...Our amazing life...

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We met in June of 2007, dated for 7 months & got engaged - January 1, 2008. We were married on July 26, 2008 and welcomed our daughter, Kaitlynn Leane into the world on August 20, 2009. We said hello & goodbye to our precious son, baby Joshua on December 5, 2011. We are blessed knowing that we'll be with him again one day in Heaven. We also have two sweet beagles, Willa (4) and Sadie (1). God has truly blessed our family in numerous ways! We both have extremely wonderful and loving parents, plus amazing friends! We couldn't be any happier!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

As soon as you get used to something, it can change!

Kaitlynn is teaching us that as soon as we get used to her behavior, it completely changes!!
Kelly & I have been blessed with a very calm daughter, however, somedays Kaitlynn chooses to throw us for a loop and completely change her behavior! Last Thursday 10-22-09 was one of those days! (3 of these days total so far....) She did not nap well at all that day which in turn made her quite cranky! She decided to fuss most of the day, which threw Kelly & I into a frenzy! Thankfully she slept well even though the morning, afternoon, and early evening were a bit rough!! As quickly as she gets in one of these random moods, she gets out of them just as fast! Friday 10-23-09 proved to be a much better day; a normal type of day for Kaitlynn which included a nice, long 2-hour nap in the early afternoon! All rested up just in time for Kelly's parents - to arrive for the weekend!



Spending time with my daughter!


I love this shirt!!
*This is what cute looks like*


Bath time with daddy before Nana & Papa arrived!


Playing with daddy

An edited version of Keith & Donna's visit........
Friday evening went well until about 8:00pm. We were able to cook a nice dinner for Keith & Donna, sit down at the table to eat, and even have dessert before things got a bit interesting. Kaitlynn decided to show off her fussy side for her grandparents just a few hours after their arrival to town!! Kelly assumed is normal night position with her and was able to rock her to sleep on his lap. Thankfully we were able to get her down in the crib by 9:30pm. Kaitlynn did fantastic Friday night with her sleeping! However, as the saying goes..... if it's not one child, it's the other! Willa Grace on the other hand had a rough evening! She got sick twice during the night and accidentally went to the bathroom in the house as well. That meant Kelly was up 3 different times with Willa during the night.... plus his shift(s) with Kaitlynn. It would have been a great night if Willa would not have been feeling yucky! Kaitlynn slept 4 hours between each feeding - the most she's slept between feedings in a while!
Saturday morning rolled around early as normal - 6:30am - and I found myself in the den with Kaitlynn asleep on my chest - some of the most precious times I have with my daughter. She slept on my chest for about an hour before waking up for the morning. Saturday morning went smoothly with a home-cooked breakfast by my husband, and an hour long nap for Kaitlynn!! Around 10:00am, we fed our daughter, packed up the car and the 5 of us headed to the Smyrna Market Village for their Fall Festival. It was a little chilly outside so we ended up buying an extremely large fleece blanket to drape over Kaitlynn's stroller. This seemed to help block the wind and also helped her sleep while we were roaming around. The festival was great - lots of venders, are & crafts, and music. After a couple hours, we headed back to the house - Keith & Donna watched Kaitlynn for us while we headed out for a much needed date! Kelly & I hadn't spent time alone together since Kaitlynn's 2nd week of life - over 7 weeks ago! Our time together was amazing and is very priceless! We headed to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants - La Paz for lunch and margaritas! After lunch we went to some of the shops around the area in Vinings - Kelly found a pair of khaki slacks from Banana Republic, and I found a pair of jeans from Ann Taylor Loft. Most all females know how exciting it is to find a pair of jeans that fit amazing - I was 200% excited with my purchase that day! After our shopping trip, we stopped by The Grape for some wine tasting and cheese! A great end to a fantastic date with my husband. We got back home in time for the Alabama vs. Tennessee game & the Clemson vs. Miami game - both of our teams won - Clemson & Alabama! Great games! Once we got home from our date, Keith & Donna headed out for some shopping time of their own and dinner out as well.
Sunday morning Kelly & I headed to church! We hadn't been since Kaitlynn was born - over 9 weeks now! We'd make plans to go and something would happen that wouldn't allow us to get ourselves there! Since Kelly's parents were in town we made it a priority to get there - we were able to leave Kaitlynn at home once again and venture out alone! Plus, we were being commissioned as New Members this morning!! The service was amazing as always, and it was wonderful being back in our home church! We are going next week with Kaitlynn regardless of if it's a good day or a bad day! Being there made us miss our church family so much!! After service, we spent about an hour driving around Lower Roswell looking at neighborhoods and homes. We're heading out with our real estate agent, Angi Sklar, to start looking at homes - inside & out - in two weeks! Very exciting!! After driving around for a while, we grabbed lunch at Panera and headed home to spend a little bit of time with Kelly's parents before they left Atlanta. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with both of them this weekend!! Here are some pictures from their visit down!


Nana & Papa with Kaitlynn


It was cold outside at the Fall Festival, so Kelly & I bought
this huge blanket to drape over Kaitlynn's stroller! She slept the entire
time once we covered her up!


Can anyone see little miss Kaitlynn?? :)


Before heading out for our Saturday afternoon date!


Our precious family!


Nana, Papa, Kaitlynn & Molly
*They kept Kaitlynn again Sunday morning for us while we
headed to church to be commissioned as new members at JFBC!


My precious "little pumpkin" :)


My beautiful daughter!


Kelly & Kaitlynn


Wide-eyed!

Monday, October 26, 2009 = Willa Grace's 2nd birthday!!
Monday proved to be an easier day with Kaitlynn - she ate well & got lots of rest!! Last week I spent some time on Friday researching around Smyrna for a Mom's group to join. I found one - MOM'S of East Smyrna, emailed them, and got the paper work today to fill out. The next meeting is November 6th - I am looking forward to going and hopefully getting involved! I also spent some time today getting things ready for Willa's birthday celebration! She is 2 years old today - hard to believe!! My big, baby girls is growing up! To celebrate her birthday, Kaitlynn, Willa, & I spent the day resting, playing, and taking walks. Our biggest adventure happened while I was trying to get Kaitlynn down for her nap. The doorbell rang - I knew I hadn't ordered anything - went and looked.... it was USPS. I put Willa inside the garage, but didn't get the door all the way closed because I had Kaitlynn in my arms. Willa ran out the front door, I handed Kaitlynn over to the postal service man - I knew him because he always delivers our mail - and went after Willa. When I got back to the house with Willa, she went inside, and I stood there watching our postal service man goo-goo over Kaitlynn - it was too cute!! I signed off on Kelly's package, grabbed Kaitlynn and headed back inside to try and get her back down for her afternoon nap! Today also marked a 1st for our daughter.... All morning long, Kaitlynn slept in my lap - wouldn't go down solo for nap time. She had gotten out of the routine she was in over the past week, so starting today I had to work on getting her back into it. Because nap time is so important, Monday afternoon I put Kaitlynn down and let her cry herself to sleep. She cried for 10 minutes, fell asleep for about 5 minutes, woke up & cried for about 2-3 minutes and went back to sleep for about 25 minutes. I don't see her actually crying herself to sleep for a long time!! But it was nice to see her do it once :) I've also heard it from several mom's - stick with your routine regardless! You spend so much time working with your child on their routine and the minute something gets them off, it takes just as long to get them back on it. Once Kelly got home from work Monday night - we gave Willa her birthday muffin, gifts, and treats!! :) Check out some pictures from Willa Grace's 2nd birthday celebration!


Willa Grace's birthday muffin! She is now 2 years old!


The birthday girl!!








Playing with all of her new toys!


Happy Birthday, Willa Grace!! We love you!

**Kaitlynn gets to show off her Halloween outfit this weekend!! Pictures in next week's blog!!**

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Another Month Passing By......


It's hard to believe Kaitlynn turned 2 months old on Tuesday, October 20, 2009! Time really has gone by quickly these past two months for Kelly and I. We can't wait to see what this next month has in store for our family, especially now that it's getting close to the holidays!


Kelly & his two girls


Kaitlynn LOVES her tongue!


Willa Grace

As stated in the previous blog, we got our oven & microwave this past Wednesday. Appliance Smart hooked up our oven for us, but were not able to disconnect anything or take anything
down = Kelly and I had to take down our old microwave and put up our new one. We also got our Treadmill this past Thursday - however we paid Sears a delivery charge which included the set-up fee! Thank goodness! We didn't have to put together the treadmill ourselves - I could only imagine how that would have gone with Kelly and I.

We also got a phone call from our good friend Angi Sklar - big news for some people - our REAL-ESTATE AGENT - that there was interest in our home "behind closed doors." Kelly and I have wanted to put our condo on the market for a while, but wanted to wait until our finances were where they should be, plus we also wanted to see if the market would bounce back. A few weeks ago, we sat down and decided together that it was time to start looking at homes and getting our condo ready to sell. Once we decided that, we talked with Angi - she has been in the real-estate business for a while - and got her opinion on some things we still needed to do to the condo. Her only suggestion was to finish off our already fabulous kitchen :) After working with my dad on our kitchen this past April and getting new cabinets, granite countertops, a new sink, and a stainless refrigerator - she said finishing off the appliances with stainless steel would make it incredible. With that being said, last weekend Kelly and I headed out to look for some inexpensive, name brand, stainless steel appliances - God must have been on our side because that is exactly what we were able to find!

Back to the story..... Angi called Thursday about an interest in our condo and asked us if we'd be ready to show it on SUNDAY. I called Kelly and told him about the situation and that I told Angi, "Absolutely!" We spent Thursday evening, all day Friday & Saturday working on our home - decluttering it, cleaning it from top to bottom to get it ready to show on Sunday! We both are a little bias, but I have to say our condo looks amazing after the past three days! They were exhausting days, but well worth the time we put into it. Angi stopped by on Friday to check out the condo and get some pictures for the flyers & real estate website - she was very impressed. She has been over to our home many times, but this time her jaw definitely dropped! Pictures were taken, paper work was filled out, and the For Sale Signs were put in on Monday! Exciting!


Lots of new things are taking place these days with our family! Update on our new fitness equipment?! We love our treadmill! I ran on it for the first time on Friday - I walked at an incline for 10 minutes, ran at an incline for 15 minutes, and walked at no incline for 5 minutes as my cool down = 30 minutes total! The NordicTrack machines are wonderful - I knew that after purchasing my elliptical, but I have to say..... I am in love with our treadmill. My husband is amazing for buying it for us! It's a great investment since we have little time to get to a gym these days with our little one around the house!


Here are a few pictures of our new toys :)


Our new kitchen additions


Our new Treadmill



Saturday was probably one of the hardest days Kelly and I have experienced with Kaitlynn. That day brought on non-stop crying, refusing some bottles over others - some feedings she'd take 3.5, some feedings she wouldn't take anything - she had trouble sleeping during the day on Saturday..... we decided to finally give her 0.4 dose of infant Tylenol which helped her rest over night Saturday night. Even though I usually don't handle Kaitlynn being fussy all day very well, the main thing that seemed to bother me was not knowing what was wrong with her. I remember early Sunday morning - Kelly was rocking her and I just sat on the guest bed in the nursery and cried. I never realized how tough it would be knowing your child doesn't feel well and not knowing why, what to do, or how to help.......

Sunday proved to be a much better day for our baby girl. She ended up sleeping until 10:30am which gave her some much needed rest! We gave her a total of 2 doses of Tylenol and didn't have to give her any during the day/night on Sunday - thank goodness! Angi called and unfortunately the lady coming to look at our condo canceled for the day. So, since Kaitlynn seemed to be feeling better, we headed to Macaroni Grill for lunch and then walked around Perimeter Mall instead of sitting at home!!


In the ladies bathroom - using the changing table for the second time :)
Kaitlynn was quite relaxed during her diaper change!


Kelly & Kaitlynn - lunchtime for somebody :)


Kristen & Kaitlynn


Smiling for Mommy & Daddy

Even though Kaitlynn showed signs of improvement with how she felt on Sunday, I was still a little anxious and worried! Thankfully we had her 2-month check up on Monday with Dr. Smail. My mom ended up coming down for a visit so she ended up going with me to Kaitlynn's appointment! Today was the day that Kaitlynn got her shots! I had been dreading this day since she was born. Several mom's told me to simply give her Tylenol before taking her for the appointment - well that idea crashed once we spoke to Kaitlynn's PED. She told us no Tylenol before the shots - that giving Tylenol could spike a fever and they wouldn't give her shots if she had a temperature. So..... Kaitlynn received no Tylenol before the shots. I think I was more upset than she was!! Little did I know that she would receive 4 shots in her leg and 1 shot by mouth! She cried with each shot, but I was able to hold her & calm her down after all shots were complete. It was very hard watching her get them - I'm definitely glad they are over!! Unfotunately she gets these same 4 shots again at her 4 month & 6 month appointments. In good news, she was weighed in at 10lbs. and measured at 21.5 inches in length! She is still in the 25th percentile for height and weight. She is also still sleeping 3-4 hours at night between feedings. I talked with her PED about this and found out it is very normal for her size and age to still be having middle-of-the-night feedings. Still being a new mom, it's nice to know I can ask tons of questions about issues I'm not sure about and get answers from those that understand babies!!


All checked out and waiting on her shots! :(


4 Snoopy band-aids!


Our baby girl was a real trooper!

After her appointment was over, mom and I headed back to the house and got Kaitlynn down in her crib - she slept until about 7:00pm! After having a nice dinner at home, mom and I left Kelly at home with Kaitlynn and headed to the mall to shop for some jeans and new running shoes! I found a pair of jeans at Express and I found new running shoes at DSW as well. After shopping for a little while, I was definitely ready to be at home with my baby girl.

The biggest change now was sleeping in the nursery with Kaitlynn. Now that she is sleeping in her crib, anytime that we have family down we both stay in the nursery with her so that we can take care of her over night. Monday night we heard EVERY noise she made! We had gotten used to Kaitlynn sleeping at night when she was in the bassinet, but then we also got used to her sleeping in the crib and not in our bedroom. So, the past two nights were a change, but worth it. I wouldn't change sleeping in there with her with my mom was down for anything! We'll get another dose of nursery sleeping this weekend while Kelly's parents are down!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009
*Kaitlynn is 2 months old!*

Tuesday I was able to spend some time outside my house alone - my mom stayed at the house and took care of Kaitlynn. I headed out around 8:30am to Honda to get my oil changed in the car, and then did some shopping at Target. It was nice getting out of the house a little bit, even if it was early in the morning! Kaitlynn took her nap around 11:00am so mom & I waited for her to wake up before we headed out shopping. We stopped by Toys-R-Us, Old Navy, Best Buy and Target all in 2.5 hours!! I didn't find anything for Kaitlynn, but I did find myself some new clothes at Old Navy! That was pretty exciting :)

My mom headed out Wednesday late morning to drive back to Greenville just in time to keep Elizabeth that afternoon! She leaves one granddaughter and heads off to the next :) Oh the life of grandparents..... the joys of spending time with the kids but without the responsibilities of the parents! Kaitlynn and I spent Wednesday relaxing at home - recuperating from a fast pace last few days!

Here are a few pictures from her visit down:


Willa Grace missed her Nana!


Dinner time with Daddy


My precious Willa Grace.....


Afternoon stroll with Nana & the girls




My precious baby girl - already 2 months old!! Hard to believe.....


Special time with Kaitlynn's Nanabug......


Kelly & his baby girl on her 2-month B-day! Precious time.....


Willa Grace - she'll be 2 month's on October 26th!

Other exciting news..... our good friends, Eric & Blythe Royaards had their son, Hendrix Kyle Royaards this morning at 4:42am! They are all doing great and the new parents are overjoyed with happiness. We cannot wait to see both of them, meet their son, and introduce Kaitlynn to Hendrix :) Hopefully over Thanksgiving!!


Hendrix Kyle Royaards
*taken from Eric & Blythe's website*

New things that Kaitlynn is doing.....
She has started "cooing" a lot, smiling at both Kelly and I, keeping her head lifted by herself for short periods of time, and she finally enjoys time to herself during the day!! It's amazing to see how much Kaitlynn is growing and how quickly she's growing. Our daughter is amazing and we're more in love with her today than we were the first day we held her. We cannot wait to see all the new things she learns to do over the next month!

A few things we're looking forward to......
Kelly's parents are coming down for a visit this weekend!! Next weekend we get to dress Kaitlynn up in her Halloween outfit for pictures :) Stay tuned!