Monday, November 29, 2010

We are having a....

BOY!! We are so excited! His name will be Hudson Lee. We just like the name Hudson and had it picked out before Hadley was born. Lee is my dad's middle name and my middle name. It is amazing how much our lives have changed since Hadley was born. Now we have another one on the way! God is so good to us! We feel so blessed! Hadley is excited about her little brother . We sit on the floor and she puts her hands on my belly to feel Hudson. She says "There is a baby in there!" She hugs and kisses my belly. She is so sweet . Let's hope she loves him this much when she is not the center of attention, and she has to share her toys!

We had a great Thanksgiving with family and got lots of Christmas decorating done. This was the first year I decorated my door and mantle. Boy is that a lot of work, but it was fun! I will try to post pics later. Looking forward to Christmas break!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Long time coming

Well, yep. I am back at work. I have been teaching freshmen which is quite an adjustment from teaching upperclassmen. It was a really rough start, but things are getting better.
Still trying to decorate the house. I am putting this off until after football season. We pretty much don't have much time with LSU football in season. We have been tailgating. Hadley made it to her first tailgate party. Thanks to Granna and Pop for bringing her! She is so much fun. She repeats everything. She can sing her ABCs and Jesus Loves me! She can spot a football and an LSU tiger anywhere. We took her to see Mike the Tiger last weekend. She loved him. He was out and walking right in front of us. This morning we took her to the pumpkin patch, and she picked out two small pumpkins to take home. Granna comes to our house to keep Hadley everyday and for that we are eternally grateful. We get to visit Maw Maw and Paw Paw almost every day too, which is nice. We are so blessed to have such an amazing family to help us. We are looking forward to going on a cruise in November for my cousin, Lisa's wedding. For those who don't know, we are expecting another baby in April. We will find out what the sex is in December. So ready to know! Anyway... hope this catches everyone up a little. Off to watch the Tigers play Auburn- I must admit like every other week I am a nervous wreck wondering what our offense will or will not do this week! Geaux Tigers!

Monday, July 5, 2010

I am back!

Whew! We are finally in our new house. I have been without computer access for a month, but we are back up and running. We are so glad to be in the house. We have almost everything unpacked and put up. There are always those few boxes that you have no clue where to put the things in them, so I opted to put those away in the upstairs bonus room for now along with all my home decor until I can find them a home. We are really enjoying being out in the country. We have been able to watch a fourth of July fireworks show, burn garbage in our back yard, and walk to our mailbox located at the end of our driveway. These are things that we couldn't do at our old house (in the city;) ). We can also walk next door to Grandma and Paw Paw's which is wonderful! I will try to post pics soon- as usual I am behind on downloading. Funny how I have no problem taking millions of pics - I just slack when it comes to getting them onto the computer!

Hadley Kay is a little over 16 months now. I can believe how fast she is growing. She keeps us laughing with her funny faces and new words. She says "Woww" and "oooohhh" when she sees something that she likes. She really draws the words out which makes it really cute. She loved swimming lessons and went underwater . I think the lessons helped me as much as her. I learned to take her under without freaking out. By the end, she was sitting on the side of the pool and jumping in to me. I was really proud. She still loves books and rocking her babies and her stuffed animals and plays well on her riding toys. She finally made it to 20 lbs, so we were able to turn her around in her car seat.

Last week we had a small scare and had to spend the night at the hospital. Summation: We think it was just really, really bad gas.... little miss had a six pack! She was crying hysterically and her breathing was shallow, she would not eat or drink anything. After a trip to the pediatrician's office and the ER, they kept us overnight for observation in case it was a more serious condition common in kids her age called intussisseption. She was back to her old self before we admitted her so we were relieved that she was okay. She proved that she was feeling better by staying up most of the night running around in the crib, which wouldn't have been that bad except for the fact that she was hooked up to an IV and kept getting tangled in the IV tubing. Needless to say, Jared and I did not get very much sleep that night. But all is well and we are so grateful she is back to her spunky little self! I hope to try to do better keeping up with the blog. However, I go back to work in August so I won't have much extra time, so we shall see! Not sure I am ready to go back to work just yet, but too bad... I have to go anyway!!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Update

Whew!! Life has been extremely hectic, but good! First of all, we sold our house about two weekends ago. Yippee! We are supposed to close on May 26th, so we have that weekend to move out! We are going to be living with some very generous friends who have opened their home to us. Thanks to my parents who are storing our storage unit overflow items at their house.
As far as the new house goes, things are moving along. They just finished the driveway and are getting ready to paint the inside. They said it would take about two weeks to finish the painting and then they still have to install the granite, fireplace mantel, wrought iron stair railing and a few other trim items. So we are not quite sure how long it will be before we move in.

School... AHHHHH!!! I am soo ready to be done. I have some stuff due on Sunday!! Yep- on Mother's Day... she doesn't care!! Then I have a presentation due on Wednesday and a 10 page research paper due on Friday. Haven't actually written a full blown research paper since high school so you can imagine the fun I am having with this!! I am actually on page 4 of ten, but let me tell you I have made a few trips to the looney bin during the first 4 pages... anyway.. I am going to knock it out Monday and Tuesday thanks to my wonderful mom and mother-in-law who are going to keep Little Miss Hadley for me while I pound away at the keyboard!! Pray for me if you think about it... I am sure I will need a little sanity, patience and motivation Monday and Tuesday!! After this, I will be library certified yippee!!!

Hadley... SHe is wild!! She loves to climb up on the couch to get to the remotes or anything on the table. She is quite skilled at this . She can turn the computer on and off, the bath tub faucet on and off, she was hanging from the oven door the other day and it opened and almost gave her a little konk right on the head, but I came to the rescue!! Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to save her from the big bad flat iron that burnt her poor little fingers!!! When did she get that tall? She cracks me up constantly!! Jared says that she is my daughter because she is really loud and she talks alot!!! I have no idea what he is talking about;)! She still hasn't broken the 20 lb. mark yet, so we are hoping that she will at her 15 month appointment! She sleeps and eats really well! I love being her mommy! She is so much fun! We signed up for mommy and me swimming lesson this summer so that should be fun! I am anxious to see how she will do! She loves splashing in the tub and sticks her face in the water now, so we will see! I am more worried about how I will do that her! I am nervous about putting her under water, but I know I need to suck it up and try.

Jared... still the best husband ever! I am so lucky!!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Sweet 'n' Spicy Chicken recipe

Here is an easy and yummy recipe:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 to 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 jar (11 ounces) chunky salsa
1/2 cup of peach preserves
Hot cooked rice

Place the chicken in a large resealable plastic bag; add taco seasoning and toss to coat. In a skillet, brown chicken in oil. Combine salsa and preserves; stir into skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until meat juices run clear. Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Update

Hadley is officially walking now! She is still a little wobbly, but she has it for the most part. She is definitely in the exploration stage where she gets into any cabinet or drawer that she can. She can reach pretty high as well. I am running out of places to put things where she can't reach them. She had lots of fun for Easter. The Easter Bunny brought her some books and PJ's. Then we went to my aunt's house and she hung out with family and did the Easter egg hunt with her cousins. She doesn't like grass very much so this was a small challenge that we had to overcome.

Please pray for us to sell our house within the next month because our new house is going to be ready in about two months or less. We have only had one couple view it, and it has been on the FSBO website for three weeks. Our new house is coming along nicely. I will post pics of this soon too. We have bricks and they are working on stucco. They are floating the sheetrock right now and the cabinets should be in in about two weeks. We are so ready to get into the new house. I have started packing up more stuff in the cabinets that we don't use much to get a head start on the packing and moving process. No fun!! I am lucky to be able to do a little at a time.

I have been spending my "spare" time( time while Hadley is asleep) working on a 10 page research paper that I have to do for one of my grad school classes. I think it has been over 15 years since I have written a research paper, and I am an English teacher!! I hope it is another fifteen before I have to write another one... or NEVER!! ha ha

I am so blessed to have such amazing parents and in-laws who help Jared and I out with Hadley. I thank God for them and all they do for us. I love them all so much!!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I'm Baaaack!

Ok.. so I have been a major slacker in the blog department. Here is an update on life for us...We are building a new house in Prairieville next to my parents. We are really excited about that. Look out country ... here we come! Our house has really progressed. If you are on facebook( I finally caved in to this trend and must admit I am addicted which is part of the reason I have slacked on blogging), we have some pics posted. Check them out and I will try to post the most recent pics on the blog ASAP! It changes every day right now, so it is hard to keep up. My goal is to try to post some more recent pics to the blog this week. The house is pretty much framed up and almost completely closed in. We are really excited. Currently we are trying to get our house in shape to put it on the market FSBOwner. Hopefully, we can sell it within a reasonable time. We are going to be living with my parents right next door to our new home if the house sells before the new house is ready(June -July). We did decide to go with a contractor and I am so glad, much less stress for us. My dad is out there everyday hawk-eyeing every move they make, so that is really nice; he has caught a few mistakes already!! Gotta love that!

I will be finished with my school library certification after this semester and am hoping to get a library job in the next year. Please pray for me regarding this matter.

Hadley turned one on Feb. 19th . We had a family party at the house and just cooked burgers and hot dogs. She had a blast. I can't believe she is already one. Time flies. She is cracking us up lately with her grown up laughter. She is such a happy baby. I go to school libraries on Mondays and Fridays while my mom and mother- in- law alternate taking care of Hadley. I am so blessed to have them to help us. I don't know what I would do without them. Hadley is not walking yet, but she is very close! I am staying busy with my library field experience and my online cataloguing class. Life is really good. Jared and I are so blessed , and I thank God every day for all my many blessings! Until next time... Goodbye!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Reflecting on 2009

Wow! What an amazing year! Becoming a mom has been the most amazing experience ever! Jared and I have enjoyed every minute with Hadley. She is now 10 months old and as happy and as spunky as ever. She is getting into anything she can get her little hands on and then she immediately puts it in her mouth. Jared and I were laughing because we have a 9 year old Golden Retriever named Rusty who doesn't chew on any of the furniture, but our 10 month old daughter chews on the leather couch and we have recently discovered bite marks on the railing of her crib. She really enjoyed her first Christmas. She did like the tissue paper and the bows just like most babies at this age, but she did pay some attention to the gifts too, which was fun.
We are waiting on the bank to close on our house loans. We are building our "forever house" in Prairieville next to my parents. We can't wait to be near them and out in the country. Jared was off the past two weeks so we were able to pick out the roof and look at bricks and choose our lighting fixtures and some plumbing stuff. It is fun and stressful at the same time. We are just ready to get the ball rolling. It will be an interesting journey; we pray about it every night! I am about to start my second semester of grad school for library science. I am looking forward to my 120 hours of field experience this semester. I will be returning to the school I used to work at to work with the super awesome librarian there. I am looking forward to learning many new things. As far as my future job, librarian vs. teacher. Only God knows where I will end up and I have a peace about whatever happens. I ran into a student I taught in 6th grade and he said, " I never pictured you as a librarian!" I had to laugh because I find it pretty ironic myself... being that I love to talk!! Maybe I can redefine what it means to be a librarian!!!
As I looked back at this past year, I am so grateful for everything God has blessed me with. I never want to take anything for granted. God has blessed me with an amazing husband and daughter. I have the best parents and in-laws that any girl could ever ask for. I have some awesome friends and family that I love dearly. I am healthy and we both have jobs to pay the bills. Over the past year, I have learned a lot about saving money on groceries and I hope to continue doing so in the future. Google My Baton Rouge Mommy for a money saving blog. We have saved up to $60.00 in one shopping trip at Target using coupons effectively! Try it- it is awesome. It does require some practice and planning, but once you get the hang of it you will never stop. You will wonder why you have been paying full price for groceries before.
These are just a few of my random thoughts!