What in the Shrek is Going On??

We've been planning for Sydney's first visit for a LONG time. Most of you who know us, know that Sydney's regular visits to Memphis will begin in a couple of weeks. From this point on, she'll be spending weekends with us every few weeks, and will be with us on or around certain holidays and will have a week of vacation with us every year. This is something we've been praying for forever now.

Ever since all these developments came about, I jumped into action, trying to turn our guest bedroom into Sydney's PERFECT room. My top priority right now is making sure Sydney feels at home in our house and has a place she can call her own.

BUT- I'm REALLY starting to second guess my paint choices about now.

This was the guest bedroom about two weeks ago.


We asked Syd to pick our her bedspread and told her we'd surprise her with the rest. This is the bedspread she selected. When I started shopping for her room and all the accessories, EVERYTHING was pink, so I did NOT want to paint a pink room. But, I also didn't want to paint it white, so I decided to paint the room a NEW shade a green. I matched it to the green in the bedspread, thinking it would look fantastic.



This was the picture I took last night, with only one coat of paint on the walls. It looks like Nickelodeon slime green or, in my words, like Shrek exploded onto the walls. Zach keeps telling me it will look great once we're finished painting and everything is in the room and in place.

So... stay tuned.

I SWEAR this will be my last Snuggie post... BUT, my friend Angie sent this to me this week and I couldn't help posting it.

April Fools

IF ONLY IT WERE TRUE

Thanks, Dan for sharing. Whenever I get over this state of nausea and depression I'm experiencing, I may share my thoughts on this whole thing.

My Punks

This is Punk A:


And Punk B:


Most people who know us will tell you how much we love our dogs. Zach is much more of the disciplinarian, laying down the law. The dogs are fully aware that their Dad means business. I'm much more of the nurturer. I'm always looking for an excuse to sneak the dogs into bed with me or just spoon with them. There's something about their big heavy weight that just melts my heart. It's actually pretty shameful how much I love them. But sometimes (just sometimes) I think to myself "what were we thinking?"

Exhibit A: Our patio furniture. This was the second chair that took a hit from our beasts. The first one has already found a home with the city waste department. You can still actually sit in this one, so we've been holding onto it until we get the money to replace it.


Exhibit B: Our screen window. Our dogs can definitely be defined as "needy." They are loved on and cared for and they LOVE being around us. BUT, this is what happens if you leave them in the backyard while you're cooking dinner. This was Bear's attempt a few months ago to make his way back into the house. Spoiled much?


Exhibit C: The holes in the backyard. And when I say holes, I mean HOLES. There are about 5 or 6 of these babies throughout our backyard. One hole is SO deep that I am convinced someone is going to fall in it and sue us soon. These holes are on our to do list for this week to get fixed. OH, and that drain you see used to have a cover on it that has gone MIA somewhere in our backyard (or our beasts' stomachs).


Exhibit D: Last, but certainly not least: Our shower door. This was our most recent incident (and the motivation for this blog post). Apparently Bear was very excited as his dad was getting out of the shower yesterday... so excited, in fact, that he took the door off its hinges!

It is very important for me to stress again that I LOVE my dogs so much and I really do think they're worth it. Does anyone have any ideas on how to calm these beasts down?? Shock collars? Obedience school? We'll try anything!

Happy Anniversary!

Two Years and Counting...

It has been an amazing ride, Wiggs. Every day, I am in awe of how far we've come and where we're headed. I thank God every day for allowing me this journey with you. I couldn't be more proud of you for everything you are.

I love you! See you tonight. ;)

Weekend With Sydney: Part 2 (Lots of Pictures and Even a Face-Making Contest)

Saturday morning, we woke up to get Sydney to her early morning soccer game, where she scored the ONLY two goals for her team. She made the winning goal within seconds before the game ended. She was SO proud of herself, as were we!

We went back to the hotel, where we swam in the indoor pool and goofed off- A LOT. It was kind of cold, so we stayed inside most of the day, making up games. For example, one game was to see who could make the silliest face. We all thought we made the silliest, so we decided we'd post them on my blog and have a contest. Who's face is the silliest?

Here's a lot more pictures from our weekend together. I've also got some up on my photography blog.





Zach and I are getting new pictures for our house, and we wanted some updated pictures of the three of us. This was our HORRIBLE attempt at using the self timer. FAB FOUR GIRLS, do I have any takers for a trip to Memphis OR Cape Girardeau the next time we're with Syd for a day????

Weekend With Sydney

We're here in Missouri for a weekend visit with Sydney. This is my favorite part of our visits. I got up before Syd and Zach this morning to go ahead and use the shower. When I came back into the room, this is what I found. I LOVE it.

I'll have many more pictures from the weekend. For now, we're out the door for Sydney's soccer game!

Memphis

Things I'm loving right now:

-Memphis during March Madness. The signs are up and the brackets have been filled out. There's more spirit around this town than during the holidays.
-Memphis's win today.
-At Chick-Fil-A today, everyone was wearing Memphis apparel and serving blue lemonade and ice cream.
-'Lil Rounds on American Idol- making Memphis proud.


Things I'm hating right now:

-Memphis's scary first-round performance.
-The fact that the Chick-Fil-A employee said "yes, maam" to me about 10 times.
-Alexis Grace being sent home on Idol last night. That's one Memphis girl down, and hopefully one to make it to the end...


*Overall, the temperatures are warmer, I've been driving with my windows down, March Madness is underway, my anniversary is 5 days away, and I'm gearing up to spend an entire weekend with my beautiful stepdaughter. It's a good day!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Dan and Tami sent this video this morning to our Dad, of Zeke wishing him a happy birthday. I couldn't have said it better.

Happy Birthday, Dad! We LOVE you!

Asher Kerrigan

Our church community has a new addition!

Every Wednesday night, Zach and I meet with our church small group. I love that Living Hope is a church made up of small groups. In fact, a few nights ago, Zach and I were discussing how blessed we feel that God has given us this special group of 14-15 people. I don't know where we would be or how our marriage would be surviving without each and every one of these people. This group provides so much accountability, support, wisdom, and encouragement. We learn together, teach each other, and grow together.

That level of support played out this past Wednesday night. Early Wednesday morning, we all received word that Elyssa's water had broken. We immediately started sending out emails and making phone calls, quickly changing our routine Wednesday night plans- so that we could meet as a group in the Kerrigan's hospital room. When we arrived that night, Elyssa's contractions had just started and you could tell the anticipation was building. It was like most other small group nights- with everyone laughing and goofing off. The only difference was that every few minutes, we would stop so Elyssa could survive another contraction in quiet.

Within a few hours, Asher Kerrigan entered the world. Elyssa bravely gave birth with no drugs. There was not a doubt in our minds that she could do it. This morning, Elyssa and Asher are both healthy and happy. We couldn't be MORE thrilled!

I hope to have a picture of Asher up soon! In the meantime, here are a few pictures from Mandy's camera taken throughout the night.

Very Scary...

I woke up to this story this morning. This plane followed the same path we took on Saturday, from Istanbul to Amsterdam.

It's devastating for the lives lost, but amazing at the same time that more people were not killed. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this crash.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Zeke Says Hello To Memphis

I'm definitely much more of a photographer than a videographer. Luckily for me, though- I have a husband who is in love with his video feature on his Blackberry and happily takes up for my slack in that area.

Here's one of my favorites that he captured of sweet little Zeke during our trip. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a few more of his clips soon.

Istanbul Wrap-Up

We're just a few hours away from boarding our plane and heading back home. We've had such a good time and will miss Dan, Tami, Zeke and Kaiyah SO much, but it will also be great to see our family and friends again.

You can get all our final updates on my photography blog by clicking here.

Istanbul: Day 3

Today the sun came out a little bit and we were able to go around and tour some of Istanbul's most famous places.

But at the end of our active day, this was still my favorite picture. Tami took this of Zeke and me playing doctor. I was trying to fix his hurt finger. I love these kids!!

You can see a lot of today's pictures on my photography blog.

Istanbul: Day 1-2

Day 1


Day 2