Honey, Sugah, Dahlin'

The Whole Month of January

2012-01-31T18:56:00.000-05:00

I didn’t blog ONCE since New Years Day and that was hardly a content-packed piece. Here is my sorry excuse for a catch-up blog for the entire month of activity. They’re all out of order but we had a lot of fun anyways!

One of my best good friends got married this past weekend. Jessica was such a beautiful bride and we had a great time celebrating her marriage to Clay, another high school friend of mine.

Wyatt got to try out his riding gear. He loves his little sit n’ scoot four wheeler. Amanda and the kids found their old push car and Wyatt got to ride for hours the other day too.

I had an agritourism conference for work in Savannah and Justin and Wyatt got to come along. My sister Sami lives there for college so she and my mama were there too. Justin and I were able to sneak away for part of one evening and we got the chance to eat at Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House all alone! It was fun and we were able to squeeze some mall time in while Mama and Sami kept Wyatt.

We were just “hanging out:” {HAHA!} and realized Wyatt could hold himself up for a few seconds like a baby Hulk. He also got to sit in the little car while the boys PRETENDED to haul him (the golf cart DIDN’T move an inch!).

Wyatt’s standing up and scooting along the couches and chairs now. It won’t be long before he starts walking and it’s all over for any little bit of rest I might have thought I could get.

I got a big time hair cut and donated over 8 inches of hair to the Pink Hearts Fund, which makes wigs for children with cancer at no cost.

Wyatt got to experience all kinds of fun stuff this month! He rode the tractor with Justin as we were preparing a spot for our honeybees (that’s gonna take a whole blog post on its own).

Bath time is such a great time for fun. Every single night I get Wyatt out of the tub and stand him up in front of the mirror and he smiles like crazy. I think he might start looking a tiny bit like me now. He has my nose at the very least.

We celebrated two fun birthdays this month. My oldest nephew Jake turned 10 years old. I can’t believe that when Justin and I started dating, he hadn’t even been conceived and now he’s hit the double digit mark! Also, we celebrated my daddy’s birthday with carrot cake and Wyatt got his little bitty hands right in that icing. He’s got a major sweet tooth for an 8 month old but we limit his sweets to a bite here and there.

Wyatt is coming up with the most hilarious faces now. Mama said I used to make the same face when I was little and she calls it the Mr. Magoo face.

Jake, Ben, and Rivers colored their faces the other day with washable markers and I couldn’t resist giving Wy a little mustache. Can you tell he’s got built-in friends for life with his cousins? They all love him so much!

Wyatt loves his Nanny, my grandmother. At 80+ years old she is still going strong and loves when we visit with Wyatt. I am glad he is around to see her. I never got to be around my other grandmother, much less my great-grandmother so this is very special that he knows her.

Last but not least, Justin got my college diploma framed and helped me put it up in my office this past week. It’s been rolled up in a tube for three years now and I never would have spent the money to get it properly framed but Justin treats me so well. I am so proud of that paper!

Well, now that’s January. Hopefully I can keep up with February a lot better!

New Year’s Fun

2012-01-01T16:40:00.000-05:00

On New Year’s Eve, Justin had to work so I took Wyatt out to the airport to check out his Pop’s plane. Wyatt didn’t get to go up but he was quite happy to check it out on the ground.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Amanda and Michael’s celebrating the new year with good snacks and then visited with Jonathan and played trivia for a bit. Wyatt was a trooper. He went to bed a little later than usual—9:45—but didn’t make it to see the big ball drop in NYC.

Hey!

2012-01-01T08:19:00.000-05:00

Why, hello brand new year! I hope this year is as great as you could ever hope for!

Hello, goodbye

2011-12-31T12:18:00.000-05:00

Wishing you and yours a happy and safe new year!

Wax melts

2011-12-30T16:32:00.000-05:00

Have you tried the wax warmers that are all the rage these days? These are my latest addiction and I cannot help picking up a few every time I stop in the store.

I know there is a home-based business (with a really cute name!) that uses low wattage light bulbs to melt their wax, but I use a cheap warmer that uses tea lights to warm mine.

I was scoping out the after-Christmas sales at Wally World and found that the Better Homes and Gardens melts were on sale for $1 and I stocked up. Justin has put me on a wax melt buying restriction until I burn through the ones I already have.

My favorite one is an off-brand called Wild Thing. It has a subtle, light non-food scent that is perfect for making my home or office smell nice and fresh.

Christmas Eve Recap

2011-12-29T20:50:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve was a big day for us. We exchanged Christmas presents with everyone as if it were Christmas Day because Justin worked at the fire department the next day. We started out Wyatt’s first Christmas with just the three of us in our jammies at home on Dec. 23. Wyatt got a car/scooter and some fun movies from us. I bought Justin a banner with his smoke team logo on it and he had me bawling like a baby when I opened my gift from him. He got my college diploma custom framed. He is so sweet because he knows I would never spend money on myself for something like that.

On Christmas Eve morning, we got up bright and early in our jammies and headed out to Desiree and Sheldon’s to do our Christmas fun with Justin’s mama and daddy, Amanda, Michael, Jake, Ben, and Rivers. He loves his Wyatt-powered four wheeler and farm set! He also got some really cool firefighter jammies.

Later that afternoon, we headed out to my mama and daddy’s to exchange gifts with them, Suzi, and Sami. We all had really great, thoughtful gifts and Wyatt got plenty of toys and videos to keep him occupied for a good while. This one takes the cake though:

Sami took Wyatt into the kitchen and I didn’t think anything of it. All of the sudden, she came wheeling in with Wyatt on a bright red Radio Flyer. Sami had found this in a thrift shop and completely restored it all the way down to the wheels and suspension! I am sure we will enjoy this wagon for many years to come.

I had to stick a picture of this in here: I got a monogram necklace from Mama and Daddy. We southern girls like our monogram on everything!

We were all very spoiled! After it was all said and done, our living room looks like a baby car lot!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T20:00:00.000-05:00

Since Justin had to work Christmas Day, we visited him at the fire department. Wyatt had a blast. I can already tell he will be begging to visit the FD many, many more times in the future!

My iPhone App Recommendations, part 2

2011-12-29T12:14:00.000-05:00

I always get excited when I see a friend with an iPhone. Usually my first question is, “Do you have any cool apps to tell me about?” I found several folks who had boards on Pinterest about the apps they recommend and even a whole iPhone Mom blog for apps that moms can load on their phones for their kids.

I have a LOT of apps on my phone. They are almost all completely free and they might be less than great, but I keep them in case I need them some day. Here are mine:

1. Skype- This came in handy when my sister was in Italy. I was able to Skype with her on-the-go and didn’t have to be tied down to a home computer or wi-fi.

2. Red Laser is a great app that scans QR codes and barcodes. It will scan barcodes and find the best price in the area and online. This is great for big-purchase technology items, major baby items, and even diapers and formula for us. I wouldn’t recommend it for regular groceries, but it has saved us a good deal of money in the past few months.

3. NORAD Santa tracker, for the kiddos to see where Santa is on Christmas Eve.

4. White Noice, for my hubbs when we travel. He can’t sleep without some background noise and hotels don’t have ceiling fans like we do at home.

5. Shape Shift- fun game

6. Pocket Whip- this one is funny. Move your phone like you’re cracking a whip and the sound projects. It’s funny to say, “Hey baby, get me some tea,” and flick it. Justin and I get a kick out of trying to do that with a serious face and seeing people’s reactions. {WE DON’T ACTUALLY TREAT EACH OTHER LIKE THAT}

7. Angry Birds- Unless you live in a deep, dark place you know what this is. I downloaded the free versions, but Justin ponied up the $0.99 for the full version and beat it in a single day on a particularly slow day at the fire department.

8. This is where I file away the photography apps that I’ve downloaded and don’t really use. They MIGHT come in handy one day but I rarely access them.

9. Be Funky is a cool photo editor that lets you put cool effects on pictures. I use it less frequently since I’ve started drinking the Instagram Kool-Aid but it’s still good to use.

1. Cut the Rope- fun little mindless game

2. Blogger- I don’t usually blog on the fly but it’s okay to get a quick wordy post put up in a pinch.

3. I downloaded Tango because my SIL doesn’t have Skype for some reason on her tablet.

4. Monster Apps- this app gives you other apps for free once a day. Most of the time they are games. I usually download the app of the day and delete them right away but I have gotten a few on there I really like. Sometimes the free apps become paid apps after a day or so, so get them while they’re free.

5. Bouncy Nuts is a prime example of #4. I got this free and it’s a pretty fun little mindless game to waste some time.

6. Songify lets you speak words and it auto-tunes and sets it to a beat. BAM! You’re Ke-dollar sign-HA (QUICK- Glee pop culture reference here!)

1. Zinio is my digital magazine reader. I have gotten free subscriptions for Cosmo and Seventeen over the past month so this makes reading them much easier. Trust me on this one- this is way better on the iPad.

2. Find iPhone is an Apple app that you set up on a computer. It allows you to remotely make your iPhone send out an audible alert even if your phone is on vibrate. So that phone that’s wiggled its way into the couch cushions? Found! It also has a remote wipe function if you have sensitive data on your phone and it’s stolen.

3. Fruit Ninja is my latest addiction in the phone gaming world. I downloaded the free versions. Trust me. It’s every bit as addicting as Angry Birds!

12-28-11

2011-12-28T16:09:00.000-05:00

Silly boy

My iPhone App Recommendations

2011-12-28T11:55:00.000-05:00

I have a LOT of apps on my phone. They are almost all completely free and they might be less than great, but I keep them in case I need them some day. Here are mine:

These first apps are my go-to, use every day apps.

1. Facebook, of course {no explanation necessary}.

2. Google Reader, for catching up on my blogs. This one is a shortcut I created from the mobile Google Reader webpage.

3. PS Express- I don’t use this as much as I used to since the new iPhone update has red eye reduction built in the camera app now, but it comes in handy.

4. Pinterest, my favorite virtual pinboard.

5. Spotify, an online streaming music service. I pay $9.99/month for Spotify service, but it’s well worth it. It’s like Pandora except I can generate playlists, I don’t have skip limits and I can share playlists with friends. Basically, you pay to “rent” unlimited music and if you cancel your plan, you don’t get to keep the music—just like Netflix for songs.

6. Twitter, to keep up with my Tweeps. This one comes on the iPhone when you get it.

7. The Weather Channel, the best quick-reference to let me know if flip flops in December are okay (which they have been here lately).

8. Instagram, a quick and easy photo sharing service that lets me snap a pic, apply a camera filter, and share to Facebook and Twitter in seconds.

9. IMDb, the Internet Movie Data Base app that helps me look up all kind of crazy trivia, actors and other factoids about movies and TV shows I might be watching at the time.

1. Nike+ iPod, the app that syncs with a chip in my sneakers to tell me how far I’ve walked, my route, and my time. This is awesome. You have to have Nike+ shoes and the transmitter costs $19, but it’s really worth it!

2. Pandora, online music streaming. This is different from Spotify because it lets you select an artist you like and it will play similar music, rather than a set playlist.

3. Dish Network, sets my DVR with a SlingBox attached to my DVR at the house. That way if I hear about a great new show or something coming on TV and I’m not home, I can set my DVR remotely. It also lets me watch my DVR recordings remotely. This was pretty neat when the SEC championship game was on. Justin was able to watch the game in the car on the way to dinner and it didn’t delay our dinner date.

4. Shazam, a neat app that “listens” to a song or commercial and identifies the artist, song, and even provides a link to iTunes to purchase it. Marketers are starting to include the Shazam logo on TV commercials to link to websites for more information.

5. Weird Facts, a neat app with random weird facts about any and everything. This is a great time waster when waiting for appointments.

6. Talking Tom, a silly cat that repeats everything you say in a crazy voice. My nephews and niece love this one.

7. Bump, a fast file transfer app. This app is great for when iPhone users both have it downloaded. You can simply bump phones to quickly transfer photos and contacts. There is also a new messenger app that comes in handy when I want to send Justin or my MIL several photos or videos of Wyatt at one time.

8. Walgreens, an app that shows the nearest Walgreens location, allows you to upload and order prints, and even view the weekly circular.

9. My Verizon, an app that lets me view our bill, track usage, and pay our bill every month.

10. Sudoku2, a free app that is great for playing Sudoku without a book and a pencil

11. iDefibrillate, simulates what it’s like to use an AED for CPR. Justin just taught Mama, my SIL and BIL at a CPR class the other day and we didn’t have the simulators. It was neat to just be able to download one. I paid $0.99 for this one. It’s pretty much a one-time use, but I think I’ll keep it since I paid for it.

12. Blitz, pretty much the Bejeweled game

WHEW! I have been a lot more long-winded than I thought I would be. I have another page and a half so I guess I will pick back up tomorrow with the rest.

Let me know if you have any recommendations for some apps!

12.26.11

2011-12-26T16:05:00.000-05:00

We trekked out to visit the after-Christmas sales and Wyatt had his very first visit to Bass Pro Shops. We also got him a new car seat. Yes, we have officially switched over to the “big boy” car seat!

He even had his first visit to Ulta while I picked up some makeup!

Merry Christmas, y’all!

2011-12-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

Our favorite present

2011-12-22T17:53:00.000-05:00

The best gift we could have ever dreamed of came into our lives on May 4, 2011. We are so blessed with Wyatt and couldn’t imagine being parents would have been this amazing.

Celebrations all around

2011-12-19T18:23:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Ashburn’s Christmas parade with my favorite little elf. Aren’t those elf ears the cutest thing? Mrs. Desiree bought them for Jake, Ben, and Rivers but Wyatt took a shine to them. We also celebrated Ben’s 8th birthday at La Hacienda in Ashburn with a face full of whipped cream. He had the heartiest belly laughs with that one.

Here are a few pics from his birthday party at his house:

Right after we finished our cake from Ben’s birthday, we rushed to Mama and Daddy’s for Sami’s 21st birthday celebration. Cake, cake, and more cake!

Starting out December right

2011-12-18T18:15:00.000-05:00

Wyatt, Mama and I started out December right with a visit to our favorite “Pepper Jelly Queen” Lauri Jo Bennett. Her shop had a wonderful open house and Wyatt got to meet Santa for the very first time. What a fun way to celebrate turning 7 months old!

Andersonville and Plains

2011-12-17T16:01:00.000-05:00

We spent Black Friday doing a little local sightseeing with my family that was down from North Carolina. Justin was working so I went with Mama, Daddy, Sami, and our folks to visit Andersonville National Historic Site and Plains, which is the home of former President Jimmy Carter.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-12-16T18:54:00.000-05:00

We had a fun and busy Thanksgiving. We got to have fun with our families and ate way too much food.

Oh Christmas Tree!

2011-12-15T18:09:00.000-05:00

We got our Christmas tree the weekend of Thanksgiving. I am so excited that we get to celebrate Wyatt’s first Christmas. We found out just three days before Christmas last year that we were having a little boy and he’s already 7 1/2 months old! I know he won’t truly get the full effect, but it’s just better having him around with us to celebrate.

He did get in the holiday spirit with a fun-filled day of Christmas shopping. He especially loves his new Georgia hat.

Fall Fun

2011-12-14T18:37:00.000-05:00

A whole month has almost passed with no blog from me! I try really hard to not make this a baby blog but my life 100% revolves around Wyatt, so it seems that the posts I put on his blog could pull double duty for here too!

Wayyy back in November, Wyatt and I got to have a little fun in some crunchy leaves.

Circus Train

2011-11-18T18:43:00.000-05:00

Poor Wyatt has been sick with a bad cold this week so I have been home with him. We have spent a great deal of the time snuggling up in our jammies. On Wednesday, Justin texted me and told me the circus train was coming our way!

I had just gotten out of the shower and still had a soaking wet head, but I threw my hair up in a ponytail and got Wyatt into some proper clothes and flew up to an empty parking lot in town in front of the tracks.

My dad met us up there. Wyatt was very interested in the semis and other vehicles going through the intersection.

Daddy got a call for work and had to leave before the train made it through, so I was left juggling Wyatt on my hip, my cell phone recording video for Justin because he missed most of it, and my digital camera to snap still shots.

As you can see, my pictures were less than stellar, so here are some shots my SIL Amanda took out in the country.

We are so excited that we got to see the circus train come through. Justin and I are already making plans to take Wyatt when the circus comes to Tallahassee in January!

Georgia Museum of Agriculture

2011-11-18T18:24:00.000-05:00

Justin, Wyatt, and I visited the Georgia Museum of Agriculture this past Saturday to check out the annual cane grinding event. Wyatt was coming down with a bad virus and I ended up with an eye infection (obviously not from the museum), but we had a great time anyway. Y’all don’t even know how hard it is to get used to not calling this place the Agrirama (which had been its name for the past 15 years or more).

From their website:

Georgia’s Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village opened as the Agrirama on July 4, 1976. The grounds consist of five areas: a traditional farm community of the 1870s, an 1890s progressive farmstead, an industrial sites complex, rural town, national peanut complex, and the Museum of Agriculture Center. Over 35 structures have been relocated to the 95-acre site and faithfully restored or preserved. Costumed interpreters explain and demonstrate the life-style and activities of this time in Georgia’s history.

Here are some shots I snapped throughout the day.

Santa Baby

2011-11-10T18:43:00.000-05:00

Christmas came early this year for Justin and me—almost two months early. We were both so excited about our gifts for each other, so we went ahead and gave them. I bought Justin a new pistol, but I have to say I could just about jump out of my skin with my gift! I am such a dork, but Justin hooked me up with a whole kitchen full of Tupperware. He is the best husband and knows how much I will treasure mine for many many years. Both of our mamas have Tupperware that is older than we are!

He even got the Shape-o toy for Wyatt like I had when I was little. Have I got a great one, or what?!?

Mule Day Festival

2011-11-08T18:48:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, we took Wyatt camping for the first time with Justin’s mama and daddy to Calvary, Georgia for the Mule Day festivities. We had a great time with friends and family. Doesn’t our boy look so cute with that little camo hat? The mules in the parade were absolutely beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Sock Bun Style

2011-11-08T05:51:00.001-05:00

I found a pin on Pinterest that showed a mass of soft beautiful curls that I have been coveting forever. The tag line caught my attention: "No heat; use a sock only!" I thought it was snake oil but I clicked on over to the YouTube video and was amazed. You can find it here: Sock Bun Curls.

I tried this out last night and looked quite silly when I went to bed.

When I woke up this morning, I couldn't wait to take my hair down. Womp Womp. Mine didn't work like magic. Granted I did it on sweaty post-walking hair so I didn't give it my best shot to start with. I can see some potential so I will definitely try it again.

Since I used one of Justin's old socks, I think I'm going to go to Dollar Tree and pick up some dress socks. I think if the sock is thinner the curls will be a little more uniform. I will also spray a little holding product on my hair next time.

Can't wait to perfect this method!

Six months old!

2011-11-07T18:42:00.000-05:00

Look who celebrated his half birthday on Friday:

Sorry for the phone pic- Justin has my camera at work today.

My sweet Wy-man is six months old. Time flies and that aint no joke, folks! He is such a sweet thing and I couldn’t imagine being any happier than I am now. I often joke around with people and say that had I known being a mama was so rewarding, I would have gotten married and had a few right out of high school. Cherish every single minute you have because time is fleeting!

Kitchen helper

2011-11-03T20:20:00.000-04:00

Wyatt got his first “taste” of hanging out in the kitchen while Justin was carving his little pumpkin. I had just used this spoon to mix up some sweet tea and he played with it for a while. He finally figured out where the good stuff was

Two cute punkins

2011-11-03T19:42:00.000-04:00

A baby pumpkin carved for Baby Wyatt—and a last minute catch by Daddy kept him from falling over!

Halloween

2011-11-03T19:33:00.000-04:00

First: The rejected costume. Wyatt did not like the monkey costume very well. I think the way the headpiece velcroed under his chin bothered him. This one was very cute but was a smidge too big.

We got on his lion costume and he was adorable. I was almost the exact same age for my first Halloween and I was a lion, too. He has been able to roar a little bit lately but he seemed to freeze up and became uncooperative when we got his costume on him.

Here are a few snaps from the night.

Fun Day with Aunties

2011-11-03T18:56:00.000-04:00

At Calhoun Produce, Wyatt had fun with his Aunt Suzi and Aunt Sami on the playground. He had just woken up from a nap, thus the lack of enthusiasm.

Afterwards, we headed up to the lake to eat supper with Grandma, Pa, Aunt Amanda, Uncle Michael, Jake, Ben, & Rivers. No isn’t this the best snuggling spot ever?

P.S. I know these are almost two weeks old; I just got my camera pics uploaded to my computer!

Apple Pie Filling

2011-10-28T19:29:00.000-04:00

Sorry I don’t have pics from the process, but my sweet husband made all 13 quart jars of this apple pie filling while I was at work. This is what I came home to! It is going to be so nice to pop open a jar and make an apple pie without feeling guilty about it not being home made. We had a little bit of filling that didn’t quite make a whole jar. I poured some on top of my pancakes the other day and that was absolutely fabulous!

The Great Pumpkin Cook Off

2011-10-28T18:25:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday our favorite local produce market, Calhoun Produce, hosted it’s second annual Great Pumpkin Cook Off. Justin and I both entered and we took Wyatt out to the farm for a great time. I make mini pumpkin whoopie pies. I probably ate at least ten of these suckers myself!

{the awesome artsy pics of our desserts are from my sister Sami}

Justin made pumpkin Charlotte and it was delicious! He couldn’t find lady fingers at the local Wally World or the Piggly Wiggly so he just went and made some from scratch. My husband has skills, y’all!

There were awesome desserts and it was a good competition. Justin won first place for his entry. I hate that I didn’t snap a picture of the awesome basket he won, but it was definitely fabulous.

Applesauce

2011-10-21T18:08:00.000-04:00

Justin and I bought a bushel and a half of fresh-picked apples with intentions of making up some homemade applesauce for Wyatt {and us, too!}, apple butter, and apple pie filling. Here is the applesaucce in the food processor. There isn’t anything in there but apples and water and it is absolutely delicious! We added a bit of cinnamon to ours.

Wyatt’s are in ice cube trays ready to freeze up for perfect portion control.

Georgia Mountains Getaway, Part 4

2011-10-20T18:54:00.000-04:00

I know what you’re thinking: Four posts to recap a three day vacation?!? Well, what can I say? I take a lot of pictures.

We started the morning out bright and early at the Ellijay Apple Festival. We had a good time and even ran into some friends of ours from high school that happened to be on vacation too! Justin got a flying pig whirlygig for the yard in honor of his Flyin’ Swine Smokers cook team.

Afterwards, we headed south to the Rock Ranch to meet up with some other high school friends, Katy and Mitch and their children Sadie and Eli.

We had a good time and got to see hot air balloons and the balloon glow.

This miniature horse tried to eat Wyatt’s pants!

Mitch and Sadie Rae jumping on the giant pillow. She is so cute; smart and well-mannered too!

Wyatt and Eli are two months apart but you can’t tell when they’re side by side.

Whew! That’s all folks!

Georgia Mountains Getaway, Part 3

2011-10-19T18:43:00.000-04:00

After picking some of the best apples in the world, we decided to walk around downtown Ellijay. It is such a great little town!

After a long day of sightseeing, we traveled out to a brand new vineyard, Cartecay Vineyard, for some acoustic music and wine tasting. We had small amounts of four wines each and brought home two bottles. We joke that we don’t buy souvenirs when we travel, we buy wine.

Baby toy next to my wineglass, just keeping it real.

Georgia Mountains Getaway, Part 2

2011-10-18T18:37:00.000-04:00

On day 2 of our trip, we set out to see the apple orchards and to pick apples for the very first time in my life. Normally, the orchards don’t have you-pick operations on Fridays, but the one we found that did groups of ten or more let us tag along. Justin called two weeks ahead of time and got that arranged We were on the tour with a group of ladies {and one man!} from an assisted living facility. Mr. Marrion, the lone man on the group, turned 95 that day.

Look at these giant gourds! I had to stick my foot up there to show the scale.

Georgia Mountains Getaway, Part 1

2011-10-17T18:30:00.000-04:00

This past Thursday, we took off to visit the north Georgia mountains for a little three-day/two-night vacation.

As a side note, I have decided to whip myself into shape and run the local 5K at the Fireant Festival in March, so we stopped at the Nike Outlet to pick up some new kicks and a Nike+ iPhone transmitter. I scored the deal of the month when I realized my shoes were only $22! The transmitter was only $19, so I got the whole kit ‘n caboodle for less than $50.

We stayed at a cute little inn in Jasper, Georgia called the Woodbridge Inn. Appropriately enough, it was just over a wood bridge.

Sorry for the crappy pictures. I still haven’t managed the having-a-baby-and-getting-decent-pictures maneuver.

The Inn was nice enough, but the dinner was far from impressive. Perhaps my tastes are just not as refined as they should have been. The chef, born and raised at the Inn, was a third place finalist for The Next Food Network Star. Justin and I would consider staying there again (the price was unbeatable!) but would definitely skip the restaurant.

The Georgia National Fair

2011-10-11T20:21:00.000-04:00

Growing up, we always referred to the Georgia National Fair as the Perry Fair. I think everyone still does for the most part. Justin and I loaded up Wyatt and met Mama, Suzi and Sami at the fair on Sunday and we had a great time!

Isn’t he so cute with those red sneakers? I call them his baby Chucks.

My favorite part was in the poultry exhibit. Wyatt’s new fun thing is growling at everything. I think it’s pretty much the earliest form of talking he knows how to do. He sounded ominous and when I held the baby chick for him to look at he held it right up to his mouth after growling at it. We joked about them being baby chicken nuggets.

The baby moo cow liked Wyatt too. He spilled some of his bottle on his pants and the calf tried licking it off his pants.

One of the best things I have to say was the baby comfort station provided by a local Baptist association. They provided a tent with four changing stations and a private room for mothers to feed their babies. Let me tell you that as a breastfeeding mother, it is wonderful to have a space like that. Wyatt would have been okay with bottles all day, but it was nice not to have to haul everything back to the car to feed him after a few long hours.

Real

2011-10-07T20:10:00.000-04:00

I don’t usually post pictures of myself unless they are edited and I’m smiling just right, etc., but I accidentally snapped this picture this morning when I thought it was facing the other way taking a picture of Wyatt. I think it’s so real and indicative of what he must see everyday. I am going to try really hard to always be that smiling face he sees in the mornings.

Score!

2011-10-06T20:33:00.000-04:00

I religiously collect Huggies and Pampers points from the ten million packages of diapers we go through with Wyatt and enter them on the respective sites for their rewards programs. Wyatt tends to be a Pampers man because that’s what Justin can get at a super discount through his work, so the only Huggies points I have are from diapers we received as gifts at showers. Thinking I would never collect enough points for anything substantial with the Huggies rewards program, I redeemed the points for instant win sweepstakes for a $100 Amazon gift card.

Wonder of all wonders, the screen popped up that I was an instant winner! I got an email just a few hours later with my gift code for my Amazon credit, went shopping, and have even received confirmation that my items have shipped, all in less than 24 hours.

Of course, I can’t tell you what I bought because I might have picked up a few things for Christmas.

In other good news, the fantabulous Otter Box that Justin uses to protect his iPhone was on super-duper sale yesterday at Amazon. It was only $17 {normally $50} so I couldn’t pass it up. There’s nothing wrong with how his works now, but he did get a little paint splattered on it, so I just went ahead and ordered it.

It was a pretty fun experience. I don’t usually win anything so I don’t enter contests, but like the saying goes, “You can’t win anything if you don’t try.”

Anniversary

2011-10-05T20:59:00.000-04:00

Three years and one day ago, I married the love of my life.

He is a great man and now is a fabulous father.

We have spent the last ten and a half years together and I hope we get another seventy or eighty to enjoy.

Justin is such a sweetheart. He brought roses to my office and when I got home, Wyatt was at his grandma’s house and I found a candlelit steak dinner waiting for me complete with a lemon pie and Sirius love songs playing throughout the house. After dinner, he gave me a new Vera Bradley wallet.

While he gives great gifts, more important than any of that is the love and support I get every single day from such a great man. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better than Justin Cook!

Rehearsal for Amanda & Richard

2011-10-03T20:53:00.000-04:00

Friday, Justin and I made the trek to St. Simons Island, Georgia to celebrate with my college roommate Amanda and Richard get married.

We rehearsed the wedding ceremony and headed out to Richard’s dad’s house for an out-of-this-world low country boil. There was so much food and we had tons left over. I am sure he will be eating leftovers for the next two weeks.

Here is Amanda cutting Richard’s groom cake. They wanted to switch things up a little and not have it at the wedding reception. It was a vanilla/chocolate marble cake with buttercream icing.

Wyatt is such a ladies’ man. I don’t think I held him for more than 15 minutes that night.

More shots tomorrow of us getting ready and the actual wedding!

P.S. Isn’t this the most adorable duo you have ever seen? This was just before we got Wyatt suited up in his PJs and into his bassinet.

Wedding Recap

2011-10-03T20:44:00.000-04:00

Here are the shots I snapped from the wedding this past weekend and a few more from others thrown in. Everything was absolutely perfect and I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful bride. We had a great time and it was wonderful to be included in Amanda and Richard’s special day.

I stole the rest of these pictures from my incredibly talented sister, Sami. You can find her FB site here, and her photography blog here.

{MR. & MRS. ROLAND!!!}

Happy weekend!

2011-09-30T11:00:00.000-04:00

I am off to see this lovely lady get married to her sweetheart on St. Simons Island.

(Richard did an awesome job with the proposal)

A little back story:

Amanda and I were randomly paired up to be roommates through the Georgia Southern Housing computers. We were both honors students so we lived in a neat 2 bedroom apartment-style dorm at Georgia Southern in the fall of 2004. Miraculously, we got along fabulously, which wasn’t the case with a lot of our new friends. We met our future roommate Emily during freshmen orientation and through her, her twin sister Erica (also a future roommate).

L-R: Emily, Amanda, me

It’s so awesome that we were able to be friends and live together all four years of college. Emily joined us during sophomore year and Erica got in on the fun for our junior and senior years. Here is a pic of the four of us at graduation:

And later that year at my wedding:

I am so excited to catch up with old friends and see Amanda as a beautiful bride. She and Richard are so awesome! I’ll post pics of our weekend on Sunday!

Note to self

2011-09-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

Do not put the hot glass dish of brownies directly under the air conditioning vent.

Thankfully Justin, Wyatt, and I were in the living room and no one was hurt--except our feelings, that is. We were really anticipating those brownies.

Red hot

2011-09-28T20:48:00.000-04:00

I let my crazy husband talk me into getting my nails painted red to match my bridesmaid dress for this weekend…and I kinda love it!

I think I’m going to try to keep them up this time.

Guess Who

2011-09-26T21:29:00.000-04:00

Guess who’s feeling much much better?

He’s taking two medicines and has had Tylenol and the dreaded saline rinse/bulb suction routine going since Thursday. I am so glad to have our little man back on track!

Sick little one

2011-09-23T23:33:00.001-04:00

Poor Wyatt had such a tough time this week. I was having a really hard time getting him to eat on Tuesday night. Wednesday he was just fussy and wouldn't stop crying unless I was up walking around with him. After a few Google searches I decided that he was teething and that it was going to be a long hard while with a whole set of teeth to come in. I sent him to daycare on Thursday armed with teething rings, tablets, gel and instructions with the ladies there to call if he got too fussy. Around 10, Mrs. Linda called and said she had dealt with plenty of teething babies and what he was going through seemed much worse. My SIL Amanda brought Wyatt on to Tifton and I got him in to see the pediatrician right away. Long story short, my little one has a double ear infection. We have spent the past day and a half loading up on antibiotics, Tylenol, and ear drops. He ate a whole bottle for the first time tonight and I was almost weeping with joy when he finally breastfed for the first time in three days. That was how I knew he was really feeling better and it didn't hurt his ears to lay down to eat any more. We will see how the rest of the weekend goes but hopefully we are on the upswing. I just feel helpless when my little one is sick!

Fall Bucket List

2011-09-20T20:48:00.000-04:00

Justin and I were talking last week about having bucket lists {things we want to do before we kick the bucket} and he said he didn’t like the thought of them. It seems, to him, to be a big dissappointment if you come down to the wire and you see all the things on there you didn’t do.

Now I see it as a road map of things you don’t want to miss out on and keeps you on track. So with my glass-half-full attitude, I found this fall bucket list and will think of it as a goal list!

I’m so excited that I just want to tackle them all in one weekend, but I must contain myself!

Sumner Egg Festival Competition

2011-09-19T18:07:00.000-04:00

This week has been a flurry of activity and this weekend was no exception. Justin loaded up his smoker and an entire truckload of stuff and headed over to Sumner, GA for the Sumner Egg Festival.

This one was only his second competition. After last time, I told Justin I didn’t enjoy it and wouldn’t be sad if he decided not to do any more. To be fair, he asked me to give it one more shot since last time, he was on the disabled list. It was only two weeks after shooting his hand and I was almost eight months pregnant.

Needless to say, this time was much better. Wyatt was so good and it was neat to think the last time we had a competition Wyatt wasn’t around. I had a fabulous time! Justin did almost everything by himself this time (with a little help from his dad). He made the sauce, shopped for everything, loaded and unloaded everything in his truck and even set up his site completely on his own.

Because he did all of this own his own, I am even more proud of him and the fact that he got

6th place in pork loin,

4th place in pulled pork, and

7th place overall

out of 20 teams!

This is amazing considering this was only his second competition!

Even better than all that? I have plenty of ribs and barbecue for lunch at work this week- WIN!

Read it- NOW!

2011-09-19T12:53:00.000-04:00

I know I’m a little late to the party- heck I missed out on Harry Potter and the Twilight series until way late in the game, too.

If you haven’t read these books, be like Nike and JUST DO IT!

I heard some rave reviews from my coworkers and I broke down and started to read them on my Kindle. After the first few pages of The Hunger Games, I have to admit that I thought they had gone off the deep end thinking it was a book I’d like to read. Since our reading genres seem to mesh quite well, I decided to stick it out. I flew through all three books in less than two weeks.

If you have a Kindle or a Kindle app and would like to read the series, I can “lend” them to you. They will not disappoint!

Friday Randomness

2011-09-16T20:42:00.000-04:00

I have had a crazy week and it seems like I have the rest of my weekends already planned out through the end of October. I’ve had some fun stuff going on in our house lately and since none of them really deserve an entire blog post on their own, I figured I’d throw them all together.

Justin and I got a Sling adapter for our Dish Network DVR. I’m not sure of the whole technological process but I do know we can watch our recorded shows, set up the DVR to record, browse the guide, and even control the DVR on the television

FROM OUR PHONES!!!

How awesome is that?!?!

When Justin called to ask a few questions, the sales person must have really liked us. He waived the $99 for the sling adapter AND saved us $10 per month on our bill.

Also, my Google Reader and Twitter feeds are blowing up about the Erin Condren Life Planners. I think they’re pretty awesome, but I have become quite reliant on my phone calendar. It syncs with my work Outlook calendar and is quite handy. But the appeal of a tangible {VERY CUTE!} planner is tugging on me more and more. The only downfall is that these beauties are $50 + shipping. They are bound by hand and made here in the USA but I have a really hard time justifying the cost for something I am just not sure I will use faithfully. I have found a $25 coupon code which is making me a little more amenable to the idea, but I think I might hold out just a bit more.

If I do end up getting one, I love the Favorite Things Life Planner. I have been thinking of my words and here is what I’ve come up with so far:

firefighter, wy-man, love, southern belle, honey, sweet tea sippin’, sugah, back porch sittin’, monograms, vera, dahlin’

I’ll have to let y’all know if I end up with one. Maybe I will get Santa to wrap one up for Christmas :)

Update on my hair: I am loving the dark color and the bright red tint seems to have toned down. I’m saving this picture so I can remember to go a little more brown/less red next time.

And of course, I can’t write a blog post without a picture of my bald-headed drooling baby! He’s getting so long so we’re pretty sure he’s going to be taller like Justin. He’s blowing rasperries, rolling around like crazy and just chatters all the time {I guess that’s the one thing he gets from me}.

Have a great weekend!

GCB

2011-09-15T20:19:00.000-04:00

I’ve been checking out the new fall TV lineup and came across a hilarious new show called GCB that’s due out this fall on ABC. It’s set in Dallas and I don’t think I’ve seen more pearls and southern accents on TV in a long while. It stars Annie Potts from Designing Women and Kristin Chenoweth. It looks to be a little racy, but other than that I don’t see how it can be bad!

http://abc.go.com/shows/gcb

Happy birthday, Aunt Suzi!

2011-09-06T19:54:00.000-04:00

On Friday night, we celebrated my middle sister Suzi’s

22nd

birthday this past weekend at Fat Daddy’s in Fitzgerald. Their steaks are pretty good and the atmosphere was awesome.

Wyatt turned FOUR MONTHS OLD (!!!!) on Sunday and it just amazes me how quickly time flies. I found out one year ago from today that our family was expanding and now I have a four month old. It still blows my mind.

We wrapped up Suzi’s long birthday weekend (she says she gets a whole month, but she’s WRONG ) yesterday on her actual birthday with a great ice cream cake.

My youngest sister Sami is stuck in Savannah for a while because she works weekends, but Mama visited her for a few days. I can’t wait til she gets to come home again.

I know these updates are piecemeal. They’ll come together soon enough!

Why hello there!

2011-09-06T18:45:00.000-04:00

Look who I found shopping at my local Harvey’s grocery store last week!

(Garth Brooks!!!!!!!)

Accent Vlog

2011-09-02T18:19:00.000-04:00

It seems to be almost required material here lately do record your own version of the accent vlog. I have to admit that I don’t usually like videos on blogs too much, but I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing what everyone sounds like! There are a lot of folks that sound different than I imagined. I’m not sure why I have preconceived notions about how they should sound, but I do. Here is mine. Sorry for the crazy background. I recorded this today on my lunch break at work!

The instructions are to say these words:
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions:

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you say to address a group of people?

What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Wrapping up August

2011-09-01T21:47:00.000-04:00

Awesomesauce

2011-08-28T17:05:00.000-04:00

Have you heard of people saying something was “awesomesauce”?

Well, this stuff is really awesomesauce. Awesome sauce..haha!

Next time you’re chowing down on the world’s best chicken sandwich or {my personal fave} nuggets, mix up some honey mustard and barbeque sauce. It will rock your world. Just not today. They’re closed on Sundays

You’re welcome.

Pinteresting!

2011-08-27T15:03:00.000-04:00

Have you heard of Pinterest?

If not, check them out NOW! It is a great website where you can “pin” ideas onto as many different pinboards as you’d like. It’s similar to sitting down with your favorite magazines and clipping out recipes, gift ideas, crafts, and dream houses only way quicker and you can pin directly from your favorite blogs and websites.

Here’s a link to my Pinterest. Add me as a friend! If you need an invite, email me at

sarah {dot} mastrario {dot} cook {at} gmail {dot} com.

Much needed update

2011-08-26T17:55:00.000-04:00

Goodgoogamooga! It has been more than two weeks since my last blog post! This one is a whole lotta randomness crammed into one blog. I am keeping up on Wyatt’s baby blog quite well though.

So here’s what’s been going on:

I dyed my hair. Verdict? I like it. It beats paying a whole bunch of $ and taking two hours of my prescious time from Wyatt.

My sister Sami took some baby photos of my friend Tania’s little boy, Rian, and Wyatt got in on a few shots. Can you believe Wyatt is 6 weeks older than Rian?

I am adapting quite well to being back at work. I am greeted by the biggest smile that just melts me into a puddle when I pick Wyatt up from daycare. I cannot imagine a better place for him to be {besides home with me, of course!}.

When we get home in the afternoon, we have the best quality time together as a family. On days when Justin is at the fire department, we meander through the neighborhood on long, slow walks.

Wyatt is growing up so fast! He is really good in his Bumbo seat and he’s slowly getting the hang of his jolly jumper.

He’s discovered himself in the mirror too. I don’t think he realizes it’s actually him, but he sure chatters a ton with the baby in front of him. He’s a social little thing!

Here are some of my favorite shots of him from the past month:

Justin went to the Fire Fighter Convention in Atlanta today and got to see this awesome pink fire truck. How awesome: firefighters advocating for breast cancer awareness, my personal philanthropy of choice! To find out more about Pink Heals, check out their website.

Have a great weekend!

Kiddo Tags

2011-08-11T18:03:00.000-04:00

I ordered these adorable stickers for Wyatt’s bottles, {future} sippy cups, medicine, pacifiers, etc. from Kiddo Tags and they are pretty awesome. They are waterproof and are semi-permanent. The packaging gives a warning that they are not made to be dishwasher safe and will fade over time, but I think I might take my chances when it comes to washing a hundred sippy cups one day.

I have signed up to be an affiliate, so I get compensated if you purchase them from my link, but they really are great. I would definitely recommend them even if I wasn’t being compensated (I promise!).

I am going to place another order soon for their shoe dots and iron-on labels. These will be great for receiving blankets and sheets for Wyatt’s daycare.

For anyone who is interested, use the coupon code “REFERRAL” when you check out for an extra 20% off too!

Three months old!

2011-08-04T19:51:00.000-04:00

Whoo-hoo! You are three months old now. You have grown so much and are doing such fun things. You smile and laugh and coo all the time. Your little personality is developing more and more every day. Since you don’t have another checkup until you turn 4 months old, we can best guess that you weigh around 13 pounds.

You are such a good baby and the ladies at Doodlebugs tell me you are so pleasant all day long. Here’s a peek at what you looked like two months ago.

In case anyone ever tells you any different, rest assured that you look just like your daddy. There isn’t much about you that resembles Mama for sure! Even when you wake up in the morning, you have the exact same expression that your daddy makes.

Family Fun

2011-07-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

We had a fun gathering with Mrs. Desiree’s side of the family this past weekend. Justin was working at CCEMS, but Wyatt and I tagged along with “Grandma and Pa.” We ate tons of great food and played a few games and the older kids played in the pool the whole day. Here are a few snaps of the action:

I told Mrs. Desiree we have so few pictures of her and Wyatt. I stalked her like the paparazzi that day. It was even better because they both had that awesome green on!

As you can tell, there has been quite a baby boom in the past year. Here are the four newest additions (L-R): Ava {January 7}, Kason {April 8}, Wyatt {May 4}, and Jasper {May 15}. There are a few others that were born several months before, as well as a new little one making his or her debut in March.

Beach Fun

2011-07-13T19:04:00.000-04:00

My parents have a two-bedroom condo in Ormond Beach and invited Justin, Wyatt and I to stay with them the week of the 4th of July. We had a blast and can’t wait until Wyatt is really old enough to enjoy all of the sand, sun and fun!

Wyatt got the best view in the house! He got to swing contently while overlooking the beach.

Justin, Daddy and I took an airboat ride and saw tons of alligators on the St. Johns River.

Mimi and Pop (my mama and daddy) doted on Wyatt for a few hours while Justin and I went on our first date post-baby. It was a disaster. We ended up waiting an hour for warm {should have been cold and raw} oysters and still-raw {should have been fried to perfection} hush puppies. That was just the appetizer! Needless to say, we left with no dinner but we were able to spend some much-needed quality time together.

I loved taking Wyatt out on the beach to watch the sunset in the morning. He wanted to be up at 6:00 but everyone else wanted to sleep in. It gave us a great time to bond.

Our little water baby was so tired that he often spent a good deal of time snoozing away in his little beach cabana. He will be like a little fish this time next year!

Photo Card

2011-07-13T10:30:00.001-04:00

Storytime Blue Baby Announcements

Customize your own unique baby announcements with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Two Months Old and the Fourth of July!

2011-07-12T22:55:00.000-04:00

Wyatt is now two months old and happened to be celebrating on his very first Independence Day! We got our first family pictures taken on the beach.

See how much he’s have grown in two months:

More beach updates to come!

Living room update

2011-06-23T23:43:00.001-04:00

The living room was the last remaining room in our house that we hadn’t done something with. Justin and I found some time after Wyatt was born to go check out carpet and new furniture. It was so cool buying brand new furniture! The hand-me-downs we have so (THANKFULLY) had were well-loved and were just about past their prime.

When we pulled the old carpet up, we had a feeling we would find hardwood floors like what is in the rest of the house but we were completely shocked when we found this:

We were pretty sure it wasn’t mold, but to be extra sure, Justin and I decided to go over it with a bleach solution. We figured the floors were already damaged beyond repair so we couldn’t hurt them any further. With a LOT of elbow grease, we found these lovelies underneath:

(Yes—we ruined three mops, a broom, my bathroom rug and my less-than-a-week-old pedicure.)

With a little more TLC, this lovely floor could match the rest of the house, but we thought the paneling and the floor would be too much. I did snap some pictures to show perspective buyers what lies beneath our lovely new carpet should they prefer hard wood.

When the Lowe*s carpet installers arrived, the told Justin that the black smut we scrubbed up was the remnant of glue from sticky-backed carpet the previous owners must have had before they installed the most recent carpet. PHEW! Even though we had cleaned up the rest, it was a good feeling to KNOW it wasn’t mold.

Here is what it looks like now. I lllooooovvvee my chair-and-a-half! It is really great for nursing Wyatt and napping.

Seven Weeks!

2011-06-22T08:44:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe Wyatt is seven weeks old today! He has grown so much and is changing every single day. I am TOTALLY one of those loony birds that ooohhhss and aaaahhhs over every move my child makes. He just amazes me.

Wyatt has started to discover his own voice and realizes that he can make the sounds come out on command so he will sit and smile and chatter with me for 45 minutes at a time. I am so very glad I got to take a few extra weeks of leave and enjoy this time with him. I was dangerously close to telling Justin I want to be a SAHM, but I love my job and we have become accustomed (and obligated financially) to being a two-income family. I will just soak up every single minute of quality time I have with him now and just have faith that the awesome daycare he will attend is going to love on him too.

Here is a little baby cuteness for you to enjoy:

His first Father’s Day:

I snapped this one last night. It just melts my heart because they were just hanging out together while Justin was watching an old John Wayne movie. I just love how great a dad Justin is!

Wyatt’s birth

2011-06-06T10:12:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe it’s taken over a month to sit down and write about the day our sweet boy made his debut! I really though with all of the super-mama-bloggers that get this stuff cranked out that it would be a piece of cake. I have made the transition to motherhood and I am slowly but surely adapting to the million changes in my life.

After discussing with my doctor that a c-section was necessary, we set the date for May 4, 2011.

The night before, Justin and I went out to eat with his mama and daddy, sister and brother-in-law and our niece and nephews as a “last hurrah” before Wyatt and to celebrate my 25th birthday (which was the Friday after he was born).

The following morning (Wednesday, May 4) Justin and I got up bright and early and snapped our final picture together as non-parents and made our way to Tifton to check in to the hospital.

After answering a million questions with the OB nurses and getting hooked up to the monitor, I was able to rest a bit because my surgery was the last scheduled one of the day and wasn’t until noon at least. Our parents and siblings visited with us and headed down to get lunch with the promise that it would be a while longer before I was rolled back to the operating room. Soon after they left, the nurse came in and told me it was time. I had a mini-freakout because I wanted to see my mama and daddy before they took me back but I dealt with it. They let me walk into the OR. My sister snapped this lovely shot of me:

Justin had to wait outside and scrub up while the anesthesist administered my spinal block, which was the craziest sensation I have ever experienced.

Soon after, Dr. Brickman began the surgery. I was so emotional and weepy that my glasses kept slipping down my face. I was getting so frustrated that I couldn’t see Justin, who was by my side with the camera snapping away.

At 1:05 p.m. our lives changed forever as Wyatt Scottie Cook entered our lives with the most beautiful, quiet cry I have ever heard. He weighed 7 lbs., 11.9 oz. and was 20 1/2” long.

Justin did a great job telling me everything that was going on, all-the-while snapping pictures.

(My very first glimpse of my sweet baby boy!)

The nurses let him carry him out to the massive crowd of our family and they weighed him while my doctor closed up my incision.

There were no less than five cameras, a video camera, and countless cell phone cameras trained on our little one to fully document every single moment of his big day!

Justin and I were able to spend a few quite minutes together for the first time as a family in the recovery room. Let me tell you-that was pure bliss! If I could bottle up that feeling and sell it, I could cure world hunger with all the money I’d have!

We had a steady stream of family and friends visiting and spending time with Wyatt. He is such a wonderful baby and the whole experience was just wonderful! Justin was (and still is!) the best dad; he changed every diaper for the first two days and brought Wyatt to me when he was hungry or if I just wanted to hold him.

Here he is ready to go home from the hospital. They released us on May 6—my 25th birthday!

And that is the story of our favorite little man’s birth!

One Month Update

2011-06-06T09:44:00.001-04:00

I haven’t spent near enough time updating this blog about Wyatt! I have pictures from almost every single day of his life, so I hope they can tell the story much better than I have.

On Thursday, June 2, Wyatt went in for his one-month checkup and all signs indicate that he is healthy and growing as expected. Although he seems as if he has grown tremendously over the past month and is a big baby, he comes in at the 30-40 percentile marks in height, weight and head circumference.

One Month Weight: 8 lbs., 14 oz.

(Over a 1 lb. gain from his birth weight!)

One Month Length: 21 1/4 inches

My nephew Jake pointed out that he’s almost 2 feet “tall,” which throws my brain into a tailspin! I’m only 5’2” so he’ll be half my height in a few short months.

Here are a few pictures of him at one month:

One month!

2011-06-04T12:06:00.001-04:00

A tiny update

2011-05-17T11:19:00.001-04:00

I am sloooowwwlllyyy getting the hang of being a mama and I am able to now do a little catching up during naps. Wyatt is such a great baby and is working out a nice little schedule that lets me get at least six hours of clustered sleep at night and my body is adapting to not getting it all in one shot. Here are a few pics from the last update. I have big plans to sit down later this week and write out the story of his birthday.

These were all on my very first Mother’s Day. He had only been home from the hospital for 2 days!

His first sponge bath was an experience. Even though he’s crying in this picture, he really seemed to like it and enjoys bath time for the most part.

Wyatt loves to hang out with his hands in the air.

Aunt Suzi got to see him for the first time since the weekend after he was born because she works 2 1/2 hours away during the week as a nanny.

We got to take our first of millions of trips to the fire department to see Daddy. I can’t wait until he’s big enough to really enjoy seeing the fire trucks and climb up in that engine to let the siren rip!

More later…Mama’s gotta eat!

Baby, Baby, Baby…oooohhh!

2011-05-07T21:51:00.001-04:00

Stupid Justin Bieber…my SIL downloaded that ringtone for the big day. I’ve been pretty much MIA online lately, but I have a GREAT reason:

Isn’t he just adorable?!? Of course, I’m a little biased, but Justin and I think our new little one is just perfect. I’m sure I’ll have more time (or not!) to update later…just wanted to post a few of the great pics we have snapped of our first four days of parenthood.

A Quick Bathroom Update

2011-05-02T17:36:00.000-04:00

My SIL suggested that with Wyatt coming pretty soon, we might want to trade out our glass shower doors for a shower curtain. That way I wouldn’t have to lean over metal tracks and I can have easier access to him in the tub.

Yesterday, Justin and I stopped at Wally World and picked up a white waffle weave curtain and liner and decided to try it out. We liked what we saw and decided to go ahead and commit.

We pulled out the crusty, never-clean, gross tracks and scraped and cleaned the grout for a good thirty minutes. Here is the finished result. I like the crispness of the white. Next on my list: new crisp white rugs to replace our discolored mismatching ones!

Here is a quick timeline. The first picture is before we moved in. The second is after a quick bathroom revamp about two and half years ago and the third is from this weekend. Baby steps are just the trick in our house!

If I had thought about having side-by-side comparisons, I would have made sure the pics were lined up. The green tinge in the last picture is from our newly repainted hallway that you can see better from this view.

May the 4th

2011-04-29T17:30:00.000-04:00

May the 4th is the big day: Wyatt is going to be born on May 4th by c-section unless he decides to try to come earlier. My doctor said those chances are slim to none and the she was highly doubtful that even if he tries to come naturally that I will be able to have a natural/non c-section birth.

I have come to terms with this. I just want a happy, healthy baby boy. He’s my main focus right now!

The realization that this is my last full weekend pre-babies is pretty crazy!!! Justin and I are going to spend some QT hopefully just relaxing.

Birthday and Easter Fun

2011-04-26T17:45:00.000-04:00

Because I am pretty lame, I had to steal all but one of these pics from my sister Sami’s blog. She is the photography guru, so why invent the wheel?

Jake, Ben, and Rivers were dressed to the nines for Easter on Sunday, but I only managed to snap a quick pic of Ben before they ran and changed into more play-friendly clothes.

How cute is that bowtie?!?!

In addition to Easter festivities, my family celebrated my birthday a few weeks early due to Wyatt’s impending arrival (chronicled here on the baby blog). We had an awesome coconut cake (which is my favorite!) topped with neon coconut.

And since I’m roughly the size of a house, my sisters and my mama and I got a few maternity pics squeezed in for good measure.

What a weekend! I’m so thankful for great family!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T07:55:00.000-04:00

Hope you celebrate what a great day today is with those you love.

And while Jesus is the real reason for Easter, hope you get lots of fun goodies too!

So Good!

2011-04-22T17:50:00.000-04:00

While shopping for Justin’s Easter goodies, I came across this curiosity.

The new Coconut M & M’s didn’t disappoint (especially straight out of the freezer) and I couldn’t think of one single reason it would be bad. It has caramel, chocolate, cookies and COCONUT!

My verdict: It’s a Girl Scout Samoa Cookie with finer (and less) coconut in a limited size pack…the best of both worlds because I never stop at just one Samoa.

I found mine in my local Dollar Tree, but from searching for pics to share, I gather they are rolling out in convenience stores everywhere in time for Easter so you should be able to get your hands on some pretty easily. Oh, and drop some by my house if you do!

Cool Coolers

2011-04-15T17:55:00.000-04:00

I wasn’t in a sorority in college, but I came across the newest rage in formal date night gifts the girls make for their dates and I am truly captivated.

Justin might kill me if I decorate all of his hunting coolers, but I might have to try this out on a small cooler since I’m not the best artist of all.

Ones like these are way out of my league, but the dedication and talent amaze me!

These would be great for tailgating and cheering for your favorite team, or just to have at the beach.

I got all of these pictures from The Cooler Connection on Facebook. Just a warning-most of the designs are for guys, but I managed to find plenty that are great for girls, too!

I think I would like to do a simpler one like this with “COOK” in the background and “Justin and Sarah” in the smaller, cursive letters.

I’ll post an update if I ever get around to making one of these.

Faux Stained Glass

2011-04-13T17:50:00.000-04:00

I snapped this picture on my phone at the restaurant where my baby shower was hosted last Friday. I think this faux stained glass paper is pretty awesome. It appears to be made of a vellum material to let the sun through.

(Note to self: match patterns up a little better!)

I found colored versions online here. It seems like an inexpensive way to add a pop of non-permanent color to my dull little bathroom.

An economic dilemma

2011-04-13T17:42:00.000-04:00

Here’s a non-typical blog post from me today. Sorry to bore y’all. This is the economics major coming out in me. Please feel free to skip this article and return to the care-free blog posts that I am sure will resume shortly.

Currently, Georgia legislature has been debating Sunday alcohol sales. The House recently passed a bill to allow individual counties to vote on whether Sunday sales shall be deemed legal or not. I am from a dry, dry county that doesn’t allow liquor sales at all, so I don’t see this happening for us any time soon, but there are other counties that can reap great economic benefits in my opinion. Lots of people in Georgia tend to make this a moral or religious issue, but I tend to look at the “dollars and cents” impacts.

(Not necessarily going to happen.)

I know very well that living in a dry county doesn’t mean that I am surrounded by teetotalers—folks just drive to the next county over to get their liquor. They also just stock up on beer on Saturday to have their Sunday beer needs fulfilled. Morally or religiously, it doesn’t impact me. So there you go.

(Typical Saturday grocery store cart)

I’m about to blow someone’s mind here. This was from my senior economics project that I entered into a national economics competition and won third place with. I have drilled down my entire semester’s worth of work into one paragraph.

Based on empirical research, there is a significant increase in the number of restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages based on availability of Sunday sales. On average, 90.91% of the states that allow Sunday sales have more than half of restaurants that also serve alcoholic beverages. This is a substantial increase from the 60% in states that do not permit Sunday alcohol sales. On average, a one percentage point increase in the percent of restaurants that sell alcohol as well as food increases alcohol sales by $1,341,802.68, nation-wide, all else equal. This by far has the greatest effect on alcohol sales of any of the variables tested.

Basically? If Georgia’s Sunday alcohol sales contribute to a 1% increase in just restaurants selling alcohol (not accounting for liquor stores and grocery stores because I argued that regular imbibers just make their purchases the day before), alcohol sales will increase by roughly $1.3 million. That’s a lot of taxes pouring back into the State of Georgia. Pretty impressive to me.

It’s the little things…

2011-04-11T17:39:00.000-04:00

…that make me realize how awesome my husband is.

Even though it’s only been a month since he shot his hand, my husband was able to take this old water pump we bought at a flea market in Tallahassee last summer and turn it into a faucet for our porch. This makes watering flowers so much easier than walking around to the side of the house and filling up my watering can every day!

(I think I need a new watering can…someone stepped on mine!)

After all that hard work, he sat down and studied for his hazmat class—which he later found out was cancelled.

I love him!

Rock my world

2011-04-04T20:38:00.000-04:00

Brad Paisley pretty much rocks my world and I can’t wait until each and every new album is released. He mixes great country music with some great humor and never disappoints. My new favorite tune is from his new album, This Is Country Music and is called “Old Alabama.” The album is coming out May 24, but you can preorder it now.

How could you possibly go wrong with Brad Paisley and Alabama?

They guys rocked it out last night on the ACM Awards. To have one of the most awesome bands in country music singing backup for Brad must have put him on Cloud 9!

Update on Justin

2011-04-04T18:33:00.000-04:00

Justin and I went back to the hand surgeon on Friday for a follow-up appointment and we were able to see his hand out of the cast for the first time since his surgery two weeks ago.

Dr. Floyd did an awesome job and once the scar is healed, you will hardly be able to tell there ever was a finger there. I am so proud of the results. Justin said he was just glad to be able to move his wrist for the first time after three weeks (it has been splinted since the accident).

I am sorry for the poor quality pics here. They’re from my phone. The one picture makes Justin’s fingers look huge, but it was just the way he was holding his hand and the angle I took the picture from.

I am so glad he is healing well. It seems like the terrible black cloud that has been hanging over our heads is starting to roll out-FINALLY!

My favorite furry one

2011-04-03T09:28:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I lost my favorite furbaby to a dog attack. He was mine from the day we rescued him from the in-ground pool from a certain drowning. He would have been five in a few months. I’m gonna miss that little furball.

Coming attractions

2011-03-31T17:52:00.000-04:00

I know that my life is going to change dramatically in the next month or so with Wyatt making his grand debut, but this year’s coming attractions are soooo tempting. More than likely, I will have to wait for most of these to come out on DVD because the reality of having baby-free time in a dark theater will more than likely equal nap time rather than movie time for me.

Here are a few of the movies coming out that I can’t wait to see. No matter what, I will be seeing the final Harry Potter film in theaters and also the latest Twilight movie!

4-15-11

Rio is one I won’t mind catching on DVD. It seems like a cute family movie that I might buy when it comes out for when Wyatt is a little older. My parents had a massive Disney video collection for my sisters and me, so I might want to get a jump start on a good collection for him and his future siblings.

4-22-11

This movie is based on what is quite possibly the best book I have read in years. I will definitely risk going into labor during the show to see this one in theaters. I just don’t want to wait for it to come out on DVD!

4-22-11 & 5-26-11

I love each and every one of the Madea movies and Justin’s favorite movie lately is The Hangover so I know these two are on the must-rent list for one of the rare baby-free nights we get when Wyatt is at one of his grandparents’ houses.

6-24-11

Wyatt’s Aunt Suzi loves Cars, so I am sure this will be in our video collection for when he’s old enough to watch it!

7-15-11

My sister Sami and I will be first in line to see this final epic movie of the Harry Potter series. The last movie was mediocre in my opinion, but I really hope this one wraps up the saga with as much fanfare as it truly deserves.

8-12-11

I read this book in less than two nights. I was such a great story and I can’t wait to see how it turns out as a movie. I loved Emma Stone in Zombieland and Easy A, so I am sure she will do the main character justice. I guess I’ll be waiting for my favorite Movie Shack to get this one in stock on DVD too!

11-18-11

By far, I think this will be my favorite movie from the Twilight series. The first half of the last book was the most intriguing and captivating and I hope the movie does well with it. I will be seeing this one in theaters with my sister Sami, too!

Fire Ant Fun

2011-03-29T17:48:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was my hometown’s annual Fire Ant Festival. It is such a blast, but this year was particularly hectic.

Justin has developed an interest in cooking some pretty awesome barbecue and when he found out there was going to be a BBQ competition, he was the first person to sign up.

We had a good time and thankfully he had his brother-in law Michael and his friend Matt to help with the hands-on stuff he couldn’t do with his cast.

The only win the guys got was for third place in the sauce category, but there was some pretty experienced competition. We heard from one of the judges that their entry was pretty awesome considering this was their first competition. Although I’m a little biased, I like to think it was out of this world. I hurt myself eating pulled pork and baby back ribs.

I snapped a few quick shots of the Friday night fireworks show and the strawberry cookoff, but I was a major slacker in the picture department this time! You can check out some drool-worthy shots on my my sister Sami’s FB photo page here.