Family Photo

We went to JCPenny's and had some family pics made........haven't done those in almost 2 1/2 years!!! Maekayla gets her photo done all the time, but it's hard to wrangle up Tony for us to all go together. I think they turned out really nice!

Annual Christmas Cookie Bake Off!

Morgan, Maekayla and Megan all jazzy in thier aprons ready for some Christmas Cookie baking!



Everybody was having a blast. It is a great annual treat to decorate the cookies and then leave them for Santa. Maekayla was old enough this year to participate and decorate some of her own....

Although she enjoyed eating the icing a bit more than the cookie decorating part, she did decorate a few and eat a bunch of sprinkles! She was on a sugar high well into the night.


These are but a few of the dozens of sugar coated cookies we made this year at Daddy and Missy's house! They were extra yummy!

The Best 30 minutes of the season!!!!

Take 30 minutes and log onto http://www.longhollow.com/messages/series/23?media=video&message=126 and watch Clayton King. I PROMISE it will change your outlook on the season, on the new year, on LIFE!!!! I was there and heard him in person and I can't stop thinking about all the big things he said! He was AWESOME!!! I love you so please take 30 and turn off the TV, silence your phone, and give yourself 30 minutes.........YOU DESERVE THIS!!! I promise you won't be disappointed!

Almost 26 weeks preggo! Only 3 months to go!

Yes, I think those are some small stretch marks rearing thier ugly lines! I didn't know they were there until I took this picture. I can't see the underside of my belly at this point obviously!


I think I look more round in this picture than in the other one. Maybe my left side is more flattering right now and my right side is more FATTERING!!!! Ha ha! I have only gained 19 lbs. so far, but I feel (and look) like it is way more than that! We are 26 weeks down and less than 14 to go!!! I think it will go by so fast and little Logan will be here before we know it!!!! Just thought I would share the lovely belly photos with you!

Maekayla's New Christmas Dress

SIMPLE Christmas---HOPE

For our Christmas sermon series at church, they are discussing how we need to simplify Christmas. It is not about gifts, money, presents, gatherings, shopping, and all the hustle and bustle. It is about so much more and we tend to forget that this time of year. Brother David said we need to stay focused on the basic elements: Hope, Joy and Peace. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year and it is most people's favorite holiday. It has a very unique quality about it that is beyond most holidays........there are some things that we only do during Christmas time--fruit cake, egg nog and mistle toe are a few. But Christmas is most unique in its message that resonates with God's message for our problems. We are not perfect people and we have some flaws and imperfections, everyone does---we are human. BUT God is perfect, He is hope, and He will save us. God's plan was to come to this earth as the Son and be born of a virgin and be born of human flesh and then to go to the cross, die a brutal death shedding his blood for the sins of the world and then rise 3 days later. What a great sacrifice! Jesus is the only hope for us and we need to put it all in what He did for us........give it all to God and be born again. Although we are imperfect, we will live and grow to be more christian. Christmas shows us the ultimate promise of hope...... Romans 15 says "May the God of hope, fill you with all the joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit". God will see us through difficult times but we are not to operate in our power, BUT in His power and His strength. His unfailing love will be with us, put your HOPE in God! He has promised to supply strength and what we need to get through difficult times.



Please remember that although this season it may be hard to "spend money" on buying gifts, remember that God already has given us the greatest gift of all!!! Enjoy this season and remember the reason for the season and don't forget what CHRISTMAS is truly about! Love to all!







Go to http://www.longhollow.com/ to listen to this sermon and many others from series past.

Putting up the Christmas Tree......

Okay, so the first picture is where we moved the furniture around to make room for the tree.....the second one is the "AFTER" photo.......and the third one is where Maekayla thought her little pink tree was a HAT!! I couldn't get the picuture to rotate but you get the idea. Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!! I know ours will be more "merry" with our fabulous tree lighting up the room! Love to all!

Maekayla's new hair bows.....

For those of you who remember the 80's.............I think she looks like a puppet off of "Fraggle Rock"!! Too cute! She loves wearing them both and I think they are too precious. Thanks again to Ally's Palace Bowtique for her awesome creations!

http://www.allyspalace.com/

Logan Malcolm's First Pictures and preggo update...

We had an ultra sound done 2 weeks ago and I didn't know how to get them on here. We have a scanner but I am a bit unsure how to use it exactly. SO I did the only thing I could think of.......I took pictures of the pictures and look--it worked! We got to see his little mouth opening and closing and he was moving his hands around. If his kicks are any indication, he will definately be into playing sports for sure! Even though he is only an average of 10 inches long at this point, he can beat me up good from in there. He has literally woke me up from a dead sleep pounding on me. I don't remember Maekayla doing that this soon. I hope it isn't an indication of how "busy" he will be getting as this pregnancy goes along.

I went to the doctor yesterday and all is still well. We passed the "quad test" with flying colors, which tests for abnormalities/birth defects. I also found out that since they couldn't see the nose and mouth fully during the ultrasound, I get to have another one after the first of the year. It will be cool to see how much he has progressed in pictures at that point. My last ultrasound with Maekayla was at about 20 weeks, and Logan's last one will be at 30 weeks. His heartbeat was good and I have only gained 11 pounds so far. That is less than I was at this point with Maekayla, so I think I am doing good to manage my weight. Of course Dr. B doesn't want me to worry about weight gain, I know that I started this pregnancy still carrying 40lbs I never lost from carrying Maekayla. After this, I would like to lose that 40 plus whatever I put on this time around. I am aiming to stay under 25, so I started going back to the Y today. I went this morning for H2O cardio, low impact and still a great workout. Turns out I was the only one under 60 in the class! It was fun though and the ladies were all very nice to the "pregnant 20 something girl". Dr. B also said I can do yoga, so I think I am going to try that tomorrow. I'll keep you posted........

Halloween pics.....a little late!

Here is Maekayla's very fun witch outfit. She was so cute! I know they are late, but better late than never at my house right now............

Maekayla's new bow!

I orderd this awesome bow from "Ally's Palace"! I can't wait to get it in her hair!
http://www.allyspalace.com/

Thanks for the great "Big Sis" gift!

Free Fabric Giveaway!

As most of you know............I HAVE A SERIOUS ADDICTION WHEN IT COMES TO FABRIC! I love shopping for most of it online, as that is where you find the most unique prints. My fave place to buy from (when Tony lets me LOL!) is the "Fabric Shoppe" on ETSY.com. Jody has the best prints and she has an awesome blog........ http://everydaybeautiful.typepad.com I love going there to see pics of her gorgeous baby girl and of the awesome items people make from her fabrics.......

AND CHECK IT OUT: SHE HAS A FREE FABRIC GIVEAWAY GOING ON RIGHT NOW..........

Pumpkin Farm

Okay, so I know it has been almost a whole month! I have been slacking big time on my blogging duties! There are several people who are upset with me for not updating more regularly......So here's an update:
I am officially 18 weeks and 1 day preggo now. I find out on Thursday what our little bambino is going to be wearing.......Blue or Pink. Tony wants a boy, my daddy wants a girl, and Maekayla and I don't care. I know names for either way, I am just anxious to get started sewing some baby bedding. It will be my first complete set.
So we ventured out to the pumpkin farm a week ago and had a BLAST! There were lots of farm animals, pig races, a hayride and huge slides.........I think Tony liked the slides more than Maekayla and Morgan. Here's some pics from our adventure.

Maekayla is getting very excited about Halloween. Although she doesn't truly grasp the concept, she LOVES the "scary" aisle at WalMart and Krogers. She has a vampire that we bought last year (after Halloween on clearance) at Target. She calls him her girlfriend and thinks he is awesome..........

10 things to do when your kid throws a fit.........

OLD PICTURE BUT I LOVE IT!



So, I have been neglecting my blog and PEOPLE are starting to point that out!!! I am sorry, I am feeling lazy, fat, bloated, exhausted, and well I just haven't been in a "blogging mood". But I did read this article and it made me want to voice some of my own thoughts................and well with no one to listen but Maekayla, here I blog again.
So I got my latest issue of American Baby in the mail and the front page was talking to me :" 10 things to do when your kid throws a fit". I was excited to learn that there was more than pulling out your own hair and crawl under a rock. Turns out some people have actually put some thought into this and wanted to share the good news. Now I didn't like all 10, but did find a few that I could keep in my hat of tricks.

NO. 1: Ignore the kid. Now with that I am not sure how it works but they say it does. The logic is that a kid is "out of his mind" while he is throwing a temper tantrum" (that's obvious) and needs to get it out of his system. They say that during a fit the reasoning part of the mind is not working, "UM, you think?"......this one seems kind of common sense to me, but hey that's just me.
NO.2: Give your child some space. So basically ignore......okay just another way of saying number 1. (Maybe 9 things to do....didn't sound as good as 10).
NO.3: Create a diversion. Now this one I try on a daily basis at one point or another. Maekayla gets "off track" while we are out shopping. I try to take toys along to keep her attention, OR we do try to "move on" when she starts melting down. This one I do agree with.
NO.4: Find out what's really frustrating your kid. Okay with this one, they suggest that because children under age 2 1/2 have a 50 word vocabulary or less, they may have issues getting thier needs/wants expressed. So try to empathize with them and then try to help "play detective" to get to the root of the issue. I see where this one can work. Sometimes Maekayla is speaking a totally foreign language to me and I make her take me to the source of what's going on. It tends to work in certain circumstances.
NO.5: HUGS! Okay seriously Maekayla will trash about if she is really upset and you try to confine her during her meltdown. I am not sure of many situations this would fit into, but if it works for you..........GREAT!
NO.6: Offer food or R&R. Okay direct quote from article: "feed them, water them, and let them veg--wheter that means putting them to bed or letting them watch a little TV." This one is totally agreeable with me! If Maekayla is freaking out, her favorite movie of the moment will usually get her to lay out and chill for a bit. Right now we are into Chicken Little and The Wizard of Oz. If all else fails, pop in a DVD. However, if she just ate I am not up for comforting with food. Don't want to start her off with that kind of bad habit.
NO.7: Give your kid incentive to behave. Offer a preemptive bribe before expecting too much of your child. They say this kind of bribing is healthy as long as it's done by your terms and before the situation arises. They suggest if the child starts to go off key, gently remind them of the special treat and that should put them back on track.
NO.8: Speak calmly. This one I agree with IF you can keep your cool long enough for it to work. Most children are just wanting your attention during a melt down and so give them calm, reassuring attention rather than screaming back. Tension tends to just feed more tension anyway.
NO.9: Laugh it off. Keep your cool, just stay on key and don't give in. I am not sure I really understood this one..........whatever.
NO.10: Get out of there. Get away from "the scene of the crime". If you say "We are leaving in 5 minutes whether you are dressed or not", then in 5 minutes leave. Take the clothes with you and wait for the tantrum to pass and then you can address it rationally.

P.S. I am 14 weeks along today!

Zoo Day with MIM!

We took a trip to the Zoo and we took MIM with us! I don't know who had more fun, Mae or Mim! We all shared icecream in the shady grass and then..........We took a ride on the carousel and Mae literally screamed with laughter! She loved riding the "ef-an-ant" and thought it was so funny that Mim was riding a frog! From there we went to feed the birds, where Mae got to close and actually got bit! I had one land on my head for a rest! To say the least it was a fun day with Mim and Mae! After a few hours, we had to load up and go...........it was hot and we were pooped!

I know............it's been a whole week!

So, I have been neglecting my "posing duties". I have not been feeling so hot these days.....THAT WOULD BE BECAUSE I AM PREGNANT!!! So I am not really up the norm these days. I went for an ultrasound this morning and found out that I am right at about 7 1/2 weeks. My due date is the day BEFORE Maekayla's birthday! They will literally be exactly 3 years apart!!!! Whew! Well, at least Maekayla will be at a great age to be helping out as a big sister! She is too cute, she tells everyone "the baby in mommy's belly". LOVE IT!!! We are so excited! So here we go again.................we have to redecorate and reevaluate the house. It is amazing how quickly you can outgrow a home!!! Tony says he is going to turn half the garage into my very own "sewing center" space. That will open the 3rd bedroom up for new nursery. Bad part is that I painted it the darkest brown like a year ago........It is going to take a miracle and a lot of kilz to get it a good lighter color! Pray, pray, pray!


Well, I haven't encountered lots of issues so far into the prego journey. I am just extremely tired and get nausiated after a few bites of eating. I didn't have trouble eating with Mae, this one apparently will be very different! I will keep you posted, I promise! Love!


(generic pic i found online, not mine!)

koozies, koozies and MORE koozies!

Well, this is officially my LARGEST order yet!!!! I had an order from Dr. Taylor, DDS in Hendersonville for over 70 koozies! I think they turned out really cute! Tracy from Dr. Taylor's office delivered them to a couple local pediatric offices with water bottles and flowers in them. She said the girls loved them! They were really precious and made a great gift. Just wanted to share with all..................

How cute is this!!!

I made Maekayla this hairbow with a flower on it, stuck it on this beanie and whhaaa-llllaaaaa! How cute!!! It is just like the ones they sell in boutiques for over $20! And I made it! I am going to start selling these for $14, what do you think?

Saturday at the ZOO

Well, I talked Tony into skipping work for a day and coming with us to the zoo. We had so much fun! It was a hundred degrees outside, but fun nevertheless. It was "Ice Day" so Blue Bell was there giving out free ice cream and they had lots of fun stuff going on. All the animals were out and Mae was even loving on the goats again. She didn't kiss one this time, but she hugged on them. Thought I would share some pics with you of our fabulous family day!