This little light of mine...

A few days ago my grandmother asked if I still needed anything for my new house.  I laughed and told her I only had one lamp in our bedroom and it was about 3.5 inches tall- so small you have to pick it up and hold it over a book in order to read.  Today, she showed up at my door with SEVEN of her personal lamps to choose from, a bucket of KFC, a gallon of her homemade sweet tea, a basket of my favorite snacks (Moon Pies included) and 2 hours worth of playtime with Abi.  I had a fit.  What a way to spend a Wednesday afternoon! Each lamp is amazing and I think I'm keeping all of them :) Also, it must be noted how much Abiella LOVES her "Granny Jean."  After dropping the KFC on the counter, Granny Jean made a beeline for Abi and crawled onto the floor with her. What a gift. Abi really responds to Jean's voice and speaks back when she talks to her. It is so sweet to watch. After kicking, talking quite a bit, smiling a ton, and practicing holding her head up, Abi is now asleep, my grandmother is gone, and I'm going back for my 4th cookie and third glass of tea... Woohoo!!

Cheers to a happy Wednseday :) 

mae

Back to writing.

Wow. I have not stepped onto this space in quite some time and it feels good to be back.  It also felt good to be gone J I have been busy trying to do life away from the screens (or at least some of them-DVR still has my heart. Hellllooo American Pickers and Junk Gypsies!)  and paying more attention to the stuff IN FRONT of my face. Less computer time = more just staring at a field and sipping coffee time-  which is where my vote has gone to as of late.  Also, the joys of discovering a new community have been amazing.  New restaurants, new grocery stores, new salons, new antique shops, new wineries, new take out, new order-in, new, new, new.  And yet, because I grew up a few miles down the road it also feels old, old, old. And THAT is comforting. In addition to exploring our town’s venues, we’ve also been exploring different options for Abi’s physical/occupational/feeding/speech therapies in this county.  We are still moving and shifting and getting settled into a new schedule with new therapists and new facilities but overall it has been AMAZING. We feel SO BLESSED to live in a place that offers so many incredible opportunities for our daughter.

It should also be mentioned that we have had an insane amount of friends and family grace us with their presence over the last few weeks.  Since moving here we have had nearly 15 overnight guests, some staying up to a week, some coming and going more frequently for just a night or two at a time.   It has been a blast. We've had moms, siblings, friends, and even their pets come visit.  9 of these amazing folks are from different states! Including two friends who arrived via bus (So fun) and Sean’s brother and his girlfriend who snuck in at 3 in the morning to surprise Sean. The next morning while Sean was drinking his coffee in front of the tv James walked down the stairs stretching casually and said “Morning.” The look on Sean’s face was hilarious.  He had been up all night with Abiella and the fact that I managed to sneak those two in without Sean hearing was a pretty impressive feat.  

I’ve also been gardening (we’ve got zucchini and cucumbers and tomatoes coming in as I type), I’ve been learning to cook what I’ve grown, I’m reading more, taking more baths, walking more, and attempting to be a little more intentional with my time.  And now I’m ready to fit blogging back into that space.

Also, it should be noted (in case you follow me on FB or IG and saw the last few posts) that we had to take Abiella to the children’s hospital Friday night via ambulance. Seizures.  We then spent many hours in the ER, 2 nights in ICU and one night on the 8^th floor. There were some very scary hours and some truly miraculous moments too.  Eventually I will write about them, I think, but in the meantime let’s all focus on the fact that we are AT HOME, SAFE, HAPPY, and back to normal- but better.  Sometimes an emergency is a total RESET button on your life.  The smiles are sweeter, the laughs delight you even more than they did (if that’s possible) and the “normal” things in life are no longer “normal.” They are GIFTS.  That’s where we are.  In the miraculous “normal” of life and I’m thankful.

Welcome back friends.  

mae mae

Our Old Home. (And why we moved.)

Before we totally move past the old home, I must mention how much that home meant to us.  It was where we made the majority of our friends here in Nashville, where we walked across the street a million and a half times to our 4 amazing friends’ homes, where I finished my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, where I began my teaching career,  where I started my doctorate, where I timidly hit “Publish” on the first post of this blog, where Sean wrote and recorded 7 years worth of amazing music, and most importantly where we spent the bulk of our marriage, where we fought through the adoption process, and where we brought Abi home.  It was a special place, a haven, and the home of incredible memories we will always hold very dear.

And since I never showed you pics before… Here are a few of our old home. 

(My favorite room in the whole house- Abiella's room.) 

 

and let's not forget our tiny little kitchen where Sean's large family made Thanksgiving dinner and TWO Christmas dinners... We're talented folks. 

So why would we ever move from such a charming home across the street from best friends?

Well, while this home was quaint and magical, there was a time in our lives when it fit perfectly- and we weren't there anymore. We were feeling increasingly cramped with Sean's music studio taking the entire upstairs, and Abi's equipment not fitting well in the downstairs. There wasn't a place in the kitchen she could be while I cooked that wouldn't have her tiny hand within inches of a stove top and overall we were just ready to start the adventure that would allow us to grow. We talked about adding on, renovating the garage, etc. etc. etc. but at the end of the day we were also really hoping to find something that spoke to our heart for the country. So while it was a tough decision, it was a great decision and from the moment we signed the listing agreement we had a great peace about the entire move.  14 showings later we had sold the house and began the search for a new one.  

More on the new house (our dream home that we couldn't have created if we tried) soon... 

Now I'm off to unpack some more. 

I want to be settled and decorated ASAP!

mae mae

We're Here!

Ahhh! I’m here! I’m here! I’m finally on this space again… Wowzer.  I’m currently sitting at my desk (did you see that? I have a desk.  Oh my.) Looking into my daughter’s play room (did you see that? I said play room) and through the windows out onto the farm land behind our home. (Did you see that? I said farm land.) Yes, friends. I’ve moved to heaven… or my version of it at least.  The last three weeks came with immense hurry, some pretty understandable moving stress, and two real estate closings that went better than I could have ever hoped.  My dad helped pack, he took truck loads to the dump, and helped Sean move his studio. My mom came down and helped me take care of Abi during our last day at the old house (movers were there, we had to clean, we had final walk-throughs of both properties, etc. etc.) And that night, after clearing out our home of 7 years, we all forfeited the idea of sleeping on the hardwood floors and zoomed ourselves over to a hotel at 10pm.  It was a fun little family adventure.

The next morning, Sean and I got up at 5 am, left Abi in the hotel room with my mother, went to check on the old house once more, picked up the dogs, and got to both closings where my dad, sister, and step-mom met us with coffee and bagels.  They watched our dogs while we proceeded to walk inside, sell one home, and buy another.  It was kind of a big deal J

After both closings, (with much cheer and sense of SERIOUS relief), Sean and I hopped in our cars (with the sweet tea my awesome step-mom provided) and headed out to our new home in the country.  When we got there it was amazing.  The previous owners had left us a stocked fridge of moving drinks (cokes, diet cokes, etc.) along with gift cards to quaint places in our new little country town, a bottle of wine from a local winery, AND (are you ready for this?) an outfit for Abi.  I mean seriously!

Soon my step-dad, mother, Abi, and my good friend Megan showed up.  As the movers brought in furniture and boxes we ate bbq on the screened-in-porch and basked in our new found country lifestyle. The bbq was from a local award winning restaurant (seen on Food Network) and the country sounds had Abi pretty excited.

 By 3:00 I was fading. I hadn’t slept a WINK at the hotel and Megan (noticing my foggy demeanor) told me, “Go take a nap.  You’re exhausted. Do you trust me to put things where I think they should go?”  I promptly said, “YES!” and went to lie down on the floor next to Abi sleeping in her crib.  A few minutes later I got back up (who can nap when you’re so excited and people are there to help you?!) but that didn’t stop Megan.  She and my mother proceeded to work at lightning speed and unpack my entire kitchen.  By the time they left, our beds were put together, clean linens were on, and our kitchen was clean and organized. Unbelievable.  

That night Sean and I couldn’t believe it.  In 5 weeks we had managed to put our home on the market, get two offers, sell it, find our dream home, buy it, and move in.  All while he continued to work and I continued to maintain Abi’s therapy schedules.  It was a whirlwind to say the least; but a dang good one.

Cheers to moving, cheers to the new home, and cheers to many more stories and pictures I have to share of the last 3 weeks J     

mae mae

Poppin' collars and doodling names (or something like that.)

I had intended on writing some lengthy post about our old home and our new home and why we moved and blah blah blah- but it's 5:52pm and my child has for unknown reasons STILL not napped... THUS, I give you a short post entitled: Life According to Instagram. (Except I didn't title it that, did I?)  If you want more of these riveting photos with crazy clever captions (alliteration AND sarcasm... I'm on fire) you can find me on IG at maemaemcconnell. 

Alright here we go... Some pics as of late with some brief explanations. 

And we're off...

 

Here I am.  See? I do exist. Please note that my hair is not that dark.  Like at all.  At least I don't think so. Some people have told me I confuse green with grey so perhaps I'm color blind.  Regardless, the lighting in this photo gave me Katy Perry black hair.  Not the case.  In fact, as soon as I find a new hair dresser I'm going back to my roots... blonde.  Actually, my roots are pretty dark, so maybe I'll go J'Aniston blonde? Her hair always looks good... moving on.

 Girlfriend's lookin' fly in this jacket.  I mean I can barely handle it. Pop that collar baby!

And there she is... my morning view. 

And perhaps my favorite photo of all time. It is exactly what it looks like. Heaven on earth.

Alright friends!

Much love and happy instagramming!

mae mae

Fried Food and Tim Taylor.

I think I may be the only gal in history who goes to a bachelorette weekend with 10 beautiful girls, stays in an amazing cabin, enjoys two nights of relaxation, tears-streaming laughter, good food and drinks, amazing stories outside by the two story fire place every night, and manages to only take one picture. This.

Seriously.  That's all I got.  I mean what does that say about me? Looks like fried corn, mac and cheese, fried okra, and cucumber onion salad know how to make me think, "Oh- I should grab my camera."

And now completely shifting gears, we move in 6 days! What?! That went crazy fast.  I'll give you more details as the time draws closer, but go ahead and get the Green Acres theme song in your head... Girl's going back to her country roots and I'm pretty darn pumped about it.

In fact, let me take you back to those roots for a moment. This is me on my ole horse Tim Taylor.

(Yes, that was his name.  #MajorHomeImprovementFan.) 

I'm not sure what you should be more jealous of- my sweet zebra shirt, my purple sweats, my bangs for miles, or my overall disregard for the combination of the three.

Oh childhood- you served me well. 

Can't wait to be back. 

xoxo

mae mae

Whirlwind.

Woah.  Where the heck has the time gone?  I've been in a time warp of feeding tubes, house hunting, house selling, house packing, taxes, feeding changes, doctor's appointments, new equipment for Abi, home inspections, transferring half of Abi's therapies to a different county... And now somehow I'm looking at the calendar and realizing weeks have passed and I've been neglecting this little ole blog of mine.

via

The truth is though, I love coming here.  I love writing, I love reading, I love the blogging community and I get a lot out of it.  So I'm looking forward to things settling a bit and carving out more time for writing/reading.  Hopefully, the move will be done in two and a half weeks. (I can't wait to tell you about our new place!) Home inspection repairs have begun, papers upon papers have been scanned and submitted, and after a whirlwind of documents floating around my world, I'm over half way done with the "hard stuff" and in 24 hours I will be leaving for a girls weekend away.  AHH!!!!!!

Yep, somehow in the midst of the craziness, I will be getting away with 10 of my girlfriends for a relaxing/crazy weekend celebrating one of our dear friends, post-wedding, bachelorette style.  I plan on taking really long showers, eating way too much pizza dip (Malia, please bring some. I'm begging you.) sleeping in, wearing headphones to bed and not worrying about not hearing a crying babe, partaking in beverages of choice by the outside fire-pit, and maybe even going on a hike, all while spending time with 10 of my favorite gals.  I mean, I'm kind of freaking out. Oh deep breath, I'll see you in 48 hours.

In the meantime, I'd like to share with you one of my blogging buddy's latest joys. Shelby has a 30 year old sister with special needs who recently received one of her greatest dreams, a trip to Disneyland.

Go HERE and watch the amazing video that so sweetly captures that moment. (PS when you see Donny Osmond, that is Shelby's father in-law.  It will make more sense when you read her post.) It's such a beautiful video and I LOVED watching it, especially the part with Shelby and her sister in the plane together.  So awesome.

Alright, friends, have a good one!

mae