I'm it!

I was tagged by Yvonne Crawford
1. Who is your man? My hubby Steve
2. How long have you been married? 2 years
3. How long dated? Dated for 1 year and engaged for 1 year I think.
4. How old is your man? Older than me.
5. Who eats more? I think he does.
6. Who said "I love you" first? He did and I think I was shocked, but then I said it right back.
7. Who is taller? He is.
8. Who sings better? We both think we can sing!
9. Who is smarter? Steve reads a lot, so he has a much better vocabulary and he retains all sorts of knowledge. What counts as smart? My GPA was higher, but I forget everything!
10. Whose temper is worse? Me - hands down. I'm like my sister-in-law I think.
11. Who does the laundry? ME!
12. Who takes out the garbage? Steve when I remind him.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Steve
14. Who pays the bills? Both, but I balance the check book.
15. Who is better with the computer? Both the same I think.
16. Who mows the lawn? Steve mostly
17. Who cooks dinner? Both, but Steve likes cooking and I don't.
18. Who drives when you are together? Steve
19. Who pays when you go out? Both - we share money.
20. Who is most stubborn? ME
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Steve
22. Whose parents do you see the most? Steve's dad lives 2 hours away, mine live in a different country.
23. Who kissed who first? I don't remember
24. Who asked who out? Steve asked me, but he botched the first date!
25. Who proposed? Steve did.
26. Who is more sensitive? ABSOLUTELY ME!!!!!
27. Who has more friends? I think I do.
28. Who has more siblings? I do - he has none.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? I can't say. Steve reads my blog!
I would tag Tony Crawford, but he wouldn't reply to this kind of thing!

A Day at the Park

Today is a gorgeous day in sunny South Carolina! It is sunny with a cool breeze and the air smells crisp. My favorite type of day. My good friend Michelle and I took our daughter's to the park.

Now, for those of you who read a previous blog about my friend Michelle and her daughter Megan, that is a different Michelle. This Michelle has a daughter named Sophia. Sophia is 7 months older than Caitlin, so it is from this Michelle whom I get all my advice from. Here's a shout out that I also get tons of advice from my sister-in-law too!

We had a great afternoon at the park. The girls had a picnic, played with bubbles, went on the swings, and then we all went for a scenic walk. What a nice Sunday afternoon!

Perks of Having a Child

I have figured out that one of the perks of having a child is that you get invited to some really fun parties. Last night we went to our first adult-kid Halloween party. There was a jump castle, bobbing for apples, a photo taking spot, and all sorts of fun games. They had huge spread of appetizers that looked as though Martha Stewart herself had decorated. For example, cobweb shortbread cookies, cheese sticks that looked like fingers, chocolate covered strawberries made to look like skeleton heads. These people went all out! We had a lot of fun, but it is no treat (just tricky) bringing a 9 month old to an evening party!

Caitlin's a butterfly and I'm a barmaid

This was the photo taking spot. They had done their garage for this purpose. Great idea, but didn't actually work for us. Steve's a bartender, since I was a barmaid.

This is a little boy who we were trying to take a picture with Caitlin, but he was shy. Hence, the photo had to be taken inconspicuously.

This is one of the houses all decorated. This party was hosted by two neighboring families.

By the end of the night, Caitlin was pretty exhausted, but I had to get one more photo. We had changed her out of her butterfly costume about 15 minutes after we arrived at the party.

So you would think that my child would have slept in today, but NOPE she got up an hour early! Why?! We're going to the park today for a playdate, pictures to be posted soon....

Weekly Lunch Date

Being a stay at home mom can be very boring sometimes, so every week I go out to lunch with Caitlin. This photo is Caitlin and I at Locklears, where a friend of mine works. This way I get to hang out with my friend Amy, eat lunch, and have Caitlin entertained!

Another thing about being a stay at home mom is that you can either sleep in while your child is still sleeping or get up and do your hair and make up. As you can see from this photo, I chose to sleep! Construction is still going on at my house and Caitlin is teething. Can you see the bags under my eyes from the lack of rest? She, of course, looks very well rested!

Boone Hall Fall Festival

On Sunday we went to Boone Hall Plantation for their Halloween festivities. They had a pumpkin patch filled with tons of pumpkins and great spots were set up for photo taking. We also took Caitlin on her first hay ride. She enjoyed playing with Steve's entrance wrist band more than the ride itself, but we had fun!

She looks cute, but she's a mischief maker! She is grabbing a handful of straw with the right hand and eating it with the left.

Here we are on the hayride. See how fascinated our daughter is with all the sights!

Bath Time

Caitlin used to hate the bath. She wouldn't cry, but she'd have this 'deer in the headlights' look throughout the entire bath. Now she can't wait to get in it!

Big thank you to my niece Mia for giving us her bath seat! Caitlin loves it!

Mother of the Year - Application Denied!

Well, it appears that my application to become the Mother of the Year for 2007 has been denied. It turns out you are not supposed to leave your 8 month old unattended while you load up the car for an outing. They might pick up a heavy toy, while you've left the house for that tenth of a second, and it could fall on their head and give them a black eye. Who knew?! When I entered the house and heard the screaming I wondered what could have happened and then I saw this within seconds:

The bottom of the right eye is the bruise from the toy. The top redness is actually a couple mosquito bites. In my defense to those Mother of the Year judges, I guess even if I was in the room I would have had to probably dive across the room and onto the floor in order to save her from this little incidence! Two days ago she got a hold of my earing and put it in her mouth. This child is going to give me a heart attack, I just know it!

Under Construction AAARRRRGH!

Yeah, it's a madhouse. New photos though. Construction schedule is as follows: 7:45am banging begins; 12:30pm banging stops; 12:35pm banging begins again; 7:00pm banging stops. 9:30pm dust begins to settle--Steve. (This is per Linda who calls every 18.3 minutes to keep me updated as to how much noise is bouncing through the house; how much sheetrock has been knocked off interior walls [yes really]; and how she wishes she were in...take your pick of Canada, Canada, or hmm let's see Canada).

Coca-Cola has yet to pay us for this web ad.

Egg Face

Caitlin loves feeding herself puffs, a type of baby cereal that melts in the mouth, so I decided to put cooked egg yolk in front of her to see if she would like it. Here's what happened:

Yup, she liked 'em! Notice how she is mushing them in one hand and shoving them into her mouth with the other? I tried feeding them to her with a spoon, because they were all over the place, but she only liked them when she got to feed herself. She's my little Miss Independent!

Caitlin and Megan

Caitlin had a play date this weekend with a friend of mine's daughter named Megan. Megan is only 2 weeks younger than Caitlin. These two girls might be friends for life, so it was great being able to photograph them playing together at 8 months old. It was great to see how they interacted, stealing eachother's toys and patting eachother's hair. They are both fascinated with hair right now. Caitlin yanks at mine all the time and my friend Michelle tells me Megan does the same thing to her.

My friend Beverely and I have been friends since around 1 and 3 years of age and we are still good friends. Below is a photo of us from her wedding. It would be great if dad would send me a photo of when we were kids and I'll post it here too. HINT HINT DAD!!! Maybe one day Caitlin and Megan will be at eachother's weddings too. You just never know...

STRESSED OUT!

My house is under construction right now. I'll take photos soon, when I find my sanity. This construction has me going bonkers! All I hear is continuous banging and sawing. Pieces of wall have been coming off the inside of my house! I've had to leave the house so that Caitlin is able to nap. It's nuts! Also, so far rotten wood and termite damage has been found during this re-siding of the house process. Great...we're only on day 1!!!

Caitlin Discovers Gold!

Caitlin discovered her toy box this morning. She was playing in front of it and all of a sudden her little arm reached over and pulled the box onto her lap. There was no stopping her after that! She was like a kid in a candy store. She'd see a toy, pull it out. See another toy, pull it out.... and so the story or "Storey" goes....

Taste of Charleston

Yesterday we went to Boone Hall Plantation for the Taste of Charleston. They had a lot of restaurants from Charleston that had booths set up where you could buy food and proceeds benefited the Ronald McDonald House, HOWEVER, it was extremely expensive. We will not be going back next year. They charge $12 a person just to get into the event and then $4 for a small plate of food. For example, you can get a plate with 4 shrimp, that's $1 a shrimp. What?! It was also extremely hot and humid yesterday. When we walked outside Steve mentioned that nobody in South Carolina needs to own a sauna, because all you need to do is step outside! You may notice that he is wearing jeans in the photo...BIG MISTAKE! I will mention that it was nice to get out of the house, but we could have had a picnic in the park for FREE!

Birthday Week

I had another birthday celebration last night. When your birthday falls on a Tuesday you need to have a birthday week, so that you can celebrate on the weekend too! Last night my friends and I went to Yamato, which is a hibachi restaurant. It was great fun until my friends decided embarrassing me was on the menu. The waiter made me get up on a chair in the middle of the restaurant while everyone sang happy birthday. HORROR and it's not even Halloween yet!

This is a photo of a stranger in glasses, Steve, Summer, her Steve, Mary and Eddie

I had to rub Buddha's belly while the waiter took a photo. Steve took this photo at the same time.

Caitlin's Butterflies

I purchased Caitlin a butterfly mobile when I was pregnant, because a friend told me I should have something to distract her while she's on the change table. It was a great idea. She loves these butterflies. I'll be changing her and she'll start crying (this baby would go around wet all day I guess) and I'll say "Look at the butterflies" and she'll immediately look at them and start smiling and laughing. Then of course she has to swat at them when I'm finished.

Yesterday's News

Yesterday I had a great birthday! Here are some of the highlights.



My brother sent me this beautiful charm in the mail. It is by far one of the best gifts I have ever received and I will cherish it forever. It's a heart with the words little sister inside. He sent me a card with it and the words "Linda's the Best" were written inside. Just kidding! There was a beautiful card, but those might not have been the exact words. Note: That's an ongoing joke between B and me. He once gave me an ornament for Christmas with "Brian's the Best" enscribed on it. ANYWAY, I'm way off tangent here!

I received roses by delivery from our friends Pete and Alysia. Aren't they gorgeous?!

Amy, Nick, and Rick banned together to get me a menage of gifts and Steve bought me the Friends Season 10 DVD and a birhtday cake. The birthday cake is not in the photo 'cause we ate it!

We all went out to dinner at Tsunami's. Going counterclockwise there's me, Amy, Nick, Big John, Rick, and Caitlin. Steve is taking the photo. Best Buddies!

Lastly, I have to brag that my daughter was on her best behavior and ate all her dinner. She also enjoyed hitting at the Dora table top cover. She's only 8 months old, but loving Dora already! The face she's making is probably her wondering why her daddy is taking a photo when her face is covered with peas and oatmeal.

October 2, 2007 - Birthday's and Motherhood

Well, today's my birthday and so far I have put away two baskets of laundry from last night, completed two more loads of laundry, made the beds, gone grocery shopping, made breakfast and lunch for Caitlin, did the dishes, and changed 4 diapers (one of which was a HUGE monstrous poopy)! It is 1:30 pm and I'm just now eating for the first time today. These are the joys of motherhood! I was saying to myself I can't believe it's my birthday and here I've done more chores than most do in one week! Then I saw Caitlin's sweet little innocent face looking at me, took a picture, and decided none of that birthday stuff matters to me anymore. I'm lucky to have my little monster. Besides, I'm getting a nice dinner at Tsunami's tonight and I already received some great presents!

September 30 2007 - New Toy

I bought Caitlin a new toy yesterday. I couldn't help myself! She has all sorts of baby toys, but I figured this might help her learn to crawl. It's a moving animal train (Something her cousin Callum would've loved I'm sure). Caitlin is growing everyday and learning new things, but she just can't seem to crawl even though she really really wants too. The animal train is also really fun to play with and has many songs about animals. I think Steve is already tired of the songs and we just got this last night!

September 29 2007 - Steve's Family

Steve's Aunt Gloria, Uncle Don, and twin girls Danielle and Dana drove down from Daytona Beach for a visit this past weekend. His father, Clark, also came down for this little family reunion. Steve had not seen his cousins since they were 7 I think. Anyway, we all went out for dinner at Creekside on Shem Creek. Wonderful food! Caitlin is sitting at the end of the table. That's the back of her little head in the photo. We tried to get her to turn around and say cheese, but I guess she was camera shy. Too busy playing with the camera case! Steve really enjoyed seeing everyone.