Birthday Trip to Chicago

So, my wonderful husband surprised me (or at least tried to) for my 30th birthday last week with a weekend trip to Chicago. My mom, Miss Sharon, and his sister all chipped in to help take care of our kiddies so we could enjoy our weekend away worry free. It was so much fun!! We ate at some really great restaurants - The Custom House and Keefer's. We did lots of shopping (yay) - Toby even shopped with me a little bit! We also went to the Hancock Tower (2nd tallest building there I think) as well as went on an architectural tour and to a Cubs game. Quite a bit for a 2 day trip! I can't wait to go back. It is like a really clean New York. There was much more shopping to be done, as well as great museums to see, the Navy Pier, Millennium Park, etc. Hopefully we'll get to go again soon!

What better place is there to play than an empty suitcase?

Once a year Chicago has the largest free air and water show. We happened to be there for the fun! There were planes flying around pretty much all weekend. They were really loud and fast. They would do nose dives, fly between buildings, fly together 5&6 at a time. It was really neat.

We went on an architectural boat tour while we were there. It was very informative and we got to see a lot of really beautiful buildings. There is so much great history there. I didn't even know that there was a huge fire that destroyed most of the city in the 1870s, but apparently there was! My only complaint about the boat tour is that I WAY under dressed in my shorts and T-shirt. It was in the 60s while we toured and a little rainy! I was unprepared for Chicago weather and ended up buying a sweatshirt in a gift shop for the day! It's hard to imagine weather that cool until you're in it, especially when it has been over 100 here consistently! The tall building in the picture is the Sears Tower. It has 110 floors I think!!

Toby and I posing at the Cubs game. We had great seats right on the front row of the left field line. It was so much fun! Oh - and the Cubs won...

Toby posing with a Leggo man. There is a huge Leggo store there, and, as you can see, they have all of this neat stuff built out of Leggos. I also have a picture of me with Darth Vader (sp?) if anyone just can't live without seeing that one! (Ha!)

This is a miniature Leggo Chicago. Isn't it neato?

A Few More Beach Pictures...

Here are a few more beach pictures. There are even more that have yet to be unloaded from the camera. I know...that is ridiculous... Most of these are from the evening we arrived. We took a quick stroll down to the beach. Beau went nuts - crawling and running into the water. Abby made sure to bring her ziploc bag down with her to put her seashells in.

Beach Trip 2007

Abby posing at the beach

Taking a ride on the train with Aunt Jody

Riding the carousel with Daddy and Aunt Jody

Beau trying to escape from his parents and go ride some rides on his own...

The huge sand kingdom built by (mostly) Mee-Mee, Abby, Papaw, Erica and Nicole.

Abby and Mommy taking a break in the sun

Mee-Mee and Beau on a walk

Abby and Mommy on a bike ride

Abby and Daddy on a bike ride together

Beau at the pool - completely fearless of water I might add...

Mommy and the kids at the beach. Beau is trying to make Abby share her beach chair.

Abby on this wild jumpy thing - she looks so little to me in this picture...

We had a great time at the beach last week. I have had a lot of trouble getting these pictures to upload for some reason or another so I will keep this short and sweet. I will say that both of the kids LOVED the beach and the water. We all had a wonderful time spending time with family. Hopefully we will repeat this trip next year and add even more family and friends! We have more pictures that I might try to post later (from the good camera), but I am tired of wrestling with this thing. Beau is getting in 4 or 5 teeth and keeps waking up a lot at night so I'm going to bed!!

Boys trip home...

Abby enjoying her marshmallow hamburger Daddy and Beau brought back for her

Beau passed out on the 4-wheeler with Daddy

Playing on Papaw's farm

Taking a ride with Aunt Jody

Too cool...



Hey everybody!! It has been quite a while since I blogged. We have been very busy lately - more on that later. This last weekend my boys headed east back home to the mountains to visit Papaw, Jody and Mamaw (among others, of course). Toby went to help Jody do a few things on her condo and to do some visiting. Toby said Beau had a great time, especially at Papaw's farm. He loves to run around outside and apparently loves to ride the 4-wheeler (without a helmet - much to Mommy's dismay - Daddy has been scolded...).

The girls stayed home and had weekend of eating out and shopping with Mee-Mee, Aunt Ramona and Erica. I have probably packed on some poundage this weekend as we ate at J.Alexander's Friday night, The Cheesecake Factory Saturday afternoon, Kobe's Saturday night and Cracker Barrel Sunday after church! Isn't that ridiculous? I am about to pop!! Abby and I also went to her friend Little Howard's birthday party where Barney made an appearance on Saturday. Abby kept screaming "Don't touch me!" if Barney got too close to her. I think she was OK with him until she saw him take his purple hand off so he could use his human hand to tie a balloon animal. She started crying when she saw that and said to me, "Mommy, why is that man trapped inside of Barney?" The crying subsided but never completely stopped after that until he left the premises! The camera was with Daddy so, sadly, I have no pictures of our fun girls' weekend. Maybe next time...

Last but not least ---- Yes, we are moving south!! Toby has decided to accept an offer to do a pulmonolgy/critical care fellowship. We are not sure on exact moving times yet, but it will be before the end of the year for sure. The fellowship will be for three years, then we hope to head back home and be settled for good!! We are very excited as this is a great opportunity for Toby. Having said that, we also sold our house already!! We put it on the market for sale by owner and had not trouble at all! I feel like God has really blessed our family with this opportunity as well as with the easy sell of our house. Please keep us in your prayers as we are going through and will be continuing to go through a lot of change over the next few months! Start saving those frequent flyer miles to come visit - it will be a 10 hour drive home!!! Thanks to everyone for their support and words of encouragement as we embark on this new journey!

Happy 4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July holiday. We met our friends Jeremy and Emily and their 2 kids for lunch at the Aquarium restaurant which was a lot of fun. Afterwards Mommy and Aunt Jody (who came in for a visit this week) hit the Gap outlet while Daddy went to Bass Pro. For the evening it was dinner at Mee-Mee's with her friends from England. Toby made a "Boston Butt" which he grilled on the grill all day starting at 5am. It was sooooo good. After dinner we walked over to DLU for fireworks. Beau and Abby both loved the fireworks (also known as "boom-booms"). We had a fun holiday and hope everyone else did too!! The kids both had on really cute red, white and blue outfits for the occasion although this is not shown in the pictures. They both decided naked was better in Mee-Mee's backyard on such a hot day!

A day at the park

We spent at fun day in the park over the weekend. Here a couple of pictures of the kids swinging. They both love to be outside and sometimes throw quite impressive fits when we have to leave. Ahhhh, parenthood...

I've been tagged...

I've been tagged by Courtney to write 100 things about myself. I am not sure if I can think of that many "interesting" things about myself, but here goes...

1 I love God. I love my family. I love being "Mommy" more than anyone can imagine.
2 My husband is amazing. He can do anything he puts his mind to, which I admire so much. He is a wonderful father, husband and friend.
3 I am a pediatric nurse. I actually love it - not so much the nursing part, but I really love the kid part.
4 I love kids. I love mine, the ones in my family, my friends', my patients, the ones in my Sunday School class, strangers' - I just love em'.
5 I went to 4 different colleges- Lee, Lipscomb,Belmont and Nashville Tech.
6 I wish I read my Bible more. I, like Courtney, have read every US I have ever received from cover to cover as my Bible sits on my nightstand. That is terrible, especially when I actually write it out.
7 I also love to watch Grey's Anatomy. It is another guilty pleasure. ER, The Office, What About Earl and Scrubs are other favorites. However, I don't watch near as much TV as I used to since having kids.
8 I love sports. I love to watch football. I love to watch and play softball. I love to play basketball. I hope my kids are athletic. Is it bad to hope that?
9 I like to sew although I am very impatient. I have thrown a smocking project across the room. There is a sense of satisfaction upon a completed project. I only sew for kids, though - and not much - only as time allows.
10 I love to cook and try new recipes. I have a new one I really like for bruschetta chicken if anyone is interested. I am obsessed with cookbooks.
11 I love chocolate. Period.
12 I love one-of-a-kind restaurants. My husband and I are starting to go to "chains" less and less.
13 I lose my patience easily if I am tired.
14 It annoys me when people know the sex of the baby or what they are going to name it but won't share this information with others. (Sorry if this offends anyone. It is just at pet peeve...)
15 I really miss Billy D. He passed away in September from cancer and sometimes it still does not feel real. Father's Day was not the same this year.
16 Toby's mom passed away a few weeks before our wedding, and I miss her too. I feel like my kids were somewhat cheated because they never got to meet her. She was such a nice person.
17 I have the best sister-in-laws, and I love all 3! God matched us all perfectly with one another.
18 I love steak. I could never be a vegetarian.
19 I still have baby weight to lose, too- anywhere between 5-10 lbs. I would love to lose that last 5!
20 I am very sporadic with exercise. I'll go 5 times one week and none the next.
21 I hate to run but that is what I usually do when I exercise because nothing else really feels like a workout.
22 I want to go to Hawaii so bad.
23 I love the beach.
24 I love to tan despite the health risks that I know can kill you.
25 I love Starbucks Grande decaf non-fat no whip peppermint mocha lattes. Abby can even recite that order! She thinks grande means coffee!
26 I let my kids eat junk food a lot. I should make them eat healthier but it is such a battle and the junk is so convenient. (I know. That is not a good excuse.)
27 I miss living near Michael and Courtney. I hate that I don't get to see my nephew every day.
28 I love getting pedicures. (Not as much as my mom, but I do love them.)
29 I think my mom is so pretty.
30 I wish I was more outgoing. I would like to meet more people. I am an introvert.
31 I love to shop - shoes, clothes, make-up... I love it.
32 I love to go to yard sales on Saturday mornings. There is something so satisfying about finding a steal. It used to embarrass me when my mom would drag me to them and now I love them. Go figure...
33 I love tunic shirts and flats (not necessarily together). I just love both styles. I guess because I am tall.
34 My husband says I am anal. He is right.
35 I actually like to do laundry. I can't stand anyone else to do it for me. I even like to do other people's laundry. Is that wierd?
36 I hate those "plus" cards. Whey can't they just give us the discount? Why do you have to have a card? Anyone can get one, so what's the point?
37 I can't remember the last time I went to the movie theatre with my husband to see an adult movie, and I love to do that. I did take Abby to see Shrek the Third a few weeks ago.
38 I think it is hilarious that both of my kids have big blue eyes and we both have brown.
39 I turn 30 soon.
40 I, too, find that with age I care less and less of what others think of me.
41 I hate stretch marks.
42 I love ice cream and Popsicles in the summer and hot chocolate in the winter.
43 Brown is my favorite color to wear.
44 Every Day with Rachael Ray is my favorite new magazine.
45 I really like to watch Oprah, although I rarely do.
46 I am still sad that Brad and Jen broke up.
47 We are going out of town this weekend while Aunt Jody stays with the kids. It will be the first time I have left Beau.
48 I bought (splurged on) cowboy boots this year and I LOVE them.
49 I adore Eric at Escape. He gives the best massage ever.
50 I am a UT fan. We bleed orange around here.
51 I love to talk. People probably dread my calls because I can talk and talk. I also love to listen and would like to think am pretty good at it.
52 I have taken the kids swimming a ton this year. They love it.
53 I am very Type A. A planner. An organizer.
54 The clothes in my closet are even color coded.
55 Chance by Chanel has been my perfume of choice this past year. I also love NARS tinted body oil. It smells sooooo good and gives you a perfect glow.
56 I don't wash my face every night. I get lazy.
57 I would love to go skiing again (although I am not very good at it). It's been 2 1/2 years.
58 I am terrible on the computer. I have to get my husband to help me do everything but shop, check email, and blog.
59 I love my ipod when I work out.
60 I love videos on demand. It is such a great idea.
61 I eat dessert after every meal. Now Abby thinks you should have dessert after every meal. Toby tries to tell here that this is not so. She thinks he is totally kidding. I have ruined my child.
62 I worry every day about something terrible happening to my husband and/or children. It terrifies me. I don't know why I do this as it is illogical, but I still do.
63 We have had 2 deaths in our church congregation of young men in their 30s the past few weeks. Go hug your husbands tight tonight. I am trying not to take mine for granted.
64 I want to go on a mission trip. I have never been on one.
65 I hate long road trips. My parents used to pack us all into a camper and take us to Texas (an 18 hour haul with 10+ people in that thing). I still hate campers to this day. I like to fly.
66 I like to get mail. Real, handwritten cards and letters.
67 I love feta cheese.
68 I gained 40 lbs with my first pregnancy, and almost the same with my 2nd. When I go to the gym and hold a 20lb weight in each hand I can not believe I weighed that much more!!
69 Speaking of weight, I also love to watch The Biggest Loser. Those people are so transformed. Losing weight changes their whole lives. I love it.
70 I really don't like drinking water. It is such a pain.
71 I can't drive a stick. I get panicked on a hill with someone right one my bumper. I just can't handle it.
72 I love Broncos - the old ones from the seventies. Toby used to have one he worked on but he sold it.
73 Toby proposed by buying me a dog - his tag said "I love you. Will you marry me?" I have the dog tag in a frame in the living room now. I love that he did it that way.
74 I am not a car person. I could care less if I ever have a new car, although I do like the smell of new cars. I just want to be safe and comfortable, although I am not crazy about vans.
75 I think the Asthon Kutcher/Demi Moore thing is weird.
76 My kids make me smile every day. Even just sitting here thinking about them while they sleep makes me smile.
77 Talk Soup is really funny.
78 For not knowing how to use the computer very well I can type pretty fast and I am good with our computer system we use at work.
79 Houses in Nashville are way too expensive. Is everyone making that much more money than us?
80 I would never go to nursing school again. It was way too hard for the payoff in the end. I was terrible in science in school. English was my strength, but what was I going to do with that?
81 I would like to coach someday. Some of my coaches were my biggest mentors.
82 I love that Abby is a prissy girl and that Beau is a rough and tumble boy. I also love that God blessed me with a boy and a girl. They are so different and both are so much fun.
83 I work out to music that Toby hates like Gwen Stefani, Kelli Clarkson and Fergie.
84 I can not sing worth a flip but I still sing to Beau at night - usually Dream.
85 I have worn glasses since I was 4 years old. I am severely farsighted. I hope my kids aren't...
86 It really bothers me that some people that are on TN Care do not deserve it. It is ridiculous and dishonest.
87 We are not sure if we will try to have anymore kids yet. Some days yes, some day no....just can't decide.
88 I love it when Toby's grandmother makes chocolate gravy and pork shoulder (not together).
89 Christmas is so much fun with kids.
90 I love holiday decor. I am a sucker for it - can't help it. I am running out of storage room...
91 I love to throw the kids big birthday parties. Its fun to see them have so much fun with their friends, and I always love to see the cake Aunt Ann comes up with.
92 A friend told me once that Toby has a "sexy little way about him". I can't help but agree.
93 I want to plan a girls only shopping and spa weekend to Chicago or Atlanta. Anyone interested?
94 I bought the brown flip-flops that I wear almost every day in the summer on vacation with Toby when we were dating. Don't you love a great purchase like that?
95 I love sugary cereal - Cocoa Puffs, Fruity Pebbles, Cap'n Crunch - can sit and eat half a box in one sitting. Sad, huh?
96 I have some wonderful friends in my life that I am so truly thankful for. What would we do without our friends?
97 I love chick flicks.
98 I only like McDonald's fries. They are the best. All others pale in comparison.
99 I love buying and giving gifts. I tend to overdo birthdays, Christmas, etc.
100 I hope I am a good Christian, wife, mother, daughter, sister, nurse and friend. I pray that God makes me better at all of the hats that I wear and roles that I fill every day as I am thankful for each of them!

Whew - that was long but fun. Now I get to tag some people, right? Well, I tag Julie, Amber, Christine and Pamela (who needs to start blogging again). Have fun!!