Baby its cold outside...

It is freezing. My girl cannot stand to be cold, but has an equal disdain for covers and coats. So big sweaters and hats are mandatory. She is going to be a handful, and quite honestly, I cannot wait!

Nothing would warm me up more than being a winner! The t.ruffle girls are throwing themselves a little "goin' away for the holiday break" giveaway, if you're feelin' lucky visit Karey for the details. I hope I get picked, I would love to get this little pretty

and give this one to someone, who sometimes forgets.

So if you want a chance at some beeeeautiful eye candy with words that make your mind swirl and your heart dance, head over for a chance to win!

If you are on the east coast like me, stay warm, a cold couple of days are in store!

~S

Pictures via the T.ruffle shoppe

My girl and her many faces.

My girl is SO expressive, I fear the many faces of my Avery Grace will lend a hand to an early age of eye rolling and looks to her daddy that will lead to getting whatever. she. wants.

Sometimes I feel that my heart is literally braking...yes...braking, stopping the flow so I can absorb the moments to remember. She is my favorite smell, my favorite color, my favorite place to be. Matt always says, "she is going to break my heart", and having already been a teenage girl, I know this is true, sass is a gift from her mother and she will indeed leave him there in a crumpled heap should her way not be gotten.

The holidays are upon us and if Avery Grace could get her hands on those ornaments and sparkly lights it would be all over. I love getting in the mood for Christmas and the excitement of a growing babe only makes the holidays that much more fun from here on out!

~S

Girlfriends...

I have many, I do not see them everyday, I do not talk to them weekly, and for that I feel a finger tapping out a shame. shame. shame.  But I know them.  I know that time changes our appearance and that distance makes weekly dinner and drinks not just difficult but downright impossible.  I know that when I find that they are sad, when life hands them a fistful of icantbelievethisishappeningtome, I want to be at their front door with a cure, even though we both know that one does not exist.  I know that phone calls and e-mails help, that reading words from someone who cares make you feel less alone.  

I hope they know that this is true. I know I love them as if they were my sisters (a couple are), even if it has been too long since we stayed up too late laughing until we cried.  Even if time has given us creases.  Even if distance has given us a delay.  I hope they know, I know.

Old times, some of the best times...

~S

Friendly neighbor...

After a night of listening to the rain fall I woke to a sunny morning, and thank you daylight savings, it was an early sunny morning.

My neighbor was up early as well, he or she I can never tell, had just caught breakfast and decided to not share with the nest.

Happy Friday, may a weekend of goodies await.

~S

Boot love...

I found a boot, I saved the picture, probably until I had saved enough cash to make it mine, now I have NO idea how to find my crush.

Anyone know whose lovely eye designed this baby?Maybe someday...

~S

Day Late or so...

Happy Halloween! A few short hours of sun and breezy calm allowed for some fun on Halloween night. We enjoyed a quiet evening. My little lamb was sleepy and not very happy about being dressed up, so a quick photo shoot and then off to bed.

Dressing up an unwilling child had me thinking about future Halloweens when she makes costume choices that baffle my mind and are too mature for her little soul, I will look back to the sweet innocent little lamb and laugh at how times change.

~S

Happy Birthday Dad.

My father is...well, himself. What you see is what you get. He loves with his whole heart. He is temperamental and moody and can be as ornery as one sixty plus year old man can. He is my dad. He has been through his own form of hell, pain, loss, hurt and fear, he would say, I suppose we all have, in some form or another. He says restrant when talking of a place to go out and eat. His favorite phrase is “there. you.go.” for just about anything that he agrees with and that he feels he should comment. Once you have been around him for any length of time you somehow adopt said phrase and use it as well. He helps strangers. When I was a child people said I was his spitting image, of that I was proud. After thirty years of watching my mom, myself and my sisters head off to church every Sunday, he now joins my mom each Sunday for mass. He loves to be outdoors. He can fix anything. His ability as an artist is his true gift, a gift he keeps close to his heart and shares only with family.
My daughter will call him Papa, as do all of his grandchildren. He makes duck sounds and vairous whistles to make my girl laugh, smile and give him attention. He gives strong hugs. He is honest even when it hurts, you or him. Without his love I am not sure where I would be.
Saturday is his birthday. No tricks or treats, just my memories and wishing him a happy day.


Love you dad, happy early birthday.

Tuning in.

The holidays are approaching at a rapid speed. I can't think about Halloween without thinking pumpkin, which leads to pie which leads to thoughts of baking for Thanksgiving which leads to Black Friday (in a former life would have led to an awesome celebration in the retail world in which I once lived) now I think that I need to get on the ball shopping for Christmas. I believe every year the holdiays come and go faster and faster, or it is just the older I get the less I remember and the lack of processing allows time to fly. Whichever it is I was not prepared to walk into the store yesterday to "Sleighbells ring are ya listenin'" and I don't even think I was paying attention to the tune until I began to sing it to myself as I browsed the shelves...and here it is a full twenty four hours later and I am still a singin'. Here they come ready or not.

This picture has no relative meaning to my post however, when I left the Holiday drenched store this guy was waiting in the opposite parking spot from me...I believe he enjoyed my singing.


~S

Ouch...what a weak

I feel weak this week. It has been emotionally draining to say the very least, a previous visitor is back at my house that I am not ok with, it has been a week for the books with Ave, and I am in need of a weekend away!

To top off the week we started like this yesterday...

and after a mishap with the sitter and a stroller malfunction ended the day like this...

Whew...bring on some weekend happies!

Perfect.

I am trying to find the right words for this post.  For the past...let's say 5 months I have been uneasy, about my house, my marriage,  my existence.  I have questioned where I actually belong, where my so called "station" in life is grounded.  I fear losing "it", whatever "it" may be, I guess I have always questioned trust, and honesty.  BUT today, I believe that I trusted that I would hear that my daughter's 6 month check up would be nothing but "she is perfect"  "Moving right along".  The Doctor's apprehension could have been A LOT worse, I know, the what if's are a lot easier to look at than the what are's,  nevertheless, I am thinking about both.   My girl needs evaluating, she needs assessment, she is my perfect girl, but something is not allowing her to be that to everyone else.   She will be, I don't doubt it, she is amazing and strong, and even as imperfect, she is amazingly perfect.

~S 

Strike a Pose...

I am telling you, she is getting big...sitting up in the tub...too big for her britches my Mimi would say.

She makes me laugh. Every. Single. Day.

Have a great weekend, going to enjoy the few days with my parents who are in town for a couple of days. Hope the days are sunny!

Touch...

What if tomorrow were your last day?  What if i were to leave this world, would the people I love the very most know how I what they meant to me?  Have I done enough to show those who touch my life everyday how I feel about them?  In today's society I think we have so much technology, so much wiring that the word touch seems almost a violation of ones space.  I think back to receiving letters in the mail, ones from my great grandparents or my grandparents (ones I still have today) but those letters touched me, made me sit and read and think.  That trip from the mailbox to the house was so great I could not wait to rip open the envelope.  Don't get me wrong I love that I can send a letter to my parents with a push of a button and they can respond in seconds with questions or comments.  But the actual paper in your hands with smudges of pen and the sometimes strain to figure out my Memaw's handwriting, that was touching.  I write letters to my daughter, I place them sealed in her baby book, for her to find one day and read my thoughts of how she touches my life everyday.  I hope she keeps them and knows that her touch is the best gift I have been given.  

~S

Funny..

Life is.  Funny.  I think about all if the "stuff" I want to do, in one day, in one month, for the rest of my life, and when I have an actual day to think and plan and prepare, I feel that it has been wasted. Grant it with this face how can their ever be a wasted day

But seriously.  I got a killer work out in, but I still feel that the day

 has escaped me with no real gains on what I am going to do.  

I am working 2 days a week, not keeping up with this blog, if anyone still reads this that would be a miracle because I have not been diligent at the writing.  I love to write.  Scratch that, I loved to write, I could sit for hours with pen and paper and have a flowing sonnet or simple ideas that would come together as an eloquent letter.  For some reas

on the translation has been lost when it comes to typing, I can still put the ideas to words, but not in the form that they used to take through my pen. 

I would love to write everyday, I need to write everyday, it soothes me it really does, that is if I can take the time to do it!

SO today is my day, I am stating that I am going to write, I am going to focus on what is to be and how I am going to raise this little girl to become a woman who is sure of herself!!!

Sailing...takes me away to where I'm going...

I just returned from a loooong weekend in Florida, a friends baby shower allowed some time away from the norm for Matt, Avery Grace and I.   Some time in the sun, a dip of my toes in the warm ocean and some solid reflection of  days passed.  

I lived in Florida for almost 2 years, a lucrative corporate purchase landed me in the sunshine state, and allowed me to meet some amazing people, all the while hating the job and pondering my place in life.  The thought of that free spirit crept into my brain the entire trip.  I had no worries.  I was in all accounts a kid right out of college and living my life like I wanted. For me.  I could do no wrong.  Until I realized that I had already been the kid out of college, I had already lived "that" life.  Florida allowed me to want more, allowed me to think long and hard about the path my life was taking.  I appreciate the opportunity it afforded me, in the life department,  the career department was a bust, but I have more now than I could have ever achieved trying to climb a ladder.   I have my amazing little family, I have a beautiful house and the ability to think freely.  I miss my friends like CRAZY!  Calling the girls for last minute happy hour OR dinner at the house was a gift.  I treasure my memories.  I look forward to visits and more memories, and I thank the state of beaches, blue hairs and big fake boobs for the friends and gifts it has given me.

"I can't wait"

I find myself thinking this thought often, little things, I can't wait for the weekend, the evening when my husband gets off work, the storm to pass, to big things...like I can't wait to see what kind of girl my baby will be, what kind of teenager, woman, mother...I think we all are guilty of wishing for the future so that we can know the outcome, not to change, but to appreciate.   I have to take a moment when the "can't waits" creep up on me and think that each day I have to teach and raise and just stare at my daughter are the best days of my life, I would never wish to wish them away.  I can wait, this face is worth the wait.

and so are these toes!

WHEW...what a journey!

My body is no longer stretched to capacity...

But my heart has never been so full...
Avery Grace was born on April 1st, after an induction that did not take and a weekend full of contractions, she finally decided that she would make her 6.15 pounds debut! Taking time away from all venues to get adjusted to my new life has been exactly what I needed. She has all of my attention and I am so glad that she is happy and healthy and stylin...

Matt and I have not totally gotten used to the sleep schedule but we are getting closer. She is such a great baby! I am hoping to continue to work from home and who knows maybe start a new venture that would require no office time! For now I am just enjoying being mommy to my girl!

~S

Still Kicking...

Time flies when you are having fun, or anxiously waiting and getting bigger by the minute! I am about 20 days away from my due date and truly hoping that this little girl is excited about getting out and not a procrastinator (as her mother tends to be!). She is "in the position" and ready to go so I am thinking in the next 2 weeks we will get to see her beautiful face!
This is me at 37 weeks...whew...I AM READY!

Funny how this side shot makes me look so much smaller than I acutally am or at least feel. I will try to be more diligent about posting, I have just been swamped with working and getting her room ready, which is turning out better than I even expected!

Have a great weekend! ~S

Back from the...

I am back. Two weeks with my family and feeling rejuvenated. I am ready for these final 11 weeks. I am feeling the pressure of the “to do” list but ready to conquer it and get the house (as well as myself) baby ready.

I am not on the New Year…new resolution band wagon. I whole heartily believe in setting goals and a new year does allow for new reflections, however with me, I think I have my hands full with enough new for a couple of years. This year I am sticking to just being the best mom I can be, I think the rest will work itself out. Here is a little 3-D shot of my baby girl, these "insider" shots can be a little creepy but her little face is so sweet, I cannot help but be in love.

~S