Well – I didn’t actually ignore the month, just ignored blogging about it.

“Neglecting the world is the sincerest form of Max-flattery.” ~ Sarah Trottier

So deep.  So wise.  Ha!

I actually miss blogging terribly and am trying to figure out a way to fit it in at least on a weekly basis.  It’s truly this Mama’s preferred form of “me time.”

Anyhoooooo!

October came…it went.  We laughed, we cried.

No really – we all did.

ALL THREE OF US!

Check out why I haven’t been able to peel myself away from my new life.  (Blame, you will no longer place.)

I mean, just.stop.it.right.now.child.of.mine.

October was a great month.  I shall show you why via a poop-ton of pictures. You’re welcome.  Ready?  Set?  GO!

Not an event, just every day cuteness ’round here!

My littlest love ♥

“So nice to meet you, Auntie Christina!  Where is it you say you’re from?  New Fork?”

Before Coleman Public House and Taco Mamacita

Game day – WHAT a snoozer!

My boys! 

Self-pic after my 30th birthday party

“Yeah, yeah – it’s Mommy’s birthday.”

Before Zac Brown on my bday (which was heaven on earth, by the way!)

Pumpkin patch!

Laughs with Nana

Snugglin’ with Dada in Asheville (a post on Max’s first road trip to Asheville to come!) 

Baby boy not feeling a photo shoot – oops!

Sweetness

“My first Halloween – I was a bat!”

“I tolerated this costume all of 5 minutes!!!”

“A not so great picture of my Halloween pjs!”

Okay, one more from Asheville.  A family pic =)

In conclusion.  I’m back and Max is adorable.

End of story.

LOVE YOU ALL, HOWEVER MANY OF YOU ARE LEFT READING!  

XOXO

p.s. My maternity leave ends in a little more than 36 hours.  What’s that you say?  You can hear my sobs from there?  Oh.  Not surprised.

Beach Count & Pool Count are retired for the seasoned (sigh!) 

High Temperature: 55° or something – brrrrr! 

Well hello there, friend.  It sure has been a while.  Boy, have I missed you.

Welcome back into my world…in very small, planned-out doses.

I will fight for you and do what it takes.

I will sip you slowly, savor you, and whisper you sweet nothings until kingdom come.

Forevermore, forevermore.

 Mommy’s Time Out – Thanks, Mom!

And NOW…all is right with the world!  ::wink::

XOXO

p.s. Fall has arrived in Charleston.  LOVE this weather!  (Max has gone on some walks!)

My boys at Waterfront Park in Mount Pleasant!

Beach Count: 77  

Pool Count: 32 

High Temperature: 86° 

FINALLY a quick update on Spunky (isn’t the first child always ignored and neglected?!).  [Well, Spikey was really the first!]

November 14th, 2011 – the last documented mention of Spunky on the blog ::GASP:: (Me and Lisa from her and Seth’s 36 Hours of Fun!!!) 

Yesterday – July 24th, 2012

Check out those ridiculously pale tree stumps AND THEN check out Spunky (holy overly-pregnant-and-swollen monster legs — yikes!).

Hopefully you can tell that Spunky has grown quite a bit and is looking more and more like a real palm tree!  We are very proud!  It was quite windy when this photo was taken, so Spunky was definitely one with Willow Smith — “I whip my hair back and forth, I whip my hair back and forth…”

Please, for the love of the [dry] earth, check out our HORRIBLE lawn.  We’ve had NO working sprinklers all year.  The HOA has been working on it (something about salt water in the well), but for now – we have very burnt “grass.”  Gross. This drives my poor husband to CRAZYtown on a daily basis!

Happy Dr. Appointment Day Hump Day – I’ll keep y’all posted!

xoxo

 p.s. I fulfilled my fish & chips craving last night at Pearlz downtown.  YUM!  We headed to Bakehouse for a decaf frappe afterwards and then sat at Waterfront Park by the pineapple fountain for a while.  A perfect pre-baby date night…love my hubby! ♥

Beach Count: 77  

Pool Count: 32 

High Temperature: 96° 

My parents, Scott, and I tackled the freezer meal situation last week.  As in – organized it, cleaned it out, and filled it to the brim with meals ready-to-go.

Success!!!

This is what we did…

First Mom and Dad made some meals of their own to freeze for themselves (they have A LOT of company headed their way in the next few months!) and then shared the wealth with us.  Thanks to them our freezer now has lasagna rolls, chicken madeira, bolognese sauce, and a gazillion meatballs (Mom made 100 or so…she’s incapable of just doubling a recipe – ha!).  That was an AWESOME start!

I had specific ideas of what else I wanted at my fingertips.  The garbage bread was already taken care of, but I wanted to tackle macaroni and cheese, turkey burgers, some crock pot recipes, cooked bacon & chicken for salads (or whatever), and blueberry muffins.  Mom and Dad came over for the day and we banged it all out (other than the muffins, I did those the next day).  I found the crock pot recipes on Pinterest (thanks for the tip, Heidi!) – terikyaki chicken, chicken enchiladas, and sausage & peppers.  Strawberries were also on sale, so we got some of those to freeze as well.

I am not at all saying that my freezer is full of the most nutritious and fat-free meals; instead I went for easy, filling, and yummy.  We organized everything by container/freezer bag, shelf, and bins – all labeled and ready to go.  I wrote the cooking directions on everything so it’s fool proof while I’m cooking through my eyelids.  We’re also ready for company (hello turkey burgers, thanks Christina!).

Look at the list that now lives on the side of the fridge…I am my parents’ daughter!

42ish meals later – I am ready for some easy meals on some maybe not so easy evenings.  Who else is excited?!

I’m embarrassed to say how excited I am that we now have bins in the freezer. WHAT…a dork.

In lieu of making this blog post ridiculously long, I am going to refrain from posting recipes.  However – if you want ‘em, I’ll share ‘em.  Ya just gotta ask!

This week, I’m going to make spicy Chex Mix, sweet Chex Mix (monkey munch or whatever people call it), and homemade chocolate chip cookies.

I absolutely suggest doing this pre-baby, if you can.  I am so glad that this task is completed!  

How was everyone’s weekend?!  Week 38 post coming atcha tomorrow!

xoxo

p.s. I’m a die hard Bachelorette fan and was THRILLED with last night’s finale!  (I won’t spoil it, just in case you haven’t seen it yet!).  How about Emily saying that she wants to get married in CHARLESTON?!  LOVE IT!!!

Beach Count: 77  

Pool Count: 32 

High Temperature: 92° 

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for making yesterday the day with the most ever views on Charm of Charleston!

ALL OF YOU have been so incredibly supportive and positive throughout this pregnancy…it honestly warms my heart.

I, of course, appreciate all of my friends and family for following us on this journey.  But I also very much appreciate my blog family (blamily? okay – maybe not) – the family of people who comment and follow religiously, even though we have never even met.  THANK YOU!

Even though this blog started as a way to share my love for Charleston (which I still love to pieces), it really is a blog about my life.  The focus of my life has changed, as it tends to do, and hence so has this blog.  This is my life documented, folks; heck – lately, it’s been a pregnancy journal!  Stick around to see what’s next – it’ll be a surprise to both of us!

But for now, just know that you’ve made my day!!!

Taking it back to this blog’s roots real quick, check out this article that was published last week on the Huffington Post website - Nine Things We Love About Charleston, SC.  I’m not sure how they ever narrowed it down to nine! 

 Downtown Summerville this week (The Eclectic Chef was delish!)

xoxo

p.s. Thoughts and prayers to Aurora, Colorado.  My brother was at the very same midnight showing in NYC.  Feeling pretty thankful.

Beach Count: 77  

Pool Count: 32 

High Temperature: 91° 

I AM NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER.

(I repeat)

I AM NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER!

I absolutely admit that I have a semi-fancy camera and have not a clue what to do with it (hello, automatic setting!).  Scott and I both tried our very best to document Baby T.’s completed nursery, just like I am going to try my very best at this moment to let these photos speak for themselves and stop yapping.  always a struggle.

ENJOY! 

Okay, you know I wouldn’t be able to just leave it at that!  I’m a natural born narrator – I can’t help myself!!!

Note to Self (YOURself included): Planning a nursery without knowing the baby’s gender DOES present some challenges.  We chose to start with the primary colors from the bedding and the rug that we love and roll with the rest.  Yellow, gray, and red quickly became our accent colors.  We love the blue wall color and think it screams “baby!” without necessarily screaming “baby BOY!”  It’s just a sweet color.  We didn’t really theme-it-out, but went with a few different ideas that tickled our fancies.  It’s the only room in the house that we’ve planned from paint to curtain pullback and it’s the most serene-feeling room in the house.  We’re really happy with how it came together!!!

C’mon with the NY and SC prints – love ‘em, right?!  They’re so meaningful to us.

We found all of the wall art on Etsy, except for the gorgeous and thoughtful quote art.  My great friend in NY made that for me – thanks, Jenn!!!

I LOVE the nursing/reading nook by the window.  It’s so cozy.  Didn’t my Mom do an awesome job recovering the glider???  NAILED IT.  It’s perfect – thanks, Mom!  ♥

DIY Projects: I added the yellow ribbon to the chalkboard and lampshades.  I also made the curtain pullbacks with the yellow ribbon (and other small and cheap hardware pieces).  I made the mobile and I added the hearts to our home cities (Albany and Charleston) onto the state maps.

I threw that clock in the cube organizer last minute (I had a book opened and standing in place of it originally).  We still CANNOT figure out the perfect spot for that thing, but it’ll live there for now.  or for at least the next 5 minutes.  What a pain that clock has been – location suggestions welcome!

We love that there is still a lot of room to grow (re: space within the furniture, closet, bins, and baskets) and wall space to adorn, if and when we so chose.  I picture some large canvas prints on either wall in the nursing/reading nook of some pregnancy photos and then Baby T.’s newborn photos.  I also imagine a growth chart on the wall in the corner by the cube organizer and closet door. Maybe a little kid-sized coat rack somewhere.  Some more decorations on the top of the bookcase.  Baby’s name somewhere, even?  A baby will soon be in that crib…THAT I am sure of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite parts of the room are the personalized ones…the glider, the DIY projects, the blocks, the books, and the state prints.  What’s your favorite part?  What am I missing/what did I forget?  Anything look completely impractical?  What’s your favorite part of YOUR baby’s nursery?  

Phew – another BIG project checked off of the list!!!  I hope you enjoyed the big reveal!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

p.s. 17 days or less was YESTERDAY’S count.  Now 16 is the number – EEK and YAY! 

Beach Count: 77  

Pool Count: 32 

High Temperature: 89° 

We started out with a walk on the beach at Sullivan’s Island…

We fancied our water bottles with these wedding koozies (that we never actually used)…

I’m sure that my wedding dress would fit just as well as it fits my water bottle!

No go on the zippage

Then we went to Metto for coffee, just like last year.  Their Caramel Freeze (their frappe-like drink) is THE BEST!  Metto (Mt. Pleasant) and Kudu (downtown) are my 2 favorite coffee shops in Charleston!  Kudu serves both coffee AND beer – so naturally it’s Scott’s fav coffee spot.

Scott picked up these for me on our way home…

So purdy!

We went home for lunch and a nap for me/a workout for Scott.  Poor Scott’s workout turned into worrying that trees in our backyard may end up inside of our house (apparently there was a wicked thunderstorm while I peacefully slumbered).  A leaking kitchen window was NOT Scott’s favorite part of our anniversary!

My parents stopped over before we left for dinner, so luckily we got a picture of us together.

A little different than my look last year!

Man, I miss my waist!

We went to dinner at 39 Rue de Jean downtown for the first time.  Another yummy  restaurant checked off the list!  It was delicious!  We had mouthwatering mussels first, then Scott had steak while I had a scallop dish.  We shared quite a bit and were extremely happy with our dinner.

In keeping with our annual tradition, we looked at our wedding album and then watched our wedding DVD.  Many tissues later (I started crying while writing Scott’s card and never really stopped – hormones!), we ate some ice cream and closed the door to year number 4.  The start of year number 5 is going to be cah-RAY-zee town!!!

Another great year – another great anniversary! ♥

Happy Friday (the 13th, ooooo)!

p.s. Found out at our appt yesterday that baby is in position for arrival (aka: head down).  Sorry if that’s TMI – but this is VERY exciting!!!  

Beach Count: 77  

Pool Count: 30 

High Temperature: 90° 

July 6th was our 2 year anniversary of living in Charleston.

TWO YEARS ALREADY!  

This occasion snuck up on us (again) as we’ve been committed residents of Babyland for 4 straight weeks.  You better believe that when Scott and I realized the date (at 8:00 at night), that we stared longingly at each other with both gratitude and relief.  We found our forever home, we made the 100% right decision, and we have absolutely no regrets.  We are the main characters in a story of happiness.  The setting?  Charleston.

There were fireworks following the soccer game that night, which I like to believe were in our honor.  What?  I just know that my love ordered them up!

We are so grateful to absolutely love where we live.  If I could find Chuck, I’d squeeze his cheeks so hard!!!

Charleston – WE LOVE YOU!

On a related note, Charleston ranked high on yet another survey.  Charleston ranked #4 on Travel & Leisure’s Best City in U.S. and Canada.  Charleston hotels and Kiawah Island were also ranked high on other portions of this annual list. Check it out and GOOOOOO Charleston!

 Who else loves where they live?  Do we have any shot of our little one loving Charleston as much as we do?!

xoxo

p.s. Here’s my 1 year anniversary in Charleston post from last year, if you’re interested!

p.s.s. My parents hit their Chucktown 1 year anniversary a couple of weeks ago!!!

Beach Count: 76  

Pool Count: 30 

High Temperature: 96° 

At Baby T.’s New York shower, most people filled out this lovely “wishes for baby” card as a keepsake.  As you can see, it is now part of Baby T.’s nursery, hanging on his/her closet door.

 Here are the writing prompts, close up…

Please note: the same phrases were completed, just on different paper, at Baby T.’s Southern Shower.

I’d love to share my favorite quotes!  FYI: most people did not realize that “love…” at the bottom was the cue to then write their name.  People must’ve been too sugared up to notice!

A couple of people completed the phrases to me instead of to Baby (sugar…LOTS of sugar!).  This was sort of sweet [pun intended], though – you’ll see some of these in my favorites in italics!  I think you may notice some obvious themes!!!

I hope you learn (only on the Southern “Wishes”)…

• to say your /r/s in Trottier
• all of your letter sounds
• how to be a Northerner + a Southerner!

I hope that you…

• are a star!
• will always be happy
• have an easy delivery
• have lots of patience
• follow your dreams
• are happy & healthy
• dance to silly songs
• healthy
• have a quick labor
• are a healthy girl!
• sleep
• always make us proud
• believe in yourself
• have the good of your Mommy and Daddy
• read all of the time

 I hope you aren’t afraid…

• of always being less than six feet tall
• to take a chance
• to try & try again
• of the dark
• of anything
• to tell your Mom and Dad anything
• to try new things
• of bugs
• to say, “because I said so!”
• to cry
• of thunder
• to chase your dreams
• of the ocean
• of messy diapers
• to speak up for yourself
• of dogs
• to be unique

I hope you love…

• without boundaries
• Charleston
• the beach
• unconditionally
• wisely
• airplanes
• like there is no tomorrow
• listening to stories
• the beach!
• the baby more than anything
• everything beautiful
• chocolate
• broccoli
• sunrises & sunsets
• Oreos (Double Stuf!)
• playing outside
• living in South Carolina
• to read
• Italian food

I hope you get…

• spoiled
• to visit New York often
• into the college you want
• 1 of each
• everything you deserve in life
• your Dad’s jokes
• what you deserve but not everything you want
• kisses & hugs everyday
• through the Terrible 2s
• the best education
• to eat dessert after every dinner
• lots of chocolate
• to travel and see the world
• a brother or sister
• books for every holiday
• wonderful opportunities
• to experience true love

I hope you laugh…

• at your mistakes
• a lot!
• often (at your parents, of course!)
• at yourself sometimes
• until you cry
• at Mommy and Daddy’s silly faces
• at stupid jokes (mostly your Dad’s!)
• all of the time
• until your belly hurts

I hope you never forget…

• to visit New York
• your roots!
• how much we love you
• to say “please” & “thank you”
• to smell the roses
• how special you are (-my Mom)
• to find the good in any situation
• how important family is
• that you’re loved
• me (-my Gram)
• to say, “I love you”
• that you and Scott were a couple before you were parents
• your New York family
• tomorrow is another day
• your cell phone (-my 87 year old Great Aunt Jane…ha!)
• friends in New York
• that your parents will always love you

I hope you ignore…

• small bumps in the road of life
• people when they honk their horns (they are just NYers!)
• all the temptations & peer pressure in your young life
• the haters
• the small stuff
• negativity
• old wives tales
• your teenager’s wise cracks
• people who say you can’t (except Mom and Dad)
• unnecessary housework

I hope you become…

• a beer brew master
• famous!
• what you dream
• President!
• completely comfortable in your skin
• the best you can be
• a shining star
• an astronaut
• the mother of a scholarship recipient
• a great friend
• a pilot
• a leader
• President of the United States of America

I hope you respect…

• your teachers…they mean well!
• your parents!
• nature
• your friends
• your child’s teachers
• your elders
• other Moms with screaming babies in Target!
• others’ differences

I hope you grow…

• to love beer like your parents!
• old with someone you love!
• up to be a wonderful loving mother, like your mother Sarah
• tall!
• to be kind & just
• to be strong-minded
• to be taller than your Dad (-Scott’s Mom…ha!)
• to love yourself
• slowly
• taller than the Nash’s
• to be at least 5’2″
• up to love everybody
• up to be famous and love beer
• tall
• up in a family full of love ♥

Phew – you’re shocked that I had lots of favorites, right?!  Because I am NEVER longwinded!  Riiiiight!!!!

I love these wishes for baby and will cherish them forever!

 What was your favorite?

Do you have any wishes for Baby T. that you’d like to share?

xoxo

 p.s. Themes I’m sure you noticed – height, NY, the beach, beer, and love.  Do our friends and fam know us, or what?  Perfection!

Beach Count: 76  

Pool Count: 30 

High Temperature: 92° 

Kayla Jones at Kayla Jones Photography took our maternity portraits at the beginning of June and she completely blew our minds.

I had some cheesed up prop-related ideas and Kayla rolled with every.single.one.of.them.  She was wonderful with giving us direction and making us feel comfortable.  We didn’t feel too rushed or too staged or too anything.  It was a wonderful experience.  Not to mention, we love the results!  Here are a few 21 of our favorites (it’s so hard to choose!) ♥

Get ready for belly overload!

THANK YOU, KAYLA!  

Can’t wait until Baby T.’s newborn photo shoot!!! ♥

p.s. You know your face has gotten fat when iPhoto no longer recognizes you with its “Faces” feature.  Yikes!

p.s.s. Like Kayla Jones Photography on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and check out her blog post about our portrait session by clicking here!

p.s.s.s. Those jean capris haven’t fit me since coming back from New York. 

Beach Count: 76  

Pool Count: 30 

High Temperature: 95°