Mini-Vacation

Oh my, I have so much to write about. This summer has really gotten away from me and so much is going on. I can't wait to fill you all in. I must start at the beginning and let you know of each little event.

First things first. At the end of July I had the opportunity to travel north a little. I flew in here... But my final destination was really to Connecticut and here...

The Mohegan Sun Area. You guess it, I was going to see this little lady....

I went up there to hang out with Kara and her husband Damien and watch 2 of Kara's games. It was so much fun and so relaxing. Here is a shot of her with her team before the game. Kara is all the way at the end standing next the mascot.

I just love the start of the games and all the hype that goes with them. Here she is running out as a starter!

I was also able to catch a practice. Kara is hates to loose, even when it comes to drills in practice. They did some shooting game and her team won all of them. Are you surprised, you shouldn't be.

One really neat thing we got to do was get to the games really early. They have an area where the family members of the players can go and eat before, during and after the games. Damien and I chose to go and sit on the bench before the games and watch the players warm up. I thought that was really neat and totally surprised that no one told me to move because I was not supposed to be there. I guess since I was with Damien (and everyone loves Damien - he is just so nice!) they just let me do whatever.

One creepy thing happened. The night of the second game (I had been in CT for 3 days) this guy I had never seen before (and neither had Damien) came up to me from behind. He said, "Are you enjoying your visit?" Since I could not see who it was, I just assumed that it was one of the people that work for the Sun, I just replied, "Yes, thanks!" As I turned to see who it was I realized I didn't know him, nor had met him. Damien looked at me and asked, "Who was that?" I said, "I have no idea, you tell me. I thought you knew everyone!" He said, "I have never seen him before in my life! Crazy, fans know everything!!!"

I was so creeped out that when I went to by a Sun shirt with Kara's name on it I immediately put it on so that I had on a different shirt and maybe, just maybe he would not see me. I never saw him again, but it was so creepy!
On another note, Damien got interviewed by a local TV station about how he and Kara moved to CT and what life is like for him and Kara. He is just the sweetest husband and does so much for Kara. He really is perfect for her and I love him for it!!!

One night while I was there we went this restaurant. The Watch Dog. It was so good. D and I got the tuna and it was to die for.

We were lucky enough to be joined by these two. Coach and Mrs. Thibault. It is Kara's coach and his wife. They are some of the nicest people and have really made Kara and Damien feel at home. It was so nice to get to know them better.

The view from the dock behind the restaurant was beautiful. CT is a really pretty place.

Please ignore my hair. It was so humid up there and this is what happens! Ha! I do love these two so much!

I love this girl. She has been an amazing friend for years. I am so glad that we have remained so close. She is so wonderful and an amazing basketball player. We are hoping that she makes the USA team this year so she can represent the US at the World Championships! She did score the most points in the gold medal game at the Olympics - so in my book that should count for something!!!

So the trip was amazing and I had so much fun with Kara! I can't wait to see her again soon!

love always,

It's a....

BOY! Maxwell Thomas Greene arrived on Monday, August 2, 2010! He was 7lbs 14oz and 20.5 in long. He is such a cutie and I am so happy for Gail and Derek. It was not an easy day, but he arrived a perfect bundle of joy! So if you are friends of Derek on facebook, head on over there for more pictures and see the sweet baby! Yay for more babies!!!!

shower

Last weekend I was invited to a baby shower. I was super excited to go because I had yet to meet the mama-to-be and I was dying to meet her. Some of you will recognize the guy in the picture below....

Yep, Derek Greene is not only a husband, but in a few days (yes, days- Gail was 12 days from her due date when this was taken!) he is going to be a very proud Daddy! I am so excited for these two! They have chosen to not find out if they are having a boy or a girl so we will have to wait and see what they are having. My vote is for a girl! Really I only say that because I want Derek to have a girl. Gail is AMAZING and perfect for Derek. She is so nice and I really enjoyed getting to talk with her and share some stories of when Derek was my soccer coach. I can't wait until I see them again and I get to snuggle the newest member of their family!

I will keep everyone posted on when "little Green" make his or her entrance into the world and will try to post some pictures! Yay for babies!!!

love always,

when bugs attack

So a couple of weeks ago Andy and I took a trip up to Norris lake to hang out at his aunt and uncle's lake house. While we were up there Andy was walking down the steps of their dock he looked down and saw a wasp. He said that he was about to tell Uncle Ben that there was a nest when the wasp flew towards him and stung him on his foot. After he got stung he calmly told Uncle Ben about the nest and they sprayed it and that was it. By the time that Andy made it to the house (I was in the house while all of this was going on.) his foot was starting to swell. He didn't complain much at all and when we took another look at it after dinner it was so swollen that I said that it looked like a Fred Flintstones foot and you could see the indention from his flip flops. We gave him some benedryl and we went home. For the next few days when I would ask, Andy is not a complainer (I make up for all of his lack of complaining), he would say that his foot was still swollen and itched. It finally went away and we though that we were done with the wasp incidents. Well that was until Monday.

Andy went out to some job site to work on his bobcat. He called me and again calmly told me that he had gotten stung by another wasp, but this time in his arm. I asked if he was okay and he said yeah, but it is kind of swollen. When he got home, he was not kidding. His arm was swollen and red. Here are some of the pictures that I took on Tuesday night. Remember he was stung on Monday morning so this is well after the worst of it.

I love his face in this one. Not sure what he was looking at.

You can tell that the arm on the right (his left) is a bit bigger than the other one.

Finally got a smile out of him.
Now this one you can really tell how swollen it was.

This one you can kind of tell.

Now take a look at that lump on the outside of his arm.

It was scary, but he lived to tell about it.
I would like to report that he has healed and back to normal.

And thank goodness, I guess we just need to steer clear of a wasps for the rest of the summer. It is also a good thing that he was the one stung. I am not sure that I would have been as calm. I am such a baby about stuff like that.

love always,

happy

I am so HAPPY for all of them.

Lots of exciting this have been announced with our friends lately. Mostly it has carried the theme of people having or adopting babies. What a wonderful thing it is to add a whole new, and tiny person to your family. I love watching people as new parents and the tenderness that fills their hearts for their child and children all around. I love watching them become more patient and less selfish. The transformation is amazing. The joy in their eyes of those that are recently pregnant. The excitement that they have in the waiting for months to meet their newest family member. It is all so sweet and fun to watch.

So to all of our friends, recently pregnant, those about to have their babies, those who have just had or adopted a baby and those that have children- we love you all, we love your children and are so happy to be a part of you life. We love watching you parent and seeing your heart and love for your children. Thanks for letting us love your children just as we love you.

love always,

PS: I have a post to go with the above picture but I have not gotten around to posting it. So there is your sneak peek!

I love these kids!

Yesterday I got to babysit my favorite kiddos! I got to watch Reece and Hayden. They are so much fun and too cute. Both were dealing with battle wounds, but were just as precious as they could be.

This little guy had an ear infection and had just been to the doctor. He could not make up his mind about if he wanted me to hold him or put him on the floor to play. This was the face he gave me while he was deciding.

Then once he noticed the camera turned his innocent sweet face on. This is how earache free he normally is. Such a sweet sweet boy. This one got hit in the nose at school right before I was supposed to pick her up. You can notice the remnants of a bloody nose. She was such a trooper and never complained when it needed to be wiped and was so helpful and all smiles while I was with her. Love this girl.

I got her to sing for the camera. I love her little voice and accent. I try to get her to sing and talk all the time just to hear her adorable voice.

I will admit that I was exhausted but it was totally worth it. I would do it again tomorrow!

love always,

4th of July

Every 4th of July we spend the weekend down at Meme's (Andy's grandmother) lake house with all of Andy's extended family. They all come into town from various cities and we hang out for a long weekend at the best lake house in town. This year we had the two newest members of the family join us. Most of us were meeting the darling babies for the first time. Nora and Alice were beyond awesome! They are such good babies that just loved every new person they met. They smiled almost the whole time and went to everyone that was willing to hold them. The fact that they are twins was awesome because everyone was able to get their baby fix in!





Here is the whole crew!
front row: Amy, Megan, Cally, Danielle, Jeff, Cameron
middle row: Alice, Jessica, Bartlette, Hayes, Meme, Donnie, Jenny, Bill
back row: Nora, Rhys, Scott, Todd, Andy

Here we are showing our true side! We can only be serious for so long!

Introducing Alice (left) and Nora (right)! They are so cute!

Here is the Yancey clan!

(L to R): Jenny, Meme, Bart, and Amy

While we were down there we celebrated Danielle turning 25! Happy Birthday Danielle! Cally made this awesome fruit pizza!

I love this next picture for so many reasons. Andy is great with kids (in this case Alice) and gosh he is so cute.

Amy got this picture because Danielle and I were both wearing brown swim suits and holding the babies! Danielle has Nora and I have Alice. Also Alice is teething and that was a frozen washcloth that she was chewing on.

Jeff and Danielle with Nora.

We were finally able to get these kids naked! Here they are on a towel on the dock. Alice is on the left and Nora on the right. Yes, they were this happy all weekend. Even when we had to keep them awake from 4-7 each night.

Here is Alice sitting up unassisted for the first time. Rhys is there to catch her just in case but she was amazing.

I think this is my favorite picture from the weekend. Just so sweet!! Here was Meme with Alice right after a bottle. I guess she just needs more time with Meme because they put her down for her nap just after this picture was taken and she slept for 2 hours. I think that is a record for little Alice.

We didn't just hang out with the twins! We did go out in the 3 boats we had at the house. Here are the girls on the boat: Meme, Cally, Megan, Hayes and Amy.

Boys on a boat: Andy, Todd, Scott and Rhys

Bill and Amy

Jenny and Donnie

Here is Bill surfing behind the boat! Check out his moves!

Cally getting a grab for the first time. She is an awesome wake boarder and getting better each year!

I love this picture. Andy is an unbelievable skier. Here is a shot Amy got from the weekend.

All photo credit goes to Amy and Bill.

The weekend was so much fun. I can't wait until next year when the babies will be skiing (haha just kidding) and we get together again. Thanks to everyone for making this weekend so much fun. Love you all so much and am so happy to be part of the family!!

love always,