5 years of wedded bliss

Five years ago. Time flies when you live with somebody who, on a regular basis, makes you laugh so hard you cry.

If you missed our question/answer interview last year (and if you are really bored) you can read it here.

We got up this morning with no real plans, dropped our girl off, went and had lunch at Yume, perused the aisles of Lowe's, and are currently back at home preparing for a lovely evening of reminiscing about our wedding day and watching football games. Mainly watching football games.

(Really. Is there anything that says happy anniversary like a trip to Lowes?)


Disclaimer: I realize just how terrible this picture is, but memories right? I saw this on Pinterest and I am so sad we haven't made a similar picture every year.

P.S. Only 10 weeks pregnant and ugh...I look it. Chubby and tired. This too shall pass. In 7 long, long, LONG, months.

Birthday Zoo Trip

The Sunday after Reese's birthday we took her on her first real trip to the zoo. We went to the zoo last Christmas for the lights, but you couldn't see the animal exhibits so we thought she would enjoy it as part of her birthday week celebration. (This was also the day after her party and Momma was TIRED.) 

This was one of approximately 3 moments she actually rode in her stroller.  

 She really liked the monkey with its baby.

 Johnny the elephant was her favorite.

 And then she started to look like this...

 So we perked her back up by letting her feed the giraffe.

 We also got to see them feed the lions. Actually this was all I got to see, but she saw it and that was all that mattered.

 I'm sure a grandmother or two talked about our parenting skills when they saw her riding like this...

 And then she started to look like this again...

 So we let her push the stroller.

 And pet the animals.

 And, of course, ride the carousel.

Reese wants you to know that...

Yep, and it's due the day after school gets out. Needless to say this was very planned.

We found out on September 10th and from that point on Reese has been very consistent with her request for a "sis-or." I am not even sure how she knows what a "sis-or" is, but that's what she wants. A sister would be just fine with us considering the number of pink items we already own, but a "bru-ter" would be fine too.

Adam has declared that if it is a boy it will be named 'Si' (as in Duck Dynasty), but, rest assured, as long as I'm the mother that will not be the case.

I don't know if it's because Reese keeps calling it a sister but at the present time I feel like it is a girl. I also knew from the day I found out I was pregnant that Reese was a girl. Either way it really doesn't matter we just pray that it is healthy.

I printed off a daily pregnancy calender that tells you how far along you are, what's going on with the baby, and other information everyday. Around the 5 week mark one of the days said, "mom should plan rest periods throughout the day." Yeah, I'll do that. Right between working full time, raising our baby, cooking and cleaning. HAHA! I will say this...Adam has picked up the slack around the house just as he did when I was pregnant with Reese. Except this time I'm slacking a lot more because people I'm TIRED.

P.S. Uncle G pointed out that since I teach English I should know that I needed an apostrophe on my sign so I would like to point out that a sweet coworker made the sign for me so Uncle G, as Reese would say, "hush it."

And the fall festivals begin...

 We left after school last Thursday heading to Pigeon Forge for a few days of fall fun. We barely made it to Anniston before we had to stop at a CVS and purchase a DVD for her to watch on Big Daddy's DVD player in his car. I didn't even know she knew what a TV in the car looked like, but she spotted it first thing and begged and begged for a movie. I don't know how familiar you are with the DVD section at CVS but the options are limited. I saw a cartoon bear on the front of one, jerked it from the box, paid for it, and headed back out the door. When we started unwrapping the package we realized it was the Spanish version of Brother Bear. Adam just couldn't figure out how I didn't realized that before I bought it. However, in a fortunate turn of events the actual movie was in English.

On Friday we went to our second annual Maryville Fall Festival. Last year when we went she looked like this...

They have the typical fall festival things (crafts and food) plus a whole park filled with blow up kid toys. This was the closest thing to a smile I could get.

Before we left, Big Daddy had to do a little fishing at the pond beside where we stayed.

 When we got to the festival she wasn't going to have any part of the bounce house. One of the girls working there talked her in to going inside with her. That was all it took. She was hooked.

 She came down the slide countless time and almost lost her pants every single time. (That is mainly my fault because those are one of the first ones I made and the waist is slightly big.)

 That night we waited a sweet forever to eat dinner, but while we waited she learned ring around the rosie.

 She became friends with the ducks and fed them every morning.

 Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch just outside of Pigeon Forge. They had a huge tramoline type thing that was attached to the ground with a generator blowing air under it. I don't know if you can get a mental picture from that, but it was a recipe for a lot of laughter from her Daddy and Big Daddy. They bounced and bounced and bounced some more then Big Daddy couldn't figure out why his back was hurting all day Sunday.

 Of all the fun things they had to do at the pumpkin patch all she wanted to do was "wing."

 She went down this huge pipe slide a few times.

 And finally picked out her pumpkin.

She spent a lot of time counting to 10 and working on her ABCs on the ride home. Unfortunately, (for all parties involoved) she spent very little time napping during the ride.  

2 year old stats

We went to see Dr. C yesterday because I was falsely under the impression that Reese would need shots. As soon as we got in the well baby room a kid right outside the door threw up in the floor. As usual, we probably left the office with some disease we didn't have when we arrived. I basically forced her to eat germx while we were there. Do me a favor please? Don't mention this to her Daddy. If he hears of a stomach virus within 3 states he starts panicking and drinking the "tummy bug" juice I found on pinterest.

 (In case you care the recipe is 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar mixed with 8 ounces of 100% grape juice. I don't know if it really works, but we have avoided 2 stomach virus since this little concoction came into our lives. The key is to drink it as a preventative measure. If the virus is already in your system it will do you no good- from what I have read.) 

She weighed 24 pounds and was 31 (I think) inches tall. According to Dr. C she will probably max out around 5 ft 2in. She is only in the 10th percentile in both height and weight. She is cutting her one year molars and her eye teeth all at one time. Hence her attitude lately. 

Dear Baby Jesus, 

Please let these teeth come through SOON because I might or might not have to start taking nerve pills over all the meltdown I endure every SINGLE day. 

Sincerely, 

Elena 

 I don't have a picture of her at the doctor because I was busy trying to keep her from destroying the place, but I have this one from this weekend. This is one of mine and MeeMaw's creations, and she will probably wear it everywhere we go until December because it took me a sweet forever to applique. 

Reese's Pony Party

When I started planning Reese's birthday party{I would tell you exactly how many hours I thought about and planned this party but I'm afraid you'd think less of me} I showed Adam all the pictures of things I wanted to do and have at the party. I was so excited because I knew a pony party was where it was at. You know what he said? "what happened to getting plates at Walmart, going to the Ashland park where half the pavilion was flooded, and having cake and ice cream?" That's when I introduced myself to him because clearly he doesn't know me very well.

Thursday (her birthday) started off just the way one would expect the terrible 2's to start. When I woke her up she cried and pitched a fit for no apparent reason.  Then she kicked and refused to take 

her PJs off. It was all just a load of fun for her mamma. 

After her party at daycare(which I do have a few picture of, but at this point I have been uploading the pictures for this post for 3 nights and my nerves can't handle waiting for one more to upload), where she cried some more, we ate at Monte Alban (because she is a fan of the ultra healthy cheese dip) then proceeded to go home, open presents, and eat somewhere around 3 "pop-cics." 

I just pray that her behavior on her actual birthday isn't a sign of the coming year. I keep saying that the crying is because she is cutting teeth and has an ear infection, but I don't know how long we can use that as our excuse. 

I went home directly after school Friday, ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, and tried to remain partially sane while I checked things off my to do list. Jolie spent the night with us because I needed reinforcements in the Reese E Cup department, and if there is anybody that can get her attention off of me it is "Goalie." 

Since Adam isn't in the cabinet business anymore he isn't as available as he used to be, so my parents picked up the slack and did all the required running around for the party. They spent the better part of 2 weeks getting loads of gravel for our yard and picking up square hay bails etc. It confirmed my belief that if I have to work full time then I need a full time assistant.;) 

Anyway, I'm done talking. Here are the pictures.

I searched and searched for a pony. Right when I had almost lost hope LaRae reminded me of their pony Brownie. The pony party wouldn't have been the same without...well... the pony so a big thanks to Anna Kate for letting us borrow hers.

Blakely was the only little cowgirl that wasn't afraid of Brownie. She's going to be quite the trend setter:)

A special thanks to D.D. for making these stick ponies a reality.