Clean Slate.

Yikes! So much for posting in a timely manner, eh?

It's been a...challenging couple of months for me, though I suppose it's most likely been challenging for those around me too. A week after my birthday- on Oct. 6th- my Hannah passed away. It was ridiculously unexpected, despite her age. And while I knew it would hit me hard, I was still unprepared.

A month later, my nephew Ryan passed away. It feels just as weird to write that he was my nephew as it does to write that he's not here. He's 9 years younger and he and his older brother Mack have always been more like brothers; I don't think of them as "nephews" at all.

Enter the holidays and 14 hour car rides, and here I am. I don't know where to begin, so I will consider this post my "clean slate."

I also want to thank everyone who sent messages and reached out to me. I've always been the type to talk and talk about nothing at all, but when it comes to actually talking about the thoughts bouncing around in my head, I struggle. It's one part 'not wanting to burden people' and one part 'hate being vulnerable.' But I appreciated every thought, every prayer, every call and message. I have great friends, despite my emotional short-comings, and I love you all.

National Zoo.

Shawn's parents were in DC for a convention, so we drove up to see them (roughly an hour and a half away) and to see Mike, Shawn's super awesome first cousin- and on my list of favorite people- that lives there.

The agenda? Go to the National Zoo.

It was awesome and the kids had a blast. We ate with everyone and then walked to the zoo, which entailed more walking. Shawn's parents had to leave for the conference and after finishing up at the zoo we went with Mike to a super awesome cafe.

And as a bonus, when I ended up having to vacate said cafe with my little hooligan, I saw 3 out of 19 (?) Duggars crossing the street. I will state, for the record, that despite the fact that their house is crawling with kids- Jenna, John David, and Jinger totes thought that Liam was super cute and smiled at him.

FYI: They walked back by a few minutes later, each with a McFlurry.

Oh hai.

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. So much has changed since my last entry- some good, some bad. For this post I'm going to focus on the good.

Liam has grown so much. I currently refer to him as my little hooligan. I know I've said before that he and Abbi Kate have totally different personalities, but it's just crazy. First of all, he could care less if you tell him no. It doesn't hurt his feelings one bit and he stares you down and does whatever you've told him not to do again. Except he's so darn cute, and gives me that mini-shawn mischievous smile and it takes everything I have in me not to laugh.

As for Abbi Kate, she started pre-school at St. Matthews Episcopal and is in a class of 7 "young" 4 year olds. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here, but in VA the cut off for kindergarten is that you need to be 5 by September 30th. Everywhere else we've lived, it's been September 1st. So, we're holding her back, but that seems strange to say considering she'd be like me in terms of age compared to her classmates (my birthday is September 30th). Plus, I won't lie- the thought of her going to College and being there for almost a month before turning 18 freaks me out. But I digress....

She LOVES school. Most mornings she wakes me up long before it's actually time to go to said preschool, just to let me know. She could've cared less about me leaving her the first day. All she saw was other little kiddos and toys and it was bye bye mommy. It was really hard to be sad with her so happy about it all. Her new BFF is Sophia... or, as AK says, "So-FEE-ah." Her teacher? Ms. "EAN-Sehl".. It's hilarious that she says her "A"s like someone from Indiana or Illinois (or my one time Disney roomie from Gary, IN) and then says "Belle" ... "BAY-YULL" all MS style. At this rate she should fit right in when we move back to New Orleans.

I'd just like to add, very quickly, that you should not, under any circumstances lay down in front of Liam. He uses this as an opportunity to jump on you and attack. All of this complete with an evil laugh, that is both terrifying and adorable at the same time. I often find myself thinking about all the parent teacher conferences that are in my future. It's okay though, because both Abbi Kate and Liam are awesome and make me laugh on a daily basis.

And now, Pictures....


Abbi Kate with Liam on his first birthday- he is unimpressed.


Abbi Kate just before going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. We bought a 2 year pass and it's fun, but also very VERY exhausting. Still, she's rockin' her tinkerbell shades and you can see our fabulous granite countertops in place behind her. Now all we need is to get the backsplash finished and we will FINALLY be finished with the kitchen.


Too funny not to post- this was one of Liam's bday presents- from our friend Nikki.


And this is Miss Thang rockin' her Pink Floyd T-shirt and posing in front of her artwork.


Abbi Kate is 4!?!?!? She has a band-aid under her chin because she takes after her clumsy mom (to make a long story short).

Just a Fwimmin'

A few months ago we decided to buy a small inflatable pool for the back yard... I was thinking of something slightly larger than the one we purchased, but Abbi Kate wanted the fish one, and so the fish one is what we bought. Apart from going to the playground or "chalking the sidewalk", it's pretty much the best thing ever if you're Abbi Kate.

You Say Shrek, I say Karek.

We took Abbi Kate to see the new Shrek movie a few weeks ago. And much like she was obsessed with Disney movies following our trip to Disney World, she constantly wants to watch Shrek (we own the previous 3 installments). The cute thing is that she calls it "ka-rek" and any attempts to correct this completely fail. We say "sh.sh.sh.REK" and she says, "kah.kah.kah.REK".... Maybe she can't say "sh" you say... oh no. She can. I know this because occasionally when I shush her and say, "shh.." she will look at me with a glare that I'm sure I'll see on a daily if not hourly basis when she becomes a teenager and says "shhhhh!" right back at me.

Friday Fun.

As I'm typing this, Liam has chosen to take advantage of the fact that Abbi Kate left the door open to the cabinet containing our DVD's (or if you're Abbi Kate: DBD's) and is doing a good job of scattering them around the living room floor. When he discovers something, like the door being opened in this case, he does this little chuckle, smiles, and squints his eyes at you. It's one of his most recognizable "Shawn looks" and oh so funny. It's also not very clever in the grand scheme of things, because it's obvious he's about to get into something. Even so, I do appreciate the warning.

Abbi Kate can't seem to understand why I would allow him to scatter the "DBD's" and make a mess.(Let's ignore the fact that there are blankets and toys scattered around us from the tea party she just hosted.) I try to explain that he's enjoying himself, but that doesn't compute. Of course, who can blame her? Chances are, if she were to do the same, I'd ask her to stop. She doesn't remember that when she was Liam's age, I'd let her do the same. On a related note, why is it that I even bother buying toys?

And, since I can't post a blog entry without also posting a picture....



I'd like to say, for the record, that while most of the time they enjoy playing and entertaining each other, both Liam and Abbi Kate can often be found smiling when the other one is crying.