invites.

These are the invitations to Rowan's 1st Birthday party.

When I saw them I knew they were the ones.

emmie kate

meet emmie kate.

a new precious, beautiful bundle of love.

she belongs to our friends Libby and Ken.

her big brother is Luke.

we love them.

i made this wreath for them so

they could hang it on their front door.

everyone who passes by will know

a new baby GIRL has been born!

we can't wait to meet Miss Emmie Kate next week!

quick and totally random post.

i think about blogging all the time...just can't quite get back into it. don't know why.
Maybe this is a start.

we need milk.

i {heart} diet coke.

i got the new Christmas with Southern Living today in the mail.
totally giddy about it. can't wait till Christmas.

speaking of Christmas...going to "the" mart on Nov. 10.
Let me know if you want anything.

went to Joann's tonight. it's brand-spankin' new. in macon. i loved it!

today...i am very thankful for my job. i really do like it.

rowan discovered the moon while we were at the beach.
it was awesome. to see the world through his eyes.

ROWAN is ONE! WHOA...where did time go. Still haven't blogged his
birth story.

haven't blogged about the beach, or his birthday, or his birthday party either.

my camry has 192, 596 miles on it. and still going strong!

getting ready for the next house project...closing in our "sitting room" which
is home to our computer. installing french doors. painting it a fresh blue color.

my mother-in-law is keeping Rowan this week. so thankful for her.

i am the most tan i have been in 2 years...motherhood.

lauren is my bff. her son is the funniest little guy i know.

i love to vacuum.

i want a new couch.

my husband is the bomb diggity. rowan loves him. even though he bit him for the 1st time
yesterday. :(

i have 2 thousand-and-something gifts 2 grow reward points from pampers diapers
and don't want to cash them in.

nothing beats your own bed. and pillow.

i thought i was fat in high school and college...yeah, whatever.

and finally...

this is a picture of Rowan at the beach for the first time, on his first birthday!

I made these on picnik.com. saved them to a disc. printed them at walgreens.
adhered a magnet to the back. placed them into a cellophane bag. tied them up with jute
and ribbon. and voila...his birthday party favor!

ok...good night.

dining room

So after seeing board and batten everywhere in blogland...

I started wanting it in our dining room.

So I researched it, read tutorials, and then talked it over with Alan.

Of course, my handy dandy husband was all about it.

We started it about three weeks ago...

(I use the term "we" loosely. We all know Alan did most of the work.

And he did fabulous at that!)

and tonight we finally FINISHED it.

I love it!

So here is the dining room before we moved in.

Even though I love red, and I had a red kitchen in Athens...

I was ready to see this "paprika" color go away.

Here is the dining room after we painted the room chocolate brown.

(Notice the red candles still on the table...gotta get rid of those.)

So here is the room in the middle of putting up the board and batten.

We also added window molding and door trim.

I need to take a real "after" picture now.

I found a chandelier at Goodwill that I like better than the

one that was already here.

I painted it using some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint.

Alan hung it tonight.
I just need to recover the shades I bought for it.

(the old one is gonna be listed on craigslist if anyone wants it.)

Hopefully I will get the true "after" minus any accessories

taken and uploaded soon.

(I have been having issues with uploading my pictures

and photoshop will not open...ugghhh)

I have an excellent blank slate to work with...

just don't know how to accessorize at the moment.

Moving on to the next project...

(Thanks Boo, Love you!)

eleven...

months, that is.

Rowan turned 11 months yesterday!

I am just finding it so hard to believe.

At eleven months...

You my sweet, precious, 24.2 pound boy are...

wearing size 4 diapers.

wearing size 12-24 months clothes.

saying "mama" and "dada".

We think you said "dog" yesterday at your

G-ma and Papa's house.

cutting your third tooth.

enjoying riding in your red wagon and playing

in your baby pool.

just like momma when you get hot...those cheeks turn bright red!

eating lots and lots of table food.

You tried chicken and a peach for the first time on Saturday.

You loved both of them!

so BUSY! Momma feels like a broken record. I constantly

tell you "no-no". We have started "popping" you on the hand.

(This stage makes me feel like I am a horrible mom.)

still taking 3-4 bottles a day...

but we started introducing whole milk last Friday.

So far, so good!

still takin two naps...well sometimes it is only one long one!

destroying the house. You love to knock stuff off of tables

and throw stuff. Oh...just making momma crazy.

showing no sign of walking...and I am so ok with that.

such a joy!

We are so glad you are ours and

every day we love you more!

the best homemade ice cream ever...

plus it's low fat and has very little sugar.

We had banana and it was delicious!

Homemade Ice Cream

Mix together…
1 can fat free evaporated milk
1 can fat free condensed milk
1 cup splenda


Mix well, then add…
1 tub of fat free cool whip
1 tablespoon vanilla
Add whatever fruit or flavoring you would like.
(i.e. chocolate or coffee)


When thoroughly mixed pour into freezer.
Add skim milk to full mark.

i'm back...

many posts below.

:)

the moment

i had been waiting for my whole life!

May 21, 2005, 3:00 p.m.

i didn't take my eyes off of him.

his bottom lip quivered.

i beamed with pride.

i had found the one my heart loves.

i knew he was the one long before he did.

but not before HE did.

God's plan is perfect.

he is much MORE than I ever thought I would need.

I love you Boo!

Happy 5 Years!

The best is yet to come...

today...

you were so happy.

you turned 10 months old.

we went to Hobby Lobby and Wal-mart.

you fell asleep (in your carseat) holding your foot. it was funny.

you got called a girl for the umpteenth time.

you said momma while crawling around on the kitchen floor behind me.

you lunged at your daddy when we got home.

you ate tomatoes, cheese, and pinto beans.

you jumped up and down with glee in your crib

instead of taking a nap.

you belly laughed when your daddy "got you" under your chin.

you fell asleep tonight on my chest...mmm.

and

you were so precious sitting out in the grass...

with nothing but a diaper.

while daddy cut the grass.

and the sun was going down.

i ran in and grabbed my camera...

and i am so glad i did!

what a great day!

10 months old!

Can you see his little tooth peeking through? :)

i could eat him with a spoon!

whew...

I'm BACK!

We have had internet for two weeks now but,
I haven't really known where to start as far as blogging...
Still don't but here goes...

So since I have been gone...
Rowan turned 8 months old!
We moved into our new house!
We unpacked, unpacked, and unpacked...
And believe it or not we are still not done.
We totally redid our landscaping in the front yard.
Alan and our nice neighbor Tommy removed the fence from
our front yard!
We celebrated Easter in Alabama!
Rowan turned 9 months old!
Rowan got his first tooth!
Alan worked an insane schedule for almost three weeks!
Can you say single mom?
Rowan started crawling!
Alan got into graduate school at Mercer.
He is getting his Masters in Environmental Engineering!
I celebrated my First Mothers Day!
Rowan said "Moma"! :)
We painted our front door red!
Rowan turned 10 months old TODAY!
We celebrate our FIVE year anniversary tomorrow! (5/21)

Lots of pictures to come!

House updates.

The Before!

The During!

The later DURING!

And after!

(Well kinda, the door got one more coat after this.)

This is a sign we ordered from Lowes.

It's on our mailbox!

I still need to take an AFTER picture from the road now that the

door is completely finished!

What a difference a little TLC makes!

front door...

New paint. New hardware.

So much better!

momma's day...

Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous mothers!

Happy Mother's Day to my momma, my sister and my friends!

And thank you to my husband and my beautiful baby boy for

making my very first Mother's Day so special.

I am so thankful God has given me the opportunity to be a mom...

Oh how he has changed me!

Hi!

We had Rowan's 9 month photo session done on Tuesday!
Can't believe our big little boy is NINE months old!

You can view the gallery by going here.
Click on clients at the bottom of the page and then enter "sing0420".

Help us choose, help us choose! I love them all!

quick update.

My little one is at my feet ready to get going.
I ran over to the apartment to get some shoes,
and thought I could fit in a quick update...
We still have a little bit more stuff to get from here.
I suppose we will be completely moved by the 31st.

Speaking of my little one...
He started clapping on Wednesday. It is the cutest thing.
Of course I have not been able to catch him on camera yet.
He is going from sitting to the crawling position but will only sit
there and rock back and forth.
He is getting more comfortable on his belly though.
I guess he will crawl when he is ready...
He loves his new room and our new house.
Especially the light fixtures.
They are black, so that must be highly interesting to him.
He has been sleeping like a champ.
We let him cry it out again on Tuesday night because
he had gotten into the habit of waking up around 2, 3, or 4 every night
for a bottle.
After an hour he finally went to sleep...
and the past two nights he has slept for 11 hours straight.
It feels wonderful to sleep through the night again.
We will just hope it continues.

The new house is coming along...
Yesterday I got alot done and I am really starting to like it.
When we get the internet at home I will share more pictures(...Laura)!
Rowan and I went on a walk yesterday.
It is so nice to have a neighborhood to walk around in.

Well I better get going.
It may be a while before we are back on the internet.
It seems to take a little time to get those things up and running.
Maybe I can blog from my iTouch if I can get free WiFi somewhere.

We are off to Target and Toys R' Us for Easter Basket goodies!

thanks

for all your warm wishes about our new home.

We are so excited the time has finally come!

I can't wait to share all the projects we have in store for it!

Thanks also for the sweet comments about our

big little boy.

I love comments and I love getting random e-mails from

people I don't know IRL (in real life) pertaining

to posts on my blog!

I love getting snail mail.

I love getting e-mails.

And I love blog comments!

Hence the button below...

hehe!

Blakley...the tutorial for the wreath is here.

It is very easy, but a little time-consuming.

To make a letter...

I bought a piece of rectangular styrofoam from HL.

Alan free-handed the "S" and cut it out with a knife.

Sarah...I am a good copy-cat. Hardly creative.

I wish, though.

Here is the link for the very simple applique technique!

(Crystal from a Little Bit Funky is awesome. Love her blog.)

We are officially moving on Friday and Saturday!

C-A-N-N-O-T wait!

walker.

Alan bought Rowan a walker today.

(We have been wanting to get him one but

there wasn't anywhere he could use one at the apartment.)

We figured it would keep him occupied at the new house

so I could get some work done too.

Well, he likes the walker if...you are pushing him around in it,

otherwise he is whining to get out.

He could only go backwards.

I snapped a few quick pictures before he was "over it".

projects.

In the midst of all this chaos I took some time last night

to chill out the best way I know how.

I crafted and sewed.

I made us a lime green "S" to hang on our front door.

For St. Patricks Day? No.

Just because I wanted a springy color

and Alan said no to hot pink and Hancock was out

of turquoise!

Thanks to Alan for drawing and cutting out the "S"!

I bought these cute little shorts and shirts at Wal-mart.

I thought they needed some sprucing up so I

bought an extra pair of shorts to make an applique for the shirts.

I got the directions here.

I had to straight stitch mine because my letter

was much smaller than the one she shows in her tutorial.

And I will not be showing a close-up of the letters.

Let's just say they are made with love! :)

I think they turned out pretty cute!

Especially since they only cost $10.50 an outfit!

Did I mention they are size 12 months?

house updates!

Dining room!

The cayenne pepper color is gone and now it's chocolate brown!

Eventually we will put board and batten up in there

which will make it totally rock!

Rowan's room is now baby blue.

It too will eventually have board and batten.

I think he likes his blue walls!

(Look at all that drool...and still no teeth!)

These two pictures were taken with different light...

hence the vast difference.

The blue is a chambray blue.

Very soft and soothing!

We have knobs and pulls on the cabinets throughout the house.

Wow what a difference hardware can make!

We got these on eBay for more than half off!

We also painted the kitchen a khaki color

that matches up better with the backsplash.

It looks great!

Our appliances came today.

The refrigerator and stove fit perfectly.

But the microwave is causing some difficulty. :(

I would have taken pictures today

but Alan and his friend Aaron were busy in there! :)

Things are moving right along.

I am ready for our bedding to come in so

we can get paint for our bedroom.

We are probably gonna start moving this weekend...

So excited!

and we have...

blooms on the tree in our new front yard!

Spring is coming!

7 months...

Now that Rowan is almost 8 months (Saturday)
I figured I would post his 7 month photo! Ha!
I finally got a smile out of him!
The days just keep getting better!

days at home...

We play.

We have photo shoots.

We take lots of naps!

Trying to document the small things!

Questions answered...

I am...so ready to move!

I think...way too much about un-important stuff.

I should...go fold Rowan's clothes and load the dishwasher.

I dream...of being skinny.

I want...to be off work for the next two weeks.

I know...God is good.

I don't like...when me and Alan fight (I mean disagree?).

I smell...Huggies natural care lotion on my hands from putting it on Rowan after his bath.

I hear...FOX news. Someone is always watching it...

I fear...being misunderstood.

I search...for my cell phone or keys daily.

I miss...the simpler times.

I always...make lists because I like the sense of accomplishment that comes with crossing stuff off.

I crave...everything I am not supposed to have. Week 4 of South Beach! Right now
I would love a Sonic Reese's P.B. Cup Blast.

I remember...when my nephew Cade was born. He turned NINE today!

I need...to quit worrying about what people think of me.

I forget...how short life is.

I feel...overwhelmed most of the time. Trying to get over that.

I can...do anything I set my mind to.

I can't...believe Rowan will be 8 months old on Saturday.

I am happy...now.

I listen...to my iTouch.

I shop...for good deals everywhere I go. Today I scored a new comforter set for our bed for about 70% off!

I eat...too much.

I love...my boys and their hugs.

vote for my friend Kami...

Kami is my friend.

My co-worker.
A fellow nurse.

And...
 a breast cancer survivor.

She was only 31 and a brand new mom when she was diagnosed.

She has been nominated to be a MLB Honorary Bat Girl for the Braves on Mother's Day as part of Susan G Komen's "Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer". Please go to this link  and cast your vote for her story. Her nickname on the site is "Super Mom (and Wife).

Thanks!