Thanksgiving 2009

We had a busy but fun Thanksgiving this year. Luckily our family lives here so we don't have far to travel. We started off the holiday with lunch at Maymie and Pappy's house. The boys saw their cousins and extended cousins and had a blast playing with everyone. The food was great and it was great to see the whole family. After lunch and some play time, we headed to my nanny's house for our Thanksgiving dinner. The boys got to see all of their older cousins and play with them. The whole family finally got to meet Caroline for the first time, so that was neat. By the end of the day, we were stuffed and the boys were beat. They definitely slept well that night.

We hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!!! I know we have SO much to be thankful for this year! Our God is so good!

Dress Up!

I was folding clothes the other day and Caleb was "helping" me. He decided to put on some of Shane's socks and work boots and play with his pretend leaf blower...aka one of the pieces to my vacuum cleaner. He played like this for quite a while and actually let me snap a pic. This child has such an imagination!

Like Father, Like Son...

One night we decided to try a new restaurant near our house. Every time we wanted to try it, it looked like there was a long wait. This night there was no wait so we were pumped! The place is called Cheddar's and we had heard great things about it. We loved it! The food was good and the atmosphere was very kid friendly which is a plus for us. Shane decided to order some ribs...he loves him some ribs. Caleb had never had ribs before so we let him try them. After the first bite, he was hooked. He actually ended up eating half of Shane's meal. All I can say is like father,like son.

Trunk or Treat and Halloween 2009

This year we went to two trunk or treats! Thank you Pharr's and Turner's for inviting us and letting us share in the fun! The boys dressed up as UT football players and Caroline was their cheerleader! The boys enjoyed going around from car to car and getting lots of candy. We even got to enjoy a hayride too!

For Halloween, we all went to Maymie and Pappy's house for a yummy dinner and trick or treating. It was rather cold that night,but that didn't stop the boys from running from house to house saying trick or treat. The boys had a blast with all of their cousins. It was so neat to see them really enjoy and understand the concept this year. We had to leave a little early though because we couldn't miss the kickoff for our vols that were playing.
We hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

The Big Bad Wolf

Instead of a UT football player this year,Caleb decided to tell me at the last minute that he wanted to look like the big bad wolf. We decorated cookies tonight for Halloween. Caleb wanted the black icing so we let him decorate with it. Caleb was left at the table while Shane and I were cleaning up Caden and the huge mess that was made. When we stopped to see what was keeping Caleb so occupied, this is what we found...

This picture doesn't even show the magnitude of his "decorating" himself. Hehad even gone the extra mile and painted black icing on the tops of each finger and toe to truly look like the big bad wolf. He is something else!



Caden just enjoyed and savored every bite of the cookie he decorated!

Family Pics

Before Caroline was born, I told Shane the one thing I really wanted was some great photos taken of the family. I found this photographer through some friends and I just LOVED her work. A week after Caroline was born, Jadie came out to take some pics of the family. I told her that I really didn't have high expectations of getting good pics of the boys because they never sit still. Well, Jadie must have some sort of magical power because the boys did great and I am SOOOO happy with the results. Take a look...

1 month already

I can't believe Caroline is a month old already. Time is flying by. I have to say that Caroline is definitely the most relaxed and laid back baby. She loves to cuddle and is the best sleeper out of all of them. She has already exprienced her first trip to the beach! She is getting so big and I'm looking forward to the many more "firsts" for her that are coming up!




I just love this picture! Her little bottom up inthe air is too cute. I got some bloomers for Caroline to wear, but they are still just a little too big!

Beach Time!!!

What do you do when the forecast calls for rain ALL week? You head to the beach. Beka called me the night before asking if we wanted to go to the beach since the rental was available. I of course said sure. So, with a few hours to pack for 5, one of which is a newborn, we loaded up and headed south. The boys were so excited when they woke up and told them we were going to the beach. With 2 newborns and 4 toddlers, some would say we were crazy. I like to think of it as adventurous!
The car ride was smooth and the weather was fabulous! We had a great time! The boys all played together on the beach and Caroline and Josiah just slept. Of course the trip would not have been as fabulous if it weren't for the help of the best sitter in the world Miriam. The boys had so much fun with her. We are already looking forward to our next trip to the beach!

Having fun in the sand and sun!!!

Sweet Josiah and Caroline napping on the beach!

All the boys posing for a pic!

Splish Splash

Caroline got to use her big girl tub today!!! She loved every minute of it! I can't believe she is already 2 weeks old...time has flown!

Our Little Volunteers!!!

Tonight we had our first official tailgate with all 3 of our volunteers! The boys had a blast and Caroline pretty much slept the whole time. The food was great and even though our Vols lost, we still had a great time getting out of the house! Maybe the Volunteers will pull out a win next week!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch today with all of the cousins and family. The weather was great and the kids had a blast! We saw the animals, played in the maze and corn. We also enjoyed a nice picnic lunch! We are getting ready for Halloween! This is our favorite time of year!

Welcome home Caroline!!!

We are quickly getting adjusted to having a little one around the house. We came home Thursday and are settling back in to a routine. The boys are loving on Caroline so much and constantly asking where she is, what she's doing, and if they can hold her. It is so sweet! Thankfully, she is the calmest baby out of the 3. The noise level doesn't seem to bother her and she is a great sleeper! She actually slept for almost 5 hours last night. I know that it most likely won't last, but I can hope, can't I? We hope you are having a great week! Thank you to everyone for all of your help with the boys, food, errands, and most of all your prayers. We appreciate all you do and we love you so much!!!


Caleb loving on his baby sister!


The big brothers!!!

Our Family of Five!!!

We had been patiently awaiting the arrival of our sweet baby girl! On Monday, we were one week out and I had thoughts, or hopes that is, that she might be coming late. All day Monday I was having contractions, but nothing to the point that told me it was time. It was finally a beautiful day after all of the rain we had been having, so the boys and I played and played...little did we know that it was the last day that we would officially be a family of four!!!
Early Tuesday morning(about 4:00), Shane was woken by me saying something like "oh no!" He instantly jumped out of bed and knew what had happened...my water broke. We called my dear friend Ms. Kelly and she came over to stay with the boys so we could quickly get to the hospital. She was so sweet to let us call her again so early in the morning...especially since we had to call her when we had the scare 3 weeks before. We headed to the hospital and I can honestly say I have NEVER seen Shane drive as fast as he did that morning. We made it in record time.
We arrived at the hospital and were checked in a little before 6. Things went really quickly and extremely smoothly...it was definitely a smoother experience than the craziness with Caden. We were there a little over 4 hours.
At 10:04 a.m. our sweet, healthy, and beautiful Caroline Hadley was born! She was 7lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long. She has the chubbiest cheeks and looks just like her brothers when they were born. Caroline is perfect and we absolutely fell in love with her from the moment we heard her first cry and saw her sweet face. She is definitely a Daddy's girl already and her big brothers are in love!!!
The boys adore her and she is definitely going to be very well protected! :) Caleb is now fighting with Shane over who gets to hold her! :)
Thank you Lord for such an amazing blessing. Words can't express how grateful and honored we are to have this sweet baby girl in our lives! Our cup runneth over!


Our Sweet Angel!!! Look at those cheeks!

A few minutes old!!!

Caleb holding his new baby sister!!!

Caden meeting Caroline for the first time!!!

Our new family of five!!!

What do you do???

After a week straight of rain and another week of rain in the forecast...my kids are going crazy!!! So, we are having to get creative with ideas for play. Opening Day for hunting season is quickly approaching. Shane was getting his stuff ready for the big day. He was testing out his blind for hunting, so we decided to play for hours and hours in our new tent. The boys had so much fun and it definitely took their mind off not being able to go outside. Thanks Dad for sharing your "tent" with us. We can't wait until we can use it for real and dress in our camo just like you!

Time Out

We have tried many different discipline methods with Caleb. It seems that the one that works the best is time out. Caleb hates being taken away from the action, so this by far is the worst punishment you could think of. Lately, his favorite thing to do is tease his brother and take his paci away from him. After several warnings, he did it again. Off he went to time out. Of course he was screaming and kicking and you would have thought I had beaten him. I left the room for two seconds and all of sudden the dramatic crying had stopped. Oh no, I thought, what is he doing? Even though he knows not to get up, I figured that is what he did and why he wasn't crying. Well, I come back into the room and this is what I saw...


Caleb had talked Caden into sitting with him in timeout until it was time to get up. I guess he is taking the approach that if you can't beat them, you might as well join them!!!

Our Newest Addition...probably not what you are expecting!!!

Well, we added a new member to our family this weekend. After much discussion and debate, we just knew it had to be done. We got a new car!!! Big Blue just wasn't cutting it for a family car. Back in the beginning of the summer, we realized that my car would not hold 3 carseats in the back row. Since Caleb (and me for that fact) are nowhere near ready for a booster, we knew we would have to make a change. We debated on a minivan vs. an suv with a 3rd row and that was wide enough to hold all 3 carseats in the middle row. After much research and many visits to dealerships, we found that the suv was the way to go. So, the search was on and it finally came to an end this weekend. We decided that what we really wanted was a Toyota Sequoia, but a Tahoe or Yukon would work too. We looked and looked and actually found two cars that were a little over what we wanted to spend, but we considered it because they were great deals. They were a little farther away than what we wanted, but we were willing to travel because they were such great deals. The first car we saw was in Tx and we found it on a Sunday. When we called Monday morning,they had sold the car that Saturday. So, we kept looking. The next time we found a car we liked,it was in NC and pretty much the same situation happened. We found it, called about it, and it was sold the day before. So, after much prayer and just leaving it to Him, it all worked out. We now have a car that we can all ride in, it was within our price point, the mileage, features, etc is everything that we wanted. We are extremely blessed and know that the good Lord knows what he is doing and everything works out in His timing and planning, not ours. The new car was officially the last thing on our list of things to do before Baby C arrives, so now we are set and just waiting for her to arrive!

Baby C's Room

After a bit of a scare last week that involved a trip to the hospital and us thinking this baby would arrive 5 weeks early, we finally decided it was time to put the nursery together. The painters came and painted the room for us. It was quite a big change to go from the dark blue we had for Caleb to a bright pink. We changed the furniture around a little for a different look too and I am very pleased with the outcome. The only thing missing is the crib skirt. :( Unfortunately it is on backorder and will not be shipping until October 10th. Oh well. All of the other pieces are here, so we will make do with what we have for now. The clothes are washed, the bag is packed, and we pretty much have everything in order. We are definitely ready if this sweet little girl does actually come early. The boys love her room and every time they go in they will say "look how pretty!" Hopefully that means they are excited too! We shall see! We hope you are having a great week and getting ready for Labor Day! Thanks for checking in on us!

It's Football time in Tennessee!!!

It's that time of year again and we are so excited!!! There have been some BIG changes since last season and we have been waiting with much anticipation for opening day!!! The boys have been asking to wear their orange and they can't believe it is finally time! The Vols opened the season with a W over Western Kentucky. They looked good and gave us something to look forward to. Let's just hope they can keep it up! We had a great time celebrating the game with good food and lots of fun!!! Here's to a great season!!!

Sorry there are no pics...the camera battery is dead. Hopefully I will have time to come back and update once I get them downloaded to the computer!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Today is Shane's birthday. I won't say how old he is just in case he minds. We celebrated this past weekend with close family and friends at a new cajun restaurant around here. Shane is a huge fan of cajun food and loved it. I was trying to keep it a surprise, but that didn't work out. He was a little too sneaky and ended up finding out. We enjoyed a great night out sans kids and it was very pleasant. Thanks Mere and Pa for watching our boys.
The boys and I made red velvet cupcakes for his birthday...those are his favorite. Caleb even got to help decorate them too!
Happy Birthday Shaney! We love you and are so proud of you! You are an amazing husband, dad, and man of God. We love you more and more each day. May you be blessed with many more happy and healthy years!

Our New Room

Since all of the sickness has passed, we have put the boys in the same room and let me just say they LOVE it! It is like having a sleepover every night with your best friend! Caden has always been a good sleeper and Caleb definitely has not, so I was a little apprehensive of how it would work out. Now it seems that Caleb is excited to go to bed and doesn't put up a fight. Yay! The first night we put them together I wasn't sure what to expect and thought we would be in for a long night. After we said good night and shut the door, we turned the monitor on to check on them. What I heard just melted my heart and made me thank the Lord for two of the sweetest boys in the world. Caleb was having a conversation with Caden and the first thing out of his mouth was, "So Caden, whatcha been doing today?" So sweet. Caleb will also sing songs to Caden and literally talk his ear off until he falls asleep. I love that the boys are becoming the very best of friends and enjoy each other's company. Don't get me wrong, they definitely have their moments. If one of the boys is away or still sleeping, it seems as though the other is lost and just waiting around until they can play with each other again. So, the boys are in their Big Boy beds and are officially not my babies. I think I have had more difficulty with the change than they have. I'm just thankful they have transitioned so well...hopefully that will be a trend that continues when the baby comes...I'm keeping my fingers crossed. ;)