Disney Download!~

We are back and I am SAD! I don't know why but before leaving for Disney I felt more stressed than excited. It just seemed like a lot to do and a lot of unknowns, how would the kids act, how do we find everything, how does everything work down there, etc... I think a lot of my being overwhelmed was simply because I am newly pregnant and everything exhausts me right now so to think about taking this major trip to Disney was exhausting mentally just to think about! ha! How lazy do I sound right now? But it was so true!

So to my surprise and excitement we had THE BEST vacation I could have ever imagined! Everything exceeded my expectations by a mile! This was our first true family of four trip. We go to visit my mom in Destin a few times a year but this was our first real family trip and it was AMAZING! I am slightly emotional right now and basically I think I cried about 8 times during the trip cause I was just so darn happy and taken over by emotion, this people is what its all about! The moments when I realize this is what I dreamed about when I dreamed about being a parent! I just took in everything, all of the kids reactions, all of their happiness and emotion and it was priceless~ Tex and I just kept looking at each other both thinking we couldn't be more blessed than we were at that moment. I am certainly not saying it took Disney world to feel that way! ha! But something about that place is magical and you get to remember what life looks like thru the eyes of a child and WOW what an amazing world they live in!

The kids were phenomenal! We had a few tears here and there but for the most part they were complete 100% troopers, no complaining, no asking to buy everything, they were just so amazed by everything else they seemed to be perfectly content! Thank goodness :) Annie did great, she usually crashed in the stroller mid day from pure exhaustion. She likes the hustle and bustle and people watching but she wasn't too impressed with the characters! Palmer however was the child that surprised me he LOVED everything, I mean EVERYTHING! His reactions were worth every penny spent, he was such a happy boy the whole trip! 

I am pretty sure I took about 345 pictures! I realize that is entirely too many to try and put on the blog. I picked a few out of the first half I downloaded to share! Here are some of the things we enjoyed most while we were there! 

Swimming!! Our resort had a GREAT pool with a water slide...

It was 81 degrees there everyday!

Meeting the Characters, we had two character meals, one lunch, one dinner!

Annie liked this girl but was scared of everyone else! Palmer met every character there was in the park :)

Meeting our favs, Lightening and McQueen this was  a big day for Palmer!

We attempted 100's of family pics most turning out something like this :)

We tried on TONS of hats! Love my two cowboys!

This was SO fun, we did our first flash mob on the streets of Hollywood studio before our first parade, I think I got pretty into the dancing part :)

One of the kids most favorite things was watching the parades at all of the parks, they were amazing and filled with all of their favorite characters!

We had SO much fun with these 3! Annie and Palmer loved spending time with their cousins! It was great to experience this with them!

I got to spend time with my dad and Dawn and it was wonderful! Everyone had a great time together and met most nights for dinner!

I spent the best 99 cents ever at Walmart before we left on packs of glow sticks! Palmer was decked out head to toe in glow sticks once the sun went down! He was a walking light show!

And the kids loved their "autograph" books and big pens (thanks Whit for the tip!) they waited in many lines with these items!

This was one of 3 Mickeys that we met during the week!

And of course we rode TONS of rides and wore TONS of 3D glasses! This is Palmer going on Star Wars!

I will definitely post more! I am trying to figure out what to do with all of these pictures. I am thinking of making Palmer a cute collage with his pictures, tickets, buttons, etc... to hang in his room! I know he will remember this trip forever!

Random Thoughts!

I realize that my blog posts have been lacking any real consistency and that mainly I go with the "random" theme because it is about all that this pregnant brain can handle! ha! I can definitely say that I am still feeling the effects of the first trimester but a little of the fog is lifting! My mental state seems to be returning slowly and I have actually been able to wrap my brain around everything and I am starting to get really excited!!!

Today I am 9 weeks! This time around I am going to do weekly belly pictures even if it kills me! I KNOW I will love looking back on it one day even though it terrifies me from a vanity stand point to think about taking pics of myself every week! Right now I am feeling a little thick :) I am totally blaming it on being my 3rd pregnancy! My body just automatically starts shaping itself and apparently it is doing it quite early this time around! YIKES! I am trying to embrace it because I can't stop it :) Apparently as my bff Jamie says, Tori Spelling went thru this same thing with #3 and it is all documented on her new show, so I feel so much better knowing I am not alone! ha!

But today my sweet little baby is the size of a GRAPE! Have you ever seen a cuter grape? :) I am dying to go back to the dr and hear the heartbeat but I won't go back for a few more weeks but it will be worth the wait!

In honor of baby t #3 being the size of a grape, I ate some today for lunch dipped in this heavenly stuff.... 

OH MY!~ Heaven! Most everything I taste these days does not live up to what I have in my mind but this dip did! I could have eaten the whole thing, luckily I put it back the fridge and contained myself! I am going to be thinking of this the rest of the day! 

So, I checked the weather today for Disney and it is going to be B-E-A-UTIFUL! I am talking like low 80's all week according to weather.com! My pasty legs and arms need some major vitamin D! We are getting ready for the big trip! Everything is laid out and all of the travel necessities bought now I just need to pack and clean out the car! The kids are SO pumped.... Weirdly, Annie is most excited about seeing ....

GOOFY! I totally would have guessed a princess but everyone that asks her about Disney gets the same answer, she can't wait to see Goofy! 

Palmer is most excited to see this guy! LIGHTENING MCQUEEN, we are going to a stunt show the first day at Hollywood Studios, he is just going to die! The kid has LOVED the movie CARS since he was 18 months old, he even asked me if we could name the baby Mater if it was a boy! Um, no!

I have this little concoction brewing in the crockpot as we speak. Beef Stroganoff! I found the recipe off Pinterest and have been dieing to try it! I am SO excited to get home and dive into this plate of awesomeness! Creamy Carbs are right up my alley these days. I will let you know how it tastes and if it lives up to my expectations.

That is about all of the randomness I have in me. I am totally excited, totally in vacation mode and totally ready to get out of town for a little while! I think the month of January does that to you! Here's hoping for a Magical Week of fun with my family!

Countdown!

This weekend was relatively low key! Truth be told I was nauseous most of the weekend and would have good spurts and then bad ones. I LOVE my naps but I rarely just lay in my bed at random points during the day and I did A LOT of that this weekend! I am NOT complaining because if that is what it takes to make a healthy, happy baby then I will go thru it but it makes getting stuff done around the house a little more challenging :)
 

The kids did have their very first slumber party at our house Saturday night. Ethan and Katelyn spent the night at our house as a birthday present to my sis in law :) The kids were SO pumped and we had a BLAST, believe it or not having them there is easier than just having my two because they play SO well together! We ate dinner, had an ice cream cone picnic, watched movies and played A LOT! Everything went pretty smooth except for Palmer wouldn't sleep in his bed? I tried to explain you can't have a slumber party if you don't slumber with your party! ha! I am pretty sure Ethan didn't mind having the bed to himself :)

Sweet, Sweet Kids. I LOVE watching them together, they are truly the best of friends!

I have to admit I have been having a hard time lately. I don't know if it is the hormones or just everything but I miss Louisville SO bad! Don't get me wrong their are definitely parts of Owensboro I love. I love being close to family, I love that our kids are so happy,  I love our house, I love that Tex like his job but I kind of feel left out :(

I left so many WONDERFUL, PRICELESS relationships, friendships and support groups back home. We had a church that we loved and I was comfortable there. I  LOVED my job back home and was SO close with the people I worked with. I don't have that here and it makes me sad. I know with time I will hopefully find my way but, it is SO hard. There are a lot of days that I wish we could move back there because I miss it SO much! I am praying things get easier and new relationships will form and we will find a church home and friendships but I know it is going to take time and patience and sometimes I lack that quality! I am truly grateful for where God has led my life but I am someone that thrives on deep relationships and being social, I think that a lot of women do. I am pretty sure that men don't so much! I definitely know that I am a better wife, mother, sister, friend when I get a little mommy time and have those connections with people and relationships. I am just going to continue to pray because everything always works out it just isn't always on the time frame I think it should be :) 

Even though this week I have felt a little overwhelmed I am keeping my focus on one thing!!!

In less than a week I get to spend 8 glorious days with my precious family at the most magical place on earth!!! I can not wait, I think it will finally settle in when we are packed and actually driving in the car! ha! No work for 9 days, TONS of quality family time and LOTS and LOTS of making memories!

I promise I might not have a lot to post about this week but when we get back you will be on picture overload :)

Disney, here we come!~

Loving...

So, this possibly could be the most random list of things I am loving right now. This list has no rhythm or reason but then again I have pregnancy hormones pumping thru me and if I find something that I love right now I am sticking with it :) Here is my random list of things I am loving at the moment (this will probably change in 30 minutes based on the way I have been feeling lately :)

1. I have been kind of crazy about trying to keep the house clean lately, I think mainly cause looking at it messy makes me even more tired than I already am! With a golden retriever and hardwood floors I basically drive myself insane on a daily basis but I am loving... My bona hardwood floor cleaning system. For anyone that has Hardwood Floors Bona is the BOMB and does a GREAT job! I use it pretty much daily!

2. AWE! Sleeping, I am finally starting to sleep a LITTLE better. I have been experiencing pregnancy insomnia for the past 4 weeks but it seems to be getting better and I am actually sleeping for 4-5 hours in a row. I LOVE my naps though! I swear I could take a nap everyday if it was possible! My friends know that I get cranky when I don't get my naps! I love it that my kids still take 3 hour naps on the weekends, they are like their mom!

3. Revenge! Just looking at this picture gives me goosebumps! Love it, love it, love it! Tex and I were behind and watched both new episodes last night and I can't stand it! This show is SO good!

4. My big sexy hair root pump spray!  I haven't gotten that "pregnancy" glow just yet, I am still waiting :)  I was just feeling kind of blah so I went to Ulta with my gift certificate from my MIL and picked up a few things to "spice me up" a little. I picked up a big can of this root booster and LOVE it! I had used it a few years back and I don't know why I stopped, this stuff works wonders for my hair, I feel like a whole new me!

5. Loving me some elastic pants! I mean seriously I am just 8 weeks pregnant today and I KNOW I don't need to be rocking the maternity clothes just yet so as soon as I come home I put these on and finally breathe! I am finding zippers and buttons to not be my friends right now, they are getting tighter and more uncomfortable. These pants are my fav right now! If it was acceptable to wear them everywhere I would!

6. Last but certainly NOT least... the reason my pants are so tight and I need to wear elastic.. I am LOVING food! Not any kind of food, junk food, fast food, bad for you food :( This may sound crazy but in my first trimester with all of my pregnancies healthy food literally makes me ill. If I see low fat or light it makes me nauseous! ha! How terrible is that, I want carbs, fried food, noodles, etc... I basically want to eat like a 6 year old! I am at least trying my hardest to eat this in MODERATION! I am not snacking during the day and I try not to eat past 6:30 at night and still drink TONS of water but for lunch mainly I allow myself that juicy cheeseburger or those so not good for you fries! Yum, my mouth is watering already!

So there is a little glimpse into my favs for the week! It is almost the weekend! I am in planning and packing gear for DISNEY!!! It will be here before we know it! I better stop eating so much junk food since I just tried on my shorts last night and between having that nice pregnancy bloat and water weight  and being pale as a ghost it was NOT a pretty sight! :)

Finding Out and Telling!

I will try and give a short account of how we found out and told everyone:) ( I like to do this for my sake too because I am learning more and more that I don't remember stuff very well! haha) Tex and I have known for a long time that we wanted to try and have more kids when the time was right. Well after we moved and got settled the time seemed right and we were both SO excited for what the future would bring!

There were a few things that happened during our "trying" process that I have never experienced before and made me a little hesitant to get really excited right away. I have never been particularly good at that "two week wait" and seem to always test too early. So like always I got a few negative tests but being as persistent as I am I just kept right along! ha! THANK GOODNESS for the Dollar Tree tests, for anyone that hasn't used them you totally SHOULD, they are seriously a $ and they work great, can detect the HCG levels before your missed period, etc... So on December 15th I finally got a Faint Positive Line. I think I was so worried it wasn't real or that something would happen that I just kept on taking tests for seriously the next 10 days :) Here are just a few of the early ones, they are all positive even though you can't see the lines that great!

After I over analyzed the whole situation the next big decision was whether or not to tell the kids. I know there are probably a million opinions on this but I just couldn't wait. We told Palmer and then video taped him going in Ann Mason's room and telling her! The kids were SO excited! Palmer has seemed more used to the idea but for Ann Mason it is going to be a long 9 months! She kisses my belly every night, talks to the baby, asks when it will be out of my tummy, etc... :) They are going to be the BEST big brother and big sister ever! It is so fun to experience this with them a little older because they both understand for the most part what is happening and to hear them talk about it, is amazing!

Thanks to my sister and her quick embroidery skills she mailed us new Big Bro and Big Sis shirts within days! I have never been good at keeping the secret about being pregnant so my mom and Scott already knew but while they were in town, we put the shirts on the kids and went over to Tex's parents to surprise his WHOLE family! It was hilarious to watch everyone's reaction mainly shock and disbelief! All Tex's dad would say was "We just put up the baby crib, we just put up the baby crib" ha!

The kids being silly and excited to wear their new shirts!

Our attempt at a family picture with their fun shirts!

Us all being silly!

My mom and Scott with the kiddos!

We had fun telling our friends here and there. Most of them we just told in person and a few that I knew I might not see for a few weeks we told over email. We definitely aren't making it "facebook" official for a little while, not ready for such a public forum just yet! ha! Dec 30th I had my first ultrasound and saw the baby and the heartbeat, what a wonderful sight! The heartbeat was at a fast 175 bpm! The baby was measuring to the day and everything seemed great! It is still really early and I know that a lot can happen so we are just continuing to pray that everything goes smoothly and that this precious baby is growing and healthy!

I hope to do a lot of fun updates and track as much of this pregnancy as possible if I can summons the energy to do so! :) I am excited and at times a little overwhelmed thinking about becoming a family of 5 but mostly grateful to be given another miracle that will call me mommy!

New Week, New Day.... New NEWS!

I wanted to start this week off with a BANG and I just couldn't wait anymore! Our Family has some exciting news.....

Stay tuned for lots of fun updates and info on baby T #3!

On a Lighter Note...

I am slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things! I can't very well go on to big and better things like 2012 without tying up the loose ends from 2011!  We did have a wonderful Christmas! This is the first year that I can remember that we didn't travel anywhere! It was so nice but I missed seeing part of my family that lives out of town but we are getting ready to spend a week with them in Disney!!!

The kiddos were HILARIOUS! They loved Buddy the Elf this year and all of his new, fun and exciting hiding spots. Palmer was on a Christmas high for the whole month of December he could hardly contain his excitement! Annie is always happy go lucky so she just kind of bounced around and joined in on all of the chaos :) Here are a few things that we did over our Christmas Break:

PJ Day at School, we had lots of theme days in December!

Opened more presents than necessary and loved every minute of it! Palmer is my serious present opener, he doesn't get really excited or emotional over gift opening which was disappointing at first but then I realized he just has to evaluate everything and take it all in and then the excitement comes out hours later when he is playing with his toys for hours on end!

This is my excited and dramatic present opener, I LOVE it! She screams and jumps and is hilarious! She had a blast getting SO many new toys!

I am pretty sure that Annie is going to run a daycare or a food kitchen in her future. She got enough kitchen supplies, baby dolls, baby doll accessories to start her own little daycare facility :) She loves it!

Neenie and Pop came in and we went to Palmer's fav restaurant Cracker Barrel :) We had SO much fun with them in, we didn't want them to leave!

And since eating is what we do best, we hit up Red Lobster for our Christmas Eve tradition!

The kids eyeing the lobsters! This year they were SO brave and actually touched the lobsters when the lady got them out of the tank (big deal :)

We celebrated my sweet nieces birthday who was born on Christmas Eve 9 years ago! I can't believe it has been that long since she was born! I still remember it like it was yesterday and we ate Chinese food to celebrate that year! haha!

We had two special visitors from California! Uncle "Mac" and Aunt Kellye! They got to stay for two weeks and we have definitely gotten in some good quality family time! Palmer loves Uncle "Mac" but Annie just eyes him up and down, she isn't too sure of him yet!

The cousins spent A LOT of time together! These four are seriously best friends. I love every minute of it! To see them together makes me so happy! Cousins are definitely your first best friends!

And we managed somehow to take the #1 family pic ever! Everyone is looking at the camera and looks happy!!! We were SO thrilled. Only once a year are we all together and we took this after church on Christmas Eve, total fluke that we all managed to look in the same direction. If you look closely Annie is holding baby Jesus from the "major" she thought this was SO special!

I have absolutely zero, zilch, nada pics of New Years! We went to Louisville to see our friends and all of the kiddos. We had a great time and we miss everyone SO much!

I have to admit, there are many years that I have said good riddance to but not 2011. 2011 was SO difficult, we had so much uncertainty when Tex lost his job last December. We have had SO many changes this year, sometimes I look back and wonder how we managed it all but in the end we stayed together as a family, we loved each other unconditionally and we put God and each other first. It was not easy, I definitely had to focus on what was important and I had to work on being the best mom and wife that I could be! In the end everything worked out exactly the way it should. It is funny how it always does! I am excited about what our future holds, the plans God has for us and all of the new adventures of 2012!

I hope everyone had a blessed New Year! Now on to 2012, I think it's going to be an exciting year!

Sad...

I seriously can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I posted! The Templeton's have had A LOT going on! I feel like we are so out of our routine it is not even funny. Bedtimes have been extended, waking up every morning seems to be later and later, eating has become our #1 favorite hobby, spending time with family has been a daily activity and we have seriously been having a good time! I must say as much fun as it has been I am so ready to get back to somewhat of a routine! I have a lot to catch up on and pictures to post but I am just trying to get as much done as I can each day.

Yesterday we said goodbye to probably the greatest man I have ever known, my papaw. He went quickly and peacefully yesterday afternoon. My mom and aunt were still in mid flight and my other aunt had gone home to pick them up at the airport, I think he decided that he didnt' want his girls to have to see him like this anymore. As sad as we all are to not have him with us I am at peace knowing that the heavens were rejoicing and that he was reunited with my Nana whom he loved so much! We will miss him so very much but his legacy will last forever in us all.

He was my last surviving grandparent but I am SO thankful he had the chance to meet Palmer and Annie, they both loved "old papaw" We will be heading in for the visitation and funeral this week.

I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid."
John 14:27