April In The Burbs

When we took Uncle Jay home yesterday, I noticed only a couple of little cement feet sticking out of the dirt near the house. I then pulled this fella out of years of decayed leaves and dirt. He's got some paint missing, and I love him all the more because of it! Every time I make it down that way since my Granny passed last November, my uncle lets me pick out a few things that were my grandparents to bring back with me. Every piece gets a special place in my home, or used every day, like the prayer bench my Pawpaw and his brother made. It sits in our massive hallway near the front door. The kids' sweaters and coats hang above it. Their backpacks sit on it. Our shoe basket beside it. It's used and loved every single day, and reminds me every time I pass by it, how much the people who made it and used it (my Granny) mean to me. I hope I can also find a prominent place for this cement fella and admire his imperfect, yet fully loved self.   

I know this may not be a very big deal to those of you who have successfully broken your littles of a pacifier habit, but over the past week Johnny hasn't had his binkie once. This is a BIG deal in our house! We planned on having him off of it not long after his sister was born, but with her complications and the stress everyone was under, it just didn't seem very fair to him. I had planned on having him off the binkie by the age of 3 at the latest (don't judge me!). With him having some speech issues, I thought the sooner he was broken of the habit, the better. He was only getting it at nap times and bed times as of about 3 months ago, then only at bed time. Since he hasn't been asking for it at all at even bed time, I thought it best to not even offer it. And now we've been going on two weeks of no binkie bliss! A small victory, but I'll take 'em where I can get 'em!

Often times, when I'm looking at jewelry, the most simple and classic designs tend to catch my eye. That's why I really do love Bare Branch Jewelry so much.  Melanie of Bare Branch Jewelry creates lightweight and truly feminine pieces. Her designs are timeless and great for every day wear.  All of Melanie's designs are created with sterling silver or hypoallergenic argentium silver. She also throws in a good mix of freshwater pearls and precious and semiprecious stones , making sure there's a piece for every occasion and taste.  These Bar and Ball Stud earrings are made to order, out argentium silver and come with hypoallergenic rubber earring backs. I've worn and loved wearing this set for over a week straight now. I'm allergic to anything other than silver and gold, so I was curious as to how argentium silver would be. Thankfully, they have a higher silver content than even sterling silver, and my ears have been happy this whole time!  Being someone who lov...

We all know Austin's Park n Pizza has great pizza and games. They've been around for years, serving up (in my opinion) one of the best places to chow down on high quality pizza and play a ton of fun arcade games. Not to even mention their race cars, and mini golf. Austin's Park n Pizza is moving to a pay as you go format, meaning it'll now be free to get in. Once inside, you only pay for what you want to do/eat! Don't want the pizza bar? No problem! Hit up the new Austin's Bar and Grill for more adult fare. They now offer Bowling and have a nice grill called Austin's Bar and Grill. We had a chance to order anything off the menu we wanted, and boy were we impressed! With locally sourced, farm fresh, and organic ingredients, their new Austin's Bar and Grill menu was to die for! Each dish is prepared to order - nothing frozen out of the bag from Austin's Park n Pizza. Bianca was our server, she was knowledgeable about the menu, very s...

Dottie is what most would consider a special needs child. She has a g-tube that we feed her formula through. She also has panhypopit, and had craniosynostosis until we had that corrected in August this year. She's had a rough start in life and I speak about that often here on the blog, because it IS part of my life. It's a very real and visceral part of my every day life. Yes, it's true. We've had out ups and downs over this last year - and continue to. And that's OK. But what I don't talk much about (mostly because it was just confirmed though an evaluation the day before Thanksgiving), is that Johnny also has a speech delay, or issue. Ever since he was a tinsy winsy little newborn, we've done all of the things we were 'supposed' to be doing. Talking to him while grocery shopping about what different foods are, their colors, their shapes. Reading to him all sorts of books from books specifically for babies, to articles in parenting magazines, to nov...

One of my favorite things about having a boy is dressing him up like a little man. There is almost nothing cuter than a little boy and a suit, or suspenders, or a bow tie. So far, the furthest I've gone with Johnny is a bow tie. Forget putting a three-piece suit on that kid, he is just way too busy. But boy does he sure look precious in a bow tie. That's why I was so excited when Baby Biscuit Bow Ties sent us this bow tie to try out for Johnny. I put it on him and he didn't even realize he was wearing it, because it actually clips onto the shirt versus going around his neck. Now that is a very clever design!  My little fellow looks dapper as ever. I really can't wait to slowly add more pieces to his ensemble like this. More bow ties and suspenders should be added to his repertoire soon and I can't wait! I really love these Baby Biscuit Bow Ties, because you can dress them up or dress them down and they take every outfit to a whole new level of...