The Big Announcement!

So I know it's been awhile but I'll try to fill you in on what's happened over our wild and crazy summer! We kicked off the summer on Memorial Day with a big birthday bash for my mom #2! It was her 6oth birthday and we partied! Her sister Suzanne and her girls(and a cousin) sang their very own version of YMCA except it was D-I-X-IE and they had us in stitches....very funny! But before that was the big announcement.....Dixie and Charlie announced to all of the family and some friends who were there that they were engaged! We were so excited(well they had told their children before the party) and it was especially neat to see every one's reaction! We love Charlie and are so blessed that he and his kids and grandkids are now part of our family too! There aren't too many great pics of the night. I have found it gets especially hard to document such joyous occasion with pictures when you are chasing around a two year old!

Charlie calling some friends and family after the announcement was made!

Dixie calling to fill her friends in as well before word spread!

Dixie, Caroline, and Lilly having some birthday cake

How Can This Be?

I guess I blinked. I don't know how it happened but my sweet baby girl turned 2 on Saturday. Two years ago today we had just made it through our first day with Caroline in our home away from home.....The Drury Inn and Suites. It was a cozy little room and the walls were lined with baby gear....pack n play, swing, stroller.(for our mulitple trips to Target to pick up an item we forgot to pack) We stayed in Texas for almost 3 weeks but we didn't care. We would have stayed there for 3 months if it meant that we really were finally Momma and Daddy to this precious little girl!


We thank the Lord that he led us to Bethany. And we thank Bethany for being so brave and giving up so much so that we could be parents to Caroline! There are no words that could ever express how much joy she has brought into our lives.



She talked non stop about this tricycle(except she called it a bicycle) before her birthday!

She loved it when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her!

Looking for the fish in the pond!

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter this year! It was my birthday so that made it even more special! We spent Good Friday doing brunch with the family and were hoping to enjoy sitting outside on Uncle David's new deck in the backyard but it was a little too chilly. Saturday night we partied for my birthday out at Mark and Tonya's and had a great time. Then Easter started bright and early for me(5:40 am) to get up and head to Highpoint for a wonderful Easter service! Needless to say I crashed this afternoon and took a 2 hour nap!! What more could I ask for on my birthday? I hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well!

A Great Season!

So as most all of you know we are HUGE Tiger basketball fans in the Stancil household! We had a great season and are so proud of the Tigers(3 of which became the winningest basketball players in NCAA history after this season....that's a pretty big deal!) for a job well done.

Caroline loved watching the games this season and cheered those Tigers on to the Sweet 16! And yes, we are such loyal fans that we welcomed the Tigers home from the airport after their last game. It's really a full circle moment for me(for lack of a better term) and it's so much more than basketball for me. For me.....it's holding on to a piece of my mom that makes me feel close to her and that keeps her memory alive for Caroline. I grew up watching Tiger basketball. It was an event at our house! We didn't just watch the game. We had people over to watch the game...with yummy game food of course. If it was an away game we listened to the post game show on the radio(I actually called in once to talk to one of the players and I asked him out on a date-I was 9) and then loaded up in the car for the airport to welcome the Tigers home. I spent so many nights in the airport as a child and I would fall asleep wherever I could find a spot. Ok, I think you get the picture. Tiger basketball made my mom happy and so it's only natural that I would be enjoying it today with my daughter just as my mom did with her daughter!

What's in the cupcakes?

Yesterday at lunch the girls from the office were discussing Muddy's cupcakes. We decided that anytime there needed to be a happy topic brought up after anything heavy or sad was discussed then we would talk about Muddy's because we stayed on that topic for quite awhile! Needless to say what's been on my mind since that conversation.....you guessed it-Muddy's. So Stephen and I took Caroline this afternoon and we all picked out our flavor. Caroline sat and stared at the cupcake and smiled...too cute for words! It was if she knew how delicious it was going to be and she didn't want to rush it. She finally dug in and ate every last bite! Fast forward to bedtime. It's eight o'clock...her usual bedtime and she seemed chattier and sillier than normal but I thought she would settle down and fall asleep.(I really had forgotten about the cupcake) Well she talked and sang and clapped and sang some more and talked.....finally at around 9:15 I didn't hear her anymore. Of course I thought my little angel must be sound asleep now so I'll go and make sure she's covered up. I walk in her room and peek into her crib to find her TOTALLY NAKED and still wide awake!! She has never done that before so I really didn't know whether to laugh or discipline at that moment....so I did both!

On my way out of her room I asked myself....what's in the cupcakes?

The Little Things....

It's the little things in life that make me happy....like making Valentine's Day cookies with my sweet daughter.

Or having lunch yesterday with two very sweet friends. So thankful for them. Or hanging out with our small group last night....love them! Or a date tomorrow with my wonderful husband. Just us. It's the little things. I am so blessed!

Yes, we're still here....as if you were really worried!

Sorry for the looonnnggg period of silence but you all know how busy life can be! Let's see....there were the holidays. We had a wonderful Christmas! Caroline absolutely LOVED her second Christmas. From baking cookies to wrapping presents to watching Christmas movies to opening presents...she simply loved it all!! Stephen and I could not get over how much she liked all the Christmas movies and she REALLY got into them. So much so that a month later she is still asking to watch The Grinch(Ginch), Rudolph(Roo-off), Elf, and Home Alone(yes, it's considered a Christmas classic in our home....oh and she asks for this movie by putting both hands on her cheeks and opening her mouth wide-the scene when he puts his dad's aftershave on his face!)

New Year's was wonderful as well. We drove to Nashville on New Year's Eve to hang out with our friends from med school days. We all went out to dinner and then back to the hotel to ring in the New Year! It was great to catch up and TRY to plan a celebration cruise for the completion of residency. We did this after med school and it was much easier to plan! Now, 5 babies later, 2 of the husbands already busy in practice, one husband starting with his practice this summer, one of the husbands going into sports medicine which keeps us from going in the fall during football season......you get the point! It's next to impossible but we are determined to make it work and go on a trip sometime in our lifetime to celebrate!

Now on to January. My LEAST favorite month of the year! (Sorry Heather-I know it's your birthday month and all....) Well, quite honestly I just get down in the dumps this month and I'm so glad it's almost over!! My sweet husband will be too as he's been working like a dog.....will the sickness ever end?