Get To Know Me Monday: Engagement

I'm doing a series of "Get to Know Me Monday" posts because I've been on and off the blog for a while.  I thought I'd take the opportunity to re-introduce myself to what few readers I do still have! ;) I've spiced it up a bit by going through the alphabet: one new letter a week.  To see weeks a-d, scroll down to the bottom of this post.

This week, I'm up to letter "E"!  "E" is for engagement! (I don't like a post without pictures, so the formal engagement photos are all from our engagement session at Clemson! Photos from our actual engagement are down below!)

 *David played soccer at Clemson, so we had to get some on Riggs field!  He surprised me (again!) with the scoreboard that had his jersey number and our wedding date on it!  We ended up using it for our Save the Date!

David and I met in college (another post for another day!) and dated for 4 years before he popped the question.  Most of those 4 years we spent together, but then he graduated and got a job, and I graduated and went back to school in a different city.  We were still close enough to visit regularly, so we did, but did the "long distance" thing for a couple years.  

*Our little family on Riggs Field-yes Marley got to be a part of the pictures!)

During one of my weekend visits in October of 2010 (Halloween weekend!), David suggested we go out to eat.  This wasn't out of the norm at all--just like most un-married, kidless couples, we had money to spend. ;)  We went to P.F. Changs, one of our favorites at the time.  He kept asking me all kinds of questions, like "what have you enjoyed most about the last 4 years together?  What have you liked least?  What's your best memory of us?"


*Death Valley, our home away from home!

A little weird, as David isn't really the sentimental type, but I didn't think anything of it.  Maybe he genuinely wanted to know and it made for some good conversation.  We finished dinner and like every good chinese restaurant, got our fortune cookies.


*two of my favorite loves: Clemson and David!

My fortune said, "Something very good will happen to you soon."  Hmm, I wonder what that could be?  Will I pass my nursing exam?  Make it to Christmas break without having a mental breakdown? ;)


*Riggs field :)

We headed home after dinner, pulled into the garage, and walked into an extremely dark house.  I mean, all the lights were off inside--it was DARK.  Except for a faint glow I could see out the back door onto the deck.  David led me to the back door and told me to close my eyes.  Of course I obeyed, although my heart was pounding!  He opened the door and....our 6 pound yorkipoo ran out!  David said, "crap!  keep your eyes closed!"  And went chasing after our dog.

Once Marley was safe inside the house, he came back and told me to open my eyes.  The momentum had been building at this point because I'd been standing there so long with my eyes closed, he was out of breath and nervous, and....he was straight up in my face.  Like I could see nothing but his face, even in my peripheral vision.  Hey babe, I love you, too, but this is kind of weird.  At that point, I knew what was happening and I couldn't focus.  He said something I couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend because, hello!  He was asking me to marry him, I think?  He said something along the lines of wanting to spend the rest of his life with me and then...he was on one knee.  He was on one knee....HE WAS ON ONE KNEE!!

And as soon as he bent down, the "faint glow" from the deck came into focus as he had carved 5 pumpkins by hand to ask me to marry him!  They were all lit up and beautiful in the dark!!



He slid the most gorgeous ring on my finger and I started crying and calling all my family and friends--who knew well ahead of time that this was going to take place. And a little less than a year later, we said "I do" and are still enjoying our lives together.


*crying and looking all ridiculous because I'm engaged!


*First picture as an engaged couple!

It was the perfect engagement, very David, very creative, very detailed.  And the fortune cookie was just an added bonus to an already perfect proposal!  Since the next day was Halloween, we set the pumpkins out on the front porch for all the trick-or-treaters to see.  All of the parents stopped by to ask what the answer was: yes, of course!

Get to Know Me Monday: A
Get to Know Me Monday: B
Get to Know Me Monday: C
Get to Know Me Monday: D

Life Lately

I just emptied my phone to the computer (because I had no more storage!) so it's a good day for a "Life Lately" post!

Lately, we have been:

Locking ourselves in the only room that doesn't have a working key....

Playing IN our water table, instead of with it...

Getting some crafts done before Griffin arrives...

Doing some learning with Minnie Mouse...

 Waiting on Daddy to get home from his NEW job...

Taking care of some personal hygiene....

Meeting friends for playdates...

 

Going on Starbucks dates with Mommy....

Loving on Teddy, who must go everywhere with us now...



And turning 22 months old!  How in the world did she get so big??

Get to Know Me Mondays- The Letter "D"

Today's "get to know me" post is all about my dislikes!  Also, my pictures have nothing to do with my dislikes..because why would I want to look at pictures of things I don't like?!

1. Mushrooms/grits/seafood: I refuse to eat anything that shares a name with something that can grow on your foot. (Fungus.) Ha!  Grits are too textured for me, just thinking about it makes me want to gag!  And seafood is too slimy or fishy-tasting!  I will eat popcorn shrimp (and hushpuppies!) and some types of salmon/tilapia depending on how they are cooked.



2. Cleaning toilets: Of all the household chores I would love to pass off (and I will when my kids are old enough!!), cleaning toilets takes the cake.  I hate having to scrub the grime off toilets, knowing exactly why what's growing there is, indeed, growing.  Why aren't the brush handles longer?!  I can't stand to be that close to it.  And for some reason, boys can't ever seem to keep it all the way in the toilet, so there's always dried droplets on the sides when you lift the seat up!  I know that's all very vivid, but I need you to feel my loathing of toilet cleaning!



3. Touching raw meat: I guess I can rule out being a chef?  Touching raw meat drives me insane.  If I have to touch it, I'll do what needs to be done, wash my hands really well, and then get the clorox wipes out and wipe down the whole kitchen.  I ended up with salmonella poisoning in the hospital the night before my nursing licensure exam an I haven't forgotten!



4. Lying:  I don't like when people lie to me.  It's frustrating that you don't respect me enough to just be honest!  And people who lie seem to continue lying to cover up their other lies.  It gets a bit ridiculous in the end.  And so not worth my time.



5. Extremely hot weather: Don't get me wrong, I love summer.  I love the activities summer brings, but summer in the south is just too much!  100 degree, humid days is way too hot for my liking.  Give me a breezy 80 in Hawaii and I'm a happy camper.  Better yet, fall is really nice, too.  Pumpkins, spices, apple-picking, and pretty color changing leaves...and of course warm coffee!

If you want to see my other "Get to Know Me" posts, you can go here:

Get to Know Me: A
Get to Know Me: B
Get to Know Me: C

Friday Five

Wow, Friday got here fast this week!  At the beginning of the week, our calendar was pretty bare, but it filled up fast.  And next week is filling up fast, too!  Here's this week's edition of my Friday Five.

[ONE]
Hadley's school tote and lunchbox came this week.  I think they are so cute! But it's becoming more "real" to me that my just-born baby is going to preschool next month.  She was so cute putting her milk cup in her lunch box and zipping it up. (And unzipping and taking it out, putting it back in and re-zipping....)



[TWO]
Hadley's friend Rachael and her mom Emily were having "Rachael's Week of Fun" and invited us to tag along for some of their activities!  Wednesday, we went to the children's museum and Hadley had such a blast!  She enjoyed the water table so much, she had to change clothes--even after having a smock on!



[THREE]
I don't do much exercising when I'm pregnant. Womp womp.  The last time I was pregnant, I walked a million miles in the NICU and walked in the evenings at home and was put on bed rest at week 36, ha!  This time around, I'm busy chasing a toddler and the summer has been so incredibly hot I haven't walked as much as I'd like.  But I do get out and walk some every week, but this week, this is what our "walks" have consisted of! :)  (Hubby is a good sport.  I don't actually do this, but Hadley insisted Mommy sit with her in the wagon...how could I say no?!)



[FOUR]
We saw our son!  He's got some pretty chubby cheeks in there and loves to have his hands by his face.  I can't believe we have 10 short weeks to meet him!  I thought I had 10 more weeks to meet Hadley, too, when we really only had 8.  I'm interested to see what this little guy's plan is.



[FIVE]
We are getting our maternity pictures made this evening!  I have no idea how that's going to go with Hadley, but I'm hoping we get some cute photos.  I loved my maternity session the first time around, so I'm hoping to get some great ones this time.  It's at 6 pm about 30 minutes away from where we live--right at dinner time in rush hour.  I hope Hadley will survive! :)

And just because this girl is so sassy, I'll leave you with this picture of her walking the dog.

 

Personal Reflections: Carseat Safety

I haven't done a Personal Reflections post yet.  I'm sure these will be the posts that get everyone's feathers all ruffled, their panties in a wad, and all up in a tizzy.  I'll start by saying: these are my own thoughts and only that.  I'm not looking to start a fight and I am by no means judging other mommas! To each his (or her!) own.  We are all looking for the best way to care for our own families and this is how I'm choosing to care for mine.

Part of the issue today with everything is that there are too many options!  There are 15 different kinds of fat-free milk at the grocery store, 20 different types of toilet paper, and 17 different flavors of goldfish! Y'all, why do we need 17 different flavors of goldfish??! (I'm pretty sure these aren't accurate numbers at all, but you get my point!).

It's a blessing and a curse, really.

The same goes for carseats.  We aren't relying on one badly made carseat to protect our child, but it's our responsibility as their parent to research the thousands that are on the market to make the best decision in case the inevitable were to happen.


*And just because it wouldn't be a good post without some pictures of my snuggabug...

When Hadley was little, we used the Chicco key fit 30.  Griffin will also use this car seat because it is still within the expiration date and hasn't been in any accidents.  Hadley now rides in theChicco Nextfit.  When Griffin is old enough to need a bigger seat, we will research the best car seat for him and us at that time.  Here are some of the things we did/ continue to do with our carseats:

1. Professionally Installed: We called our local police department and set up a time for them to TEACH us how to install the carseat correctly.  One of our cars has the new LATCH system and one doesn't.  We needed to know how to install the carseats into both vehicles.  We needed to know how to change them correctly if we ever got a new car, and we learned a lot of tips and tricks to making sure the car seat wasn't moving.  It was one of the best things we did.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/LATCH
http://www.car-safety.org/latch.html


*Look at my tiny, jaundice baby!

2. Rear-facing: Hadley will be rear-facing for as long as possible.  Even though guidelines say you can turn forward-facing at 2, we will NOT turn her around to forward-facing at two years of age.  The Chicco Nextfit allows her to be rear-facing up to 40 pounds, or until she reaches the height limit of her carseat.  She's a petite thing and nowhere near 40 pounds or the height limit.  Recent research has shown that children's neck muscles are not strong enough to withstand impact if they are forward-facing before 4 years of age.  Clearly if she was too big to be rear-facing, we would have her forward-facing, but she's not so we won't.  She doesn't know any different yet, so she doesn't fight us about it.

http://csftl.org/why-rear-facing-the-science-junkies-guide/ (awesome explanation of just the facts.)
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704630_2


*I know it's blurry, but guys, look at that face! She's a ham.

3. Middle Seat/Back Seat: Hadley's carseat is installed in the middle of the back row of our cars because that is the safest place for her to be in a collision (air bag deployment).  And her carseat fits properly there.  If it didn't, she would be on one of the sides.  Unfortunately, we only have one middle seat in our car (ha!) so I'm going through some major mommy guilt as to which child should be in the middle when the new baby arrives, haha! ;)

http://thecarseatlady.com/center-or-side/


*Clearly unimpressed with the proceedings.

4. We keep the car seat manual with the car seat at all times.  Chicco even has a little compartment for it.  That way, if we are ever out and need to change the car seat to another car, if we have questions regarding how she's sitting, etc., we have a go-to immediately for answers.  Yes, we do all of these things because "research says so", but we also do what we do based on how Hadley's car seat works best.

Here are a few other links if you're interested:
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/on-the-go/Pages/Car-Safety-Seats-Information-for-Families.aspx
http://www.safercar.gov/parents/CarSeats/Car-Seat-Safety.htm


*Holding Mommy's hand.  She'll always do this, right??

Remember, these are just the things we as a family are doing to keep our baby girl safe.  What about you mommas?  What car seats do you use?  Any tips I should incorporate?

Get To Know Me Monday: C

I took last week off from blogging because my mom was here!  All week!  To watch Hadley!  So I could get some much needed stuff knocked off my mile-long to-do list.  Oh, it was such a big help and I did actually get a lot accomplished.

But back to the grind today.  Today's get to know me is the letter C-- all about college!

*Tillman Hall covered in snow

I attended Clemson University and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  You can find Clemson fans all over the world and they are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.  I don't think I've been traveling anywhere, wearing something Clemson related, that I haven't been stopped by other fellow Clemson graduates.  There is just something special about the place.


*College Game Day!


*The Tiger at a soccer game

I get so giddy during football season when I see all the Clemson flags flying proudly on the interstate as Tiger fans head to Clemson for football games.  Football games in Death Valley, seeing the players run down the hill, singing the alma mater with 20,000 others who know exactly what it means to be there...it's all just magical.


*It's game time in Death Valley!

And to top it off, it's where I met my husband. (All the heart eyes, y'all!)  That's a post for another day, but it just adds to how much that school means to me.  Even Hadley has gotten in on the Clemson action.  David and I got married the same day Clemson played FSU. (yes, they won!!)  We had people in the audience "watching" on their phones, letting us know when Clemson scored and after the ceremony, we all gathered around to watch the end of the game before celebrating.  3 years later, Hadley decided to come 2 weeks early--you guessed it, the day Clemson played FSU!  We are doing our best to raise her right! ;)



*Hadley's daddy played soccer at Clemson!


*We even had our engagement pictures done on campus...in Death Valley.


*I may be biased, but I'm pretty sure she's the cutest Clemson fan EVER.

So, are there any Clemson fans out there?!

To see Get to Know Me Mondays from the past:

Letter A
Letter B