Happy Birthday Big Tom!

This post is dedicated to one of the best men I know...my dad! Or as Hubb will call him soon, Big Tom. Dad, I hope you get to do all of your favorite things today, which include but are not limited to:

1. Eating at the Golden Corral. Dad, I know you love a buffet. But please save this for your lunch friends and spare us. A few years ago we let him choose where we went for Father's Day, and this is what he chose. He loves it, we hate it. But anything for you Dad.

2. Hanging out with Baby Ruth. When Dad turned 50 (seven years ago), we bought him something he'd wanted since he was a little boy- an English bulldog. He named her Baby Ruth, and she is my dad's fourth child. He LOVES that dog. We often joke that if he had to choose between all of the family members, he would choose Baby. And it's probably true. After all, I have tagged about 10 pictures on Facebook of my dad with Hubb, and he still has a picture of Baby Ruth as his profile pic. I surrender.

3. Last but not least: metal detecting. Yep, you read that correctly. My dad's favorite hobby is metal detecting. In fact, did you know there is a metal detecting club right here in Montgomery? Oh, there is. And my dad is a member. They meet once a month and talk about the treasure they've found since the last meeting. And when I say treasure, I mean bottle tops and old aluminum foil that's been discarded. OK, so once dad did find a neat old coin. And I think he won the prize at the meeting- which is two old quarters. SCORE. And yes, my dad is that guy you see on the beach, swinging his metal detector, looking for treasures people have lost in the sand. But the important thing is, he looks good doing it. (Don't worry, he doesn't wear socks with his sandals or anything like that, although sometimes I wonder what would happen if Mom wasn't there to intervene...)

That about wraps this one up. Dad, you are the bomb. We love you so much. You treasure hunter, you.

What's going on?

Well, this post may bore your head off. No pictures, no fuss no muss. So here are a few updates. Hubb is at the BEST AGE EVER. He is walking and climbing and exploring anything he can get his hands on. He also talks in his own special language, but he does say a few words that actually have a place in the English language. Here are some of my faves: applejuice, outside, mama, dada, bye, hey, ball, puppy, etc. And he has the sweetest voice ever. I could listen to him all day long! He LOVES being outside. I mean, loves it. But his absolute favorite toy right now...a broom! My baby loves a broom. He will sweep all day if you'll let him. Which is surprising, because I actually hate to sweep.

Anywho, things on the renovation front are going well. Our brick floors are down, and I have a feeling we are going to absolutely love them. First of all, I love the way they look. Secondly, they're basically indestructible! And they won't show dirt or stains- perfect! Most of our kitchen cabinets are in, and hopefully they will all be in by the beginning of this week. We are also hoping to have the countertops in by the end of this week, but it may be early next week when they are installed. I decided to go with a creamy white marble, which makes me both nervous and excited! I will have to be on top of my A-game in keeping the counters clean, but hey, I need to do that anyway, right?

Also, I feel the need to just say this. I cannot tell you how lucky I am to have the family I have. Since we've been on this demo/reno kick, we've had to rely on both my family and Jeremy's family for food, shelter, babysitting, and opinions, and we are just so dang lucky. Thank you to Bon Bon, Grandanny, Nan Nan, and Big Tom for everything you do for us. Seriously, thank you!!! Love you all.

Demo and Reno

Hello! Well, our life has been a tad hectic the last few days. He are doing some home renovations that required us to move out of our house for a while. Thankfully, we are staying with the in-laws while this is happening. Here's a very grainy shot of what our den/kitchen looks like right now:

We took out the flooring and we are replacing with brick floors. Then the kitchen will get a little facelift as well. As you can imagine, this is a very dusty process! I am thankful to have a handy husband (with handy workers) and an amazing father-in-law to help us with this project. I'll post updated pictures soon!

Bathing Beauties and Boys' Day Out

Hello to the 3 of you that read this blog! I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. We sure did. On Saturday, we had a few friends over to watch both the Auburn and the Alabama games. We had fun watching games and EATING! Toward the end of the night, Hubb and one his girlfriends (he has a few), Leighton Grace, had a bathtub bonanza together. It was so sweet.

On Sunday, Hubb and I headed to the lake to spend time with Jeremy's family. You may be asking, why didn't Jeremy go to the lake with you? The answer is simple: NASCAR. My hubby loves him some NASCAR. And Sunday was a big day- they raced in Atlanta "under the lights." This means that it was a night race, and it don't git no better than that. So on Sunday morning, Jeremy and his buddy Tyler loaded up their coolers and racing scanners and headed to the big city. In case you aren't aware, a scanner is a headset that true fans wear so that they can hear their favorite drivers talking to their pit crew. How much fun would a race be if you couldn't hear Junior telling his pit boss that he needs new tires? Exactly.

I'm just thankful he's wearing a shirt.

HUBB!

We found out in October of 2008 that I was pregnant, and we couldn't have been more thrilled. We had been thinking about having a baby for a while, and even though we'd been trying, it was still such an incredible shock when I read that precious word: PREGNANT.

You know how most wives think up a really cute way to tell their husbands? You know, like a cookie cake, a "big brother" shirt on the dog, a nice meal, etc.? Not me. I wish I had a story. But the minute I got the positive sign at 6:30 a.m., I ran over to the bed, shook Jeremy really hard, and held that test over him so he could see it. We were beside ourselves with joy! And I'll never forget when we found out it was a boy. Jeremy had been talking a big game. He had told everyone he was POSITIVE it was a boy. Obviously, he was right. And we were thrilled.

We decided his name would be Daniel Hubbard Vinson. Jeremy's middle name is Daniel, and my maiden name is Hubbard. I've played sports all my life, and I've always been called "Hubb" as a nickname. I thought it would be the perfect name for our firstborn, and after some convincing, Jeremy agreed to it as well. I love it- short, easy to say, however it does require explanation sometimes.

Pregnancy wasn't so bad....until I got closer to the end. My feet looked like they were from another planet. And if you think I am exaggerating, ask around. They looked like part of the Macy's Day Parade. I literally had to buy shoes from the plus-sized store. I'll never forget it. I made my mom go with me to Shoe Station, and I couldn't find anything wide enough to fit my cankles. So, after I waddled back to the car, I looked up and saw the plus-sized store. It was a clothing store- of course they have to have shoes! So, I told my mom we had to bite the bullet and go get some shoes. I also told her I wasn't going in that store unless I could wear my bedroom slippers inside. I. WAS. HURTING. My mother was mortified. I was mortified. But I was at the point where it just didnt matter. So I pried off the shoes I was wearing, tried to rub out the deeply embedded strap marks, slipped on my bedroom shoes, gathered my dignity, and went in for the kill. I found several pair, in size 11 wide, which I'm sure will come in handy next go'round.

Not only were my feet swollen, but so were my hands and face. I look back on pictures and cringe. I am certain that small children were afraid of me. I was HUGE. And for that reason, and the fact that my husband weighed a whopping 11.5 pounds when he was born, I had a feeling Hubb would be a big'un. He was born on July 1, 2009, via c-section. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 11 oz., 21.5 inches long. He wasn't as big as his dad, but he was definitely husky.

He was perfect. He was beautiful. And we have been in love ever since.

Welcome to our world!

Hello Blogosphere! Well, I have put off doing a blog for a long time now. I adore looking at other peoples' blogs. That's right, I'm down with O.P.B. (yeah you know me). I just haven't started one myself because I am simply just not that interesting. So I started thinking, is anyone really that interesting? The answer identified itself the more I stalked different blogs: YES, some people really are that interesting. I'm just not one of them. Here are a few things that are typical of many blogs, but that you won't find on this blog:

~Fabulous photography (because I'm no good at it)

~Tons of recipes (because while I enjoy cooking SOMETIMES, I definitely don't do it all the time)

~Craft projects (because I don't do those either). However, my husband is VERY handy and can do just about anything. So I will be blogging about his handyman projects, but he wouldn't like it if I called them crafts.

Here is what you will find:

~Loads of pictures and talk about my little main, Hubb. He's the bomb!

~Talk about daily mundane things, like work (yes I work), my husband (my love, and the hardest worker I know), our house (always a work in progress), my family (love love love them), and my dear friends.

So, if anyone out there is in any way interested in reading about the very average life of a working mother who is not crafty and has lackluster photography skills, come on down! Should be quite the joy to read! My next post will undoubtedly be about the best kid ever...HUBB!