A Little Shower

Sunday, Emmy and I attended a baby shower for my friend and former coworker, Amanda.  She'll be having a baby boy in October.  I was so happy to be included in the shower.  Her twin sister, April, did a wonderful job putting it together.

Emmy was a little confused with her baby shower expectations.  When I told her we were going to go to a baby shower, she thought it would be full of babies.  Well, baby Grei was there, so Emmy was satisfied.

Here is little Ansley.  She is five days younger than Emmy and such a sweetheart.

April planned out two games for us to play that were fun and challenging. I'm happy to say I won one!

After eating and games Amanda opened her presents. 

The next two photos are so funny and Amanda might kill me for posting them, but it is kind of cute once they are explained.  

The girls were talking about ultrasound photos and Amanda was demonstrating some of the things her son, Mason, has been caught doing in ultrasound photos.

Before Emmy and I had to leave, I wanted to grab a photo (or at least attempt) of Emmy and Ansley.  Ansley was very corporative, but Emmy was being pretty bashful.

...But loving as well

I hope we get to see more of Ansley when we move to Greenville.

I enjoyed spending time with these women.  I love that our friendships haven't fallen from distance or time.  I'm also very excited for Amanda and can't wait to meet Mason! 

My Favorite Things

I've been wanting to have a "My Favorite Things" party.  I'm sure most of you know what it is, but if you don't I'll explain. 

You get 6-10 of your girlfriends together for drinks and hor dourves, and everyone brings 6-10 (depending on how many people are at the party) of their favorite thing (between $5-$8) to give out.  As everyone eats and drinks, you go around explaining why it is your favorite thing.  At the end of the party, you have a bag full of useful products, that maybe you hadn't tried, or didn't even know existed.  I think it is genius! 

So, I decided to show you a few of my favorite things. 

These Vidal Sassoon clips are so great to have around!  They are just the right size for my hair, can hold a little or a lot of hair, and they are cheap! 

 

My mom has always only used OPI brand nail polish and every time I venture out for a cheaper brand, I always end up coming back to OPI.  They have so many colors available and the paint goes on so even.  

 

My ghd straightener is my daily buddy and goes with me whenever I go somewhere over night.  It smooths my kinky hair very quickly and only takes 1 minute to heat up!

 

My best friend, KB, turned me on to this mascara and I don't think I will ever use anything else.  I love Maybelline's mascaras and this one, topped with another formula and some eyeliner makes my eyes look super dramatic. 

 

And last, Rainbow sandals.   These are a southern girl's footwear staple!  They are durable, the brown color makes a white girl's feet look tan, and they go with almost anything.  They are definitely my go to shoe from March till September!

 

So tell me, do you think the "My Favorite Things" party is a good idea and what would you bring?

A day off from our busy life

And, a week later I'm back.  Things are going full force, but great with us!  I have to say I love not having to change any diapers.  I feel like Emmy is growing up so fast! 

I'm working on a few projects around the house, but took a break from everything to hang out with my long lost brother in law, Joel (aka Uncle Jo Jo).  Yesterday, Jo Jo, Daddy, Emmy, Ama, Bop and I went to the zoo.  The weather was beautiful and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Other than viewing animals, Emmy rode the carousel, ate ice cream, and took a ride on the train.  She chose the yellow cart.

 

After riding the train and feeding the goats, Ama wanted to feed the parakeets.   I do love this part of our zoo.  The let you purchase small amounts of nectar and feed the birds in an inclosed area.  The birds are very tame and hungry.  

 

Emmy definitely kept her eye on the birds at all times. 

 

 

Ama and Bopa really got into too!

 

Caleb even found some humor in our day.

 

Emmy had such a good day with so many people that love her.  She took a long nap afterwards and didn't even wake up until 10am this morning! 

 

 

In other news, I'm so excited that I'll be joining the smart phone community (finally) in a couple of days (when my new phone comes in the mail).  #movingonup

One Proud Mama

We have some new developments happening in our home -NO, I'm not pregnant, but any parent who has had a toddler knows what a big deal this is...

EMMY IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!

I am such a proud mama right now!  Of course we are still using pull ups at night (I'm not going to interrupt her 12hrs of sleep just yet), but every other minute of her day she is in panties!  And boy does she look so cute in them!  

I seriously cannot express how excited and proud I am of her and of Caleb and I too - I mean it does take a lot of patience, communication, and laundry to potty train a child.  It took us about a month of really working at it, but she was introduced to the potty about 6 months ago.  We did give her one m&m (yes, just one) every time she peed and two for poop.  I know a lot of people discourage treat giving for potty using, but we haven't had any issues with it.  Now, she doesn't expect anything.  We did make a big deal every time she went and even called family members at times to let them know of a "dry" day.  

Now, I just need to work on how to be lady like with panties and dresses with her!

 

I also had today off and in between cleaning and editing photos I decided to make a soap dispenser from a mason jar.  I love it and God knows I have plenty of Mason jars to spare. 

 

I also spent part of my day taking maternity photos for a sweet friend and former coworker, Amanda.  While I was waiting for her to get to the location, I chased Emmy around trying to get a frame worthy photo, but she was more concerned with chasing the cats around the barns.

 

Sadly, this kid is ghostly white, just like her mama.

 

I do love how innocent she is and how excited she gets over the small things, like running around outside chasing cats.

49 years young

Today is my mother's 49th birthday.  We celebrated her birthday yesterday since everyone had to work today.  My dad cooked a yummy dinner and afterwards we had cake and ice cream (which Emmy picked out!).  While we waited for dinner to be finished Emmy played around with her toys and by the time dinner was done, Caleb looked like this: 

 

Such a girl's daddy!  

And, the cake Emmy picked out.  It had to be pink and purple!

 

And this is the 49 year old Memama!

 

When you're the only grandchild, you always get to help blow out the candles for everybody's birthday!

 

After dinner we played outside some with the dogs - but I mostly just cared about playing with Dixie.  Since she moved in with my parents she has gained so much weight!  Girl needed some exercise!

 

And she got it!  I think this photo is hilarious!

 

And this is just a random photo that I caught of Caleb.  He is actually sideways (which is why the left side of this face looks swollen).

 

After making Dixie get some laps in, Emmy decided to try swinging.  This was a big deal because she hasn't (up until now) really liked swinging - so we were all really excited for her to take the the plunge!  She seemed to love it!

 Being a nurse is kind of awesome.  I mean a part from the 12 hour days that sometimes seem to drag on for forever, I only work 3 days a week.  It is much better working day hours too instead of working nights and losing valuable daylight due to the need of sleep.

Anyway, if I have to be a working mom, this is the best way I could do it outside of the home.  I can pretty much make my own schedule, I'm home at bedtime every night and I get 4 days off a week - which makes for fun times with my Emmy.

It is crazy how much she is learning and growing lately.  Sometimes while we are playing I'll just stop and look at her wondering when in the world she got to big and smart.  It really does blow my mind.

I just had two days off to be with her and we had a blast together.  As we were gearing up Tuesday to head to a photoshoot, the sky started falling so I rescheduled and Emmy and I stayed home.  We spent our time watching the rain, listening and dancing to music and her brushing my hair (she brushes my hair at least once a day!).

 

During our dance party, Emmy realized she had a "boo boo" on her elbow that needed to be kissed...

 

And then she decided that since she had a boo boo (that has been on her elbow for two days now), she needed a popsicle.  

 

Then, like every night, we get ready for bed.  She usually takes a bath and we let her cuddle on the couch with us for a few minutes before heading to her room for a bed time story.  We read a short story, say a prayer, and then she asks me to sing the "Jesus song" (Jesus Loves Me) as she sings along with me.  I never want to forget these sweet moments as she grows up.

 

Today Emmy pooped in the potty all on her own initiation!  I was so proud!  We called Daddy and Memama to tell them about it and when we were done bragging she starting hopping around the house saying  "I poopied!  I poopied!"  Since I was planning to go to Micheal's anyway, I told her we could get her a special prize for being such a big girl - as we were in the checkout at Micheal's Emmy told the cashier that she was getting a horsey because she "poopied in the potty!"  The cashier was so helpful in being just as excited and telling Emmy she was big girl!  I loved it!

We left Micheal's and headed home with a few projects to complete.  One was a chevron initial plaque that Crissy made for a friend of hers and I decided I needed to copy it.  

 

I will say that making a perfect chevron pattern, while appealing to the eye, is no small task, but I love how it turned out.  

  

Of course Emmy had to join in the craftiness too, so I set her up with her own project.  I love how girly she is - like her mama!

 

And during Emmy's nap time I worked on a "what a difference a day makes" date sheet.  They are all over Etsy these days, but I had a spare frame lying around and thought I put it to good use instead of spending $20 for someone else to make it.  I'm not completely satisfied by how it turned out and it actually took a while to do, but at least I have a template now and can tweak it some more when I have the time.

 

 Working makes days like these, priceless!