I love to swim!

Now that our new pool liner is in, we have been geared up to get out there. This weekend was our first opportunity and Baker's first time to swim! I say he "loved" it, but who really knows. He did not cry or act scared. He did smile big and kick his legs some, but his face wasn't a huge smile the whole time either. We'll just say he loved it and go with that. I feel confident he will as he gets older anyway. Especially since we have one in the back yard.

Mommy, why do I have a funny hat, a funny diaper, and no shirt on? This is crazy.








I have also realized that I only post pictures of individual Baker. I am going to make an effort to take more pics of our whole family minus myself in a bathing suit and friends/other people we come in contact with. For example, we had some people over Saturday for a pool party. Notice I got none of any of them. Whoops.

I finally broke down and decided to let Baker eat in a highchair. He normally would eat in his bumbo seat. I don't know why I postponed that so long, but I did. We borrowed this high chair from a friend that has girls, hence the ruffles. Poor Bakes. His bumbo seat is Hayes' so its pink. You will have boy stuff when you are old enough to notice/care. I promise Little Buddy.

7 months & the 30 day shred!

Today Baker's Dozen is 7 months old!!

We have some new tricks:
STANDING is his big thing now. He can't stand alone, but if he has something to grab onto he will stand forever. It so funny to see those short little legs and that tiny little body standing at the plastic kitchen at church.

These plaid shorts just make me laugh.


I used to put him on my bed in the mornings with a boppy pillow around for extra protection while I get ready in the mornings. This morning he wiggled right out and was at the other end of the bed.

Another new change is his sleeping. He has been a stomach sleeper since about 8 weeks (which is a huge no-no, but don't judge) Now that he rolls all over the place, his position of choice is the back. Who knew? I could have been "safe" all this time. Really though, when he was a teensy thing he would NOT sleep on his back. We are also on a little different sleep schedule. Instead of going to bed at 7, he is now going to bed between 7:30 & 8. He also wakes up around 6 or 6:30am instead of 5:30 am. I will take it.

He doesn't have any teeth yet, but we are working very hard on them. Including knawing so hard on our fingers. Its like he is attacking a rib. In fact, he resembles my brother when he's eating ribs. Amy, you know Nathan loves a good rib.

We no longer take our baths in the blue baby bathtub which kind of makes me sad, but we have replaced it with our inflatable duck bath!!



This bathtub is great because A) if he slides and hits his head, its a very soft inflatable landing. Not to mention the bottom is "cushy" B) there is not a "hump" in the middle which has always bothered him with the other bathtub. C) its so super cute!

The drawback is that he has to go in our whirlpool tub and the leaning over to bathe him versus the bathing at the sink is not as great.


(Sidenote for frugal moms like me: Target brand diapers are the bomb. I was scared they would leak, but they have not for us. A box of 96 is $13.09 at Target. Sold!)

Happy 7 months baby boy! You are growing way too fast for me. I need you to stay sweet and cuddly forever. Please.

In other news, I am taking on Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.



The first workout I did with 5 lb weights. HUGE mistake. I should have used nothing the first time b/c it kicked my butt. Thankfully, I am now using 3 lbs and no longer sore. Its pretty tough though. According to Jillian I will lose 20 lbs in 30 days...hmm, I have my doubts. Especially based on the cinnamon roll I just ate.

New friends!

We had a nice weekend in Tuscaloosa. Saturday Brent and I met Brett, Katie & Thomas at Buffalo Phils (yum) and then to the UA baseball game. Thankfully we did not go inside the stadium, but stayed out in right field so Thomas could run free. Katie has a nice camera (jealous) and takes great pictures. Thomas is 21 months and so full of energy. He and Baker will be "besties" as soon as Baker isnt a "baby". Here are some cute ones.

Cutie pie



"You should come play ball with me Baker". "Nah, I'll just chill here, thanks".






Saturday night we had someone keep Baker while we had a date night. We went to Depalmas for dinner and then to Zoe's recital. Afterwards we went to the new Innis Free here where we ran into several people we knew but hadn't seen in forever. It was very random but fun.

A Sweet Dedication

Baker Man was dedicated to the church yesterday. At first I thought Mother's Day was a bad time to do this, but it worked out great. We had 2 reasons to get all of our family together in Tuscaloosa. The weather was great all weekend and we had a wonderful time. His dedication was so sweet & very special. The pastor had asked couples from the church to stand behind each family and pray over them and the baby. It was very touching.

We did have a stroke of bad luck throughout though. First, our sink broke leaving us to wash the dishes in the bathtub. Nice. Then, the AC went out but thankfully we got that taken care of pretty quickly. I ordered a tray of tea sandwiches to pick up on Saturday. Well, for whatever reason, the tray wasn't made and no one answered the phone or aknowledged it in any way. Then, I was about to put my dress on for the dedication and saw that they did not take the sensor off of it. Now, how did I make it out of the store, Belk?? Uggh. Turns out with enough screwdrivers you can pry those things off of your dress only causing minor damages.




There were 8 babies dedicated with Baker. They did a slideshow of each one as they presented them. If you click on the picture you can see more.



Baker didn't make a peep while we stood up there. He is such a good boy. He was interested in his new Bible though.







Our pool is fixed!






I can't think of a better way to spend my first Mother's Day. I hope everyone had a happy Mother's Day too!

Great news!

I have been dying to post this great news about one of my best friends in the world, Molly. Molly & Vince have been trying for 2.5 years to conceive with no luck at all. Honestly, its felt like about 10 years. They have been through a lot and I have been praying for them for a while now. About 5 weeks ago Molly called me to let me know she is PREGNANT! I literally have never been so happy for someone else in my life. I felt like this was my news. I just don't know a more deserving couple and I am certain that they will be the best parents EVER!

Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago (timeline is a little fuzzy) when Molly was having some cramping and feared the worst. She went to the doctor and thankfully was fine. In fact, she found out at this appointment she is having TWINS!!! DOUBLE BLESSINGS! Again, I am so excited for them. I can't imagine the joy and the challenges that come with twins, but if any two people are ready and willing, its Molly & Vince! Congratulations friends. We are so excited for you. Here she is at 8 weeks. (Looks like a food baby to me, but whatevs)



I hope the babies love McDonalds a little less than she does. Maybe the babies will only order 1 combo instead of 2. Hahaha. JK, Mo. Molly is the one person I know that can eat whatever she wants for all 3 meals yet keep the flattest stomach in the world.
Mo also loves to sing karaoke/perform as much as I do (if not more). Latest favorite Molly quote: "You are so lucky to have so many karaoke opportunities. That is really great and you should be thankful". Hahaha. Love it.

Austin 2010

This weekend was my trip to Austin, TX with my college friends! I have a lot to tell and lots of pics to share so sit back..

Our friend April moved to Austin recently and since we always take some kind of trip (or 2) every year, Austin was a good destination. On top of this, it was April & Katherine's birthday so we got to celebrate that with them as well. There were 10 of us total.

We got to Austion around 10:30 am on Friday. April picked us up and we went to lunch at Shady Grove. It was a fun place with delicious food and a fun outside area. We checked into our hotel and waiting for everyone else to arrive. For dinner, we went to Matt's El Ranchero which was a huge Mexican restaurant.






Then we ventured on to a little place called "Highball". Its not little at all. It houses bowling, karaoke, a bar and more karaoke all in one place. A dream I tell you. We started with bowling:


This is Katherine. She had the WORST trip ever. I will get to that later...

They have several "private" karaoke rooms with different themes that you can reserve for your own party to sing it up. What a great idea! We reserved the Hawaiian room and the party took off.






So we got 2 hours in the private room. Then, we moved to the big dance floor area which also houses karaoke! We love a good karaoke spot. If you know me at all, you know I was in heaven. Here is where I fell in love with a washboard. It would not be a trip if Betsy didnt fall in love with a tambourine.


Then Katie and I brought the finale of "Total Eclipse of the Heart". We even had choreography.


Moving on to Saturday. We saw a "rally" from out hotel and noticed them marching to the capital.

We wanted to get closer to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out, we saw this:

Its not every day you see a rally to legalize medical marijuana. I actually saw a sign that read "Give me dank or give me death". Wow.
Saturday night we ate at Sandra Bullock's restaurant "Bess".


Then we ventured to the "Tiniest Bar in Texas"


Ok, now for the turn of events. The trip was great and we had so much fun laughing a whole lot. This was until the flight home. We (as in Me, Katie, Meg & Katherine) made our flight from Austin to Houston just fine. Then, we board for Birmingham. We are almost there and the captain says we cannot land due to weather so we are going to have to re-fuel in Jacksonville, Fl. REALLY? That is WAY not where we are going. So, we do this, without leaving the plane. Then, we try again. Circle Bham for what felt like days and again the captain says "sorry, we cannot land, we are going back to Jacksonville". So, this 1 hour flight has taken 8 so far. I just want to get off this plane. I have a meltdown (meltdown 1)So we pile off the plane and get in a long line that is going nowhere to find out our fate. They basically said "You can't get your bags, we are putting you on the 5:50 am flight to Bham, you can't sleep here at the gate and there are no rental cars opened. So, we "slept" in the Jacksonville airport. Oh, we had not eaten in 8 hours or so and nothing was opened. This is my view from the floor of the airport.


Long story very short, we made it home at around 7:30 am, with no sleep. We lived off of a vending machine snack and a coke that Southwest provided. Oh and I had to go into work for a few hours when I got back to Tuscaloosa. And scene.

P.S. Katherines trip went a little something like this: Slept way too late and made it the airport in the nick of time to find out she lost her license. Had to leave and miss her flight to go to the DMV. Made a later flight and hung out Friday night. Became dehydrated and stayed in the room all of Saturday to end up in the ER Saturday night. Then she was somehow dropped from her flight home. Ended up with us who spent the night in the airport. Bad trip is an understatment.