My Little Cuties

Things have been going pretty smooth around here lately, just been busy, busy, busy!

Just wanted to post a couple of pics of my sweet babies.

Miss Layla

Mister Isaac

Hope all is well with everyone and I will hopefully catch up more soon!

Weekend at Grandma's

On Friday, October 14th, we deaded out to Grandma's house for the weekend. On Saturday, our nephew Jakob was having his birthday party in Murfreesboro. It was held at Patterson Park, which has an indoor pool. Isaac was very excited about this, but after seeing the water and slides, his sister Layla was pretty excited too. We hadn't brought anything for her to get in the water with because neither Darren or I was planning on getting in the water either. Well, she ended up throwing a fit so Darren's Mom went and got her some little swimmers to put on so she could play around in the shallow end.

Isaac having a ball

Miss Layla all wrapped up after getting out of the water

Layla having a ball on the swings outside too

Layla and Daddy

After the party, we headed back to Grandma's. It wasn't 5 minutes in the truck until both of my babies were fast asleep and slept the entire ride back to Carthage. We just visited with Grandma and Moms the rest of the evening and after church and lunch on Sunday, headed back to Savannah. It's always good to come back home, but it never gets any easier when it's time to leave. Luckily, I won't have to wait too long before it's time to come back and visit again!

Weekend at Papa's

On September 30th, we headed out to Papa's house for the weekend. Dad had given me a gift certificate for a photo session with a photographer in Nashville and we had an appointment with him that day at the Ellington Agricultural Center. We arrived a few minutes early for our session and I called the photographer to find out exactly where we were supposed to meet him. Imagine my surprise when he told me he was on his way to another session and he had no idea what I was talking about. Of course me, being the emotional one that I am, totally lost it at that point. I was sooooo upset because we had driven all the way to Nashville for this AND Darren and I had both taken the day off of work AND we had pulled Isaac out of school for the day too. I hung up the phone with him and was absolutely devastated. Then, Darren, being the amazing husband that he is, asked if he could talk to the guy on the phone. I gave him the number and he called him back and must have worked some sort of magic, but managed to get our session rescheduled for the very next day at 10:00am.

The next morning, we were up and ready and got back to the ag center right on time for our appointment. The whole session went amazingly well and the photographer kept apologizing for his mistake. All in all, it worked out great and I hope to use him again for another session next year. (If you saw one of our Christmas cards, all of those photos were from this session.)

After the session was finished, we headed back to Papa's to play awhile before heading out on our next venture. Isaac and Layla played and played in the yard and had a blast.

Layla having fun swinging

Isaac swinging on Papa's tire swing

Papa even took them for a ride on the 4-wheeler

After going in and resting a bit, it was time to get ready and head to town for MTSU's homecoming game against Memphis. We were going a little early to tailgate some and then heading on to the game. Isaac had been to one game before, but this would be Layla's first.

Mommy and her little Raiders!



Blue Raider Family

Isaac and Layla did much better at the game that I had anticipated. Layla got a little antsy towards the end of the game and since MTSU wasn't doing too great anyway, we decided to head out and try and beat some of the traffic.

When we finally got back to Papa's, we were all zapped so we ended up crashing and going to bed fairly early.

The next morning, we played around and visited again before heading back to Savannah.

We had another great weekend with both Papa and Nana and can't wait to visit again soon!

Trip to Chattanooga

On Tuesday, September 20th, Darren and I headed out to Chattanooga for an HR conference I was attending. We left around lunch on Tuesday and didn't come back until after lunch on Friday. I hated being apart from the kids for a few days, but it was nice for Darren and I to have some time together too. On the way there, it rained on us almost the entire trip. When we got to Winchester, it finally slacked up and even quit raining for a bit. During that break, we saw the most beautiful rainbow. After watching it for a few minutes, we even noticed a second one. They were absolutely gorgeous and stretched from one side of the sky to the other. I wasn't able to get a great picture, but I did get one out the window of my truck as we were driving. It was just beautiful and pleasant reminder of the rainbow's true meaning.

Soccer

This fall, Darren asked Isaac if he would be interested in playing soccer. Of course, he said yes so Darren got him enrolled. At the same time, Darren also volunteered to be an assistant coach so it was a learning experience for them both!

The season was every Tuesday and Thursday night for the months of September and October. Isaac's league was 4, 5, 6, and 7 year olds. A lot of the other kids had played before, but that didn't slow Isaac down one bit! He had a ball the whole time and I think he will want to play again next year. I'm not too familiar with the rules and regs of soccer, but with this age group, no one really keeps up with anything other than when the ball goes out of bounds. I have some learning to do, but if he keeps playing, hopefully I will catch on.

Here are some photos of our little player!

Cooking with Mommy

One Sunday afternoon, I decided to try a new recipe. Layla was being quite the fussy one and clining to both of my legs so I just plopped her up on the bar with me to help.

I turned my back for one split second......

And guess who was smack in the middle of my mixing bowl???

100% pure cuteness!

Kids Being Kids

Isaac went out with his Daddy one evening after dinner and they couldn't have been outside more than 10 or 15 minutes..........

.........and came in looking like this!

Got to just love little boys!!

Sweet baby Layla........

.......she looks so sweet and for the most part she really is..........as long as you don't make her mad.

 I know it's hard to believe but this pretty little girl has one heck of a temper sometimes!

Happy Birthday Layla!

Our sweet baby girl had her first birthday this month. One year ago on August 25th, Layla Claire Howard arrived into this world. Her arrival was a bittersweet moment. We were so glad that this baby girl was finally here and healthy, but her arrival also marked the end of a chapter in our lives. With a healthy boy and now a healthy girl, our little family was complete.

Now, here we are, one year later. It's amazing how when I was pregnant with Layla, I thought I had it all figured out. I had done this before with Isaac and he turned out ok so we would be pros with this second baby. Well, I can say for sure that some of the knowledge that comes with experience has helped, but when you add two little ones to the picture, things get crazy no matter what, but I can't complain. Even on days when I think I am literally losing my mind and I can't take one more minute, my little ones do something to just melt my heart and all my cares just fade away. Life is grand with my babies and I wouldn't trade one second with them for the world.

These are just a few shots I took on her actual birthday. As you can tell, she wansn't the most cooperative child for her Mommy that day.

On Saturday, August 27th, we had Layla's birthday party. It was a small gathering with just close family at our house, but it was just perfect for the occasion.

Here are Miss Layla's cakes

Birthday Girl

Layla was a little unsure of things when we brought out her cake and lit the candle. While we were all singing Happy Birthday to her, she looked at us like we had all lost our minds. She didn't jump right in when it was time for cake either. She took her time and finally gave it a try, but then only barely stuck her finger in before licking off the sweet icing.

Daddy stuck her hand right in the cake, but then she still went back to one little finger at a time.

Layla and her 2 great-grandparents, Boots and Moms

Our little family

Daddy and his girl

Happy Birthday to our sweet Layla!

We are so glad you came into this world and made our little family complete. We can't imagine our lives without you and your sweet brother. We love you both more than you can ever know and are so blessed to have you light up our lives each and every day.

1st Day of School

On August 16th, Isaac had his very first day of school. He got into the pre-K class at Parris South Elementary and Ms. Marian Perkins is his teacher.

Our big boy is ready for his very first day!

We had to come up with a new morning routine now that the kids were going to two different places. Darren decided he would take Isaac to school and I would continue taking Layla to daycare. I was worried how Isaac would do and he did cry for the first few days, but once he got into his new routine, he was perfectly fine and now loves going to school. It makes his Mama sad to think he's old enough for school already, but it does my heart good to see him and grow and learn.

Isaac also had his very first trip to the dentist this month too. He got his teeth checked and cleaned and Dr. Givens gave him a clean bill of health. Way to go Isaac!

On the other hand, Miss Layla wasn't feeling to well the week before her birthday and since I definitely didn't want a sick girl on her birthday, I got her in to see Dr. Hall at my office. She was 24 pounds and 29 inches long. I'm so glad I decided to take her in because she had a red ear so we went ahead and put her on a round of antibiotics to get her all cleared up before her party next weekend.

Trip to Carthage

On August 10th, we loaded up the kids and headed to Franklin. I had a payroll conference on Thursday and Friday to attend and Darren was coming along with me. Grandma and Moms met us at the hotel and took the kids back to Carthage with them for a couple of days until the conference was over.

The conference ended on Friday and Darren and I headed to Carthage for the weekend once I was done. Grandma was cooking a celebratory dinner for Moms's 84th birthday.

Happy Birthday Moms!

We even got see Uncle Patrick!

Saturday, we headed out to Lebanon to do a little shopping at the outlets. Once we got back to Grandma's, we just hung around and visited the rest of the evening. On Sunday, we got up and went to church at Defeated Creek and then came back to Moms's for lunch.

After lunch, we hurried and packed up so we could hit the road back to Savannah. We always love to come visit Grandma and Moms in Carthage but it's always so hard when it's time to leave. Even though our home now is Savannah, Carthage will always be home to my heart.