Today...Last year...

**This post is rated R...for exposed skin!**

Yes - I rocked a bikini...and proud of it (before I was pregnant I said I would NEVER sport a 2 piece preggers.....)

Last year...on this day, I was enjoying a little of this with my pal Katie & Hollie.

Ella

Please take a moment and look at this beautiful little girl...

This is sweet Ella. I have had the privilege of watching her grow her first 2 1/2 years of life as I lived in Atlanta. She is sassy, spunky, hilarious and sweet - pretty much the perfect package.

She is my little cousin and has Adrenal Carcinoma Stage 3, diagnosed about 3 weeks ago. After surgery to remove the orange size tumor, she began chemo yesterday. She will undergo chemo for about 6 months.

For more information on Ella's story, please visit HERE!

Ella's parents are Sheli and Robert and her big brother is Cole. Please pray for strength and healing as they begin this journey.

Best Night in C-Town YET!

Last night was just a usual night. I cooked dinner while lil' man played. Then he tried mommy's favorite food.....HOT DOG (ok, I gave him organic turkey dog with NO NITRATES...but looks the same!)

Then lil' man and I ran to go pick up a movie @ Red Box and came home for bath & bedtime routine. I just really am having trouble with the fact that lil' man is drinking his milk from a sippy cup. BIG BOY!

As I was laying lil' man down in his bed...the door bell rang. I thought it was probably a neighbor. Then I walked out into the living room and saw Amy. (**side note: I consider Amy pretty much my first friend here! She works with Chuck and has been nothing short of AMAZING to me since BEFORE I moved here! Love, love, love her. She is always trying to "set me up with new friends" and include me in stuff)

Anyways - in behind her walks... Claire.....Hollie..........Delaney............and Brittany! Seriously! They had been at dinner and Amy got all of them to pile in her car to come over and hang. I love the fact that she didn't even call. Just showed up! I mean, had I known - I would have been SWEATIN' to get the house cleaned up, changed clothes - you know what I mean!

So the girls stayed for 2 hours! For a girl like me, who loves hanging with girls...who hasn't done it in a while - this was a dream come true. Amy knows me TOO well!

Could I let them leave without a picture? Nope! I think they may think I'm a little loco, but I like to think of my self as crazy fun!

Here we are - me and my new friends!

An ordinary night turned Best Night in C-Town YET!

And topped it off with snuggle time!

Happy Birthday Riordan!

It is unbelievable to me that this past week two of Lil' Mans first friends turned 1!!

We drove up to ATL yesterday for Riordans bday party! We had a great time eating some BBQ, swimming and catching up with friends.

Riordan was NOT liking his cake - his daddy had to stick gold fish in it to get him to even "look" like he was eating his cake. It was priceless!

Lil man is T minus 19 days until he turns 1~

Fathers Day

He is loving, passionate, humble, considerate, giving, patient. He is everything I hope I can be...

He is a daddy. He is my husband. I am in awe of his ability to manage all that he does and still give 1,000% to lil' man and I every hour of every day.

Thank you, babe. I love you.

Short Version of a sad story.

I have lost all pictures / documents on my computer since April 6th.

You see, my macbook pro was not charging. And Apple told me it was probably my battery. I didn't know where to take my computer in my new town, so off to Apple it went. I backed it up, but it wasn't working properly - but checked time machine and it looked like everything was there.

When I got my computer back, the problem was not fixed and everything from April 6th on was GONE! AND - I was having trouble putting everything back on my computer with my backup. I found an apple specialty store in Columbus and they were able to recover everything from my FreeAgent hard drive...but the last time it did a FULL back up was April 6th.

(p.s. - the problem was my charger...if I had known this, I would have never lost anything!)

I am sad. I have lost some really great pictures from spring and videos that were special, but there could be a lot worse things in life. Just trying to bond again with my computer.

11 months!!!

Hey peeps - Lil Man here...

Yep - I am 11 months, just one month away from the big O-N-E. This past month has been crazy. We moved to a new town and we haven't slowed down at all. I think my mom has put pictures up of some of the new stuff I've been doing, like swimming, driving...you know, the usual.

I wish I could share all my "stats", but I haven't been to the doctor in a few months - oh wait, I did just go for a little cough I had and guess what....still weighed just 17ish pounds. I'm a little guy - with a big heart - ladies love me!

Here is what I'm discovering about the world these days:

• Crawling is over-rated. I haven't tried it, but really enjoy rolling around. I roll constantly at night in my crib and love sleeping on my tummy. Why didn't I do this sooner?
• I'm coming to terms with my cellulite (and my high butt crack - TMI? its true though!)
• I eat anything in front of me (avocado, tomato, cheese, turkey, lasagna, potatoes of any kind, green beans, black beans, ALL fruits - life is good!)
• Sleeping is one of my favorite things. I love my morning AND afternoon nap. My mom has signed me up for preschool two days a week in the fall...I'm slightly concerned this is going to interfere with my napping. We shall see.
• I enjoy walks, throwing the frisbee for Belle (our lab), bath-time and so much more...

I guess that's really it - not much to share this month...just too excited about being O-N-E!

The Evolution of a Bed

Chuck inherited a very cute bed from his parents before we were married. I loved its charm, but thought it would be cuter black. So - Chuck painted it black and it worked nice in our first place...

And looked about the same in the second place...

Then, we bought our first house and did a little something like this with it -

The charming bed, just never found its purpose in life...its true calling - until I stumbled across this blog - BED TO FRONT PORCH BENCH

A dream was born.

Then, Chucks dad made plans to came visit...and I made plans for him and the charming bed he once slept in to do some serious bonding.

With just a blog print out in hand - and my silly drawing and measurements

...In 48 hours - this is what we've been up to...

Just wait until you see the finished product...maybe tomorrow (if we brave the South Georgia heat!!uhhh). I won't be able to paint it for a while to let the treated wood dry...but who cares - it is going to be ADORABLE on my porch!

GRANDOC - YOU ARE THE BEST!!!