6 Months Old!

"Who me?"

 

Mama is so silly, can you believe all the pictures she takes of me? Sheesh! Anyways, she let me steal the blog for a minute to let you know what I'm up to these days. Pretty much just baby stuff. You know, putting anything and everything in my mouth(that pumpkin was yummo!), drueling all day long, making funny noises(especially when we go out to eat!), lookin' like a handsome little man and sitting up like a big boy. :-)

Curious is my name and explorin's my game-I'm keeping mommy on her toes these days! The Backyardigans is still my favorite cartoon and I love to wiggle and dance w/ Pablo the penguin. I like taking walks outside  in my stroller, am really ticklish, and my favorite toys right now are balls. Mommy tries to read lots of books to me, but they look so good I just can't resist trying to eat them all! On the other chubby little hand, I do not like puppy kisses, peas, and-ahem- falling off the bed (shhh...don't tell mommy I said that).

Most of all I love making mommy and daddy smile and laugh. They always tell me how thankful to God they are for me, and how much they love me, which makes me a pretty happy kiddo. :-)

Okay, well I better get to cruisin-I've got people to see, things to do, sweet potatoes to eat....see you soon!

Love,
Evan

Bring on the boxes

Wer'e MOVING!!! Sound the bells, hooray hooray! After living in Wake Forest and Raleigh for the past 3 years, we are finally ready to start our lives in Wilson. We recently found a renter for our home who will be moving in mid November-which means, that's right...we gotta be outta here sooner than soon! After a busy few days raking the rental market in Wilson, God provided the perfect home at the perfect time. Just this afternoon we got the final application approval and green light from our credit checks. The deposit is in and we are on our way! As of this moment, it looks like we will be moving in ONE short week from now! And to think I doubted...God is so good to us, always faithful and never failing!

I am so excited about our new HOUSE in Wilson-no more townhome living around here! After our exhausting search this past Sunday, I had begun to think maybe we might have to settle on a home because of our rush and not be 100% happy about it-after all it would only be temporary. I was confronted head on with my vanity and pride as I caught myself cringe at dated bathrooms, an oven from the year 1812, and your great grandmother's wallpaper galore. At one point we were looking at a home that was pretty old and seriously dated-and even it was out of our monthly price range! "Oh boy," I thought to myself with a heavy sigh. Of course, as I stoped to remind my soul, we could and would be happy wherever God would have us-we are already blessed beyond measure!

But as only the Lord would work out, it turned out that a house that we really liked, which was previously taken off the market, suddenly became available the following day!  As I had been in close contact with the Realtor, we were the first in line and put in our application right away! And the rest is history. It's a beautiful home in a great location-and best of all, right in our price range. Chris and I are so excited about moving to Wilson to be closer to our church family, and couldn't be happier with our new home. Hopefully this time next year we'll be able to sell our town home in Raleigh and buy in Wilson, but in the meantime we could not be happier with our rental house. Can I get an Amen?!

Between becoming landlords on our end and getting everything lined up as renters, juggling work, baby and moving-I think it's safe to say we've got a lot on our plate! Something tells me this week is going to be a circus...bring on the boxes! :-)

Little Gym Halloween Party

On Saturday we shared some much needed fun at "The Little Gym's" Halloween party. I'm so thankful for our special mommy and me time in Evan's "Bugs" class at the Little Gym, and was super excited to show off my most adorable little monster. The party was a barrel of cuteness- here, there and everywhere. Sweet chubby children + colorful costumes, crenylin, wings, fins and more=cotton candy cute!

Have you every seen a more precious little Monster? I didn't think so...

Parachute time!

And that's not the end of this monster's ball! Stay tuned for more treats to come...

Resting in Peace

On Friday evening, Chris' dad won his battle with MS and was made whole again in heaven.

Four Generations-taken about 2 months ago

Though we are sad and miss him more in these very new days, we are overwhelmingly thankful that he is no longer struggling so. Through this difficult time we are rejoicing in the faithfulness, nearness and peace found in Christ alone, and cherishing anew our time together.

Victor Irvin Scott

October 17, 1961-October 22nd, 2010

A picture tradition

The first year Chris and I went to the fair together, we were just babies, knee deep in the college and playing the dating game. See, I even curled my hair.  :-) We went with my awesome friend Amy, and she took this cute picture of us just outside of the hush puppy corn mill. Little did we know then that this special spot would become our fair photo tradition for years to come.

The next year at the fair we were were engaged(ie-straight hair). As we walked through the hush puppy house I immediately remembered the picture we took that year before. "We have to get another one," I whispered as we made our way through the crowded line.

Year three at the fair, the first as a married couple. Yep, it's official-three times in a row makes it a tradition.

The fourth year, last year in fact, I was 4 months pregnant and just starting to show. It's too bad we didn't get the belly shot! I remember it being much warmer last year and wondering were fall and my hoodies had gone to.

 

And this year, 2010, we welcomed a new little person into our family photo tradition. 

  

Each year we've walked the colorful landscape of the fair with new groups of people-the freshly dating, the engaged couple, the (insert myriad of witty adjectives here) newlyweds. Last year Chris was the guy with the slow, pregnant and *possibly whiny* wife, and now we have officially joined the "we packed too much for the stroller to carry, where's the camera, baby in tow,  we're losing shoes" club-and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Looking back at this time capsule of memories and photographs makes me excited to imagine what our family pictures will look like in the years to come. :-)

It's that time again...

Time for the NC State Fair that is!

 

Colorful crowds and merry-go-rounds,

 surrender me sweet Kettle corn pop corn

 something deep fried and decadently fatty,

 high flying Ferris wheels(next year for sure!),

 

picture traditions plus one,

 and pigging out in general

 

is what the fair's all about!

Picture of the week

Cookies, Crayon rolls and Couponing

Boy did I get some creative juices flowing this weekend! After going to the Creative Hearts craft fair at Open Door church, I was newly inspired to break out my dear, dusty sewing machine. I had the perfect project in mind for a sweet little girl's 6th birthday-a "crayon roll." :-) Both fun and functional-and not to mention outrageously adorable-the crayon roll was a great sewing project for me  and one I will definitely do again. Talk about an exercise in sewing straight lines! I used the instructions found here: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/04/25/on-a-roll/

The finished product:

On a side note, I can't say enough how much I love Joann Fabrics! I could spend forever getting lost in their colorful aisles, but since I had the baby and hubby in tow, we made it out without a major hit to the clock and check card, haha. Thank goodness Joann neighbors one of our favorite Raleigh restaurants-it's wonderful husband bait!

On Saturday I attended a Smart Shopper Couponing class courtesy of WRAL studios here in Raleigh, and let's just say my head is still spinning. The workshop was incredibly helpful and I'm SO excited to use these techniques in our household. Plus, the speaker was really entertaining and held my attention the entire time, never missing a quick witted beat and keeping my pen at a steady pace with oogles of budget saving tips and tricks. This is another post entirely, and I will hopefully get to posting it soon with the fruits of my clipping-watch out Lowes Food, I am armed, organized and ready to do some damage!

Unfortunately, my culinary endeavors were less successful(though I did find a super deal on flour). For the past two weeks I've been dreaming of beautiful fall sugar cookies. But not just any sugar cookies-I was exicted to explore the world of royal and glace icing to pair with my sweet treats. You know the kind-the kind of icing that's shiny and stays perfectly put on top of the cookie, that makes your cookie creations look like patterned peices of stain glass art and are stackable to boot. Sort of like this:

Well, let's just say that my first time around the block with this new recipe was, well, a disaster. If you've ever seen Nickelodeons "goo," you can imagine the messy splatter that painted my cookies, wax paper, spoons, bowel and counter tops. Neat it was not. Even the color was less than best...my pumpkin orange turned into sort of a melon/salmon color, which is to say it looked sort of pukey. :-/

Looking at my true trial and error of a batch, I knew without a doubt that these cookies would not be going to work with my husband the next day as planned haha! O well...at least design aside, the cookies did TASTE pretty amazing. And the learning experience really is a necessary one-after realizing my mistakes made, I'm almost positive I can make it much neater next time. Practice does make better, and I'm excited to whip out this recipe again with much more success come Christmas time.

As you can imagine, all of this craftyness is sure to leave a trail. I'm off now to vacum stray threads, wash cookie sheets and clean counters!

Dear Sock Monster

I used to think you were a myth, that you belonged in fairy tale land with the big bad wolf, narnia and cake batter ice cream(oh wait, pinch me that's real!). I even used to think that you were a made up...whisper... "excuse" for people like me who often loose their laundry. But no more. I've bent over in the washing machine, tirelessly inspected the dryer and walked and re-walked my path to the folded clothes. I can almost imagine you chuckling to yourslef as I needlessly unfold and beat out my neatly stacked shirts looking for my lost little baby socks.

I know you have the socks-I want them back. Why oh why must you prey on sweet, tiny baby socks? Perhaps an old, single, holey sock-or some good ole' dryer lint instead? It's no fun having cold feet, and mismatching simply will not do.

Come on, let's make a deal. I surrender, throw up my hands and admit...It''s true, the elusive sock monster is alive and well!

...and he lives in my house. Monster hunt anyone?

F-A-L-L

F is for crisp falling leaves off golden trees.

A is for sweet apple pie.

L is for late afternoon walks in the cool, fresh air

and

L is for little boy's first fall!

Oh Evan, I can't wait to introduce you to all the joys of this new season. Fall is for fairs, candy corn, pumpkin patches and more. Corduroy and jean jackets, Autumn leaves, colorful trees, and turkey feathers are knocking at our door. Welcome fall!