Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A Bacon Wrapped Memorial Day

I love a summer holiday. Daniel's off work and school is out. And we know how to throw a party outside. So yesterday, we unpacked the yard games and attempted to put up the pool. The pool hasn't worked out yet, but I'm hoping we will have it up and going by this weekend. Another reason I love summer holidays? The food. And we chose a menu that was pretty much wrapped in bacon. The chicken spedini's were wrapped in bacon. The green beans were wrapped in bacon. I told Daniel we should have wrapped the smoked sausage for the sausage and cheese plate in bacon. But that would have been too much. And we left it out of the potato salad. Made me sad.


And the worst part about it all? I had a doctor's appointment this morning. Which means I had to get weighed. But the weird thing? I actually lost weight again. Super weird. But no worries, Kittrell is still steadily growing. And he has also "dropped". And you can look at my belly and tell. Amazing how babies in bellies work. So, of course, since I'm losing weight instead of gaining it, I can eat whatever I want. And today, I introduced Ashlyn to Cici's pizza which she loves almost as much as I do!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Saturday, May 28, 2011

It's a Girl's Weekend!

First off, have I showed you the completed front porch? We're done. Completely done. Well, Daniel is done- I didn't do too much there at the end.

Also, we've had these little strawberry plants for a while now. They finally decided to give me some strawberries. They are pretty small, but I ate these for breakfast this morning and I must say, they were pretty AWESOME!
Don't worry- you and I both know that that's not the only thing I ate for breakfast. Kittrell ate quite well this morning!

Daniel is at home for some fishing and a crawfish party at Spring Lake, and Ashlyn and I are headed to the water park for some girl time! I'm also getting a little exited about laying out on the beach this afternoon listening to the Beach Boys. Like the real Beach Boys. This should be fun! I'm sensing a super fun Memorial Day weekend for the Smith/ Upchurch clan. Hope the same goes for all of you guys!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

I'm not gonna cry... I'm not gonna cry....

Today is officially the last day of first grade! My baby is going to be a second grader at 11:30 today when school lets out... :( BUT, (Laura Merrill), I am grateful that I get to stay home with her all summer!
(As you can see by the look on her face, she is just gleaming with excitement about school being out for summer...)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Almost time to start packing!

The good news? I went to Walmart today. The bad news? I went to Walmart today. Alone. With no one there to tell me "NO" when I wanted something. By the looks of it, I'd say I'm ready to get packed for the hospital! I definitely don't want a re-peat of the last time with Ashlyn. It was a "get to the hospital NOW" kind of moment and I didn't have my bags packed. But now look at me- I'm getting ready! Of course, I also picked up a few things that Daniel will question the validity of. But what does he know? I REALLY needed those cute new striped socks to wear!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Weekend Recap

Where to begin?! Daniel and I had a much needed date night Friday night in Meridian at the MSU Riley Center. Robert Earl Keen was AWESOME! Of course, our date nights are nothing like they used to be, because the show was over at 9:30, we were home by 10:00, and were passed out asleep by 10:15. Kittrell is definitely slowing me down!!

Saturday, Ashlyn and I headed home to Greenwood! I met up with Jeannie that night to attend Forrest and Paul's wedding reception. I'm so glad I got to go! Thanks, guys, for inviting me!! Also, so glad I got to see Jeannie before her trip to L.A. Because, who's to say she'll even come back? Well, she has to come back to meet Kittrell. Yeah, she's coming back.

We got up early Sunday morning and headed to Columbus for Kristin's baby shower! She got so much fun little baby girl stuff! Brought back memories of Ashlyn's baby shower! Ashlyn is getting so excited about her baby GIRL cousin! More so than having a little brother!

After the drive home Saturday, then Columbus Sunday morning, then Little Rock Sunday afternoon, my back and butt hate me. So I'm taking it easy today!!

It's officially Ashlyn's last week of school! She's still so upset about it, but I'm sure she'll come around. I can't believe she's almost going to be a 2nd grader :( (p.s.- this past Friday at her school, they gave out the "Top Reader" award to 2 very deserving 1st graders. And Ashlyn was one of the top readers! I'm so so proud! There are 8 first grade classes at NCES- so Ashlyn was at the top of all of those other kids! YAY!)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Baby Shower Fun!

Looks at these goodies Daniel and I got today! He works with some of the sweetest people!! Thanks, you guys!!

Congratulations Ashlyn!!

Wednesday was another great day! Well, after 9:00 a.m. it was a great day, but then after 2 it wasn't so great anymore. I began my day back in Meridian getting my second round of mean steroids in my other hip... :( But, after that painful process I headed to Newton County Elementary school to see Ashlyn at award's day! She received the Principle's list award for having straight A's all year long. We are so proud!!

After award's day and a celebratory lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Newton, we headed home and I got straight in the bed. I am happy to say that I finally feel a lot better today! Not 100%, but definitely a lot better! Which is great because all the sweet people at Daniel's office are throwing us a baby shower today! Yay!

Oh Oh Oh!! Guess where I'll be Friday night? Daniel and I will be watching Robert Earl Keen. I. CAN'T. WAIT. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, aside from the whole "dry county" business, we live so close to places that hold awesome concerts. It's about time we started taking advantage of this.

I still can't believe it's Thursday already. It's definitely been a busy week, with a busy weekend coming soon! But my goodness time is flying by!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Reason #36 Why I Love Treasure Hunt, Baseboards, and Another Doctor's Appointment!


Most awesome swing ever- at a very, very awesome price. If you would like to know the other 35 reasons why I love Treasure Hunt, see previous blog posts, or just call me! Daniel and I got very lucky today on our shopping trip!

While looking at the picture of the most awesome swing ever, I noticed that you can so see that I still don't have baseboards. But that is about to change. New baseboards will be coming my way soon!

I had another doctor's appointment today. It wasn't too fun. I got all shot up with steroids, and am going back in the morning to get shot up again in the other hip. Let me tell you, that stuff hurts like hell. Which made Daniel ask a very logical question- why exactly do all these athletes take steroids?!! It hurts!! All is good, though. No worries. Just wanna make sure Kittrell's lungs are good and developed before my actual due date. Cause, as my doc says, he's a "wimpy white boy" because, well, he's white, and his lungs develop a lot slower than that of a little girl's. There is quite a good chance Kittrell may either come early on his own, or we may need to induce early. Which is fine by me! After putting the baby swing together, I can't wait! Seriously, I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Ashlyn's a Big Sister!





Ashlyn wanted me to let everyone know that she is the proud new sister of a handsome, healthy, and happy little boy! Lucas Trey Upchurch was born on Friday, and we couldn't wait to get to Jackson to meet the little guy! They make such a cute family, don't they?! I really hope Kittrell is as sweet as Luke is!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Led Zepplin and CHOCOLATE!

I've Got Sunshine, on a Cloudy Day....


Ok, so apparently, when it's 62 degrees outside and extremely overcast, a lot of people don't go to the water park. Don't get me wrong- we were by no means the only people there. But there also wasn't a huge crowd to fight with. I stayed huddled underneath my beach towel while Ash played and played and played. She thoroughly enjoyed not having to wait in lines. But poor Ashlyn- no water slides for her this time. Daniel just wouldn't get in the cold water to play with her!! How dare he?! Totally kidding- neither Daniel or I wanted to catch pneumonia. Maybe next time the sun will come out when we decide to go...

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Don't Call Me a Redneck.....


Yes. That would be my husband and daughter outside after 10 last night checking our trap. My dad made us a homemade rabbit trap, or rather a homemade "whatever animal crawls inside" trap. I, of course, went to bad early last night. I was watching re-runs on food network when Daniel walked in to get the big flashlight. You would have thought he was a kid at Christmas by the grin on his face as he said, "I think we caught something in the trap!" It's kind of a big deal, because this was our first time to successfully capture a poor helpless creature. But, I don't want rodents running around my garden. Of course, we had to wake Ashlyn up and get her in on all of this, because she is just as much into keeping up with the trap as Daniel is. Daniel determined it was a scared little possum, and we let it go... because no one wants to deal with a dead possum in the morning. Judging by the heat outside, it's chance for survival was very minimal. And it's not like I'm a redneck who is going to get joy out of shooting it, or joy out of eating it. Which brings me to my next point. What exactly is the point of having this trap if all we do is let go whatever we catch??

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

LUCKY!

It was a crazy morning here for me today. I woke up and was a little quiet. I was reminded of how lucky I am to still have my mama and daddy here with me. Also, so thankful that Ashlyn has me and Daniel. She has us to tuck her in every night. Ashlyn, though, knows how lucky she is and I love that. She lets me know all the time. She knows she is lucky to hear, "Good morning, sunshine!" every morning from Daniel as he turns the light on in her room to get her up for school. She said in her prayers one night a long time ago, "Thank you for Daniel being so happy every morning." I was never able to talk about that because it always chokes me up! I guess I'm not happy enough in the mornings to have made her list... I'm so thankful for my family, yet almost feel selfish at the same time talking about it, knowing that there was a wife and kids who woke up without their father this morning. After losing my brother in law in '06, Ashlyn and I know how precious time spent with family really is, and this is just another reminder. I'm reminded how silly it is to be so selfish. And how silly it is to "go to bed mad". I'll start today by hugging my husband and daughter a little tighter every morning as they leave together to go to work and school. I think I'm going to spend the rest of this week playing outside with Ashlyn more, and not being so worried about getting all of these chores done. (and just in case I don't say it enough, I love you, Daddy!)

In case you haven't seen my pinterest page lately, look what I ran across yesterday! I found Kittrell's baptism outfit!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Way to go, Ashlyn!!

Ashlyn came home from school yesterday with her weekly homework log and reminders for me. Newton County Elementary School has been participating in this Read Across America thing. Ashlyn's class read 612 books. And the top reader in the class was..... drum roll please... ASHLYN! She read 110 books. I'm a proud Mama. The kid that came in second place never stood a chance- as competitive at school work as Ash is, she would have never let anyone surpass her number of books read. And I can blog about this all I want, because Ashlyn never told me I couldn't. However, after she gave me all my Mother's Day goodies when she got home from school Friday, she asked me if I was going to put them on my blog. I told her that of course I was... why? She then let me know that she didn't want me to. So I didn't tell you about my beautiful paper basket full of paper flowers with written "promises" on them. (clean her room, wash the dishes, etc..) Along with a card that made me feel super special, and a letter telling me how awesome I am. And since she didn't want me to tell anyone on my blog about it, I won't. :) But she never said I couldn't brag about how good of a reader she is! (Plus I just won't tell her I did.)

Now, if only I could find a way to get her out of this "depression" she seems to be sinking into. Why is she so sad, you ask? Because school is almost over! She is so excited about 2nd grade, but can't imagine an entire summer with no school. So sweet, yet so scary at the same time. I may be the only mother in the world this summer who has to make her child go outside and play. I'm going to have to print out a bunch of math sheets for her to work, and come up with a summer reading list for her to keep her happy. I, on the other hand, will be in the pool.

P.S.- My garden is growing!!! YAY!!!!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Another Fun Weekend!

Daniel and I made the trip to Gwood Saturday morning... we ended up with some pretty awesome yard furniture! I'm sure it's gonna look great- but first we have to get it off the trailor. And Lord knows I can't pick this heavy wrought iron stuff up. So we will see where it ends up later.

Saturday afternoon was spent split between the Robert Johnson Festival and Giardina's. The festival was SO MUCH FUN! Are we gonna do this every year? I think we should. We'll see...

I have to say, I make it a point NOT to read the Greenwood newspaper because it is full of nothing but people "bitching" about something. However, I did read the paper from Friday while I was home, and low and behold there were people "bitching" about who was benefiting from the festival. Really?? Geez, people. Get a life! It was a fun festival. Get over wanting to know who benefited from it- because we all know all this back and forth BS boils down to black and white. And you know what? Both were at the festival having a damn good time! Hold on- let me step down off of my soap box.

Ok, that's better.

After the festival, and some quick visiting at Giardina's, we went home to eat... and then I was super sleepy and went to bed. Therefor, I didn't make it back to the festival to see more friends and Warren Haynes. :( This getting sleepy and skipping out on stuff seems to be happening a lot more here lately.. wonder why???

And now, it's Monday already. And I'm 31 weeks along in my pregnancy!! Woo Hoo!

You guys are lucky- because I actually took a picture this weekend. Only one though. But at least there's one! I took a quick pic while Cedric Burnside was playing... Enjoy!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Friday Already??

This week has seriously flown by.

First off, I'd like to scream out that I'm so so so happy about the bedding we picked out. I. CAN'T. WAIT.

Second, there's something historic going on in the Delta this weekend. Well, besides the flooding. (Seriously, first tornadoes, now flooding..) There's gonna be a super fun Robert Johnson festival beginning tonight and tomorrow afternoon and night. I'll be making an appearance tomorrow afternoon! Seriously, this is gonna be fun! I love looking around facebook and seeing everyone talk about running into people, or traveling with people, from out of state that are heading our way for the festivities!! Kinda cool, huh? I think so. Great job so far, Greenwood.

Third, I've been hearing a lot about the Jimmie Rodgers festival coming up in Meridian. And I also just heard that George Jones will be part of the festivities.. I think I'm almost sold on these events...

I've got an eventful weekend planned, but absolutely can not wait to get back Sunday afternoon and have my special Mother's Day dinner with my family!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, as well!!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Shout Out to the O

And no- I'm not talking about Oprah.

Let me begin by saying I'm so glad none of you can see me right now, sitting all awkwardly in my desk chair with a certain someone's foot stuck in my rib cage. SO uncomfortable.

Back to the O. Overstock.com that is. And UPS!! I ordered bedding for Kittrell's room Tuesday night. Today is only Thursday, folks, and guess what's almost here? Yep- Kittrell's bedding! Seriously- the package took 2 days for delivery. I paid $2.95 for plain ole UPS ground shipping expected to take 5-10 business days to deliver. And those awesome guys at UPS only took 2 days. I'm still in shock. Screw you, Fedex. Just out of curiosity, I clicked on the package tracking link while on the O, and my jaw dropped when it told me my package was on the truck for delivery today. WOW. Is it weird that I'm this excited about how awesome UPS is? Maybe. And not to mention Overstock actually shipping my order right after I ordered it. Daniel better get the debit card from me, because I see a lot more purchases from these guys in my future...

So, today is a sad day for me. Because it's Cinco De Mayo. And I would give anything to have a fish bowl sized strawberry margarita in my hand right now. Ok, so not anything... I'd kinda rather be having a baby, but you get the point. This bad ass Viking blender Daniel and I got for a wedding gift is going to get a lot of use after July 9th!

While I'm thinking about it, anyone know what to do about your dog's gas problems? Abel is getting tired of me following him around with air freshener... another thing I'm glad none of you can see. But seriously, that dog ate something bad!! And at the same time, he's just the cutest thing I've ever seen!!

For the record, I tried to put Ashlyn's sombrero on Abel to take a picture of him celebrating the day, but he wasn't having it. I'll try again later!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Score!


This will be arriving at our house in 5 to 10 business days. 10 if Fed Ex is handling the package, because we all know how they do out here in Little Rock. Finally, we won't be staring at a naked baby bed in Kittrell's room! (P.S.- this was my first time to visit Overstock.com and I must admit, I'm pretty impressed..)

Monday, May 2, 2011

A Very Happy Weekend!

My weekend was awesome! Friday we cooked a fantastic meal on the grill. I really wanted to eat on our new patio furniture, so we cooked some good food to eat- only half way through the meal Daniel told me I should have taken a picture for my blog. Oops. I was more concerned with eating. So no picture of the stuffed pork chops and grilled veggies. And did I mention it was AMAZING??!!
Saturday, we headed to Geyser Falls for the day!!! We had SO MUCH FUN! I can't wait to go back. I don't know who had more fun on the water slides- Ashlyn or Daniel, because I swear I heard Daniel doing a lot more screaming than Ashlyn! I thoroughly enjoyed just laying out on the beach. So, overall, I rate this water park a 10. Well, I rate it a 10 now. I have to remember that it is still early, so June- July will probably be a lot more crowded and my opinion may change. BUT I do love that place! (p.s.- The Beach Boys will be there May 28th at 3 that afternoon doing a free show inside the park at the restaurant/ bar there. I'm so going. I mean- it's The Beach Boys... ) While Ashlyn and Daniel were swimming in the pool at the beach, I pulled out my camera to take a quick picture, only to find that my camera was telling me to change my batteries. My bad. So no Saturday pics, either.
Sunday, we all 3 got major sun burn. That's not fun, but having our garden planted is super fun! So, just my luck, we didn't get burned Saturday at the water park, but walking around outside our own house Sunday we all 3 end up miserable! I'm super proud of my almost full garden. We've got watermelon, sunflowers, okra, lima beans, peas, cayenne peppers, jalapeno peppers, red and green bell peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, and cantaloupes planted- and still have to add our squash and cherry tomatoes. I really hope everything decides to actually grow!

So, overall it was a very happy weekend! Something else I'm super happy about? Hearing last night that Bin Laden got shot in the head. I'm not an evil person or anything, but hearing his name and "shot in the head" in the same sentence sounded pretty good to me!