Confessional Friday – Getting to know me!

Hi friends, new and old! It’s time for another Confessional Friday!

 

Leslie is changing up Confessional Friday today so we can share a little bit about ourselves!

So, here we go!

Hey y’all! I’m Sarah! I’m a newly 30 year old smack dab in the middle of a crazy, fun life. I live in western Arkansas and am married to the love of my life, Zach! We have been married for seven years and he is my best friend! We were an unlikely couple but once we started dating, the rest was history. He is a junior high band director and is one of the hardest working people I know. His students adore him and he truly changes lives of these young students and I could not be more proud of him and the work he does.

We have two children. Our oldest, Ava, is five. She is a spunky, sassy, larger than life personality contained in this little five year old body. She is truly a joy and she keeps us on our toes. She’s smarter than any five year old should ever be and makes me question my abilities as a parent daily. :) She’s incredibly sweet and I’m so proud of the little lady she’s becoming right before my eyes. A couple days ago we watched some videos of her as a little one and two year old and I thought my heart my break from missing that precious baby love. I also miss the sweet girl who thought her mama was all that and didn’t threaten me from her perch in the corner “i can karate kick your face.” Just keeping it real, folks.

Our second child is Reed. He’s two and a half and he is a force to be reckoned with! I just thought Ava was ornery and mischievous. Reed wrote the book on ornery. But as ornery as he is, he can be equally as sweet. He has an incredible vocabulary for a two year old and communicates in complete sentences. He speaks more like a four year old than a two year old. He was born with a collapsed lung and was a NICU baby. He’s also had a tough past year with the presence of thyroglossal duct cyst and two surgeries and numerous procedures on it. He’s been a true warrior and has handled this so well. I’m so thankful for my little boy! And while I’m keeping it real, the other day he was mad at me for buckling him in his carseat, and as he tried (unsuccessfully) to hit at me, so when I got in the driver’s seat, he was in the back yelling “I wanna hit you! I wanna hit you!” nice, huh?

By day I’m an accountant at a local utility company. I went to college at the University of Arkansas and got my MBA three years after I graduated. I enjoy my job and I enjoy the people I work with, though I’d much rather spend my days at home with my babies. Since that’s not a reality for us, I am very grateful to have a job that allows me maximum time with them as well as the opportunity to still be present at their activities and not miss out on things. These two are my pride and joy!

When I’m not working I’m making sure our household runs smoothly. Zach and I are a great team and share a huge amount of the responsibilities – it wouldn’t work otherwise. He is in the middle of getting his Master’s degree so he is a little busier than normal, but we are managing.I’m the 2nd oldest of five children and I’m very close with all my family. I have 1 nephew and three adorable nieces who were all born last fall within a month of each other. We are blessed to have wonderful families that give us much love and support.

I’ve been blogging for about 5 and a half years. I started it when I was pregnant with Ava and I have loved having it a memory book for our family. It’s been a tool that has brought me so many friends, a SIL (who just happens to be the one and only Blonde Ambition lady Leslie) , and so many other things. I’ve definitely gone through dry spells or have lacked motivation to write, but always come back.

When I actually have a little free time, I LOVE to read. I love getting lost in a book. I’m about to start reading Labor Day! If you have any great book suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

I also love to cook. We love trying new recipes and it’s fun being in the kitchen cooking for my family. i just wish I had more time during the week to make more complex meals.

I also love traveling! I’ve been fortunate enough to visit so many amazing places! When I graduated college, I traveled with two of my friends to Europe for two weeks. It was absolutely incredible!

One of my very favorite vacation spots is the beach!!! We went last year and had the best time. We’re hopeful to return this year also!!! 

So there ya go! That’s just a little glimpse into my world! I would love to know who’s stopping by and reading so please leave a comment and let me know! Also, I’d love to answer any questions any new friends or long time readers have, so leave those in the comments as well!

Thanks for stopping by and getting a glimpse of our lives as we live Happily Edwards After!!!!

Weekend happenings

Hello, friends! Hope you all had a good weekend. We certainly did! We’ve gotten in a pretty good routine around our house putting forth a little more effort putting things away and keeping stuff picked up during the week so that equals less time needed for it on the weekends, which I LOVE!

Before we recount the week, let me talk about Reed’s follow up appointment. We had an early morning appointment in Lowell Thursday morning. Reed was fine until they called his name and wanted to start checking his weight, height, etc. He wasn’t having any of that stuff.

The doctor came in and checked out the chin. He said for now it looks great. He said we are back to the waiting game. We have to just sit tight and wait and see if this cyst returns again. While the presence of fluid doesn’t necessarily mean it will return, it does mean that he has an increased risk of it returning. If we don’t have any issues, we will go back for another visit in July. If anything comes up, then we call them.  

Thursday night I saw that a new cupcake shop opening soon, Bliss Cupcakes, was giving away some cupcakes on some different social media sites. I actually won one of the 1/2 dozen they were giving away! We went and picked them up, and oh my, were they good!!!!!! I can’t wait until they open up shop here!

The kids were excited to try them! Also, I love how Reed is looking at Ava here. He always looks to her to see what she’s doing and then often times mimics her. For all the fighting they do, they sure do love each other.

When I showed Ava a picture of the cupcakes, she called dibs on the chocolate one! I would say she enjoyed it!

Zach was gone to a basketball game that night so when it was time for Reed to go to bed, we got to sit and snuggle in Daddy’s chair since he wasn’t home! 

Friday morning means that we are happy people! It’s our last day of work and school for the week and we have a whole weekend ahead of us! 

Saturday morning we met some friends for a breakfast play date at Chick-fil-a. The kids had fun playing for about an hour. When it was time to go, Reed didn’t want to leave and thought sitting under the table might prevent him from having to leave.

Saturday afternoon was warm and gorgeous so we spent some time playing outside! The kids had fun and it helped burn off a little of their wild energy!

Reed wanted to take a picture before church yesterday. My little boy is growing up so quickly!!!!

The weekend feels like it was over before it began as always, but we had a good one! Ready to do this week and get on to the next weekend!

Mid-week randoms

We’ve had a good week so far. Zach and Ava enjoyed a morning together on Monday. They had breakfast at Chick-fil-a together and then Ava played while Zach did some school reading. 

Zach had a lesson later in the morning and Ava played in his room while he did that. After that, they met me for lunch! Love getting to see my people in the middle of the day! 

After lunch, they went to pick up Reed and both kids went home and took really long naps! I think it was a fun afternoon for Zach!!!! :)

Monday night I snapped this photo of Reed when I went to turn the lamp off in his room. I love me a sleeping baby.

Tuesday morning Reed decided he didn’t want to go to school (as he does most mornings). He always tries to tell me it’s not a school day or it’s a stay home day. This day he told me “I just want stay home alone.”   

Tuesday nights are gymnastics nights and Ava is learning so much. She really enjoys going and after having a brief meltdown last week because she had a new (male) teacher, she’s excited because they are learning new, harder things! 

I mentioned in my last post that Reed had been asking for underwear. My mom picked the kids up on Tuesday and called me to tell me that Reed had been sitting on the potty when she got there. He hadn’t done anything but was trying. She called me later when they were at my grandma’s house to tell me that he’d gone #2 in the potty. She said it terrified him afterward and he cried hysterically! Poor kid! I picked him up yesterday and when I walked in, his teacher told him to tell me what he did and he said he’d gone potty on the big potty!!!!!    

We certainly weren’t planning to attempt this already, but if he’s showing interest and wants to do it, then by all means we’ll let him. On Tuesday, he was having trouble going potty and when he does that, he says “my poo-poo hurts.” He had been crying and his teacher asked him if his belly hurt and he said no, told her what hurt and she asked him if he wanted to try sitting on the potty. So then the next day, other kids were lining up for the potty and he went to tell his teacher that his belly hurt b/c he thought that meant he’d get to try the potty! Love how their little minds are so capable of thinking advanced thoughts!

We had a quiet night last night and had some leftover soup for dinner. Both kids love potato soup and Reed gobbled his up and as I was putting things away he held out his bowl and said “More soup, please!”

Aunt Stephanie came to see us last night for a few minutes to drop off a gift for Ava. She’d ordered this for Ava for Christmas but it came a little late. Ava can’t wait to wear it without her pj bottoms! :)

This morning Reed and I are headed to NWA for his follow up with his doctor from ACH. We’re hoping to have a quick visit with a good report. His hole has closed nicely and looks so much better!

I will be sure to update with a report from the doctor! Hope you’re having a good week!

Back to the grind

The weekend felt like it was over before it started. We got A LOT done but still managed to have a lot of down time, too. That’s the perfect weekend if you ask me!

Last week was pretty quiet around here. The kids were funny, per usual. If you follow me on instagram you’ve probably seen a lot of these.

Reed thinks he can’t be seen when he hides behind these cabinet doors. Then he flings them open and says “HI EVERYBODY!”

Tuesday evenings Zach takes Ava to gymnastics while I bring Reed home and get dinner ready. Reed and i both enjoy this hour at home alone that we get each week!   

Thursday evening we met Lexie, Jared, and Sophie for dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants!! Ava LOVES little babies and she loves trying to make Sophie smile!!! 

Ava’s favorite song right now is “Let it Go” from Frozen (as I’m sure is the case with a large population of little girls right now). She sings with her hands and acts like she is performing when she sings it. The other morning after she gave this “performance” she said “I’m gonna be a pop star when I get big.” :)

Friday evening was low key. Ava decided to dress up and give us another performance.

Reed has been asking for underwear even though he’s not really ready to potty train yet. He’s been talking about Mickey underwear and we told him maybe we’d get some when we went to the store this weekend. Zach went to groceries Saturday morning and when he got home, Reed opened the door to the garage and asked him “Did you get my underwear?” He was SO excited when he found out Zach had gotten some! He wore a pair over his diaper for the rest of the day. Ha!

After we got home from church on Sunday, we finished working around our house and then had a quiet afternoon. Ava is always and forever doing some kind of gymnastics in the living room and she wanted me to take a picture of her doing it.

I started reading Gone Girl this weekend. (I’m behind, I know) So far I really like it. I wish I had more time off so I could read more but I’ll probably have to wait until next weekend to finish it as I just don’t have much time to read during the week. I also worked on getting our stuff ready to get our taxes done. Is it ironic that I’m an accountant but have someone else do my taxes? It’s just easier. Ha!

I’m hopeful for another good week. We have a follow up for Reed at the ACH Clinic in NWA. Our doctor and nurse fly up there once a month. I’m SO glad to only have to travel a little over an hour for this one instead of all the way to LR and back!!! His chin is healing nicely so hopefully we will get a good report! I hope you all have a great week!!!

Lowdown on Reed

I finally heard back from ACH on the cultures they sent out on Reed last week.

The verdict?

 

NADA!

 

That’s right. No infection. Nothing. I spoke with the nurse for about 10 minutes yesterday about what happened the day they drained it. She said they were so surprised when they were draining because no pus came out. She said that they had never seen what was draining and that they all just wanted to talk about it that day, but had to wait until that evening once they’d seen all their patients.

What they think happened to cause the redness and swelling is that somehow, whether in the process of the surgery, or on its own, a salivary gland opened. They said the drainage from the hole was similar in nature to saliva. They feel like the saliva was draining into the cavity in his jaw, and had nowhere to go so it was pooling in there, causing the redness and puffiness. No infection would explain why it wasn’t hot to our touch, why Reed wasn’t running fever, and why he didn’t seem to be feeling bad.

I’m certainly glad to hear there wasn’t another infection in there, and I’m glad that he is healing. There is still some draining going on but the hole is getting smaller. We have to go to our follow up appointment one week from today.

The GOOD THING that came out of our visit last week is that the nurse asked me if it was easier for us to come to appointments in NWA. UM, YEAH!! That’s an hour away as opposed to 2.5 one way. On the fourth Thursday of every month, our doctor and our nurse fly to NWA from Little Rock and have clinics there. This wouldn’t have helped us with the emergency trips we’ve had to make, but it will definitely be easier for our follow ups!!!! I’m so grateful we can do that from now.

So, we have a few answers and now I’m very optimistic and hopeful that this will be end of this mess and that we’ll have our follow ups next week and in a few months, and then we’ll be done with this for good!!!!!

Family Photos

Back in November, we had some family photos done. It was just a quick mini-session to hopefully get some shots to use for our Christmas card, which we did. We used a new photographer and she was phenomenal! The photos are GORGEOUS and she was so great to work with.

I didn’t share all the photos before because I wanted them to be sent out on our Christmas card first. Now that we’ve passed Christmas, I wanted to share some of my favorites.

 

These photos on the fence are all the same, but Reed’s face in all of them crack me up. I had no idea he was making those faces!

Of course the one where is smiling, Ava isn’t looking at the camera :) Isn’t that how it always goes when you have kids in photos?

I have already picked out the ones I want to use in my frames and I’m ready to hit the order button, but I’m waiting on Mpix to have a free shipping code or a sale on prints because I’ve heard one is coming soon! I’m ordering a family photo to go over our fire place to replace the one we’ve had up there from Ava’s first birthday photo shoot. I’d say it’s time to include Reed in that photo! ;)