living life with lovely livi...

beach bums...

2010-06-19T07:19:00.000-07:00

we took these two beach bums to santa rosa beach in florida a few weeks ago. it was such a wonderful break for us & they both love the sand & the waves.

these two love playing together- they are quite a pair!

my darling baby boy

ah, life is good.

my girl...

2010-03-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

on the precious days i'm off from work & bane is down for his morning nap, i try to spend that time just enjoying my baby girl. i can rarely get her to agree to photos but this day she let me snap a few... of course, as you'll see at the bottom here she was done in about 30 seconds.

we painted 'um pink!

"oh, mom. i'm so over it."

turning two...

2010-03-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

my first born baby girl turned two last month. i wanted to share a few birthday pics from her celebration. i can't believe what a whirlwind my life has been since this little girl came into my life. she fills my days with sunshine.
we woke her up to the traditional spanking & throwing her under her bed.... she didn't really enjoy that part as much as i'd hoped but she did love all the decorations in room.

opening her gift from grandmother & grandfather

bane was not quite as excited about livi's new princess birthday crown as we hoped he would be

her new tricycle from her nanny thelma

i decided it would be more fun to let livi make her own birthday cake- i was right!!

i tried to take some pics of livi with the finished product but she wouldn't quit eating it long enough to get a good photo.

this is what it looked like by the end of the photo shoot... oh well.

the new "i'm a two year old now" face

pure joy when they brought out her treat with a song & sombrero

on her actual birthday, we hit up 'ole faithful panchos for our favorite mexican treat...

for her party this year, we decided on something different-we loaded up livi's 3 favorite people ( grandmother, grandfather, & nanny thelma) with us to a play @ Nashville's Children's theater & to dinner @ rainforest. above is our dear nanny thelma (who keeps my babies for us while i work) and my daddy

my boys

once we got right beside the moving gorillas (@ rainforest cafe) for our picture livi decided she didn't like them as much as she thought she would.... he he he...

her birthday dinner

and, ending her big day (adorned in her princess dress from her sweet aunt julie) drawing her "fireworks" on her chalkboard....

a birthday surprise... (a month late)....

2010-03-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

my darling husband threw me the most fabulous birthday party of my life back in february. a snowy weekend in a warm cabin nestled in the smoky mountains with my favorite friends in the world...it was truly perfect.
ashley & me

sweet shelley

our personal photographers

jamie & dan

we went to a crazy dinner theater- with joey & i competing on stage to be the "next American Idol"... i failed miserably in the first round... joey nearly brought the house down.... fun times.

down on the piney... more to come....

2010-03-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

okay so @ least i'm trying!

i don't have internet @ home & they have blocked everything @ work so i can't view or post pictures from work- so i'm stuck with no great blogging options these days. so, needless to say, last night as drae & i were keeping shaelyn jade for a bit @ dana's house i tried to jump on her computer & hoped to quickly post a blog.... ha....nice try. the picture above was as far as i got. dinner & bedtime for 3 kiddos under age two is quite an adventure! i definitely have fun stuff to post about our fun down on the piney farm & livi's birthday treats... so, stay posted... but don't hold your breath while you wait :)

....back to life.....

2009-12-23T11:50:00.000-08:00

well, it's been awhile.

yes, looks like almost one year to the day since i last did a post on this blogspot. i must say, it has been a busy year. i'll spare you all the daily details of my tumultuous months & just chalk it all up to water under the bridge....except, of course, for one small detail....

this little guy.

WELCOME TO OUR WORLD

BANE ALTON DRAKE BEASLEY

he arrived on 10.23.09 & totally stole my heart. when i get a few precious moments to stare into his sweet face these days, i see his father. another little piece of drason for my very own. ahhh, i am so blessed.

(as i am constantly questioned about the choosing of his name, i'll go ahead with a little explanation here for those who are wondering. Bane. Hawaiian: long-awaited child -Alton. my father's middle name- Drake. the nickname drason's mother calls him)

most of you know this little lady & namesake of this blog, olivia drae. she is so much fun these days- i just don't know how it can get any better than this. she is officially warmed up to the idea of a baby brother & enjoying life again. she is totally pumped about santa & drason & i are on pins & needles for christmas eve to finally arrive! this year is going to be a ton of fun!

just a few more pics of my babies....

wishing you the merriest of christmases with your family.

struttin' her stuff...

2008-12-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

with dad's help, liv has started to take some steps... however, as shown above she is not always thrilled about practicing....she complains a little bit & then she off.....

the best party of the season...

2008-12-16T13:44:00.000-08:00

on sunday, shelley hosted our 16th annual girls dirty christmas party!! this is always the most fun party of the year. since we were in 7th grade, we have faithfully gathered every year (i've never missed a party) to celebrate the season... and each other's friendship. i love these girls. they are all my bestest friends from forever. it is just so comfortable & easy in their presence & i always leave wishing i had more time to spend with them. i have been friends with many of these girls since i was olivia's age.... we even have some pictures together where we are "propped up" by pillows because we weren't sitting by ourselves yet. it was a bit more interesting this year as we realized we are now out-numbered by our children.... it was quite a mad-house.

olivia drae

kristen & beth with baby eli

all the little ones... with aubree fleeing up the stairs in the back- not much of a picture, i know- but the best we could get....

annie- who obviously loves being held by her aunt keli :)

me, jamie & beth.... we've been quite a 3-some since we were all in braces traipsing across the state in a camping trailer with my parents... those were the days!

crysta with sweet sam

beth & liv

annie marie

jamie & ashley (who brought a fantastic white clutch that i successfully snagged as my gift)

WACKY TACKY CHRISTMAS!!!

2008-12-16T09:50:00.000-08:00

a huge thanks to jeff & ashley for hosting a very fun & fabulous tacky christmas party saturday night! we enjoyed yummy food, drinks, and some crazy caroling around their neighborhood... (with a trumpet & several men in extremely tight pants... scary!)

nathan came as one of the 2 "cousin eddie"s that showed up @ the party & really showed their stuff! (from national lampoons christmas vacation) he said these pants were a kmart blue-light special!

me & rich (who shaved his goatee, leaving only his mustache, and instantly was transformed into be the grossest chester molester man you have ever seen)

drason & rocky (in one of jeff's mom's sweat shirts :)

court & tiff

dana & drae

me, dana (& sweet baby andrews under that funky blue sweater)

we even had a very dirty christmas game.... with some truly horrible gifts! above is jesse with his GRAMP mug...

drae went home with a massive hand-me-down clock tiff finally kicked out of the lankford household...

and finally, nathan with his sweatband & incense burner....

A Dickens of a Christmas!!

2008-12-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

what a fun time we had on saturday taking in all the sights @ franklin's annual Dickens of a Christmas festival downtown. many volunteers dress up as characters from A Christmas Carol and walk the streets wishing all a "VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!" there were Old English carolers, sugared plums, warmed apple cider....
here we are with a few of the "characters".... (couldn't get liv to take her eyes off any of them long enough to get a good pic :)

snow!!! (yes, i know, last week)

2008-12-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

livi enjoyed her first snow day as we woke up to this on friday morning.... it was so beautiful!

ho ho ho....

2008-12-10T08:09:00.000-08:00

ho ho ho... this is livi's second official word (if we can stretch it and call it that)... however, she thinks "ho ho ho" means christmas lights. she absolutely loves them. we have spent several late nights driving around our subdivision looking @ lights & saying "ho ho ho" at the big blow up santas in the yards. so, now sweet liv is saying "ho ho ho" from dawn till dusk. this morning we lay in bed listening to her "ho ho" on the monitor in her bed. when we pick her up from her crib, she instantly points to the window & wants to look out for the lights.

this past weekend the elementary school behind our house was offering free pics with santa. so we headed over & were delighted with all the fun christmas activities they had to offer...

liv was totally intrigued with the big man himself and of course, for the first time in 2 weeks, refused to utter "ho ho ho"...

we even had story time with granny clause...

we also went to the first annual spring hill parade & christmas tree lighting.... liv's nanny thelma came along for the adventure & a good time was had by all!

giving thanks...

2008-12-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

we had such a wonderful thanksgiving holiday this year. olivia drae enjoyed spending time with all her family members... and meeting some for the very first time.

sister in law dianne with my sweet nephew zander

rich and dana

above is thanksgiving day lunch @ my mom's house...

sister-in-law dianne, me and my sister jackie

sister shalia & colby todd

my dad about to dig in...

barbara and jackie

my nephew jered & drae

my niece jodi & liv

me & daddy

daddy & my brother royce

barron hudson... is he too young to be going after some copenhagen??

my nephew joey on his birthday with barron & liv

me & tiff

dana, rich & nathan @ the big yard sale

liv with sweet briley

this is drason teaching liv to do "touchdown" while watching some thanksgiving weekend football!

this is drason carving our turkey we named HERMAN @ the thanksgiving feast!

this is drason stuffing HERMAN with all his secret ingredients...

HERMAN right before he went in the oven for 7 1/2 hours :)

liv with one of drason's nephews, chris

liv with drason's mom

liv with her aunt lachelle

drae's nephews chris & cameron

thankful? oh yes i am!

2008-11-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

i spent last thursday with a dear friend, beth. she brought her darling new son, elijah. he is barely pictured below but stayed very nice & snuggled throughout our visit.
i love beth. beth is crazy & fabulous & buys her jeans @ fussells in dickson. yes, i love beth. since we became fast friends in 6th grade, she has brought me so many happy times. her spirit does good things for mine. i am so thankful for her friendship....

thanksgiving has always been my very favorite holiday. good food, time off to be with my family, and without the stress that christmas often brings. plus the idea of a "day of thanksgiving" makes my heart warm. my life has been filled with so many blessings from my Father. a strong family of faith, friends beyond compare, and my best friend & deliciously delightful hubby, drae. however, i have never held quite so much gratitude in my heart as i feel this year when thinking about WHO this year brought. Olivia Drae.... my life's greatest blessing. thankful? oh, yes. yes i am.

let's celebrate... young & old!

2008-11-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

we decided to do a little celebrating this weekend! we started with a first birthday bash for one of liv's favorite friends, evan p. a huge thanks to shelley & matt for throwing such a fantastic party... we had a blast! below is liv gettin' a little crazy...

liv thought the real party was in evan's bouncer--- what a treat!

the best photo i got of the birthday boy & his dad... it was a little busy.

evan eating his weight in cake....

the kids had a fabulous time with the pinata!

drason & brett

beckham thinking his mother is a goof... he's right.

amanda & ashley

then, later we headed to visit with my darling grandmother, mattie, who is 93 years young. she loved livi & took her right out of our hands when we walked in the door.

then, across town to visit with drason's grandmother, nora. as you can see, olivia was partied out by this time. she totally refused to open her eyes even after we got her out of her carseat. above her lips are puckered in utter defiance of this photo.

then, over to see livi's granna beasley. never can get any good pics of them together as livi refuses to take her eyes off mama b. overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our day & especially getting to see our sweet family.

and finally, we ended the weekend on a huge note of celebration as we attended beckham's dedication @ fellowship bible church on sunday. we are so thankful for his life, his parents dedication to raise him to follow Christ & the joy he brings to everyone he meets. we love this little guy!!! congrats beck!

livi can never get enough of him!

fall friends...

2008-11-17T08:34:00.000-08:00

last weekend my dear friend, emily (and college roomie), came with her husband to visit. they are both tax attorneys living in memphis & are die-hard gator fans. they were headed to the vandy/florida game on saturday but came early & spent the night with us on friday. i spent so many years living with emily & often miss our time together. she is fantastic & fun & i truly loved just spending time catching up. we stayed in on friday night, put liv to bed & did nothing but chat till way past our bedtime!

headed to the big game...

some catching up....

2008-11-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

wanted to finally post some pics of livi with my dear friend, ashley. she & her hubby, chad, took a trip to new york & went to see WICKED the musical while there (specifically to spite me i think)... but, on a recent visit to our house brought liv this fabulous onesie as a NYC souvenir... thanks friends!

p.s. i'm totally in love with the legs featured below...

also, i was interrupted during a recent post about us going to the pumpkin patch and never got around to posting the rest of our pics....

here is evan p, liv, and beckham w.

me and liv

liv borrowing evan's hat

matt, shelley & evan-drae, me & liv- keli, ryan & beckham

sweet evan

evan & shelley

beckham, drae & liv

the end of a campaign....

2008-11-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

....but not the end of our candidate!!!

we began election day at a polling station in columbia to support our candidate of choice, monty lankford... olivia was feverish and less than thrilled (as pictured above)... but the day was an overall success...

jeff was stationed @ a nearby site with tiff & nathan but came by for a visit...

jesse & will spent some time there too until....

sweet little thing campaigned his heart out :)

later, we headed to the embassy in cool springs to watch the election results. mom is above enjoying the yummy food.

me, dana (with little one not yet pictured:) and drae

me, ashley w, dana, and amanda p.

drae, rocky c, jeff w, rich, and jesse p.

dana & my sis, shalia (who looked better than ever after a long, hard year of campaign travels...)

shalia with 2 of her boys taylor & gavin

and, monty at the end of the evening with his father, grandpa wayne. he was all smiles and had positive words for us all. i am so proud of him & thankful to have him in my life.

Beasley's 4th Annual Pumpkin Party!!

2008-10-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

thanks to everyone for coming out on saturday for the annual pumpkin fest~ we are so thankful to you all for giving of your time on a saturday afternoon to celebrate the season with us. above is the 6 foot 6 inch wicked witch of the west (richard) who took 1st place in the adult costume contest!!

above is keli & ryan's hilarious entry in the pumpkin carving contest... it was given the "runner-up" prize.... which was nothing but a pat on the back... sorry keli :)

rich here again with dana as the scarecrow

my great nephew, sweet gabe alexander, as Frankenstein

livi, me & drason went as THE LION THE WITCH and THE WARDROBE... of course, we failed to get a picture together (as usual) ... so above is drason as the wardrobe & livi & i are below....

let me just say... i love these people!!! this is my dear friend, keli, with her favorite two guys.... they are always up for a party & never fail to go all out!! here they are as peter pan, tinkerbell, and yes.... CAPTAIN HOOK. needless to say, beckham as captain hook took the kids costume prize hands down. (although difficult to see~ he even has a hook attached to his right hand & a a long black wig... what a great sport he was!)

joey with his bat

my good friends neru, ashley, amanda & jason.... i was so pumped to have them all there!

livi the lion

joely (masquerading as stephanie from lazytown) & her sons emmerson (superman) and oliver (who is sportacus from lazytown)

my sister jackie with my niece andrea & her son gabe

last year's winner was drason's niece dominique.... she delivered another great pumpkin this year & some steep competition!!

emily & ned vaden's entry.... they wanted to make sure the judges knew that no stencils were used in the creation of this beauty!!! :) a true original!

beth & gracey as a daisy....

and the judges..... these are my sweet friends i work with daily... lesley (dressed as a gardener with her little carrot, hazel,) and joely

neru with liv drae

jackie with her ghost

and the apple bobbing contest.... huge thanks to all the participants who dunked their heads in ice cold water for a chance @ a measly starbucks gift card..... AND THE WINNER IS.....

braxton drake who reports he will use his winnings for a hot chocolate @ the starbucks drive through.... which he will likely need after he comes down with pneumonia :)

the wicked witch couldn't remain wicked forever and lost the face paint (except the green ears) and took a turn at apple bobbing!

this was andrea's john mccain pumpkin... which i will have to admit was not much of a resemblance to him while the sun was up but after all guests had left, clean-up had begun, and the sun went down.... out popped the face of JOHN McCAIN... hard to tell in this pic because it is so blurry... but it was so neat! also, please do not fail to notice nathan's starry night pumpkin GLOWING in the background...

the watson's entry.... CODE BLUE!!! GO TITANS!!!!!

above is part of the award winning pumpkin (the turkey)

and here it is..... the thanksgiving pilgrims took the coveted trophy!!!!

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS: cam & beth... they swooped in on their very first year to the party & stole the trophy from all the ol' pros.... CONGRATS GUYS!!!

gentry farm & friends

2008-10-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

liv with her uncle brett
liv & beckham
brody reynolds, beckham weed, evan pevahouse, liv, rylee & aubree reynolds
liv pinching on aunt caryn

army crawl....that's all.

2008-10-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

i'm mobile peeps! yes, just via the old army crawl method but i am getting around!
my nanny thelma & me in my new car.... i love it!

oh, and a few pics of me & my BFF beckham davis weed... (he thinks i'm so hot!)... here he is checking out my teeth & giving me love...

a secret?? not any more!!

2008-10-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

livi's had a secret she has been keeping for a while now.... she even kept if from her mom & dad for some time..... her lips were sealed! (which i must admire, being an expert secret keeper myself) but, now i think it is official!!!!

livi's got a new little cousin on the way!

one night her aunt dana & uncle rich took her to hang out for awhile & brought her back home wearing this little homemade onesie. after we finally noticed what it said, drason & i both screamed so loud we likely woke the neighbors.

BABY ANDREWS COMING MAY 14, 2009!!!

now, livi is particularly fond of her aunt dana & uncle rich and is so excited she will soon have a very new little playmate living right across the street. there are no words to express our joy! they are going to be the most amazing & fun parents. we can't wait to travel this crazy journey together with them.... side by side.

congratulations you two!

this is life. the journey is the reward, right?

2008-09-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

well, we signed up to do some campaigning in sparta this weekend @ their annual bluegrass festival. we took my mom along with us... just to make things a little more interesting (which she always does) & because she is a fierce Lankford for Congress campaigner. it was a nice little event & the day went well. of course, livi totally refused to sleep on the 2+ hour trip there so was exhausted by the time we were ready to hit the festival. but, we took turns passing her around & she did fine. then, by 3:30 pm we were ready for a break & livi was desperately in need of a nap. (note: i had called around the week before and booked us a room @ the only bed & breakfast in town. the lady @ the sparta chamber of commerce said it was a "darling little place" so i called and booked the "cottage" for saturday night.) we thought we would check-in, drop off our stuff, let livi get a 30 minute nap or so, & hit the festival again. little did we know that the b&b was 7 miles out of town down a winding country road. the main house was only a little scary but after paying our $$ the man said "now, just hop in the car & follow me down the road a bit & i'll take you to the cottage." so after going about a mile down the road & passed several graveyards we came to.......

the "cozy cottage".... a total dump.... it actually looks a little better in pictures than in real life. the man actually bragged it was "built in the early 1930s" which i have no trouble believing since it looked like all the furnishings were still the originals...ahhhhhh. anyway, we were just so exhausted, livi was crying, so i just went into the little bedroom to lay her down. i pulled back the sheets to find this guy waiting....

hard to tell in the picture but this spider was the size of a quarter. now, i'm not especially scared of spiders & may have just had drae kill him & go on about my business had it not been for the other 3 spiders that came out from under the pillow when i moved it. needless to say, we checked out... immediately... without a nap (which is why livi required a passie for the photo below).
so, we headed back downtown sparta where drae pulled the car behind someone's home & beside a patch of grass. we spread out this blanket- said forget the nap- and livi had a snack of puffs & water in a strangers backyard. this is where she & i waited while drason & peggy jean handed out flyers till they closed down the festival :)

needless to say, we were all very happy & relieved to check into the holiday inn express in cookeville later that night.... below is our bed... spider-free. however, we did spend the rest of the night attempting to locate my mother's Bible which she lost at some point on this trip... the fun never ends!

overall, it was a wonderful weekend. we made it home safe & sound & still all in a reasonably good mood and posed for one last campaign photo.... we are so blessed to be close to family & friends as we travel this crazy journey together!

good times with good friends...

2008-09-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

our very good friends, daniel, jamie & annie marie jones, dropped by for a visit a few days ago. they live in kentucky & i miss seeing these beautiful girls (and dan too, i guess.)
jamie & i have been best friends since we were the size of these two little ladies above. annie was more interested in her dad here than her BFF so livi is just giving her a little tap to get her attention.

with our husbands off campaigning on friday night, courtney had the girls & babies over for a little play time. livi was pretty impressed with her cousin colby's army crawling skills... he was all over the place.
everyone playing & having a big time.... except maybe livi who appears to be contemplating suicide.... yikes....

overalls...

2008-09-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

just had to post a pic of these & say "thanks" to livi's sweet aunt jeana for getting them for her. jeana said she saw them @ the dickson co-op and couldn't pass them up. i'm so proud my little girl already has a pair of co-op overalls like her dad! jeana even got them pretty big so hopefully we will be on our way to moving out to the land when she is big enough to wear them. can't wait to put livi lu in them...rolled up to the knee, without a shirt underneath, and barefoot, of course...and send her off down to the creek with her cousins.... what a fun day.

our first family photos...

2008-09-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

we had some pics made last thursday & wanted to post a few for those of you who hadn't seen them. even though we've been married for over 6 years we've never really thought about getting family photos made till now...babies make it more fun! the photographer is jadie thomas & i stole these prints off her blog.... hope that was ok. anyway, she is great & if you have time & want to check the whole slideshow out you can go to www.jadiethomasphotography.com/beasleyproofs/

who are these grisly green guys?

2008-09-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

i love these guys. i have loved these guys since i was 18 years old. it was my senior year in high school & i would go to this art studio in downtown dickson regularly just to stare @ this piece of art. i really don't know why but i loved it. i never dreamed i would own it. i had no money & was getting ready to head to college the summer after i graduated. one day, out of the blue, drae pulled up in his old green isuzu trooper and pulled this glorious painting out of the back. he had saved up (from working late nights after school & weekends @ east hills restaurant) to get it for me. it was my "growing up & going to college" present from him. these green faces have always made my heart happy for all they remind me of... with one glance i'm taken back to that summer & the feelings of excitement at everything that lay ahead of me & the joy of falling in love with drae. now, having said that, no one else loves this painting like i do. my mother abhorred it. she said it was scary & devilish & couldn't understand why anyone would want to look @ it. i'm pretty sure all my sisters agreed. my college roommates thought it was weird & that i was weird for hanging it over my bed so i it would be the last thing i saw @ night & first thing i saw in the mornings. nonetheless, it has hung in every college dorm room & apartment i lived in and is now hanging in my bedroom in our home (on my side of the bed, of course). drason, too, has never really been that big of a fan. he has said "how about we take that picture down for a while- maybe replace it with something else? aren't you tired of that yet?" i have always said "no way" and have been perfectly content with being the only person alive who has ever loved this little piece of art......... until.......

livi drae.
this is my darling daughter sitting on our bed laughing @ these green guys. she LOVES them! every time she catches a glimpse of them she chuckles. now, this is a big deal because although she is a wonderfully happy baby she is stingy with her smiles. it takes a lot to elicit a big grim or belly laugh. but, these guys- they just sit and stare- and always seem to crack her up. she will sit on our bed ( i will hide in the bathroom to watch) & she will interact with them with her laughter & cooing as if they are real. i love this... she is my daughter... and although she looks like her dad... i've got some proof now that she's got some of her mom in her.

messing around....

2008-09-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

livi & me @ harvey park last weekend... p.s. this is a pretty neat little park in spring hill for any moms out there with kiddos
livi loved her first swinging!

and, i finally got around to taking livi's official 6 month old photo... (yes, i know she will be 7 months old in just one week so i guess i'll post a very similar photo to this one very shortly :)

LANKFORD FOR CONGRESS!

2008-09-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

yes, i realize i have posted this picture before. but, i'm the mom who always forgets her camera (even though i have a darling 6 month old who needs her picture taken) so i have no pictures from the campaign luau we attended saturday night. however, while there we were all told by marsha blackburn to blog about monty today.... so i am. i'm not necessarily a rule follower, like my new friend ashley j :), but i'm doing it anyway. so listen up people!!...

monty lankford is my brother-in-law and he is running for US CONGRESS in tennessee's 4th district. there is not another person i can think of who would do a better job serving our state in washington... truly... i'm not just saying this because i feel obligated. i'm just telling it like it is & those who know me well know that is actually my speciality. he is honest. he loves Christ & follows Him. please go to his website: http://www.lankfordforcongress.com/ to learn more about him, tell your friends & family to spread the word (maybe even post a little link on their blogs to his website!!), and please (BY ALL MEANS) plan to get out and vote on november 4th!

laid back...

2008-09-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

this is how our labor day went.....laid back. we loved it....

on friday night we watched my nephew, taylor lankford, & page high school beat centennial. here is livi with her aunt dana. dana, for those of you who have not read tiffany lankford's blog recently, has a magic sleepy-baby touch. this is a very fussy livi moments before this happened....
and her eyes were closed very soon after.

here is livi with her cousins, barron & colby lankford.
even though this is not a fantastic pic of all the kiddos i had to post these eyes. what beautiful & blue eyes sweet colby has!
and finally, this will have to serve as livi's official "i'm 6 months old" picture. yes, she is a very big girl now. here she is showing her new prized possession... her new tooth. it comes with the drool dribbling off her chin and a very grumpy attitude.

crickets & a campfire...

2008-08-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

camping. yes, i have to admit it wasn't the real in-a-tent-sleep-in-the-dirt kind of camping but it sure was fun. we had a wonderful 2 days of hiking, biking, listening to nature and just sitting by the fire. yes, we roasted lots of marshmallows & hot dogs but mostly enjoyed each other's company...

improvising a bath in the camper sink which actually worked very well...

lake wood haven
this is my dad. he was so wonderful to pull the camper out for us and set everything up (which is the only hard part about camping). he never ceases to amaze me with his love he shows for all his children...
sorry, but i had to include a picture of these legs (peeking from under her jean skirt).... i can't get enough of them.
livi with her friend, avana smith, (antonio & chrissy's daughter) who came for a little afternoon visit. livi was desperately envious of her hair & this is the only picture we got where livi is not yanking on avana's curly locks.
this picture accompanies a very funny story. actually too long to blog about & way funnier to hear drae tell it anyway. let's just say drae locked both sets of our car keys (both laying in the driver's seat) with livi's bags & items locked inside the car... twice. this is a picture of how he attempted to get into the car without calling a locksmith @ 7am on a saturday morning. needless to say, after a blaring car alarm shook the otherwise silent campground for 20 minutes, (because drason deployed the anti-theft system which we weren't aware we had & made the car unable to start) the other campers wished he would have just called a locksmith...

hiking @ lake wood haven
this is us with my mom. she worked tirelessly cleaning & stocking the camper full of goodies for our get-a-way. she makes me so happy & as you can see livi thinks she is a crazy-cool granny!
livi taking her nap with me by the campfire.... very fun times.
drae gathering firewood for out blazing campfire that he insisted on burning non-stop even though it is august

aunt jeana melee...

2008-08-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

here is livi drae with her aunt jeana melee. what a wonderful friend & sister jeana is to me. her spirit makes everyone around her smile & i find myself always wanting to spend more time with her. i think, as i grow older, i realize even more that my family is truly my life's greatest blessing. it makes my heart warm to know that my livi will grow up in the arms of a large & loving family...

a bath outside, blueberry pancakes & a bloody nose

2008-08-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

well, now livi can scratch "take a bath in the front yard" off her "things to-do" list... yes, we started off the weekend with a bang with bath time on friday afternoon. livi thought it was grand & now that summer is almost over i'm wishing we had purchased a kiddie pool.
then, saturday morning, livi's nana greta and papa joe (our next door neighbors) invited us over for a fantastic spread of bacon, eggs & blueberry pancakes with homemade maple syrup!! it was a divine start to a saturday & thanks to ms. greta & mr. joe for the sweet invite!

later in the day on saturday we headed to kobe steak in nashville to celebrate a good friend's 30th birthday (happy birthday chad!) we actually had nanny thelma come and keep livi drae for the evening & had a wonderful time hanging out with all our friends. below is a picture of livi wondering who the lady is (with curled hair & makeup on) that is posing with her & her dad....
and finally, livi & i had our first "knock down, drag out"on sunday afternoon...... she won.

sweetness...

2008-08-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

what a great day! yesterday, i wanted to just spend the day with my little livi & drason. it is so rare, in this fast paced life, that i just get to be with both of them for the day without somewhere to go & no time schedule. it may seem boring, but our day consisted of going to publix & playing with livi.... for us, that was a good day. we took some pics outside & here are a few with livi exploring the flowers. she was so serious with her attempts to hold them in her hand.

also, i've had several people ask about livi's childcare situation since the post about it being stephanie's last day keeping livi. well, here she is folks..... NANNY THELMA!! Today begins her second week keeping livi drae & it is going beautifully. nanny thelma is so interactive with livi & really gets her to jabbering. drason & i truly feel blessed to have someone so sweet coming to our home to keep livi while we are working. God is so good to have sent her to us!

the graduate....

2008-08-11T08:40:00.001-07:00

on saturday, livi's uncle rich graduated college. i wanted to post about it because i am so proud of his hard work & dedication to getting his degree. he drove to MTSU so many late nights after working all day & it finally paid off. we went up to murfressboro for the ceremony on saturday morning & then just the three of us ate lunch together & just shopped around town. it was such a great day! (here is livi in awe of rich & his accomplishment!) rich with dana lana lu & his in-laws
later in the day, we all went to my sister shalia's house for richard's pool party. we had baja fresh & yummy chocolate cake. above is monty joe congratulating rich...
livi hung out in the shade with her grandmother...
also, i had to include this picture from the party of livi's friend lila vaden & her dad, ned. she is such a dream in her bathing suit & handkerchief!

10 years already??

2008-08-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

yes, 10 years since we graduated high school. drason & i graduated together from dickson county in 1998. with drason having been class president, he spent most of his spare time for the past several months planning the reunion. i just wanted to say how proud i am of his dedication to planning & making sure the event was a success. i think it was a fun time for everyone & we loved hanging out & catching up. here are a few pics from the event...
BFF caryn reynolds with daniel jones (jamie's hubby & annie's daddy~from a previous post) drason & yann
BFF... jamie bullington jones & ashley gray fussell
me & drae dancing the night away!

election day adventures

2008-08-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

well, what a fun, long, delightful, and memorable day we have had. we just returned home from my brother-in-law, Monty Lankford’s, VICTORY PARTY!! he is running for Congress & won the republican primary today in Tennessee’s 4th district. we are just so proud of him!! today, drason, livi, & i were assigned to the community center in mt. pleasant, tn as our campaign post. we arose early this morning, voted @ our local precinct, and headed to mt. pleasant for a day of fun. we brought our pop-up tent to block the sun’s beaming rays, plenty of liquids for hydration & camping chairs. we had to remain 100 feet away from the voting site, due to regulations, so we set up smack-dab in the middle of the parking lot. we no sooner got out tent, chairs, & livi all set-up when it started to thunder & lightning. then, the rain came & the tent started to leak so we all piled up in the back seat of drason’s truck. Soon, we heard an awful screeching sound and looked around to find our tent blowing away. it was bent beyond repair so livi & i spent most of the day in the back seat of the truck. however, a normal day without craziness would just have been boring. we had a blast overall & just enjoyed being together as a family.
off to a good start~ tent still keeping us dry...
tent beginning to leak.... still all smiles....
campsite in turmoil.... but don't forget to vote Lankford for Congress!!
an exhausted livi drae taking her nap on mom's belly.... what a trooper she was....

crawfish queen

2008-07-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

yes, our little livi seems to already love eatin' crawfish! Her uncle nate & joey got a little get together going last weekend @ the land & we all enjoyed crawfish, hot dogs, homemade corn (thanks to emily!) and just fun times.
just kidding guys... nobody turn me in... i really didn't let livi eat the little thing... just suck on it a minute.
uncle nate & cousin colby

now, this is livi's 5 month birthday pic! yea!! i know i don't have a sign in it (cause i forgot & i'll get to it later) but this will have to serve as the stand-in pic until we get the offical one.
finally, just a shot with livi's first nanny... sweet steph. today was steph's last day and we have a new nanny starting on monday. steph has been so wonderful to livi & a great first nanny! thanks steph-

happy days...

2008-07-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

yes, i know this is my 3rd post in the past 30 minutes but it seems i'm always playing catch-up. just a few pics of livi @ home with me~ i'm always turning a lazy morning on the bed into a photo shoot.
okay, a little weird i know, but livi loves playing with all my necklaces since they sparkle & are so fun to chew on!

we also spent some time on saturday with drason's mom. she lives in dickson and with life so busy we don't get to spend enough time with her. she is such a sweet woman. livi thinks she is great & would hardly take her eyes off her even for the picture.

best of friends...

2008-07-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

we got to spend a little time with best friends on saturday. my lifelong friend, jamie, was in from KY with her sweet daughter annie marie. jamie & i have pics together when we were the same age as these little ladies. i know livi drae will have a soul-sister in annie marie!
jamie & annie (and jamie's sister, joei leigh in the background)
another sweet friend... ashley gray fussell... livi's aunt ashee.

annie marie & livi drae in their matching over-alls... couldn't get them to look at the camera because it was 12 noon & blazing heat & glaring sun... poor girls... we'll do anything for a picture.

look guys! i'm sitting up!

2008-07-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

well, livi drae is sitting by herself to play (for short intervals, of course) and loving it. she is just shy of 5 months old & thinks she is the biggest girl in the world now!
she is also quite the little musician on her little piano & making her daddy very proud...
we just started trying food (other than rice cereal) this week- here she is with her first taste of sweet potatoes which she thinks is such a treat!
and finally, the jumper. what a wonderful invention! she is in it most every morning as drason & i get ready for work & she enjoys being able to be right in the middle of all the action....

hidey-ho...

2008-07-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

i hear, from my blog friends, that today is suppose to be "wordless wednesday" in blogging land. meaning, you post some pics & that's that. well, i'm not so good @ "wordless" but i do want to send a little shout-out to my friends who taught me this new concept (@ least new to me) of blogging!

amanda & will pilkinton (& baby pilk in her belly!) @ playgroup

a big "thank you" from livi out to will pilkinton for the fantastic new exersaucer! livi is loving it & her johnny jumper~
also, above are tiff & beth goodwin~ hi friends!
joely winn & her fabulous family of four!
and finally, tiff & colby todd... just chillin' on the porch:)

fireworks & fun times....

2008-07-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

we had a wonderful 4th of july just relaxing @ shalia's pool with livi's aunt dana & uncle rich. livi drae loves the water & especially enjoyed her afternoon nap on the hill under the shade trees.... it was truly a great day!

later in the day we went to dana's backyard & grilled out burgers with joey, courtney & their kids (courtney is above with her littlest one, barron hudson) briley had fun catching bumble bees & doing sparklers with drason & braxton was a trooper all night even though he had broken his collarbone earlier that morning. we also all loaded up and drove to the super target in spring hill for a fireworks display & a little campaigning for my brother-in-law (psst... vote monty lankford for congress!!!) livi loved meeting all the people & stayed up through the entire show because she was afraid she might miss something if she closed her eyes for even a second!

livi drae with her uncle joey

the great outdoors....

2008-07-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

well, we had a wonderful 4th of july weekend. sunday was drason's 29th birthday & we had a little get-together @ the land to celebrate. (Update: for those of you who don't know, the week livi was born we bought about 6 acres off arno road in franklin/college grove area. we actually bought the land from my nephew, nathan, who kept several acres for his family.) nathan let us use the little house (on his land) for a backyard BBQ of sorts & brought out his grill for hotdogs. the boys played a round or two of corn-hole & did a little skeet shooting to blow off some steam. we also used the 4 wheelers to explore the creek & briley led the hunt for crawdaddies with the older kiddos....

livi drae beasley & her cousin colby todd lankford celebrating (woo-whoooo!) drason's birthday!
these two have spent lots of time laying next to each other without really paying each other much attention till now... looks like they finally found each other!
drason eating a hotdog with joey & nathan, robbie beal & jeff walker...
the kids enjoyed helping drason blow out his candles & eat his cupcakes....
especially sweet brax....

good days...

2008-06-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

what a good day! i'm up earlier than livi this morning~ which has to be a first~and just enjoying the quiet of the morning. it just came a little summer thunderstorm here & now it smells so wonderful outside. we've had fun the past few days. first, we went to the new williamson county rec center right behind our house with livi's cousins(briley, brax, & barron). they have a big pool with water slides & the kids had a lot of fun... court & i had fun getting a little sun & just catching up!

then, friday livi had her first "professional photos" taken @ bj tucker's studio in dickson. let's just say livi was less than thrilled by the event & refused to smile for anyone. bj, her mom, & i sang & danced around the studio for a solid hour in an attempt to capture a smile. (i even tried the running man & roger rabbit which always works @ home~ but no luck) then we went to spend the afternoon with livi's new cousin, zander (& zade & julie too). we ate hamburgers for lunch with mom & dad & just enjoyed a relaxing day...

And, livi's 4 month birthday was this week so i better post a pic of that...

livi's daddy... drae b.

2008-06-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

just wanted to add one more post tonight with some pics of livi with her dad on father's day last weekend (i know i'm behind). livi is already so totally into her dad. you can just tell by the way she gazes @ him that she already knows just how great he is. as for me, i have loved drae for so many years & didn't know that my love would ever increase. but, watching him love our daugther over the past few months has been so rewarding for me. livi & i are the two most blessed girls in the world to have him in our lives...

rice cereal...can be very dangerous it turns out.

2008-06-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

well. we had a wonderful weekend- just the 3 of us. livi had her 4 month check-up with Dr. Brooks on friday. she is 25 3/4 inches long & weighs 15 lbs. 10 oz. which puts her above the 90th percentile in both categories... not sure that her dad & i are thrilled about this but Dr. Brooks insists we are not over-feeding her & that she will "thin out as soon as she gets mobile." she is still waking up @ least 3 times per night so he suggested we start her on rice cereal.... it did not help with the sleeping but she is IN LOVE with rice cereal! it is amazing what we do for entertainment these days now that livi is here... even rice cereal is a big deal. for her first "meal" we decided to eat dinner outside on our new table (mom & dad brought it over for drae for his early birthday~ thanks!). so we set her up in her chair, put a bib on her, and i started to feed her. however, as soon as it hit her tongue she lost all sense & sensibility. she started slurping it off the spoon with loud gurgling noises, using both hands to push the entire spoon in her mouth, and kicking her feet wildly. then only 2 spoonfuls into it, the tiki torch drason lit right beside the table ignited into flames... the entire thing! flames were 4 feet from livi's head so i jerked her up as drason stamped & sprayed with the hose (he had put some "alternative fuel" in it thinking it was the same difference... he he he :) with livi now hollering angrily @ being interrupted we plopped her back in her seat to eat but, at this point, she was so mad she kicked the cup with rice cereal out of my hand. it hit the ground & shattered and glass went in my big toe (yes, i know. no glass for kids, lesson learned). but, did livi drae care? not one bit. she was still DEMANDING that she be given more cereal! so i ran in, made some more, (glass still in toe. blood on kitchen floor) and let her dad finish feeding her. needless to say, our first feeding experience was crazy but our little livi is thrilled with her new nightly treat!

a little flashback....

2008-06-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

thankfully, drason & everyone made it home safely from iowa thursday night- even flying around some tornado activity on their way home. God gave me so much peace while he was gone & i was able to get some freedom from my flight anxiety (for those of you who don't know background on this- it doesn't matter- it is really not important- i'm getting over it!).

we don't really have any plans for this weekend & that is actually a good thing! we are hoping to just relax a little bit & enjoy drason's first father's day on sunday.... livi is pumped about giving him her gift. anyway, this will be kinda a random post as i wanted to include some pics we took @ the zoo a few weekends ago & also get caught up on posting livi's last 3 months of "how i'm growing pics". (thanks to tif & court for telling me to do these every month) sorry the pics are all out of order... i'm still learning.

long days & nights....

2008-06-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

well,

drae has been out of town at a healthcare conference in iowa since sunday. i miss him when he is gone & i guess livi does too. she has been on a crazy schedule this week where she wakes up about 2:30am wanting to party... i guess she thinks she can get away with it since dad is out of town. my sweet parents came and stayed all day on monday while i worked and cared for livi. she loved having her grandmother & grandfather there & i am so thankful to them for giving of their time to help me & love on her. mom spent the night & also relieved livi's sitter, steph, @ 5:30pm yesterday too since drae is not able to. but, today is finally my last day at work this week and livi's aunt tiff & uncle nate will be picking her up from sitter @ 5:30pm to keep her till i get off tonight. (thanks so much to them for that!!) then, hopefully drae will be home tomorrow night as scheduled. however, with all the flooding in iowa they evacuated the town they were in today & the rest of the conference was canceled. when i talked to dana (several people from TLC are there) she said there was water in the streets, some bridges had been washed away, and the entire town was filling sandbags trying to save the city from the rising waters. so, they evacuated the hotel, were shuttled to the airport & tried to change their flights to come home. but, they couldn't get anything so had to check back into a motel & wait till their scheduled flight tomorrow. crazy. i'm including some pics of their adventure this week.

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET SISTER SHALIA!! YOU ARE FABULOUS!

back to the real world...

2008-06-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

i started back to work this week after 3 months on maternity leave. i was so anxious about returning but had prayed for some time for peace. i did miss livi but have adjusted pretty well so far. however, i found out three 14 hour days away from your little one will make you appreciate your days with them so much more. so on thursday & friday of this week we layed by the pool with friends & just enjoyed life. in the picture with livi is her friend, beckham weed, who is playing with her dress. he is 8 months old & pretty into livi- he also sucked on her toes for part of the day but i won't include that pic :) i will also include a few pics from my last day of maternity leave where we hung out with my childhood best friend, beth, & met drason for lunch.

let's start from the beginning....

2008-06-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

olivia drae beasley was born february 25, 2008.

she was alert & chubby & beautiful.

she was truly more to me than words can describe.

her father & i have been totally transformed in the past 3 months by her presence in our lives.

she is the reason i wanted to start this blog... life with her is so much more than it ever was before.

ahem....is this thing on?

2008-06-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

ok. not sure what i'm doing with this blogging thing. i have so enjoyed reading the blogs of friends & family members recently & just wanted a way to share pictures & stories of my little lady livi drae. i am technologically challenged so please bare with me throughout this process... here we go...