blakely kate....

on tuesday katie went in to the hospital to be induced to have blakely! allie and taylor were so excited to meet her.

ready to be big sisters!

last pic as a family of four

me and katie

blakely kate was born around 1:00 and weighed 8 pounds and 4 ounces. she has the cutest little chipmunk cheeks!!!

ready to go home!

the new white family 

medical mission trip...

i am so excited to tell everyone that i will be going on a medical mission trip in october of this year! it is kind of crazy how it happened...about a year and 1/2 ago i was really feeling unhappy with my job and just felt like i needed to do something more. i started looking around on-line and found an agency that offered short-term mission trips to south america. i turned in an application but never heard anything back...then i ended up switching positions in the hospital and just making some changes in my life and i didn't think about it for a while.
at the beginning of this year i started reading the blog http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/. then i read her new book "kisses from katie" as well as the book "the forgotten children". both of these books were amazing and really got me thinking and praying about missions again. literally about 2 weeks after i read this book, the agency that i had looked into over a year ago called me out of the blue and asked me if i was interested in going on a mission trip! i couldn't believe it! i called them and got some info on a trip to tijuana, mx. i just didn't have a peace about this though because i couldn't find out anything as far as credentialing on the agency as well as safety issues in mexico right now. but...i was thinking about missions more and more now so i went to katie davis' blog again and it led me here http://www.visitingorphans.org/.
this agency is based in tn and takes multiple mission trips to a variety of places each year. i looked for a medical trip and found one to ethiopia in october of this year. i wanted to sign up immediately but didn't want to rush into something so i prayed about it for several days and then put in my application and my deposit. i have been accepted to go on the trip and am very, very excited!! we will be working in an orphanage and out in the city while there.
right now i'm in the preparation stage so i'm working on filling out all of the paperwork. i'm also working on getting my passport renewed because mine expires in june of this year. the cost will be between $3200 and $3400 depending on the cost of flights and that will include the airfare, 3 meals a day, lodging, transportation while there, and translators....basically everything except any souvenirs i might want to pick up. i've put a fundraising thermometer on my blog to show how much i've raised for the trip and how much is left to go. i'm asking for everyone to please pray for me as i prepare for this trip! please pray for me physically, spiritually, and emotionally as i get ready to go minister to these children. i'm so excited to see what God will do in ethiopia.

laundry room redo...

i recently decided that i wanted to fix up my laundry room and make it look a little cuter. with a little help from dad and stacy, i'm so happy with the results!!

so, this is basically what it looked like before. a really cluttered, really plain room. it didn't have any storage except the cabinets over the dryer and i can't reach those without a stool. i wanted to bring some storage into the room and also some color. my first thought was to make a cushion to put on the little bench which up until now has been totally non-functional. after i started thinking about putting a cushion on there i decided to do a curtain to match it as well as paint the bottom of the bench.

i bought this piece from pier one (my fave store!!)

dad built this little shelf that i can reach over my washer and dryer

to hold all my laundry things, and then he hung my

ironing board over the back of one of the doors.

i got this idea off of pinterest on how to store cleaning products

my favorite part of the room!

i painted the bench red and got the letters and fabric from hobby lobby.

dad made the cushion and stacy made the curtain for me.

i absolutely LOVE the way everything turned out!

everything ties together perfectly and my laundry room

is so much prettier than when i started!

going to the chapel...

this past weekend was meagan and trey's wedding weekend in corinth, ms. melissa, eliza, alison and i left memphis around 3 on friday for the rehearsal dinner. there were some interesting match-ups as far as the bridesmaids and groomsmen...even though it was all done randomly. after the rehearsal we left and went to the dinner. the food was delicious and it was great to be able to hang out with friends!
we had to be at the bed and breakfast the next morning at 9:30 for the bridesmaid brunch.

our bridesmaid gifts were button-up shirts with our initials monogrammed on them and navy pashminas with our initials monogrammed as well. the brunch was given by meg's aunt peg and was really nice. as soon as we were done there we headed to the salon to get our hair did.

wearing our shirts meg gave us

meg's mom paid for us all to get our hair done! so nice!!

the beautiful bride with the memphis girls

melissa, alison, eliza, me, becky, charlesy, pj, kayla, meg, and guy

we had such a fun time at the wedding!!!