It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

We are so blessed! I know it's always a long time between my blog entries, but being a mom to a toddler is so consuming! Being a mom, period, is consuming...now that I think about it :) So you understand. But just to write a few updates....

My parents aren't going to be here for Christmas with us, but they were here last weekend to visit. They got Anne-Kelly a Pottery Barn chair for Christmas as her large present. Green with white polka dots and hot pink monogram. They left on Monday after my Christmas concert (FBCSimpsonville's Enterchange, which I've been singing with since August). Sandy and Trey arrived on Tuesday and are staying for a week. I am so excited that Anne-Kelly's grandma will be able to be with her on Christmas day! Don't tell Anne-Kelly, but she's getting a wagon from her Grandma. It's covered and everything. Cupholders, storage compartment, all the bells and whistles. This far outshines my beloved radio flyer from childhood!

On a separate note, Brent and Trey are repainting our bathroom as we speak. The guy who sold us this house painted over a BORDER. I could punch him, really. Ok, just kidding....but seriously, it's a lot of work to remove a border that has been painted over. So they're working on doing that right now and then will begin painting tomorrow or the next day. The reason for all this action is....drumroll please: Brent is relatively sure that we are going to be moving to North Carolina in the next few months. Belmont, NC to be exact. There's a job at another Duke Energy plant (Allen Steam Plant) that is a step up for Brent, so he's thinking of taking it. So, with that being said, we are going to have to sell a house before long. Please pray for this whole process, as it has me scared stiff. I know that the Lord has a plan for our future, though, and I'm claiming it!

To finish up, thanks so much for all of your friendship, love, and prayers over this past year. You are truly a blessing to this family! We love you all. Merry Christmas!

Brent, Rachel and Anne-Kelly

A dirty excursion and God's grace.

So I was entertaining my friend Ashley and her little girl today while they were at my house visiting, when I suddenly realized that things were a bit too quiet. So I began looking around for Anne-Kelly. And lo and behold, I find her doing this:





Up to her elbows in dirty toilet water. Yep, that's my dirty little toddler. The one that I swore I'd never have, you know. When I was pregnant, I always fantasized about my perfect little bow-wearing angel of a toddler. But here's the reality, and the truth is, I couldn't be happier cleaning toilet muck off of her and peas off of my floor (the undesirable portion of her lunch).

And call me crazy, but being a mom to this little person makes me see God in the smallest things. I mean, honestly, I couldn't help but think about how we, as God's children, are so much like my little miss: discovered up to our elbows in muck and yuck. And what does God do? He pulls us out of that circumstance, cleans us off, and gives us another chance. Just because he loves us and his grace is that big and all-encompassing. Now I know you might think I'm silly for seeing all this in a toddler's commode excursions, but I'll take every word that God sends me. :) just thought you other moms might appreciate hearing about it.

Here are a few other photos for your enjoyment:












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Check out those pearly whites.

Today Anne-Kelly went to the pediatric dentist for the first time. The whole office was gussied up like Falls Park on the Reedy (local downtown park) and was really adorable. There was an actual tree and grass carpet for kids to play on in the waiting room. Anne-Kelly loved it.

After being called back to an ice-cream-shop-themed room, they cleaned her teeth and checked them out. She cried a little, but I was overall very proud of her. They deemed her teeth "perfect" and told us to come back in six months. After the hard part, she got to pick out a bouncy ball (she chose pink) and a sticker (Mickey Mouse, of course). Here's a photo of her playing in the waiting room:





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A trail of destruction in her wake

Anne-Kelly has recently become infatuated with taking stuff out of drawers, cabinets, etc. Here's a photo of her disassembling her sippy cup drawer. Note the cute bed head, as well :).








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A new era

I'm hoping that today will begin a new era for my long overlooked family blog. Forgive me, readers, for leaving you hanging so long. This post is actually just a test - I'm trying out some software on my new iPhone, hooray! Yes, alas, I broke down and got a new one when my contract needed renewing. There are so many positives to having one as a mommy. First of which is the ability to document and share the life of this precious 16-month-old. So here's to a new start for the McDaris family blog. Cheers!

we saw a frog, and other adventures

Our little family had such an amazing Memorial Day weekend. On Friday, we met Papaw Don and Nana Grace with little Grayson McD for some good times at Frankie's Fun Park. Brent and Grayson rode the go-karts twice and played put-put golf. Then we went over the Chick-fil-a for a little dinner. After, Brent, Anne-Kelly, and I went to the movies to try to see the new Shrek film. It was SO cute. How did Anne-Kelly do, you ask? Surprisingly, she slept the first half hour, and after waking, she sat in her daddy's lap, watched the movie, and ate goldfish crackers. I couldn't believe my big girl!

On Saturday morning, we got up and went separate directions, for the morning anyway. Brent went mountainboarding up near Caesar's Head with some friends from church. Mountainboarding, if you're wondering, is similar to snowboarding, but without the snow. It's like a giant, off-road skateboard that you ride down hiking trails. Sound dangerous? It is. I've long ago gotten over worrying about Brent when he's on one of his adventures though. It's just in his nature, and he says that it's not any fun if you're worried about getting hurt....so I just let him go and make sure he has a big disability policy! Ha.

Anyway, while he was doing that, Anne-Kelly and I went to the Greenridge Shopping Center here in Greenville for some quality mother-baby retail therapy. Anne Taylor LOFT, my favorite store, was running a "40 percent off your entire purchase" promotion, so I couldn't miss it. I have been in desperate need of some new, better-fitting clothes for a while. I ended up with a nice pair of dark brown shorts, a cute black tulip skirt, a new blue tank, an adorable summer cardigan, and a pair of sunglasses for four bucks! I then went on to Barnes and Noble and picked up a few books that Brent and I had been wanting to read. One of them is the Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. He wrote the Percy Jackson series, which we were big fans of. Haven't gotten to start the RP yet, but looking forward to it.

After our morning forays, the entire family met up at Greenridge, left Brent's car there, and headed downtown. We had dinner at a fantastic hibachi/sushi place, The Orient, where we were early enough to catch a special. Loving that! Afterward, we walked around in Mast General Store and then down to Falls Park to check out Shakespeare in the park. They were performing Romeo and Juliet, so we sat down for a while and watched. Not before we stopped at Spill the Beans for some awesome ice cream and coffee, though!

On Sunday, we attended church as usual, but afterward we went out to eat at Tequilas Mexican Restaurant with good friends. Then we made our way over to the mall for Brent to pick out some new jeans. He definitely deserved them! His old ones were worn out from crawling around in boilers or something. After the mall, we came home where I cooked beans, cornbread, turnip greens, fried squash, and sliced strawberries. Yum.

Monday morning dawned rainy and icky. That put a damper on our plans to go up to Caesar's Head for a hike. We packed up and went anyway, hoping the rain would slack by the time we got there. No such luck. When we pulled into the parking lot, we asked a couple carrying their son in a Kelty backpack where they'd gotten their awesome child-carrier and they told us that they got it just up the road at the Frugal Backpacker in Arden, NC. So, being that it was all rainy still, we headed up there to check out the Memorial Day sales on the Keltys. We were lucky enough to find a Kelty TC 3.0 for over 50 percent off!! So after we bought it, we ate the lunch we'd packed, and then went over toward Asheville and the NC Arboretum. The sun shone for a few hours, and we went for a small hike around the property and toured lots of the gardens. If you've never been there, it's definitely worth a trip. We also got to see an amazing photo book display by Tim Barnwell. It made me cry it was so beautiful. I can't wait to get the book. Anne-Kelly loved being in the great outdoors and seeing all the lovely flowers and fountains. She even saw a bullfrog hop into the big fountain and swim around! We also really enjoyed their bonsai garden. However, the sun didn't hold out, and when it began raining, we knew we were ready to go.

After that, we drove home and had leftover beans and cornbread. Doesn't sound too glamorous, but it was yummy after such a long day.

So, as you can see, we had a full weekend, but an amazing weekend. We are so blessed.

something good

I went home last weekend to Kentucky. We had such a great time with a lot of the McDaris family. Some might call me a homebody, as this move to South Carolina was never an easy thing for me. However, I am glad to call SC my second home. :) And gladly so, as it is a wonderful place full of wonderful people. However, nothing compares to the farm I grew up on, if you ask me. I often tell Brent that I am like the big tree in my parents' front yard: deeply rooted.

So after being there this weekend, the muse descended, and I felt compelled to write a little verse. It's nothing impressive, just how I feel. It is my hope, though, that every person finds a place that gives them such peace and rest.

I went home today

with tears in my eyes.

No sadness.

Tears of a happy reunion

with the place my soul comes from.

Over the fields I hear

the river's voice singing a sweet melody,

the story of so many

who loved this place before me.

These hills were trod
by my grandpa's boots
and his grandpa and his grandpa before him.

The same walls of this house
hear my songs
and the ones my great-grandmother used to sing.
How many secrets does it have?

Argument and embrace,
Summers and winters,
Birth and death.
This place, a silent witness of it all.

And I can't help but realize
when I'm standing there,
overcome,
that God has been good to me.