fall bucket list

I saw this on Pinterest.  I think I just might try to do all of these this fall.  

Except sub the coffee drink for "a little cup of fall"!!

sorority mom

I joined MOPS this month. If you aren't familiar with MOPS, the best way I can describe it, is that it's like a Christian Sorority for Moms.  Ha!! It's very similar to the sorority I was in during my college years (Phi Lamb). 

I'm super excited to be a part of a group where I get to meet other Moms of young children.  There are about 60 Moms in the MOPS group I'm in, and there are 12 Moms that are in my Care Group.

We meet every other Friday morning.  At each of our meeting we drop our kids off in the nursery (or MOPPETS) then all the Moms get to enjoy a delicious brunch.  During our meeting we have a short devotional, then we either have a speaker, go over our book we are doing a book study on, or do a craft.   We also have lots of fun play dates planned all throughout the month.  

I'm super excited to get to know all the Moms in my group.  Lots of fun times ahead for me and the little guy!!

all i need is love

Who needs birthday presents??

All I need is love!!

Okay so maybe I did enjoy a few birthday presents too!

A little shopping money, a pedicure giftcard, new running shoes and a Sonic giftcard!!

happy birthday to ME!

It's my 27th birthday today!!

 (And my little brother's 23rd birthday)

I'm looking forward to celebrating with my little man all day. 

Then.....

Lolly & Pops are going to babysit tonight so I can go out and celebrate with my man tonight!!

mmmmmm fried chicken

We had a September Birthday celebration at Nonnie's house tonight.  

 We convinced her that since four of us have September birthdays that she should fry up some of her famous fried chicken!!

 Ryan's birthday is on the 14th, mine and Drew's is on the 20th and Matt's is on the 29th.

Four generations

Nonnie and her great grandkids

 Lolly & Oliva

Cousins 

 Looking forward to lots more birthdays with our growing families!!

my little monster

I love giving Pearson a bath.  I love the way he smells when we're done and I absolutely love the way he looks in his cute little monster towel!!

Isn't my little monster precious?

meal planning monday

Monday: Homemade Fried Chicken @ Nonnie's

Tuesday: Out for My Birthday Dinner

Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday: Meatloaf Meatballs, Cornbread, & Fresh Veggies

Friday Lunch: Grimaldi's Free Pizza

Friday: Kitchen Closed

Saturday Breakfast: Kitchen Closed

Saturday Lunch:  Picnic in the Park

Saturday Dinner: Matt's 10 Year High School Reunion

Sunday Lunch: September Birthday Celebration with Matt's Family

Sunday Dinner: Pizza Sunday

milk & cookies shower

Today I helped throw a shower for a sweet friend in our ABF.

We went with a simple but sweet "Milk & Cookies" theme.

We had snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and shortbread cookies with icing, and of course white milk and chocolate milk!!

B is for....

 Brody!!

 Amy got lots of sweet baby boy gifts.  

Her Mom made her a beautiful hand-knit throw.  

 Oh how I love little boy clothes!! 

Pearson loved getting to hang out with all the girls, and he especially loved seeing our friend Julie whom we haven't seen in a while!! 

{Amy, Tammy, Sarah, P-Man, Jennie (and Baby Bledsoe on the way)} 

 {Natalie, Michelle, Jenny}

{Me, Courtney, Julie, Carissa}

 Pearson was all tuckered out at the end of the shower.  He fell asleep before we even left and slept the whole way home!

We are so excited for The Brattons and sweet Baby Brody's arrival.  Pearson is going to have so much fun having a little buddy in our class!!

Pearson {3 months}

Dear Sweet Pearson-

This month has flown by.....so much so that Mommy hasn't taken very many pictures this month.  I think I made up for it by the amount of pictures I took today though!!!

 I can't believe you are already 3 months old.  You are growing and changing every day and we are loving every minute of it. You aren't a teeny tiny baby any more, but you are still so sweet and cuddly!!

 This month you have really started to interact with us.  If we lay you on our laps and talk to you, you will talk and smile at us for a long time.  We even get a little "hah" every now and then.  We can't wait until we get a full out giggle from you!!  You are the most smiley in the morning after you eat and right when Daddy comes home.  I love that you aren't fussy in the evening and that Daddy gets to see the sweet happy baby that I get to stay home with all day!!

I still can't believe what a great sleeper you are.  I swear you are just a dream baby.  I feed you around 8pm, put you to bed at 8:30, and you are usually asleep by 8:45 without a peep, fuss, or cry.  The best part is that you are now sleeping 11-12 hours.  It's wonderful!!  For a few weeks, you would still "wake-up" around 4am squirming and grunting, but it was nothing a pacifier wouldn't fix.  Now you don't wake up at all in the middle of night.

I still swaddle you at night and I have no intentions of stopping any time soon.  You are about to have to move up to the larger size of the SwaddleMe blanket.  I'm dreading the day that you grow out of the large size because you sleep like a dream while you are swaddled.  But hopefully it's just training you to be a good sleeper and it just won't matter when I take you out of it.

There was one week this month that you refused to take any naps unless you were in my arms, but other than that you are also a super napper.  You take about a 2 hour nap about an hour or so after you wake up in the morning (9-11am) and and then you take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon after your 2pm feeding 2:30-5pm).

After the week of no naps, I started putting you on a pallet in the living room for naps.  Ever since I moved you, you've been sleeping like a charm for naps.  I have a feeling your room is just too bright during the day.  It gets the most sun in the house, so I think I might have to look into getting some black-out curtains so you can nap in your crib.

You make us laugh because you are such a creature of habit even at 3 months old.  My parents kept you the other day, and I told her that you when you were tired you would start to get fussy, take your paci then nuzzle your head in the corner of her elbow.  You like your head completely facing down when you fall asleep in someones arms.  You did everything exactly like I told my Mom you would.  She even called me to tell how crazy it was! I guess I just know you really well!!

We put you in the nursery this month for the first time.  You've done great every time.  Each week the teacher says that you are very content.  Each time you haven't really napped, but I'm totally fine with that because you've taken a great Sunday afternoon nap each time.  We're talking 3-4 hours!!

We also started going to Bible Study every Tuesday and MOPS every other Friday this month.  You've done great in the nursery for these events too!! And also taken great naps in the afternoons on those days.  I think I'm really going to love Bible Study and MOPS days.

We took our first "road trip" with you this month.  We only went an hour away to Grammy & Grandaddy's house, but it was our first time to be away from home.  You did great!! You loved getting lots of extra loving from your grandparents and you even slept for 12 hrs for the first time while at Grammy & Grandaddy's.

As far as eating goes, you have put yourself on a new schedule this month, and I LOVE it!! I love the predictability of having a schedule.  It's really crazy that you just put yourself on this schedule.  It's a very "ish" schedule....give or take 30 minutes.  I nurse you at 8ish, 11ish, 2ish, 5ish and 8ish.  We are definitely on a schedule but we can be flexible when we need too!!

I always prefer to nurse you because I hate to pump, but you have had a few bottles of breastmilk (8-10).  You take them fine, you are just a little bit messy.  It's nice to have the option though to give you a bottle when we have company over or when we want to leave you with Lolly & Pops.

You have really started to "play" more this month.  You love tummy time and you even started rolling over from your tummy to your back this month.  You love to look at toys that make noise and you love looking at yourself in the mirror.  You still like to sit in your bouncy seat and you have really started to like your swing and play mat this month.  I think your favorite thing to do this month is lay in your crib and look at your mobile.  You could seriously stare at it for a good 30-45 minutes.  When Mommy needs to get things done this is so helpful!!

You are so easy to get out with.  You usually scream when I put you in your carseat, but the second I pick you up you stop.  When we are in the car you sometimes cry, but if I let you cry it out for 5 minutes or so, you always fall asleep.  You take great naps in the car!  If we are out shopping, you love to be in the stroller and you really love to be in the K'Tan.

Pearson, we are absolutely crazy about you.  You really are the best baby ever!! You bring so much joy to our lives and we look forward to all the fun things next month will bring.  We love you!!

Love-
Your Mommy

{3 month Stats}

Weight: 13lbs 4 oz. (this is an estimate on our scale at home)

Length: 24 1/2ish inches

Eating: nursing exclusively about 5 times a day (around 8am, 11am, 2am, 5pm, 8pm)

Bedtime: around 8:30pm

Awake: around 8:00am

Naps: Naps around 9:00-11:00 and 2:30-5:00 and a few cat naps (30-45 minutes) in between the other feedings.

Diapers: size 1's until Sept 4th/size 2's

Clothes: Just packed up all the 0-3 month/3 month clothes

Favorites: snuggles, eating, sleeping, paci, tummy naps, swaddle blanket, bottom pats, swing, bumbo, bathtime, walks, laying on our legs and talking to us

Latest Tricks: rolling over from tummy to back, blowing bubbles, making lots of sweet noises, sleeping 11 1/2 hrs at night, and drooling up a storm

Look how you've changed.