"happies"

So as my sister and I grew up, my mom taught us about "happies." These can range from small itty bitty gifts to big gifts, from free to expensive---basically anything that you make or buy and give to someone, just to brighten their day. As I read back over that, it doesn't make much sense, but I'm pretty sure you've all heard the term "happies."

Well, yesterday was my birthday and thank you to all of you for the super, wonderful birthday wishes! I love you! Back to my point though. Because I'm a sucker for a good deal and anything that makes smile or happy, I sign up for free "happies!" Some of you are thinking, "No way. I don't sign up for things because then I get put on stores' spam list, or get phone calls, etc." Not the case with these little "happies" I'm about to share with you!

Because it's my birthday month, and I signed up on websites, I've received. . .
---a 20% off entire order coupon at the Children's Place (yes, for my birthday, but also in October for Luke's)
---a free scoop of my favorite ice cream flavor at Baskin Robbins--WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!
---$5 off my next order at McAlister's (a local restaurant, though they do exist outside of Memphis too)
---a 20% off entire order coupon at Hallmark
---a 25% off coupon at Border's bookstore and
---a $10 off anything I buy at Banana Republic (though this may be because I have a card there)

I know I've received something else too---but just can't remember. Anyway, I'm always looking for something fun like that and thought I'd share that with you in case you too, want to receive some "happies!" I PROMISE I have not been bombarded with junk emails or mailings, etc. Just pure fun joy!! Now, as my sister pointed out when I told her of my little treats. . .we all need to bombard Starbucks with this idea and we'll really be getting somewhere!

a little bit of everything

So this week is spring break from our normal weekly events. Luke didn't have "school" this week, my Bible Study had a break for Holy week, the storytime lady took a spring break and so we've been making things up as we go!

Luke and I went to the zoo with some friends on Monday. It was our first time to go this season! I've been dying to go before baby Charlie gets here, so we made a morning of it. Luke was really excited too. He LOVED the monkeys "talking" and got a huge kick out of Mommy saying "ewww" to the snakes. I actually didn't even remember saying "ewww", but he asked me in the car, "What does Mommy say about snakes?" and I wasn't sure. He told me "ewww" and has been saying it (and laughing hysterically) the rest of the week!

We met some other friends for lunch on Tuesday, played with Grandpa and made Easter cookies on a rainy Wednesday, and had a friend take a photo shoot of Luke today! We've had a week of randomness, but throwing in some play-do, dot markers, playing outside and dancing to music and Luke has had a blast!

Latest baby update: I had another dr. appt. yesterday. I'm only 1/2 centimeter dilated at this point. It's progress, but it still doesn't look like little Charlie will come early. After discussing induction dates with our dr., it seems that based on his availability and Chad's work schedule, we'll probably wait until April 8th (one day after due date) to induce----if he hasn't already come! We'll keep you updated!

Meanwhile, here are some pics from the week!

Luke and Brady hanging out with the elephants!

Making Easter cookies. . .

Eating Easter cookies. . .looks a little guilty here---but he had permission--no worries

A friend of mine is a photographer and she put together a wonderful photo shoot today! I can't wait to get the pictures back. In the meantime, after she left, Luke still wanted to play outside, so I whipped out my camera and got a couple of shots of him too!

funny comments

Here are just a few funny comments from our little one in the past few days. Luke has definitely moved past the "parrot" stage and is great at forming his own thoughts and expressions!

1. The other day we made a trip to Hallmark. As we entered the store, it was an Easter wonderland! Not 2 feet into the store, Luke exclaims, "Wow! Hallmark is so much fun! There's bunnies and chickies and Easter eggs and everything!" It was sweet. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to look at all the "fun." He would have been a perfect commercial for the store!

2. Luke loves his music. We have TONS of it too--Veggie Tales and all kinds of toddler CD's. Anyway, we were driving the other day and one of the CD's in our car has the song "Home on the Range." It's sung in a very silly voice that makes Luke laugh everytime it's on. But this time, it came on and Luke said "Awww. This song makes me smile!" I immediately turned to look at him and he has his hands cupped around his cheeks as he's smiling! Adorable!

3. So with a toddler running around who's fascinated by everything, I don't get much privacy when I go to the bathroom. You don't need all the details, but closed doors don't really happen unless both Chad and I are home, so we can persuade Luke to leave us alone and enjoy 1 minute of alone time. A couple of days ago, I had to go to the bathroom and Luke was playing in our bedroom. I take care of things and I hear Luke say, "Good job little Mommy! You did it! You went pee-pee!" I laughed out loud. While we aren't in full force potty training mode, Luke does pee-pee in the potty and obviously gets praised when he accomplishes it!

And these are just comments I remember off the top of my head. What a fun stage! He's our little entertainer!

Winter Wonderland!!

We had a winter wonderland arrive in town on Friday and I could not have been happier! In my opinion, snow is the best part of nature that God created. It's beautiful, it's fun, it's quiet, it's pure and it's a dream come true for me! Every year since we've been back in Memphis, I have looked forward to February because that's when the snow (if we get any at all) seems to hit. Well, this year, February came and went and no snow. I even commented to my sister last week that I had officially given up on the snow and was quite devastated to not have any.

Oh, and Chad is just like me. We were made for each other! He gets just as excited about the snow. You should have seen us on Friday when the snow was pouring from the sky. I'm not sure if Luke was more excited about the snow because it's awesome, or because the snow makes his parents completely giddy!! The snow started around 2pm on Friday afternoon and continued through the night. So, Saturday morning, though Luke had been sick all week with a fever virus, we all bundled up and headed out to play in the snow. Luke's first observation of the snow was "Now we won't be able to see dog poop!" Nice, huh?

We had a blast! We made a snowman, snow angels and we introduced Luke to snowballs and the thrill of eating snow. Because it was relatively warm while we were playing, we didn't think about little Lukey's feet getting cold. He was bundled up and I kept checking his face and hands and all was good. However, when we went inside and took off his wet shoes and socks, his little feet were pink and frozen! Poor thing!! We're pretty sure he didn't mention it to us because he was having so much fun eating snow (we know this because of the reaction we got when we told him we had to go inside and he couldn't keep eating the snow)!

Pretty big snowman don't you think?

Not sure if you can see this, but Luke has such a mischevious grin on his face--holding a snowball!

Luke just loved the snow!! He's still asking for more!!

Me and my little one (with a mouth full of snow)!

I've been tagged. . .

I've been tagged, so here are 10 random things about me. I do recall writing a blog back in August about my 100 list, so I will try to vary this some.

1. I had a dentist appointment this past week. After almost 32 years, still no cavities!

2. I have an obsession with the Oscars. It's one of my favorite nights of the year! I love movies (or films, as they are referred to when discussing Oscar nominations) and I love the hype surrounding them. Really, you have no idea!

3. I've always loved chocolate, but I recently became a chocolate snob. My sweet hubby bought me a HUGE box of Godiva chocolates for Valentine's Day. I ate the whole thing in no time flat---not really a shocker. However, once the box was gone and I needed another chocolate fix, I tried some impostor type chocolate, one that would have been quite satisfying before Valentines, and it no longer was. Yikes--this could be an expensive addiction!

4. I'm stealing Ashley's here, but I'm the same way. I cannot stand going to sleep in an unmade bed. It has to be made before I can go to sleep. Therefore, I always try to make it first thing in the morning. However, there have been occasions when I haven't done so and have attempted to make it before getting into bed at night, only to be stopped by my husband, who thinks it's ridiculous to make it just to unmake it.

5. When I was pregnant with Luke, I seemed to crave ice cream a lot (typical from what I understand), but with this pregnancy, I've been craving Cherry Coke! Yummy!

6. I slept with my 2 favorite stuffed animals until I was 24 and had to give them up when I got married. I was actually sad and afraid to hurt their feelings when I couldn't sleep with them anymore. Yep, that's right--pretty crazy. I definitely prefer my husband to them now though! :)

7. Lots of my friends have girls and they obsess over buying cute clothes for them. Boys clothes are great, but admittedly not as cute as girls', so I tend to obsess over buying books for Luke. I really have a problem leaving a store and not buying him a new book. Plus, he LOVES them, so why not?? Right, honey??

8. Ever since I can remember, the number 8 has been my favorite number. It just so happens that Chad and I had our DTR (define the relationship) talk on the 8th, and because of both of the aforementioned, we were also married on the 8th! How perfect!

9. I really dislike Wendy's. When I was in college, the sororities and fraternities had receipt contests for charity with the goal being to see who raised the most money by eating the most at Wendy's. Our sorority always won and I got way too burned out on Wendy's.

10. I really want to run a half-marathon this year--I'm thinking the Memphis half in December. I've never run that far in my life and I'm putting that piece of info. on here so all of my readers can encourage me and hold me accountable to running---after baby is born, of course!



Yea! I did it! I am now tagging. . .Mandy, Sarah and Chad.