After 15 wonderful years we had to say goodbye to our beloved Bailey. He joined our family 1 year after Ron and I were married. We soon began to refer to him as our first child. After years of living in apartments we finally settled in a house in Hendersonville where Bailey got his first yard. He also got his first sibling. But he never even flinched and loved on Anna from the day she came home from the hospital. I always thought in Bailey's mind he considered her just another person that could pet and love on him. Once Luke came along he had yet another set of hands to pet him and love on him some more. Here are few moments with each of us that I was able to catch with the camera.
Anna and Bay cuddling. Bailey helping to clean up. (we sometimes called him our "Hoover") This picture became a yearly tradition at Thanksgiving. He knew his daddy would give in to that adorable face. On of my favorites.
We are getting into the Christmas spirit here at our house....finally!!! Since we traveled for Thanksgiving it seems that December was upon us before we knew it! We started our annual construction paper chain on the 1st and so far we have put up the kids trees, colored in a really large Christmas coloring book, watched Christmas cartoon, shopped for a care package for a soldier and now....finally, we have a tree in the living room! That's right, 1 down 1 to go. This year, I went shopping on black Friday and got a great deal on the tree above at Walmart. I have to say, it is absolutely perfect. It fits the spot just right and now we can have a tree upstairs and one downstairs to enjoy! Here is Anna putting up her tree in her room. Also, you can see our beautiful paper chain in the background. :) Oh boy, Luke is really into Christmas this year! He was so excited about being a helper today....he insisted on hanging his own stocking. Here is a photo of my Christmas Village. Other than the tree, it is my favorite decoration! I would have more but as you can see, I'm just about out of room! I'm hoping to get some outside lights up this year but.....well, we will just have to see. It is hard to do when your hubby gets home at 5pm and it's dark out! If we are able to get some up, I will be sure to post some pictures!
We took the kids to their first Titans football game this past Sunday. They weren't too excited to go because their cousin Elena had been here all weekend and they were tired. Once we got there though, they got real excited and they had an awesome time. Luckily, we had suite tickets and they were able to walk around as they wanted to. Also, there was an endless amount of popcorn for Luke. Anna enjoyed all the other food and also liked learning a little bit about football. Here is Luke trying to get a closer look:
Here is our family shot:(notice the new member Anna is holding? it's T Rac, the Titans mascot) The view from our seats: The cheerleaders that came by for a visit: (Luke was his charming self as usual) We had an awesome time! We were home by 6:30 and the kids were so exhausted they were ready for bed!
The first day of school was last week on Wednesday, August 5. The morning went more smoothly than I imagined. Ron had to go in early that morning which left me to get them ready and try to get pictures and get to two different schools on time. I had prepared that it would be a disaster....however, the kiddos were so excited about going to school and they were angels! They even cooperated during the photo shoot and it only took 5 minutes rather than the 15 or 20 I imagined in my mind it would take. Here they are together: Here is Anna, a 2nd grader: Luke is headed to preschool this year. He is going to Hendersonville Bible Kindergarten (HBK). He is in the 4 year old class and he goes everyday for half the day... Here is Luke headed inside: Luke standing outside his room: (can you tell he is excited?) So far, Anna loves her class and teacher and has gone right back into her routine. Luke is making adjustments. His new class is quite different than what he was use to. He is learning to sit in his assigned seat and he is learning he can't just get up and go play when he feels like it. I'm so excited that he is making lots of new friends and the teacher is so excited to have him in her class.
Anna's class invited all the moms to school for a Mother's Day Tea last week. It was so thoughtful of the teachers to do. The children made us lots of presents and they worked really hard on their program. They each took turns reading parts of a poem and then they each read what they had written down about their mom. Here is the beautiful table that they decorated: We took the some extra time for an outdoor photo shoot since Anna was dressed up. She loves it when she has an opportunity to wear a dress. Hopefully, I'll get some new pics of me and Luke soon....right now he is hard to catch!
Hard to believe that our youngest turned 4 last Friday! We celebrated with a backyard cookout with a few close friends. He insisted on a Mario party (even though mommy tried to convince him to do something else because the Mario stuff was difficult to find). The kiddos played on the jeep and took turns swinging and playing t-ball. They all played so well together!! Here are a few pics I took: the cake: the pinata: the kiddos: fun on the jeep: Luke is obsessed with Mario thanks to our Wii and Anna's Nintendo DS. However, we think it is adorable and allow him to play his favorite game Mario Party 8 in moderation. He has such a good nature about it...when he's not playing the real thing, he uses his little figures and just plays pretend Mario. (note: he is holding little yoshi in the jeep picture).
Here is Anna's basketball team (The Flames) at a Belmont game. Ron organized an opportunity for them to work as the Paint Patrol. What does that entail? Wiping up sweat! The girls thought it was great and they had a lot of fun together. Here is Anna taking her turn wiping up the floor: Here are some of the girls with the Belmont mascot: Luke was there too! He mostly enjoyed the popcorn and was ready to go by half-time. Go BRUINS!
I grew up in a small town in Georgia. I graduated from The University of Georgia in 1994 with a B.S.in Education. That same year, I got married to the most awesome man. Two years later, we both went back to school, I got my nursing degree and he got his masters in sport management. After that we moved to Tennessee and have called this home for 11 years. We have been blessed with two wonderful children, Anna, 7, and Luke, 4.
Bailey helping to clean up. (we sometimes called him our "Hoover")
This picture became a yearly tradition at Thanksgiving. He knew his daddy would give in to that adorable face.
On of my favorites. 
We love you Bay and miss you already!!!!!
