country kids

**So before we get on to the main post, can I just gush about Presley's shirt? Isn't it adorable? Natalie from The Punky Monkey made it. She's a friend from Mommy & Me who has amazing skills! Presley has one of her play mat creations and a bird monogrammed onesie that when she was a baby was one of my favorite things to put her in! It's now hanging on her wall! :) And I'm sure this shirt is going to be in regular rotation...we both love it! Do yourself a favor and go check out her stuff!**

Ok, now to the boring stuff ;)
We went back to visit my grandparents in Mississippi for a few days this past week. It was a short, sweet, and last minute kinda trip. Just my mom and I took the kids as my dad was putting tile down in their house and Jeremiah was working. We decided last week, I think, that we were going to go! We didn't really do much of anything; The only shopping we did was at Dirt Cheap...love that place! & we went out to eat twice. Otherwise we were just lazy, but it was still nice to see them. The first morning we went to feed my Grandaddy's cows. in the rain. and rain in mississipppi = lots of mud. yuck! So we trucked it out there in the rainy mud to see them. The kids loved it! I wanted to take my camera but was too afraid I would fall and drop it. Maybe next time there will be pics! Kameron drove the tractor a bunch and of course I don't have pictures of that either. I'm a slacker aunt!

The kids LOVED the wide open spaces (anyone singing Dixie Chicks?) to run free and crazy in!

This picture cracks me up. Kole came up to me with this distraught look on her face and said super dramatically "I just don't have ANY energy left!" Ha ha!

Close up of Presley's fabulous shirt!

And one last picture of the Mississippi country.

Anniversary trip

For our anniversary this year, we decided it was time for a get away! I, well we both, really wanted to go back to St. Lucia, but it just wasn't in our budget right now. So we settled for going back to where we went on our honeymoon, Indian Shores. It's right between St. Petersburg and Clearwater. We really enjoyed going back to places that we went to 5 years before; it was pretty nostalgic!

We left Wednesday night and got there Thursday around 3:30 am I think. So obviously we slept in that morning...who are we kidding we didn't get up any morning earlier than 9!! We went to Walmart for a few groceries because our room had a mini kitchen. Which I loved because we saved money by eating lunch there a few days. But we watched some TV and movies that afternoon then went to eat at the Salt Rock Grill for dinner. It was delicious steak and seafood, even better than I remembered. Isn't this a lovely photo? Ha ha! With junk all over the bed! It was raining that night and I'm pretty sure I remember that it rained on the night we went on our honeymoon! Weird!

On Friday morning we woke up to this.

Great weather for a vacation! We actually didn't mind too much! We went to Tampa to meet my friend from nursing school, Amber. We met her at the Cheesecake Factory for some yummy cheesecake and then went shopping at the International Plaza. It's a crazy big 2 story mall that has restaurants on the outside of the mall building and they all have open seating outside. It looks like a chic nightclub...way cooler than anything Pensacola would have!

Then Jeremiah and I headed back to go shopping and eat at John's Pass Boardwalk. It's kinda like Pensacola's Boardwalk. Just a bunch of shops and restaurants. We ate at Bubba Gump's....they have the most yummy seafood! I just recently found out that there's one in Destin. Do yourself a favor and go eat there! :) I think we had seafood every day we were there! And I found the old picture of us in front of the same sign at the boardwalk!

Saturday morning we woke up to much sunnier skies. We went to lunch at Frenchy's, a little beach bum place that has the best grouper sandwich on Earth! And then relaxed in the pool and at the beach. Of course I forgot to take a picture of the beach on a nice day. South Florida sand is so much different than ours. It's like a finer grain and it kinda feels like Moon Sand that's impossible to shape! I much prefer our sugar white fluffy sand!

J at Frenchy's...I promise we actually did talk to each other on our trip. I actually think it's the most we've talked in the last 2 years! I know we'll look back on this time of hectic parenting with great memories and wish our baby was still little. But it's nice to get away with just each other and reconnect without a sippy cup flying by my head or hearing "Mommy" screamed at me 25 times in two seconds!

And of course no trip would be complete without a dessert stop! It's the Candy Kitchen and it's wall to wall sweets! My Heaven! The store is not much bigger than what you see on the right. They make their own fudge, ice cream and italian ice. They also have every kind of candy bar, sucker, cotton candy, hard candy (well you get the idea) that you could think of! So that was our treat Saturday afternoon! And then we went to see Transformers in IMAX 3D that night. I was a little skeptical especially with the $46 price tag for 2 tickets and popcorn and drinks. But it was awesome! I'm glad we splurged on it!

Sunday morning we packed it all up and headed home. We missed Presley like crazy but I'm pretty sure the feeling wasn't reciprocated! ;) She LOVES spending time at her Nana and PawPaw's house with everyone! We skyped with her a couple of times so she could see and hear us. I know she missed us, but I'm glad she didn't ever get upset over being away from us.

THANK YOU so much Mama for keeping P for us! We couldn't have made this trip without you! Love you!

Exploreum

We took the kids to Mobile last Tuesday to the Exploreum; it was Presley's first time going. She loved it! Well, they all loved it! They have special exhibits that come visit for a short time and this summer it's a space exhibit. That's right up my alley, I'm kind of a space nerd! Kameron and I saw "Hubble" on the IMAX they have there. It was awesome! They also have permanent exhibits that include a ton of hands on stuff.

Presley hitched a ride from everybody! On this you had to use a pulley system to get to the top of the pole. Some of them were really hard to do. Especially with 25 extra pounds! ;)

The three floating heads! :) Notice Presley in Jaden's picture? She was concerned about where his body was! Ha ha!

One of the exhibits was all about the body. This is the 12 foot tall beating heart. It was super cool! Jaden couldn't get over that this is actually in his body! In this exhibit you could 'perform' surgery and test your ability to jump, your strength and how long it takes to burn off a cheeseburger! It also had a station where you could push up and down on lever to 'beat' your heart...it was way harder to do than I thought. Makes me appreciate my heart a little more!

Kole loved this snake. She kept petting it. Looking at the picture gives me the heebie jeebies. I'm not a snake person at all! Presley even touched it, but my mom was holding her. Thank goodness!

My mom let Jaden, Kole and Presley play at the Wharf of Wonder while we watched the movie. It's a play area for the smaller kids and we knew that they would rather play than see "Hubble". I know they had a blast!

I'm sad that we didn't get to do a lot of the things that we had planned on my vacation from work. But at least we got to pick blueberries, eat at Lambert's and go to the Exploreum. Oh and Jeremiah and I went on a much needed anniversary trip! Thank the Lord I got sick before then! Glass half full, right? ;)

.five.

Today is our fifth wedding anniversary. From the moment that I met Jeremiah, I was absolutely smitten with him. We've had a long, hard road in the 9.5 years that we've been together. I have had this on my heart for a while to write about and in light of our anniversary today, it's no better day than to tell our story. This story is an all the glory goes to God story. Nothing we have done has brought us to today. It is all of God's perfect planning that we made it. It's nothing short of amazing, our story and here it is.

On the day of our wedding, and probably for a year before that, something didn't feel right about our relationship. But I went through with it because my parents' had shelled out a lot of money, I had gone through a lot of meticulous planning, and I felt like I had to because we had been together for 4.5 years. And to be honest, divorce was always a later option in my mind. It always makes me so sad to admit that was my train of thought.

After we celebrated our first anniversary, we bought our house. I thought maybe that would fix our relationship and make us have the marriage I'd always dreamed about. It didn't. After Jeremiah got fired from a brand new job, he finally confessed that he was addicted to drugs and he needed serious help to stop.

I was completely blindsided. I was numb. I was devastated.

After thinking about our history and putting together pieces, I could completely see the signs of addiction. I didn't know what to do but kick him out of our home, so that's what I did. I had never felt so alone in all my life. The person that I thought I should know the best, turned out to be a person who I didn't really know at all. I can remember not being able to sleep one night so I went down to the gazebo on the riverwalk, where we got married. I watched the sun come up and I just cried out to God, pouring my heart out, begging him to please tell me what to do. I have been a Christian for a long time, but I think that night, at my most broken, I could hear Him the loudest. I told God that I didn't know if I could ever forgive Jeremiah for the pain he'd caused me, let alone trust him again. I truly felt God telling me, with that new sunrise, that every day is a new one, and people and relationships can be new through Him too. So I decided to trust God and stick by my husband's side.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as easy as just saying the words out loud. Jeremiah went to rehab. Got out. Relapsed. Went back to rehab. The second time clicked for him and by the grace of God, he has been in recovery for 4 years, come November 1st. But the wreckage of our marriage wasn't just his fault. As much as he was addicted to drugs, I was addicted to myself....selfish thoughts, actions and words. I was no easy person to call a wife. We both hurt each other immensely with words and those aren't easy things to retract. We had gone through therapy before I knew about the addiction but it really didn't help because Jeremiah was dealing with a secret addiction on his own. This time we talked to the counselors at the rehab and did some work on our own with some Christian marriage seminars. But mostly we talked to each other, prayed with each other and for each other and just let God work through us. I also went to Al-anon meetings for families and bought some of their books for me to read and work through my own issues. That's when I realized what an awful person I had been. I know I'm still not perfect today, but I'm a work in progress!

Jeremiah accepted Jesus as his Savior while he was in rehab. He has turned into the husband that I never thought I would have. He loves me unconditionally and is so thoughtful and caring. He is the father to Presley that I could have only dreamed about. And I can honestly say that we would not have made it without God. I would have thrown in the towel on our marriage and Jeremiah might still be in active addiction.

So whatever you might be facing, life-changing or quite small, I encourage you to listen and trust God. He sees the bigger picture and He weaves the details of our life perfectly.

Oh yeah and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Baby! I love you!

4th fun!

Hope everyone had a GREAT 4th of July! It's one of my favorite holidays! I had zero preparation done for today because of me being sick and I thought for sure Presley or Jeremiah was going to wake up sick today too. So we kinda winged it today and it still turned out great.

We had these bacon wrapped jalapeno chicken bites that I found on Pinterest. They were pretty yummy! Walmart was out of jalapenos so I had to substitute other peppers, so I bet with the right ingredients they could be awesome! Of course, mine looked exactly like this picture! ;)

We also had fruit pizzas for dessert. They were a big hit! :)

And then came fireworks. Our town always has them over the river downtown. We used to be able to see them from our backyard, but now the trees are too tall. So we had to walk downtown this year. They scared Presley at first. I had to hold her in my lap with my hands over her ears. But she quickly progressed to sitting in the wagon by herself with no hands on the ears! She loved them! She kept saying "wow"!

All of our little firecrackers!

We're so blessed to live in a free country where we can freely worship our Savior. God Bless!

Lambert's

I started feeling a little bit better on Saturday night from my mutant strep throat. (turns out if you take your antibiotics the wrong way, it makes you suffer longer! who knew?) But by Sunday, I was bound and determined to get out of this house! So we went over to Foley and ate at Lambert's Cafe. I'm sure we were the only people left in the Florida Panhandle who hadn't eaten there yet! We've lived here close to 13 years and it was our first time going.

It was a really fun atmosphere and priced great for the gigantic portions, but I have to say it wasn't the best food I've ever eaten. I got the meatloaf and immediately wished I had gotten the fried porkchops upon seeing them served table side in a huge skillet! I would go back for lunch if shopping in Foley or if out-of-town guests wanted to go back, but I probably wouldn't truck it over an hour to go wait for an hour and twenty just for their food. But hey, to each their own! I am proud to say that our table, and by that I mean Kameron & Jeremiah, caught all 5 rolls that were thrown to us! Those things are sizzling hot flying by your head!

We tried to stay outside and let the kids play on the train at the front of the restaurant, but we were about to die because of the 9,0000 degree heat after an hour. I had the bright idea of walking over to Chick-fil-A and getting a drink and let the kids play in the cool play area. Well, that was a good idea except it was Sunday and they aren't open on Sundays! So we just went and sat in our air conditioned cars until it was time to eat.

blogging from my bed

well, my vacation has started out with a bang....I have strep throat! Ugh, it's one of the worst things. I started an antibiotic yesterday, but I think I'm worse today. My tonsils are so swollen they are almost touching each other. Nice visual huh? It's disgusting! I really hope I feel better tomorrow because we've already missed out on our fun plans for Thursday AND today. I don't think I can take another day of not eating either....I like food!

Oh and probably the worst part is not being able to be around my loves. Presley has gone over to my mom's for the last two days because I'm still contagious. But they brought my flowers and a get well card tonight. So sweet! Jeremiah said Presley picked them out in the store and then held them all the way home. :)

2 year check up and random funny things

Presley had her 2 year check up with Dr. P this morning. She weighs 25 lbs and is 33.75 inches long. She's in the 25% for weight and 50% for length, which are the percentiles she's been riding since birth. At least she's consistent! Dr P said that she was hitting milestones appropriately and then told me what she should be doing by the age of three. (at 3 she should know her name, age, gender, jump completely off the ground and draw a circle on paper) It's hard to believe that the 3 yr check up is her next well visit. Crazy! Poor Presley also had to get one more shot today. But now she's done until her booster for Kindergarten!

And now some random stuff~
Presley's says "Ni Hao" when she turns on her Leap Frog farm sounds toy on the fridge. Yep that's hello in Chinese. Silly girl!

And then the other morning we saw a bird fly by the window. Presley asked "where bird dow?" I said I don't know where the bird went. Maybe he went home to see his Mommy. "No" she said, "go hoooome to see Daddy". Ok maybe the bird went to see it's Daddy. "or see shong shong" she said. Which is Presley's name for Karri. Ok I get it! The poor bird went to see anybody but it's Mommy! ;)

These pictures are from a few weeks ago but I think I forgot to post them. If you've seen them before, please forgive me! I walked in to get Presley out of her crib and found all of her clothes off in the floor!

cousin fun!

My mom and I took Jaden, Kole and Presley to "Sunsets at Plaza de Luna" on Thursday night. It was pretty neat. They normally have a band playing and a character for the kids to interact with right at sunset at the Plaza de Luna splash pad. Buzz Lightyear flew in that night and despite inclement weather, we had to go see him. Toy Story is one of Jaden's favorites! He was a little leery being in the picture, but he was a good sport! He kept asking why Buzz wouldn't talk to us. My mom told him that maybe he was tired of talking all day to kids! He bought it! :) Presley didn't even know what was going on and Kole cried a little when we asked her to get in the picture! Ha ha! It was crazy rainy that night, but luckily we got out of Pensacola before the bottom dropped out. Then, of course, we went to Chick-fil-A for dinner. mmmmm! I love that place! We felt bad about not letting them play at the splash pad so we let them play at the restaurant. They had a blast!


Friday night Jaden and Kole came to spend the night! Presley just loves them! We watched Tangled and had popcorn. I still can't believe that Presley stayed up until 9:45. Her little eyes were red-rimmed and we kept asking her if she was tired...nooooo she said! On Saturday morning we had pancakes, which all three of them had 3 pancakes a piece! Then Karri came over and we let the kids play in the their little pool for a while. It was SO hot, but they enjoyed being out in the cool water.

Check out the crazy sky!

Pancakes on Saturday morning! :) I tried to get a picture of all three of them, but that was impossible with them wolfing their food down! Ha ha!

We always enjoy spending time with Jaden and Kole. And this time Presley wasn't mean to Kole and didn't hit her. Much improvement! :)

Happy SECOND Birthday Presley!

Presley, you are two years old now! And you think the world revolves around you! ;) You are a big, smart, beautiful, funny, happy, independent, caring little girl. Your Daddy and I have loved seeing you grow into the person that you are. I love being able to carry on conversations with you about "beebuds" (ladybugs) or going outside to "wing" and "side" (swing and slide)! You just got some new outside toys and you love them. You love being outside in general.

You have just learned how to say "I wuve uw" to people and it melts our hearts! I don't think there's anything in this world better than having your child squeeze you tight while saying this to you. You'll see what I mean one day! You also say "dare ya doh" (there you go) and you say it when you hand anyone anything. You know how old you are when we ask you. And you also say "Nana" with gusto when we ask "whose girl are you?"!

You keep your Daddy and I rolling with the things you do. Like now when we ask you something you answer us with "uhhhhhhhhhh...no" or uhhhhhhhh...yes". You try to pop a little attitude and it's pretty funny! (I know it won't be funny later but it is right now!) You still say everything is "boo" (blue) even though we've been working hard on all the other colors! I know you'll get them one day. When counting you say "free, four, free, four, five"! Ha ha! One and two aren't necessary! :)

Your favorite foods right now are chicken salad, hot dogs, spaghetti and tacos. You love to drink your milk, water, apple juice and V8 fusion juice. You still sleep from 8pm-8am and take a 2 hour nap after lunch. You are wearing 24 mo or 2t clothes for the most part. You can fit into 18 mo shorts and a 3t shirt depending on the brand. You just recently moved up to a size 6 shoe. And for Mommy that means more shoe shopping! Yay! :)

So you haven't shown any more interest in going potty. But that's ok, you will do it in your own time! You are also still sleeping in your crib. I don't think I'll ever want to move you out of there...it's my own personal baby jail! :)

For some reason I wasn't too tearful about this birthday. I don't know if it's because it has snuck up on me so fast that I didn't have time to think, or if I'm excited about how much you are going to grow and learn by your next birthday. I love you so much and I love being your Mommy!

Presley's Party Party!

We had Presley's Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party today! She had a blast! :) We had all of her little friends over to play in the sweltering hot backyard! I think everyone had a good time and no one melted, but next year, I've already decided we are definitely having a swim party!

I'm sure not everyone cares about the details, but I'll just jot down a few for my memories and for any family that wants to know!

*you can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger*

Food- pb&j sandwiches, hot dogs, pasta salad, chips, goldfish (those make the party ya know!), marshmallow pops, "2" cookies, fruit kabobs and funfetti cupcakes w/marshmallow fluff icing! Yum! The cupcakes had some of the Yo Gabba Gabba characters on them.

Fun- water table (thanks Nana & PawPaw!), bubble machine, & new swing set (thanks Meemaw for helping out with that!)

Friends that came- Piper, Emmy, John Parker & Anna. Isla couldn't make it and we sure missed her!


Once again I couldn't have pulled this off without our family's help! Jeremiah woke up sick today. Isn't that how it always goes? But poor thing didn't get out of bed until 4:30 PM! So my wonderful Dad came over and cut the grass this morning. And my wonderful Mom had already done a ton of stuff outside of today (she made the scrumptious cookies!) plus she saved me some much needed time by going to the store for last minute stuff. Our wonderful friend Karri came over super early (and she worked last night) and made the fruit kabobs and iced the cupcakes! My wonderful brother grilled all the food! And then Jeremiah's wonderful mom helped clean up my messy kitchen! WOW! What great family! Presley is definitely so blessed to be surrounded my people that love her so much! =) A gigantic thank you to all of them! We love you guys!

Presley's shirt had Foofa on it...her favorite character! She was so excited to get to wear "fafa"! Unfortunately I didn't get one shot with the front of her shirt. Oh well, I'm sure it's not the last time Presley wears that shirt!

Thank you to everyone who came! We enjoyed the afternoon so much!

WOW!

That was like a 10 day blogging break! I don't think I've even looked at any of my normal blogs in that time either! I probably would be having withdrawals if not for being so busy. Presley will be 2 on Saturday, so getting party stuff together has been top priority around here. I started (what I thought was pretty early) on making stuff for it months ago and yet here it is, a few days before and I feel worlds behind! Isn't that always the case? Ahhh!

We spent this past weekend sprucing up the yard. I just used Presley's party as a excuse for the things I had been wanting to get! ;) But here is a picture of my sweet girl with the new tree we planted. I wish we had done this around her first birthday...it would have been cool to see her grow along with it!

Well, I'm off to get some more stuff done! Oh, and I have to work tonight, so I better go get ready for that! Have a good night!

another "not really goodbye"!

So all of my friends are leaving me for Virginia! Waaaa! No, not really but another one of my good friends has moved to Virginia. What is it with that place? ;) I am really happy for her and her hubby. But I'm not going to lie, I'm super bummed for myself. Not that I see her every week but, losing the possibility of seeing her each week...stinks. Emily and I went to middle school and high school together. And she's honestly always been the sweetest person. She would do just about anything for anyone and she is as beautiful inside as she is out. She and I lost touch for a couple of years after we graduated. But when we did see each other again, it's like we never missed a beat. That's how great she is! =) Last Monday morning she came over and played with Presley. And then we went to lunch. Of course we had to take a picture together and I had to upload some of the other ones of us through the years. I wish I had a picture of us in middle school! I'm sure I do but we didn't have digital cameras in those days to upload anything!

Us at my bridal shower FIVE years ago!

At my baby shower TWO years ago!

Wow, we really like to be in the same pose, huh?! :)

And a Presley pic for good measure!

Thank you Emily for always being such a great friend to me! I know it's not "goodbye", but a "see ya soon". Good luck to you & Jason, miss you and love ya girl!