A Very Merry (un)Birthday...

...And we're back!

While sparing most of the details, suffice it to say that I have returned to the blogging world. It is good to be back.

On to my baby's birthday party. Boy, did we have fun. Many thanks to all of those who made the drive to Pensacola to celebrate with my favorite little man. He had so much fun!

The party decorations were so much fun to put together. My best friend, Paige Hill, made Canon's smash cake and cupcakes. To say they were delicious would be the understatement of the century. She is amazing. Seriously. Oh, and while I told her the colors of the party were "blue, yellow, white and green", I didn't tell her shades of these colors. We were both so surprised that they matched perfectly! We should really go on the road with this reading minds thing.

Anyway, on to the pictures...


 
 
 
 
 

Bad News

I just found out that I am running extremely low on bandwidth. Apparently, you have to actually pay for space. Who knew?! Anyway, while I scramble around trying to find out what to do, I will leave you with a teaser for the upcoming blog post. (Hint: It's pretty messy)

Happy Birthday Baby...

As I sit here thinking back on the year that we have had, I am awed. I am amazed. I am humbled by our many blessings. My son was born in February of 2010 and since then we have experienced more giggles, more smiles, more love that either of us could ever imagine.

He turned one last month. He was born, I blinked, and he was a year old. A walking, "talking", crazy little dude. He is everywhere - chasing cats and taking names. I can't even remember life without him, nor do I want to try.

Ok, ok. Enough sappiness. Let's get to the good stuff. Craig and I decided to celebrate Canon's birthday - get this - ON his birthday. Genius, I know. It fell on a weekday, which we kind of liked, because it gave us the chance to spend time with just him and introduce him to the 8th wonder of the world: a chocolate smash cake. Oh yes, we were that brave. Let me tell you, it was nothing short of side-splitting hilarity. We got it on video AND still shots. Here are few of the...well I was going to say "outtakes" but that would entail that something else was supposed to have taken place. It wasn't. This is EXACTLY how I envisioned it would be!







Ok, so the next two aren't exactly "award winning" photographs, but they are pretty funny!




I will continue the birthday festivities with his birthday party in the next post. Have a great weekend!

Ah, Inspiring!

Did you see what I did there, with the title? "Awe inspiring" turned "ah, inspiring!" No? OK, then.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to show you where my inspiration comes from. Call it the big reveal. The answer to life (and you thought it was 42. Hmpf!) Come closer. Closer. Are you ready for it? I find inspiration...

 

EVERYWHERE!

 

Too cliche? Eh, too bad. 'Cause I do. I see beauty everywhere I go. I see new and interesting things in every nook and cranny that I pass. Sometimes I capture it in my mind, bottle it away for a rainy day. Sometimes I capture it in my handy dandy camera. Thank goodness for that thing!

Here are some random inspirations that I found while living life. Enjoy!











Where do you find your inspiration? Tell me! I gots ta know!

Goodbye 2010...

Wow. 2010 was such a crazy year. It is kind of ironic that we rang in the new year by relaxing with family, given how busy our lives were the entire year. I actually really enjoyed myself. My sister's birthday is on New Years' Eve so we celebrate every year. Normally, we head to downtown Fairhope for the annual Ball Drop and festivities. Due to economic reasons I assume, the celebration was cancelled so we were left with nothing to do. Queue my ever fabulous grandparents. They opened their home to us, where we partied like rockstars all night. Or laid around and took naps until 10 seconds to midnight. Whatever.

My beautiful grandmother.



















 

Here's a toast to an amazing new year!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!!!

Ah, Christmas. It is hands-down, my absolute most favorite time of year. (Can't you tell just from that sentence alone?) I grew up in a fairly large family - I am the oldest of five children - so Christmas was always a big deal. I mean, BIG. Let's face it, with that many people in one house, it is bound to get crazy. And it does. Every year. And it's getting crazier as our family grows. The thing is - it gets that much better every year. No matter what we give or receive as gifts, we have each other there. We may be crazy and dysfunctional but we are family and we love each other.

In 2010, we had the privilege of spending time with almost all of our family. We spent a weekend in Reform with my father's family, then celebrated Christmas morning at my parents' house. Craig's mom, stepdad and sister joined us. It was truly wonderful having everyone in one place. I can't wait for this Christmas!













Have a great weekend!

I Finally Got It!

My husband and I share a few traditions that we have started on our own. Those are extra special. One of them is going to Bellingrath Gardens in Mobile, AL every year to see the Christmas lights display. We went there on our first date, we were engaged there a year later, and we have made it a point to visit every year since. 2010 was a special year for visiting since it was Canon's first time going. We were so excited to go with my best friend, Paige, her husband, Brad and our sweet 'niece' Stella. Ok, so maybe 9 and 10 month olds aren't as amazed by the lights as we thought they would be, but at least the grown ups had fun. (Fun side note: Paige and Brad were engaged at Bellingrath also - several years before us!)

Anyway, I was super stoked (really?! did I just 'say' that?!) to go and practice what I had learned over the past year with my camera. I had been trying to take pictures of the swans on the lake FOR-E-VER! This was to be my shining moment or my embarrassing let down. How did it go? Well, they aren't perfect, but I am pretty proud of myself. Given the lighting situation (as in, there is none, aside from the actual Christmas lights), I think I did ok.

Here are our sweet babies...





Paige and Brad in the same spot where they were engaged years earlier!



 

And now for the scenery!





























 



And here is the elusive swan...





 

I finally got it!