Thanksgiving in Western Kentucky

Jennifer and I were both off from work this year and decided to make the trip back to McLean County to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. After Jennifer got off work Tuesday morning we finished packing up everything we needed and started on our 3 hour journey. Thankfully all my passengers slept for the first half of the trip. We stopped in Elizabethtown to get gas and let the kids get out for a little bit. We arrived in Livermore and came in to see grandpa. A few minutes later grandma arrived with our first treat, lunch from Island Dairy Freeze.

Jennifer and I took advantage of being around the grandparents and we headed out for a date night to see the new Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire. When we got back Uncle McKinley had arrived and was helping grandma and grandpa with the kids. They were trying to keep Landon calm because he was hungry. (They didn't see the other 2 bottles of milk in the fridge.) This first night was miserable for all of us because neither one of the kids slept well. (Brinley has a tendency to do this on her first night in a new place.) I had to get up 3 or 4 times with Brinley because Jennifer was busy trying to keep Landon calm.
Wednesday we packed up all of our stuff for the day and headed to Owensboro. Our first stop was our favorite restaurant in town, Real Hacienda. After lunch we looked around a couple of stores and then headed out to the Daviess County Library. Brinley was exhausted from not sleeping the night before so Jennifer stayed in the car with her while she napped. I took Landon in so that grandma could show him off to all her former co-workers. After our visit at the library we needed to waste a little time so we headed to the Owensboro Museum. Brinley had a lot of fun playing, running around and going down all the slides in the play area.

Brinley and Landon rocking at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Landon hanging out with the McLean County boys.

Landon showing off his muscles with Uncle McKinley.

Playing at the Owensboro Museum. It was pretty neat. They had a tunnel that went outside the building and over top of the sidewalk.

Our next stop was out to our cousin Tricia's house to visit some family. (We were not going to be able to do anything on Friday with them like we usually do because we had to come back for Jennifer to work Friday night. We got to see our cousins from Ohio, who we have always enjoyed getting to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with. They of course enjoyed getting to see and play with Brinley and Landon. We also played a few games and just spent the night catching up on everything. We really missed getting to see my Uncle Don, Aunt Angelena, cousin Kenneth, Erica and Bob.

Cousin Kasey and Landon!

Cousins Kyli Jo and Crystal with Landon!

Brinley just loved this stuffed animal bear. The bear is dressed to go hunting and Brinley kept picking up his binoculars and looking through them. (Not sure where she picks this stuff up from.)

Thanksgiving morning we all got up and started our day by watching some of the Macy's Day Parade on TV. After we all got ready we headed to Owensboro for our first Thanksgiving stop at my Aunt Mary Ruth's house. Here we got to see the rest of our cousins on my mother's side of the family. For most of them this was the first time that they got to meet Landon. Brinley wasn't in a very playful mood for most of the afternoon, so she pretty much stayed attached to either Jennifer or myself. After lunch we played outside a little bit and then I took pictures of all the families that were there.

Only picture I was able to get of Uncle Michael.

Taylor playing with the Ohio girls.

Cousin Bernie playing with his buddy Landon.

Bernie and McKinley decided to have the kids play chicken. Brinley was not a fan!

Brinley needed to get outdoors so Uncle McKinley decided to play in the leaves with her. 

3 of the 5 Siblings - Mary Ruth, Rickie and Shelia 

The Forwerck's

The Payne's

The Burns Girls

The Vance Girls

The Ward's

Our family minus Andrea

Our little family

Playing with my little girl. I do believe that she is a daddy's girl!

It won't be too long until our little girl is driving. She really enjoys pushing all the buttons and switches on the drivers side.

We had to leave early because Jennifer's family was having a Thanksgiving dinner and we needed to get over and see them. After we made it to Amanda's house both Brinley and I fell asleep before it was time to eat. We all enjoyed our meal and even Great Granddaddy Clayton and Memom showed up to visit. I had to cut my time short because I wanted to get out and see all the crazies for early Black Friday shopping at the local Wal-Mart. (That is a whole other story.)

Jennifer with her mother and sisters.

We really enjoyed our time back home in McLean County and I know that grandma and grandpa really enjoyed getting to have their grandkids over to visit their home. (Even though most of the time was spent keeping Brinley from breaking everything within her reach.) Brinley also really enjoyed playing the piano during her visit which really thrilled grandpa. I hope all of you had a wonderful time on your Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Christmas Traditions

After Jennifer and I got married we decided that we would start some of our own family traditions. The two that we have continued during Christmas are making a gingerbread house and getting each other an ornament. This year we got to include Landon in the family traditions. We decided a few years ago that instead of wrapping the ornaments we got for each other and opening them on Christmas that we would instead exchange ornaments when we put up the Christmas tree. This way we can enjoy the new ornaments during the year we bought them. Here are this year's ornaments

This is Jennifer's ornament - our family as reindeer.

Landon's first ornament!

Brinley's ornament - this girl loves Mike and Sully!

My ornament - Crush and Squirt (Father and son)

This morning it was raining and nasty out so instead of going out to do anything we opted to stay indoors and make our gingerbread house. The gingerbread house decorating has definitely gotten interesting the past two years with the children now getting to help in the decorating. We made Brinley her own little piping bag and let her loose, while Landon just got some icing put on his hands and we just waited to see how much he could get on his piece of the house.

Jennifer always ends up making her side look so much better than mine. It is always so disappointing.

Maybe I could blame it this year on the fact that I was a little tired.

The kids patiently waiting for their side to decorate.

Brinley patting little Landon on the head. She is usually a pretty good big sister.

Brinley piping her icing on.

She doesn't even have to be looking at the gingerbread to continue piping her design.

Landon with his finger painting technique.

Our little man is getting so big!

It didn't take long for him to realize that if it was on his fingers then it could go in his mouth. So, I guess that royal icing is technically his first food.

Brinley telling us she wants some candy decorations to add on.

Jennifer always waits until everyone is finished and then comes in and makes changes to her design which make her's look awesome and mine look like a kindergarten project.

Finished product - this is Jennifer's front door and roof.

Side view of Jennifer's roof and Landon's wall.

Here is my part of the house - back of the house and roof made of cinnamon toast crunch.

Side view of my roof and Brinley's wall.

I can't wait to see what are future gingerbread houses look like. In a few years we might even have to expand to a village because Jennifer and I enjoy decorating as much as the kids do. Are there any holiday traditions that you do with your family? We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanks for reading and God Bless!

13 Years

Most people are not as lucky as myself. Some people go their whole lives without winning the lottery or that big prize in life. I am one of those lucky ones that was able to strike it rich 13 years ago today. Do you not remember seeing my picture in the paper holding up a big over-sized check. Well, that's because I won a different type of lottery, the spouse lottery.

Not many 15 year old kids are out searching for their lifelong soul mate, but that is exactly what I found in Jennifer Bolton. The story of how we started dating is neat and a story that you probably see less and less in today's society. Jennifer and I first met in the 5th grade when the school she was attending closed down and combined with my school, Livermore Elementary. However, I do not remember her at all (probably due to her shy personality). We went through middle school and our entire freshmen year of high school without interacting except for maybe a class or two occasionally. At best I could have told you her name, but probably not a single thing more than that.

The summer between freshmen and sophomore year in high school is when I truly fell in love with Jennifer. My little brother, McKinley told my parents that he didn't want to play baseball when they were having tryouts in Livermore. However, after the time passed to join he decided that he wanted to play. As it turns out the only place that said he could still join was in the neighboring town of Island. You might ask what does McKinley playing baseball have to do with anything, especially Jennifer and myself. Well, it just so happens that a family from Island, the Bolton's, took care of the Island ballpark. Bobby took care of the fields as well as coaching Jennifer's two youngest sisters softball team. While Kara and Jennifer ran the concession stand (I am sure this was against Jennifer's will since she didn't like sports or interacting with people - two things which she had to confront at the concession stand). I was in a similar situation. I love sports, but not so much as a spectator and especially not my little brother's team, but I was forced to attend his games early on that summer.

Over the summer I began to really enjoy going to the games and I really had my eye on Jennifer (My parents thought it was weird that I was interested in seeing McKinley play baseball). My goal was to get her to talk to me and my other goal was to possibly, if lucky enough, go on a date or school dance with her. However, I thought that this was truly a far fetched idea because she was gorgeous and I was me. I didn't really think I had a shot, but I just kept talking to her and praying for the best. Well, the summer ended and I thought that I had really missed my opportunity because now we would be going back to school where Jennifer could see that she had a lot more options than the guy who bothered her at the ballpark all summer long.

However, as luck would have it we had first period together. It was Coach Bowman's computer class. I was so excited to see her in class, but because we arrived at different times we were sitting on different sides of the classroom. So for the next week I would see her and talk with her. I was sure to find her during break and try to talk with her. I was trying to get her to get to class extremely early the next day and just take the person's seat that was sitting next to me in coach's class since we didn't have assigned seats. The next day Jennifer just didn't have the heart to "steal" someone's seat. I could have left things alone, but again I really liked her and I just couldn't give up, at least not yet. So, I just asked the guy that was sitting behind me in class, very nicely, if he didn't mind to switch seats with Jennifer and to my amazement he said he would. From then on every spare moment of class was spent talking to Jennifer and trying to get her to talk back to me.

Football homecoming was approaching and I couldn't get the nerve to ask Jennifer to the dance. I guess that I didn't want to mess up a good thing and I wasn't sure that she even liked me because I could barely get her to talk to me. However, about a week or two before the dance I finally got up the courage to ask her to the dance. To my surprise and answer to my prayers she actually said yes. I still wasn't sure if she liked me or if she was just too nice to say no. At some point I also asked for her phone number and we started talking every night after I got home from football practice.

The night of the dance arrived and of coarse I was playing in the football game, so I didn't get a chance to see her until after the game. She looked amazing! I gave her a corsage and we headed into the dance. Neither one of us were big into dancing, especially not any fast songs. We got our pictures made and then we danced together for the first time to Joe "I wanna know". In between slow songs we would just stand to the side of the dance area and chat. At the end of the night we were saying bye to everyone and I noticed that Jennifer hugged a couple of the other football players. I was devastated because I had been talking to her for a couple months now and I had never gotten a hug. I figured that our relationship was going to end up as just friends. My sister, Andrea drove us home that night and I walked Jennifer to her door and we said our goodbyes and I gave her a hug goodnight.

This also started the week of fall break so I thought that I wouldn't get to see her for another 10 days. Her family was planning a week long trip to French Lick, IN. It just so happens that her mother needed to come back for a photography class that she had signed up for. So, Jennifer called me and asked if I wanted to go to the movies with her while her mom went to the class. I quickly agreed to a second date. Since we were not able to drive we had to be dropped off at the movies. We went to Malco Theatre in Owensboro and saw Meet the Parents. Afterwards we rode back to McLean County and they dropped me off at my house and we said goodbye. I had planned on asking her to be my "girlfriend", but I could never find the words to say or when to say them.

The next morning I had football practice and I got up early to get ready. Something made me want to call Jennifer to talk. After the dance I thought we would just be friends and then when she asked me to the movies it let me know that maybe she did like me back. So I called Jennifer around 7:30 in the morning and I asked her to be my girlfriend and she said yes! I was so excited, but it would be another 3 days before I would actually get to see her.

A few weeks later after a football game we took her home. I walked her to the door as usual, but this time I asked her for a kiss. She said yes and I couldn't have been any happier. We have been inseparable ever since. We have been together through almost all our big milestones in life together. Things haven't always been easy, but we have worked things out together and have always been each other's biggest supporter in whatever we were trying to do. We have now been together as a couple for 13 years, married for 6 and a half of those years and I couldn't be any happier. Like I said earlier, I won the lottery when I found Jennifer. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

As Paul Harvey would say "And here's the rest of the story". Jennifer told me this story later on after we have been dating for a while. It turns out that I wasn't the only person interested in Jennifer at the beginning of the our sophomore year. A day or two before I asked her to the homecoming dance, another guy in school asked her to the dance and she said that she wasn't going to the dance. She turned him down because she was hoping that I would ask her to the dance. I am glad that I didn't miss my chance!

Life with TWO!

Just over 16 months ago we were 1st time parents and were trying to adapt to our new lifestyle of little to no sleep and a little baby that ruled the house hold. No longer could any decisions be made without thinking first about how it would work with Brinley. Any task that needed to be done quickly turned into a full blown event. A simple trip to the grocery required a diaper bag filled with every imaginable item- like extra diapers, spare clothes, bibs, pacifier, back up pacifier, and of coarse enough milk to last the whole time. If we thought on the off chance that we would be doing anything else then even more things had to be packed like the breast pump and all 20 parts along with a cooler for the milk. So, we tried to limit trips out unless we felt it was truly worth packing all the stuff. It truly amazes me how much could be needed for such a little person.

Brinley loves her little brother!

The jury is still out if Landon feels the same!

After we found out about Landon we were both extremely nervous about what our future held. I was asking people with children that were born rather close together for any advice they might have for us. It was funny that about half the people didn't have many complaints (one friend even said she thought it was easier with two) yet others said they struggled for many years trying to care for two young children. This gave us hope and also struck some major fears.

The Thinker

A lot of this fear stemmed from the fact that Brinley was not a very good eater for the first 3 months. Brinley's feedings were a battle of endurance and most days she won because it was just so frustrating. This was especially hard because we both work with children and we just couldn't figure it out. It always seemed like she would eat good for us during the week and then as soon as normal business hours were over (doctors office closed) then she would refuse to eat. This prompted a few visits to the Twilight Clinic because we didn't know if something else could be wrong. In the end she had reflux and a little medicine fixed her right up.

Were we about to endure another 3 months of torture? Well, we were about to find out. This second pregnancy seemed like it flew by when the first took forever, when in fact Landon stayed in the womb 5 days longer than his sister. From the moment Landon has arrived, in dramatic fashion, he has been nothing but a little blessing. He has been a good eater, sleeps decent (best when held) and doesn't cry nearly as much as what I remember Brinley did. Two months into our journey with two children and I would say that it has definitely been easier the second time around. (ASK me again in a few months!)

Landon loves to be held while sleeping, but Brinley doesn't want to miss out either.

Mommy and the kiddos!

Me and my little mini me!

However, for any of you rushing out there to have almost "Irish twins" you need to realize that we are in a completely different occupational situation than most. With Jennifer and I both being nurses at the hospital we don't work normal 8-5 jobs. In fact, after Brinley was born we both took new positions with the hospital to ensure that one of us could be at home with her at all times. We didn't have any family here in Lexington at the time that could watch her and there are not day cares open during night shift. So, with our new jobs we both only work 2 days a week and we are never scheduled at the same time, therefore leaving 3 days off a week to spend as a family.

After coming home from the hospital with Landon we kind of split child duties between the two kids. I was able to take 6 weeks off to stay at home and spend time bonding with my new son. Since Landon was spending a lot of time breastfeeding, Jennifer would primarily take care of him and I would run around and take care of Brinley. This worked great for me because Brinley plays most of the day and she can now drink and eat by herself as well as sleeps about 12 hours a night. Jennifer however drew the short straw and was left getting up in the middle of the night to feed Landon. However, things are about to really change because Jennifer's nine weeks of maternity leave are over tonight and I will be in charge of both little ones for 12 hours while mommy is at work. I will be interested to see how things go, because for the past 8 weeks I have been sleeping through every time that Landon wakes up to feed at night. (Jennifer swears that I slept through Brinley's screams when she was at work because she always slept through the night for me and never for her.) Luckily my parents were coming to visit this weekend, so I have one more weekend until I get my real solo test with both kids.

Our beautiful little kiddos!

So, with all the stuff that we packed with just Brinley then you would naturally think that we have twice as much to gather up every time we head out. That would be an incorrect statement because in fact I think we pack even less now. The only real issue when heading out anywhere is if you have to go out by yourself. This is difficult because now you are outnumbered and it seems like they both are fighting for your attention. If Landon gets upset and you go to pick him up, then Brinley at that precise moment wants nothing else in the world than to be held by you. I will tell you this - there is never a dull moment in this house hold and I am not sure when things might calm down.

Brinley always wants to be held when mommy is holding Landon. The moby wrap has been a lifesaver. Thanks Kasey for letting us borrow it!

I hope when we get our routine down I will have a little more free time to chronicle our adventures as a family of four. Jennifer and I couldn't be more happy with the two wonderful blessings that we have been given the opportunity to raise. Brinley and Landon are two of the most precious gifts that I have been given and I can't wait to see them grow. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Our little family!