Whirligig Weekend

We had a fun filled weekend at the Whirligig Festival. Camden was a little shell shocked to begin with and I think it was because of all the people. He has also been clingy lately so that probably didn't help. His little eyes were trying to take in everything. We were able to take Camden with us to vote and that was fun. I put the "I voted" sticker on him and 10 seconds later it was in his mouth.

We didn't really have an agenda for the festival so it was nice just walking around and observing everything. Camden got to see his daddy's office and loved going for a spin in his daddy's chair. He also ate some fried oreos and corn dog and he seemed to really like it. After the Whirligig Festival, we went home and took a 2 hour family nap. It was the best thing EVER.

Sunday was a low key day trying to adjust to the time change. Camden decided to wake up at 4:30 and then 5:30 so it was an early morning for daddy. Sunday night we had dinner with Jenna before she leaves for Chad. We miss her so much but are so glad to see her when she's home visiting.

It was a really nice weekend with the family and I'm so excited to get out of town this coming weekend with just Craw.



Photo Dump | Life Lately

It's been a while since I have blogged an update on life with tons of pictures. I rarely have time to do individual weekend blogs because life is busy. So here is a random photo dump and things we have been up to lately.


I went to dinner with friends from college one night in July and it was so much fun catching up on life. It was also so fun seeing Camden interact wit Macsen and AB.

I am obsessed with this picture of these two best friends. Camden is getting to the point where he LOVES to be near Hank.

It is so much fun to see my baby boy with my best friends baby girl. Now Eva is a big sister and we will hopefully be getting a picture of the 3 of them soon.

Uncle Casey's hat will always be his favorite.

Diaper changes are no longer easy...

Probably my favorite picture ever taken of him. Funny story: I was at Bible Study one night and asked Craw to send me a pic of Camden before I went to bed. Little did I know that his daddy had gone to get ice-cream and was letting Camden hold his cup. I legit laughed out loud when I saw this picture and everyone at Bible Study thought it was funny.

Mom and I went shopping a few Saturdays ago and we took Camden with us. He was SUCH a trooper and even slept in the stroller while we were at the mall. Proud mama moment.

My two boys.

Camden is turning in to such a little ham. He loves to be funny and make funny faces. He also loved checking out Eva's PB chair.

(He is asking Santa for one for Christmas but he doesn't know it yet.)

This boy is constantly on the move. At one point he was sitting up straight with the boppy behind him and I turned my back for 30 seconds and this is what I found. He was laughing.

Camden wore this toboggan in the hospital and we thought it would be funny to put it on him. I guess we can say he has outgrown that one.

Camden loved celebrating Jase's 1st birthday. I can already tell him and Jase are going to be close friends growing up.

Somebody had to get their crib lowered because he now knows how to sit up from a laying position.

Date night for mama and dada.

Last but not least, I put this picture up on Facebook this past weekend and posted a page from one of his favorite books.

"I think she prayed like crazy that you would be safe, Little Fox. I think she prayed for me as much as I prayed for her." Mama's voice got all whispery.

"And God answered both of our prayers."

"I came then? To you?"

Mama nodded. Happy tears in her eyes.

"You came then. When God found us you, you made me the happiest mama in the world."

-from my very favorite book, God Found Us You.

{Five on Friday}

{ONE- IMPROMPTU GATHERINGS}

I mentioned here that we ended up having an impromptu football party at our house on Sunday night.  Every time we actually try to plan a get together, someone cannot come.  However, randomly start calling people and inviting them over for dinner and football and magically everyone is able to come.  I LOVE IT!  I also got to love on all their little ones and we even let them get in our bed and watch TV.

SO CUTE!!

{TWO- HANK GOT A FRESH CUT}

Hank was LONG overdue for a groom.  He is definitely one of the fluffiest dogs I know and his mane can often times get out of control.

See what I mean?  It is insane but once his hair grows out, we can no longer see his eyes.  We had planned to get him cut 2 weeks ago but with his annual shots, we felt it would be best to wait.  We wanted to try a new groomer in town called Yuppy Puppy so Crawford called and made him an appointment.  Let me just say, Yuppy Puppy is AWESOME. If you are a local Wilsonian or are near the area, I highly recommend Yuppy Puppy.  The staff is extremely nice and just make you feel right at home as soon as you walk in the door.  I also think that Hank got one of the best cuts he has ever gotten.  They also take a picture of your dog and post it to their facebook page.  I love it!! Seriously, check them out.

{THREE- THE MANTEL}
Now that fall, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are over, I have been struggling with how I wanted to decorate our mantel.  It was full with all kinds of pretty decorations at Christmas and ever since we put up the decorations, it has been BLAH. It needed some serious help.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to decorate it but I knew that I wanted to do something that I could keep up for a while so I didn't want to do anything themed.  I already had a gorgeous yellow mirror on the mantle before Christmas so I decided to mix and match some different items that I already had on hand along with some items I found at Hobby Lobby.  It is not 100% finished but it is definitely getting there.  I welcome your thoughts/suggestions.

Candle Sticks, Hand Lettered Picture: Hobby Lobby
Mirror: 5thandSmith
Letter B: Gifted by a friend

{FOUR- IT IS WELL}
I have been listening to this song on repeat ALL WEEK LONG.  Rebekah introduced me to it months ago and I liked it then but I only listened to it once.  About a month ago, I pulled up the lyrics at work and listened to the whole song.  I literally sat at my desk with tears flowing.  It is so uplifting and encouraging and pretty much sums up my prayer for my life right now.  My favorite part of the whole song is "Far be it from me to not believe, even when my eyes can't see. And this mountain thats in front of me, will be thrown into the midst of the sea." Such powerful words.  We all face mountains. Every. Single. Day. It is so encouraging to know that through all the hard times, all we have to do is release our fears and trust in Him and it is well.  May not always be the outcome we hope for but He has a greater plan for us.
#truth

{FIVE- BOLTON WEEKEND}
This weekend, we plan to spend some much needed time with Crawfords family.  I love when we get to see them because I feel like time slows down when we are with them.  I am able to enjoy every single minute without having to worry about cleaning the house, running errands, or going here and there.  Crawford would probably disagree with that because he feels like we don't see them enough which is also true.  They only live about 45 minutes away so we try to see them at least twice a month.   It is going to be a great weekend!!

Today, I am linking up with 

{darci, april, christina + natasha}

Weekend Recap

I loveeee long weekends.  Working for a bank, you do not get a lot of time off so I embrace those long weekends when they come around and have already started counting down to the next one.  We had an amazing weekend filled with a whole lot of nothing.  The best kind, right?

We dog sat our best friends lab for the whole weekend and that was quite the adventure.  Hank is only 10 pounds and is a complete lap dog.  Nala is an 80-ish pound lab that is one big ball of energy.  Hank and Nala are literally like boyfriend and girlfriend.  All we have to do is say her name or Na-Na and he goes ballistic.  

Friday night we took both dogs over to Kevin's house.  Kevin has a HUGE bloodhound and Nala loves playing with Charlie.  We basically just chilled the entire night and let the dogs do their thing while Hank remained permanently glued to my lap.  We are still working on him liking Charlie but right now, he just sees Charlie as a HUGE beast even though he is the friendliest dog in the world.

Sorry for the blurriness but these two don't stay still long.

Saturday we slept in which was glorious and then Crawford and I cooked breakfast together.  Hank also got a haircut. We didn't really do anything else during the day but we went to the movies that night with some of our friends and Crawfords brother.  We saw American Sniper and it was amazing.  The best part of the movie was the fact that the theather remained silent while the credits started rolling and no one said anything as they walked out.  Sort of like a moment of silence to a fallen hero.  It gave me the chills.  God bless the fallen heroes and God bless our troops.

Hank with his fresh cut

Sunday was awesome.  We went to church that morning and our youth pastor preached and did an amazing job.  After church, Crawford called a few of his buddies from church and we ended up asking people to come over for an impromptu football party.  What started as a few ended up with about 12 adults and 5 children.  Oh yeah, and this happened.  All of the kids crawled in our bed and watched tv together.  So cute!!

Monday we slept in and decided to get up and clean out our cars.  They were long over-due for a cleaning.  Kat and Andrew came and picked up Nala and we decided to end our long weekend with a trip to Smithfield for a little bit of shopping at the outlets.  It seriously was the best weekend and I enjoyed every single moment with my husband.  I love going and doing but the best weekends are the ones in which we have zero plans and can just do whatever comes up.  I was sick last week so that is the reason for such little posting but I am feeling back to normal and I am looking forward to a new week.

First Married Christmas

Can you believe Christmas has already come and gone? I feel like it should still be Thanksgiving. Our pastor that married us told us that one of the biggest challenges for newly weds was deciding what to do for the holidays. Therefore, he asked us to come up with a plan for Thanksgiving and Christmas prior to getting married.  I can honestly say that was one piece of advice that I was very thankful for and it made our holiday travels much easier and stress free.

I have to work every Christmas Eve but my employer lets everyone leave at 2:00 pm (very grateful). Once I got home, Crawford and I loaded the car and headed for Pinetops.  Every year, my entire family which includes 6 aunts/uncles, 7 cousins + spouses, 10 great grandchildren, pack into my grandmas house on Christmas Eve.  We lost my grandma to cancer last year but decided to keep the tradition alive by continuing to have Christmas at her house. I have a feeling that this may change in the future for the fact that we have completely outgrown her house. One thing I will say, my fondest Christmas memories were spent in that house and they will always hold a special place in my heart.

Grandmas children: Uncle John, Aunt Debbie, Aunt Terry, and dad.

This was the first year Crawford has been able to attend Christmas Eve at grandmas and it was so special. Grandma always had a white tree and we still use her white tree and ornaments each year.

Some of my cousins.

Spouses of the grandkids.

After we left grandmas, we went and picked up Hank and went to mom and dads house. We decided we would celebrate Christmas with them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Craws family. The most important Christmas tradition for me is sitting by the tree on Christmas Eve with a cup of hot chocolate and listening to dad read the story of Christs birth. We have done it every year and afterwards we will share some of the happy/sad/funny/growth moments of the year.

After the Christmas story, we spent the rest of the night opening presents. We even went with mom and dad to pick out a new car for mom. I love my family and enjoyed every moment with them.

Christmas morning felt odd, yet exciting. It was the first time in 25 years I have not woken up in my parents house. Due to the hectic schedule of my birthday, Crawfords moms birthday, and working the week of Christmas, I forgot to buy groceries for breakfast. Nothing was open on Christmas so we literally had nothing for breakfast. FAIL on my part. I promise to do better next year. Crawford and I decided not to do Christmas to each other this year since we just got married, honeymooned in St. Lucia, and bought an iPad. He did surprise me with tickets to see Wicked and I am stoked!! Around 11, we left for Louisburg to spend Christmas with his family.

Here we are with both of his brothers and his grandma.  

This picture was actually taken two weeks prior in Edenton.

This was the first Christmas in which I have been able to see Craws family on Christmas. It was nice being able to experience other traditions. Their Christmas tradition involves eating homemade tacos for Christmas lunch.

Hank even joined us for our little trip to Louisburg. He loves his Lu-Lu (Craws mom) and she absolutely loves him.

I put up this photo on Insta but isn't it crazy the difference one year makes? My second Christmas with Hankers!

We truly had a wonderful Christmas. I have a feeling we will be making a few changes next year- like having groceries on hand for breakfast- but we will forever cherish our first MARRIED Christmas!!