Dern allergies

Allergies, allergies, allergies. My baby is SUFFERING! He has a hard enough time with his food allergies, but these seasonal ones are taking a toll on his little body. He is sneezing, coughing, itching, and has a raspy throat. On top of that he has a horrid rash that is swollen and itching him pretty bad. Everyday he takes zyrtek, singulair, a probiotic and every day this week I've given him benadryl. He has 2 creams for his skin right now too. One for his eczema and another for this rash. My heart is aching for him and I wish I could just take it all away for him. He has an appointment with his allergist next week so hopefully we can figure something to provide him some relief. I am over him feeling bad although I am thankful it is nothing more serious. I am just sad to see him feel achy and grouchy because he can't breathe or stop itching. Through it all, though, and in true Major form he hasn't slowed down much. He still asks to play outside even though that makes his allergies worse. I just can't keep him in a bubble, you know. I just hose him down real good, wash his sheets and blankets often and pray for some relief for him.

Here's to hoping the rest of spring isn't so ugly to him and that he gets a break from sneezing, itching and coughing soon.

Asheville Getaway

Josh decided to surprise me with a much, much needed weekend getaway. He said he researched for weeks about where to go and decided on Asheville because of this adorable little bed and breakfast. We had never stayed in a bed and breakfast before, but it was so much fun and super relaxing.

The Biltmore Village Inn
picture via:  http://www.biltmorevillageinn.com/

This is what we drove up to! 

Before heading to North Carolina, I really had no background on the Biltmore other than it was the largest home in America. I learned a ton about the Vanderbilt family and also about the history of the B&B.

Josh and I actually stayed in a private cottage at the back of the main house. We had our own little private getaway (called the honeymoon house) :) Since we were the youngest couple there by a good 4 decades, it was nice to have some privacy outside of the main house while still having all the amenities that the house offered. We spent a lot of time on the little porch and were directly across from the pergola, fire pit and mountain views! 

Anyway, we arrived on Friday night, about 6ish, checked in, had dinner and just relaxed. On Saturday, we were going to drive part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and hike, but rain and road construction detoured our plans so we went to the Biltmore instead. We were very reluctant at first, but I am so happy that we did. The story and history behind the house is truly amazing. 

 Us waiting to go into the Biltmore

 Just looking at this picture, it's hard to understand the grandeur of this house. It really was amazing to be inside of it and to learn about how it was built.

 Me in front of the beautiful tulips (my favorite)

They had gorgeous gardens and a conservatory with the most amazingly beautiful plants. I kill everything that I try to grow, so I felt pretty amazed by how many plants and flowers there were and how beautiful they were.

Us in front of Bass Pond

We just had the best time being together. It was nice to go to bed a little early, sleep a little late, eat too much, have a glass of wine, visit new places and learn new things. I appreciated Josh's effort to make this time for us. We needed it. We talked a lot and laughed a ton. It was so nice to reconnect a little bit. We did miss Major, but he had fun and was well taken care of which made it easy for us to enjoy every second :) Even though we don't get to do this often or even get to have dinner alone often, I'm so grateful for a husband who takes the time to make "us" a priority still.

Stinkin' Thief

I just created a board on pinterest.....called Major's 5th birthday.

Hold the dern phone....

How in the world is that even possible? FIVE years old. FIVE. 1.2.3.4.5! A whole hand. No, stop you stinking time thief. Stop it. Don't take my baby away. 

 It's the craziest thing. I've spent every day for over 4 years with this precious face... 

but still when I think about how fast 5 years has come, it's crazy. There are days when I really miss my fat, funny, happy all the time sweet BABY but other times I am so happy that Major is big now. He's still funny, busy and sweet but now things are easy with him. He is at the age where we can travel or take him to experience some really cool things. There are definitely good things about him growing up and  the inevitable is gonna happen, but I want to sllllooooowwwww it down. Why oh why must time go so fast? I'm trying to soak up and cherish every second because I know that when I blink he will be 18. Waaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. :(

 

Proud Mama

Little Dude kept me on my toes today. We were stuck inside all day after church and my active little man was going bananas. He was so good though to be cooped up, just wild busy :)

He was doing and saying funny things all day today too. I got a few on camera and wrote the others in his quote book. This post was started though to say how lucky I am to be his Mama. His bedtime routine is always the same and normally he asks Josh or I to start his prayers then he adds who/what he wants to pray for. Tonight, though, he asked to say the prayer himself. It went like this:
"Dear God, thank you for this day and thank you for my blessings. Thank you for my family and my food, thank you for getting us home safe from church in the snow. Thank you for my daddy and please keep him safe at work. Thank you for my family (he said that twice :)) In your name I pray, Amen.

It just makes me so happy and melts my heart to hear him talking to God that way. Although completely sinful and full of failures every day, I am so glad that God gives us some type of provision and guidance to teach Major that God loves him more than anything else. My heart is overflowing with gratitude to God for choosing Major for us. He is everything to me and I am so proud of him. 

Love

I'm not a big Valentine's day person, but I can't let this day pass without saying how much I love my husband and how grateful I am for him. I think this is Valentine's day 13....regardless, I am so thankful to share my life with him.

-Insert adorable picture here-

I suck at taking pictures of the two of us. I need to be better about that. I guess as Major gets older he can do it but as of now most of our pictures in the last 4 years also include Major, but that's how we like it.

Back to my lovie shout out: In all seriousness, I am really just over the moon blessed to call Josh my husband. He loves me fully and completely. He loves me and my imperfections. We've shared the majority of our lives together and honestly I can say I am a much better person for having him in my world. I am grateful for every day I have with him even though I take advantage of it often. I forget to thank him, I nag him, I don't cut him enough slack. Together we fail in our relationship, we fail as parents, we may get angry with each other or on each others nerves, but at the end of the day, we are in each other's corner. We are deeply in love and committed to this crazy life we have created together. Blessed, thankful, grateful, those words just aren't enough to describe my gratitude to God for allowing us to share our lives with each other.  I would be nothing without him and am happy for every moment that we are able to spend together. Happy Valentine's Day Babe, I love you so much.

Quick lil fix

I've had my craft room for about a year or so now. It is still a work in progress but is mostly a hodge podge of all the other stuff the in house that didn't fit anywhere. Most of the stuff in there already needs sprucing up and when I say sprucing, I mean replacing in many instances. My ironing board is a disaster. It gets used all the time, for everything. It is on the door of the closet, which isn't ideal but it's where it is, so it constantly goes up and down, up and down. Anyway, it is nasty:

 Told ya. See all those stains and such? So nasty. And lets not even talk about how I tolerated those wretched blue stripes for over a year. I didn't even realize how bad they were til now. 

So anyway, I was browsing Pinterest and saw this tuitorial. It spoke to me. I went and got some cute, but not on sale fabric.....fail.....and got to work. I didn't do awesome. I tweaked it, it still wasn't working great, so like most everything else, I winged it. It is a little too small, but I have enough fabric to try again. Here is the new:

Doesn't it look so much better? I think so! 

I actually love it so much that I am about to do the curtains in the same fabric and have my old I mean loved chairs recovered.

Anyway, it makes me feel better seeing this rather than that nasty ole thing that I had before, even if this one isn't perfect. :)

I don't deserve this

There are days that go by that I take my life for granted. I take my husband and my child for granted. I take the amazing blessings that God has given me for granted. I don't deserve the life that I have, but I am so grateful that God felt that I did.

 My life would be empty and boring and without purpose without these 2 in my life, well 3, Tillie counts now too. :) I am fulfilled and humbled my God's grace and generosity in my life. I never want to disappoint Him or take the blessings He has allowed me to have for granted. My prayer is that I am aware everyday of how lucky and blessed I really am. These guys are everything to me.