Spring Please

It's official....I am sick of winter. Which is odd b/c I typically love winter. However, I was at my parents house this past weekend and it felt so good outside. We spent so much time playing outdoors and I loved it. Then, I drove home in snow and woke up to snow the next day. And now there is snow on the weather forecast for 2 days this week. I'm over it. I love snow, but no more please. I am ready to be able to play outside with little Em.

So, the new look of the blog is my attempt to rid my life of Winter and welcome in Spring. I hope it works. On a total side note, here is another picture of Emerson and Bryson. Bryson took her to breakfast at Chick-fil-A, they ate Cheerios. So sweet.

A Brief Look at the Past Few Days

Well, for a lack of better words, I will just say that this past week has been kind of hectic. We rushed to the Upstate on Friday afternoon when we got word that Garrett's dad was in the hospital. Luckily, he is back at home now and doing well. Here is a little pick of Em looking out his hospital window.

Although we hated that we were having to visit Garrett's dad in the hospital, I will say that the view of the sunset over the mountains from his hospital window was pretty amazing. Coming home is always so bittersweet...It is so good to be home, but it just reminds us of how much we miss it here. I miss our families, friends, and those beautiful mountains. Garrett had to leave on Saturday morning to drive up to D.C. for a few days, so I decided to stay and spend some time with my family.

It has been good to be here although a little exhausting. While I love Emerson....she has been making me totally nuts lately. She cries when anyone but me holds her and she has begun screaming during both of her naps and at bedtime. It seems everything she does these days is totally irrational and quite honestly it's wearing me out. She is actually laying in her pack in play crying right now instead of napping. Parenting is a challenge even with Garrett around, but without him it is even harder. Single mothers of the world, I have so much compassion and admiration for you!!!!

Luckily the weather has been nice since we have been here, so we have been able to spend some good time outside. And we have gotten to spend some good time with friends and family. On Sunday, we played outside for a long time and my sister and brother-in-law came over and cooked dinner...yum.

Stabler trying to eat my parents fish.

GiGi, Em, Amanda, and Stabler feeding the fish

Braised Short-Ribs...Yummm

Playing in the driveway (it's so nice to be able to borrow a driveway to play in)

GiGi doing some gardening...she got more than a few whistles from the neighbors (sorry mom...I couldn't resist)

More enjoying some driveway time

Aunt Amanda so generously helping Em walk

Yesterday I got to go hang out with one of my favorites families ever...the Spann's. Donald, Mary Beth, Charley, and Eli we miss you guys so much!!! Donald and Mary Beth are some of our closest friend from Greenville and they produce some BEAUTIFUL children.

Case. And. Point. Eli (5 months) and Charley (21 months)

Notice the distance between them and Emerson. That is because Em is a bully and pinched both of them a few times.

Today we got to go visit my best friend from childhood, my college roommate, and maid of honor, Kristin. Her little boy Bryson is 10 weeks older than Em and the 2 of them have been friends since Em was born. Seriously, i have pictures of them holding hands when Em was like 3 months old. Anyway, Kristin and I took them for a wagon ride. It was so cute that it ALMOST made me forget what a little terror Emerson has been lately.

Best Friends

I mean....they are really cute.

Emerson kept trying to take Bryson's hat...he didn't seem to mind.

I also got to go to church with my friend Alexis on Saturday night and then to dinner too! She is a single mom of two little ones....I look up to her so much. It was such a blessing to spend time with her. It has been so nice to be around close friends and family. While we like Durham, it feels lonely sometimes. But alas, I am heading back there in the morning. If you are thinking, "hey you were in Greenville and didn't call"...sorry! But, I am hoping to be back for most of the month of April and looking forward to get to see the people I missed on this trip. Lastly, please pray that my sweet daughters crazy cranky alter ego decides to go away. Thanks.

Real Quick

Ok, so we have been slightly busy....one could might even call it chaotic. Anyway, because I just got back from Maryland (for a work trip) late Wednesday night, and we are now trying to get in the car to head to the Upstate to see our families (before G has to go to D.C. on Sunday), I will give a brief overview of what has been going on. The overview will be random...enjoy. BTW...Emerson is 9 months old today....unbelievable. She has also become quite the handful.

On another note, Garrett bought me some beautiful tulips last week....they made me happy.

The dog continues to torture Emerson and she him. He breaks into her room often. And this is the result.

Emerson is cutting 3 of her top teeth at once. This means lots of teething biscuits, which also means big messes and occasional choking.

She makes this face a lot...I love it. She also prefers standing to sitting and if it were up to her she would be upside down...all of the time. I watch her hold onto her crib and lean backwards on a daily basis. I'm not sure what this means for her future.

While she continues to look super sweet and innocent, she is not. She climbs all over everything. Stands up in her crib and cries every time you try to make her take a nap (she used to go down with ease). She refuses to eat on a regular basis. And she continues to pinch the tar out of me constantly. Those are just a few reasons why I LOVE her. Happy 9 months Emerson...I hope you decide to stop crying and take a nap soon!

Sorry Stabler

We (well actually Garrett) has discovered a way to keep our little crawler occupied for extended periods of time. Don't worry Mom (& Becky), we don't just leave her unattended...for too long. It drives the dog nuts...but we don't care. Sorry Stabler. If you have kids, try it (or if you are an adult without kids, it's still kinda fun).

And We're Off...

After months of rocking, bouncing, standing up, and showing more interest in walking....she crawls. It's not graceful or fluid...but it is forward movement.

The Haunting...

So earlier in the week I was catching up with one of my fave friends from college via her blog. On her blog she was discussing this super yummy salad that she had made for a little get together that she had attended. The recipe came from "The Pioneer Woman" (whom I had heard of but really had no experience with prior to this experience. However, I am now sucked in and I could and probably will write an entire post on her at some point...keep your eyes open for that). Anyway, out of curiosity I checked out the recipe and it looked AMAZING. My friend had noted on her blog post that the recipe involved lots of chopping. Ever since I got this for Christmas...

(a Henckels 5" Santoku knife)....I can't get enough of chopping. Additionally, it just so happened that I had most of the ingredients needed at home already and I was already in route to Kroger to do my weekly shopping. So, I figured I would pick up the few things I would need while I was there, and I would make this tasty looking salad for dinner.

The recipe called for the use of serrano peppers in the dressing. Now I should note that I'm not really into spicy things but G is WAY into spicy things (that's why he married me, hehehe)...the spicier he can get things the better. He could not care less if his nose is dripping and his lips are inflamed for days....homeboy loves the spice. I think it is mostly a way to assert his manhood. Anyway, I love him so I decided to oblige his afinity for all things spicy and actually use the peppers in the dressing. So, I picked up a few of these at the store.

Beautiful aren't they??? Seeing as how I NEVER cook with spicy peppers, I had no idea where they ranked on the Scoville Scale. In fact, I had no idea what the Scoville Scale was until yesterday.

I got home from the store and began chopping....loving every second of it. I was almost done with the dressing and it was time to add the peppers. Garrett happened to be in the kitchen at the time, so in an effort to brag about what a good wife I was I said "look I got these peppers just for you." I began chopping the peppers, and G grabbed and piece of one and ate it. Right as I hear him say "oh, wow," my throat begins to feel as if it going to close up, my eyes involuntarily began dripping water, and my hands began to burn as if someone had lit a match to them. All of this from just sharing the same air as this little pepper! As if this was not enough to convince me that using these guys in the salad wasn't the best idea for me, I decided to take my own little nibble. I had to prepare the rest of the salad with cucumber on my lips...wondering if I would ever be able to kiss my hubby again.

People, the recipe called for TWO of these things. There was no way that was happening. I told Garrett that I loved him but that the peppers had to leave the house, immediately. Poor Garrett had been so excited about them but he tossed them out anyway. For the rest of the night, my hands where ON FIRE. I had to take my rings off b/c the oil had gotten under them....I still have not put them back on. Yesterday, I went to take a shower and there must have been oil trapped under my finger nails that got released b/c again my hands were on fire (i cut my nails the second I got out of the shower). I went to use the computer yesterday...my thumbs caught fire again. THESE PEPPERS ARE HAUNTING ME! When will it stop???

I don't know. But I do know two things...Thing #1)The salad did end up being UNBELIEVABLY good! I will most definitely be hitting the Pioneer Woman up for recipes again. Thing #2) I will never ever ever ever listen to the Pioneer Woman when she tells me to add peppers to any of those recipes.

Everybody Dance Now

While I tend to write posts about day to day events, often revolving around precious Emerson, I am starting to realize that I could probably make a killing if I started a blog devoted to telling tales of my out of control husband. I won't b/c I don't have the time and at this point really don't feel like it but I will give you a quick snap shot of what is like to be married to Garrett Reed.

So yesterday after we finished eating dinner I sat down in a chair in our den to relax a little (the den, the kitchen, and dining room are pretty much one since we live in a little tiny apartment but whatever). Simultaneously my sweet husband headed to the kitchen to "clean up." I hear him rinsing dishes and start the garbage disposal. As soon as he turned the disposal on I new there was something in it that wasn't supposed to be. How do I know this??? B/c he ground up one of Emerson's spoons in the disposal last week, so it is a very familiar sound. I listened to the sound for a good 30 seconds debating on whether or not to say something. I subsequently stopped debating and said "I think there is something in there." Garrett said "oh" and pulled out our now mangled measuring spoon.

At this point I decided it would be best if G took my place sitting in the chair and I took over in the kitchen (maybe that was all a part of his plan). I can't lie, as I was cleaning the kitchen I might have started to day dream a little about what it would have been like to marry someone who was really clean and neat and could cook. I let myself day dream for a little bit but I never could get a could picture of what that would be like.

Fast forward about 5 hours to a few minutes after midnight when we are headed to bed. As a married person, I know and all you other married people know, that when you go to bed there are a few scenarios that could unfold. For us, if you get in bed before 11pm, you may not got straight to bed (if you know what I mean). If we head to bed after 11pm, there's a 95% chance we are going straight to bed, and after 12am, a 99% chance we are going straight to bed. (Sorry mom, but it's true).

So, at 12:07am, I turn off my light and snuggle under the covers and immediately begin to fall asleep. Garrett turned off his light a few seconds later and seemed to do the same thing. About 30 seconds later, I hear, "EVERYBODY DANCE NOW, GIVE ME THE MUSIC. EVERYBODY DANCE NOW, YEAH YEAH YEAH" (you know the classic song by C & C Music Factory) blaring from G's I-Phone. I look over to see my husband dancing while lying in bed. This lasted for the entire duration of the song. I have to say it was a valiant effort on his part to "keep us up a little longer." However, I threatened to start crying if he didn't turn it off and I vowed to blog about it.

He obliged and let me go to sleep. I fell asleep laughing to myself and thinking that if I had married the clean, neat, good cook from my day dreams, my life would probably not be nearly as entertaining. Just another night in the Reed household....Oh the stories I could tell. Garrett did set a up a blog entitled, "Everyone! Stop What You are Doing and Listen to Me," which I am pretty sure it can be found at stopwhatyouredoingandlistentome.blogspot.com. (yes, he did this as a dig to all us bloggers). I'm not sure he has and/or will ever post anything but maybe he could use it to tell his own tales.