Warm & Fozzie

I have Fridays off of work.  It is nice.  So, I typically keep the kids home from day care and get a little extra snuggle time in with them.  However, I decided to do some things for myself yesterday.  I started with a trip to the dentist....cavity free of course.  Then I met up with our realtor, the amazing Debbie Dujardin, to check out some houses.  I really just love hanging out with her.  And to add to her awesomeness she took me to the bread store (we have a sweet discount bread store here) and bought us whole bag full of baked treats.

After that, I ran and picked up some BBQ to take to one of my favorite friends who just gave birth to one of the most precious little baby girls ever.  Seriously.  Lucky, for me, a few of my other favorite friends were at her house and I got to squeeze in some good catch up time.  And then after that I HEADED TO TO THE SPA!  You see I had a Living Social deal for a mani/pedi and it expired in a week, so I had to go. :) I get there to discover that OPI has a new "Muppet" line in this years holiday collection.  I don't normally get super pumped about things like nail polish, but this line made me unusually happy. Check it out, via The Polish Aholic.

I went with Warm & Fozzie.  I love it.  And so does Emmy.  The first thing she said when she saw it was, "I want that."  

It is a good thing that this nail polish made me so happy because about an hour after I left the spa, they called to tell me that I had ALREADY USED my Living Social voucher, and I that I needed to pay $60 for the service (in addition to the $15 upgrade I had already paid). So, I got myself a $75 mani/pedi.  Oops.  On the plus side, I genuinely feel Warm and Fozzie every time I look at my nails.

Like Ice Cream on a Mid-August Day

While my presence in the blogging world is fairly non-existent, my real life seems to be moving forward at light speed.  Evan will be 13 months old this week! Yes, I neglected to document anything having to do with his first birthday.  This is largely due to the fact that the G picked up a second job for a couple of weeks (well 12 weeks), both of the kids were sick for the ENTIRE month of October, and I got a migraine and barfed at Evan's b-day party (which was actually our 2nd attempt at a party). Oh and he's the 2nd child.  Just kidding baby Evan...kind of.  I'm the 2nd child and no one knows/remembers anything about my childhood, I suppose that is just the way it works.

Nevertheless, I do have this sweet little video of baby E learning to take his first steps.  It makes my heart melt like ice cream on a mid-August day.  He can actually take a few more steps than this video depicts....but at least we have something on video.

Also, before the existence of this blog and our little children, G and I once bought a house and turned it from this....

into this.....

And call us crazy, but we are itching to do it again.  If so, you better believe I will be documenting it here.  Sadly, I wasn't able to document the first remodel.  Maybe I will do a few posts on it, just to have it officially documented.  Stay tuned.

Missing!

Missing....

My presence on this blog.  True story: It has been so long since I have touched this blog, that they have changed the entire blogger interface, and I now no longer have any idea how to use it.  We will see if I am ever able to actually publish this post.

Also missing....Emerson's USC cheerleading uniform.  It looks like this.

I realize that is an old and not so great pic of Em BUT it is a great pic of the uniform.....that has somehow gone missing.  I of course 100% blame my Clemson fan husband. The joke is on him though, because if I can't find it soon... I will just have to go buy a new one. :) I'm not kidding.  He is lucky that Emerson is a micro-person and can still wear most of her fall clothing from last year.  So, if he can produce the missing uniform, he can save himself around $18.  

In the event that I am falsely accusing him of "misplacing" the above outfit, and any of you friends out there have seen it lying around at your houses, let me know. Our marriage would appreciate it.  And, Em needs it to properly cheer on her beloved Gamecocks.

Until I the next time I find time to hop on the computer....Go Cocks! 

You're Gonna Want to Try This

Oh little blog.....I just don't have time for you.  I mean who has time to blog when you are doing things like this.  

Slide + hose + slip-n-slide w/ pool at the end = amazing and amazingly painful

Oh and have I ever mentioned how much I love this kid.  Not only is he crazy cute, but he has started TALKING!!!!  He's vocab includes all of 4 words, "mamma, dadda, uh-oh, and bye bye." He's a prodigy, with really cute cheeks.

There you have it. In case you have found yourself wondering where the heck we've been,  now you know.  We've been creating redneck obstacle courses in the back yard and kissing Evan's cheeks.  

I Guess I Was Asking for It...

Remember that time a month or so ago when I was awake at 3am with little Em, while she was throwing up???? And I asked the question, "Why can't kids throw up during the day???"

I would like to thank this little lady.... 

for proving to me that kids can in fact throw up during the day.

In the past month we have moved, I have started a new job (full-time), we took a trip to the beach, and the kids have started full-time daycare.  Things have been a little overwhelming for all of us, but it seems that they have been the most overwhelming for little Em. 

I actually had the day off today, so I scheduled several appointments for me and the kids.  Well it seems that Emerson thought she was being sent to daycare (they have only gone 2 days) because she got really worked up this morning, and the second I put her in the car seat (to go to a dr's apt. for Evan), she threw up and threw up and threw up. So there you have it folks, I was wrong. Kids can in fact throw up during the day time.

My favorite part was after she had thrown up everywhere 3 times, she said through tears, "My car seat is dirty!!!!"

And because it wouldn't be fair (even though I don't believe in fair), to leave  you without a pic of the little man....here he is in all his beach baby glory. 

Good Morning to You

Because it's Wednesday (and I hear Wednesdays can be difficult for some people). And because keeping this level of cuteness to myself would just be selfish.  Enjoy. 

It's easy to see where E gets his incredible looks from....it's ok to be jealous that my husband is this attractive.

Good morning and happy Wednesday people!

It's 2:30am...Here's to the Month of May

I have finally found time to update our long abandoned blog.  Most of you are probably sleeping since it is 2:30am...but not me.  I'm wide awake because my daughter is wide awake.....because she has been throwing up since 11:30pm.  So, we are watching Elmo, waiting to see if the worst of this little illness is behind us. I have to say, I couldn't love her more than I love her at this moment.  As weird as it may sound, I'm so thankful for this time with her...i'll talke every second I can get with her....even if it involves barf at 2:30 in the morning (however, i can't help but wonder, WHY CAN'T KIDS THROW UP DURING THE DAY???).

Anyway, here is a little pictorial update on the month of May.  At this point you may be thinking, "wait aren't you gonna tell the story of how y'all got back to Greenville?" And the answer is no.  It's my (well my families) story and I'll tell it when I feel like it.  For now, here's to the month of May.  Which has been filled with a lot of "normal" things...it's been amazing.

Emmy has spent lots of time washing her hands.  It's a little out of control.  Luckily, her Aunt Amanda is patient.  I think she washed her hands for about 15 minutes when this pic was taken.

Em also had her annual cardiology visit.  Which went great!  There have been no changes since last year, and we love our new pediatric cardiologist, which is good because we are now in a long term relationship with him. The visit was encouraging and definitely more fun than last years visit. Some of that is because G spun Em around on the doctors stool for an extended period of time.   

Other "normal" things we  have been doing.  Washing cars on Sunday afternoon.  And loving it.  Em really got into helping.  She also got really into washing her whole body with the dirty water.

We celebrated Mother's day.  Watching my kids with my super hot husband is the best gift ever.  Evan slept through most of it....and he looked so cute doing it.

Em refused to take a picture with me because she was too busy trying to jump off the bridge.

We have enjoyed more than one hail storm.  I kind of think they are awesome

G and I have both been able to spend some amazing and much needed time with our friends. We are beyond blessed by the community we have here.  Some of my girlfriends and I went to Design With Wine a few weeks ago. If you live in the area or are ever visiting it is a MUST DO thing. So so so much fun.  I'm read to go again.  G got to go to the shooting range with some friends last week....he loved every minute of it.

Emerson turned 2!  What the heck!  She had two parties, neither of which were well captured on camera.   Part of that is due to the fact that she bit one of her friends five minutes into her "friend party".  It's her party and she'll bite you if she wants to.  Ugh. I got on a baking kick and made the cake for the family party and made cake pops for the friend party.  No pictures of the cake pops, which is sad because they were crazy cute.

And we have spent TONS of time outside playing with the McCall kids.  The water spot on this pic is because Bryson had just sprayed me with the hose (which is also why H.C. is sobbing in this pic).

Little Hannah Claire, beyond precious.

And last but not least, we have spent the month of May falling even deeper in love with this little guy.  His cuteness is overwhelming and is only surpassed by his sweet, fun loving nature.  He is a little wild but it is fun.  Emmy constantly says, "Evan's crazy." She is correct.  But look at him....

Ok, it's now 3am, I've done a load of laundry, and it's time to put the clean sheets back on the bed...and attempt to get this little girl back to bed.  Which could be challenging since she is eating goldfish and watching Elmo....how can I tear her away from her 2 favorite things??? 

Eventually I will get around to telling the story of how we got back to Greenville, but only eventually.  We are moving into some permanent housing next week. Since our stuff has been in storage for 2 years, it should be exciting (and nasty at the same time because it is probably really dirty).  So, we will be busy......blog abandonment begins again now.

Say What???

Garrett Reed quote of the day....

G: "I'm so glad my name doesn't start with an A."

Me: "Why?"

G: "Because I can't make cursive A's."

Really?? Who sits around thinking about that.

Also, Garrett got a new job and we moved back to Greenville yesterday.  Say What???? It's true.  No you are not out of the loop for not knowing.  It happened fast...very fast. More details to come later. 

Until then enjoy this photo from May 16, 2004 (my college graduation)...almost exactly SEVEN years ago. How is that possible? Mandy, has it really been seven years since we went to Europe???

"You Lie"

Me: "Emerson, were you eating the paint while mommy changed Evan's diaper?"

E: "No."

Too bad Joe Wilson wasn't here to call her out.

In Case You Hadn't Heard...

No I am not pregnant.  We are a little nuts, but not that nuts. The real "in case you hadn't heard" news is....Garrett's baby sister Courtney/Aunt Coo Coo to my kids, is ENGAGED!!! We are so excited for her.

Coo Coo lives in Colorado so we only get to see her a few times a year. Lucky for us, she made a quick trip to Charleston last weekend for the Bridge Run. So, we made a detour thru the Holy City on the way to the Myrtle so we could congratulate her in person.  It made our hearts happy to see her.  Court, we love you so much and are thrilled for you and Chris!  Although, I will say I am a little sad that we will only share the same last name for a few more months.  Good for you though, Nicoletti is definitely a little spicier than Reed.

Court got to spend lots of time loving on baby Evan.  And regardless of how it looks in this pic, he enjoyed every second of it.

Emmy wanted to say congrats again to Aunt Coo Coo. Yay Coo Coo!!!!

40 Days

40 Days....that is how long it has been since I have touched this blog.  So sad. Honestly, things have just been busy. Between taking care of both of the kids by myself, working part-time, fun play dates with friends, and trips to the beach (rough life i know)...I really haven't even thought about blogging. Whoops. And without Garrett around, I seem to have lost my biggest source of inspiration. Have no fear though, we are headed to see him tomorrow. I'm feeling inspired just thinking about it.

Pretty much, I am really tired these days. Kind of like Emerson was after little Harrison's birthday party a few weeks ago.

My day starts at 6:15 (i have to get up before both kiddos to get ready) and ends around midnight. I constantly day dream about how amazing it would be if I could have a nap time every day.  Oh well, I can nap when my kids go to college. Until then, I'm going to enjoy every second of having these precious little faces wear me out. 

I have fallen so in love with this kid I can hardly stand it.

This little girl brings  light to the world. Yes she is wearing a leotard (and boots that are not pictured).

Hopefully I will be posting more this month. I feel like I am missing my opportunity to chronicle Evan's first year of life. It's so true, the second child gets the short end of the stick. I know because I am the second child.  What was my sisters first word??, "thank you," what way my first word??? no one knows. Evan I am vowing to minimize how many of your milestones we forget.  You deserve it....look how precious you are.

Yes, I nibble on his cheeks all day long.  All day. Every day.

Help

Garrett came to town again this weekend. He makes my heart really happy.  He also makes my kids hearts really happy. There is no doubt he is the fun one. Tonight he decided to put Em in the Baby Bjorn (a baby carrier for those of you who are not versed in baby gear). It was comical to say the least.  Watch for yourself. My favorite part of this video is my mom.  She goes on cooking dinner completely ignoring the dancing man with an almost 2 year old strapped to his body. Apparently she is used to Garrett's uniqueness.

And as if the video wasn't good enough, I somehow managed to snap this pic. It makes me laugh. Not the most flattering picture of Garrett but hilarious nonetheless. 

It's Not All Gloom and Doom

I realized I had been emoting way too much on this blog when my friend Lindsay called the other day and said, "So, you're sad huh. I read your blog." So, in an effort to show the blogosphere that my life is still moving forward and that I don't actually sit around in a house by myself crying all day....here is a photo story depicting some moments from the past few weeks that have made me laugh.  Here we go.

When we are visiting Garrett at the beach, he still has to work and we are stuck in a mostly empty third floor apartment. So, we all start to get bored and begin to look a little like this...

"Mom.....I'm so bored."

"Seriously mom, this is the pits."

So, I got sick of the whining and decided to let the kids entertain themselves while I did a puzzle.  Well, I actually did 2 puzzles but I only have a picture of one.

You would be shocked to know how difficult those leaves were.

While I worked on those Emerson decided to take Evan's temperature.  He said, "noooo."

She did it anyways. He was fever free. 

 We have also taken a few trips to Spartanburg over the past few weeks.  On one of those trips, Garrett's mom dressed Evan up like a duck.

He clearly loved it.

On that same trip, Garrett's dad, made the rookie mistake of setting Emerson's pack and play up right underneath a set of drawers.  Half way through "nap time" (there was definitely no napping), we heard loud banging noises coming from the room.  This is what we found.

 

Here is a closer look at the contents of Garrett's drawers from high school. It should be noted that Emerson had completely cleaned the drawer out.  These pics only show what was left after we put half of it back (it took me a minute to think to grab the camera).

That was fun.  Emmy and I have also been playing outside or "side" as she call it.  I have been taking lots of pictures of her because I love her.  Here are a few.

Garrett came to visit one weekend and we were enjoying a quiet Sunday morning when Em came running into the room looking like this.

She had just been dancing in the shower (one of her favorite past times), but when she ran up to us she was screaming, "ball ball ball ball ball." We were both confused about what she could possibly be so upset about until we smartened up and realized she must have dropped her favorite bouncy ball down the drain while she was dancing. So we spent the next hour doing this....

 Garrett trying to suck the ball up with a vacuum (while using his flashlight app), and Emerson cheering him on crying and screaming "ball ball ball ball." Sadly (especially for my parents since it is their house), the ball was never recovered.

And finally, in case you were wondering, Evan is still chunky.  But, he is able to use his hands more now, so maybe  he will lose some weight from all the exercise. Maybe.

There you have it, even with Garrett gone most of the time, I do still laugh and enjoy life.