Weekend Adventures

This guy got to take a trip to Chattanooga Saturday with his new bike. While it was rainy & stormy here, the weather was perfect for him & his crew. So glad that he has a fun outlet like this to take some of his stress away =)

While he was out enjoying himself, we were at home...

feeling a little yucky...to put it mildly!

 103 degree fever virus....

I tortured the poor girl even more by making her try on a new dress I made for fall!

but then I managed a few smiles!

 and Zizi managed to weasel out a few chomps

 (This is Blakely's newest obsession-getting chomps from the pantry and sneaking them to her friend...)

Anything that helped her get her mind off of her fever right?!?

sometimes...

Sometimes it just feels to good to get up in the morning...especially a rainy one!

Sometimes it feels good to smile even when you feel tired and sick.... (Parker is on day 7 of fighting the crud)

 Sometimes sleeping in til' 9 is a must!

 Sometimes you don't have to have a reason for staying in your pjs until lunch time...

unless you get hot!

 Sometimes things go wrong in your house-or in our case things ALWAYS seem to go wrong...

*shout out to the hubby for his hard work and saving us thousands on this annoying leak!*

 Sometimes you have to do work (tummy time) even when you don't want to...(Poor Parker still CAN'T STAND tummy time, but per Doctor's orders it is a must)

 Sometimes you want to watch your 'new favorite princess movie' time after time.

 Sometimes yogurt hits the spot, especially after a long, whiney, hot and boring day!

 Sometimes you just need to chill

 Sometimes you get your FIRST tooth =)

The Three Amigos at the ZOO

Today was a first...I attempted the zoo all by myself with these two littles. It couldn't have gone better! I have been severely underestimating these two. It just seemed so overwhelming to me to load both up and go by myself for some reason! I'll definitely up my 'out of the house' adventures in the days to come now that I feel more comfortable with the challenge.

 Looking at the lion

 saying 'call daddy, tell him blakely zoo, blakely zoo!!!' This girl's vocabulary amazes me daily.

 We thought about feeding the giraffes, but I'm not sure she would have liked it...Maybe next time!

 This was the end of our adventure for today!

New Job Celebration

We headed to meet Mimi and Brian for a 'new job' celebration! Clint starts his new job as a financial institution Underwriter for Travelers Insurance on Monday!!! I cannot tell you how excited we are about this and how long we have been waiting on this kind of opportunity! I am so very proud of him and all his hard work to get him here! Clint, you are amazing and I am so very lucky to have such a hard working, loving and devoted husband.

 Blakely was surprisingly great the entire time! She even decided to eat a little bit =)

 This guy was happy too (even though he has a terrible cough and really runny nose). You would never know by this picture!

 There they are: the two best buds out there!

Finding Joy

In this life filled with heartache and really difficult battles one thing is for sure, if you fight for joy-you will find glimpses of it. It is the simplest of things that bring the most joy.

our 'good night rituals'

 washing our cars

a sleepy puppy

 a helping hand

 laughs and love

 an entertaining other half

 a new dress!

using our imagination

 'smelling the roses'

 having the privilege to hang with my best friend all day, every day!

It is really hard sometimes to find joy these days (just being honest). But it is there. Thanks to everyone for your prayers-we can feel them working!

Friday Fun Day!

Blakely is really growing into a little girl. My head spins every time I see or hear her acting like a kid. Where did my baby go?!? She put this clip in Parker's hair and laughed and laughed at herself when I told her boys didn't wear clips. She was able to snap it open and shut in his hair. This amazes me for so many reasons-mainly because she could have never done this just one week ago. 

 This boy L-O-V-E-S his walks. Just look at that smile! Oh, it melts my heart!

 Morning rituals...

 Loves to do everything 'herself' these days-bathe, eat, dress, walk. 'no new bob, "lake-ely" walk! Soooo I let her walk up the huge hill all by herself and what normally takes 5 minutes took around 20...needless to say she got put in the bob for the remainder of the walk (at this rate it would have taken us 4 hours to do our 2 miles).

 GOT TO SEE CAROLINE & HOLD HER!!!!

 Comparing the two is absolutely ridiculous! Parker was born roughly 4 pounds bigger-4 pounds! Hard to believe there is only a 4 month age difference!

 Staged this real quick when Alli was in the other room! =) Not sure she would have approved...

 Hugs and kisses all around! Blurry I know, but too sweet to not include!

 Remember this swing from my house?!? Yea Parker ate it when he was one week old-I'm pretty sure he hit the weight limit right off...Oh well, at least it'll get some good use from Caroline!

 We rearranged our den and got some new chairs for the house-Zizi has claimed this one now! She doesn't really ever get up except for our walks and to eat!

 LOVE HIM!