10 great things about being a new mom

1. That wonderful, new-baby smell.
2. Getting to play dress up with your live doll!
3. Seeing the world through her eyes. I hope I remember to keep that perspective this time around - innocent, unafraid, excited.
4. Having someone love you unconditionally, and better yet, loving them back.
5. Watching her eat new foods for the first time. Every experience is brand new.
6. You have a great excuse to wear pjs and ponytails as often as you want.
7. It's perfectly acceptable that your house is less than spotless.
8. Pictures, oh the pictures! Scrapping fodder for years to come!
9. Sleeping in on Saturdays with the whole family in bed, cuddled together.
10. Catching up on all your Dr. Seuss reading.

Yard Sale Scores

I have always loved the idea of a yard sale, but not being much of a morning person, I often sleep through the best deals.

Lately, I have managed to hook up with several great yard sales that have proved very fruitful. A co-worker's niece has a daughter a year older than Hayden, and she was selling all her baby clothes a couple weeks ago. I ended up buying almost all of them - they were nearly new, or in some cases, still new, and this woman has great taste! Score! I was so thrilled! With the cost of new clothes, I quickly got over the "new baby - new clothes" thing I'd had going in my head!

Last weekend, I found 4 amazing ladder-back chairs for our porch. All they need is a little paint, and they'll be perfect! Score!

Today, my mother in law called as I was getting ready for work to tell me that some friends of ours were having a yard sale, and they have a pile of kids between them, so I swung by and got a great stroller (and a toy stroller for Hayden to push), some other toys, and even more great clothes - score!! :)

I am SO psyched about the stroller! I can't wait for our next farmer's market excursion so Haydie and I can go wheeling around! Heck, we'll probably take a spin around the driveway tonight!

Hanging out with Paw-Paw

These Little Piggies

Hayden's hair has grown long enough for teeny tiny pigtails, which are the cutest things in the world! Her daycare teacher, Lisa, who has a soft spot for Hayden (and vice versa) put these in her hair one day at school. When I went to pick her up, I just couldn't quit laughing - they were the sweetest little piggies I'd ever seen!

As you can see, she wasn't quite sure what to think at first about the new reflection in the mirror, but I think they've grown on her.

They just crack me up every time I see them - they look like little alien antennae! Of course, none of her back or side hair makes it into these tiny tails, and Chris has threatened to disown me if I put lots of these little piggies all over her head (although I think it would be adorable, don't you?) and make her look like a little hedgehog.

So, for now, it's just the two lone piggies. Looks like they're pretty happy up there. :)

Swim Team

Saturday, Hayden and I decided to beat the heat by having a little girls' time out at the pool. It was a great way to deal with the nearly record temps this weekend, and we got some Mommy-Daughter time to boot.

This was Hayden's second excursion to the pool. A few weeks ago, Chris and I took her for her inaugural visit, which was a wee bit too cool for her taste.Once those toes hit the water, her bitty arms were locked around my neck and it wasn't long before she started some waterworks of her own. It just wasn't meant to be...

This time, the water was perfect, the day was beautiful, and I was in no rush, so we just eased on in, sitting on the stairs for a bit, Haydie in my lap, and inching our way down the stairs until she noticed her float and toys and decided playing with them was way more fun than worrying about this great ocean I was trying to toss her in.

I put her in the float, and it was off we went! We puttered and spun and twirled all over the pool! Hayden even got adventurous and splashed a bit (which got her wet, much to her surprise!). She really enjoyed chilling in her float and playing with her toys, and I enjoyed cooling off and watching her have fun.

This is going to be a great summer pasttime, I know! We'll see you in the shallow end!

10 things I love to do with free time

With a new baby, free time is a precious commodity, so more often than not these days, I just get to daydream about what I'd do with some free time. There really could be two lists here - the things I love to do in my free time, and the things I should be doing in my free time. I don't even want to think about the second list, so I'll focus on the first!

1. Play tennis, especially with my mom. We have a good time with that, and she keeps challenging me. I swear, the woman can beat me with a diet Dr. Pepper in one hand, and her racket and a cigarette in the other, wearing flip flops! Talk about a challenge (for me)!

2. Read. In a hammock. Under a great big tree. With a box of chocolates and a cool drink. With lots of pillows around (in case I fall asleep and roll off the hammock. I am seriously sleep deprived these days, you know, and reading usually puts me to sleep).

3. Scrapbook. I can't wait to have some time to chronicle this new stage of our lives, and cut and paste and arrange and ink and scribble. I love that.

4. Bake. Not for work, not for someone else, but just for me. I love to try new recipes and concoctions, and I love creating something with my own two hands.

5. Play in the garden. Now granted, it needs to be a not-too-hot day, with some shade and a big cool drink nearby, but I love playing in the dirt and planting stuff.

6. Hang out with my family. I don't get to see them all nearly enough these days, and just getting to hang out with them, doing something or doing nothing is pretty darn fun.

7. Take Hayden on a walk. She just loves the outdoors, and I love seeing it all through her eyes. I can't wait to get a stroller so we can go cruising around more (and my poor arms don't get so tired!).

8. Go swimming. As much as I loathe the thoughts of parading this poor body around in a swimsuit these days, I really love the pool. I love floating or swimming, and just hanging out. I really enjoy bringing Hayden, too. I hope she loves the water as much as I do one day.

9. Throw a party. I love my friends, and just love having them to my home. I love big parties, small intimate parties, impromptu gatherings and big themed events. I just love having people into our home. I hope we can make more time for that this year.

10. Play with my doggies. The poor fellas have kinda gotten a raw deal lately, with the move and the baby and what not, but I hope we can start making more time for them soon. They're all sweethearts, and now Hayden's getting big enough to be around them more.

This is not a drill

Recently, our county implemented a service called "Code Red" wherein you can receive calls to your cell or house phone (or both) regarding severe weather warnings in your area. I LOVE this! As a family without cable, we miss out on the bottom of the screen alerts that warn most people of incoming storms. Of course, that never worked in the middle of the night anyway, and a weather radio is one of those things I've always meant to buy but never have.

So last night, at about 1am, my cell phone and our house phone began ringing, and drug us (by us, I mean me and I drug Chris) out of our sleep-induced stupor long enough to alert us of a severe thunderstorm warning in our area. I stumbled to the computer, and sure enough, glowing red and orange and yellow was a nasty line of clouds headed our way. I stood at the window long enough to count the lightning flashes - and there were lots - one, two, three, four...losing count after a very fast 15 or so.
So I lay awake, with the window cracked, listening for the storm to kick up or the local sirens to go off, as my husband and daughter's rhythmic breathing urged me to join them in slumber. I was up long enough to ensure the storm was passing just to the north of us, and that we were in no imminent danger before I drifted back off.

While it added yet another dimension to my already interruption-riddled sleep, I can't tell you how reassuring it was to know someone else was up, watching the weather and sending out these crucial alerts. Had this storm come right over us, or a tornado threatened, hopefully those calls would have given us ample time to seek shelter. Knowing this will help me sleep even easier the nights the phone doesn't ring.

Don't Blink

Not in our house. Not around this little munchkin. Especially not these days. You're liable to miss something.

This afternoon when I went to pick her up from daycare, she was in her crib, on her belly, pushing herself onto her hands and knees. ON HER HANDS AND KNEES, people. BY HERSELF. REPEATEDLY. Like she knew all about this thing.

My heavens, the baby-proofing to be done! I'm afraid this chick's gonna be crawling. ANY. MINUTE.

Batten down the hatches - here comes the storm!

Our little Sweet Potato Queen

This week, Hayden had her six month check up (14 lbs, 13 oz and 26" long!), which included the long awaited "solid foods" discussion. It was okayed by the doc to begin letting her try some solid foods, which I've been expecting, and I think Hayden has been eagerly anticipating, by the way she's made lightning-quick grabs at my dishes lately.

In anticipation of this new stage, I prepared her some homemade strained carrots and smashed sweet potatoes. I don't know if this is something that I will continue doing or not - making her food - but I had several reasons for wanting to do so:

1. I've 'prepared' all her other food to date. It was more natural for me to do it myself than to run out to the supermarket for take out for her first "solid" meal.
2. I thought it would taste better fresh, and I could control what went into it.
3. I was curious to see how easy/difficult it would be.
4. It's way CHEAPER. A couple hours in the kitchen, and I had over 32 'meals' prepared for her (they suggested only starting her at 1-2 teaspoons at a time.

End result? It was pretty darn easy, even more so once I did a little Internet research and found I probably went a wee bit overboard straining everything to the nth degree. It was fun dividing the portions and freezing in ice cube trays for later (yes, that was fun. Don't judge me.). And I really, really liked knowing I'd made her dinner.

We decided to start with sweet potatoes- one of my all time favorite foods - and it has met with unquestionable approval. The first bite or two was hysterical to watch. The expressions on Hayden's face went from nonchalant "eating my cereal, no big thing" to confused/disgust "this is NOT my cereal! Que horror!" to contemplative "wait a minute - this is actually not half bad" to excitement "hey, this is pretty good stuff!" to impatient "don't tell me that was all there is!! You must have more of this glorious orange goop! At least let me lick the spoon, mom!"

And there you have it. The beginning of another end. The start of her transition from breastfeeding to Burger King. I'd like to say I'm totally heartbroken, but as with every milestone, it's with a mix of emotions that we take this next step. I'm sad to watch her shed those infant trappings and embrace more 'grown up' inclinations, but at the same time, I'm standing there cheering her on, making airplane noises and telling her to open wide, every bit as excited as she is at her new accomplishments.

Ten Things I love about my husband

I'm starting a new sort of post today... a 10 things post. Every once in awhile I think we all need to remind ourselves of the reasons we do something, or enjoy someone's company, or are happy, or...well, you get the idea. So from time to time, I am going to pen down my top 10 reasons, or maybe just the first 10 reasons I think of, as a little 'sticky note' for my heart for a particular subject.

Today, I thought it would be great to start with my husband, my companion and mate, and 10 of the many (many, many, many) reasons I love him. I encourage you to do the same for your spouse - here, in my comments, or on your own blog, or just on a piece of notebook paper left somewhere they may just happen to notice it (IN THE MIDDLE OF THEIR PILLOW). Because what good is loving all these great things about a person if you don't tell them?

So, in no particular order, here are 10 things I love about my husband:

1. His laugh. So cliche, but so true. Few things sound as good to me as when he laughs.

2. His musical abilities. Ever wonder why girls go ga-ga over bands? There is something so attractive to me about a man that can play a musical instrument. And despite the insanity around how our piano got into the house, I love to come home now and hear him serenading us.

3. What a great dad he is. Last night, he gave Hayden her breathing treatment, then curled up with her to read some books before bedtime, and I swear I just oozed into a big puddle on the floor. Is there anything so endearing as a great big man and his wee little baby girl wrapped up together reading "...SIX slippery fish! One! Two! Three! Four..."

4. How in tune to me he is. He knows when I'm happy, mad, sad, stressed, bored, whatever, and he is always so wonderful at sharing the great times with me and helping me through the bad.

5. His passion around antiques, particularly cars. The man loves cars. I seriously never worry about him cheating on me, because he already has a mistress that keeps him way more interested than any woman could - those old rusty skeletons, which are transformed in his mind and his hands back to the magnificent engineering marvels they were in their heyday. We had many a serious discussion about those rambling wrecks before he would get serious about marriage - he needed me to understand just how much of an obsession they were for him. Gladly, it's a hobby we both enjoy, and we really look forward to rolling down the road with Hayden in tow one of these days.

6. How comfortable he is in his own skin. He has this great attitude of "here I am, take me or leave me", and really doesn't worry whether other people like him or not. He is who he is. I wish I could be more like that.

7. His family. They really are great. I love my in-laws so much, and love being right next door to them. How could I not love the two people that created this amazing man? They've truly taken me in as one of their own. On the flip side, I also love how well he gets along with my family, who have claimed him as well. Seriously, sometimes I have to pry him and my dad apart when they get to singing and picking together.

8. His dreams. He loves to dream big, as do I, and we have fun planning our goals and adventures together. Granted, sometimes it's a wee bit overwhelming (look at the yard we have to work on now!), but I love that he has aspirations and ambitions.

9. His willingness to try almost anything. once. He was one of the pickiest adult eaters I'd ever met, but the man never hesitates to try something new, and I think that will set a great example for Hayden as she begins trying new things. He's also willing to do about anything I rope him into, at least one time. He and I took ballroom dancing classes when we were first dating - and the fact that he agreed -wholeheartedly, I might add - is a fact that still amazes me.

10. That I can trust and rely on him to be there, no matter what. We both went into our marriage as if there were no option for failure. It made us very cautious going into our union, but it truly makes our lives so much better knowing that we can be ourselves - imperfect, messy, broken, flaws and all - without sending the other one running for the hills. Or maybe they run to the hills, but it's just for a break, and then they come back and help pick up the pieces. Someone said that if you treat your marriage as if divorce is not an option, it makes all your decisions, arguments, issues and challenges so much easier to figure out. He and I are a team. We're in this together, for better or worse, so we both try to treat each other with respect and love and honor, and we work together to get through issues and problems, and search together for a middle ground rather than focusing on the differences and faults. Not to say that our marriage is perfect, but you know what? Because we work at it, and commit and re-commit to it, and take time for one another, it's damn close to perfect.

Happy Tuesday! I love you, Chris!

Farmer's Market

One of my favorite things about Summer in a small town is our local farmer's market. I love nothing more than waking up on a Saturday morning, throwing Little Bit in the car with me, and heading down to the park to see what wares are spread before us. Like magic, a rainbow of tents and umbrellas has bloomed overnight, and between their fluttering canvases drifts a sea of people, most of them friends, family, neighbors or acquaintances.

Little Bit is always a main attraction when we go (well, she is everywhere we go really), in her pink sunglasses and sporting her wild hair do'. Little old ladies and men alike ooh and ahh over her (it's especially cute to see these big, gruff farmer-types start cooing and waving at her!)
We're bound to run into someone we know, or someone who knows us, or just a friendly stranger out enjoying the glorious sunshine as well. I love the feeling of community, of Mayberry alive and well just beyond our doorstep, especially with all the craziness out there these days. This is a place we can go that hearkens back to simpler times, reminds us to slow down and enjoy the simple, homemade pleasures of life - juicy treats like fresh watermelon, crunchy greens, frozen sorbets, sunny daisies and crocheted kitchen towels that look like baby doll dresses (what? You don't have a place in your kitchen screaming for a baby-doll-dress-towel? How sad is that!).

And, joy of joys!, I just discovered that starting this Wednesday our Farmer's Market will have an afternoon session as well! I cannot wait to get Hayden from daycare and run out there to find some fixin's for dinner, and get our fix of small town Summertime for the day!

Mini-who?

Mini-Chris. Apparently that's what you all think, anyway. I asked you all to vote, some of you did (not very impressed with the response, by the way, folks. I expect better out of you!), and you almost all agreed - Hayden is a Chris clone. Thank you to the lone dissenter.


Actually, my feelings aren't hurt at all. I have thought from the very beginning that Hayden looked like Chris. In fact, after our 4-D ultrasound waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when, I told Chris that she looked like him.

All orange and blobby. With funky eyes.

He didn't agree with me then, but now I think he's on board (in fact, I have it on good authority he logged one of the 'Chris' votes himself).

I think it all depends on how you're looking at her, though. That beautiful, adorable, wonderful face is pretty much Chris all over (the jury's still out on her nose -or at least I'm still out. She's going to have to grow into it a bit, I think). Those massive hands of hers, with the scary-long fingers? Me. Those odd toes, that look like they were stuck on in the wrong order? Me! (notice our 2nd toes are too short. Medically, it's called something like a "fused digit". My husband just calls it weird.)That thick, wavy, totally unruly hair? HELLO!! All ME!

Whoever you think she favors more, I think Chris and I both agree she is her own unique little person, and we can't wait to see how she grows and develops and proves us both wrong over and over and over again every time we think we've got her figured out!

We've come a long way, baby!

I just happened to look at the calendar this morning and realized it was June 1. That's the day Chris and I met and had our first date, eight years ago today. Holy cow - eight years we've been together! As Chris so sweetly told me, "it feels like it's been soooo much longer." Just kidding, although I swear there are times I feel I've known him my whole life, and other days I can't believe how long it's been.

I probably wouldn't remember the date of our first date, except that it is 3 days after I started working here at Royston - May 29, 2001 - and for various and sundry reasons, I have to fill that out on forms occasionally.

For those of you who haven't heard how Chris and I met, I thought in honor of the anniversary of that fateful day, I'd share the story here. For those of you who have heard, feel free to stick your fingers in your ears and sing "lalalalalalala" until I'm done. Or, just skip this post.

Our Story
Fresh out of college and thrust headlong into a "management development program" at the small manufacturing company I'd signed on to (seriously, I wasn't even sure I understood what they meant by 'manufacturing' until I walked out on the shop floor the first time and saw they were really and truly producing product. Here! At This Very Facility!), I was introduced to a fellow "development-tee", Carrie McKinney my first day on the job. As a Jasper native, and three weeks further into the program than myself, she was asked to take me out to lunch the next day to show me the ropes and the town.

We began chatting, getting to know one another, and she asked me to tell her a little about myself - "Where are you from? What do you do for fun? Are you single, married, seeing anyone?", and I told her, "Marietta. Hang out with friends, go out, (insert random activity here). No, not seeing anyone - you know anybody? (half-kidding, half-serious. I wasn't sure I'd ever find anyone in this teeny town on my own!)" She then asked me what was to be probably the most defining question of my life, " I just might (know someone, that is). Do you like bluegrass music? Allison Kraus?" To which I fatefully replied, "yes. I like Allison Kraus." Of course, little did she know, that was THE FULL EXTENT of my knowledge on the subject.

By the time we got back from lunch, she had me set up with Chris on my very first blind date ever, a double date with her and her husband Joel. Poor Joel suffered a bout of kidney stones the night before our date was to take place and he and Carrie spent all night up and in the emergency room, but he was a trooper and stuck it out, and because of her match-making and his heavy-duty pain medications, Chris and I met that night for the first time.

Poor sucker. He never saw me coming.


This is a picture of Chris and I at a Vince Gill concert (which apparently is what prompted the "do you like bluegrass" question from Carrie) a few weeks after we met. He already had an extra ticket. Just in case he met someone. I'm so glad, too. Believe it or not, that night was the first time we mentioned the possibility of the "M" word (for you guys out there, the M word is marriage). Man, were we young and dumb and in love!