun and a good first haircut experience.

Silly Girl

Slightly sad to see that curly rat tail laying there...

New Baby, Showers and Sweet Kisses

2010-01-29T17:34:00.006-06:00

New Baby: This precious baby is my new niece Kinley Ann. She was born Thursday, January 21st. She was 8 lbs 6 oz and 21 inches, I think. She is such a sweetie. I stayed with big sister Kate while Kinley was being delivered because in Georgia children under 18 aren't allowed in the hospitals. It was kind of sad that Kate was the last person to see her new little sister but she seemed fine with all the different people coming to entertain her in the meantime. We are very thankful to add another healthy munchkin to our pack of girls.

Showers: These are my best friends Brooke, Megan and Mary. They are all having babies in March and I couldn't be more excited. This is Brooke and Megan's firsts and Mary's third baby. Last weekend we gave Megan and Brooke baby showers in the same day. Megan's was a brunch and Brooke's was in the afternoon. It was so much fun and slightly exhausting, I'm not sure how the pregnant girls made it through, especially Mary who has also been working on her sister's wedding. I'm sure they were all tired but it was well worth it. It was a fun weekend getting to spend time with them and helping them prepare for those sweet babies on the way.

I have to share this picture of the cake we had a t Megan's shower. Is this the cutest cake you have ever seen or what? I love it! She is having twin girls by the way.

Sweet Kisses: Our sweet Adeline has become a kissing fool. She has been giving kisses for month or so now but they have been open mouth. Last week she mastered the art of the pucker. It is precious and she willingly passes her kisses out to anyone and everyone. We just say, "Give a kiss," or "Kisses Adeline," and she puckers up. Sometimes if you just call her name she will pucker. She is even figuring out how to smack. She is so sweet and it is so funny when she puckers and waits for someone to give her a kiss. At the baby showers she was just sitting in the crowd of people in a constant pucker waiting for someone to notice her. I LOVE IT! I cannot get enough of those sweet kisses.

A side view of the pucker

Big sister showing off her pucker

Apartment Living

2010-01-18T08:57:00.005-06:00

I thought I had given this up completely five years ago but here we sit. I will admit is hasn't been terrible. We are living with just the basics. We have very little furniture. Two chairs, beds, TVs, washer and dryer, kitchen essentials and our lovely card table and chairs for our dinning table pretty much sums up our whole place. Oh and toys. Can't forget the toys, they scatter just the same in the apartment as they did at home. We left the majority of our furniture in Dothan to stage our house. It works out fine because the apartment wouldn't hold everything we have and now we don't have to store it. We are living pretty cozy.

The hardest part is the kitchen. It is tiny but other than that there is plenty of living space. We all stay on top of each other anyway. It is kind of nice having less ground for little Miss crawling, trying to walk, into EVERYTHING to cover. We have a nice screened in porch that we will get to really enjoy in the spring and a valet trash service that picks up my trash at my door every night. Can't beat that right. On the negative side I don't like sharing a parking lot. I like my own driveway and not having to worry about my kids and other cars right next to us. The noise is an adjustment as well. My apartment is by no means noisy. My apartments in Nashville were much louder but when you move from your own house where you know every noise and don't have to hear when other people walk or close a door in their house, it is an adjustment.

I'm pretty sure Mary Selwyn thinks this is the best place in the world to live. It has nice sidewalks for us to walk on and two huge ponds with ducks who love to be fed. It also has a fun playground and pool for those few summer months we will be here. She is going to find her next house terribly boring without all this fun stuff. Adeline, of course is happy as long as I am no more than two feet from her, so we have two happy girls. Overall, like I said this is not terrible. I can definitely stand it for 7 months. The best thing is that we are all living in one place again. That part is absolutely wonderful. We forgot just how much we enjoy each other. We have had a good amount of lookers at our house in Dothan so hopefully it will sell soon and we can save a little money while living here and shop for our new home.

The apartment was big enough for visitors this weekend. Shay was out of town for meetings and my mom, grandmother and my brother who is home on leave from Iraq came to visit.

The time has come.

2010-01-09T14:14:00.005-06:00

The time has come for me to say good-bye to Dothan. I have been dreading this day. Actually I haven't even allowed the thought to really even cross my mind. Anytime I let myself go there the tears begin to flow. I can no longer avoid it. We move Monday so here goes nothing.....

If you didn't know, I don't want to move. Nothing against the town of Madison/Huntsville. I hear it is a fabulous place to live and I have experienced its fabulous shopping. No doubt that is a great town, one I may even come to love if I allow myself. I just can't picture myself living anywhere else but Dothan. This sounds partly ridiculous because I have only lived here for 4 1/2 years, not all my life, but if you know me, you know I become attached very easily and quickly and I have a lot of reasons to be attached to this town.

After a very brief 6 month stint in Nashville when we were first married, Shay was transferred here. This is our first "home." Yes, our first house, which is going to be hard for me to leave behind but our first "home" as a new family. This is where my children were born. That alone is sentimental for me. I will miss driving by the hospital and hearing Mary Selwyn say, "Mommy, you see that beautiful city? That's where I was born and Adeline was born." It is so sweet. (I think she calls it a beautiful city because it reminds her of the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz.)

We have met amazing people here in Dothan and developed friendships that will last a lifetime. I'm so grateful for those that went above and beyond for us and really became our family. I wish I could talk about each and every person but I can't. It would take years! I do, however, have to mention the Chambers once again. We literally would not have survived the last four years without Mark and Mitzi. I believe that with my whole heart. I cannot tell you the number of times I have dropped my kids off at her house, sometimes unannounced, or the number of meals she has cooked for us. They have done so much for us and we could never thank them enough. They have loved us and shown us the utmost kindness. They are wonderful. We love them and are going to miss them more than words can express.

This town is the epitome of "Southern Hospitality." That is the best way to describe my time here. I have learned so much about hospitality, friendship, kindness and what it means to truly love others. When I say love, I mean the drop everything to be by your side kind of love. The people in this town "do" whatever they can for you. They don't just say, "let me know if there is anything I can do," they say, "I'm here put me to work," or "this is what I am doing for you." I'm thankful for the opportunity to not only be surrounded by these kinds of people but to be molded by them as well. They have changed my view of real friendship and hospitality. These are lessons that will stick with me always.

I could go on forever. I have nothing bad to say about this town. I have been completely content in our life here. I think I will miss everything and everyone! I know the Lord has big plans for us in Madison and will provide us with friends and even a new church family that is just as wonderful. It is just hard to imagine. The biggest thing I have to remember is that Huntsville will NEVER be Dothan. I will have to remind myself daily not to compare the two towns or I will NEVER be happy. So in future blogs when I talk in comparison, please remind me to stop. Shay and I were talking the other day and we both agreed that we never thought when we moved to Dothan that we would love it this much. That we would truly make it our home and want to live here forever. So I'm sure I will be saying the same thing about our new town one day.....I am very excited to have my family reunited. That is the most important thing. We love and will miss this town dearly but will most definitely be back for regular visits!

Just a few faces we will miss. Mary Selwyn's best friend Owen

Mark and Mitzi

This is the Matthews. Mrs. Matthews and Shay's Papa, Selwyn, were first cousins. When Mary Selwyn was born she saw her name in the church bulliten and called me and said she saw where we named our baby Mary Selwyn Nichols and she had a cousin from Thomasville named Selwyn Nichols. What a small world. We have really enjoyed getting to know them. We will miss visiting and spending time with them.

So this picture is really old but it was the only one I had that included some of our favorite people.

The Thompsons

The Chavers

Christmas Fun

2009-12-30T17:11:00.007-06:00

Making cookies for Santa

and sneaking a few bites in the process.

Christmas Eve

My brothers girlfriend made everyone in the family either a hat or a scarf....how sweet is that?

Matching Christmas PJs.

Christmas morning.

Santa was very good to us.

Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent over a week in Prattville and with family and came back with more stuff than we have room for. I went to Huntsville earlier this week to find a tiny apartment to stuff our family into. It should be interesting but thankfully we will not be living apart anymore. We move next week. We are very thankful that 2009 was a year full of blessings. Now onto a new year and a new town. Happy New Year!

Best Friends

2009-12-21T20:44:00.006-06:00

Best friends......Play dress up,

See their first movie together,

Hold hands when they walk,

And love, love, love each other.
This is Mary Selwyn and her best friend Owen. I have mentioned her before. Mary Selwyn talks about Owen, sometimes called "Co," all the time. She gets excited to go to church or school because Owen will be there and always wants Owen to come over. She is going to miss Owen so much and this is only one of the reasons the tears begin to flow when I think about moving. Owen's mommy is one of my best friends too and I am going to miss her just as much. These girls are very sweet best friends. We mommies will make sure they stay friends forever. We have enjoyed spending this last year and half making special memories.

Santa Baby

2009-12-14T11:42:00.002-06:00

Trimming the Tree

2009-12-08T15:19:00.005-06:00

This past weekend our house was filled with illness. Both of the girls had been fighting colds for a week. Adeline started with an ear infection and Saturday morning Mary Selwyn woke up with double ear infections. The whole family was up all night Friday night. It was no fun and now I have this awful cold. So after a Saturday morning trip to the doctor we came home and put on our Christmas pajamas and stayed in them for the next two days. What better to lift our spirits than decorating our Christmas tree. We normally do a huge real tree and a small fake one but this year, with trying to sell the house, we decided to just go with the smaller fake one. I was disappointed but Mary Selwyn would have been excited decorating a plant so I guess it doesn't really matter. Now we are all in the Christmas spirit and hopefully on the mend.

Decorating the tree made us all feel much better......

I think Mary Selwyn touched every single ornament

Little sister doing her part

This picture is dark, I know but it cracks me up. The looks on their faces is like, "really mom?"

Ready for some presents under there!

A Christmas Visitor

2009-11-21T18:44:00.002-06:00

Look who showed up at our house a week early......
We got our Elf right before Christmas last year but I decided to wait until this year to bring him out. We read the book to Mary Selwyn before nap time and when she woke up the Elf had come to visit her. It was so cute when she discovered him. She and daddy named him Charlie or as MSN calls him, "Charwie." Not a very elfy name but that is okay.

So far we love having Charlie around. I asked her to do something and she said okay and then looked up at Charlie and grinned really big because she knew she was being a good girl. It was so funny. Daddy enjoys Charlie because he seems to make it easier for MSN to be good while her elf buddy is watching. When she does something wrong she looks up at Charlie and says, "I'm sorry Charlie. It's okay Charlie." I told daddy we could not abuse Charlie's presence.

I decided to get him out early because we are going out of town for a week and I wanted him to go. Plus because we are trying to sell the house we are going to have VERY minimal Christmas decorating, which makes me sad because I normally over-do Christmas, so I thought having Charlie around would get us in the spirit! It definitely has....we are attempting Christmas card pictures tomorrow, wish us luck! Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about Thanksgiving. We are very excited to see our families, eat yummy food and give thanks for all our many blessings. We would never skip over that!!

On the Move

2009-11-17T14:37:00.005-06:00

Adeline is almost 7 months now. She has two teeth and the girl is on the go. She crawls and pulls up. Her crawling form is terrible but whatever gets the job done I guess. She also likes to stand up with her hands on the ground sticking her little hiney in the air. I feel like she will probably walk soon just because she would rather use her feet than her knees. I guess we will see. Oh, and she has eczema everywhere. Poor baby, she does not have that baby soft skin in very many areas, it is pitiful.

This weekend we fed her rice cereal for the first time. I know what you are thinking...."she has two teeth, is crawling and pulling up and you just gave her rice cereal??" I will admit that I put it off. She seemed content without it and I sure didn't want to increase my motherly mess load and schedule if I didn't have to, but the time has come. We waited until this weekend so daddy could be here to experience the first feeding. He took the pictures.....She did great with the spoon and seemed to enjoy the cereal. We called it quits when she started to gag, I figure that meant she was done. We will soon be on to bigger and better foods, again, I am in no hurry if she is not starving.

Looks like someone is getting close to being in the holiday spirit!!

November 6, 2009

2009-11-09T12:25:00.005-06:00

On the 6th Shay and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. What a wonderful, happy 5 years it has been(we have actually been together a total of 11 years....). I'm thankful for the sweet husband I chose and that he chose me. He is my rock. Happy Anniversary Shay. Thank you for 5 great years and two beautiful girls.

As you can see, we haven't changed a bit from our college days...ha ha.

6 months old

2009-11-03T17:56:00.006-06:00

This is so crazy to me. Adeline is 6 months old. This is all happening way too fast. I thought Mary Selwyn grew fast but I swear Adeline is growing at the speed of light. It is killing me. She thinks she is such a big girl these days trying to crawl and pull up, both of which result in crying but hey at least we are trying.

We went to the doctor for our check up today and Adeline passed with flying colors. She weighed almost 18 pounds and was 27.5 inches long. She is 75% in weight and height, perfectly proportioned. She and big sister (who got a flu shot) took their shots like a champ.

She is still such a sweet baby. She is very laid back and easy going. We have been several places lately and she is so content just sitting in the stroller along for the ride. She rarely makes a peep. She babbles dadda and claps her hands. She is still a mommy girl for the most part but she loves her daddy and is a definite threat to become another daddy's girl very soon. I love, love, love her with all my heart. She definitely provides lots of joy during this stressful and weird time of change for our family.

See me trying to crawl.

sweet smile....I can't get enough of this, or the pictures of my kids in their halloween costumes.

...Where Credit is Due...

2009-11-02T21:51:00.004-06:00

I failed to mention that these precious costumes my girls wore for Halloween were borrowed from my friend Kristen. Her girls went as Little Bo Peep and her "sheep" a couple of years ago and she was sweet enough to let me borrow them. Mary Selwyn doesn't know about Little Bo Peep yet, she is more of a Mary had a little lamb girl. We really enjoyed these costumes, I think I had way too much fun. I didn't realize that we would get such rave reviews so I felt I needed to give credit where credit is due. This was not completely my idea....thank you Thompson girls for letting us borrow them!

I can however take all the credit for these little cuties....that is all me....and maybe a little of their daddy. (:

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T14:53:00.008-06:00

Mary (Selwyn) had a little.........Lamb......little lamb... ...little lamb.Mary (Selwyn) had a... ...Lamb...

...and she loved her SO!!!

Mary Selwyn LOVED Halloween!! She was so excited to wear her "little lamb" costume and go trick or treating. She wasn't scared at all and enjoyed passing candy out too. She cried when we told her no more kids were coming. Halloween was so much fun this year.