Weekend review

We sort of had an awesome weekend, friends. 

This has been happening on a regular basis:

Little Tux napping in his crib.

I literally jump up and down at nap time on Fridays.

That means Daddy will be home soon!

And these beauties make every weekend lovely.

Some dear friends from Charlotte made the drive for brunch and a nice visit. Penelope, watch out. Tucker will be all about those cheeks in about 15 years.

Here we are with two month old babies!
Here we are both eight months pregnant.

One proud papa: Joey and baby Penelope.

And we're TWO!

Sophie is TWO, and she knows it. Such a big girl. We had a simple little party complete with mini ham sandwiches, spinach dip, snowman sugar cookies, juice boxes and a build-your-own-cupcake table. Sophie loved everything about the day which began with a visit from some Charlotte friends. Helen and Adam stopped in and brought her an adorable Hadley Pottery cupcake plate for her birthday sweets. She was thrilled about her new blue dress, and every time someone new came in the front door (with presents, I might add), she would shout, "Party!" I even caught a glimpse of her in the basement running around with two napkins - a'la pompoms - shouting "Party Party Party!"

Baby brother Tucker slept through the whole thing. Sweet little man.

Easter recap

We're kind of having an amazing day. Is it too soon to say that? Am I going to jinx our afternoon? The day started with a bath and blowing bubbles in Sophie's room because of a early diaper explosion. Then she ate all but six bites of a breakfast quesadilla (have I professed my love for quesadillas yet?) that was packed full of red pepper, zuchinni, spinach and onion. We went to the gym for over an hour (there were tears when I left, but smiles when I came back!), story time at the library, had lunch,went for a quick walk and played "OW-SY" all before noon nap time!

This is all quite remarkable coming off the week/weekend that just passed. Sophie had a 2-hour tummy bug, Yaya got it, Dada got it, and Mommy had it the worst. I was completely out of commission for almost two days. Good thing we were in Florida with more people around to help take care of little stink. Before I got sick though we had an eventful trip! Here are some pictures of Sophie's first REAL beach outing at Pensacola Beach.

Getting brave!

Snack time (again!), the sun made her extra hungry!

Sophie's sweet friend Harper, in her fashionable Lilly suit!

Easter Sunday I was almost on my death bed, but I rallied to get through an Easter Egg hunt and some service music at church before we had to head home again. As much as I couldn't stomach anything more than Gatorade, I couldn't stomach the idea of missing her first Easter Egg hunt!

Getting started.

Eggs!

Gimme back my eggs!

She didn't quite grasp the concept of putting her eggs

in the basket. She insisted on holding them (which you could

guess results in not collecting many eggs!).

Random thoughts Wednesday

Sometimes, as a mom, I think that my heart will burst open at the seams. Literally. The joy, the pride, the happiness I feel when I see my little blue-eyed, Bryan-look-a-like, Frankenstein-walking child is so overwhelming that my heart just skips a beat and I think it might explode. So, call the Doc, because today we're heading in for a visit with a bursting heart.

I have a lot of love to go around today. I don't know if it's the rain (I have to admit, I love a rainy day because God made it and it's beautiful), or afterglow from a fun night out with the hubs last night or three days in a row to the gym, but I am feeling pretty thankful today. I've got a running mental list of some things I've been wanting to blog about but none of them stood up on their own as meaty worth-while entries. So as much as I don't like making lists (that's boring for me and for you), the following is my ode to happiness for this blissfully rainy day.

1. Sweet potatoes. Love 'em. My 10lb box from Costco is dwindling because I've found recipes for this blessed vegetable to fit each meal of the day. Biscuits, mashed 'taters, "fries," and casserole. And the littlest Barber loves them - just one more reason.
2. Buy Buy Baby. The car seat story continues (I know - you're thinking, "really?"). I found a deal online that would have saved me over $83 on a $309 car seat. By simply calling the store manager and explaining my dilemma (and that I was about to make my third trip to the store to return said car seat), she did a price match and refunded me the difference onto my credit card. One happy customer here.
3. Matthews Police Department. Free child car seat inspection and/or installation saved our sanity. We have an older car without the easy hooks for new car seats, and I think we lost 3 hours of our Saturday trying to figure out what the great Police Department employees did in a matter of 15 minutes. Sophie is now rear-facing in her big girl Britax.
4. Buckle. Yeah - the teeny bopper store in the mall. Did you know they are the only place I was able to find shorts with longer than a 1" inseam in January? Lordy. And they fit. And they stretch. And they don't look like mom shorts. Win. Win. Win.
5. Allyson. My best friend in the entire world - who also unfortunately lives on the other side of the world (spoiler alert - I'll be seeing her soon - more to come). She has two kids to my one and she called me for some advice on something. Made my ever-lovin' day. All mommies do things a little differently, and it's really special when this is acknowledged and you can share something like baby-food-making tips, or nap tips, or nursing tips.

Are you left feeling completely enriched by my random thoughts Wednesday? What has made your day today - I'd love to know! xo

Friday? Saturday or Sunday?

Doesn't feel like Friday around here, not sure why! And the debate is on: will you be trick-or-treating Saturday (my preference) or Sunday?

We've got a great Halloween weekend coming up. A little neighborhood get-together, my mother in law is coming into town, possibly a music class, a baby shower and it's not a weekend around here without good food and good wine. I've got a couple meals planned: my famous seared ahi tuna steak salad with a wasabi vinaigrette and we'll be trying Bombay Sloppy Joe's - a recipe from one of the doctors that Bryan works with (she's from India, this is the real deal y'all).

With that, our family is wishing yours a Happy Halloween! (Hope your babies don't do this when you dress them up.)

Well, it's about that time

Some days I feel like I really have it together. Yesterday we walked with neighbors, Heidi stopped over for a visit, I got all the goodies on my list at Target (subsequently Sophie ate said list), we had the dog trainers come over for a session, I cooked an excellent dinner and ended the evening sweatin' in the heat having wine with Rachel and Jen. Today I lose my togetherness all-together when Sophie hits yet another milestone.

Well it's about that time to baby-proof the house. Dust off the outlet covers and cabinet ties that have been tucked away since the baby shower. 'Cause folks, we have a CRAWLER!

We were upstairs this morning when it first happened with Rachel and Emma. Rachel and I avoided eye contact because both of us were tearing up :) I took a really cute flip video after we got home from the gym, which I've unsuccessfully tried to upload here four times (five times now). So, I'll just end this post with a few recent pics of her royal cuteness.

Mom, seriously, enough with the pictures already!

Sophie and mom at Sushi night out with the Bottoms family!

Up wayyyy past bedtime but exited to play with Emma!

Having a snack with mom at Tasty Yo!