maybe we need to change the title.

So, once again, this post has little to do with our sweet baby girl, Tillman. I've been a little slack about taking pictures the past two weeks, but I've got just a few to share with you that have all been taken by phones.

Tillman in the jump castle at Dawson's birthday party

Eating at KFC after the party (being spoiled by the Costners who had her for the day)

Playing in the playroom before bed

The rest of this post will be dedicated to filling you in on what Josh & I have been up to the past two weeks around the house. We have a long list of projects and "to-do" lists that we are working very productively on to fulfill. Although, Josh has pointed out many times that it seems like the more we cross off the list, the longer the list seems to get b/c I keep adding to it. Hey, I'm an adrenaline junky and it just so happens that being productive gets my adrenaline pumping. Huge dork, I know. :) 

So here it goes:

wall collage going up the stairs, pinterest-inspired

(upper view)

(lower view)

We moved this piece from the playroom into our bedroom to use as a dresser. (IKEA) We're still working on all the basket arrangements & adding other decor.

new bedding in our room - it's reversible! (i get bored easily)

Josh's closet got a huge makeover! He rearranged several shelves & it now functions much more efficiently.

new tv stand/shelving in playroom (IKEA)

new shelving in playroom (IKEA)

basket rack in kitchen (IKEA) - still need to decide how to utilize these

and last, but not least, I can't wait to put these storage/organization boxes to use in the office! That's our next big project. We got a table/desk & 2 shelving units from IKEA that Josh is currently working on putting together. We hope to have the majority of the office put together within the next week or two.

Josh is also in the process of painting two bathrooms w/ water resistant paint. See why he thinks the list keeps growing as we cross more off?!?

Okay, I'm making a pledge right now to dedicate the next blog post, whenever it may be, to our sweet, adorable, precious, spoiled, smart, loving, always entertaining, little angel of a baby girl, Tillman Brantley.





Cake Decorating Basics 1

   So this post has nothing to do with the title of our blog: Tillman: the 1st years. It's all about a fun night I had out with McKinley. For those who don't know, McKinley has a love for baking. She has a nice stash of hand-me-down baking utensils, supplies, pans, etc.

   Recently she learned that Hobby Lobby is offering a set of 3 cake decorating classes. Well, I love watching those baking/cupcake/cake decorating shows on tv, I remember my mom decorating cakes when I was a kid and eating the icing and watching her do the basket weaving and other techniques on the kitchen counter and letting us lick the icing off when she was finished, and I love spending time with McKinley, so I made the off-hand comment to McKinley that I would take the cake decorating classes with her, not thinking much else about it.

   Well, that was about 4-5 days ago. Look where it got me. I spent this Friday evening at class 1 of 3 in a cake decorating class. We had fun, were the youngest ones there, had the least experience, laughed the loudest, and stayed the longest. We learned a few basic of cake baking, leveling, icing, etc.

   Then we moved to the fun part, the decorating. We got to put icing in bags and go to town practicing making stars with a tip. I was having an okay time in the class up to this point. The instructor's personality wasn't quite as cheerful and outgoing as I was expecting, and we were listening and watching her do most of the activities. BUT, when we got to make stars and I got comments like, "Oh those are perfect," and, "Those look really nice," my attitude changed a little.  :)  I started getting into it more and even became a little (jokingly) competitive with McKinley about who could make the better stars. I won, of course. :)

   Anyways, we had a good time and I look forward to playing around with my new Wilton cake decorating/baking kit. We're not sure when we will take the next class, maybe next Friday. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.  (*Even though the cookies may look good, they taste gross. The cookies have no flavor - Pillsbury roll - and the icing has an unpleasant flavor - Wilton brand.  And yes, I still ate them anyways.)  The next time, I will take my own homemade cookies and icing to work with. McKinley and I both were very short on time this week and had to make do with convenience.

   Here is a glimpse of what we created tonight:  The instructor showed us how to level and ice a cake with layers, but I didn't think to get a picture of any of that.

McKinley - excited about the class

I'm very proud of my stars.

Finally losening up and getting silly.

Don't know why this is turned, but I was so confident in my tip skills that I skipped ahead to class 2's lesson

Goofing off.

This cookie display reads, "I love cookies."

This one says, "I love Clemson."

Iron Gate, VA

   This weekend we traveled to Iron Gate, VA to visit my grandpa (Tillman's great-grandpa). This was his second time seeing Tillman. He will be 90 years old this coming Thanksgiving day, God willing. We all had a great time and Tony was able to come for the weekend too, which made it even better.

   We left Friday after work and drove about 2 1/2 hours to Mooresville, NC. We stayed in a hotel for the night; one that just happened to be nextdoor to a Rugged Wearhouse. :) The next morning Tillman actually slept in later than we expected her to, so we got up, ate, showered, and got on the road. We got to Grandpa's literally less than 5 minutes before Tony did, around 1:00. When we walked in, the ham was in the oven, the beans and corn were heating, biscuits were in the oven, and the potatoes were on ready to be mashed. It smelled delicious, and we immediately began helping to set the table and finish up the work. Needless to say, lunch was great! I love, love, love Grandpa's ham! Apparently Tillman does too b/c she was eating it/inhaling it as fast as we could cut it.

Tillman sharing her toys with Grandpa

She LOVED his magnets!

Rosy cheeks after a 3 hour nap

looking at her great-grandpa

being silly

They had fun together

  A little bit after lunch my cousin, Dakota, and uncle, Ronnie, came over to visit from Roanoke. They just love Tillman and spoil her very much. We had a good visit, and we even ended up making an Adkins family favorite dessert: Miss Betty Cake (chocolate eclair cake). We had a big dinner with everybody there. We had lasgna, bread, corn, beans, and more ham. I think I ended up having ham at all but one meal this weekend. The funny part is, I wasn't tired of it either.

bundled up and ready to play

she was giving out high-fives

one of my favorite things to do - spend time on the porch swing



I love how she is looking up at him

He spoils her

Tillman & cousin Dakota

Great-Uncle Ronnie, Dakota, Tillman, Me

   Sunday we hung out around the house. It was a nippy 16 degrees outside. Brrr! We played and as it warmed up, we went down to the park for some exercise and playtime. At 4, we all headed back to the house to watch the Packer game. Unfortuantely, they lost - bad. During the game, Tony, Tillman, and I went to the local Pizza Hut and picked up dinner. We played the rest of the night and Tony headed back to Fairfax.

At the park



  This morning we got an early start and got on the road a little before 9:00. We knew it was going to be a long ride and we also had plans to stop at IKEA along the way home. Overall it was a good trip back. We had a great time with Grandpa in Iron Gate this weekend and now we have a million projects around the house we want to tend to. I see another trip to IKEA in our very near future.

  

She was worn slap out from such a great weekend.

I'm a Big Girl Now!

Well we've been home a week now from Christmas vacation, and we have not stopped going yet. We've gotten unpacked for the most part, but we've also started many new projects and have new goals and "to do" lists in store for the new year. A few of our newest accomplishments within this past week include having some house work done, switching out Tillman's carseat to a "big girl" carseat, putting together one of her "big" Christmas gifts from my mom and dad, having some car work done, ordering some new bedding for the master bedroom, painting in the bathroom, working on a photo collage for the main stairway, successfully cooking 3 new recipes I've never attempted before (2 from Pinterest, 1 from Mom), and so much more! Man, does it feel good to be productive!! It's truly one of the best feelings. My hope is to keep the ball rolling and continue on this productive path, as long as I can keep my sidekick and hardest worker motivated along with me. I might try bribing him with his favorite meals or even some ball cards. :)

She's pretty excited about her big girl carseat from Aunt Leigh-Anne & Alex

A Pinterest dinner - Crockpot Buffalo Chicken - super easy! super tasty! Will definitely make this again.

The "Before" of the kitchen delivered to our house...

And, the "After" - This was a Christmas present from Grandma & Grandpa - I can't wait to see her reaction to it in the morning when she wakes up!



Happy 90th!!

We had the privilege of celebrating Great Grandma Gray's (Josh's grandmother) 90th birthday this past weekend before heading back to Easley. Her family threw a nice celebratory drop-in at the Presbyterian Home where she lives, and it was nice to see all of Josh's extended family there to support, honor, and celebrate Grandma Gray. She looked so nice and was having a great time seeing all of her friends and family gather in her honor. Here are some pictures from the event:

I love how she is looking up at Josh in this picture. They were watching the ducks in the pond.

Front view - Notice Tillman's big  stick.

Grandma Gray's yummy birthday cake

And her centerpiece that she was very proud of. She got the Shirley Temple doll as a Christmas present that she had always wished for.

Tillman wishing Grandma Gray "happy birthday"

Mingling.

Cousins - Tillman & Ruth - on the go the whole time.

4 generations - Grandma Gray, Karen, Josh, & Tillman

The Christophers & Grays

Most of the Gray grandchildren & great-grandchildren w/ Grandma Gray

Happy 90th birthday, Grandma Gray!!