Pineapples and Pickles

Mourning the No More Training Wheels Thing

2015-07-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

So this video below, these clips below, are such sweet memories for me. I can't quit watching it.

Preston asked us to take off his training wheels this weekend. Now me, being the parent with the helicopter tendencies, said let's raise them first to see how he balances. That lasted five minutes --- it was obvious that he was ready.

I'm so proud of him, and I'm so happy to see him growing and developing. It's almost like I can feel my heart swelling when I think about how happy I am for him and how much I love getting to be his mommy --- cheering him on. There was that twinge of sadness mixed with shock, mixed with a little numbness though. I mean how the hell did this happen so fast --- he's just a baby.

One of the memories I have of my childhood was learning to ride my bike up and down our gravel drive way. I just felt soooo old. I have no idea how old I actually was, but I know I felt much older than four and a half years old. All that said, mentally I just wasn't prepared for him to hit that milestone already.

Congrats on your no-training-wheels success, Mr. P. Yay for me for not crying in front on you or your dad. I can't believe I let you do this (hello, helicopter!) -- that I actually encouraged you to do this. I can't believe you did it so quickly. I was expecting it to take you days, maybe weeks to learn to ride without training wheels. Not five freaking minutes. I can still remember giving you your first bottle (all 2 cc's of breast milk they finally allowed when you were in the ICU) just like it was yesterday. Then it's the training wheels ... off they come. I can't help but feel like you might just graduate and move out tomorrow.

Thanks for the reminder to enjoy every single moment and even appreciate the not-so-good ones because my babies aren't keeping.

Things I love this May.

2015-05-26T21:18:00.003-05:00

1. His guidance and His peace.

I prayed for His guidance and He guided. I prayed for His timing and He said when.

I prayed for an easy surgery and all went ok. I prayed for a quick recovery and so far He's providing.

2. My Mother's Day/ Five Year Anniversary Gift

The hubs surprised me the Friday before Mother's Day and took me to the local jeweler who designed my engagement ring. He pulled in and said, "we're going to pick out a new wedding band." The band we promised we'd get at our 5 year wedding anniversary, but we were fresh in the throws of being new parents. In learning about all the expenses that came along with that, we put it off. This December we'll celebrate nine years so it was a little over due, but at any rate, they custom made it to my preferences, and I love it.

Diamonds around, rose gold setting, and dainty. Those were my three criteria.

3. So proud of Preston.

Back in the fall, his teacher was concerned that Preston didn't know many of his letters or numbers. She mentioned that he had no desire to practice writing. I wasn't overly concerned, but I did start looking for new ways to motivate him to learn about his letters and numbers. I started hitting on what he loved all while sneaking letters and numbers into it without him noticing. We bought the Alphabet Train DVD. This guy loves his trains so this was a win, win.

Alpha Balls also wrote about that time and asked if we would like to try them out. Yes, yes, and yes! These were perfect as it hit on him learning his numbers, but also hit on his gross motor skills which is something he's never really struggled at. I really wish I would have discovered Alpha Balls a while ago.

And here's a letter he wrote to "Ya-ya's mommy" just this week. I asked him many times what this letter said and I still have no idea. I'm thinking this is a not-so-nice-letter. You see "Ya-Ya's mommy" also cleans our house, and this is about the third time that she has completely picked up one of Preston's train tracks to clean his room. I love it --- after all, that's what we're paying her to do, right?! P, on the other hand, it makes him mad, and I think that's exactly what this letter is about. No matter the subject matter, LOOK AT HIS LETTERS! Proud mama, right here.

4. I finally decided to give laser hair removal a try. Zero regrets.

I kind of felt like everyone was already doing this, but I didn't understand the hype, the process, or the pricing. I visited Clearstone for my first and only go so far. You guys, I haven't shaved my legs more than once or twice a week for the past few weeks (note: it takes 2-3 weeks before the follicle to shed the hair). That in and of itself is worth it's price in gold. The Clearstone rep explained the process and actually recommended that I come in once a quarter due to the amount and type of hair that I have ( she commented that I didn't have much hair to begin with --- which was news to me and my razor). That makes it sound even more affordable --- I was thinking I would need to go once a month which had me questioning how I would keep that up. Plus, Clearstone has a reasonable price list compared to some competitors. Honestly, I didn't think it was all that painful either.

5. These two.

Life Lately.

2015-03-17T18:39:00.000-05:00

So remember Preston's fourth birthday party at The Fish Gallery in January?? Well, we bought him a fish tank that day and promised to fill it with fish just as soon as the tank was set up and the water had acclimated. We did just that, and then they all died. Within five days. So we started over, and this time (knock on wood) our fish, all seven of them, are alive, well, and thriving. He told me last week, "Mommy, I love my fishes." I do, too!

It's kind of crazy to say, but these suckers have their own little personalities and it's so fun to watch them. The little molly fish hangs out at the top of the tank all day long. All day long. The one big fish -- I don't even know what kind of fish he is, but we call him "Sneaky Pete" -- he hides in the rock all.day.long. The five little neon tetras, well, they're my absolute favorite.

Ok, enough about fish. I had to share this picture of Preston in this sweater. I was a tad bit obsessed with the sweater, I think it was the elbow patches. Anyhow, I found it on clearance and ordered it. He wore it maybe three times and then I accidentally threw it in the washer. It now fits an itty bitty baby doll. I was disgusted. I tried to restretch the fibers to no avail. {insert sad face here} Anyhow I just wanted a picture of him in it on the blog for safe keeping and to serve as my constant reminder to always sort my laundry properly ;)

I snapped this picture of Hadley one Sunday after church. She's a sweet little thing, and boy oh boy, is she a daddy's girl. I'm starting to take it personally.

The HLSR kicked off a couple weeks ago and we adorned our boots for Go Texan Day. Preston loves any excuse to get to wear his cowboy boots and hat. Hadley, though, she couldn't care less about Go Texan Day (see below for the full drama) but she did indeed love her boots, a gift from her Grrr.

Their preschool and day care had a Go Texan festival with a petting zoo and pony rides.

Poor-Bear died a year ago to the date of Go Texan Day this year, and just three days prior to Go Texan Day Preston and I were walking out of school when he said, "Mommy, I wish Pooh-Bear can come back to life for just one day so I can ride him." {insert real big sad face here} That made me super sad. He was all smiles though to be back in the saddle just a few days later. We all miss sweet Pooh-Bear so much.

And, finally, meet Miss Lucy Kate. She's my new niece, and she looks just like her mommy in this picture. Sweet girl!

Spring, Blessington Farms, Sweet Kids.

2015-03-06T13:23:00.000-06:00

One of the perks of being a Houston Moms Blog team member is all the cool and sometimes free stuff we get. Blessington Farms partnered with Houston Moms Blog back in 2014 and gave each member a pass for admission and free strawberries. So between all the cold snaps and the rainy weekends, we took advantage of a Saturday with amazing weather and headed out to Blessington Farms. The kids had the blast.

Preston would cut the strawberries, put them in his basket, and Hadley would go right behind him, pulling them all out. Haha! Little sisters are so fun.

I must say that Preston, Mr. Picky eater -- Mr. Never-eats-fruits-or-veggies, now is all about eating strawberries as a result of this day. Thank you, Jesus!

He slid down the slides no less than 50 times.

Then we went on a train ride. No, it's not really a train per say, but anything that connects and pulls in a similar fashion is a train in Preston's train-obsessed world.

Hadley refused to ride in my lap. She is the queen of do-it-herself. I can't imagine where in the world she gets that from?!

They both loved the animals.

One of the owners even let Preston hold Goldie. Proud of himself would be an understatement.

Either the goat didn't care for Preston's handling of Goldie or he wanted to climb in P's lap also.

Little did I know at the time, but this would be the very last picture of Hadley holding or taking a bottle. It wasn't her last bottle --- that came just a couple of weeks later --- just her last picture. It makes me sad all the same, though. She's growing up entirely too darn fast.

Of course, Hadley had to have a wardrobe change in the middle of it all.

Looking forward to warmer weather, more time outside, and, most of all, to making more memories with these sweet kiddos of mine.

Cirque du Soleil Giveaway

2015-02-06T07:54:00.003-06:00

I've never been to a Cirque du Soleil show before, but that's all about to change this year. All I need is a babysitter (currently accepting applications on that!) and the hubs and I will heading out for a date night --- a date night that consists of Cirque du Soleil's amazing AMALUNA show.

More information can be found here, but from what I read it's a love story that will be put to test (aren't all love stories?) throughout the show. And as a tribute to women, it is a Cirque du Soleil first that the cast will be 70% women with a 100% female band.

In addition to providing tickets for our date night, Cirque du Soleil is giving away a pair of tickets to their AMALUNA show on Wednesday, February 18th at 8:00PM at Sam Houston Race Park. For those of you living in Houston, you can enter below to win. Maybe I'll see you there, and for more changes to win you can also enter here and here.

You can follow all the AMALUNA fun with this links :: Facebook// Instagram // You Tube // Tumblr // Google + // #amaluna on Twitter

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happy no. 4, preston!

2015-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

We celebrated 4 amazing years with Preston on January 4th! I wanted to have a train-themed party at our house this year with a ride-on train on our cul-de-sac. The husband quickly vetoed that as we are two for two on rain at the last two parties we held at our house --- our house is not big enough for entertaining entering on the inside.

After that veto came, I went searching online. The Fish Gallery came up, and it seemed unique and reasonable, price wise. So we had a fish themed party --- and we promised Preston a fish tank and fish for his birthday. We're still acclimating his tank for his fish, but here in a couple of weeks we'll have a handful of fish for his tank.

He had the best time with his friends --- especially with his BFF from school for two years in a row (pictured center just below).

The Fish Gallery brought out a few sea creatures for the children to touch and hold. They also got to feel the koi fish tanks as well as watch them feed the fish in their large fish tank, while getting a front row seat and an up close look at the fish.

If you're look to host a party at The Fish Gallery in Houston then I promise you that you won't need any decor. Their room is already decorated perfectly. I had a few items that I threw up the night before but that was because I already had them --- not because I needed them.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

Love Preston's "wow" face.

Thank you to our friends who came out to celebrate with us.

Preston, I love you and your crazy, can't-sit-still personality. You are highly emotional, and I love it --- you come by it naturally (points finger at myself). I adore you. I adore your heart. I adore the four years that God has given me with you. Here's to many more, dude!

All about Preston at 4:

lover of all things train, favorite color is blue, best friend is Owen.

great swimmer, not a fan of letters or numbers, loves train videos on the iPad.

loves nuggets, pizza, CHIPS, shredded cheese, eggs, bacon, waffles, and goldfish.

takes your gummy vitamins like they're candy.

is fully potty trained, and even sleeps without a diaper at night as of about a month ago (can I get a woohoo!)

loves your cowboy boots and cowboy hat. loves christmas music and is still singing it even though the holidays ended a few weeks ago (you come by that naturally also).

obsessed with wolves, loves to watch animals on tv with dad, and also loves to watch Gold Rush (pulled out the whole "excavator" terminology on me a few weeks ago).

loves to make fun of your Grrr and say "Okay' in your sweet high pitched voice.

You're awesome, dude. I love you so much.

In love with Laceez.

2015-01-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Recently, Laceez sent us a nice little surprise package full of their no tie shoelaces for kiddos. I had no idea that I would come to appreciate these babies just as much as I do. Amaze-balls. Game Changer.

One day I will conquer the whole learn-to-tie-your-shoes battle, but for now I am rejoicing that one of my kiddos can dress himself from head to toe! Efficient, effective, and they come in a ton of fun colors. My mornings just got a little better.

You can learn more about Laceez here.

Falalalala --- our Christmas recap.

2014-12-28T21:54:00.000-06:00

We had such a great holiday season, though, I will admit that I was constantly shaking the bah-humbug feeling all month long. This has never happened before (I LOVE the holidays), but at the end of the day we just overcommitted and over scheduled. There was just a lot going on. Going to avoid this next year. I expect you guys to remind me of this come November 2015.

Even though I struggled with the bah-hugbugness of it all, I must admit that Christmas as a parent is sooo much fun. Here are some of my favorite snaps of our holiday season that I definitely wanted to document here.

First up, the hubby's company throws a kids' holiday party each year. Here are our pics from it, complete with a Santa pic.

Now that Miss Hadley has more hair and that it's actually growing, we can see the curls in the back of her hair. In love! She is finally letting me play with her hair some. First pigtails coming later here.

Preston teased the Grinch.

Hadley clearly wasn't a fan of Santa, but we threw her on Santa's lap again later that day. Ha!

Then there was our Sunday School Christmas party. Love this group of people!

He needed a new helmet. So why not a teenage mutant ninja turtle helmet? And why not wear it 24/7 and not just when on his bike?

So other randoms ...

Hadley likes to climb. She is my climber. No worries, though, big brother to the rescue. Really, he wanted to make sure she kept her hands off of Zelf (our elf on the shelf) who was hanging out just inches above her in his stocking.

This picture will always make me smile because any time he has his Buzz Lightyear pjs on, he will ~~point~~ push the buttons on the shirt and say "Star Command, star command, come in, come in." Another button makes him jump in place. Love his imagination!

See, pigtails!!!!!!

Now Christmas ...

Pigtails, again!

Santa came early on Christmas eve to give each child some special gifts.

This is Hadley's version of a hug. Her hugs are pretty darn awesome.

Santa came to our house.

Learning all about her new kitchen!

This gift, though, was the hit of the year! I asked him if he wanted to name it. Of course he did --- and of course, it's name is Polar Express. He watches it for hours --- stopping every once and a while to "pick up the kids."

He is digging his new superman backpack.

Christmas Day was beautiful --- we enjoyed some much needed sunlight and mimosas on the culdesac. I love this pic of all the parents watching the kiddos play.

And, finally, I adore how he says caboose. I hope he says it this way forever ;)

Phew, that was a lot of catching up over the past week. Now I have a 4 year old birthday party to throw on Saturday. {{tear}} I promise I will be more diligent in updating the blog next year.

Catching up.

2014-12-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

Determined to update this ol' blog of mine before the end of the year. I've been so neglectful.

First up, documenting Halloween 2014. Happy Owl-o-ween! Since Hadley was an itty bitty baby, I've always thought that she would be an owl for her first birthday. I never mentioned it, though, and one day we were all playing in P's room when I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween. I was floored when he said an owl. So I took it and ran with it. Matching (homemade) owls they were. I realize this will likely be the only year they will ever match. Boys will be boys and girls will be girls from here on out, I suppose.

Next up, Thanksgiving. My dad and brother came to our house for the day. Just like the rest of the fall, Hadley was just getting over a virus (a virus with an all-time-high-for-this-house, 105.3 fever) and Preston was running a low grade temp all of Thanksgiving day. sigh.

Hadley treating herself to the pink salad!

And finally, this post wouldn't be complete without an update from our yearly Cardiology appointment. We went the week before Thanksgiving. Just like the past few years, Preston got a great report. Thank you, Jesus! His cardiologist commented that perhaps his aortic valve is a tad bit more leaky than before, but at the end of the day she again has no concerns for the time being and said she would see us again in a year. So grateful for The Big Man's provision over P's little life.

celebratory lunch afterwards complete with a new train for the good little patient.

Merry Christmas 2014!

2014-12-23T21:55:00.000-06:00

So now that our holiday cards have hopefully hit all mailboxes ...

Merry Christmas!

Thank you, Minted, for supplying our holiday cards this year.

We be holidaying ... with Adam Levine.

2014-12-23T21:43:00.000-06:00

If I die tomorrow then I'll die a happy woman because I saw Maroon 5 and Adam Levine at the hubby's company Holiday party on 12.13.14.

Each year we spend the night in The Woodlands for said holiday party (the company pays for a portion of the hotel room plus there's free booze so we don't think of driving). The Gerkin and I always enjoy our night alone, kid-free, and this year was no exception. I definitely enjoyed my company (the hubs and Kristy from Seven Graces), buuut Adam Levine was in the house and I might adore him a little bit.

The hubs is fully aware of my love affair with Mr. Levine --- he's come to terms with it. In fact, lovely hubby kept snapping pics of me during the concert because I couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear.

Anyhow, back to the preshow for a second. We did some mock gambling with these lovelies. About 45 minutes before Maroon 5 was said to come on we all decided to "go all in" and we lost our butts. We took that as a sign, and it was then we decided to go into the concert hall. Good thing we did because it was filling up fast, but we snagged some space at the corner of the stage and stood our ground. There were some feisty women there, and I'm quite certain that one feisty little grandma fighting her way to the front had absolutely no idea who Adam Levine was prior to this night. :)

Kristy and I plus our DryBar blow outs!

Now for the good part. Here are the 243 pictures I snapped of Adam plus my combined video footage from the night. Eat your heart out, ladies!

My apologies for the poor sound. We were right beside the speaker which means the Gerkin's ~~selective~~ hearing just got way worse.

So fun! Love you, Gerkin and AL!

Not sure how his company will ever top this party!

Then, the glory of it all, is that we walked right up to our room for a good night's sleep with no little people or dogs in our bed. Dare I say that I missed them all, though.

We be believing ... on the Polar Express.

2014-12-23T09:53:00.001-06:00

We finally took Preston to ride the Polar Express in Palestine this year. I do not lie when I say that Polar Express has been his favorite movie for years now --- even in July when it's too hot to even dream about Christmas. So this was long overdue for our train-loving dude, but the time was right for our family.

Preston loved every minute.

He spent a good part of fifteen minutes running up and down the tracks when we got there, his copy of Polar Express for Santa to sign in tow.

Hadley loved dancing on the table (hopeful that this is not a sign of what's in her future). And she and I fought over that bow in her hair all afternoon.

When we got to the North Pole, they turned out the lights on the train before driving through all the lights. We could see Santa waving to us from outside the train. Then over the intercom they said, "Close your eyes and make a wish and maybe Santa will come on board." I looked across the table to see P squeeze his eyes shut for a few seconds. I have no doubt he willed Mr. C on that train. :)

Mr. C was very intentional with the kids --- I loved this! He went slow, gave them each a bell, talked to them, and took pictures with them. Preston later told me that Santa said he was nice. Then Mr. C signed his copy of the Polar Express. I'm telling you this was a dream come true for this little dude.

We enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies, but we mostly ate the homemade cookies that one of my patients made and brought to us (she lives in Palestine and jumped at the opportunity to come meet my kiddos --- I have the best ~~patients~~ friends). I love this next picture --- that mug of hot cocoa is bigger than his face but he's determined to do it on his own.

It was such a fun experience, and I'll hold these memories close for a LONG time. I love Christmas through the eyes of a child. There's nothing better.

Thanks, Uncle Bubba, for riding along with us.

It's Merry & Bright ( & a Minted giveaway)

2014-11-06T08:36:00.000-06:00

Super excited to be working with Minted again this year for holiday cards. I, seriously, could spend and do spend hours browsing through Christmas cards each year, especially the adorable ones at Minted's site. They have the most precious designs. And they're giving away $150 credit to their site to one lucky reader --- more on that later.

I love their "Find It Fast" feature where you can upload a photo of your choice and see your photo in tons of different card options at once. I'm not sure if this is a new feature this year or if I just missed it in the past, but I LOVE it. Love, love, love it. More about the Find It Fast feature here --- trust me, you'll absolutely love it.

That said, none of the below are the actual Christmas cards we are sending out. I like for it to be a sweet little mailbox surprise, but thanks to the find it fast feature and the ability to see my own photos in the card option while viewing, I fell in love with about 18 potential cards this year. It was so hard to pick in the end, but I had fun playing.

How adorable would this one be with a little red, buffalo check ribbon tied around it?!?!

Love the wreath in this one. And isn't that Hadley girl the sweetest?!

Love the simplicity of this one!

Love the pink and red in this card. Love this picture and how it documents Preston's true obsession with trains.

Below are a few more favorite contenders that my photos just didn't work for size wise, but I do love them!

The best part about this post is that Minted is giving away $150 credit to one lucky winner! Enter here. It's super easy to enter --- just your name and your e-mail.

Entries accepted here ... good luck!

Lately ...

2014-10-19T14:25:00.001-05:00

Soooo, I doubt that anybody still comes to this ol' blog since I never update it anymore. Sorry. I'm playing catch up, though, and have a ton of random, yet sweet, memories and pictures to share!

Preston's playing soccer shots at school and he loves it!

Hadley bug is full on walking and cruising every where.

And they like to driveway dance and preferably to Pharrell's Happy.

I've been super busy lately, but all for a good reason. In September, I spent a weekend away with two of my besties. We really stunk at taking pictures and documenting the whole weekend. The following weekend I spent the weekend with Houston Moms Blog and many other City Moms Blog Network cities for a fun conference, and I got to meet a couple "friends" who I've "known" for years through blogging and social media. Friends who prayed for us during Preston's uncertainty and his open heart surgery, and friends we've prayed for off and on through the years. It's crazy how social media can connect people from all over and create such a community! I'm glad that I can now say I "know" these ladies in real life, and not just through social media now.

Our Ya-Ya took Preston for the weekend in early October, and we got some sweet alone time with Hadley --- just a few days shy of her first birthday. I know I am 100% biased, but y'all, isn't she beautiful?!

Of course we've already hit up the pumpkin patch a couple of times now! Preston was extremely sad to leave his Ya-Ya's house just before church and the pumpkin patch so I only got one smile from him below and that was a fake, half-smile. That boy loves his Ya-Ya.

Hadley loved the pumpkins!

She turned O-N-E on the 7th. Sorry for the blurry pic below, but it's the last picture I have of her as an eleven-month old. The last picture of her as a true baby, though she'll always be my baby girl.

We celebrated her birthday with sprinkles and donuts that morning and then her 12 month check up and vaccines later that day.

Again it's blurry, but we love pumpkins and skeletons around here!

Here is this years skeleton picture ::

Here is last years ::

Sweet things! They've changed a lot over the year, and I love them more and more every day.

For the past couple of years, we've been involved in starting a new worship community here in Houston. It's called The Story. The website is still in development, but you can check out the Facebook page here. Today was the first preview service, and it was amazing. Good music, good food, great message, standing room only. I can't wait to see the great things God does through this community.

Preston LOVES school and his friends! He uses the word "dude" all the time and it cracks me up ... except when he uses it sarcastically. Most of the time it's cute, though. Like "Hey, mom, let's go, dude" or "You're silly, dude."

So that's us as of late. Busy, but blessed. And trying to take as many pictures as I can because time is flying by.

Adios, summer! (plus a $200 giveaway)

2014-09-15T06:51:00.000-05:00

This is a sponsored post by Dr. Smith's, but as always all opinions in this post are my own.

This weekend our Houston weather was in the 70s and low 80s. We spent much of the weekend outside, watching my kiddos and the neighbor kiddos play in the culdesac. When any of the kids asked to go inside, I could hear my husband and one of the other husbands quickly reply, "Nope, we're enjoying the nice weather for a change."

So with that, my fall candles are lit as I type this post. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm been lighting fall candles for a few weeks now just willing fall to be here anyway I could. Now that we've actually had a little taste of more fall-like weather, I feel like I can officially say goodbye to summer.

The sweetest thing about this summer was who I got to spend this summer with --- my family! It was our first summer as a family of four. It was so much fun to have Hadley be a part of our travels this summer. To be honest, I was a little nervous about her, but turns out there was nothing to worry about. Love her chill, little, go-with-the-flow attitude. She is such a happy baby girl.

Preston blew us away this summer --- I mean he just grew up so much over the past few months. Riding his bike all over the culdesac and to the nearby creek for our daily turtle watching. Swimming without floaties. Sliding down pool slides. Jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side all alone!

Hadley started taking steps on her own, learned to love the water, started eating us out of the house, and learned to wave!

We went to Watersound, Florida with sweet friends, and, even though we didn't think it was possible, we loved it even more than last year! We traveled to Hunt, Texas with some super special families from our Sunday School class! I saw my fair share of scorpions while in Hunt. If you really know me, then you know how absolutely terrified I am of scorpions! All in all, I still hate those suckers, but I will must admit that this trip may have been a tad therapeutic for my phobia. I think they call it flooding in psychology. :)

photo credit :: Darris Hartman

Both trips, I traveled with my Dr. Smith's diaper rash treatments. The first trip, I took my trusty ol' ointment like I do on every trip we take --- especially during the summer when it's hot and we spend a lot of time in the pool. That is always a recipe for diaper rash in my kiddos. Dr. Smith's sent me a nice little surprise just before our last trip, though, and I got to try out their new spray while traveling. I'm a huge fan of anything Dr. Smith's related, but I personally love how easy the spray is to use, especially on a squirmy 11 month old! Seriously, it's a breeze to use. Thank you, Dr. Smith's for your amazing products, and for all the years you've helped me change diapers.

Dr. Smith's is giving away some prize packs for a few lucky winners. First place will receive a $200 Visa gift card AND a Dr. Smith's Prize Pack. And three runners up will receive Dr. Smith's Prize Packs. Enter below to win. The giveaway will end on Sunday, September 21st at midnight. Good luck!

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PRV's Heart Heroes Cape

2014-09-09T12:28:00.002-05:00

Preston has just recently became interested in all things superhero related. It's fun to watch his interests change as he grows.

Earlier this year I sent in a request for a heart heroes cape to be made for him, and it came in the mail just about a month ago --- and just about the time he really started paying attention to all the super hero stuff!

Thank you to the folks over at Heart Heroes for making this little super-hero dude smile.

I love his excitment when he gets something new. He always says "for me?" Then he says the mail man bought it for him. That might be a sign that I shop online way too much. ;)

I'm so thankful for his health and his good prognosis. I know there are others out there who have and are dealing with difficult situations and who hear bad prognosis after bad prognosis. I know that our sitation could have been far worse. I try never to take our blessings for granted --- I'm thankful every day for this guys, his health, and the miracle that we were granted with him.

For the Home.

2014-09-09T12:26:00.003-05:00

I feel like our home has been neglected for the past few years. We've had a couple cute little distractions that kept us busy. We've kicked into full gear recently, though. We took down the shed that was taking up space in the back yard, we planted grass, and we've updated a few things on the inside, hung a new light fixture, and such. We desperately need to repaint the baseboards and the kitchen, but with Hadley learning to walk and running into the walls with her toys and walkers we will hold off for another few more months to a year on that.

So our house is definitely feeling the wear and tear of two small kid, and I wouldn't have that any other way. I've recently started looking for ways to change things up and spruce up the place a bit. Serena & Lily is one of my favorite places to start.

Oh my goodness, this pop of green?! Obsessed. Straight from the Serena & Lily fall collection.

Love this sweet little baby blanket. This might just happen to be the color combo for Hadley's one year old birthday party! Yes, I know --- I'm not quite sure how she's already almost a year old.

I still don't have a good rug for Hadley's room, but I do love the colors in this one.

We're looking for a new coffee table as the other table we had was too big for the room (anyone else feel like living space just becomes smaller and smaller once you have kids) and I came across this one about a month ago. I told my husband that I had found the perfect coffee table ... then he saw the price! It is not in his budget.

I'm clearly drawn to color these days. :)

Serena & Lily did provide me with a gift card in exchange for this post. As always, all opinions represented are my own.

Preschool and DayCare 2014

2014-08-22T14:25:00.000-05:00

So after saying goodbye to Ya-Ya on Monday, I packed lunches and backpacks in preparation for Hadley's first day (ever) of daycare and Preston's first day of preschool-3. This is the first time that both will be in school/day care full time. I was so nervous about Tuesday, but there were no tears from any of us at drop off. Hadley seriously didn't even seem to care.

Preston's best friend is in his class again this year --- those two are thick as theives. And they'll be playing soccer together this year.

Small world --- turns out that Preston's sweet little teacher used to teach with Aunt Lauren.

I'm also now room mom for Preston's class. Now, I know that's not terribly exciting but the way I came to this decision is quite exciting. Here goes ... P's head teacher e-mailed on Tuesday asking if I would consider being room mom. On Wednesday night, I was about to write and decline the position because with working full time and some other obligations especially this exciting one, I though my plate might be a little too full already. Then I remembered that earlier that day Preston's teacher sent out an e-mail saying to check our child's belonging because his assistant teacher's ring broke and her diamond fell out. So I went to check Preston's backpack and guess what was in the bottom of his backpack? Said diamond was in the bottom of his backpack! I took that as a sign and accepted the position.

Hadley is one of 8 girls in her sweet little class --- one being her BFF below!

An ode to our Ya-Ya.

2014-08-19T13:08:00.000-05:00

With tears streamed down my face and so many sweet memories in our hearts, we waved good-bye to our nanny yesterday afternoon. Other than the occasional baby-sitting visits here and there, yesterday was her last day as our nanny.

She started working with us when Preston was 3 months old --- you can see above just how much he grew to love her over the past three years. Because of Preston's heart condition and his open heart surgery as an infant, the doctors recommended a nanny as opposed to day care. We hired Rosa with the intentions of keeping her for about a year, BUT we fell in love with her and so did my kids. Our neighbors constantly told us how impressed they were when they saw Rosa with my kids --- "she really loves them," they would say. They were right.

Preston called her "mama" and me "mama" for the first two years of his life. The husband got a big kick out of that, and really liked to pour salt on an open wound with that one. Deep down, though, I was just so glad Preston was loved and cared for so well. It was much easier leaving the home for our day jobs knowing that he was with her. I'm fairly certain that she held Preston all day, every day for the first two years of his life. She was so protective of my kids --- I almost thought she was going to throw down with another nanny at the park one day because said nanny called Preston a "mean boy." It took Rosa awhile (months, maybe even a year) to calm down after that. :)

After two years of calling her "mama," he then started calling her Ya-Ya. Not sure where or how he came up with that, but it stuck and we loved it. Then came Hadley! She certainly had her hands full with both, and she was always sure to have her alone time with Preston each and every day. She was sure to fatten my little 5 pound baby right on up. We can think Ya-Ya for all those rolls you see!

God's hand has been in this relationship the whole time. From the way we heard about Rosa, then to our meeting her for the first time, the way we joke that our "dogs hired Rosa" the moment she walked in, to the timing of her leaving our family and the kids starting full time preschool and daycare, God was in it all.

Ya-Ya has a grandbaby of her own now, born on August 14th, who she will be helping take care of. Plus the following day they received two offers on their house so very soon she and her family will be relocating further away with an unrealistic commute to our house daily. Then her last day was the 18th. Talk about perfect timing, huh?! That gives me complete peace that we are right where God wants us all to be.

So as we walked Ya-Ya out yesterday, she and I both with tears spilling, we gave her hugs and told her once again just how much she meant to us. We will never forget her. We hope that she comes back to visit and babysit occasionally. Preston's already said he wants to go spend the night with her soon. I'm praying that my plants don't die --- Ya-Ya definitely has a green thumb and she is the orchid-whisperer. She can get an orchid to bloom over and over again.

We know that any life Ya-Ya touches will be blessed. So we said good-bye so she can go bless other children's lives the way she's blessed ours. We love you, Ya-Ya, and we miss you already.

HEV :: 9 months

2014-07-11T14:37:00.000-05:00

I know it sounds so cliché, but it feels like I just brought her home from the hospital. How has it been 9 months already!?

Here she is at nine months ( plus five days), 18 pounds, still with her blue eyes, and finally getting some hair.

She is crawling and pulling up on everything. She walks with a push toy/walker thing-a-ma-jig --- falls about every fifth or sixth step, but walking. She is having some major separation anxiety issues. I think that will soon just have to resolve itself because she starts day care for the first time ever on August 19th. Let's pray that it resolves itself before then. Just in case it doesn't, I have taken the day off to cry.

I'm putting more bows in her hair and she's tolerating them. That makes me smile.

She slept great for the first 7ish months of her life. Now don't get me wrong, she's still a fairly good sleeper today (especially when you compare her to her brother at this age), but she likes to wake up at either 11:45 pm or 4:45 am. We all go right back to sleep though ~~with her nestled in between us in bed~~.

I can't believe it's going by this quickly. I've already been all over pinterest and have already started ~~brainstorming~~, oh who am I kidding, planning her first birthday party. And that definitely makes me want to cry.

One of my most favorite things about Hadley is just how observant she is. I don't know if it's just a girl thing or her personality, but when I'm holding her sometimes she will intentionally turn to look at me. Then she will look at me for a minute or two like she's studying my face, then she will reach out and touch softly touch my cheek, my hair, or my nose. She also gets a kick out of when I put my sunglasses on. She looks at me and starts laughing.

Love her so much!

Tried and True :: a few of my favorite things

2014-07-02T15:33:00.000-05:00

I was missing my product of the week posts a little so I decided to throw a post together with some of my favorite, kid-related, things of late.

Preston is in LOVE with these Melissa & Doug sets. I just fill the pen with water and let him have at it. It's resulted in hours of clean, no mess, entertainment. He's specifically loving the Melissa & Doug splash cardscurrently.

available here.

Not totally a tried and true yet as I've only had it for a couple of months now, but it's definitely a recommendation. I was so torn about ordering on of these Go Pod things before we took off for Florida a few weeks ago, but I'm so glad I did. We used it at the beach. We've used it out on our cul-de-sac during our neighborhood par-tays, and we've used it in our own backyard. I love that we can throw it over our shoulders and carry outdoors or throw it in the car to take to our destination --- which I wish were the beach every single day. I searched high and low for one (no luck at my usual Babies R Us or my trusty ol' Amazon), but was able to score from here.

I used an aden + anais sleep sack with Preston, and I'm here to tell you that I'm using them again with Miss Hadley. I could not love these more. They're lightweight and I love the designs. You can view all the designs here. Hadley is actually wearing the ones that Preston wore when he was little which makes me love them even more. How in the world are my babies growing so fast?

I'm an organization junkie --- I just love a good system. I ordered these Land of Nod wire wall baskets back when I was designing Preston's big boy room. They're great for anything, but I especially use them for those small toys that don't really have a "home" or don't really belong with anything else in his room. When Preston asks where a certain toy is, even that tiny, most random toy that he played with 4 months ago and completely forgot about until now, I can almost 9 times out of 10 find it. I think it drives my husband crazy, but I take great pride in it. :)

available here.

Now I know this isn't a kid item necessarily, but I start keeping a Mom's One Line a Day journal after Hadley was born. I don't just write about Hadley or my memories of Hadley, rather I use it for both of my kids, my husband, myself, and anything I want to jot down about our crazy little life together. I wasn't sure how it would work out and if I would use it daily, but let's just say that if my house were to catch on fire this would be one of the items I would definitely try to grab. My most recent entry is how Preston declared that I was his "best friend forever" while we were on vacation in Florida.

This should be no surprise to anyone as this is most definitely a tried and true for us, we love us some PraiseBaby collection in our house! Preston would watch it without blinking as a baby (he still asks to watch it even as a 3 year old), but I think Hadley might be a bit more obsessed with it.

just because

2014-06-07T22:18:00.000-05:00

This post brought to you ... just because I want to document these pics of my littles!

When I put Hadley down now she takes off crawling. She's fast and she heads off to one of two places --- her bubba's room or the bathroom. She loves just being in P's room (it's toys galore in there) though she's really after one thing --- his beloved train table. See ...

In addition to his obsession with all things choo-choo, Preston loves to play basketball, football, and/or soccer. He often gets them all mixed up (says football when it's really basketball), but it's all the same to him and he has fun doing it. In fact, he told me he wanted to "play soccer next week" as in he wanted to sign up to play with friends. It might not happen next week, but that's all he had to say ... I'm off to the Y this fall to sign my boy (my heart baby) up for soccer. Thank you, Lord, for his health and for your continued provision over his little life.

Back to Hadley, I swear she is getting more hair --- it's just light and it's starting from the back and slowly making its way forward. Forget the hair, though, I really don't notice because I can't get past her blue eyes. So many people have warned me or told me stories about how their blue-eyed kids or grandkids were blue as a baby and then turned green when the kiddos were about 2 or 3 years old. Since my mom had green eyes and Tony's mom has green eyes, I won't be surprised if that happens. Either way, I love them.

She pulls up and stands on everything she can. I wasn't quite ready for this stage just yet, but it's here. I fear she will be walking, or rather stumbling, soon.

Above all else, I LOVE to see Preston and Hadley interacting together. Today on our walk, he keep reaching over from his stroller seat and patting her leg until she was asleep. Tony and I just nudge each other and smile without saying anything --- Preston will stop if he hears us talking about it.

They are seriously having a lot of fun together already, and I can imagine it will only get better from here.

Yes, I know this picture is as blurry as all get out, but I love it because I love his little smile and laugh. It's truly contagious.

Earlier this week as Preston and I were driving to school, he looked out the window and said "I wish a big storm would come. And a big crack." translation: crack = thunder I asked why and said "wouldn't you be scared?" He goes "No, we could snuggle." And with his duh-don't-you-know expression he says, "All boys like to snuggle with their mommies."

These two are pretty awesome. I couldn't love them more if I tried.

And, I can't even believe that Miss Hadley is 8 months old today.

i {heart} minted.

2014-05-22T18:00:00.000-05:00

I love a good monogram, so I'm especially loving the looks of my new personalized stationary from Minted. The gold lettering got me --- it was love at first sight.

Don't miss Minted's Memorial Day sale going on right now --- 15% off kids' stationary, announcements, and artwork. Even if you're not ready to personalize (think birth announcements and party invitations) you can still buy now and personalize later.

And on another note, how in the world are we already celebrating Memorial Day!?

*Minted provided me with personalized stationary in exchange for this post. As always, though, all opinions expressed are my own.

i {heart} these kids & mini Boden.

2014-05-20T22:24:00.000-05:00

These kiddos of mine are so unbelievably fun right now. Preston says the craziest things these days. He is constantly cracking us up. Not only is he saying crazy things, but he does the silliest things. He's super sweet these days and so very creative and imaginative. His most favorite thing recently has been his evening bike rides with his dad --- they both ride their own bikes side by side through the hood. They like to ride to the nearby creek and listen to the "frogs honk." See ... I told you he's the silliest. And I'm sure it will chance soon, but he LOVES to get new clothes (especially shoes) --- and I LOVE picking them out for him.

Mini Boden is one of my favorite brands for Preston. The quality is there --- it stands up well against a rough, super-active, three year old boy. I adore there color combos for little boys.

We recently tried out a pair of Mini Boden shoes, specifically boat shoes for Preston. He loves nothing more than his cowboy boots but these are a close second for sure. These will very likely be a repeat buy each summer.

When I think of Boden for kids and babies, though, I have to say that the first thing that comes to mind is their adorable selection of swimwear. If you follow me on instagram you probably know by now about our #dailyturtlewatching. Our family has a little tradition of walking a couple blocks to a small creek in our hood and watch the turtles ... we've seen as many as 20 turtles in there at one time. That being said, I knew these turtle trunks belonged to Mr. P as soon as I saw them.

Don't worry, Hadley isn't missing out on all the fun. Baby Boden has too many precious options for me to not have a couple sent our way. Here's my big girl (who, within the past 3 days, has started crawling and pulling up on things) in her new Baby Boden dresses. She's growing up way too fast. I'm not ready for this, y'all.

If you've been eyeing something at Boden, Mini Boden, or Baby Boden then now is the time to act. Use code N8E6 to get 20% off PLUS free shipping and free returns until midnight tomorrow (5/21) and then 15% off plus free shipping and free returns until midnight on 5/22/14 using code N8E6.

The sweet folks over at Boden are giving away a $25 gift card to one lucky reader. Enter below to win.

a Rafflecopter giveawayHappy Shopping!

**Boden USA provided my kids merchandise in exchange for this post. As always, though, all opinions expressed are my own.

HEV's Baptism

2014-05-18T21:30:00.001-05:00

We baptized Hadley on Mother's Day. Sweet girl was 7 months and 1 week old. This was also the two year anniversary of my sweet MawMaw's passing. So this day meant a lot to me --- and was perfect for Hadley's baptism and our vows to do everything possible to always point her to Christ.

Just like every other day (ha!), Hadley was so chill and relaxed. Preston wanted to go to Sunday School so we arrived early for that which gave Tony and I to hang out with Hadley for a bit by ourselves. Here are the pics ...

And our first family photo where we are ALL smiling. Maybe one of these days we will all be smiling at the SAME camera. Ha!

You'll never be a perfect parent, but you can be a praying parent.

You don't have to do everything right as a parent, but there is one thing you cannot afford to get wrong. That one thing is prayer. It covers a multitude of sins, it turns ordinary parents into prophets who shape the destiny of generations to come, and it's the most lasting legacy you can leave. Your prayers live on, long after you die, in the lives of those you leave behind.

Mark Batterson, in one of my favorite books.

Matthew 19:14