Sitting in this hotel has not been very good for me.  I feel stagnant.  I’ve wasted far too much time online.  Most of it very unproductive.  Though, I did find and buy some neat artwork for the new house and for Lily’s new room.  Today, I spent most of my morning in a fog.  The hotel is a bit of a mess, I’ve just been letting Lily run around and haven’t made her pick up any of her toys yet.  But I’m determined to turn the day around:)  I have four folders of unedited pictures sorted through already.  I’m going to work on getting them processed, edited and posted this afternoon and into the evening.  They are just a bunch of random shots from the last few weeks.  Nothing that I’m very proud of.  I wish I would have shot more.  But, check back tomorrow for lots of new, old pictures.  And I promise to pick up my camera more often and to get back in the swing of things and post more regularly a.s.a.p.:)  Thanks for your patience<3.

1.  It’s not even Tuesday yet.  It’s only 11:00 here.  This time zone is going to be the death of me.

2.  Three weeks without a picture update.  I think that depresses me more than it depresses any of you because I know how much work I have piling up!  I miiight connect my computer this week andstart working.  Or, I might just spend the week chasingLily around with the camera and add to the pile with a happy heart.  Stay tuned;)

3.  Well, we’re in Arizona.  The drive went amazingly well.  I cheated a little though and bought a portable DVD player and a few Nick Jr. DVDs for Lily:p  They worked like a charm.  She never cried.  I remember driving to Texas when I was six or seven years old.  I was old enough to understand that we were driving across the country and that the drive was going to end eventually but I still remember whining and crying about having to be in the car.  So I was very happy that Lily took the car parts so well!

4.  We spent Friday night and all day Saturday in Amarillo, Texas with some family.  We staied at my Grandfather’s house and got to see one of my aunts and her family.  Then I took Thomas and Lily to meet my Father’s mother.  We’ve had the worst luck with timing trips.  every time I’ve seen my Nana since I’ve been with Thomas he has either been deployed or in training andcould never make the trip with me.  So it was really special to have her meet my husband and her great granddaughter for the first time!  I absolutely loved spending time with everyone in Texas and am really glad that we are only a 10 hour drive from them now:)

5.  With that being said, I do have to say that I was mildly miserable the whole time.  I woke up on the second day of the trip with a lame head cold:(  Thomas was a little under the weather as well but I took the cake.  I think I sneezed every 30 seconds for twenty-some hours and then it progressed to a cough and then a horrendous hack:(  I slept a lot.  I tried to stay awake for Thomas while he was driving and avoided the NyQuil at all costs.  But I slept a lot. 

6.  So, that means that there aren’t many “cross country” pictures:/ For one thing, the states we drove through weren’t all that exciting or pretty.  We drove through the NC/TN mountains in the middle of the night.  I slept through TN.  Arkansas was ugly and boring.  Oklahoma was beautiful but I was asleep for most of that.  Texas and NM, asleep or too miserable to remember that I had a camera and/or fingers to use it.  So, there will be a few.  But don’t expect anything spectacular;)

7.  Arizona.  It’s hard to think of this place as “home”.  It’s going to take me a while to stop thinking about “when we get back to NC…”.  Or to wrap my head around the fact that I might never live in North Carolina again.  Bizarre.

8.  But, we have a home!  We finished all of the paper work at 7:00 this morning and the loan has gone through, so the house has been paid for!  We get the title tomorrow:)  We do have to wait to move it.  That won’t happen until the 2nd.  But I am very excited about moving in and getting settled!

9.  Halloween is coming up, fast!  Lily is going as a bumble bee:)  We are pretty excited about taking her Trick-or-treating for the first time!  Thomas is buying her a wagon this week and can’t stop talking about pulling her around in it!  Hopefully there will be nice weather that night and we’ll have a good time!

10.  Ten.  It’s still not Tuesday.  I watched CLOVERFIELD tonight:)  Love that movie.  LOVE special features for movies.  These ones were pretty lame.  But I’m listening to the director’s commentary while I’m typing this and there’s a ton of neat information.  I likeie:)  They mentioned CHILDREN OF MEN and now I really want to see it again.  I think I might have to go out and pick up some movies this week:)  Hope you all have a great week.  Thank you for all of the love and support through our move.  I’ll get some pictures up here for you soon:)

1.  Sorry I’ve been MIA.  Last Tuesday my house was being loaded into an 18-wheeler to be taken to Arizona.  I meant to blog earlier than this but things have been hectic. 

2.  My parents came to Pope for a quick visit last Monday.  They ended up leaving withboth of our dogs andd Lillian that afternoon.  We figured it would be a great way for Thomas and I to be able to focus on everything we still needed to get done before the move and for all of our family andfriends in Jacksonville to spend a little bit of extra time withLily.  It turned out great.  The first few days were hard for us.  It’s really not easy to go back to the “single life” once you become parents.  But we enjoyed having some alone time together.  Lily got to spend nights withboth sets of grandparents and see all of her aunts and church buddies:)  She handled the time away from us like a champ.  But everyone was happy to be back together again on Saturday morning:)

3.  Miss Lillian is 14 months old, as of yesterday.  It’s amazing to see how much she has changed even since her birthday in August!  She is walking so fast now… teetering on running and can say a handful of words [mumma, dada, Mya, kitty, dogdog, stop, don't, no, yay, and nose].  She also knows what a nose is and will point to yours if you ask her to:)  I’m verrry proud of her for that lol.  She loves purses and spoons still.  She is ridiculously busy and energetic.  She talks and sings and screams and dances and explores all day long.  She sleeps wonderfully and is still a very sweet little girl although, we are starting to see streaks of her mommy’s stubbornness and determination coming out in her these days.  All in all we count our blessings everyday.  We are beyond lucky to be that little monster’s parents… and we know it!

4.  I <3 Phoenix!  “Rome” just popped up on my iTunes playlist and I thought I would share withall of you that I love that band:)  Band of Horses, The Avett Brothers and M. Ward are amazing as well, just saying;)

5.  Back on track…  Lily is still batteling her diaper rash.  It was horrendous Saturday and Sunday.  We’ve tried a million different diapers and ointments/creams/pastes and home remedies.  We have stopped using diaper wipes and started using just warm, wet wash clothes to clean her.  We slather her up with Neosporin and are using 7th Generation diapers [which are chlorine free disposable diapers].  That combo seems to be working.  We are still going to take her in this morning to have it checked out and hopefully get an antibiotic or something to clear it up completely.  I can’t imagine her sitting in her car seat for the trip to Arizona with the rash as it is right now.  So fingers crossed for her.

6.  Lily got to spend the afternoon with a set of her Great Grandparents yesterday!  Thomas’ father’s parents drove down from Eden, NC to see us before we had to leave.  It was wonderful to see them again andfor them to get to spend a few hours with Lily.  She was tired and her bottom was bothering her but we all enjoyed the visit very much.  She’s about to see 3 more Great Grandparents later this week when we drive through Texas:)

7.  Today is the day!  I have lived in North Carolina since December 1986.  I was 10 months old when my parents moved here from Texas.  Twenty-three years.  And it ends today.  We will be pulling out of my parents driveway tonight around 8:00 to start our cross-country trip to start our new lives in Arizona!  I have a million feelings about the trip and the move.  Most are positive but it’s so hard to think about leaving all of my family and friends here.  I know that our lives will go on and I just pray that that doesn’t mean that our lives will grow apart.  I struggle when I think of my daughter growing up in a completely different environment and culture than what I grew up in.  I hope that what ever lays ahead for her is beautiful and wondrous and loving… and safe.

8.  So far everything is on track with the Arizona house!  Our loan was approved a few days ago and we are set to close on the house on Monday the 26th:)  I can not wait to move in on the 2nd and have all of our things delivered on the 4th.  I’m ready to make a new home with my little family:)

9.  I’m also ready to add to my little family!  I have had Kitten Fever for a few months now.  My great friend, Debra has a litter of kittens right now and I want one of them so badly.  I have definitely learned that I am more of a cat person than a dog person.  Though I love my dogs, I miss having a cat.  Thomas talked me out of taking one of Debra’s fluffy little cuties.  It would be pretty stressful on the kitten to be in a box for 4 days, cross country and then to live in a little hostess house with 3 people and 2 huge dogs before finally moving into our home.  So, we’ve agreed to wait and get settled in before we add a new family member. 

10.  And, of course, since I’m talking about new additions I have to bring up my latest!  Saturday my sister, Haley and I got new tattoos together!  I have two small tattoos already.  One that I got a few nights before my wedding for Thomas and another that I got with Debra andanother friend of ours the month before I got pregnant with Lillian.  Haley had never had one before and I was so happy to be there with her while she got her first one!  It was a great day together and something that I will always remember.  I’m looking forward to the day our other sister, Hunter is old enough to join us:) 

11.  Lookie lookie, bonus rounds:)  New Moon comes out in a month!  That’s the second movie in the Twilight Saga, in case some of you aren’t as crazy as I am and don’t know that already;)  I’m pretttty excited to see this one!  Thomas isn’t very thrilled and I’ve mentioned going by myself on opening night if he really didn’t want to come with me!  I have no problem with that!  I’m sure there will be plenty of great women standing in line for hours with me:x

12.  Last but not least… Pictures are coming soon!!  I have 4 memory cards full.  I will get them dumped onto the computer tomorrow and will work on them once I get to the hostess house in Arizona:)  There are sure to be some great ones coming your way!  Stay tuned and say some prayers for us as we make this huge trip together!

1. We had a pretty good weekend here, besides the tv getting busted:p. Thomas’ mom came for a visit and we played Beatles Rock Band most of the time! It was nice to have a singer for a change.

2. Saturday night we went to the bowling alley on base so I wouldn’t have to cook and we could get out of the house for a little while!

It was a good time! Lily pushed the ball down the lane a few times on my turn and did pretty good! Knocked down 6 and 7 pins and a few gutter balls. Thomas and his mom were typical competitive Whitten’s and had a good time talking crap to each other!

3. We have been making a lot of progress on the house. Cleaned out all the closets and most of the draws and cabnets. We’ve sorted and donated and thrown things out! It’s been really nice!

4. I’m still in complete disbelief that there will be men in my house on Monday morning to pack everything up and by Wednesday night this house will be completely empty. This has been our first real home together. And though we are both so ready to move on to bigger and better things, I will miss this house.

5. Speaking of bigger and better things! We bought a new fridge for the new house last week:) It was the only appliance that didn’t come with the house. We were out to dinner and wanted to kill some time afterwards so I figured we could walk around and look at a few and price them for once we got out to Arizona. But we found a great Open Box deal that night! It’s a So we grabbed it! It’s a stainless steal, Top and botom with french doors! It was delivered on Firday and is sitting in our dinning room all shiny and gorgeous! I can’t wait to get it set up in the new house:) ANDDD, I just realized that I wrote about it in last week’s Ten on Tuesday! Sorry lol.

6. Lily is anemic. Her pediatrician called us yesterday and told us that she is putting her on Iron for 3 months. I was pretty bummed but I’m glad we know and that we can hopefully get her iron levels back up soon:) She’ll be on the medicine for 3 months and then has a follow-up appointment in 4 months:)

7. I haven’t been feeling very well for a few days now. I think it’s probably just from the weather. It’s been super gloomy here lately. I’ve loved it in a way. I know we won’t have many days like these for the next few years. I am going to miss my dreary North Carolina winters that are just wet and windy enough to annoy you but never cold enough to be called a “true winter” full of snow and sledding and compitent drivers.

8. I’m craving sweaters and hats and scarves and jackets. I thought about knitting Lily a hate and scarf today. I think I’m going to go buy the yarn tomorrow. It will give me something to do on the drive out to AZ. I already have the jacket I want picked out. Just waiting to see just exactly how the Arizona winter is going to be before I buy it.

9. I’m also craving photoshoots. I have been on a break since May and I’m loosing my mind a little bit. I’ve done a few for friends and of Lily of course but I really miss meeting and working with new people. I might be driving to Jacksonville Saturday night to do a couple’s session for a girl that works with my mom. But she’s sick right now so I’m still waiting to hear back from her. I’m already dreaming about it! It’s sad. I can’t wait to get business rolling in Arizona:):)

10. Lily. She has been pretty amazing! She’s so full of energy and spirit! She loves to dance and sing. Especially from her learning chair:/ She’s starting to want to climb everything. If there’s something infront of her she grabs on and lifts her leg to try to get on top of it. It’s scary! She is in love with our dog, Mya. I mean, in love!! She follows her around with open arms ready for hugs. Poor Mya. She’s great with Lily though and lays there and takes the abuse;)

We have the pre-inspection for the house in the morning. I guess someone from base housing will come in and tell us everything we need to get done before the actual inspection on the 19th. So Thomas was out back all evening working on the yard and cleaning out our storage units. Our beautiful little house guest has made her web in the corner by the storage room and has her web anchored to our old artificial Christmas tree that has been laying out there since January! We knew we would be moving and decided to just toss that tree since it was a cheap, $30 KMart tree. But we forgot it was out there until like March and thought it would look silly throwing out a Christmas tree in March so we left it back there! Our cat, Nina loved it and now it was helping Miss Spider out! Well, it was time for the tree to go. It looked pretty trashy back there and Thomas wasn’t going to let the inspectors see it. So that meant it was time to relocate Miss Spider.
I thought she might have left on her own by the time we needed to move but she hadn’t and there was no way I was just going to leave her there to be squashed by some jerk mover or maintenance person! So I took some final pictures

And then Thomas took her off of her web

And we walked to the treeline behind our house and set her down.
We found her eggsac under our patio umbrella and moved that with her.

She didn’t want to come out so I left her in the glass and went inside to finsih dinner.

I came back out about an hour later as the sun was going down to grab the glass. She was still there, only about 6 inches from the glass. I spent some more time just sitting there watching her. I am really going to miss her. I have loved watching her outside of our window everyday and seeing lily light up when she sees her!
I came back inside and did some research online about her and it’s pretty sad. I guess she will be dying soon since she’s already laid her eggs. The website said that they usually don’t live past the first frost. So she still has a little while I guess. Her babies are all already hatched in the sac and will remain in there until spring time. Then they will hatch out and release a small strand of silk that will catch in the wind and blow them into their new lives… straight out of Charlotte’s Web movie:)

So proud of my little girl.
We took her to the park while we were in Jacksonville waiting to head to the airport. I grew up playing at this park with my parents and sisters<3 It’s always fun when I bring Lily here. But this time she could actually play on almost everything and run around:)
I always love watching Thomas play with her at the park. He is so much fun for her and makes sure that she gets on every ride! It’s nice to just be able to sit back and watch them together.

ok.  it’s 5:30 in the morning.  I’ve gotten through all the pictures I set aside for this weekend:)  Thomas’ mom is here visiting [sleeping riiight over my shoulder as I type:)] so I’m sure tomorrow will be lots of fun with my cranky butt walking around:/  So off to bed I go:)  Hope you have a great weekend:)  Leave the blogs some love if you get a chance;)  goodnightloves;)

I love times like these. 

She had just woken up from a nap and was still trying to wake up.  [She's so much like me in that.]

I took her out front to enjoy the nice weather we were having and she just kind of bumbled around the yard, watching the birds and playing with my lens cap while I rolled around in the grass like a crazy woman! 

She rarely looks at me when I take her picture nowadays.   I think the look on her face in the first one just goes to show you how crazy I looked on the ground:p

There is so much sweetness in this little girl’s heart.  I am beyond blessed by her daily:)

Took Lily out front to make a picture for Thomas the other day. Couldn’t find my paint brushes so I decided to just wing it and use what ever I could find in the yard. She ended up using a pine cone, a leaf and a random piece of cardboard trash that blew into the yard while we were out there!
It was very fast paced and not at all as relaxing as I had imagined it would be. Lily was alll over the yard chaising windblown leaves [and trash:p], watching the birds on the phone lines and the children playing a few houses down the street. It was gorgeous outside though. And a very enjoyable experience.
Her first instinct was to scoop the paint off the plate and taste it. I wish I would have gotten picture of her face but I was too busy scooping it right back out of her mouth! I thanked God that she didn’t have some kind of bizarre reaction to it since I wasn’t using “kids paint” like I probably should have been. But all is well;)
Here are a few of my favorites that I got of her. Next time I’m going to make sure Thomas is home so I can spend more time taking pictures and not doing the chasing!
enjoy;)

…and dance like you just don’t care.

I have noo idea if that’s how the song goes and it’s terribly corny. But that’s all I could think about when I saw Lily standing up in her learning chair and dancing to Noggin [excuse me, Nick Jr. coughcough] for the first time!! My friend Adalynn gave Lily that chair because her son, Cohen was using it as a stepping stool. I never imagined that we would have to worry about that so soon. She’s only had the chair for a month! What am I going to do with her!?

My macro lens has not been my friend lately. When I first got it I just knewww I was going to love it… I just needed to learn how to use it right. I figured just getting out and practicing would help but I just haven’t had the time or the motivation to take it out. So, that plan failed. Or is at least, halted for a little while.
I did take it out a few days after we got back from Arizona. I didn’t use my camera at all in AZ so I needed some quality time with it! I took a walk in the feild behind our house right before sundown. This is theeee only picture that I took that I even remotely liked:( It felt great to lay in the grass and take pictures of random things but I was still not very comfortable with the lens so I spent most of the time just relaxing and messing with the dials. I was surprised that I even got one that I liked since I wasn’t really taking myself very seriously out there!
Anywho, if you’re ever in a slump, go lay in the yard and take random pictures of the grass. It did wonders for my stress:)