Looking forward to Oct 2011

We have decided that to celebrate Jai's bday (oct 12th) and Paul's bday (oct 31st) NEXT year...that we would go to Disney World & The Harry Potter Theme Park. We are so excited and can barely wait! I know this is a little pre-mature, but we've been getting so excited because of the new Harry Potter Theme Park just down the road from Disney. I was reading the paper yesterday and found an article written up on it in the Parade magazine. It showed pictures of Hagrid's Hut, Hogsmeade, Dumbledore's office, and the Castle. It looked so amazing! We will be going with Paul's sister & her adorable family, Paul's mom, and hopefully my mom & stepdad can make it as well. We have always wanted to go to Disney during Halloween with all of the awesome decorations, and treats. I love that Paul's bday is on Halloween. We always have such a great Halloween Party...but I hope that our guests won't be too upset that we'll be cancelling it for that year. Eeekkk...I can hardly wait! :)

and some pictures from Disney...

More Ballgame Fun!

Jai and Paw-Paw enjoying a beautiful morning at the ball field. :)

Paul and Jai taking a nice walk to the swings when Jai gets bored at the ball field. :) So glad I caught this picture...so cute!

Pitcher and Catcher were waiting on Gracie as she comes home. Can you believe she went around them and tagged plate?! Neither one of them tagged her! Wow..I was so proud!

Another run!

Team and Individual Pictures are in. So cute!

They won their 1st game yesterday. Yay! Gracie was pitcher, and threw a girl out at 1st base. She is doing so well and she is loving it.

Baby birds not so little anymore...

Wow...they grew up so fast. One fell out of the nest...and we didn't find it in time. :( But these guys were all grown up in 2 weeks time. Crazy!

Potty Time!

We're finally there!!! This is the 3rd day with no diapers!!! Yay!

I thought that buying new undies might inspire him to go to the potty more often, and it worked! He's proud of his new undies and it shows! What a cutie...mommy is so proud! :)

Kitchen Renovation

For those of you that didn't know...we have been in the middle of a kitchen renovation for about 3 years...haha. Finding the time to put into it, and the funds has been challenging, but we are getting there. Paul has been working so hard to complete everything. I remember finding our dream sink at Ikea back when Jai was a couple of months old. We traveled to the Ikea that's right outside of Washington D.C. to purchase it (we didnt have an Ikea here then). Wellllll....we just installed it this week. Yay!!!! It took quite a while...but we made it. I told Paul that he would never see a girl so excited to wash dishes as I was that night. I washed them and enjoyed every minute of it. We installed granite tiles, and Paul had to build the sink cabinet because the cabinet company that we used did not have a cabinet to fit an apron style sink. He did a WONDERFUL job! I am so proud of him. We still have painting to do and our glass tile backsplash to put up as well as flooring and edging, and etc. but here is a sneak preview of our awesome little kitchen in the making.

Here is the first piece of art that I made to hang in kitchen. :)

I will be sure to post pictures of everything completed. I'm so excited to be getting to the final stage!!! :)

Miss Lilly

Gracie and Jai's cousin Lilly has had a rough few months health-wise. She has been diagnosed with Epilepsy and the Doctor's have had a rough time figuring out why she's getting the seizures, how to treat them, etc. She was admitted into Brenner's Children's Hospital here in Winston Salem two or three times in the past few weeks. She is feeling MUCH better now...and has come a long way from where she was, thank goodness. Lilly and her family live about 1.5 hours away from us, so we don't get to see them as often as we would like. We really enjoy spending time with them when we can. We went to visit them at the hospital while they were here, and the kiddos had a great time hanging out. I can't imagine what Amy (my cousin, and Lilly's mom) have been through emotionally and physically dealing with all of this. I wish them all well, and we can't wait to see them again. We are continuing to pray for little Lilly and hope that her illness is under control so that she can enjoy being a little girl. I know she is anxious to get back to everyday life and softball! Here are some pictures!

Mother's Day 2010

Mother's Day did not start off on a good note! I work from 7pm-7am staying with a lady in her home as a CNA. Around midnight the previous night, we were called and informed that the 7am CNA was not coming in...so I ended up staying there until around 11:30. That would have been ok on a normal day...but I had planned to go and get some last minute Mother's Day shopping out of the way for my mother, sister n law's, and mother n law. (yes, I am a procrastinator!) So, I was very stressed out. I had one hour to shop, shower, dress, and be at my mom's house for a Mother's Day Cookout. But I made it! Paul (unfortunately) had to come home and sleep, since he works 3rd shift. He wasnt able to come. :( But, once we got to my mom's, we had a great time. I didnt take any pictures, and wished later that I would have. I did receive a super sweet letter from Gracie that she made at school.

My mom (and Gracie) got me a MUCH needed pedicure! I hadn't had one since my birthday of 2007 (one month before Jai was born) Yikes! But, it was great! Paul said that he wouldn't mind if I got one whenever I wanted and I thought that was sweet! I'm not one to pamper myself, so I'm not sure when I will go back but it was a great experience. I even treated myself to an eyebrow wax while I was there...haha. I also received some awesome truffles and cute card from my brother JoJo and his wife CC. :) (Thanks guys!) We had a game of softball in the backyard with the kiddos....and I think everyone really enjoyed it. This is when the camera would have been nice...seeing everyone running around bases and tagging each other was hilarious! It was a great Mother's Day. I'm so blessed to have my wonderful kiddos, husband, and my family. <3