A Pirates Life For Me

Jack had his Halloween party at school today and got to wear his costume for the first time. This has been a much anticipated event around here.

I honestly had no intentions of trying to get pictures of him before heading out the door for school, but when he asked I couldn't resist. Yes, my child asked me to take pictures of him suited up and then when I went to put the camera away he said "more pichures peas".

The entire time I was getting him dressed this a.m. he stood in front of the full length mirror in my bedroom and grinned. After checking out the pictures I just knew I had to give a little sneak a peek. I know I'm the Mommy, but you can not deny how cute he looks in his costume (and we still get to wear it 3 more times)! Oh, and this year, as opposed to last...he was all about the hat. Mmmmm, I love my little "Shipmate"!

It took everything Jack had to stand still for that picture. He was so excited that all he wanted to do was show off his best pirate impersonations.

Like I said...pirate impersonations. This is him chanting "arrrrgh shipmate" with a flail of the arm and kick of the leg.

Another pirate jig.

And finally my little "shipmate" slowed down to look up and tell me he was ready for his party at school.

Showered With Pink

On Sunday Maggie and I were showered with all things pink and girly at a beautiful luncheon to celebrate her upcoming arrival. It was such pleasant and thoughtful surprise to be given a shower for baby number 2....( I think it had something to do with her being a girl:) Whatever the reason, it was beyond my expectations with precious decor, amazing food, absolutely adorable frilly gifts, and extremely special friends. This girl thing sure is fun so far!

Before my list of adjectives dwindles away, let me get to the pictures to show you the cuteness the afternoon held--you know pictures are worth a 1,ooo words or in this case adjectives....

I must start with the most wonderful hostesses in the world. Thank you Allison, Erin, Cristina, and Karen...you have no idea how special you made Maggie and me feel. We are two very blessed girls to have friends like you all! ( and in case you are wondering--NO, we did not plan the color coordinated outfits--there is just something about gray and fall I suppose, trust me there was enough color elsewhere)

The yummy food table. Not only was it pretty in pink, it was delicious. My fave were the mini strawberry cakes...mmmm!

Okay, maybe there was tie with the delish pettifores. How sweet is the "M" for Maggie? Almost too cute to eat.



A close up of the food table decor. The green card in the back is the precious invite. The original has an additional pink hounds tooth card bordering it with a lime green bow. I hung it up in Maggie's nursery and the colors are perfect!




The darling pink and green clothes line. I am sooooo into pink and green right now, love it!

Look at these favors! They were displayed right above the clothesline. I just love the mini clothespin. And the carriage on the sticker looks like the one on the invites. The girls gave me lots of extra stickers too. I plan on using them on her thank you notes...so fun!

Kristen, Erica, Cristina, and Karen enjoying the yummy lunch. If you can believe this, almost all of the guests and hostesses were pregnant with spring babies! (not necessarily the ones pictured here;)

The gifts were way too much fun. I didn't have to worry about the things I needed this go around. It was all about cutesy goodies that you would feel guilty buying yourself. Isn't this ballerina onesie adorable? Maggie's name is monogrammed on the top. She is going to be so pretty in pink!

More monogrammed goodies and in my favorite colors...pink and green!

This little lavender smocked dress is going to make it very hard to wait for spring....gorgeous!

The only thing left to do is wait for our Marvelous Maggie to arrive. Her nursery is complete and she has been showered with gifts galore. Only 12 more days!!

Fall or Winter Festival?

Brrrrr...we spent another freezing day outside on Saturday. It was Jack's pre-school fall festival and after a week of very mild temperatures, we got hit with mid 50 degree highs.

Again, my festive tee plan was a bust. This time we wanted to show off our Halloween spider shirt. And we did...for about 30 minutes. Even layered to the kilt, I had to give in and put Jack's pull over on. I don't ever remember long sleeve tees being a problem during fall around here until this year. I am just not a cold weather person and to spring it on me this early really irks me. My poor Maggie with her November birthday!

But on to the festival. Did Jack even notice the chill? Doubtful, he seemed to have a great time even with his very pensive expression during the whole festival. He was very quiet, which is unlike him, although I probably couldn't have heard him over the wind gusts anyway. But, I was convinced he had a fun because once we got in the car, he relived the whole event detail for detail.

We have this same picture from last years festival. Jack was bit smaller and wearing a precious Frankenstein tee (without all of the layers). I must admit it was much easier to get him to "pose" this year, although I did get that cheesy grin!

After this lollipop, everything on Jack was red...his clothes, his cheeks, his teeth, his nose, and his hands. I think it took about 14 baby wipes to recover from this one.

Animal bowling was our class booth. I had to volunteer for an hour, so Jack hung with me while we waited for Daddy to meet us from his tennis match. Needless to say, Jack got to play several times ticket free and scored strikes 90% of the time. Oh, and ignore that foolish man behind Jack with the shorts on...I promise it was cold!

Jack waited very patiently for his 4 ticket pony ride. He had requested a yellow pony, but when the brown one was the last left, he declared "he has yellow hair". Whatever works!

Maggie's Nursery

Maggie's nursery is FINALLY complete. If the drama that went into this room is any indication of the drama a little girl might bring....we are in trouble! After trying 4 different floor rugs, having her name painted 3 times above her crib, having the wall color redone 2 times, and changing her bedding sheet color once, I present...

(A very Pink) Maggie's Nursery

This is the view from the door. When I picked out the fabric for her bedding, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be decorating with bubble gum pink. There is a pale pink and yellow stripe in the fabric on the the window treatments and her bed skirt...I thought those would be "my colors". Boy, was I wrong--the bedding got lost when I tried to use those colors for the rug, walls, and accessories. After many tries and much advice, I figured out--bright pink it was--so here we go...

The same sweet rocker that we used in Jack's nursery. I chose white when I was prego with him, in hopes that one day we would have a little girl. And look it managed to stay white even through a very spitty J. I have a feeling I will be spending many nights in that chair in about 17 days. Yikes, did I just say 17 days?

This is also the same book shelf Jack used. I, of course, added some pink accessories and girly toys. I had the picture frame on top of the shelf custom made to match her room. I can't wait to put a cutesy newborn shot of her in there!

This is the changing table, obviously. I had the laundry hamper liner made to match her bedding and the changing pad cover is the same fabric of the cording on her throw pillow that was on the rocker. It's hard to tell in this picture, but her walls are a very pretty yellow. Not as pale as they look here, but not too bright either. I'll spare you the details of the wall color drama (and believe it or not, the yellow I chose wasn't even the problem). I must thank my dear friend Karen here for helping me with this one:)

How sweet are these? These door knobs are on her closet doors. I had these custom painted to match her bedding--found the artist on http://www.etsy.com/ (my latest obsession). These are the EXACT colors in her bedding! I couldn't have been happier!

I just had to show you her Bla Bla doll on the top shelf. Jack has a green monkey that I got him when he was a little guy. Naturally, I had to get one for Maggie too. When I saw the pig, I knew it was the one...it matches her room perfectly. I'm sure it won't be long when it's off the shelf and in bed with her too.

So there it is, finally! Very pink and very girly, would you have expected anything different? I must admit that I do walk in there on occasion and think 'wohhh, that's bright'. But, my theory is a cheerful nursery for a cheerful girl, at least that 's what I'm hoping for. And I'm also hoping a lot of her accessories can easily be transferred into a big girl room. I couldn't take anything of Jack's with me to his big boy room. Clay will be sure to like my economic thinking.

The Great Pumpkin Patch Risk

We took a huge risk on Sunday in taking Jack for our annual Pumpkin Patch visit. You see he has been battling a terrible cold for the past 3 days which has resulted in many sleepless nights and naps. On Saturday, after a visit to urgent care, he was diagnosed with a right ear infection (that's number 9 for those of you counting).

Call me brave or just stupid, but we decided to do it anyway. It was the ONLY weekend left this month that our calendar wasn't full. And with Grammy and Grampa in town, it was our planned activity. Jack had literally been counting down the days for the past 2 weeks.

I'm happy to say, I'm glad we did it. During the visit at the patch, Jack actually enjoyed himself. He checked out all of the pumpkins, the so called "petting zoo", took a tractor hay ride, and even ate some popcorn. He had a lot of fun (for someone feeling really under the weather) and actually smiled 90% of the time. On the flip side, the ride there and the ride back were a bit of a challenge, and the evening that followed, and actually everyday since, but at least we got our annual visit in and have the pictures to prove it.

It was quite chilly out there--the past two years we've had shorts on! But, I was dying for Jack to sport his adorable pumpkin shirt that Amy made him (thanks AMY)! So I threw some layers on under it and brought a coat and fleece along. You'll see by the end of the visit, I was feeling a tinge guilty and Grampa was very concerned, so we covered the pumpkin tee with his fleece. Luckily, we did get several pics in his festive shirt before hand.

Enjoy the show and Happy Fall to All!

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**Update...since this post, I took Jack to his real DR after things were just not getting better. It seems he was misdiagnosed on Saturday (urrr to those Urgent Care people!) He actually has the coxsackie virus and has been in extreme pain...and VERY difficult if I might add! We've been on an antibiotic for no reason, all the while I should have been giving Motrin for the the pain...poor guy! (BTW, as scary as the name of that virus sounds--it's very common in infants and toddlers)

Putin' On The Ritz

October is crazy for us. I'm telling you we have something going on every weekend up until the minute Maggie arrives. Nothing like staying busy to make the time pass.

This past weekend was no exception. One of the few perks to Clay's job is an annual conference at the Ritz Carlton on Reynold's Plantation...absolutely beautiful and sooo kid friendly. I strongly recommend it to anyone. This was actually mine and Jack's 3rd year tagging along. Usually we go in July/August, but this year it was our jam packed October. The first year J was only about 3 months old and I think Clay was just trying to get me out of the house...have I ever mentioned Jack was a very hard newborn? Last year Jack was closer to 16 months and it was definitely more enjoyable. However, he was was still napping twice a day, couldn't swim and talking very little. So, this year at a whopping 30 months old-it was perfect! Jack had an absolute blast, I felt like I was on vacation, and Clay only had to work half of the time. I'm telling you--it was absolute perfection!

Initially Clay was worried about how Jack and I would keep ourselves entertained while he was at the conference, seeing how it was October and all. However, last minute Clay suggested I bring Jack's bathing suit "just in case". "Not a chance", I thought, but I reluctantly packed it. Well come to find out, the pool was heated and the weather was beautiful. I can even say it was hot out there. Good call on Daddy's part.

We started our vacation out on a cloudy semi-cool morning. Again, I thought there was no chance of Jack wearing a bathing suit. So after breakfast, Jack and I took a nature walk on the grounds and played on the playground in the courtyard area.

We eventually made our way down to the "beach" at the lake's edge. By this time the sun was beaming and kids were swimming everywhere, many of them in their clothes. I guess their parents were thinking the same thing I was. I hung out on a lawn chair while Jack 'CAREFULLY' played on the beach. And by carefully, I mean no sand or water on his clothes. And if it got on his hands, you better believe he was off to rinse them in the lake immediately. I kept encouraging him to get in with his clothes..."it's okay, we have more clothes in the room, we'll change when you are finished playing". But, oh no, he wouldn't think of it....it was pitiful-- he wanted to get in sooo bad with the other kiddos.

So, I did the unthinkable. I stripped him down at the water's edge and let him run wild....naked. He LOVED it. I saw a cautious reserved 2 year old transform before my eyes into a wild adventurous tot. It was great! He was covered in sand from head to toe and didn't think twice about getting wet. He had the time of his life and the fellow beach goers didn't mind either, they thought he was a riot to watch.

When a wedding began to assemble on the lawn behind us, I decided it was time for us to head up to the room to get proper swim attire. Daddy met us there and the boys changed into their swim suits. I opted out:) Jack and Daddy filled the rest of the afternoon swimming in the outdoor pool before lunch and naps. After naps, Jack was rearing to go again. We rented fishing poles and headed down to the dock. Jack was by far more interested in the worms than the actual task of fishing. However, he did hang patiently on the end of the dock waiting for a fish to bite. It was Clay and I who gave up and lost patience....maybe next time.

To top our evening before dinner we rented a canoe and headed out on the lake. I wasn't sure how Jack would do with this...being the cautious type and all. But, he was great!! A little fear in his eyes when the boat rocked as I boarded, but after that all was well. His narration about the nature around us was very impressive....from the birds overhead to the island in front of us to the fish below. Jack was an excellent tour guide.

So that's how we spent our days. I am so bummed that I forgot to bring my camera out in the evenings. They have a campfire and all the kids and parents make s'mores every night. Jack got his fill of dessert with "maushmellow cookees" after our dinners. Needless to say, Jack was up way past bedtime and he would be feeling it come nap time...actually we all were. He did surprise us with being a great sleeper though even with us all sharing a hotel room. It was like one big slumber party in there. Next year it will be 4 of us...wow!

Ta Da!

As of today, I officially have....

*a foyer ceiling
*new basement carpet--that is amazingly soft
*a new floor in my laundry

and...

Maggie's room is complete and I am finally happy with it! (pics coming soon)

Life is good.

(I'm starting to think this natural disaster might have been a blessing in disguise. I always hated my basement carpet and my laundry room floor--but, God please don't get anymore ideas.)

Just The Girls

I spent a fab couple of days with three of my high school friends this past weekend. 5 weeks out from newborn arrival and a house under construction, let me tell you--it was just what I needed.

I didn't have to venture too far from home either. Stephanie and Amy made the trek up here from Mobile to see Erin and I. (Thanks girls for doing the traveling!) To make it feel a bit more like a vacation we did book a suite at a historic hotel in downtown. (Thanks to Erin for doing all of the planning!).

Our weekend was packed--it started at dinner with unexpected visitors. After choosing to eat on the outdoor patio at a local BBQ joint, we were unpleasantly joined by bugs--the really gross kind, so gross I can't even bring myself to type the word. Needless to say dinner was cut a bit short. We spent our days shopping, getting pampered with pedicures (which I desperately needed after traipsing around in basement flood water), eating out...bug free, and catching up. We did always find our convos reverting to kids, husbands, and even stain removal tips. However, the joy of talking to adults was priceless, no matter the topic. I think we all impressed ourselves with staying up past midnight chatting and playing games. Needless to say, I did come home Sunday and take a looong nap. Thanks Clay for letting that happen:)

But, I must admit, my favorite part of the weekend was the surprise mini shower the girls gave me right in our hotel room. Pettifores, flowers, and baby goodies made it the real deal. So sweet and such a surprise and Maggie didn't do so bad either. A giant thank you girls for a stress free weekend and helping to celebrate my baby girl!

Sweet little gown...I swear Jack spent the first 3 months of his life in these. And if I had to guess-Maggie will too.

How precious is this little outfit? I can't wait to doll her up in bloomers. So fun!

Is this blanket not gorgeous? I guarantee my fall baby will have this draped over her a lot this winter.

Spooky Days Ahead

Jack and I spent the entire afternoon going through our Halloween box. The past two years I have spent the first day in October trying to keep Jack's hands off of everything. But, this year it was pleasantly different.

We both had a great time sitting on the foyer floor digging out spooky decor and finding places to put it throughout the house. I had to let a little of my Type A personality go when Jack wanted to 'help' hang the Halloween garland on the banister or put the witch almost on top of the Halloween sign, but again, so worth it.

It seems this year we're both really excited for the spooky holiday. Jack totally gets the idea of his costume and even made the decision as to what he wanted to be. He is extremely into his Halloween library (except for the 'scary' book which gives a haunting laugh at the end). And he asks daily when we will be going to the Pumpkin Patch. I think I'm lovin' 2 years old! So here's to spooky days ahead and all of tricks and treats they hold...

Jack and Daddy hung these skeletons from the tree in our front yard (but, only after Jack danced with all 6 of them). Oh, and the lack of pants is due to the fact we were sporting "big boy undies'--got to have quick access to the potty when the time comes:)

This might have been Jack's favorite part of decorating. He hung these Martha Stewart spider window clings all around our sun room windows. The best part...some windows have 5 or 6 and some have none. Again, my sweet 2 year old is helping me learn to just let some things go (and I'm actually enjoying it).