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

The Real Reason for the Season and a Ugly Cry

   I had an ugly cry last night. I am not sure if I am just overwhelmed or the fact that I was cleaning up after the stomach bug hit our house AGAIN Sunday for the 3rd time in a month but it was UGLY and Tex was the witness. I just had a moment where I lost it, for some reason I have just felt so behind this Christmas season, total Mommy Slacker! My Christmas cards JUST went out today (GASP!), presents still need to be wrapped, the fridge is all but empty with my parents coming in 2 days, teachers presents aren't finished, the house needs a major cleaning overhaul and then I realized in the middle of my ugly cry that....

He doesn't care if all of that "fluff" stuff is done and really no one else does either. I think sometimes we I can put a lot of pressure on myself to try to do a million things that in all reality just aren't really that necessary and really if they didn't get done it wouldn't make a huge difference. The important thing this season is to remember the true meaning of Christmas which is Jesus. To spend time with my family and children without worrying about the 50 things I "should" be doing because in the end all that really matters is the time spent with each of them. I love that my kids are learning about Jesus in church and school. Annie is OBSESSED with Jesus's Major (aka manger, she calls it major though) she LOVES it and wants a nativity scene so bad and wants to hug and kiss baby Jesus all of the time.

So this year I might not win any awards for best teachers gifts and my Christmas Cards will definitely be the last to arrive and my presents might look like a 5 year old wrapped them but these are such insignificant worries compared to what Mary and Joseph must have felt that night!

So, for now I am going to sit back and take a deep breathe and try and remember the important things rather than all of the other things that can get in the way! I hope everyone has an AMAZING Christmas filled with JOY, LOVE and PEACE this year! Merry Christmas!

Out of Steam

Buddy's first day at our house 2011

I don't have it in me... Trying to be clever, funny and creative right now is totally out of my league so I am going to let someone else do it. This blog is freaking hilarious and this post about Elf on the Shelf is classic. I share many of her same sentiments right now! Tomorrow is Friday right? :)

http://peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.blogspot.com/2011/12/over-achieving-elf-on-shelf-mommies.html

Read it you won't regret it!

Moving on Up!

So, I am moving away from Christmas topics for just a day! I have been a BAD blogger lately! The stomach flu hit our house for the 3rd time in a month! Seriously? At least this strand was thankfully really weak! We had a good weekend minus the occasional sickness. We did some more Christmas activities and went and looked at Christmas lights, baked cookies, went to a church Christmas play, etc... I am telling ya after this Holiday we are going to be lost for things to do! ha! Oh and we painted Palmer's room, he is SO excited! Pics to come...

So off Christmas topic... I consider myself semi-girly. I am not trendy but I like clothes, I don't read fashion magazines or know the latest styles but I keep up and am ok with my every day look :) I am basically most comfortable in a black shirt (ok turtleneck) jeans and boots and maybe some big, cute earrings. One thing I am horrible at is beauty products! I LOVE them but I think I am too cheap and feel too guilty to buy a bunch of new beauty products even though secertly I wish I could buy all of them!  Now if someone gave me tons of money to spend and showed me what to buy I would be a kid in a candy store!

One of my friends is the QUEEN of all beauty products. I am talking I walk into her "getting ready" room and don't want to leave because she has so much stuff to go on your face, in your hair, on your body! haha I have to ask what everything is, even taking a shower at her house is heaven because of all of the amazing products she has! So with a little help from her and mainly me going blindly into Sephora last weekend. I have now offically replaced all of my maybeline, revlon, cover girl make up with new make up that has sassy names and costs a lot more money :) I don't know if it is the placebo effect but I LOVE my new make up, so I wanted to share in case there are any other beauty product challenged women that read my blog :)

First off is Mascara. I LOVE mascara if I could only pick one beauty product to ever wear it would be this! I think it does wonders! So I had originally been given a sample of the badgal lash and I loved it! So when I went to sephora I bought the big bottle of it! It is not clumpy and thickens and legthens your lashes, I love it!

Lip Butter, I LOVE this stuff! I am ocd for chap stick, lip balm, etc... and this stuff is amazing. It is light, non greasy and a light color that you can wear day and night. It is called Lip Butter by Korres in Jasmine.

That Gal by benefits has a face primer? What is a face primer? I probably still don't know but it makes my skin glow and I swear it keeps the make up on longer and better! I only have a sample of this stuff but I plan on buying the big size when it runs out.

Next is foundation... I mean look how pretty this bottle is! Fancy, huh? :) This is called Two Faced and it is an oil free liquid foundation with spf. I LOVE it, it is full coverage without the weight! The sales lady at Sephora probably picked up quickly on my deer in headlight eyes as I combed the store and she headed me straight to this, it feels awesome every time I put it on!

I stumbled upon this little gem at my friends house that has all of the beauty products. It is an eye liner from stila. It is amazing and amazingly permanent, be careful! I love it and it stays on forever, a little goes a long way!

Love Sugarbomb by Benefits. It is a blush/bronzer It gives off an iridescent glow and is really natural!

Next is my new MAC eye shadow. If I had been a few hundred dollars richer that day I would have picked up about 15 of these little round jackpots and some of those ridiculously expensive brushes you put it on with. I mean why are those things $36? That is crazy to me, I just use my finger. I am not even joking! I know it is terrible, I am almost embarrassed to admit that but it takes baby steps for me :) I love MAC eye shadows, they wear great and last forever so it is definitely worth the money!

So these are my new found beauty products that I love. It is so fun to buy and put on new make up, maybe I am more girly than I thought. Too bad I don't have something that would give me an instant tan and make me look 15 pounds lighter but for now these products will help get me thru the winter blues!