Boo Bug

Meet Boo from Monsters Inc.


Now, meet my Boo...

YUCK!

What in the world is going on!

I have given a whole new meaning to Friday the 13th.

I should have known when I posted last night and realized that the post number was triple sixes.

Emma woke up at 12am and didn't go back to sleep until 6am. She played. She screamed. She had convulsions in the middle of the living room floor. She almost threw up. Then.... pitter patter comes down the stairs... it's Caroline. Up at 2:30.

Caroline hasn't been back to sleep. Imagine that.

I'm on empty.

27 hours total with one hour of sleep. I'm not cut out for this. Thank God Nescafe Taster's Choice Coffee sticks are though.

When Ryan left for work this morning at 4am, all three of us sat by the door and cried. I even did the oh-so-classy fetal position rocking.

It hasn't gotten much better since that moment.

Emma did sleep from 6am to 11pm.

But then, I burnt the pizza I was cooking us for lunch. Black billowing smoke filled my kitchen.

I walked outside to throw a few items in the recycling (saving the planet one beer can at a time) and I stepped into fire ants. I didn't realize it until it was too late. The top of my foot is already swollen.

Pray that things get better.

Jason and Freddie would be easier to deal with today.

Screw you, Friday the 13th.

Click away!

If you know me, you know that I have a love of expensive jeans.

I might look like a dog with a stained t-shirt, rainbows and a pony tail on top of my head but I will have on my William Rast jeans.

Once you buy them you will understand. Ryan didn't get it until I dropped almost $200 (before children) to buy him a pair of Seven of All Mankind jeans.

He loved them. He still does, he has just grown since we got married. ;-)

Anyway, I am about to tell you a little secret. Are you ready??

The last William Rast jeans I got were only $70!

How, you ask??

Haute Look.

There is a widget on my right sidebar. Click it. It will take you to an item and you will see a "BUY NOW" button. Click it. Register with HauteLook and receive updates on items that will be on sale. And by sale... I mean HUGE SAVINGS!

The jeans I got were $220 and my awesome Mama only paid $70!

Sign up!

You will not be disappointed. You don't even have to buy. Just wait for the right deal to come along. You just have to sign up so that you will know what sales are coming.

Happy shopping ladies and pay yourself a pair of expensive jeans... be sure to send me a thank you later. ;-)


*** I will get $3 per registration. You just have to use the widget on my blog to register for me to get credit. I would still recommend HauteLook even if I weren't getting anything. In fact... I think I have! ;-)

Meet...

The Jackson's




the {precious} family that I had the honor of photographing this past weekend

meet {blythe}



little {mama} to her baby brother with a head full of beautiful brown hair

she is {beautiful} inside and out and reminds me so much of her sweet mama

meet {corbin}




so full of {life} and a ball of energy
he is definitely going to be a {heartbreaker}
and will keep {everyone} around him in stitches



corbin enjoyed {barking} at the dog when we were taking these pictures
you couldn't help but {laugh} at him


thank you {kim & clay} for letting me take pictures of your beautiful family
it was a {ton} of fun spending the evening with y'all

Step into my dreams. . .

Ryan and I made the decision last night that when we win the $25 million lottery Saturday night, this...



...will be our first purchase. You are all invited to our housewarming party.

;-)

Go ahead... click the link... take the virtual tour. You will not be sorry. Here is a site with just a slideshow.

Just thought I would share a dream. For now, I will continue living in my two bedroom apartment... unemployed.

Weekend

Ryan and I had a fabulous weekend sans kids.

We went to Boiling Spring Lakes to visit some fabulous friends.

We had a great time. We ate good food, drank good drinks, and just relaxed.

I know lots of you enjoy hearing about the food we eat (my Nana included) so here you go...

Friday night we had dinner at Fishy Fishy Cafe. For an appetizer, we had the Coconut Macadamia Shrimp with a spicy orange marmalade for dipping.
Ryan got a local sesame crusted yellowfin tuna served over mixed greens
and saffron rice with a sweet thai chili sauce. The chili sauce was nothing short of amazing!
I had shrimp and grits. It was sautéed shrimp, peppers & okra in a tasso ham sauce over stone ground yellow grits. Again, it was amazing!
The restaurant had a beautiful view. If you are ever in Southport, I highly recommend this place.

Saturday night we had dinner at The Dead End Saloon. We had mussels in garlic cream sauce with french bread and Old Bay chicken wings as appetizers. For my entree, I had a blackened mahi caesar salad that was delicious. Ryan had a Greek salad complete with tomato, onion, green peppers, black olives, cucumbers and pepperoncinis, topped with feta cheese, oregano and feta dressing. He enjoyed it.

Our friends are fabulous and so is the place they live. We had a short drive to the beach and laid out by the pier. Here is a list of awesomeness we saw in the short time we were there. We hated to leave because there was so much going on...
- We had the musical stylings of an air guitarist right in front of us for a good 30 minutes. He was complete with headphones and a cooler of beer.
- We watched people do backflips off of the pier. Not safe but fun to watch.
- We had mullets... the hair not the fish.
- We had cut-off sweatshirts that had been turned into muscle shirts. Classy.
- We had a skydiver parachute right behind our chairs.
- We had a DJ.
- We had a lady the size of Texas chugging vodka like it was water.

I left like I was in Cancun on spring break. It was so much fun. When we left at 5pm the beach was still crowded.

Thank you Brian and Kellie was a fabulous weekend. We will be back veryvery soon. ;-)

Mom suits

Thanks to my friend Carrie who showed me an awesome website... I just ordered my first mom bathing suit. I caved. I'm so weak.

Here it is...



It's cute though, right?

First the mom suit... what's next for me, you ask?

I will probably start pimping a minivan with a stick figure family, flip flops and a magnet soccer ball with Caroline's name in the middle.

I will most definitely have a license plate on the front that reads P.I.M.P.

I see the jealousy in your eyes.

Beaches

Today is rainy which is a relief from the unbearable heat wave we've been experiencing.

However, days like today make me miss the beach.

I can't believe summer is almost over.

PS- Emma is at a terrible camera age. She hates looking at the camera. Hates it. That is why there is only one picture of her.

My hubs could totally be on Baywatch

The early to mid 90s brought about a love for a little TV show called Baywatch.

I would watch it with my sister, Anna. If I am not mistaken, it came on at 4:00pm.

While others thought CJ Parker was great, we always loved Summer Quinn the best.

Without a doubt, Matt Brody was my lover and I had plans to marry someone just like him.

So, this past weekend when Ryan grabbed the boogie board and got in the water, I decided to snap a few pictures.

When I came across them during editing, I made up this whole story with the pictures. I laughed for a good 20 minutes.


Imagine the board has the orange Baywatch floatation device.

I told you that I knew I was going to marry someone just like Matt Brody. ;-)

I am now affectionately calling him my Baywatch Bitch.

New you vs. Old you

Updated 9:00pm EST Sunday the 25th... added #20

I pulled out my pump today to dust it off for a friend who is going to borrow it.

It brought back a lot of memories (some not so pleasant) and I decided it was best if I share a list of things to expect after having a baby. No one prepared me for it. I, however, am nice so I will clue you in.

1. Don't act like you know what a contraction is. "Oh, I've been having contractions all day," women will say. No, you haven't. You will not be able to blink, breathe, or speak during a contraction much less carry on with your daily activities.

2. The actual pushing out of the baby is not terribly painful. It doesn't feel good but you are just so ready for it to be over you don't know if you are in pain anymore.

3. The placenta feels like a blob of jelly coming out. Prepare yourself. It is freaky. Prepare your husbands for this too. Ryan was not at all prepared. He didn't see it with Caroline he was too busy all up in the nurses grill wanting to touch his new baby. However, with Bug he was asked to remind the doctors of my satellite placenta. I had a little piece of placenta attached to the bigger piece. Anyway, Ryan reminded them and they invited him over to look at it. His response afterwards, "Yours was rotten." Excuse me? "Yours was gross. It was like a big blue/black blob of veins and shit. It was rotted." Haha! Men.

4. Breastfeeding is a bitch. I strictly breastfed Caroline for 6 weeks. No pumping. No bottle. Just boobs and more boobs. Don't do this to yourself. Put the baby to breast as much as possible but pump and bottle feed some too. A bottle never killed anyone.

5. Prepare yourself for the pain of milk. You will request that no one come within 15 feet of you. Lord forbid someone accidentally run into you. Also, the shower... you might need to wrap those suckers up. The water pressure is killer on those sensitive hoots.

6. This one is a biggie for me. I had just started breastfeeding and flipped out because milk was coming out of multiple holes. I NEVER KNEW! I just thought there was one hole. There are many. Prepare yourself. I thought I was some sort of alien mother with multiple milk holes.

7. If you need a Xanax, you need a Xanax. Here's what you do, if you are having a bad week, decide you are going to take one. Say you decide on Tuesday you need one. Pump as much as possible and breast feed too. Get your frozen milk supply up. Wednesday, take your Xanax and just pump and dump. Strictly bottle feed for 24 hours. I am no doctor but I know those first 2 weeks are hell on Earth and any normal human being needs some type of nerve medication. A little Xanax never hurt anyone.

8. Laying in the middle of the floor rocking back and forth crying... totally normal.

9. Knock down drag out fights between you and the sperm donor... totally normal.

10. Referring to your husband as "sperm donor"... totally normal.

11. Massive hair loss is normal.

12. Ginormous areolas are normal. The sperm donor referring to them as "Ethiopian nipples" in front of company... not normal (true story). You must kick his ass for this.

13. The baby will not sleep.

14. People will tell you to nap when the baby naps. It isn't going to happen. You will become use to the sleep deprivation over the next 4+ years.

15. You will say you need a break. When the time actually comes for your first date night, you will have a nervous breakdown. None of your clothes will fit and you will have massive anxiety about leaving your baby. It gets better but it is super terrible to begin with.

16. Breastfeeding makes you skinny but so does the stress of having a baby. "See, breastfeeding has made you lose that baby weight already!" No, I don't eat or sleep. I look like a crackhead that smells like spitup.

17. Formula spitup is MUCH worse than breast milk. It smells horrible!

18. Crying in the shower is wonderful. You are all alone for 5 seconds so let it out... just be sure to cover your sensitive boobs.

19. It is ok to cry over spilled milk ESPECIALLY if that milk is breast milk.

20. And how could I forget that fact that after having a baby you get to wear a huge maxi pad for a least 6 weeks (thank you Kelly for reminding me). However, those cotton panties that come in a bag that they give you at the hospital rock. I LOVELOVELOVE them. They are the most comfortable things you will ever put on your body. Yes, I still have 3 pairs in my underwear draw. I hide them at the back. (true story)

21. You will no longer have bladder control. I'm talking you will pee your pants when you sneeze, jump on a trampoline, or laugh too hard (thanks for the reminder Mira.) The sperm donor will become use to this and eventually except the fact that you pee your pants more than your toddler. He will just chuckle and shake his head every time it happens.

22. People will tell you, "Things will get back to normal soon. Things will get better soon." I'm going to be honest. You will never be normal again. That's what becoming a parent means. You will learn to be an awesome multi-tasker. You will be able to brush your toddler's teeth and feed your infant all while tee-teeing on the potty. You will learn to do things you never thought possible. You will learn to clean up vomit without even gaging. You will learn how to get crayon off of the wall and permanent mark off of your favorite shirt. You will learn how to still look cute with your hair in a ponytail. You will make a new normal. A parent normal. The normal you that you are use to... she's long gone. You will miss her sometimes then you will look around and realize how awesome your life is. The new you would kick the old you's ass.

Sweet girls and Sunflowers

I am bummed that I did not take any pictures of the girls together. To my defense, it was 8 million degrees and I was shooting 2 other little girls at the same time. It was complete chaos.