Foyer

Welcome to our foyer! We really like having an entry, instead of walking right into our living room like you did in our old house. Across the hall from this table is the entrance to our laundry room & garage, as well as a wall featuring a large mirror. We've got to have that one last makeup & hair check before walking out the door!

Jurassic Park

At one of the local marinas, the owners have decorated the long road to the docks with various metal sculptures of Chinese soldiers, pelicans, and more. Our favorite statues, though, are of the life-sized dinosaurs that are seen peeking out of the trees. The marina is in such a secluded spot that it feels just like you've stepped back into time or onto a movie set. We can only imagine how realistic they'd look on a foggy night......

Happy Yom Kippur

Doctor, Doctor, Gimme Some News.....

We're now visiting the doctor every 2 weeks, and this week we had another routine appointment with Dr. Shoemaker, who we adore. He is the nicest person and so is everyone on his staff!

Apparently, Baby H is growing like a WEED! The doctor estimated his weight at 5 lbs 4oz, and even commented on how big he's getting. He said IF we make it full-term, he's going to be over 8 pounds. Holy Guacamole! The doctor's office doesn't seem to think we'll make it to our due date, as they've said something about it a few times. Works for us! Starting at the next appointment, we visit the doc every single week. Where has time gone?

We also toured the hospital and it was quite nice. Thomas is known to be one of the best hospitals in the area, so we're very glad to be delivering there....even though it's farther away than others in the area. We've tried several routes, and we've gotten it down to 34 minutes driving time. Of course, that's regular speed and who knows how fast Bo will be racing to the hospital when that day arrives!

Now we just need to practice installing the carseat and pack a bag for the hospital and we'll be ready. Well, as ready as we can ever be!

Guest Bedroom & Bath

Continuing the house tour, here are some photos of our guest bedroom and bath. The guest bath is located between the nursery and our guest bedroom, so this will also be the baby's bathroom. We decorated it in artwork that we got on our honeymoon in Nassau, and the colors are both beachy and great for a baby.

The guest bedroom also doubles as Tanner's craft room. You can see the tons of lidded baskets, hat boxes, and other storage items holding all sorts of goodies.....ribbon, fabric, scrapbooking supplies, and more.

There are still some things we'd like to do to this room, including painting the bedside tray table. It definitely works for now, though, and as you can see, furry Josie loves lounging in this room!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

It's officially fall! That means it's time for pumpkins, chili, fall festivals, apple cider, yummy-smelling candles, and eventually long-sleeved tees worn with flip-flops. Around here, fall also means amazing weather with no crowds to share it with!

We hope everyone can get out and enjoy the sights, smells, and sounds of the season. Have a great fall!

Family Fun

This weekend, Tanner's Aunt Julia & Uncle Vern came down from New Jersey to visit. They are on a whirlwind tour of visiting all of Julia's brothers & sisters, and since it had been several years since Tanner's mom had seen her sister, we were thrilled to be on their travel schedule!

They arrived Friday night and we had a great time showing them around. We went on a one-mile nature hike, toured historic Ft. Morgan, ate some really good food, and listened to awesome stories of their trips to Africa, Tibet, and other far-flung areas. They are headed to China in a couple of months on a panda photography excursion, so we are hoping to see some awesome pictures when they return.

We hated to see them go, but it was so great catching up with them. We're hoping to meet up with them next time we head to Philadelphia, as they are great tour guides! Of course, now we're just jealous that we can't go to all those amazing places with them......but a 24-hour plane ride to Tasmania in January with a newborn may be a little much for anyone to handle!

Group photo at The Tin Top Restaurant

Well, Shiver Me Timbers!

Arrgh, mateys!! Happy "Talk Like A Pirate Day".......a celebration recognized on all 7 continents and even on the International Space Station. Take a moment and give a good "Ahoy, me hearties!" or just check out the official website. You don't want to be made to walk the plank!

Our favorite pirate of all time, the Dread Pirate Roberts.

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Happy Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year, to Megan, Leigh, Mira, and Ben!

Green Thumb

Bo wants to enjoy gardening, but up until this point, we haven't had tons of luck growing plants. Factor in Tanner's self-proclaimed "toxic black thumb" and the tobacco worms that ate our tomatoes, and it's been a tough year on our plants.

However, our luck may have changed! Since moving in to the new house, our back porch was calling for some plants to help spruce it up. So we picked up some hibiscus plants and a few other things, and they're all looking great! Just wait.....Bo may be a master gardener yet!

A Dog's Life

Our dogs (and cat for that matter) are the laziest animals ever. They are also just like children, and they fight over who gets to lounge on which pet bed. Since Oscar is so big, he has a hard time fitting on a regular dog bed, so we've been on the hunt for him a more comfortable place to sleep.

While we were at the children's consignment sale, we found a round crib mattress for $10. Since it is huge and cheaper than any pet bed, we decided to grab it for the dogs. Oscar takes awhile to warm up to new things, but we think he's going to love it. Of course, Josie & Ike have been caught several times lounging on it, too!

Oscar lounging on his new bed after pulling half the cover off.....just the way he likes it!

The Joys of Applique

Randi has discovered the joys of her monogramming machine, and we're reaping the benefits! After taking a sewing class to learn that her machine can do pretty much anything we want, Randi has been sewing her fingers off! She's found every cute applique website and downloaded tons of cute designs and fonts. We've hit up all the local fabric stores looking for cute material and trims to use on her projects. She may be running her own 1-man sweat shop, but we're just thrilled to be getting all the super-cute bibs, burp cloths, and jon jons as she comes up with new ideas!

just a few of the cute designs that Randi has come up with lately

Mom 2 Mom Sale

A few times a year, there are large consignment sales around here that have tons of stuff for kids of all ages. Toys, gear, and clothes can be had at great prices if you know what you're looking for. We had visited one of these sales several weeks ago, and even though it was a bit overwhelming, we found some great items at even better prices.

This weekend, the same group put on a sale in Pensacola. Randi wanted a pack 'n' play since Bob had set their original one on fire (!), so we headed over to the sale. Holy Cow! The line to get in the building was insane, and the check-out line was 1.5 hours long. There were so many people inside the sale that they had to lock the doors and not let anyone else in, even though there was still a huge line outside!

We braved the crowds and the long line and it was absolutely worth it. Not only did Randi get her pack 'n' play, she also scored a $475 Peg Perego stroller system for only $50! We also got a few toys, some odds & ends we needed, and some cute clothes that still had the tags on them. What a great way to save on the things that will be put aside and and grown out of faster than we can imagine!

Happy Grandparents Day!

Happy Grandparents Day to Tanner's Grandparents, Paul & Jan, Susie & Andy, and Bob & Randi. We love you all and hope you have a great day!

In Remembrance....

8 years ago today, our world changed. Before, there was no war on terror, no threat levels, no liquid restrictions on planes. There was no "9/11".

We will always remember exactly where we were on that beautiful Tuesday morning. We were in Nashville with Jan who was having surgery. After dropping her off, we had breakfast at Krispy Kreme, then sat outside to enjoy the fall weather. We headed back into the hospital lobby to find complete silence. Every TV was showing the tragedy, and every eye was glued to the TV. In our upstairs waiting room, several people were panicking because they worked for American Airlines and were frantically trying to contact co-workers and family members. We all sat for hours in that waiting room in stunned silence watching the footage, trying to understand.

We love to be sarcastic and not take things too seriously, but sometimes we need to reflect. Hopefully, everyone will take a moment and remember all the countless lives forever changed because of that one day.

Happy Blog-iversary to Us!

Can you believe how fast a year has gone by? We started our little blog just over a year ago to keep our friends and family up-t0-date with all of our adventures, no matter how big or small. It's amazing how much can happen in a year! Thanks for sharing in our lives, and stay tuned......this year should be even more exciting than the last!

What's Cookin'?

While preparing for baby, we've heard that one of the best things you can do is freeze several meals ahead of time. That way, once he gets here, we can focus on learning how to parent instead of what we're going to eat for dinner!

We decided that was great advice, so we've been busy cooking up a storm. We've made breads, a few soups, chili, a couple of lasagnas, several roasts, and frozen several pounds of hamburger meat to have on hand for quick meals. It feels like we're hunkering down for an arctic winter, but we know we're going to be so glad we have these meals when we're exhausted!

Cupcakes.....mmmmm

Several of the items we cooked & froze one day

Homemade garlic rosemary bread....missing one piece for quality assurance purposes!

Over Too Soon

For our last 3-day weekend "just us", we relaxed as much as possible! Friday afternoon, Bo had a great time playing golf with his work buddies. On Saturday, we headed to Fairhope to browse the local shops and get our peach tea spritzer fix from Andrees before heading home to watch football. Sunday was a rainy day here, so after brunch and a Target run, we spent the day doing several of the items still on our to-do list. Monday, we grilled out with Bob & Randi and then planted several of the new plants we'd picked up at Lowes. We ended the day lazily sitting on the back porch watching it rain before the FSU/Miami game. It was a great relaxing weekend that went by WAY too fast!

Happy LABOR Day!

We hope everyone has a HUGE Labor Day weekend......we know we will!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Tonight's the night.......the start of college football season! Our household starts counting down the hours until football season the minute the last game ends, so we know exactly how many hours it is until South Carolina plays North Carolina State. We're Florida Gator fans, but Bo will happily watch any college game.....even Michigan or Ohio State! This weekend will be a full-on football fest, and Tanner will busy herself crafting and working on a few projects while Bo lives it up in front of the TV. Hooray for Bo!

Special Delivery

Since Bo's sister Leigh just had a son in April, we're thrilled to have a nephew so close in age to our own baby boy. Not only is is going to be so much fun watching the two of them grow up together, it also means awesome hand-me-downs!

They recently sent us a care package filled with tons of cute clothes for our little one. There was an entire wardrobe in there.....from footed pjs to onesies and bibs. Our niece Mira even helped out, sending us a super-cute door hanger she had made herself. We loved everything and can't wait to play dress-up!

We can't believe Ben has already outgrown these, but we sure are happy about it! :)

Pregnancy Pic

After so many requests, we've finally posted a photo of Tanner and her growing belly. She's not big on photos of herself, as she'd much rather be behind the camera! This was taken this past week in one of her few maternity outfits, since she's lucky to still be wearing several of her "regular sized" clothes. But at almost 7 months pregnant, there's definitely no hiding the baby bump!