Do the Cake and Ice Cream!

Anderson got a birthday card with music that summed it all up for me..."smoosh the cake, eat the cake, and get it in your hair! Get it on the the birthday outfit momma made you wear!" The song goes on about make sure you grab more and this is what birthdays are for, but it was pretty spot on for the day. I dressed him in his smocked birthday jon-jon which, of course, had to be washed in the afternoon b/c he had a huge blow-out that got everywhere and required changing his clothes and the his crib linens too! I seriously thought that something like that just had to happen so I was already half expecting it! I had fun decorating his chair, found a great birthday hat, and pulled out the special birthday bib for the big day. My friend Jennifer, that I work with, made him an adorable smash cake (last minute I must add). Luckily, she was already making cakes for another friend of mine so she was able to whip something up from the extra stuff she had! And I must add, I gave her no direction at all and only told her to make it boyish...she did a fantastic job! We had a small family party on Saturday afternoon with hamburgers and then it was cake and ice cream time--my personal favorite part! All I wanted for him was for him to destroy the cake and get messy which he did :) Just a warning that there are quite a few pictures...

In the chair that Brad sat in at his grandparent's house as a child

The birthday chair!

The smash cake!

The cake from Signe's for the rest of us, although we snacked on the smash cake too!

The bib!

The hat!

Opening his presents!

He finally got the hang of it!

Almost birthday cake time!

He did eat quite a bit of the cake!

My messy 1 year old!

My Birthday Boy!

Anderson had a big day today turning 1! He was so sweet and was his smiley, happy self! I have a ridiculous amount of pictures to sort through and am looking forward to posting about his birthday party!!

In the meantime, I have found my mind wandering thinking if it is possible that he has gone from this........

To this......

In just 1 short year???!!!

Happy Birthday Buster...we love you :)

T-Minus 2 days and Counting....

Anderson is going to be 1 on Saturday! On one hand I feel that in some ways this has been the longest year ever, but on the other hand I feel that I blinked and it was gone. This week has been particularly fast! I went back to school (students start Monday the 17th) and I am trying to adjust to the new back to school schedule and being at work my two days a week. It has thrown me for a loop. Perhaps some of my problem at this point might or might not have been the girls night out last night that kept me out way later than I needed to the night before I had to be dressed and out the door the next morning---worth it, but I think some bad influence might have encouraged me to go to on past when I should have (umm, I won't mention any names!)! It will take a few weeks for me to get used to this and on track! All this week I have thought about how on Saturday Anderson will be 1 and about the "lasts" I have done for him---I made his last batch of babyfood about 2 weeks ago, bought his last can of formula, and bought his last box of bottle liners! His baby tendencies are really fading away and he is acting more like a little boy. He doesn't want to drink from a bottle (I could not be happier...but sad too), he would rather finger feed than be fed from the spoon, he squirms in my arms to get down when I am holding him, and has started to play more appropriately with his toys. A few examples.....he likes to put his bath toys on the ledge of the tub, he will reposition the push toy to get it moving again, and he will put smaller objects in others. His balance is great when standing and more and more he is standing near something while using both hands to play with a toy. I am just waiting for him to get the courage to take those steps! I know these birthdays come every single year without fail, but he will always be my baby!

A Trip Back...

Our trip back to Charleston was jammed packed and way too short! We had a laundry list of things we wanted to accomplish and it was mighty lofty considering that we headed home late Saturday afternoon. Not everything was crossed off the list, but it at least makes for a great reason to go back soon!

The first stop of the trip was to Meme Love's house, who lives just outside of Charleston. We got to visit with Meme twice in 2 days since she treated everyone to lunch on Thursday in celebration of daddy's birthday. I will post pictures of that event when I get my hands on some of the pictures taken!

Then it was off to do some shopping and then meet up with our friends Rob and Ginny and their son Ford who is just shy of 2 weeks younger than Anderson (we visited with them back in November--click here for the post). They were (and still are!) some of our good friends when we lived in Mt. Pleasant. They so graciously hosted us in their home Friday night and showed us exactly what we are missing out on not living there anymore :)

Anderson and Ford

Ginny and Me

Rob and Brad striking a pose?

Ford and Anderson "playing" together

Look who was caught standing on his own!!

Our boys!

Saturday afternoon, we went to the old neighborhood and had lunch with our old neighbors--Debbie and Dennis. Dennis cooked a pirlieau (also known as chicken bog in some places) with field peas and mac-n-cheese! I love his pirlieau and always stuff myself to the gills!! Their granddaughter, Murray, was also there and I was so glad to see that little girl. I posted about Dennis and Debbie several months back--click here to read some history.

Anderson playing on Murray's trampoline!

Anderson and Brad on our old dock.

Murray, Me, Anderson and Brad on the bench near the property line of our 2 houses.

In the background, behind the bench to the left is the dock that we shared with Dennis and Debbie. The grassy area behind us to the right of the dock was our backyard. It was a little sad to see our old house. As silly as it sounds, it seemed so lonely and lifeless. The yard was poorly taken care, bushes were overgrown, and overall looked horrible. Brad and I took such good care of that house and to see it in its current condition was disheartening. I hope that house is sold soon and brought back to life (we sold it to the company--click here for the post).

After lunch and visiting a while, we had to start making our way back home. We had a great time and there will be a trip back!

"Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy!"

That is how it all began--allow me to explain! Brad and I met in Septemeber of 2000! I was a senior at the College of Charleston and Brad was a first year graduate student at MUSC. One night in a fine establishment in downtown Charleston, Brad asked me to dance to one of th Tams greatest hits (hint: mentioned in the title!!)! 4 short years later on August 7th, 2004 we were married!

Me and some of the girls with Little Red from the Tams! Brad and I had our first dance to the very song that started it all sung by none other than the Tams!!!

We have another reason to celebrate August 7...it is also my daddy's birthday!!! HAPPY BDAY!

The retired guy and his birthday cake---the small one to the left of the wedding cake

These are pictures that I already had on my computer and were taken by Brad's Uncle Daniel. I have tons of professional pictures but they are actual prints I would have to scan and I do not have have time to locate them or sort through them for that matter! Brad, Anderson, and I are going to be leaving for Charleston shortly to shop and visit with some family & friends :)

From the Coast to the Country!

We made the best of our Saturday last weekend! Even though there was a chance of rain and pop-up thunderstorms, I talked Brad into taking us out in the river early to meet up with our friends David and Lauren and their 2 boys at the sandbar. We are so cautious (maybe a bit too cautious) about the weather for fear of getting caught out there in a squall with Anderson with us. It has happened with just myself and Brad out and it is not fun at all--not to mention just a bit scary at times!

He has no fears at all of the water!

He is always covered in sand!

No river outing would be complete without a visit from a friendly marine mammal!

Later that day, for the sake of compromise, I then allowed myself to be talked into riding up to the hunting property that Brad calls the "farm". Hunting season for deer begins August 15th--which ironically coincides with Anderson's birthday! How appropriate! Even more funny is that August 15th is always opening day--no matter what day of the week it falls on. It is a little cheesy joke in my family that Anderson was the first buck of 2008 season! Brad needed put corn out and also check his trail cams near his stands. So, I dressed Anderson in his camo shorts, to fit the part of course, and we rode in the buggy while Brad took care of the farm business. I must admit, that is one unique thing about our great state---you can go from beach to the middle of BFE, nowhere in a matter of 53 minutes!

Shorts are a little long, but he is still cute :)

Fun on the buggy!




Will be driving the buggy before we know it!


Daddy and his button buck!

"That's All Folks!"

On Friday, July 31st at 4:00pm my Dad and Uncle Gary closed the doors to Auto Transimission Center for what my dad refers to as a permanent vacation! Daddy has retired from mechanics and the automotive industry--something he has been doing since he was a teenager. It is hard to believe that this day came and went and Monday morning he will not be going to the shop!

Daddy in the building room working on one of the last transmissions!

The final once over and inspecting one of the last cars!

Later that night myself, Brad, Paige and Charlie took momma and daddy out to celebrate! We enjoyed dinner, drinks, and cake at Pepper's Porch in Bluffton!

Momma and the newly retired guy!

Momma, Me, and Daddy

The yummy oreo cake :)

Brad, Momma, Me, Daddy, Charlie, and Paige

Daddy is not wasting any time at all---they will be leaving for the Keys on August 8th for a just under a week! They will be back just in time for Anderson's first birthday :) We are very proud of daddy and his accomplishments and hope that he can find something meaningful and enjoyable to do with all of this new free time!