Sunday, July 31, 2011

Cousins- BFF!

One thing is for sure...cousins are usually a child's first best friends. They were mine and they sure are Miss L.'s, too.

Layla's cousins Ana Grace and Abagail recently spent the night at our house and we all had so much fun! Having them spend the night is a big deal since they live about two hours away.

Here's some pics of the evening's festivities!

A late afternoon trip to GiGi's Cupcakes in Germantown!



Evening swim in the pool...



And a sweet night hanging out in the house. :)



The love these three share is amazing...BFF!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Today's reads...


We visited Arkansas Children's Hospital for laser treatment on Layla's ear today. This book came from the gift shop. Dr. Kincannon and his nurse, Marianne also gave Layla My Favorite Words with Elmo and Friends. Cute word book she enjoyed, as well. :)


Our friend Kevin gave this book to Miss L. for her birthday...good read for little ones...they love the tongue twisters!


And yesterday Miss L. received a special package from Foster and Leigh Ann- our dear friends who live in Nashville. This book was included with some other wonderful gifts. Layla hasn't put it down since she opened the box! She loves board books. And she just giggles at the sounds in this book as I read it to her. :)


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Rainy Day Project

My goal is to have Layla try something new every day.

Here's our girl last Sunday...


March of a decade...

A decade! Wow! Shane and I have been married for 10 years! And what a perfect anniversary it was!

Shane proposed on my birthday weekend in 2001. He planned a sweet trip to Memphis to celebrate (we were students at UT Martin at the time). And well, I knew I was getting one of two things from him- 1. An engagement ring or 2. A pea coat. I let my roommate, Erika know this even though I knew she had a big mouth. :) (Love you Erika!) She, of course told Shane...so on the way to Memphis, Shane pulled over on the side of the road because he was 'so excited' for me to have my birthday gift. I opened it. Stupid coat. Never been so disappointed in a gift! 

Off to Memphis...and a stay at the Peabody Hotel! Loving this part!

As the skies grew dark, Shane wanted to go out downtown...so we started with dinner at Hard Rock Cafe on Beale Street. Shane ordered a massive plate of food and ate just a small bit. I tought, 'He must not be feeling well because he eats like a monster.' Later he seems to be better and he suggests a horse and buggy ride through downtown and alongside the Mississippi River. And I thought, well maybe he is going to propose after all. :) ...buggy ride ends. No proposal. :(

We head up to the room...he tells me he forgot another gift in the car, so he calls concierge to retrieve it. When it is delivered to the door...it's a t-shirt box...wrapped in birthday paper. Nice. Another piece of clothing. But, when I opened it...it was actually a picture frame. Under the glass was a handwritten note: 'Will you marry me?' And we all know my answer!

So, flash forward to 10 years later at the Peabody Hotel...with Layla. We were honored to have her serve  as Honorary Duckmaster on this special day (thanks to a special friend and coworker)! What does this mean? It means our girl was part of a tradition that goes back many, many years. Check out the Peabody website to learn more about this tradition: Peabody Ducks

It also means that we get to continue making marriage memories for our family at this grand hotel. The Peabody has always been such a special place for us. We will go back for many more years to come.

Here's some Peabody Hotel lobby fountain pics through the times...

Proposal- (Notice my new pea coat with the tag on the sleeve) 

Fifth Anniversary

Tenth Anniversary...with Layla!

And some of the Honorary Duckmaster pics. :)










PS. I used the same frame to tell Shane about Miss L. :)



Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Days are long, but years are short...

So, this new blogging thing I planned to do lasted...well...ummm...let's just say I blogged once 10 months ago. Interesting that I talked about how simple life was. Simple, indeed, but not simple enough to keep up with the blogging world.

Let's try this again...

We recently celebrated Layla's first birthday...new year for our girl, so let's go from there...


Here's an up close of the photo on the invite...enjoyed making this outfit from the tip on the hat to the bottom of the curl on the tutu ribbon!

Here are some other shots of the party decor! Mommy wanted cute stuff, so she figured out how to make it...crazy how being a mom can make you crafty!





 LOVE this balloon wreath!

Paula gave me this ice bucket years ago...it is so adorable!


Marshmallow pops...yum!



Party hats...cheap (ugly) paper hats covered in cute paper and topped with a pom pom. :)



Elmo's best friend is Dorothy the goldfish...each child was given a goldfish to take home.




I ordered her cake from The Flour Garden in Memphis...LOVED IT!

AND HERE SHE IS...THE BIRTHDAY GIRL AND HER CAKE!








Look who surprised our girl!



It was a GREAT DAY shared by MANY people who love our girl...