Santa Clause came EARLY!

After wading through our entirely way to packed holiday schedule, Rachel and I decided today was the day. We were getting together for our GIRLS ONLY Christmas party. The plan: to meet at MommaBo's house and head east to heaven, I mean THE LAKE!! It had been a while since Rachel had seen the progress and who doesn't love to get out of town?!? So we did. We loaded up all three kids and the miles of baggage that goes with them and we were off! Of course, the first thing sweet Addison yelled was TV!!!!!!!!!!!!! haha! She's precious! She was right, we had Baby Songs playing on the DVD player in the car. As a side note, whoever invented DVD players along with whoever decided to put them in automobiles are forever on my list of people to love. In fact, if I ever meet you I may just plant a big, fat, wet one smack dab on your lips. It makes me so happy I just can't contain myself. You are pure GENIUS!! Anyway, back to us girls... We made the 40 minute drive to Guntersville and toured MommaBo and Papa's lake house. The progress they are making is fantastic and the house is UNREAL! I'm certain it will (or should) be in the next issue of Better Homes and Garden, or Southern Living magazine!!! After that we went to Mt.Fuji for lunch. And yes, you read correctly. I willingly went to eat lunch at a Japanese restaurant. However, my meal was very American. It consisted of salad with ranch dressing instead of ginger, and fried shrimp. I mean, who doesn't like fried shrimp?!? No rice and no soy sauce. Yuck! Plus, at this place they don't cook in front of you so it doesn't have that awful smell that usually turns my stomach. After lunch, we piled back in and headed home FOR PRESENTS!!! No matter how old I get, I still LOVE getting presents. And I tell you what, sister did NOT disappoint! For Taylor, the most adorable t-shirt. It says Miss Auburn written in rhinestones!!!! For me, season 2 of Gossip Girl, the cutest gold bangle bracelets, and the most perfect scarf. I can't wait to sport them both! Rachel, you know us so well! Thanks for a wonderful day MommaBo, RayRay, and all you sweet baby girls!

LOTS of love to you!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches!

ATTENTION PEOPLE: Christmas is THIS Saturday!!!

For some reason it seems like Christmas has snuck up on me this year and although I'm done with my shopping, I still feel very unprepared!

Christmas has always been a VERY busy time of year for me. Growing up, I lived in Orlando, Fl so I can remember many many Christmas's making the super duper long 10 hour drive to Cullman. I loved coming here to see my family. The drive?? Well, not so much!! Now that I'm married I've got double the places to be. Which means double the meals to eat. Which means break out the elastic waste pants and enjoy! Which then makes me want to stick my finger down my throat and barf :)

Since Christmas falls on a Saturday this year we've certainly got one jam packed weekend ahead of us...

Friday, Christmas Eve- Lunch with my mother in law's family, Supper with my father in law's family, and then headed to my parent's house for some chili and hanging out with the fam.

Saturday, Christmas Day- wake up and do Christmas with Robbie and Taylor, lunch with my in law's, then supper with my family

Sunday, Day after Chirstmas- Lunch with my dads family

Whew!! That's a lot of stuff. I get pretty exhausted just thinking about it! That still leaves Christmas with my mom's side of the family, but that date is still to be determined!

I love this time of year and getting to spend time with my family. So, even though I will feel like I've been run over by a reindeer come Monday, I'm still going to try to relax and enjoy.

Merry Christmas, friends!

Lets call a spade a spade!!

So, a few posts ago I tossed around the idea of running in the Disney half marathon with my best friend, Rachel, in February. She pitches a very enticing story when it comes to running and this so called "runners high" that goes along with it... Now, I'm not saying it doesn't exist. I'm just saying I ran with her probably three or four times? It wasn't godawful, but it certainly didn't give me that "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" feeling either. Super sad day because a) it was awesome exercise that I desperately need, b) it was about 30 minutes that I could reflect and recharge, and c) it was awesome to spend time on a regular basis with my dear, sweet friend!!! I wish I had the drive and determination to have made it last, but in the end, I'm not one bit surprised it didn't. The fact is, I'm not a runner. I don't love it or even like it. So, in case you were wondering, I'm still the same ole gal that will only run if someone is chasing me :) And I'm ok with that.

Taylor turns ONE!!

I'm sad it's been so long since I've blogged. I really enjoy doing it, but I often find myself without the time and without the topic to do it. However, today I'm blogging about a very important topic. My daughter turned ONE!! My two pound ten ounce bag of bones that I have blogged about so many times before, is ONE YEAR OLD?! Someone please tell me where in the world the time has gone? I've been taking it a little harder than I thought I would. I've shed LOTS and LOTS of tears. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that she is growing up healthy and happy. I'm thankful that she started out so small with the odds stacked against her, yet she is and always has been healthy as a horse. I'm just sad that it seems to be happening at warp speed. I had such a horrible pregnancy and if you know me or follow Slide Rule then you can understand. I fear that I may never get another child and I'm trying my best to hold on to every second of baby Taylor has left. She loves me right now and I am her whole world. I'm certain the day is coming when she won't want to snuggle with me so much and I won't seem as cool to her. That breaks my heart. However, this weekend we celebrated Taylor's first birthday. We had a small party at our house with just family and one set of friends, who might as well be family! We had a blast. Taylor absolutely adores playing with other kids and so Sunday, she was in heaven! She wasn't exactly excited about playing in the cake...she's a girly girl and playing with our food is obviously for boys! Right?! She got lots and lots of sweet presents and the help opening them was endless. Thank you to everyone for coming and partying with us! Below are some pictures from the festivities!

Today's the first!

Today is September 1st. Which means I can officially say, "next month my daughter will be one!". Those words absolutely blow my mind. The memory of my horrific pregnancy and the scared, unknown feelings of my delivery, plus the five long weeks that followed are still so fresh on my mind. To think that it's almost been one entire year is so hard to believe. That day was so scary, but we were blessed, more than most, in so many ways. Taylor was born at 30 weeks and 4 days. Almost, 10 whole weeks before her due date. She weighed a whopping 2 pounds and 10 ounces. A heavyweight compared to some of the micro preemies in the NICU with her. Yet, she was so healthy. Never one single problem. No oxygen, no reflux, no nothing! She was little, that was it. Some might say the fact that my child NEVER took interest in sucking a bottle would classify as a problem, but I don't. She's a girl that knows what she wants. She was introduced to the breast at 32 weeks. Took to it like a champ and nearly 11 months later, she is still going strong! I can't put into words how thankful I am for Taylor and her health. I know mothers in my exact same situation who weren't as lucky. I also know mothers who delivered at a much later gestation, thinking everything was perfect, to only find out there were problems. We were so fortunate!

This was Taylor in the NICU. The sweetest bag of bones I never imagined loving so much!



and here we are today, weighing in at almost 18 pounds!



God is good, all the time!

Running day two!

So, yesterday was Tuesday. Which means it was time to run with Rachel again. I really wasn't dreading it like I thought I may. After our run on Sunday I felt pretty good. Then, my goodness, I woke up Monday morning and felt like I had had a date with Jillian. My legs were so sore I wanted to do as little walking as possible. Tuesday when I got up, I was still sore, but nothing like Monday. We met at my moms house around 5:15pm. Of course we had to chat with Kimbo for a little bit so we probably didn't actually get started until 5:30pm. We took off towards the high school. We noticed there were several other people running/walking around the school too. We hadn't been running long when we noticed a couple coming our way. They were walking and politely started to get over so us runners could pass. As the girl scooted she almost fell off the sidewalk! That was it. The hysterical laughing ensued with Rachel and I! I was laughing so hard I could hardly catch my breath, not to mention how impossible it was to pace my breathing while running or even run for that matter. We had to stop and walk. Whatever! It was well worth the calories we burnt laughing over that poor girls near fall. To realize how funny it was, you probably had to be there. I know that, but trust me when I say, it was Hi-Larious! Anyway, we carried on! We went further this run then we did on Sunday's and our pace improved by an entire minute. Go us! Or at least, go me since Rachel could leave me in her dust if she wanted to. We went 2.41 miles at a 13:55 pace. No world record, I know, but I'm a work in progress! In the end, the nit of the gritty is this: I'm still not in love with running. It's hard work and it hurts, but I certainly don't hate it like I thought I would. I'm still going to give it the full 8 week training period I promised. Be proud of me and stay posted for run day number three!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I ran...and no one was chasing me!

So, for approximately a month now my best friend, Rachel, has been trying to talk me into running with her. For some background information, I DON'T run. Not only do I not run, I hate running. I don't like being all sweaty and nasty and I don't like feeling like my lungs are collapsing inside my chest. I'm a pretty round girl and I should be running. I should be putting down the biscuit and running like my life depends on it. One day it may. But I don't. To me, it's not fun and it hurts really really bad. When I run EVERYTHING bounces, or jiggles, or rubs together so much I could start a camp fire. It's just not pretty and I hate it. Since I've been friends with Rachel she has been talking about running. This girl is mad crazy about it. She gets up at 5AM to go run?! What the crap! My clock doesn't even register time until 6:30am. And she talks about having a runners high. Says it's amazing. I usually just rolled my eyes and said good for you! One day she had the nerve to say to me, "You should run the Disney half marathon with me in February." hahaha! I looked around and asked, "You talking to me?" hahaha! Thanks, but no thanks. I don't run unless someone is chasing me. Then came her sob story about how much fun it would be to run this race with a buddy. Everyone else had a buddy when I ran it last year and it would be sooo much fun. Please think about it! (In attempt to make myself feel VERY wanted, I may have added a little more whining to that story than actually took place). I told her I would consider it. This weekend I made the decision I would make the first step towards making that decision. I would train three times a week for eight weeks. After that I would make a decision...Well, today was the day. Today could have been the first day of the rest of my running life :) I put Taylor down for her nap. Kissed Robbie bye and I was out the door. Rachel and I ran/walked 2.1 miles. It, honestly, wasn't as bad as I had imagined. Not one time did I feel like I was going to die. I'm still a far cry away from loving it and I've still got a long road ahead, but I'm taking it one day at a time. Could I, the one who never thought it imaginable, be the next participant in the Disney half??

Stay tuned!

We quacked up

Our hotel in Florida was right across the street from the Peabody hotel. My mom reminded us that the ducks walk twice a day and we should try to take Taylor to see them. Score! Great idea mom. So, after we got out of the pool and before Robbie's next conference we decided we would go down stairs, grab some ice cream (It's HOT in Florida people, don't judge us!), and head over to watch the ducks walk. We called ahead and were told they walk everyday at 11 and 5. We left the hotel at 4:45. We knew we'd be right on time! So we crossed the street and entered the Peabody. Once inside, we noticed it was eerily empty. So just started walking down the hall. Off a side hallway we noticed a hotel worker, Muhammad (his name should tell you a lot). Robbie asked him where the ducks were. He said follow this carpet around the corner and when it turns green, take that elevator to the mail lobby. There will be the ducks. We told him thanks and we were off. We walked for what seemed like miles and the carpet never changed colors. We never found an elevator, and there was still not a soul in sight. Finally, we got to a part of the hotel that was under construction. Down another long hallway comes another worker. Once again we ask, where are the ducks. The man takes us through the rubbish to an elevator, right this way. While we are waiting on the elevator the man looks at his watch. He says, you've probably already missed it. The ducks are very punctual! Whatever! Since when did ducks learn to tell time?? We looked at our watch. It was 5:02? Are you kidding? We've been walking inside this stinking hotel, lost, for 15 minutes. This is nuts! We got off the elevator and the man took us outside to the duck palace. Yep, we missed it! So, we started heading back to our hotel. It was almost time for Robbie's next conference to start. We take the elevators down to the lobby and head outside. We are about three blocks down further than when we started because we walked FOREVER inside the hotel. Although, I was very thankful for the air conditioning. This girl loves some AC! Anyway, off we go. It's beautiful and sunny outside when we start. About 5 minutes into our walk back to our hotel, without any warning, the bottom falls out. It is pouring rain...We quickly enter the first door we can get to and lo and behold, we're right back where we started from! Geesh, what an outing!




The Duck Palace


So sad we missed the ducks


The red carpet we would have seen the ducks walk down


They get their own elevator??


Taylor thought a little ninny would be good while waiting on the rain to stop!


I was prepared for the rain!! Thank goodness I put that umbrella in my purse last Christmas :)

We didn't get to see the ducks, but that outing made for a good laugh!!!

Orlampa

So, Friday the 13th was travel day one for us. We were headed to Orlando for Robbie to go to a Ron Paul political conference. This would be Taylor's 3rd flight and I was, again, nervous as to how she would act on the flight. The first 20 minutes were touch and go with some light fussing, but after some ninny it was smooth sailing until we got off the plane :)



Of course we would choose the rental car place with the longest line :( Oh well, they were the cheapest, so we waited!



After packing and unpacking the car three times in the blazing hot Florida heat, we were off! Since we couldn't check into the hotel until three we decided to drive to my old neighborhood and check out where I grew up. It was actually so sad to see how different it looked. My house looked different, my neighborhood looked different, and my elementary and middle school had completely changed!


This is the house I grew up in!


And this is my old elementary school. I liked it better the old way!


My middle school actually looked about the same except for this crazy blue sign.


My church actually looks exactly the same except for the obnoxious new green roofed building they added.

After our trip down memory lane we headed back to the hotel!! Not only was there a Ron Paul political conference going on this weekend there was also an annual Star Wars convention and a huge Indian wedding. Who knew I'd witness some many different people groups on this vacation! It was wild!








The pool at the hotel was huge! I couldn't wait to get in it!!! During one of Robbie's conference breaks, that's exactly what we did!!! Taylor loves the water!





On our drive in from the airport my eagle eyes spotted a COACH OUTLET!!!! So the last day we were in Orlando Robbie watched Taylor so I could go shopping. I've never owned a Coach purse, but my best friend, Rachel, has turned me on to them! Thanks Rach!!!




This place was huge and I could have spent A LOT of money here. I had a hard time deciding on this



or this



Thanks to modern technology, I texted Rachel and we decided on the first one! Had the blue one been a little more navy, I may have chosen it, but I just loved the grey one! Thanks honey, for watching Taylor. Looks like you guys had fun too!




On Sunday we made the two hour drive to my brothers house in St. Petersburg. The drive really wasn't bad. Taylor slept most of the way! And we were all very happy to see Jacob and Jonah!




I couldn't believe how much Jonah has changed in just three short months!



Robbie has always been a big baseball fan. I on the other hand, have not! In fact, I hated baseball. It's so boring. I mean who wants to watch 9+ innings of baseball and walk away with a score of 1-0? Not very exciting! It's just not like watching football. Anyway, a few months back Robbie and I read a book about Texas Rangers player, Josh Hamilton. He has a great story!! Since that book, I've been hooked on watching him play. Honestly, if the rangers aren't playing, I'm still not that interested in baseball. However, if they are, I'm all over it!!! It just so happened that the Rangers were playing a three game series against the Tampa Bay Rays while we were in town. So, Monday night Robbie and I, my brother and his wife, and our THREE kids packed up and headed to Tropicana field. The beauty of the entire evening...IT WAS AIR CONDITIONED!!! Thank you Lord! The rangers lost, but we had a great time anyway. The babies were fantastic!






Did I mention how fantastic it was that this field is INSIDE in the AIR CONDITIONING!!!







These babies were fantabulous!!!








This seemed like a super fast trip and I always hate to leave my family, but we had a great time!