Friday, September 30, 2011

five.years



5 years ago today, Taylor and I got married.







The Inces 5 years later...

1 cat (Merriweather).
2 month long vacations (Europe and Hawaii), countries of residence (US and UK).
3 babies (Tristan Joy, Seth Robert, and Little Bits), churches, years of school attended.
4 moves (Houston, Charlotte, Houston, Edinburgh), years of teaching, schools (two for him and two for me).
5 years of loving, traveling, forgiving, dancing in the kitchen, laughing, crying, walking in the Lord's faithfulness.

All in 5 years.




He has made everything beautiful in its time. 
Ecclesiastes 3:11a



Here are some of the highlights...


Engaged - April 2006

Fall 2006
Wedding Day - September 30, 2006
European Road Trip: Summer 2007
7 scoops! Bacharach, Germany

 Eating a Schneeball, Rothenburg, Germany
Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic 
Sacher Hotel, Vienna, Austria 
1st Year Anniversary: Charleston, SC (Sept 2007)


Kellam Family Vacation to Maui: Summer 2008

Haleakala
Boating to Lanai (in the background)
2nd Anniversary: Charlotte, NC  (Sept 2008)
Taylor's 30th birthday! (April 2009)

RTS Graduation (May 2009)
3rd Anniversary: Austin, TX (Sept 2009)  

28th Birthday (20 weeks pregnant) (January 2010)
Awaiting Seth's arrival (April 2010)


Still waiting! (May 2010)


He's here! Seth Robert born June 10, 2010

Our little family (June 2010)
Seaside (August 2010)
Move to Edinburgh (Sept 2010)
4th Anniversary: Edinburgh, Scotland
Taylor's school
Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010


The Isle of Harris (July 2011)


Ireland (Aug 2011)
Little Bits due March 23, 2011 
(the picture is sideways, his (or her!) head is down at the bottom, but he's looking up)







Happy Anniversary Tay!  
We have so much to look forward to this year - my 30th birthday, our new addition, and so much more.  I am so happy to be celebrating these things with you - can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store!
I love you so!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Fall has...fallen?

My favorite season in Edinburgh is fall.  No contest.  It's cool and crisp; leaves are changing colors dropping glorious piles on the ground that we can run through.  Ok, you're right, I'm totally not running for any reason.  But I do push my buggy through them when I run errands.






Fall is the only time Edinburgh follows the rules when it comes to seasons. And being from Houston, it helps me cope with the rest of the cool and crisp year (or freezing or raining or snowing or fill in another unpleasant form of cold and dreary).  Now I know Houston is a fellow season rule breaker, but the slight difference between the two is that is why people choose to live there. It errs on the side of warm and sunny. Call me unsentimental, but I am perfectly fine with Christmas day being in the 70s.  (Now I am totally tempted to go on a diatribe about my opinion on the Continental/United merger and the ridiculous choice of Chicago over Houston for the hub, but that has nothing to do with fall and it's just an unpleasant subject all around.)  We choose to live in Edinburgh for non-weather related reasons like it has a castle.  Does this beat warm and sunny?  The jury's still out.


This picture was taken from practically our backyard. 


Remember my post last year on pumpkin?  Well,  the second the first orange leaf replaced it's green self, the tinned pumpkin waiting game officially commenced.  No mention of Libby yet though I did find an actual pumpkin at the grocery store today and have to say I was more than a little happy.

Look Mom! It's a pumpkin!
(Seth's bookshelf is not usually so empty, but his new favorite pastime is pulling all of the books off of the shelf.)

Nah! I can't believe it!

What?  You want it back?

OK...

But first I am going to eat it!

It's much more efficient eating it while standing up...


I was so overcome with gladness at the perfect fall weather that I did a raid on my pantry for the two cans I saved from last year to make pumpkin bars.

Remember last year's stash?


And I have to say it was a success - no Pumpkin Foot Cake this time, just yummy fall deliciousness.


Last year's Pumpkin Foot Cake


Pumpkin Bars - recipe by Paula Deen:




Yeah - I forgot to take a photo of the actual bars before they were all consumed.  I blame it on "Baby Brain" and Paula Deen.

But don't worry, in case of another tinned pumpkin shortage, I saved my last can so that we can be sure to have pumpkin pie this year, no matter what.

Sethers and me (14.5 weeks preggo - yes, the .5 makes a huge difference)

Happy Fall Y'all! 
(Houstonians just go inside, turn up the AC,  bake some pumpkin bars, and pretend.  It will feel like fall in no time - that is until you have to go outside again...)



Linking up with Emily today...


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Giveaway Winner!

So yeah, sorry for the huge gap from the end of the giveaway till now, but my internet has been down for a week.  A week I tell you!  And I sure wasn't about to try to write a post on my phone, so here we are, and I'm happy to announce we have a WINNER!!!

CONGRATS NOELLE! 
Email me and I will get you set up with Andrea.

I'll be back later this week for a recipe for Fall (and no Texas, I cannot promise to make it cooler though  I wish I could send some of this 55 degree weather your way!)

What we've been up to lately...



Friday, September 9, 2011

Big Announcement and a GIVEAWAY!

Introducing....



We're so excited to announce that we are expecting the next BABY INCE March 24th!!  
Two sets of diapers?! What are we going to do?


In honor of our new addition, I am doing my very first GIVEAWAY!!



My crafty friend, Andrea from Touch of Gray Designs made Seth's cute shirt (and a lot of baby gifts and birthday presents I've given over the past year!), and she has offered to give a $20 gift credit for her Etsy Shop!  Click here to check out her shop.

Here are some shirts that I had Andrea custom make for my cute nieces
Seth received this shirt from Andrea's shop as a baby gift - thanks Lauren and Brett!:)
Fun baby gifts I have ordered
I can't wait to order a "Little Brother" or "Little Sister" onesie for Baby Ince!

{Source}


Here is how to enter:

1. MANDATORY: You MUST be a follower or my blog - it's easy, just click "Join this Site" under my "Community" heading on the right side of the blog, and then follow the directions from there. Once you're officially part of Robin's Nest, look around Andrea's shop and post a comment telling me which item you'd order if you win the $20 credit.
2. Follow Robin's Nest on Facebook (there are multiple Robin's Nests, so look for the one with my blog grab button).
3. Facebook post about the giveaway
4. Tweet about the giveaway 
5. Blog post about the giveaway
6. You have Robin's Nest on your blog roll
7. You have Robin's Nest button on your blog

You have 7 chances to enter! Just add a new comment each time.
**Only those with a USA or UK shipping address are eligible.
***Giveaway closes midnight (USA Central Standard Time) on Thursday, September 15th.
I'll announce the winner on the blog Friday, September 16th!

Click on my Contact Me button if you have any questions!