The Little Gym

Scarlett and I had a fun time yesterday when we visited The Little Gym. My sweet friend Chelsea invited us to come and I am so glad she did. Chelsea has two very handsome little boys -- Jude and Pierce (don't you love their names!). Pierce and Scarlett were in the same class. We did all kinds of fun activities. Scarlett loved having some open space to CRAWL. It was nice for our little ones to have a change of scenery and explore new moves. I will let these picture speak for themselves...

I thought this was neat... they give you a picture of your child during the class.

Meeting a Georgia Peach

This has been a long time coming, but we finally got to meet one of our favorite Georgia Peaches... Caroline!!! Scarlett and I got to visit with Caroline, see her dorm room and even got a personal tour of Asbury's new Communication Arts Building. Caroline is the little sister of my friend Laurelee and she was just as darling as I had imagined! It was so fun to see how much alike and different they are. There truly is nothing like a sister! Being on campus made me miss my college days. I even ran into a college friend and blog reader, Abby, while on campus. If you are reading, it was good to see you Abby!!

Carline and I figured out how to set the self-timer on my camera and took this picture. I could not have done it without her because I am losing my mind. I even left Scarlett's favorite sippy cup in Caroline's room. Oh my.

So, something that I love and have shared about on here before is consignment sales. Well, it is consignment sale season and my mom and I are revving up for finding some deals. I can already see it... my market tote filled with smocked dresses and spring colors ;) ha! I am actually going to be selling at my favorite sale which is exciting because I need to put some money in the bank in order to find some deals. Any mamas in my area looking for some good sales? Here are some of my favorite:

Little Treasure Sale

Lil' Lambs Sale

KidStuff Sale

Happy Shopping!!!

The highchair accessory & A very subtle before and after

This is something I look at very often...

Little missy eating a snack in her highchair.

But something that every highchair should come with is always sitting just below...

The brown, hairy vacuum -- Callie!

She makes sure I don't have anything to clean up off the floor.

And exactly what I thought would happen did. I am posting the bathroom "after" pictures weeks after posting the "before." Ha! Oh well! You have to look close...

but here is 1 before and 2 afters.

(Before)

(After)

I realize the difference is VERY subtle, but it was a much needed change.

The duckies flew south for the day...

KT and I flew south yesterday to visit our dear friend Beth. It was a long day, but was SO worth it. We had a ball. Beth and her husband have 2 little cuties at their house right now so it was so fun to love on them and especially to see Beth in action as a mommy of an almost 3 year old and newborn! WOW!

How sweet is this? Scarlett loved having someone to play with!

Here is KT holding sweet little Isaiah.... He was so tiny and darling! When I was holding him I kept thinking to myself, "I cannot believe Scarlett was ever this small..." But then again, she was his size (or bigger) when she was born. ha!

Elyjah loved being right by Scarlett while she was eating. He was cracking me up. Everything I would give her he would want a little bit of (except for baby food!). If I was giving her a spoon full of baby-food he would say, "I used to eat that when I was a baby." He is SO cute and SO smart.

We had such a wonderful visit. If only we lived right next door to each other. We do like to "fantasize" about that. I am so thankful for these precious, lifetime friends. Thank you Lord for allowing our paths to cross!!! I love you girls!!! xoxoxo.

And she's off!

My friend Kristin said it best when Kingston started crawling... "our lives just got a little more complicated!" So true. But it is so fun! Yeah Scarlett!!!!

Gearing up for... The Biggest Loser

We did not do a whole lot this weekend... They seem to fly by and then on Sunday afternoon we look at each other and say, "what happened to the weekend?"

It was so nice to have a 3 day weekend in remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr. How grateful we are for the life he lead and what he accomplished for our country during his life.

Mitch and I really enjoy watching The Biggest Loser. We are not big TV watchers, so it takes a lot for us to turn on the tube. We are gearing up for another show tonight... Mitch looked at me last week while we were watching and said, "what is it about this show?" I seriously cry every week! ha! It is awesome to see people transform as they deal with the issues in their life and the one they all have in common -- weight.

Mitch and Scarlett have been working out to the theme song and everything!

Erin's 'Consumer Reports' and a word from the little lady.

Since I cannot thaw our car out from under the snow that has covered it for going on 3 days now and take the trip to stroll around Hobby Lobby I would like to take... I will do some reporting for you, my dear readers. I consider myself to be a pretty 'picky' consumer. So, I thought I would share some things I have grown to appreciate a little more while being stuck inside. Plus, we all know "word of mouth" is the best way to find out about something you might need!

My vacuum. It is the Eureka Boss SmartVac Bagged Upright Vacuum, to be precise.

I am telling you, this thing is great. I always thought bag-less vacuums were "all the rage", but I now realize bagged is SO much better (unless it is a Dyson, but that is a totally different league). I really like this vacuum and use it all the time. It is very handy and designed to work well even if you have your hands full.

Mamas --- beware. This might be old news... but I recently found out about Zulily and I am here to tell you it is a danger zone for those of you who love boutique brands. I gave in yesterday when they had a Baby Lulu event, but the prices are SO good. Especially when you realize that you just saw the exact same outfit handing in a boutique for double to triple the cost. Just had to share but only browse if you dare!

And now, a word from the little lady while she has her afternoon snack...

Nothing else to report here.... just trying to hunker down until spring when Scarlett makes her debut as a superstar!

Epidemic sweeping the Southeastern US....

I don't know about you, but we have been staring at a whole lot of this lately:

I love snow... it is so beautiful, but I think I have the early onset of cabin fever. Seriously, I am trying so hard to stay off the computer because internet shopping is apparently one of the symptoms of this epidemic that is probably infecting moms all across the Southeastern United States right now!!!

This little missy has been playing hard. I have succumb to the fact that from 6:30 am until 8:00 pm our living room looks like an explosion of Toys R' Us. Actually, I have grown to love it.

I have to share something else I love with y'all....

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THESE CHUBBY THIGHS!!!

In case you cannot tell, they are pure squish.

Oooooohhhh.....

From our cabin to yours... stay warm!

On! On! U of K

We dressed Scarlett in her UK smocked dress for church today

so she could show a little team spirit...

She loved it! She was humming the fight song and everything.

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But then we told her that they lost their bowl game and their basketball game yesterday....

Yea, her tune changed a little... can you tell? ha!

We have had a nice weekend. I feel like Mitch and I ran around like wild hyenas yesterday because we stocked up our pantry by going to Sam's Club and Kroger... so we decided to take it easy today (it is the Sabbath!). Those of you that know me well know that I am not a big "movie watcher", but Mitch loves movies. We sat down and watched 'Knight and Day' with Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise while Scarlett took her afternoon nap. It is good so far... we have to finish it tonight because she woke up with 40 minutes left to go, so we don't know how it ends just yet. We will see....

Scarlett has been sleeping SO much better! Thank you Lord! After her check-up appointment earlier this week, we started "Scarlett's Sleep Project." Mitch would laugh that I am writing down our project title :) Basically, we have started laying her down for her morning nap and trying to let her fall asleep by herself. She has done it 3 straight days and also feel asleep for her afternoon nap all by herself today! (when I say 'all by herself' I mean, we normally would have to bounce her for 15-20 minutes so she would be totally asleep before we laid her down... it resulted in her not being able to put herself back to sleep during naps or night-time when she would sporadically wake up.) She is napping longer and not waking up every 2-3 hours at night... I am so thankful and I know she feels more rested too. Mitch cracked me up today when he said, "The happiest baby in the world just got happier!" Too funny.

9 Months

Scarlett,

Once again the 6th rolls around and we cannot believe you are another month older! You are such a treasure and a joy. You had your 9 month check-up this morning and got a wonderful report. You are healthy and growing and are above the 95th percentile from head to toe. Here are your statistics compared to your last check-up at 6 months:

6 MONTHS
Length: 28.5 inches
Weight: 19 lbs 13 oz
Head: 45.5 cm

9 MONTHS
Length: 30.5 inches
Weight: 22 lbs 15 oz (looks like mommy & daddy were a little off!)
Head: 48 cm

Your 1st Christmas was last month and you loved it. You loved all the wrapping paper and tissue and surprisingly loved getting some new toys (we were not sure if you would be that interested). We look forward to being able to explain more to you about Jesus and His birth next year. You are a VERY active girl. Here are some things that are going on with you:

- You where a size 4 diaper and size 12-18 month clothes.

- You are still nursing well and love eating fruits, veggies and crackers.

- You are not sleeping well right now. We are trying to figure out what we can do to help you sleep better.
- You clap your hands all the time and wave sometimes when people come and go.

- You can go from your tummy to the sitting position (it is so weird to find you sitting up in your crib when I come to get you from your nap)

- You "dance" when you hear music.

- Your stranger anxiety phase is in full force.

- You are really good at picking up even really small things with your fingers (we say you have little pinchers).

- You say "mama" all the time.

- You love bath time.

- You play really well by yourself.

- You currently have 2 (lower) teeth and are getting 4 on top as I type!

- You LOVE other children.

- You LOVE to scream. It is a happy scream, but it is LOUD.

- You are very curious. You like to get into anything that is in your reach.

- You like to share when you are having snacks. You will feed yourself a puff and then feed me one... it is very cute.

- You are a good eater (nothing new there!). We are excited to start introducing you to more foods.

- You are very vocal and are always talking.

You are getting so big and are acting more and more grown up all the time. We just cannot believe in 3 short months you will turn 1 year... crazy!

We love you SO much,

Mama and Dada

Weekly Project: Paint the hall bathroom

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my weekly projects is to paint the hall bathroom. I really like this room. The couple that we bought our house from redid the bathroom not long before selling it so it was not one of our first priority when we moved in. Like I said, I really like it, but the green walls have always been a little too neon for my liking. As we all know, there is nothing like a fresh coat of paint... It will be a very subtle change, but one I think is needed. The total project cost is $15.00 ( for a new shower curtain from T.J. Maxx, where else?). Woohoo. I am using some paint that my mom already had that I really like (Benjamin Moore-- Dill Pickle). She painted "my room" at her house this color and so I am thinking it will work well. Paint can be so difficult to choose, but I am feeling confident about this option.

Enough words from me! Here is the before:

And here is the palet I have chosen...

I don't think it shows up well in this picture, but there is an aqua stripe in the shower curtain which will tie in the aqua accents.

I hope that I don't post the 'after' pictures weeks from now. Ha! I have got to get crackin!

I have to show y'all little missy trying to ride her Daddy's bike after he got home today:

I just cherish my moments at home with Scarlett... She says "mama" all the time right now and we think we can tell now that it is not just 'vocal play.' I thought I would capture her saying it here, but I guess she was a little camera shy. I still had to share her sweetness with y'all: