Life with the Vestals

4 Months & an Apology

2011-10-10T20:31:00.000-05:00

Lela, today is your 4 month birthday!

It's hard to believe 1/3 of the first year is already gone.

You weigh 14 pounds, 6 ounces and are 25 1/4 inches long. You are much longer than your sister was, but about the same weight.

You are such a good baby, but only for your momma. You are not sweet at all for your daddy. You love the nursery at church on Sunday mornings, but not in the evenings.

You sleep all night most of the time. You go to bed around 7:30 and wake up around 6:30, eat & go back to sleep until about 8:30. And I really appreciate it.

You don't nap (also like your sister). You take 3 or 4 30 minute naps a day.

You are nursing every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. You don't eat real food yet.

You love your sister. She can always make you smile and laugh out loud.

You love love love to "talk". This makes me worry because Neely wasn't as vocal this early & I don't think anyone can talk more than her now.

You are realizing where your hands are and love to grab things (mostly your clothes) and chew on them.

It's been a quick 4 months, but we can't imagine life without you.

Here are our first 4 months of "chair pictures"

And now a funny story...

We have been working with Neely on apologizing when she does something wrong and trying to teach her to respect others' feelings. Tonight we were all in the living room and I asked her to go get me a diaper for Lela. She immediately said "I'm sorry". I asked her what she was sorry for & told her that she hadn't done anything wrong. Then she said "I said I'm sorry because I'm about to act ugly when I don't go get the diaper".

Oh my word. What can you do but laugh?

Comparisons

2011-10-07T12:27:00.001-05:00

I think one of the most fun things about having 2 girls is comparing how they looked each month.

Newborn

At first, I didn't think they looked anything alike. Neely was a pound smaller, so she was so wrinkly. Maybe that's not a word? But she was. Neely was so white, red headed and blue eyed & Lela was tan, black headed and brown eyed.

1 Month

By one month, they did start looking more similar. Their coloring, hair and eyes are different, but they have the same mouths, eye shape and hair line.

2 Months

Lela is starting to have red eyebrows & in the sunlight her hair is red, too. They have evened out in size by this point. I still think they look so different, but similar too.

3 Months

I love these. By 3 months, Neely was a little butterball. Lela is much longer and leaner.

Unbalanced

2011-10-06T21:42:00.000-05:00

Oh, y'all.

This afternoon, I was all ready to write out a post about balance. Most days I feel pretty on top of it. I'm a stay at home working mom that almost manages to fit almost everything in...family, friends, church, fun, etc. without going crazy.

Then today on the way home from ballet, I realized I didn't have anything ready for dinner. We decided to go out to eat & 15 minutes after we got to the restaurant, Lela was screaming and no one had even seated us or even greeted us. We left and headed to one of our favorite restaurants even though Lela still wasn't happy. An hour later, we still didn't have our food. Lela was starving by this point so we got our food to go. On the way home I just cried. I was tired, hungry, grumpy and realized that I had no business giving advice to anyone on finding balance. I was crying over dinner for goodness sakes! The only thing I had business doing was to go home and calling the doctor about doubling up my medicine.

Only kidding.

Kind of.

That was my long was of saying that you aren't getting any advice from me today. All you get are some cute pictures of the girls.

Oh my goodness. Aren't they sweet? Makes my day happy just seeing their smiling faces!

Delusional Thinking and a Trip to Dallas

2011-10-05T21:04:00.000-05:00

So y'all remember that Audio Adrenaline song, "Big House", right?

You know, Come and go with me to my father's house. It's a big, big house....

I distinctly remember going to their concert sometime in high school.

And that wasn't that long ago...

Well, anyway, Neely has been singing that song over and over again and she said that she had learned it at preschool. Well, today I told her teacher how cool I thought it was that they were singing contemporary songs. And she looked at me like I was crazy.

I said, you know "Big House" by Audio Adrenaline. And the other teacher said, "Yeah another mom said the same thing, but we've never heard of it."

WHAT? How can that be? Isn't it still popular? Am I really that old? I just looked it up & that song was released in 1993. WHAT? It is almost 20 years old and I AM THAT OLD. And 1992 would mean that I went to the concert in Jr. High.

Anyway...

Over the weekend we went to Dallas. I am so lucky to get to work from home, but once a year, I have to make a business trip to the Dallas Toy Fair. Since I'm still nursing, Brad and the girls came along.

We really had a great time. We stayed in Plano the first night and ate at Cheesecake Factory and shopped at Ikea. The next day we went to the Fort Worth Zoo which was fabulous. The weather was perfect. The zoo wasn't crowded. And it was the perfect size for us.

Since I was going to be gone the next day, I wanted Brad to practice with Lela in the Baby Bjorn. Usually I carry her in the Baby K'tan, so I wasn't sure how she would like it, but she loved riding forward.

Here is Neely in the bird house. You could buy sticks with birdseed on them and she chased around the birds trying to get them to eat. All I could think about the whole time I was in here was how much Laurie would hate it. There were hundreds of birds and they were flying EVERYWHERE.

Neely saw a sign for popsicles on the map & was dying for one. She ate the purple part and was finished with it. Money well spent.

Lela is such a trooper. I really believe that in order to have good toddlers that you have to train babies to be out and about. She really is super good going everywhere we go.

And the monkey had a baby. Can you see it? It was about the cutest thing I've ever seen and it loved the people watching.

My sweet girl and me.

On Monday, I had my meeting. The plan was that Brad would take the girls to the Arboretum when I left for my meeting. They would eat lunch there and he would feed her a bottle for her first feeding. Lela wouldn't take a bottle from him (although she will take them from me), so she was screaming and then Neely got pushed down by a little boy at the pumpkin patch and was crying, so he called it a day, and called me to come downstairs at the convention center to nurse Lela.

The theme of the Pumpkin Village at the Arboretum this year was Cinderella...here is a picture in Cinderella's carriage.

I think the rest of the day was as big of a disaster as the beginning. In total, Lela took 4 ounces out of a bottle and slept 15 minutes. Lucky for Brad, I got a break at 6 and was able to come back to the hotel to feed Lela and get her to sleep for the night.

Although I am so sad that they didn't have a fun day, I am glad that he got a chance to see what one of my bad days feels like. :)

Ballet and Bicycles

2011-09-29T22:03:00.000-05:00

Our biggest news of the day is that Lela slept all night last night. Not 5-6 hours like baby raising books call all night, but 7:30 p.m. until 6:30 a.m!!! She fed at 6:30 and then went back to sleep until 8:30. Woo hoo! I have felt like a new woman today.

On Thursdays, Neely has "ballerina class". It is by far her favorite thing to do. Which is a good thing. I use this as a motivator for good behavior all week. Bad behavior = no class & we have yet to have to miss!

Each week, the teacher picks a queen for the week. They basically get to be the line leader & the little girls get so excited about it. This week was Neely's turn. Here she is dancing through the leaves.

When we got home from class, Neely wanted to ride her bike which has also become one of her favorite things. I am usually not an outside girl, but it was absolutely beautiful today.

Now that I'm looking at these pictures, I realize that her handle bars are backwards. No wonder she was having such a hard time steering. oops. I just thought it was because she was so un-athletic.

The last couple days have been rough for Lela. Either she is extremely happy or extremely grumpy. Can babies be bipolar? In her happy moments today, she started laughing out loud, which has to be one of the sweetest sounds in the world.

One of those days

2011-09-28T21:06:00.000-05:00

Whew. Today was one of those days.

If you are a mom, you know exactly what I mean.

Well heck, even if you're not a mom, you know what I mean.

Today was supposed to be an easy day. It was going to be such a fun day that I was going to do a "day in the life" post. Well, then life happened.

At around 4 this morning, I woke up with Neely standing by the bed, her face about 2 inches from mine. I can't argue sleeping arrangements in the middle of the night, so she climbed in bed.

Then sweet Lela woke up at 5:30 ready for the day. If you know me at all, you know that I don't do 5:30. All I could think was: I am so tired and 10pm is so far away.

My alarm went off at 7, even though I was already up. I turned it off & then somehow fell back asleep. All 3 of us then woke up at 8. That would have been great except Neely is supposed to be at school at 8. grrrr.

Here are the girls waking up for the day. At this point I hadn't given up on my "day in the life" post.

About 5 minutes later, I gave up on taking any more pictures during the day.

After a super quick feeding, we took Neely to school. Then to McDonald's for a large Dr. Pepper and a sausage biscuit. 1000 calories that I didn't need, but sometimes it's so worth it.

For the rest of the day, I battled a baby that must be going through her 4 month growth spurt. I think I fed her every 2 hours all day & she took 2 30 minute naps. Bless my soul.

We picked up Neely from school & she talked non-stop for the rest of the afternoon. I am so so so glad that she is so social, but oh what I'd give for 5 minutes of complete silence.

At 5:00, I realized that I had not cooked anything for dinner. I emailed Brad that I had a coupon for free dessert at Chili's, so we met him for dinner. After eating way too many calories, I headed to the mall to try on pants. Huge mistake. Should have thought about that before I ate an appetizer, meal, and dessert.

Luckily, both girls went down fairly easily & now I have an hour to relax before Lela's last feeding.

So thankful that God lets us start fresh each day!

If you are still reading, bless YOUR soul. This is ~~possibly~~ definitely the most boring post ever. I apologize and promise to be at least slightly more entertaining tomorrow. :)

It's Only a Season

2011-09-27T21:56:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite phrases has become "it's only a season".

Lela wakes up all night. It's only a season. Someday she'll sleep.

Neely whines or pouts about something. It's only a season.

I get to the end of the day & feel at my wit's end. It's only a season. Things will get better.

"It's only a season" was the phrase that was getting me through the hard times. The knowledge that I could get through hard times & another season would be coming.

And then I have a day like today. A wonderful, perfect day full of sweet babies, wonderful friends & lots of laughter.

And then I get it. It's only a season.

Our babies won't be babies forever and our sweet toddlers will grow up. And it makes me sad.

I know that the next season in life will be just as wonderful, but it makes me know I have to slow down to enjoy the season through the good and the not so good. I can't rush away this season because too many good things come with it.

No matter what the season brings, I am thankful for the friends that I have to share this season with.

A Busy Summer

2011-09-20T23:08:00.000-05:00

Our last picture as a family of 3

I know that I am officially the WORST blogger ever. I truly do have good intentions. I think about lots of good things to blog about, but then never sit down at the computer to actually do it.

That said, we had a wonderfully busy summer.

We started the summer by adding this sweet baby to our family:

Lela Claire Vestal was born on June 10^th at 6:47. Another easy delivery that I was so very thankful for.

Neely loves loves loves her baby sister. Lucky for her she has 2 baby sisters. They are both named Lela. Meet Lela #2:

It has become a little better, but for a long time every time every time someone asked Neely about her little sister. She would tell them that her name was Baby Lela and that we left her in the car. That is fun to explain 100 times a day.

I had scheduled lots of fun activities for Neely to do once the new baby came. Great idea for her. Dumb idea for me. Do you know how hard it is to get to ballet at 9am with a 2 week old and a 3 year old?

Neely and 2 of her BFFs at ballet class:

We took an overnight trip to Little Rock on our way to Blytheville. We watched the ducks march at the Peabody:

Rode the trolley and Neely got to ring the bell. I know those shorts are entirely too short.

My best friend and her little girl visited us for a long weekend.

I turned 31.

We went on a train ride, which might have been the longest, hottest 2 hours of my life.

We took a long weekend and went to St. Louis:

Went to a Cardinals Game:

Went to Grant’s Farm and the zoo:

And finished the trip with a visit to our family.

I know, I know. You're surprised there's a post!

The many faces of Neely

2010-12-20T15:05:00.000-06:00

I am running a little short on blogging material since we dropped Neely off with my parents on Saturday.

I thought I would really enjoy the time by myself, but I have actually been a little sad since she left. It is just too quiet at our house!

Here are a few shots of Neely that I took right before she left. She was demonstrating her different faces:

Happy Face:

Mean Face:

Silly Face:

Sweet Face:

3 Years Old

2010-12-18T16:00:00.000-06:00

Neely turned 3 this month and I can hardly believe it. It seems like yesterday that we brought home that tiny, screaming baby. The one that wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't play. Only cry.

I am so thankful that she has become a sweet, funny, talkative toddler. It seems like I always say that this is my favorite age, but it really is. She talks from the moment she wakes up until the moment she goes to bed. She doesn't take naps. She is too sassy for words and wears her mother out. She loves her friends more than anything and each night in her prayers she says each one individually. She loves school and her teacher. She loves her church. She loves her family. She loves sweets.

I wish I could just bottle her up and keep her just like this. I wouldn't change a thing and I know we couldn't imagine our life without her.

I thought I'd share a few of the pictures from her 3-year photo shoot. I was so happy with them and I think they totally reflect her personality.

This is my favorite. I think I am going to get a big one made to go in her room.

This is her fake smile.

I love this one, too.

And her Christmas picture...

And her everyday picture. I always like to get at least one picture of her in her everyday clothes to remind me what she was really like at each age.

I can't wait to see how she changes this year!

Oh Christmas Tree

2010-12-17T11:27:00.000-06:00

After Kelly posted this picture of my Christmas tree on her blog yesterday, I have had several people ask how I did it. And let me tell you, if I can do it, you can do it. After seeing this picture, I really wish I would have taken the time to straighten the topper, but oh well. I am too tired to get on a ladder...maybe next year.

In my opinion, the key to a pretty tree is pretty ribbon. To be honest, that is all I did this year. Tree decorating came at the height of my pregnancy tiredness, so I finished doing the ribbon and told Brad that we were not going to have any ornaments because I was just too tired. Brad and Neely did all the ornaments & I have to say that they did a wonderful job.

I am a big fan of the floral mesh, BUT I think it is very important that you can still see the Christmas Tree. Remember it is a tree. Not a ball of mesh.

I know there are some rules about which way your ribbon goes, but I don't know them and I like my ribbon to wrap around, so that is what you get.

I always start in the middle of the tree and work down and then start back in the middle and then work to the top. I do the floral mesh for the whole tree and then go back with the ribbon in between the mesh. I am a perfectionist, but it looks better when everything is not perfect. And remember you can cover up blank spots with ornaments.

The key to this whole thing is FLORAL WIRE. I wire it in the beginning and poof it out (NOT TOO MUCH...remember...not a ball of mesh) and wire it each time it goes in. Sometimes if there is a limb poking out, I just wrap that around the mesh & it looks fine.

I think that my tree has 3 or 4 rolls of mesh and 2 rolls of the thick red ribbon. I got it all 1/2 price, so it wasn't that expensive. Another thing to remember is don't be afraid to cut the ribbon if you need to. I think my mesh is in about 15 pieces.

And here is my topper from the front, where you can't see it is leaning. I just stick a bunch of sparkly sticks in the top so it looks like a volcano. Usually, I would wire these in, but I was trying to limit my time on the ladder this year, so that didn't happen. Thus the leaning topper.

One final tip, instead of using the hangers that are in the Christmas section for your ornaments, use floral wire. That way all the ornaments stay close to the tree and exactly where you placed them. And wire 3 or 4 small ornaments together and place on tree for more of an impact.

And I'll leave you with this picture of the bottom of my tree. Neely really wanted to help with the ribbon. I am so OCD that this is really hard for me to look at every day, but she is so proud and that makes me love it. Next year, I am going to set up a tree in her playroom upstairs that she can completely decorate.

And lastly this is my cousin, Jonathan, who helped me decorate my first tree. He has taught me everything I know about tree decorating. He is by far the most talented designer I know (I don't know very many designers, but let's just ignore that fact). And here is the good news...he is in the process of moving back to NWA & will be doing Christmas decor next year! He is planning his first wedding right now & I can't wait to show you the results in January!

Christmas Cards

2010-12-16T16:11:00.000-06:00

This is my favorite time of year. I love getting mail & December is the only time of year when we get anything but bills and junk mail. I love that most of my friends send out picture cards & every day Neely and I (impatiently) wait to get our cards.

This year, I had someone new design our cards and I love them. Tricia also designed Neely's birthday cards. She was so patient & was super affordable and I highly recommend her.

Our pictures were taken by Jason at Soul Reflections Photography. This was our first time to use him & he did a wonderful job! I went to high school with Jason and because of Brad's travel schedule this year, the only way to get family pictures done was to do them on a weekend we were at my parents' house.

Merry Christmas!

Blog Housekeeping & A Question

2010-05-17T01:17:00.000-05:00

I can't sleep, so I have been updating my blog lists on the side of my page (which have NEVER been updated). I have tried to remove old links and update with any new friends I have, but I am sure that I have missed someone. Please let me know if I have missed you.

Now, on to my question. I am looking for a couple more good books to read on my upcoming trip. I already have all the "fluff" books I need, but I am looking for an interesting non-fiction book (preferably about a historic time period) and a christian living book (something like Crazy Love or a study that could be done in a week). I appreciate any suggestions I can get!

No promises, but I hope to start updating my blog with more frequency tomorrow.

Welcome home, Daddy!

2010-02-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

Brad got home from his business trip a night early & Neely was so excited. I had told her that he would get home after she went to sleep...so, she never went to sleep. It makes me so happy to see how much she loves her daddy. Laughing so hard! Neely and I had a great time while Brad was gone, but we sure are glad he's back!

Fingerpainting

2010-02-24T12:16:00.002-06:00

I got the dreaded phone call today to pick Neely up from school because of stomach issues, so we are home playing today. She is acting perfectly normal, so I am pretty sure it is milk allergy related. On the way home, I asked her what she wanted to do today to make it special and she said fingerpaint. So, here is the little artist at work.

Snow Days

2010-02-03T10:45:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, we were snowed in and I couldn't have been happier. I can't tell you the last time that we have spent even one full day in the house, so it was soooo nice to stay in. We were out of town during the last snow, so this was Neely's first time to play in it and she LOVED it.

Making snow angels...

I asked her if she liked the snow and she said "No, I love the snow." Haha.

Neely has inherited my sweet tooth, so we always have some kind of dessert in the house. Unfortunately, the one thing that I forgot to buy before the storm was a cake or brownie mix, so we made homemade sugar cookies. She loves to lick the beaters...definitely her mama's child.

And Neely's favorite part of the weekend....PIZZA!

Italy Day 6

2010-01-31T18:31:00.000-06:00

This was one of Brad's favorite days! As soon as we decided to go to Italy, I requested tickets for the New Year's Day Mass. We are not Catholic, but I knew that it would be a neat experience. And Brad would get to see the pope! The service started at 10, so we got there at 8 so we could get in line and try to get a good seat. This was St. Peter's Square (notice the lack of people).

The view from our seats! We got to sit directly on the aisle.

The pope leaving mass.

We spent the rest of the day visiting different churches. I would guess that we saw 15 churches. It was amazing how ornate they all were.

Italy Day 5

2010-01-31T18:25:00.000-06:00

We were exhausted after our first few days, so we decided to sleep in our first day back in Rome. We went to town and got our tickets to New Year's Day mass, ate lunch and then went to the Forum. Now, looking back, I wish I would have read up on what I was looking at, but it was still interesting. I am going to spare you the details on what is in the pictures--mostly because I have no idea.

Then we went to the Colosseum. Like I said before, I thought it was more impressive at night from the outside. Brad was impressed that the basic structure is very similar to stadiums today.

Italy Day 4

2010-01-31T18:19:00.000-06:00

We took a full day trip through the Tuscany countryside on our last day of Florence. This was one of the more touristy things we did, but I am so glad we went. It was nice to be on a bus and to get to see several places without lots of walking.

The first stop on our trip was Siena. Here, we met a city guide who showed us the highlights of the city including the square where the Palio horse race is held each year. The city is beautiful and has beautiful churches.

For lunch we stopped outside of San Gimignano at an organic farm and winery. We had a wonderful 4 course meal. We sat family-style and got to sit next to some mother-daughters that were having girl vacations. They were so interesting & made me look forward to taking Neely places!

Next, we stopped at San Gimignano which was my favorite town. It was my favorite small town.

Lots of narrow, winding streets.

BEAUTIFUL!

Our last stop was Pisa. You are now looking at all there is to do in Pisa. The church there is beautiful (more impressive to me than the Leaning Tower).

We got back to Florence in the evening and took the train back to Rome.

Italy Day 3

2010-01-30T20:00:00.000-06:00

We had a morning reservation to go to the Accademia museum. This is the museum that holds David. It is an amazing sculpture in person, but there is not much more than that in the museum, so we were only there for about an hour. Afterwards, we went to the open market and did a little shopping. We went back to the Basilica of Santa Croce. Everyone that knows Brad knows that he LOVES famous people. Dead or Alive! This church is where the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli are. Brad loved it.

Here is the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. We did a little shopping in this area before we headed to the Uffizi museum.

We enjoyed the museum, but honestly had our fill of art for the trip after 2 museums in one day. We had dinner at another place that the B&B owner recommended. The pasta was the best I had the entire trip--it was ravioli with pears in it (weird but yummy). We had gelato at Grom which is all natural and all organic. It was one of my favorites!

Italy Day 2

2010-01-30T19:45:00.000-06:00

On Day 2, we got up early and headed to Florence for 3 days. I had picked out our Bed and Breakfast off of Trip Advisor, so I was a little nervous since I didn't have a personal recommendation. Well, I was worried for nothing because it was WONDERFUL. Probably the best place I have ever stayed. We stayed at La Dimora degli Angeli. It was located in the very center of town--I couldn't have found a better location if I tried. The owner met us and went through the city map and offered to make all of our dinner and museum reservations. Perfect! Here is our room. And the view from our room. This is the Duomo, a huge church in the center of Florence.

Since we arrived on Monday, many of the attractions were closed, but it was such a nice day because we were able to relax. We visited the Duomo and climbed to the top of the bell tower. For those of you that know me, you know I don't exercise. So, this was miserable for me. By the time we got to the top, I was huffing and puffing and swore that I was about to have a heart attack. But the view was great (except that it was overcast).

We went down the street to a coffee shop that had a nice sitting area. I don't drink coffee, so I ordered hot chocolate. DELICIOUS! It was like drinking hot fudge topping.

That night we went to dinner at Transcana's near the Basilica of Santa Croce. The meal was wonderful and the service was great. Here I am in the piazza in front of the church.

After dinner we got gelato (as we did every day in Rome) and walked around the town. Brad was excited to see Tusk!

Italy Day 1

2010-01-30T19:00:00.000-06:00

Since we've been snowed in the last couple of days, I've had plenty of time to upload pictures and get caught up on the blog. I know this is almost a month late, but I still want to post about it. I am going to post the days individually because I want to remember what we did and sometimes it all starts to blend together when I don't write it down. Please bear with me...I am not a history or an art person, so my descriptions will be simplistic.

We left the day after Christmas for our trip to Rome. This was the longest amount of time that we have ever left Neely so I was so sad the day we left. We are so thankful to my parents for watching her, because otherwise we would NEVER get to take a trip by ourselves. All along I had planned to sleep on the plane the entire way there so we could get a full day in when we arrived in Rome. Needless to say, neither one of us slept a wink on the plane. So we got to Rome and crashed for 4 hours before we hit the town.

December is usually very rainy & cold, so we were prepared for the worst, but we arrived in Rome to beautiful weather. Wasn't the sky beautiful the first night? We were lucky enough to visit during Christmas so the piazzas still had the Christmas trees up and all the churches had a nativity scene.

This is the Largo de Torre Argentina. Basically this is an area they have excavated that was at one time a Roman Forum, then an 18th century opera house and now a cat sanctuary. It is in the middle of town and has hundreds of cats wandering around.

We took an evening walking tour that night. It was so nice to see all the fountains, squares, and monuments lit up at night and it allowed us to get a great feel of the city. Here is Brad in front of the Trevi Fountain.

Here is the Colosseum at night. I thought it was most impressive from the outside at night.

We had 2 great meals our first day. We had lunch at La Zucca Gialla and it was one of the best meals I had. Then we had dinner at a pizzeria that I can't remember the name of. We were exhausted after our first day, so after dinner we headed home!

Happy Birthday Neely!

2009-12-08T00:47:00.002-06:00

Saturday was Neely's second birthday. I wasn't sure that she was quite old enough to understand the concept, but when I picked her up from school, she was saying, "I a birfday princess". I think she got it. Since we are having her party next week, I wanted to have a little celebration at the house for her actual birthday. I put her gifts in the middle of the foyer so they would be the first thing she saw when she woke up...

She was so excited. Presents!!!! Balloons!!! ELMO Cake!!!

Somehow she knew how to blow the candles out...

After we had our Birthday Breakfast of cupcakes, we left for Branson to go to Silver Dollar City. It was so cold, but we all had fun. Neely loved the Frosty the Snowman show and all the Christmas music.

2-year highlights (so that I will remember)

* Neely is average in height and weight

* She loves going to Mother’s Day Out—so much that she cries when she leaves

* She was just diagnosed with milk and egg allergies.

* Her favorite drink now is Chocolate Soy Milk.

* She loves crackers, hot dogs, yogurt (soy), cheese (rice), and ice cream (soy)

* She is a very independent player—she loves to do puzzles, magnet dolls, stacking blocks

* She LOVES to dance and sing. She can sing the entire Barney song!

* She is definitely a momma's girl

* She is speaking very well, using 4 word sentences. When people ask me how many words she knows, my only response is "all of them". It's amazing what she says!

* She has been on 7 trips (24 flights!) on planes--I think I was 25 before I had flown that much

* She is still the best thing that ever happened to us

We are having her party next weekend at Gymboree. I let Neely choose what theme she wanted and she chose....Barney. Of course. I really wanted to have a monkey party because I had found (and bought) cute invitations and found a perfect cake and found lots of really cute ideas for decorations, food, and favors. I showed Neely all the monkey stuff, and she said "Mommy, me no like Monkeys." UGH. So I have made a decision, to always let birthday parties be what Neely wants and not what I want.

So check back for pictures of next week's festivities!

Dancing Girl

2009-09-10T14:45:00.002-05:00

Does it get any sweeter than this?

2009-08-31T22:23:00.003-05:00

Every night, the last thing I do before I go to bed is to sneak in to Neely's room to make sure that she is okay. I always feel her back or chest and then pray for her. And every day, I think I love her more than the day before. I know that I show her that I love her, but I don't think she will ever realize how much I do.

These feelings have really made me start thinking about my relationship with God. As God's child, he feels the same way about me as I do about Neely. He loves me more every day & I should be doing more in return. Just like I want to have a deep, loving relationship with Neely and it would hurt me if she rejected time with me, God wants the same from me. Honestly, there are days where it is easy for me to make excuses not to read my bible or do my quiet time, but thinking about that potential relationship that I am hurting motivates me to push away the excuses and do the things that I need to do.

First Day of School and Frisco Fest

2009-08-29T20:38:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday, Neely started her first day of Mother's Day Out at our church. She went to MDO last year, but went somewhere else. So, on the way I explained to Neely that we were going to church, but that was where she would be going to school too. As soon as she saw the church, she started yelling "SCHOOL, SCHOOL!" She was so excited! I was afraid that she might be nervous because she has a new teacher, but when we got in the building, she ran to her classroom and immediately climbed up on the chair and started doing a puzzle. No goodbye for me at all. I am really thankful that I have such an independent little girl, but sometimes it makes me sad that she adapts so easily and isn't very sad when I leave her. Is that crazy? Here is Neely before school: Last night, we went to Frisco Fest in Downtown Rogers. We have never been before & I have to say that it was very interesting. Not what I expected AT ALL. That said, it was a great people watching experience and we had a good time. Here is Neely at the Mobile Aquarium:

Here is Neely watching the confetti shoot. She was very concerned. After everyone sprayed their confetti, Neely looked at me and said "trash" like she knew they shouldn't be putting paper everywhere. haha.

There was also a band & Neely LOVES to dance. The picture below is of her "shaking it". She has always loved to dance and since I have absolutely no rhythm, I have always encouraged it. She starts out just bouncing with her knees & then if you remind her, she will "shake it", which means that she starts moving her arms. A few months ago, I told her to "drop it like it's hot" (I know, it must be the Blytheville coming out in me) and she squatted down to the ground and danced. She makes me laugh so hard. I also realized that I didn't need to joke around about that or she would be doing that at Sunday School. haha. Luckily she didn't "drop it" at Frisco Fest.

End of Summer

2009-08-25T21:20:00.002-05:00

We wrapped up July with a trip to Washington DC. Brad had a business trip planned, so I left Neely with my parents and went with him. We had the best time! While Brad worked during the day, I slept in & then met old friends that live in DC for lunch. It was so relaxing. I have been to DC several times before, so I felt no need to do a lot of touristy things. I did go to the Newseum (SOOO interesting), the National Portrait Gallery (blah), and did a nighttime double decker bus tour (in the rain).

Below is the only picture that we took while we were there. After we had finished dinner one night with Brad's co-workers, we were looking for something to do. Last time I was in DC, I had been to this bar/patio at the top of the Washington Hotel that looked over the city & it was so pretty and fun, so I recommended it to the group. Well, we got there and the hotel had been converted to a W hotel. We went up to the rooftop & now instead of a laidback patio, it is a SWANK nightclub. I can't tell you how old I felt. I am so not hip. So anyway, this is a picture looking out over the city, but you can't tell at all because my camera stinks.
Once we got back from our trip, we met Neely's BFF Maddox for a playdate at the Botanical Garden. I know that I have written this before, but the Botanical Garden is awesome. Here are Maddox and Neely in the tree stump.

Lions, Tigers and Bears. Oh my!

2009-08-25T14:04:00.003-05:00

We took our first trip to the Gentry Drive-Thru Zoo a few weeks ago. To be honest, I had very low expectations, but it was great! Neely loved all the animals! I thought that the drive-thru part was a little long--especially for a girl who got a large Dr. Pepper from Sonic on the way. Neely loved how the animals would come right up to the windows! She wasn't too sure about the hogs. They were pretty ugly and smelly.
She did LOVE the bunnies!

I would estimate that there were approximately 1000 ostriches there.

Telling us all about the birds...

Destin Beach Trip 2009

2009-07-22T20:14:00.000-05:00

Last week, Neely and I went to Destin with my friend, Marlana, and her family. This was a last minute trip for us, but we were happy to go. The 10 hour trip went great--not one minute of crying either way! Neely loved the beach and the ocean--It was so crazy to me how fearless she was in the waves. I am just going to post a bunch of pictures, because there is not much to say. We spent our days eating, playing on the beach, and taking naps!

Marlana and I couldn't believe how the years had changed us. We used to go to Destin and would lay on the beach and just read. Oh, how I would love to do that now!

Neely could have spent hours filling the buckets with sand...

Neely & Marlana's oldest child, Hanya

Marlana and Me

For some reason, Neely decided to be an awful eater last week. I think she had crackers and ketchup for dinner every night.

Where we've been, what we've been doing...

2009-07-18T20:33:00.004-05:00

Tonight will be the first night in 12 days that I will be sleeping in my own bed, and I am SO HAPPY. Neely and I have had a fun 2 weeks, but I am glad to be home. Let me just say once again how BLESSED I am to have such a good toddler (it hurts my soul not to write baby anymore). This girl rode 26+ hours in the car and never once fussed. I am dividing my post into two, because otherwise there would be picture overload!

So, for the first part of our trip...

On Tuesday, Neely and I headed to Little Rock to stay with my aunt and uncle (can't believe I didn't get a picture of them) because we had Dora Explorer Live tickets for Wednesday morning. We met my friends Lea and Leah from Blytheville & their 2 girls Emerson and Anna Claire. Here we are waiting for Dora to begin. I was really unsure if Neely would enjoy it for 2 reasons--1. because she is so young and 2. because she rarely watches tv and has only seen Dora a couple of times. But, she seemed to love it. She sat on my lap and watched it for the entire show. AMAZING. I am positive that I have never seen her sit still for that long ever before! Here is Neely and Anna Claire. Anna Claire is the SWEETEST little girl.
Here is what Neely thinks about getting to the show early and having to wait!

After naptime, Neely and I decided to go explore at the Old Mill in North Little Rock. This was right around the corner from where my family lived and was the perfect place for Neely to run out her energy!
She loved climbing up all the stairs and over all the bridges.

And it was absolutely beautiful. While we were there, a girl was getting her bridal pictures taken there.

On Thursday, we met my friend, Angela, from high school and her two boys at WonderPlace. Neely loved it. I so wish that we had something like this in NWA.

Neely shopping in the pretend grocery store.

Neely at the water table. I had to remind her over and over again that she couldn't dump the water on her head.

Still playing in the water table.

Making some art--that I forgot to pick up before we left. haha.

Here are Neely and Blake. He is SOOOO sweet.

After WonderPlace, we went to the Purple Cow for lunch. The kids loved their purple milkshakes and I enjoyed getting to catch up with Angela. Here are all 3 kids--Blake, Neely, and Tucker. Aren't they adorable?

Then on Friday we left for Destin...hopefully, I will post about that tomorrow!

Yard Tour

2009-07-02T21:40:00.000-05:00

I am participating in Kelly's Show Us Where You Live Friday again this week. This week's "room" is the yard/garage. There is absolutely no way that I would show you our garage, but I am really proud of our yard. When we moved into our house, I don't think Brad had ever even mowed a yard, but now he loves all the yard work. I'm not kidding.

Here is the front of our house. Brad re-did the front yard last fall.
I love the tree on the left. It blooms white in the spring & then has berries in the fall & winter.

I love the golden barberries and the roses. We have these in almost all of our landscaping. They add great color and are almost no maintenance.

And here is the backyard coming in from the side yard.

Again the golden barberries and roses--I wish they were blooming right now so you can see them. They turn completely red & are beautiful.

We use wavy petunias for a lot of the annual beds. These are so hearty and stand up the the heat.

The rock weighs 1400 pounds. When the stone company dropped it off at our house they put it in the front yard in the wet grass. I can't tell you how hard it was to get it back there.

And this is the left side of the yard. The begonias haven't really started to spread yet. I think the heat is getting to them. By the fall, they will cover the whole area.

And here is the left corner of the yard. I love that we always hear the sound of running water when we are in the yard.

And the very left side...

Looking in from the side yard... The picture doesn't do it justice. The waterfall is running and there are lots of plants and fish in the pond.

And this is the other side yard. This is where Brad puts all the plants that we have had in the landscaping and didn't belong or just plants that he likes but that don't have a home.

More of the side yard....

And Neely's swingset. This caused MAJOR issues in our house. Brad did not want to have one, but Neely loves to swing and slide, and he can't say no. One of our friends gave us this because her son had grown out of it. I sanded and stained it during Neely's naptime and made the canopy. I think it turned out great!

We added a deck on our house this week this year & I am so happy how it turned out.

I knew exactly what I wanted--a 2 level deck with built-in seating and planter boxes. The guy who built it did a great job & I highly recommend him. I'll post his contact information on the bottom of this post.

Just another angle... I am in the process of making red covers for all the furniture.

Hope you've enjoyed my tour. I have to give credit where credit is due though...

1. Brad has done ALL the manual labor and upkeep for the yard. I have not planted 1 flower nor watered one plant.

2. My cousin, Jonathan, has taught Brad all he knows about landscaping. He has worked on the design & plant selection for the entire yard. He is AWESOME. If you live in the San Diego area & would like him to do some yard design work...let me know.

3. The deck builder we used was Scott Helms. He is based in NW Arkansas & his phone # is 719-229-9816. Please tell him I referred you!

First trip to Silver Dollar City

2009-06-13T18:39:00.000-05:00

Neely and her friend Jack

Summer Days

2009-06-10T13:46:00.001-05:00

Captiva - Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday

2009-05-27T13:30:00.000-05:00

Sunday

We decided to start at the pool for Neely's first real day of vacation. Our room is so convenient to all the fun stuff! After lathering Neely up in SFP 50, we went out and the pool was PACKED. But there were still chairs in the shade, so I was happy. Neely absolutely LOVED the swimming pool. 2 of the 3 pools have beach entry, so Neely can walk in on her own and only go as deep as she wants. She also loved to jump into our arms in the deep end. I think we did this for HOURS on Sunday. Before lunch, we did a test run at the beach. She loved the sand but hated the ocean. She kept getting salt water in her eyes, and when she would go to rub them...more saltwater. We stayed on the resort and ate at Holy Smokes BBQ for lunch. It was pretty good, and the prices were not outrageous. After naptime (Brad watched Neely so I could go to the pool alone), we all went back to the pool for a little bit, but Neely had enough. We went to the Blue Giraffe for Dinner. We do not recommend it. The food was just okay and the service was HORRIBLE. I think it is our first bad experience in both times that we've been here. Of course, ice cream followed dinner. This night, Neely would not go to bed in her crib, so she slept with me. She actually did great in the bed, but I just don't sleep as well.

Monday

We decided that we would just go to the pool on Monday. She had so much fun, but by the end of the day, I think she was tired of it. The pool was great today because a lot of people had to leave to go back to school. Neely had her first popsicle. In between two of the pools they have a little area with sand and a bunch of sand toys and she LOVED that. We had lunch on property at Scoops and Slices...we were pleasantly surprised that it was pretty good. Same afternoon routine--nap, then back to the pool. For dinner on Monday night, we took a trolley into Captiva and ate at The Bubble Room. This is one of Brad's favorites from last time & it did not disappoint. Neely loved the dessert. No ice cream tonight, because I thought it was what prevented Neely from sleeping. Well, it wasn't. She slept with me again on Monday.

Tuesday

I decided that we needed to take a day away from the sun. Neely is just so fair. And even though I am putting sunscreen on her every 30-45 minutes, she is still a little pink. We had our family pictures taken this morning & then we decided to go to Sanibel to rent bikes. First, we had lunch at The Over Easy Cafe. Yummy. We had been there before & it is so good.

Obviously, Brad and my ideas of riding bikes are TOTALLY different. I imagine riding for 15-20 minutes and stopping to get a coke, then riding 15-20 minutes and then stopping for ice cream (get the picture). Brad's idea is to ride non-stop for hours. Brad was leading & we rode 12 miles today!!! INSANE. Neely got to ride in a bike trailer, so she could be protected from the sun. It really was a lot of fun, but I am exhausted.

Here we are FINALLY getting our snack at Schnapper Hotts after riding FOREVER.We rode the trolley back to Captiva tonight and ate at RC Otters. It was pretty good. We walked to the beach afterward and watched the sun set! Neely actually really liked the beach and ocean this time & had such a good time!

The beach has a little play area and Neely went down by herself for the first time--What a big girl!!!

I HEART Vacation

2009-05-23T23:25:00.006-05:00

I never would have thought that I would blog on vacation, but you know me...if I don't do it now, it probably won't happen at all. Sjnce everyone else is asleep and I am WIDE AWAKE, I thought I would do a not so quick recap of our first day!

We made it! For a little while this morning, I didn't think that was going to happen, but it did! We had a 7:45 flight out of XNA this morning, that didn't leave the gate until around 10! On that flight, we had a flight attendant that mentioned crashing no less than 10 times. Luckily, since Neely had been up since 5, she took a long nap & then I gave her a bag of M&Ms as a total bribe to be good the rest of the flight. We RAN through the Chicago airport to board immediately. This was a 2 3/4 hour flight, so I knew it might get rough. THEN, the plane stopped. We sat out on the runway for 20 minutes waiting for something to be fixed. THEN, we went back to the gate, to get it worked on some more. FINALLY, an hour later we were on our way! A long 3 hours later we were in the Fort Myers airport! (Neely did take another short nap, but I was too exhausted to enjoy it!)

We are in Captiva for the week and I am SOOOO excited to be here. For those that don't know, Sanibel and Captiva are 2 small islands off southwest Florida and they are WONDERFUL. So quaint. No chain restaurants. No chain hotels. Bike paths all in Sanibel and in Captiva, we can just take our resort trolley. The beaches are known for shelling. I'll let you know later what I think about the Captiva beaches, I have been told that they are white sand, blue water.

Most of the island has homes and cottages that can be rented for the week. That is what we did last time and enjoyed it, but since we have Neely with us, we decided to stay at a resort with kids pools and activities. We are staying here. So far it seems really nice.

Here we are leaving the resort for dinner. Please ignore how I look. I was so hungry, I just unpacked, changed clothes and was out the door. There's another good thing about Captiva--you NEVER feel underdressed. Last time I brought a whole bunch of really cute dresses & it was totally unnecessary. This time, I brought casual skirts and dressy shorts (if there's such a thing).

We went to Doc Ford's to eat. This was one place that Brad specifically requested. He reads (and I guess I do too) a series of books by Randy Wayne White. And this place was opened up by the author and it's name is based on the main character in his book. Here are Neely and Brad in front of the restaurant.Neely was so happy to be here. She was either starving or just happy to be out of the airport!Had Calamari for an appetizer and then we both got grilled fish sandwiches & they were WONDERFUL. I wish I could remember what type of fish or the seasonings & it would make it sound so much better.

This is how Neely ate the entire time. One hand in the french fry basket and the other shoveling the rest of her food! We were so stuffed when we left!

After dinner, we decided it wouldn't be our first night on vacation if we didn't have ice cream. So we went to Scoops and Slices, the resort's ice cream, candy, and pizza store. It is literally 20 steps from our room. As we walked over, Brad said, "This will not be good it being so close!" Neely was SOOO excited. She kept repeating "ice cream" over and over once we got in the car after dinner!

Oh, Dad, it's just a few steps away...Us after Scoops and Slices. Neely is covered in ice cream. Me, I skipped on ice cream, but still feel REALLY FAT from dinner.Mommy, please let me go to bed!

Hopefully, I'll post a couple more times while we're gone.

Tomorrow, we are hitting the pool and beach. We have NO PLANS! Isn't that the best?

A Name and Answered Prayers

2009-05-16T22:10:00.002-05:00

There is a name! I am so excited--my friend, Emily, has named her baby Kathleen Bess, named after both of her grandmothers. The baby is still doing well for being so small. She has moved up a level in the NICU (which is a good thing). The main thing that needs to happen to Baby Kat is that she grow bigger! This is such an answered prayer. Please continue to keep her on your prayer list. This is such a wonderful family and I know they are ready to be back home together soon.

Please Pray

2009-05-11T16:01:00.002-05:00

One of my best friends, Emily, delivered her baby girl (no name yet) today at 30 weeks. The baby is 2 pounds, 14 ounces and 15 inches long. Emily is doing fine, but the baby has a long road ahead of her. Please pray that Emily and Guy (and Hutch and Meredith) will get the rest they need and that the baby will get stronger and bigger.

Bowling

2009-05-08T17:33:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday, Neely and I met Brad and his co-workers at Fast Lanes for a charity bowling tournament. This was the highlight of Neely's trip. She could have stood there all night long without putting any money in!
Well, maybe this was the highlight of the night. The girl loves her food.

Living Room Tour

2009-05-07T20:35:00.000-05:00

Once again this week, I am participating in Kelly's Show Us Where You Live Tour.

Welcome to my living room! This is probably my favorite room in my house & where I spend a majority of my time. These pictures show a rare moment when it is not covered with toys.

Here is the entry way. I love this table--it is one of the first things I bought for the house when we got married. It was originally brown with a deer painted on the top and I got it so cheap at a discount store in my hometown. This was probably the first piece of furniture I painted and I loved how it turned out!

Here is the living room from the entry way. I have 12 foot celings in the main rooms of my house & I love them. I think it makes it feel so open! I used to have all my furniture in straight lines, but now that it is all on angles, I LOVE IT! I think it is really important to have art that you love in your house. On every trip we go on, I try to buy a new piece of artwork. This is a fabric wall hanging that we got on our trip to Egypt. I love my tree in the corner. Luckily it is fake, so I can't kill it! It's really hard to find big objects that add height, so I think this is perfect.

You are now looking at where I spend most of my time. Usually the ottoman is pressed up against the chair so I can have my laptop, a book, and the remote control right beside me. :) I think we are one of the only people in the world with a big TV still. Brad bought this TV cabinet and TV before we were married and I just can't get rid of it until it goes out.

Going in to the kitchen. The artwork above the fireplace was painted by one of my best friends for my wedding present. Of course, I love it!

Just another angle... I made the curtains myself (kind of). I bought 10 ft silk panels & then added the fabric and trim to them. I love how they turned out and saved about $100 a panel doing this myself. It was so easy and anyone can do it--you don't even have to be able to sew! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed!

I LOVE Pigtails!

2009-05-07T15:02:00.002-05:00

From the moment I found out I was having a girl, I could picture one thing...PIGTAILS! I can't think of anything cuter! Neely's hair has finally gotten long enough to put in some pigtails, and I am so happy. Now, I just need to start buying some double bows. I bought Neely a little patio set for outside, but since the weather has been so nasty, I put it together and have been letting her play with it inside. She absolutely loves it. I swear she moves the table and chairs around about a hundred times a day.

I am usually pretty strict with Neely about the food she eats, but she got to try cheese puffs for the first time last week at playgroup & now she is obsessed. I just need to throw the bag away... I have the bag in the pantry and accidentally left the door open & this is what I found.

Playdate with Emerson (still catching up)

2009-05-05T13:43:00.003-05:00

I think this will be the last of my catch up posts. While we were in Blytheville for Easter, we had a couple of fun playdates with Lea & Emerson. Emerson is a few months older than Neely & I know they would be good friends if we lived closer. Neely LOVED Emerson's cars. Luckily her Mimi bought her one of these 4-wheelers after she loved it so much at the playdate!

Just a little girl talk...

Sharing some secrets...

Going for a ride...

Some of Lea's neighbors hid Easter eggs for the kids on the golf course. Neely had fun picking up eggs.

Thanks for having us over--we had such a good time!

Can't wait to see you next time we're in Blytheville!

Easter Pictures (a little late)

2009-05-04T13:05:00.003-05:00

Neely racked up stuff from the Easter Bunny this year. The Easter basket on the left is from her Mimi and Poppa and the one on the right was from us. The eggs all had candy in them. We had planned on giving Neely her baskets after church, but she found them before we left. She was so excited by the eggs!
Then she opened every single one of them--the girl loves her chocolate!

Neely LOVES Elmo (or Melmo as she calls him).

She also loves music. She got a xylophone and a keyboard from Mimi and Poppa.

And our family picture after church.

Trip to Auburn

2009-05-03T13:46:00.004-05:00

The week after Easter, Neely and I went to Auburn to visit one of my best friends, Emily! Emily and I met when I was in the MBA program and she worked in the MBA office. Then, her husband, Guy, & I were office mates when I was in the PhD program. After that, she started in the MBA program with Brad & she is the one that introduced us. We also lived across the street from each other. So long story short...we have a lot of history. It's hard to believe that 5 years later, she has 2 kids & 1 on the way and I have a kid. We laughed a lot about how times had changed.

Emily and her oldest child, Meredith, came to pick us up at the airport. We had a super yummy meal at the Cracker Barrel.

Em and Guy have the best backyard--a big swing set & lots of trees. Neely definitely realized how fun it was outside this week. The weather was perfect, so we were able to eat outside a lot! Neely was so happy about her new friends. Please ignore her crazy hair.
All 3 kids. They look thrilled!The only pictures of the adults that we took all week:

All the girls--don't they look cute in their matching dresses?

Neely and me

Guy, Hutch, Emily, and Meredith

Guy is seriously the best cook EVER. I can't tell you how many meals he cooked me when they lived in Fayetteville. It was nice to have my personal chef back. On our last night there he made a great meal--ribs, baked beans, potato salad, and a Paula Dean pound cake.

And then our week was over. It seems like it passed in a minute. Here's Neely saying goodbye to the Atlanta airport.
Thanks for having us! We had a GREAT time.

Working Outside

2009-05-02T15:47:00.002-05:00

Once again, I wonder if Neely is really my child. Anyone that knows me knows that I am not an outdoor girl. I'm okay with just sitting outside with a glass of sweet tea, but anything more than that and I am out. Brad loves working outdoors & Neely does too. Since I knew Brad would be putting in the annuals, I got Neely a little shovel and cultivator (which she calls her fork and spoon). She has spent HOURS working in the flower beds with him. She just shovels and shovels!

She really enjoyed pulling up the pansies! We are having a little trouble with her wanting to pull up the new flowers now!

Another one of her favorite things to do is feed the fish. Almost every day the first thing she says when Brad gets home is "ish ish".

Playdate at Different Strokes

2009-05-01T09:20:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday, we met our friends Amy and Maddox for a playdate. We had decided to paint pottery at Different Strokes at 10. When we got there, the lights were off and the doors were locked. Since it was pretty outside & there was a little area outside, we decided to wait. Maddox and Neely played so well together!At 11:00, there was still no one there...the kids kept looking in the windows wondering why we couldn't go in! We went to eat lunch at McAlisters & by the time we were finished, they were open! Neely painted some presents for her grandmas for Mother's Day. She enjoyed painting for about 5 minutes, but after that not so much. I will be sure to post some pictures of the finished product when we get them back. Before we left, Neely and Maddox gave each other some love. Aren't they cute?

Kitchen Tour

2009-04-30T23:28:00.008-05:00

Kelly is hosting Show Us Where You Live Fridays.

I almost didn't do this, because my kitchen is my least favorite part of my home. I never know how to decorate it. But maybe I'll get some helpful ideas from the comments. Fruits and vegetables just aren't my thing. And decorating with animals (cows, pigs, roosters, etc.) are out because I can't decorate with an object that I eat.

So here is my kitchen. I think it is a good size and I love my countertops and my cabinets.

What I don't love is all that space at the top of the cabinets. I have 12' celings, so it just seems like a huge blank boring space. I have NO IDEA what to put up there. I threw those vases up there so they wouldn't break before I found a permanent place for them

I love my fireplace in the kitchen. It makes it so cozy in the winter.

Here is the breakfast area that is off the kitchen. I love the fabrics on the curtains and the chair! I also love how the table is on the angle. I had it straight for years & someone turned it for me and what a difference it made!

Hope you enjoyed. I hope even more that you have ideas for the tops of my cabinets!

Playgroup and Recipes

2009-04-30T18:01:00.005-05:00

Today, I hosted playgroup at our house. As usual, the adults had a great time visiting and the kids had a great time playing hard. I think there were 9 moms and 11 kids--that was definitely the most kids we have ever had over and I think they had a lot of fun. Neely loved everyone being here, but she was exhausted when everyone left. Here are a few pictures from today:

The big kids playing...

and eating lunch...
Sweet Sarah Kate playing in the exersaucer...

A few of the adults...

Yes, that is the famous Kelly and Harper--I was so excited to get to meet her today...

For the adults I made some yummy favorites and 1 new recipe--Poppy Seed Chicken, Sweet & Sour Green Beans, Grape Salad, Sister Shubert Rolls and Della's Fudge Cake. It was the first time that I made Della's Fudge Cake, even though it's a old family recipe and the Grape Salad. I am addicted to the Grape Salad after having it in a restaurant when we went to Auburn. I have to say that I thought the sweets were delicious. Here are the 2 recipes.

Grape Salad
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 pound green grapes

1 pound red grapes

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

Mix cream cheese and sugar, then combine sour cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Combine the two mixtures and add grapes. Combine brown sugar and nuts and sprinkle over top. Cover and chill 12 hours or 24 hours

Della's Fudge Cake

Cake

Measure into a mixing bowl the following ingredients:

2 cups self rising flour

2 cups sugar

Put the following ingredients in a sauce pan and let come to a boil:

1 stick margarine

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup oil

1 cup hot water

Pour over dry ingredients and add 2 slightly beaten eggs and beat until well mixed. Then add 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 tsp soda and 1 tsp cinnamon

Bake at 350 until done in a sheet pan (I think this was about 20 minutes)

Icing

Place the following in a saucepan:

1 stick margarine

4 tbsp cocoa

6 tbsp buttermilk

After this comes to a boil, add 1 box powered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup chopped pecans. Mix well and spread over warm cake

I have a lot of catching up to do, so get ready for a lot of posts in the next couple of days.

A post without pictures...

2009-04-09T22:56:00.002-05:00

So, I'm officially unemployed again. Thank goodness. I've neglected my blog. I've neglected my house. And dang it, I'm exhausted. In December, my old company called & asked if I would be interested in doing some contract work for a couple months. At that time, I thought, oh a couple months won't be too bad. I can put Neely in a MDO program a couple days a week, I'll get to see my old friends at work, do work that I like and am good at, and get paid. Sounds like a great deal! Well, a 2 month project, stretched into almost four, long nights at the computer began, constant deadlines kept coming and I was so ready to be done. So today was it. I finished my project, turned in some reports and returned my computer. About 15 minutes after I got home, a recruiter called to ask me if I had gotten "the itch" to start working again. I told him that itch had been scratched...permanently. So a long story, just to say... I am so glad to be at home again!!!

And now that I feel like a new woman, I have a new goal for my blog. I am going to try to post 5x a week. Yeah right, is what I am already thinking. But, my friend, Lea, does such a good job at daily postings, that I thought I'd give it a try.

Tomorrow, we are going to my parents' house for the weekend. Then Neely and I are going to Auburn to visit one of my best friends for a few days. We haven't seen each other in 2 years and I CAN'T WAIT to see her.

I am sure that I will have lots to blog about...

15 Month Pictures

2009-03-23T20:04:00.004-05:00

Just thought I would share Neely's 15 month pictures. She loved the bunny this year!

Who does Jesus love?

2009-03-11T14:56:00.006-05:00

Total cuteness if you can handle hearing me say "That's Riiiiiiiiiiiight" eighty thousand times.

** I just realized that the video and audio don't line up! I promise that Neely points to her body part after I name it. The cutest part is cut off--when I ask Neely who Jesus loves, she points to herself and says "me, me, me!"

Traveling Girl

2009-03-04T13:38:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, we took Neely to get her 1st passport. She was very good & patient, except for when she had to get her picture taken. They had her stand in front of a white screen, but every time they took her picture she would reach her hand out for the camera. Then, they decided that she should lay down on the screen for the picture. YEAH RIGHT. By that time, she was screaming. Finally, after about 20 times, we got a decent picture. It is so funny to think that she will be using this passport when she is 5! Here are Brad and Neely at Post Office:
Neely loves her Dora Car. She has been able to go backwards on it for months & she finally figured out how to make it go forward. Neely can now point out most of her body parts. This is what she does when you ask her to show you her teeth. Isn't that cute?

I am so, so glad that it is finally getting warm again! I plan on taking Neely to the park a bunch the next couple of days.

Walking...Finally

2009-03-03T16:17:00.004-06:00

Neely finally started walking about a month ago.

She is really confident at it now & is walking all the time!

An exciting milestone, but it definitely makes things more difficult.

2009-02-22T23:10:00.005-06:00

A few months ago, I was talking to my friend, Marlana, and we both decided that the only way we would ever consistently exercise or diet was if we would take pictures of ourselves and post them on the internet with our workout plan, so people could hold us accountable. Well that's a good theory, but I'm not quite ready for the world (or the 10 people that read this blog) to see by post-baby fat. What I am ready to do is to start a workout program again and post the details about what I did (or didn't do) and also what I am eating each day. So that all starts tomorrow. If there's not a post, please email me or comment me to remind me to get my tail in gear. (I will still continue to post adorable pictures of Neely!)

THE PROGRAM: P90X--google it ---Brad and I are both doing it.

Basically it's all about muscle confusion. It's a workout a day that focuses on a certain part of your body. It also includes a nutrition guide that I am going to try to follow. Basically we will be eating balanced meals but not stuffing ourselves silly. Unfortunately carbs are limited for the first couple of weeks.

I am super excited. My goal is to get back where I think I look good in a swimsuit. It is also to tone my midsection, hips, and thighs where I think all my fat goes. The one thing that I would really like to have are arms like Madonna's (random, I know.)

Let me give you one warning though...this could be a complete failure. The most consecutive days that I have ever worked out is 2.

Amanda

A fun day at home

2009-02-04T17:30:00.003-06:00

Since I've been slacking on taking pictures, I took a lot of pictures today. We didn't have anything planned today & I had NOTHING that I needed to do out of the house, so we just played hard at home all day long.Neely loves her ride on Zebra. Just pulled the rocks out of the fireplace--a BIG NO NO!She just got in trouble!And now resting after a long day of playing! When did you start putting blankets in the crib? I have never done it until today, but her room was so chilly & she was having a hard time sleeping. I am so paranoid about SIDS...

INSOMNIA

2009-02-01T21:37:00.003-06:00

We have had a lazy today here at the Vestal house.

I started back doing contract work a couple months ago, and ever since then I have not been able to sleep. I had this problem when I worked full time, but never imagined that it would come back just working a little bit a week. But, at 4:00 am this morning, I could have assured you, MY INSOMNIA IS BACK. I just can't seem to turn my mind off when it's time to go to bed. So, needless to say, I did not get up at 7 to go to church this morning. The 3 of us slept in & stayed in our pajamas all day. I only have a few more weeks until I am done working again & then I plan to stay unemployed for a LONG time.

Since I was a blogging slacker around Christmas time & I have been a picture taking slacker the last few weeks, I thought I'd share some Christmas pictures:Here is Neely before our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. You can't see her cute dress, but at least you can see her adorable face!This is my favorite face. Here she is with her 2 favorite toys from Christmas. She loves her newborn Cabbage Patch Doll and she absolutely loves her "smart chair". If you have a 1 year old, this is the best toy. It is the perfect size & Neely can occupy herself for lots of time in it!

And here she is with her favorite accessory--her red hat. If you have ever watched her for me, you know that she loves this hat. She carries it around, puts it on, takes it off...but don't try to take it away. :) I think it's really cute that she likes it right now, but it may get a little strange if she's wanting to wear it in July.

All kids walk in to kindergarten

2009-01-31T23:17:00.003-06:00

See this cute little girl right here:She's about to be 14 months old.

And NO, SHE'S NOT WALKING.

Those are the answers to the first 2 questions that everyone seems to be asking us recently.

Neely craws, cruises, walks behind her toys, walks holding onto my finger, etc. So her not walking really doesn't bother me, except when so many people make it out to be a big deal. Someone actually told me that I should go ahead and take her to the doctor to see if her bones are developing. I told myself that I wasn't going to worry about it because kids all walk at different times.

But for some reason, tonight I got myself all worked up about it. So I went to my trusty friend, Google. Guess what? Babies walk at all ages--anywhere up to 18 months is normal. So, now I am back to my philosophy that all kids walk in to kindergarten.

Ice Day 2009

2009-01-30T10:00:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you, but I am so tired of Ice Storm 2009. We have been so lucky that we have not lost power, but Neely and I haven't left the house since Monday & we are about to go CRAZY. Brad was out of town until Wednesday night & to be honest, we were both dying for him to get home so we could see someone besides each other.

I had not taken Neely outside to play in the snow because, to be honest, it was just ice. But yesterday, about 4 in the afternoon, I found her standing at the front window staring yelling "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII", "DOOOOOOOOOOOOG", "BALLLLLLLLLLLLLL". The kids in the neighborhood were out & Neely wanted to be out too. So, we both got bundled up to go play.
Neely loves wagons (and dogs). We are definitely going to have to get her one when spring comes.

The neighborhood girls pulled Neely around for a long time & she loved it! She never really knew what to do when she was on the ice.

Our neighborhood is almost completely flat, but somehow the kids have been sledding down the driveways. Here is Neely sledding with our neighbor.

I am so glad it is the weekend. Hopefully, it will warm up so we can get out and about.

25 Random Things.

2009-01-28T21:26:00.004-06:00

I have been procrastinating on doing a new blog post. I waited too long between posts and then just kept on procrastinating. So here's a post and maybe I'll start doing better.

I did this on facebook & thought since I spent 10 minutes on it, it needed more exposure. :)

Here are 25 random things about me. If you haven't done this in a while, I tag you to do it on your own page.

1 I am extremely obsessive compulsive. I NEVER leave the house without checking that the stove is off and that the iron is unplugged.

2 I used to think I didn't want kids, but now that I have Neely, I can't imagine my life any different or any better.

3 There are a lot of things about raising children that I said that I would never do (breastfeeding, being a stay at home mom, let the baby sleep with me, etc.) and I did them all and am proud of it

4 I love my church. It is full of people who truly love the lord and are in constant service to help others. That, my friends, it the type of church you need to belong to.

5 Grammatical errors drive me CRAZY.

6 I love to read. Everyone said that I wouldn't have time once I had a baby, but I read lots of books when she was eating and sleeping.

7 I love big family get togethers. I love all the parents, aunts, uncles & cousins all together in organized craziness.'

8 I am a chronic worrier. I don't just worry about myself, but for all the people in my life.

9 I love being a stay at home mom more than anything. Sometimes I think I might not ever get another job.

10 I love tv. WAY TOO MUCH. I especially love all reality tv, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, House, Private Practice, the list could go on & on

11 I would go back and do college all over again.

12 I would NEVER go back to high school to do that over again.

13 I have had freckles my entire life & always hated them until I became an adult.

14 For years, I got my hair cut and colored every 4 weeks. Now I am lucky to only get it cut 4 times a year.

15 I believe every recipe could be a little better if you add either cream cheese or eagle brand milk :)

16 The new hobby that I have begun working on again is sewing. I have so many plans for things I am going to make.

17 I am so happy to have such wonderful parents. I hope in 25 years, Neely and I have the same type of relationship. Just without the teenage years.

18 I am secretly scared to have a second child, because I think there is no way that I could love another child as much as I love Neely.

19 I would like to start exercising, but can never get motivated. I don't want to run a marathon, but I would like to be able to go up a flight of stairs without being winded.

20 I think having a few WONDERFUL friends is much better than having a hundred acquaintances. It makes me sad that most of my wonderful friends don't live here.

21 We have 2 dogs that we got before we had Neely. I said that I would keep loving them the same after Neely came. I don't.

22 I love to travel. We did this a lot before we had Neely. Now, not so much.

23 My biggest regret in life is not finishing my PhD. I am hoping to fix this someday.

24 I am lucky to have found a husband who loves me despite all my inadequacies.

25 I love Jesus! I try to live life according to the bible, but to be honest, I struggle everyday.

Please Pray

2009-01-16T23:05:00.002-06:00

My heart is heavy tonight. Sweet Kelly had her baby today & had a hard delivery.Harper was 9lb, 12oz, but has been diagnosed with pneumonia.Harper is being flown to Tulsa tonight to get more specialized care. Please pray for Harper, Kelly, and Scott as they go through this stressful time.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2008-12-25T00:39:00.003-06:00

Before you scroll down, let me warn you...there will be NO cute baby pictures in this post. I didn't bring my cord home, so pictures will have to wait until we get back to NWA.

Yesterday, we started our trip "home" to Blytheville. This is a trip that on a good day takes 5 hours and 45 minutes. Before we got to the tunnel on 540, traffic stopped and remained stopped. Then it moved slowly for what seems like forever. 2 hours later we were finally on 40. Already over an hour behind schedule. 5 looooong hours later we arrived home. But, it's always good to be here. (This morning in the paper it said that the bridges were iced over and they decided to call the salt trucks to spray them before they were going to let people drive on them. I guess better safe than sorry.)

This morning my mom and I braved the crowds at Wal-Mart and JC Penney to get a few last minute things (no gifts thank goodness). These kind of shopping trips reinforce the fact that I am NEVER moving back to Blytheville. IT IS AWFUL.

But our evening was WONDERFUL. Tonight, we all went to the Candlelight Service at our church. We have done this since I was a little girl and I always LOVE it. Last year, Neely slept in her carrier the entire service. This year was a little more eventful, but she did seem to enjoy it. We need to work on not saying "bounce & bounce & bounce" every time music comes on. Or yelling "BABY" every time she sees her red headed baby doll. I kept her satisfied with milk and crackers and we made it through the service. We came home, had dinner and opened presents. I think this is the last year that she won't understand Santa at all, so we took advantage of that and opened them all tonight. I can't explain how much stuff she got. I think her favorite thing was the newborn Cabbage Patch Kid or the farm animal sound book. I love to watch her learn new things so it should be fun watching her play with her new toys.

Tomorrow we go to my grandmother's for the big meal which is always wonderful. We will also stop by my Great Aunt's (like a grandmother) house. Neely is so lucky to have so many people that love her.

Well, I won't be posting for a while. Brad and I are taking our first vacation without Neely. As excited as I am, I am still pretty sad. I am going to miss that baby so much. I know my parents will take good care of her while we are gone and that she will have lots of fun. I promise to give a full report when we get back.

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Christmas day.

Not Biased At All - 1 Year Pictures

2008-12-21T14:43:00.005-06:00

We got Neely's 1 year pictures back today & I have to say that she might be the cutest 1 year old little girl I know. Not that I am biased or anything.

Denver Aquarium and Children's Museum

2008-12-09T21:38:00.000-06:00

Brad took Monday off so we could spend an extra day in Denver. Our first stop was the aquarium. Neely was really interested in the fish for about 5 minutes and then she couldn't have cared less. It was a pretty small aquarium, but it was the perfect size for young kids. Here is Neely with some tropical fish. Most of the time, all Neely wanted to do was reach over the tanks and try to touch the water.

After the aquarium, we went to the Children's Museum and she absolutely LOVED it. Here she is in the firetruck with Brad.

They had a special section for kids under 4. Here she is on the fishing dock looking over the babies.

And climbing on some trees...

And more climbing...

And rocking in the boat...

And pretending to be a vet... Well maybe not pretending, but at least dressed up like one.

And playing with the train.

And playing in the squirrel's nest? Or at least that's what Brad called it. I didn't even know that squirrels had nests. He may have made that up.

We ate at an old diner for lunch. I had the BEST chicken fried steak. Oh how I love fried food. And obviously so does Neely. I think she had a whole chicken strip and a handful of fries in her mouth in this picture.

Late in the day, we drove south to Colorado Springs. I think Pike's Peak is the mountain on the right, but I asked so many times and never really figured it out. We also drove through the Garden of the Gods. Neely slept through it all.

Before we left, we had Neely's picture taken with Santa. She was TERRIFIED. Bless her heart--she was clinging to me the entire time. So now we are back home!

Brad's Christmas Party Weekend

2008-12-09T09:08:00.001-06:00

Brad's company Christmas party was held this weekend in Denver, so we all left Friday afternoon (Neely's Birthday) to attend. Neely was SO good all weekend. We had an easy flight once again, but thank goodness it was direct. She only slept about 45 minutes, so she would have been restless if we had to go much longer. We had dinner at a tapas restaurant in Boulder. I am so proud of her for sitting through a 2 1/2 hour long meal! Here is the only picture I took on her birthday--this is Brad's boss & Neely. Here is the picture of the mountains from our hotel room. I have decided that I LOVE Colorado. I have practically packed my bags to move out there. If only housing were not 3 times the price here. OUCH.

Neely refused to sleep in the crib in our hotel room. I tried to explain the concept of the "Heavenly Crib Mattress", but she wasn't buying it. All she did with the crib all weekend was throw her toys in it.

On Saturday, we headed up to Estes Park, Colorado. Brad took a tour of the Stanley Hotel, which is the basis of Stephen King's book, The Shining. Part of the TV mini series and Dumb and Dumber was filmed here. It is supposedly haunted.

While Brad took a tour of the hotel (no one under 5 could go on the tour), Neely and I went downtown and did a little shopping. It was a little like Eureka Springs.

In her new toboggan and mittens.

FINALLY, passed out!

On Saturday night, Brad and I went to his company Christmas party. This was the first time that we had a babysitter that wasn't a relative. One of Brad's co-workers' daughter watched her in the hotel room. Here is the only picture I took (with the self timer). I totally forgot to get one taken of Brad and me. Who know's how much longer it will be before we get all dressed up again.

The past few weeks

2008-12-03T19:26:00.000-06:00

Once again, it's been a long time since I posted. So, I'll just post a bunch of pictures again.

Here are some pictures of Neely and her friend, Maddox, playing at Gymboree:

She loves playing in tunnels!

Getting close to taking some steps by herself. Loving the rocking horse!
Again, in the tunnels!

The week before Thanksgiving, we went to Fayetteville to see the lights on the square. We were going to eat at Tim's but it was SO busy, so we ate with Uncle Kris and US Pizza.

While we were in Blytheville for Thanksgiving, Neely tried ice cream for the first time. SHE LOVED IT!

Here's Neely getting her first birthday present from her Great Great Aunt Ethylen. She got a doll that looks a lot like her and a book called "Do You Wear Diapers?".

Just a cute picture from Thanksgiving week.

While we were in Blytheville, we had a birthday party for her with my parents. Here are her cakes!

In her birthday hat--it only lasted about 5 seconds!

She LOVED cake!

Still eating...

Neely looked so cute on Thanksgiving day! Here she is with mom and Kris. She didn't mind the hat at all!

And with mom by herself.

This is what Neely loved the most about Thanksgiving. Her cousin, Jack, pulled her around in the wagon in the back yard for forever. I swear they were going about 30 mph. And she loved every minute of it.

Pray for your kids

2008-11-07T22:22:00.003-06:00

Angie Smith over at Bring the Rain had a post about praying for your kids. I thought it was a good way to remember to pray for your children and also I like how she recommends praying out loud so your kids know that you are praying for them. Click the box above for more information.

Catching Up - Part 3

2008-11-07T16:33:00.005-06:00

Last week, Neely and I spent the week visiting my best friend from college, Marlana and her daughter, Hanya. This was Neely's 2nd trip on an airplane and once again it was a breeze. Here we are on the airplane. For some reason the planes were only about half full, so we always had an extra seat. This made it so much better.We had a layover in the Chicago airport and they had a special area set up for kids. They had a whole bunch of things set up for kids to crawl on. This was great for Neely and for me too. She was able to tire herself out before we had to get on the plane again. We went to the Louisville Zoo again this trip & Neely had a great time. It was exciting to see her actually realize that she was looking at animals. These are the pictures from when she was looking at the monkeys.

Before we left the zoo, Neely went on her first train ride. Here are the four of us. Aren't the girls cute in their matching outfits?Every night the girls took a bath together. Once again, aren't they cute?

On Halloween, we went to a playgroup. Neely thought this little boy was a toy.
And here are the pictures from her first Halloween.

Catching Up - Part 2

2008-11-07T09:34:00.004-06:00

Here are the pictures from our first trip to the pumpkin patch!

Catching Up - Part 1

2008-11-06T21:44:00.008-06:00

Get ready, there are a bunch of pictures coming.

A couple weeks ago, Neely and I spent the week in Blytheville.

Let me tell you, there's not much to do there, but I think we did it all.

We went to That Bookstore in Blytheville and got Neely a couple of board books and Brad a Christmas present--a signed copy of one of his favorite author's book. I can post it on here because I couldn't keep it a secret.

She went swinging at the Gosnell Park. Not 1 thing has changed in this park since I was a child.

We went to Blytheville and went to the park there. Here she is climbing up the jungle gym and trying to climb up the slide.

When we got back from Blytheville, we took Neely to her 2nd Razorback game. This game was not as fun as the first. Neely prefers afternoon games. It was chilly so I bundled her up in her new red coat and toboggan. I couldn't figure out why the hat wouldn't stay on until I looked on the tag when we got home & it was size Newborn (up to 7 pounds). Ha!

We had to leave at half time because Neely was exhausted. She fell asleep about 30 seconds in to the long walk back to the car.

Brad has been working on redoing the front landscaping. Neely is loving crawling up the dirt hills.

Here is another one of her favorite things to do now. She climbs up on the fireplace and gets the rocks out and throws them on the ground. I know she knows what she's doing because she will crawl up the step, then turn around and give a big smile before she sticks her hand in to get the rocks. What a STINKER.

More to come including our trip to the Pumpkin Patch and our trip to Louisville.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T21:19:00.002-05:00

10 Month Pictures

2008-10-27T10:49:00.003-05:00

I got Neely's 10 month pictures back over the weekend. These are some of my favorites.

Myra Wike in Bella Vista takes my monthly pictures. I am always so happy with her work and she is so affordable. The best part is that she gives you the copyright release for the pictures so you can take them to Wal-Mart and get as many copies as you want.

Family Pictures

2008-10-26T10:47:00.003-05:00

We got our family pictures back yesterday and I am so happy with them!

Here's a link to the entire session. Photo Alli Click on Client Proofing. The password is vestal.

We used Allison Rupp & she was FANTASTIC. I love how she takes pictures that seem natural instead of posed. I completely recommend her for your family pics.

Just a few pictures

2008-10-14T08:33:00.003-05:00

Last week was our last week of Kindermusik. Here are a few pics from our last class: Neely and her teacher Miss Ruth
Our class picture
On Friday, we went to a new playgroup with our friends Amy and Maddox. Here are Neely and Maddox.
I'll post more pictures later this week.

Bad, Bad Blogger

2008-10-06T20:16:00.005-05:00

I have been terrible at updating my blog. I'm not even going to try to write about what we've been up to...I'll just post some cute pictures.

A couple weeks ago, Brad, Neely & I walked in our local ALS walk. Here we are with Strike, the Naturals' mascot. Neely didn't know what to think about him. Here is Neely with one of her favorite toys. Neely doesn't suck a pacifier, but she loves to play with it.
We went to Branson yesterday. Here Neely is eating lunch and trying to feed the camera goldfish.
And lastly, yesterday was Neely's 10 month birthday. Here is her chair picture.

Woo Pig Sooie

2008-09-21T08:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we took Neely to her first Razorback game & it went surprisingly well. First, let me say that I think it is CRAZY that we have to buy a ticket for her. We paid $20 to have her sit on our laps the entire game. UGH.

We MUST get better seats next year. I keep trying to convince myself that I love our seats since they are on the 50 yard line in front row in the upper deck & we get lots of leg room but I HATE walking up all those ramps. Here are a few photos from the game:

Neely was so good at the game. Luckily we sit by really nice people and they played with Neely during the entire game. We left after the 3rd quarter because Arkansas was TERRIBLE. Here is Brad in the Baby Bjorn. He thinks it is so dorky, but Neely loves it and it is the only way she will let him carry her when I'm around.

She was exhausted when we got back to the car.

Since we were in Fayetteville, we met Kris at Tim's Pizza. Yum Yum. Obviously Neely likes it as much as we do.

We made Kris take some family pictures of us on the square. The city does such a good job on their flowers downtown.

Go Hogs Go

2008-09-18T01:02:00.006-05:00

Just thought I'd share some of Neely's 9 month pictures...

Measurements

2008-09-16T18:59:00.005-05:00

I am so sore. No I am not kidding. I am SOOOOOOO out of shape. Last night, I showed Brad my route and explained my "system". He told me at most, I ran 1/10 of a mile at a time and maybe a third mile total. My response: SHUT UP. I'm still proud of myself. I took today off to let my muscles rest. :)

About 10:00 last night I decided to start working on my curtains. I pulled the first panel out and it looked a little short, so I measured it and it was 113" long. Not the 118" that was on the front of the package. So I pulled out the rest of them to see if maybe I just didn't understand the concept of inches.

Here is the end where I lined them all up.And here's the other end.

Hmmm. Something must be wrong. Not 1 panel is 118" long and no 2 panels are the same length. PERFECT! My concept of inches is just fine.

I recovered my breakfast room cushions today. The one on the left is the new fabric. I LOVE THIS FABRIC--it makes me so happy every time I look at it.

And just because she's cute... Here's a picture of Neely swinging at the park.

And just to let you know, I am 0 out of 5 on my to-do list for this week. PERFECT!

Kidding Myself

2008-09-15T12:49:00.005-05:00

Last night, when Brad and I took Neely for a walk, I told him that I was thinking about starting running. And he laughed. Not that he didn't have reason to. I have not run since 7th grade. Even when it is raining, I don't run to my car. I HATE TO RUN. So what possessed me to go for a run today, I don't know.

I took a final swig of my Dr. Pepper, put Neely in our jogging stroller (I bought it for Brad) and started out. I decided that I would try to run 1/2 the time and walk 1/2 the time. I told myself that I would walk for 5 minutes and then run for 5 minutes. HA! So I walked for 5 minutes and then ran by 5 houses. Then I walked again. So then I started walking by 6 houses & running by 6 houses. Then 7 houses. You get the drift--except never did I run by more than 8 houses. Thank god no one was outside. It was SO embarrassing.

By the time I got home, Neely was asleep and I was hyperventilating. No Kidding. But I'm not giving up.

Accomplishments and Lofty Goals

2008-09-14T21:34:00.004-05:00

Neely has been having a really hard time with teething the last couple days, so after church and lunch we came home and stayed home. She is usually such a happy girl, but when she's fussy, she's fussy. I feel so bad for her. But, I took advantage of having Brad at home and got a couple things done around the house.

The first thing I got accomplished, was getting the fireplace taped and prepped for painting. My fireplace is one of the things in my house that I don't love. It is just TOO WHITE. My interior designer recommended that I "age" it a little to soften it. She recommended using Ralph Lauren Glaze in Tobacco, by painting it on and wiping it off. We'll see how that goes. I have a feeling that I am going to be repainting it a nice creamy color in the end.

The other thing I accomplished was finishing cleaning out the 2nd spare bedroom that is going to become Neely's playroom. Brad is so sick of me finding more things to put in the attic. But, someday I might need all this stuff. I also taped all the trim off so we could paint that room too. We have NEVER painted in our entire life, but we're going to give it a shot. Again, I have a feeling that this isn't going to work and I'll be calling Pete the Painter.

I have a lot of goals for this week. I thought I'd put them out here to make myself more accountable. 1. Finish the panels for my living and dining room 2. Glaze the fireplace 3. Pack up the baby stuff that I have piled in the hall (then have Brad put in the attic) 4. Convince Brad to paint the ceiling in the playroom 5. Finish putting the locks on the cabinets. As I write this, I realize I'll probably only do about 2 of these, but oh well.

Everyone have a good week!

Crawling, Eating, and Pulling up

2008-09-13T16:53:00.004-05:00

Everyone told me to enjoy Neely before she was mobile. Now I know what they were talking about. She has a new favorite toy...
On Friday, we had lunch with our friends Kristy and Byron. Don't you just want to squeeze his cheeks? I know I do. Byron is 4 months older than Neely, so I get to ask Kristy all the questions I have. Right now, I am stressed about what to feed Neely. I am so BORED with baby food.
Today we did our weekly family trip to Fayetteville. My new curtains FINALLY came in, so we picked those up...I am so excited. I am going to work on finishing them this week. We ate lunch at McAlisters and then went to my favorite place...Target. And a picture showing off her newest skill--pulling up. Notice all the UGLY babyproofing stuff. I swore that I wasn't going to buy this stuff, but again I EAT MY WORDS. I would feel so bad if she fell and bumped her head on the bricks and the gate keeps her from the dog food.

Sleeping, Playing, and Decorating

2008-09-11T16:52:00.003-05:00

Neely is FINALLY going to sleep on her own. I've found the key to getting this to work is to put LOTS of stuffed animals in the crib when I put her down. She usually plays for a few minutes and then folds herself in half and falls asleep. After a while she gets laying flat, but I think it's too funny. Here she is a few minutes after she fell asleep for her nap.
On Wednesday, we met with a playgroup that we just joined. There are 6 babies in it and they are all between 8 and 10 months and they are all only children. It's been fun getting the babies together and visiting with the moms. The great thing about this is that when we leave Neely is EXHAUSTED. She took a 2 hour nap on Wednesday!!!
Today we went to Kindermusik and then to our Sunday School class playgroup. This is always a fun day because Neely gets to hang out with a bunch of kids and I get to get to know my class members better. Neely took a nap for an hour and a half today. PRAISE THE LORD!While Neely napped today, I worked on recovering my dining room chairs. They were an ugly brown fabric to start with & I covered them with a really textured lime green fabric. The picture doesn't do them justice, but I love them. Brad said he really couldn't tell the difference. Boys.

Tonight I start Bunko. I've never played before, but I'm really looking forward to it. Brad will be putting Neely down for the night for the first time. Keep your fingers crossed it goes well.

So So HOT

2008-09-08T15:25:00.006-05:00

Our air conditioner went out on Saturday evening. I am dying. We have had the air conditioner repairman at the house for the last two days and it looks like it is going to be TOMORROW before it's fixed. I am trying hard to keep a good attitude, but it's not working very well. We keep the thermostat on 68 ALL the time & 80 is unacceptable to me.

We had a busy week last week. On Tuesday, we went to lunch with my friends from work--Tracee and Lisa. Here we are after we had dinner at Chick Fil A on Thursday. Isn't her outfit cute? Brad said that she kind of looked like a clown. :(

On Friday, Neely turned 9 months old. I can't believe it! Look at how much she's grown...

9 Months

6 Months

3 Months

1 Month

Today we went to a new playgroup at Barnes & Noble. There were several babies that were between 8 and 10 months old. Neely had a really good time & I was able to meet a few really nice moms.

Tomorrow is Neely's first day at Mother's Day Out, so I have a bunch of things planned while I'm baby free.

I used to be smart

2008-09-04T08:06:00.002-05:00

Tuesday was a day I've been looking forward to for a couple weeks--Neely's first day of Mother's Day Out. I put her bag together Monday night and made a list of all the things I wanted to get done while I was baby free. I was super excited about my upcoming day.

I woke up with the alarm at 7:30 and got myself and Neely ready. We headed to the church. When we got there, there were only about 5 cars in the parking lot. I realized that this was either a real crappy Mother's Day Out program or I had messed up the date. Since I was already feeling embarassed, I called the church from their parking lot and found out that it doesn't start until NEXT Tuesday.

Pregnancy brain never ends.

Labor Day and Crawling

2008-09-02T16:46:00.004-05:00

On Friday, we packed up the car and headed to the promised land of Blytheville. I LOVE to go "home". I know that I will never move back there, but I love to visit. I love how everyone knows everyone and you always see lots of people you know when you go to Wal-Mart.

It's a 6 hour drive to Blytheville. This is Neely as we head out. She stayed happy until about Mountainburg. :(

On Saturday, we went and had lunch with "Aunt" Sandra.
Saturday night, we headed to Wal-Mart. I wasn't able to get a good picture of Neely's new Razorback cheerleading outfit.
On Sunday, we went visiting. First, we went to see my Great Aunt Ethylen. She just adores Neely and wants to hold her all the time. Neely will tolerate being held for about 30 seconds.
Next, we went to visit my grandmother. Neely is her first great-grandchild. I wish I would have taken a picture of all the pictures she has framed of Neely. Here's a picture of the 4 generations.
And since Brad never gets in the pictures, here he is with my grandmother, Neely and I.

Lastly, the most exciting (and nerve wracking) news... Neely is really crawling now. I can't keep her still. She is so proud of herself. I have spent the entire day chasing her around the house. Now, I wish I would have listened and started babyproofing BEFORE she started moving.

Good TV

2008-09-01T23:12:00.005-05:00

This is my favorite time of year. Yes, I love the cooler weather, the pumpkins on front porches, Razorback football season, and all the typical fall stuff, but the real reason I love this time of year is that good TV is back on!!! 2 of my guilty pleasures started this week and I am so excited. Brad is not happy. Both of these shows are extremely cheesy. In the especially cheesy parts, I pause the DVR, look at Brad and say in my most serious tone: "This is such good TV". He hates me.

My first guilty pleasure is Greek. First let me say that I can not believe that this comes on ABC Family. This is not what I will be watching with Neely. EVER. If you haven't watched it, it's about stereotypical Greek life. And, there is nothing realistic about it. At all. I can't explain why I love this show. Maybe it's because it makes me want to go back to college, but who knows?

My second guilty pleasure is Gossip Girl. The season premiere was tonight. Another one that's not for the kiddos. I swear I don't think there is anything on TV now at night that is appropriate for kids (especially not this). This show follows a group of prep school kids that live in New York City. A lot of dating and partying goes on, but not any school work. This show definitely doesn't make me want to go back to high school (nothing does). It does amaze me what these kids in high school do though.

Now you know that I have the taste of a 13 year old in picking out my tv shows.

We had a great trip home over the weekend. I'll post about that tomorrow.

Week in Review and lots of pictures

2008-08-29T11:56:00.005-05:00

We have had such a busy week!

On Monday, we went to eat with our new friend, Kelly. She is super sweet and is having her first baby, Harper, this January. We ate at Copelands and as usual Neely ate a whole bunch of Cheerios. Here is a picture of us that Kelly took.

Tuesday was a super laid back day. I think this was the first day Neely and I didn't have anything "planned". We just laid around the house and made a late afternoon run to Wal-Mart. I think Wal-Mart will be Neely's first word since we go there so often.

On Wednesday, we had lunch with people from my old office and my old buyer at Smokin' Joes. Once again, Neely ate a whole bunch of Cheerios. I can't wait until she can eat some real food. In the afternoon, we had a photo shoot with our new camera.

Yesterday we had some funniness at the house. We are changing one of the guest rooms into Neely's playroom. I knew that Kris's (my brother) roommate had been sleeping on a futon, so I offered the old mattress to him. I told him to find a truck and he could come pick it up. They showed up yesterday to pick it up. This was how they carried it home:This is a picture of Kris and his roommate. They are so funny with Neely.

Here's Kris and me with Neely. He really needs to shave.

We are heading to Blytheville today. I am so looking forward to it, but dreading the drive. We are going to miss the Razorback game this weekend, but I promised Brad this would be the only one we would miss this year. I will be taking lots of pictures and promise to post more frequently next week.

Lazy Weekend, Boring Post

2008-08-24T17:20:00.003-05:00

We have had such a lazy weekend.

We went out to dinner Friday night at the Dixie Cafe (as usual, we were the youngest people there, but I LOVE IT!). Neely had her first "real" vegetables (not baby food) and she was not a fan. She would put the carrots and green beans in her mouth, smoosh them up, and then spit them back out. I wish I could have gotten a picture. Her faces were too funny! When we got home, we has her playing on her belly and she started CRAWLING for the first time. She doesn't crawl well, it's more like scooting, but we're still counting it!

Yesterday we stayed in our pajamas until noon and then went shopping a little bit. We grilled out last night and it was so good.

This morning we all slept through church! I can't believe it! I woke up this morning looked at the clock and couldn't believe it. I guess I forgot to turn the alarm on since I don't use it during the week anymore. I am so disappointed in myself. I was so looking forward to it this week. So, we've just lounged around today too.

I am going to get a new camera tomorrow, so maybe my posts won't be so boring.

Life, Kindermusik, and Decorating

2008-08-21T23:21:00.003-05:00

First off, let me say once again. I love my new life. I am so appreciative that Brad is so supportive of my decision to stay at home with Neely. We are just having a blast. Neely is so much fun at this age and she is so cuddly right now. Sometimes after she goes to bed at night, I want to wake her up just to spend more time with her. It's amazing how in love I am with that little girl.

So today we started Kindermusik with Miss Ruth. It's a really small class with only 4 kids, but Neely loved it. She just squealed and jabbered the whole time. I am so glad that I am doing this so she can spend time with kids her own age.

I would have taken a picture, but I dropped my camera and broke the LCD screen. :(

I have been up late thinking about how I want to decorate Neely's playroom. I'm really torn between going all out and making it super cute or just making it into a junk toy room. One thing that bothers me is what would happen if we had another baby. I want to always have a guest room where my parents can stay, but if I have another baby I would either have to lose the playroom or the guest room. oh the struggles I have. :) I think the solution is to get a new house, but I don't think I'm going to suggest that to Brad 6 days after I got my last paycheck.

Be still my heart

2008-08-20T13:43:00.004-05:00

Today I bought something that makes my life complete.

I kid you not. I don't think I have ever been so incredibly thrilled with a purchase. I have wanted one of these since I was about 10. And then when I went to Sherwin Willams today to pick out paint samples for Neely's playroom, I saw it...for only $9.99!!! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! Words can't describe my excitement.

Help, Help, Help

2008-08-19T14:37:00.003-05:00

I am working on putting together my living room and dining room curtains and can't decide what fabric to use. I have purchased red silk panels & am planning on adding a yard of a coordinating fabric to the top. Which one do you think?

The floral fabric is the upholstry fabric I am using for my breakfast nook chair cushions. I am planning on putting a big trim between the 2 fabrics on the curtains.

Blogging Genius

2008-08-19T11:43:00.001-05:00

After 3 days of struggling with it...I finally have a pretty background!

Week In Review

2008-08-14T21:48:00.005-05:00

I am wrapping up my first week as a stay at home mom, and I must say...I LOVE IT! It's been amazing how relaxed I've felt this week.

Neely and I have had so much fun. We had lunch with Lisa on Tuesday and Uncle Kris on Wednesday. We've been to the fabric store to pick out drapes and order fabric. We went to our first playgroup.

Brad has been gone all week & I am so ready for him to be home.

Here are a few pictures from the week:

She didn't get the message that I was working on decluttering the house...

Her first night sleeping 13 hours without a feeding...woo hoo!!!

Playing with her new activity table...

And finally, an example of my great parenting skills:

After she finished eating her vegetables, I let her play in them so I could eat my own dinner.

Yes, she is sucking the sweet potatoes out of her bib. I am so proud.

She may not look like me, but...

2008-08-12T11:00:00.002-05:00

Proof that Neely really is my child.

Free at last!

2008-08-10T21:18:00.004-05:00

It's a little surreal to think that I don't have to get up & go to work tomorrow. I'm so pumped! This is the first Sunday night in a long time that I have actually felt relaxed.

Neely and I don't have much planned for the week. Brad is leaving for Vail tomorrow, so it's going to be just us girls all week. I have been making a mental list of all the things I am going to accomplish once I quit working, so we'll see how that goes. My first thing on the list is to get my house clean and clutter free. Tomorrow I'm planning on tackling the master bathroom.

Baseball is boring...

2008-08-08T23:03:00.004-05:00

Arvest Ballpark opened this year and Brad has been wanting to take Neely to a game. I don't think he understands that Neely thinks baseball is boring too. But, since the weather was so nice tonight, I suggested we go. The game was at 7:30, which is usually Neely's bedtime & since she didn't take a nap today AT ALL, I was expecting a really fussy baby. But as usual, she was perfect. She smiled and babbled to all the people around us and was too cute. Not only is baseball boring, it is also SLOW--we stayed over an hour and they only got through 2 innings. UGH. Here's a picture of us as we're leaving the game.

I had my last day of work today. Woo Hoo! My office got me a gift certificate for several months at gymboree as a going away present. I was so excited. I had already planned on getting her involved in that & now I definitely will. I will definitely miss the people I worked with, just not the work. Picking Neely up from daycare for the last time was REALLY sad. These ladies just love her and I feel guilty taking her away from them. CRAZY--I already know. They gave her a sweet going away present too--some bath toys (they know how much she loves the water) and a framed picture of Neely and the teachers. So sweet. They also gave her a card with personal messages from the teachers. I just cried when I read the notes. Neely has truly been blessed to have them in her life.

Tomorrow I'm going to write about John Edwards. The whole situation just makes me sick.

On a final note--two days in a row...how bout that?

Update

2008-08-07T21:28:00.005-05:00

Lots of great things have been going on in our lives lately!

First things first--tomorrow is my last day of being a working mom! I am so excited. Although I have loved my job (most of the time) the past four years, I have just not been excited about it since I came back from maternity leave. The company was so great to let me work part time, but I was still SO exhausted. Getting up at 5:30 is just not for me. I know that there will be some days that I will miss the people at the office, but I know that I am going to LOVE being at home with my baby girl. The only thing that makes me sad about quitting my job is taking Neely out of daycare. I know, it sounds crazy. But she loves it! I really do give daycare a lot of credit for her being such a happy baby.

Neely's 7 Month Portrait

Neely is 8 months old now. I can't believe it. She's been very busy learning new things--she is babbling like crazy, scooting around on her behind, standing holding on to the furniture, and just started waving. Of course, I think she is just crazy cute.

Brad started a new job. Still a supplier for Wal-Mart, but a small company that is based out of Colorado. So far it seems like a really great job with one exception. The company is very environmentally conscious, so Brad has been trying to incorporate this into our household. One problem--I don't believe in recycling. Too much stinkin trouble. Maybe I'll give in soon, but it's been fun listening to him explain over and over again how I can't "choose" to not believe in recycling.

Stay tuned for more updates. Now that I'm going to be staying at home, I plan on doing lots more blogging.

My first post...again

2008-07-18T19:38:00.003-05:00

Okay. I'm starting over. My first try at blogging was a complete failure. Once I missed a few days, it was too hard to go back. I decided it would be easier to pretend like my old blog never existed.

So....I'm starting this blog to document what's going on in our lives for my friends and family that live far away. Neely is getting so big. She is seven and a half months now and is just so much fun. My life completely revolves around this sweet little girl.