Girls Night!

Us girls planned a night out. (WE MISSED YOU SHANNON!!)

Since Cristy is about to have baby #2 in a few weeks this was a good opportunity to just get out and spend some quality time together before life gets a bit more hectic.

What's something fun and different for a girls night? FONDUE of course!


Jaclyn & Cristy


Cristy & me (she was snuggling up to keep me warm)

The restaurant had a Ladies Night special, cheese fondue, salad and dessert.



Yea, dessert was the best part.

We ordered the chocolate turtle; chocolate, caramel and pecans.


There was even fire invovled!



O.M.G. it was beyond amazing.

Jaclyn, "I love just watching Leah eat chocolate." haha

Favorite Place

This is Ellery's new favorite place to play.

I have no idea why.

Yesterday I sat on the rug while she would take toys from me and walk over to the hardwood and sit down.



Mimi gave her a set of little books called "My Favorite Pink Things." There's one book just about pink clothes, another is about pink jewelry, and then there are pink sweet treats and pink animals. It really is cute and it's also her new favorite toy.

She carries these books all over the house.



I keep picking them up in the living room and taking them back to her room only to find her walking around carrying the little pink box that stores the books.

Thanks Mimi for the perfect little pink toy!

Hope & Glory

Cary had me going for a good while about this anniversary weekend get-a-way.

Somehow or another shortly after I found out we were leaving town it came up that we were staying in a tent.

This brought back many BAD memories of camping and rain.

I don't DO tents.

I also know that Cary has a really good track record of good surprises so I didn't quite know what to think. Well, I came up with a ton of wild ideas as to where we were going and what we were doing. But still, the whole "tent" thing bothered me.

Then as I was packing I asked if I should bring my hair dryer. He said, "yea go ahead I'm sure there will be outlets near by, but you will have to walk outside to get to the shower."

UMM WHAT?! Okay, so now we are staying in a tent with an outdoor shower. I'm not so sure I like this idea.

I went ahead packing as normal figuring he had to be joking me.

After a little over an hour drive we arrived here.

The Hope & Glory Inn. (I know isn't it the cutest?!)





Our "tent". I'll take a tent like this any day! And yes, these cottages are actually called Tents.








The "outdoor shower." Don't worry, there were real showers inside.


Our cottage was on the Hope & Glory winery. There are a few really cute shops right around the corner.

I found this on the front porch of a French boutique. It's called a "courting chair."


It works great, when your gentlemen actually puts his magazine down...


Dinner at Trick Dog Cafe!


Cary had steak.


I had shrimp & grits.

I had to take this picture. Seriously, shrimp are some scary looking creatures!




After dinner we headed over to The Tides Inn to check it out. It has a beautiful view and a cute little shop.





Can you imagine Cary's favorite part of The Tides Inn?


SUNDAY:
We decided to hit up the local (and only) coffee shop for some coffee and breakfast. I wish I had thought ahead to bring my magazine with me, but thankfully they had several to choose from (who cares if they were printed October of 2008).





After breakfast we took a leisurely walk behind our tent to the dock.

It was a nature lovers paradise.



Cary was making fun of me because I freaked out at the sound of splashing water, probably a frog or something.





Good job Sweetie!

It was such a cute and wonderful weekend. Aww, I love my Sweetie!! :)

5 Year Anniversary

It's our anniversary weekend!!

5 years.

Holy Cow!

Cary is taking me out of town for the night.

It's my first night away from Ellery.

My dad came by this morning to pick her up and she was so excited to go on a ride with him that as soon as they walked out of the front door she didn't look back.

I have no idea what we are doing or where we are going but it's nice to just hang out and we haven't even left town yet!

More later....

Not To Be Trusted

What was I thinking?

I wasn't thinking, that's the problem.

One minute she was at my feet while I finished up my make-up.

The next minute I think I heard something falling.

A moment later I realize she's not near me and start searching the house for her.

This is where I find her.

NOT a good place to find your child. (although I'm sure there are worse places)


"MOMMY I'M SO SORRY! Something came over me and I couldn't resist."


okay. honestly i had to run and grab my camera to take pictures of this moment. when we got back to the bathroom she DID NOT want me to put her down in front of the toilet. it's almost like she KNEW she did something wrong and was afraid of the punishment. that's when i captured this expression.

So it's not that bad.

A bottle of baby shampoo.

At least it was clean toilet water (just a little tp I used early to wipe my nose was in the bowl).



I'm very thankful she didn't try to flush one of her bath toys.

I'm also sort of curious how she now has a scratch on her upper lip and red spot on her cheek.

Oh good Lord.

Good Day

I am amazed at today.

Yes I was driving home from some errands and said to myself, "my life is awesome. this is probably the best time in my life. (huge smile)"

Ellery actually listened to me today.

She wanted to touch the DVD player and I told her "NO touch! Come here please, Ellery."

She actually walked over to me! I know this isn't going to last very long but my heart was so full.

Cary came home for lunch today, that was a fun change.

Ellery has been perfectly content all afternoon walking around the house and playing with water bottles.

Oh yea, and she let me put her hair up.

What a fun day.

New Toy

Who needs new toys when there is a pack n play to crawl all over!

New Hair

We'll see how long she tolerates this.

ps. yes, Ellery has a black eye. she was walking around with a block or some toy in her hands and fell onto it. there was a parent present when she was walking around and fell but she didn't even cry really over it.

the walk

For Cristy's Fans

Some of you know my good friend Cristy.

She's pregnant with her second child and due in June.

Some of you don't get an opportunity to see her very often. This post is for you.

Here she is with the most adorable belly.




Cristy had a doctors appointment yesterday and that meant Ellery & Cooper had a little play date.

The babies first picnic lunch.


There are no more pictures because keeping up with 2 14 month old babies is quite the task. The moment I would turn to keep one from entering dangerous territory the other would waddle their way to another "no go" zone.

But it kept me on my toes and was SUPER fun!

Thankfully this play date wore both kids out and that made for a good nap.

Sunday with the Robinsons

This was our Sunday afternoon.

We headed up to the Robinson's house after nap time and gave the boys a chance to ride bikes, the kids a chance to play and us mom's a chance to laugh.







How cute are they?


Cary, every kids favorite play partner.

The Cassadas

Courtney came into town on Friday for a short but oh so sweet visit.

I convinced her to leave the kids with me while she ran downtown to pick up some paperwork and here is the evidence of all the playing that went down in my living room.

Bailey, loving on Ellery!




The kids got to try juggling!





Of course when the older kids got tired of juggling, Ellery liked to carry the balls around the house.








This visit made my week. I love these kids and am so grateful for Courtney's friendship.