snow day!

Ellie's first snow day!  (not that we got out in it at all :))  It was awesome just to have a day, feeling healthy, to spend with my best girl.

Such a big helper!

She is also becoming quite the chatterbox :)  Here are her two new favorite words:  ball and roar!

 

 

sick, sick, sick

January was probably the roughest month of my life... My grandpa passed away on the first, we left Florida early to come back for the visitation and funeral service, and then after only being back at school for one day, I came down with the worst virus I have ever had.  I had planned on taking off Tuesday and Thursday to be with my Grandma Sandie (helping clean up stuff, clean out closets, just spend time with her, etc.), but when I woke up on Tuesday, both Nick and I had really high fevers.  My mom came up and got Ellie (she was still on bereavement leave) and ended up keeping her all night.  Nick felt better on Wednesday, but I was still really sick, so I headed off to immediate care.  After my flu test came back negative, they sent me home with amoxicillin and told me it should be better in a few days.  The weekend came and went and my fever still had not gone down (it would break but then be right back up again).  I tried to go to class on Tuesday (a full week since being sick) and it was too much.  I didn't even make it half way through.  Finally, on Wednesday, my dad took me to another immediate care where I was diagnosed with pnemonia and bronchitis.  It was terrible!  I am so thankful that I am usually a very healthy person.  I missed a full two weeks at work, but thanks to my amazing student teacher and co-workers, I didn't have to worry about my classroom while I was so sick. 

I am also so thankful for the people who helped take care of Ellie.  I didn't leave the bed for nearly two weeks, so being a great mommy was out of the picture.  She was floating from house to house so that we could try to avoid getting her sick (which we did :)), and was so well taken care of.  Amie, Lisa, Mom, and Denise were life-savers while I was trying to get better and Nick was trying to take care of me.  Of course I didn't take any pictures during that crazy time, but here is one of my girls playing while I felt like I was on my death-bed!

And here is one of Ellie at Lisa's getting spoiled rotten with her new Princess chair:

Nan took her on the first day we were so sick with her bear coat :)

 

daddy's new job

I like love to make fun of my husband, but the truth is, I have one of the best.  He is such a caring and kind-hearted individual.  He definitely makes me a better person.  This is why I am so proud that he has patiently waited for a career opportunity, and the perfect one made itself present.  He is now the new Redevelopment Director for the Town of Clarksville and we are all so proud of him.  Even if this means that he will sacrifice our summer vacation while Ellie and I head out of town with the Kanes and Murrells, he knows that this is what is best for our family.  He is already doing a great job and we are so very proud of him and all that he does for us!  We love you Nick/Daddy!

blessed...

To have had all four of my grandparents until I was 26 years old.  My Grandpa Dave (Mom's dad) passed away on January 1st around 9 in the morning. He has had a multitude of health problems over the past few years and was confined to a wheelchair the last three.  He dealth with prostate cancer some years back and it came back this past summer.  This time, it spread quickly and ended up going to his lungs and bones.  It is never easy losing someone, but I know he is in a much better place now. 
I was lucky enough to have him be around for the first few months of Ellie's life, and she visited them at least weekly with me or my mom.  Here they are when Ellie was just a few weeks old:

As much as I hate funeral home services (for obvious reasons), it was amazing to see so many people that I hadn't seen since I was younger.  The support that was shown to my family still blows me away and we are so thankful for everyone in our lives. 

sugar bowl!

While we were in Florida, we had to sneak away for a day to see the Cardinal Birds play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.  New Orleans is one of mine and Nick's favorite cities; however, it is definitely not baby friendly, so E stayed back in Destin with Mamaw and Papaw.  With only a day to see everything (and to show Amy the city!), we had a lot to do, but managed to fit it all in.  We had a BLAST! (not to mention that the Cards pulled off what many thought would be impossible :))

Amie got to experience Maspero's and a Muffaleta... Yum!

I found Louisville outside of Margaritaville!

Beignets at Cafe du Monde!

Nick and Brandon got their big beers on Bourbon. 

Having a little Cardinal bird FUN!

Yay!

Woo Hoo!

Look!  I found my BFF's name down there!

Ellie's Second Trip to Florida :)

Talk about spoiled rotten... seven months old and her second trip to Florida. This trip has become an annual tradition for the Lawrence Family. We go down with Nick's mom and dad and his brother and sister-in-law. I was a little nervous about the car ride down, but...

She was great!

We started off the trip around 5 in the morning and waited until Ellie woke up for breakfast to stop at our favorite breakfast road-trip destination:  Cracker Barrell!

Yummy grits time; she takes after her Mommy :)

 

We got there around 4 and went straight to the grocery and then to the condo.  After that, we went to High Tide, our favorite local dive restaurant in Fort Walton (and close enough to walk to!) and I enjoyed my first shrimp po-boy of the trip :)

 

Here were some other highlights of the Florida part of our trip:



Watching UofL beat UK at Angler's :) Go Cards!

 

Windy beach time with Mommy and Daddy!

 

Loving on some Puffs at the beach (sidenote... this was Cam's shirt that I bought her when I took a trip to Chicago when Cammie was about nine months old... so precious)

 

Ellie at Floyd's on New Year's Eve... Love that grin!

Shrimp Champ 2012... 51 popcorn shrimp.  Good thing I ran that morning :)

Beach time in a bikini... love that little belly!

 My world!

 Ellie LOVED the water and the sand!

Haha... McGuire's Night!  New Years Day and our favorite restaurant in Destin!  She was wearing her festive outfit from Lindsay and Derek :)

She loved McGuire's just like all of us!

 

We had to cut our trip early.  My grandpa passed away on New Year's Day at around 9:00 in the morning.  We knew it was coming and that their was a chance of it happening while we were out of town, but were hoping.  As soon as that happened, I got pretty homesick and wanted to be with my family; however, Nick and I had already planned a trip to New Orleans to see the Cards play in the Sugar Bowl on January 2, so my family had the funeral services on the 4th and 5th so that we would be able to go to the game.