What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday! 

I am linking up with Jamie today at This Kind of Love for WILW!

{ONE}

I'm LOVING that I'll be helping out at the 73rd annual Holly Springs Pilgrimage to be held on April 8-10.  I'll be getting all dressed up in hoops and wearing a dress from the civil war era and talking with tourists about this lovely home.  

photo via

Walter Place Estates is an 1850's Greek Revival home which housed Union General U.S. Grant's wife Julia Grant during the Civil War.  You can read all about the interesting facts of this home here.

{TWO}

I'm LOVING that I had Chick-fil-A for lunch yesterday!  I know that sounds kind of crazy, but the closest Chick-fil-A is like 30 miles away.  I had the chance to go to Oxford, MS yesterday (which is where I ate this lovely lunch) to run some errands for work.  I absolutely love Oxford!  

{THREE}

I'm LOVING my new hair color and trim ;)

(really bad iphone pic... maybe I'll get a better picture when I finally remember to pick up some batteries for my camera ;))

{FOUR}

I'm LOVING these cute dresses...

Hoping for Romance Gray Ruffle Dress

VeridianVerity Dress

Sunny Soiree Dress

{FIVE}

I'm LOVING that the hubs and I have decided to build a house!  We are buying some land that my uncle owns and it's in the exact location we've been wanting.  Our land will be smack dab in the middle of some forestry land, so we won't be having any close close neighbors!  I am super excited!  Looking at house plans have been fun, but it's not easy to decide what we want.  Hopefully soon!

{SIX}

Last but certainly not least, I'm LOVING little family!

What are you loving today?  Link up and let us know!

On a different note, I'm so NOT loving tomorrow's forecast...I don't deal well with stormy/tornado weather.  Hope y'all stay safe if it's storming where you are!

Happy Friday!

I don't know about you but I am so glad it's Friday!  Don't get me wrong, this week has really flown by but I'm ready for some QT with my hunky husband and sweet baby boy!  

Tonight we have a birthday party for a sweet little boy who just turned two.  Hopefully I'll remember to take some pics.

Tomorrow I am FINALLY getting my hair done!  I know I'm getting some color, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do about getting it cut.   When I was pregnant with Tucker I got a really really REALLY bad hair cut.  It was way too short for what I had been used to.  Needless to say, I no longer use that hairdresser.  I found a hairdresser that I love, but she's only ever given me color and not a cut.  I am notorious for getting ridiculously bad hair cuts and crying my eyes out for hours afterwards.  I haven't had a good hair cut since August of last year and my hair looks horrible, but my husband loves it because it's getting longer and he loves LOVES long hair.  I have mentioned that one of my best friends is getting married in a few months and I'm going to be a bridesmaid, so I don't want to get a bad cut that won't have time to grow out.  Decisions, decisions.    

Here is a pic of me from when I was pregnant with the bad hair cut. (Actually it had grown out some by this time.)

Here is a pic of my hair today. (Bad iphone pic by the way and my hair seems a lot longer than it looks here.)

Here is a pic of what I'm thinking of getting my hair cut like (IF I actually get it cut)

We'll see!

Sunday we are planning on worshiping and being lazy!

What are your plans for the weekend?  Whatever you decide to do I hope it's great!

Oh, and on a happy note my best friend Amy found out yesterday that she is having a BOY!  They are very excited and we are too!

Happy Friday,

        

Delicious Recipe!

Is it totally wrong to post multiple posts in one day?  Oh well!!  :)

I found this delicious recipe on another blog, Magnolias and Goobers, and I instantly knew it had to be delicious because Magnolias and Goobers are Ole Miss fans.  Anyway, I have cooked this recipe twice and my husband just loves it.  I actually cooked it last night before church and tried to take a picture, only to find that the batteries in my camera were dead.  Oh well, you 'll just have to trust me on this.

Chicken Dorito Casserole
1 bag cheese Doritoes
1-2 lbs, chicken (cooked & shredded)
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken(seriously, whatever is in your pantry)
1 can Rotel (drained)
1-1 1/2 c. sour cream
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
Salt & pepper to taste
1 c. shredded cheese (cheddar or mexi blend works good)

Preheat oven to 350.  In a mixing bowl, pour in sour cream and spices and mix until a light orange color.  Mix in soup & Rotel.  Finally, stir in the chicken.  Mix together until well blended.  Coat a 9x13 baking dish with spray.  Grab a couple handfuls of Doritos and break them up creating a "crust." Don't forget to eat a few.  Next, spread half of the soupy/chicken mixture over Doritos.  Top with half of the cheese. Repeat steps (Doritos, soup, cheese).  Cover and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and return to oven for 5 additional minutes. If I have a tomato laying around, I dice it up and sprinkle it on top of cheese before it goes back in the oven.  Garnish with jalepeno slices. So easy for weeknights & it is even better the next day leftover!

So easy, right?!?!  Enjoy!

Parenting Advice...

I know all you Mom's out there have experienced the dreaded parenting advice that every Tom, Dick and Harry think they need to dish out.  I absolutely hated getting all that crappy advice.  Now, don't get me wrong, I did receive a few helpful tid bits here and there but more times than not it was total crap.

  Yesterday I saw this headline on the Yahoo! home page... "Most Annoying Parenting Advice" and of course it peeked my interest.  Here is how the article went.

I have nothing against friends and family offering advice when you come to them with a dilemma. It's the people who pipe up, unbidden, because they see you with a child and assume you have no idea what you're doing. Too often these people are elderly great-aunts. Fortunately those ladies are afraid of the Internet, so I can rail against them and they'll be none the wiser! Thanks, ladies.

1. "Sleep now, because once that baby comes you'll never sleep again." Technically this is a pregnancy tip, of course, but I'm shoving it in here anyway. Yes, Great-Aunt Hildy, I will sleep throughout my entire third trimester. Because I am part bear.

2. "Sleep when the baby sleeps." Everyone gives you this one — annoying relatives, pediatricians, the cashier at the drugstore where you were buying newborn diapers. Are these people all robots, capable of instantly dropping off to sleep whenever their child is unconscious? Do they not have other things to do, like bathe, or simply relish the rare moments of silence you get when you have an infant?

3. "I think your baby's hungry." Whether you're nursing or bottle-feeding, everyone assumes you don't know how to feed your child. And every time your child cries, whines, grimaces, or squirms, they are going to assume you are starving your poor baby and you need reminders to feed it. Lest you forget! This advice is especially maddening when they turn out to be correct.

4. "Relish every moment of your baby's first years, because they'll be grown before you know it."You mean, time only moves forward? I had no idea! I thought we'd be like this forever and ever! This sort of advice, obvious and innocuous as it seems, always put me on the defensive, as if I had just been carrying my baby under my arm like a football, muttering, "Grow up already, why don't you. Just GROW UP."

5. "I hope you're sleep training that child. Do you WANT him to be spoiled?" Oh, distant relative/person whose aisle I shared at the supermarket, I'm so glad you know exactly my child needs. And that you know, from your years of scientific research, that any child not allowed to cry it out will be a horrible waste of flesh! (See #6 for this parenting tip's counterpart.)

6. "I hope you're not doing that 'crying it out' thing. It's so barbaric. Enjoy your baby all through the night!" Again, kudos to you, whoever you are, for knowing what's best for our unique family situation! I will be calling you at 4 a.m., so you can enjoy our baby as well.

7. "Why are you bringing your child outside when it's so cold out?" It never ceased to amaze me that, no matter what my child's age, total strangers will express alarm and revulsion that I dared expose him to the elements. "And WHY ISN'T BE WEARING MITTENS? He's going to get consumption!"

8. "Your child isn't really sad/angry/injured. He's just manipulating you." There's no doubt that children can push our buttons as if they've had professional training in it, but the notion that my kid's authentic feelings are in fact manufactured to elicit a reaction really chaps my hide. If that were always true, he'd be a pint-sized sociopath.  I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

9. "Schools are just glorified prisons. If you loved your child, you'd homeschool." Oh, if only I loved my child enough to abandon my livelihood, tear him away from the community he so enjoys, separate him from the professionals who have dedicated their careers to childhood education, and forced him to stay home all day with me, where we'd be at each other's throats for hours! If only! Please note: I am not opposed to homeschooling, at all — in fact I wish it would work for us, but it would not.

10. "If I were you, I'd just—" OH NO YOU DON'T. I know where this is going. Listen, unnamed distant acquaintance who last parented in the 19th century (it's true — I often get my unwanted advice from ghosts) you don't know diddly about my kid, and our relationship, and what works for us.

Well! That felt good. What did I miss? What parenting advice could you do without, forever? Speak now!
Read more from Alice Bradley on << The Motherboard Blog >>

So, for those of you out there who do not yet have children but plan on it someday, you will probably hear some of these tips and sigh and think back to this here blog post :)

Anywho, just thought that was a laugh worth sharing.

Hope you're having a FABULOUS Thursday!

WILW

Happy Wednesday!!!

This week is flying by so fast!  Can't complain about that, right?!?!

I am, once again, linking up with Jamie to let you know what I'm Loving this beautiful Wednesday!

I'm Loving that Tucker has slept in his own bed ALL night long for six nights in a row now!  This makes for one happy momma!!  I am not nearly as tired at the end of the day as I have been since he's been sleeping with us.  

I'm Loving this gorgeous weather we've been having.  Snow last week and high's in the 60's this week.  We have been able to take Tucker out to play in the afternoons and he absolutely loves it.  He pitches a huge fit when we make him go back inside though.

I'm Loving these adorable dresses...

Budding Buttons Jersey Dress

Flower Skipping Dress

Emerald Cascades One Shoulder Dress

I'm Loving that I'm FINALLY getting my hair done on Saturday.  It's been since October people and it's looking rough!

As always, I'm Loving my sweet and incredibly handsome husband and preciously sweet baby boy.

What are you loving today?

Link up with Jamie and let us know!

Catching Up...

I guess you could say I've been on blog hiatus for the past week.  I have had lots going on, so here is a little bit of catching up with what's been going on with us.

Last week we had another snow storm... yes MORE snow!  I never thought that I'd say this, as I love snow and all, but I'm SO READY FOR SPRING!!!  Well, not necessarily spring but at least no snow.  So far this winter we have received 15 inches.  Yes, 15 inches.  I don't ever remember in all my 27 (well almost 28) years remember having this much snow.  Our poor kids have been out of school for a total of 8 days.  They really will be going to school during June. Oh well, enough about that.  

Here are a few pictures we snapped of Tucker playing in the snow.  This is really the first time he's played in the snow, the other times he didn't show any interest.  I think he had a great time.

Daddy giving Tucker a snow ball to throw at Mommy

Sledding 

Shuffling through the snow

While we were off work on Friday my mom and I went and visited a special little boy who had surgery at Le Bonheur in Memphis.  He had a mass on the back of his head removed and it was non cancerous!  We were so thankful for that and he was actually able to go home today.  God is so Good!!!

This past weekend we attended a Valentine Dinner at church and had a great time.  Valentine's, for most of my life, has been a very sad day for me.  Nineteen years ago my grandmother (my mom's mom) passed away on Valentine's day.  I was only 8 years old and it was a terribly sad time for me and has been ever since.  I know that she is with the Lord and is so happy and I try to think of that, but I still miss her.  

My husband and I had decided not to give each other a gift this year for Valentine's, or so I thought.  Yesterday I had a meeting at work for much of the morning and when I returned I had these lovelies waiting on me... 

Aren't they beautiful?  What a wonderful surprise!  I really do have the greatest husband.  

My husband and I have been house/land hunting for quite a while now.  We actually put in an offer on a house  that we looked at back in December.  I have had my eye on this house ever since it was built.  When I found out that it was for sale I couldn't wait to go look at it.  It was just as beautiful on the inside as I had imagined it would be.  The house came with quite a bit of land and was centrally located between my parents and Justin's.  The asking price was considerably lower than what we thought it should be, but still not what we could afford.  With the help of family we were able to make a full cash offer at a lower price than what they were asking.  I prayed that the Lord's will be done for us and I left it in God's hands.  

We found out yesterday that they did not accept our offer but a full amount mortgage offer.  Justin and I were both fine with this.  We know that God has better plans for us.  We are actually going to look at another house this afternoon.

Hopefully I'll be back to blogging more this week.  Hope your week is going great!

Happy February!

I can't believe it's February already!  Where did January go?  I know I have not posted in a few days but we'll get into the reasons why in a few.  This post will actually be a few posts in one.

First off Weekend Highlights!

Friday night Justin, Tucker and I went out to eat with our friends Billy, Amy and Zoe.  We had a great time!  Tucker and Zoe held hands on the way home... it has begun ;)

On Saturday Tucker and I spent some much needed quality time together while Justin went duck huntin. When Justin got home we took Tucker outside to play since the weather was so beautiful.  We also took him for a little ride on the four wheeler and took him to the local elementary school to play on the playground.  He loved it and cried when we went back home and made him go inside for a nap.  Here are a few pics of the fun time we had.

Relaxing on the couch after much fun!

Later than afternoon my nephew Zack was in the Homecoming Court at the local High School.  He is a junior this year and we are very proud of him.  I couldn't get my camera to cooperate when they turned the lights down so I didn't get any good pictures during homecoming but did take several afterwards.  Here they are...

I did get a shot of the cute decorations!

Handsome Brothers!

Tyler, Kim, Zack and my Big Brother Casey

Zack and Tucker man

Us with Zack

Zack with Nanny and Pop

On Sunday Tuck woke up with a low grade fever but we all went to church anyway.  We had a short service because we traveled to the church that our minister previously preached at (which was also his home church) and ate lunch and had singing with their congregation.  The singing was absolutely beautiful.  We raced home and had evening service at our church.  What a great day of wonderful worship!

Monday Tucker was still not feeling well so I took him to the local clinic.  He had strep.  Bless!  I stayed home with him the rest of the day and cleaned all his toys and disinfected the house.  On Tuesday my SIL Kim kept him for me so I could go back to work.  He is feeling much better now and is back at the babysitters!

Last, but certainly not least I want to wish a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet SIL Bonnie!  Hope your day is super blessed!

Well folks I guess this is long enough!  Hope everyones week has been great so far and hope you have a wonderful weekend!