Choo Choo...

A friend of mine asked if I would be interested in making a birthday cake for her son's party.  I haven't decorated cakes that much lately and was excited to have a project.  She gave me a train she wanted to put on the cake and said it was obviously a train themed party and it needed to feed 40 people.  We decided on a two tiered cake and one tier was chocolate chip pound cake and the other tier was regular pound cake with yummy butter cream icing of course!

Gerri was sweet enough to stay a little later yesterday to help me entertain Paige so I could finish the decorating!  The night before I baked all the cakes (the chocolate chip pound cake stuck to the pan and was destroyed so Wes and I just put in a bowl and had a treat!  But then I had to start all over..including going to the grocery store for more ingredients!)

Finally it was time to decorate...I think it turned out great!  I am pretty proud of it!

  I wonder what my next project will be....

WILW

 

I'm Loving... Mrs Linda.  I know I have talked about her before on here but she is Paige's teacher and she is just wonderful.  I know every morning that when I drop Paige off that she is loved so much.  Every morning she says "Good morning beautiful" and loves on her.  It truly makes leaving her there SO much easier!  Friday is the last day with Mrs Linda...its strange but I am kind of stressing about it.  There is a week off school and then Summer Camp starts and she will have a different teacher for the summer.  I think it will be the helpers from this year but still...it isn't Mrs. Linda.  I love that Mrs. Linda knows Paige so well, knows her schedule and knows that I like a schedule!  But I know everyone there is just as good as her but I will just have to get used to it.  Paige and I are working on a sweet card to give Mrs Linda on Friday :)

I'm Loving... that Heather and I just planned out the next two play dates for Paige and Audrey.  We didn't get to play in May because we were both too busy, so we are making up for it in June.  We are going to the zoo next week and then coming here in a couple weeks.  I cant wait!!

I'm Loving... that I get to decorate a cake on Thursday.  A friend of mine asked me to make a cake for her son's second birthday.  She sent me a picture of a cake she likes and I get to make it similar to that.  I am really excited about it plus I get to make a little extra money!  I will share the cake next week...its comes with a train!

I'm Loving... the weather lately! It hasn't been too hot and it has been perfect!  It is finally time for pool and lake time!!  I mean how can I not be excited to play in the water with this sweet girl?!

I'm Loving... that my work schedule is winding down for the summer...I shouldn't have to travel any more at night until August! I know Wes will be excited about that...Paige has a hard time when I am not there in the evenings.  So nice knowing that I do not have to work late for a couple months!! 

I'm Loving... my family of course! We are so blessed and love them so much!  And I love taking pictures of my sweet girl if you didn't know already!!

 

Memorial Day Weekend

Just like every other weekend, I didn't want it to end! I finished work on Friday around 3 and spent the afternoon with Miss Paige.  Once Wes got off work, we headed over to his Mom's house for dinner with Emily and the boys.  We stayed over there until it was time to put P to bed.  Saturday morning, Wes went to cut grass at the lake house and we headed back over to Mimi's house.  Wyatt was off playing with Owen so it was just Paige and Matthew.  Matthew is a little over a year older than Paige and they are so cute together!  We pushed Paige in a little car and Matthew was pushed in his tricycle and we walked up and down the road.  The entire time they were "chatting and singing" and the cutest part was they would just look at each other and smile so big!  I wish we would have taken a picture..man were they cute!

We stayed over at Mimi's until after lunch and we loaded up to head to Edgefield.  The Carey's were in from Sarasota and this was the first time since I have known them that the entire family was there...all four kids and the dog.  Can you imagine driving 8 hours with a 9 month old puppy, 8 year old, 6 year old, 3 year old and a 4 month old?  That makes me tired thinking about it!  We just hung out at the farm...Paige crawled around on the deck and watched the baby sleep most of the day.  Wes and Robert were off playing with tractors somewhere.  It was a perfect day outside!  Wes and I made shish-kabobs and they were so yummy.  Then after dinner Wes made a fire, I fed Paige her night bottle and we all sat around with sleeping babies enjoying the campfire and roasting marsh mellows!  Their oldest son, Max, was teaching me all about the constellations and basically everything!  That is one smart family...I feel dumb being around them half the time.  I swear the two oldest kids are way smarter than Wes and I put together!  We finally headed home around 11 and put Paige in her crib wearing her clothes..I wasn't going to attempt to wake her up!

She was exhausted since she had two very short naps on Saturday...so she slept over 11 hours and still woke up tired.  She also woke up nasty!! Her clothes were so dirty and so were her poor legs.  She crawled around all day and was just filthy.  So we started the day with bath time!  I swear she was only awake for an hour before I made her take a nap.  She slept like an hour and a half and finally woke up happy!
Then we headed back to Mimi's to spend some more time with the boys and Emily.  We grilled hamburgers for lunch and steak for dinner!  We ate too much this weekend!!  We filled the baby pools with water and let them play and play.  I cant even explain how perfect the weather was!! Too bad we didn't have the boat ready so we could have enjoyed the lake...hopefully soon!
After supper, we headed home and Paige slept 12 hours that night...this weekend wore her out!  

I was so thankful to have Monday off work!  It was so nice and relaxing.  We went to get groceries first thing and then came back to play the rest of the day.  Jodi and Mom came over for hot dogs and pool (baby pool) with Miss Paige and then it was time for a long nap for Paige and quiet time for this Mama!  We really didn't do much yesterday and it was just what we needed before this work week started.  

On a side note...today is the first day of the last day of school for Paige.  She starts "summer camp"  week after next but her sweet Mrs. Linda will not be there.  So sad that we will not be seeing her every day.  We sure will miss her!

I kept thinking all weekend...what a great weekend we are having!  It was just perfect and I didn't want it to end at all!

Boogity Boogity Boogity

I still can not believe I was at a NASCAR race this past Saturday!  I have never been a fan of this sport but always thought that I needed to go to one race to see what it was all about.  A few weeks ago, Wes's boss Donny asked if the two of us wanted to go to Charlotte for the race.  Keep in mind that when Donny does something, he goes all out, so we knew it would be fun.  So he gave us tickets and we found a hotel room.  I was pretty excited about it all but stressing at the same time.  Saturday night was the first time I left Paige over night!  I wanted to go but I didn't want to go!  But it was our anniversary weekend, it would be a fun event with all adults, and Wes and I just needed it!
So we dropped Miss P off with her Mimi and we headed to Charlotte Saturday morning.  The race wasn't until 7:30 so we took our time getting there.  We stopped to eat lunch at Outback on the way and then checked into our hotel...next time we know where not to go!  We didn't book our rooms until late so we didn't have any choice.  We got our own beds...two double beds!  And the doors to the room opened to the outside..not a hallway.  I hate those kind of rooms.  Oh well, we were only there for a few hours that night anyways!
After we checked in, we headed to the tailgate.  Man did this get me ready for football!  Donny is awful at giving directions, so we rode around for 45 minutes trying to find the spot.  He said it was in front of a pond, so we had to use google maps, find a pond and then drove to that and found him.  He gave us a hard time but when we started talking to everyone else, they had to do the same thing! Thank goodness for the pond and google maps! :)
There were about 18 people in the group and it was full of people with lots of money...so Wes and I fit right in! HA!    I looked around and Wes told me....that couple are like bazillionaires  (most of these people have retired and moved south and have Donny and Wes build their houses..everyone that was there lived in the same neighborhood).    Their dining room table cost more than our house.  Then he pointed out some other people and told me all about them as well.  The funny thing is, the Doctor that gave me my epidural was there and was a riot!  He was so entertaining and funny.  Another guy that was there was on the United Way board last year that interviewed me and a co-worker about the grant at work...man was he intimidating!  But he was defiantly not Saturday.  It is just funny to know them professionally and then see them "letting loose"!
We hung out at the tailgate (It was a secluded campground by the pond...so nice!) for a while and then around 5:30, we rode the bus to the front gate of the complex.  Our seats had access to the New Veranda and Club Level, which had a dress code (no shorts, flip flops, men had to wear a collar shirt, etc) so we went up there for a while.  They had a fancy dinner for $50 a person and a nice bar.  We all hung out there for a while and Wes and I got bored so we went to walk around. 

We went to the cafe and ate BBQ sandwiches for $8 a piece...that is more our price range!
After we ate, we decided to go find out seats....Clemson needs these comfy seats by the way!  It had been raining off and on all day, so they had the jet engines drying the track off...they were so loud!

 Once the track was dry, the production started.  The drivers lined up and the race began.  Wes and I (not NASCAR fans) were so confused because we didn't see any of the numbers we recognized, like number 24, 88, or 29. (I know three driver's numbers haha).  The race was only 20 laps and then it was over...we THEN realized it was one last qualifying race and the winner was in the big race.  Kinda felt dumb!
So then the BIG production started, and they introduced all the drivers and crew.

The big race finally started!  I have to admit, it was really neat!  I enjoyed it.  I also enjoyed people watching.  The best part was watching our group.  Donny's wife and the lady with the dinning room table that cost $150,000 were cheering like crazy.  Every few minutes, they would jump up and started dancing and cheering.  They were cheering for the drivers that were the nicest to them the night before when they were signing autographs.  Apparently Junior and Kyle Busch didn't have time to take a picture with them so they were not fans of them! :)
Our group had a race pool and we all had to draw names. Donny bought mine and Wes's buy in but I think the winner got like $200?  I think it cost $10 a piece.  I drew Kevin Harvick (#29..which is one of the numbers I already knew! So I felt like that would be good luck since I knew who he was).  Well, that made the race even better since I had someone to cheer for...I don't think he ever got in the top 5..oh well!  Remember that Doctor I was telling you about...he had number 5 car and he was in the top 2 just about the whole race.  He was freaking out...he wanted to win that bet so bad!  Man was he crushed when he didn't win :)
I took a video and will have to update the blog with the video soon...I just wanted to document how loud it really was!
Once the race was over, we caught a ride on the bus and headed back to the campground.  It sure was nice not to be around all those people in those parking lots!  There were some DRUNK people....yes we had some drunk people too but wasn't like the others!

So we stayed at the tailgate for like 45 mintues until we could see the traffic improve.  **So many of the people we were with told me how proud they were of me about Paige.  They asked how many times I called to check in and said I sent one text message all day...I told them it would have probably been different if my mom was keeping her instead of Wes's.  I missed her LIKE CRAZY but I was also proud of myself.**

It was a great day with some fun people.  So glad I talked myself into going.  Wes and I had a wonderful time.  We needed some time just to ourselves and it was awesome.  (We sat 3 rows behind everyone else so it was like we were by ourselves...it was also nice when we had another rain delay.  We were under an awning and they were not.)

Man were we tired when we made it back to the hotel around 1am.  We both feel asleep so fast and slept until 9...well Wes woke up at 8.  I hate to admit it but it sure was nice not to be worried about listening to the monitor all night with a pitiful teething baby..who by the way is getting 4 teeth!  We packed up and were starving.  Since it was 10 am, we decided to have a big breakfast and then skip lunch.  The only thing we saw was Golden Corral.  Wes said, "Might as well end our redneck weekend with Golden Corral..makes sense".  
After we ate, we had to make one more stop while in Charlotte...Bass Pro Shop.  We both love that store!  We bought Miss Paige a life jacket for the boat next week, bought me some new black Reef flip flops and Wes got a new t-shirt.
Then it was finally time to go get my baby girl!  I think her Daddy missed her too...he brought her up in conversation just as much as I did...which made me smile.
Wes was wondering how Paige would react to seeing us.  He said she would just go..ehh they are back...let me keep playing!  Wes walked in first and she smiled and starting bouncing up and down.  I walked in behind him and she made her laugh/cry noise and then started crawling towards me...MADE MY DAY!  I don't know who missed who more!  I was so happy to be back with my sweet Paigey.

Wes and I had a great weekend away but we were both glad to see our girl!
 
 

The Office

How sad is it that I am actually a little depressed that The Office ended last night!  I haven't even watched the season finale yet, I am just putting it off for a little bit.  Ok I will watch it today I am sure, but once I watch it...it will be over!
Now if you asked me a few years ago if I like that show...I answered a quick NO!  I never even watched one episode because I thought I wouldn't like it.  I am a little embarrassed to say why I didn't watch it.  My old boss loved it and talked about it every Friday about how great it was.  By this time everything my boss at the time did got on my last nerves.  I needed a new job and being around him just aggravated me...so The Office aggravated me.  Makes sense right?
Well a couple years ago, I watched every season on Netflix...OMG is it a great show!
I am just in love with Jim and Pam...I mean how cute are they?!

***I just found an entire website of these devoted to The Office!***

There really isn't a person on this show that I don't like.  At the beginning I didn't really care for Dwight, but he really makes the show!  Dwight is defiantly one of a kind!  I think I would go crazy if I worked with someone like him...but then again he would make my day very entertaining!

 

After watching this show over the years, I have realized I have a pretty boring job and I miss having co-workers in the office!  I know it would never be like it is on the show but would be better than working alone I'm sure! 

I was very worried how this show would be with out Steve Carell since he seemed to be the brains behind the show...but it was still wonderful.  How awesome would life be if you were able to work for this guy:

 

I guess I will watch the Season Finale now and say goodbye to an awesome show!  Man..I want to work for Dunder Mifflin...

 

What I've Learned from Marriage

 

Today is mine and Wes's 4 year wedding anniversary.  So hard to believe that four years ago today we were getting ready for our big day!  I had such a great time and loved every second of our wedding.  I still enjoy looking at all our wedding pictures...I think Wes has only looked at a couple pictures since we got them back though!

Wes has to work late tonight so no celebrating for us!  But we are going out of town OVER NIGHT on Saturday without Miss Paige!  We were invited to go to the NASCAR race in Charlotte by his boss.  So we will be with him and a lot of their clients, so Wes told me to act right haha.  I have never been to a race but have always heard you should at least go to one...so marking this off my bucket list!  I am a little worried about how I will handle my first night away from Miss Paige.  I know she will have a great time at her Mimi's but I am worried about me more than her!  It will be good for Wes and I to have fun with other adults for a change.

In honor of our wedding anniversary, I wanted to share some things I have learned about Wesley over the years:

• Men Wes is moody! In my opinion men are moodier than women are...at least women have an excuse to be moody each month!
• Holidays are just not that important...He doesn't see the point in celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, or anything!  Ugh!
• When If he unloads the dishwasher, wash bottles, change a diaper he needs LOTS of acknowledgement...I however do not get acknowledgment when I take out the trash let alone do all of the above.
• He will only let me take his picture if Paige is with him.  That is why you never see pictures of just me and him these days!  Just glad he will take pictures with Paige!
• Dirty clothes go on the floor touching the hamper...That makes a lot of sense right?  I am not the neatest person, but I like the dirty clothes in the hamper.  Wes puts his clothes on the floor so close to the hamper just not in it!
• When he is sick....he is SICK!  Poor thing needs a lot of attention and sympathy that he does not give me when I am just as sick or worse.  **Unless I just had a c-section and he is wonderful then**   A Cherry Limeaide for Sonic is the best medicine ever though.
• No such thing as a vacation day from work.  I mean why take a day off work when you could be working?  There is no such thing as working too much and too hard.  I disagree!
• A back rub/scratch can make any day better.  He thinks he needs one every day too.  He told me last night that I must not love him as much as I did when we first got married because he never gets a back rub anymore... He gets at least 2 or 3 a week by the way!
• Everything is "alright".  That is his answer to everything...how are you, how was supper, how was the movie, everything!! The only thing he has a different answer for his when you ask him how his day went and then you get this response.."what a day, what a day".
• He absolutley loves to cook and wishes he could be a chef.  I love it too...that means I don't have to do it!  The only thing is, when he shops and cooks all on his own, he spends my weekly budget of groceries on one HUGE meal!  At least he is a good cook ;)
• He isn't romantic or lovey dovey but he expresses his love by making sure I have everything I need.  When I have to drive a lot that week for work, he always checks my oil, tire pressure, fills my car up with gas and all that good stuff to make sure it is as safe as possible.

Wes and I do not have the perfect marriage.  We get on each other's nerves but we love each other.  I know that he will always be there for me and make sure I have everything that I need.  He knows that I will always be there to get him a Cherry Limeaide when he is sick or just a back rub at night.  We may not be the most romantic couple ever but we know what true love is!

Happy Anniversary Wesbo! Here's to many, many more!


 

8 MONTHS!!

Dear Miss Paige,
How excited are you to be 8 months old already?!? I am just in love with that sweet picture.  It really shows off your personality!  You are just growing up so fast!  I get so excited to see how you will grow each month but then I realize how fast it is going...I want you to stay my little baby for longer!  That isn't going to happen is it?? You will be a walking toddler before we know it!


I honestly do not know how much you weigh exactly this month.  I know you have put on a little weight since your 7 month update but not sure how much...you are somewhere around 18 pounds. You do not go back to the doctor until you are 9 months old thank goodness!



You are can really fit in all your 6 month clothes and your 9 month clothes, which is really nice since the weather has been cool for May and you can wear your pants still! I do love all of your cute spring and summer clothes and it is still so much fun to get your dressed in the morning...but you are very hard to take a picture like I love doing to show off your cute wardrobe!   You are in a size 3 diaper and we will have to start buying those now!

You still love your bottles! You hear the beeping of your bottle warmer and you HAVE to have your bottle right then!  You kind of freak out when you hear it or see one of us fix your bottle...even when you don't seem hungry!  You eat 4 bottles a day and have 7.5 - 8 ounces each time.  First bottle around 730, then between 12 and 1, between 5 and 6 and then at 9 for bedtime.  I am still able to pump the majority of your milk.  Still about 70% of what you drink is breast milk, the rest is formula.   You are such a good eater too! You tried apples this month and were obsessed!  You really like them mixed in your oatmeal.  You also enjoy eating sweet potatoes, carrots, pears, oatmeal and bananas. I also gave you snacks this month and you LOVE them! You have had mum-mums, puffs, yogurt bites and the cheese/veggie dip crackers!  You get your little hands full and love feeding yourself!  I swear....STOP GROWING UP SO FAST :)

The past month you have really enjoyed your sleep at night. You have been wanting to go to sleep around 845 and sleep until 745 in the morning.  I still love our night time together...I know a lot of people say don't let your baby get used to rocking, but that is our special time!  We say our prayers and just cuddle.  I wouldn't trade night time routine for

anything.  You are usually asleep within 1 minute of finishing your bottle but I rock for a little while longer!  You usually have a 30-45 minute nap at school but sometimes you are just too excited and want to play the entire time!  Then you have anywhere from an hour to two hour nap in the afternoon. Every once in a while you wake up during the  night and I just give you your paci and you go right back to sleep.  This past week those teeth were bothering you so we had a couple rough nights! 

You still love going to school.  You are one lucky girl to have such a sweet teacher like Mrs Linda.  I am so glad we chose your school because it is just wonderful!  I know that you are being loved on as if a family member was keeping you! I know the teachers in the next class are wonderful too but we sure will miss Mrs Linda in the fall!

Lucky us..teething is back!  I honestly can not tell how many teeth are coming in.  There are at least two of your top teeth and it may be a third up there coming in.  All I know is that I am ready for them to come in soon! You are so mobile now...you can CRAWL! I think it was two days after you turned 7 months old you were crawling and a few days after that...you mastered it! You love being able to get where you want to go!

Guess what else you can do?  You can pull your self up and stand now!  You love pulling up on toys, furniture and us.  You always look so proud of your self...we are just waiting for you to walk now!  How is that even possible you are old enough for all of this!  I love it though!  One of my favorite things you did this month was say "Mama and Dada"!!! It is more like "Mamamamama and Dadadada".  It is the cutest thing ever.  What is even better in the mornings when you are ready to get out of the crib, I hear "Mamamamamama...."  I absolutely love it!  You really talk all the time...non stop!  I cant even imagine what it will be like in a few months!!  It will be nice to know what you are thinking though!

You just love smiling and people...we are trying to teach you to wave. Sometimes you just move your entire arms up and down really fast and other times you move your fingers like you are waving.  Then most of the time you do nothing! Ha.  One day you will figure the whole waving thing out!  Your Daddy is pretty excited that you are getting older and can play with you better.  Speaking of Daddy...did you know you give him the best smiles ever!  You get so very excited whenever you see him...I love it!   I believe your favorite thing now is your bath time since you have started taking a bath in the tub.  You have so much room and love crawling in the water.  You have toys and love playing with them in the tub.  You have the best time and sometimes I have to drag you out because you have been in there so long!  You are quite entertaining!

 

You have started to really enjoy your stuffed animals lately.  You can tell you are trying to love on them...so sweet!  I need to get you a baby doll!  You love all your toys on the floor.  You will play on the floor forever as long as we are in sight you are happy.  You are not a big fan of the exersaucer anymore...you want to be able to move and crawl around!  I cant blame you...I wouldn't want to be confined in a small place either! I love that you want to explore!

You absolutely love to be outside! Whether it is in your stroller, in your red wagon, or just being held, you love it all!  We try to swing several times a week and you will just sit back and relax for usually 30 minutes at a time.  Your favorite thing is when Gracie walks up and licks your feet...you just laugh and squeal!  You have discovered grass and dirt.  You love having your feet in them and playing!  Why not get dirty and have fun...you are only young once right?!

You are still constantly doing singing and talking and I love it.  You have recently started making growling noises when you look at books.  It is the funniest thing!  Every single time you hold a book you do that and you will keep doing that noise for like 15 minutes at a time!  I just hope that means that you will enjoy reading when you are older!

You are quite the social butterfly, especially now that you are crawling.  Since you are mobile now, if there is someone you want attention from or to talk to...you go to them now.  Every day when I pick you up from school, you are just a busy bee!  Either playing with your favorite toys or "talking" to Abbi and Caroline.  The three of you are the only ones that can crawl and they can walk so y'all stick together a lot!  Abbi likes to hug you which knocks you over a lot but you don't seem to mind and start giggling! So sweet!
Our play dates with Miss Audrey get better and better each month.  The two of you can interact more now.  The two of you climb on each other and it is too cute! One day in the future I can see y'all having the best time and begging us for another play date!  Just as long as y'all never get tired of the camera, we can still have play dates!


 

We had an exciting month Miss Paige!  You went to your first kid's birthday party, celebrated Aunt JoJo's Birthday, celebrated Mother's Day and was even dedicated at church! What a special month this was. 





All of your firsts: crawling, standing up (while holding on), saying Mama and Dada, attended a kid's birthday party, Dedicated at Church, Mother's Day, eating apples, mangos, puffs, mum mums, and yogurt bites, and I believe that was all your firsts this month!  That is a lot to celebrate sweet girl!

 

Here are a couple of my favorite videos from this month! 

This was your first attempt at crawling..I need to get a new video of you now since you have it mastered!

I can not believe my sweet baby is already 8 months old...only 4 short months until you are a year old!  Wow...crazy to think about.  Time is flying by and that is why I want to spend every minute possible with you!  You put me in the best mood and always keep me smiling!  I hope you know how much you are loved sweet girl.  There are so many people...some that have never met you that love you so much!  But no one loves you like your Mama and Daddy do!  We are so thankful for you and so blessed to be your parents!  Here's to another memorable month with you sweet girl.  We can not wait to see what you figure out now...always an adventure!