today, the hubby and i are celebrating four years of wedded bliss.

(yes, that’s the ocean in the background — our wedding was amazing!)

we have our moments, but he’s a pretty great guy to put up with all of my crap. and i’m a pretty great wife to put up with his other wife.

her name is Sports. playing tennis and then watching pretty much any other sport on tv. or at the stadium.

some of our friends are getting married in september, and the first words out of ken’s mouth were, “i wonder what [football] game they’ll be missing?”

gotta love him.

and i do.

so very very much.

happy anniversary to my best friend.

The last 4 days have been go, go, go all day long. I am literally JUST NOW sitting down at my computer to catch up on the weekend emails/blogs I didn’t read on my Blackberry and also to finally go visit the bloggers who commented on my last You Capture post. :)

I kind of took a camera-free weekend. Mostly not on purpose, but we were literally going from one place to another so fast that our time at home was scarce, and I don’t like lugging it around just to leave it in the car, especially in the southern heat.

We took Emma to her first movie – Monsters vs Aliens 3D. She did really well for about the first hour, but then we ran out of popcorn, and she got bored. She was very quiet and non-disturbing to the other movie goers, but she liked flipping the seats up and down and looking at the exit lights on the rails. Overall, it went really well. A 30-45 minute children’s matinee would be perfect for her.

We also went to Georgia yesterday – kind of a surprise trip. My mom called while we were in the movies, so we literally ran to Target, bought some diapers, and got on the interstate without even going home. I’m sad I didn’t have my camera, because Emma got into their freezing cold pool and rode Pappa’s tractor for the first time. She is fearless – just jumps into any new thing feet-first without even flinching. I’m so proud of her independence and strength. She’s going to be an amazing little girl! And quite the tomboy. ;)

The weekend also included a fun bbq at Ken’s brother’s house, a trip to the new, improved playground next to the G’ville Zoo, tennis in the rain, and lots of time on our new Wii fit.

And fun w/ bubbles in the backyard …

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

We had a busy weekend full of family, yardwork, and Easter, so here are the highlights.

Friday: spent the day with my parents and my niece, who drove up from Georgia to celebrate Easter with Emma. Rain ruined our plans to go to the zoo, so we went to Frankie’s Fun Park instead.

They recently remodeled and added a Johnny Rockets, so we had yummy hamburgers before spending roughly $18 for Emma to ride a little carousel*.

* We bought a little token card and put $20 on it, and Emma used up almost all of it riding this little carousel. Poor Ken and Daddy just stood there as she went around and around and around … while Mom and Sydnei and I played games.

We had a wonderful time, and if Emma hadn’t needed a nap BADLY, we would have definitely done more.

Saturday: Ken had tennis at a local tennis center, and we went along thinking that they would have a playground. But they didn’t. And all the rain had really messed up the courts, so they were going to have dry them anyway.

We looked for earthworms for a while, but then they brought the big blower out, so we knew the earthworms were about to be goners.

To kill time, I took Emma to the laundromat to wash our big down comforters. They sure are pretty, but I am never buying another piece of bedding that won’t fit into my washer.

We were both SO bored!

But she was a trooper and made the best out of it – with some McDonald’s hash browns and corn pops.

If I had to be stuck at the laundromat with anyone, I’m glad it was my little munchkin.

Once we got done there, we went to Memaw & Papaw’s house to get the truck so we could get a load of mulch. The rest of the afternoon was spent mulching around the garden and all of the front shrubs & trees.

That night, E went to bed early while Ken and I collapsed to watch a few episodes of Rome on DVD.

Needless to say, the Easter dress that I had planned to make for Emma never got finished. Oh well.

Okay, Emma is DONE with me typing and editing pictures, so I’ll have to save the Easter pics for tomorrow.

If you’re my friend on Facebook, you can see most of the pictures there. :)

We drove down to Georgia on Saturday to celebrate Mom & Mema’s birthdays.

Everyone had a LOT of fun.

I’m still amazed at the difference between Emma now and the Emma 6 months ago. We honestly thought she’d never grow out of her separation anxiety, but now, she cuddles and snuggles and goes places with just about everyone.

She still needs time to get used to people that she doesn’t see often, but she is definitely coming around a lot faster than she used to!

Now, her and Sydnei play in their own room without Emma needing to check in with either me or Ken every 5 minutes.

I feel like she’s a normal kid. Not that she wasn’t before … but now I get to actually talk to people without having her hanging all over me.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my baby … I love spending every second of the day with her. But sometimes, you just NEED to not be touched, talked to, whined at, or sat on.

I’m finally getting that quiet time, and I am just so proud of my girl.

Now if I could just teach her that crayons are for paper only.

We went to Georgia today to celebrate my grandmother & mother’s birthdays, and we got back a little after 10pm.

That was on the drive down.

By the time we got home, Emma was in full melt-down mode – she didn’t even want to get out of her carseat. But she went to bed and fell asleep pretty quickly, and we’re hoping for a little extra zzz’s tomorrow morning.

Happy Birthday, Mema!! We love you lots!

Twenty-four months ago, I looked like this …

27 weeks along

I loved being pregnant. Now, I was one of the lucky ones – no morning sickness, no obscene weight gain (34lbs), no stretch marks, light heartburn, little to no discomfort (other than my ribs). The only downside of being pregnant was that it couldn’t last longer. Oh, and the restless leg syndrome that had me putting bars of soap at the foot of our bed and doing crazy stretches at 3am.

on our babymoon to disney world

I understand if some of you now hate me and never want to read anything I write ever again.

And that’s okay. I understand.

I mean, you can hope that whenever I have baby #2, I’ll be sick as a dog 24 hours a day.

But please don’t.

Being pregnant for the first time was really amazing. In fact, it was so wonderful that I often think about trying for baby #2 JUST to be pregnant again. But then reality sets in, and I realize that we are paying our bills and that’s about it. Babies just don’t fit into the equation at this point in our lives. We’re okay with what starting our own business has done to our bank account, but we also know that having a baby right now just wouldn’t be smart.

But the actual point of this post was to say that twenty ONE months ago, I looked like this …

And then like this …

And then like this.

Even labor and delivery was a piece of cake …

6:15pm – water broke at our house
7:15pm – arrived at the hospital
11:45pm – got epidural
5:00am – started pushing
5:59am – Emma Grace arrived

Ever since then, life has been anything but easy.

But just as my pregnancy and then delivery was wonderful and amazing, so is our life with Emma.

She’s not the kid that’s going to entertain guests and make everyone laugh. She’s not going to be the kid who screams and yells to get attention. She won’t strive to be the center of attention or the class clown.

Instead, she will be the kid that everyone is drawn to because she’s so quiet. She’ll be the old soul that everyone falls in love with. She’ll be a listening ear and a strong shoulder for her friends. She’ll love everyone, no matter their faults or shortcomings. And she’ll be generous and kind.

Happy 21 months on this earth, my sweet soulful child.

You have brought us more joy and peace than we ever thought possible.

I often forget to upload the photos from my Kodak point & shoot camera, which I take everywhere but rarely use since the pictures kind of … well … stink.

So I finally uploaded all of them today and tried out Picnik, an online photo editing website that ties straight into Flickr – it’s really easy to use and works well. If you’re looking for a quick-edit program that doesn’t have to be installed on your computer, give it a try. Okay, enough about that.

Instead of exchanging gifts among the adults in my family, we all went to Stone Mountain, Georgia on the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas for their Christmas extravaganza. It happened to be the 2 coldest days in 2008 (high 20′s, low 30′s), but we still had a great time! I didn’t take many pictures because I was huddling into my jacket trying to find warmth, but here’s what I did get.

This is me and the princess sitting on the Snow Angel’s throne – I end up with the “Rudolph Effect” when I’m cold.

The lights were INSANE – they covered every inch of the park! Funny thing is, you didn’t even notice them until they all went on at night.

Sydnei decorated a sugar cookie — look how proud she is! Or it could just be the sugar kicking in.

Uncle Chad showed Emma how to decorate her cookies — we were seriously not happy with him from 2am until 4am later that night.

Um, where’s the frosting? And sprinkles?

Oh yeah … that’s more like it!

Nom-nom-nom … cookies …

These cookies are finger-lickin’ good!

The next day, Chad helped Emma navigate her way around this rock — she is so fearless, she would have just run around up there (and rolled down) all on her own if we had let her. Of course, my brother Chad is that way, too, so it only made sense that HE would be the one helping her.

We also went to a local plantation, and they had a small petting zoo with goats and sheep – Emma was in HEAVEN. I think she’s going to be a Vet when she grows up.

The last thing we did before leaving on Tuesday was to ride the Summit Skyride to the top of Stone Mountain. Little Miss E saw everyone else holding onto the handles that were hanging down, so I guess she figured she should hold on, too. Isn’t she the cutest!?!

My sister-in-law Becki took this picture of me and Emma at the summit with Atlanta in the distance.

Needless to say, she was totally worn out by the time we left due to constant motion and lack of sleep the night before. And when I say worn out, I mean worn completely OUT.

She has never fallen asleep with her sippy hanging out of her mouth like that.

ps – see the windburn from the cold weather? It was gone by the next morning.

It was such a fantastic trip — freezing cold, but fantastic!

I often forget to upload the photos from my Kodak point & shoot camera, which I take everywhere but rarely use since the pictures kind of … well … stink.

So I finally uploaded all of them today and tried out Picnik, an online photo editing website that ties straight into Flickr – it’s really easy to use and works well. If you’re looking for a quick-edit program that doesn’t have to be installed on your computer, give it a try. Okay, enough about that.

Instead of exchanging gifts among the adults in my family, we all went to Stone Mountain, Georgia on the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas for their Christmas extravaganza. It happened to be the 2 coldest days in 2008 (high 20′s, low 30′s), but we still had a great time! I didn’t take many pictures because I was huddling into my jacket trying to find warmth, but here’s what I did get.

This is me and the princess sitting on the Snow Angel’s throne – I end up with the “Rudolph Effect” when I’m cold.

The lights were INSANE – they covered every inch of the park! Funny thing is, you didn’t even notice them until they all went on at night.

Sydnei decorated a sugar cookie — look how proud she is! Or it could just be the sugar kicking in.

Uncle Chad showed Emma how to decorate her cookies — we were seriously not happy with him from 2am until 4am later that night.

Um, where’s the frosting? And sprinkles?

Oh yeah … that’s more like it!

Nom-nom-nom … cookies …

These cookies are finger-lickin’ good!

The next day, Chad helped Emma navigate her way around this rock — she is so fearless, she would have just run around up there (and rolled down) all on her own if we had let her. Of course, my brother Chad is that way, too, so it only made sense that HE would be the one helping her.

We also went to a local plantation, and they had a small petting zoo with goats and sheep – Emma was in HEAVEN. I think she’s going to be a Vet when she grows up.

The last thing we did before leaving on Tuesday was to ride the Summit Skyride to the top of Stone Mountain. Little Miss E saw everyone else holding onto the handles that were hanging down, so I guess she figured she should hold on, too. Isn’t she the cutest!?!

My sister-in-law Becki took this picture of me and Emma at the summit with Atlanta in the distance.

Needless to say, she was totally worn out by the time we left due to constant motion and lack of sleep the night before. And when I say worn out, I mean worn completely OUT.

She has never fallen asleep with her sippy hanging out of her mouth like that.

ps – see the windburn from the cold weather? It was gone by the next morning.

It was such a fantastic trip — freezing cold, but fantastic!

Ken had to work today, so I drove down to Atlanta with Emma (stopping by to pick up my mom on the way) to shop at Ikea. Man, I love that place. I think I could just move in there and live for a while — wait, someone already did that.

Anyway, I ended up getting SO much stuff that we needed for a steal, including a bookshelf for Emma’s room, which was really one of the only things I was supposed to buy. Oops. I just couldn’t resist these cute little pots & pans and cooking utensils for E’s play kitchen.

E had a great time, too — even though we shopped right through her naptime. Oops again.

picture taken w/ Blackberry Curve

picture taken w/ Blackberry Curve

It was a lot of driving (313.3 miles, to be exact) but we had a great time, and little miss E was worn OUT by the end of the day. I put a DVD in to try to keep her awake on the way home, but it didn’t work.

picture taken w/ Blackberry Curve

Thanks for spending the day with us mom/Bo!!

We spent most of Christmas day in Georgia at my parents’ house — they live out in the country, so Emma really enjoyed exploring the new sights.