My Hobby...

Abalone shell horn earring with sterling silver ear wire.
Chinese carved Cinnabar beads with sterling silver ear wire.
Crystal bead and blue quartz bead with sterling silver ear wire.
Camel colored quartz bead with gold fill ear wire. (these look so cute on)
Gold fill leaf stamping with gold fill ear wire.

I have finally revisited my hobby of jewelry making. There for a while I was pretty busy with a newborn so all of those time consuming things fell by the wayside. I still am not back to it 100%, I am just back to making earrings. They are pretty easy to make and take less time than necklaces. I started making jewelry about a year and a half ago. When Michael and I went to Australia we went to several markets where local people would sell their "crafts." Anyway, at this one stand you would pick out what you wanted your necklace made out of and they would make it right there. I watched them do a few and thought...I can do this. So when we got back home I got on the internet, looked at some beading magazines, and got started. I ended up loving to do it and I actually sold many pieces. So I posted a few pictures of some earrings I made last week. The earrings really look better on, but I couldn't photograph them just right. They really aren't anything special, but I like them and they took maybe 30 minutes to make them all. I really would like to get back into it and sell some! I am also thinking about taking some classes at a local bead shop. Oh yeah, I called my jewelry CAK (or cake) which are my (maiden name) initials. Kind of cheesy, but whatever.

Gag!

Do any of you gag on Buttered Popcorn JellyBellys? It is the worst flavor, who even thought of that? I like the coconut ones and I sometimes mistake a buttered popcorn for coconut and I seriously almost lose my dinner. I have done that twice tonight, so I had to vent...

Flying is for the birds...

We flew to Nashville this weekend for an interview in Nashville. The group was very nice they bought us plane tickets, including Will. Well, Will decided to have a couple of meltdowns on the plane. Of course, we had to go through Atlanta, so it was a total of 4 plane rides. The worst was on the way from Nashville to Atlanta, he was screaming SO loud. I was trying to feed him and he just kept screaming (he was really tired, and he is not happy when he is tired). Anyway, we were directly behind first class so I know they were annoyed. I don't handle those situations very well. It stresses me out! Michael and I both were trying to console him and calm him down - we were both sweating. He carried on for probably just 5 or 10 minutes but it seemed like forever...There was a bright side to all of this though - They purchased a ticket for Will (which is nice because you can put the carrier in a seat etc.) but we thought we would try to get it refunded to the group because he usually ends up in my lap anyway. They couldn't refund it because it was booked through Orbitz so Will had a seat on each flight. Well the airline overbooked every flight we were on. So when they announced it was full and would anyone wait for the later flight for a voucher etc, we walked up and said we will give up Will's seat for a voucher. Long story short, we did this for each flight and racked up $1050 in flight vouchers! I don't see how overbooking makes money for the airline...

Atlanta

Last Tuesday I decided to go home for a few days, as Michael is spending time studying for his boards. So I hopped in the car around 3 pm and headed to Atlanta without telling my parents. I got to my parent's house around 10:30, coaxed my dad outside to look for "something I had left last visit" and when he opened the door, there we were! We then walked downstairs and surprised my mom! It was so much fun seeing the looks on their faces! I have had a nice break here with lots of help with Will! I also got to see my friend Ada. She is 19 weeks pregnant and looks so cute. You can't really tell she is very pregnant in the picture, but she has a cute little belly! She will find out in a couple of weeks what she is having!

Boob Tube

I had to post these pictures of Will trying to watch tv. I had him turned away from the tv while he played with his toy - well as you can see the toy was not very interesting, but what was on the tv was! If you click on the photos to enlarge it you can see what he was looking at, hence the title of the post...

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a great Easter! As you can see in the picture, Will liked his easter basket. It was so funny he was looking down in it to see what was in there. We tried to get a few pictures outside. It is really hard to do that when they can't sit up yet, but we got a few cute ones!

Weekend in Nashvegas...

Will, Michael, and Poppa

I had to show a picture of the "fun" plane ride.

Uncle Kyle and Will

Uncle Berry and Will
Aunt Ann and Will

Will and daddy at the Easter Egg Hunt.

Brooke, Lauryn, Will and I - Will thought Lauryn was cute...

Will, Aunt Dee Dee, and his cousins! Beau loved to grab and hug Will!

Will and Abby - how cute is that!

Will and his MiMi.



Once again I went a little crazy with all of the pictures! We had a busy weekend in Nashville! Michael had an interview so we made a weekend out of it! Anyway, as you can see we visited with Michael's family and my brother Kyle. Saturday I went to my friend Jennifer's wedding! It was so much fun seeing her and tons of people I haven't seen in forever!! Jennifer looked beautiful - I, of course, forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures! I was so mad at myself. My mom was there and was so excited to see Will!

On Sunday we went to lunch with some of the doctors at the hospital that Michael was interviewing with. Then we stopped by Lyla and Jon's house to meet their new little one, Mamie (so cute and sweet), then we rushed over to the egg hunt at the Baker's Farm. It is absolutely gorgeous out there! We got lots of great pictures. We got to see Brooke, Ryan and Lauryn, who is so cute, Christine, Emily, Ashley, Niki, and lots of other friends we hardly ever get to see!

We flew to Nashville and Will was pretty good on the flight. However, he did have a few meltdowns, which was a little stressful. I felt bad for the other passengers, but what do you do? Of course it didn't help we had to sit on the plane for an hour while they replaced a MISSING engine door. That didn't put my mind at ease...

Love to Bounce

I had to post these pictures of Will in his jumper. He loves this thing and is so proud of himself when he bounces around! He likes to hold onto the straps. Are those chubby legs or what!?

SO STUPID...

Have any of you seen that new show "The Great American Dream Vote?" It is absolutely the most STUPID show on television. Sorry if any of you like it, but the show is ridiculous. They even talked about it on the View this morning. I hardly ever agree with Rosie, but this morning she was right on about how stupid the show is. The guy who actually won had an "American Dream" to have a full head of hair. I will say I did feel a little sorry for him since he was bald at 22, but he obviously wasn't that embarrassed by it if he got on national television to ask people to vote for his "dream". They showed a clip were he whimpers, "You just don't know what it would mean to get a real haircut," then they pan the camera over to the barber shop. So in the end (I couldn't change the channel, that is how ridiculous this show was) it was between this bald guy and a lady that had the "American Dream" to open a Senoir Bassett Hound Sanctuary. WHAT IN THE WORLD! I am a dog lover don't get me wrong, but it was just so random. My favorite line from her story was, "Help me help the hounds." I guess what makes it so bad is that, aside from Donnie Osmond being the host (any of you see him in the Weird Al Yankovic video for White and Nerdy?), they take it so seriously. Donnie Osmond is like "Vote Nowww for the American Dream you want to come true..." I can hardly stand it. So anyway, at the end of the show the bald guy wins and all these "Price is Right models" come out to show the prizes. They even roll out on pallets like on the Price is Right, then the bald guys is hanging all over Donnie...so obnoxious. So moral of the story please don't watch this show so that they will cancel it hopefully along with the show, "Search for the Next Pussycat Doll." Sorry just had to vent about that...

Favorite Time of Day...

Michael captured my favorite time of day. We have a little ritual in the morning. I am sure some of you will not approve since it will probably be a hard habit to break one day, but A-N-Y-W-A-Y, I still love it. Every morning before Michael goes in to work, Will wakes up ready to eat so Michael brings him to me in bed. I feed him and then we fall back to sleep for an hour or two. I love it and I know I won't be able to do it for long. Also, any of you have ideas on how to get him to not wake up so much during the night? I no longer do a night feeding, but he still wakes up and I have to put his pacifier back in his mouth. He falls right back to sleep, but sometimes only for 30 minutes to an hour. I know he is a baby and baby's do that, but any thoughts on what else might be causing him to wake up? It is at least 2 times each night, sometimes 3. Ughhh! Should I let him cry it out? I am I hindering him from being able to "self-soothe" by putting his pacifier back in his mouth?

Would You Buy These?

While I was home visiting my parents my mom got out her sewing machine and made Will these precious outfits! She can whip them out let me tell you! She also made a really cute one that I have not taken a picture of yet, it is blue and white seersucker with a chick applique with an orange beak and feet, I will post that later! She has fun making them, she really enjoys designing them a little more though! I am going to learn to sew so that I can make them too. She can also make little girl dresses, but is looking for the right pattern. I told her she should sell them and that I thought people would order them from her. I am so proud of her, she is SO creative and good at everything she does!

New Camera!

I got a new camera and I am so excited! It takes the greatest pictures! The only problem is, I really don't know how to use it yet...it's a digital, but has all kinds of features and a big ole' lens on the front of it. While I was home in Atlanta my friend Ryan took a lot of pictures of Will with her camera and they were some of the best pictures we have of Will - so I decided we had to have a new camera. Here are a couple of the pictures we took today outside. I wasn't sure what setting it should be on so I just played around with it. It would probably help if I read the manual...

Also, an update on the house, we have a contract on it and another person that wants to put a contract on it! Yeaaaa! As far as we know the inspection was good and will know more tomorrow. What a relief!

Uncle Kyle

This week I have been visiting my parents in Atlanta and my brother, Kyle (isn't he cute!), came down from Nashville to visit too! We have had so much fun hanging out! In the pictures I posted Will has on Kyle's old superman t-shirt from when he was a baby. It is a real vintage t-shirt! It is 27 years old! Kyle looked so cute wearing it, now Will does. Did your mom pull out old baby clothes of yours and your siblings for your firstborn to try on???

4 Month Stats

We went to the doctor today for Will's four month checkup! He is 18lbs 14oz and 26 1/4 inches long! I can't believe how big he has gotten!!!!! He of course got his second round of shots, not fun. He didn't stay upset too long, but was somewhat cranky all day! The doctor said I could start him on rice cereal, my mom says I should wait until he is a little older and mom's tend to know best! When did you start your babies on rice cereal????

Tummy Time

Any suggestions for making tummy time more enjoyable? Will really does not like it. He lasts about 5 minutes and then erupts or lays there sucking on his hands until I turn him over. He can push up and roll to his side, but he gets so upset. I want to make it fun so I get out a bunch of toys, but he really isn't interested.

Our House

I got really carried away with the pictures - sorry. In a few months Michael will be finishing his residency and we will be moving, so it is now time to sell our house. I can't believe how quickly the five years have gone by! I am excited about moving, but I am a little sad to be leaving our house. It was our first house and we worked so hard on it. We really must have had a vision because the house was really awful when we bought it, but we loved it. The house had horrible wall colors and 30 year old nasty gray carpet. So over the years we have transformed it the best we could on a small budget! We do love it, but are excited to be moving on to a new chapter in our lives. That new chapter involves an apartment for a year in Ohio while Michael does his fellowship, so we will miss the extra space for sure! So I have posted some pictures of the house before and after. I still have not figured out how to organize the pictures in a order on the blog, but you will get the idea. We have an interested buyer already. A resident starting next year so the move out time should coincide perfectly! I am a little nervous about the inspection - the house is over 70 years old...

FINALLY!!!!!

I have been fighting with Blogger for two days now! No matter what I did I couldn't log in, couldn't leave or read comments etc. Was anyone else having trouble?