Thrill Hill and being old!

So this weekend we went to GA to watch the Bulldogs almost get beat by the Kentucky Wildcats! We had great fun even if the game was stinky, oh well there is always next year.....Anyway, after visiting with the new addition, Kane ( brother and sister-in-laws new baby) we headed home. While cutting through all of the old roads we grew up going down we came to the infamous "thrill hill". This was not a hill for the weak at heart, no it was the roller coaster of Elbert County! Anyone who lived in the area knew of thrill hill. Let me explain, this was a very steep hill with a sharp incline at the end. If you got up enough speed, and were brave enough, you could fly down the hill and in the end you would have that left your stomach behind somewhere roller coaster feeling, or you would flip your car......knew alot of people who ended up like that........ Well, Allen and I got to the fork in the road where you go left down thrill hill, or right, to the main road. I joked at the time, do we dare have a little fun like old times, or go right and be responsible, old, parents ( yeah both kids were in the car sound asleep by this time). Yes, we chose the later and laughed about how times had changed. Looking back we had a great time growing up in the sticks of Georgia and I wouldn't change it for the world! I love the people we have grown into, I think our parents would be proud! That is unless they read this blog and find out about thrill hill and we get in trouble......oh man I just told on myself! They made me do it mom! I swear!


Just a quick prayer request: My best friend/cousin found out today that one of her good friends whom she has been pen-pals with for probably 14 years and has visited many times was killed along with her two children by a drunk driver recently. Please remember Mandi's husband and family in your prayers. It was an awful and sensless tragedy!

Already 2 months old!

Well my sweet baby boy is already 2 months old! I look at Alyssa and I realize how quickly they grow up, so you think I would know better! He is getting so big! We took him for his 2 month check up and he weighed 12 lbs and 7 oz! What a fatty!!!! I just love it! He is an absolute joy! He is beginning to smile and make sweet little cooing noises. Around 3 months is one of my favorite "baby stages"! Its when their little personalities are starting to show up, and you can begin to see a little human inside. Love it! He had a great check-up with Dr. Draisen, but I on the other hand had a horrible time at the doctors! While checking out after Eli's appointment, I had the worse pain in my back and side. To make a long story short, I rushed down to Dr. Norris' office and got checked out. Come to find out I had a kidney stone!!! I thought only older people got those!!! :( So the rest of my evening was HORRIBLE! I have had two kids and have never been in as much pain as I was this past weekend! Anyway, enough about that..... I have one week left of work at Publix then I am off on a new journey! Hopefully I have made the right decision, I feel like I have. Only God knows and I know He will always take care of me! Well that is enough rambling for now, more later!!!

More pics..

More pictures....

Just wanted to post some quick funny pictures of our Halloween costumes this year. We surprised the youth group by dressing up as the cast of "Highschool Musical". Is it sad that I am almost 30 years old and love these movies still! I LOVE TROY!!!! Dont laugh too hard!

Fun Weekend!!

Here are some pictures from Denver Downs last weekend! We had a great time with Uncle Moon, Aunt Kelly and Tyler.
This is Allen and Moon getting "lost" in the hay maze! They were very determined to make it out!




Alyssa and Tyler on the hay ride.
Alyssa was ready for game day! Go Dawgs!

Alyssa and Daddy sitting on the punkins!
We had a great time! Eli was there too, he just slept through all of the fun!:) We cant wait to go back again!

1 Week left......

Well I am down to my last week of maternity leave! :( It is really killing me to know that I have to leave my beautiful, tiny baby with a stranger to love on him! That is my job!!! It is so sad! Many things have been easier with the second child but this is not one of them! It is just not right. But, life goes on and I know that in this world we all have to work to make a living! With everything going on in this country, it gets harder and harder everyday. The issues with the two houses we have is just getting worse and there seems to be no end in site. As if we didn't have enough bad luck already, the economy has collapsed making it that much harder to sell houses. I have always been a firm believer that God will always take care of us through everything, and He has so many times before, but it is really difficult to have faith sometimes.....I have been offered a new job, and was really excited about it because I had finally made the decision to take it, but then I had to talk to my current boss and let him know what was going on and got alot of info that was hard to swallow. I know I have put him in a difficult place, but I have to think about my family first. Our family really needs prayer right now. Since this blog has been such a downer I am now going to list some things I am thankful for to lift my spirits!:)

1. I am thankful for my BEAUTIFUL family. My loving, every supportive husband who has always been a wonderful man of God and provider for us. My gorgeous children, need I say more yall have seen them!:)

2. My supportive extended family. Without the help of my parents and in-laws who knows where we would be. They are an inspiration to us and always there when we need help. Nothing will EVER change the love we have for them. We are who we are today because of them and not to brag but I think they did a great job! ")

3. Our friends! They have been a great sounding board for us through everything. They are our family when we have none around.

4. Our church. God has blessed us with a great church that we are so proud of. It is a refuge from the world.

5. Our God. Without Him in our lives everything would have surely shattered by now! He is our ultimate Father and Friend.

That is all for now. It feels good to right down all of the things we are thankful for so that we remember through the bad times all of the wonderful things God has blessed us with. I am sure they will always out number the bad!

My wonderful mother.....

My beautiful mother did not like the picture that I had on the last post so she made me remove it. I thought it was a good picture, but.......So here is an updated picture of her and my Mema. It was the only one I could find because she is usually the one taking pictures! :) I hope she likes this one! Love you bunches mommy!

More pictures of Eli

Poppie kissing Eli.......


Alyssa kissing Eli.......

Poppie and Eli

Happy 1 month birthday Eli!

Little feet!


Big sister Alyssa loving on Eli


Eli looking handsome in the outfit the Burleys
got for him!


Its a stare off!

Sweet dreams!

Quick post.....

Ok, so I just wanted to post about something that made me happy today. We had family day today, which is something we have been doing since I have been on maternity leave. We went to Chick-fil-a and ate and let Alyssa play on the playground, then we went to Target and got Alyssa a "prize" for being good. She wanted to get a movie but she saw a Dora coloring book and decided on that instead, which I was happy about because it was alot cheaper. But on to the making me happy part. I love fresh crayons! I know that sounds crazy, but does anyone agree with me? I love opening a box of new crayons and getting to color with them for the first time! They are sharp and smooth, and I just love it!:) It makes me happy. So, Alyssa and I have been coloring all afternoon. Ok, I know that sounds a little weird but I thought I would share! I know someone out there feels the same............:)

3 week olds...

So today Eli is 3 weeks old! Time has flown by. Things are pretty much the same around here, same routine everyday. I can not believe how much and fast babies change in such a short time. I got on the scales with Eli a little while ago and he (according to my scales) is already 9 and 1/2 pounds! What a cute little chunk! We haven't decided what color his eyes are yet. Sometimes they are kinda gray, then other times they are blue. Who knows, I just think he is gorgeous! We had a fun weekend this past weekend. Friday night we took Alyssa and Eli to the "Fall for Jesus" at Covenant. What a success that was! I think the final total people that came through was around 3,000! What an awesome opportunity we have to reach people in the location we are in! It was a lot of fun. Alyssa rode some rides with some of our youth, and Amber! I was shocked that she got on the rides but she did and had a great time! Eli well, he slept through it all! Oh well there is always next year! :) Saturday we finally got to see our wonderful friends Jason, Heather and Camryn. They came to the house for a little while to meet Eli. It was great seeing them again, and we cant wait for the next visit! Hopefully we will be able to visit with them where they live soon! Saturday afternoon we had a great football party. There was probably 15 people at the house!! Go DAWGS! We did just barely squeak out a win, but it was a win none the less! Sorry Burleys! South Carolina always gives us fits! Sunday my parents came to church with us and we got some lunch after, so that was fun. Well ,that was my weekend in a nutshell. Alyssa and Allen have gone to church now and once again its just me and Eli. Alyssa started Awanas so she is having a blast in Cubbies! I love it too and I am so excited she gets to be involved in that. Well there is alot of other things going on in the McConnell house, lots of decisions to be made....So please keep us in your prayers!

The 7 "Days of Elijah"

So I know that I am a day late, but my little man is already one week old! He is laying here in my lap and has the hiccups and I realize that it was only a little over a week ago that I could feel those same hiccups while he was in my belly! Amazing! It is such a joy to have him around! We are all adjusting really well. Alyssa was a little grumpy this morning and didn't want to go to school. She said she had a "tummy ache". Can you believe she is already using that excuse at 3! Well I knew she may be getting a little overwhelmed, so I gave in and let her stay home today. We have had a good day, she is a great little helper. To good of a helper sometimes. If she realizes that I have changed one of Eli's diapers without her, she gets all upset! I really haven't seen any jealousy yet, the occasional whining but nothing horrible. Eli on the other hand, if he is awake he thinks it is time to eat, so he is getting chunkier by the moment! All is well here though, more pictures soon to come. I had to have my camera sent in to be fixed so it could be as long as two weeks! Bummer!!!!

Finally....pictures!!!

Aren't they precious!!! There are more to come whenever I get a chance!

Welcome baby Elijah!

Well the wait is finally over! Baby Eli is here! He is a BEAUTIFUL 8lbs, 19in, black hair baby boy! We are totally in love with him! All the new baby stuff is flooding back to our memories! The sweet little squeaky noises they make, their soft skin, their sweet smell! I could go on and on! I just cant get over what a miracle he is, how God has blessed our family with two healthy beautiful children! We are so blessed. I though I had a very easy delivery with Alyssa, but Eli put her to shame! :) Seeing that I was able to plan this one (being induced), I was able to gage my pain and get the epidural when I wanted it before the pain got too bad. They started the petocin at 8:30 and he was here at 12:59 so he beat Alyssa's time by 1 minute! Now we are just sitting at the hospital enjoying him. We are not worried by the world continuing all around us, all we have to do until after tomorrow is sit in this room and look at our new addition. Alyssa has been amazing as well! She is totally in big sister mode! When she first saw him she was amazed, and you could see it on her face! Anytime she would lose site of him she would almost panic! She would be like, "Where's Eli", "Who took my baby?"! She has wanted to hold him and kiss him, she can't keep her hands off of him, and it is so great! Well I have rambled long enough, I will try to get some pictures on here soon! Thanks for all of the prayers!

The day before....

Well today is the day before the big day! I should have know that Eli would be as stubborn as his sister, but I guess it just runs in the family! I will be induced at 7:00 am tomorrow! Please pray for my family because I am sure it will be interesting/hectic! I am a little concerned with Alyssa because of the huge change that I know is going to take place. She is very excited, but I know that it's going to be hairy for a while! :) Just pray that I have the patience and strength to handle them both! I know Allen will be a huge help so I can let go of half of the burden, but at the same time I know how I am. My downfall is that I never stop, no matter how tired I am! I will have to let go for awhile until I get the hang of 2 kids under 3! I am sure that God will help us and He will give me the knowledge and strength to know how to handle every situation that may arise! This may be my last blog for awhile so I will try to learn how to post pictures on here so everyone can see my beautiful boy! Wish me luck!!!!!

Busy Saturday

Sometimes I wonder if we are sane or not! Today we decided to have a yard sale. I know you are thinking, aren't you about to have a baby? Well, yes......I hoped it would help, but no! No baby yet! We did really well, but I am exhausted! Allen did most of the work, except for the actually selling of the items, but still getting up that early is a chore! Plus what is it with people who come in at the last moment, actually past the last moment, and wonder why you are cleaning up? I was like its 12:45 and it was over at 12:00, but I will make you a lump deal on everything out here if you will just get it out of my yard! I guess they are pretty smart.....Oh well I will try to post again before I have this baby! If not I am being induced on Wednesday so we know he will be here by then at least! I think he is getting a little cozy in there..........

No baby..........

So there is still no baby, but I feel like anytime now he could make his entrance! Which is a little scary! You know, I don't want to be walking around, and all of the sudden......whoopsie there is a baby! Allen said he wasn't really fond of the idea of waking up at 3:00am with wet sheets and me saying "uh I think its time"! But you never know, that is the joy of childbirth! I have not been feeling well today, I think I may have a virus of some sort to go along with all of this.......Just great, something else!:) I have scheduled to be induced next Wed if nothing has happened yet so at least there is a definite end in site....
Today we had planned on this being a family day. I have not decided what to do yet since I am not feeling well, but Allen is off and we kept Alyssa out of school so we could go do something "special". It will probably consist of a trip to Chik-fil-a if nothing else ! I know that is a special day in Alyssa's book!!! I will post later about how it all turns out~

Trip to the Doctor

So I just got back from the Dr office with good news!!!!! Last Tuesday at this exact time I was 1cm and 0% effaced, today I am 3cm and 75% effaced! Looks like little Eli is ready to make an entrance!! I told my friend Heather and she said one trip to the Mexican restaurant and he should be on his way! Which makes me wonder, do things like spicy food, walking, yoga really work in progressing labor? Hum.........maybe I should go for a walk tomorrow after eating some chicken curry!!

A first.....

Well here it is, a first for us! I want to do my best and be a "blogger" and join my many other friend who are already pros, but the main reason for this blog is because our best buds , The Burleys, have moved away. So sad, I know! We miss them terribly, but God has great things in store for their family!! We wanted to be selfish and keep them here, but with today's technology there are many ways to keep in touch! Hurray for text messaging!!!!!! So I solemnly swear to uphold the bloggers' rules and keep a post going! I am sure I will get slack when I have to go back to work, but I will do my best!!!