MeisnerMafia...Steve. Beth. Evan.

Gavin milestones

2010-10-19T08:29:00.004-05:00

Sat up for 10 minutes yesterday. Definitely on the brink of sitting up for long stretches on a regular basis.

Gets up on hands and knees and rocks. Then I push his little butt back down! I don't want him to crawl yet!

Has been rolling over and over and over across rooms for months now. Scary!

Is the smiliest, happiest baby I have ever seen. Makes everyone feel like they're his favorite person. Laughs and coos all the time.

I refuse to put shoes on him or "big boy" outfits because they make him look too old. Oh gosh, I'm one of those mothers! I'll be dressing him in a bunny outfit when he's 3. lol

Evan milestones

2010-10-19T08:11:00.005-05:00

Talking in lots of complete sentences.

Can identify lots of shapes.

Can now make distinction between boys and girls ("Mommy is a girl", "Daddy is a boy") So cute!

We go through all the songs he knows every night before bed. He used to want me to sing with him, but now he just wants me to listen. I taught him sign language to "Jesus Loves Me" and "Oh How I Love Jesus" and it is the cutest thing to see him sign and sing.

He's doing a lot better with being more social and happy going to church nursery, gym nursery, etc. He really enjoys playing with other kids, runs around laughing and chasing them.

This week he ran 3 houses down completely naked from waist down because he was "chasing birds". I panicked when I couldn't find him, but when I did, almost couldn't walk because I was laughing so hard.

He also puked about 8 times one night. First time he's been really sick. Poor guy.

Favorite game is chase, especially when we play with the ball. He wants me to "steal" it and run around. He loves playing kickball too.

Am I Really Sitting Down to Blog?

2010-07-10T07:49:00.017-05:00

Who has time to blog lately? Not me! Having two kids is pure exhaustion most of the time with almost no time to myself. But I sure love those little guys to pieces. Life has certainly changed once again. It was very challenging at first (as it always is for us when we have a new baby), but now we're starting to get the hang of things.

Gavin:
Now that we have Gavin, I can hardly remember what life was like a few months ago without him. I can't imagine my life without that little guy. He brings SOOO much happiness and joy to me. He is such a wonderfully happy, smiley, content, "easy" baby. Thank God! He has always been a great sleeper, he "got" nursing from the get-go, and he's almost always happy and smiling. What a change from Evan! Love my Evan, but that little guy was a difficult baby. I never fathomed just how much I'd love Gavin. Of course I knew I'd love him, but I am IN love with that sweet baby. I was very worried about having another, even though we planned him. I never got sleep with Evan, so I was dreading the newborn stage with Gavin. I remember praying, "God, please help me be so in love with my new baby that I won't even mind getting up at night with him." Boy did God answer that prayer. It wasn't ever brutal this time. He started sleeping in 4-5 hour stretches immediately. At 2 months he was sleeping 6-7 hours and his pediatrician said that was stellar for a purely breastfed baby. And at 10 weeks, he started sleeping 9-10 hour stretches! He sometimes sleeps longer at night than Evan does! He was super quick to smile, he doesn't mind being passed around to a thousand different family members and he's always happy. Oh and he laughed out loud at me, like a belly laugh, the other day. Soooo precious! (July 3, 2010)

I'm very happy that breastfeeding worked out this time and is going well. I still had to work at it at first and it's still very time consuming, but I'm enjoying it this time. I spend about 2 hours total during the day just breastfeeding. But it truly is convenient and easier than bottles but only once you get the hang of it, definitely not at first! I have this huge diaper bag, but now realize you only need a big bag if you're bottle feeding. It's so nice not having to carry bottles, a bottle of water, formula, etc. The downside is nursing in public. But I just do it. I can't always scurry off to a hidden area, plus it takes so long that I don't want to spend 20 minutes by myself away from people every time I need to nurse. My friend Aimee loaned me the cutest "hooter hider" ever. That thing is priceless. It's a beautiful "cape" that I wear when I'm nursing that covers everything...love it. I laugh but am slightly horrified at places I've nursed Gavin: in the car...lots. At Zumba class. During Sunday School. At dinner (but I was covered up, Kim Kardashian!). Walking around Chuck E Cheese, yes walking. Like I said, slightly horrified, but it's a part of life and I don't just whip my boob out for everyone to see.

Evan:
Evan has entered his most challenging stage yet. Most notiably, I potty trained him in a matter of days and he was fully, completely trained for 6 weeks. Only had one accident during that time. And then Gavin came along. Man oh man. Evan has only poohed in the potty a few times since then. He continues to pee in the potty but mostly poohs in his underwear. It's almost always when I'm nursing Gavin or paying Gavin attention. I swear, after 3.5 months, it's about to drive me insane. Actually, it's already driven me insane. I've had fits of rage where I have to go in the other room and scream my head off. I've tried absolutely every-freaking-thing with no luck. Rewards, candy, toys, lots of praise, to spankings, time out, etc. Nothing works. The worse part is that I can't (and won't) put him back in diapers. I actually broke down after 2 months and bought pull ups, but he just takes them off and then I have to deal with poop in the floor. It's potty purgatory. I know adding Gavin to the family has been very hard on Evan...in more ways than I know. He loves Gavin so much and doesn't take his frustration out on him, but he takes it out on me. I feel like he's mad at me for making him "share me". It's tough. I pray this horrible phase will end soon.

On to happier topics...

I'm so proud of how Evan is putting words together and speaking in longer sentences. He's really grown a lot in the past 6 months. Everyone thinks he's older than he is because he's so tall and looks so boyish instead of toddlerish, but he's still only 2. He has a lot of 3 year old friends, but when I see him around them, it's obvious that he's younger. He can't articulate things quite as well as them because he's 6 months away from being 3. I think he's doing really good for where he's at. Physically he's strong and active and can do all the things older kids can do. He's going to a summer day camp where he's the youngest one. I begged the Director to let him in even though he was supposed to be 3. He got to ride a pony which he looooved, go down a big waterslide and hear special storytellers. I'm really impressed with all the school is offering this summer. Every Tuesday, we have playdates with a Moms group I'm hosting at church. We've gone to Monkey's Treehouse, community pools, movies and we're set to go to a splash park. Evan's made tremendous progress swimming in the pool this year. He now swims without us being in the pool. Still have to keep a close eye on him, but he's gotten over his fear...a little too much!

Steve:
We (Steve) started teaching a Sunday School class a few months before Gavin was born. The Sunday School Director at church approached him about a class that he needed a teacher for. The old teachers stepped down and he really needed someone to step up. Steve was just the guy for the job! He's a natural leader, facilitator, speaker, etc. Love that about him. Those are all the things I stink at. Anyways, the class is a 20's/30's couples class. It started out pretty small, but it's doubled in size now! Woot! His first series was one we pulled from Pastor Davis: "How God Speaks to You". My fave of Pastor Davis's series that everyone can relate to. Then he did a series on the disciples and leadership and now we're doing "The Secret to the Marriage You Want". It struck me as laughable that we're teaching on marriage since we have a whopping 3 years experience under our belts. But we're not deriving from our own experience...it's a marriage study kit by two reknown Christian authors. Actually we're learning as much from it as probably anyone. It's all about how empathy for your partner is the keystone to a successful relationship. Good stuff that's already proven its success in our marriage.

Steve's been slammed at work lately. The popular "CU" case is hogging all his time, even though he has several other huge cases that demand his attention. Then he has to come home to a screaming 2 year old, a frantic wife, a dirty house and a crying baby lots of nights. Poor guy. I don't blame him if he doesn't come home one night! lol Just kidding baby, you know you love us and all our craziness!

I admire Steve so much. So, so many people come to him for free advice, which he handles with grace. He likes helping people, but I'm sure it can be stressful, dealing with everyone's problems all the time. Not to mention, our own! He does such an amazing job being level headed, juggling our crazy lives and working so hard for our family.

Family:
For Father's Day, we took both of the boys to see Toy Story 3 in 3D. Evan loved it. He did great wearing the glasses too. We loaded up on popcorn, Reeses Pieces and Diet Coke. We had a great time. Even little Gavin did great. For 4th of July, we went camping at Center Hill Lake. It seemed like luxury because we actually rented a pop-up camper instead of a tent. We also rented a huge 14-person pontoon boat with a waterslide. My family was also camping there and Steve's family came up for the day. While the boat was a blast, the trip was just way too much for us at this point with kids. Totally exhausting for both of us. But hey, it was an experience. We go to the neighborhood pool all the time. We've thoroughly enjoyed hanging with our neighbors and their kids this summer.

Me:
All of the above describes what's going on in my life, since taking care of our family is my job. In addition to that, I was asked to be on a steering team for a new Moms group forming at our church. I'm super excited about it since my MOPS group dissolved. This new group is somewhat like a mentor program where older moms mentor younger moms (according to the Bible). It doesn't start until February, which is a ways off, but we're in the planning stages now. I can't wait for it to begin. MOPS was such a tremendous support system for me and I made a lot of wonderful friendships that way. I love that it was Christian based and this will be too...even moreso.
I'm also hosting a summer moms group for my church. We get together every Tuesday and do fun things with the kids. We've done some really fun things so far and I've enjoyed meeting some new women from church.
I'm doing Zumba on the mornings that I don't have other commitments. I've always loved Zumba and am pleased to get back to it. It really has helped me shed some post pregnancy pounds too. I've lost 13 pounds and have 12 more to go. I pigged out when I was pregnant and I knew I'd have a lot of work to do after. But oh well!

Lastly, I'm searching for a hobby, a possible future career for when our boys are in school, something for ME. I have interests, but I'm looking to deepen them. Steve and I always talk about being "interesting" people. We never want to become boring and monatenous. Plus there's so much to explore and learn in the world. I only have very, very limited time to explore my interests at this stage in my life, but I will as I can. For now, I'm happy just contemplating the possibilities.

Wow, what a marathon. I don't even have the energy to proof read this thing. :)

Evan notables

2010-06-02T22:31:00.003-05:00

Favorite words/sentences:
Mommy car
Daddy truck
Where ah you?
What you doin?
I lube YOU
Buzz and Woody
Calls Nana "Ninny"
Play
Can identify most colors
Have heard him count to 13 correctly, unprompted

Evan stats

2010-05-21T07:32:00.006-05:00

February/March 2010 - started putting 4-5 word sentences together
March 2010 - fully potty trained in 4 days...no accidents til Gavin came along
May 20, 2010 - said "I love you Mommy" for the first time
May 20, 2010 - last day of MDO. In his program with his class, he sang louder than all the other kids, knew just about all the hand motions to the songs and cried for a long time after he saw Daddy leave. Wouldn't even eat his lunch, his teacher said. He kept crying for Daddy. :(

Very sweet towards Gavin. Kisses him on head. Tries to "lay" on top of him to give him a hug. LOVES to crawl into Gavin's crib with him. "Talks" to him all the time. Calls him "Baby Gavin". Asks where he is if he's not around.

Favorite new movies are Toy Story I & II.
Favorite characters are Mickey Mouse, the "Cars", and Buzz and Woody from Toy Story.
Loves riding on Daddy's riding mower with him.

No more diapers! (At least until another month.) :)

2010-03-06T08:34:00.005-06:00

The happiest moment of my parenting journey so far...Evan being potty trained! I dreaded this soooooo bad that I kept putting it off even though I knew he was ready. I am still so surprised that he's done so good in such a short amount of time. Every single person that I talked to and book that I've read advised me to wait to potty train him after the baby is born since I'm only weeks away from delivery. I knew I was crazy to try this with me being 9 months pregnant, but I know Evan. He's ready, he's been ready. He kept throwing fits because he wanted to wear his Cars underwear. That was the sure sign. I explained to him that he couldn't pee pee in his Cars underwear, that he had to pee pee potty. He said ok and we went for it. I decided to try it and not stress over it. If he got it, great. If he had lots of trouble, then I'd try again after Gavin's born. And thankfully he got it!

I opted to do what I call "potty training boot camp". It involved staying home as much as possible for 3-4 days in a row and keeping him in real underwear, no diapers. I have to say, it really wasn't that bad. Of course there were accidents, but overall, he got it pretty quickly. The little stinker even went all day at MDO without an accident, even during his nap, only 3 days after we started training. And he's in the 1 year class where no one else is potty trained or training. How proud am I of my boy? :) For the past two days, he's been shuffled around from my sister to my mom, aunt and grandma and he has told them every time he's had to use the potty! It's only been a week since we started...I'm so proud of him!!

So this is a shout out to my little Ev...I love you and am SOOOO proud of you! Thank you for making this easy on me while I'm 9 months pregnant! :)

Footloose and Paci Free...2 years old

2010-01-15T21:10:00.007-06:00

Well I'm breaking bad blogging records lately and only blogging once a quarter these days. Sheesh. It's the baby's fault. ;)

So my little paci lover has unknowingly given up his first love. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought. I dreaded taking his paci away worse than potty training. One night I just decided to not give it to him and surprisingly, he went to sleep fine. So the next day I just kept it out of sight and when he asked for it, I just told him I didn't have it. I took one step at a time and it worked way better than I imagined. He basically went cold turkey. He got really sick with hand, foot and mouth during the process so I gave it to him a few times just to nap and comfort him. Fortunately, it didn't set him back any. He's been without it for 3 weeks now. I'm so proud of him. I know how much he loved that thing.

Today he had his 2 year appt with Dr. Davidson. He's very healthy and on track in everything the doc asked me about. He's 36.5 inches tall and weighs 31.5 lbs. Dr. D says his birth mark on his nose still has plenty of time to go away...it's something I've kept an eye on since his birth. I was hoping it'd go away completely by now, but it's not really that noticeable.

Backing up to Christmas, it was a splendid time this year. My very favorite word that Evan has learned to say is "Santa". I almost like it better than "Mommy"! It is so freakin cute the way he says it! It's kind of with a little lisp...it's adorable. Now he says, "Mickey Santa" all the time, indicating he'd like to watch "Mickey's Once/Twice Upon a Christmas" movie on the DVR. He's watched it at least 20 times now...I can't believe he still loves it. I ordered the DVD's today. Anyways, his big present from us was more Geotrax for his train set. It sprawled across the living room floor...way too big for the train table now. He still plays with it non-stop.

He's recently started dancing. Don't know exactly where he learned how, but it's hilarious. And his favorite things to say are, "I did it!" when he did something he's proud of. Also, "I fast! I fast!" as he runs circles around the staircase. Oh and let's not forget, "Peed, I am peed!" for Lightning McQueen. lol

He had the best 2 year old birthday party ever. Gymboree, 18 friends and their parents, HUGE Mickey airwalker balloons, homemade Mickey Mouse cupcakes, a few tantrums, but it was awesome (I think Evan had fun too...hehe). I kinda went Mommy psycho on this party...we could have taken a vacay to Rome instead, but it was worth it.

Now maybe I can focus on the new little boy that's gonna be in my life soon. Only 3 months to go and we still have to pick out a name for him!

New digs :)

2009-10-09T19:52:00.003-05:00

Getting closer to new digs...

2009-09-25T20:04:00.001-05:00

FINALLY got a contract on our house. Praise God!! Due to close November 9. Found a house that we like in Franklin. We'll see what happens...

New Blog for Baby

2009-09-15T13:25:00.000-05:00

http://meisnerbabyboo.blogspot.com/

20 Months = Tantrums Galore

2009-09-15T13:23:00.000-05:00

The tantrums have begun. And oh they're all out fall on the floor, stomping and high pitched screams. But let me tell you, they're not here for long. After weeks of trying to decide which method of discipline I wanted to take, the wooden spoon also made it's debut this weekend. I hated to go that route, but mama don't play those tantrum games. Actually I just had to show him the spoon and tapped his leg very softly and say, "Spank!" and he got it. He looked at me wide-eyed like, "Oh goodness, she's for real now." I'm sure it won't always be that easy. But from what friends tell me, just the threat of the spoon is usually enough. Let's hope so b/c mama hates giving spankings. :(

Oh the bright side, Evan started MDO last week. Today's his second day, thus I'm back to blogging, enjoying some quiet laptop time at Panera. He wasn't happy when I dropped him off, but I prayed he'd have a good day today. It's hard for the little guy, but I know it's best. We also started attending MOPS which I LOVE, so he's getting a double dose of childcare on some weeks.

His favorite words lately are first and foremost, "cars" for the Cars Movie. He literally wakes up saying "cars" and goes to bed saying "cars". What kind of hyponosis did they put in that movie? His other favorites are, "choo choo", "yes", "copter" for helicopter, "cheese", "tractor", and he likes to roar like a lion. hehe He still predominately says Mama alllll the time. He calls everything Mama, including Steve and pictures of himself. We're working on that. I'm teaching him to show me his happy, sad and mad faces...he thinks that's hilarious. He loves itsy bitsy spider and patty cake and basically all sing songs. Oh and he gets a kick out of sticking his index fingers in his nostrils at the same time. Hopefully he doesn't do that at MDO. lol

Gosh I don't know what I'd do without that kid. Lately I've been frustrated with him a lot because of the tantrums, but that little kid is my world. It's gonna be fun to have another one, but he'll always be my first.

Food Intake Restructure

2009-07-16T19:53:00.004-05:00

My new fave website/magazine: http://www.eatingwell.com/. Healthy, low cal, delicious.

Gymboree/The Little Gym

2009-06-23T17:02:00.005-05:00

Evan loves Daddy

2009-06-22T11:43:00.018-05:00

Happy Father's Day

Making the Stepping Stone

Stone for Dad's Garden

Daddy's Cake

The Meisner Men

Signs that I'm old and have completely lost the cool points I had built up

2009-05-28T15:39:00.005-05:00

1. Starting with the most scary, I'm actually starting to want a minivan. I NEVER thought those words would come out of my mouth, but I'm sick of changing diapers in the front seat, bumping my head on the door and not having any room to put anything.

2. I have at least 3 gray hairs.

3. I'd rather watch movies at home than at the theatre.

4. Steve and I return from dates at 9 pm...or earlier.

5. We go to bed at 9 or 9:30 pm.

6. I can't sleep past 8 am any more...even if I want to.

7. I actually care about politics.

8. I care about incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet (still not giving up Diet Dr. Pepper though).

9. I wear sunscreen instead of baby oil.

10. I like watching the news.

11. I'm not the youngest of my friends any more.

12. I actually WANT to move to suburbia and give up the downtown pad.

13. I realize that my mom's right about 99% of the time.

14. My metabolism has definitely slowed down.

15. We often go out to eat at 5 or 5:30 pm (although that's mostly Evan's fault).

16. I don't think twice about changing a diaper in public or stripping him down to a diaper.

17. I want a minivan. That one has to count for at least two.

But I did recently go bungee jumping, so all's not lost. ;)

16 Months/Update

2009-05-12T19:28:00.007-05:00

Stylin and profilin'

In my big boy pants!

I'm a cheese

Hunting eggs with Dad

Peekin at my Easter basket

I'm growing increasingly worse at blogging. I used to be so into this. I just don't have that much time any more. During the 2-3 hour period I get to myself during the day, I'm usually cleaning, preparing for dinner, doing my devotion, facebooking or just resting! That being said, here's what's up with us...

The most exciting news is that our house is on the market. We're anticipating our move to Franklin. We're hoping and praying everyday that someone puts a contract on our house. One lady loved it and said it's in her top 4, so I'm praying she's the one!

I thought Steve and I would never agree on where to move around Nashville, but everything finally came together (read: he gave into me) and we agreed that Franklin is the best spot for us to raise our family. I've lived around Nashville for most of my life and Franklin is the one area that I've never lived in, so it makes it all seem new to me, which my personality type needs. Plus they have the best public schools, the cleanest, nicest mall/shopping/restaurant areas, plus my Mama's group is nearby. The only thing is we'll have to find a new church, but there are TONS to choose from and I'm confident we'll find something we love. I already have a few good leads. I'm on a waiting list for MOPS and Evan's on the list for MDO, so I'm reallllllllllly looking forward to that. Oh and did I mention how awesome it will be to be in an actual neighborhood? We don't live in much of one now and I never lived in subdivisions growing up, and I want Evan and our future kids to grow up near other kids so they can ride their bikes and play basketball on the streets and stuff.

Evan is 16 months now. Wow. He acts like he's been walking forever, even though it's only been 2 months. He likes sticks and drums and wrestling and chase and most of all, being outside. He is so boyish! He says new words a lot, but doesn't repeat them for several days, sometimes weeks. It's weird. After months of me trying to teach him the sign for "more", I had given up. But today my mom showed it to him when we were eating lunch and he did it repeatedly! He's done it all day and even signed "more" when he wanted Steve to tickle him again. He's 26 lbs. He likes to unroll the toilet paper for me when I pee because he knows he can't touch it any other time. lol He points to almost all of his body parts when I ask him where they are. He does good eating with a fork, but still likes to use his hands. He LOVES songs. Fave shows are Play With Me Sesame, Handy Manny, Backyardigans. Fave foods are pizza, chips, sweet potato fries, mandarin oranges, and puffed snap peas. (Info for his baby book.)

Steve is doing great at work. He's billing more than he ever has before and he's getting lots of new files from the partners. He's even had a few cases that came in specifically for him. I'm so proud of what he does. I couldn't be a lawyer for a day. I would never be able to sit and read and dictate and research and have all that conflict everyday! He has to deal with some barracudas sometimes. I love that he does his work with integrity, professionalism and the right attitude even when things aren't fair. I know it's not easy.

I went to my first law dinner with him 2 weeks ago with NES. It was actually fun, great food and it was nice to meet some of the wives I haven't met. All of us associate wives have boys, mostly just a few months apart. Kinda cool.

As for me, I'm enjoying my time with Evan. Some days more than others. hehe I love being home with him. We go to the gym, go on playdates, run errands, play at home, go to parks A LOT, play outside and are looking forward to spending lots of time at the pool this summer. I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with him. I try to never take it for granted, although I know I do sometimes.

That's about it for now. :)

Pee-Pee Potty!

2009-04-11T21:52:00.006-05:00

Can I just tell you how shocked I am that Evan pee-peed on the potty today??!! He's had an ongoing fascination with the potty for a while, so I started sitting him on there two days ago. This morning, I sat him on there and voila! I'm sure it won't be this easy to do the full-on training, but it's a good start!

Oh and we thought we'd multitask and brush our teeth at the same time. lol

Wilderness at the Smokies

2009-03-27T15:58:00.012-05:00

All the gang with sleepy Ev

Sweet face
Kiddie pool
See-saw in the kiddie pool

Chillin

Hey this brush fits up my nose perfect

Sleeping on Momaw

Swinging in the kiddie pool

We made it alive out of the storm chaser!

For spring break, my grandparents took Briana, Macey, Mom, Ev and me to the Wilderness at the Smokies in Sevierville. It was F-U-N!! It's an indoor waterpark that is truly amazing. Heated pools, huge slides, 2 big kiddie pool areas and best of all a hot pool, not a hot tub, but a hot pool! We will definitely be going back here and we're bringing daddy next time! It's an absolute perfect place to bring kids of any age...from 6 months up! Check it out: http://www.wildernessatthesmokies.com/

14 Months...he walks!

2009-03-27T15:28:00.011-05:00

By far the biggest milestone came this month...Ev started walking! To daddy of course! He waddled over to Steve with 5 or 6 steps (March 17). He's still very new at it, but he gets from place to place nonetheless. I think it's so cool that I started walking at 14 months too. His first word other than "mama" and "dada" was "this". lol Hilarious first word if you ask me. He says it when he points to something and wants it. I realize that I overuse the word "this" when talking to him. "Do you want this? This one? Come get this. More of this?" It's super cute when he says "dis!" because he says it all the time. And just this week I've heard him say "bite", "juice" and "drink". He understands almost everything that I say to him. He knows what things are even if he can't say the words. I hear that that's what's most important at this age, so I'm pleased.

He has 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth. He has huge feet for his age (5.5!) and is still on the tall side. He's continuing to rock his faux-mo haircut, although it's grown in a lot since I buzzed it.

He's also practicing throwing fits...yay for me. Oh and hitting people when he's not happy with them. My mom even almost had to pop his leg! And that's a shocker because she's a softie. So now I get to learn how to train him that it's not okay to hit people (including me) or throw tantrums. Parenting is so fun. :) j/k It really is hard at times. Now I see what people really mean when they say parenting doesn't come with an instruction book. It's hard to know what to do when you've never done this before. But as my friend April told me, you just pray! I love to think that I can read books and they'll give me all the answers, but only God knows Evan better than me and only He has all the answers.

Ev's really a good kid, despite the aforementioned things. hehe He has such a calm demeanor and is sweet and loving. Mom's nicknamed him "love sponge" because at any time he'll sit on your lap and let you hug and kiss on him. There's no such thing as too much attention to him! I already worry about whenever he has a brother or sister. I was holding my nephew Josh (6 months) the other day and Evan kept trying to hit him! He's a jealous little sucker! Guess that's normal though. He loves to give big open mouth kisses and his favorite game is wrestling on the floor with Daddy. Steve lays on the living room floor with him every night before bed and they play. Usually Steve has his shirt off. Evan discovered Daddy's nipples and belly button and is obsessed with them. He constantly tries to grab them or flick them off. LOL All three of us crack up every time.

Even though it's still present, we're getting through the separation anxiety. Actually I think I'm just getting less emotional about it, which is good. He still puts on a pathetic show when I drop him off, but I know that the people I leave him with are taking great care of him and I think that's finally getting through my brain.

Steve and I were talking last night about how we are living our futures right now. All of our twenties we were waiting for where we are right now...married and watching our children grow. This is such a great time in our lives. It was a long time coming, but not only was it worth it, it was meant to be. We agree that it was probably a very good thing that we had to wait for God to put us together when He did. We're about to put our house on the market and look for a home to raise our family in. Exciting times.

Goodbye Mr. Kirby :(

2009-03-27T12:58:00.003-05:00

Our neighbor Mr. Kirby died today. He was around 95 years old. Such a sweet, sweet old man. I first met him when I was outside painting our porch and he yelled over, "Come over and visit me sometime. I'm here all by myself. I get lonely. You can bring that baby with you. I like babies." So I got Evan and went over and visited with him a while. I visited him every now and then. He's a talker and it was always hard for me to tell him I needed to get back home, so my visits were less frequent. I'm upset with myself about that now.

Mr. Kirby always loaned Steve tools. In fact, I think we have his blower right now. He was always one to give us advice about our house and tell us stories about his life. He was such an interesting man to talk to. He had such a sweet nature. He'd see Evan and say, "I wish I could hold that baby but I'm afraid I'd drop him." I plopped Evan on his lap one day. I'm so glad I did. Evan loves his dog, Minnie. Minnie's really gonna miss him.

Today I got home and lots of people were outside around his house. I knew. I went over and his grandson told me he had passed 30 minutes ago. What I'm most upset about is that I planned on going over to see Mr. Kirby this weekend. Steve told me he wasn't doing good. I've been on vacation this week and told myself I was going to go see him as soon as I got back. Too late. I'm so sad that I didn't even get to ask him if he knew Jesus. I'll live with that regret forever. :(

I hope Mr. Kirby is in heaven with his beloved wife. He missed her so, so much.

I'm sorry, Mr. Kirby, that I didn't get to say goodbye. You know I admired you and I was your friend. Please forgive me for not visiting you more. You'll be missed by all of us.

12-13 Months

2009-02-17T21:04:00.005-06:00

Ugh, I've become such a lazy blogger. I don't have time for this any more since watching the twins. BUT today was my last day so hopefully I'll have more time now. Nah, I'll probably just be running all over the place again like before I started watching them!

Evster is 13 months old and I can't believe it. He's TOTALLY a toddler now...no baby in sight. Dude started walking with his push toy, waving bye bye, eating with a spoon (or learning to), got his "big boy" haircut, is very quick to show us when he's displeased with something, wants to laugh and play ALL the time, and loves playing chase (even though he can't walk yet). He gets a thrill out of rolling around on our bed. He thinks it's awesome to fall backward and forward and it not hurt. Although he's almost fell off a few times and I've suffered a few heart attacks because of it.

Despite us continually be social, he has big time separation anxiety. It sucks. He loses it when I drop him off anywhere. My heart races and then crashes into the floor. I hate it. My friend Jill came over today and her son doesn't have it at all and he stays home with her ALL the time. I'm convinced it's not an environmental trait, else Evan wouldn't be bothered by this. I started letting him stay the night with my mom on a regular basis since he was 4 weeks old! He's stayed with my aunt, sister and Steve's mom too. Several friends babysit him, he goes to the nursery at church and at the Y, AND we're part of a Mama's group. So he gets plenty of socialization, def not sheltered. Ugh, pray for me, else I'm gonna become a hermit. j/k ;)

He's 90% on height, 50% on weight. I'm happy he's tall...for now at least. He has huge feet (size 5.5!). I love that he loves to lay his head on my shoulder and give me looooooooong hugs. Gosh I hope that never changes, but I'm sure I won't get my way on that one. He has 2 bottom teeth and 3 top teeth...working on a 4th. Wish that sucker would hurry and come in!

I'm looking forward to spring and summer with this little guy. I have all my free time back and look forward to getting out of the house LOTS...meetups with Mama's group, swimming lessons, park dates, swimming at Grammy's, meeting friends for lunch, shopping with Nana, play dates with all his little friends...ahh summer's gonna be awesome!

For Bode

2009-02-02T14:07:00.003-06:00

Dear Bode,
Right now you're minutes away from coming into the world. What an exciting day! I know your mommy is thrilled after all these long months. You're one lucky little boy to have the two fabulous parents that you have. Your years ahead are going to be filled with love and lots of fun! Evan, Steve and I are SO excited to meet you!

Happy Birthday Bode!! We love you even though we haven't met you yet.

Auntie Beth, Uncle Steve and Cousin Evan :)

Evan's First Birthday

2009-01-30T16:52:00.000-06:00

Besides my obvious disappointment about the photographer, Evan's First Birthday was a blast. I'd say there were around 20 kids there and lots of friends and family. Thank you to everyone that helped us celebrate his big day!

Here's the photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bethology777/EvanSFirstBirthday?authkey=qReUZKfWf0Y#

What's wrong with this pic?

2009-01-30T11:16:00.002-06:00

Uh, perhaps the fact that the birthday boy isn't in it!! This is where he's blowing out his candles. Hey professional photographer, can you say FIRED???!!!!

Circus Circus!

2009-01-30T10:30:00.008-06:00

I am really 30.4 years old

2009-01-08T22:15:00.003-06:00

So anyone that has a TV on during the day knows that Oprah is doing Your Best Life series (she SO stole that title from Joel Osteen!). I swear I'm not the typical stay-at-home mom that sits around watching Oprah all day, but I did catch part of her show one day this week when she was talking about a website that calculates your "real age". There was this lady on the show that was 44 years old, but her test results said she was 60 because she had poor lifestyle habits like smoking, not exercising and eating right, etc.

So I decided to take the test. Technically I am 30.6 years old but my test results show 30.4. Not too shabby, but could definitely be a lot better if I ate healthier, did more strength training and get this...had a dog! I got points deducted because I don't have a dog! LOL I remember those days and it AIN'T gonna happen any time soon in this house unless dogs learn to lick their paws clean before they come inside and stop shedding and then I may reconsider. :)

Here's the test in case you're interested: RealAge Test

2008 Year End Review

2009-01-06T09:49:00.009-06:00

Obviously 2008 started off very exciting for us. Evan was born on January 7 and the next several months were blurry. Getting acclaimated with parenthood took us for a ride, but I must say I think we handled everything extremely well, especially considering we were still honeymooners. Evan is by far the most exciting, most rewarding, most challenging, most brilliant thing that ever happened to us. It's cliche...all parents say this, but I honestly can't imagine life without that little bundle of cuteness! I read that Nicole Kidman's mother told her that she was "overbonded" with her new baby. I never read anything that rang more true to me. I feel I was overbonded with Evan too. That plus my nature made me very sensitive and very cautious and VERY emotional about everything related to him. I'm just now feeling comfortable leaving him in the nursery at church. Mainly because it's for so long and I didn't feel like he was happy in there. But every time I ask how he did, they say he was great. Finally I began to feel more at ease.

So naturally, it's been a huge year of personal growth for me. But it's been so rewarding and I feel so much smarter and more connected with life now that I have a child of my own. I feel like another part of me came to life (sorry for the cheesiness) now that I'm a mother. A few months ago I took a Photoshop class to have some "me" time and explore some of my interests. I loved every second of it and hope to continue to pursue that this year. I lost 8 of the 15 lbs I was hanging on to post-pregnancy and am still irritated that I have 7 left to go. What a struggle that's been. Steve doesn't think I'll ever want to get pregnant again since it's taking so long. He's kinda right but I know I will. Of course I'm saying that I'll lose it faster next time b/c I'll be more disciplined, but if you know me at all, you'll know I hate being disciplined when it comes to food. Unfortunately I love it too much. I joined a Mama's group when Evan was 3 months old. You didn't actually think I'd be a STAY at home mom, did you? I'm too antsy for that! It's been a wonderful outlet to talk to other moms and learn from their experiences. I also met several friends at church this year that have children that have been a huge blessing.

One of my favorite things is that God blessed me with two new wonderful friends this year...Amber and Julie. When I had Evan, I naturally cleaved to my family and new motherhood and focused on that primarily. But a girl ALWAYS needs good friends. I have a lot of good friends, but every friend brings something special to your relationship and God gave me these two just when I needed them. It's a crazy story how Amber and I met and I don't have time to blog all that, but she is one of the most giving, selfless, thoughtful people I know. Honestly I don't know why she's friends with me. lol I always feel like I'm running and doing a million things like a whirlwind and then I'll say, "Sorry, what were you saying?" I need to simplify my life, but that's another story! Amber and her husband were the first friends of ours that we let watch Evan. They've watched him for us countless times now as we went on dates, celebrated Steve's birthday, etc. They really love Evan and there's no price you can put on that. Bo even got Evan a little OSU sippy cup, just because! Amber has bought him countless things and best of all, she's making a TON of cupcakes for his first birthday party. Oh and did I mention she's 9 MONTHS pregnant??? Who does that??? You can see why I love her. I can't wait till her sweet baby boy is born in a few weeks. Steve and I have LOTS of making up to do. :) She's been a real friend and listened and gave advice and just been there. I love you Amber!

Julie is my other new friend. We met at church over a year ago, but really started hanging out this year. It's crazy how alike we are, although she has some feature qualities that I'm hoping rub off on me! Julie is confident yet sweet and let's not forget beautiful. She's also a great listener and always gives Godly advice. She inspires me to be a better Christian and to exercise my faith more. She and her husband Jim pray for us continually (good thing, cuz we need it!). Jim even helped paint our entire livingroom, which is a beast. They are the second friends that we let watch Evan. Like Amber and Bo, they truly love Evan. When friends love your baby like these people do, it makes ME love them more. They're so excited to see him and hold him and play with him. Did I mention Julie changed one of the nastiest diapers ever just to give me a break? That's love baby! We also have a lot of making up to do when they have a baby. J&J also love playing Guitar Hero with us, which gives us a tight bond. lol Julie, I'm so glad God brought you in my life. I love you!

Best of all this year, Steve and I celebrated our first anniversary in July. We went to the Cape where Steve vacationed every summer as a child. It was very nostalgic for him and neat for me to see that part of his life. We stayed with his Grandma Jane at the family cottage right on the beach. It was so wonderful to get to know GJ on a more intimate level and to turn her on to the Bachelor. LOL Evan LOVED her. He learned to sit up while we were there...very exciting day for me! Steve's niece Ashley watched Ev while we went out for our anniversary. Steve took me to this amazing restaurant on the water where we had a delicious meal. He repeated some of his vows to me and presented me with diamond earrings. It's a moment that I'll cherish forever mostly because of the warm, loving things he said.

I don't know which thing Steve is better at...being a husband or a father. He put up with my crazy emotional status after I had Evan...ah who am I kidding, I'm still emotional! He goes to work every morning while we're still in bed, never complains about providing for us while we're spending his money at Target, comes home and plays on the floor with Evan and then gives him his bath and puts him to bed. He is very hands on with him and truly loves being a dada. He's been a wonderful spiritual motivator and encourager, he always looks on the positive side of things and gives people the benefit of the doubt. He stands up for what is right, he doesn't let people push him around (usually he's the one pushing...lol), and has his family under his wing. It's my goal to never take him for granted...not a day. I love you baby. You're my rock.

So here we go, venturing boldly into 2009. First up, Evan's first birthday...tomorrow! Can't wait to see how he likes cake!

11 Months

2008-12-28T09:40:00.000-06:00

Evan is transforming from a baby to a toddler before my very eyes. He says Mama and Dada regularly and is starting to say Bye Bye and wave. He jabbers most of the day and is learning to listen when I give him instructions. He also has been showing me when he's displeased or doesn't want to do what I say...uh huh...so it starts here. Compared to other babies we're around, he seems to have a calm nature. He's a watcher, but then he's not afraid to dive in. He absolutely loves tickle time, for us to play with him in the floor, to be upside down, to make stuffed animals talk, etc. He laughs all the time and is always trying to get me to laugh. Oh and he finally started crawling on all fours instead of scooting himself. We thought that'd never happen, but once he discovered he could do it, he was like lightening!

My favorite milestone is that he learned to clap his hands. I don't know why I'm so enamered when he does that. It's just SO cute! He's also getting his top teeth in. One of the big ones and one to the side of it. He's been really fussy and whiney lately, no doubt why. He got his first real sickness too...a 102 fever...had to get antibiotics and everything. It was so sad...I felt so helpless as he laid his head on my shoulder all day long, whimpering. Now I completely understand when parents say they'd be sick for their kids in a heartbeat if they could.

Only one more month until his first birthday! I can't believe it. Sometimes it seems like he was just born, but then again, it seems like the longest year of my life. lol Steve and I agree that while 2008 was a great year in a lot of ways, we're really looking forward to 2009. For me, Evan's just a LOT easier now that he's older. That first 6 months was challenging and I'm much more comfortable with where he is now. Maybe that's why all my friends say they started wanting another baby around this stage? Nah! Why ruin what we've got going? :)

Blissness

2008-12-17T21:37:00.005-06:00

Gosh December has been a busy month (as for everybody)...preparing for Christmas, Christmas parties, planning Evster's birthday, catching up with friends, cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.

Anyways so I've got almost all my Christmas shopping done...just one more thing for Steve and I'll be done. We blew it out at Toys R Us a few weeks ago for Evan, so we're done with his Christmas and birthday. The moment we walked in the doors and we started looking at all the stocking stuffers, I started tearing up. I'm such an emo these days! (emo=emotional) I get choked up over evvvvvvvvverything. But I felt somewhat justified in this moment. All the years I waited for a husband, and ultimately a family, came to this....buying presents for my baby boy for his first Christmas. I just couldn't stand it. I was so incredibly happy getting to pick out things for him, anticipating Christmas morning with my little family. I lay in bed at night so excited about Christmas...and not about what I'm getting for once, but for what I'm GIVING, it's all I can do to go to sleep. Life certainly has changed from my lonely existence a few years ago. God kept His word and came through for me.

Before I start crying again, let's move on. Steve continues to be busy at work, but not as busy as a month or so ago. We're both thankful for that. He's a lot happier when he comes home too, which is nice to see. God's given him a lot of favor at work lately and we're believing for great things next year. Also, he's been getting up at 5 am every morning and going to the gym before work. I'm so proud of him for that...lots of discipline! We're both ready to get healthy again and shed some poundage. It's a yo-yo thing that we do, but in a way, we're ready for January to come so all the temptations of December will be over. Ah, not really. :)

It was nice to hear "mamamama"

2008-11-24T15:24:00.003-06:00

It's amazing how once Evan said "Mama", he says it all the time now. I love hearing it when he wants me or when he's in his highchair and he's hungry, but I hate hearing it when I lay him down for a nap and he's standing in his crib going, "Mamamama" all sad. :(

MA MA MA MA MA MA MA!!!!

2008-11-18T19:31:00.002-06:00

The day finally arrived! Evan said "Mama"!! He has said those sounds before, but he's never been addressing me. I wanted to wait until I knew he was talking to me and calling ME "Mama". He'd been saying it in his highchair the last few days but last night, Steve was holding him on the couch and Evan looked over at me and said, "Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma". Oh it was so sweet! Of course I cried. Mom called at that very moment and I scared her half to death as I was sobbing in the phone before I was able to blurt out, "HE CALLED ME MAMA!"

Gosh I'm so emotional. Geez. I cry over EVERYTHING. Steve never knows when I'm really upset about something because I cry all the time...over sad things, happy things, emotional things, everything! Just a lovely side effect of having a baby. :)

10 Months

2008-11-17T10:07:00.004-06:00

Well my baby almost isn't a baby any more. He's acting more and more like a toddler. First and foremost, he is too "big" to drink formula. At least that's what the doctor's nurse told me. I've tried everything...giving it to him in a different cup, adding juice to it, warming it, serving it cold, making it into a smoothie with fruit, giving it to him in a glass, uping him to toddler formula...you name it! The kid is done with formula. The good part is that it makes breaking the bottle a snap. The bad part is that he is probably vitamin deficient now! After several days of this, I discovered that he will, however, drink chocolate milk. Mother of the year right here! Giving my kid whole milk 2 months ahead of time with chocolate! He gulped that down like there was no tomorrow. I don't really feel right about that though so I only gave it to him once. He's killing me on this formula thing.

Other than that, he's got the crawling thing down (even though he still crawls like an inchworm, he's fast!). He LOVES games and tickling. He wants to play all the time, or I should say, he wants ME to play with him all the time. Actually he does good playing by himself at home, but when Steve or I join in, he gets so excited he can't contain it.

We've been having a few more playdates recently. I hosted two here and then we've been going to more at other people's houses. It's so good for us both. I like chatting with my friends and he likes playing/observing his. Unfortunately the times we take him to the nursery at church, he's almost always sleepy so he doesn't get to enjoy it. But he really gets excited to see other kids at the playdates.

Oh yeah, and he's finally getting some teeth! His bottom two are busting through. My mom said all of us got our teeth late so I guess it makes sense. He was kinda hard to deal with that first week they were coming in, so I'm glad they lingered and didn't pop through at 4 months or something.

I can't believe he'll be a year old in a month and a half. I'm so excited about his party. All his little cousins and friends will be there.

I'm really not trying to be a plumber

2008-11-17T10:02:00.003-06:00

So I bought a new pair of jeans yesterday (mainly because they make me look skinny and because I'm only one size away from my pre-pregnancy weight and that excited me) but also because I was hoping they wouldn't show my crack like my other ones. No luck. I even have a tight belt on with these bad boys, but yet when I squat down to pick Evan up, I have plumber bootie. Why can't I find a pair of jeans that doesn't give me crack attack? I think it's because I actually HAVE a butt unlike the anorexic models they design jeans for. Maybe I should try JLo jeans. It's annoying, but am I going to return them? Heck no! They make my thighs look skinny. Ahh the hardship. hehe

We snagged the location!

2008-11-10T20:57:00.007-06:00

I know I've got the "psycho first time mommy" thing going on to be planning Evan's first birthday two months ahead of time, but I'm so excited! It's a good thing I did because I almost didn't get the location I wanted. But by a miracle, we got it! It will be at our church's indoor playground, which is magnificant! It's a 2 story playground (the largest in Nashville) with all kinds of tunnels and slides. Once you see it, you'll understand why it's in such high demand. Since Evan won't care, I wanted to pick a place where all the older kids could have a good time without spending the $250 everywhere else was charging.

Mom thinks I'm crazy because I booked our family photographer to take pics, but I think of it as a two-for-one...party pics plus his one year pics at the same time. Plus I don't want to be stressed out trying to take pics...I want to enjoy the party myself. Okay okay, so I am a little crazed. :)

I'm well aware that he won't remember his first birthday party, but I will. This party is for me! hehe I am so excited! So save the date...January 10 from 9 am - noon!

Our First Family Halloween

2008-11-01T20:14:00.015-05:00

Steve and I, er...Evan had the best Halloween ever! :) We were planning on going to Fall Fest at church, but at the very last minute decided to go trick-or-treating with all the kids in my family. And I'm so glad we did, even the adults dressed up! NANA even dressed up! Her costume was hilarious! Back to that in a sec...

Every year Nana takes Briana to trick-or-treat with Kellie and Macey and Aunt SheShe. Aunt SheShe and Uncle Joe Joe live in a GREAT neighborhood that they've lived in for years. So we feel safe over there. So anyways, this year we have three new babies in the family. Josh is still too little, but Addison and Evan got to join in on the fun. Addison is 13 months and she was absolutely adorable in her little costume.

These pictures confirm that I have one FUN, COOL family. Well, "cool" may not be the most appropriate word when you see all of our costumes. hehe I was so excited to see all the adults dressed up and ready to go when we arrived. I want to do this every year! Steve and I LOVE costume parties (thus my birthday party this year and his last year). Thanks to Aunt SheShe for keeping lots of costumes around for all these years. I love you all very much!!

(I wanted to post all the pictures, but I had to draw the line somewhere.)

The Gang

Daddy, Mommy, and Ev-a-roo

Poppa and Addie Jo

Briana Ona, Nana and Mace-a-rino

Gwenie, Addie, and Adam

Daddy and Evie Woo

Is all that candy for ME?! (Check out his eyes...lol)

Addie and Monk-a-roo
(He's worried she's stealing his candy.)

Mama let me have my first sucker...woohoo! I LOVED it!

Let the Halloweening Begin!

2008-10-26T15:43:00.008-05:00

We had a BLAST at Ghouls of Grassmere last night. It's true what they say...you re-live your childhood through your kids. And it is so fun! This is just the beginning for our little family and I can't wait for more of these things. We have several fun holidays coming up in the next few months...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and then Evan's first birthday. I don't think I could be more excited!

Here's a few shots from last night. Uncle Chris, Auntie Rachel and Chloe and Owen went with us. Owen was monkey too!

Oh Ray

2008-10-22T09:29:00.005-05:00

The minute your lips touch the microphone,

you cast a spell on your freely captive audience.

It's as if you open the door to a dreamland

where thoughts flow free, uninterrupted.

As I sit close to My Love,

his arm around my shoulders holds me close.

I slowly caress his hand,

as warmth bursts from our hearts to each other.

You make us fall in love all over again,

and give us new words to express our love to one another.

We love seeing you,

there's no need to be shy.

Come back to Nash any time,

we'll be counting the days,

as hopefully time flies by.

6 Things (for Brooks)

2008-10-16T19:57:00.010-05:00

I've been tagged by Brooks for 6 Things About Me. And because I love these things, I couldn't refuse. So here goes:

1. About 5 years ago I sold my house in Hermitage so I could move to St. Thomas (USVI). That didn't happen because I knew it wasn't God's will for me. So then I decided I was moving to NYC, then Chicago, then Hawaii, then Canada, then Paris. lol. Seriously. This kept going between me and God until I met Steve. Now I'm content with living in Nash. :)

2. I have permanent eyeliner. After that, my wrist tattoo wasn't bad at all.

3. I made mashed potatoes and green bean casserole last night for the first time ever. Yes, ever. No, I'm not proud of that. :)

4. I won 3rd place and Miss Personality in the Ms. Flagler County pageant when I was 16.

5. My parents let me drive regularly when I was 14 and 15. Thank God I never got a ticket or in a wreck!

6. I was supernaturally healed of migraines. I'm talkin full on pentecostal, immediate physical manifestation and everything. It was hands down the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me.

Tag, you’re it!
1. Mandy (girl if you don't have a blog, create one...for me! hehe)
2. Melissa (same as above!)
3. Amber
4. Synetha
5. Jana
6. Katie

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

9 Month Stats

2008-10-16T19:39:00.003-05:00

Weight: 20 lbs - 50%
Height: 29 in (yeah!) - 85%
Head circumference: 45 in - 70%

Happy Birffday

2008-10-15T21:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Birffday Daddy!!!!! We love you!

xoxo

Mama & Evan

Seriously!

2008-10-12T15:32:00.003-05:00

I haven't complained about changing diapers up until this point. Even when Evan was a newborn and we went through 16 diapers a day! (Because we had the new parent paranoia going on and thought we had to change him every hour.) But now, it's a different story. Let's just say solid food = total nastiness 3x a day! lol

I think I'm gonna head to the library tomorrow and check out "Diaper Free Baby" (teaches parents to start potty training at infancy!). Nah, I think that's kinda crazy but it's not as crazy sounding now as it was a few months ago.

Wow. Another shocking milestone for me...blogging about poo. Babies really DO change everything. :)

Downtown

2008-10-10T22:10:00.003-05:00

Tonight Evan and I went to visit my friend Net who lives downtown. Her loft is the bomb diggity! When Steve and I first met, I was living downtown. I absolutely looooooooooved it. Unfortunately a stalker forced me to move and end my brief habitation there (crazy story). I've always been a city girl, many times contemplating a move to NYC. But God had other plans for me so downtown Nash was as close as I could get. I loved the urban life of walking across the street for breakfast on the patio at Provence with a magazine, taking jogs over the Shelby Street bridge and Bicentennial Park, trips to the Farmers Market, meeting friends at the Ryman, TPAC and GEC for concerts, and middle of the night food at hot dog stands and Past Perfect!

Steve and I contemplated being that "urban couple" who raises their baby in a loft downtown, but I knew deep down that I would desperately desire more than 800sf with a baby! And I'm glad we didn't do that now, especially with the crazy economy and the abundance of lofts in Nashville. Fortunately we only live 8 minutes from downtown so we have the best of both worlds. I wouldn't trade my life now for anything, but it's nice to have good memories.

9 Months

2008-10-08T23:01:00.001-05:00

Wow has this been a big month! A lot has happened during the 8th month. All the sudden, Evan started rolling over in his crib, sleeping on his tummy, pulling up on things to stand, taking steps when we hold his hands, AND scooting on his tummy. His "crawl" is so funny. It's not the traditional crawl and not even the army crawl. He keeps his entire body on the floor and uses his toes and hands/arms to get to what he wants. It's hysterical. I wish I could post a video, but that's too time consuming right now. I was beginning to wonder if he'd ever have the desire to crawl, so it's kind of a relief, but also a kick in the butt. It means I have to babyproof pronto! I have all the babyproof gadgets...I just haven't installed them yet. I don't know why I dread it so much. But there have already been plenty of bumps and bruises thanks to our hardwood floors (despite the rugs). I just want to line our whole house with cushy foam from floor to ceiling!

A few months ago, I was feeling all confident because in both nurseries he goes to, they were telling me he was their favorite baby and he was so good. Now, he's the baby that cries when he notices I'm gone and wants to be held the whole time. :( Fortunately he's still not a wailer, but I hate that he's fussy. Somehow I'm feeling better about it than last month though. I keep giving myself pep talks with the knowledge that it's just something that babies go through and that he's not hurting or in any danger while I'm away.

We put him in the Creepers class at church tonight instead of the infants. I think that helped (well that and the fact Steve and I were both in there all night with him!). He definitely fits in with them better as far as size goes, I was just concerned they'd eat him for lunch! Those babies can be aggressive! Of course they don't mean to be, but some of them are starting to walk and he's just now crawling. But he did really well and even acted excited to be in there.

Steve's convinced that he's trying to sing along with one of his favorite ABC toys. It's the sweetest little sound! He doesn't say any words on purpose yet, but he makes the "ba ba", "tha tha" and "da da" sounds a lot. He's very vocal at home. Sometimes when he "talks" to me, he'll spout out of a bunch of sounds and then smile and put his head down like he's shy. It's SO cute.

Gosh I love that baby so much. He is such a sweet little thing. So he can be a little clingy at times, but he's a baby! I must guiltily admit that I actually like it sometimes because he always wants me. Naturally that feels good! :) Just to see his cheesy little smile or hear that giggle or purr, just lights up my day.

Watch out Mom, I learned to pull myself up! And as you can see, I'm pretty excited about it!

And I'm standing in my crib too. Daddy had to lower my mattress, but it looks like it needs to be even lower now. Watch out!

Sportin my Red Sox hat for the ALDS! And it worked cause they won!

I can't wait until he can wear this hat! Steve thinks I'm cruel, but come on...he'll only be my baby for a little bit longer. And he's SOOO cute in it I can't stand it. You can't see it well in this pic, but the top of the hat has bear ears. Love it!

This one's for Nana. We need to get Joshie's pic taken with me in our matching outfits!

Heck to the NO

2008-10-06T19:06:00.003-05:00

This is going to sound like a snooty (sp?), snobby, I'm-better-than-you thing to say, but I don't mean it that way at all. You have think about how much I LOATHED my job before I had Evan. I hated it so bad, was so miserable, would wake up in the morning dreading my day and wishing it away and lost all care because of the things going on there. So here goes...

A couple recruiters have called me lately trying to place me...full time, part time, contractor, whatever. Do you know how nice it is to say thanks but no thanks? I just never knew I'd be able to say that, especially so soon after getting married. (Told you it'd sound snooty.) I am SO happy to be staying home with Evan and not forced to go back to a job I hate. It's not only the company that made me miserable, but I was tired of doing what I was doing. I was very good at it and I enjoyed it at one time, but my focus has shifted. I'd consider working again, but only doing Graphic Design or something that appeals to me.

Staying at home isn't always fun and games. I'm convinced the house dirties itself when I'm not looking, sometimes Evan gets stir crazy and doesn't cooperate, and I don't get as many moments to myself as I'd like, but overall, I have a pretty sweet deal. I'm not being snooty, I'm just being appreciative. Steve, I'm forever greatful. xoxo

Babies Galore!

2008-09-22T16:38:00.004-05:00

First of all, congratulations to my very good friend Synetha on the birth of her twins, Joslynn and Dayne! She had a long road on bed rest, but she successfully carried her twins full term and both are healthy and gorgeous! Tara and I got to visit and hold them Friday in the hospital. Tomorrow I'm going to her house to help so she can get some sleep. It's hard enough with one baby, I can't imagine two. My thoughts race back to those first few weeks I had Evan and I almost cringe because I was so incredibly sleep deprived. I thought I never was going to feel revived again. But just like everyone told me, it DOES get better. :)

Second, congrats to my girl Amber on finding out that she's having a BOY!!! Her son will be a year younger than Evan. I am SOOOO excited!

My close friends from work, Cathy and Erica, found out that they're having girls. These two girls had a very long road to pregnancy and I've never been happier for anyone like I was the day the each told me they were pregnant. You two are going to make fabulous Mommmies and I'm still very thrilled for you!

My friend Emily found out she's pregs with baby #2! Congrats!! Go for a boy this time! hehe

Krissy finds out what she's having this week, I believe. It's been a long road for her too and I know she'll be thrilled regardless. Congrats!

Let's see, did I forget anyone? Seriously, couldn't all of you gotten pregnant last year along with me?? I needed company! :) I am so thrilled for all of you and can't wait to meet your beautiful babies!!

One Step Closer

2008-09-15T20:25:00.008-05:00

For the last few years, I've wanted to transition from the Database/Report Development towards Graphic Design, but there were always road blocks. I already have a bachelor's degree so I wasn't crazy about going back to school, but I realized that was necessary. About three years ago, I almost moved to ATL to go to a prestigous design school. I was very determined, but I didn't feel that's what God wanted me to do at the time. (Now I know that's because He wanted me to stay here so I could meet Steve!)

Fortunately, once I had Evan, I didn't have to go back to work. But I still have a desire to design cool websites, print material, creatively edit images, etc. I know some, but I'm not good enough. I'd love to do freelace work...making some extra ching ching while still keeping my focus on my family. Doing design won't feel like work to me because it's my favorite hobby. I view it as a way to have my cake and eat it too. :)

So today I FINALLY took a step towards my dream...I signed up for a PhotoShop class at a local art school. I'm SOOOOO excited I can't hardly stand it. It's going to be pretty time consuming for the next 2 months, but I know it will be worth it. I already know so much about the "back end" of the biz, I feel like once I have this class, I'll be able to hit the ground running. Woohoo!!!

Happy Birthday Gus!

2008-09-13T20:32:00.008-05:00

Ev and I went to Gus's first birthday party this week. Gus is one of Evan's friends from our Mama's group. It was his first birthday and his Mom went all out with decorations, food and gifts for the babies. Evan enjoyed playing with all the "new" toys that were around and was very curious about the "older" kids. He was the youngest, but he absolutely loved watching them and "talking" to them. All the food was new to him since he's still eating baby food and he wasn't too sure about all this food with texture. It didn't hold him back much though. He'd take a bite, make a terrible face (like the one below) and then go back for more.

Visit to Momaw and Pa's

2008-09-13T20:13:00.006-05:00

Mom, Andrea, Josh, Evan and I visited Momaw and Pa this week. We took Mom's car and she sat in the backseat between her grandsons! She didn't have a choice...Andrea and I quickly pointed out that her butt is the smallest of all three of us, therefore she had to ride in the back. lol

We had such a good time. Momaw and Pa took us to lunch and then snuggled the babies when we got back to their house. The most eventful part of the day was when Andrea was changing Josh on the living room floor and he squirted pee across the room and there was no way she could see it to wipe it up. She was feeling bad and embarrassed about it, hoping they didn't see it. Just then, Mom lays Evan down to change his diaper. Because he's eating baby food and he had prunes that morning, let's just say that diaper was pretty nasty. So she gets him all cleaned up and starts to put the clean diaper underneath him and BAM! He EXPLODES poo out like a firecracker! Did I mention that apparently my family doesn't know what changing pads are? So now my grandparents have this huge, I'm talking HUGE pile of runny poo on their living room carpet! LOL (It's really not funny, but I can't stop laughing as I'm writing this!) Mom's trying to cover it up and whisper to me to go get some carpet cleaner quick, but I'm doubled over and paralyzed with laughter so I couldn't. We uncover the spot and just then my Grandma looks down and goes, "Oh my". LOL Fortunately Andrea scrambles to go get the cleaner and manages to get their carpet cleaned up.

I don't think they're gonna want us to come back any time soon. And I'm pretty sure we're getting changing pads for Christmas. :)

8 Months...Pteradactyl

2008-09-13T19:53:00.010-05:00

Our son has turned into a Pteradactyl, as of today. I love giving him nick names and the latest is Pteradactyl. We're out to lunch and he starts squealing in this high pitched squeal. Three of the hostesses were peaking around the corner flirting with him and boy was he flirting back. He was cheesin and squealing over and over and over again. The cheesin is fine, but the high pitch squeal I'm not so sure of. This continues all day today. We had friends over tonight and he's squealing at them, their little girl, me, Steve, all during bath time...basically at anything.

Other than that, I guess he's grown longer, at least that's what all my friends say. It's hard to notice when I see him everyday. He's very happy, loves baby food (especially biter bisquits, puffs, and his sippy cup). He doesn't have any teeth yet and isn't crawling, although he's very good at turning around on his tummy and bootie. He's really social too. When we go to playdates, he just lights up and "talks" to the other babies the whole time. Anyone that talks to him or shows him attention, he falls in love with. Especially if you're a woman or you're black. LOL The other day we're at Olive Garden and this black guy that was the hostess kept talking to him. As we were leaving, the guy asked if he could hold him. "Sure," I said. So Evan is touching this guy's face and cheesin and squealing...I think he even tried to kiss him! It was hysterical.

Andrea thinks Evan's jealous when I hold Josh. I don't know if that's the case, but he is a Mama's boy. He doesn't like it if I leave the room. Unfortunately there have been a few cases when I leave him with a friend or at the nursery when he cries at first. He's always fine in a few minutes, but I certainly dread the separation anxiety stage. We're not there completely and I'm just praying it doesn't get full blown. Unfortunately I don't know any tricks to prevent him from going through that. I read that it's good and healthy because it means your child has formed a strong attachment to you and he trusts you. That's all fine and good, but if it gets bad it's going to break my heart and I'll have to make Steve drop him off at the nursery. Seriously, how am I supposed to not feel anything if he cries when I leave him? It's so out of character for him to cry at all, that it makes me feel bad. I know that I'll have to be strong and not let it get to me too bad, but it's hard. Anyways, I have some time...I shouldn't put the cart before the horse.

At this stage he puts everything, absolutely everything, in his mouth. Tonight he decided to see if he can get his lips on the water coming out of the facet in the sink while Daddy was bathing him. He leans in, closer, closer, closer, success! Oh that was fun! The look on his face was priceless. He was very fascinated by that and continued to amuse himself until we got him out of the bath (aka sink).

Don't be jealous of my bed head.

Come on, hand it over!

2008-09-12T16:01:00.004-05:00

Steve's firm has a blue ribbon that's passed around each month to the person who billed the most for the month. It's pretty hard to get the infamous blue ribbon because you obviously have to bill a lot...more than everybody else in the firm. Well this month, guess who got the ribbon? That's right...my man! He's never got it before so it's a big deal. These two guys in his firm seem to pass the ribbon back and forth every single month. So first thing he did was go in there and say, "Okay, hand it over. It's mine this month!"

Personally I think a big fat bonus should accompany the ribbon, but I guess I need to take that up with one of the partners.

Congratulations honey! I'm so proud of you!
(I know, I know...you're not words of affirmation.) ;)

Say Whaaa?????

2008-09-08T14:37:00.004-05:00

I'm in shock over my good fortune today. I make a special trip to Publix because they have Earth's Best Organic baby food on sale for BOGO. That's half price baby! Plus I have 2 $1 off coupons which is going to make it dirt cheap. I was prepared to stock up. Apparently everyone else was too because they were out. I was bummed. I asked a grocery guy if they had any more. He said no, but ask for a raincheck up front so I can get that price next time I come in. Cool, because I didn't really need the food right now anyways. So I stop at the service desk and ask for the raincheck. The man says, "Sure but can I go to another Publix and deliver it to you?" I say, "What? Deliver it where?" He says, "To your house." I was like, "Uh, sure. I live in Nashville though." Plus I have to mention to him that I want to use my coupons. I felt like a dork but I gotta save where I can or go back to work, so I put my pride on the back burner. No prob. He writes down all the kinds of baby food I want and my address.

So just now he gets to my house and hands me the 20 jars of baby food I wanted and turns to leave. I was like, "Wait, how much do I owe you?" He says, "Nothing. I'm just sorry we were out of it when you were in the store."

SAY WHAAAAA???? Are you kidding me? Dude, you can be out of it EVERY time I'm in the store if you're gonna deliver it to my house for FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Oh my gosh, I know it was only about $15, but dude drove all the way here (in his 7 series BMW) and gave me this food for free. I wish I would have told him I wanted 50 jars. hehe I am SO writing Publix and telling them about this and how much I love them!!!

This AND Steve got a little bonus $$ today. Tithing is paying off baby! ;)

VMA p2

2008-09-08T08:50:00.002-05:00

What a disappointment. The VMA's were total trash and TH didn't even perform. Can't believe I wasted those 2 hours of my life.

VMA's!

2008-09-07T20:19:00.002-05:00

Tonight's the VMA's and Tokio Hotel is performing! WOOOOOT!!! Gotta love some emo. :) Ohh...it's 8:00...gotta go...

New Ev pics

2008-09-02T15:30:00.006-05:00

It's begun...

2008-08-28T09:46:00.003-05:00

Evan's saying "tha tha"...very close to "da da". Even after I brainwashed that kid night and day with "ma ma", I can't believe he's going to say dada first!

You're a terrible parent if....

2008-08-26T17:20:00.003-05:00

You put your child in an exersaucer
You put your child in a walker
You don't feed your child 100% organic
You don't have your child on a strict minute-by-minute schedule
You let your child watch TV

These are just a few of the things that I've read in books recently. Seriously, reading parenting/baby books will almost drive you insane. I was trying so hard to read everything I could get my hands on in the beginning and follow all the "rules". But some of this stuff is insane. I quickly learned to just use common sense. But why do all these books make you feel like a bad parent if you don't do x, y, and z?

What's the haps, yo

2008-08-21T20:45:00.005-05:00

Steve's been killin it at work again lately. He's putting in some major hours, one overnight trip, pickin up the slack from a partner that got the boot this week (yikes!), lots of tight deadlines and working on wills for everyone in our Sunday School class! I thought that was extremely generous of him to volunteer to do everyone's wills. I was like, "Are you sure you want to volunteer to do that for everybody?" Then he convicted me with his answer when he said that he wanted to help people that we go to church with with something that's so crucial for their families. Gulp. He totally had the right attitude...I just wondered where he was gonna get the time, but fortunately he didn't let that stand in his way.

Evan is a little ham. Today he stole the hearts of several friends of mine. Melissa gave him lots of kisses and squeezes, as did Amber who also bought him some embroidered burp clothes that I LOOOVE AND a walker! He likes when I use the walker like a bumper car and crash it into the couch. He thinks that is SO funny. It was worth how much she paid for it just for the laugh that he bursts out with.

He absolutely loves to be upside down. It's also cool to me that he's such a BOY at 7 months old. He loves balls, motion toys, light up toys and loud things. And how does he know to knock the blocks over when he's never even seen them before? It's so funny how when I stack things, he automatically knocks them down before I can finish stacking. I dunno...it's just funny to me that no one had to "teach" him to do this.

It's my favorite time of year...kids consignment sale time! I absolutely LIVE for these sales because I'm such a cheapo. I pride myself on getting the most bang for my buck. Especially now that I'm not working any more and we're excited about saving for a new house. Anyways, I got TONS of stuff for dirt cheap. I decided to volunteer at this one so I could get the great deals and it really paid off. I especially love the Leap Frog activity table that probably cost $50 new and I snagged for $15. It's crazy how excited I get! I honestly would not even recognize myself if you showed me this life a few years ago. It terrifies me that I may possibly drive a minivan in the future. NAH! I'll always be too fab for that! hehe

That's about it for now. Nothing terribly exciting but I just felt like blogging. :)

Being a Disciple

2008-08-21T20:36:00.004-05:00

This week I read about being a disciple of Christ. I was reading about Jesus' disciples and the things He commanded, yet gave the authority to do. First and foremost, to teach about Jesus, but also to heal, to lead, to encourage, etc. All Christians today are supposed to be disciples, but in a way I never thought about it before, it hit home. I realize I need to put forth more of an effort to witness and tell people about God's love.

Ironically, Tara called today and was telling me how she got an incredible opportunity to witness to someone while she was registering for school. Her stories always inspire me. She has an incredible charm with people and a notable gift to witness to people. She's very well received by almost everyone. I feel less comfortable approaching people about such a sensitive topic. But you know what? I need to get over myself and do what God commanded me to do, no matter how uncomfortable it is for me. There are so many hurting people out there, just like the person she witnessed to today, that need to hear about the love of God. Her story was just the icing on the cake...the final motivation needed to get me going. I told her I'm gonna pray that God would put someone in my path to witness to and I'm going to tell her when it happens! So now I'm accountable to all of you too. :)

Ahh...the life

2008-08-18T20:23:00.007-05:00

We didn't even pose him like this...this is real! LOL!

Welcome to the family!

2008-08-15T14:52:00.008-05:00

Joshua Brandon Hampton was born this morning! 7 lbs, 4 oz.

Andrea went in for an induction at 7 am. I arrived at Centennial a little before 11, went up to her room and the door was shut. I leaned in to listen and the nurses were giving her "pushing" instructions. We had no idea she was THAT close to having him! So I grab my cell phone, dial mom and say, "Mom, I think she's about to start pushing." Just then I hear a baby crying...it was Josh! I go ballistic on the phone...I couldn't believe she had him THAT fast. I'm so mad at her...I was in labor for hours then pushed for 2 freakin HOURS, had forceps and the full shabang, plus was sick for about 10 hours afterwards. And here Andrea makes it look like a piece of cake...twice! She only pushed 4 times with Briana. I told her she's going to be my surrogate for my next baby b/c she does it so well. :)

Little Josh is so precious. I can't wait to go back and see him. I only got to hold him briefly because Evster was getting fussy.

Anyways, welcome to the family Joshua! Evan can't wait to pick on, er, I mean, play with you! :)

Happy Birthday Fellas!

2008-08-14T19:13:00.006-05:00

Ev and I had a GREAT time at Zane, Jackson and Noah's first birthday party yesterday. These are three little boys in my Mama's group. There must have been 15 babies/toddlers and their moms there. I'm not sure who had more fun...me or Evan. We've been at home a lot the last few weeks so Evan was like a bird out of a cage. He was singing and talking and cooing at everyone. Katie called him the "talk show host". LOL He LOOOOVED the other babies and playing with all the "new" toys. He and McKenna rolled the ball back and forth and I learned that he's a HUGE fan of the little Gerber stars. On top of all that, it's always fun for me to chat with the other mommies. Days like this are my favorite.

Go Team USA!

2008-08-12T20:02:00.002-05:00

The Olympics are just phenominal. I haven't been great about watching them in the past, but I'm really enjoying this year. The USA is doing SO great in lots of categories. And for some crazy reason, it makes me emotional so I start tearing up on every event! Guess it's a mix of patriotism and "feeling" the extreme pressure they feel while they're performing. Go USA!

7 Months

2008-08-12T19:34:00.011-05:00

Little Evster is 7 months already. I can't believe it. Lately he's fascinated with being upside down and with toys that light up. He LOVES rolling the ball back and forth to me. I think that's pretty cool he can do that already! He's got the sitting thing down and can move around on his tummy in a circle. He doesn't care to crawl or roll over, but that's probably because I haven't given him much time on his tummy, as Ms. Doris at the doctor's office pointed out today. Actually she took a more full frontal approach when she pointed out that he has a flat head. lol As if I didn't know. :) She said it's the "back to sleep" generation of babies. They make us so paranoid to put our babies on their tummies that they all have flat heads. The paranoia is true. So I've been instructed to put him on his belly 4 times a day for 5 minutes and work up from that. I've known that was necessary, but he whines and then moves to crying when I leave him on his tummy too long, so I've been avoiding it. So Evan when I put you on your tummy lots this week, be mad at Ms. Doris! :)

I'm going to move him from soy milk to lactose free milk this week. Ugh, I dread it. I think he'll be fine but thoughts of the first two months come flooding back and I don't want to go through that again. But he eats lots of baby food so I think his digestive track is pretty stable now.

He's fighting a wicked cough right now, but other than that, he's great. We went to the Y today and all the girls in the nursery were doating over him. Every time I pick him up, they're always saying something amazing about him. They call him their favorite, they love the way his hair sticks up, his eyes are so pretty, he's so good and happy, etc. The nursery at church is similar. It's so nice to get great reports about your baby. Makes a momma feel proud. :) Even though none of that is my doing, I'm glad they love him.

Pregnant friend in need

2008-08-10T16:56:00.003-05:00

I have a friend that is 7 months pregnant with a baby girl. She doesn't have anything for the baby and she doesn't make much money. It's a sad situation and she could use any help at all. If any of you have any baby items that you don't want or wouldn't mind passing along, please let me know and I'll get them to her. She would greatly appreciate them!

Oh Happy Day

2008-08-09T21:00:00.002-05:00

Today was the kind of weekend day that I wish we could have every weekend. We joined our friends at their community pool, met some peeps we really didn't know that well in our group, grilled out, chatted, talked babies and mommy and girl stuff, and just chilled. Then we darted off to my sis-n-law's surprise 40th birthday party with fam and friends. She was very surprised. It was great to see lots of Steve's fam that we haven't seen in a while too.

We're such social bugs that there really isn't anything we like doing more than hanging out with people we love. Our care group is so awesome. We really click with everyone in there and have lots in common. And Steve's family is always fun...always a little chaotic with all the adults and kids, but always exciting!

Definitely had a great day, although poor little Ev is fighting a little cough. He's such a trooper though...he doesn't even act like he feels bad. He's still chuggin along, cheesin at everyone. He's such a good little thing...we drug his butt everywhere today and he just rolls with the punches, enjoying all the new faces. Our second kid sure has a lot to live up to. ;)

First Kiss

2008-08-09T06:00:00.003-05:00

The SWEETEST thing happened yesterday. Evan gave me a "kiss" for the first time. It was so precious! He gets so excited when I pick him up (the boy loves to be held). So I picked him up and he put his little hands on my face and gave me a big, slobbery, open mouthed kiss right on the face! He did it a couple times in a row. It was so sweet! He is such a lovable little thing. I'm gonna have to watch this one when he gets older. :)

New tub and toys

2008-08-05T16:11:00.003-05:00

We had to get a little creative with this one, since he can't stand yet. :)

Growing Pains

2008-08-04T12:33:00.003-05:00

The last two weeks can best be summed up by "growing pains". In almost every aspect of my life, there have been challenges. Even though I don't fully appreciate them in the moment, I do afterwards. It pleases me to know that I've worked through something and am stronger because of it. But it is stressful nonetheless. I think I'm on the other side of most of them and am ready for some normalcy again.

Steve's been killin it at work for two weeks too, which definitely contributed to the craziness. I'm really proud of him...he's been getting up before Evan (which says a lot!), coming home late every night, and working both days on the weekends. I always dispised working after hours and felt totally mistreated when I had to do it (yeah my attitude was wrong and I knew it, but I still felt that way). I'm sure glad Steve isn't like that. I hate that he has to work like that, but we're really grateful for the work. Come on October bonus!! :)

Evan's approaching 7 months and he's doing great. I'm positive he's teething, but no teefies yet. He loves baby food, he's starting to "get" the whole sippy cup thing and he hasn't been waking up wanting his pacifier lately, thank God! He seems bored with all his toys (even the ones at Nana's house) and wants to constantly be entertained. Not sure what's up with that, but it's annoying. Fortunately Mom gave me a break Saturday night and most of Sunday, which couldn't have come at a better time after the past two weeks. And Aunt She-She is keeping him tonight so I get to sleep in tomorrow. WOOHOO!!! I think that's the hardest part about having a little baby...you must press through your fatigue and press on. Ahh the things I appreciate now that I thought nothing of before!

Bring back the blonde?

2008-07-29T14:56:00.007-05:00

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

2008-07-29T14:43:00.007-05:00

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?

2008-07-23T13:11:00.005-05:00

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??

2008-07-21T08:19:00.004-05:00

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!

2008-07-15T21:07:00.003-05:00

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

2008-07-15T18:25:00.008-05:00

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

2008-07-07T19:00:00.006-05:00

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! :)

Me and My Sissy

2008-06-26T16:32:00.002-05:00

(And my nephew!)

New pics - 5 Months

2008-06-24T09:38:00.004-05:00

Breaking the Pacie

2008-06-24T09:30:00.003-05:00

I've decided it's time to break Baby Boo's addiction to the pacie. After about a month of him waking up 1-3 times a night just because he dropped it, the decision came pretty easy. I'd get up, give it back to him and we'd both go back to sleep. But the point was that I was still having to get up! I've been really worried about it, fearing he'd never be able to go to sleep without it. But typical of him, he's been doing GREAT and once again I worried for nothing. Yesterday he fell asleep during naptime without it and last night he fell asleep at bedtime without it. I couldn't believe it! The best part is that for the past two nights, he hasn't woken up either. I'm still in disbelief. But God answers prayers and that was definitely one of mine! I'm glad He answers prayers that are important to us when even in the big scheme of things, they're rather insignificant.

Another one of Evan's lady friends...hehe

2008-06-18T15:18:00.003-05:00

This is my friend Jennifer's little girl, Addison. Evan looks jumbo next to her! She's 2 months and he's 5 months.

Redefining Father's Day

2008-06-18T14:36:00.003-05:00

Steve got to celebrate his first Father's Day this year. I'm sure I was way more excited than he was. :) I worked super hard on this piece of pottery that I made for him from Evan. It's this ceramic box to hold his watch, change, etc. I stamped Evan's footprints on the top and wrote "Happy Father's Day DaDa, love Evan" on the top. It turned out SOOO cute. It should have...took me hours to do! I've been to All Fired Up several times and my pottery always turns out ugly, but this one turned out awesome! I wanted to post a pic, but Steve took it to work to put on his desk.

I got him a new Citizen watch to go in his ceramic box. I must say, that thing is fly!

As we were sitting in church that day, I obviously couldn't help but think about my father. My father wasn't a good one. Before I knew it, thoughts flooded my mind of the awful things he did. My heart broke as I thought about all the children in the world that have bad fathers and that get mistreated like I was. But quickly I focused my attention on Steve, and how great of a father he is. It is so incredibly comforting to know that Steve will always be a loving father and he'll never mistreat our children. It's nice that I have a chance to redefine Father's Day in my own mind with my own family.

And then I thought of my stepdad and what an amazing father he is. He restored my whole world the day he walked into my life. He's the most gentle, loving man and he's always loved and treated me like I am his own. God definitely restores what's been stolen by the enemy. I am so thankful for these two fathers in my life.

Bogus!

2008-06-18T14:32:00.001-05:00

People on eBay are so bogus! Half of them are liars and the other half have completely unreasonable expectations. I'm beginning to think it's not even worth listing stuff on there. Not like I list much anyways, but still. Ugh, I'm so fed up with ridiculous people on there! Ugh!

5 Months

2008-06-12T21:16:00.002-05:00

Our baby's 5 months old now and already he's starting to seem so big! He's not a newborn any more...he's pawing at and grasping things, pushing up while on his tummy, giggling, touching my face, starting to hold his bottle and learning to sit up (still with lots of help). He's the happiest little thing. He just smiles, giggles, squeals and bounces around all the time. We've taken him swimming a few times now and he just lays back and soaks it all in as if he knows what it's like to be at a spa. Daddy has taught him how to splash in the tub and boy, did he learn that one quick!

He's eating baby food once a day...loves carrots, green beans, prunes, bananas. Hates peas (can't blame him). He learned how to eat with the spoon after one try! He got that concept and ran with it. He knows when it's time to eat and he gets excited and starts opening his mouth. He recognizes the "ba ba" too and his eyes light up when he sees it.

He weighs a whopping 17lbs. If I've heard "Wow, he's big" once, I've heard it a million times. He's very long more than anything. He has a tiny little waist. So all his clothes are too short, but he doesn't fill out the belly. I'm actually buying him 9 months clothes just for the length. But I prayed he'd be tall, so God's just fulfilling that request!

Briana Ona!!

2008-06-12T21:03:00.007-05:00

My sweet, adorable niece Briana stayed 2 nights with us last week. She is such an angel. She is always so much help with Evan. I bribed her 3 times to feed Evan his bottle in the car while I was busy shuttling her to the zoo, to the pool and then to Chuck E Cheese. She's the kind of kid you want to do things for because she gets SO excited. It's so fun to see. When we ran out of tokens at CEC and I told her I was going to buy more, she practically lept up to the ceiling! We took a few pics and videos too. Wish I could get the videos to upload because they are priceless!

Dad help! She's got me in legwarmers!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-06-03T07:28:00.005-05:00

We joined 2 of my mama friends and their families on the pontoon boat they rented. All the kiddos came along and had so much fun. The water put Evan in a tranquil state...he slept most of the time. But when he was awake he looked like this:

Contrary to what it looks like, he's not crying...he's just going, "ahhhhhhhhhh". hehe He was just taking it all in.

And here's Miss Molly enjoying her on-board baby pool:

Sadness

2008-05-19T15:25:00.004-05:00

The last few days I've received some sad news for two friends of mine. First is a man I worked with at digiChart. He mentored me the short time he was there. He helped me expand my knowledge of SQL and inspired me to keep pursueing it. We don't really keep in touch, but we exchanged emails last week and I learned that his wife has stage 5 cancer. They've been married a long time and have 5 children. She is only 37 years old. While I've never met her, I read an article in the Tennessean about her and she sounds phenominal...strong, courageous, faithful, a loyal wife, a loving and giving mother. The article headline was, "A Mother First, A Cancer Patient Second." And you know it's true with this woman. She clearly loves her kids more than anything and is fighting for them.

Today I received word that a friend of mine's husband died very unexpectedly. He was only 43. They had a great relationship and she is heartbroken and devastated.

My heart just burns and aches for these people. It makes me look forward to the day when there will be no more sadness, no more crying, no more sickness and no more death. Won't it be wonderful to enter heaven and never experience these things again...to be with Jesus forever, the One who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins so that we can have a relationship with God, the One who loves us unconditionally and showed us by giving His own life.

Please keep my friends in your prayers.

Milestones

2008-05-17T06:42:00.007-05:00

Sitting up (with a little help...hehe). Ignore the red scratches on my head...I bumped it on a toy at my friend's house.

I found my toes! They went straight to my mouth.

And I don't really like peas. But squash is another story!

Bummed

2008-05-13T14:27:00.003-05:00

My new favorite TV show is Design on a Dime. Primarily because I'm cheap but I want everything to look fabulous. So I thought I'd go on their website and see if they'd makeover our livingroom, but discovered you have to live in LA or Chicago. UGH! Guess I'll have to do it myself.

A Mother's Day to Remember

2008-05-12T09:42:00.004-05:00

I woke up to a smiling little baby and an extra special card and necklace from him! Seems like he and Daddy did a little shopping while they let me sleep in Saturday morning. :) The card from Evan was so special and sweet...I totally boo-hoo'd over that. Then he got me a necklace with an "E" pendant on it. Aww...how cute! I totally felt like Gwen Stefani rockin her "Kingston" shirt. hehe

Steve gave me the nicest Mother's Day card, all perfectly worded. And then he pulled out another Jared's box and I thought, "Uh oh! Jared's has suckered him again!" They better have him on their VIP list! :) He gave me another necklace that has 2 circles inside each other with 3 diamonds, one for each member of our family. I love it! It's so sentimental and personal. He made my first Mother's Day one to remember.

My mom and mother-n-law also gave me the sweetest cards, which meant so much. And I got all these sweet text messages from my friends...it was better than my birthday or Christmas! Thank you everyone for being so mindful of my first Mother's Day...all your sweet wishes really made me happy.

I finally got to stand!

2008-05-12T08:52:00.009-05:00

Every year for Mother's Day at church, the Pastor has all the Mothers stand up and be honored. And every year I wanted to be one of the women standing. For those of you who know me closely, you know how long I waited for the man that God had for me and how I wanted to be a Mother. Well...I finally got to stand this year! (Of course I sobbed the whole time.)

When we stood, he talked about how being a mom isn't easy and not to ever let anyone belittle the role of a Mother. He pointed out that being a Mother is the most important assignment that we as women will ever be given. I wholeheartedly agree and always have. The importance of raising other human beings properly in this world is the hardest job out there. When I look at a society that is so corrupt, I can't help but think most of it is the parents fault. Parents that don't love their children, who abuse or neglect them, or don't teach them how to function in this world. It's so sad that there's so many hurting people out there, many that stem from not having a good childhood or good, loving parents. Or some that are hurt because their parents were alcoholics, drug addicts, liars, adulterers or hypocrits.

Pastor Davis said to be a great Mother, you must have great character. He's right. That inspired me to become a better person and work on my character even more. My life will be transparent to Evan as he grows up. It will be hard to hide any character flaws, therefore I need to make sure I don't have any. I want him to be proud that I'm his Mom. I never want him to be embarrassed by my actions or character. I don't want Steve to be either. And I certainly don't want God to be. It made me think, "What type of Mother do I want to be? What are the things that I want to set as a precedent in our family?"

Sometimes it's easy to think, "I'm just a Mom. I just take care of my baby all day everyday." But I take this role very seriously. I read a lot about infant development, I play with him and help him learn, I expose him to new things, I continually pray for him, I even look up nursery rhymes and songs on the internet to sing to him because I can't remember any! :) So sometimes a thought will pop in my head like I'm not doing anything significant any more, but I know that's a lie because I'm doing something that matters for eternity...raising another person.

Picnic at the Park

2008-05-10T19:30:00.003-05:00

Evan loved it! He just laid on the blanket and looked up at this cool tree the whole time. Hopefully we'll have lots more days like this.

4 months

2008-05-07T14:47:00.004-05:00

Evster had to go to the doctor's yesterday to get more shots. Boo!! It's way harder on me than him. It about killed me when he cried. He doesn't cry. He's a fusser...not a crier. So when he cries, it's bad. But we got a great report...he's very healthy! 75% on weight and height, which explains why all his outfits are kinda short. He can easily wear 6 month clothes, but he doesn't have a thick mid-section, so they're a little big in that area. We're ready to begin baby food! I will introduce them VERY slowly, just because of the initial tummy problems he had. Andrea says to introduce veggies first...I think she's right. I'm going to introduce the yuckiest veggie first and then move on to things that taste better. :)

And he's found his feet now. This morning he was on the changing table and he grabbed his toes...so cute! That was the first time he did that. Sometimes I touch his toes to his cheek and he just laughs...he thinks that's so funny. Pretty soon he'll be doing that on his own. :)

He's such a good little baby. Everybody loves him and is always impressed with how good he is. He's sleeping great through the night and now naptimes too! I couldn't ask for a better baby. His smile makes me melt every single time.

And I've decided that if we have another baby (not that we're even close to thinking about that), I want another boy. When I was pregnant, several Mommies of boys told me, "Oh you're going to love having a boy. Just wait and see." Now I see what they were talking about.

3 month photos

2008-05-07T14:19:00.011-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Ev's 3 month photo shoot that we JUST got back. Does anybody want to ask me what it's like to have the cutest baby in the whole world? hehe :)

Hippity Hoppity

2008-05-04T21:45:00.005-05:00

Our new backyard came with a new little occupant...

Our new backyard

2008-05-01T12:33:00.004-05:00

Steve has been working very hard around our house lately. Here's our incredible new backyard...it's gonna be our little sanctuary when we're done with it!

My new present!!

2008-04-27T20:28:00.005-05:00

Right now I'm surfing the web from my NEW PC in my NEW office at home that my sweet hubby got for me! This PC is AWWWWWWWWWESOME and the office looks so good! When I quit my job, I had to turn in my laptop so Steve got me a desktop so I could work on my graphic design stuff. This widescreen is so incredible and everything is so sleek. Ya I know, my geekiness is totally out of the closet now. :) He worked his tail off for me this weekend getting this office painted and our cool desk from Ikea put together. He's the bestest! Pics to come...

Big Poppie?

2008-04-22T09:19:00.002-05:00

Okay. I have on occasion stolen David "Big Poppi" Ortiz' nickname because I was a new dad and all that jazz, plus I live for the Red Sox. But the pic below reminds me that the nickname has become more literal than I would prefer. Blaaaa fat belly and triple chin!!! Time to loss the baby weight big guy!!!! It is almost beach season and we are going to Cape Cod this summer for the Fourth of July. Can you say beached whale!!! They say it takes 9 months to put on the weight and 9 months to lose it, but I'm sure that is suppose to apply to the parent who actually carried the baby :) Time to throw it down and get my butt in gear. Its on like Donkey Kong!! No more excuses.

Gotta love Pooh (not that kind!)

2008-04-21T16:32:00.002-05:00

Evan has sat here and literally squealed at the TV constantly while Winnie the Pooh is on TV. We've experimented with lots of cartoons, Baby Einstein, etc, but Pooh is by far the favorite! Winnie the Pooh is popular for a reason!

New pics

2008-04-21T11:42:00.004-05:00

Evan rockin the denim jacket Tara got him!

ATL trip

2008-04-21T07:38:00.008-05:00

We had a great time visiting family in ATL last weekend. Although we ate so good that I totally crashed my diet, but it was almost worth it. :) The Mommies got to shop while the Daddies kept the kids...a nice treat!

The kids were so cute together. I can't wait until Evan is able to play! Ava LOVED Evan. She constantly petted his little head and would always ask me if she could touch him. So sweet! I really wish Chad & Steph lived closer.

Here's some pics:

We're getting a new nephew!!!!!

2008-04-15T20:35:00.002-05:00

Andrea found out today that she's having a BOY!!! YAY!!! Evan's getting another boy cousin that will be just 8 months younger. I am SOOOOOO excited!! I have a HUGE pile of cute boy clothes for him already. Gosh, I couldn't be happier! I can already see little boy sleepovers in a year or two!

So this makes 3 cousins for Evan on my side of the family...Briana is 6 years older, Addison is 4 months older, and the new baby boy will be 8 months younger. And he has a ton of cousins on Steve's side, but closest are Chloe, which is 3 years older and Owen who is 6 months older. I am so happy he has lots of cousins that are close in age. That's what I always wanted for my kiddos.