52 Project; week 30

Not sure who or what she's waving at but she's happy about it and that's all that matters. 

#31

I awoke at 5 am on my birthday to a baby crying in her crib. Apparently Stella decided her gift to me would be a somewhat decent night's rest. Due to molars coming in (on top of the 6 other teeth she received one on top of another), she's been sleeping like a newborn-only 2-3 hours stretches, if that. Poor thing. I feel so bad for her and get frustrated with her sometimes. I have to constantly remind myself that the reason she's moody/whiny/grumpy/weepy is most likely not my fault and it will pass. 

Yesterday I was able to steal this wonderful moment with her.

For dinner Tuesday night, Donald fixed grilled ponzu wild Georgia shrimp, coconut-citrus rice and sautéed gailon (Chinese broccoli). For dessert it was grilled mini bananas with a coconut caramel sauce and butter pecan ice cream. It was amazing and tasted and smelled like a toasted marshmallow.

Then, on top of that, he cleaned up the kitchen. What a lucky woman I am!

A few weeks ago, he told me he wasn't very busy at work so he would take off  so we could spend the day together. I started Stella in Mother's Morning Out on Wednesdays and Fridays two weeks ago. With my birthday falling on a Wednesday, it gave us the perfect excuse to go out to eat. And that is exactly what I wanted...to go out to eat a few times in one day. Enjoying a good meal out without having to worry about another little one is a luxury I don't get too often. So instead of "things", I wanted meals for my birthday. 

Well, at daybreak, I was awoken by someone pulling my hair. I could barely get her grip off of it. Then, I was karate chopped and flash dance kicked in the back. Then that same someone threw her forehead into my spine-like dead on, and nearly paralyzed me. 

Once I discovered I was not in fact paralyzed and we were all finally awake, we ate, got ready and dropped Stella off at MMO at 9:30. 

Stella with her birthday Mommy

We headed down to Atlanta to just ride around and kill time. When we first started dating, we would ride around in the nice and trendy neighborhoods daydreaming. We'd point out houses we loved, ones we hated, ones we were like "What were they thinking?" We had not done this in so long and it was great to do this. We had the windows done with the wind in our hair. It was simple and free (ok, we used gas, but you get the idea) and just relaxing.  We went through west Midtown,  downtown, Old Fourth Ward, Poncey-Highland and a few other neighborhoods that I don't know the names to or didn't realize we were in. We pulled up at Antico Pizza around 11:15. We were the first to order!

I love this place. I'd only been once before and it was almost a year ago and it was so crowded and I had an itty bitty Stella, so I was otherwise preoccupied, but going back yesterday kid free and early in the day let me see how truly awesome this place is. 

Everyone has a task and a station. One guy is cutting and shaping dough in a proofing room. You can see him doing this through a window. I really wanted to smell the room because I imagined it smelling wonderful but the door was shut and it says "private" on the door. 

Another person is shaving proscuitto on a slicer.  One is grating and breaking the Parmesan into tiny pieces. Another guy forms the dough into a "pizza" shape and tosses it to the guy actually saucing and topping the pizzas. Another is taking the pies in and out of the three ovens.  This is a great article on the empire Giovianni is building in West Midtown.

We got the Capricciosa pizza-artichoke hearts, proscuitto, mushrooms and buffalo mozzerella. We sprinkled it with crushed red pepper and fresh garlic. When I had only crust left, I dipped it in amazing olive oil. I actually used "Duh" when talking about the olive oil. I dipped the first bite, made my oh-my-God-that's-delicious-face and said-outloud, "That is really good olive oil." When I said this, I actually thought to myself, "Did you really just say that? Of course it is." But for some reason, instead of saying, "Of course it is" I said, "Duh!" Whatever. I had a dorky moment in a moment of food weakness.  We left nothing behind. We ate every slice. With our hands. No forks, no knives, no plates. Just pick it up and shove the deliciousness in your mouth and savor it.

As we were leaving, Donald said he wanted something cold and refreshing. Next door was Caffe Gio-they sold gelato. Well done, Gio. Well done. Technically we didn't get gelato, we ordered sorbet. Mixed berry for me and lemon for Donald. We may have mixed and matched because they complemented each other so well.  We sat on the patio listening to Italian music. Wonderful!

We picked up Stella from MMO and came home. We put her down for a nap and laid on the bed being lazy for a little bit. She woke up, she had a snack and then we got ready for dinner. We dropped Stella off at Tiffany and Landon's and headed to Seasons 52 at Perimeter. This place is great. They do healthy, seasonal meals that taste amazing. I was first introduced to this place about seven years ago when my cousin had her bridal shower here.  We've been back several times and it's always spectacular.  

I had a raspberry mojito-ok, I had two.  Donald enjoyed a Prairie Mule.  For an appetizer, he enjoyed the summer corn soup and I had a romaine and kale Caesar salad.  For our main course, I chose the caramelized grilled sea scallops with the corn risotto, snap peas, tomatoes and lemon butter drizzle.  Donald had the whole roasted Branzino stuffed with lemon, bay and thyme served with sauteed broccoli rabe and fingerling potatoes with a chive dipping oil.  For dessert, he chose key lime pie and pecan pie. For me-blueberries in lemon curd and peach cobbler. Everything was absolutely fantastic. 

After dinner, we got to meet the newest addition to The Bryan Family-Baby Olivia Ann Hower. She was born on Saturday and is an itty bitty.  I got to hold her for over an hour and she never made a single peep. 

We picked up Stella to find that she had been dancing and playing peek-a-boo in the closet with Landon and giving him kisses and they've even taken a bath together. She even had on one of his shirts when we arrived. They are simply the cutest together and I'm so glad they get along and play well together. 

My birthday was truly fantastic and everything I wanted. I am so blessed and happy to be turning 31.

Week in Pictures: July 7-13

Monday: 

We both woke up late this morning, 9:30 actually. So nice to sleep in with you. 

This was Jay's last day with us. You were sad to see him go back home since he lets you pet and lay all over him.

Monday began with you sitting at your highchair pointing to the fridge. Then you started waving and kissing at it. Finally I figured out that you were pointing to Uncle Mikey and Aunt Jessica. I took their photo down and you wanted to hug it, kiss it and squeeze it. You did this everyday for the week. I guess I'm going to have to laminate the photo so you won't ruin it. 

I moved the picture down low on the fridge so you could kiss them. You are smooching in their Halloween photo from when they dresses up like Woody and Bo Peep from A Toy Story.

For lunch , we ate outside on the porch. I put you in the chair to let you eat.  You kept pushing away from the table with your arms and legs. Finally you pushed so hard that you started going backwards. The storage bin caught you so you were  back on just the two back legs. You had this crazy, wide-eyed look about you. Wonder if you'll do that again?

We went swimming in the afternoon and laid on the blanket in the shade. 

You are slowly mastering the steps. 

You did one of the sweetest things ever. You walked up, leaned over and kissed me on my forehead. My heart nearly burst! Then you kissed my nose here. 

You were in a very kissy mood. You gave me a big kiss on the glider, then while I was feeding you hummus, you decided it was a good time to kiss me. It was all over your mouth which meant it was all over my lips after the kiss . 

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Tuesday:

I took us down to The Sweet Auburn Curb Market to walk around and have lunch. I ordered is a delicious crepe, but you didn't want anything to do with it. You were very concerned with waving at everyone. I let you push the stroller for a bit because you did not want to ride. 

Afterwards. We met Shana and her daughters at LottaFruta. I went to this place a few weeks before having you and loved it. They have delicious fruit cups with an amazing coconut cream.  You enjoyed the fresh fruit and the cream as I suspected.

You had fun playing with Haley.

We arrived home to find the AC out... Again for the millionth time. So I put our swimsuits on and we headed for the pool. There was a nice breeze which made it pleasant out in the shade, especially considering we were still wet from the pool.  You got crazy and started rolling around like B in the grass.  

Today, you are 13 months. You've already grown half an inch and gained  a pound from your birthday!

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Wednesday:

Since the air was out, we installed the window unit in the living room and moved the mattress to the floor and "camped" out. You love it because you can bounce all around and climb onto the couch easily. I love it because I don't have to worry about you rolling off the bed in the morning when I'm up a little earlier than you getting ready so I can take you to MMO (like this morning.)

Look at that hair !

I took you to MMO and walked you inside. We stopped to smell the sunflowers outside. You immediately got excited and started playing with the other kids. Another little girl started crying for her mommy and it got me a little upset. You were so content so I snuck out. I cried on the way to the car, in the car and in the way to Rev Coffee. I ordered a coffee and sat there thinking about you. It was so hard to leave you, I guess because I didn't have to leave you. I tried to conceal my weepiness in Rev, but finally left because I don't think I was doing a good job. Plus, I had to run errands. You were crying when I picked you back up. Apparently it was over a toy you and another little boy wanted. You were so happy to see me. Ms. Margie said you cried for a good bit that morning but did better after lunch. 

We barely made it around the block before you passed out in the car. I took you out and laid you down on the bed in the living room to let you nap since it was hot in your room. I ate lunch as quiet as possible in the kitchen. I just stood up at the counter reading and magazine and eating.

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Thursday:

I found these adorable bubblegum pink canvas peep-toe espadrilles at Goodwill on Wednesday. I couldn't find a size on them, but they looked really big when I got them. Turns out they barely fit, especially the left one. Oh well, they were cheap and atleast I got a picture of you in them.

We went over to Landon's so y'all could play for a little while. Y'all really love playing in the train tunnel together. 

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Friday:

This was your outfit for your 2nd day of MMO. I cannot believe I didn't snap a picture of your first outfit!

You were fine walking in the building (had to sniff the sunflowers again), but as soon as we walked inside the room, you started reaching up for me and going "Uh-huh, uh-huh" when you are unsure. This time it was a little more difficult for me to leave. I handed you off after saying goodbye and walked out. I cried again on the way to the car. 

When I returned you were rocking in the glider by yourself with no pants on. You were happy and laughing. You'd had two yucky diapers and some had gotten on your pants, that's why you were just in your shirt and shoes.

Here we are just cuddling together in the bed in the living room.

Friday night we went over to Tiffany and Daniel's to babysit Landon so they could have a nice date. 

We ordered Jim 'n' Nicks for dinner. It was delicious and you loved the ham and cheese muffins as suspected.

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Saturday:

Daddy watched you so Tiffany and I could go have lunch and take a canvas painting class. He took you swimming and then y'all picked berries. After your nap he brought you over to Landon's so y'all could play. 

Scared of what will come of our canvases.......

Everyone in class followed the instructor as far as the colors go, but I decided to go another route. Both look good but I'm happy that mine was different from everyone else's.

Since y'all were having fun and it was nearing supper time, we ordered pizza and had dinner at their house. We ended up spending 3-4 days in a row with Landon, and naturally you picked up a habit or two of his-twirling. You like to spin around in circles and sometimes you even plop yourself down on the floor. 

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Sunday:

I gave you some plastic bead necklaces and bracelets to play with. You loved them. I'm so glad I held on to them instead of sending them to Goodwill like I almost did.  You even wanted Mommy to look pretty since you kept trying to drape them over my neck all day. 

This isn't the best picture (it looks like you are angrily charging at me), but you would not be still.

After your bath tonight, you ran naked into the living room and started twirling around in circles and trying to jump on the front door rug. You always run around after a bath, but I've never seen you act this way before. Daddy and I both shook our heads at you and commented in how you were acting like B does after his bath. It was as though you'd been given a shot of epinephrine or something. You were going totally berserk and I loved it. We could not stop laughing at you over how much you were enjoying yourself.

Once you calmed down a bit, I tried brushing your teeth. You didn't let that happen. I started inspecting your mouth and discovered another new tooth-a molar on the top left side. I also spotted two camel humps on either side of your bottom jaw-a molar on each side.  You poor thing. No wonder you haven't slept a solid's night sleep in months. 

New this week:

*You are able to find the moon and a ball in most books. 

52 Project; week 29

Let's see how this went: you ate lunch. You had cherries for dessert, got the juice all over you, then basically stole my Popsicle and devoured the dang thing. You were covered in cherry juice and strawberry Popsicle juice from head to toes. You received bath #2 of the day. Bath #1 was right after breakfast. You were covered in cottage cheese. 

52 Project; week 28

Our AC went back out two Tuesday's ago. So we threw on our suits and jumped in the pool to cool off. Afterwards we sat in the shade while the breeze blew. It was quite pleasant. Stella just wanted to roll around in the grass like Bandit. 

Week in Pictures: June 30-July 6

Monday:

You didn't really feel like napping today. I finally got you down after lunch and you slept, but that meant you were up late. The plus side was we played outside in the front yard and were able to catch fireflies when you normally would have been getting ready for bed.

You loved the Aprium for dessert. 

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Tuesday:

We went to storytime at the library and Landon and Tiffany met us there. You got to play with a tambourine and a few other musical instruments and LOVED it. 

We went to the park with Landon but you didn't feel much like playing. It was naptime and you were sleepy. We packed up and I swung by Publix to grab a few things. You fell asleep in no time. 

In the afternoon we went swimming. It was so hot out and the water felt fabulous.  

I started a new picture project-100 days of happy. This was day 1, a Caprese salad. 

You picked the first tomato from your Tom Thumb plant. 

We went to Smyrna Food Trucks Tuesdays for dinner.  You found a little muddy spot in the lawn and ran over towards it. Of course, I chased after you and you thought it was a game. I'd have to run after you, scoop you up and run back with you to the picnic blanket. You sneaking back over there continued all night.  You found a little girl who was kicking a ball around and wanted to be friends with her. You stole her ball and would walk around with it, but then you hand it back. She was very good with you and sweet. You went back a few times to play with her. After you trekked through the mud, of course.

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Wednesday: 

You seem to be back to fighting me for naps and bedtime a little bit. I did get you to sleep in the Tula. 

Daddy left early to fly to Austin, Tx. We visited two churches for Mother's Morning Out. I think you'll really enjoy going and I'm honestly looking forward to some alone time to do what I can't do when you're around or to do nothing at all. Initially I felt bad because neither Grammy or Nini did this sort of thing, but then reminded myself that they had help from family and I don't have that luxury.

You did the strangest thing this afternoon. We were in your room playing and you got upset about something out of the blue. You began rolled around and flinging yourself all over the floor screaming and crying. I've never seen you do that before. You did it for a few minutes then stopped.

Kristi stopped by for a little bit since she was in town for an interview. Then JP stopped by to drop of Jay for us to watch while her and Justin went out of town for the 4th. 

After they left, we picked our fruits and veggies We chased lightening bugs around the yard while you ran through the sprinkler at 8 o'clock at night. 

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Thursday:

Now that you've discovered how to climb up in things, it's a favorite pastime now. You love getting up here and playing with your garden toys. 

We also have to sit here and on the bench out front at least once a day 

B tried to get up and run off when you crawled in with him but I made him stay. He loved getting petted. You loved having Jay at the house this week. He'd let you pet him and kiss him. One time you did something and I said, "Yay, high five !" You turned around and did it, but then looked to the dogs to high five them. The funny thing is, Jay can sit and will let you high five him.

Now that you've discovered the breeze, you like to lift your arms up and let it surround you. So cute. 

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Friday:

We went up to Mulligans to watch the Independence  Day parade. You really enjoyed yourself. 

As the fire trucks were passing, a fireman walked up and said, "Hi pretty girl, I like your shirt." You looked down, grabbed your skirt and lifted it at him. He gave me a look like he couldn't believe what you just did, smiled and walked away. Daddy and I both burst into laughter and smiled at him as we shook our heads. I yelled back, "at least you have a great story to tell everyone."

This is one of my favorite photos of you.

After the parade and lunch at Mulligans we went over to Chris and Veronica's to grill out. We had dinner in their deck & you insisted in eating the corn you dropped on it like a dog. Nice baby, way to impress! 

We'd hoped you would nap at their house so we could take you to see some fireworks, but you were so difficult in the afternoon and early evening. You absolutely refused to even think about closing your eyes and then you just got to be impossible. Several times I thought we should just leave, but we stuck it out. 

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Saturday: 

We picked our fruits and veggies mid morning while the garden was still shaded.

That afternoon you helped water your tomato plant. 

I saw this onesie years ago at Love Street and really wanted to buy it for my unborn child. I resisted somehow and ended up getting you one anyways. I was so excited to put you in it!

That evening, Daddy had a bocce game, so we went up to Siracusa's to watch. Baby Weston was there and you mostly either tried to squish, step on or kick him (all accidentally of course) or steal his bottle (purely planned out), so we had to stay a distance from him. You played on the back of Daddy's truck and also played peek-a-boo with me by hiding behind a tree. 

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Sunday: 

We took you, B and Jay for a walk along Nickajack Creek. You rode on my back for the trip down and then we let you all play. You loved it and screamed when we had to leave. You immediately thought you were a pro at walking in the rocks. Not so much though.

We let you walk for a bit, then I out you on my back where you fell asleep. 

Later on you took your second nap. I love how you've got your little butt up in the air.

And just like most afternoons, you awoke screaming but instantly passed back out on me for another hour or so. 

Daddy and you were on the porch. He had been outside but came in and latched the door. He was straightening up or something and started looking for you. You were at the bottom of the stairs!

He thinks the door must not have latched all the way and you opened it, held into the potting table and let yourself down the stairs. Thank goodness we've practiced going up and down them so many times.

We played outside and Daddy sprayed me and you with the hose. You screamed with excitement every time he got you with the water.

We have a new neighbor next door. I've always loved this view of the barn and thought it was especially pretty with the sun setting.

New this week:

*You started wearing my pony tail holders as bracelets. You put them all the way up your arm.
*You can find a ladybug in books
*You feel it is truly necessary to wave at all cars that pass by.
*If I can't get you to finish your meal, I can put your food on a fork and you'll most likely eat it. You want to put it in your mouth. Sometimes though, you pull the food  off of the fork and put it in your own mouth. You even try to poke your food with the fork yourself. You have pretty good aim with the utensils.
*You've discovered you can push your walker all over the house. You turn corners and ram it into the walls. You get pretty crazy with it.
*You LOVE sitting on the couch and chair with us. I can usually leave you alone and you are content just sitting there.
*You try more and more each day to put on your shoes and clothes. You love getting our undies, shirts or shorts and draping them over your head or shoulders.
*Whenever I sneeze, you tend to make fun of me. You'll shake your head and spit with your mouth and then laugh at me.