Loving this weather

This is how we spent our sunny Sunday afternoon:

• A little kite flying in the front yard:

• Dancing and running in the yard:

• Playing on the playset in the backyard:

Hope your day was fantastic!

My Children

The girl, Kennedy

The Boy, Leyton

The tiebreaker, due August 12th

Blessings Abound

I have not been on this blog for a year now...I just don't take the time to post here. I will work on that! In the meantime, I am cheating and re-posting my Thanksgiving post from last year. I am incredibly thankful that nothing has changed from my list! And here it is...what are you thankful for this year?

There are many things I am thankful for this year. Although I could never list everything I am thankful for, I figured I would share with you some of my things I am most thankful for. I am thankful for:

• Everyday God blesses me with. I am thankful for His grace, His love, and His mercy. My life belongs to Him. I am thankful for the opportunity and freedom to worship Him and enter into a personal relationship with Him.
• My husband. I do not deserve Brady. He is incredible. He puts up with all of my shortcomings and loves me despite them. He is the best father. Watching him with Kennedy and Leyton makes me fall in love with him all over again. He has patience when I've lost mine. He does fun things with Kennedy. He gets up with Leyton so I can sneak in a few extra hours of sleep. He works hard everyday, giving me the gift of staying home with my children. He puts his family first. He is a blessing beyond measure.
• My children. I have two beautiful, healthy, children. Kennedy is full of energy and does not stop from the time she gets up to the time we force her to go to bed. She loves to talk. And dance. And run. I am not going to lie, she tries my patience over and over and over again. But she is so sweet. I love watching her grow and mature. I love it when she thanks me for the smallest things as if they made her whole life. I love putting her to bed and listening to her prayers. I love that she asks questions about God. I love that she is already learning scripture. I love when she wants to sit in my lap and read books. And, I love to watch her dance. That girl has some great moves! Leyton is my laid back boy. It is amazing how different he is from Kennedy. He is calm. Not much bothers him. He loves his big sister and smiles when she is around. He puts up with her hugging him, kissing him, holding him. I love when he comes over to me and gives me the biggest kiss (which is still with mouth wide open at this point!). It warms my heart!
• My family. I am blessed to have such an extended support system and family that loves and cares for me and my family. My parents are the best parents ever. I don't see them often enough. I would love for them to live closer to me. The best thing about my parents is watching them with Kennedy and Leyton. We have been blessed to travel to Michigan and spend weeks at a time with them. I am looking forward to Christmas time when we will take over their house! I love the time we spend with them and am always very sad when I have to say goodbye. They raised me to be the person I am and for that I am thankful. I am thankful for the morals and values that they instilled in me. Without that, I would not be the mom and wife that I am. I am thankful for my in-laws. They take care of me, love me, support me, and treat me as if I was their daughter by birth. They love Leyton and Kennedy. They volunteer to watch both kids so I can get a break. They make sure I have someone to eat dinner with when Brady is out of town. They would do anything for me. I am thankful for my two sisters, one by birth, one by marriage. They are my best friends and I love being around them. I love that one is the Cool Aunt Kelley and one is the Hot Aunt Kelly (that is really how Kennedy refers to them). They are fun, loving, caring aunts. Now, we are just waiting for some cousins (no pressure or anything girls)!
• I am thankful for my friends. They pick me up when I am down. They love me. They hold me accountable. They keep me sane. They make me get out of the house. They give me advice. They let me know I am not alone in life.
• I am thankful for my church. Those friends I just talked about-most come from my church family. I am thankful for the children's department at our church. I am thankful for Mom2Mom. I am thankful for the support provided for these ministries. I am thankful for my Sunday school class (first year to not teach pre-k Sunday school and attend a class with adults).
• Of course I am thankful for good health, a home to live in, food on the table, clothes to wear. I am thankful for our military and their families. I am thankful for the sacrifices they make for our country. I am thankful for answered prayers.

Although this list is long, it is not complete. I could go on and on about what I am thankful for. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and take time, not only on Thanksgiving, but every day, to give thanks and remember how incredibly blessed you are. We are blessed here. And for that I give thanks!

Just for Maggie

My dear friend, Maggie, told me that I should at least blog to tell people I am not blogging anymore. I promised her an update this weekend. Here it is, Maggie, just for you!

I cannot believe that the holidays are already here. We have a very busy schedule ahead of us. We decided to take advantage of Brady travelling to Orlando for work and are making a mini-vacation out of it. I am going to fly down with the kids and meet Brady in Orlando at the end of his conference and we will be spending a long weekend there. Kennedy loved Disney when we went in January, so I know she'll have a grand time. We are planning on going to Disney one day and Animal Kingdom another. Of course, it will be different this time with a little baby tagging along. I have heard that Disney is beautiful this time of year with all of the decorations. Hoping maybe we can get a good picture for the Christmas card.

Next week is Thanksgiving and we will be staying in Tennessee for the holiday. My parents are flying out to Cali to spend the holiday with my sister. We will eat lunch at Brady's parents house and spend the day with family.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, there are many things I am thankful for this year. Although I could never list everything I am thankful for, I figured I would share with you some of my things I am most thankful for. I am thankful for:

• Everyday God blesses me with. I am thankful for His grace, His love, and His mercy. My life belongs to Him. I am thankful for the opportunity and freedom to worship Him and enter into a personal relationship with Him.
• My husband. I do not deserve Brady. He is incredible. He puts up with all of my shortcomings and loves me despite them. He is the best father. Watching him with Kennedy and Leyton makes me fall in love with him all over again. He has patience when I've lost mine. He does fun things with Kennedy (they are currently outside washing the cars, one of her favorite activities). He gets up with Leyton so I can sneak in a few extra hours of sleep. He works hard everyday, giving me the gift of staying home with my children. He puts his family first. He is a blessing beyond measure.
• My children. I have two beautiful, healthy, children. Kennedy is full of energy and does not stop from the time she gets up to the time we force her to go to bed. She loves to talk. And dance. And run. I am not going to lie, she tries my patience over and over and over again. But she is so sweet. I love watching her grow and mature. I love it when she thanks me for the smallest things as if they made her whole life. I love putting her to bed and listening to her prayers. I love that she asks questions about God. I love that she is already learning scripture. I love when she wants to sit in my lap and read books. And, I love to watch her dance. That girl has some great moves! Leyton is my laid back boy. It is amazing how different he is from Kennedy, even at this age. He is calm. Not much bothers him. He lets me know when he is hungry or if he needs his diaper changed. He loves his big sister and smiles when she is around. He puts up with her hugging him, kissing him, holding him. I love when he looks up at me and gives me the biggest, toothless, smile. It warms my heart!
• My family. I am blessed to have such an extended support system and family that loves and cares for me and my family. My parents are the best parents ever. I don't see them often enough. I would love for them to live closer to me. The best thing about my parents is watching them with Kennedy and Leyton. We have been blessed to travel to Michigan and spend weeks at a time with them. I am looking forward to Christmas time when we will take over their house! I love the time we spend with them and am always very sad when I have to say goodbye. They raised me to be the person I am and for that I am thankful. I am thankful for the morals and values that they instilled in me. Without that, I would not be the mom and wife that I am. I am thankful for my in-laws. They take care of me, love me, support me, and treat me as if I was their daughter by birth. They love Leyton and Kennedy. They volunteer to watch both kids so I can get a break. They make sure I have someone to eat dinner with when Brady is out of town. They would do anything for me. I am thankful for my two sisters, one by birth, one by marriage. They are my best friends and I love being around them. I love that one is the Cool Aunt Kelley and one is the Hot Aunt Kelly (that is really how Kennedy refers to them). They are fun, loving, caring aunts. Now, we are just waiting for some cousins (no pressure or anything girls)!
• I am thankful for my friends. They pick me up when I am down. They love me. They hold me accountable. They keep me sane. They make me get out of the house. They give me advice. They let me know I am not alone in life.
• I am thankful for my church. Those friends I just talked about-most come from my church family. I am thankful for the children's department at our church. I am thankful for Mom2Mom. I am thankful for the support provided for these ministries. I am thankful for the Sunday school class I teach and that I get to see Jesus through the eyes of 4 and 5 year olds.
• Of course I am thankful for good health, a home to live in, food on the table, clothes to wear. I am thankful for our military and their families. I am thankful for the sacrifices they make for our country. I am thankful for answered prayers.

Although this list is long, it is not complete. I could go on and on about what I am thankful for. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and take time, not only on Thanksgiving, but every day, to give thanks and remember how incredibly blessed you are. We are blessed here. And for that I give thanks!

Much love,

Terrible Blogger

Yes, I realize that I am possibly the world's worst blogger. I am pretty decent about posting pictures on facebook, but I never seem to take the time to sit down and put things on here.

As most of you already know, Leyton Tyler was born on August 18th. I was induced that morning and it was the easiest labor and delivery ever. I progressed slowly, but then all of a sudden we were ready to have a baby. He basically flew out. Because he came so fast, all of the fluid in his lungs didn't clear and he was making what we thought were adorable little noises. However, I guess that is something they don't like to hear coming from babies. They did some chest percussion and suction to remove the fluid and then just kept on eye on him for a little bit. It wasn't anything serious and he got a perfect report from the pediatrician the next morning. He weighed 7 lbs and was 21 inches long.

We are adjusting very well to being a family of four. There have been days when I was exhausted, but luckily have had family visiting or who would come over so I was able to get a few hour nap to make up some of that sleep. Other than that, things have been great. Leyton is so different from Kennedy. It is crazy how you can tell a difference in their personalities at such a young age. Leyton tends to be more laid back and not nearly as loud. And he is a momma's boy!

Kennedy is in love with Leyton. At the same time, he doesn't really interfere with her life too much. He is there when she wants to love on him, but then she moves on and is busy playing. She is an incredible helper too. She loves to give Leyton his pacifier when he is crying. And tonight, she washed his feet during his bath. She loves being a big sister and is already asking for a baby sister.

Kennedy started back to school last week. She attends a mother's day out program that is Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30-2. She loves school. She is so social (doesn't get that from me). As we were driving to school the first day, she asked if Leyton and I were going to come in with her. I thought she was getting a little apprehensive (what was I thinking?) and started to explain to her that we would come in and walk her to her room. She responded by telling me that she didn't want us to walk her in that I could just drop her off (they don't even have that option, you have to bring your child in). Yep, she is growing up too fast.

We moved into our new house and love it here. We love our house. We love our big yard. We love the neighborhood. We are so blessed to have sold our house and found this one. Nothing is on the walls, but I can say that every box is officially unpacked. We are slowly getting there and it is really starting to feel like home.

I think that is all the major things going on here. I will try to remember to get on here and post more often. If you look below, I posted pictures for all to see.

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures

Holding Leyton for the first time

Daddy and Leyton

Baby Leyton

One of my favorite pictures. Papa and Pops watching Leyton through the nursery window.

Meeting Big Sister for the first time

First family picture

Leyton with Gigi and Papa

I am the Big Sister

Love this picture. Kennedy was bored and had enough of being at the hospital.

Prayer request

I realize a lot of time has passed since my last entry. I promise to update all that is going on in our life and get some pictures on here real soon (for my one reader: hi mom!). In the meantime, while you wait for that to happen, I beg you to visit this blog. Dr. Sam Green is our worship Pastor. He recently found out that he has leukemia and started chemo yesterday. Sam and Keli have three beautiful daughters. They are an incredible family. Sam started a blog for all to follow his journey. I am asking for everyone to bookmark his page. Pray for Sam. Pray for the medical community treating him. Pray for Keli. Pray for Anna-Laura, Sophie, and Bella. The next days, weeks, month, years will be trying at times.