Love from Texas

iPhone Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:12:00 +0000

James sent me this a few weekends ago when I was at speech with Knox. Yes, that would be Hadley in one of her brother’s shirts and a fireman hat, playing with Legos. Kind of cute but I’m glad they didn’t go anywhere. That I know of…

I’m still deciding which of the kids’ Spring Pictures I want in prints and galleries, but I knew right away I wanted a big classic canvas of this one. I ordered an 18x24 and I couldn’t be any more pleased with it! I just hung it over the mantle for now but once we get in the new house I’ll have it framed and most likely hang it in the dining room.

One of the few advantages of our stent in the townhome is the pool! It has 3 levels just like this with flowing waterfalls from each and several mini pools. It’s gorgeous and I intend to take full advantage before the move. We took the kids for the first time on Cinco de Mayo…

All of our puddle jumpers and floaties are buried somewhere in the storage unit. We had to watch them like hawks.

We LOOOVE living by a TCBY now. It’s becoming at least a once a week treat :)

Some of y’all asked - I found Hadley’s head phones for the iPad at Toys-R-Us. They limit the volume amount according to age. The youngest age they had was 3-5yrs but they fit H just fine on the smallest setting. I need to get Knox a pair so they can wear them while watching DVDs in the car and I can listen to ~~something~~ ANYTHING else.

I got 5 inches of hair cut off right before we went to Knoxville! I took the Before pic on the left but it’s taken me a while to get used to my new hair so I didn’t take an After picture right away. You can kind of see the length in the picture on the right and it slightly angles up in the back like a graduated bob… I think I’m starting to get the hang of it??? If anything it’s SO much quicker to dry.

Hadley went potty like a big girl for the first time a few weeks ago (20.5months). I don’t want to full-on potty train until after the move, but she’s real in to princesses right now so she got the biggest kick out of picking out her first pairs of princess panties… A right of passage for every little girl ;)

A few more H updates since I’m slacking on the monthly posts…

{L} We had a follow-up appointment with Dr. B for her hemangioma. She’s had 3 laser treatments and it looks 300 times better than it did 6 months ago! Dr. B thinks there’s still room for improvement and she does so well with the treatments, we’re going to do a few more. (Not to mention we’ve met out deductible on her!) The next one will be on June 5th.

{R} Hadley started climbing out of her crib this week. She surprised me Tuesday morning by waltzing in to our room wearing her shoes and saying Hi, Mama! I honestly thought it’d happen before 18 months since she’s such a climber, but I guess she’s always known her bed as an “enclosure” so the thought of climbing out never occurred to her until now…

Oh mercy… I posted this earlier on Twitter/Facebook, but I just can’t get over how old Hadley looks here! I mean, all she needs is a bag over her shoulder and a phone in her hand and she’d look like she was off to the clubs. Very rarely do I put her in big girl outfits for that very reason. The only reason she wore this is because she’d already gone through 2 outfits and I just wasn’t in the mood for her to dirty up another hang-to-dry one.

Although I admit, it IS pretty darn cute… But she has forever to wear jeans and tunic tops. Her days of bubbles and bishops are limited :( Soooooo…

We compensated the next day :)

Now there’s my itty bitty baby!!!

I’ll have a BIG update in store for this guy very soon. The count-down is ON…

12 days ‘til he’s the big F-O-UR! He’s just a little bit excited ;) We have some fun things in store. I’d say ‘I can’t wait.’ but I really can because I’m in total denial that I’m old enough to have a 4 year old… Wow.

Lastly, we close in less than 3 weeks but we’re having to renegotiate the price on the house due to the appraisal. We knew this was a possibility due to it being an older home in a desirable location. I’m just praying we can get it worked out with little to know haggling… We’ve been caught up in the real estate world for 5 months, I’m SO over haggling!

Rocky Top Part 2 & Mother’s Day

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:19:00 +0000

After the graduation ceremony on Friday we ate lunch at the pizza place where Mandy works - Sergeant Pepperonis. Seriously some of the best pizza I’ve ever had!

Can you guess who shared the spotlight with Aunt Mandy this weekend? I’m glad I was able to bring H along with me. She’s gotten a lot less family time than Knox had. Most of my family hadn’t seen her since Christmas - that’s like a third of her life! She ate up the extra attention.

Mom and Nick drove us back to the Nashville for our flight home Friday afternoon.

Hadley got a decent nap on the way there but considering her lack of sleep it wasn’t nearly enough.

We killed some time at the Opry Mills mall once we got to Nashville. Our flight home wasn’t until 7:30, putting us in around 9:40. Yuck! So you can imagine my excitement once I checked in at the airport around 6 and the guy told me he could put us on the 6:30 flight back… I thought it was just the luckiest day ever since that would put us home around 8 and Hadley’s fuse was already running short.

We RAN through security and rushed to grab a quick “dinner” (a banana, water, and box of Frosted Mini Wheats), and then it was time to board…

I was not excited about our new seat in the back of the plane, but hey… An earlier flight is an earlier flight, right?

We were on the runway, engines ready for take-off when the pilot announced that there was bad weather moving through back home and it would delay us 30 minutes… Which turned in to another 30 minutes, which turned in to 45 minutes, and so on and so forth. Our “6:30” flight didn’t take off until 9pm, so you can just imagine how sweet, hungry, over-tired Hadley dealt with that…

Awful! She was the only little one on the flight and I’m always so paranoid about being THAT mom and kid that everyone dreads… I felt like part clown part wrestler pulling everything I could think of out of my bag trying to keep her calm. She really never had an all out melt-down she just fought everything… She wanted to walk, but didn’t want me to put her down. She wanted a snack but didn’t want me to open it. She wanted to watch a show, but not really…. There aren’t enough DumDums or apps in the world to prepare for that.

I’m so thankful that the flight attendants and other passengers were very understanding with us. Everyone was irritated about the delay but I think more than anything they just felt sorry for us. It was obvious that it was WAY past H’s bedtime and that I was doing any and everything humanly possible to pacify her.

It was rough, but we survived and as soon as we took off she passed out like I knew she would. I had to go to the bathroom from the moment we got on the plane but didn’t get a chance while dealing with her and once she fell asleep I didn’t dare wake her up, so I was pretty much miserable the entire flight.

But anyway - on top of the initial delay, the pilot spent 45 minutes circling the airport until he was cleared to land and we waited another 45 for an open gate. By the time I got off that plane it was past 11 and I was too claustrophobic, exhausted, and hungry for words…

James and Knox were waiting for us at baggage claim. Knox’s reaction when he saw us *almost* made it all better. He ran up and gave me a hug, then he and Hadley had a 5 minute hugging/giggle fest. It was priceless. If I hadn’t been so delirious I probably would have gotten pics ;)

We hit a traffic jam for night construction on the way home and had to stop for gas so it was 1am before we got to bed. Nuts!

My kids usually do really well flying but there’ve been about 3 or 4 other times when we’ve been delayed like this and it just seems to be one nightmare after another… Although, I do believe the fact that it was Mother’s Day weekend worked in my favor. People are usually pretty helpful whenever they see me juggling kids/strollers/bags, but they were exceptionally so this trip… I didn’t once have to worry about lifting my bags or folding/unfolding the stroller, security let me slide on a few unauthorized liquids I’d forgotten about and let us bypass the jumbo x-ray machine, and we received so many words of encouragement from strangers, especially on that rough ride home… I hope I remember that one day when my kids are grown and I get stuck next to the mom with the cranky kid ;)

Needless to say Saturday and Sunday were spent recuperating for H and me. James let me sleep in and Hadley took some looong naps. I don’t think I did one single productive thing Saturday. I was pretty lazy Sunday too but I did catch up on some laundry and cleaning. I know - cleaning on Mother’s Day… But I told James it actually was a “treat” because since he had the kids I was able to get to the things that never get done.

{The kids played dress-up all day Sunday. James sent me this picture. Cutest little pirate and princess there ever were!}

For Mother’s Day my crew surprised me with a new Tiffany’s necklace Knox picked out himself. He was so proud of it! Melts my heart…

We went out to eat Sunday night at a local Italian place. Yummy food made by someone else and a night off cleaning the kitchen is always a present in and of itself :)

I love sharing my first mommy pictures every year, so here’s Knox and me…

May 29, 2008 - Literally, the MOMENT I became a mommy.

And Hadley…

August 20, 2010 - Precious, precious girl! I remember before she was born worrying I wouldn’t be able to love another child as much as I did Knox. It’s amazing how your heart grows and loves each one differently but somehow equally.

I can’t believe I just celebrated my 4th Mother’s Day (well technically that first one I was VERY pregnant with Knox…) and that I have 2 kids that are as big and wonderful as they are. I feel like the luckiest mommy ever :)

Rocky Top Graduation: Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:06:00 +0000

Hadley and I took a mini girls trip this week to see my little sister Mandy graduate from the University of Tennessee. She’s starting medical school in the fall so we are especially proud of her! I’m so glad we got to go, but it was a 36 hour WHIRLWIND…

Thursday morning James and Knox dropped us off at the airport. I took Hadley because she and I haven’t had a lot of one-on-one time, and she’s almost never had one-on-one time with my family. Plus she’s under 2 and flies free ;)

I felt guilty telling Knox he wasn’t going this time though - he and I have done A LOT of flying in his lifetime. He was disappointed but I have no doubts he had a lot more fun with Dad…

James took him to work Thursday and Friday!

He loved getting to see the big buildings and rail stations downtown. He watched Batman, drew pictures, went on runs to see clients, bugged Mr. Braden, and I’m told the stained concrete floors in the office are just right for his RC Lightening McQueen. He’s under the impression that he’s going back with James Monday morning so breaking that to him should be a fun conversation…

As for H and I - our non-stop flight to Nashville was on time and easy-breezy. We scored a 9th row seat by the sweetest Nana-aged lady.

Hadley did great!

Although we did have a little help from modern-day technology… How did our parents survive without these things???

My Dad picked us up in Nashville, we grabbed a quick lunch then made our way to Knoxville. H napped most of the 3 hour drive…

Tennessee hill country.

The stacking cups and iPad turned out to be lifesavers on this trip.

My mom, brother, and other little sister were driving in from Memphis so we all met up at Mandy’s house then went out for a nice dinner at The Copper Cellar to celebrate.

Sister Kim, brother Nick, my Dad, and Mandy.

We went back to Mandy’s house for gifts and that’s where my camera started acting funky…

:-/

iPhone pics from her on out, and looks like I’ll be making a trip to Wolf Camera this week.

Mom, Hadley and I didn’t get to our hotel room until midnight. H napped on the way but once we got there and were ready for bed she found her second wind… AGGHHH! Just imagine a pitch-dark hotel room at 12:30am and Hadley climbing out of the Pack-N-Play and bouncing off the walls… Can we say over-stimulated???

I knew the only way she’d settle down is if I ignored her and pretended I was asleep. She caught on pretty quick and started doing ANYTHING to get my attention… Counting, singing rounds of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, saying MaMa? Love you! MaaMaaaaa??? LOVE YOOUUU… and even climbing on top of my head and giving me kisses. Seriously…

But somehow we both DID finally fall asleep and it was a good thing considering we had to be up early to get ready and be on campus for the 8am graduation.

FYI - The Press Here app is a GREAT diversion for even the littlest ones. I’m a big fan.

I snuck up front to get a picture of her walking. If only I’d had a working camera and telephoto lens :-/

Hadley did really well, but since Thursday and Friday were both looong days full of sitting, waiting, riding, and very little sleep I took her out to run off some steam after Mandy walked…

We don’t get many opportunities to wear a Vol orange cheerleader bishop in Texas, so I told Mandy I’d let the hem out and she’d be wearing it to her UT medical school graduation :)

A gorgeous day on Rocky Top! Although I believe it was chillier there than it was in Texas all winter. My thin blood isn’t used to the 60s… Ha!

Nick, H, and I with Neyland in the background. I realized that the last time I was here was over six years ago when I was cheering… #old

She made Nick and Poppy do this for a good 30 minutes. So funny!

We came back in for closing ceremonies.

Congrats Vols Class of 2012!

Mandy and Abby. It really does seem like just yesterday they graduated from high school. Exactly FOUR years ago…

This picture from her high school graduation is so weird to me. It was also Mother’s Day weekend and I was just days away from being a mom for the first time… That’s little Knox in my belly!

Sibling photo op. Wish I’d thought to put my big honkin’ travel diaper bag down for pictures.

Not-so-much my baby sister anymore… Somehow she survived years of torture and being my “slave” and now she’s gonna be a doctor. You’re welcome, sis :)

Roomies.

Lack of sleep finally catching up with the late night party girl ;)

Ok so, that’s enough pictures for one post, right?? I’ll share the rest of our trip later.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Friday Randoms

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:55:00 +0000

I had to buy 1 lone apple the other day at the grocery store. I won’t name any names but…

(Ahem - Hadley…) She is nuts. She’s on this crazy independent streak where she wants to “I help!” and “I do it!” with everything. Meaning at the grocery store she not only wants to walk, but also pick out the groceries (after she samples them, of course) AND push the cart. Nevermind, that she can’t reach… I DO IT!!! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… We’re up to our ears in Hadley’s “help.”

Speaking of groceries…

Could you make this cart any bigger, Target??? Seriously - I know most of them are big, but this is like pushing a train. There’s like 2.5 feet between the kids legs and the full size cart.

They think it’s great fun though so I deal…

This past Monday James and I attended a Young Life fundraising banquet, which was officially our first “social event” in our new community. Well, I joined a new MOPS group here and have done a few things with the Early Childhood PTA, but this was our first event to go to together. We got an invite, a few friends were going and we heard it was a fun night… So we dressed a little fancy, left the kids with a sitter, and went!

We both really enjoyed it. I mean with a steak dinner, entertainment, and good friends how could you go wrong??? Not to mention Young Life is just an amazing organization doing some really BIG things. I knew a little bit about it, but James and I both went to private schools so we never had much exposure to it. I wish I had though, those kids have THE best time! It was nice to learn more about YL and to see the community rally around to support it. There were over 600 people there and I pray they continue to turn out every year because I’d love for my kids to be a part of Young Life one day!

James had to work late the other night so the kids and I discovered a new favorite for dinner…

Fuzzy’s! I love it better than Chipotle and Freebirds. I got the steak fajita plate with corn tortillas, no rice or beans. So YUM, but everything on the menu looks good.

We got our dogwood bubble in from The Smockling Wednesday. Hands-down the prettiest bubble I’ve ever seen. Or picture smocking for that matter.

I love it so much, and I even think she has enough growing room in the stride to wear it again next year.

Oh y’all… I was on a customer service phone call the other day and H was being particularly whiney and LOUD. I couldn’t hear myself think so in a temporary lapse of judgment I handed her the box of Cheerios and well, you can see how that went… AGGHHH! I made Knox sit in time-out because he knew better, and I also made H sit in time-out to be fair and to attempt to teach a lesson. She thought it was the greatest thing ever though. I can’t win…

This is how Knox came out of his room the other day… BWAHAHAHAHAHA! James did NOT appreciate me sending him this picture, but come on… Hilarious! I’d be more concerned if he actually knew what fairy wings were and how to wear them right.

I came down with my quarterly sinus infection yesterday :( The fever hit right before dinner so I went to urgent care once James got home. I knew I better get a Z-pack in me quick if I wanted to feel somewhat better within the next few days. I still felt really cruddy this morning, but started to feel a little better around lunch, so we ventured out to pick up summer shoes and even made a stop by the park.

I hate how little outdoor time my kids have gotten this Spring, and now it’s already starting to get hot. Pretty soon it will be miserable :( But the kids didn’t mind much…

FREEDOM!!!

H is my monkey but she’s weird about walking and climbing on play sets. I guess she hates the unsteady surface?

I was proud of her for making it through a few times and sliding on her own. But she’s always loved the slide.

Playing hard!!!

Wore out.

I promise they aren’t sun-burnt, my kids just get beet red when they’re hot!

One more random - last night we watched We Bought a Zoo. It was a really cute movie. In fact, one of the better new releases we’ve seen in a really long time. I could just eat the little girl in it up with a spoon - she is a doll! But anyway, it was just James and I watching it, but it’d be a good family movie too.

I can’t believe it’s already May!!! To think we JUST sold our house in January and moved in February… And now the year’s almost half over. Wow! We have a busy month ahead though. H and I have a mini girls trip planned, Knox’s birthday is the 29th, and we have to gear up for closing on the house the first week of June, which means lining up movers, painters, contractors… All that fun stuff. I’m hoping we’ll be so busy between now and moving day that it won’t seem like forever away :)

Spring Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Thu, 03 May 2012 04:08:00 +0000

I got the kids portraits from last Saturday back and couldn’t be any more pleased! I seriously love every single one :)

We did 3 different looks starting with this very traditional one…

My babies!!!

Oh.

My.

GOSH!

Anybody who can get a good picture of Knox these days is a rockstar in my book. That’s my baby boy and I will cherish these.

You couldn’t paint it any more perfect!

These are classic.

This was our 2nd look…

H was more cooperative for these than Knox…

I’ll detail their outfits below, but can you believe I found this dress the DAY OF pictures for $14?!?!

One of my favorites… :)

And the last look…

I adore everything about this.

Silly girl!

Knox was actually more cooperative here…

A dream…

100% K-N-O-X!

This melts me a billion times over. It’s like she was somehow able to squeeze the very last ounce of baby boy out of him and freeze it on camera…

I love how when someone else photographs my kids they can capture a side of them I never can. I have never, nor will ever regret a dime spent on quality portraits.

I really am having the worst time deciding. I’d love them all in a poster size canvas above the mantle!

[Excuse the water marks. I did NOT take these, but I do hold download/printing rights.]

What they wore…

Knox’s pinstripe button-up and anchor shorts - both on clearance at Janie & Jack.
Hadley’s blue bishop. One from her MiMi that we’ve had. It’s actually her second year wearing it. I’d just let the hem out that morning.
Knox’s madras shorts are the ones I made him a few weeks ago. His navy polo is from Target, I added the gator monogram.
Hadley’s navy and white striped dress - Zoe&Maggie brand, $14 at Marshall’s! I had something completely different planned, but couldn’t say No when I saw that dress. I love the poufy pettiskirt underneath!
Knox’s blue linen overalls - Janie & Jack clearance. I wasn’t sure about these, but they couldn’t have been anymore perfect. Reminds me of a cross between Tom Sawyer and Dennis the Menace. It’s the perfect mischievous little boy look ;)
Hadley’s 2pc plaid set - another Janie&Jack clearance. I was very last minute putting their outfits together. I literally walked in to J&J the day before and refused to leave until I had it figured out!

How Knox got to eat popsicles in his new backyard…

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:09:00 +0000

Today was inspection day for the new house.

And this is Knox in his “new backyard.” Ha! I’ll get to the story behind it in a minute…

We went to the inspection since this is an older home - we wanted to make sure it was checked thoroughly. Not to mention I needed to get in there to check out the *important* stuff - under the rugs, in the cabinets, window measurements, shower head water pressure. Ya know… Priorities ;)

So when we walked in I was NOT expecting the seller/wife to be home… Awkward. Needless to say I didn’t feel comfortable taking measurements and flushing toilets throughout the house with her there so I just took the kids to the back.

The lady couldn’t have been any sweeter though, and now I’m actually glad we got to meet her. She instantly struck up a conversation, asking about the kids, where we’re from, and just talking about the house. Her youngest son is graduating high school and she and her husband are being transferred to Atlanta for his job; their kids are staying here. This is the home they raised their family in, I think she must have empty nesters in the worst way… One of the first things she said to me was how happy she was to see the house go to us - a younger family who could enjoy it as they have.

She dug out old toys for Knox and Hadley, fed them popsicles, and let them play in the backyard with the dog. They - literally - made themselves right at home. Knox played on their basketball goal, asked for shovels to dig up worms (I did veto that one!), and I don’t think he quite understands that Leah the chocolate lab is not included in the contract…

She filled me in on the good parks, the neighbor gossip, and promised to leave behind a binder with info on who they used for bugs, tree work, lawn care, the sprinkler system, etc…

She told me about the owners before her and how their daughter ended up marrying the boy across the street, whose parents still live there today. So in other word’s - it’s the childhood home of the neighbor’s daughter-in-law :)

Honestly, she reminded me a lot of my mom. Did I mention she was also home the second time we viewed the house before making an offer? When she opened the door and saw the kids I swear I detected tears. She smiled at them, stroked their heads and cupped their cheeks then ran upstairs. That is the exact sappy type of thing my mom would do. Ha!

Kind of a strange encounter, but it was nice. I loved knowing how cherished and full of memories the house is, and I’m excited to add to it. What a strange feeling to be a part of a house’s history instead of it being part of yours. And that, my friends, is the difference between old and Established :)

The Smockling WINNER!

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:25:00 +0000

Thanks to all of you who came out to participate in The Smockling giveaway. Aren’t they fabulous?

The winner of one item of their choice is…

Comment #36 out of 98… McKeever Cobia!!!

McKeever, either comment leaving me your e-mail or contact me via Twitter or lovefromtexas{at}gmail{dot}com and I will get you in touch with The Smockling. Congratulations!

To the rest of you… Keep your eye on The Smockling. They ran a sale on the dogwood bishops and bubbles for hitting 600 fans - just $30! I know the sand dollar and bird nest designs are on the way, plans are in the works for a marlin, and they’re putting together fall designs as well. Not to mention 10% of their proceeds for the month of April are being donated to an organization that aims to prevent abuse.

I chose the winner using Random.org’s number generator. When I officially closed the contest there were 98 comments. Not sure how to turn off commenting on this new Blogger format???

The Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:33:00 +0000

**Closing The Smockling Giveaway TONIGHT! Go check it out if you haven’t already… It’s good :) I’ll announce the winner tomorrow.**

First - Knox is my early riser. Doesn’t matter what time he goes to bed, he’s up at 6/6:30 every morning. Don’t know where he got that from because I am NOT a morning person. I used to try to beat him, but it’s pointless. He usually comes down to our room in the morning and snuggles, then James will turn on some cartoons before he leaves for work so I can get up and motivated - usually around 7am, which is still EARLY for me. Well…

THIS is how I found him watching cartoons Friday morning. I had my phone on me as I was walking up the stairs, so I literally took this pic before I let myself burst out laughing. I mean, what a sight to wake up to. He’s just sitting there watchin toons in his Boba Fett helmet like it’s the most normal thing ever. Funny kid!

He loves that helmet but I’m not gonna lie… I had never let him actually watch Star Wars before. I know, I baby my kids way too much. If it were up to me he’d love Backyardigans, Buzz Lightyear, and Cars til he was 18. Well after this incident I figured it was time to introduce him to the Force…

He watched the entire first Star Wars Friday morning standing just like this. Partly because he was so in to it and partly because he refused to take his helmet off and couldn’t really hear. I love little boys :)

You wanna see some pics of Miss Hadley last week?

Well, there you have it. This royal fit was because I refused to give her Pacie. She’s BAD addicted, so we only give it to her for bedtime. I’d had a little talk with her earlier about how pacies are for BABIES and how she is a Big Girl… Guess what she was saying in between sobs during this fit? “I baby, I baby!!!” Oh heaven, help us…

I got it in my head last week that we needed some good Spring portraits of the kids, so I contacted a photographer I’d discovered on FB and she was able to fit us in this Saturday.

Of course I scheduled this before I knew the craziness the past week would entail. Starting the house hunt… Putting an offer in… Hammering out details and finalizing the contract... Before I knew it it was already Friday and I had no plans for outfits. So to the mall we went.

Oh y’all… Knox officially HATES shopping and I swear he tries to punish me every time he has to tag along on an errand. Do you know how embarrassing it is to walk in to Loft and have your 4yr old yell out that he “can’t be in here, it’s DANGEROUS!”… No Knox, Ann Taylor Loft is not dangerous. Nice try… Hadley is still pretty good. In fact, she probably would have napped the entire time if it weren’t somebody poking and “accidently” nudging her every 3 minutes.

But we survived. The good part is we were just doing the kids pictures, not us. It took a lot of the stress out of it because let’s face it… They look cute in everything ;)

Knox had speech Saturday morning, we let Hadley get a loooong nap, and I spent the rest of the afternoon ironing and mending outfits. Our photographer suggested the neatest park so we headed out that way around 5:30…

[Waiting to start our session. Obviously we couldn’t risk Miss Priss wrinkling her dress.]

I was really pleased with our session! I’ve seen a few fabulous sneak peeks and I can’t wait to see the rest of them. I promise to share when I do.

This one’s from my phone :)

On the way home we stopped by the “Big Lake” Bass Pro to eat dinner. We’ve been to the other big BP here several times, but it was our first time to visit this one…

It’s right on the water and we pass it every time we go back to Tennessee. Knox has been itching to go for years. It’s been the instigator of many tantrums on the tail end of a 7.5 hour road trip, so he was in heaven to FINALLY be able to go in.

We had a great fish meal and spent a good hour walking through the store after dinner. Bass pro is like Disney World for Knox. Fish, running water, animals (well, stuffed…), guns, and BOATS!

[No worries. Knox helps Poppy drive the boat, so he’s a seasoned pro. Obviously…]

Hadley LOVED the boats. She HATED the big stuffed grizzly bear. She clung to James like a spider monkey for at least 15 minutes after we showed her.

It was 9:30 before we left BP. A very long day, indeed!

Sunday I swear I must’ve done 9 loads of laundry. Not only did I need to catch up on our normal loads, but I also cleaned out the car seats and strollers, and washed several pairs of shoes…

Knox got a hold of James’ phone Sunday morning and took 12 ridiculous videos of himself. This one turned out particularly hilarious due to the added sound effects of cartoons in the background…

That’s my Knox!

And that’s pretty much it. Ha! We just kind of had a low-key Sunday in.

I’ll be back tomorrow to announce The Smockling winner and maybe post some photo session pics :)

The Smockling Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:00:00 +0000

**CLOSED**

Ok, y’all know I’m not big on giveaways or product reviews. I have nothing against them. I love participating in giveaways, I just choose not to host a ton of them myself right now. Therefore if you ever hear me mention a product or business on here, you can rest assured that it’s because I really believe in it!

I’m eager to spread the word when I find a small business that I think has a fabulous product. Thus, The Smockling…

Traditional, yet modern. Whimsical, yet proper. Classic, yet unique.

Sentimental, unabashedly. Nostalgic and timeless.

I pulled that statement from their blog and it just sums them up perfectly. You’ll see what I mean when you check out their stuff.

This is a newer shop and I can’t remember how I came across it on Facebook - probably one of those sidebar prompts - but I DO remember what instantly drew me in…

Oh yes. Smocked Dogwoods!

I snagged this bubble for Hadley and I couldn’t be any more excited about it!

It doesn’t end there…

Robins eggs! I just decided Hadley needs this one too.

Their designs are PERFECT. I want one of everything and they’re just getting started… I can’t wait to see what all they come up with!

The boys aren’t left out either…

Ahhh this bubble is too sweet! Probably a good thing it doesn’t come in a 4T because I’d be sending Knox to church in it in a heartbeat. (To my husband… KIDDING!)

What sets The Smockling apart from the rest is the quality and attention to detail…

Not easy to come by in a world of mass-produced smocks and flash Facebook sales. Which, again I have nothing against, I was just excited to see this much smocking on a sleeve for under forty bucks.

To be honest, at first sight I thought These probably cost an arm and a leg… NO! The Smockling is just as affordable, if not more so, than any other Facebook boutique. They just offer a lot more bang-for-your-buck, in my opinion.

I’m tickled pink to share The Smockling with y’all today AND to give one of you lucky readers the chance to win an item of your choice. But even if you don’t win, you’ll be glad to have found this diamond-in-the-rough, I promise.

To enter you must “Like” The Smockling’s Facebook page. Tell her Love from Texas sent you and then comment here telling me you did so. The commenting part is important because that’s how I’ll draw the winner, so don’t forget :)

For additional entries…

Share The Smockling on Facebook.
Share about this giveaway on Twitter.
Blog about The Smockling. Include a link to their FB page and one back to this giveaway, and maybe some of your Smockling favorites :)

Post a separate comment for each entry, including a link back to the post if you can.

I’m leaving this giveaway open until ~~Friday at noon~~ 10pm Sunday. I’ll use a random number generator to pick the winner and let y’all know ASAP. Include your e-mail address in the comments if you’d prefer to be notified that way.

So go check out The Smockling and get to it! I’m already excited for the lucky winner :)

Hello there, Classic Mid-Century Tudor…

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:52:00 +0000

You are ours :)

Well, pending inspection, closing, and all that technical stuff, but we have a contract and are scheduled to close June 5th.

This all went very fast and I’m still taking it in, but I’ll give you the short version… We contacted our realtor to start the house hunt last week. This one popped up on the market Friday. We saw it Sunday, made an offer Monday, and it was finalized Tuesday!

I can’t tell you how hard it was for me to commit to the first house we saw, but that’s the nature of the market here - the best homes sell before the sign is even in the yard. Typically I’d want to “shop around” to make sure it’s what I wanted but there were 2 other couples making offers on this home so we didn’t have that luxury.

We had to look at the house by itself and ask if it fit our criteria…

Desirable neighborhood and great schools? Yes. The schools are highly rated and the elementary and middle are with walking distance. I love that all the garages open to a back ally road. It keeps the streets safe and friendly… So many younger families are moving in to these old areas. Every other house has a swing in the front yard tree, and neighbors are out everywhere talking across the street to each other. It’s like stepping back in time 50 years, or so I imagine…
Size and floor plan? 4br/3bth, lots of extra living areas… Yes.
Great backyard and trees? Oh yes. One of the strongest selling points. The backyard is really big for this area and 4 HUGE trees keep the entire lot shaded. Be still, my Tennessee heart. It has that great, soft, always-green St. Augustine grass, too.
Fairly up-to-date and well-kept? Yes. We’ll add a few updates before moving in, and a few others will be more long-term projects. I’m looking forward to getting in there and making it ours.
Exterior? I never saw myself in a Tudor-style. I was thinking more along the lines of front porch and shutters… But I was surprised by how much I liked this in person; especially the brick work and roof. An updated solid wood door and new lanterns will make it just perfect.

Here are a few *sneak peeks* I snatched from the realtor site…

My favorite things about the house besides the layout and the backyard is the wood floors throughout downstairs and the great closet and built-in storage space.

Not only did it meet our criteria but it was priced to sell. After sleeping on it Sunday night we decided to put in our best offer and trust God that if it worked out it was the right move… I guess it is :)

Although we close on June 5th, the seller’s need possession until June 22nd so we’re leasing it back to them until then. Kind of a drag, but our townhome lease ends June 23rd so I guess it works out. At least it gives me plenty of time to decide on paint colors, carpet, find contractors, plan the kids rooms, and all that fun stuff. My creative juices are going a mile a minute :)

{This tree is in dire need of a swing, right?}

We’re all relieved that the end of our “transitional living situation” is in sight. We’re tired of being cramped and are ready to get the rest of our things out of storage. Knox is particularly PUMPED. I mentioned in yesterday’s post when I told him we were going to look at a house on Sunday he started “packing” his toys… Oh if only it were that easy! He wants to move now so we’re trying to reinforce the fact that we won’t be moving until after his birthday.

Thanks for all your kind words and support through this little rollercoaster of change* we’ve been on since January! I joke about my loathing of this townhome but it’s mainly sarcasm and meant to be taken lightly. The biggest challenge has not been the living space, but the fact that the kids aren’t in school and our outdoor playtime is limited to park visits once or twice a week. We’re just adjusting and maybe a little stir crazy :)

*If you’re not up-to-speed on our relocation you can read these posts to catch up…

Hadley 20 Months, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:22:00 +0000

Miss Hadley turned 20 months this past Friday! I know 20 months isn’t a huge milestone, but she is changing so fast I like to update on her every now and then…

She is MISS INDEPENDENT! She can do it all. Or so she thinks… I try to help her drink out of a water bottle - I DO IT! She wants to push a cart full of groceries - I DO IT!!!

So she doesn’t want our help, but she thinks we need her help… Oh she is soooo helpful. She’s always picking up people’s things and handing them to us - He-ya go, Mama. She “helps” me dress Knox in the morning, fold and put away laundry, make dinner… We are up to our ears in Hadley’s “help.”

She’s pretty advanced in her talking. I think it’s from being a girl, having an older sibling, and being just plain smart ;) The sentences that come out of her mouth blow me away. Just this morning I told her to take Knox his cup, she gave it to him and said “Here ya go, Knox, it’s milk.” She understands pretty much everything we say.

{I stuffed her in one hole the other day at the store and didn’t notice until we were walking to the car. Funny girl, acted like everything was perfect.}

She sings songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, God Our Father (meal time prayer), her bedtime prayer, a few Nick Jr. songs, and we’re working on the ABCs. She counts to 10.

She loves to dance! And jump, climb, spin…

She shows a ton of interest in the potty and tells us when she needs a new diaper, but we haven’t hit potty training hot and heavy yet. My gut tells me to wait until we move and are settled.

Hadley knows how to schmooze. (Is that a real word?) She can flirt and bat her lashes a little too well for a 1 year old. Daddy just eats it up. Ok, we all kind of do…

She loves Bubble Guppies, babies, anything that involves getting pretty, and imitating me. Yet she’s also content playing cars and trains right along with Knox.

She quit her pacie cold turkey a few months ago. But after 2 weeks she started cutting molars, and we’d just moved so she and Knox were sharing a room. After fighting it for several nights we finally gave the pacie back. It was the only thing that soothed her and allowed us all to sleep… Now she’s 5x’s addicted because I think she’s scared we’re going to take it away again. Ha! She only gets it for bedtime (unless she sneaks one herself) and we try to put her down without when we can.

Another challenge we’re going through right now is little tantrums when she doesn’t get her way (Horror!), and making whining noises when she wants something. We’re working on using our words instead. She has such good vocabulary so there’s no excuse for it!

……………..

Other things since I last blogged…

- Knox had his second speech therapy session Saturday morning. It’s going well and as crazy as it sounds I can already see improvement.

- After speech we went to a kiddie festival at one of the local churches. It was a great way to wear the kids out for afternoon naps.

- Sunday was NOT a day of rest… We did some major cleaning. It’s almost impossible for me to get everything done during the week with the kids home, and the past 3 weekends had been nuts, so I had a lot to catch up on.

Oh I forgot to mention Hadley is obsessed with coloring and writing. Go figure this would start right after we move in to a rental space. If I take my eyes off her for a minute she climbs on to the counter to get a pen out of the junk drawer. You can imagine… I handed James a magic eraser and he spent a good hour+ scrubbing her “art work” off the walls, appliances, and furniture.

- I booked a flight to go see my little sister graduate pre-med from the University of Tennessee in a few weeks. Woo hoo! I just can’t believe she’s graduating… It seems like I just graduated yesterday.

Since H can still fly free she’ll be tagging along with me. Knox used to fly all the time with me, so this will give her a little one-on-one time. And I’m sure Knox will love having James all to himself!

- We went to go look at a house Sunday. I told Knox what we were doing and 5 minutes later he comes out of his room carrying a huge arm load of toys. He said he was “packing for our NEW house…” Bahaha! I think Knox is the most fed up with apartment living out of all of us. He misses the backyard and having his own room, and I’m sure the fact that he’s not in school right now makes it even worse. Poor guy.

- Speaking of Knox, I can’t believe he will be FOUR next month. We’ve started thinking about birthday party ideas. He’s excited! I’m in denial…

Day Out With Thomas

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 19:03:00 +0000

The GVR hosts a Day Out With Thomas event every April. We’ve wanted to take Knox for the past 2 years but something always comes up and we don’t. I decided that we HAD to this year because I’m sure his days of Thomas and train fascination are limited…

So we bought tickets for Friday! Knox was so excited. He asked me 12 times every day this week when we could see Thomas. I guess the up-side of waiting until this year to do it is that Hadley was able to really enjoy it too. Heck, she likes playing with trains almost as much as Knox does.

Our train ride was scheduled for 2:15 so we really need to leave around 1 to allow time to park. We had MOPS Friday morning, but snuck out a little early so H could get at least an hour nap before we left. James was able to cut out of work around noon to join us.

I got it in my head that I needed to make a Thomas shirt for Knox. And if I made one for Knox I really should make one for H too… Before I knew it I was making 2 full outfits for a one time event.

I went with a “vintage” Thomas… I found the perfect blue pinstripe linen and that’s when I decided they were going to need shorts too…

I added the eyelet trim and red ribbons on Hadley’s outfit to counteract the boyish applique. Her knickers adjust and tie off at the bottom, going right along with the vintage theme.

They looked super cute in their outfits. Unfortunately Daddy loaded them in the car before I could get pictures. Hasn’t he learned yet??? ;)

[The following pictures are a mix from my camera and phone/Instagram…]

Once we got to the GVR we had to park at a remote site and take a shuttle to the train station…

This may have been one of the kids favorite parts! Knox told everyone we passed “I’m going to see Thomas!!!”

Our first glimpse of Thomas from the shuttle. Soooo exciting!

Waiting in line to claim our tickets.

I was so nervous when it started raining around noon, but fortunately it cleared out for us and ended up being a nice, cool day.

However, with the rain we hit a little traffic on the way and were running late. We got our tickets just 10 minutes before our scheduled train ride, so we had to board Thomas right away.

I love the old men who volunteer as conductors on the GVR! We remember this one from our train ride back in October. He is so sweet to the kids and I swear he has more fun than they do.

Waiting for Thomas to pull out.

Knox was SO excited. He kept saying “I can FIT on Thomas!” Haha! I guess he realized that Thomas wasn’t the little toy train he thought he was.

Although…

Before we boarded the train I showed Thomas to Knox and we talked about how he was going to pull us. We even sat in the front passenger car. Well, turns out Thomas is just a glorified caboose so when we pulled out in the OPPOSITE direction Knox was not amused. Thomas is going BACKWARDS! …They couldn’t fool him on that one. James and I brought up the fact that Thomas DOES sometimes go backwards on the show, and at that he was able to get over it.

Mom leaning out of a moving train window for a photo op… Classic.

Official Junior Engineer :)

Hadley may be a girl but that didn’t stop her from joining in on the “Pomas” fun…

I could just eat her up!

Y’all wanna see something scary???

…

Lord help us.

After our train ride we stood in line to get pictures with Thomas…

Of course they made it where you had to buy the $15+ prints but I tried to sneak a few on my own anyway…

Knox did not want to cooperate.

H wanted nothing to do with this, but Knox’s picture turned out pretty decent. And yes we caved and bought the $15 copy…

Then we took a little snack break…

The kids picked out a $5 bag of cookies. Shocker.

Why is it that bad “nachos” are sometimes just so good? I mean you can’t get any lower than canned cheese sauce, but sometimes I just want them.

They had several fun activities set up around the train station for the kids. We stayed for several hours!

A fabulous model train display. Knox would have stayed in here all day.

I help, Mama…

Hadley is SUCH the big helper these days…

They had a small train that Knox rode several times.

I got a good laugh at the sight of James in this tiny car ;)

While the boys rode, H and I had a mini photo shoot…

More activities…

Thomas bounce house!

Toy trains…

Knox was a little annoyed by this adorable little train hog.

Sir Topham Hatt was also there, but we don’t have any pictures with him because Knox had a minor melt-down before we got to the front of the line and H was terrified of him.

We stopped by the gift shop and to get tattoos before heading out…

Now that is one happy, almost 4-year-old little boy!!!

It was nearly 5 when we caught the shuttle back to the parking lot.

Someone was exhausted! But she was such a trooper, especially to have only had a 1 hour nap.

Showing off his goods on the ride back. He picked out the hat and a new ~~$29~~ fire truck Flynn train for his wooden railway. Daddy was thrilled.

This was definitely a KNOX day :)

And the fun didn’t end there! Since it was dinner time and we wanted to avoid rush hour traffic back home we decided to stop by the outlet mall and eat at Rainforest Café. Knox was really young the last time we went so I knew it’d be something new and exciting for him. Even though I’ve never really liked the food I’ve gotten there… Parental sacrifice :)

We requested a table by the aquarium since that’s his big thing right now. He was SO in to the whole atmosphere! We almost weren’t able to leave…

H took it all in very cautiously. Meaning, she clung to James until we left. She found the elephants especially disturbing. She was never actively upset but she kept turning around and giving them the stink eye… Ha! Maybe next time ;)

The kids were being exceptionally good so we strolled around the mall after dinner. By the time we got home it was after 8. WHAT a long day! But a fun one… I’m so glad we managed to fit DOWT in to our schedule this year.

This girl…

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:45:00 +0000

…

When did she get

BIG?!?

Recipes, Speech Therapy, & Weekend Randoms

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:00:00 +0000

I tried 2 new recipes last week. Tuesday we had Swiss Chicken.

[Via Pinterest]

I’m pretty sure my mom used to make something similar but it was the first time I made it. We LOVED it. Although I made it more like the original recipe (from Paula Deen) than Plain Chicken did… Although I’m sure it was good, I thought it was strange that she used croutons so I used the stuffing mix, and I didn’t want to open a can of chicken broth just for 1/4c so I used the white wine. (Because obviously I had that already open!) I also baked at 375 for 35-40min instead of 350 so the top would be crispier… I liked how this turned out so I’ll do everything the same next time.

Friday night I made Skinny Corn Chowder…

[Via Pinterest]

We really liked this! Only one thing I’d change… I used fresh corn on the cob and next time I will cook if first. (5-6minutes in boiling water.) I had to cook the soup longer in order for the kernels to not taste so raw. But after that it was great! I had mine with cheddar and Ritz crackers. I know, kinda takes the “Skinny” out of it, but it was good :)

…

Saturday morning Knox had his first Speech Therapy session. We had him evaluated for development back in mid-December. He scored above-average in all areas except for abstract language. Basically, he relies heavily on visuals to learn. Although he understands simple directions/statements and can pretty much tell me anything, he has difficulty fully comprehending and expressing language that does not concern something right in from of him. (Who, What, When, Where, How, If/Then…) This can be quite a challenge when it comes to discipline. I mean I really want to pull my hair out sometimes, but I know it must frustrate him even 10 times more than it does me.

So anyway… The doctor evaluating him said that he technically was not “delayed” and showed no red flags for learning disorders. All kids have strengths and weaknesses. Knox’s strengths are visual learning and motor skills, his speech would come with maturity. But in light of the fact that he is one of the youngest in his class (late May birthday) and to save us both a lot of frustration at home, she said he would benefit from Speech Therapy. Well that was right before the holidays, then we sold the house in January and I didn’t want to start him in Speech there only to have to switch after a few weeks, so we decided to wait until after the move…

Our therapist is really sweet and seems to know her stuff. She did the same verbal diagnostics on Knox as the doctor and the scores came back the same… Above average in everything except the abstract comprehension and expression. She did comment that despite his trouble forming complex sentences he has an advanced vocabulary base, articulation, and understanding of concepts. She said he would gain a lot from therapy in a very short amount of time. We will go every Saturday, and once the summer hits she’d like to see him twice a week until school starts back up.

I’m so glad we’re in the right place and getting the help we need. Knox is such a smart, fun loving little boy. (And I promise I’m not just saying that!) I’m excited to see how he takes off once he really starts understanding more. And I’m so glad to have the summer before he starts a new school (Pre-K!) to do this. According to birth date, Knox would go to Kindergarten not this fall but next, but it will all depend on where he’s at with speech if we actually send him or not. I’ve done a ton of research on schools since we moved and there are many private schools around here that offer a “Transitional Kindergarten” for young fives like Knox. I’m almost certain that is the path for us!

…

But anyway… Saturday afternoon sweet William came over to spend the rest of the day with us.

Our friends had the opportunity to experience NASCAR from box seats. They wanted to take their big boy (Carter) but it would be a rather long day for little William so he got to hang out with us instead.

We love William! He’s just the sweetest, easiest baby boy ever. He played hard, ate a good snack and dinner, and put himself to bed at 7:30… I need to send my kids to Britney’s to get them on that bedtime schedule!

It was so fun to see Hadley interact with him on her own turf. She acts so shy out in public or at the park, but at home her bossy comes out. She’s just 5 months older than William and he out-weighs her by a lot, but she was such a little mommy to him… He-ya go, William… It’s ok, William… C’mon William! …And to see her put her hands on her knees and squat down to talk to him… Ha!

I’d say Knox thoroughly enjoyed having a little brother for the day…

When we woke up Sunday he asked where William was!

Sunday James had to go in to the office to finish up some projects and it turned in to an all day thing. Boo! It was also kind of rainy so the kids and I had a lazy day in…

I did a little sewing while H napped. Knox was supposed to be spending quiet time in my room watching a movie, but when I heard him rummaging around in my bathroom I knew it couldn’t be good…

Ahhhhh! Make-up everywhere… I couldn’t get too mad because I’m pretty sure this is a right-of-passage for every kid. Unfortunately his beloved golf appliqued shirt did not survive the MAC explosion.

Happy Monday!

Irish Twins

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:56:00 +0000

One of my favorite things to do is revisit “old” pictures of my kids. I love to see the Big Picture of how they’re growing and changing. I also enjoy comparing Knox and Hadley at the same ages.

People comment all the time on how much they look alike. They just look like brother/sister to me, but I guess since I’m the mommy and see them everyday their differences are more pronounced to me.

What do you think???

BIRTH…

I think it’s so funny how much bigger H looked at birth (7lbs 11oz) than Knox did (7lbs 6oz), and ever since she’s been smaller for her age whereas he’s always been a hoss. Although I’m convinced most of H’s weight was water. She hung out SO low in my belly that last month. She looked very swollen her first 12 hours, but when we were discharged she’d dropped to 6lbs 14oz.

3 MONTHS…

I wish I’d had my good camera when Knox was this little!

6 MONTHS…

9 MONTHS…

Knox looks like a little line-backer! And this was Hadley’s “yellow” stage… She loved sweet potatoes and squash and it showed. Although it was definitely more pronounced in pictures that it was in real life.

12 MONTHS…

15 MONTHS…

I think it’s crazy how much older H looks than Knox at this same age. I guess the hair makes all the difference.

18 MONTHS…

19+ MONTHS…

There you have it!

The obvious differences are Knox was/is a lot bigger than Hadley, he was bald for much longer, and he’s always had a bigger noggin. Basically - he looks boyish and she looks girlier, and appropriately so :) But they definitely have the same facial features - eye shape and color, button nose, pouty little mouth…

We were out a few weeks ago and a man commented on how similar they looked. He referred to them as Irish Twins… Twins born in separate pregnancies.

James wasn’t familiar with the term, so out of curiosity I researched the history behind it. It was originally meant for 2 siblings born in the same month, just one year a part, and at one time was considered derogatory… Ha! Although it never crossed my mind to take offense to it. I knew immediately the man just meant that they looked alike.

But for the record - I DO think they would’ve made a pretty cute set of boy/girl twins :)

Spring Sewing

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:52:00 +0000

I’ve been on one of my Sewing Kicks again.

I really haven’t touched my machines since before Christmas. We put the house on the market right after the New Year and a week later we found ourselves preparing for the move. Things have been crazy since.

Whenever I get back in to sewing I remember how much I like it and wonder why I don’t do it more… Then one of my kids has a crisis, poops, or NEEDS juice NOW and I remember why. AHHH! It’s a challenge, especially now that the kids aren’t in school (AND KNOX NO LONGER NAPS!) because it seems like I can only do 10-15 minutes of work at a time.

Not to mention I already showed y’all my under-the-stairs-closet turned sewing room…

Not the guest/craft room I was spoiled with at the old house but somehow it actually works. I have my machines set up on a folding table, with my storage bins under the table and filling up the entire right of the closet. There’s no light or power in the “room” so I invested in a decent craft light. (How have I lived without that thing this long?!?) I plug it all in to a power strip with a 6ft cord that I plug in to a hall outlet when I want to sew. Not the ideal set-up, but it works :)

Although I about had a heart attack the other day when my machine was in the middle of an applique and I glanced back JUST IN TIME to see Knox playing with the power strip cord and it almost coming out of the wall. If you embroider, you can appreciate my panic.

But anyway, I got bit by the sewing bug last week and was able to put a few things together. And the best part is I had all fabric/shirts/supplies on hand so it was “free” and I’m lightening my fabric stash a bit.

First - a pinafore and bloomers set for Hadley…

I used a pinafore she had that fit well to make a pattern for the top. For the bottoms I used a Romeo&Mae pattern I had but modified it for the style and length I wanted. The bows are removable and the hair bow is actually 2 different ones clipped together.

I tried to get a good pic of her in it, but she’s just so busy these days :)

Obviously Knox needed to coordinate so I made him shorts out of the blue fabric and a second pair using some madras that I‘ve had for forever and LOVE.

For these I use a McCall’s children’s pajama pattern. It includes a very basic short, I just add a little to the length.

Then of course he needed matching shirts…

A sailboat for his blue shorts.

A diamond monogram for the madras.

These make for adorable, EASY outfits in the summer. I made him several interchangeable sets last year and they were life savers.

I already posted the kids Easter baskets, but I ended up putting an extra together for James and me…

And here’s a few more monogrammed things…

Not bad for a $10 dress from The Children’s Place. I always feel a little guilty putting H’s full monogram on really nice things because I know it will probably never be worn again. But I don’t hesitate on t-shirts and play outfits like this.

Hard to tell, but the monogram is navy. This looks precious with or without a shirt underneath and with navy sandals.

We already had this blank bubble. I added the little gator.

H wore it yesterday :)

We also had these float dresses on hand. (Special thanks to Hadley’s MiMi who keeps us stocked with these staples!) I used a our last name initial just for something different. I love the way these look on.

Each season I get H plain white onesies (usually from Old Navy) to wear under things and sometimes I monogram them. I did this one in blue so she’d have something to wear with these gingham bloomer shorts.

I wish I had a ruffle-sleeve Monag tee on hand for this, but it makes a a sweet/cheap play outfit anyway. I took a bite out of my ribbon stash and made a bow to match.

Is there anything sweeter than a baby girl in blue?

And yes, I sometimes (aka: a lotta times) bribe her with snacks to get pictures…

Whatever works!

Well that’s it! Although now that I’m on a roll there may be more coming soon…

Play Time

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:11:00 +0000

We met friends at the park earlier this week. I grabbed a few pictures…

Knox is so brave! He makes me nervous playing on this thing…

Hadley is funny…

She’s going through a phase where she doesn’t like any kind of slanted or unsteady ground, so she’s not a fan of the play structures right now. Which is ironic because she is SUCH a monkey. She’ll climb anything at home and stand straight up on counters and tables.

She also loves to be tossed around. She loves for James to swing her by her arms (she calls it Ding-Dong) and she’ll say HI-YAAA! (Higher!)

So it’s no surprise that she loves to swing. She even prefers the big kid seat to the baby one!

HI-YAAAA! She’d be content to do this all day long.

We’re really missing our backyard and swing set :( I’m so glad we made a priority to keep it though, it’s broken down in our storage unit just waiting for a new home. Knox asks about his old house, swing set, and trampoline nearly every other day. He is SO ready to find our “new house”!

I took this of Knox yesterday. My mom got him this Animal Planet set for Christmas and it’s been the best toy for him. Especially when H is napping. I love to hear his little imagination run wild as he makes up stories. Yesterday he needed to save the frog in the tree and I caught him several times taking his crocodile for a swim in the bathroom sink…

Lastly, James took this video of Hadley several months ago before we moved and I thought it was cute…

Hehe, so silly! I love how when she sees the camera/phone she says Cheeeese!

Easter Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:23:00 +0000

{This is my 3rd and final Easter post! You can read about Saturday’s fun here and what the Bunny brought here…}

After breakfast Sunday morning we got everyone ready for church. We were running a bit late (typical) so I didn’t have time to get good pictures. I just snapped what I could as we ran to the car…

As much as I love H’s smocked bunnies bishop she wore Saturday, I knew I wanted her in this classic blue linen number for Easter Sunday. It has the most precious little details, including tiny hand-embroidered flowers over pin-tucked pleats. Can we please just freeze time???

Knox was looking like a stud in his button-up and shorts, but I couldn’t get the fireman hat off him. He said something about needing to save the day??? Boys :)

We’ve been church hunting since we moved. We tried a new one out this weekend and really enjoyed the message. The kids seemed to enjoy their time in the Sunday school as well.

They got the biggest kick out of playing on the Noah’s ark structures after the service.

We got home from church around 12:30, H went straight down for a nap, and shortly after the rain moved in. We ended up having quite the lazy, rainy Easter day. Good thing the Easter Bunny stocked us up with new movies! We watched several of them and had more fun playing with MiMi and PaPaw.

Since we didn’t get pictures before church we did some on the balcony after Hadley woke up…

And a few with MiMi and PaPaw…

We enjoyed a traditional Easter feast for supper. Well, at least as much of a feast as this tiny townhome kitchen would allow…

Honey ham and scalloped potatoes (courtesy of Sam’s), fresh corn on the cob, broccoli, Velveeta shells (for the “kids”…), and Hawaiian rolls. It was pretty low-key, prep-wise, but hit the spot! The one thing I missed was deviled eggs, but we were out of relish. Dangit.

After dinner we did more lounging around until bedtime. It was such a lazy day, but it was nice to not have to be anywhere and have family to visit with.

Easter Weekend 2012 was a good one!

Hippity Hoppity

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 03:29:00 +0000

{I got a little camera happy this weekend. You can read about our egg hunts and fun Saturday here. This post is all about the Easter morning, and I’ll post the rest of Sunday soon…}

The Easter Bunny didn’t miss us!

The kids’ baskets very randomly fell together this year.

Target had a lot of toys on sale last week and offered 50% off coupons on top of that, so I ended up getting great deals on a “bigger toy” for each of them.

I also joined the Disney Movie Club last week. Basically, I got 6 movies for $24 and we just need to buy 3 more through the club within the next 2 years. (Not a problem for us.) Anyway, I wasn’t planning on the movies being for Easter, but they came in really fast so why not?. We got Mary Poppin’s, Dumbo, The Great Mouse Detective, Hercules, Bedknobs and Broomsticks (one of my childhood favorites!), and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Knox’s stack…

His “big toy” was the Cars chargers race track. The Melissa&Doug lacing cards came from my stash of toys-bought-on-sale-and-set-back-for-later. He doesn’t nap, but I do enforce Quiet Time while H does. These will be good for that…

In his basket is a book of preschool memory verses with devotionals, Teddy Grahams, a Peter Rabbit chocolate bunny, M&Ms, and a few carrot shaped chocolates.

Hadley…

Her “bigger toy” was the princess shoe set. Normally I’d say she was too little for these but she LOVES SHOES. Every time I look up she’s changing in to a different pair.

The Madame Alexander Alice doll is another one of my toys-bought-on-sale-and-set-back-for-later. I found it after Christmas at the toy store in our old town. I’m a sucker for classic toys and I just think she is the prettiest thing!

Hadley’s basket looks a lot like Knox’s. She got a All Creatures Great and Small book (love that poem), animal crackers, a chocolate Peter Rabbit, M&Ms, and chocolate carrots.

The Bunny usually doesn’t visit Mommy and Daddy but he left us new devotionals this year. Tony Dungy for James and Beth Moore for me.

I was so tired Sunday morning. I was not on my picture taking game. Whoops…

James took Knox for a haircut yesterday. I’m kind of sad about how short they cut it :(

Overall, the kids were really excited over what the Bunny left. Knox has had the best time playing with his race track. He is such a big boy now!

Just for fun - here’s a look at Easters past…

Easter 2011

Easter 2010

Easter 2009

AHHH! I just want to reach through my screen and pinch those chubby little rolls. But since I can’t I’ll just post another…

Ha!

Ok, back to 2012…

We spent the morning lounging around with our new toys, sneaking chocolate (ahem, KNOX), and watching a few new movies. James made us some eggs then it was time to get ready for church… I’ll finish up with those pics soon!

Easter Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 03:31:00 +0000

I was going to do 1 Easter post, but I got too many cute pictures today so I’m splitting them up :)

This morning we took the kids to the “Egg-stravaganza” up at church. Before we left I got pictures…

LOVE this girl and I love this dress. All I could find was a 2T so I hemmed it up several inches. At least we’ll get to wear it again next year :)

We FINALLY took Knox to get haircut this afternoon. I wish he’d had it for these pictures, but he’s still handsome :)

On our way!

They spread the egg hunts out in age groups. We let H go with the 2-3 year olds and I pushed Knox to the 4-5yr old group. He’s way too big to be hunting with 2 year olds and his friend Carter was going with the 4’s.

I liked having them hunt separately because we were able to give each one 100% focus. Especially for Hadley since this was really her first egg hunt.

She LOVED it and racked up, especially for a 19mo old among 2s and 3s.

Although she may or may not have had a little bit of help from Mommy throwing eggs towards her…

So proud of her loot!

Gosh… I know she’s mine but I’m pretty sure she’s the most precious thing ever.

After Hadley’s hunt we met up with PaPaw, MiMi, and Knox at the petting zoo.

Hadley wanted NOTHING to do with the animals, but Knox was really in to it.

We headed to the 4-5yr old egg hunt 5 minutes before it’s scheduled time. I was irritated when we got there and saw they’d started it early :-/ I ran Knox out there and I think he may have found 1 egg?

This wasn’t going to cut it. I let him hunt again with the 6-7yr olds…

Carter and many other 4-5yr olds missed the first hunt and were doing the same.

Aaaaand he’s off! I can’t believe how fast those big kids are. There wasn’t a single egg left 15 seconds after the whistle blew.

I decided today that I am way too competitive for kids egg hunts.

Knox found the keeper of the eggs and wasn’t shy about asking for handouts… ;)

I’m so proud of him though. Not only did he not get a ton of eggs, but when he saw another little boy upset about only getting one, he gave away 2 of his own with no hesitation.

Love him!!!

I hate when we forget to take off sunglasses for family pics. Darn!

Hadley thinks her PaPaw is the greatest! Out of 5 grandkids she’s the only girl. Suffice it to say she’s got him wrapped.

After the hunts we went inside to do a few crafts…

And then we went home…

Afterwards Hadley took a good nap while James and his parents took Knox for a haircut.

Such a good helper!

James dad’s birthday was Friday and his mom’s is Sunday, so we celebrated with a joint party Saturday night. Knox wouldn’t have it any other way. He LOVES birthday parties. I made lasagna for dinner and we did cake, ice cream, and presents before bed.

I just HAVE to include this for the record… Knox ASKED me for salad with dinner. ATE it. And said it was Yummy. Who is this kid?!?!

Finally…

The Easter Bunny made a stop by our place tonight. Here’s a sneak peek, I’ll get better pics in the morning…

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

If I’m not able to post tomorrow, I wish you all a blessed Easter Sunday!

Good Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 03:28:00 +0000

First - I was up late Thursday, in to the wee hours of Friday putting together Easter baskets for the kids. Could I get any more last minute???

To put a long story short, I got Knox a PBK basket for his first Easter. I ordered the large and it turned out way bigger than I was thinking. Too big for egg hunts, for sure. So when Hadley came along I knew I didn’t want another big one, but if I ordered her the smaller one I’d have to replace Knox’s too. I couldn’t decide so we just used cheap Target pails last year. It was my goal this year to find a basket in a size and style that I liked and make the liners myself.

I found these at Target and was able to rip the seams out of the original liner to use it as a template to make the new ones.

I paid for my all-nighter today, but I’m glad I finally got these done! My kids are nearly 4 and 2… It’s about time they had official Easter baskets.

We made a trip out to the arboretum around lunchtime on Friday. I was thinking the Easter Bunny would be there but we either missed him or that was a rumor. It was a beautiful day anyway…

We were going to try to do a community egg hunt after the arboretum, but Hadley was SO overtired so we just went home.

James parents arrived for a weekend visit this afternoon. They came bearing all kinds of Easter goodies PLUS about half of the kids Christmas gifts that we weren’t able to carry back with us from Tennessee. The kids were thrilled to see the fun stuff, but they were even more excited to have MiMi and PaPaw time. We went out for a quick dinner and they watched the kids while James and I went to the store. (We take advantage of grandparent babysitters when we can!)

We have a fun Easter weekend planned ahead… I’m off to hem Hadley’s dress for tomorrow and am looking forward to bed :)

Baked Ziti/Rotini

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:49:00 +0000

I love a good pasta bake!

I was remembering the other day one my mom used to make that had slices of Italian sausage and how good it was. I decided we needed something similar for dinner last night…

This turned out fabulous! I didn’t follow any particular recipe, just used ingredients I had on hand, but it’s hard to go wrong with baked pasta.

1lb lean ground beef
1lb mild Italian sausage links
16oz rotini pasta (I like the texture much better than actual ziti.)
4oz cream cheese
45oz jar of pasta sauce (I’m a Prego girl. For this I used Chunky Garden. Love the extra veggies!)
1 medium onion, chopped
shredded Italian blend cheese
shredded or shaved parmesan cheese

1. Cook the sausage links according to package directions. I actually used my Cuisinart panini grill to save stovetop space and it worked well! (Med-low heat for about 20 minutes, turning every other minute or so.) Let them cook as you put together the rest of the dish, then cut in to 1/2” thick slices at an angle. I used 3.5 of the 5 sausage links, but I think it would’ve been fine to use all of them.

2. Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain very well then return to pan. Add cream cheese, stir gently every few minutes until cheese is completely melted and covers the noodles. (I felt so weird the first time I used cream cheese in a pasta dish. But I promise it does wonderful things!)

3. Brown ground meat with onion on medium high heat. (I did this as my sausage and pasta were cooking.) Drain and return to pan/skillet. Add pasta sauce and let simmer. Once sausage is done and sliced, add it to the sauce. I added a little bit of garlic powder to my sauce for taste.

4. Put together pasta bake in a casserole dish. Start by smearing a thin layer of sauce on the bottom, just enough so the pasta won’t stick. Then add noodles and sprinkle with some of the shredded Italian blend cheese. Spoon sauce over noodles. Top with another layer of Italian blend cheese and, if desired, parmesan.

5. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is slightly browned.

I usually try to stretch big dishes like this in to 2 meals, so I baked half in a Corningware dish and put the other half in to a disposable baking tin to freeze. To freeze - reserve the cheese topping in a plastic bag and let the dish cool as much as possible. Wrap plastic wrap over the baking tin, put the bag of cheese on top, then put the plastic lid on the tin. I wrap 2 layers of foil around the entire dish, label, and freeze.

To bake from frozen - allow to thaw for at least 24 hours in the fridge. From the fridge, bake at 350ish for 20 minutes, add the cheese topping and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Even the kids loved this! I’ll have to add it to the regular dinner rotation. It’s relatively easy. I typically would have prepped the sausage earlier in the day to make it come together faster, but my day didn’t allow it. Using the panini grill to cook it was super easy though.

Tuesday was Nuts

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:41:00 +0000

I knew Tuesday was going to be long, but I wasn’t prepared for just quite how long. First of all, James is slammed with trial prep right now, so he spent morning til night at the office Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. No weekend for him means no weekend for me, so my mommy nerves are already a bit shot right now…

Hadley had her last hemangioma laser treatment scheduled Tuesday morning. We always have to be at the surgery center at 6:30am for these, but this time we were only 10 minutes away. Before we moved it was a good hour+, so this is HUGE.

HIPPA paperwork??? Or diversion?

I promise I didn’t fully realize she was adding her art work to the Latina magazine until after I took the picture…

But anyway, this is our third treatment. Typically we get there at 6:30, they get us checked in and paperwork done, then take us back to pre-op around 7 where they do vitals, assessments, and 87 people come and ask the same questions. (They have to, I know…)

They give Hadley Silly Juice (Versed) to relax her, and it’s 8am before they finally take her back for the procedure. I usually have her back within 20 minutes, but since she has to go under anesthesia for these we have to wait around and do the whole post-op thing.

Hadley loves the Jeremy Camp live playlist. It’s so calming, so I turned that on and snuggled up with her.

It’s usually 9am by the time she perks up enough for them to release us. We will follow-up with Dr. B in 6-8 weeks to decide if she needs any more treatments.

So that all went as expected. This is her 3rd treatment and she has down better and better with each one. By the time we got home she was running around like it was nothing. Since she was in a good mood I figured it would be safe to run a few errands so that’s what we did.

We got home around 1pm (which I am SO grateful for), I fed the kids, and Hadley was sooo tired by this point I just knew she was going to take a great nap. In fact - while waiting to go back to pre-op at 6:30 that morning they had the news on and the weatherman said it would be a stormy day but “little chance of any tornado activity” and I got excited because it sounded like the perfect recipe for a long family nap… HA!

It wasn’t 20 minutes after I laid Hadley down that I started hearing tornado rumors. I thought Meh… There’s no way I’m waking that baby up. And then the sirens started and I had no choice.

The kids room is upstairs, so I woke H up and took both kids down to our closet on ground level. Hadley was already fussy and it’s Knox’s favorite pastime right now to try in any way possible to annoy her, so both of them in a tiny closet was no fun.

But we had a lot of help from the iPad. I don’t use it much, but it sure did come in handy for this. I put shows on for them and ran upstairs to grab snacks and diversions as needed. I listened in to the weather channel on the TV in our bedroom and it was nuts. We must’ve been down there for a solid 2 hours and the sirens went off several times, but seems like everything just barely missed us. SUCH a blessing, especially when seeing how hard other places were hit. Scary. We’re fortunate that the only “tornados” to affect us were the 2 in our closet. Took me an hour to recover from that mess.

My thoughts are with those hit the hardest today. I can’t imagine walking out of your closet and seeing your roof and walls gone… Hello, Twister Season.

Consignment Success

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:07:00 +0000

At the park Thursday I found out about a local consignment sale that only sells “upscale” children’s clothing. It just so happened to start Friday and was only a few minutes away from me… Fate?

Y’all know I have a slight obsession with children’s clothes, so we went Friday and yes, I’m turning it in to an annoying blog post. Feel free to skip over if you want :)

It was wonderful! Stocked full of good brands in great condition. The ladies of RR are definitely picky about what they sell.

I got 6 things for Hadley, but I could have easily gotten 20 more. It took a while to cut my stack down to the 6. I tried to pick things that she didn’t already have something similar to…

$8 plaid jumper. I thought this would be a good classic staple to add to our wardrobe. It will be cute in the summer, but it’s big enough to carry her throughout the fall and winter as well. And it’s oh-so nautical.

Royal Child sailboat bubble. She needs more yellow! This is a 24 month, but looks like it runs big so I’m hoping she will still be able to wear it next summer. I hate that they don’t make more bubbles in 2-3T sizes. We are living it up while we can!

More yellow! Kelly’s Kids seersucker cross-back pinafore and bloomers for $10. I love these tops on little girls.

Hadley is wearing this today :)

Bailey Boys bloomer shorts. These were only $3. I think they will make a sweet play outfit paired with a white monogrammed top.

I didn’t know how I felt about this outfit at first. It looked high quality and is definitely different from anything else we have, so for $10 I gave it a chance. You can never go wrong with toile, right?

Turns out it’s just precious on!

We love playing dress-up with new clothes! Well, I do... She thinks I’m nuts :)

Precious pink seersucker beach set. At $25 this was my most “expensive” purchase but it’s Petit Ami and looks never worn, so it’s still a great deal.

The best part of living in a big city is being close to so many fun things like this. I feel like a tourist in my own town because I find out something new every other day… I’m glad I found out about the RR sale just in time. It’s hosted twice a year and I will surely be back :)

Hadley, Hadley, Hadley…

noreply@blogger.com (Love from Texas) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:05:00 +0000

I’ve been way too reliant on my phone for pictures lately. I broke out my camera yesterday to snap some Hadley pics while the boys were out running errands so I’m posting those, but these first 2 are from several days ago…

Oh this girl… She goes a mile a minute for me all day but as soon as Daddy walks in the door she turns in to the cuddliest, sleepiest thing. Like she’s had the roughest day ever and has been waiting all day to be rescued.

I mean seriously??? She lays it on ultra thick when she sees I’m watching, that’s why her eyes are closed…

I posted this picture last week, but she’s doing the same thing here. And as you can see, Daddy just eats it up…

Ok now these are the ones I took yesterday…

Hadley recents…

She loves watching Bubba-Buppies (Bubble Guppies) and singing the song.
She sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star all by herself. She also loves singing Me. Me. Me! and pointing to herself. (Oh dear…) I think she got it from a song on Nick Jr.
She has always said Milk like Meeeee-ulk. I think we probably normally say it with a little hitch - like Mi-ulk - but she has taken it to the extreme. It sounds so funny and we are only prolonging it by saying it back to her that way to for our personal entertainment.
She loves drinking from a straw, doesn’t matter what it is. I think it makes her feel like a big girl and she is ALL about thinking she’s big.
She LOVES babies (real and fake) and does such a great job taking care of them (the fake ones). She feeds and changes them and wraps them in blankies to go ni-night. We have to take a baby with us wherever we go.

We met friends for dinner last night at a local Mexican place, so this Texasy bubble was appropriate. Can you believe this is a 9-12mo from last year and I’m still having to tie it waayyy up at the shoulders. I wonder if we’ll be able to get a 3rd summer out of it next year...

She was saying Hi, Mama! and waving. Really, really closely.

She was kind enough to decorate the screen door for me.

Yes, that’s beautiful, Hadley. Thank you…

This is her ballerina dance. Believe it or not, she loves watching ~~Psychotic~~ Dance Moms with me and trying to imitate the girls dancing. We taught her how to do a ballerina twirl with her arms up and she thinks it’s the greatest.

Aaaaaand bath time…

She was adamant on the bow in the bath, but yes, I eventually got it off her.

We met the Tipton’s at the park this morning. I grabbed a few pictures, but not many…

Knox spent most of the time chasing Carter, but he did stop briefly to swing. He’s practicing swinging his legs by saying IN…OUT…IN…OUT…

Hadley does really well on the big kid swing. In fact - I think she prefers it. Shocker…

PS - Thanks for all the sweet comments on my coupon binder and the helpful tips. I try to answer all questions in the comment section (because I’m awful at e-mail) so if you asked something just check back later. Chances are I’ve answered it :)