March Madness and April Showers

March brought with us warmer weather and lots of special moments and memories.

{eating oranges on momma mac's back porch}

{special visit from our mamaw - mattie rose loved helping her sew}

{walks by the pond with our momma mac}

{always waiting on daddy to get home}

{fun times with our friends}

{lots of nick's italian ice - our favorite in-town treat}

{kristen (one of the girls in my small group) got baptized}

{post dunk}

At the end of March, we took a trip with the Siscos and both of our staffs to Atlanta for the Hinman Dental Conference. Lots of teeth for the guys. Lots of shopping for the ladies!

{dinner with the hubs}

{after dinner drinks}

{it was way past our bedtime}

{proof that we "went" to the conference}

{buddies}

The first weekend of April was a busy, but fun-filled weekend spent with ladies I love! Friday night, the women's ministry hosted a Pinterest Party for the women of the church. Several very talented women taught seminars on topics from lamp making to jewelry making and knitting to painting. Each women attended two seminars, followed by dinner and two more seminars. Saturday morning, I hosted a baby shower with several friends for my friend Lacey who is expecting sweet baby girl Greer any time in the next few weeks! Lacey is a Memphis-transplant like myself and we have become good friends as we continually try to adjust to life in this small town of Crossville.

{love serving with these women}

{cake decorating class}

{jewelry making}

{lamp making}

A few pictures from Lacey and baby Greer's shower:

{a love a reason to craft. particularly new babies.}

{yummy punch}

{invitations}

{mrs. mary has the best serving pieces}

{the spread}

{love making diaper cakes}

{can hardly tell which of us is the preggers, because lacey looks so great!}

{hostesses and mama-to-be in gray}

February

Not too much went on during the month of February because of this:

{snow. everywhere. it was a cold month.}

{mattie rose loved being outside while it snowed, but she definitely didn't like walking in it}

Daddy made sure both Mommy and Mattie Rose felt loved on Valentine's Day. We both received special flowers and chocolate and sweet words in a card that made Mommy cry. 

{"which one should i try first?"}

{pure joy}

{sweet girl even shared some with her brother}

{valentine's day at mdo. clearly she's concerned that i'm leaving.}

{brother shares her sentiments}

We headed back to Memphis again in February to celebrate Isla's (by bestie Alicia's daughter) baptism. No way I was missing that!

{smiles with my godson declan and his coco}

{aunt coco's kisses are the best}

{she did so great}

{best friends}

{she's thrilled that her aunt coco wanted to snuggle so long, ha!}

It had been so long since my 9th and 10th grade small group had gotten together outside of church functions, so we decided to hit up the Cumberland County Playhouse for a Sunday matinee of Grease. It was so much fun to share a timeless classic with this bunch!

{love these girls}

January Happenings

I figured since it was May, now would be a good time to tell you what went on in our lives in January! Ha! We have been crazy busy these past few months and blogging has taken a huge back seat...

January started off with a trip to Chattanooga with our youth group at church. We went to see the WinterJam concert, full of fun Christian artists and lots of really good music. The kids got to get into the building early, rather than waiting in long lines for hours, because we had the opportunity to volunteer with Holt International to try and find monthly sponsors for kids across the world waiting on their forever homes. It was a great teaching moment for the kids to get them thinking outside of their immediate world.

{this wasn't even all of the available children}

{learning about holt international}

{part of our youth group}

{an unexpected surprise - my childhood buddy leonard works for reach records and happened to be working at this show}

{lecrae was our favorite}

A couple weeks later, James, Mattie Rose, and I headed to Memphis! I was helping to host a baby shower for sweet baby Ella Grace and her awesome mommy and my friend, Lee. Our discipleship group hosted at Kathryn's house with a few of our other friends as well. 

{favors for guests with scripture attached to pray over ella}

{showering ella with blessings}

{the yummy spread}

{got to spend some sweet time loving on baby david}

{hostesses with the mama in the middle}

{such a special friend to me}

Sadly such a fun day came to a close with lots of sadness and scariness. My Poppy (dad's dad) had been in the hospital for a while and things weren't looking like they were getting better anytime soon. So after the shower, I headed back to mom's house, picked up the kiddos and Mom and we loaded up to head back to Crossville. We spent the night and got a good night's rest, and then we made our way (slowly, but surely) down to Ft. Lauderdale. Though the circumstances for the trip were no fun at all, it was really enjoyable for me to watch James and Mattie Rose enjoy Gigi and Poppy's condo the way my cousins and I did our entire childhood. Fortunately, Poppy has been out of the hospital for weeks now and though not back to where he was prior to admission, he's doing well. 

{james holding down the fort as the man of the house while poppy was away}

{mattie rose helping meme wash dishes}

{first visit to my favorite man}

{mattie rose found gigi's vanity very quickly}

{makeup and octonauts. life doesn't get much better.}

{sweet moments together}

{poppy usually takes kia for a walk, so mattie rose took it upon herself to chip in}

{first long walk around the hospital - physical therapist granddaughter had to kick some butts in gear}

Lots of miles put on the car in January, but every single one of them was worth it.

Grandpa and Bebe Come To Visit

Dad and Kim flew in on Christmas Day, and it was so nice to get to spend part of the actual holiday with them.

{mattie rose helping her bebe open gifts}

{ohhh these two}

{bebe was glad to have such big helpers to open her gifts}

{and when bebe was done, mattie rose was glad to help grandpa}

{dad's new hat from my brother}

{mattie rose and her bebe}

{again, way too busy to look at the camera}

{trying on grandpa's hats}

{silliness}

{"wait grandpa, give it back"}

{mattie rose a little unsure of it all...}

{snuggle time}

{warming up}

We spent the day after Christmas shopping for some good deals. And the following day, the weather was so nice, so we headed to the park. There is a great ADA-accessible playground in town, which I love because it's not messy sand or dirt to have to clean off the babies. 

{do they even look old enough to be grandparents?}

{just a-swingin'}

{working on her swing}

{grandpa giving her some pointers}

{then it was james' turn}

{he was so proud of himself}

{if ya wanna play, ya gotta carry your own clubs}

{buddies}

{it didn't take long for mattie rose to snuggle up with grandpa. there is just something about watching your daughter sit in your dad's lap. pulls at the heartstrings. just a bit.}

{and of course, whatever one does, the other has to do as well}

This trip was way better than all the others, because we had almost a whole week together. It wasn't rushed, and we could just spend good, quality time together. But of course the day they left came way too fast! COME BACK GRANDPA AND BEBE!!!!

Christmas Day 2013

It was so fun to wake the babies up on Christmas morning. Wait. Let's be honest. There was no waking them up. They are always awake at the crack of dawn.

We had a quick snack of a breakfast, Daddy read the Christmas story out of Luke, and then opened a few gifts.

{babes on Christmas}

{james and daddy reading}

{someone only wanted to open gifts}

{this is just funny to me}

{mattie rose digging in}

{sweet boy}

{loving her new outfits}

{i love when he sits like this. and then the physical therapist in me comes out...}

{that face}

{needed a banana break}

{james checking out daddy's new pictures for the office}

{just playing with his new cars}

{she loves to doodle these days}

{playing in our tunnels from momma mc and dayay}

{and no christmas is complete without some snuggles}

Once presents were opened and the mess was cleaned up, we had another surprise for James and Mattie Rose. Grandpa and BeBe were on their way!!!!

McShan Christmas 2013

Since the McShans typically celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, that's where we headed. I did a horrible job taking pictures. Rather upset about it. The kids were exhausted and delirious and getting them to even look at me with a camera in hand was not happening. 

{momma mc and her grands}

{helping james and mattie rose open their new pop-up tunnels}

{opening up some pretty shoes}

{daddy and his girl, who had her tongue out all night}

{sleepy boys}

{new day pack for hikes with my honey}

{rockin' them beats}

{new rides}

{just a boy and his bike}

{a little help from dad}

{took a break to play in his house}

Memphis Christmas 2013

We spent the weekend before Christmas in Memphis celebrating the holiday. And boy did we celebrate!

We exchanged presents with the O'Dells, babysit for a sweet new friend, opened up lots of presents with MeMe and Pop, and had brunch with Santa and Mrs. Claus. 

{silly girl in smocking}

{sweet baby harper - almost 1 year old}

{abbi is getting so big}

{mattie rose and abbi checking out the goods}

{loving our new book from japan from abbi and harper}

{just love that face}

{abbi figuring out her new toy}

{this is what 18 years of friendship turns into. couldn't have ever dreamed it.}

{my sweet goddaughter loves her auntie corky}

{so does this one...love her "cheese" face}

{this just melts my heart. abbi loving on james}

Later that night, I had the pleasure of babysitting sweet baby Barrett. He is the son of my Phi Mu lil sis, Megan. Megan's husband Brandon is from Collierville, and they happened to be in town for a wedding. Meg texted me that morning asking if I knew any good babysitters in the area (not knowing we were in town too), and I just happened to know of a very qualified and experienced "babysitter." ;)

{jolly little man}

{auntie am came by for a visit too}

{mattie rose playing mommy}

{aunt court teaches all her little ones about selfies}

{he looks content, right?}

{who's got the touch?}

{a little hokey pokey before bed}

The next morning, we celebrated by eating some breakfast and exchanging gifts. Mom had instructed us to bring Kyle's truck instead of my little car. Two little people were about to be two very spoiled little people. 

{snuggles with our pop}

{getting ready}

{bailey and me}

{mattie rose was more interested in her presents than taking a picture with mommy}

{the ladies in our matching loungewear}

{a greasy daddy and his excited little girl}

{the men, plus mattie rose}

{someone was super pumped about his "baaaa"}

{last year, the sound of tearing paper made her cry, this year, she was a pro at shredding it to pieces}

{big boy got a tool bench}

{obsessed and in awe of her doc mcstuffins doctor's kit}

{gah that face gets me every time}

{we love bailey}

{just lounging and drawing pictures on her new chalkboard}

{my buddy, though you wouldn't know it by the picture}

{meme, aka Santa, and her babes}

After presents were opened, everyone showered, and we headed to the country club for brunch with Santa. The big guy.

{high fives were as close as james was coming to sitting on santa's lap}

{these two had a death grip on mommy and daddy}

{the harder they cried, the more we laughed. awesome parents.}

{chowing down}

{feeding meme}

{missing someone}

{clinging tight to mommy's leg. adamant not to get near santa.}

{james decided santa may have been safe enough to share bumps with}

{pop and his boy}

{meme and her girl}

{sweet moments with our bay-bay}