Labor Day weekend in Valdosta

It's taken me forever to get this post up, but we spent last weekend in Valdosta with my family! We hadn't been down there since May so it was time to see everyone again! We had a great time just hanging out and catching up with everyone. Kinsey loved playing with Kayden and Brecken but she had hard time keeping up...that Brecken is fast! Kinsey is still perfecting the worm crawl : ) We had a great time seeing everyone and can't wait to go back again! Thanks again Pete and Nana for everything...we love you!

Kinsey checking out Jack...Pete's new puppy!

Kinsey loved Kayden!

Uncle Aaron sneaking Kinsey some banana pudding...yum, yum!

Kinsey's whistling face : )

Somebody got a nice little nap in during church : )

Ready for Bible class

Crusin' in Brecken's car!

Fun Weekend

Last Wednesday afternoon we packed up and headed to Chattanooga on a business trip with Ryan. Kinsey was so hyper when we got to the hotel, I thought she would never fall asleep but she finally did and slept good! Thursday while Ryan was in his meeting, Kinsey and I ate lunch with some good friends and then drove to Athens, where we used to live, to visit my old co-workers. Of course I didn't take a single picture but we had a great time and enjoyed catching up with everyone! Thursday night we got to eat dinner with Ryan and some of the folks he works with. Many of them had never met Kinsey so she got lots of attention and was definitely the life of the party!

Kinsey watching cartoons on the big bed!

Friday Ryan was finished around lunch time so we got to check out the TN aquarium before heading up to spending the weekend with Callie. As we were getting out of the truck at the aquarium, a guy came up and asked if we needed a ticket....someone had given him 3 but he only needed 2 so we only had to buy 1 ticket to get in! What a nice surprise! Below are just a few of my favorite pics of us checking out the fish.

Talking to the fish...

One HUGE catfish!

We spent Friday and Saturday night at Callie's. Saturday we got to do a little shopping and just hang out. Kinsey enjoyed checking out Aunt Callie's place and seeing what she could get into!

Reading with Aunt Callie

Sunday after worshipping in Athens we headed home but didn't make it without stopping by Bass Pro Shop. Kinsey found her a cowgirl hat she thought was pretty cool : )
We had a great time on our little trip but it felt so good to sleep in our own beds Sunday night! Now we're trying to catch up on things to get ready for the long trek to Valdosta this coming weekend!

Quick Trip to Paris

Today Kinsey and I got up early and headed to Paris for the day to see everyone. We'd not seen Margaret since she had her surgery so we thought we'd go brighten her day! We stopped in to see Mac and Mama Mac first and of course they were excited to see Kinsey : ) As usual she put on a show and entertained us all!

Getting some lovin' from Mama Mac

Checking out Mac's overalls

Gram found this rocking chair in their attic.
She used to rock in it when she was little. What a perfect fit for Kinsey!
(Notice she's ready for football season sporting her Vols shirt!)

Around lunch time we headed to the rehab place where Margaret is staying for a while until she's strong enough to be at home by herself. Steve didn't tell her that we were coming to visit today so we got to surprise her. I think she was shocked when she looked up and saw us!

Saying hello : )

Margaret is doing so well! She was a little tired due to her 2 hour physical therapy session earlier in the morning but she's getting around really well. We are so thankful that the surgery was successful and that she's recovery so quickly! God is good!

Such a cute pair!

Kinsey with some of her favorite folks! : )

We got to hang out with Gram and Grandpop a little before heading back home. Kinsey was so worn out she slept most of the way home and went to bed early tonight. When I laid her in her bed she turned over and went right to sleep...I think she was glad to finally get in her bed!

Ryan has a work training in Chattanooga on Thursday and Friday so Kinsey and I are going to tag along to hang out. It's so nice to be able to go with him! Since we'll be in east TN we're planning on going to stay with Callie this weekend and then to worship in Athens, where we used to live, on Sunday. We're looking forward to an exciting weekend but I'm not looking forward to packing! Yuck!

Hope you all have a great week!

A Package from Nana

Yesterday Kinsey received a package in the mail from Nana! As soon as I gave it to her she tore into it and started pulling things out of the envelope. Kinsey got some sign language cards that shows us how to do a few different signs. Very cool!

Checking out her cards...

"I like packages!!"

The neatest gift Nana had specially made for Kinsey. It's a T-shirt that has "Lets Talk" on the front with the alphabet in sign language and on the back it's got her name spelled out! Too cute!

A closer look....how cool is that!

Thanks Nana! I love my new shirt and cards! I'll be practicing my signs so we can "talk" next time we see each other! : )

Our Big Girl!

Kinsey turned 10 months old on Monday! Where has my baby gone? She is starting to look so much like a big girl now...it seems like the months go by faster and faster. She is the sweetest baby and everyone always comments on how happy/smiley she is. These are a few things that I want to remember about Kinsey at 10 months!

I love how she scrunches her little nose up when she smiles...too cute!

She is becoming much more vocal. She jabbers all of the time...mama, dada, nana, baba...

She still is slow with the crawling...it's more like the worm. : ) She hasn't figured out how to stay up on her knees instead of landing on her tummy each time.

She loves to pull up on things and is very proud of herself when she does. Ryan made her this little pull up bar and she loves it!

She loves bananas! She is still a very good eater and is doing well on her whole milk in the sippy cup.

She gives the most wonderful, sweetest kisses!

She thinks if you're eating something she should have some too! Last Sunday we were in church and a lady sitting a row behind us opened a little package of cookies for her granddaughter well when Kinsey saw it she spit out her pacifier and was ready for her cookie!

She knows what "no" means, especially when Daddy says it! I guess like any child she tests us sometimes to make sure we really mean no but usually listens pretty well. Lately her thing is to act like she's going to drop a piece of food on the floor because she knows she's not supposed to. I'll tell her, "you better not drop that" or just give her a disapproving look and she'll put it straight in her mouth. I guess she wants to make sure that we're paying attention to her...like she doesn't already get enough attention!!

She's clapping now...if we say, "yeah Kinsey" she'll start clapping and usually she'll clap if I start singing a song.

She's also started to try to dance a little when she hears music...it's too cute!

She loves animals! At night sometimes we'll sit outside and bird watch...she'll sit in my lap and point at the birds flying around. She loves it and gets so excited when she sees them. Our neighbor has a little dog that she loves to watch too. They other night we had just got back from a walk so Kinsey was in her stroller and Molly (the dog) was out so she came over to say hi. Molly started licking Kinsey feet and at first Kinsey wasn't too sure but then she started laughing : )

One of my favorite times during the day is when Ryan comes home! Not only are we both ready to see him, but I just love the way Kinsey lights up and gets so excited to see him! It's priceless!

We are so blessed to have such a happy, healthy, easy going little girl. She is truly the joy of our lives and we couldn't imagine life without her!

Margaret update: Ryan and Kinsey went to see Margaret last night and to visit with Steve and Patsy. She is doing very well and should get to move to a rehab place in Paris today. Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Update on Margaret

Yesterday we spent the day in Nashville with Steve and Patsy while Margaret was in surgery. She had already been called back to a pre-op room when we got there but we all got a chance to see her before the surgery. Steve even talked the nurse into letting Kinsey go back and see her too (no one under 15 was allowed into the room.) She was definitely good medicine for Margaret! We finally got word about 4:00 that she was in recovery and had come through surgery well. Her doctor said that she would probably need to stay in the hospital for at least 3-4 days depending on how she does. Thank you so much for your prayers. Please continue to keep her in your prayers as she recovers and heals and please keep Steve and Patsy in your prayers too as they take care of and tend to Margaret.

Fabulous Friday!

Wow! I can't believe that it's already time for the weekend again! This week has flown by! We've not been up to too much lately. Kinsey had a little virus last weekend so we spent the beginning of this week trying to get over that. Ryan and I worked outside last weekend landscaping some in the yard. We've got some more to do this weekend but it's amazing how just a little bit of landscaping can really make a big difference. I'll have to take some pictures when we get done. Maybe I'll be able to keep everything alive...I'm not the best at that : )

Yesterday my wonderful in-laws came over and gave me the day off while they kept Kinsey. It was so nice for me to have some time to myself and I think Patsy, Steve and Margaret had a great time being entertained by Kinsey. I did a little shopping and found a few deals so I was happy : ) Steve had to take Margaret to a doctors appointment in Nashville so he dropped Patsy off on the way. Luckily the appointment didn't take very long so they were able to come back and spend most of the afternoon here with Kinsey : ) We found out a few weeks ago that Margaret has uterine cancer but her doctors are pretty confident that they can remove all of it through surgery. She will be having a hysterectomy this coming Monday the 17th so if you all will keep her in your prayers we would really appreciate it.

I guess that's about all that's been going on with us. Kinsey is finally starting to crawl but she still takes her sweet time getting to where ever she's going. : ) (I'm still working on posting a video...for some reason the computer has a hard time linking up with the video camera.)


The other night I was getting Kinsey ready to take a bath and had taken off all of her clothes and diaper in her room which is right across the hall from the bathroom. I've always done this and she's never peed on me until the other night. As soon as I picked her up I felt something warm : ) I had this huge wet spot on my shirt so I walked into the living room to show Ryan and while he was taking a picture Kinsey decided that she needed to go some more : ) That's when he took this shot! By this time it was running down my leg...needless to say we both got a bath that night!!

Where's Kinsey????
Peek-a-boo!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!