Surprise Party

This year my friend Sally turns 30. She is the youngest of all my close friends and sometimes it's hard for me to believe she is same age as my brother's friends. Growing up I was always the youngest of my friends because my birthday was so late in September. But since my sophomore year in college, most of my friends have been younger than me...but Sally is the youngest!

Sally's husband recruited me and my friend Brantley to help get Sally out of the house for the surprise party. Sally took the bait when Brantley suggested a "Girls Night Out" to celebrate her b-day. Here we are dining at Mr. Friendly's...



All week Brantley and I were sure Sally had no clue what was going on...and we were right! We got back to the Brown's to enjoy a glass of wine on the back porch and I strapped on my camera...my cover was not wanting to take my whole camera bag in & I had been chronicling our whole evening for the blog...here was Sally's expression when Justin flipped the porch lights on to reveal all the guests in their backyard!



The flower was from Brantley...and for a minute I thought she may drop it, vase and all.

Justin had invited a whole backyard full of guest and a very delicious cake...



When we gathered around to sing "Happy Birthday" all the children got around the cake...which I thought was very sweet! They were all so excited to be at a surprise party!



And the cake was just as yummy on the inside as it looked on the outside!



We all enjoyed the newest edition to the Brown's home...the back porch...



Justin & his daddy built it...and I may be putting in an order to have my back porch look the same...they did a GREAT job!

Sally had some of her very favorite people there...college friends are some of my greatest friends and I know Sally feels the same about her college friends...



Just like I believe my college friends and I could pass for college students...well, maybe graduate students...these girls look like they could still be USC students!

Amanda & I apparently read the same blogs and both decided to follow advice from this post and showed up dressed very similar...



Thanks to Justin for letting me be a part of the surprise party for one of my very sweet friends! I had so much fun and am happy to welcome Sally into the fraternity of 30-something moms!

4 Months Old

Just about 1 year ago Arch & I found out the 3rd (and final) McCarty baby was on their way. I did the math and knew right away this baby would be just about 2 years younger than Ruth Ann so my first thought as they parent who purchases clothes for the children was..."If it's a girl I'll be able to re-use all of Ruth Ann's clothes!" My mom even started coming up with names to match Ruth Ann's monogram so I could even re-use everything I monogrammed! But I've always said little boys love their mommas and later in the summer of 2010 we would find out that God had a plan for me to understand first hand what that love would feel like.

Tripp-man, you're 4 months old today but I still feel like I just found out I was pregnant. You are my sweet, snuggly baby boy...and a very big part of me hopes you stay this way forever! I'll always have room for you in my lap no matter how big you get!



You get your last bottle around 8pm and then go straight to bed. Then you stay asleep until 7 am. You're different from your sister in a lot of ways, but thankfully, this is one thing you both have in common...you're great sleepers!



You also both suck on your bottom lip...which I think is super cute!



You are eating 5-6 7 ounce bottles a day...and I'm curious to see what your stats will be when we go to the doctor of your 4 month check up this week. You are babbling all the time...which you also have in common with your sister & big brother. You come from a long line of talkers so I'm not too surprised to hear you babbling all the time...you have great role models!



Thanks to Grammy we now have a boy appropriate Bumbo for you to sit in...we had planned on using your sister's pink bumbo. You still need a little bit of help but I think very soon you'll be sitting in it all on your own!



I love you sweet Tripp-man and can't imagine what life would be like without you! You are a perfect fit in our family and make our family complete!

Equal opportunity

I believe in equal opportunity for all...and in my house that includes the wearing of smocked clothes! I've been collecting a few smocked items for Tripp-man and after discussing brands sizing with my friend Brantley last week I realized I should try some of Tripps 6 months clothes of him...he's only 4 months old right now. Thank goodness I did! I may have missed out of some wear time for some of the cutest things in his closet!  This is Tripp's first smocked jon-jon.



Oh I love a smocked jon-jon! My own personal rule for jon-jons is that they are acceptable as long as the child is wearing a diaper...but I reserve the right to change my mind when that time comes because he just looks so cute...and he'll be my last to wear sweet clothes like this! I promise he won't be heading to high school in smocking but I fully plan to have smocked clothing in his closet for years to come!

Easter

We had a pretty quite Easter this year. This was the first year I decided Ruth Ann was ready to dye Easter eggs. I'm crazy obsessive about keeping her clothes stain free, so the thought of letting her go wild with multiple containers of liquid that would ruin her clothes made me a little nervous. I pulled out the tie dyed shirt I made for her on vacation at the Disney Hilton Head Resort from last summer. I figured it wouldn't matter if that shirt got a little bit more dye on it. As you can tell, someone was very excited about what we were about to do...



In the following picture I'm sure she was bossing me around in some form or fashion...



We loaded up the cups and waited...waiting for a 2 year old is obviously the hardest part...



I purchased 2 different color kits. One came with the cute cups...the other didn't. I actually preferred using the Solo cups because Ruth Ann kept dropping the eggs into the liquid and the Solo cups kept it from splashing everywhere...I think this will be what we do from now on!

Our eggs turned out pretty good...



But I'll be working on perfecting my egg art work for next year!

Tripp-man sat peacefully on the porch and watched all the fun...



Then we got up bright and early Easter morning, put on our Sunday best and headed to church...

#11 in your program...

But #1 in our hearts...



Having a 16 year old step son has given me insight into what athletics will be like when Tripp starts playing sports. Let me warn you friends...it's time consuming! Spencer started preparing for the 2011 season in June 2010. This basically means he plays nearly 11 months of the year...insane friends, insane!



Since our family has a 3 month old in our house right now going to the games was difficult for the entire family at one time. Thanks to some warm evenings we all made it to 2 games...as always, I think Ruth Ann may have been Spencer's biggest fan...

The newest Princess

Is anyone else planning on getting up at 4 am to start watching the royal wedding? Which network will you be watching?? I've got the DVR set for NBC, but my mom just told me Clinton Kelly and the guy from "Say Yes to the Dress" will be hosting on TLC...so now I'm reconsidering my network choice. We're heading to Camden bright and early for our Easter pictures...pictures that almost didn't happen because some little girl I know ripped the smocking out of the neckband of her hand made & hand smocked dress during church nursery on Easter Sunday...I nearly had a stroke. A few quick fixes and modifications and we're set for picture time! If I don't get to see much of the new princess tomorrow...this will be all the princess time I need...



Nothing against Kate M....but I think this princess is way cuter anyway!

Have you ever...

Have you ever tried to get a 2 year old, very sassy & very independent child to smile for the camera on demand...



Let me tell you...it's not always easy...



It usually requires a lot of time...



and a lot of patience...



and maybe a dose of anti-anxiety medication...



But if you wait long enough...



and if you have a very large memory card in your camera...



you may be able to get at least 1 picture that's a real keeper...



The more pictures I take of Ruth Ann the more I am surprised I have any pictures from my childhood when all pictures were taken with film! How did you know when you got a good picture? Thank goodness for modern day technology!

It's a dangerous place

For Christmas Ruth Ann got a bath tub baby doll from Santa. What a great idea Santa had...Ruth Ann loves playing we her babies and what could be more bun than playing with a baby doll in the bath tub...



The bath tub has proven to be a danger zone for this baby. I've put this head back on countless times and Ruth Ann pulls it right back off. She loves filling it with water and pouring it on her head...so maybe a set of cups would have been a better selection for Santa.

A sweet smell

I'm not sure there is a sweeter smell than Johnson's baby shampoo...except when it's on this sweet baby's head...



Is it just me or do you want to kiss those sweet cheeks all day long!!

Bribery...

I'm not above it...



When considering how I would decorate our children's bathroom never did I consider Barbie and Reese Pieces...however, when trying to potty train a very stubborn child...I'll resort to bribery and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

A report from the front lines...

Potty training this girl has been a battle my friends...at this point I could take on any member of the Taliban with great ease! Yesterday we had a great day...I set out wanting to avoid Pull-ups at all cost because I find them to be glorified diapers. I wanted her to know the feel of wet undies...but she was unphased by this tactic & I ended up just changing wet panties over and over...so in order to keep up with the potty training and not completely torture my in-laws...who are also very graciously my free childcare...I bought our first pack of pull-ups. I also invested in some very little girl appealing bath toys...Barbie! Ruth Ann knows that if she can make it a full day with dry panties then she gets her choice of toy. Yesterday she finally made it one full day...HOORAY!!

However...



today, not so much. I know it's going to take time...until then, the rest of the Barbies wait for their day in the tub!