The Past Week in a Nutshell

I have been so busy the past week. This was Britt's weekend to work, so Ashlyn and I met Mom and Dad at O'Charley's for dinner. After dinner we went to Sam's. I needed to get a few last minute things before Kellie's big baby shower on Saturday. We got what we needed and then said our goodbyes. I still had to run to Walmart for a few food items. As I was loading Ashlyn in the car I noticed that I had a flat tire. GREAT! Side note........I just had a flat tire, totally different tire, last Friday. It was able to be plugged, so it wasn't quite so bad. Unfortunately this Friday the nail/staple/whatever it was, was in the side of my tire, so having it plugged wasn't an option. I called Mom and Dad. They hadn't gotten too far down the road. Dad and I ended up changing my flat tire in the parking lot. Dad's back isn't so great, so we were both sweating up a storm trying to put my spare tire on. It wasn't the Friday night that I was hoping for. Ashlyn and I FINALLY headed to Walmart. We didn't get home until after 11:00. We were up bright and early. I had SOOO much to do to get ready for Kellie's shower. We all wanted it to be perfect. I got all my food together, dropped Ashlyn off at Mom and Dad's, and then drove over to Kellie's around lunchtime. The shower was wonderful. We had a great turnout. She received so many nice gifts. We were all pleased with the way that everything went. After the shower Ashlyn and I stayed and went swimming at Kellie and Matt's. A few other couples were there. Michael and his wife Kelly have a son that is the same age as Ashlyn. It took her a little while to warm up to him, and after that they had the best time. We didn't end up getting home Saturday night until after 10:00. Sunday morning we woke up and went to church. After church we ate lunch and then had a couple of hours to relax before heading to the class reunion meeting. That went well. We got the invitations put together and stuffed and sealed envelopes. The invitations went out in the mail today. I can't wait until September the 8th! We are going to have the best time girls!
Today I was trying to get back in the swing of things. Work was fairly quiet today. I don't usually like slow days at work, but today it was great. I felt like I was still half asleep all day long. I'm hoping to get to bed fairly early tonight. I always say that but it never happens. We'll see what happens.
Cute story before I go -
We have a bird's nest in one of my hanging baskets on the front porch. I've been paying close attention to it, because when I water it I don't want to drown the baby birds. The eggs finally hatched last week. Ashlyn and I are checking on them constantly. She thinks that it is so neat to have some baby birds at our house. It's a great way to get her to stop pitching a fit. All I have to do is tell her to be quiet or she'll wake up the baby birds. She'll stop right then and there. I don't know what I'm going to do when they are gone. ;) Tonight I pulled the basket down and there the were with their mouth's wide open. I swear to you........I saw a snake in there with them. I freaked out. I didn't drop the basket. I slowly lifted it back up on the hook and then ran inside. I don't know why I carefully put it back because before long there wouldn't be anymore baby birds. I called Britt, who was working off-duty. I was telling him about the snake and that he had to come rescue the baby birds. I really think that I had him worried about the birds too. He would never admit to that, but it's true. I wanted to save the birds, but I didn't want that darn snake to come after me. About 10 minutes later Britt was home. He checked on them and there was no snake in there. Now............I think that I scared the snake off..........Yeah right. There probably really wasn't a snake in there. It was probably just my imagination playing tricks on me, but we'll just say that I saved their little lives. Why can't I be the hero? LOL! Britt says that there was never a snake in there. I'm sure that he is right, but we won't tell him that. So he comes home to rescue the birds and NOTTA, NOTHING! Oh well, at least I got to see him for a few minutes before he was back to work again. Have no fear the babies are safe and sound!

Party Pictures

Ashlyn's Birthday Party

Ashlyn will be 3 years old on the 19th of June. I can't believe that my little baby has turned into such an amazing little girl! I know that I've said it many times before, but she truly is heaven sent! Her party was a hit. I really didn't know what kind of turn out we would have. Last year I invited the same amount of people and only had about 20 or so come. This year we had nearly 50 people! I didn't take a count, but I know that our back yard was full. We had a petting zoo. The kids absolutely LOVED that. There were goats, sheep, baby chicks, baby ducks, and rabbits. It was definitely a hit with the kids. Britt was busy grilling. I don't know how many hamburgers and hotdogs we threw on the grill. Everything got gone. Thank Goodness! That meant less to put away for me. After eating we put the slip-n-slide out. The kids had a blast on that. After that it was time for Ashlyn to blow out her candles and open her presents. Nana Joyce made her birthday cake. It was a strawberry shortcake cake, and it was DEEEELICIOUS! Ashlyn got SOOO much stuff! I think that we may have to build an extra room on our house just to have some space to put everything! I guess it's time to get rid of some of her old toys that she never plays with anymore to make room for her new things. It turned out to be a spectacular party!
Now for the after party. Ida, Bradley, Hanna, Curtis, Jenna, and Marty stayed and hung out for a while. Jenna has ONE week until her due date. She is anxious to have the baby here as soon as possible. They left a little early. After they left we were all just hanging out outside drinking and laughing about old times. Britt and Bradley get the bright idea of going down the slip-n-slide. It was midnight, but we all went and put our bathing suits on and starting slipping and a sliding. We had the best time! Who would have thought that a $6 slip-n-slide would have brought so many laughs. It was priceless!
Today we spent the day recovering and cleaning up what was left from the party yesterday. We took Dad out for Father's day this evening. I'm winding down now and getting ready for bed. It's been a weekend packed full of fun and excitement.

Beach pics

Another weekend at the beach

Mom, my aunt Annette, Ashlyn and I went to the beach over Memorial Day weekend. We had a great relaxing weekend. Friday night we were all pooped so we went to bed fairly early. We were up bright and early Saturday morning to hit the beach. The weather was awesome! Saturday night we ate at Landry's at Broadway at the Beach. Believe it or not we walked right in and did not have to wait for a table. We were sat immediately. Our food was delicious. I highly recommend trying this resturaunt. They had some great seafood! It had been a while since I had actually walked around Broadway and did some shopping. I found so many cute things in all of the specialty boutiques, and the prices were not bad at all. Saturday morning we woke up and went to the flea market. You can ALWAYS find some good bargains there. I bought a couple of different things - some jewelry, headbands, a wallet, and Ashlyn some junk toys. My mammaw Drum had given Ashlyn $20 to spend on whatever she wanted. She found a few different trinkets for less than $5. I also bought Ashlyn 3 more pair of Crocs for less than nothing. We were back at the house for lunch, and then out to the beach we went. I dug a whole for Ashlyn to play in. What a work out!!! We were on the beach for a couple of hours and then we headed to the pool. Ashlyn loved the "kitty cat pool" (kiddy pool). =) She threw a fit when it was time to leave. Back to the house we went to take a nap. We went to dinner and then went to the Crazy Pelican. Ashlyn was dancing her little booty off! Everyone loved watching her. She was our entertainment. I wish that I would have had my video camera. She was too darn cute! Monday we went to eat breakfast at the Omega breakfast house. Yum Yum! Mom wanted to go to the outlets to do even more shopping. I took Ashlyn to the playground and the pool one last time. By 2:00 we were back at the house to pack up and clean the house. It was time to go home. As we were packing the car our neighbors came out. Rena, a girl from Michigan that I grew up and hung out with every summer at the beach, was down with her husband. Her brother is living at their beach house. It was great to get to see her and her brother. I haven't seen either of them in probably 4 years. On the road again. We thought that we were making great time until we came to a halt for 2 WHOLE HOURS! There was a terrible wreck. We would move a few feet every 10 minutes or so. We were hoping to be home by 8:00, but we didn't get in until 10:00. Today it was back to reality. It was tough getting up and going this morning. We had a great trip. I hope to get to do it more this year.

Beach Weekend

Family Beach Photo

The girls........Jenna was such a trooper! She is due next month. Her belly is too cute!

The beach gang

Marty and Britt

Beach Bum

Bless her heart! This is a 2T, and her teenie bottom just can't hold it up. ;)

Beach Girls

Ashlyn and Carly

Miss Hollywood

Best Buds

Mother's Day 2007

Mother's Day

I hope that all of you had a spectacular Mother's Day! It made my day just to have Ashlyn walk up to me, give me a huge hug, and say in her little girly voice "Happy Mother's Day Mommy. I love you!" It's so cool to have a day devoted to Mother's. I've always enjoyed Mother's Day, even before Ashlyn. I loved giving my mom and mammaw's their special gifts each year, but now that I'm a mother myself, I have a whole new perspective on this special day. Being a mother is truly the best gift ever. There are many days that I have wanted to pull my hair out due to hearing those high pitch squeals from temper tantrums, but everytime that Ashlyn tells me how much she loves me.................when she stretches out on my lap wanting her back scratched...............evertime that I see her little smile, my heart just melts. These moments make motherhood the best experience and the best gifts that life can give you! You never really know how much love you can have for someone until you hold your child for the first time. It's AMAZING! And your love only grows from that point on. Life is good being a mother!

Little Ballerina

Bath time

Na Na nah boo boo


Hello friends!

Birthday weekend

Britt and I decided to go to Asheville Satuday to celebrate my birthday. The day started off kind of rough. As soon as we arrived in Asheville we drove around the downtown area to try to find a hotel for the night. As we were riding we were cracking up at the wide variety of people that we saw. I love to just people watch, and Asheville was a great place to see some different people. That's for sure! We went to the Renaissance first, but after we heard the room rate for the night - almost $200/night - we opted to go across the street to the Best Western. Not my first choice of places to stay, but for one night in downtown Asheville and in walking distance to everything, it would be fine. I'm not what you would call a germ-a-phobe, but I do not like staying at hotels in the first place. I inspect every inch of the bed to make sure that it has been cleaned properly. When I turned down the comforter there were 2 huge brownish/yellow stains on it. YUCK!!!! I literally had a melt-down. I no longer cared to stay in this hotel, but I didn't want to call the front desk and ask for a refund. I do not want people to think that I'm a b****! I mean, overall the room was clean. It was just the comforter that bothered me and set me off. I don't sleep with those nasty comforters anyways. Who knows how often they wash those things! I don't even like thinking about it. YUCK! So I was in a jam.......I didn't want to stay, but I didn't want to call and complain. Britt wouldn't do it. He told me that if I had an issue with the room I needed to call myself. After about an hour I finally pulled myself together and we left the room and headed to the Biltmore house. I knew that if I had a few glasses of wine to calm my nerves I would feel better. LOL! Nothing that a little alcohol can't help. =)
So off we headed to the Biltmore Estate. I absolutely LOVE touring this home. It is simply magnificent! Britt had NEVER been there before!?!?!? Can you believe that? He was in awe over how amazingly large and stunning the home and property appear. We went to the winery there and did some wine tasting. It started out as a beautiful day, but as we finished our tour the rain began to really come down. We headed back to the downtown area for dinner. We went to Cafe on Main. All I can say is YUM!!! It was a little on the pricey side, but it was DELICIOUS! It's ok to splurge every now and then. After dinner we did a little shopping. Ashlyn stayed with Nana Joyce while we were away. We told her that if she was good we would bring her home a surprise. So we went to the Mast General Store in Asheville and picked up a doggie with a very fashionable carrying bag. She loved it! We went back to the hotel a little later and freshened up. I laid on the bed and didn't want to get back up. Britt literally had to drag me out of bed to go out for my birthday. I would have been fine going to bed at 10:00. =) That definitely shows how old I'm becoming. We walked down the street to a bar called Magnolias. They had a cover-band playing. It seemed like a nice bar. We found an available table and took a seat. We were there for at least 15 minutes and no one had came to take our order yet. The waitresses were going to every other table around us, but dodging ours. So Britt finally went over to the bar to order us a drink. He came back to the table and gave me my captain and coke. For a beer and a captain and coke it was $10!?!?!? I took a sip of my drink and I swear I could not even taste a hint of Captain Morgan in the drink. Britt tasted it and he didn't taste anything. If I'm paying $7 for a drink I better be able to taste the alcohol in it! He took it back to the bar and politely told the bartender that the drink did not taste like it had anything in it. She was extremely rude and told him that they put liquor in all of their drinks and she would not put anymore in my drink since it already had some in it! The manager came over to our table and asked what the problem was. I told him and he picked the drink up, stuck his nose in it and smelled it, and said - "well.....I can smell the alcohol in this drink. Our bartenders are great here, and I KNOW that they put the correct amount in every drink that they pour." I NEVER complain about anything! I hate to. I don't enjoy being rude, but when you pay that much, you ought to get what you paid for. He was very adamant that he would not add anymore alcohol to my drink. UGGGHHHHH! Needless to say we were not impressed with this place. We left after Britt finished his beer and went to a Martini bar called Tressa's. It was a quaint little bar with a nice band playing and a great atmosphere. Plus the staff was very friendly. We had the best time there!
Sunday morning we woke up to some sad news. Britt's Grandma Cody had passed away a little after midnight. She had been battling cancer for a couple of years. We knew on Friday that it would probably be sometime during the weekend. We visited her Friday evening. It's definitely a bitter sweet. She was suffering terribly the past month. At least now she is out of pain and in a much better place. She was the most caring lady that you would ever have met. Sunday we stayed over at her house with the family part of the afternoon and evening. This evening is the receiving and tomorrow her funeral will be held. All of the great-grandchildren, I believe there were 14 in all, will release balloons at her grave-site. I know that she's home now, and she's loving it!

Happy Birthday Kellie!

Kellie - my girl.....Happy Birthday! Wishing you the best birthday ever! We definitely need to go out and celebrate (or sulk) our 28th Birthday! I think the spa is calling our names. Love ya much!

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Egg Fun

CRY =(

I'm so sad, yet so happy at the same time. This weekend we switched Ashlyn from a crib to a bed. We are using my old bedroom suit from when I was a little girl. It's such a huge transition! Now it's really beginning to hit me..........My baby isn't really a baby anymore. waaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! I can't believe how hard it is to come to this realization. I know that they can't stay little forever, but it's gone by SO fast! I can't believe that she will be starting school in 2 more years! It just doesn't seem right.
Not only did we switch her bed, but we also took away the pappy. YES........we did it, and boy was it tough. We used the idea that Misty suggested. We told her that there were teeny tiny babies that really needed the pappies more than she did, so she should give her's to the babies that need them. It kind of worked. We also told her that since she was moving into a big girl bed she needed to be a big girl and get rid of her pappy. She did pretty good. She cried for about half an hour. Then we calmed her down and I crawled in bed with her. She wouldn't go to sleep unless I laid down with her. She was asleep in 5 minutes. It was almost too easy. She woke up at 5 am screaming. Britt went and laid with her until she went back to sleep, but every time that he tried to get up, she would say "no daddy. don't go." He slept in there from 5-9 am. It's probably going to be tough for the first week. Hopefully everything will get easier after that. I sure hope so. I need my sleep.
Today is Mom's birthday. We went to church and then to Mammaw Sherrill's for Mom's birthday lunch. After eating Ashlyn begged to go home with Mom and Dad. They said that she could. Mom told Ashlyn over lunch that Simba got her pappy at their house, so she had to throw it away and that it was gone. Ashlyn kept saying "No it's not Nana. I'll find it." She's so funny! I called Mom to see how everything was going. She said that as soon as they walked in the door Ashlyn told Mom to go on, and that she needed to look for something. Mom walked on in the kitchen. Ashlyn pulled up the lid on the trash can and was looking in it for her pappy. Mom had to tell her again that it was gone for good. Nap time wasn't very fun for Nana and Pappaw. Ashlyn cried and cried for them to give her a pappy. She wanted them to go buy a new one at the grocery store, but they stuck to their guns. NO PAPPY!
I feel horrible taking it from her, especially while putting her in a new bed. That's a huge adjustment in it's self, but it needed to be done. And Britt wouldn't let me back down. Thanks honey! I'm a sucker when it comes to Ashlyn. I just felt so bad for taking it from her. It's her security blanket. I just feel so bad! Probably because that's another thing that differentiates a baby from a little girl. No pappy, no longer a baby. I think that this whole thing is harder on me than it is on Ashlyn. My baby girl is growing up!

What Are We Gonna Do?

I'm back! It's taken me a while to get settled into work. Plus it seems that since I've started my new job when I get home I have 10 million things to do. I finally feel caught up on everything and I now have time to blog. Yeah!I honestly don't know what Britt and I are going to do. Ashlyn will be 3 in June and she still has her pappy (pacifier). We only give it to her when she sleeps, but the sitter has been giving it to her during the day, especially when she was sick for that long period of time. Now Ashlyn thinks that she should get ALL DAY LONG! It's terrible! She pitches the biggest fit for the dern thing. You would think that the older she gets it would want to let it go, but no no no. It's the complete opposite.Monday night she woke up at 3 am screaming and crying because she couldn't find her pappy. It continued for what felt like eternity, but was actually only about 5 minutes and finally I got up and went in her room to help her find it. I couldn't find it either. I knew that it was there somewhere, but I was going to have to do a some searching to find it. She kept screaming "Mommy! You have to find it! You have to find it! Go get me another one! I need it! I've gotta have it! You have to go to the store and get me another one!" What the heck!?!?! I finally found it. It was hidden underneath the bumper pad on her bed. I am ready to get rid of her pappy for good, but oh I dread it at the same time. We probably won't get any sleep for at least 2-3 nights. And what makes it even worse now is that she knows that you can just go to the store and buy another one. What are we going to do? I'm thinking of having the Easter Bunny take it. Then she'll probably hate the Easter Bunny for the rest of her childhood. Oh well.....It's either hate the Easter Bunny or hate Mommy and Daddy. I think that I'll choose the Easter Bunny on this one. =)

My Easter Bunny

what a slacker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry girls!!! It has been way to long since I have been on here. Things have been CRAZY lately!! I have alot to write about, but no time to do it. Hopefully I'll catch you all up on my crazy life! Are you going out tonight? Let me know what you want to do and where. I'm up for ANYTHING, as long as it's with my girls!!!!!!!!!! Let me know. Love all of ya!