milestones

315,569,260 seconds ago

10 Years ago today, the Superhero and I got married.

In the past 10 years or in the past 315, 569, 260 seconds we’ve:

bought 2 houses, sold 1
bought a brand new car (and drove it until the wheels feel off, almost literally – it broke down on the way to trade it in)
bought 4 used cars (Escape, Bronco, Ranger and F-150) and sold several (still wish we had the Bronco, it was big and old and my favorite)
bought 2 tractors, sold 1
bought 2 motorcycles, sold 1 (wrecked one…..mine!)
traveled to Las Vegas, Chattanooga, Gatlinburg (several times), Nashville IN, Cincinnati, Orlando, Mexico, Manhattan, Wilmington NC, Gulf Shores AL, and the Bahamas (on a cruise)
got a dog, she’ll be 10 in March
decorated a nursery for our sweet baby girl (Super even bought lady bug curtain roads for the room!)
became parents (this was the single biggest change in our married life, positive change)
started a college fund for our sweet baby girl
started saving for retirement
Super completed his Associates Degree at Nashville Tech
I completed my M. B. A. at Belmont University
Super changed jobs twice
I changed jobs 4 times
lost 3 grandparents and 1 step-parent
bought and sold a camper
hiked Mt. LeConte several times
Watched 10 Superbowls & Watched 10 College National Championships (UT Played in none these, maybe the next 10 years will be better)
attended 7 UT football games in Knoxville
attended 1 men’s UT basketball game in Knoxville
attended numerous Sounds Games
attended 1 Belmont Basketball game
attended a Cincinnati Reds Baseball Game
Attended church over 1500 times (Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night)

I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in the past 315 million seconds and we plan to accomplish much more as a couple in the next 315 million seconds.

10 Years Ago Today

10 Years ago today I was getting ready for the rehearsal dinner for my wedding. 1-0-Y-E-A-R-S! Mt. Denson Cumberland Presbyterian Church was all a flurry with activity and preparation for a beautiful wedding. My Grandfather was busy preparing the rehearsal dinner and putting together the finishing touches on the wedding cake and chocolate truffles. The rehearsal dinner was just as much fun as the wedding!

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this large milestone all week and it’s just hard for me to comprehend, 1-0-Y-E-A-R-S. I’ve been married now almost 1/3 of my life and I can’t imagine my life without my Superhero.

Here’s a picture of us in our earlier years in 2005.

Donita & Super at the Hoover Dam, 2005

Picture Day!

Today is a big day in the Brown house, actually in a week full of big days! Today Miss Bug will be having her pictures taken by Angela Crutcher .

This brings back vivid memories of Bug’s first photo shoot with Angela. In her first session, Bug was 6 weeks old, 6 pounds and I was a wreck (new Mom with a baby who was absolutely perfect in every way, but she wouldn’t sleep or eat! ). Thankfully today I’m a little more together and Miss Bug is eating more and sleeping (finally!).

Here’s to a great day and an even better photo session.

Thanks for reading!

A Year Ago Today….

A year ago today I ended my maternity leave and went back to work. It was a big adventure because I was going back part-time for a month and then transition to full time. I felt so blessed to be able to transition back into the work place, after being home for 15 weeks, slowly. On the mornings I went to work (same now), Robert took Bug to school and I picked her up. Today we still have the same arrangement, but those first few days were tough. It was easier for me to leave first than to watch them leave. The afternoons couldn’t get here soon enough for me because I loved (and still do) picking up Bug at school. I can remember driving to pick her up wishing that there was a different lane designed for new moms….

This picture is of Bug’s first day at school, can you believe how much she’s grown?!

Pigtails anyone?

Bug’s hair is now long enough to put in pigtails! Here’s a blurry shot taken, as only a Mom of a 1 year can take (quickly!). My sisters wore pigtails for what seemed like YEARS but actually probably wasn’t that long. But this picture does bring back memories of my Dad fixing their hair before school in the morning.

5K, yes again! And getting better!

On Memorial Day the “Team Taylor”, as some have called us, competed in a 5k. It was the 2nd one for a few of us and the 1st for others. No matter what our times were, we were all winners. Here’s a few pictures, but if you want the best 5k story, check out Danielle’s blog.

This is a picture of us before we started, look at how non-sweatty we all look, compare that to the after picture below. 🙂

This the after picture. Part of “Team Taylor” had already headed to their rightful home.

Tubes

Bug got her tubes yesterday. The day started out pretty well, up very, very early (we had to be at the surgery center at 6:30am). All in all the procedure went very well, the only hiccup of the day was the doctor arriving an hour late for her procedure.

Bug was an absolute angel waiting for the doctor to arrive and since she’s learned “bye, bye” (both the hand wave and saying it!) she showed off to anyone that walked by her (which of course the superhero and I thought was adorable).

After the procedure (which took maybe 15 minutes) I got the “pleasure” of seeing a 10 month old baby trying to shake off anthesia, not fun. Bug was so unbelievably cranking and crying, which we were told was good and very normal. She basically cried the entire way home, but then after a nice nap she was all smiles and chatty.

9 Years Ago Today

Nine years ago today it was snowing like crazy, I was a nervous wreck, my step-dad was setting up camera equipment, my little papaw was cooking like crazy, my little daddy was pacing the floor and probably didn’t sleep the night before and I had no idea what marriage meant.

In case you didn’t know or couldn’t guess, today is mine and the Superhero’s 9th wedding anniversary. According to about.com year 9’s traditional gift is Willow or Pottery or a more modern gift would be leather (hmm, I’ve been wanting a new leather sofa). We will be celebrating in a few weeks by going to see the University of Tennessee Men play basketball, yeah I know a weird present.

I’m not sure I still know what marriage means, but I think we’ve done pretty good so far.

Superhero, here’s to many more wonderful years. I love you.

Amelia’s 9 Month Check Up & Daily Voting Reminder!

Today was Bug’s 9 month check up, which also turned into a sick baby check up. Bug has ANOTHER double ear infection and this time we’re going the consecutive shot route to see if we can get this ear infection gone.

Here’s the stats:

Weight (you could only post weight for babies, I’m sure in 15 years or so Amelia will not appreciate me posting her weight for the blogging community to see!): 19.3 (57%)
Height: 27 inches (31%)
Head Circumference: 17 1/4 (45%)

We were also given the go ahead to introduce whole milk in a sippy cup in trade for one bottle a day! Bug is growing up so quickly.

Daily voting reminder: Please go to http://findingtheartinlife.com/ and post a comment after the 20 pictures for #1, which is Bug’s 3 week old picture. THANK YOU to those who have posted (especially those who have posted daily and inspired others to vote for my little Bug)! Remember you can vote once a day!

Here’s the countdown as of 6:53pm today:

#14 with 101 votes
#2 with 75 votes
#1 (Amelia bug!!!) with 66 votes

Amelia meets Santa

Today was quite the day. Amelia got to meet Santa for the first time. We had cookies with Santa this morning and I think I had as much fun as Amelia did. Amelia told Santa that she would like a remote control (one similar to the one that the super hero uses), a lady bug night light, a Ann B. Dextrous, and a pair of Merrell hikers.