The Pages of Our Life

Puppy Party & Hummingbird Horrors

2011-08-12T21:21:00.006-05:00

July 31 was Finley Dog's 3rd birthday! We celebrated by having his friend, Jazzie over and having a puppy party. The first time we had Jazzie over, Annistyn was a lot younger and kept calling them the "two Pi-pi dogs" (because she was still calling Finley "Pi-Pi Dog" then). So here are the two Pi-Pi Dogs:

We had cupcake shaped doggie treats:

Jazzie has a litte brother named Carson that she brought to the party. I took this picture of him and Annistyn. Don't they look cute??

Annistyn has had QUITE the imagination lately. She woke up crying recently telling me there was a hummingbird outside her window that was going to get her. I know it really isn't funny, but it did crack me up. The next morning, she said, "It was a nice hummingbird! It didn't get me."

She also told me yesterday out of the blue that she was going to be a princess when she grows up!

She watched a Strawberry Shortcake movie about friends, and now everyone it her BEST friend. It's so cute!!!

Annistyn is still working on her writing. I use that term loosely- she is playing with bath crayons, not writing sentences on handwriting paper!!!

Here is her capital 'A' again..

I was wondering why she kept drawing that little zig-zag after it- so I asked her. And she said- "A-N-N-I-S-T-Y-N! Annistyn is my name!!!!" with an attitude like I was supposed to know it already. So then I realized that she was making her version of two little "n's".

So I started helping her with "n". Here is her lowercase 'n'..

Here is a face...

Here is a cat...

She likes for me to draw circles and let her fill in the faces. On that one, I wrote the word cat and she had to read it first to know what to draw. I know it sounds dorky- but I am a total nerd and Annistyn really likes things like that! I promise it isn't as scholastic as it seems. It's actually quite fun and she requests for me to do it. I don't want to sound over-bearing. But she does knows quite a bit a words from recognition and she can spell them out loud as well.

Thursday I was SO excited because it was her very first day of dance. A day every mother of a daughter dreams about! I had tights, a leotard, ballet shoes, and a ballet bow. The only thing I didn't have... a cooperative toddler.

Annistyn has been SOOOO pumped about dance. She dances ALL over the house and rolls all over the den. But on Thursday, mom had to wake her up from her nap to take her to dance, so she wasn't in a very good mood.

She clapped for the girls and told them, "Good job!"

The teacher asked if she wanted to do her roll. She said, "No. I don't think I have to."

They are doing a 1:00 class on Mondays and we are going to try that next week instead. HOPEFULLY that will work better with her schedule. She said she was going to dance on Monday. So... I will keep you updated!

In other news, I survived my first week back at school (with kids)! Hooray! The first of the year is always exciting, but at the end of the week- I always feel like I have been hit by a truck!!!!

Here is my wall and door this year:

I think it turned out really cute!!!

Annistyn also started Mother's Day Out this week, but those pictures are on mom's camera. I will have to post them later.

Have a great weekend!

The Next Tot Model

2011-07-19T21:26:00.008-05:00

Our summer has seemed to FLY by. Annistyn is growing like a weed and learning way more than she needs too. The other day she made me follow her into the yard. She wanted me to take her "pic-cure". I had to follow her around while she told me where to stand. She directed me by saying, "Now over there, please..." "Now you go over there..." "Now watch this!" She is truly a free spirit.
Here are some photos I took of her modeling...

She's definitely been around Aunt Shelley too long!!!!

My favorite:

I could type ALL day about things she says and does. She comes up with so many things a day. I just need to stop and type it all out before I forget.

She LOVES to learn. I guess she is a "dork" like her mommy. That can be a good thing though. I have been working with her on some things this summer. Here is her letter "A"....

She is very instructional when she writes it. She always says, "Uuuup.... Dooownn.... Accroosss...". I am having trouble helping her with handwriting because I am not sure if she is left or right handed. I really thought I would know by now. But she uses both equally!!! She eats half with her right hand and half with her left. She can write and color with both. I haven't noticed either hand being a stronger one.... So.. I'm not sure which to push her to use. I thought her "A's" were pretty good for age 2.

She loves to work in her "school books." It is hard to find sticker/writing books that are easy enough for her to do, but hard enough also. Here are some that she has enjoyed...

We have this bath crayon that is pretty neat. You can write on the side of the bath tub and it comes right off with water. When I bathe her, I always write a word, she reads it, and I draw the picture that goes with it. Because of this, she has learned words like Annistyn, Mommy, Daddy, Shelley, Goddy, Mimi, Finley, Nana, Papa, Cat, Cow, Pig, etc... So when Michael bathes her, she expects him to do the same. I went in the other night and he had left this up. I just laughed. Is he a great Daddy or what???

I know I didn't post any July 4th pictures. We celebrated Michael's grandmother's 80th birthday the weekend before.

Annistyn found a stage at the birthday party and danced and sang while everyone cleaned up.

We had a low key July 4th and took Annistyn to watch fireworks that night. It was nice!

I went on a "girl cruise" at the end of June with my mom, Shelley, aunt, cousin, and her sister-in-law and daughter. We had a BLAST! It was hard being away from Annistyn for a week though. Her Daddy took great care of her. I flew in an airplane for the first time. (Yay me!!!)
Here are a couple of pics from that...

Annistyn has also started telling me that she has to "get ready" before we leave the house. She has to put on her (play) make up. She goes through every piece and puts it on just like me- brushes her eye brows and everything!!!
She also likes to get "glamicures" like Strawberry Shortcake does in the movie we have.
This is the best I can do on her toes... I am no toe artist! Especially with wiggly feet!!!!

Whew! I've been working hard trying to get ready for a new school year! I am always excited about a new start, but it always makes me sad to see the summer end. I just love staying at home with my sweet baby.

You just never know what you are going to find....

And last...
My sister is in Belize on a mission trip with several others from our church. So please pray for their safety while there and while traveling back on Friday. :)

Date With Daddy

2011-05-21T21:08:00.010-05:00

Since school got out the end of May, I have no excuses for why I haven't blogged. I guess I have been trying to enjoy every second of summer. Annistyn has been good about sleeping late this year. She sleeps until around 8 or 8:30 on most days, but some days she sleeps as late as 9. One of the first few days, she slept until 10:15. She still naps 2- 2 1/2 hours in the afternoons as well. We play dollhouse, have tea parties, read books, read more books, and go to "town". We have spent a lot of time in Mimi's swimming pool and Annistyn has the letter "H" on her back as a tan line from her swim suit. It's been so nice to be home with her during the day! We've had a few play dates with friends as well!

I wanted to have a father's day tribute up for Michael on Father's day, but I am obviously running a few days behind...

Annistyn is CRAZY about her Daddy. A few weeks ago, I went to our Bible study and Michael was going to take her out to Dairy Queen so I told her she was going on a date. We were riding down the road the other night and she randomly said, "I want to go on another date with you, Daddy!"

I usually do a video and unfortunately, my software is not working properly this year. I am going to keep working on it, but I wanted to go ahead and put this post up before summer was over and it still wasn't up!

Annistyn is so lucky to have such a good Daddy.

I hear women complaining all the time about what their husband doesn't do with their kids. When Annistyn was born, I never had to ASK Michael to help out. He took one of the nightly feedings, he jumped right in on diaper duty and bottle washing, and is still usually the one that gives Annistyn a bath at night.

He's definitely wrapped around her finger.

But she's crazy about him too.

One day Annistyn will realize what a great Daddy she has and she will be able to tell him.

But I realize it now. Michael, you are such a good dad. You have more patience than I do. Every time I see you with Annistyn, I fall in love with you all over again. Any little girl would be lucky to call herself your daughter. I appreciate what you do around the house and I know I don't always tell you thank you. I thank God every day for blessing me with you. I thank God for blessing Annistyn with such an awesome Daddy. We love you!
Happy Father's Day!

Mothers & Miracles

2011-05-07T22:46:00.008-05:00

This Mother’s Day I want to recognize all the women in my life that made me who I am- my mother, my grandmothers, aunts, and family friends.
But I also wanted to tell my own “motherhood” story as it is not one I have shared with very many people. It’s lengthy. It’s personal. It’s an extremely large part of who I have become.
I consider myself a somewhat private person. It’s not that I wouldn’t tell you if you asked. But honestly, I feel like there are so many more problems that are greater than mine.
On August 8, 2008, I found out that I was going to be a mother. It wasn’t something that happened easily. There were a lot of fears and tears, some medical help, and a whole lot of prayers leading up to that morning. Upon seeing those two lines on that test, I immediately dropped to my knees and through tears thanked God for that moment. I also told my 27-lb cat, Bob, who was with me, wondering what I was doing on the floor of the bathroom at 5:20 in the morning.

Hearing that heart beat for the first time, seeing that image, knowing that it wasn’t just me anymore…..
Feeling those kicks, hearing that cry, holding that tiny little girl….those are moments that I will never forget.

I helped God with a miracle. I saw the answer to my prayers and held her in my arms.

You can tell me one million and three times that prayers don’t work and I will argue you to depth and breadths and height my soul can reach because there are three very distinct instances in my life that I saw Him answer them right in front of me. This being the most distinct of the three.

So here I sit. In a similar boat to the one I was in the year before Annistyn was born. Except for this time- I know what I will be missing if I never get to experience those things again.

When you date someone, everyone asks when you will get married. When you are married, they ask when you will have a baby. When you have a two year old, you will be asked at least 5 times a day when you will have another one.
You don’t have to rush your life away- everyone else will do it for you.

Earlier this year, I had some extensive testing done. In addition to only having one ovary, I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and severe endometriosis. The endometriosis, which I was completely unaware of until this point, covers my entire abdomen starting at my liver. It has formed adhesions on the walls of my pelvis and intestines. The inflammation has caused some internal hemorrhaging. My one ovary is covered in cysts.

I was faced with the decision to have a hysterectomy or go a completely different route and attempt to have another child. The chances of us ever having another baby are very limited. With the therapy over the next year, my doctor predicted a 60% chance of success.

It was a hard decision to make, but I knew that if I did not do this, I would regret it one day…. even if we are not successful.

The drug that I am currently on is highly controversial among past patients. I made the mistake of ‘researching’ it on the Internet before beginning the treatment. It was intended for men with prostate cancer and then FDA approved it for endometriosis. Reading through the countless lawsuits, warnings, and complaints of those who had taken it scared me. I don’t want to have permanent memory loss. I don’t want to gain 30 pounds and I don’t want my bones to suffer damage.
After 6 months of these drugs- medically induced menopause- I will be having another surgery and a series of different drug therapy for approximately another 6 months.

When I find myself making tough decisions, there is a quote that always comes to my mind. “When you have come to the edge of all light that you know, and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown… Faith is knowing one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.”

One way or another- everything will be fine. I have a beautiful, sassy, miracle daughter that lights up my life. God may choose to answer this prayer once more, or He may not. Either way, I am blessed beyond measure. I will still praise Him.

Being a mother is about so much more than changing diapers and tucking children into bed. It’s about more than putting a band-aid on a scraped knee, packing lunch for school, and attending dance recitals.

If you are a mother, thank God every day for that chance. There are women- wonderful, loving, women- who fight every day to have what you have. There are women who would give anything to be in your shoes.

Being a mother is not a ‘right’. It’s not a certainty. It’s a privilege. It’s a blessing. It’s a miracle.

This Mother’s Day- I thank God for giving me that chance.

I thank Him for sending me that miracle.

I thank Him for all the sleepless nights...

All the diapers changed....

All the giggles...

All the toys spread across my house...

All the gold fish snacks I find between the seats in my car...

All the memories...

All the celebrations...

All the the boo-boo's I've kissed....

All the tea parties I've had....

All the books I've read 103 times...

All the episodes of Dora I have watched...

I thank God for hearing my prayer...

And for answering it.

I thank Him for His perfect timing...

And for blessing me with a gift that I don't deserve...

I thank God for all the times I've heard, "I oov oo, Mommy!"

For all the kisses...

All the hugs...

I thank God for letting me be a mother.

"Her Children Arise...."

2011-05-06T23:07:00.004-05:00

"and call her blessed." Proverbs 31:28

I wanted to post my mother's day tribute. I know that if you have read my blog for a while- this will probably be your third time reading it.

But, really, how could any words describe a mother like mine???

What mother packed her daughter's lunch until she finished her college internship?

What mother stayed up all night sewing dresses, decorating cakes, or setting up classrooms?

What mother STILL cooks me breakfast 3 days week?

Mine does.

My mother is a rare breed. She is the kind of mother than everyone wants to have and everyone wants to be.

I know I do.

My daughter has NO idea how blessed she is to have a Mimi like hers. You can search far and wide, but I am convinced that there is no mother on earth that compares to mine.

Mommy’s Hands

Mommy’s hands propped on her side
As she feels the kick of her baby inside
Mommy’s arms holding her baby girl
The minute she arrived in this world.
Mommy’s hands feeding and bathing
Dressing and hugging, rocking and playing.
Mommy’s fingers stitching the lace
Of her little girl’s dress for Easter Sunday

Mommy’s hands propped on her side
As she waits for her daughter to come home on time
Mommy’s arms hugging her baby girl
As she comes in yelling he’s ruined her world
Mommy’s hands wiping the tears in her eyes
As her daughter cries over some silly guy
Mommy’s finger stitching up the parts
Of her little girl’s freshly broken heart.

Mommy’s hands propped on her side
As she looks at her little girl, who today is a bride
Mommy’s arms holding her baby girl
And adjusting the veil over her dark brown curls
Mommy’s hands shaking as she zips
A wedding dress over her daughter’s hips
Mommy’s fingers stitching a pearl
That has fallen off the gown of her little girl

Mommy’s hands propped on her little girl’s side
As she feels the kick of her granddaughter inside.
Mommy’s arms holding her daughter’s baby girl
As she makes her entrance into this world.
Mommy’s hands wiping a single tear
As she remembers her little girl being born here.
For it was 23 years ago in this very place
That she first saw own her daughter’s face.

My mommy’s hands paved the way
And led to become the woman I am today.
My Mommy’s love gave me wings
And told me I could do unimaginable things.
My mommy’s strength held me together
When I thought things would never get better.

And as I hold my own little girl,
my only hope is that I can be.
At least half the mother to her,
That you have been to me.

Written for my Mommy- 12/23/06
Revised 12/14/08

Happy Mother's Day to Annistyn's Mimi, my Mommy, my best friend.

Beach Bunny

2011-05-02T21:06:00.000-05:00

I started this post on April 22 and I'm just now finishing it! Instead of taking the time to rearrange the pictures, I am going to work backwards.

We'll start with Easter!!!!

We had lots of fun this year! We painted eggs one night and decorated them. We 'practiced' hunting eggs about 400 times at home. Annistyn got to go to some egg hunts as well.

The Easter bunny came Easter morning and brought Annistyn a "Tangled" theme gift basket.

We had decided that this year she would wear a real heirloom dress. We dug out my 23 year old french lace dress that I wore in my Aunt Laura's wedding. My mom made it.

I thought she looked ADORABLE!!!!

She has gotten SOOOO prissy!

More Easter photos...

Now, on to Spring Break!!!! April 9-16 was our Spring Break (woo hoo!) and we too a mini-vacation to Panama City Beach. We had such a great time last year that I decided to book the same condo for this year. We went down April 9 (Saturday) and stayed through the next Saturday.

These are all in backwards order from our last day to our first day.

On the last night, we celebrated with a trip to the little carnival in Pier Park. Annistyn had seen the 'playground' all week and we took her to ride the Merry-go-Round and the balloons.

This is a sunset photo I took our last night. It was SOOOOO pretty! We couldn't have asked for nicer weather!

Annistyn got to wear all her new spring/summer clothes!!!

I have to say being on the beach with a 2 year old was harder than being on it with a 1 year old. Last year, she just sat and played. The year before, she just sat and watched. This year, she had an opinion. In fact, she has an opinion about everything!!!!

For the most part, she enjoyed it.

While I am sure it would have been great to have more moments like this....

...it was more than wonderful to be able to see moments like this...

Michael had been SO excited about flying a kite with her at the beach!

More beach pictures....

I would have loved to tell you about the moments in each photo. However, I know it would end up being another week before posting this. So I hope that maybe the pictures were enough. We had a great time! She wasn't so crazy about the water! One afternoon she got in and had a blast. The days before and after that were a different story.

I have some more recent stories/pictures to post later! Maybe this weekend! :)

Diggin' This Doggie...

2011-04-02T21:37:00.005-05:00

I realized when I started uploading pictures, that more than half of them had Finley Dog in them.

I totally LOVE this doggie!

I could NEVER ask for a better companion for Annistyn. He is such a good brother and he is SO patient with her.

When we started considering getting an indoor dog before she was born, we didn't know which breed would be best. After talking with others and doing some research, we decided on the miniature schnauzer and we definitely made the BEST choice possible.

I looked out the window the other day to see this...

If you can't tell, he is leaning over the side of the porch, DRINKING from the sprinkler as ir waters the grass.

He is so silly!

We have all been LOVING this warm spring weather. Temperatures have been upper 70's to mid 80's pretty much every day since the end of February.

Annistyn has new flip-flops or 'pip pops' as she calls them.

I was also on the lookout for some good plain sandals that would go with a variety of outfits. We had a pair from Target last year that worked great. I was pretty excited about finding these at PayLess!

Annistyn LOVES playing outside and would probably stay in the yard all day every day.

Finley gets pretty excited when we all go outside. That's where he likes to be too!

She is turning into such a bossy little girl. EVERY day, I have dozens of 'stories' I could tell about things she comes up with.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Yesterday we came in and she told me she wanted to read a book. So I told her to get one and she did. She said, "Mommy! I want to read dis book!" and I said, "Well, read it girl!" and she said, "I can't reeeeeead!"

Her new favorite phrase is, "I don't think so!" It has gotten her in trouble a lot lately.

She's really obsessed with the days of the week and what we are going to do every day. Monday when I woke her up she said, "I have a busy week!" and told me every plan for every day.

She loves to spell her name and tells people her name is "Annistyn Caroline Page".

She talks from the second she gets in the car until it stops. Which gets old fast. I love her.... but it gets old.

She loves going to "Old Mehico" and eating cheese dip. She has been eating like a PIG lately!!!

She loves to 'stretch' and tumble. She likes to do front rolls. She gives you the step-by-step instructions when she does one.

And I could go on all day!!!!

Her hair is getting really long and fluffy.

We got a big order of Shrimp and Grits clothes last week and she was SO excited.

We had to try them on....

And take a picture, of course!

As for me- I started the Couch to 5K completely because of peer pressure. I haven't ran since highschool. I really didn't think I could do it, but I am completely hooked! I forgot how much I loved that feeling. I am only on the end of Week 2 (out of 9) but I hope that I will be able to finish it.

Well, that's all for now! Just trying to keep from falling behind on this again!

Mother of the Year

2011-03-24T15:44:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know- I am OFFICIALLY Mother-of-the-Year.

When Annistyn got sick last month, she started feeling bad one Thursday night. She ran fever on/off all day that Friday, but by Saturday- she was wanting to play at the park. She was fine that Sunday, but the fever returned on Monday. I called the doctor- they said to give her something for allergies. She still felt bad on Tuesday, so I took her in. She had Type A Flu. I felt AWFUL because I had not taken her earlier.

So last Friday night, she started feeling warm and we took her temp. It was 103.7!!!! We gave her Motrin and put her to bed. Saturday, I kept her home from her birthday parties because I was afraid she might have something. Still no other symptoms. She played outside, ran around screaming, ate normal... Sunday she acted fine and didn't have a fever. We had been planning a little girl's beach trip and if she said, "I want to go to the beeeaccch" one time, she said it a million times.

We packed her up and went on our trip. She had a blast (more about that in a minute) but on Monday, she didn't act like herself. She was very whiny and cried a lot. She started getting a rash, so Michael took her to the doctor Tuesday. She has strep throat. Great mother, huh?

In my defense- her well baby check up was Thursday afternoon and her ears and throat were fine. In fact- everything was fine. I'll bet you she GOT the strep from the doctor's office.

In other news- the weather has been BEAUTIFUL! We have been wearing all of our new Spring clothes!!!

A SMALL portion of the ones that I have already gotten in....

I am getting 1-2 a day and a bigger order will be here next week. So excited! I love when seasons change and you get to start a new wardrobe!

I took this one before church a couple of weeks ago...

She totally looks like her Daddy in these!!!

Here are a couple more...

We got the Barbie Jeep in. It was the other part of her birthday gift. She likes her "Bobbie Jeep".

She hasn't really enjoyed driving it yet. She wants Michael to push the peddle while she steers. I can't say I blame her. I had rather be driven around as well. :)

I mentioned our beach trip earlier. We went down on Sunday after church. I explained that we had to go on a trip to get there and ride in the car. She was SO excited. We pulled up at Rite Aid before we left and she said, "Yay! We're at the beach!"

When we finally did get to the beach, she could see it out the window. So then she said, "I wanna get out and go see beach!!!!" 150 times until we got to the hotel and changed clothes.

She wasted no time! As soon as we put our stuff down, she started playing in the sand. She had SO much fun. We stayed for a couple of hours. She mostly played in the sand. We dipped her in the water, but she was a little too skiddish to play in the waves by herself.

We went to eat at The Crab Trap (one of my favorites) and she wore her cute new whale outfit...

Just a fun fact... I had time to do this post because I am stuck in bed with... guess what?!? Strep throat!!!

Sick baby = Sick Mommy.

Annistyn is feeling much better! Screaming, eating, playing. I, however, had to leave work yesterday with a fever over 100 and even with Advil- I never got it under 100 yesterday. It was 102 (with Advil) last night.

I have been on Antibiotics for 3 days now and even though my throat is still sore- my fever is down today. I hopefully will be back at work tomorrow. I can't stand being stuck in bed at home. :(

There's a Mouse in the House!

2011-03-13T20:25:00.000-05:00

So- I know it has been a while and this will be a very long post.

February seemed to FLY by!

We had Valentine's Day...

And, unfortunately, the FLU came to visit our house!
I had a SICK baby for almost a week. It was terrible and the worst part is- Michael was out of town most of that week. I was one TIRED Mommy by the time he came home.

We had Shelley's birthday (Feb. 23).

Cookies With Characters (Feb. 26)...

(there are A LOT more of these pitures on Facebook)

And THEN I had to start planning for ANOTHER birthday!

I CANNOT believe it, but my sweet little angel turned TWO on March 10.

This is the picture I ended up with for the birthday invitations....

She has been talking about her "birfday" for months. Her first celebration was the Tuesday before her birthday. We had our small family party at Nana's. Annistyn was bouncing off the walls. She was SOOOOOOO excited....

It was "Dora" themed.

And she got the "pink cake" that she has been asking Nana for. When asked what she wanted for her birthday- that is what she said. Ha!

We gave her the gifts from us on the morning of her birthday- March 10.

She has one more present that she will get in a couple of days due to a mix-up at Walmart.

She had been wanting to go to the zoo- so we decided to go. We didn't know, however, that it was going to turn off cold. It was windy and very chilly, so we had fun, but it was a short trip.

We stopped to eat pizza before the zoo and Annistyn enjoyed a big cupcake we brought for her...

She thinks you HAVE to sing before you eat birthday cake, so I was quietly singing Happy Birthday. Michael wasn't singing (because we were in the restaurant) and she said, "Daddy sing."
So, we laughed and started over. He was singing, but very quietly and she couldn't hear him. She YELLED, "DADDY SING!!!!!!!!!!!!" So everyone in Mellow Mushroom knew he wasn't singing. She is SO bossy.

Annistyn had to stay bundled up at the zoo.

Her favorite part was riding the "too too train".

Her birthday party was yesterday- March 12. Originally, I thought I was doing something simple by renting Guardian Angel's indoor gym. But since it was Minnie Mouse themed- Mickey and Minnie just HAD to come. And eventually it turned into this huge thing and I probably could have thrown a small wedding for all the work I had in it!!!

It turned out GREAT though. We had over 50 people there- almost EVERYONE we invited was there.

There are about 80 pictures on Facebook, but here are just a few...

One of the centerpieces I made for the tables...

Cake and snack table...

Beautiful cake that my wonderful sister made.....

We also had DELICIOUS cupcakes made by Mesilla Jenkins- who does great work!!!! I originally planned for a cake, but decided on cupcakes. Shelley has just started decorating cakes and she really wanted to make one for Annistyn- so I told her to have at it! I thought she did great!!!!

Favor buckets- all personalized. I stayed up well past midnight finishing these the night before. Everyone got a Mickey or Minnie bucket, waterbottle or cup, notebook, and a container of bubbles. I had decorated each item with Mickey or Minnie and the guest's name. I know it sounds silly.... but I just love making fun favors! :)

Banner I made...

Another of the cake table...

Annistyn not cooperating for a picture... and eating a chip instead...

Drink bucket....

Annistyn yelling, "It's my birfday poppy!!!!!"

(My mom made this adorable outfit- by the way)

Mickey pizza...

Family pictures...

One of the many pictures with Mickey and Minnie!

And here's last year's and this year's party pictures side by side...

She has grown up SOOOOOO fast! Where does the time go?!!??!

I wish I had time to upload all the party pictures- but Facebook uploads sooo much quicker.

Annistyn had a BLAST and is still talking about the party. So I guess in the end, it was all worth it!!!!

I had a small surgery a week before the party (Don't worry- I'm okay!) It was laproscopic, but the recovery was worse than labor- for me, anyway. I barely got out of bed for 4 days. If it weren't for my family- I totally could not have pulled off the party! I had people painting, cooking, stuffing favor buckets, picking up food, sewing... you name it!

I am SO blessed to have such a great family and a healthy little girl!

I will try to be more punctual with updates as I am sure I will have plenty to share. Annistyn keeps us on our toes!!!!

Now I'm off to bed- I wasn't ready to Spring Forward today!!!! :)

A Walk Down Blackberry Lane

2011-02-07T21:11:00.014-06:00

Well my days of Blackberry are long gone and I have definitely fallen in love with my IPhone- minus AT&T's crappy service.

Michael cleaned off my old Blackberry last night and it definitely had some memories of its own...

Finley had a few of his own....

Mostly involving naps.

It was kind of strange glancing through those pictures because I realized just how much I use that part of my phone. There are so many moments that arise that you want to remember, but didn't bring a camera. It's those really random moments that you didn't see coming.

Like the time they brought Happy Face French fries to your table...

....or it was 112 degrees in your car and for whatever reason you thought that was special... I live in South Alabama... that's really not rare, but I guess I just wanted to document it. :)

Like the time you make a really fun hallway decoration....

...or see a really pretty sunset....

Like the time you catch your sister doing something really silly.... (like laying out on a float and putting it in the hot tub so she doesn't float away)
Or the time you need to remember the price on something....

Or find a really cute dress and need to share it with someone....
You might need it if you wear a really cute Judith March dress to the Bama game and feel the need to share it with facebook.... and look at it only a few months later and realize you have definitely gained weight- HA!
Didn't really think it was a good idea to take the camera to the doctor with a sick baby.... But this was her first finger prick...
And sometimes you need some fashion advice from a friend....

It's great to have a phone camera when you stumble upon something REALLY REALLY redneck in your hometown. YES! This is from our local Hardee's last November.
I didn't take my camera for our fun trip to Atlanta to capture the Downtown Atlanta Marriott lobby....
And this one was from Magiano's in Atlanta. I wanted to brag to Michael that I was eating Taylor Street Ziti...
And lastly... like the time when you get something really fun in the mail....

Which took the place of the old Blackberry.

Sorry for the really long rambling post, but I just wanted to share my "walk down Blackberry Lane". It's amazing how one phone reminded me about so many silly times you had forgotten, how quickly my baby turned into a big girl....

And of course....

How lazy the dog is! :)

ABC & 123

2011-01-18T10:26:00.001-06:00

I guess as Annistyn inches closer to age 2 (22 months as of January 10), I should get used to all this random information that comes out of her mouth.

She is constantly throwing us a loop with all this stuff she comes up with. And her favorite question right now is, "What's that, Mommy?" sometimes I hear that 9,473 times a day. She wants to know what EVERYTHING is!

Of course, we have played school since before she could hold her head up, but sometimes I have wondered why I bother. I could be a really really pushy mother if I don't contain myself. So I TRY not to push information on her or MAKE her sit down to learn things. She has known her letters for quite some time. We sing the alphabet, but I have focused more on learning the actual letters and not so much the order they come in. As I have found, it doesn't do you much good in Kindergarten to know the alphabet song if you don't know which letter is which.

So it surprised me yesterday when she busted out singing the alphabet song. Just randomly!
The day before, she surprised me by counting to 16. And she does it so fast!!!!!!
We have worked on counting a long time and she knows her numbers through 10. Sometimes she just looks at me like I am crazy when we are working on stuff though when she is actually soaking up the information.
In other news, Annistyn is officially a big girl!!! We celebrated with a Potty Party on Saturday at Pizza Hut (her favorite) and had a Dora cake.

Of course, we had to give her a couple of presents.

We are SO proud of our big girl! :)

Another story that I HAVE to share...

Michael had a stomach ache after dinner the other night and lay down in the floor. Annistyn went to climb up on him like she usually does. He said, "No, baby, you can't climb on Daddy tonight- my tummy hurts- it feels sick."
Annistyn said, "Oooh noo!" and ran out of the room.
2 minutes later she was back with her pink 'doctor's kit' she got for Christmas. She listened to his heart...

(Excuse the pull up and wet hair. She had just had a bath and hadn't gotten her PJ's on yet for bed.)

checked his ears....

checked his temperature, blood pressure, and decided he needed a shot. But don't worry- she gave him a band-aid afterwards.

And a big slobbery kiss...

He really didn't feel good, but was a good sport so he didn't break her heart. It was soooo cute. We couldn't quit laughing.

In other news, she randomly started counting in 2's today..?!? She said, "2, 4, 6, 8, 10.... GO MOMMY GO!!!!" Not sure where that came from!

And she is very conscience of safety like Dora. When we get in the car she always says, "Seatbelts! So we can be safe!" Then she reminds us constantly about them. "Be safe, Mommy!"

Now she even thinks that she has to wear it in the high chair. I haven't strapped her in since she was like 6 months old and all of a sudden she starts yelling, "SEATBELT! BE SAFE!!!! BE SAFFFEEEEE!!!!" So we have to buckle her in or she will won't quit saying it and playing with it until we do.

I really love this age and I REALLY REALLY REALLY love this little girl....

When Pigs Fly

2011-01-03T20:41:00.002-06:00

I hate that I don't have a bunch of cute pictures to go with this post, but I just have to share some of these things Annistyn has come up with lately.

Her vocabulary has grown SO much. She insists on putting words into complete sentences, though sometimes that makes things harder to understand. Like instead of saying, "Cat!" She would say, "LOOK, Mommy! I see a cat!!!!"

She was fascinated with "Baby Jesus" around Christmas. We saw a manger scene in the window of a store in Opp, Alabama and she immediately recognized Baby Jesus. Later that day, we were talking about it with some others and I was wanting to demonstrate her Bible knowledge (Because she WILL tell you the Bible has 2 parts and she can name them- Old and New) I said, "Annistyn, tell them about Baby Jesus. Where was he?" (Hoping for the answer- in a manger...a barn... anything like that)
She says, "OPP!!!!" My next question was who was with him? (Hoping for Mary...)
Her answer- "Donkey! He-Haw! He-Haw!!!!" Hmmm... Not exactly the story I remember. Ha!!!

Sunday she started fussing in her room, saying "Oh no! Oh noooo!!!" I went to see what was wrong and she met me at the door saying, "Mommy! My goat's stuck!!!!!" I just couldn't help but laugh, even though it was a tragedy to her. It's not every day a goat gets stuck at our house. Her Little People goat was stuck in the barn, but it was really funny! It was even more funny when she was telling others about it later. They had no idea what she was talking about.

Just to enlighten you on her personality- I have to share this story from Sunday.

She was holding the pig (from the Little People barn) and threw it across the den.

Me: "Annistyn, you may NOT throw toys inside. Do not throw that pig again."

She raised her arm, as if to throw it.

Me: "Annistyn, NO MAM! If you throw that pig, I am going to spank you. DO NOT throw that pig."

She raised her arm again, while giving me her sneaky eyes.

I said the same thing again and walked out of the room. About the time I turned the corner, I heard the pig fly across the room.

Me: "Annistyn, did you throw that pig????"

Annistyn: "NOOOO" (And she makes 'No' a 2 syllable word)

Me: "Well who did??"

Annistyn: "Mommy did."

Me: "No, Mommy did not."

Annistyn: "Daddy did."

Me: "No, Daddy is not here. Did YOU throw that pig?"

Annistyn: "YES."

Me: "What did Mommy say about throwing pigs?"

Annistyn: "No Maaaa-ammm"

Needless to say, she did throw the pig again (when I turned my back of course) and she did get in trouble this time.

She is very strong-willed.

She also steals my heart though. We say her prayer every night and I let her help me. I always ask her what we thank God for. Tonight her answer was, "Pizza, Mommy, Daddy, Pe-Pe Dog (Finley), pink tree (her Christmas tree in her room), and play food." In that order. Ha!!!!! I love it!

I know that was super boring to probably everyone else (except my Nana), but I just love the things she comes up with!!!!

End of '10

2010-12-31T20:54:00.014-06:00

I did a timeline at the end of last year and I wanted to do one again. I was thinking- it really won't be very detailed because it hasn't been an extremely eventful year.

Silly me! As I started glancing through pictures I realized exactly how much HAS changed since last year.

I guess I forgot that my little girl was definitely still a baby at the beginning of the year.

So as I prepare to say goodbye to 2010....

Our Year At a Glance.....

January

Annistyn is in her first beauty pageant and wins! Yay! She did 2 others throughout 2010 and placed 2nd alternate in one, and won the other. She won photogenic in all 3.

Mommy turns 24!

February

It snows!!! A LOT!!!!

Annistyn starts "really walking". She'd walked before now, but at the beginning of this month she became a 100% walker.

March

Annistyn's first birthday!

Planted flowers...

Enjoyed the outdoors as it warmed up...

April

Easter

Beach Vacation

Growing up...

New "Pool"...

May

This is the picture that I looked at and really really realized that my sweet baby wasn't so much a baby...

June

Annistyn goes to Disney and Mommy and Daddy learn that she is NOT a good traveler.

July

2nd Mini Beach Trip...

Finley turns 2...

August

Bought our Pecan Orchard....

September

Annistyn is 18 months...

First Alabama game we attended... Luckily we also went to Homecoming and the Iron Bowl this year.

October

AHS Homecoming...

Annistyn's Halloween...

She says "Roll Tide" for the first time!

Family Pumpkin Picking Trip...

November

Shelley wins Miss LBWCC...

Finley wins Pet Photo Contest and gets to be in the calendar...

December

Christmas!

Annistyn gets a pink tree...

Our Christmas Card...

Back

Front

My personal highlights of 2010....
Home business really picks up, lost weight from having Annistyn, celebrated 4 years of marriage to my sweet husband, started my 4th year of teaching (and got tenured!), went to my first Iron Bowl, saw Garth Brooks perform, and celebrated both my parents' 50th birthdays.

I began this year with a baby who was taking a few steps. I am ending with a little girl who runs, skips, jumps, and climbs, uses the potty, counts to 10, knows her ABC's, can tell you EVERYTHING you want/don't want to know about Dora, knows all her shapes/colors, says bedtime prayers, talks in sentences, and says "I love Mommy". She was saying a few words last January and tonight she ran to her Daddy after getting dressed yelling, "Daddy!!! I look cute!!!!!" She instructed Finley on how to get in his doggie room so that we could go. She got big girl panties this week. She is showing me how to "cook" and have tea parties in her new pink kitchen, dancing to Dora (like no 2 year old should know how to dance), and playing "doctor" with her pink doctor kit. Oh how the year flew by and how quickly she grew up in only 12 months.

Goodbye 2010!

I can only pray that 2011 holds as much happiness and love as we have experienced this past year!

Onto Four....And More...

2010-12-30T15:23:00.004-06:00

I set out on a narrow way, many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road

But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

Every long lost dream led me to where you are

Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent, just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost, and give it back to you

But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there, you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

But now I'm just rolling home into my lover's arms
This much I know is true

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

4 years ago today I married the love of my life at 6:07 p.m.

I love you, Michael!
Thank you for the best four years of my life!

Love, Shae

I'm Dreaming of A...

2010-12-26T14:57:00.009-06:00

...Pink Christmas!

Annistyn has been talking about "San-tah" for months...

so she was really excited that it was finally Christmas Eve.

I dressed her in her cute smocked Shrimp and Grits pajamas that have been hanging in her closet for months- waiting for this special night!

Finley was also ready for Christmas in his festive bandana.

We talked them into sitting in front of the tree for a picture together.

It doesn't take Annistyn long to get warmed up for the camera. She quickly turned into a ham and kept saying, "Mommy! Pics! Cheeeeese!!!!"

She sang and danced (to the Dora song, of course)...

She showed us her "cheese face"...

And we finally got her to sleep.

On Christmas morning- Santa Claus had come!!!!!

Annistyn was so excited about all of her new toys!

Santa has been working all week getting things put together for Christmas morning. Annistyn wanted a pink kitchen, and I fell in LOVE with the Pottery Barn one. Only problem- $249 wasn't the price for all 3 pieces. It was the price for one piece. But you could get a special "discount" by purchasing 3 pieces- only $747!!!!

As good of a deal as that is for a play kitchen (when I doubt I paid much more than that for my REAL stove) I decided we would need to go a different route. I found another kitchen with the retro look that was less than 1/3 of the price. So I thought that EVEN if it wasn't as good of quality, I could buy a pink kitchen every 2 years, for the next 6 years if needed, and still not have $700 in it.

Pottery Barn Kitchen:

Annistyn's Kitchen...

So I went with the KidKraft kitchen and I definitely do not regret that decision. It is SOOO cute. It is only 2 pieces instead of 3 and is smaller. But, I was actually really impressed with the quality for the price. My daddy (who builds houses) even pointed out how well it is built. The best part is- Annistyn LOVES it. And I'm pretty excited about it myself! ;)

The table came from Wal-Mart and was also a really good price. I had picked up the vacuum and microwave at market in November.

The tiered cupcake stand is also KidKraft brand and is SOOOOO cute.

You can mix and match the tops on the cupcakes (they are wood). The pink pots/pans came from Cracker Barrell and I personalized them, of course! :)

The Dancing Dora (or Dora Dance as Annistyn calls her) is the main thing Annistyn has asked for.

If I have heard the "We Did It" song once, I have heard it 1 million times since Christmas. When we pull up in the driveway, she screams, "DORA DANCE!!!!!" and runs straight to her when we come inside. Dora, Minnie Mouse, and Tutu Kitty have been having a week long tea-party at the table that is still set up in our living room.

I have really enjoyed my time off and wanted to share Christmas morning pictures while I had a few minutes! I have some others from the other 6 Christmases we had and hopefully I can get around to those later this week. :)

Build A Bear Nightmare

2010-12-16T21:44:00.003-06:00

For the first time since summer, I feel like I can actually breathe!!!!! I am OFF work for TWO weeks. No teaching! No Digi Diva Designs! Just being a stay-at-home-mommy- which is harder than the other two combined!

My New Year's resolution is to balance my life a little better. I am SOOOOO thankful that my little dining room business (meaning I literally operate from my dining room table) was a success. However, I forgot what it is like to have "me" time. So... I hope to balance things a little better in 2011- even if that means working less. I definitely want to get back to blogging. It's my only journal and I miss being able to look back and read those silly little stories I tell about Annistyn all along. I say I'll never forget what she says/does, but I know since I haven't been keeping you up-to-date, I probably have forgotten so many things I should have shared.

We took Christmas card pictures a few weekends ago and I planned on using the brown dress and doing brown/blue cards. That was also my plan last year. Annistyn did not cooperate quite so well in the brown dress.

And though I did get a couple that I love, like this one of her trying to "catch" the wind....

....they weren't what I had imagined for our Christmas cards.

So while she was doing the Dora "We Did It Dance" in this dress, I caught this picture....

And I cropped it to what would become the front of our Christmas cards.

This is her- wild eyed and everything!!!!

I have taken pictures of her all along in her Christmas clothing. I don't think we quite had 25 outfits, like last year. I dare say that was SLIGHTLY extreme. We have several though and I will have a fashion post to update you on her latest apparel.

I just HAVE to share this story from last weekend that gave me the title I used tonight.

We went shopping in Destin and I was buying a gift card in Build-A-Bear. Annistyn was really interested in the animals and I talked Michael into letting her build one. We let her pick the animal. She chose a gray cat- surprise, surprise!

We waited in line behind 6 other people (it was PACKED) and there were at least that many behind us. It was our turn and we had been talking about what we were going to do to the kitty. When they put the kitty on the stuffing machine, Annistyn had a fit. She started screaming, "KITTY!!!!!!! OH NO, KITTY!!!! OH, NO!!!!!!" She thought they were hurting the cat and she didn't quit screaming until the lady handed her back. She snatched the kitty away and mumbled, "Thank you" in a hateful voice.
Then we went to the "bathing" station. Michael pressed the pedal to turn on the air dryer (to blow away stray hairs) and we just thought she had a fit at the stuffing machine. In the higheset pitch scream I have ever heard, she screamed at the top of her lungs and bolted towards the door. EVERY person in the store knew we were there.

It figures that I have the ONLY child that has a tramatic experience at Build a Bear.

When she calmed down, she picked out a furry white sweater and skirt for kitty and when I asked her what Kitty's name was she told me "Tutu". So Tutu Kitty is out newest addition to the Page family.

Just wanted to take a quick moment to share! I probably need to go assist Michael. He is talking ugly while putting together a pink kitchen in the living room. Oh the things Daddys do for their little girls! :)

Dog Gone Cute

2010-10-31T14:58:00.005-05:00

We took Annistyn trick-or-treating in mom's neighborhood last night. Here she is going to Mimi's door.

We had to put a shirt under her costume because it was a little chilly. She would NOT let me paint her nose, so she had to be a noseless puppy dog.

We pulled her in the wagon through the neighborhood.

She had a lot of fun! She would say, "Treat!" at the doors and she was sure to tell them "thank you". She is very very mannerly and always says thank-you to everyone for everything. If you don't say "you're welcome" she will tell you until you say it.

She wore her pretty pumpkin bishop to church this morning. She wanted to take her "puuhhse" (purse) to church so I couldn't get her to put it down for the pictures.
Pick and choose your battles...

We were talking about church, so she started singing the Bible song to me. She was singing at the top of her lungs!

She love to sing. And count... she counts everything... I know, it's kind of strange. Since she has learned her letters, she points out every letter she sees every where we go. She has done the same thing since she started counting. Coat hangers are her favorite thing to count. She goes in our closet and you'll hear her in there... "one...twoooo...teeee....fuhhh....fiiii...." One day I heard her saying, "twoo..twooo...twooo...twoo..." and I looked and she had grouped them in sets of two... She must have gotten that from Michael because I do not like math! Ha!

Hope you had a spooktacular Halloween! :)

The Draft

2010-10-23T22:26:00.007-05:00

This has been a draft for 4 days, waiting for me to find time to finish it! Our life is complete chaos!!! I have so much more I wanted to add- but I'm going to finish up quickly and post so that it doesn't sit in draft mode for another 4 days!

Tonight, as I have had one you-know-what of a day.... I just have to say- motherhood is such a humbling experience. With that being said- I cannot share the details of our horrific week (with the finale being tonight) without completely grossing most of you out. I will tell you that it involved a stomach virus that has been lingering around our family for a week now, a trip to Huddle House that ended abruptly, 4 Halloween hand towels that thank goodness were in my car from our party last weekend, and some Wal-Mart bags. Needless to say, that order ended up being to-go and we finally got to eat our waffles 45 minutes and two baths later. Gotta love it.

Now to the part that was in draft mode...

Whew! Can you say whirlwind?!? I have felt like I have been living in one for the last month. I cannot remember a time that I have ever been this busy!!! With Christmas quickly approaching, I have swamped with orders and I am still getting them in a lot quicker than I am getting them out. I am IN NEED of a large work room that doesn't include a grandfather clock, cherry table, and china cabinet like my current one (i.e. my dining room!)

This is going to be THE longest post ever because I have some major catching up to do.
My poor baby never even got an 18-month post and she is already quickly approaching 20 months!!!

Just to fill you in- she weighed 21 lbs. 15 ounces at her 18 month check up. I can't remember exactly- it was around the 20th percentile. She is 33 inches tall (75% percentile)

She is one WILD woman!!!! There is some serious fire in that girl's eyes. LOOK OUT WORLD! She is headed your way!

She has a stool now and everytime I take a picture she wants to stand on the stool and pose.

She also likes to stand on the stool and sing and dance. Especially the "Elmo song". Michael and I laughed at her for about 30 minutes one night as she serenaded us from the stool.

She tells everything "Hey"... (the moon...the tree...the flowers... just whatever comes her way) Her favorite foods are cheese, pi-pa (pizza), and she really likes french fries, cupcakes, and ham. I know... super healthy choices... we are the parents of the year for good eating habits at our house. Brookeanne... I know you are cringing!!! :) She is really picky and honestly doesn't eat very much. "Fishies" are her favorite snack.

She climbs everything....EVERYTHING. She has awesome balance and I have found her standing on top of things and wondered how in the world she got up there.

She loves to play with "me-mack" (make-up) courtesy of her Aunt Shelley. I had to clean out some old powder cases and give her some brushes to use. Of course, when she can't find hers, she just goes to my drawer and gets my $10 blush brush out to use.

She is obsessed with Dora, much to my dismay. She knows her alphabet letters (by recall- not just by recognition) and knows what sounds a lot of them make. She counts to five.

She is a MESS! She talks A LOT and repeats EVERYTHING and talks in sentences. She is really into possessive forms of words now- like "Mommy's car", "Daddy's drawer", "Finley's food"....

I am running out of time- so to hit the other highlights over the past month:

Mimi turned 50 and we celebrated! :)

I have some more pictures that I want to post later.

Annistyn went to the fair last week! (Again.... pics later!)

In holiday news- Annistyn is going to be a tutu dalmation for Halloween. She LOVES wearing tutus and much to my surprise- she LOVES the ears on this!

We argued about what to wear to Wal-mart tonight because I asked her what she wanted to wear and she told me a tutu. So I was gettting out her orange tutu and she said, "No!" and grabbed the doggie tutu and barked. I didn't think "Mart" as she calls it was ready for a tutu dalmation.

We had an AWSOME Halloween party last weekend and I have some GREAT pictures to share. I will TRY to do that later- maybe this weekend! :)

Well- hopefully this will catch me up until I have time to post the fair and party pictures. :)

Overboard

2010-10-02T20:22:00.016-05:00

Well.... Every season I promise I won't do it. But I always do....

We've been keeping USPS, UPS, and Fed-Ex pretty busy these last few weeks. Between shipments for my little home business (which on average is keeping me working an additional 40+ hours per week- but it's a blessing!) and Annistyn's new wardrobe for fall, we are getting several packages a day.

I just love shopping and I LOVE getting mail, so any time I can combine the two- it's even better! I already have gotten in a TON of new fall stuff. But tonight I was going through everything that's come in this week and I had to wonder...

Shipments from just this week... not including shoes... or bows...

How far is too far....? Do I have a problem??? Ha!

I feel that the answer MAY be yes. BUT just to clear things up- I only have 12 or 13 Christmas outfits (so far) as opposed to the 25 from last year. So... I think I am doing a little better...maybe...

But it sure does pay off when I see this sweet little girl in all of her adorable new outfits!

I've bought a lot of bubbles this year because they only go through 24 months and I know she won't be able to wear them after this year.

I took a few pictures of Finley Dog too. I'm working on updating our pictures throughout the house. I also want to finish photo books since I am a YEAR behind right now.

He is such a beautiful dog!

Well, besides unpacking new clothes, we have had a lot going on!

We took a trip last week up to our pecan orchard to take some pictures of Annistyn in her beautiful new outfit that was made by her Mimi.

Friday was Homecoming and Annistyn went to the parade. We also took her to the ballgame. I was a little nervous after last year's experience...

Remember our little 'tear'leader???

Well, she was all smiles Friday night! We added pants to her 3 month size bishop dress and she was able to wear it again this year! That was one of those EBay specials I stayed up really late to bid on. I LOVE that dress and you CANNOT find bulldog smocked dresses.

Wait, what is that??!

Yes! She is holding my baton. She LOVED the "ton" and I am going to order her one this week. They had the first ever alumni band and Thursday night I got a call about being an alumni majorette. We met for about 15 min. on Friday before the game and twirled on the field during halftime with the band. Good thing twirling is like riding a bike!!!! I was a little rusty, but I was SO glad that I got to twirl again. Being on that field for the first time in 7 years brought back SO many memories. I have a completely separate post relating to that, but I'll save it for later.
I also got to twirl beside my sister- which was really special to me!

We even stayed long enough to take a bulldog picture this year!

Saturday was another busy day! We took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch!!!

This year, we brought Annistyn's wagon to pull her around in. She was ready for pumpkin picking fun in her new pumpkin romper and matching hairbow. The polka shoes came in Friday, but were too small... :( She had to wear her new Keds instead.

It was warm- but not too hot. I wish it had been cooler, but there was not a big crowd at all. It turned out to be a really good day to be there.

We visited the animals. Annistyn pet the cow.

They had 2 baby goats running around. You could get the bottles and feed them. This little boy had the bottle and Annistyn wanted it. So she put on the charm. She walked up to him, patted him, smiled, and batted her eyes....

Works like magic (and she KNOWS it- that's the scary part!!!)

We played on the blow up stuff! I was SOOOO excited because I got to play too!

Annistyn said, "Weee!" all the way down the slide. She had so much fun in the blow up maze and bounce house too!!!

We rode the cow train.

Then we went over to the patch to pick out our pumpkins!

We played on the hay...

And in the corn...

It was truly a WONDERFUL day. It also ended well as Alabama won big over Florida. :)

Just for fun.... let's compare last year's trip and this years....

Our little pumpkin is growing up WAY too fast!!!

In With the TIDE!!!

2010-09-12T14:33:00.007-05:00

Annistyn turned 18 months last Friday, but I want to dedicate a very special post to her. Since I would also like to share the details of our exciting weekend, I'm post-poning Annistyn's 18 month post until this weekend. Hopefully I'll have some awesome pictures to share as well.

Michael and I had tickets to last weekend's Alabama game vs. Penn State. I have been to several Auburn games growing up and of course, Troy games. I had never been to an Alabama one and neither had Michael, so we were pretty excited!!!

We decided to leave Annistyn with her Mimi. She would not have made it on the 3 hr. drive up there, the late ballgame, and 3 hours home. She was where she wanted to be- I am sure! :)

I had found the PERFECT dress and I was so excited Saturday morning when I got ready.

We headed to Tuscaloosa and met Michael's uncles and cousins at Dreamland BBQ. I don't like ribs, but I watched as they devoured 3 racks of them.

We visited the Bryant museum... (On his birthday- I might add!)

And OF COURSE- it rained! I was so thankful for the hideous $5 ponchos we'd gotten from Walmart. Seriously, the were nothing more than a plastic garbage sack with arm holes.

But don't we look cute?

It stopped raining long enough for us to watch the players enter the stadium.
There was a man in front of me who was AT LEAST 6' 5" and I asked him very politely if I could stand in front of him. He said yes and that gave me a front row spot....

As I stood there 4 feet away from Nick Saban I was KICKING myself for leaving the nice camera at home and bringing the $100 digital one that took SEVEN seconds to take a picture and 'process' it. I could have taken 200 had I brought the good one. TRUST me- I WILL have it at the Auburn game!!!!

We all know it doesn't take a good camera to get a good picture of Nick...

And if you've never seen him in "real life", trust me, he is just as pretty!!! Ha! :)

We stopped for a picture outside the stadium- we were soaking wet still if you are wondering about my racoon eyes...

I LOVED our seats!!! 35 yard line- Row 6...

I actually felt like I was part of the game. When you sit in the nosebleed section, it's kind of the same as watching it on TV...

Our view...

We felt like we should take a picture of Joe Paterno. Again... The real camera will go to the Al/Auburn game with us.

It was a great game! There's nothing like being at a college football game, especially when you are watching a team like Alabama. They amaze me!

We left after the game and arrived home around 2 a.m. We are STILL trying to catch up- but it was an amazing day! I also enjoyed spending it with Michael. We don't get too much alone time anymore. I missed our sweet baby, but it was nice to do something with just him.

Sorry that was really quick- but it's 11:30 and 5:17 comes EARLY! :)

29 and Still Fine

2010-09-01T21:16:00.004-05:00

Ha! I remember all the words we used to describe boys throughout the years. I think it was around middle school that we used the word "fine". He is SOOO fine!

Today is Michael's 29th birthday. I guess next year I'll be throwing the big "30" party- or taking him to Vegas! ;)

He is not as big on celebrating as I am. I want a week of birthday festivities and it is hard to get him to stop and doing anything on his birthday.

I made his favorite- red velvet cake. I would have taken a picture, but it was very ugly. I made it ahead of time and waited until today to put the icing on. It ended up having a lot of red cake specs in the icing. It was still delicious though!

I have been working on his birthday for a while now! Since last spring to be exact. A couple of years ago, he bought me my camera for my birthday. It was a lot more than we normally spend on birthdays- so I knew I owed him one.

I really wanted to do something to surprise him. He is hard to surprise and he rarely gets excited about anything. He doesn't show it anyway.

We are going to an upcoming Alabama game, so he needed some game day attire. I bought him an Alabama Polo shirt. Since I needed one more wrappable gift, I bought him the Alabama Football Vault (the book with the history of Alabama football in it). I wasn't sure if he would like it, but turns out he has looked at before and wanted it.

As you can see, Annistyn's Alabama book was in the picture. He had to read her the book to get his presents. Page 1 said somethiing about wearing crimson and white and had a note to open gift 1- the shirt. Page 2 had a note to open gift 2- the book. A few pages later there is a page that says this- "Wait! What's that I see? Is that an Alabama ticket you are giving me?" Annistyn tore out the fake tickets in there.

Can you read the part I added?

So, yes, I got Auburn/ Alabama tickets for Michael for his birthday! I've been working on it since spring and his uncle helped me out a little.

I have known that I had them for several weeks, so I have been trying not to give away the secret. I am bad at keeping secrets too.

I really think I surprised him and I think he was actually really excited. I was hoping it would be a "wow" present! :)

We ate at Santa Fe in Enterprise and just got home a little while ago.

Ill baby with the gifts...

I have been doing my trunk show this past week. I think it has gone great! I've had fun and I've enjoyed sharing my passion for clothing with others. I sell Shrimp and Grits and you cannot beat the prices! There's not many companies that sell brand new smocked dresses for under $50. I don't have to have my orders in until this weekend, so if you know of something you want- let me know!!! The website is www.shrimpandgritskids.com

They have GREAT fall pieces at great prices. They also have the plain collared shirts in short and long sleeve to put under tops and jumpers. They are only $17. I know I usually spend around $30 for Annistyn's.

In other news- my 18 month old thinks she is 18. This is what she found in my room today and decided she needed to wear it...

The photos say it all....

Sorry for leaving you hanging (no pun intended in reguards to the bra pictures!) the last couple of weeks. I have been super busy! One day I will catch up with everything.... Maybe...

e

Two at 2

2010-08-14T20:36:00.006-05:00

Since my last post was just about our new land, I have a few old pieces of news and some new stuff as well.

On July 31, our sweet doggie had a birthday! Finley Dog turned 2!!!!

Here's one of his first pictures after we brought him home...

And here he is now...

We joke about him being a "Clearance Puppy" because he was the only one left of his litter and the last one that the people were selling because they were not going to breed dogs anymore. I remember them making the comment about his personality- something to the extent of... "We've never really had one quite like him..." He was SO wild when we got him, but he has been SUCH a good dog. It was no big deal at all to house break him and we could not have asked for a better big brother. He has loved Annistyn from the day we brought her home. Now, he puts up with so much. The other day she took his treat out of his mouth (because she thought she was going to eat it) and he just sat there and let her. He gets poked, hit in the head with toys, ran over by her Leap Frog train, and has a little girl always trying to climb on him and ride him like he's a horse. Poor Dog! He is so good though and never shows any aggression or anything but love to her or any of us. We could not have asked for a better doggie!!!! We celebrated by giving him a really big dog bone. He ate on it for about 3 hours. He also got a toy kitty that Annistyn picked out for him at Walmart. I love you Finley Dog Page!!!!

You could say that I have 2 two-year-olds in the house.

Annistyn isn't quite there so I'm REALLY hoping that we are just hitting the terrible 2's early and that it isn't going to get any worse....

This is just one of the many fits she pitches. She will lay down on the floor, scream, hit, kick, and me- being the super mom that I am- decided to take a picture. I know- Mother of the Year!!! If you try to console her or pick her up- she does the "jello" thing and gets even madder. So... I just ignore. She is JUST like her Aunt Shelley. I remember her pitching fits like that.

Annistyn turned 17 months on August 10 and she is growing up SOOOO fast.

She has decided that she needs to take a purse and a baby everywhere she goes.

This is from earlier today. She is holding "Belle" who is my American Girl Bitty Baby from the early 1990's.

We dress her and feed her. Annistyn loves giving her a "bottle". She even makes the smacking sound for her. She likes to share her "bop-bop" (pacifier) with her. She rocks her and burps her. I am LOVING playing with all these little girl toys. I think Santa is going to do a doll house for Christmas and he has already started looking into options.

She is definitely a free spirit.

She is bossy and loves pointing her finger and telling us, "No, no, no..."
She also has learned to shake or nod when she answers.

She likes to stand on her head too.

She is still very petite.... tall and skinny. She has brown curls going everywhere. Her 4 molars have come through- she has 12 teeth.

I wish I could say she knew her whole alphabet- that was my goal for 18 months. I guess I still have a month, but it's not looking very promising.

It bothers me that she doesn't want to learn her letters, but she just isn't interested and I'm not going to force them on her. I started with the letters in her name- like I would do with a Kindergartener who didn't know any letters. She knows "A", "T", and "S". She also knows "O", "W", "B", "D", and a few others. The ones that she knows she has taught herself with her Fridge Phonics. As far as listening to me, she won't do it.

She will fill in the numbers counting through 5. I really was hoping for 20... but then again- she doesn't really care about counting.

She does know how to tell people how old she is and she shows them one finger and says "one".

I would be concerned, but the other day she sat down and I started asking her about shapes on her board. I knew she would know which one was a moon, and I kept asking. On about the 4th one, I realized that she wasn't just guessing and I kept going. She knows all of her shapes- including hexagon, diamond, the difference between rectangle and square, and circle and oval. I think there were 10 on her board and she had learned them herself by pushing them and listening to what they said. She can even point out things that are those shapes that are not on the board.

Annistyn can tell you the sound that every animal on this planet makes. She likes animals much more than the alphabet. I really don't want to push things on her that she doesn't like because I don't want her to hate school. Being the kindergarten teacher that I am, of course, I don't want her to struggle academically and I want her to be ready when she gets to Kindergarten. We have such high standards compared to the coloring and "pasting" that we did when I was in Kindergarten. I would like to be the one that teaches her to read. I'm not sure that she is going to let me teach her anything though. She likes to be in the driver's seat. The problem is- I do too. Somebody is going to have to scoot over... and sadly enough, it will probably be me. I am raising a child that is exactly like me in sooo many ways.

I'll be satisfied with the potty training for now. I'm impressed that she has done that! We have used EVERY public bathroom within a 90 mile radius. Every time we sit down to eat and EVERY time we leave the house she has to "tee-tee". I hate public restrooms and I have already found Dora disposable seat covers and I think $17 sounds great for those. At this point, I would pay $50. She has Dora pull ups too and she loves seeing "Dor-da" on her "big girl panties".

She loves her Daddy and once he gets home- he's numero uno. The other night he gave her a bath and they called me in there.

This is what I found...

They are so silly!

Today Annistyn was in her 3rd beauty pageant- Miss Labor Day. She was in an awful mood. I wish there had been more little girls in her age group. It's nice when everyone can place, but I also liked it last time when there were several, so when she placed- I felt like she'd really won something. Today- there were only 2 in her age group. I probably wouldn't have put her in it if I had known that, but her Grandaddy sponsored her and she won a $50 savings bond, so that was nice. I am now the mother of the 2010 Baby Miss Relay for Life and the 2010 Baby Miss Labor Day.

Here we are on stage....

And here we are arguing about putting the "Photogenic" banner on...

She threw the banner down on the ground. She didn't want to wear her crown either.

I didn't even get a picture with her sash and crown after the pageant. She was so ill. Here she is finally wearing the crown though...

Can't you just see the attitude?

Well, I'm off to bed! I survived the first week of school- but boy, am I give out!

Field of Dreams

2010-08-07T22:38:00.010-05:00

It's really a funny story.

Today we went to visit a field of Pecan trees.

I better start by saying that I am a person who believes in "signs". This all stems from a make-believe story that I am sure everyone has heard, but just to make sure- I'll tell you anyway. It goes like this...

There was a flood in a village.
One man said to everyone, "I'll stay! God will save me!"
The flood got higher and a boat came and the man in it said "Come on mate, get in!"
"No" replied the man. God will save me!
The flood got very high now and the man had to stand on the roof of his house.
A helicopter soon came and the man offered him help."
No, God will save me!" he said
Eventually he died by drowning.
He got by the gates of heaven and he said to God "Why didn't you save me?"
God replied, "For goodness sake! I sent a boat and a helicopter. What more do you want!

Silly story? Yes. But how many times do we overlook the answer that is sitting right in front of us? Sometimes God shows us things or sends us the answers that we have been asking for and we are too busy waiting for Him to write it in neon letters to notice. This story has always stuck with me. I don't want to miss my boat and helicopter.

So when I say that I believe in signs, I don't mean that if I am craving icecream and I drive past a billboard with an icecream on it- that I feel it is a "sign" that I should get one. However, that HAS happened before and I DID go get the icecream.... Mainly because it looked REALLY good! Ha!

I do believe that God puts people in your life when you need them the most. Have you ever been having a really bad day and a random stranger says something really nice to you? Or an old friend calls you out of the blue?

I think that sometimes we notice things because they have a purpose in our life- even though we don't know what it is yet.

So what does this have to do with pecan trees???

Let me start over...

Several months ago, my mom and I were driving down a road that I don't travel very often. I noticed a field of pecan trees and told my mom how beautiful I thought it was. I also mentioned that I wanted to find out who it belonged to and maybe go make Annistyn's pictures in it one day.

I didn't really think about it again.

About a month ago, Michael was talking about a piece of land and when he mentioned the area and the pecan trees- I immediately knew it was the one I had seen.

When we drove by after lunch one day- I was right. It was the same field of trees.

When we walked around on it, it was even more beautiful that it appeared from the road. I live in South Alabama- I see a lot of pecan trees and a lot of fields. But this one was different to me. I had that feeling. It was perfect.

I was able to get some pictures of Annistyn.
She wasn't very fond of the tall grasses.

But I am sure I will be taking many more pictures of her in that field throughout the rest of her life.

So to answer the original question...

Who owns this beautiful 10.38 acre pecan orchard?

As of Friday, August 6, 2010, at 4:30 p.m....

We do.

It's Been Two Long....

2010-07-30T20:22:00.008-05:00

Well, if I have heard it once- I've heard it a million times. Yes, I have put our blog on the back burner this summer. But I'm back, and I'm ready to rock and roll!

So here's what has been happening over the last two weeks-

We did take a girl's trip to the beach. Of course, it was really late when we started that way. I had to roll down the window and take a picture of this beautiful sunset that we were seeing as we were coming into Panama City.

I just love a good sunset! :)

Annistyn was excited to see the "beeeee" again. She picked up right where she left off last time. She had SO much fun digging in the sand!

She even tested the water out this time!

She has gotten very good at "swimming" in MeMe's pool. Aunt She-shee (Shelley) does the best job with her. She holds her tummy and you wouldn't believe how Annistyn can kick and swim with her arms. I think she is going to be a natural!

We did some shopping while on our beach trip.
Pier Park has a little carnival in the middle of it, so of course, when Annistyn saw the horses, I had to pay $9.00 for a ride.

I just love this little girl....

And isn't she so sassy?

But she does love her "Mom-me" too!

She has gotten so good at talking. She knows the sounds of every animal imaginable and she loves all them. Monkeys, alligators, and horses are probably her favorites. Not sure where the alligators came from... She likes for the pictures of them to "bite" her so she can say "ouch!".

She is SUCH a book worm. I have to make her play with toys. She will sit for hours and read books or bring them to me to read to her. She loves books.

Potty training is going great. We are ALMOST there!!! She will now tell me she has to "tee-tee" at times. At home, I've been taking her about every hour. She has told me a few times away from the house, but that is when it gets tricky. Most of the time, she will start going and when she realizes it, she stops, tells me and says, "Uh-oh!", and we run to the potty where she finishes. Not perfect yet, but I think we are doing great for 16 1/2 months.

Daddy is her favorite person right now. She calls his name at least 100 times a day when he isn't home. Once he gets home- they are best friends until bedtime.

We've eaten lunch with Nana a lot this summer too (which I will miss when school starts back!). Everytime we turn off our road towards Nana's house, Annistyn starts saying, "Na-nee!" "Na-nee!!" and then when I ask her who lives with Nana, she says, "Pop-Pop" (For Papa- pronounced Poppy) She has also mastered saying MeMe (my mom) and Goddy for Grandaddy.

If you ask her who made Annistyn, she says, "God did." And she knows who Noah is when we read about him and she knows he had a boat. She reminds us to pray every time we sit down for a snack or meal. She has her head bowed looking around waiting. She still claps at Amen.

Annistyn still dances to EVERYTHING, she loves doing ballet "spins", and singing in her Elmo (or Mo-Mo) microphone. She also loves Dorda (Dora) and the letter "H" is her new favorite letter.

Her new thing is purses. She carries one around all the time.

I guess I'll have to get her a fall Vera Bradley one. All she has is summer ones right now. I let her pick our her clothes every day. It makes her more excited about getting dressed. She likes to look "pri-tee".

She also likes riding her ride toys. She will climb on the train and drive it around everywhere or rock on the horse.

I will really really really really miss staying at home with her.

On another note- I've been taking orders for these cute Halloween treat containers...

And still taking pictures!

I enjoy both and I hope to keep doing both even though my "free time" is able to come to an end. I can add an extra hour in at night if I need to.

I will getting back on a schedule next week, so I promise not to leave you hanging for 2 weeks at a time. I'll try to get back to my 2 posts a week!

Thanks for not giving up!!!!

My Big Behind

2010-07-14T21:48:00.007-05:00

Yes, my behind is pretty big. I wasn't referring to THAT behind this time though. I am really behind on my blog. My Nana informed me that she didn't have anything new to look at when she pulled it up last night.

I really didn't realize it had been over a week.

I meant to come back shortly after the July 4th post to put some pictures up. These are from July 4th. Annistyn swam in the lake with her Grandaddy. She had never been in the lake before.

She wasn't very sure about it at first!

She really wanted to play with this doggie.

But he had his own agenda...

She found a friend...

And a float...

And the rest is history...

I have a picture of my daddy and ME in this very same lake, when I was this very age that looks just like this...

So what have we been doing???

Just hanging out!

And taking pictures!!!!

And making things!

I think we are going on a little last minute girl's beach trip tomorrow- so I will DEFINITELY be back soon with some more Annistyn photos.

Sorry again for my big behind!!!! :)

Red, White, & Cute

2010-07-04T21:24:00.002-05:00

We have had a fun-filled weekend with lots of cook-outs, family, and friends.

It didn't even rain, which may be a first for this holiday around here.

Last week, Annistyn saw this watermelon at her Nana's house and she decided that she really liked it.

I thought it would be appropriate to do some pictures with her new watermelon friend in her watermelon dress.

She was so funny with it. It was huge and weighed AT LEAST 30 lbs!!!

Friday, we went down to Ft. Walton to take some pictures of the family of one of my fellow kindergarten teachers! This was one of my favorites of her, her husband, and their two grandchildren. So sweet!!!

And last, yes, I know this is a short and sweet post!

I have been putting my stuff on Facebook, but a few had mentioned that they do not have facebook and were unable to see the pictures.

So... I made a blogsite for my personalized gifts and vinyl lettering.
It's http://digidivadesignsbyshae.blogspot.com

As a fun way of introducing my site, I'm going to give 10% off to the first 10 orders that are placed upon viewing the website. So, go take a look! Let me know if you see something you like, place an order, and receive 10% off!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe July 4th!

Peace, Love, & Part-Time Jobs

2010-06-28T20:28:00.008-05:00

I keep saying I'm going to do better about keeping you updated since it's summer and I'm off "work". But I seem to be just as busy! I am one of those people that cannot just relax- I have to be busy and I have to feel productive.

Last week I worked on finishing my move to my new classroom- which seems like it will never end. I also had a couple of big orders to work on that had to be finished by the weekend. I posted several new pictures on Facebook, but here is one of the platters from one order...

And here is my newest product to offer- Party Banners!!!!

I had SOOOOO much fun making this. It was an outdoor "splash" party and they used mostly primary colors to decorate with. I can't wait to make some more, so if you are having a party soon- keep me in mind! I make the "Happy Birthday" for $30. They are $35 if you want to include the child's name. They can be made to coordinate with ANY party theme. I can do matching cupcake toppers, party favor tags, etc... to match also.

Michael and I went down to Destin Friday afternoon for a beach photoshoot with this sweet family....

It was a little tricky because they had all the pretty sand dunes roped off.

And I will pretend that we didn't see these tar balls in the sand....

Makes me sick to even think about it.

We ate at the Crab Trap- which is my FAVORITE. We ate right on the beach. When it got dark, the moon was reflecting off the water and I thought it looked pretty neat. So I took a picture!

I got the dates for my Shrimp and Grits trunk show.

I will have the trunk from August 26- September 3. I am looking for a couple more people to host shows during that week. In addition to the Andalusia area, I would love to have someone from the Opp area or another surrounding area so that we can "branch out" a little. Hostesses get 15% of their sales in free clothes. I provide invitations and everything. The fall line is on their website at www.shrimpandgritskids.com. They have some REALLY cute things and I think their prices are great. Most of their smocked bishops are less than $50. They also have some great items for boys! If you want to host a show- let me know so I can mark the date off for you!

I have definitely been making time for this sweet little girl too!

I just love spending the days with her. It's so fun to be able to eat breakfast and lunch with her and to be the one that lays her down for a nap. I love to take her with me when we run errands and I love singing and dancing to singing Elmo in the afternoons. I only wish it could be like this EVERY day of the year!

NOTE- JUNE 29: Thank you Aunt Nay for pointing out my typo from last night. We ate at the CraB Trap, not the Crap Trap, like I previously stated!!!! I'm sure everyone who read that got a laugh. That's what I get for doing this at night when I am sleepy!!! Ha!!!!

Crazy About Crocs

2010-06-22T20:39:00.008-05:00

My daughter has a new favorite. She loves her crocs that her Aunt Laura bought her. She wants to wear them all the time. She will go and pull them out and want me to help her put them on.

I'm having to find outfits that they will match so that she can keep them on.

She just loves them!

I've been so busy that I haven't talked a lot about the things she is doing. So I'm going to try to share a few things tonight. I stopped doing the monthly posts at 12 months, because it seemed like a good cut off. But now I'm wishing I had kept going.

Last Wednesday, Annistyn went for her 15-month check-up. She has FINALLY reached 20 pounds! She was 20 lb. 5 ounces- she's not even gained a pound since her 12 month check up. Dr. E says she is perfect though. She still wears a size 3 diaper and wears mostly 9-12 month clothes, even though I have several 6 month size outfits from last summer that still fit. She is tall and lean, so she needs the length of 12 month even though the shoulder area is big on her.

Her eyes are green and her hair is brown and curly. There are curls coming up everywhere!!! If you straiten it out, it's shoulder length, but the longer it gets the curlier it gets!

She is head strong and boy is she sassy!!!!

She is talking a lot. We don't always understand exactly what she is saying, but usually by the 2nd or 3rd try she will get it right. She talks a lot in short sentences, saying things like, "There it is!" and "Let me see it!" She does a good job saying any word that we ask her to say. She likes to make her own decisions and if you ask her a question, she will answer yes or no. And if she says no, she means it. Everything that she likes is, "Ooohhh!!" She loves to kiss. She chased me down today to give me another kiss before I left. She loves to hug and "give love". She still enjoys books, babies, Mickey Mouse, "Do-ra", and Elmo.

She sings ALL the time and can fill in letters in the Alphabet Song. She fills in words to familiar songs. She does the motions to our church songs and loves the Christian Light song. She can "hide it under a bushel" and say "No!" and she does the other verses as well. She is a born dancer. I have no doubts that you will see her on stage in a few years dancing her heart out. She dances like no 15 month old I have ever seen. She has WAY more rhythym than I do and can move her body like her Aunt Shelley. She rolls her arms and shakes her booty. It is embarassing sometimes because if we are eating out and there is music, she has to dance. People stop us to ask us about her dancing and comment on it. I'm telling you- the girl can move! She knows the Hokey Pokey, Shout, Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes, and tons more. She likes to go up on her toes and do her ballet spin. She loves to jump. If you ask her what she wants to eat, she says, "Cheese". Grilled Cheese or Cheese Pizza... that's about all she will eat. We are about 75% potty trained and getting better every day. She is loving the summer and sleeping from 8:00 at night until at least 8:30 or 9 every morning. Some mornings I have had to wake her up around 10:30. She is a lazy little girl.

I know that kind of stuff is probably boring to everybody else (except maybe my Nana!) but I constantly use this to look back and see what she was doing at each month.

In other news, Father's Day went well.

Grandads got this card...

That was the front, the inside was this...

Michael got this card...

Front:

Inside Top...

Inside bottom...

I printed this in a mounted 8 x 10...

And he got a few other things as well.

My dad loved his Harley pictures and this panel I fixed him in a 10 x 20.

I have been busy moving my classroom, which is almost done! I have also been incredibly busy
doing invitations, gifts, and vinyl lettering...

I do a lot of "last minute" gifts- which is funny to me. About 11:00 every night, I get about 2-3 messages wanting a gift for the next day. It never fails! I love it though! I love to do anything that involves arts and crafts! And just so you know, I can almost always have a gift ready for you by the next day if you need it!

I am excited about a photo shoot this Friday here and one in Destin Friday afternoon. I have several beach sessions coming up in the next few weeks so I hope that our beaches stay pretty- not just for that reason, of course. It makes me sick to think about anything happening to our beaches. It's a part of our lives down here- not just a place we visit every now and then. I've been to Mexico, the Bahamas, and NO beaches are prettier than what we have. I want Annistyn to grow up going to the beach like I did.

Well, I'm going to finish a few things before bed. Hope everyone is enjoying their week. I know that I am LOVING my time at home!!!!

A Daddy's Day Tribute

2010-06-17T21:22:00.011-05:00

Annistyn wanted to take a few minutes to thank some important men in her life. She has been blessed with not only a great Daddy, but a Grandaddy, a Papa, a Grandaddy Norris, a Pawpaw, a G-Daddy, and a Papa (pronounced Poppy). We couldn't forget Uncle Chad, as well, and lots of Great Uncles! So even though Father's Day gets kind of expensive... she is such a lucky little girl to have so many special men in her life.

Tuesday afternoon, we went to visit Grandaddy and his Harley to take a few pictures.

Slightly different from my "Harley" photoshoot with her last year.....

She loves her Grandaddy and enjoys their time together. He definitely treats her like the queen that she thinks she is. He did the same for me, so I would expect no differently! :)

Last Father's Day, she had a tribute to her Daddy that was a slideshow set to pictures. I really liked the way it turned out and I wanted to do that again this year.

I played with several different songs, but when it all came down to it- the song from last year just fit perfectly.

Even though the song lyrics have not changed, the little girl in the pictures have.

This was her last June...

And here she is now...

So without saying anything else, here is our Father's Day 2010 tribute to Annistyn's wonderful Daddy....

Daddy,
Thank you for taking time every afternoon to play with me and for getting out of bed in the mornings, so I can have your spot. You know you are my favorite member of our family...
Lots of Puppy Kisses,
Finley Dog

Daddy, I am sorry I screamed all the way to Disney World. I had so much fun when we got there. You will always be the first Price Charming in my life.
I love you,
Annistyn

Michael,
I always knew that you would be a good Daddy. I was wrong... you are an AWESOME Daddy. Annistyn loves you so much, you can tell by the way she runs to you and grabs your leg when you walk through the door in the afternoons. I love the fact that you take the time to read to her- even though it's the same story over and over again. I promise, if we ever have another cat, it will NEVER be given a cupcake. I love the way you stayed outside for 30 minutes the other night trying to catch fireflies in a jar so she could see them. I love the way you chased down the lady that made your Christmas stocking when you were little, even though she lives 2 states away now, and had her make the same stocking for Annistyn because you want her to have that special memory too. I know I don't tell you enough, but I thank God every day for blessing me with a wonderful husband and for blessing Annistyn with an awesome Daddy.

I love you,
Shae

Lions & Tigers & Big Bird- Oh my!!!!

2010-06-12T22:39:00.008-05:00

Day 2 of our trip was spent at Busch Gardens in Tampa. I have to say that throughout the years, it has remained one of my favorite places to go and visit. It has the best roller coasters of anywhere around. It has never been crowded when we have been there. There are a lot more shady areas and when you get tired of the rides, you can stroll through the animals. because is a full zoo also. This year they had added a new part- Sesame Street Safari of Fun.

The rest of the family joined us on Day 2. Annistyn didn't need a stroller- her grandaddy was there. He was her taxi the whole day.

And don't worry, when he is around, she is the queen. We had not been there 10 minutes when he bought this $15 fan so that she wouldn't sweat. (We had a small fan that we had gotten. I know he didn't think it was big enough.)

We started out by walking through the monkey "reserve". Since she was wearing her monkey outfit, I thought it would be great to take her picture by the monkey statues.

This is what she did instead of saying cheese...

I never did get her to even look at me. She was too fascinated with that monkey and his nose.

She liked the real monkeys too. I know these are not just "monkeys" but I am no expert at distinguishing orangutans from gorillas or whatever. To me, they are all monkeys.

One of them had a birthday, so some of the park workers were throwing a "birthday party". They were tossing Popsicles made of orange slices and some other treats to all the monkeys. We had not been able to see them, but of course, they ran to the glass when the treats started flying down. I was so excited that they did that because Annistyn's eyes about popped out of her head when those monkeys were standing right in front of her. She loved it. It was amazing to watch too.

She made monkey noises the rest of the day and has had a new fascination with them since then.

Annistyn enjoyed Disney World, but the Safari of Fun was ADORABLE.

As soon as we got over there, 2 characters were out for us to meet and take pictures. Of course, she had a fit to go see them. I put her down and she ran over to them just like Mickey and Minnie.

There were tons of kid rides with only 2 or 3 ahead of us in each line.

She even rode this one by herself because I was too tall to get on it. This little girl's mom said she would ride again with her so she wouldn't be alone in the car.

When these characters came out a little later, we went over to meet them. Annistyn loved them too.

We paid $25 to get pictures with Big Bird and Elmo. You had to pay if you wanted to do those. Big Bird was literally about 8 1/2 foot tall. I will try to scan those pictures in later.

Annistyn's hair was curling like crazy in the humidity outside!

There was a nice water play area, several more rides, and a big tree house in the Safari part also. I would recommend it to anyone who is going to be in that area.

While Annistyn napped, Mommy and Daddy got to play! She stayed with her Granmommy (who she calls MeMe sometimes now) and Grandaddy in a cool restaurant and we took our fast passes and rode roller coasters!!!

Now is a good time to add that Annistyn has already been to Busch Gardens and she has been on all the coasters. When we got home from out trip two summers ago, I found out a few weeks later that I was about 4 1/2 weeks pregnant when I was riding all those things. Ha!

We visited more animals and stopped to take some more pictures.

Can you tell how rotten she is in this picture??

She has started putting her hands up like that for pictures.

I like this picture. It takes you a minute before you realize what she looking at. Can you see the giraffe in the background?

Her other favorite spot was the hippo area. Since hippos stay in the water a lot (which is odd to me) you can view them underwater.
This hippo came right up to me for a picture.

Annistyn really liked the fish.
Here she is telling us all about them!

She thought they were so fun!

I like this picture....

I think she really enjoyed Busch Gardens and I hope it is somewhere we can continue to visit as she grows up.

For all you adults that love a good roller coaster- there are 2 that are our favorites. The Montu is a great coaster and it is one of the longest ones I have ever been on. Most of them are really short. This is one of the world's longest. It's a good one!

The other is the SheiKra! We rode it twice in a row with our passes. This one is not for wimps! First, you go 200 ft. up, then you dangle in the air looking down for 4 seconds. Then, you drop at a perfect 90 degree angle. We rode it on our last trip (yes, when I was pregnant and didn't know it!) and it was no less intense this time. I have been on TONS of coasters- I LOVE them. This is the most intense. Something about that feeling of falling 200 ft. and the 90 degree angle... Wow! It's awesome!!!

Well, I'm off to bed. We bought 30 lbs. of fresh shrimp in Pensacola today, so I am pooped from that trip!!!!

Mickey Mouse Memories

2010-06-08T20:48:00.009-05:00

Twas the night before our Disney World trip
and all through the house,
Everybody was excited
about seeing that mouse!

We'd packed our bags

And gassed up the car

Annistyn was excited

She'd never traveled that far!

But little did we know that
what should have been a SEVEN hour drive
would be filled with a screaming toddler
and end up taking us NINE!

We thought she would nap-
a couple hours would have been plenty.
30 minutes would have been nice,
but she barely napped for twenty.

When we finally arrived,
we were all a little ill.
Thank goodness we got some rest.
And had a great time still!!!

We have taken Annistyn on two beach trips, but this was the first "real" trip she has been on. Since Saturday, we have driven a little over 1,100 miles. I'd say that was a road trip!

I had packed a "travel box" like my mom ALWAYS did for me.

She would always decorate a rubbermaid box with my name and everything and buy some new things for it, and put some old things in there as well. We weren't allowed to open them until we got at least an hour out of town. I made Annistyn a box and I was so excited about it.

Last week, I had ordered her a dress to wear. The lady was SO helpful about making sure she completed it and mailed it in time. So, you can imagine how devastated I was when I opened the mailbox Friday and it had not arrived. We were leaving first thing Saturday morning. I got up with her, we tracked it, and of course, it sat in Nashville for 3 days before anyone bothered to move it. It was shipped priority mail, but someone didn't make it their priority. I cried and cried Friday because she wasn't going to have her dress to wear. We called the Post Office and they said if it came to them overnight, we might could get it from there Saturday morning. We left a message for the lady we were supposed to be talking to. She never called. I went to bed very upset. Michael had gotten another post office number to call Saturday morning, to see if we could get a hold of it before it was sorted and placed on the mail trucks. Michael called and they had gotten the package and said we COULD get it from there before we left. I was SOOOOO excited. I literally skipped and jumped all the way out of the post office with my box! I know it sounds so silly- but I have always pictured taking my first son or daughter on their first trip to Disney World and taking their picture in front of that castle with their cute Mickey outfit.

As stated in my poem, our drive wasn't so great. Annistyn only napped 20 min. of the entire trip. She fussed and screamed the other 8 hours and 40 min. By the way, it is only a 6 1/2 or 7 hr. drive. We stopped for lunch, and then stopped again to let her walk around a Walmart we found to try to get some energy out.

We made it... but we were all ready to pull our hair out.

Moving on to the next day, we got up and Annistyn got ready to go meet Mickey Mouse!

We only had to drive about 10 minutes from our house to get there.

We rode the ferry boat.

She was pointing and asking about everything.

My goal was to capture on camera her expression when she saw it for the first time. I think I succeeded with this one...

She saw the Magic Kingdom and wanted us to see it too...

We caught the Celebration stage show as we were walking up to the castle. Annistyn watched it very intently.

We looked around and rode the teacups. I took a lot of pictures, but I wanted to enjoy the day without living behind the camera the whole time, so I tried to only catch the highlights.

This was one of them.
We met Mickey and Minnie.

I hope that I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. Annistyn lit up all over when she saw them and I had to wrestle with her to wait her turn. She walked strait over to them, turned around with the biggest smile and hugged all over them. She was SO excited. When I told her to tell them bye, she told us bye. I think she wanted to stay with them. It was truly a magical moment that made the whole trip worth while. I will never forget the look on her face.

She didn't have that look for the princesses. She didn't really care about any of them.

Mickey and Minnie were definitely her favorites!

We rode several rides.

Annistyn found a kitty.

She took a short nap while we hustled to find a cool gift shop to cool her off in.

She had a fit to ride the merry-go-round again. It was her favorite.

We stopped for a few pictures...

And one last look at the castle...

We bought an $8 balloon...

Annistyn picked out a kitty in the gift shop and we headed back to our house for the night.
I have a lot of pictures from Busch Gardens to share also. I will try to do those tomorrow. It is getting late and I am definitely exhausted.

Like I said before the trip...
Annistyn will probably not remember this.

I will ALWAYS remember this trip and seeing that light in her eyes when she saw the castle and Minnie and Mickey.

And it was worth the 9 hours in a car with the screaming toddler- just to see her face that day.

Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog...

2010-06-02T20:11:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Memorial Day on Monday with a cook out at our house. Of course, it rained as it does every Memorial Day and July 4th.

I used red, white, and blue for the breakfast area.

Michael grilled his delicious Boston Butt and hamburgers and hotdogs.

Speaking of hot dogs, the rain didn't stop this puppy from enjoying his day...

This silly girl had a fun day too!

Fortunately, it cleared up after lunch and we were able to enjoy some backyard fun. After all the fuss over the uncool pool, Annistyn wouldn't even get in it Monday. She wanted to run around the yard in her swimsuit and play. Her Aunt Shelley and me did get in it and we looked ridiculous sitting in that little blow up pool. I think half the water spilled over the sides when we got in!!! It wasn't made for over 200 lbs. of adults to get in. Annistyn laughed at us.

I changed her from her swimsuit and she played some more. She decided she wanted to picnic, so she took her water bottle and had a seat on her towel. It was really cute.

Her Grandaddy was there, so of course, she got to do exactly what she wanted.

She was worn out after everyone left and slept most of the afternoon.

Tuesday was a nice day. Annistyn went with me to school to get a few things. She had a lot of fun and destroyed 3 months of filing in about 45 seconds. I had two proof books, a bucket, a flowerpot, and 2 cake plates to deliver, so we were pretty busy.

I also had a cake to pick up because it was my friend, Leigh's, birthday and we were taking her to lunch at CJ's. I made her a cake plate and matching pitcher.

I bought the software to convert my files so I now have HUNDREDS of choices for fonts. I sell the cake plate/cover for $10, so if you need a gift- it makes a great one!

I made Annistyn a really cute Mickey Mouse water bottle for our Disney trip- I'll try to share a picture tomorrow.

I keep asking her about going to see Mickey and she is still very excited about it! We'll see... I ordered her a cute dress and matching bag, so at least she will look cute!

The Un-Cool Pool

2010-05-27T16:33:00.009-05:00

I'll be very honest. When I was little, we always had some type of pool whether it be one of the $5 blue ones from Wal-Mart, the "Crocodile Lagoon", an above ground one, and eventually an inground one. I DESPISED running through sprinklers. When I was going to someone's house and they told me to "bring a swimsuit", I always hated it when I got there and there was no pool... Only a sprinkler.

As I grew older, I even hated the blow up pools. I thought they were tacky.

Well I have officially joined the tacky pools club, because we are now the proud owners of a $30 Target special.

I vowed I would never own one.

Don't you love it when you get to eat your words or in this case, swim in them?

Even though I am the owner of a very uncool pool, Annistyn thinks it is awesome and that is more important than anything else!

We had a lot of fun playing in it- yes, I got in it too and NO, I won't be sharing any pictures of me playing in it. Ha!

If you are wondering why it appears to be late evening in those pictures, it is because it was late evening!!! It was 6:30 or so before we got it ready and Annistyn saw it out the door and had a fit. She ran strait to it and climbed over the side.

She also had a couple of visitors this week that told her something very exciting...

Can you tell she is excited??

I asked her if she wanted to go see Mickey and she said, "Yeah." so... I guess we're going!

We really weren't planning on taking her this young, but I've been about to go crazy wanting her to go. I will remember it whether she does or not and I will take probably 3,000 pictures to remember it by.

I have a fun giveaway on my photography facebook page- click on the link on my left sidebar to be a part of it. I'm giving away 24 free photo cards that can be used for invitations, announcements, July 4th cards, anything you wish. There is a post on my wall that will tell you how to enter. It's really easy and FREE!

I revised my logo so that my green swirls now form the letters "SP" instead of being pointless green swirls. I've been wanting to do that, I just haven't had time! Just like my flash website that I've been making for 6 months... maybe one day!

Well, I am off to bed. We are OFFICIALLY out for the summer. I am SOOOOO excited to be spending every day with MY baby for the next couple of months. :)

Bzzzzy Bee

2010-05-25T20:56:00.008-05:00

I've been really really busy- so I'm going to try to play catch up tonight. Saturday, I had a photo session at 9:30 with this sweet little girl...

She is adorable and she did SO good! She even came up with a few of her own poses. I've been working on getting her proof book together.

Annistyn was also in another beauty pageant on Saturday. Miss Memorial Day was at LBW at 2:00. The practice was from 12-1, so we went up there and walked on the stage. She was really excited about it. We went back at 2. Last time she was in the 0-12 month age group. This time, she was in 0-18 months. I was a little "iffy" about putting her in it. 18-month-olds are a lot different than 14-month-olds.

I decided to go for it anyway. I got there and there were 9 in her age group. Last time there was only 3, so I knew she would place no matter what- even though she ended up winning.

This time, almost every one in her age group was walking and there were so many cute little girls!!!! Annistyn did great on stage. She is fearless. She waved and showed everyone her Bible song. She did her "I don't know" hands because I was trying to get her to smile and asked her where Daddy was. She didn't want to leave, I had to pick her up to get her off the stage. She loves to be the center of attention! When they started doing awards, the first was photogenic. She won with her beach picture. I was really excited because she got a trophy and was laughing and playing with it. Then she also won 2nd alternate. Of course, I would have loved for her to win, but the little girls that placed 1st alternate and winner were a little older and they had a lot more waving and kiss-blowing going on up on stage. She got another trophy and her picture will be in the paper again. I was glad she placed out of that many. She LOVED playing with the other babies backstage too.
Here she is afterwards. By then she wasn't near as excited about the trophies...

I dug some old pictures out. I posted this one on facebook, but I wanted to share it on here too. This is from Dauphin Island. I was 12 when I took it. It was taken with my old Kodak (with film). I remember that day like it was yesterday and it was the most gorgeous sunset I have EVER seen. It filled every inch of the sky all around.

I also found several where I made Shelley or my friends dress up for pictures and pose in different places. I've always had a thing for taking pictures.

I've been busy making gifts for retirement, graduation, and other things that are going on this time of year. Buckets seem to really popular- like this cute one I made for a friend...

I also did a large navy with orange tub that would be great for icing down cold beverages.

I've been doing several flowerpots, too....

I have a lot of colors! I am placing an order Thursday for a few more buckets. These are bigger and in bright colors...

I can get hot pink, lime green, carribean blue, green, and red. (Red would cute for Alabama colors!) My other buckets are $10- these are $12 because they are bigger and a little more expensive to buy. If you want one of these colors- please let me know by Thursday night. Pricing includes personalization with your choice of font, color, polka dots, etc...

One more thing I have found- these SUPER cute platters.
They are melamine and 14 inches in diameter (great for serving). They are also personalized.
Each of these are $15 and I have several extra styles too.

My acrylic keyrings are in and my acrylic cups and clipboards. I'll put one on here soon.

Last thing for tonight- how cute is this??!

It doesn't have to have July 4th designs on there, but it could... $10 as well.

I really enjoy making things- especially for other people- if you haven't figured that out by now.

Well, I am 3 days away from the start of my summer break. I also found out today that I can move to the classroom that I wanted to move to. I will finally be in the kindergarten section of our hallway instead of the first grade. I love my neighbors, but I am also excited about the move! :)

Have a great week! I have a giveaway for this weekend!!!!

See Ya Later Alligator...

2010-05-19T20:32:00.008-05:00

Tonight we went and had pizza for dinner. When we got back, there was a beautiful sun beginning to set in our front yard. We thought we'd have some family yard time. I decided to take a few pictures of Annistyn in her cute alligator bubble.

Isn't there something magical about the way a setting sun makes your skin glow?

Seriously, could I love this little girl ANY more???!? Just look at that face!

I'm not the only one that loves her though...

I could just pinch these little thighs...

Annistyn found my new bench in the garage, so I pulled it out and let her model for me!

If she were sitting all sweet and perfect in that chair, it would not a true picture of her. That is what I LOVE about taking pictures. I want pictures that capture the full essence of her personality. Like this one..

And this, with her dirty little foot and sneaky smile...

Because we all know she'd rather be climbing in that chair instead of sitting in it.

But isn't she beautiful???

My two favorite people...

Annistyn likes to take care of the yard like her Daddy. She ran off and got this and brought this to him.

She also likes to "pray" now by bowing her head and folding her hands. She reminds you before each meal if someone forgets. So sweet...

And big news- tonight before her bath, she walked over to her potty, climbed on it and sat down, said "tee-tee", and did just that. I clapped and cheered and we showed Daddy. I haven't been pushing it on her. In fact there have been several days lately that she has not even wanted to try and I don't make her. She's only 14 months... But I give her the opportunity to make that decision and today she did by herself. She is one of those children who won't do something unless they think it is their idea. She would be a nightmare to potty train as a 2 or 3 year old. I am sure her strong-willed personality will be in full bloom by then! Ha! We are going to have our hands full with this little firecracker!!! She is too much like her Aunt Shelley.

Well, I'm off to bed...

See ya later, alligator!!! :)

Buckets, Beach, & Bags (of Shrimp)

2010-05-16T15:50:00.009-05:00

First things first (before I forget!) I need to announce the winner of the give-away from last weekend.

The winner of the personalized platter, pitcher, bucket, or lunch container is #4. That was the number that my "random number generator" gave me. So... I believe that is Ashley. E-mail me and let me know which you choose and what word, initials, etc... you want on it. I have different color choices available, so just let me know which you want and I'll let you know what all colors I have. Yay!

Here are two buckets I did this weekend:

I have been pretty busy taking pictures lately. I made a Facebook page, because I was feeling peer-pressured... everyone else was doing it.... and I have to say it was well worth it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE taking pictures and I always have. I remember all the cameras I have had growing up. I made Shelley model for me on MULTIPLE occasions and I still do. I'd follow the family dog around snapping pictures. My 10-year-old birthday party was a glamour shots party. My mom is actually very talented with a camera. We'd get a roll of film and do "photo sessions" all the time! They turned out really good! I have some old pictures that I dug out tonight and I hope to scan them in this week to show you how long this has been my hobby.

Saturday, I met up in Pensacola with one of my co-workers and her adorable grandchildren. Here are a few that I got...

There are a few more on my facebook page. I bought a new bench and a few more props this weekend. I can't wait to try those out. Everyone has their own style. I'm not a huge fan of an overdone "studio" look. I think it makes gorgeous pictures, but it's just not my personal preference. I have several "backdrops" that I use here and there, but I am a huge fan of natural lighting- as I have said before. I also like pictures to be personal (i.e. doing something you love to do, taken at your favorite place, etc...)

That was a really random piece of information. Going back to our beach trip, Annistyn was so excited that she got to visit the beach again. She played in the sand with Daddy while I took pictures.

When I asked her where the beach was, she remembered and pointed and said, "There!".

We ate at McGuire's and ran a few errands before returning home. One errand was picking up shrimp. I have never been to the fish market. Here is what it looked like on the outside...

I KICKED myself for not taking my camera in. It was definitely something to see. They were mutilating a big tuna right in front of where you were picking out your fish. We got about 20 lbs. of shrimp.

Tomorrow, I will be wearing this dress to school...

Try to ignore the pink flowers that shouldn't be there, the cup, and the other toys in the floor.

It is very comfortable and I liked it. Here's the best part- it was only $10. 10 years ago, I never would have told anyone this- but I bought this dress from Family Dollar last Friday. Yes, I bought a dress at the dollar store. Laugh, make fun, call me "skanky"... but I liked it and it was cheap and I'm going to wear it. Futhermore, I may go back and get a couple of the other shirts I saw that I liked. Ha!

That brings us to the 263rd reason why there is NO excuse for not dressing decently and dressing your kids decently. You can buy CHEAP CUTE stuff at the DOLLAR STORE!

So if you see me tomorrow, I will be wearing my dollar store dress. Try not to be jealous!!! :)

Hope you have a great week! We are on a count down until summer... 10 more days!!! :)

The Only Thing Worth Stealing...

2010-05-13T22:01:00.006-05:00

...is a kiss from a sleeping baby....

This is Brayden! He will be one month old tomorrow. I took some pictures of him this afternoon and he is PRECIOUS! Just wanted to share.

I can't believe that a year ago, Annistyn was that tiny. Just look at her now....

Yep, she's in my mom's dishwasher and if you look very close, you'll notice she's talking on her cell phone.

Gotta love her!!!! Have a good Friday- don't forget that I'm doing a giveaway. Read my last post for details. Winner will be announced this weekend!!! :)

Cricut Crazy!!!!

2010-05-11T20:14:00.009-05:00

That's it. I've gone Cricut Crazy!!!! I have been trying to catch up for the several months I didn't use it I guess. My house looked like a full production factory on Saturday as I was making these gifts for some special ladies!

I had the machine going in one room, an application station in the kitchen, and the gift wrapping area was in the living room. I felt very accomplished after I completed all 9 pitchers and the other things I had to do to get ready for Mother's Day!

I do sell these, by the way. The pitchers are $10 for 1/2 gallon size and $12 for gallon size. I have several colors of lids (including just plain white) and I have tons of lettering and colors to choose from.

I am limited on these orange ones that make GREAT Auburn gifts, so if you want one, you better let me know FAST.

I also have buckets in several shapes, sizes, and colors... $10.00 for this size...

These lunch containers work great for school-age- they even have a spoon in the lid! These are $8.

I do cups- travel mug style or plain tumblers (set of 4), cake, pie, & cupcake carriers (all $10),

water bottles- cute colors- and pretty much ANYTHING that you can put an initial on. So... if you need a special gift for someone (like a GRADUATE!), let me know and I'll help you out! All gifts include free personalization AND I clear wrap them "boutique style" so they are ready to be given away! :)

Speaking of give-a-ways..... I haven't done one in FOREVER. Soooo.... I am giving away one gift- your choice of a pitcher, platter, bucket, or lunch container... Just leave any comment on this blog post between now and Saturday and I will announce the winner this weekend!!!! I am so excited- remember, whatever # post you are- that's your "number". Past give-a-way winners are eligible! :)

As far as Mother's Day, mine was busy- but great! Annistyn brought me a card from her, her Daddy, and Finley. They gave me a 1 hr. swedish massage gift certificate (CAN't WAIT!) and Michael bought me a new cartridge for my Cricut in Wal-Mart Saturday to go with that. I love my family!

I fixed these pictures for Nana...

My mom was excited about her gifts- a market tote and this 16 x 20 canvas print of my sweet baby.

I had never had any pictures printed on canvas, but it turned out GREAT! I ordered the brown toned picture for our wall, but I'm going to have to get it in canvas now.

Tonight I took some of Annistyn in the bathtub. I told you about her bathroom re-decorating. I have a panel of her first bath pictures already, but I think I'm going to do a big one for the wall space over the tub. I needed some pictures for that.

I know she is mine... but I just think she is beautiful...

My husband was looking at these and accused me of touching up her eyes. I had to show him the original picture on the camera to convince him otherwise. I agree that her eyes don't look their normal "green" in these, but they are 100% untouched. She just has beautiful eyes...
(And I bounced the flash so it wouldn't hit her directly and cause that nasty "flash" look. I am a HUGE fan of natural light... but we didn't have any in the bathroom, so an indirect flash is the next best thing. Not that I am a camera expert!)

Some people think she looks like Michael and I agree that as she is getting older she is looking more like him. What do you think?

I think she has features that are definitely his. Usually people that knew me when I was little say she looks just like I did and she does look a lot like I did. But Michael and I have several similiar features, so it's really hard to pin point exactly who she looks like. It definitely depends on her facial expressions!

Here's her "fresh" curls... I love them after she gets out of the tub. They go everywhere!

Well, I have an ear infection and I'm off to bed. Since it's been about 14 years since I have had one, I forgot how much they hurt!!! No wonder Annistyn was ill last week!!!

Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to be in the running for the free personalized gift!