Hello....Goodbye....Hello!

This morning Braden and I finally said "hello" to baby talk at the library. We had a great time! Braden's favorite part was getting to use the instruments, primarily made up of shakers. He especially loved getting to put the instruments away... aka throw them in the basket! And we got to enjoy the fun time with Micah and Sarah.

Today Brad is saying "goodbye" to his job ay Citi. He has been there for over 4 years and it was time to say goodbye and seek a new adventure! By the way, thank you to everyone who prayed for open doors, wisdom in choices, and patience for the task at hand. You'll never know how much your prayers on behalf helped! By the way, isn't God awesome! When one future is filled with doubt and uncertainty He is always there laying the foundation for the unforseen road ahead! We know You always take care of us and yet we are always so quick to forget that You are in control!

Braden and I had lunch with Brad today on his last day of work in Madison.

So the final "hello" is what was the "unforseen road ahead", but is now a new job for Brad! On Monday, Brad will start as the Financial Center Leader at BB&T in Greensboro, GA. Please pray for him as he starts this new journey at a new job and has to leave old friends and relationships behind at his old job. I'll keep you updated on how it is going.

Memorial Day

OK.....So I know that this is super late, but I didn't want to post until I had my pictures uploaded to my computer and that didn't happen until about 30 minutes ago. So here goes....


Memorial day was great! Brad was home with us the WHOLE day which is great! He occupied Braden while I did a little cooking (hash brown casserole and pasta salad) for the pool party BBQ at my Aunt Joy and Uncle Greg's house! I ALWAYS love when my whole family is together! Our family is HUGE now, but we have always been super close and I love that we all still make time to get together. Plus I really love my cousins' wives (Staci and Amberly). Since I've always been the only girl (on my mom and dad's side) I always enjoy when they are around. And can I just say that my Granny is super cute! I love that she is still working on her tan at ** years old! It's ok Granny, I'll never reveal your age (not that I know since she never tells her "true" age)!

My Granny aka Braden's Gigi


I worked on my tan a little bit. I'm preparing for the beach in July! Braden spent a ton of time in the pool! He is definitely our little fish! Brad taught him how to "jump" off the edge of the pool! Super cute! My cousin brought a slip n slide for Gage which Braden completely enjoyed! I actually need to make a run to the Dollar General to purchase one! Oh and let me thank my brother for tossing me into the pool! I never did get him back!

Splish Splash

Gage and Ace


My two handsome boys

Braden "jumping" into the pool
Braden on the Slip N Slide

Check out those moves!
It was a great Memorial Day!

Anybody feeling crafty????

Hello all! I saw this super cute blog that sells custom made name plates (wall hangings).
Bellasigns
Brandi- I completely thought of you when I saw it because I am certain that this is something that you could make! But please don't charge $50!

Ok....now I am in need of some inspiration. I have NOT scrapbooked a single page since before Braden's birthday in JANUARY!!!!! Part of my problem is that I absolutely HATE dragging everything out and then having to clean it back up and part of it is because Braden is a handfull and into EVERYTHING now that most of my time is spent chasing him around! LITERALLY!! However, I have way TOO many pictures piling up on me and Braden is WAY TOO CUTE for me to not do anything with them. So......this is an all call invite to see if anyone would be interested in setting up a date to get together and scrap! I am way more inspired after I see other people's stuff and can get ideas! PLUS Santa (aka my mom and dad) bought me A LOT of new scrapbooking stuff for Christmas that I really want to use!

Anybody interested?????

Deadliest Catch Game

Ok, all of you Deadliest Catch fans I found a game on their website and it is great! You get to buy a boat, equipment, and select your crew! Oh so much fun! After we put Braden to bed the other night Brad and I played for a little while!
By the way, did anyone see Edgar get hit in the head last night? OWWW! And is anyone worried about Phil? I am!

Sidenote*** Sarah and Kylie maybe we should set up our own LOST blog! I can never remeber what happened on the previous episode when we actually have a chance to discuss it. I'm sure that Zach would love to be our moderator! Just a thought!

Dog food is for dogs!

I live with two very confused individuals. Yes, one is Braden. No, one is not Brad. The other happens to be Avery, our 3 1/2 pound toy fox terrier.

I was a little concerned when I was pregnant with Braden that Avery would have a hard time adjusting to the new baby. After all, she had been our only "baby" for the past couple of years before Braden was born. I was worried about her adjusting, but she did better than we did adjusting to the new baby!

Avery was spoiled rotten, yet we were always very cautious about her food. We NEVER allowed her to have table scraps or any sort of "people food". Well that all changed when Braden started eating "people food". Avery would sit under his chair and wait for any tiny morsel that he might drop. For awhile I got onto her and then I figured, oh well, less for me to clean up. The Braden discovered that he could feed Avery himself. He would bend over in his highchair and drop her pieces of food. That wasn't as bad as when he "discovered" her dog food.

Braden and dog food a has been a battle that we have been fighting far too long in our house. I cannot tell you the number of times that we have caught him "chowing" down on Avery's food. Avery doesn't seem to mind since Braden feeds her his "people food". I cannot count the number of times that I lectured both of them that "Dog food is for dogs and people food is for people"! It's not that I am freaking out because he is eating dog food, as gross as it may be, it is how long he has been eating dog food that freaks me out. I am just praying that this will not be a lifelong favorite "treat" of his! And I will admit that I munched on a few tasty morsels myself when I was a wee tot! (How could I forget since my brother constantly reminds me and now delights in saying "like mother, like son" every time Braden is caught feasting on dog food!)

Well this morning when Braden and I got up (Brad was still sleeping and Braden and I both love holidays since Brad is home with us!) I came into the office to check my emails (yes plural) and stalk my fellow bloggers' pages, Braden did the cutest thing. After he got tired of playing in the office, he ran into the kitchen and got Avery's food and brought it back to feed her! I kept watching him run back and bring Avery more food and I was absolutely delighted! Finally he has figured out that DOG FOOD IS FOR DOGS!!!! After about 7 or 8 trips back and forth he had fed Avery he whole bowl of dog food.....or so I thought. Apparently he decided to save the last tasty morsels for himself! And back to square one we return! After I chased him down to get it out of his mouth (apparently he thinks this is a game since he runs from me giggling every time he eats dog food) I just breathed a sigh of relief and realized that this was a small accomplishment in some sense because at least he didn't eat the whole bowl full!

Congratulations Chad & Buck

Chad, my dad and Buck went to Chattanooga this weekend for two of Buck's hunt trial competitions. After 4 junior passes Buck can move on to senior trials! My dad just called and said that they are on their way home and that Buck passed both trials! Yea! Now it is on to the Senior Trials! Buck and my brother have both been working so hard (& my parents!) and I am so proud of them!

*Hopefully I will have pictures to post soon!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Toothbrush Klepto

Ok....I have a couple of cute Braden stories for you.

1. Braden is obsessed with brushing his teeth! He goes crazy when he sees his toothbrush. He is so obsessed with toothbrushes that he has now started stealing mine and Brad's toothbrushes. I'm serious! He goes into our bathroom and gets one, if not both (at the same time), at least once a day! Whenever he is quiet I know that means trouble...so I didn't hear him this afternoon and I walked into our bedroom to get him and when I said his name he darted out of the bathroom with Brad's toothbrush! It was hilarious because all that I saw was this flash of hair and a green toothbrush scurry past me giggling! He is soooo crazy!

2. Braden despises kisses. When we ask him for a kiss he always turns his head other way! It makes me so sad! He literally has only given me 4 kisses his whole life. BUT I found a way to get him to give me kisses. He LOVES to eat, so now when I want a kiss I bribe him with food. It works every time! He (reluctantly) leans his head over and plants me a big one (and usually wet!) right on the lips to get his food! Is this good parenting? Probably not...but I sure enjoy all of the sweet kisses I'm getting!

3. This evening Braden got his first band-aid (other than the ones he gets at the doctor's office when he gets shots). It was not his first boo-boo, just his first band-aid with his boo-boo. We were outside with him this evening and he LOVES to explore. But more than that he loves to run from us when we tell him to come. He thinks it is a game because he always turns around to look us and giggles and then takes off. It was cute for a while, but now he knows better and just does it anyway. Well, Brad was using his "stern" voice to call Braden back so he came running back and tripped and hurt his knee. I cleaned it off and put his first Thomas the Train band-aid on. He was so curious about the band-aid that he kept pulling up his shorts to inspect it!

4. Tonight in the bathtub he squirted himself in the face with his rubber ducky. I started laughing and then because he loves to make people laugh he kept squiring himself in the face and giggling! He is so silly!

5. Everyday I am more and more amazed everyday with how much Braden has learned. Children truly are little sponges. We may not be able to understand a single word that he says, but he knows a lot of what we are saying. When we tell him "let's go bye-bye" ~ he runs to the garage door, "let's go out" ~ he runs to the front door, "it's time to take a bath~ he runs to the bathroom, "it's time to get out of the bath"~ he pulls up the stopper on the tub, "are you ready to eat?" ~he runs to his seat in the kitchen, "it is time to go night-night" ~ he picks up his bedtime bear and runs into his room to his crib and much more!

Girls' Night Out

Friday evening several of my friends and I planned a girls night out to Country Fair at the HIFI Buys Ampitheatre. We saw Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Luke Bryan in concert. It was a very amusing night and here are some of the "highlights"!

• Miranda Lambert was awesome! She is still my favorite female counrty artist!



• It was really chilly. And the wind was blowing which made it 100 times worse!



• When Kylie drinks she makes up crazy theories like lots of people look like animals and then she names the animal as the person walks by! It was actaully REALLY funny!



• Krysti got to go backstage for a Dierks Bentley meet and greet where she got a picture and autograph. (I think she's in love!)



• We saw a girl fall down the hill we were sitting on and pop out her knee cap! EWWWW! The paramedics had to carry her out on a stretcher. Moral of the story: Drinking, high heel boots and hills lead to bad things when they are together!



• I got to see my good buddy Morgan, who I never see nearly enough!



• When Braden is in highschool he WILL NOT be going to Country Fair unless I am going with him as his personal chaperone.



• There was a lady who brought her infant child to the concert. This is as bad as taking a baby to a bar!



• There was a guy dancing all by himself pretending that a girl was dancing with him. Kylie offered to pay Ashley's rent for the month if she would slide in and dance with him!



• Sarah pointed out when we were leaving that by the end of the night drunk people have a very irratated and solemn look on their face. A complete 180 from the 3 hours before when they were all buzzed!

Ashley, me, Sarah & Kylie

Krysti with Dierks Bentley!

Morgan & Me

Sarah & Me

Since I don't drink it was very "amusing" to people watch (one of my favorite things). It was really fun just getting to hang out with the girls for the whole evening. However, I realize that I am no longer cut out for late nights. I was soooo sleepy by 10:00! Until next year.... that is if we can talk Kylie into another country music concert!

Pre-K Round Up

Today was the much anticipated Pre-K Round Up. Despite my nervous fears it went really well. Mrs. Creal (my future teacher's assistant) and I met 14 precious future Pre-K kids today. We only had 6 students not come which is pretty amazing. I saw lots of excitement and a little bit of anxiety on many little faces (I think they probably saw the same look on my face). By the way, thank you Krysti for helping me put the finishing touches on my table and reminding me that everything would go fine! And you were right~ it did!

When my principal approached about taking Pre-K in January, I completely freaked out! I went home that afternoon sobbing (& many afternoons after that). Kindergarten, let alone Pre-K were always grades that I NEVER EVER considered teaching. After LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of prayers I feel like God has given me an amazing opportunity. I am so excited about next year, but also kind of scared. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED 2nd grade! But then again I did work with the best people on my team. That really is the truth. When I took the 2nd grade position 4 years ago I didn't know how truly blessed I was going to be by the friendships and relationships that I made. I taught with 4 amazing women and I learned so much from each of them. I realize how much God blessed me by being obedient to him after I tried to get out of my contract when I found out that there was a mass exodus from the school (I don't know if I told any of you that!?!), but by staying where I was committed I was given a huge blessing.

My prayer this summer is that God will work in my heart to prepare me for these precious children and for me to understand that what matters most to them is someone to show them love and acceptance (I am writing this partly to remind myself of my purpose when I am ready to pull my hair out in August). I know that by honoring God even when I REALLY didn't want to I am being an obedient and willing servant.

Thank you Lord for being patient with me when I am strong willed and defiant and I try to fight your will for me with every ounce of energy that I possess because it was not MY plan. And thank you reminding me gently that YOUR plan ALWAYS blesses me so much more than my plan ever could!

My Momma

I have the best mom (the best parents to be honest with you , but I will save my dad's dedication until Father's Day). I know that most people think that their mom is the best, but I really truly do. Just ask anyone who knows my mother. They know how kind, gentle, gracious and compassionate she is. She is truly wonderful. I almost begin to tear up even as I am writing this because I truly love my mom so much.

My mom is the type of mother who would go without just so that her children would not have to go without. My mom is the kind of mom that you can talk to about anything because you know that she loves you unconditionally no matter what. My mom is the kind of mom who will bow her head to pray for you ~ I mean truly pray for you when you need it. My mom is the kind of mom who expects you to be your very best~not because her expectations are too high, but because she truly believes that we have what it takes to reach the stars! My mom is the kind of mom that you never want to disappoint because you never want to see her eyes cloud up with sadness, even though you know it will never change how much she loves you, but the pain of seeing her hurt is harder to bear than the consequences of bad choices. My mom is the kind of mom that is selfless in her actions. My mom is the kind of mom who will laugh with you, cry with you, and still want you to sit in her lap even though you are 26 years old! My mom is the kind of mom who kisses you and tells you she loves you EVERY time she sees or talks to you. My mom is the kind of mom who showers you with affection and affirmation. She affirms you for who you are and not what you do. My mom is the kind of mom who can see you as her sweet baby girl and her adult daughter with a child of her own.

My one true fear in life is not being as great of a mother to Braden as my mother has been to me. However, I know that I have the best role model to follow!

Mommy, I love you so much and you mean so much to me!

Happy Mother's Day!

Chassidy (& I'm sure that Chad echoes all of my sentiments!)

A Wonderful Mother's Day Weekend

So today has been the day from H***! I won't go into detail, but I will just say that it all began when I woke up this morning at the time that I needed to leave my house for work! By the way, thanks Brad(and thanks for making me laugh about how dramatic I can be sometimes!), Mom, Dad, Krysti, Sarah and Kylie for listening to me vent! Because today has been so crappy, I wanted to blog about my wonderful weekend to give me something more positive to focus on!

On Saturday, my dad and Brad smoked ribs and chicken on Brad's big smoker grill that I got him last Father's Day. We had a wonderful meal of meat, grilled corn, roasted carrots, onions & potatoes, potato salad, green beans, and pineapple casserole. Oh, and my dad made homemade ice cream!

Brad's parents and my parents came over and it was so nice to have both sets of parents with us to celebrate Mother's Day. Braden played non stop in the pool and riding his battery operated four wheeler. He wasn't feeling very well and was a little fussy off and on throughout the day, but I know that he loved getting so much attention from all of his grandparents.

On Sunday morning, my wonderful husband made me strawberry cheesecake muffins! The BEST! Then Brad, Braden and I curled up in bed to watch Curious George and eat our delicious muffins! Braden loved the muffins and in fact last night before we went to bed we were still getting crumbs out of our bed! After church Braden came home and took a super long nap. He usually does on Sundays since he is off his regular nap schedule. Brad and I watched reruns of Deadliest Catch (my favorite) and napped on and off. I even slept through our power going out! I really love afternoon naps! For dinner we went to eat at Nagoya (Covington). It was delicious and Braden was sooooo good! When everyone would laugh at the chef, Braden would try laughing louder than everyone else! He is such a character! When we got home we sat outside while Braden played in the backyard.

It was a lovely, peaceful, and relaxing Mother's Day.

Little Fisher"boy"

Sunday after we feasted on a delicious meal of roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, fried okra (I know you're jealous Sarah) and homemade biscuits~ all fixed by my mama, the guys (Brad, my dad and my brother) went fishing. After a couple of cat naps that is! My mom and I got Braden scrubbed down with Skin so Soft to ward off the many creepy crawlers that we feared would attach themselves to his sensitive skin and headed to watch the boys fish. At least until I could get some good pictures! Lo and behold as soon as we arrived, Brad caught a fish! Braden went straight to the fish and grabbed it with both hands! ALL BOY!! Later on, he carried a worm around. Every time the worm would wriggle free Braden would pick it back up and walk around with it dangling from his hand. EWWWWWW! ALL BOY!! I must admit that since I wouldn't touch the worm, every time he dropped it I would point to the worm and tell him to pick it up! No way was I going to pick it up to hand it back to him! EWWWW!

Checking out Daddy's fish

Worm Boy

Dad, Chad & Brad with their catch

A Busy Day

This morning our niece Berkley celebrated her 3rd birthday at Jump!Zone in Buford. I was a little concerned about how Braden would do, but he absolutely loved it! He was fearless on all of the inflatables and he really enjoyed the slides.

Amelia, Braden & Daddy playing in the inflatables. (Isn't his smile adorable?)

Cooper and Berkley

Braden & Uncle John on the slide.

This afternoon while Brad was at the Braves' game, my parents came and picked Braden and me up to go to the fair in Covington. He had such a great time. He started giggling as soon as he saw all of the rides. He was too small to ride everything except the carousel, so of course he had to ride that twice! Palpaw also made sure that Braden didn't leave the fair empty handed~ he played a duck game and Braden won a stuffed bear and a pinwheel.

Braden with his prizes.

Grandmother, Braden & Palpaw on the carousel.

Mommy and Braden in front of the carousel.

Braden and Palpaw playing the duck game.

Hairy Scary

Yesterday when Braden woke up from his nap his hair was crazy! We tried to brush it, comb it, and pat it and it just wouldn't lay down. We had to wet it to get it to stay down! Seeing his "scary" hair reminded me of when he was smaller and how his stood straight up and I always prayed that it would lay down flat or he would at least sleep with his head against the bumper pad so that it would be flat when he woke up the next morning. But now I miss that crazy hair! Awww....my baby is getting so big!

Braden at 7 months old. It looks like he stuck his finger in the light socket! (which he did NOT by the way for any of you who were concerned!)

PASSION WINS!!!!

Our church softball team, that Brad plays on, won their first game of the season! I don't want to get myself into too much trouble, but to truly understand the excitement you have to know that they haven't won very many games in the past couple seasons. There has a been a long drought on the Passion softball team! I believe that the final score was 11-7. Way to go Passion!

Man's Best Friend

Almost 2 years ago, my brother, Chad, brought home a new puppy unannounced to my parents until he arrived. At the time, Brad and I (& Avery) were living with my parents since our house sold so quickly and we were looking for a new house to move into. My brother named his new puppy Buck (his AKC name is Buckwild in theWoods!!) and he is so cute. Avery loved him because she could run all around him and he could never catch her because he was so clumsy.

A lot has changed in 2 years. Avery no longer has a hand (or paw) on Buck and now Buck has another person to bother him when he tries to rest (Braden). Oh yeah and my mom completely loves Buck! Chad has been training Buck to compete in AKC Hunt Trials since he was a puppy. He is so great. He has passed two junior trials and just needs to win two more to begin competing in the senior trials.

Tuesday I went and watched while Chad trained Buck for an upcoming trial in May. He did so good and I was so impressed with him that I thought that I would brag on him and my brother for doing such a great job!