Beginning Christmas Eve Traditions

With our boys being 2 and 3 this year it's a great time to start holiday traditions. So today on Christmas Eve, we made Gingerbread Playdoh with my mom, then baked mint chocolate chip cookies for Santa! After dinner the boys put reindeer food on the lawn, then got to open their Christmas Eve present which had Christmas pjs, popcorn, and The Incredibles. 

Poor Cohen woke up with a fever today and has been very puny and pitiful so he didn't feel up to participating. He opened the present, then put himself to bed:( I'm hoping he's better tomorrow. 

Tomorrow we are going to the Cochranes for brunch at 10, then my family is coming over at 4. This will be the 5th time we've entertained since moving in the second week of September. We love our home and I love having people over:)

I'm feeling beyond blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to share this most special time of year with!

A new blog addition?

Since I've been a momma I've become extremely hooked on crafting, painting, sewing, and such.

More days than not, I craft during my boys nap time. 

My MIL suggested I blog about my daily "nap crafts." 

So, starting soon, (when I have time. Ha) I'll be posting pictures and instructions on my craft of the day. 

Those Sweet Boys

My how busy life has been! We moved into our beautiful home one week ago after a 14 month debacle with construction. We absolutely love it...even more than we thought we would. We have a family of deer that graze in our backyard almost daily. Chad takes the boys on a hunt for deer tracks and deer poo most nights while I prepare dinner. They love it! We see so many stars in the sky, hear the fountain in the neighbor's pond, and crickets chirping loudly...all in the middle of Brentwood! It is truly a blessing!

Our little guys are so full of energy and are constant entertainment. Cohen is in a big boy bed for the first time. Sutton asks to sleep with "CoCo" all the time. Yes, he still calls him that. He never says Cohen. I adore it! They were in the same bed two nights ago, giggling, and looking up at the ceiling where there Dreamlite was casting stars and shapes. They are such good buddies!

But, they also fight like brothers do. That little Sutton is impossible to discipline. Cohen has always been very eager to please, and very sensitive. An ugly look towards him, makes him upset. Not my Henner! That little one hits Cohen just for the heck of it. We use the spanking spoon and he just smiles. Time out doesn't work either. So most times, he gets put in his crib as punishment. Except now he's climbing out. So, we have to develop a new plan of attack;)

The boys are both still swimming. Cohen swam all summer like a fish. They both graduated from ISR last May and have not used any type of flotation device since. Cohen is truly an impressive little swimmer! I'm so proud to go to the pool and see my child swimming better than most 5 year olds! He is now doing Swim America. 

Sutton is swimming with Kennette who taught him ISR every Tuesday. He's such a great little swimmer too! If its up to me, swimming will be their sport over soccer or baseball. But, I don't get to decide that for much longer:( 

Sutton talks as well as Cohen. We have 100% conversations with him. I've been told often how smart he is. 

He still loves his Mommy the most, and demands a kiss for every boo-boo.

He says, "want to!" Which actually means, "I don't want to!" He'll be 2 in two weeks! Unbelievable. 

Cohen is such a sweet brother. When Sutton gets hurt...he fell down our wood stairs twice the day we moved in..Cohen cries too! He also hugs Sutton goodnight and tells him he loves him. Sutton also randomly tells us he loves us! Melts my heart!!

Cohen's prayer last week, "thank you for Jesus that died on the cross." That makes this momma SO happy:) 

And thank you, God, for entrusting these perfect children to us!!

It's been a while

Life has been so full and busy lately.....hence the reason for so long between posts!
Sutton and Cohen are happy, busy, healthy boys full of life and loads of energy!! They have been busy with swim lessons since the first week of April. We go every day Monday thru Friday for 20 minutes each day. This means that I've worked nights, slept from 8-12, picked them up from Lilys house, then drove them to Coolsprings for swim. The boys have loved every minute of it. But this Momma is completely exhausted!!
Sutton is 20 months old and such a total joy to parent. I don't know what it is that makes it so fun with him...he's funny, very easy-going, sleeps like a lion, loves his Mommy, Daddy, thumb, and "bearcat." In that order. His "bearcat" is a stuffed bear and a stuffed cat. Yet he has to have them both so he calls them "bearcat."
He sucks his thumb so much he now has a callus and 2 blisters on that thumb. He hasn't been sick once and I'm fully convinced its because that thumb touches everything then goes straight to his mouth. He's got stellar immunity! He talks in 3 word sentences regularly. He always calls his brother "Coco" and has recently started saying, "Coco mean!" When Cohen upsets him. He does everything Cohen does.


Cohen is such a mix of emotions. He is so sweet and walks up to me, hugs me, and tells me he loves me daily. He helps me with laundry, and dishes, and trash, and feeds the cat for me. He's a very eager helper....but then 2 minutes later he is crying, kicking, and screaming because I didn't let him close the dryer door. I can't help but laugh at the crazy emotions of him. He gets icky or the spanking spoon at least once a day most days. His main crimes are hitting his brother and talking ugly to me or Chad.
I went to get the spanking spoon yesterday and he said, "spanking spoons are for cooking and eating! Not spanking!"  Tis true, dear son... I couldn't spank him...only laugh:)
For about 3 months now we have taken a nap together every weekday afternoon on the couch before I go to work. Each day, he request that I tell him Goldilocks then sing Jesus Loves the Monster Trucks. So every day, I tell him Goldilocks (he tells me what food the bears and Goldilocks eat. His favorites are oatmeal, pancakes, and pizza.)  then I sing our made-up monster truck song.
These boys are so much fun! Chad and I stay busy, but our cups runneth over!

Crazy Child of Mine

I took the boys to the church down the street (where we also attend often) to play on their playground. It is fenced in and we were the only ones there. It was so much fun.
But....as soon as we got there Cohen went down one of the slides right into a puddle. I didn't see this happen, but he comes waddling over to me saying his pants are wet. Sure enough, they were saturated from top to bottom in the back. I told him he would have to keep them on, take them off and play with no pants, or we would have to go home.
He chose to take them off...it was 60-something degrees Monday. He played for almost an hour with no pants.
Crazy boy!

 

What a fun day! This one is one for the memory books!

I am so blessed to have been choosen to be these boys mother.



Music Time

Our great friend Bennett turned 1 last week, and we were invited to his birthday party. Cohen didn't go because he had been feeling a little puny, so Sutton and I had a date night to the party.
Bennett's mommy threw a great party for him. She invited Mrs. Sara who does music for children at local places and parties.
It was very cute and interactive. The kids all loved it! It was the best first birthday party I have ever attended, hands down. It was all about the kids.
Sutton had a great time playing the instruments, dancing, and singing.

 

 

The kids all took home party favor bags with a maracca and a whistle that looked like a bird. They also got a kazoo from Mrs. Sara. Sutton shook the maracca and blew the kazoo the whole 25 minute ride home!

 Thank you, Mrs. Scarlett for such an awesome party.

House is started!

The boys and I drove by our home site today and saw this....

\

 

 

Sorry about the quality of the second picture.  The boys were so excited to see a big truck at our lot.

I am not sure what that big truck is doing, but it sure looks cool.
The foundation is done, the framing wood has been delivered, and the framing should start at the end of next week.


Yay!!

Sutton Henry

That sweet baby boy of ours is such a delight!
He is 16 months old now and learning more and more every day. He is always happy. He loves his brother and now calls him "Coooo" or "brub-be."

He also loves his "tat" or cat, and his "ber" bear. Each morning when we go into his room to get him out of bed, he says, "tat...ber" and grabs both the cat and the bear. He wants to hold them while he gets his diaper changed, then he will take them into the kitchen for breakfast. Once he sees his breakfast he tosses the cat and bear on the floor and says, "eeeeat."
He loves to eat. He will literally eat anything we give him........except pizza. Crazy, I know.

Sutton is not a cuddler. Never has been. It really makes this mommy sad. Cohen has always been a cuddler. He still says, "ooot" when he wants to be held. He has been saying this made-up word every since he was 11 months. But not Sutton. He will come sit in my lap long enough to take a thumb-sucking break, or for me to read him a book, then he's off to play.
He will read books for a hour if you will let him. His favorite book now is Cohen's book Everybody Poops. I think it's so funny that Sutton likes this book. Maybe he will potty train early? Doubt it:)

He loves his Mommy. And I mean, loves! He wakes up saying, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" and always wants me to hold him.....but not in a "lay his head on my shoulder and cuddle" kind of way. Just on my hip, or in my lap.
His right thumb is still his best friend. And he loves doing whatever Cohen does. However, he is getting pretty rowdy lately. He walked up and slapped Cohen on the cheek when he was on the potty last week. I slapped Sutton's hand and said a stern, "no!" Sutton looked at me and said, "uh-oh" and walked away.

Sutton and Cohen had so much fun in the snow a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time for both of them to play in the snow.

 

 I can't get these pics bigger for some reason:(

And how about this?..... This cute baby that looks like my Sutton Henry is.....me! I saw this picture at my parents house in a frame and literally thought that it was Sutton for a second. Except I lack those cute dimples that he has.



Sutton



Me

Are you observing?

I have prayerfully decided that I am going to "participate" in sacrificing some things for Lent.
I have never observed Lent. I am a bit ashamed of this.

A little background on me...
I grew up knowing Christ and His ultimate sacrifice from my mother. Even though we never attended church more than 5-10 times per year, I knew all the Bible stories and said my prayers every night. My grandparents are Catholic and I attended mass with them many times, and I also went to Baptist church with my parents. However, I did not read the Bible or attend church regularly until I met Chad when I was 18.

Pretty quickly in our relationship he told me that if we wanted to continue dating, I must attend church with him every Sunday. I will admit, at first I went to church with him because I simply wanted to spend every moment with him. After several months, I realized I liked being part of a church family. I found myself becoming more conscious of my words and actions and striving to be more Christ-like. Chad and I committed to reading the entire new testament the second year we were dating. Every night, I would call him from my dorm room and we would take turns reading 1-2 chapters of the Bible each night.  I thank Chad for helping me grow into the Christian that I am.
We are fortunate to have found 2 churches that are perfect for our family. Harpeth Hills church is where we spend our Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings with our wonderful life group. And Granny White is our Wednesday night church. If you are looking for a place to call home, both of these are wonderful church families.

Back to lent....
The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection. 
I am observing lent this year for these reasons. Jesus Christ gave up so much for me. I should be able to give up some things for Him, in honor of Him.

I choose to give up two things that will be extremely difficult for me. Yet are nothing compared to His sacrifice........
Sugar
Non-essential purchases.

My plan is to pray or read scripture when I feel the urge to eat a cookie or buy a lip gloss, clothes for my boys, etc.

What will you give up in observance of lent?

Back to my "home."

As you may or may not know, I left my job in labor and delivery in July 2012 for an opportunity to work with a great company as a clinical specialist. My job is to travel to various hospitals across the country and in-service the operating room staff and physicians on the use of our products. I knew this job would require me to travel 2-3 days a week with those days being over-night trips.  I have been working with great people, staying in really nice hotels, flying somewhere almost every week, and eating at fancy restuarants....all for free. Oh, and I also have a company car, iphone, and laptop. 

Not a bad gig......unless you have children.

I miss my boys and Chad like crazy. I am alone a lot, which I enjoy, but, geez do I miss my family. 

Around Thanksgiving I decided I wanted to go back to labor and delivery full time. I truly love being an L and D nurse. It gets in your blood, like an addiction. I love the adrenaline rush of the emergencies that happen on occasion. If you are unlucky enough to have an abruption, cord prolapse, or any other obstetrical emergency...I'm the nurse for you:)
I spent a lot of time convincing Chad that I was sure that I wanted to leave my current job and go back to being a floor nurse. Chad was doing totally fine with me working out of town. He said it wasn't any different than me working night shifts at the hospital because he didn't see me either way. But, as a momma who prides myself on being as "present" as I can be in my children's lives, I could not travel around the country and miss my boys lives. Every time I came home after being gone for 4 days, my boys were doing new things.

Thankfully, my very great friend is also the manager of L&D.  She knew how unhappy I was traveling, and let me know when there was an open position for me to apply.  After a few interviews, I was able to get a great job where I have spent almost 7 years doing just what I love!

I am officially finished with the traveling job next week! It is bittersweet. The job is an awesome job for a nurse with no children. So if you are an RN looking for a great gig....give me a shout. I know people:)



Have a wonderful, blessed weekend!

Starting at Last!

Our house is FINALLY starting! We first signed papers and put our initial deposit down on July 4 to build our home.
After issues with the lot and whether there was a "spring," "storm drain," or "sinkhole" in the middle of the lot we finally got that settled in November and were given the go to start construction.
Permits were slow to obtain, and weather wasn't (and still isn't) on our side so the grating of the lot just happened last week!
This has been a long, very frustrating process, but I finally feel like we will actually have a new home in the next 6 months.

A little back story...
My dad and my brother are both contractors. In a perfect world I would have them build our home. My dad built every house we ever lived in, plus many more homes through the years. He does an amazing job and is very talented. We always thought we would buy a lot and have my dad build us our dream home. Well, considering Chad refuses to live "south of Concord Road" and would live in Green Hills in a perfect world...our options to buy land were extremely limited. There are virtually NO lots in Green Hills, and very few in Brentwood that allow you to bring your own builder. So we decided to build in Fountainbrook in Brentwood and use their builder.
It makes me extremely nervous to put my trust and money in a builder's hands. Especially when I have heard mixed reviews on this company. However, we know that we are getting a great home for the money, will be in a great neighborhood with some of our very best friends, and a great school system for our kids.

We went and picked out our light fixtures on Saturday and I was extremely surprised at Chad's choices. Here are pictures of lights that look like our choices.




 This is the light Chad picked for over our kitchen table. I call it "the bird nest" light:)

Our pendant lighting above our island looks close to this, but it is aluminum.



I decided that I will put only things that I love into this house. I will not concern myself with whether or not things "match" but I will be sure that this house is totally "me" and fits our family's lifestyle.

That's why we will have distressed wood floors. With two boys, and hopefully more children in the future the floors will take a severe beating..so why not have floors that only look better with more scratches and dents?

One of the most exciting things about our new home is we have 2 of our very best friends in our neighborhood. The Schimmels and the Loftons.

I will keep the blog updated with our progress of our home!
Fabulous weekend to all!

Kelly

Things to Teach my Boys

I have read several lists of "things to teach/tell my boys/girls" and I decided I wanted to write my own.

Things to Teach my Boys:

1) Love with your whole heart.
2) Pray daily
3) Give hugs and smiles freely
4) Read books besides the ones you are made to read in school.
5) Forgive others as you wish to be forgiven.
6) Live like David in the Bible..A man after God's own heart.
7) Play sports. But don't get caught up on winning. Enjoy the camaraderie of being part of a team.
8) Get closer to nature. Walk through the woods, hunt, fish. Enjoy God's creation.
9) Always remain close to your family. Your Mom, Dad, siblings, and grandparents will always be on your team in the game of life.
10) Get dirty.
11) Jump in puddles and play in the rain.
12) Read your Bible
13) Own a pet. It's a great way to learn responsibility and practice for becoming a parent one day.
14) Don't be arrogant. It is very unbecoming
15) Be grateful. You have more than most.
16) Treat women with respect. Open doors for them, compliment them, and don't discuss bodily functions, burp, or fart in front of them.
17) Eat healthy. Fast food is killing Americans.
18) Be active.
19) Work hard at what you love.
20) Go to college and live on campus. A degree is the least of what you gain from going to college. You will learn about yourself and make life-long friends.
21) Drive the speed limit. Too many boys think they are invincible.
22) Don't be late. It is disrespectful.
23) Do what you say you will do, when you say you will do it. It's called integrity.
24) High School is hard. And it is NOT close to "the best time of your life." Just stay out of trouble during those years.
25) Stand up for what is right. Don't allow kids to be bullies. 
26) Be a leader. Everyone else will follow your example.
and the one my Momma always told me...
"Everything will come out in the wash." 


*****I thank my Momma for teaching me so many of these things. She showed me how to love others by always volunteering her time and money to help those in need. She allowed me to color my hair blue when I was 13, pierce my nose and the cartilage of my ear when I was 12, and to do every sport that was offered in Fairview, TN..except soccer. I wasn't any good at soccer.  I always walked to my own beat because my Momma encouraged me to.
I love you, Momma!

Kelly

Christmas 2012

We had such a great Christmas this year at Nana and Papa's house. It has been so fun living with them. I'm serious. I will be sad to move out in the spring when our house is finished. The boys love it so much. We got some Christmas lights out for a few pictures.

 

 

 

This year for Christmas we took Cohen to see Santa twice. Once at Lipscomb and the other time at Green Hills mall. He asked Santa for "a guitar, big boy pants, and a wittle Chrissmas tree for my room." So sweet. We put a small tree in their room for a few nights but it didn't go over so well....for us. They would stay awake looking at the tree and talking about it for hours. The tree left after 3-4 nights. But he did get his big boy pants and a guitar from Santa.

Sutton got a Mr Potato Head and he loves it! Carries it with him everywhere... will spend 30 minutes playing with him on the floor..Nice for us!

 

I've got baby fever but Chad says "absolutely NOT now!!!" I'd have 5 kids if he would agree to it. That won't happen though.

But I am certainly enjoying each moment with these boys.

Well, that's a bit of a lie. Cohen is prone to tantrums daily before 10am. He is NOT a morning person. He morphs into this demon child for a bit. I am NOT enjoying those moments.

 

Happy New Year!!



Such a big boy!

Cohen is growing so fast!  He uses the potty all the time.  Only having 1 in diapers is nice:)
If he has an accident in his pants he says, "I so sad. I sorry, Mommy!" It is so sweet. He also shows everyone that he is wearing "big boy pants" and often times doesn't want to wear pants because he is so proud of his underware.

At night he has been asking to watch a movie. There is a VCR in our "house" at Nana and Pop's. My mom gave us some VHS tapes from when my niece Ariel was little. We have Shrek, Toy Story, Bambi, The Jungle Book, and The Tigger Movie.  Cohen loves all of them. He lays on the couch with his "Puppy Dog" and paci and watches a movie until we put him to sleep in his bed. He always asks if Chad or I will "watch a movie and take a nap with me?" It is so sweet.
We have been taking drives to look at Christmas lights. He says, "they're so bootiful" "I like them. You like them, Mommy?" "there everywhere." Seeing the holiday season through a kid's eyes is so magical.
He loves his brother and Sutton loves him so much too. I have said before that I like to "take a nap" with Cohen and put him in our bed for a bit. Well, Cohen now asks to go to his bed to "see Sutton" or "sleep with my best brother" when he is in bed with me. It is so sweet!
I tell Cohen I "love him to the moon." and he says it back. Then he says, "I said it first. I beat you!" Such a smart, witty kid! He also says, "I strong, I smart, I handsome." He got this from me because I tell him those things daily.

Sutton is still the happiest baby! He has the best smile with those big dimples. He toddles around and does what Cohen does. He also says "more" and "please" in sign-language. However, he says several words these days too. He says, "milk" "bottle" "more" "cracker" "Mama" "Dada" "Poppa" "Nana" "Mimi" and pretty much any other 1-2 syllable word that you ask him to say.
It is SUCH a joy to have these boys so close in age. I wish I could keep them at 1 and 2 years old forever!
Sutton's newest thing is when he hurts himself, no matter if he falls, or what...he brings his right pointer finger to you for you to kiss it. He then smiles, and is off to play again. I love this!
He is such a tough boy. He takes hard falls and when we look to see if he is going to cry, he just gets up, brings you his finger to kiss, then he's off.

 

God is so gracious to give us these sweet, smart boys to parent.  We are so thankful we were picked to raise these boys. I pray nightly that we raise boys that love the Lord and desire to please Him.

Blessings!

Oh, What a woman!

Chad's most wonderful grandmother Maxine passed away on Friday, December 21. She was the most amazing Christian woman I have ever met. She was 89 when she passed onto glory. She was still able to walk and drive until the end. She also maintained her mind which was full of humor and wit.
When she heard that Chad's brother Kyle and his wife Mollie were expecting a baby again, she said, "I hope the Lord lets me live long enough to hold that baby." The Lord honors those who are faithful to him, and Gigi got her wish.
Monday she went into the hospital with shortness of breath. She was not improving and the docs told the family that she wouldn't make it much longer. Wednesday she wasn't doing well, but then she learned that Mollie was in labor. She got a bit better. She ate some food, drank some water, and was talking more. The baby was born Wednesday night and she saw a picture of him and smiled. Thursday I was able to take our boys to go see her. She told them she loved them "to the moon." Friday, Kyle and Mollie were discharged from the hospital and went across the street to Baptist to see her. She held the new baby Hudson and they got a picture of her holding him. After they left, she took off her oxygen and said "I want to go home." She died surrounded by 20+ family members 2 hours later.
People that didn't know her truly missed out on knowing the best woman around. She was the epitome of a Christian woman. She served her community and her church daily. She traveled the world visiting churches and missionaries. She helped found African Christian Schools with her late husband. She started a Monday Meals program where she delivered 40+ meals to shut-ins.
In the Bible it says there are different houses in heaven. I know that when I get to heaven, I will look for the area with the biggest mansions and that's where I will find our Gigi!

Gigi with Cohen

Four generations.

Oh, how our hearts miss Gigi and yearn for her sweetness and love.  Yet we are only separated from her for a short while.
 
Blessings for a wonderful 2013!!