Friday morning my friend, Emily, called me up with an awesome idea for how we should spend the day with our little one’s. She suggested packing the kiddos up and taking them on an adventure downtown. Her plan was to take the kids to ride the trolley, eat a picnic lunch in the park, and go see the ducks walk. Downtown Memphis is the home to the Peabody Hotel and some really cute and famous ducks. Everyday at 11am the ducks are escorted from their 12th story duck penthouse down to the lobby’s grand fountain. All while walking on a red carpet…of course. The ducks play there all day until 5pm when they go back up to their little ducky home.

Emily and the girls stopped by and picked me and Gray up and we headed downtown to our first stop of the day…the ducks!

After the ducks we headed to a nearby park in the downtown area and had ourselves a wonderful little picnic. Grayson only tried to run off 2 times. That, my friends, is what we call progress!

Here I am chasing him down. In the background, you can see Emily with her well behaved children sitting on the blanket.

After lunch we hopped on the trolley. It’s only $1 for adults and free for children. Hayden and Grayson love trains so this was the perfect treat for these two little cuties. Gray is saying “choo-choo” in the pic below. I love his lips when he does this, so I make him say it all the time.

I tried to get Gray saying “choo-choo” on video, but my very non-shy child was mesmerized by his very first ride on anything close to a train. Little Miss H stepped up and made the video taking worth while with her own cute little version of “choo-choo!” I’m pretty sure the trolley ride was a winner.

How stinkin’ adorable are these two? Grayson is a full year younger than Hayden, but pretty close to the same size. I mean, come on kid…stop growing already!

After 10-15 blocks the trolley started having issues with one of it’s doors, and was stopping a lot. This was making our quick trolley ride last quite a bit longer than we had planned. We thought we heared the conductor tell everyone that if they wanted to get off and get on the trolley behind us to head back the other way we could. So we did. Turns out we were wrong. After trying to get on the trolley behind us, and being told by a fairly rude conductor that we had to pay again (which we weren’t expecting to have to do) we pulled out our money, but then he stated that we needed exact change..which we didn’t have. That meant we were walking back to the car.

Let me just tell you…our car wasn’t close….at all. Emily was carrying her 1yr old and I pushed the two toddlers in the stroller. Praise the lord for bringing the stroller! Hey, at least we got something good out of that super long, hilly, and unexpected walk. My blindingly white legs got a bit of sun, and Emily said that it seems she lost a pound. Nice! I’m gonna try to ignore the fact that this very long walk was really God making my lazy butt exercise. Ignore, ignore, ignore. Nope, not me. I don’t see any signs. Not-a-one.

Even with our unplanned foot tour of downtown the day was perfect. I love Emily, because she always has the best and inexpensive  ideas on how to entertain our crew of houligans.

Sunday afternoon, Mother’s Day, I found out news that made my heart sink, and then just hurt. On what should be a day full of love and happiness for all mothers; my best friend from high school was having the furthest thing from a good Mother’s Day. At just 10 months old her son went to be with God. Her 1st and only child died on Mother’s Day 2012.

All I know is that at 4am Sunday morning he was in the hospital and not doing well. I was in total shock when I found this out. I can only imagine the pain she is going through right now. I know there is nothing I or anyone can say or do to lighten this pain, but I really wish there were. She now lives in Chicago and I live in Memphis so we aren’t as close as we once were, but I still love and adore her as much as I did when we spending our days gossiping about cute boys and going to friday night football games.

For all those parents, soon-to-be parents, and one day parents remember that everyday with your child(ren) is a blessing. Even the days when you  are at your whit’s end and are ready to give up….that day is a blessing too. The next time you are ready to pull chunks of your hair out because little Johnny just put foil in the microwave just to see the pretty “fireworks” remember, it’s just a microwave. People have lived thousands of years without them and still do to this day. But I bet you can’t find a single mother that’s lost a child and doesn’t grieve everyday, and would gladly live without that silly microwave, over the loss of her precious angel.

This news has changed the way I look at my little boy. I already loved him to the ends of the earth, but having something like this hit so close to home has really opened my eyes to the possibility that everyday could be the last day I spend with Grayson. So, go hug your babies, big and small, and smother them with slobbery kisses. And don’t forget to just sit and soak up all the sweetness and love they have to offer.

P.S. – I know I didn’t give my friend’s name or her son’s name, but would you please keep them in your prayers. Pray that her and her husband’s hearts receive some relief from this pain and sorrow soon, and that they find the strength each day to keep moving forward.

For Mother’s Day I mentioned that Grayson and I made my mom a succulent terrarium, and I’m back with a little How-To on that bad maam ma-jamma.

For me, this project was decently inexpensive because I had most of the supplies on hand. Here’s what you’ll need…

• glass jar (I picked mine up at Target for $5.99)
• rubbing alcohol (if you decide to add a chalkboard label)
• chalkboard paint
• chalk
• small paint brush

• small rocks for drainage
• carbon
• potting soil
• succulent plant

Start by having your handsome assistant add a layer of small rocks that cover the bottom of your container. (a 1/2 inch should be fine for a small scale project like this)

Next add your layer of carbon. (1/4 of an inch)

Then you will need to begin adding your soil. Don’t add too much before adding your plant because the roots will need to go somewhere and you don’t want your plant sticking out the top of your container. In terrariums, the plants are typically planted below the brim of your container. They are not ment to fully crest the top like a typical potted plant.

I didn’t take photos while planting my succulent, because it was just too darn messy, and honestly….I forgot.

If you want to add a little chalkboard sign to the outside you will need to wipe down the surface you plan to paint with rubbing alcohol, and let it dry. I wanted my sign to be imperfect so I just slapped on a few layers of paint (according to the instructions, of course), and let it dry overnight.

I let Gray draw his Oma a little picture instead of writing anything on it.

It turned out super cute, and my Mom loved it. Anyone else make or get any spectacular Mother’s Day presents this year?

My Mother’s Day was started off by my boys waking me up and smothering me with kisses and a present. Grayson and Derek made me a super cute little card.

“Grayson” signed his name. My almost 21 month old is a total genius! I’m sure he had absolutely NO help from his daddy. Looks like he inherited my poor penmanship though.

(Anyone else notice the “a” is written backwards? Hehe!)

For my gift, my boys actually got me two things. One of them I got a few weeks early, because Derek someone couldn’t wait. This the gift he couldn’t wait to give me…

Now do you see why he was so impatient? Yep, because he wanted to play with it himself. It’s the New iPad, and I love it. So does Grayson…under supervision, of course. Wanna know the best think about this puppy? All we paid for it was $87. That’s right. Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. You didn’t forget how to read. I said we paid $87 for a new iPad.

We are constantly trying to save, especially if we ever want to move out of this house, so spending $500+ on a “unneeded” piece of technology just wasn’t in our budget. However, we do have a credit card that you earn points on and redeem for gift cards or other items. (I don’t think it’s the wisest thing to share with the whole world what kind of CC we own/use. I use to work with CC fraud back when I was working and it’s nothing to mess around with.)  Sorry, back to the card. We earn points, sometimes double or triple points, every time we use our CC. And since we only use our CC and never a debit/check card we rack up some serious pointage. We’ve been saving our points for quite a while now and were able to cash them out for Best Buy gift cards that just about paid for this new toy of mine. Woop! Woop!

My second gift was this adorable mug Derek (and Grayson) made for me on Shutterfly. I made one for Derek a few months back, just because, and he felt that I needed one too. Good thinking, sweetie!  I like surprising him with random little gifts from time-to-time just to let him know that I’m thinking about him.

Yes, my child thinks he’s British, and calls me “Muma or Mum.” It’s the strangest thing.

This is a photo of me holding Grayson for the first time. Love.

After church, Derek cooked us an amazing lunch, Gray and I napped, then we headed over to my parents house for dinner with my Mom. My little sister is quite the cook and treated my Mom to a day of meals cooked from scratch, and we got to join in on the yumminess. Score!

Here’s my little dude chillin’ on the couch, and messing with the remote. Playing with my parents’ TV remote and car keys are two of his favorite activities when he goes over there.

He looks so old here. He’s really growing up fast these days. He’s loosing every ounce of that babyish look he had and turning into a little boy. I can’t take it! I’m constantly telling him to “be a tiny baby again, pleeeease!”

For Mother’s Day Gray and I made my mom (Oma…that’s what Gray calls her) a terrarium for her office at work. She has a big window that brings in lots of light, so I thought this would be perfect.

I used some chalkboard paint to make a small area on the front that you can write something. I decided to let Grayson draw his Oma a little something instead.

Derek’s parents were out of town visiting his grandmother, so we wished her a happy Mother’s Day via phone. I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother’s Day. Wether you are a mom or not. I know I did. Although, I did have a nasty sinus headache pretty much the whole day.

P.S. – I’ll be back later this week with a how-to on the easy little terrarium Gray and I whipped up for Mother’s Day.

Remember last week when I told you about the gender reveal party I threw from my friends? Well, I’m back to tell you about how it all went down. For those of you who saw the post last week and were left hanging; have you figured it out yet? Did you scroll down and cheat? Cheater-Cheater Pumpkin Eater. For Shame! Ahhh….just kiddidng. I totally would have.

Megan and Justin brought their adorable daughter Lyla. You met her the other day. The party started and everyone played with the baby. People gathered outside since it was such a beautiful afternoon, and Derek got to cooking the burgers and hotdogs.

And here are the proud parents-to-be keeping it nothing but classy.

After we ate it was time for some team photos. Here’s the two teams…

It’s kinda funny, Team Girl was composed mainly of men, and Team Boy was made mostly of the ladies.

And here we go…

We Skyped in Rachel’s sister and nephew for the big reveal.

IT’S A BOY!!!!!

Here they are trying to show the world the gender of that tiny little baby and Rachel can’t balance the mustache on her upper lip if her life depended on it. Jeremy though, he’s a pro.

And just in case you wanted to see, here is Rachel in all her Mommy-to-Be glory.

Please pay no attention to the chipping paint on the storm door or the fading, peeling, groody paint on the steps. We are in the process of getting them painted. Right now, we are trying to decide on a color for the steps and the base of the house. The hunter green has to go.

I am beyond late posting this little girl’s newborn session. Guess how old she is already. Eight stinkin’ months. It’s a good thing I don’t edit (timeline-wise) like I blog. I make sure I stay within my promised edit timelines, but the blog…that’s just for giggles so post sometimes sit waiting for months. Oops! Anyway, I would like to introduce you to little Miss Lyla.

Go ahead and say it….C-U-T-E! Derek and I have known Lyla’s Mommy & Daddy for years, and they are so much fun. As a matter of fact, Justin (her Daddy) and Derek use to be roommates. Megan has great style and it shows in everything; all the way down to Lyla’s beautiful nursery. Don’t worry, you’ll get a peek of it later on in the post, but for now just enjoy some photos of a way too cute baby.

Do you see this? She reached up and touched her Daddy’s face. Heart. Officially. Melted.

Megan’s mom is an amazing Baketress, and we decided to take this photo with one of her cupcakes on Lyla’s tushy just for her.

Do you not just love this nursery?

Megan’s best friend came in town to help out with the baby. Lyla seems to enjoy hanging out with her momma’s BFF too.

So that’s it for this cute little cupcake. And there are still more shoots that are from months ago still to come. So, stay tuned.

Speaking of chickens. One of my random nicknames for Grayson is Chicken. I have no clue why. It just showed up one day like baby Moses floating down a river in a basket.