Happy birthday Marmee!

It's was my mom's birthday yesterday. We always spend this special day together just her and I. This year we had a special guest, little Lucy joined us. We started the day at Atlantic station in downtown Atlanta. I love the H&M store there their kids clothing section is awesome and so reasonably priced. We walked around, shopped, and found the yummiest chocolate shop Kilwin's Chocolate. We devoured a chocolate covered Twinkie (Yet again; what diet?). Andy found the evidence in the car today, sprinkles were all over the passenger seat, what can I say I'm messy! Next we headed to Mary Mac's Tea room. Comfort food at it's finest, my mom wanted chicken and dumplings and fried green tomatoes. After a very filling lunch we waddled home to prepare for her family birthday party that evening. My dad was in charge of cooking. He found a recipe online for hamburgers, these things were huge and had cream cheese in the middle, but they were surprisingly good. The girls played in the princess castle and then took a bath together. I look forward to this day all year, Happy Birthday Mom!



Uncle Adam Playing dress up



The burger was huge!

Ducks, toys, and dining out

This week was a busy one. Andy's mom dropped by to spend some grandma time with Lucy on Friday, which gave me a much needed break! We went to the Mellow Mushroom for dinner and Lucy was so good eating her apples and sweet potatoes and flirting with everyone at the nearby tables.

Lucy got a new Ducky bathtub which she LOVES! If you squeeze the bill it quacks, gets her every time! She loves to sit and play with Pooh and Tigger or sometimes just lazily lounge and enjoy a good soak.




She has been really into her toys this week. She loves to play ball. Andy and I were out shopping late the week of Christmas. My ohhh so smart husband gave our daughter this ball without looking at the price. Later, he tried to take it away from her and long story short, the stinking ball was $20 (ridiculous) but she loves the thing and can roll it back to you. She also likes to play with the police K9 car that looks just like daddy's big police car. She enjoys the lights, siren and the Bad Boys song it plays, although when it starts to move it startles her a bit.




Last night we went to dinner with our good friends Matt and Laura and their two ADORABLE daughters, Ashlyn and Ansley. Lucy did well, she goes to bed at 8 so I thought she might have a melt down but she hung in there. We had a bit of a surprise to find out that Lucy enjoys citrus. Andy gave her a lemon wedge to suck on and low and behold she liked it. Everytime he would put it down she would reach for it again! It was worth getting out just for the red velvet cake I wish I had a picture of it, however there was no time for pictures because it was too delicious. Ashlyn really enjoyed her parent's Butterfinger cake too!

Mommy's little shopping buddy!

It's no secret Lucy loves to shop (okay mommy loves to as well)!
I am a big bargain shopper. However, I have been known to splurge every once in a while (insert husband's eye rolling here).

The Red Door Consignment Shop is my absolute favorite. There are other consignment shops in the area that I like, but for the price and quality you simply can't beat The Red Door. I love the usual suspects as well like TJ max, Target and Walmart. But sometimes Lucy has a little more sophisticated taste so, here are some of her favorites:

Pink Bowtique.com
I have purchased several of Lucy's hair bows from here. Her tiara headband is the item I have gotten the most comments about!




Babysteals.com
They offer one product a day, and when that item is gone it is gone, but it is a great site with some real steals!




Dimples and Dandelions
Super cute baby boutique. Lucy has a blanket, highchair cover, and a few outfits from here.




Cafepress
They have the best T-shirts of all time!I have one that says "I Heart Epidurals"




Carouselwear.com
They have a very large selection of smocked dresses



So if you are looking for a birthday present (remember June 25th is fast approaching) Lucy (not mommy) is a big fan of these!

Bath time is fun time

We just started letting Lucy sit up in the tub unassisted (mommy and daddy are never more than an arms length away). She loves to play with the new bath toys Santa brought her. Although, I believe that the next big craze in infant bath time toys is going to be a red Dixie cup (she is fascinated by it?). She loves to watch the water run out of the faucet and splash with Daddy. She has become quite good in the past 3 days and she has only fallen once. Her favorite thing by far is to try and "eat" the water! However, she does not seem to realize when her mouth goes in most of her face will too! She has taken her missed steps like quite the little champ, she keeps her eyes closed until one of us dries them off, but never cries. I think she knows that it is all part of the price you pay for some REAL bathtime fun!

What Diet?

Today we ate at FLIP in downtown Atlanta with my family. It's a classy spin on a traditional burger joint. Richard Blais from Top Chef is the executive chef. It was yummy and very reasonably priced, which is a great combination! Andy and I both had the burger, fry and milkshake combo for $12 a piece. The milkshake was the BEST part! I had the krispy kreme, it had very finely chopped krispy kreme doughnuts mixed in, it did not look as pretty as Andy's spicy chocolate mole but, it was heavenly. My mom had the pistachio truffle shake, which I had to try, and it was excellent. The place was super crowded but, we got seated in about fifteen minutes. The new lead singer from Alice in Chains, William DuVall, was there which made Andy's day (even though he didn't get an autograph)! The restaurant was kid friendly, my niece Evelyn, who is 3, loved it (burgers and milkshakes what kid wouldn't). When we got home we took Lucy for a walk to burn some of our lunch off. Totally worth the calories though. Back on the diet train tomorrow!

Waiting for a table


Appetizers


Main Course




Ready for a walk

Dog Day Afternoon

Today we spent much of the day napping, eating and playing. I came home from work to find my two beautiful girls snuggling in bed preparing themselves for a rainy day afternoon nap. I quickly changed out of my work clothes and slipped into the covers with them. I rocked Lucy to sleep and she slept on my chest as my wife and I snuggled the best we could. When Lucy woke up we ate a little lunch and then it was play time and daddy play time is like none other. We play hard and fast, with no shortage of giggling. One of my favorite noises in the whole wide world is to hear Lucy giggle. When she was good and tuckered out, yes, we took another nap until it was time to start dinner.

So this got me to thinking, some of life's greatest lessons can be learned by observing your dog. Our house has no shortage of furry friends.




Our first born, Sully, a Siberian Husky is eight years old. He may be getting up there in dog years but he still acts like a big puppy. As I have just gotten another year older he reminds me that you are only as old as you act and sometimes you just have to run at life as hard as you can and maybe one day you will finally catch your tail.



Our second born, first in command, Cody a Chihuahua is seven years old and Lucy is amazed by him. I have learned so much from this amazing little creature of God. First, enjoy your meals and eat with gusto, not everyone has the luxury of doing so. Nap and nap often, so when somebody throws you a ball you can give it everything you got! Be brave in the face of life's adversity. He is the bravest coward I know. In situations that would have had others crumpled into a fetal postion Cody holds his head up and takes it like a man. He must had heard the Bible verse I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And finally, the best part about getting into bed at night is knowing there's another warm butt to snuggle up against.



Our newest K9 addition, Maik, a three year old Belgian Malinois. Confidence. Not matter what odds you are up against believe in yourself and just know, deep down inside, that you can handle it. Enjoy and embrace your life away from work. You may have to put up a front at work by being a tough guy, but when you are at home don't be afraid to roll over an let someone pet your belly and make sure you give the ones you love kisses even when they don't ask for them.
It is my sincerest hope that Lucy loves animals as much as Sarah and I do and I pray she has the wisdom to learn from all that they have to teach us.

Girly girl

I have always told myself I will be happy as long as she is happy with whatever she may be in life. Who am I kidding! I'm trying to make her as girly as possible! I went shopping for Lucy the other day and ended up getting 3 tutu outfits. Poor kid doesn't stand a chance.

What it's only 5 months till her birthday

Party planning is one of the things I love to do and I am by no means a procrastinator. So about a month ago I started seriously thinking about Lucy's 1st birthday party, well really I started planning it before she was born but, we won't go into that! I am going with either a circus or a carnival theme which got me thinking, what is the difference between the two? In a nutshell my research revealed circus's are animals, carnival's are games. Well I don't want a tiger in my backyard although, Andy is dead set on an elephant(no really)so it has to be more carnival. However, there is so much more out there for a circus. So to bring these two concepts together I think I will go with a midway to the circus, you know the part before you get into the circus tent with all the fun games. I ordered a game stand from oriental trading as a prototype for Andy and my dad to make more of.



The vision is to have several of these booths with different games for various ages. Well, will see how it works out. I am going to have a booth for prizes too.
So that is the start of my plan... Invitations are next. June 25th is fast approaching!

Pesky Milestones

You know there are those milestones that you should be really happy about, but your secretly not. Crawling, walking, pulling up; those are some of them for me. I was sitting at the computer while Lucy napped yesterday and all of a sudden I heard a loud laugh from her room.
I came in to find this.





She was sooo pleased with herself and now it's all she wants to do in there. Guess it's time to baby proof her crib area.
Sad.

You can't smile with your foot in your mouth!

I took Lucy to get her six month pictures taken today at Images by Rainy. I was nervous. Lucy’s nap time is between 10:30 and 11. I was hoping she would nap on the way there, no such luck. My husband had K-9 training today so I thought I was on my own. Well lucky for me he had my credit card so he had to make a quick appearance on his lunch break. Daddy can make Lucy laugh like it’s no one’s business. She did great! We started with the standard tutu and block pictures to show how she is growing. We did the blocks going across my belly when I was pregnant and we've done them in front of Lucy as a newborn, three months and now six months.

Mommy reproductions


I always bring a box of accessories so we played a bit with those. I have this fabulous “bow” from my favorite Esty shop GalswithGirls and we took a few with that on. Next we did a set with baby legs and a bow/hat. I am so excited about that pose she put both feet in her mouth, I can’t wait to see them on Monday. Rainy is such an awsome photographer she is soo full of energy she kidda wears me out. Lucy was asleep before we got out of her parking lot.






We had family pictures taken the Monday before Christmas. I hope to have the link to them tomorrow. They were outside on a gorgeous farm with my entire family. We had a new photographer take them Emily at EHF I am excited to see them as well.

A few of my favorite things

I buy a lot of unusual things off of the internet. Sometimes this is a good thing sometimes it’s not! Whenever I go to Wal-Mart I get strange looks from people asking me where I got my car seat and stroller. So I thought I would make a list of some of my favorite purchases/sites.

1. Lucy’s car seat. LOVE IT! The actual seat is a little big (Graco Snugride) but the cover is the BEST! Now before you’ll comment about manufacture safety and such... it’s flame resistant, a million times cuter than the manufacture cover and I have taken it off 5 times to wash it and this thing still looks fabulous . My mother, Lucy and I were in a car accident which totaled my parent’s car and I think Lucy was the only one not even slightly injured so it definitly holds up. I purchased it at http://www.nolliecovers.com/ its baby girl Paris print and I also got the matching blanket for the full set. I love it so much I think I will get the Mimi Mouse toddler cover this summer.





2. The bugaboo chameleon stroller in denim. I do love it as an all purpose stroller. Now it does have its drawbacks don’t get me wrong , it’s heavy, if you take it in the car it takes up a lot of room, and it has two, sometimes three pieces. However that said it rides and drives like a DREAM. The turn radius is incredible and I love the height adjustment on the handle. We took the bassinet portion down when Lucy was 3 months and now use the regular seat. The bassinet was great when she was a newborn in the hot summer months I felt it was cooler for her to lay in than her car seat would have been in a regular convertible stroller. I also own the Graco carseat conversion set (piece #3) which makes it easier to go from the car to the stroller. I love this stroller and think it will not only last for Lucy but for our next child as well. A pricey investment, but absolutely worth every penny.





3. The Beaba Babycook . I am trying to start Lucy off eating healthy (some days are better than others). I love the babycook because it’s just 3 easy steps: cut up the veggie or fruit to a size that will fit into the basket, steam and puree. I then freeze the food in ice cube trays so I have equal portion sizes. I really can’t convey how easy and how much cheaper than buying jarred food it really is. Lucy’s favorites have been squash, apples and banannas. Some not so successful fare have included sweet potatoes, carrots, and green beans.

She likes it too!




4. My diaper bag; the Pink Lady by Petunia Pickle Bottom boxy backpack. Alright, I will admit that I made an expensive mistake when I bought my previous diaper bag. It was a Juicy diaper tote. It was like a black hole, bottomless pit, Mary Poppins bag. I couldn't find anything in it most of the time. The Pink Lady has not let me down so far. It has so many compartments for organization and storage. I love the fact that there is a completely different section of the bag for diapers and wipes with a changing pad that is attached but it can also be easily removed. I also love that the color goes with the rest of my stuff.



5. The red door consignment shop http://www.reddoorconsignments.com/. Lucy, like most babies, outgrows stuff sooo fast. I buy a lot of her clothing at my local consignment shop. I turn in stuff she has outgrown to gain credit to buy new stuff, so I hardly have to give them money. They are super picky about what they take. (The Juicy bag went there for the next unsuspecting first time mom!) They carry a lot and I mean a lot of name brand clothing, like Gymboree, Gap, and Pottery Barn Kids, for a fraction of the cost. I got an outfit that Gymboree still had in stores for 90% off what I would have paid for it at the retail store.

Recent Red Door Purchases


6. Esty if you don’t know about this site you have been living under a rock! No really it is great; Esty.com. I mostly buy hair bows but I have been branching out lately to other items.

Alot of Lucy's Esty Bows


7. This is my husband’s favorite, Pampers diapers. I went cheap one time and bought the store brand and boy did I regret it. I almost ruined 2 pairs of pants with blowout diapers (totally negating the savings). Pampers are soft and fit Lucy wonderfully right now that she is just a sitter and not a crawler. I may reassess when she starts to crawl. They also have a pee pee strip for squimish hubbies.

8. The Medela Pump in Style backpack. This is the reason I still nurse Lucy after almost 7 months. For the first few weeks of her life I think this was the best purchase I made. If I was sore I could take a break from nursing and pump and it never compromised my supply. It is super quick and easily carried anywhere. When I had to go back to work for two weeks it was great, however, I do think people began to wonder what in the world that noise was in the bathroom of the airplane! TOTALLY WORTH THE MONEY.



9. Baby Einstein Jumperoo. Lucy spends at least two hours a day in it. Does that make me a bad mom? Andy and I took her to the store to “test drive” them. This was the second one we put her in. When I took her out she cried, no really. I put her in the fisher price one and she just stared at the Baby Einstein. Well it was an easy decision from there. I love that I can change the toys up on it to keep her attention from day to day. The one drawback is our dogs really like it too! There new favorite pass time is to try to remove the toys from the hooks (they have already ripped up two of them at about fifteen bucks a pop. So dog owners, either buy cheaper toys or keep the pups away).



10. The Graco Infant car seat swing frame. Lucy lived in this swing the first 3 months of her life. It was the ONLY way I could get her to sleep. I love it because it is so small and it folds so easy. In my tiny house, space is at a premium and the fact that it could be placed in a closet for storage sold me on it right away. It is also wonderful when we have been out in the car to be able to come back and place the car seat on the swing so she can finish her nap without any interruption. A MUST HAVE.



11. Lucy’s room. I won’t go into extreme detail about it; I will leave that for another post. I adore her crib, chair and other furniture.