Young Party of Four

This Halloween has been quite the whirlwind. Last week I attended the annual FASP conference held here in Orlando. That meant that while I was in town, I wasn't home all day and we were trying to get everything ready for the weekend late at night (while I also worked on some work related things) so we have been trying to get everything together with limited time. Part of the reason this holiday was so rushed for us is that we participated in our church's trunk or treat for the first time. This is the first time we signed up for a trunk and we had a blast putting it all together, but it was a good amount of work. Steven's parents were in town all week watching the kiddos so I could attend the conference.  Steven dropped them off at a hotel near the airport last night so they could fly to Atlanta today. Today, Nana (my mom) came into town to help us out with Halloween. We needed help watching the kiddos while we set up (and then participated) in the trunk or trea

It's happening! It sort of has to. With two small children running around here all the time, we are seriously outgrowing the room we have. Fast. For years we have toyed with the idea of creating a playroom, but we knew the only way to do that was going to be to get rid of our "formal dining room". In all honesty, that room is a serious waste of space with the exception of maybe 4 times per year. It has just taken us this long to let go of our "need" to have it. We enjoy having it, but times are changing. These types of rooms are less and less popular and less and less utilized as society changes. We have held on to our ideal of having big dinners in that room for long enough. We don't do it, so we realize we are wasting serious hot property. We do Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner there and also put food in that room for birthday parties. The other 361 days out of the  year though, there is minimal in there. It sort of just sits, waiting to be used. Okay, ok

It seems like an odd thing to talk about the day after such an amazing day: celebrating our little man turning 1, but it is what it is. October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. It's hard to let it pass me by without saying something. I spent a long time living with shame and guilt. Even after getting pregnant with Kenzie, I experienced that shame. I am 1 in 4. I suffered an (early) miscarriage during our first pregnancy. That's right. Kenzie wasn't actually our first pregnancy. I was due May 10, 2012 with a baby. I will always remember that day. I remember the happy feelings, the excitement, and the fear that came with a first pregnancy. Our happiness didn't last long though. Two weeks to the day after we found out... I started bleeding. Any bleeding in pregnancy is cause for concern but this wasn't just a little bit of blood. There was a lot of pain and with it came a lot of guilt. I might have only been 6 weeks pregnant, but there was a baby. A

Dear William, I can't believe it. It was 365 days ago that you were born. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I was so scared. Between my water breaking, terribly timed contractions that I dealt with for hours before finally deciding the c-section was necesssary, requiring said c-section that I was hoping to avoid, and hearing that your (amazingly long) cord was wrapped around your neck four times... I was terrified. I will never forget that moment when you let out your first cry though and I knew it was all okay. All of those things no longer mattered. Instead, I was elated, giddy with excitement, and also still a little scared about handling a newborn again (along with a crazy active toddler). We have had our moments this year. From not sleeping through the night until just a few weeks ago (more about that in a minute), to a severe separation anxiety level that ebbs and flows, to not taking a bottle... none of that actually matters when you smile at me or laugh

Our little "Deere" is turning ONE! I can't believe it has been almost one full year since he made his big appearance in our lives and we welcomed him home. This weekend we celebrated in true Young Family style. Will doesn't have a choice in the matter right now, so we chose to have his first birthday be a John Deere theme. What could be better for a little October boy? It is fall, after all. I have been planning this birthday party since the day that Kenzie's party was over. I sort of enjoy all of this if you haven't realized yet. =) Here is a recap of the decorations for his party. We started with his John Deere wreath on the door. Welcome to the party! We chaanged what we usually use as a "gift table" to a "memories table." I took the idea from my niece's party to have everyone write a fun note to Will that we will seal and open when he turns 21. We added in the favors here which were chocolate "1" pops. We

This weekend was the first that truly felt like fall in Florida. It was AH-MAZ-ING! I love my hot, summer weather. I love the beach and the pool.... but at some point... I'm ready for this. I love for the weather to match the mood of football and to be able to take walks in the evening during which we do not sweat like we are running a marathon. This weekend was our first of that sort. It was so great in fact, that I forgot to take any pictures to chronicle our awesome weekend. That just means that we had such a great time though, that I had to live entirely in the moment. I was too busy enjoying my family to remember those pictures. Oops. We started the weekend by going to my parents' house to celebrate my mom's birthday. We were supposed to go last weekend, but both kids were under the weather so we elected to postpone the visit. This weekend we were originally supposed to attend Will's October buddy's first birthday party, but he ended up under the weather s