We took a trip up to a miniature petting zoo yesterday!  It was a very hot and sticky day so we didn’t stay too long but were there long enough to get some great pictures of Sydney with the animals!  We had a great time and then enjoyed some more time in the sun later that afternoon at the pool!

Click here for pictures from the petting zoo.

That’s right…birthday weekend number two!  Summer is just birthday season in our house - mine is in May, Randy’s is in June and Sydney’s is in July!  I surprised Randy Friday night with a babysitter and a romantic dinner date out for his birthday.  We ate dinner at the Atlanta Fish Market (a very fancy schmancy place that serves EXCELLENT food) and had one of the most amazing dinners we’ve had in a long time.  We had a gift card to use to boot so it was a wonderful night out and didn’t cost us an arm and a leg!  After dinner we stopped by Starbucks and Barnes and Noble where Randy found the Holy Grail of cookbooks…he was so excited about it we just had to buy it for him for his birthday!

Saturday we had a cookout with some friends to celebrate Randy’s birthday and to break in our new Gazebo.  The food was amazing (when isn’t it though when Randy’s in charge?!) and we had an awesome time with our friends.  Even Sydney got to play with her friends!  Her best gal Viv came over to share in the good food and fun toys!

Click here to see various pictures from the past couple of weeks.

We took Syd to the pool today for the first time and she loved it!  Nothing says summer like slurpin’ on a big ole hunk of watermelon between dips in the crystal clear pool on a beautiful 80 degree Georgia day!  We couldn’t have asked for more perfect conditions and Sydney LOVED riding around the pool in her new little boat and out of the boat.  She was content for a while in the boat but also loved getting out and swimming with both of us.  What a great end to a wonderful weekend!

Click her for pool pics.

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I celebrated my 27th birthday this past weekend with my favorite girl and guy!  The festivities started out early on Saturday with a gourmet breakfast made by none other than hubby dearest!  After carbing up, I got myself ready for a day of solo shopping.  I was in desperate need of some new clothes and needed to be able to go full speed if I was going to get any amount of shopping done.  I am a girl but am not much of a shopper so if I haven’t accomplished my goal in 2 or 3 hours, I might as well call it quits!  I had quite a productive trip though and have discovered a new favorite store - Ann Taylor Loft (thanks sis)!  After my shopping excursion, we headed out to dinner at Red Lobster with some friends (great food and wonderful company!) and then wound down the evening with cake at their new place.

On Sunday, Randy and I had a date night and celebrated the marraige of two of our friends at a local historic home.  It was a beautiful ceremony and reception despite the sprinkles!  Monday we spent some time shopping for some new toys for Sydney…she keeps growing and learning and was ready for something more advanced than all those “baby toys”!  She’s on the move now and needed something to that will keep up with her!  We spent the day as a family and just had a lot of fun together…we LOVE three day weekends!

Click here for some pics from our weekend.

We celebrated mother’s day a little early this year - Randy scheduled a fun filled weekend for me with the festivities kicking off on Friday.

Friday morning we had a photo shoot for little Syd - the photographer got some great shots of her and of us as a family.  We wanted to mark her ninth month with some beautiful photos and it turned out to be a great time to do so because she is FULL of personality these days!  Friday afternoon we drove to Callaway Gardens which is a Georgia resort that focuses on environmental education and land management for the benefit of future generations.  In addition to an array of beautiful flowers in bloom, there are a lot of hiking and biking trails as well as mini golf, paddle boating, and even trapeze acts near a mini lake on campus.  We stayed at the luxurious lodge at Callaway and I got treated to an hour long massage at the spa Saturday morning.  After my massage, we spent a few hours hiking and picnicing in the great outdoors and then headed home to get back into the swing of things.  The weekend was amazing and we had a great time unplugging from the world and re-connecting as a family…just the thing that any mom would want for mother’s day!

Click here to see pictures from our weekend.

While home with Syd today (she had her 9 month appointment yesterday and is having an adverse reaction to the vaccination she received) I had a little more time than usual to reflect and to smile about many of the reasons that I love my little bear.

We had a very rough night last night - she screamed the second she hit her crib mattress and didn’t stop until she was held.  The instant she was in Randy or my arms she was asleep but the second we put her down, she was screaming again.  After three hours of this roller coaster ride I was in tears and feeling helpless because I had tried EVERYTHING and truly didn’t know what else to do for her.  Once I put her in her carseat and loaded her into the car at 10:30 last night it was in those quite moments that all I could do was feel at peace and be thankful that something finally worked.  It is nights like last night that make me enjoy motherhood even more - the job is very demanding and can be very frustrating but right now Randy and I are her world - she need us for everything.  The ability to really know her and be able to “fix” her every ailment is extremely satisfying.

I love the fact that I know how big Sydney is smiling just by looking at how little of her eyes I see!

I love that she teaches me to be optimistic - with the right amount of Spray N Wash any stain will come out!

I love that her personality truly is as beautiful as she is on the outside.

I love that she loves me unconditionally and is as excited to see me as I am to see her.

I love that no matter how much time I’ve spent with her, whenever I’m away from her, I can’t get home or to her daycare fast enough to hold her again!

Click here for pictures from our weekend in Columbia (and other randomness that hasn’t been posted yet!).

Can you believe it? 

As I finished preparing her bag for school this morning, I heard little Syd babbling awake in her bed upstairs.  I quickly finished and ran upstairs to say good morning to my little bear but when I peaked into her room from the hallway I was a bit surprised.  I saw that little baby of mine standing in her crib hanging on to the side waiting for mommy to come and get her….I couldn’t believe she was standing there!  This is the first time she has pulled herself up on anything completely and 100% by herself!  Is it possible that she’s this big already?!