Five on Friday

Yep, switching it up this week and totally jumping on the 5 on friday bandwagon! Linking up with Darci, April, Christina and Natasha

O*N*E
After mentioning last week that i was debating on dishing out the hefty price for my BOB Revolution SE Single Stroller,  I sat down with my sweet husband to discuss. You see we made a promise a few months back when we new we needed to slow down on spending money, that from now on if either of us wanted to make a big purchase we would discuss it with one another before actually buying it. Yes, i know this is something we should have been doing all along, but it just never happened, and we would always be upset the other didnt ask to spend the money. Needless to say, my sweet, kind, understanding, loving husband (<---thats me sucking up hehe) agreed that not only does he know that i wouldnt buy something without it being a good deal, but that I also work hard, and if I really want the stroller, then i deserve it. You heard that right, I am a proud new owner of a lovely navy blue Bob stroller!!!! only sucky part, it doesnt ship for another 2 weeks!!! uuggghhh!!!

T*W*O
Today is Friday, and weather permitting, that means Starlight Musicals tonight. Its kinda a family tradition during the summers. We, meaning my immediate family, my sis family, my parents, and lots of friends, pack up the cooler filled with nice cold brewskies, throw the Radio Flyer Wagon in the back of the truck, and head down to a local city park where they put on free live music concerts every friday from 7-10pm. Its a cheap easy way to just chill and hang out with everyone. Granted, its the summer, in south florida, there are about a bajillion mosquitoes and there is a good chance you are either going to sweat like a pig or get rained out. But, that being said, we have a great time and it really does help wind down the busy work week. I love that Matthew is starting to enjoy it too. His cousins pull him and his friends (our friends kids Easton and/or Sam) around the park in his wagon. I remember going to the musicals when i was a little girl and I hope that Matthew will continue enjoying it as much, if not more, than I did.

T*H*R*E*E
I know Ive mentioned some friends here on the blog, but when i read this post last night, it was as if I was writing it myself (although i probably wouldnt have been able to write it as good). I have alot of friends acquaintances. But honestly there are only a handful of people i can count on. Some friends, mostly family, and honestly those friends are the ones I consider family. Im recently, well actually currently, going through a time in my life where a friend, a truely close friend of mine, just isnt who i thought she was. She used to fall into the category of family, but somewhere she lost that title. It kind of hit me out of nowhere, as I had thought everything was ok. But like it says in her post, im probably not the best a friend could be lately. Just like Becky, it kind of all started when I got engaged, got married, bought a house, got pregnant, had a child. To me that was just life, and I thought this friend understood that, as she was/is going through the same life stages. But obviously I just wasnt there enough for her, and disagreed with too many of her decisions (mainly fiance). Ive reached out multiple times and have tried to make things better. But maybe this is just one of those times that you just have to "choose to walk away from a friendship that doesnt work" anymore.

via

F*O*U*R
Im seriously considering giving this whole couch to 5k thing a shot. Im defintely not a runner. I prefer to walk/powerwalk or rollerblade. And honestly any type or race or marathon completely freaks me out. But i was thinking that if I did decide to go for it, it could be something that truely challenges me and takes me out of my comfort zone. Something that I can commit to doing for myself. It will help in my weight loss efforts, help in getting me out of the house, and help me feel just a little bit more accomplished. However, it scares me to death. Me run? a 5k? whos chasing me? thats more normally my attitude, but now that i got am getting my jogging stroller, this is kinda like a sign right? right. just keep telling myself that.....

via

F*I*V*E
I finally started putting some things on our walls. Mostly pictures. Weird considering we've lived in our house for close to 3 years. I dunno, it was just always kind of like we were waiting for things (renovations) to be finished before putting anything on the walls. Ive seriously had 3 big canvas photos sitting on our bedroom floor since matthew was about 4 months old. Theyre supposed to be hung up in the living room, but Im just too indecisive on where to actually hang them. And quite honestly, the photos are now kinda out dated since there are the first professional photos we had done as a family of three. We've now had like 3 more photoshoots, and im thinking maybe of getting new ones. Plusalso, our house is kinda small, and im nervous that by putting things on the wall it will kind of make it look cluttered. May have to scour pinterst this weekend to come up with some ideas.

Well, thats about it, and I hear matthew waking up over the monitor now. So hope you all have a great weekend. And if your new here from the linkup, thanks for stopping by! Would love to get to know you all so leave a comment!

our babyfree weekend

Two weekends ago, hubs and I got to go on our first overnight without baby mini-vacay. It was more like a staycation, considering we were only 10 minutes from our home and 15mins from Matthew, but none the less, i was still a tad emotional when we dropped him off at my sisters.

source

You probably heard me mention a few times on here about Tortuga Music Festival. Well it was taking place on our home beach from April 13-14. Seeing that it was the inaugural event, we were unsure of just how much of a clusterf*ck hassel it would be down by the beach.

So, we opted to get a hotel room at a old florida type motel, called Tropic Cay, for Friday and Saturday night. This way we wouldnt have to worry about beating the traffic Sat morning since the first act went on at 11am. One of my childhood best friends, Erin and her mom also got a room at the same hotel, so we did have some fun Friday night as well.

 

It was actually a little funny because Erin kept saying it was so weird to be out at midnight with me and hubs. (she knows we norm kick people out of our house by this time so we can go to sleep! lol). But this weekend would be different. Time for mommy and daddy to enjoy some adult fun time. So what are baby-free parents to do? We hit up the notorious Blondies. I swear this place has been around FOOOOORRREEEEEVVVVEEERRRR (said like from the movie The Sandlot). Its basically a chuck-e-cheese for adults. Bar. Beach. Pool Tables. Basketball Hoop game. Arcade Games. You name it. But its also basically a dive bar. Its actual name is Dirty Blondies, and it lives up to that name 100%.

 

We decided to walk to the bar, i mean come on we were on the beach, why the hell not? But, it sure did give us a little bit of a heads up of how far the walk would be to the concert the following two days. Realistically, it wasnt that far, but try walking that route twice a day, in the blazing hot sun, after drinking beer all day, in the heat, and hardly eating anything. It was for sure my workout for the weekend.

 

Saturday morning, I wish I could say I took advantage of sleeping in. Like really took advantage of it. But considering we didnt go to bed till about 3am, waking up at 10am just didnt feel like a full nights sleep to me. But who am I to complain right? We waited at the hotel for our other friends to show up and then headed down to Sonic for some breakfast? lunch? breakfast. Hubs absolutely loves Sonic, and its literally the only one that is close to us. But we hadnt been there because we never actually get the time to go to BeachPlace (a mall thats right across the street from the beach). Now let me tell you something, you thought Sonic was good in the middle of nowhere? Well its like waaaaay better on the beach. With a bar and all! Best.Sonic.Ever. And yes we did have it again on Sunday too. lol. (good thing we walked so much!)

 

As for the actual festival? It was awesome! Im not going to give you a detailed recount of the whole thing, because honestly i cant remember that would take forever. But lets just say, all the musicians put on dam good show. My favs included Michael Franti, Jake Owen, Lynrd Skynrd, Kenny Chesney, and my favorite was Eric Church. Ive seen Kenny Chesney in concert about a million times, and he always puts on a good show. Lynrd Skynrd rocked the house! It was my first time seeing them and as Ronnie Van Zant put it "Theres nothing better than a Skynrd crowd!" He was waving his rebel and american flag the entire time. Now, Michael Franti, i truely didnt really know all of his music (although surprisingly alot more than I thought) and he was the one who really got everyone moving dancing and jumping around through his entire performance. I was surprised they didnt have him on the bigger stage. Erins mom actually had him as the one artist she WOULD NOT miss. We ended up losing her and then found out later she was backstage with Michael Frantis girlfriend. Go figure?!?!

Michael Franti

Eli Young Band

Kenny Chesney

Eric Church

Eric Church

And of course, Eric Church just blew us all away. If you remember, I saw him back in December for my birthday. I dont know if it was the beach, booze, or day, but he was even better than I remember! We actually almost didnt get to see him perform, as he was the closer on Sunday night, which meant he played from like 7:30-9pm. We were supposed to leave and go pick up Matthew, but my sister generously offered to just keep him another night. I was a little uneasy with the thought of this. Not that I didnt trust her or anything, i just missed my baby. And I knew we would probably be home by 11pm, and just didnt like the thought/feeling of being home without him (its different if im at a hotel ;)). But thank god/sis, she did keep him, because it really truely was an incredible show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We cant wait to go back next year. It was well worth the $150 per ticket. And made an awesome birthday gift for the hubs! Some things I will remember for next time though include getting a closer hotel, reapplying suncreen religiously, bring a hat, and have just as much fun if not more than this years! (that last one is going to be pretty hard to top!)

fridays letters

omg, is it already 2013? guess that means its the first official fridays letters of the new year!

dear matt, Im glad you are somewhat back to feeling your normal self, because for the life of me I cant understand why you are such a strong brave man, yet when you get the tiniest of colds you become the biggest wimp Ive ever met. and i mean that in the nicest way possible ;) (for those of you wondering, I even goggled "why are men such wimps when they are sick" and its a proven fact, its something called "the man flu" lol)

dear matthew, i cant believe you are 7 months old today. where did my tiny baby boy go? You are growing before my eyes and I wish I could freeze every second of it. i wont lie, its starting to make me a little baby crazy, i already miss those newborn days, but dont worry I am even more excited to watch how you discover every little tiny thing that is new to you.

dear 2012, this past year has been absolutely amazing. so many wonderful memories, the highlight being matthews birthday this past june. but you were also filled with so many first; first day as a family of three, first family vacation, babys first pumpkin patch and halloween, babys first thanksgiving, first time meeting santa, first christmas (oh yeah slacker me hasnt even posted about that yet), and so many more. Im not sure how 2013 will ever beat this past year, but boy I know our lil family of three is going to have fun trying!

dear holidays, im sad you are over now. ill admit I was a lil depressed taking down the christmas tree this year. i wish the joy that you bring could last the whole year through. the amount of family fun, laughter, and wine you brought with you sure made for some wonderful memories and great times.

dear self, youre another year older (yes i missed a post back on my birthday on Dec 17th when I turned the big 2-7.) its a new year now. that means you cant technically use the ol' "i just had a baby" excuse anymore. time to get back into shape. im not going to call it a new years resolution. I hate those words. i feel like I always fail at my resolutions. so im just going to call you my next goal. that sounds more attainable. and Im even going to start off smaller than that. my next goal is just to lose 5lbs. im not going to worry about the other 30lbs i eventually want to loose ;) just start small... oh and adding to those goals, time to get myself more organized, specifically my office!

dear matt, its your birthday in just 8 days and you still have yet to come up with something you want. i swear you are the hardest person to get gifts for (although I do admit I did awesome on your xmas gift) maybe you could drop a few hints as to what you might like? pls,thx

dear matthew, i am so behind on your monthly updates. im actually having trouble remembering all the wonderful things that have happened each month, and I know you may not care now, but I cant wait to one day look back on those memories to share with you.

And because Ive always promised to leave you with a picture, heres me and some of my girls my birthday weekend tailgating at the Eric Church concert (btw-best concert ever!)

throwback thursday: baby shower

So let me first interrupt this normally scheduled blog post to say that my lil man is officially 4 months old today! I cant believe its already been 4 months! man time flies! If you follow me on instagram then you probably already saw this photo, but I still have to share it.

Since his 4 month checkup appointment isnt until tomorrow, I probably wont get around to doing a 4 months post till this weekend. Plus, I need to catch up on posting his 1-3 months posts. (yeah I know, Im a big procrastinator)

Now, back to this weeks throwback thursday, topic: baby shower.

 

   <a href="http://southernwifey.blogspot.com"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8171/7983096222_3d3cff74a4.jpg" border="0"></a>

So I first want to give a huge shout out to my sister, mom, & awesome friends (you know who you are) You all did an absolutely fabulous job on my baby shower!

The theme was monkeys. My sis was the host but she let me pick out my theme and do the guest list. We invited almost 85people! I think about 45 showed. The location was already decided. Like all our other family events, it would take place at my parents house. Its a great entertainment/party house with plenty of space inside and outside for family & friends to be comfortable but still involved in the party. The date was set, it would be Saturday April 21st, (I would be 33 weeks pregnant) and the invites were sent!

Invites

I actually started off the morning by getting ready at a family friends house before the party started. They happen to be out of town due to a family death, but had told me I was more than welcome to use there house to get ready. You may ask why I wouldnt just get ready at my own house? Well, you see, I love taking baths, but unfortunately due to my height, I dont really ever fit into any baths comfortably. Now add a huge round belly and I really dont fit. And see, this particular friend of ours has an absolutely awesome renovated bathroom. With.....here it comes......a huge tub! So I figured Id pamper myself!

sorry if some of you think this is inappropriate, i thought it was cute of my tummy

Once I arrived to the shower, I was overwhelmed with all the friends and family that were able to come and help celebrate the anticipated arrival of our little one. My sis had organized lots of food, drinks, decorations, and CUPCAKES!!! she knows how much I love cupcakes, and these were absolutely precious!

cupcakes from sweeter days bake shop

And the flavors were even better!!! My favorite, which was what the giant cupcake on the top was made of, was orange creamsicle. omg.to.die.for. But we also had strawberries & cream, banana cream, carrot cake, chocolate banana, and I think 1 or 2 more, but the flavors slip my mind.

Then there was a surprise delivery. I was told to go to the front door. When I opened it, here was a flower delivery guy. You see, when my sister had her baby shower, my father was out of town, and his way of showing he cared while he was gone, was to send her flowers with a cute lil note. And even though my father wasnt out of town (he was actually in the other room at the time) he still sent me flowers. If you knew my father, this is a big gesture. Hes not normally the one to show emotions.

We are so lucky that we have so many people out there that loved Matthew even before he was born. The amount of gifts we got was just overwhelming. So many things. My mom went crazy (you can see her gift is the stroller with the blue "Grandma is simply the best" outfit). My sis went crazy (pack and play not pictured). And the rest of our family and friends went overboard as well.

One of my favorite gifts was actually a personalized rocking horse from one of hubbys childhoood friends. She personalizes it for each person she gives one too. You can see the image below.

There were so many wonderful people who came. Everyone had a great time. We played a couple games including the cant say baby game and celebrity baby names crossword puzzle. We ended up not playing the dirty diaper game because someone said it was gross. I actually find it funny, and convinced my best friend to play by herself once everyone had left. But we did have advise cards that everyone filled out, I loved reading all the things people wrote. My fav was actually one from one friend who wrote another friends phone number on it and simply "call her to babysit." lol.
And I think that basically sums it all up. I had a Great time and I'll never forget all the wonderful people who helped celebrate.
What was your baby shower theme? Who hosted it and where? Any favorite gifts or memories? I wanna here.

Next week Ill be talking about all of our ultrasounds we did. We got to do two 3D ones with lots of pictures!