Decompression time

Today was my last day of work as a full time Walmart employee. I have agreed to stay on for a few hours per week through the end of the year. I will be working these hours on days that the girls would be in daycare/pre-school anyways so it isn't any less time with them. It will actually be a nice transition...I will get to use my brain for something complicated and meaningful (not that parenting isn't these things), engage with adults and transition a bit slower to one income. I am really thankful for the company that I work for.

My co-workers (especially my sister) and husband have helped me celebrate this transition. I am actually home now waiting for Neal and the girls to come and pick me up for a celebratory dinner. It is fun to celebrate me but this is also a celebration of my amazing husband, the fact that he works so hard and has planned so well...that (plus our amazing God) is what has made this possible for our family. I am immeasurably thankful for Neal and don't know why God chose me to be the lucky one to have gotten to marry him. I am so thankful that he has supported and pushed for this decision the way that he has. I love him more than he could ever know. I came home this afternoon to this since it was my last full day.

This is a selfie of our family celebrating tonight.

Now on to lots more time spent with these 2 crazies!!

Beach vaca 2014

This year’s beach trip was a whole different experience than 2 years ago. It is amazing how much changes in 2 years (or in 2 months for that matter). We had so much fun this year! We played all morning on the beach each day and some days we went back in the afternoon. The girls really love the pool and while they had fun on the beach they would be begging for the pool after a couple of hours.

 

We spent the night in Hattiesburg, ate really good food, swam in the hotel pool and had a pretty fun time.

 

We spend a lot of time in the car on the way down (there was about 3 hours of completely stopped traffic just past Mobile).

 

They are ready to play in the sand!

 

Pop-pop made some sand sculptures.

 

We found a shell with a creature inside.

 

We did some floating in the ocean.

 

We built some sandcastles.

 

The girls buried their daddy in the sand.

 

Did some souvenir shopping at Alvin’s Island and let the girls get a hermit crab (Ella’s escaped and Reese’s died before the end of the week).

 

Ate dinner at Fudpuckers and held a baby alligator.

 

Went on a dolphin cruise which wore them out so much that they both passed out for the last 30 minutes.

 

I went deep sea fishing with some of the family.

 

Neal, the girls and his parents went to The Track and had fun while I fished.

Floated in a beach river.

 

And we took lots of adorable photos on the beach the last night.

 

One of the highlights of the trip was that both girls learned to really swim while we were there!! We had a lot of fun but were all glad to be home to our beds with no sand in them.

A very big decision

On August 20^th I will embark on a new journey that I have longed to pursue for years…I will be setting my career aside to focus on my girls full time! I am so excited about this new stage of our lives and very interested in how this will all play out. Telling my company that I will be leaving has been surreal. I have been so amazed and thankful for all of the support and encouragement that I have gotten. Walmart has been an unbelievably positive experience and I am so grateful for the 7+ years I have gotten to spend with such a great company.

 

Honestly, I am not 100% sure that I will want to stay at home long term. What I am 100% sure of is that Reese goes to kindergarten in 1 year and Ella in 3 and if I am going to try this out now is the time. When Ella goes to school I can always re-enter the workforce and doing this ensures that years from now I won’t look back with regrets. I know I am not the type that can stay in the house all of the time so I have been researching all of the cheap activity options in the area & it turns out that there seems to be a lot to do. The girls will stay at their current daycare 2 days a week so that they can continue learning and have a pre-school program in place. I will begin teaching them things the other 3 days and hope to be able to be somewhat consistent with what is being taught at the daycare so that they can stay up to speed.

 

I am so excited about all of the memories we will get to make and all of the time I will get to have with these precious little girls. I am SO thankful for a husband that fully supports this and has worked so hard to make this a reality. I'm so thankful that The Lord has allowed this to be a reality. I feel very blessed to get this time with my girls and hope that this change will make Neal’s life a little less hectic too.

Random updates on a Monday

1. The McAllister house cannot stay well over the past couple of weeks, with the exception of Ella. Upon returning from a trip to central Arkansas to visit family a few weeks ago Reese complained that her stomach hurt. I think I convinced her that it was hurting because she keeps eating her boogers. Prior to this sickness she was adamant that she had no plans of stopping that habit. Later that night we realized that she was running fever. By 2 am her fever was up to 103 and she began with the diarrhea. She was in the bathroom about 20 times that first 24 hours and we were fighting to keep her fever down. By Monday evening she had been sick so many times and I was now seeing blood so I got her into the pediatrician, I was very thankful that our pediatrician is open until 8 pm on weeknights. It took 3 days for the results of the sample they took to come back but it turns out she had something called campylobacter, which is typically contracted by raw chicken. Who knows how she got it but we were at a large public pool that weekend so it could have come from the gross bathrooms at public places like that. Reese no longer eats her boogers and is saying that she will not be doing that any longer so that she doesn't become that sick again...I guess that is the silver lining to such a terrible sickness. I am just glad it only lasted a few days and that no one else got it. Below is Reese eating her jello once she was on her way to better.

One evening later that week Neal began running a low fever. The next day he played in a golf tournament, went on a big Sam's run with me and went out to dinner with me. I wish he would have rested instead because that night his temperature was up to 103. He was in bed from Friday night through Monday morningwith the exception of an outing to an urgent care clinic on Sunday. Turns out he had a severe sinus infection. They took x-rays of his face and his left sinus area was huge, causing his jaw and teeth to hurt. It took about a week for him to be back to himself.

The following Monday I came down with a fever. Luckily mine only lasted about 24 hours and with lots of rest, juice and chicken noodle soup I was back to myself in a couple of days. I had no other symptoms other than fever and achiness so I really wonder if Neal possibly had a virus, on top of the sinus infection, that he passed to me. 

I am so thankful that we are all well now and that Ella didn't get any of it. Ella was such a sweet little nurse through all of it. When Neal was sick and she would be playing outside she would regularly go in to check on him or bring him a flower. The evening that I was feeling really bad she never left my side and was so sweet and snuggly. 

2. The girls have been doing swimming lessons the past couple of weeks. Reese missed 3 of the 5 lessons due to her sickness so we may get at least one make up. They have become so comfortable with the water. Reese is swimming short distances under the water and Ella will go all the way under to fetch her princess diving sticks with her eyes wide opened (only in areas that she can still stand). I love that they love the water so much because I do too.

3. The girls and I made these adorable 4th of July shirts. I love them! I got the idea from Pinterest of course.

4. These girls love this dog so much and this dog loves these girls more and more all of the time. The day that we lose Barkley is going to be such a sad day for us all. I hope she lives until at least 25. 

5. When Reese turned 3 the binky fairy came during the night and got all of her binkies because when you are 3 you are too old for binkies. She had a hard time with it for a few nights but then got over it and it has not been an issue. She knows that Ella still gets them at night only because she is not 3 yet and once she is 3 the binky fairy will visit her too. However, the other day I caught her at nap like this!!

When I asked her if she slept with anything in her mouth while sleeping she said no. So, I showed her the picture. She hid her face in the couch and then came back up a few moments later grinning and said that Ella left it in the bonus room so she decided to use it. Stinker!

6. Neal and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on the 19th. 10 years have flown by. I love this man so much and am so thankful for him. We celebrated by eating sushi and sitting outside near the new concert venue listening to a Pat Green concert going on. He did not feel well as this was the day that his terrible sickness started.

7. Anytime I go to a fitting room with Reese I let her have my phone for entertainment. The idea is that she would play a game or watch a show. However, this is the 3rd time I have found pictures on the phone like this following our fitting room stay (or much worse where I am barely or not dressed).

8. Reese is so picky about what she wears. Typically she only wants to wear princess clothes, which mean a dress. A few weeks ago she chose to wear a particular dress the night before, which I agreed to. The next day she was downstairs at 5:50asking if it was time to get dressed. She was dressed and ready by 6 and got to watch TV for an hour. The next night she decided to wear her Easter dress the next morning, which I agreed to. She snuck into our bed in the middle of the night that night. In the morning I went upstairs to grab the dress and couldn't find it. I went back down to discover that she had grabbed it in the middle of the night before coming down and had it in her arms in our bed. Below if an example of what she picks out when there are multiple pieces involved and just how happy it makes her to pick her clothes. Nut!

9. Neal let the girls splash in puddles on Saturday and they had a blast.

Reese 4 year old questionnaire

What is your favorite color? Purple & pink

Who is your best friend? Reagan & Avery

What is your favorite snack? Candy & m&m’s

What is your favorite thing to do with Ella? Go to the park.

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Chicken nuggets

What is your favorite drink? Chocolate milk

What do you like to do outside? Play Elsa

What is your favorite sport? Soccer

What do you want to be when you grow up? Elsa

What is your favorite animal? Baby sheep

What is your favorite book? Elsa book

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Golf

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Go to Chuck-E-Cheese

What is your favorite song? Let it go

What is your favorite birthday dinner? An Elsa pancake

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My bunny Macey

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What makes you happy? When I have my Lyla

What makes you sad? When Parker bites me

What do you think about before you go to sleep? My heart

What do you like to do as a family? Go to Chick fil a and to see the Easter bunny

 

10 year trip

Somehow Neal and I have been married for almost 10 years! Our actual anniversary is June 19^th. It is amazing how much love I have for someone that often gets on my nerves :) (I know I get on his nerves even worse as he often calls me “nag-a-thon USA”). He really is a great guy that has been such a supportive, fun, sensitive, understanding and collaborative partner to spend the past 10 years with. We have the 2 most adorable little girls together and he is the best daddy to them that I could have ever imagined. Our girls and I are SO lucky to have him.

 

We (I) really wanted to do something special to celebrate 10 years, Neal honestly would rather have saved money as he is on a Dave Ramsey kick. Since he loves me as much as he does he agreed to take a trip and wanted it to be a surprise to me. I knew the date of the trip and that it was tropical but not the location. We had to take the trip a couple of months prior to our actual anniversary due to work schedules and the schedules of the ones that graciously agreed to stay with our littles. He knew that I wanted to try the Dominican Republic and I really thought that was where we were headed. He did look into it but it was going to be all day travel on the way there and overnight travel on the way home. We only allocated a Wednesday through a Sunday for this trip so that just was not going to work. So Cancun it was, for the 4^th time. When I found out at the airport that we were going to Cancun I was thrilled. We both always say we want to try something new but we also both love doing what we already know we adore. Cancun has always been such a fun trip for us and this time was no different. We always stay at the same resort so he did change it up a bit and booked a sister resort that is on the main strip and is couples only. It was great but we have both decided that we will return to our regular spot next time…what can I say we are creatures of habit.

 

This is up on the airplane ride over. We were on the beach by noon…another perk to Cancun!!!

This was the view from our room.

 

This was left in the room to greet us.

This cute guy just sitting on the beach allowed us to get a couple of feet from him to take a photo.

Classic toes shot.

One afternoon we went over to our regular resort and swam with the dolphins. It was such an amazing experience but the cheapest photo package was $130 so there are no photos of that. Her name was Andromeda and she gave us kisses, pulled us 30 feet or so along the ocean and was cute and so much fun. I have always wanted to swim with dolphins and cannot wait to take the girls to do it one day; I think we will splurge on the photos when we do that. Other than swimming with dolphins we mainly laid around on the beach and by the pool, got a massage, hit some golf balls, ate a lot and slept. It was wonderful.

 

We had a great trip and I am glad Neal conceded and allowed us to have some us time to relax for a few days. I love this man so much!