A New Challenge

“No man needs sympathy because he has to work, because he has a burden to carry. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” 

― Theodore Roosevelt


I have worked at our children's hospital for almost 7 years, counting my internship. I have learned more than I EVER thought I would learn and have had experiences with families and medical staff that I never dreamed would be possible. I worked very hard during the day, completed a Master's degree at night, and was promoted in my role on the marketing team. I am eternally grateful for this job. For the chance to work for something bigger than myself and for a cause that I whole-heartily believe in. The people inside this hospital are GOOD. They were here the day I came in and shouted, "I'm engaged!" all the way to delivering me goodies in the hospital after we had our first child four years later.  They became more than co-workers, but close friends and we experienced many ups and downs together, tears and celebrations, early mornings and late nights, trips and backyard cookouts. I love this group. They will always hold a special place in my heart. :)

I'll be leaving my current job soon for a great opportunity with a for-profit company, whose national headquarters are here in Memphis. My new job will continue to be full-time, but much closer to my house and Preston's school, with opportunities to grow (a promotion from my current role). I'm excited about this new world, this new opportunity in which I will be able to gain valuable experience in facets of marketing and communications that I have not had the ability to do in the past and take on more of a leadership role. Moving from a local not-for-profit to a national for-profit will be TOTALLY eye-opening, but I am excited for an entirely new set of challenges. Bring it on!


“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.” 
― Steve Jobs

First Day at CTK

Preston started pre-preschool. Isn't that funny? It's not actually called that, but the preschool he will be enrolled in has an 18-24 month classroom and P's first day was Thursday. There are 5 boys and 3 girls in his room. We went to Meet the Teacher night the night before his first day, and he happily played while I threw a lot of questions at his sweet teacher. Based on what a great first day he had, I think he will have a great year!

New backpack

We laughed when we saw the words used to describe P. They figured him out on the first day!

Our sweet boy had a lot of fun.

First art from school

Mommy might have gotten a little teary-eyed after looking at these pictures. So blessed with this big boy who is growing up much too fast.

Saying Goodbye & a Haircut

Preston's last day at First Baptist was Friday. I had really been dreading it. We just love that little school and P had the sweetest teachers. I was fine, until I walked in to pick him up and saw two of the after-care teachers crying, then P's teacher crying and I LOST it. After a good ugly cry (in front of parents who were touring the school), we all hugged, exchanged cell phones and emails, and I promised to send updates to them about Preston. One thing that does comfort me is that if we are fortunate enough to have a second child one day, we would choose First Baptist again.

I think what made is so hard is how much he has grown since we've been there. P was 6 months old when he started there last August. He was crawling and breastfed. The transitions they made in that classroom were just incredible. They went from infants to walking/running, talking toddlers who sleep on nap mats and play on the playground. They went from being spoon fed baby food in high chairs, to feeding themselves and sitting at a table together. His teachers have really worked with him on his development and really love him.

We'll also miss the other family. I really grew to love the other kids in his class. My hope is that we create that same kind of "family" at Christ the King. He starts his first day there on August 9, so please be thinking about our family through that transitions. P struggles with any transition right now (part of being a toddler) but I know he will grow to love CTK and we will too.

His teachers wrote P and us the sweetest goodbye letters. I loved coming home and sharing those with Brian.

In other news, P got his first haircut. I have to say, Preston has gorgeous hair. It's a shame he is a boy. It is perfect hair for a little girl, but since people were mistaking him for a girl, we had to cut it. Plus, it was growing down his neck, ears and eyes and was becoming uncomfortable for him in these hot summer days.

He did great during the cut. He barely moved, but then when he was over it, he was OVER IT. She didn't really get as much as I would have liked her to off the back, but P had declared the haircut over. Brian and I took him to my lady Anita who has been cutting my hair for forever. I also got my hair cut that day too - 6 inches off!

Before picture of the front

Before haircut.. the most beautiful curls ever!

See what I mean? That hair is screaming for a bow! 

Last one I promise!

The haircut begins!

"I'm not sure about this...."

"Hey, this is kinda fun!"

After! Enjoying his sucker.

Daddy was proud of him, too.

Now that it's had some time to settle, I love his haircut and I still think he looks adorable.

Talking... his favorite thing to do.

Definitely looks like a big boy now!

Love a good Instagram pic :)

Typical Saturday Morning

I took this video a few weeks ago. For anyone interested on what early morning Saturdays are like in your house once you have a child, this is a good representation. You may think we are weird, because we keep trying to get P to clean the floor, but it's one of his favorite games and he loves to mimic me cleaning. He says a lot of words in it, and Brian and I are kind of half awake/half asleep drinking our coffee. So, here's a typical Saturday morning around our parts.

Funny Kid

We let Preston pick out an outfit tonight. Spiderman pants, a shirt that says "Lock up your daughters" and swim shoes. :)

Preston is hilarious. Really, his personality is so funny. After pooping in his diaper yesterday, he walked up to me and yelled "stinky!" in my face.

He is way into mimicking too. My mom was disciplining her dog, and Preston was right behind her wagging his finger and saying "no!"

There is a book we have called The Mine-osaur, about a very greedy dinosaur who won't share. When P wants us to read it, he brings it to us and says "mine! mine! mine!" just like the main phrase in the book.

He has started singing, too. Mainly in the car. He will sing jibberish for like five minutes, and then just say "eeee iiii eeee iii yooooo" like in Old MacDonald.

He keeps us laughing, that's for sure!

Fun with Friends

July 4th we went over to High Point for a lovely little neighborhood parade with Robyn and John Michael. We had lots of fun, even though it was HOT.

They had a parade and fire trucks. At the end of the parade, the fire trucks sprayed water. It was really cute, and the kids loved it.

This pic! My child is so cute.

Then, we headed over to Brian's parents house and swam for a while. Preston really liked it. Then he played with the hose for a long time, filling up this cup and pouring it out, over and over. Haha! We just talked and hung out while he kept himself busy. So funny.

Let's just say, he slept very well that night. :)

A few days later, we had Brian's cousin and her family over for dinner. Preston and Eva are just about 6 months apart in age, and little Henry is about two months old. It was so fun to see them, eat dinner, and let Eva and P play. I think we have more play dates in our future, because these two really enjoyed each other and played together well. There was only one issue of not sharing, but for two toddlers, that is impressive!

We've also had some family fun. P loves to go riding bikes around the neighborhood....

This past weekend, it was our turn to host our neighborhood party. At times, it was a tad chaotic with all the kids, but to me, that's the best kind of chaos there is! :) We had a really great meal. Brian cooked his specialty (burgers) and everyone else brought some really delicious sides. Including my mom, who brought a casserole by earlier in the day because she wanted to help. :) Thanks mom!

So happy to be in the wagon with Tyler AND eating watermelon!

Bennett, Tyler and Preston are in the above photo. They were all born within a few months of each other, so it's fun when we get them together. 

P has had watermelon before, but Kristy put them on sticks for the kids to eat. He LOVED it and had 4 of them. She let us keep the leftovers and he snacked on them all week. Ha!

Lots of fun with friends lately!

A Break, Anniversary, Staph and Flood.

Where to begin? Summer is slipping by and so much has been going on.


Our hall bathroom is still under construction. Yes, the bathroom that was originally quoted as an 8-day project has now gone over 2 months. The end is in sigh though, and I cannot wait to share the before and after pictures. I am so pleased with our choices, its functionality and its storage! (On the other hand, I am NOT pleased with our contractor. We can now tell you someone NOT to use. ;)


Speaking of bathrooms, we have two upstairs. One is under construction, so the other, in our master bathroom, is the one all three of us having been using. June 27, I put Preston in the bathtub, went to turn off the cold water, and the whole knob flew off and water was gushing out of the wall, filling up the tub. I scooped up a screaming Preston, and with no way to turn the water off, I screamed at Brian (who was downstairs) "Plumbing emergency! Turn off the water!" Brian ran outside to the water shut off near the end of our driveway and shut of all water to the house. Thankfully, our bedroom did not flood, and Brian was able to fix the cold water knob. After we get all of the bathroom cleaned up, we put Preston to bed without a proper bath, headed downstairs and took in the site that was our kitchen. Water everywhere! It drained from the tub upstairs through our chandelier in the kitchen, all over our kitchen table and floor.


God works in funny ways, because after I cried for a solid hour and Brian huffed and puffed, we realized how lucky we were. Usually we keep EVERYTHING on our kitchen table - bills, laptop, cameras, etc. - and our kitchen table was completely clear when it happened. After calling a plumber out, there is no damage and everything is fine. We are so thankful for this, because for about an hour, we thought we were down from three bathrooms to one in our house.


On June 28 (the day after the bathroom incident), Brian and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. We celebrated at one of our favorite restaurants, Bari. It was a really nice meal, and we were very thankful to my in-laws for keeping Preston so that we could celebrate our anniversary. We didn't take a single pictures of ourselves, but I did snap a pic of the last bite of my meal. Delicious!

Brian also wrote me a really sweet note and got me some flowers. It meant a lot, especially after the stress of the night before.

After the bathroom incident, I did have a small breakdown. I am learning that breakdowns are pretty common when you become a mom. This time, the breakdown was over the fact that our house is a "lemon", I am juggling too much, housework is backed up, the preschool tuition check due next week, and I want all the contractors and workers to go away. So what did I do? Naturally, I called my mom and begged for help.  Being the perfect and logical woman she is, she offered to keep Preston for a couple nights to allow Brian and I some quality time together at home, without a child, to clean up our house, go out to dinner, and just enjoy each other. She always has the answer!

Words cannot express what this did for my overall well-being. Thank you mom! I spent some time with my best friends, Brian and I spent time together, and I feel rejuvenated. This may be my new way to de-stress!

She actually took him down to our family farm for a couple nights to see my grandparents and go to a family reunion on my grandmother's side. I was kind of a nervous wreck over this (not going to lie) but my mom took my car and called/texted me every five minutes to tell me he was still alive. ;) Here are a few pictures of them having fun!

Getting ready to head off to bed

Family reunion play time

Pool time.

The child LOVES squash.

Eating some freshly picked corn.

Playing in the front garden.

Packing up veggies with his great-grandmother to bring back to Memphis.

When this child came home, I could have cried I was so happy to see him. Melts my heart!

He did, however, throw us with another curve ball this month. He got a mosquito bite on his cheek that wasn't going away and seemed to be getting worse. My 2nd cousin, an ER doctor in Atlanta, happened to see him while they were at the farm and said it looked like he had staph. So, we took him to the doctor the night of July 3 and sure enough... staph.

At the doctor's office, showing us what it would be like if P had an identical twin!

Thanks to a few antibiotics, he is already looking better.

Pretty soon, I'll update on some fun things we've done lately. He is coming into the age where we can really take him to lots of fun places and he is really starting to play with other kids. He will be one and a half so soon, and I just love this age! We also did some fun things for the holiday. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!