My Christmas to do list:

With just a few days left until Christmas I am making my to do list and checking it twice!

*Drive all over creation to find a Christmas tree farm, discover it is only open on certain days. End up finding a tree at a garden center and stare in wonder at their slim pickings. (Done)




* Decorate the tree (Done)* Take Caroline to her first performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Carolina Theater. Get a little teary-eyed as I watch her face light up at the magic of it all. (Done)

* Do my Christmas baking. (Almost done, I have all the ingredients. I am waiting for my cute sous chef to finish school.)
*Find our family stockings. These will be the ones we have forever so we have to be picky.
*Watch "It's a Wonderful Life". (Almost done. This movie is being shown at the Carolina Theater and I WILL be there.)
*Print, address, and mail Christmas cards. (Done. I finally gave in this year and got them printed at Sam's. Great price and they turned out great.)
*Listen to Christmas music. (Listening to the new Michael Buble CD and it is like butter!!!)
*Enjoy all the new Christmas crafts Caroline is bring home from school.
*Shop for Christmas presents (Almost done. I hope to be done by the 22nd so we can play, play, play.)

I love this time of year. I love the music. I love the hustle and bustle. I love that everything has a Christmas-y feel to it. I love having my family close and can't wait to see what Santa brings us ;)

Message received...

Two days before Brynn was born we ate dinner at a Japanese steakhouse with Kevin's family. After dinner, fortune cookies were passed around to everyone and mine said, "You will have a beautiful family." I still have that slip of paper in my wallet.

Today I received hard evidence that this is true. We got our family portrait CD in the mail from the lovely Courtney Beck.

(Pace yourselves. You know I don't understand the meaning of the word moderation when it comes to pictures.)



I researched to find the right photographer for months. I saved for this photo shoot for months.
We drove 1.5 hours to Charlotte for our session. I have been waiting for my CD for 2 weeks.
And the truth is, IT WAS WORTH IT!!!!!

Courtney Beck, you are a rock star. Go and check out her website here. You know you want to.

And so it begins...

It was only a matter of time.

Multiple Choice...

Time for a quiz. Take a look at the picture.

Today, will I ...

A. Walk in Brynn's room and quickly walk back out.

B. Walk in Brynn's room, shut the door and scream.

C. Walk in Brynn's room, walk back out, march into my own room, crawl in bed, and pretend THAT doesn't exist.

D. Walk in Brynn's room, shut the door, and get to work.

Want to know what all that is? It is box after box of clothes. Some are clothes she has outgrown that need to be boxed up and put in the garage. Some are the next size in clothes she needs. Some are the clothes she is wearing right now. I am so grateful that I have 2-girls worth of hand-me-downs but there are some times when I want to just strike a match...

That's what she said...

When Caroline was younger and we would make her laugh she would say, "Mommy, you knock me down" instead of "you crack me up". We loved it so much it has become a staple in our family.

Here are some of the things she said lately that have "knocked us down."

*Caroline had been having a rough time going to school in the morning. She would cry when we dropped her off. We tried everything to help her not be nervous. One day on the way to school she piped up from the back seat, "Mom, I wish I was a mom like you. Then I wouldn't have to go to school."

*I told Caroline that on the first day of school I was going to take her picture on our front porch and at school and with her new teacher. She rolls her eyes and tells me, "Mom, you can't take too many pictures. It will give me a picture ache."
Only my children have to worry about that :)

Stink Face

I LOVE this picture.

Her majesty!

"And summer's lease hath all too short a date..."

Closer...

Gotcha!

The infamous Too-Too

I love this view

It has been in the 80s this week and on Saturday the high will be 64! So we enjoyed the last seconds of summer by going outside...

in our backyard.

I love saying that.

Mother Knows Best

Have you seen Tangled?

I have, like, a million times. That is what happens when you have a girly girl.

And since I have seen it a million times I have had time to ponder the underlying meanings and overwhelming symbolism and the thematic nature of it all. And I have to say...

Mother Gothel gets a bad wrap.

I mean, sure, I guess it is bad form to steal a baby just because the baby's magic hair will keep you young forever,

but, you have to give her credit. She keeps Rapunzel locked up in the tower for 18 years to keep her out of harms way. She is right. The world is a dangerous place. People will take advantage of you and there is that pesky Plague. What about the poison ivy? The quick sand? It IS better to keep them locked away.

She had a point, right? Right?!?

I have had time to ponder all this because, you see, my dear sweet Caroline made a very big step into the world today.

She started Kindergarten.

Oh how I wish I could just lock her in a tower and teach her all the things she needs to know and protect her from every bad thing that COULD happen to her. How I wish I could guarantee that she would never be hurt, or sad, or disappointed.

But I can't.

What I can do is create a safe haven for her. A place that she can return to over and over for reassurance, guidance and love when the world is too much for her. A place that will always be warm and inviting and constant when the world is not. I can create that place right here in my home. A home base where she can recharge, get back out there and thrive.

And if that home is way up high and really hard for any boys to find, let alone reach it, that would be ok too.

12 for 12

Tomorrow is our 12 year anniversary! In honor of 12 years I thought I would share 12 facts about me and Kevin. Brace yourselves.

12. Kevin and I were married on a Thursday. We were married in Washington DC. If we would have waited 4 more months we could have been married in Raleigh which is closer to home but we didn't want to wait.

11. We got married during a hurricane. Hurricane Dennis hit near Wilmington 2 days before we got married, went out to sea long enough for us to drive to DC and get married, and then hit again the night of our first reception. We had so many left overs from the reception because only half the people we planned for came.

10. The morning we got married I was a nervous wreck. I could barely eat, could barely sleep and what was Kevin doing? He was watching Sports Center. This will become a common theme throughout our marriage

9. Kevin and I didn't like each other the first time we met. He came over to a FHE that I helped plan and made fun of the activities. I told him he could leave and he did. A few weeks later we were friends and hanging out. Kevin, our friend Shannon and I were all best friends for about a year before Kevin and I started dating.

8. Our first date was dinner and a play at Thalian Hall in Downtown Wilmington. We saw "Of Mice and Men" and I sat with my arms folded the ENTIRE time. I was so nervous I barley spoke to him or even looked at him during the play. Our second date was another play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". He knew that was one of my favorite movies and it was great. I was more relaxed that time.

7. Kevin proposed to me at the Fragrance Garden. He came over to my apartment and asked if I wanted to go for a walk and I just knew.

6. Our song is..."Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns and Roses.

5. I made Kevin drive to my mom's house to ask for her permission to marry me. We were both scared for the hour and a half drive. And for good reason: my mom pulled a knife on him when he talked to her. She was trying to be funny but I am not sure...

4. We almost moved to Philadelphia. Kevin was accepted to a PA school there and was even offered a scholarship but we really wanted to go to Emory. The only problem was we had to answer the Philly school before we heard from Emory. We prayed about it and felt Philly was not for us. Two weeks later we found out Kevin was wait listed for Emory. One month later Kevin was accepted to Emory.

3. Kevin missed the first 2 weeks of Caroline's life. She was born on Friday, Kevin moved to Atlanta on Monday and then came back to get us 2 weeks later. I was staying with his parents.

2. The night I went into labor with Brynn, Kevin had just walked in the door from working the night shift at work. When she was born at 8:52 am he had been awake for 25 hours. Later that afternoon when I caught him nodding off I sent him home while my mom stayed with me at the hospital.

1. I married my best friend. When we were dating we would talk for hours and we haven't really stopped. I am myself when I am around him. I am in awe of his kindness. I love what a great father he is. I am so lucky he picked me.

I love you, babe!

You missed me...

Some days Brynn looks like this...


And some days she looks like this (Droll and all)


And some days she looks like this.

But most days she looks like this.I can't believe my baby girl is 6 months old. We love you tons, Brynn Bug!

Baby Mama Day...

So what did you do for Mother's Day?

We did a little bit of this...

Hunted for frogs...

And got a flower from this cute girl every 5 minutes. Most were dandelions but all were presented to me with a Mother's Day kiss...

It was a good day...

Yep...I did...

Yes.

I am going to devote a post on the Royal Wedding.

Yes.

I did wake up at 5:00am to watch it. (Ok, Brynn woke up ready to eat and so I turned on the TV just as things were gettin' good.)


Yes.

I know you are sick of Matt Lauer spending an hour describing the car she rode to the church in and I know just the site of Giuliana Rancic from E! makes you want to toss your crumpets but I thought I would give you my two cents worth.

Here we go...

1. The Photos:
Of course you know that I am going to comment on this. The official engagement photos the couple released are YUMMY!! Look at this...

I am so inspired by these. They look so beautiful and relaxed and...themselves. Love these. The official wedding photo is spot on. Love it.


2. Hats!
I want to go to an English wedding now, just so I can wear a hat. No, I am serious. They look like so much fun. There were some that were so classy and elegant. Exhibit A:

And then there were these:


Sweet Lady Gaga! What were they thinking? The sad part about those last two hats is when they went to the store and tried them on they actually thought to themselves, "I look awesome! I am going to pay this person some money to take this home. I am so excited!" Tsk, Tsk, Tsk.


3. Victoria Beckham:
I cannot believe that I am going to dedicate a number just to her but here it goes...

SMILE Woman!You make more money than the queen. You are preggers with your 4th child.
You are married to David Beckham! Let me repeat that...You are married to David Beckham!

You got a ticket to the hottest show on earth.
SMILE!!!!

4. The emotion:
I understand that fairy tales are not real. I understand that Prince William probably has morning breath just like us. I am sure that at one point in her life Kate Middleton has had a pimple. (At least I tell myself she has so I can feel a little bit better.) I understand that this wedding was the British doing a bang up job of showing off. But when you get right down to it this wedding was about a boy who loves a girl and he wanted to marry her. This was about a father who drove his daughter to the church to watch her become someone's wife. And when I saw William bite his lip just like his mom did I realized that deep in the back of his mind, as happy as he was, he was probably missing her. I thought the ceremony was sweet and just right.

5. The Dress...
I saw somewhere that Disney was having a special princess party for little girls to dress up in their finest princess dress, prettiest tiara and shiniest shoes to watch the wedding. I can imagine how big their eyes got or how much they squealed when they saw Kate's dress. I can imagine it because I did too. I GASPED then I saw it. It was stunning. It was elegant. It will live in infamy.

I really did have fun watching the Royal Wedding. I know it is a little silly of me but it was so nice to see two people so in love. I am also glad it is over. It is nice to loose yourself in a real life Cinderella story for a little while. Good luck to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

PS. Below is a post about Caroline, future photographer.