Following Through

Doing what you say you're going to do can be tough.

At least for me.

I seem to suffer from chronic not-following-through-syndrome.

It all began circa two-thousand-and-six.

I'd always planned on going to law school. It sounded like a good enough plan.

So, I chose a major (Criminal Justice) and declared myself as "pre-law."

I'll never understand why my parents let me pick Criminal Justice. I'm pretty much qualified to be a Cop or a mall security guard. Thankfully I have a business minor.

I met with the pre-law advisor every few months and studied for the LSAT. I took the LSAT, and I actually did pretty well. However, I procrastinated and didn't get my applications in until the very last day at 12 am - I'm not kidding.

I actually cancelled my first date with Reed to finish those dang applications!

When I didn't get into law school immediately, I freaked out, got really embarrassed and withdrew my application. Fear of rejection?? Let's just say I never pursued that avenue ever again.

Later in 2007 I married Reed.

Turns out the man upstairs really knows what he's doing... being married to a lawyer reminds me every day that it was a blessing in disguise that I didn't go to law school. The majority of it sounds rather boring and I don't think I'm cut out for a desk job.

Confused and desperate to find a career, I completed the 60 hour course that is required to obtain an Alabama Real Estate License.

I never took the state exam.

Then I decided to take the GMAT. Lord.

This was yet another attempt at grad school. I did OK on the test.

Good enough to get into UAB, but I never even applied!

Are you seeing a trend?? What is wrong with me?

During the whole GMAT/MBA period, I got a job at a big law firm in Birmingham in the recruiting department. I worked there for about a year and happily quit shortly before Chappell was born. It was then that I realized I would not, could not (been reading a lot of Green Eggs and Ham lately) ever have a boss again.

Well, if it's at all possible.

I'm kind of a control freak, and being bossed around has never really been my thing.

The whole point of all of this rambling and rather embarrassing admission is:

I {think} I finally know what I want to do.

I'm signing up for a Photography Certificate Program. I haven't signed up yet, but I'm hoping that by posting this, I will go ahead and just do it!

It's for "students who want to go into photography as a career or earn extra income and receive a certificate."

I know that my photographs are just average now... but I'm hoping that the class + some new equipment + Photoshop will fix that.

None of my photos on this blog have been Photoshopped. I don't even own Photoshop.

This will be a process, that is for sure.

I'm not saying that I (necessarily) want to be a professional. But if a year from now, I'm a half decent photog, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea.

I love photography and I love taking pictures of babies and children even more.

If I could earn a living doing what I love, what could possibly be better?

When Chappell was about 6 months old, my dad gave me his Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT.

It was like Christmas... in July (truly).

Dad, thank you for giving me one of your most favorite "toys." If you know my dad, you know how much he loves his cameras.

*My dad was a sports photographer back in the day... and a good one at that! He has a few magazine covers and is friends w/ a few professional tennis stars (from the 70's) that he used to photograph. Pretty neat!

I even inherited his famous "DON'T DROP MY CAMERA!!" face!!

Here are a few of my faves from the Rebel... pre-instruction.

New York post still coming!

I'm obviously behind...

What's new?

It's nap time, and I'm trying to get a little caught up around here.

Just got dinner situated (kind of scared... a few random ingredients and wahhhlaa! hodgepodge casserole...) - I figured I'd try to get the blog up to speed.

This past weekend I went to New York with my sister. It was incredible.

We walked a lot - I destroyed a pair of sandals and my pedicure in two days. But it was totally worth it!

We stayed with one of my best friends, Walton. We lived together all four years of college if you count Tut and the srat house... and I do, by the way.

This is Walton: I really like this picture - check out that hair! (From our boat tour Saturday night).

Walton has lived in New York for 3 years now.

However, I am super-duper-excited to announce that she is moving back to Bama this Friday.

She got a great job in Birmingham... all of our friends are more than pumped to have her back down South.

BUT...

First thing's first.

The New York post will have to wait... hopefully, I'll have it ready in a day or so... but it might be longer since I'm getting ready for (another) best friend's bachelorette party this weekend in Grayton Beach.

----- Switching Gears! -----

She's graced this blog O' mine before, but just in case, let me introduce you to my older sister, Lyle.

Lyle lives in Bangkok, Thailand.

She has three boys. Lyle loads up and drags her crew across the world for at least a month every summer. While they were here, we spent a weekend with them at my parents house in Pensacola.

We were super excited when Lyle & Co. drove up to Montgomery to check out our new (rental) digs!

Here's Nathan, the oldest:

And Alec, the middle man:

Last, but not least, Iain (pronounced "Ian") the baby:

Chappell loved spending time with her cousins...

especially little Iain since he's not much bigger than her!

Lyle and I are 14 years apart. We still think it's so funny that we ended up having kids so close in age.

The two of us have always been close... but honestly, neither one of us ever thought we'd end up sharing mom advice. Lyle bought me my first breast pump. Precious, right?

Iain will be 3 in September... and little Chappellina will be 2 in December.

They're only about 15 months apart. Life is crazy sometimes, huh?

Ta ta for now!

:)

Fe, thanks for sending!

on my mind...

if i could only organize all of my crazy thoughts, i think i could be a decent blogger...

but i can't... so i'm not! a decent blogger, that is.

i run into problems when it's time to tie (said ideas) and thoughts together...

so my blog posts end up looking more like lists, which makes a whole lot of sense... considering i'm quite the list maker.

i can make a mean list.

reed tells me your "to do" list should never consist of more than seven items.

right.

so,

for today,

here's what's rollin' around inside of my noggin.

i am so much happier here.

like (yes, i can talk like a 12 year old because it's my blog)... it's amazing how much happier.

just take this little bit of advice-- i am more than happy to offer --

never move to a new place immediately following birth!

having a baby is such a huge/life altering experience...

then throw moving in...

and you'll find yourself in a pretty icky situation.

something else that has been making me happy lately: exercise.

it's so weird because i used to hate exercising.

but now, it makes me SO... happy! afterwards, of course.

i'm only on week 3, so far, i've only missed one day... and i felt so bad on the day that i skipped. i'm well aware that it is impossible to exercise every day, but i am going to try as hard as i can.

when i'm working out... i can listen to music... watch tv... and just be by myself. mentally.

it's nice to think and reflect.

of course - i love my family-- i love my husband, i love my baby -- but there's something truly wonderful about putting on a pair of headphones and zoning out.

it's also been pretty cool (i mean gratifying) to see my endurance increase.

now, if i could get my booty to decrease... we'd really be on to something.

{that just takes time, right?}

so... to make it simple:

exercise + some friends + family = happy holland ---> happy me = happier family

-----

back to normal talk. of course, we have a busy weekend ahead.

i'm learning that it will (most likely) never slow down.

friday night, reed is playing in a 3 man scramble. i like the word scramble.

sccccraaammmmmmble. i think it's the "amble" part that i like.

even though i don't play golf, it sounds like a lot of fun... the balls glow in the dark! how neat is that?

before the guys play, we're going to eat dinner w/ the "team," including the wives & fiances, of course.

after the guys start scrambling (ba ha), I plan on enjoying a nice glass of wine.

and yes, we have a sitter.

i'm going to cry when our sitters go back to school in a few weeks.

saturday morning it's up and at em to get to Ozark in time for a bridal shower.

who's the lucky lady?

Casey soon to be Quattlebaum.

Casey is marrying Reed's best friend, Wes.

The two of them have been best friends since they were babies and I like to think of him as sort of a brother in law.

Reed's parents are hosting their engagement party Saturday night and we can't wait!

The Willy's always put on a good party and I hear Reed's dad is making margaritas. Yikes.

We are so excited for Wes and Casey.

And even more excited because we love Casey.

He did gooooode. Or well, for you grammar snobs.

-------

I'll leave you with this final question.

Does your toddler just love panties??

Chappell thinks they make the most gorgeous necklaces in all the land.

our weekend + the zoo

hi friends.

it's hot.
so dang hot.

reed and chappy both caught summer colds. lucky for me, i've been spared.

reedo went to the doctor yesterday and after a few x-rays (didn't know they did that) was diagnosed with a sinus infection.

summer colds are the worst!

we were supposed to go to birmingham on saturday for a good friend's wedding. it was a bummer to miss, but i didn't want reed or chappy to suffer through a trip... sleeping in another bed (or pack n play) when they weren't feeling well.

i felt bad on friday (so bad that i called a babysitter to come watch chappell all morning)... and was convinced that i was coming down with a cold as well, but then felt fine again on saturday. weirdness.

we did our best to salvage the weekend. we watched a movie, and even took chappell on her FIRST zoo trip yesterday!

i was a little nervous as we headed towards the montgomery zoo in the middle of a monsoon... but reed insisted that it was "clear towards the zoo" and that we'd be fine.

the first 30 minutes of our zoo excursion were in the rain. but it wasn't so bad.

it actually made the heat somewhat bearable... once the sun came back out it was over 100 (and something) degrees and miserable!

chappellina loved the zoo. she loved the the "piggies" (african wart hogs i think), elephants, tigers and ducks. her favorite animal sound is "raaaaaaaaaoar!" - but somehow... we missed the lions. she seemed to enjoy the zoo much more than the GA aquarium.

interesting... ?

chappell is talking so much!

we think she is absolutely hilarious.

she loves to say: "bye bye!! seeeeeyoulater!!"

she can say Chappell now, but refers to herself as "chappy" often.

hmmmm... i guess this is 100 % my fault.

she can say so many things. it's becoming difficult to keep up and i don't have time to write them all down right now.

some of the cuter ones...

"one, two, trrrrreeeee," "peeeese" and "tank you" or "thankie" and some of the colors. "puuuhhple" is her favorite.

we are workin', workin'.

chappell is currently at mothers morning out - and time's a wastin'!

i just wanted to check in.

i'll leave you with a few cell phone pics of the zoo.

i was super bummed that i couldn't bring my good camera into the zoo. it was raining pretty hard and i didn't want to risk it.

my cutey tootie (almost inside) the elephant exhibit.

best pals Fo life

meet Eleanor:

Eleanor is single, likes fast cars and moonlit walks on the beach.

Ba ha ha. I crack myself up.

I kid.

Eleanor is Marlee's little munchkin.
Marlee was one of my pledge sisters at Alabama and is still one of my most favorite pals.

And now, our kiddos are best buds, as well!
UA KD Pledge Class 2026?? Is that even right??
Sometimes I just can't help myself.
I'm still Srat-tastic.

Just look at lil' E goin' in for a smooch...

Too cute :)

Summer Session MMO

Mother's Morning Out... is a DREAM!
How did we wait so long?

there's a first time for everything...

Today was the first time (in Chappy's whole life) that I've been able to upload videos from our video camera.

Pathetic, I know. But it seems as though we purchased a rather crotchety camera! It's not Mac compatible ... and the software is quite complicated to navigate.

Don't mind the rental... gotta love having a washer/dryer in the kitchen, right?

And don't forget the brown linoleum floor!

words

"car"... sometimes "car," sometimes "cahhh"

me: whats the car say? "beep beep beep beep"

"duck"

me: what's the duck say? "quackkk quaaaack quackkk"

me: say cheese! "cheeeeeeeeese" and smiles for a picture

"seeeeeeyyaalater"

"boat"

"buh bye! buh bye! buh bye!" -- says this (and waves) when we are leaving or when something ends or when she wants me to leave her alone...

"puppy"

"doggie"

me: what's the doggie say? "arrrrrf, arrrrf, arrrrrf"

"kitty"

"fishie" = ishie

"mine"

"noooooo"

"juice," pronounced: juuush

rollllll "TIDE"

"peepee" - means what you think... peepee

"poopoo"

...(sometimes) when I ask Chappy if she has a poopy diaper, she looks up at me with those big baby blues and says... "poopoo??"

gross - I know. however, the goal is for Chappell to recognize when she has to go to the bathroom... because understanding is necessary for POTTY training! which i plan to be doing in a few months! we're going to try around 2... i think.

"yooooooooogabbigabbi!" - her favorite show, yo gabba gabba

"shoe"

"feet"

"eeeeeyyyyyyyyysss" (eyes)

"baby"

"yayyyy!!"

"mommy"

"daddy"

"emmy"

"uddy" means buddy (reed's dad)

"happy"

"happy chappy"

"i see you"

"i deeeeeed" = i did

"herrrrrrrrro"

"cow" "moo"

"thank you" (only a few times)

"book"

...

chappell says new words every day. she can mimic pretty much anything... so watch out.

i just wanted to jot down some words that she says pretty regularly for prosperity's sake.

i don't want to forget.

i can't keep up!!

i can't keep up

i'm not complaining - i'd rather be busy than bored... but things have been so crazy, i'm having a hard time keeping up with the blog!

so... to keep it quick, i'm throwing proper punctuation out the window.

hence the fact that this post will be done in all lower case letters.

where do i begin?

i suppose i'll start with last weekend. not the 4th, but the weekend before.

we went to atlanta on sunday, june 27th.

that night we went to dinner to celebrate the Doc's birthday.

doc is my dad.

backstory:

my mom didn't like my dad's name (harold) so she (basically) changed it when they got together.

strange, i know, but true. who just changes their significant other's name?

now everyone calls him doc.

back to our evening...

after dinner, chappell went back to smith's apartment with my parents.

we decided to take advantage of our freedom.

reed and i tried several bars around virginia highlands but kept walking out. i think we did this 3 times.

we wanted somethin' a little "fancier" for our big trip to the citAy.

how RED did that sound??

something about the word "fancy" and "classy" just rub me the wrong way. ick.

we ended up at the W hotel.

i anxiously waited for p diddy and his rapper friends... but they never showed.

we were actually the only ones there?

maybe that had something to do with the fact that it was Sunday...

the next morning we loaded up and went to breakfast at Flying Biscuit.

it was pretty-dern-good.

after that, we were off to the Georgia Aquarium.

i'm not sure chappy was quite old enough to take much away from the aquarium, but, she did learn the word, fishie.

pronounced: ishie. silent F.

i think she enjoyed watching the fish swim around...

and last but not least, Reed's shark face:

monday night, we went to the braves/nationals game.

reed and dad were pretty excited to see the national's new pitcher (strasburg) play.

it was my first mlb baseball experience.

i'm not a baseball fan, but i actually enjoyed it. much better than tv anyways. i'm a fan of the kiss cam.

in case any of you were wondering, i did NOT bring chappell to the game.

she stayed with my mom's best friend's (remember Nina from the house makeover?) daughter, Wesley.

when we got back to montgomery, it was time to get the house ready for smith's sample sale at my house. prepping a house for people can be a little bit stressful.

i think everything turned out well -- and people actually showed up-- smith sold some clothes. all in all, it was a successful event!

Above, is the dining room... I never got to the before/after!

Chappy didn't want a picture... but Auntie Miff looks pretty.

did i neglect to mention that chappell started mother's morning out on June 21st?

yes... the big girl started "school."

it is so strange and (heart wrenching) to drop her off at MMO, but i think it's good for her. maybe not so good for her health-- haha, she got a cold right after she started.

the cold went away a few days ago... and i'm sure she'll get another one when she goes back.

i'm not quite sure she likes MMO yet... whenever i get her out of her car seat and she realizes where we are, she starts to get upset and acts kind of stressed out and nervous. the tears start when i hand her off to her teacher.

supposedly, it only takes her a few minutes to calm down...

have i mentioned that chappell is still working on those canine teeth? i'm pretty sure that 2 have broken through... i need to check again.

teething brings me to sleeping.

as far as sleeping goes, it's been pretty erratic.

this weekend (at the beach), she woke up pretty early.

day 1: 7:20, day 2: 5 am, day 3: 6:30 am. ahhh!

today she slept until 7:40...

onto my cutey-tooty-toddler!

i can't keep track of all of chappellina's new tricks! she is a talking machine lately.

chappell loves it when we say "rolllllllllll tide," and yells out: "tide!," "tide!" immediately following "rollllllll..." - we are still working on putting roll and tide together.

she can say many words.

and loves to mimic me.

more on chappy and all of that talking later.

more on the 4th later.

enough for now!