Wordless Wednesday

Date Night with the Hubby

So as I blogged stalked today I stumbled upon a blog that is doing something called "Project 52" which is her plan to have 52 dates with her husband from now till the end of the year! I was so intrigued because I always say things to Matt like...you never spend time with me...we don't hang out anymore...We don't laugh anymore...ok so that sounds a little dramatic but in reality Matt and I don't really "hang" out anymore unless we are on a mission which involves a task that isn't about us. I always said to Matt that I want us to make an effort to stay in love. I want us to show our children what a healthy marriage looks like and show them all the time that we love each other. I come from divorced parents which means I want to do things differently then they did.

Anyway back to the gist of things here...while stalking this blog and reading about their dates, I saw a guest blogger that said she set up folders for the month and at the beginning of the month they open them together and set the dates. Inside the folder is gift cards, or tickets or already planned dates and all they have to set the date! I thought this was the coolest thing ever!!

My goal for the rest of spring break is to create April to May of next year folders for each month. I am going to set up two dates for the month have them planned and ready to go! I think this will ease Matt's mind because he hates spending money, but this way he doesn't need to spend money for the month. I think I might even coordinate grandparents to come up so we can go out without finding a babysitter!

I am really really excited about this! Divorce is such a ramped thing these days and I know life gets crazy but I think it is so special to spend time to date your husband. I am really going to give this a huge effort and see how it goes. The guest blogger said she loves getting dressed up and hearing her children comment on her clothes and how their parents look so happy. I want that for my children and I feel this way we can take the stress out of "planning" dates because of the necessity of them. They will already be planned and all we have to do is show up!!

**I need idea for cheap fun dates!! Leave a comment and share with me what you think would be a fun date!

Comparing apples to oranges...

So as a mom you always hear "don't compare children...they all grow so differently.." Through pregnancy I kept reminding myself of that because people always said that about pregnancy. Now that Tillman is nine months old, I have to constantly remind myself of that. When I look at him and compare him to other babies born the same time or even a few months later, he is definitely taking his sweet time to become mobile. He is perfectly content on sitting and not moving. Nothing entices him to try to move, NOT EVEN FOOD!! Needless to say I an enjoying this non mobile time because I can plop him on the floor and not worry he is getting into something. I don't think it means anything developmentally but it is hard to not compare or ask why. I know that as he grows and being a teacher I am going to have high expectations for Tillman. I am going to work hard to teach him all about the world around him. I just hope that I can keep my comparing in check. Tillman is perfect in my eyes! He is the happiest most fun loving laid back child that a mom could ask for! He has become such a little man and as a mom I am so proud of all the milestones he has met. Crawling will come as walking will come but I need to sit and enjoy this time. (Someone remind me of this post when I am pulling my hair out with a crawler going all over the place!)

Best Daddy in the WHOLE world!

Well I have always known I married an amazing man. There are plenty of times where don't remember how amazing but I am one lucky gal. When Tillman was born he stepped up and took care of me and him while working. Matt never took a day off of work after Tillman was born. Through this past nine months he has changed diapers, cleaned snot and spit up, helped me through recovery, while still being a great husband. He loves to play with Tillman and be the fun dad. He also will clean the house, wash dishes and do laundry! I love him so much and watching the man you love play and laugh with your son, melts our heart! You can see from the picture that even with drool about to hit his head he still does whatever to make Tillman laugh!

Getting so big!

So as we approach the nine month mark I begin to get a little sad. My little man is starting to change so much each day and he is becoming more and more independent. The other day he took his first "crawl" but then he realized he was on his hands and knees and SPLAT he face plants back to the floor. Tillman has always been on the heavy side of the scale so crawling is going to take a lot of cordination for him. He is really trying but would rather stand than be on his stomach. The other day I was putting him on the couch and he didn't want to sit. He refused to bend his knees. I am so sad that he is changing so much and is really becoming a little man! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

Hey what, I am trying to relax over here!

This is my James Dean pose!

Chomp Chomp Chomp

Well any mother will tell you teething is a pain! The poor little ones go through so much just to get those first little chompers. Tillman has found the teeth he has and grinds them like it is going out of style!! I tried to get some pictures and he became an unhappyer camper!

What has this world come to?

Ok so I just left the park with Tman and the Lovelace's. We had a great time in the sun watching all the kids play. Tman swung in his first swing which he loved. As we were leaving, now I do have to say the park was MAD CRAZY BUSY, there were hundreds of people, I was pushing the stroller up the hill. As we reached the top, I had to make a decision as to where I would push the stroller because the top of the hill where the exit was, had people standing in the way. I made the decision to go towards the right where this woman and her stroller were standing. She wasn't in the middle of the exit but she wasn't to the side either. There were people come down this hill as well so I was trying to dodge everyone. Well when I pushed through the gap I got really close to this woman who was standing to the side of her stoller doing something with her kid. Her butt was hanging out in the hole where I was going through. As I walked by, she said "Damn woman!" I politly said sorry not knowing what I had done. As I kept walking I thought, how rude. If it was the other way around I wouldn't have said anything know that this place was packed and that I was in the way! It really makes my heart hurt when I hear and see things like this because I think about the world that Tillman will grow up in. I want to shield him from all this. I want him to see the positive before the negative. I want him to give people the benfit of the doubt. I want him to have a heart that he shares with people. It makes me sad when parents at my school sometimes attack teachers. I know that most times they are trying to save face but it really breaks my heart. I hope that through my actions and through my parenting I can teach Tillman that not all people are like this.....geesh!!!

First Birthday Party

So as the time flies by I am begining to organize my thoughts for Tillmans first birthday! I am really interested in doing a party that is more for the parents than the kids but also incorperates some fun kid aspects. For example, I thought of the idea "We survived the first year!" and having a survivor theme. For the little kids they would get fun little survivor goodie bags while the adults get fun little adult drinks!! I wanted something that adults would enjoy but also a place where parents could bring their kiddies to as well. We will be having it at the house on June 19th which is the Saturday. I want family and friends to be there! Tillman won't know the different hence why I want to do a play on a kiddie theme! So if you have any ideas I would greatly appreciate them. I am really into childrens books so I was trying to think of one that could lend to a theme for both kids and adults! So please let your creative juices flow and lend me some ideas!

8 months

Well Tillman is eight months old! He is becoming such a little man! I love him more each day and it breaks my heart when I see little infants and think about how big he has gotten. Here are some stats.

He weighs 25 pounds
Wearing 12 month clothes
size 5 diapers
size 4 in baby shoes and he even needs a little bigger if he wears socks
loves to eat those puff things
says dada ALL THE TIME
Drinks out of a sippy cup
loves all veggies and tons of fruit
wants to crawl but is content on sitting instead of being on his tummy
sleeps through the night
will wake up in the morning and talk to himself for thirty minutes
is starting to let people hold him
loves to do new things and gets bored easily
has four teeth

That is all I can think about right now. I am starting to think about his first year birthday party. New post ahead!! Enjoy the picture!

What really matters...

Now that Tillman is here and I have had eight amazing months with him, I really started to think about what really matters. We went to Charlotte a few weeks ago and it wasn't the best trip ever. Now that we are parents and have very busy lives, leaving the comfort of our home is hard. It is even harder with a baby because you have to pack everything up. We went home and when we got back to Raleigh we were exhausted! When we go down there we feel we have to meet with everyone and hang out equally because we don't get to see everyone often. After this trip Matt and I really talked a lot about trips now and how our lives have changed. We can't go down as often as we would like. Then I called my mo and she gave me some insight as a grandma. She said that there is not feeling like it. It made me think about the inconveince going to Charlotte puts on us and how important Tillman is to our family. It made me think that if any part of our family were change in any way, I would regret not getting out of my comfort zone to see them. Being a parent changes everything because you no longer have an equation of two. The third part of the equation matters the most! Once my boards are done and life is less crazy I think going to Charlotte will be a lot easier.

5 little secrets...

Here are 5 little secrets you may not know about me...beware...it may change your oppinion of me :)

1. I am super morbid in my own head. Many times a day I have morbid thoughts of "what ifs"...for example I think about...What if I was shot in the head, how would people react...or my favorite is when I take a shower I go through a dramtic scene in my head where someone breaks into the house and shoots me while in the shower, I would play dead till they left and crawl out to my cell phone and call the police. I literally place this scene in my head EVERY time I get into the shower..somedays with variations...I guess this stems from my need to be prepared....sick I know!

2. I get really nervous thinking about getting in trouble. For example, when I go into stores I purposlfully empty my purse in the car except my wallat because I have this fear that if I had something in my purse like chapstick or a pen that you could by from the story someone might think I am shoplifting. I am not sure where this one comes from, but at least my arm doesn't hurt when I am walking around shopping.

3. I constanlty worry about people judging me and talking about me. I try to act confident but when I am left out or think I walked into a conversation that was about me...I get really quiet and sad. I am really insecure inside and sometimes it is hard for me to belive someone if they say they weren't talking about me. I have always had trouble being confident...I also don't take compliments well.

4. I love to travel but flying makes me sweat gallons (since I already sweat a lot...gallons is WAY a lot)...when I fly I have to drink or take something...but I always love the destinations!

5. I am sad that Matt and I don't have a church to baptise Tillman in. I don't think Matt knows how important this is for me because for him and his family, baptising isn't looked upon the same way. I really wish that we could get Tillman baptised.

Well now that you know little dirty secrets about me...how about you!

Num Nums

Before I became a mom I always thought I would never be one of those moms....you know the ones that have cute little names for things such a pee pee for you know what. I was dead set on calling things by their proper names. I never wanted Tilley to grow up not understanding the world around him. Well when Tillman was born all those "before I had a baby" thoughts starte to surface. Started making cute little noises to him and calling things cute little names. It is amazing how when you look at a little one you just automatically start calling things by weird names. Well one of those instances is with food. Now that Tilley is easting TONS of food, it is often that I tell him that we are going to go eat. Instead of teaching my son the proper name like breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack...I call it num nums....my poor son is going to have a complex....see for yourself!

You know your a mom when...

It is funny how many times I week I think about this post....I always try and remember all the funny odd things I do as a mother and then when I get time to sit and type my brain disappears..Here are a few that I could remember!! Please chime in on my comments if you can add anything!

You know your a mom when in order for you to get your daily dose of veggies, you give the baby a spoonful...then yourself a spoonful...then the baby a spoobful...by the end of the dinner feeding you both have had your daily dose of veggies

You know your a mom when you shave your legs and there looks like a chiuaha was just shaved in the bottom of your shower....oh wait when do I have time to shave!!

You know your a mom when you purposfully keep a scarf in all cars because you know at some point in your day snot or spit up will end up on the shoulder of your shirt....a scarf does the trick

You know your a mom when your out in public and you hear a baby cry and you start running though the rolledex in your brain of all the things it could possibly be...then you bend over and realize your sweet baby is asleep

You know your a mom when in moments of thought you break out into wheels on the bus to help clear your mind....

You know your a mom when you open a diaper and say YES after a long night of constipation!!!

You know your a mom when you stick your pinkie finger up a babies nose and then inspect your find to ensure no one is gettig sick without even blinking an eye!

You know your a mom when you start playing rock paper scissors to see who will get up at 3 am when the baby is teething...it really is the only FAIR way

Even though some of these are dumb they are all true...so please if your a mom add yours!! I know there are a million more, but as a watch my sweet boy eat his puffs all I can think about is how amazing this job is!!

2010 Snow Day

Well NC finally got the big snow they have been calling for! It stared Friday evening and snowed all night. It was fluffy and pretty. Then Saturday it all froze and now we have a four inch sheet of snowice! It stinks because we will be out of school on Monday which means we lose a workday, and then Tuesday isn't looking so hot either which means we would add a day to the end of the year which in my mind is STUPID...who is going to teach on that day...uggghh....ohwell

We took Tillman out in his double layered snow suit and bear gloves. He wasn't sure what to make of it. Since it was sleeting a little he was grumpy so it was a short two minutes outside but we got many cute pictures!!!

I'm such a bad mom...

Well if you scroll down you can see that it has been awhile since I posted. I really had all great intentions of keeping this up when school started. With Matt being gone the first few months it was hard to do anything but be Tilley's mom so many things such as my eyebrows, leg hair, dishes and this blog went the way side. Now that I really am sad about it I am going to do something about it. My hope is to go back through my pictures and post about the things that have happened in the past four months. I am going to try and date the post as close as I can so they will go in order so make sure to scroll down to see all the posts.

Well Tillman is seen months old as of the 20th of January. He amazes Matt and I each and every day. Here are some highlights of six/seven months:

*He is probably weighing close to 23 pounds now and 27 inches long
*He eats six-eight ounce bottles when he has a bottle
*He eats two fuits and two veggies a day
*He is sleeping through the night...8:15-8:00
*He loves loves loves Stella...when she walks by him he laughs the deepest barrel laugh possible
*He loves Miss Lana...when she opens the door he smiles so big and starts to talk to her
*He is so inquisitive now, he will arch his head around to look at something or lean all the way back and turn his head if he heas a noise
*He does not like being on his belly...I think we will have a late crawler...
*He only wants to stand and if you sit him down he will arch his back and throw his legs straight as boards and grunt till you stand him
*He has one tooth and one coming it right beside it
*He loves bath time!!!
*He is incredible tickelish...he inner thighs are the best place to squeeze and he will laugh so hard
*He makes Matt and I smile each and everyday!!!

Now for some pictures!!

Tilley the Tiger

Tillman's first halloween was GREAT! He was a tiger which he looked darn cute in!! We spent time with the Lovelace's at their halloween party!! Tillman rocked the playpen out while we hung around with all the ghostly characters!! I can't wait for next year to see what Tillman will be!!

I'm getting old!!

Well October 10th marked a wonderful occasion! My little brother married his beautiful fiance Kath. It was a beach wedding which was so nice! Kath is an amazing addtion to our family, and my brother better take care of her!

The wedding was at Kill Devil Hills, and everything was amazing. They rented a HUGE house for the wedding party and it was a four day party!! I drove with my dad and Jenny since Matt was still in VA. He met us there and the party began. Friday night was the rehersal dinner which was wonderful!! It even had a chocalate fountain. Saturday it began to rain half way through the ceramony but then the clouds parted afterwards and we went on the beach for pictures. Kath was stunning and James never looked better. I have never seen such a genuine smile on my brothers face until I saw him watch Kath walk down the isle!! Tillman loved watching his Uncle James and Aunt Kath finally say I DO!!!

Great Granny and Great Paw Paw's 60th Wedding Annivrsary

Well Tillman is one lucky guy!! He has all his grandparents and three sets of Great Grandparents to love on him. We took a trip to Charlotte to celebrate his great grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. If there is an icon for what a marriage is, it would be these two people. When I became part of this family, I told Matt that I wanted us to be like them. They still kiss, and hug and call each other hunny bunch. It is amazing how much they love each other. Well, it isn't amazing, it is because they put God first in their marriage. They put him first and they come second. Matt and I will celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary on May 14th, 2065...hard to think that far ahead but we will make it and Tillman and his kid will be there to celebrate with us!! You can see their love through the pictures!!

First Day of "School"

So Tilley started with Lana on August 24th which was nice because it gave me one day before the kids started to get things together and get him adujusted. He did great and so did mom. I didn't really worry about him all day. He had so much fun and slept really well that night. She really tries to get him on a good schedule for me so that he sleeps well and eats well so I don't have to worry about him when I pick him up. Here are pictures of his first day of school!!

You know your a mom when..part two!!

So the past three weeks have been really hard. Don't get me wrong it is so worth every tear I have shed the past three weeks but it is HARD doing this alone Monday through Friday. So to lighten the air I thought I would post some more funny reminders that motherhood is CRAZY!!

You know your a mother when your screaming 15.8 pound son is screaming to be fed so you bring your boppy and chunky monkey into the bathroom with you and nurse while peeing!! You gotta do what you gotta do!!

You know your a mother when your son spits up in your hair and instead of taking a shower, which I should mention you haven't taken all day, you use your own spit to wipe the spitup out of your hair so you can look some what presentable while food shopping.

You know your a mother when instead of taking your son out of the carseat to comfort him because he is screaming you drive in sharp slow donut in the parking lot while waiting on your husband to drop off the lawnmower at the repair shop. This didn;t make me proud but my arms were tired, my brain was tired and I needed him to go to sleep.

You know your a first time mother when you get home and put on the baby bjorn throw your son into and then proceed to bop his head into everything while trying to get a million things done for the next day. I had no clue how far he stuck out on that thing and when would turn a corner or open the fridge he somehow would get bopped with whatever I was doing. He was ok but I laughed many times and apologized many more!! Hope he doesn't have permanent scaring from this.

You know your a mother when you chop off four inches of your hair because you literally don't have time to change your underwear much less fix your hair. Short hair can go out of the house wet and still look somewhat presentable.

You know your a mother when you sleep in eye makeup from the day before and not scrub your face to hard so it still looks like there is some makeup left over for the next day at work. If I don't wear makeup I look like a fifth grader with my short hair, spitup clothes and flats. I gotta do something to stand out even if it is day old eye makeup!

You know your a mom when you walk around school with a huge wet spot on your pants because your brest pump over flowed while you closed your eyes for a short 5 min cat nap. Luckily breat milk doesn't stain or smell because I would have had to change my pants.

So life is crazy and hard but boy being a mom is a lot of fun when you sit back and think about it! I love the T- Man more than life itself and I wouldn't change being a mom for anything!