Transitioning

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

...from baby crib to "Big Girl" bed, that's what Ella has been doing over the last week. She just randomly decided last wednesday, May 19th (our 9th wedding anniversary), that she wanted to sleep in the toddler bed that has been in her room since before she was born. We bought the bed when Halle was just 22 mos old when we were trying to transition her out of the crib before Ella's upcoming arrival. Halle slept in it immediately and never looked back. Fast forward 2.5 years and our "baby" is now making the same transition. She just turned 2 last month and I can't believe it's already time. It's a bittersweet moment for me...happy to see her growing and thriving, sad to see her leaving behind a little bit more of the baby in her. (I want to add that I am perfectly ok with her staying in the crib longer but she decided on her own that it was time)

Bedtime and naptime over the last week has been an up & down ride. She has always been an easy baby to put to bed but the transition has created a bit of a battle...most times she has cried at the very mention of the words bedtime or naptime. Sometimes she slept in the "big girl" bed while other times she went back to the crib. We never knew what to expect. However the last 2 days/nights have been easy as pie. She goes right to her bed, climbs in, and begins pulling her blankets around her. In fact I had to stop while writing this b/c my husband couldn't find her...turns out he had mentioned that it was bed-time and she had already climbed in her bed in the dark and was patiently waiting on us to tuck her in! How sweet! If that doesn't say "big girl" I don't know what does.

Here she is with her bedtime entourage which includes 4 lovies, 3 blankets, "baby", puppy, purse w/ cell phone, sunglasses, and bracelets, and her Sleep Sheep set to rain mode. Of course she'll add other necessities at any given time but these are the "must-haves" for "nite nite." Yeah, she's a little high maintenance.



And of course, what bed-time is complete without some snuggle time with daddy (and mommy too). There has been a lot of this going on this week to help make the transition easier....for all of us!

CSN Stores Review

Tuesday, May 25, 2010


I was given the opportunity to review CSN Stores once again. I love this place! You can find everything imaginable at any of their 200+ stores. It's especially great for their large selection of cheap baby cribs. You may remember that I reviewed a product last year called the Sleep Sheep. I still use it every single night when I tuck Ella in for bed. It has been especially helpful now that she is transitioning into her "big girl" bed. This go-around I opted to review something entirely different. I ordered the Emerilware Hard-Anodized 8" & 12" Nonstick Frying Pans and let me just say "I LOVE them!!" Bye-bye cheapo Walmart pans from 9 yrs ago! These pans are solid. I love the heavy weight of them and the fact that they heat up quickly and evenly. The handle stays completely cool during cooking and clean-up is a breeze. Just a little warm soapy water and everything wipes right off...gotta love non-stick!!

The ordering process with CSN Stores could not have been easier. The check-out process was a snap and I LOVE the fact that you have the option to pay securely with PayPal! The best part?...I ordered my pans on a Monday and they were on my doorstep on Thursday!!! That's just 3 days from the time I hit "submit order" to the time FED-Ex was at my door! And that was just regular shipping...How awesome!! I highly recommend shopping with CSN stores!!

Check out this garlic butter shrimp that I served over linguine. Yummo! These pans are also great for making grilled cheese which is my current lunchtime obessession! Mmmmm!




A CSN Stores giftcard was provided to me free of charge compliments of CSN Stores. All opinions and thoughts expressed within this review are my own and are in no way influenced by anyone.

I miss my refrigerator...

Sunday, May 23, 2010

I never really noticed how much I loved it until it stopped working yesterday. I was cleaning up from dinner, homemade pizza, when I opened the freezer to find that everything was turning to mush. "uh-oh!" Long story short, we ran 3 coolers of frozen food to a friends house at 10pm last night and then had to remove all of our refrigerator foods and place those in coolers as well. This morning we ran those over to a neighbors house and took over every last inch of space they had in their fridge. So now we have a completely useless 6.5 yr old Kenmore Elite refrigerator. It seems no one works on weekends anymore as we have been unable to find a repairman to come and take a look. Sears told us they could have someone over on the 29th!!! Whatever! So we are living out of this...


The only thing that's in it is some apple juice, capri suns, and a few ziploc bags of thawed pizzas that I baked late last night so we wouldn't lose them entirely. At least now we can reheat them in the microwave and serve them as leftovers. Blech!



This is the offending fridge (and no my house doesn't always look so cluttered...oh wait, yes it does!...and yes the fridge is pulled out it doesn't always stick out like that). It is still running and the lights are all on but it no longer cools AT ALL. If any of you know what might be going on feel free to leave a comment. Maybe you have a fridge repair man for a husband...feel free to ask him about it. In the meantime we'll be living on lots of bread, popcorn, and cereal...without milk of course. The moral of this story...appreciate your fridge. Go give it a big hug and let it know how much it means to you b/c tomorrow it might just quit. Happy Sunday!

Strawberry Fields

Saturday, May 22, 2010

With rain threatening to start any second last night we decided to head out to a local strawberry field to try and stock up before the season ends. We've have quite few overcast, rainy days here over the last week which tends to hurt the strawberry season. I'm so glad we decided to go when we did b/c there were tons of ripe red berries ready to be plucked! The rain held off and we enjoyed the evening as a family picking berries and filling our buckets. I took my camera along (of course) to get a few photos. I especially love this first one b/c that white house you see in the background was the house my family and I lived in for several years when we first moved to NC from CA in the early nineties. Back then however, these were not strawberry fields, they were tobacco fields. I remember watching the tobacco farmers working every morning while I waited for my school bus. How great would it have been to have been able to run out and pick strawberries in the afternoons! I'm happy that I now live back in this small town and I am just a short drive away. What great memories to make with my children!





PS. Thanks to all of you who helped me out with my blog issue and took the time to leave a comment. I was able to get in touch with the blog designer who helped me fix the problem. Your comments helped me explain the problem to her! Thanks guys...you are awesome! Have a great weekend!!

Reader Help Please

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Hey there peeps! I'm having a blog issue and can't seem to figure out what is going on so I'm gonna ask you. Do any of you see a black or blue outline around my blog header up top? I noticed this strange phenomenon several months back but got used to it and decided today that it is really aggravating me. There should not be any border lines around my header or any of the images on my blog. On my screen I am seeing a black border (or blue if I open it in internet explorer) around the title box of my header as well as around the "pathological picture taker" and "follow me" images. Do you see them? This happened out of the blue and I went on a blogger forum to find help but was not successful. Some people are saying they don't see anything...that is good. For some reason I always have them. I'm not very HTML savvy so I can't seem to figure out what might have changed. Can you do me a huge favor and leave a comment telling me if everything looks normal or if you see the blue or black borders? They aren't affecting the body of the blog, just the header and all of my links at the bottom. Please also tell whether your are viewing in explorer, firefox, safari, etc. Maybe it's just my computer. Any suggestions appreciated as well! Thanks friends!! Muah!

Skye's Workshop Workbook

Tuesday, May 18, 2010


I am a huge fan of Skye Hardwick's photography work! She has a wonderful eye for composition and the coloring in her images is just gorgeous. She teaches her tips and tricks to running a successful photography business in her Workshop wWorkbook which I am hoping to win! If you are a photographer you will definitely want to check it out!

i ♥ faces: Faces & Flowers

Monday, May 17, 2010

This week at i ♥ faces the theme is "faces & flowers." All entries most have both a face and a flower in it and I knew the perfect photograph to enter. I took this during one of the many photo sessions I've done with Ella. This particular session did not go well and this was actually the only photo I was pleased with. I love it though! I hope you'll take a moment to check out all the other great entries or to enter one of your own!


MOPS Walk 2010

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Yesterday we (minus Hayden) took part in the 2nd annual MOPS Walk for the MOPS group that I have been a member of since 2006. It was a beautiful HOT day and we had a great turnout. This is the 2nd year our MOPS group has held this walk in order to raise funds to support our group and provide membership scholarships for moms who need financial assistance. For those of you who are not familiar with MOPS it stands for Mothers of Pre-Schoolers and it is a great international organization that provides emotional and spiritual support and encouragement for moms! Our group meets every 1st and 3rd tuesday of the month and we share a delicious breakfast, have wonderful speakers on topics that are relevant to motherhood, marriage, and living for Jesus, and we also have craft time and plenty of chit chat! I LOVE my group! For more info about MOPS or to find a group in your area click here. There are even groups for teen moms and military moms!

Here are a few snapshots from our fun-filled afternoon! The kids took part in a scavenger hunt during the walk and then we enjoyed lunch, compliments of Chick-fil-a, prizes, and playtime! It was a fun and successful afternoon!






Little Luke: a photo session

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Yesterday evening I got to play with Luke again! I took Luke's newborn photos last year and I cannot believe he's already about to turn one!! Wow, time flies! He was a lot of fun to photograph though he never took his eyes off of daddy! He followed him EVERYWHERE!! So cute! Thanks D&S for letting me photograph your sweet little boy once again! I hope you love your photos!





3 Reasons I LOVE Being a Mother

Sunday, May 9, 2010


I hope all of you moms spent the day counting your blessings and enjoying your day! There really is nothing more rewarding than motherhood! Happy Mother's Day to all my wonderful friends!!

Heading Home

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Well, here it is, the end of our vacation. It's the day everyone dreads the moment they first plan their fabulous trip. But it is inevitable. This morning we are packing things up and loading the cars. We don't have to check out until 10am so we are taking our time and savoring every last minute in this beautiful home. It has been a wonderful trip. It wasn't filled with lots of crazy excursions and adventures but instead we simply enjoyed a week nestled in this house enjoying the beach and each others company. We took turns cooking nearly every night and enjoyed delicious home-cooked comfort food! During this trip I started my sea glass collection and am now hooked on collecting these beautiful bits of sea tumbled glass. In fact early this morning I went out one last time and found my favorite piece. A beautiful aqua colored triangle shaped piece with perfectly rounded corners and a gorgeous frosted surface! Perfect for a necklace pendant. I wonder what it used to be a part of. I wonder how long it's been in the sea being tumbled and sculpted into the beautiful piece it is now. You know, if you think about it, sea glass is a lot like us as people. We are imperfect and flawed. Yet if we give ourselves over to God and allow Him to mold us and work in us He will bring out the beauty that he intended when He created us. Something to think about.
Well, I guess I need to sign out and pack up this computer. Pray for safe travel for us as we head back home. It was so nice to get away and relax. Have a restful weekend everyone!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

We have been enjoying our time in the Outer Banks! Whether we are hanging out on the beach, lounging by the heated pool and hot tub, cooking meals together, hunting for sea glass, or just doing nothing. It's been nice to get away. I honestly haven't taken as many photos as I expected. Just a few snapshots here and there.

Loving this pink sky just after sunset!


Ella being a "big girl" feeding her cousin! She's a natural!

Please Pray

Monday, May 3, 2010

We arrived on vacation on saturday afternoon only to receive a call an hour later informing us that our dear friends lost their unborn baby boy at 30 weeks gestation. His name was Jordan and we were all anxious to meet him in just 10 short weeks. God must have needed another angel in heaven b/c he was taken without warning on Saturday morning while still in his mother's womb. I can't even begin to imagine the pain that my friend is going through. I am thankful that she believes in a risen Savior who loves her more than I ever could and that she is trusting in Him to guide her though this darkest of hours. I wish I could be there with her to love and pray with her but I am praying for her here and loving on her the best way I know how. Please take a moment and visit and her blog and leave her some encouraging words. Please lift her and her family up to the Lord in prayer.

Fun in the Sun, Nags Head Outer Banks

Sunday, May 2, 2010

This is our home away from home for the next week! We are loving it here! So far the weather has been beautiful! We arrived yesterday afternoon and today was our first official day on the beach. The water was still pretty cold but that didn't keep the kids from diving right in! Just wanted to share a few fun and silly photos! Happy Sunday!






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