Deleted? I guess not...

HELLO, everyone! I have not written ONCE in 2011. It's September. For some reason, I was under the impression (I assume because I haven't written in 9 months) that my blog was deleted... by accident? Or by blogger... Doesn't matter. I was misinformed! 

So... This is my vow to you, my loyal 17 followers. I vow to catch you up on the last 9 months (*spoiler alert: I had a baby.) and I swear promise will TRY to keep you informed on my EXCITING LIFE at least once a week.

OK... How should we do this "catching up" thing? Hit the highlights? OK, here we go: I became a Thirty-One Gifts Independent Consultant in February. LOVE this company! Great looking, reasonably priced products with an amazing, Christian-based company & support system. Some of you that know me, might be a little shocked by this, but being a stay-at-home wife & mother has caused me to take on a little bit of an introvert personality. I don't want to say, I'd "lost part of myself" or anything dramatic... but when your main human contact during the day is a toddler... well, most conversations are a little one-sided. This is a way for me to get out of the house, interact & talk with other adults... I know, crazy concept. Who knew?
So, (**shameless plug) let me know if you'd like to place an order or check out the catalog. Or you can click here to view the online catalog.

April 20th is now a Caudill holiday! We welcomed our 2nd sweet baby girl, Elliot Grae, into the world & this family.

Elliot Grae Caudill. 4/20/11 6:06PM
8lbs. 4oz., 20.5"

 And, let me just tell you... She. Is. Sweet. Looks exactly like her father, with my coloring & 5th generation brown eyes. Her big sister, Avery Drew, also favors her father (his coloring, my brown eyes), but not like this one. It's a little eerie.

See... I told you.

Avery Drew is growing entirely too fast! AND, has hair?! It just happened... all of a sudden! Boom! Pigtails. :)

I'm having a hard time with the fact that this one will be 2 years old at the end of this month. TWO?! But, look at her! When did she get big?

purple piggies

Birthday Fairies

August 20th, I celebrated my first 29th birthday. I have not come to terms with this yet, so that is all we'll say about it. Well, that and this:

Me & my littles
8/20/11

Recap: Life is good. God is great. I'm thankful, grateful, and very blessed. Thanks for reading. Share the love. Send your friends. ;) Talk soon.

Goodbye 2010... Hello 2011

I just realized I haven't written since Thanksgiving. THANKSGIVING?!?! It's Jan. 6th. This is unacceptable. So, in this blog, I will try to recap the entire month of December. WARNING: Tons of pictures.

You've read about them in my blog before, but the Harrison's are our very dear friends that live across the street. When Andy was working out of town, Avery & I got in the habit of visiting them... every night. Now that he's home, we've continued with our nightly visits. They love our girl like she is their own and are they closest non-family family that we have.



Howard, Kim, & Avery



Kim's birthday dinner was at the country club, with a surprise appearance by her parents, her niece Ali & her significant other, her aunt, two dear friends, and the Caudill's. It was so nice. Great food, great fellowship, and a few good pictures.

So: Happy Birthday, Kim! We love you!



The Caudill's
2010



Ali & (her) Andy




me & my girl
(she was getting a little sleepy after all the festivities)





December 16th we had another ultra sound for our "little" and everything looks great! We also discovered our "little" is a "SHE little"! I was kinda surprised hearing this. I just assumed boy, because I'm carrying 110% different than I did with Avery. Don't get me wrong, we are very happy! I love the idea of sisters that close in age. My sister is several years older than me, and we never really had a close relationship growing up, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out. :)



She looks a lot like her big sister did at this age. ;)



We always do Christmas eve at my mother's, and this year was no different.



Love her red shoes.



 We had our traditional Christmas dinner with all the normal Harding fixings (my mother's side of the family). Ham (with bread to make sandwiches), hash brown casserole, deviled eggs (yum), baked pineapple, and this dip that my Grandma used to make (that only people with Harding in them seem to like) with Frito's. I was so full I had trouble breathing.

Then it was time to open presents. :)  



Uncle Blake had to help her out quite a bit (much to his delight).




sweet. (rotten) sweet.




Singing in her new chair from her mymoe (which is now what she calls my mother).



I was still having trouble breathing, but it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blow out the candles on the cake.



Mymoe helping Avery blow out the candles.



Christmas morning was quiet in our house (which I'm sure will be the last quiet Christmas morning in a LONG time). I had to wake the girl up around 9:00 o'clock and it didn't take her long to get the hang of things.

Her first stocking! :)

It took us a little bit to actually make it down stairs to see what Santa brought.

My favorite and most memorable Christmas memory is going through my stocking with my mother. Santa brought our stockings into our rooms while we were sleeping. Once we woke up, my sister and I would yell at our parents to come look. We'd sit on our beds and show them each and every single thing he brought us. Then, we'd race down the stairs, where my grandparents were waiting for us by the Christmas tree. My sister was usually the "gift passer-outer", and we would take turns opening so that the givers could enjoy the look of surprise/excitement on our faces as we first laid eyes on our new favorite things. 

I'm hoping these can/will become Caudill traditions. This year, it looked like this:

She really didn't know what to do with herself.



Brought everything she could carry over to show me. :)



 I've never been able to spend a nice, quiet New Year's Eve with my husband, and probably never will. Guess that's what I get for marrying a musician. Therefore, I don't have any fun, cute pictures of us surrounded by friends, puckering up for our kiss to bring us into 2011. But, that's OK. I think I'll still keep him. ;)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all of you!

(I know... I know... I'm a little late, but just go with it!)

Happy Turkey!

Hello & Happy Thanksgiving to my faithful followers, all 15 of you. I haven't written in awhile, and I'm not really sure why. I haven't taken pictures in weeks, and I'm blaming this creative drought on the pregnancy (which is a pretty lame excuse, but I couldn't think of another one).

Avery woke up this morning at 5:45 and was NOT a happy camper. I'd like to say this is unusual, but it's been the norm the last week or so. I miss my happy, sleepy-eyed girl who slept until 9:00. Maybe she's just getting more of her mom's "do not talk to me until I've been awake for at least 30 minutes" personality and losing her dad's "it's a great day, let's get to work" personality.

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner again this year, and it was our first time fixing a turkey. We're more of a ham family, but this year my husband wanted to fix a turkey. He didn't just fix the turkey... he showed that turkey who was boss.

It was awesome! What was on the rest of the menu you ask? I made broccoli casserole, corn, green beans, rolls, and asked a friend (who loves to make pies) make a chess pie (notice: 4 out of the 5 things we contributed to the festivities are "made" by either opening a can, preheating the oven, or making a phone call. ha!). My lovely mother brought her infamous sausage stuffing (my favorite), sweet potato casserole (always a crowd favorite), cranberries (which have been on our table in the same pretty blue dish for 4 generations now), and two pumpkin pies. Andy's mother brought mashed potatoes & gravy, more cranberries, baked beans (per Andy's request), an amazing peanut butter pie (Andy's favorite), and brownies. And last, but certainly not least, Sara (Andy's sister) brought some delicious deviled eggs and red velvet cake (Andy's other favorite).

[exhales] We had entirely too much food, which everyone knows, leads to entirely too many dishes (which my mother-in-law and husband ended up doing. ha!).

After dinner, we all wobbled uncomfortably into the living room for some nice fellowship & football.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a wonderful day spent with those the love.

Happy Birthday, Avery!

 See that face? I get to wake up to that every single day, and I love it. This was taken around 6:00 AM on Sept . 29th, which is a very special day here at the Caudill house. Sept. 29th is Avery's birthday, and with this being the first one, it was extra special.

Burgers, cupcakes, gifts, family, and a few friends = ONE GREAT BIRTHDAY! So, here are a few pictures that were captured on this special day.



Julia & Jonas came all the way from northern KY to celebrate with us.



Hanging out with Aunt Kim & Ali. (I love Avery's bday shirt!)

Gifts!

Cupcakes! (This might have been her favorite part.)

Pap, Uncle Blake, & Papaw



Nana & the birthday girl.







After a long day of partying, she's still a happy camper!




Loves her Rockabye from her Moe.



Happy Birthday Avery! Being your momma is, by far, the greatest gift I could ever ask for.

"To you, I would give the world.

To you, I'd never be cold, cause I feel that when I'm with you, it's alright. I know it's right.

And, the songbirds keeps singing like they know the score, and

I love you, I love you, I love you like never before."

- Songbird, Eva Cassidy 

"little's" first ultra sound

Hello friends!

For those of you who don't know, Andy and I will be expecting our second child sometime around May 1, 2011. We are both super, super excited. At first, I was feeling a little overwhelmed, even though this is what I've been wanting. Our children will be about 20 months apart. Andy and I planned on starting the "trying" process when Avery turned a year old. So, we were just a month ahead of schedule. ha! 

Today we had our first ultra sound of our "little". Andy, Avery, and I waited anxiously patiently in the ultra sound room, getting excited every time someone walked past the door, in hopes it was our turn. Avery was itching to get down, walk around, and pull on the cords of the ultra sound machine. But, she stopped in her tracks when she heard that loud whoosh whoosh whoosh of the heart beat.

Doc said everything looked great. "Little's" heart rate was going strong at 158! Avery's first heart rate was 170, so does this mean "little" is a boy?! Either way, we're blessed. :)

And... since I can't post without pictures of my girl, here you go.

The Story of Us

2 years ago today, I married my love, the father of my future children, and my best friend. Here is the story of us:

Andy and I met through mutual friends. The night I laid my eyes on him, I came home and told my mother that I'd met my husband. I told her, I'd give him 6 months to ask me out (ha!). It took a couple weeks, and we haven't slowed down since. We met in Dec 07', became a couple in Jan 08', engaged in May 08', married in Sept 08', and had our first child in Sept 09'. We don't waste anytime. Ha!

Here are some of my favorite moments from our special day 2 years ago.

Our first moments on our wedding day

And then there was this...

I couldn't get his ring on.

Made for a good laugh though.

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Caudill
(I was a little excited. ha!)

Two years. Wow. Sometimes though, it feels like it's been longer... in a good way. My life before Andy came around, seems so long ago.  And, now we have this...

I couldn't ask for more.