lightening strikes......

a really crazy storm was rolling in, on Thursday, I was in the garage getting some things out of the car, so the garage door was open. It was raining and thundering a lot, and then all of the sudden this loud clap of thunder and lightening struck, it scared the crap out of me. I thought it must have hit something, because of how close it was. Then I began to smell a burning, I immediately ran out into the pouring rain to do a survey of our house and make sure it was not on fire. I looked all around and didn't see any flames, but the smell was getting stronger, and at this point I thought I was seeing smoke. So, I ran inside, and went out the back door to look at the back of our house, nope....no fire. Then, I came inside again, at this point I am soaked, and I can hear the fire trucks. So, I called Brian, because he was at the station, and he wanted me to look in the attic, so I pulled down the attic stairs to make sure no smoke was coming out....nope.
My mom was here and she was holding baby J while I was running around like a crazy woman. I went back into the garage, and there was a giant German Shepard standing there.Oh, crap it scared me! I turned right back around to go back into the house, and he started to follow me. I couldn't close the garage door because my mom's car was blocking where the door could come down. I waited a few minutes, then I opened the door to see if the dog was gone...nope, he started walking toward me again. I closed the door, then I thought that I need to find the owner of this dog, my neighbors next door and across the street both have one so I thought it might be one of theirs. And I wanted to go see what got hit by the lightening, so I grabbed a rain coat, and the diaper bag, and my mom, baby J and I got in the car and the dog started following the car. Which made my mom freak out because I was going to get out and knock on my neighbors door, she kept saying, what if he bites you????? Then luckily the neighbor came out and called the dog, so we drove away.
Back to the lightening, it struck a house in the next neighborhood which is probably only 5 or 6 street away from our house. This house had orange flames shooting out, and the roof had already collapsed. People were everywhere. And one of our neighbors and her husband (who is also a fireman) where there, and all I hear, as this fire is blazing, is Cindy screaming "Cameron, get back here right now!" to her son who's riding his bike down the middle of the street thru all the emergency vehicles, the best part was as she was screaming her son's name, she was marching down the street in the pouring rain with no shoes on. It was sooooo funny.. But in a way it was embarrassing to be her neighbor at that moment. Well, the sad thing is that someone lost their house 2 days ago.
Brian and I drove by yesterday, and the family was out with shovels, we stopped to ask what we could do to help, and we gave them our number. Then Brian dropped me and the baby off at home and then he went back to help the family salvage some of their stuff, for about 2 and 1/2 hours. Please keep this family in your prayers. They will be displaced for sometime and the have children so the kids are taking it really hard.

the coolest news...ever!

As you can tell from looking @this blog, I love to have pictures of my baby, and I have ALWAYS known that he is the cutest baby ever, but yesterday we got conformation on said statement. A few months ago, I had his 7 month old photos taken by the Studio @Target. And the photographer loved his pictures so much that she asked me if she could enter them into a corporate contest, so I said yes. Well, I don't think I have even thought about it since that day. Well, as we where leaving yesterday to go out to eat, the phone rang, and for some reason I answered it. Normally I would have just let it ring. And it was the photographer that took his photos. And she told me that he WON the contest and that he will be used in Target's photos advertisements, I am not sure how they will use him, whether it be on the mail out fliers, or photos of him hanging in the store, or on coupons, none the less, I think it is the coolest news, ever. So, take your babies to the Target Studio and have their pictures made, and tell the photographer you want you baby to pose like Jackson! I am so excited and pleased. First Target then who know maybe Abercrombie?? ha! I will have more details soon!

he's cute when he is sleeping

This will either sound crazy or for my fellow Stay-At-Home moms you will probably relate....Somedays when I need a few minutes to get something done, or to have a few minutes of quite time, I hope and wait for nap time to arrive! I hope that doesn't sound awful, but it is true. But when bedtime rolls around each night, and when Baby J finally goes to sleep for the night, I miss him so much, and sometimes I secretly wish that he would wake up so I can see him one more time. So, what I do is sneak into his room with the camera and take lots of sleeping baby pictures..here is the most recent, ENJOY. And sleep well!

butterflies

Yesterday, my friend Kaye and I took our sons to the zoo and it was a perfect day. The Memphis humidity was not present, and the sun was shining, with a slight breeze every now and then. The boys, Caleb and Jackson, were more interested in looking at each other then the animals, which was pretty funny! And the best part and my I recommend everyone to see before it's gone for the season, was the butterfly exhibit! I don't know what I was expecting, but you go into this greenhouse-like building, and it is filled with beautiful flowers everywhere. The best part is that there are hundreds of butterflies flying around all over the place. It is like they don't even know that people are there with them. A brown one landed on my finger. I don't know if this is true or not, but my granny has always said that if a butterfly lands on you that is good luck! I got some great pictures of the babies beside the coi pond as the butterflies fluttered around them. They watched in awe. It was so incredible. And also the keeper in the house came up to us with a huge and beautiful butterfly on her hand, and showed Jackson how it could open and close its wings. Please if you get the chance, go see the butterflies, and I would even recommend taking your spouse, it could probably be a very special and romantic date.

granddad's hat

Jackson took a trip down to see his great granddad, a few weeks ago, and he loved playing and laughing and wearing his granddad's favorite hat! We love you, Pop! Get well soon so Jackson can come back a visit with you!

I love you, daddy!

Of course, I don't know everything because I'm still so small, But, Daddy, I've already learned that you're the best of all! Thanks for always making me laugh and for letting me get into all the things that Mommy doesn't!!! Like I said, I love my Daddy! Love Jackson!

Baby shower nightmare

Okay, something crazy happened to me yesterday. I have a friend/ex-co-worker that is having a baby in September, and I offered about 3 months ago to host her baby shower. 1. Because she is my friend, 2. Because she has only lived here a few years, and I wanted her to have a nice shower, 3. Because I LOVE hosting and having people over( I secretly want to be like Martha Stewart-for those of you who don't already know that!!!!) So, I have been asking for the guest list for three months now, because I was thinking that I would make the invitations my self. She is always putting me off, and I don't want the shower to be done @the last minute, of course. And I know that she is having another shower in her hometown so I am also having to plan around that, and I have a Coronal Polishing Course that is going to take me one whole Friday and Saturday to complete. What I am saying is time is running out and I still haven't gotten the guest list. So, yesterday she calls to tell me that she will be getting the list together for me, and she also has a friend from church that wants to help with the shower. SURPRISE, SURPRISE! But she made me so mad because she (Oh, her husband was talking in the background) said her Church friend, which I have never met, didn't really have any plans, she just wanted to have the shower @her house. And in the background I hear(yeah, she has a HUGE house!!!!). So want does she say to me, yeah, she has a huge house, I will give her your phone number, okay!!!!!!!!!! WHAT?????????? I was in shock, THE NERVE!!! What does she think my house is chopped liver???? Last time I checked I had a very nice house. I can not tell you just how mad, and offended I am. What I will be doing now is bowing out gracefully. If the girl with the "biggest house in town" wants to give the shower, here's her chance, because I am OUT!!!! I thought that when someone offers to go to all the expense and trouble to throw a shower for you, that you say "Thank You". Not, hey let's have it @the mansion because she is richer than you are. What does she think I would have given her a white trash party????? Apparently, she doesn't know me as well as I thought she did. I have co-hosted showers before, and I enjoy working alone better. Not that I didn't have a good time, but these where my friends that I was working with, not a complete stranger. She may be a total pain, and I don't want to deal with that. So, I'm not! I hope all goes well @that shower, I will report back, if I am invited. But @this point, I don't really care if I am or not!

Jackson's 1st steps

NEWS FLASH...Jackson took his first steps this past week. I can't believe it, he is a genius! He is not even 9 months until tomorrow. I am so proud of him, and I think he gets his overachieving skills from his mommy! Jackson, keep up the good work, and maybe next week I can report that he has been the youngest kid to graduate from college. We will send out invitations to graduation! Until then!!!!!

The Grand Opening Party

I can't believe it, Brian and I had another date night. One of my best friends Dr. Jodi Rump D.D.S. has opened a solo dental practice, Main Street Dental, and this past Thursday night she had a Grand Opening and ribbon cutting ceremony. Brian and I have been looking forward to this for sometime now. We are so excited that Jodi has had to opportunity to open such an outstanding office. I guess it is just very cool to see someones dreams come true. This office is absolutely gorgeous in every way! From the newest and best equipment to modern decor, when you walk in the door it is like no other dental office in the Memphis area. Well, we got all dressed up and headed downtown for the festivities. She had tables with beautiful flower arrangements out front where everyone was eating catered ice cream. Inside people were taking tours of the office, and eating food from restaurants in the downtown area like Big Foot, The Majestic, and others, the food was amazing, there was also a room full of beer or wine or anything else to drink. I saw a lot of my old friends, and patients, and people I worked with in these past six years that I have been in dentistry. We talked and laughed with everyone and our picture was taken by the publicist, with the possibility of it being in RSVP magazine (a local magazine that features cool events and the people who attended). I am very excited for Dr. Rump and her new practice, she is like a sister to me, and I want her to have all the success in the world. We had a blast @her party!!!! And if anyone wants to see her office or make an appointment, I have attached a link on my main page to her office---Dr. Jodi Rump D.D.S. check it out, it is worth your time.

Check out my Slide Show!

ciao bella

Ciao Bella is one of our favorite restaurants in Memphis and we have not been there since I was Pregnant. So, last night my wonderful husband planned a date night and we went to dinner and a movie with our friends Ben and Monica. This, you see was our first official date since Jackson has been born. But the cute thing was that while I was getting ready, Brian secretly called his mom and dad and asked if they would mind keeping the baby for a few hours so we could have a night alone. He also pack up the diaper bag and put the bouncy seat in the car. So as we were leaving, I saw the bouncy seat in the back, and said "are we going over to Ben and Monica's after dinner or something?" Well, I think he said "maybe", then we left and I didn't think much more about it. I was just touching up my makeup and hair and talking on the way to dinner and not really paying attention to the way we were going, which was to Germantown, not the way to the restaurant. The crazy thing is I didn't notice want was going on until we turned on to my in-laws street. I guess that shows how much I pay attention when I am not driving. So then I started to tear up, I wanted Jackson with us. But I agreed that we needed a night alone, so he stayed with his Nana and Grandpa. We had a wonderful dinner, I had the Lobster Ravioli and Ladybug White wine, and Brian had the gnocchi. I made Brian call to check on Jackson, and everything was fine. After dinner we decided to see Shrek the Third, I told Brian that it was not a good idea to take me to a movie about a baby when I was missing Jackson so much :). I have to say that the movie was funny, but not as funny as the other Shriek movies. The best part was probably the last 5 minutes. After the movie we rushed to pick up our sweet angel, who of course was up past his bed time. But he was sooooo happy to see us, and I think that my in-laws were equally happy to see us,too. They looked worn out,but on their behalf, Jackson IS very active, and he will really keep you on your toes. But it was the best night, I had a great time. Thanks to my honey for sneaking behind my back and making plans. And I would also like to thank Ben and Monica for the dinner, you guys are too sweet. Until our next adventure....ciao, Bella.