Hanging with the Haynes

Almost Time

2011-05-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

I am WAY behind with our blog...partly because time is flying by...the other is because the computer that I put our pics on is upstairs, and I just don't venture up there that much right now. So, to play catch up a little...Right after I posted last, we had an offer on our house after about 4 years on the market. It sent me into a little of a panic at first. Wouldn't you know it..when the nursery is half way complete, someone would want our house. Long story short- we were suppose to be out by April 21st, but we are waiting for their house to sell. So the contract has been extended till June 30th. Whew! I can breathe again for a little bit. And I'm glad that we will be able to bring Ava home to her beautiful nursery.
In other news...If you are reading this, I guess it's evident that I have made it to 38 weeks! Yay! Short cervix and all..This pregnancy has been pretty easy for the most part, and I am thankful for that. Just for the sake of it, I'm going to do a Pregnancy Highlights-so I can remember this time.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 38 weeks and 1 day

Size of Ava: According to our weekly checkup last Friday, she is estimated to way a whopping 8 lbs and 6 ozs- and she's not even here yet.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Around 20 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yep! Yep! Got about 9 lbs of baby in this belly

Gender: We better be having a girl!

Movement: She was really active a couple of weeks ago, but the bigger she gets the less space she has in there. I still feel her every day. Now, it's just like whole body parts rolling across my stomach. She's really been responding to Trent and music.

Sleep: Is good till about 2 or 3 am. After that, I toss and turn for the rest of the night.

What I Miss: Absolutely nothing. I'm just ready for this sweet girl to get here!

Cravings: Let's see... Icee's still-especially coke Icee's. I feel like a bad mother admitting this but for the past two weeks, I have craved a coke everyday. Thank you Sonic happy hour! Other cravings: mushroom quesadillas with fresh pico de gallo-thank you Mi Pueblo! and the list goes on...

Symptoms: Waddle everywhere! I feel like I've become a side show attraction at school. The little kids love to make comments about the baby. The Junior High girls take one look at my stomach, then look at theirs, and then have this look of fear. I'm thinking it may be a good form of birth control for them.

Best Moment This Week: Was actually last Friday, when we found out her due date is moved up to May 18th with plans for an induction-if I don't go into labor before then! Exciting times!!! We are busy to last minute things in the Haynes household.

So to catch up to date a little more.. Here we go with some pics.

A sweet little diaper wreath for Baby Ava. You can't really see all of them, but there are these little wood humpty dumpty figures attached to ribbon that were on my nursery mobile when I was a baby.

Forrest City Baby Shower- April 3, 2011

It was beautiful, and we are so grateful for wonderful family and friends.
Ava is already one blessed and spoiled little girl.
Momma and Grandma Ava
Our sweet bassinet from the hostesses
My mom had this surprise for me. It was a framed picture of my great grandmother (Opal Leona), my mother (Ava Sue), me, and then we will put one in of Ava Leona when she's around the same age.
All of our sweet hostesses, me, and mom. Pretty sure my eyes are closed but oh well!
Soon to be family of 3-or 5 if you count our canine children!

I still have A LOT of catching up to do, but this is a start for now. Hopefully, I will get some more posts in before sweet baby comes but if not, life will go on! And how exciting it will be!

Playing catch up...

2011-03-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

Wow! Where has the time gone? I don't even know where to start as it's close to a month since I posted anything. For starters...3rd trimester hit with a bang! We had a little scare around mid-late February. I had some weird pains one Thursday night and hadn't felt Ava move just a whole lot that week. This didn't really alarm me as she has not been a real active baby. But I called my OBGYN on Friday anyway, just to me on the safe side. They had me come in to do an exam and by a fluke chance at this Dr.'s visit determined that my cervix was a little short at that point in the pregnancy. The Dr. who saw me that day put me on bed rest for the weekend and scheduled a follow up visit for Monday, which needless to say freaked me out! I went in that Monday and they determined my cervix hadn't changed any, so that was good news! Basically from what I understand, is that your cervix shortens as your pregnancy progresses. So the fear would be that as she gets bigger and starts pressing down, my cervix won't be able to take it. The ultrasound tech reassured me, though, that she has monitored a woman all during her pregnancy that still ended up having to be induced in the end. So the good news right now is that my cervix is holding it's own, they are going to monitor it, and the longer she stays in there, the better...even though we are so ready to hold her! On a side note- If I get put on full bed rest, I'm not sure Trent's going to be able to handle it!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 29 week...and 2 days!

Size of Ava: 2 1/2 lbs and about the size of a butternut squash. (I think she probably weighs more than this as she was about this weight 2 weeks ago.)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 10-11 lbs *I think. Our scale is broke, and we're too cheap to replace it right now. I really need to get on that. But I'm basically wearing the same clothes that I've been wearing the past couple of weeks.

Maternity Clothes: Definitely on the pants...still able to wear "some" regular tops. It's about time to go Spring shopping.

Gender: We cannot wait for Baby Ava to get here!

Movement: Some days she moves more than others, but for the most part she is still a pretty tame baby. She loves to respond to music!

Sleep: I sleep walk to the bathroom at least 5 times a night, and my body tends to get real sore if I lay on one side for an extended period of time.

What I Miss: Right now...Sleep!

Cravings: I had a craving for sherbet today and could have killed for an icee last night at Target-but the machine was out of order.

Symptoms: Expanding belly. Trent said my belly gets bigger each week-at least it's for a great purpose!

Best Moment This Week: I'm just so thankful to be pregnant and each week she stays in there and I feel her move, it's just reassuring that she's growing and everything's going to be alright.

And we had a FUN moment this week...Ava's first baby shower. Pics are below!

School Shower: March 3, 2011

Pics of her mommy and daddy to greet the guests

I didn't get a pic of what all she got. I'll try to get one later. We are SO thankful for all of my coworkers/friends. She is a lucky little girl to have such wonderful people in her life.

Ava's little diaper cake!

My mom had this surprise for us to open. The outfit is one that my grandmother Opal Leona made for me (Ava's name sake). And the pic is one that my mom had made of me before I was even a year old. Look at all that hair!

The wonderful hostesses that threw our shower and our awesome gift...the Baby Jogger City Select. I am SO excited about this stroller...and I LOVE all of these ladies!

Had to throw in a pic of the grandmothers! My mother (Ava's other name sake) is notorious for not opening her eyes in pics! Maybe little Ava will be able to help her grandma with some photo skills.

And here's the proud daddy! He's going to be such a good one!

We also had this little pic taken about a week ago. Let me just say...I am not a huge fan of these. I think most babies look the same in them and like they are covered in jello. Ours is no exception. Even though I love getting pics of my daughter, Trent and I both feel she kind of resembles something off Harry Potter in this pic. I accidentally put the really good one in her baby book tonight before I could scan it, so this one had to make the cut. She was actually breech the whole time (no matter how much sugar they tried to force down me), and she wanted to keep her head in the placenta-which made all the pictures cloudy. We thought the pic below was funny though because right before this was captured my mom said, "Ava- if you don't turn around where we can see you, I'm not going to buy you any more cute little outfits." She, in return, put her hand up by her face as if she were saying "Oh, no." So meet our future Harry Potter star or the next President of the U.S.!

In other good news: I passed my glucose test and Trent's on the straight A track in his Master's classes. I hope I don't jinx him by posting that!

Lots of Snow and Less Than 100 days to Go!!

2011-02-13T16:19:00.001-08:00

You would think with three and a half snow days last week that I would have updated the blog a lot sooner than right before going back to work on Sunday night...but I didn't. I was, however, more productive in other areas that needed attention around our home.
Trent and I both had a snow day on Monday, went to work Tuesday, and then both were released from work early on Wednesday before the blizzard hit. The weather reports were saying that this was the most snow our area had seen in years. I, personally, love snow..but do not like to drive on ice! We stayed in all day Wednesday. Then Trent made a birthday breakfast for our friend that lives down the road Thursday morning. We ventured over to the Burrows on Thursday night to take JP his Valentine's present. And then we finally got out of Marion late Friday afternoon. Trent and I decided to celebrate Valentine's a little early because we knew the weekend would be crazy with people wanting to get out and work would be even crazier with trying to play catch up. So we did a little shopping, had dinner at Jim's Place East and then went to see True Grit. You can tell we are playing catch up with our movie selection as it's been out for about 2 months now, but the pickings have been a little slim lately (Come on Hollywood!). Anyway...this will be our last Valentine's Day just the two of us, so we are trying to sit back and enjoy all of these LASTS before Ava gets here.
Other than going to Little Rock on Saturday to pick up a table for the nursery from a lady I found on Etsy (Have I mentioned that I LOVE that place!), we have enjoyed our time at home together.

Our little Porkchop is so excited about the snow!

And our canine son loves the snow as much as he loves his daddy! We'll look over and he'll just be eating it.

This is a TERRIBLE pic! Let me just say that I have no weather proof clothes at this point right now, so Trent loaned me some of his. This is probably the 3rd time of my life that I have ever worn camo-besides camo day for homecoming in high school. I felt like the Marshmallow man on ghost busters. Anyway...since this was taken on Thursday when my countdown hit the 100 day mark, I wanted a pic to remember it. I need to be better about taking belly pics but like I said before, it's just not that glamorous!

And the two of us...just rolled out of bed and weather proofed. That's about as real as you get!

And... on Saturday I hit the 26 week mark, so let me do a pregnancy weekend update :).

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Size of Baby: Almost 2 lbs and about the length of an English hothouse cucumber-whatever that is!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I think I've gained back about 9 lbs out of the original lost, but our scale as been acting whack for the past couple of weeks and is showing that I've lost 15 to 20. That would be great if I weren't trying to grow a baby, so it's probably time for a new scale.

Maternity Clothes: Yes please!! It's time to do some Spring shopping. I can still wear some regular things but the maternity clothes are so much more comfy.

Gender: It's a girl! Ava Leona Haynes will be here in May!

Movement: She's still a pretty passive baby, but the thumps are feeling more like jabs. It makes me laugh to feel them for some reason.

Sleep: Had gotten better until here lately. I'm starting to see what 3rd trimester is going to be like.

What I Miss: Sleeping all the way the way through the night and not being able to eat sushi, undercooked steaks, etc....

Cravings: Um...pretty much have just wanted cucumber and tomato salad everyday for the past week-so weird. And I could probably eat a whole watermelon right now. I could also drink sweet tea all day long, but I don't!

Symptoms: Heart burn like you wouldn't believe! It seems that my nausea is starting to come back a little. It's getting harder to bend over and pick things up, and the list goes on....

Best Moment This Week: Feeling her move stronger and hitting the 100 day mark! Yippee!

Until next week...when we enter the 3rd trimester!!!!!

24 weeks and counting!

2011-01-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

I've been a bad blogger lately...but between starting back work after Christmas, dealing with crazy weather, fighting off a mild case of the flu, and planning a nursery...life has been a little busy! And I am loving every minute of it! Baby Ava's nursery is starting to come together! Yay! We went to pick up the chair and dresser this weekend, and her bed should be in this week. Now that all the big details seem to be underway, I can't wait to focus on the small details! She will be here before we know it :). And as much as I've planned this nursery out in my head for a long, long time...the most important thing is that she arrives here safely. She's not going to care what her room looks like at first! I did want to share a little peek at one of the inspiration fabrics for her room. The fabric below was picked out first, and then everything has fallen into place around it! I'll have to share pics of the finished product later on!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 24 weeks!

Size of Baby: About the size of a Rutabaga; as long as an ear of corn

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained about 5-7 lbs back of the original weight lost

Maternity Clothes: Most Definitely..the need is growing from one week to the next!

Gender: Every ultrasound confirms that Ava Leona will be joining our family! There has been no question!

Movement: Beginning to feel more noticeable thumps...Today in church it almost felt like she had the hiccups. I definitely feel her better in certain positions-like leaning back in bed or in a chair.

Sleep: Has actually gotten better the last few weeks. Maybe I'm getting used to being uncomfortable. I still have to get up about three times during the night.

What I Miss: Sleeping on my stomach

Cravings: Still Icee's, fruit, salad...my appetite is def coming back.

Symptoms: Protruding stomach...nausea seems to be gone! Praise the Lord!

Best Moment This Week: Everytime I feel my daughter move inside me, it's all the more reassuring and I love it!

These were taken a little over 23 weeks. Everytime I look at them, I feel blessed beyond measure!

I think it already looks like she has a little round face! She has no hope between me and Trent!

20 weeks down, 20 to go!!

2011-01-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 20 weeks (and 1 day today)!

Size of Baby: About the size of a banana

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still not gained a whole lot back from what I lost..maybe a couple of pounds. Dr. is not concerned though because the baby is growing!

Maternity Clothes: Yep! Definitely at that point. I'm having to wear more and more maternity shirts to cover the belly band on most of my pants.

Gender: It's a GIRL!! Ava Leona Haynes. My regular Dr. confirmed this, also, about a week ago!

Movement: Definitely feeling little flutters more, although, she doesn't seem to be a very active baby even on her ultrasounds. New Year's Eve night she thumped by stomach so hard I could feel it with my hand!

Sleep: What sleep?

What I Miss: Uninterrupted sleep

Craving: Icee's (all the time), still salads and fruit, and mexican food (which Trent discourages more often than not).

Symptoms: Nausea seems to have decreased somewhat. Stomach is protruding a little more. Bathroom trips are increasing again. And WOW! The heartburn I have been experiencing makes you want to curl up into a little ball.

Best Moment This Week: Everyday is a great day knowing she is growing inside of me and feeling her little flutters is all the more reassuring! Hitting the 20 week mark is exciting in itself!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-31T13:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!!! 2010 has gone by super fast, and I can't wait for 2011! Bring on the New Year! Above is our Christmas card this year. I've used Tiny Prints for the past two years and have been super pleased with the way they have turned out. My dad shot this in front of our Christmas tree, and I think the card pretty much sums up how we feel about the year- Blessed beyond measure! We have so many things to be thankful for! And this will be our last Christmas just the two (or 4) of us!
I don't have a ton of Christmas pics to share this year, because 1. I didn't worry with my camera a whole lot and 2. We had a very low key Christmas-which I highly enjoyed! We attended several little family and friend get togethers and got to hang out with some of our favorite little people. We went to see a movie on Christmas Eve and had dinner at McEwen's, where we had our first date 5 years ago. We ate a lot of good meals, had some really good rest, and got a lot of baby planning done and underway. *Elvis did give us a scare on Christmas day and decided to have a little joy run in my parent's neighborhood right before night time. Thanks to my keen tracking skills :) I was able to locate him after about 45 minutes down the street in a cove. Trent was already making his way across town. Sad to say, but I don't think Prissy was to concerned about us finding her brother.
I have an aunt that says whatever you are doing on New Year's day is an indicator of how the rest of your year will go. Tomorrow I plan on spending the day in my pj's, putting all of Christmas up, and organizing. So maybe I will have a productive 2011! I will be having a baby, after all!

17 weeks and "HO, HO, HO"!

2010-12-12T12:54:00.001-08:00

We went to NEA women's clinic Friday the 10th and had a gender scan done! We figured that we had been patient for two years waiting for God to bless us with a child, why not be a little impatient in find out if we are going to have a daughter or a son!? AND.....It looks like Baby Haynes is a GIRL!!!!!!!!! I asked the tech if she was 100% certain and she said YES! Trent said he knew it was a girl before she said anything! We have named her Ava Leona Haynes, after my mother Ava and her mother (my grandmother) Opal Leona. We are THRILLED!!! She was a little modest wanting to keep her little ankles crossed! Looks like we already have a little lady! (I hope she stays that way!) The tech made her move around, and we could see her little arms and legs fly up! It is such an AMAZING experience. There is nothing like seeing her move around and I'm sure it will be even more amazing to hold her when she gets here! We go for my scheduled appointment at Ruch in a couple of weeks for the big ultrasound. I can't wait!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 17 Weeks

Size of Baby: About the size of a turnip or sweet potato (depending on what you read)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 2 lbs from the 10 lost

Maternity Clothes: Love my maternity jeans/pants and am having to wear more of my maternity shirts. Some regular things still fit with the help of the belly band.

Gender: Just found out Baby Haynes is a GIRL!!! Ava Leona!...had been feeling that the baby was a girl for the last couple of weeks!

Movement: Nothing defining yet, but I'm starting to feel more pressure in my abdomen were her head is.

Sleep: Differs from night to night, but I'm pretty sure I had my last full night of sleep a long, long time ago and probably wont for a long, long time! Her head rest right on my bladder.

What I Miss: 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep...and I think I'm about to have to give up my occasional glass of sweet tea.

Craving: honey dew, cantaloupe, salad, chips and cheese dip

Symptoms: Nausea...that's part of the reason of haven't blogged in a while. 2nd trimester hit me HARD....meaning after every meal, I went and got sick. Some nights I would just come in and go to bed to stop from getting sick. Over the past week, though, I've started having more specific cravings. And one of the biggest symptoms- is that my stomach is noticably becoming harder and rounder.

Best Moment This Week: Was actually last Friday (12/10/10)...Finding out that we are having a GIRL!!!

Ava Leona Haynes

Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4

Had to throw this picture in, too! This was taken last night at the Vaught annual Cookies with Santa party. Trent was asked to play Santa this year...seeing as we have easy access to a Santa suit :)! We both had a really good time, and he enjoyed seeing the look on the kids' faces! They were all too cute. And, Kelly, he has already said that he would do it next year. I think he wants to upgrade his Santa suit, though, so we'll be on the look out! *Dana Johnson insisted that we get this pic, so I'll get her back later :)! I guess we could say that this is the first pic of Baby Ava sitting on Santa's lap!

13 and 1/2 weeks :)

2010-11-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late posting this, but I was in bed sick the majority of last weekend. When you're pregnant and sick, it seems to make all your symptoms worse...but no pity party! I'm feeling much better now!
I have a friend that asked me to post pregnancy pics on here (you know who you are) ;)! I still haven't decided if I am into doing that yet, but we will see. Nothing has really changed bump wise! In fact, I've lost weight-which is fine with me as long as the baby is growing!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 13 and 1/2 Weeks (evidently I thought I was entering my 2nd trimester last week, but it seems that it might start this weekend! There's so much conflicting information out there!)

Size of Baby: Baby Haynes is the size of a lemon (or a peach! Who knows!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 10 lbs so far

Maternity Clothes: Wore my first pair of maternity pants to work today! They are still plenty roomy, but the waistband on maternity pants is a whole lot nicer to your stomach.

Gender: Highly anticipating finding out December 10th! We can't wait!

Movement: Haven't felt any movement yet! It's still surreal to me that there's a baby growing in there!

Sleep: Still waking up 3 or 4 times a night! I've been tossing and turning from left to right trying to find a comfortable position. Sometimes the only thing that help is lying on my back, but I think I'm suppose to stop that at some point.

What I Miss: Not a whole lot, but I did give into my craving for sweet tea! I limit myself!

Cravings: Haven't really craved anything in particular recently! Mexican food always sounds and looks good!

Symptoms: Nausea! It was bad last weekend, but it seems to be getting better! Today was a good day. And I feel like I'm getting more of an appetite back!

Best Moment This Week: Not getting sick today!

Blessed

2010-11-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

God is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine.

Ephesians 3:20

This has been one of my favorite verses for the last two years. And after patiently trying and waiting for God to grant us with a child, we are THRILLED to announce on our blog that we are 12 weeks pregnant!!!! Most family and friends and everyone else that has been in hearing range know this already, but I figured it was time to make it blog official. The upstairs computer and I have not spent much time together for the last 2 months due to exhaustion and going to bed at about 5 o'clock everyday- no lie.

I must admit that in a world and time when you are so used to instant self gratification, the process of conceiving has been a very learning, draining, and maturing experience. I truly don't know if we were ready two years ago when I first asked God to grant us a child. But looking back I feel that He used those two years to strengthen our marriage and help us grow as a couple so that we would be ready when that time came. And His timing could not have been more perfect- in every aspect!!!! Baby Haynes will be here sometime around May 21st, and that means that Trent and I can pretty much have the whole summer off with the baby. I have this feeling that he or she will make their debut before the actual due date (My birth weight was a little over 8 lbs and Trent's was almost 11 lbs)- so I'm praying that we can make it as close to the due date as possible.

Today I am officially 12 weeks pregnant, which means I am entering into my 2nd Trimester. We have had great Dr.'s visits so far, and at the last appt Baby Haynes had a heartrate of 178. We did find out that I am Rh-, which means that I have to get a shot at 28 weeks but no big! Evidently my body is not exactly immune to Rubella either-even though I had all my shots when I was younger. So I will have to get a booster shot in the hospital right after the baby comes.
I'm stealing something from Kelly at Kelly's Korner. I am probably not going to be as devoted about doing this as she is, but I think it is a neat way to keep up with the progression of the pregnancy.

I'm 12 Weeks!!! First Trimester Down! YAY!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 12 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby Haynes is the size of a Peach-which I was craving today!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 6lbs so far due to food aversions

Maternity Clothes: Not really wearing maternity clothes yet. However, sometimes it is uncomfortable to button the top button on my pants due to bloating so I bought a maternity tank top to smooth things out. I can tell maternity jeans are going to be GREAT!!!

Gender: We CANNOT wait to find out. Looks like December 10th is going to be THE day! Everyone thinks it's going to be a boy.

Movement: Can't feel any movement yet and will probably be a while

Sleep: Usually great until about 2 or 3 in the morning and then I alternate between going to the bathroom and switching back and forth from R to L side. Sometimes the only way I can get comfortable is on my back, which is unusual bc I'm kind of a side/stomach sleeper. The Boppy full body pillow is coming in handy.

What I Miss: Sleeping on my stomach, sweet tea, and being able to make it through a meal

Cravings: Salads, soup, salty foods, and starbursts the past couple of days- trying to limit that intake

Symptoms: Tiredness, Extreme food aversions, bloating, headaches the past couple of days, metallic taste in mouth most days and then some I'm just not going to name

Best Moment This Week: Everyday is great because we are so THANKFUL to be pregnant!! I am also glad that we have made it to the 2nd trimester. YAY!! and Praise the LORD!

2010-10-03T13:34:00.001-07:00

Better Late than Never!

2010-10-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

I have been a BAD blogger lately! Life got crazy with working this summer, then summer vacation, then starting back my first job, and so on and so on! But speaking of summer vacation, I wanted to try and update our blog with a slideshow from our little trip this summer. We had a nice little get away. It was really not long enough!
Trent and I took off the last week of July and headed to Durham NC (while stopping at Knoxville and Ashville). He has always wanted to see Duke's basketball arena, so that was first on our trip. Then we headed down to Charleston for a weekend and met up with two of my besties from grad school, Jonee' and Whitney and their fellas. We had a great time catching up and sight seeing! Charleston is such a beautiful city.
After we left Charleston, we headed down to Hilton Head-which we loved! Trent is dying to go back and stay longer. Then after leaving HH, we headed to Savannah for a bit! We were busy, busy! I truly loved our vacation and am so thankful that we were able to get away together, but next time I think I am staying in one spot!
On the way home we stopped at the GA Aquarium in Atlanta and just across the way- The World of Coke. Um....let's just say Trent was in heaven. Drinking coke is not really a habit I support of his, and he truly has gotten better about it. But that boys loves him some coke!

Above is our slideshow. I still haven't figured out how to combine everything into one post, so if anyone knows, please share the wealth!

4 years and going strong!

2010-07-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

Four years ago today....Trent and I were getting ready to dance our first dance as husband and wife. We danced to the song we had our first dance to, on our first date (about 6 months before). And every time we hear Al Green's "Let's Stay Together"...it brings back so many great memories. Here's to many more great years and the fun that lies ahead!

July 21, 2006

This and That...

2010-07-13T19:21:00.000-07:00

Oh my! Where has this summer gone? I can't believe it's only a month until school starts back! I guess we better make it a good one!
These pics are actually in reverse from when they were taken. Trent and I went to Dallas over the Fourth of July for a long weekend. It was a very relaxing but quick trip. We were able to spend some time with Trent's best friend from high school, Tab, and his family. I didn't get any pics from our time together, but we always enjoy visiting with them. And...I played shuffle board for the first time. I don't know if it was the rush of learning a new game or...the fact that I beat Trent our first round :)- but I have to say that I am a fan now. I was a little intimidated, though, because I was playing on a team with Mr. Gary, Tab's dad. This guy is way more athletic than I'll ever be, considering he's officiated two Super Bowls.

Now, jump ahead....The next two pics are from when Trent and I babysat my best friend Sarah's little boy, JP. He is such a little ham, and I love all his little curls that he is getting. He turns the big 1 next week. I can't believe that a year has already gone by! JP loves Trent and cracks up whenever he's around. Although, I don't think he's too sure about having his picture taken.

He's thinking.."What's so interesting about me and my veggie puffs?"

Now go back to Dallas....Thank you Rebekah for this recommendation below.....

I think we'll plan all future trips around cities that have a Sprinkles from now on!

We ate lunch at a great little place in the Highland Park area.

And this was the sunset right before fireworks lit up the night sky.

*On the brighter side- Trent had more of the area removed from his shoulder, and UAMS was RIGHT...he in fact did not have melanoma. The cells were abnormal, but they did not meet all the criteria for melanoma. Praise the Lord! I know that many people have melanoma removed every day and go on to live long healthy lives. But...it's still a scary word to hear regardless, and I pray that we do not ever have to encounter it again.

Thanks for the prayers (Shea) and anyone else that might have sent some up for us. They are always appreciated :).

Family Time

2010-06-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy time with family visits during the month of June. My brother, his wife, and two little ones came in the second week. And we stayed busy with a huge family fish fry, a trip to build a bear and the Children's Museum, swimming, and the list goes on. I think the hit of the trip for my nephew Avery was watching his dad and me play old school Nintendo. (I'm talking 1st generation!) Mine is still in perfect condition.
We do not get to see them enough because we live so far away from each other, but I'm already looking forward to our next get together-hopefully sooner rather than later.

We were able to get some family pics before they left for the airport...minus Prissy and Elvis!

And here is all four of the Hankins men. I think Avery got some jelly beans for staying still long enough to get some family pics.

Here in one pic from our trip to CMOM. The boys both loved it!

And then it was time to say our goodbyes. Trent is so good with kids....probably because he knows how to act like one himself.

Our neices and nephew from CO also came for a visit in June. I caught this cute pic of Garrett and Trent swinging in his parents backyard. Lawson and Kennedy were too busy running around, but I think Garrett was about to play out. We are lucky to be the aunt and uncle of some great kids!

*Other June news.....Trent took a new job, we put our house back on the market, and Trent is going in for a surgey on Tuesday at UAMS to have an area of skin removed from his back. The initial biopsy indicated that it was Melanoma. Now there are a few questions. If you read this, please send up a few prayers for us this week...that it is in fact NOT Melanoma and wisdom for these doctors, so they will quit giving us the run around.

Updates

2010-06-27T14:34:00.001-07:00

Wow! It's been a long time since I put anything on here! What a fast year so far.... I know I can't possibly go back and remember everything that's happened since January, so I'm just going to hit a few of the high points.

Our nieces and nephew from CO came in sometime in the Spring, and we had a nice little visit with them...even squeezing in a picnic and trip to the zoo.

Before that, Elvis celebrated his third birthday in February. He loves his extra special treats from Three Dog Bakery. He even got a bison bone, that I think is still around somewhere. For anyone that know Elvis, that is pretty rare. He can destroy a stuffed animal in under 5 minutes.

And we had a special celebration with the birth of Lawson Thomas in January. One of our closest family friend's little boy. He has grown so much since this picture and is such a cute baby!

Christmas 2009..part 2

2010-01-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

I could spend all day posting Christmas pics, but I have a million and one things around the house that I need to be doing...like taking down our Christmas tree! I know! We are terrible! I might just put a big heart on top of it to celebrate Valentine's Day....I've been helping out at a nursing home in West Memphis on the weekends, so the weekends are short and sweet for me!
I would much rather be doing what Prissy is doing below, today!... This pic was taken a couple of days after Christmas, and I think she was pretty much worn out! I got a few pics of Elvis over the holidays. But...mostly you just see a leg or a tail! He is a CRAZY dog, but we love him!

So today I am taking advantage of this SNOW DAY!!! and getting caught up around the house! Yea! for snow days..even though we will have to make it up :(.
We had a very busy Christmas season...school parties, birthday dinners, baby showers, baby arrivals, Christmas get-togethers...you name it and we probably did it! We said goodbye to 2009 and rang in 2010. And I must say, although 2010 has gotten off to a rocky start; I am optimistic that 2010 is going to be a great year.

Prissy loves her daddy...and her grandpa and grandma!

Christmas Eve night! We almost forgot to take a pic. Trent was too busy playing with his new Benelli...and no, he did not shoot his eye out!

My parents gave us a Fontanini Nativity before Christmas and I cannot wait to add to it in years to come.

2009 Christmas tree...looks a lot like 2008!

We love our stockings Ms. Joanne made us. They are one of my favorite things to put out at Christmas.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

This is a belated Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's from the Haynes' Family in case you did not receive a card from us. (I need to update my mailing list!)
We created our Christmas card this year, and I was pleased with the way they turned out. My dad even snapped a few family pics in my parents backyard that turned out ok. With two pups, that is a task in itself!

Front

Inside

Christmas Guests

2009-12-31T08:59:00.001-08:00

Trent and I love to cook and entertain, so we were super excited when we found out we were going to get to do it two days in a row...and both of our visitors had babies!
The Burrows' Family came over the Friday we got out for Christmas with their little boy, John Parker. We had a great time, but I'm sure we kept them way past John Parker's bedtime. Trent and Bill decided that JP needed to listen to every Razorback song there is and learn the moves to them...probably something we should have gotten on video, so we could show him when he grows up! JP opened his Christmas present after dinner, and we were all shocked at the determination he displayed while trying to open the present..with him only being about 6 months old. He really got after the paper!

Then the following Saturday..the Slaughter family stopped in on their way to MO with their little girl, Ebby Lee! What a cutie! Tab and Trent are best friends from high school and haven't seen each other in a long time, so I'm glad they got to catch up. And it was so nice to finally meet him, Erika, and Ebby! We definitely need to plan another visit soon...maybe a road trip to Texas!

Here's Ebby with the baby Santa left for her under our tree! I think she liked the tag more than the baby!

Look at those smiles!

Leslie's Baby Shower

2009-12-28T07:32:00.001-08:00

We had baby Lawson's shower on December 6. Lawson is set to arrive on January 26th unless he comes before. I'm sure Leslie is ready for him to get here.
Below are just a few pics taken from the shower. Baby Lawson got lots of goodies, and I'm sure he is going to be a very blessed little boy!

Leslie had requested a cake and a wreath.

All of the hostesses!

Fall 2009

2009-11-29T18:13:00.001-08:00

Finally.....I decided to update our blog tonight. It seems like we have been going non-stop since school started back! Trent was busy officiating this fall, and it seems like we were gone every weekend during the month of November..Fayetteville, New Orleans, Branson, and back to Fayetteville. We need a break for a while, but we may not get one with Christmas coming up. Speaking of Christmas.. I have GOT to find time to put my tree up this week. I am way behind!
This is a random mix of pics that we have taken lately to sum up Fall. I did not have any of NOLA on my camera to upload. I may have to steal some from my friend Jonee' later. We had such a great time in, and I can't wait to go back.

Here's Miss Priss at Halloween. She doesn't look to thrilled to be a hotdog does she? If we only knew what they were thinking.

Razorback game 09! We had so much fun! We love going back to visit Fayetteville. The highlights of the weekend: going to the game and going to Doe's! Yum! Trent is convinced we are going to move there some day.

This was taken on a recent trip to Fayettville on top of Mt. Sequoyah. I love this picture. It is so peaceful and refreshing and reminds you that God is in control of EVERYTHING!

We always like stopping by the Chi-O house. It's especially beautiful at Christmas time. Every time I go in I feel older and older!

And... one of my favorite places at Christmas time. I'm surprised Trent could put a smile on his face. This was right after the Hogs lost to LSU. However, this was his first time to see the lights at the square and it can be a breathtaking experience!

Summer Fun

2009-08-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

We took our neices and nephew to the the Children's Museum of Memphis for their belated birthday presents over the summer. We had soooo much FUN playing and making memories! I love the CMOM! It's a great place for kids that's not only fun but educational.
I think their favorite thing there was the replica of the Mississippi river that you could fish in. I know it was Garrett's. We had to drag him away from it the first time, just to make sure he could see everything the museum had to offer; but that's the one thing he kept going back to.
The kids were also a little unsure of the Orpheum dress-up stage at first, but I think they ended up playing on it for about an hour...dancing and just having a good time!

Here's Lawson and Garrett at the river!

Trent helping Kennedy fish!

Kennedy pushing her shopping cart around the store!

Trent helping Garrett put on an adult size fireman's uniform! I think that part was Garrett's 2nd favorite at the museum. He loved the firetruck and police car!

Lawson inside the disco room! She was a little hesitant at first!

I asked Lawson as we were leaving if she had a good time....She said, "We didn't have a GOOD time, we had a GREAT time!"...Awe...She melts my heart!

John Parker

2009-07-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

John Parker is finally here!!!!!!!! And we are beyond excited! We have been anticipating his arrival for the last nine months, and he decided to make his appearance on July 15, 2009. I am a little late posting this, as he is now a week old, but better late than never.
John Parker's mother, Sarah, is one of my oldest and dearest friends from ever since I can remember. I went to the babysitter's with her and Kara, another one of our friends who is expecting, since we were itty bitty.
Trent and I were celebrating her husband Bill's birthday one night at their house, when she called be back to their bedroom to tell me she was pregnant! So after morning sickness (all day sickness) and her expanding belly, John Parker has arrived! All 8 lbs 4 ozs of him! And he is such a cute baby. When you look at him, you definitely see his daddy. However, after closer inspection, I think he has his momma's eyes and mouth- and she says her feet!
Trent and I cannot wait to give John Parker a little playmate! Congratulations to Sarah and Bill-and the proud grandparents!

This is Trent telling something to Bill in the hospital. I thought this picture was funny, because I imagined Trent probably telling Bill how big our baby would probably be!

And this is the diaper cake I made for one of her showers.

I want to clear it with Sarah before I post any pics of her with John Parker on the day of delivery- considering she had just gone through about 13 hours of labor and a c-section. I'm sure I will get plenty more with momma and her sweet baby!

Disney 2009

2009-07-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

As mentioned earlier, Trent and I went to Disney World the week after school was out for a couple of days. It was a very short little getaway!
We love Disney World. I think Trent would go every year if we could afford it. We only went to the Magic Kingdom park this trip and tried to do everything we could there, since we didn't get to see everything last trip. However, our favorite ride-Space Mountain-was closed down due to some renovations.
We cannot wait to take our kids to Disney World in the future! There's something about seeing a child's face light up as they see their favorite Disney character walk down the street right in front of them!
This is the main reason I think we like to go so much... No matter how hot you've gotten or how tired your feet are....When you see the firework show that night, it seems to make you forget everything. It also puts any other firework show you see after to shame!

Way Behind

2009-07-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

You would think that we haven't been around a computer since April by looking at our blog, but that just hasn't been the case!
We both got busy with end of school year paperwork. Then we took a quick trip to Disney World (more to come on that later) the week after school was out. Then I started doing some part time summer work, and Trent started the second year of his nontraditional workshops. Both of which just recently ended. So...it feels like we have been busy running around everywhere, and now the summer is just about over! It goes by SOOO fast!
I have lots of pics to update on our blog, but I am in the middle of uploading everything to our computer and organizing them-which can be an all day job when you take as many pictures as we do.
I did want to post this one picture we took a while back of our baby birds, since we left off when they had just hatched. We took this pic a couple of weeks after they hatched. There were three eggs but one didn't make it. So sad! But it's all amazing the see. They hatch...then what seems like just a week later, they fly away. I guess that's what some parents must feel like!

Surprise!!!

2009-04-10T10:33:00.001-07:00

Look what we found in our front door wreath this morning! Baby birds!!! There were four eggs, but as you can see, one has hatched. It's probably the smallest bird we have ever seen. I haven't seen the mother bird in the nest yet. Every time we open the front door she flies off. What's puzzling me is that father bird is with her and flies off, too. I don't understand how they both can fit in that tiny nest. Oh well! I'm just glad that mother and father are taking care of their babies and that we have a functional bird family. The little red ball of feathers is our new baby bird!

Here are the proud parents on our roof. I think the one on the left is a robin.

Congratulations to the Harris and Johnson Families!

2009-03-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

Two couples that we are friends with recently gave birth to two beautiful baby girls, so they received what else...a diaper wreath! The Johnson's welcomed beautiful baby Heather, and the Harris's welcomed beautiful baby Cilla. They did not find out the sex of Cilla until her arrival. What fun! I just don't think I could do that. I'm such a planner, and I would drive myself crazy wondering if the baby was a girl or boy.
We are so happy for these two families! Both are going to make such great parents!

Baby Heather's wreath

Baby Cilla (Harris) wreath

Under the Weather

2009-02-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

No fun post this weekend in the Haynes household. Trent has the Type A flu virus,which we' ve been told is the worse type to get; and I'm having to take medicine so that I MAY not develop it. He started feeling bad around Wednesday night and then ended up coming home from work mid-day on Thurday with a high fever. It pretty much went downhill from there. I was scared that he had strep because one of my patients that I see after work had gotten it, but no-the FLU...He ran 103 temp on Thursday night, and finally went to the Dr. on Friday. I don't think I've ever seen him this miserable. So! He is not suppose to be around people for 5 days-which I don't think he really cares about, because he hasn't even wanted to get out of the bed....On another note...I have put my good wife skills to the test! I spent over an hour in Wal-mart on Friday after work trying to pick up the $120 meds, since they were the only ones that had them. And since we had never bought meds at Wal-mart, it took them forever to get our insurance straight. Then I finally got home around 6:30 last night and proceeded to make HOMEMADE chicken noodle soup for my sweet husband. Which surprisingly turned out really good! ....and it felt really good on his throat. So...No fun weekend planned for us besides staying in and getting better! It's kind of a gloomy weekend anyway. We have weather in the high 60s this week and then a forcast for snow this weekend-GO FIGURE!

*Side note-Picture above is not from today, but Prissy and Trent both looked a little sad in it and that is how we feel right now. GO AWAY FLU!

Say Cheese!!!!

2009-02-21T15:33:00.000-08:00

We are ever so fortunate to have Trent's sister as our professional photographer! I was transferring some old files to our new computer and thought I would share some of the pics that she has done for us over the past three years. However, this sample does not even touch what is in our photo album. She will be back in the Wynne area around May! Spring is always a great time to have some family photos done!

Thanksgiving 2008

Prissy and Elvis

Memphis Photo 2008

Christmas Card 2007

I love this card!

I think this was around Christmas 2006.

Love the One you're With!

2009-02-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is having a GREAT Valentine's Day! Trent and I have had a very relaxing day so far! We slept in this morning, which was very nice, because last week seemed like a really looooong week. Then we made our new Saturday morning ritual of: eggs, bacon, and blueberry muffins. Yum! We are trying out different blueberry muffins until we find our favorite one to stick with!
This year we gave ourselves a $20 limit for Valentine's Day. We like to buy gifts for each other and always tend to overspend. However, we are trying to save up for a new fence, so we decided to keep the spending to a minimum.
I had seen these brownies on a fellow blogger's site and told Trent that I would like to try them sometime, so he surprised me with Fat Witch brownies this week! They were very yummy! You might think I'm weird, but the breakfast brownie was my favorite one. It was toooo good!

And I got Trent this gray salt that he's been wanting. He used it when he was in culinary school and loves cooking with it. I'm excited for him to make me up some dishes!

Needless to say...we got both love our V-day gifts and we did a good job staying in our budget! (Last year he surprised me with a Garmin navigation system!) However, we do have plans to go see a movie today and pick up some steaks from the Fresh Market!

Happy Birthday Brother!

2009-02-06T15:53:00.001-08:00

Today is Elvis' 2nd Birthday!!!!!!!! Trent calls Elvis "Brother" ( I think it has to do with a fascination for a certain wrestler), but I like to call Elvis "Buddy". Poor dog he is probably so confused...Anyway our little king turned two today! I wonder if he has an enternal clock that made him feel older today!?!
A day in the life of Elvis: Wake up 6:00 a.m., daddy drags me outside because I don't want to go but I really have to use the bathroom, start barking at whatever I can, rest for a little while longer, eat a little, dig a little, find something to chew on, bark a little more, dig a little more, eat a little more, wait till mom and dad get home, bark for them to let me in the house, get in my kennel, take all the stuffing out of my bed, chew up whatever they give me, play with daddy, let daddy rub my tummy, go back to kennel and go to sleep!

We love you Elvis-and Prissy does too!

Elvis at Village Creak swimming, his favorite past time!

Our baby right after we got him.

He looks so young here!

Mother Nature 2009

2009-02-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Trent and I went up to my aunt and uncle's house in the very corner of Northeast Arkansas to help get some things out of their house. Their town was hit pretty bad by the ice storm last week, and as of right now they are saying it might be a month before some of the residents get power back. The devastation in that area is unreal. I have never seen that kind of damage from an ice storm. It looks like a tornado went through the town. The President has even declared it a disaster area. As we were driving up there we had to dodge high line wires and poles laying in the road, along with trees. Some streets you couldn't even go down because trees were laying across them. It will take a long time to clean up all the damage and recover. Please keep everyone that was affected by the ice storm in your prayers.

Snow Day!!!

2009-01-28T18:30:00.000-08:00

Yea!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could say we got to sleep in, but for some reason I couldn't go back to sleep. Does that mean I'm getting old?!?..Although, somehow my husband was able to catch a few more hours of zzzzzzzzz's.

Today could have been a really productive day, but it hasn't been. We have done a whole lot of nothing, but I guess that's what snow days are for. And no work for us tomorrow either...My father is having surgery tomorrow. Evidently his scar tissue has grown from a heart attack he had when he was 39, and now he is having to get a defibulator for an irregular heart beat. The doctor described it as an insurance policy to shock his heart into beating, in case it stops. So if you read this, please keep us in your prayers. I'm sure everything is going to go fine!

Lots of Diapers

2009-01-28T18:11:00.000-08:00

Evidently I have a new hobby...diaper wreaths and cakes. And they're kind of fun to make. It's somewhat of a stress relief for my tiny bit of OCD:). The pictures below are two projects of love for two special teachers at school. It seems like every week, if not every day, someone I know becomes pregnant. So...If you are a friend of mine with a little one on the way, look out because a diaper wreath/or cake might be coming your way!

For baby Madden

For baby Camilla

*If I can find the pics of baby Dane's, I will post those later.

Where are you Christmas?

2009-01-25T21:55:00.000-08:00

I'm finally able to post some pics of Christmas 2008!!! And, oh how I wish we were still on Christmas break! I think I needed just one more week to re-group, but I realize we still get more that what most people get, since we both work for schools. And we should just be thankful that we both have jobs right now, with the way the economy the way it is.
I guess we had a relaxing Christmas break, but it also seems like we were busy. First, we had my mom's side get together at my uncle's. Hopefully, I can get some pics from that posted. We always have a good time when we are all together-which is getting to be less often, now that my grandparents are both passed away. Then we did our Christmas Eve ritual of going to eat at Texas de Brazil and opening presents with my parents. We usually go see a movie Christmas Eve, but the movie we wanted to see, Marley and Me, did not come out till Christmas day....As usual, we went OVERBOARD with presents. We all vowed to not buy presents next year and just take a trip somewhere-which sounds like a great plan!..Christmas day, we woke up a cooked breakfast and played with Trent's new Wii. Then we had some family friends come over and share the wonderful meal Trent and my mother prepared. (I'm not allowed in the kitchen unless it is to clean or bake.) After we ate, everyone played Wii AGAIN and then we went to see Marley and Me, finally.
We missed Trent's side this year at Christmas. However, we were able to celebrate with them earlier. We usually travel out to Colorado a day or two after Christmas and stay through the New Year, but this year we decided not to travel. We always enjoy seeing the kids open up their big present.
Here are a few random pics from our Christmas...

This is the wreath that I made...I think the week before Christmas.

A family friend participating in Wii bowling.
*Side note: I can kick Trent's butt at bowling and boxing, the latter of which I am very proud of.

Trent and my mother preparing beef tenderloin...yummy!

Prissy sitting on her throne.

Just the top of our 10 feet tall Christmas tree.

Our Santa collection with our custom stockings-THANKS to Mrs. Joanne.

My attempt at being creative in our breakfast room.

I think Trent's favorite present and ONLY surprise, and autographed pic of McFadden.

Sweet Prissy thinking, you guys are NUTTS!

I did not get a pic of Elvis while we were opening presents. If he is in the house, then he is in his kennel. I'll try to be better next year. However, I do have to share. Elvis received some stuffed animals from Santa, and one poor animal was gone in less than 30 minutes! One minute it's whole...the next minute it looks like road kill! Crazy dog...gotta love him!

Up and Running!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-24T19:50:00.001-08:00

Finally, I'm back to blogging....We've had computer problems for, I don't know...the past TWO months. So we ended up having to buy a new computer, and now it looks like we are going to have to get a new printer. For some reason the TWO printers in our house right now are not compatible with our new computer-which I love! It has a 24" screen, so it makes everything look ginormous!
I'm tired from trying to revamp our blog; so, hopefully, tomorrow I will get around to posting some pics from the last TWO months. Also, we are trying out our new blog name, "Hanging with the Haynes". We will see if it sticks!?!

Bored

2008-11-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to come up with a fun name for our blog because I get bored with our title: "The Haynes Family"....even though we are: "The Haynes Family". I just wish we had something a little more catchy. This is something I was thinking about the other day while driving home. FYI: I've got too much time on my hands to think while driving home. Anyway..I've come up with a few, but I wanted to see if any of our readers had any input, first!?! So if you have any advice on what we could rename our blog, please drop me a line.

Oh Baby, Baby...

2008-11-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

My friend Sarah and I went to visit our friend Sara Neely last Friday night, because she just had a BABY GIRL, Hope Anne Neely. She was too cute and it was good to catch up with mother and baby. Plus, I got to hold her-which made me super excited. I love little babies!!!! The only time she cried was when I changed her diaper. The rest of the time she just purred like a little kitten. She was so, so sweet, and it gave me baby fever even more. Hopefully there will be a child in our near future, God willing.

Woo Pig Sooie!!!!!

2008-11-11T15:17:00.001-08:00

We went to the Arkansas/Ole Miss game a couple of weeks ago. (As you can see, I'm trying to get caught up on post.) Even though we lost, we still had a great time in Fayetteville. My best friend Sarah and I met up with Christal, one of our sorority sisters, and went to see mom Sylvia at the Chi-O house before the game.
There never seems to be enough time to do everything that we want to when we go up there. I would like to find my name sometime on the Senior Walk and take some pictures on campus. But between shopping and eating at Does, Powerhouse, Rick's Bakery and I can't even remember what else, the weekend always goes by too fast!

Check out the new Razorback painted on the field!
Maybe we'll have better luck next year!

Somewhere over the Rainbow....

2008-11-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

If you listen to the music on our blog, you know that we love this song. I guess you could say that it's one of those songs that just seems to make everything fall in place.
I've had these pics on my camera for about a month now and have been meaning to share them. I had a bad day at work one day. I don't think anything happened job wise. I was just in a funk and feeling sorry for myself. It had also rained, so it was just one of those days when you wanted to be at home inside. And if you know us, then you know we have NOT been at home a lot here lately..but that's changing. Anyway...As I was driving to my parents house after work, I saw the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. The pictures do not do it justice. And I just thought to myself...After such a bad day, God sends me a pick me up!

Woof or Treat!

2008-11-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

Ok...so I'm a little late posting these pics since Halloween was a couple of weeks ago. And for some reason they are turning up darker than they do on my camera.
Trent had a football game to officiate, so he did not get to participate in the festivities. (He's probably glad.) After I got off work on Halloween, I put Elvis' Razorback jersey on him and walked him down to a friend's house so her little boy could see him. Elvis loves kids, so it was a treat for him-even though kids can be scared of him sometimes. (He's a big dog!)...Then I went to get my purple monkey to take her trick or treating. If only dogs could talk! She's was not happy with her mamma. Little does she know, her daddy's already bought her costume for next year. Stay tuned!

Elvis and I walked by Eldrige Court. Always so festive!

Her sad face:(

Saying take this off of me.

This pic is right after he tackled me!

Our new Running Back!

2008-10-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Elvis loves to play with the little boys that live close to Trent's parents and they love to play with him. He got a special treat the other week when they were throwing a football around in the street and decided to include him in a game. I swear he thought that he was just as much a real boy as they were. When the neighbor asked the boys if they wanted to take a break and get a popsicle, he thought she was asking him, too! Trent seems to think that Elvis could help the HOGS out this year!

Elvis saying, "Hey guys pass it to me! I promise I'll give it back!"

FUMBLE!!!!!!!!!

He was a tired little dog after the game was over with. He just sat in the grass and panted for what seemed like the longest.

It's time for mums!!

2008-10-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

I love this time of the year. The weather is starting to get cooler-some weeks. The leaves on the trees will hopefully be changing soon. You can already see a few trees changing. And-everyone has beautiful mums on their front steps.

Trent and I made a trip out to Carriage Crossing a couple of weeks ago and swung by this really cool nursery one of our friends told us about. I think it was called Dabney's (not really sure about the spelling). Anyway, they had huge mums at really reasonable prices. The above pic was taken a couple of weeks ago. The mums are in full bloom now and look really pretty with the wreath on the front door.

Side Note: HOUSE FOR SALE!!!!!! If anyone reading our blog knows someone looking for a house in the Marion/Memphis area send them our way!

How bout THESE melons

2008-10-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

Trent decided to get a green thumb around mid July and plant a watermelon plant in our backyard. This was his first time to ever plant one, and he said he just wanted to see what it would do. As you can see we are having a late harvest and it's taking up a nice section of our backyard...He said next year we are going to plant watermelons and pumpkins. Who knows, maybe we'll be gathering pumpkins next Christmas. Who ever knew that my husband would turn out to be a little farmer?

Walking in Memphis

2008-09-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late posting these, but I guess better late than never...Our friend Pete came for a visit right before work started back, and we had a great time showing him around Memphis.
It was his first trip to Memphis, so we wanted to make sure he saw as much as possible in the two days that he was here....(Trent met Pete while he was in culinary school, so we also wanted to make sure he got a taste of some of our local favs.)...Here are some of the pics from Pete's trip! Come back soon!!!! We had a blast!

Having some fun a Silkies'

Photo Opps

Side note: We were toooo stuffed from Gus's Fried Chicken, Central B-B-Q, the Arcade, Cafe 61, and The Cheesecake Corner to make room for a Soul Burger- maybe next trip Pete!

I wish we were...

2008-09-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

still on Summer vacation!!!!!!!!! It's only September and Trent and I feel like we've been at school for at least a good four months. Wouldn't it be nice to have a week off at least every two weeks. Work two weeks..week off! I feel like that would help keep us motivated!

My Sweet Husband

2008-09-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

I truly have been blessed by marrying one of the sweetest men on earth. Don't get me wrong...We are both stubborn and opinionated-and butt heads quite often. However, his sweetness surprises me when I least expect it...

Trent was not excited about a meeting he had today with one of his "problem children", his mother, and the school counselor. The child has done nothing but act out aggressively since the first day of school, so I've truly seen Trent be a man of patience over the past couple of weeks...Monday a meeting was called for today, after Trent had asked for support several times from administration-which can sometimes be like an Act of Congress....Trent prepared for the meeting last night, as this was his first parent meeting over issues at school. I said a prayer for him last night and this morning, asking for God to give him the words to say to the parent and that she would have an understanding nature. Then I said a prayer for the child, and I prayed for Trent to be a Godly influence in the child's life. (90% of Trent's children come from broken homes where many of them do not have a father figure.)...Then my husband sent me a "positive" text after his meeting was over. Very brief. Just said everything went "ok." So of course, I needed more info. And then he responded..."I just thought about what you would say and that's what I said.! The mother was very receptive to my thoughts and ideas."....Man, I sure him GLAD that I prayed for him last night-and my husband sure does know how to suck up.

The "King"

2008-09-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pics from this summer of mine and Trent's other child, our neglected Lab-Elvis. I feel so sorry for him- when he's not jumping all over me. Elvis does not get to stay inside out of the rain or in the cool air conditioning on those hot summer days-like Prissy....Trent reminds me that Elvis is strong, and his breed is made to endure the weather-unlike our little Yorkie.

We got Elvis when he was just a puppy. And after several chewed through water hoses, a destroyed grill cover, an almost destroyed grill, and many other backyard mishaps; Elvis has calmed down into a fine young Lab.

I wish we could let Elvis run and play all day while we're at work, so he could get some of his energy out of him-but we can't. There's no telling what kind of trouble he would get into or who would pick him up. So- he has to wait till we get home to take him on a walk, or some days his Grammy and Poppy get brave and walk him. When he's lucky though and it's pretty outside, he gets to go for a swim. The pictures above are from one of his swims at Village Creek. Elvis loves to retrieve and would probably do it for hours if we let him.

California Trip 2

2008-09-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

Ok. So whenever I try to post text with our slideshow, our slideshow will not show up. Therefore, I'm having to do it separate. Maybe one of these days I will figure it out.

Trent and I went with my parents to San Jose in July to see my brother Rich, sister-in-law Jane, and nephews Avery and Daniel. We had a great time while we were out there. It was so good to see Rich, Jane, and the boys as we don't get to see them very often. We wish they lived much closer. Avery's growing so fast and Daniel will probably be walking before we get to see him again.
We got to visit Santa Cruz, San Franscisco, Monteray Bay, Carmel, and many towns in between. We saw many beautiful places as you can tell by the pictures below.
Also, while we were out there, we got to celebrate Avery's 3rd birthday, our 2nd wedding aniversary, and mom's birthday. We had a great time and we're already looking forward to our next trip out there.

July California Trip

2008-09-05T20:07:00.001-07:00

Back to the Real World:(

2008-09-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

So-I'm not very good at this blogging thing. It seems like I had all summer to mess around and do fun things-and be unproductive- and now it's time to get back to the real world-meaning work.
School started back in full swing a couple of weeks ago, and Trent started his first teaching job, teaching first grade in Marianna. As everyone puts it around here- he's getting "broke" in "real good" his first year.
Some days are better than others for him, and he comes home often with funny stories from the day. I try to remind him not to focus on the negative stuff and to try and remember the cute things the kids did or said. In return, he reminds me that I have been negative about work several times during our marriage.

I'm working on posting some pictures from our California trip in July. Hopefully, I'll be able to get them up this weekend sometime. But for now, this cute one of Prissy will have to do.

Trent Got A Job!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Trent will be teaching first grade in Marianna next year. We are both really excited, and I know that he is going to make a great first grade teacher. I'm sure we will begin to have many interesting posts as next year progresses as does his teaching career.

Graduation

2008-05-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

Trent graduated May 10th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please pray that he will find a job for next school year and we will be able to sell our house soon. It get's tiring living out of a suitcase and who can afford gas right now?

1st Post

2008-04-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is our first post on our first blog, so we'll see how this goes. Since we've been trying to sell our house in Marion, we've been living in Marion part time and with Trent's parents in Wynne part time. Life has been crazy this past year.....My first year in the Wynne School District is wrapping up and Trent will graduate May 10th! Hopefully, he can start looking for a job in the near future.
I'm doing this post for family and friends, so I will try to be a good blogger and make post frequently!