good reason to come back

I know I haven't been blogging lately, but good things happened while I was away!
1. I GOT MARRIED! 6.23.12 best day of my life
2. I HONEYMOONED with my sweet husband for a week!
3. I GOT A PUPPY!
4. MG TURNED 3!
5. (and the real reason I'm here) Keight over at putapuredukes is doing an amazing giveaway for a 100 DOLLAR VISA GIFT CARD!! Who doesn't like free money? Go visit her blog here, try to win, and then come back here in a few weeks!
Good news to come for The Durham Family!

 Love you all!

Things to Know: Important Dates Edition

11.11.11
We got engaged!!!






06.23.12
We're getting married!



07.06.09
This little one will be 3!!!!



I'm back blogger! So be on the lookout for some posts! I can't guarantee how often, but I miss having an outlet. See you back here soon!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

girls night!

it's been so long since I've been out with just girls to have some mommy free time and last night was so much fun! My wonderful friend Stephanie who I work with is turning 29 this weekend and we met up to celebrate her! thanks to my wonderful sister turned aunt who kept MGT last night so I could go! We started the night at La Parrilla and then finished it out at Pints and Paints in Athens, GA (Athens' original art bar!). We were painting "fireflies". This was my first experience with an art class and I was pleased as to how my painting turned out! I can't wait to go back. If you are ever in Athens, please support this local business. The owner Abby is amazing and the place is just plain cool. it has definitely inspired me to paint on my own! Here are some pictures from the night!

fall fun!

John and I took B and MG to the Kinsey Family Farm in Gainesville, GA yesterday for some pumpkin picking, hay riding, goat and cow feeding, fun times! We all have had so much fun and it is so great watching these two interact. I am truly blessed with these three people in my life!

our next stops on the fall family fun train include: Corn Dawgz and Scoutland for a family camping trip with B's cub scout den! stay tuned.

has it been that long, really?

hello dear blogger,

life has changed so much since I last updated. I won't bore you all with the crazy details, but the main reason for all the changes can be explained by this one reason, we fell in love, myself and Molly Grace, with these two handsome boys....

Brayden and John

again, i'll spare you the details, but y'all he's the best. and we are so lucky. God is so good, and Molly Grace loves her "daddy". He is the best example and the best dad. Since the minute he and MG met they have formed an incredible bond and you would never know that he is not her biological father. Just goes to show that in all situations, God's plan for our lives is so much bigger and BETTER than our own plans.

Our family of 2 has doubled and I couldn't be happier. We have spent the last several months having the time of our lives. I have no excuse for not blogging, but I will tell you every minute spent not blogging was spent with my amazing boyfriend, beautiful daughter, and my awesome soon to be stepson.

So, that's pretty much what we've been doing, operating as a family of 4. I wouldn't have it any other way.

MG is now 2! and the happiest, sweetest, and funniest little 2 year old at that.

I'll be better at blogging, if I still have any readers, that is!

unexcused absence

It's been way too long since my last update. Lots of good things going on. While the blog may have be boring lately, this little one it's about is nothing close to that. She's grown (literally) so much since my last post. She is full of personality and every bit as sweet as she is hilarious! Since the reason I can never find time to blog is bc of how many things I have to say, I'll just shut up and provide visual evidence that the blog is the only thing I've been abandoning lately!

Sneak Peek

I promise to have more pictures from our wonderful White Christmas up soon, until then here is a little preview of what our Christmas looked like!

my how much difference a year makes....

The video above is just a little snippet of the longer video of Molly Grace's Santa experience this year. I couldn't email all of it, but basically she wanted nothing to do with Santa, his chair, or his penguin! She did however thoroughly enjoy the peppermint I bribed her to no avail with!

From Last Year to this Year!

2009, MG meets Santa for the first time and is obviously ecstatic!

2010, MG visits Santa and clearly she does not feel the same way. From ecstatic to fearful, all in one year!

It still made for a good pictures, and no tears were shed, which I consider successful! There's always next year!

Only 8 Days Away!

I can't believe Christmas is only 8 day away! MG is slowing learning about Santa and Christmas. If you ask her what Santa says, she repeats proudly "Ho Ho Ho" and if she asks her if she wants to go see Santa she promptly shakes her head "yes". I'm most looking forward to seeing her face on Christmas morning!

I'm excited to be able to teach her what Christmas is all about. I'm hoping that we all remember the real reason for the season instead of focusing on buying all the presents and stressing over everything.

Megan, my younger sister, graduated from KSU on Wednesday and I am so proud of her!

I caught this picture of me and my girl!

She is the sweetest!

We wish you and yours a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Card 2010

Oh Holy Night Religious Christmas Card

Make a statement with personalized Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

17 months

Really? Has it been that long already? When did my baby transform from an infant to a toddler?? To be honest, yesterday, the 6th of December, was actually the day she officially became 17 months, and up until yesterday I would celebrate the 6th of every month in some way. Yesterday came and went and I really didn't think about it. Does that mean I love her any less? Not hardly, in fact I love her more and more each day and I think part of me forgetting temporarily can be attributed to the fact that as much as I want her to remain my baby, she is becoming quite a little young lady.

She is learning what seems to be a new word everyday. I wrote out a list of all the words she can say today, and I'm sure there are more to be added that I can't recall, but here's a little preview of what I get the pleasure of hearing every day!

baby

bye bye

uh oh

mama

please

thank you

hey

ba ba

cup

ball

bubble

duck

cow

Papa

Pawpaw

GG

Mia

Me

tree

book

car

train

cookie

bow

cheese

bag

Moo

Choo Choo

nose

eye

teeth

and last but definitely not the least, no (which I wish I could have left off this list!)

She is repeating things like crazy and mimicking me all the time, in a good way. She is so funny. I just love watching her grow up.

She's doing so much more these days. She loves to read and read aloud to us. She says "Moooooo" anytime she sees a cow. I know there is so much more to update, but I just can't think of what else right now!

I have pictures that I need to post tomorrow.

Hopefully she won't be 18 months before I blog again!

Tis the Season....

To be jolly...

I say "tis the season"... to send Christmas cards!

And what better way to do it than by choosing Shutterfly to make them for you!

I love most everything about Shutterfly. In fact, just this past Friday I was able to get 101 free prints from them and the quality of the pictures that I got yesterday (so fast!) is unbelievable!

I will definitely be using Shutterfly to make my cards this year, and it would be even better if I could get them for free, but I need help choosing which design! Last year I made my own on Picasa, and they were ok, but let's be honest, not Shutterfly quality!

So, here are my front runners!

I'm also thinking I know someone who loves coffee and Molly Grace, wouldn't this be perfect??

Check out these and other designs here. One of my favorites parts of Christmas over the past years has been watching my fridge fill up with cards and pictures of the people I love the most. It is a daily reminder to me of how many people I am so blessed and thankful to know! Time to go take some pictures so I can get my cards out, only 24 days til Christmas!

Could it be true Shutterfly?

So I have read a couple of blogs that say that Shutterfly is giving away 50 free Christmas cards to bloggers! They have the cutest designs and even if it isn't true, I will probably be getting mine through Shutterfly anyway! Check them out!

my dream

One of my favorite TV shows is "Friday Night Lights". My friend Bret discovered his love for FNL and then decided it was something I need to love as well. It took several months, but I finally watched my first episode and fell in love instantly.

It's just one of those shows that makes you feel good. It can make you like a once "bad" character that at first you hated. It's just plain good and if you haven't watched it, you definitely should.

I was re-watching season 4 the other day and there was this one scene where Tammy Taylor (the wife of head football coach, Eric Taylor) was talking to her daughter Julie about deciding which college she should go to because Julie was trying to make her mom's dream come true and this is what she told her:

"You're my dream, baby. I got what I wanted. I got it all, and now it's your job to dream up whatever you want and I will support you to the ends of the earth to do that."

I had watched that same scene before but this time, it had me in tears. Years ago, my dream would not have been to be at mom at 23 but now, it is my dream. I love it and those words spoken from a fictional mom on TV describe what I feel for MG.

And that is one of the many reasons why I love Friday Night Lights.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose.

Moving and Change

So....

I recently read a post from Sarah at To Him Belong about being SOOC or "straight out of the camera". She talked about how we sometimes edit our lives to make it look like everything is perfect when really there are hard things going on. You should definitely read it here.

Here's is my attempt at being real and SOOC.

My cousin/roomie, Kim, decided a couple of months ago to apply for a mission trip called The World Race, where she will travel to 11 different countries in 11 months. She was accepted and will be leaving July 1. Only 5 days shy of MG's 2nd birthday. While I am so so so happy for her and know this is all in God's plan, it leaves me without a roommate.

Right now, financially, I cannot afford to safely live by myself. I don't know many people that are single and able to be my roommate in the small town that I live in. With that being said, I am left with very few options.

I have decided that what is best for Molly Grace and I right now is to move in with my mother. While I know it will be good for me and my mom, but it is something that is very hard for me to do. I have been out from under my parent's home since I was 18 and I have supported MG on my own for the past year. It is hard for me to accept that I need the help. Honestly, I do though. Although I am a single mom, I have never lived alone with a baby. I truly do not know how people do it, live alone with a baby. I get overwhelmed at the thought of trying to get ready and take care of MG when someone else is not there to occupy her.

So, that's what going on. I am sure God is teaching me something about pride in all this. It has already helped me to see what really counts in life, and that is that MG and I will have a roof over our heads, beds to sleep in, food on the table, and a love between us that doesn't change no matter where we move.

Halloween 2010

Although this was Molly Grace's second Halloween, it was her 1st Halloween to be able to Trick or Treat! To celebrate this special event, I knew she had to have a super cute costume. Since I'm not all about the typical Halloween costumes for babies, and I don't have enough time or enough craftiness I enlisted April of Hair Flair Bowtique to make MG something wonderful. She made MG the CUTEST Dalmatian costume, complete with a tutu, shirt and leggings, collar and headband with ears and bows. It was adorable, one of a kind, and made especially for my Gracie girl!

Kim's coworker and friend, Tammy, invited us over to her neighborhood to trick or treat so we headed over Sunday night to get our candy on. I had worked with her on saying "trick or treat" but when it came to actually saying it for other people, she was too shy. She did say "thank you" and "bye bye". I was one proud mama. Her favorite candy seemed to be suckers and surprisingly I think she enjoyed giving out the candy to other trick or treaters better than getting it herself!

Here are some of the cute pictures I got of the little Dalmatian! She was a busy little puppy and it was hard to get to sit her to sit still for a picture so most of them are of my little on the go puppy!










It was so wonderful getting to experience Halloween with MG. She had so much fun. I had had the worst day Sunday and watching her and being with her while we were trick or treating turned my whole day around. I can't wait for next year!

Check out all of her pictures on my Facebook page!

back

We are still here! And doing good...I'm going to try to blog tonight! It's been crazy busy.

Just a short recap of all that we've done lately with more to come later!

1. MG turned 15 months old...where did the time go?
2. I took MG to see the Haunted Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier and to the festival at the end!
3. MG had her first trip to the fair, Coosa Valley Fair in Rome!
4. My fam and I took MG to Gold Rush in Dahlonega!
5. We got to hang out with Anna Bryant (aka BFF and one of her godmothers) and Marsha, MG's adopted grandparent, also known as Moon!
6. She is saying so many words now!
7. Thats all for now!

I promise to return soon with pictures!

Love to you all!

Fall is here...

so of course that meant we had to have some new pictures made!

My wonderfully talented cousin and roomie, Kim, took our Fall pictures this weekend at Berry and it was beautiful! I had a great time with my family and of course with MG, who would have rather played and played than take pictures, but we got some great shots!

Happy Fall Everyone!!