Whatcha Lovin'?

Hey friends!

Today I'm joining in again with "What I'm Loving Wednesdays" because, quite frankly, there are so many things I love that I always enjoy linking up here!

• I'm loving the fact that my Mr, baby boy, and I got our very first real tree together. We found a Christmas tree farm nearby that lets you cut your own down, but we decided that we wanted a Fraser Fir, so we picked it out, tied it up and away we went! My fingers may or may not still be slightly sticky from sap. And it makes my hands itch. And don't worry, there will be pictures to follow. We just want to get it nice and decorated before it makes its blog debut. 

• I'm loving these awesome FREE santa videos that you can plug your child's name into. I know that our little one is way too young to understand how ridiculously cool this is, but I can't wait until he is old enough to enjoy it. I might be in my 20s, but I'm pretty sure that I would still love to get a video like this...And I'm not one bit embarrassed about it.

• I'm loving unpacking Christmas decorations and setting them up. Each old one has so many memories, and each new one marks the beginning of many more to come. This little beauty came from Hobby Lobby and I'm pretty obsessed with it.

• I'm loving Teen Mom 2. Guilty pleasure, I know. Kailyn is my favorite mama, though none compare to Maci from the original Teen Mom. What I'm not loving is Jenelle's tude. I mean, I didn't even know that anyone loved Ke$ha at all, much less that someone loved Ke$ha so much that they think they can delay their jail time to go to a concert. Um, excuse me, but I'm pretty sure your priorities are more than a little screwy. 

• I'm loving that for two nights in a row, baby boy has gone to bed between 8:45 and 9:15 and has stayed asleep. He went down at 9:15 last night and didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning. Early Christmas present from bug! Woot woot!

• I'm LOVING that Boy Meets World is coming out with a sequel! I really thought that it should be called a reunion, but apparently 'sequel' is the world. I think I've seen every single episode (twice) and can't wait for new ones! Corey and Topanga are back again!

source

• I'm loving Christmas shopping. Normally by this time I'd be all the way finished, but since, ya know, I had a baby and all this year, I am behind but it's excusable. I thought I'd be pretty stressed about this, but I'm actually enjoying shopping in the Christmas hustle and bustle... Yeah, yeah, call me crazy.

• I'm loving wrapping paper. Working at Hallmark for a few years turned me into a present wrapping machine who is equally obsessed with cute paper. I love day after Christmas shopping so I can stock up for the next year.

• I'm loving getting the stuff together for the Secret Santa blog swap and the ornament swap that I'm participating in. So fun!

So- what are you loving this Wednesday?

-Mags

Tuesday Flashback- Baby Shower No 2

Hey friends!

Last Tuesday I wrote about the fact that so many wonderful life events happened before I really got started blogging. I want to make up for lost time and I don't want to forget any of the details that got me to where I am now, so I'll be doing a flashback every Tuesday. This week I'm flashing back to my second baby shower.

My sweet, sweet Mama (seriously, she is the sweetest human being on the planet) wanted to throw me a dream shower. Since technically moms aren't supposed to throw wedding showers, she waited until it was time to throw one for my sweet boy. Melissa, my best friend and Baby Boy's Godmother, helped her out.

The theme was sock monkeys. I have to tell you, I really LOVE sock monkeys. Here's what our invitations looked like.

source

And since that was our theme, we obviously had to incorporate it into our newborn pictures taken by [Two] Chics Photography!

Two days before the shower, my mom, Melissa, and I went to pick flowers. We had such a fun time in the middle of the field. However, we live in Georgia, which means it's exceptionally hot in July. We gave it our best shot but could only stay out picking for about 30 minutes. My mama was worried about my preggo self being in the heat, just like  mamas do. We still got some beautiful flowers. When I look back at these pics, I can't believe how hugely giant my preggo belly was. I mean, seriously! Does it look like I was carrying twins or what?! I was asked twice near the end if I was having twins. I took it a little personally, but I can't really blame them for wondering. However, some things are still better left unsaid. 

Here's a pic of some of the delicious food. My mama doesn't like to cook, but when she decides she wants to, it's delicious. Her cheese straws are the. best. ever. We just couldn't stop eating them. She also ordered a ham from Honeybaked Ham to make mini sandwiches, pasta salad, cream cheese and red pepper jelly with wheat thin, and a bunch of other goodies. Mrs. Carol, Melissa's mom, makes wonderful sausage cheese balls and she brought those along with the tastiest cupcakes ever. Yum! Some were red velvet and some were chocolate. Melissa's ridiculously creative and adorable sister made the cupcake toppers and I fell in love with them. 

 I still can't get over all the cute banners my mom had. She ordered a template off Etsy, because Etsy is the best creation ever, and made all of these things from it. You can see a welcome in the background of this picture, along with a beautiful lady who I've been friends with since 5th grade.

 Here are some of my very sweet shower guests. I met these ladies at different points in my life and they have each been there for me for various situations. I truly love every person in this picture. They are each so dear to my heart.

Mama said I looked sneaky opening the gifts. I didn't believe her until I saw this picture. I also LOVE the flowers she got me. So thoughtful!

 And because we live in Athens, I have to post this picture of the cutest UGA football jersey ever.

The cute little blanket that is wrapped around our sock monkey was made by a dear family friend that I just love to pieces. This is her first blanket that she ever made and I am so glad that it is for little buggy!

 My sweet great Aunt Grace gave us the travel system we were hoping for. We love it so much! In the three months that our little man has been here, we have already used it more times than we can count.

 This sweet lady was my college roommate for three years. We lived on the same floor our freshman year and moved in together for the remainder of college. She kept me sane and laughing all the time. I love her so much!

 And because my friends and I are goobers, here are some ridiculous pictures of us pretending that the sock monkey was really my baby.

And here we decided we needed to look like monkeys, since that was the theme!

And here's some belly love! (Just in case you couldn't already tell how crazy we are.)

And one of my favorites-

And just so you know, it's not just my friends who are silly. My little guy's grandmas are pretty silly, too. They may not look it in these pictures, but...

...they definitely look it here. Bless this baby's heart. He's gonna be a mess, and I don't think he has any choice in the matter.  

Here is sweet Melissa listening and blowing kisses to her Godson. 

 And here she is again. Modeling baby boy's hooded towel. 

 I just love my family and friends to pieces and feel so blessed that so many people wanted to take part in spoiling my sweet boy rotten. :) 

About a month after this shower, our little buggy came into this world and I can honestly tell you- he's the best thing that's ever happened to us. 

Love,
Mags

Sunday Social

Hey Friends!

Just linking up with Neely again today for the Sunday Social! It's such a fun link up! If you're interested, just click on her link and have some fun!

This Week’s Questions:

1. Name 4 jobs you’ve had in your life: Hallmark employee, Secretary at a law firm, office assistant at my apartment complex during college, and a Community Director 

2. Name 4 movies you would watch over and over: The Proposal (Every time I watch it, I can't get that scene of Sandra Bullock chanting "from the windowww, to the walll" out of my head.), The Secret Life of Bees, Steel Magnolias, ("Miss Truvy, I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair."), ET. 

source

3. Name 4 places you have lived: Athens, Milledgeville, Macon, Warner Robins

source

4. Name 4 of your favorite foods: Club Lulu from Jimmy John's (no tomatoes, add provolone, please!), Logan's grilled chicken (and enough rolls to turn into one), meatloaf (but only my Memommie's recipe), and mashed potatoes.

5. Name 4 things you always carry with you: My iPhone, EOS lip balm, diaper bag, and my keys. 

source

6. Name 4 places you have been on vacation: Savannah, GA (this is my Mr. and my favorite place to go!), Asheville, NC (our 2nd favorite place), New Orleans, and our honeymoon cruise to Cozumel, Caymen Islands, Isla Roatan, and Belize. I'll eventually be posting about our amazing honeymoon on another Tuesday Flashback. We had the time of our lives!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!
-Mags

I Mustache You a Question

I mustache you a question:

Who doesn't love lists?

To avoid having a super long list of random thoughts all running together, I think it's time for a nice bullet point list.

• My mom and Willie bought our little man a mustache pacifier and he loves it. I know that no cuter passy exists. Well, my Mr. and I were at Publix the day before Thanksgiving (I know this is crazy, but just go with it) and our baby boy was in the buggy. While my hubby was paying, I was just talking to our baby like I normally do. I looked at him and said, "Don't you look so silly with your mustache? That mustache is so funny!" As soon as I get this out of my mouth, my hubby turns around and points to where a mustache would go. I look in front of us and sure enough, the lady in front of us has a mustache. Not  one of those where they have to be standing in the light at just the right angle to see. I'm talking a full blown mustache that not even my hubby could grow...Talk about awkward...

• Call me crazy, but I always love Black Friday shopping. It's like a sport for me. I'm pretty sure I get that gene from my Memommie because my Mama sure hates it. She went with me once (and had a much better time than she tells people) but she will probably never go with me again. This year my hubby wanted to go with me. I hit the hubby lottery, let me tell you. Baby boy stayed with his Mimi and I went with my Mr. to hit up some stores that opened on Thursday. Let me repeat. Thursday. The superbowl of shopping days is called Black Friday. I wasn't too happy about this. See, if stores open at 3 or 4 in the morning, you have to actually plan to go to them. When stores open at 8:00 p.m. (yes, I'm calling you out, Toy 'R Us) everyone is still awake so everyone goes Black Friday shopping. This makes the whole idea a little less fun. My friend Tasha and I used to get up crazy early and grab a biscuit at chick-fil-a which was open early for the mall walkers and shoppers. Then we would shop until 11 ish and have brunch with her family at Cracker Barrel, and then off we would go again. We liked this plan because it made the day feel special. Shopping at 9:00 p.m. just feels like normal.

• We had a wonderful first Thanksgiving with our baby boy. He sported a wonderful hat and got to meet so many family members. Once we stepped foot in Nana and Papa's house, neither one of us saw our baby for about 2 hours because everyone wanted to hold him. To be entirely honest, I can't blame them.

• I got to catch up with some of my favorite cousins on Friday and then had a wonderful double date with Lori and Greg. Love them! 

• This past week's episode of Parenthood made me cry. Like always. If you haven't seen this show and you have netflix, you need to watch it. Now. It's that wonderful.

• This is the LAST SATURDAY FOOTBALL GAME for the regular season! Hooray! This means that my Mr. will go back to working 8 hours instead of the 12+ that are required when you are a policeman during football season in Athens. While most people are sad that the regular season is coming to an end, I'm pretty pumped that I get to see my man again!

Hope you all loved your turkey, your friends, and your family this Thanksgiving! 

-Mags

Oh Boy, You're 3 Months Old!

Little Buggy,

Wow have you grown. You are getting so heavy that when I hold you and feed you, sometimes my arm falls asleep. I also have to carry you in your carseat with both hands. This either means that I am ridiculously weak, or you are getting big. Maybe a little of both.

You still have TONS of hair. The ladies dig it. It's pretty much out of control all of the time. The top does what it should, but the sides do their own curly thing. It's adorable and I love it. Sometimes it's hard to take your bib off because we are afraid we are going to pull out your luscious locks. 

Your eyelashes are growing and your eyes get more and more blue each and every day. You get those stunning peepers from your daddy and we are both pretty happy about this.

You already sleep through the night. Did I mention how lucky we are? I mean, seriously. Any other brother or sister you may have somewhere far, far in the future will never be able to compare with the angelic sleeper you are. 

Smiling is turning into your favorite hobby. Sometimes you try to look serious and raise your eyebrows, but that look quickly turns into a melt-mommy's-heart smile and I just can't control myself. I must pick you up and immediately squeeze you because you are just too sweet. You also stick your tongue out when you are really happy and I'm pretty sure I've never seen anything cuter.

Here's the deal, little bug. I need you to slow down just a bit. I want to soak in every single moment of your sweet cuddles and I feel like every day you just get bigger and bigger. I know this is life and I know it's inevitable. And honestly I feel so thankful that you are growing big and strong... But I want you to stay my little baby for just a while longer. Please?

Look at how much you've already grown!

Love you to pieces, 

Mommy

Oh, baby!- Tuesday Flashback

Hello friends!

I'm not sure how in the world life is flying by so fast. Not sure if anyone told you, but Thanksgiving is this week. Um, say what?! AND- my little buggy turns three months old tomorrow. Of course I'll be doing his monthly letter with an updated picture, but can someone please tell me where this time is going? I have to tell you, I'm not ok with this at all. I feel like every time I blink, he's another month older! 

Since I've really just started blogging pretty recently, I want to find some time to blog about baby festivities and even wedding events that happened a while back just so I can look back on them. Since he'll be three months old tomorrow, I think I'll take some time blog about my baby showers.

 

I had two absolutely wonderful baby showers thrown by some pretty amazing people. I'm pretty sure that I have the sweetest friends and family ever. Miss Lori threw my first one with some help from my mother in law. Can I please just tell you how ridiculously thoughtful she was? 

Those cupcakes?! Yum! My mother in law ordered these from a lady she works with and Lori ordered the adorable cupcake toppers. 

The cutest invitations ever. I told Lori how much I look forward to raising my son to have good manners and be a gentleman. She heard that and came up with the sweetest theme ever. She was so excited to make every little detail everything I dreamed of. On a double date one night with our guys, she brought a print out of about 20 invitations and had me circle all the ones I liked. She is seriously so thoughtful.

My Mr. and I enjoyed reading to our little buggy way before he even got here. Lori knew how important reading to him is to us, so she planned a surprise for us! She got each guest to bring a book that means something to them to help us start baby boy's library. Best surprise ever. So thoughtful and so important.

Lori made sweet and delicious party favors for everyone. So tasty! And the cute little monogram stickers?! So precious. As silly as this sounds, seeing his monogram on stuff was one of the first things that made becoming a mommy feel real to me. It's a pretty good looking monogram, if I do say so myself!

The banner for the shower was such a fun project. Lori and I have become quite the banner making duo thanks to Cricut machines and Hobby Lobby's cute paper. It was one of my favorite details and I am still loving making banners.

One of my mother-in-law's friends owns an Edible Arrangements store and delivered this tasty little arrangement to my shower. Not only was the fruit perfect, the container it came in is so adorable. We use it now to hold all of little buggy's washrags.

Lori used mason jars with cute striped straws to serve the drinks. It was one of my absolute favorite touches. Dresses up the glasses like this just made everything even more perfect. 

She also made the diaper cake. So cute! I love the ribbon she used and I can't get enough of that adorable rubber ducky. 

And here are some pictures of my sweet friends and family. What in the world would I do without them? They brought the sweetest gifts for baby boy and we are so thankful for all of them!

Oh, and that last one? It's just me and my sassy self. Some things will never change. 

Next Tuesday I'll be posting about my other shower from the sweetest Mama ever. I'm really liking the idea of Tuesday Flashbacks. Can't wait to get started on it!

-Mags

What I'm Loving

Hey friends! 

I have to tell you, I can't stop with these link ups. They are super fun and I'm meeting lots of other bloggers from them. I'm pretty sure that's a win-win situation. So- to continue on with this streak, I'm linking up with This Kind of Love for "What I'm Loving Wednesday!"

                                                    

I'm loving Baby Boy's Snugabunny swing. This thing not only lulls my sweet boy to sleep, it plays him songs he likes, gives him a mobile to watch, and provides a mirror so he can smile at his own handsome face. It also may or may not be my saving grace since it keeps him happy while i'm doing other things like cleaning blogging. Be on the lookout for a post soon that is full of my baby must-haves. I can't wait to share the list of things that my Mr. and I could not live without.
   

I'm loving that I get to see friends this weekend. Friendsgiving party on Friday AND My Mr. is off work?Wedding on Saturday? My Mama and Willie coming to babysit/visit for a while this weekend? I am so, so, SO excited to get this weekend rolling. 

I'm loving these adorable glasses from Target. Have I ever told you how much I love Target? In case I haven't, I guess I should profess my love right here, right now. I. Love. Target. These need to be mine. 

I'm loving that I found out who my secret santa blog swap partner is. Woo hoo for my first ever blog swap!

I'm loving that Black Friday ads are already being published. Want to see the deals? Check out theblackfriday.com

I'm also loving that my Mr. actually wants to go Black Friday shopping with me. Who's the luckiest girl ever? This girl.

I'm loving that my baby boy is snoring. Just another thing to add to the list of "stuff he got from his daddy."

So, what are YOU loving this Wednesday?

Tuesday Topics- Check out the blog, yo.

Tuesday Topics: All about the blog

Hey friends! Here I am linking up for Tuesday Topics again and I'm pretty pumped about it. This week, the questions are all about the blog and I'm super excited to get to answering them. Also- I just recently taught myself how to add buttons to my post and my sidebar. I know, I know. This sounds like no biggie, but for me to have taught myself something techie? And to have done it correctly? I'm pretty proud of myself. Now on to the good stuff.

Why did you start blogging? 

My Mr. and I recently had our very first baby boy. Even though he isn't even three months old yet, I already feel like time is just flying by. I started my blog to document our lives together, from being married to my Mr. to being a mommy to my little buggy. 

 I'm enjoying every moment since I became a Mrs.

And since I became a mommy. This is the moment that 

I fell in love with my sweet boy.

What's something your readers know about you?

They know that I love my family more than anything in the world. I am always up for a fun adventure, whether it's a little one or a big one. I enjoy cooking, thought I haven't blogged nearly enough about it. 

What can't you live without? 

My family. Pictures. My iPhone.

What inspires your blog posts? 

Any wonderful moment with my loves- baby boy, Mr., friends, family. Any of these people inspire me. I'm also inspired by any fun link up and anything Christmas related. 

What do you do when you feel uncreative? 

I read around other blogs to generate ideas.

How has blogging changed you?

Well it definitely has made me take more pictures. i want to document more because I want to put it all on the blog. 

What advice do you have for new bloggers?

Considering I am a new blogger, this one is tricky. But I guess my advice would be to read lots of blogs, leave comments on the ones you love the most, and make blog friends. These blog friends will give you wonderful advice and help you out whenever you feel stuck. And- if you're lucky- you'll have a friend who is both a blog friend and an in-real-life friend, like my sweet friend Lori, who will go above and beyond to help you make you blog everything you want it to be.

What blogs inspire you? 

Well if my little Lori shout-out didn't give it away, definitely http://acrazywalkonthesafeside.blogspot.com. You should head over there right now and check her out. 

I'm also a huge fan of Erin at Love, Fun & Football. She is so sweet and has already helped me improve my very new blog. :)

Can't wait until next Tuesday to link up to Tuesday Topics again!

Happy Blogging!
Mags

Sunday Social

Hey friends!

I am quickly discovering that one of my favorite things about blogging is doing link ups. I love finding new blogs to read and making new blog friends. Today I'm linking up for the first time with Neely for the Sunday Social link up. To join in, visit her blog!

 

This Sunday's questions are: what is your favorite Thanksgiving Memory, Thanksgiving food, and family tradition?

1) My favorite Thanksgiving memory would have to be from this past Thanksgiving. It was my Mr. and my first Thanksgiving together and we had so much fun. His grandparents rented a house on the beach for the entire month of November and the whole family headed down to visit them for Thanksgiving. My Mr. and I have always wanted to go the New Orleans, but the drive always seemed so far... and let's face it, as college students, neither one of us had the money to fly there. Well since we were already going to be half way between home and New Orleans, we decided to drive there and check something off of our bucket list. 

While we really had a wonderful time there, we learned an important lesson. When we travel to a new, fun city, we really need to do lots of research beforehand to figure out exactly what we want to do. There were a few things we had to do on our trip. We had beignets at Cafe Du Monde and we really loved them. We went to Pat O'Brien's for the famous Hurricane. We walked around Bourbon Street and ended up staying at a piano bar until the very early morning hours enjoying the famous hurricanes, but we still felt like we missed out on some big things. It was still one of the best trips we've been on and is definitely my top Thanksgiving memory so far. 

2) My favorite Thanksgiving food is Cranberry Celebration from Kroger. It can't be from anywhere else or it's just not the same. Granted, I have to have turkey and other Thanksgiving dishes with it, but man oh man, that's the good stuff. 

3) My favorite tradition is something that many people do, but that doesn't make it any less special. The most beautiful part of Thanksgiving is sitting down, right before it's time to eat, and saying a prayer then going around the table and saying what we are thankful for. Whether it's my hubby's youngest cousin saying something sweet and innocent or an older relative saying something wise and thoughtful, each person's response is so heartfelt and it makes me a little mushy inside. While it doesn't take much to make me mushy inside, I just love these little moments. This year, when it's my turn, I don't think I'll know where to begin on what I'm most thankful for- a wonderful year and half being married to the most wonderful man on the planet, a beautiful baby boy who steals my heart away from me each time I look at him, wonderful parents and in-laws who love us, and the best friends I could ever dream of having. 

Life really is wonderful.

-Mags

Tuesday Topics: $1,000,000

  Hey sweet friends! Today I'm super excited to be linking up for my very first time with with Lauren at LiveLoveLauren for Tuesday Topics. Today's topic is $1,000,000.

A million dollars? Say what?! I can't even fathom what it would be like to have that much money. BUT- if i did, here are ten things I'd spend it on.

1) I'd pay of all of my student loans. i know, i know. boring. but SO important. i can't even begin to imagine how free i'll feel when my hubby and my loans are paid off. 

2)build my dream house. it would look a little something like this:

                

3. and inside of it would be my dream kitchen...  

(and if you happen to be a Paula Deen fan, you probably recognize this place. i'd do almost anything for a chance to be in her kitchen.)

4. Give money to my former high school. I think that education in our country seems to be undervalued. I would love to be able to sponsor some sort of scholarship to my alma mater.

5. Buy cars for my little family. 

This one for my Mr. (GMC Sierra 2013)

This one for me (Buick Enclave 2013)

And this one for baby boy- the safest thing imaginable (yes, I'm a bit overprotective.)

6. Have a bunch more babies. There is nothing I love more than our baby boy. I would have a ton more if they weren't so expensive. I SO wish I could win the lottery. 

7. Go on a vacation to this place:

I mean, seriously. Is this real life?

8. Go on a concert frenzy and see every single performer on my bucket list

9. Can you say shopping spree? I think I'd shop for a little bit of everything: craft supplies, clothes, jewelry, home decor. I wouldn't be able to stop myself.

The idea of going to Hobby Lobby and Target and buying whatever I want without looking at the pricetag is just amazing.

10. A first class flight to Australia. Who wouldn't want to fly like this:

So, what would you spend it on?

And to continue on with my month of thankfulness, here are three things I'm thankful for to get us up to speed:
1) I'm thankful for a wonderful pediatrician who calls me back when I have first time mom questions.
2)For the camera quality on my iphone. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but I take pictures of baby boy all the time and I love how they turn out on my phone.
3) this one is such a simple thing, but I'm thankful for a roof over my head, food in my belly, and a wonderful family to hug at the end of the day.