oh bay-bee

Tillman has learned to say "Baby" this week. This is an improvement from calling my baby a ball. However, he really doesn't understand that I am the only one in our family with a "Baby" in my belly. Apparently Matt and Tillman both have a baby too. Tillman is confusing the words "Baby" and "Belly."

This is something we have to work on. LOL. 

Here is a sweet picture of Tillman loving on his little sister Rory Anne at 29 weeks. 

Can't wait for you to be here little girl:)

By the way, I am 30 weeks Christmas Eve. She'll be here so soon. 

Almost countdown time. 

Okay, not quite. But close.

A Christmas favorite from ETSY!!

Here is a picture of my lovely hand-warmers that Matt got me off of Etsy.com for Christmas this year.

I love them. Thank you Matt:)

Bright Colors

There was a point in my life that I can remember, when I really didn't like super bright colors. I was actually even annoyed by them.

 I tend to be more fond of neutral colors, like browns and pretty greens with dark shades of red and plum. Fall or Autumn colors were my favorite. In fact those colors are still some of my favorites.

 Well, what I am trying to get at is that today I realized something. My perspective on color has changed. 

I think sometimes certain people, most people, are annoyed by all the bright colors and clutter that children's toys and belongings can bring. Not because they belong to the child, but simply because they don't  match  everything else that is decorating their home. These tacky, manufactured pieces of plastic just seem to crowd your space. I understand where these people are coming from. I really do.

This afternoon Tillman opened up his Christmas presents from Mommy and Daddy and Santa Claus, or aka "Ho Ho Ho." During this present opening session, I took note of how many bright colored items Tillman was unwrapping. I believe my taste has changed. I am no longer annoyed by these bright colorful items that will continue to clutter my home for the next five to ten years. It doesn't bother me that the shower we bathe in is smothered in colorful little alphabet foam letters that stick to the tub wall. I am not  aggravated by the sea of colorful books that cover Tillman's bedroom floor on a daily basis. I absolutely love them. 

I love these bright colors, they make me happy. These bright colors are the imprint your child leaves behind after hours of play. They are evidence of a sweet child that  has changed mine and Matt's lives forever. I look forward to all the bright colors that this new little one will bring, and all the bright and colorful memories we will make with our children through the years.

It's been...

quite a stinkin while. September 24, 2010? Unacceptable. Ok, cut me some slack. I have a freaking job, ok? lol. And, I am living away from my husband right now who is looking for a job in Louisville (please pray he finds one: whoever you may be who might possibly read my blog that I never frequent). Did I mention I work night shift?? Get off my stinkin back (cough: hannah and PATRICK). Hehe. Oh yeah, and I'm pregnant. Let me see, anything else?? I think that justifies my lack of affection to my blog. I'm just pitiful. Poor, poor pitiful me. Do you feel sorry for me? Just needed to get that off my chest.

On a brighter note, things are looking up. I am now employed and financial matters are therefore much improved. For the first time in our married lives we have two incomes. That makes things a little less stressful:) Also, we are having a little girl, Rory Anne Wilson, in just a few months. My sis just had her little girl and it makes me so excited for our little one that will arrive very soon. I hope to write more about our Rory girl soon, but you know how that goes. Most things that I hope to get done rarely ever do. Hopefully I can prove you wrong, unlikely blog followers:)

Fare thee well.

a gypsy at heart

Yep, thats what I am. I have lived so many different places in my short time being married. I get rather tickled at times when I think of my life the past 2 and 1/2 years. I really am a gypsy! Let's see if you agree: We married in June 2008. The first place we lived was a small 1 bedroom apartment in Bowling Green. I loved this place. It brings back special memories, and hard times of learning to live with the one you love. Next, we were expecting a new member of our family soon and made plans to rent a small house in Auburn, where Matt is from. This was a precious little farm house.

I had so much room there, and I enjoyed decorating and having the feeling of HOME. So many special memories were made here. Bringing home my sweet new baby boy. Sleepless nights. Hard nights, memories of the tough times our relationship had in that place. I miss this place though. It felt like it was ours even though we didn't own it. But, it was old. The spiders got old too. So did the carpet in the downward slanted bathroom, lol. With me still being in school and wanting to save money, we moved to Matt's parents after living in the farm house for 6 months.

All of our belongings in storage, except for just a few items we couldn't do without, we moved into the upstairs of Matt's parents home. Here we lived 7 months while I finished school. This was a sweet time. We are so thankful for their generosity. It had its hard times too. You miss having privacy and your own things. Often feeling like you are crowding someone. They never made us feel that way. It's just the way I think anyone would feel in a place that was not their own. Hard times here as well. Struggling to spread myself between my family and the last semester of Nursing school. Leaving here finished a long drawn out chapter of my life. One chapter in particular that I was ecstatic to complete. Accomplishment of my dream.

So this brings us to Matt's dream. Nashville, TN. I enjoyed living in this town. East side of town, a 2 bedroom 1 bath upstairs apartment in an old red brick house. I won't repeat the annoying mishaps of this lease agreement. We moved out 4 short months after living here. It was neat having our own place again, aside from the apartments flaws.

Mold and heat lead us to my aunt's home in Gallatin, TN. This lasted one month. So many things up in the air at this point. Still no job luck for me in Nashville. Very strong possiblities in Louisville,Ky.

Possibility brings me to Vine Grove, Ky. Living in my parents home. Its been almost 6 years since I've been living at HOME. I feel safe here. Hard times again. Matt and I are separted now over the few months as things unfold and stable out in our job situations. We have plans to see eachother on weekends until he can get a job in Louisville.

So this little gypsy family is partly in Vine Grove, partly in Nashville, partly in Auburn, and partly in Louisville. Wherever we may be though, we appreciate being together. Home or not, we have each other. We also have countless generous people in our lives who have given us their homes when we did not have our own. I thank God for them. Thanks Randy and Sheila, Aunt Mel and Uncle Frank, Mom and Dad, Eric. Each of you have been such blessings to our family.

I look forward to the day that I can welcome each of you into my very own HOME. Until then, I will do my best, with God's help, to be content where I am.

Oh My Goodness!

Ok, let me just rewind back to July 30th, and then briefly fast forward to today September 13th. Wow, has my life been a crazy whirlwind or what?? Here goes:

So somewhere around the end of July we began having increasing troubles with our apartment we were living in. The air conditioning was out, water leaks in the ceiling, mold growth, all in the middle of the super hot summer. Long story short, with a nice little nasty gram from my cousin who is a lawyer, we terminated our lease with a full refund of our security deposit! 1000$ in pocket, Praise the Lord!

We are now living with my aunt and uncle in Gallatin, TN. Matt has an exhausting drive to work everyday. We are very grateful to my aunt and uncle for taking us in during our homeless situation.

Tillman turned one at the beginning of this month! It was a precious day for us. He loved his little dinosaur cake. He is also walking now, all over the place. I'm sorry I haven't documented this wonderful developmental milestone as I should have. Life for me is a little busy lately:( I'm sure you understand.

My brother got married the last week of August. SURPRISE!lol. Yeah, so, now I have a sister-in-law to get to know. I am moving in with my parents next weekend I think, so I will get to know her very soon. They are having a wedding ceremony Oct. 2. I'm in the wedding. Fun stuff! Congrats Jordan and Naphtali!

My sister-in-law (my husbands sister) is getting married. I found out about their engagement the beginning of September. She asked me to be the maid (matron rather) of honor. Isn't that sweet? I'm excited for Addie and Dustin. Congrats to you all too!!

Job possibility, strong possiblity, inKentucky. Which is why i'm planning to move in with my parents this weekend. Working on getting my RN license in Kentucky. Waiting on the finger print card to come in the mail. Yay, i just got licensed in TN, lets give KY a whirl. Why not? Spending hundreds of dollars on nursing paperwork and what not is so much fun and really easy on the checking account right? That's what I thought.

I'm sorry, I just don't have time for pictures right now. I'm tired.

Oh, I had lunch today with Matt and our friend Jeff at Chile Burrito. I really wish there was more cheese on my burrito. bummer.

RaNDom!

Video

Here are a few video's from this past weekend. Matt, Tillman and I made a trip to Louisville to visit my sister. They have a really sweet dog that loves Tillman

Tillman with Kirby from Hannah Schreiner on Vimeo.

Tillman laughing from Hannah Schreiner on Vimeo.

curls of blonde and eyes of blue

Tillman is almost 11 months.
Can you believe it?
Wowzers.
Planning his first birthday.
It will be dinosaur themed.
I'm so excited.
And a little sad.
I have a big boy.
Where did these curls come from??

catching up

So, the past few weeks have sort of flown by for me and I haven't been doing a great job at keeping up with my blog. My apologies. I have, however, kept up with picture taking.

2 weekends ago, some good friends of ours got married in Oakland, Ky. Congrats Heather and Kyle. They had a lovely ceremony followed by a beautiful reception at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. We had a great time.

The Monday after the 2 weekends ago, lol, a good friend of mine Stacy and her kiddos came to Nashville for a very sweaty day at the zoo. Although it was a little too hot for our taste, we enjoyed each others company. I look forward to spending time with them again soon!!

I hope you enjoy the evidence of these fond memories, as well as how much Tilly has grown.

time for a celebration!

We figured it was a great night to celebrate, you know, since I passed a really FREAKING big test for me! Ha. Well, it was a good excuse for a an awesome, fantastic, family night on the town! First stop: Battered & Fried Boston Seafood House (East Nashville-5 points). Second stop: Mikes Ice Cream (East Nashville-Riverside Village). Such a good time we had:). Here are some of the memories I captured.

NCLEX update

I PASSED!!! Praise the Lord!! Oh my goodness. So I woke up this morning and immediately went to check the website to see if my results were available. They weren't. So I continued to check every 30 minutes and around 8:30 am they were up. I felt so sick. Then I clicked on the page, and there it was! PASS in big letters at the bottom of the screen. So happy. I feel like I can finally breathe. When I graduated from nursing school, sure that was a big relief, but it still wasn't complete. It didn't count for anything without a license. So now, 2 months after graduation I am FINALLY finished. Now, lets get a job!

reading list

Over the past year I have collected quite a few books.
Since I have been a student my head has been stuck in text books, rather than in
books that I would actually ENJOY reading.
Sure academic reading can make your brain smarter, but there is
just something about having freedom to read what you
want to!

Here is a list of books to read over the next year that I am looking forward to!

Silly, Sweet Potato, Booger Face Tilly

NCLEX

Oh me oh my. pumpkin pie.

What a morning I had. Today I took the NCLEX which is my national certification licensing examination to be a Registered Nurse, RN. In other words, this is the biggest academic test of my life to date. The test is a computerized, adaptive test with a minimum of 75 questions and a maximum of 265 questions.

My test began at 8:00 am. This was a proctored exam under very high security being both audio and video recorded. I was finger printed as well as palm printed probably 10 times before I left the facility! Crazy. I ain't no cheater.

Surprisingly my exam cut off at 75 questions. I expected to get quite a few more than that. But, supposedly it can be a good thing if you get cut off at the minimum. The exam is designed to statistically determine the likelihood of you passing or failing after taking 75 questions. Also, 15 of those 75 questions were pilot questions that will not count in my average. So, really I was only graded on 60 of those questions. Could they really have passed me after only 60 questions?? Oh, I pray to God that I did!

So this scary test is over. Finally. And hopefully I will not have to take it a second time. I will get my results on Thursday morning at 9:30. An update will follow.

Until them I am being tortured by the annoying unknown!

PICTURES!!!!!

I finally got a card reader! SO, SO, SO happy! Here a few older pics of Tillman and some from this morning while he was eating waffles.



just hanging out, waiting for food I'm sure

Learning to crawl


Helping Mommy shred old mail and bills. He had so much fun with this. I'm sure you can tell.







sleepy head. Hmm. Looks like sweet potatoes on his face.


Sweet, sleepy boy. Taking his bottle and watching Disney probably.




















These are really old. I think he is about 3 or 4 months old here. Sometimes I forget how bad his little rash around his mouth was until I look back at these old pictures.

Hope you have a wacky and wonderful Wednesday!