We always dress this cool!

Considering we celebrated Halloween at a local fall festival on Saturday, our Steppin' Out pic will be quite monumental!

Ansley:

Pink sparkly shoes from Walmart (you've seen them before)

Elephant costume from Target (she was "Ansley hears a Who," but her fluff ball didn't seem to make it in the picture)

and the two constants, Binki, Mam pacifier from Walmart, with Playtex Binki clip

and Bear, a "Baby's first Christmas" lovie from K-Mart

Me:

Black with white polka dot leggings, Walmart

Knock-off Converse, also from Walmart

Jean mini skirt, ages old, originally from Goody's (Can you believe it! I am able to fit in it again! A little pick-me up that day)

Ghostbusters shirt, Walmart (I needed a costume, quick. Seeing as we don't have a Target closer than 45 minutes away, we have to deal with Walmart. Bleh.)

FAVORITE sunglasses, Old Navy

Special thanks to a bestie who snapped the photo. I didn't manage to take a single picture of the kiddo in her costume all day. I actually had to work the costume contest for the festival, so soon after this pic, Ansley was handed off to the Nana for her first round of Trick or Treating, resulting in a surprising amount of candy (which was then distributed to the 4 Trick or Treaters that left the festival with gobs and candy and came to my house and rang my doorbell DESPITE my porch and lamp post lights being off. Grr. I should have let them put Ansley back to sleep.)

I let my child eat McDonald's

And, frankly, she liked it.  Of course, her favorite part was the French fries, so we paid special attention to that and only let her enjoy just a few.

It was her first Happy Meal. And, regardless of the fact that she will rarely *enjoy* another one, she had her first, and it was certainly a happy meal.

A first

This weekend was possibly the best ever.

Friday, despite the hubs picking up an extra shift (like he really needs to, working 6 days a week) on Friday, we were able to meet my sister and her hubs for dinner. And, I did something I swore I would never do.

Now before your mind starts wandering to places it shouldn't, I must say that it was completely G-rated, and in no way or fashion could have gotten us kicked out of Sears. I've simply said for many, MANY years that I was totally against this, but, I found myself right in the thick of it, enjoying every second of it on Friday night.

I looked at Christmas decorations. And it isn't even Halloween.

I know, awful, right?  I just couldn't help it. It was all twinkly and flashy, and so festive that I looked. And even talked about decorating. And even almost bought new decorations! And totally forgot that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!!

After doing what should be illegal until the fourth Friday in November, we went home and had an awful night with Ansley.  Waking constantly, and not easily going back to sleep. Which, led to one of my fits of anxiousness, which, I may discuss later. Just know that once we got Ansley to sleep, Paul then had to work to get me calmed down.

Saturday was new and exciting, despite being exhausted from the night before. It was gorgeous outside, and our spontaneity from our dating days returned, and we decided to tailgate at the Tennessee/Alabama game, and eventually decided to stay for a most of the game.

Here are some pictures from our first UT game!

Ok, so I'm a total band geek and was most excited about the band. Nerd.

Ansley's first tailgate! and a super cute bow from her aunt.

I flippin' love.this.face.

Investigating. No teeth at this point, but it poked a shiny little top through the next day.

Rocky Top, you'll always be, home sweet home to me (even if you are having a horrible season).

 

Ok, so, a ton of pictures, I KNOW! I'm so sorry, but I couldn't pick just one.  So, if you don't want to look, just skip to the next post. Or, whatever. But you know you like it.

I'll have to put Sunday in a post of it's own. Because Saturday was just that awesome.

What a hoot!

The celebration is officially over. Ansley is a whole year old!

We celebrated 3 times! Three times I sang happy birthday, and three times Ansley looked at us like we were stupid.

The first celebration came a few days before her birthday. As we celebrated with close family friends, Ansley enjoyed her very first Twinkee (and, if Daddy has anything to say about it, that will also be her last!)

On September 21, we worked our way into her room at 7:20 in the morning, and woke her up singing "Happy Birthday." I discovered that Ansley is just like her momma in one way: if she's sleeping, don't wake her up unless you are ready to deal with the ensuing wrath.

Not the best picture, but she's obviously not very happy. But, I came offering gifts of chocolate chip muffins, so that should have made the early wake up worth it. I guess the mind of the 1-year-old couldn't quite grasp that.

But, we celebrated. We celebrated that evening with a trip to Nana and Poppa's. Not too exciting, because the real celebration was to come.

We have not had rain in nearly a month. But as we got closer to the day of the party, the chances of rain increased. And increased. And continued to increase. We had a special fundraiser that morning for work, and we were rained on periodically. I debated changing the date.

And the sky was dark. And her party was planned for 3:30 in the afternoon, right smack dab in the middle of the rain cloud. But, I stood strong. We were having her party OUTSIDE, and it was going to be perfect.

I had debated for several weeks on what the theme should be. Princess, out. FOREVER. Hopefully, Ansley will appreciate the fact that she's not a princess, and that doesn't mean we love her any less. She can enjoy princess movies, but the moment she is seen in a shirt that says "I'm a princess," call the authorities and report a kidnapping.

I also knew I didn't want to simply do a theme of the number "1." Though she's not a princess, Ansley deserves more than just that. After much deliberation, and fighting the urge to go against the grain with something completely obscure, I decided to go with owls. Because it was so.stinkin'.cute.

I mean, look at that! Absolutely adorable. And, those big blue eyes reminded me of Ansley's, so I had to go with it.

So, I had the decorations, including a pinata. (Yes, I bought a pinata for a 1-year-old's birthday party. And I filled it with candy. And little party favors that my mom yelled at me for giving to Ansley.) I couldn't just make other plans. It wouldn't work. No one had RSVPed, so, if I moved it, I had no idea who to contact to let them know. So, we finished up our cake, packed up the car, and headed to our destination. And, by cake, I mean totally awesome, homemade and decorated piece of brilliance.

I know it isn't professional quality or anything, but it was so outside of my comfort zone to even attempt this. Normally, I solve problems by throwing money at them, not by picking up a tube of frosting (though, honestly, that could make for some very interesting debates.).

We kinda took the "K.I.S.S." method when it came to her party. I knew I wanted it to be something special, because, honestly, I feel as though I've dropped the ball a lot as a first time mother. But, I knew anything too extravagant was just a waste of resources, since she wouldn't enjoy being outside at one park anymore than outside at another. But, I have dropped the ball a few times. I don't have her feet prints in her baby book. I don't remember exactly what day she started crawling, or even when she started standing on her own. I don't know the date of the first time she said "momma." Though she wouldn't remember, I wanted something fun for my memory bank.

So, we kept it simple, but made some great memories. We had family and friends there to help celebrate, and I'm pretty sure Ansley got more gifts than she really knew what to do with.

And, there was cake. Rather, cupcakes. And, Ansley devoured it.

Yes, Ansley had a matching bib, thanks to my bestie and one of Ansley's "Aunts." She also had a matching shirt that I managed to save until her birthday, and now she can wear it whenever! Hoot!

All in all, it was a very special day, despite the fact that some very important people were unable to share in the celebration. And, at the end of the day, when Ansley was tired and finally curled up in bed, I was able to sigh a big sigh of relief. The rain held off, people showed up, and my little girl enjoyed her first birthday party.

Some recent shots.

My child hates me.

Of this, I am almost completely certain.

Exhibit A: If Paul is holding her, she rarely comes to me. If I'm holding her, she always goes to him.

Exhibit B: If she playing on the floor and I walk out of the room, nothin'. Paul walks out of the room, squalls, and a fast little tubby tub crawling along after him.

Exhibit C: She looks exactly like him. Ok, so I know she really doesn't have control of this, but it just adds fuel to the fire.

Exhibit 4: This morning, she woke me up at 7 a.m. After feeding and playing for a little while, I had to start getting ready for work. I showered while she happily played in the floor. I went and put her in the bed with Paul while I got dressed, thinking she would be all cute and crawl all over him, waking him up to enjoy the morning. But instead, that little booger cuddled up beside him, grabbed her bear and went to sleep. At 8:30 a.m. I left for work at 9, both still snoozing. Paul called at 11, because THEY HAD JUST WOKEN UP!!!

Friday night, Ansley didn't go down until midnight, then woke up at 2 and I couldn't get her to sleep until 3:3o. We napped on the couch until 5, struggled to take a bottle, played for a bit, had some fruit at 7, FINALLY went back to sleep at 8, and woke up at 9:30, all while Daddy was able to sleep soundly in the comfy bed. Where is the fairness in that?

Ansley,
I carried you in my belly for 35 weeks. I let you kick and squirm and make me throw up and get stretch marks. I labored to get you out for 21 hours. Despite being a preemie, you weren't small, and mommy had to get stitches where no one should ever have to get them. I fed you my own specially made milk, which Daddy didn't have, and I've taken your temperature rectally, which Daddy has never done. And this is what I get?

I'll get you back, don't worry. I haven't been taking embarrassing pictures for nothing. Just wait till you bring friends over, or that first boy home. Then you'll wish you had let me sleep just a little longer.

Love,
Mommy

Vogue

Today, I'll let my love do the talking.

After a brief description.

On Black Friday, I stumbled upon a Nikon digital SLR package. It included two lenses, the bag, a software package and a bunch of other stuff. It was a great deal, even though I'm pretty sure it cost more than my engagement and wedding rings combined. But, I'm hoping that it will eventually pay for itself.

So, enjoy these pictures, and hopefully you'll understand why I love my camera.

Now, I understand I'm not an amazing photographer, but I have two things going for me:

1. I used to work for a newspaper, therefore I can call myself a "published photographer," and

2. A friend used one of my photos as her Facebook profile pictures. That has to mean you're good, right?

Make that 3. My camera has amazing color on it, and though I haven't figured out all the gadgets on it yet, I can tell it to figure it out for me, and it makes wonderful adjustments.

I do love photography, though I don't have as much time for it as I would like. I hope to eventually get into some studio and wedding work, but that's pretty far down the line.

What about you? What is something you LOVE doing and hope to, or already are, making some bank on it?

Rockstars

World, meet your two worst nightmares.





It's Punky Baby and the Rockin' Rad Aunt.

Check your local autoriums for available tour dates.

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

Hoppping down the bunny trail.

By this point, you probably understand that if I'm not running behind, something is terribly wrong. So, here's an update about Easter, only a few days (ok, weeks) late.

Easter was wonderful! The weather was beautiful, Ansley was cute as a button, and the Easter bunny was good to us! We even tried, with marked failure, to catch a baby bunny that was munching on some grass in the back yard.

Though Ansley is a bit too small to go hunting for eggs, she did get to enjoy *part* of a chocolate covered marshmallow bunny. Needless to say, it was a very trying task to get it away from her, but we managed.

She wore her beautiful "Jackie O." dress, and afterwards at lunch with some close family friends, no one commented on my handsome son!

Now that the weather is warm, I've filled her dresser with a ridiculous quantity of dresses. That should help curb the problem.

Easter was such a huge event for me as a child. In fact, believe it or not, I think I can say the anticipation of that furry friend's visit was just as high as the excitement of the jolly fat man's annual squeeze down the chimney.

Growing up, my whole family was within about 50 miles. Christmas was divided between the two sides, but Easter was a different story. Easter was reserved for Mom's side of the family. And it was HUGE.

Typically, there were only about 9 of us that would hunt for eggs. There were 13 of us all together, but the youngest ones weren't really on the scene yet.

There was always a prize egg. And there was always money inside. There was also a prize for the most eggs. It was always difficult to decide if I should only hunt for the prize egg, and be assured of a nice monetary blessing, or, if I should use my position as the oldest and push the other kids around in an attempt to collect the most eggs. However, seeing as how I was the oldest by three years but the smallest by a few inches, there really was no point in putting myself through the turmoil. I went for the prize egg.

The aunts and uncles would hide the eggs, and then line us up by age. I was at the back because I was the oldest, and, quite frankly, the best stinkin' egg hunter in the fam. I was unstoppable.

I was famous for finding that prize egg, despite all the ridiculous hiding places. In the bottom of a trash can full of rain water (that involved a dive to the bottom, and assistance getting out), in a briar bush, in a dog house, and in a cedar tree. Funny thing is, I can't seem to remember what I even spent the money on.

Gradually, as the years went on, we all seemed to outgrow the event, yet we still managed to gather for some rockin' good food. Then, eventually, as time went on, we just stopped all together.

Now, this isn't a sob fest, but I have a lot of memories tied to Easter, and every once and a while, it's nice to look back on those events. The good as well as the bad.

Not only was Easter time for the egg hunt, but it also marks the anniversary of a huge event in my family. Our house was destroyed by fire one Easter Sunday a few years ago. On that day, we lost everything.

Which, really is contrary to the purpose of Easter. No matter how much I enjoy the ushering in of spring, and the ability to wear open toed shoes and white skirts, Easter is so much more to me, and I hope it will be for Ansley.

Easter is the day that death was defeated. It doesn't matter what was in that house as the flames engulfed it, because death was conquered! His word was kept.

So, I hope you enjoyed your holiday, and I look forward with great anticipation to the things I can pass on to Ansley. She's sure to be a master egg hunter, but, more than that, I hope she understands that on that day, so many years ago, the tomb was empty.

Ok, fine. And I hope she learns not to wear white shoes before that holiday.

He has Risen.

Drug by the Wagon

So, can you fall off a wagon if you never really get on?

Last week, I posted about wanting to document each day as I saw it. Whether with a picture or paragraph, I wanted to capture each minute and make it a moment.

Guess what? I'm still on track!

Yes, though the photos have yet to be posted, they have been taken. One night, I sat down to post them, and my computer freaked out and shut down and changed all the settings. It was possessed. I swear.

But, we're good to go now, and I'm combining a couple in this one post.

3-1

It's starting to get warmer outside, which means Bunker gets to run around more rather than being cooped up in the kitchen. After a day of chasing the birds and howling at distant trains, he had nothing left. That's about how I felt.

3-2

First of all, I couldn't exactly put a picture of my naked baby online. However, I could not pass up this opportunity. Hence, the lovely cloud. It seems every night at bath time, Rascal cannot handle the fact that the babe has a squeeky toy that she does not. Several times, she has climbed right on in the tub to get that duck. It is normally a battle. Ansley has the duck. Rascal takes the duck. Ansley starts crying. I take the duck from Rascal, clean it, give it to Ansley. Rascal starts whining. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

3-3

Paul has become known by the third shift cashiers at Walmart as "the flower guy." He frequently brings home beautiful flowers. They are quite a pleasant treat. When I first started this job a year ago, he had flowers sent to the office every Tuesday for about three months. Needless to say, I've got a lot of dried flowers and about 12 of the same single flower vase. I wonder if I could get some store credit for returning those to the florist. Or, all the coat hangers we get from the dry cleaners...hmm...

3-4

Ok, so I didn't take this picture. But this is the best.stinkin'.teether.EVER. I know everyone loves their Sophie, but I am not cool enough to own one, so, therefore my child will just have to accept the fact that she doesn't get the trendy toys or clothes. Ok, the trendy clothes part is a lie. She's the best dressed kid this side of our street. But, this teether, a gift from Grandma and Pap-pap, is wonderful. It vibrates. She got this on Thursday, and it has quickly become her favorite. I think the vibrating tickles her, cause she scruntches up her face when it starts going. Oh, and just a side note. If you happen to be riding in the car and feel the floorboard start to vibrate, be sure you check to see if this toy is in the diaper bag that your feet are on BEFORE you start freaking out about the wheel falling off, m'kay?

3-5

Ok. Don't judge me. Seriously. This is a bag of clothes that I set aside to donate to Goodwill. Four months ago. It's been sitting at the foot of my bed for FOUR MONTHS. Yes, that's right. Oh, and, Goodwill is only about 5 minutes from my house. The worst part? The longer the bag sits there, the more things I look at and think "Hmm, I may wear that one day." On second thought, judge me. Maybe then I'll be motivated to get them out of the house.

3-6

Yes, this picture was taken in front of my microwave. Because that's where I was when I remembered to take a picture Saturday night. Though Saturday was a ton of fun, complete with Ansley's first birthday party (not her first birthday party, but her first birthday party. Got it?), it wasn't till I got home that I remembered what I was trying to do. And, not that I'm trying to turn this into a political debate about abortion, but I work for a pregnancy clinic. We had a fundraising banquet recently and brought in $15,000 above the goal! I look at this pin now, and can't believe that Ansley's feet were that size, just about a year ago.

3-7

Here it is! Ansley's Easter dress! Now, I know the point is often to see just how many layers of lacey, frilly, flowery fabric you can squeeze your little one into on Easter, but I could not pass this up. Not only was it a great deal, but it screams "I'm going to be First Lady one day!" Is it not a little Jackie O dress in baby size?? I.LOVE.IT. Plus, she'll be able to wear it other than just for Easter, though I fought the temptation to put her in it this past week for church. Children's Place. Check it out.

So, there it is. My first week of daily documentation. Done. Taking the pictures wasn't the hard part. Finding the time to put them on here was.

And, what have I learned? Well, everything I look at I now ask myself "Is this worth a daily documentation?" It really makes me stop and think. What are the moments that I hope to store away, and what are those that are humbling? Hopefully, I'll be able to be completely honest with these, in hopes that I can keep myself accountable for things I plan to do. Like going to Goodwill. I should try to do that today. Or maybe tomorrow.