Z's preschool birthday

Zachary's 3rd Birthday happened to fall on his preschool day so we took iced sugar cookies for his classmates. The cakelady that makes our cakes makes the best cookies. She made planes, trains, cars, and dump trucks for his class. When I dropped him off his teachers and classmates were already wishing him a Happy Birthday. I can't tell you how impressed and blessed we are of Zachary's preschool and teachers. It is such a happy, loving environment where learning takes place and fun is had by all. I asked Zachary's teachers if I could leave my camera for them to take some pictures of snack time. When I picked him up at school my camera was full of these wonderful pictures. Ms. Sara and Ms. Shaunna made him a birthday crown and gave him the sweetest birthday card. I am so glad I have these pictures.



The two little girls next to Zachary go to church with us. Brinley and Kamryn are his best buddies at preschool.

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Our little boy is officially THREE years old! It's hard for Kevin and I to believe. Today Zachary is taking iced sugar cookies to his class and then we are going to take him out to eat at his favorite place tonight. I thought I would share some "Zachary-isms" in honor of his birthday.

Zachary's weight: 35.5lbs (75 percentile)
Zachary's height: 38.5in (90% percentile)
Shoe Size: 8
Clothing size: Pants 24 months or 2T
Shirts 3T or some 4T
*Z has a very long torso. He is super skinny but he has the longest waist causing his shirts to ride up.

Zachary's favorite things: John Deere Tractors, Trains, Planes, and Buzz Lightyear

Favorite book(s): The Pledge of Allegience and Building Book

Favorite song(s)to sing: God Bless America, Boomerang Express,
I'm Proud to be an American, and B-I-B-L-E.

Favorite color: Green

Favorite food: Burger & fries

Everyday sayings from Zachary:
"What you guys talking about?"
"Can I hold you?" (meaning he wants to be held)
"We'll see..."

Zachary can recite: The Pledge of Alliegence

Zachary can tell you his full name, his exact birthday. He knows all of his grandparents, aunts & uncles, and parents full names however, he thinks his dad's name is Honey. Too funny!

Zachary's birthday wish: He wants either a dog or a sister....I doubt he will get either :(


*Zachary will not let anyone say the blessing before any meal. He thinks that God only wants him to say it. Whatever you do do not say Amen. If he hears someone else say it he will start all over with the prayer and he finishes with his lone AMEN!

I feel so blessed to be Zachary's mom. At times he is the most loving little boy ever. At other times he is the funniest three year old I have ever seen. He loves to entertain and be the center of attention. You can often find him with a box on his head or doing something silly which will cause Zachary to have the best "belly laugh".
Zachary 4 days old

Zachary's 1st Birthday!


2 Years old!

3 Years Old!
Happy Birthday Zachy! We love you SO much.

P.S. When you ask Zachary if he wants to be called Zachary or Zach he says, please call me Zachy. That will only last a few more years, right?

Mel's 30th Birthday!

Last Friday, Sept 18th we got to celebrate Mel's 30th Birthday with her. This is not just any birthday it was MELODY's Cancer-free 30th Birthday. I can remember her 29th birthday when there was not too much to celebrate except dinner and cookies. Last year she was getting ready to head to another chemo session, bald, beautiful, and full of worries. This year she was 30, fabulous, cancer-free, full of life, and excited for the next 60 years of life.


Mel really wanted to go eat at one of her favorite places...Maria's which is a quaint Mexican place downtown. Kev and I had never been there. It was good! Then Mel wanted to go to Ernie Biggs which is a Piano Bar. None of us had been their either. We had a wonderful night. The piano bar was interesting to say the least. I was amazed that two pianos could play together. The craziest part for me was that people would make a request and IMMEDIATELY the musicians would start playing the songs and they would know ALL the words. I can never remember all the words to a song...I end up making them up or humming. It was cool. I asked Kevin how those musicians could do this and his answer was...while we were studying biology these people were studying music and songs. I guess he was right! They were good. After the show we went to a coffee bar for coffee and chocolate fondue. It was a wonderful birthday party. Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for allowing Z to come sleep over with his best buddy! We had a night out!

Mel and Hil...I figured this was our 18th birthday that we have spent together....12 years old was the first one. Gosh I wish I had a picture of that!

Kevin and I at Maria's Mexican
Mel and Wasson at Maria's
This is Hilary and Tyler....good friends of Mel & Wassons...and ours too. It was the six of us!
Funny story....this was our waitress at Ernie Biggs....she just so happened to be from the small town that I grew up in. Her sister, Kiersten was my BEST friend in kindergarten. We both looked at each other and knew we knew each other but it took us a second to realize it. Courtney was about 3 or 4 when we moved. She is a gem! I had to get a picture of us to show her sister on facebook.
Another funny story...this is another old friend of ours...Jessica. I went to school with Jessica from 2nd grade to senior year of Highschool. We re-connected on Facebook about a year ago when she was expecting her first baby. While we were at Ernie Biggs Melody said, "Hey I think that is Jessica". I said lets see. So I got on my iphone, went to my FB application, and asked her if she was at Ernie Biggs. Within minutes she replied that she was in the window for a birthday party. Just like that we reunited. Again I HAD to get a picture. Thanks to the modern world of technology!

Zachary's 3rd Birthday Party!

We celebrated Zachary's 3rd Birthday yesterday. His REAL birthday is not until September 28th however due to a friends wedding on his birthday weekend we decided to do it a week early. Most of you know this but Zachary's passion is JOHN DEERE TRACTORS so it was only appropriate to have a John Deere Party. We had his party on Sunday September 20th at a local community farm.

The Adult table

Besides tractors, Zachary's other favorite thing is gum. So we decided to give all the party guest green and yellow gumballs.

The kids table

The Cake Table
Food and Presents Table

Zachary's Tractor cake

Singing Happy Birthday to Z Zachary and his best friends: Elliott and Charley

Zachary got so many wonderful presents. One of the sweetest moments of the day was when Zachary opened a pair of John Deere cowboy boots. Immediately he ran over to my dad (aka Poppy) and said, "We have the SAME boots". He loved that he had boots like Poppy.

Part of the party package was a MEET AND GREET with an animal. Once the farm employees saw how excited Zachary was about tractors and farm stuff they asked me if we wanted two animals. Zachary chose the sheep and the miniature pony.
Everyone meeting Marsha the sheep.

Zachary and Bandit (the mini pony)

Zachary milking Irene the Dairy Queen

Zachary riding the imaginary pony.

Just the three of us on the tractor!

Zachary's grandparents: PawPa, Mawma, Zachary, Grammy, and Poppy! He's one blessed little guy to have all of his grandparents. I will cherish this picture forever!

Three Generations: PaPaw, Daddy, and Zachary talking about tractors

Zachary after the party! He was TIRED!

New Years Resolution: Coffee with Kim

It's kind-of a joke but when everyone was making their New Years Resolutions back in January, my girlfriend Kim and I decided our resolution was going to be getting together for lunch. Sounds silly but last fall we talked about getting together for lunch but our busy schedules did not permit a lunch date. With that said, Today I can cross my New Years Resolution off my list. Kim and I met for coffee at Hebrews. It was a quick coffee date but so wonderful. Kim and I have SO much in common...we both have boys, we both share an Aunt Sharon, Uncle Charlie, and cousins Matt and John, we also have husbands in the dental profession, and we enjoy taking photos (she's much better than me), we both love to blog, and the list goes on and on. I love that we can get together and pick up right where we left off. Kim is such an inspirational and compassionate person. I love that she has boys that are older because she can give me a heads up about what is to come. I know that I can always call her for "boy" advice and she will help. Thanks Kim...it was a great morning!

5 years and still counting....

It was five years ago today that Kevin opened up his office. My how fast those years have gone. It just seems like yesterday that we were moving into our duplex and trying to figure out how to start our own business. God has truly blessed us during these five years. One of our blessings is a wonderful woman named Barbara. She was Kevin's first and only employee during his first year in practice. She did it all...answer phones, file insurance, develop x-rays, clean, etc. We laugh about it now but seriously it was just Kevin and her in the quiet office four days a week. Now I think both Kevin and Barbara secretly wish for a quiet day in the office. So in honor of the five year anniversary Zachary and I took the lovely ladies and Kevin lunch at the office. We also wanted to bring a little something to Barbara for her wonderful five years of service. She is the best!
Kevin and Barbara

Kevin and his wonderful team

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Last night I had the chance to join 9 of my wonderful girlfriends from our Sunday School Class for dinner at Zio's. Of course we could not have had a girls night out if it was not for our wonderful husbands, parents, in-laws, and/or babysitters...Thank you Kevin for watching Z while I had the night off! With that said we had a fun, relaxing evening bonding together.

When I came home from dinner I had to thank God for bringing each of these wonderful friends into my life. Each one of these ladies has at least one gift that I truly admire. Let's see...there is the gift of compassion, the gift of being a Godly mother, the gift of being a good teacher, the gift of being a good friend at all times, the gift of encouraging others, the gift of being the go-to-girl in a time of need, the gift of being funny, the gift of being a good baker and cook, the gift of being a good hostess, the gift of being a wonderful wife, and the gift of making everyone feel welcome. I could keep going with my list. These girlfriends of mine are FANTASTIC! I am so blessed!

Our table

Here we are after dinner....of course I had to ask our server to take a group picture.

Back Row: Annie, Betsy, Jill, Heather, Chrissy, and Danielle

Front Row: Allison, Julie, Hilary, Sharon

To our classmates that could not make it...we missed you. Don't worry, we will do it again SOON!

Julie's Black & White Bridal Shower

Last weekend I went to celebrate one of my best girlfriends upcoming wedding. Julie and I met at a Baker Weekend for highschoolers to see if they were interested in the college. Two years later we were both students at Baker together. As soon as we moved into the freshman dorm we became instant friends because we pledged the same sorority and had all the same pre-dental classes. Julie, Megan and I were attached at the hip the entire four years at Baker. Since undergrad a lot of things have happened between Julie, Megs and I (ie: moves, grad schools, weddings, kids, and jobs) however nothing has ever changed. No matter how far away or how busy we have become with jobs, families, and kids we still are best friends. Julie has met the man of her dreams, Jeff and they are going to get married in October. Julies sister, Molly, Megs, Lindsey (julies best friend from High School), and I threw a bridal shower/bachelorette party last weekend. Molly came up with a Black and White theme that was super classy and lots of fun. All the shower guest came in Black and White, the gifts were all in black and white, and the decorations were black and white. After the shower we went to the JP wine bar for the guest to enjoy more food, wine, and coffee. It was a very laid back bachelorette party, which I loved. It was super classy and fun. Not like the "typical" trashy bachelorette party.

I was in charge of the invites. Here is the front of the invitation. The back was a black and white card that explained the theme, etc.
The beverage table with cans of coke and bottled waters

The Yummy desssert table

The dinner buffet line and decorated table

The gift table

Julie, Her mom Maryann, and Molly (her sister)

Julie and Hil
Jeff's family all decked out in Black and White

Photo of the appetizer table at the Wine Bar


Julie, Megs, and I ALWAYS did a silly dress up dance for special occasions during undergrad. If it was your birthday, you found out you got accepted to grad school, or if you were having a bad day. Two of the three of us would dig through the costumes at AXO and find something to wear and put on a dance for the other one. Since we were spending the night at Jeff's house, Megs and I had arranged to do a "dance" for Julie. We chose the song by the Dixie Chicks "You Can't Hurry Love." It was perfect considering Julie has been patiently waiting for the man of her dreams. We did our performance after breakfast on Sunday for Jeff, Julie, Miss, Molly, and Lindsey. It was a total suprise. I think Jeff has no idea what he is in for with Megs, Julie, and me. It was a great ending to the weekend.