Weekend at the Lake!

I took last Thursday and Friday off work and it was wonderful!  Paige and I had a little "staycation" and spend most of our time at the lake.  We woke up first thing on Thursday, had breakfast and headed to meet Mimi at the lake.  We played in the water all day long!  Paige had a ball!  We did the same thing Friday too, each day Paige and I left around 3pm so she could get a good nap in and I was just lazy around the house.  It was perfect!
Saturday, Emily and the boys were in town so we had a lot of company playing at the lake then!  Wes even came out after he finished work around 11.  Everyone (not me!) skied, tubed and just swam all day.  I was even able to talk Jodi and Alyssa to come and play too!  The weather was perfect all weekend...it did rain a little on Saturday but not much!
You should have seen Wes helping Wyatt ski!  He tried to have Wyatt stand on his feet to ski with him but Wyatt kept falling off.  Next thing we knew, Wyatt was facing Wes holding on for dear life.  I do not know how Wes was able to pull himself up to ski holding a 45 (Wyatt likes to let everyone know he weighs 45 pounds) pound child!  Wes eventually was able to hold Wyatt on his hip and then turn him around and set him on his skis to ski with Wes...all while skiing!  I took a million pictures but they are on Emily's camera.  Needless to say, Wes was tired!!!  We had dinner at the lake and headed home around 9 that night for a quick bath and bed time for Miss Paige!

Sunday Wes cooked our favorite breakfast (eggs, bacon, cheese as a sandwich with toast..yummy!)  After breakfast, we headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a birthday present and headed back to the lake.  We had another long fun day at the lake which included a 2nd birthday party for Mr. Matthew! He had a Thomas the Train cake and got lots of new trucks and trains for gifts.  We played a little bit longer and then headed home around 3 for nap time.  Wes had to get a little work done and I had a quiet house to myself!


Once Paige woke up, we just hung out at the house, did a couple things to get ready for the upcoming week and cooked dinner.  Paige has really mastered standing for a short amount of time as well!  It was a wonderful weekend and cant wait for some more fun time this week!

WILW

  

I'm Loving... that today is the last day of work for the week!  I realized a couple weeks ago that I still had several vacation days I needed to use before our fiscal year was over so I am taking a very long weekend this week!!

I'm Loving...I will be at the lake just about all weekend!  Paige, Mimi and I are going to the lake tomorrow morning for a little while and then we will be back with the boys on Saturday and Sunday.  It has been way too long since we went out to the lake and I cant wait!

I'm Loving... one of my favorite little guys is turning 2 tomorrow!  I can't believe that Matthew is already two years old....crazy how fast time goes by.  His party is on Sunday at the lake house...this was him last year at his birthday party....

   

I'm Loving... Pretty Little Liars!  I know I am behind the times on this show but I just started watching it on Netflix and I love it!  I have no idea how many seasons there are but I am on episode 10 of season 1..so far so good.  Speaking of good shows...I am also obsessed with Mistresses.  Wow, it is such a good show!

   

I'm Loving... there are only 36ish days until football season! I CAN NOT WAIT!  I am even more excited about dressing Paige up in her Clemson cheerleading uniform and watching her watch her tigers!  Love football!

Apparently, I am in the football mood this week...I have dressed Paige in Clemson clothes two out of three days this week!

I'm Loving... Paige's new trick.  She can blow kisses...melts.my.heart!!  That is what she was doing in the picture above.  She doesn't put her hand up to actually blow it but she makes a kiss noise.  As I was leaving today, she was standing at the door watching me pull away and I could see her little mouth blowing kisses :)

Happy Wednesday!

Baby Talk: Party Planning

Isn't it crazy how extravagant First Birthdays are these days?  People go all out and spend so much money (no offense if you are one of those Mamas!).  Don't get me wrong, I want the perfect birthday party for Miss Paige but I don't want it to break the bank either.  Her birthday party is going to be on September 14th and will probably be at our house with a few friends and family.
I know she will not remember anything from her birthday party, but I know she will enjoy looking at pictures and videos when she gets older!  I feel like party planning is more for other Mama's..."I have to have that decoration because Susie Q did...or I know my party will be better than hers..."  Does anyone else feel this way?  I find myself thinking that a lot while I am planning Paige's party, I hate to admit it but it is true.  Then I have to step back and remember that she is ONE and she will love anything that we do!
I am trying to do mostly DIY projects (sometimes it is cheaper just to buy...but it is the thought that counts right?).  
I am spending the majority of the money on having birthday/one year pictures taken in a couple weeks.  I think that is the most important part...if you know me, I love pictures!  The other things I have purchased is a birthday hat, BB bought her dress, and I bought plates and napkins.  The rest I am trying to make myself!
So far I have made the birthday banner, a banner for her high chair, a tutu, and the display for her monthly pictures.  A friend of mine is making her a chalkboard for her birthday gift!  I will also make her cake and smash cake.  I don't plan to have much food there, just a few things since it will be in the afternoon.

Don't get me wrong, I am loving every second of planning this birthday party, but I am more excited about having our friends and family together to celebrate Miss Paige.  I am excited to watch her eat cake and open presents...it will be HER day and I cant wait!  Most people probably wont even notice the things I made but I will know and Paige will know when she looks back at her pictures! 
I live on a tight budget and adding a birthday party in the mix will not break the budget...that is my main goal!  So am I the only one that feels like some parents spend sooooo much money on birthday parties?  Does the child even realize it or appreciate it?  They just need to be around people that love them and of course be wearing a tutu and party hat ;)

Weekend Recap

Man, how is it already Monday?  At least I only have to work three days this week!!  We had a great weekend, as always!  Friday night, my mom came over and Wes made hamburgers and I made beer battered onion rings...not to brag but they are the best hamburgers ever!  After supper, we just played until it was bed time.  Paige has been coughing a lot lately so she hasn't been sleeping that great during the day, thankfully her coughing hasn't messed up her night sleeping!  So she was exhausted and went to sleep about 30 minutes early, which worked for me because I was ready for bed too!

Mimi came over bright and early Saturday morning so that she could stay at the house until Paige woke up and then take her to her house because I was going to Clemson!  I went to the Dabo's Ladies Clinic again this year and I loved it.  If you like Clemson and love football, you need to go!  Every year Dabo has this event and it is actually his big fundraiser for Breast Cancer...they raise so much money! During the live auction two people spend $7,000 a piece to spend the day with the team at one home game, ride in the bus and run down the hill.....$14,000 total!  Crazy huh?  That $14,000 was just a small portion of the money raised on Saturday!

At the Ladies Clinic you are among 1,100 other ladies excited about football!  The lovely Ali Rogers, Miss South Carolina (should be Miss USA  First Runners Up Miss USA) and Tajh Boyd welcomed everyone...can I just tell you how cute Tajh looked in his jeans and cowboy boots...someone has turned into a true Clemson guy!

Then it was time for every one's favorite..Dabo!  Clemson is so lucky to have such a great man as their coach.  I think he is a great football coach but more importantly a great man.  He truly loves his players and wants them to not just be great athletes but grow to be great men and husbands!  

After the opening, we were all divided into eight groups and we started our day.  Our first session was a tour of the training room and locker room.  It always brings back SO many memories when seeing these rooms.  I spent so much time in their (the old ones) during college!  I saw one of my old bosses in the locker room and he told me I needed to be giving speeches about what all goes on here.  I am so glad I was able to work there in college!!  I even lettered (which is ironic since I never played sports) and have all of these items... 

 

Then we went to my favorite session of the day...Offense.  The coaches taught us a little about what they do and even went over a few calls so we could know a few of their plays...it was pretty neat.  Then he had one notebook that he gives to all the players and whoever got his question right won the notebook...I won!! Yay!

My favorite thing about football is defense but that class wasn't as entertaining as the offensive class, but I still enjoyed it.  Then we went to a Fashion Show..I could have done without that session, but most people seemed to enjoy it.  Finally it was time for lunch and another general session.  The Coaches Wives hosted "The View" and interviewed a few of the players and Miss SC hosted Mr. Ladies Clinic pageant and of course cute little Daniel Rodriguez won!

During this session, they also did the live auction and asked all Cancer survivors to come down...Dabo made sure to invite anyone who as had any type of cancer to come down not just breast cancer, which was nice!  So Jodi was able to go down and join the survivors!

 

 

Then it was time to split back into our groups for four more sessions, which were shopping (BB bought Paige a cute seersucker book bag with her name on it), a session learning about Breast Cancer and being healthy, a tour of the new indoor practice facility and learning about the recruiting and then ended with a tour of the weight room...which was impressive and scandalous!

 

       

We had a great time at the Ladies Clinic and I am sure I will be back again in the future!  We headed back home and I rushed back to our house to see Miss Paige! I haven't seen her since I put her to sleep the night before and I missed her!  We just played for a couple hours and we all crashed that night!  

Sunday we just were lazy that morning and then we all three went to the grocery store and came back for nap time and did some chores around the house.  Wes went to ride 4wheelers with some friends and Paige and I stayed home all afternoon and played and rode in the wagon.  It was a perfect Sunday afternoon!  We had another busy and great weekend and cant wait for another one!

 

10 MONTHS!!

 

Dear Miss Paige,
You are 10 months old?!?!  I swear before I turn around I will be saying you are 10 years old?  Scary thought!  It is going by so fast but I am loving every single second of it.  I was trying to think the other day about which month has been my favorite, a lot of people told me 9 months is their favorite.  I agree, I loved it, but then I think back to your first few months and I loved those just as much.  Basically I love everything so far.  You are such a fun and happy baby!  Not much longer until you are ONE YEAR OLD!!

I am not sure how much you weigh, I need to get on that don't I?  If I had to guess, I would say right at 20 pounds.  You haven't gained much weight since you doctors appointment a few weeks ago when you weighed 19.1 ounces.  I do think you have your Daddy's metabolism...which is a great thing Miss P.  





I went to put a onsie on you the other day and it fir perfectly...later that day when I took it off I realized it was a 3-6 month size! Normally you wear any of your 9 month and some of your 12 month clothes.  I worked hard in your room this past weekend taking out all the clothes you don't wear any more making room for your 12 month clothes.  Some days you still let me take pictures of you wearing you cute clothes...you know I like to document everything!  We finally bought you some bigger pjs.  You wear 9-12 or 12 month footed pjs now.  You are also still in size 3 diapers.  Some brands leak worse than others, so at night I put you in size 4 Pampers just to make sure it wont wake you up at night and need changing. 

Miss P, your bottle schedule is completely different than last month!  You have your morning bottle and then sometimes you go all day without any until your night bottle.  Other days, you have one around 3 but you could really do without that one.  If you are cranky, I give it to you, if not we skip.  You really prefer food over your day bottles....and I am okay with that!!  Each bottle is 8 ounces and when you have two bottles a day, it is all breast milk, when you have three, it is some formula added.   You really love food now!  You mostly eat pureed food still but we have added soft veggies and other foods.  Beans and bread are your new favorite I believe. Some days you still have a hard time eating your vegetables but ultimately you give in and eat them! Your feeding schedule is this: Bottle first thing, yogurt around 10, usually 2 containers of baby food at 12, bottle or snack around 2-3, two containers of food at 6, snack around 730 and bottle at 9pm. 

I am so glad you take after me and love to sleep!  You make my life so much easier!  After your 9pm bottle, you are usually asleep before the bottle is finished but I still rock you for a few minutes.  On the average night, you sleep until 745-8am.   Every once in a while you will wake up for a paci but fall right back to sleep.  Sometimes you wake up a little earlier (like 730) and then there have been days you don't wake up until 815!  Depending on the day, you may sleep 30-45 minutes in the morning but you skip that one a lot, but you always have a nice long nap in the afternoon, around 2 hours!  I can defiantly tell a difference when you do not get a good nap in!

Thank goodness you did not teeth any this month!! We needed a break on that..I mean you already have 7 teeth!  There were a couple nights were you woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep and then that is when I realized you were uncomfortable because you were wet.  So I changed your diaper and you were happy but of course thought it was time to play!  So the next night is when I started giving you the next size up in diapers for night time...solved that problem.  You started sleeping like normal again!!

Since it is the summer, school is out but they have Camp Curiosity.  They have camp for six weeks, three days a week.  Unfortunately Mrs. Linda isn't there but her helpers are the ones in charger for the summer so you know them all!  You have the best time at school, every morning when I drop you off I expect you to cling to me, but you wave and are itching to get down to play!  


Miss Paige...you are soooo close to walking, it is scary!  Everything you see turns into something that helps you walk!  As of just the other day, you are even walking beside me and just holding one hand!  I just know you will be on your own in no time.  You can even stand without pulling up and holding on and stand there for maybe 20 seconds before falling!  You love to crawl and can even crawl like you are running.  I will go in another room and I can hear you coming after me so fast!!  You can get behind you walker and go ALL over the place and have even learned to shake it until it turns directions!  You got your first pair of Stride Rite shoes and they really help give you support.  You can walk and stand much better wearing those and you look so cute too :)

Speaking of being so mobile...you are in to everything!!! I need to put locks on the cabinets that I do not want you to get into, but for now we just block it off with a chair.  I let you play with the cabinet that has the pots and pans, but close the one under the sink and the pantry.  You also love the drawers in my bathroom where I keep the extra toothpaste and other things like that.  Every morning you love taking them out of the drawer and putting it back.  It keeps you so entertained while I get ready in the mornings!  

I would say your favorite toys this month have been anything you can take in and out of a bucket or box.  You love helping me with laundry!  I can just see your little brain just working so hard.  You also love all your walker toys an of course your wagon!  You will ride in your wagon all day long if we let you.  You and your Daddy are wild in that thing...sometimes I just have to close my eyes but you love the thrill!  Oh man, you talk all the time too.  You have learned to raise your voice too!  The words you know now are: Mama, Dada, Bye Bye and WOW!  I believe you have said baba for your bottle but it was only a couple times so I am not sure.  The main thing you say is Mama....all. day.long! I am not complaining though, I love it!  There are lots of other noises you make and we will carry on a little conversation and I always wonder what you are trying to say!

We can not go anywhere without everyone talking about how cute you are or trying to touch your face, which is odd to me.  You just smile at everyone and sometimes wave.  Every once in a while you will act shy and hide your face in my shoulder.  We are trying to teach you to clap now.  You will laugh watching us clap, then clap one time and get all excited.  I think you wait for us to say yay!  It is so much fun teaching you fun new things!

There was a HUGE first this month Miss Paige.  You went on your first vacation...well first trip for more than one night!  We went to Surfside Beach for the week and stayed with Mimi, Emily, Levi, Wyatt, Matthew, Gerri and Gene.  It rained a whole lot while we were there, so while it was raining we played at the Fun Warehouse, went shopping at the Outlets and went to the Aquarium with Audrey and Heather.  Once it finally stopped raining we spend a few days at the beach and just about every evening at the pool.  It was so nice!! You loved eating the sand and playing at the beach.  In the pool, you floated around in your float.  You knew when you were tired of the float and let us know!  You had a great time at the beach and I know you cant wait to go back!



One of your favorite things to do is to look out the window.  For some reason I think you get more excited doing that than actually going outside.  You get so excited, especially if Gracie is looking at you.  You are the happiest when you are moving.  So you absolutely love riding in your stroller, wagon and little red car at your Mimi's house.  You saw your wagon in the dining room one night and had a fit until you were able to sit in it...needless to say you had your dinner in the wagon!  Speaking of the wagon,  you and your Daddy are daredevils!  Y'all scare me sometimes, not even going to lie!  But you are having a ball doing crazy things with your Daddy...I love seeing y'all play together!!

You laugh all the time these days!! If we start tickling you, your big belly laugh comes out....cutest thing ever!  You also think peek-a-boo is so funny too!  The past few days you have been making some crazy noises, I think you are trying to blow kisses or either smacking.  Whatever it is, it is nonstop this past week! You are learning what the word "No" means!  We have to say it usually twice and then you stop what you were doing, which is usually messing with the fireplace.  First time you hear no, you look back at us and smile and then do it again.  Second time you hear no, you usually stop and move on to something else.  Every once in a while you start crying.  Mean Mama and Dada just ignore you when you do that, so you stop and play with something else!
 

You celebrated another first holiday..two actually.  Father's Day and the 4th of July!  We spent Father's Day at the Lake and you really bonded with your Daddy that day.  Ever since then you haven't cried nearly as much when he holds you...yay Paige!  It was a special day for us!  The next holiday you celebrated was the 4th of July.  The weekend before, we went to the Festival of Stars in Ninety Six and walked around pulling you in your wagon and then watched fireworks.  Then on the 4th, we were at the beach and watched fireworks that night at the pier.  I was worried the noise would scare you since you are terrified of the hairdryer and blender, but you loved it!  You wouldn't take your eyes off of them!!




We had our first real weekend at the lake.  Your Daddy took us for your very first boat ride.  I think you would have enjoyed it so much more if you didn't have to wear that huge life jacket.  Hate to tell you, you have to wear that for many years to come!  Once you got somewhat used to it, you enjoyed the ride!  The following day we spent all day at the lake, you liked the boat ride even less and cried a whole lot letting us know you didn't like the jacket! Once you were back at the house and playing  you were happy Miss Paige again.  Mimi set the baby pool up and you played with all of your toys and of course the grass and dirt! Once you get used to the jacket, I know you will love the lake as much as we do!

 

All of your firsts: Father's Day, 4th of July, Beach Trip, Vacation, Firework show, walking with walker or holding hand, real pair of walking shoes, dance to music, eating non-pureed foods (beans, veggies, bread, cheese, ham), climbing stairs (you climbed three flights of stairs at the beach condo), clapping, went to the Aquarium, long road trip with just Mama, smacking when eating and attempting to blow kisses, boat ride, playing at the lake, becoming a dare devil like your Daddy.

 

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

I really do not understand why time is going by so fast.  You are 10 months old Miss Paige...that is just crazy!! I felt like I was pregnant for ever and now that you have been with us longer than I was pregnant blows my mind!  We are so lucky to be your parents Miss Paige...I honestly don't know what I did with my time before you came along!  I love spending every second I can with you that I can.   Our days are full of playing and laughing with you around.  You are one lucky girl and I tell you that everyday! You have so many people that love you and take care of you.  We all love you so much and even though I am sad you are growing up so fast, I love every month that goes by so I can see what all you do and learn!  I am having fun planning your first birthday...it is going to be fun!! Your Daddy and I love you so much sweet girl and can not wait to see what all you do this coming month! Happy 10 month birthday Paigey Poo!

                                             

Lucky Girl

I know I write about Paige a lot on here, but lets face it...shes a huge part of my life!  Anyways, it amazes me how many people love my sweet girl.  Can I tell you how lucky she we all are??  She has the sweetest teachers at her school she goes to in the mornings then in the afternoon Gerri keeps her.  Once a week my mom will keep her and during the summer my mother in law keeps her some.  She is loved on by basically three grandmas, two aunts and several other friends.  If I go a day without posting a picture of her on Facebook, I always get a message asking where Paige is.  Some from close friends and some from people that have never even met her in person (but I know them of course).

 

It amazes me how people can love someone without even meeting this in person.  I know how they feel, I am the same way with other babies!   Every night when I rock her to sleep, I tell her how special she is and how thankful we all are because of all the people in our lives that love her.

When I got home today at lunch, I saw a huge box at our back door.  It was a box full of lots and lots of clothes from our friends in Florida.  We spent the weekend with them at their farm and as a thank you for Wes cooking hash and doing some work at the farm, they sent like 30 pieces of clothes.  A few weeks ago, I sent them a couple pictures I took and a thank you note for always including us when they are visiting the farm...I guess they showed me up huh?
 
I told Wes about it and he said, people really love giving her clothes...I hope she doesn't get spoiled!  I know that will stop one day because it really is fun buying cute baby clothes, but with or without the sweet gifts people always give Paige, we are so thankful for everyone that loves my girl!   Of course it isn't just the gifts, people show her love without gifts and that love is even more special of course!! I feel guilty whenever people give Paige clothes or other gifts because we can not do the same for them (whether it is Gerri, the Carey's or Grandparents, etc).  We try to give back to them but nothing compared to what they do for us.  

Does anyone else feel guilty about this?  I'm always told that if they didn't want to give Paige things, then they wouldn't.  They do it because they love her.  Maybe one day I will stop feeling guilty...or can afford to "payback" in some way! :)

That being said, Paige is defiantly a lucky girl for all the people that truly love her! :)