Stephanie is a Nurse!

Michael's cousin Stephanie was pinned for completing nursing school at James Madison University on Friday, December 14th.  We drove up Thursday night and stayed through Saturday morning. Michael's fire department Christmas and awards banquet was Saturday night so we were unable to stay for her graduation.  

Kellan was very well behaved at first...and then he got sleepy...and instead of giving in and napping in his stroller, he decided to fight it!

He walked and crawled around on the floor for a while until he started trying to escape and got a little feisty when we kept bringing him back to our seats.  Look at that sleepy face :)

One of JMU's a cappella groups sang a couple of songs before the pinning ceremony began...

Kellan was mesmerized...the music kept him in his seat and actually focused on what was going on.  This child loves music and singing!

The graduates came in and took their seats.  There were a few speakers and I thought they all did an amazing job.  Their words reminded me a lot of what I heard during my own graduation for teaching.  I have never really noticed the similarities between nursing and teaching until this ceremony.  The jobs are different obviously but your daily impact on people and their impact on you is the same.  Just like parents send their children to school everyday and expect top notch education and care, families are sending their loved ones to hospitals and doctor's offices and expect top notch medical treatment and care from nurses.  Even though I'm not a nurse, the speakers that day spoke to me as well, and one in particular made me tear up a little (of course, it could just be the pregnancy hormones).  We were all so proud of Stephanie and I am so glad that we were able to be there to see her receive three awards:  Outstanding Student Award, an award chosen by the faculty, Nursing Student Association Most Active Award, and Member of PI MU Chapter at Large Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society.

As each graduate was pinned, a statement was read that was written by the nurses and their plans for the future announced.  Stephanie has accepted a job at St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond, VA.

During the ceremony this is what Kellan was doing...luckily reading books with Abby kept him entertained for a little while at least.  Abby is the daughter of Justin and Erin who are family friends, although they are more like family than friends.  Erin was taking pictures to document the ceremony.

Lighting their lamps to finish up the ceremony.

The rest of these pictures were taken by Erin who does professional photography on the side.  She does amazing work and she was able to get some really good shots!

This is my favorite :)  Stephanie's purple and gold heels...JMU colors

Michael's grandma Grizzard and Stephanie

Michael's cousin Chase, Aunt Tina, Stephanie, and Uncle Jerry

We all had dinner together afterwards at Union Station:  Michael, me, Uncle Jerry, Abby, Justin, Aunt Tina, Kellan, Chase, Stephanie, Lisa, Grandma, Aunt Pam, and Lauren

We had a wonderful time and were so glad that we were able to come up.  Michael graduated from JMU in 2001 and although he still claims that "college just wasn't for me," he still enjoys going up and seeing all of the changes that have been made to the city and campus.  And who doesn't like spending a few days in the Virginia mountains?  I'll be happy to go back anytime as long as we can eat at Little Grill Collective again :)  We wish Stephanie lots of luck as a JMU alumna and in her nursing career!  We know many more adventures and awards will be in her future!

Little Grill Collective

On December 14th, Michael, Kellan and I were in Harrisonburg, VA to see Michael's cousin, Stephanie, receive her pin for completing nursing school at James Madison University.  Before the afternoon pinning, we had brunch at the Little Grill Collective.  We looked at several restaurants online, checked reviews, and the Little Grill stood out way above the rest.  It is worker owned, meaning all of the workers share ownership in the restaurant.  They have unique food options, many being vegan or vegetarian, but also offer meat choices too.  

It is definitely what I would call a hole-in-the-wall (my favorite type of restaurant) and if you just judge the place by the building that it is located in, you are really missing out!  

Michael and I both chose "Beth's Favorite"...two scrambled eggs with green peppers, onions, tomatoes, garden veggies, mushrooms, spinach, and cheddar cheese.  It came with a side and I chose their grits.  Everything was absolutely amazing!

We also got their "Blue Monkeys"...banana and blueberry pancakes.  Kellan had no problem helping us eat them :)

Kellan got his own little scrambled egg.  He had already eaten his regular banana and avocado in the hotel, so I know he wasn't starving, but he still has the hardest time waiting on his food to cool off.  Here he is saying "hot! hot!" and holding his hand over it to show us that he knows he can't eat it yet :)

"Mmmmm..."

And of course I had to get one of their t-shirts!  I chose the cutest one (in my opinion) and it was appropriate since we had the "Blue Monkeys."  I wish we were there longer so that we had more opportunities to have more meals at the Little Grill Collective.  If the occasion arises in the future we will be back!

Missed Photos and Videos!

Here are a few photos and videos that I missed along the way during my "blogging break"...

One day Kellan's pack and play was still folded up from a trip out of town and I needed to take a shower.  So I just stuck him in our tub with a few toys (I was lazy, I know).  Of course he didn't even notice the faucets until I wanted to take his picture.  I kept peeking out of the shower to check on him and he just played and entertained himself in the bottom of the tub :)  Daddy came home in the middle of my shower and acted like I was endangering his life :/

Kellan and Daddy at the Farmer's Day Parade in Ellerbe, NC...Kellan loved most of the parade but he did not care for anything that made loud noises

Kellan had a blast at his girlfriend Austyn's first birthday party...as you can see above...oh the joy just tossing around a balloon will bring :)

There was a bouncy house set up but Kellan wasn't brave enough to try it out for himself...even with Daddy standing right there...

he just gave us a big grin and kept trying to climb out!  I'm sure this attitude toward bouncy houses will change very soon!

Kellan watching the birthday girl nibble on a card in between opening presents :)  He has managed to snitch some one's teddy bear AND car!

Dressing up in the photo booth at the party...Kellan was none too happy about any of the props but daddy sure enjoyed himself :)

Kellan has a new favorite snack and a very specific way of eating it.  He sits in the kitchen floor, shakes a few raisins out onto the floor, and eats them one by one til they are all gone...then he shakes a few more out and the process starts again.  This keeps him busy for awhile!  Very useful while mommy is making dinner :)

Kimberlee and Jenni gave Kellan this xylophone for his birthday and he LOVES it!  He will sit, press buttons, tap a little bit, and dance over and over again.  It is one of his favorite toys!

This was a conversation that I had with Kellan right after he woke up one morning.  I laugh every time I watch it :)

Kellan loves to drum, tap, or hammer on anything available.  Here he has turned a pair of chopsticks into drumsticks at P.F. Changs!

The Trains in Blackstone, VA!

 For the New Year I am going to stop apologizing and giving excuses for being late with blogging and when I DO get around to posting I will just pick up and carry on where I left off :)  Especially with a new baby arriving in late May/early June, I'm sure free time is going to become even more scarce!  

I'm hoping to get our Christmas posts up this week but for now here are some pictures from our trip to see the toy train display in Blackstone, VA.  My friend Lexi invited Kellan and I to go along with her two boys and some other friends and their children to see the trains.  I had no idea what to expect but I had heard lots of other people around here talk about the "trains in Blackstone".  I was curious to see what they were all about and I figured if nothing else it would be a fun outing for Kellan.

It turns out that the toy train display is an enormous and extremely detailed set up containing many different scenes and types of trains. There is a circus, a mountain village, a replica of Blackstone's downtown, a fire station and a house that catches on fire, a wintry scene and lots of others.  The display is located inside of Bevell's Hardware and the trains run from late November to early January.  You can visit this website (or the above Bevell's Hardware link to their site) to find out this year's exact dates and times http://www.virginia.org/Listings/EventsAndExhibits/AnnualRunningoftheTrains/.

Snowy scene to the left, drive in movie and baseball game in the middle

Watching one of the many trains speed by...

Circus scene

I love this reaction! :)

Watching the house catch on fire and the fire trucks come out...

Kellan, Levi, and Mason

Kellan seemed to be JUST as impressed with this set of steps right beside the conductor...he thoroughly enjoyed sitting, getting up, climbing and doing it all over again!

Kellan's first encounter with Santa...his daddy was not too happy with me that he was not there.  This year Kellan didn't seem phased at all by this stranger in the big red suit.  He didn't cry, although he did keep giving me looks like..."Uh, mom?  Do we know this man?"  We will see what next year holds!

And last, before we went to lunch at a local diner, we took a ride on this train outside that carried us around the building and through the parking lot.

The big kids wanted to ride in the back so we all packed inside.  I don't know how impressed Kellan was with this part but he just sat quietly and looked out the window.

The train display is definitely worth seeing and I'm so glad Lexi included us!  I think Kellan will appreciate it more and more every year and I hear that they add to it each season.  Can't wait to see what they might have next year!

Kellan and Briggs

Kellan and Briggs have so much fun together when she comes over to play.  Especially now that they are a few months older, they are actually starting to play together instead of just sitting near each other and playing with separate toys.  Now they follow each other around, pass toys back and forth (or take them from each other), and they are great partners in crime, helping each other get into EVERYTHING.

 

I wish I had a video of this because Kellan was just babbling away, pointing to his book, and turning the pages.  I guess he was "reading" but Briggs just stood right there taking every "word" in.  It must have been a very entertaining story.

Their new favorite place to sit.  I'm not sure who decided to use this as a seat first but the other one was not far behind.  Now they sit there several times a day, always together.  They will only sit for a few seconds, then pick up and move on to the next adventure.

Kellan begging for food...as usual.  The only difference is that now Briggs will throw pieces down to him!  She must feel sorry for my little piggy :)

This picture was from a few months ago but it still cracks me up.  She went back in Kellan's room, took one wipe, came back in the living room and started wiping this chair down.  I have no idea what prompted her to do this but it was so funny.  She scrubbed it for a while.

Typical man already!  Briggs is working her fingers to the bone...cleaning house.  What is Kellan doing?  Stretched out on his sofa watching TV.

They still LOVE to sit on this sofa together.  They don't always scoot over to make room for the other one and sometimes somebody ends up tumbling out onto the floor, but they never get upset and always manage to both squeeze on there (even if somebody is perched on the arm).

I wish I had more pictures and videos of these two (I will have to make an attempt to capture their fun times more often) because they are so entertaining to watch.  Even more so now because Kellan can actually walk!  Before, Briggs would walk and Kellan would crawl behind her.  She would turn around, point to him, and sometimes she would call him "baby" and sometimes he was "doggy."  :)  Like I said before, they are both into everything and it makes it difficult to take pictures when I am constantly pulling them out of kitchen and bathroom drawers and cabinets, keeping them away from toilet paper rolls and toilets, and trying to return Kellan's changing table items back to where they have pulled them from!  They are a mess but they seem to really enjoy playing together and get along well.  I am so thankful for Kellan's friend and the time that they have together every week :)