Birthday Celebration

Last night we had a birthday celebration for all of the March and April birthdays in my immediate family. If you don't know my family, that is practically everyone! We exchanged gifts, had a yummy eclair cake and enjoyed each others company. I don't have any pictures but I do have some pictures for this post. A while back we had ODU pictures of the kids taken but I didn't post them because they were for my Dad for his birthday! Well he got his present last night so enjoy the pics!

Birthday Spread:

Matthew - March 9
Keith - March 20
Mom - March 25
Whitney - March 29
Dad - April 4
Tanner - April 8
Josh - April 19
Grandma - April 20

Go Monarchs!

Outside...Finally!

The past week or so the weather has finally gotten nice and we are starting to see spring! We felt so trapped in the house for so long this winter that we didn't think it would ever end, but now we are getting outside. I was gone for most of the nice weather last week but the kids still got outside plenty with Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa. Yesterday I was actually home to play outside with them and got to take a few pictures. We took the tent and tunnel out in the front yard. Tanner stayed on the blanket the whole time. He would start to crawl off and then move right back. I guess he doesn't like the feeling of grass quite yet! It was fun and very relaxing. Hopefully there will be lots more afternoons like this in the coming weeks!

Happy Boy

Playing in the tunnelHop on Pop!

Peek-a-boo

Just like Daddy

Fashion Marketing New York Trip

Every year I take a group of fashion students to New York. This year we went March 17-20th. We stayed at the Eastgate Tower Hotel and visited many different parts of The Big Apple! Students received guided tours of Macy's and Henri Bendel, we went to the top of the Empire State Building, took an NBC Studio Tour, completed a scavenger hunt down 5th avenue and visited central park. We also spent time in times square and ate at Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock and Bubba Gump. We saw Memphis (which was amazing) and Phantom of the Opera. We visited Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum and China Town. Everyone had a great time and the trip was a great success. Here are just a few of the pictures!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I know this is a day early but I will be in New York the rest of the week so I wanted to go ahead and post!

My little Leprechaun!

This is Tanner's last first holiday before he turns 1! It's exciting but sad at the same time :) In his 11 month pictures we used a St. Patrick's day theme. I hope you all enjoy this fun holiday and don't forget to wear green!

A DECA Weekend

This past weekend I took 14 students to Norfolk for State DECA competition. I had students in a variety of competitive events as well as two students who were running for State Office. We had the majority of our competitive events in the Marriott and Sheraton hotels and then our general sessions and awards were held in Chrysler Hall. Virginia DECA is the largest state association with over 14,000 members so this is a very big conference!

Practicing for Presentations!

My students did very well! I had four students who were finalists in their category. This means they were at least in the top ten. Then I had two student winners in the Financial Literacy Promotion Plan. This means they will compete at the national level next month. Finally, BOTH of my state officer candidates won the election! I am so proud of both of them and looking forward to a busy year of helping them serve their term.

State Winners Sam and Eric in the
Financial Literacy Promotion Category

New State Officers Evan and Travis

Our school store also received Gold Level certification with national DECA and our chapter of DECA received the Fortune 500 award. I will be taking 6 students to the International Career Development Conference next month in Louisville, KY! Congratulations Kecoughtan DECA!

11 Months!

I can't believe that this is my last monthly post before Tanner turns 1! It's crazy how fast this year has gone by and how many changes our family has gone through. I remember thinking I would never survive this first year and here we are thriving and very happy. Things are still crazy busy with two kids 18 months apart but we love the way it turned out!

Tanner is about 21 pounds right now. He's eating three meals a day plus two bottles. He's still doing a few jars but he is also eating yogurt, cut up fruit and veggies and a few meats. I am looking forward to no more formula and no more baby food, but it's crazy to think I will never buy it again! He has five teeth and has handled teething pretty well so far. He's been a little cranky but nothing too bad so we've been very lucky. He only uses his binky in his bed and he goes to bed on his own every night. He's amazing! We just lay him down, give him his binky, turn his music on and shut the door and he never makes a sound. He sleeps about 12-13 hours at night and then about 3-4 hours total during the day. Some days he still takes a morning nap but he is starting to get away from that!

He really plays a lot now. Tanner and Izabel will play for a large part of the day in one of their bedrooms. They will run/crawl back and forth. Of course they have toys all over the house and they love to play in the kitchen too. Tanner can jump on the horse now but he can't quite get on by himself. He's still just crawling and cruising, no walking yet. I knew he wouldn't walk as early as Izzy did, but I don't think he's even close! I know he'll walk when he's ready but I was hoping he would do it by his birthday.

Happy 11 months handsome boy! We love you!

And GO MONARCHS!!!

What's Up???

It's been a little while since my last post so I thought I would give a few updates and post some random pictures. I have been crazy busy at work the last few weeks getting the kids ready for competition. I've also been busy with my grad school work and helping Noah with his school work. On top of all this we were anticipating a lot of layoffs at my job so everyone at school was holding their breath. The letters came out on Tuesday. I got a letter but mine said that I would move from being an 11 month employee to 10 months. The bright side - I still have a job and I have a longer summer! The down side - I lost more than a months pay for a total paycut of 9.09% which may still go down some more :( Maybe it was all this stress but I have been suffering from terrible migraines. It got really bad on Monday and I didn't sleep at all from Monday-Thursday. Noah took me to the ER on Thursday and they gave me some IV meds and fluids and sent me home with a better prescription. I am finally feeling better!

Noah got a semi-promotion at work. He is now opening the warehouse in the mornings. He goes in at his regular time (4 am) and works until 2 or 3 on a normal day. I'm not entirely sure what he does all day but I know he likes it better than being on the truck and it comes with a small pay raise and a monthly bonus. It doesn't come close to making up the difference in my pay but it is something! What is going to help is getting approved for the post 9/11 GI bill from the VA. Noah will get complete tuition for three years, a stipend for textbooks, and monthly housing allowance. This will be especially helpful now and we are very thankful for it and also for Noah going back to school to better himself and our family!

The kids are doing great. For all intensive purposes Izabel is potty trained. She wears underwear all day whether we are at home or not. She still wears a diaper for nap and bed but we'll get there eventually. She's so funny because as soon as she uses the potty she jumps up and says "I get ticker and umy bear yay!" I love it! She's very sweet and loving but of course she is two and we are reminded of that frequently. Tanner's been a little cranky lately but I figure it's just teeth. He had his first real experience jumping the other day and he loved it! I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of days at the jump place this summer!

Noah is camping for the weekend so me and the kids are hanging out at home. We hope everyone has a great weekend!

He's almost big enough to jump on the horse by himself

Izabel and Drew

Noah was throwing her and she LOVED it

Daddy's Boy