Actually let me go back a couple of weeks. Rory and I ran into the Krogers to get a couple of snacks for her and some juice. I was looking at the fruit snacks and turn around to find little miss Rory naked as a jaybird! Like NO CLOTHES on aisle 5. It was embarrassing. And it happened in like two seconds… I still don’t know how/why.

Back to last night. We went to Tamales (which by the way is the only place to take two under two because it is so loud and no one can hear your kid screaming and gnashing her teeth because of the fact she has to sit). Well we were just eatin’ our dinner and Rory was chowing on some guacamole and talking in her usual manner…. then all of a sudden guacamole is off the fork and on the lady behind us. Oh dear.

So that was fun. I’m just glad it wasn’t a bratty move and that she didn’t mean to. (Or maybe it was and just covered up REALLY well…???)

Then we went to the Home Depots for some supplies for Andy’s new trailer for his new four-wheeler.

Low and behold we are standing in the check out line when all of a sudden I hear the cashier say, “honey, your girl has done lost her britches”. And I’ll be darn if Rory wasn’t diaper-less and bending over to moon the whole store. We probably won’t be welcomed back anytime soon. She also had her squeaky boots on and I’m pretty sure people were annoyed.

So there you have it. Stinker Update- Rory just wants to be nekkid.

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And now for an awesome GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!

My friend Amanda, from both Starkville and Alexandria, has started a embroidery and sewing business called Stitched. She asked me this week if I’d want to do a giveaway and of course I did! I love everything she makes!

Amanda taught school for five years, but last spring decided to stay home with kiddos. She bought an embroidery machine and began “Stitched.” Amanda does custom embroidery, monogramming, and applique. She’s done lots of birthday shirts, school shirts, and holiday shirts. She loves to take other people’s ideas and create a custom look!

(And let me just add that her and her husband Clint took a huge leap of faith and decided to be foster parents this past year. They already have two kids Jack and Sydney Kay who are PRECIOUS. By supporting her home business you make it easier for them to follow their calling as foster parents! Her goal is to have 80 orders for Christmas and I would LOVE if we could help her get even more!)

So who wants to win a custom Christmas shirt FOR FREE?!!!!!!!!!!!

HERE ARE THE RULES: Comment on this blog post and GO TO STITCHED. ON FACEBOOK BY CLICKING HERE and LIKE HER PAGE. That will automatically enter you to win a custom shirt!

FOR A SECOND CHANCE TO WIN, comment on the picture of your favorite shirt on Amanda’s page (Stitched.) and that will give you another entry to win! (You may comment on multiple shirts but only one comment will count as a second entry.)

Okay do you get it?! Any questions please ask. The giveaway will last through next Friday at 5:00 PM CST. I will choose a winner by a random number generator and announce the winner either Friday night or Saturday morning (have you read about my life lately? I can’t promise anything more than broad time frames, ha!).

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Okay I realize this post is too long already but hello! Stinker Update #2!

This is what happens when Momma blogs:

Oh dear. I must go love on poor Jackson now. I heard her say “I color” but didn’t realize that meant the dog and herself with a sharpie.

Have a great weekend!

If you don’t remember what I’m talking about or hadn’t heard about Ryder’s cyst, click here, to catch up!

If the cyst HAD grown or was affecting the organs at all we were going to have to have the baby in Dallas and go much more often down there to check on the progress of everything. I was nervous about this possibility for many reasons but had a wonderful peace going into the appointment.

Can I tell you now how awesome our God is?!

The cyst was GONE. The tech and doctor both were amazed and were very joyful with me. The doctor said he wanted to see me one more time but that the baby looked beautiful.

How GREAT is our God!

Ryder is measuring at almost 28 weeks and I am 26 weeks tomorrow. No wonder I feel and look bigger this go round! ha! Everything looked perfect and we couldn’t be more relieved and excited.

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We seriously had the best weekend we’ve had in a really, really, REALLY long time.

On Friday we were in Dallas. After the appointment we went to the Stonebriar Mall and Rory had another first! Her first carousel ride! And let me tell you… she LOVED it. She laughed and didn’t stop smiling the entire time. I stood there taking pictures with my phone (like all the other parents, ha) and just cried because my heart was so full of happiness.

Saturday we just stayed at home enjoying the beautiful day together. It was such a great day with nothing to do and it was much needed! Rory is getting used to her Daddy being back home and is getting lots of loving in!

We also did some things around the house. We rearranged Rory’s room and went through her 0-3 month clothes and put them in Ryder’s room.

And we started a little project for Ryder’s room! We had this gosh awful chandelier that we’ve been wanting to get rid of in our office (its meant to be a formal dining room). Andy replaced it with a new light fixture that matches the rest of the kitchen’s lights and I took the chandelier outside to paint. Its not 100% done but I will show progress pictures! I’m going to add lampshades before we put it up in Ryder’s room!

before

during

Sunday was spent at church and resting. Have I mentioned how much we LOVE our church lately?! ha! Every time we go Andy and I feel so encouraged and blessed to be apart of something so great. And there is also the fact that Rory loves it so much I can’t even say the word “church” unless we are walking out the door to go! ha! Here is her reaction when we told her we were going to church (before and after):

We have so much coming up in our church and are so excited! If you live in the Paris area and are looking for a place, come try First Baptist with us! (I’m linking up to Kelly’s Korner for Show Us Your Church!)

Its going to be a busy week for us, thats why I’ve done one huge blog post! Rory has her ENT appointment on Wednesday, I have a doctor appointment on Thursday and Andy has to go for a route canal on Thursday in Longview. Have a great week!

And then, two weeks later, we found out we were moving. Marvelous.

So when we moved here we were tired and I was 37 weeks pregnant so we didn’t paint Rory’s room. I still love her room, but its definitely not what it was in the Pineville house. (pause for a moment of silence for the wonderful nursery we had created.)

The bad thing about her room here is that it is SO CUTE in person, but its like a cave with bad lighting so I can never get good pictures. Oh well- hope you enjoy the tour of Rory’s room!

This is what is above her bed. Jodi gave me these initial/monogram and I ADORE it! If anyone gets my decorating style, its Jodi. If I had to “trade spaces” with anyone and trust their judgment completely, it’d be her! I hope she’d say the same about me, ha!

Our “night night” corner.

I just love this little dresser. We just bought the lamp last week and I think its the perfect fit for the room! On her dresser is a lion that Ashley and Marlyce gave Rory that is so cute, a piggy bank, and a framed birth announcement.

Go check out Kelly’s Korner for more kids’ room/nursery tours!

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And just one pic of the stinker doing what she loves most these days…

Can we not all agree that she at least inherited one of my physical attributes????

HA!

We are very hot natured people- we have three fans going in our room all year long. During the summer months we use a lighter comforter and the winter and heavier one.

This was taken when we bought our new bed- the one thing I absolutely LOVE in our room. Can you believe how little Rory was?!

Here is our “summer quilt”.

(I apologize for the bad quality photos. Our ceiling fan/light has hideous orange-y light beaming from it.)

So there’s our master bedroom! Its okay, but maybe one day I’ll do a full makeover on it and actually get furniture to match the bed! ha!

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Today is the last day of Andy’s outage. Pretty sure he’ll have worked 80 hours this week. It has been ROUGH. Rory hasn’t slept. Do I need to say more?

Last night I kept  our friends from church, Rachel and Kelly’s little boy, Benjamin. He is so stinkin’ cute. It was really fun keeping him and Rory together. They played so well. But dinner time was very interesting! I had both stinkers very aggressively signing “more” to me constantly. I guess I’m not fast enough! ha!

Rory started eating a few table foods. Her favorite so far is carrots.

signing “more”

If we don’t have any contact with the outside world this weekend its because we have crashed and are spending quality time together to make up for this week! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

These sorts of things are what make the world go ’round, am I right?! Things so simple, but that have a huge impact. So what are your favorite RAKs? Here are some of mine!

1. If you see that someone has dropped something, pick it up! Its amazing how many people will go as far as to step over something that has been dropped and ignore it. Sheesh people!
2. Push the grocery cart to the actual cart thing in the parking lot. I live in the south so those guys are working on that hot pavement all day trying to collect carts. I realize they get paid, but once upon a time my dear husband worked @ WalMart and believe me- they don’t get paid enough!
3. Write a note, email, text- whatever!- just to say “hey I’m thinking about you!”. Sometimes in this haze of 3-almost-4 month old baby days, I will get a text from a friend and it lights up my day to know someone out there is thinking about me. Andy writes me emails during the week to let me know he’s thinking of me and it absolutely makes my whole day better. (oh and hello dear readers- leaving comments makes me giggle with joy all the day long! hint, hint!)
4. Little “happies”. Ha! How I make fun of this term. BUT! Have you ever received flowers, a small gift, a coffee, or whatever that just made you happy?! Once, one of my dear old neighbors brought me a little Willow Tree jewelry box with a girl and a puppy on it. Because she knew I adored my pup, Jackson, and she thought of me when she saw it.
5. Offer to babysit! This one is probably the hugest RAK of all. Seeing as I live somewhere brand new and have no family here, I don’t have a babysitter. But when I went home my parents babysat TWICE while Andy and I went on a date. Oh how we needed it!

Alright- below I set up a linky so you can tell me your favorite RAKs! Just click the “click here” and enter your blog link!