I miss you, my friends.

We used to hang out once a week. It was rarely missed. We always had such a great time, too. We laughed, we cried. We drank wine and ate popcorn. This is what good friends do, right? Where did you go? What did I do?

I miss my you, my girls, Izzy, Merideth, Pam, Addison, and Violet. I am also missing some men in my life. Michael, Jim and Jeff Probst. Oh, and McDreamy. How could I forget you? I love you. Ryan Seacrest, I think you are my hubs bromance. Although, he would never admit it.

You are all welcome back into my house. Please, please, come back. I miss you all.

The great bang controversy

2 weeks ago my stylist (who happens to be my sister-in-law) cut my hair. I have had some long side swept bangs for probably a couple years now, but I really wanted real bangs. You know, like I had in 1989. When I told her, she refused. Ugh. The joys of not paying your stylist. She did trim them enough that they could totally be fabulous brow skimming bangs, but since they were to the side, they were longer on the left. I brushed them straight down for 2 days even though they were uneven and she gave me a hard time whenever she looked at me. Well, the day she went back to NY, out came the bangs. At first I wasn't so sure, but now I love them. I showed my twitter peeps last week, but I was hesitant about showing all of you. Then, I saw that Morgan at Mrs. Priss got bangs, and I felt totally fashionable. I have a little pep in my step when I am walking the runway pedestrian walk into target.

This is like a mug shot background, but you get the general idea.

This is from girls night out last weekend. I even rocked the side pony. Also much to my stylist dismay.

Wordful Wednesday - My sister is coming!

wwMy little sis Whitney is headed westbound as we speak! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. There are 3 of us girls close together and then a 12 year gap before my brother and other sister. She was the baby for so long that I still think of her as that, even though she is all grown up now! I am trying to convince her to move out here. Permanent babysitter, anyone? She is like the big toy for all her nephews and she spoils them rotten. I am bound to find Cooper with ice cream stains on his shirt and a snickers hanging out his mouth while she is here.

This is Whitney when she came out to see Cooper when he was 2 weeks old.

This is all of us sisters on Coopers first trip to GA. (Shelby, Whitney with Cooper, Me, Casey)

I hardly have any pictures of her because I have yet to take them off my old computer. (It may or may not have been 9 months ago.) She will be keeping me company when the hubs jets off to Chicago in a couple weeks. We are going to watch chick flicks, drink wine, and spend countless hours shopping. I am so grateful that she is willing to take time to come visit. Who am I kidding? She is totally using me for my pool, proximity to Napa and SanFran, and the gorgeous no rain weather. Hehe. All I can say is, go ahead and use me.

Go link up and check out other Wordful Wednesday post at

Tagalicious!

Lacey at Lacey in Love tagged me in a Whats in your Purse? game. Because I am always up for random things to keep me on the internet (ie, I never turn down a survey or a Facebook quiz) I had to do it. Here is goes!

I just changed my purse over to this one so that is why it is not completly crammed with crap. I also carry a diaper bag that gets the brunt of the disaster. Anyway, the things that I can't live without in my bag are:

Wallet (I am in desperate need of a new one and never take the time to actually look.)

Keys (Yep, the same ones that I "lost" last week)

FYI by Arbonne Lipgloss, Strawberry Softlips Chapstick, hair tie and clip.

Forever 21 nail file. No one should be without these. Come on, they are $1.50 for 3!

Shine by Bliss Mandarin and Mint lotion. It smells so yummy.

Last but not least, my phone. My ancient Moto flip. Haha. I will have it 2 years in the fall and am totally switching then for something new. And fabulous.

That's all folks. Pretty unexciting!

The rules are to now tag 6 other people to show their goods!

April @ Dot...Dot...Dot...

Kate @ Bless this Nest

Summer @ Sublime Happiness

Jen @ Tatertots and Jello

Kelly @ Carty Party of Three

Brandi @ The Life of a Small Town Girl

Okay, lets see it girls!

I have been MIA over the holiday weekend, but am catching up and will be back into the swing of things this week. I will get up some pics of girls night out in the next couple days. It was a blast!

All the single ladies...now put your hands up!

Tonight is girls night out and ohhh how excited am I. We are short one because she had to go and get married. Sheesh. Priorities, seriously. Maybe she isn't coming because she has no desire to be seen with my dancing self. I tell you, it is not pretty. I don't care though, and that is the nice thing about having a lovely family to come home too. I don't have to impress anyone! I am so glad the hubs will keep Coop so I can at least FEEL like a single (non-mother) lady for a few hours! This is a pic from our last night on the town. Here's to another great one!

He's a traveling man

My hubby gets the great joy of traveling for work. He manages CA, NV and HI so those are the terrible places he has to travel to. Poor guy. He doesn't travel all the time, and usually gets to be at home at least 1 day a week. Still, it is too much travel for my liking. There are some positives, though.

Pros:
I don't have to make dinner.
I get to watch the Bachelorette and chick flicks that he doesn't want to see.
We get sick frequent flyer miles, and get to go visit the fam with them.
I may or may not have done my P90X today, and no one knows for sure but me.

Cons:
I only talk to a toddler all day.
Cereal for dinner is only sweet for a couple nights.
I feel like a single mother...and I have no idea how they do it.
There is no one to snuggle me in the bed at night.
I have to change EVERY diaper.
I just miss him!


I am so grateful that in times like these, he has a job, but it is hard being married to a traveling man! I do get to go with him sometimes, which is awesome. I am tagging along for a Hawaii trip this summer. We are staying longer and turning it into our first solo vacation with a baby. I don't have much to complain about, huh?

Well, THATS a great way to embarass myself.

A couple days ago, being the amazing wife that I am, I went to the garage to get a suitcase out for the hubs. (Our garage on the first floor, obviously, and we are on the third) I put Coop in the stroller and started pulling out suitcases. I don't know about you, but we have terrible luck with suitcases. We have bought pricey ones from Macy's, crap ones from Wal-Mart and everything in between. They all get destroyed in a few trips. It is awful. Anyway, I thought I had chosen a good one, so I picked up Coop and off we went. When I pulled the suitcase, I realized it had a weird wheel and didn't pull quite right. I set the keys and garage opener down by the door and went to get a different one. Once I got that one, I couldn't find my keys. I searched everywhere. I pulled out every suitcase and layed them in a row on the ground. Nothing. I searched for about 30 minutes and then I started to freak. There I am, in the garage, with a baby. No cell phone, no diapers, no food. I searched for another 30 minutes. I figured the only reasonable explanation, since I left them by the door, is that someone took them. (I am pretty paranoid and seem to always jump to some kind of ridiculous assumption.)
I started crying. I went to the neighbors and they weren't home. No one was home, actually; it was the middle of the day. A couple people walked by, but I just figured they were the ones that stole my keys and were scoping out the things they wanted to take. Then the handy, dandy maintenance man came past on his golf cart. I sucked it up and went up to him. As soon as I started talking, the tears starting pouring. He kept saying, "I'm sorry, mam, I can't understand you." Between sobs and sniffing up my snotty nose, I managed to tell him what happened. He searched my garage. That was embarrassing enough as it was. No keys. He let me borrow his phone and I called the hubby. Niagara started flowing again. He said the same thing. "Molls, I can't understand you." I was terrified because he was leaving town that night and I was sure Coop and I were going to be kidnapped and sold on ebay.
Long story short, well, not so short, handy dandy let me in my house, we called the police (yes, the police) and I called to have the ridiculously expensive push button car starter things replaced. Still sobbing at this point, by the way. After all my drama, hubs decided he needed a bigger suitcase. We went down and when he pulled out the suitcase, guess what was jammed underneath the closed handle? My keys and garage door opener. Who pushes the handle down with that crap underneath? Apparently, me.

Wordful Wednesday - Is this unacceptable behavior?

Where else do you put a case of beer but on the floor? Then how do you keep your 1 year old out of it? Well, you don't. Cheers.

Go check out other Wordful Wednesday over at Seven Clown Circus!

Conference Calls - I loathe you.

Dear Conference Calls,

I really do loathe you. I hate that when snuggled with my sleeping baby at 7:50am, that I am suddenly made aware of your unwanted 8am arrival. You make me pounce out of bed to grind coffee and do anything else with noise that I may need for the next 2 hours. You make me and my wee one retreat to the nursery where we must sit quietly watching noggin and munching on cheerios. I cannot leave to go to the bathroom, or refill my coffee, or you and all your conference call peeps will hear screams.

You used to only arrive on Monday at 7am, stick around for an hour or so and leave. I was fine with that. Now, you come and go as you please, several days a week, and often several times a day. I am writing to request, no demand that this stop. I mean seriously, how can you possibly need to tell people that much information? You are only going to frazzle their brains as you have done to mine.

Thank you for taking this very seriously and making adjustments to your schedule, or else.

With smoke in my ears and boiling blood,

Molly

Lets go Mets!

This weekend, the NY Mets came into town to play the SF Giants. The hubs is a HUGE fan and therefore, I have become one too. We rarely get to see them on tv since the channels are always blacked out by the Giants and Oakland A's. So, we decided to go to all 4 games. Crazy, huh? Well, here is the rundown.

Game #1 - Thursday night at 7:10pm. Yep, that is 20 minutes from Cooper's bedtime. We went anyway. It was supposed to be 60 degrees. I thought feetie pj's and a little Met's blanket would be fine for Cooper. Boy was I wrong. We froze. We wrapped the blanket around his head and neck like Mother Mary and put Met socks on his hands. He looked ridiculous, but he was somewhat warm. I was shaking so much that it rocked him to sleep at around 10:00pm. The game was great though, and they won. Yay!

Game #2 - Friday night at 7:10pm. Okay, this time I was prepared. I packed a huge flannel blanket, (Met's of course) Cooper wore a hat and mittens and much thicker feetie pj's. We were nice and toasty. He was really tired from the lack of sleep the day before, so he was super fidgety. This game was really good (they won again!), and exciting. Too exciting for Cooper to sleep apparently. He stayed up the entire game. Not only the entire game, but the majority of the car ride home! He didn't go to sleep until 11:30pm. Oh, my word was he cranky the next day.

Game #3 - Saturday 1:10pm. This game some good friends came down to go with us, and we left around 11 to do some tailgating before the game. Cooper slept on the way there, but that was only about 40 min. He was good and ate lunch while we hung out. We went into the game, and had amazing, shady seats. Coop was glad that he didn't have to wear his hat. It was warm, but comfy. Cooper was seriously sleep deprived by now, and by the 6th inning, we made a trip indoors. He was so wiggly and needed a diaper change. I also decided I had to go to the bathroom. I didn't want to walk back to the seats, drop off the baby, then go back, so I just went while holding Cooper. Not brilliant. After that we just stayed inside, where I could still see the game, and Coop could stand down and hold onto the glass wall. He played with other kids that were giving their parents grief for awhile. Then he started screaming like a banchie. I finally sat him down in the back of the room and took a good step away from him...just far enough to let him know that I was embarrassed. When he calmed down, I picked him up and we walked and walked. About 5 minutes before the game ended, he fell asleep. Ahhh. What I saw of the game was good, and they won, but I was getting tired of this ball field. I told the hubs, he would need to give me some serious incentive to go the next day.

Game #4 - Sunday 5pm. Thanks to ESPN showing the game, we sat at home eating chinese takeout while Cooper played on the floor. It was lovely, but of course they lost. Guess we were their lucky charm. Oops.

Whats so wrong with that?

Our lease is up in September and we are really thinking we are going to buy a house. Wait, maybe not. No really, we want to but we are just scared! We are on the hunt now since the end of September is approaching. That is not the most important thing here, though.
I told the hubs that I want a to get a dog when we move. A black lab named Lil' Wayne to be exact. He said no. No way. It was not the dog thing so much as the naming the dog thing. What? He said dogs don't get names like that and he is not going to be calling a dog this dumb name for 12 some odd years. Whatever. I thought then to something I often heard my dad say, and I let hubs know.
You are either right, or you are happy.

De-funk your Fashion Friday's - My turn!

I have been de-funked! Sweet Lacey over at Lacey in Love is the hostess of De-funk your Fashion Fridays. This week, she chose me!! (Well, really she asked not too long ago if people wanted de-funking and I said ME, ME!) You don't know how excited I was to see her email telling me to check out my outfit! That is why it is 12:30am and I am writing this while the hubs snoozes next to me. Hehe.

So I am thinking since she went through all this hard work, I better go buy the entire outfit with my Mother's Day loot. Especially the bag. Love it. It looks like I can fit a huge chunk of my house in it, so it is perfect for me.



Great, huh? Now, go over to Lacey's blog and check out the rest of her De-funks. You will be staying awhile, because she is just that fabulous. She also has a cute boutique for baby goodies on Etsy that you should be visiting too. Now go on!

Thanks so much, Lacey! I love it!

Closet cleaning. Before and after.

Coop's closet. Wow. What is not in there? Before we had a baby, it was the guest closet. It only held linens, Hub's suits and my wedding dress. After baby? Much different story. I am actually embarrassed to show you the before picture. Really. It is awful. Every time we have guest, I freak that they are going to see in the closet. I have been putting tons of stuff in there since Coop was born. As he outgrows things, I put them in the closet. Baby swing, bathtub, bumbo, carseat...you name it. Why? Not sure. We have a garage that is extra deep for storage. That is another cleaning post though. Ugg.

My sister has 2 boys and sent me home last week with tons of clothes for the summer. When I went to put them away, I realized there was no more room and decided that enough was enough. Okay, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. Fine, here it is! *cring*

Befores

Lots of new clothes.

And duh, duh, duh, duuuh...after!

Yay! I didn't do anything creative. Just reorganized and put all those baby things in the garage. It is hard to tell from the pics, but that floor that was full is now completely empty. I can finally walk all the way to the back! It took forever and a day. Next is the garage. Yuck.

Wordful Wednesday - Mother's Day

This was my first celebrated Mother's Day. Last year I had a 2 week old and I was milking my time on the couch and meals not made by me.

This year we had breakfast at my favorite spot, and oh, how I love breakfast. I could eat it every meal. Okay, some days, I do. Especially when the hubs is out of town. That is beside the point, though.

I was really spoiled all day by my boys. This just may be my new favorite holiday!

Go see more Wordful Wednesday over at

Take THAT Dr. Sears!

I feel like a freakin' rockstar! Thanks to Jessica Sienfield and her lifesaver of a book Deceptivly Delicious, I am rockin the food pyramid like nobodies buisness. A few days ago, I was in the dumps over my child's eating habits. You can see my previous dismay here.

Today, Cooper's menu included:

Recipes from the book with *

Breakfast:
Yobaby Yogurt
2 Sweet Potato Pancakes *

Snack:
Diced apple

Lunch:
Tender Chicken and Stars (Earth's Best Organic baby food with peas and carrots)
Banana

Dinner:
Meatballs made with butternut squash puree *
Cheese cubes

Dessert:
1 cup of mixed berries (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries)

If you were counting, you would know that is 2 meats, 2 dairy, 1 whole grain, 3 veggies and 3+fruits. *Insert happy dance* He is not so into milk, and I think it is upsetting his stomach, but we are working on that one. I have said countless times today as Cooper put something in his mouth he would otherwise spit out, "Haha, gotcha!" Yep, to my 1 year old. I am up for no Mom of the year awards. In your face Dr. Sears.

Just another Mother's Day post...not just another Mom!

My mom. It is hard to put her amazingness into words. She is everything that I can only hope to one day be. She sums up the Proverbs 31 woman to a tee. I was at my parents house last week and am constantly amazed at the things she does. She gave birth to 5 children...that we all know is a feat in and of itself! (Side note, one of those children grew up to be uber amazing and talented. Duh, ME!) Hehe. She is living with Celiac disease and has to be very strict about the foods she eats. She still has 3 kiddos at home, and is homeschooling a 12 and 11 year old. She has 3 grandsons, (granddaughter on the way!) and often watches 2 of them that live around the corner from her. She makes all the meals, her house is almost always spotless and organized, and she irons shirts until they are crunchy for my dad. With all that plus way more, she still finds the time to do all this.

Roast and grind all the coffee.

Make bread.

Grow a garden. (This is only one corner that has grown up so far. They just moved and started a brand new garden!)

Make her own laundry detergent.

See what I mean? Where does she get her superpowers? Someday...maybe someday...once I get back into the showering everyday thing, I might can do something that she does. One thing, maybe? She has been and continues to be an incredible mother and friend to me. I can always go to her with a problem or for advice. She is simply put, AMAZING!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!

Holy Inappropriateness

Today we went to the beach. A gorgeous beach. This beach to be exact.

It is my new favorite place within driving distance of my house. It was so beautiful that we didn't feel like we were getting too much sun, and now the hubs looks like a lobster.

He really didn't want to wear this hat!

My almost walking man

One section of this beach is nude. Now, I am really not into that kindof thing, but whatever blows your dress up. Or off. We were at the part that was not nude. You know, the part where you have to wear a bathing suit? I was laying down when I heard a bunch of laughing. I look up to see a scrawny man sitting indian style right on the shore. I almost peed my pants. I grabbed for my camera so I could share this heartwarming moment with you, but just then, he got up. My oh my, you didn't want me to take a picture of that. He proudly strutted his stuff right on down the beach, trying to hug people along the way. It is a good thing we weren't in his path. Holy inappropriateness.

Moving to the music (not on Noggin)

Dr. Sears just dubbed me a failure.

According to Dr. Sears my 1 year old should be eating the following each day:

1,000-1,300 calories
3 cups whole milk
3-4 servings of grains
2-3 servings of veggies
2-3 servings of fruit
1 servings legumes
1 serving of meat
3-4 ounces snacks

Right. What planet is he from?

Yesterdays actual menu was this:

Breakfast:
Banana and Oatmeal - Good. Breakfast is always good.

Lunch:
2 bites of chicken pasta and veggies
1/100th of an apple
Refused zucchini with parmesan (loved this in the past)
1/2 cup strawberry applesauce

Snack:
Yobaby yogurt - Score

Dinner:
Refused Shepard's Pie
Refused butternut squash (used to love this, too)
1/8 cup milk
Finally, I gave up. He ate about 1/2 a bag of goldfish. (at least they were the whole grain ones!) The night before was animal crackers for dinner. Lovely.

What am I supposed to do? I have pooped myself out with airplane spoons, and shoving bites in after getting him to laugh. He allows all meat, beans, and most veggies to freely fall out of his mouth. He doesn't even attempt to chew. He has texture issues much like his dad. Ugg. Hubs does not eat "white crap" ie, mayonnaise, cream cheese, cottage cheese and sour cream. He is the pickiest eater in all tarnation. No wait, his child is giving him a run for his money.

Happy Birthday to 2!

Today is my little sister, Shelby's 11th birthday and also my sister-in-law Katie's 26th.

Shelby and I are 14 years apart. (From the same parents, too!) Poor thing looks like a mini-me with blond hair. I "caught" her when she was born at home and she was with me, the hubs and my mom when I had Cooper. She gave me ice chips for a long time, until I looked over and saw two feet hanging off the couch...asleep. She was a trooper. She is a little mommy already and is so helpful to me with Cooper every time I am with her. It is neat having siblings so much younger than me. I only hate that she lives across the country so every time I see her, she has grown a foot! (Oh, and now has joined in on the 3 older girls clothing stealing swaps!)

This is us making red velvet cake at Christmas

Us southern gals with our matching John Deere cups.

Katie is a newlywed that had a beautiful wedding last July. She is an elementary teacher in VA, and a pastor's wife. She is absolutely brilliant. If we ever have an argument about who is right...we call Katie. She knows. She also knows what the hubs wore to school on April 2, 1987. She has a steel trap for a brain. She made an absolutely gorgeous bride! Side note, the hubs was a bridesman in her wedding. You can only imagine the grief he gave for that!

Katie and hubby Dustin

The hubs family minus Cooper. (he was sleeping!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTAS!!!

1 and 3 parties later, holla!!

Cooper is 1 and I am still in 1 piece. Here are copious amounts of pictures from his 3 parties.

This is Birthday morning in Orlando. We went to see Cooper's new baby cousin, Gianna. This is cousin Dominic giving presents and getting ready for Disney!









Magic Kingdom...really unlike anyplace in the world!

Carousel Riding

Flying on Aladdin's Carpets

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground.

Birthday ice cream with Daddy

Dudes, I am only 1. Why are we out so late?

On to my parents house in GA for Party #2!

Cousins

Now finally home for the house partaay!!!

Phew. I am proud of you who made it through this! I can't believe my baby is technically a toddler now. Wow.