about our trip and happy birthday

Hello from Murfreesboro, TN.

Aaron is having a great time at his retreat so far, and I enjoy seeing everyone as well. He is out and about with his INFUSE group most of the time while we are here, but we did have some time to hang out on Wednesday when we arrived in the morning.

We stopped at a coffee shop in downtown Nashville that we love called Fido.

Latte art continues to amuse me.

Beautiful day in Nashville

We drove around downtown for awhile and then went to the Opry Mills Mall and attempted not to spend any money. Aaron did spoil me with a beautiful Cinderella throw blanket that was on clearance at the Disney outlet. 

It was on MAJOR clearance, or we never would have bought it. I can't wait to take it home and put it...somewhere. Not sure where yet.


Yesterday he was gone for most of the day and I joined him for meals.


Today is about the same but I am pretty excited because dinner tonight is at a restaurant that has live Bluegrass music. I don't suppose I love Bluegrass music, but it will be a new experience anyway.

We head back to Raleigh tomorrow and get to see this friendly little monster that we miss terribly:

Lastly, I can't let September 6th go by without saying "Happy Birthday!" to one of my favorite little boys. Happy 2nd Birthday, Keyen! We love you!

about my nanny reprise

A few weeks ago, Bensen and Keyen's mom asked me if I would be up for watching the boys on a Friday while their nanny took the day off. I, of course, wanted to, and after checking the calendar we scheduled it.

I was so happy to spend a day with the boys just like old times.

I went over, and we were all excited to see each other. Bensen got to stay home from school to play with us all day.

Aaron came over a little later and we headed to the park.

I love, love, love these boys and am glad that we see them so often. We had a great day. Aaron and I were worn out though...I'm not sure how I did that every day for two years! :)

about my date with Bensen

I can't believe that I ended my job as Bensen and Keyen's nanny over three months ago. Every once in awhile I still get choked up about it. A couple weeks ago, Aaron, Lisa, and I made our first visit to Moe's for a Tuesday lunch without the boys. I didn't think much of it until we walked in and it hit me. I got a little teary eyed.

But, as you know, I'm enjoying my job at Journey, and we have actually seen Bensen and Keyen fairly often. It's definitely not the same as seeing them almost every day, but I'll take it.

I try to make it a point to see them every other week, even if it's just stopping by for an hour or so.

This past week, it actually worked out for me to have a date with Bensen. We had gone over the previous week so that Rodney could put Bensen's carseat in my car (talk about major flashbacks). On Monday morning, I went and picked Bensen up to go on a playdate with our friends that we used to play with all the time. Bensen was pretty excited, and so was I! We felt bad leaving Keyen, but I'm sure he will get a turn one day.

I got to meet the boys' new nanny too. I was a little nervous, but as soon as she answered the door, I immediately liked her. She was super sweet and really easy to talk to. We didn't spend a lot of time together, but I'm sure I'll see her again. I know she is taking great care of Bensen and Keyen.

Bensen and I had fun at the park with our friends and then we got to eat lunch at Chick-fil-a.

Aaron and I are looking forward to hanging out with Bensen and Keyen next week when we are babysitting them for a few hours one night.

I am so glad I can still be in their lives!

a re-cap (a ceremony, 2 parties, and a train cake)

Hi.

It's been a busy week. Good week. But busy.

I told you that I got some antibiotics last Monday night. By Tuesday, they hadn't quite kicked in. By Wednesday, they were working a little bit. By Thursday I felt almost back to to normal. And, by Friday, I was in pretty good shape.

Me being happy that the evil death sickness was defeated.

I feel basically all better now, besides the fact that my left ear is still kind of clogged up. That's only annoying, so I'll live with it.

Anyway, as I was saying, it was a busy week, so it's a good thing I got medicine when I did!

Last Wednesday afternoon, we had the honor of attending the ceremony of my brother-in-law, Andrew. He is now the proud owner of a police badge. It is so very cool to see what a uniform and a badge does to a 21-year-old guy. He looks so grown up and important. We are insanely proud of him!

Having been sprawled out on the couch for a week, Thursday was used to catch up on many a chore around the house.

So that, on Friday, I could hit the road with some dear friends.

I packed my bag, left Aaron a pizza in the freezer, and got a bit fancied up.

This was all in order to celebrate my dear friend of almost ten years, Jessica.

Me and Jessica

Jess came to Wake Christian when I was in tenth grade. Renee (my best pal, maid of honor, and friend since I was 10) and I soon endeavored to claim Jessica for our little "group." 

We succeeded. And to this day, our little group of eight has endured through college and different states and travels and jobs.

Some of us have been together since the second grade. One joined us in fifth. One in seventh. And Jessica in tenth.

Six of us (we were minus one because Jessi lives in Ohio) piled into two cars on Friday and headed to Charlotte, NC to meet our seventh member, Carrie at her abode in Charlotte.

She acted as tour guide for the weekend and took us to several Charlotte hot spots as we celebrated the upcoming nuptials of beautiful Jessica.

We ate here for dinner. It was delicious. And, they are coming to Raleigh this spring.

Then, we ventured to Amelie's French Bakery. After much debate, I ended up with this chocolate mouse. I maybe could have eaten like ten. But of course, I didn't.

After returning back to Carrie's late on Friday night. We proceeded to Skype with Jessi in Ohio and talk for the next four hours into the night. We all know each other so well, that we could talk for hours and hours. I'm sure you can guess our main topic of conversation at this bachelorette weekend, so I'll spare you many details. Let's just say that five of us are married now. And we had much to impart on innocent Jessica.

After a few hours of sleep, we continued our tour of Charlotte the next morning.

Jessica and her gluten-free breakfast feast.

Me, Jessica, and Ashley

Walking around Charlotte

 It was such a fun time with dear friends. I am so blessed to have them in my life.

Carrie, Renee, Ashley, Jessica, Bethany, Whitney, Cari, and Jessi (not pictured)

The weekend wasn't over though.

Saturday afternoon, we pulled out of Charlotte around 1:15 to race back to Raleigh. You see, I had a very important date with one of my other best friends. It happened to be his birthday party, and I wasn't going to miss it for the world.

Yes, my sweet Bensen turned three! We had so much fun celebrating with him and his family.

Sherry, Bensen's mom, made this amazing train cake.

I love their faces.

Birthday boy

Oh how I miss snuggling sweet Keyen. 

Us with Bensen

Best buds

Well, congratulations if you made it through my week re-cap. It was either one long post or three short ones that would add up...was this the best choice?

Will the world ever know?

on Bensen's birthday

Once upon a time, the sweetest baby boy was adopted into one of the best families I know.

I didn't have the honor to meet him until a few months had passed, but once I did, he stole my heart as well.

He was the cutest baby with round cheeks, spiky hair, and such a fun personality. We quickly became the best of friends.

Today, he turns three years old! He has grown into a smart, perceptive, sweet, and funny little boy. He is a great big brother and loves his mommy and daddy so much.


Happy Birthday to my sweet buddy, Bensen. I love you!

   

 

 

about the highlight of my weekend

Just a quick post today because I don't have a lot of time to sit and write until Monday.

I just had to share the highlight of my weekend:

Maybe you could tell from my huge smile that I was so. happy. :)

It had only been two weeks since I had seen Bensen and Keyen, but I missed them like crazy! I think they missed me too, because Aaron and I got the warmest welcome ever. Bensen was talking non-stop telling us everything we had missed out on so far, and Keyen just kept coming over for hugs.

Bensen was most excited to give us this adorable clay snowman he had made us.

Aaron and I played with the boys for about an hour while Rodney and Sherry ran some errands. They have grown so much in just two weeks! The way Bensen's vocabulary has progressed is crazy. He was having entire conversations with us. He even used the potty while we were there!

Keyen was using a lot of new words too, and he said Aaron's name and Penny's name several times.

It was so wonderful to see them, and I am glad we will see them again in just a week.