Rice cereal!

we started rice cereal yesterday!!! i was a little nervous about it, but she did wonderful. she did not have a lot of it, but we are just getting started. we are excited about this newest adventure. there will just be a lot of pictures this post. i just could not pick a couple because they are all so cute. i am going horseback riding today and i am so excited. it has been over a year since i have been on a horse. i am sure i will be pretty sore but i am so looking forward to the workout. i hope to have pictures for you next time and possible tell you about my jeans (the mail lady just dropped the off) that i ordered! lots coming so stay tuned.

5th annual girls beach trip

BellaRose went on her 1st girl's beach trip and it was a success. i was afraid that sweet girl would be more like birth control for the ladies but she did fabulous (except at night, and just for me, but that is another story). we have been going on the beach trip for 5 years. it all started when, rachel (top right) was getting married and we all lived together on Maney Ln. we thought that we would send rachel off for her marriage with one last girls beach trip. since we have all gotten married one summer at a time and now we are starting to have babies. we have moved away, gotten jobs, quit jobs, moved back, had disappointments, and many many joys and through it all stayed very tight. I am so thankful for these wonderful women. the trip was amazing, and relaxing, and we may have learned a few dance moves from "so you think you can dance". we did miss becky, because of her morning sickness could not come, and next year we will trade in one baby (sweetie baby) for another (becky's) . there could be the potential for some pregnancies which would be so exciting. it is amazing where God takes us in our life, but your friendships remain so rooted and strong. these are some amazing women here and i hope that you get the chance to meet them. your life will be so much richer for it. of course we said the whole time we would take a group picture and never did so you will have to piece together the pictures. what good friends!

B-Rose had her 4month doctors appointment yesterday. she had to get some more shots and it went very smoothly. they seem to be over before they even start. She is weighing in at a whoping 12.12 1/5 pounds and standing in at 25 inches tall. Dr. Ericco says that she is doing wonderfully and to stay the course. he never tells us what percentile she is in, but from the charts we have here she is right smack in the middle. what an outstanding baby!!

wanted~ the perfect wide leg jean. i have tried on many. from sevens, joes, j-brand to old navy etc. i have not found them yet, but i will, oh i will. i will continie to seek and to search and most importantly not to settle. i am about to order these to the right. i will let you know and they may appear in the "special finds" category! i do this search for you the reader ; ). this is purely unselfish of me!

back in the saddle again

BellaRose is 4 months old on Saturday. do you think that it is too early for her to start riding? even if it is just the dog? i mean look at this picture. how cute is that? of course rainy could care less that there is a baby and a saddle on her back, she just wants that tennis ball.

we went to greenville, s.c. on monday to see cameron for his 6th birthday. we missed the actual b-day b/c we were at the beach. isn't it so much fun when your birthday goes on for days and days. it was so wonderful seeing my sisters and my mom. they all fawned over B-Rose, as they should :). taylor, my niece was there as well, but i forgot to get a picture with all of them. rocco was on a playdate so we did not get to see him. worth of course went to the skatepark there. good times were had by all! no subject was left unspoken about.

in areas, "i should have known better", i got bangs. i thought i could look like jennifer garner. who does not want to look like that? i thought my hair is close to hers, i can do that cut! i usually take pictures of penelope cruz in to the hair dresser and want her hair. i also usually get laughed at too. well i got bangs, serious bangs, not the long bangs that can still go behind the ears, but bangs like hers (point thumb to right now), but shorter. i have said more then once "what have i done". like when we brought sweetie baby home and she would not stop crying and we had not slept in days "what have we done" sort of thing. only 2 people have seen it. my sister-in-law likes it, the girl at the boutique liked it, but the verdict is out with me. i should have learned my lesson when i was 12 and annie and i spent countless hours trying to pin back our bangs! oh well, they are here and i have to make them my own!!! oh man what was i thinking?

one year ago....

.....we were rocked. one year ago this week we found out that i was pregnant with our beautiful precious child. my how time flies. in the midst of being pregnant, i thought it was taking forever! i wanted those final days of pregnancy and waiting to be over, and now they are and our baby is almost 4 months old. my how time flies. like i have said before, it is like nothing i have ever experienced. i was not fully prepared for how much i would love this child. my heart sometimes wants to explode with love for her. i am going on my final beach trip of the summer next week and i thought i was going to

be able to leave BellaRose with worth. i can't do it. not because worth is not able, oh he is, but I just can't do it. it is not possible. a year ago i had no idea!

4 men and a baby......and a lady

wow!!! what an amazing trip we just went on to the Outer Banks. it was so relaxing, the weather was perfect, the food was awesome, and the fellowship fabulous. usually when i am on vacation i am ready to get home. you see i am a homebody by nature. i always have been, always will be. i like being surrounded by things that i know. this trip was different. i could have stayed for a lot longer. life just seems simpler on the beach. of course the mountains aren't so bad themselves. brother ben, noah, chris, worth, BellaRose and myself were there. ashlee came for a couple of days (she owns a Chick-fil-a in raleigh go visit) and then it was just me and the men. i think that BellaRose already has them wrapped around her little finger. there was much surfing, fishing, skateboarding, and beach cruising to be had. i know that there are a whole lot of pictures, but we took a whole so we had to share. the bottom 2 pictures are from ashlee's lake house. it was a wonderful way to end the trip. BellaRose even got in the water. she is doing so well. she is talking so much and grapping her feet. it is amazing to watch her grow and go through all these changes. worth would like to add a few words......

So yeah, I'll blog it up 'cause I know all these moms want to hear about surfing and stuff. So there we were, the waves were what, 10 or 12 feet or so? NOT. But we had a lot of fun. It's cool to look back to the beach and see command post central set up there and know your wife and daughter are there. Of course they don't care if you just got a good wave or not. . . .probably weren't even looking but it's still a cool thought to a dad. We could have used that monster truck (GRAVE DIGGER!!!! 2000 tons of car crushing madness, you know the one)to carry all that crap to the beach I know that. Our friends are the greatest and helped us carry it all. And that skatepark, 'yall know you want to hear how the park tour is going. . . well I'll tell 'ya. I felt like a punk. That place was steeper, deeper, and tighter than I thought when I saw pictures and said I wanted to go there. But Ben, Chris, and Noah all went AND skated and I think they had fun too. Remember kids, always wear a helmet. Wakeboarding??? There is a sport I'll never master but ole Michael Lawson sure has. That's about all I have to say about that. Is there any shrimp left on the outer banks or did we eat ALL of it?

my extraordinary......

ex·traor·di·nar·y ~ adj.
Beyond what is ordinary or usual: extraordinary authority.
Highly exceptional; remarkable: an extraordinary achievement.
Employed or used for a special service, function, or occasion: a minister extraordinary; an extraordinary professor.

—Synonyms 1. inordinate. 2. uncommon, singular, rare, phenomenal, special, signal.
—Antonyms 1, 2. common, usual.

i was with some friends the other day who are also mothers. we were talking about what our "thing" was. that one activity that defines us, that makes us who we are. it seems that once we had our babies we lost our "thing". you know before i had BellaRose i sold insurance. i guess that i would not really want that to be my "thing". i am sure anyone can do it if they have the proper training. i also rode horses, and i loved it, still do, although i have not done it in over a year now. that blows my mind. the acitivity that i had put all my focus on and really made me who i am, i have not done in a year. oh i could, and i will, but not yet. i also snowboarded. i loved it. i loved having the wind whipping my face and flying down the mountain not hearing anything but the snow beneath my board. i felt free, just as i did on my horse when we were soaring over fences. but now i have not done anyone of those things that i trained so hard to be. my one friend was saying how she wants to do something extraordinary, remarkable. for some reason that conversation as not left me. i think about it a lot. i think about it when i am at home taking care of my precious baby, and i think about it when i am hanging out with my remarkable friends, and i wonder if i will do anything extraordinary, if i will be known for anything, and then i look at my baby. SHE is my extraordinary, SHE is my remarkable. no one has ever done what i have done, no one, besides Worth and me by God's grace has made a BellaRose and that is phenomenal and special. i guess i am slowly growing a mother's heart. my world has become BellaRose. i can leave her and go out with my friends, but i think about her, and miss her. i know i will win no awards like i did win i rode horses or be acknowledged in front of crowd, but when my baby one day walks across a stage to get a diploma, or flies down a hill on a snowboard, or boats a mighty rapid that will be my reward. i am learning a lot and have learned a lot these past few months. i thought i knew about love, but i had no idea. i love my husband, but he can fend for himself without me. Worth and i are everything to her. we pray we train her up right and to be a good person, and to me that is extraordinary.

Parties Galore

this was the weekend of non stop action! first up we had Ethan's 6th birthday party! how cool is it to be 6. there are endless possiblities when you are 6. such as getting a blue power rangers costume but not the kind with muscles (he already has his own muscles)! this kid loves his costumes. and why not, you can be anything you want to be when you are 6!

then we went on to Jason Woody's 30th birthday party. this is our old crew from Banner Elk, NC. Greg and Dru and there little boy Pearson (you can hit their link, but they don't update-hint) were there. Pearson is the cutest, all tan and blonde. Drullet (aka Steven) and Gabrielle were there all the way from Oriental.

The stumps, and the drullets, and Chris are all going sailing next weekend. i am pretty jealous of that. Chris will be meeting up with us though when we go to the Outer Banks for our vaca. Nigel also made an apperance from Wrightville beach. and of course the usual crew of the Matt, Margaret, Jennifer, Ben, and the wonderful Davis! it was so much fun seeing everyone. There were so many babies and kids there. The old days it was dogs, and now it is babies. Man how times change. I guess this is what happens when you are 30! Maybe i would rather be 6 :).

worth and B-Rose enjoyed their morning smoothie on the front stoop. Sweetie Baby loves her bumbo. I think she feels like a big girl in it.

all these parties makes sweet girl very tired!

special find: i did not just find this mascara this week, but Newell told me about it and I need some more, so i thought that i would share. It is Chanel Inimitable it is fabulous! go buy some, you won't be disappointed.

make trumpet sound with mouth...now!

there are many many reasons to make trumpet sounds with your mouth this week~

1 st dadadaada (or however you spell trumpet sound)~ these angel trumpets. they are glorious, and they just happened. there are 4 flowers on this beauty and worth has taken some fabulous pictures of them. they are cooler and cooler every morning.

2nd dadadadaaa~ Sweetie Baby is almost rolling over! she can get on her side and her legs all the way over, but she just can't get the whole body over. that darn arm of hers keeps getting in the way. she is so cool!

3rd dadaddaaaa~ we have many new friends and websites that have joined the blogger world! go meet them, virtually, that is. i know you will love them as much as i do!

4th dadaddaa~ i was able, single handidly (?) to wash Atticus this week. I always get him groomed. it is just not worth my time to fight a Siberian Husky. But i did it. i had too, he just is losing so much hair. it was making me crazy! let me just tell you washing him is miserable. i get more wet then he does.

i am sure that there are many more dadadadaa moments like, Becky being pregnant (have i mentioned that yet), and Annie buying a house, and discovering pandora radio, and going to lots of birthday parties tomorrow, and Emerson learning how to take naps, and discovering old high school friends, and 10 year reunions, and just being here enjoying life and all the adventures and friends that come our way. hopefully we will have many more dadadaada moments, like if i ever figure out how to make a compost pile, and how i will figure out how to save my plants from one season to the next, and watching Sweetie Baby get to all her milestones. life is happening and life is good!