Merry Christmas, 2014!

From our family to yours, we hope that your Christmas is full of warm embraces, happy homes and stuffed bellies! This season is all about celebrating love and life and family, and we're definitely thankful for all of the above...Merry Christmas!!

Family Photos, Fall 2014

Just putting these out here because I love them, and I'll take any excuse I can get to shove my virtual wallet full of family photos in your face. This is my group, my family, my trible, my littles, my bear.

My everything. 

Thank you (again and again) to Pam Burke Photography for capturing this moment in time for us. 

Flashback Friday "Halloween" Edition

On this day last year we were "trick or treating" as a family of five (with one on the way!) -- We had a rotten little witch, an adorable Draculaura, and a pokey puppy. This year, our littles are going as the cast of Frozen (we've got Elsa, Anna, Olaf & Sven) -- it's crazy how quickly time flies and how many things can change in 365 days. 

The weather this year is supposed to be pretty terrible for being outside, but we're going to do our best and make the most of things! We've got an evening of movies, pumpkins, popcorn and cookies (and hopefully the spoils of candy!) lined up for when we make it home. 

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Halloween -- or as someone on Facebook said the other day, Elsaween (seriously, I can't wait to see how many Frozen costumes are out there this year!) 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Crazy, Lucky

Our anniversary is coming up this week, and I'm a little sentimental over here -- over a decade with this guy has made me crazy. Crazy in love, crazy in happiness, crazy in denial. 

It hasn't been this long. We haven't gone through so much. We don't have such an awesome family. It's not possible that I'm this lucky. 

But I am -- despite everything I am this lucky. And I owe it all to luck, 'cause I'm not so convinced I deserve a moment of this life of mine. 

Pushing Through, Looking for the Love

Tender moments between these two remind me what it's all really about -- in the midst of tantrums and bloody noses and deafening screams...there are these little blips of love. 

I am hopeful that underneath all this sibling squabbling there are relationships forming -- loving, holy, unyielding bonds of love forming between sisters and brothers and brothers and sisters.  

This is a very loud moment in our lives -- a five-month-old who has found his raging cry-voice. A one-year-old who has decided tantrums are the "it" thing and who uses his hands to slap, scratch and pull hair. A nearly three-year-old who is so stubborn, she'd cut off her nose to spite her face. And a six-year-old with a diva attitude to rival that of a sixteen-year-old. 

It all makes for lots of tears and struggles, and honestly, it's just not a very fun place. That's not to say all days are hard; honestly, the majority of days are pretty good. Not always great, but moderately good and manageable, and with a family this large, that's all a momma can ask for. 

So I'm treasuring the moments of peace and tenderness. I know this time is short and precious, but it's also loud as hell and makes me want to pull my hair out. 

50/50

Spring Photos '14

After a few weekends of bad weather and then busy last-minute plans, we finally got ourselves together and got our photos taken! Stephanie, our resident family photographer, came down and chased us around our yard and little church next door, and we got some decent shots. 

I say "decent" because my two of my children, who need not be named as evidenced below, are so not into having their picture taken. To capture a smile from them on camera is akin to capturing photos of bigfoot -- it doesn't happen, and when it does, it's probably a conspiracy behind camera. 

But nevertheless, this is our family, our six pack, as we live and breathe and in total 100% honesty, flaws and all. At least we have some photos to look back on, and laugh about, for years to come. 

'Til next time! 

And my favorite family photo of the day, even though RJ has her eyes half-closed and Jaxon looks mad as hell and poor Toby isn't even aware of what's going on. 

Still my favorite, my family in a nutshell!

And from last spring to this spring -- Justin hates doing these "walk away" corny shots, but I love them, especially now that I have two to compare side-by-side. 

2013 - Year in Review

I'm a little last posting this (I like posting them around the first of the year) but better late than never! 

You can see 2012 HERE and 2011 HERE.

::JANUARY::

2013 started out with a bang for us - our little Jaxon Leon arrived a little earlier than anticipated on the 9th :) We adjusted to life with three kiddos, played in the snow, and

::FEBRUARY::

As blogging goes with a new baby, things were erratic and hairbrained! I shared little things that made me happy, random updates on our new normal, and did my best to find "me" again.

::MARCH::

By March I was back on my blogging game! I managed to wish my dear husband "happy birthday" while ranting about Prop8, kept up with the weekly TT posts, did updates on both girls, and posted a cute little video of Rhealen.

::APRIL::

We moved into our house, which was the biggest joy of the month, for sure! I talked about finally having a son, I tried to keep things honest talking about the sucky parts of life, and the world lost a music legend (RIP Possum!)

::MAY::

I compared my "apples to oranges" daughters, shared some photos taken with my Dad+family, got a little sappy thinking about the future for our children, and my "butch" celebrated another birthday (as did my BFF/cousin, Dobby!)

::JUNE::

June was an exciting month for sure! Our little "Nugget" RJ turned TWO, Jaxon started his "pirate look" to combat a lazy eye, we went to the Knoxville zoo, our sweet Dobby got married (!!), and Sidney finished up Kindergarten with a bang!

::JULY::

My one and only post for the entire month of July was Jaxon's monthly update post -- at least I got that one in!!

::AUGUST::

August was the month of random updates apparently, but sometimes that's the best way to document life! Sidney finished up her first summer of swim lessons, I professed my continued love for non-traditional engagement rings (and the hope that my girls follow in my footsteps!), our dear Gran hit the big 5-0!, and Jaxon & Rhealen grew closer, which totally melted my momma heart :)

::SEPTEMBER::

The month of September is always a busy (and fun!) one - Sidney Morgan turned SIX, we all fell in love with Ylvis and "The Fox", I talked about pregnancy hemorrhoids, that sweet husband and I celebrated another anniversary (10 years of being together!), we had family photos taken, I wrote a heartfelt post about being on the fertile side of infertility and my struggles with what to (or not to) say, and I turned 25!!

::OCTOBER::

October brought The Walking Dead back into our zombie-void lives (hallelujah!) - I talked about some crazy pregnancy brain I was having, I really kicked it with the TT posts, and of course, Halloween was celebrated - I even did an awesome TBT post about it!

::NOVEMBER::

I recapped about the time the girls and I trekked to Tweetsie Railroad with Gran & Pops, talked about thriving versus surviving with three kids, fell in love with random country songs, posted about my sleeping tornado of a daughter, and about what it's like having a not-a-baby-anymore baby girl!

::DECEMBER::

I ended the year getting "creative" in the kitchen, got big and pregnant and took the same selfie I had taken over two years ago with RJ (same bathroom & everything!), we bought a new Christmas tree, I lamented the last month of my boy being a baby before he celebrates his first birthday next month, and we had a wonderful Christmas off-line and in-tune with what really matters!

And surprise! On the very last day of December, our little boy was born, shocking us all -- he was early and he was a "HE". All that time spent preparing for our Jameson ended up with us meeting our Toby. The best end of the year gift anyone could ask for!

I love, love, love doing these "end of the year" recaps -- even when I haven't been the best blogger in the land, I still love looking back over a year's worth of moments and memories that might've fallen into oblivion if I hadn't taken the time to screen cap them!

Back to Work...Soon!

Next week marks my last week of maternity leave -- and I feel conflicted. I am so beyond ready to go back to work, to be in a normal routine of what I know and love; I can't wait to get back to my desk and back to my job and interact with other adults on a daily basis. But I am going to miss my babies. I'm going to miss the little moments that happen daily, the things only I can really appreciate as a momma. Our days are sometimes long and maddening, but they're never "dull" -- keeping up with these kiddos is a full time job in itself, especially the tag team trouble of Rhealen + Jaxon.

Those two.....world look out.

I'm going to miss my Toby snuggles, my sweet baby that is so calm and happy. I'm going to miss so much, literal and figuratively speaking.

I love working and I'm thankful to have a job to help support our family, but I admit sometimes I think it'd be nice to stay home full time (although I don't know if I'm cut out for it) -- my hat is off to those mommas and poppas who stay home with their children, y'all are boss!

I plan to really focus and enjoy my last week home -- but I'm also focusing on getting back to work and diving back in head first. 

And because no post is complete without some photos, here's a photo dump of what it looks like hanging at home:

***MERRY CHRISTMAS***

I'm taking the week off from blogging to focus on the holiday season and just enjoy myself - I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and full of yummy treats (and some special presents!) 

I'll be back next week to pick up where we're leaving off...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tweetsie

A few Sundays ago, Gran & Pops loaded us ladies up and took off to Blowing Rock, NC to visit Tweetsie Railroad -- we tried to go once before earlier in the summer, but the rain stopped us before we ever even made it to the park.

This time, it only rained for about the first five minutes we were there, and then we enjoyed nothing but clear skies and mild temps the entire day! 

As you can see, the girls obviously had a blast -- I'd highly recommend Tweetsie Railroad to any family in the region looking for a great little getaway!


***A funny little sidenote: Sidney insisted she and Rhealen wear their tye-dye t-shirts -- every year, my mom's third grade class takes a field trip to Tweetsie and make their own shirts to wear for the trip. Most years, Sidney gets to tag along, too, and she always makes her own shirt (Rhealen got a shirt made, too, even though she didn't go on the field trip) -- it was just too cute that Sidney was so insistent they wear their "field trip" shirts that day, too :)