pooped.

That title could sum up my weekend in more ways than one. I'll spare some of those details.

 A 7 hour car ride has never been and never will be enjoyable. At least my mom and sister are kinda funny, and we entertained ourselves pretty well the 14+ hours we spent together in the car this weekend. Babies have no business at Disney World. Babies have no business staying in a hotel. I am glad to have already learned these things now, before spending a lot of money on a Disney trip down the road and being miserable. Amelia won't travel back to Orlanda for another 4-5 years. And she won't travel very far without  her dad again. Goooood grief. Amelia wore me, my mom and sister out more than you know. In and out of the car seat, in and out of the stroller, eating, diapers, snotty nose, coughing, sneezing, no sleep, climbing up walls, climbing up chairs, climbing up us, climbing up everything...pretty much, Amelia thinks she's a monkey. The cutest monkey you'll ever see though! Momma and Michel got up with 17,000 other crazy women and ran 13.1 miles. GO THEM! We are finally home and in our own beds tonight! We got some really cute pictures and some pretty funny memories. I came home to a really clean house, some pretty flowers and a sweet daddy. Amelia was very happy to see Adam, and will be very happy to see him if/when she wakes up tonight from a coughing fit, Bless her heart!! I will pray for her from the comfort of my bed, while Adam has his turn to console her and rock her back to sleep. Anyways, Michel has all of the pictures we took at Disney, but here are some of mine and Amelia's souvenirs from the trip.

                                 my dumbo ornament, my Dopey coffee cup, Amelia's Minnie and Mickey, and "Mr. Frog" is somewhere around here..

 Gi bought amelia these ornaments & I left them on the coffee table still in the package and Amelia got a hold of them and shook Cinderella to death. She is quick and so sneaky!!

Don't worry Gi, she had an even break and can be fixed.

And these are my awesome flowers Adam had waiting on me today!!! :)



for the love

My mom and sister are running their 2nd ( and possibly last half-marathon) at Disney this weekend. They've been asking me to go with them, but I figured I would have to work. It worked out that I'm off this weekend, and I told Adam that they wanted me to go with them. He said "like take Amelia? Or just you go?". I told him they wanted me and Amelia to go, and his eyes lit up. Visions of big fish danced in his head. Who cares if we are running low on funds? Me and Amelia being out of the house all weekend, means no nagging about fishing allllll day. He has a new baby, you see.

This thing is giving me and Amelia a run for our money, as far as that big chunk of Adam's heart goes.

So it looks like Amelia will be making her first trip to Disney this weekend! I think she will be okay with it seeing as how she already loves Mickey Mouse. I hope we don't run into Pluto, as I'll probably be expected to break out in the hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity-dog dance we do (in the privacy of our home) every morning. I'm excited to get away for the weekend, even if it does mean a 7 hour car ride with Amelia. I'll be going to buy a new Wiggles movie for the ride today.

Happy Wednesday!

*You'll notice this post has correct usage of capital letters. Adam informed me it was unprofessional (even though there is nothing professional about this blog?), and that he doesn't like reading it without capital letters. Here ya go, hubby. I fully expect you to read them all from now on.

change of plans

well...due to all of the drug wars and violence going on in mexico (and because im a scaredy-cat) we've changed our caribbean location to jamaica. we will be staying at the hotel riu montego bay. i looked all over cheapcaribbean.com last night for about 3 hours, and had to take a break to sleep it over. when i went to bed i had about 3 places in jamaica written down, and about 3 places in the dominican republic written down. i woke up this morning and started going back through and coming up with more and more places. so i just stopped and asked adam if he would rather jamaica or the DR. he said jamaica so i went and found the best rated all inclusive for the cheapest price and just went with it. since it was cheaper than any we had looked at, we got to pick out a beach view room for some extra money. after all of my researching, im just so ready to go on this trip i probably would be fine sleeping on a bench there. so it is booked! and we will be on our way to jamaica on april 27th. the confirmation email was showing me our itenerary for our travels, and we are flying airtran!!! maybe my mom will work our flight! or not, because im going to need her to keep amelia for me. :) adam and i immediately started thinking about passports and how he doesnt have one and they take 6-8 weeks to get. he got online and started checking out the application and found that it is going to be $135 for him to get a passport. whhaaaa??? i thought they were 60ish bucks. we realized my name on my passport is oliver and ill have to have that changed. but that wont cost but 50 dollars tops, right? wrong. $110 just to change a few measely letters on my passport. that is BULL. perhaps we should've stayed with the standard room instead of beach view? dangit. oh well!!

this is what i get to look forward to in 8 weeks!!! (+25 spa credit!!!!!!!)

All inclusive


All meals and snacks:

Breakfast:

Full American breakfast buffet and on the spot cooking stations

Continental breakfast/snack

Lunch:

Hot and cold buffet and on the spot cooking stations

Pizzas, pasta, salads and assorted desserts

Jerk (traditional Jamaican barbecue) station (six times a week)

Dinner:

Buffets and on the spot cooking stations

Special evenings: Theme buffets (3 times a week)

Optional dining (reservations required in advance):

"Kalú" Asian restaurant (buffet)

"Little Italy" Italian restaurant (à la carte; buffet starters and dessert)

"Mahoe Bay" Grill and steak house (à la carte; buffet starters and dessert)



Formal dress is required for dinner (main restaurant: T Shirts with sleeves for gentlemen; theme restaurants: long trousers and T Shirts with sleeves for gentlemen)

Snacks 24 hours a day

Beverages:

Unlimited local and imported beverages 24 hours a day

Regularly restocked mini-bar and liquor dispenser

In-room safe

Sports and activities:

Gym, table tennis, workout, beach-volleyball

2 floodlit tennis courts

Racquets and tennis balls (deposit required)

Sauna, jacuzzi

Windsurfing, sailing, catamaran, snorkelling equipment, kayaking

1 introductory scuba diving lesson in the pool

Entertainment:

Daytime entertainment programme for children ages 4 to 12 (daily)

Daytime entertainment programme for adults (daily)

Shows, Riu evening programme or live music (daily)

Complimentary entrance to "Pacha" night club and drinks (open six nights a week)



All accommodations, taxes and gratuities





(this photo just really made me laugh)

 
its really funny to me that they used the same couples to take all of the photos.
anyway, im really glad to have it over and done with. now i just have the vacation to look forward to, and no more stress of picking the right place.
 
im off to work to pay for our outrageously priced passports!

yard sale prizes

*UGG boots (the real deals) - 10 bucks
*coach purse (another real deal) - 1 dollaa
*beach shade tent for amelia - 50 cent
*swimsuit floatie for amelia - 50 cent
*4 disney collectible mugs - 4 bucks
*6 albums - 3 bucks
*2 candle holders - 50 cent
*cool onesie for amelia - 50 cent
*6 dresses for amelia + life is good jacket - 6 bucks
*pair of flats for work - free (thanks momma)
*2 canvases (one round, one oval) - 2 bucks
*toy for amelia - 25 cents
*mango peach candle - 44 cents
*sweater, pants, shirt, shorts - 6.50
*2 red glass bottles - 4.00
grand total =  39.19 ( i think?...i suck at math )

SUCCESS!!

gotta go back to work this week to pay for next weekends sales :)

where oh where

have my babysitters gone?? i move here for babysitters to be closer to my family. and now my parents are never here!!! adam and i desperately need a date night. my new coworker is also the manager at a movie theater so i see a free movie date night in our future. adam complains about going to the movies, because its so expensive. NOT ANYMORE! :-D

im off tomorrow and i cant wait to go hit up some yard sales! also, i think im going to cut my hair short again tomorrow. i was glad to have a job so that i would put a little more effort into getting ready and looking cute everyday, but they told me i have to wear my hair up if its longer than my shoulders. im thinking that if i cut it short and have to fix it everyday that will really help! and i just miss my short hair. and possibly it will be the motivation ive been looking for to lose this baby weight. being miserable in 3 pants sizes bigger than pre-amelia cadence is just not cutting it as far as motivation goes? hmmm....

i wanna download itunes on my computer again so i can upload emily hearn's new songs. shes a cutie from my hometown and is very talented. she just made a fun music video with bill murray. check it out!

and this is her website: http://emilyhearn.com/

have a good weekend!!

THE ONE

after searching, searching, searching i have found the one. an old friend recommended it to me and i fell in love! we are going to book it through cheapcaribbean.com so it will be a good deal! i looked at every single location on this site and then some. i went back and forth between 7 or 8 of them. at first i didnt want to go to mexico, "because thats where everyone goes for a caribbean vacation". WHO CARES! this place is friggin awesome!!! it is the longest stay with the best all inclusive deal for our budget we set aside. we really liked a resort in montego bay, but it was only 20/person less than the one in cozumel and it was a shorter stay. i can hardly stand the 2 month wait i have ahead of me. we are finally going on the honeymoon we couldnt go on before!

tonight i will close my eyes and pretend i am sleeping in this sweet suite.

and then i will dream that this is where i am drinking all the cocktails my little liver desires.

and that this is where i will be dining.

ahhh!! holy vacation batman (or whatever it is people say when they are in disbelief/excited/surprised/etc)!!!

you can see more of the awesome photos of my future favoritest vacation ever here.

im not excited. at all.

too.much.candy

its just not valentines day unless im sick from eating too many conversation hearts. barf! im very glad to have my valentine here today! SO glad hes getting out of the army this year, and ill never have to worry about spending valentines alone while hes deployed. today, we are headed to destin to spend adams valentine gift card at bass pro, and to eat lunch at one of his favorite places, AJ's seafood. then we get to head back to fort walton and im getting my hot stone therapy massage(!!!!!!!!!!!!!). ill be attempting my valentines dinner tonight and instead of making him a pie for dessert, i think we will swing by fresh market and let him pick one out. dinner AND pie would probably be pushing it for me. :) i love valentines day, but mostly i just love having adam home with me and amelia!

but whats even more exciting than shopping in destin, froyo, aj's and cooking valentines dinner? adam and i are finally planning our honeymoon we never got to plan! we are going to take a trip to the caribbean sometime in april and im in charge of picking the place. ive found a website called cheapcaribbean.com and it has been all i can think about for the past 12-15 hours. too many options!!! and im not sure if i can wait until april??!?!

anyways im off to enjoy the day with my valentines and dream about caribbean vacay's. :)

xoxo

happy lovey dovey weekend

my hubby is finally home and just in time!! i cant wait to spend valentines weekend/day with he and amelia.  we are going to sea side yard sales for just a little bit before i have to go to work. amelias first yard sale experience. :) cant wait to stroll her around and teach her the ways of bargain shopping. after i get off work we are going to just hang around the house and spend time together. or..... adam is going to hang with amelia and ill probably catch up on all the sleep, blogging and pinning i missed out on this (insanely busy/stressful) week. its supposed to be beautiful here this weekend so hopefully we can get amelia over to the beach to eat sand play. monday i will be attempting the valentines dinner i told you guys about here. agh!! wish me luck!! oh, and amelia has her own valentine. oscar, our new kitten, has amelias undivided attention. she is mesmerized and wants to chase him, play with blocks with him and squeeze him. they are cutttte friends.




p.s. - my phone died about 3 hours ago, and i just noticed ive been carrying it around the house with me all night? i noticed because the first thing i did when i got out of the shower was checked my phone. pitiful. get a life, cadence!

bless them!!

single parents that is. goooood grief! bless their poor little souls. i can hardly muster the energy to pick my fingers up and down to type this blog post. i have such an appreciation for single parents every day, but especially when im one for the week. im not really single, just husband-less. you underestimate the things those fellas do for you and the baby until they arent there to lend a helping hand. i started my new job this week and REALLY like it! im just having a hard time adjusting. its normally an easy day at home tending to baby, hubby and house cleaning. not anymore! now its about getting us both dressed and ready for the day, her bottles/diapers/toys/food packed up and taking her to whoever is sweet enough to help out that day. then i  pick her up and come home to get her fed and ready for bed. then i stand in front of my fridge wishing i had found just 10 minutes to go buy some food for myself! then i sit on my couch and stare in amazement at my dirty house.



i am no supermom



yes, this is more like it.

COME HOME, HUSBAND! COME HOME!

EEEEKKK! (&lots about amelia)

starting my new job today. i'm really nervous about the new job and dropping amelia off at the babysitters for a few hours. this blog post is really about nothing but asking you people to cross your fingers, and send up some knee-mails (yeh...thats kind of lame) for me! i know it will get easier! i know its just the first day jitters!

i got back last night from spending too much lots of time with family and friends, and i hope that my week is half as good as the weekend was to me. amelia had a pretty big weekend this weekend! shes growing up too fast. she started crawling on her hands and knees this sunday, and when we got home to FL she showed me she could now stand up in her crib. i cant help but think "here comes trouble"!! its so much fun to watch her grow and use her little bitty hands. she is saying "dada dada dada",but i really think she might think im dada. she should be saying my name first, right? when i say "say mama" i usually only get a gapped-tooth smile and my hair pulled. oh well, i do love that she loves her dada dada dada. oohhh, and she learned to play the piano this weekend! such a smarty :)

and here's a link to a few things amelia HAS to have:

http://pinterest.com/mrspeeps/all-things-amelia/

ok, so this post is really all about amelia, but some prayers and some crossed body parts really would be nice today. thanks!

lets die friends :)

griffin is a really good place to come home to. i spent the day yesterday with 2 really great friends and amelia. those kind of days are good for the soul! we laugh and joke and talk about old times, and we talk about scary/exciting future times. my friend jill is moving far far away on saturday. i used to get sad when jillybob (bobby?) moved away, but the girl is a nomad and i know that wherever she goes it wont be too long before i see her again. and now thanks to skype, we can see each other whenever we would like. we had lots of crazy conversations. we somehow got on the topic of me having another little person on our way to lunch. i feel a lot of pressure from my friends to keep having babies for them to oooooh and ahhhhh over since im married and i already have one so whats the big deal???? jill asked me if i liked being pregnant and i couldnt even remember?! lucky little alison gets to talk to me everyday via text, and she remembered quite well how "miserable" i was. its funny that i dont remember the bad, because so much good has come from  said bad. i would suffer through another miserable 10 months again in a second for the little bundle of joy that comes at the end of it. and what the heck? why not get it all over and done with and get them out of the house while im still young? thats the plan! dont get your panties in a wad people.. its not the plan for right now. just in the near future! ;-)

tonight amelia, callie and i are going to ATL to spend the night with jenna and callie so that jenna can spend time with amelia. otherwise, jenna wouldnt see amelia until march, and thats just unacceptable. i know its going to be another special time filled with laughs, serious talks, amelia entertainment and good beverages. i really miss these people and many more when im down in FL. i wish we could all be together at the same time, but its not so easy anymore. ill take the little time i can get here and there with the different ones. love my friends "to the moon and back".


via pinterest

via pinterest

employed

i said i would never wait tables again. and thats not at all because i think im above it. waiting tables is an awesome job for those uneducated like myself. and there is lots o' money to be made. especially in florida where the tourists like to EAT. i just didnt want to get into the whole drama aspect of it again. but..i found a place that is teeny and homey. its a cute little restaurant called hollys on main, and its only open for lunch in downtown fort walton. which reminds me of my favorite lunch spot from home, milltowne gourmet.
im really nervous about it for several reasons. a good bit of time away from amelia, and im afraid to miss all the "firsts". secondly, i will be working saturdays. my most exciting hobby takes place only on saturdays - YARD SALES! adam laughed at me last night, because this was my biggest concern after i got off the phone with the owner. **siggghh** i am also pretty nervous about it being such a small family owned business. she told me im the first person shes hired that is not family/lifelong friend. talk about pressure to fit in and do things right! :)
a few things i am excited about are the extra cash, the time out of the house, the yummy food and the possibility of meeting new friends. also the guaranteed hours of  10-3, and always having sundays and mondays off. saturdays off would be nice too, but in this economy ya cant be too picky! im very thankful to have a job that allows me to be home at nights with adam and amelia.



ok, so i know im not winning the lottery like this lucky gal or anything...but it feels good to able to bring in a little bit of dough to help out paying for things. like new clothes for amelia, date nights, new clothes for me (you know when i lose all this "baby weight"), yard sale $ and maybe ill even buy adam some things with the money i make!! ;-) and no, im not going to let the workday completely ruin my saturday hobby. ill just wake up at 6:45 knowing its going to be a looong day and yard sale until its working time. overall, i cant wait to go in to work tuesday!

i hear amelia jibber jabbering from her pack-n-play so its time to go. have a lovely groundhog day.