bath time fun!

 

emotional

i boo-hoo’d my eyes out this morning after receiving this special gift from parker’s teachers:

it’s a photobook filled with photos from the school year and little pages with prayers, growth charts and a little poem from his teachers. my eyes are filling with tears AGAIN just typing this.

i am SOOOOO going to miss his teachers next year….they truly have such a special place in my heat!

parker is 3….how am i ever going to survive his very last day of preschool, then elementary school, middle school and high school graduation!!!!!!

of course i look to the future with excitement, but oh does my heart ache to see this sweet little boy grow up.

meal plan monday

so i caved this week and forced myself to actually meal plan and make a grocery list. i don't know why in the world i avoid doing this so much because in reality, it only takes a few minutes and it makes my life SO MUCH EASIER!!!!!

i even almost enjoyed grocery shopping yesterday! yes my friends, you heard me right, i could not believe how quickly and efficiently i made it through the store and what a relief it is to feel armed and prepared for a week of meals.

seriously, why do i torture myself each week and waste so much time running to the store to buy 3 items for dinner that one night?

enough of my rambling.....without further ado, our meal plan for the week:

Monday:

Breakfast--eggs, spinach and goat cheese (and no we did NOT have it this morning as i planned, but that is ok we will do it tomorrow!)

Lunch--fall harvest sandwich (bread, honey mustard, ham, cheddar cheese and granny smith apple slices)

Dinner--Salmon, cous cous (the new "pearled" cous cous by Far East is SO GOOD) and veggies

Tuesday:

Breakfast--yogurt with granola

Lunch--organic mac n cheese, stoneyfield farms yogurt stick and grapes

Dinner--burgers, pasta salad, sweet potato french fries

Wednesday:

Breakfast--eggs, spinach and goat cheese

Lunch--fall harvest sandwich (bread, honey mustard, ham, cheddar cheese and granny smith apple slices)

Dinner--spaghetti, bread, dipping oil, salad

Thursday:

Breakfast--yogurt with granola

Lunch--organic mac n cheese, stoneyfield farms yogurt stick and grapes

Dinner--leftovers

Friday:

Breakfast--cereal and toast (with flaxseed oil)

Lunch--grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches

Dinner--OUT!!!!

Saturday:

Breakfast--eggs, spinach and goat cheese

Lunch--pizza

Dinner--slow cooked pork tenderloin burritos with fresh salsa

ok, i'm off to edit a bazillion pictures from shoots this weekend. and more to come, but i've changed my photography business name to Southern Sass Photography, so stay tuned for more info!

have a great week!

quick and easy lunch

one of my friends, heather (who i really really think should start her own blog because she is full of humor and good ideas), shared this super easy recipe with me the other day and we tried it out this week!

easy+yummy+semi healthy = i must share!

it’s like a pizza only you use tortilla for the “crust”……so i’m not sure what to call it :)

here’s what you need though:

garlic salt

tortillas (we used whole wheat)

olive oil

tomato sauce

mozzarella cheese (we used fresh and it is SO good!)

this is where is gets REALLY tricky :)

step 1: brush the tortillas with olive oil and sprinkle garlic salt

step 2: bake coated tortillas for 5 minutes on 400 degrees until they become crispy

step 3: spread with tomato sauce and cover with mozzarella cheese.

step 4: bake for another 3-5 minutes at 350 until cheese melts

voila! parker has eaten this TWO days in a row…..you know it must be good!

i have a 3 year old….parker we love you so much!

dear parker,

three years ago today i had no idea how much my life would change when i first met you. your birthday is bittersweet……it’s so exciting to be celebrating your life and the blessing that you are, but it’s hard to let go of you a little more each year.

 

you are becoming quite the little man. you look older, you are SO smart and thoughtful and you constantly amaze me with what you come up with next! you are silly, fun and full of life! you love school, your teachers, life group, church and your little brother! you are so thoughtful and caring toward connor.

you love spending time with friends and have started asking to go to friend’s houses. kate c. is still your bestie and we just love watching you two play together.

today you had the best birthday! daddy and i surprised you with balloons and a bike outside your door when you woke up this morning. you were so excited! you also got a real kids camera and a cash register that you really wanted. i made blue and red cupcakes for you to take to school and you got your birthday crown. miss rhonda and miss cindy said you had a GREAT day! you were so happy it was finally your turn for a birthday celebration!

all of the excitement kept you from napping and when connor woke up, we headed to the JumpE place where you just had a blast! landon and tanner and kate and elle met us there……you had SO MUCH fun! afterward we went with kate and elle to fuel pizza where you and kate just continued to play and play! you passed out on the way home and went straight to bed.

parker, thank you for the joy you bring to our lives each and every day. we love you so much and feel so blessed to be your parents!

love,

mommy and daddy (or mom and dad which you now call us!)

 

connor’s 9 and 10 month post!

my sweet little connor, you turned 10 months this week!

   

you are all over the place these days. you’re a fast crawler and you’ve started cruising. sometimes you even stand all by yourself! you will take a few steps when we hold your hands and you think it’s funny!

at 9 months you weighed 17 pounds 11 ounces (10-25%) and were 27.75 inches tall (50%). this week i took you to the doctor to check on your ears (you had had an ear infection a few weeks ago and i wasn’t sure if it was back….just teething though), you weighed 18 pounds 6 ounces.

you are so much fun to be around. these past two months you traveled to hilton head and to maryland for jen’s wedding. you do NOT like riding in the car (we learned this on our way to hilton head when you screamed 80% of the time). for our maryland trip, we were more prepared with baby einstein videos :) you LOVE “baby macdonald”. when the hand puppet cow comes out, you squeal with delight. it is so fun to hear you get SO excited! you also love the bouncy tigger and try to mimic tigger. it’s really cute!

here you are at jen’s wedding, you had a blast pushing the stroller around:

jen’s wedding was at her dad’s gorgeous house on the water….we all enjoyed a gorgeous sunset!

you’ve learned how to clap your hands and you say mama and dada, although it’s mostly mama since you are definitely a momma’s boy!

you love to wrestle with your big brother and watch his every move. you two also like to play “chase”. parker loves to make sure you are taken care of.

you’ve got 6 teeth with numbers 7 and 8 breaking through. you are not a good teether……you get really fussy right before they break through. AND you are a biter! not in a mean way, it’s actually kind of funny because you get all excited when you see me and come truckin’ on over and you bite out of excitement!

connor we love you so much more than you can imagine!

**i took your “chair” pic that i do every month, but you insisted on SCREAMING during the photo shoot because i wouldn’t pic you up so i’m going to work on getting one this week when you are actually smiling :)**

happy mother’s day!

happy mother’s day to all of you moms out there and future mom’s to be. i know that this can be a tough day for those “future moms”, but don’t lose hope and wait expectantly……it WILL happen.

“delight yourself in the Lord and He WILL give you the desires of your heart!”. ~psalm 37:4

here are a few desires of my heart, thank you Lord for giving them to me :)

 

thank you parker, connor, brandon and of course God for giving me the greatest gift of all…..motherhood. children are a true miracle and i have been so blessed beyond anything i deserve. thank you mom for always being there for me as a child and now a mom myself! i love you!!!