Quickly approaching TWO 2 years

Parks and Marlee will be 2 on March 12th.  Insanity.

I have done a terrible job of documenting since they turned one.  Luckily, I have a clever friend who posted each month on her daughter and I copied her idea during the first year.

Just wanted to put down a few favorite things to look back on:

MARLEE:  22 months
- straight, thin hair
- naps once per day around 1:30 - 3:30 or 4:30
- great night sleeper (8:30 pm - 8am)
- wears size 18-24 months clothes and has the best shoe selection of anyone I've ever known thanks to the jackpot garage sale we hit a while back (she has finally grown into a lot of it)
- talks and talks and talks and talks.  she loves to identify every person and item in the room.  everyone's names, shoes, coffee, turtle, golf cart, elmo...there is no way i could list every word she knows.  she can flip through a book and point out every animal and item on the pages
- loves all 4 of her grandparents to peices
- loves feeding the dogs during meals (mommy does NOT love this)
- runs with her arms flailing out and stomps her feet really hard on each step
- plays a game with daddy where she closes her eyes and cracks up while daddy says "open your eyes, marlee"
- loves her big brother so much and constantly watches out for him.  every time she gets a snack or a drink she says "parks? parks? parks?..." until you give her two and then she takes him one
- tells me every time she goes potty or "toots"...and is very proud each time
- enjoys school (Children's Morning Out) and Waumba and church
- likes to read, obsesses over "babies," says hi to every person we pass when we are out shopping or doing anything where we see strangers
- loves to count to five in english and spanish
- dang, so many more things, i will have to start writing these more often

PARKS:  22 months
- curly, gorgeous hair, and lots of it
- sleeps same as marlee
- 2T clothes
- actually...surprisingly...a much cleaner eater than marlee
- jumps off every peice of furniture in the house, and is really good at landing
- loves elmo, and any animated tv show/movie.  will watch an entire disney movie without moving...or closing his mouth.  favorites right now:  Rio, Ratatouille, Ice Age and Lion King
- obsesses over daddy when he comes home from work
- loves books, going "bye-bye," giving high fives and daps, bath time and brushing his teeth
- when he says "please" it sounds like "meeeeese"
- sweetest boy


I love these kids.  So Much. LOVE THEM.

Christmas 2012

Ahhhh, Christmas. How I love thee.

What a wonderful time of year.  We had a great time this year, made lots of wonderful memories and...as usual...it went by way too fast.  There is something about having family visitors come in from out of town that really ramps up the "specialness" of the holiday.  Erin, Taylor and Cousin Jack came down for Christmas Eve, and Aunt Libby's two sons, Jeremiah (Indiana) and Nathan (California), came to town along with Nate's family...Dawn, Juniper and Zeraphin.

Here's some highlights:

ORNAMENT EXCHANGE:  Every year, a group of girls I went to high school with get together and we have dinner and do a little ornament exchange.  It's so fun to see everybody and reminisce on our high school days.  They are all such fun, and we had a great night at Lindsay's house eating and laughing.

SICK:  I guess this should really be listed as a "lowlight," but whatevs.  My mom got sick the week before Christmas, and Marlee and I picked it up on Christmas Eve-Eve and by Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we were both lucky to be awake for more than 2 hours at a time.  We planned to go to Christmas Eve service at Catalyst Church, but we were so miserable we just couldn't get out...and didn't want to spread our germs.  

CHRISTMAS EVE:  We spent the evening with Mikey's family...Mike, Debbie, Erin, Taylor, Jack, Mamaw, Papaw, Mikey, Kacy, Parks & Marlee...plus lots of doggies of course.  We had fun eating our traditional meal of barbecue sandwiches, macaroni and cheese and baked beans.  Yummy!  Then gave out our gifts for each other and watched the kids run around.  When I started feeling my heart beat in my eyeballs we left to go to bed...but it really was a fun evening.  Loved hanging out with the fam!

CHRISTMAS DAY:  Santa Claus came to our house!!!!  We woke up around 8 and came downstairs to find some presents left from Santa for Parks and Marlee.  They were kinda in to it...and mostly confused.  It was fun watching them though.  Patrick spent the night at my parents house so we all shared the experience.  Breakfast, stocking and lots of gift un-wrapping...followed by relaxing and eating all day.  Libby's family came over around 1 and we played cards, ate a huge meal and hung out.  Great Christmas Day!



CALLAWAY:  Libby got us all a great day on the Callaway Gardens "Fantasy of Lights" show, so we all went one evening.  It just so happened to be the COLDEST night of the year and we rode the trolley.  Once we got on the trolley with our blankets it was fine, but standing in line was the coldest I have been in a few years (last year's ski trip included).  Parks, Juniper and Zeraphin absolutely LOVED the lights.  Marlee was really mellow and I kept thinking she was asleep, but she was watching with us.  I really enjoyed it too...I hope we can go back next year!

ATLANTA:  Nate, Dawn and Jeremiah really wanted to see Atlanta, so Patrick scheduled a night for us to go to the Sweetwater Brewery and then to dinner.  We ended up at Tijuana Garage in Five Points and had a LOT of laughs.  After dinner, drinks (for the non-preggos) and B-I-N-G-O, we headed home...or so I thought.  Nate convinced me to stop at Hangar 74 in Peachtree City for a "night cap."  This turned into karaoke, line dancing, and MORE than just a night cap.  I was tired, but the laughs would've been worth it if the place hadn't allowed smoking.  It smelled like a giant ashtray and I HATE the smell of smoke.  Other than that, it was a fun and exhausting evening.

NYE:  We went to a dinner at Crossfit Newnan at 6....then the kids were in bed by 8...Mikey and I by 9:15.   My kind of New Year's!!

Some pics of the holidays:
Hmm...can't figure out how to link them.  These will be added asap.

A Legend Forever in Time

August 12, 2012 was a very sad day for the Richardson family.  Debbie's Dad (Mikey's Grandpa) passed away after a sudden, vicious attack on his immune system from a nasty virus.  

Jim Thiel was truly one of the most incredible men I've ever had the privilege of knowing and spending time with.  He is a family man through-and-through and cherished his wife, Marion, like I want to cherish my husband.  He is the definition of a patriot, serving his country through war as a belly-gunner on 50 successful missions (unheard of!) and loved this country every day of his life.  

I delayed writing this post because I know there are no words I could type that would come close to doing justice to a description of Grandpa Jim.  He was everybody's hero.  He was selfless, volunteering more than anyone I know (without paying attention to his age or status).  As I looked through some pictures I have of him, I was struck with the BEAUTY that I could not find a single picture of him without his wife by his side.  They were inseparable, and while I know his faith in our heavenly Father has taken him to paradise, I ache for Grandma Mar as she discovers a whole new world:  one without Grandpa Jim.

The summer of 2010, while I was pregnant, Mikey and I made a trip to St. John, IN to visit them.  I now cherish those memories even more.  While there, we shopped, dined, toured, etc. and we couldn't step foot outside the house without people waving us down to say hello and ask how Jim and Marion were doing.  Even the police officers and store clerks knew them personally.  People we'd never met knew all about our expecting twins and our Peachtree City golf carts.  I was shocked how "popular" they were...they run that town!!

Grandpa Jim was so full of life.  He was always the ring leader when the family got together...making everybody (including strangers) laugh until they cried.  His jokes were the best...and I will never forget the time he got everybody kicked out of the Oktoberfest celebration for dancing on the table...at 84 years old!!  

Grandpa Jim will never be forgotten, and the imprint he left on this earth will carry on and on and on.

We miss you and love you Grandpa Jim!!

BABY DAY!!

July 25th was a very big day.  Two of the most anticipated babies in our lives were born this day.

Early that morning, our great friends Tony and Claire met their precious baby girl, Harper Kate Stravelakis.  She was born with a head full of dark hair and a healthy appetite.  She was just over 9 pounds....bless her momma!!!

Mikey, Debbie and I got to swing by the hospital a few hours after she was born to meet her.  She was gorgeous and so calm and content...a trait she has carried with her for her first few months of life!!

Later that day, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Erin and Taylor, met their handsome and sweet baby boy, John Reece Ward.  He goes by "Jack" and he couldn't be cuter.  He was also big and healthy, weighing in right at 9 pounds...bless his momma too!!!

Mikey, Mike, Debbie and I all got to go stop by and visit this little fella too.  You can't tell from my pictures, but he has the CUTEST little creases in his forehead that make it look like he is really inquisitive.  What an incredible day full of blessing galore!

Welcome to the world, Harper and Jack!  We love you both.

We have a RENTAL? What?!?!

Mikey and I have talked about moving for a long time...and decided in the fall of 2011 to try to sell our house ...

We listed it for sale in October 2011...and gave up in April 2012.  

If you've never tried to sell a house...let me tell you:  IT SUCKS!  
If you've never tried to sell a house with two toddlers living in it...let me tell you:  IT REALLY SUCKS! 

We had over 50 showings during that time, and a lot of positive feedback, but nobody bit.  Having to keep the house in showing condition and cleaning every.single.time. we left the house "just in case" someone called was truly exhausting.

We gave up the idea of selling in April, but then decided to try our hand at renting.  Starting August 10, 2012...we officially rented our house and moved in with  Mikey's parents.  We actually rented it super fast, and due to some school district stuff, we had to move out completely in less than 4 days, and guess what:  IT SUCKED!

Man-oh-Man....am I Captain Whiney or what?  It was all worth it and the renters have been good so far.  Hoping that continues!

Living with Mikey's parents has been interesting.  They are awesome and completely welcoming and helpful and hospitable.  It's just hard having your family's mess in somebody else's house.  I was always a bit stressed about that...not to mention fitting all our stuff into their house wasn't the easiest thing to do.

After 3.5 months there, we moved in with my parents, and have been here for a few weeks. Luckily, we recently found a house we hope to buy in January, so we will have our own place in a few more weeks.  Woo-hoo!

4 Month Hiatus

I can't believe I have been away from my blog for 4 entire months.  I've thought about it often, but just can't seem to find the time or motivation to update it.  I want to get back into the groove so I can at least have a little documentation of life, since it seems to be FLYING by.

So much has happened since my last post, here are some majors that I intend to dedicate individual posts to ASAP:

- July 25th:  Jack Ward AND Harper Kate Stravelakis were born on the SAME DAY!
- August 10th:  We moved out of our house, rented it and have been living with family since.
- August 12th:  Mikey's Grandpa Jim passed away.
- September:  Mikey's Mamaw got diagnosed with bladder cancer.
- September:  Parks and Marlee started 2 mornings a week at "Children's Morning Out" at the Methodist Church.
- October 3rd:  Unexpectedly got a positive at-home pregnancy test.
- October 4th: Went to the OB doctor and discovered I was 8.5 weeks pregnant!
- October 27th:  Spent half the night in the ER getting fluids and meds from a nasty GI bug.  Not fun.
- November 18th:  Went under contract on a new house for our family!


I feel like there are lots more "BIG" things that have happened, but I can't think of them right now.  I will hopefully add them as they come to me.  Baby post coming next!!!  Woo-hoo.

Birthday Party at the Beach

My mom recently celebrated a momentous birthday!  We decided to take a family beach trip to celebrate...and headed down to Pensacola for the week of July 16th.  Mom, Dad, Aunt Libby, Patrick, Mikey, Parks, Marlee and me.  We stayed at "Portofino" in Pensacola and had a blast.  The water was CRYSTAL clear and the sand was clean and soft and white.  I haven't been to the gulf in years, but I was very impressed.  So pretty!

Unfortunately we did have quite a bit of rain (especially after Mikey showed up on Tuesday...he had to work the first part of the week).

Here's our trip in pictures...

over 1 million $ and counting on the ceiling, walls, etc.
hope they have a good fire policy!

Waiting to see the Blue Angels at "Crabs"

Upside Down Angel

Our view of the beach (the other end of the porch gave views of the sound)

Inked

Fun

One of the better pictures of my dad

The famous Jim Murray smile

Aunt Lib and Pat at Maguires

Jungle Jim Time

Sup

Patrick loves Lucy  :)

Our view of the sound and 2 of the 5 towers at Portofino

Sister Sister

Crossword Cheating

Patrick OWNED the kitchen
Frying up some oysters here

Motorcyclin Mama

Nice dinner!!

My wonderful parents and daughter

LOVE THIS

Marlee pre head injury  :(

Beachin with Uncle Pat

I want to eat sand

The crew, minus Mikey and Me

2 babies

Lib getting inked

Diapers FULL of sand

Matching Daddy and Parko

after 3 attempts, this was the BEST picture my dad got of us

Liberachhi and Mikey

Just walking on the dock wit my gramps

The beach wears babies flat out

Only family beach pic....dumb weather  :(

Getting out the cowboy boots and packing up the bathing suits