Monday, June 26, 2017

Warren's Baby Nursery Reveal


It seems like just yesterday we were getting Ryeland’s nursery ready. Now we are fully complete with our second Son Warren’s room.


Some say the first child is the one that you do EVERYTHING for. New this and that. The baby book, the Journal entries, the protected items on everything in the house (Which we have only recently done due to Ryeland now able to open doors). Overprotected, Gooing and Gaaing over each thing they do.

Then Baby #2 comes...and all that goes out the window.

Image result for first child room vs second childRecently Kaylee sent me a Facebook meme picture that showed the first child’s room vs the second child’s room. The first child’s room is all done up, having everything in its place, a perfect theme….Really designer looking. Then it shows the second child’s...Just a bed on the floor of a empty room with white walls.

Well if you know anything about my wife and I...We wouldn’t settle for that.

We want the birth and life of our second to be just as special as our first.I want to try and journal for him to read when he gets older, get a few things that are only his and not a hand me down from his brother, and make sure he knows I am as excited and pouring into him as I am with Ryeland.

We may have outdone ourselves with the nursery and at each step we poured our hearts into it, making it as unique as Warren will be.

The theme is Vintage Americana (Patriotic)
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We once again wanted to create a room that he could grow into. A timeless look that can be updated as he grew, that has a great foundation. We did that with Ryeland’s room as well and it has already worked perfectly as we transitioned it into a toddler room, when we moved Ryeland’s crib and chair to Warren’s room.

We once again were blessed with furniture that we got a great deal on...Just needed some cleaning and handle replacements.

I never knew there were so many variations of Red, White, and Blue.  We had a great time creating this new room. Lots of unique finds and true Rye Rustic original Creations..That Kaylee and I made of course. This time even Ryeland put his artistic touch to work as he created Ryeland Original paintings for his brothers Wall.



Here are a few shots of the room:







   

Warren not only Gets one but two animals (Rye got a whole zoo), His very own Donkey and Elephant Sock Animals perfect for a Patriotic Americana Theme.

From the Heart of Keith & Kaylee Davis


Saturday, January 2, 2016

2015:The Year of Change




 
I feel like I have written this post in my head about 1,000 times. Every few days these past two months, I began to think about how much had changed in my life in 2015. I told Keith that I have dubbed 2015 “The Year of Change”. So many things in our lives changed and besides Ryeland joining our family, most of the other changes were unexpected and some even unimaginable. I decided to take some time to write out what has been going through my mind over the past year.

Last year at this time, we were hoping and waiting and thinking and PRAYING that little Ryeland would make his appearance. I had told myself he would be here EARLY. Wow…was I ever wrong on that one! As the clock struck midnight and 2015 rang in, we realized that 2015 would bring many changes to our little family. The days passed and each day I would leave work trying to finish all my task just in case I went into labor that night. That was a LONG couple of weeks. Finally they scheduled me to be induced and we started the long process of birth! After 2 days our sweet Ryeland arrived at 1:24am, January 16. He was a 7lb 11oz bundle of joy.

The hospital stay was not what every new mother expects. Shortly after he was born, he was rolled away to the NICU. He had a fever and issues with his breathing. That began a long week in the NICU and lots of tears, stress and worry. We didn’t get to have the normal birth experience and it was hard on both of us. At the same time, it was a time where God really showed his love, grace and faithfulness to Keith and I. It is hard enough becoming first time parents, but adding in a NICU stay that was unexpected really made things so hard.


After that LONG week, we arrived home and began our life as a family of three. Having a baby brings change to every aspect of your life, as I know all the parents out there know. Over the past year it has been a blessing and joy to get to have Ryeland in our lives and we love every minute of our life with him! He is 100% the BEST change in our lives in 2015.


As we began to get used to being parents, another big change in my life began. On January 9th, I had a dream. Pregnant women are known for having crazy and very vivid dreams. I had my share of them throughout my pregnancy. I woke up that next morning literally in tears. I had a dream that one of my best friends Artan had died. It was one of those dreams that seemed so real, the emotions stuck with me when I woke and I couldn’t seem to shake them. I had told my sister Madison that morning about it and that I couldn’t imagine what that would be like. Artan, one of my dearest and closest friends, lived in Kosova. I had met him back in 2006 when I lived in Kosova for the summer. Such a shy highschooler back then, he had become a best friend of mine over the past few years. He could not WAIT for Ryeland to be born and had joked with me on December 31st that that was the day he had predicted Ryeland would be born. He could not WAIT for Ryeland to come.

 
We spoke everyday over our favorite messenger app “Whatsapp”. On January 11th, he told me that he had to be put in the hospital overnight for some issue going on with his organs. I short of shrugged it off, just thinking it was a bad case of food poisoning. I did not know at that time, it would be the last time we had a conversation. I went in and had Ryeland a few days later. Sending him short notes and pictures of course over Whatsapp, but I never heard back from him. I knew he was sick, and just thought being in the hospital he didn’t have internet or service or needed to add some credit on his phone. As Keith and I came home and the craziness of new parenthood began to wear off a little. I learned more about Artan’s condition. He was having liver failure and his condition was very rare.
We all spent the next two months praying, hoping, crying, and doing all we could from afar to help him. Many of us got together to create fundraising campaigns and we were able to raise over $200,000 to move him from Kosova to Germany to get to a better hospital there. There were conflicting reports and one day it seemed like he would make it through and others he seemed like he was on his last days. I did get one message from him mid March sending me a selfie. He knew I loved them and he let me know he had seen all the pictures I had sent him of Ryeland. That meant a lot because I knew how much he was waiting on Ryeland to arrive. So it was a hard few months to say the least. I had a new baby and the emotions of that are hard enough, then throwing in having my best friend so sick, it was rough.


On March 19th, around 2am, I got a call that Artan has passed. It was shocking, it was unimaginable, it was in all honesty, devastating. I had lost three grandparents over the past few years, but this was beyond what I could formulate in my head. Probably because we spoke daily or maybe because he was so young, only 25, I just took it so hard. There were so many who were affected by the loss of Artan. Literally hundreds of people came out to his funeral. He touched so many lives and never left people the same who knew him. I was blessed with the 10 years I knew him and it has been a long year without him. It has been just about a year since we spoke and had a conversation together. It is a hole in my life that is still very empty.

 
God has taught me a lot over the past year with the loss of Artan. I have had to lean on Him more than ever. I never expected ringing in the New Year in 2015, that I would lose Artan. I never knew that the dream I had would come true. It has been an unwelcome change of 2015 and I’m still working through the emotions and feelings that have come with this loss in my life. I’m praying that God would continue to use this for His glory and that He would continue to be my strength and Joy during this season.

The final big CHANGE of 2015 was the position change for Keith. He had been the Youth pastor at our church for just over three years, when he was asked by our pastor to consider a move to become the Next Generation Pastor, which would be working with Nursery-5th instead of our current 6th-12th role. We had served in youth together for over 7 years and this was a big decision. Keith went ahead and took over the role and it has been a whirlwind of changes, updates and lots of new faces and kids since June of this year. It has been a great experience, but much different than the work we did with the youth. I had been one of the leaders of the 6th-9th grade girls for three years. It was especially hard for me to leave the girls in my small group. I had watched them grow and change and it was hard for me to let that go.


Keith and I have really enjoyed working with the kids and really letting our creativity run. We have put so many new things in to effect in the ministry and it has been fun to see the newness of the ministry. Keith is great at what he does and God has given him so many great qualities and gifts. It is a blessing to get to serve alongside him in this big change.

 

Obviously there have been many other changes in our lives with my sister having a baby and moving out of the state to my youngest sister going off to college this past fall. This was the first year in 3 years I wasn’t able to go to Kosova. This was the first year in almost 8 years that I wasn’t helping to lead youth or adult worship (although I am singing and dancing with the kids). So lots of changes in 2015 for sure!

I have been blessed this year so much by the birth of Ryeland, by the love of my family, by really great friends and by God who continues to bless Keith and I and show us His unfailing love day to day. Keith already joked and asked me what 2016 would be named. I have no clue! We’ve only been in it a few hours now. I know that many things can change in a year and that anything can come our way. I am blessed to have him by my side day to day. Here’s to 2016 and whatever might come our way. I’m thanking God for his faithfulness through it all and that no matter what, he never changes.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Ryeland Wade Davis: 1st Room Reveal

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It felt like just weeks ago that we found out that we were going to be having a baby in the Davis household, Better yet a Son. Our minds raced with questions, plans, and of course excitement. We could not wait until we told everyone that we would soon be welcoming a baby boy. We thought that would be the biggest reveal we would make. We were wrong.

Upon letting everyone know of our future welcoming the little one we were faced with the same questions by many.

1) Have you picked out a name?

2) You sure he's not a twin? (We got asked a few times..Still wondering why on this one)

and the one questions that I didn't expect, although Kaylee said she knew it would come.

3) What are you doing to the room?

As they would answer their own question with..."Because we can't wait to see what Keith will do to it"

It's great to have that feedback especially knowing they know me too well. Sorry to say, I have had plans thought out for some time whether we were having a Boy or Girl. Side note: While working on Ryeland's Room I have already come up with our next son's room (My brain never stops). Give us a few years though.

The theme is Sock Monkey.  With that said we wanted to create a room that he could grow into. Not something I would have to change in a short few months. It's a timeless look I like to say or give me time to let my creativity to rest.

Why Sock Monkey? I say why not. Kaylee has always loved sock monkey's ever since she met the Sock monkey that my mom made for me when I was younger (that I still have). I like to call him soc. He is chill and ready for any adventure that Young (Or Older) Keith would get into.

With all that said enjoy our process of the creation of this room. We had a great time creating, painting, building, and laughing through this process. Some plans we had didn't work while other things that we thought would be awesome turned to a pile of trash. You live and learn then start again. Blood, sweat, and tears (I had something in my eye) were rightly given to this cause. All in all with everything done I can proudly say it was done out of love. Ryeland may not appreciate it now, but he will know that it was all done from the bottom of his Mom and Dads heart.

Here are a few shots of the room:

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He even got his own Real Sock Monkey made by Kaylee herself. We will have to wait to see what his name will be.

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Stay tuned for future posts of the step by step or detail posts of the different projects throughout the room.

From the Heart of Keith & Kaylee Davis  

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Kosova: day 1 & 2


Does a day of travel even count as day one of a trip? I guess with that and the 6 hr time change we did lose a day! The travel went well and Brittany and I really enjoyed our airport patdowns instead of the X-ray machines! We made all our flights and nothing was delayed.

In Chicago, we met our miracle for the day when we made it to  gate m1 and found our gate was at m21 which was seriously the longest walk of your life. We had 5 min or less to arrive for boarding, when out of no where, a guy on a cart stops and says: do you need a ride? We told him we hadn't eaten and he even brought us back to a mini food mart ($45 dollars of "snacks for lunch" including just a coke for each person , a bag of chips and a sandwich). We made it to the gate just before they called our section! Thank you cart man who saved us! And of course we had to document the adventure:

 We arrived in beautiful Kosova at noon and went straight to our beautiful guesthouse! They have redone the whole place and we're really excited for us to stAy since we wee the first to stay since the renovations! Britt and I are sharing a room, with a balcony and a great view!

 We hit up a lunch and then toured the city a bit with Carson and Brittany. We even saw a few old friends along the way! Which is always great. 
By 7pm we were dead, since most of us had only gotten 1 hr of sleep since 6am Monday am. So we headed back to the guest house and showered and ordered pizza for delivery. 2.5 € pizza with free delivery! That is what I am talking about! 

Bit the hay around 9:30 and woke up around 6!


Today we are jumping into camp stuff And hopefully I will get to meet with some old friends today! 



Sunday, July 13, 2014

The journey begins tomorrow

We hit the trail tomorrow for Kosova!
we have 8 bags in total for the 4 of us.. not including our carry on's... so i guess add another 8 carry on's!
We are bringing over some great supplies and getting it all packed is getting me sooo ready for camp!
I am sure i will be posting lots of pics
Be sure to follow our hashtag: #qqslp2014
and the blog and facebook for updates

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Camp Prep...

As Keith finishes up his week at youth camp, I have been holding down the fort in Loganville getting ready for Leadership camp, which begins in just about two weeks!


It involves lots of computer work, lots of editing and lots of printing, chopping, folding, cutting!
I want to give a huge shoutout to my sister Mallory who printed all 88 shirts for us already! This will give Keith a much needed break from having to do them everynight this week!
We leave in just over a week - 9 days!

There is so much to do, but God always helps everything get in order, so I am not worried!

And of course, the cats always have to help!