"YEAH, I did it!!!"

"Yeah, I did it!" This is a common phrase heard around our house from our 1 and a half year old. Anytime she accomplishes something or does something that we ask her to do, it is usually followed by a very excited and joyful, "Yeah, I did it!!!". Today this phrase was coming out of my mouth as I crossed the finished line of my first ever race. I participated in the Providence Heart and Sole, Women's 5 miler this morning. There were TONS of women. All different ages, different sizes, different shapes, and different goals for the morning. Some women were there to walk a 3 mile, others were there to run it. Some were there to walk the 5 miler and others (me!) were there to run it. I had the great privelege of being able to run this race with my sweet, dear friend, Jenna! She is a much better runner than me, but she stuck beside me the ENTIRE time. She cheered me one, she pushed me when I really wanted to stop and walk up the most awful hill EVER, she encouraged me. (Thank you Jenna! I love you!)

When the race first started, I turned my music on and just stayed with the masses. My goals were to run the whole thing, not be the last person, and finish with an average of an 11minute mile. After our first mile, Jenna turned to me and said, "Megan, we just ran a 9 1/2 min. mile." I had no idea, but with all that adrenaline going through me and masses of women around me, I wanted to stay with the best of them. Of course going up that awful hill, I slowed down to a 12min. mile, but I am okay with that this time, especially since most of the women around me stopped to walk. The end of the race is going straight down this huge, glorious hill straight into the finish line.  I don't even remember running that part because I was so happy and looking for my sweet hubs and baby girl on the side. I spotted them quickly, waved, smiled the biggest smile, and yelled, "YEAH, I did it!!". I finished the race in 54mins.

Great day!!! Already on the search for my next race. Who wants to join me?

Easter 2011

Here is a glimpse of our Easter 2011....

 Our family of three getting ready to enjoy a yummy Easter lunch at the wonderful Nicholes' house. (Please ignore B's face in this picture, she was staring down the food table and ready to eat.)

 My little punkin. My mom made her Easter dress. Yes, she rocks!

 Me and my favorite little girl.

Daddy and his princess.

Now it's time for the Easter egg hunt and bubble time. Seriously, I think the child could blow bubbles all the live long day if I allowed her to do so. ( I blame this on her Aunt Sissy and Momma Dawn.)

We pray that you and your family had a joyous Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

FUNDAY SUNDAY!

This past Sunday our church held it's annual community outreach event, Funday Sunday! The weather was great, the food was yummy, the entertainment was awesome and the rides were thrilling. I have the honor of being on the committee for this incredible event with some of my best friends, so I was running around all day, but I was able to stop and snap a few pictures with my family and some of our new friends!

A Little Bit of Change/ My Hubby ROCKS!

I have shared before that I have a sick love for organizing, but I also have a shared passion for decorating. The only thing about decorating is that it often calls for money that I don't always have. I have learned that a little bit of paint on the walls and some rearranging of items that you already have go a long way. Though I have been working on things all throughout our house, I thought I would show you our Master Bedroom and bathroom for now.

Here are some before pictures: (sorry they aren't great, the only reason I have them is for insurance reasons)

 BLAH!!! Boring bathroom! Not really any color. I don't want to paint the walls because the ceilings are so high and we aren't planning on staying in this house for too much longer.

 Another angle of the bathroom. I have found through my adventures of redecorating my house that I didn't know how to decorate with anything but picture frames. I was DROWNING in them!

 Master Bedroom

 BROWN,BROWN, BROWN!

More Master Bedroom

Now for a couple of changes!

 Ahhhh! That is what I am talking about! Bright, clean, and crisp!

 Not a lot of change here. I spray painted the frame and the vase to add a little change.

 Much better! Curtain panels were purchased at TJMaxx for $12!!!!

Changed up the towels! We had been rotating three sets of towels for the past 6 years. Thought it might be time for some new ones. Found them on clearance at Kohl's!

I enjoy this area often!

Now on to my next post......

MY HUBBY ROCKS!!!

This past Friday I celebrated my 28th birthday! On the Wednesday before, my husband surprised me with the news that we would be spending the weekend together in Asheville, NC! I was thrilled! I didn't really care where we went, I was just thrilled that I got to spend the whole weekend with him! ALL TO MYSELF!

We took the kids (Sadie and Brantley) to my mom on Thursday evening. ( THANKS MOM!) We traveled home, did a little bit of shopping, got some ice cream and headed home to pack for our weekend. We got up on Friday and began our travels! The weekend was filled with lots of shopping, plenty of eating, exploring a new city, hiking and just being able to hang out with my best friend!

Here are a few pictures from our adventures:

 We took a moment to miss Sadie:)

 Our bedroom! KING SIZE BED! This is very important to me on vacations!

 Awesome bathroom!

 HUGE SHOWER!

 Kitchen area. Don't worry, I did NO cooking, but it sure was a nice kitchen.

 Living Room area with balcony:) The weather was fantastic, so we had the doors open a lot.

 Yes, we were keeping up with March Madness. We did turn the fireplace on one night just because we could.

 Our hiking adventures to several waterfalls.

Beautiful!

 Triple Falls Waterfall

 Me and My Man :)

 YUMMY! ( I took this picture for you Christy!) It is one thing to talk about food, but to look at it is a totally different story!

Thank you to all who made me feel so loved and special on my birthday! 

YEAH! It's Potty Time!

A couple of months ago Eric and I went ahead and purchased a potty for B. We weren't sure when exactly we would start potty training her, but we knew it wouldn't be too much longer. Before Christmas I confined myself to the house for two days and placed her on the potty every 30 minutes or so. Well, let's just say that this was for the birds. I was tired of remembering to do it and B just saw it as another story time. So, I got the advice of our pediatrician and friend and decided to wait a couple of months and try again, only this time we wouldn't be visiting the potty quite so often during the day. He recommended us picking one or two times a day that most people have to go to the bathroom (right when you get up in the morning, after a nap, before bed, etc.) and placing her on the toilet for just a couple of minutes. This already sounded so much more relaxing, no pressure, no frustration for anyone. Besides, there really wasn't a rush, she is only a year and a half and let's face it people, the child is not going to be in her diapers forever! Eventually she would recognize that no one else in her 1st grade class has diapers on and would want to make a change. I wasn't worried!

About a week and a half ago Eric and I decided that we would start putting her on the potty again and we chose to put her on right when she got up from her nap and while we were getting her bath ready each night. During the day I would announce to her when I was going to the potty and of course she would follow. This led to her own desire to get on the potty even though there were no results she still had a desire and interest to potty. She wanted to wipe and flush, but I told her that she couldn't until the went pee pee or poo poo in the potty. ( Just a little extra incentive.) This past Tuesday night as her Daddy was getting her bath ready, our girl WENT PEE PEE ON THE POTTY!!! Of course her crazy Daddy did a song and dance and B just watched in amazement. She finally got to wipe (this consisted of simply dropping the TP into the toilet, we will work on this part) and flush the toilet!!! She also received a sticker, which she often refers to as a boo-boo( hence, the same concept as a band-aid). We were both extremely proud of our little punkin. She went potty again last night before her bath and this morning she ran to tell me that she had a poo poo in "diper", but insisted that she go to the potty. Sure enough, I cleaned up that bum, stuck her on the potty, and she pee-peed away!!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!!

Now, please understand that we are still in diapers and will be for quite a few more weeks. I want to KNOW that she understands when she needs to go to the potty! Though this works for our little girl, I have had several friends that have done it completely different and had beautiful results from their children. This is just what works for B and our family. Happy Pottying!!!!!

A few of my Favs!

A couple of weeks ago we took pictures with our favorite photographer, Charlie, and his lovely wife and assistant, Suzanne! Here are a few of my many favorites! Enjoy!!

Our Valentine Jr.

Hey Brantley! Today is Valentine's Day! We want to share with you a few of the many reasons that we love you soooo much!

1. We love when you do your Chinese face.
2. We love to listen to you giggle.
3. We love when you repeat the last word of all of our sentences.
4. We love when you make different animal sounds.
5. We love when you are polite to others.
6. We love when you say "hold you".
7. We love to watch you "read" books.
8. We love when you hug our necks so tight.
9. We love when you identify the parts of your body and say "tushy" for your bottom.
10. We love it when you eat all of your vegetables.
11. We love it when you are obedient and do what we ask you to do.
12. We love it when you climb out of your crib. (yeah, right!)
13. We love it when you wear our shoes around the house.
14. We love it when you are so excited to go to Weekday and Church to play with your friends.
15. We love that you love Chick-Fil-A just as much as we do.
16. We love it when you drink your water out of a nalgene bottle that is just as big as you are.
17. We love how you say "no" to everything in the sweetest little voice.
18. We love how you would be perfectly content if someone would read to you all the live long day.
19. We love how much you love to be outside.
20. We love how excited you get at bathtime.
21. We love how you love Sadie.
22. We love that you enjoy watching Baby Einstein movies on the t.v. or as you would say, "moobe" and "t.b."
23. Mommy loves how much you love Velvetta shells and cheese. A girl after my own heart.
24. Mommy loves how much you love shopping with me.
25. Daddy loves every nanosecond of snuggle time he can get with you.
26. We love it when you count and you only say the even numbers.
27. Mommy loves that you love organizing the frig. just as much as I do.
28. We love it when you color us beautiful pictures in your coloring books. Not so much on the kitchen floor.
29. We love it when you pretend.
30. We love it when you say please, thank you and sorry, even when it is our own mistake.
31. Daddy loves to listen to you laugh as he chases you around the house.
32. We love how you yell, "Yeah!!!" after we sing the "Itsty Bitsy spider" and then ask for more!


We love you very much Brantley! You are the sweetest little Valentine ever!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy