January 2016 February 1, 2016

January 2016! This is the first post of 12 to reaching one of my New Year’s Resolutions: blog monthly. I hope to remember the things that we, as a family, have been through and the things that Hudson and Lottie are doing.

Recap: We started out our year pretty low key. For the first time in 7 years, we stayed home on New Years Eve. The kids went to bed on time and Matt and I rang in the New Year just talking, sitting in the library and drinking sparkling cider from his new Moscow mule mugs. It was refreshingly nice. We had made New Year’s resolutions, schedules, and book lists for the coming year. I took off work during the weekdays for the first week of January and we were very productive. We started school back again for the year, and Hudson did really well. 1/8- The kids and I went to the zoo and met up with Jenny and Julie and their little ones. We spent almost 4 hours there and had a great time. The next week, I spent most of my extra time pulling the carpet and nails up in Matt’s office. It took the whole week, but it looks really, really good. That Tuesday, Hudson and I went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner and then went to see the play Matilda at the Orpheum (1/12). Stewie tagged along too. It was a really great mommy/son date, although we were not too impressed with the Hard Rock. Lottie was able to get her Pinkalicious bike, because she we can officially say that she is potty trained! Since Christmas, every time she went to the potty, she received a Starburst. It didn’t take long, and she really took to it this time. We had tried potty training multiple times before, so multiple promises had to be kept, so along with her bike, Lottie got a baby blanket that I made for her dolls and a book that she picked out. It only took two tries, and Lottie mastered riding her bike (1/13). On the 18th, we all headed out together and ate at Abner’s and picked out some fun stuff at Bargain Hunt. The weathermen had predicted “blizzard-like” snow on the 21st, but we only got about half an inch. We still managed to have a snowball fight and build a tiny snowman named Raisin. My favorite parts was snuggling up afterwards by the fire and watching Hudson and Lottie read together. That Saturday, the 23rd, I headed to Brad and Tammy’s house after work and we threw a book-themed baby shower for Sarah and Annelise. It went really well and was a lot of fun. We completed our 100th day of school on the 27th!! We celebrated with a special “100” themed snack of a banana and cookies. On the 28th, after school, we all headed out South to Oxford, MS where we explored the Ole Miss campus, went to two bookstores, and ate pizza and bread pudding. Hudson loved seeing the campus and was able to get a small Ole Miss football and a pennant for his wall. Lottie got a stuffed bear that we named Rebel. She said that Sweetly needed a brother, so that is why she picked Rebel. While we were perusing Square Books Jr., Matt got a call from Chris Wilbanks, who told him that Ms. Pernie had passed away. Ms. Pernie was a wonderful lady who was so kind and generous. She had given Matt and I lots of encouragement through the years. She had been a school teacher in her earlier years and had many interesting stories and encouragement from her experiences. It was not unexpected, but was definitely a shock to me. I looked forward to worshiping with our church family the following Sunday to remember her together. Saturday, January 30, Granny came over for the first time in awhile, because she had been sick. The kids had so much to show her and couldn’t contain themselves when she pulled onto our street.

What’s going on with us?

Matt received his new CPAP this month, which was an big ordeal, but he got a really nice one and is working on wearing it consistently all through the night. It seems to be helping some, but it is difficult to keep it on the whole night, so he is still pretty tired in the mornings. He has been working out with Drew a whole lot more than usual. His goal was to go the GAC once a week and he has been as many as 5 days one week! He is losing weight and fitting into some clothes that he hasn’t been in in awhile.

I have been doing most of the things that one would expect. I am working, doing homeschool with the kids, and trying to finish house projects. Matt and I got curtains up in the living room! That completes one of my New Years Goals. I also was able to get the carpet up in Matt’s office. I haven’t been as consistent on my others goals of reading my Bible, reading other books or keeping the house clean. Some weeks have been better than others.

Hudson is rolling through school. He is excelling in all his subjects and is loving CC. His presentations this month were about what he got for Christmas (oil pastels), his favorite animal (penguins), and what is in my pocket? (a magnet). We have had some great projects too. We have made fossil molds, a pictograph of the tallest mountain peaks in each continent, painted pictures like Giatto, Ghiberti, and Angelico, and made a core sample from play dough. It has been really fun. Hudson has really been into football lately, too, especially since we have been watching the NFL playoffs. He still loves to read comics, play video games, and listen to Audiobooks. He is so excited about his upcoming birthday and keeps asking about it and how far away it is. We have been working on having a good attitude even when he isn’t happy and working on lying. It has been hard for him, but we can really tell that the Lord is working on his heart through this. He has very developed speech, but still fumbles some words some times. One of my favorites is when he is meaning to ask “Aren’t I?”, but he actually says “Amn’t I?”. I have yet to correct him. He is also always telling me to post his pictures to Instagram and wants to check to see how many likes he has. Its hilarious. He likes to sleep with Knox and Stewie every night.

Lottie is just a sweet little diva. She has mastered potty training and is becoming such a big girl. Her favorite toys are her dresses and would change 10 times a day if we would let her. She loves dresses that sparkle and/or twirl and finds so much pleasure in posing in front of Matt as she watches his reaction. One of the cute things she says is “Uncles” when she is really talking about “Knuckles” on Sonic the Hedgehog. Hudson and Lottie both do it, actually. With Lottie, we have been working on obedience. She struggles to obey many times and tries to hide it, but we are working on it! She loves, loves, loves her daddy and her brother and knows that they love her too. Hudson actually said the other day, “I hope Lottie lives close to me when she gets married”. I actually think both of them are kind of sad that they can’t marry each other when they are older. Lottie loves to snuggle and suck her thumb when she is tired. Geronimo Stilton audio books are her favorite. She is so excited about turning 4, riding in a booster seat, and getting to start CC.

2015 Review January 4, 2016

So, it is December 2015, and I just finished the 2014 review post. I am going to attempt to write this post and then post monthly from here on out. 2015 seemed to bring about many good things, while we adjusted to some of the hard times of 2014.

January 2015- In January, Matt was released from his Intensive Outpatient program and began the outpatient program at Turning Point. He graduated January 15 and we had a celebration with friends at Pyro’s. This was a nice relief for him. Although he benefited greatly from the program, Matt was ready to start working on this own things at home. He also was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and we began trying to help him learn to sleep with a mask and switched masks a couple of times too. At the end of the month, Matt and I traveled to Chicago. This was one of my favorite trips of all time. We were there for three days and we made the most of it. We went on our first plane ride in years, to the Museum of Science and Industry, Willis Tower Observation Deck, Chicago Theater, a fun pen store, the Art Institute of Chicago, “Lookingglass Alice” (a play), a comedy show at Second City, saw “The Bean”, and walked Millennial Mile and the coast of Lake Michigan. We tried to get the best Chicago experience by eating at some popular local restaurants, eating Chicago pizza, fois gras, hot dogs, pancakes, cupcakes, and popcorn.

February 2015- Hudson turns 5! We celebrated 5 years of Hudson with a video game birthday party with friends from church and school. Later in the month, we had a fun few days of snow. We made snow men and had snow ball fights. We also took Hudson and Granny to see the Lion King at the Orpheum. We made a night of it by eating at Central BBQ and getting dessert at Muddy’s first. It was a huge hit with all of us. We stayed after the play to listen to some of the cast answer questions and got to get some pictures with them.

March 2015- I turned 28! We had another snow day filled with hiking and sledding at the local park. For much of February and the beginning of March, we had been planning and working toward buying the house in Olive Branch, where we were living. Some unexpected obstacles occurred and forced us to change plans and to look for another house. We were expected to be out of the house by April 31. We needed to find something quickly, but our realtor, Karen, was out of the country! That didn’t stop her. By the next day, we were touring homes and had placed an offer within 3 days of starting our search (March 17). Although it was very stressful switching up our plans, we felt at peace with our decision to find another home to buy and were excited to be moving closer to friends, church, and family. We spent most of March packing and preparing for our move! I asked to have my house cleaned for my birthday, and was so happy to not have to clean my old house when we finally moved out of there. Hudson also started his spring season of Soccer with Olive Branch.

April 2015- More packing and moving! We had a stressful few days during closing. We planed to close on our new home April 15, but it didn’t work out until the 17th. We are so thankful for friends and family that love us and were flexible with us during this time period. I went to work on the 17th and then the next morning, dropped the kids off at the Kelly’s house (our new neighbors), picked up the moving truck, went to a baby shower for Jenny Harris, and then came to our new home to clean until Matt arrived with the moving truck along with many other church friends who came to help. It was so fun to set up our home and take our time with the old place. We quickly made it over to the soccer park across the street and set up enough to have an early birthday party for Lottie where we said goodbye to our good friends, The Tarrances. We celebrated with them in Frozen costumes and enjoyed the movie together. I helped throw a baby shower for Jenny, which was such a blessing to be able to do with Julie.

May 2015- May was beautiful. We were able to enjoy the dog park with Knox a couple of times. As we continued to get our house set up, we celebrated Lottie’s 3rd birthday. We went to the Lichterman Nature Center and bought a hamster (Rhino) that day. We also had a fun Frozen birthday party with friends and family. We were excited to share our new home with them. We also got to see our friends, the Cripps, for the first time in a few years as they returned for vacation from overseas. It was fun to catch up and let our kids play. Also, when Ben saw the amount of empty bookshelf space we now had at our new home, he asked if we could house his books for awhile. Of course, we obliged and doubled our library size over a couple of weeks. That required painting the bookshelves, though, so I finished my first real project on our new home, and was really pleased. On the 23rd, we, along with Nanni, Pappi, and Granny went to the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. We enjoyed music, the river, the sunset and picnicking together.

June 2015- June was pretty much hijacked by settling into the new home and preparing for our trip to Central Asia in July. I helped Jenny prepare her nursery and then Drew and Jenny, had their baby girl, Camille Clementine. We were very excited for them.

July 2015- Matt and I went on a trip to Central Asia to support Christian workers there, along with 8 others. The kids were able to spend some time with the Pennington family and then with Nanny and Pappi. For the most part, Granny stayed at the house with Knox, Marty, Rhino, and our new ant farm. We flew overseas, helping with a VBS for the local workers’ children for about a week. We all toured Istanbul for a day, seeing the Haggi Sophia, the Grand Bazarre, the Bosphorus Strait via ferry, the spice bazaar, and many other amazing historical sites. Then, Matt and I traveled with our friends Ben and Jolie to their city and spent some time with them, their children, and Mike and Amy for about 5 days. We were able to bring Mike and Amy some of the baby gear for their twins due in December! It was wonderful to be able to see and experience where they lived. We met some new friends who took us on a great adventure eating new foods, hiking, and swimming in the Mediterranean! It was definitely an exhausting trip, but was also encouraging and entertaining. In all, we were gone 13 days and were so ready to see Hudson and Lottie when we returned.

August 2105- Kindergarten for Hudson officially started! We began doing school at home daily. We continued with our Sing, Spell, Read, and Write and started on Saxon Math 1. We added a few more things, like handwriting, mapping, reading out loud, and journaling, along with a few other things. CC started again, and we were sad to be without Addi this year, but some friends from last year returned. Our new teacher is Mrs. Faith. We spent a lot of time at the pool, since it was blistering hot. Hudson also started soccer with the Germantown Legends. They both started gymnastics at SEGA in Collierville with some of the kids in our CC group.

September 2015- We started to get to work making improvements on our home. The Yard needed to be tackled first. Matt began cutting on the overgrown trees. We worked on picking up sticks and leaves, pulling weeds, and mowing. Matt celebrated his 30th birthday this year, also. We had dinner with his siblings and mom. Matt and I were able to attend the Memphis Tigers vs. Cincinnati football game, which was extremely entertaining. We then packed up and went to a cabin near Fall Creek Falls for the weekend. We enjoyed the time hiking, driving around the park, hanging out at the cabin, and making fun stops along the way, like Shoney’s (Hudson loved it), McKay’s (birthday boy loved it), and an Amish farm (we got peanut butter and cider). The trip was not quite as relaxing as we had hoped, but it was a good distraction from the 1 year anniversary of Matt’s suicidal episode. It was not forgotten, but we were busy and were grateful for encouraging contact with friends.

October 2105- Shortly after we were rested from our cabin trip, we set out again for the Florida Keys! For the 2nd year in a row, we made our way to Islamorada, where my aunt has a cabin, which we shared with my parents and Granny. We spent most of our time swimming in the pool or in the beach. We also toured the local attractions like the Theater of the Sea, where Hudson got to pet a dolphin and both children got to hold a parrot. Hudson also learned to snorkel in a shallow beach area there. We enjoyed food at Robbie’s again as well as the Islamorada Fish Company. Matt couldn’t get enough conch while we were there. We also rented a double kayak and spent the day taking turns riding along the beach. Matt and I were gone for 3 hours at one point and saw many jellyfish and beautiful coral. It was an incredibly fun time there. When we got home from our trip, Hudson decided he wanted to sell comic strips and began working on funny, real funny, and normal comics. He set up and stand and sold them outside and to friends. Lottie also had her first dentist appointment, and she did great. The dentist even said that he couldn’t tell that she sucks her thumb! This month, we also found a cool website called artforkidshub.com that helps kids learn to draw their favorite things and characters. Hudson loves it and spends a lot of time doing it. He also continued to play soccer this month, while they both continued in gymnastics.

November 2015- In November, we had our three oaks trimmed up by a professional tree guy. It looks so much better, and hopefully, we are safer for it. We also made the switch from having both kids in a bedroom to separating their rooms. It was a fun day, but made Matt and I feel some growing pains. Both of the kids were excited to have their own room to decorate and be alone. They did really well. Then, the kids, Jenny, Camille, and I all headed to Louisiana to see our friends the Tarrances. We stayed two nights, got the tour of West Monroe’s best restaurants, antique stores, and Duck Commander. Lottie enjoyed trying on all of Addi and Sophi’s dress up clothes, and Hudson got to do school with Addi for the first time in a long time. We had a lot of fun. It began to get cool later in the season and we lit the first fire in our new house! Hudson also finished up an amazing soccer season, and we celebrated with his team at Mellow Mushroom. We shopped and assembled our Operation Christmas Child boxes and sent them off to Uganda. One Saturday, we went yard selling, and I found a box of legos for $5 and one of Lottie’s now favorite animals, Sweetly, for a $1. We began looking at the box of legos and realized it was a Star Wars ship set, and after some research, found out that it was worth up to $2500!!! We enjoyed an early Thanksgiving meal with my parents, Ryan, and couple of his friends. We then went to pick out our Christmas tree at Cedar Hill Farms and made a stop at Sweden Cream. We had Thanksgiving at Granny’s house and I went to work that afternoon.

December 2015- Mike and Amy had their twins!! They had healthy baby boy and baby girl. December was a doozy. All four of us came down with some sort of sickness… bronchitis, ear infections, pink eye, and sinus infections. We were all sick and it took a long time for all of us to get well. That sort of put a damper on all our Christmas plans, but we tried to fit it all in. We went to the tree lighting at Overton Square ate at Bar Louie, went to a candy store, and got to watch a high school band perform. We went to the zoo and rode the Ferris wheel and went ice skating. We did do our Pajama surprise again this year, but it started off with a trip to the minor med, because Lottie had a reaction to something and was swelling up with blisters! She was okay and we went ahead and did our pajama surprise, but Lottie was pretty groggy the whole time because of the Benadryl. Hudson picked out a storm trooper ornament, and Lottie picked out and Anna from Frozen one. Matt took the kids to see more Christmas lights in Bartlett one night, and we made it to the Enchanted Forest. We also enjoyed shopping for each other’s stockings this year. Hudson shopped with me and Lottie shopped with Matt. Granny came out one Thursday and watched the kids while Matt and I went to see “All’s Well That Ends Well” but the Tennessee Shakespeare Company. It was a nice evening and we ended it with a trip to Patrick’s for some food. That Saturday, we participated in the Gentry progressive dinner. We had salad at our house, the main course at Brad and Tammy’s, and dessert at Paula’s. We enjoyed getting to show our home to the family that had yet to make it out. We celebrated Advent this year with a song, candles, and “The Biggest Story” by Kevin DeYoung. Christmas Eve consisted of a late lunch at Nanny and Pappi’s, Christmas Eve service at Southwoods, presents with the Bargery’s at our house, and then a nerf gun fight to end the night. It was a blast. Christmas day, we woke up, did our final Advent, opened stockings and presents. Some of the more notable gifts were Lottie’s doll house and dolls, Hudson’s lego sets and Skylanders, Matt’s Blu-ray player and Hot wheels clock, and Lindsay’s Essential Oil kit and daily planner. We then traveled to Granny’s where we had breakfast, opened more presents, and played dirty Santa. We made it back home and settled in. I was able to stay home most of the night and then went into work at 11pm. We spent the next week, or so, relaxing, organizing, and enjoying being home. We even stayed home on New Years.

2014 Review December 28, 2015

Again, I have let another year go by with no documentation of our life. It has been a hard year. Probably the hardest that Matt and I have even been through, but there have been some beautiful moments within our painful growth. At the beginning of the year, one of my goals was to blog occasionally. It is almost June, but I am ready to get started. With this post, I am going to write a brief and honest account of our year as clear as I can remember it, starting with where I left off…

February 2014- After my last post, Hudson got into another fight with our van. Actually, he walked up while I was sliding open the van door and it hit him right about his left eye. He ended up getting one stitch at the minor med down the road and was a real trooper (especially after 3 popsicles).

March 2014- I celebrated my 27th birthday. We traveled to Troy for cousin Martha’s wedding. Matt also had Spring Break and we were so ready. We went to Putt-putt, did lots of reading, and snuggled as much as possible. We also cheered on The UofM in the NCAA tournament. We celebrated Allen and Ashley’s wedding. The biggest highlight of this month was that I found out that I was pregnant with baby Gentry #3! Surprise! I decided to wait and tell Matt when he was under less stress, especially since this was not expected. Hudson also started his first season of basketball at the YMCA.

April 2014- We held a yard sale with Granny. I got my first set of essential oils. We celebrated Easter with our family. Hudson started swim lessons at the YMCA. Honestly, nothing else is coming to mind for me. We were quite busy, with Matt finishing up school. I was pretty nervous and still didn’t tell Matt about baby #3.

May 2014- BIG month. Lottie turned 2 years old and we celebrated with an epic Hello Kitty party. She got her pink Barbie Corvette and watched Cinderella for the first time. Mother’s Day came around, and I got tickets to see Michael Buble! Soon after mother’s day and after my first real OB appointment, I told Matt about our 3rd child, and he was more than thrilled. I was 10 weeks pregnant at the time. Matt finished his first year of teaching, and it couldn’t have come sooner. We were so ready.

June 2014-Early June, we headed out with all 4 of us plus Granny. We drove all the way to Islamorada, FL to vacation for a couple weeks with my parents, who flew. We stayed at my great Aunt Barbara’s condo there. We had a blast exploring Key West, visiting the dry Tortugas, snorkeling, and swimming all day in the pool. On our way home, we went to Legoland, where Hudson rode and fell in love with roller coasters. We also stopped at Babyland, where Lottie adopted a cabbage patch doll, Elsa Anna. It was all a blast. We celebrated Father’s Day when we got home and then jumped immediately into cheering on the USA in the World Cup. It was an exciting time. However, on June 18, I went for another checkup of baby #3 and we were unable to detect a heartbeat. They confirmed with an ultrasound that the baby had died about 3.5 weeks earlier. I had a D&C the next day. The grief was more painful that I can describe and it took awhile for me to get back into my normal routine. But we did…

July 2014- Time for more processing what happed with our 3rd child. We spent time with friends, went to the Campells’ home for the 4th of July where Hudson decided to be a daredevil and started doing flips off the diving board! We kept busy by walking at the park, going to the Zoo, golfing, eating at Jerry’s Sno Cone for the first time, watching sunsets, and going to the Botanic Gardens and Mud Island. Hudson and Lottie went fishing for the first time with Uncle Brad and Daddy. We had a delicious meal the next day! At the end of July, the kids and I attented Classical Conversations Parent Practicum for 3 days. We all had a blast learning and preparing for our first year of homeschooling. Finally, I got to use my Michael Buble tickets! The show was so much more than I expected. We had a blast.

August 2014- Daddy headed back to school. We finished out the summer with picnics and the Botanic Gardens with friends. We celebrated Jenny’s birthday at our house. We started our homeschool journey with Classical Conversations. Hudson’s tutor was Mrs. Karen Trotter, and we enjoyed getting to spend time with our friends Addi, Sophi, and Mrs. Toni and make new friends (Bronwyn, Elijah, Miles, Jude, Sadie, and Patrick). We started with Saxon Math and Sing, Spell, Read, and Write. Lottie even began learning some of the memory work with us! We also started our first season of soccer in Olive Branch. Coach Jared had a great, relaxing style, and we enjoyed getting to know new friends in the area. August 28, we cheered on Ole Miss in the season opener of college football against Boise State. Ole Miss beat the Broncos and won a special place in Hudson’s heart that night.

September 2014- As we got even more into the swing of things with work and school, Hudson began taking an interest in building Legos by himself during room time. The weather was so nice that we went to the part a couple of times and even had a picnic one Sunday after church. We had great weather for the Memphis vs. MTSU football game and got to spend some time with Ryan while we were there too. We took a quick trip to Reelfoot to eat and look at the eagles with Brad and Granny. On the 24th,we, along with Granny, celebrated Daddy’s birthday with pizza at 3 Guys Pizza and gifts at home. After Matt’s birthday, he began to feel more down than normal and took the rest of the week off of work. Sunday the 28th, I took the kids to church and when we returned home, I found Matt in a catatonic state. He told me he was having thoughts of harming himself, so some friends came and got the kids and I took Matt to the hospital where he stayed until Friday. It was a very tough week for Matt and I, to say the least. We let some of his family know what was going on as well as some close friends at church. They were all very encouraging and more understanding than I could have hoped. Although, this was tough, it wasn’t out of the blue. Matt has been dealing with depression for many, many years, although never to this extent. The kids didn’t know much, but did miss their daddy. We were able to go to school that week as well as go see the Nina and the Pinta replicas on Mud Island with the Tarrances.

October 2014- Matt started the intensive outpatient program at Turning Point Recovery in Southaven, MS. He went there 6 days a week for about 8 hours a day. I went with him on Sunday afternoons. Although the program had some frustrations, it was overall very helpful to him to feel understood and to get to solely focus on his health and safety. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Paula came by our house one day to bring us some sand for our sandbox, which made for many hours of fun. We also celebrated Knox’s first birthday the same day with a fun birthday cookie and a new toy. We went to Cedar Hill Farms again for some fall fun. This year we went with some friends from school and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. . The 24th was also an interesting day! Hudson lost his first tooth! I was a bit shocked, since he was only 4. The same night, about 30 minutes after the kids went to bed, we heard a big pop and 2 kids screaming. We went in to find Hudson wailing incomprehensible words/hyperventilating and Lottie huddled in their closet. She had pulled out their nightlight and stuck her hair clip in the socket, burning two of her fingers. I rushed her to the minor med where they checked her our and bandaged her fingers. Hudson slept with Dad because of the burnt smell in their room and I slept with Lottie on the couch just to keep an eye on her. Needless to say, it was a stressful evening. We went to another Tiger’s football game and Hudson and Daddy went to their first Tiger’s soccer game. On the 30th, we went to the zoo with Granny, cousins Addy, Bailee, Ben, and Sarah. We also went to the Midsouth Corn Maze for the first time. We found our way through the maze, bounced on the jumping pillow, shot corn out of a cannon, and attempted to go through a haunted house. It was a great family dayWe went trick or treating on Halloween, with Hudson being a Transformer and Lottie being Doc McStuffins. Matt and I dressed up as Hans Solo and Princess Leia, but it was so cold, we stayed in the car most of the time! October was also great for roasting marshmallows in the fire pit.

November 2014- In November, we ventured over to Big Hill Pond with the kids and Knox in tow. We enjoyed a hike and a climb to the top of the observation tower while the fall leaves amazed us with their beautiful color. On the 14th, I took Hudson to his first play at the Orpheum Theater where we saw School House Rock with some of his school friends. We also enjoyed doing our Thankful tree again this year. Matt took Lottie on a date, where they went shopping at Target and got drinks at Starbucks. We also went to see Big Hero 6 together, and it was a big hit! Also in November, we learned about Operation Christmas Child from people at school, so we went shopping and made two boxes to send to children overseas so that they can receive gifts and hear the gospel.

December 2014- December means Christmas fun! We started a tradition of doing Advent most days from December 1st until Christmas. We enjoyed reading meditations of Christ, while the kids followed along with their highlighters. We also sang and lit advent candles each day. We also had a lot of fun with our first ever Pajama surprise, where we got the kids out of bed, went to Target to let the kids each pick out an ornament, got some Starbucks, and went to look at Christmas lights. North Mississippi had some really great displays. We went to the zoo again where we rode the Ferris Wheel and ice skated, which was the first time for Lottie. They both did great. Hudson and Lottie also were able to be in Ben and Sarah’s wedding on the 20th! They both were adorable and we had a really fun weekend. On the 22nd, we enjoyed watching the Tigers in their first bowl game since 2005. It was an intense game, but we won in double overtime at the Miami Beach bowl against BYU. Christmas was great, especially since I didn’t have to work this year. Lottie enjoyed her new princess dresses and Doc McStuffins stuffed animals, and Hudson got his very own golf set and superhero capes. We enjoyed another fun New Years Eve party over the Harrises home, staying up late, playing games, and drinking sparkling cider. It was a fun end to 2014.

2013 review May 28, 2015

It has been almost a year since I have posted an update on what is going on with our family, and it has been a lot! Here is a quick overview since my last entry (Lottie’s first birthday)…

May 2013- Daddy finished his student teaching and obtained his teaching license! We took a trip to Atlanta and went to the Georgia Aquarium, Centennial Park,  and Lego Land. We had Lottie’s birthday party and then headed back out with Granny to East Tennessee. We stayed in a cabin in Townsend, TN and visited Aunt Bonnie. We went hiking, drove around Cade’s Cove, and ate the Dixie Stampede, where Hudson got to be a part of the show by chasing chickens! We had a blast! Finally, daddy and I had an adventure when we went to a dinner theater called “Hound Dog Gone” for our 6th anniversary!

June 2013- Daddy built his black standing desk. Mommy and Daddy took an anniversary trip to Louisville, and stayed in “America’s Cabin” We went to the Churchill Downs, the Louisville Slugger Museum, saw “Superman” in 3D, ate at some really cool pizza places, and spent lots of time at “Half-Price Books”. A couple weeks later, we all set out with Nanny, Pappi, and Kyle to go to St. Louis. We went to a Cardinal’s game, to the City Museum, to a concert at the botanical gardens, and to Grant’s Farm.

July 2013- We took a break from the trips in July and began looking for homes to rent in Olive Branch, MS, because daddy got a job at Independence High School. We packed lots of boxes and went swimming a lot, because it was just so hot! We also had a fun swim at the Campbell’s pool for the fourth of July.  We finally found a home and prepared to move, while daddy started working at the end of the month.

August 2013- Daddy’s job was in full swing, and we moved on the first weekend of August. It was a mess to move, but we were excited about our new place and being closer to church friends. We couldn’t have moved without Amy, Jenny, and Ryan’s help. We took advantage of the fenced in back yard, swinging, playing in the dirt, and having picnics. We also went to the zoo a few times with different friends.

September 2013- We continued to check out our surroundings by visiting the local park and library. We love them both! We also went to a couple of the IHS Wildcats football games- one even in the rain! Hudson was a super fan! Finally, in September, we took Hudson to the Mid-South Air Show. We had lots of fun and even met up with some old friends, the Rays!

October 2013- Hudson had his first dentist’s appointment in October, and handled it like a pro! We visited Daddy a few times at school, and even got locked out of the Van once. One night, Hudson and dad had a camping night in the back yard (well a camping evening.) Granny visited Cedar Hill Farms with us to do all our fun Fall activities and to help us pick out our pumpkins. Finally, on Halloween, we carved our pumpkins (a minion for Hudson and Hello Kitty for Lottie). Mom and Dad dressed as ninja turtles and Hudson and Lottie were Spider-man and Spider-girl. You were both exceptional trick-or-treaters, and had loads of fun at the festival where Nanni and Pappi met us.

November 2013- We didn’t do a whole lot extra in November. We had lots of fun together at home. Hudson and Lottie watched Space Jam for the first time! We worked on our thankful tree. Daddy completed his Master’s Project! YAY! Hudson’s went for the first time with Daddy and Uncle Brad. We celebrated Nanni’s birthday at Olive Garden, followed by a trip to the Minor Med where Lottie’s elbow had to be put back into place after being dislocated earlier in the van. Fun night! We did host Nanni, Pappi, Kyle, and Granny for Thanksgiving breakfast, which was really nice. Finally, Hudson, Lottie, and Mommy went to a Grizzlies game with nanni, pappi, kyle, and ryan.

December- In December, we had so much fun picking out our Christmas tree, decorating the house, and making fun crafts to remember Jesus. We also celebrated Daddy’s accomplishment of getting his Master’s degree and being done with school (at least for a little while)! Christmas was a lot of fun. We went to Southern Lights in Southaven and a few Christmas parties. Some of the top gift highlights were Hudson’s soccer goal, Lottie’s baby bed, and…….a PUPPY NAMED KNOX! After Christmas, we got to spend some time over a few days with Mike and Amy B., who had just got back from training. We walked the Starry Night 5k with them and our new puppy! On New Year’s Eve, we had a good time with friends at the Campbell’s house.

January 2014- We started our year by sending off some of our best friends to go declare the gospel in Central Asia. The rest of January was spent getting to know our new puppy, Knox. There was lots of driving to doggy school for obedience training. We also watched some great Memphis Tigers basketball games.

February 2014- We celebrated Hudson’s 4th birthday! On Friday, Daddy got a snow day! Daddy took Hudson to see a movie and then we got to watch the Memphis Tigers play. On Sunday, we had a party after church that consisted of pizza, salad, cupcakes, and presents. Then, some of us headed down the road to go bowling, including Hudson’s friends Addi, Isaac, and Beth Ann. Hudson was hesitant at first, but then had a blast.

Baby Girl- You are Turning One! March 22, 2014

Lottie,

In two days, you will be one year old! Time has flown by, and it is hard to believe how much you have learned in a just one year. Here are a few things that I want to remember about you as a one year old…

How You Look…
You have fiery red hair and we think that it is going to be quite curly. It isn’t long enough to really tell completely, though. Your eyes change colors with your outfits (anywhere from blue to green to almost brown). You have some adorable fat rolls on your legs and arms, but you really aren’t chunky. You seem quite tall to me, although, I’m not sure how that actually stacks up to those your age. You have four teeth up top and two on the bottom. Your grin is infectious, and those teeth really make it so unbearably cute.

Things you do…
You are still crawling to get around, but you can stand up on your own wherever you want. You have taken 1-2 steps a couple of times, but nothing really ever since. We think you can do it, but you haven’t really seemed to want to try. You are drinking whole milk along with nursing when you wake up in the mornings and when you go to bed at night. We are gradually weaning you from that now. You take a sippy cup great, and are a great eater. Honestly, we don’t know how you have enough room in your belly for all that you eat! You love to eat, and get really serious about it. If you don’t want what is on your plate, you like to scoop it back behind you on the floor. Usually you will eat anything unless something that you like more comes along and then you are through with the first thing. It is really entertaining to watch you eat. You like to point to peoples’ noses, give high fives, and “roll ’em up, roll ’em up”. You are quite a mamma’s girl. Usually if I am around, you cry for me to hold you, no matter who else has you. If I am not around, you are fine. You do have times thought that you absolutely are infatuated with your daddy. The sweetest thing is to see you snuggle and sleep with him on Sunday afternoons. Why then? Who knows, but it is adorable.

Milestones May 6, 2013

August 19-25

It has been a really great week this week. Monday, after we got the house picked up and me and the kids took a nap, we all headed out and went to Lowe’s. We decided to make our own corn hole/bags game. I also picked up some wood to makes some growth charts, a project I have been wanting to do for a long time. We took our materials back to Granny and Papaw’s house to get to work. Hudson didn’t mind this too much, because he was pretty sure that he was going to get to watch “trains” (Chuggington). He actually watched the Rescuers this time. Matt and I got to work on the project for a couple of hours. Tuesday,  Matt and I started on Weight Watchers, so, hopefully we will be losing a little weight here shortly. Matt finished up building the corn hole game and we went to his basketball game that night. While matt and I are trying to lose weight, Lottie is getting bigger and bigger. She wore her first 6 month onesie this day. Hudson had a blast running around the gym with all the kids, but he did fall down backwards in the bleachers twice, so there was a little crying involved in the night. Wednesday we got our bags in, so Matt and I played the game until it was time for church. Matt was the only one that went to church. The kids and I stayed home and waited for Nanny and Pappi to come. They made it to the house about 8pm. We had a great time with them. Pappi and Lottie had a blast cheering for Hudson. Pappi was raising Lottie’s hands up like she was cheering, and she would just flash that huge gummy grin at him. Hudson had fun showing off his summersaults and dance skills. When Matt came home, we all headed outa nd played a game of bags. It was boy against girls, and it was a ton of fun. Matt and Dad won hands down, but I am sure we can beat them. Thursday I had to go to work, so while I was at work, Matt and Hudson watched the Incredibles for the first time together. Hudson loved it. Friday evening, Hudson got to have a nice evening with Granny while Mom and Dad got to have a nice quiet evening at home. Saturday was a very eventful day, too! Lottie laughed for the first time. She also rolled over for the first time (both ways!) Hudson and Daddy both got to do their own scavenger hunts with prizes at the end. Puzzles for Hud and a Memphis cup for Matt.

August 25-September 2

Sunday was a typical Sunday in our house.  Church, sleep, work for me. Matt had a rough evening night, because Lottie cried the whole time and didn’t want to go to bed. Since he had such a rough day, I thought I would let him have a free day to himself. He went to a couple of movies and went shopping at the used bookstores. Me and the kids just hung out at the house. Hudson played Kinect for about an hour while I painted the cornholes. Lottie played a lot on her playmat and watched Hudson play for awhile too. It was a pretty decent day. Matt got refreshed, and I got to spend some good time with the kids. Tuesday, the kids and I went grocery shopping, and we also went to Matt’s basketball game. It was kind of rough keeping up with Hudson at this game. He even threw a basketball in the court one time and made the game stop. At the game, Beth ann was feeling pretty bad, and we found out early on Wednesday morning that she had an appendicitis! We were going to try to go see her then, but it just didn’t work out, because I was scheduled to work that day. Thursday we did a lot around the house and then later that evening we went to visit Beth Ann at home and take their family some dinner. It was a really sweet experience. We decided to let Hudson give Beth Ann “little Stewie”. We were unsure if he would be able to part with him, but he did so great! We carried big Stewie just incase. He was happy to give hime away. He also colored her a picture, which was really cute. Beth Ann loved both of them. It was fun to get to spend some time wtih the Wilbanks family. Friday we went on a huge shopping trip to Sam’s Club. I decided that we would probably saved money if I bought some of the things that I am already buying at Sam’s. We ended up spending over 400 dollars on two full carts of groceries! Needless to say, it was an adventure, especially with two kids tagging along. We were exhausted by the time we made it out of there. Saturday was interesting. We had been looking forward to it all week. Matt and I both lost 1 more pound for the week on our Weight Watcher’s diet.  It was also the first Memphis Tigers game of the season! I had been working on making matching shirts for the guys all week. I think they turned out pretty good, although they do look a little homemade. They have Gentry on the back of them. Matt has number 01 and Hudson has 03. I have to work on some for Lottie and me pretty soon. Anyway, Lottie got to go spend some time with Granny while the guys made their way to the game. There was a storm, though, so they didn’t get to stay for the whole game (which we lost anyway) . Hudson looked pretty cute, especially since he had his new “headphones” that we bought him for the air show next week. He loves wearing them, and we thought that they would help muffle the firework noise at the game. Lottie did great with Granny. Apparently she made a new friend with a duck which occupied her time all night. Sunday was pretty typical, except for the fact that Jeff and Paula came over while I was sleeping to bring by some stuff for the upcoming anniversary party. They also brought Hudson a train puzzle that blows it’s horn when put together. Aunt Paula got to play with and feed Lottie too.

Hudson, I know I say this every time, but you are getting so big! You are starting to learn to potty train. You definitely don’t have it all the way, but you are working on it. You hardly ever have a #2 accident, and are decent at telling us you need to go peepee. You love wearing yoru big boy underwear, and you love to get gummies or marshmallows when you make it in the toilet. You are so funny. You think you have to have a book when going #2, and you have started to say “bye poo poo!” when you flush it. This past Sunday you told your Sunday school teacher you had to go and didn’t even wet your pull up!  You are having a lot of trouble taking naps recently, though. I don’t know what it is, but we have to start working on it. You are so tired, but you refuse to go to sleep! Discipline has increased a lot recently in our household. We are trying to teach you to obey the first time, every time, with a happy heart. We have done you a disservice by allowing you to get away with things until we tell you 3 or 4 times or until we say it really sternly. We recognize this and are trying to get you into the habit to obey immediately. This had made for lots of discipline. You have also started showing more of a bad attitude when you don’t want to do what we ask. I say all this just to recognize what it going on, but honestly, overall you are a fun, obedient kid. We are having a blast with you. You are soaking up everything we say. You have been learning the songs on our Age to Age cd and singing them all the time, especially Oh My Soul Arise. It is so sweet to hear you sing those words. I pray that they will become true for you eventually. You have loved the puzzles that you got recently too. They are pretty difficult, but you are showing signs that you will probably figure them out pretty soon. YOu got 6 pieces of one of them together recently. We are hoping to get some sort of curriculum so that I can start working with you. We are pretty sure that we aren’t challenging you near enough, so we hope to get that started soon. Another really cute thing you have done recently is grow attatched to another penguin that you named Robert Gold Medal Gymnastics. You call him “Wobert Nastics” most of the time. Sometimes you throw in the gold medal part. He doesn’t come close to Stewie, but he does show up with you in our bed in the mornings along with Stewie. Its really funny. I think this is the first animal that you have named on your own. The kinect has been a big staple in your life recently too. You love playing it and are even getting to where you don’t need any of our help to get to the games. You love to ski and to play tennis, and you are actually pretty good! I think you would play all day if we would let you. You have also been such a good big brother recently. You are having fun showing Lottie how to play with her toys, and you have been showing her lots of affection. I think most of your jealousy has subsided. You want to hold her and have her read with us. You are so much fun!

Lottie, boy have you changed! You are growing so fast too! This past week I put you in your first 6 month outfit and you can pretty much fit into all of them now! You are getting so much fun to play with and talk to. You smile most of the time when we talk to you. You also LOVE playing on your play mat. I think you played on it for at least 3 hours today! You love to hit, chew, and stare at the toys. I think you are growing more and more attatched to your Daddy. I think that he can get the most smiles out of you. You are laughing, talking, and smiling so much more now. You love sitting in your Bumbo and observing too, especially if you are watching me cook or watching big brother play. You are also trying to sit up. Anytime you are in the car seat or propped up, you start to try and pull yourself up.  You are not, however, sleeping through the night. You wake up normally at 3 and 6. It hasn’t been too much of a problem for me, but is really exhausting your daddy on the weekends since he has to get out of bed to feed you in the middle of the night. Since you will turn 4 months this week, I think I am going to try to do some sleep training to see how that works out. I wouldn’t mind not being woken up in the middle of the night either. Daddy has also started scaring/amusing you. It is something he used to do with Hudson, which would make him laugh and then break out into a cry. You like it a little more than Hudson did and don’t cry a bunch, but it is really cute to see your reaction. You stil have bright red hear and blue eyes. You are getting a little chunkier, but not too much. You are so pretty, especially when you smile. We love you so so much!

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Happy Birthday my sweet little boy! You turned 3 today! We have had quite an exciting weekend. On Saturday morning, you got to watch your favorite TV shows while Mommy and Daddy slept (Mommy had worked the night before, and daddy was up sick all night). Around 11, we all got ready to go(I made you a special “3” shirt) and headed to Chucky Cheese (although you didn’t know where we were going). You were so excited when we got there and wanted to play games right away. It was a really great experience there. You loved all the games. Your favorites were basketball, a simulated roller coaster, and the football game. To our surprise, you were able to play a lot of the games really well. We all had a lot of fun with the games, and Uncle Brad won you a whole lot of tickets. In the end you had over 850 tickets and was able to get a huge bouncy soccer ball. We had a crowd too! Granny, Uncle Brad, Aunt Tammy, Meagan, Aunt Paula, Uncle Jeff, Pappi, Nanny, Ryan, and our family, of course, were all there. We ate pizza and Granny made you a birthday cake. You also got some presents. You got some Thomas trains, a Cars Tag book, some clothes, some money, and a John Deere Tractor! After Chucky Cheese, although we were all tired, we decided to continue the fun at Barnes and Noble. We wanted to spend the money you got there, but you were way too tired to pick anything out. You did enjoy playing trains, though. When we got home, you had a package waiting for you from Ms. Julia! You got a lot of Cars coloring books and a Cars bouncer that you bounced up and down the Hall with. We watched an episode of AFV and then all hit the sack around 9pm! We were exhausted.

When we got up this morning, on your actual birthday, we all got in mommy and daddy’s bed and you opened your presents. I made you and Stewie each a blanket. You loved having Stewie in his own little blanket sack. You also got another Cars Tag book, which you loved and read immediately. AFter that, we got ready for church. After church, we headed to Casa Mexicana, where party #2 got started. We had a lot of people come and eat with us to celebrate. The Campbell’s, the Tarrance’s, the Wilbanks’, the Harris’s, the Beaulieu’s, Eric, and Nanni and Pappi all came to clebrate with you. You had a fun time walking around, talking to everyone. You got some more presents there too, like a tow truck, some cars that you shoot, a skiing shirt made by Mrs. Jenny, a Chuggington flashlight, and lots of sidewalk chalk. After that we went home and tried to take a nap, although you didn’t sleep. Then, daddy took you to church again this evening. After church, you played a lot with Mary Lynn, then you and daddy finally picked out some books at Barnes and Noble. He said you got a Thomas I-spy book and a Whinnie the Pooh book. So, overall, you had a great third birthday. You seemed to enjoy it all, and keep talking about Chucky Cheese’s.

So, let me tell you a little about you…

You love… trains, Cars, Madagascar, Whinnie the Pooh, the Kinect (especially skiing), playing on phones or iPads, reading, being read to, playing games, granola bars, coke, fish, Stewie, talking with your animals, playing cars, playing any type of sport, doing devotion, warm milk, Barnes and Noble, Chick-fil-A, and snuggling in bed in the mornings.

You are so energetic and fun to be around. You keep us entertained by all the cute phrases that you say like “Lemme ask you a question” or “I’m not sure about that”. You love having dance parties and singing, especially “Before the Throne of God Above”. You ask some great questions, understand way more than we ever thought you could, and are sucking up knowledge like a vacuum. You are almost potty trained. You are wearing big boy underwear most of the time, although that doesn’t mean we go days without accidents.

You are also becoming a great big brother. You love to crawl up and down the halls with Lottie, now that she has gotten a little quicker. You can’t wait to hear her voice when she is napping so that you can go play with her in the crib. You also like to make sure that she has Stella while she is sleeping. You are very thoughtful towards her. That is not to say that you two do not get on each others’ nerves or have some sharing issues to resolve, but overall, we are so proud of your relationship as a big brother.

Hudson, you are so special to us. We love you more than you can comprehend right now. We hope and pray that the Lord will give us the knowledge and strength to guide and direct you as you grow and learn. We are so proud of you! You are so cute and you surprise us every hour with your wittiness, love for us, and your desire and ability to learn. Happy Birthday Sweet Boy! Three is going to be a good year!