Oh...Hello there.

Oh.  Hey.  It's only been like 4 months since I've posted anything here on our little old blog.  I'd REALLY like to get back to it!  I love having this space to keep up with our life...where we've been,where we're going...

No time like the present, right?!  Here's a little recap...5 on Friday style.

1) Ellison:  Oh my.  She is big and beautiful and spunky and sassy.  She's 20 months...how the heck did that happen?!  I'm starting to think about planning her second birthday.  Yikes.  She is so fun and everyday we find one more thing to love about her! She is incredibly chatty, loves to sing, loves to dance, loves to eat.  :-)  She's starting to test her boundaries and is becoming more and more independent!  She looks like her daddy and is stubborn like her momma.  She's perfect and we're so, so blessed.

2) Me and B:  We celebrated our 5th anniversary in March.  Five years...unbelievable.  We took a trip to St. Lucia and had the best, best time.  I am so lucky to call that man mine.  We are looking forward to 100 more years of happy.

3) Work: I'm keeping super busy...but I really wouldn't have it any other way!  I kind of thrive on busy..it makes me efficient!  The hospital is busy...and we've been through a lot of changes.  It can be incredibly stressful some days, but I love the people I work with and am so blessed to get to love on our families.  My side gig with Rodan + Fields is going awesomely!  I really do love it...love the products, the company, my business partners.  It has been a true gift in our life.  I've been able to pay for E's school and our mortgage...and the sky's the limit.  My goal is to stay home with E more, and I'm not far from reaching that goal.  Fingers crossed!

4) Travel:  We have a few fun things coming up in the next couple of months...Spring and summer get so full, so fast!  I'm heading to New Orleans for the Child Life Conference in May...we'll be in Ohio in June for a wedding and then will head straight to Nags Head for a beach week with the fam....July will send us to sunny Florida...and then I'll be in Atlanta for an R+F conference in August!  I know the summer's going to fly by...looking forward to lots of sunshine, family, and friends!

5) Perspective:  In the last six weeks or so, three of my patients at work have lost their battle with the beast that is cancer.  Sadly, there will probably be a few more in the next couple of months to follow suit.  In the least eloquent of words, it sucks.  Perspective is a true gift.  Hug your babies, love big, always be kind.

Happy Friday, y'all.  Big plans to keep this updated again!!  :-)

Hey There, New Year

Holy moley, y'all!  It's been almost six weeks since I have updated the blog and the last one was just photos!  Eek!  That makes me sad.  :-(  I do so love this little corner of cyber space that's all mine and I miss it!  It is such an AWESOME way to keep up with life and to document all that goes on in our crazy little world!!

Life's been nuts.  I feel like we get busier by the second!  Ellison is a full fledged toddler...she'll be 17 months next week!!  Yikes!  She gets more fun by the day.  She is sassy and smart and sweet and we just can't get enough of her!

I so want to upload a ton of photos (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years for starters!) but that may or may not happen.  Let's just start fresh.  New Year, New Goal: Blog at LEAST twice a week!  Even if it's just a boring recap of the last few days, I'm going to get it on this blog!

Looking forward to catching up!

XOXO

Photo Dump

Y'all, I'm about 6 weeks behind on my updates.  Yikes.  This post is going to be a MAJOR photo dump.  I need to get them all in here though because it's important to me to have all our happenings in one place, and my Type A personality can't handle the missing pieces!  Feel free to continue on reading...it will be a long post!  My feelings won't be hurt if you just walk away though.  :-)

Let's see....In October, after we went to the pumpkin patch....

I made a Mumkin!  It was super cute, but it only lasted about a week and a half and then it rotted?!  Ugh.

We spent a good bit of time at the park because the weather was beautiful!

We had some silly fun in the living room...

Ellison had her first taste of a donut hole (big hit!) and a tea party with her stuffed animal friends...

I met my friend Aundrea for wine night at this great place in Charlotte called Vintner's.  Good wine with good friends is very good for the soul!

We went to Florida!!  We celebrated birthdays down in Marco Island.  Ellie Belle flew down with us and stayed at Nana's house while Barrett, my friend Lora, her husband Matt, and I all had lots of fun celebrating turning 31, 30, 29, and 30!  All of our birthdays are 5 days apart!  We flew into Orlando and had lunch at Downtown Disney with Ellison before we got the week started.  In Marco Island, we stayed at the Marco Beach Ocean Resort.  It was FABULOUS!!  We got upgraded to a penthouse, corner suite and just had the best time!!  I would HIGHLY recommend this resort if you're in southwest Florida!  Ellison had a super fun time with Nana and The Dude while we were gone, and we ended the week by having dinner with Barrett's Gramma Jeanne and singing a little karaoke!

Halloween was lots of fun this year!!  At work, it's always a big fun day, and this year I was a Minion (which I thought was so cute and original but turned out to be an extremely popular costume!!)  Ellison was a butterfly, and she had lots of fun riding around the neighborhood in her wagon, waving to all of the neighbors and grabbing a few pieces of candy.  She actually tried to give back most of the candy that she took out of the bowls.  That girl has will power.  This momma never gives candy back!

In November...

I had my official launch party for my Rodan + Fields business.  I threw a Mimosas and Mini Facials party.  I've been having the BEST TIME with my new venture!  I feel so blessed that this opportunity fell in my lap and have really been so proud to share these amazing products and an amazing business opportunity with my friends and family!!

It's been super cold here in Charlotte!  My sweet Ellison who won't wear a headband and usually pulls her bows out of her hair, has been LOVING her owl hat!  Good thing...I was worried we weren't going to be able to go outside all winter!

We've been doing some fun art projects...

And one day I joined Ellison for a Thanksgiving luncheon at her school.

We went to our little friend Hazel's first birthday party...

And I worked the Bee Something for Bee Mighty event with our hospital Foundation.

Ellison and Buddy are still besties...

I met some of my sorority sisters out one Saturday to watch the ECU vs NCSU game.  It was a great game (mostly because we won, not because it was fun to watch since it was pretty one sided) and it was SO FUN to hang out with the girls!! Ellie Boo got all dressed up for the game, too...

So, that's October and November in a nut shell!!  Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities will hopefully get their own posts.  :-)

Hope y'all had a great weekend and a very Happy Thanksgiving with your families!!