Happy Birthday, Maddy!

Today is my niece's 8th birthday!! I seriously cannot get over the fact that Maddy is already eight; time is flying too quickly. When Madelyn was born, we still lived in Illinois, but I was lucky enough to fly down the day after she was born. She is a big reason why I really wanted to move down to Florida. Every time we would visit Florida, it would take Maddy time to warm up to us since she was small & didn't really know us. By the time our trip would be coming to an end though, she was getting close to us... just in time for us to leave again.

I'm so happy to live near my goddaughter & for Cam to know & love his cousins. Happy Birthday, Madelyn, we love you so!!

The Dreaded Big-Boy Bed

Every so often Cam would fool us into believing that it was time to change his crib into a toddler bed when he'd decide to climb out. Just as we were about to make the transition though, he'd stay put & stop climbing out. He's probably gone through about three spurts of this, but he always went back to staying in bed. Until a couple of weeks ago, that is..



I've really dreaded the transition since I know Cam still needs true boundaries. I would have seriously kept him in his crib for another year if I could have. But, his safety comes first & we didn't want to chance him hurting himself on a stint of climbing out. So this Saturday before nap, we took the plunge. So far he's doing fantastic at bedtime but not so much with naps. Yesterday during nap time he managed to flip his mattress over a couple of times, knocking the guard off his bed. After Mike sat in there for a bit & made sure he simmered down, he ended up falling asleep.

With bedtime there is no difference between the crib & the toddler bed since he stays put & falls asleep wonderfully. The only change? He's now coming into our room at around 6:45 in the morning instead of sleeping until his usual 7:15-7:30. Yep, so this morning we were rudely awoken to our bedroom door slamming shut & our light being flipped on! Nice. But, if it gets any earlier than 6:45, we'll crack down & take him back to his bed. For now, we let him lay with us & watch cartoons.



Oh the days when I could keep my little monkey confined!! They were good while they lasted!!



In unrelated events, I was delighted to see that our hibiscus had bloomed while we were at work today! Each time we have a bloom, I can't help but admire it & smile!



Is that a weed growing near my hibiscus? Nope, it's just my little stinker butt! And he & his daddy make me smile the most of all!

Happy Birthday, Baby Taylor!!

This morning as I finished my previous post, Mike showed me his cell phone where I saw a picture of a newborn baby. I immediately shouted, "Is that Taylor?!?!" The answer was yes & I burst into tears of happiness! Lauren & Josh have been waiting for the arrival of their miracle baby & she made her big debut two weeks early at about 6am this morning! Hop over to Lauren's blog to read their story.



We are absolutely thrilled that she is here & that everyone is happy & healthy! Taylor is as gorgeous as I had imagined & I just cannot believe she's finally here!! Tears sting at my eyes at the thought of all that Lauren & Josh have been through. Taylor has a big brother & three big sisters watching over her from Heaven. She is one lucky girl & so blessed to have such amazing parents!



She'll definitely be spoiled with plenty of love & attention & I look forward to getting to know my new little "niece"! I am so blessed to have such amazing friends in my life who are truly family to me!

Happy Easter!

Yes, Easter was one week ago & I'm just now posting pictures! Lets just say it was a really busy week & I just didn't have the energy to get online or do anything for that matter after work. But, better late than never, eh?!



The Thursday before Easter Cam colored Easter eggs. He did a really good job with it, but sometimes he wasn't exactly gentle with the eggs.







Saturday we headed to my parent's beach condo to spend the weekend. Grammy was able to spend the day with us before she had to fly back to Chicago later that evening. The Gulf warmed up & we had an awesome time.



Cam's cousins & Auntie Mel & Uncle Mike joined us Saturday night & Cam was thrilled to see his cousins. The kids woke up Easter morning to three very cool Easter baskets which were beach buckets.





After we all ate the breakfast casserole I made, it was time to head down to the pool area for the egg hunt.



Cam's cousins still smoke him in the hunt, but he's getting better each year & someday they'll have to work at keeping up with him!!



After gathering eggs, we lounged by the beach & pool & ended the day with dinner before it was time to head home.



Unfortunately my sister & brother-in-law weren't able to join us, but it was great spending the weekend at the beach with family!



And to think next weekend we'll be back at the beach to celebrate Mother's Day!

P.S - Check out Cam's blog to see more pictures!

In Love!

I am absolutely in love with our Confederate Jasmine that's been blooming for the past few weeks. The scent that wafts from the flowers is absolutely divine & it perks up my mood each time I see & smell the flowers!



Sometimes I'll pick a group of flowers to bring inside with me so I can continue to enjoy them.



How I'll miss those flowers when they're gone!

Birthday Boy!

Today is Mike's 32nd birthday!



Every year for Mike's birthday I ask him what he wants for his special dinner.



This year he requested chicken Parmesan which I made with pasta & roasted asparagus. The dinner turned out great & Mike couldn't have been happier.



Grammy is in town & was wonderful enough to pick up the ingredients for me since I was stuck at work. She also got a delicious ice cream cake, yum!





We had a really nice evening celebrating the birth of my hilarious hubby & enjoying family time.



And Mike got the shoes he wanted! Granted, I don't exactly find Sanuks to be the most attractive shoes but he claims that they're extremely comfortable so who am I to deny his wishes?



And Cam was a little chatter box today since he was so incredibly excited to celebrate his Daddy's birthday. He helped me make Mike's card & even get his present together. But I think he was most excited for the cake!



Happy birthday, Mike! Thank you for cracking me up every single day!

Showered with Love!

Last Saturday was Lauren's baby shower & I cannot believe lil Taylor is almost here!! Lauren is an amazing friend & I'm blessed to have her in my life. I cannot think of another person more deserving of a beautiful, healthy baby & a shower to celebrate both mom & baby!





The shower turned out wonderfully & everyone had an amazing time.



I was in charge of the games which I've never managed at a baby shower before. I ended up wracking my brains & came up with three low-key games that wouldn't burden the guests.

We guessed how many jelly beans were in the jar & luckily Mike counted the beans since I wouldn't have had the patience to sit & count over 900 jelly beans!



We also did a smell & guess baby food game which was harder than you'd have imagined! I prepared six jars of random foods & dyed them with food coloring to fool everyone. I thought the easiest guess would have been the bananas but after dying them orange, most everyone guessed an orange fruit like peaches or apricots. It's amazing how a color can trick your brain into smelling something different!

The last game we played was How Big is Mommy's Belly where the guests used a ribbon to guess the size of Lauren's belly. The game winners got a gift bag with a candle, a cute travel coffee mug & a biscotti.





I also made the favors which included chocolates wrapped in a bag monogrammed with a T for Taylor & tied with ribbons that held an It's a Girl charm. I was definitely nervous about this job since I'm not at all a crafty person! Luckily my friends came over to help me put the favors together & they turned out great!





In about a month Taylor will be here & I cannot wait to meet her!