Ferb

Taryne LOVES to watch Phineas and Ferb on the Disney Channel. She has books, a little Perry and walks around singing "Agent P!!"

Well, now she has Hayden watching with her....and practicing sitting too.

Sporting her new Tennessee shirt!

"I love my little brother!"

Until next time...Gig'em!

Kapow!

Do I need to say anything else?

Until next time...Gig'em!

Crazy girl!

So...while in quiet time (which I am not sure why I still have since it always leads to mischief) Taryne found the long sleeve, one piece, footie pajamas in her drawer. They were too big last winter and to be quite honest, it never really got cold enough to put them on her. She is a lot like me and does not like her feet covered when she sleeps. So socks are out at night and she won't even keep them on during the day in the winter.

So...despite it being well over 100 degrees, she insisted that she wanted to try them on. Well, once she got them on she thought it was funny and wanted to keep them on. She cracked me up because she complained about how hot they were and how hot her feet were but wanted to leave them on.

She wore them a while that evening. I made her change when we needed to run to the store. I was not going out in public in this heat with a child in footie pajamas. No way!

I doubt these will fit her this winter when it might actually be cold enough in Knoxville.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Happy 3 Months

Wow! Three months already. This little boy has had a ton of experiences already! He has met almost all of his extended family, has traveled to Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, went camping, is eating a little rice cereal in his bottle, sitting in the bumbo, smiling, talking and so much more!

He LOVES to talk to us and Taryne really enjoys talking back to him. Just the other day, I overheard this conversation between the two of them:

T: Hayden you have a crazy big sister, don't you?
H: baby gibberish

T: yes you do!

H: smiles and more baby gibberish

He was having a ton of fun watching Sister play at the bookstore.  Last time I weighed him, he was just shy of 15 pounds. Wow! He is so much bigger than Taryne at this age. I guess that is why they say each child is different.

Since we switched bottles, the amount of spit up that comes out of my child has decreased dramatically. He still goes through more outfits in a day than Taryne ever did, but I have a little less laundry thanks to the Dr. Brown's bottles.

He has finally started sleeping through the night...most nights. Many nights, or mornings, he gets up around 5 or 6 am for his bottle. This is so nice considering we put him to bed around 9 pm. Our doctor suggested adding a little bit of rice cereal to his bottle since he wants to eat so often. Since we started this, we can go at least 3 hours between bottles where before it might only be an hour and a half to two hours.

Pader, Omie (Brenda), Taryne, Kyle and Hayden

Well, until next time...Gig'em!

Road Trip

Last week we (me, Kyle, Taryne, Hayden and my mom) took a road trip to Tennessee so we could find a new home. Despite being in the car quite a bit, both kids did extremely well. Our trip time on the road also took a little longer since we had to stop every 3 hours or so to give Hayden a bottle. We rented a minivan (to hold us all) and packed it completely full for the trip. We were so organized with all of our totes and thermals!

Thank you Thirty One for helping us be organized on the trip!

We decided to take a different route to Tennessee and we technically made a "loop". On the way there, we drove through Texarkana, Little Rock and stopped for the night in Memphis. It was stormy and raining that evening so Taryne was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to play in the pool. The next morning we got up and drove to Knoxville. The drive was easy the entire trip. I loved the scenery, however, it would have been nice to see MORE of it. It seemed that most of the way there and back the highway was lined with a TON of trees. It felt like we were in a tree tunnel except we could see the sky above us. So I am not too sure what everything really looked like besides being tons of trees and rolling hills. It was green and pretty and not near as hot as Texas.

The second night we were in a hotel that we thought had a pool but when we asked, it did not. We were supposed to stay there two nights but decided one night would be it. We found a great hotel in downtown Knoxville for the second night that had a pool but by the time we finally got back to the room, it was late and so no pool. We checked out the University of Tennessee campus that afternoon, I met with my professor, we went to the mall and bought some Tennessee attire, had dinner and most importantly, we found a place to live.

Awesome!!

After we got back to the hotel, we walked around the Sun Sphere park area. It is so pretty and the weather was so nice!

On our return trip to Texas, we stayed in Alabama with Kyle's Aunt Joy. She has a beautiful place and home and so thankful we could visit with here.

Kyle, Taryne and Hayden playing in the LeapPad

We were glad to be home, just to be out of the car. It was amazing how hot and humid it was in Alabama and again in Texas compared to the nice weather we experienced in Knoxville. And, to make things even better, our allergies were good while in Knoxville. As soon as we got closer to home, Taryne, Hayden and I started sneezing up a storm.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Long live the Queen!

If you know me, you know that I LOVE England. I have always been fascinated with its history and anything and everything about it. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend almost 2 weeks in England after my high school graduation. It was a whirlwind trip, but it was absolutely awesome. I have wanted to go back ever since. I know some might disagree with me, but I am pretty sure I could move there and be perfectly content.

I am not sure what fascinates me so much about the country, the beautiful landscapes, the history, the green pastures, Mary Poppins, the architecture, the accent. I just don't know.

Anyway, several years ago, my mom bought me a vanity dresser to take to college. It is one of those beautiful antique type dressers that can be a sitting table for applying make up as well. It has a beautiful mirror and even though the drawers are small, I have always  been able to store my small clothing items in the dresser just perfectly. Well, not long after she bought it, I decided to change out the drawer liners (because first of all, I had no idea who had been storing their clothes in it before) and under one of the liners, I found this:

It is a church booklet for the entire country for the Sunday preceding Her Majesty's Coronation. I felt like I had hit the jackpot! Then I started to wonder where this vanity had been, who had owned it and just how old was it.  I was excited by my find, but I have never taken the time to see if this booklet is valuable or just a nice collectible.

Fast forward to the last few months and we received this adorable onesie outfit with the British flag on it from some great friends. They have been very fortunate (and made me fairly jealous) to spend the past semester in London. The outfit is size 6 months and since Hayden seems to be a "healthy" baby, he can easily fit into this outfit. And looks absolutely adorable I might add.

Well, as busy as I have been lately, I was totally out of the loop that the Queen's Diamond Jubilee was going on. I kept noticing British themed emails from various stores and Etsy, but it really didn't occur to me what was going on. Then I thought, "oh, it must be the Queen's birthday". And I told Kyle, maybe she is turning 100. I had to laugh at myself for that one. She was not turning 100 but the celebration was for her reigning for 60 years.

So...the next day, it hit me. I had this booklet from the Queen's coronation. Suddenly, it seemed so significant and important. I searched and searched for that booklet in every nook and cranny, box, drawer or random place I would stash things and I could not find it. Anywhere. I finally went through a box of old magazines and newspapers that have sentimental value to me for one reason or another (have I mentioned I am a pack rat?) and I found it in that box. Thank goodness!! I would have been sick to my stomach had I lost that.

So...I guess there is no real point to my long story except that I love history and have a fascination with Britain. But I thought it was an interesting find and I wanted to share a small piece of history that I just happened upon several years ago. I know there will be at least one of my readers that will appreciate my find...and this post.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Hayden's Baptism

Last Sunday, we celebrated Hayden's baptism. We are so very lucky and blessed to have a great church home and wonderful family. Hayden was great during his baptism,  great when Pastor Steve carried him around the church to "introduce" him to the congregation and great through the rest of the service. His Godparents are my cousin Nicole and Kyle's brother Josh.

I struggled finding the perfect outfit for this little guy. My grandmother made the outfit that Taryne along with me, my sisters and older cousins wore for our baptisms. Since it was all girls, the pretty, long, and delicate lace outfit was perfect. However, when I tried it on Hayden, it was just a little to "girly" for my liking. I wanted that family connection with his outfit but really didn't have that option. So, my next solution was to find an outfit that "looked" like it could have been passed down. I didn't want a suit or anything made of satin. I wanted that vintage look, if possible.

I searched online and finally found the perfect little romper and never ordered it. I had no idea what size I should get since he was growing so much! I didn't want to order it too early and then it was too small but I didn't want to wait too late and have to pay a fortune for shipping and it still might not fit. So, just days before his baptism, I found a local place and paid them a visit. As I was looking through their selection, I found a romper that looked VERY close to the one I wanted from Amazon. I picked the right size and purchased the outfit. When I got home, I pulled up my shopping cart on Amazon that still had the romper in it and guess what! It was the SAME outfit!!

I was so excited to have actually found (in my mind anyway) the perfect baptismal outfit for our little guy. He looked absolutely handsome in it that Sunday morning. And it fit perfectly!

I just love the banner that the church has that can be personalized for each person being baptized! Here is our attempt at a family photo with the banner...Hayden was getting a little fussy at this point (getting hungry) and Taryne was probably glad she could talk louder than a whisper and move around!

Godparent Josh and Godparent Nicole

Godparents

Grandparents

Uncle Ricky, Bryan, Nicole, Aunt Claire, Amanda and Chance

So sweet!!

We had a celebratory lunch at our house. I made a meat lasagna and a veggie lasagna (I use squash not spinach for my veggie lasagna). I also made a cheesecake for dessert. It was super yummy!

I am so thankful we were able to have our family here to share this special day with us.

Until next time...Gig'em!