birthdays galore!

Jeremy's birthday was the Friday before Gracie was born. I made a special dinner just for us, I even pulled out the fine china. At the last minute Ella Claire ended up joining us. :) So much for a romantic dinner at home, but still very special, and fun memories were made.

On the menu: filet mignon, baked potatoes, and salad.

Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of our food, but I used a marinade on the filet's that my family has been using for a long time. It makes the best steaks ever; melt in your mouth steaks. If you need a good marinade or plan on having steaks anytime soon, give this marinade a try.

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
1 stick melted butter
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
3 minced garlic cloves

*melt butter and add all other ingredients. pour over steaks in a ziplock bag. marinate over night. grill until like doneness.

For dessert, we had chocolate molten cake. I took a chance and just randomly chose a recipe online (it was recommended by the pioneer woman, so I wasn't too worried), and it definitely turned out a winner. I didn' know what a breeze these would be to make either.  You can literally throw them together in no time at all.

Okay, I know this next picture is not that pretty, but I wanted to show the inside of the cake and how perfectly they bake. Just like you would find in a restaurant; nice and firm on the outside and ooey gooey on the inside.

So even though this post is almost 1 month late, Happy Birthday, Jeremy! I love you with all my heart!

Ella Claire turned 2 on October 6th which was the Thursday before the wedding and 2 1/2 weeks after Gracie was born. I didn't plan a big party for her and planned to have one towards the end of October. However, I did want to make the day special for her. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said, "birthday hat, birthday balloons, and CAKE!" I so wish I had videoed her saying this because the way she said it was too cute! If I get a chance in the near future, I'll try to post it. Anyway, I figured if she wasn't having a party, then I could definitely handle a birthday hat, balloons and a cake.

Earlier in the week we went to party city (that's a whole other story, just fyi, don't take your baby to party city during halloween. Sweet, innocent eyes will see too much. Honestly, it was too much for my eyes.) Anyway, we ran with our eyes covered to the birthday theme aisle and picked out some fun minnie balloons and minnie party supplies.

I planned to pick up the balloons on Thursday, make her a small birthday cake and have pizza for dinner; just the 4 of us, since the wedding was just 2 days away. Steph ended up spending the night (and the rest of the week) because of my parents having house guests for the wedding. Andrew came over to help with rehearsal dinner favors that Steph and I were working on, and Brian, Jess, Jon Jon and Su Su (J's parents) just happened to stop by to see the birthday girl. So, we ended up having quite a few people join our party. It was so fun and i'm so glad everyone was able to join us, wish the rest of our families could have stopped by too! :)

This is the look I sometimes get from my big, strong willed, independent and determined 2 year old. :) The terrific two's are just TERRIFIC, and all my friends tell me 3 is even more fun! oh my!

Our family photo. We haven't quite figured out how to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time yet.

This next picture of EC turns my heart into a puddle. She is a very serious girl and I just love this great big smile on her face! It's pure delight.

Steph laughed at my DIY in 5 minutes, minnie mouse birthday hat. They didn't have any minnie hats at party city. So I bought and cover a princess one in pink and white polka dotted fabric that I already had at home and put a black fluff on top. Looks minnie enough for me, and EC loved it!

Ella Claire got lots of phone calls on her big day and she was loving that!

Can't believe this little girl is two! Life with her is so much fun and she truly is a blessing! Happy Birthday, Ella Claire! I love you to the moon and back!

beach bums

Last week, my moms side of the family all got together at the beach for a week filled with good food, lots of laughter, sunshine and fun, fun, fun!!! The plan was for all of us to arrive on Saturday and depart the following Saturday. As this crazy life would have it, most of us weren't able to stay all week for various reasons. We did managed to all be together in one spot, for one full day, and it was a blast!

About 10 years ago, my grandparents lined all 8 of us (their grandchildren) up on the beach and took a picture. This picture has become one of their prized possessions and they even had it enlarged (I'm not exactly sure of the size, but believe me when I say it's enormous), matted, framed and hung in their living room, to show off to everyone that enters their home. It's not a matchy, matchy picture, with everyone dressed in white, just a random snapshot of all 8 grandkids. Since we were all together again at the beach my grandmother (Gigi is what we call her now, since she became a great grandma) requested that we take another picture, just like the other one. So here we are....

I'd like to take another one of these when I'm not pregnant, please. :)

Love him so much!

Ella Claire had an early morning swimming lesson from cousin Allison!

She taught Ella Claire to kick her feet and blow bubbles under water, all nudie pudie! 

This chair came in handy since Ella Claire absolutely refused to touch the sand. Surely she will outgrow this, otherwise she has lots of miserable beach trips in her future. :)

This is about as close as she would get. Look who finally got pig tails!!!

Always ready for a snack!

Crystal clear water is my kind of water, and I've learned to love a farmers tan!

Sweet, sweet sugar!!!

Snoozing away! Not real sure how Ella Claire slept in that position!

I know you can't believe this, but I actually have more beach pictures. I'll be back for a part 2 to share the rest. 

Real quick and in other news, I am slowly making progress on Ella Claire's room. I found a fabulous antique wardrobe from the early 1900's that I had painted and distressed in white. It came from this amazing place in grand bay called White House Antiques. Check out their website and take a look at all the beautiful things!

Here's a picture of the wardrobe the day I purchased it, before the white paint....

And after a little distressing and a splash of white paint....

You can see the footboard of the bed I have decided to use in her room. We are going to paint it too. I still have a long way to go, but I'm getting really excited about the things that are coming together. Originally we were going to buy a twin bed, then I decided to paint this full iron bed we already had in our guest bedroom. I'm excited to save a little money and also this bed is so special to us. It was Jeremy's grandfathers bed as a child, Jeremy's dad's bed as a child and then Jeremy used it until we got married. AND THEN...yeah you guessed it, we used it the first year or two we were married until we upgraded to a larger one. So, Ella Claire will be the 4th generation to sleep in this bed. I think it will be perfect!

Even though we already celebrated and showed these great men how much we love them, I want to give a great big blog thank you to my dad, Jeremy's dad and Jeremy for being great dads! I am so thankful for all of them and hope they each had a wonderful father's day!

This little girl is already wanting to be a cool cat like her daddy! 

Jeremy received a copy of this book for father's day, per his request. I read the reviews and it looks like a really good book. Neither one of us have read it yet (I plan to read it too), but after we do, I'll let you know what we think. I'm hoping we won't be disappointed and don't think we will, Jeremy learned about it from Christian talk radio. We will see! :)

Father's day has always been special to me, but now that Jeremy and I have a family of our own, I truly understand how important a Godly father is to a family, and appreciate my dad all the more. A father is so much more than the family provider. I am so thankful that Jeremy is such a loving daddy to Ella Claire and soon to be Gracie and most importantly that he is living his life for the Lord everyday! More than being the most handsome thing (which to me he is ;), more than wearing the coolest clothes, more than being a handyman, more than bringing home a nice comfy pay check, more than anything else that this world labels "cool", I love Jeremy more for being a Godly husband and daddy. All those other things seem nice, but they don't bring peace like knowing you are in and doing God's will!

Happy Father's Day Jeremy! We think you are the best!!!

Okay, one more thing. I passed my glucose tolerance test today! I really wasn't worried about it, but I'm thankful to have it behind me and glad to know I don't have to go back for the 3 hour test. Can you believe it's already time for this?!? Last month when they gave me the drink at the doctor's office and told me to bring it home and put it in my fridge, I did just as I was told. Well, to our surprise, Jeremy and I came home from the beach to a refrigerator that was 75 degrees. We had somehow left the door open as we were leaving for vacation. It must have been as we were walking out of the door because neither of us heard the door alarm sound.  Needless to say, everything was ruined including my bottle of 50 grams of glucose! I had to pick up another bottle (thanks Steph!) so I could drink the drink before I left home and wouldn't have such a long wait today at the doctors office. For some reason I didn't throw the ruined bottle away and when I got home with the new bottle, I noticed one was labeled 100grams and the other 50grams. After a quick phone call to my OB, I found out that it didn't matter what the bottle label said as long as the same amount of liquid was in each bottle. Thankful for that, because I just knew I a) was going to fail the test because I drank too much sugar or b) did have the wrong bottle and would end up having to drink the liquid at the dr's office after all this trouble. Glad it's over, glad I passed!

Be back soon with beach vacay part 2!

5 sweet years and counting

I hope this post isn't too personal for any of you reading. Normally, I am not one to publicly announce my forever love to my husband. I usually keep that between us. I am not a romantic, I tend to be more of a realist. But, I am just bubbling over with gratitude for him, and so thankful to God that He placed Jeremy in my life; to walk beside me, until we leave this earth. And he really is so good to me, he deserves to be bragged on every now and then.

Happy 5 year anniversary to my very best friend and precious husband! I had no idea 5 years would fly by so quickly. Sometimes, I wonder why in the world God blessed me with someone like you. You are patient, caring, loving and always put your family first. I am so thankful for you and treasure every moment we spend together, even the lazy nights, spent laying around at home in our pj's. When we were 14 and in our very first year of high school, I had no idea what a jewel I had found. But, now I know and I couldn't be happier. Looking back on high school, college, our days in Birmingham and at UAB, buying our first home and having our first baby, I can see how much God has blessed me and I am so thankful that he knew I needed you. We have basically grown up together and I am looking forward to growing old together (not any time soon though, I am enjoying right where we're at ;). Thank you for encouraging me, loving me when I am a bit unlovable and leading our family in such a Godly way. This means everything to me. I am having the time of my life and looking forward to many, many, many more fabulous years with you!! I love you. more than my words can say.

(Sorry about the random wedding pictures. These were basically the only two I could find on my computer, and I didn't get  a chance to upload our professional ones.)