Favorite Fridays: Home Decor Shop!

Happy Friday!

This weeks topic for Favorite Fridays is your favorite Home Decor Shop! Hands down, mine would be Pottery Barn!!!

One day when I can build and design my own house (hah, right) I will have a mud room with one of these...probably a built in though. But in the mean time, this will do (wink).

I'm a sucker for off white, distressed furniture....

..... and black furniture, too.

Which if you took a peek into my house now, you would think all I like is black furniture...its everywhere.

Hop over to Jen's blog if you'd like to play along!

Presley's Birthday Pics...finally!

Well I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from Presley's SECOND birthday party! I had such a good time planning her party! For those of you that don't know me, I'm a sucker for planning things....birthdays, showers, weddings. If you need someone to get really, really excited and jump up and down with you during these exciting moments, then I'm the gal for you!

I wanted to do something really cute for Presley's birthday while I still had a shot...you know, before she starts asking for Dora, Hannah Montana, or some crap like that. So this year I decided to do a whole "garden" theme with lots of flowers and bugs.

I of course, I tend to focus on every minor detail and forget to do one of the most important things.

Take pictures.

I'm sure it was because I had Jason there, my bff's husband, and I knew he was snapping away. But still, you kinda want your own pictures, too, right?

So here are a few snapshots from my sweet P's birthday!

First...her invitation. I ordered these on Etsy.

The cake!

Oh, and the watering can on top came from Hobby Lobby. I just added some flowers and placed it on top...it wasn't originally part of the cake.

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Anyway, I LOVED the cake despite all the stress it involved. Why you might ask???

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1. The woman was near impossible to get in touch with. After 36 emails, I finally knew for sure what the plan was about 48 hrs before her party. I didn't find out till the morning of where I was even going to meet her. NEVER. AGAIN.

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2. Clinton calls me after he picks it up and say "ugh, its ok. kinda plain. the one from last year was better. you couldve totally done this yourself." Great, just what I want to hear after I spent $_____!!!!!!!!!!!!

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3. After I spent $_____, I decided that I am in the WRONG profession AND that I will be partaking in a cake decorating class before her next birthday party.

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And no, I didn't think it was plain after I saw it. I should've known better than to listen to a boy.

Here are a few of the pom poms I made...super easy! And cheap!!

Mini fruit pizzas to look like ladybugs.

Ants on a log....

The birthday girl pretending to be shy while all her friends were arriving!

Me (in the middle) and a few of my favorite ladies

Candice and Erica

Emma and Ava waiting oh so patiently for Presley to rip open some gifts!

Sweet baby Olive!

Presley with her new Vera Bradley purse! She loves this thing by the way...takes it everywhere we go. Everywhere.

The dress up shoes Candice got her were a hit...even with the boys haha! Here's little Ben trying them on for size!

Brooks was diggin them, too!

The Birthday girl's cake!

Second stupid thing Mommy forgot to do....

birthday candles.

Thankful Thursday for sure!!!!!

Happy Thursday everyone!

This Thursday is truly a thankful one for me!! I am just so beside myself this morning! Why, you might ask???

Because this beautiful family right here.....

Now looks like this!!!!!!

Miss Lily Ann Conner....all 6lb 140z & 19.5 inches of her!!!!

So today my Thankful Thursday post is devoted entirely to our wonderful friends and their newest little addition! I wish we could be in Nashville with them right now...its absolutely killing me!! We met Josh and Betsy about 3.5 years ago through some mutual friends....they also lived a few houses down from us. Little did we know how close we would become. They have lived in Nashville for a few years now, but we still keep in touch. They are those friends that you always seem to pick up right where you left off!

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So...Take another good look at this little girl....There are people far and wide that have been praying for this sweet little thing to arrive for years!! So while your at it, say a little thank you to our Heavenly Father for bringing her into this world. You are looking at one sweet, little miracle!

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I believe all babies are miracles...I do. But this little girl is just a little bit more special in my eyes. Betsy suffered from 3 previous miscarriages before precious Lily came into the picture. After the 3rd miscarriage, she was finally able to see a specialist who got down to the core of the problem. Bets had no problems getting pregnant, just staying pregnant. Her body was fighting off each pregnancy like an infection. But if you ever met Josh and Betsy, you'd never know. They were the MOST positive people you could ever meet. She refused to believe that she'd never be able to have a baby, and kept right on trying! So, once she got pregnant again, Betsy had to do give herself a shot every day throughout her entire pregnancy. It was worth every bit of it!

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I love you BB! You are gonna be the best little mama around!

Whats for dinner?

I don't know about you, but I always struggle with what to cook for dinner...which is probably the reason why we always eat out. But that my friends, has to come to an end. One, because I have completely fallen off the weight loss wagon since I went to Vegas in January. Two, because its just time to start eating at home more and saving money.

The thing about it, I actually really like to cook. But its so weird....when I go out to eat, I don't care how bad it is for me. But when I'm eating at home, I feel the need to always cook "healthy." So whats the problem you ask??? Well, I get tired of always grilling chicken, veggies, rice, baked potatoes...you get the drift.

Well last week at my WW meeting, our leader asked how many of us were sick of chicken. Of course I threw my hand up in the air. So she handed out a piece of paper with 4 different recipes to try. I made one of them tonight and it was sooo good! And the best thing about it...only 4 points! So, in case youre looking for a different way to spice up your chicken, here's the scoop....

Mexican Chicken

4 (4 oz) Chicken breast

1 package of taco seasoning

1 c. of salsa

1/4 c. sour cream

*Put chicken and taco seasoning in a plastic bag, shake and coat really well.
*Place chicken in a casserole dish...spray with nonstick cooking spray.
*Cook for 35 minutes on 375.
*About 5 minutes before removing chicken, pour salsa on top.
*Once removed, add sour cream...and Voila!

Obviously, this doesn't take rocket science...super easy and doesn't take long to cook either. We even diced it up and made tacos out of it...yummy!

Once I try a few more of the recipes, I'll let you know if they're worth it or not. Other than that, not much to talk about tonight. My MIL came home from the hospital today and she is relieved. Still in a lot of paint, but she'll probably start to see a big difference by the weekend. Thanks for all the prayers.

OH...actually there is something extremely exciting to talk about!! I'll save all the details for my Thankful Thursday post, but as we speak some of our good friends are at the hospital having their first little baby....Lily Ann Conner! She might already be here and I just haven't heard yet. This is a miracle baby for sure, which I'll talk more about that tomorrow.

Anyway, its only 9 and I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm gonna get off of here and hit the hay. Goodnight!

Wishful Wednesday- Wedding Gown

Happy Wishful Wednesday!!

I love Kelsey's topic for this week! What can I say, there's nothing like a beautiful wedding and a gown to go along with it!

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Well, I have to be honest...if I could do it all over again, I would totally wear a different dress. I mean, that was almost 6 years ago and so many cute styles have popped up since then! Here is a pic of our wedding day right after we were announced as husband and wife....

It's kinda hard to tell because this picture is old and it was scanned to my computer. But its just a simple satin dress, wraps around the waist, and has crystal beads on the top half. It was very flattering on me, but still. So if I could do it all over again.....

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'I wish' I could wear a wedding gown similar to this on my wedding day....

I. LOVE. LACE! I think its timeless, classic, elegant, and just plain ole' romantic! To me, nothing says Southern quite like this. I love the lace straps too! I begged and begged my sister to get a dress like this so I could live through her for just a second haha. She declined.

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Hop on over to the Seattle Smiths if you'd like to play along!

April showers may bring May flowers...

but a little sunshine in March helps, too!

A few of my daffodils....or as I like to call them, buttercups...have already started blooming.

Aren't they beautiful??

Haha I wish those were mine! Nope, I have only one. But I'm loving that lonely little flower! My Irises are popping up, too. Makes me ache for spring.

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Side note: Ok is it me, or does "irises" look totally weird to y'all?

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Anyway, I think every southerner should have buttercups, "irises", and hydrangeas. No exceptions.

Oh, and tulips and roses. And definitely a Magnolia tree....Oh, and a Weeping Willow for sure. What can I say, I love beautiful things.... and the south!

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Quick update: My MIL's surgery went really well yesterday. She was out of it last night when we went to see her. Her BP was extremely low...like 60/30! But she naturally has low BP and the morphine brought it down some, too. So they are gonna have to move her to Percocet instead. Presley made her a get well card this morning. Ok, I made it and Presley "drew" all over it and put some Disney Princess stickers on it, too. I'm sure Patti will love it :)

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Speaking of Presley, some of you remember this post when Clinton painted Presleys nails and I had a minor heart attack. Well Sunday afternoon Presley woke up from her nap to find that I had painted my nails. She looked at them and started getting really excited and pointed to her nails yelling "Mama, mama!"...along with some other unknown words spoken in the "Presleynese" language.

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So me being the sucker that I am, painted her fingernails...but this time it was OPI's Sweetheart....a much more appropriate color for a 2 year....not that I'm knocking Black Cherry Chutney by any means.

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Well Happy Tuesday ladies! Talk to ya soon!

Top 2 Tuesday...baby names!

Top Two Favorite Names....

Staying true to nature, I had a really hard time narrowing down my choices to only two names.

Girls:

Brooklynn

Violet

Maggie

Georgia

Caroline

Now, Clinton doesn't like any of these names...well I take that back, he kinda likes Violet....so I guess it really doesn't matter how much I like these haha. I already have a little girl named Presley, and me being the weirdo I am, I worry about their names "matching." Yes, I know I'm nuts...so stop thinking about it. I don't necessarily have to have both names starting with the same letter and all that mess, but I just want them to flow. I tend to like really southern, old fashioned names which totally doesn't mesh well with Presley. So the list above is kinda what I've come up with for the time being. We'll see.

Now on to the boy names...

Boys:

Hunter

And thats all I have haha. Thats actually my daddy's name and I always thought I'd name my son after him. Heck, for years I even wanted to name my daugther after him! Hunter Grace was on my short list for Presley, but Clinton wasn't having it. (I haven't scratched it off the list yet). But other than Hunter, I just don't know. I kinda feel like I'm settling on that name, but nothing else really pops out yet. Names I really liked while I was preggers was Jackson, Hayden, and Hudson...but I'm kinda past those now. So who knows.

But while I'm on baby names, I gotta tell you what Clintons pick is. Its...well, ummm...quite original. You ready?

Are you sure????

HUCK!!!!!!

Yep, you read it right. And it didn't help when Brad Paisley named his son that shortly after Clinton "came up with it." That just added more fuel to his fire. He's so obsessed with that stinkin name! He kinda moved on to Cash and Dallas for a while, but he's still holdin' on strong for Huck.

If you'd like to play along with Top 2 Tuesday, head over to The Undomestic Momma's blog!