Where is my Christmas spirit?

The Christmas Spirit comes and goes for me this year. I find myself having to force myself to get into the spirit. A lot of it has to do with my own demons in my head. I've had a hard time lately with my family, missing them all so much. I think the older I get, the more problems I've had in my life that I've never dealt with and that's what I'm doing now. Trying to cling to the Word but also in a very dry spiritual way right now. Having a husband that is beyond supportive and always seems to love on me extra and send me encouraging words throughout the day helps. It helps more than he would ever know, especially because I don't tell him often about being upset about certain topics. He just knows and having a spouse like that is just plain awesome.

 

Christmas is less that 2 weeks away and I can't even believe it guys. My shopping is pretty much done, which is great but the stresses of life don't stop just because it's Christmas time. Westin has been going to bed around 6:30 this week because he is such a handful in the evenings. He is starting the terrible two's a little early and it is best for everyone involved to make sure he is in bed early. I think him being so tired is causing his crankiness. It has helped and he is still sleeping in until about 7am. Sleepy boy & happy Mommy!!

 

I need to get out of the house on the weekends more. Drive around and look at Christmas lights. I think Friday night we all are going to hop in J's truck and look at lights. A friend of mine's father lives on some land out in the country where we take our country drives and I want to drive by his house to see their lights. I think that will get me in the spirit more. Each year we go to the Collierville Square and eat dinner at the Silver Caboose. Then we will take pictures at square with the lights. I truly love this time of the year but I'm feeling lazy and guilty for not making tons of memories and our own traditions for our kids. It's time that I get over my negative thoughts and just enjoy this time of the year with my sweet husband and awesome kids!

 

Please pray for me. It would really help a lot and I need to snap out of my guilts and negative thoughts.

 

Love you all!

I hope your having a fabulous Thursday!!

 



Long overdue update in pictures!

I haven't posted since September 4. It sure doesn't seem like it has been that long but we have been super busy! If you follow me on Instagram, these are the same pictures I've posted recently. Life has been busy but wonderful. We are just raising these crazy boys and trying to enjoy life to the fullest. It's been hard lately but it's also been so fun!

 

Here is what we've been up to since September!

 

Enjoying a cool car during a HOT football practice!

My sweet Luke playing flag football!

Reading books!

 

Whining because he didn't want to leave the park! 

Scoring touchdowns!

Watching their cousin on the Homcoming Court!

Hotty Toddy!

Country drives!

 

Fins up!

Playing in the grass.

 

Camping with cousins and family!

 

First Haircuts!

More trips to Oxford! Hotty Toddy! 



Lots of giggles! :)

 

 

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving Week! We will be with my family for the week and weekend. It's already freezing here and our Christmas décor went up this weekend. It's the best time of the year and I pray each and every one of you find happiness and peace this Season!

 

Love to all!

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend Mom came in town and we had such a great time. We didn't do too much but we are on a constant busy schedule so there were many things to do.

 

Friday night J and I went to dinner and bowling with some sweet friends, minus kids. You always have friends that are like family and the Moore's are that to us. J and Jason grew up together so we all are like a bunch of kids when we get together. Having dinner and spending time together without kids running around / pulling on your legs was SO MUCH FUN!!!!

 

Saturday morning Luke had football practice so here is Will and Westin playing on the big boy football field. No one was on it so they ran the 100 yards just like the Ole Miss players do... Hotty Toddy and Go Crusaders!

 

 

Saturday afternoon, after football, we went to eat some BBQ and then went shoe shopping for Westin. Here is my little passenger seat buddy for the afternoon. We have to take turns and although Luke is really not suppose to sit up front.... he breaks the rules sometimes... :/

 

 

Little buddy was so tired Saturday afternoon but he is still going strong here...

 

Climbing on the furniture!!! :)

 

Monday Mom drove back home but not before we all went to lunch. Saying goodbye is always SO HARD so I was crying all morning as you can tell in this picture.

 

Mom with her baby boys, isn't she just the most beautiful thing ever?!?!

We all had such a great time together and being with my Mom makes me a happy girl! I wish she was my next door neighbor..... for real!!!

Last night I snapped this picture of Will reading his devotional.. love his old soul self and he has become so big lately. He just understands life better and has such a great head on his shoulders. I couldn't be more proud of him!!!

 

 

Happy Wednesday (hump day) friends!!! 

The funny things my 16 month old does/says:

1. Every morning before Daddy leaves for work he will go get Westin out of bed and bring him in our bedroom so he can watch cartoons, drink his milk and be with me while I'm getting ready. Westin was still asleep this morning so Daddy didn't go get him, Westin heard Daddy shutting the garage door to go outside and he healed out from his bed "DA-DA" He was upset his Daddy left without getting him out of the bed.

 

2. Every single time you give the child food or his drink cup, he politely says: "tank you" It melts my heart into a million pieces.

 

3. At dinner Sunday night we kept hearing him say "nana". Well my Grandmother is called Nanny but we haven't seen her in a few weeks so I was really blown away by him saying that... then it hit me, I bet he wants a banana so I went to grab half of a banana and he just about jumped out of his seat with excitement and ate the whole banana. Such a smart boy for telling me what he wants! :)

 

4. When he is playing with his big brothers, he always walks/runs a certain way. He is walking or running in full force with his arms behind his back to help him run faster. He looks like superman and it is so hilarious to us!!!

 

5. Back in July, Will and Luke had swim lessons and each afternoon Westin and I would watch them. Well ever since then he likes to "swim" in the bath tub. It is the funniest thing to me, he will fall on his belly and pretend he is swimming, all while looking back at us to make sure we are watching. Definitely a show off! :)

 

6. The words he says are: mama, dada, bubba, tank you, dis (this), nana (banana), no, vroom (when he's playing with cars or trains).

 

Westin is just the funniest little thing to us, he is constantly keeping us on our toes and keeping us laughing at the same time. It is really amazing to me how smart he is and he picks things up very fast.

 

I hope you all are having a blessed Wednesday!  

Tuesday Tidbits

• I can't believe August is ending and September is just a few days away. It makes me happy and sad all at the same time. I love summertime but I also love fall. Summertime is so much fun with vacationing and going to the pool with the family. Our schedule is usually very laid back during summer which I love but then again when school starts back I'm always eager to get back into a routine. Football starts in 2 days and my household full of boys is SO EXCITED!! (Hotty Toddy!)

 

• I'm looking forward to the boys football games, practices (which started full force last week), school work, festivals, pumpkins, the fair, fair food, the leaves changing, cool crisp air on my morning drive into work and time with family / friends!

 

• All of this being said we have many fun things to look forward too, so why have I been so depressed? I'm the type of person that is easy to fall into a depression. I don't know why? I always tend to have a pity party for myself when things aren't panning out the way I want them too. Right now we needs prayers for two very serious situations in our lives. It involves our jobs, both of them!! Transitions are happening at a rapid pace (even at times not fast enough for us) and we need prayers to handle it all. My first and #1 job is my children and husband but I do need to work and love my job as well. We are both in a unique situation, my prayer is in the Lord that He will work it all out for us. We should not worry but I do. A lot!

 

• I can say though, for the first time in our marriage that even though times are hard right now with changes happening J and I are the closest we've ever been. It really is amazing how far we have come but we just keep on trucking along this crazy ride of life, together, each night together and not having to worry about my marriage is such an awesome thing right now. There have been times that when stressful situations arise, we take them out on each other.... I'm so happy we have matured and grown from those days.... now we handle these situations together, like husband and wife are meant to do. That is completely a "God thing" and he has really molded our marriage into something I never dreamed it could be.

 

• I've been really surprised by some of the comments on the whole Miley Cyrus VMA awards situation. I only watched the Justin Timberlake performance, which was fabulous by the way but J and I literally just turned it on for 20 minutes to watch him perform then we turned it back to another show we were watching... Mountain Men, I think. I guess I'm shocked by all of the opinions because it really isn't any of my business. I did watch the you tube video of it last night and if she wants to get on stage and act in away I would never act well that is her business, not mine. My kids were already in bed but even if they were awake I wouldn't allow them to watch the VMA awards and it shocks me that parents are mad about her acting that way while their kids were watching... well, why were your kids up watching that with you in the first place... it is the VMA music awards (MTV) what do you expect? I pray for Miley and hope she can find peace and comfort in other things, not the fame she is currently all caught up in.

 

• Will and Luke need a hair cut so bad but do y'all ever put that off until you absolutely have to get it done? I guess this weekend that is something we need to do. I'm looking forward to the Labor Day weekend. We have things going on each and every night this week so this weekend could not come at a better time. I'm really hoping my Mom will come in town this weekend so we can spend some time with her, I really have been missing my Momma lately!! :)

 

I hope you all are having a fabulous week! Blessings to all!

 

Katie

 

 

 



Updating the blog!

WARNING: Picture overload!!!!

I'm trying to play catch up so here is how the end of July (beginning of August) went...

 

My Mom and Grandmother came in town to pick the boys up for a week and take them back down to Georgia. They had a blast, we missed them but we did enjoy time with just Westin running around. While Nanny was in town we went to the square to have lunch and let the boys play around on the trains. Currently their favorite thing to and I hope it never ends!!!

 

Nanny and Westin :)

 

The boys left to head to Georgia and then a week later we all headed down there to get them and spend time with my family.

Here is Westin and my Dad. :)

 

Lukie, the birthday boy!

 

My Mom, me and my Nanny! :)

 

Mom and Luke at the country club there in town.

 

My Daddy and Me! :)

 

My parents with their 3 grand babies!!

 

At the country club, sorry these must be out of place.

 

Westin is now climbing on everything. Again, this is another trait he learned on his own. Will and Luke were never climbers, he seems to do all kinds of tricks on his own.

 

 

Westin and Mom! :) 

 

Westin is now eating table food, 100% of the time! This is a huge milestone for this sweet baby! He thinks he is SOMETHING else eating with us each night.

 

Last but not least.... he got his first goose egg and this one is pretty good looking! He is always getting hurt it seems but I guess that is what happens when you have 2 older brothers and you want to be just like them!

 

 

Happy Monday friends! I hope it's not another 3 weeks until we talk again. It is not my plan to get this behind on my blog but life happens and there seems to be much more important things that come up.

 

P.S. if anyone is interested in trying my It Works wraps, visit my website at http://wrappinwithkatie.myitworks.com

 

Love and blessings to all!

Mid Week Randoms - with a business surprise!!

• Yesterday we registered Will and Luke for school. It starts on Monday and I have bittersweet emotions about them starting. On one hand I am so looking forward to a routine and bedtime to start much earlier but on the other hand summer has been so much fun and easy! I hate to see it end. I also hate to see them going somewhere for hours and days on end BUT it will be good for all!

• Westin has a cough and cold. Summertime colds are NO FUN especially in a spunky, independent, honory, strong willed 15 month old. He is a little firecracker and is much worse when he's not feeling the best.

• A few weeks ago I went to an It Works wrap party with a bunch of childhood friends. It was a lot of fun and with my belly in need of some help I got my belly wrapped. I slept in the wrap over night which was painless and when I woke up I couldn't believe the results I had over night. I was very skeptical at first but when I saw my stretch marks are virtually gone and my waist was down a few inches I couldn't believe it! So, I signed up as a distributor for It Works and so far I can't believe the opportunity it has given me!! Check out my website and let me know if you have any questions!! https://wrappinwithkatie.myitworks.com

• I have a family friend that went to be with the Lord today, she was 88 years old. I ask for your prayers for my family members who were very close to her. She was such a sweet lady and old age just caught up to her. She didn't get sick, she was just ready to go home. This part of life is unfair, selfishly because I do know she is in a better place but her presence here on earth will be greatly missed!

Happy Wednesday to all! I pray you are all having a blessed day!!

Simplicity...

This little cabin and barn off to the side is a picture I took from our trip to Gatlinburg (Cade's Cove). I took this picture while I was in the car with Westin. J, Will and Luke ran up to his house and barn, as if it was our new home. As I sat in the car, I started to cry. I thought about the people who once called this place home. I wonder if they loved and appreciated it more than I did as I sat in the car. Did they wish they had more, like so often we do these days? Or were they completely happy with this land and shelter. I would hope they lived their lives here with pride, I hope they knew just how beautiful this home naturally is... If I could snap my fingers, this is EXACTLY how I would raise my family. Of course a little bit more space would help along with a few modern day amenities but this is what I want. It is what I want for my children and their children. Living a simple life is what I want.

 

Life has been so busy lately. Sometimes all I want to do is just stop everything and begin to appreciate the simple things in life. You know, the things we often take for granted. J and I both are such simple people I often wonder why God has us in such a busy world. It bothers us, all we want are simple things out of life. We really want what we already have but we need to scale back to really enjoy a simplicity. We have such a great marriage and 3 healthy children. What more could one person want? Well now we want some land and we are looking for it... we are trying to simply do what the Lord calls us all to do. Love one another, pray daily, be kind, exercise regularly, eat healthy / simple meals and trust in the Lord more to give us the desires of our hearts.

 

I truly believe that if I want this cabin and barn off to the side kind of life, it is something we must work for and pray about.

 

I hope you all are having a blessed week! 

15 months!

 

I can't tell you where the time has gone but this little buddy is 15 months old now! I haven't done a updated post for him since 12 months so I figured now is the time.

 

Weight: 22 lbs 7 oz

Height: 32.5 inches tall

 

His check up went really well at the doctor. He still takes a paci, bottle (morning and night) and eats #3 baby foods. The doctor said we need to try to start weaning him from the bottle and paci, this my friends I already knew. See, with Will and Luke by 12 months they were off of all of this.... with #3 it is completely different. He's my baby and he will have his bottle a little bit longer, I'm honestly not ready for that to go away yet. AND, his paci well I haven't even thought about when we are taking that away yet. :) Our pediatrician understood and said he would keep him mouth shut about Westin, lol... All rules are thrown out the window with this little fella.

 

He is by far the funniest baby we have ever seen. We always thought Will was hilarious, then Luke came along and we said he was the funniest. Well, Westin tops the cake as by far the funniest 15m old ever! Everything he does is hilarious and so, so smart!

 

 

 

 

He is in LOVE with his Daddy. Everything Daddy does is wonderful and that my friends, melts my heart! He LOVES to help clean, you hand him a rag and he will get to scrubbing. Either the floor, table, high chair... whatever his little mind thinks needs cleaning. Last week he spilled some milk on the kitchen floor, I grabbed the cleaner and paper towels to clean it up. I'm down on my hands and knees cleaning it and I thought he was standing behind me. Nope, he was right behind me with a clean rag he grabbed out of the cabinet and was scrubbing away at the kitchen floor. It was the most precious thing I've ever seen. His little arms are no bigger than my foot and they just love to clean!

 

Being outside is his favorite time of the day. The mosquito's love him so that has been less and less these days. He does have bad spots of eczema, I hate that he has them but we are treating it with steroids so I hope that helps it go away soon! Any help with eczema would be appreciated, he's our first baby with it! :(

 

Westin, buddy you are the sweetest, funniest, kindest, most cheerful, strong willed little boy I've ever known. You are such a bright light in all of our lives, we love you so much!!!

 

Happy 15 month birthday my little man!

 

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Will & Luke

4th of July plans.... EERRR

 

Our plans for the 4th this year was to go to Georgia to visit my family. My Dad's side of the family has a family reunion every year on the fourth, at our family lake house. Usually it is typically a come if you can type thing. Most of my family live in Georgia so everyone is always able to make it. Well, since we don't live in GA it is always a chore to get down there. When we do get there it is always so much fun!

 

Last Monday, we noticed the horrible weather forecast for this past weekend in Georgia. The closer it got to Wednesday (which was the day we planned to leave) the sooner we realized it was not a good weekend to go. I was afraid it would make my family upset if we didn't come because of rain but everything we had planned was outside. It would be no fun watching fireworks inside or better yet the firework show getting cancelled. (which it did get cancelled) Plus with my Mom's side of the family we planned a pool party and it just would not of worked out. Needless to say, looking back we are so thankful we decided to stay home. I sure miss my family every single day but we are planning another trip in a few weekends to go see everyone! It still has not stopped raining and rivers are flooding, it is a huge mess and I'm so glad we didn't bring our big clan down there to be right in the middle of it!

 

Since we did decide to stay home it was planning in full force for our weekend. I sure wasn't going to sit back and do nothing! Wednesday night we went to see some fireworks with friends.

 

Will and Luke with their buddies Jackson and Juliana. These kiddos have become great friends to our family. I'm not sure what I would do without their parents, sweet family!

 

Me and their beautiful Momma, Tiffany. Love this girl, we are sisters from another mother!

 

 

This was Westin all afternoon on Wednesday. Daddy decided to stay home with him and let us go watch the fireworks. (thank you babe!) Westin would of been miserable, he is getting his teeth all at one time and he is a miserable little soul. Poor fella!!! :(

 

 

Wednesday night one of the only things that made Westin happy was being outside with his Daddy. Daddy was cutting the grass and he followed him around the entire yard. This was him for 30 minutes straight. Daddy stopped sometimes to pick him up and love on him, then they would keep on going... talk about melting my heart!! This boy loves his Daddy more than anyone else on this earth and that my friends, melts my heart!!!

 

On July 4th we went to my brother and sister in law's to cook out for lunch. It was SO much fun and I always enjoy getting together with J's family. They are all just like my family and there are a lot of them so it's always loud and fun! :)

 

I just love my little boys so much! They are always my little firecrackers!

 

And for our Pop Pop (my Dad) we had to get some fireworks for that night to shoot off at the house. So glad Daddy is around to deal with that, fireworks terrify me.... especially my off springs wanting to light them.... My heart is never fully prepared to be a Mom of all boys!

 

 

I hope you all had a wonderful July 4th weekend!! Now on to the real world.... ugh!

Thursday Thoughts

1. This little dude would NOT keep calm while we were at the "Splash Pad" this week. I was chasing him around like a lion. He was hilarious at his first outing this summer to the Splash Pad. He wouldn't go under the water and would rather not touch the water but did enjoy running in the cool water. I love this little pot belly, waddle boy so much!!!

 

2. One of my high school (really grade school) friends is now selling It Works Wraps. So last night another one of my "school" friends had a party at her house. Well I did the tummy wrap and I was very skeptical last night. This morning I woke up with my stretch marks almost gone. I kid you not, I was stunned!! So I'm drinking my water the next few days and hoping that I will lose inches as well. Even though I might have already but I didn't measure this morning. I will keep you posted.

 

3. Sunday in church our Pastor spoke on a very convicting subject. It would not be convicting to normal people but it was all about starting and keeping "good" habits. It is easy to get out of habits and so terribly hard to get back into them. It really had me thinking about the habits we do now and the effect it will have on the boys. I've now made some changes to our lives, things we use to do all the time but fell out of the routine. Here are things I'm adding to our lives to ensure we have "good" habits.

 

Getting up every morning to go walking for 30 minutes (I've done this 4 mornings in a row now), listening to klove while on my morning walk, eating and cooking better throughout the day, saying a prayer before each meal, everyone saying our prayers together at night & spending quality time in the WORD each and every night!

 

Doing these small changes has helped my week so far! I've added a few organizational things to that list as well so it is helping me not feel so overwhelmed at home.

 

I hope you all are having a blessed week! We are under a heat advisory today so I'm looking forward to the cold front coming in this weekend.

 

Love to all!