Baby Liam

Lets take a look back to 6-15-09, I was walking the dog because it was my due date and I wanted Tillman OUT! As I was walking I came upon the Ridouts. Jill was yelling "get him" while Aj was killing a spider! Molly was standing beside Jill laughing. Jill being the friendly person she is asked when I was due and I told her my due date was today and I was walking hoping to start labor. We talked about babies and she was so friendly! I went home and the first thing I did was facebook her! I told her I wasn't a stalker but since she lived in my neighborhood I wanted to be friends. Moments later she called and said she wanted to bring me something. She showed up at my door and had Fisher's baby book. She wanted me to not be scared about labor and show me how neat it was. I was so amazed with her and how friendly she was! I had never met someone so genuine and outwardly caring to someone she just met!

Fast forward and year and half and Jill and I have become great friends! She keeps me grounded because she isn't a "teacher" friend. I hang with her and teaching isn't a topic because we have so many other things in common to talk about. What I love most about Jill is that she is the most genuine encouraging person I have ever met. She isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes and always wants to support her friends. Whatever I tell her she gives great advice and always motivates me to be the best me! She is an amazing mom who has three beautiful children! She is one of those friends who I may not talk to all the time but we pick up right where we left off.

Well ever since Tillman was born I have been intrigued with birth! I really wanted to see a baby be born and Jill offered to let me see baby Liam be born! I was amazed with how beautiful this event was. Take away all the science and just ground yourself with what is happening! When Liam made his appearance I kept saying "Oh my gosh..that is a baby!" The neonatal nurse said, "I have seen hundreds of births and it still amazes me!" I am so grateful for Jill letting me be present for such an amazing event! I will forever remember baby Liam's birth! Here are some pictures!

Me and Jill loving on baby Liam!
AJ and Jill with baby Liam!
Getting cleaned!
Jill's favorite part of a baby is the labor...can't you tell! Took her eight minutes to push baby Liam out!
Molly and Jill enjoying a nice popsicle while waiting for baby Liam!

New Year's Resolution....

So this year is a new year! I can't wait for this year to begin. I love new adventures and get bored very easily! I am always looking for a new challenge and the last couple months I feel that I haven't had a challenge and so I am looking for a new one this year!

This resolution was sparked by many different things but mainly I wanted to eat healthier, spend less money, and feel productive in the house wife category. ;)

So this year I have decided to attempt meal planning for our family. If you all knew how much we spent on food for a family of two and a half you would flip! We are very spoiled and don't want to give up cable or Internet so in order to be better stewards of our money, I want to help cut our food bill down. We believe that Walmart is still in business because of our family! ;)

What I have going for me is I love to cook! I love to eat and I love to try out new foods! Meal planning seems pretty easy and seems to really make shopping organized.

What I have against me is that I really change my mind about my food cravings. I can't project how tired I will be during the week. My cooking skills aren't the best!

My other goal is to cut coupons and to see if I can save money. I am trying to balance my life and one area is being a better mom and wife. I work really hard in my profession but I know that my family suffers. This year I want to work on me and to become a better person. Tillman is becoming more independent and wants to do more with us. I have really made an effort to put my things away and spend more time with him. My patience is def. an area I want to work on along with being more tolerant! (All my IB is rubbing off!)

So this year I want to meal plan, cut coupons, and lose 30 pounds! Lets see if I can do it! Since I can't post without pictures here is my sweet boy and his momma! Everything I do is for him!

To little birdies!

Tillman loves food! He loves it now so much more because he can try the food that we eat most of the time! He will stand under our feet and saw more more when we are eating. The other day Matt said grab your camera and come here! So I did...this is what I found!

Both of them begging for food!

I laughed so hard I couldn't take anymore pictures! Boy do I love this kid!

Snow Day!

So a couple weeks ago we had snow. Didn't even know that it was supposed to snow! I took Tillman out because I wanted to see how he reacted to the snow. It was pricless! I couldn't wait to use my new camera lens! Gosh he has grown up so much he looks like a little boy not a baby!

Better Late Than Never

Here is our Christmas card that many will get after the new year! :)

With Love Chartreuse Christmas Card

Turn your unique photos into Christmas cards with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly Holidayness

Well my husband and I are polar opposites! I love pictures, sending letters, decorating for the holiday but him, he would rather peel potatoes then send Christmas cards or add holiday decor to our mantel! Since I don't really care how much of a Grinch he is, I am going to use Shutterfly to make our custom holiday cards and gifts!

Shutterfly has an amazing collection of holiday cards to choose from and they have something for everyone at such a great price! Right now many are on sale!

One of my favorites is this card because of the many pictures you can put on it. More is better in my opinion and for the people who don't get to see Tillman often, having many pictures makes the card worth more!




http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/bright-blooming-tree-christmas-card?sortType=1&fa=8&storeNode=93476&fc=1

Now if you can keep a secret, I will tell you what I am getting my parents for Christmas! They love to get things with Tillman on it, so I am making a calendar and mugs for them!

My favorite calendar is the bright and bold layout. Here is the link if you scroll to the bottom it will show you all the different backgrounds they have. The calendar is GREAT because you can add so many pictures and you can tell a story through the year! The best part is you can make it once and then buy two or three and give them as gifts and it wasn't much work at all! http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

The mugs are great for coffee drinkers like my family! They love to wake up with their grandsons happy face looking at them! You can put as many or as few pictures as you would like on the mug.



http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs

I can't wait to get our pictures done and gifts made! I love when my family opens gifts that are "handmade" and how much they love using them throughout the year. I get phone calls all the time with them telling me how much it made their morning using the mug!

You really should go check out Shutterfly and all the great things they have to offer!

*In case you were wondering about this post, I receive 50 free holiday cards for posting this! You can too if you visit http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Granny and Paw Paw visit

Well each year the state fair comes which means Granny and Paw Paw are here! Aunt Katie also came to visit which means going out to eat is in order! Tillman was excited to see everyone and showed off for them!

16 Months

Well my sweet boy is turing into a drama king! Boy did the tides turn! He cries about everything now. If he wants something he begs and whines for it! He used to be to calm and patient now he wants instant results and if he doesn't get it, a tantrum ensues! He loves to eat these days and really only wants to eat what we are having. He is starting to run not walk. He loves to play and always wants us to play with him. He will bring us something similar to so we can play with him. He really understand commands now and knows what we mean when we ask him to do something. Everyday is such an adventure with him!

Dino Boy

This halloween was so much fun! I can't wait till the next one when he will kinda know what to do. This year we spent it with our dear friends and their two sons. It was so much fun to see all the costume! I do have to say though it wasn't near as much fun as it was when I was nine or ten. Being an adult and trick or treating seems to have no point and I can see why parents hate this holiday! :) Enjoy the pictures!

All Boy.....

or just a full diaper? :)

15 Months

Well I haven't been the best mother with keeping up on his stats but I am one busy momma!

Tillman is fifteen months and man is he so much fun! He is fully walking and that didn't start till he was fourteen months. He would try to walk a few steps but nothing serious till 14 month. Then he took off! He is moving though and really hasn't had any really bad tumbles! Stella loves to follow him around and he thinks she is chasing him so he gets super excited and starts to walk faster and giggle them wham he goes down!

He loves everything we eat! We have to still be tricky since I don't want to give him tons of bad food. I really want him to like all the good foods before he wants all the bad foods. He loves milk and can drink a gallon a week! We haven't given him any juice just water or milk. I don't really see the point in juice if he will drink water and milk.

He loves to sleep but with all the sickness and teeth the past month have been sleepless in NC! He really has been up at all hours with pain, sickness, or hunger because of sickness! Needless to say I am one tired lady!

Here are a few cute pictures taken today! Those PJ's are 2T yes the pants are big but it really did fit him! Oh man he is one chunky fella!

Lesson Number 436 Learned

So as parents we are always reflecting on days and thinking about how when the same situation arises how would handle it differently. Before we became parents we always would look at other parents and think, I wouldn't do that as a parent or man they suck as parents! ;)

Well we were put in our places on Saturday! Since Tillman is officially a toddler we are trying to let him explore the world and use those legs and brain cells. This means a little more work and patience on our end but I know in order for him to be inquisitive and to learn he needs to explore!

Well we went into ToysRUs Express on Saturday and walked around getting Christmas ideas. He wanted to get out of the stroller so we let him. He found this walking poppy thing which we all had when we were little. When you push it the bottom pops so the balls make a noise. Well he was so darn cute walking around the store.

The story takes a one eighty...I should have known. Not sure where my brain was, but when we began to make moves to leave we had to take the popper away from him. The boy lost it...I mean all out lost it. He was throwing his arms, arching his back, kicking his feet all the while screaming bloody murder. We held our ground, we walked out of the store and kept walking. Thirty second felt like a year! I was clenching my teeth telling him he needed to stop screaming. If only he was a little older...his butt would have been torn up! ;) Well then as new parents we hit a fork in the road. We either could go back and get the stupid toy or hold our ground! As an fork in the road there is a not so easy answer and an answer you know is wrong but is way easy!!!

Our answer was.....


yup we gave in and bought the toy....but that wasn't the lesson. The lesson was when we bought the stupid toy and he got the toy he still continued to scream bloody murder! So we decided in the car to hold the toy till Christmas! That made us feel better about buying the stupid toy!



and because of this face he got the toy back!



So the moral of the story is....don't give in to a crying baby..NO MATTER WHAT!

Toddling Through Life

Well life has been crazy busy! Now that Tillman has been walking we have been on the go! I can't even think back to when I posted last in order to catch you up but here is what has been going on.

Tillman has been sick a lot this month. I think it has to do with me being back at school and bringing all those nasty germs home. Matt's mom has been up a lot to help out and I fee like I haven' been at school a full week since we started.

Life in second grade is crazy busy! Learning a new grade level is hard and being a perfectionist I want to do everything right and not let anyone down and it seems that I am wearing myself down and spreading myself to thin. Hopefully I will get myself organized so I can be great at everything!

I have started a scrapbook club and I love it but I can't seem to find a place or time to work on anything scrapbooking related. You have to purchase things each month so I have the materials but keep piling things in my closet. I hope to get the things organized so I can actually do something with the million pictures I have. I would love to make cards that are personal to give to people instead of buying cards. We will see!

Fall is here and I am so excited! I love the cooler weather mainly because I sweat like a man on a hundred degree day! My second graders aren't sure what to say when I wear a shirt where my pit stains are all over the place. Luckily my new classroom has an air unit that I can adjust so I can make sure the room is cool.

I am now a screenr for DonorsChoose.org and I am super excited to be working for them. I read proposals and make sure they fit the criteria and then either send them back or approve them. It is interesting to read all the proposals from all over the country. There are some really needy schools.

My next post is going to be on education reform because of the movie Waiting for Superman has created a buzz and my soap box is getting a little dusty.

Tillman is so fricken cute these days! I get why people get all gushy around their kids! I do have to say he is one smart fella! He is saying all kids of words. I know I know I am his momma so the words he says make no sense to others but to me I think it is amazing! He is an ELMO freak! We have some videos and a limbo, tickle me, hokey poky, and hug me Elmo all given to us from friends and the kid is obsessed!

He is also in love with the Jesus Loves Me book. I has a button where it sings the song and he will hit it over and over and over again. When he gets really fussy or I want him to calm down I will start to sing that song and his whole body will loosen up and calm down.

Well for now this is all. I am sure I left things out but Tillman is trying to get into Matt's office while Matt is working and so I have to go get him out!

Blog Hiatus...

So I find that when life gets dull I don't write. Not sure why but I get into these blogging moods where all I want to do is type and then there are other days where I have to make myself get on the computer. Oh how life has changed, when we were first married all I wanted to do was get on the computer.

Well life has been the same since the last post. Tillman has turned one and I had all these great pictures of his birthday but my camera was in RAW mode and my computer doesn't seem to read them from the card so I am not sure how to change that in order to see the pictures. I should google that but I am not sure what to google.

Tillman is really starting to get brave with standing! He won't take a step by himself but will cruise along with furniture. He loves to push behind this grocery cart and other rolling thing. He loves to show us and moves so quickly.

Boy does our son have a temper. He is beginning to show his true colors when he gets mad. I do have to say the temper comes from me. When he gets frustrated with something he will fling his head forward screaming while turning red. I can't help by laugh, but I am not sure how to stop it because I don't feel like I am giving in when he is throwing a tantrum.

As a new mom there are so many things you have to learn and remind yourself of. For example explaining everything you do and why you do it is new for us. There are times where I will be feeding him dinner and I haven't said a word to him. Then there are other times where I look like a fruit loop walking around a store talking away even answering my own questions. I see now why people say your first is always your learning curve!

We leave in two days for our family reunion in KY! I can't wait because it has been since my freshman year that I have seen these people! I can't wait to introduce Tillman to them all!! I am also excited to get away since when your on vacation the rules don't apply to food and fun!!! I hope the ten hour drive will be ok with the baby but we shall see!!

Also I haven't taken a picture of my son in weeks! What is wrong with me!!

You know your a mom when...

Well it has been awhile since I have done one of these...but the past couple of days I have many moments of motherhood!

You know your a mom when you dig through your purse and find: a spoon, pacifier, baby food puffs, a toy, baby tylenol and food crumbs from always eating on the go!

You know your a mom when you like you finger and then wipe stuff off your husbands face.

You know your a mom when you leave the bathroom door open when you have not so close guests because it has become a habbit to NEVER close the door now that you have a mobile kid!

You know your a mom when get to bed a realize you haven't eaten anything because some how instead of you eating your dinner plate you cut it up into TINY little pieces to feed to your child.

You know your a mom when you get into your car and it seems that it has become a traveling house with extra underwear, new set of clothes, food, toys, books and an endless supply of wipes!

You know your a mom when you can go from a screaming child to a happy little one with turning ANYTHING into a toy.



I know there are more but these are what I got for now! Off to putt the munchkin to bed and he will wake up a one year old!

Daddy's Boy

As a mother I always think I do most of the work! I know the mommas out there are nodding their heads out there! Well in the past few weeks Tillman has become way attatched to Matt. It has become an issue now because he refuses to do anything unless Matt is with him. It breaks my heart because he always wants Matt! I keep reminding him that I was the one who fed him, changed him, played with him...but Matt is all he cares about! I know this will change through the years but as a momma my heart breaks because all he wants is Matt. When he is sad, hurt, hungry, happy he begs for MATT! The one up side is I get out of the dirty diaper duty since all he wants is MATT! :)

Great Grandparents Visit

One thing I love about having a child is that family now has a reason to come visit. A few weeks ago Tillman's great grandparents came to visit! They had never been to Raleigh to see our house but made a special trip to celebrate Tillman's first birthday! Tillman loved showing them his rocket ship and how he scoots across the floor!

Oh the places you'll go!

Well change is in the air! This year our principal made some changes to better our school and one of those changes is me moving to second grade. Being that I have taught third for four years, I was shocked to hear that I was the one moving. I knew changed needed to happen and I knew people were moving all over the place but I NEVER thought it was me. I am excited for the change! I am always up for a challenge and for a new experience. I student taught in second grade and never thought I would go back but here I am. I am a person who believes that everything happens for a reason and so I know this move is what is meant to happen. As a person who has all her ducks in a row months before school starts I am scared about a couple things. The scary parts are I don't know what room I will be in, I have no idea what second graders are like and I really have no idea what I am teaching! :) All that I will learn and be part of a new team. Change is good and I know that this move is good! Keep me in your thoughts as I embark on this new journey next school year! The group of kiddos that are moving to second grade need a little extra love and I know that my heart is ready to give it to them!

*nothing to do with second grade but I hate posting without a picture! I hope that second graders don't eat pine needles!

One year portraits

As a momma and an avid picture taker I am constantly trying to get portraits of Tillman. A friend of a friend is a photographer and does some amazing work! She did Tillman's first year portraits and they were amazing! My favorite is the one attatched to this blog. If you want to see more go to www.AJdunlapblog.com and look for Tillman's session! You should book her if your in the Raleigh area!

Happy First Birthday Tillman

Dear Tillman,

As I sit and type this you are scooting on the floor getting into EVERYTHING! I sit here and watch you explore the drawers in the dresser, the door stopper on the base board, the zipper on my luggage, the curling iron that was in the bag. I sit here and watch this little boy who just a few short months ago was my little (or not so little) infant. Tillman this year has been the most amazing journey I have been on. Watching you change each day and watching your eyes sparkle with excitment when you see new and bright colors makes being a momma the best job ever. People say when you are pregnant that there is nothing like having a child and they were right! Our lives changed on June 20th at 5:13. They changed in a way that we would have never dreamed of. They change because you became part of our family. My hope for you in this coming year is for your heart to continue to fill with joy and love. For you to continue to learn new and exciting things. I hope this year you will begin to realize the amazing world around you. Tillman I can't begin to tell you the love your father and I have for you. When we take a moment and look at you all we can do is smile because of those bright blue eyes and that infectious smile! Tillman I hope that twenty years from now you will understand how much your father and I love you! Thank you for allowing me to be your mom and for making me the happiest luckiest person in the world! I want to say Happy First Birthday sweet boy and that I love you with all my heart!

First Haircut

Well it was time because the hair was bothering his ears and eyes! I love his hair long but I also am not attatched to his hair and so I thought it would be so special for his great aunt to cut his hair. She cuts hair professionally so it was really special for her to cut his hair. We went home to visit for my grandmother's 80th birthday which is another post and so she brought her scissors. He did so well and didn't cry once. She brought an extra comb because as soon as he saw hers he wanted it!

Happy Early Birthday

Well the coolest part about being Tillman is that his aunt and uncle are in the process of owning their own Chick-fil-a which means chicken for LIFE! Well that isn't the best part, the best part is that they love him more than the world itself! Well some exciting new came down and that is they were being sent on their first assignment to run a CFA which is the second to last step before they get their own store. The stinky part was they had to leave last week which means they wouldn't be here for Tillman's first birthday! That is ok though because we celebrated EARLY! Aunt Katie made cupcakes to eat and Tillman wasn't sure what to do with it! Even though they can't be there it was so nice to celebrate early. We are all so proud of them for taking this chance and go to a big city to begin this journey! We know it is hard being away from all the family but in the end it will pay off, and by the way we want our FREE chicken ;)!!!! Love you guys!