"If"....

Here's something different that I thought my blog readers might enjoy.  This is going around the blog-sphere and I borrowed it from my friend Katie. 

Fill in the blanks.......

If I were to get pregnant again......I hope this won't be an "if", but a "when"!  But, "if" it is God's plan to entrust us with more precious children, we would be thankful, overjoyed, excited, and maybe even a little scared. 

If I could have any job in the world......I know you'll think this is cliche, but I really do have my dream job already.  Anyone who knows me at all knows that my dream has ALWAYS been to be a wife and mommy.  It was a joke amongst my instructors and fellow classmates in DH school that dental hygiene was just my back up plan....in case I ever actually had to work outside the home!  =)  Being a full time mommy is by far the most difficult, yet most rewarding job I've ever done and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I don't take it for granted either, as I know that I am blessed to be able to stay home with Kyndall. 

If I had a day to myself.......I would love to get pampered.  Maybe a pedicure and possibly even a massage??  Hey, a girl can dream!  =)


If I could get married all over again.......I wouldn't change a thing!  I would marry the same wonderful man and re-live that same magical day all over again!


If I could live anywhere in the US........Again, if you know me at all, you should know the answer to this.  Tallahassee, hands down.  I never realized how much I would miss it.  Well, not so much "it", but those that live there.


If my girl would have been a boy they would have been named..........Carter Matthew.  Still hanging on to that one for possible future use!


If I could have any talent in the world..........I would love to have the talent and artistic abilities of a professional photographer.


If you met me in real life.........I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say here.  Most of you have met me.  I hope that you would say I'm friendly and warm and that you enjoyed meeting me!  Still not sure if that's the right answer.  Anyway, moving on.

If I could go back to school and get a different degree.........Again, photography or something of the like.


If money was no object.........I would build my dream home somewhere in Tallahassee and fill it up with lots of children!  I would also share the money with anyone who needed/wanted it!  

If I could meet one celebrity, it would be........Just one??  That's hard to choose, so I'll tell you my top 3.  Princess Diana, Ellen, and Sarah Palin.  Wow, what a variety!


If I could shop at only one store the rest of my life........Oh that's easy, TARGET!

If we were to get another pet it would be.........I would adopt the sweet black lab that I helped rescue yesterday after he was the victim of a hit and run on a busy highway in Thomasville.  

If I could go on a trip right now...........I would go back to Brazil on another mission trip.  In a heartbeat.

If I had to choose between a house cleaner and a personal chef........DEFINITELY a chef!!  I very much do NOT enjoy cooking.  However, I love to clean and organize, so a chef would be much more helpful!

If I had the option of plastic surgery...........I would love a different nose, fuller lips, a flatter stomach.....the list goes on!!!  But, given the option, I'm not sure I would take it.  What kind of message does that send to my daughter about self worth and the beauty that comes from within?  What does that say about the God who carefully and lovingly created me----all of me----even the parts that I don't particularly care for?  God doesn't make mistakes.

Well, that was interesting!  Maybe you learned something new about me, or maybe my answers came as no surprise.  On a different note, Kyndall and I have enjoyed spending the past 5 days with Matthew's parents in Thomasville!  We arrived in Tallahassee this afternoon and we're looking forward to a busy but fun week here!  Trips to the pumpkin patch, the Downtown Get-Down, a visit to Two Egg, Trick-or-Treating and Halloween fun, a wedding, and the Fair, just to name a FEW of the things on our agenda!  Blog updates and lots of pictures soon to come!

Puppy Love

There's no doubt that Kyndall LOVES her "brother dogs"!  And, I'm pretty sure the feelings are mutual.  Cameron and Huckabee are very patient and seem to enjoy playing with her.  Watch........

West Farm Corn Maze

On Friday, Kyndall and I attended our first outing with our new Moms and More group.  We met up with the other Mommies and their kiddos at the West Farm Corn Maze.  They had hay rides, a petting zoo, pumpkin picking/painting, a "corn" sandbox, and of course the 3 mile corn maze.  Kyndall's favorite seemed to be the corn sandbox and the petting zoo.

The maze

I love this next series of pictures of Kyndall with Shannon's son, Ben......

They had a hay maze for the kids.....



And bouncy toys

But all Kyndall could really do was the corn sandbox

I spent most of my time trying to keep her from EATING the deer corn!  Although, I can see why it might be a little bit confusing to her.

We took this picture especially for G-Daddy!!! 

We picked out another pumpkin

What a look!

Despite what you might think based on her facial expression in the picture above, we had a GREAT time!  I'm so glad I joined the Summerville Moms and More group and I am really looking forward to finally making some friends up here!

Remember the pumpkin that we picked out at the corn maze?  Here's what it looks like now!............

A few other exciting things to share:  Kyndall is now officially done with her infant carrier and she has moved into a regular car seat!  She's still rear facing, and I plan on keeping her that way as long as I can, but she seems to be enjoying the extra room she has in the new seat.  I don't have any pictures, but I'll get some!  We also had to lower her crib this weekend.  She has been getting very brave lately, and it's starting to make me nervous.  So, down it went.  Here she is checking it out tonight.......

My baby is growing up!!!! =(

What Does a Blessing Look Like?

It looks like THIS........!!!!!!!!

This all arrived on my front porch today and I'm not kidding when I tell you I acted like a kid on Christmas morning when I opened it up!  My sweet friend Leigh sent it to me, by way of hand-me-downs from her daughter Ava who just turned two.  Before I had Kyndall, I used to nanny for Leigh's boy/girl twins, Ava and Davis.  Sadly, they moved to North Carolina last summer and I miss their family terribly.  This is about the third or fourth time Leigh has sent me a box full of goodies and I get just as excited each and every time.  Many of the adorable clothes that you see Kyndall wearing were courtesy of Leigh and Ava.  Ava is no average toddler when it comes to fashion.  It's only the best for Miss Ava (and now Kyndall!)....Ralph Lauren, Strasburg Children and Lilly Pulitzer just to name a few!  Not only has Leigh given me clothes, but she also gave me TWO infant car seats with bases, a Snap-N-Go stroller and countless other useful baby items.  She's also my "go-to" friend for ALL of my Mommy/baby questions.  She's an expert in my eyes!  As you can see, she's a great friend to have and I'm so thankful that our paths crossed.  I just wish they hadn't moved away!!  =(

Here are a few of my favorites from today's arrival......

How adorable are these sparkly Ralph Lauren shoes??

And because Leigh and I share a love for smocked clothes, she sent me this adorable smocked bikini for next summer!!



If only everyone could be so blessed to have a friend as wonderful as Leigh!!!!  Thank you, Leigh and Ava!!!! (And Jimmy and Davis too!)  We love you guys!!

Feelin' Crafty!

For some reason, over the past few weeks I've been feeling unusually creative and crafty.  I'm about the least artistic person you'll ever meet, so this is saying a LOT.  Today, I got bored and decided to decorate Kyndall's pumpkin.  It shouldn't come as a shock that my first idea was to monogram it!  Here's how it turned out..........

We're going back to the pumpkin patch with our Moms and More group on Friday, and I'm planning to pick up another pumpkin to decorate.  I want to paint it PINK and make it really girly!!  =) 

Bathtime Tricks

Kyndall has learned a few new tricks and I love it when she cooperates and performs for me.  She's gotten really good at waving "bye bye" on command, clapping on command, saying "Da Da", and using her baby sign language to sign for "more".  I'm even pretty sure I heard her say the word "duck" last week.  She has also gotten really good at trying to escape from the bathtub, as you will see!  I was able to get a few of these on video recently.  Pause the music player on the right and listen carefully to the videos!  (It's nothing too exciting, but I know that at least the Grandparents will appreciate it!)

I asked Daddy to fix her hair while I drained the bathtub and this is what I walked in to find......

Mommy to the rescue!



Grammy and Nonie take Charleston!

Things are just more FUN when the Grandmas are around!  So you can imagine how much fun was had over the past 4 days, as my Mom and Matthew's Mom were both here with us!  The "real" reason they came was to help out with Kyndall during my procedure, which I had on Thursday morning.  That was just a small bump in the road, and then we were on to bigger and better things.  But, for those of you who are interested, here's the update on my health:

I had one of my yearly colonoscopies in March and things didn't look good at all.  You can read more about it HERE.  At that time, they found several suspicious areas that were very concerning to the doctors who are studying my case and taking care of me.  Because of my high risk for developing colon cancer, they decided to re-check those areas again in six months, which was this past Thursday.  I am happy and thankful to report that things looked somewhat better, but most importantly there was no sign of cancer!!  Thank you Lord, our prayers were answered!    Once that was over, we spent the rest of our time packing in as much fun as possible.......

Hanging out and taking it easy on Thursday afternoon while I recovered from the morning

On Friday, Mom, myself, Mrs. Jody and Kyndall hit the outlet mall and had lunch at McAlister's while Matthew was at work

Just a FEW of the many goodies that Nonie and Grammy bought for Kyndall

These pictures were taken Friday afternoon and I had to share them because I just love the vast array of facial expressions I got from her!

The many faces of Kyndall Anne Hughes......

Friday night we were blessed to have the Marchant family babysit Kyndall so that me and Matthew and both of our Moms could go see the movie Courageous.  BIG thanks to Wendy, Freddy and their 3 sweet boys for taking such good care of Kyndall, and giving us a chance to see the movie!  By the way, if you haven't seen Courageous, you MUST take time to watch it!  It's produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA.  That's the same church that made Facing the Giants and Fireproof, which are also great movies.  As we were walking up purchase our movie on Friday night, we were greeted by a group of people from a church here in Summerville who offered us free tickets!  They had rented out the whole theater and were offering free tickets to anyone who wanted to see Courageous.  What a great ministry and what a blessing to us!

Wendy and Kyndall, wearing her PJ's and all ready for bed!

Saturday morning we slept in a little bit and then headed into downtown Charleston for a fun day of shopping and sight seeing.  We started with lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Fleet Landing......

Kyndall got a little impatient with the wait time

Ordering her own lunch =)

Full from a yummy lunch and ready to explore one of our favorite shopping spots----the market!

You can't go into downtown Charleston and not stop here.......

And you CAN'T leave there without your very own MoonPie and RC Cola!

Wonder why she's smiling so funny?  She had just gotten her very first taste of a chocolate MoonPie!  She also got this at the market.......

I've been on the hunt for a pretty church sweater for Kyndall to wear during the cooler months.  I had no luck at any of the usual places, but was surprised to find a lady who sold hand smocked kids clothes right there in the market!  And as if it wasn't adorable enough, here's my favorite part.......

We had a great day, but it wasn't over yet!  I really wanted to get some family pictures of the three of us while my Mom was here to take them for us.  So, after a quick wardrobe change, we were off to the local pumpkin patch!  Kyndall wasn't in the best of moods, but I think we got some pretty cute shots.  You know how much I love comparison pictures, so take a look at us this time last year......

Same pumpkin patch, one year later.........

Sunday morning we got up early and went to the first service at church so that Nonie and Grammy could get an early start back to Tallahassee.  I had been looking forward to this morning's service because I knew that Alex Kendrick was scheduled to be speaking at our church!  For those that don't know, Alex Kendrick is the Associate Pastor at Sherwood Baptist Church, and he is also the producer and lead actor in Courageous, as well as all of the other movies Sherwood has made.  It was so amazing to hear how God gave him a vision of making Christian-based, family friendly movies many years ago, and then opened the doors for it to happen.  He challenged all of the Fathers in the congregation to take the Courageous oath, just like they did in the movie, and to start being the spiritual leaders of the home, just as God has called them to be.  It was a powerful testimony and I have to admit, I was a little bit star struck when I saw him standing on our stage.  Although, he will quickly tell you that it's not about him---he is just the vessel that God chose to use to share His message with the world. 

After church, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel before saying goodbye to Nonie and Grammy......

I love the back of this dress.....

My happy girl!

We had a GREAT few days and we were sad to see it come to an end.  Thanks to Grammy and Nonie for spoiling us with goodies all weekend and for all of your help with Kyndall!  See you again in two weeks!

Oh, and did anyone notice this change??  Whatcha think?  I'm still getting used to it, but I think I like it!