Happy Birthday, Toby Fields Gilliam!

TOBY IS ONE!

Happy first birthday to my last-born, my baby. He's been in our lives for 365 days, and every single one of them has been a delight (minus a few bumps along the way, naturally) -- we're eternally grateful for his safe delivery into this chaotic world and for the surprise of a lifetime.

We had planned for a little Jameson Ruth, a little girl to complete our circle -- and when he showed up as a screaming, pink 6 lbs. baby boy, our hearts exploded and all the pieces fell together perfectly. It was a delight, a treat, living proof that sometimes science fails and surprises can happen to anyone. In this day and age, I feel like there aren't many mysteries left in life; Toby is proof that we don't know everything. We can still be humbled by our expectations. His entire life is a legacy to the illusion of knowledge and the beauty of unexpected surprises. 

I love this fella more than words; he was unplanned and unexpected, but he's never been unloved or unappreciated. He's a gift, the sweetest gift in the world, and he's one-year-old. His first year marked a year of lasts for our family; there'll be no more of our children's "first" milestones. It's bittersweet, but also welcome -- our family has finished expanding and will now continue only to grow. We will nourish what we have, feed and love and support our little buds to help them bloom. 

Hopefully, we've given Toby a wonderful first year of life -- I know, without a doubt, he has filled our year with immense love, pride, and joy. 365 days of bliss! 

Happy Birthday, my New Years boy. May each birthday be better than the last, and may your first be filled with all the love in the world! 

(photos by Pam Burke Photography)

And with that, this year is gone -- 2014, you were awesome, and I can't wait to see what 2015 will bring for our family, friends, and loved ones! 

A Party for Sidney

Another year, another birthday party for Sidney that involved a bouncy house, getting wet, friends and an accidental power outage!

Low-key birthday parties are where it's at, and I think we nailed this one! Justin, the girls, and I made her birthday cake -- I stitched up her little "7" shirt, we had pizza and chips, and since it was so dadgum hot, we rigged up a water hose to spray on the bouncy house slide, AND THE KIDS LOVED IT!

Except for the part where Sidney blew up the transformer on the power pole with her escaped balloons, things went super -- I'm so grateful to have an awesome family that chip in to celebrate our girl. We're very blessed with an awesome circle of friends, and I couldn't have imagined a better day. Even the rain held off 'til the very end! Success!!

Happy Birthday, Sidney Morgan

Today, Sidney Morgan is seven years old.

 

At 4:45PM seven years ago, this little gal came bursting into our lives with her thick black hair and bright blue eyes. She was (and is) so beautiful, so sweet, so adorably adorable. Justin and I were just babies having a baby of our own, and this darling daughter of ours has taught us everything we know about being parents.

Being her mother is magical -- she's so incredibly smart, incredibly challenging, and so much like me, she is my mirror. All my faults I want to correct in her; I want her to have her own faults, not to be the ghost of my past screw-ups. I want her to find her own way, forge her own path, be her own independent little person.

 

And she is, in so many ways -- there's no one quite like Sidney Morgan.

She is a phenomenal big sister. The heavens above couldn't have picked out a more perfect big "Sissy" for our crew -- she is sweet and tender and loving. And she's also picky, antagonizing and bossy, just as a big sister should be with three littles chasing her around!

It's hard to remember a time before she was with us -- not that I'd want to, not that I'd have it any other way. She's the perfect fit, her hand in mine, my emotional, sappy, loving, silly little Sidney.

 

I hope she has the happiest of birthdays, and I can't wait to celebrate this little stinker all weekend long!

Happy 7th Birthday, ya big kid you!

"Three" on Friday

Today out little Nugget, miss Rhealen Jo, is three years old!!

You can read her birth story here...

And instead of "Five on Friday", in the spirit of celebrating RJ, here are three of my favorite (random) posts about our dear little daughter.

"Getting up with Rhealen has been fairly easy so far, and dare I say it: enjoyable. Of course, that will probably all change once it comes time for me to go back to work (oh, if only I didn't have to go back to work). I love our time together, while Justin and Sidney are snoozing away in bed together, Rhealen and I have free reign of the house. To do what we please, to listen to music and dance, or watch bad late night TV together or just sit and stare at each other if we want. It's our time, our incredibly special time together. And it's nice to have these precious hours to bond, to really get to know each other and trust each other and love one another better." - The Secret Life of Mothers and Babies Who Don't Sleep Through The Night...Yet

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"In those moments, I know she is happy - she is at peace with the storm within her. I thank my lucky stars she is mine. I feel so honored to be guiding her and to be guided by her. I do my best to mold and teach her daily, but in the usual way, it is she who teaches me.

My sleeping tornado. My Rhealen Jo" - *****

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"Sitting on the couch, Rhealen snuggled up against my chest, and the house barely lit in the early morning. I had just finished getting us ready for the day, and the little gal was still trying to wake herself up - moments of cuddling and sweetness don't happen often, so I try to soak them up as much as I can.

And that's when I lost it for a minute.

I made myself stop and be grateful for her, to remind myself that I am so happy I am her mother and appreciate the magnitude of what it means to be someone's mother. I have felt such guilt lately, such total mom guilt, because I'm making my sweet baby girl a middle child in just a few weeks, and she has no idea what's about to happen." - Good Dose of Mom-Guilt

Today, she is three...

Happiest of birthdays, my little one -- even though you always look a little sour on the outside, I know you're the sweetest of the sweet on the inside! 

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to YOU!

circa 2010

 Happy! Birthday! to my sweet Cassie Jane!

I love those two girls up there more than words, and it kills me that my butch lives so far* away now, and we never get to see each other! 

Both of my BFFs have May birthdays, so maybe at the end of the month we can do something fun - we'll all be getting together anyway for Dobby's wedding next month! 

Happy B-day, butch, I love you! 

*Kentucky really isn't that far away, but with three kids and a full-time job, my free-time is non-existent! Oh, how I long for those lazy days when we did nothing but lay by the pool all day, watch movies at the drive-in all night, and hang out at Huddle House 'til 2AM!*

A Birthday Post Turned Prop8 Rant

Yesterday was my sweet fella's 26th birthday, and I feel like celebrating my husband's birthday (and that feeling of happiness) coincided with other feelings (like guilt, rage, sadness) with all the hullabaloo surrounding Prop8. I hate to take his birthday post and turn it into a rant, so I'm only going to say this: EQUALITY. 

Be it marriage equality, race equality, sex equality - whatever. This country is supposed to be the land of the free, home of the brave, equal and united. Instead, we are torn and spend our days bickering at each other from our "high horses" about issues that shouldn't even be relevant in 2013. 

I am so lucky that I was in a position to fall in love and choose to get married without worrying whether or not my marriage would be legally recognized by my home state (or nation for that matter). It just so happens that I am a heterosexual woman, so I've never had to deal first-hand with the issues that the LGBT community face, BUT I could have just as easily been born a homosexual woman. And I'm sensitive enough (and decent enough) to know that I have no right in the world to deny another human being basic rights. 

I understand same-sex marriages goes against what most Christian people believe, but what I don't understand is how or why Christian people think they have the right to push their beliefs on other people. I don't like eating onions, but I'm not going to tell everyone else they have no right to eat onions just because I don't. The logic of those that use religion to fight against same-sex marriages is completely lost on me; I don't understand and honestly, it breaks my heart to think that these are the people standing firmly in the way of my family and friend's potential happiness. Good, loving, accepting, forgiving, non-judgmental Christian people. 

Okay, so this did turn into a rant (sorry, husband!) - my point to all of this was I love my husband and I'm happy to celebrate another year of life with him as my husband and I want everyone (man or woman) to be able to say the same thing someday about their own husband. 

Happy 26th Birthday, babe!

birthday letter to my beloved

Dear Justin,

Happy Birthday, husband!

I hate you're having to spend your birthday working, but when you get home we'll have cake with the girls and some play time on the Wii :)

Hopefully this weekend was fun enough to last you 'til your next birthday! We had an awesome party Saturday (thanks everyone that came out!) and you showed Sidney how to shoot a gun (her first time!).

And then yesterday you had your first bass club tournament of the year - I'm very proud of you for catching the biggest fish and for coming in 2nd place with your teammate (sorry you got soaked in the rain!).

We've had some amazing birthdays together (this'll be the 9th year I've celebrated your birthday with you) and I hope you make every second of 25 memorable.

Happy, merry, wonderful birthday, my love. Here's to 25 and 50 and 75 more!

So much s'more. Oh yes, boyfriend.

Love,
Your wife

still just me

I guess now that I'm 23, I'm supposed to be another year older and another year wiser...but mostly, I'm just another year of being me. Still trying to figure out whether I'm a bid kid or little adult. Most days I feel like a good mix of the two, thankfully. I'm just grateful for all those who made yesterday special for me. Birthdays are always wonderful when you have such awesome friends and family like I do. I'm really looking forward to Saturday: a great cookout, cupcakes, time with my our girls and a bonfire to seal the deal!

{23}

the ultimate labor day of love.

Yesterday was Sidney's 4th birthday!

We had her party Saturday evening (even though it felt like an all-day party!) and it was a huge success, despite the downpour we had at the beginning of her party. There were cupcakes (that got gobbled up quickly) and a huge bouncy house with dual slides (that got played on all day long) and tons of sweet presents (Sidney's been in 7th heaven playing all weekend) and lots of friends and family to surround us. We grilled out, passed around the babies in the family and spent lots of time patting our full bellies. Justin and I always feel so tired but so blissfully happy after Sidney's birthday parties. She just makes us feel warm and fuzzy :)

It's hard to believe four years ago, I was spending the day "laboring" away to bring our big girl into the world. I don't think I've ever shared Sidney's birth story (something I need to do soon before all the little details go fuzzy, I'm already losing bits and pieces as it is!) so I'm going to do that in the near future. She was an easy girl to get here, didn't take too long and didn't require too much of me at the time.

I'll never forget them laying her up on my chest and my heart just splitting wide open. I had never loved anyone like that before she came along. I was so worried that I wouldn't feel like that with Rhealen, and in all honesty, I didn't at first (but now I totally do!). It's the most amazing thing in the world to meet our children for the first time, and I feel so lucky to have been able to be a part of this miracle twice in four years.

Happy Birthday, my sweet sweet girl. You're amazing beyond words.

the first.

September is THE month, the best of months, the most wonderful time of the year! My love for September runs deep.

First up, Sidney turns 4 on the 5th! My sweet little pork chop is turning four, how in the world did time go by so fast? I thought three was crazy, but four? It's so hard to believe. She's such the big kid now, it's breaking my heart.

Second, Justin and I will celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary on the 19th. Two years married, eight years together! We've grown up together and still have many more years ahead of us. Married life feels right, although it can be a rocky road at times. Being with anyone for that long can get tiring, but we love each other and pull through everything together. He's my best friend, and I love him more every day.

Lastly, my 23rd birthday falls on the 28th! I've learned so much in my short twenty-three years of living, I can't imagine how smart I'll be by the time I hit 30 ;) Twenty-two has been fun, but I'm ready for another year of living and loving and doing what I (try to) do best: being me. I'm definitely not one of these people who worry about getting older. I look forward to gray hair and grand-kids and "senior moments". I aim to live an Advanced Style life! Even when I find myself feeling overwhelmed and down, I try to remind myself to be happy and count my lucky stars!

So as you can see, September is the greatest month of the year to me - so much happiness and joy and presents and food and family and friends. It's already feeling officially like fall these days, I can't stop myself from smiling every time I step outside.

I will definitely be dancing in September.

{happy birthday}

I have to give a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! shout-out to my awesome Mom today -- I won't tell you how old she is (because I value my life too much) but she's twice as smart as her age and half as old as I want/need her to stick around 'til.

Sidney & her "Gran" - Myrtle Beach '11

I love you Mom -- thank you for loving me more and whipping me less than I deserve!

happy birthday to me

Today's the 28th.

My 22nd birthday - and I'm not even sure what else to say.



source



happy birthday, Sidney Morgan

Three years ago today, Justin and I became parents. And it changed our lives forever. She changed our lives forever. It's been an amazing ride, these past three years - and it seems like only yesterday I was writing her happy 2nd birthday post.

She's three - we survived the terrible two's somehow. And now we're three. It still seems surreal. It's going to take me a few days to say I have a "three year old" at home. Will it always be like this? Will each year get more unbelievable, until I'm standing there on her 18th birthday saying "where did time go"? Trust me, I already know the answer is a big, huge, resounding HELL YES. If these three years can fly by so quickly, I know the next fifteen will, too.

And it's sad. And bittersweet. And a little exciting. Every day with her is new and fun and I'm doing my best to be "in the moment" with her and love her for the little the person she is and continues to grow to be. Sweet jesus, I'm the mother of a three year old.

2009

Yesterday she was only two...

2010

...and today she's finally three.

birthday wish list

No, not for Sidney! For yours truly...

I know my birthday is after hers, but I still felt like putting together a little birthday wish-list of pretty things I wouldn't mind getting this September 28th!

Diana F+ CMYK camera kit

happy birthday nail polish

double pocket Julie bag

Penguin Couple Mary Jane Shoes

Striped Knit Cardigan

Porch Parties: Cocktail Recipe Book

what Sidney wants...

she usually gets!

And she says she wants a "Dora" themed party for her 3rd birthday, coming up September 5th. So what's a Mom to do?

Well this Momma is giving in to the wishes of her sweetest toddler and throwing a Dora-themed party. My hunt for ideas and inspiration began tonight. I'm trying to with a more Dora-inspired party than just a straight from the shelves Dora party, if you know what I mean.

If you have ANY tips or if there's a direction you can point me in, I'd gladly accept the help!

For her, it's totally worth all the Dora-headache!

SidMo on her first birthday...

honorable mention

Everyone needs to go see Brandy over at You Don't Know - she has the cutest birthday post up (for herself)! Brandy is a wonderful blogger, a loyal follower (and commentor) and she has THE cutest little boy, Grayson.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRANDY!

happy birthday, FIL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEON!

a belated birthday present

I AM VERY EXCITED. CAN YOU TELL? I AM SO SO SO VERY VERY VERY EXCITED!!! There are not enough bold and capital letters or exclamation points to convey how beyond excited I am.

Tonight, I get to see these guys:

And you can ask anyone in my family or any of my friends and they will tell you just how much I love this song. It's A LOT.

I won these sweet tickets from Electric 94.9 - it's the perfect belated birthday present!!!!!

Look for pictures tomorrow :)

today is my birthday - but hold the party

Today is my 21st birthday.

And I'm in desperate need of a drink already.

I wanted to blog about today whole-heartedly and in great spirits. But life doesn't always go how we want, and it feels wrong to write about happy times when I'm feeling so low right now.

A dear friend (and former co-worker) of mine died early yesterday morning in a car accident. I don't know what else to say, except I miss her and I still can't believe she's gone.

I'm praying for her family and her children.

This is not how I wanted to remember my 21st birthday.

But I think this is how I'll remember her best - dressed like a giant whoopee cushion.