Collin, Ashley and Bri

2012 Ramblings

2012-01-08T21:12:00.003-06:00

Today was weird. My slightly sore throat and Bri's runny nose and watery eyes led me to the decision that we needed to stay home from church and not infect the nursery kids. (In case you aren't in the know -- my calling is nursery leader in Bri's class.) That led to me taking Benadryl which knocked me out for 45 minutes and would have for much, much longer but Collin needed to go to church to fulfill his calling as Young Men's first counselor so the next few hours were spent with me trying to do activities with Bri that wouldn't involve me zonking out.

Then, it was blessed nap time and we were going to go to Collin's parent's house for my birthday celebration (it was the 4th). That's what I thought anyway. Bri had other ideas. After spending an hour going back and forth, letting her cry it out and then singing to her and then threatening her with no t.v., no candy, no outside and no grandparents if she didn't take a nap, I finally got her out of her crib and proceeded into unfortunate evening events.

She was seriously the most misbehaved I have ever seen her. And yes, I know she wasn't feeling well. And she was tired. But her actions still really made me angry. (But not for long because just look at that picture up there! How can you stay mad at that face?) So, we cancelled my birthday dinner (it was steaks...sad! ) and Bri's bedtime got bumped up an hour. She promptly passed out as soon as she hit the pillow.

I'll never understand why kids fight their naps.

So now I'm left feeling weird and bummed and...like a bad mother. Missing church really does affect the entire Sunday. I just hope it doesn't put a damper on the whole week. I can't handle that.

My birthday that was Wednesday was probably the most depressing one I've ever had. And it was no one's fault. Getting older just means birthdays aren't as special. It stinks, but it's life. And we didn't end up doing anything this weekend due to the above explanation.

Other than that, I can't believe it's already 2012! Sadly, I'm kind of already not looking forward to it. (How depressing is this post?) It will be forever the year that we lose Bri's Nanny. Sarah, our next door neighbor is moving in April/May and she will no longer be able to keep Bri for us. I am devestated. I knew the day would come. It just came too quickly. We're looking into daycares for Bri and every time I even think about it, I feel like weeping.

Also, I started a new job in November. It's a great job working for great people, but let's face it...it's work.

Onto a brighter note, Ashley Mowry was nice enough to offer to capture Bri's 2nd year so the above photograph is her masterpiece.

Daddy 2011

2011-09-30T08:47:00.001-05:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo books are the perfect gift for any occasion.

2 Years

2011-09-30T08:26:00.004-05:00

I don't update on here...ever. But I couldn't let Bri's 2nd Birthday go by without posting something. She turned two this past Wednesday and I simply can't believe how fast this time has gone by. I'm scared I'm missing out on her before-school-years, but I think every parent feels that way. We just get caught up on the tasks and then look up and our "babies" have suddenly become little people with thoughts, opinions and senses of humors.

That's what gets us the most; Bri's sense of humor. She can be a ham, doing things over and over again that we thought was funny once until we're all just fake laughing.

Collin said she did the best at the doctor that she's ever done. She is 33 lbs and 34 inches (90th percentile in weight and 70th in height). The doctor still says not to be concerned about her weight, that she's not overweight.

I agree. I think she's beautiful even though some of her cousins and uncles enjoy calling her "bigun" or "big swoll" or "cornbread".

She's getting into the "throwing fit" stage and it's not fun, especially when she won't take a nap every other day. Mostly though she's agreeable and sweet; always giving out hugs and kisses when we ask for them, and sometimes when we don't (which is the best). She says "I love you too" back after we tell her we love her.

When we sing with her, she'll now ask for "Jesus" which is "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" and "Temple" which is "I love to see the temple".

She's starting to put sentences together and my favorite of her sayings is, "Up down," which just means down, "I aunt (want) this, no" which means I don't want this, "I like too" in response to when I say I like something, "Puppy come too." She says this anytime we're going anywhere.

And I love how she now calls everything "mine". "My mommy, My daddy, My blanket, My puppy, my my my my." There's just nothing sweeter than hearing a little voice call out. "My Mommy!"

I feel so blessed to have that little girl in our family. Happy 2 Years, Love!

Shrek

2011-08-01T12:59:00.002-05:00

I've spent some time wondering what Bri's favorite movie would be when she got to the age of obsessing over things. I imagined it would be The Little Mermaid (my personal favorite) or Beauty and the Beast. Never did I think it would be Shrek.

Our satellite went out last week and I played Shrek for her because the other two previously mentioned movies never seemed to entertain her and it was one of the few other cartoon movies we own.

Well, after that first day, she asks for Shrek by name a couple dozen times each day. I thought that once our satellite came back on, her interest would fade. But no, I was wrong.

She LOVES this movie, especially the opening scene where Allstar by Smash Mouth is played. She gets up and dances to the music and she likes to narrate what Shrek is doing. She says "teeth" for when he brushes his teeth and breaks the mirror by smiling, "bath" when he takes a bath in the swamp. "Fish" when he farts in the swamp and all the fish die.

It's gross. But she loves it.

And she watches it intently enough to know the characters. I asked her who was on the screen.

"Shrek." (sounds a lot like snek)

"Who else?"

"Princess."

"Yep. Who else?"

"Donkey!"

Another thing she's been doing lately that I'm getting a kick out of is showing me all her "boo boo's". Any times she bumps or scrapes anything, even if it doesn't leave a mark she has to show me where it is and I have to kiss it.

And lately she's been pointing out stains or rips in my clothes and calling them "boo boo's".

"Uh oh, Mommy. Boo boo," she says, pointing to a rip in my comfy lounge-around-the-house pants.

After I say, "It's okay," she seems to relax a little, but every time she sees that tear, she gets concerned all over again. Like, she can't quite discern clothes from skin.

Bri's First Beach Trip

2011-05-29T21:43:00.004-05:00

We went to Destin mid-May. It was Bri's first beach trip. Here are just a few pics from it.
I especially like the "No Swimming" sign. There was no baby pool. What were we to do? And yeah, we got busted after about 30 minutes.

More to Love

2011-04-27T09:07:00.003-05:00

I realize I haven't posted an update on Bri since she turned 1. She's now 19 months. My bad. She had her 18-month checkup last month and is back to over the 100th percentile in weight and is 75th in height. She's a whopping 33 lbs, which is nothing new since she's been large sine month 3. But she now weighs more than her 9-month-older cousin. Oh well. Like the title says, there's just more to love. I mean look at that face!

The doctor doesn't seem to be concerned so we won't be either. Bri went through a rough week last week when her molar's came through but now she's back to her sweet self. My favorite things she says are "hap happy" and "K". If you ask or tell her anything her response will be "k" unless of course it's "Let's go to bed." But even then sometimes she'll just say "Puppy?" meaning she wants her stuffed puppy and then she's fine with going to bed. Lucky us.

Dear Acura

2011-03-23T10:48:00.003-05:00

Dear Acura,

When my dad bought you 4-1/2 years ago for me, I didn't want you. When you wouldn't tell me how fast I was driving or how many miles you had, I didn't like you. When I had to drop $800 to fix you a year after being your owner, I didn't like you then either. But I enjoyed the radio controls on your steering wheel and your heated seats. Your sunroof wasn't bad either, though I barely used it. I couldn't wait for you to die so that I would finally get a car with a working speedometer and a CD player (for goodness sakes it's 2011. Who doesn't have a CD player)? But I'm sad just thinking of you sitting at a salvage yard.

You're the car I used to bring home Bri in (I think, maybe it was Collin's car, I can't remember) but I at least drove newborn Bri around in you and it's sad to me to see you go.

Thanks for lasting as long as you did,
Ashley

2011-01-25T19:19:00.001-06:00

Why does this expression look so familiar?

(Me and my Mom's Dad)

Oh that's why...

I have to admit. Bri's WAY cuter than I was :)

A Reader Like Mommy

2011-01-25T09:46:00.003-06:00

I have a spot where I like to do most of my reading. It's on Collin's side of the bed with both of our pillows propping my head up. Last night, Bri decided to get one of my books and "read" just like her Mommy.

*This picture was not posed.

Lucky Girl

2010-12-28T09:18:00.003-06:00

Bri has had snow both of her winters...in Alabama. What a lucky girl (not that she'll remember either one). But I have pictures to prove it!

She wasn't so sure about it. This was taken after she'd fallen twice already.

Counting down to 2011

2010-12-05T09:52:00.002-06:00

I wanted to post a few updates on this beautiful Sunday morning that I'm not at church.

"What's that you say? Not at church?! Bad Ashley. Bad!"

Well, today my nephew Hudson is getting baptized in Tuscaloosa so I had planned to go to the Hoover ward's sacrament meeting (we're still in Ensley) and come home, let Bri take her morning nap and then leave to get to Tuscaloosa by 12:45 for the baptism. And then we're staying for Hudson and Evan's birthday celebration. Collin went to Ensley's morning meetings and sacrament and is coming home in time to leave with us at 11:30.

So I get to Hoover Ward and find out in the parking lot that they switched their schedules so sacrament is at 11 instead of 9. So back home Bri and I came. The good news is that Hoover Ward is only 5 minutes from our house and Bri has been in such a good mood this morning.

Anyway, we had a good Thanksgiving going to my parent's house on Thanksgiving day and then Collin's parent's house on Friday. I found out the day before that I would get Friday off and it was so nice to have an extra long weekend. We got to spend lots of family time together which is a nice change from all three of us only being together at the same time on the weekends.

Collin's mom's birthday was on the 30th so we gave her the photobook of Bri over the weekend. I reached my goal of making her cry.

I made pumpkin bread, corn casserole, and ginger-streusell cheesecake to take to my family's dinner. I'm usually not one to brag...but it was all awesome. I'm definitely adding every one of those dishes to my annual holiday list.

Note: as I'm getting deeper into this post, Bri has decided to not be happy any more.

I can't believe Christmas is almost here and we haven't even gotten a tree yet! We better hurry up, but at least we got seeing Santa out of the way. We took Bri to Bass Pro Shop in Leeds yesterday and got a free picture taken with Santa.

I am not going to miss 2010. It's been a tough year what with Collin losing his job when Bri was only three months old and I was only working part-time. We had thousands of dollars worth of fixes to make to our house involving squarrels eating through our siding and our septic tank overflowing. Gross huh?

So I sincerely hope 2011 is much better for us. I guess time will tell...

Photobook of Bri

2010-11-19T16:28:00.001-06:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

This World

2010-11-09T19:49:00.003-06:00

This world is full of different types of people. The first group is normal people who work hard, go to a job everyday (or work at home as a mom) and come home and give what's left of themselves to their families.

The second type of people are brilliant and innovative. These people work hard every hour of every day of every year to better the way the average population live their everyday lives. These people invented the lightbulb, the microwave...and recently, the iphone. These people write original stories or direct the most heart-touching films.

And the third group is the scum of the earth. They spend their God-given talents convincing people that they're trustworthy, ask for money, and run away with it. These people are scammers.

If you haven't guessed by now, we were recently scammed. Recently as in I just found out tonight. Luckily, it was money from our insurance company that was taken, not our own money, but is still made me so upset that I shook, and cussed at the person on the phone.

It's hard to trust anyone in a world full of people who seem all too eager to take your hard-earned money on the promise of a good or a service and never deliver.

But after I got upset as I could get, I hung up the phone and looked up and saw...

this face. And suddenly everything seemed okay.

2010-10-14T10:58:00.001-05:00

A few days ago, I commented on a blog post of a friend saying that I couldn't believe her son, who is a week or so younger than Bri, can already walk and clap. Well, I should have known that kids being kids, it wouldn't take Bri long at all to catch up. Last weekend, she started walking a little more without holding onto things, so I began refusing to hold her hands when she walked, telling her "You don't need me. You can do it by yourself." And sure enough, in just a few days, she's now walking, and walking well.

Also, I came home one day from work to find her clapping along to songs, and it didn't take long for me to teach her to high-five. I love this stage and how quickly she's able to catch onto things.

12 months and 1 week

2010-10-06T13:43:00.002-05:00

Collin took Bri to her 1-year check-up yesterday. She's 26-1/2 lbs and 30 inches long which is still over the 100th percentile in weight and 75th percentile in height. The doctor said since she obviously doesn't have trouble keeping weight on, we can give her 2% milk instead of whole milk.

Also, did anyone else know that it is now recommended to leave the car seat rear-facing until the child is 2 years old?

Bri is still not walking, but is taking 3-4 steps at a time to get from one place to the other. She's communicating so much more now and definitely understand most of what we say. I am loving it. Collin and I think she's a genius, but I'm also trying to remind myself that most children her age are doing the same things.

Some of the smart things lately have been...

Bri loves to look at books; not necessarily read them, but just turn the pages to look at the pictures. Most of the time, she flips through them too fast to read them to her so I've been either making up words or paraphrasing the book if I know it well enough. There is one book she really likes called Baby Giggles. About a month ago, she was playing and had about five or six books lying around her. I saw the Baby Giggles book and started saying the words as if I were reading it. "Bath time baby. Splish splash and bubbles. Hungry baby. Eat yummy cake." She stopped what she was doing, looked up at me, then down at her books, and picked up the Baby Giggles book.

For her birthday, Bri's Aunt Valoree gave her a CD player with two children's CDs. She loves listening to them. Last night, she crawled over to the DVD case where the CD player is and pulled herself into a standing position, pointing to the player. I didn't feel like listening to the CD because I'd had one of the songs stuck in my head for a couple of days. so I told her "No" and distracted her by playing with something else. A little bit later, I still had that same song stuck in my head so I started singing it. "I had a rooster and my rooster pleased me. I fed my rooster beneath the Oak Grove tree. My old rooster said Cockadoodle doo. Dee doodle dee doodle dee doodle dee do." Bri stopped what she was doing, looked up at me and pointed to the CD player.

Then yesterday, her RoRo (Collin's Mom) was playing with her and asked, "Are you tired? Do you need to take a nap?" And Bri took her hands and led her to her bedroom. (She can walk if you hold her hands.)

Like I said, I'm sure these things are very common for children her age, but it's just amazing to me how suddenly she seems to be picking things up.

Here's to a year with Bri and many more to come!

Gosh You're Picky!

2010-10-01T10:31:00.003-05:00

Most of my life, I've been told I'm a picky eater, especially when it comes to vegetables.

"Oh come on," people have said. "They won't kill you. They're good for you."

And I tried. Oh have I tried to eat those green things. I remember once in high school I was trying to follow this diet where you could lose 10 lbs in 7 days or something ridiculous like that and it said you had to eat 1 cup of green beans with dinner and it was all about foods being digested together and how your body reacted to them that made you lose the weight, so I was determined to eat these green beans. Only I couldn't stomach them. I cut them up into tiny pieces and swallowed them like pills so I wouldn't have to taste them.

As I've gotten older, I've gotten better about things. I'll eat salads now and occasionally broccoli if it's in a casserole and it's a small enough bite. I'll eat carrots - though again only in casseroles - and on a rare night, I'll eat beans if their taste is hidden with enough beef. Peas will go down if paired with corn or smothered in mashed potatoes.

So...you get the point.

Well, what if I did all this not because I just "didn't want to" but because I'm a supertaster?

I discovered this term while watching Freaky Eaters a few weeks ago and it got me thinking.

So I researched it and took an online test - which admittedly isn't conclusive, but it's a start. According to this test, I'm a supertaster.

I:

Perceive all tastes more intensely, particularly bitter tastes
Tend to be fussy about food and have strong food likes and dislikes
Usually don't like coffee, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and spinach
Have lots of papillae, the tiny bumps on the tongue that contain taste buds
Around 25% of people are said to be supertasters

Also, it says that Supertasters are also more prone to burning mouth syndrome, a condition in which a person's tongue or mouth feels like it's on fire. I haven't been diagnosed with this, but from time to time, my tongue will go raw and swollen and will feel like it is "burning". I even have a prescription mouth wash for it.

This also explains why I don't like to eat anything "hot". If I eat hot salsa, my lips and tongue feel like they're going to burn off and it's very hard to get the taste, or sensation, to go away.

Apparently, super-tastiness, is inherited. It's genetic and has nothing to do with a person's personality or unwillingness to try new foods.

So, the next time we eat together, please don't comment on the lack of variety - or green - on my plate. Thanks!

Bri - Months 1-11 in order

2010-09-30T16:24:00.001-05:00

Here is the correct order. I like to call this "watch her hair grow and curl".

2010-09-30T16:23:00.004-05:00

10 cousins! Bri is such a lucky girl to have so many fun family members to grow up with.

2010-09-27T21:28:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures from Bri's Party.

Yes, I made this cupcake cake. Don't laugh. I never said I was a talented dessert chef.

Bri's cake

Digging in. She didn't hesitate at all!

All that cake and icing makes you thirsty.

Our family. Too bad she's not looking at the camera. She's enjoying her cake too much.

The party went pretty well minus having to change location at the last minute and the sweltering heat...at the end of September! But everything turned out okay. Thanks to everyone who came and for all the gifts. Bri now has lots of new toys and some cute new clothes.

The grandkids took a group picture, but I didn't get one on my camera. If anyone has a copy, can you email it?

Happy Birthday Bri! (Tomorrow)

2010-09-27T13:25:00.001-05:00

We had Bri's birthday party on Saturday which was actually her due date. I put this collage together as a game for the adults. There are 11 pictures, one for each month. My sister, Valoree, got the most right at 6 out of 11 and won a candle. Do you want to give it a shot?

Writing Blog

2010-09-22T08:38:00.002-05:00

One of the reasons I don't post very often is because I never have pictures available to me when I need them. I also want to begin posting more about reading, writing, and trying to get published so I started another blog. If you want to follow it or just check it out, the link is ashley-aynes.blogspot.com.

Hope to see you there!

Happy Birthday Collin

2010-09-22T08:34:00.002-05:00

Collin turned 28 yesterday. Since he works until 8, we didn't do much yesterday besides have one of his favorite foods, lasagna. To make up for this, we had a weekend full of celebration. Friday night, I made a cookie cake (the first birthday cake for him that I've actually made-I usually buy them) and we had friends over to play cards.

I let him sleep in on Saturday and then Sunday we went to his parent's house for fondue, sheet cake, and ice cream.

One birthday down, one to go for September.

Also, my nephew, Chandler turned 15 yesterday. CRAZY! Happy Birthday to him.

That time again...

2010-09-01T14:34:00.002-05:00

I couldn't help myself. The stores are stocking Halloween gear and I HAVE to look for Bri's costume. What do y'all think? I'm partial to the sock monkey and the lion cub, but it may just be that the kids modeling those two outfits are adorable. VOTE!

Destructo Baby

2010-08-23T16:38:00.002-05:00

I still have over a month to plan, but I decided to search for some birthday cake ideas for Bri's first birthday. I stumbled on this one. Isn't it adorable! I love how the baby in the cake is pulling it down to get to what he wants, like one-year-olds tend to do.

If I were talented, I would make this cake. Or if I were rich, I'd pay someone to make it for me. But since I'm neither, I'll keep searching for much simpler/cheaper ideas.

Twins

2010-08-05T20:42:00.004-05:00

At 10 months old, Bri is finally cutting teeth, and they're coming in as twin bottoms. What'd you think the title meant? :)

Other than getting chompers, Bri is changing every day. She spends most days not only cruising furniture, but scaling the walls to get where she wants. She can even stand for a few seconds on her own. Walking is right around the corner.

And after months of army crawling she's finally learned to crawl on her hands and knees. I'm really enjoying feeding her table food and love sharing my dinner with her.

Bri finally started sleeping through the night at 9 months old and Collin and I are thoroughly enjoying her sleeping 10-12 hours at night.

9 Months

2010-07-01T09:59:00.004-05:00

Collin just took Bri to her 9-month check-up. I've been on the verge of tears all morning as this is the first doctor's appointment Bri's had without me. I know she is in good hands. I'm not tearful for her sake, but for mine!

For those of you who don't know, two weeks ago, I started back at work full-time. It was supposed to be temporary but is looking more and more like a permanent change. It's hard to spend so much time away from Bri, but it is comforting to know she is in the gentle and loving hands of her father.

Bri's just over 24 pounds and 29 inches long. Around the 100th percentile for weight and the 87th for height. We've quickly and unexpectedly adapted the nickname "Bri-Bri" for her and that's what she responds to best.

She's army crawling in full-force these days and can be quite fast! Her interest in real crawling is fading as she's learned to hold onto objects and stand up on her own. She can't pull up yet but is very close, and loves to hold onto us as we help her walk around. I wouldn't be surprised if she's walking before her first birthday.

Her nurses at the hospital when she was born were right that she has a temper. The older she gets, the more predominant it becomes. One minute, she's screaming her head off and you think she's in real pain. Crocodile tears stream down her face. And then, the moment she gets what she wants, a switch turns off and she's completely fine. Collin says she gets this from me, though I object.

She smiles more often and more easily these days and is friendly to strangers. She has only ever cried once when I let strangers hold her.

I am so proud to be her Mom and she has brought such happiness into our home. I can't believe that in three short months, we will be throwing her 1 Year birthday party.

Sweet Home Alabama

2010-06-16T13:26:00.005-05:00

Whenever I see pictures of weddings on Facebook, I have to look through them. Even if I don't know the people in the pictures, I just love seeing weddings. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Whilst Facebook stalking, I found this picture...

Notice the bride and groom front and center of the picture, and then look to the left. There's another couple being photographed after their wedding, too. And to make matters even more interesting, the two brides have on very similar dresses. (Picture quality is lacking so hopefully you can see the similarity).

This instance (which I believe occurred in Arizona) is why I enjoy living in Alabama. While I think it would be nice at times to be surrounded by a heavier LDS population, I do enjoy the smallish temple we have in Birmingham. And I especially enjoyed having my wedding day as my own.

2010-05-25T21:36:00.004-05:00

So far I've sent my book synopsis to 11 agents. I've had one ask for the complete manuscript, two haven't responded yet, and I just received my 8th rejection tonight.

It's funny actually because the main character of my book is rejected at the beginning, and she spends almost the entire story trying to figure out why. I guess it's ironic.

The first rejection I received was exhilarating, and the next five were a bit numbing. I took them in stride and told myself it was to be expected. My heart raced when one agent asked for my manuscript just minutes after sending in my query letter, and every day since (5-1/2 weeks) I've checked my email a ridiculous number of times a day.

It's exciting and terrifying all at once to be where I am right now. During the two years I was writing this book, I couldn't help but "have a feeling" that I would be a published author one day. Now that it's done and rejections are piling up, I'm having doubts.

The best thing about this experience though is that when I wrote the first few paragraphs two years ago, my dream was to write one really good book, make enough money to be able to stay at home with my kids, and that was that. But now that I know how amazing is feels to finish a story and to have conversations with people who've read the book about the characters and places I've made up, I know that I can't stop writing. And that's the greatest thing of all...to find my true place in this life.

Taking after us already?

2010-05-20T09:34:00.004-05:00

I just thought these pictures were really cute. She looks so grown up here.

Bri's one week away from being 8 months old. We've been having fun since the weather's gotten warm and have been swimming at least once a week. Well, naturally Bri developed an ear infection, which we discovered yesterday.

Thank goodness for antibiotics and ear drops. I have my sweet, mellow-tempered, easy sleeper back.

While at the doctor's office we discovered that Bri is 24 lbs! And the office must not have been busy yesterday because while we waited for the doctor, four nurses came in to ogle at Bri. They each loved on her fat rolls and told me she looks just like the Gerber baby. They took turns passing her around and commenting that I should have extremely buff arms by now (which regretably, I don't).

It's so nice to hear strangers echo your own thoughts about how cute your child is.

Swimming

2010-04-21T21:48:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday we went to Louisville, KY to visit Collin's family. Bri did exceptionally well on the ride there and was so happy the entire visit. The only thing I didn't like about traveling with an infant was having to share the hotel room with her. At home, her room is on the other end of the house and I turn the monitor low enough to not be able to hear her babble, but it's still high enough for me to hear her cry. I'm an extremely light sleeper, and while she slept well the first night (11pm - 7am), I slept uneasily from being able to hear her everytime she turned over or sighed heavily in the pack 'n play.

Collin's Grandma (his Dad's mom) is not doing well. We decided to visit her and to let her see Bri in case she's not with us much longer. While there, Collin got to spend some quality time with his Dad and I got to enjoy catching up with Collin's sweet Aunt and thirteen-year-old cousin. I also got to meet one of his other aunts that I hadn't met before, and who gave us some really cute clothes for Bri.

A huge perk of this trip was that the hotel had a heated indoor pool and I jumped at the chance to take Bri on her first swimming adventure. She seemed to enjoy it and mostly just studied the water and tried to drink it. She instinctively kicked her legs, which I was excited about (even if most children do this, I am still excited).

Chillin out maxin relaxin all cool

The inseparables. Bri is definitely a Daddy's girl. I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous.
Kicking for Mommy

She was actually kicking beneath the float! Will she be a swimmer like me?

I taught swim lessons for 5 years but never taught children under the age of 4. I took classes that taught the idea that babies have an instinct to float and to flip onto their backs if placed in the water on their stomachs. I'm too afraid to test out the flipping theory, but I tried to see if Bri would float and didn't get very far. She never relaxed enough for me to let go of her even for a second. I guess we'll wait until she's older. In the meantime, my focus is getting her comfortable with the water.

Professional Spring Pictures

2010-04-10T16:32:00.001-05:00

Review

2010-04-09T21:19:00.002-05:00

I just received an email from a published author who read my manuscript.

"Your writing is very crisp and readable. You don’t over-use dialogue tags or –ly adverbs (something that seems to be common in new writers). There were almost no grammatical errors and your phraseology and word usage was clever."

Awesome huh? She gave me several great suggestions on improving the book that I am contemplating now. I didn't ask her permission to post her review to my blog, so, no. I won't divulge who it is.

Just believe that I didn't make it up :)

6 Months and Easter

2010-04-07T08:05:00.004-05:00

We went to my parent's house for Easter. All the grandkids were there and they had a big egg hunt.

All the granddaughters minus Evan.

All 11 grandchildren. Take special note to how Bri is just barely on Hudson's lap. She did good though and didn't cry once through the long picture-taking process.

As for Bri's 6 month checkup almost two weeks ago, she was 20-1/2 lbs and 26-3/4" long. Since then, she's been weighed in at 22 lbs. She's 80th percentile in height and off the charts in weight. She takes after her Mom :) I was a big, big baby, too.

Bri is really starting to become fun now as she rolls everywhere and babbles incessantly. She won't talk over anyone though, so if there are a lot of people around, she's quiet as a mouse. I think she was pretty overwhelmed at Easter. She's starting to play mimic games. My favorite discovery so far is that when I blow on her cheek and then put my cheek up to her mouth, she blows and hums on mine. The first time we did it, she laughed hysterically. She no longer thinks it's funny, but she still does it.

I can't wait to see what other surprises she has for us for the next six months.

Loaner Phone

2010-03-29T09:19:00.004-05:00

My phone crapped out on me so while waiting for my replacement, T-Mobile gave me a loaner phone. While texting yesterday I came across these little jewels from one of the phone's previous temporary owners.

Sent from phone: "I do it because it feels good to make you FINALLY understand how much you hurt me. I'm sick of being a masochist. I've turned to sadisticism."

Sent to phone: "Lol. You're such a complex entity. I typically read everyone really well. Sometimes i still have trouble reading you though. I feel like Edward again. Just less hot...And cold. And pale and awesome."

I have no idea if the two are related, but I love the second one.

2010-03-21T21:28:00.001-05:00

Remember Bri's first Sunday at church?

What a difference five months makes!

Drumroll please...

2010-03-19T13:33:00.002-05:00

Do you remember this post? From TWO years ago?

I am proud to say that I have finished my book. Yes, you read that right. I FINISHED it.

You know what's even better? I had a good friend of mine read it and she LIKED it! Don't get me wrong, she gave me lots of great editing notes, and I have my work cut out for me.

Three years ago, I started a job right out of college and my coworker who'd just found out I was a journalism major asked me if I was ever going to write a book. I laughed at her. Me? Write a book? No way! I'm a journalism major. I like articles that have an end at a few hundred words.

I never thought that three years later, I'd have written a book. Wow...

Five Months

2010-03-01T18:45:00.003-06:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted, but hopefully in March, I'll post something that will explain why I've been so absent from blogger.

In the meantime, Bri turned 5 months old yesterday. She's rolling over all the time and sitting up by herself for small periods of time. She didn't go to the doctor this month so I have no idea how much she weighs or how long she is, but I'm constantly having to loosen the straps on her car seat and raise the exersaucer to a higher point. Here are some 5-month pictures. Enjoy.

Bri's first snow. She loved it! Can't you tell? :)
Getting ready for her bath

She grabbed the bow off her head and chewed on it...like she does with everything.

After church on her five-month birthday.

4 Months

2010-01-28T20:46:00.004-06:00

Bri turned 4 months old today and she had a check-up with her pediatrician. She's 17 lbs and 25 inches long! Her pediatrician said she's the weight of a 9 month old. Today she wore a six month outfit. I fully expected her to be 20 lbs. She feels that big. I was over 20 lbs at 4 months old, so I wouldn't have been a bit surprised.

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Sitting up by herself

On her side. SO close to rolling over. Should be any day now.

In her exersaucer. She loves to "stand"!

I hope she keeps those baby blues.

New Year's

2010-01-13T21:36:00.002-06:00

Collin talked me into leaving Bri with my parents and going away over New Year's weekend. We left New Year's Eve and headed to Atlanta where we rode MARTA and watched the Peach Drop. It was a lot of fun. So much so that I wondered why I've never done that before having grown up only three hours away.

Even though I had fun, that night at the hotel, I thought that one night was enough to be away from Bri and I wanted desperately to just head back home the next day. I kept my mouth shut and powered through, though and by the time we made it to Asheville, NC the next day, I was enjoying my free time and just focusing on Collin. When we went to pick Bri up on the 3rd, she couldn't care less I was there so it turns out the time apart didn't hurt her and was probably good for me.

My favorite part was sleeping 8-10 hours without having to get up three nights in a row!

snow tubing in North Carolina

Atlanta fireworks on New Year's Eve

Freezing outside the Biltmore House

Collin braving the cold in front of the Biltmore House. I was huddled in front of a heater at the gift shop when this was taken.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year and welcome 2010!

Are Anniversaries Mainly for Women?

2009-12-23T15:32:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, Collin and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. I told him not to get me anything because we're planning on going to Asheville, NC over the New Year's weekend. And because I told him not to get me anything, I didn't get him anything.

BUT...I came home for lunch Monday to two cards. One was romantic and tear-jerking. The second was funny. And he gave me a gift card to my favorite spa.

I felt bad for not doing anything for him so I got him a card and two "mock" basketball tickets for a game that night. He had been asking me to go with him, but I hadn't wanted to. I was willing to go as my gift to him though.

I got home that night after work to Collin dressed in a shirt and tie. He informed me to go change because his parents would be there soon to keep Bri. He took me to the Melting Pot for dinner. It was so wonderful. I'm too spoiled.

So my question is...do you think anniversaries are more for the woman in the relationship than for the man? Collin seemed completely content in surprising me/getting me gifts without having anything of his own.

Here's to 3 years and many more to come!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-17T18:00:00.002-06:00

About a minute before this was taken, Bri threw up all over herself, the floor and me. Merry Christmas! Isn't he a great Santa Clause?

Bri's Blessing - Nov. 22, 2009

2009-11-28T21:39:00.003-06:00

What I'm thankful for...

Smiles

2009-11-15T20:05:00.002-06:00

Thinking about it...
Almost there...
Jackpot!

Bri loves her daddy and baths.

2009-11-06T12:56:00.003-06:00

So after all those posts about what I should dress Bri as for Halloween, she ended up not being anything at all. The mermaid costume I bought off ebay ended up being way, way too big. I should have known from the picture. The child wearing the costume is sitting up on their own. That should have been a huge clue. Oh well. I'll save it for next year. We went to a friend's house for Halloween and watched scary movies and handed out candy to trick or treaters. It was a lot of fun. I'm not anything at all and Collin is of course a Kentucky football player.

One Month

2009-10-29T12:31:00.004-05:00

I apologize if this blog turns into a blog just about Bri. Let it be known that I'm warning you now.

Bri turned one month old yesterday. It's gone by both fast and slow at the same time. I am so thrilled that I'm taking 9 weeks off work instead of the original 6 I was planning to take. Just in the past week, she has started being content between feedings and naps and she'll just look around. I cannot wait until she can smile at us. She was 7 lbs 2 oz when she was born and Monday she weighed 7 lbs 14-1/2 oz. She's getting a little chubby and I'm loving it.

One month ago
Yesterday at 1 month

4 weeks old

First Sunday at church

So...I'm a month late, but you know...newborns are needy

2009-10-23T08:25:00.000-05:00

Buyer's Remorse

2009-09-22T13:18:00.003-05:00

I had pretty much decided we were going with the strawberry for Bri's Halloween costume, but Babies R Us only carries it online. When I went to order it, it was out of stock. It looks like it will be popular this year.

I decided to try and look for it on ebay and found this mermaid one. I think it's cuter than the one I had found before and I could get it for less than the $20 price tag of the other one so without thinking I bid on it and won. Now, I'm wishing I'd thought more about it, especially after Collin said it was an "okay" costume. Oh well. Maybe I'll fall in love with it when it comes in. We probably won't be taking her many places anyway.

More Beautiful than I Imagined

2009-09-18T13:10:00.006-05:00

A friend of mine gave me the idea to use parts of my wedding dress for Bri's blessing gown. Collin's mom works with a very talented seamstress so I bought a plain blessing gown online and had this woman named Kristin cut the train off of my dress and sew it onto the blessing gown. We just got it back last night and this picture just doesn't do it justice! It's so beautiful. I cannot wait to see Bri in it.

Click on the image to make it bigger if you want to see the detail better.

2009-09-15T21:36:00.002-05:00

It's okay to come now, Bri. Your room is waiting for you.

Click the link to see pictures of the nursery. It's cuter in person, I promise.

My favorite parts were gifts. The wreath was made by our talented friend Kristin and the chandelier was given by our friends, Rebecca and Steven and Rebecca's parents.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2371086&id=27406483&l=7c1e7a761c

Photo Shoot-New Link

2009-09-11T14:54:00.006-05:00

It was brought to my attention that the link I had posted only showed one picture. This one should work. (Thanks Val, for letting me know!)

I asked our friends, Steven and Rebecca, to take pictures of us before Bri arrives. Steven was behind the camera and Rebecca did her best to arrange two very awkward people in front of the camera. She did a great job. Enjoy! We did these just in time because this week I gained a lot of water weight.

Uck. Two weeks to go!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2369611&id=27406483&l=06082e881a

Showers

2009-09-07T17:35:00.002-05:00

I have great friends and family. I was blessed enough to have three baby showers in August. Below are some pictures from them. And yes, I wore the exact same dress to each one. That's why it may look like these pictures are all from the same event :) Hey, maternity clothes are expensive.

Thanks to everyone who threw the showers and to everyone who attended. I got some really cute stuff and some really needed items, too.

Just two weeks and 4 days until Bri arrives.

Halloween

2009-08-24T12:35:00.003-05:00

I know it's super early to be thinking about Halloween, but it's one of my favorite holidays. It's a close tie between that and Christmas. I am so excited about dressing up the baby for Halloween (even if we don't go anywhere). I bought the first costume (Tinker Bell) at Babies R Us because it was cute and it was the only 0-3 months costume there that wasn't just a pumpkin onesie. Collin isn't sold on it and we still have the receipt so I wanted some other opinions. Which costume should we get?

Lame

2009-08-21T12:36:00.003-05:00

Because I'm lame and I have nothing to blog about, I'm going to post a funny mass email I got yesterday from my co-worker. I deleted all of it except for the lines I think are really funny. I colored my comments. If you're bored enough to read this or just need a good laugh, I hope you enjoy it. Oh and there's a link at the very bottom regarding New Moon if you don't get that far.

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

There is a great need for sarcasm font.

How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

Original Line: I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

My Line: I think part of a co-worker friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you are fired.

The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text (or my makeup on my way to work).

Was learning cursive really necessary?

Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died. When I wrote obits, I used to wish they'd include the cause of death every day.

I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired. And it's only going to get worse (for me) from here on out.

Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to. My co-worker's computer is possessed (I swear it is) and Word does this to her all the time. She always freaks out. It's hilarious.

"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
----
And the only other thing I can think to blog about is that I saw a newly released New Moon trailer yesterday. It's the first time I got excited about the movie. Unfortunately, I think I might actually be on Team Jacob when I watch the movie. I just don't care for Rob (as Edward).

http://team-twilight.com/20090817/moon-trailer-officially-released/

31 Week Shot

2009-07-29T21:55:00.003-05:00

Here I am at 31 weeks. I don't see how I can stretch any more, but Friday I'll be 32 weeks and will still have 8 more weeks for her and I to both grow lots more.

Small, Sweet Rewards

2009-07-26T23:17:00.003-05:00

As many of you know, I've been serving as the 2nd Counselor in Primary in Ensley since December. It hasn't been easy getting to know the kids. Most of them are brought to church by their grandparents and don't actually live within the Ensley boundaries. So, the attendance fluctuates...a lot. Because Primary attendance has been so low, I haven't felt like I've really contributed much to the ward.

The rest of the presidency and I had hopes that the summer would bring a greater primary attendance, but it has been the opposite. We've been lucky to have two of our more regular boys, brothers ages 6 and 9 in addition to the President's three-year-old son. I'm in charge of teaching the junior primary class, but because I usually only have one child in that age-range, I've been combining with the senior class a lot.

The reason I bring all of this up is because today at church three children I haven't seen in a long time came to church today. One 9-year-old boy and two girls, sisters, ages 4 and 6. For the first time in a long time I had a full sunday school class of five children. It was a good day to have more than one or two children there because in honor of Pioneer Day, I had the children make butter by shaking cream in ziploc bags as I taught the lesson. At the end of the lesson, they got to enjoy their butter on bread. It was a hit.

The highlight of my day was when the six-year-old little girl came up to me during sacrament meeting and gave me a picture. A few minutes later, her little sister (age 4) brought me a picture she had drawn. It suddenly made everything I'd done seem important. All of the Saturdays I spent planning lessons I didn't get to teach because I didn't have a class, battling feelings of worthlessness because surely Ensley needs me to do more than teach an occasional Sharing Time or attend a quarterly primary activity, and other things I've struggled with were all taken away by this small act performed by two little girls.

Here are the pictures:

Four-year-old's picture
Six-year-old's picture

I've heard that every calling in the church has equal importance, but I've never fully believed it. I'm still not sure I completely agree with the statement, but these pictures (even if just for one Sunday) made me feel like I was making a difference. I hope with all my heart that their grandmother will bring them back next week.

2009-07-15T20:38:00.002-05:00

I finally finished the nine-book series I was reading (and the author is still writing more!). But the bad thing about catching up on my reading is that it's summer there's nothing on T.V. Due to being super achy after working all day and not having the energy to do much in the evenings, I've really gotten into MTV's show, 16 and Pregnant.

I like watching it because no matter how I'm feeling or what my insecurities are about becoming a mom, I watch this show and think that if these 16-year-olds can do it, so can I. Unfortunately, every time I see the show coming on, it's the same rerun.

I don't want summer to end because my drive to work is only 10 minutes opposed to 25 minutes when school's in, but I'm really ready for some decent shows to start again. I haven't even been able to get into "So You Think You Can Dance," which I usually love.

In other news, I was asked by my boss to cut my hours back at work (due to the bad economy), but it couldn't have come at a better time. I begin working part-time in August. Honestly though, I was planning on asking to cut my hours back anyway. It just makes me feel like less of a wuss that I'm cutting back at the request of my boss. I have so much respect for women who work full-time up until the day before they give birth.

New Kitchen

2009-06-10T20:40:00.004-05:00

These pictures really don't do it justice. We just recently finished updating our kitchen and it looks so much better! We still have a few things we need to do like exchange out the outlet covers, but for the most part, it's done!

Special thanks to my brother-in-law Andy who painted the cabinets. He's the best painter I've ever come across! I have no patience for painting! Also special thanks to my friend, Rebecca who picked out the paint colors, countertops, backsplash, flooring and other decorative items.

Fuller Eyelashes

2009-06-07T13:22:00.004-05:00

Has anyone else seen this? I'm very intrigued. It's a prescription that makes your eyelashes fuller and darker. Maybe I'll try it one day, but lasik surgery is first on my list.

Hawaii

2009-05-28T15:26:00.002-05:00

Collin and I had a fun, relaxing trip to Hawaii last week. We are both sad to be back home and getting back into our work schedules. Here is a web address to some pictures if you're interested.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2339303&id=27406483&l=53b5da75e7

Just copy and paste this into your web browser.

Aloha!

Baby Girl

2009-05-16T12:00:00.004-05:00

On May 1st, we found out we're having a little girl. The room we will use as the nursery is already a pink/purple because the people we bought the house from had a three-month-old girl and we never bothered painting over it.

Because the walls are such a bright color, I've decided to go with white bedding. I won the above 9-piece bedding set on ebay for a really good price. With the help of my dear friend, Rebecca, I plan to bring in some black accents and a chandelier. What girl's nursery would be complete without a mini-chandelier?

The only name I like to far is Bri Anne Aynes. Bri would be the entire first name and is pronounced like the cheese, "Brie" while Anne would be her middle name. Collin isn't sold on it so we're still keeping our ears out for a better name. Anyone have suggestions? My only criteria is that it can't be common! For instance I don't want her to grow up with five other...what's a common name? I don't know. How about Ashley? I went to high school with another Ashley Marie Jones. So, I don't want that to happen to her.

Water Aerobics

2009-05-16T11:45:00.003-05:00

I've been feeling really guilty lately for not going to the gym. I know it's not an excuse, but this growing baby inside my belly is wearing me out! In an attempt to get back "into it" I attended my first ever water aerobics class Thursday night.

Was I the only person there under 40? Most definitely

Was the majority of the class made up of cotton tops? You betchya

Did the teenage lifeguard steal glances at me surely wondering why a mid-20-year-old would attend such a class? Too many times to feel comfortable about

Was it a good workout? Oh goodness, yes

Before committing myself to attending, I struggled internally with "selling out". See, I was a competitive swimmer and lifeguard for four years and a swim teacher for six years of my life. I can swim laps for thirty minutes without being sore the next day. Mind you, this is not exactly me bragging because when I was in shape I was able to swim laps (including sprints) for two hours at a time with minimal breaks without being sore the next day.

So why would I need to take water aerobics? Well, I'm here to admit that water aerobics kicked my butt. It's two days later and my calves are still sore. I'm planning on making the class twice a week until the baby's born. So remember, water aerobics isn't just for the retired.

Oh and the instructor recognized that I'm pregnant and not just "thick around the middle". It was a great moment for me to know that strangers may be able to tell I'm with child instead of just fat. I'm 21 weeks now. Over half-way there. Scary? Yes!

April

2009-05-16T11:31:00.005-05:00

At the end of April we had the great opportunity to go to Orange Beach with 8 of our friends (pictured below). Steven (the really tall guy) orchestrated the event by choosing a date and hunting down a condo large enough for ten. It was so beautiful I felt like a really rich famous person for being able to call it "Home" for four days. (Whenever I'm staying anywhere whether it be a condo, a hotel, or a friend's house, I always call it "home" for the duration of the stay).

Below is a picture of all ten of us. It was brought up several times how amazing it is that all five of us couples are within two years in age of each other, we all live in Birmingham, and we all own a house. I mean statistically, how often does that happen?

We regretably did not take many pictures, but one of Collin's favorite past-times was sliding down this slide. He was having more fun the the kids there! I'll have to admit, the slide went faster than you would expect just by looking at it.

Fun?

2009-05-11T16:53:00.002-05:00

Do you think Collin had fun riding coasters with his dad this past weekend? I can't tell...

2009-04-21T16:25:00.001-05:00

Today I have been thinking about physically and mentally disabled children. I’m sure every mother worries about this, but from time to time, I have tried to imagine how I would react if I were to have a disabled child. My first thought was that it would be hard, but it would be fine. I then pictured myself taking the child to the library, to playgroup, to birthday parties. I’m sure most of the adults would be warm and understanding, but what about the other children?

I imagined having a healthy child and envisioned a friend or acquaintance bringing their disabled child to the library, playgroup, and birthday parties. Would I treat her and her child like everyone else? Would I be nicer? Would I avoid them?

If I had the disabled child would people go out of their way to be nice to us or would they try to avoid us, or would it be a mixture of both? Minutes after thinking about this, I received a chain email on this subject. I felt it was too large of a coincidence, and I just had to share.

I’m warning you, this story made me tear up.

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do.. He cannot un derstand things as other children do.

Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart.. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three..

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat..

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the

plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of=2 0reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!

Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!

Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team

'That day', said the father softly with tears n ow rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love a nd humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

If I do end up having a disabled child sometime in my life, I hope to encounter people like the children in this story. And in the meantime, I hope to strive to be more like the children in this story.

Bowling Green, KY

2009-04-16T20:48:00.006-05:00

Every hotel was booked in Cave City, Kentucky the weekend before the Easter holiday. By the looks of it, so was every hotel in Bowling Green, 20 minutes away. It was a good thing we had reservations. What is so special about Bowling Green that so many travelers have to see? I asked myself that question as Collin got our room key from the front desk attendant. Bowling Green is a college town.

"Is there a sporting event going on tomorrow?" I asked Collin as we made our way to the elevators.

Turns out, the hotels were booked and the restaurant tables were full because of Mammoth Cave National Park. That's why we were there, so why should it surprise me that so many other people were there for the same reason?

We had intended to visit the Lost Sea Boat Tour, but the cave was flooded. Instead we went to Diamond Cavern and took the History Tour at Mammoth Cave. They had this Caving for Beginners tour that lasted four hours and took you through passageways 9 inches in width. Let's just say I was bummed I was pregnant and couldn't do that tour and hope to go back one day. Who wants to keep our baby so we can go spelunking? :)

I'm not much of an outdoorsy person because I can't stand getting overheated, but caves have natural air conditioning. It was about 55 degrees inside. I loved it! Oh, and if you're planning on going, make sure you make a reservation for the tour you go on at Mammoth Cave. Thankfully we did, but when we arrived to get our tickets, all of the tours for the rest of the day were already booked.

I had no idea there was an awesome natural attraction only 3-1/2 hours away.

Bottomless pit at Mammoth Cave
Fat Man's misery at Mammoth Cave

Diamond Cavern

Squeezing through Fat Man's Misery

Oh, and in case you're wondering because of this awful picture, I am growing my bangs back out. They're higher maintenance than I'd like and I want to be as low-maintenance as possible by the time the baby gets here. I'm glad I was able to feel young and hip for the past three months though.

Self-Pity

2009-03-30T20:53:00.002-05:00

I've had a bout of self-pity recently for reasons I won't go into because, well, it's just not necessary. I'm not new to feeling sorry for myself.

The remarkable thing about this time around is that Heavenly Father really stopped me in my tracks early on. He wouldn't let it last long. There have been some things happen in the past few days that have really opened my eyes to how blessed I am even though sometimes it doesn't feel that way.

One main thing that made me stop my pity-party is being a member of the Ensley Ward. It's hard to attend church there and continue thinking "Why me?" when so many people around me have so little. Heavenly Father certainly knew what was ahead for me and Collin when he called us there, and I have no doubt in my mind why we're there. I am thankful for the eternal foresight that brought us there.

I have to continue to tell myself that other people may not have my problems, but they sure have problems of their own that are not always known to me.

I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm thankful and there have been many instances recently that are pure blessings. I know that without praying and asking for help in these situations, they wouldn't have happened the way they have.

On another note, I went to Kid's Market today and got a crib mattress, a maternity shirt, and a maternity dress. These are the first things I've bought and it feels good to be getting started, even though it still doesn't quite feel real yet.

Excuses

2009-03-27T11:42:00.002-05:00

I play a game every morning on the drive to work that I like to call, “Excuses.”

When I’m in bed and my alarm goes off I always seem to think that it’s a good idea to snooze an extra five, ten or even fifteen minuets. Then, when I actually get up, I realize how stupid it was and start running around.

I started taking showers at night to save time in the morning so that when I get up, I can be out the door in ten minutes. The first half of the drive to work is somewhat stop and go so I usually eat breakfast during those 5-7 minutes. The last half of the drive, I sit at a traffic light. This time allows me to put on my makeup while waiting.

The last two or three minutes, I look frantically at the clock hoping I can get to work by 7:59 or 8:00 because even one minute late constitutes as a “tardy”. During those minutes I run excuses through my mind of what I can say to constitute being late. I obviously can’t say I’m late because I slept in an extra five minutes. So I picture myself saying, “The traffic was heavier today,” or “I got stuck behind a school bus.”

But I never get to use the excuses I come up with because more often than not, I arrive around 7:58 or 7:59. But I hate the days when I do arrive at 8:02 because I can’t sneak into the building. A loud “ding” sounds whenever anyone opens any of the doors.

This morning I sat down at my desk at 7:59. Victory! As my stress level rose during this morning’s game (as it always does), I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be much easier to just get up earlier so that I don’t have to put myself through this every day?” The answer is yes, but I always seem to forget about that when I’m snoozing.

2009-03-14T20:42:00.003-05:00

Now that Collin has told his grandmother, I guess it's safe to post it on the internet. Most of you already know this anyway, but Collin and I are expecting our first child. My due date is Sept. 25th and I am 12 weeks.

Collin went with me to my second doctor's appointment this morning to hear the heartbeat. I'm relieved to know everything looks good so far. At my previous appointment I kept asking the doctor, "But how do you know I'm pregnant?" She just laughed.

I think the sickness stage is behind me and I am thrilled about that. As bad as it was, I think I had it easy compared to some people I've talked to.

So, yeah. That's what's going on with us :)

Last Cruise Post

2009-02-19T21:37:00.008-06:00

The rest of the cruise we hit Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, and St. Kitts.

Here we are in Barbados on a catamaran after snorkeling. That's Barbados behind us. Look how flat it is! We took a tour that took us all over St. Lucia. Here we are in front of the famous Pitons.

The tour also took us to the batanical gardens in St. Lucia. Here we are in front of a waterfall that has so many minerals in it, the water is gray and has turned the dirt behind it into clay.

We went on yet another catamaran that took us to a black sand beach. Very interesting!

In Antiga we went on a zipline tour over a rainforest. It was possibly one of the scariest things I've ever done, but was awesome. They didn't allow us to take cameras on the tour so I don't have any pictures, but Collin bought one of him and I might try to scan it if I remember to do so.

I didn't have any interesting pictures of St. Kitts. It wasn't our favorite. We just went to the beach where I read a book and Collin mostly practiced for...

His big role as Garth Brooks in the Carnival Legends show the last night of the cruise! He sang "Friends in Low Places" and did a great job. I would never have enough courage to get up in front of that many people and sing.

DOMINICA

2009-01-29T17:46:00.008-06:00

Still blogging about your cruise? GAH! Trying to rub it in or something?

No, it is just taking me FOREVER to blog about our trip. Please feel free to make comments like,
"Enough already move onto to something else." or "I don't mind these posts, finish."

The second island we went to was Dominica. We went on a waterfall and hotsprings excursion that turned out to be awesome.

We were first taken on a scenic tour of the island, went to a waterfall that you had to swim to, got to jump off of a rock into the waterfall, and then onto the natural hot springs.

We don't have pictures of the waterfall or the hot springs because we bought a waterproof digital camera from Walmart that didn't work. I'm still angry about that. DON'T buy it. It's $20 and the reason it's so cheap is that IT DOESN'T WORK.

Beautiful Dominican mountains

Collin on the bridge that led to the waterfall

Me on the bridge that led to the waterfall

After the hotsprings, we were given local fruit which was absolutely delicious! I also spent about an hour at the shops getting my mom some vanilla extract, which is supposed to be awesome from Dominica.

It ended up busting in my suitcase on the flight home. Yes, it stained several of my clothes.

The area where the waterfall was located was in Pirates of the Carribean III.

One of the funniest parts of this stop was when we got into the van, there was a couple who were probably in their forties. The woman leaned over to Collin and asked, "Do we need anything for this?"

He looked at her and said, "A swimsuit is really all you need."

She looked at him in shock. "Do you have your swimsuit?" She asked both of us.

We both nodded yes. She began complaining to the tour guide that she didn't have her swimsuit and asked him if there would be somewhere she could buy one.

The guide said, "Well, we're going to the rainforest, so..."

She actually got mad at him about it like it was his fault. They ended up getting off the bus without a refund. The tour was like $60 or $80 a person. I can't remember, but I would have swam in my underwear or with all my clothes on to avoid losing that money. Everyone else in the van cheered when they got off.

Come on. The tour is called "Waterfall and Hot Springs Tour" or something similar.

My Boy Patrick Patterson

2009-01-25T23:00:00.002-06:00

Hey this is Collin and I have never made a post to this blog, until now. Why you might ask? Well this truly warrants a blog post from me. Most of you who read this blog (and I am thrilled you are reading it mind you) will probably not understand the importance of why this would be my first post. And I am sure you will not know who Patrick Patterson is, but I sure do.

On Saturday (1-24-09) Ashley, me, my parents, and Ashley's parents went to the Alabama vs. Kentucky basketball game. I must first give a special thanks to Caroline Sprayberry and her cousin, Amy, for getting us 6 tickets to the game. I owe you guys BIG time!

I am a HUGE Kentucky basketball fan (most of you who read this may already know this is true) If you can think of the craziest Alabama football fan that you know, well that would be me for Kentucky basketball. I live for it everytime basketball season comes around. I love basketball and the Kentucky Wildcats!

Anyway, the game itself was awesome. I loved it! There is nothing like watching a basketball game from a comfortable seat in the arena (hey, i will call it comfortable). I love hearing 15,000 plus fans (which there were over 15,000 fans there Saturday) duke it out in a beautiful screamfest of great plays, dunks, passes, steals, rebounds, blocks, fouls, ooh's and ahh's, and don't forget to throw in a little boo's (for bad plays) as well.

Unfortunately for Alabama fans the oohing and ahhing ceased and the about 5,000 plus (just a positive guess on my part) Kentucky fans roared to life as we beat Alabama 61-51! I know it is only basketball and for the Alabama fan he or she probably left the game not caring at all about the final outcome but I am still proud Kentucky got the win. So, after the game I waited around and got the above picture with one of the best Kentucky players on the team Patrick Patterson!!!

In case anyone cares, he averages about 19 points per game (which is really good for a college player) and almost 10 rebounds a game (which is also great). I was in total awe that he actually took a picture with me! I think I had tears in my eyes. And what makes the moment even more meaningful is that Patterson will most likely be playing pro basketball in the NBA! So I would have to say this was the cherry on top of a sweet game of basketball.

I also got Patterson's autograph which was nice. Now if you are still reading this (which I hope you are) then I must say I was very happy to have been able to be at this game with my wife Ashley, (i love to "try" to get her to somewhat like basketball, and someday it will happen) my parents, and Ashley's parents. They all enjoyed it and had a great time. I mean who wouldn't? I mean it's basketball!

St. Thomas

2009-01-21T19:44:00.006-06:00

St. Thomas was the first island we stopped at. It was probably my least favorite. One reason was most likely due to the fact that it is owned by the United States so it didn't feel very "Caribbean" to me. It came across as just a big tourist trap.

Don't get me wrong, the beaches were beautiful.

But the tour we went on was kind of lame. It took us to some sort of pirate exhibition.

On a bus through scenic roads and let us off at a beach for two hours (best part).

From the pirate "museum" and rum factory, we walked downtown where there were literally jewlery stores for miles. They were right next door to each other and across the street. I have no idea how they all stay in business.

On the way back to the ship, I stepped in front of a bus. It's a good thing the driver was paying attention or else our vacation would have been cut very short.

Looking back, I'm glad this was our first stop. After St. Thomas, the other true "Caribbean" islands and excursions exceeded my expectations.

Carnival Victory

2009-01-20T18:08:00.009-06:00

After a short stay in Puerto Rico, we boarded our ship, the Carnival Victory. These pictures are not all of our first day on the ship, but I just wanted to show some pictures of the time we spent on it, which was not a whole lot considering we stopped at an island every day.

I was excited and couldn't believe how big it was (and yes that it a swimsuit coverup; I'm not going immodest)
Taking advantage of the 24 hour ice cream on the deck.

Collin looking handsome in the lounge on one of the formal nights.

Me doing what I do best...sleeping. That bed was so comfortable and the rocking of the ship lulled me to sleep each night. I slept incredibly well, and that's saying a lot because I'm a light sleeper.

Pina Colada, our favorite drink. (Yes, it's virgin)

Collin hanging out with the pillow pig.

Trendy?

2009-01-19T18:26:00.004-06:00

Let me just say that I'm usually not one to mimic the trends of Hollywood, but I just couldn't help myself.

I haven't had bangs for 15 years and I NEVER thought I'd get them again, but I have to say that I haven't felt this good about myself and this happy with my appearance in...a...long...time.

I feel chic and modern, and young.

Sure I'll flip through pictures with my children in years to come and they'll say, "Mom! What were you thinking?" But I love, love, love my hair right now and that's all that matters because hair does grow back.

So thanks to my dear friend Brittany who gave me the best haircut I've had in years (not just the bangs, but the overall cut feels amazing).

San Juan, Puerto Rico

2009-01-19T17:58:00.007-06:00

I know this is way "old news" but I'm finally going to attempt blogging about our whirlwind December. It all began when we flew into San Juan, Puerto Rico and stayed one night before boarding the cruise.

In true "boy" fashion, Collin really enjoyed El Morro, a historic fort in San Juan.

Me in front of our hotel. It was a bit windy...

My favorite part was Old San Juan. I absolutely loved the french influenced architecture.

2009?

2009-01-02T13:41:00.002-06:00

Since I posted last, Collin and I have been on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean, had two days at work before spending Christmas Eve with my family, Christmas Day with Collin’s family and then headed to Louisville, KY to visit Collin’s grandma and Dad, we’ve been back for five days, but tonight I leave for Huntsville to visit the Messervy’s and Layton’s with my sister, Caroline, and Collin is going to Atlanta to visit his friend, Paul. Phew! Wait, but that's not all. Next weekend we're heading back to Kentucky, but to Madisonville this time to visit Collin's other grandma and great aunt.

So where did 2008 go?

Really, I’m not complaining, I just can’t understand why Collin and I do this to ourselves every year right around Christmas. Maybe next year we’ll be smarter and go on our big anniversary trip in November or something.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I hope to post pictures soon, but because there has been so much going on, I think I’ll pick my favorite of each event to post.

Merry Early Christmas

2008-12-10T14:48:00.003-06:00

Christmas came early to us this year. Collin got up at 4:30 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping. He came back with a Blu-Ray DVD player that he’s been wanting for a while and a laptop for me that I’ve been wanting for a VERY long while. He also got some miscellaneous DVDs and a portable DVD player and case for all those long road trips I complain about.

But that’s not even it!

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Collin’s parents and grandma came over for dinner at our house. Everyone was served and enjoying their food, I went to go sit down at the table and the chair completely broke and I landed flat on my butt. I was so glad it happened to me and not one of them!

A little background on the table: we’ve had it for two years and before that my sister had it. When we moved into our house a year ago, my mom stood on it to reach a high cabinet and it broke. Collin nailed it back together and my friend Rebecca was sitting in it one night and it broke. Collin nailed it back together again and it broke when I sat in it.

So Collin’s parents decided we need a new table for Christmas. What do you think? It’s being delivered on Christmas Eve. We’re so excited!

Thank you Rhonda and Tom!

New Morgan

2008-12-03T18:13:00.006-06:00

My sister, Valoree, gave birth to a daughter yesterday. Her name is Evan Faye Morgan. Collin and I went to see them at the hospital last night. She is beautiful and I loved her instantly! Her two older brothers, Chandler (13) and Hudson (6) are so excited for her to be here. I wish I had pictures of them holding her, but they had already gone home when we got to the hospital. Valoree makes having children look so easy and looked better than I did last night.

Gobble Gobble

2008-11-27T14:12:00.003-06:00

Collin's step-dad, Tom, picked these cupcakes out for us and brought them by last night. "Turkeys for our two turkeys" his mom said. I thought they were too cute for words and wanted to share. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ensley

2008-11-24T15:53:00.001-06:00

Our first Sunday in Ensley was yesterday. It went really well. I have not felt so welcomed anywhere in a very long time. We spoke in Sacrament meeting and received our callings. I am the 2^nd Counselor in Primary and Collin is the Ward Mission Leader. We are excited about both callings because we’ve never had them before. We are both looking forward to getting to know all of our responsibilities.

It really didn’t take that long for us to get there. We gave ourselves 40 minutes because we just weren’t sure, but because traffic is so light on Sunday mornings, we got there in 30 minutes. When I was in high school, it took my family 20 minutes to get to church, so it wasn’t much further than I’ve driven in the past.

Thursday night was our last night as temple workers. While I learned a lot, I am looking forward to being able to return as patrons and attending as a couple again.

The Movie

2008-11-21T21:44:00.004-06:00

If you haven't seen the Twilight movie and you aren't just busting at the seams to see it like I was, I suggest waiting until it comes out on DVD or to your local dollar theater.

The movie just doesn't stand alone. If you haven't read the book, I'm afraid it's very hard to follow. A woman beside me hadn't read the book and had no idea what was going on.

I was so afraid they would change the story-line too much, but my opinion (for whatever it's worth) is that they actually should have changed it more in order to help people understand what was going on.

I actually laughed through a lot of the parts that were supposed to be serious. I would have to say one of the biggest disappointments was that I LOVED the soundtrack, but didn't hear any of the songs in the movie. There was a lot of silence, and it was just...awkward.

I do have to admit though, Edward was HOT! There was actually a lot of eye candy, and I even found myself attracted to Charlie.

Despite all my criticism, I still have deep respect for Stephenie Meyer for all that she's written. She may not be the best writer in the world, her movie may have blown (okay that was harsh), but she can tell one heck of a story and that's more than I can say for myself.

Assignment in Ensley

2008-11-16T18:11:00.002-06:00

Today was our last Sunday in Hoover because for the next 2 years we have been assigned to attend the Ensley Branch. We don't know what our callings there will be yet. There is no doubt in my mind that this is where Heavenly Father wants us to be.

I also taught Relief Society for the last time (for a while anyway) today. It was possibly the worst lesson ever, but in a way, it makes going to Ensley easier. I apologize to those of you who had to sit through it. Please don't remember me by it.

Yet Again

2008-11-12T13:51:00.003-06:00

So I guess being a Relief Society Instructor for four months is too long. Yes, we have received new callings yet again. Hopefully I'll be able to reveal them Sunday. But until then...any guesses?

Seriously, haven't held a calling in Hoover for more than 8 months. What's the deal?

If only I were rich...

2008-11-05T15:21:00.003-06:00

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T09:13:00.002-05:00

From the Aynes Family :)

My Dad likes to make up songs and call people by weird nick names. Since I was in elementary school, my nick name has been Ash Lash Boga Dash White Trash On the Side of a Mountain. (Don’t ask.)

About ten years ago, my Dad made up a Halloween song to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. I love it and wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy!

On the first night of Halloween my true love gave to me, a Jack-O-Lantern in a Dead Tree!

On the second night of Halloween my true love gave to me, Two Skeletons and a Jack-O-Lantern in a Dead Tree!

Okay, so you get the point without me writing it all out. The rest is below.

Twelve Monsters Stalking

Eleven Witches Brewing

Ten Spiders Spinning

Nine Werewolves Howling

Eight Houses Haunted

Seven Ghosts A-Waving

Six Mummies Humming

FIVE FRANKENSTEINS

Four Flying Bats

Three Black Cats

Two Skeletons

AND A JACK-O-LANTERN IN A DEAD TREE!

(Rights to Lyrics owned by Rodney Jones, Inc.)

The Luxurious Life

2008-10-27T11:02:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite things in life is going somewhere extraordinary, looking around, and thinking, I don’t belong here, but I’m here anyway!

When I was a young child, my family didn’t have a lot of “spending money.” In fact, I can’t remember eating at a Taco Bell until I was 12. We only went out to eat on birthdays, and we had two vacations a year going to our grandparent’s houses in South Carolina.

For some reason I always thought that I would, as an adult, be “strapped for cash.” I never thought there was anything wrong with it and I accepted my fate.

That being said, I am always delightfully surprised when Collin and I get to do something (on a discount of course) that makes me feel “rich.” Some examples of this are:

1) Staying at the Palmer House in Chicago

2) Going to Jamaica twice

3) Eating at the Melting Pot

And my most recent “I don’t belong here” experience is becoming a member of 119 Health & Wellness. This facility is owned by St. Vincent’s Hospital and it has doctor’s offices and physical therapy facilities. It also has work-out facilities, including an awesome pool and spa.

This place is expensive, but Collin gets a discount with his work. When Collin began his job, I contemplated joining, but the fee just to join (not including the monthly fees) is $250! So, yeah, I didn’t join. But they had a special going on in October where they cut the price in half and give you a $100 gas card for joining. I figured I would never be able to get it at a better price so I went ahead and joined for a mere $25.

One of the perks of being a member is the quarterly fitness tests and a complimentary massage. I scheduled mine for tomorrow and I can’t wait!

And the very best part is that when I go to work out I don't feel like I'm working out, I feel like I'm being pampered. I went four times last week and I can't wait to go back!

Huntsville

2008-10-22T15:09:00.002-05:00

Last weekend Collin and I went to Huntsville for Kristin Layton's baby shower. We got there Friday night and went to Huntsville's Haunted Corn Maize (no, I didn't misspell maze; for some reason they spell it like that). I'd never been through a corn maze before and thought it would be cool. Well it was!

We got there around 10 p.m. and I was so worried we'd have to wait a long time, but there wasn't a line for tickets or to get inside the maze, so we just walked right in. It was perfect weather for it. There was a full moon and it was really foggy that night because it had rained earlier that day. And it was perfectly crisp, without being too cold.

When we first entered the maze, we were by ourselves and we could hear people screaming, but couldn't see anyone (enter fright). We were walking around and up ahead was a cross-section of another path. Right before we got to the intersection, a man with a chainsaw ran by, but didn't see us. He was after a large group to the right of us.

Collin grabbed my hand and we started running in the opposite direction because we didn't want to be chased by a chainsaw. So we're running and getting lost and out pops a scary person from the corn stalks. Well we scream and I'm all out of breath, so we stop running. Because it was so dark out there, I thought I saw scary people hiding, but when we approached it just turned out to be corn stalks. My eyes kept playing tricks on me. So we decided to stay with large groups of people because we didn't like wondering around alone. It made it too realistic for us. AND half the time you wouldn't know if someone was part of the maze or just another patron until you were right up on them.

All in all, it was perfectly scary and really neat. It took us about 45 minutes to go through. Towards the end we got tired of being lost so once a scary person growled at us, we started asking them which way was out. They would all just point in the right direction.

They did a great job with their costumes too. They had the girl from The Ring with a T.V. beside her that was all fuzzy, Michael Myers from Halloween, clowns, tons of fog machines and strobe lights, loud noises, a scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and much more. If you're ever in Huntsville, I suggest stopping by.

The baby shower went well too. There were tons of presents and tons of people there. We can't wait for little Cade (I hope I spelled that right) to get here!

As Promised

2008-10-13T20:09:00.012-05:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip to Chicago. Collin's would be different and would include pictures of where the Cubs play and where Michael Jordan played for years and if you would enjoy seeing those, it's too bad Collin doesn't post...ever, even though I've given him the password and told him he could any time he felt the desire. And also, if you'd rather see those pictures than what I'm about to share, well then, you're reading the wrong blog.

Famous Ginos East pizza eatery.

Mmmm...deep dish pizza.

So whenever Collin and I go out to eat, I always order water and end up drinking half of whatever soft drink Collin orders. You can see why we end up going through twice as many drinks. Our waiter earned a spot in my heart early on by just bringing us a pitcher of cherry coke. Tip well earned!

My favorite thing about Chicago was Navy Pier. It was sort of a year-round carnival and they had a bunch of people dressed up in Halloween costumes. Here's a picture of a man dressed up as a monkey and the accordian playing man, um, peddler, I guess you call them? The monkey-guy did a great job.

Swings.

What we'll look like after we're dead.

Ferris wheel. Inside each car, they had loud speakers and had ghost stories playing. They were kind of cheesy, but I got really excited about it.

I got roped by this woman. I'm not sure what she was supposed to be.

Chicago sky/lake line from the John Hancock building

It was a Saturday and these people were taking wedding pictures in the middle of the median. Who wouldn't take a picture of that?

This guy called himself the Tin Man. He moved around and made noises like a robot. So entertaining! I liked him way better than the countless people standing on the street asking for change. He was working for his money.

Atop Sears Tower

Chicago

2008-10-06T11:34:00.004-05:00

We had a lot of fun in Chicago this past weekend. We did a lot in the two days we were there and I am both sore from walking everywhere and tired from, well, walking everywhere. Here are some pictures of the gorgeous historical hotel we stayed at (beds were bliss), the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago.

Here’s a list of things we did. My favorite was Navy Pier and I’ll try and post more details about that with pictures later. We didn’t have too much time to eat nice sit down dinners which is too bad because I’ve heard great things about Chicago restaurants, but I did make an effort to not buy or consume anything I could have gotten in Birmingham.

-Sears Tower

-John Hancock Tower

-Shopping and Walking around Millennium Mile

-Navy Pier (farris wheel, fireworks, dance team, Halloween-themed atmosphere)

-Cab Rides

-Dinner at Ginos East (Chicago style deep-dish pizza you have to eat with a fork)

-7/11 Slurpee

-Cheese infused pretzel

-Dinner at local diner served to us by a Ukraine waitress

-Breakfast at a corner bakery

-Hard Rock Café

-Six Flags over Chicago/Fright Fest

-Walking, walking and more walking

Collin's Birthday

2008-09-26T09:29:00.004-05:00

Collin’s 26^th Birthday was Sunday so Saturday night we went to our favorite restaurant, The Melting Pot, which was really a gift to both of us. Collin wore a shirt and tie his Mamaw sent him. Our 19-year-old waiter guessed Collin was 28 or 29. After I threatened him with a bad tip, he guessed I was 21!

Sunday was Collin’s actual birthday so I bought him a cookie cake, an Alabama t-shirt, lots of candy and am getting him a basketball goal for the driveway, but he hasn’t picked out the one he wants yet. We had friends over Sunday night for cake, ice cream, and games. It was a lot of fun.

Happy 26 Collin! Fun trivia: my nephew, Chandler’s birthday is the same day as Collin’s and he is exactly half Collin’s age: 13.

Happy 13 Chandler!

BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!

2008-09-25T15:55:00.005-05:00

I’ve spent most of this week contemplating how I can post about this past weekend without sounding too SSB (Seriously So Blessed), but decided that it truly was one of the best weekends ever and to just give in. If you don’t know what Seriously So Blessed is, I encourage you to visit this website, http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com, if you’re good about laughing at yourself. It’s a made up blog that pokes fun at the Mormon Young Married/Stay-At-Home Mom blogging phenomenon.

The first reason last weekend was awesome is because of the Jim Gaffigan show Friday night.

Our friends, Kristin (pregnant and so cute! I promise we didn’t match on purpose) and Chase were given Jim Gaffigan tickets as a graduation gift from Kristin’s brother. The show was at the Alabama Theater in Birmingham and was a gorgeous venue. Collin and I didn’t have tickets, but I talked him into joining me as I planned to venture down there and buy tickets knowing they would be bad seats. I wanted to see the show and that way we could avoid the ticketmaster surcharges.

When we got to the venue, they only had a few seats left and they were all the way in the back of the balcony. We were going to get them, but the cashier told us they only took cash.

Who carries that much cash these days?

There was an ATM inside the venue and we didn’t mind using it because our bank automatically refunds ATM fees so I went and grabbed some cash. By the time I got back several other people bought tickets. Collin went up to buy some and she said it was our lucky day because they just released floor seats. Don’t ask me how that works. I still don’t understand. For the same price, we got floor seats and they were perfect! Not too close, not too far, perfect.

I thanked the cashier for not taking cash.

When we were shown our seats, Kristin immediately called me on my cell phone and asked how we got better seats than her and Chase. They’d had their tickets since May and were several rows behind us!

The show itself was absolutely hilarious! About ¾ of the show was new material and I laughed so hard, tears ran down my face and I almost hyperventilated from not being able to catch my breath. Sometimes, I seriously think Jim Gaffigan tailors his jokes just for me because I always relate to or agree with everything he says. This is one of my favorite things he said, but it’s not as funny without hearing him say it.

“It’s always hard to admit to people when you’ve spent all day in bed. Sorry I’m late everyone, I didn’t get out of bed until 5 p.m.”

“What are you sick?”

“No, I was in heaven.”

We didn’t stand in line to meet him after the show since we’d both met him once before and we were starving because we hadn’t had dinner yet. So we took a picture with this poster instead.

Afterward, Kristin and Chase had to hurry and go to Memphis for a soccer tournament he was coaching, so we said goodbye and Collin and I went down to Five Points to eat at Mellow Mushroom. We hardly ever go down there because we’re not UAB students and it’s quite a drive from our side of town, but I forgot how fun of an atmosphere it is there. It made me miss college life.

I was going to post about our entire weekend in one post, but now that I see how long just this one is, I’ve decided to break it up in segments. More to come…

The Windy City

2008-09-18T15:13:00.002-05:00

Collin has a business trip in Chicago leaving one week from Sunday. I decided to tag along. I can’t miss the whole week at my job so I’m going to meet him up there once his job ends on Thursday. Friday afternoon I’m flying and we’ll spend the rest of the weekend there and fly back together on Sunday.

I’m excited because I’ve never been to Chicago and when else will we be able to take a trip like this where we don’t have to worry about one of our plane tickets since Collin’s company is paying for his?

I will finally get to experience for myself why Chicago is called The Windy City.

Coke Mountain

2008-09-08T11:21:00.001-05:00

“You’re buying a house?”

“Yes, I’m very excited.”

“Where is it?”

“Off Highway 119.”

“Is that Oak Mountain School District?”

“Yes.”

“You know they call that school Coke Mountain don’t you?”

Collin and I love our neighborhood. It’s in a very convenient location and Collin graduated from Oak Mountain High School, which he enjoyed very much. I hadn’t paid much attention to the school’s nickname, thinking, if I could go to school at Central High (think metal detectors and girls having babies in bathrooms), surely my future children can survive.

Last night Collin and I were spending a quiet evening at home when we heard police cars driving by with their sirens on. We looked out the window and there were two police cars parked across the street and one of our neighbors was standing in his driveway with his hands up in the air. They searched his car. We’re not sure exactly what happened, but we’re thinking drug bust. Needless to say, we aren’t thrilled about that happening right across the street.

In other more positive news, I got to see four college friends of mine and spend some time with them this weekend. Friday night, my old roommate Kristin and her husband, Chase were in town for a soccer game Chase was coaching and spent the night with us. Saturday I drove to Huntsville with a college friend now living in Atlanta to see another college friend visiting her parents in Huntsville, but she currently lives in Arizona. And I got to meet her son. He was so cute and I wish I had pictures to post, but I don’t.

While I was in Huntsville, Collin went to Atlanta to help his best friend move into an apartment there. He just got a job. Collin is very excited because his friend was previously living in Texas, so as you can see, Atlanta is much, much closer. Collin loved visiting Atlanta and said it makes Birmingham look like a joke. Birmingham is still plenty big for me.

Handy Men

2008-08-21T14:46:00.003-05:00

Collin probably wouldn’t want the whole world to know this, but since I’ve known him, he hasn’t been exactly what you would call a “Handy-Man.” In fact since we’ve moved into our house, I’ve hung all of the pictures and mirrors myself (that includes measuring and nailing into the wall) and I have put together our TV stand and a DVD rack, with very little help from Collin.

The only reason I’m telling on him like this is so that you will understand why I’m so proud of him for what he did yesterday. Before I do that, I want to express deep gratitude for all the other men in my life. Those people being my father, brothers-in-law, and Collin’s step-dad. I have been blessed to be around many talented men who can do a lot around the house and who have been so eager to volunteer their help and talents in doing things for us. I can’t tell you how many times my brothers-in-law and dad have helped me move before I got married, and who helped Collin and I move (twice) after we were married, and how many times all those men have come to our house to “visit” and ended up doing work for us around the house. They truly baffle me in how generous they are of their time, and how they don’t expect anything in return.

Collin currently works 4, 10 hour days at work and has had Wednesdays off since May. My dad and brother-in-law, Brad came over this past weekend because Brad has lent us his riding lawn mower since they currently don’t have use for it and it was going to sit in their storage anyway. For the past two months, we haven’t been able to get it to work, so they initially came over for that, but when all that was wrong with it was merely tightening the loose battery cables, we then asked them if they would mind showing us how to put up a ceiling fan we bought and an outside light fixture. They helped us do that and Collin and I tried to pay attention and learn how to do it because we have a lot more ceiling fans and indoor lights we want to replace.

Yesterday while I was at work, Collin mowed the yard, replaced two outdoor light fixtures on his own, fixed a chair that goes with our kitchen table that had been broken for 9 months, and bought a futon and put it together by himself! I was so happy and proud of him for taking initiative and from learning so quickly.

This weekend we plan to buy some replacement fans, lights, hardware and more items to get started making some changes around the house we’d been talking about doing since we moved in. Collin’s step-father, Tom, is coming over Saturday to help us with the harder things, including feeding a DirectTV line down to our bonus room so we can use it for more than just playing Super Nintendo.

Can you tell we finally got our stimulus payment in the mail Tuesday? Woohoo to government money.

Beautiful and Talented

2008-08-15T15:53:00.003-05:00

I just discovered I can text without even looking at my phone! I've unintentionally memorized where each letter is and how many times I have to push a certain number to get the letter I need. Now I won't be a danger to anyone on the road. Awesome.

Vampires and Other Dark Things

2008-08-11T19:18:00.004-05:00

Wow, I know right now you're wishing you could be as cool as me.

So right now I'm procrastinating (surprise!) writing some articles that are due Thursday. I'm halfway done, but only halfway. For those of you I have not told yet, I've finally gotten the tip of my foot in the doorway of the freelance writing world. I've been really excited about it, but right this moment, it feels a bit like homework.

Instead of writing, I've been looking at www.stepheniemeyer.com like I usually do, but this time I've been listening to the playlists she posted in correlation to the books she's written. I'm in love with her taste in music as it correlates very strongly with my own. That may be one of the reasons I relate so much to her writing. She writes while listening to music that inspires her. I have no idea how she does this. I get distracted too easily.

I was sitting here listening to "Hate Me" by Blue October and there's this line, "Crawling like a cockroach, leaving babies in my bed," and I look over and wouldn't you know it? A dead cockroach belly up in the corner of my computer room. It was wild.

Thanks for listening to the unsystematic thoughts running through my mind. I am now going to try and focus on the task at hand as Collin was kind enough to excuse me from his first basketball game of the season to stay home and write.

Breaking Dawn

2008-08-07T13:13:00.003-05:00

Don’t worry. I am not going to spoil this book for you if you haven’t already read it. I’m merely posting to say I am both glad to see how the series ended, and sad because the characters have been part of my life for several months now. After I finished, I literally wanted to crawl inside the book and live there.

The book hit shelves Friday, August 1^st at 12 midnight. I went to Books A Million with several other people to join in the events they had going on. They had a face painting booth. I got my fingernails painted black and they put dark circles under my eyes with makeup. To top it off, they put fake blood on my neck, making it look like a vampire bite.

They also had a trivia contest, which I didn’t participate in, but still received a nice DVD about the series because I was on the winning team. They had a costume contest, but I didn’t even go over to that area because it was a prom theme. I did, however, have on a T-shirt proudly displaying the fact that I was on Team Edward. It was a friend of mine's idea and they turned out great.

Now all I have to look forward to is the movie coming out in December! I absolutely cannot wait! And, of course, Midnight Sun. I have seriously not ever been this obsessed about a book before. I don’t know what to do with myself.

If I have time, I’ll try to post pictures of the t-shirt I wore along with my Vampire Ashley picture. Oh, by the way, I got the book at 12 midnight, read 4 hours Saturday, about 8 hours Sunday and 3 hours Monday after work to finish this 750 page book. It was well worth the time and effort. Definitely not my favorite of the series, but you know, still worth it. All I can say about my weekend is, poor Collin.

New Calling

2008-07-23T21:14:00.001-05:00

I am so sorry. I forgot to announce my new calling. My sister Caroline reminded me tonight.

Drum roll please....Relief Society Teacher!

I will be teaching the 3rd Sunday each month.

FYI-Relief Society (for those of you who read my blog who are not members of my church) is the women's class at church (kind of like Sunday School, but only for women).

I'm nervous.

No Air

2008-07-23T14:44:00.002-05:00

Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air
Can't live, can't breathe with no air

No, Collin didn't leave me, our air conditioning went out! Last Tuesday I had kind of a rough day at work, decided to stop for ice cream to cheer myself up and when I got home, it was 80 degrees in the house. Luckily we have a home warranty, so I called and set up an appointment for someone to come out and look at it. No one could come until Thursday, so Tuesday night we faced the heat, but by Wednesday it was 90 plus degrees in the house.

After work that day Collin was in his bonus room in the basement because it was a little cooler there, and I joined him. After about 20 minutes we both realized there is a window unit in that room because it's not connected to the central air system. Collin turned it on to see if it worked and it did! We drug the mattress from our guest bed down there that night and slept there because I couldn't stand the rest of the house.

In fact, when we went upstairs to get ready for bed, it took less than five minutes for my heartbeat to speed up, my face to turn red, and my fingers to start to swell. I think I would have died at a very early age if I'd been born in the ages before central air conditioning. That, or I would have had to move to Alaska.

All day Thursday we heard horror stories of it taking 2-3 weeks for people to have their air conditioning fixed. Luckily, they came, and within thirty minutes fixed it, and by the time I got home Thursday night, we were back in business.

Oh air, how I love thee.

Tubing

2008-07-14T20:27:00.009-05:00

One of the reasons we went to Tennessee over the 4th of July weekend was to go tubing down the Hiwassee River. Last year we went white water rafting down the Ocoee and had a good time. I thought maybe this would be a 1 to 2 hour trip and didn't even think about how cold the water might be because it was July, and the south in July is generally unbearable. Collin is obsessed with pictures, so we went out of the way to buy a digital water camera from Walmart for $20. We had to wait quite a while after signing up to go because we didn't have reservations. Once they were ready to take us to the river they loaded about 15 of us up on a flatbed truck. We stood in the bed while swerving up a mountain on windy roads. When we got to the spot where we are supposed to get into the water, there are no instructions given except if you get too cold you can walk the first two miles along the river on the railroad tracks.

The water was cold, but after the first half hour it was bearable and we enjoyed ourselves and took goofy pictures. About halfway through we started getting to the rapidy parts of the river. I was terrified of getting knocked out of my tube. Not because it was cold or because I didn't want to get wet. I love the water! The reason is because underneath the rapid water are large, sharp rocks. I didn't want to get beat up on those. Can you tell I was frightened?

At one point, I lost the digital camera and one of my flip flops to the raging waters. I was VERY upset about the camera, and the end result was paying a fortune for these four pictures taken by one of the rafting companies from the shore.

3 1/2 hours of me, not Collin, drifting to the shore and getting beat up by trees because we didn't have any paddles, we got back to our car and drove soaking wet the hour back to our hotel.

Overall it was a good trip, and of course, Collin had a blast!