Summer vacation comes to an end....and new things begin!

Our summer vacation flew by. I can't believe that I had a baby at the beginning of the summer and that she will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. 8 weeks ago at exactly this time I was sitting in room 339 on the third floor in Archbold....anticipating the labor and delivery of my precious baby girl. Wondering how our lives would change. It seems like yesterday, but it also seems like I've had her forever.

It is weird that last summer I went back to work not knowing that it was the year I'd become pregnant. I hoped it would be though! And now I am going back to work this year as a mom. I left school in May just being a wife and teacher, and now I'm a mother too. It blows my mind! I'm overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness.

My mom and dad are keeping Molly Caroline this week, so I'm grateful for that...I'm just going to miss her so much! You bet I'll be coming home for lunch though. It's going to be a busy week though...meetings, orientation, open house....and balancing my first week as a working mother!

Tonight kicked off my JSL year. I went to my first meeting as a member of the executive board. It was fun and I love being a part of such an outstanding organization. Here is the 2013-2014 board! This was taken in April at our last meeting of the year....crazy that Molly Caroline wasn't born and I wasn't on bed rest here. I love the ladies that make up our board this year!

And just like that a new school year begins, a new league year begins, we will start attending a new service at our church on Sunday, and I begin a new season of motherhood. That's a whole lot of new! I'm going to have to be really, really organized and balance my time extrememly well. I'm excited though!

Psalm 32:8
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you."

Psalm 119:35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.

Season fun and the Fourth!

Going way back to the 4th of July....yes I'm that behind on blogging. But I'm doing good now with 3 posts in one day. :)

We had a fun 4th of July Week. Nanny Beth came to visit! She spoiled Molly Caroline with treats and cooked supper for us too! We ate at a brand new Texas Roadhouse in Tallahassee and took Molly Caroline to Target for the first time.

Our college friend, Stacy, lives in Cairo and she came over to visit one night.

Jennifer and Karlynn came over one day too and we took the girls shopping downtown.

The fourth of July was rainy, so we didn't get to go swimming like we planned. However we ate a yummy meal at Jenn's house in Valdosta and watched the Wild Adventures fireworks from her church parking lot.

Tutti Frutti Peanut Butter

I craved fruit almost my entire pregnancy. It was all I wanted for months. So this little fruity bubble is perfect for Molly Caroline. :)
I actually craved all of the fruit on her outfit. :) This little tutti frutti baby girl is so much fun!

And now that I'm not pregnant, I have a new craving. Peanut Butter frozen yogurt. Oh my goodness, everyone needs to try it. I don't even love peanut butter, but love this flavor. We had it for the first time almost a month ago and have checked almost every day to see if they have it again. We have a free coupon for our next purchase and are waiting until they bring back the best thing that both Matt and I have ever tasted. And apparently all of Thomasville feels the same way as us.

Patterns, Pillows, Pictures, and Paper Products

I love patterned everything! And lately I've been noticing a trend in my life. Floral, dots, gingham, buffalo check, stripes, and any geometric pattern are probably my favorites. Everything that I buy is patterned.

Polka dots. The last three pairs of pj's that I've gotten for Molly Caroline all have polka dots on them. They're sweet aren't they?

I bought some thank you notes from the Dollar Tree and these letter cut outs from Wal-Mart. Again, I'm in love with the dots.

Pillows. I bought some throw pillows while I was in Dublin last weekend. The blue and gold ones are for the front porch, but first our rocking chairs need a new coat of paint.

And I love this floral pillow on our mudroom bench. My friend, Carrie Beth, sent me a picture of some bird throw pillows and because of my new obsession with birds I can't get them out of my mind. I just wish I could think of a place to put them in our house.

Pictures. I think I want to start a gallery wall. Not a huge one, but a medium sized symmetrical one. I have so many pictures that I want to display and not enough table space. This picture is going to be my inspiration. :)

Paper products. I'm obsessed. I bought these fun picnic gingham paper plates from Dollar Tree and I think that they will be perfect for a little end of summer picnic for my family. I'm excited just thinking about using them! I could go crazy buying paper plates...but try to limit myself...haha!

I love this fun scalloped stationary that I found at TJ Maxx. It makes me want to write little notes to everyone.

It is the last weekend of my Summer Break! Yikes! Where did the time go!? We have big plans for today and tomorrow! :) Right now, sweet Molly Caroline is still asleep. She woke up at 5 to eat and then has slept until 11:00. We went to dinner out of town with friends last night and then made a trip to Wal-Mart afterwards, so I think we wore her out! Usually she wakes up between 8 and 9. I was running around getting things done around the house, but now I'm just going to catch up on blogging and watch my baby girl sleep. Happy Saturday y'all!

Lots of visits!!

So so much to catch up on!! I will catch up this week! I will also have one big first few weeks of mommyhood post!

We have had so many great visits with friends everyday! We haven't had many days to ourselves at all! We feel blessed and love our small town! Our church family, my school family, league friends, and neighbors are amazing! These are some of the visits that we've had the last few days!

We visited my hometown last week and had a great time! Shopping, yummy meals, and lots of family time. We pretty much used Molly Caroline's stroller as a shopping cart! Lol! Molly Caroline was spoiled by her Foxy, Poppy, Auntie M, and Uncle B.

We celebrated my moms birthday a day early. Such a special celebration!

We also went to Macon and met up with a few of our best college friends. It was long overdue and so much fun! But you have to love great friends that you haven't seen in a while...ones that you can walk right into their house and it is like no time has passed. We are already planning another little reunion trip!

Our drives there and back were perfect. Molly Caroline slept or just quietly looked around for both 3 hour hauls. We saw a beautiful rainbow on our way home. And of course we had to get orange and peach snow cones on our way out of town. I craved a Sno Biz my entire pregnancy. 7 weeks postpartum and I finally satisfy the craving. I definitely couldn't even finish it.

Rain is a good thing...

My new outdoor chalkboard sums it up!! :)

As my summer break is winding down I've been soaking up every rainy minute with my baby! It rained this morning...surprise surprise! It's been the rainiest summer ever! Molly Caroline and I just sat outside on the back porch and enjoyed it. She must've really liked it because she was all smiles! ;) Oooh I just love her so!!

My town has the cutest children's boutique. I've gotten to know the owner and love that her daughter has a long double name, Mary Madison...just like my Molly Caroline. They had a big sale the other day. In. LOVE. With. It. ALL. :)

I'm in love with Molly Caroline's newborn pictures and smile every time I see them in frames around our house! She was only 4 days new in them!

Our friend, Gini, just got back from a mission trip to Honduras. She brought us back Honduran coffee. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, but Matt is. All I know is that it smells soooo good!

And I just loved how sweet Molly Caroline looked today! She fell asleep hanging out with me while I got ready. :)