Way down yonder in the pumpkin patch.

Okay so when I was a kid my mom made up this song called the paw paw patch. 

We would sing the two verses three times till we got to my grandparents... it was perfect my mom had it down to an art so we werent asking how long till we are there.

"hey nanie nanie nanie, hey nanie nanie now, hey nanie nanie nanie, hey nanie nanie now..

we're...... pickin up paw paw's, lets go find some , pickin up paw paw's let's go find some, pickin up paw paw's lets go find some way down yonder in the paw paw patch..."

now that AC is absorbing everything we say and do i am trying to devise a song to sing on the way over to my parents. this hit me on our way to the pumpkin patch the other day.... song to come but enjoy the pics in the mean time.

Ideal Home... Pics

okay so pristine lawn.. se la vie...

clean, wonderful kitchen, wanna join me for coffee?

umm would you like to come for thanksgiving?? paula's cooking (paula deen, duh??)
best most cozy bedroom retreat ever!!!

Our family fun trip

Here is Casey's cake Mary's Cakes and Pastries made. I was very pleased.

Casey and Jake hanging out on the quad!

Dancing to the million dollar band!

Me, Stephanie, and Ashley, and baby girl

ahhh.... singing to the alabama band.

still camera problems, ac, daddy and denny chimes

kinda blurry, camera issues, this was one of my college roommates, Abigail. she is wonderful, and this is her sweet friend claire!!

Here it is

Okay so... no pics alot of writing lately.. 

I know i know... i have been doing a little bit of soul searching and i think i am going to start doing tutorials on making curtains, clothing, decorating, all that good stuff. what do you guys think?? 

My biggest project right now is finishing the guest house so it can turn into my office. after much dismay the carpet mr. jerry brought in town to put out there wasnt near enough... sooo we have to get carpet and tile for the main room then I can move everything from the kitchen into the main room and paint the kitchen to match... can I please win 2000 bucks, take a month off from work and finish this dang thing??

 I mean seriously... anywho the pond has FINALLY cleared up... woooo hoo I can see my pretty fishies swimming around sooo happy with their life.... today i go to pick up bebe's bday present!!!!!!!! ahhh i cant wait... i got her one little happy today... also!!

Now I need suggestions and ideas on what to do for the birthday cake... bring em on because i am out of ideas and over the three layer cakes with fondant dots.. need something new...exciting.... HELP!!

whats been going on...

Well business with preppie peoie seems to be underway...

We have several fabrics that have changed over to their fall lines so i am having to resort to ordering the fabric from places like Australia.... ahhh obsurd... other than that i have been busy designing AC's brithday invitation, cleaning,

oh.... the always lovely trimming of the trees. we lucked out and mlgw is doing preventative maintenance on trees surrounding powerlines, lucklily i batted by big brown eyes at a non english speaking mlgw worker and he graciously gathered his supervisor to assist him in the process. after a quick tree shimmy my backyard can now enjoy sunlight... the hopes of growing grass back there increase and my mood improves...

ahhhh finally a sun to gather around my screened in porch and welcome me to come and cut the grass or pull the weeds.. oh the things i long for... soo, bear with me.. pics of the updates are coming, slowly but surely we are getting there. now if i just had about $5,000. to get french drain gutters, fancy shutters, re-sod the yard and all new landscaping i would be oh so happy... instead... i will dream and continue to gather pictures of what i long for my back yard to look like... what are your thoughts on doing these colors for my screened in porch?? keep in mind i need to embrace green because of my lovely green hot tub we inherited.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,1625102,00.html

your comments are much appreciated. i love the moulding and ceiling here....

First Family "Fun" Trip

Okay so previous to now we have only taken one other family "fun" trip, which was to go and see jake and stephanie (jake was casey's college roommate at bama)
Well this weekend for casey's 24th bday we are headed to tuscaloosa for the bama vs. arkansas football game. you may ask what's the first step in this process??
Calling the most succulent bakery in all of tuscaloosa, Mary's Cakes and Pastry's and order a bear bryant, houndstooth cake... then figure out where we are staying... that will be with stephanie's precious little sis, ashley... then figure out where we will tailgate. TBD.. i have an idea but we shall see...

So on this mecca trip we have several bits on our agenda, relax, scream so loud that we loose our voices, eat some good food, pray over bear bryant's grave(j/k every one else in tuscaloosa sets up a shrine that reminds me of something that muslims pray to) ps. i dont care who you are acting like the bear is still alive is creepy... let the great be dead and that be that.

now on to the other important things, like, making sure baby has a movie to watch in the car that will put her to sleep, we are borrowing grammy and poppy's dvd player till we can find one for us but i am glad to say that she is pretty pumped about barbie, the princess and the pauper.

then i need to pack the video camera, sheets, blowup mattress, casey's clothes, write out instructions for the dog. (for those of you that dont know luke seriously runs the roost at our house, this dog comes and gets us about 9:30 every night and wants us to perform the turndown service in our bed so he may retire at a timely hour of the night; like 10:20 is that much later, whatever dog you always get your way)

Then theres the clean the pond pump, feed the fish, blah blah blah........ what has my life come to.....

And if i have time, pack clothes for myself, i am officially wornout and i havent even begun this process, stay posted for how everything went

Finally, pics of the house...

yes, this is my chandelier i found IN A BOX at a garage sale for $35.00 i was soooo pumped. you have NO clue.

Anna Caroline's room seems to be complete. I still have a few picture frames to fill.(they are displayed inside the chest) but i havent found just the right picture for them yet... so this is her room, the painted cabinets in our bathroom, and our dining room. The dining room is done except for paint... that will happen at some point we just seem to be short on time these days.

Lauren and Chad's engagement

yay for the best friends anyone could ever ask for...

Playing Around

Finally we broke in and got a new carseat... this is the box that she was much much more interested in than the new seat... pretty animated if you ask me.

business as usual

Sorry for lack of pictures. 

What we have done:

We have been very very busy tying up loose ended projects around the house. Finally there is a fresh coat of paint on my wrought iron storm door, an old nasty green planter in the back is now spray painted bronze. 

My patio chairs have been sanded and recoated with teak oil (pb outlet find that i will forever covet and love) and the bathroom cabinets have been rehung. this week will be all about putting the final coat of paint on the cabinets and sealing them with poly. 

pics of all of this is to follow. not to mention we got our new dining room chandelier (at a garage sale) and got that hung... and i finally finally finally got anna caroline's nursery looking like i wanted. I will take pics tonight after i get everything cleaned up. i am thinking about putting this stuff on rate my space (hgtv's website) now all we have to do is as follows. 

To Still Do:

• entirely clear off the screened in porch and begin cleaning it so we can paint it white in the hopefully cooler days to come. 
• finish painting the trim in the main room of the guest house so we can lay tiles around the door and casey's dad can come lay my carpet out there. 
• finish the trim moulding boxes by the front door and get the kitchen of the guest house painted... uhhh why is it i feel so tired after just writing this stuff down???
• anyway we have almost almost completed our bedroom. we are still searching for fabric to use for my cornaces above the panels in our room, need to stain caseys chest of drawers to match everything else and get our flat screen.... oh the coveted flatscreen... then we can lay in bed for hours on end and watch our big tv... thats the plan at least.

this is how i found her

So a few days ago i got scared... I couldnt hear AC crawling around squealing chasing after luke... 

this only means one thing.

 She is INTO something.... and this is how I found her.

Bubble Time

As you can see we are wildly fascinated with a bubble bath. mommy finally got me a bottle of mr. bubbles. 

And i had a ball. here are a few pics of doodle bug getting a bubble wig and bubble beard.

On the Boat

TRYING to figure out what uncle larry is doing..

ahhh we are going super fast and ariel's hair is blowing like crazy

daddy what's going on??? If you cant see by these few pics she wants nothing to do with me... straight daddy's girl through and through

home improvement

this is all of the rotted fence we took down and replaced with chicken wire

this is all the tree limb and riff raff we removed

ahhh now a tranquil view of our drainage ditch. haha

my fratty morning hair

my absolute most favorite thing is to pull my mommy's hair!!

i love to snuggle in the morning

as you can see we are a major camera flirt. she is getting more and more captivated with us having various devices in her face. she goes on show for sure and it is priceless.

The beginning of the end

Well I am seeing the brief glimpse of the end of "baby-dome" ac wants to feed herself now!!

 She loves pears, strawberrys, oranges, baby carrots, pickles, and her baby food. 

Forget helping her she will pitch a fit if you try and help!! 

Then there is the walking feat. 

She wants to cruise the ottomon in the den, push the ottoman at my moms, and her favorite thing is to grab your pantslegs and go. If you grab her hands she starts going crazy with this aweful fake cry that makes casey and i laugh hysterically. 

anyway, yesterday morning she took her first step. so this weekend we are off to buy either a baby shopping cart, or baby stroller for her to push around and really begin to explore the world on her own. 

As sad as i am to see the bitty baby go i am sooo excited to get to interact with my little independent woman. pics to come soon!!

a tribute to Stitchin Charleston Style, and Laura!!!!

well this morning my dad took Mama to the airport, for her one measly week of escape from the world of disrespectful young adults who only want two things money and a later curfew...

Mama went to Charleston to see Laura, oh dear Laura, and BethAnne, and Mrs. Tommye, and all the other wonderful ladies that attend Stitchin Charleston Style. Two years ago i joined my mother on this mecca that she yearly takes to meet the esteemed Laura Jenkins Thompson. Oh how i wish i could be joining everyone to "stitch and bitch" as mama would say, this year. hopefully next year i can return to learn some new techniques, and most importantly socialize.

if i were there right now i would be "glistenin" (as all women do in the summer, its much better than saying sweatin like a whore in church) 

checking out all the stores and seeing the sights. getting excited about going to the market, and staying at the francis marion.

sidenote..... on our honeymoon last summer casey and i went to eat at SNOB, slightly north of broad, i would right now be recommending this to janet and all her friends insisting we go there. 

ohhh and if we walk too much down canal street i will insist we go in brookstone and get a chair/ leg massage. ohhh and hampden designs, great great clothes i would check that store out for another cute dress!!! 

oh i know everyone is having soo much fun. 

i cant wait to rejoin all of you next year. much love 

The future is looking up!!

okay here it is I GOT A JOB!!!! holy crap finally i find a delightful position that i am anxiously awaiting to start tommorrow. for everyone who has prayed for my future i greatly appreciate your prayers... especially jake and steph, hayley, emily,lauren, amanda, and erica. yall have stood by me and listened to my complains and helped me see that the lord is holding my future not me..... the most wonderful thing happened today as well Jake found a new job in birmingham!!!! we were both with miserable companies, doing mundane tasks, trying to improve our work conditions despite the miserable bosses we had.... and low and behold the lord answers our prayers all in the same week.

for those of you that dont know jake was casey's college roommate and his beautiful wife, stephanie has been one of the sweetest friends to me since we met. since being married we have made ZERO married friends except for them but for the number of friends we lack the lord has made up in the love that has overpoured from the Eldridge's. as i pray for my position at SS i also pray that Jake's position in the 'ham brings him as much fulfillment and happiness as does mine. post of the first day to follow. thanks again everyone for all your support throughout this time. casey and i have truely learned needs and wants and the differences. the only individual in our family that this mildly doesnt apply to is our pint sized princess. i mean hello we can wear old ratty clothes for the rest of our lives but our pride and joy WILL have the best.

Oh the places you will go... a tribute to high school sr. yr.

Okay so i will make a long story short. the theme of my senior yearbook was oh the places you will go... the other day i was in target perusing the dollar section and found some dr. seuss bowls to feed baby her cereal in. one had the quote on in and hence this blog post came to fruition. so a brief update with us is.... SUPRISE i am looking for a job. With Dr. Seuss on the brain I did a mental flashback to my senior year. I knew i would attend college and marry my prince charming... That was about all i planned for in my 5 yr. plan. I knew i would go cool places, ie. a bunch of sec football games, st. croix, st. thomas, and st. john, and i knew i would make the best friends someone could ask for but i never imagined being stretched emotionally, physically, and spiritually the way that i have been in these past five years.

Having ac has been such a blessing and being a parent has not been a challenging task, i guess all that babysitting did pay off afterwhile huh??? Since having her my "sewing" skills (blog with this coming soon....) have been challenged beyond imaginable means, making crib bedding, YIKES, know the lord before you experiment with this one!!! and the best has been helping my mom design ac's christening gown. working with my mom on this project has been the most rewarding thing i think that my degree could have brought me. it used to be that sewing was something my mom and i couldnt discuss without fighting about it. now it is such a joy and honor to learn under her. uhh the places we have come from. mother daughter love hate relationship to a mother daughter relationship of thankfulness, respect and longing to obtain the knowledge she does.

now i look to the places we will go in the next 5 years. I will have a husband hopefully graduated from college, an almost 6 year old. hopefully an old beagle who doesnt bark everytime the wind blows, i hope to have a beautiful garden that i can tend to while little girl is at school, and maybe just maybe my store of french handsewn rental dresses i have always wanted to own. (i will blog about that dream one day soon) Hopefully our current home will be a home of the past our "love" investment property. and we will be on our way to a long wonderful life together. i cant wait to see where the lord will take us and guide us in the next 5 years....

Scuffed up Shoes

Currently we are moving at lightning speed and our shoes stay scuffed up. here are some pics of her moving around like a crazy lady. And finally a picture of those two teeth on the bottom. we have one on the top and two more top teeth coming in. stay posted for those pics.