Trial Run

Lee and I decided to have a mini half birthday celebration for Foxie tonight. I am sure it sounds ridiculous, but I am also sure that we won't have this kind of time on our hands if more children enter the picture, so we decided to make the most of it! I will try not to type too much and just post some pictures of the big day!

Started out the day going for a ride in his red wagon with his best friend, Penguin, of course!

A little afternoon practice run with the "Happy Half Birthday" song...

Disgustingly enough, this is what was left by the time I actually starting icing cupcakes! I know, I'm gross...

The cupcakes that we made that turned out not so cute...

His reaction to us singing to him before bedtime...

loves the flame!

Knox and Daddy!

Yes, we are definitely celebrating his 6 month milestone, but we are really also celebrating the fact that Lee and I have made it 6 months as parents. We were talking about that tonight...about how hard it was in the beginning and how thankful we are for how far the Lord has brought us. Regardless, these have been the BEST 6 months of our lives and we are looking forward to celebrating many more! Happy Half Birthday, Foxie!

I can't believe that I am about to type this post, but...

WE ARE MOVING BACK TO FAIRHOPE!

Yes, you read correctly. I don't have too much time to type...the half birthday boy is soon to wake from his nap we are throwing him a "mini" half birthday party tonight, but... heres the gist...

We still own our house in Fairhope. We had it rented out to a sweet family for the past year, and they have just moved out last month. Lee's boss knows that we are sort of in a bind with having to pay 2 house notes, so he told Lee that he would be absolutely fine if we moved home until the house sold and Lee could work from home. Of course Lee will have to travel to Montgomery here and there, but due to our circumstances, moving home is the most wise decision. Lee told them that it could be a while before it sells, and they seemed to be accepting of that and we are VERY thankful and relieved. This is a huge blessing! We really have been praying about this and it just makes sense for where we are. We don't want to put the house up for rent because we could very well be back in the same situation in 6 months or a year. Yes, I am absolutely MORE than thrilled to be able to be with my sister and the rest of my family. However, a teensy part of me is a little sad since we have just started making some great friends up here. I feel like the Lord was just waiting for me to really give in and trust Him with us living in Montgomery (because I fought it for a bit), and once I finally gave in and handed it over to Him, it's like He said "O.K. Now I am sending you back home." I don't know. I do know that I am not oblivious to the fact that we will more than likely end up back in Montgomery at some point, but I definitely want to enjoy the season that He has us in and be excited to be around my family and church family back home. Even if it's just for a few months, then thats a few months of living close to them again and having them be close to Foxie, and I am very thankful. We will definitely miss being close my brother's family, Lolli (Lee's mom) and Aunt Breezy (Lee's sister), but I do know that with Lee's future in this company, we will more than likely be back. SO... we have a lot to do in a very short time so please keep us in your prayers! We have never packed up and moved with a baby before!

And by the way...I HAVE A 6 MONTH OLD! Craziness!

Where did my baby boy go?

This probably isn't a big deal to most people, but today Knox graduated from a car seat to a shopping cart! As we were walking up and down the isles, he was completely amazed by the items on the shelves and the people passing by. Way more fun than being stuck in the car seat, I'm sure. He loved the people that stopped to talk to him and he giggled back at them. It was so sweet. And you can be certain that strangers wanted to touch his hair. This is so weird to me?? I love babies and always have, but have never had the nerve to touch one that I passed in the grocery store. Oh well. He took it very well and enjoyed the attention :). I hope that the Lord continues to give him a heart that is open to any and everyone, and that they would be able to see Christ because of it.

Pull up a chair...

and grab yourself a cup of joe. This is going to be a long one. Lots of pictures, lots of words, and still no idea how to make a slide show! Obviously I need to get with it in "20-10" and become more computer savvy...

While I am typing this, I am waiting on my flu-stricken husband to fly home. He came down with the flu a few days before he was suppose to leave for Costa Rica. The day before he left he had no fever and felt great. I went down to my sisters to play with everyone while he was gone, and while I was down there I woke up to a message saying that he had re-lapsed, had a high fever, and was having the doctor that treated all the workers on the resort come to his room to evaluate him. There was some talk of possible pneumonia, so I got a little nervous, but thankfully it has not developed to that level. He still has the flu, along with bronchitis. He decided to leave early and come home, so Foxie and I woke up this morning and came on back so we could take care of daddy. Please keep us in your prayers- that Knox won't catch the sickness that Lee and I seem to have acquired. I am so thankful that the Lord protected Knox when I had the swine flu. Ugh, that would have not been good! Pretty much...feel free to pray that illness would just leave our house completely!

Now time to talk about the visit. As usual, we had a blast. I really think Robyn's house is my second home. Minus the fact that I have to pack up a gazillion things for the baby, I love going down there to visit...and so does Knox! Who wouldn't when you have 3 adorable girls drooling all over you and dancing around the house like monkeys to entertain you? The oldest, Abbie, might as well be his babysitter. She is only 8 but I almost completely trust her to be alone with him for small bits of time. She is a natural. She has always been the care taker and the soft hearted one, but man, when we watch her with him it is just incredible. She is always able to soothe him and loves to lay on the bed with him and play with him. She totally forgets about life outside of Knoxie when we are in town. She notices everything about him, loves to watch me feed him...change him...bathe him. She pays very close attention and always asks to help. She is just like her mom, inside and out. Knox can't get enough of her, either. Here is a picture of the 2 of them the other morning. You can't see Knox's face too well, but he is giving her the biggest grin! It's one of my favorites!

side note: most of these pictures were taken with my phone. I NEVER have the camera near me when I need it. Hope you can see them well enough. Anyways, as soon as Abbie came in and saw that Knox was awake, little wildcat (Carley) had to come get in on the action as well:

I mean, seriously. Who WOULDN'T want to wake up to this? Foxie was definitely eating it up. And lets not forget about Ash-bug. She popped up in there just in time for the dance party that entertained Knox. He was sucking hard on the paci, and when they started dancing he ripped it out and just stared at them with his mouth wide open, in complete awe:

Another side note: I want to suck the cheeks right off his face in this picture! Notice the grip he has on that paci? We just started using one again, and he doesn't play around when it comes to this thing. I think it helps him a little since he is teething so badly. If he isn't sucking on it ridiculously hard, then he is gnawing at it

Knox and I went to visit sweet Wawa on Friday. I love my Wawa. She is my mom's mom and just like a mother to me. She practically raised me when my parents got divorced and my mother went back to work. Going to her house is like going back in time. NOTHING has changed. Not a bit. I love it. There is not one person on this Earth that has met her and doesn't love her. Let me shoot you straight, though. Some grandmothers are super sweet and bake all day and want to rock back and forth and sew a lot. Go ahead and get that picture out of your head. This woman is hysterical! Wawa does NOT hold anything back and she will tell you EXACTLY what she is thinking, Like, for instance, when you are wearing pants that make you look fat or when your face is breaking out and you really need to take better care of it! She is not scared to tell you what is on her mind, and the older she gets the less the filter works. I think that's one of the reasons why I love her so much...honestly. Sometimes brutal, but I love her honesty. She has always loved us unconditionally and taken such good care of us. A lot of my best childhood memories involve Wawa. She can't get enough of babies and children, and she is definitely every child's "favorite". Going to see Wawa is a treat, much like I remember when I was little. I have watched her fall in love with my nieces and nephew and I am so thankful that she has the opportunity to meet Knox and love on him. I love the pics of the 2 of them:

I love the way he is looking at her in the second picture. I think I am going to frame that one. Anyways, we had a great visit with her and then went back to sister's house to celebrate my dad's birthday. We had so much fun messing around with dad. Militant is a word that describes my dad, to say the least, but he is so different when you get him around the grandchildren. He smiles and laughs and plays more than I have ever seen him do. Although I wish he could have been this way a little more with us when we were growing up, I am thrilled to see him be this way with our kids:

I think dad has been waiting for me to have a boy ever since I threw my first softball, so to say he is excited about Knox's birth is an understatement. Knox didn't make it to the birthday candle ceremony, but I was able to get the best picture of dad and the girls with his cake:

Do you see that smile on him?? Robyn and I couldn't believe he had teeth! I love it. Dad already has this one blown up and framed in his new house!

Later that night sister and I decided to play a joke on Lee, and we took a picture of Knox looking like this:

O.K., so in retrospect...this probably wasn't the funniest joke ever, but for some reason we thought it was hilarious at the time. It sort of ties in with the post a few days back about Knox getting his first "real" boo boo with Lee. Luckily Lee knows me well enough to know that I would have called hysterically if anything like this were to happen, not just send a picture of it, so he didn't buy in to it one bit. Hind sights 20/20, right?

Last night my sister was gracious enough to watch Knox while I went to dinner with some friends from our church in Fairhope. I love these girls. They are like family to me. They are some of the most Godly, encouraging, loving, accepting, and FUNNIEST people that I know. Some of them are pregnant, and if you don't know by now, if you are pregnant...then I am obsessed with you. In fact, if you have a baby or a child, then I am obsessed with THEM! I could play with babies and talk about babies all the day long, and I think ever single baby is the cutest baby. SOOO... it was super fun to talk to the preggers at dinner, and hear all about how they are doing and feeling. I miss the girls so much and think about them everyday. I trust that the Lord will provide these types of friendships in Montgomery, and he is definitely starting to, but it's still hard to say goodbye to these women every time I leave. My picture didn't turn out to so well, so I am waiting for Leslie to email hers. I will post it later...

And lastly, sister had some help on the babysitting end. Here is what I walked into the room and saw "Mother Abbie" doing with Knox before I left for dinner:

Yes, she had him propped up, wrapped up, and hanging out with Baby Tad. And you know what's coming next:

Goodness. While Abbie worked "hard" to tend to Knox, here is what the other "helpers" were doing:

3rd (and last) side note: Carley does actually owns clothes. I think the last post had her shirtless as well. Oops!

And for the final picture of the night, Carley wanted to take a picture of me and Ash-bug:

I love her smile!

Sadly, the only people we didn't get to see this visit was Riri and Paw Paw (my mom and Andy). They were in the mountains, covered in snow, so I'm not sure how much they missed us :).

Off to cook dinner for my sick husband. Please keep him in your prayers!

When Carley dresses herself...

My sister sent this pic to me. Carley got home from dance, went to her room to change, and came out with this! Not a very clear pic, but she's totally naked with boots on and a stuffed snake hanging from her shoulder!

Look at that pose. Can you even begin to handle the cuteness???

Lately...

Lately my mother has been taking me out in the cold to play with people during the day, and I am not so sure how I feel about it...

Luckily, I have stored up enough food in these cheeks to keep me well fed and warm! At the beginning of the week, we went down to Baldwin County so daddy could watch his beloved Troy Trojans play in the bowl game, and they lost in overtime. We woke up early the next morning and hurried back because we were told that snow angels were in our forecast, but talk about a build up with no delivery! I am DEFINITELY sure how I felt about that:

But it was all OK since I went and hung out with my new bud, Rudy:

He just turned 2 months old so mom, Aunt Chas, and I had to go kick it with him and his mom, Lauren, at his crib (no pun intended). Yea, he's got a lot more hair that I have ever had and he is quite the tan one. He'll have to give me some tips on how to brown this lilly skin one day! :)

Mom was suppose to go to Costa Rica with dad for 7 days (work related), but just cancelled her ticket because she isn't quite ready to leave me for that long. She's a little bummed that she's missing out on some good hubby time (along with a chance to tan HER lilly skin), but she and I are going to go play with 3 super cute girl cousins of mine in Spanish Fort. This is how I feel about that:

If I am lucky, I will get a chance to see my other super cute cousins in Birmingham, too! I am still teething like crazy, and if you get near me I might gnaw on any part of your body, so watch out. Hopefully the tooth fairy will come visit me soon...the type that BRING you teeth, not take them away. It's pretty ouchy in there...

And lastly, mommy caught me yanking on my monkey mobile, so she told daddy (of course) and this is what he did to my crib:

Thats right...he lowered it. Geesh. Can't a guy have a little fun during nap time? I guess that means I will just have to start learning how to stand up by myself soon. Oh, and whats up with everyone asking about how long I am and how much I weigh (17.9 pounds!!!)???? Don't they know I can hear them?????? :)

"Chef boyarRegan"

SIKE!!!!!!!!! I am definitely not a chef. At all. However, the new year has brought new desires, my friends. Looks like ole' Regs is making a commitment (or shall I dare say-new year's resolution) to grow and branch out in the area of culinary...

Here is a quick story for you. The hubs got me an iPhone last month, and I honestly didn't know what I was going to do with it (I am seriously challenged when it comes to technology). But after many hours of trying to learn the durn thing, I have downloaded an app that has tons of healthy recipes...MUSIC TO MY EARS!!!! So, this morning I was totally excited to sit down and write out my grocery list for the week. I have decided that I will try 2 new recipes a week until...well...I don't know, either Lee straight up tells me it's horrible or he starts wanting to take me to dinner every night. I noticed one of my recipes called for a ton of spices, so I just thought "golden! I already have those!!" I have actually used spices here and there for simple recipes throughout our married life, so I was pretty pumped to deepen my relationship with them. Then, I was talking to my sister (surprise), and it dawned on me. I asked Robyn, "How long do spices last?" She replied, "About a year. Most have an expiration date at the bottom." Ladies and gentleman, the thought never occurred to me that spices could expire AND I HAVE BEEN USING THE SAME SPICE RACK THAT SOMEONE GAVE ME THE MONTH WE GOT ENGAGED! We just celebrated out 3 year anniversary last month, so that means that the spices were about 4 years old. Nice. I am such a loser and I definitely just confessed it on the blog. O'well. Anyone want to come over for dinner?? :)

The first of many, I'm sure...

Some of you facebook people might have seen that I have been diagnosed with the swine flu. I still can't believe I have it. When the swine flu was introduced all over the news many months back, I was the main one of my family and friends to freak out. I was pregnant and so worried I would get it (as well as my family and friends) , and everyone laughed at me and told me that there was NO way that it would even come close to us. Well well well. Look where we are now. I felt horrible over Christmas with what we thought was just a bad cold. When I still had the symptoms on new year's eve, we decided I needed to run up to the Pri-med and get some antibiotics so Knoxie wouldn't get anything. I hate doctors and I never would have gone if I didn't feel worried that I would pass germs to Knox. Anyways, after they ran all the tests they came back and told me the news. I was seriously emailing my sister that morning-joking with her that I better not have the swine! Not so funny anymore...

As soon as they told me, I went in to panic mode and shouted "I HAVE A 5 MONTH OLD BABY BOY THAT I STAY HOME WITH EVERYDAY! COULD HE HAVE IT? COULD HE HAVE IT?" Tears started to form a little as I thought about the possibility of me giving it to Knox, as well as sweet baby Reese (his second cousin) that we had just visited days prior. Long story short I went straight home with the swine flu, bronchitis, and a Z-pack and we called the pediatrician. They told us that since his immune system is so strong, he should be perfectly fine but to watch out for symptoms. Well, Knox made the mistake of sneezing once this morning so before I knew it Lee made an appointment with the pediatrician and took Knox by himself to have some tests run. I must say that I am thankful (and impressed) that Lee took him by himself and everything checked out. The good news is that Knoxie is perfectly healthy, but the bad news is that he came home with his first "boo boo" ( Before I go on I want to make it known that I know it was a total accident and that it could happen to anyone, so I am definitely not blaming my husband! ). I called Lee like 3 times while he was at the doctor (killed me that I couldn't go), and when he picked up I could hear Foxie yelping at the top of his lungs, so I asked Lee if having his nose swabbed made him that mad?? Lee got real quiet and said, "Ummmm. no. We just had a little accident but the doctor took a look and everything is fine." Naturally (in my calmest, sweetest voice---sike!), I asked what happened and he said that Knox was sitting up on the table like a "big boy" playing with him and all of a sudden dove head first into the wall (I know, at least he didn't fall to the floor). I mean, he's totally fine and I was relieved to hear it wasn't that big of a deal, but when he walked into the house with Knox and I saw his head my jaw hit the floor. I could tell Lee was nervous to show me and felt guilty so I tried to not show too much emotion, but it looked so bad :(. After Knox woke up from his nap he was totally happy and played just like normal and I took a pic with my phone to show my sister. Prepare yourself...

please excuse the not-so-good pic, but he had just woken up and it was the only one I was able to get with my phone on such short notice (by the way, I have to give a shout out to Papa and Nana for his new t-shirt from Mexico...his turtles light up in the dark and he is fascinated by them at nap time:)). Can you see the bruise?? I know its probably just a small taste of whats to come in my future, and not a big deal at all, but man did he hit that wall hard! It is starting to turn blue now so I am sure it will look lovely tomorrow! Poor guy!

Anyways, like I said earlier, he is totally fine. Daddy kissed on him extra extra today because he felt so bad :(.

Before I go, here is a precious picture of him, Reese, and Aunt B! Look closely and you will see that they are holding hands! I love it!!!