Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter today - went to church this morning then went to Cracker Barrel with Justin & Britni afterwards. Then Rob and Justin had a fun afternoon of golfing. While they were gone Brady got his 1st taste of sweet potatoes! Boy did he like them - he actually screamed at me when I tried to put them away after he had eaten 1/2 the container. He wanted more, so of course I obliged! I was so excited for him to try some "real" food, since he's only had rice & oatmeal cereals (we started these about a week and a half ago). 

Here's our family Easter photo. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Cincinnati Trip & other Randomness

Okay, I hate blogger - I added this picture late and since it's a total PITA to move them I had to leave it here at the top. This is B this morning before church. I thought he looked too cute in his polo and jeans and had to snap a pic.

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post! Actually, I can. I'm the worlds worst blogger. I'd much rather read other people's blogs than write about my own boring life. Which reminds me - I updated my blogroll on the side, I've found some more fun blogs to waste countless hours of my life reading! Enjoy!

Well we made it home from our trip to Cincy in one piece and without any major meltdowns (by either Brady or myself). Which was a lot better than our trip up there - Brady didn't like the plane rides too well. The plane rides were actually heaven compared to the first few nights we were there though - Brady hardly slept at all for the first 3 nights. It was a nightmare for me! And we are crazy enough that we are going to do it all over again in about 2 months! Rob's brother is getting married Memorial Day weekend and we plan on flying up there for about a week. Hopefully though things will be easier since Rob will be traveling with us this time. At least he can shield my boobs from onlookers as I try to nurse a screaming child in the airport and on the plane! Oh, how I feel for those poor souls who had to sit next to me on our last trip!

So, let's get on with it. Here are just a few photos from our trip. I took a TON, but I hate uploading them - it takes too long to do and it's too hard to rearrange them. Does anyone else have this problem?

Brady with 3 of his girlfriends (the kids of 2 of my friends from high school)

We had a mini high school reunion with our offspring! It was so good to see these girls again. I hadn't seen many of them in 8 years!!! Too long to go without seeing good friends!

Mike, Macy & Devin...the real reason we made the trip in the 1st place - Macy's 1st B-day party!

Brady & Macy hamming it up. They LOVED eachother!

Brady turned 5 months while we were there. 

Brady with another girlfriend, Lola. Lola's mommy (Sarah) and I were sorority sisters in college. They live in Nashville now, but happened to be in town that weekend. Check out the look on Brady's face - meltdown in action!

Aside from a little health scare from my dad, which landed our family in the emergency room one night, we had a great trip up north and I'm now itching more than ever to pack up our house and move! Unfortunately we haven't had any showings in a very long time. My friend Katie told me that I should plant a St. Joseph figurine in my yard to bring good luck. She said it worked for both her sister and parents when they were selling their homes. I had never heard of this before so I googled it and sure enough lots of information came up about this. I haven't bought my figurine yet, but I'm gonna try to find some time this week to get one. Hey, whatever works, right?

Katie also sent me a facebook message today to tell me she loved the Chicken Fafalle recipe I blogged about last year. This got me thinking that I should really do a favorite recipe post since I've really started enjoying cooking.  I'll link to (or post the recipes) of my favorites and if anyone has any of their own they can comment and add to the list. I'm gonna force myself to get started on this and (hopefully) it won't be another month before I get it up!

Spring is Here!

I am finally getting back to my new hobby, digital scrapbooking. I started learning how to do this right before Brady was born, but once he arrived I went into survival mode for a few months and didn't have much time for any sort of hobby. I'm very glad to say things are getting much easier for us. We still have plenty of bad days, but I'm starting to enjoy life again :)  The above layout is one I created this weekend. They are supposed to be side by side, but unfortunately technology & I don't really get along, so I don't know how to do that on here. Enjoy!

Spring is finally here - it was 80 degrees here today. Unfortunately it won't be long until the temperature gets so hot and the humidity so high that I'll refuse to go outside. I've always joked that in the north you're trapped inside during the cold winters and down here you're trapped inside during the hot & humid summers. Just one more reason why I'm looking forward to moving home - escape this heat!

Finally, an Update!

I know it has been way too long since my last post, but I've been a little preoccupied lately since I finally decided to join facebook. I've been having too much fun stalking peoples profiles to spend time updating you over here. A lot has happened since my last post. Brady turned 4 months old on Friday. He discovered his feet about 2 weeks ago and finally rolled over (tummy to back) last week. Rob & I were so excited for him. He did it 4 times, but then the next day acted like he had never done it before and hasn't done it again since. I think he has forgotten already!

My parents came down to visit for the weekend and we had a great time visiting with them. We even took Brady to the beach for the first time. On Sunday we were really looking forward to going downtown to eat brunch at the Spot of Tea, but I completely forgot about all the stupid Mardi Gras parades and we drove right into the mess. We saw some VERY interesting people. Anyway, we just turned around and came home because we couldn't get anywhere near the restaurant and figured there was a good chance they'd be closed anyway. Here are some pictures from our beach trip...

Now for some really exciting news.... My niece, Macy, is turning 1 year old next month and I was really hoping that somehow I would be able to make it home to celebrate with our family. Rob & I talked about it and decided that I should take Brady and fly home to visit! We'll be in Cincy for about a week and a half! I am so excited, yet so nervous at the same time. I hope I can handle Brady all by myself on the airplane and in the airport during our layover. And I hope having him out of his normal environment for this amount of time doesn't totally screw up his "schedule." Lately though he hasn't had much of a schedule anyway. I definitely think he is going through the "4 month wakeful/sleep regression" phase right now. He went on a nap strike about a week ago, but I think that is starting to get better. Then on Saturday night starting at 3 am he woke up every 45 minutes! Thank goodness my parents were here so that they could help out with him on Sunday morning while I went back to bed! Last night was better in that he only woke up once (but stayed up for 1.5 hours). My mom got up with him first, but he wouldn't go back to sleep so I eventually had to get up and nurse him back to sleep. I hope this phase doesn't last too long!

He Likes the Exersaucer!

We tried out the exersaucer for the 1st time 2 weeks ago and it was a big fat failure. This week, however, he changed his mind. He loves it. He just stares at all the toys in amazement. This boy is becoming so much fun!

And one from tummy time yesterday...

Randomness...

I've been meaning to post for a while now, I just haven't had much motivation lately. Sorry to keep you waiting. 

Brady has (somewhat) been trying to roll over lately...

...but it's kinda hard when you have a 17lb wiener dog holding you down.

Brady is officially too big for his infant bath tub and now gets bathed in the big boy tub. My back is killing me from leaning over this every night. I miss the kitchen sink. 

He took his 1st nap on his belly last week. It made me nervous, but he fell asleep during tummy time in the middle of the family room floor, so it was easy to keep an eye on him. 

We're FINALLY having some success with the Bumbo. He screamed like a madman the 1st few times we tried it, but he can now last 10-15 min before he freaks out. We have a really cute video of him that I will try to post later this week.

I am loving our cloth diapers. I intend to devote an entire post to this someday...

............................................

In the past 3 weeks we have had 2 showings, 1 no show, and a realtor caravan. It's really hard trying to keep the house spotless all the time. I took a bunch of pictures though to commemorate the cleanliness. In case you didn't know what my house looks like, here you go...

View from the entryway 

Brady and I even spent one afternoon in Target buying up things like new throw pillows, rugs, and new towels to spiff up the place.

Master Bath

I've even been buying fresh flowers for our kitchen table and bedroom...

The office and Brady's room are my two favorite rooms. Probably because they're the two I put the most effort in to. See that wainscoting? I did it myself! These pictures really don't do the room justice...they're really dark. The room is really cute in real life. To see picture of Brady's room click here.

Plain guest bath.

Laundry

Ugly guest room.

We're supposed to have another showing tomorrow morning. Pray that it goes well!

Look Who's 3 Months Old!

My little lumberjack. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. I remember that first week home when things were so difficult wishing that he were this age. Now here he is and I'm eagerly anticipating him turning 6 months and starting solids and (hopefully) starting to crawl and being able to sit unassisted. It makes me think how I really need to slow down and enjoy him. I still get frustrated though because I feel like he still can't do much. Rotating him between his swing, bouncy seat, and activity mat is starting to get old. We also do a lot of tummy time and read him books but he gets bored easily with those as well. I'm sure this next month will bring lots of changes and growth.

I have to admit that I've been feeling very down these past few days. I am really missing Ohio and our family and friends up there.  We were so excited on Saturday because we thought we were finally going to have a showing for our house. We spent the entire afternoon cleaning and then left during the supposed "showing" time, only to return home to a message on our machine letting us know it was cancelled. I was so disappointed. I feel like we're stuck and are never going to make it back. I'm really wishing we had never bought this house right now. It is so hard to be down here without much help and not many people to talk to and keep me going through the day. Please pray for us that we will be able to sell our house quickly.