Currently.

Watching: "Whale moomie! Airpane moomie! Too too tain moomie! Meemo moomie!"Emmett has been pretty sick with croup-turned-awful cold since Thursday, so we've done a lot of snuggling up on the couch watching "moomies." He has a whale documentary on Netflix that he's obsessed with, so we watch that a lot. Then there's Airplanes, Thomas the Train (sooo annoying!), and Finding Nemo. I always ask for Nemo because it's the only one I can tolerate, but his favorite is always the whales. Poor little guy, he's been through a rough few days.

Listening to: Emmett's little cough, as he lays his head on my lap. He woke up with a croupy cough on Thursday, which lasted through Saturday. He's had pretty high fevers each night, topping out at 103 on Saturday night, and now he's got a bad chest cough and cold symptoms. He's a sad little boy today, tired of being sick. And Ray and I are worn out from being up in the night worrying about his fevers all weekend. We're heading to the doctor in an hour or so just to make sure his ears are clear and he's on the mend. We're all ready to get back to normal around here.

Thankful for: Good friends. The kind who send you a text out of the blue just to check on you when they know you're having a hard day. The kind who build you up and remind you that you're doing a good job when you're feeling low. The kind who share their homes and their dinner tables. Who stop by with a six-pack at the end of a long day to share a drink and listen to your troubles. We have really good friends.

And our hose. I'm thankful for our hose, for cheering up my sad sick little boy countless times this weekend. It's amazing what a little water can do to brighten a little boy's day.

I hope you had a beautiful weekend! As always, I'm linking up with the lovely ladies at A Mama Collective to bring you this week's Currently. I hope you'll join us!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Last Weekend: Justin Timberlake & Jay Z at the Rosebowl!!!

OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS I SAW JT!!

Last weekend I took my first girls' trip since Emmett was born. My sisters, our friend Rachel and I drove to Pasadena for a JT & Jay Z concert. It. Was. Amazing.

Our weekend, in iPhone pictures:

Playin in some puddles before saying our goodbyes. :(

Goodbyes are the worst!

Quick Starbucks run on our way out of town! Green teas for everyone!

I sent selfies to Ray and Emmett all day erryday so Emmett wouldn't know I was gone.

Windmills in Palm Springs.

The beach!! Crescent Beach in Laguna Beach, CA.

All the single (and married) ladies!

Post-picnic, pre-concert posed shot. Love these girls!

Somebody's happy to be at the Rose Bowl! Isn't she cute?

We be on our suit and tie!

Please excuse that enormous beer in my hand. Waiting for the show to start!

We had such a good time! I missed my boys so much, but mama needed a weekend away. The show was amazing and now we're all dying to see JT on his own when he's here in Phoenix in December. More JT please!

Five Faves (2?)

I'm linking up with Grace over at Camp Patton (no one's surprised, I know). She's hosting Five Favorites for Hallie and y'all know I can't resist a good link up!

1. This boy ya'll. He's perfect.

2. These girls. Love them! My sister Shea has been with us for almost a month now and will be heading back to college in a few days. I have really loved having her! Lucia will be back to take her place for another month or so, and then we are on our own for child care. Anyone have a recommendation for affordable, awesome childcare ideas? What works for you?

3. My husband has been waking up with the baby most mornings lately to let me catch some extra z's and it is changing my life. For the first time in a year I don't feel like a crazy half dead zombie. What a man I have.

4. The Fairy Blogmother is my hero this week. I was messing around with my blog layout the other night and I don't know what happened but all of a sudden the beautiful design Erika put together for me was gone and I couldn't get it back. DISASTER. I emailed Erika and she had everything back to beautiful in less than an hour. She's amazing! She added my About Me blurb at the top there too and we're working on a couple more little changes. I can't say enough good things about her!

5. This weekend my sisters and my friend Rachel and I are gonna hop into our Spaceship Coup for a trip to California to see JT and Jay Z. I can't wait to spend some quality time with those ladies and I can't even talk about how excited I am to see JT. I'm a fan girl y'all, big time. I'm leaving Emmett with Ray for the weekend (for the first time!) and we're all a little nervous. They'll do fine of course but I'm really gonna miss them. I know I know, Cry Me a River.

How We Met

Inspired by Grace's link up (and adorable love story), I've decided to write the story of how I met my man.

I moved to Arizona care of San Diego in April of 2010 (or was it 2009? Yes, it was 2009). That's a whole story in itself but I'll spare you. I was trying to get away from an awful situation and thank God I did. Anyhoooo back to the good stuff.

I went to stay with friends of friends (the most wonderful family) in San Diego for a few weeks, and during that time I made plans to visit other friends of the same friends in Tempe, AZ for a week or so. The who and why is all very complicated but suffice it to say, I came to Arizona at the end of May to visit for a week. The first day I arrived I went with friends to a graduation party. I felt right at home with all of the people I met and made friends right away. I met Ray that night, but that part is all very fuzzy. I blame the Arizona heat and the beers and the ensuing dehydration. I'm from Georgia where we basically breathe water all day so I never ever ever drank water in my life. I drank plenty of sweet tea of course, but water was foreign to me. Again, anyhoooo..

A few days into my week in Arizona, I began to realize that I needed more time here. I needed to stay. The family I was staying with had extra space and four children (grown children) my age, and they approached me with the offer to let me stay. They told me that they sensed I was meant to be in Arizona for a while, just like I did. Isn't that amazing?

So I stayed. I went back to San Diego to get my things and made the move to AZ just at the beginning of Summer. It was a tough decision for me because I love my family so much and the thought of staying away from them for an undetermined amount of time was very very VERY difficult for me. But I knew it was the right move somehow, and all of the people around me seemed to know it too. I had so many emotional discussions with my dad about it, and he kept reassuring me that he felt like there was something for me in Arizona (little did we know..), so I felt a little better.

I spent the Summer meeting people, mostly through the family I was staying with, and I was able to make a lot of really wonderful friends in a short time. I felt so welcome and at home here. I continued to see Ray pretty often in groups, but I wasn't interested in dating AT ALL during that time so I really didn't notice him.

Over the Summer there were boys in our group of friends that began to show interest in me. In particular, Ray's best friend (sorry Joe!). Our group is full of very big, loud personalities, and these boys were no exception. But there was one boy who stayed in the background, never trying too hard to spend time with me or talk to me or get my attention, and after a while I began to notice. In the end that's how he got my attention. He'll tell you that was his plan all along, but who knows.

I developed a little crush on him, and eventually got his number from his best friend (again, sorry Joe!), and we started texting back and forth. We hung out in groups a lot and over the next few months we began to spend time together without the group. I was really hesitant because like I said, I wasn't interested in dating anyone at all any time soon, but I knew that Ray was special so we took it really slow. I had a really hard time with the whole thing because I guess I knew that dating Ray meant staying in Arizona, and staying in Arizona meant staying away from Georgia and my family.

Our very first photo together.. It's great, I know.

In the end, obviously, we began dating and after a year he proposed. After another year we were married, 9 months and one day later Emmett was born, and now it's been a year since then! Ohhhh there is so much more to the story but I don't have a clever ending so this is it!!

And now, because I can't resist:

This is my "stop taking pictures of us and making this brand new sort of dating thing awkward!" face.

Ohhhh 20's parties are fun but the costumes are sooooo unfortunate. For me. Ray looks great.

Ohh that unfortunate growing-out-your-bangerangs stage.

The day we got engaged. Swoon. Also I need to find those sunglasses!

Ray's first trip to meet my family in Georgia. Here we are at my favorite FAVORITE restuarant, Veracruz with my little brother who is not that little anymore AT ALL. 

In my parent's front yard. Ray's hair is amazing.

In the Huddle House in my hometown laaaate at night after the bar. Those were the days!

And there you have it! The story of how it alllllllll began.

Keepin' It Real {4}

Linking up with Corinna over at Track 8 for Keepin' It Real Mondays!

I've been sort of wracking my brain for some Keepin' It Real moments from the past week, but I'm striking out! I mean, of course we've had our moments, but today my head is so full of joy and pride and love for my baby boy! The crazy and hard and just plain weird things that happen on a daily basis are escaping me because I'm just so happy.

We had an amazing weekend, full of family and friends and celebrations. We are so lucky to be surrounded by people who love us and support us, and who make our life so full. Emmett is so very loved, and I am overjoyed.

It's been a tough year, maybe even my toughest so far. Things have not been picture perfect, and although my family and my little boy are all of my wildest dreams come true, this year with them has been difficult and overwhelming. Life isn't what I imagined it would be. But you know what? I'm okay with that. I'm so much more than okay with it. Today I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Little Emmett took his first real steps today. He's been pushing furniture around the house for a while now, and taken one or two steps by accident here and there, but today, he really walked. 10 steps, all on his own, twice in a row. I cried and laughed and squealed so much he wasn't sure whether to be excited or afraid! He's such an amazing little boy.

In Keeping with the Keepin' It Real theme, here are a few choice outtakes from the weekend:

Lunch.

Baby's 1st brain freeze.

Manners. 

I'm also linking up with Mary Beth at Annapolis & Company for her Our Weekend link up!

Catch Up: iPhone Edition {2}

The last few weeks, according to my iPhone:

Emmett's 10 month photo was pretty difficult to catch. He's not a fan of sitting still for photos these days, and this day in particular he just wasn't having it. So, looking at the window with frog Wubbanub in mouth it is... We took that photo the morning we left for San Diego.

We left the babe in the care of my wonderful mama, and headed to California for a friend's wedding.

Our three tallest friends came along, so of course we made them squeeze into the backseat.

Here we are outside the church where our friends got married. Ray was a groomsman in the wedding, so we were lucky enough to be invited to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I love wedding rehearsals! The excitement and anticipation are palpable, and everyone is in such a happy mood. So fun!

The next day we had lunch at Stone Brewery (so awesome), and then spent the afternoon at our friend's parents house. The views from their home are so beautiful. We LOVE to visit them whenever we're in San Diego. 

Here I am at the wedding reception, pumping in the very public bathroom.. Luckily everyone was busy on the dance floor, so I was only interrupted once. Hashtag mom lyfe.

Emmett has a happy place, right there on his little chair. He LOVES to sit on that chair y'all. He smiles so big every time, and says "yaaaaaaay" in an almost whisper. It's the cutest thing he does right now!

He refuses to wear this hat most of the time, but whenever I can sneak it on, I giggle like crazy at those little ears sticking out. 

Here we are at Ikea last weekend. We planned to "run in" to grab some shelves, but of course we were there forever. Emmett was barely holding on by the time we checked out, so we had to get creative to keep him entertained. Those teeth! They slay me.

This is a terrible fuzzy photo, but I love it so much! I snuck in to check on Emmett the other night after he was sleeping, and I found his little feet sticking out of his crib. Those feet are my favorite!

I posted that photo of Emmett above on my Instagram last week. His two bottom teeth were cutting through so we had a tough couple of weeks. He was mostly happy during the day, but refused to nap or sleep at night. He was up 5 or 6 times each night crying out for me, so I spent most of my nights in his room holding him and trying to comfort him back to sleep. We were tired y'all. The above photo of me is a selfie I sent to my sister on a particularly difficult morning. I know, I'm real cute when I'm bone-tired and hating on everything.

Have y'all seen the new A Beautiful Mess app for the iPhone? It's so much fun! I like the filters in this app so much better than the Instagram filters, and there are endless borders, doodles, and phrases to add to your photos. I could (and have!) play with it for hours. The photo above and the next two are all made with the A Beautiful Mess app.

Emmett's first pair of Freshly Picked moccasins arrived over the weekend, and we're just as smitten as we knew we would be. So cute.

Enjoying a cool-ish day over the weekend. It's so hot these days, we hardly spend any time outside in the afternoons. 

I managed to catch Emmett with his hat on in this one. He hates to wear it, but it's soooo cute!

 

I call that look Emmett's teething perma-duckface. His poor little gums have been so swollen that his lips stick out all the time. It's cute but I'm ready for his mouth to stop hurting him!