These deserve a post of their own!!

This one is for all the ladies...ENJOY!!!

Kenny Chesney pictures from the front row!!

kenny chesney

Month of May.....

While April was a busy month for us May has proved to be even more eventful so far! The first weekend of May we had the first annual crawfish boil at the camp house. If you know my husband you know he is an over achiever and starts planning for things several weeks in advance so this was no different. It took weeks to plan but it turned out great and the crawfish were DELICIOUS! (and spicy!!) The entire week after the boil Gavin and I were on a honeymoon sort of. My parents kept monkey for the week so Gavin and I took advantage of being able to go to bed early, sleep late and eat as much junk food as possible! It was nice but I am still paying for it two weeks later. If we didn’t have monkey we would be worthless, broke and the size of a small car!!! The next weekend was Mother’s Day and we headed back to Ga to get my monkey and spend the weekend at the lake, which was very relaxing and much needed. Last week was Monkey’s last week of Mother’s Day Out until June 16th so that was non-stop chaos with all the “end of the year” special snacks and making sure everything was taken care of before the end of the school year!! On Thursday night, another night that we have been planning for, for several months now….the KENNY CHESNEY CONCERT!!! The tickets have been a “big secret” from me but no one in my family can keep secrets so I got wind several times but I didn’t believe it until I was sitting in my seat. FRONT ROW, CENTER STAGE!!! It was the BEST concert experience EVER!! We saw Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert with Blake Shelton and of course Kenny Chesney!!! I touched his leg and Gavin gave him a “tator”. We had a blast! THANKS GIGI!!! This past weekend was the first real weekend of down time we’ve had this month and we took full advantage of it. We didn’t get out of our jammies all day on Saturday and Sunday we got dressed just long enough for church and lunch but we were back in our jammies shortly there after!! Of course we have something planned for the next two weekends so May will end just the way it started. BUSY!! I hope everyone is enjoying this spring so far and I look forward to what the rest of the year holds!

Picture Updates from April

Lots of pictures from Easter at the lake as well as a playdate with Cooper.

Sorry it took me so long Marg!!

Playdate with Cooper..

2009-04-17 playdate2

Easter at the Lake...

easter at the lake

down on the farm....

this weekend we headed to nashville to visit gavin's cousin tottie and her precious family. unfortunatly it took a terrible tragedy to get us to nashville again but i promise we will not wait that long for the next trip. tottie and her family including her parents live on this wonderful farm near nashville that is absolutley adorable. there is so much open space for the kids to play as well as a goat named maggie who thinks she's a child and a miny horse named TP i could have brought home with me! oh yeah and the crazy dog and two cats with the addition of two kittens while we were there! it was a very sad time for the entire family but the farm was the best place for everyone to be together. especially the kids, things seemed a little brighter when all those babies were running around the farm enjoying the simples things in life, it was very theraputic for all. i am so very much looking forward to going back this summer and as if the farm couldn't get any better they are putting in a pool...i may never leave!!

in closing this blog entry i ask that you keep tottie, landon, alan elizabeth, nane, uncle butch, mark's sweet parents and anyone who was touched by Mark Word in his short life time in your thoughts and prayers. they've lost their husband, father and son, God will heal their hearts and lead them through this tragic event and every prayer will help fill up what seems so empty right now.

Thank You for all the thoughts and prayers for this special family.



below are a few pictures from the weekend....enjoy!

nashville2

pictures of my kitchen...

finally a few pictures from our painting experience. i am very happy with the kitchen and it really looks great now that it's put back together....
the next part of the process will be picking out fabric for my window treatments in the kitchen and doing a painting for my living room...stay tuned!

enjoy!

2009-03-06 pillows

progress....

so i am still making progress on redoing my house....my kitchen walls are done...

two weeks ago i went to lowes and bought 4 cans of sample paint (something lowes is doing now instead of those little cards) because i couldn't decide on the color so i thought if i put the 4 colors on the wall in a small area and look at it for several days i could decide. WRONG!! my parents came in this weekend with rollers in hand ready to paint my kitchen and i was still undecided. my dad and i took a trip back to lowes friday morning with me thinking ok just walk in there and pick one jennifer!! well i ended up getting a color totally different from any of the 4 samples on my wall. go figure!
so friday we tapped off and got the first coat on. we decided to let that coat dry over night and painted the second coat this morning. after we finished painting we spent the rest of the afternoon outside playing with my monkey. the weather was beautiful, my monkey ran around most of the day half naked and loved every minute of it. he even got a little sun kissed on his cheeks and shoulders.

so Tree Moss it is for the walls....I LOVE IT!!! next is back to finish a painting for the living room and then finding fabric for the window treatment in my kitchen...

stayed tuned....

sick baby....

we have a very sick baby on our hands! i think we have a little stomach bug because it has been UGLY around here since about 4:30 am!!! thank goodness for beautiful weather so we can open all the windows to air out the smell!!! every towel and sheet set i own is in the laundry room either in the wash, in the dryer or waiting to be washed!! every blanket we own is draped over a chair in the backyard....we've resorted to covering up with clean towels as they come out of the dryer! fun stuff!

i will keep everyone posted on how our monkey is feeling tomorrow

pictures...lots of pictures...enjoy!!

here are a few of my favorite pictures from random days in 2009.....

fav2009

these are a few from our trip to Dave and Busters for my dad's birthday last weekend. my camera battery finally died (after 1767 pictures no kidding) so i only got a few.....

dave&buster

on sunday the snow came....we were in GA at my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday and we got snowed in! we didn't get to leave until monday afternoon because there was so much snow and ice! it was beautiful, this was monkey's second snow but he still didn't get to play for long....he is very sick prone!! bless him.

snow

my progress on the house.....

2009-03-06 pillows

it's been a while....

so it's been a WHILE since i last posted a blog entry. my monkey and i were both sick for about two weeks so i got out of my daily routine and it's taking me a while to get back in it. oddly enough there hasn't been much to report on in the past month anyway. i've been trying to get my house redone so most of my free time is spent internet shopping for the house. i have not made much process since the last post because i want to make sure i do it right this time so i don't change my mind in 6 months and be back in the same place i am today. i did have a birthday last month, it was a quiet birthday but still great because i got to spend it with my favorite people. of course i got money so i could spend it on the house and my hubby is painting my kitchen for me as his birthday gift...couldn't be happier!! i did get my pillows done from my in-laws for my birthday, i guess that's a little progress. they turned out GREAT!! i must say things are going excellent right now, i did quit my job at the beginning of the year because i just was not happy there anymore and felt like God was telling me it wasn't the right place for me. i went to work for my husband, i was VERY hesitant about it at first because you know the old saying don't mix work with pleasure or family but it is working out great and i couldn't be more pleased. life seems a lot less stressful, i am certainly in a better mood when i get off everyday and of course the schedule is GREAT!!! my little monkey is growing up so fast. he is becoming so independent, entertaining himself and is making great progress with his speech! he's such a big boy and we finally got rid of the pappi! we have had a bit of an ordeal because my son was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth when he was about a year old and shortly after the diagnosis he starting getting a terrible rash. for a year now i've been told the rash is a side effect of the virus and there is nothing we can do about it. i was never comfortable with that answer so finally after a year and no improvement i made him a dermatologist appt. even though it was not a good experience i still found out the true diagnosis of the skin rash and that it had nothing to do with the hand, foot and mouth but it was a virus all it's own. there is still really nothing we can do about it but at least we know what it is!! we are only a few months into 2009 but i must say this year is already an improvement from last year and i can not wait to see what the rest of the year holds....

p.s. i am so far behind on posting pictures so the next few post will be lots of pictures from our year so far.....enjoy!!!

forgot something!

i also decided that my new years resolution (besides loosing the last 5 lbs of my pregnancy weight that i've been trying to loose for 2 years!!!) is to finish decorating my house! my husband, bless him, in the most opinionated man when it comes to decorating a house and unfortunately we can't agree on anything when it comes to decor. most men just keep their mouth shut and let the woman do it all but not him! for the most part he agrees with me about everything in life (food, movies, parenting, clothes ect.) but we can't seem to get it together when it comes to the house. so needless to say my house has gone pretty undone for the past year since we've moved in but it is time for a change!! i've decided to go all martha stewart and make my own stuff since i can't seem to find anything in the store that i like. plus i HATE shopping so this is a great way to avoid the endless hours of walking around home decor stores and leaving empty handed! wait let me back up...i said i would make, no i mean i will buy the material and pay someone else to make!!!! now that that is cleared up i finally bought my first pieces of fabric for my pillows in the living room this weekend and i feel like i have made a great start! oh yeah and i bought it without gavin which is another part of the resolution, i get what i want and if he doesn't like it he better pretend like he does!! he's doing good so far! now that i have the pillow fabric i hope everything else will come easy. i also bought some new hand towels for the kitchen. next will be curtains and of course all the little odds and ins to pull everything together. i also want to paint my kitchen and redo my bedroom...

stay tuned and i will keep everyone posted on the progress i am making!!

FIRST 27 DAYS.....

stay with me because this will be a long one.....it's be a while!

let's see, the last place i left you guys hanging was my son not wanting to sleep in the big boy bed. well i am proud to announce that we have moved on and he is finally sleeping all the way through the night with no fight! he is still experiencing a little separation anxiety but in all he is much better!

gosh what an eventful 27 days so far! i have recently moved on to another great life experience that i am enjoying very much and that is certainly making my life a lot easier and less stressful. i am so thankful for this opportunity and i really hope it works out! we've had some pretty busy weekends as well, hunting season in winding down so gavin has done his best to make sure that he's in the woods every chance he gets. monkey and i have had to improvise and entertain ourselves a lot but i think we've done a pretty good job! speaking of my monkey he is certainly deep in the middle of the terrible twos!!! and now i am fully convinced that he will be a world renowned artist that will make mommy and daddy A LOT of money!!! let's see, about a month ago i found him in my bathroom painting his face with fingernail polish. Then about two weeks ago i found him painting my bedroom wall with his bright blue toothpaste! surprisingly the toothpaste cleaned up beautifully but last night i found him painting the same wall with black mascara which did not clean up quite as well...you would think we would have learned after the first two boo-boos! we actually have child locks on our draws and cabinets but apparently they are not "mack proof". the first two times were comical and i was snapping pictures instead of cleaning it up but this last time was a doozy so i was too pissed to take any pictures! one thing that i enjoyed in the first 27 days was attending MOPS with my good friend margie. MOPS stands for Mother Of Preschoolers and is just a great place for moms to meet, eat a great meal and talk about all the things going on with our kids. i actually won a cookbook written by jessica seinfeld (jerry's wife!) that is full of recipes that teach you how in integrate veggie and fruit purees in everyday meals to help kids get their daily servings without even knowing it!(brownies with carrot and spinach puree!!! no joke!!) I love It! THANKS margie for inviting me! we've also had a few fun play dates with our b.f.f cooper and even a warm day for play at the park! in all we've had a pretty eventful, comical, irritating, cold, warm, rainy, tiring, energizing and loving first 27 days of 2009!! i hope every one's 2009 is treating them just as well!

OK I GET IT!....WE WILL WAIT!

so now that mack is two and fast becoming a big boy the thoughts of a second baby have been creeping in and out of my head...i always said i wanted an only child because i was an only but the older i get the less i like the idea. i LOVED being an only child growing up for all the obvious reasons but as i get older i hate the thought of never having nieces or nephews or a sister to share memories like getting married and having babies with! anyway back to the point....so the idea had been thrown around at our house but nothing serious yet...
lately i have noticed that monkey is becoming more and more jealous. if gavin and i are sitting on the couch together he has to climb right up in the middle but if i'm on my own couch he could care less. gavin will say "my momma" and monkey will say no! he also is having a big problem with wanting to be in the bed with us again! if we are in the bed for the night he wants to be right in the middle of it! it's even got to the point of having to let gavin put him to bed because he wants me to get in his bed if i go in there! i love that he is a momma's baby but i am becoming a little concerned about bringing another baby to the table. he also gets very jealous if i have anything to do with another baby. if i hold a friend's baby or even talk to a strangers baby he cries! bless his heart! i am convinced that he knows that the conversation of another baby is being passed around because he has only recently become very jealous also we are having an issue in the past week of mixing up his days and nights...he will sleep all day and be up all night just like an infant!! i am a walking zombie!! it all started when we took him out of his crib and put him in his big boy bed. i think this is his way of telling us he is not ready to be a "big boy", he wants to be the baby...he's reminding me of what it's like to have an infant with it's days and nights mixed up and what it feels like to be sleep deprived....ok son i get it! WE WILL WAIT!!!

PURGING!!!....

saturday was the day!! i finally got all my christmas stuff down and organized in tupperware!! two weeks after christmas! after the christmas was down it was onto monkey's room....gavin and i decided that after christmas we were going through monkey's room and PURGE! for every new toy he got for christmas we were getting rid of an old one...well he got A LOT so we had to get rid of a lot. we were on a roll and decided we were going to purge some of his clothes too since all the new clothes he got for birthday and christmas were folded on his changing table because there was no room in his closet....i went through and bagged up all his baby baby clothes(stuff he wore from birth to 1 year) and a few key pieces that i was emotionally attached to in large Ziploc bags....everything else was bagged up for hannah home! we ended up with over 100 outfits and 13 pair of shoes!! RIDICULOUS!!! we also got rid of his changing table and the rocker from his room to open up some more play space. so in all hannah home got three large trash bags of clothes, a box of shoes, a box of toys and a changing table...i felt like i lost 10 lbs getting rid of all that stuff....

another big event that happened this weekend was monkey getting his big boy bed!!! he got the bedding for christmas which is adorable so daddy sat his big boy bed up for him finally. the first night was rough....he would not sleep in it! for some reason he kept waking up and walking around the house....the next night(last night) he did a little better. he got up a few times fighting sleep but once he went to sleep he was down for the night and slept until 8:30!! my little monkey is growing up so quickly but i'm so proud of him!!

below are a few pictures of putting my house back together after christmas, doing monkey's room and monkey's big boy bed! enjoy!

purging

sugar sugar....

on friday night we went over to our friend deann's house to have dinner before aunt dana and uncle nate headed back to ms. of course nate was hunting so he didn't make it but we did miss him!

first let me start our day with explaining my son's hair....we've moved monkey's new tool bench into his room so friday afternoon he disappeared into his room and i thought nothing of it because he loves to play with his tool bench. soon i realized he had been in there quiet a little longer than his attention span usually last. when i walked into his room he was standing there holding his hand up showing me that he got into the WHOLE jar of vicks vapor rub!!!! he had it all over him and the tool bench but the worst part was most of the jar was IN HIS HAIR!!! anyone who knows what vicks vapor rub is knows how greasy that stuff is...well after three washes with adult shampoo his hair was still so greasy. it looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks!!! i was a little embarrassed to go out in public but we had plans for dinner so he went anyway...greasy head and all...

ok back to dinner...we grilled out over at deann's with her family, our family, her sister dawn and her family and sister dana. the hamburgers and fries were delicious and my cupcakes were a hit too! we watched the Sugar bowl but unfortunately it was nothing to talk about so we headed home at half time!

deann gave me the idea to use Dawn dish liquid to wash the vick's out of monkey's hair so i tried it...it took a couple of washed but it finally looks much better!!

below are some pictures from friday...enjoy! notice the greasy hair!

yucky!

new years!....

since having a child new years has certainly become more tamed for gavin and i. this year we decided to just stay home and have a date night. geryl kept monkey while gavin made a delicious surprise meal! first for the appetizer he made shrimp cocktail with homemade cocktail sauce....YUMMY! then he grilled a delicious bacon wrapped filet with twice baked sweet potatoes and a spinach salad with homemade salad dressing...yummy again! and for dessert....one of his favorite, chocolate covered strawberries....YUMMY!!! after a wonderful dinner we watched football, drank some red wine and he taught me how to play spades....when you get old and married you will appreciate this date more!! at midnight we popped a bottle of champagne and gave each other a new year smooch! it was a great date night and a wonderful start to the new year! (he even cleaned a kitchen after dinner!!!)

below are some photos of my man in the kitchen...

new years

these boots are made for walking....

i know it's been a while but i can't seem to find the time to get anything done!! school started back today..YAYY!!! so we can finally get back to a routine....here are a few post i've been meaning to update!

below are a few picture of monkey in some of his new christmas duds, also a few pictures of my love playing with all my christmas bows...enjoy!

my love