October Recap

I totally bombed at documenting our busy busy October. Here's what went down:

1st- A girl Nathan and I went to high school with just closed her booming photography business. It took up too much of her time, time she had to spend away from her family, so she decided it was time for a break. She fulfilled prepaid sessions, so thankfully we were booked for a beautiful Saturday! I took some pictures of Natalie after the pro did.

 
 
 

17th-22nd: A local couple hosts a huge biannual children's consignment sale. This was my first year as a consignor, and, boy was it a lot of work! We got rid of so much stuff, but  not even half of "Baby Natalie's" wardrobe. Gotta hang on to some of that stuff in case we ever have another girl! We used an electronic system to price our goods, and we consigned over $900 worth of stuff! Checks will be mailed out in two weeks; can't wait to see how much we earned! I plan on starting to work on my stuff for the spring sale right after the start of the new year.




These pictures are from previous sales, off the Little Lambs Facebook page.

20th- Back in September, on the day they went on sale, Nathan surprised me with tickets to see Miranda Lambert in concert. I was in complete shock. Not only were we going to see Miranda Lambert, but we were in the pit! We didn't realize it at the time, but when we arrived at the concert, we learned we'd be standing by the stage for the whole show. Now that we've been so close, I'm not so sure I'll want to sit anywhere else at a concert again. The opening acts were the Randy Rogers Band and Justin Moore.



Off we go to date night!



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21st-23rd: Nathan and I decided we needed a weekend away, and we wanted to go away while the weather was still nice. What better place to go than a potential hometown? My in-laws stayed at our house with Natalie while we spent the weekend in Nashville. We had such a good time looking at houses, bar-hopping and shopping downtown, and hanging out at the Grand Ole Opry and Opryland Hotel. Already looking forward to going back to check out a few other places. I didn't take many pictures, unfortunately.

29th- My mom, my mother-in-law, and I took Natalie to see Disney Live: Three Classic Fairytales. What an amazing show! It was narrated by Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald, and told the stories of Snow White, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast. Most of the little girls were dressed as a Disney princess, as were a mother and grandmother (though mommy and grandmommy were a little more on the provocative side).



Gulf Shores Vacation

We recently went to Gulf Shores for a short vacation. By "we" I mean Nathan, Natalie, and myself, as well as my parents, my sister, and my in-laws. All in one condo. Am I crazy? Yes. Could it have been much worse? Absolutely. We all got along surprisingly well, especially considering we had to spend much of our time inside the condo, thanks to Tropical Storm Lee (that jerk).
We left home Wednesday evening. Nathan and I had an hour drive to my parents' house, where we all met. Even though we both took off work early, we still were late. It didn't help that my car wouldn't start when we were ready to leave. We drove to Tunica, MS, Wednesday evening and crashed immediately. FYI, it's kinda scary driving through Memphis at night. If you don't have to do it, don't.
We arrived to Gulf Shores on a Thursday, and the weather was amazing the whole way, until we got to southern Mississippi. The clouds hovered, but didn't start raining on us right away. My sister and I went to the store get buy the perishables that we didn't take with us in the cooler, and we cooked chicken fettucine alfredo for dinner that night. Friday morning I got up early and worked out. For some reason I am better about working out when I'm on vacation than I am at home. I wanted to shower before I went to the beach to meet Natalie and her grandparents, because after the 8 hour drive on Thursday and an hour of gym time, I sure didn't want my picture taken. I quickly showered and gathered up my beach goodies. I was about 10 steps away from the sand when a downpour came without warning. Everyone scooped up their things, tried to rinse off their feet, and ran to shelter.


I wish I could say we were wet from swimming.





I wish this picture did the waves justice. There were times when they had to be almost 10ft high. Friday night, the chairs were removed from the beach and the water level was past where the chairs were.



The rain never did chill out that day, so we all showered and went to the always-amazing Tanger Outlet Mall. Nathan got some more school clothes, I got some great deals at the Tommy store (thanks, MIL!!), and Natalie....well, she shouldn't have to wear the same thing twice for awhile! There are perks to being an only grandchild on both sides. Ha! Friday night we dined at Wentzell's Oyster House. Boy, oh boy, was it good! And so much fun! There were hilarious phrases printed on brightly-colored paper and stapled all.over.the.walls. Most of us went to bed early that night, after getting our bellies full!

Saturday we went to the beach a couple of times, but never got to stay more than 10 minutes. We were in and out between the rain showers. Natalie got her sandcastle, which was our goal for the entire trip. Nathan, the ILs, and I went shopping again, because there wasn't much else to do. My car got wonky again on Saturday, and we had trouble getting it to start. My family went to church, and when we got out, we had to call the ILs to jump us in the rain so we could go eat at Jake's. After dinner, we just chilled again, and watched the waves cover most of the beach.

Sunday morning, Nathan, my dad, and my FIL went to Wal-Mart to get a new battery for my car while we girls all went to the beach. It was the prettiest it had been since we got there, and we had to be out of our condo by 10:00. WTH!?! Oh well, we knew we had a long drive home, so we needed to get on the road. It rained on us pretty much the whole way, and by the time we got to Mobile, AL, and crossed the Mobile Bay, this big guy tried to get close to us:



Retracting back into the clouds as we're driving away. Darn me for not having my camera in reach at all times!

This bridge seems so much longer when there's a tornado on the water. Yep, it actually touched down and created a HUGE water spout! I'm so thankful we all made it through safely! We made it to my parents' house around 9:00pm, so Nathan and I decided we'd just stay the night. An extra day in Gulf Shores would've been nice had the weather cooperated, but it felt so good to be home!

Natalie with her only true Aunt

My monkey didn't want a picture with me.

Natalie with her Mimi, my mom



Picture Post...Kinda

My grandma, who had a below-the-knee amputation a couple years ago, fell this morning. This woman is a tough little thing. She's been through so much in regards to her health, and she still lives independently in her own home, next door to my aunt and uncle. Anywho, at 3:00 am, she got up to get something to drink. She was in her manual wheelchair (she also has a electric wheelchair, which is her primary means of mobility...ooh, I feel like I'm writing in one of my patients' charts!), spilled some water on the floor, and in her attempt to clean it up, she fell. My aunt usually checks on Grandma every day, usually several times daily, but was out of town this morning. My poor Grandma was on the floor until the Meals on Wheels guy delivered her lunch. Yep, LUNCH! She had been on the floor for about 8 hours. The door was locked, and obviously she couldn't answer it, so he looked through the window and noticed she was on the floor. He's gotten to know the family well, so he went next door to get my aunt, who wasn't home. My cousin has a business on the property, so the sweet MOW guy tracked him down. They got my grandma back in her chair. Despite her pain, she didn't want to go the the hospital or to urgent care. Finally my aunt (not the one who lives next door) came over and convinced her to be evaluated by a physician. Off to the ER they went. I guess I should mention that Grandma fell right on her "stump". Turns out her knee and the distal end of her femur are crushed, crushed to the point that surgery isn't even an option. The doc at the ER put a cast on it, educated Grandma, my mom, and my aunts on the importance of ice and elevation, and sent Grandma home. Poor lady is in so much pain. My mom is staying with her tonight to help her out. I don't know how many more health problems she can take. If you pray, a little prayer for my sweet grandma would be much appreciated.

Otherwise, Natalie and I had a little photo shoot last night after Jillian Michaels kicked my tush and Natalie had a bath. For your viewing pleasure (I don't mean that as weird and perverted as it may sound)...



Post-workout





"Show me your funny face!"

 

"Anudder funny face, mommy!"

This kid's a hoot! I feel so lucky to be her momma.



The Holiday Weekend Has Arrived!

This week has been incredibly busy at work for both Nathan and me. Last night I was asleep on the couch before 9:00pm (but was up at 11pm, 1am, 3am, 4am, and up for the day at 5:30am), and poor Nathan worked all night on call (and all day today), so he's sleeping now.

I'm so grateful this is a long weekend for us. Fourth of July festivities are always so fun. Tomorrow we will go to our hometown (about an hour away), and Natalie will stay with my in-laws while Nate and I have a night out with my parents. We are going to a Wine Company to listen to an awesome band (one of Nate's bosses is in the band). Sunday we will head back home and attend our subdivision's annual 4th of July party. Natalie will love the fireworks this year! Hopefully Monday we can sleep in and do little to nothing. What are your plans for the holiday weekend?

Since work has pretty much consumed our lives this week, I will leave you with pictures of cuteness from the month of June:

And a video

A Kelly's Korner "Show Us Your Life" post will be up later tonight. Be on the lookout!

Potty Training Update

Natalie is finally doing very well with potty training. I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm thinking it's almost safe to say she is daytime bladder trained. I took several pairs of panties and several outfits to daycare earlier this week, and she only had one accident! Yay, Natalie! Unless she's super busy playing, she does pretty well to tell me that she needs to "pee pee on the potty". We haven't really run too many errands, but I still plan on putting her in a pull-up for ventures outside the house. Yesterday she got a haircut and wore panties, and on the way home told me she needed to go, but in the car, I couldn't do much about it, and she had an accident. Maybe I should invest in one of those little travel potties that I can set up in the back of my SUV. Does anyone have experience with those? I would LOVE for her to be completely, 100% potty trained (day and night, bowel and bladder) by the time we go on our beach vacation late this summer. How lovely it would be to not pack ANY pull-ups or ANY swim diapers!

On a side note, I'm having a Thirty-One party today, so I've gotta get my house in tip-top shape. Have you ever seen Thirty-One stuff? It's SO cute!
I'm got several little crafty-type projects in mind. I can't wait until I have time to really put some thought, time, and money into them (though they're all pretty inexpensive). When I do, I'll post about them.

I hope it's as beautiful everywhere today as it is here! Happy Saturday!