Life with the Perry Duo

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-24T11:30:00.002-06:00

William had surgery almost 2 weeks ago- went as well as I'd hoped. They did remove his ear bones (they were dissolved anyway) but put in a titanium replacement. We'll know with later testing how it's working. I've been whispering in his ear and he seems to hear me :-) Not sure how accurate that is. We're going to Mass with MelMel and her family. Chad picks WDP up at 11. Not sure I like the trading thing, but it's a reality now- I need to just get used to it. We have been playing hard with the FisherPrice Nativity and a newer Playmobil one. I've overheard William telling baby Jesus that he has to be careful of the Race Cars- of course everyone goes to his race track to watch Lightning McQueen- "the cars zoom fast. you hold Mary's hand. She is your mommy." What a sweetie. Excited for a fun Christmas Eve- celebrating baby Jesus' bday- william has asked if there will be cupcakes....I think he's anticipating a full on party, bounce house and all :-) Love my sweet baby, I mean big boy. He keeps telling me that :-)

2011-10-31T08:45:00.003-05:00

Well, I was really going to try and keep this updated....

Soccer is going well. WDP's loving it. We moved to a new house in Nashville- Rainbow Place is our street name- pretty prophetic I'd say :-) I love it. It's just a little rental but it has a great yard- William's swingset is there and the neighbors are great. It'll be a nice place to start rebuilding for the two of us.- Oh and it's only 5 minutes from work- gotta love that! Speaking of my job- it is amazing. I say it's Disney World for teachers.

William has had an ear infection since his 3year old checkup...we have antibiotics almost every 12 days :-( We tried going in for tubes. The ENT discovered a congenital cholesteatoma. We're having surgery Dec 9 to remove it. The hearing bones may come out with it. He is essentially deaf in the right ear. Hearing may return when the choleteatoma is removed- they're not sure. The surgeon we're seeing is apparently "the guy" for these and he's conveniently located in Nashville- yeah!

William and I went to the symphony Saturday morning. My first time in the Nashville Symphony . He loved it...and as soon as he saw the restroom he decided to go "poopie" and wanted some "piewiasee"....privacy.... this kid loves to poop in nice places...ahhh, love my little boy!!!!

Soccer

2011-09-12T15:47:00.003-05:00

GOAL!!!! We had WDP's first soccer game Saturday. One word- adorable. Loved it. He loved it- it was awesome!Seriously- I'm not bragging but he's good- 5 goals- 2 for the other team but 3 for his :-) They asked if we were "athletic" um, not a word I think of when I think of myself these days but sure :-)
Peer pressure at it's finest...a kid sat on their ball, WDP needed to too :-)

I'm trying to get back into blogging- we've been busy- my new job at Harpeth Hall is A-Maz-Ing. It's the Disney World for teachers. I could not be any luckier!!! William is huge- off the charts for height. he is going on week 9 of an ear infection. We go back for the "tubes talk" Mon Sept 19- wish us luck. Another big day is coming up too- Sept 27. Never thought I'd be ready to have the divorce finalized but it will be Sept 27. Not sure what to say about that. For now I'll focus on best job ever and WDP- cutest soccer player ever :-)

I'm in love...

2011-03-18T09:01:00.005-05:00

with this bag....ohhhhh sooo much!!!! I cannot wait until it comes in.... just look at my new camera bag...yes, camera bag- even though it looks like a cute purse!

I found it through the eighteen25 blog...it's found at www.jototes.com.... fully customizable with different foam inserts.... oh get here quickly. I will be the cutest walking around with this and then whipping out my new camera to get some action shots of wdp.... yeah!!!!!!!!

2011-03-14T11:07:00.004-05:00

It's official- Spring is here...WDP had on shorts this weekend and we opened up the sandbox from it's winter storage.... Chesson, Wyatt...playdate???

2011-03-10T12:20:00.002-06:00

TN has been rainy- not like "flood rainy" like last year, just regular ol' spring rain. It just seems like a lot because we are both soo ready to be outside for spring/ summer... Today was 65ish but it had rained all afternoon and when we returend from the grocery store he was begging to play outside....

We had 2 really good puddles in the front yard by the walkway (don't look at how yucky the yard looks!) WDP would start in the back corner and just take off running for the puddles and then...

SPLASH!!!!!! even the mower got in on the muddy fun...

He was covered in mud- the kind of "straight to the bathtub mud and then mommy has to clean the tub" dirty. He loved it. It was so fun to see him just being all boy....

2011-02-22T20:48:00.004-06:00

I now have a big girl table... it only seats 4, but hey there are only 2 most nights at my house- so there's still room for friends- come on over...we love guests! See how you can sit and see the slide in the backyard- too perfect! I'm trying to redo the house into "my own" instead of "ours." Its hard because Chad was the decorater between the two of us, and I'm nervous in the long run I won't still be in the house which makes me sad and hard to know when to change things and when just to wait to see what happens. For now, I am just going to enjoy this table. It is so nice, the wood pattern on the top is gorgeous. The chairs are comfy... I simply love it. Can't wait to have William home tomorrow night and serve him his hot dog, and advocado on the new table!

View from the front door- of course the old table will be gone- I just don't know when Chad will come pick it up....

SUN!

2011-02-12T14:07:00.003-06:00

We've needed to see some sunshine...don't get me wrong. I love the snow. we've had 9 school days cancelled for snow (which is like 9 free paid days off ) I get so much accomplished, but I need the sun right now. Everything has been so dreary this winter for more reasons than one...so with a high in the low 40s today...but low 60s by Wed WDP and I headed out to enjoy some nice weather. We are so lucky to have so many great local parks...This was his first time to Centennial in Nashville... He woke up and said he wanted to feed ducks so.... Feed ducks we did....I think in this picture he was pointing at Gossie....has anyone read that book? One of our current favs....

The ducks were walking on the ice to get some bread...he gave them half a loaf...of the good stuff! I need to get some "duck bread" if we do this again...

The Parthenon- well a replica of it.

I really wish I was better at pictures- the shadows here were so cool....maybe this summer I'll get around to a photography course.

A by on a mission

It was nice to get a few shots of him looking tiny- he always looks so big- because he is!!! where did my baby go?????

peek a boo behind the doric columns...I even heard a little boy walking by telling his mom what type of columns they were...she said "are you sure?" I told her he was correct and asked him a little more about corinthian columns...I loved my Latin classes- dork alert!

I need one of these benches at the house.... it's a 4 seater but you have conversations face to face- pure genius!

Here's to some good weather in Nashville and hopefully a quick return to Spring!!!

2011-02-07T10:35:00.003-06:00

We have both been battling a cold. He was out of school 2 1/2 days last week.... I tried to do some crafting with him Sunday when he was feeling better and he wanted all of the "pink" ones (meaning purple) ones all to himself. I would tell him the kids name on the heart and he would pick out foam stickers to put on them. If we came across a purple one it was put on his... all over his. Good thing I made him a Valentine- didn't know if you should make your own kids a Valentine or not, but I did.

He is really into lining up cars and having monster trucks drive over them...and then fling them around...boys are so funny. I neevr knew I'd like having a little boy so much :-)

I love looking back through this blog and seeing funny stories or pictures that I forget about. This is my most recent funny wdp story. William is funny. I know everyone says that, but sometimes he just says things or does something that makes me giggle...for days. The other night he was holding "The Trifecta"...The King, Lightning, and Chicks Hicks....we need all 3 all the time.... So he's holding them and is gently saying "you are my favorite" and giving them kisses. I saw him and said "Oh...I want in on some of those kisses" Meaning I wanted one from him. He thought I meant I wanted to kiss the cars and turned them around for me to kiss. Silly boy.

playdate

2011-01-19T10:40:00.002-06:00

We had our first playdate...I mean we "play a lot" but this time William had someone come over and he shared toys...big step for us!!!! We "cooked" popsicles as he likes to say.... WDP devoured his, like his momma. Brody took his sweet time licking and enjoying his :-)Not sure what they were talking about, but it was funny to them :-)I had the "brilliant" idea to make cookies with them. I think there are still sprinkles in the house.... Brody was more into eating the dough, william was into eating the sprinkles... boys. I thought it was a good idea. I made the dough. Scooped it into balls and gave each a tray with one cookie ball at a time.... maybe when they're older....My little Bobby FlayWe went Bowling with Brody Saturday morning and his little buddy teegan. Here's WDP giving him a high 5 after knocking down a few pins. They were so cute. Whenever we go bowling WDP wants to wear his bowling shirt from my high school and asks the other kids "where your bowling shirt?" I guess he thinks everyone's mom is a Varsity "coach" hahahaha William is going to start spending Sun night- Tuesday night with his dad. It breaks my heart. I know it's only one extra night, but still. I feel defeated. I miss him already so much when he's gone...c'est la vie I guess.... sigh

melt

2011-01-11T20:03:00.003-06:00

melt my heart...not this snow. we're on our third snow day this week tomorrow and it has been awesome! Chad had William Sunday night until Tuesday night so they did all the fun "snow" stuff and while I am slightly jealous...I had 2 days- two.whole.days. all to myself. I mean- do you know how much you can get finished (how many lifetime totally pointless movies you can watch) sewing, cleaning, sleeping - you can do a lot in 2 days. I even squeezed in time for...get this...a massage and a facial (I have the coolest friend who got it as a gift from her hubs a while back and they moved to Denver before she could use it- the best regift ever!) But about today around 3 I missed WDP. I was ready for him to come home. He did and we hugged, played cars, did mom and boy things (monster truck races, tickle, a little Disney Clubhouse) He was just crying in the bed and I went in, rubbed his back and he sat up and just hugged me so tight. I almost cried. He is just soo sweet to me. I love my little guy. Before he laid back down he told me "Mommy and Willy cook popsicles" meaning he'll pour th juice into the mold tomorrow...my little helper. He just melts my heart....

monster trucks

2011-01-07T11:01:00.004-06:00

Boys are funny. Why do they like trucks? Anything truck related...I have not "pushed" trucks on William but he likes them soooo much....There's a monster truck rally coming to Nashville and I couldn't see spending $45 for us to go (ridiculous, no?) but he loves trucks so much.... I saw on the morning news that some Monster trucks would be on display around town so I thought this would be a fun/ cheap truck thing to do. He was so excited....we got there. The truck was HUGE. He was scared.
WDP: "No get out Mommy. Stay in car"
Me: " We drove 30 min. Let's just get out. I'll hold you."
WDP " No....pweese"
Me: "yes...please"

I finally pulled him out with the lie of "well stay on the grass" This picture is as close as I could get him to the truck.... He did let me put him down. he was glad to get a picture...not too sure he cared it was "autographed" But he was very timid about the whole thing....

As soon as we got in the car to go home he said "That cool mommy. Big trucks" And he held his pictures most of the night.... Successful outing????

2011-01-04T10:22:00.004-06:00

Well, we did it. I did it. Woke up on Christmas day without William. Didn't think I'd make it, but I did. Done. let's move on. Surely 2011 will be better for me this year! I am keeping my resolutions simple- 1) I can only wear a pony tail 2 days a week to work 2) I didn't make 2 :-) just one, only one wear my hair down. I even told my students to hold me accountable- except for lab days- who wants to dissect a crayfish with hair down- not me!William was pretty sick the week after Christmas- He took/ is taking Omnicef and has horrible diarrhea. (This may be TMI for most of you, but it's bad- changed his pants 4 times Saturday bad). From other moms I've talked to this is pretty common for this antibiotic. Poor buddy. We have been playing inside with his new GeoTrax train set. I found a lightning McQueen to go on it to and he'll say "more racing"- his own little NASCAR. He also got a set or Cars movie cars and while the cars are , well, cars....he LOVES the box- it's like a racetrack ramp and he won't let me throw it away. He wants to play "Cars Movie" and he'll ride the cars around on the box. He told Mater the other day he'd have to go to time out for not listening. He is getting such a cute sense of imagination! I just love to listen to him when he's in his own little world:-) And finally he is into "racing" cars.... This means we both lay/ lie (can't remember) on the floor and roll cars super fast towards each other- if they crash uncontrollable laughter ensues. I love it. Here's to 2011!

2010-12-14T14:25:00.003-06:00

we had snow- real snow. A snow day in December!!!! Teachers love snow days!!! William loved the snow. I could not find my gloves so we did not play for long, but it was fun. I also got 100% completely caught up on my sewing- unbelieveable!!!! It is so nice to be busy, but will be so nice to have a break!

WDP showing the sign for cold.... "smart kid" :-)

Cutting the grass...not so smart , but equally as adorable
dear wyatt and gus, will and babyjack, playdate soon please.... love, wdp

ohhhh, so this is snow.....

2010-12-06T11:09:00.002-06:00

It "snowed"...and by snowed I just mean there were a few flakes- but it was enough to get WDP super excited...which we needed because he had the throw ups Saturday afternoon and night. Anyone have tips for getting the smell out of your sofa? I've tried my Bissell Steam Clean Machine- better but it's still pretty bad. The cushion was outside most of yesterday...hmmmm He was such a trooper once he figured out what was going on he would walk to bathroom and puke- oh buddy! Talk about a sad, sad momma when you can't do anything but hug on him and tell him it's Ok....

He has started saying the funniest things. I pulled out my Fisher Price Nativity set and after we talked about some of the peices and I showed him Mary and said she was Jesus' mommy he took her, looked at her, then said "Mary need brush teeth or go to back yard"...what??? so we brushed Mary's teeth and then she was welcomed back into the manger....you can't even see her teeth! Who knows! Maybe I have a future dentst on my hands.... He still drinks milk out of a bottle- I know, I know , it's bad.... well he threw his bottle the other night during stories. I took it away and told him if he didn't want it I'd give it to another baby. He went ballistic- screaming, kicking...typical 2 year old behavior. I put him in his room, said night night and he continued to wail. Then 5 min later or so he came out told me the babies could have his cups, not his bottle...hmmmm, not exactly the response I expected....I may need to change my tactic on losing the bottle.....

2010-11-22T11:53:00.002-06:00

My sweet little buddy ..he brought Mickey upstairs to "help mommy sew"- could he be any cuter???? He wanted to make a big train so we took all of the track and made a huge railroad going from the kitchen to the den. Lots of fun for a Friday night :-)

2010-11-09T10:13:00.005-06:00

WDP loves birthday parties- "More birthday parties, cupcake" He associates cupcakes with birthday parties. It's so cute. We had one this weekend and it was so fun! My friend Melanie does the best kid parties. This was a county fair theme. I think I gained 5 pounds. Hotdogs, chili, nachos (with the yellow/orange cheap cheese- yum!) peanuts, a popcorn maker, apple pie, cotton candy, etc. So fun.... So yummy.... Pants won't button today...sigh.... They also had a bounce house- in the bonus room. Talk about a good time!!! I made whoopie pies to take....delicious!!! so easy!

box cake mix...I used chocolate for this, red velvet for work on Monday

1/3 c oil

2 eggs

a little bit of water - 1 T or so...just so it's not sooo thick

Scoop out- I use a little ice cream disher- Bake at 350 for 7-8 min. Each cookie was exactly the same size! Perfect for stacking with icing in the middle!

Icing

1 stick real butter

1 box powder sugar

pinch kosher salt

1tsp vanilla

1 T milk- more or less depending on thickness

Mix well- really well. Put into an icing bag with a fat star tip. Swirl on cookie. Top with the other cookie. I refrigerated mine until the party so the icing would not squish out when you bite into it. Not at all to toot my own horn, but these were yummy.

OK- back to the party. She had the bounce house ....games - Pony races (stick horses)- WDP didn't do to well with these...everyone else loved it!

hay rides (husband on the mower)

Face paintings, Guess the number of pickles, etc. It was so cute. You had a card and had it "punched" after you completed a game and turned it in for "prizes" at the end. What a fun idea! Happy 2nd birthday sweet Joel!!!

On another, more personal note...WDP is now spending Sunday at 6pm until Tuesday at 6pm every week with his dad. I like the consistency- makes more sense than every other week, a mid week afternoon the weeks in between, etc....but it is so hard to be away from him. I am purposely trying to stay super busy. I miss my little buddy when he's gone. I find myself giggling at something he's said recently (this weekend he pulled out a pool noodle, held it like a megaphone and said "attention, attention" over and over). I can't wait to see him tonight!!!!

The Zoo...again

2010-11-03T12:48:00.003-05:00

I know, I know- we go to the zoo a lot, but he loves it. The park/ playground there is awesome... We fed the birds this weekend and hit up the Tot Lot for some jumpy fun. Good times were had by all! And by all I mean my sweet friend Becky and her son :-)

Halloween gifts for teachers

2010-10-28T21:07:00.003-05:00

I had such great plans ...and then the last Friday before Halloween was here and I was giftless. I know, I don't "have" to do something, but I am so lucky that WDP is at a school where everyone loves him and he is learning so much, and has so much fun. His teachers this year are awesome! We are lucky to have Miss megan back for a second year and now have Ms. Trisha too. He calls them "trisha-meg-ann"...as if they are just one person. Sometimes I'll tell him we're going to Target and he'll randomly ask "Where Trisha- meg-ann?" It amazes me that anyone can work with 2 year olds all day every day....so....I love them and wanted to do a little something. I decided on a Howdoesshe? caramel dipping sauce. You HAVE to make this. EASY. Delicious. Yum. Did I mention Easy??? What a great Christmas treat for a neighbor or friend. And seriously- 2 batches 5 cups of yumminess in about 30 minutes!!!! Less had I not been unloading the dishwasher and looking for my measuring cups (WDP had them in his kitchen)

Caramel dipping sauce

Put into saucepan

1/3 c butter

3/4 c brown sugar

3/4 c sugar

1/2 c corn syrup

Stir on medium until it boils (5 ish minutes). Remove from heat. Wait 5 min. Whisk in

2/3 c whipping cream...I used heavy...not sure what the difference is, but heavy was on sale, so heavy whipping cream it was!

1/2t vanilla...she doesn't say do this, but really, isn't everything a little better with vanilla????

Pour into cute leftover jam jars. Refrigerate. Use within 2 weeks...as if it will last that long. Makes 2 1/2 cups. It gets thicker as it gets cold. Yum!!!!

I almost made a bag out of candycorn fabric (thank you for talking me out of it MelMel)...which we think WDP may be allergic to- huge hives outbreak this week- but went for the cellophane bag and bow. I use these treat bags from target for everything. I need to buy them wholesale :-)

Enjoy...any good teacher gifts you can share with me a "new mom of a schooler" I would love you!!!!

slide hair

2010-10-21T10:53:00.001-05:00

wdp and I were at the zoo again last weekend with Aya and her sweet daughter and she got a great shot of him with his slide hair- I love slide hair.... and the tongue in this one kills me :-)

Fall break

2010-10-20T09:35:00.005-05:00

We just "celebrated" Fall Break 2010 :-) I did a little crafting- got the idea to make this wreath or "tire" as WDP calls it- from www,pizzazzerie.com...So easy and fun! And with the left over candies I thought I would fill some bud vases...

of course they are now half full....

We hit up Gentry's farm and tried to get a good picture for the grandparents...My friend nancy let me borrow her portrait lens...loved it! WDP was not so much into posing for pictures for me....

Jenna had a big birthday party at the bowling alley. WDP wore his team shirt and thought he was "big time" because he "knew" how to bowl. he kept saying "more birthday party...more cupcakes"...The cupcakes were obviously a huge hit!!!

Jenna's sweet parents Mel Mel, Jay and baby Joel

We also explored the yard while I worked on my lenses and photography :-)

William has been taking my measuring cups, putting them on his Thomas table and will say he's "cooking"...I thought I should start looking for a kitchen and went by Toys R Us and found a steal of a deal...a Melissa and Doug small kitchen (because it's in the den) marked down and then on sale again so I paid $54 instead of 139... nice! Of course putting it togteher was a pain, but he just loves it..."kitchen, kitchen, more kitchen"- all I hear! The sink doubles as a hat when it's not full of cars....I think I need to find some fake food- he only cooks his cars right now :-) All in all it was a great break! 4 weeks until Thanksgiving, then 2 wekks then 1 week of exams then Christmas Break- woo-hoo!!!!

2010-10-13T08:52:00.004-05:00

I am the Varsity Bowling Coach at my school. I use the term "coach" very loosely...more like sponsor/ score keeper/ snack getter, etc...you get the picture. It is the best coaching gig in the school district. Other schools are extremely serious about their bowling...us, well, we have fun. I had an assistant yesterday at the game/ match...not really sure what they're called! WDP was so sweet. He loves anything with the "big kids"...We had a practice lane and the bowling alley let me set up the ramp for WDP and they gave him a kiddie ball. He could not have had any more fun. He would throw the ball down the ramp and run to see it come back in the ball return and say "here it is!" He was high fiving kids/ parents/ anyone that would give him a high five :-) Such a sweet little helper! We are going to a bowling birthday party this weekend....I think we have a leg up on the competition since we've been practicing!!!
We went to Touch a Truck Franklin Saturday morning. WDP made a bee-line for the train...pretty fun. We even saw our sweet Nurse Erica from our pediatrician. After the train he wouldn't look at anything and kept saying "I show you"...so I followed him...straight to the shaved ice truck! I have no idea how he knew what it was... This kid can throw down some shaved ice. No flavorings, just $3 for a cup of shaved ice...sigh... WDP LOVES his ice... after the ice he did get on a few diggers, mowers, tractors, but he mainly wanted to walk over and then keep eating his ice. He must've been preparing for our big date night- WDP and I went out to dinner and to "baby's first Opry"- My sweet friend Diane invited us out with her husband Louis to the Grand Ole Opry for the 85th birthday celebration of the Opry. Del McCoury (love!), Trace Adkins, Taylor Swift (she's as adorable as you would think) and get this...Dolly Parton!!!! We had so much fun. After each performance WDP would clap and say "more" with the baby sign for more. Then , after the Opry Square Dancers he looked at me and said "that my favorite!" he even talked about the dancers all day Sunday. Thanks for taking us Diane!!! Busy weekend!!!!

Yesterday was continued until Oct 26- blah! Oh well...and my embroidery machine sucked in a bunch of thread and stopped working- awesome right? Hopefully it will be back from the sewing machine doctor by Thursday!!!!

First Field Trip!!!

2010-10-08T09:58:00.003-05:00

I "chaperoned" William's first ever field trip to Lucky Ladd Farms...pretty much one of the best days ever!!! We had soo much fun and it was so cute to see him interacting with his friends. William was king of the world...he was so excited to be there- a smile all day!!!

Here he is with Luke- WDP is sooo tall compared to his classmates!

Here he is prepping for a job at Texas North one day :-)

They had the coolest pumpkins...I love the ones in the middle "Cinderella"

Ohhh- blues ones- these were so pretty in person!!!!!

They had a homemade train...of course it was a huge hit

A huge ball pit with large jumpy balls

Genius! Sand box with corn kernels... all the fun of a sand box with out the mess!!!!

William actually sharing with Zion...sharing is sooo hard for us!!!!

They also had a huge slide, tons of tractors, a hay ride....All in all it was a blast!!! William would run around and was so independent...but he would see me and then as "where trish and megan"- his 2 teachers. I just LOVE that he LOVES them so much- makes it easier to take him there each day!!! Last night we went in Target and I was looking for Halloween stuff for "Boo" thing at school (little surprise goodie bags for teachers) and we saw tons of plastic pumpkins on a display shelf and WDP said " Pumpkin Patch at Target" hahahaha- so sweet :-)

I have a big court date Tuesday morning so prayers would be nice- I would not reccomend getting divorced- not. fun .at all.

2010-10-05T10:28:00.003-05:00

WDP and I have been busy at birthday parties and just finding mischief to get into together! He is becoming so sweet it just melts my little heart!!! He now says "Good eye-de-a mama" to almost anything I say. Not sure why he ennuciates idea that way but it's so cute! When the camera is out he either says "no more camera" or "take picture of willy" We have his first class field trip this Thursday to Lucky Ladd pumpkin patch- I can't wait! I'm taking the day off to "chaperone!" Just a few pics of him being silly in the yard , rocking a bounce house at Brody's birthday party, and mainly asking me to take more pictures of him!!!

he loves wearing this jacket with the "hat" or hood..I love how big the hood is- I think he looks super cute in it :-)giving me a fake "cheese"

"no baby clothes, more willy" I was trying to stage baby clothes photo shoots and well, we ended up playing chase....

2010-09-24T11:14:00.002-05:00

We went to the zoo for the birds last weekend and *gasp* they were closed!!!! William could not believe it...

Sadness ensued....much drama.... poor buddy!But wait, Super Mommy remembered the "tot lot" and we headed there for some much needed fun and jumping... Happiness finally!

We left and he napped from 10:30 until I woke him up at 3:45.... I will hit the tot lot more often!!!

A side story...we were at the park playing yesterday and they had a "drive thru"/ window thing and I placed an order for a tater tot and then said no wait, I'll have a , umm, ummm...and acted like I couldn't decide and William piped up "diet coke?" Glad he knows what I order at Sonic :-)

2010-09-08T11:35:00.004-05:00

Poor William came home with a fever from school last Thursday, proceeded to throw up that night, felt badly all day Friday and wasn't back to 100% until Sunday.... The worst part is that my Dad and Betsy were coming to visit. We had tickets to Thomas the Train for Saturday and didn't get to go...booooo! We did hit the zoo and my dad's upbringing on a farm came in handy in the goat pen.....

This goat loved being brushed under the chin.....He tried to show WDP how to do it.... William was more interested in having brushes on both hands...two is his new favorite thing...everything...2,2, want 2.... it's pretty funny

We of course spent a little time at the park and WDP went "rock climbing"

William was ALL about Betsy- "Bessie"..... he is so cute saying her name and the two of them are such sweet little buddies :-)

In the meerkat tunnelThe only person WDP liked better than Betsy.... Toby their dog!What I've been up too.....
How cute are these???

2010-08-30T10:58:00.004-05:00

William was so sweet and said "Moma no work" this morning- at 5:15 when he got up right after me- I think my shower woke him up... Sweet buddy! I wish I could stay home- we have such great fun on the weekends....
Just a few pics....
WDP modelling a tote bag for Halloween candy... see more of my new designs here
Just being silly in the yard.... he loves running "real fast mama, real fast" :-)

We went to Dragon Park and he kept looking in the "tunnel" and told me someone was in there... it's so cool to see him start imagining things!

You can tell my excercise ball stays outside for him, not me :-) At least someone uses it!

We went to the zoo with sweet Finn and Becky. The elephants were sooo close! A perfect day!

I can't decide how to get better lighting outside if it's not so bright.... hmmm, still learning the new camera!

I told WDP to give me a silly face and this is what I got :-)

2010-08-27T11:41:00.002-05:00

So I made cupcakes...lots of cupcakes. Coach Norris works with me at school and is "that" cynical teacher every school has, but is secretly really funny... So I made cupcakes for his birthday. The best part.... Nutella buttercream filling! Nutella buttercream you say, oh yes! I've been dreaming of it for a while...Just make your fav buttercream and add a jar of nutella. Beat really well until it's fluffy. Then I just used a wide tip and poked it into the cupcakes so everyone would have a surprise when they bit into the cake
:-)

I also love my toppers. Melanie is the queen of cupcake toppers and labels, so I gave it a try...not too bad for my first try. I love this pic of the cupcake in the electronic chemical balance :-)

I also did a few "Happy Friday!" cupcakes for some sweet teachers I know. I wish you guys worked with me....I would bring treats more often!

we are still here....

2010-08-23T10:46:00.007-05:00

We're still here...just staying busy. A few pics so you'll see how my little baby is now a full fledged boy... I have a post on his birthday, but the pictures are at home and I have never time at home to load them - sigh- WDP could not be any sweeter... I am still reading y'all's blogs, just not commenting - most "visual verification" things are blocked at school- booo! We've been to the fair, got my annual "WDP in a huge tractor pic", etc...I got a new camera- my pictures are starting to come along.... any pointers???

getting a much needed hair cut from my friend Amanda :-)

Fair fun...

Friday Night Lights...I took WDP to the stadium Friday night before the game so he could play and he LOVED every minute of it... I heard lots of "more girls" the whole next day and "boys throw fast"...so cute!

Here's one where I caught him mid "dance"- he LOVED watching the cheerleaders before the game started :-)

My sewing pictures are coming along too...click over here to see more :-)

And lastly a HUGE "Way to go!!!!" to my friend Courtney. She quit her "day" job to work full time on her party planning and entertaining blog Pizzazzerie and is doing AMAZING! She's been all over our local tv station, in magazines, featured on other blogs, a Martha Stewart "Dreamers into Doers" I am just so proud of her for taking a risk to do something she loves and even more so because she is doing so well at it!!! Yeah Courtney!!!! Check her out- she has party ideas that are actually do-able and still fabulous!!!!!

2010-07-20T07:19:00.005-05:00

Seriously, a month has gone by since I've posted something... just call me the summer slacker. I need to go back to work just to have time to read your blogs and update mine. William and I have had a fun filled all though a little awkward summer. William learned how to climb out of the crib- sigh- I saw him one day and asked him who taught him and he started naming people from his school"CarCar Walkee, Claire Bear" Finally when he said "Meg-ann"(who was his teacher last year) I knew he was just teasing me...as William says "so so silly" One Saturday I put him in his bad and sat in the den and was just thinking I may take a nap myself and all of a sudden his door flew open and I hear "Ta-da. Willy did it. Ta-da!" We went to get a toddler bed the next day. IT has been a struggle and a half to get him to sleep in it. I usually have to sit in there and hold his hand for 30 minutes or so...then I get sleepy and his nap time which should be my sewing time turns into non productive time.... any advice???

We're going to Mobile for his birthday to celebrate with Mary Katerine and her family. Her daughter is having a party that weekend so I thought it'd be fun. I miss party planning- maybe we'll have a party this fall when things feel more settled. Two- how in the world has time gone by this fast?

William loves cars- anything with wheels. he calls Jeeps "Monster trucks" and likes to ride his Clifford toy as a make-shift monster truck. A little video to see him in action- my sweet baby is now all boy!

On another note, I'm trying to get a "real" website up and running for my sewing stuff. Sweet Courtney is helping me. She came over this past weekend to do a little photo shoot for me- I think it's going to be awesome! It's nice to see how the Lord truly will provide for all of your needs :-)

2010-06-23T14:59:00.004-05:00

So when we came back from Greenville our neighbors had a bounce house set up in the front yard. The kids could see William, but no one asked him to come over- booooo I didn't want to be "that" mom and invite ourselves over, so we went to Costco (his second favorite store behind Target...when they look at our receipt and draw a smiley face for him he looks at me and says "Will-ee" as if that's his picture :-) Anyway... We went to Costco and I saw this huge inflatable ball. i thought it'd be summer fun for us so I picked it up. It took almost an hour- with the pump- to blow it up. We went outside and in two minutes the fun was over and WDP said "all done"...Hmmm- maybe we will grow into it. You get inside and can run like a hamster. Sounds fun to me, not so much to William. I did get 2 cute shots though :-)

We are also going through bubble solution like it grows on trees.... but he's so

cute with it :-)

2010-06-20T21:44:00.004-05:00

Summer is keeping me busy- I feel like I have dropped out of the blog world- sorry! William and I are staying busy at the parks, the zoo, Target, the ice cream shop...you name it! His new thing to say is "Yeah!" and he is just so excited saying it.... and of course we've learned "hiding" which is translated into "hi-ing" but basically if you ask where anything is it is "hi-ing" or he takes something and now it's hi-ing.... so cute! He is going to school 2 or 3 days per week and is doing so well- he knows all of his colors and that target is on the way to school. Some days he'll say "no school, Target puh-weese"...ahhh! He is becoming so sweet and caring. Last night he just patted my arm while I was rocking him....oh sweet baby!!! Melt my heart!

If there is one of these animal/ mascot-y things within 10 miles William needs a hug- it's so cute! We went to Greenville at the beginning of June for Touch a Truck- major hit! He also fell in love with my stepmom Betsy..."betsy this and Betsy that" He wanted everything Betsy.... He still asks me about "betsy's turn" meaning he wants to jump into the pool and have her catch him. It had been so long since I'd been around Greenville- we went to tons of parks- Greenville's not afraid to build tall slides! The parks and rec department has stepped up their game in Greenville- if you're there make sure you check out the parks- I had one tired baby every night which to me is a sign of a fun park!

We also stopped by Windy Gap in Weaverville- it was so nice... It felt like home even though it seems like a million years since I've been there... William "loved" the horses- and by love I mean he talked about them after we left... he was just ok with them while we were in the barn!

Summer- week 1

2010-06-01T13:50:00.003-05:00

Being a teacher is an awesome job- yeah, yeah you're teaching the future, but really, ask any teacher- it's all about the summer vacations!!! 2 weeks at Christmas is nice. Spring Break? Love it, but summer, oh sweet, sweet summer!!!! William was out of school too and we went to the zoo with our new pals Katie and Braden (check out her blog for out of this world desserts!) and then we hit park, after park, after park. Nashville really does have an amazing parks system. This park is called Dragon Park around town but William calls it the "new" park. It has lots of little sections to keep them entertained for ages...until the naps start calling. The picture is just of the dragon which has lots of "tunnels" to crawl through... an all time fav for sure!

WDP is at such a fun age! He says the funniest things like if I ask where something is he says it's "hi-ing"...(hiding). He has started watching Imagination Movers on Disney. It's about 20 minutes and at the end he's holds up his index finger and says "one mo' time, pu-weese, just one mo' time" How do you resist??? The pools opens today so we'll try that out this afternoon and hopefully have another cheap thrill for the summer!

And on another note, I made the first edition of the Summer Picks on the Pizzazzerie website- It's an awesome site for cool party and gift ideas- check it out!

2010-05-19T08:09:00.002-05:00

So we are staying busy here...

Monday is my last of school- I cannot believe I am finishing up my 9th year teaching! Where has the time gone? Ahh, summer! How I love thee.....

William is also finishing up his first semester of school and now knows the letters A, M, S, T, P and O...and W. I am only responsible for teaching him W- mainly because I put them on everything! I don't think he'd be able to spell anything other than Mop and stop...pam. stamp. hmmmm... Quick cute story I asked him what was on his shirt expecting to get "double ewe" or "truck fabric" as a response and he said "mama make"...seriously? Could he be any cuter??? I embroidered beach towels for all of WDP's friends at school for their class party. MelMel made me the cutest tags for the towels. I loved them!

William and I are trying to keep busy visiting the zoo, train store, local parks, etc. Busy minds and hands are a good thing these days..... How sweet is he in the bath tub. Can't wait for the pool to open June 1!!!!

The Trio is becoming a Duo

2010-05-09T21:00:00.004-05:00

Well I've been debating how to post this for everyone to see...no easy way to say it- I'm getting divorced. Blah. My Trio is becoming a Duo. I never thought this would be me in a million years. No, I don't want it. Yes, we've been to counseling. Yes, my heart is broken. Again, not my choice...but we don't always get what we want, so I will be divorced at 34. Boo. That's all I can say. We are still living together and to say the very least it is awkward. I have always known I have wonderful friends in Nashville, but over the last few months as all of this has unfolded I have discovered that my friends both here and far away are truly amazing and that William and I are so loved, by so,so many people. Please pray that William and I will be OK ( I know God will take care of us) and that we'll figure out this family thing as a Duo. I think he and I make a pretty good team. I guess we'll find out.

Flooding

2010-05-07T09:13:00.003-05:00

TN is in a minor/ major in some areas flood. We received close to 16 in of rain last Saturday and Sunday. I mean it rained, and rained, and rained...It is the craziest thing I've ever seen. You see floods all the time on tv, but when its "here" ,in "your" town, places you've "seen" it is just surreal. I always tell people who are coming over "We're at the top of the cul de sac" and literally we are ... I could not believe how large the "hill" was that we live on...until I saw all the water rushing down hill...into our neighbors homes! It is so sad to drive through our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods and see all of their "stuff" in bags and boxes for the trash because it's been ruined. My heart just breaks for them. And then the people who can't even go back because the water is still in their homes...The pictures on the news where water was rushing through people's back yards over 6ft privacy fences- absolutely bizarre. a few homes caught fire and the firetrucks couldn't get to them because they were literally surrounded by water- so sad...yet they'll probably at least get money to rebuild from the fire...most homes weren't in flood plains so they didn't even have flood insurance. Oh we are so lucky and so blessed to be alive and have no damage...other than a messy yard.... thank you, Jesus!!! William kept saying "Wet" when he'd look outside. We did get out Saturday night for a bit between storms and took a quick stroll- couldn't get too far...but these were the only picture I got....
Please pray for our neighbors and for all the people that lost their homes and their "stuff"...I know it's only "stuff" but I think more about pictures, William's blanket,...things we couldn't replace...pets, etc.... To lose all of your memories in your home would be so much more devastating to me than losing your sofa and fridge....

On a much lighter note...my dad is coming into town this weekend for some much needed JTP time... and of course with early May comes fresh strawberries from SC- YUM! Beechwood Farms! Strawberry jam it will be for us this weekend!!!! I can't wait...if you're lucky you will get a jar...or two if you're MelMel :-)

Someone's loving the popsicle maker

2010-04-30T09:33:00.005-05:00

Yum! We are loving the Zoku popsicle maker. It's too amazing for words. I added the Boathouse Fruit smoothie drink- yum! William loved it. 3 more Mondays until summer and I can't wait!!!

We just went out for Special Olympics here at school- terrible picture of me- but Shannon from my Ecology class is so sweet- she even introduced me to her boyfriend from another school :-) The way she yells "Mrs. Perry!!!" every morning is just cute enough to make you smile! And here's me and SnowBird- I almost wet my pants when I saw him- I LOVE SnowBird!!!!

Thank you Popa and Grandma Betsy!!!!

2010-04-21T08:28:00.004-05:00

So... thanks to Popa and Grandma Betsy and a few leftover giftcards for WDP at Christmas we are installing this.... No sandbox for us though, remember we put in a huge sandbox last year. I think we're going to put the water table underneath the fort.... Want to come over for a playdate please? Maybe I'll get some real pictures of it up by the weekend. Lots going on here with the Perry Trio... and the new swingset will be a nice distraction :-)

Spring Break

2010-04-12T08:42:00.006-05:00

(How cute is this? There are tons of hot air balloons around Franklin- one went right over the house last night- WDP loved it!)

SB 2010 is finally over....it was long awaited and I'm so sad it's gone...good news- only 28.5 more days until Summer Vacation!!! William and I had so much fun just being little buddies over the break. We bought a zoo pass and the Nashville Zoo is fun, but the playground is by far the best part...It has this huge "tot lot" that's a shady covered play area full of jumpy things and lots of foam. He LOVED it. Three days in a row. Then we'd run to see the meerkats and make for the exit. The first day we actually saw the animals and the look on his face was priceless when he saw the monkeys and giraffes. I'm so excited to go there lots this summer! I need to get picks of him at the playground- it's so awesome!

They have a cool goat farm at the zoo too :-)

Easter- We had a great Easter- went to several egg hunts- he figured the "egg- basket" thing pretty quickly and went to MelMel's house for Easter dinner- and another egg hunt of course! He had so much fun!

We have also gotten the yard ready, garden is planted and the sandbox is ready. He liked the sandbox last year- he is in heaven in the sandbox this year! Last night he went to bed saying "sandbox, outside...sandbox outside."

He has a new passion for bubbles...anything with bubbles- bubble wands (we sleep with them) bubble machines- he likes them to blow into his face :-), bubble guns, bubble fans...anything. I need to invest in a huge 5 gallon bucket of bubble solution for the summer :-)

Before he hits the on button...and during the bubble explosion- his face was soaked and he loved it !

Lastly- my Popsicle maker. You NEED one. I mean seriously. If you have one splurge this summer- let it be this. They're about $50 and I think only at Williams-Sonoma, but.... soooo worth it!!!! You keep it in the freezer, pull it out, add anything and 7min later you have three 2oz pops- the perfect size. Our first pops were crushed strawberries- that's it. Just berries. Healthy and delicious! Last night I poured that Odwalla fruit smoothie into it- unbelievable...so fun. This is the best use of a giftcard I've ever had :-) And they freeze the good way- not all crystally, but all frozen and creamy....I promise you will love this. I can't wait to do crushed watermelon...cantaloupe, kiwis.... yogurt, my list goes on and on...... If you were here I would make you a Popsicle- come visit!!!!

I know I'm keeping my sewing stuff on another blog, but with our obsession for trucks I thought you'd like to see these. WDP cries when I take his truck flannel sleepy pants off- "truck pants, truck pants!" so we went to the fabric store and bought lots of truck fabric. He was walking around so proud of himself "truck pants fabric" Not truck fabric, but truck pants fabric :-) He wore the W tee one day with brown pants and called it the "truck pants tee shirt" I love it! Side note....I think The Intentional Home is going to "feature" my sewing blog this week...Wednesday maybe. I'll keep you posted. I think I'm very super excited!!!!

A full weekend...

2010-03-29T09:47:00.004-05:00

What a busy weekend...first to start- I know I'm keeping sewing stuff on my other blog but look at these, I mean...too cute! The choclate lab? The golf bag? Obviously I was into gingham this weekend, but I just thought these were too cute not to share in 2 places!

Now onto Diaper Fest 2010....

William wanted his animals in diapers this weekend??? Then he would sniff them to see if they "sent out scout" and need to change them....This was so adorable I couldn't stand it! He had trouble with the diapers but really semmed to "know" what to do and would even "wipe" their bottoms!!!! What a sweet boy!

Chad has a "new" set of electronic drums he's working on fixing up to sell on ebay and William was so into playing them with the headphones. I have no idea what it sounded like, but he must've liked it!

Lastly- Easter Egg Hunt! There's a church at the entrance to our neighborhood and they hosted an egg hunt in the park across the street. We don't go to church there, but thought we'd try their egg hunt because they divided the park into 0-2, 3-4 and 5 and up. I didn't want big kids confusing William and running all over him. He loved it! It's amazing how with no prior knowledge of egg hunts he started saying "egg...basket" and then went for it. he'd spot one egg and go for it bypassing 10 or 15 along the way just to get to the "one" he saw. It was fun. We came home and I "hid" (meaning I threw the eggs out in the yard) several more times. Excuse the pink basket. I bought it last year on sale and had good intentions of redoing the liner in blue with his name but, well, as you can tell I did not....maybe next year :-) He didn't care one bit!

This is William before the egg hunt. He wants to waer this hat everywhere- you can't tell from the picture but its a fleece baseball cap with ears...very "A Christmas Story" not very Easter-ish...oh well such is life! Spring Break for me in three days. I could not be more ready!!!!

Mommy's busy

2010-03-26T09:37:00.003-05:00

"Hello? Mama busy" This is what William would say if he really was answering the phone...doesn't he look cute pretending. Busy is one way to describe it. Every free second I have I feel like I am sewing, but it is sooo nice because having a little bit of extra money makes it a lot easier with little William...like when he "has" to have a super cute woolly lamb from Target or the world will end- it was only $4 and it had been a long day at work and it was just easier to just get it than to try and reason with a fussy 2year old. Mom of the Year I am not and I know, but sometimes you do what you have to do.... please tell me y'all do this too sometimes, please!

We have William's first "Art Show" at his school Saturday night. The art teacher also works with them in Spanish and he has said "Adios" a few times :-) Here is a conversation from Saturday:

Me: Say Adios to Mommy William.
William:Adios...Becca!
Me: Adios
William: (smiling and nodding his head because he knew he was doing the right thing) Adios...Becca

Everytime he was adding Becca to Adios or to Hola. If you haven't guessed Becca is the art/Spanish teacher who is fantastic and WDP obviously adores her. He even wants to go look for her to blow kisses when we leave school each day. Precious! His school is unbelievable. He just loves it, I love it, the building is gorgeous (indoor and outdoor playground, brand new, etc), his teachers couldn't be any more helpful. We are sooo lucky to have him there. I can't wait for the Art Show....

Check out all my new sewing stuff here :-)

Here's to hoping for some great spring weather for this weekend! We need it!

Bunny picture

2010-03-19T10:27:00.003-05:00

We ran to the mall yesterday so I could get a popsicle maker...I'll blog about that later, but WDP saw the bunny and had to go over. How adorable is this picture? So different than our Santa picture this year. Then again there was no one in line so he got to "play" around with the bunny and we weren't rushed to get a picture. We also weren't really dressed for a picture, but his smile is so sweet I wanted to share :-) Sorry for the big space- I scanned the picture at school and can't get all of the white space to disappear!

A weekend trip

2010-03-18T13:31:00.005-05:00

I know it's Thursday and this trip is from last weekend, but this time change has been so hard to adjust to this time.... I don't know why. I guess because I'm staying up later, but getting up "earlier" Hopefully a few naps this weekend will help me to adjust! We went to Greenville and Elberton last weekend to see the grandparents. William was in heaven. Grandparents and cousins that gave him tons o'attention. Nice! He had fun playing in the yard with my dad "Popa" and would "jump" which really means bending at the knees for WDP but then he'd sit down and want my dad to sneak up behind him and throw him in the air. Over and over. Popa was a good sport! Think as you're looking at these "one, two, three!"

In Elberton his little cousin Ian was nice enough to bring over his little tikes inflatable...oh the fun...and drama- William and Ian had several run-ins in the jumpy thing and I think a few bruised eyes and feelings were exchanged! It was fun though. Just look at the pictures- He would run through the back and then practically throw himself out the net and onto the slide. It was taking 2 people to try and catch him. He was so excited... I need to find one of these on Craigslist for the summer....

This was his face most of the time he was in the jumpy.

Most of the pictures were blurry because he was running so fast... he would literally dive out of the bouncer and onto the slide....

And "thank you" to those of you who noticed my gramatical error in my title and graciously didn't point it out to me..."your" and "you're"...how did I mess those up...sheesh!

does it get much cuter?

2010-03-17T08:51:00.001-05:00

Chad just sent me this picture of William wearing his hat backwards...He is anti- baseball cap, but loves this fleece ball cap with ear protectors- I'm afraid we'll be wearing it all summer :-)

A treat if you're local to Nashville.....

2010-03-08T13:11:00.006-06:00

I had a small luncheon today for the science department at my school. I made yummy Chicken Divan, T-Pot rice (named after my friend Margaret's mom because she made it all the time) and had petit fours from a new friend Katie. If you are from Nashville you HAVE to find a reason to order some. Oh.My. Goodness. They could not be any yummier. And at only $15/dozen- I want to order them every week! Check them out! She also does super cute baby shower and football party designs.... Invite me over if you order some!!!!

Here are the recipes for the Chicken Divan and rice. The rice is great with just about anything!

Chicken Divan

Cook 2-3 chicken breasts in bite size pieces. Spray a 13x9 pan with Pam. Pour in a bag of frozen broccoli florets. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place chicken pieces on top of broccoli. In a separate bowl mix 1c cheddar cheese, 2 cans cream of chicken soup, 1 c mayo (obviously Duke's is the best), 1 c sour cream 1 tsp curry powder, salt and pepper to taste and 1T lemon juice (fresh is better). When this is well mixed, spread it on top of the chicken and broccoli. (Sometimes I use "low fat" everything, except the mayo and it's still yummy) Top with more cheese and paprika. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min. Yum! This can be put together the day before, refrigerated and cook when you need it. This is the perfect dish to take somewhere- you know when a baby is born, someone is sick, to me if you come visit :-) etc....

T-Pot rice

In a 13x9 pan add 2 c long grain white rice. Add 1 can french onion soup and 2 cans beef broth or beef consume. Top with butter pieces. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour. You will make this a lot!!!!

2010-03-02T12:51:00.002-06:00

Chad just sent me this at work...poor WDP, 2nd day home with a yucky stomach bug. My friend Melanie gave me good advice with a stomach bug..."Beach towels are your friend" So we put them in the bed, beside the bed (changed that one almost as soon as we put it down)...I should've drapped the sofa in them yesterday- we had two "incidents"... I guess I'll be cleaning the sofa really well this weekend. We went to the doctor next week and he said "see you next week" kind of jokingly but kind of not. I feel like we've been so much since he started school in January. But germs and school go hand in hand....Feel better buddy!

Hello Sunshine

2010-02-23T09:25:00.004-06:00

We had such a great weather weekend here in TN. We tried to go outside with William as much as we could. He was diagnosed with Strep on Friday (which apparently is rare if you're under 5- who knew?) but with some meds in him we were off to the parks Sat afternoon and Sunday morning. He is loving any and every slide, swings, and if there's a tunnel that leads to a slide- BONUS! I know this is a lot of pictures, but I just couldn't choose which were my favorites.

Tunnel!!!!

We live in a cul de sac that's on a very slight incline- perfect for riding in your wagon like a race car! When he jumps out and walks back up to the top of the cul de sac he is just so proud of himself- you can almost see it in his walk :-)

Slide time!

Swinging at the park. I love the little bird face he makes when he's super excited!

William is doing so much better at school. Very rarely are there any tears at drop-off and he's happy most of the day- yeah! I think we're all adjusting well to his new schedule. As for me, this is our first 5 day work week since Christmas break- we've had "so much" snow. Blah five day work weeks- when's spring break?????

William and Daddy both giving the sign for "Play"

we heart trains

2010-02-14T19:54:00.003-06:00

William is all about the "choo-choo" Today he wanted to line up all of his little trucks and push them like they were a choo-choo. He even makes little noises when he's playing with them... like driving car noises. It's so funny. Tonight he hopped on the Clifford toy (he has to ride it with the ears standing striaght up, we're not sure why), and put his dump truck in front of it to make a train. I think I'm seeing a pattern here and wish we would've gotten him a train instead of a Count von Count doll for Valentine's day.

On another note Chad loves Rick Springfield, like loves him...and all the obscure songs, not just Jessie's Girl. He got to go to a Rick Springfield sound check tonight with a guy he's met in town who comes out to see Chad play. I was hanging out with my little train-loving baby and Chad was standing back stage with Rick hanging out...very cool for him. A childhood dream come true.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Is he not the cutest?

2010-02-08T10:13:00.007-06:00

William is becoming funnier and funnier- I know I'm biased, but look at him... He cracks himself up in the mirror, he'll laugh at funny things on Sesame Street, he wants to say "tunnel" and move things between his legs (cars, stuffed animals, etc). It's just fun to see his little personality coming out.

We went to a birthday party yesterday a Winter Wonderland party for sweet Gabriel. Check out the decorations- Melanie does the best parties... little Gs and 3s with blue icing, there was a snowman cookie decorating station, a "wrap an adult as a snowman" activity game, cupcakes, taco soup, etc, etc, etc...

He did play with trucks too, not just dolls!

It was the first time William's wanted to leave our sides and go off and play...not with the big kids, but in the kid's rooms with their toys. Check out Jenna's dollhouse. Lucky. I soo would've wanted this dollhouse. I know he needs a haircut. I'm working on that this week- we almost need to pull it back its getting so long :-)

He has his first class party this week. I made these stuffed hearts for the kids in his class- they were harder than they look! Thank goodness there are only 6 kids! We also have the PERFECT valentine's. I found my new favorite blog... BunnyCakes. Most of her files are free pdfs, I bought the elephant cards personalized from her etsy shop for $3.75 (bargain!). I just l-o-v-e them. He loves elephants and tunnels- elephants were easier to incorporate into a card than a tunnel :-) Check out the blog- it is awesome!!!!

Ok, I am trying not to put a ton of sewing stuff on this blog, but to keep most of it on my sewing blog (which is doing so well thanks to great people like you who pass my info on! I can't believe how busy I've been :-)...anyway, I just can't resist posting this. I LOVE this new bunny applique- it's just too sweet. I can't wait to make William a little tee shirt with it closer to Easter :-)

Snow day version 2.0

2010-01-31T12:16:00.003-06:00

This is our second TN attempt at snow. We were out of school on Friday and they were nice enough to let us know the day before at 4:30 so I stayed up a little late knowing I didn't have to get up quite so early. Well, we have 2-3 in...enough to cover all the grass, but then we got 1/2 in of ice last night to cover all the fluffy-ness and make it hard and crunchy- boo! William has been sick since Monday with his first antibiotic needing earache. Its been pitiful! A fever, he's not hungry, he just wants to sit around..poor Bunny! Today was his first day without a fever and we thought we'd enjoy the snow...we tried. Maybe we'll get one more attempt at snow this winter! On another note, the indoor time has given me lots of time to sew...Click here to see what I've been up to!

We took the convertible out of the storage building to let WDP take a little spin.... The ice was so hard the car could hardly break through it...

We were trying to be creative and find indoor fun- William found Chad's dress up glasses for his 80s band.... I may have a little rocker on my hands....

We went out to Krispy Kreme this morning just to get out of the house. You would think WDP would love a "hot and now"...nope, but the cookie monster coloring book in the kids corner was quite entertaining.... Our sandbox looked so sad to me, just waiting on Spring and summer!

Guys Weekend

2010-01-25T10:28:00.004-06:00

Chad and William went away for a "guys weekend." Of course that meant a weekend for me to get caught up on 1) sleep 2) sewing projects and 3) sleep. I think the boys had fun being in Atlanta for the weekend (thank you William and Emily...mainly Emily because she watched and played with WDP all day so Chad could work on their basement), and of course I love the feeling of accomplishment after a big sewing weeknd. I am almost caught up on projects. And major exciting news...I had my first order from someone I don't know!!!! Yeah!!!! So fun! I'll try to get pictures tonight of my projects. I LOVE this picture of William and Maddie (Ma-Ma). He talked about her all afternoon. I'm sure she's not missing WDP...he fed her chapsticks to their dog....poor Maddie. If I knew where to buy Sprite flavored chapstick I would definetly send her some more!!!!

New tees

2010-01-19T10:58:00.003-06:00

OK, I made tons of cute tees this weekend...See them here. Here are some Valentine tees...Most are fuzzy minky :-) Willaim is really getting the hang of school. No tears today at drop off :-)

Enjoying the "heat"

2010-01-15T08:24:00.004-06:00

It has been C.O.L.D. here...I mean we're talking if it's above 25 I think it's warm. William loves to be outside and this has thrown a wrench in our plans. His new school has an awesome indoor playground and a new Chick Fil A is opening next week(yes, Ashlee Lawson is coming- yeah!) close to us with what looks like a rockin' indoor playground, so we'll make it to March, but we were lucky enough to have a "hot" day yesterday at 50 degrees so we ran home to take a spin in the cozy coupe. He was sooo cute. He doesn't get the push with your feet part and his legs are too long to just hang so this is our compromise. School's getting better. I just love when they tell me how sweet he is and that he loves his art class. My little Picasso...or more like my little Jackson Pollock....

"Snow" day fun

2010-01-11T09:26:00.003-06:00

We had a "snow" storm. This is it...and we were out for two days of school...yeah for me! Here are a few pictures of William playing ion the "blizzard." He couldn't get enough of it. He kept saying "noh." The snow gave me plenty of time to start a new project...check it out.

My latest "thing"... I have figured out how to use my Babylock embroidery machine to do appliques!!!! Now they look store bought...perfect! Why did it take me sooo long to figure this out? What do you think? I love it. Does a tee shirt have a stain? Applique a cute dachshund or seal pup over it. What? Brilliant I say!

You monogrammed every outfit your son has and now your BFF has a sweet baby who could wear it but she didn't name him William? Place a rocket over it. Nice! Recycling in its cutest form!

A friend's having a baby? How about a cute H with her name under it? ( Don't worry Sunday, there are more cute things for baby Hollings, I just really like this one... the rest will be a surprise)

Every plain tee William had now has something on it...mainly to cover the stain but also because this was soo fun! He's also started school so now everyone there will know his name too :-) Which by the way we are having a HARD time with...he's waking up all night, wailing our names, super clingy, teary eyed at school...it'll be OK WDP, we promise. More on school later....

Here he is having fun on the cool indoor playground. This was before we left him the first day...

I also did some cute tees for Mary Katherine's girls...this is my new favorite thing to do....

I think this will be a fun addition to my baby clothes blog, which I need to get working on asap....

My favorite Christmas gift

2009-12-29T17:47:00.005-06:00

We had a portrait painted of William for Christmas. I just love it. It's framed and hanging in the dining room. Sorry this isn't the best picture. Chad has a bunch of drum stuff stacked under it...obviously not a formal dining room :-) The web address was http://www.personalartist.com/ Her name is Laurie. She was so nice and I thought very affordable. This is my favorite Christmas gift...besides the new light for my sewing room :-)

Here's William being "nice" to the "baby" before we hung it up :-)

Ok, and I'm thinking about doing a blog with sewing stuff on it so people can order things. it would still be all custom ordered, but I thought it'd be an easy way to show people a few ideas and have prices up because I'm such a bad salesman..and photographer...It's up on the "Blog List"...it's a VERY rough start.....

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T19:49:00.003-06:00

Well, we've travelled to SC for a day...to GA for 2 days, but in different cities, and now we are home!!! William was such a trooper in the car compared to last year...scroll to Dec 2008- he cried almost the entire trip... Of course endless baby Einstein and Elmo videos helped that a lot! We did stumble upon a great little rests top on 24 by Lake Nickajack- it has a great "pet walk" or "let your kid run free by this fence and look at ducks on the lake so they/you can relax" section- Perfect!!! William had fun seeing everyone and playing with his cousins. He really didn't nap or eat well, but we survived and I am happy to say we will start the Perry Trio Christmas tradition next year at our own house- can't wait!!!! This year he got a cool Radio Flyer trike with a handle for us to push him with...but he's been riding it since November (found it more than 1/2 off at Toys R Us and it was already put togther- someone bought it and returned it- score) And the other gift was a set of 4 cabinets in his room- kid sized and just his height. Thanks Chad- he loves them. Open, close, open, close.

I tell you- having a handy husband is so nice..... next year Santa will really stop by and see us, this year it was all about the boxes! I just want to see his face when Santa comes and make our own family traditions. Listen to him say Santa.....

Too precious, right? We had to tape it. I know it'll sound different next year. He did start saying "More Tanta" and "More tickle" this weekend....he just wants you to find as many pictures of Santa as possible to point them out so he can say "hey Tanta" He is becoming such a little boy playing with trucks and leggos...it's adorable. One more week of vacation and then it's back to school for me and WDP. I'm so excited for him to have some little friends his age and learn to share :-) ...and a few more days to get some stuff made...lots of new babies mean lots of sewing for me!

Lastly, we stopped in Atl to see our friends Emily and William and their daughter wanted to have a dance party and WDP joined in.

I think he takes after me...that is how I met Chad after all :-)

hummus

2009-12-17T07:51:00.004-06:00

WDP is kind of a picky eater. Picky? Really...didn't you say he was 28lbs? Yep, but he's 28lbs of avocados, kosher all beef hot dogs, spaghetti, yogurt, puffs, and now hummus. He loves it. I think it's the dipping part he likes the most. The other night I gave him a small bowl of it, some pretzels and then went to work on his spaghetti and turned back around to find him like this. Oh, the sweet boy!
Chad and William are taking a "boys weekend" trip to go see his mom today- Sunday. It'll be my first time alone in 17 months. I almost feel badly that I'm excited :-) Excited to just sit around, read, watch some old tivo stuff, sleep, sleep, and sleep some more. I'll miss them and I'm ready for Sunday, but just not until I have "my" weekend just doing nothing. :-) Bye-bye baby and daddy!

Here's a quick shot of WDP relaxing in the morning...more than likely watching Elmo

So much to blog about...so little time!

2009-12-14T09:31:00.011-06:00

Ok, so not really "so much" to blog about I just haven't put a ton of pictures up so here goes.....

First- Check E. Cheese... I wasn't to sure if WDP would like the characters or hate them....he couldn't get enough. He wanted to hug Chuck E. then when ChuckE left we put him onstage with the mechanical mouse and that was just as much fun...until the curtain closed on him. No problem William just stayed behind the curtain hugging ChuckE. It was so sweet. He was also a huge fan of the carousel....

You can't really tell, but he was doing the baby dance most of the time he was with Chuck E. You know the "bend your knees and just bounce" dance that all babies do :-)

Christmas at our house.... I made stockings from old curtains and I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. We have no ornaments due to the fact William pulls them off and we have a small tree so he can just walk behind it and around it. I thought it's be easier than fighting the battle of telling him "No" all the time. Check out the Fisher Price Nativity...so cute, right? He loves it. He doesn't like the angel on top- he prefers to pout "be-be"...aka Jesus up top after he kisses him. Then he smacks him because if you "gently" push down on the angel's perch it plays "Away in a Manger" and lights up. It's been a fun addition to our Christmas stuff- and it was a steal at only $17 marked down from $40 :-) yeah me!

William found one of his "Christmas gifts"- he loves opening cabinets and us being the mean parents we are we have child proofed all the cabinets sooooo, Chad is building him a thin cabinet to go under his window so he can put a few things in it. WE brought it inside Saturday and thought he wouldn't notice it- WRONG! He keeps opening the doors and trying to get in. It'll be perfect...after its painted and ready to go. Thanks Chad!

William is kind of dicovering coloring. I am discovering that crayons do not always come out of clothes, furniture, etc...ugh...anyway he still really likes to eat the crayons but everynow and again we get a few things down on the paper :-) I think he just likes being on the floor. Check him out "reading" the paper :-)

We found an inflatables place near our house and stopped in on Sunday late in the afternoon. The weather has been so crappy and we're trying to find fun things for William to do. He kind of liked the inflatables but was kind of scared too- I think there were too many kids...it makes me nervous thinking about his first day of school in January... But here he is....

My classroom- some quick pics of the "festive-ness" that is B-4 at Brentwood HS. I have a huge paper christmas tree over my safety light so the room has a nice green glow. There are paper "presents" taped to my door that say funny things like "To" James Waytson love, Francis Cric"...well it's funny if you're a science teacher :-) And I made stockings for my office workers and teaching assistants.... Of course there are lights everywhere, and I have a festive tree with...look closely...DNA double helix ornaments. Oh yeah, I'm "that" teacher! And of course I have my snowflakes- see below for directions.....

Chad and I went to a Tacky Sweater Holiday party....don't we look "nice" We tried to pose like some cheesey couples have those "couple" shots, but it didn't work too well....At $15/hour for a babysitter I was reminded why we do not go out too often. I need a part time job as a high school babysitter- how can they charge that? I guess because people like me will pay it...oh well! And to clarify he is in bed and asleep by the time the sitter comes over...what an easy job! sign me up!

Lastly just some random photos.... William is soo cute in the tub these days! here he is "helping"- He wanted to get the paper, but had his arms full so he was so smart to put the straw cup in his teeth and then get the paper :-) And a few little jonjons I made for someone to give as Christmas gifts.... making them made me think I need to get on it so WDP will have some long legged jonjons for school in January....

Finally- I feel all caught up.... no spell check, no punctuation check, just hit post :-)

Are you ready for this crafti-ness????

2009-12-10T10:46:00.010-06:00

OK...my new favorite project- perfect for all you stay at home mom types looking for fun, cool, and cheap projects...or perfect for the high school teacher during exam review week :-)

1) Gather materials- you need stapler, tape, scissors, and white paper- I used shiny typing paper, but anything will be fine

2) Fold a triangle into the paper like this....

3)Cut off the edge so you have a folded square piece of paper

4) From the folded side cut three sections on both the right and left (from the folded side to the triangle point) Don't let the cut lines touch!..look carefully!

5) Open the paper

6) Grab the smallest interior diamond and fold the edges together like a cannoli- tape them

7) Flip the paper and grab the second smallest pieces and fold them in the opposite direction. Tape

8) Flip again, fold the third section tape.

9) Flip again, fold the last section, tape.

10) Looks cool right???? Make six of these...

11) Take two of the sheets of folded and taped paper and attach at the bottom with a staple and the sides...like this.....

12) Do this three times

13) Attach 2 of the double sets of paper.... at the bottom (which will be the center of the snowflake and the sides.

14) Attach the last set of papers to the center and the side- Viola! 3D snowflakes. Seriously, it takes 15 min for the first one and then you can whip out 4 or 5 in a class period...I mean in 45 minutes :-) I love exam periods...so much crafting time for teachers!!!!!

Let me know if you make any! You can find better directions here....Tomorrow- pictures from Chuck E Cheese, our decorations at home...even though there are very few because WDP likes exploring/ throwing them...and pictures of the festive-ness that is my school classroom- it's awesome!!!!

2009-12-09T10:54:00.003-06:00

We went to Chuck E Cheese for a birthday party on Saturday and WDP could not have had more fun. He was on the carousel until we ran out of tokens. He wanted to chase Chuck E. Cheese and hug him some more. he danced with the big kids and ate a whole piece of pizza. (To be such a big kid he eats very limited foods...a whole piece of pizza in public is a big deal for us :-) ) Of course I wanted to get our picture "drawn"...it's only one token and is so cute....right? William even wanted to play with the scary mechanical Chuck E Cheese on the stage. The curtain closed when the show was over and he was still on the stage- and not scared a bit.... what a fun party!!!! Of course we missed our nap and he was a fussy pants all afternoon, but let's leave this post on he had fun at the party :-) More pics as soon as I can load them on the computer :-)

Busy, busy

2009-11-30T11:25:00.004-06:00

I've been busy, busy....

Making stockings...from old red velvet curtains and leftover minky fleece from WDP's crib bumper. I think they turned out quite nicely...

The other stockings look a little better- I didn't press and turn the seams in very well, but you get the idea :-)

Making Christmas tees.....

And making an outfit for a friend to give away....Q's are the world's hardest letters to monogram. I had to redo this one 4 times...ugh..... then again it was probably user error and I was just doing something wrong....either way I hate to say goodbye to fabric I love and I have LOVED this fabric. I just like to look at how pretty some fabrics are and keep them folded neatly in my sewing closet. But this was the end of this fabric...byebye, I hope baby Quin loves you!

We "decorated" our tree. Well we put lights all over it and bought the "shatterproof" ornanments at Wal-Mart which are indeed shatterproof, but WDP pulls them off anyway. I'm glad he is throwing cheapie WalMart ornaments and not my 1982 Snoopy ones.... Maybe next year we can really decorate the tree. I tried to put this garland on it that I made a few years back- it's just a bunch of pompoms on quilting thread. I love it, WDP obviously did not feel the same.... (look closely he's hidden the ornaments in the tree only to pull them out ans toss them across the den)
He also likes to climb behind the tree...oh well :-)
Here he is running in the yard at 5:00 looking at the lights. he keeps saying "hot hot"...they're not, but he likes to say that...

Lastly, he has become a signing fool. He signs and signs... Here is a quick video. He's made some signs up like cold. It's first. he scrunches his shoulders and pulls his arms in and tries to say "Brrrr" you'll see the video goes into crazy baby mode opening the oven in a minute. Yes, he's also learned how to remove the childproof locks......

Our little drummer boy....

By the way we went to the Doctor Wed...maybe I thought he had an earache....nope, just a snotty cold, but we did get to weigh in on the big boy scale- no more baby scales for us. He was a whopping 28lbs!!!!

Feeding the "baby"

2009-11-15T20:25:00.003-06:00

William is so resistive to drinking milk from a sippie, with a straw, anything...except a bottle. He does great with water and juice from the sippie, but the milk is a hard habit to break. We've opted out of the morning bottle and if he doesn't drink, he just doesn't drink....one of the pluses of having a gi-normous baby, if they don't eat, they'll still be fine! Anyway he is also 100% obsessed with Elmo- he even wants to kiss Elmo on his diapers before we put them on, so when I saw an Elmo sippie at Target on Friday you can bet I added it to the buggy. It worked...kind of. He drank a good bit of milk today, but most of all he wanted to share and feed his babies...a mouse/ bunny type animal and a Tigger doll. Sooooo sweet! He even made little drinking noises when he was feeding them :-)

On another note- I learned how to do a reverse applique this weekend- also known as the world's fastest way to dress up a plain $3 tee shirt- check them out....

I kind of like the way the tee curls a little where you cut the edges...sort of gives the tee a vintage feel :-) The turkey is WDP's hand print :-) I've got big plans to do a lot of his tees he's about to outgrow like this and then just get more in January when he would've been about t outgrow them anyway. Yeah for new, easy sewing ideas. Thanks Mel Mel!

"Rock Climbing"

2009-11-13T10:18:00.004-06:00

We are having such an unusual spell of amazing weather. William and I are trying to get out to the park that's across from our neighborhood everyday- I know the rainy, cold days are fast approaching! While he is still enthralled with slides and climbing up...

and going down....

His new activity is "rock climbing." I may just have a Conrad Anker on my hands....

So Chad and I have always called this part of the park "Pride Rock" from The Lion King...

and now William loves it too- running between the rocks, "climbing" the rocks, watching the big kids play on them, etc. He loves it. I never knew having a boy and being a "boy mom" would be so fun :-)

Sliding all by himself

2009-11-10T09:55:00.003-06:00

We are having the BEST weather here....It's not really November weather- mid 70s, but I love it. I could take these temps year round. We're trying to make the most of the good weather and took a jog to the park yesterday. William has been refusing to get into the baby jogger- He used to love it, I think he feels confined and he would rather run than ride. I wish we could trade. Oh well. I bribed him with "let's go for a ride and we'll stop and play" So we did, even though it was getting dark. He even climbed up and did the slide all by himself. Yeah!!!! Check him out. I wish I wsn't so loud in the video- he's saying "weeee" as he goes down :-)

Do you have a Maclaren stroller? There's a recall on ALL styles....Click here to order the part to fix your stroller!!!!

My first house

2009-11-09T09:36:00.004-06:00

OK, I did it. I stood in line at Toys R Us on Friday for a "doorbuster"...did I not just blog about how I despise plastic stuff.... but look at this face.

I mean, he squealed when he saw it. We played in it all weekend. He loves it, so therefore I do not despise the plastic stuff...as much...anymore. It's the Step 2 "Neat and Tidy Cottage"- It really was a steal. And my plan is to sell it on Craigslist next spring when it's old hat and he doesn't squeal every time he sees it. William loves opening things- cabinets, the fridge, doors, etc, so this is perfect.

The shutters may be his favorite part. We played peek-a-boo a lot! It never got old.

Check him out- a doorbell (that's not too loud), a little table, sink, 2 chairs, a working door- everything a 15 mo old could want.

We even put out Christmas lights on the porch so he can play at "night"...with the time change Nashville gets dark around 5- it'll be dark by 4:45 in a few weeks- yuck! It's on the porch right outside the kitchen window so we can be inside and he can be "outside" (on the locked, screened porch) and he thinks he's so big....just look at him :-) Be prepared for many more posts on the house- it's our new hangout.....

Halloween Part 1 and 2

2009-11-02T10:11:00.003-06:00

So I completely forgot to blog about William's 15mo check up. Basically he's super healthy (yeah) and very large for a 15 mo old. He weighs 27 lbs and 13 oz and is the height of the average 26 mo old... Hmmmmm. I was wondering if he was still really big because our size 5 diapers are tight and I've noticed that diapers only go to a size 6. What will we do then???? Anyway, he was so sweet after he got his vaccinations he told the nurse through a few tears " Da- toa"...which means thank you :-) A tall, healthy, and polite baby. Makes a mommy happy!

OK, Halloween Part 1. Our friends Melanie and Jay had a Halloween Birthday Party for baby Joel (who by the way weighs more than WDP) and their 5 year old Jenna. It was so cute. It was a yucky morning, but the clouds departed and we had a great, sunny afternoon- perfect for a party! Melanie does everything perfectly, and this party was no exception. They went as the Scooby Doo show, we were Jedi Warriors (Chad's idea not mine) and William was Yoda. He refused to wear the costume at the house, but warmed up to the idea once he saw the other kids.

baby Joel has a play yard and William wanted to be in there sooo badly! Finally he made it in and just played. Isn't Joel a cutie Scooby?

Other party events included "Hay rides" in their riding lawnmower- a huge hit, a "pumpkin patch"- adorable (you could even cut decorate with pre cut outs of sticky felt eyes, noses, and mouths)...and of course cake, which I gladly took part in :-)

lHe kept dropping the pumpkin, but this one looks like he's balancing it :-)

The birthday boy! Joel is the most laid back baby ever!

Halloween Part 2: We only went to 2 houses to trick or treat- William didn't really get it, but he was cute trying. We came back home, had our tree stand heater going in the front yard and let WDP stay up too late just playing in the yard with his light saber. (By too late, I mean 7:45 :-) All in all trick or treating was a big success because there were no tears and he kept his costume on.

I am ready for Thanksgiving and then for Christmas- I'm almost finished shopping and am getting William ready to start "school" in January. He's been staying with a nanny, but needs a little more "structure" and I'm so excited bout his new school...and the new Chick Fil A that's being built near it :-)

"Lasagna"

2009-10-21T09:36:00.005-05:00

William is branching out from his avocado loving ways...he tried some lasagna and LOVED it. So I made spaghetti last night and he kept calling it "nagna"...OK, whatever- tomato sauce, noodles...sure, it's lasagna. He ate 2 bowls- 2 BOWLS!!!! Who is this baby? I guess we'll see how big he is Friday at his 15mo check up :-)

He has also discovered the broom. The other day Chad was feeding him and he wouldn't stop fussing until I put the broom beside the highchair so he could hold it...if only he could really use it to help around the house :-)

Finally, I have to admit that he is watching a few baby Einstein videos now and Sesame Street- I have no idea how babies find out about Elmo, but I think they are born to be obsessed with the red fuzzy creature. I cannot stop singing "Elmo loves his goldfish, his crayon too....lalalalalaala- Elmo's World" We just have to listen carefully for "Melmo"- baby Einstein or Elmo- which is Elmo and believe me he will let you know if you misunderstand him and try to show the wrong show.... I found a little Elmo bath toy that winds up and moves around the tub and William even took it to bed last night. When he woke up at one crying he was still holding it :-) And I figured out this morning that he was upset because he was cold- the babysitter opened his window and shut the blinds and I didn't check it last night- Mom of the Year right here...sorry William!

Excuse the pile of laundry in the den...it was clean, it was pressed, just not in his closet. This picture would've been so cute! H eloves to stand and hold his hands behind his back :-)

2009-10-15T09:28:00.003-05:00

Before we had William I swore we wouldn't be "plastic" people...we wouldn't have tons of that plastic stuff around...I didn't want it to junk up the house. I was wrong. My new motto seems to be the more the merrier- especially if it's cheap, cheap like on Craigslist or at a garage sale or better yet if someone just hands it down. Take for instance this super fun convertible WDP got from Maddie- he LOVES it. And of course the fall is the perfect time for a convertible! We also have her old little tikes work bench and pink tricycle. Pink you say? Yep, pink- who cares, he's one it doesn't matter to him :-) Here's to fun plastic overtaking my life!

Please note that he is chewing on the bubble wand...yep, mom of the year right here- "go ahead, chew on it. It says non-toxic"....Pick. Your. Battles.

Before we had William I also made a ton of pillows for his room- it was the "reading corner" They were piped and monogrammed, placed neatly on the floor. Arranged with a few stuffed animals and a basket of books. It has turned into the "run and dive" portion of the house. He wants to be chased and then he squeals, runs to his room and dives right in. My little stunt man. He just falls face forward. He's only hit the Murphy bed once. The basket of books is gone, the pillows are not neat anymore, but I think he likes this stunt zone way more than the reading corner :-)
Sorry it's so dark- it's getting dark here around 5:45 now :-( and most of our house is lamps- not good lighting for movies, but you get the idea....

2009-10-12T10:05:00.007-05:00

We went back to Gentry Farm- William was much more interested this year than last.

last year....

Maybe next year he'll be interested enough to actually go into the "Activity area"...this year he just wanted to run and say "pump-pump"...to anyone and everyone who would listen. That's his word for pumpkin. Check him out saying it.... he does his lips soo funny :-)

We posed, and posed him.....

last year...same spot...funny how much difference a year can make!

He was a good sport....

Finally this was the picture we decided on for the Halloween card for the grandparents... it's no "Sunday Grant" quality photo, but it'll have to do....

I wanted to make him a special Halloween jonjon, but got caught up in life/work/work/work...so we got an appliqued tee from Target. I bought the girl tee because I wanted the "no pocket" look, and the girl tees are very close fitting..., but I think it turned out pretty cute for a $5 tee. I've got ideas for Christmas. I also may have ideas to pawn my "goods" to coworkers with kids and try to make a little Christmas cash. I've never done this because I feel like it has to be perfect to charge for it, but there are just enough moms with kids at my school where I think I may get a little business... I sold 4 koozies for $30 the other day :-) Nice! I wish I was brave enough to try and do a website, but not yet.... here are the tees for MK's kids...How sweet will baby James be in his 9-12mo onesie! He's huge and just a few months old. I can't believe it!
What do you think would be cute on a Christmas tee? I'm thinking a Christmas tree or just a big circle with a hook on it like an ornament in pink/ lime green or red...my new fav Christmas combinations.... maybe a snowman? And of course the kids name or initals across the "thing"...tree/ ornament, etc....help me so I can have good ideas to go pawn my tees off on the moms!

Maybe I am back on a roll on the blog.... I think I've posted more in the last week than all school year combined :-)

Bowling Baby

2009-10-07T08:38:00.005-05:00

I am the Bowling Coach- I use the term very loosely as I cannot bowl any better than anyone who's reading this. By "Coach" I mean I go to practice, I collect forms, order shirts, eat snacks and say "good job" when appropriate :-) It is a Varsity sport- which makes me laugh... It's very fun and a nice little supplement to my puny teacher pay. William went yesterday for the first time and LOVED it. He blew kisses at the high school guys...not sure if they liked that, but it was pretty funny :-) And he wanted to be right in the mix with the "big" kids....

We're ordering new shirts this week because the ones they used to wear at BHS are yucky...Here are ours....

We're getting Royal.... with our names in royal on the white... Of course mine will say "Coach"

So cool right? Even better...they make a 2T so I'm getting one for William with his name on it.... bet you can't wait for that picture. Wish us luck...we're playing the Independence Eagles today....

2009-10-06T09:11:00.004-05:00

William is just so fun to play with these days. In and out of the tunnels and the tent. Over and over. My knees are killing me, but just look at that face! He is also loving his Lego's- I mean LOVING them. We have one little Lego man and luckily toys r us is having a Lego sale this week so we picked up a small zoo set with animals to hold and another person. He is having so much fun with them. It's funny how he's growing into such a little "person" with likes and dislikes. The best is putting the Lego's together with an animal or a person on top when he's not looking / in the tent and seeing him run over to pull everything apart. :-)

Check him out in this video (sorry it's so dark) right before bed last night... He was throwing pillows and just giggling like crazy when he'd "run into" a pillow :-) Funny baby....

Lastly- check this out all you App State fans....

What a cool Christmas gift idea.... An App State ABC book....sooo cute, right? Here's the web address to order one :-)
If only there was a College of Charleston one....

2009-10-02T08:37:00.007-05:00

2 posts in one week...I'm on a roll. I have decided that if William is in a jonjon with a long sleeve shirt (it's finally "fall" here ) he looks like a little baby...put him in pants and a long sleeve t shirt and he could pass for a 3 year old man. He looks soooo big in "big boy" clothes...I'm not sure what I think about this, but man he looks cute as a little boy.... all the ladies should beware :-) Check him out...

He was playing so hard climbing up the green chair and stepping down. Over and over. Getting sweaty at the same time. His own version of step aerobics. His laugh is so contagious and his smile is the best. It makes up for the sweaty little boy smell he gets after playing so hard :-)

We also found a set of 2 collapsible tunnels and 2 tents at Costco and William is in heaven. In and out of the tunnels over and over- if we try to get in the tunnels he thinks it's hilarious. The tent is his own personal hideout. I said tent, because he will get the other tent for Christmas :-) I like to multitask his gifts that way :-) We have the Brentwood Boogie tomorrow morning ...it'll be William's second race. I'm kind of hoping he will get "fussy" in the stroller so I can carry him and not run the whole thing :-) hahaha have a wonderful weekend...I hope it's fall-ish where you are.

This past week for us...

2009-09-28T09:59:00.005-05:00

A few quick pics and stuff for us over the last week....

This is how we're spending a lot of time lately....Melmo. Who? Elmo...no, no..that would be logical. WDP likes to watch "Melmo"...don't ask us why, but he calls the blue otter puppet on Baby Einstein's First Signs "Melmo". He either wants to snuggle with you and watch or he runs around waving his arms and doing the little baby squatting dance all babies do- adorable...... PS Check out the green chair/ cushion- a B-day gift from MK. It's a seat, it's a tunnel, it's anything. We LOVE it...from PB kids

Hey, Katie M....didn't I tell you to tell Rylie to NOT "ESP instant baby message" WDP and tell him how to get out of his carseat.....or whatever it is that babies do to share secrets.... This is how I found William yesterday- rocking the off the shoulders carseat and jonjon look...hmmmmmm how much longer until he crawls out of the crib? My real question is who's going to tell William that the off the shoulders look is only for girls?????

My dear friend Stacy married the sweetest guy Matt this weekend. The wedding was so fun, and this is a horrible picture- sorry. I really wanted you to see the cake. Yeah it was pretty, but it was to-die-for-yummy. Chocolate-y gooey goodness cake with caramel and nuts as the filling. The icing, oh the icing....it was buttercream, marshmallow fluffy yumminess like I'd never had. This was hands down the best cake I've ever had. I'm gaining five pounds just thinking about it now..... Thank you for getting married and inviting me so I could have a slice of this cake...or two, yep I'm not embarrassed, I had two...and looked for a to-go box. They didn't have any...saddness! Best Wishes to Stacy and Matt!!!!!!!!!!!!

This kid loves big fruits and veggies. He will eat a whole cucumber...if it's whole. Cut it up, no thank you.....

A few of my latest sewing projects. A "Go Dawgs" jonjon for WDP for "game day" wear. Next... A Halloween jumper for my highschool buddy Kathryn's little girl....she claimed the pumpkin costume I posted on FB for her new baby so I made this as a bonus :-)- I love the bow in the ghost's "hair" I hope she likes it... And lastly, a brother/sister outfit set for a new FB friend who found me through Twelve's blog- Lucy. Her son Colton needs a feeding tube so it has a top secret flap to hide it when not in use- quite clever if I do say so myself!

This kid LOVES balloons...as in if he sees them he makes a bee-line for the closest one. Publix is awesome for having balloons to satisfy his need. I hope he is always entertained by something so simple as a balloon :-)

Please, give me legos! He loves to sit in the box- who knew the box could be as fun as the toy itself!!! And pile as many legos in there as possible. He also likes you to put them together so he can take them apart...my little engineer :-)

So that's us in a nutshell for the last week or so. I had a great post ready this am and blogger deleted it... so this was the best post I could get.... I hope you are all doing fabulous!!!!!

I promise to be better at this...

2009-09-15T09:35:00.001-05:00

Hi, My name is Jennifer and I'm a bad blogger. There. I said it. let's move on :-) Just a bunch of pictures to ease my guilty non-blogging mind....

This is William's new happy face- I love it! He was all smiles at this park until he turned around and walked right into that cool bridge you see in the picture. It is exactly the height of that space between your eyes and nose...fun times were over after that....

WDP is all about finding your belly button (specifically mine because it's an outie) and giving us "five" here he's at a BBQ festival giving Daddy five. I'd like to teach him the fist bump...less germy if you ask me!

Feed myself? OK! I'd love to, but first I will make a huge mess for you. He LOVES Yo Baby...it's not just the yogurt though, it's the containers. We saw it at the store and he wants the "baby"... So now I buy the big yogurt and wash these cups and let him think he's having the expensive YoBaby... Sneaky mommy....

His new fav place in the house is under the bar chairs with a bucket of blocks. It's pretty darn cute until he gets stuck and can't remember how to climb out of the chair....

Chad went to his 20th high school reunion...(wow, that's old I thought. Then I remembered it'd been 15 for me. I'm old too :-) Here's his good friend Kim. It was fun to see people I've heard stories about and realize that all high schools are the same...every school is a Bayside High....

Another friend Robby, affectionately known as "the King" He was the only person I knew at the reunion :-) Don't be fooled by the friendly smile. One of his hobbies/ jobs is keeping up with and transferring gun licenses...like machine gun licenses...yikes! Be nice to the King :-)

Us before the reunion...what you've seen me in that dress before? yes, it was my "summer dress"...hid the remaining baby william weight and was $17.99 at sam's....yeas, like Sam's club. I love it! Look at William's onesie...it's an Elvis jumpsuit...from Graceland. It's awesome, and we've just about outgrown it...do you want it for your new baby? If so, say the word...first person can have it shipped out a.s.a.w.g.o.o.i....(as soon as we grow out of it)

me+the whole box of Cheerios= happiness

Please note the hand it's the "do not move my box" hand or the happy times will be over. Also note the torn box top...William is obsessed with chewing any paper product that could potentially shread and be hard to remove from his mouth....

There. Done. Guilt is gone. I'm not even going to spell check this...just hit post. :-)

My little kitchen "helper"

2009-08-25T10:01:00.000-05:00

My biggest weakness is sweets. Here is the yummy icing recipe I've been favoring lately...

4 sticks of butter, softened just a little bit

One of the big bags of powdered sugar...I think it's 2lbs

2tsp real vanilla...not the imitation kind!

one pinch of kosher salt

Start with 3Tablespoons WHOLE milk (very convenient if you have a baby around who drinks whole milk!)... you'll add as much as you need to get the consistency you want

You can half this recipe...just use a smaller pinch of salt. You can also add crushed oreos or butterfingers...yum! I just piped the icing with a big swirl using a big star tip on top of chocolate cupcakes (use the recipe from the back of the Hershey's cocoa powder box- delicious!) Oh they were so yummy. I wish I had a picture of them.... Look back at Stacy's shower, or William's party. For the big swirl I needed all of the icing, for regular cupcakes or a round cake you probably only need half. But it freezes well if you make too much FYI :-) Enjoy and then hit the gym!

My other new thing to make are mini peanut butter cups. Are you ready for the ease of this....

Wilton milk chocolates candy melts(2.49)

Wilton white chocolates candy melts (2.49)

Wilton plastic/ disposable icing bags...pretty cheap, don't try ziplocs...it doesn't work, I tried!

Peanut butter

Candy molds...I used Wilton (they are $1.99)

Put half the bag of chocolate candy melts in a disposable icing bag. Defrost in your microwave for a few minutes...maybe 2...just until they are soft. Cut the bottom off of the icing bag and pipe or squeeze into the molds...fill them 1/3 to 1/2 way. Malt the white chocolate candy melts just like the others, but in a bowl. When they are almost finished add a big spoon of PB and stir until it melts. Pour into an icing bag, snip the top and fill the molds the rest of the way. I tap mine on the counter to make them smooth. Cool on counter or in the fridge if you're impatient. Pop out of the molds and like WDP says, "Ta-da"...yum! If there's chocolate left in the bags you can squeeze it onto parchment paper, let it cool and then reuse it later. There are sooo many fun uses for candy melts! A coworker told me she eats this with a banana- tried it this morning and she's right- quite delicious.... again, hit the gym when finished!

oops...mommy has looked the other way for a minute....I'll show her how much fun I can have when she's making candy....

uh oh i just wanted to pretend like this was a cup

Gardening

2009-08-24T11:07:00.000-05:00

We had amazing weather in TN this weekend- 73 was the high on Sunday...It was just a sneak peak of fall, it'll be 94 Thursday, but William LOVED it! He is becoming my little gardening buddy. Straight from the garden to his tummy....

Check out our cantaloupe!!!!

I have scrapped the idea of having him drink milk from a sippie and we are continuing on with the bottle for now. He won't take a bottle forever I have to keep telling myself! He is into juice boxes now...How cute, right?

Check him out trying to feed himself. Just when Chad and I start to think he's so smart he'll bring us back to reality and eat rocks when we take him outside :-)

Did anyone see my FB status Friday night? WDP was so sweet. When I was giving him his bottle before bed he reached under my arm and patted me on the back while he drank his bottle. I tell you, he is the sweetest baby!!!

Back Pack

2009-08-21T09:25:00.001-05:00

So it is becoming apparent that William understands us...maybe not everything, but I'm guessing it's a lot. His new thing is to want to go "Bye-Bye"...or take a walk. He used to bring Chad his shoes and the other day he only brought one and so Chad said "Go get the other shoe" and he did.... Then Chad said, "Go get the backpack" and WDP will chant "packpack" as he walks over, picks up the backpack and drags it over to Chad. It's adorable!!!!!! He's also started throwing his hands up like "I don't know" if you ask him something he's clueless about like "What's the square root of 64?" I'll try to get a video of him doing "I don't know" this weekend...but for now it's the march of the "pack pack." Happy Weekend to you!

2009-08-17T10:16:00.000-05:00

Ahh, the fair...maybe this is why I haven't posted in a while...well this and the fact school is back in session, sigh..... back to the fair. I thought I would do better, I mean, my stuff's cute, right? Only one lowly red ribbon for my strawberry jam. The last minute entry, the I didn't think that would win, but I'll just throw it in just 'cause. But a ribbon's a ribbon.Even if it is 2nd place..and $8!!!! Oh yeah, did I mention there's a cash prize? And lucky for someone I'm sending it to them! If you ever click on my blog links, click Twelve and then click his daughter's site...or just click here. She's raising money for a well. So sweet! So My $8 is going there...along with my pencil money from school. Oh yeah, that's right. Mrs. Perry is hard core this year. No more freebie pencils or pens. 25 cents a piece and I don't give change, so some pay $1. That's OK with me. It's high school, they should remember to bring a pencil.....

Katie, do you have chickens like this...I think these should be called "rockstar chickens"

Seriously, this got 2nd? I could've at least taken second place! Sorry, I'm being a spoiled sport, but it hurt my feelings to not win!

We closed out the summer o'parties this weekend hosting a Stock the Bar shower for my dear friend Stacy and her swettie pie Matt. It was quite nice and the best part...I decorated with glassware from the labs at school. We did a major rennovation so glassware came out of the woodworks- the old stuff is sooo much cooler that what we have today. But if I do say so myself I feel like the volumetric flasks were a nice touch on the table. She liked them too and that's all that matters, right?

These were by far my best cupcakes ever.... I need to post the icing recipe- de.lic.ious...I mean worth every calorie, yummy...I'll post it soon, promise!

My next post will be all about that sweetie pie baby who has oh, so many new tricks!

2009-08-04T06:29:00.000-05:00

So I began cleaning closets this week...not really because I wanted to, but because I had misplaced all of my powerpoints and quizzes and class stuff...smart me decided to ONLY keep an electronic copy (I did find it in my glove box of all places) but back to cleaning, through cleaning I found more things we don't use anymore and decided to put them on ebay and pulled out William's old bouncy seat. He climbed right in and started hanging off the edges :-) Chad and I couldn't help but remember how tiny he had been in it...remember.....

He was soooo tiny!!!

The fair starts this week. I drop off my jam tomorrow. I've already taken my clothes and his little "William" banner. there were a ton of entries. Now I'm nervous. I like to enter when no one else does...then you can win. Kind of like the Weaverville Firecracker 5K- I'll never forget the year I won first place for my age group...as I'm walking up there to get my prize which I was so proud of the guy announced that there were no 2nd or3rd place entries. Oh well! a victory is still a victory for me :-) keep your fingers crossed for the fair!!!! I want the ribbon...and the $6 first prize check :-)

Here are a few other projects I've worked on...the green and white bubble is at the fair, the rest are already in the hands of their new owners. the sewing room is officially closing after I do 2 more projects for at least a month. I can't start school and want to sew all the time....so I'll clean it up and pack it up...at least until September. I can't believe how quickly the summer has gone by. I start on Thursday....soooo sad!

Just a few more things.....

2009-07-29T20:03:00.001-05:00

When we were in Atlanta the other weekend we were lucky enough to be in town for Maddie's pool party. Chad loves to take pictures like these.....

Maddie had the cutest cake...

When we were in Elberton I saw a swingset that I had to get a picture of...as in Chad had to stop, back up and pull over so I could get out and scope the place. Ohhh, I dream of a big wooden pirate ship for William. They had those. But even cooler than that.... a Monster Truck!!! What!!!!

Would that not be the best???? It cracked me up that they even had 4x4 in wooden letters on the front and actual tire tread on the huge tires.... I know we'll never be able to get this, so why don't you get one and invite us over for a playdate???? Here's the order info :-)

Have I mentioned WDP's love of boxes and slides? I think it's that he can get inside both of them... he can't get enough so we try to get him to the park as often as possible, or at least look for boxes for him :-)

I am gearing up for the Williamson County Fair. I want to be all 4H and stuff ...Chad won't let me raise a cow like some other cool blog people I know, but I do enter baked goods and sewing things. A few years back I won a blue ribbon for "my" pound cake ...well William Rutherford's grandmother's recipe :-) and a blue ribbon for a baby outfit. I'm hoping for at least one ribbon this year...and the $6 you win too!!!! I can't decide what outfits to enter. I'm making a bubble for Twelve's (remember him you YL folks???) daughter Tyler and will enter that and maybe the cupcake jonjon since Katie's tip on boiling H2O and stain stick worked! And maybe one other thing...what do you think? His ghost and pumpkin jonjon? The snowman jonjon? And then I'll enter my jam...but if you crush fruit is that jam or preserves? There are two different categories.... ahh, I love fair season, even if it means school is just around the corner, as in one week from tomorrow ! Booooooo

was he not the cutest??????

The party

2009-07-28T14:43:00.000-05:00

Party pictures per several requests...although these are in no particular order.... I did try to group them...sorry this is a poor post, it's overwhelming to have sooo much go on and to try and capture it in a few pictures- we can't do either party justice..... Here goes:

The set up for Party #2 in Franklin: our backyard, my motto became"if it's plastic stick it in the yard" The kids had a good time...I think :-) i had pictures up everywhere and the adults got to play a quiz game "How well do you know WDP?" The questions were multiple choice and the prize was a bottle of Merlot or Raspberry Tea vodka...Congrats to Melanie and Aya!!!!

The food: Our friends Shawn and Vanessa brought over lots of yummy BBQ and potato salad. I made pasta salad, nutella cookies, veggies from the garden, hummus and pita chips, watermelon, and of course cupcakes :-) The cupcakes were supposed to have green stars around the edges but I ran out of time, I don't think anyone cared. I made white chocolate "candles" for everyone too! :-)Check out the bar in the pictures right above- Chad made it right when i moved to nashville- perfect for parties. We served wine, beer, and margaritas :-)

We had one "kid" game"Pin the Paci"- I printed a 12x18 picture at Costco...only $2.49!!!! and then went to Kinkos and they blew it up for me on the blueprint machine for less than $5- what a deal. We took a picture of the last remaining paci and cut it out, put poster putty on the back, add a blindfold and viola! Pin the paci! I think the kids liked it! One little sweetie gabe kept peeking, but then would "pin" the paci on WDP's hand...not exactly what I had planned, but still the right idea :-) Go Gabe thinking outside of the box!

Backyard fun: jenna tried to teach WDP how to high five, We had a cool bubble machine which was ahit, and again just lots of plastic things to play with..... yeah for big yards!

Lots of sandbox fun..... the kids were calling it the sand pit. Oh, you can't see it, but Chad built a cool "deck" on the other two sides of the box so you can get out and wash your feet off :-) i'll get a better picture for another post.

Party #1 in Elberton: Everyone was there, I mean everyone! His great aunts, his cousins, my dad and bets, my sister and her entourage, Chad's sister and her new hubby- lots of fun! Oh and a jumpy thing. His cousin just got a little tikes one for his b-day (lucky!) and he was sweet enough to blow it up for us to use- William loved it...and the baby pool too :-)

Hmmm, baby's first watermelon. Noone told me watermelon stained, I'm still trying to get those stains out to enter his outfit in the fair (yep, I'm weird like that, I LOVE county fairs! )

Ahh, the cake.... he had his own #1 (thank you ebay) which he promptly tore apart and rubbed everywhere...we just hosed him down in the sink afterwards.... he didn't really like the cake (not a big sweets guy) but loved the mess!

we said "no gifts" but collected books for a local free clinic- Mercy Clinic. They serve tons of uninsured kids in TN that don't have anywhere else to go...and every kid leaves the doctor's office with a book- How cool is that? We collected 52 books- awesome!!!! I hope each year we can help teach William the joy of giving and sharing by doing something like this.....

Three friends did go in and get William this incredible sand/water transportation table...he can not get enough of it. You put sand on one side, water on the other and there's a train, boats, and lots of other thingys to play with. he wants to sit in it when it's dry and splash everything when it has water in it- very cool!!! A huge thanks to Mel, Michelle, and Rachael!!!!

Ahh, lastly here's my pre-party helpers- William dumped all the plastic forks out while i was trying to roll the silverware and tie a cute bow on it.... boys!

This picture sums up the parties to me...a happy, happy boy on his first birthday!

2009-07-23T06:29:00.000-05:00

How do you sum up one year????? Impossible I am finding!!!! William has been the most precious little boy I could ever imagine and it's hard to believe he is one today!!!! To hear him chattering downstairs right now just makes me want to cry it's so sweet!

Twelve things to love about baby William:

1) His giggle- it'll make you cry
2) The way he still says "uh-oh"...a lot!

3) The way he just chatters in that baby chatter way...he'll look at you like he's reciting a presidential speech and just chatter away :-)

4) The look he gets on his face when he's in my bedroom and finds chapstick which he knows he's not supposed to have and I walk in and "catch" him- priceless!

5) The way he slept in until 6:30am yesterday...ahhh!

6) How he chases Chad into the bathroom almost every time, or beats on the door when Chad's in the shower.

7) His love of Puppy Games- over, and over, and over- good thing I only have ten minutes tivo'd

8) His waddle/ walk

9) His love of "technology"- anything with lights- cellphones, toys, etc
8) How excited he gets when we see a dog when we're out walking

10) How he kept chasing a cat (Double Deuce) this past weekend even though the cat was hissing and hiding under chairs. WDP would walk up to a chair, pull up the cover, say "Uh-oh" if he wasn't there and then look for another chair. All along Dubs was hissing and swatting form another chair trying to avoid the baby. Did I mention he kept saying"dog"

11) How he likes to play in the tupperware drawer

12) Lastly...did I mention his laugh? He does it all the time and it is too precious for words!!!!

I'll post on party #1 in Elberton and the Cupcakes -n-Cocktails party we're having this weekend soon, I promise :-)

Happy Birthday to the number one sweetest baby in the world!!!!!!!

51 weeks old today- let the celebrations begin...

2009-07-16T14:29:00.000-05:00

51 weeks! What? Seriously, how is it possible? I am in full on 1st b-day party mode- don't get in my way!!!! Well, that is, unless you're trying to help me :-) I have made the outfit and tried to get a photo yesterday to put up at the party- it was a disaster! See below! Now on to the rest of the party planning...the favors, the food, the cupcakes, etc......

Poor little bunny! mean ol' mommy trying to get a sweetie picture of you! I even made you a fun banner to hang up at the party..... not quiet as cool as Katie's banners in her Etsy shop, but it was my first one and I'd say it was a respectable effort. I am excited to think of the possibilities of where to hang the banner next- the Oval office when he's president, his rehearsal dinner, or just in his room until party #2 next year :-)

William is still LOVING books- as many as he can get his hands on- he even "feels" some of the feely books now. He was sitting in the toybox today and I tried to snap a cute picture, but instead he struck a pose, quit smiling, and then proceeded to do what he normally does in the morning- 1) hang out in the kitchen for the slight chance the fridge will open and he can get in it (please excuse the messy-ness of the fridge) On this occasion score! he snuck out with the Strawberry Nesquick....don't worry I got it away from him before we had a pink, sticky, mess!

2) He LOVES to watch Puppy games, the Animal Planet show we were able to tivo about 10 minutes of one day. So a little Puppy Games each morning will pacify his need to say "dog" one thousand times before 8am :-)

We are gearing up to start the 51st week celebration leading up to the Cupcakes -n- Cocktails Party we're having next Saturday. It's not really called that, but a friend Melanie's little girl Jenna asked what my theme was...what? a theme? I didn't know we needed a theme- Melanie replied that it was a cupcake theme and she seemed Ok with that answer, so there you go- cupcakes it is! Do you think I can have all different decorated cupcakes in the same color scheme or should they be all decorated the same? This will give me something to think about as we head to Atlanta for Maddie's party and then to Elberton for Party #1 for WDP....hopefully he will cooperate in the pics.....

Sooo easy!

2009-07-12T15:49:00.000-05:00

Ok, so Katie from TexasNorth...see link at left she has amazing ideas!...posted this easy, easy recipe for homemade lollipops on facebook. What's a girl to do on a rainy Sunday with a napping hubby and baby and a 4lb bag of jolly ranchers? Obviously try it out..especially since WDP's party is coming up and I've yet to nail down a party favor.... They are so fun...here's a quick recap of how to make them....

1) unwrap a ton of jolly ranchers
2) preheat oven to 275
3) Place one piece of foil and then a piece of parchment onto a baking pan

4) Line up your candies- 3 seem to work nicely...put just a tiny bit of space in between...

-this is the fun part- mix and match different color combinations. I don't like the blue flavor,

but LOVE the way it looks when melted...

5) bake for 6 minutes

6) Immediately twirl a lollipop stick in the melted goodness and transfer to a wire wrack to cool...I just slid the foil/ parchment/ pops all together onto a wrack to cool

7) Wrap and tie with a ribbon when they're finished!

Ta-da- people will think you are a culinary genius!
Don't let on how easy they are!!!!

I think I may try to make some type of sticker to put on the baggie over the pop and let these be the party favors... Is that an OK favor? I don't go to many kiddie parties- what are people expecting???

Frankenbaby

2009-07-09T19:44:00.000-05:00

So, I think William is officially a "walker." he still crawls when he needs to get somewhere quick-like if I leave the bathroom door open or the gate to the stairs, but as of today he pretty much walked everywhere. So he's "walking, right? or maybe not, either way it's pretty darn c-u-t-e!We call him our Frankenbaby- like Frankenstein, only he's a baby, so Frankenbaby...logical, right? He walks all "frankenstein-ish" with his arms out...so cute right?????

He has also discovered the joy of getting "into" things- baskets, Huggies boxes, dogbeds, you name it.....

Check out my killer Craigslist find (it's an outside toy in the video and then we move it inside too- perfect!)... this awesome tunnel-slide-thingy with a hole- he'll put things in the hole and climb through the tunnel over and over- What a find... and at $25 the price was right- I LOVE Craigslist! The best part- he'll probably become bored with this in a few months and I bet I can sell it for $25 to some other baby on Craigslist- perfect, right?

I am still astonished that it is almost his birthday- didn't I just blog that I was trying to clean all the windows so my body would think I was nesting and I'd have the baby??? We are gearing up for 2 B-day parties. One in GA with our families and hopefully the Elberton Rutherfords and another in town at our house with our friends...and his, of course! I made a B-day jonjon- good thing he'll only wear it a few times- he's almost outgrown it!!!

Speaking of turning one, I am so confused on the whole "switch to milk" thing...why can he all of a sudden in 2 weeks have milk? and will he continue to drink 4-8oz bottles of milk? I just don't feel like he eats enough "real food" for him to stop formula...we eat an avocado a day ( I know, it's probably too much), zucchini, butternut squash (which you can't buy in the summer, ugh), banana, strawberries, grapes, yogurt, rice/ oatmeal, cheerios, natural/ organic cheese puffs and regular puffs and sweet potatoes....surely that's not a wide enough diet for no formula- he doesn't like meat or cheese- any ideas...suggestions? Help me, please :-)

Happy July 4th!!!!

2009-07-04T19:36:00.000-05:00

Ahh, the fourth of July- baby's last "first" holiday...I can't believe his birthday is right around the corner!!! We had a pretty rough night last night. William was off on his nap schedule- mainly my fault due to a trip to the zoo (including a public meltdown and a quick escape) and then he played sooo hard all afternoon in the sandbox and in the yard and I think he was just beat! he was up screaming for a good portion of the night- so he was tired today, but we tried to make the best of it.

While he was napping I made some peach jam- My strawberry has been a hit with friends and my sister came up to visit and brought me some SC peaches- the leaves on the peaches were still soft and green- that's how fresh they were- dee-licious! I'll try the peach jam tomorrow for breakfast and get back to you. I'm gearing up for the Williamson County Fair...just over a month away!

We went to Mt, Juliet to their 4th festival to see our buddies Shawn and Vanessa. they were selling their amazing Hushpiggies- talk about yummy!!!! I also had one of the best cups of shaved ice- I had to ask to see the machine first. Chad and I are shaved ice snobs after trying the BEST shaved ice in Hawaii. The machine looked like it would really "shave" the ice and it was the closest to the Hawaiian kind as I've ever had.... Yum!

We came back to Franklin, hit the Franklin on the 4th Festival- we have the cutest town square here.... anyway, WDP saw his first she-mullet and it was awesome! A perfect way to end a great day!

Happy birthday America...
that's what Chad likes to say :-)

Here's WDP coming back from Mt. Juliet- he's really into peek-a-boo these days and couldn't stop giggling :-) What a wonderful sound!

More to come next week on my sister's visit, several trips to the park, a huggie's box, switching to "real" milk, etc....

2009-06-29T07:45:00.000-05:00

William went for another haircut and totally charmed an entire bridal party of 13 in the process- he's such the ham. Afterwards he would walk right over to them, smile, and then come back to me- he sure does know how to turn it on!!!! Oh, did I mention he's "walking" I mean crawling is our favorite mode of transportation, but he can take 10ish steps in a row- he's fearless, bumping into everything!!!! This picture's not the best, I snapped it with my phone, but I just thought he looked sooo cute :-)

2009-06-25T14:42:00.001-05:00

OK, I've been avoiding posting because I haven't posted in a while and the longer you wait, the harder it is! So much has happened..well, not really, but it seems that way when you sit down to blog!

We went to Greenville last week and saw a few old friends...not enough, maybe on the next trip. we also went to Charleston for a few rainy days and didn't get to see nearly enough people, but had some fun times with Polly and her family. On our way home we stopped in BlackMtn to see Sunday and Annie and their beautiful babies (well big kids)...and got to see the long lost Adam Collins for a bit! All we needed was Jessica for the world's greatest playdate! We're now home for a bit and trying to readjust William to a sleeping schedule...ugh.

One thing we did see on our trip was look for dogs- everyday. He would wake up "dog." We would eat "dog." We would go to the pool "Dog." We saw horses at camp Timberlake "Dog." Do you see a theme here? Polly's sister was kind enough to bring her dog over for some dog-love and luckily my dad was babysitting a dog for a few days. Ahh, William's favorite things.

Here are a few recent pictures in no particular order.....

I made jam- lots of jam- want some? It's yummy!

baby's first trip to Charleston- my possibly most favorite city ever!

Chad trying to entertain WDP in the car for the multitude of hours we were driving- he was a champ...most of the time (the baby that is) :-)

Ahh the dogs......

The beach.....

Dinner with Chad's family and our soon-to-be brother in law Michael- many Congrats to Steph and Michael and their upcoming wedding on 7.5...09, yes as in 2 weeks- they just got engaged! How fun!

Touch a truck in Greenville with my dad- you basically got to "touch trucks" boats, trolleys, tractors, etc- way fun, but William was sooo tired!!!!! Please note we tried to match the "transportation" theme by wearing a rocket jonjon- i doubt anyone noticed but me!

The pool....

just some random pics....

our little drummer boy

Now, the countdown is on for the "big party"..well 2 parties actually! We are having one at Chad's mom's on July 19 and one at our house July 25...the theme- cupcakes...that's about all I know so far, I'll keep you posted!

Ashley and Arjun's wedding

2009-06-07T10:15:00.000-05:00

One of my good friends from work got married this weekend and Chad and I had the best time going out. William stayed home with Molly and she said he was perfect- not even a whimper when she had to do all the things he doesn't like- getting into the high chair, drying his hair, etc- yeah super baby....

Here are some shots from the wedding- we had so much fun. It was great to get out, get dressed up, and have a date night. yes, Chad is wearing 2 outfits- he wanted to take a change of clothes for the reception...what was I going to say?

the bride...check out her necklace bling- her something borrowed was my most favorite necklace ever :-) thanks again Chad

the yummy cake...it had a cool paisley design that matched the invitations

they had a photo booth!!!! You took 6 pictures and then could leave them a strip of photos in an album or take them. We made our way into the photo booth several times :-)

a tired little tiger at the end of the night

she had a candy bar where you could fix a bag of candy for the road- so fun!

another cute kid rocking her mom shoes

all in all a fabulous evening! thanks and Congrats to Ashley and Arjun!!!!!

2009-06-05T10:09:00.000-05:00

How cute is he???? last night he wanted to wear his hat backwards and he had sweet potato on his clothes, so we changed into a stunt outfit- how cute is this little boy? Where's my baby????

What a week- we went from being a sicky to very possibly being paci free. He didn't want it when he was sick at the begining of the week and so I've just kind of removed them from visibility. I'm not brave enough to throw them away yet, we may need them, you know, but for now he's slept like a champ for three nights without one- go super baby!

This week involved me hitting the gym pretty hard. I'm going to a new place for the summer- D1 and I love, love, love it! I hate not being in good shape and hopefully my summer will be spent getting back to running and losing the last of the baby William pounds. It feels so good to be sore. I also took a CPR refresher course- have you? You should. I almost cried when they taught the infant CPR- what if I had to do it? Could I? Hmmm, hopefully I never will need to know, but it was good to go over the basics just in case. And if you haven't had CPR in a while they've changed when you call 911 for babies and kids- you call after you do five rounds of 30 compressions and 2 breaths, well, you call after if you're alone. Very interesting....

It is so nice to be on break and relax, meet friends for lunch, organize things around the house- it makes 9 months of waking up super early for work worth it :-) oh, and planning my trip to Greenville/ Charleston- yep, I'm going to come for a visit week after next. Can't wait! Hopefully we'll get to swing thrugh the Blue Ridge Mtns and see Sunday, Annie, Margarita, and Paula...Now if I can only get through the ever growing list of sewing projects (gifts, birthday outfits, reusable shopping bags, etc) I need to do!!!!!!

Someone doesn't feel too well

2009-06-01T09:26:00.001-05:00

OK, WDP is sick- I'm not sure what kind of sick he is, but Poor. Little. Buddy. We're going to the doctor later this morning. All day yesterday he was a fussy buddy. Last night he lost it when it was time to have his bottle and then it was on.... Oh, the crying. Oh, the saddness. Even walking in the cul de sac looking at dogs didn't help. He now has bumps all over, so off to Dr. Leepers we go! Let's hope I'm a nervous new mom and it's nothing but a fussy baby. Wish us luck.......

Update: #1 Our pediatrician is #1- I heart him and he never makes me feel silly about going in for a little rash or when something's just "not right." - like today. #2 WDP has hand, foot, mouth disease- sounds gross right? The doctor said kids get it all the time- and he has sores in his mouth which is why the drool faucet turned on last week and why he won't take a bottle or paci- maybe we'll try a cup tonight? #3- Luckily, no antibiotics- just a little T Cell and B Cell love from his immune system- We should be good as new in a few days!

We've been busy

2009-05-30T21:11:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, it's summer! I love the smell of sunscreen, the sleeping "in" , well until 6:30 or so, and most importntly not working!!!! let's see my summer will consist of, ....hmmmm.... not much at all- the exact way I LOVE it! the only bad part is that I cannot find time to blog! How do you people do it? before I worked at Vandy, I was bored all day, so I blogged, then I pumped, and blogged (is that TMI???), and then I blogged during my planning and study hall- now I have so much free time, I can't find time to do this- sorry! I will get better at it! To sum things up, we've been busy and tired (the kind of tired where I went to Costco and bought the size too small of diapers- ugh). This picture of William passed out in the back pack is how I fel at the end of a schoo year- just dog tired!

We planned the threw the first of several wedding showers for dear friends over the summer. I should've taken more pics- here's just one of the table (chcoclate strawberries, pasta sald, Hibachi chicken skeewers, hummus, guacamole, nutella cookies, veggies, etc) and the cute cards I put with the food- they matched the tags for the favors (homemade reese cups- which I did not photograph)

I have cleaned 90% of our house...like move the sofa and remove the old gerber puffs from the floor kind of cleaning- all that's left are the closets- yuck! I think we should play a "MTV Cribs" on our blogs- a short 1 or 2 min video clip- show us around your house- what's in your fridge, where your kids play, etc..... what'd you think???? maybe I'll work on that this week....

Here are just some random pictures of WDP, who is now 10 months old by the way- Yeah super baby!!!!!!!

I will post pics and video soon- we've been swimming, planted veggies, WDP "dances", too much to blog about now, I just feel guilty not posting.......

First words :-)

2009-05-13T10:39:00.000-05:00

Well, not too much has been going on around here except for rain, rain, and more rain! It's so hard to find a few dry moments to get outside so William can listen for a dog...Oh yeah, that's right our baby has said his first word...other than uh-oh...it's dog. Sounds more like "doa" but it's very intentional. He'll hear a dog bark and then look around very inquisitively and say "doa, doa" We'll pull out the puppy stuffed animals (Puzzle for those of you who know me from way back
:-) ) and it's "doa, doa" The other morning Chad found something called "Puppy Games 2008" on Animal Planet- it was just dogs playing with balls- we didn't really get it, but WDP crawled over to the tv, stood up, smiled and said "Doa, doa" So we tivo-d it....A new standard in our house. Forget Baby Einstein videos, he's all about "doa"... It's a nice break from "Uh-oh" although that's still adorable :-)

I had the big 3-3 birthday. (After 30, it's just not as much fun!)Dad and Bets sent some great flowers, Chad built me a veggie garden planter...no plants yet- too wet to plant!... and little William was feeling better from his little virus, which was the best gift of all! My students "surprised" me with a science cake- one had all of their names on it and the other one was of two Earth plates crashing into each other...with peanut m&m's on top :-) perfect for a science teacher!

William's new things: 1) he likes to sit on things, stools, counters, chairs, etc 2) obviously anything remotely related to dogs...which is funny because we don't have a pet 3)running his fingers/ hands over his lips making noises- such a guy! 4) playing inside his awesome toy box (thanks again Chad!) and 5) playing "surprise"...one of us holds WDP and hides behind a wall- then you lean out to "scare" or say "surprise" to the other person...he laughs...every...time. Every time I tell you!

Oh, and he took 2 steps last week- no video, and he hasn't done it again, but I guess "technically" he took his first steps :-) Yeah little bunny!

Here'sa dress I made for BellRose's second birthday...I kind of think the 2 is too big..... ugh....

Lastly- I noticed I have wrinkles all around my eyes- oh joy!