A Beautiful Weekend for an Easter Egg Hunt!

We REALLY hope this spring weather is here to stay. It was such a beautiful weekend and we loved spending some time outside! On Saturday we took Hayes to the Easter egg hunt at church. I was so planning to have some early egg hunts to show miss priss how to hung for some eggs. But we never had time to practice so she didn't have a clue what to do when she got there! Haha! But it was a fun day anyway! There was so much to do and see and I think Hayes was a little overwhelmed, plus she didn't get to take a nap beforehand.



Our Willoughby cousins Sam, Alice and Claire went w/us along w/Aunt Leah and that made the day even more fun! We had a great time with y'all as always!!

Claire and Alice


There were so many kids that it was hard to find the eggs! But bless her heart, she did get ONE to bring home!
Hayes w/sweet friend Maggie


So after we came home and took naps we had another egg hunt w/just Hayes vs. herself so she would be sure to find some eggs! She sort of figured out what to do after we kept showing her. She would pick up 2 or 3 and put them in her basket and then take them out and throw them down and start all over, over and over!





Sweet Daddy holding the basket, doesn't he look thrilled?! haha!


Also we took a family trip to Yogurt Mountain on Saturday, my new favorite place. SO dangerous. I highly recommend it if you have one near you. It is soooooo good. Happy Monday!

Our Grandparents

I haven't posted anything in over a week! It's been a busy one and I don't know where the days have gone. Seriously it seems like it's the weekend and then before I know it, it's almost the next weekend. Time goes by TOO fast (and I attribute all that to having a child) and I need to catch up before I forget anything!
This week Nathan and Lindsey's grandfather (his mom's daddy) passed away. Some of you might know that he had heart surgery about 8 weeks ago, then started dialysis for his kidneys, but could never quite recover from everything. He passed away peacefully this past Tuesday. He was a wonderful man. Nathan has so many good and funny memories, as do the rest of their family. Really, there are ALOT of funny stories from Nathan's parents, aunt and uncles, and grandkids about their grandaddy. I'm so thankful I got to know him these last few years that we've been married. The service was great and the Lord provided such a beautiful, spring-like day. Could not ask for more. Nathan's dad spoke at the funeral about his precious memories and it was both funny and sweet, and just the way his Grandaddy would have wanted his funeral.

Honey and Grandaddy this past Thanksgiving 2009


Father's Day 2009


I've mentioned before that my grandmother now lives here in Birmingham as of December. She is in a great place that cares for Alzheimers and dementia patients. She had a really hard week last week and has been in the hospital since last Sunday. We think she is on the upswing but would appreciate you keeping her in your prayers. She has always been such a huge part of our family and it's sad to see your grandparent be so different than they've always been. We also know she misses my Grandaddy so much, whether or not she can remember or verbalize that. We love her so much and can't wait for her to get out of the hospital and get back to her "new home!"

Here is our sweet Grandmama with 3 of her grandchildren and 8 of her 13 great-grandchildren-the others were at Disney for spring break and we missed hanging out with them!


Enjoy the beautiful weekend!!

Today's Favorite Things

I am playing along w/Hillary's Friday Favorites. I have ALOT of favorite things, all in different categories, so I'm listing a few that are at the top of my mind at the present moment, all very random and not in any order so beware!!

1. Shrimp and Grits Kids clothing. My friend Ana Moore sells this and I just got Hayes' Easter dress in the mail yesterday and opened a minute ago. And I LOVE it. Sooo precious and what little girl doesn't need yet another smocked dress. I'm excited about it Ana. Thanks for introducing this new line to everyone!!



2. Lemon Pine Sol-because my entire house smells like this right now and this NEVER happens. I'm on an unusual cleaning spree and can't stop. I started mopping the kitchen, then did the bathrooms, then decided I might as well do the whole house. Nathan will definitely think he's at the wrong house when he shows up at 5:00 today. I should do this way more often!!



3. SUNSHINE DAYS at the park! I'm overly excited about the nice weather we are going to have this weekend. And I'm extremely ready for the cold weather to be out of here until fall! Thank you Lord for the beautiful, sunny and warm day you have given us today. We have taken advantage already!!

4. Papa Murphy's Pizza-this is becoming a weekend favorite at our house. If you have one close by, you definitely need to try it. You pick it up at take it home to bake. It's delicious!!

5. COUSINS! Those who live close by and far away. We love them all and always have SO MUCH FUN hanging out w/them. We've had a busy week being entertained by them all.



6. My sweet Grandmother that now lives in Birmingham! She's been here since December and we visit her every week. Last night my Dad, aunt and uncle, and Hayes and I were able to eat supper with her. Hayes was the star of the show w/all the old ladies. We're so happy that she is living here now and we can see her so often. My grandmother is on the right, her twin sister Ease is on the left in this picture. And this picture is a story for another day!



Enjoy the day. Happy Friday!!

It's Spring Break!

Our cousins are in town this week. And they are FUN and BIG and SILLY and we LOVE hanging out w/them. Hayes is in heaven w/these spend the night playmates! I hope they'll always want to come to Birmingham to play with us for their spring break week! It's been a big day already so now we're having some down time before our next big event. Be back later w/pictures!!

Growing Up: 13 Months

We've all 3 been a little under the weather for various reasons at our house for the past 7 days, but things are looking up! God was taking complete care of each one of us as always and thankfully Nathan and I alternated being well enough to take care of Hayes each day. You truly depend only on each other when you have no grandparents in town and each sickness/scare brings another true bonding experience! I hope this is the end of the sicknesses for this household for 2010! Now I feel spring coming on and we are all ready for that!!

Bye-bye old carseat!



Hello big girl car seat!



She's a little over 13 months and growing way too fast and making big changes everyday. Her favorite toys right now are her 3 little pigs w/playhouses, plastic rings, books (although she doesn't want you to read them to her-maybe half of a story at times), her talking tea set, piano, necklaces which she takes off and puts back on constantly, and her laundry basket. She's a funny eater. Today she ate peas and butterbeans for lunch and loved them. Lately she has not napped in the afternoon, just lays in her bed and plays, talks, makes noises and explores. She throws everything out of her crib. We can expect to hear a loud bump about 15 seconds after she gets in her bed from throwing her glow worm or baby dolls down on the floor. She can reach the blinds from her bed and bangs them against the wall and thinks it is hilarious, and it really is very funny to peek in and watch that!

Today we had a lunchtime ice cream date with Daddy. She knows her Daddy will share some ice cream with her. If he ever has anything in a cup or bowl, she will drop everything in her hands and stand right underneath him like a puppy. And that man can't say no to her. She gets all the ice cream she wants from him. Mommy is a different story-she doesn't like to share her food-hahaha!



We made a quick trip to the park afterwards. I could eat those little baby legs and feet!








Happy Spring! Hope everyone is staying healthy and enjoying the beautiful weather!!

Friday Favorite: Fluffy French Toast

My friend Hillary at The Other Mama is having a Friday Favorites on her blog today! So I am sharing our NEW favorite breakfast recipe for french toast. It is delicious and sooo easy to make. For the first 3 1/2 years we were married before Hayes was born, Nathan and I went to eat breakfast every Saturday morning, and I mean EVERY Saturday! He really likes breakfast foods and I do too (just not nearly as much as him.) But now it's not quite as easy to take Hayes, especially since her restaurant high chair span is a whopping 5 minutes and then she's done. So now we mainly cook at home on Saturdays and just came across this recipe from All Recipes. I made the mistake of telling Nathan I would TRY to cook breakfast at least 2 days a week-haha! Well Thursday morning I got up and he was already in the kitchen cooking the french toast. I did make the coffee though.
If you need a Saturday morning breakfast idea this is definitely it! All of the ingredients you most likely have at home except for the BBQ bread. Enjoy! Sorry no pics of the delicious breakfast, it was way too early for the camera!

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white sugar
8 thick slices bread-use BBQ bread!

1. Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk. Whisk in the salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sugar until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat.
3. Soak bread slices in mixture until saturated. Cook bread on each side until golden brown. Top w/strawberries, blueberries or both and serve with sausage or bacon. YUMMY!

Baby Shower weekend in Dothan

This past weekend we had a baby shower for our good friend Katie! She is having her first baby, a little boy in early April. It was a very nice party and SO much fun to see everybody there. We definitely let too much time pass in between seeing each other-I guess that is just life though, always busy!!





Katie seems like she has always been my longtime/permanent roommate! Between Auburn and Birmingham we lived together for about 4 or 5 years before we both got married. Many fun times and good memories were made!! She is one smart and busy girl. On top of having her first baby, she and Lane just bought a house in Dothan, and she is almost finished w/her orthodontics school (is that what it's called Katie?) Seriously the girl has been in school her whole life non-stop! So if you live in Dothan and need an orthodontist she is your woman to call if you can wait until June!!


The hostesses with Katie, minus Missy-we missed you girl!!






We also spent time with both families and that is always fun! We had a rough trip on the way down on Friday but it was much smoother coming back on Sunday thankfully. Hayes does not care for long trips so we'll have to make some adjustments before we do that again in April. I'm putting her new big seat in the car THIS WEEK and it can't come soon enough. I just wish we had done it before we left on Friday and it would have saved all of us alot of trouble! She had a big time playing with her cousins Holley and Mary Hannah. We did not get enough time in w/Carson. He was busy playing w/his daddy on Saturday so we'll have to visit more w/him when they come for spring break week in a couple of weeks-can't wait Alyssa!!



I love these girls. They are bigger, sweeter, and more mature every time I see them. Alyssa may not agree with those 3 words to describe them every day but I sure do!!




Happy Monday!