Lately in Spring

Hullo everyone! Just wanted to drop in and say hi. We are indeed still around. Things just seem more low key around here. We've mostly kept to home (aside from 2 little trips) and enjoyed 2018 so far. Weekends have turned into my time to do most of my school work, unless I know there is a lot planned for a weekend. So though we do stay around more often, I feel like we have been out exploring our own area more and more. Spring does have a tendency to offer ALL the events and things to do.

I'll just share a few pictures from the past couple of months and let them to the updating :)

Sister Sunday :) I have begun this tradition of trying to capture the girls together everyday. They are just too stinkin' cute together. Also usually about to fall apart since right after church is nap time. 

Baby Logan was born on 3/1! We have 2 nephews now!

Visiting JoJo back in March at rehab. One of the sweetest women I've ever met. We didn't know it at the time but this was the last time we would get to see her. She and my grandma passed away to the Lord about a week apart. John and I are both thankful we got to have our grandmas as long as we did and that our girls got to know them. 

On a different note, the girls got a handmade swing set thanks to Grandpa! Ellie asks to swing just about everyday.

John and I took a week belated birthday trip tTho Blowing Rock, NC while my parents were with the kids. It was quick but much needed and so pretty there!

                                              Our humble cabin for the night.

  Dyeing Easter eggs together. Evie was more than happy to dump all the eggs into the dye cups lol

This picture was all the little grandbabies together as we got ready to leave for my grandmother's service. Our whole family (except some spouses and other great grands who stayed behind-including Ellie thanks to a stomach bug) was there together to honor her. I still can't believe she is gone sometimes. 

Evie with her eyes on the prize :) We did visit my parents church for an egg hunt before heading back to SC. Evie had no problem taking part!

Evie and Reid! Ready to ride!

 This picture pretty well sums up Easters at JoJos. Everyone gathered together in her house, eating before the big egg hunt. I love that we still went to her house to celebrate. She LOVED welcoming her family into her home. 

Easter girls!

   These are just snapshots of some of our favorite spots in the house right now. Cozy places to play, read and just be together. I set a little "library" for the girls on our loft and it's a great way access books which may otherwise fall to the bottom of the box. The toy/guest room is self explanatory for it's fun-ness. The girls are at such a good age though (almost 18 months and 4) they can honestly have fun almost anywhere with a little imagination. 

May in Review

Can we all agree that May was the quickest month ever?? May used to have such a special ring to it as teacher and as a student. FREEDOM!!! Yelling that William Wallace style.  Not in college of course because I was a perpetual summer course taker. Just pack in those credits year round! And now as a momma and regular ole worker... May is the month before June : )

May was really kinda interesting over in these parts. Let's dive in to see why.


At the beginning of the month, the rest of John's birthday present came through. We went to see Eric Church here in Greenville! It was sold out good time. I'm glad I bought our tickets early because the prices definitely shot up as it got closer. duh. It was really, really good and ALL him. No one else was touring with him which was all fine and well. He was a bit of a diva and didn't come out until 8:30 ("started" at 8:00). I was thinking "Come on man, I got a baby to put to bed!!" We left at 10 to pick up little Evie. Ellie had a sleep over with grandparents. Before the concert we had a nice dinner together and just much needed time with just us 2.

 

 

Happy little Evie turned 6 months!! Still so happy, so smiley. She started to sleep upstairs in her crib now. She usually wakes around 5:30 to eat at which point I put her in the bed with us so I can sleeeeep some more! She does still wake once or twice on occasion in the night. She started solids in the middle of the month. She eats really well and still nurses pretty well so we are thankful there. She is cutting 2 bottom teeth.

Grammie, Grandpa and Mema came to visit. Ellie had her 1st little dance performance and so they came. Of course I put my dad to work with me on little board and batten in the bathroom and closet project. He also hung some wooden open shelves upstairs for my little reading nook. We finished but it was more extensive than I would have though. We basically only stopped to go to Ellie's rehearsal and show. Although my dad's knee was giving him a fit (he is in surgery as I type this to fix it) he stuck to it and saw the project through with me. I have given him and my mom scout's honor that next time they come, only fun and no work! I should also mention my dad brought me a top of the line bar cart and wooden sign I commissioned him to make earlier. A whole post coming soon on his work!

 

 

Ellie did great at her recital and even sang at the end. We all got a little laugh at her line: "I do hope that doggies for sale!!"

We celebrated John's cousin who will be getting married in August and John's dad who had his 72nd birthday!











We took some family portraits with the very talented Ashlie Moon of Brooklyn Ash photography. I really wanted us to have decent pictures together since they causally do not happen. Someone is frowning, making a face or more often it is blurry, too far, too close etc, etc. etc.

Lastly at the last minute we planned a trip to Savannah over Memorial weekend. It was shall we say...interesting. We learned some important lessons as this was our first trip as a family of 4. John was very hesitant about it and I was all let's goooooo!!!! So after a guilt trip he caved and he got the accommodations settled. We left Saturday morning and traffic really wasn't bad considering. We got a suite so that Ellie would have her space in the other room and Evie just slept beside me in our bed. Then John had a bed to himself. This was all perfectly fine. The not so fine part was a combo of super hotness outside, lots of walking, whiney toddler and screeching baby in crowded spaces. And it was memorial weekend so everything was crowded. Now. I didn't mind walking personally but heat and walking are John's nemesis. Evie was in the carrier mostly but needed a break here and there for a stroller ride but Ellie was quite defiant on NOT walking and therefore not giving up the stroller space. LOL. We did go to Tybee island Sunday morning before all the crazies and crowds arrived but we couldn't stay long. We had a wonderful lunch afterwards at a little beach shack restaurant. While we were in Savannah, we also saw beautiful old homes, ate more good food and played at Forsyth park. Family memories from trips come from the good and not so good right?? Yes!

Oh and I almost forgot! I started a new job this month. I switch hospitals within our system (it is my dream place to work!!) and I work "office hours" in post-OP recovery. This means I am home every night, here in the mornings with everyone, I'm only on call once every 6 weeks on the weekend and on call one holiday a year! I get all other holidays off!!! It seems as though I work with a great crowd too and so I am very thankful. I enjoyed the other team I worked with in rehab but I'm ultimately happier where I am now.

BTW today is Ellie's 1st day of 3K!!

Bye bye May and hellooooo June!

Winter in Review and Ellie's Birthday

I think we are all laughing at the title of that one for sure. Has this not been the most mild winter ever? Seriously, I was just looking at our collection of cute knit hats we have for the girls at the back door and thought I could probably count on one hand how many times we have actually worn these this season. Anywho this post might as well sum up our "winter" since February is almost gone and I missed January with a post. I think I left off somewhere around New years and mentioning a return to work...

January
Our little happy baby turned 2 months on the fifth of January

She is just the BEST baby ever. Loves to be held, loves to watch people, she smiles a lot and is very content in general. Much different story than the very beginning.

We did manage a little snow storm and had lots of fun playing that Saturday before Momma had to go to work Sunday! Go figure the day I return we have several inches of snow + ice on the ground. But of course it was fine. John was my knight in shining armor and took me there. It was a good day too in general.

Hey hey hey,  you might have heard Clemson won the Natty? The National Championship of course. For those of you who don't know John's whole family basically is Clemson alum including John soooo I married into this. We were all pretty stoked though.

Let's go to Clemson to celebrate the big WIN! I convinced John we needed to join the masses and go to the parade there and see the team. There was of course lots of fans there but hey we got there early and stood in one spot for an hour but we were able to see it all! We were at the end of the route right by Memorial Stadium.

                                             

Oh just Evie being lovely again...those big grins started here.

Mild days equal some park time for Ellie. This girl loves a park these days. She is really becoming more sure of herself out in public. Not so shy anymore.

 

February

 

We went to see THE B&B and Ringing Bros circus. It was a great final farewell. We just took Ellie and let Evie stay with grandparents for a couple of hours. It was a great show (its been a very long time since I've been) and kinda sad to think its all over. Oh well, at least we got to see it!

 

The happy baby turned 3 months on the 5th! Big smiles and joy to all she meets! I need to update her baby book since each month brings such change. I write down little things on my phone and then write it in her book. Its so sweet to look back at.

Matchy matchy in Target and at the library. Ellie also has finally agreed to let us give her piggy tails and pony tails! You couldn't even try before that...so yay!

 

 I worked on Valentines but we gave Ellie some troll dolls when I got home. John gave me one of his classic homemade, honestly very amusing homemade cards! A patient and his family gave me and other nurses chocolates :) BTW Trolls was such a cute movie!

 

We went to Atlanta to the aquarium to kick off celebrations for Ellie's 3rd birthday. I really couldn't decide on what exactly to do for her party. Big family get together? Just us? Shes not in school yet so theres no little friends really (sounds kinda pitiful) but hey she well entertained. She said she wanted a "Dory" party and "Frozen" themed party. That being said I broke her celebrations up into 2 events in Ga and NC. Obviously we went to GA for "Dory" part and John's parents were able to join us. We opened presents at a restaurant before hand and had some "dory" cupcakes momma made. The restaurant even gave us a little candle to use :) Afterwards we walked over to the aquarium. Did you know they have dolphins now?? Kinda crazy and we got to see them in a show. I've never seen them like that before. Only in Edisto Beach and waaaay from a distance there. Ellie liked it and the rest of the fish/animals too of course. They really have everything at this place: Belugas, whale sharks, otters, penguins, etc. We even had a sea turtle swim right in front of us. Of course Dory and Nemo fish were there too... The only downside was the amount of people there! It was crazy! I'm pretty sure the legal limit was reached. 

 

The next weekend we drove to NC for a "frozen" themed birthday with my parents. Saturday night we had appetizers, dinner, cake and presents! Little Ellie turned into a big Ellie with a new bike! Like a legit bike with training wheels and all! The whole weekend was filled with good food, fellowship and family time. It was hard to leave as usual. Ellie just loves the attention from her aunts/uncles and my parents. She's a fortunate little girl and so are we.  

Btw 3 yrs old is looking like a slightly more um, "determined" version of 2 ys old. (Johns mom always said he was "determined" aka hard headed as a small child) Ellie is so smart and just says the sweetest things sometimes but boy if you want to do something and she doesn't agree? Be prepared for battle. I personally still struggle here because I don't have patience for days when it comes to putting up a fight over say...getting dressed. This is where "determined" meets controlling (me). thankfully John and I are a pretty good tag team and when the other is about to lose it we can switch out. LOL. The days are long and the years short though. I can't believe how much little Ellie has changed in 3 years. It's almost like was she ever a baby? I just see her as a big girl now. A big girl who is about to start ballet lessons! She thrives more or less in structure/school environment so I hope she will like it. She also loves dancing but more of the party kind of dancing so we shall see.
 

 

Oh and Evie is still a dreamboat. The. best. baby. ever.