Gratitude List

I am thankful for:

1. Spring! I love this time of yr. I love the weather and the new growth of flowers. I love the fresh cut grass smell. I love capris, tank tops and flip flops.
2. Jake being such an awesome, loving, gentle dog to Chandler.
3. My little girl's eagerness to learn new words, shapes, #'s, letters and songs.
4. Mickey Mouse--there are many days when this creature saves my sanity and comes to the rescue to cheer up Cha Cha.
5. Skype--We love keeping in touch with all the grandparents.
6. Jeremy-- who works so hard to allow me to be a SAHM.
7. Winning a giveaway on a friends blog. She will be making me a custom sign for free! Now i just have to think of what to put on it. It will be for Cha Cha's room. And suggestions are appreciated!

Photos from the week

These are some of my favorite photos of the week.

Chandler and Mia loved chasing the bubbles.

Trying on daddy's shoes. Of course Mickey had to try on a pair too!

Kissy face

All smiles (with her crazy hair)

This a cute story. We went to eat Thai food one night and Chandler did not want to eat anything. Not even her ole faithful rice or french fries. But she had a ball smelling the flowers (they were carrots cut like flowers). She ended up with quite a collection and had to smell them all over and over.

Wearing her new spring pj's and brushing those teefers!

What can i say, except that she is one cutie!

Moo cow!

On Tuesday night Chandler and i went to eat dinner at Chik fil a. Apparently Tuesday nights are kids night. The place was crowded! They had a man making balloon animals, a cow mascot and an ice cream bar with free ice cream with all the toppings. I of course wanted to get a photo for the blog. Chandler loved the cow from a far. She kept saying Moo, cow! Moo, cow! But she did not care for him when he got close!

Of course she was all smiles again by the time we got home. She had a ball whacking Jake on the head with her flower balloon. Mommy finally had to throw it away as she would not stop whacking Jake with it.

One evening this week we went to dinner and on the way home we of course had to stop and say hello to the cows.

Random Act of Kindness

I am sure you all remember my friend Jennifer and her baby boy Luke who was born way too early. Well yesterday we checked with her to see if she still wanted meals delivered to her for a few weeks. She said that was a nice thought but there were some other things we could do in Luke's honor. We could give blood, become an organ donor or do a random act of kindness. I have already done 1 & 2 so i decided to the the last. I spent the last 24 hrs thinking of what would be a good act. I wanted it to be simple. And today it just came to me. I was in the car at Sonic for my happy hour drink when i noticed a old man, wearing camos, and in need of a shave and change of clothes. He was sitting on a bench counting the coins in his hand and studying the menu. So when the carhop came i gave her a $5 bill for my 86 cents drink and told her i wanted to pay for his meal and then she could keep the rest for herself. She smiled big and thanked me. I waited in my car until the carhop brought his food. He went to hand her a bunch of coins and she said that someone had already paid for his meal. He looked confused and looked around. Then he did the sweetest thing. He smiled and handed her some change as her tip and then slowly walked away. I don't know if he was homeless or just in need of some TLC, but i felt good about buying his meal. Turns out his meal was less than $2, so the carhop still got a $2 tip. She came back and told me thank you again.
So i want to encourage you all to do a simple act of kindness and then if you feel like it post your story on your blog too. Let's see how much kindness we can spread.

Chandler LOVES Jake

This is for all you lab lovers out there!

Chandler loves her dog, Jake. And he is such an angel with her. How many dogs will let a toddler abuse them the way mine abuses hers?! I look forward to her getting older and developing a deeper bond with Jake. Although they are already the best of friends.

A thanks to Sparky!!

Well it is back to reality for us. By that i mean that Sparky has gone back home to FL and Jeremy and i have to take care of Chandler all by ourselves again. I can not tell you how nice it was to have Sparky here. I mean i was happy she was here for the obvious reasons (that we love her and so she could see Chandler). But of course she came with a lot of added benefits. I got to sleep in almost every morning. One morning she let me sleep in to 11:00am! I almost had a heart attack when i woke up and saw the clock. I didn't have to change many diapers. Sparky gladly took the monitor at night. She gave Chandler all her baths and rocked her to sleep. As much as i love my daughter it was nice to not be the main caregiver 24/7.
While she was here she also taught Chandler many new things. When you ask Chandler how old she is she will hold up 2 fingers and say "two". She can count to 10--though to be honest that wasn't all Sparky. Though she mastered it while she was here. She learned how to bang and sing the hot dog song. And Chandler took to Sparky right away. She thought Sparky was the best thing since her mommy.
We are so thankful that we got to have a long visit with Sparky and are looking forward to the next time we get to see her! So Sparky, thanks again for all you did for us!

Good ole Chuck E Cheese

Today Sparky wanted to take Chandler to Chuck E Cheese's (CEC). As soon as we entered, Chandler saw the robotic Chucky in the back and ran towards him shouting " Chucky, Chucky!"

She was so excited to be so close to him and watch him sing his 80's songs.

Waving bye to Chucky.

One of Chandler's favorite ride there is the big white horse. It doesn't move much with just her weight on it so Sparky had to ride with her. So was so excited after finishing her race.


Of course what would be a visit to CEC without some of their yummy pizza!

Tonight Sparky is watching Chandler and Jeremy and i get to have a date night. We are going to Zanies to see Dave Atell. I am so excited to be having some solo time with my wonderful husband.

Love that girl

Sparky loves to make bows for Chandler. This is the most recent one. It is still too big for her and her daddy thinks she looks like a present.

We went to The Factory and walked around this morning. We window shopped, pet some doggies, checked out a few stores and then had to rock for a bit.



After Chandler's nap, she and Sparky read some books on the front porch. It was pretty cool today. But perfect weather for snuggling!

Donkeys, Goats and Tigers oh my!

Today was a gorgeous day! It was sunny with the high reaching 75*. Gotta love that. We decided to take Chandler to the zoo. After a quick lunch at Chik fil a, we were on our way. We did not know that it was spring break for Nashville and apparently the whole city was a the zoo. But we had a wonderful time.

This donkey looked like it had done too much partying.

Check out the goatee (pun intended).


These cute baby tigers are new to the zoo and were a huge hit. Chandler watched them for a long time.

Looking for the meerkats.

Say cheese!

Look Sparky, there's a zebra!

Oh and there's one over there too!

I think she looks like such a big girl here.

After a long hot day she was tired and ready to go.

Grandparents Day Out

Yesterday Jeremy's mom (whom is known as Sparky) came to TN for a week long visit. This morning we met my dad (Grandad) at the park to play as it was a beautiful day. Chandler loved running around, riding the sea saw and the swings. I think she also enjoyed having 2 of her grandparents with her.

Peek a boo, i see you!

Sparky, Chandler, Momma and Grandad all on the sea saw. I am surprised we didn't break it. I am sure we were over the weight limit!

After playing at the park we all went to eat lunch at Logan's, where Chandler devoured a whole plate of mac-n-cheese.

I guess Sparky didn't get the memo about pointing!!

Gratitude Post

I know i haven't done one of these in awhile. So forgive me and here goes what i am thankful for:

1. Jeremy, Chandler and I being over the stomach bug and back to being well.
2. Eating my first solid meal all week.
3. Lazy Saturday mornings.
4. Chandler sleeping through the night--every night!
5. Having met new friends who are turning into good friends---Karyn and Joanne.
6. Reconnecting with old friends in Franklin--Julianne, Amy, Anne Marie, Jenny, Patty and Sharon.
7. Jeremy being a wonderful daddy to Chandler.
8. Sparky coming to visit in 2 days.
9. Spring like weather.
10. That my neighborhood has awesome family friendly activities during the week.
11. My moms group.

Prayer Request Update

As you all know last week i posted a prayer request for my friend Jennifer and her baby boy Luke who was born at 24 weeks gestation. I know lots of you said a prayer for Luke and his family. But we have learned that God had other plans for Luke. Luke Tarter passed away late Sunday night. In the 2 short weeks he lived on this earth, I know he touched many peoples lives. I know that Luke is in heaven and one day will be reunited with his mom and dad. I am happy this sweet angel is no longer suffering. But my heart is aching for Jennifer and her family. I can not imagine the roller coaster of emotions she has been going through these last few weeks. So one more time i will ask if you will pray for Jennifer. Give her strength and let her feel God's arms wrapped tight around her in this time of heartache.

20 Months Old

Chandler turned 20 months yesterday!! I am not sure where the last 20 months have gone! Her vocabulary is increasing everyday. Her new words are elephant, help, please, chicken, rice, sausage, Pete, Goofy, okay, milk, juice, bubbles and yes. She is starting to repeat EVERYTHING we say! So if you are around her, don't use any potty words. :) She still loves to read. We went to the library tonight to check out some new books and she found a baby rocking chair, climbed up in it and proceeded to rock and read. She still loves her Mimi (a.k.a Mickey).

Sparky (Jeremy's mom) is coming to visit us for a full week on Monday. She last saw Chandler in Jan. and i am sure she will be blown away by how much she has changed since then.

Happy 20 months Cha Cha!

A case of the sickies

I thought that Chandler and i were in the clear with out getting the flu this year. But Mr. Flu had to come and surprise us last night. Chandler and i are both feeling really punk (as my dad would say).! Luckily Jeremy only went in to work for a few hours this morning and then came home to take care of us. It is now dinnertime and Chandler is almost 100% better and i am at about 50%. I am hoping by tomorrow we will be all better and be able to get out and about by Friday.

Random Photos

We went to Chuck E Cheese a few weeks ago. These 2 moms live in my neighborhood. All the girls are within a few months of each other.

She loves her new Mickey Mouse doll. Or as she calls him "Mimi".




She is a cutie.


One day last week Chandler did not take a nap all day. Then this is what happened at 5:30 in the afternoon.

She loves her dog!

She actually fell asleep like this. Too cute for words!

Lots of snow

Like most of the east and south east we woke up this morning to SNOW! We got about 3 inches which is a lot for the Nashville area. Snow is not a common sight in TN in winter so we enjoyed it from the comfort of our warm home.

Jeremy took Chandler out to play in the snow this morning but Chandler did not want to touch it or stand in it. But all was not lost as Jeremy taught Chandler how to say snow. There is still some icy--snow patches lingering on shaded streets and Chandler loves to point at it and say "snow".

Date Night!!!

On Saturday night our sweet friends Julianne and Johnny offered to watch Chandler so that Jeremy and I could have a date night. They have a daughter 3 months older than Chandler so we knew Chandler would have a fun evening.

Chandler was having fun with the ball and Johnny that she didn't know we left!

Jeremy and i went to eat at the Red Pony in downtown Franklin. We enjoyed a yummy sushi appetizer and then some lobster and crab for dinner. Afterwards we headed to the Mellow Mushroom for a beer.

When we arrived to pick Chandler up around 9:00pm, she was having fun playing with play dough and did not want to leave. You can see that she was wide awake on the ride home. But she did go to sleep as soon as i tucked her in.

It was nice to get out with just Jeremy and remember why we fell in love in the first place.