Young Party of Four

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is quickly approaching. We are very serious about making sure that Kenzie and Will learn the real meaning behind Christmas and the reason we celebrate. That being said, we are also very into the fun portion of Christmas... Santa, the tree, and now, Elf on a Shelf. This year my parents purchased us the Elf on a Shelf when they went to North Carolina and visited a huge Christmas store. We stashed away the elf and waited.... It is now officially time to break out the elf and start our newest holiday tradition. Last year we started an advent activities tradition. Kenzie really seemed to enjoy it. Each day leading up to Christmas we did a new activity. We are bringing that back this year and I think it will be a fun tradition for years to come. Our elf showed up today. Kenzie actually spent last night with Nana and Papa at their timeshare while they are still in town after Thanksgiving. When they brought her home tonight she t...

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! Thanksgiving is a time when we get together with our families and celebrate giving thanks. Too often I think we forget that the word "Thanks" is even in this holidays and all we think that Thanksgiving is good for is turkey, the Macy's Parade, and football. Now... I'm not knocking any of those things. I love turkey, the parade, and (of course) some good football, but I think it's important to remember to give thanks for all we have. I wanted to share 10 things I am thankful for this year. I figured I would share them with the blog world because giving thanks shouldn't be something we only do in private. I think we should sing our thanks from the rooftop. 1. My children. These two are the light of my life. I am so thankful that God chose us to be there parents and me to be their mommy. It is an honor. 2. My husband. He is such a great man. I am so thankful everyday for him. We might have arguments at times, but he is my l...

Answer: What is... are you kidding? Did you know that roughly 10-25% of children are born with an umbilical hernia? What is an umbilical hernia,  you ask? Well, let me tell you. Especially since I know way more about them than any person other than a doctor probably needs to. Basically, an umbilical hernia occurs when there is a weak spot in the belly that never closed after birth and intestines, fluid, or fat pushes through it. Usually, when a baby is born, the umbilical cord is cut and the hole through which everything flowed into the baby via the umbilical cord while they were in utero closes up. Then you get those cute little belly buttons that most babies have. Sometimes though, that doesn't happen and the hole remains allowing whatever is inside to push through. In most children that isn't really a big deal. Actually, in most children umbilical hernias repair themselves by the time the child is about a year old. Those that do not typically repair themselves by the tim...

Did I mention how cute my niece and kiddos are? I'm sure I did. How could I not? This past weekend Julie, Eric, and Baby Evie (Kenzie refuses to call her anything other than this...) came to visit and meet Will. I am so thankful for family like them that traveled 8 hours each way to stay for less than 48 hours just to see us and meet Will. It's no small feat to drive to or from Atlanta. While they were here, we were able to get a few pictures of the family at Magnolia Park next to Lake Apopka, watch UCF and FSU play their respective games, and go to Long & Scott Farms to have some fun in the corn maze. It was a blast. We can't wait to see them again for Christmas. In light of how much fun we had... this Friday Favorites is dedicated solely to last weekend's cousin and family time. Enjoy! Kenzie can't help that her hair is bouncy and enticing, I guess. Evie was focused numerous times throughout the weekend on getting her hands on it. You might notice that...

"What would you do if I sang out of tune Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song And I'll try not to sing out of key. Oh I get by with a little help from my friends" When I was little there was a show on TV called The Wonder Years. The theme song talked about getting by with help from friends. Honestly, that's one way that I make it through my days now. I can't even begin to pretend that I do all of this on my own. Two little ones is no picnic, most of the time. My friends and family are my lifesavers. Sometimes a girl just needs a shower... and, honestly, if we have a no nap day I have to rely on someone to watch these kiddos so I get to do things like that. Even if they typically only last 5 minutes because this baby needs to eat. Anyway, the show was called The Wonder YEARS... right now though, my life revolves around Wonder WEEKS. Don't know what that is? Consider yourself lucky. I initially learned abo...

Dear Will, No! No, no no, no no!! It's crazy! How on earth am I already writing your 1 month letter?!? Despite how I think time should go, here I am. There have been plenty of times this past month that I have wondered where the time is going and equally as many moments that I spend wondering if time could just speed up a bit. It is crazy to think that you entered our lives just 1 month ago. It seems like you have been a part of our family much longer. You are growing by leaps and bounds. You were born at 7 lbs, 7 oz and 19 3/4 inches. Honestly, we sort of expected you to be a bit bigger when you were born since you made it all the way to 39 weeks. It's okay though because you have made up for it by growing like a weed this month. You were higher than your birth weight at a week old. We never thought we would see that. Now, you weigh 11 lbs, 3 oz (86th percentile) and are 22 inches long (67th percentile). You are a tall, but chunky, little guy according to the doctor. I...

Welcome to this Thursday edition of Friday Favorites. I'm getting a head start on this because we are set to have a big weekend this week. Tomorrow we have Julie, Eric, and (my favorite part) Evie coming into town to spend the weekend with us and meet Will. Yay!! I'm mainly looking forward to snuggling my precious niece. Seriously, if you haven't seen a picture of her you are missing out on some serious cuteness. Be prepared for adorable overload when we get all the cousins together for a few pic this weekend. We also have Will's 1 month appointment in the morning and we have the UCF game on TV at night. In light of all of that (and the fact that tomorrow I will be posting my 1 month birthday letter to Will) I figured I would go ahead and do Friday Favorites now. I actually have a pretty big one going this week. There have been a lot of times this week that I have had a moment when I thought, "THIS... I want to remember THIS." Fall has arrived!! Okay, well.....

Everyone is just going to have to deal with me for a few weeks. One, I am super excited that we are now a family of four, and two... I don't get out a whole lot right now. Therefore, my Friday Favorites posts are very likely to revolve around nothing more than these two little kids that are occupying all of my time. Morning snuggle time has always been one of my favorite times of the day/week. On weekends we get lucky enough to have Daddy around to snuggle as well. Right now we even have Sunday snuggles since we are still sitting out of church for a little bit longer. I am loving watching their relationship blossom. Kenzie is in love with her little brother. She wants to hold him, rock him, and love on him all day long. She can't go to bed at night without getting a hug and kiss from Will. The first thing she does every morning is run through the house to find him (usually in his pack n play still) to say good morning. I can't help but smile watching the two of t...