10 months of bliss

She's 10 months today!

That's right...our sweet little Raleigh is 2 months away from being a year old. Isn't that crazy? This time, 10 months ago, I was in a lot of pain, anticipating her arrival. It seems like yesterday.

She is doing great. She is talking, well, babbling a lot. She smiles and laughs all the time, which is so sweet. She is into EVERYTHING!!! Her new thing is to get under the Christmas tree and see how many bows she can rip off of the presents before I can get to her! She is taking some steps and crawling at the speed of light, it seems! And she loves to dance! It is so adorable. Her favorite song is the "Max and Ruby" theme song. Every time she hears it, she starts dancing...too cute! She still loves her big brother more than anything. She calls him "Bubba." She's been sick with a cold for about a week now, but she is slowly getting better. She is also getting me up a lot at night, which hasn't been so awesome :) , but I think it's because she's congested. But all-in-all, she's just perfect.

I thought I'd get past all of the emotions I have the older she and Cole got, but I seem to be even more emotional now than ever. I just love them so much; the thought of them brings tears to my eyes. I guess it's all part of being a mommy. I can't imagine life without them. They have brought so much joy to our lives and have made Eric and I stronger as a couple. With the birth of Raleigh, I really feel like our family is complete. For now. :) I am so insanely busy keeping up with them, I can't imagine having another baby right now, but I can't say that I NEVER want to have anymore. I just feel content right now in my life. Maybe in a few more years, we'll talk.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Not a fan of Santa

We took the kids to see Santa yesterday.
I was SOOOO excited. I had them dressed perfectly. Raleigh wore a beautiful black velvet dress with tulle around the bottom, a red ruffled shirt underneath, white tights with red bows on the back, and sweet little black mary janes.....ADORABLE! (Of course, there were no hair bows; still not there yet, but it's growing!) My darling Cole wore black slacks, a red and white checked collared shirt and red sweater over that. They matched perfectly; looked like little baby models! I was just thinking, "Oh yes, the best Santa pics ever!" Until we met Santa.....

I knew Cole would be great. He is aware this year that it is indeed Jesus' birthday we are celebrating, but also he understands Santa. So, he was thrilled to be meeting him to tell him he wanted a bow and arrow so he could "go hunting with daddy." (Eric was a proud daddy!) And Raleigh wants to do whatever Cole is doing, so I thought she'd have no problem sitting with a total stranger wearing a huge red suit and white hair galore. Yeah, so you get the picture.

*insert Santa Claus*

and the hysterics began. She freaked out...I mean, seriously panicked. Poor little thing couldn't control it...she was terrified! So we thought, "Well, it might be really cute to get a picture of her misery; you know, sweet puffy red eyes and screaming loudly." What the heck where we thinking???!! NOT GOOD. Every time we thought she was settling down, she'd turn around to look at Santa and start screaming all over again! So, needless to say, the pictures turned out less than perfect. It's really quite funny, though. Santa isn't looking at the camera, Raleigh is laid back with a red face and sporting 4 chins, thanks to the horrible angle, and Cole is smiling like an angel. I'm gonna love this picture for years to come. :)

Unfortunately, I didn't buy the CD to the tune of 15 ridiculous dollars, and I don't have a scanner, so I can't post it. But I'm sure you can imagine the cuteness. *sigh* :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Cole decorated Daddy!

I LOVE THANKSGIVING DAY!

There's just something about waking up that morning, knowing with everything in you that you plan on stuffing your face ALL day, and it's okay! For Eric and I, we get to enjoy this feast twice; once at his Mimi's and then at my mom and dad's....it's fantastic. Of course, you feel like crap at the end of the night from all the food you've eaten, but it's so worth it.

But it's not just the food that makes me excited. It's the fact that I know I am so incredibly blessed, and I am very thankful to God for everything He has given me. First of all, I am thankful for this life. God loves me, no matter what. Even when I fall off His path, He still loves me. I am saved through His mercy, and that is what I am most thankful for. Secondly, my husband Eric. We have been together 8 1/2 years, 5 of those we've been married. I don't even remember myself without him, and I think that's because I never really knew who I was until I started dating Eric. He makes me so happy, takes care of me, and loves me unconditionally. We also have been blessed with 2 of the most precious gifts in the world; Cole and Raleigh. My children are everything to me. They are the sunshine in mine and Eric's lives. You can't even imagine what love is until you have children. It's so raw, so powerful, so emotional. I love them more than I could ever describe.

We also have two amazing families, and a lot of wonderful friends.

We truly have everything we need, and then some.

We are BLESSED!

Thank you, Lord, for everything you've given me. I am so thankful on this Thanksgiving Day, and everyday.

We're still here!

Wow, has it really been that long since my last post?

Not that you have been missing us that bad, right?!

So much has gone on in the last month.

We went to Pigeon Forge, TN for a few days. It was so nice to get away and just be in the mountains, my FAVORITE place in the world. My brother Jarid and sister-in-law Anita couldn't go with us, but they let us take John-Michael, which was so great, especially for Cole. The kids were great and mom and I did some shopping. It took us forever to get there thanks to the rock slide on I-40, but all in all, it was worth the extra drive. I've posted some pictures from the trip.

My mom had a birthday on the 4th. We were in the mountains for her birthday, so when we came home, we all took her out to dinner and then came back to our house for cake and ice cream. I made her a cookie cake per her request. I was so nervous, but it turned out okay. Happy Birthday, Mommy! I love you!

To top it all off, my girl turned 9 months last week! If I've said it once, I'll say it a hundred times, but the time really is flying by. I cannot believe her growth lately and the milestones she's hit. She started crawling on November 3rd. Crazy. I forgot how much things change when they start crawling...she's into EVERYTHING!!! But, of course, she couldn't be satisfied with her new skill, so guess what she's doing? Um, how about trying to walk. I'm not kidding, either. She took her first steps right before she turned 9 months. It's insane. I know some babies are early walkers, I've just never seen one before. We thought Cole walked early at 10 1/2 months! She's not got her balance perfected quite yet, but I think she'll be walking like a pro by Christmas. I think I'm busy now with the two of them, but it is about to get even crazier when she starts walking . It's exciting! She had her 9 month check up on Friday; she's 20 pounds and almost 29 inches long. She's in the 70% for weight and 60% for height. She got an A+ from her doctor. He jokingly made a comment about her rather round thighs. They are, well, a little thick! I love it; it's so cute and adorable just like she is. I love that baby.

As for my other love, he is wonderful as well. He's really been doing a lot better lately as far as listening to his mommy. :) When they are 3 and as strong willed as Cole is, they seem to think that discipline doesn't apply to them. At least, that's been Cole's case! Don't get me wrong; he's by no means bad, just a little on the stubborn side. But, he's coming around on his own. He is still amazing with Raleigh. All he has to do is look at her and she just cracks up. He is the best big brother I could ever hope he'd be. He's been dancing a lot lately as well, which is hilarious. And I don't mean just dancing; he is breaking it down! I'll have to get a video of it and post later.

Eric is off this week, and this weekend was amazing. We spent every moment together with the kids. I can't even tell you how wonderful it was to have him around all the time. I love him more than life, and I was reminded of that once again this weekend. It gets hard sometimes with schedules and 2 children to find time for one another, but God has been working overtime in our marriage lately, and for that, I am truly grateful. He was so attentive to me and my needs, and that made me even more attentive to his. He even willingly went shopping with me and to the Craftsman's Christmas Classic at the fairgrounds. Who's husband does that? Mine does! It's totally out of character for him to WANT to do those things, but for whatever reason, he's wanted to. I just had to gush over how incredibly happy I am and lucky to have Eric Michelin as my husband. Sorry, girls, he's all mine.

I'll try to be better about updating this thing. Eric and I are about to, get this, join Facebook! I'm pretty sure we are the last people in the world to do this, but we've been hesitant about it because of the whole "friend" thing, so we've decided to create a page together. Not that either one of us doesn't trust the other, but we try to do everything we can to protect our marriage. I'll post when we do.

Happy Halloween, Y'all!

Okay, the sugar got to me too!!!

Hope your Halloween was as fun as ours! My kids were adorable, as you can see, in their Gamecock uniforms. I wanted them to have a theme, and that's what we came up with. Eric didn't like my idea of Mickey and Minnie Mouse (how cute would that have been?!) because, you know, it's not "manly" enough for Cole. So a football player he was! He didn't like the shoulder pads very much, but he wore them anyways. Raleigh was a trooper. First of all, she has a cold and is teething, so she wasn't feeling her best. And she normally hates head wraps, but she kept it on for hours! Of course, she has very little hair, so bows are still not an option yet!

Eric's parents and mine came over along with our brothers and sisters. We had a great time! The precious giraffe above is my sweet nephew! He and Cole are best buddies, and Raleigh absolutely loves John-Michael like he's her brother! It was almost impossible to take their picture together because Cole wanted to go trick-or-treating, not take pictures, John-Michael didn't want to keep the head part of his costume on, and Raleigh was laughing trying to get JM or Cole's helmet the entire time! It was too funny.

So the night ended with a TERRIBLE loss for our team, (so much for the costumes bringing us luck!) Cole and JM running around like crazy boys because they had WAY too much candy, and, get this, only a handful of trick-or-treaters coming to my doorstep. Literally, the doorbell only rang 3 times! At least we had a lot of entertainment from the kids and my crazy brother, Jarid, who managed to get two sticky fake eyeballs stuck on my ceiling! (Thanks, J!)

I would like to share a brief encounter we had with one of the mom's who came to our door last night with her kids. Allow me to paint this picture. (Keep in mind, we live in Elgin....a tiny town with only one traffic light...so you can imagine the very country people who live here!)

Jarid opens the door to hand out candy. She is smoking a cigarette and the smoke is coming right into my house! She talks "Lyke theeesse!" Oh yeah! She then begins to pick out the Hershey bars and put them in her bag, all while telling my brother she's getting them for her....wait, get this....4 MONTH OLD! She tells Jarid, "he lykes to suck on 'em, and he lykes suckers too!" Jarid says, "Wow, that's not good!" too which she replies, "That ain't nothin'! He dranks Pepsi and Mountin' Deeewww outta his bottle! Welcome to Elgin, folks! One of a kind!

We are heading to Tennessee tomorrow for a brief getaway with my parents! I can't wait! We'll be back on Thursday. Until then, I leave you with this video of Cole. It's funny to me because it was after 11pm and he was still wired from all the sugar.

Signin' out from ELGIN!

The Pumpkin Patch

Oh, the pumpkin patch!

Such a great family tradition. And I wanted in on it. So, this year, I loaded up the babes in the car and off we went. Unfortunately, Eric was working. I took them to a church that sells pumpkins every year around Halloween to raise money for the youth group. So, it's a very worthy cause and they have a tremendous amount of pumpkins to choose from. This year, they even had cute little tents set up for picture taking stations; hence, all the pictures below!

When we got there, some of the youth greeted us with a wagon for Cole to pull around. He was so excited. I even bravely put Raleigh in it at one point and let him pull her around. They both thought it was great!

So, to sum up our "experience," Cole tried to put every tiny pumpkin in our wagon for me to buy, and I was steady in behind him putting them back. Raleigh tried to eat hay and pine straw the entire time, as well as a small pumpkin Cole gave her. Cole decided he needed to pee in the midst of choosing a pumpkin and tried to drop his pants in the middle of the place! Thank goodness I know my child and was able to stop him! How embarrassing would that have been?! And you can tell from several of his expressions below he was all done with me taking his picture!

All in all, we had a great time and Cole picked out the best pumpkin there. I am so excited to have begun this tradition with my kids this year. Next year, it will be really crazy with two of them running around!