Monday, October 31, 2011

Amanda Turns 28!

Amanda is a familiar name around here at You, Me and The Kid. She was the person that said my life was interesting enough to blog about. The verdict is still out on that but here we are a couple years later still blogging and celebrating Amanda again!!!

We've been friends for a long time. I've said before she is the best thing that came out of my relationship I was in before I met my hubby. She was the person I was with when I met Adam for the first time. She knew before anyone else that I was pregnant and Auntie Amanda came rushing the day Aidan was born. She was the first person to see my engagement ring just minutes after Adam popped the question and stood by me on the big day!

We've shared all of that and so much more. In years passed we've swapped birthday gifts and cards. Last year I made her this slideshow. When I as thinking about what I wanted to do for her this year I was having trouble coming up with something that was more special than something that I had done before or taking the risk of buying her something she wouldn't love or already had. I wanted to do something that was a testament to our friendship and all the fun we've had all these years as friends.

I was moving some things around the house and stumbled upon a photo album Amanda had gifted me with a few years ago. On the front was a picture she had snapped of a whimsical canvas she and I had seen at an acquaintances house during a Christmas party close to 10 years ago. It was hanging in the bathroom and at the time we fell in love with it and the quote about best friends. We were sure I could duplicate it for us to have in our own houses. Well here we were all these years later and it was never painted. So that's what I did. I finally painted the picture for Amanda.


(I don't claim to be an artist so don't laugh at my artwork)

It was a lot of fun to paint and I found myself smiling while working thinking back to that night. We were both single and the world was our oyster. We were all dressed up for the holiday party and had shared more than a couple of glasses of wine. We were being typical girls and had to use the bathroom together. We saw this painting and thought "That is so us!" The only place we wanted to be was there with each other and having that much fun. 

(A picture of us that night.  Seriously clueless as to who that guy is.)

A lot of birthdays have come and gone and things have changed more than we probably could have ever imagined. Thankfully our friendship has stayed the same. So Amanda, I hope that you loved your painting but most of all I hope you know that on your birthday and every other day of the year, that you are a gift to me!!!! Cheers to becoming old ladies together! I love you. Happy 28th! 

Thursday, October 27, 2011

I Haven't Disapeared

I feel like I haven't posted in forever! We have been so crazy busy this week with moving my parents, four year checkups and fall festival, training Scout and all the other fun things we have going on I've hardely had a second to sit. I took three days off to help my parents and it looks like every second will be used up!!!

There are some fun fall DIY and recipe posts in the works! And I'm going to Boston the second weekend in November to shop for wedding dresses with my BFF Mariann. I can't wait! Oh! And my cousin is having a baby tomorrow! Sooooo have no fear there will be plenty to read here soon enough!

Thanks for checking in!

Xo

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Scout...


Adam brought home a puppy on Saturday! He's a Jack Russell Terrier.  He's on a trial run with us right now. 
Adam and Aidan have really been wanting a dog and I have said no over and over.  I love the idea of a dog I just don't love the responsibility.   So we're taking it day by day and so far so good.  He is really cute isn't he?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Footie Pajamas


After successfully taking me on a trip down engagement memory lane on our 4 year wedding anniversary, Adam stopped at Target with me so we could pick up something I needed for Aidan's Halloween costume.  

We walked around for a few minutes and when we go to these lovely Bunny footed pajamas Adam stopped dead in his tracks and went in to shock.  He wanted to know who would wear such a thing.  If I thought sleeping in something like this was "cute".  And if it was fair to assume if you get home from work and your wife is in this ensemble it's going to be a quiet night on the bedroom front. 
I could not stop laughing.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I Wish I Were This Cute in Stripes

 


I could literally eat him some days.  Ok, OKAY! Everyday.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Is it Tuesday Already?

This post was titled "Is it Monday Already?" but a case of the Monday's got the best of me so here we are on posting on Tuesday. 

Aidan was really, really sick last week and stayed home from school a few days with Adam so I was excited to get home on Friday and scoop him up.  Aidan was in the mood for Mexican and since he was sick (well really anytime) he got what he wanted and we ate dinner at our favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant.  Did you know I ate Mexican at least 4 nights a week while I was pregnant? Do you think that's where he gets it from?

Adam surprised me with the new iPhone 4s on Friday for our anniversary.   He really is the best! I had a Droid previously and was loving it but his phone (also a Droid) needed to be upgraded so he bought the iPhone for me and took over my Droid.  We're both happy!  Prior to me buying him his iPad for his birthday a few weeks ago, we owned a teeny tiny iPod shuffle and that was it.  We were not an Apple family.  I think it's safe to say there is no going back.  I spent the majority of my free time downloading apps and taking tons of pics on the new phone.  Realistically I spent way too much time than should ever be allowed playing with a PHONE.  Being the thoughtful guy that he is, Adam also bought me a cute cover in purple. My favorite color.  Let me know if there's an APP I have to have!



Saturday we headed to my parents to start helping them pack to move to their rental house (condo won't be ready for 6 months) and although we packed the entire garage, I think we ended up with more stuff at our house than in boxes.  My parents have such great furniture and antiques, I couldn't help but secretly hope they would unload some of it on me during this move.  I might have got what I wished for and more.  They haven't even started deciding what pieces of art they are taking with them. For those of you that have never been in my parents house, they have an incredible art collection. I am keeping my fingers crossed some pieces will have to come my way!

Antique Radio
{a little dusty}


What do I call this?
We are going to plant English Ivy at the base.


This bookshelf is gorgeous in real life.  Terrible picture.
Again, extremely dusty from not being used for awhile but I've had my eye on
this bad boy for a while. The spindles are on the sides as well.  No clue
where I will put this.



Saturday night Adam wanted to continue our Anniversary Celebration and cook and have a nice dinner on the patio out back.
 We cleaned the patio off and re arranged some furniture.
I lit some of the leftover candles from Adam's party and we bought great steaks from the Fresh Market and grilled them.  I really couldn't think of any other way I would have liked to spend my weekend.  We were all feeling kind of crappy at this point and being at home with my boys is my idea of the perfect night.


And as usual...YOU KNOW WHO woke up and joined in on the fun.  He came outside with his blankie and lounged on the day bed while we ate.  He asked us a million questions about anniversaries and being married.  It was hilarious and he was absolutely thrilled one of our cats Uncle Bentley snuggled up with him.


Sunday I woke up with the world's worst migraine (which is common these days) and Adam had to go in to work for a little while.  We skipped our trip to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend and Aidan and I vegged out and watched the Panthers get annihilated play.  We took a nap ( I love a nap) and then hopped in the car and went to my parents.  My mom's personal trainer stopped by and the three of us sat on the steps leading out to my parents courtyard and chatted over a glass of wine while Aidan terrorized my Dad.
Adam got off of work just in time for dinner and we ordered take out and again picknicked in the backyard on the day bed by the chiminea.  Adam has caught whatever it was that Aidan had last week and is feeling pretty crummy.

We wrapped up the weekend with Sunday night HBO and got up yesterday already looking forward to the upcoming weekend.  It always goes by way too quick!

Friday, October 14, 2011

It's Just a House

A crazy thing happened two weeks ago.  My parents SOLD. THEIR. HOUSE.  My Mom called to tell me and I tried to sound really excited because I know they are ready to downsize but it was so bittersweet getting that phone call. 

I love that house. I remember when my parents first bought the land in Dilworth. It was after months and months and months of us driving around in the family van, getting out standing on lots looking to see where the best view of the city was, walking the neighborhood to see where we might like to build our home. I remember we would tease my Dad that he would never build a house on that lot.

I remember when the blue prints were drawn up and construction started. I remember being in awe of how big the house was and how lucky I felt that my Dad was building such a beautiful place for us to grow up.
I remember sitting in my room when we had just moved in and being overwhelmed at how my parents had gone to every length to make it perfect for me.  The purple walls and huge walk in closet were a girls dream come true.  After years of sharing a bthroom with two brothers I had one all to myself!!!!

The best memories have been made in the Dilworth house.  We grew up in that house.  We've stood around that kitchen island and laughed together as a family, we've broke bread at the table and talked about life.  We've seen friends and relationships come and go.  We mourned the loss of my Nana in this house.  We watched my parents grow older and more in love in this house. Bobby moved away from this house and then back and then away and now back again.  Jordan got accepted to Clemson here.  It's the house Aidan spent so many of his firsts days in.  It's the house Adam and I fell in love in it was the first place we came when we were engaged. 







            Its not just the house I'll miss. It's the feeling I have when I'm there, the neighborhood, the people. 
I think everyone will miss it.  It will forever be a sign of growth, success and great happiness for our family.
It's just that the times are changing and there is no need for my Mom and Dad to have so much space.   We are all moved out and it's time for a new family to move in and for other kids to get to experience all the fun there is to be had inside that place.  For a new family to make new memories here.
So we'll pack everything up and remember IT'S JUST A HOUSE.  The memories we get to take with us.





Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Happy Anniversary Hunny!

Happy Anniversary to my HUBBY Adam!

Being married to you is SO. MUCH. FUN.





and SO. EASY. 

Every day is a new adventure.

I feel like we have this secret the rest of the world doesn't know about.  Not that one. The other one. Wink.

This marriage is MORE than I ever could have wanted.

4 years.

It's only getting better babe.

Cheers. 

I love you.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Cell Phone Photos That Crack Me Up

I love going through my phone because I always find the most random photos that make me remember hilarious things about Aidan. 

We let Aidan stay up super late the night of Adam's party because some of our friends had brought their families and the kids were having a great time. It's pretty typical of Aidan to skip meals when we have company because he is so pysched to have someone to play with he doesn't notice his hunger.
So the night of Adam's party things had started to quiet down and all but a few of our guests had trickled out.  There was a small group of us sitting around the fire roasting marshmallows when I realized Aidan had pulled up a chair behind us.  The funny part:  He had helped himself to some of the food leftover and was eating it half asleep with his hands.  When we offered him a fork he broke in to tears because he knew waiting on a fork would pro long him filling up after not eating since lunch 12 hours earlier.  And don't for one minute think he didn't finish his whole meal just before completely passing out moments later.  Fire hat and all.




Friday, October 7, 2011

County Fair

The surprises were just coming one after the other the weekend of Adam's 30th!  Sunday after his party we headed up to the Cleveland County Fair in good ole' Shelby, NC.  Adam spent a couple good years at the fair when he was younger so I thought it would be the perfect thing to take his mind off of the big 30. Plus I knew he would probably really enjoy some Chicken on a Stick and a huge Funnel Cake.  Who wouldn't?


Aidan definitely had a good time.  He rode everything! Surprisingly, Adam is a little bit more protective of Aidan than I am and he was totally freaking out he was going to catch some deathly disease from carnival rides while we were there. 

All of Aidan's dreams came true at the Fair.  He got to ride in a firetruck...
                                                 
He got to ride in a race car.
And on a motorcycle. 
Also known as the things I will never let him do in real life. Haha!



He almost did a flip!
He loves his Daddy .
 This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Aidan.  He is just so sweet.


I'm embarrassed to tell you we are going back tonight. =)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

It's a SURPRISE!!!

My hubby turned 30 on Monday and we spent the entire weekend celebrating!  30 after all, only comes around once! 

I have been DYING to tell you all about the surprise party I was working on but I went to every extreme to keep this a secret so my blog readers were left out of the loop.  I am excited to share all the deets with you!  I have to start by saying...Surprise Parties should be re named Lie Parties because that is exactly what you have to do to keep it a secret. I felt so guilty (I mean slightly) making up stories about why I had to be somewhere or why I had taken money for silly reasons.  In the end when Adam saw how it all came together and he slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together during the party, the guilt slowly washed away.

It started with an email about 2 months ago . I just decided one day at my desk, I'm going to throw this party.  So I whipped up this invite by buying fonts and downloading them on my computer and then just messing around with them and some google images. I paid an etsy designer to clean it up and put it in to a pdf file and then I just took them to Kinko's and printed them on card stock.  I LOVE how they turned out.  I had one blown up and we framed it.  I blacked out my address and phone number for the blog.



I threw the party right in our backyard.  I borrowed some chairs and moved all of our patio furniture out in to the yard. I bought bales of hay for extra seating/ottomans.  I bought tons of candles at Ikea and black and white throws to put on the chairs for when people got chilly.

I painted this piece of wood with Chalkboard paint and stuck it on the side of the kegerator. 


I had seen some one take pallets and make a day bed out of them so that's just what I did here.  I took pallets from work and attached them together and added casters.  I bought a brand new twin size mattress off of Craig's List for $10 and threw a bunch of our random blankets over it.  My great grandmothers afghans were really cozy when it got cold later in the evening.  I bought a Chiminea and set up a basket full of the ingredients to make s'mores.  They were a huge hit!
A girlfriend of  mine got married a few weeks ago and she heard I was in the market for empty jars for lighting.  She was nice enough to let me have the jars she used to line the path to her reception. The wine bottles came from a family friend that owns 300 East here in Charlotte.  I lined our patio with them and it looked so good when the sun went down.
Our neighbors just recently opened up a bakery down the street so I asked them to make Adam's cake. It was really good.
Making S'Mores.
Girlfriends


It was a lot of hard work to keep this secret from Adam and I had to do a lot of the preparation at my parents house.  I am so happy with how it all came together.  Everyone had such a great time and I know it was Adam's favorite birthday to date.  It will probably be the last surprise party I throw for a long time!


Since Saturday, we have really been enjoying the day bed and chiminea in the backyard.  This is my favorite time of year!!!


I really am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. There is nothing I would change about him.  I am constantly spoiled by him and so it was nice to actually be able to do something for him once.  I'm looking forward to seeing what his 30's hold for him. 
Happy 30th (for the thirtieth time) Honey.