Sick :(

I had to take off work yesterday to take my little man to the doctor.  He was up most of the night before coughing.  What an experience!  We went to a local clinic that Tucker had not been to before.  Tucker wanted to explore the waiting area but was getting into everything so I ended up having to hold him... he did NOT like this at all and proceeded to throw one fit after another.  We finally were taken back to our exam room, but the nurse practitioner had not made it in yet so we had to wait and Tucker did NOT like this and proceeded to throw a screaming fit for 30 minutes.  I was so ready to pull my hair out by the time the NP finally  made it (after waiting for over an hour!).  Thankfully, Tucker did not have red ears or throat. The NP thinks it's just allergies and gave us some allergy meds.  Last night was a way better night!

Waiting on the Dr. before the fit...

Before bedtime... much better!

This morning, chilling watching TV... just like a man!

Hope you all have a great Thursday!  

Happy Birthday to ME! :)

I have totally been awful at blogging lately!  My life is just so boring and mundane that I haven't had a whole lot to blog about, but since today is MY birthday I thought I'd update y'all on a few things that have been going on (this post WILL be all over the place so please excuse me).

Justin and I closed on our land yesterday! PTL!!  We are truly blessed!  The Lord certainly knows what he's doing and I'm so thankful that we have been patient in our waiting for the Lord to guide us in the right direction to build our new home.  Now the planning truly beings.  We have now narrowed down our list of house plans to about 5.  All the ones we have flagged are very similar to one another on the outside, just a few differences here and there on the inside.  I'm not in a big hurry though, I want to make sure it's EXACTLY what we want.

My little Tuck-man has been a bit under the weather lately.  This past weekend he ran a low grade fever all weekend.  This morning he woke up coughing, but no fever.  I guess it's just the drastic change in the weather we've been having, 80's one day and 40's the next will do that to you!  Since he was sick I had to miss my besties lingerie shower :(.  I was totally bummed out about this!  Hopefully I'll be able to make it to the bachelorette party!

Last week we were able to go watch my nephew Zack play baseball.  Zack is a Junior in High School and will turn 17 in a few weeks.  My babies are growing up :*(!  Here is a picture of Tucker and I in our matching "Cardinal Baseball" T-shirts.  

Tucker wasn't quite ready...

Here's the smile!

You've heard of The Pioneer Woman, right?  I figured so!  I ordered her cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks and her book The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels -- A Love Story before Spring Break so that I'd have some new reading material during my time off.  I absolutely loved her book and cook book.  If you haven't already purchased these two books, I'd highly recommend it.  Since discovering The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog (only a few weeks ago... I know, where have I been?!) I have cooked two dishes featured on her blog.  The first one I cooked was the Chicken Parmigiana and let me tell you, it was fabulous!  Last night I cooked the Sour Cream Noodle Bake and it was fabulous as well.  I can't wait to try a few recipes from her cookbook.  I absolutely love that she uses step by step PICTURES.  I'm not the greatest cook so this is a big help to me.  I like to know what my dish is supposed to look like throughout the cooking process and not just the end result.

Did I mention that today is MY birthday?  Oh, I did... sorry!  Today is my 28th birthday and I have to tell you that I have had one blessed life!  I am the youngest of four and the only girl, so to say that I'm spoiled would be a huge understatement.  Not only am I a daddy's girl, but all of my brothers have spoiled me as well.  

My oldest brother, Casey, is 12 years older than me.  When I was in Kindergarten he was a  Senior in High School.  When Valentine's Day would roll around he wanted to make sure I had the biggest Teddy Bear or biggest bouquet of roses sent to me at school.  I'm pretty sure I was the only one in Kindergarten that received a dozen or so roses on Valentine's!  

My middle brother, Keith, spoiled me rotten too.  I will never forget that when I was younger I'd beg my mom to let me go spend the night with a friend only to have me call during the night begging to come home because I was too scared to stay all night.  She would tell me no that I'd have to stay, but it never failed that Keith would always come and get me.  He would also let me come stay at his college apartment in the summer time so I could hang out at the pool.  He really put up with me a lot.

Then there is Chad, my youngest brother, who always let me know how "stupid" I was.  Little did I know that he really did love me!!!  I'll never forget when I was in Junior High and had my first real boyfriend.  One day he just up and broke up with me and broke my little heart.  Years later I found out that Chad had threatened to beat him up if he didn't break up with me.  Chad really was looking out for me, and has ever since. 

I have always been a daddy's girl!  My dad was an only child and lost his mother when he was only 6 weeks old.  My Pop never remarried and he and my dad lived with his sister, Emma, (in the house where my husband and I live today) and she helped raise my dad.  My dad always wanted a big family and my mom came from a big family, she is also the youngest of four and the only girl.  My parents wanted a girl really bad, but was told when she was pregnant with me that it was another little boy.  Back then, they didn't do ultra-sounds they relied on the rate of the baby's heart beat to determine the gender of the baby.  Boy, were my parents surprised when I was born!  

My Daddy sent me these flowers today...

and my sweet momma took me out to lunch!  I have had a very blessed 28 years and I pray that the good Lord will bless me with many many more years!

Sorry that this post was all over the place and I hope I didn't bore you to badly!  I'll try to do a little better with blogging.  Maybe something exciting will happen that I can blog about! 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Finally Friday!!!

Wow, you guys!  What a week!!  I don't know about y'all but I'm super glad it's Friday and that next week is SPRING BREAK!!!

This week has been kind of crazy for my husband and I.  We live in an older house that my dad grew up in.  We like to call it the weening house because two of my brothers and I have lived in the house after we married.  It's a little house but it's done us fine, until this week that is.  The wiring throughout the house is original and on Sunday we started experiencing some electrical problems.  None of the light switches worked and only some of the outlets worked. So I call up my dad and he and my husband went up in the attic space to check out what was going on.  My husband said the wiring looked horrible and he was really surprised the house hadn't caught fire before now.  SCARY!  So, we decided to pack up and head down to my mom and dad's house (only two houses down from our own) and stay until it was all fixed.  Well folks, last night was our first night back in the house and it was so nice.  There is really nothing like sleeping in your own bed!  Tucker must have missed his bed too because at 7:20 this morning I had to wake him up to get ready to go to the baby sitters.  Justin and I were worried that since Tucker had either slept in the bed with us or my parents since Sunday that he wouldn't want to sleep in his bed, but he did fine!  I am truly thankful for God's watchful eye!!

Yesterday was Tucker's 16 month birthday!  My sweet baby is growing up so fast.  I meant to take a picture, but guess what... still no batteries in the camera.  I really need to do that!

Next week Justin and I will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary.  Some days it feels like we've been married for 10 years (not in a bad way) and some days it feels like it was just yesterday.  To celebrate, we are going to eat at The Rendezvous in Memphis,TN.  I can't wait!  We have never been but have heard how wonderful the Ribs are... 

photo via

YUM!

When Justin and I celebrated our First Anniversary we went to Memphis and spent the night.  We stayed at The Madison Hotel in downtown.  How lovely!  We also found out we were expecting!  What a wonderful way to remember our first anniversary.  

Hopefully I'll remember the batteries for my camera so I can take some pictures this weekend.

I posted a couple of weeks ago that I would be helping with the Pilgrimage tour this year, but sadly I'm not going to be able to :(.  I had already committed to going to a show with my Mom and just found out it's the same weekend.  Oh well, maybe next year.  I am going to continue with my Pilgrimage posts though.  This week I'll be telling you about Athenia.

Athenia|1858

photo via

330 Salem Avenue.  This Greek Revival home was built by Judge Jeremiah W. Clapp, a member of the Confederate Congress.  The home features priceless Zuber wallpaper and it's original bronze gasoliers which have been converted for electricity.  The home is currently owned by Dr. Ben Martin and is considered by some experts to be the finest example of classical Greek architecture in the state.  The owner's collection of art and antiques gracing Athenia is unsurpassed in the area.

excerpt from last years pilgrimage brochure

Well guys, I guess this is it for today.  I'll try to blog a little better next week, but since it's Spring Break I'm not sure what I'll be doing.  Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

A little of this and that...

Hi y'all!  I have been a bit under the weather this week and haven't posted much so I thought I'd try to squeeze several posts into one.

I am so happy it's Friday!  Tomorrow we are having a special friends and family shower for one of my very best friends.  We hope that she is showered with many well wishes!

Last Saturday I was able to meet with some sweet girls that I haven't seen since we graduated high school.  This year we will be celebrating our ten year class reunion.  I find it so hard to believe that we've been out of high school that long.  We have some great things planned and hope we have a great turnout.  

I mentioned in last weeks WILW that I'll be participating in this year's pilgrimage, so in honor of this I am going to try to post a little something on Friday's about homes featured in the pilgrimage.  This week I'll be giving you a little insight to Montrose.

Montrose|1858

photo via

335 Salem Avenue was built by Alfred Brooks as a wedding present for his daughter, Margaret, Montrose shows the influence of classic Greek Revival architecture.  The interior features a graceful circular stairway with a niche for statuary, parquet floors, beautiful cornices and ornate medallions in the ceilings.  The wooded land surrounding Montrose is an arboretum.  Montrose is the home of the Holly Springs Garden Club, sponsor of the Pilgrimage.

excerpt from last years pilgrimage brochure

It really is a very lovely home.  There have been lots of weddings and wedding receptions held here.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate one of our High Schools for winning the State Championship in girls 2A basketball.  This is there fifth year in a row to go to state and they have won three championships out of five.  Pretty good odds if you ask me!  Lady Lions we are so proud of you!!!!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!  Hopefully I'll be able to blog more next week since I'm feeling much better!