Family – The Lobster Shell

I’m Back Baby

January 19, 2022 thelobstershell

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back! Anybody else feel like they need the Welcome Back, Kotter theme song perpetually playing in the background?(Or am I the only one who stayed up late watching Nick at Nite because I had a mega crush on John Travolta?)

I mean seriously, what a time to be alive, right? Our life has been so incredibly strange over the past 2 years. Miller Grace was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and our whole world has forever changed. Lochlan has absolutely blossomed! She’s no longer a baby, but the most loving child who spreads joy where ever she goes. I created another human!! John Quinton was born December 8, 2020, making him our only Georgia baby. And let me tell you, he’s so darn cute! We’ve finally started to settle into our new house. We hung curtains, and pictures, got new furniture and floors and it feels more like home now! I even started a business-Kaitlin Devere Weddings and Events- and somehow through a global pandemic, the world shutting down, and maternity leave, it has absolutely taken off!

Through the pain, the uncertainty, the struggle and dark places we’ve navigated the past few years, I’m so grateful to finally feel like we’re coming out on the other side. We never could have made it without the love, support and prayers from our family and friends and most importantly the unwavering love of God, who gave us strength when we thought we had none.

So, with all of that being said, here’s to whatever we want to call this! It’s not exactly a new journey- but a continuation of our journey! One where we’re wiser, older, stronger, yet softer, more patient and for once, truly living in the moment.

XOXO,

Kaitlin

Family, Home

Settling Down

November 1, 2018November 1, 2018 thelobstershell

I think 2018 has been the biggest blur of a year that I can recall. What’s super embarrassing is when I first wrote that sentence, I actually said 2017. Point Proven.

But we are FINALLY starting to settle down. We closed on our house in early September and it has taken almost 6 weeks for us to finally feel settled and in a routine. Of course this past week didn’t help anything since it was my sister’s wedding. (Which was beautiful! Congratulations Elizabeth and Justin!)

We sold our Florida house in only 3 weeks thanks to our fabulous agent Dru Swain! He is INCREDIBLE! And was absolutely fantastic to work with! We even had an early closing, so from the day our house went live on the market to the day we closed was only 6 weeks. Which it awesome! But I kind of thought I’d have the whole summer to goof around and squeeze in a few more memories on the beach with our friends.

However, God has perfect timing, and I think the reason we sold our house in such a short amount of time is because He knew it would take us FOREVER to find our new house. Let me tell you, our buying agent/my beautiful sister in law was PHENOMENAL! Danielle took us all over North Georgia. We looked at everything! From a 6 acre farm, where I realized the idea of living on a farm is a lot more romantic than actually shoveling goat poop. To a fixer upper in short sale, when I decided the gamble of making money wasn’t worth the cash, stress, time and sweat it would take to actually turn the profit, while we had two toddlers at home and hubby works full time. We almost went with a house on two acres, but we knew we were buying at the height of the market and weren’t willing to pay them their asking price. And then finally we settled on a beautiful home, with plenty of space, at a reasonably affordable price, with an unfinished basement, a new roof, and a million neighborhood kids. In fact, I found out today that our neighborhood alone accounts for 11% of the kids at the local elementary school. Needless to say, I’m stoked about tomorrow night’s trick or treating!! (I’ll post a story about our first married halloween later.)

During the summer before we were able to decide what on earth we actually wanted in our next house, my in laws were gracious enough to let us live with them. This is no small gift. We moved in with two dogs, a new cat, two kids, new schedules, routines, rules and lots and lots of laundry. We will forever be grateful of this opportunity. It gave us the chance to decide what we wanted, while living rent free. We realize this is a privilege many people don’t have while transitioning and making decisions about major financial investments. So thank you, Torina and Wyatt.

Like I said, it’s been a whirlwind of activities and emotions and moving so. many. boxes. but we’re here, and life is good!

Family

Paw Patrol Party

April 15, 2018 thelobstershell

Miller Grace turned three in the beginning of January! What???? It’s insane how quickly time is speeding by. We originally scheduled a party closer to her birthday, but she had the flu so we had to postpone. And I’m really glad we did! It gave me much more time to plan everything AND we had our counter tops installed before her party! (Post on that to come)

MG was SO excited to have all her friends over to play and eat cake. And because it was postponed, we got to hear about how excited she was for weeks leading up to it! haha Every time we went to the store she would ask to buy decorations for her party. Every night before bed she would tell us her Paw Patrol party would be tomorrow and go down the list of friends coming over, games they would play and food they would eat. Because of the timing of our counter top installation, she also thought the “new, beautiful, Skye, counter tops” were party of her birthday present and she continues to tell us that 2 months later.

I wanted to incorporate MG’s favorites while sticking to the Paw Patrol theme and with the help of Pinterest and Amazon, I think it turned out really cute.

We hosted the party at our house in the morning. We went to a morning party earlier in the fall and loved that everybody was able to play before the kids started getting cranky and the parents were able to do their normal Saturday activities in the evening. However, I’m not much of a morning person, so instead of our 10-12 party time, I probably should have done more of an 11-1. It’s all a learning process though, right? haha

We decided to make the party as easy going as possible! We hosted the activities in the driveway. I took out some sidewalk chalk, bubble wands and a bubble machine and we blew up the bouncy house that we purchased for her birthday party last year. (We ended up using the bouncy house inside last year due to bad weather. We moved all the living room furniture out of the way and let the kids have at it). We also had the soccer goal up and a ball out in the yard.

We had Pupperoni Pizza (and cheese too) for lunch with an assortment of snacks and appetizers including: Pawberries, Pawtato Chips and dip, Dalmation Dip and Dog Biscuits, Farmer Yumi’s Crops, and the crowd favorite, Pups in a Blanket. ( Shout out to Angela for helping me make the cute little pop up signs for the food! Here’s a free copy if you want to download the labels and use it for your own paw patrol party.)

Drink choices included the toilet bowl, water, lemonade and sprite. I also provided a yummy beverage for “Old Dogs Only.”

I created a table for the party favors, which also doubled as the cups for the kids. I purchased the masks and fire hydrant cups from amazon. Just click on the hyperlink to find the ones that I ordered. I was super happy with them. We wrote names on the bottoms of the cups, everybody was able to keep track of there own and it prevented any spills which was great!

The after-party continued in the living room while the kids played play doh and dress ups and danced to Frozen songs and of course told “Malexa” to “play paw patrol theme song.”

Happy Third Birthday Miller Grace! The days may be long but the years are surly flying by!

You can use the following links to shop my party on amazon!

Family, Places

Christmas Travels Part II- Georgia

February 13, 2018 thelobstershell

Dahlonega is a beautiful little town nestled in the North Georgia Mountains and home of one of the first major Gold Rushes! We have made a little tradition of doing a family photo shoot in the square. The Christmas decorations make the tiny town that much more magical and we love walking around to all the shops.

This year my step-sister Caitlyn was able to come do our family pictures and we absolutely LOVE them! Thank you so much caitcarrphotography.com ! She shoots locally in North Georgia, all over the US, and internationally as well. Here are some of my favorites from our Christmas session.

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At the end of our photo shoot we enjoyed the chocolate we picked out and Lochlan got to try her first little morsal! I think she liked it!

We tried a new Italian restaurant called Grape Vine’s for lunch and it was super delicious. Logan and I might even try to sneak away for a date night next time we’re up there.

We only spent two days in Dawsonville this year, but managed to squeeze in time with both our families. It’s so weird to me having all of our family in the same town. Growing up, my grandparents lived pretty far away from us, and in entirely different sides of Virginia. So we would go visit each set separately for a week over the summer, or a holiday. It was so nice to get that cherished time with them. And it was always super relaxing and filled with fun events. Of course I’m remembering this from a child’s perspective, and it probably wasn’t so stress free for my parents. It’s nice to have everyone together so close, but when we go back to Georgia I feel like every single tiny second has to be planned out to make sure we can fit everything in. I must admit, I’ve become quite good at it over the past couple years. I’m so thankful to have a great family to spend the holidays with, but orchestrating the trip does a number on my stress level, that’s for sure! Haha

It’s also really awesome that Miller Grace and Lochlan have so many cousins the same age as them. As in, literally born in the same year! Somehow Logan and his brothers all managed to have a baby in 2015 and then again in 2017! I guess we’ll have to wait and see what 2019 looks like?? Haha The kids have such a blast playing and I love that they get to make memories together!

So exhausted after playing with her cousins

One of the neatest gifts Miller Grace was given was my late Grandfather’s medical equipment.

Miller Grace tells us time and again that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. My Mom found a little shop in Dahlonega and had a bag embroidered with Dr. Miller Grace, and filled it with my Grandpa’s stethoscope, octoscope, reflex hammer, band-aids, wraps, and splints. She even got a white doctor’s coat to match!

We decided it’d be best to leave the bag and all its belongings at MooMoo’s house so that MG doesn’t end up performing surgery on her sister. And it will make playing with it that much more special event when she visits.

It was a great couple days with our family celebrating Christmas. Although it can be so crazy, it’s also filled with a ton of love, laughs and great times!

Family, Places

The Donut Hole

February 5, 2018 thelobstershell

Logan got in around bedtime Friday night after his first week away and Miller Grace was THRILLED! She asked him to bring her a special gift all week, and he did not disappoint! He showed up with a cake topped with paw patrol figurines, and she has slept with those little puppies every night since. The first night he was gone I ended up moving her to my bed around midnight and I heard her say, “Oh Hi Daddy! You bring me a special present?” in her sleep. It was so sweet to know she was dreaming of him but a little sad since it was his first night away. She was also super excited because Daddy got her a new car!!! The way we keep our cars, it really might be hers one day! Haha ( Read Bertha’s story here).

We woke up and MG said she wanted Waffles, so we decided to take the new car for a drive and go to one of our local favorites, The Donut Hole.

Check out that roomy back seat, with enough space that even Darla got to ride in the middle!

It was SO delicious! I had the Gulf Coast Omelet and it did not disappoint. Filled with shrimp, crab, peppers, onion and cheese, I had it with a side of tomato slices and a biscuit. YUM!!

Logan had the Special which gives a great sampling of everything yummy: Pancakes, Ham, bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns and a biscuit.

Miller Grace and Lochlan ended up splitting a pancake instead of waffles and we went home with a whole meal’s worth of leftovers.

Miller Grace got two sprinkled donuts on the way out, one for her and one for her bestie!

It was such a beautiful day. We’re trying to savor every last weekend down on 30A.

Family, Places

Christmas Travels Part I- Rock City

January 14, 2018January 14, 2018 thelobstershell

mttop — Daddy is SO lucky to be surrounded by so many girls!

Daddy moved to Signal Mountain a little over a year ago and let me tell you, it’s a neat little place. Just slightly north of Chattanooga, it boasts the benefits of the city below, the views of the Tennessee River, and the quaintness that comes along with being in the beautiful state of Tennessee.

Lochlan playing with the butterflies last July.

BTW if you’ve never been to Chattanooga I would DEFINITELY recommend making a trip!

Last Christmas we stayed a couple days and got season tickets to Rock City and The Tennessee Aquarium, which FYI, is a tax deduction, so save those receipts! We’ve gone to the aquarium a few times and absolutely love it, especially the beautiful butterfly exhibit.

But this Christmas we only had 24 hours and decided we had to go see the lights at Rock City! It was gorgeous! From the top of the mountain you can see into 7 states and the view is breathtaking! Especially if you stand a little too close to the edge, but that’s for a different reason haha.

Lochlan loved the lights and Miller Grace loved everything! We had the best time dancing through the different lands of lights, eating cotton candy the size of our head, and exploring deep in the caves to see all the gnomes!

Miller Grace was SO excited to decorate her very own Gingerbread man. I gave her the money and she went and purchased it all on her own. She took it to the table and picked her favorite color and within seconds broke it in half! Talk about devastated!

So excited to decorate…

total devastation when it broke!

The cookie lady was so sweet and replaced MG’s cookie right away. I helped her hold the icing for the next one!

finished_cookie — Perfect enough to eat!

One of the things I’m looking forward to most about moving is being able to visit Daddy and Candice more often and enjoying the different events at Rock City through out the year.

Daddy and Miller Grace during our visit last year.

*Side note- This year we went on Thursday, December 21st and it was PACKED! Last year we went December 28th and it was much less crowded.*