Has Spring Sprung?

I wake up and I can hear the birds chirping. I look outside and the sun is rising earlier. Then I walk outside and I turn into an ice cube and I'm ready to run back to my warm bed.
Are you there spring? It's me, Viola.
In case the earth forgot, we live in the South and it's supposed to be warm here. So I'm going to need that to happen ASAP please!

7 Months

I can't believe it's been 7 months! She is now 17 lbs. 3 oz. and rolling every where! She can pretty much sit up on her own, she can roll, shimmy, and scoot to where she wants to be. A shiny top tooth is coming in and we can hear her grind her teeth (gross!). She is eating the graduate puffs and we are now on 2 foods. I feel like as soon as I get the hang of one thing, we have to learn something new! I absolutely love her and she has the sweetest, most curious personality! She is also a great jumper and I can't wait to put her in a tumbling class!

In other news, our house is about to appraised and we are going to try and put it on the market. I really want to move to Legacy Park, just for a few years, and then back out here in Pope, Walton, or Lassiter district. This whole moving thing isn't as fun as I thought it was going to be. I'm so nervous about my house because I'm afriad someone won't like it! It's almost like when you make fun of your friend it's okay, but the second someone else makes fun of your friend, it's on! So keep your fingers crossed that someone will love our home enough to give us lots of monies for it! :o)

Valentines

Hello Blog Friends!

I swore I wouldn't neglect you all, but I did it again! So now I'm going to recap EVERYTHING that has happened since I last wrote.

1. Basketball season- So I just kept thinking to myself that after last week, basketball would be over. We were snowed out on Friday night, so the region games were pushed back to this week. Wednesday night was the girls game and tonight is the boys region game. Should they lose, then basketball is really over. Just when I think it's all said and done, tryouts are coming around the corner. Tryouts are March 15-17 and then it's a whole lot of cheering after that! I think I just have to come to terms with the fact that I just won't get a break!

2. Claire Bear- She is Little Miss Personality now! I love that she doesn't say much, but when she decides to squeal, it is so stinking cute! She rolls over back to front and front to back like a champ! We really have to keep our eye on her so that she won't roll away! She great about wiggling and rolling to where ever she wants to go! Great for her, not so great for the parents (us) who haven't child proofed their house yet! She can sit in a booster seat at restaurants and she is so smiley! Love her!

3. New Address?- So, Jeff and I have been thinking about moving. I really want to move to Legacy Park because there are so many little kids and fun things for everyone to do! The cons to moving are that Jeff would have a longer commute and we are also currently in a great school district. We're still talking about it and preparing our house for the crummy market, but I'm hoping that we will figure something out soon! I've never looked for a house, but it's stressful and fun at the same time.

4. Valentines- So we didn't do much for valentine's day (I'm okay with that because I'm not much for valentines), but we did go to my friend Emily's wedding. This was the first night we ever spent away from Claire. I'd like to say I was worried, but my mom is great with Claire and I knew that she was in great hands. We slipped and slid our way to a beautiful church, Christ the King Cathedral in Buckhead. Afterwards, we went to the Marriott in Duluth for a beautiful reception! The drinks were great, the friends were wonderful, and I loved the food! But, being an old person, I did turn in at around 10:00 that night. The next day, we raced to my mom's house to find a happy little girl!

5. Valentines night- We went with Mimi and Grandpa (Marci and Rich) to see the Circus. I was so nervous that Claire would have a meltdown because the show didn't start until 7 and her bed time was at 7:30. I tried to get her to go to sleep, but she watched the show and was so excited to see all the lights and the animals! She was jumping up and down!! She did pass out half way through and then went back to sleep in the car. She went straight to bed when we got home and didn't wake up until 7 the next morning! What a fun experience!!!

6. Lent- My favorite time of year, but also a trying time. This year, I've decided to stick to my diet for 40 days. This is difficult as I've never made it past 4 days, but I figure he died for me, the least I can do is give up some sweets and bad foods. So if you see me around and I'm super grumpy, then you'll know why.

I've got the itch to decorate!

I'm itching to decorate! I once heard that you should start redecorating rooms that you live in the most. I've already done that to one room, but the room I really want to tackle is my "formal living room." I hate formal living rooms. The idea that there is a room with really expensive furniture (don't forget the cheesy plastic covering) that no one is ever allowed to sit on- is such a bad idea! So instead, I got a beautiful craft table for Christmas and my formal living room is going to be magically transformed into a craft room/ reading room. Here's what I'm thinking:

Keep it light and airy! I want the walls to be a pale grey/blue with white window treatments and bright reading chairs. I have my swatches of fabric already picked out and I've scouted some contemporary chairs. All I need is the moo-lah to put in hardwood floors (dreaming) and buy expensive furniture (another dream). So since most of my money goes towards taxes and now we might have another pay cut, I've got to design this room on not a dime, but a penny! How do you ask? Well, I could bargain with furniture stores, look for great used pieces, sew slip covers (never tried this before), or I could just imagine chairs. Needless to say, I'm going to be doing something to it soon! Here are my inspiration pictures from my FAVORITE designer, Sarah Richardson!

I will be taking some silver IKEA frames and doing this above my two reading chairs. What a cute idea!

Love the blue and cream colors from this living room.

Love this "light and airy" look. I love how crisp and contemporary the furnishings are, but they seem to have a hint of traditional inspiration.

I heart decorating!!!!

Just some more cute pictures :o)

Bath time!

Yummy toes!

Ready to go to my favorite place- Costco!

Watching mommy cook

Juming in my jumper!

Passed out! What a long day!

Happy Half Birthday, Claire!

This past sunday was Claire's 6 month birthday! We woke up and she opened her presents!

She got a teething bunny!

She liked the bag more than she liked her gifts. Go figure!

A cell phone!? The best part is that every time you open the phone, a new image comes up on the screen. So one time Ms. Kitty called her, another time a puppy called her. It's so cute!

And then this thing that makes these balls go around.

We went to the doctor today for her 6 month check up and here are her latest stats:

Height: 26.5 inches

Weight: 16.2 lbs.

I can't believe that she is getting so big so fast! She's eating solid foods and is starting to sit up (assisted) by herself! The doctor said to expect the baby babble to pick up and that's when the fun begins! What I love most is that she is so nosey! Wonder where she gets that from?! She has to see what is going on, where people are, and what they are doing. Sometimes she won't sleep because she wants to look around! Too funny! Just love this little girl!

Whoa! Long time no post!

It's been forever since I've posted and my sweet friend, Michele, reminded me today on facebook that I've seriously neglected my blogging life! Right now, my entire life is consumed with trying to change a million schedules at work, a varsity basketball game every Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday night, and I'm also trying to be a mommy and wifey. Whew! Life is hectic right now! This is probably why my nose has decided to revolt against me and it's running faster that Teresa Nicole Roberts! JK! I am definitely feeling like crud lately, so I'm trying to slow down. The positive is- I'm almost done with basketball season!

A few wonderful things have happened since my last post.

1. Claire Parker is a rolling over fool and is starting to sit up (with adult assistance of course)! This solid food this has been sorta fun. On Christmas eve, we fed her a little apple sauce, mashed potato, and sweet potato. Then the next day, I decided to be cute and make rice cereal. Talk about barf city! I read somewhere that babies with acid reflux (which Claire kinda has) don't do well with rice cereal. Needless to say, we kinda skipped the rice in general. Then, we fed her fruits, which she loves, and now she doesn't want to eat the veggies! Crap, I think I did that backwards. If there's one thing I've learned in my almost six months of motherhood, everyday you have to try and be a good mother. There is no possible way that you can read every piece of information and/or follow every thing that all of the "experts" say. You will drive yourself crazy and never get sleep. So, we are just trying things as we go. Of course if my doctor says not to do something, then I won't. I probably started her too early on solids, but A) it's kinda fun to watch Claire give me the WTF?! face when I put peas in her mouth; and B) she's sleeping through the night. Also, I'm trying to let her soothe herself back to sleep at night. This is a really nice way of saying, "I let Claire cry her lungs out until she falls asleep. Meanwhile, I'm also hysterically crying in my bed because I feel like this must be some sort of child abuse." Another thing I've learned- it's okay if babies cry.

2. I was able to spend some time with my wonderful friends this past Saturday. With all of these basketball games, I've forfeited any "me" time. Saturday we went to Kylee's mom's memorial. I've met Kylee's mom once, but I'm so thankful for her because she gave us Kylee. I really like her- she's fashionable, funny, a great singer, and really creative! P.S. She's engaged and her ring is gorgeous! I also saw another girl who I really like- Michele F. Rikard. She's currently fostering the cutest little girl and it was fun to see Michele be a mommy. By the by, she is with child and I am putting my money on it's a girl. Later that night, a bunch of us went out in Midtown for Emily Munteanu's bachelorette party. I WAS A DANCING FOOL!! We went to twiested taco, which I think is the whitest bar ever! The DJ was great and we all sang off key and danced like no one cool was watching! I really miss hanging with Kelly, Teresa, Suzanne, EClare, and Emily Munteanu! If only Brandi were there... Great times were had all around! How about I didn't get home until 3:15 am! Thank goodness my wonderful hubby was sleeping soundly and so was my baby!

3. Our good friends, Michael and Meredith, are home with their handsome boy Evan. I'm so glad that his cold (understatement) is much better now! They're such a wonderful and strong couple and I'm glad everything is going well. I can't wait until Evan and Claire can play together. When I first met this little man he was so TINY!! Claire was huge compared to him. But his mommy tells me that he weighs about 8 lbs now. He's gained about 3 lbs. in a few short weeks! I bet next month he'll be 6'2" and 180 pounds! Great people those Rands!

4. So what's next Viola?! Well, I feel like once basketball season is over, I can start being me again! I really miss my family (I haven't spent time with Marci or Ardis in forever- I really miss them!). My plan is to spend time with friends and family and start my interior decorating portfolio. My first room will be my "formal living room," which I'm not making formal at all. Yeah sure it will be cute, but I'm going to use it as a reading room/ craft room. I'm really excited about this! I'm also going to work harder on my goal of running the peachtree. I'm sorta running now, but not consistently and I need to add on more miles- yikes!

So I leave you now with my cute pic of the week. Today while at work, Mimi (Jeff's mom Marci) sent me this picture to my phone. Yes, my little girl loves to look at herself in the mirror. Some would say she is vain, but I say she is just curious about the beautiful face she sees in the mirror. Too cute!