Flashback Friday and More

Flashback Friday

{Me, 1982}

Excuse me ma'am! May I see your license and registration?
Clearly my fascination for cars began at a very young age. Since my sixteenth birthday, I've had 4 different cars; I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Gillian Grace doesn't inherit my predilection for big expensive toys!



Five Question Friday

1. Do you have any nicknames and if so how did it come about?

I have several nicknames. My family calls me Sly (initials of my first, middle, and maiden name); my grandfather calls me Windy because he thinks I talk incredibly fast; my mom has called me Myrtle Mae since I can remember, but why I'm not sure; and my Aunt Helen still calls me Toot to this day. And, no Toot doesn't have anything to do with what the name implies---I'm a lady, remember!

2. What is your birth order amongst your siblings?

I am an only child, so I guess that makes me the first and the last!



3. In a movie of your life, who would play your significant other?

If I could cast anyone to play hubs in a movie of our life I'd choose Ben Affleck. He's always been able to fly under the Hollywood radar and lead a seemingly normal life. He's good looking; is what appears to be a great family man; and has played a lot of very different roles. And though not part of the question, I'd also choose his real life wife, Jennifer Garner to play me.


Image found here

4. What is currently your favorite song?

My favorite song right now has to be Soul Sister by Train. It's a little over-played, but that doesn't bother me much because Gillian Grace lights up like Time Square every time she hears the opening riff. Hey, hey, hey...



5. Are you saving your money for anything right now? Big or small purchase?

Feels like we're always trying to save money, it's just a little harder now that I'm a stay-at-home mom without an income! There are tons of home renovation projects, like new windows and siding, on our wish list. And of course there's someone's college education to consider. It's too bad money really doesn't grow on trees!


Image found here

Yay for 5QF fun hosted by Mama M.! If you'd like to participate head on over to My Little Life and link up.



{Don't forget to check out the Mama's Messages giveaway!}

Have a great weekend! See y'all Monday!

Almost Wordless Wednesday---B is for Bobbie's Birthday

What was a great idea in theory, lacked a little in actual execution.

But with an always on the go one year old, I suppose I should consider the fact that she's even in the frame at all, a success!





















Happy Birthday, Bobbie! We love you bunches!

{Be sure to enter both Monday and Tuesday's giveaways and don't forget to swing back later for today's fabulous giveaway at five featuring Fancy Shmancy!}

365, oh my!

As hard as it is for me to believe, today marks our one year blogiversary! With only a handful of followers, I began blogging so that family and friends could keep up with all the changes in our growing family. Since my bloggy beginnings were humble at best, it is surprising to me just how much our blog has grown over the past year.

As much as I love my new job as a stay-at-home mom, I do miss the social interaction that I had when I worked. Though GG tickles me to no end with her cuteness, coos, babbles, and giggles, she's not the best conversationalist. We can watch a show or two together, but I can't get her opinion on last night's reality tv or listen as she fills me in on all the latest gossip. She is great at tugging my hair, but she can't tell me that it looks good styled a certain way. And while she can pat my knee and flash a smile that would melt any heart, she isn't able to reassure me that things will get better after a particularly rough morning. There are times that I am so desperate to talk to someone that doesn't require a bib when they eat, that I've stalked our mail carrier just to have a quick chat while I'm grabbing the mail. Not to mention my sudden transformation into the Chatty Cathy Momma when I go shopping. My mouth goes ninety miles to nothing from the time my items hit the checkout conveyor until I'm walking out with receipt, buggy, and baby in tow, giving cashiers much more than they bargained for when they asked me the generic, "How are you?"

My blogging hobby has grown from simply chronicling our family adventures into a way for me to connect with others. And as silly as it may sound, I still get excited when I gain a new follower or when my email pops up with a new reader comment.

With our first blogiversary falling on a Monday, it seemed only fitting that the Mommy and Me picture be one from last April. Even though Gillian Grace's debut was still a few months away, she was still very much a part of our lives.

Mommy and Me, the early days (April 2009)


Just like your parents told you about the sun, don't look directly at this picture, it will hurt your eyes! I'm au natural---no makeup, hat to hide my messy hair, and still wearing the clothes from our early morning walk. Gosh, am I a fashion statement or what?!

Hosted by Krystyn

Happy Blogiversary to me, and thank you for sharing in our lives!

March Madness

No, it's not what you think. Despite constantly traveling about town, shooting dirty diapers in the bin after many offensive fouls of the poopy kind, pretending to ignore my 8 month old's double dribbling, and signaling to the Ref (my husband) that I need a time out; this post, contrary to the title, has nothing to do with basketball. But between the crazy weather (hot, cold, warm, chilly, sweater, shorts...Mother Nature make up your mind already) and our at times chaotic day to day life, the madness part seems just about right.

March has a busy month. Here are some of the highlights:

Gillian Grace got her first pair of sneakers, pink high top converse. Great for a girl on the go!











With a few warm and pleasant days, interspersed between what has mostly been an unseasonably cool and cloudy March, we began spending more time outside. GG loves the sunshine and we learned, is enamored with her own shadow. We're looking forward to spending much more time outdoors in the months to come.














We visited our neighborhood park for the first time. With so many great photos of GG taken that day, I want to save the majority of the pictures for a separate post. But here's just a tease...





While visiting my parents, Gammie and I took GG to visit Grandad at work. Ever the proud Grandad, Dad carried Gillian Grace around and introduced her to all his colleagues.

















Bret and I ran in our first race since GG's birth last July. Having participated in many runs over the years, including the Disney 1/2 marathon several years ago, it felt good to once again hit the road and take part in a race. Of course, we chose the Annual McGuire's St. Patrick's Day Prediction Run 5k. Costumes are encouraged and beer is the drink of choice post-race so it's really more like a party than a race. The G-Force trifecta (Gammie, Grandad, and Gillian) cheered us on from the race coarse.











GG made some new friends.

Meet Green Guy (known as G square)...








And Gillian Grace's future baby-sitters...




With GG growing so quickly it was time for a few upgrades. She got a new Britax Boulevard convertible car seat. It's much roomier and now she doesn't fuss when we get ready to go somewhere. And since she's such a great sitter, I began carrying around our Chicco umbrella stroller instead of lugging around the much heavier regular stroller. Why I didn't try this sooner, one will never know. Guess in a lot of ways, I'm still a little reluctant to change, especially if it means that my baby girl is growing up.






What are your March highlights?

Take a Second

Every once in a while an email reaches my inbox that is worthy of its last line request, "Please pass along..."

Rarely one to send along forwards, I am breaking my own rule and asking that you, the readers of my blog, take a second to read the following excerpt from an email I received this morning.

Proposed Mastectomy Law Change (written by a surgeon) ;

I'll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies.

So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank you' they muttered.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below.

http://www.mylifetime.com/community/my-lifetime-commitment/breast-cancer/petition/breast-cancer-petition

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON.

At 31 years young, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and after going through painful radiation therapy, had a mastectomy. It horrifies me to think that Congress would be willing to send women home only hours after such an invasive surgery. Surely there are ways to cut health care costs other than putting our mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, and friends at risk. Please take the time to click on the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act button below. The button will link you directly to the petition on the Lifetime website. Then ask your family and friends to do the same. Feel free to grab the button I've created for your own blog. And for all of you Facebook users out there, after completing the brief petition on the Lifetime site, you can grab a badge to post to your profile to help spread the word about stopping breast cancer for life.

Many thanks!

We're Back...(Part 2)

It seems as though not a day passes that Gillian Grace isn't doing something new, and the last few weeks were no exception.

Crawling
What began as a yoga move (booty up, legs straight, head down) quickly transitioned into a tummy scoot, and before long became the real deal. Gillian Grace is crawling! She started crawling and has been on the move ever since. The only time GG is still is when she's sleeping, and if you've ever seen her sleep, you'd know that's even a bit of a stretch. Our munchkin is on the go 24/7! By the end of the day, Mommy Gillian Grace is one tired girl!

I'm so flexible!

Tummy Scoot

New Foods
So far Gillian Grace hasn't met a food she didn't like. Okay, well maybe that's not totally accurate. We quickly learned that green veggies, sweet peas in particular, are her kryptonite. And, to be honest after peeling back the seal and taking a whiff myself, I can understand why. Yuck!

Since turning 7 months, GG has been enjoying the increased portion size and variety of Gerber's stage 2 fruits and veggies. Trying to expand her palate just a tad, I picked up some macaroni and cheese one day while grocery shopping. After all, what kid doesn't like mac n' cheese? Well, that would my kid! Gillybean was definitely not a fan of Gerber's take on the classic dish. Three bites into dinner, GG decided she'd had enough and was D-O-N-E!

When I first took a bite, I wasn't so sure...

But, I soon figured out...

That I don't like mac n' cheese!

New Threads
Gillian Grace inherited a jacket that I wore as a baby. It's not the brand of the jacket, nor the style that makes this jacket special. It's the fact that my Dad purchased this jacket for me while he was away on a business trip nearly 30 years ago. As I'm sure is the case in most families, my Dad would rather take a beating than go shopping, much less clothes shopping. So for him to actually have picked something up for his little girl on his own was pretty special. Growing up in Florida, you can count on one hand the number of times I actually got to wear the jacket. The jacket was even loaned to cousins in Virginia and then was eventually returned (and not in the condition it was given) to our family. After being professionally laundered it was put away. Then along came Miss Gillian Grace, and the jacket got a new owner. Dad was so excited to pass along this jacket to Gillian and fortunately with a colder than average winter, she's had plenty of opportunities to wear it. Isn't it funny how one little jacket can mean so much?

I love making Grandad laugh!

Just the two of us...

Snug as a bug in a rug...

Pulling Up
Not only is GG a crawling machine, but she is pulling up on absolutely everything. She is very adventurous and unfortunately, fearless! Good thing is she's pretty resilient. I think the spills and bumps cause more pain for Mommy than GG.

Meet the Neighbors
While playing outside at my parents', Gillian Grace got a chance to meet the little girl that lives next door. I'm not sure what it is about children, but GG is instantly captivated by anyone under 4 feet.

Gillian Grace first meets Kenzie.

I think the fascination is mutual.

So those are the highlights from the past few weeks. And, yes I do consider all these moments highlights. Being a first time stay at home mom, my child is my life. My world is considerably small, revolving mostly around my daughter, husband, and family. For some it may seem mundane and uninteresting, but for me I couldn't imagine a life more fulfilling.

What are the highlights in your life?