Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

From our little pumpkin to y'alls!!!

Halloween Pumpkins

This Halloween has been completely different from last year. Bryson has been paying more attention to the decorations, especially the pumpkins. It all started with a little light up pumpkin Clay's grandmother, Gigi got him (I'll post a picture of it tomorrow). And since then he's been obsessed with pumpkins. But he likes calling them "Halloween Pumpkins!" It's one of the cutest and sweetest things ever!!

The picture of all those pumpkins are the ones he's collected in the last few weeks. I thought it would be fun to write down where each one of them came from, so years from now I can look back and remember them. The white one came from my mom. She even made the cute little spider that's sitting on the top. The bigger one in the back is the one Bryson picked out from the pumpkin patch we visited this year. The five little bitty pumpkins I bought him this past week. When I got up yesterday he had lined them all up like a decoration on his table. So precious :) The small pumpkin came from school. And the last two pumpkins came from Nana and PawPaw. They bought him the felt stickers so he could decorate them. Didn't he do such a good job?

I can't wait to see what Thanksgiving and Christmas are like! Every year just gets better and better!!

14 Weeks and a New Baby

Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 14 Weeks
Size of baby: Baby W is the size of a lemon
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 1 pound. I'm sure that will be moving in the other direction very soon. Ha!
Maternity Clothes: Yes! Just maternity jeans right now.
Gender: Can't wait to find out!
Movement: Feeling alot more flutters this week.
Sleep: I think it's getting better.
What I miss: Nothing yet
Cravings: Subway Steak and Cheese Sandwich and anything spicy/sour
Symptoms: It comes and goes. Still not 100% and finding something that sounds good to eat is a challenge
Best Moment this week: This had to do with big brother...I got to take him to the Pumpkin Patch and I can't tell y'all how different it was from a year ago. To watch his eyes light up at all the pumpkins and to pick one out to take it home with us was the highlight of my week.



This morning around 2:30am Clay wakes me up to take my glasses off (I had fallen asleep with them on which I do ALL the time) and then tells me that my SIL is having her baby. WHAT??? She's not supposed to have this baby until Nov 4th! Anyway, so of course I couldn't sleep and I texted my MIL if it would be okay to come down to the hospital. When I got down there my new little niece, Claire Elene was in the room on the warmer and mom and baby are doing great! I took a few pictures, but I don't want to post any until Jessica has time to put some up on her blog.

I have ALOT of blog catching up to do this week. I've just been using my week off from work to relax and get things done around the house. So I haven't had a lot of energy for blogging. But I promise I'm going to try and be better.

Happy Monday!

Family Fun Friday

Today we had Bryson's 2 year photo shoot with Alisha at Heardmont Park. I was excited to finally cross this off my list. Since his first year pictures were done in the summer I thought for this year I would wait and have them done in the fall. This also gave me the opportunity to get a few family shots in for our Christmas Card.
I hope to get the proofs in the next two weeks. I didn't have high expectations this year for his pictures since 2 years is a really hard age to photo. But I think she got some really great shots and I can't wait to see how they turned out!

After our session we had lunch at a local rib place.

I had never been to Shane's before but Clay promised it would be a let down. Y'all can I just say their sauce is A-MA-ZING! They have several different kinds to choose from and my favorite was the mustard based sauce. Yummy, yummy! Bryson even liked it:)

After lunch we drove around trying to kill time before Clay had basketball practice. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Clay got a job over the summer to coach one of the middle school's 7th and 8th grade basketball teams. We prayed alot over the summer about this job and the opportunity. The school is 50 minutes away from our house and Clay is in his last 2 semesters before graduating. But everything fell into place and we believed that this is where the Lord wants Clay to be right now. We are hoping this will turn into more once Clay finishes school. So there are alot of changes happening in our family in the next year :)

Clay was sweet enough to let Bryson and I sit in on his practice. We got there a few minutes early so Clay could set things up. Bryson was in awe of the BIG gym and the BIG basketball goal. Clay let Bryson play with one of the basketballs and run around the gym.

Sorry my pictures are not very good. They were all taken from my iPhone.


Bryson has a basketball and a goal at home. This one of course is much bigger!


He wanted so bad to try and ring the goal.


This picture is really blurry, but Clay lifted Bryson up so he could try and ring the goal. They were so sweet together. I love watching them!


Bryson was so excited telling me about everything he was doing. I told Clay that I think Bryson is really going to enjoy basketball. Especially if Clay continues to coach.

Today was such a good "family day" for us! We were all worn out by the time we got home, but I hope to have more days like these in the future!

13 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 13 Weeks
Size of baby: Baby W is the size of a medium shrimp
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I haven't weighed this week. I'm a little scared too. Ha!
Maternity Clothes: Yes! Just maternity jeans right now.
Gender: Can't wait to find out!
Movement: Pretty sure I felt a few flutters this week.
Sleep: Not so much - hoping to get caught up on my week off.
What I miss: Nothing yet
Cravings: Mexican food and anything tangy
Symptoms: I'm still sick just about every day. Mainly nauseated. And nothing ever sounds really good to eat.
Best Moment this week: Getting to feel those flutters again and getting out of the first trimester!

I don't have a picture from Bryson's pregnancy to compare to this week. I remember with him I was feeling awful that day and was not in the mood to have my picture taken. It kinda' makes me sad that I didn't bite the bullet and take one anyway!


We have a pretty busy week this week. Of course I have all the regular stuff that I do on my week off from work, but I'm also hoping to take Bryson to the pumpkin patch one day this week and then we have family pictures on Friday. And y'all know what that means...trying to find something for everybody to wear. Ugh! It makes me nervous just thinking about it.

Hope y'all are having a great Monday! 

Sunday Date

A few weeks back Clay was on the computer and saw that the Carolina Panthers would be playing in Atlanta this weekend. We talked about it for a day or so and decided that it would be fun for us to go to the game and see Cam Newton play. If y'all don't already know we are BIG Auburn fans! Ha! And neither one of us have been to an NFL game before and but have always wanted to go. Of course it fell on my week to work so I had to find someone to work for me last night.

My parents were sweet enough to let Bryson spend the night with them last night


This was Bryson saying "hey" to Max and Sunday, my parents dogs. He always says hey to them when we are there.


This morning Clay and I got up early and headed over to Atlanta. I talked Clay into stopping by Hardee's to get a biscuit. I've noticed with this pregnancy just like the last one I have to eat within an hour of getting up or I start feeling sick.

The ride over was nice and it was good for Clay and I to get to spend some alone time together. We talked alot about the future, with Clay's graduation coming up in May and how this time next year we would have TWO carseats in the car. God has been so good to us! I can't put into words how thankful I am at this time in my life.


I had never been to the Georgia Dome before. My parents and Clay have been. The walk was not that bad from the car to the Dome. And the weather was perfect!


This was our view from our seats. We were on the 3rd level on the first row. It was nice not having anyone in front of us and we had plenty of leg room :) I honestly believe there is not a bad seat in the entire place. I was amazed at how well you could see the field.


Y'all know I had to get another picture of the hubs and I inside. We had such a wonderful time. I think we both realized on this short trip how much we need time just the two of us. Don't get me wrong, we miss Bryson every single minute, but with Clay in school and just the circumstances in our lives, time together is refreshing for us and our marriage.


I didn't feel like lugging my big camera to the game, so this was the best picture I could get of Cam Newton.

It wasn't his best game of the season, but it was great getting to see him play at the NFL level. We saw him last year at Auburn when they played Arkansas. One of the best games Clay and I have ever been to at Jordan Hare Stadium. And he truly is an amazing athlete.

The Falcons won 31-17.


We stopped for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants that we don't eat at very often. The closest one to us is about 30-40 minutes away. I could have eaten my weight in there salad and breadsticks tonight. So yummy!

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend. I've got to try and catch a few hours sleep before I go into work. Thank goodness it's my last night! We have alot planned for this coming week.

Happy Sunday!

A Bunch of Randomness

I had originally planned to blog about a "Day in the Life." It's been a while since I've done one of those posts and I wanted to try and do one about every 6 months. But today was a little hectic, so I think I'll try again tomorrow or Thursday. I wanted to try and do one on my work week since my last one was during my week off. I think they are so much fun to document and see how life has changed or in my case see if I have made any improvements in the motherhood category. Ha!

So instead this post is nothing but a bunch of random things that have been going on the last few days at our house.


This morning when I got home I opened Bryson bedroom door and he was standing there just waiting on me. I love him first thing in the mornings! He's always so sweet and says some of the most precious things. He always wakes up in a good mood. Unlike me and his daddy. It takes us a little while to warm up in the mornings. Ha!


I saw this iPhone background on Twitter today. It's from ABD. I have got to have this for my iPhone. I think Ashley's stuff is just the cutest! It's a free download and the instructions are on the link above.


Last week after my doctor's appointment I went to the mall for the first time in months and picked up "The Belly Book." I bought one while I was pregnant with Bryson and it was so much fun feeling out each week. I want to try and do the same kind of things with this baby that I did when I was pregnant with Bryson. I've always had this feeling that if I was ever to get pregnant again would I still be able to keep up with things like I did with Bryson? I would hate for this baby to look back one day and wonder why there were thousands of pictures of Bryson and not that many with them. It's just a goal I have for myself.

I've been in major Christmas card mode trying to find the perfect card for this year. I think this is one of the hardest things for me to decide on! A few months back I ordered some of the "Mommy Cards" from minted.com Well they have just come out with their Christmas card line and I'm in love with a few of them.

We are scheduled to have pictures taken next Friday and I'm hoping and praying that we get some good shots and I'll be able to order my cards in time!

Here are just a few of the cards I'm loving...


I just love this picture and that red chair


This is probably the front runner right now!


But I'm also loving this one too!
I'm sure if I looked over them again I would find some more that I love.

12 Weeks {Baby #2}

I was 12 weeks yesterday! I'm going to do my weekly posts on Mondays so I can use Sundays to recap our weekend. With Bryson I took a picture every week. It was fun to see how much I grew week by week and to document how I was feeling and what size he was! I spent some time on pinterest trying to find a cute way to document this pregnancy (honestly there wasn't alot on the topic) so I thought I would just compare my pictures from Bryson with my weekly pictures and do highlights each week!



Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 12 Weeks
Size of baby: Baby W is the size of a lime
Total Weight Gain/Loss: No weight gain yet (but I feel like I've gained 10) ha!
Maternity Clothes: Yes! I've had to break out the maternity jeans.
Gender: Can't wait to find out!
Movement: Not yet
Sleep: Not so much - but I think it has more to do with working night shift every other week than this pregnancy
What I miss: Nothing yet
Cravings: Mexican food, Grape or Orange Juice
Symptons: I'm still sick just about every day. Something new with this pregnancy. I got some Zofran this go round and it's getting a little better!!
Best Moment this week: Getting to hear the heartbeat!


I already feel like I'm much bigger this time. I hear that happens with the second pregnancy. And I'm loving every minute!


PS. I posted the last two weeks Fall Friday Recipes here and here. The breakfast casserole is one of my favorites!

Fall Friday Recipe

The recipe for this week I've only tried out twice.

Fried Potatoes and Onions.

It's one of my favorite side dishes from Lambert's Cafe. I'm still tyring to perfect it, so if y'all have any suggestions, please let me know. I don't have very many pics this time. But this recipe is pretty simple.

Ingredients

• 4-6 medium potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 1/8 cup cooking oil
• couple tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper

Wash and peel both potatoes and onion. Slice potatoes to whatever thinness/thickness you like. I cut mine somewhere in between.


I like to cut my onions in a half moon shape.

Next heat up your oil and butter into a skillet on medium heat. I wish I had a iron skillet to use with this recipe, but mine is to small and used more for cooking cornbread, which by the way I have never attempted in my life. Ha!

And I'll admit that I'm alot like Paula Deen when it comes to the butter, I just use however much I feel is necessary. Probably a little more than I should.

Place your potatoes in first and cover with a lid. Let them cook for about 15-20 minutes on medium heat turning them occasionally. You want them to get fork tender.

Once your potatoes get tender put in your onions. Let them cook for about 5-10 minutes. This is where I will add my salt and pepper.


After you've let your onions cook. Turn the heat up to medium high and let your potatoes get brown on the outside and crisp up.

This is probably not the most healthy side dish, but oh it's so delicious!

Overwhelmed

I hardly ever write "serious" posts, probably because I can never write out what I'm thinking and it make any sense at all. But today I thought I would give it a try.

In the last few weeks I have started to feel so "overwhelmed" with everything going on around me. There are so many changes that are going to take place within the next year and I have no idea which way they could go.

Clay will graduate in May and then will be on a mission to find a job hopefully before the school year starts. We will welcome baby #2 in April. I am struggling with my job and which direction to go after baby #2 arrives. We are in full "terrible two" mode with Bryson, need I say more. And with all of this I have got to find time to potty train him before the baby gets here.

I know some of these things might sound trivial to some of you, but for me they are terrifying. I feel like I have lost all control of the things around me. And being pregnant and working night shift is not a good combination for me. I stay tired ALL the time! My house looks like a tornado has come through and I don't even know where to being to get it back to where it was before. And if I'm being completely honest, I have absolutely no motivation to do anything. I stay in my pajama's alot during my week off. I would rather Clay just pick something up to eat on his way home than cook anything.

This is not who I am! This is not who Clay married! This is not who I wanted Bryson to have for a mother! How in the world am I going to be able to raise two children?

Just before I started writing this post Erin at Blue-Eyed Bride wrote a great post on battles and wars. She talked about being a mother of a two-year old and the struggles that she is going through. I really felt like she was talking right at me. At the end of her post she said "turning to God in prayer is her biggest hope." And that's when it hit me...

I've been so consumed with all the changes soon to take place, feeling like I have failed as Bryson's mother, not having any motivation for anything; that I have forgotten to take time to sit with God in prayer and ask for His help.

I am so thankful for a God who doesn't expect me to be perfect even when I think I need to be. A God of second chances, because boy do I need them.

Psalm 121:1&2
1. I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from? 2. My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.