Sweet Potato Pie and a Shut My Mouth

So my little chunker started veggies last Sunday. She did really good with her first vegetable, Sweet Potatoes. She took them from the spoon like a baby bird from its momma. She smiled alot and by the time the meal was over, she would have sweet potatoes from ear to ear. Later in the week I realized that Kate was becoming increasingly needy and fussy at night. Nothing really made her happy. I talked to all generations above and they had me convinced it was teething. So I am throwing baby orajel in her mouth and giving her tylenol to help with those itching gums. It doesn't seem to work.

Then Don speaks with a guy friend at church Wednesday night and he tells him that we should give mylicon a try. He said you can at least rule that out.

I take the mylicon box up to my parent's Thursday night when I spend the night with them but don't think about it again until mom feeds baby bird her sweet potatoes. After that she becomes increasingly fussy. Mom eventually puts her on her stomach and she calms down. BINGO! Awww, I have been giving her food that hurts her tummy.

All better now, except she HATES her new vegetable...Sweet Peas (her mommy does too, always has since the daycare days)!

Hey Y'all - Paula's Home

Don, Kate and I headed to Savannah this past Thursday. It was slated to be a 6 hour and 15 minute drive. Believe me, once you get past Atlanta and the first 2 hours of the trip, the other 4 seem to be an eternity. Lets just say there is not much in Southeast Georgia besides beautiful Savannah. We arrived just in time to check in and head over to the Pirate House for dinner. This restaurant was built in like the 1730s or something. It's funny that we had reservations and I promise they sat us in the most unattractive room of the house. It looked like a porch or something but to be honest, it was kinda private so that was nice. The food was okay. For some odd reason I got Shrimp Scampi which is not a normal choice of mine. Don got a crab cake with a salad and the crab cake was delicious. Anyway, we walked along the river that night from a park on the bluff. The weather was nice, the company was nice, and the city was nice. Couldn't beat that.

The next morning we woke up to head to Paula Deen's restuarant, "Lady and Sons". We had read on the internet that they start taking reservations at 9:30am. So we head down there at 9:30 and there was already a line wrapped around the building. We jumped in line and once we made it to the hostess she told us that they still had 11am reservations available, so we jumped on that time considering that we had not eaten breakfast and that was only 10am Alabama time. We were told to arrive at 10:45 and wait across the street. Once we got there there was a crowd across the street and they called 2 large parties in first then slowly called out the rest of the crowd. It was just crazy that you had to walk across the street to enter the restaurant after they called your name. Talking about feeling herded like cattle or something! We ate on the third floor and chose the buffet. The meats on the buffet were the fried chicken or baked chicken and they were marvelous. Seriously, well worth the wait.

From there we headed to Tybee Island (Savannah's beach) and stopped along the way at Fort Pulaski. The weather was perfect. On the way back we stopped at Uncle Bubba's (Paula's brother restaurant). It was okay. I enjoyed eating my crab legs though.

The next day we checked out of the hotel and headed around town. We experienced River Street (shops that ran alongside the river), drove through the historic district and checked out beautiful parks and townhomes, and then made our way to the Fountain at Forsyth Park.
The fountain and the trees were very nice along with the azalea bushes surrounding them. It was a perfect time of year to visit. We also had lunch at The Mansion at Forsyth Park. It was delicious. It was cut a little short because Kate wasn't too happy. After stopping at Paula's store to pick up some cook books, we jumped on the interstate and headed home. All in all it was a lovely trip and I would like to head back one day.

My Lily

1 year ago today I had to meet with a manager about a not-so-great evaluation I had just received on a job that I thought I did fairly well on. I had to meet with him in the 7am hour due to me having a girl doctor appoint at 8:30am. This doctor's appointment was originally scheduled 2 and a half weeks earlier but due to work being extended on my out of town client, I had to reschedule (which is very ironic after you read below). On top of these 2 things I was right in the middle of busy season and I was trying to wrap up an out of town job while being pushed head deep into a new client. Lets just say I was dreading the day and not in the best mood.

So I went and argued out my evaluation to my manager (which was a hard thing to do being that I am non confrontational). Then I headed over to St. Vincents for my "routine" girl doctor visit.

I told the doc that I was beginning to become ready for a baby in my world. He told me to come to his office and we would discuss fertility options as it might be harder for me. I walked in his office and sat down and then him and a nurse walked promptly in.

He said "this is conversation is going to go a little different than expected." My body went cold as I thought he was going to tell me I had cancer or something very bad. Then he quickly said, "we did a pregnancy test on you and you are positive". It took a quick second for that to register and then I explained to him that I didn't think I was. Then I explained that I had been out of town for a month and a half (but did come home on weekends) and I was just confused. He said, "well those test are like 99% correct and lets just talk like you are". So he rattled off all this stuff and I heard NOTHING.

My mind was working in overtime. "How could this be?" I had really not thought about it while I was working my busy season. My mind was going from "how wonderful" to "Wait, am I ready?"

Ready or not Baby Kate came 30 weeks later. That was another surprise. She decided to come 6weeks and 5 days early. I am starting to think there are going to be many more surprises in my life, so I'll just put my trust in God.

After they did a blood test on me and confirmed I was indeed 3-4 weeks pregnant, I thought back to when my doctor's appointment originally was scheduled. If I had gone then, they probably would not have detected my pregnancy because it would have been too early. And if they had not detected it, it would have probably been several months before I thought anything was weird. What a blessing I found out early and started taking my prenatal vitamins.

Here is a lily Don brought home this very day 1 year ago to celebrate the life of our new child...



This day will always be special because I felt like God spoke to me on this day (that country song "I saw God today" comes to mind).

Mangy Mutt Mondays

Here is a shout out to all the mangy mutts out there. I am pretty sure the Petey-mister licked Kate in the licker this morning. I really hope not, but signs point to yes.

I found my mangy mutt hours ago lounging in his younger sister's tummy play area. Petey wants to make sure there is no special treatment amongst children. :)




Saturday night Petey wanted a little playtime with Kate so after he showed her his ball, he dropped it beside her face. I popped a quick pic before I had to save Kate from claws going into the eye.



Before I finished this post Petey was in there scratching on the side of Kate's crib. I went to see what he was doing and here he was...



Now she is screaming. Typical older brother, they get bored and the younger sisters end up screaming. Welcome to my life! :)

The Go-Goes

This is where Don's parents will be next week at this time (actually beginning tomorrow):





















This is where my bro and his fiancee will be next week at this time (actually beginning tomorrow):




























This is where Don, Kate and I will be next week at this time:





We love to travel!

Next trip, possibly beach in May or definitely to see my bro get married in July (Estes Park, Colorado).

P.S. If you guessed, Hawaii for #1, Costa Rica for #2, and Savannah for #3, you win!

Home Cooked Meals

I got the idea from a friends blog and another friend of mine just blogged about it but I wanted to give my input on my very first week using E-Mealz. I don't know if you have heard about it or not but basically you pay $1.25 a week and someone else determines your meal plan for that week. You choose which store you shop at and you even have options regarding whether you need a menu to feed a family of 4 or 2, lowfat or a point system, and 5 day plan or a 7 day plan. I started this last Wednesday because my store of choice was Publix and the team at E-Mealz post Publix menus on Wednesday due to that day being the beginning of the new sale week. Also, for a family of 4 the cost will be under $85 and for a family of 2 it should be under $35. Don and I went ahead with the Low Fat Publix Family Plan. I spent $102 last Wednesday. I had to buy a few things not on the list. I think we will probably eat on that meal plan until this weekend (so more than one weeks worth). The meals are SUPER easy, taste good, my grocery shopping took less than 1 hour and I did it on Wednesday when noone was in the grocery store. The best part is that I didn't have to think, AT ALL! A big plus on my end. You just print your list off of the website and it organizes your list by departments in the store. Here is the website if you think you might be interested in joining: . So far, I have made a roast which satueed vegetables and rice, Ritz rollup chicken, mexi-Meatball (kinda like taco soup), and open face pizza subs. They were all tasty! I have been eating leftovers for lunch, but I am considering halving my recipes from now on (which will drop our cost and lessen the leftovers).

Blast from the Past

This past weekend the Senior Members at our church threw a party for the youngsters. They entertained us and fed us and it was so nice. They were so detailed decorating the fellowship hall and the entrance. Their theme was "Back to the Future" and they even went as far as borrowing a car that looked like the car from the movie that was parked outside in which we had our picture made in front of. We ate Full Moon BBQ and cheesecake and then sat quietly as "Doc" led us through fun facts about the older church members and we guessed who he was talking about. Then 3 of the older women sang 2 old songs. Then a couple that recorded a country album sang alongside another musical couple songs from the 50s. The little girls got up in their poodle skirts and twisted as everyone else clapped and sang along. It was SO much fun! Thank you Shades Mountain Church! Our preacher was also given a trip for 2 to a selection of place for his "second honeymoon". Here are some pics from the event...