The Wife of a Fisherman

Happy superbowl day!

2012-02-05T15:29:00.000-05:00

My new vintage

2011-12-19T12:04:00.000-05:00

When I found out that I was hosting Thanksgiving this year, I set out to find some things for the dining room. I ended up in a little antique store where I found candlesticks, a bowl, and some napkin rings.

Anyways, today I was rearranging and I moved the candlesticks. I looked at the bottom to see if I could find out more about them. Thats when I noticed a faint imprint in the felt. Turns out, my antique candlesticks are really Pottery Barn. And., furthermore, they are STILL selling them. For $44 a piece.

Reindeer cookies

2011-12-10T14:30:00.000-05:00

I have to bring some treats for the kids' parties at school.

I made these cookies using graham crackers, pretzels, marshmellows, chocolate, m and ms. And nilla wafers.

To hold everything together, I used marshmellow creme ( can't use peanut butter at school or I prob would have done that!).

These are so cute and can't possibly taste bad since I didn't bake anything!.. . Hope the kids love 'em!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

2011-12-07T13:36:00.000-05:00

Gingerbread houses

2011-12-05T18:14:00.000-05:00

2011-12-05T16:53:00.000-05:00

I have been on a sofa search for the playroom. I have my eyes on two in particular, but I am having a dilemma over which sofa to choose. I really like the fact that they are both slip-covered white, so that hopefully I can just wash/bleach them and they will always look clean. I have not actually "tested" them, but I need to!

RTG by Cindy Crawford

This one is a more expensive
looks smaller b/c of the two cushions
Comes with throw pillows

EKTORP from Ikea

Can purchase slipcover in other colors!
Has three cushions. looks roomier
less expensive.

HELP!!!!!!

Shop til ya drop!

2011-11-25T12:17:00.000-05:00

Happy black friday!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T09:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, from my table to yours!

Our hospital stay is over today!

2011-11-18T10:10:00.000-05:00

Our sweet baby gets to go home today after a few days at the childrens hospital. She has RSV and has finally stopped wheezing enough to be sent home!

Poor baby

2011-11-15T21:24:00.000-05:00

Our sweet little girl is in childrens hospital. Please pray for a speedy recovery

3 years

2011-11-15T10:15:00.000-05:00

Happy Anniversary Ryan. I love you

Yard sales are the bomb.com

2011-11-12T22:02:00.001-05:00

First up is this Pottery Barn Media stand AND hutch ok, granted PB teen, but still!

I have been looking to "do" the playroom since we moved in. We didnt have enough furniture so this room has had a bad case of the "itty bittys". Meaning- all the furniture in here is very undersized/not right scale/and otherwise meant for children. Yes, I know it is a playroom, however I would like to be comfortable in there as well! Anyhoo...this is going to be a good start for what I have had in mind for this room! And it was a STEAL at $70!

This next console table here I got for $5. The below picture is after!!

Date night

2011-11-04T20:42:00.000-04:00

My sweetie suprised me with a delicious meal and beautiful flowers. I am one lucky girl!
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Happy halloween!

2011-10-31T12:14:00.001-04:00

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What's been going on around here

2011-10-28T07:51:00.000-04:00

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First Day of School 2011

2011-09-07T16:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Heath's first day of Preschool!

He wore his backpack

and since his class is the "bumblebees", he ate a bumblebee cupcake

And he got to bring home a balloon! He also made super fun crafts!
Today was MaryAnne's first day of Preschool. She is in the "Rabbits' class!

She colored a little bunny to bring home on her first day.

Here they are this morning before class started!

and just for fun...

the usual after nap activities..

They are just too much for words :) I just Love them so much! Happy first week of school babies!!

Labor day weekend 2011

2011-09-05T21:18:00.000-04:00

On Friday, we packed our bags and headed for the hills. We ended up here, in Maggie Valley, NC.

This little cabin was on a trout pond and stream

We had a little loft, and played lots of musical beds.

This pond was out our back door.

And is the site of Heath's first BIG CATCH! he also fed the ducks a LOT of bread!

MaryAnne posing in front of our cabin

We hiked a trail off of the Blue Ridge Parkway

And threw lots of rocks

We got towards the top of the Mountain

And enjoyed and incredible view

Then we headed off to Cherokee, NC and went to Santa's Land

Santas Land is a magical place for little boys and girls. My little ones enjoyed their first ever rollercoaster.

And they got to pet real life reindeer

MaryAnne sporting her teams colors on Gameday. Go Gamecocks!!

Talking a whirl in their new cars

We also got to play in the river, have picnics, and watch real Cherokee Indians do their native tribal dances. It was a pretty spectacular weekend.

Man, What a way to kick off the fall season!

Hope yall had a great Holiday too!

pinterest and my dream home. so far!

2011-08-14T14:42:00.000-04:00

no source, sorry

none, sorry

So I finally made it onto pinterest. and i love it. Such a great way to store pictures of what goes on in my brain!! I will now be found either on pinterest drooling or trying to get crafty! Hope yall have a great rest of the weekend.

Our august, so far

2011-08-10T13:37:00.000-04:00

I feel like it has been forever since I have actually written a post. We have already had a super busy month starting with Ryan's 29th birthday on August 1st! We had a nice day and he got some cool stuff, including a wench for his 4wheeler and a corn hole set that my dad made for him! On the morning of his birthday, we also got Heath to say that daddy is "two nine" . Heath is really starting to pick up on words and starting to speak a lot more. He did 2 speech therapy sessions- the first being an evaluation and the second was basically to lend me a dvd about speech therapy and to tell us that she didn't think he needed it! I guess he is just a late talker afterall! I was relieved, since for months I had thought he should be talking more and was starting to get a little worried. I guess he decided to "show us" after we scheduled apptments.

MaryAnne has really been walking and talking! She picks up on the sounds and repeats them over and over! She is getting SUCH a personality. She has also been loving her babies and lovies. Unfortunately, she has a double ear infection right now. :( I hate it when she is sick, but i Do LOVE her snuggles when she doesnt feel good. She only wants to be held and she just rests her little head on my shoulder. Thats when my heart melts.

This month, we have also had quite a few date nights. (yay!) We went to a wedding one night, celebrated Ryans bday early at bonefish-yumm- another night, have played tennis together a few times, and just this past weekend, the kids stayed at my parents and we went to Carolina Adventure world to ride 4 wheelers and test out the new wench. Geez.That was a long sentence/run-on!

I have also gone to several showers for friends who are either getting married OR having a baby. Busy busy busy!!

What have yall been doing to beat the heat??

wheeee! Sliding together

2011-08-04T10:18:00.000-04:00

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Best buds

2011-07-25T11:24:00.000-04:00

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A big day for MaryAnne

2011-07-21T16:13:00.000-04:00

A big girl seat and painted piggies!
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saw this

2011-07-12T22:56:00.000-04:00

while watching million dollar decorator. hilarious!

and the show is pretty awesome too

My baby is ONE!

2011-07-03T23:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl! MaryAnne, this year has flown by and you have grown by leaps and bounds, but no matter what, you will always be my baby! On this day, July 3, exactly one year ago today you were born at 8:30 pm. You have always been such a happy baby and you are such a sweet little girl. I love you. Love, Mama

The birthday girl woke up happy!

And is enjoying her piano :)

Getting ready to go to church

Tuckered out after church. She will move into her new carseat soon. Her legs are getting a little long for this one. Makes me kinda sad that she is growing up so fast

MaryAnne and her sweet Grandma

Getting ready for food!!!

ONE candle this year!!

and a big smash cake!

She doesn't know what to think about getting all that cake on her hands!! Dont worry, she got the hang of it!

Opening her presents!

And you wont believe it, but she stood up all by herself without any help and walked to me today!!!! First time and it happened on her birthday!!!YAY MaryAnne!!!

My birthday at the beach

2011-06-29T16:49:00.000-04:00

We have been at the beach for almost a week now and it has been fabulously relaxing! We leave tomorrow and I'm not ready yet. And we have already been here an extra day!! We woke up this morning for a family photo shoot on the beach, went to a yummy lunch, and then ryan and I rode the tallest ferris wheel this side of the Mississippi. Best birthday ever!
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Angel oak

2011-06-24T13:55:00.000-04:00

Was featured in this months southern living magazine. We stopped by today to enjoy the beauty!
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Our newest addition

2011-06-23T08:10:00.000-04:00

Yes, it will be babied. No, it doesn't wear diapers!! Ryan finally got his dream car! 2001 corvette ZO6
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Happy fathers day

2011-06-19T20:55:00.000-04:00

Happy fathers day to all of the dads out there! My kids are so lucky to have the best dad ever!!! And a very happy day to my dad too! You are also the best!! Love you both very much.
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I suppose....

2011-06-17T09:53:00.000-04:00

That one day we will be watching him at motocross Xgames!!
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The wild man

2011-06-15T22:19:00.000-04:00

We were invited to a super fun Sesame Street themed party on Saturday for one of Heath's buddies. It was at the Little Gym and we all had a blast! Heath is for sure a high-energy two year old. The Bday Boy's mom snapped this picture for her blog and I just had to share! And don't you just love his little outfit that I picked up for him here while I was at the beach. He is the son of a fisherman, afterall!

And on another note... My dad's birthday is tomorrow, and while he was playing golf today, He shot a HOLE IN ONE!!! It is his second ever and I am really, really proud of him!! What a great way to start his birthday!! ( to celebrate, he bought a keg for all of the seniors at the club! what can i say, he's pretty darn fun for an old fart!!) LOVE YOU DAD :)

Amazingness

2011-06-15T16:06:00.000-04:00

My kiddos are so lucky to have such an amazing dad! He is in the process of finishing their jungle gym that he designed and built himself!! He is so handy, and easy on the eyes,too!
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Our first girls only beach getaway!!!!

2011-06-11T00:31:00.000-04:00

For the past few days, MaryAnne and I have been at the Beach having girl time!!! We left Daddy and Heath in Columbia, and headed to DeBordieu. We went with a sweet friend whose daughter is about 2 weeks older than mine. We played in the sand, played in the pool, played tennis, went shopping, and went out to a fabulous dinner (We even had the luxury of a babysitter so that we could do the last three things!!).We had such a great time and it was so nice to have one on one time with MaryAnne. She loved the pool, golf cart rides, kind of liked being in the ocean, and kept eating sand :/ and playing with her friend, of course! We only got a few pictures the whole time we were there, and I guess we were so busy having fun at the beach that we didnt even get a picture of all of us :(. Just of the babies, hah go figure!

Obviously, It was an extremely relaxing and rejuvenating week for all of us!

sweet babies

2011-06-02T08:13:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we went to Monkey Joes. Its like a bounce castle warehouse where the kids can run around and jump, jump, jump. Here are my sweet kiddos riding on a little mechanical car. Cant believe just how big and fast they are growing. And, I might add that it is just too adorable how they love to play together! awww goodness i just cant get enough of these two!!!

psshaw maaan BUYER BEWARE!

2011-05-26T08:23:00.001-04:00

So I got this cute pair of sandals right around Easter time, and think they are just adorable. They have fish on them-- "dont be koi"-- are gold, and are sparkly aka foot jewelry ha. Right up my alley. Plus they are really comfortable.

Well I am getting out of the car last night after my moms 60th bday party!! ( HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! you are the BEST!!!) And lo and behold, the ring underneath the fish that hold the shoe together SNAPS. While I am just STANDING THERE. This is crap! I have only had them for about a month and have worn them only a few times, so I am hoping they will let me exchange them.

UPDATE: I was able to exchange the shoes the next day! They were so nice about it and I am a Happy Camper!! THANKS LILLY! <3

before and afters

2011-05-17T14:02:00.000-04:00

Before Heath's Birthday, I bought these two chairs for $3 at a yard sale

We had been given this table from family

But they both needed a little TLC. I had already decided to paint our kitchen (again) and used the paint from that, and then bought some chalkboard paint for the top and got to work.

This after is of what Heath woke up to on his birthday. He loves having a little table and chairs that are made just for him!

Our kitchen color before:

And after:

And since I had a bunch of chalkboard paint left over, I decided to add some to our freshly painted kitchen:

Another view. Can you guess what Ryan was doing while I redecorated/painted?!

And then, I thought my kitchen needed another little kick of color, so I purchased some fabric and made this curtain. What do yall think? ( i wish i had a closer-up picture of the fabric.Its a kind of geometric-damask sort of pattern.)

Awesome mothers day weekends!

2011-05-17T13:43:00.000-04:00

The Saturday before mother's day, Ryan and the kids gifted me a new camera! So we decided to take advantage of the early present and take the kids to the zoo!

Heath loves the zoo and will just run and run to see everything!

MaryAnne likes to sit in the stroller and view the animals

Heath will run up, slide down, and run up to do it again. LOVES to slide down the big slides

Sweet MaryAnne

Then on Sunday, we went to the lake with Ryans family for mothers day.

MaryAnne loves the wind in her "hair" :)

Sweet family picture

My boys

The girls

Daddy/daughter swim

Heath rocking the shades

MaryAnne in her sweet summer outfit.

Then, since I didnt get to see my mom on actual mothers day, Ryan kept the kids on the following Saturday so that we could do the Lake murray tour of homes. It was so special spending the day with my mama doing what we love, looking at houses!

One of the homes on the tour. They had a neat "sign" showing the distances to all the places in the world that they love. What a neat idea!!

My mom relaxing in the sun on the "beach" of one home!

Another of the properties that we saw that day. They had gorgeous landscaping

Love their large flower beds!

Me and my mom had our own little mother's day and it was fabulous!! I love you mama. Thanks for teaching me how to be a great mom :)

HEATHS 2ND BIRTHDAY 5-13-11

2011-05-14T22:08:00.000-04:00

Opening his first gift of the day! Right after he woke up

His new table and chairs that I redid with chalkboard paint

He spent the first part of his day at school with his buddies. I made him a special shirt for his big day :)

The cookie cake for his party at school

Him and his buddies

Awww my sweet baby is getting big. Makes me a little sad and a lot happy!

PopPop and Poppy met us at Chick-fil-a for lunch after school

MaryAnne ate some cake with red icing! look at that tongue

2 cakes for 2 years, of course! This is the second one. When Heath saw it, he screamed "melmo, melmo" and was so so excited!

Heath watching as his batting practice gets set up! He learned real quick to say "batter, batter, batter!"

Ripping into those toys!

The batting practice was from aunt sheaffer

my sweet 2 year old

more presents..

We all had such a great day!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Heath. We love you so much!!!

Growing up

2011-05-12T01:44:00.000-04:00

It is officially the day before Heath, my first born, turns TWO.

I have been extra sentimental/emotional/excited this week. I am sentimental about how fast he and MaryAnne are growing up. They are both doing new things each day and sometimes I feel overwhelmed that I wont remember it all and that makes me sad. So, I have compiled a list of things that they do that make me smile. :)

Heath: can say the colors "purple" "yellow" and "blue" , He loves to pick me flowers, he makes his sister laugh and they will just go into gigglefits. can remember anything you tell him! and has his own little way of talking to me. He can make "duck" and "goose" noises, like knows the different sounds between the two. I mean he is amazing me every day with what he picks up on!!He will get cheerios out for MaryAnne and put them on her tray. The other day I drew a little tiger face on him and was showing it to him in the mirror and he was "roaring". Before naptime, he was pitching a fit, so on the way to his room I turned him to face a mirror and his crying turned into hysterical laughing when he saw the "tiger" that he had forgotten about. can go up and down "bigboy" slides with ease.

MaryAnne:she is becoming quite the mover lately, always standing up at the train table. Just drank out of a cup tonight!, this girl can bite like the Dickens! I think she even taught her brother how to bite :/ starting to really get her teeth, and her hair is starting to fill in! she can get really loud, espcially in stores. she gets super excited when she starts swinging

I am so lucky to be their mom! And speaking of Moms, I hope everyone had a fabulous mother's day!

Our weekend.

2011-05-03T23:45:00.000-04:00

Me and my love trying to catch a blue! (marlin)

No land in sight!

Gotcha!!!

Reeling in the big one!

My first dolphin/mahi mahi/dorado/dinner. Yum :)

heading back in after a great day. We caught 18 fish!

Ryan with a Biggun'

Yes, we will!

This is powerful stuff

2011-04-29T14:59:00.000-04:00

So I am obsessed with they guy who sings the song in this Subaru commercial

His name is Sean Hayes and I just love his voice. It makes me want to roll the windows down, open the sunroof, and cruise to the beach!!!

The royal wedding

2011-04-29T14:55:00.000-04:00

Yep, I woke up at 4:30 this morning to watch the royal wedding! I mean I am half English so I pretty much felt obligated :) I think it was absolutely gorgeous and I was on the edge of my seat all morning. (I did have two huge cups of coffee, afterall) The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome. I loved the elegance of the wedding party and all of the guests. I loved the dress. I loved the uniforms. And of course the hats. I was especially giddy when they kissed the second time. You can just feel the love! She just looks so genuine and you can see that he absolutely adores her. Oh to be a royal......

Kitchen Makeover

2011-04-26T22:47:00.000-04:00

Before it was all dark wood cabinets

A little bit of hydrangea border paper

And a mustard yellow lantern

After a little white paint on the cabinets and some turquoise paint on the lantern...

Our kitchen is a lot more modern.

I still need to find frames for the pictures Ryan got me for Valentines day, paint the walls, and I would like to find a frame to paint turquoise and make into a chalkboard for the pantry door. So I still have a ton I would like to do, but the painted cabinets and lantern are huge improvements that I love!!

Easter

2011-04-26T22:26:00.000-04:00

Wakey wakey Kiddos!!

Go and find your baskets!

Nice shirt Heath!!! Go Gamecocks!!

Maryanne looking at her goodies. Happy First Easter babydoll!! The easter bunny left yummy cheerios in her eggs, a dvd and a bathing suit. Heath got same except for a shirt instead of bathing suit.

Dropping Maryanne off in her big girl class. Easter was her 1st time in the "crawler" class. They grow up so fast :(

Heath and Daddy matching!!! I just love it

I just love these guys so so so so much!

Happy Easter everyone!

before and after mailbox edition

2011-04-19T23:30:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I had redone the flower bed around our mailbox.

Before:

After:

and I hope to be getting this mailbox in the NEAR future, right honey? ;-)

I've had my eye on it for a while now. And ripped its picture out of the catalog and put it up on our bulletin board. Is this normal behavior for a mailbox?

Entryway: before and after

2011-04-19T23:07:00.000-04:00

OK yall Obviously I have been under a rock because I have had the old post editor and not the new one. Meaning I could only upload 5 pics at a time, in reverse order of how I wanted them to appear on the blog. UGH I would get so frusterated with posting b/c of it and it kept me away. So now that blogging is A WHOLE LOT EASIER I am going to be chipping away at all of our before and afters!

My Entryway

Before

Unfortunately, we bought a LOT of vinyl wallpaper when we purchased this house. And fake rocks as flooring. Cute huh?

During

Yep, thats four different layers.

After

Fw: MaryAnnes 9 month bday

2011-04-06T16:15:00.000-04:00

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-----Original Message-----
From: bjjmonroe@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2011 20:04:15
To: Go@blogger.com<go@blogger.com>
Reply-To: bjjmonroe@gmail.com
Subject: MaryAnnes 9 month bday

On sunday we celebrated MaryAnnes nine month bday! I can't believe that she has been here this long already. time flies! So far she has four teeth with a few more on their way. She has been scooting around and has just recently started to go from tummy to sitting. She wants to crawl so badly, but I am glad she is taking her time! Before long I will have kids running in opposite directions. She loooves her food and puffs and we just can't seem to feed her fast enough. She loves using her voice and it is so neat to watch her and Heath communicate. He makes her laugh so hard. She is such a sweet little girl. Just so precious. And that smile melts my heart. Happy 9 month birthday sweetie! I love you. Love, mama
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Curb Appeal

2011-04-06T09:43:00.004-04:00

When we first moved into our new house last May, the front looked like this:

Army green wrought iron, tan siding, huge window hiding bushes, and of course, a naked baby.

It also had an ugly mailbox with an absurd flower bed around it! I painted the mailbox and wrought iron black, Ryan painted all the siding white, we hung window boxes and hanging baskets and cut shrubs down to normal size, and I expanded the flower bed.

Then we decided that we should add some interest to the right side of the house. So we formed up a semi-circle driveway.

We had a cement truck come to the house to deliver the goods.

And lots of family to help with the man power!

We love our new driveway and think it adds curb appeal. Of course we could always use more flowers...

but I think it turned out great! And we have put it to good use with all of our motor vehicles, riding toys, and now....A place to use the tile saw!! (hehe that is my intro for yet ANOTHER redo!) Stay tuned for more before and afters to celebrate our first year in our new house!!

BEWARE: Extreme Couponer Xing!!

2011-04-06T09:23:00.004-04:00

Over the past few weeks I have noticed a new trend and am jumping on board. Couponing to some is an art and I am learning the tools of the trade! At first it seemed a little overwhelming and tedious to find coupons, organize them, and search for the right product in the store with two little ones in tow. But, after realizing how much money we could be saving, I feel that it is totally worth it. I just have to prepare in advance for my shopping trips! Last night was my first time trying out my new skills and I was thrilled to have saved some moolah! I saved $11 at Rite Aid by taking two coupons and finding one in the store. Then, I went to Target for paper towels and a few other things and ended up saving $7, and received a $5 giftcard b/c I bought 2 packs of paper towels!! My total savings yesterday was $23!!! I admit I am starting out slow and could have saved even more if I had a better selection of coupons, but this is a pretty good start! Do any of you use coupons? Any extreme couponers out there with any tips for a beginner? (ps. i did buy a coupon organizer last night to reward my efforts and to keep myself organized :) )

Chair Redo

2011-04-03T08:17:00.002-04:00

I was in the market for a rocking chair for MaryAnne's room when I came across this beauty. Please note that I found this on the side of the road while I was taking the kids on a walk.

So picture me pushing Heath in a jogging stroller, wearing MaryAnne in a baby bjorn (she was a lot younger when I came across this find. Its been sitting in a file waiting to be blogged...) and then carrying this chair all the way home.

It was exactly what I had been planning for her room. With the help of some pretty fabric, a glue gun, a staple gun, and my BFF spraypaint, I was able to turn a chair that was headed for the dump into a pretty piece of furniture that fits perfectly into MaryAnne's room for less than $10!

Doesn't she look so comfy in her new chair? What do you think? Have you ever found a piece of trash that you turned into treasure? Leave me a comment and tell me about it!!

It's time for a potty!

2011-03-12T21:05:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday morning I asked Heath if he wanted to use the potty. He did so I held him up on the rim of our toilet. He actually went! So that afternoon we headed out to get a Heath sized version. Well he just played with it and didnt use it again. (side note: the kitchen is NOT the permanent location for our new friend!!)

Fast forward a week to today, and lo and behold he pottied in it THREE times this afternoon!!!! All by himself!!!! WOO HOO I am so proud and think I might need to go get him some big boy pants now :)

Our week in numbers

2011-03-05T18:30:00.005-05:00

2 Days of travelling
3 days playing in the snow
1 relative that we ran into on a flight!
4 snowmobiles
1 snowmobile that got stuck and had to be pulled out. Oops, my bad.
1 ski lesson for me
6 lift tickets
1 hot tub
50+ elk
5 moose
3 rams
1 prarie dog
7 bison
5.5 days away from the babies
1 set of parents and aunt and uncle who i know had a blast with them! Thank you! Love you!
2 states we snowmobiled in
100s of deer on Ted Turners ranch
3 bed 3.5 bath log cabin on the slopes
5 meals out
1 bald man named "Curly"
1 snow storm
1 Lone Peak
8 souveniers
1 amazing husband who is very patient!
1 set of awesome inlaws + brother in law
2 hour time change
150 slopes
21 lifts
11,00 feet
1 Big Sky Montana!!

Our house was somewhere in the middle. It was decorated so cute!

Ryan standing in front of lone peak

Me standing in the same spot

Together in the same spot. Arent we cute!?!

The mountain. It can be intimidating, lemme tell ya! But I only freaked out once!! Hey, it was my first time skiing, what can i say.

All the elk we saw on our way back from snowmobiling in West Yellowstone.

Me in all my snow gear outside our cabin. Suprisingly, I stayed pretty darn warm!

If you look closely under that tree you will see bullwinkle!

Our view from a spot where we stoppen on the snowmobiles.

2011-03-01T08:57:00.001-05:00

My view for the next few days! I will be getting my ski legs on for the first time ever in big sky

2011-02-17T14:01:00.001-05:00

Things that are happening in our neck of the woods....

Look who just grew up

2011-02-02T13:21:00.002-05:00

And started preschool today!!! Happy first day of school Heath!!!!

Edit: Just wanted to add this so i can remember. When we got to school, his class was in the gym so this pic is on the way to meet his class there. I introduced him and myself to his new teacher and he went right on in!! Well, i was in the hallway filling out papers when his class came thru to go back to their classroom for snack. Heath saw me and ran to me with his arms streched out saying " mama mama" I reached down to give him a hug and ask how he liked school, (answer: "yeah") and then i told him that he needed to catch up with his class for snack. Well lo and behold, he turned around to look for his classmates and took off with them!! Can you believe it? He is obviously not very shy! And he looves school! Such a big boy now :) Oh, and when we went to pick him up the teacher said seemed to be able to do a lot/know a lot. YaY!!!

Goodbye

2011-01-25T17:34:00.001-05:00

Patches:-). My sweet calico cat patches passed away today. I got her as a gift for my fifth birthday. She was such a great member of our family and she will be missed.

Today is the last day...

2011-01-16T09:07:00.003-05:00

To vote for our family photo at amandajoyphoto.com. Vote #13!!!!!

Monster jam

2011-01-15T13:19:00.001-05:00

Heath loves his trucks. And monster trucks are his new fave!

Guess where we are

2011-01-05T17:50:00.001-05:00

Heath's first trip to chuck e cheese

Guess who is 6 months old today....

2011-01-03T09:43:00.001-05:00

Our first tea party

2011-01-02T12:46:00.001-05:00

Maryanne and mommys first tea party with a set she got for Christmas.

1-1-11

2011-01-01T23:42:00.001-05:00

Happy new year! There is so much I want to do this year and blogging more frequently is one of my goals. I am just now figuring out how to blog from my phone. I'm starting slow but hopefully I will get the hang of it and be able to do more posts with pictures and all that jazz. Other items on this yearly to-do list include:
Saving $

Potty training Heath

Painting dining room and den

Planting flowers in my window boxes and keeping them alive for more than a week

Keeping my house more organized

Welll that should keep me busy enough dontcha think? I'm sure I can think of other stuff but this will do for now!

2011-01-01_12-24-42_783.jpg

2011-01-01T22:48:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of heath on 1-1-11 carrying fire wood. He is getting so big!

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An overview of october Pt. one

2010-11-03T08:31:00.003-04:00

Pumpkin pickin'

Ryan and I went camping in N.C.

Maryanne gets bigger by the day

Heath gets into mischief

Mischief and growing makes my babies tired....much to daddy's liking :)

Big smiles

Italian festival = yummy foodAnd my sweet kids one more time:

Family photos by Amanda Joy Photography

2010-09-15T11:14:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, we had a family photo session with the wonderful Amanda from Amanda Joy Photography. We did a combo family shoot and newborn shoot. This is just a sneak peek, but I thought it was good material for my 100th POST!!!! And when I get to see more of the pictures, I will definately be posting them!

Happy Two month birthday!!!!!!

2010-09-03T09:48:00.002-04:00

My beautiful blue-eyed baby girl!

Hahah this one looks like she has teeth!

WE LOVE YOU MARYANNE!!!!

Heath's First Haircut

2010-09-03T09:42:00.002-04:00

A lovely weekend at the beach

2010-08-15T21:09:00.004-04:00

We went to Cherry Grove to visit the beach for the weekend. Yesterday, Maryanne turned 6 weeks old. Heath went on the big boy swing, and slept in a regular bed by himself with out climbing out or falling out!! Gosh, they grow up fast!!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

2010-08-01T22:48:00.001-04:00

Today is my husbands 28th birthday! We celebrated yesterday by doing this
to our dunebuggy! We had such a great time. I hope today was even better Ryan!!! I love you so much. Happy birthday, Love Brittany

Our extra busy weekend!

2010-07-05T20:31:00.008-04:00

On Saturday, July 3rd, we welcomed our daughter into the world!!! She was born at 8:30 p.m. and weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long!!! Let me introduce you to her!!

Maryanne Revere Monroe

The proud parents

Her sweet little feet getting stamped

A very happy and proud big brother giving his mama a hug

Told you he was proud! Giving his sister a kiss

Sleepy time

Pretty girl

Love her so much!

One of the sweetest pictures ever!

Just got home from the hospital

Family pose

Checking her out again

Heath holding his sweet little sister

Proud Papa

Our "welcome home" flamingos

another family pose

such a sweet little thing

big brother getting to swing with daddy

The sign Heath made for Maryanne...see the handprint?

The girls with the new family pet haha

another family pic

the awesome sandbox Heath got today for being such a super sweet brother

he loves it!

Day of Silence for Cohen

2010-07-01T19:02:00.000-04:00

Best birthday ever!!!

2010-06-30T11:04:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday. It was probably the best birthday I have ever had. My day went like this:
Woke up and walked into a fully decorated kitchen, complete with banners, streamers, and balloons. My sweet husband had decorated it during the night while I was sleeping.

Then I got to open some presents from Ryan and Heath!!
First I opened this restaurant quality frying pan- no more uneven heating in this house!
Then I opened this baby:

Its a potting bench so I can have all the items to keep my thumb green in one place!!

Then, I opened Heath's present

He got my the Mommy hook, so that when I am out and about with two babies, I can have all my bags clipped to the stroller. (I also got a few more things from my guys, but these are all the pics i could find!)

Then we ate a yummy breakfast that my new frying pan helped to cook.

After breakfast, Heath and I went on a walk with a neighbor and her two year old son.

Then Ryan and I droppen Heath off with my mom so that we could go to my Drs. appt. together. I was still measuring small, so the Dr. decided we should do an ultrasound. This was a little nervewracking b/c I was hoping nothing was wrong with our little girl. Fortunately, she is just fine! Plus, we got to see lots of pictures of her sucking her thumb, smiling, and blinking! (Since it was my bday, the ultrasound tech did the 3D/4D ultrasound for us!!!) And, as the cherry on top, the doc scheduled me for an induction next week, just as long as I dont have her before then!!!! YAY!!

After my appointment, we headed to lunch with my family at Harper's. It was so yummy, plus I got these goodies plus some more I dont have pics of!!

I got a citrine ring from my dad that looks almost just like this, except the middle stone is an emerald cut.

Then, from my MIL, I got this great bag, plus a gift card!!! It even has my monogram on it!!

Then after lunch, my sweet friend stopped by and brought this to me:

Its the momAgenda! and it also has my name on the front!! It is such a great organizer and I couldn't wait to use it!

And last, but certainly not least, THE GAMECOCKS WON THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES!!!! Seriously!! I stayed up to watch the whole thing and we won the game right at my birth time- 11:57 pm!!!!!!

Boys and their toys

2010-06-23T23:40:00.002-04:00

This is what came home with us today.

holy cow!

2010-06-21T12:59:00.003-04:00

Today is Monday. This means that our trash and recycling go out today..
Well I was taking our recycling bin to the curb when I noticed something.

It was filled to the brim with empty gallon milk jugs. And I am not kidding you when I tell you that there were 8 of them in there. And yes, our bin is emptied every Monday. Our family obviously goes through a lot of milk. But I had NO IDEA we went through more than a gallon A DAY!!! I mean 8 gallons of milk in a week?!?

With as much money as we spend on milk, We should just buy a cow.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T15:32:00.003-04:00

This post is for two very important people in my life: My Dad and My Husband

Both of you are wonderful men, and are the best fathers I know!

I hope that both of you have a very special day and know that I love you both very much!

Happy Father's Day!
Love, Brittany

Pregnancy update

2010-06-18T13:43:00.003-04:00

I went to the Doctor on Tuesday for my 36 week appointment. They are weekly now!! EEk!! That means baby girl is coming really, really soon!!

Blood pressure is fine. Baby is measuring well, Thank goodness!! (Last appointment she was measuring a little small) And then the doctor checked to see if I was progressing at all.

Turns out, that as of Tuesday afternoon at about 3:30, I was already dilated to 1 cm, and was 50% effaced. Dr. basically said that he could pretty much guarantee that I wouldn't go past my due date of July 16, and that I was already favorable to induce (which he wouldnt do until 39 weeks)!!!!

So, Hopefully this little girl will be healthy and happy and will wait for at least another week or two!!!

Our new master bedroom redo

2010-06-14T14:24:00.003-04:00

So as most of you know, we recently moved into a new house. Therefore, we inherited these bright sunshine yellow walls in our bedroom. We also got rid of our bedframe during the move. That means our matress and boxspring were on the floor. "Crappy" pretty much sums up the feel of our "before" bedroom!

Also, if you remember, I found the dresser below at a garage sale last year and thought it would be "fun" to paint it yellow. Even though nothing in our bedroom matches it. So, needless to say, that got old pretty quickly....

(this is the dresser at the old house)

And a before shot of our "crappy" bedroom in the new house....P.S. I accidentally forgot to take before pics so this is the only one. Sorry!

And so, while my husband was away fishing this weekend.......

ta da! A brand new bedroom that is much more serene and calming!

And look! Everything matches... and there is no more jarring yellow walls or furniture staring me in the face every morning!

Oh, and this bedframe. Garage Sale find by my mom. I just LOVE IT!

Our Memorial day weekend!

2010-06-02T08:20:00.003-04:00

We had such a wonderful weekend, filled with family, friends, and lots of yummy food!
Here is a picture of Heath, who stole his daddy's corn on the cob right off the table! We took Heath to the pool for the first time. He loved it!

He is going to be a little water baby this summer!

On Sunday, Ryan headed offshore with some buddies to fish. So what did I do? Redecorate our house of course! I ordered the nursery bedding online, and it came in on Friday while the boys were napping! What good luck!! I hid the bedding so it would be a surprise when Ryan got home from fishing Sunday night. Before he left, I told him that since he was going fishing, I could not be held responsible for any decorating that went on in his absence!

The room that is to be the nursery looked like this:

A jumbled mess of furniture in the middle of the room

and awful perriwinkle paint.

I thought it was so gloomy.
And here is the closet with about 35 years of scuff marks. Yuck.

So, once Ryan hit the road, I ran out to Lowe's to grab my paint and got to work. Here is what he came home to:

I still need to do some finishing touches, like a new curtain rod and hang some things on the walls (need Ryans skills for that stuff!!), but all in all it is done!! Thank goodness, since she is due in six weeks!!!

Heath's birthday party

2010-05-26T16:03:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, we had a birthday party with friends and family. We had a lot of fun and got to play outside in the water!

Here is Heath with one of his new toys...A water table!

Heath and his granna ( my mom)

Heath in his new swimming trunks w/ his uncle

Our "playroom" with all of Heath's new toys

Heath digging into his smash cake

a shot of the smash cake

and the birthday cake

Heath with a new toy

Heath with a few friends and his grandma

playing outside in the pool with his cousin

It was a fun birthday party and we are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends! Happy 1st Birthday, Son!! We love you!!

Family Birthday Party

2010-05-26T15:46:00.002-04:00

For Heath's 1st birthday, I decided to have a "family party" on his actual birthday, and also a "family & friends" party on the Saturday after his birthday. For the family birthday, we made BBQ grilled chicken, potato salad, baked beans, and chips. I also made a birthday cake and two cupcakes- one for Heath and one for his cousin! These are pictures from his family party.

Getting pushed in his new truck!

Heath received a ton of toys! Including a set of 100 balls...kind of like the ones we used to play in at McDonald's.

The birthday boy with his special hat on!

Here is Heath eating his cupcake

Heath and his cousin..

Heath surrounded by all of his new toys...with cake all over his face!

A sweet family shot- just me and my boys :)

and yes, those are balls flying through the air. The adults used them as ammo in our "ball war"
that lasted about an hour!! SO much fun :)

My tropical getaway!

2010-05-24T21:30:00.003-04:00

Now that it is officially summertime....
I want to be in one of these places......

Unfortunately, that costs $$$$........

So, until we can really go somewhere sunny and nice.........

I redid this.......

My cluttered, boring laundry room...............

to look like this.........

and this..........

and the best part?

It cost under $10!

Wall paint- $5 "oops" can

Storage boxes- I already owned them... just used some spray paint I had on hand!

Storage Labels- Cut up a Lilly Pulitzer greeting card my sweet Aunt had sent me
My own personal "getaway"- PRICELESS! <>

Heath's 1st Birthday!!

2010-05-13T14:33:00.003-04:00

Today is the day that my sweet little boy turns ONE YEAR OLD!!! Exacly one year ago, I went to the hospital at 6 am to be induced. Heath was born a few hours later, at 12:23 pm. I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by. We are having a little family get-together tonight with the grandparents and aunts and uncles. Then, on Saturday, we will have a little party with all of our friends! Ryan and I are so blessed to have such a fun, loving, and healthy TODDLER who we love more than anything in the world!!! Happy birthday Heath! We love you so much!

movin' in

2010-05-02T16:43:00.004-04:00

Hey guys, I'm back! I have missed reading about all of y'all and am so glad that our computer is back in service!!!

We have had a very busy couple of weeks. Most notably, WE MOVED!!!(this weekend actually!!) We sold our house and moved into a new house! The new house is a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house. It feels so much bigger. Probably because it is :) I have had no problems unpacking because it seems like there is a place for just about everything!

Since move-in day on Friday, we have finished unpacking the kitchen, our bedroom, and are working on the kids' rooms.

We only had a few "disasters", like our brand new refrigerator not cooling, a small leak from the washer, and of course our dishwasher that won't work. Thankfully, everything has been resolved. (except for the dishwasher, but they repair man comes tomorrow!!)

(Right now, Ryan is giving our dog Roxy a tour of the house and just told me that they are literally running from one end to another! )

I will keep all yall updated on every project that is sure to come! (and will post some pictures once I get all the camera cords unpacked!)

vacation

2010-03-31T09:37:00.002-04:00

Wow! What a great week it has been. On Thursday, Ryan, Heath and I headed down to Garden City, SC to stay with Ryan's family. While we were there, we played in the sand, played bocce ball, and played putt putt. This was Heath's first real time to the beach where he could enjoy playing with toys in the sand! He even ate crab legs for the first time!

Then on Sunday, Heath and I headed to Edisto with my parents for a few days. Here is a picture of Heath eating some Edisto sand!

I am so excited for this warm weather. Hopefully we will have many more fun days at the beach this summer!!

hey stranger!

2010-03-20T08:29:00.005-04:00

Hey guys! I have been without a computer. at all. whatsoever. For about 3 weeks now. I miss it terribly, and miss reading about all my fellow bloggers even more! There has been a lot going on in the past three weeks. so I will try to recap:

Heath got his first ear infection at 10 months old. It made him feel bad, but he cuddled A LOT which he never does. So it wasnt so bad for me!

We SOLD the first flip house!! Like, someone has already moved in all of their stuff and LIVES there!!

As the weather is getting warmer, more people are coming to look at our house and we have an Open house tomorrow!

The new flip house is about 2 weeks or so from being completed! It looks amazing, and I know I promised pictures, but i dont have any and didnt take any before pictures either. sorry about that. My husband is amazing and can do amazing things! I am so proud of him!!!

I am so excited about spring weather. I have gotten some cute, spring-y maternity clothes and am super happy about all of the flowers and plants that are showing some color!!

I am about 23 weeks pregnant with a LITTLE GIRL!!! We are so excited about her...I cant wait until July when she will be here! Its not too far away :)

Heath has been doing some more walking, and is learning more and more every day. He is growing so fast. I will be starting to plan his 1st birthday really, really soon.

I know how to make meatballs now. A few friday nights ago, we watched Julia & Julie and then we went to sleep. Then i had this dream about meatball subs (which, by the way I have never eaten or found appealing) I woke up and had to make them exactly as they were in my dream. And they were delish! and that is the story on how i learned to make meatballs. I think that pregnancy - cravings/ watching cooking movies could be the culprit.

And that is all of the stuff i can think of that has happened in the past few weeks. Hope yall are all having a wonderful Saturday!!

BABY #2

2010-03-02T13:19:00.001-05:00

Baby #2 is.......

ITS A GIRL!!!!! We just found out today!! We are so excited! More updates to come later :)

9 month checkup

2010-02-22T20:19:00.002-05:00

Today was Heaths 9 month checkup! Well, he is a little over 9 mos now, but anyways, these are the new stats!

He weighs exactly 20 pounds! He is in the 45% for weight, 75% for head circumference, and 90% for height!

He has 6 teeth so far. (4 up and 2 down) but I think 2 more are about to come through the bottom gums. He loves his table food, and refuses to eat baby food anymore.

He is still in size 3 diapers.

He has taken a few little steps but not many, but he will stand alone for about 5-10 seconds at a time. (He can stand alone longer, especially if he is distracted!)

He loves to take a bath or shower, and will bang on the door if he hears the water running in the tub and he is not invited!

He takes about 3 naps a day (morning, noon, and late afternoon) and goes to bed at 7.

This is a picture we took this weekend down in Charleston. He is laying on the boat in his life vest! We put him on his back for the picture and he could not flip over! haha it was like a poor little turtle!

And this is a picture of the first time he was in the same life jacket. This was about 8 or so months ago! Think he has gotten any bigger?!?!! Still has the same expression though!!

Your questions answered!

2010-02-16T12:53:00.003-05:00

I had several questions from some follow bloggers, so here are my answers!

How did you and your husband meet?

I was invited to go to the lake with my roommate and her guy friend (who happened to be friends w/Ryan) and on the way, we had to help this guy aka Ryan load up the jet-ski, so we pulled up to this house (it was Ry's mom and dads house) and I was walking up the driveway, eating a sandwich -ya know, just chomping away- when I first met Ryan. It was classic love at first sight hahah, but seriously during our day at the lake we got to know each other and the next day he picked me up for our first date of bowling!!

What do you do for a living?

I am currently a stay-at-home-mom. I love my job! I have a degree in Public Relations, but nothing could compare to raising my sweet baby boy, keeping a clean house, and being a fabulous cook!! (i am TOTALLY being sarcastic on that last point-but i try! to cook-sometimes )

Does your husband flip houses for a living or a hobby?

My husband has a salaried job where he goes every M-Fri mornings, but he really enjoys doing the flip houses because he can flex his construction muscles and really likes to see projects progress and become so much more than they were before he got hold of 'em! He just likes to stay busy, plus he will get paid for all of his hard work when they sell.

What are my favorite places to shop for yourself and Heath?

Um, I don't do a lot of shopping, but when I do shop, you can find me at target! But, I absolutely love to window shop at the little boutiques in Columbia, i just dont buy anything!!

Have you picked out any names for the new baby?

Well, we havent really thought too much about it since we are not sure whether or not it will be a boy or girl, but whenever we nail it down, I will let yall know! Plus, we find out the sex in about two weeks!!

Exactly how far along are you?

Haha this is a funny question, because I never know!! With Heath, i knew down to the day how far along, but with this baby and being so busy with Heath, I have to look at the very bottom of my blog page where i had added the little babybump timelines!! Ok, i just looked. Today, I am 18weeks and 4 days!! Only 150 days to go until July 16th- my due date!!

You should do pictures of your belly each week!

OK, not a question but a suggestion! I so would, but I am not that organized or scheduled! Maybe i will do a few tummy shots for the blog, but i cant promise a weekly picture!

Now that Heath is 9 mos. and there's another baby on the way, what are some MUST HAVE baby items around the house?

Whew this is a toughie, because Heath's interests change so much! But i will say that a must have at the beginning is a swing! That swing was a total life saver in the beginning. Then, at Christmas, he got a sleep sheep, which is a little stuffed sheep with a sound machine inside. He loves it and goes to sleep with it every night! Another thing that we just love is this table that he got for Christmas too. He can stand up around it and press all the little buttons to play music. And i know this is not a baby item, but it is essential to have organization for all of the little toys that we have accumulated over the past 9months. It helps to keep things tidy, and is accessible for Heath to reach and pull toys out himself.

How are you feeling with the pregnancy?

I feel great!! I am so excited about this new addition! I have been trying to eat well and exercise, so hopefully I will continue to have a heathy pregnancy!

Well that was the last question! If yall want to know anything else, just leave me a comment!!

Ask me anything!

2010-02-12T08:18:00.002-05:00

I have been getting some question from my fellow bloggers, so I thought that I would open up for questions from you guys so you can get to know me better! Ask me anything! Just leave a comment with your question and I will post the answers in the next few days!

HE DID IT!!!

2010-02-11T19:28:00.002-05:00

This afternoon, right after Ryan came home, Heath took his first little steps!! All by himself! He doesnt even turn nine months old until Saturday.

So this is how it happened~ Ryan was holding Heath's hands and I had just made a bottle so I held the bottle in front of Heath about two or so feet away and Ryan let go. Then Heath took about four little steps and grabbed his bottle!! I am so proud of my little guy!

Random Thursday

2010-02-11T13:49:00.003-05:00

An addition to our family this week was the yucky-tummy-bug. It was not fun at all, and managed to circulate to each family member starting with Heath, then me, and finally Ryan. Hopefully it is all gone now!

Lots of Ginger ale

and saltines

We have also "unofficially" decided to move into the most recent flip house that has been acquired. I have not yet shown any pictures of this flip house, however this picture somewhat (yet waaay more prettily) depicts the layout of the front of said reno. This is not the after shot, I just found it on the internet and put it into my "dream house" file on my computer.

Another great thing about this flip house is that it has a GIGANTIC laundry room.. (my current laundry room is in the kitchen) I am totally psyched to have a laundry room/mud room/ pretty space that can be all mine (even if i have to share it with dirty socks/muddy boots/rain coats) Bring it on!!!!!!

These are some inpiration photos of my dream laundry room (and still being feasable with the space in the new house):

I will soon post before photos of the new flip house

(well Ryan has already done some work, but yall will get the picture...Thank goodness this house doesnt need as much work as the first flip)

And speaking of the first flip house, I told you guys that we got an offer. Well, whoever wrote in the offer would pay full asking price, but wanted us to include the boat. Well too bad we had just sold the boat so it could not be part of the deal. So, he offered us about 20% below our asking price. We countered with a price that was a few $1,000s less than what we listed it as. He said no deal and took his offer off of the table.

Then, a few days later, the original buyer (came to his senses) rewrote an offer that was very reasonable and close to our counter offer, SO (after a quite long story on my part!) the house is now under contract!!!! I am so proud of my sweet, sexy, handyman, do-it-himself husband of mine!

SOLD

2010-02-04T20:39:00.002-05:00

We sold our boat yesterday! It was a bittersweet moment, but mostly exciting!! Ryan proposed on this boat so it was kind of sad to see it go, however, now we don't have to worry about the upkeep and such with it. We hadn't really used it in the past year or so anyways b/c of the baby, and with another on the way, we figured we wouldn't be doing much with it for the next little while!

On another note, WE HAD OUR FIRST OFFER! on the flip house!!! We will see what happens.......

and these are a few of my favorite things...

2010-01-26T13:28:00.002-05:00

Heath's naptime

Gymboree

taking long walks in nice weather

sweet tea

peanut m&ms

Ryan and Heath's smiles

writing notes on pretty stationary

my address stamp

planting flowers/ plants

driving

house hunting

cereal

going to the beach

hot weather

my jack rogers

window shopping

painting

being a SAHM

boating

scuba diving

getting my hair done

and the list goes on......

catching up!

2010-01-21T18:06:00.003-05:00

Gah-lee! I have been MIA for a while now. So this post will just be random ramblings as to where I've been, what I've been doing, and the likes!

As you know, we've had our house up for sale for about two weeks (i think!). So far we have had about three or for people come and look at it! But no nibbles yet. Today we had an agent open house where other real estate agents came to preview the houses and give us feedback. It was all good, too!!

One great thing about having the house up for sale is the lack of clutter and how clean I have been keeping it! I mean it has always been clean, but since people can come in at anytime, I have been leaving it SPOTLESS!! (it looks really good, but it can be stressful!)

Heath turned 8 months on the 13th of January. He is getting so big and is doing so much! His top two front teeth have jsut come in, and He LOVES table food. I mean this boy can eat! He likes: cheese, baked beans, black beans, saltines, grilled cheese, okra, stewed carrots, lasagna, baked potato or mashed, cheese dip, eggs, grits, cereal, and many other things that I just cant think of right now.

Heath is also starting to "talk" a lot more! Right now, his favorite thing to say is "guh" for dog and he has also been saying mama a lot!!!!! He will also look up to the ceiling if you ask him where the light is! And when he looks out the window, he will start saying "guh" "guh" for dog. He still loves the tunnels at gymboree and likes to play with his toys, especially the table the he can pull up on and play music! He also goes to his first birthday party on Saturday!

I am starting to show!!!! My little baby bump is becoming quite visible, and it is about time to bust out the maternity jeans!! (lately i have been using the rubber band trick or wearing yoga pants)

I go back to the DR. on the 27th for my 16 week checkup! I don't think we will find out the sex until I am 20 weeks, which seems like forever away! (With Heath, I think i found out he was a boy at around 14 weeks!!)

Ryan has started "flipping" a new house right across the street from us. It (thankfully) did not need as much work as the other flip house, but it still needs some definite TLC. I did not take before pictures yet (oops!!) but will soon.. too bad he's already started priming the walls.

My little sister turned 21 on January 16th and we went out and celebrated that major milestone! Today, she and 3 of her girlfriends flew out to Las Vegas to celebrate!! Hope they are safe and have a blast!!

Whew! ok so i think that yall are all caught up now!! Hope yall have a great weekend!!!

Flip house before and afters!!

2010-01-10T08:53:00.004-05:00

Do yall remember a while back when i posted the before and afters of the flip house we are doing? It was the exterior of the house. Well, today, I am posting the before and afters of the interior. Hold on to your seats. This is going to be a wild ride!!
These are pictures of the exterior. Just to refresh your memory.

This is the den/family room right when you walk in the front door -before

This is the dining room -before

This is the only bathroom in the house-before

This is the kitchen-before

And another shot of the kitchen -before

This is the exterior of the house-after

This is the den/family room -after

This is the dining room-after

Another shot of the den/family room (this angle is similar to the before pic)

The kitchen -after (this pic angle is similar to the before kitchen pic #2)

Another shot of the kitchen -after (in the same angle as kitchen before pic #1)

The laundry room that was not previously there

The original bathroom -after

The second bath that we added

The master bedroom-after

**And I do not take credit for this project!!! (apart from the design stuff!) My sweet husband did most of the work himself. Isnt he great!!?!?

Our home, but for how much longer??!

2010-01-09T08:21:00.004-05:00

This is our home. I am not sure how much longer I will be calling it that. We put it on the market this week in hopes of selling it so that we can move into a larger home. It is kind of bittersweet because I love this place, yet we need a larger house. I know that we can make any house a home, and we have put a lot of time, sweat, and effort into this one. Hopefully, someone will come along and scoop this baby up soon so we can move on! Until then, this is my home tour! Our house from the front yard. Our front door is on the left side. This is where i have a big planter in between two adirondack chairs with cute outdoor pillows!!

This is our front room. I pay the bills here at my desk and we usually have the jogging stroller stored in here!

This is a shot of our den/living room.

And another shot! This is where I put the curtains I bought and where Ryan installed the fan. We also just recently purchased a new coffee table that has lots of storage in it!

This is a view of our "dining nook" because thats really all it is.

And on to the kitchen. We redid our kitchen and extended the countertop and cabinets to underneath the window. Before we had hardly and counter space. And the countertops were tile. I thought it was gross. But we replaced the countertop, the sink, the faucet, and installed a dishwasher!!!!!! I love love love my kitchen now! Oh, and PS. My counters are never clear like this . There is always a knife set, bread thing, and baby bottle stuff!

Another shot of the kitchen

And this is our bedroom. Notice the yellow dresser i redid?

Our hallway that leads into the bathroom, our room, and Heath's room

Our bathroom

And another shot!

This is Heath's room. Before I came along, this was Ryan's junk room

Now see how cute it is? All it needed was a woman's touch. And speaking of woman's touch. I painted the entire house. With a little help from my mom. And by entire house I mean every. single. room.

Our back patio that we did. Ryan poured the cement for the pad, built the railings, gate, and i planted flowers around the cement. You cant see these flowers now bc we have dogs that like to sit on them!

And last but not least, our storage shed in the back yard. There are two rooms, one being Ryans workshop, and the other being storage. There is running water and electricity in this shed. Ryan also did the landscaping going to the shed.

And if you look closely, you can see our dog Roxy underneath the shutter on the left!!

Hope yall enjoyed my home tour. Cross your fingers that it sells!! We have picked out another house and are writing our offer on it in about an HOUR!!!!

wish list!

2010-01-02T19:37:00.003-05:00

I am about twelve weeks along in my pregnancy, but am already starting to feel my pants get a little tighter. It is almost time to break out the maternity clothes. I still have clothes from my 1st baby, but there are some new things that I would like to add! So, I have been perusing the web and have found some cute things!

Slub Swing Cardigan-The Gap
Crossover wrap dress- The Gap

Rugby-striped cuffed sweater - The Gap

No panel boot cut jeans- The Gap

New year's eve

2009-12-31T09:28:00.005-05:00

The Year in Pictures (no particular order!)
We're expecting. Again!!

Daddy and Heath on the tractor @ S. Ott

Heath meeting Santa for the 1st time

Heath in all of his Frog glory for Halloween

Heath's first life vest

The pretty Sail fish my Husband caught

The birth of our firstborn son, Heath!

My graduation from the University of South Carolina! GO GAMECOCKS!

A wedding pic in lieu of one for our first wedding anniversary!

When we brought Heath home from the hospital, there was a stork in our yard!!

Bald Head Island, NC

A picture of me and Heath before he was born...obviously!

Pilot Mountain, NC

Heath and his Grandma

The boat in Charleston"Be Right Back"

Heath in his dad's gear

Just a cute picture. My how he has grown

Well, today is the last day of 2009. What a wonderful year it has been. We celebrated the birth of our son, Heath, in May. We celebrated our One year wedding anniversary. We traveled to Garden City, Charleston, Edisto, Asheville, Greenville, W. Virginia, Bald Head, Pennsylvania, Southport, and probably some other places that I just can't think of right now. I graduated from college. We celebrated Heath's first Christmas. We found out that we were expecting another baby. We flipped a house. We remodeled our kitchen. I started a blog, and throught it have come to know some wonderful people. We have such a blessed life and I am so excited to start a new chapter come tomorrow! I hope that everyone has a safe night tonight. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Watch out!

2009-12-29T12:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I had to run a few errands and take some Christmas gifts back for a return or exchange. While doing so, I ran across a beautiful watch and decided I should treat myself to it for graduation! It is my first "real" watch, and I have been wanting one for a while now. I am so glad that I bought something with my graduation money that I can have forever. And another plus is that it will still fit when im really big and pregnant!!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T16:21:00.006-05:00

We drove up to Greenville on the day before Christmas eve for my mom's "almost annual, almost Christmas eve" holiday drop-in. Then on Christmas eve we did some last minute shopping and waited in line for this picture:
He really was excited about santa and gave a huge smile! I was very proud! Then we ate a big lunch and opened some presents.

Then we headed on back to Columbia, where we ate dinner with my in-laws and opened one present each. When we got back to our house, I gave Heath one more present to open..they were these PJ's. I just love the cute little reindeer feet.

Christmas morning! Opening presents from Jolly old Santa!

Heath opening his big gift from santa...(couldn't resist putting the bow on his head!)

And playing with it soon after!

He was pretty excited!

And then we went to my in-laws after santa so that we could open more presents!! This was my big present from them! I wrote a post about it a few weeks ago (it was sort of a riddle) and it is a Miele vacuum cleaner. It is so quiet and has a super strong suction. It makes me want to clean everyday, and that is no easy feat!

I hope that everyone had as wonderful of a holiday season as we did!

"Walking in a Winter Wonderland"

2009-12-19T21:11:00.004-05:00

Asheville, NC

Our sweet baby in our hotel room's crib

My family in the snow!

on the way to see the snow

In the Pisgah Natl Forest where we *almost* got stuck.

Ryan walking in the snow at the rest stop right before the worst/most fun traffic ever!

This is a little taste of the traffic. We basically Off-roaded on the interstate, made our own lane, and thanked the good Lord that we have 4 wheel drive and some mean tires!

Snow falling--exactly what we made the trip for! We just packed up, turned on the Christmas music, and headed north until we found it. And found it we did. About 13 or so inches!!

Ryan, Heath, and I outside our hotel in downtown Asheville!

more snow

My little bear pulling up on the bedside table.

Me and the little bear!

My loves!

The most beautiful church! I just LOVE the stone, red door, and snow

The archway of snowy trees

The view on the way to the Pisgah Natl Forest

The beast we drove that didn't get us stuck at all. Not one time. Not even when Ryan tried to have some "fun"! Many others were not as lucky as us. About 100+ cars were stranded and so many 18 wheelers jack-knifed. We were lucky to say the least!

Isn't this a beautiful horse! It just makes me excited for Christmas. Maybe santa will bring me a pony this year. Just kidding!

a pretty creek in the snow

and last but not least, a Charlie Brown tree! (This is for you, Holly! )