Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Year in Review

I always love looking back on these posts that I do on the 31st of every year.  It really sums up our year very briefly, of course.  

2019 was a good year overall.  We got into the groove of being parents to two which as I've mentioned before was a harder transition than I thought it'd be.  We have them both at the same school now which was a HUGE decision because we love Ms. Becky dearly but for my sanity we had to do it.  Things are ever-changing in my career and I'm at a weird cross-roads right now that I'm trying to figure out.  Kevin sold one agency earlier this year so he was able to be much more present which was amazing.  Lots going on behind the scenes of this highlight reel of a blog!  I love to show you fun pictures but know that it isn't anywhere close to perfection behind them. 

Okay here it goes:

January - Molly Anne was 3.5 years old and Grady turned 8 months

February - The children had some great milestones and we had some visitors!  

March - Daddy Daughter Dance - still a highlight to Molly Anne, she hasn't stopped talking about it since!


April - Dad turned 70, Kevin and I went to Greensboro for a concert, Grady got baptized in Maryland and we went to the Egg Roll at the White House

May - Grady turned 1, Kevin and I went to Savannah, we went to Disney (post 1, post 2, post 3, post 4)!

June - Father's Day

July - we went to Pawleys for a few days over Molly Anne's 4th Birthday (party here, her day here) and went to Maryland for a week or so (post 1, post 2)!

August - Last days and first days of school.  Harder than I thought it'd be. 

September - a wonderful weekend and my bestest and her family here  

October - one final swim and the Panthers game and Grady walking!

November - Mom and Dad visit, Grady is 18 months, Thanksgiving in Pawleys

December - Ashley visits, Christmas Festivities Galore, Molly Anne's program and Christmas Day

Here's to 2020!

Monday, December 30, 2019

After Christmas Fun and Panthers Game

The day after Christmas we played inside for awhile then it got nice out in the afternoon so our neighbors came over to play for a little bit.  Oh and Mom and I snuck out during nap time to a couple of shops in Blakeney and found some wonderful Christmas decor for 50% off!  I will love pulling that out next year!

It was my parent's last night being with us.  This picture cracks us up now, I can't imagine what it'll do in 13 years when Greer is driving Grady!


Love love love this picture. 


Twinsies at Midwood!



Friday was a sad day when Nannie and Poppa left so we headed straight to the mall to do some returns.  Don't ask me what prompted me to take both kids to the mall by myself two days after Christmas but it actually was really great. Molly Anne was so good - she listened and stayed right by me the entire time.  Grady was a good boy and very happy in the stroller (confined!!).  Noone was there at 10am when we got there so we got about 5 places knocked out quickly!  



We had extra time so we went to the American Girl store to see if Molly Anne was interested in anything for my future reference.  She said she liked Mary Ellen but that's because we just gave that to our niece.  Little monkey see monkey do kind of thing.  We headed to the food court for a 10:45am lunch then got home by noon for Grady's nap!  



That afternoon it was 65 degrees and so nice out so we loaded up some snacks, outside toys and headed in the wagon to the playground.  We picked up the girls next door so Hilary could get some things done and the four kids and I had a blast!  We played soccer, learned how to throw a frisbee, ran races, went down the slides a million times, watched Grady fall about 10,000 times (because the material the playset sits on is variable), shared snacks and the big girls walked/ran both ways from the house!  






We came back to our driveway and Kevin was home.  We ordered some pizzas and played out there until dark.  Grady went to bed at 7 and the girls played played played some more!








It was a sweet afternoon!



Saturday morning playing.  





Lots and lots of legos! This is a set Kevin's parents gave her and she finished. 



Saturday night the four of us headed up to Southpark to visit Onward Reserve and exchange a shirt.  We grabbed dinner at the Roasting Company and checked out some Christmas lights on the way home!  PS - yes Molly Anne is holding an 8 ball (one of her favorite Christmas gifts; from my parents) and Grady has my keys.  Oh my.  



Sunday my friend Kelly had invited a bunch of her friends to her parent's suite at the Panthers game.  It was SUCH a fun afternoon.  I was really really looking forward to it and it was an absolute blast with wonderful girlfriends! 



I knew some of Kelly's friends from college at NC State and then of course our normal crowd!









Got home and Kevin was feeding the kids dinner and after that I got them bathed while Kevin ran and grabbed us something to eat.  He was very kind to hold down the fort for most of the day!  A sleepy Grady boy!



Today the children went to school (!!) and I got things done!  And one of those things I got done was a 30 minute ride on my peloton.  Whew, I needed it badly.  Mills is a pretty lazy workout partner!



Picked them up early and Molly Anne had made this.  They read the book about the purple crayon at school then drew something with a purple crayon.  She said this is the road to their house.  And that's a mountain in the middle.  Ha!



I still have a zillion things I need to do - mainly thank you notes, meal planning and organizing this house.  Getting to it all step by step! 

Christmas Day

We had a low key Christmas Day and it was wonderful!  Molly Anne was soooooo excited. She didn’t wake up until 7:30!!  She had asked for a rainbow walking unicorn, pink robot and a certain Elsa castle. Santa delivered!   I don’t think she gets where it all came from yet - ie - Santa doesn’t wrap in this house but some unwrapped items weren’t from Santa. We just don’t go into much detail. I put her three requested items up front and called it good. She never once questioned Grady’s train table and we just told her Nannie and Poppa gave that to him which is true! She had other unwrapped items and she didn’t blink about any of it!  





Grady lovesssss his table and trains!!  




See the globe?  Molly Anne has been very interested in those for awhile so my parents had gotten her one. She called it an Earth ball. I want to remember that forever!  She has it on her nightstand and has been so funny about it!  


Nannie loving on Grady’s new puppy. This boy loves all animals but especially puppies. He yells, “deesh” when he sees one!  He yells “ish” when he sees a fish!






I got mom these gorgeous champagne glasses from a store here called Charlottes. They’re stunning.  She had picked them out and I went back and got them. Now of course I need some haha!



Molly Anne really isn’t into dolls at all. She has a bitty baby but doesn’t play with it much these days. She wants to do legos and be outside. Those are her two things.  We will see if it changes over time, who knows!  My parents gave her the Radio Flyer Cyclone and that’s been a hit!  Takes a lot of coordination so it’s great for her.





Mills laid on my dads knee for at least an hour!





Mills cane and sat like that without us telling him to do so!








Dad and I eventually made some bloody Mary’s and that was good!  Grady honestly didn’t feel good all of Christmas Day since the croup got him the night before. At this time of the day, I needed a drink ha!



Sweet boy still had a great time!  He’s been playing a lot of basketball and with trains!


We opened a bottle of wine that my coworker gave me at least 10 years ago. Mom made cream of crab soup and I made these biscuits  I know you’re impressed I made biscuits from scratch because that kind of thing does not happen in my world these days haha! My friend Nina said I could do it and she was right. 








That night I took all of the ornaments off the tree after everyone was in bed.  Our tree was so dead that I literally thought they were all going to fall off. Mills and I did our annual photo shoot too!




Just for fun - 2012 to 2019!

Saturday, December 28, 2019

Elf Ideas

I’m posting this so next year I can remember what I did with this elf!  Ours is named Achy. It’s a boy and Molly Anne named him that last year!  I didn’t take pics but she cracked up laughing when he was in her stocking one day and then Nannie’s another day! Sometimes the easiest ones are the most hilarious!   

Honestly I loved doing this this year!  It was fun coming up with it each night and Kevin had great ideas too!  Molly Anne’s reaction when Achy was playing with her legos was one I’ll forever hear in my head! “Mama, ohhhhhh myyyyyy GOODNESS!!!  Achy is on my LEGO board!!!!”  And this was Kevin’s idea and probably her favorite!













By the pool












He also ate some snacks out of our pantry, swung on a (swing) toilet paper roll, and the last night he got tangled in our ring toss game outside on the porch. We figured he was antsy to get back to the North Pole and was starting his journey on out of here!