Thank you Tim!

Isn't she beautiful?

Tim bought us a new fridge this past weekend. We love it! It is so much bigger than our other one, and much more convienient. I realized how "grown-up" I was when I couldn't sleep the night before they delivered it. I'm getting old! Thanks Honey for spoiling me. I love you!

Dear Jaime,

I thought of you the entire time I researched this refridgerator. Your experience with the SAMSUNG brand/company made me think really hard about going with their product. I can assure you, I did my homework. They have come a long way since you dealt with them. Consumer Reports rates this particular model as one of the highest in customer satisfaction and overall performance. I hope for our sake they are right! I'll let you know! Love, Carrie

Wine and Speeding Tickets

We had an amazing wine adventure on the Eastern Shore this weekend. These are three of the four wonderful women that joined me on this road trip. No, I don't really like wine, but I love being with these girls. I would drink just about anything if it meant I could hang out with them.

Whitney managed to sneak away from a three year-old and a 7 month old. Her husband decided to give it a shot. They all survived. And Whitney made me laugh all day long. She's so much fun!

The vineyards were adorable, and the whole wine-tasting experience was different and fun. Too bad I will never be a wine-lover. I had to force it down a couple of times. My friends, on the other hand, are big fans of wine. The best part to me, was just sitting in the sunshine with each other, catching up and talking about wilder days at Longwood.

It was so beautiful and so peaceful over there. I could own a winery. I could enjoy being part of that business. I would just have to hire employees who drank wine. Or just invite my friends over all the time.

Too bad my wonderful wine-tasting experience ended with this: a speeding ticket.

I was guilty as charged. No sass. No excuses. I was gossiping with the girls and driving much too fast. However, that police officer was evil. He worries me. I am afraid he might bring bodily harm to people around him in the near future. He was angry...very angry. I just wanted him to give me my ticket, and then drive as far away from him as possible. I pray for the women and children in his life. Really, I do. Did I mention he pulled me and three other cars over by walking into the middle of the highway holding a STOP sign on a stick? They do things differently on the Eastern Shore. I now drive much slower. I still had a great time with my girls. The evil State Policeman did not ruin that.

Why yes, I'll be a big boy and sit still for my first hair cut.

What a little man! I was a proud mommy. Now...if I could only get Addie to do this well.

It was way past time.

His little golden locks were creeping down his back. When his hair was wet, it was amazingly long. At the hospital when he was in recovery after his surgery, one of the volunteers asked me "how old is she?" It was way past time. I just wasn't ready to say goodbye to the curls...not yet. But, I did. Hayes got his very first hair cut last week.

Before:

After:

Is he not handsome or what? Yes, I teared up a bit. My "baby" was getting his hair cut. It was a big realization for me. He is not such a "baby" anymore.

We only cleaned it up a bit. It's not the "big boy" hair cut I have planned for the near future. You know...the one where they shave the neck and up around the ears. I can't even imagine how "big" he will look then. I had to take small steps....baby steps.

And completely unrelated....These are a couple cute pics I got one morning before the hair cut. They were having fun just goofing around together.

It makes Tim and I so happy that they get a long so well. She looks after him, and he totally looks up to her!

I'll share some actual plictures of the hair cut a little later. Hayes wants me to play!

House Guests

My Dad and my sweet Memaw came up for a visit a couple of weeks ago. And my Dad worked his magic on my upstairs guest bathroom, remember? Well, in between painting and sawing and hammering, we did get some special visiting in there too! Addie and Hayes were very excited to have our special guests around for a few days. They warmed up pretty quick this trip.

Memaw worked some magic of her own one morning too! I finally got some real homemade biscuits and gravy! That is my favorite breakast of all time. It always reminds me of West Virginia and the many memories I made there as a child. I didn't realize then how much I was going to miss those big breakfasts with my family. I wish I could sit down one more time with my Mamaw Click and my Papaw Jessee and share some hot apples, gravy and biscuits, fried potatoes, and bacon. I'd talk their ear off about my babies and how much I love being a mommy! That would be one nice breakfast!

Noone makes them quite like she does! Yum! Thanks Memaw!

This was a pretty special breakfast too! I have learned to soak in these special rare moments where we all get together. They are priceless. And I don't want to take them for granted. I want my babies to remember big, slow, mouth-watering breakfasts at my house. The kind you have in West Virginia,and even in Virginia when Memaw and Dad visit.

She's awfully cute awake...

and downright adorable when she's asleep.

I love her. Simple as that....she is so awesome.

Dad's Latest Project

My Dad can fix anything. I know that many people say that about"Dad's" in general, but really, he can fix anything and everything. He's very talented. He owns his own business down in Florida and makes his customers very happy. When he comes to see me, we always have a project going. He usually works on said project for most of his visit, in between drinking coffee, tickling crazy grandchildren and eating lots of take-out! I start working a "list" for him weeks before his visit. This is a picture of the wood valences he made for me for my family room a couple of years back. I love these things! They dress up the room tremendously, and I am always getting compliments on how nice they look. My mommy friends want to hire my Dad, but I just laugh and say..."when he's here, he's all mine...!"

I just realized that the above picture isn't actually my garage, but my friend's garage. She sent me this photo of her make-shift "mudd-room", and my Dad used it as a reference when he made me one in my garage too!

This is the latest project....my upstairs guest bathroom. Before we had Addie, Tim and I decorated this room with a rubber duck theme. We never repainted it from the previous owners, but went with the same tan color theme. It was in major need of some attention. I like the ducks, but I wanted something a little more grown-up, and I definitely wanted to change up the color. I read on one of the decorating blogs I subscribe to about fake "board and batten". I immediately called up my Dad and asked him all about it. I loved the look of this stuff, sort of rustic, but classy. It looked simple enough for me to do (yeah right!) And when I started researching it online, it was all over the place! All of the big decorating blogs were talking about it! I had to try it, well...I had to have my Dad try it! And guess what...he was up for the challenge!

Addie decided to pose one more time for me when I was trying to get another "before" shot of the plain, boring bathroom. The week leading up to my Dad's visit, Tim and I tried to get the room "ready" so that Dad wouldn't have to work the entire time he was visiting, but that didn't go over well.

When Dad saw my paint job, he decided to do it all over again. He started from scratch. And worked....and worked....

and worked some more ! He and Tim worked their butts off! And the finished product shows! I love it! The board and batten is exactly the look I was going for. The room looks fancy and clean, but not like one of those rooms where you feel like you can't touch anything. It still feels comfortable and "homey". My Memaw helped me with the decorating details! She rocks! I am a very lucky girl!

Don't ya just love it? Dad says that all of those blogs that brag about putting up this stuff in one evening and "how simple...and easy...and cheap it is..." well...they are misleading, and their board and batten "is probably falling off the walls by now". It is definitely much more involved than they suggest. I'm not sure I could do it successfully without his help. It sure looks good though. Thanks Dad! You spoil me! We love our new bathroom!

Egg Hunt #3

One of my mommy friends got us signed up for an egg hunt at a local park nearby. It was fabulous! The morning was overcast and chilly, and at first, I wasn't too sure about going. Boy am I ever glad I didn't back out. It was so much fun and so well organized! I hope we remember this next year! Hayes stayed at his Mamaw's and rested up since he had just had his tube/adenoid surgery the day before. I was sad he had to miss it, but knew he needed some more time to take it easy. Addie really enjoyed the morning with just she and I. She needs a little one-on-one time with Mommy every once in a while.

She agreed to a picture beside the Easter Bunny this year! That's a HUGE improvement even from Christmas. She refuses to even look at Santa! I love this picture!

My Dad and my sweet Memaw were here this past weekend visiting. I cherish the time I get to spend with them and wish they lived closer and were able to be a bigger part of our everyday lives. I took a lot of pictures, and my Dad and Tim worked on a project that I am anxious to share with you all. Check back in a day or two!