Luke 24:6

"Why do you look for the living among the dead?" 

He is not here; he has RISEN! 

 - Luke 24:6

This verse is what Easter is all about to me. It's ingrained into my memory and my prayer is that it becomes ingrained into yours too. It serves as a reminder of the importance of this glorious holiday.

The Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Let us not forget that as we go on about our business throughout the year. To our family, Easter Sunday has become just as important and just as meaningful as Christmas and we are going to strive to make Easter an even BIGGER deal to our kids as they grow up. If you haven't I encourage you to go back and reread, yes reread carefully for comprehension, chapter 24 of Luke. Really read it. It's a miraculous story. I am eternally grateful that he has RISEN!

Here's some pics of how we spent our Easter weekend -

2nd Annual Wingo Wabbit Hunt Extravaganza

More interested in eating the candy than hunting for eggs

Get 'Em!

Addison Marie Wingo:) 

Gammy and Lilly Wingo.

Thanks Wingos for hosting!!! We had so much fun!

Daddy and Hudson swinging in the hammock

Best buds

Which girl should he choose? So many options...

Always a favorite. 

Thanks Dad and Dana! This is what you got Hudson for his birthday:)

Easter Sunday @ The Millers

Our Fam take #1

take #2

More hunting at Granna and Papaw's. 

Granna puts some yummy chocolate in each egg so Hudson was extra happy to hunt for these. 

Germantown Easter Egg Hunt

Last Saturday we took Hudson to the Germantown Easter Egg Hunt at Cameron Brown Park. He was still not feeling 100% from being sick but I thought it would be fun for him. I think he had a good time, especially hunting for eggs. And he got to bust out his Elmo Easter Basket - super cool! They also had a couple moon bounces for the kids, a petting zoo (somewhat), and a real firetruck. Buddy liked getting to sit in the truck. And the best part - - free pictures with the EASTER BUNNY! Unfortunately the line was super long and it was extremely H-O-T!!!!! Needless to say this pregnant lady did not want to wait out in the 85 degree sun for half and hour even if the picture was FREE! Anyway, here are a few pics I took with my phone while we were there.

Getting ready...

Finding eggs is fun!!!

Searching for more

my little bunny

mommy and a sweaty bubba

The Devil

The devil came to visit our house last week...

in the form of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. Which is absolutely the worst kind of sick Hudson's ever been. Hands down way worse than the stomach bug in my opinion.

feeling and looking pitiful

Buddy started acting funny late Sunday/early Monday and despite my usual refusal to take him to the doctor I decided Tuesday morning to keep him home from school and just go in to let Dr. Mitchell see what was going on since he was running a pretty high fever and just acting pitiful, crying alot, no appetite, and just being super needy. After checking his ears she looked in his mouth and immediately gave me the HF&M diagnosis.

He had ulcers in the back of his throat but thankfully nothing ever appeared on the bottom of his hands or feet. I felt terrible for him, because I could just imagine how bad he felt. And the saddest part was that there is really nothing you can do to treat this thing. It's a virus so it just has to run it's course...blah!

So we stayed homebound the rest of the week and just took it easy and relaxed. I gave him lots of motrin for the fever and tylenol for the pain and thankfully by Saturday he was feeling much much better. I pray we never have to go through this again! It truly was pitiful:(

Mommy sympathy: breakfast in bed:)

Kitchen Reno *Preview*

So for my birthday my super sweet husband said I could redo our kitchen. This was one of the features of our home that we were excited about when we initially bought - the potential, that is. We were never in love with the existing kitchen or anything but felt like it had a nice layout and plenty of space.

So the planning began. Lots of calling around, getting different quotes, searching the internet, blah, blah, blah. I decided I wanted to paint the existing cabinets and replace the countertops with granite. I also knew I wanted to paint the walls of the kitchen and do new hardware. Micah is so good about "seeing the potential" and he suggested removing the microwave above the cooktop and adding a built-in wooden ventahood. It adds a nice touch I think.

We are still waiting on some of the new appliances to arrive and I also still have to decide on the backsplash. Last on the list is getting a new kitchen table. We will probably order one from my mom since she works at a furniture store but one step at a time.

Anyway here are a few before and after pics. I'll post the finished product once all is complete.

before any renovation started....

just felt dark with the dark hardwoods and cherry cabinets

island with gold prep sink 

p.s. all the fixtures and hardware in our house are gold/brass

and now a preview for the after....

ahh, feels cleaner and looks much better i think

we decided on a creamy white for the cabinets w/ dark brown stain

and went 2-tone on the granite. 

new hardware on cabinets

Here's where we replaced the microwave and did the build-in ventahood

Please excuse the giant hole in the wall - micah started pulling off the old tile 

and it started pulling off the sheet rock. Awesome! 

And since our cooktop isn't in yet, the granite people have to come back and cut the hole for it 

And there's a sneak peek for those who have been asking to see it. It was a huge undertaking but well worth it I do believe. We are very happy with how everything turned out!!!

MaRcH MaDnEsS!!!

I know I haven't posted in FOREVER. Honestly we have just been that busy.

The month of March has f-l-o-w-n by and I'm not sure where it went. March Madness for me does not involve basketball. I thought March Madness was just a term used to describe our life right now. No?

Anyway, here's what we've been up to lately.

March 1 - I turned the BIG 3-0! Yikes! Well, can't really complain. It hasn't been all that bad. I am in a good place right now, comfortable with who I am, and abundantly blessed:) I had several sweet birthday surprises and lots of little happies so that always makes for a good day.

Alicia stopped by my classroom on my bday to deliver a yummy GiGi's cupcake

Thanks for the sweet surprise!

March 3 - Natalie's Sip 'n See. I failed to take pics but we showered Natalie and her new baby Lilly Ann with some cute stuff. 

March 7 - Alicia gave birth to Reese Collins Harrison! She was a perfect little angel and I'm not a bit surprised the child is a rock star and is like already sleeping through the night. I guess it's hereditary? She IS a Harrison! Not sure I'll be that lucky:) 

March 10-17 - Spring Break! No beach this year. That's ok. We spent Spring Break with family and friends. Which is a very close 2nd:) Micah's sister, Dianna, and her crew came up from Dallas to spend the week. We had a great time hanging out and wearing the kids out at the zoo, park, children's museum, and of course chick-fil-a and mcdonald's. Hudson absolutely adores all his cousins. It was so sweet to see them play and get along so well. Can't wait to see the Palmers again soon! Here are a few pics from our week together. 

Cousin Love.

Hallie and Hudson at the zoo.

Daddy even got to come to the zoo with us! Oh happy day:)

looking at the elephants

Hudson and Hallie

Hudson, Hallie, Grace, & Brady

In the kayak @ the children's museum

 \

Brushing teeth @ the CMOM

March 19-23 - Kitchen Reno underway. Pics to come soon. Side note: our house is a disaster and I had to spend the night at the in-laws several nights b/c the paint fumes were so strong but it will be worth it in the end. Right? That's what I keep telling myself. 

March 24 - SESAME STREET LIVE!!!!!!! On a whim we decided to take Hudson to see Sesame Street Live down at FedEx Forum. Our little buddy is a HUGE Elmo fan so we knew he'd love it. And yes, we were right. The kid had a ball. I had so much fun just watching him and all of his excitement:) We scored some awesome tickets in the FedEx Box from a friend's uncle so this pregnant mama was happy b/c there was lots and lots of food and comfy seating to watch the show. 

all the SS favorites showed up

Miller fam @ the show

(I know, I'm huge)

Mommy and a very happy Hudson

Daddy and his mini-me

Sweet boy enjoying some snacks while watching the show

do you sense the excitement here?

dancing like a wild man

so so happy

outside the forum. 

another favorite at the moment. Basketball.

And that's our March Madness for ya. Quite a lot going on huh? But lot's of fun has been had this month. If only I had as much energy as this guy - - - -

Haha! I laugh every time I see this picture. Ridiculous:)

CMOM

We went here yesterday....

I'm a huge fan. So is this little guy.

Perfect for a little overcast/rainy day fun! Thanks so much Hayley for letting us use your guest pass. The CMOM - Children's Museum of Memphis - is so fun and interactive, it's the perfect place for curious kids. I encourage everyone to try it once. You'll be hooked like we are. 

And super bonus* The CMOM has a new exhibit which Hudson absolutely LOVED! I mean, like really loved. If you can't tell from the pics below we are really into DINOSAURS lately. He calls them SINO-SAURS and bless him - he couldn't stop smiling the whole time:) It was too sweet!

June Bug @ 19 weeks

Like normal, I have, in true Erica fashion procrastinated in posting our "Big Ultrasound" pics.

Please forgive.

I honestly just learned how to use our scanner.

True story. Ask Micah.

Anyway, I am approaching the 21 week mark (on Friday). I will post a preggo pic later but for now here are pics of our little "june bug" at 19 weeks. We stood strong like planned and still don't know what we're having. Some days I'm sure girl but then I change my mind to boy. This week I'm thinking boy. Micah also thinks boy. He says the ultrasound profile pic looks exactly like Hudson's. Either way, we are eager to meet our sweet baby in a few short months. Halfway there - can't believe it!!!

Hi baby! 

Get to kiss that sweet face in 20 more weeks....

seems like forever 

alien baby 

another 4D shot - this baby loves his/her hands in the mouth

little tiny foot:)