Bring back the blonde?

I came across a bunch of old pictures this weekend (most of which reminded me how skinny I was and took it for granted), but also the blonde hair. I've only been brunette for maybe 3 years? But looking at these pics make me want to bring the blonde back. I dunno though...it's a lot of maintenance. In those days I thought nothing of dropping $200 on my hair once a month. Craziness. But who knows...next time you see me, I just may be a little blonder. ;)


Yeah I was making love to the camera. This was one of my first MySpace pics. hehe :)

Flashback

Had a weird flashback today...I was ironing and for some reason I started thinking about those Generra Hypercolor shirts that were popular when I was little. Man those were my favorite! Anybody else remember them? Mandy, I know you do! Those and Reebok pump tennis shoes, Body Glove stuff, and buying sex wax because it smelled good! LOL Ahh...growing up in Florida. I don't know if those things were just popular in Florida, but I relate all of those to FL because that's where I was. Good memories. With the way fashion goes, I'm sure Hypercolor shirts will be the next hot thing!





BTW, before all of you think I'm crude, sex wax is for your surfboard. :)

Stripping...at church?

Come find out what it's all about. The Dead Sea Stripper illustrated sermon at Cornerstone Church. August 2 @ 5pm and August 3 @ 10 am. We go on Sunday mornings...come with us!

http://www.cornerstonenashville.org/

That Baby Made Me Do What??

Today I made organic baby food for Evan...homemade. Yes, me. Steve's having a cow because I don't even get into cooking dinner.

Thursday I'm going to a Mommy's scrapbooking night.

Seriously, this baby has changed me. I NEVER thought I'd be doing either of these things! Next thing you know I'll be driving a minivan. Aaaaa....I hope not!

Joshie!

My sister is 34 weeks right now and her doctor says she can have the baby any time past 36. She's been on bed rest for a while and is dilated and effaced so little Josh will be here soon! I can't believe it's only going to be a few more weeks! Addison and Evan will have a new cousin before they know it!

6 Months

Evan turned 6 months on the 7th. He learned to sit up a week or so before that while we were on vacation at the Cape. Very exciting! He also started to really jump in his jumparoo, which he was thrilled about. So far he's had one face plant since sitting up and it happened today. Despite the boppy I had strategically placed around him, poor little guy busted his lip a little. I didn't anticipate him falling forward. He really hasn't fallen much since learning to sit up. He's pretty stable. But of course he's okay.

Anyways, we learned at his doctor's appointment that he's 18 lbs (60%), 28 inches (95%...yeah!) and I guess he has a little head because it's in the 25%. It doesn't look too small for his body to me though. Although all I can think about is those movies with aliens with tiny heads. lol I only let him get 2 vaccinations at a time, fortunately one was oral so that only left 1 "real" shot. My prayers worked because he only cried a second and then was fine. The staff thinks I'm retarded for not doing all his vaccinations at once but I don't care. It's just mean to give little babies any more than that at one time! Plus I'm leary of giving babies too many shots at once...I personally think it's too much for their little bodies to handle all at once.

The doc says he can start using a sippy cup with juice now, which blew my mind since he can't even hold his own bottle very well. But of course I rushed to Target to pick out his first cup! I bought a trainer cup that functions as a bottle and sippy until he really gets the hang of it. It's cute to see him hold it! He seemed to like apple juice okay, but still hasn't got the hang of the sippy. Along with the new cup came several new toys since he can sit up now and he *needed* new toys. :)

I was thrilled to hear the doctor say it wasn't going to make him retarded if I let him watch a few minutes of TV a day. All the stuff I read makes me crazy...like TV causes autism. This kid is in the stage where he constantly needs something new to see or do, so TV is helpful from time to time. Plus he only watches it for a few minutes before something else captures his attention.

I'm pretty sure he has early onset separation anxiety. Which is weird considering he's never had an issue with that before. He's fine if he sees me, but the minute he realizes I'm in another room, he's whining. Pretty annoying, but we just have to work through it.

He's an incredibly happy little thing! He smiles and giggles at everyone. Mom says you can tell he's incredibly loved. No kidding...I do just about everything that kid wants! hehe Momaw watched him for me yesterday while I spoke to my mom's Girls Ministries class. I don't think Momaw sat him down the whole time she watched him. His little head still smells like her perfume because she kissed and loved on him so much! I guess we're going to have to work on how to "unspoil" a baby pretty soon. :) He's staying the night with Grammy and Poppi for the first time this weekend. Mommy and Daddy are excited to get a date night! Actually Mommy's more excited to get to sleep in the next morning!

The hardest thing to adjust to is that he used to take 4-5 naps a day (yes I was very lucky) but now he only takes 2. It's difficult because he's thrown his whole routine off so I'm left trying to figure out what the new one's going to be.

Six months is so fun. He's so alert, happy, and playful. They say it only gets better. Yesterday I took him to the pool at the Y and he spent a long time in the pool with me. He used to only last about 15 minutes.

My favorite thing to report is that he's sleeping from 8 pm until 7:15 am! YEAH! FINALLY! The only thing is that he still wakes up occasionally between 4:30-5:30. It's because he wants his pacifier. I had that nailed before we went on vacation but we regressed a bit while in a new atmosphere so I'm having to retrain on that. The doctor says I shouldn't break him of his pacifier completely since he's only 6 months, but that it's up to me. I broke him of his addiction to it...meaning he doesn't need it to go to sleep. But I still give it to him sometimes if he's really upset. But this 4:30-5:30 thing has got to stop!

So everything's going very well...I couldn't ask for anything to be better. I love spending my days with him. Tomorrow we have a playdate with the Mama's Group, which we always look forward to. I'm psyched that he can sit up now so maybe he can start to interact with the other babies.

Vacay pics:

Vacation Highlights

We just got back from our first family vacation to Cape Cod for 10 days. I was nervous about taking Evan...not sure if it would really feel like vacation, but after a few days getting him acculimated to the weather, he did far better than I could have asked for. Not only that, he made SEVERAL milestones while we were gone. First and foremost, he learned to sit up!!! All by himself and all of the sudden. My excitement still hasn't worn off about that yet. And he really started jumping in the jumparoo. Lisa brought over one just like his, but he never really jumped in it, he just played with the toys. But this week he got the concept of jumping and he wore it out! He had no problems sleeping in a strange pack-n-play, he bonded with Grandma Jane like I couldn't believe, he LOVED the hiking backpack he toted him around in, made "friends" with every single person we came in contact with and did perfect on both flights. He is such a great baby.

We started off our trip by spending a day in Boston and got to hang out in Fenway Park. We all got new Red Sox ball caps which was fun. Steve got a baseball signed by some former players (Jim Rice and others), which was super exciting to him. Daddy and Evan got pics with them too.

We stayed with Grandma Jane in the family cottage for 9 days, just a stone's throw from the beach. Since the cottage is on the bay side, the tide comes way in and goes way out. I'd never seen anything like it before. When the tide's out, you can walk WAY out onto the sand bars. But when the tide's in, there's hardly any beach at all. It's crazy! Because of my ocean-fish-grime paranoia, I didn't get in the ocean much, but I managed to overcome my fear and got in with Steve and we had a ball! Evan slept on the beach while we frolicked in the water like kids...it was so fun.

Some of my favorite memories include introducing Grandma Jane to the Bachelorette (tv show). Oh man, it was hysterical! First of all, Grandma Jane is 87 years old. She said things like, "That girl doesn't have sex with all those men, does she?" And "I can't believe she tasted all those men." This was my favorite dialog between Steve and her...

Grandma Jane: "I would have chosen that guy."
Steve: "Why would you have chosen him?"
Grandma Jane: "I liked what I saw."
Steve: "The only thing you saw was him with his shirt off!"

LOL!! She stayed up past her bedtime to finish watching the show with me. Poor thing was tired and sleepy, but couldn't peel herself from the TV until the show was over. lol

It was very fun for me to meet Steve's sister Lisa and her kids. Lisa is soooo nice and thoughtful. Noah is almost a year and he's a wild one! Nate is 20 and he's very polite and together. Ashley is 17 and super sweet. She babysat for us on our anniversary so we could have a night together. I really wish they lived here so we could hang out with them more.

My most memorable moment on vacation was our anniversary. Steve took me to his favorite restaurant on the Cape, Ocean House. We walked in the restaurant and immediately you're looking at the ocean. They have these magnificent windows everywhere. Since the restaurant literally sits on the beach, you can't get any closer. We got the perfect table up against the window. We had a nice long, slow dinner and at the perfect moment, Steve stuns me with diamond earrings! He just pulled them out of his pocket, no box or anything (hmmm...wonder if they're black market? lol). He said the most amazing things that I needed to hear. I felt exactly the way I did when he proposed...exactly. It was a wonderful feeling. I didn't quit crying for 15 minutes. I was crying so hard I almost couldn't catch my breath. You guys know why...you remember all those years I prayed for a husband. Steve is more than I asked for. He continually surprises me with new things about him that I adore. He knows exactly what to say exactly when I need to hear it. He loves me so much that sometimes I can't fathom it. It reminds me of the verse where God says He'll bless us exceedingly more than what we can ask or imagine. That's what I thought of when I was sitting there at that moment...His word never comes back void.

There are so many other wonderful memories that I have from this vacation, but I have to go. Can't miss the series finale of the Bachelorette!! Gotta call Grandma Jane and make sure she's watching! :)