Mother's Day

This is probably my first Mother's Day where I am actually a little excited about it and not dreading the day. I celebrated my first lonely day in 2009 - only a few short months after Hudson. My family tried to make me feel special and they bought me a beautiful charm bracelet with memories of Hudson, but it was not the same. It was different this year. The day seemed more magical due to a sassy little almost 3 year old.

It all began Friday at Heidi's school with Muffins for Mom. All of us moms were able to go to their school and participate in a few activities {including eating muffins} and were presented with several gifts handmade by our children. I took pictures below of my favorites, but the best part of all was the answer to the last question on the little "My Mommy" questionnaire.

Friday night John and I started the weekend with a marriage conference that lasted a couple of hours, so Heidi spent the night with my parents while Harrison sat with us in the church. The conference continued on Saturday morning. It was really great and it was the first one we have ever attended. I'm sure we will go next year as well. It is so hard to not have a "child-centered" home where you put your everything into your children and forget to invest in your marriage. John purchased the book Trophy Child for me at the conference and I am already finding myself guilty of so many parts that you find in a child-centered home. One of the main ones is the "miracle child". After Hudson I was not even sure if children were a possibility for our future. Once we had Heidi we have most definitely spoiled her and given in in areas we should not. The only part that did not sit well with me at the conference was when the speaker mentioned the path to adulthood. He gave 5 steps. I think the first couple were education and job, but the last two were "get married" and "start a family - meaning children". I could not help but feel a little stinging in my heart because I know for a fact there were couples there who are desperately trying to have children. Pair that with it being Mother's Day weekend... 

Sunday I had an excited little girl ready to serve me breakfast in bed. Heidi was running around the house and helping her daddy fix my special treat :) That afternoon we went to my sister's house where my dad fixed an amazing BBQ chicken on the grill. The day was so warm and nice - so we all hung out outside for the majority of the day. The kids had so much fun running around and playing - they eventually ended up in the pool. Usually we would have already been in the pool, but it has been such a cool May this year. I am not going to complain at all about it though!

In true form to my family I learned a new saying. In reference to Heidi and Georgia's dirty faces my mom said, "It looks like you've been suckin' on a pig". What? Who sucks on a pig? Seriously, I cannot make this stuff up. I'm collecting all of the Danny-isms and Susan-isms for a book. Where do they get these things and are we sure I am related to them? I need a blood test...

Throwback Thursday - Prom

Happy Prom! The other night I had a dream that I didn't have a date to the prom and it was this coming Friday. It all stemmed from when I was trying to make a hair/wax appointment to have some much needed maintenance taken care of and the lady who normally does my hair is no longer at the place I go so it took forever to try and get in with someone else. I think I am more than ready to have my hair done and because my roots are so noticeable {hence the curly hair style lately}that it is in the back of my mind. The whole prom thing - no idea where that came from. Maybe because it is prom season? People are posting prom pictures on facebook, so maybe that is where I got that idea.

This picture is from my senior prom back in 2000. These girls were who I could be found with a lot of the time. We called ourselves the "Fearsome Foursome". There was always something fun happening when we were together - getting in car chases by some cheerleading squad on Tybee, putting dead fish in someone's truck, lighting a fish candle in the wrong front yard...the fun never stopped :)  Too bad we all had to grow up...

It would be great to get this little gang back together again for a reunion. Sara is getting married in Vegas in a few days - so very happy for her! Melissa and Cindy are both married with kids {we have had 6 between us all} and occasionally we will get together for a lunch date. Looking forward to our next one ladies!

Throwback Thursday

Ahh the memories of sorority days...

My parents, John and me at one of the many fun Parent weekends in Alpha Delta Pi. Mom and dad always looked forward to this weekend each year and my senior year they were super sad that it was over :( I also love how we always had a photographer to follow us around throughout the night. Is it sad that I would like that in everyday normal life too? It would be so much easier to capture the memories and enjoy them at the same time. Also - I vow to look about this same size at some point in my life again - ha!

Harrison - 1 Month

Where has the time gone? Has it really been a month since we first met our little Harrison? It is absolutely crazy how big Harrison has gotten and how fast time has flown. Pretty soon he will be driving a car! Here are some stats that I want to make sure I remember about this first month:

• You are wearing newborn/0-3 month clothes. We love to put you in the little sleeper gowns and the little outfits with the feet. You don't seem to care which one it is as long as you have clothes on.
• Diapers are newborn, but I think it will be time to move you to the 1 size very soon.
• You are nursing only and you are such a great nurser! You must love to eat because you make the loudest noises when you are eating. I have to leave the bedroom because I do not want to wake Heidi or John.
• Lately you have been staying awake more often, but you are definitely love to sleep. Sometimes I forget you are even around because you are so content and quiet.
• Your big sister adores you and the three of us had enjoyed being home together this past month. Luckily your daddy has a great job with a normal schedule and he gets to spend a lot of cuddle time with you as well.
• You are sleeping in the room with the rest of the family, but in the pack-n-play at the foot of the bed. You sleep so well by yourself! We are working on getting your room in order and soon you will be in your big crib.
• There is rarely a time that you cry or get fussy. Most of the time it is when you need a diaper change, you are hungry, sleepy, or you want to be held. For the most part you are perfectly content wherever you are.
• We are on the go constantly with taking Heidi to her activities and you do not seem to mind much being in the car.
• At night you make a lot of grunting noises - probably gas or trying to poop most of the time.
• Heidi loves to hold you and she always makes sure that your needs are being met. 

I wish we had more pictures. Lately it is hard to get any because Heidi keeps me running around! Well, and the point and shoot camera has had an error and we have sent it off to be fixed. Hopefully we will have more pictures next month! We have a lot of activities coming up this summer so you will be a busy boy! Sometimes I still cannot believe that we have a little boy here. The past few years we have been parents to a little girl so I am learning to get used to having a little boy around. You are seriously the sweetest little baby. You love to look around and I love to see the little smiles you give. I like to pretend they are all on purpose. One funny comment {just one because there are many} was made by Heidi while you were rooting in your daddy's chest and Heidi said, "I think he's looking for a boob". Too cute :)

Sprinklers, Strawberries & Squirrels

So sad, the weekend has already come and gone. I love the weekends, especially Sunday when we have family days. John and I are spring cleaning and trying to get our house back in order. Both kids rooms are disasters- actually every room minus the living and kitchen are disasters right now. How that happened I have no idea. John went to Lowes and picked up a few things to do some heavy duty yard work - next weekend we will both be slaving out there, hopefully it will be a nice cool weekend again. While daddy worked in the yard a happy little goose ran around getting soaked in the sprinklers.

Heidi went on all of John's trips to the different stores and that gave me a chance to pack up all of the clothes in Heidi's room that either do not fit or are not of this season. I attempted to clean and organize her room, but that was a worthless cause once Heidi got back home. Laundry was another item checked off the list, oh and I reorganized and cleaned out the linen closet, went through the medicine basket and threw out expired medicines....you know, all fun things on such a beautiful day.

Yesterday {Saturday} Heidi and I went to pick strawberries with my sister and a few of the rug rats. It was fun - I think Heidi was more interested in watching the pig races, she ran as fast as she could to see them when they started. They had a few fun events going on - a large slide, tricycles to ride, duck races with a water pump, hay rides, all sorts of farm fun! Harrison had a great time, ha!

I'm sure you are dying to know how the bird feeders are doing. We have a very happy camper here :)

Bird Feeders

Thursday was a no good, horrible, rotten day. Well, it wasn't that bad, but it was painful. I think I have a little case of mastitis or a clogged milk duct and I was achy and feverish all day. Pair that with a cranky toddler and my patience was wearing a little thin. Usually I have more patience than the average person, but being sick and having a child jump all over you and forget that listening is a skill that she does not need to have and you have one exhausted Mama. About 15 minutes after John got home I went to bed. Thankfully Harrison went to sleep right before that and John was a saint to take over Heidi duty.

While I was trying to sleep I started thinking about how the day could have gone better. Besides the obvious, wishing I had felt better, I knew that Heidi needed more structure at home instead of just running rampant throughout the house. My plan was that I would have activities for independent play and also activities we can do together throughout the day. During her independent activities it could be during times I needed to tend to Harrison or when I could be cleaning the house. I figured I needed to look at staying at home with a toddler kind of like being a school teacher because I will need to plan and prepare the activities. This will be especially handy when pre-school is out for the summer.

Today I printed out some dot art for Heidi's independent play and we made bird feeders for our group activity. Heidi really enjoyed both! I know at her school the teachers have mentioned that the kids really love the dotting. I found a pin on Pinterest, of course, and it had some links to a few blogs that had free printables for dot art.

You can order the dot pens from:

Childcareland.com has alphabet letters/counting and shapes

Making Learning Fun has cute animals

The bird feeders were a project I remember doing back in my days as a Girl Scout. I asked on Facebook where I could find some pine cones and I felt super silly because everyone was like "in my yard". To be fair I only asked because I was not sure if pine cones had a season of when they fell and things like that. So, after the answers on Facebook I looked on the side of the road by pine trees and found a few on the ground. I bought bird seed and we had peanut butter at home. We also had yarn at home and I have no idea where the yarn came from, I don't usually have a need for yarn so I really do not know why I had yarn. You will also need a spatula and a bucket.

To start we poured the bird seed in a bucket. Next we held the tip of the pine cone and spread the peanut butter on the pine cone by using the spatula. After the pine cone was covered in a layer of peanut butter we put the pine cone in the bucket and rolled it around to get the bird seed all over the peanut butter. Once the pine cone was coated in bird seed I sat the cone upright and tied the top with yarn. Finally Heidi picked a spot and we hung the bird feeder. Heidi's favorite part was covering the pine cone with bird seed, or it could have been rubbing herself with the spatula covered in peanut butter.

I really have to admit that having the planned activities really helped me to have a little order in my life - at least one this particular day :) stay tuned for more fun days ahead!

Friendships - Making & Keeping {and a little TBT with pics!}

Linking up with the bloggers above on this week's topic of Friendships: Making & Keeping Them

{disclosure - if you are not in a picture do not get hurt!! I wanted to hurry and post and I was nursing going through pictures on FB quickly...I was also having issues getting pictures to post and it was getting the best of me!}

It is funny, but when I read the topic for this link-up I instantly thought about girls who would say that they are better friends with guys than they are with girls - that guys are easier to get along with. I kind of see that, but I kind of feel sad about that because the friendships you have with your girlfriends are so important. They change, of course, as we change, but they are longer lasting than any friendship you can have with a guy - in my opinion. I only say that because I feel that once you are married to your spouse the dynamic between your opposite gender best friend changes.

John and I have been so blessed with the friends we have made and kept in contact with through the years. Growing up I lived in the same house my entire life and knew the same people forever that I never really knew or learned how to make friends. Going to school, church, and other activities I was always just put with people and they became my friends. Some people I do not even remember meeting because I met them at such a young age. 

It is funny that this is the topic because just the other day I was thinking about friendships and how my life is in that aspect these days. There was a time when I was worried more about the number of friends I had. It was important to know everyone, be friends with everyone, and be liked by everyone. Aside from needing to have tons of friends I have always had a core group of friends that really know me. That group has changed over the years as I have changed. There are still a few who have been in my core group for ages. I remember graduating high school and having people say that you would make your true friends in college and that I would lose touch with my treasured high school friends. It felt like I was challenged to prove that person wrong. I worked so hard for years making sure I did not lose contact with people. Too bad Facebook was not around back then to aid in that!

In college I joined a sorority and hung out with one fraternity. It was easy to make friends when they were dumped right at your feet :) I am shy {if some of you can believe that} when it comes to meeting new people. I have those awkward social skills and I get really nervous. Sometimes I try to imagine what it is like meeting me and I think I would probably annoy myself - strange? Probably. Anyway - it was great having an instant way to make friends and I definitely have friends in both the sorority and through John's fraternity {the wives club and other fellow ladies that I hung out with up there} that are lifelong friends. 

After college it all became a little tricky. We all moved around and it was harder to have get togethers {I looked forward to all of those weddings!} and I missed everyone so much. There are days when I long to go back to that time in my life if only for a moment. I am now living in the area {well, close to} that I grew up in and you would think that I would have picked right back up with the friends I hung out with before. Nope, not how it worked out. I tried to reconnect with certain groups, but it just didn't happen - which is completely fine. I started working at a local bank and reconnected with a childhood friend and a couple of other ladies that I knew of but never really hung out with in high school. 

Flash forward to today and we have been here almost 6 years. Now I have kids and with everything that everyone is involved in - mainly kid stuff - it can be hard to get together. One thing that has been very important to me are my lunches with the girls. It is such a great time to just let it out and have that girl time that I need. My lunch ladies and I have a very special bond. I think we've been "lunching" for the past 4 years. I also have a couple of groups of ladies that I go on trips with and those are always just the most fun!

Another place I have been able to make friends is through our church small groups. It is nice to be able to have friends that are "couple" friends. Groups that both John and I can hang out with and enjoy. We have been in two different groups and really made great connections with the men and women in both groups. These people have been there to pray with us, laugh and cry with us, and to help us grow even more in Christ. 

Lets see - where else for friends...well, now that Heidi is getting older and getting more involved in activities I am definitely able to make a few more friends that way. I love all the "dance moms" I get to chat with each Monday. There are also a few ladies I chat with every so often at Heidi's school. Hmm...sometimes my sister lets me hang out with her friends - ha! I think I am out of ideas on friends...

In having friendships it is very important to put in the friendship as much as you would want to be given back. Not saying that you should expect the friendship to give back to you, but you know what I mean, right? It stinks sometimes when friendships seem one sided and all the other person does it take, take, and take. I remember at times I felt like I put so much into friendships with people and there was no return of the same respect. So, I stopped putting the effort and you know what changed? Nothing really, just me putting less time into something that didn't matter to another person. This is all just recently y'all - I would say within the past 5-6 years that I have been learning about friendships - true friendships. I am thankful for all of the friends I have had throughout my life and I actually consider everyone that I have met to be a friend.