The Stories

If you follow me on Instagram (umm, if you aren't, I'm not sure why), you've seen all of these pictures before but now you get the stories behind the pictures!

Here are five of my most favorite things that happened this week:

 

Clay has learned how to give himself his treatment so that leaves my hands free for storytime every morning! When I was pregnant, my sweet friend Liz got Clay a book for every single holiday (that would be a great baby shower present!) and I get so excited to get them out and read them to Clay!

 

 

Obviously my most favorite thing about this week was seeing my family! Pappaw was busy working on the farm when we snapped this picture of Arlie Clay and Clay Lucas. Fun fact: if Clay had been a girl, her name would have been Arleigh Piper or Piper Arleigh. It's a good thing he was a boy because I just couldn't settle on that name!

 

 

I started reading this book on Monday. Guys, it's been hard, but I've managed to put down my phone a little more each day. I'm planning a post about this for next week so that's all I'll say for now.

 

 

Clay's great great Uncle Moe gave Clay Christmas money and ordered me to do something fun with it. So off we go to Target. I had a Jake and the Neverland Pirates Lego set picked out because, duh, Legos. I've been waiting to build Legos since I saw the two pink lines. Anyway, we took Clay to the Little People aisle and he saw this superhero set. Sorry, mom, you aren't allowed to pick out my toys anymore. I do like this set though. It was actually on my list for Clay's birthday so it works out. Could someone explain to me why it came with one villain (joker) and the rest superheroes?

 

 

This was taken at 10 pm. Clay's bedtime is 8. He didn't go down until 11. You see, we eat pretty healthy at home so when we go see my family I don't put limits on what Clay can have (within reason). Apparently I need to start... On Saturday he had two pieces of birthday cake and two pieces of pecan pie (he did eat really well for his meals though). On Sunday the boy put away an entire Moon Pie. By himself. So basically Clay isn't allowed to have sugar til his birthday in August. Guess I'll have to eat all the Christmas & Valentine's candy we got in Tennessee. Darn ;)

That's a wrap for this week! We hope you have a fabulous weekend!

 

 

Linking up with H54F, InstaFriday, and Five on Friday!

No more mullet!

Back in September my Pappaw (the other Clay) cut Clay's hair for the first time.

 

 

Our intention was for my Pappaw to keep cutting Clay's hair when we would go in for visits. Then our visit kept getting postponed and Clay's hair was starting to look like a mix between Terry Bradshaw and Tom Brady. While I'm a T. Bradshaw fan, I cannot stand T. Brady so that mess had to go.

 

 

Here comes grandma (Mike's mom) to save the day! She decided she wanted to take him to Doolittle's (a kid salon), so off we go last Wednesday morning. Can I just stop right here and say, $17 for a toddler's haircut? But I learned the minute I had Clay that if the grandmas want to do something for Clay, just let them.

 

Clay refused to sit down in the car so he stood the entire time.

 

 

 

 

And then suddenly, he aged a couple of years! It's crazy how a haircut took him from baby to toddler.

 

 

Afterwards, Clay got his favorite treat from Starbucks (Madeline cookies) and got to spend some time outside people and airplane watching.

 

 

10 things.

1. We finally got to go see my family for the first time since Thanksgiving. Thanks a lot, snow. Anyway, it was the craziest 36 hour trip ever and you'll get to hear all about it later this week. Lucky you :)
2. I started reading Hands Free Mama. That's also a post for another day. Hmm...maybe this will be a list of ten things I'm going to blog about soon...
3. Today I had Clay in the bathroom without a diaper on while I was waiting for the water to warm up and he kept pointing at his potty. I proceed to have (what I thought was) a brilliant idea and say, "go potty, Clay," thinking he would at least go over and sit on the potty. Oh, he went potty all right. All over my feet and the floor. Jessica, you idiot, next time, SIT him on the potty before you say that.
4. I'm pretty dang sad that the Olympics are over... like I can't realy talk about it yet. Also, the Olympics are 95% of the reason I was absent around these parts last week. Definitely a post coming on that.
5. Last week I learned how to rescue an earring that I had dropped down the drain. I felt like Wonder Woman. I'm sure everyone who saw my Instagram feed of the saga was like, "duh, you idiot, how did you not know how to do that at 28 years old?"
6. We have so many sweets (namely Reese's trees & hearts) that I'm going to start hiding them away from myself. You think I'm kidding but I'm not. I did this when I was pregnant and made ten boxes of Girl Scout cookies last over nine months.
7. Scandal and Grey's Anatomy come back on this Thursday. I. Cannot. Wait.
8. We have our air conditioning on tonight. It's 49 degrees but our neighbors downstairs like to keep the heat cranked up and my little man sweats like nobody's business in his sleep. Ridiculousness.
9. I've recently become addicted to Earl Grey tea. Try it iced with a splash of vanilla syrup. You are welcome.
10. I've tried planning out my posts for this blog. You know what, I'm not good at that. There are a few posts that I want to write and get scheduled but for the most part, I like just flying by the seat of my pants. Also, where did that expression come from? Does it even really make sense?

On that note, it's time for me to go! See you tomorrow!

 

Snowcation Recap

Guys. Being snowed in with a toddler is a whole new ball game. Clay doesn't understand basic Snowcation rules like sleeping in... okay, so that's the only rule that I have but he just didn't get it at all! It was nice getting to spend time with Clay without having to go anywhere and we checked everything off of our Snowcation bucket list except one thing!

• Play in the snow. We only lasted about five minutes but we did it! It turns out Clay doesn't like the snow so much when it's past his knees and that was just fine with this snow hating girl :)

• Drink hot chocolate and eat cookies. Yes! Well, Clay decided he didn't want his hot chocolate so I drank that and he ate the cookies.

• Bake cookies. Make pancakes. Check! Check! Peanut butter dark chocolate chip cookies- recipe here, you're welcome! I tried a new pancake recipe this time (2 eggs, a banana, and a dash of cinnamon blended together) and it was surprisingly delicious!

• Give Clay his Valentine's Day present early and watch it! So I gave Clay his present on Thursday and he immediately ran to the tv with the DVD. Then my worst fear came true, the power went out in the middle of the movie. Luckily it was only out for a couple of hours so we made due.
• Watch the Olympics and have a picnic in the living room. We actually did this for just about every meal on Wednesday and Thursday. It would have gotten ridiculous, but hey, the Olympics only happen every two years!
• Have a pool party in the tub! Welllll, we did this. I'm not sure I would call it a success but Clay didn't cry the entire time.

• Catch up on crocheting and work on stocking my etsy shop. Err. About that...
• FaceTime with the family. Done :)
• Go through Clay's clothes. I'm so glad I did this because I was able to make room for all of the 2T hand me downs and Target/GAP stash I had boxed up. Now when I get asked what Clay needs, I know exactly what to say :)
• Rest. I ended up doing more of this than I had planned on because of the wretched stomach bug that invaded my body and took me hostage on Thursday night (really, not exaggerating, worst stomach virus I've ever had).
• Read. (Suggestion from Kelli) Done! What else was I supposed to do when the power was out??
• Make snow cream. (Suggestion from Desiree) Yes! And it was delicious! I only wish we had sprinkles to add. You can find the recipe we used here.

How was your Snowcation (if you got one)?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Are you ready for the cuteness you're about to see?? Yesterday I shared the picture I chose for our Valentines, but the rest were too cute not to share! Enjoy!

 

And I'm done, mom.

 

 

 

I'm obsessed with the holidays...

If you know me, you know how much I love decorating for all of the holidays. Including our birthdays and the Olympics, because those are definitely holidays too! Anyway, since having Clay I've tried to make sure that I send out pictures of him to both of our families frequently. Enter the holiday card. I usually do a card on Shutterfly (with all the free promo codes I get, I usually just pay shipping). However, this Valentine's Day I had a little something different in mind.

 

 

It was so easy peasy and actually ended up being cheaper than paying for shipping for cards from Shutterfly! For the front I just attached the card with adhesive dots then crocheted a heart and attached that with a dot too.

 

 

For the back I just slapped some washi tape on there and a stamp then wrote a quick message. I mean, really, after seeing how cute the front is, who really cares about the back??

 

 

And the envelopes. Love the little details :)

 

The very day I put these in the mail I got an email from daycare with Clay's class list. I had completely spaced on having to send Valentines to daycare. I racked my brain for ideas and took to Pinterest but had a hard time finding a printable that would work for a young toddler class.

Then I remembered that I had saw this printable on Everyday Cheer. The bonus? It was a free printable. I had everything I needed except for the Goldfish :)

 

 

If our Valentines make the recipients half as happy as they made me, I'll call it a win :) Next up? St. Patty's Day cards!

 

(I'll share the rest of Clay's Valentine's pictures on Friday!)

 

Linking up with Ashley and Jess for It's the Little Things Linkup!

 

Snowcation Bucket List

In light of the white nasty stuff snow that is about to get dumped on the Charlotte area and with inspiration from Kelli's staycation bucket list, I decided to make a Snowcation Bucket List for us!

 

• Play in the snow. As much as I hate it, Clay loves it so I'll do it for him!
• Drink hot chocolate and eat cookies. My reward for going out in the wet yucky stuff :) Plus Clay will like this too!
• Bake cookies. Make pancakes. Then eat them all.
• Give Clay his Valentine's Day present early and watch it! I got Clay Planes and I'm Clay is excited to watch it again.
• Watch the Olympics and have a picnic in the living room. We did this several times during football season and Clay loves it!
• Have a pool party in the tub! Clay hasn't been doing well with bathtime since he had the dry skin issue so I thought this might be a fun way for him to enjoy the tub.
• Catch up on crocheting and work on stocking my etsy shop. You know, for when Clay is playing with his kitchen for hours on end.
• FaceTime with the family.
• Go through Clay's clothes. I feel like I do this all the time but his 12 month clothes are just getting too short so it's time to say bye bye.
• Rest. Days off through the week don't happen very often so it will be nice to have some downtime and just stay at home!

Any ideas for things I should add?

What are your plans for your Snowcation? (Unless you're lucky enough to live where it's warm and dry... Or you're a northerner who is used to this mess.)

Liebster Award

Happy Monday! Bahahaha. Anyway, last week I was nominated by the sweet Lindi over at Sweet Southern Sparkle for the Liebster award. This was perfect timing because I had a "get to know me" post planned for today anyway :)

For those of you who do not know what the Liebster Award is, it was started by bloggers to nominate new bloggers in order for them to gain recognition and a boost to keep them going.

The Rules:

• You must link back to the person who nominated you
• You must answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominee before you
• You must 11 pick nominees with under 200 followers to answer your questions
• You cannot nominate the person who nominated you
• You must tell the nominees that they have been nominated by you

Lindi's Questions:

1. Why did you start blogging? I started blogging in July of 2012 as a way of documenting everything baby for my family and friends. In January of 2013 I discovered this whole world of blogging and I was hooked!

2. What is your favorite beauty product? My favorite beauty product is probably Burt's Bees Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm. Does that count? I'm not much of a makeup girl (I only wear blush, eyeshadow, eye liner, and mascara) and I don't remember the last time I had product in my hair! Seriously though, back to the lip balm, it's the best stuff ever!

3. What was the name of your very first pet? I honestly can't remember. I know it was a dog and was names after a character from the Muppets though!

4. What does your blog name mean to you? Just what it says. It's all about the adventures in being a redhead and mom!

5. If you could pick one place to travel to where would it be? Hmm. This is a tough one! Probably Ireland, the land of the gingers! All kidding aside, it looks like such a beautiful place to visit.

6. What are your hobbies besides blogging? Running, reading, baking, crafting. A little bit of everything!

7. Who is the most influential person in your life? I would say my Mammaw. She's so loving and caring and takes such good care of her family and rarely (if ever) complains!

8. What is your dream job? Some kind of event planner. Or owning an etsy shop big enough that I could work from home and spend more time with Clay!

9.What is your go to wardrobe item? Yoga pants and a soft tee. Yep.

10.What is your favorite kind of candy? Reese's cups without a doubt! Dove dark chocolate is a close second though.

11. What advice could you give to a new blogger? Just enjoy it. Don't listen to all of the "rules" that people give you. Don't stress about it. Most importantly, be yourself! Don't change yourself into who you think your readers would like more.

******

I'm going to break the rules now and say I nominate all of you (especially you, Liz and Amy)!

My questions:

1. Why did you start blogging?
2. What are your favorite blogs to read?
3. Are you a sweet or salty person?
4. Have you done your monthly self breast exam (I'm serious, I'm horrible at remembering to do this!
5. What is your least favorite household chore?
6. Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?
7. What is your weirdest quirk?
8. What is your wish for your blog this year?
9. What is your favorite piece of jewelry?
10. Who is the last person you hugged?
11. If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?

I know, I know, I'm the best question asker ever. Hahahahaha. Okay, your turn! Get to answering!

 

The Friday Fives

Yep, I know it's almost five on Friday and I'm just now posting. It's a good thing there aren't really any blogging rules :) You know you're thanking me anyway because in your attempt to procrastinate at work (or home) today because it's Friday, you already read all of your favorite blogs and now have nothing to do on Sunday since football is over.

 

I finally took Clay's Valentine's pictures and let me tell ya, I got some winners! Like this one. What is that face Clay? I shared some of the pictures earlier this week but I'm saving the Valentine's ones for a post next week and I'll reveal our card :)

 

I know, I know, he's only 17 months old. The potty is strictly out now for introduction purposes and so Clay can get used to it. Right now he is curious about it but will only go near it if Mike or I are with him.

 

Our cards...I die :) I promise you'll see them next week!

 

My intention on Sunday was to prep a few meal while watching the Super Bowl. Then it stunk so I forgot about it and started meal prepping like crazy. Like over thirty meals for me, Clay, and Amy.

 

These two crazy kids finally got to meet! And Liz and I got to spend four hours at Target and Michael's. Best. Saturday. Ever.

 

 

Or four. Details, details.

• The Friday Fives (okay...from last week but you know you want to...)
• 17 months!
• Sometimes...
• 2014 Wishes Update

Tell me something great about your week that you want to high five about!

Linking up with H54F, InstaFriday, and Five on Friday!