Moments with the Mays

12 weeks with Baby Dos

2012-01-26T20:40:00.000-06:00

**Please excuse the picture this week. The Toddler would not allow his mama to wash her hair this morning. typical.**

*How far along?: 12 weeks 4 days

*Total weight gain?: 1 lb
*How big is baby?: the size of a peach
*Sex: I have a feeling...I'll let you know if I'm right on March 8th!
*Maternity clothes: I'm still doing the rubberband trick. I may break down and buy a belly band. I have one pair of regular maternity jeans, but they don't fit great yet. I forgot how much I hate maternity pants because they have NO waist & never stay up.
*Stretch marks: Nope. I need to get my Mama Mio cream again!
*Sleep: Besides the middle of the night bathroom breaks, I have been sleeping pretty good!
*Symptoms: Other than throwing up in a plastic bag while sitting in a Chick-Fil-A parking lot 2 days ago? not much. I am confused by the random bouts of nausea I am getting since I had none early on.
*Best moment this week: Spending time with my family in Baton Rouge AND hearing that sweet heartbeat for the first time today!
*Movement: not yet...but we could hear the baby moving around today. So neat!
*Food cravings: fruity candy...skittles, swedish fish, starbursts. Seriously, I'm like a little kid!
*Labor signs: hopefully not anytime soon!
*Belly button in or out: in
*What I miss: just the occasional glass of wine!
*What I'm looking forward to: the 2nd trimester!

brain dumpity dump.

2012-01-25T14:37:00.000-06:00

You'll have to excuse me, but my brain is not working properly today. My mom and I were in Louisiana all weekend and left yesterday at 3:30 in the morning and drove 10 hours back to Tennessee. Yep. 3:30 in the morning. Understand why my brain is not really functioning?

I have been on a fruity candy eating spree lately. I've been begging Ben to bring home some goodies from work and he went over and above. He went to the mall candy store and stocked up on all my favorites! I'm in heaven...and currently eating swedish fish while writing this.
I am way behind on my 12 week post. It was supposed to be done on Sunday. I like schedules and the fact that it will be late is driving me crazy.
My newest TV obsession is Hoarders. It's now on my dvr. I am SO fascinated by these people and can't for the life of me figure out why they can't just throw things away. I'm the opposite. I probably get rid of things too easily. Goodwill is my friend.
While we were in Louisiana it was almost 80 degrees. Grayson got to wear shorts and tshirts...in January!! We came back to cold, rainy weather in Tennessee. Body shock!
I'm going to try to get Grayson to drink smoothies. He hasn't had a vegetable since July. I'm hoping this may be the trick! Does anyone have any good websites with smoothie recipes?
Grayson has gotten so much more attached to his froggy lovies over the past month or so. He has always slept with them, but he has just started asking for them when he is not napping/going to bed. As soon as he gets them in his arms, he snuggles them so tight in his arms. It is SO sweet. Call me crazy, but I am happy that he finally has something he is attached to that can comfort him. My boy was never a thumb sucker & never really cared for pacifiers...I'm glad he loves his froggy! Remind me that I said this when we are fighting about bringing froggy to kindergarten.

16 months

2012-01-19T12:10:00.000-06:00

Grayson is 16 months old today!

The stats:

Weight: 22 pounds..he has weighed about the same for the past 3 1/2 months; we are finally packing on some pounds!

Height: about 31 1/2 inches

Diaper: size 4 during the day & size 5 at night

Clothes: all of his 12 month longalls are now too short :( He is wearing all 12-18 month pants, mostly 18 month shirts, & all 18/18-24 month longalls. He did some growing this month!

Shoe: 4 1/2

Grayson "talks" all day long, it's just hard to understand him. :) He is really starting to try & mimic words that we say recently. Here are the words he can say:

mama

dad

Ja (Jack)

ball

tee (tree)

down

dog

bye

tuh-down (touchdown...ridiculous, I know)

moo

woof

tee-tee

no (he LOVES to shake his head and say no to e v e r y t h i n g)

We seemed to have turned a corner in the area of sleep...let's hope I am not jinxing myself! Grayson has always been an early riser until a few weeks ago. I'm talking, 6:30 was really sleeping in at our house. Mornings usually began between 5:45-6:00am. However, Grayson has discovered that sleeping later is a great thing! He's been sleeping from 7:30/8:00pm - 7:30/8:00am. Hallelujah!

Grayson is getting a lot more independent these days. He now likes to hold my hand & walk like a big boy. He looks so old when he does it! He loves being able to go into the pantry & pick out what he wants to eat for a snack...even if it's completely random. He thinks he's pretty cool in his MOPS class when they leave his drink in his cubby & he can get it whenever he wants it. Little G is growing up!

Grayson is still the PICKIEST eater in the world and it is beginning to drive me crazy. Our pediatrician told us to start giving him Boost since he isn't eating any veggies & very little fruit. He loves it! I'm thanking the Boost for the pound gained since last month. We've been switching out whole chocolate milk & Boost to try to get him used to regular milk soon. The food situation? Well, honestly, it's so frustrating. He eats cinnamon raisin toast, applesauce, yogurt, cereal, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, veggie sticks, goldfish, & peanut butter crackers. That's it. He's getting sick of some of those things & I have no clue what else to try. Any tips? Mamas? Anyone??

Right now Grayson is loving: his Little People toys, playing basketball with his new goal, taking off his shoes, playing with his dogs, climbing up the stairs at lightning fast speed, shaking his head & saying "no," playing outside, the church nursery & his MOPS class (yay!!), dancing to Jake & the Neverland Pirates, helping mama & daddy do things around the house (mop, throw things away, recycle), and reading his books.

What does Grayson now hate? Restaurants. I think we are finished with those for awhile & I am pretty sure people in the Nashville area will be pleased to know that!

Grayson is the funniest & most spirited little boy! His expressions and BIG personality continue to keep us laughing! I feel like we were just celebrating his 1st birthday & 4 months have already flown by.

Happy 16 months, G!

So What! Wednesday

2012-01-18T07:33:00.000-06:00

It's Wednesday. Know what that means? It's time to get your SO WHAT on! This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

I feel like a better mama when I get breaks during the week with MOPS & bible studies? I am pretty sure G enjoys those breaks too.
I made a special trip to Publix 2 nights ago for a big bag of skittles? Baby Dos wanted them, not me. And? They were on sale for $2.99. I'm thinking that means it was meant to be, right?
I am kind of obsessed with MTV's new showed, Caged? Trashy Lousiana cage fighting reality show? You had me at trashy.
it is driving me CRAZY not knowing what we are having yet? There are SO MANY great sales/consignments going on right now & I want some matching sibling clothes!
I did not watch the Golden Globes? B to the Oring. I just watch the morning shows to see the dresses. AND with that said, Reese Witherspoon was my favorite.
I am about 8 months behind on G's photobooks? oops. I will be caught up by the time Baby Dos arrives.

Go link up with Shannon for So What! Wednesday & join in the fun!

the one where I talk about being a mom.

2012-01-17T08:19:00.000-06:00

Last week I had to go to Lifeway to pick up a Beth Moore book for my bible study. Sounds like an easy enough trip, right? I thought so. After Grayson woke up from his long nap, I packed him a snack & we headed to the store. As soon as we walk in he begins flailing in my arms, arching his back, and trying to jump out of my arms. I put him down and he immediately goes to a stand of Christmas books on sale. He wants them all in typical toddler fashion. I grab one to keep him occupied & head to the back of the store. The screeching starts. {Cue mama panic mode...it's like a sixth sense knowing when our child is about to erupt in an epic meltdown.} I quickly find my book, put him back down, and he races over to the kid section with Veggietales stuff. What does he immediately want? Well, everything. They had xylophones, Little People Noah's Ark, books, stuffed animals...you name it, he was grabbing it. After a few minutes of him running around & me chasing him, I headed up to the register. The arching/flailing/kicking begins again and down he goes. While I paid, he dumped out a cup of highlighters, was taking tops off of pens, and generally wreaking havoc on this poor Christian bookstore.

By the time we left, my face was red and I was sweating. Those are the moments I never thought about when my sweet newborn was snuggling in my arms. I never imagined those moments of pure parenting frustration & chaos. But, they happen.

I was talking to my friend Jen a few nights ago & we were discussing this whole mama gig. She was saying that it drives her crazy that nobody every really says, in general, that being a mom is hard. She's right. There is always a discussion/debate it seems about being a stay at home mom or a working mom & which is harder.

Y'all, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I am here to say that being a mom is hard. It's the most challenging, yet rewarding, thing I have ever done. It's not all rainbows & butterflies like I thought it would be when I was a little girl playing with my dolls.

I've been on both sides of the fence; I've been a working mom & I'm currently a stay at home mom. Guess what? They are both hard.

I went back to my 1st grade classroom when G was 12 weeks old.

Leaving him in a daycare when he was teeny? It sucked. The mama guilt I felt for leaving him? That was hard. Pouring myself into a class full of 6 year olds & then going home to my other job as wife/mama? That was hard. Spending time each night making sure a daycare bag was packed and ready to go? That got old. Dealing with that horrible 4 month sleep regression and then getting up to go to work? That was awful, hard, AND exhausting. Running around like a chicken with my head cut off every morning trying to get myself and a baby ready? That was hard. Feeling like I had to jam pack my weekends with family time since I didn't have much of that during the week? That made me sad.

When Grayson was 8 months old, I quit my teaching job to stay home.

Having to be ON all day in order to entertain a busy boy? It is exhausting. Not having sick days? Well, that's no fun. Not having adult interaction at all until Ben gets home some days? It can make me crazy. The days that G tests me over & over & over again? They are so challenging. The nights that Ben works late and I literally don't get a break until 8pm? holy cow, that is exhausting. Guess what? Sometimes I still feel mama guilt, only this kind is different. Grayson was in a great daycare/preschool program. It had real teachers & a legit curriculum. Sometimes I feel guilty about taking him away from a place that I know he would learn from. It's hard to feel guilty when it is something having to do with your child.

Nobody ever told me that being a parent was going to be easy. I didn't expect it to be easy. I just never imagined how challenging it really is to raise a child. I don't want this post to come across like I don't enjoy my newish role as a mama. I love it. It's the greatest thing that I have ever done. It is worth every single sleepless night, early morning, and temper tantrum. What is that quote? Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Or something like that. So very true. I just wanted to throw it out there that being a mom can be hard & will challenge you in more ways than you thought possible & to hopefully realize that I am not alone in feeling this way. :)

11 weeks with Baby Dos

2012-01-15T14:37:00.001-06:00

I can't believe I get to start these again! Here we go:)

and just for kicks & giggles...

I have a few things to say about this comparison:
1. It's so hard to believe that the first picture was taken almost exactly TWO years ago.
2. I looks about the same in both pictures...yet feel HUGE this time around.
3. The first picture makes me really miss my long hair. Thank God for prenatal vitamins that make my hair grow super fast!

*How far along?: 11 weeks

*Total weight gain?: no gain yet
*How big is baby?: the size of a lime!
*Sex: We don't find out until March...I'm 2 for 2 on guessing for blog friends; I have a guess...I wonder if I will be right?!
*Maternity clothes: Sadly, I've had a pair of maternity jeans since about 8 weeks. Womp, womp, womp. I am still wearing my regular skinnies but I have to do the rubberband trick! My belly is about the same as it was with G at 11 weeks...except I have looked like this since week 7. ha!
*Stretch marks: Nope. I need to get my Mama Mio cream again!
*Sleep: already tossing & turning, having CRAZY dreams, and taking frequent potty breaks. Not the best sleep ever.
*Symptoms: I haven't been sick in like 6 weeks, until this morning. Strange. Hoping it was a fluke! Other than being tired, I've been feeling completely normal!
*Best moment this week: I'm slowly getting my energy back. I was EXHAUSTED for the past 6ish weeks and wanting to go to bed at 8 every night. I'm not quite as tired & don't feel like a zombie in the morning!
*Movement: not yet, but at our ultrasound a little over a week ago, the baby was moving ALL around!
*Food cravings: fruity and sour candy. I've had more aversions this time around. Random things make me gag: greek food, preparing raw chicken, hamburgers. weird.
*Labor signs: hopefully not anytime soon!
*Belly button in or out: in
*What I miss: okay, fine. a glass of red wine. :)
*What I'm looking forward to: the 2nd trimester and getting out of this awkward belly stage!

reasons I love my kid #3

2012-01-12T08:52:00.000-06:00

You can find #1 here and #2 here.

He never meets a stranger, so unlike me as a child. He says "hiiiiii" to every single person he sees; he won't stop saying it until he gets a response. So friendly!
He has an opinion now & it cracks me up. One thing he has a strong opinion about is food. Grayson now walks to the pantry, knocks on the door until we open it, & then picks what he wants to eat. What he grabs is always SO random; gatorade, a box of hot chocolate, fruit thins, a loaf of bread. Seriously, you never know.
When Grayson runs, he doesn't move his arms. It looks hysterical.
He thinks Llama Llama (from his books) looks like Jack. Lately, he has pointed to him yelling, "Jack! Jack!"
He gives his dogs kisses & hugs all the time.
He has THE BEST "surprised" face. hands down.

see? surprised face!

He walks around with my old iPhone, holds it up to his ear, and says "heyyyy." He then proceeds to have a long conversation with him whoever he is talking to.
He thinks it is SO funny to chase the dogs around our downstairs with his ball popper or lawn mower. He shrieks & belly laughs while they run around like crazy.

So What! Wednesday

2012-01-11T13:27:00.000-06:00

Happy Hump Day, folks. It's my favorite time of the week when I get to say "so what" to all the things that are driving me batty. Go link up with Shannon @ Life After I Dew so you can join in, too! This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

I have 35 spring & summer jon jons on my eBay watch list right now? So far this is a crazy mild winter & I feel like I need to thinking of warmer days! The Toddler must have cute clothes!
I went to my favorite children's boutique this week and really wanted to buy the 65% off Christmas sibling sets? Seriously, I would have been in BIG trouble if we knew what we were having. The cute smocked dresses? I die.
I have to trick my mind into thinking our house is on the market to actually keep it clean? I'm crazy, I know. But it's working!!
I'm still drinking coffee? Caffeinated. Pregnant. Trust me, you don't want to see this girl without her morning cup of creamer & a splash of coffee.
I haven't taken my "Don't knock, baby is sleeping" sign off our front door in over 24 hours? I guess I'm either a) a hermit, b) lazy, or c) both.
I still have 4 glass ornaments sitting on my dining room table? I ran out of room in all our ornament containers & it's driving me crazy not having a special place for them!

What are you saying SO WHAT to this week?!

resolutions shmesolutions

2012-01-10T08:14:00.000-06:00

I know that it's over a week past January 1st, but I think it's time to talk about some goals for 2012. I don't do resolutions. New Year's resolutions have a bad reputation for getting forgotten about pretty quickly. I'm just going to make some goals...and perhaps I will even stick to them! (Please don't hold your breath on that)

Only go to the grocery once a week. I usually do pretty good each week budget-wise on my main shopping day. However, sometimes I just NEED a big bag of sour patch kids, salt & vinegar chips, and some new nail polish. Nothing good comes of those extra trips & my wallet hates me for them.

Be more frugal. I really need to do better with saving money; especially since I am no longer making any real money. (I guess my eBates cash back doesn't count?!)

Be better at keeping our house clean & tidy. I told Ben that I am going to pretend that our house is on the market and I HAVE to keep it clean & clutter-free. I've tackled 3 rooms this week. I'm slowly getting there & Laura's random piles of junk are finding new homes.

Spend less time on my computer/iPad/iPhone, and more quality time with my family.

Read more books. Have any suggestions? I have been sucked in to The Hunger Games and am about to start the 3rd book. I'm going to need some good ones soon!

~~Grow up and stop watching trashy reality shows like Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, and 16 & Pregnant.~~ psh.

Start sewing. I've kind of got down the basics, but I need to study that manual and actually use the machine!

REALLY learn how to use my camera. I would love to take a class that would show me how to use all the settings on my camera. Again, I need to really study the manual...something I hate doing. I would like to do this before Baby Dos arrives in 7 (!!!!!!!) months.

Jump back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon after Baby Dos arrives! I will have almost a year to get bathing suit ready; no excuses!

Okay, and seriously, any good book recommendations??

Baby May #2 - the details

2012-01-06T07:54:00.000-06:00

Thank you all SO much for all the baby love! We are so excited about this sweet baby (girl? boy?) joining our family this summer!

{Can I take a moment and say that I have said a gazillion times I WILL NEVER HAVE A SUMMER PREGNANCY AGAIN. ha! We see how that worked out.}

We found out the day after Thanksgiving...after 2 negative tests, I finally got a positive! We waited to tell our families on Christmas Day since they would all be here at once. The first present Grayson opened was his cute "big brother" shirt. I'm so glad we waited to tell everyone in person! We have the whole thing on film & the reaction is great!

look how excited big brother, G, was!!

Our official due date is August 5, 2012. BUT, I will have a scheduled c-section at the end of July. That means G and Baby Dos (yep, that is what I am currently calling this one) will be about 22 months apart! We will have our hands full!

Thankfully, I have been feeling pretty good! I have been a little more nauseous this time around, but thankfully, that's about it. Well, other than the fact that I am SO INCREDIBLY TIRED. I can't tell if that's the whole growing-a-new-baby thing or the fact that I chase a very busy toddler around all day. Either way, I'm pooped and ready for bed around 8:00 every night. I will be doing my weekly updates with this baby...mostly for me to compare!

Blog world, meet Baby Dos. Baby Dos, meet blog world. Look at those little legs!!

looking back over 2011

2011-12-31T08:46:00.000-06:00

2011 may have been the quickest year of my life. Seriously, I blinked, and it was over. This year was such a great one! Here are the 11 most memorable moments of 2011...in order!

SNOW DAYS! We used 10 snow days last year and I loved it because they all happened right after my maternity leave ended. Snow days = more days at home with my baby!
The first week of January last year I had to report to jury duty. Instead of regular jury duty, I was selected to be a member of the Grand Jury...once a month from January - June. I'm the weirdo that was actually excited! I wish I could be a permanent member of the Grand Jury. I loved it. It totally fits my nosy, criminal tv show-loving personality.
Ben and I went to see my favorite country star, Brad Paisley! My good friend, Brad, puts on a great show. It was such a fun concert!
I embarked on the adventure of baby food making when Grayson was about 6 months old. I really enjoyed making his food! He's so dang picky now & I miss the days when I could get him to eat those yummy vegetable and fruits!
Grayson got to experience his first Spring Break! Not don't get all crazy, we didn't hit up Club La Vela, but we did have fun in Atlanta!
Grayson became a master artist. No big deal.
We spent a really fun weekend in Oxford! Grayson got to meet his Aunt Whit and Uncle Matt & see our favorite small town for the first time!
I quit my job as a 1st grade teacher & became a stay at home mama at the end of the school year. Even though The Toddler can have his (terrible 2's) moments, I can honestly say that I have not once regretted my decision. I have made some great friends that also have little boys and I love spending so much time with Grayson. I love my my job title!
I left the mid-twenties and entered into my late-ish mid-twenties when I turned 26! Gah, I'm getting old! Oh? And my husband got MAJOR brownie points for giving me the BIGGEST DOUBLE DOOZIE CAKE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. oink.
Ben made me do something on the 4th of July weekend that is so not me. Be spontaneous. Gets me all jittery just thinking about it. I'm a big time planner. We decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Oxford for the holiday weekend! Literally, we walked into Target, he said he wanted to go to Oxford, we made reservations for 2/3 of the dogs, packed, & 2 hours later we were on the road. I was a complete spaz (typical) but we had such a great weekend! My baby loves Oxford and that makes me happy.
Ben and I celebrated 3 years of marriage on July 19! I love this guy more & more every day. I'm a lucky girl.
We had our big Cheney family reunion in July! I look forward to this every 3 years. It was Ben's first time with my small family of 94 people and I loved that Grayson got to meet all of his aunts, uncles, and cousins!
We learned in August that Grayson is NOT a beach baby. Not yet, anyways. sad face.
I gave in to peer pressure and joined twitter. How did people communicate before blogs, facebook, HeyTell, and twitter?!
Grayson went to The Grove for the first time! Yep, 3 visits to Oxford in 1 year! I hope we can keep this up. I didn't take G to the Ole Miss game, but he had a blast in the Grove. He looked so cute in his rebel wear!
My sweet little newborn turned ONE on September 19! I learned that I am not a party planner but we still had a fun Sock Monkey bash!
Mama got her hurr did. I went from blonde to brunette!
Our child morphed into the cutest garden gnome you ever did see on Halloween! Best costume, ever. He also loved following his friend, Gray, house to house to go trick-or-treating!
That cute garden gnome? He got quite the dramatic pout. He still uses the pout on a pretty regular basis and I still have to turn my head so I don't laugh.
We found out we were having a BABY on Black Friday!
We saw that sweet little baby yesterday...pretty good way to end 2011!

I am so excited for all of the fun & exciting things that 2012 will bring. A growing toddler who keeps me so busy AND a new baby this summer! Yep, it's going to be a great year.

secrets, secrets, are no fun. {well, this one is.}

2011-12-30T12:11:00.000-06:00

Christmas 2011 (aka: a picture dump)

2011-12-29T08:22:00.000-06:00

We spent Christmas at home with both of our families. Everyone came up the afternoon of Christmas Eve & Grayson was spoiled rotten with attention! Ben had to work on Christmas Eve until 6:00, but everyone else went to our afternoon church service. It was so good and just what I needed to hear! After Ben got home from work we let G open some presents from his enormous extended family.

Grayson had a big time opening his presents. Okay, he had a big time shredding all the paper from his gifts.

This little guy was all sorts of wound up on Christmas Eve!

Christmas morning was so much fun this year. We woke up at the crack of dawn (6:30) to see what Santa brought!

Well, in case you were wondering, Santa came! So did the grandparents. :)

Grayson has the best expressions...this is his "surprised" face. It's my favorite! He only does this when he gets really excited. Needless to say, we saw this face a lot on Christmas morning!

The lawnmower was a pretty big hit. He chases Huddy around the house with it & cracks himself up. Poor sweet dog!

Ben's family

my family

our little family!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!

Post-Christmas bullets

2011-12-28T08:20:00.000-06:00

We had a great Christmas! It was so fun seeing it through G's eyes this year. He had a great time! Also? I'm convinced playing Santa is even better than believing in Santa as a kid.
It looks like the Little People warehouse exploded in our playroom. Farms, Amusement Parks, Bus, Airplanes, Zoos...you name it, we got it.

The neighbors who ALWAYS park in front of our house? Still doing it. After I left two notes asking nicely for them not to park in front of our house 24/7? Still doing it. Do they still have an empty driveway? Of course. This girl? not happy.
I'm in the process of de-Christmasing my house. I never take all the decorations down this early. However, the toddler that keeps yanking ornaments off our trees is wearing me out. Those glass ornaments need to be hidden immediately.
Grayson is so overwhelmed with all these new toys. I plan on buying plastic bins today and putting a lot of toys away and bringing out 1 bin a week. Any other tips mamas? I want him to actually play with his toys and enjoy them & not get sick of them.
One of my besties, Kristy, is turning 30 this week. A few of us are throwing her an 80's Prom party this weekend. 1) It was SO hard for me to find a dress! 2) Ben may be more excited than me about the outfits. He has been an eBay fool. I can't wait to show you a picture of my husband circa 1986.
That husband of mine? Well, he is a great gift giver. So much better than me. Mama got a KEURIG! It's my new bff. It's Grayson's new bff too, obviously.

I'll be back tomorrow with a Christmas recap...get ready for LOTS of pictures!

So What! Wednesday

2011-12-21T07:20:00.000-06:00

I am very thankful that it is Wednesday. That means we only have 4 more sleeps until Christmas!! I'm pretty sure Christmas this year will be the best yet...I can't wait to see G's face when he comes downstairs in the morning! I got in trouble by some friends for not participating in So What! Wednesday last week so I had to make sure I got with the program this week. This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

our stockings are already full of goodies?? This is the one time when we can get away with it without Grayson noticing...I had to mark one thing off my list!
Those stockings include our dogs? Of course they have presents and of course I made a special Petsmart trip just for them!
I watch Teen Mom 2?? I never said I agree with anything on the show...it's just for entertainment purposes.
I laugh at all the dumb breastfeeding vs. formula battles AND football arguments on twitter? I simply laugh so I don't pull my hair out. Who cares how you feed your baby as long as he/she is FED?!
I told a man at the store today that G was saying "hiiiii" to him (repeatedly) so that he would actually speak back? It's hurts his little feelings when people ignore him and don't say hi!
I feel like I have been losing my mind this week? (read: peanut butter in fridge; milk in pantry) G has been waking up at FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING coughing his head off and I am so sleepy.
my child sat in timeout before 7am yesterday morning? These terrible ones tantrums are ROUGH.

That's all, folks. We are off to get the crazy toddler ragamuffin a haircut! Go link up with Shannon for So What! Wednesday!

Merry Christmas from our little family!

2011-12-20T13:02:00.001-06:00

I wish I could send all of my blog friends a card this year! I've gotten several from girls I've gotten close to through blogging & twitter and Ben will look at their cards and ask "who is that?!" Ha!

We used Shutterfly for our cards again this year & I love how they turned out!

front

back

Merry Christmas! I hope you have time to slow down this week, enjoy your family, & remember the true meaning of Christmas!

15 months

2011-12-19T06:37:00.001-06:00

Grayson is 15 months old today!

The stats:

Height: 20lbs 10 oz -- 6th percentile
Weight: 31 1/8in -- 50th percentile
Diaper: 4

Shoe: 4 1/2

Clothes: depends on the brand, still wearing 12 & 18 months!

Grayson is starting to talk a lot more! He jabbers all day long, but here are his actual words:

mama

dad

Ja (Jack)

ball

tee (tree)

down

dog

He literally says "hiiiiii" to everyone he sees. I love that little voice!

Grayson is now officially only taking 1 nap a day! He started refusing his morning naps about a week ago & has been doing great taking one afternoon nap! He's been sleeping about 2-2 1/2 hours in the afternoon. I actually like this new schedule!

Grayson has 14 teeth now with the 15th poking through on the bottom! At the rate we are going, he'll have his 12 year molars tomorrow.

Grayson is actually not being quite as picky lately. Knock on wood. He's actually been eating peanut butter & honey toast! Add that to cheese quesadilla, cinnamon raisin toast, oatmeal, & chicken nuggets.

Some of G's favorite things right now:

playing outside
climbing on and off his train table
touching the Christmas tree, umplugging the lights, and stealing ornaments
hoarding random objects in his firetruck & dumptruck. If you come to our house & lose something, check in G's trucks.
throwing the tennis balls for the dogs
talking, talking, talking!
playing peekaboo
driving his 4 wheeler

Grayson is so much fun right now & busy, busy, busy! I feel like I chase him around the house or yard all day. I love this stage! It really does just keep getting better.

Happy 15 months, G!

weekend recap

2011-12-18T14:54:00.000-06:00

We have had such a busy & fun weekend; I'm not ready for it to end! Ben had Friday & the weekend off so we decided we needed to do something fun with Grayson! On Friday we went to the Opryland Hotel because it is always decked out for Christmas. Ben & I went before we got married when we were up here looking for houses. It was so pretty! We went Friday morning with Grayson & he had the best time running around the hotel & saying "hi!" to everyone we passed.

The hotel has a river running through it...this was G's favorite thing to look at!

While we were there we decided to go the Madagascar Ice exhibit. Despite the 14 degree temperature & ridiculous toddler parka, Grayson had a great time!

Check out the parkas they give you! It felt like we were walking through a freezer. Not to mention the fact that those parkas add at least 30 pounds. Super flattering, right?

The ice nativity was so pretty!

Look at how tiny my little guy looks next to the giant Christmas tree!

Of course I forced G to wear antlers!

Grayson LOVED having his daddy home to play with!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

I can't believe Christmas is a week away!

Oh What Fun It Is...To Make Memories!

2011-12-15T07:26:00.000-06:00

'Tis the season to link up, right?! Well, today I am linking up with AP over at I Love You More Than Carrots (one of my faves...have you seen how cute her kid AND her dog are?!) to talk about our Christmas traditions!

I go to a womens bible study every other Wednesday morning. It is geared specifically towards being a wife & mama. One of the things people have talked about as we get closer to Christmas is how much fun it is to start your own traditions with your own little family. I couldn't agree more! Christmas was always really special for me when I was younger. We had special traditions for when we stayed home in Georgia & we also had special traditions when we spent Christmas at my Nana's in Louisiana.

Ben & I will never really get to travel much for the holidays because sometimes he will work & the times he has off, he just has the actual holiday off. One thing I want to make sure to do is to always make Christmas feel special at our house; even if it's just us. Grayson is too young to understand Christmas and traditions, but Ben & I have already talked about some things we want to do.

I want to make sure that Jesus is always the center of Christmas. Yes, we will do Santa. But, I want our kids to know the real reason behind Christmas. One tradition I hope to always do is go to our Christmas Eve service at church. When I was younger, we always went to the candlelight service & it was my favorite part of Christmas Eve. I think it is so important to hear the message of Christmas & to remember Jesus' birth.
I love the idea of wrapping 25 Christmas books as a way to count down! I will be collecting books throughout the year so that G can open a book a day next December. I think that is so fun!
Ben and I have also talked a lot about teaching our kids about giving. There are so many people, just miles away from us, that go to bed hungry. That amazes me. Every Christmas we have found ways to give. Whether it is a local food pantry, a can collection at school, or helping a ministry at our church that supports homeless men...we want to give back to people in need. I want our kids to look forward to helping a family/other kids in need every year.
I would love to start baking cookies with Grayson to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve. He already loves to help & get messy, so surely he would love that! I loved leaving cookies & milk out for Santa and then checking for crumbs on Christmas morning!
I'm kind of sad that G is still too little for Elf on the Shelf. We have our little elf but I won't bring him out until next year. I can't wait to see what name Grayson picks out for our family elf! There are SO many cute ideas of what to do with your elf on pinterest....this may be more fun for mama! ;)

I'm so excited to start some new family traditions next year as G gets a little older. I want him to look back at his childhood and remember Christmas as a magical time, just like I do!

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

Oh What Fun It Is To....Create! aka: a Pinterest-inspired Christmas

2011-12-14T08:08:00.000-06:00

I am linking up with Meredith today over at the The Tichenor Family. She is way more creative than me, but I thought I would share a few of the things I've DIY'd this holiday season. First of all, let's be honest, I can't do much of anything without Pinterest. I have found SO many cute Christmas crafts and it's been hard not to make every.single.one.

Source: matt-and-becky.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

I have loved the ornament wreath ever since Pier 1 started selling them quite a few years ago. However, I didn't want to spend the money because their wreath was not shatterproof and I always saw one in the store that was broken! Read: I'm clumsy & it would not last long.

There is my finished product! I took the tutorial from AP & Jennifer and I love how it turned out! I chose bronze & golds to match the bronze tree in the dining room. It was so easy to make & was pretty inexpensive. I'm hoping I can find some clearanced shatterproof ornaments after Christmas in different colors so I can make another one!

I saw this idea on Pinterest too, but, that website is having some major issues this morning..sorry, no embedded picture! I had 3 empty wine bottles (don't judge) laying around & this looked perfect! I bought white spray paint primer & a shiny white spray gloss. I primed them, waited until they were completely dry, & then sprayed the gloss over them. I was going to spray paint some twigs red and gold to use in the bottles, however, I had some of these little things (what do you even call these?!) left over from a Hobby Lobby trip. Next up: trying to make another bottle look like mercury glass!

This is my favorite new thing I've done this year! Checking the mail is one of my favorite things to do in December. I love Christmas cards! I bought some cute ribbon at Target & wrapped it over the top of these cabinet doors. I taped it (with a ton of tape) on the back. I rolled the tape and put it behind the ribbon to hold it straight to the glass. I folded the ribbon about an inch at the bottom before I taped it. I just used small clothes pins that I already had to clip the cards on. I wasn't sure if the ribbon would stay on the door, but it is full of cards now & hasn't budged! I love getting to look at all of our cards!

I made this ribbon bow wreath with the girls in my MOPS group. It's a little more time consuming, but it was easy to make! We started off with just a plain wreath, 5 different kinds of ribbon (can't remember how many yards of each, but I can find out if you want!), and a hot glue gun. We made the bows first. After the bows were made we singed the edges with a candle. Once the edges are singed, they won't tear apart. Then you just glue your bows on! Easy!

I'm all crafted out! Go link up with Meredith & share your craftiness!

Oh what fun it is to cook!

2011-12-13T09:22:00.000-06:00

I'm linking up with The Duchess of Fork today & can't wait to go back and check out some new recipes! Have you ever had the caramel pie at O'Charleys? It is good. Really good. I tried a recipe for this pie last Christmas and it was a big hit with the husband & the rest of our family. The kicker? It was the easiest thing I have ever made. Almost laughable it was so easy.

Totally stole from the interwebs of Google images...BUT, my finished product looks very similar.

The Easiest Caramel Pie Ever

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 graham cracker crust (chocolate or regular)

1 container of cool whip

Toppings if you want: chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, pecans, chocolate chips

Take the label off of the sweetened condensed milk can. Place the can in a large pot and fill the pot with water. Bring the water to a boil & continue boiling for 3 hours. Keep an eye on the pot to make sure the water is always covering the can. When the 3 hours is up, take the can out, and carefully open. This is what it should look like:

Amazing, right?! Take your caramel and spread it in the pie crust. Cover with cool whip & any other toppings you want. I just do a caramel drizzle on mine. I made 3 of these pies last year during the holidays...I think that says it all!

Happy cooking!

picture dump

2011-12-09T07:28:00.000-06:00

I've taken about 400 pictures since November & am too lazy to compile lots of different posts. You, my friends, are about to get a picture dump! Here is what we've been up to recently...

Grayson LOVES to carry his baseball & footballs around. Right now, those are his favorite toys. Such a little athlete!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we had 2 birthday parties to attend. Gray is our next door neighbor & one of G's best friends! She turned 2 and had a Minnie Mouse party. These 2 are so funny together. They love racing down the hall together. They came over to hang out a week ago & Gray wore Grayson out....he slept until 7:30 the next morning! I told her mama, Leslianna, that we need to hang out every single night-ha!

This is the other birthday girl, Ruby Jane. Ruby is so cute and I am kind of obsessed with the fact that she has on skinny jeans. I've said it once, I'll say it a million times...we are in BIG trouble if we ever have a girl!

We started our Thanksgiving week off by going to Atlanta for a couple of days. My grandparents, uncles, aunts, & cousins came over for dinner the night we got there. My cousin, Blakely, has 2 boys (3, 16 months, AND is pregnant with #3) and G had a blast playing with them! Grayson pushed Ashton & Collin around on his firetruck all night...good exercise! :)

Here are the 3 cousins together...next year there will be 4 boys! Collin (16 months), Ashton (3), & G.

Grayson loves anything he can ride on or push. The firetruck does both...double win! He thought it was so fun to push it to the top of my parents driveway and have somebody push him to the bottom...it was like a mini rollercoaster!

While we were in Alabama, we took a trip to the river. This is my favorite spot in Florence. I couldn't wait to take Grayson to play there! This was his expression when he saw all the boats in the water. He loved it!

Perhaps my favorite:) We have been on the hunt for rain boots & snow boots. Both which were nearly impossible to find in a size small enough for G. However, we went to Academy Sports and found cowboy rain boots and I had to have them. They are so funny! Grayson loves them but has the hardest time walking in them. It's pretty funny!

So What! Wednesday

2011-12-07T07:55:00.000-06:00

It's Wednesday, people! Time to link up with Shannon to say SO WHAT! This week I am saying so what if...

I gave Ben a high five last night when he reminded me that Teen Mom 2 was starting again? I was SO excited...huge guilty pleasure. JENEEEELLLLLLLEEEEEE!
Ben & I have eaten at Panda Express three times since it opened a few weeks ago? oink.
there are 3 pairs of my pants "drying" on our bar stools? Apparently it has taken 3 days for them to dry. hmmm...
I have been SO STINKING TIRED every single night by 8:00 yet never go to bed before 10:00? so much to do (ie: read blogs, tweet, & heytell), so little time.
I want to hoard all of the yummy holiday coffee creamers before they disappear in January? Gingerbread? Warm sugar cookie? Peppermint mocha? YES, PLEASE!
my garage reeks of spray paint from all of the holiday crafting I've been doing?
I went to Goodwill last week & left feeling the need to shower? Just looking at the bin of used and dingy stuffed animals makes me cringe & feel itchy.

That's all she wrote. Happy Wednesday, friends!

deck the halls!

2011-12-06T15:15:00.000-06:00

Well, it was a lot harder this year, but our house is finally decorated..inside & out! I started getting things out before Thanksgiving and finished on Friday. Ha! Here are some pictures of our house all prettied up for the holidays:)

This is the newest tree in our house! I have been collecting gold & bronze ornaments from post-Christmas sales for 2 years! I finally bought a new tree for our dining room this year and I love how it turned out. I think these colors are so pretty!

I finally found a lantern at Hobby Lobby for 50% off...holla! This is our dining room. I still have to put out the place settings but I am so happy to finally have a lantern to put ornaments in!

I loved having a buffet to decorate this year! That is a MudPie platter, a DIY wreath, wreath holder from Zulily, & painted wine bottles. You know I have plenty of those lying around!

Our red & silver tree in the front of our house & my first attempt at deco mesh. meh. Harder than it looks.

This may be my favorite thing I've added this year. Usually I put all of our Christmas cards in a sleigh basket on our bar. I saw this on Pinterest & loved it! We've added lots of new cards & I love being able to see them. I just taped the back of the ribbon to the glass doors; easy, easy!

Okay, I also love the new Little People nativity set. It is SO cute! Sadly, it has to be kept up high because a certain dog *cough HUDSON cough* already ate the arm of a wiseman.

Our slanted ladder shelf with the Santa pictures. Yep, I framed the screaming one.

Our mantle. I've had a few questions about the dog stockings...I bought them from Ballard on clearance after Christmas 2 years ago. I don't know if they still have these, but they make a lot of cute ones! I'm not sure what we will do when we add more kids to the family...there is no more room for stockings! ha!

This is the entry table in the foyer. I used my sleigh this year to hold some pinecones. I spraypainted pinecones gold for the fall & then repainted a few of them red to add in. I already had pinecones & spray paint...love a free project!

We always get a real tree for the family room. I love the way a real tree smells & the tradition of going the first week of December to pick it out.

I'm so glad to be finished with the decorating. Is it bad that I want to keep everything out for a few months?? I love Christmas!

Scary Santa

2011-12-05T10:42:00.000-06:00

We took Grayson to the mall on Friday morning to see Santa. I had a feeling how it would turn out. My prediction was correct...

Clearly, Grayson has not gotten the memo about being naughty. He was not very kind to Santa's eardrums.

I actually love this picture & feel like every kid has to have at least one "scream with Santa" picture in their lifetime. Classic.

the terrible ones

2011-12-04T14:59:00.000-06:00

I'm afraid that with the 14 month milestone, we hit the terrible ~~twos~~ ones. Remember the pout? Seriously, as if you could ever forget that pout. BUT, in case you did, here it is again...

Ha! That picture never gets old.

Anyways, we are still dealing with the pout on a regular basis. We have also added some major tantrums and things of that sort lately. Fun. Not.

When G woke up from his morning nap earlier this week we headed out the door to go to Publix. Only The Toddler didn't want to go to Publix. The Toddler wanted to run to the Christmas tree & yank ornaments off. hmph. I open the door and try to put him in his carseat. Try being the keyword. I failed. He got stiff as a board, screamed, and would not bend his legs to sit down. Toddler - 1 / Mama - 0

Another morning during the past week we took our beverages upstairs to play in the bonus room. I had my coffee & G had his ice water. I am no longer able to put my coffee within my reach because it will most certainly get stolen by a certain child. SO, I take a sip and then set it up high on our banister. Grayson runs over to the banister, reaches up, and goes "Meh?". "Meh" means "I need to have this IMMEDIATELY or I will throw a fit." I said no & I'm sure you can guess what happened next. Grayson slammed his hands into the wall & then flung his head back on purpose & proceeded to fall. Again, on purpose. Toddler - 2 /Mama - 0

I'm going to think positive & assume that because these tantrums started early, maybe they will be gone by age 2? Yes? Ha! Wishful thinking. Between Grayson's lack of fear & these head-banging (literally) tantrums, Toddlerhood is most likely going to give me gray hairs.

So What! Wednesday

2011-11-30T07:24:00.000-06:00

I'm linking up with Shannon today for So What! Wednesday...I almost forgot about it! This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

it has taken me 2 weeks to decorate our house for Christmas & it's still not finished? Decorating with a 2 month old was so much easier than decorating with a 14 month old.
I have 8 bottles of spray paint sitting in my garage from all my Christmas crafting? Spray paint makes things look better...especially glitter spray paint!
I make Grayson play in his crib until about 6:15? The child wakes up at the crack of dawn and I would not be a nice mama if I went in there at 5:30.
I bought a ton of deco mesh but suck at using it? Not as easy as it looks, people.
I am making my own ornament wreath when I could have spent less & just purchased the already made one at Target?
I really don't understand why some blogs are so popular?
The Hunger Games make me kind of nauseous? Don't get me wrong, I am hooked, but it is SO gory!
my child is dragging a bag of Christmas lights around while I type this post? Whatever makes him happy, right?

And, I'm done.

What are you saying SO WHAT to??

my grown-up Christmas list

2011-11-28T08:52:00.000-06:00

I don't need anything for Christmas this year, but it's fun to make a list of things that would be nice to have! It's funny how a Christmas list changes as you get older. Practical things become a lot more attractive!


An immersion blender. Lots of soup recipes call for this & it would make my life easier instead of pouring things into my blender/food processor. Plus, I would feel kind of like an Iron Chef while using it.

Le Creuset dutch oven. I registered for one of these when we got married & never got it. I still want one over 3 years later! 1. They cook evenly. 2. I've always heard great things about the quality & 3. They come on fun colors!

Some infinity scarves to add a little fun to my wardrobe. This one is from Old Navy and has sequins.

These Fossil leopard print flats. Because every girl needs some leopard in her life, right?

Some Organic Bloom picture frames. Have y'all seen these? I am OBSESSED with them & h ave been wanting some ever since I saw them on Pinterest last summer. They would make a great whimsical gallery wall in our bonus room!

I hope you guys have been taking advantage of the Cyber Monday deals today! My PayPal acctount needs to be frozen after all the Christmas shopping I did today. Happy shopping & wishlist making, friends!

thankful.

2011-11-25T21:08:00.000-06:00

I can't believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone! I brought my computer along with me to Georgia & Alabama with every intention to post, but alas, never got around to it. Between sickness, a needy toddler, & an addiction to The Hunger Games, I didn't get much free time:)

My heart felt so full this Thanksgiving. Of course, I try & realized how blessed I am all throughout the year. There is just something about this time of year that makes you feel extra thankful..for the big things & the small things. I am thankful for...

a happy & healthy little boy that I love so much it makes my heart feel like it will burst.
a husband who is also my best friend & a great daddy.
a wonderful family
3 dogs that keep my on my toes and always show me unconditional love
leggings. elastic waistbands make life post-eating better!
portable dvd players
Sonic diet cokes
my "Paris" Tyler candle
video monitors...lifesavers!
our front porch swing
Starbucks Via iced coffee
a great church family
Christmas trees
living in a beautiful town full of character

I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

14 months

2011-11-19T07:54:00.000-06:00

Grayson is 14 months old today!

Don't mind the toy hammer.

Stats:

Weight: 20.5lbs

Height: 30in

Clothes: depending on brand, 12 month & 18 month clothes. He is SO skinny that he wears mostly longalls & overalls because his pants won't stay up!

Shoe: 4 1/2

Diaper: 4

Here are a few things G has been up to this month:

He finally realized that milk isn't too bad! Regular whole milk still isn't sitting well with his tummy so I got him vanilla soy milk this week. He's been drinking strawberry milk every night!
We are transitioning to 1 nap a day and it is t e r r i b l e. If Grayson takes a morning nap then he only sleeps for roughly 40 minutes in the afternoon. 40 minute nap = cranky baby. Trying to skip that morning nap is hard, but when he does, he sleeps great later in the day!
G is still a finicky eater...but he is slowly getting better! He still loves my morning coffee (strange), really likes roasted garlic hummus (stranger), and thoroughly enjoyed some pickled okra yesterday (strangest). He even liked Ben's bbq chicken sandwich yesterday at lunch! We are branching out, people!
Grayson has learned to drive his 4 wheeler. You heard that right. DRIVE. It is a mini Power Wheels and he figured it out this week. Smart kid, scary thought.
G got 2 more teeth this month! We have a grand total of 14!
Separation anxiety is SO much better! G only cries for a few minutes when he is dropped off somewhere. Makes leaving a lot easier on mama!
G can now shake his head "no." Welcome to the world of opinions.

Here are some of G's current favorite activities:

dragging the basket of dog toys all over the house & then throwing the tennis balls to Jack.
Playing outside! He would play outside all day. every day. G loves throwing balls all over our yard, riding in his cars, & walking next door to see the dogs.
Lining up all of his toys on the TV stand in the bonus room. Rain Man!
CLIMBING! This new hobby will give me gray hairs. He can climb all the stairs in about 30 seconds flat and he thinks it's really fun to climb on the train table.
Feeding himself using a spoon! He loves eating his yogurt, oatmeal, and applesauce all by himself. It's a messy hobby, but the proud look on his face is worth it!

I can't believe it has been 2 months since Grayson turned 1! He is definitely a lot more independent & is communicating so much more. Our little boy is growing up so fast! I say it every time, but I love this stage. It just keeps getting better!

Happy 14 months, G!

Weight Watchers & a few recipes

2011-11-17T07:30:00.001-06:00

I've been doing Weight Watchers for about 2 weeks now. According to my wonky scale, I've lost right at 3lbs. So far, so good! It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm still eating yummy food, I am just really paying attention to portion size. I was really hungry at first (guess that means I was snacking too much before??) but that has gotten better.

The WW app on my iPhone is a lifesaver. I also downloaded Dottie's app thanks to Kristy. It has TONS of menus from restaurants & it has made my desire to eat out dwindle. I looked up all of my favorite restaurant meals and most of them are worth a full day of points! yuck. I'm trying to make smarter choices about eating out...it's hard since I would LOVE a big bowl of queso & some cheese enchiladas right now! or always. whatever.

I've been trying lots of new recipes that are WW friendly so I wanted to pass them on! (click on the pinterest ones for the recipe) I love, love, love Skinny Taste. The first few recipes are from her blog!

Source: skinnytaste.com via Laura on Pinterest

Baked Potato Soup. Y'all, this is SO good! I ate this for lunch all week & never got tired of it. It took like 20 minutes to make...even better! I made Ben, pickiest eater ever, try it & he liked it. 2 thumbs up all around!

Source: skinnytaste.com via Laura on Pinterest

Skinny buttermilk mashed potatoes. These were so good that Ben didn't even know they were healthy. (hey, hubs!) These will be my new go-to mashed potatoes!

Source: skinnytaste.com via Laura on Pinterest

This spinach salad is SO good and perfect for the fall. It has roasted butternut squash, dried cherries (I used craisins because they were on sale), pumpkin seeds, and gorgonzola with a homemade balsamic/dijon dressing. I also ate on this for a week!

Mexican Chicken and Bean Pizza from WW
I'll type this one out because I'm just nice like that. The things in bold are what I tweaked a bit. If you read my answers from earlier this week, you know that LOVE mexican food. I could eat it every single day. My guilty pleasure food is the mexican pizza from Taco Bell. No judgement please. I got really excited when I saw this recipe on the Weight Watchers website. mexican + pizza?! Can't go wrong! This was yummy & guess what? I ate it for dinner all week! Notice a trend yet?

What you need:
4 small corn tortilla(s) -- obviously I used one per serving
8 oz raw lean ground chicken -- I cooked it all and ate off of it all week
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp table salt
1/2 cup(s) canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained -- I just mashed a whole can and put it in tupperware to use all week
1/3 cup(s) salsa, verde -- I actually used fresh red salsa
1/2 cup(s) cilantro, fresh, chopped, divided -- fun fact: a HUGE bunch of cilantro is only 99 cents at Publix!
1/4 cup(s) low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, sharp-variety
8 tsp reduced-fat sour cream
1 medium plum tomato(es), diced
1/2 medium avocado, diced
1 tsp fresh lime juice -- I forgot this & it was fine

Here's how you make it:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Place tortillas on prepared pan; bake until crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken, garlic, cumin and salt; cook, breaking up chunks of chicken with a wooden spoon, until cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Next, in a bowl, mash beans and salsa with a fork until well-blended and most of the beans are mashed; stir in 1/4 cup cilantro. (I didn't add the salsa or cilantro; just mashed up the beans)

To assemble pizzas, spread 1/4 bean mixture over each tortilla (slightly less than 1/4 cup); I added the salsa & cilantro next; top each with about 1/3 cup chicken mixture and sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon cheese. Bake until cheese melts and topping is hot, about 3 minutes. (Broil pizzas to brown cheese even more, if desired.)

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, toss together tomato, avocado, remaining 1/4 cup cilantro and lime juice.

Remove pizzas from oven and top each with 2 teaspoons reduced-fat sour cream and about 1/4 cup avocado mixture. Yields 1 pizza per serving.

This was an awesome dinner all week & is really filling. The kicker? It's worth 6 points with the new WW system.

Okay, go ahead and add these to your weekly menu! They are all great!

So What! Wednesday

2011-11-16T07:06:00.000-06:00

It's time to say SO WHAT with Shannon again! Go link up with Life After I Dew so that you can play along..you know you want to! This week I'm saying SO WHAT if...

I bought my 4th Christmas tree last night at Hobby Lobby? You can never have too much Christmas cheer. PLUS it was only $25. no big deal.
I splurged and got a spicy chicken sandwich at Chick Fil A last night? I have been doing so great with sticking to my points but I needed a fountain diet coke and spicy sandwich!!
I have already addressed most of our Christmas cards and it's not even Thanksgiving? For once in my life I am ahead of the game!
I keep trying on tunics, thinking they would look great with leggings, & then get home and they are too short? Apparently I have bad dressing room judgement.
G still sleeps in a sleep sack? Apparently they make very few large (12-18mon) sleep sacks. We need new ones & it has been like finding a needle in a hay stack. Nowhere to be found.
Grayson and I have been listening to the Biebs Christmas album every time we ride in the car? don't judge. It is that good.
I did a little happy dance over the fact that Teen Mom #2 starts in a few weeks? That show makes me feel good about my life. I can't wait to hear "JENNNNNEEEELLLLLLEEEEEEE" on a weekly basis. (That's not as good as BEEEEEEEEEEENTLEY)
I have been mentally obsessing over BlissDom for the past month? It's so convenient and all my favorite bloggers are going. Well, almost. Obviously I stand up well against adult peer pressure. C'mon, JEN!!! Let's get on it!

Okay, that's all ~~yours truly~~ she wrote. What are you saying SO WHAT to?!

You asked, I answered (part 2)

2011-11-15T07:26:00.000-06:00

Here are the rest of the answers from my q & a post. Again, thanks for asking a girl some questions and not making me feel like a loser!

Jen asked...

You seem to be such a go with the flow momma-what are your secrets for "not sweating the small stuff"? This made me laugh because I don't feel like a "go with the flow" type person. I have to tell myself to relax over silly things all the time! (see also: my child throws food all over the floor and it stresses me out to the max..ha!) One thing I really didn't do is read a ton of parenting books before I had Grayson. I actually didn't read any. I only read Jenny McCarthy's "Belly Laughs"...mature, right? All of the parenting books contradict one another. I'm more of a "stick to your gut" mama. I just try to do what feels right & not worry about milestones/what other parents & kids are doing. Does that even answer that question?

Describe your favorite/ideal day-in detail. My favorite days are the ones in the middle of the week when Ben is off work. I love just having my whole little family in one place hanging out. Those are the days that we do fun things like the zoo, farmers markets, park, etc. Since Ben works a lot of weekends I cherish those days during the week that we have together! .....a spa day wouldn't be so bad either:)

What's your favorite food-the one thing you could eat every day and not get tired of? MEXICAN!I could literally eat mexican food every single day. Favorite meal: chips & queso, cheese enchiladas, and a diet coke. Makes my dieting mouth water just thinking about it!!

What's one thing you would do differently with a baby next time around? Jen asked this on HeyTell..that counts too, right? Grayson slept in his rock & play sleeper or pack-n-play in our bedroom for the first 6ish weeks. He was a LOUD sleeper and I would wake up every time he made a noise. We also have 3 dogs that will randomly shake and make noise that would wake him up. Baby Deux will go straight to the crib...thank the Lord for video monitors!

Marci asked...

If you could only drink one type of drink for a year, what would you pick? a route 44 Diet Coke from Sonic!

Do you have a favorite brand of pens? I love the sharpie pens...that's what I use in the Life Planner so you know I'm serious about them! The 1st grade teacher in me prefers Mr. Sketch markers though!

If you had a month to drive anywhere you wanted, where would you go? I would go see my best friend, Carly, in Los Angeles! She moved out to California after college and I still haven't gone to visit her. I'm dying to get out there, meet her man, and experience LA!

What made you start blogging? I started blogging in January 2009 when Ben & I were newlyweds. I had a Xanga in the early college years & liked the whole online journal thing. This blog started as a way to keep track of progress on the house we were bulding & to just record the things that were going on in our lives. We moved away from our families so this was a way for them to keep up with us! I had no idea that people I had never met would start reading this or that I would meet great friends!

Melissa asked...

If you go out for a drink, what do you order? either a Blue Moon on tap or a vodka tonic with lots of lime!

If you had $1 million to donate to charity, what charity would you choose?

the ASPCA. It makes me sick that people abuse and neglect animals. I would rescue every stray & abused dog if I could!

#1 celebrity crush? easy. Justin Timberlake. He's been my celeb love since 8th grade. He only gets better with age:)

What size shoe do you wear? 9.5...I've always wanted to wear a 6!

Were you in a sorority in college? I pledged Phi Mu during my freshman year at Ole Miss but I dropped out right before rush practice started during my sophomore year. It was so expensive & most of my friends were either Tri Delts or DGs. I didn't miss it when I dropped out!

Another Melissa asked...

Do you love living so close to Nashville? Absolutely! I love everything about living here. It's such a fun downtown area but then you drive 15 minutes out and you have beautiful Tennessee hills. That's actually my favorite part...I will never get used to the beautiful countryside!

What are some of your favorite stars you've run into in the area? Gah. I never see anybody. I saw Six from Blossom (remember her?!) at a bar in Franklin, I've seen Kimberly Paisley at a froyo place in downtown Franklin (you KNOW I love her!), and I've seen Kix Brooks at his winery. Don't get me wrong, I am always on the look out; I just never get lucky. My husband however? He's seen & talked to Faith Hill, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, blah blah blah. rude.

Y'all asked some great questions! Thanks for playing along!

You asked, I answered (part 1)

2011-11-14T07:09:00.000-06:00

Y'all asked some good questions! Thanks for not making me feel lame...ha! I appreciate it! Alright, here you go!

Becca asked....

Why did you move away from Atlanta? Ben and I had originally planned to live in Atlanta. It was something we talked about right after got engaged. He looked into jobs around the Atlanta area but other cities offered more. We narrowed it down to Birmingham & Nashville but in the end decided we wanted to try Nashville! Financially it made sense for us to move here. I did the ugly cry when I realized Atlanta wouldn't work for us, but I have loved living in Tennessee. I'm so glad we ended up here!

Are you planning on staying home indefinitely? I would love to stay home while all of our kids are little! Obviously, if I have to go back before then, I will...but I love being a stay at home mama!

What is your favorite thing to splurge on? That's tough! I like hunting for bargains. However, before I had a baby and actually carried around a real big girl purse, I loved my Michael Kors & Coach bags. I still flock to them when I'm at the mall & then I sadly remember that my SkipHop bag is the only thing I carry. For now ;)

What is your all time favorite movie? Can I have more than one? okay. thanks.

Now and Then

Dazed and Confused

Closer

The Help

Elf

Man on Fire

Have you started Christmas shopping? Yes! I do most of it online thanks to Amazon & Zulily. I despise the mall & major shopping centers during November & December. ick.

What is Grayson's favorite thing to say right now? He says "bye" and blows kisses all.the.time. The mailman drove by? "Bye" *blows kiss* The construction workers in the neighborhood are working next door? "Bye" *blows kiss*

Any more children...? (Okay, I know this is totally inappropriate but I know you won't be mad at me for asking!) Not inappropriate! I ask it...ha! Or maybe I'm inappropriate? I have always wanted a big family. The only child in me yearns for a house full of kids. I've always said I wanted 4. Okay, that's a lie. I used to say I wanted 5. However, ~~I came to my senses~~ my husband said I was crazy and I settled on 4. He says 3. Whatever, minor details. But yes, definitely more kids! We made 1 cute one...why stop there?!

Natalie asked...

Yeah, I wanna know about baby #2, also! Plans? I would love to have kids close in age! I wouldn't mind having a 2012 baby!

I also wanna know your next baby boy name:) ...promise I won't steal... unless it's already on our list! We had Grayson's name picked out before we were even pregnant. We don't have another boy name picked out! I have a couple family names I would like to incorporate but nothing set in stone. I'll keep those in my brain just because that's part of the fun when announcing a new baby! Haha...sorry!

What kind of car are you toting G man around in? a 2006 navy blue Nissan Pathfinder

my very own swagger wagon.

What does Ben do for a livin'? He's a pharmacy manager for a Walgreens in Nashville. AND he works at a store that lots of country music stars frequent. I'll pretend I'm not extremely jealous.

How in the world do we know so many of the same people?! I have no idea how we're connected! Shoot girl. If we could figure out this whole email thing we could discuss this!

Shelli asked...

What's your favorite ludacris song? This question cracks me up. I am partial to "Welcome to Atlanta" because I made sure to play it every time I went home from Ole Miss as soon as I saw the ATL skyline!

If G has a sister what would her name be? Very few know the answer to this. Again, I love the fun of announcing a name! I will say that it is a family name and not a common name:)

Where did you and your hubby go on your first date? We actually didn't got out on a date. We ordered take out (Chili's) and watched a movie (The Sweetest Thing) at his apartment! ...with Jack of course:)

I'll be back with the rest of the answers later this week!

brain dump

2011-11-12T15:05:00.000-06:00

I got maybe 4 hours of sleep Thursday night due to a random throw up episode from le bebe. I had every intention of going to bed early last night, but the dogs changed that. You know when your dogs bark freakishly at nothing? Well, yeah. That happened in our backyard. While Ben was working late. I was skeered and couldn't sleep until he got home. (see also: I'm still 12) SO, I'm running low in the snooze department & all my brain can handle is bullet points.

I like doing Weight Watchers so far. The app makes it SO easy. It's really making me not want to ever eat out because now I know just how bad my favorite restaurant meals are. My scale says I lost 2 pounds since joining. However, my scale sucks so I'm not sure how accurate that is. I'm going to base it more on how my clothes fit.
I love leggings in the fall. What I don't love? That people are now wearing leggings as pants. I don't want to see your booty or your crotch. Leave something to the imagination. Also, if leggings are so in style, WHY are tunics SO HARD TO FIND???? I mean, I feel like I have spent months looking for shirts long enough to wear with my leggings and you would think I was searching for living dinosaurs. I'm convinced I just need to be a tunic designer.
I'm convinced that Grayson is at the BEST age right now. He is so much fun! I'm also convinced I will say this on every single monthly post from here on out. It just gets better!
I started wrapping Christmas presents this morning. There is nothing more relaxing to me than wrapping presents...I love it!
I finally bought Beiber's Christmas cd and it is most definitely awesome. I think I will listen to it 24/7 until December 25th. Specifically the duet with The Band Perry AND his rapping version of Little Drummer Boy with Busta Rhymes. Can it get any better than that?!
Speaking of music, did y'all watch the CMA Awards? Here are my thoughts: Carrie Underwood has the best legs & hair known to man, Brad Paisley is still awesome, Luke Bryan needs to refrain from wearing glittery jeans & "dancing" with strippers, I need to see the Zac Brown Band & The Band Perry live, Taylor Swift is a sore loser, AND I think I could be real life friends with Blake and Miranda.

Happy Saturday!

Pinnable Me - Jingle Bells edition

2011-11-11T07:22:00.000-06:00

I'm linking up with Paw Prints & Pastry Bags today for Pinnable Me Friday! I've been pinning lots & lots of Christmas decor on Pinterest lately. I'm so excited to decorate our house! I don't start decorating until the day after Thanksgiving but I like to plan ahead. Last year we just did our basic decorations. I guess we were busy with a newborn. That's not the case this year! I have seen so many cute things that I want to do in our house. Let's just hope the toddler doesn't rip everything down!

Source: freshpoppydesign.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

I still don't have curtains in our dining room & office so I think this would look pretty!

Source: bhg.com via Laura on Pinterest

I think 2 hanging wreaths would look great on my white china cabinet in our kitchen...I have never even thought to decorate it!

Source: bhg.com via Laura on Pinterest

Fresh greenery is my favorite...it smells so good! I think this would look so pretty on the short banister going up our stairs. You can get free greenery from the leftovers at Home Depot & Lowes!

Source: welcomesunshinehome.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

I have been on the hunt for some rustic looking lanterns. Hobby Lobby had some but I refuse to pay full price there since they have so many 50% sales. You could use different fillers for different seasons/holidays. I love the ornaments in this lantern!

Source: cleverlyinspired.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

I've got a few empty wine bottles that I am saving for this little project...one may or may not have exploded red wine all over my kitchen. Ick. That's a different story. I want to find branches to put in the bottles and hang small ornaments on them.

Can you believe it's already time to start talking about Christmas?!

12 month pictures {a boy and a stick}

2011-11-10T07:34:00.000-06:00

We had Grayson's 12 month pictures taken in early October at a really pretty park nearby. I had every intention of getting lots of family pictures so that we could use them on our Christmas card. Well, my child wanted to be the superstar. He allowed NO posing with mama & daddy. Also? He found a stick. Lots of them, actually. And he proceeded to carry them around during the entire photoshoot. I'm not kidding. 98% of the pictures are of G with a stick in his hand. Every time I tried to take it away he would scream....so a stick it was! Seriously people, this Toddlerhood stuff is no joke. They are finicky little people!

So basically, this is just one of those posts where I show off lots of cute pictures of my kid. Sorry! I can't resist. Enjoy:)

All images were taken by Laurel Pankratz of Eilas Photography. Thank you, Laurel, for capturing Grayson's first year!

So What! Wednesday

2011-11-09T07:04:00.000-06:00

It's Wednesday. I think you all know what that means. Time to say SO WHAT! with Shannon over at Life After I Dew. This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

I paint my nails a different color at least 3 times a week? A girl's gotta have variety in her life!
I have ordered something off of Zulily 5 times in the last few weeks? Those sleep sacks? G needs them to keep him warm at night. That wreath stand-hook-thingy? Will look great on my buffet. Those 2 chef kits for kids in my family? Looked AWESOME. Fleece lined leggings? For real?? Who even knew they made such a thing!
I refuse to decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving EXCEPT for Grayson's Little People nativity set? I don't like to rush through Thanksgiving but that nativity scene may be the cutest thing I've ever seen. It's hanging out beside some pumpkins in our dining room.
I go to bed feeling a little bit hungry now that I've been doing Weight Watchers? Let's face it, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. {repeat 10 times in my head so I can avoid the Halloween candy}
I'm 26 years old and am looking forward to purchasing the new Biebs Christmas cd? He's the new version of Justin Timberlake and you know how I feel about him!
Grayson's clean laundry has been sitting in the dryer for about 36 hours? Folding clean clothes & putting them away is my least favorite task. Add baby socks to that and you've got something I just plain hate to do. At least it's clean, right?

That's all I've got! What are you saying SO WHAT to??

Got a question?

2011-11-07T06:53:00.000-06:00

I love reading Q & A posts from other bloggers. I think I'm nosy by nature and love to find out random things about people.

{Yep. I own footie pajamas WITH sock monkey feet.}

SO, today I am putting the ball in your court. You get to ask me any question you want...and I am 99% sure I will answer them all. Unless, you know, they are totally awkward or inappropriate.

Surely there is something that you want to know, right?! (I'll flatter myself and think that there is, anyway) And if you people don't ask me anything then I will just have to get my trusty pal Jen to ask me a bunch of questions so I don't feel like a loser. Deal? Deal.

Ready, set, GO!

THE pout.

2011-11-05T16:21:00.000-05:00

Well folks, I feel like we have officially reached Toddlerhood. Toddlerhood is a little bit different than Babyhood. Babies may get upset when something is taken away, but usually they are easily distracted.

Toddlerhood is a whole new ball game. A ball game full of arched backs, screaming, hitting, tantrums, and THE pout. Long gone are the days of easy distractions to prevent a meltdown. Instead we get the full-blown, head-flinging, body-to-the-ground tantrums over ridiculous things.

For example, we spend our mornings playing in the bonus room upstairs. G roams happily amongst his gazillion toys and I try and drink my coffee before it's cold. Well, my toddler thinks it is totally acceptable to drink coffee. The other morning when I wouldn't let him hold my mug and drink the whole dang cup, he fell to his bottom, flung his head back on purpose, and slammed into his metal xylophone. All over a cup of coffee. I mean, seriously.

These days we are also dealing with THE pout. Not just any pout, folks. I'm talking the most over-dramatic pout you have ever seen.

Allow me to introduce you to the pout that I am referring to:

Ben says Grayson gets his pout from me. Sadly, I can't take credit for that. THE pout is definitely from his daddy & I'm pretty sure Taylor from the RHOBH paid big bucks to make her pout look like that.

Just for fun, here is what happens in our house when we tell a certain someone "no."

And yes, we are those parents that capture these kind of moments. Don't judge. I seriously can't get over the emotion on this boy's face...his tantrums are serious business.

On that note, welcome to Toddlerhood.

Boo at the Zoo

2011-11-04T13:44:00.000-05:00

While we were in Atlanta, we ventured over to Zoo Atlanta for Boo at the Zoo. I didn't make Grayson wear his gnome costume to the zoo but he sure loved looking at everyone else in their costumes! My child is such a people watcher--just like his mama. I'm not sure if he enjoyed the animals or the people more.

G and his Poppy checking out the flamingos.

Posing with Willie B. Willie B was the famous Atlanta gorilla when I was little!

I mean, he had a terrible time. Obviously. By the way, we have gotten SO much wear out of his SheSheMade shirt! I will be so sad when it doesn't fit any more!

G had his first experience with a petting zoo (yuck!) and I'm almost positive he thought he was petting a bunch of weird looking dogs. The goats were so nasty..I would have been happier if it was a petting zoo of llamas and meerkats.

Grayson and his Nana


Thanks, mom, for the extreme close up. Just focus on my extremely ~~adorbs~~ adorable child!

feeling thankful

2011-11-03T07:40:00.000-05:00

I've been feeling pretty nostalgic lately. I think it's because I can look back now at this exact time last year and remember how life was with my newborn. It's amazing how much can change in just one year. Last year for Halloween we were sitting on our front porch with a tiny boy dressed in pumpkin footies...this year we were chasing a running garden gnome!

The other night something reminded me of how I was feeling at this point last year. I was a mess. Not because of the whole new mom thing, but because I knew maternity leave was flying by faster than I could imagine. I remember that pit in my stomach I would get every single Monday morning...I was counting how many Mondays I had left with Grayson. I remember putting G down for a nap when he was about 8 weeks old & just sitting at the foot of my bed sobbing. Ben walked in & probably thought I was losing it. I remember crying to him that I wanted to be the one that put him down for his nap; I wanted to be the one that saw that sweet smile when he woke up.

Maybe it's because it's November & the season of Thanks or maybe it's just God pulling at my heart to make me realize how blessed I really I am. I don't know. I'm just SO thankful that I am now the one that does get to put Grayson down for his nap; thankful that I get to see that toothy grin when he wakes up. It's not an easy job, by any means, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

What are you thankful for?

So What! Wednesday

2011-11-02T07:38:00.000-05:00

I'm back for some SO WHAT! Wednesday fun! This week I'm saying SO WHAT if...

I completely blew off cleaning the house & changing sheets out on Monday because I had to catch up on blogging? I was WAY behind after a week with no computer. Priorities, people.
I want Grayson to be a garden gnome every single day of his toddler life? It's so dang funny. He looks hysterical.
I will STILL be watching the next season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians and I will STILL follow all of the Kardashian clan on twitter after Kim filed for divorce? I love me some Kardashian drama! People are taking Kim's "breaking news" a little too personal.
I'm not so much bothered by the whole fake-a-marriage-to-get-moolah thing as I am the fact that she chose a nobody-who-looks-like-a-caveman thing? If you are going to marry someone for publicity AND to get paid almost 18 million dollars, can't you at least pick someone people actually know? Poor Kris. His 5 minutes is up.
I almost SCREAMED in Wal-Mart this week when I finally found my Starbucks caramel iced coffee vias? I was SO excited. I stocked up and used coupons (thanks, Aubrey!!). I'm all set for awhile when it comes to iced coffee.
I have an unhealthy obsession with dry shampoo? Best. discovery. ever. I want to kiss the person that invented dry shampoo because now I don't have to dry my hair every single day. And that my friends? Well, it saves me about 20 minutes a day. Holla!
I joined Weight Watchers on a whim last night and have NO idea how to do it? The information overload kind of stressed me out.

Go link up with Shannon for So What! Wednesday!

Grayson the Gnome

2011-11-01T08:52:00.000-05:00

Halloween was so much fun this year but I've got to be honest...I'm glad it's over! We have been so busy with Halloween activities. Grayson and I are exhausted! Last night was a little different than last Halloween. Look at our little pumpkin a year ago:

G was so tiny! We sat on the porch and passed out candy. This year we got to go trick or treating! We live in a huge neighborhood but we decided to stick to our little street this year.

This is the only picture I have of my gnome without ripping the beard off. How funny does he look?! Like a little old man.

We had to make the garden gnome pose in the flowerbed. You know, because we're cool like that.

Ben had this wonderful plan of pushing the gnome in his car so we didn't have to chase him up and down the sidewalk. We made it to our next door neighbor's house and then he jumped ship. typical. He was a gnome on the run!

Grayson thought the phrase "trick or treat" was hilarious & this was the face we got every time he heard it. Ha! He is such a ham.

Can you see why G wanted to jump ship?? He saw his buddy, Gray! Leslianna and Andy moved right next door to us last spring and their little girl, Gray, is 10 months older than Grayson. Gray taught Grayson (seriously...how easy are their names for each other?! haha) how to trick or treat.

He followed her to all of the houses on our street...they were so sweet!

Gray was Dorothy...how sweet does she look??

Grayson had a lot of fun going to the houses on our street. He didn't quite understand the concept of grabbing the candy; he preferred to try and go inside their house-ha! He's friendly! He also remembered where all of the neighbor dogs lived and was looking for them when we got to the front door...this boy LOVES dogs!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Reed turned 1!

2011-10-31T10:52:00.000-05:00

One of Grayson's best friends, Reed, turned one last week! Grayson and I went to his birthday party before we headed to Atlanta last Saturday. Reed's family are HUGE Tennessee fans (me & his mama don't discuss this-ha!) so he had a football party with lots of orange! It was so cute!

How cute are those rice krispy treats?! You can kind of see Reed's invitation in this picture. His mama, Catherine, made them and they turned out great...I need just a teeny bit of her talent!

The cute birthday banner!

The monthly picture banner of the cute birthday boy!

Here is Reed all ready for his smash cake!

My boy loves football...he had a blast playing with this birthday present!

...and we're off!

BOOM. Best smash cake experience ever. Reed smashed it so hard it flew off the highchair! Such a boy!

I think he enjoyed himself:)

We tried to get a picture with Reed, G, Riley, and Ashton...but try putting 4 babies in a ball pit together. No easy task!

This was the best we could do with the 3 blondies. They sure are cute!

I love having friends with boys the same age as Grayson...they will have so much fun growing up together! (and the mamas will have fun, too...no worries there!) Happy Birthday, Reed!

I'm alive--brain dump.

2011-10-28T14:15:00.000-05:00

I'm still alive! Ben's laptop has a virus & is currently not working AND BlogPress on my iPad is super lame...therefore, I am having a hard time getting computer time. I am currently sitting at my kitchen counter with our super old and ghetto fab laptop that has to be plugged in straight to the router and has a screen that falls off. oh, and a wonky mouse. AND I can't forget the random missing keys. Seriously...it's in bad shape.

I'm daydreaming of a new computer for myself. (not happening) Santa? Anyone?!

We've been really busy lately but until I have a place to upload pictures, a good old fashioned brain dump will have to do.

I have a HeyTelling problem. It is so fun!
It really bugs me when people beg for followers on their blog. Like, REALLY bugs me. I also just don't understand strange shortened words when people are talking/typing. Adorbs, for instance. Why can't people just say adorable? I don't know. Sounds like something that 12 year old Laura would have said.
Grayson started feeding himself with a spoon this week! It's so ~~adorbs~~ cute to watch but the control freak in me is having a hard time dealing with the mess. He ends up with yogurt or applesauce ALL over the place. He's gotta learn sometime! I'm hoping this will help him branch out & not be so picky. I'm trying macaroni and cheese tonight...we'll see if he will eat it like a big boy!
Grayson is going to be a garden gnome for Halloween this year and the costume cracks me up. He just looks so funny!

I've determined that candy corn and peanuts are my favorite snack of all time. Not the healthiest, but definitely the tastiest.
I made this Caramel Apple Trifle last week for our small group when we got together:

Source: tasteofhome.com via Laura on Pinterest

It was SO good! It just tastes like fall and was so easy to put together.

Hopefully I will be back soon with either a fixed computer or a NEW computer! Thanks for all of the love on my new dark hair...I am finally used to it and don't have to look twice when I walk by a mirror!

The Dark Side

2011-10-24T09:26:00.000-05:00

So the other day I left my house looking like normal blonde Laura. But, I was on a mission. A mission to join the dark side. {sidenote: can we discuss how awkward it is to take a self pic??? I mean, really, I feel so emo. I don't know how people do those OOTD pics every.single.day. I feel lame posting these...forgive me}

Ta-da! Welcome back, brunette Laura. I had dark hair when I was 19...so basically, like a million years ago. I loved it at first, had a 10 minute spaz out at home later when I felt like I needed to go get a spray tan ASAP because I look so dang pale with dark hair, and now I love it again. I was ready for a change. I do have to look twice when I walk by a mirror because I don't recognize myself. Pretty strange.

Happy Monday!

13 months

2011-10-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

Grayson is 13 months old today! Some days it feels like we just had his party a few days ago and some days it feels like a long time has passed!

Here are the stats:

Weight: 20lbs

Height: 30in

Diaper: 4

Clothes: 12 month clothes & 18 month pajamas

Shoes: 4

Here are some things that happened with G this month:

Grayson is officially all done with bottles and formula. It was SO much easier than I expected. We actually stopped on his birthday and Grayson didn't even notice. They are packed away!
We also packed up the highchair & G is using the booster seat at our kitchen table. It is so much easier to clean & he feels like a big kid eating with us:)
Saying: bye, da (dad), mum (I'm british), down, and everything else is beesh. Ha!
Still has 12 teeth but he is currently teething...we are waiting for #13!
Grayson starting pointing to things this month. He can point to people he knows and he points to the dogs when you ask about them.
Poor little man had Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease this month AND the terrible, awful, no good stomach virus. He was pitiful! We are so happy to be healthy again!
Grayson is doing better when he is dropped off at the church nursery & in his MOPS class. Hopefully the separation anxiety is easing off!

I am still having the hardest time getting Grayson to try new foods. He is so picky! He will not eat a vegetable to save his life. Not even kidding. He gags! Right now his favorite foods are: chicken nuggets, veggie sticks, apple straws, grapes, strawberries, the free sugar cookies at Publix (ha!), yogurt, goldfish, and fig newton fruit thins. He still hates all milk but he drink ice water all day. Our doctor isn't too worried about the milk & I'm just happy he loves water! Also, this child is obsessed with coffee. He throws major tantrums if he doesn't get a sip. What baby hates milk but loves coffee?!

You may notice in these picture that G has a swollen top lip. We had a tripping-over-a-dog incident on the porch this afternoon and my little guy did a faceplant on to our porch. The porch is made of concrete--ouch! He was a trooper & loved sucking on the ice!

I can't believe our little guy is over a year old now! Grayson is well on his was to toddlerhood and becoming a lot more independent. Nobody told me how fun this stage was! I love it!

Happy 13 months, G!

So What! Wednesday

2011-10-19T06:54:00.000-05:00

I'm linking up with Shannon again for some So What! Wednesday fun! This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

I am already wanting a new blog design? I literally JUST had this one done a few months ago. I really need to figure out how to do my own so I don't have to pay anyone!
I have a love/hate relationship with Twitter? It seems to be people's main source for complaining, it can be clique-y like middle school, the bandwagon hopping is ridiculous, and I'm pretty sure I liked some people more before I joined the twitterverse. Oh well. If I stop tweeting then I can't follow people like Giada, Bethenny, Jamie Lynn Spears, and Brad Paisley...and we all know that isn't happening!
I leave blog comments, tweet, text, call, AND heytell my friend Jen? What? Communication overload? I just like to cover all my bases.
I still want to buy more pumpkins? Hello, my name is Laura and I am addicted to pumpkins.
I like my dogs more than a lot of people.
I got a little choked up last night when I was looking at pictures from Grayson's birth? This year has f l o w n by & it makes me a little sad.
I made candy corn/peanut mix AND a double doozie last night? That candy corn mix by the way?? To die for.

What are you saying SO WHAT to this week??Go link up with Shannon!

What I'm loving right now

2011-10-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

Let me start off by saying that it was supposed to be 55 and rainy today. I postponed a picnic with a friend because the weather was supposed to be nasty. Well, friends, let me just say...it is about 83 degrees and sunny right now. Way to go, Nashville weathermen, way to go.

I've tried a few new things recently that I now love so I thought I would share them. Here is my current love list:

Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Body Wash

This is something I actually started using a few years ago. This stuff smells SO good. I've used the shampoo and conditioner too...but the body wash is always in my shower! It comes in a huge bottle and has a fabulous Trader Joe's price of around $5. Can't beat that!

GVP hair straightener {Sally's Beauty Supply generic brand}

I have used the same hair straightener for 6 years. It was finally starting to act up AND it was always bad about breaking my hair. I was told about this hair straightener on the twitterverse & decided to check it out. It is comparable to a Chi but only cost $60. I have loved it so far! I can control the heat so it doesn't feel like I'm scorching my hair like my old one did. AND it has an automatic shutoff after 60 minutes. Now I won't be paranoid about forgetting to unplug it!

Brazilian Tech Keratin Leave-In Treatment

I also bought this stuff at Sally's. It's a lot cheaper than the other leave-in spray I was using..this stuff is only $8.29! It smells really good and makes my hair so soft and shiny. I will definitely be buying this stuff again!

Starbuck Via Caramel Iced Coffee

I have a love/hate relationship with Starbucks right now. I love them because they sent me ONE sample of this in the mail. Y'all? It. was. so. good. I might become addicted. Plus, it is so much easier than brewing my coffee. I'm lazy. However, I hate them because I can't find this in any stores! Such a tease! All I have been able to find is the regular iced coffee. Don't get me wrong, it's good when you add some flavored creamer...but it's no caramel iced coffee! If you find this, I'm going to need you to email me & tell me where! I've had it on my brain since Friday.

iPhone 4s -- in pretty white:)

Ben and I have had our old iPhones for over 2 years and were definitely due for an upgrade. You better believe we pre-ordered the 4s as soon as we could! I am so not that person that would camp out at the Apple store to get a new phone. Stupid. We got our phones on Friday and I love, love, love it! The camera on this phone is so much better than our old one & I'm excited I can now take videos. My new friend, Siri, is pretty cool too. I like to ask her random questions on a daily basis to see what her answer is. If you haven't asked her about her favorite color...do it now. I swear this phone is smarter than me.

What are some things you're loving right now??

G got his hair did!

2011-10-16T15:51:00.000-05:00

This post is a little delayed. Oh well. Better late than never, right? Grayson has a head full of stick straight hair. Around the time of his birthday party it was starting to get a little out of control. Exhibit A:

Hair starting to cover eyeballs.

Exhibit B:

Downright ridiculous.

See what I mean? I decided to take him to the only place I knew of that cut little people hair...Divas and Dudes Salon. This place was ridiculous. And by ridiculous, I mean disco balls, OPI nail polish, and glitter hair spray. So basically, it was a 5 year old girl's dream.

This place was so funny! I was happy and browsed the latest OPI colors while we waited on G's stylist (that sounds funny). When it was Grayson's turn to get his haircut, he sat in the chair with his little rockstar smock and....

he hated it.

Not only did he hate it, but he did the pterodactyl scream pretty much the entire time. That poor girl that cut his hair. Bless her heart. I'm sure she had busted ear drums after our visit.

Please note the veggie stick in G's hand...that helped for about 30 seconds.

Doesn't he look so big??

...and the final product! I swear I think he left Divas and Dudes as a 4 year old!

iphone snaps

2011-10-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

Ben and I got the new iPhone 4s today. Mine is pretty & white:) However, we are having mucho problemos syncing up our old iPhones to the new ones & all the hassle has turned my brain into mush. That & the fact that my child has been screaming since about 11:30 because the tooth monster came back to visit. Yep. Brain = mush.

I have over 1,000 pictures on my iPhone so I thought I would share a few recent snaps.

{some} of my pumpkins! I love all the different pumpkins that my little produce stand has. These are so fun!

G and his buddy Reed at the zoo observing flamingos. (sidenote: I almost called these creatures penguins. Seriously. My brain is gone)

He looks so cute in his little hoodie!

Jack sunning on the porch swing. Rotten.

Ellie has copied Jack and now hides behind the new kitchen curtains. These dogs are ridiculous!

Grayson loves doing downward dog. He does this all.the.time. Cracks me up!

We went to my friend Mary's house & G loves her little dog, Millie. He had the biggest smile on his face trying to chase her!

Obsessed with these jammies. The tie? really?? Amazing.

You may have seen this on the Twitterverse this morning...but, my child LOVES my coffee. He pitches royal fits if I don't give him a sip. I tried a Starbuck iced coffee via this morning and that boy stole my Tervis to get a sip! Ridiculous.

Happy Friday:)

that time the stomach virus took over our home

2011-10-13T15:13:00.000-05:00

You guys. This poor kid can't catch a break. We went a week between Hand, Foot, & Mouth disease and then we get the worst stomach virus in the history of the world. That's right. WE.

Grayson got sick on Monday with a nasty stomach bug and then decided to politely share it with his parents. Ben got it on Tuesday. I was sick on Wednesday. When I say it was the worst stomach virus in the history of the world, I mean it. My husband took his first ever sick day on Tuesday. That, my friends, is a b i g deal.

Luckily, I have a nice mama who drove up from Atlanta yesterday morning to help me recover and take care of the pitiful boy. I'm pretty sure I may or may not have told Ben on Wednesday morning that I thought I was dying. oh, and I may or may not have wanted to cry when he left for work...except I was too dehydrated. I wish I was kidding.

Here's to hoping the sickies stay away for a long time. I'm off to lysol my entire house!

garage sales and pumpkins

2011-10-10T15:27:00.000-05:00

Is it really Monday already? We had a fun & busy weekend but it went by way too fast! Ben was home this weekend so we made sure to do lots of fun things! Saturday was like garage sale mania around here. Our neighborhood, along with all the other nearby neighborhoods, were having garage sales. Grayson and I went out at 7:45. I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy since I was dragging him around in his jammies and robeez shoes. He loved finding toys at all the houses we went to...usually it was toys he already has! Go figure. I did find him a Home Depot tool box with tools & a cute Fisher Price xylophone--all for $5! My favorite find though was this:

a train table for $30! My friend, Catherine, called me and told me that she had seen one in her neighborhood. I hopped in my & it was mine! Well, Grayson's I guess.

We also had G's 12 month pictures taken (gasp) at one of my favorite parks. I had all these cute fall longalls in my head for him to wear...and then it was 84 degrees. Welcome to the South. Grayson had fun running around in the woods playing with sticks. I'm fairly certain he will be holding a stick in every.single.picture. I tried taking it away & HOLY MELTDOWN, Batman. So the stick stayed. Toddlers and their demands are so strange.

I've been wanting to get some pictures of G at a pumpkin patch. We found a church that had lots of pumpkins and decided to let him run around and look at all the pumpkins. He had a blast! It feels weird wearing shorts and tshirts while picking out pumpkins, though. I need my cool weather back!

We have a lot of pumpkins now & I have some projects (thanks to Pinterest) that I want to try with them! Hope everyone had a great {cooler} weekend!

fears

2011-10-07T14:46:00.000-05:00

I am doing the Beth Moore bible study on Esther with some girls from my small group. If you have never read anything by Beth Moore, you need to drive to your nearest bookstore and pick out one of her books. I love her. I love the way she makes things so easy to relate to & she seems so down to earth. Oh, and she cracks me up. Big bonus points for that.

Anyway, this week focused a lot on fear. She said something in our video last night that really rang true to me...she basically said that it's hard to really understand fear until you become a parent. Fear takes on a whole new meaning when you are responsible for another life. When you love another person so much that you feel like your heart may burst.

I have so many new fears now. Irrational fears. When Grayson was a newborn, I was so paranoid about him suffocating while sleeping. I would check on him while he was sleeping. I would get Ben to check on him while he was sleeping. I would get that anxious feeling before bed & truly felt that if I didn't go peak on him before I went to sleep, that something terrible would happen. Although that fear has subsided there are new fears that come with him getting older. What if he falls and hits his head on the ground? What if we get in a car accident and he gets seriously hurt? What if he chokes on something when I'm not looking? What if someone takes him? What if I fail him as a parent?

Those types of fears can be paralyzing, if you let them. Those are the types of fears that Satan uses against us. I know that it is completely normal as a parent to have these fears sometimes...but I certainly do not want to live my life always thinking "what if??"

I am so guilty of doing this. I know that some of those fears could possibly become a reality--but I am not going to live in fear. If one of my "what if" fears happens, then guess what? I have a loving God to get me through it. God was good yesterday & He will be good tomorrow.

"For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." - Isaiah 41:13

So What! Wednesday

2011-10-05T07:39:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday again! Y'all know what that means...I'm linking up with Shannon at Life after I Dew for a little So What! Wednesday fun. This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

my child has a bad case of separation anxiety right now. He's 1. It happens. I'm sure he won't head off to college kicking and screaming for mama.
I am really excited about upgrading this week to the new iPhone but don't really know much about it. This girl? Not that tech savvy.
I drove to Krispy Kreme last night at 8:00 to get Ben & I some donuts. I had enough calories left in my day to spend on a chocolate iced custard filled donut!
I miss one night on tv & get stressed out by my DVR. There are simply too many shows, not enough time! Don't even get me started on Thursdays! The Office, Project Runway, AND Jersey Shore? Stop it.
my child has sips of my yummy almond joy creamer filled coffee in the morning. He pitches a royal fit if he doesn't get a sip. I'm learning to pick my battles.
I am completely overwhelmed with the sewing machine sitting on my bedroom floor. I want to learn how to use it, but I don't even know where to start!
I'm REALLY looking forward to a yummy breakfast this morning at MOPS. I could eat breakfast food all.day.long.

What are you saying SO WHAT to this week??

If we were real life friends..

2011-10-04T14:43:00.000-05:00

I started this blog almost 3 years ago & am amazed at how much I have grown to love the blogging community. I was just telling Ben last night that I consider my blogging friends to be my real friends...even though I have not met them in real life. He thought that was weird...whatever:)

I love the raw honesty in many of my favorite blogger's posts. That's why I read them. I love knowing that there are a lot of other ladies/mamas that go through the same things as me every.single.day. I love the feeling of reading a post & feeling like I've gotten to know someone even better. And feeling like we could be real life friends!

If you were my real life friend there are several things you would already know about me. For instance, you would know that many people call me Loma. My nickname since 8th grade has been Lomo. However, when my last name changed to May, everyone changed it to LoMA. See? Learn something new every day.

You would also know that I love to dance. Like, the second my Lil' Wayne Pandora station comes on, I'm tearing up the ~~dance floor~~ living room floor. Now, I'm a white girl (duh), but I can drop it down low.

I also quote rap songs on a pretty regular basis. oh, and I own candy grillz.

You would also know that I am completely obsessed with celebrities. My main news source used to be Perez Hilton. Then I had a baby. I don't have as much time to look at Perez Hilton anymore. You would know that I have found Brad Paisley, Miley Cyrus, Leann Rimes, George Jones, and Jason Aldean's houses. I assure you I am not a crazy stalker. Well, at least not the crazy part.

You would know that I am the type of person who never forgets a face. e v e r. I graduated high school with like 900 people and I swear to you I know probably 90% of their names. Even if we never spoke, if I saw them in the yearbook, I knew their name. Don't be alarmed if I see you in public and talk to you...I just probably read your blog and know who you are:)

You would know that I would rather take a funny picture than a serious picture.

It's just more fun that way, right?

You would know that I once sang in a rodeo. Wearing a zebra cowboy hat. Oh, and that I wanted to be a pop star like Britney. Closest I ever got was that darn rodeo.

You would know that I lurve bright colors and my house shows it. Bright yellows, lime green, aqua blue. The spanish boys that did the painting loved it, too!

You would know that I absolutely hate confrontation. It makes my stomach hurt. I hate that feeling more than just about anything. I would much rather ignore a problem than have to talk about it & risk an argument.

You would know that I am a really sensitive person...especially when it comes to kids and animals. When I did my student teaching in Mississippi I worked in schools where kids had really bad home situations. It broke my heart. I told Ben on numerous occasions that year (we were engaged) that I would adopt all 18 of those 1st graders if I could. I loved those kids so hard and cried when I had to leave. I still think about them!

I'm the same way with animals. Hello, that's why we have Hudson & Ellie! I would rescue every abused/stray dog if I could. I can't watch Animal Cops anymore on tv because I become a sobbing mess.

You would know that I hate pedicures because my feet are THAT ticklish. If you want to torture me, give me a pedi. Last one I had was the day before my wedding...THREE years ago.

You would know that one of the highlights of my wedding was crankin' it to Soulja Boy.

Wouldn't it be fun if we could have a huge bloggy get together and be real life friends? What would I know about you if I really knew you?!

happenings

2011-10-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

I feel like we've had a lot going on lately. Grayson has been sick with the dreaded hand, foot, & mouth disease...again. Thankfully, it was not nearly as bad as when he had it in June. Only one day of fever & about 5 days of Screamy McScreamerson. Yeah, sounds like fun, right? notsomuch. He seems to be 100% better today and woke up in a cheerful/normal G mood...thank the Lord!

Grayson got this sweet ride from his Mimi and Pops for his birthday. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's hot stuff when he is riding on it. He has 3 vehicles now...the push car, a Cozy Truck with jacked up wheels-thank his daddy for that one, AND a mini Kawasaki 4 wheeler. Ridiculous. He loves to ride!

I made no-sew drop cloth curtains for our big kitchen window a few weeks ago and LOVE them. We finally have privacy in our kitchen and family room...just in time for them to start building directly behind us! They were super easy to make but a little time consuming.

This is how Jack feels about the curtains. Ticked. How dare I block his daily sunlight?! How will he get his tan on?? His solution is to hide behind the curtains now. Demanding little fella.

Since G is all big & bad now, we decided he should be allowed to sit at the table with us. We Ben packed up the highchair and Grayson has been sitting like a big boy in his booster seat! His friend, Ruby, gave him that cute PBK placemat that he eats off of/tries to throw to the floor. I am so happy that we have more room in our kitchen minus the big highchair!

Someone *cough GRAYSON cough* has been extremely attached to his mama lately. As in, pitches a royal terrible 2's fit if I don't hold him the second he wants me. This makes cooking dinner especially difficult. This was our solution last night. I am not a babywearing mama so this thing hasn't been used in like 8 months. I'm sure you can tell that Grayson was not so amused at being strapped on like a backpack.

We had a lot of slider buns left over from G's party so I wanted to find recipes to use them. I found this Buffalo Chicken Sliders recipe on pinterest and they were SO good. The buffalo sauce was so easy to make and it wasn't too hot.

It even got a thumbs up from the buffalo-loving husband! That is hard to do!

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Laura on Pinterest

I also made these hot ham and cheese sliders. delish. My mom makes something very similar for Georgia tailgates and I have always loved them...glad to have this recipe now!

In other news, I was supposed to be doing a 30 Day Shred Challenge with some blog/twitter friends and I sucked at it. Like, quit-after-3-days sucked. Sorry Laura & Lynsey! BUT, I found something else I'm doing. Thanks to DirecTV, we now have onDemand workouts! Holla! I was so excited about this. I get bored easily and don't like doing the same work out videos every day. So far, I have done pilates, kickboxing, and a hip hop dance cardio. I really need to post a video of me doing all 3--I look ridiculous. I love to dance & if you put me in da club, this white girl thinks she can dance. In my bonus room without an adult bev? I learned real quick that I can't. sad face. But, it was fun. I've been drinking tons of lemon water (thanks Katie!) and hopped on board with My Fitness Pal again. It really is amazing that after 3 days of working out, drinking lots of water, and eating healthier foods, I feel so much better.

Okay, I feel all caught up now. phew. Happy Monday!

Where does G shop??

2011-09-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

I've said before that I am picky when it comes to Grayson's clothes. I want him to look like a little boy instead of a little man. Sweet little girl clothes are everywhere and I would be in big trouble if there was a baby girl in our house! However, if you look in the right places, you can find really cute boy clothes! Seriously, I promise...you can:)

I like boutique brands for Grayson's clothes but I have only paid boutique prices for 2 items in his closet...and that is ranging from his newborn clothes all the way up to 18 month clothes! Not to toot my own horn, but I think that is pretty impressive. I love jon jons, longalls, and bubbles but I am just not willing to pay $40+ for an outfit I know my kid will grow out of in just a few months...I mean, I rarely spend $40 on my own clothes!

Probably 75% of Grayson's closet is from eBay. I have an addiction to eBay. My husband just made fun of me for all the Pay Pal charges he sees on our credit card statement. He doesn't get that I'm actually saving him hundreds of dollars! ;) These are my favorite brands of clothes for G:

Bailey Boys
Kelly's Kids
Rags Land
Funtasia Too
Rosalina
Castles and Crowns
Chez Ami
Vive le Fete

I search these brands on eBay every few days to see what they have listed in Grayson's size. I always set a limit in my head of what I am willing to spend with shipping combined. I have gotten SO many great deals on eBay and have had nothing but great experiences. There are also a lot of monogrammed items that you can get dirt cheap...I bought a monogrammed bubble from Kelly's Kids-brand new with tags-for $15. Great deal!

I also love Zulily! They have great deals on clothes, shoes, & toys. The only problem with with Zulily is you have to be fast because some of their stuff sells out SO fast. The sale begins at 8am every morning so be sure you check early!

Consignment sales/shops are also my go-to places for his clothes. I have a harder time finding his jon jons and longalls at consignments but that is where almost all of his "play clothes" (turning into my mom when I say that) come from. Right now they have tons of Halloween costumes, too!

Okay...that's all I've got. One thing I have realized in the past year is that it is so much more fun to buy baby/kid clothes than my clothes! Where do you buy kid clothes? Go link up with Kelly to see where everyone shops!

Grayson's party {the SMASH cake}

2011-09-29T11:54:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that Grayson has always been a messy eater. I had a feeling how the smash cake would turn out & after we had a test run on his actual birthday...

...I knew he would dig in. Don't worry...G didn't disappoint the crowd!

This one is my favorite. Cracks me up!

Sugar shocked.

A party is not a party without a sink bath!

So What! Wednesday

2011-09-28T11:29:00.001-05:00

As always, I am linking up with Shannon at Life After I Dew for a little So What! Wednesday!

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

I am kind of glad I had to stay home this morning with a feverish boy so that I could get stuff done while he napped. Note: not happy about a sick baby but happy about a cleanish house!
I have already purchased 3 pumpkins, have plans to purchase more, and it is still only September.
I am still annoyed by the new "rear-facing until 2" recommendation for carseats. I will do it. BUT, I will not be happy about it. (and neither will G)
I am watching The New Girl even though I don't find it very funny. I really want it to be awesome just because I love Zooey Deschanel. I'll keep trying.
I tuck my 2 big dogs into {their} bed every night. Yep. I'm that fur mama.
I have a sewing machine & can't sew.
it drives me CRAZY that our neighbors park their cars in front of our house all day/all night. I know I don't own the street but in the words on Bon Qui Qui...RUDE! oh, btw? Their driveway is empty.
I'm afraid to get G a haircut even though he needs one bad. I know those baby curls will be gone forever when they get chopped!

What are you saying "so what" to this week??

Grayson's party {the fun!}

2011-09-27T14:05:00.000-05:00

I am warning you: I'm about to overwhelm you with picture vomit. Here are some of the pictures with *gasp* people in them from G's birthday party!

Our little family of 3 before the party started. G spotted the nugget tray on the table and went nuts!

...thus leading to quick bite to eat before his guests arrived! Boy loves him some Chik-Fil-A nuggets!

Me, Mary (cupcake baker extraordinaire) , and Kristy. G loves his aunts!

my boy. He is seriously looking so big and old all of a sudden!

Ben's fam: Mimi, Pops, and Uncle Tom Tom. Grayson loves his Uncle Thomas!

My parents: Poppy & Nana

This picture melts my mama heart. It is SO sweet! This is my friend Alex's little boy, Hutson. He is about 6 months younger than G. They will be lifelong friends!

The ball pit was a popular hangout! G, Molly Cate, and Gray playing with each other.

Birthday boy! Can't handle the seersucker shorts...so cute!

Alex & Hutson

This picture cracks me up! Ruby was so happy and smiley & Molly Cate and Grayson just weren't having it.

Friends and babies! Caron & Molly Cate, me & G, Jen & Ruby

Ben showing Grayson & Riley how to work the new toys.

The VM's:) Caron, me, Mary, & Kristy

The Morris fam...how cute is Ruby Jane?!

G loves his new tunnel! Please notice the new hammer in his hand, as well. He enjoys hammering everything. Literally. everything.


He got a new man chair. Ben is pretty jealous. It even has a cupholder!

Sorry for the picture overload! It was such a fun day and I want to remember it. G is so lucky to have so many people who love him! I'll be back tomorrow for the smash cake! ...and smashing it was:)

Grayson's party {the decorations}

2011-09-26T16:15:00.000-05:00

The birthday invitation was made by Oh My Gluestick. I loved how they turned out! Obviously the address is hidden because the last thing I need is some nutso stalking us.

Grayson's 1st birthday party was on Saturday! I felt like a crazy person all week trying to get everything ready & I am happy to say that I think the party was a success! While party planning is not my favorite thing, it was fun to see all the ideas in my head come to life. Since we did G's monthly pictures with Sammy the GIANT sock monkey, I felt like it only seemed natural to have a sock monkey party! Sammy is pretty much a legit member of our family. I used all of his fun colors as my inspiration.

I made a yarn wreath for the front door that was inspired by many different yarn wreaths on Pinterest. Yarn wreaths take f o r e v e r....but they turn out so cute! I bought felt letters and hot glued them on. Super easy! I also bought the buttons at Michael's, glued a push pin on the back of them, and stuck them on. The "1" is also just push pinned on so that I can change out the number every year. I love how it turned out!

I made a birthday banner using different scrapbook papers & cardboard letters I bought at Hobby Lobby. I love all of the fun scrapbook papers I was able to find that matched our Sammy Sock Monkey theme! I hung them up with the Command hooks...whoever invented those was a genius!

This is the cute red table in my foyer. We bought the cookies from a local bakery. I took a picture of some monogrammed cookies I found on Pinterest and they copied them for me. They turned out perfect! Melissa emailed me the sign that she had used at her Grayson's party & I just modge podged it to that wooden stand I painted. It's a shame we had some cookies left over...nom nom.

I am SO glad that we took monthly pictures of Grayson. It is so fun to see how much he changed! This banner I made was probably my favorite part & I hated taking it down last night!

I used all of the sock monkeys we already had for decorations. It's a good thing we have quite the collection!

I had to include the Ole Miss sock monkey since they were playing Georgia during the party. They lost:( typical. The monkey in the middle -ha!-is actually to put on a wine bottle. It always hangs out in my kitchen. It cracks me up!

The Spread: bbq sliders, Chik-Fil-A nuggets, cupcakes, twizzlers...

..~~sock~~ monkey bread muffins, chips & salsa, and spinach artichoke dip.

I loved the little highchair banner! I just cut out scrapbook paper and hot glued it to some leftover red ribbon. I used goop (yep, real name) to get the ribbon to stay on the highchair.

Cupcakes made by my friend Mary. Delicious as always! I got the sock monkey designs from a seller on eBay for $3.00 and then glued them to scrapbook paper & a lollipop stick to make the cupcake toppers.

Smash cake made by Publix to match the birthday hat. That hat was so easy to make and I love how it turned out! I will probably do this for all of his little kid parties!

The play area for the kids...the ball pit was a hit!

I will leave you today with a glimpse at the man of the hour. The birthday boy! He looked extra handsome in his seersucker shorts & birthday shirt made by SheSheMade.

I love how everything turned out & I really was sad to take all the decorations down! Now on to the 2nd birthday party...I kid, I kid.

letting go

2011-09-22T13:21:00.001-05:00

I have become a control freak. I'm not sure how this happened. Pre-G days I was a discombobulated mess. (piles of laundry, crap all over our bar area, frazzled) Post-G days I feel like I need to be superwoman and get everything done without giving myself a break. I mean, I even ordered a Life Planner...you know, so I could plan my life. {that Life Planner by the way? is AMAZING. love it.}

Some days I like that I have become more organized & feel that desire to make sure my family has a clean house to live in. Other days, this new Type A-control freak-personality stresses me out. I have the hardest time asking for help. I hate to feel like I am inconveniencing someone. My solution? Do everything myself. This wouldn't be a problem if I could be in 5 places at once and/or I had 6 arms.

I have been really convicted of this lately. I get myself so stressed out & my poor husband ends up in the line of fire. God is really teaching me to let go. Letting go of the things that cause me stress in my life. Learning to just roll with the punches.

It's okay if Grayson's birthday party isn't Pinterest Perfect.

It's okay if I go to bed one night without sweeping the kitchen.

It's okay if I spend some couch time with Ben instead of running around like a chicken with its head cut off making tissue poms. and hey, guess what? That birthday wreath I almost cried over last night? People will only see it for 5 seconds when they walk in.

It's okay if I didn't get around to making the bed this morning. {eep. this one is hard for me to let go of}

I'm learning that I am only one person. One person who also has a very small person to look after all day. I can't be superwoman and I can't do it all. But guess what? That's okay.

My goal for this weekend is to just enjoy everything. Worry less about the party & more about why we are celebrating.

..just in case there is any confusion, here is who we are celebrating. happy, happy boy!

So What! Wednesday

2011-09-21T13:19:00.000-05:00

First of all, can I say how much I love the new So What! Wednesday logo?! Love me a banner. Cute, cute. This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

my DVR is about to explode now that all my fall shows are on. Yeah, I like tv. A lot.
I have a girl crush on Zooey Deschanel. I want to be her when I grow up. She is darling. And have you heard her voice?! A-mazing.
I was supposed to be doing a 30 Day Shred with some bloggy/twitter girls and I have royally sucked at it. I need to start over. For the love, someone motivate me!!
I take it personally when some bloggers n e v e r respond to comments. ever. what gives?
I have had 2 spicy Chik-Fil-A sandwiches this week for lunch. Me & G love Chik-Fil-A!
I have always wanted a gbff (gay best friend) -- think Carrie Bradshaw and Stanford. I want a shopping partner. My top 2 picks would be Christian Siriano or Carson Kressley.
I want to repaint my whole house. That would be a lot of paint.
I have major anxiety about leaving G during MOPS this morning. Separation anxiety sucks. Don't want my baby sad for 2 hours.

Go link up with Shannon @ Life After I Dew for some So What! Wednesday fun!

I am not a party planner.

2011-09-20T14:44:00.000-05:00

Grayson's birthday party is on Saturday. If there is one thing I have learned about the process of planning a birthday party, it's that I am NOT cut out to be a party planner. Nope. Not at all. Here are some other things I have learned along the way:

I am a huge scatterbrain. I have about 10 projects started and only 2 things complete.
Modge Podge is a pretty fun invention. I'd never used it before until a couple weeks ago. It's great!
DIY-ing can still be expensive. Michael's & Hob Lob will steal your money right out of your wallet!
Speaking of Hobby Lobby, am I the only one that almost always has to buy a random treat (ie: circus peanuts or poppycock) when I am in the check out line?
Hot glue is a dangerous, dangerous thing. I should know this since I used it all.the.time in the classroom...but, alas, I forgot. I have burned myself approximately 14 times this week.
Monogrammed sugar cookies are SO cute! However, I will have to use G's future college tuition to buy them. Note to self: become a baker.
Apparently I like to add more stress to situations. For example, I thought this week would be the perfect time to finally make drop-cloth curtains for our big kitchen window. Um, those took 3 hours on Sunday. That also meant getting Ben to hang a curtain rod and hooks on each side of the window. As if we have nothing else to do!
lastly, I need to win the lottery so I can hire a party planner. the end.

12 months {1 year}

2011-09-19T12:43:00.000-05:00

Grayson is 12 months old today! I can't believe my baby is 1 year old. That is so hard for me to believe. He is looking so much like a little boy lately & less like a baby!

Look at how much G has grown!

That is just plain crazy. Look how teeny he was!

Here are the stats:

Weight: 20.3 lbs - 10th percentile

Height: 29 5/8 in - 50th percentile

Clothing: He is wearing all 12 month clothes right now. Most of his fall & winter longalls and pants are 18 months. He is long and skinny...we have a problem finding pants that fit around his waist that aren't too short!

Diaper: 4

Shoe Size: His toes are at the end of his size 3 sandals we bought in early August...moving on up to size 4!

I feel like this month Grayson grew and changed so much. Here are some of the milestones we hit:

Grayson is now running! He is SO fast and spends lots of time running circles around our downstairs.
Grayson has gotten 6 new teeth this month. 2 are on the bottom front & then 4 molars. He now has 12 teeth!
He is such a talker! I can't wait until he can really talk so we know what he is telling us! He is saying mum mum (mama), dada, bu bu (bye), and he says ba & da all the time! I can't believe he can't say "dog" yet...he talks to them all day long!
He waves when you say hello & bye and he claps when he gets excited!
Grayson has started dancing to "The Hot Dog Song" on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He will stop whatever he is doing when that song comes on the TV and will start bouncing around and clapping. It's so funny!
Grayson is also sleeping later! Hallelujah!!! He has been sleeping in until 6:30 and sometimes even 7:00 for the past few weeks. I hope that lasts!

Grayson is still taking 3 bottles a day but I plan on stopping those this week. He will also be saying goodbye to formula! Grayson is the pickiest eater ever. The only substantial meal he will eat is chicken nuggets. It is so frustrating. I will keep trying to branch this boy out! Wish me luck! For breakfast he eats cinnamon raisin toast/waffle with fruit and yogurt. He will have chicken nuggets and fruit for lunch. I always give him what we eat for dinner but it usually ends up on the floor. He throws it if he is not interested! We introduced whole milk this month thinking he would drink it without a problem from his sippy cup. Well, he hates it. Shocking, right?! Right now his favorite foods are: veggie sticks, chicken nuggets, goldfish, yogurt covered raisins, grapes, and strawberries.

This past month we traveled to Oxford for the 3rd time since Grayson was born. He had so much fun tailgating in the Grove! He loves going to see Matt & Whitney because they have a giant goldendoodle and Grayson loves him. He followed Ruger around the whole weekend!

We have spent so much time playing with new friends this month! I joined a playgroup in early August & it has kept us busy. There are a quite a few little boys that are the same age as G and we've had fun getting them together to play! Grayson loves going to the park with his buddies Reed & Riley!

The one downside to this age is the separation anxiety. We are battling that big time right now. Grayson has always done just fine in the church nursery until recently. He cries pretty much the whole time. He also did the same thing for 2 hours last week during my morning bible study! It is so hard for me to leave him when I know how upset he gets. I know it's just a phase and he won't be like this forever...but I wish it would just end! Makes me sad, too!

Some of Grayson's favorite things right now are:

Jack's tiny tennis balls--he loves throwing them to the dogs!
opening and shutting cabinets/doors
any kind of ball
Hudson
His "Five Little Ladybugs" book
getting into everything.
Being outside!
Drinking out of a straw
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

I can't believe that it has been 1 whole year since our lives were changed forever by this fun little boy!

Happy FIRST birthday, G!!

my boy

2011-09-18T10:57:00.000-05:00

My Sweet Grayson,

Tomorrow you will turn into a big 1 year old! It is hard for me to believe that at this time last year I was anxiously awaiting your arrival in the hospital. I couldn't wait to see how big you were, who you looked like, and what kind of personality you had. I was smitten from the moment I laid eyes on you. You were perfect. Ever since I was a little girl, all I had dreamed about was becoming a mom. Baby boy, you made my dream come true! I am so proud to call you my son. I am so thankful that God chose me to be your mama.

This past year has been the most exciting one yet. I have loved watching you grow & learn new things. I have loved seeing you change from a sleepy newborn to a little boy with loads of personality!

Grayson, you have taught me so much in just 1 year. I have learned so much about myself since you have been here. I have a whole new level of patience that did not exist before & you have shown me a whole new kind of love. The kind of love that changes a person. The kind of love that makes this mama feel complete.

I am so excited to watch you change and grow. I can't wait to hear you really start talking. I can't wait to see you become a big brother. I can't wait to watch you learn new things. You are brave, determined, and have such a strong will. I pray for you every single day. I pray that God will use all of your strong character traits to do something wonderful in life. I pray that you will one day understand what it means to have a relationship with Jesus and you will desire that for your own life. I know that God has big plans for you!

Your sweet smile & laugh have brought so much joy to our lives this year. Everyone we pass in the store always comments on your big, smily blue eyes. Grayson, you have filled a void in my heart that I didn't even know was missing.

G, I hope you always know just how much me & your daddy love you. You are our world, baby boy!

Love, Mama

You can find me...

2011-09-16T07:30:00.000-05:00

~~in St. Louis rollin' on dubs~~ guest blogging over at The Smitten Mintons today!

Come check it out!

...and you will be my new best friend if you know what song I was referring to up there!

So What! Wednesday

2011-09-14T09:07:00.000-05:00

Today is my favorite day. Hump day. Grocery day (I'm weird). and....(drumroll, please) SO WHAT! WEDNESDAY! This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

I am a little too excited that one of my fave bloggers (cough *SHANNON* cough) switched back over to Blogger & now I can figure out how to follow her! Sorry WordPress people, it's too difficult for this non-tech savvy gal.
I have been frantically watching all of my DVR'd shows recently...like went to bed at midnight because I was so behind. We are switching to Direct on Thursday & my current DVR will be dunzo.
I am totally creeped out by Dish Network. After my annoyance with them last week, I tweeted (hate that work, btw) about it and not 5 minutes later they started following me on Twitter. What the frack?! Stalkers.
I am totally stressed about resetting my new DVR schedule. What if I forget something important like Teen Mom, RHOeverycityinAmerica, or Project Runway?!
I am a total baby boy clothing snob. I admit it. Boy stuff is so much tackier than girl stuff. Monkeys, Balls, & stupid sayings. Make. It. Stop.
I think that if I refuse to acknowledge the fact that my squishy newborn turns 1 on Monday then it just won't happen. Right? I want to keep him this way forever.
I pay for Netflix everything month but haven't actually used it since...um, April? No worries, I sent back the uber dusty Modern Family disc today.

Go link up with Shannon..I want to hear what you're saying "SO WHAT" to!

monday happies

2011-09-12T15:14:00.000-05:00

Today Ben went back to work for the first time in 11 days. Not even kidding. That never happens! We had a little Nashville staycation this week complete with a visit to the zoo AND the Tennessee State Fair. I am fairly certain I gained 13 pounds at the fair. Fried oreos? So worth it.

I went to Goodwill on Saturday looking for a chair to refinish for the computer room. No such luck. However, I did find this little guy for $10! Holy steal, Batman. These things retail between $40-$50 at the toy stores. We looked at this Step 2 Push Car for G's birthday but settled on something else. I just couldn't pass this thing up for $10. All it needed was a bath & now it's good as new! I love a good deal. I do always feel like I a)need to take a shower & b)have lice when I leave Goodwill. Blech.

Guess what shipped today???? My Erin Condren Life Planner! I am so excited for this little beauty to arrive. You KNOW you are getting old when a planner is something you truly look forward to. I'm okay with that.

I made 2 new yummy meals this weekend & I wanted to share the recipes with y'all. Enjoy!


Chicken Tender Fried Rice

This recipe is from Publix and was SO good. It was super easy & literally only took about 10 minutes to make.

Here is what you need:

3 thinly sliced green onions

3 (we used 4) chicken tenders -- I got ours from the Publix deli

1 10oz bag of precooked frozen rice with veggies (I used Trader Joe's vegetable fried rice & it worked fine)

1 tbsp sesame oil

3 tbsp stir-fry sauce

1 beaten egg

Cook the rice according to the package. Some you may microwave first...I didn't have to. I put my Trader Joe's rice right into the saute pan with the sesame oil. Stir it around for a few minutes until warm. Stir in the stir-fry sauce. Add the egg slowly & stir constantly. You don't want chunky scrambled eggs in your rice. Cut up the chicken into bite size pieces. Add the chicken and the green onions. Stir until everything is warm.

Hootenanny

Thank you to Shannon AND my beloved Pinterest for introducing this deeeelicious breakfast to me. This will be my new weekend staple. Basically, this is a cross between a pancake & french toast. How could you go wrong?

Here is what you need:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

6 eggs

1.4 tsp salt

I added some cinnamon & sugar...eyeballed it:)

Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 400. Top with syrup...would also be great with powdered sugar!

Grayson and the Red Balloon

2011-09-09T09:35:00.000-05:00

Sounds like a book title, doesn't it? Grayson found a new love while we were in Oxford over Labor Day weekend: balloons. My bestie, his aunt Whit, brought him a balloon from the store. Grayson was obsessed. He carried that red balloon all over the house, tried to share it with her massive ~~horse dog~~ goldendoodle, and was really excited when I tied it around his wrist. I took about 100 pictures of G with his balloon (not even kidding). I had to share a few because I am a proud mama and he is so dang cute.

best kept secret in the south

2011-09-08T09:58:00.000-05:00

If you are not from the south, college football is probably not a huge deal to you. If you are from the south & college football is still no big deal...then I am not sure what is wrong with you. I grew up cheering on the Georgia Bulldawgs but spent my first 5 years of adult-life in the best kept secret south of the Mason Dixon line: Oxford, MS....home of the Ole Miss Rebels. I adore this small college town and & the ~~Black Bears~~ Rebels . Seriously, I love it. There is nothing more fun than spending a Saturday in the fall tailgating in the Grove!

We spent our Labor Day weekend in Oxford with our friends, Whitney & Matt. Thankfully they never left Oxford so we always have a place to stay! winning!

This was Grayson's first time to tailgate in the Grove. I wasn't sure how he would do because a)it was about 97 degrees, b)it was during nap time, and c) there are about a gazillion people there. Grayson was a champ! He had so much fun walking around & "talking" to people. He loved seeing dogs, eating chicken tenders (shocker), and trying to steal adult beverages out of the coolers. Ha!

I love this. He felt so big with his sippy cup listening to the big boys!

I stayed in the Grove for about 3 hours & left right before the game. Ben went with Whitney & Matt. Sadly, we lost to BYU. Again, shocker. G and I went shopping on the Square during the game. I'll take that!

My little Rebel looked so cute in his game day outfit! We will be wearing this every weekend until it's cold. I ordered it off of Etsy from Cappy's Closet. She has lots of other SEC schools and makes cute jon jons & dresses!

Being back in Oxford always makes me want to move back so bad. I miss the small town charm and I miss my best friend. I'm so glad we got to have our grove experience this year...here's to hoping we actually win a few games this season! Hotty Toddy!

So What! Wednesday, menu, and a recipe!

2011-09-07T14:27:00.003-05:00

It's Hump Day (giggle) which means it is time for Shannon's So What! Wednesday. Happy dance! This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

It's hard for me to smile & be nice to certain people because I think they are bat-you-know-what crazy.
I got excited when I finally saw what they were adding to the shopping center in our neighborhood...a liquor store! Don't judge.
I want to throw rocks at the Dish Network people for the following reasons: taking away almost all of our HD channels (hello, BRAVO?! I need you!), screwing up my DVR (um, Teen Mom. I'm ticked), AND being three hours late (as of right now) to their appointment at our house.
I had a terrible dream that I completely forgot about Grayson's birthday party and nothing was prepared. Now I'm stressed.
It suddenly got cold in Tennessee and I realized yesterday that we have no warm clothes for our child. Oops.

I haven't done a menu plan in a few weeks. When I don't post it...I never stick to it. So here goes nothing!

Wednesday: BBQ chicken tortilla pizzas--recipe below

Thursday: baked pork chops, rice, and skillet apples

Friday:Tennessee State Fair...I will NOT be counting calories. Funnel cakes, come to mama!

Saturday: chicken tender fried rice

Sunday: dijon roasted chicken with carrots & potatoes

Monday: panko chicken bites with mango habanero sauce & rice

Tuesday: Taco Cornbread Casserole--this looks SO good!

BBQ chicken tortilla pizzas have become a staple in our house. Ben and I both love thin crust pizza but I have never been able to create it on my own...this is the best way to do it! Here is my recipe:

What you need:

1 chicken breast

Your fave BBQ sauce (we use Sweet Baby Ray's original) -- I don't measure, sorry!

2 tortillas

shredded mozzarella

fresh cilantro

How you make it:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat your chicken with some BBQ sauce and grill it until cooked. When cooled off, cut it into small pieces. Place 2 tortillas on a cookie sheet and stick in the oven for about 5 minutes...just until slightly crisp. Take the tortillas out & put about 2 tbsp on BBQ sauce on your pizza. Spread it out almost to the edge. Add half the chicken to one tortilla & the rest to the other. Top with shredded mozzarella. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbly & the crust is slightly browned. Top with fresh cilantro. Enjoy:)

pinnable me Friday - decorating for fall

2011-09-02T08:35:00.000-05:00

First things first, my domain has been officially changed! Blogger should redirect you, but you may want to change the address just in case. The new address is:

www.momentswiththemays.com

I'm linking up with Stefanie again for Pinnable Me Fridays! I am still eagerly waiting for the temps to drop and for the weather to officially feel like fall. One of my favorite things about fall is decorating my house with the warm fall colors. Here are some of the things I have pinned recently:

Source: pinterest.com via Laura on Pinterest

This looks like the easiest table decoration ever. I love small pumpkins (heck, I love all pumpkins) and always buy them but never know how to use them. I will definitely be doing this!

Source: simplysuzannes.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

My favorite produce stand in downtown Franklin always has the prettiest mums. I absolutely love bright yellow mums; they are my favorite! I could definitely combine my love for pumpkins & mums to create this. I think this would look pretty on our front steps leading to the street.

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Laura on Pinterest

Great table centerpiece for Thanksgiving. I will do something like this on our dining room table! Cranberries would look pretty in the hurricane vase too!

Source: georgeinteriordesign.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

I always line my outside steps with pumpkins. My favorite pumpkins are the blue pumpkins! I always stock up on those because I think they look different & nobody ever has them. They last a really long time, too. I love all of the different colors and sizes of these pumpkins together!

Source: pinterest.com via Laura on Pinterest

This is just cute...I like this whole drilling holes into a pumpkin thing!

What did you pin this week?? Go link up with Stefanie!

So What! Wednesday

2011-08-31T08:31:00.000-05:00

I am linking up with Shannon again for my weekly installment of So What! Wednesday. Hump day (giggle) has become a favorite just because I love reading all of these! So, this week I am saying SO WHAT...

if I am completely addicted to my whole fruit coconut popsicles. If I can't sit around drinking pina coladas all day (I think everyone would frown upon that), then I will eat them instead!
if I have now become obsessed with Twitter. It's great...why did it take me this long to figure it out?!
if I feel like a new person because G has been sleeping in until 6:15ish the past few mornings. Guess I've reached mama/adulthood when this is sleeping in.
if I really want to go to my favorite Oxford bar this weekend with my best friend and dance to DJ Mario. Who cares if 80% of the crowd is underage?
if I have had a bag of random stocking stuffers (thanks, Mom) sitting on the floor of our computer room since Christmas of 2009. You know how everything should have a home? Well I can't find homes for this stuff. Ben just noticed this last night and asked me why we had a bag sitting on the floor. He's pretty observant, obviously.
if it drives me insane that our neighbor's have about 457 people that live in their house & they park cars in front of our house every day/all day. In the words of Bon Qui Qui, "RUDE."
if I am following Jamie Lynn Spears on twitter. Stop it. Did I really just admit that? She lives a few miles down the road from me...maybe we will just be real life friends.

getting organized

2011-08-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I mentioned that I made a cleaning schedule for myself. Julie at The Smitten Mintons asked me about my little chore schedule so I thought I would do a post about it. Y'all. This schedule has changed my life. Not even kidding! Pre-Grayson, I was never organized & I never had a house that looked presentable at any given time. Post-Grayson, I have become a little bit type A (keywords: little bit). I long for a clean house & organization. But trust me, that doesn't come naturally.

Enter the schedule. I made this last month and it has been the best thing ever. Instead of spending an entire Saturday cleaning the entire house, I now space everything throughout the week. Here is what my schedule looks like via crappy iPhone pic:

I'll break it down for you...

Sunday: sweep the hardwoods & dust

Monday: sweep the hardwoods & vacuum rest of the house

Tuesday: sweep & clean master bathroom

Wednesday: grocery day, sweep, and vacuum

Thursday: sweep & clean upstairs guest bathroom

Friday: sweep, vacuum, clean downstairs half bathroom

Saturday: sweep and change/wash sheets

I have 3 dogs. 3 dogs who shed like crazy...it's actually a miracle any of them have any hair at all. This is why I sweep every.single.day. and also why I vacuum so often. I despise dog hair & I try to get rid of it the best I can.

I also found a printout from Martha Stewart on Pinterest recently of 6 things to do every day. It is just a simple list of things to do that will make your life easier. The 2 things on this list that helped me the most?

1. Manage clutter. I am a clutter magnet. Ben used to always make a "Laura's Pile of Junk" stack on our bar. A few weekends ago I found a home for all of my random things. I make it a point to clear off our bar area (where ~~our~~ my crap seems to try to live) every night now.

2. Sort through your mail every day. Seems simple, but we didn't always do it. We have a mail basket that got out of control. I sort our mail every day and immediately throw away the stuff we don't need.

Okay...random, I know, but I hoped it helped someone! I wish I had been doing this while I was still working...it really would have made my life easier!

I'm open for more suggestions on keeping your house clean & organized...what do you do??