And the award goes to...

Lindsey at McAulay Moments nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award. Go check out her list of winners. I am honored to be on a list of such fabulous bloggers. Lindsey is an awesome blogger too! Go by and tell her HEY!

{The Kreativ Blogger Award rules}
1. Thank the person who awarded you.
2. Copy and paste the logo into your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. List 7 things about yourself that readers might not know.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each blog, to let them know they've been nominated.

{7 Randoms about Me}
1. I have big ears because my ears don't curl. Weird, huh? Here is a link to what my ears look like. No, that is not my ear. But mine totally looks like that. Be jealous.
2. I believe old wives tales. {This is a post in itself.}
3. I do not have a hitchhiker's thumb. My thumbs are straight.
4. I bite or clip my fingernails everyday. I have anxiety when I can see white on my fingernails/toenails.
5. I can't see colors well at night. The yellow center line looks white to me at night.
6. I love weird names. Too bad my husband likes names like Francis and Fiona. We had to settle for normal names that we both liked, Caroline and Emma. My weird names? Ask if you are interested. I just might share them with you.
7. I just learned a few days ago why the time changes. 24 years. That's how long it took me to ask why the time changes. Ryan told me the answer. I think he googled it. I'm.just.sayin'.

I nominate... EVERYONE that reads this a blogs. I'm not kidding. I love every blog that I read. I can't just pick 7. You are ALL my favorites. So, go ahead. Follow the rules. YOU WIN!! Congratulations!

No room at the inn.

Seriously.

We have NO room.

I haven't blogged in a few days because I am working on rearranging/throwing away/making room.

We can now walk into our living room without feeling claustrophobic.

I have pictures that need to be uploaded, stories to be written, and maybe a little contest at the end of the week.

I promise to be back tonight with loads of fun planned for the week.

I am alive and well. We are just busting out of our home. That.is.all.

Peace.

Like Oh My Gawd.

This rocked my socks off.

Oprah.

Black-Eyed Peas.

Dancing audience.

Rocked.

My.

Socks.



I promise that you will watch it at least twice.

Wordless Wednesday- {Fort Macon}

Fort Macon offers public access to the surf, sun and sand of the Crystal Coast—as well as a historic landmark. Located at the eastern end of Bogue Banks, one of a series of barrier islands along the North Carolina coast, the park is surrounded on three sides by water—the Atlantic Ocean, Beaufort Inlet and Bogue Sound. This area of undisturbed natural beauty is the perfect place to explore salt marches and estuaries vital to the coastal ecosystem. ~NC Parks

Oh... it is also the perfect place to take pictures. ~ Hailey Lafone

New.

I added two of favorite dessert recipes on my recipe blog.

You'll thank me.

Caroline Conversations.

"Caroline, say the blessing before we eat."

Caroline stuffs pizza in her mouth as hard as she can go.

"Caroline, let's say the blessing!"

"I can't. I too hungry."

Let's just say we giggled through "God is great, God is good..."
-----------------------------------------------------

A fox got hit by a car in front of the beach house. We took a field trip to the end of the driveway to see it.

Afterwards, we called the town to come get him off of the road. They came. Caroline was upset that the fox was no longer there.

"Where did the fox go?" she asked.

"Well, they came and got him off of the road."

That was not good enough. A million more questions followed.

Finally I said, "Caroline. Jesus came and got the fox. He is in Heaven now. Right? Jesus came and got the fox."

Her response? "No, a dump truck came and got him."

More food than you can imagine...

... and we didn't eat a thing. I'm not kidding.

There were a million people there. I wanted a cajun shrimp wrap so bad I could taste it. I wanted a funnel cake. I wanted shrimp gumbo. I wanted some of those curly flower potato chip things. I wanted shrimp tacos. But, the lines were just too long. So, we just walked around and watched Caroline ride the rides.

Then Ryan promised to take me out to dinner at one of our favorite resturants, McCurdy's.

The atmoshpere is fantastic. We always sit on the deck that over looks a small bay on the causeway in Atlantic Beach.

They bring you the best hushpuppies in the entire world. They look like onion rings and are made with an onion flavor seafood batter. DELICIOUS!!

For dinner, Ryan had the Black and White Sesame Seared Tuna and I had the Shrimp Black Beans and Rice. Everything was delicious.

I am not a big beer drinker. Ryan on the other hand loves to try all types of beer. So, finding a place with 50+ beers on the menu is a big plus. Ryan drank Fat Tire {one of his all time favorite beers} and I had a Blueberry Sea Dog. It is a wheat ale beer. It was light and really tasted like blueberries. I only had one {that is all that I could make myself drink}. I am a wino at heart. {wink}

Sunday, we went to Fort Macon to take pictures of the girls. I can't wait to share those pictures... but you will have to wait until Wednesday. I have them up and ready for Wordless Wednesday. So, be sure to check back.

Until then, I will leave you with these pictures.

{She's not so sure about those shark teeth}

Where am I?

Sitting at the beach, having my morning coffee, planning the day ahead.

We are headed to the Seafood Festival along with 150,000 other people. Seriously.

It is always a good time.

The food is excellent. {I can taste the spicy cajun shrimp wrap now}

I will be back late tomorrow with posts and pictures.

Until then... I'm going to eat until I explode.

Peace out.
-----------------------------------------

PS- Don't forget the Brushy Mountain Apple Festival that is going on today in North Wilkesboro, NC. Be sure to stop by and visit Ashlyn for your Cole Baby Tutu!

Hippie chick.

Wordless Wednesday {On Thursday... with words}

"I need to wear my cows shoes today," Caroline exclaimed on the way out of the door to preschool.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, I ridin' a cow today."

"No, you are riding a HORSE today," I said through my giggles.

Therapy Topic #1956: first horse riding experience.

She seemed a little worried...


Blogging world, meet Socks. Carrington is the little girl you will see leading the horse in the pictures. She is Socks' owner and rider.


We got her on. SCORE!


She kind of likes it but will not let go of my hand. I'm talking she had a death grip on me. {we are both doing something funky with our mouth. weird.}


She likes it. She really likes it. {but still has the death grip}


Emma loved the whole thing. She loved the stable cats, the horses, the everything!


Then I let go of Caroline's hand so Ryan could get a picture... she was not happy.


She says she is going back. We will see. I would love for her to ride horses... not cows.

VOTE FOR THE TUTUS!

My SIL, Ashlyn, made a few Cole Baby Tutus for a special project. Read about it here.

So, your job is to GO HERE and vote for the pics with tutus in them. The deadline is tomorrow at 5pm. So hurry!!

It is super easy to vote. Fill out your name and e-mail at the top. Score the pictures you choose with a number 1-10. 1 being the for the least favorite and 10 for the most favorite. You can give all the tutu pictures 10s if you want. ;-) Once you have scored the pictures you picked, click submit form at the bottom. That's it. Super easy, right?

Ashlyn will also be at The Brushy Mountain Apple Festival this weekend, Saturday October 3rd.

If you are in the North Wilkesboro, NC area... stop by and visit the Cole Baby Tutu booth. {Click the link for a map that shows you where the Cole Baby Tutu booth will be.}

I ^ babywearing.

Yesterday ended International Babywearing Week.

I meant to mention this before now but it slipped my mind.

I wanted to share my 3 favorite products for babywearing.

{As a sidenote: I found out yesterday that I won a Kokopax at Jessica's blog. I am super excited and I can't wait to wear it.}

Now, back to the three babywearing product I use.

1. The BabyBjörn Baby Carrier Original Classic
This carrier is great for small babies. The carrier is for children 8-25 lbs.
There are two ways to wear your baby in this carrier. For newborns who have little head control you would wear them so that they face you. The carrier supports their whole back and keeps them snuggled tight.
The other way to wear your baby, is facing out. Caroline and Emma LOVED this. All you do is fold down the neck rest, and your baby can face forward and see everything.
I used this in the pool this summer. I carried Emma {forward-facing} so that I had two hands for Caroline. The carrier did wonder in the water. It also washes well. I do not dry my carrier. I lay it flat to dry.
If your little one loves to get cranky right when you need to cook dinner, this is the carrier for you.
PS- I am a BabyBjörn Believer and I LOVE all of their products.

2. HotSling
Ok. So you all know how much I LOVE my HotSling. I mean, it is the best thing since sliced bread. I have talked so many of my friends into buying one of these. I have people {men and women} stop me in the grocery store, the post office, Target, etc. to ask where I got it and what it is called. I jump at the opportunity to tell them and sometimes show them all 4 ways to carry a baby in it.
You can do the cradle carry which is great for a newborn. They can lay down and be comfy and cozy next to you. You can do the front carry. This is like a little kangaroo pocket. You plop them in there and they can sit and look out at what is going on. Then there is the hip carry. This is my favorite. I carry Emma around everywhere like this. Now for older kids, you can throw them in the hip carry and swing them around to your back. It is kind of like a piggy back ride with support. If you buy a HotSling, you will also receive an instructional DVD that is really helpful.
My HotSling is super easy use and easy to care for. My mom wore it this weekend while we were shopping in Williamsburg. If my Mom can use it, anyone can! I have washed it millions of times. I do not dry it. I lay it flat to dry. Emma loves it. She always has. This is a gift from God. It is a lifesaver is so many ways. They have a GREAT sale going on right now. It is an end of summer sale! Go run and get one. You will thank me later. {PS- They have one designer pattern on sale. It is normally $60... marked down to $30. You can't get better than that!}
Here is my pattern.

3. Baby K'Tan
Yes, I wrote about a Baby K'Tan giveaway a few weeks ago. Yes, I won it. I won the pink with brown stitching carrier. When it first came, I was a little stressed out about it. I thought I was going to have to wrap, tie, twist, etc. to even get it on me. Oh no! It was super easy!! They say it is super easy to breastfeed in AND it holds twins! I am not even kidding. How cool is that?
You can use this carrier with preemies and children up to 42 pounds! You can also use it 8 different ways! And do you know what it feels like? A super soft sweatshirt. I am not kidding. It is so soft! They make there carriers with soft 100% Cotton Knit. I just wish I had known about it sooner. Love.it.

That's it. Those are my three favorites. I am sure I will add the Kokopax to my list once I get it.
I also have the Belle Baby Carrier. Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie, and Julia Roberts have it too {You know, we are all BFFs}. I need to pull it back out of the closet because I haven't tried it on Emma since she was tiny. It was too big then. I will start wearing it and give you my opinion on it.

Anna conversations.

{Anna sitting in the stroller... texting.}

This conversation happened 20 minutes into our trip....

“Anna, stop texting! We are on family vacay. There can be no texting.”

“I'm over family vacay. I want a funnel cake," she demanded in her deep, monotone voice.


Right before this picture was taken, Anna announced we had to leave. When asked why, we discovered that her Blackberry had died and she was ready to go. She had lost all communication to the outside world and was in distress.

We also waited at The Cheese Shop for 32 minutes for Anna to get a sandwich. What kind of sandwich, you ask? A peanut butter sandwich. I kid you not. 32 minutes. That's how long my Dad stood in line. However, we all benefited because we all shared a bag of bread ends and house dressing. YUM-O!!! If you ever go to Williamsburg, you MUST eat here. We also stopped by the Wythe Candy Store while we waited for Dad in The Cheese Shop. We got a gingerbread man and chocolate covered strawberries that were to die for! I had to fight Emma and Caroline to get one. So, I guess the 32 minute wait was worth it.

Our trip.

Friday morning we woke before the sun came up.

Caroline asked why it was still dark out and all I could do was laugh. She didn't understand why we were up when it was still dark.

We had plans. Big plans. We were heading to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia with my Mom, Dad, and sister.

We stopped at Chick-fil-a for breakfast and crossed the James River on the ferry. It was a little rainy out and we were concerned about that. The rain ended up moving out right before lunch time which worked out well.

When we got to Busch Gardens, we got to see the Clydesdales...



and Caroline got to ride a little mini Clydesdale ride.



Emma sat and watched...


Busch Gardens had everything ready for Howl-o-Scream. The decorations were great. Just look at this tree. Caroline posed inside...


Jay picked it's nose...



I took lots of great pictures of the landscape...






And while Ryan and Emma watched and shared kisses...




Caroline rode the eggs.


Then the girls posed for pictures in the eggs...




Caroline also loved the teacups. You will notice that the rest of the family loved the teacups too!







Don't worry. Caroline rode Grover's Alpine Express about 20 times. We really enjoyed The Forest of Fun. Look at the cool landscaping...


We had a fabulous time in Williamburg. We can't wait to go back!

PS- 3 is a perfect age to take your little one. By the middle of the day, Caroline wanted to ride everything by herself. She said she was big and didn't need anyone to ride with her. We were lucky too because there were no lines. There were a lot of rides that Caroline just got to stay on for as long as she wanted.

Another PS- Ryan, Anna, Dad and I rode the big roller coaster. No, I did not have a panic attack this time. No, I did not think that death was after me. I had one small panic moment before riding Griffon but I was fine after that.