HELLO 30!!

It's Friday!  This week has really flown by - I can't believe it is the weekend already! 

Wednesday was my 30th birthday!  YAY!  My sweet hubby sent me flowers and a balloon to the office.  We ended up not doing much being that my birthday fell on a Wednesday and we both had to work the next day.  We ordered Chinese take out and called it a night.  But - this Saturday my girlfriends are throwing myself and Jeanette (BFF) a 30th birthday party at The Wine Loft.  I am so excited!  It has been a long time since mama has been out on the town!  Steve and I are getting a babysitter for the night and getting a hotel room - something else we haven't done in probably 2 years.  Tomorrow night will be the first time we have stayed the night without the baby - I am going to miss cuddling with her before bed so I plan to take full advantage of that tonight!

My sister is coming into town tonight - I can't wait to see her!  It has been almost a month.  And it has been over a year since we've been able to go out together!  As you can tell, I am really looking forward to tomorrow night!

Today is my BFF Jeanette's birthday - she turns 30 today too.  I'd like to wish her a very Happy Birthday!  I hope her day is memorable.

What are your plans for the weekend?  Make it a great one!

xoxoxo

Conversations in the Car

Tonya: "So, you've not really said anything about my hair / bangs since I got them cut, what do you think?"
Steve: "I don't know - it's fine."
Tonya: "Why is it that everytime I ask you a question about what I'm wearing or if I've done something different, you either say it's fine or you don't know?"
Steve: "Because I'm a man and I just don't take notice to all that stuff."
Tonya: "Okay, but just this once can you be completely honest and tell me what you think about my hair."
Steve: "Fine - I think it looks like an 18 year old hair cut."
Tonya: "Excuse me??"
Steve: "Yeah, I think it looks like a kid's hair cut."
Tonya: "OK THEN, pretty sure I'm going to need you to refer back to your old ways and say it's fine."
Steve: "It's fine."

It's The Weekend!!!

Something about Friday afternoons and thinking about the weekend leaves me completely checked out of work!  Hope the boss isn't reading this.  :) 

Since I've been back at work following my maternity leave, I am working from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. straight through - no breaks, etc.  I really love it because I don't have to battle that 5:00 traffic anymore from Downtown back home.  Hallelujah!!  I get to leave straight from work to pick my baby up.  I get butterflies in my stomach every day and that feeling of excitement as soon as I get into the car knowing I am going to see that sweet face in under 40 minutes. 

Today, I'm headed to pick Lottie up to spend time with her before I meet the ladies for dinner at LaVecchias.  Our reservations are for 7:30 p.m. so thankfully that will give me enough time to play, get her in the bath and fed before I have to leave. 

Tomorrow, Lottie is having some photographs taken in the morning by Shannon Routh.  Then we may pool it up at the Byrum residence. 

Sunday, we have plans to visit w/ Matt and Danielle to have dinner and maybe a little vino for us girls (Lottie excluded) :)

Since I'm checked out for the day - here are a few things I am loving right now!  Hope you have a great weekend!!! 

Monogram Wine Tote

Black 3 Piece Wire Hooks

(I want to paint these white to hang in Lottie's room - so cute)

Little Black Dress Apron

Paula Deen's Grilled Veggie Pizza

(might be making one of these bad boys this weekend)

Mud Pie Crab Dress / Tunic & Legging Set

(I DIE - how cute is this?  Perfect for summer)

The Sniffles

There was an unusual amount of sneezing and sniffles coming through the monitor last night.  I'm afraid that Lottie might be catching her first cold.  :(  Steve and I didn't get much sleep last night as we laid worrying that Lottie was uncomfortable.  She never cried or woke up, but you could definitely tell that there might be something coming on. 

I broke out the Vicks Steam Vaporizer that I got at one of my showers last night but of course I didn't have the liquid Vicks medicine to go into the machine.  BOO!  Completely unprepared!  But nevertheless, I went ahead and read the instructions, filled it with water and added salt (???).  It worked and steam was coming out like it was supposed to.  But me being a bit of a worry wart, I didn't know whether or not it was safe to keep it plugged in and running all night since I've never used one before.  It sounded like the water was boiling even though the machine did NOT feel hot.  The sound of boiling water near my baby's crib was unnerving.  So in the end I decided that for the sake of all of us getting rest and no house fires, I unplugged it!

Has anyone used this Vaporizer before? 

Here's to hoping that my sweet baby isn't catching a cold!  I feared that when she started day care this would happen.  So far we've been lucky!  Hope it stays that way!

Restaurant Week

This week is Charlotte Restaurant Week.  I am pumped.  First on the list is Chimas tonight w/ Rich / Crystal and Tim / Wanda.  The last time we went to Chimas, I was around 37/38 weeks pregnant.  I stuffed mine and baby's face until literally the wait staff stopped serving me.  I kept saying, "But I'm Pregnant!!!"  The guys sat with their mouths wide open in awe of the amount of meat and potatoes I ingested. 

However, tonight will be a different story!  I am going to try and stick to mostly salad and fish - their salmon with the tropical fruit salsa is so tasty.  I am desperate to get this baby weight off.  I have been busting my bum for a month now and not really seeing any results.  I am trying not to get discouraged, but it would be nice to see a few changes!  I am longing for my pre-baby body!  I added an additional class into my work out this week and I am feeling the burn ( so sore yesterday, I could barely walk) so hopefully with that added bonus, I will start seeing a change. 

Next Friday, me and a few girlfriends are going to LaVecchias for Restaurant Week.  I can't wait.  The last time the girls and I did Restaurant Week, we went to Sullivans.  Again, I was around 37/38 weeks pregnant.  The service was great and the food was delicious!  All the girls kept saying was that if I went into labor/ water breaks that night, I was picking up the tab!  Some friends huh???  :) 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  Ours will once again be very low key!  I just love weekends like that - I can focus all my attention on my sweet little girl.

http://www.charlotterestaurantweek.com/

Milestones

This past week, Lottie hit a few milestones.  She "found" her feet and won't let go!  I've been pulling her hands to her feet for the last couple of weeks to show her that she can do it and low and behold when I went to change her diaper she grabbed hold of them and was smiling from ear to ear.  I had to get a picture to capture this moment.  I turn to mush after every new thing she does and learns. 

This past weekend I put Lottie into her swivel musical gym and for the first time she was so alert and was playing like a maniac.  Before, she would sort of touch a few things but didn't really look like she knew what she touching.  Now - she knows exactly what will happen when she hits this button and that button.  She was so cute - she loves playing in her gym at the minute!

On Saturday, Lottie and I visited my grandmother.  My grandma's face lights up when Lottie is around.  She is 94 years old, soon to be 95 in November.  She hasn't been in the best health this past year, but thankfully my aunt Brenda has been there looking after her and helping her every step of the way.  They are both a hoot - love spending time with them!

On Sunday, we relaxed.  She had her first taste of rice cereal.  We broke out the video recorder for that one.  She did well - definitely seemed interested.  Lottie is definitely going to be a water baby!  She loves taking baths.  She smiles so big and splashes her little legs around.  So cute!  Jeanette came over to visit.  We played with Lottie and finished the night off with a couple of glasses of vino and dinner. 

Happy Hump Day!!!  So ready for the weekend!!!

4th of July

I have been slacking this week!  Last weekend we went to Myrtle Beach, SC to stay with my sister and her husband's family.  We ate, drank and lounged about on the beach all day!  It was great!  I got my burn on!  The girls (Ari and Bella) were such great helpers when it came to Lottie.  They are definitely her new BFFs.  They were so cute and so much fun to play with in the ocean.  We were jumping waves and being silly.  I can't wait until Lottie gets big enough to play with on the beach!  :)

We have no plans this weekend!  Ahhhhhhhhh - We might go grab an Indian tonight, go for a walk in the morning and hopefully go look at a new dishwasher.  I HATE MY DISHWASHER!!  I could go on about that one for days so I'll spare you!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!  xoxo

My new shades



My 4th of July Outfit

Final Space Shuttle Launches

It is hard to believe that I just watched the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis.  30 years of missions to space - WOW!  I guess it is the end of an era.  Hopefully in the next 20 years, we'll be able to find a way to do missions in a more cost efficient way.  I would hate for Lottie to miss out!!

Hit the Road Jack

We are hitting the road today and heading to Myrtle Beach, SC to spend the 4th w/ my sister, her husband and his family.  I can't wait to put my toes in the sand tomorrow a.m. (that's right, I plan on getting out there bright and early tomorrow morning!)

Here are a few pics from this past weekend. 

On Friday, Steve, Lottie and I had date night.  We went to a little Italian restaurant in downtown Waxhaw.  On Saturday, we cleaned, then ran errands all day.  On Sunday, I went to church w/ Jeanette and afterwards, we took Lottie to the Byrum pool to relax and let her try out her new car float.  It is super cute!

I am planning on bringing the float to the beach this weekend if we have room!  I swear, packing for 3 and trying to fit it all in the car is NO joke!  We have soooooooooooooo much stuff!  Who knew babies needed that much stuff?