It's picture time!

I finally have a few pictures of Billy's homecoming! I love the pictures of them hugging, they remind me of something you would see in a movie!!




This is the sign that Taylor made for Billy! Their song is "Everything I do" by Bryan Adams and this is a line out of the song!!

This is the sign that Tayson and I made for Uncle Billy. I must say, it looked better in person :)

Taylor and Billy actually came home this weekend for Billy's post deployment leave. They are going to be here for almost a month so we are super excited about getting to spend lots of time with them!!

Birthday, Race for the Cure, Golf and Bachelortte Party!

As I'm sure you can tell from the title, it was a pretty busy weekend! We started off the weekend by heading to Harrison Friday night for my great-grandma's 95th birthday! She is such an amazing woman. She still lives by herself, drives, rakes her leaves, etc. The leaf raking is really a big thing to her. She does this EVERY day!! She is so afraid that the neighbors will be embarrased by her lawn if there are leaves in it!! All of her children were able to come down for her birthday party, I think she had a great time!! We were even able to sneak in another 5 generation picture! We went and ate at De Vito's (one of the only resturants in Harrison). Tayson had a great time getting into everything and he even made a friend at the table next to us. The little boy was a few years older than him, but Tayson loved following him around and trying to hug him. Here are a few pics from the night...





Saturday morning I got up, bright and early, and did the Race for the Cure. You are just going to have to take my word for it because my brain wasn't functioning that early and I forgot to take any pictures!! The original plan was for me to take Tayson with me and push him in his stroller. However, because it was so cold that morning, I decided to let him stay at home and sleep! The Race was great!! It really didn't take us as long as we thought it would. I can't wait to do it again next year! This is one organization that is really near and dear to my heart. My mom and grandma were both diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2007 so I don't think I could find a more appropriate organization to "give back" to!! Side note: Oprah has really inspired me to give back!! I have always volunteered with the American Diabetes Association but I think I really need to do more!

Saturday afternoon, Justin, Tayson, Kitty and I met Ryan and Amber at the golf course so the guys could play! Amber, Tayson, Kitty and I just hung out in the cart and played!! Tayson had a blast playing with his plastic clubs, the sand, just whatever! I am hoping that I have a little Tiger on my hands!! (You will have to excuse Tayson's crazy outfit...I wasn't really aware that the wind was blowing so hard so we ended up putting together things from my car to keep him warm enough! It was actually great because I was able to prove to Justin that there really is a need for all of that "crap", as he calls it, in my car!!)







Saturday night, Amber and I went to Lynn's bachelorette party!! Lynn and Matt are getting married next Saturday! We all met at Jose's on Dickson Street to eat and then the other girls went out after that! Amber and I went home. It was already like 11:00 PM and while in college that was early, nowadays, that is late!! We had a great time just talking and hanging out with everyone. I really didn't get very many pictures because I was too busy talking (shocker, I know!!)!




Sunday, Justin had a tournament so Tayson and I just hung out! We cleaned out the refrigerator. Or, I cleaned out the fridge, Tayson sat in the drawer! We also went to the park and had a picnic, played at the park, and went over to Grand and Papa's and played outside there too!! It was such a nice day that we just stayed outside almost all day!! I hope everyone enjoyed the awesome weather!! Have a good week!

All about Tayson!

This weekend was all about Tayson! Justin and I decided that it would be fun to just pamper him and make one whole weekend just for him (as if we don't do this everyday or every weekend :) )!! Saturday morning, we left early and drove to Little Rock. Tayson did really well in the car, which suprised me because he does not like to sit still for very long!! We stopped about every hour or so, to let him get out and walk around (or maybe it was because my husband has a bladder the size of a pea??)

Anyways, when we finally made it to Little Rock we went out to lunch and then headed over to the Wonder Place. Tayson was in love!! He didn't quite know what to do with himself. He explored every room, every toy! He just couldn't believe that there was so much fun stuff in one location for him to play with. We stayed there for about two hours until he started getting tired. Then, we went downtown and checked into our hotel and it was nap time! Tayson went right to sleep and slept for two and a half hours. YES, you did just hear me say that!! That boy has never slept that long with me, in all of our 15 months together! My mom and dad like to imagine that he sleeps about an hour and a half or so at their house during the day, but I'm not too sure about that because I am lucky to get a 30 minute nap out of him! He was sooo tired. I just kept watching him, checking to make sure he was breathing, because this was totally unlike him.

When he finally woke up, we all got ready and went to Target and then out to dinner. We had such a good time just relaxing and getting to spend time together. There is something wonderful about being in another town, where you don't know everyone, and just hanging out!!

Sunday morning we woke up, ate breakfast and headed to the zoo. Yes, it was a little bit chilly, but not nearly as cold as it was in Fayetteville! Tayson loved looking at all of the animals (or kitties as he called them)!! He was so good at the zoo!! His favorite part was when we bought some food for the catfish and he got to throw it in the water and watch them all swarm around. He thought that was so funny!! After the zoo, we went to lunch and then headed back home! When we got home, we all took a two hour nap and then we had to go to Grand and PaPa's house for dinner, because they hadn't seen "Bud Man" (as PaPa calls him) since Friday!!

Tayson had such a great time and it was so fun just to watch him explore and take everything in! On another note, Tayson is 15 months old today so HAPPY 15 Month Birthday Tayson!!

I promise, pictures are coming soon, we got a new camera (finally)!!

Uncle Billy is back!!!

Sorry it took me so long to post this, I kept waiting on my sister to email me pictures and I have finally given up. I guess that if you haven't seen your husband in 7 months, emailing your sister pictures does not make the top of the priority list :)

He was supposed to be back Wednesday around 2:00 PM but they got delayed in Kuwait for about 5 hours and then with all of the other delays, they didn't get into Twenty-nine Palms until about 9:30 PM!! My sister was about to have a nervous break down. I guess when you have waited that long, waiting one more second seems like an eternity!

I was on the phone with her Wednesday night, trying to kill the time and help her pick out a new outfit to wear. That was rather challenging via phone!!! He originally told her that he wanted her to wear some cute little shorts and a sexy tank top of some sort. Well...when the husband orders up an outfit, we go out of our way to get it!! Or at least Taylor does! So...she got some cute little shorts and a black strapless tube top type shirt that looked really cute together. Well, then about a week before he was going to come home, he made the comment on the phone to her about whether or not she had her dress all picked out? WHAT??? We went to all this trouble to get shorts and a cute shirt and he had forgotten about that!! So, he said just to wear whatever she wanted because he knows she'll look cute in anything! Who knew that a man could have so much of a say in a woman's wardrobe? I guess when you have seven months to sit in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do, and think, that is what happens! So, then the hunt was on for a dress! She found a cute black one to wear and was all set to go! Well, in 29 Palms when the sun goes down, the wind really starts blowing and it gets really cold. So...the first and second outfit were both out now! She ended up just wearing jeans, a sweater, and a jacket!! Funny how things change so fast!

So, we got the outfit picked out (over the phone) and started just waiting to hear something on the radio. They have a station out there that follows the buses from about 3 hours out and keeps everyone updated as to where they are. While I was on the phone with her, they came on and said that the 3rd LAR was on their way back to 29 Palms after serving time in Iraq. This group is made up of 149 marines, packed in 6 buses, being led by police escort. At this point, she was pretty much done with me and her in laws came and picked her up and they headed to the field to wait!

When they arrived, Billy found Taylor and she ran up to him and he picked her up, just like in the movies! Or at least, that is what I was picturing. She was so excited about this because the last time he came home, she had just had major hip surgery and was on crutches and had to just wait for him to come over and hug her.

Anyways, enough with my babbling...
Billy is back safely and we couldn't be happier!! We are so fortunate that he made it safely through two deployments and is back home. Now we just have to pray for Bo, his twin brother, that just deployed last week. It is really funny because they actually missed seeing each other at a base in Al Assad (not sure about spelling?) by about 24 hours. This is Bo's first deployment because he has been on presidential security up until recently. Taylor said that Billy looks great, his arm muscles are huge, and he is sooo happy to be home! I can't wait to see him in a few weeks.

Thanks for reading my long, drawn out post and remember to say an extra prayer for those that are still at war!!!

Weekend Recap

We had such a great weekend!! I think the weather played a HUGE part! Wasn't it soooo nice to be able to go outside and not get wet? We kicked off our weekend by going to Herman's Friday night. I LOVE Herman's and that is the perfect start to a weekend, for me!!

Saturday morning Tayson and I skipped Gymboree because Tayson had been sick this past week and I didn't want him to catch anything else or give what he had to all of his little friends! So, instead we went to the new Gordmans in Rogers to check that out! We got Tayson some really cute t-shirts that say "Ladies Man" and "Lock up your daughters". I also got him a little pair of crocs. I wasn't too sure how he would do in these, but he seems to like them! After that, we met daddy and Uncle Justin at Chilis for lunch! Later that afternoon, Justin stayed home with Tayson while I ran to Wal-Mart!! Oh my goodness....that was the first time I had been to Wal-Mart alone since, I can't remember when!! I know it was just Wal-Mart, but I felt like a new woman. I took my time, going up and down each aisle!! Saturday night we went to my mom and dad's house for a little Final Four get together. We had some awesome baby back ribs, baked beans, salad, macaroni and cheese, bread and brownies.

Sunday Justin had a tournament so Tayson and I went to Lowes and Home Depot and got some flowers and planted them! He was such a big helper!! We got his Little Tykes shovel and rake and he helped me with the dirt! I love to put my hanging baskets up and fill up the planters on the deck. There is nothing better than walking through the house and being able to see bright flowers outside the window!! I LOVE SPRING!

I know this post is a little bit boring with no pictures but I currently do not have a camera!! Tayson accidentally dropped my camera on the floor and now it doesn't work! I called Bedfords about getting it fixed and they said it would probably be about $200.00 so I don't really see the point in that. I am just going to get a new camera this week! Do any of you have advise on what is the best camera? My mom and sister both have the same camera and they love it! It takes really good pictures so I am going to look at that one, but I would love any other suggestions!

I hope everyone has a great week!! This is a great week for us because Uncle Billy comes home Wednesday. For those of you that don't know, Billy is my brother-in-law who is a Marine. He has been in Iraq (for his 2nd deployment) since September. He and my sister are stationed in Twenty-nine Palms, CA. Taylor (my sister) just moved back to Cali about 3 weeks ago to get ready for him to come home. So...he is in Kuwait now and should be in Twenty-nine Palms at about 2:00 Wednesday. Tayson and I made a huge sign for the welcome home. There is a chain length fence about a mile long on the base and they bring all of the guys in on a bus and drive slowly down this mile long straight stretch to let them read their welcome home signs. We got lime green fabric and painted in brown "Welcome Home Uncle Billy" Love, Tayson!!! Billy's mom and dad are taking it out with them and Taylor is going to hang it up for us!! I can't wait for him to get here, it is so scary to have a loved one at war!! Fortunately, this is his last deployment and a year from now he will be out of the Marines!! I can't wait for them to move home! I'm sure I will post again Wednesday when he is actually there!!

Have a good week!!!

April Fools Day!

Since today is April Fools Day, I decided that I had to get Justin good. I knew he wouldn't believe I was pregnant if I called and told him because he knows I wouldn't call him to tell him that! So instead, I had to come up with another idea!! He is always joking with me about what a reckless driver I am and how I have had several little finder binders and speeding tickets. He has, knock on wood, only ever been in one wreck and it wasn't his fault! So, around lunch time today I called him and told him that I had rear-ended someone! He was at lunch with some people so he was really trying to keep his cool. He asked me how bad it was, to which I had to say it was pretty bad!! He asked if I was okay, which of course, I was! He asked if the cops came, and for my story, yes, they did!! I had to make it seem as bad as possible without anyone being injured!! He asked if I had called Matt yet (our insurance agent)?? I told him that Matt was at lunch! Then I asked him how much our insurance deductible was? Like he would know...but he said $500.00 (good thing I control the finances because it is $250.00). With the way he said $500.00, I knew it was time to tell him. I said, $500.00..well, I guess it's a good thing it's April Fools Day. The phone went silent, because he hung up on me!! When I called him back he was laughing because he had completely forgotten it was April Fools Day and once again, I had gotten him good!!!