We have a big girl now!

That's right.   Our baby girl isn't a baby anymore.  For some reason I never think of Emmy as a toddler.  I always think of her as a baby.  I don't know if its because she's so tiny (she's 25th percentile on height and weight and still wears 12m clothes) or if it's because I don't want to imagine her as a toddler.  I also have a hard time believing that I am old enough to have an almost 5 year old but I digress.  But now that I'm tearing up a bit, back to the main reason why I'm updating.....

We awoke Sunday morning to a beautiful day and the screams of a little girl.  This was not her normal crying because she wants out of the crib.  This was painful crying.  The Hubs beat me to her and low and behold, Emmy fell out of her crib.  That's right.  The Hubs found her on her hands and knees, on the floor of her room, screaming bloody murder.  Our little baby figured out how to, ungracefully, escape her crib.  She ended up not being injured, thank goodness.  We decided then and there that it was time to convert her crib to a big girl bed.  We're on day 2 of the big girl bed and things are going ok.  She was so exhausted on Sunday from our fun day at the beach (more on that to come) so the first night was a breeze.  Naptime on Monday was easy peasy too.  Monday night, the tables turned.  After about 20 trips back and forth, corralling her back to her bed, I was ready to put the crib back together.  But we're hanging in there and she's doing pretty good.  I just need prayers and support as I come to terms with my baby not being a baby anymore. 

Almost makes me want to have another baby.

Ok that feeling is gone.

I just can't believe that Em will be 2 in a few short months.  She's gone from this:

A few hours old....August 13, 2009

to this:

Almost 22 months old....May 24, 2011

in the blink of an eye.

Yay!

So I'm still in a funk (I might be a little hormonal right now too....this silly IUD messes me up emotionally every few months) but something definitely brightened my day.....my Father's Day cards came in from Shutterfly!!!  I"m in LOVE!!!!  They had a special for 5 free cards for a graduation promo but you could make any type of card for free.  Sign me up for anything free from Shutterfly!!!  I just adore their cards.  So I made amazing cards for the Hubs and all 3 grandpas (with one left for me to save).  They arrived today and OMG!!!  I had to show the Hubs, who loved them too!!!  I love them so much that I checked back to see if the promo was still running and it's changed to a Father's Day promo.  5 free cards again!  I decided to make a similar card for the rest of the Dads in our families (my grandpas, the Hubs grandpa, the Hubs's brother, and one to save for me of course).  Head on over to Shutterfly and check it out!!!

And I'm only promoting this because I love Shutterfly's products and its a great promotion.  I did not receive compensation for this at all. 

Just call me Slacker

The Hubs said it again tonight.  I'm being a blog slacker. 

It's true.  I am slacking.  And it's not like I don't have great things to talk about.  I can talk about pretty much anything....trust me.  Just ask the Hubs.  It's one of my better qualities ;)

I think I'm in a little funk.  I'm a little bummed, I feel a little (lot) lazy, I'm annoyed all the time, just a funk.  I'm probably (definitely) getting mad at the Hubs for no reason (or for reasons that I shouldn't be that upset about).  I feel like I'm not being the best Mommy I can be right now either.  It's just a little blue for me right now.  

I'm sure this 3 day weekend will do me good.  I'll have the kiddos around me all weekend, spending time with the family at the beach/camp site, and hopefully some "me" time (aka reading a book or catching up on my soaps).

So have no fear Bloggy Friends.  I should be back to my feisty, fun self in a few days.  Then there will be more uplifting posts, I'm sure. 

Have a great weekend everyone!  And remember why we're celebrating Memorial Day.  It's not a day to get the best deals on furniture or cars.  Remember all those men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect our rights and privileges.

Love at the Happiest Place on Earth

The title might as well say I Love the Happiest Place on Earth.  That about sums up our relationship with all things Disney.  My friends make fun of me for spending so much time there but I just can't get enough.  Plus we are fortunate enough to live less than 2 hours away from Disney and have annual passes, so why not spend a ton of time there?

I decided to take the Hubs to Disney for his birthday (I know...really generous of me since it didn't cost us anything...it's the thought that counts, not the price tag). It was a last minute idea and when I say last minute I mean we booked our hotel on Tuesday. I don't know if I've shared this with ya'll yet but I don't do spontaneous. It stresses me out. It's just not in my personality. So this was a big deal for me. We said goodnight to the kids, packed our stuff, grabbed a few hours sleep, and headed out bright and early Saturday morning for a weekend of magic. 

We got to Magic Kingdom just after it opened and took advantage of the lack of children by our sides and rode the "grown up" rides.  We did all our favorites, enjoyed "us" time (ie holding hands not strollers), and busted through everything by 1030.  That should tell you how not crowded it was.  We hopped on the monorail over to Epcot, walked around, grabbed some lunch and headed to the hotel around 2 to check in, unpack, and relax.  Magic Kingdom was open til 1am so we decided to relax and rest up so we could last til closing time.  We opted for the outlet mall (aka the new Vera Bradley outlet...heaven in a shop.  I really want to move in there) and dinner then headed back to Magic Kingdom.  Rode the rides again, caught the fireworks (no one does a fireworks display like Disney), and called it a night around 11.  There was no way we were making it to closing time.  All in all, great first day.

Cue the millions of pictures of the Hubs and me (sorry....we pretty much only take self pictures)

With my prince at the castle

I can NEVER get enough of this place

 

I'm notorious for cutting off the Hubs head



At Epcot with a couple of our good friends

People Mover

This is how we relax

Now starts the "photos while driving" portion of the show

My favorite picture...pretending to be scared

At the Speedway

On the Disney train (I'm trying to stay awake)

The next day we got up to head to Hollywood Studios for Star Tours.  They revamped the ride and it just opened, just in time for Star Wars weekends.  Now we had quite the ordeal last year at Star Wars weekend and I swore I'd never go back during these weekends but this just proves how much I love the Hubs.  We had 2 turns at Star Tours, 2 turns on the Rock & Roller coaster, Tower of Terror, the Great Movie Ride, Muppets 3D, and the Indiana Jones stunt spectacular.  It was pretty crowded and mighty hot so I was glad that we left around 1 and headed home to see the babies.

Star Tours and the 3D glasses

Muppets and our 3D glasses

Hollywood Studios

I'm so glad we decided to do this.  The Hubs deserved a fun birthday and we owed it to ourselves (and our marriage) to spend some quality time with each other.  The Hubs and I have had a rough time over the past couple of years but now we're putting the focus back on us (as much as we can with 2 amazing children who need us almost as much as we need them).  I'm so lucky to be able to just hang out with him {I kinda like him :)}
 

Happy Birthday Hubs!!!!

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to the fabulous Hubs!!! 

It's kinda like Facebook....if you don't say it on the blog (or FB) then you never truly wished them a happy birthday.

I'll fill everyone in on our spontaneous (or as spontaneous as I can be) birthday weekend at Disney (just me and the Hubs) tomorrow.

This might be the best picture from the weekend:

He drove me around the Disney Speedway...I was scared (or maybe just pretending)

Happy Birthday Honey!  I hope you had a great birthday weekend.  I love you more than anything!

It all started with a stool

Very strange title, I know.
But it sums up how the Hubs and I met for the first time.

I've been reading everyone's Love Stories and decided it was time to relive the beginning of my love story with the Hubs.  It all started in a month that I can NEVER remember in 2004.  I think it was May even though I always say we met in April.  I had convinced my friends to hit up a country bar in Tampa (the Dallas Bull) to take a stab at line dancing.  I've always wanted to try it but never had the opportunity to.  So we headed out on a Thursday night since it was Ladies Night (ladies drink free!!!).  I was in Tampa having dinner with a friend so I met my girlfriends there.  I was the first to get there and took one look at the place and was scared to step out of my car.  It was a run down, kinda redneck place.  So I patiently waited for my friends to arrive so we could venture in together.  They showed up shortly after and off we went. 

We got our drink tokens, grabbed a drink, and scoped out a place to hang out.  We were there pretty early so there wasn't too much dancing going on.  We enjoyed people watching for a while and then one of my girlfriends insisted that she have a stool to sit on.  Me and my other girlfriend kept saying she was being ridiculous because who sits in a bar?  Well she was adamant.  So I politely asked a group of guys who were behind us, standing at the bar, if we could take one of their stools.  They were nice enough to give us a stool and my friend was happy. We were minding our own business, enjoying our time, when I felt a tap on my shoulder.  I turned around and there was this guy (the Future Hubs) with a stool.  Here's how the conversation went:

Him Take this stool.
Me: I don't want the stool
Him: I didn't ask you if you wanted it.  Just take it
Me: I don't want it.
Him: Just take it and I'll explain later
Me: If I take it, will  you never talk to me again?
Him: Yes
I take the stool and he walks away

So I now have this stool, that I didn't want, and a very puzzled look on my face.  But whatever....weird guy was gone.  A few minutes later, another guy tapped me on my shoulder and handed me a drink token and said, "This is for taking the stool." I started to think taking the stool wasn't such a horrible idea after all.  My girlfriends were impressed and I was pretty pleased with myself.

Now fast forward an hour or so.  We have these stools and my girlfriend is deadset on not losing her stool.  She has to go to the bathroom and we all know that you can't go to the bathroom alone.  You have to take a friend.  It's just girl code.  So I said I'd stay, guard the stool and hold their purses.  So off they went and there I was, sitting on the stool with 2 purses.  Well guy #2, the rude one who forced a stool on me, aka future Hubs, came up.  I don't remember if I rolled my eyes visibly or just in my head, but here he is, standing in front of me.  He asked me if I cared to dance (very nice gesture).  I replied "I would love to but I can't.  I'm on purse watch."  He asked if that was the only reason why I wouldn't dance with him and I said yes.  He then grabbed the purses (probably not the best move on my part to let a strange man grab our purses but oh well), put them on his shoulder, and said "So now can you dance?"  Well that did  it.  Any guy who would dance in public while holding our purses was good in my book.  We danced a couple songs, he taught me a few line dances, and hung out the rest of the night (maybe kissed a little....not my usual behavior).  And he finally explained why he insisted that I take the stool (there was a couple of annoying girls that always sat by them if there was a stool available.  By me taking the stool, it prevented those girls from being around them.  They are mean boys)

He asked if he could call me some time and I gave him my number.  Now he was a smart cookie.  He didn't just let me give him my number.  He put it in his phone and called me so I had his number (and to make sure I gave him the right number).  Very clever since I usually gave my phone number with a different area code to boys I met when I went out.  But I gave him my real number (not sure if it was due to the drinks or because I really wanted him to have my real number).  But either way he had it and he was going to call me.  We said goodbye to our new friends and headed home.

A few days later I got a phone call from who I thought was one of my friends.  When I heard who was on the other line, I didn't really remember him or what he looked like (bad I know).  I reluctantly agreed to go out with him the next night.  Well the next day, I totally bailed on him.  I called him, told him I wasn't feeling good (which I wasn't) and we'd have to reschedule.  Well persisitent little bugger that he was, we picked another day to go out a few days later and from that moment on, we were inseparable.  My best friend said to me, a few years after we got married, that I came to him the day after our date and said that I met the man I was going to marry.  I don't remember telling him this but if I did, I knew what I was talking about.  I did just meet the man I was going to marry!

I never thought the guy that I asked to leave me alone and never talk to me again would be the love of my life, my best friend, my husband and father of my children.

So that was the beginning.  It wasn't glamorous or romantic but the sparks were there and I just knew (well after I finally convinced myself to go out with him) that he was the One!!!

A pic from early in our relationship at the Dallas Bull (this is one of my all time favorite pics of us)


I love you honey!!!  Thanks for rudely pushing that stool on me and then forcing me to dance with you!!!
 

My Style Monday....Emmy Edition

I'm linking up with Lindsey again today but putting a little twist on it.  I am really bad at taking pictures of my outfits.  The Hubs hates taking pictures and I love to take pictures so I'm usually behind the camera all the time.  So I figured why not share some of my little girl's fashion throughout her short 21 months.  I'm warning you now.  Be prepared for an overload of Emmy and a TON of pics.  I can't help it....I'm in love with her!

I should have known we would have a girlie girl on our hands when this is what her room turned out to look like:

I definitely have a girlie girl on my hands (and I secretly love it...don't tell anyone!!!)
Her early months involved pictures of every outfit and multiple outfit changes a day.  Here are just a small sampling of my favorites:

August 2009-December 2010

Then she got older and decided she loves fashion.  This is what happens when we let her pick out her own outfits:


She likes to accessorize and even uses Noah's fireman costume to complete her outfits

 And she has a love of tutus.  I don't really know where she got that from (besides me pushing them on her) because I was never a girlie, fru-fru, frilly girl.  I was a play with the boys in the dirt kind of girl.  But Em is super cute in her tutus!!!

And I'll leave you with some pictures of my favorite outfits in the recent months.  She loves shoes (her boots were worn for days) and she loves dresses.  How did I end up with such a fun little doll to dress up??

My favorite outfit!

Easter cuteness

A denim romper for the park...yes please!

I hope you all enjoyed My Style Monday: Emmy Edition! 

Because I'm a Lazy Blogger

The Hubs told me today that I'm a lazy blogger since I haven't updated in a while.  Good to know he looks forward to my updates!!!  This week starts a 5 day work week for me.  This should be interesting. I left a job that only required me to work 3 days a week and moved to a job that is 4 days a week.  This has been quite an adjustment (proof is in the sinus infection I'm brewing).  But one of my coworkers is on vacation this week so I am working all 5 days.  I'm going to be delirious by Thursday.  Wish me luck and say a few prayers for the girls who have to work with me all week. 

Besides my schedule, there's a lot to discuss this week....Painting with a Twist, Rays game and Darius Rucker, the Hubs upcoming birthday, My Style Monday (with a twist) and a "get to know you" kind of post.  Hopefully I can find the time to get on here this week.

Have a great week!!!

Mother's Day Recap (this turned into a long one)

I have been fortunate enough to have 5 Mother's Days so far.  Last year was the first time I ever had the opportunity to actually spend Mother's Day with my family.  I've had to work every other year.  Last year it was a laid back day.  All I wanted to do was see the sunset at the beach.  We did that, it was beautiful.  Then I slammed the car door on my foot.  I spent the rest of the evening in the ER.  Not the best way to spend Mother's Day.

This year, with my new schedule (can I say again how awesome it is to not work any weekends?!?!?), I had Mother's Day off again.  I told the Hubs that I wanted no part in planning anything.  I wanted a special day that came from him and the kiddos.  So he's how it went down:

Friday was Noah's Mother's Day Tea Party at school.  It was so cute.  They sang songs, we had donuts, bagels, and fruit, and he made the cutest flower for me that's now on my desk at work.  Emmy thinks she is a PreK kid so she joined in the festivities with singing and dancing, including her new move, the "let's lift up our dress and show off our belly/diaper" move.  Yes....I'm so proud of that one.  All in all, great way to kick off the weekend.

A few pics from our special day

But the best by far was the guessing game.  The kids had to draw a picture of their mom and answer a few questions about them.  I spotted Noah's the minute I walked in and all I could do was laugh. There was no guessing needed.  I just knew which one was his.  The best  was the age question.  His teacher told me how hard it was for him to answer that question because he truly didn't know how old I am.  He really likes to know the correct answers for everything.  And no, I'm not 40.  I'm 28, soon to be 29. 

Red is his favorite color so that's why he colored me red. That's how I knew it was his.
He answered most of the questions right except I'm not a big soup fan and I'm shocked he didn't say I love owls. 

The rest of the weekend was a blast.  We were supposed to do brunch with the Hubs's mom but she was sick so we didn't go.  We opted to do breakfast with just the 4 of us (best spinich, feta, and mushroom omelette ever!!!) and head to the mall for some shopping.  We headed to Countryside because they have a train that goes around the whole lower level of the mall.  We did some shopping then headed to the train.  This train was like no other.  I had to ride with them because they weren't tall enough.  This train wasn't on a track.  A man drove it around the mall.  He probably would have run people over too if they got in the way.  But Noah had a blast so it made it all good for me.  We headed home and then grabbed dinner (oh yeah, we checked out the double stroller we're going to get and finally saw my camera in person).

Waiting for the train to start

Sunday I forgot to set my alarm so we didn't wake up in time for church.  I was woken up by the kiddos with this:

My first ever breakfast in bed!!!  It was awesome.  Em ate most of my bananas and they each took one of the ears but it was sweet all the same.  I got an amazing bag from the kiddos (the Hubs did great).  We packed up and headed down to the water to have lunch at Bubba Gumps.  If you haven't heard of it or been there, you're missing out.  It's straight out of "Forrest Gump" and the Hubs and I just love it!  We went to one in Breckinridge on our honeymoon, frequented the one in Orlando multiple times when we lived there, and now we have one close to us in Madeira Beach.  We're looking forward to our NYC trip because there's one on Broadway (we're not going to eat there, just get a glass to add to our collection).  But anyways....the weather was beautiful, the water looked amazing, and the kids loved it! We stuffed our faces full of wonderful food and had a great time. Then we came home for naps and then headed to my parents house for dinner. 

Look how amazing the water is!!!  Great day to be outside with my family

All in all, best Mother's Day weekend EVER.

I have to thank the Hubs for making it so special.  I didn't have high expectations (he's not very romantic {actually he's not romantic at all}) but he did a great job.  Thanks honey for making my day so special!!

What are you wearing????

I'm finally linking up with Lindsey for My Style Monday.  I think I took a week off from linking up with anyone so I'm back on track.  And I started taking more pics this week too!!!  So here we go:

First one....I took this picture 2 weeks ago and didn't link up so why waste the picture??

Tank and vest: New York and Company
Jeans: Old Navy

Next might be my favorite picture.  My mom was taking pictures of Noah and I at his Mother's Day Tea Party at school (more on that to come).  Noah was playing with my shirt and trying to tickle me.  I love that Mom captured the face I was making at him!!!

Shirt and Khakis: Ann Taylor Loft

Ok I haven't mentioned this on here yet but the Hubs actually reads the blog on a regular basis (hi honey!) He commented a few weeks ago that the pictures are doing me no justice.  That I look really good (that's about as much of a compliment that comes out of that man) but then he sees the pictures and I don't look that good (I think there was a reference to a hobo or something....don't hate on the Hubs though....he warned me ahead of time that the statement was going to come out wrong),  I made him take a picture of me in an outfit and it's actually pretty good.  He might have bought himself the title my new photographer!!!

Dress: Ann Taylor Loft
Shoes: New York and Company

And last but not least, a classic picture.  Remember "Forrest Gump"?  Remember the bench he sat on all movie long?  Here's my take on it:

Dress: New York and Company
Shoes: Forrest Gump's :)

The Hubs and the kiddos took me to Bubba Gumps for Mother's Day lunch. It was awesome!!!  And actually the picture looked more like this:


Yep....No one looking at the camera, Noah on his way to stand right in front of the camera, and Emmy showing off her diaper

 Hope everyone had a great Monday!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies, mommy to be's, women who dream of being mommies, etc.  I had the best Mother's Day thus far.  It was actually more like a Mother's Day weekend.  The Hubs really did well this time.  I'll update about my weekend festivities this week.  Now it's time to wind down and hit the sheets. The alarm will be going off before I know it in the morning.