Luke's first SLIDE!

We took Luke to the park down by the riverfront on Saturday afternoon. It was the first pretty day that we have had in such a long time. I think everyone has had cabin fever because there were like 500 kids running around (not really but close). When we got there, I saw the massive amounts of people and I decided we should just turn around and leave and find another park. Luke surprised me and had a great time playing on ALL of the slides. He even did the "BIG SLIDE" and LOVED it.

Valentine's Day

well... Happy Valentine's day! We ended up at the emergency after-hours clinic with another ear infection tonight. Not the most romantic way to spend the holiday... but I am so thankful for my sweet boy. It has been nothing short of nuts lately. We have been without a dryer since Saturday and it is finally fixed (thanks to my sweet Father in law and husband). Tomorrow I will tackle the laundry.... tonight.... I sleep... I hope.... you never know with a sick baby!

MLK jr day!

Hello.... Is this thing on?
For the last month or so, Luke has been using EVERYTHING for a telephone (refer to above picture, he even uses my UGGS). It is so funny. Once he finds a "telephone" he goes off and has little conversations with the person on the other end. He even tries to run into his playroom for some privacy! It is so very funny to see what he comes up with each day.

Today we had a rare treat to spend time together as a family on a weekday! Unfortunately, Luke was sick with a fever all night. At 5am, we woke up and took some more generic tylenol and grabbed some milk in a sippy cup and I turned on the TV and watched "Pingu" (a British clay-mation show that Luke has loved for a very long time... we can only find it on NetFlix in case anyone wants to check it out). Finally around 7ish the boys got up and went into the living room and THEY FELL ASLEEP! I knew it was quiet, but I would have never guessed that those two were snuggled up on the couch!
Luke's fever did finally give us the first part of the day to go and eat lunch. We had planned on Chick-Fil-A, and instead of going in and letting Luke play in the playground for the first time, we went through the drive thru and we grabbed some cupcakes for dessert. Of course, we brought a few extras home! After we came home, we played for a little bit and then Luke and I went and took a very long nap. Josh had time to play PS3. After we got up, I tried a new recipe for dinner and we are watching The Bachelor while Luke plays here in the living room. We have had an awesome day and I am so very thankful for my boys!

my baby is one!!!

Luke turned ONE at the beginning of Sept! I am really behind on this blog! I wanted to share a few of the highlights from his very first party!!!

Tea for Two!

Last Friday, Luke had his VERY FIRST PLAYDATE!!! It was so much fun to watch him interact with Ms. Emma (isn't she so cute?!) The mommies had some much needed conversation and a yummy lunch with a Great dessert and the babies played. Here is a sweet picture of Luke showing Emma that the balls go in the busy ball machine! She wanted to hold onto the two that she had found and Luke couldn't stand it... he kept taking them from her and we kept secretly making sure that Emma had 2 to play with. Emma brought over her Dora doll (which LUKE loved) and she taught Luke to say Dada (finally), and Uh-oh. We are hoping that this is the beginning of many sweet afternoons for these two!

Why Didn't You Tell Me Wednesday?

Why didn't you tell me that I WOULD NEVER SLEEP AGAIN!?

I talked to Mamaw this morning (it is her Birthday) and we always have the best conversations! She is so fun and she is so chatty. I love to ask her about things from her past. Today we were talking about all sorts of things and we somehow got around to talking about the lack of sleep a mom endures with a baby. This was fresh in my mind because we had a rough night around here. When Luke was a newborn, he SLEPT! Then all of a sudden he started waking and wanting to be fed every 1.5 hours.... Then he started sleeping for a good stretch at night. He had his first cold around Christmas and it has been a battle ever since. Today he woke up at 5:45AM after a long, long night. Around 1AM he wanted to PLAY!!! I thought I would lose my mind. Mamaw laughed and told me about one of her sons who would not sleep in anything but his "buggy" and when she would nod off and stop rocking the "buggy" he would wake up "wailing".

Anyway, I have just decided to accept the fact that my child is just not one that will SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT (kuddos to all of you who are blessed with children who will). We have tried all sorts of things, all sorts of methods, and it just isn't meant to be for me to sleep THROUGH THE NIGHT. It has gotten better... we definitely do not wake up ever hour anymore and for that, I am VERY thankful. I was just looking back over the past couple of years (pregnancy included) and I am amazed at how little sleep I have been able to function on. Those who know me, know that I LOVE to sleep, I always have. Ever since I was a little baby, I have just LOVED my sleep. I am not a morning person, I am a napper. I believe that when I prayed and prayed for a baby and pleaded with God that I would do just about anything, He decided that I would have to give up my sleep! ha!

A birthday!

I spent my morning making THIS! It is the most chocolatey cake I could concoct. It actually turned out great considering there was no formal recipe. I just put in every type of chocolate that I could think of. The cake is a chocolate fudge box mix with dark chocolate pudding, sour cream, and Ghiradelli dark chocolate mixed in. Then I made a chocolate ganache and poured that in between each of the three layers and on the top before I iced it with Hershey's chocolate icing!

Looks like the Birthday Boy enjoyed his Chocolate OVERLOAD!

We went to lunch at Calypso Cafe in Nashville....

And then we went to the ZOO! (it was so very hot and I snuck this picture while we were waiting for our water from the concession stand)

The meerkats were one of the FEW animals that were braving the heat to hang out

After we stopped off at Phonolux, Luke passed out in the car on the way home (this was the ONLY nap he had all day!)

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to the BESTEST husband EVER!

New manual camera shoot!

Up until recently, I have been having horrible results with the manual settings on my camera. I have been practicing every day lately. Well yesterday, Luke went over to the window and it was so cute and I quickly grabbed my camera and ta-da!!! I think it turned out awesome. I shot with low ISO and my 50mm fixed lens (which I am trying to use more often now).

Fun Friday....

Not much going on over here today except for the fact that tonight is PAPA MURPHY's night and I am so super excited!!! I wanted to share a few recent pictures of Luke! Hope you have a great weekend!

Show us your life Valentines day....

my funny valentines



kelly's korner is at it again... and, of course, I just had to join!... she wants us to share Valentine's stories... My favorite one just hasn't been written... yet



This will be our first Valentine's Day as parents!! (we knew last year that we were having a baby, but I was so very sick, I honestly do not even remember what we did... I probably tried to eat some rice and not throw up).


This year we are going to a Japanese steak-house for a VERY early dinner (like 4:30 on a Saturday--ha). A kind friend offered to hop on down the street to watch Luke for us.


This Valentine's Day will be a memorable one for us because every day is new and special now that we have our baby that we prayed and yearned for. We waited on our little Valentine for many years. He has made our hearts fill to a capacity that we never thought imaginable. I am so blessed to be Luke's mom and Josh's wife.