Lately-

So much has happened since May, and as much as I would LOVE to catch up on every single event that I have pictures for, it is just not possible!!! So, I have finally decided to skip a few months, keeping the recap short and sweet and just move on! Since Elem's birthday, we have enjoyed.......

Mommy FINALLY graduated from Nursing School :)
Mindy Shelby, RN

Elem graduated from Geyer Springs 4-K

We are so thankful for Ms Katie-the best preschool teacher we could have asked for!

Lots of time at grammy's pool

With lots of water gun fights...
and learning fun tricks in the pool, like flips, handstands, and backstroke!

Plenty of time on the baseball field with my little baseball superstar. 

The quickest most agile little pitcher I ever did see.....

MVP :)

Plenty of trips to the lake.

Love spending time with C and Ali on the boat

Yes I rocked out with my big ole baby belly on the boat in July!
Woot woot. 

Had a baby shower for our new arrival. 

Introducing our new baby girl. 

Ever Grey Shelby
7lbs 14 ounces  20 inches long
August 9, 2012

And there we have it. Our wrap up of all the special events that have happened over the last couple of months. I am sure there are sooo many more I would love to include, but this hits the high points.

Celebrating Elem's 5th Birthday

It is so hard to imagine that 5 years ago, I actually thought I would be able to make it to the point where Elem was turning 5! And would soon be saying goodbye to preschool, and entering into the world of Kindergarten. I am shocked when I look back over the past 5 years, at how fast time really does fly, how much Elem has grown (physically, mentally, emotionally), and how awesome it is to see some of the traits that he had as an infant and toddler still shining through in his sweet little personality. 

On May 8th, we celebrated Elem turning 5 years old!

Happy Birthday to you my sweet boy! We love you more than you could ever know!!!

This was a particularly hard year to plan for his big party, with my being pregnant, graduating the same weekend, and working all kinds of crazy hours. So when Elem said he wanted his party at the Little Rock Athletic Club again this year, I was thrilled to do something familiar that I knew would be a hit and he would have a blast. 

Luke, Elem, Tate, and Logan (friends from Elem's School)

Elem and Tate taking on the zipline

Elem and Korbin having some fun

Happy 5th Birthday to you Elem!

Excited about presents......

........and more presents.......

Shooting some hoops on the bball court.

Cecilia in the tubes and play area

Daddy, Elem, Uncle Spoon, and Rowyn playing some ball

Elem and Memaw after the celebration

Mommy and her Big 5 year old! Sniff sniff. 

Again, I am amazed at how quickly Elem has gone from a toddler to a Kindergartener. It is so sad, but so rewarding at the same time. This guy sure knows how to have fun, make us laugh with his silly dance moves and crazy jokes, has more athletic ability than Seth and I combined, loves music much like his parents, is insanely stubborn and strong willed, and continues to have the sweetest little spirit about him. I love you Elem Zane and am so excited to watch you grow over this next year. Happy Birthday!

Happy Hearts! :)

Some major catching up here to do-
We had a great Valentines Day filled with lots of school parties, plenty of yummy sweets, happy friends and family, and a puppet show at the local library! For starters, I have missed out on sooo many party days at Elem's school due to my crazy school and clinical schedule, that I was beyond thrilled to hit up the 4 year old V-day party for him and his classmates. Elem had a blast playing games, doing relays, eating cupcakes, passing out his all time favorite Captain America Valentine Day cards ;), and racking up on lots of goodies from his friends!

Landon, Elem, and Logan (Sweet boys from his class at school!)

Of course we headed over to Cecilia's class to see what kind of partying they were doing in there and as always these two are all giggles when they get together. We love us some sissy!

Elem and Cecilia in their holiday red 

After school we spent some time playing outside, just enjoying the weather and took a few snapshots for daddy for his V-Day gift. Here is a snipet of what we made for him :) He loved it!

Baby Shelby 14 weeks and growing....

We had to include Sage in some loving on Valentines Day and if I recall she even got a special treat and toy because we just cant leave her out! 

Finally we finished out the night by going to the library for a Valentines Day puppet show and party. It was actually soo much fun! I always forget about all the cool fun things that go on at our library and we must go there more often. The kids had a blast and loved the puppet show!! 

Nothing crazy spectacular about our Valentines Day this year but it was about all we could handle with the craziness we call life these days! 

Busy days are here again!

Well lately we have been super busy with my finishing up nursing school, being pregnant, working, and trying to keep my life together in one piece without totally driving everyone insane!!! Quite honestly I have reached my burn out point in school. Going 90 miles an hour for the past 2 years trying to keep up with school and manage my life is finally taking its toll on not only me but my whole family. Seth is burnt out, Elem is burnt out, and I am sure if the new baby could speak out, he/she would probably tell me to slow down and quit running around all day every day and never making time to just relax and enjoy the moment! It seems like those moments have been few and far between but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. I graduate May 19th!!! And couldnt be more ready than I am at this very moment. I am so tired, tired of going to class, tests, clinicals, all of it. hehe. And I find myself often just wanting to enjoy some time with my family and not feel guilty during the moment because I am not studying or not going to work. Ahhh. The end is so clear I kind of wish I could fast forward a few months. But I gotta stick with it and it will be so worth it. Our life is going to be so much better with a secure future right around the corner. On a very positive note, I am most likely going to be staying on my unit at ACH-the Hematology/Oncology Unit which has totally become my second home. I love the kids, the staff, and the whole environment, it all comes very naturally to me, and I really cant imagine working anywhere else at this point in my career. So on Hem/Onc I will stay!

Home life-is still a mess, the house is not as neat as I would like it, the laundry stays in the basket "to be folded" for an unusual length of time, we eat out a couple of times a week, sage is still the sweetest little dog in the whole world and spends most of her time relaxing and napping on the back of the couch, and seth is on the look out for a new job. He recently parted ways with Waymack and Crew where he has called his home for the past 7 years, and is taking on a new roll as a free lancer-seeing out his own work, and hopefully bringing in some bigger bucks! lol. The pregnancy is going smoothly, with just some nausea and dizzy spills that seems to come with the territory. I did the drano gender test and it quickly turned black, which indicates ...BOY! SO I guess we will find out in just a few short weeks! On april 5th we will find out if the next addition to our family with be a little misses or a little mr! Either way we will be so excited and happy, but I think if the baby is a little girl, we will have a lot of convincing and explaining to do for the big brother. He is under the impression that if you think it/wish it hard enough, it will be a boy and thats all there is to it. LOL. Lets hope for the best reaction possible from Elem Zane. :)

Despite the urge to force another little boy into this family, Elem really has been a trooper and we have spent a lot of time trying to include him and get him ready for the baby belly and everything that goes along with the phases of the next few months. In addition to lots of conversations, and talking to and about my belly, we have spent lots of time outside beefing up his bike riding skills-without the training wheels. He has been doing it for a couple of months but recently got where he can start and stop by himself like a big boy! So proud of my little man.

Well the next couple of months are looking to be super busy and I am not too excited about gaining any weight, but looking forward to feeling the baby move and grow inside me! My most favorite part about being pregnant.

Cuddle buddies

Even though he is 4, almost 5 years old, Elem is still my number 1 cuddle buddy. And I cannot imagine that EVER changing!!!

We still snuggle, cuddle, love, or whatever you might call it, and even though he is getting bigger (and so is my belly), somehow we just make it work. :) I never thought I would hear myself saying this, but we still do not have a scheduled bedtime, or bedtime routine-even though deep down I know it is must needed and MUST come before kindergarten. And probably isn't doing Elem any good, but I just cant seem to let go of our nightly cuddle time. Every night we lay on the couch side by side, snuggled up, and just relax and watch TV, until we decide to wonder on into Elem's bed or we fall asleep on the couch. And then of course, we have the early 4-5am "requests" from Elem's room once I have fallen fast asleep in my own bed, where I hear from a distance..."MOM! to which I always respond, "yes?", and all I hear in return is a sharp, firm voice, "CUDDLE!!!". Which basically means, I know you left me in here alone, so get back in here and cuddle with me!!! Haha. It is funny every single morning that I hear it, and even as uncomfortable and squished the ole twin bed in his room is getting, it still never gets old to see his little grin when I crawl into bed, and he tells me "can you please put your arm around me and cuddle?". hehe. I love it. I just do.

I think deep down I know the day is coming, whether it be because the real school days are right around the corner, or with the new baby coming, that I just don't want my first baby to totally be grown up on me before I am ready! Ahh, sigh. Selfish I know. But that is MY little boy dang it, and I just love my special cuddle time with him! :) My plan is to kick it in gear this summer with a new bedtime schedule and routine and hope it will stick to make the transition to kindergarten a smooth one!

As Elem would say, "cuddle, wuddle buddle mom? "

Brain Freeze

Needless to say the winter here in Arkansas was not too terribly bad! We had minimal cold weather, and only one promising day of snow. My clinical for school was even cancelled, thinking a blizzard was coming in :) as all of us here in Arkansas typically do, but no such luck! We did have about an hour of hard core flurries, that were beautiful and gave the impression if it were to last like that for a few hours, we might have actually been able to make a snow man. Haha. I kept Elem home, noting the early morning snow flurries, and we planned to stay inside and do cozy activities before running out to play in the snow. But since the snow wasnt around long enough to even cover the ground, our snow play was limited to say the least.

Elem did have enough time to run out and make a snow cone out of the snow that lined the patio table, and it was even enough to give him a brain freeze :) He ran inside with this face, telling me about the brain freeze, before I could even get outside to catch him "playing" in the little bit of snow we had.

After the brain freeze, the whole idea of enjoying and playing in the snow was pretty much ruined. haha. And we just staid inside and watched movies and enjoyed the day off from school! Any excuse to stay home with Elem is a good one!!