"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!

Latest Fashion Trend....

THE POST-OP SHOE!!!

Many of you have been subject to my complaining about my foot hurting the past 3 weeks after a unfortunate crush injury to the top of my foot! I went to the orthopaedic surgeon today and it seems that my 3rd metatarsal on my left foot is fractured. The course of treatment is this lovely post-op shoe that I have to wear for the next 3 weeks. It will force me to walk flat footed and will put the metatarsal in a better healing position. Good news is that this type of injury takes 6-8 weeks to heal and I already have 3 behind me!!! As hideous as it is, it really has helped to relieve the pressure and has helped with the pain!! I can go about my normal day w/o many restrictions which is great, and the good doctor even gave me a spare shoe to wear in the water for our weekly pool play dates, trips to the beach, and boat rides!

My favorite part the daily restrictions is in the comments section above and reads "will need help with cleaning, cooking, and childcare." Sorry honey.....doctor's orders......be a dear and get me a glass of water.

"Why don't friends with kids have time?"

Here recently I have had a few conversations with friends, both with and without children, and thought this article might explain things much better than I can. I can't take credit for finding the article--my friend Lillian posted this on her blog a good while ago and I thought it hit the nail on the head. It explains perfectly many questions including "what do you do all day?". This comes from Carolyn Hax of the Washington Post. Scroll past the article to read the text so you don't ruin your vision from squinting....



Dear Carolyn:

Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . . Okay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.
Tacoma, Wash.

Dear Tacoma,

Relax and enjoy. You're funny. Or you're lying about having friends with kids. Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them. Internet searches? I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed. So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.
It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.
It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.
It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.
It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.
It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself.

I couldn't have said it any better!

A Balancing Act!

I finally got Anderson a push behind toy. This is something I had been avoiding b/c I am really not a big fan and feel that they are more of a safety hazard than a help. He has been pushing around anything he can including, but not limited to, cardboard boxes, laundry baskets, my small kitchen stool, and his toy basket. So, I broke down for the sake of the hardwood floors! I studied them on the internet for days before finally deciding on the Melissa and Doug Chomp and Clack Alligator push toy. It is sturdy, has some resistance pushing forward and backwards, and has a non-skid strip on the wheels---it is my hope that these features will help with the concerns I had of the toy slipping away from him and the toy falling both backwards & sideways b/c he is still working on his balance---and so far it has. If push toys scare you, I recommend this one! Once he figured it out, it did not take him long at all to get a move on!

He is really cruising the furniture fast now and lets go very frequently and will just stand there several seconds before grabbing for something sturdy! No attempts at any independent steps yet....but I know it won't be long :)

A bit of Waterfestival!

Saturday night, we ventured up to Beaufort to enjoy a little bit of the Waterfestival. It has been several years since we have gone to any Waterfestival events. But, there was a time when there was absolutely no way I would miss it and would go to great lengths to ensure that. The objective back then was to party at the sandbar in the Beaufort River all day long--regardless if the sandbar was up, mind you. In that case, you just tied up and made a huge floating party deck and hopped boat to boat visiting until the tide went out, time permitting, or it got dark! Maybe, and just maybe after that you would rally and make it down to the waterfront--to the bars just outside the gates, really! Those were some fun times. This year, we did not brave the sandbar and were content paying the admission to actually go into the park and sit in front of the stage in our tailgate chairs listening the tunes of General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board. We have seen them countless times at Alive after Five & Party at the Point in Charleston and they did not disappoint this time and put on a entertaining show! What is not to love....Carolina Girls....Down at the Beach....Give Me Just A Little More Time....One of my all time favorite beach bands, second only to The Tams, of course!!

The waterfront park w/ a sea of tailgate chairs!


Me and Brad