happy days

Summertime is busy, but in the best kind of way. We have four happy(s) to celebrate this week alone!

Yesterday, (7/23) Chris and I celebrated 4 years since the Big "I do." The past 4 years have been chock-full of the best, the craziest and the most memorable moments in our relationship. We celebrated with some great friends as our anniversary happened to fall on community group bible study night. Taco salads, creation talks and some good times with some real "aces":)- can't help but count our blessings!

Today (7/24) marked 6 months since Ashley and Kyle's beautiful day. It seems like they've been married forever and we're so happy to see them so, so happy. I'll post about their new addition- a fishing boat!- as soon as I get my first ride.

Tomorrow (7/25) is Matthew-my-brother's 29th bday. Bdays are always a pretty big deal around these parts and he has a pretty good lil' Saturday planned for his. He'll be fishing in the am on the Jensoni's new boat and then we'll be cooking out at Jamma and Papa John's with friends in from Ethiopia tomorrow night.

Lastly but never least-ly....Walkman is 10 months old today. What??!! I know! That kid is growing like a weed and he's just about the cutest being on the good green earth. We love our baby and we're so thankful to get to watch from close-range as he continues to amaze us each day. (btw- walkinman is now also talkinman- his first word was ball)

Happy 4 years, Happy 6 months, Happy 29 years, Happy 10 months- Happy, Happy days.

at last...

i know, i'm so behind at the blogging, BUT....we've moved!




and i seem to remember that this box was particularly heavy...

there were moments we thought that this project would never finish and there were many times we were certain we would be homeless forever, but thankfully the Hendos are settled...well, we're settl-ing, anyway! we moved in mid-march and have been settling ever since. as you can see, this ugly duckling came a long way and now we plan to stay here for a very long time. :) enough thanks can't be issued to pay back all the prayers, well-wishes and support. we made it through our toughest year yet and we're very pleased to bid adieu to our nomadic ways! now who's coming to visit?!

back to the blog

hi friends! sorry for the blogging hiatus...there has been a lot going on, but that also means that I have a lot to report. so let's get to it.

chris and i are officially "settled" into our house and we're loving normalcy. it will be a while before all the pictures are hung and the boxes unpacked, but we'll get to all that eventually! i'll post some before, during and after pics soon. it was quite the transformation, but really there was nowhere for this poor house to go but up!

ashley and i have been really busy with ftd. last thursday we had a product shoot to get some mag-quality photos for our press kit. the photographer put up a sneak peek and a great plug here

i'll post some of the other photos once we get them back. we were so happy to work with ashley's wedding photographer, kara. we had the best time at the shoot. kara is just so much fun to work with and we are really pleased with the results. :)

the picture above is of the office staff. we decided team ftd wouldn't really be complete without a cameo by howboy the office pup. we also got some pics of our sweet nephew.

speaking of, walker the wonder-baby is very advanced and has been diagnosed with great motor skills and impressive strength for a tyke of his age...which will be 7 months tomorrow! man, time is just flying on by. this kid will be driving soon, i'm sure of it.

more to come soon as the dust continues to settle from our craziness...

punch list

we're almost there! our adorable and very patient foreman, buzz, has actually uttered the phrase "punch list." i love buzz and i love him even more when he talks about move-in dates. we have missed quite a few along the way as we should have been in this house last November if it hadn't thrown so many surprises at us....but now we. are. almost. there! seriously, take a second with me to praise the lord! woooohoooo!

a punch list is basically a list of all the last minute to-do's on a construction project....things that have to be taken care of before the property will be accepted and occupied by the residents....like for example, can someone please fix the light switch that was installed 4 ft too high, or don't forget to re-grout the bathroom where you ran out of grout, or who broke these light fixtures- dang it- we'll order new pieces....

regardless, we. are. almost. there! chris and i were reminiscing last night about how hilarious our 15 months of homelessness seems in retrospect. the renovation that was supposed to take 3-4 months should round out at 9....but, at the end of the day, it has been an incredibly memorable, humbling experience that has reminded us again and again how lucky we are to have the support of incredible families and friends. we are thrilled to bring an end to our nomadic period, to settle in, and of course, to have you all over for dinner....if i can remember how to cook. :)

America's Next Top Model

Well, we always knew Howard was a headliner...

Today our pup had his 15 seconds of fame on Jacksonville's Times Union website. A few weeks ago Howard was asked by an adorable family friend to "model" for a Jax Humane Society fundraiser held by a local optometrist. Howard obliged (only when incentivized by a Wendy's go-wrap)and Chris made an excellent "stage dad" as he tried to keep Howboy's focus toward the camera. I think he looks pretty handsome...I also think maybe it's time to get this dog back on a diet- look at those rolls! Needless to say, the whole thing was just hilarious.

And, btw- Howard's glasses are Dior! HA!

Check him out here!

Working Man

so, ashley gets married. we get to have a big party. then she gets a vacation!

i'm just a teeny bit jealous. sunny puerto rico sounds a whole lot better than freezing/raining jacksonville. i know they're having a blast being puerto rican... but i miss those two! the office just hasn't been the same this week without ash here. howard has been holding it down as office pup which is always a big help. but, man do i ever miss my old lady friend!

to help relieve my ash-sickness, Mom left the Walkman here one day while she had lunch with her girlfriends. we decided that since he's been around 4 months now, it's high time Walker earns his keep! here are a few shots of the little working man

as we discussed sales, budgeting and ways to improve efficiency



and then there he is being the cutest thing to ever sit in my office chair.



too bad frame the [date] isn't currently hiring....

done, done and done.

well, that's it folks. all three (john) wilbanks kids are officially married off. ashley and kyle's weekend was pure perfection and they looked so happy and in loooooove. i had the BEST time and hope that you all did, too. there was an incredible group of family and friends present to celebrate the jensens and of course, to dance the night away. we are so thankful for our amazing family, wonderful friends and the best church family out there- thanks to you all for reminding us of how blessed we truly are. here is the link to the gorgeous slideshow of pictures shot by the very talented kara and jeremy pennington.

don't those two look amazing?!

what a happy, happy day.

we're getting married again!

Well, we're less than 2 weeks away from Ashley and Kyle's big day. Everyone keeps asking me if it's weird that baby sister is getting married. And nope, it's actually not even a little bit weird. We love Kyle. He has been around forever, he knows how crazy we all are and he still wants to marry us. :)

Wedding round 3 for the Wilbanks fam hasn't been that stressful overall, but recently with ftd, the house, the wedding and the holidays...it has been a bit...hectic. These are all great things and we're thankful for each and every one, but needless to say the to-do lists have no end in sight and we're all a little overwhelmed!

To get us all in wedding mode, I wanted to post a few of Ashley's dress pics. Please, don't think I would steal her thunder by posting the ACTUAL dress- these are just a few runners up. It's crazy how different they all are from each other and how different they are from the dress she chose. Ash would look good in a paper bag, she looks just beautiful in the dresses below and just wait til you see the real thing!


this dress catered to her wistful/ethereal personality



this is her traditional ballroom bride personality



and finally her cupcake/life of party personality- so, adorable!


Stay tuned to see which dress personality she settled on....

Anyway, I promise I'll try harder not to be such a blase' blogger. Things really have been insane- promise, promise.

Season's Greetings

I really can't even begin to understand how it's already late December. I think this has been the fastest year of all my years. Time is flying on by which means it's almost time for Christmas which also means it's almost time for Christmas cards- yay! I love to send Christmas cards, I love to get Christmas cards and I love to think of new ways to torture my dog to get a good Christmas card cover shot. Poor Howard has had a rough year with the surgery, our homelessness and dealing with the overtake of his domain by noisy construction men. Nice moms might take pity on a pup under such stress- oh well! We've been brainstorming to see what treasured holiday icon Howard should represent this year and we've been reminiscing about the hilarious shoot from last Christmas. We have learned from last year when we made the novice mistake of introducing Howard to his costume prior to the shoot which was a TERRIBLE idea. Howard does not like wearing things, and for some reason he's especially fussy about wreaths. As you can see below Howard was not impressed...but thankfully he's not above cheap bribery. Howard has no problem compromising his dignity for a few slices of Kraft singles.




ps- no idea what appendage injury necessitated the dangling bandaid.

Ingenuity

Even though we're chained to the ftd desk these days, at least we have a good view. Again, as spotted through our office window... These guys always keep us guessing. Clever workerperson pictured here has clearly had one too many greasy construction lunches and has opted to instead travel to jobsites armed with personal microwave and frozen lean cuisine. HA! He had to unplug the saws to set up his little lunch station and yes, he did adhere to the two minute advised cooling period.

Dot Dot and Don

My Grandmother is in town to meet Walker. :) Dot Dot is Momma's mom and she has lived in Greer, South Carolina her entire life. It was so great to have her just a few minutes away while I was at Furman and I've missed her since I became a Floridian again. My mom's Dad, Papa Bill, died the day before Ashley was born and Dot Dot lived on her own as a single lady for quite a few years. In 2004, she reconnected with a high school sweetheart and recent widower named Don. Let me just tell you, that ever since their April 2005 wedding our Dot Dot has been happier than we have ever seen her. Those two are like puppy love extreme AND now Dot Dot, who was too nervous to even drive to Jville alone to see us, has now traveled to Europe, to Canada and all across the US with her cute hubby. We just love Don.
He is a great story teller, a great listener, an AWESOME addition to our family and he is so so good to Dot Dot. Her life began again at age 73 and we really couldn't be more thankful that those two have each other.

Yard Art

Our front yard is a wreck. It has been for months now, but we're hoping our poor neighbors can forgive us each time they drive by our yard art pictured to the left. Thankfully, this is not OUR personal...."facility"-  it's for our worker bees. You are required by some law to provide the necessary accommodations when your property becomes a construction zone.

Enter the porta-potty. The portalet has been the source of some fascinating discoveries. It sits about 30 yards from our ftd work window and about 10 yards from the road. So far, we've witnessed at least 6 people (that we know of) completely unaffiliated with the worksite use it in broad daylight and with no sign of shame. Among these brave potty-ers is our postman who stops in a few times each week during his rounds.  Another of the visitors was a woman that seriously looked like she could have been any one of our mothers. Now, I just CANNOT imagine Janet Wilbanks ever even considering using a random portalet...but to each his own, I guess.

In related news, many of you might be familiar with the urban hooligan activity of "porta-potty tipping" in the middle of the night.  So far, we've been victimized twice, but we have a few months to go. We'll keep you updated should we encounter any more random users and/or tippers...

The Littlest

Walker's title as the littlest Wilbanks was lost to an even littler Wilbanks born last week! How exciting, right? Our cousin Lisa and her husband Pablo welcomed this little guy, Jackson Pablo Melgarejo, into the world last week.  He came earlier than expected but we're so thrilled to report that he's a healthy and as you can see such a handsome little fellow.  Welcome, Jackson!!

AND since we all love cute babies....here are the rest of my cousins' kiddos.  

First came beautiful Miss Julia Gray to my cousin Joni and her husband Bryan.

Cousin Leslie and her hubby Brian then brought us the adorable Kennedy Ann.

Andy and Lindsay were next with cute little Cade Andrew.

Then there was our precious man Walker- dressed here in his Ethiopian garb!

AND my other cousin John and his wife Larkin are expecting a little girl in February. 

So, in summation- these kids are as cute as cute gets. The cousins have made the grandparents happy and now the family's fingers are starting to point in our direction....hope their fingers are patient!

Updates on the Littlest Wilbanks

Check out www.walkerwilbanks.blogspot.com for a few new posts about the Walkman. Jamie and Matt have posted pics and stories of their first week at home with our baby boy. Ashley and I always call him "our baby" like we all collectively birthed him or something. We're so strange. Anyway- go read about it all! He's doing so well and has already gained weight-He's now 9.1lbs. We're so happy that he loves to eat and to sleep, we have so much in common already. :)

sleeping on the job

As viewed through our office window. In all fairness, it was lunch time. Doesn't change the fact that this is hilarious.

laptop lap dog

He's back. :)

Welcoming Baby Walker

Sorry for the delay in updates- things have been crazy these last few days but I'm thankful to report that all is on the up! Above is the first family photo- Doesn't Jamie look beautiful?! Walker was born September 24th at 6:20 pm by c-section after our brave Jamie labored for quite a while. Walker was just being stubborn and little buddy wasn't budging. Immediately after birth, Walkman was rushed to the NICU due to breathing issues which turned out to be caused by a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). The first 24 hours were critical and would determine whether an invasive procedure would be required. We're so thankful that our little fighter resolved the issue on his own and has been progressing beautifully by the day. We've spent a great deal of time up at BMC since Wed visiting the tired but completely proud parents and hoping to catch a glimpse of the baby who has been in the restricted NICU area. He is 8lb 9oz, 21 3/4in long and has a head full of blonde hair. He's just the cutest little man and we are all wrapped around those tiny little fingers. Can't wait for you all to meet sweet baby Walker. We think he is coming home TODAY!!

A few hours after birth, Walker is wide-eyed and already bonding with his Daddy. He kept his eyes locked on Matt's face and his tiny little fingers latched right on to Matt's while his sweet Mommy was recovering.

Day 2 Jamie is feeling better and is down to the NICU every 3 hours to love on baby Walker.  She is such a natural mommy and she is loving her boy. Look at all that hair!

Jamma and Papa John have waited so long for this moment- they love their first grandbaby and we kids have all realized we've dropped down on the priority list. ;)

He's just the sweetest, softest, most brave and precious little boy that ever lived- but I'm not biased. :)

still waiting for walker but now we're at the hospital!!!!

Office Pup

Ashley and I are constantly wishing we could hire an extra set of hands to help with random ftd related tasks. Well, clearly we're not there yet- but this doesn't stop us from mentioning it at least once a day. For now it's just the two of us trudging along trying to develop the biz and refining our trial and error skills on a daily basis. It's not entirely true that we're the only ones in this, though. We have incredible support from our families, our friends and our office pup. Howard has been involved since day one. He sits around, sleeps, eats, sleeps some more, keeps quiet during meetings and important phone calls and protectively growls at anything weird happening outside. He's really indispensable.



Sometimes when we're frustrated by some crazy challenge we're working through one of us will look over at Howard who is clearly uninterested and unbothered by the annoyance while he peacefully snores on his bed (which is under our desk) as pictured here. This kind of puts it all back into perspective. He reminds us of two of life's important truths-

1)This too shall pass.

          and
2)It would be awesome to live the life of Howard the bulldog.

Since construction has geared up Howboy hasn't been with us daily bc all the noise and activity has gotten a bit stressful for him. Bulldogs don't really do stress so he's been hanging with Aunt Olivia at Mom's house. Anyway, we miss you office pup. Come back soon.

Winter Wedding

In a little over 4 months there will be another Wilbanks wedding- yay! Ashley and Kyle have been dating since high school and in January they will be tying the knot here in Jacksonville. Kyle has been a part of the family for so long now and Chris and I feel really lucky to have such a great set of built in friends.  God has been so good in blessing my siblings with great complements to each of our personalities. Ashley and Kyle are no exception. They're just some of the greatest people and they deserve the greatest things. Here are some of my favorites from their engagement shoot. Will those babies be gorgeous or what?!