a blog for my short and long-term memory loss




Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Thanksgiving 09

I don't even want to think about our 3 1/2 hour trip to my family's in Clarksville this past week. It was a nightmare to say the least. I'm not even going to try to explain how bad it was. I will just focus on the fun family time we had while we were there. We picked up Matt and Leah at the airport on our way through Nashville. They are doing well, and excited about life in El Paso, Texas. We arrived at "Grandma and Grandpa's" and had a Thanksgiving meal with all of my family and grandparents! We stayed at my brother John's house a few minutes away and that worked out very nicely. (Thankyou John!) Thursday, we traveled about an hour to Bowling Green, Ky where most of my dad's family lives. We had an awesome meal at Aunt Claudine and Uncle Ricky's home. We got to see several of our aunts and uncles and cousins while we were there. That evening we had pizza and played a fun game at John's house while the kids ran wild! Friday morning I was able to go shopping (not too early) with my mom and sisters -- with NO KIDS! (Thank you Rob!) We started the morning off right with a quick stop at Starbucks for a peppermint mocha latte' and then commenced to shopping! After shopping for a while we ate lunch together at O' Charley's. We had a good time visiting together. Later that afternoon the little ones "helped" Grandma decorate her Christmas tree. We left about 7pm so that the kids would sleep on the way home. That was the plan in our head at least... Since all three of our children have had a cold, sinus infection, or ear infection recently they all kept coughing and waking each other up on our wonderful drive home. I had never been happier to get home in all my life!!!



Leah and SilasGrandma and Anna Lea


Anna Lea, Silas, Daniel, Layla, and part of Wyatt



Silas and Wyatt




Uncle John, Silas and Daniel








Wednesday, November 11, 2009

We Have a Crawler!!


A couple of days before little Wyatt turned 6 mo. old he started CRAWLING! Ready or not, (I think I am ready) he is getting around! He can't even sit up all by himself yet, but he is definitely mobile. He doesn't have any teeth yet either. He is still a very good sleeper and a very content baby. Thank you Jesus!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Costume Party at the Webb's!!

This past Saturday the whole family dressed up for Jamie, Adrienne, Abby and Joshua's family costume party. It was a lot of fun trying to come up with a "really good" costume for Rob and I to wear. We searched everywhere from Party City to Mimi's house for ideas. We didn't find our costumes until the day of the party. We had been wanting to dress up as a couple from the '70s, and finally found THE outfit at K-mart...





Jamie dressed like his dad in the 70s, Adrienne represented the 1980s

Our whole family

Layla as Princess Belle, Abby as Batwoman


Anna Lea as a Ladybug, Joshua as Batman


The skunk AKA Wyatt




Saturday, October 17, 2009

Fall Party 2009!!!



Clif Roth and sister Cita Hallorin and neice Lorena Hallorin



Sally and Violet Roth


Reagan, Caleb, and Alexander Asberry at the goat pen.

BFFs Rob and Jamie (they will probably strangle me for calling them that).



Abby Webb and Layla playing on the hayride trailer.




Reagan Smith ready to party!



Anna Lea doesn't know if she's ready to party or not.



Our family just hosted our Second Annual Fall Party!!! We worked hard getting ready for it, and I believe it was a success. Our guest list included: Jamie, Adrienne, Abby and Joshua Webb from Athens; Scott, Courtney and Reagan Smith from Sweetwater; Clif, Sally and Violet Roth from Louisville, Ky; Adam, Elisha, Reagan, Grace, Alexander and Caleb Asberry from Knoxville; and Chuck, Cita, Lorena, and Landry Hallorin from Chattanooga. The party started at 4pm and lasted several hours. Our menu included: Chili, hotdogs, slaw, chips and party mix (thanks to Cita). For dessert we made s'mores (thanks to Adrienne) around the bonfire. After we all got stuffed to the gills, we walked up and paid a visit to our pigs and goats. Following this we ALL loaded up on the trailer for our hayride. Special thanks to "Pop" McCay for driving us. This is always my favorite part of our fall party, and it was fun! I am so glad everyone came and am already excited about next years shindig!









Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Dance Lessons!!!

Yes, you heard right! Miracles never cease! Rob agreed to take ballroom dance classes with me. This is a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to take any kind of dance lessons that I could.

We will be taking the lessons on Thursday nights for the next 6 weeks. We only have to drive a few miles down the road to a place called Mashburn Lake for our lessons.

This past Thursday we went to the open house and learned the basic steps for the waltz. It was sooooo fun! Rob even admitted that he liked it. Our friends Jamie and Adrienne Webb went to the open house with us and are going to be taking lessons as well.

First


Our little Wyatt is growing up quickly. This was his first time in the highchair. He is such a good natured little boy. He just sat there and played while I cooked supper. He is just 4 months old, but can scoot around in circles on the floor. He is very strong for his age, and can already push himself up on all fours.

Sleep


Sleep is something Rob and I didn't get much of last night. I am writing about this incident with the hope that one day I will be able to look back and smile at these kind of memories. The kids had all been asleep for an hour or so and Rob and I were just falling asleep when Wyatt woke up for the first time. He went on to wake up 3 or 4 more times that night. Anna Lea kept waking up crying every hour or so with a runny nose. Layla woke up and came down to our bedroom about 4 am, and Rob took her back upstairs to put her back to bed. Wyatt had woken up again in the meantime. We finally thought we might get a little sleep before Rob had to get up for school, but it was Anna Lea's turn to wake up crying again! Finally I brought her down to try sleeping in our bed, but she threw up on our bed so we had to move to the couch while Rob changed the sheets. She finally fell asleep for an hour or two on the couch and I got a little sleep curled up on our love seat. This is a picture of her the following day. She still wasn't feeling the best, but that didn't stop her from continually pulling out this huge box of Lucky Charms. I would give her some to eat, but she would only pick out the marshmallows and would leave the others for me to clean up.

Lipstick











Rob recently brought home some lipstick for Layla to play with. She is 100 percent girl and loves makeup and jewelry, and anything to do with dressing up. She had an absolute blast using every last drop of the lipstick that she could scrape out of the container. I would ask her if she thought she had enough on, and she would tell me, "no, I think I need a little more over here". She didn't mind posing for a few pictures in between slathering it on either.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Sunday Morning

Here are a couple recent pictures taken when everyone is cleaned up and ready for church.

Layla, Anna Lea, and Wyatt thoroughly enjoyed a visit from their cousins Eveley Joy and Caleb this past week. They got to play together at Marmee's, the park, and at our house. Layla was very sad when she found out they had left Friday morning to go back to their house. I did not take a single picture during their visit, however Aunt Lauren did so maybe you can see some on her blog, www.homes1ck.blogspot.com.


Tuesday, July 28, 2009

VERY RARE


Layla always wants to hold Anna Lea like a little baby, but Anna Lea never will let her because she doesn't like to stay in the same place too long. Sunday afternoon Layla called us to come and look at her. This is what we found. They even stayed still long enough to get several pictures. They were both so proud of themselves!

Anna Lea's New Baby Doll


We found this monster of a cucumber in our garden. Anna Lea wanted to carry it around and we let her. Rob drew a face on it so that she could pretend it was her baby, but she started eating the end of it, so... her and Layla took turns taking bites of it. Speaking of our garden, we are very proud of our little garden. This is the second year to have one, and it has done very well so far this summer. We have frozen several quarts of green beans, and eaten lots of peppers and tomatoes. We harvested a few ears of corn, and are starting to get some squash now. We are waiting on our okra to produce, and have several small canteloupe growing.

Family Visit











My sister Hannah, her two boys, Silas and Daniel, and my cousin Heather all came to visit and stay with us for a few days. They arrived Wednesday afternoon and left on Friday. Layla and Silas were very excited about playing together. Even though they are very different and got on each others nerves sometimes, they still had a ball playing together.

Monday, July 20, 2009

2 Months Old!



Little Wyatt turned 2 months old on July 8th. He also had his first set of shots that day. He weighed 13 lbs. 13 oz. and was 24 1/4 in. long. The doctor bragged about how well he was growing. He is in the 95 percentile for height and weight, so he is pretty big for his britches. Speaking of britches, Anna Lea had better hurry up or Wyatt is going to pass her up. She wears size 3 diapers and he is wearing size 2 and 6 mo. size clothes already! He is still sleeping through the night, which is extremely nice for me!! Two days ago he laughed (at me) for the first time!!!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Fourth of July
















Pop, Marmee, Carrianna, Will, Layla, Anna Lea, Wyatt, Rob, and myself celebrated the Fourth of July by spending all day at Watts Bar Lake on a pontoon boat. Pop pulled Will, Carrianna, Rob, and Layla on an inner tube. We also swam, sunbathed, and had a yummy picknick lunch. Everyone had a good time, except when it was their turn to watch Anna Lea. She was determined to do her own thing wether it was eating styrofoam bowls, dirt and rocks, or trying to stand up in the seats and lean over the railing of the boat. We were all proud of Layla for getting on the inner tube with her daddy and riding the waves. She was sure to yell at Pop to slow down if he started going even the slightest bit fast.

Wyatt Young


Wyatt is our third and final child, barring a miracle. This is a picture of him from our fourth of July pontooning trip at Watt's Bar Lake. He slept pretty much the entire time. He is a precious little boy. Ever since we brought him home from the hospital he has done very well sleeping through the night. He will grin the biggest grins when you talk to him. He is also starting to make little noises that are so sweet. When he is awake he definitely likes to be held and cuddled.

Anna Lea


Anna Lea our second child, could not be more different than Layla. She is 14 1/2 months old and is not scared of anything. This picture is her standing up in her highchair making a face at me because she knows she is not supposed to be doing this. Her nickname is "Weasel". It originated when Layla could not say "Anna Lea," so she called her "Anna Wea". Then it morphed into "Anna We-We," and then it became "Weezy" and "Weasel". "Weasel" is a very fitting nickname for her because she loves to weasel her way into and out of everything. For example, a few weeks ago before I could get to her, she had climbed into Wyatt's bassinett on top of him. Thankfully poor little Wyatt was fine. Anna Lea can say "da da" and "ma ma", and has just started making all of the animal noises. She has the cow and monkey noises down pat.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Layla


This is Layla, our oldest child. Yes, she is naked except for her panties. She loves to run around without her clothes on. She just turned 3 years old on May the 3rd. She is pictured with her newest friend, Addison. Addison, her sister Carlee, and mom Jackie came to visit and stay a few days with us a couple of weeks ago. Layla loves to interact with other people her age, and she had a blast running around with Addy for a few days.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Everyone's doing it!

Well, I never thought we would do it, but we are taking the plunge into the blogging world! Since Wyatt is almost 2 months old and we still have not purchased a baby book or written a single thing down about him, I thought this might be the best way to keep up with all the things we want to remember about our family.

Starting a family blog was originally Rob's idea (believe it or not), so I am going to get things going, and hope that we can keep up with it.