My Lucky Charm

The pictures we took on St. Patrick's Day didn't turn out good. So, we had a re-do photo shoot! I just love these, and had to share with you. :) Sorry there's so many, but I wanted you to see the progression and what we go through to get a picture...

This is when he started throwing all the pillows on the floor

Trying to keep his attention...

And I've officially lost him to Daddy!

Stressed is DESSERTS...

...spelled backwards! :) I've always loved this saying b/c well, I love desserts. Haha. Especially this one:

Mmm...Chocolate Stampede!

Today is about stress, but first, a few words from our sponsors...

Have you seen the movie "How Do You Know?"? We watched it last night after church, and it's really cute. It's not like "Oh my gosh, you have to see it" cute, but it was good. It did get me thinking though...how DO you know? How do you know when you meet the "one"? I asked Jeffrey how he knew, and he said "I'll let you know when I find her.". My romantic husband. Lol. :)
Ok, next sponsor...Otis Spunkmeyer! If there are better cookies in this world, I have not found them. Every bite is like a party in my mouth. (Yeah, that was a little cheesy)



Moving on...I miss McDs sweet tea. :( I've gone 3 days without tea now. I'm not having withdrawals or anything, but I do miss it. I just like tea. I can't help it-I'm a true southerner!



Alright, one more...I love my Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara. It's just wonderful! However, I do not recommend holding it in your right hand, and trying to put it on your left eye (over your nose). You WILL hit the stick part on your nose and have to cover up the blackish stain left by the mascara. Just trying to help you out here...



Ok, on to the challenge!

Day 28: Something That Stresses You Out

Boy am I glad I wasn't writing this 2 years ago. Why? It would be about 10 pages long! I used to let EVERYthing stress me out. Now, I try not to stress. It's bad for your health-physically and mentally! :)Unfortunately, trying not to stress doesn't mean I don't stress at all. I just try not to let my stresses stress me out! Follow? :)

For instance, traffic is a stresser-a HUGE stresser! However, I've learned that it's just a part of my life as long as I'm working in Nashville. So, yesterday morning, I was stressing over traffic. I look to my right, and there's another poor soul stuck sitting in his car beside me. But you know what he was doing? JAMMING OUT! I mean, full-blown head-nodding and singing at the top of his lungs. So you know what I did? I cranked up Lady Gaga (on the radio folks, not a cd) and head-banged right along with him! Instant stress relief! ;)



Another stresser-the dreaded finances! Dun dun dun! I handle all our finances, so I feel a huge responsibility to handle them well. It can be stressful at times, especially with Jeffrey's hours always changing. But ultimately, we're fine! We have everything we need, and most of the things we want. I just thank God for our jobs and income and everything that those things provide us.



A stress that's just come up lately, taking Levi to church. I hate that this is a stresser, but it is. He is just so active right now, that to get him to sit still for an hour is almost impossible! Not to mention he wants to talk to everybody around us, thus distracting them. And, Wednesday night church is his bedtime, so he's exhausted. I've been going with my mom and sister a lot when Jeffrey's working b/c I just flat out need the help. I look around at all the other little kids his age sitting so nice and quiet, and I start to think, "Oh how I wish...". But then I mentally slap myself! I LOVE my active, rambunctious, crazy, fun and friendly child! (I'm not saying those other kids aren't all those things, so don't attack me please!) He's not being bad, he just wants to play! We just keep right on sitting there, and one day (hopefully soon), he'll figure it out! :)

My job is a stress right now. At some point in the future (could be near, could be far), my office is moving to Cool Springs. Let me just tell you, that is NOT a drive I want to make every day. Why? This is why:

1 hour 5 mins / 55.47 miles

 

That, dear readers, is how long it would take from my house to the exit. And that's not even considering traffic!

 

I get home later than I want to now working in Nashville. So, I'm going to have to find something else. But I have been so blessed by my current place of employment, that I feel like I'm not going to be happy anywhere else. I know I will get used to it, but it's just tough. This was my first job out of college, and these people have watched me get married and have my first baby. The guys I work with are like family to me. I try not to think about it too much b/c the new building is all up in the air, so who knows what will happen other than the big man upstairs! :)

So, why am I not as stressed as I was 3 years ago? It's my (fairly) newfound trust in God. I just realized that I needed to let God handle it, and just trust that He was going to take care of whatever was stressing me out.

I ran across this from an article on how Christians deal with stress:

"Stress and anxiety for a Christian can take on many different shapes and forms, yet in general, for most Christians, stress boils down to one idea - lack of trust in God."

That's it in a nutshell! Thank God I don't have to be stressed! Now I can just eat desserts! ;)

Do Wasps Count?

Ok, so here's today's challenge:

Day 27: Pets

We don't have pets. Unless you count the wasps that have made a home on our back porch. Or I guess you could count the 3 dogs that like to sun themselves in our front yard. We had a mouse a few months ago...does that count as a pet? Ooh ooh, the deer in the field behind us would make great pets!

Ok, I'm done with the sarcasm. We have no pets. We had a dog, but gave him away. That's a LONG and EMOTIONAL story that nobody, including me, wants to re-hash.

So, I'm just going to share some random thoughts and happenings...

1:

Dear Clueless Lady in your fancy BMW SUV:

When driving behind someone in the parking lot, and they slow down to obviously turn into a parking spot, do NOT come around them on that side! Duh! Good thing one of us was paying attention!

Yours truly,

The girl you almost took out in the parking lot

2: Know how I told you yesterday Levi had 6 teeth? Well, I lied. It's actually 10! Yeah, he got yet another sunflower seed off the floor (thanks Jeffrey), and so I had to dig it out. In the midst of my digging, I run my finger across an unknown tooth. Upon further inspection, there were 4 new unknown teeth! And they're in such (what I thought was) weird spots! On the top, he skipped a tooth on both sides. On the bottom, he skipped two teeth on both sides. After looking at my chart-thingy, it's actually normal, and he's right on track. Was I the only person in the world that thought the teeth came in from front to back in order??

3: I am still in search of the perfect Easter dress. I can't wear any of my spring dresses, and quite frankly, I don't like them anyway. :) I loved that I had an Easter dress last year, and I really want to find a good one this year too. But I'm not having much luck! Do you know how hard it is to find a dress that is:

a) church appropriate

b) age appropriate

c) color/season appropriate

VERY!

4: I want to go to the beach so bad I can't stand it! I just want time away with my hubby and baby, relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. Ahh...I guess I'll just dream for now...

Well, I guess that's it for today. Off to church with my boys. Have a good night everybody! :)

My Little Man

Howdy readers! Well, it's Tuesday. Tuesday is such a blah day for me for some reason. It's not Monday, the start of the week. It's not Wednesday, the middle of the week. It's not Thursday, the day before Friday. And it's not Friday, the day before the weekend. It's just, well, Tuesday.

Hmm...do you think that could be a song? ;)

It is a BEAUTIFUL Tuesday though, so that helps!

Today's post is supposed to be a picture of my family. I think I've posted plenty in the past, so today is going to be specifically about my little man. I try my darndest to not make every post about him, and I think I've done a pretty good job! But there are just too many things I want to share, so here you go: all about Levi. :)

I got to spend some quality time with my little man last night, and it was much-needed! We played outside while Daddy started to mow the yard (he didn't finish before it got dark, poor thing). He rode in his wagon, which he absolutely adores! And I let him play in the water/mud puddle in our driveway. Yeah, I know, WHAT?! I never thought I would be a relaxed enough mom to let my son just do that. Haha. :) But he was so adorable that I didn't care. :)

After that, we went inside for dinner. Not only did he eat shrimp, but he fed himself with an adult fork! He is completely opposed to using kids silverware right now. He wants to be like the grown-ups I suppose. You also get to see his new favorite sound. We're not sure what it is or where it came from, but I am sure that it's absolutely adorable! :)

I love that he looks around the camera so he can see me at the end. :) One of his other favorite sounds is a train. He is suddenly obsessed with trains! I think it comes from his cousin Caden's love of Thomas. Levi's favorite show to watch is Chuggington on Disney. It's basically a modern cartoony version of Thomas. Everytime he hears a train, he makes this sound. I love it! :)

Besides making adorable sounds, he's also getting into EVERYTHING! I'm serious, when we put him down somewhere, it's like he immediately starts looking for something to get in to! He's just constantly on the go, and on the path to mischievious things! Lol. For instance...Jeffrey had him over at Jackie's last week on my birthday while I worked a couple of hours. Well, Levi was playing, and he comes tearing in the room holding this:

Yep, that's the window grid NOT in the window! Oh I'm suprised her poor house is still standing!

But that's not all...while Jeffrey was putting it back in, little rascal preceded to go into the laundry room and yank EVERY single piece of clean clothing of its' hangers. All I can say is, God Bless my patient and loving mother-in-law for keeping him every day! :)

As for other things in his life...We are making the transition to size 5 diapers. Yes, my (almost) 14 month old needs size 5. BUT, it's not because of his size so much as the quantity of urine that comes out of this child! I can not believe how quickly he can fill up, and overflow, a diaper! They weigh like 10 pounds when he wakes up from a nap!

He still only has 6 teeth, but the way he's gnawing on stuff lately, I think he might be cutting another one. :)

He is LOVING stuffed animals now! He's never been too interested in them before, but now he loves them. Most of the time, he's sweet to them. However, last week, Mr. Basil the Bear must've said something mean to him, because he let him have it! He was in his carseat, and he shook the bear by his shoulders, threw him against the back seat and started kicking him. Hmm...do they have anger management classes for babies? Haha. :)

I could keep going on and on, but I'm sure I lost most of you after the videos and picture. :) I just love being a mom more than I could have ever imagined. He is just the most amazing little person. I can't wait to see what God has in store for his life. :)

Sing me a Song

This happens to us every year-not even kidding! Sometime within the first 3 months of the year, everything goes wrong. Last year, it was the fridge and my car. This year...oh let me tell you...

Jeffrey's truck needed new tires
Jeffrey's truck needed new something (I don't know what-I just write the checks!)
Jeffrey's phone broke
My car needed new tires
My car needs new EVERYTHING-tie rods, brakes, etc. etc.
My phone breaks

Seriously?! One of those was enough thank you. We were so excited about our tax return, and within the span of one week, it all went out the window! God gives and He taketh away. :) I thank God He provided us with a good return so it could cover all that!

Ok, that's all my complaints for now...



Now, today is Day 97 25 of the challenge, and well, I don't have an Ipod, so it doesn't work. I was supposed to put it on shuffle then list the first 10 songs. Instead, I'm going to just tell you my top 10 favorite songs. :) Now, I'm sure I could list a lot more, but these are the first 10 that popped into my mind!

Day 25: Top 10 Favorite Songs (in no particular order)

1) Brown-eyed Girl
2) Low (yep, that one)
3) My Heart Will Go On
4) Cupid Shuffle (I can't help it-it makes me wanna dance)
5) Anything Like Me
6) Get Low (different from Low) :)
7) On a Night Like This
8) Nothing Fancy
9) Lento by Julieta Venegas
10) Two Hearts

Ok, I'm adding some of my favorite church songs. :)

We Bow Down/Lord of Lords
Hallellujah, Salvation and Glory
I'll Fly Away
There's a Stirring
How Great Thou Art
Lily of the Valley
Victory in Jesus

We We We So Excited!

I don't know about you, but I often get my days confused. Especially on the weekends! I mean, who keeps track of that really? Well, Rebecca Black has answered my prayers and sings AutoTunes a song so I don't get confused anymore. Oh man, what would I have done without her this weekend?! I didn't know today was Friday, Friday, Friday or that it came after Thursday. And I definitely didn't know tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes after-worrrdddsss...Whew! Just call her my hero!

Wear Your Boots...

...becuase this post could get a little deep! :)



All night last night, I kept thinking about something I wanted to share with you, but I just never had the time to type it out. Then, I get on this morning and realize the challenge for today fits PERFECTLY with what I wanted to tell you. I hope you'll see the irony in THAT by the time I'm done... :)

Day 24: Something You've Learned

Ok, remember this post that turned into an impromptu therapy session? Well, if you made it to the end before your eyes glazed over, then you read about my scary situation when I was pregnant with little man. Now, I had not intended whatsoever to talk about that that day. But God knew that someone needed to hear my story...

Enter "someone"...One of my friends and followers (let's call her Sally) received a phone call from her friend that morning (let's call her Ruth). Ruth is pregnant and had just found out some scary ultrasound results. The doctors told her there was a very likely chance that her daughter could be born with downs syndrome. My friend Sally got online to research what Ruth had told her. Well, she just so happened to check my blog first and lo and behold, my story was there...

It just so happened (ahem, God) that my friend Sally had a party around this time. Well, Ruth and I were both invited. Unbeknownst (love that word) to Sally, Ruth and I knew each other. I know Ruth from a different area of my life, but had never connected her to Sally (did you follow that?). So...Sally realizes we know each other and tells her about my blog post and story of Levi. Ruth decides to talk to me, and I'm able to encourage and uplift her during her scary time.

Alright, so get to the challenge already...haha!

What have I learned? Well, I've learned that NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, happens without God's hand being in it. He has a plan for everything!

When I was little, I'd always hear grown-ups say "Why do bad things happen to good people?". I asked myself this all the time until it became "Why do bad things happen to people?". As I got older and selfisher (yep, I said selfisher), my question became "Why do bad things happen to me?".

You know what I've learned...bad things (and I know my "bad" is not nearly as "bad" as others in this world") happen to us so we can learn and grow from them. I feel like God put Jeffrey and I through that trial so that I could be here for Ruth now. I feel like my Daddy was taken from me so that I could appreciate the lives of my loved ones. My wreck a few years ago...done so I would learn to be patient while stuck in traffic and thankful that I was not the one in the wreck.

Everything that happens in our lives happens for a reason. We just have to look for the lesson that God is teaching us. :)

Where I'd Like To Be...

I am determined to get through this challenge! Day 22 and 23 go together perfectly, so I'm knocking them out together. I know, this sounds like I'm cheating the "system", but seriously, these are about the same place:

Day 22: Favorite City and Day 23: Favorite Vacation

I've already told you about Aruba, which is probably my ultimate favorite vacation. However, there's another one that comes in a VERY close second, and it also doubles as my favorite city:

ASHEVILLE, NC

We travelled to the Asheville area for our very first anniversary trip. I fell in love with the city as soon as I laid eyes on it. It has such a quaint charm about it. Everywhere we went was just beautiful, and the people were beyond friendly. We had such an amazing time!

We started our trip at the Natural Slide in Pisgah National Forrest. It was FREEZING!!! I mean, seriously, I don't think I've ever been in water that cold. But, we were not about to pass up this opportunity! If you're ever in this area or passing through, I would highly recommend at least one trip down this amazing God creation. :)

This is me saying "Oh it's SO cold!"

After that, we made our way through the mountains to Asheville. This is one of the prettiest drives I've ever seen. We definitely want to go back in the fall when the leaves have changed.

There were lots of "timer" pictures on this trip :)

Our first day in Asheville consisted of nothing other than the Biltmore! I probably could've spent our whole trip there. It's just unbelievable! We did everything: toured the house, went to the farm, had a picnic at the pond, went to the winery. I didn't want to miss a thing!

They had a goat named "Mere" :)

The next couple of days were filled with lots of exploring and quality time. We took a trolley tour then headed to Boone and Blowing Rock. We stopped at an "amusement park" and hiked in Chimney Rock.

Most Beautiful McDs in the US

If you ever head to Asheville, I would highly recommend making the loop that we did. We saw so many beautiful places and got to do a lot of different things. I can't wait to go back! :)

They call me...

Alright, before I get started on Days 20 and 21 (yes, I'm combining...don't judge me), I have to share this adorable picture I just ran across:

I just love his happy little face in this picture! :)

Ok, here we go...

I'm combining 2 days because, well, I'm behind, and each by themselves isn't a full post...

Day 20: Nicknames and Day 21: Picture of Yourself

I don't have any super-exciting nicknames with any amazing story, but I do have 3 names to share with you and pictures to correspond:

"Merry"

There is only one person in my life who has ever called me this, my friend Hannah. :) I don't know why or when it started, but it's just what she calls me. :) It actually spawned my email address: merry_k22. :)

"Mere"

This is one I've always been called, and it's just b/c it's short from Meredith. Lots of people call me this and have throughout my life. The one that's probably called me this the longest, my life-long friend Malorie. :)

Ok, now for the one you've all been waiting for...the embarrassing one...

"Bangs"

Ah, Bangs...this one is courtesy of Coach McNeal, Friendship's football coach when I was there. Some people (ok, everybody that knew me in highschool) would say I was obsessed with my bangs. These were not your cute sweepy bangs. These were the perfectly rolled and hairsprayed bangs that nobody was allowed to touch, even my hairdresser! They always had to be perfect, even while playing softball. Somehow, Coach caught wind of this, and decided to call me "Bangs" in the school cafeteria. Well, it stuck. I can't tell you how many notes, signs, t-shirts, etc. that have Bangs written on it. Yeah, fun. Haha. :) Looking back now, I see why he called me that. Fortunately for you me, I don't have a picture. Here's something similar:



Ok, maybe they weren't that short or tight, but it was still pretty bad...

That's it for the nicknames. Sorry it wasn't exciting. I do have one more picture of me to share though. I forgot about this one in my opening post. This was for my business website, so it's a few years old. Enjoy (haha), and have a great day!

The big 2-7!

Oh my goodness...I can't begin to describe how wonderful yesterday was! I mean, from the time I woke up to the time I went to sleep, everything was just GREAT!

My day started off with my hubby singing Happy Birthday. (Don't tell him I told you that he did that, or I'll never get that again!). :) I got to work, and my boss brought me these gorgeous flowers! Without knowing, he got every single one of my favorites: lilies, gerbers, poms and alstroemeria. Look how pretty:

I took off half a day and went to the zoo with my two favorite boys. It was just so incredibly nice to be able to spend time with both of them without having to worry about being somewhere else at a certain time. We got to take our time and just enjoy each other and the amazing animals. All three of us loved the giraffes and elephants. Levi loved the flamingos and meerkats b/c they were down on his level. :)

When did my baby get to be a big boy?!

Back massage? Yes please!

Baby giraffe!

Checkin out the zebras

After that, and a little rest, we went to Longhorn with my mom and sister. I know, I said Monells yesterday, but they didn't have what I wanted, so we switched. :) As always when we have Levi, that was an interesting meal...haha. I just love my family, and treasure any time the 5 of us can spend together. :)

Take 254...

Ahh...what a way to end the night...wrestling a knife out of my son's hands...

My birthday just wouldn't have been complete without red velvet cake, and my mom knows that so well...That was waiting with my gifts when we got back. I'd show you a picture, but I ate it already. Oops! It was delicious though! Bailey's Sweet Shop is UH-mazing!

I'm so grateful to everybody that made my birthday so special. All the calls, emails, texts and facebook messages put a big smile on my face. I'm looking forward to 27 and all the great things it's going to bring! :)