The Good Life...and getting better

Party Boys

2011-11-23T09:44:00.003-06:00

I know I'm biased but how stinking cute are these two?!? I love everything about this picture....including the tightie whities :)

Snow Tracks

2011-11-22T15:03:00.000-06:00

Did anyone see this video?

Rob showed it to me last night and we were dying laughing. We had our own episode of "snow" in our house about a month ago. Early one morning Rob noticed that Brady was playing unusually quietly in the office and when he checked on him this is what he found....

"Snow Tracks"

"Snow Tracks" as Brady referred to them. He had gotten the coffee mate off the kitchen counter and emptied the whole can on his train tracks. All we could do at that point was laugh and let him play in them. It sure did keep him entertained for a while. I vacuumed up the mess a few hours later. I am SO glad the mess was contained to just one area! Can you imagine how long it probably took that poor mom to clean her house?!?

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-21T22:50:00.000-06:00

Playing catch up - I figure I'll start with Halloween, since it's still kinda fresh in my memory. This year Brady was a UPS man and Carson made his Halloween debut (obviously) dressed as Winnie the Pooh. I had great plans to construct a UPS truck out of a cardboard box around Carson's stroller and let him be the "driver", but I don't know who I think I'm kidding with these big plans of mine. I never have time to actually do any of them.

Similar idea to this (via pinterest)

In the end, it didn't really matter because the weather ended up being cooler than anticipated and Carson was fussy and cried almost the entire way through trick-or-treating. None of that stopped Brady though. That boy is a trick-or-treating machine! We actually decided to leave our neighborhood this year and mooched off of a friend of mine's neighbors instead. She invited our family over for a pre-trick-or-treating rendezvous and we decided to stay for all the festivities. Brady is already telling me that he want's to be a "steam engine" for next year. Yikes, that one might take some creativity on my part!

Hello.....Anybody Still There???

2011-11-20T21:32:00.000-06:00

Every single day I log on to my blog simply to check by blogroll and I have a little conversation with myself that goes something like this...

me: Audrey, you really should start blogging again
myself: why bother??? So I can write a post or two then take another 5 month hiatus?
me: you need to keep up with these memories. Time is flying by way too fast.
myself: I just don't have time to commit to anything anymore. There's no point.

You see, that incredibly cute 8 MONTH OLD (what?!?) is still using me as a human pacifier. And he's teething. And when I actually do get a brief (I mean very brief) break from him his older brother is usually crawling on top of me or begging me to play trains with him. And seriously, how can I resist???

Ok, I lie. I resist probably more than I should. But I really don't have a lot of time or energy for much anymore. This two kid thing keeps me much busier than I thought it would. Especially now that Carson is crawling and getting into everything. I was extremely proud of myself today for just making it to church and getting the dishwasher unloaded. I am going to try and start posting again, but I'm sure it will be sporadic. Our family is about to undergo some major changes in the next few weeks/months and even though it is sure to be a crazy, busy, stressful life change we are thrilled about it and I don't want to forget these precious moments in our lives!

Seriously???

2011-06-22T22:10:00.002-05:00

Still Here!

2011-04-25T21:38:00.000-05:00

We had a great Easter weekend. Thankfully Rob was off work and we were really able to enjoy our time together. Saturday we went to our church's Easter egg hunt, then Sunday we went to church and headed over to the Nicholson's that afternoon.

Carson's 1st Easter!

This is as close as Brady would get to the Easter bunny:)

Brady had such a fun time at the egg hunt. He behaved so well and didn't throw any tantrums - I was so proud!

Brady was tickled that the Easter bunny had come to our house and left him so many treats.

Carson before church in the adorable outfit that Britni bought him.

I so wanted to get a decent family picture of us, but we were running late (as usual) and I didn't have time to get the tripod out, so this is what we are left with.

In other news...

-Carson will be 6 weeks old this Wednesday - time is moving way too fast. I am enjoying him so much!

-I started the Couch 2 5K running program this morning. I'm using an awesome app on my iphone with a little voice that times everything out and tells you when to start running/walking which is great b/c now I'm not constantly looking down at my watch. Now the only obstacles I'm facing are finding a time to do it when both kids are happy so Rob doesn't get too stressed out with them both and finding a sports bra to contain my mammoth jugs.

-Brady is becoming an absolute sweetheart and amazes me everyday with the things he says. All my drilling him on manners is finally paying off. He's always telling us "thank you" for everything, plus he will randomly tell Rob and I that he loves us, which totally makes my heart melt.

-I think I'm suffocating in baby/toddler toys right now. Our house is out of control. I really want to get rid of 75% of the crap cluttering this place up, but then I feel guilty if I don't save the toys for Carson to play with when he gets older. But I'm feeling like I must get rid of some of it - we're just going to keep accumulating more through birthdays and holidays anyway.

-Rob is transferring stores next week and I am so excited b/c he will have a much better schedule. It is a much busier store and he will now only have to work every 4th weekend instead of every other!

Introducing Carson

2011-04-08T20:33:00.000-05:00

First of all, I know I have not blogged in a VERY long time! There is reason for that though. I have started trying to keep a handwritten journal instead. I've never been the journaling or "diary keeping" kind, but I have to admit, I've really been enjoying it. Since it's private, I tend to write about more personal issues and feelings than I do on here. So, I haven't been neglecting my "memory keeping" responsibilities all together - I've just been choosing to keep them private :) I would like to try and start blogging more regularly again, but I'm not making any promises!

Now, on to the most exciting news! Carson Ayers Campbell finally joined our family! I was so anxious for his arrival and tired of being pregnant! He was 4 days overdue!

I am still so amazed at how God orchestrated the whole event and how quickly and smoothly everything worked out. My recovery has basically been nonexistent, because there wasn't anything to recover from! Carson's temperment is so mild compared to Brady's. I've already told Rob that I'm ready to get pregnant again.....jokingly :)

Carson's Birth Story

After a few weeks of encouragement from Rob I finally decided to switch back to my amazing midwife at 37 weeks pregnant (full term!). I had been reluctant up until that point because of the kidney issue that was found during my 20 week ultrasound and the subsequent trips to the high-risk OB. I wanted to make sure everything was OK with Carson. On top of that the office where my midwife works is a very strange place. I cannot say enough good things about the midwife herself, she is beyond wonderful, however, Alabama is not a very midwife friendly state and she is the only one in our city. And the hospital/clinic she works at is really more of a clinic for the poor/teenage mother types. Going for a visit at her office is almost always eventful and I see/hear a lot of sad things. Not to mention that the office staff there is almost always really rude. Needless to say, I wasn't very excited about dealing with all this again. But, as I neared the end of my pregnancy and really started to focus on the actual birth, I started to have a lot of anxiety. The OB I had been using hadn't done anything to upset me, but the thought of the unfamiliar and being in a different hospital was really starting to cause a lot of anxiety. I know my midwife pretty well and her thoughts on a lot of the typical interventions used in a hospital setting. I knew she wouldn't force or even suggest many of the uneccesary routine procedures used during birth. But I didn't know how my new OB felt about many of these things. So, after a long talk with Rob and my doula/childbirth instructor/friend, Katrina, and a phone call to the midwife (on her personal cell phone after hours - how many OB's do you know that will take that kind of time with you?) I decided to switch back!

The only negative about switching back to the midwife was that she was going on vacation 5 days after my due date. I decided to go ahead and switch anyway because I felt incredibly confident that I would not go past my due date. During my last pregnancy I decided not to get "checked" at all, so I never knew if I was beginning to dilate in advance or not. This time, however, I was anxious so I asked her to every week. At 38 weeks I was 1-2 cm. At 39 weeks a "good 2cm". One day before my due date 3-4 cm and she stretched my membranes. At this point I was starting to get nervous because I knew she was going on vacation soon. I was starting to debate taking castor oil to induce labor, but kept chickening out.

Finally at 3 days overdue after trying everything I could think of including walking 4 miles that morning, weeks of taking evening primrose oil and Dr. Christopher's Prenatal Formula and having lots of uncomfortable "pregnancy sex" she checked me again and I was a good 4 cm and she stripped my membranes and told me that night was the night for the castor oil. I only had one day left to go into labor before she left town. She gave me clear instructions for the oil and said it would take about 4 hours to work and to take it around 3-4 am and go back to bed, in hopes that by 7 or 8 I would be in labor.

My mom had been in town for over a week to help us care for Brady while we were in the hospital, I alerted my doula, and we had our hospital bags packed. I woke up once around 2:30 because Carson was moving like crazy, but decided not to take the oil yet because I thought it was still a little early. I woke back up around 3:45 and decided it was time. I chugged the 2tbs. of oil mixed with a little OJ and baking soda and followed it up with a big glass of white grape juice. Honestly, it really wasn't that bad. Everyone who has taken it has talked about how awful it is, but besides it being really thick it really didn't have much of a flavor, granted I also held my nose while swallowing it, but it wasn't as terrible as I had thought it would be. After taking it I went back to bed and just as I was about to finally drift off to sleep I felt a painful "pop" in my belly and knew it had to be my water breaking even though nothing was actually leaking out yet. This was at 4:15am. I laid there for a little while and got up twice to check, but still no major leak of fluid. This didn't really suprise me though, because it was the same way when my water broke with Brady. I figured I had some time before contractions would start, since last time it took 3 hours and the midwife told me it would take 4 hours for the oil to work. I was so excited and shocked though I couldn't really fall back asleep so finally at 4:45 I texted my doula what had happened, since I knew that she would need to call her babysitter for her 2 children. I started having contractions shortly after this.

I had about 2 or 3 contractions that were about 10-15 minutes apart and then it was the castor oil's turn :) If you know anything about castor oil, you know that it's main use is that of a laxative. My experience wasn't that terrible because I only took 2 Tbs. of it, but during my 10 minutes or so of bathroom time, I had quite a few contractions. I had started timing them using an online website (contractionmaster.com) but I was really confused at how fast they were happening and convinced myself that I was confusing actual contractions with "poo pains"! I then decided to get in the shower since that helped ease my labor last time and Rob sat on the edge of the tub with the laptop in hand timing the contractions. After a few contractions he said, "Dear, you know these are only about 1.5 - 2 minutes apart, right?" I thought, "there's no way!" They were honestly not very painful! Nothing compared to the contractions I had during Brady's labor. And they were only lasting about 30-45 seconds long. I was really confused. We talked about calling the midwife and when we should leave for the hospital. The original plan was for our doula to come to our house and help me labor before we left. Rob had already called her a few minutes before and she was waiting for her babysitter to arrive and then she was going to come over. A few more minutes (and contractions) went by and I told Rob we should probably go ahead and leave for the hospital. We tried calling the midwife 3 times, but could't get through. I think I may have had the wrong phone number stored in my phone. I really wasn't in that terrible amount of pain. I would need to stop what I was doing to get through every contraction, but I was still coherent and calm in between them. Whereas last time I was a madwoman and screamed and cursed everyone out around me! Rob woke my mom up and told him we were leaving as I was trying to get dressed - it was taking me quite a while, since I couldn't move very fast and the contractions were happing so frequently. Finally we got in the car and left at 6:15. Rob called the midwife again, this time from his phone and got through. When he told her how fast the contractions were coming she sounded concerned and said she's meet us at the hospital. Rob had also called the doula right before we left and told her to just go to the hospital.

We arrived there about 6:45 and for some reason we both had it in our heads that it was later than it was and that I wouldn't need to check in through the emergency room and instead could check in through the main OB Admitting office. So Rob dropped me off at the front entrance to the hospital, and he left to go park the car. It was still a little dark out and I could see inside the main entrance a group of about 15 nursing or med school students waiting in the main lobby for their morning rounds. I kept thinking, "oh great, I have to walk through them all, they're going to think I'm crazy!" I was an absolute mess. I was sweaty, my hair was thrown back in a messy pony tail and headband, no makeup, I was wearing ugly capri sweat pants, a nursing bra, and an ill fitting tank top. But there I was carrying my little Coach purse, walking S L O W L Y for everyone to see. I had 2 contractions in the 30 feet it took me to walk up to the main hospital doors and had to stop for each one. As I entered through the main door I could feel all their eyes on me! One guy nodded good morning to me and I was trying so hard not to make eye contact with anyone and to just keep walking. I walked through the 1st set of double doors towards L & D and down the hallway. When I looked up I saw that the main OB Admitting office was closed! I whispered out loud, "sh*t, they're closed"! At that moment a few of the students had caught up to me and Rob was right behind them. I remember them saying "ma'am are you ok?", "somebody get her a wheelchair". All I could say was "No, no chair"! And thinking "don't they know what's about to come out of here, are they nuts, I'm not about to sit down!"

Thankfully there were some other nurses at another station nearby and I walked over there and as I hunched over during a contraction, calmly said, "I'm about to give birth". Obviously I wasn't in the right place and they told me to go on through another set of double doors to L&D. I don't know why I didn't remember that I could go through those doors on my own - probably because I hadn't even been admitted yet. As we were walking towards those doors - 2 of the students holding me up by my arms and a couple more walking behind me - I had a major contraction and had to get down on my hands and knees in the hallway. I'm pretty sure I scared the crap out of them! They probably thought they were going to be delivering the baby right there. Finally we made it through the doors and down the hallway to the nurses station. My midwife had already called them and told them to be expecting me and they had a room ready for me. I walked in and leaned over the bed for a contraction. They were trying to decide how the nurse was going to check me in that position, but finally I was able to somewhat lay back on the bed. I was 9 cm already. I got off the bed and leaned back over it since that was the most comfortable position for me. About 5 minutes later the midwife and my doula both walked in. I was so happy to see them both! I asked for a towel on the floor because I just felt like I needed to kneel down. About 5 minutes later I said "I either need to poop or this baby is coming out!" My midwife said "that's the baby, let's get you up on the bed." I climbed up and leaned over the back of the bed that was sitting upright. I held onto the bar on the back of the bed and suddenly got the urge to push. I remember looking over my shoulder at my midwife and seeing that she didn't have any gloves on her hands and thinking to myself "she needs to hurry up, this baby is coming now!" I don't remember how many pushes I had. But I only pushed when there was a contraction and my body had the urge. It wasn't for long - no more than 10 minutes - because he was born at 7:07 am.

As soon as he came out the midwife commented on how big he was and said "I bet he's 10lbs 1oz". Sure enough he was! It was so amazing, I remember turning over and my midwife passing him up to me and telling me the cord wasn't very long, so not to pull him to hard. Then Rob was trying to take my shirt off of me because he knew I wanted to nurse him right away. We had to rub his back a little bit and they placed a little tube of oxygen on my breast near his nose because it took him a short while to start breathing well on his own. It also took a while for the placenta to come out. And the contractions to get it out were pretty painful too - not at all like my birth with Brady, his just kind of fell out! I looked at it after it finally did come out and was amazed at how large it was - probably twice the size of Brady's! During this time I asked them to go ahead and take Carson over to the scale and do his footprints, because the contractions from the placenta were painful and I couldn't really concentrate on him like I wanted to. When they confirmed that he really was 10lbs 1oz I looked up at the midwife and said, "oh, crap, how bad did I tear?" She said that I didn't tear at all! "What! No, way!" I was thinking. Brady was over a pound smaller and I had a really bad tear with him.

It wasn't until after all this when the nurse asked me if it was ok if she drew blood for my labs that I realized I didn't even have a hospital bracelet or gown on. We still hadn't done any paperwork or signed in. I didn't want an IV to begin with, but had decided that I would accept a hep-lock to keep hospital staff off my back. Thankfully since everything had gone so fast I got my original wish of no IV at all :)
Even though labor was moving so quickly, my doula was such a huge help. I had a small cold for the past week and couldn't breathe out of my nose, so my mouth was incredibly dry. She held my water bottle up for me each time I needed it and also took some great pictures with my camera. Even though most of them are inappropriate to show on this blog I am so grateful to have them!

So far Carson has been a very easy baby. I cannot believe he is already over 3 weeks old! It's amazing how much more comfortable and confident this time around! Here are a few pics...

Laboring

Pushing

Things That Make Me Cry

2011-01-27T18:59:00.000-06:00

Whew! These pregnancy hormones are really starting to get to me. I'm going to be a total wreck post-partum! Here's a few things that have made tears well up in my eyes over the past few days....

~This morning when dropping Brady off at school he saw his babysitter that we've been using on Friday nights while Rob & I attend childbirth classes and he ran up to her and gave her a big hug. She is a nanny for a little girl in Brady's class, so we see her often.

~When I picked him up today his teacher told me he was a "rockstar" and did really good today. She was showing the class flashcards with pictures of different objects/animals on them and he was not only getting them all right, but was sitting still and behaving really well.

~Then I got a text from the babysitter saying that he tried to leave with her! And he looked really sad & confused that he couldn't go! I love that we have found someone that he loves so much!

~While getting a much needed pedicure last week I started a conversation with a lady in the chair next to me and she was telling me a story about how their family's house burned down a few years ago after being struck by lightening. They live further out in the county where there is only a volunteer fire department and said that the firefighters were taking turns running back into the house to salvage all her family's photo albums and keepsakes. As they were bringing them out neighbors were grabbing them and running them to their own houses to dry them off with hair dryers since it was pouring down rain. A few minutes after they finished the entire house shot up in flames.

~After reading such good reviews about Ann Voskamp's new book I decided to order a copy. While reading an excerpt about her sister being hit by a truck and dying in front of the family while her mother held her, I lost it. I can't quit thinking about it. I've never anticipated a package from Amazon so much before in my life.

~This afternoon Brady was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I overheard from the family room Mickey say "what sound does a sheep make?" and Brady yelled out "Baaaaa!"

~Last night before bed Brady wouldn't quit pulling my shirt up and kissing and hugging my belly. He also likes to push my belly button back in, like he's really pushing a button!

And lastly, these videos of Brady I found while reorganizing some files on our computer....

Starbucks

2011-01-26T14:48:00.000-06:00

I brought coffee today for our Mom's Bible study and had some leftover cups. Brady thought he was pretty cool getting to drink his juice out of a Starbucks cup. Is it bad that he can pronounce "Starbucks" and gets excited when I say we're going there (don't worry, I never allow him to get anything!)?

I also registered him for Mom's Day Out for next school year today. He'll be going 2x/week again. I LOVE that our church offers this and that he loves going!

Another One

2011-01-25T12:36:00.000-06:00

Here's a pic taken back in October when Rob's parents came down for a visit. Not the best picture in the world, it was an overcast day. But I love seeing the difference.

Before (SOOC):

After:

I think I'm in love :)

We've been staying busy lately trying to get Carson's room painted & crown molding installed. Now the tricky part - trying to convince Brady to start sleeping in his "big boy bed" (twin bed) so that we can kidnap the crib!

We're looking forward to a fun weekend coming up - my parents are coming to visit! I told Brady a few days ago and he keeps looking out to the front porch thinking they're going to be out there already. Today he told me that "Pa" and "Big George" - the dog were coming :) He also referred to "grandma" as "Ma". I don't think he likes the "grand" prefix :)

Clean Color

2011-01-23T16:27:00.000-06:00

One thing I am trying to work on before the baby arrives is improving my photography skills. I want to have great family photo albums with beautiful pictures of our kids and daily lives. I am becoming way too aware of how quickly time is slipping away and I want to preserve our memories before it becomes too late.

I am a member of clickinmoms.com. And when I say "member" what I really mean is I like to stalk to the boards, but have never posted:) Anyway there has recently been a bunch of hype about another photographer, Erin Cobb, and a new video tutorial she has made to teach her workflow and how she achieves her beautiful photographs. Photoshop (I use Elements) and post processing in general has been something I have been struggling with ever since I got my camera (over 2 years ago). So I couldn't resist the urge and decided to splurge.....and boy am I glad I did. Here are two examples that I snapped of Brady this afternoon when we got home from church:

Before (SOOC - straight out of the camera):

After:

Before (SOOC):

After:

Can you tell the difference? I sure can. It is subtle, but the finished images look so much more vibrant and polished. Some of the things I've been learning about are levels, saturation, brightness/contrast, curves, vignettes, skin softening, making the eyes pop, and sharpening. I am super excited. I think I'm going to be much happier with the candids I snap everyday!

If you're interested here's Erin's info:

personal blog (and link to Clean Color tutorial on sidebar)
professional blog
professional site

Art With Mama

2011-01-12T21:48:00.000-06:00

A very unwelcome sickness has been lingering around our house for weeks now. Really ever since Christmas. Brady and Rob have almost completely recovered. But since I can't take many medications right now I'm the unfortunate one that can't quite kick this ugly congestion/sinus bug. Our Mom's Bible Study class at church was supposed to start back today and I was so excited to go, but just wasn't feeling up to it. So instead we stayed home and did watercolor paintings to send to some family members back in Ohio. Then I cut a bunch of hearts out of some old scrapbook paper and let Brady have some fun with a glue stick. He's been begging to paint again all afternoon.

Dirty old white t-shirt courtesy of Rob.

After we were done with our art we had snacks.

The masterpieces....

What our kitchen looked like after a morning of crafting/playing. Thankfully it didn't take me long to clean it all up.

December 2010

2010-12-27T10:30:00.001-06:00

This month.......

We had breakfast with Santa at our church (and Brady was surprisingly well-behaved).

Rob bought a new (to us) truck. And I have completely neglected to take any pictures of it yet, except for this one of Brady in the backseat and becoming more and more frustrated by all my picture taking.

We went in search of the perfect Christmas tree...

and found it.

Brady supervised....

and threw around old tree stumps.

Carson and I took absolutely no part in any type of manual labor except for picture taking....

which Brady was totally annoyed by.

Until he saw the "train" go by and thought he was being left behind.

We're not that mean though. He was in heaven, although I'm sure the passengers that sat around us could have done without the train noise "sound effects" Brady was screaming while we waited to depart.

Brady's Mom's Day Out class had their Christmas party.

And they all wore their reindeer t-shirts (made out of their hand and foot prints).

Which I neglected to get a clear picture of.

But take my word for it, they were the cutest t-shirts I've ever seen. I actually got tears in my eyes when he brought it home in his bag a few days before the party.

And then Christmas morning came. And we were completely spoiled by our families...

What do you mean I have to write Thank You notes???

Then our friends Justin, Britni and Noah came over for dinner Christmas evening.

Brady and Noah exchanged gifts....

and of course Brady had to "help" Noah unwrap his (Brady was an expert at unwrapping by this point in the day).

We had a yummy dinner prepared by the fabulous Honeybaked Ham Company :)

Some of my goodies I received from Rob and my mom.

Overall, we had a great Christmas! The only thing that would have made it better would have been to spend it with family....we missed you!

And one last picture of me. I had to ask Rob to take a picture of me pregnant (29 weeks). I have so many pics of me pregnant with Brady, but hardly any this time around.

We are leaving for a short trip to Atlanta this afternoon. I'm really looking forward to it. The last time we took a trip there was when we decided to start "trying" for a baby. Three months later I got pregnant with Brady. We are planning on doing some shopping at my favorite mall - Lenox Mall - shopping at Ikea, and taking Brady to the Georgia Aquarium and possibly the children's museum as well. We are staying at a really nice place too with a large indoor pool which I'm sure Brady will love :)

Happy New Year!

Etsy Love

2010-12-03T13:18:00.000-06:00

I can't seem to stop buying stuff for Carson! Check out these adorable items I have recently purchased from different sellers on Etsy. Note: I haven't received any of them yet, but I have high hopes that all will be just as cute in real life :)

Bib - Sparkle Power

Fabric Banner - Sparkle Power

ABC Print - Sweet William

And my favorite....Beautiful "play" quilt - Lemon Tree Lane Quilts

I absolutely cannot wait to start putting this sweet baby's nursery together. I am waiting on the bedding I ordered for Brady's room to arrive so we can get his "big boy room" together first, then I can move all the nursery furniture to our other bedroom and start working on Carson's room.

I had a doctor's appointment last week and another ultrasound. I am so happy that my placenta has moved to where it's supposed to be, so placenta previa is no longer an issue! The bad news is that they still could not find Carson's left kidney. So I have an appointment scheduled in January with a high-risk OB for another ultrasound to look for it closer. Sounds scarier than it is though. I'm really not concerned about him only having one - as long as that one is functioning well. What I am more concerned about is knowing that if they have detected this problem that there may be another more serious problem elsewhere that either isn't detectable or hasn't been detected yet. Hopefully though the other doctor I'm going to see will do a more thorough scan and reassure me. Another possibility is that the kidney isn't at all missing, just "misplaced". He will be evaluated by a urologist and have an ultrasound performed after birth to find out. Another mom in our Mom's Bible Study at church told me a few weeks ago this is the case with her son - his kidneys are fully functioning, just not in the exact spot they should be in.

Birthday Celebrations!

2010-11-27T13:46:00.000-06:00

I wanted to post a few pictures of Brady's visits from both sets of grandparents before I forget. We had a large birthday party for him last year in Ohio and I didn't really feel it was necessary to do that all over again this year. Instead Rob's parent's came to visit the weekend after his birthday and we had a very small party for him. Basically just pizza, cupcakes, balloons & presents. Justin, Britni & Noah joined us and Brady had a blast.

While Grandma & Grandpa Campbell were in town we also visited our church's pumpkin patch. Brady LOVED sticking his head through the Peanuts cartoon cutout.....Noah, not so much :)

Two weeks later my parents drove down for celebration #2. Brady had so much fun while they were here. He adores them. Plus they brought their dog, George (a blind yellow Lab), with them and Brady couldn't get enough of him. Thanks for visiting mom & dad!

Picture Time

2010-11-25T17:18:00.000-06:00

I didn't plan on having any professional pictures taken this year. We spent a small fortune last year and I figured we would just wait till next year after Carson had joined our family before we invested in more. Plus I have never been overly impressed with any of our local photographer's work I have seen before (our pictures last year were taken in Cincinnati). But I came across a business card for a new local photographer who was offering holiday mini sessions for super cheap. I couldn't pass it up. If you are local check her out - Kati Nelson Photography.

This one will be on our Chrirstmas card this year.

The Name

2010-11-24T12:22:00.000-06:00

We've actually had our newest addition's name picked out for quite a while. And we've already shared it with the majority of our friends and family. With Brady we kept the name a secret until he was born. The main reason for this was that I didn't want any unsolicited opinions about whether or not people liked the name we had chosen. I was scared that if someone said they didn't like it we might start to question it ourselves. This time around though I feel a bit more confident about my role as a mother and couldn't care less if people like the name or not :) So here it is.......

Today is also my big sister's birthday! I doubt she reads this little ole' blog of mine, but if she does I just want to say Happy Birthday Sister! Just remember you will always be older than me :)

And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We don't have any plans this year. All our family lives too far away to celebrate with. I'll be cooking some of Rob's favorites and he is planning on trying something new....cooking a beer can turkey on his Big Green Egg. Hopefully it's edible? I must confess that Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday.....only because it revolves around eating and I am the world's pickiest eater and don't like any of the traditional food. Growing up I always ate a frozen pizza while the rest of my family enjoyed their feast. I'm trying my hardest this year to make it a happy celebration even though I would really prefer some Chinese takeout:)

Halloween

2010-11-04T11:34:00.000-05:00

I've never been a huge Halloween fan (besides the part about eating candy till you want to explode). I think this is in large part due to my parents never making a fuss about it. We went trick or treating every year, but I don't EVER remember my mom buying me a costume. I was always something homemade and thrown together at the last minute and a dime was never spent. I can't even tell you how many times I went as a court jester (some old costume we had, which I'm pretty sure was given to us for free), witch, or hillbilly. I think all this somehow squished my enthusiasm for the holiday. Which is ok with me. I still don't like the "scary" stuff associated with Halloween. I prefer the cute costumes and decorations instead. But mark my words....my children will never feel like outcasts because they don't have a costume:)

Brady had so much fun trick-or-treating. In my opinion he was still too little to need all that junk food....thank God I'm here to eat it for him:) But he sure did have a blast knocking on doors and saying his version of "trick-or-treat". My child is fearless and not the least bit shy. He was barging in every house we went to. And was adorable telling everyone "Tank Yu". It really made me smile.

One other thing I want to make note of: We've been singing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" together a lot lately and Brady knows almost all of the movements that go along with it. Sometimes I don't even do them and I just watch him. I cry every time I see him do it. I don't know why. He is growing up too fast.

It's a.....

2010-11-02T12:07:00.000-05:00

BOY!

We are beyond thrilled that Brady is going to have a little buddy. My instincts were completely wrong though. I thought for sure it was going to be a girl. He is healthy and already weighs 1lb 1oz. I get to have another ultrasound at my next appointment though because they couldn't find one of his kidneys. More than likely it's just because of the way he was laying. Worst case scenario though is that he only has one:) I'm certainly not worried. The doctor told us that he just found out a few years ago that he only has one kidney as well.

I told Brady yesterday morning that we were going to see the baby that afternoon and he kept saying "baby!" all day long. And as soon as he saw the ultrasound screen pop up he got really excited. When I asked him if he was going to teach his little brother how to play trains and cars he enthusiastically replied "YEAH!". Adorable!

Right after we found out.

Shopping Spree

2010-10-27T21:09:00.000-05:00

I seem to have gone on a bit of a shopping frenzy lately. Rob (jokingly) keeps asking me if I'm going through some sort of depression because of everything I've been buying or talking about wanting to buy. I'm normally a bit of a tightwad, so for me to buy this many things for myself in one week is very rare. Here are my latest purchases.....

Beautiful linen flower pin from Emersonmade

Clarisonic skincare brush. I've been wanting one of these for months now and even told Rob to buy it for me for Christmas. But Sephora was having their annual Friends and Family discount with 20% off in addition to free shipping and I just couldn't pass it up. My skin has been terrible for the past couple years and has only worsened with this pregnancy.

Some new maternity clothes.....sorry the Loft's website will not allow me to copy the pictures so you'll have to click on the links.

This Sweater

This Shirt

I found a promotional code online for 25% off your entire purchase plus they were giving free shipping on orders over $100.

But the largest purchase of all was not my idea. We have decided to get satellite tv service back after living off our antenna for the past 5 months. I would be lying if I said I wasn't tickled about this. There are so many shows I've been wanting to see, especially on TLC. We are supposed to have it installed on Friday. Upon deciding that we were going to get "cable" back in our house I gently suggested to Rob that we purchase another small TV for our bedroom (we gave our last one to Goodwill a couple years ago, because it did nothing but collect dust - we had acquired it when a bank I used to work for closed down and my manager told me I could take it from the breakroom). Anyway, the keyword in that last sentence was small. Instead, after some squabbling from me and a couple of trips to Walmart to return other TVs, my husband brought home this....

A 32" TV that is as big as the mirror we currently have hanging above the dresser. Having this TV sit in front of that mirror now looks ridiculous. More than likely this eyesore will be hanging in it's place by the end of the week. Our bedroom is way too small for this type of display and I personally think it will be tacky, but I digress. I'm tired of bickering over it. I'll let the man have his ugly TV. He did, however, suggest that I buy myself the pair of Anthropologie boots that I've been coveting for the past few weeks to make up for it......

(aren't they adorable?)

but I just can't bring myself to spend $250 on a pair of shoes I'm scared won't fit my feet after this child is born (my feet seem to have mysteriously grown a 1/2 inch since my last pregnancy and I'm worried it may happen again!)

Big Boy Room Inspiration

2010-10-21T07:55:00.000-05:00

Now, that Brady is officially a big boy and has already transitioned out of his crib (well, technically he's still in it, but using it as a toddler bed) I need to start making plans for his big boy room. We plan on moving all the nursery furniture into the new nursery for the baby, leaving Brady empty handed :) Not really though. We already have a twin sized mattress/box springs for him and my childhood dresser, which is in very good condition - but I want to paint it. I also found a cheap headboard for the bed at a consignment sale for $20 over a year ago. Rob was not too happy with me when I showed up with that purchase, but I think he will be happy now that it will finally get used. I want to paint it a fun color as well.

We already have crown molding and a chair rail installed in the room. I definitely want to change the paint colors. I'm so over the brown/blue combo that is currently there. I've heard good things about the new paintable beadboard wallpaper so I'm thinking I might give that a try. And after installing real beadboard in our master bath I have to say, I have NO desire to ever work with it again :)

I need to hurry up and get busy on this little project because I know once we find out the sex of this new baby on November 1st I won't be able to pull myself away from that room.

Birthday Boy

2010-10-20T07:13:00.000-05:00

How have two whole years passed so quickly? I am still falling more and more in love with you every day.

(doesn't Brady look like a garden knome here?)

Some recent things you have been up to lately.....

-saying "thank you" all the time, usually unprompted.

-asking to "cook", then getting a spatula or wooden spoon out of the drawer and flailing it around over the stove.

-you like to get your own silverware and dishes out of your drawer at mealtimes.

-opening the fridge and begging for grapes, cheese or milk

-sleeping in a toddler bed! (although we still have to put a baby gate in your doorway so that you don't wander through the house in the middle of the night)

-you weigh 36 pounds and are 37 inches tall and wear a size 3T-4T

-you are talking so much now and you even know a few letters and colors.

-you can count "two, three" - somehow you haven't quite grasped "one" yet though :)

-you absolutely adore Frank. He gets so many hugs and cuddles every day from you.

-we get many hugs from you daily as well and we adore them! You especially like to give them to us right after you have gotten in trouble for doing something naughty.....kiss up:) It kills me when I have to tell you I don't want your hug and you still have to go to time out. Secretly I want to cuddle you as much as I can and not punish you.

You have had a rough past two days though. I finally took you to the doctor Tuesday afternoon after your fever returned. It was fluctuating between 101-102 all day Monday and through the night, but went down on its own Tuesday morning. Unfortunately it returned that afternoon. The doctor said it is some sort of virus that usually lasts between 3-5 days and would clear up on it's own. Hopefully sooner than later. I hate for you to be sick on your birthday. Hopefully when Grandma and Grandpa Campbell arrive tomorrow they can cheer you up!

Help....

2010-09-16T11:17:00.000-05:00

Go HERE and see if you can help. I'm heading to the store in a few hours to buy some.

*************

In other randomness.....

-Disney was great. It was exhausting, but fun. I never want to sweat like that again though. I'll have lots of pictures to share soon.

-Brady started kissing and hugging my belly for the 1st time last night. I had tears in my eyes because it was so sweet. He thinks there is a baby in his belly as well :)

-I am so glad Fall is almost here! Too bad the weather is still in the 90's here :(

-I started a new bible study at church yesterday. It's based on the book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. I bought the book a few years ago, but never made it all the way through it because I was too busy being a Martha :) Anyway it's a small group (about 12 people) and it's all moms of little ones, so we should have lots in common. I have a feeling it's going to be fun.

-We are leaving for Auburn in the morning to go see our Tigers play! I am so excited. I haven't been to a game since before I was pregnant with Brady (3 years ago). It's been way too long! Although Brady and I won't actually be attending the game (unless we can find cheap tickets). I don't want to waste $$ on one for Brady when I know he's not going to sit still long enough. And it's a night game, so I know he will be exhausted after tailgating all afternoon.

-We have had some interest in our house over the past week. I hesitate to get excited, because these things never seem to work out for us. But I'm really hoping for an offer :)

War Eagle!

It's Official!

2010-09-04T13:40:00.000-05:00

Baby #2 will be joining our family mid-March! If you are my friend in real life or on Facebook you already knew this, but I figured I would wait to share it on here until I had a picture to go with the post. Anyway, this creature is mostly to blame for my blogging absence over the past couple months. I'm feeling fine now (just incredibly tired) but there for a while I wasn't feeling too hot. "Morning" sickness seemed to last a few weeks longer this time than it did when I was pregnant with Brady.

I found a new doctor who came highly recommended from 2 friends of mine. Although I'm still a little apprehensive. In my mind no one can be as wonderful as my midwife that I used last time. I would love to use her again except that I am having some issues dealing with her office staff and our new insurance plan. To put it bluntly, I'm convinced they are all inbreds (that is the people at her office, not my insurance). My plan is to try for another unmedicated delivery, although the pain from the last one is still fresh in my memory, so I'm hoping I can get through it.

Also we are leaving for Disney TOMORROW! Holy moly - I still haven't started packing! And from the sounds Brady is making right now, I'm guessing he's not going to take a nap today either. Wonderful! And Rob has to work till 6, I have to drop the dog off at the kennel at 5, and the house must be spotless before we leave so our realtor can host an open house while we're gone. Someone shoot me. Gotta go!

Funny Videos

2010-08-22T12:43:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple recent videos of Brady. The first one was taken about a month ago, but I used Rob's phone to take it and it took me that long to remember to put it on the computer. The second one was taken last week. This kid melts my heart.

I realize I've been MIA for a long time now. No, I haven't given up on blogging. I've just been really busy lately. We just got back last Sunday from an 11 day trip to Cincinnati. We had a great time visiting some really great people that we love. And we'll be leaving again in a 2 weeks for our trip to Disney!

Baby Noah!

2010-07-20T21:16:00.000-05:00

Brady's newest playmate made his arrival into the world early this morning! My sweet friend Britni gave birth to Noah Bradley Nicholson at 3:24 this morning after what sounds like a very quick and intense natural birth. I am so proud of her! He weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz and has the thickest hair I've ever seen on a newborn! It's already down past his ears!

I was so excited to hold him. I haven't held a newborn since Brady was born almost 2 years ago. I was afraid I wouldn't remember how to, but it's amazing how quickly it comes back to you.

I am so excited for their family. Justin is Rob's really good friend from Pharmacy school. He and Britni started dating around the same time that Rob and I got married almost 6 years ago. We have seen them finish school, get engaged, get married, struggle with infertility, and now welcome the most amazing gift ever into their lives! I cried the day Britni told me she was pregnant and I cried again this morning when Rob found the text message on his phone from Justin letting us know he had been born! We didn't even know she had gone into labor!

Congratulations Justin & Britni! Noah is so blessed to have the two of you as parents as well as to be part of both of your amazing families!

Bye Bye Stress....

2010-06-21T22:04:00.000-05:00

Well, not completely. I've still got a couple things hanging over my head. Mainly a baby shower I am helping host at our house this coming Saturday for my sweet friend Britni. But that will be over soon and, hopefully my life will be back to normal :)

We had a great time in Destin. No oil was spotted, but things may have changed by now. Brady had a great time and we were so thankful to be able to visit with some friends we hadn't seen since last summer. We are home now and my new little friend has arrived. I'm still transferring files from my old computer and trying to get everything organized on the new one the way I want it. Oh yeah and I've already had to use the little CDs they send with it to do a complete factory restore (or whatever the heck it's called). I screwed it up the first day. Actually, I wouldn't have screwed it up if their instructions had been more clear about migrating data from your old computer using your Time Machine backup. BUT, I'm trying not to relive the stress that incident caused me:)

Then after all that I got sick. All sorts of crazy stuff going on. But I went to the doc and she suspected I might have Mono. What??? The mean lady drew my blood and everything. After harassing their office for the past few days, my results finally came back today and thankfully they were negative. I am starting to feel a little better, but still some crazy stuff going on.

Here are a few more of my favorite pics from our trip. You (should) be able to see the rest here, in my facebook album.

Meet My New Friend

2010-06-08T16:35:00.000-05:00

Technically we haven't met yet. But we will be very soon. Sometime between June 15 - June 19 to be exact. It is being configured to our specifications as we speak. Sorry about the tiny picture. I just googled it and stole the first one I found. I'm too lazy (nor do I think my current computer will hold up long enough) to find a larger one.

I'm still feeling guilty over this purchase. We did look into a refurbished Mac after Mama Rhyne suggested it in a previous comment. But we ultimately decided on a new one. Rob is the best. I think he might be a little more excited about this purchase than I am. I'm not sure if it's because we're getting a new computer or because this means we'll clean off the laptop so it works properly and he can have it all to himself.

This does mean he won't be building a shed anytime in the immediate future. At least not until we replenish our savings account. But I did suggest that he buy himself one of those new iphone thingies that are coming out at the end of this month. His old one is just about toast anyway. And I also agreed to his request that we drive over the Destin, Fl this weekend to visit some old friends that will be vacationing there. Hey, if spending a couple days at the beach makes the man happy and takes away some of my guilt, WHO AM I TO COMPLAIN! To be perfectly honest though, I didn't really want to go. Chasing the world's palest 19month old around in the hot sand doesn't really appeal to me. But Rob found us a small little condo (complete with 80's furniture) that has a pool for a ridiculously low price, thanks to the Gulf Oil Spill. So that's where we'll be Thurs-Sat. Hopefully that computer arrives soon after we get home because I know I'll be itching to upload some photos.

Dancing in the Kitchen

2010-06-05T12:22:00.000-05:00

Brady & I had an impromptu dance session in the kitchen yesterday afternoon. Actually we have these quite often - usually when he starts getting in a crabby mood and I need a way to cheer him up. He LOVES to dance. He will dance to any type of music whether he hears it in church, on the radio or even a commercial on tv. These are a little blury and out of focus because Rob was taking them and we were moving all over the place.

I had about 10 more I wanted to share (there are some really cute ones), but we are having major computer issues and I'm very lucky I was even able to upload these. I wasn't able to edit the last one, that's why it doesn't look the same as the other two.

(Sometimes he will grab me by the neck and pull me close to him so tightly for a kiss and won't let go!)

I've decided I have got to make more of an effort to ask Rob to take more pictures of Brady & I together. 98% of my pictures are of Brady by himself or of Rob & Brady together. I'm never in any because I'm always the one taking them (or I just don't want to be in them because I think I look bad that day). But someday I know I'm going to regret not having any of the two of us together.

Back to our computer problems - I think the time has come to upgrade. Too bad my dream computer would end up costing us over $3000! I really want a 27in Mac with a bunch of upgraded memory, storage, etc. When we bought our current macbook 3 years ago I didn't own a nice camera and we didn't have a kid to take 100 pictures of every day so we bought the lowest end model they had. The problem now is that my computer keeps giving me a message about my startup disk being full. And it will also suddenly shut down an application (like when I'm trying to edit a pic) out of nowhere. It's also becoming really slow.

Rob agrees that we need a new one, but I'm having a really hard time with this because I feel so guilty! He is really wanting to build a shed in our back yard to be able to move all the lawn/garage junk into. But this computer would cost more than the shed. And I always get all the fun stuff (computer, camera, sewing machine, etc.). Seriously I have a great husband. He'll let me buy pretty much whatever I want. He hasn't gotten a new toy since I can't even remember. I feel like he needs to have some fun/buy something for himself before I get what I want. So I've got a major case of Wife Guilt right now.

Anyway, my blog might be slow again - or at least minimal pictures for a while - until we figure out what to do.

Have a great weekend!

Mom Clothes

2010-06-02T14:37:00.001-05:00

Nineteen + months have passed since I became a mother and I must admit I have really been struggling with what I should be wearing. First it was the nursing dilemma, where every top I wore had to have "easy access". Then came the "muffin top" situation which I'm still somewhat dealing with. And now my problem is this darn heat and an active toddler who loves to be outside. I need some clothes I can sweat my butt off in, toss in the wash, and keep all my jiggly parts contained:) And without looking like an unkept mom who doesn't take any pride in her appearance. I would still like to be a little stylish. Some days I get so frustrated and then I get sad that I don't get to dress up on a daily basis like the rest of the working world does. Most days (like today) I don't even have time to take a shower in the morning. I get about 15 minutes to, dress, wash my face, put on mascara, and sprinkle a dab of baby powder on my scalp to absorb the grease from yesterday! Sounds yummy!

So today, I caved. While thinking about this problem over the past few weeks, I've come to the realization that at this stage of my life "active wear" might be the best solution for my everyday "mom uniform". I really don't like this, because I've always thought workout clothes should be reserved for working out. I never understood when some of my friends would by "cute" sneakers, NOT meant for working out in. I've always been my happiest in a good fitting pair of jeans, a cute top, and nice shoes with a small heel. That still sounds good for going out to dinner, but it doesn't work so well chasing Brady around the playground or at mommy & me gymnastics!

I recently discovered Athleta website (owned by Gap). And this afternoon I ordered 2 tops and a pair of bermuda shorts. Please don't remind me that they look like sweatpants - at least they are stylish sweatpants. Hopefully when the weather cools off around here (probably not till December!) I won't be as frustrated by all this. Or maybe I will have come to terms with my new wardrobe by that point in time:)

Here's what I bought...

They're not too bad, right?? {{crickets}}
Just don't laugh at me when you run into me in the grocery store.

Where do I Begin???

2010-05-31T22:43:00.000-05:00

So, as you can tell, I've been in a bit of a blogging slump here lately. I'm not quite sure why. In fact I haven't felt like taking many pictures either. So much has been going on though. I'm not even sure if I can remember everything I wanted to blog about. Most recently we enjoyed a visit from my parents and their dog, George. Brady had so much fun while they were here. He woke up every morning and after every nap clawing to get out of his crib to go see the "DA" (dog).

We had so much fun while they were here. I gained 2 pounds from all the yummy food we ate! We took another trip across the bay so Brady could play in the fountain at the Eastern Shore Centre. Then we ate lunch at one of our favorite BBQ joints, Moe's and then we drove down to Fairhope to do some shopping and look around. We went into my favorite toy store and Brady got a few goodies, courtesy of Grandma & Grandpa. Daddy also bought him a couple toys and I got a couple things for Brady's new buddy Noah, due this summer - Justin & Britni's baby!

My mom & dad also watched Brady for a few hours so we could have an impromptu date night one evening. We decided to go see a movie since we haven't been to a theater since I was pregnant. But of course there were no good adult movies playing so we ended up going to see the new Shrek movie. It was hilarious though, which made up for the theater full of kids we were trying to escape!

My mom also brought my birthday present a couple of months early - a new food processor! I've been wanting one of these for a while and was very excited to get it. We made some homemade bread using it during their visit and I just made another loaf a few days ago. Thank you mom!

This picture cracks me up. It's not at all what it looks like - George had gotten a tick stuck to his belly and my dad was trying to remove it. Brady was so interested in what he was doing. He hovered over Grandpa until the task was complete. Brady absolutely loved this dog. For those of you who don't know, George is completely blind. But he is so tolerant and mild mannered. Brady crawled all over him, sat on top of him, pulled his tail, pulled his lips and ears, stole his tennis ball and yet Geroge never once complained.

I also had a fabulous Mother's Day. Rob was so generous this year and bought me a new sewing machine. It's a really fancy one too. At least I think so, compared to what I had been sewing on. I haven't had too much time to play with it yet. But I did make these adorable "cowboy pants" for Brady. I'm going to try and whip up some new pillow covers for our couch pillows sometime in the next couple weeks.

On a more somber note, we experienced a loss of a pregnancy about a month ago. We were so excited when we found out that Brady was going to be a big brother. We had already started dreaming up big plans for turning our last bedroom into another nursery and all the preparations that needed to be made. Unfortunately our plans were squashed all too soon, with a very early miscarriage. I'm not writing any of this for sympathy. Far too many families experience much more tragic loss than ourselves. I'm writing this for myself because I never want to forget what happened and I want to be reminded that we have another sweet little life waiting for us in heaven. I had a couple of meltdowns and pity parties soon afterwards, but I know that God is faithful and has great plans in store for our family - both present and future members:)

Happy Memorial Day! I am so thankful to all of our service men and women who have given of themselves so that we can live freely. Please remember my cousin Joe in your prayers. Earlier this week he left for yet another deployment, this time to Afghanistan. He left behind his wife, Amy, their son, William, and a newborn son, Jaxson, who isn't even a month old yet. I can't imagine how hard this is for Amy. Please say a prayer for them as well as all the other military families.

Tomorrow is a big day for Brady. He is starting Mother's Day Out at our church! I'm am so nervous, yet so excited at the same time. I almost cancelled his spot in the program a few weeks ago, but after talking to another mom friend of mine who sent her oldest son to the program when he was Brady's age, I have changed my mind and decided to at least try it for a few days. He will only be going Tuesdays and Thursdays for 4 hours and it only lasts 8 weeks (he's only doing the summer program). Hopefully it will go well and Mama can finally have a few free hours!

5.15.10

2010-05-15T22:20:00.000-05:00

He was SO excited that I cut a Hydrangea for him to hold! I know I've been MIA for a while. I've got lots to write about, just not a lot of time lately. Hopefully soon though!

Playing in PSE

2010-04-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

So now that I am finally starting to understand shooting in manual mode on my camera and how to get a "correct" exposure (at least according to my camera's meter) I realize how much more I need to learn and understand about PSE (the editing program I use). So today I played around with an image I took yesterday of Brady right after he woke up from his nap.

Here is the Before (SOOC):

And the After:

The steps I took to achieve this look include following PW directions for copying her "Fresh & Colorful" PS Action in PSE (here's the link) and then applying the Base Sharpen Action that I purchased from Heather Ward's Lolly's Actions.

The image looks a little grainy to me. Probably because I used an ISO of 800. My other settings are f/1.8 and 1/250ss.

I know I just totally lost most of you on this post, but I'm trying to record it for my own memory. One of my goals over the next few months/year is to improve my photography skills. I have absolutely NO DESIRE to ever become a professional photog, but I do want to be able to take some killer pics of my family. I think photos and preserving memories are so important. And I want to be able to remember this time when Brady is young for forever.

Only in Alabama....

2010-04-19T21:39:00.000-05:00

is it appropriate to use a pop-up tailgating tent as a patio umbrella and allow your child to get in the baby pool naked!

While said child swims naked Daddy works on a construction project 20 feet in front of him.

Ahh, yes, my friends in Ohio are for sure making fun of us right now:) Brady does indeed own a swim suit, but I keep forgetting to buy him swim diapers. Thank goodness everyone down here has privacy fences, otherwise the neighbors might think we're from around here. Have I ever told you about our neighbors across the street who let their little boy run naked ALL OVER THE NEIGHBORHOOD? Actually, I just saw him this morning - naked - in our other neighbor's front yard.

The past few days have been busy for us. Friday I took Brady over to the Eastern Shore Centre to meet up with a few other moms/kiddos to play in the outdoor fountain. Brady had so much fun. He was a little timid at first and didn't like the water shooting out at him, but he finally eased up and had a blast. He played with so many other children (and of course stole all their toys). We only stayed about an hour and a half, but he was beat. Again, only in Alabama is it appropriate to take your kids to the outdoor shopping mall to play in the water fountain!

Saturday Rob and Justin left at 6:30 in the morning to go to Auburn for the A-day game. He didn't get home till 8:30 that night. I was exhausted from entertaining Brady by myself all day! And I get to do it again for the next two days - Rob is working TWO 14 hour shifts back to back Tues. and Wed. This is how he managed to get this past weekend off for the game.

I had to go to Goodwill last week to drop some items off and decided to walk around to see if they had anything good. I found this adorable child's school desk for $13 as well some books for Brady and a few other items. He loves this thing. He sits in it all the time - watching TV, eating snacks, playing with toys. I really want to paint it a funky color, but Rob thinks it should stay the way it is.

Isn't he the cutest?

4.13.10

2010-04-13T16:18:00.003-05:00

Check out this blog - Knock-off Wood - HOW ON EARTH HAVE I NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE???? Ohhh, boy - I've got some big plans for Rob in the near future :) I only wish I had discovered this 3.5 years ago before we spent a small fortune on Pottery Barn furniture in our house. She even has plans for the exact Crate & Barrel Bookcase we have in our office. And nearly identical desk too. If you are a DIYer like I am you need to go check it out!

Speaking of DIY - I made myself a shirt to wear! This is the first time I've ever sewn actual clothing. First of all, I don't sew very often, and when I do it is always something for the house - usually curtains/drapes and sometimes pillows. I used this pattern and some cheap fabric I found spur of the moment at Hobby Lobby for $8.

(excuse my filthy bathroom)

It's pretty shapeless, but for $8 I figured it would be ok to run around and get sweaty in this summer :)

Also, I finally took Brady in for a real haircut. Up until this point I am the only one who has cut his hair. It was definitely lacking some shape. But after watching the lady doing the cutting I feel confident again in my abilities and will do it myself next time around. He had so much fun while we were there though. I took him to the kids "salon" here in town and he really didn't want to leave. He sat in the Hummer while getting his hair cut and then had to try out the Corvette before we left. The second half of the place was a mini toy store and a "spa" for little girls to have birthday parties at. I wish I would have brought my real camera.

The Hunt

2010-04-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

So here are my favorites from the Easter Egg Hunt we went to on Saturday. My friend Katrina hosted it at her beautiful home. She has two children, Noah (3) and Anna Lee (1). Brady and Anna Lee are in Kindermusik together. But Katrina and I also know each other from the Birth Stories More group that we attend. Anyway, we had a wonderful time at the hunt. Brady had so much fun playing with all the great toys. He especially loved these gigantic easter eggs that were laying around as decorations. He had a great time moving them around. Katrina's yard was beautiful. It was huge, and covered with all sorts of gorgeous trees with the most vibrant flowers I've ever seen. I may have been slightly obsessed with them :) Katrina is also an artist and she had such wonderful decorations, much of it handmade. I wish I had just a tiny portion of her creativity or talent!

I love this picture. It reminds me of an old black & white picture my mom recently gave to me of my dad when he was a little boy riding on a pony. They both have the same look on their face!

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Ours didn't turn out as planned, but was still wonderful. Brady had another bad night Saturday night and everyone lost sleep again. Which led us to oversleep and miss church. So instead we headed for the beach! Brady had a great time and actually loved the sand and water. I have a few pictures I snapped on my small camera (I finally found my cord, yay!) which I still need to upload to the computer.

Thank YOU!

2010-04-03T22:30:00.000-05:00

Brady got a fun little package in the mail today from Grandma & Grandpa Ayers - A new basketball hoop for the bath tub and Fizzy Tub Colors! He had so much fun playing with the basketball hoop/balls. Actually I don't think he even touched any of his other toys tonight! Thank you mom!

We went to a great Easter Egg Hunt this afternoon and I took a million pictures. I'm still trying to edit them. Hopefully I can get them up by tomorrow.

Happy Easter Everyone!

3.23.10

2010-03-23T22:11:00.000-05:00

Which one would you rather eat?

The organic strawberries sprinkled with a bit of sugar?? Me too. YUM!

Not my kid though...

Hmmmm...

What'cha doing out there Brady? I hope you're not eating that chalk like I asked you not to.

Although I know better since I saw you loading up your trunk with contraband before you headed out.

Sorry bud, but I'm going to have to take the chalk away and ask you to park your car a little closer to the patio so I can watch you closer. (I then apologized to the neighbors for all the screaming!)

Today has been such a long day. I. am. exhausted. I woke up bright and early at 6:30 (I meant to get up at 5:30) and went to the gym - impressive, huh? There's nothing like wanting to get pregnant again to kick your butt in gear and make you want to get in shape so you don't turn into a total elephant :) Plus bathing suit season is nearly here. I bought a cute mom suit from J.Crew, but it's not nearly as cute on my new mom figure :(

So after the gym I came home, showered, and then took Brady to Kindermusik. He had a blast as usual. Then we came home to eat and nap. Only I didn't get to nap. I spent the afternoon cleaning. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the yard and eating strawberries & chalk.

I've decided I hate coming up with new titles for every post. So from now on I'll probably just be using the date unless I can actually think of a good one :)

Fairhope Arts & Crafts Festival

2010-03-21T22:46:00.001-05:00

On Friday we drove across the bay and went to the Fairhope Arts & Crafts Festival. I have wanted to go to this for the past 2 years, but it always falls on a weekend when Rob has to work. Lucky for me though Rob now has every Friday off so we were able to attend! I took my small point & shoot camera with us, but I haven't used it in so long that I have lost the cord to upload the pics with. Bummer. I'm sure I'll find it eventually though. Here are the treasures we bought.....of course everything is for Brady :)

Brady's personalized Easter Pail

A silhouette of Brady.

This is one of the neatest things I've ever seen done. I thought the man doing them would snap a picture of his profile or sketch it on paper, then cut it out. But, nope, he sat down right next to Brady with NOTHING but a piece of paper and scissors and cut this out in about 3 minutes. Meanwhile Brady was flailing his arms and legs all over the place. Definitely a lost art!

Brady's Quiet Book for church.
I have actually been wanting to make one for him myself. But my sewing skills certainly aren't up to par and I have a slight case of OCD, so I knew I would hate whatever I made since it wasn't perfect. So when I saw this I knew I had to have it. Personally,I would have chosen some cuter fabric, but I know it will keep Brady busy.

Here are the inside pages.

Today was such a BLAH day. Tell I'm not the only one that has those! It started off poorly when Frank woke us up at 2am scratching and shaking all over our bed. He wouldn't stop, so finally we turned on the lights and looked at him and he was breaking out in hives. Poor thing. He got a TERRIBLE case of them last year too. I think he either ate or got stung by a bumble bee both times, but not positive. Anyway, he was having some sort of allergic reaction. This morning I noticed he was actually bleeding under one of his arms where he had been scratching himself so much. Poor thing:( Anyway Rob got up to get him some medicine and bring his cage inside. He was driving us nuts in our bed. We were up with him for an hour and then just as I started to drift back to sleep Brady woke up screaming so I had to go put him back to bed which took about a 1/2 hour. Needless to say, we didn't get a full night's sleep which led to all of us oversleeping this morning and missing church. So I was already not too happy when I woke up.

On top of all that the weather today was cold and overcast. I did take Brady out back to swing for about a 1/2 hour this morning, but then I made him come inside because I was freezing. I put him down for a nap but he woke up after only an hour (he normally sleeps for at least 2) so I went into his room to rock him back to sleep, but he would n't let me put him down. So I rocked him and let him sleep on me for another hour and a half. I tried to enjoy my time with him as best as I could sitting straight up with my arm falling asleep :) By the time Rob got home Brady & I were both going a little nutty, so thankfully he suggested we go out to dinner so that we could get out of the house. Let's hope tonight/tomorrow is better!

New Toy!

2010-03-17T21:47:00.000-05:00

Well Brady got his swing set this weekend and he adores it, as suspected. He screams at the back door until I let him out, then he runs to the swing and points till I pick him up and put him in it. Getting him to come inside is a nightmare. I need to invest in some ear plugs. His tantrum usually lasts a good 15 minutes. Even Mickey can't distract him.

A few other things...

*I went back to the gym this morning for the first time since November. Pathetic, huh? I'm pretty sure I will regret that decision in the morning, although I'm going to force myself to go again tomorrow.

*I tried uploading a new blog template earlier today and ended up deleting my list of favorite blogs....grrrr! So frustrating. Now I have to dig through my bookmarks bar and find them all again.

*The past 2 Sundays we've visited a new church. It's a Church of Christ, which I love. My best friend's family growing up were members. And I was baptized when I was in middle school. I've missed it. Rob, however, was not too pleased for me to force him out of his comfort zone. He likes the much larger, much newer Methodist church we've been at for the past 3 years.

*We finally booked our Disney vacation tonight! So excited!

Still Alive!

2010-03-11T13:53:00.001-06:00

How many posts can I write with titles like these? Waay too many! Has it really been almost a month since my last post? Nuts! Funny because I always "write" posts in my mind whenever I have a great day or we do something really fun or when Brady is driving me crazy, yet somehow those posts never make it to the blog.

I do believe Spring/Summer is officially here in Mobile. Today's high is 77. I'm actually sitting on our patio in a tank top as I type this. I've already taken Brady to the park to play on the playground and had a picnic in our backyard on one of his baby quilts with him and Frank. That was bliss for me :) I've been waiting for a long time to have a baby old enough to do those sorts of fun things with. Oh yeah, I also just killed our first Yellow Jacket monster bumble bee thingie of the season.....yuck!

A lot has been going on over the last month. All our floors are finished! They've been done for a while actually. There are a few small projects that still need to be completed - finish sewing drapes/curtains, paint entryway/hallway/laundry, stain & install shoe moulding around fireplace, find new wall decor. But honestly it is such a relief to have our house back in one piece that I haven't been in any rush to finish those items. If you know me well, then you also know I'm a very lazy decorator. I don't like to rush into throwing stuff on the walls, just to say it's done. I like to take my sweet time and find things that I really like. Partly because I don't want to spend $$ on something that I'm not completely satisfied with and partly because I don't want to spend the time/energy.

Here are a couple pictures though for my mom because I know she's excited to see what we have accomplished so far. I have sewn 2 drapery panels for the family room - I was going to do 4, but when I hung them up it was just too much, so I think 2 will do just fine.

We also took Brady down to the Gulf Coast Exploreum 2 weekends ago. They have a new dinosaur exhibit as well as a permanent play area for toddlers that he loved. I'm thinking of purchasing a family membership so we can take him whenever we want. We'd only have to visti 4x/year to make up for the cost, so I think it would be worth it.

Also, I signed Brady up for a tumbling class that starts at the end of the month. I am so excited for this - mostly because it's an hour long class and I know it will wear him out and he will sleep great! You're actually not allowed to start the class till you're 18months, so Brady will be a few weeks shy of that - BUT I figured he's already wearing size 3T clothes, so I don't think they'll be able to tell he's too young:)

It's amazing to me how much he has developed over the past few months. Just a few weeks ago I was getting worried because he still wasn't talking. But now he is saying "bye", "ball", and "no". He is also running, climbing, "jumping" - his feet never leave the ground though, and he understands SO much when I tell him stuff. He also has a pretty big temper. He gets FURIOUS when we make him come inside or leave the playground.

I'm looking forward to this weekend since Rob will be off Fri, Sat & Sunday. We don't have any plans YET - but I think I'm going to "suggest" that Rob build Brady a swing set :) We've been talking about doing it for a while and since it's finally warming up and Brady loves being in the backyard so much, I think now would be the perfect time. Rob loves building stuff though, so I don't think he will mind too much. Then while daddy is building Brady and I can plant some new flowers in our boxes/pots and maybe have a grill out when we're done:)

Sickening

2010-02-17T11:02:00.001-06:00

Saw this over at one of my favorite blogs - Too Many Kids in the Bathtub.

Makes me sick. We've been doing a lot better at keeping the TV off more in our house (we used to keep it on ALL day long!) but with Brady being sick, the construction, and it being cold outside we have definitely watched (and let Brady watch) a little too much this past week. And I know I FOR SURE spend AT LEAST 2 hours/day on the internet. I disgust myself.

Pardon my Absence...

2010-02-16T20:59:00.000-06:00

I've had a lot I've wanted to post about lately including the SNOW we received! However, I'm having some computer issues. Apparently I've used up all the storage space on my hard drive. Not sure what to do about that. My Macbook is only 2 years old (aka - ANCIENT!). I've been wanting to replace it with a fancy new iMac, but our funds are currently running low because of this crazy floor project we've been working on...speaking of which they are all done and look fabulous! Yipee! We've been working on baseboards and will be painting soon and sewing new curtains. We also bought a couple of nice rugs, still looking for the right one for the office though. Hopefully I'll have pics of the finished product soon! That is if my computer cooperates!

Valentine's 2010

2010-02-11T12:19:00.000-06:00

Be jealous of me........be very jealous of me. Because my husband rocks! I just got these beauties delivered a short while ago.....

.......with this note attached.

????Dinner? What? I thought I was cooking chicken sandwiches tonight. That's nothing exciting. What's he talking about?

So I call him at work and he has arranged for Justin & Britni to come babysit for us tonight so we can go to Felix's!!! My favorite restaurant. Yum! I'm already salivating thinking about the filet mignon! THANK YOU SO MUCH JUSTIN & BRITNI! We haven't had a date night since I don't know when (maybe when we made the trip to B-ham back in August?) I really don't remember! We will definitely pay you back once your little one arrives! And thank you to my parents because I'm sure we'll be using the gift card you gave Rob for his b-day! I'm really so excited about this.

A few days ago I made this half-eaten heart shaped V-day cake using Meg's (from Whatever) rainbow cake idea. Target had those silicone heart shaped cake pan's on sale for $2 a piece so I bought a few. I had to use a box cake mix though & I think it's kinda dry. Although not dry enough to avoid eating it! I need to find a good "scratch" vanilla/white cake recipe. Anyone have any they want to share? Here is an awesome chocolate one - I make this all the time, so yummy!

Also, I picked this balloon up for Brady at Walmart a few days ago. He's always grabbing at balloons and store displays wherever we go. It was only $2, plus it has Elmo on it. Can't beat that right? Anyway, he loves the darn thing. I think I'm going to have to get him a balloon on a weekly basis. Three days later and he's still running around with it!

Funny Story

2010-02-08T20:46:00.001-06:00

We don't normally let Brady run around the house naked but tonight after Rob gave him his bath he ran out of the bathroom into the kitchen where I was. Of course I instantly grabbed the camera to take pictures of my cute little "nakie" baby (yes, I'm that mom!). I was snapping away when suddenly Rob yelled and jumped over me with a towel in hand. I didn't even realize he was PEEING on my dishwasher! We had a good little laugh over this one. This picture will go down in history.

Some of Brady's Favorite Things

2010-02-08T12:28:00.001-06:00

Playing with Daddy's camping lantern

Wearing Mama's workout headbands (and throwing fits when he doesn't get what he wants!)

Playing with the dryer light

Smashing his face against windows and tupperware

Wearing (and walking in) everybody's shoes. Daddy gets upset though when he put on Mama's high heels!

WHO DAT!

2010-02-07T12:45:00.000-06:00

OK, so we're normally screaming Who Dey cheering on our Cincy Bengals, BUT tonight we will be cheering for the Saints and for our friend from high school Zach Strief (#64)! We are so excited to actually know a player in the big game! He is a super friendly all around great guy. Check out his foundation here.

Go Saints and Big Z!!!

Haircut!

2010-02-05T15:20:00.001-06:00

I realized I haven't posted any pictures of Brady lately so these are for you mom! We gave Brady his 2nd haircut a few weeks ago - just using the clippers. We sat him in the high chair and gave him a cracker to entertain him and keep him still. He did really good! Of course daddy thought the best way to clean him up afterwards was to vacuum him off. Genius idea, Dear!

The Chaos Continues

2010-02-05T11:24:00.000-06:00

Today Rob planned on finishing laying the wood in our foyer and the small hallway. He tore out the carpet and baseboards. But when he went to Home Depot to buy the little metal strip he needed to put down where the wood transitions into the carpet they didn't have any more. The only place that still has them in stock is a store in Florida. That's an hour and a half drive from here :( Not quite sure what his plans are for that now.

Last night I was invited by some friends to Dream Dinners. Has anyone heard of this before? I had a lot of fun and made 12 different meals. We're eating our 1st one tonight....Crispy Southwest Lasagna. Hopefully it's yummy and hopefully it saves me lots of time!

I realize I may be the worlds worst blogger. We've had so much going on between our flooring/redecorating project and staying busy with Brady and his activities. I really need to get better with documenting what is going on in our lives since I'm way too lazy to break out the scrapbooking supplies! I need to make it more of a priority to record these memories before they slip away and I forget them!

My Worst Nightmare

2010-01-26T13:08:00.000-06:00

I have a lot of fears when it comes to bad things that could possibly happen to my family, especially to Brady. And early this morning one of those fears came true. Around 5:30 this morning I heard Brady stirring in his crib, but he wasn't being that loud so I was hoping he would fall back asleep like he sometimes does. A few seconds later we heard a loud thud followed by skrieking. Normally Rob sleeps through his night wakings, but he sat straight up in bed and said "I think he fell out of his crib". By this time I was already halfway to the door. Sure enough I found him standing against the wall behind the door crying. I checked him over good and there weren't any major bumps or bruises on him, so I rocked him back to sleep. I had the hardest time falling back to sleep after that. I felt so bad that this happened to him. His crib mattresses was on the second to lowest setting, so Rob lowered it to the bottom this morning. It's only about 2 inches lower though. Hopefully it keeps him in because I really don't think he's ready for a toddler bed yet!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

2010-01-21T12:19:00.000-06:00

Guess where we're going??? We are so excited! Rob's brother and his wife have invited us to tag along with them in September for a trip to Disney World! We have been wanting to go for a long time, but before we had Brady we weren't sure how much fun it would be for 2 adults. Instead we kept using Rob's vacation time for trips back to Cincy and one nice trip to the Mayan Riviera. After Brady came along there was no point in going with a newborn. But by the time we take this trip he will almost be 2 years old. Still not old enough to remember the trip or recognize any of the characters, but I do think he will enjoy himself.

The only time I've ever been to Disney World was when I was a kid and my parents took our family. We ended up not using one of the days on the tickets that my parents had bought for us, so they saved them because they had been told they were good for a lifetime. My mom called the park last week to verify that they really were still good and they are! The date on the tickets is from November 1991! Can you believe that? They will definitely come in handy since tickets are so expensive. Thank you mom for keeping up with them for the past 18 years and for letting us have them! If anyone has any planning advice or ideas to keep a 23 month old happy please let me know.

Our kitchen floors are done - YAY! And Rob finished the laundry room this morning - YAY! It looks great, but we still need to put down new baseboards, so the edges still look a little unfinished. And I'm trying to find some fabric that I like for some window treatments. I will post pictures soon.

Brady's New Laugh & More Construction

2010-01-18T08:59:00.000-06:00

This was taken one night last week. Brady loves it when we jump up and down. He thinks it's so funny!

The flooring project is coming along really well. Of course it has taken a little longer than expected, but that is mostly because our slab had a few variations in height and Rob had to pour leveling compound to even it out. He is going to grout it this morning and hopefully we'll be moving our furniture back in tomorrow morning. We still need to put new baseboards down, but we'll probably wait to do that till the hardwood gets installed in the rest of the house, since those baseboards will be getting replaced as well.

Funny story - Rob & I had gotten some Guthrie's chicken to eat for lunch yesterday and Rob had left his box sitting on the kitchen table (currently in the living room). Later that day I walked into the construction zone to fix Brady something to eat. While I was in there I heard him in the family room rustling around. When I walked back in he was hiding behind the table with Rob's box of food (the leftovers) open eating the french fries and toast! He was even dipping the french fries in the sauce before he ate them. At first it startled me when I saw him shoving stuff in his mouth, then when I realized what it was I burst out laughing. Apparently he was really hungry!

Construction Zone!

2010-01-16T08:59:00.000-06:00

We are getting a new kitchen floor this weekend. YIPEE! I am so happy to see the builder's "lovely" vinyl flooring disappear. We have wanted to replace the flooring in our house since the day we moved in 3 years ago. But since we knew from the beginning that we would just be living here for a few years we weren't quite sure if we wanted to make the investment. After listing our house on the market last year and (obviously) having no luck we've come to the realization that we might be staying here a little longer than anticipated and decided to go for it. Thankfully I have an amazing husband who is a do-it-yourselfer and is saving us lots of money!

It looks a little scary right now, but I know the end result will be beautiful. Remember when he tiled our master bathroom and guest bathroom? We loved that tile so much that we are using it again! We were hoping to have the breakfast room, kitchen and laundry completed by the end of the weekend. But due to some issues with the floor not being level and needing to fix that first it's looking as though the laundry room might not get done till Rob's next weekend off (2 weeks). After that Rob is going to try his hand at installing hardwoods in our family room, office, entry and 2 small hallways. Meanwhile I've been trying to keep Brady smiling while having an unusable kitchen and a dining room table and china cabinet taking up half of our living room!

A Rare Sight

2010-01-11T08:35:00.002-06:00

Rob was very excited to be able to use his ice scraper again. It was 18 degrees this morning when we woke up! Brrrr! I know everyone up north is laughing at us, but we're not used to the cold weather anymore. Also, the pipes going to our master bathroom toilet froze overnight - at least we're hoping that's what's wrong with it, since it won't fill up with water. We'll find out for sure later when the temp gets warmer!

2010-01-10T17:59:00.003-06:00

I can't believe I'm actually getting around to doing something I said I'd do! Here are some of the pictures/items I found while cleaning out Brady's closet this weekend.....

In the beginning..................

Brady had a buddy. Or at least what could have become a buddy. I can't even begin to imagine how much more chaotic those first few months would have been if there had been 2 of him!

That tiny little blurb up there eventually turned into this big chunk of love...

Brady's Hospital Pic.

And I sent out these

And President and Mrs. Bush sent him this

Then when Brady was 6 weeks old my sister came to town to visit and we took him to Portrait Innovations for some pics. Let me stop right here and say something about these places. Yes, they are convenient AND cheap. But they seriously lack some creativity. The people working the cameras pretty much have ZERO photography skills. They simply know how to operate the cameras/computers/lighting system that stays in the same place all year long. Now I'm not saying I look down on people who take their kids to these places. I don't at all. As you'll see, I've done it myself and I'm sure I will continue to do it periodically until my kids are grown. But these are definitely not my favorite type of photographs. Real photographers are VERY expensive and I don't know of anyone who can actually afford to take their kids to one multiple times a year. Hence, the reason why these cheap photo places are so popular. But I am making it my goal to get REAL family and child photographs done with an actual talented photographer once/year. After my terrible experience with our wedding photographer I realized just how important it is to have certain memories preserved. And I think having good yearly photographs of your family is worth it. So now that I've lectured you here are the pics....

Brady at 6 weeks

And 2 Christmas pics we had taken on the same visit

At 3 months old Rob and I took Brady to JC Penny's for some more cheap and convenient pictures. Some of his facial expressions are the cutest I've ever seen.

See what I mean?

I was so mad though when the lady working there started pressuring me & Rob to be in the pictures with him. She kept making me feel like I was such a terrible mom since I didn't want any pictures of all of us together. Ummm, HELLO I wasn't planning on having my picture taken that day. I was in the throws of total sleep deprivation from nursing Brady 5x/night. And living on about 3 hours of sleep per day. I wasn't even wearing any makeup that particular day. I should have stuck to my guns, but instead we ended up with these lovely pictures. Although, looking back I am glad I have them. I look at my pitiful self and smile, knowing how far we've come!

Then when Brady was about 5 months old I took him (all by myself) on his 1st plane ride to Cincinnati to attend my niece, Macy's 1st birthday party! While we were there we had some pics taken of the two of them. This one makes me smile!

And lastly, this year's Santa picture. We didn't get one with Santa last year because Brady was a newborn and I was pretty convinced that the mall Santa would be covered in germs from all the other nasty little children coughing and sneezing on him. This year we found a clean Santa at the Junior League's Christmas Jubilee.

As I was cleaning I also came across all the cards I received at my baby showers and after Brady was born. My sweet bible study teacher gave me a card and had wrote this verse in it. How encouraging for us moms!

Hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane!

2010-01-09T15:37:00.001-06:00

My Morning

2010-01-09T14:53:00.002-06:00

This morning I've been cleaning out Brady's closet. IT. WAS. A. MESS. Seriously. For about the past 9 months whenever he would outgrow something I would just open the closet door and toss whatever it was into an old diaper box and think to myself someday I'll sort this all out and properly store it. Well, the day finally came today. In an effort to turn our house into a well-organized, smoothly run and operated HOME I decided something needed to be done with the piles of clothes, burp cloths, pacis, bottles, and breast pump that were suffocating his closet space. I almost shed a tear as I was going through it all. WHY did I not enjoy him more when he was that little? Oh, it makes me so sad. I think it may have had something to do with the lack of sleep, but how I would love to go back and snuggle with him one more time.

Here is the mountain of baby goods that will soon be taken up to the attic. There's another mountain that is waiting to be packed up and taken to Goodwill also.

I also stumbled upon a few old pictures of him taken when he was between 0-3 months old that really made me just about want to cry. I am going to try and scan some of them on to the computer later tonight so I can post them here. Seriously, going through this stuff made my ovaries ache. I want another baby so bad, but I remember how HARD it was in the beginning with Brady and I'm terrified to go through it again while living so far away from our family and having a toddler to care for as well. Oh, but the rewards would be so worth it! And as I've learned already the hard part won't last forever. Soon enough I'd be packing up their clothes for storage and be wanting a third!

Brady's closet is now nearly empty and I'm really quite jealous of all the space he has. I'm not quite sure what to put in there. He really doesn't use his closet - I keep almost everything of his in his dresser/changing table area so that I can have quick access to it. I might just move some of my clothes in there, since our closet is teeny tiny and Rob hogs all the space!

EDITED : See what I mean....click on this link and cry with me please! Can we please go back in time for just one more day???

Learning to Crawl

Please Excuse My Absence!

2010-01-08T21:58:00.001-06:00

Well, I'm back. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. We had a wonderful time spent with family and friends. Here are a million and one of my favorite pictures from the last month and a half (sorry, but if you're my friend on Facebook, then you've already seen these!) I never really meant to take a bloggy break, but between being crazy with the holidays and chasing Brady all over the house (he's been walking for a little over a month) I didn't really have time. Then my lovely husband told me he thinks I spend too much time traveling through internet land everyday. Unfortunately, he's right. I get drawn in to so many fabulous blogs and I love reading about how perfect everyone else's families seem to be, that I tend to sometimes neglect my own :( So I decided to stay away for a little while. (Don't worry - I still jumped online to read a few select blogs/check email/facebook during naptimes and when the internet nazi wasn't looking)!

This leads me to my next topic - my 2010 focus. I used to write out lengthy resolutions every year, but it always quickly became apparent I wasn't going to keep any of them by the 2nd week in January. So now I don't even bother. Instead I know of a few people/bloggers that choose a word or area of their life to focus on. This year I am choosing FAMILY. Rob was absolutely right when he said that I spend too much time online. Since he pointed it out I started paying more attention to my habits and I must confess they are terrible! I've decided to put the laptop back in the office where it belongs and only bring it out at naptime or after Brady has gone to bed. I need to spend more time focusing on him and on Rob. We've also been making more of an effort to keep the TV off as well. AND I LOVE IT!

I've been thinking a lot lately about how quickly time goes by and how I only have this short while to spend with this amazing family God has given me. Also, I'm fairly traditional/conservative in my beliefs about my role in our family and I must confess I haven't been living up to my own expectations and serving my family the way I think I should. So in focusing on my FAMILY I am also going to be focusing on my HOME. We moved into our house over 3 years ago and aside from painting and purchasing some new furniture I really haven't done much to create a warm inviting atmosphere for my family. This is something that needs to change ASAP. I want my home to be a welcoming, loving, safe and peaceful haven for Rob & Brady. I want them to LOVE being here. So I am committing myself to make this happen. I already have some great ideas of things I want to change and I'm setting a small amount of money aside in our budget every month to allow me to make these changes. BUT, the changes will come slowly at first because we are about to replace the flooring in all the main living areas of our house which will equal chaos once it gets started. Our house is about to be a construction zone for awhile. But I'm pretty sure it's going to look great when it's done!

Rob got me a new lens for my camera for Christmas (50mm), and as you can see from the photos above I've been enjoying it. Maybe some day I will have the time to take a real photography class and actually learn what on earth I am doing! Until then I am having fun taking 1000+ pictures and praying that I get lucky and 10 actually turn out.

I don't remember where I found this quote, but I love it. It makes me smile every time I read it. Hope you enjoy as much as I do.

The beauty of the house is Order,

The blessing of the house is Contentment,

The glory of the house is Hospitality,

The crown of the house is Godliness.

Author Unknown

Just Thinking

2009-12-06T23:07:00.000-06:00

While were were in Cincy my mom and I took Brady to Louisville to visit my grandmother. She is old and has recently had a few strokes. The last one left her in the hospital and a rehabilitation center for a couple months. She is now living with my aunt, and sadly will never be able to return to her own home to live by herself again. However, she's not aware of this and desperately wants to go home. She asked multiple times while we were visiting if she could go home. When we left she even tried to stand up out of her wheelchair to get her coat. She wanted to come with us. To be honest I'm not even sure if she knew who I was. My mom has told me that on nearly every visit she asks why her husband has not come to visit her and is starting to think he doesn't care about her. He passed away over 30 years ago.

I spoke to my mom tonight. Yesterday she drove to my aunts house to take care of her for the night while my aunt and uncle went to see their grandson play a basketball game. Before she arrived though my grandma fell out of her wheelchair and hit her head. So they spent much of the evening in the hospital. My grandmother again had talked about how much she missed my grandaddy and said how much she wanted to be with him again. She couldn't believe that he wasn't alive anymore and neither were any of her other family members. She was so saddened that she was the only one left. Hearing my mom tell me these stories just brought tears to my eyes. I never knew my grandfather because he passed away before my parents ever met, but I love listening to the stories my mom tells me about him.

The way my grandma longs for him hurts me. It is so incredibly sweet, yet so sad at the same time. I see it as a testament of what their love must have been. My mom has told me that when my grandmother was younger and my grandfather was still alive she was very active in different activities and always took care of herself and her home. This was also back in the 1940s - 1960's when most women did just that. To me she seemed like the quintessential housewife. I could write a whole new post on all the crafting and homemaking skills she has. She is by far one of the most talented women I've known. I so wish I could get some lessons from her in just a few of her skills. However, after my grandfather passed away she just sort of stopped caring. Her personal appearance and homemaking slowed down and her attitude towards life saddened.

Her house is one of my favorite places to visit. My grandfather built it by hand and the details he incorporated into the design are amazing. I would love to have a home just like it. Although it hasn't been maintained recently is still so neat. NOTHING of his has been moved since he passed away. In the basement there is a bulletin board with some of his work papers still tacked on it along with a picture of my mom from middle school. Everything is just the way he left it the day he passed away. The garage and attic are amazing too. All of his old tools and work material (he built houses for a living) haven't been touched since he was alive. It's like a museum, only a lot dustier!

Two years ago my family was visiting for Christmas and we called my grandmother to wish her a Merry Christmas. When I got on the phone with her, almost immediately she started telling me about how that day 30 some years ago she was sitting in the funeral parlor. I can't imagine spending the last 30+ years of your life with your heart aching for the one you love and feeling so lonely. That must have been some love. And even though my grandma and I weren't very close and I never really felt comfortable enough to ask her all the questions I have swirling about my head, I am so grateful to have gotten a glimpse into her life. She has so inspired me and she doesn't even know it.

Brady and his great-grandma.

Isn't her flowered hat cute?

2009 Family Pictures

2009-11-21T20:16:00.005-06:00

Here they all are! I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. I consolidated some of them into collages so they would be easier to upload, but if you click on them you should be able to enlarge them. Our photographer, Krysia Photography, absolutely rocked. If you are near Cincinnati you should definitely book a session with her. Not only is she incredibly talented but her rates are VERY reasonable AND she allows you to purchase the digital images/copyrights (which is what we did) so you can make as many prints as you want. This will save you a ton of money! Can you guess what our family will be receiving for Christmas??? Mom - please tell me which ones you like best!

Our Fantabulous Christmas Card!

2009-11-21T17:14:00.002-06:00

Sorry I didn't get many pics uploaded last night. Our internet connection at our house is being extremely slow. And either my computer or Yahoo is having issues and not allowing me to read my emails. I will try and get some uploaded later this evening. But I wanted to show you our awesome Christmas Card. I am so impressed with these. Not only is the design great, but the print quality is excellent. I'm not sure where our photog got them printed from, but the cardstock is very good quality and the finish is "pearl" which I've never seen before. It has a slight shimmer to it and is very pretty.

Front of Card

Back of Card

Today has been a really great day. Nothing special. Just one of those days spent at the house getting stuff done and enjoying your family type days. This morning we ran some errands and stopped by Goodwill so I could find an old picture frame. I'm wanting to make a magnetic chalkboard to use as a message board in the kitchen. We came home and while Brady was napping I was able to do a little cleaning and get started on some Christmas crafts. Rob cleaned the garage and cleaned up my old frame for me. He even offered to prime and paint the glass for me. I still need to go to Hobby Lobby to pick out some paint for the frame. I'd like to do a funky color - something different than plain brown or black. Now, we're spending the evening watching football and are cooking a boxed Uno's pizza - not quite the same as a real one, but it will do. Rob's been getting on me to order some LaRosa's from home (they'll put it on dry ice and overnight it to you), so maybe I will surprise him sometime soon :)

2009-11-20T21:38:00.000-06:00

So excited!

2009-11-20T14:45:00.002-06:00

HORRAY! Our pictures/cards arrived today! I am so excited and happy with them. I will upload them later this evening. I posted one of them as a new header, but it is a little larger than I wanted - I will play with it tonight! Yipee!

Master Bath Reveal!

2009-11-18T21:21:00.002-06:00

So here is the other home improvement project that we have been working on over the past month. One thing that I am finally accepting and coming to terms with is the fact that when you have a child things get done at a much slower pace. Tasks that used to only take me a few hours to complete now take days and tasks that used to take days now take weeks. This bathroom is a perfect example of that. Rob and I have had to work on it a little at a time. Some days we didn't touch it at all. The main changes we made are upgrading the nasty linoleum floors to ceramic tile, replacing the baseboards, and adding beadboard and a chair rail to the walls. Then we painted the top half of the room a pretty milk chocolate color and replaced the towel bar/toilet paper roll. We'd like to replace the shower head and light fixture, but that stuff can wait.

I will say that beadboard is a total PITA to work with. Rob and I both agree that we never want to work with it again. Rhoda at Southern Hospitality posted about some great beadboard wallpaper that I would like to give a try in our breakfast room. Tiling the kitchen floors is next on our list, so we will see if I can talk Rob into letting me put that on the walls at the same time.

Here are 2 before shots.....

And now the afters.....

(please ignore the filthy toilet brush - it's on my list to replace this month)

Now I need to brag on my awesome husband for a little bit....He did such a great job on the floors and on the beadboard. He hadn't tiled anything in over a decade before he started on the bathrooms and he had never installed beadboard before. I really admire him for not being scared to try something new. He just jumps right in and figures it out as he goes along (although this part really stresses me out sometimes!). I love that when I ask him to do something (home improvement wise) he actually gets excited about doing it and doesn't complain.

I am excited that these projects are finally done and we can concentrate on the upcoming holidays! I am determined to have all my decorating and shopping done by Dec. 1st this year, so that I can actually ENJOY the festivities. Last year I was stressed to the max. Let's just say that a new baby + Christmas = insanity!

I still need to get around to uploading more pics of our Ohio visit. Hopefully I will be able to get to that by this weekend. Also the photographer that took our family pics while we were on our trip just mailed us our Christmas cards & CD with our pics on it. I should receive it by this weekend or early next week so I will be posting those as well.

We OWN it!!!

2009-11-10T20:11:00.002-06:00

We paid off our car today!!! I am sooooo excited about this. We bought our Acadia last summer when we were needing a larger vehicle for our growing family. In addition to obtaining the vehicle we also obtained an annoying little thing called a loan. Rob and I were both raised in very sensible families who always drove paid-for cars. This usually meant buying used vehicles or in my mom's case driving the same car for almost 20 years!!! So this was our very first time having a car payment. And lets just say we despised it. And *technically* this was a used car when we bought it. But it only had 3,500 miles on it and it still had that new car smell. So to us it was brand new. Anyway, back to that annoying car payment....I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan and while we don't follow all of his principles precisely we do keep a very close eye on our budget and we made it a priority to put as much extra money towards the principle on the loan every month so we could get it paid off early. We failed miserably some months and others we did very well. I also have to thank Rob for his great work ethic and working overtime anytime it was available to him. So we got that sucker paid off in 17 short months! Now, we have an extra $440 every month, which I wish I could say I was going to spend on something really fun. HOWEVER, Rob has an astounding amount of student loan debt (those pharmacy degrees are expensive!) which we are going to start chipping away at with the extra money. Otherwise it will take us another 27 years to pay them off (I'm not joking - our mortgage will be paid off before his student loan would be!).

Guest Bath Reveal....

2009-11-06T21:28:00.004-06:00

So. One of the many projects we've been working on is the guest/Brady's bathroom. This was one ugly room to begin with. The only upgrade that was ever done in here was crown molding. But you couldn't even see it because it blended in with the white walls. I've wanted to paint the room for forever, but never felt like doing it (I really don't enjoy painting). Here are 2 before pictures:

Before

Before

And now for the afters. The largest part of this project was installing ceramic tile floors. We had yucky linoleum before. We also installed faux board and batten on the walls using this tutorial. Then I painted and Rob put up a new towel bar. I must say I'm not that happy with the paint color - it turned out much more "apple green" than the "sage" color I was going for. But I'm not about to paint it again.

After

I must say Rob did an excellent job with the tile considering he hasn't tiled anything in over a decade. I was really nervous about letting him do it, but I do love the results! And please ignore the toilet paper roll that is just sitting on the holder. We normally have to keep it up on the counter top since Brady enjoys unrolling the whole thing and eating a few squares! I still need to find some accessories and something to hang on the wall, but it will probably take me another year before I find something I really like.

Happiness

2009-11-06T14:37:00.002-06:00

My new flowers & window boxes!

confession: these are the ugly $6 plastic window boxes sold at Lowes that I spray painted black.

They're Done!!!

2009-11-03T14:25:00.002-06:00

Go here, click on "Client Proofing" at the top, and type in Brady for the password.

Beautiful!

I couldn't be happier!

2009-11-01T22:14:00.002-06:00

It's coming, I promise.

One of these days I WILL get around to uploading all my photos from our trip and Brady's party.......after I finish the other 1,245,988 items on my to do list.

Chef Audrey

2009-10-30T17:40:00.005-05:00

Confession: I DO NOT EAT VEGETABLES. period. Unless you consider a white potato, mixed with a bunch of fillers, deep fried, and served in a cardboard box next to a "mystery meat" hamburger and a high fructose corn syrup filled soda a vegetable, I just don't eat them. One of my biggest goals as a mother is to raise Brady to eat a healthier diet than I do. As I was browsing my favorite "baby meal" website (wholesomebabyfood.com) I came across a recipe for broccoli cheese nuggets. Brady seems to like broccoli, so I gave it a try. Only I turned them into "pancakes" instead because I knew I would still have to cut them up into small bites. As they were baking in the oven Rob commented that they didn't smell too bad. I thought they smelled pretty good too. So we tried a few nibbles and, lo and behold, they were good! I think we may have found a new side dish! I can now say I'm a veggie eater (kinda).

But wait there's more! One of my favorite blogs to read is Lindsay's blog, Passionate Homemaking. She writes on a lot of topics, but mostly on healthy living/lifestyle type stuff. She's always talking about cooking with whole grains and "soaking" and about something called phytates. Anyway, I've always been lost. I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, but she recommended Sue Gregg's website. Let me just tell you...the website is a mess. Typos and broken links are all over the place. And don't you dare look at the picture of the old lady. I'm sure she's really sweet and all, but someone needs to update that picture. She looks like my 2nd grade teacher from 1988.... But I did find a lot of information! One of the "free" recipes she gives away is for blender batter pancakes. I really expected them to taste like cardboard. Really. But we had them this morning and they were so good! And easy to make too. I don't normally cook pancakes, but when I do I reach for the closet box of Bisquick or Hungry Jack I can find. This recipe has NO flour in it. Amazing I tell ya. I even did the 2-step process by starting the batter the night before. That crazy phytate word kept coming up again. I still don't know what the heck they are, but starting it the night before really simplified the process and made it so fast to finish in the morning. I used a combo of 1/2 oats & 1/2 brown rice like suggested. Sounds gross, I know. But it was yummy. I will definitely be making these again. Now I want to try some of her other recipes too.

Brady's Costume...

2009-10-30T17:16:00.003-05:00

This is a repost of a picture I took last month for Kelly's Show Us Your Life tour. Brady hasn't worn his costume since this day and I'm praying it will still fit him. It is a size 18month and he is currently wearing 2T. Hopefully we can squeeze him in it for a few pictures!

An Award!!!

2009-10-29T21:19:00.003-05:00

I am honored to accept this award from my sweet bloggy friend, Ginger. Thank you so much for your kindness!!!

Here are the rules:

-use only 1 word

-pass along to 6 favorite bloggers

-tell them you did so!

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse

2. Your Hair? Brown

3. Your Mother? Love

4. Your Father? Smart

5. Your favorite food? Pasta

6. Your dream last night? None

7. Your favorite drink? SweetTea

8. Your dream/goal? Family

9. What room are you in? Living

10. Your hobby? Reading

11. Your fear? Loss

12. Where do you want to be in six years? Ohio

13. Where were you lastnight? Home

14. Something you aren't? Weak

15. Favorite Muffin? Chocolate

16. Wish List Item? Clothes

17. Where did you grow up? Milford

18. Last thing you did? Grocery

19. What are you wearing? Lounge

20. Your TV? HGTV

21. Your Pets? Daschund

22. Friends? Wonderful

23. Your Life? Blessed

24. Your Mood? Content

25. Missing Someone? Family

26. Vehicle? Acadia

27. Something your not wearing? Shoes

28. Your favorite store? J.Crew

29. Your favorite color? Green

30. When was the last time you laughed? Today

31. Last time you cried? Awhile

32. Your best friend(s)? Kind

33. One place I could go over and over? Nature

34. Favorite place to eat? Felix's

6 bloggers that I am tagging:

*Britni - yes, I know her blog is private, but she LOVES new readers - so send her an email and ask for the login info!

*Sarah - hopefully this will bring her back from her blogging hiatus!

*Jessica

*Stephanie

hmmm.....4 will have to do!

I still have TONS of photos to upload from our trip. Please don't give up on me. It will take me a while. I am currently suffocating under piles of Laundry & new toys that need to be organized. Also, we are still working on our home improvement projects, so I will post pictures of those as soon as they are finished and everything gets put back in it's place!

Thank you Justin & Britni!!!

2009-10-29T20:59:00.002-05:00

Brady is the proud new owner of a Radio Flyer All-Terrain Wagon! Our sweet friends Justin & Britni generously gave this to him for his birthday. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I can see Brady (and any future babies) having fun with this for years to come. They brought it over this evening and Justin took Brady & Frank for a test drive around the house. They were both super excited. Brady had the cutest look on his face when Justin first started pulling the wagon. I can tell he really liked it. I think we'll be taking him on a walk in it tomorrow when the sun is shining.

Just last night I told Rob that we really needed to buy a wagon for Brady now that he is a toddler. Then this morning I was looking on Radio Flyer's website when Britni sent me a text message asking if Brady had a wagon. I couldn't believe it! She must be telepathic. Thank you again - ya'll really outdid yourself and we are so appreciative!

Back Home!

2009-10-28T09:23:00.002-05:00

We we survived our trip. We decided to drive the whole way (12 hours) yesterday so we could get Brady back on a normal schedule today. It went pretty well. Brady had a screaming melt down while we were stuck in standstill rush hour traffic in Nashville, but we expected it to happen at some point. We got home around 12:30 am last night and have been busy unpacking this morning. Brady is entertaining himself with all of his new birthday presents. Thank you everyone for your generosity.

I will post more about our trip later, but right now I wanted to post this. We had family pictures taken while we were in Cincy and I couldn't be happier with how our "sneak peak" turned out. I can't wait to see the rest of them. Please check them out!

Having fun with Family!

2009-10-22T12:18:00.002-05:00

We made it! The trip actually went very well. Brady did so good. He barely cried at all and he slept almost the entire way. Brady is napping so I just wanted to do a quick update. Otherwise I'll be so tired and overwhelmed when I get home that these will never make it on the blog. These were taken within the first 20 minutes after we arrived yesterday. Enjoy!

It's Coming!

2009-10-18T20:14:00.003-05:00

He hasn't taken any steps on his own without assistance yet, but I have a feeling it won't be very long till he does!

We have been so busy around here. We're leaving for Ohio on Tuesday when Rob gets home from work. I've been busy making lists, cleaning, doing laundry, making lists, organizing, packing, and did I mention making lists? Yeah, I'm kinda OCD like that. Otherwise I'll forget something really important. This trip is even harder to pack for since I've got all our birthday party supplies to pack. Also we are having our 1st "real" family pictures taken while we're on our trip, so I've been deciding on outfits and shopping for the finishing touches. I've been busy hemming all of Brady's pants too. He's a chunky monkey and wears a size 2T, but the problem is that they are too long for him, so I have to hem them up for him. I also made some adorable party hats for him & his friends to wear at his party next Saturday. Pray that the weather warms up some. Right now they are calling for a high of 51 degrees! Ouch. I don't know if we'll be having the party at the pumpkin patch if that really happens!

Feeling So Blessed

2009-10-12T21:10:00.002-05:00

Did anyone watch Oprah this past Wednesday? Unfortunately I didn't get to see it. I rarely watch Oprah anymore (she really annoys me), but I really wish I had seen this episode. A while back I heard about a fellow blogger, Nie Nie (Stephanie Nielson), who had been in a terrible plane crash along with her husband. I try to stay away from sad stories because they make me cry, so I didn't visit her blog or bother learning more about her story. Well, Oprah's show was about her and everyone in the blogging world seems to have posted about it. Here is a link to an article about the episode. So, I have spent the last two days devouring her archives. And I have cried, and cried, and cried. Her spirit and love for her children & Mr. Nielson (her husband) is amazing and beautiful, and inspiring. Reading her words has definitely touched my life and had an impact on my attitude. Please check her blog out here.

We are still working on our projects. Pictures will come soon, I promise. Rob has been working so hard. I don't think he sat down once today and now he's at work till 10 tonight. Something tells me he's going to be grumpy when he gets home. I'm baking him chocolate chip cookies as we speak to sugar him up. OK, I lie - I'm baking MYSELF chocolate chip cookies. But I might let him have one:)

Still Here

2009-10-10T09:07:00.002-05:00

Sorry about the lack of updating this week. We've been busy working on some home improvement projects. I will post pictures when they are all finished!

Can you believe Brady will be a year old in just 10 short days!?! It doesn't seem real. Only 14 days till his party and I still have a lot to do!

Wonderful Sunday

2009-10-05T14:50:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a really great day. It started off with a trip to the Spot of Tea, my favorite brunch place, for a baby shower/birthday party for Carrie, a sweet friend of mine that I met at Kindermusik. She is due with her 2nd in November. I just met her a few months ago and she has been so kind to me. She invited me to join a playgroup with some other moms that she knew and I have enjoyed getting to know those girls as well. It was so nice to get away without Brady for some talking and laughing. I really needed that!

This cheesecake was so delicious. Another girl, Kim, made it from scratch. She said she got the recipe off of Martha Stewart's website. I will definitely be making this in the near future.

We all chipped in and got Carrie a double stroller and a gift card to Posh Salon. She was so grateful. It was adorable.

Another lady gave her a pink cammo dress and embroidered bib for sweet Violet. She made them herself - I was so impressed. I wish I had the skills and proper sewing machine to make stuff like this!

Some of the guests

More of the guests.

Thank you so much BRITNI for babysitting Brady for me so I could attend!!! You are a wonderful babysitter and an even better friend!

Later that day Brady and I were playing in his room. Actually he was playing and I was reading in his glider. He kept pulling up on my knees and laying his head in my lap like he wanted to climb up there with me. So I scooped him up and started rocking him. Probably no one knows this but when I rock him to sleep or put him down for naps I like to sing church hymns to him. My voice is horrible, but the songs are usually nice and slow and it seems to calm him down. So I was singing and rocking away and he fell asleep with his head on my chest. There were a million and one things I needed to get done. But I just couldn't put him down. Tears started welling up in my eyes as I was thinking about how I'm not going to be able to rock him for much longer. So I sat there, with my arm falling asleep, and let him nap in my arms while I sang to him and prayed for him for over an hour. I love little moments like those.

Birth Stories & More

2009-10-02T21:55:00.002-05:00

For the past year the doula that I used when I gave birth to Brady has been sending me emails and inviting me to different get togethers, meetings, etc. In the beginning I didn't go because Brady was either constantly nursing, sleeping, or screaming his lungs out because he wanted to be nursing or sleeping. As he got older I never went to any of the functions because I was kind of scared of the people that might attend them. I wholeheartedly believe that an unmedicated natural birth should be a primary goal of a mother and that breastfeeding is the absolute superior choice. Some of my friends also enjoy picking on me and calling me "crunchy" or a "hippie". But my beliefs pale in comparison to many others in the natural birthing/attachment parenting community. To be honest I was nervous about going to any of these meeting because I was scared I'd be surrounded by a bunch of Birkenstock wearing, granola eating, breastfeeding their 10 year old children, women and I wouldn't fit in with any of them. You know, the REAL hippies.

But I got a text message from my doula on Wednesday evening telling me about a meeting of the Birth Stories & More group that was meeting at the library the next morning. I didn't have any plans that day and I figured it would be nice to go and see Colleen (my doula). After all I better keep in touch with her if Rob & I do have another baby while we live down here. So I went, a little apprehensive. But let me tell you...I FREAKIN' LOVED IT! I met some really great women there and I was so excited that most of the other ladies there shared my view about natural birth and wanting to expand the options for this in our area. At the meeting there was a guest speaker who spoke about doulas, what they do, the need for more of them, and training to become a doula. And there may have been a few ladies there that "seemed" a little crunchier than myself, but everyone was so friendly and I enjoyed meeting so many new & like-minded people. And no one was breastfeeding their 10 year old. Score! I am definitely looking forward to going back next month.

Oh and in case your interested, Rob & I finally made it to Butch Cassidy's on Wednesday and they accepted the restaurant.com gift certificate! We got $10 worth of food for only $.80!!! What a deal! Our waitress did say that some local places had stopped accepting them though, so if you're thinking about ordering some (either in Mobile or where you live) you might want to call the restaurant before you buy the gift certificates to confirm that they accept them.

No Butch Burgers For Us.....

2009-09-29T08:33:00.004-05:00

instead we did this!

poor Rob got a Kidney stone last night as we were driving to Butch Cassidy's. Half way there he started complaining of his side hurting. Three minutes later he was nearly in tears and pulled the car over so I could drive. I turned the car around to take him to the Urgent Care clinic by our house, but it was rush hour and traffic was horrible. I was horrified watching him wretch in pain in the passenger seat. He then decided he wanted to go to the Emergency Room instead (I think halfway because it was closer and halfway because he was scared it was something more serious). Anyway we got there and they got him to a bed and with pain medicine relatively quickly (about a 1/2 hour). I left and took Brady over to Justin & Britni's so he wouldn't be there with all the nasty swine flu victims. THANK YOU SO MUCH BRITNI! Ya'll are wonderful friends and I don't know what we'd do without you!!!

They did a CT scan and saw that it really was a kidney stone like Rob had suspected and they also delivered the news that there are a few more in his kidney's just waiting for their turn! YAY - more fun to look forward to!!! Anyway they sent him home with some heavy duty pain meds and we were able to make it home & be in bed by 10:00. Thankfully we weren't there all night! He felt great this morning, like nothing had ever happened. He just left a couple hours ago to work a 14 hour shift - lucky him. I think we'll try again for Butch Cassidy's on Wed. or Thurs.

Now for my Walgreen's treasures that I promissed...................

I got all of this for $12.13!

It would have been a little less except that I had to split it into 3 transactions to get all the Register Rewards and on the second transaction Rob forgot to hit the employee discount button so I missed the 15% discount on those items.

Here's what I got:

3 Oral-B Advantage toothbrushes

4 bags of candy corn

1 Vaseline Sheer Fusion Lotion

3 (3 pack) Ivory Soap - yes, this is really the kind we use, it's great soap.

2 Morton Salts

1 Dental Floss

1 (100ct) coffee filters

1 (2pk) Emergen-C

3 Venus Razors

2 Fusion Razors (one is manual the other is powered)

The total cost of all this before coupons, register rewards & discounts would have been $80.43, that means I saved 85%!!!! Awesome! I know most of you probably think this is a bunch of junk, but it is all stuff that we use. It might not get used this week, but it WILL get used at some point.

Saving Money!!!

2009-09-28T11:16:00.003-05:00

I love a bargain and I'm a self-professed Cheap-O with a capital C. In our local Sunday paper yesterday there was an article on a local mom that saves hundreds of dollars every month on groceries by couponing and shopping local sales. I immediately checked out her blog and am so inspired. I've heard of this type of stuff before using the Grocery Game, but didn't shop at the stores they had "lists" for in our area. But this lady actually lives here in Mobile and on my side of town. You would not believe the amount of money she saves. The downfall is that she does most of her grocery shopping at the new Publix across the bay which is a good 45-60min drive for me. But like I said, she lives on my side of town and she makes this drive weekly and saves a TON of money so I think it might just be worth the gas $$ and my time to give it a try. Plus I love any excuse to take a little trip over there :)

She also buys most of her toiletry items from drug stores like Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid. I've heard of people making out like bandits at these stores, but have never given it a try......and the hubby works for Walgreens so I can use his employee discount on top of the savings. I bought 3 copies of the Sunday paper yesterday to get extra coupons and I've scoured the Walgreens ad and made my list. Brady is napping right now, but when he wakes up we're heading out to stock up and visit daddy at work. If everything works out like I've planned we'll do very well on our trip.

This lady (her name is Shannon by the way) also posted today about Restaurant.com with a coupon code (CHEF) to save 80% off of their already reduced gift card prices. She said she has used the website before and it really is legit. So of course I hopped on over there and lo and behold Butch Cassidy's (our favorite burger joint) is one of the participants. So I ordered 4 $10 gift certificates (which you print right then & there) for a whopping $3.20. There are some conditions - valid Mon-Thurs. for dinner only & you must spend at least $15, plus they add 20% gratuity - but HELLO we have no problem with any of these! I think we'll be dining out this evening :) I'll let you know if there are any issues using the certificates. Britni - I don't remember if you & Justin like BC or not, but there are other local restaurants listed as well!

2009-09-24T08:47:00.003-05:00

See What I Mean???

This is my "craft room"

Somehow I have to serve dinner on this table tonight, then drag all this junk back out and repeat the process again tomorrow and maybe again the next day. Do you see why I don't sew or "craft" very often?

I might as well show you what I've been working on....new covers for the throw pillows on our couch. I found this fabric on the remnant table at my favorite fabric store here in Mobile, Five Gold Monkeys. I must admit, it's not the prettiest fabric in the world, but it matched our color scheme and it was marked down to $5/yd when the original price was $26.95/yd. Can't beat that! I've never made these covers before so I figured it would be a good practice fabric.

I've been wanting to make new covers for a while, since we've had our others for quite a while. I normally buy covers from Pottery Barn, but they are EXPENSIVE! Usually anywhere from $30-$50 per cover and I need at least 6 of them for our couch. The total for this one was about $6. Also I always want to buy "seasonal" covers for Christmas/Fall/Spring/Summer to change the feel of the room. But, HELLO, we're not rich! Now I can make as many as I want. They are very easy to make also. The hardest part is measuring and cutting out the fabric. You can find the tutorial I used here.

I was so proud of myself for not screwing up the velcro! Now I can remove them to be washed or just change them up whenever.

I only made this one last night, because I started pretty late. I'm going to try and finish two more tonight. Then I'll start shopping for some prettier fabric ~ maybe something Christmasy!

Getting Inspired

2009-09-23T11:12:00.003-05:00

Last night as I was lost in internet land I came across a few crafty blogs that I fell in love with. I adore fresh, brightly colored, funky fabric projects and desperately wish I was a better seamstress. The few projects I have made always turn out crooked and with uneven seams. I don't know if that has anything to do with my lower than the lowest end sewing machine (which was a gift from my mama and I am VERY appreciative for) or if it has something to do with user error. I'm pretty sure it's the latter. Regardless, I don't have a lot of time for sewing projects anyway. But I was certainly inspired after seeing LifeinGrace's new craft room! Oh how I wish I had space for one of my own - maybe I would be a little more crafty if I didn't have to lug the sewing machine out to the kitchen table and put it away every time I wanted to make something!

Here are my new loves....

V and Co.

Pleasant Home

PortabelloPixie

and of course my two all time favorites....

Anna Maria Horner

Heather Bailey

It's Almost Time!!!

2009-09-21T19:54:00.002-05:00

I've been working hard planning Brady's 1st b-day party and I can't wait to celebrate! This has been the fastest (and hardest) year of my life. But it has been a wonderful journey! It really makes me sad that I can't hold my tiny baby in my arms and nurse him anymore. I really miss those days. I don't miss the lack of sleep, but I really miss my tiny baby, especially now that he's 27 pounds and my arm goes numb if I carry him too long!

His birthday party is going to be small - mostly family and a few friends. We're traveling to our hometown in Ohio so all our family can attend. We're having the party at the local pumpkin patch and we plan on taking a hayride together. I really can't wait. I haven't been to Shaw Farms in at least 10 years, probably longer.

Brady turned 11 months yesterday and he absolutely would not sit still to let me take a picture of him. Today was no better. I'll get one eventually though! Rob actually called me from work yesterday to remind me what day it was and to take pictures. This is how our conversation went:

Me: hello?

Rob: do you know what day it is?

Me: ummm....

Rob: Brady's 11 months old today.

Me: Oh wow, I forgot!

Rob: yup, I can't believe it either.

Me: Ugh oh! I guess it's time to get started on the next one...........(half joking and waiting for an objection)

Rob: OK

Me: What???

Rob: I'm fine with that.

Me: Really?

For those of you that know me well you know that I've had baby fever for the past 6 months. But Rob wasn't quite on board yet. He asked me a couple weeks ago when I wanted to start trying for another, but I wasn't sure if he really wanted to try yet. Preferably I think I'd like to wait till Jan. or Feb. before we start trying again, only because if I got pregnant any earlier the baby would be due in the middle of next summer, right when we'd be trying to sell our house again. I don't think I want to deal with that kind of stress! However, part of me kinda wants to just let nature take it's course and if it happens before then, so be it. I really didn't enjoy getting pregnant last time, because everything was so "planned" if you know what I mean. It was kind of stressful. And then there was the dreaded 2 week wait every month, waiting to see if it worked. I would much prefer to not stress out and instead enjoy life! But I must confess I'm scared to not be in control!

I'm really trying hard not to worry about so much though and instead trust God and follow him (and his plans NOT MINE!). Which leads me to these two books I've been reading and wanted to share. Both are excellent. The second one took me a while to "get into it", but I've been trying to take it slow and digest what is being said. The Beth Moore book is great. I've only read about the first 50 pages but I've already learned so much. I chose this book because I tend to gravitate more towards the "self-help" kind of christian books - you know the kind that tell you how to live. I've read so many of those books but I'm kind of getting tired of them. I wanted to read something with a little more "meat" to it. Beth does a great job at really setting the scene and helping you understand the historical context and the way society was at the time the disciple John walked with Jesus. She brings up questions I would have never thought of, and I'm so glad she does, because it's really helping me pay attention and understand some things I would have otherwise skimmed over and not thought about.

I was in Lifeway this past weekend and the Beth Moore book was on sale for just $5! That's actually the only reason I bought it - glad I did. The other book I bought for about the same amount when our church bookstore went out of business. It was one of the few books left and I didn't want to look rude and walk out without buying anything, so I picked it up, not really expecting much out of it. Maybe God knows I'm a cheapskate and only buy things on sale and intentionally put these in my path? Hmmm....

My Latest Project

2009-09-18T21:46:00.006-05:00

Just practicing for the birthday shirt I plan on making for him.

I swear he is looking more like my dad every day.

Funny, because when he was born I could have sworn he wasn't mine.

He didn't look a thing like anybody in my family.

Soon we'll be calling him "little Richard".

Check out those teeth!

You can find the tutorial here.

Show Us Your Life - Favorite Recipes!

2009-09-17T21:48:00.008-05:00

This is my first time participating in Kelly's Show us Your Life tour. This week's theme is favorite recipes. I am far from being a good cook, and most of my favorite recipes are "borrowed" from other people. Some of my favorites though are listed below.

No Bake Cheesecake - better than the "real thing"!

-I'm not exactly sure of the origins of this recipe. My mom used to make it all the time when I was little. It was my Dad's favorite and now it is Rob's favorite as well. I believe my aunt got this recipe from a sorority sister of hers back in the 60's. It's delicious.

First, you need to make a graham cracker crust. You can use a store bought one if you must. Personally I think they're nasty, but whatever floats your boat. Here's how to make a homemade one....

1 1/2 sleeves graham crackers

1/2 c sugar

1 stick (give or take) butter

-crush the graham crackers in a baggie. I usually throw them in a large ziplock, break them up some with my hands, then use a rolling pin to crush them up really fine.

-put the crumbs in a bowl and mix in the sugar

-let the butter soften, then either use your hands or a pastry cutter to mix in the butter (I use my hands, it's more fun).

-spread the mixture into a pie dish and press it firmly down in the bottom as well as along the sides.

-bake in a 350* preheated oven for roughly 10 min.

-make sure you allow the crust to cool before adding the filling!

Filling:

1 pkg. cream cheese

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 can sweetened condensed milk

-let the cream cheese soften, then mix the ingredients together on high, till it's not lumpy anymore (mine is usually still a little lumpy b/c I'm impatient and don't let the cream cheese soften enough).

-after the pie crust cools, spread the filling in the crust & place in the refrigerator for a few hours till it's firm. Don't eat too much at once or you'll get a belly ache!

That's about as original as my cooking gets. However, here are some links to some of my other favorite recipes!

Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

these are worthy of being sold in a bakery, I promise!

Spicy Chicken Farfalle

The Best Chocolate Cake

Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken

Onion Strings

Chicken Parmesan