black velvet and plexiglass

yesterday afternoon i purchased both and practiced with greyson. here is one of my favorites from the photo shoot. i'd love to hear what you think.

thursday post

Welcome back to Thursday... then & now! here is greyson a year ago in his infant tub, and some more bath pictures from this morning. greyson is a big boy now and takes real bubble baths! daddy came home from grocery shopping (i'm lovin' jim workin' from home) ; ) on tuesday with some nemo bubble bath. greyson hasn't quite figured out the bubbles though, at times he tries to "eat" them. yuck!
on another note, guess who started walking? yup! exactly a week after his first birthday day he started, and now knows what he's doing. we love watching him perfect this, he is so slow and careful. only taking 4-5 steps at a time, then he plomps down and claps like crazy at himself!!

Thursday... then & now

happy thursday everybody! in celebration of a years' worth of baby pictures... i've decided to dedicate thursdays to our photos over the last year and present ones too. i'm calling it thursday... then & now. below are some photos of greyson exactly one year ago today. he was two days old, and we were getting him dressed and ready to leave the hospital in the first one. the second picture is of him, bundled up in his infant carseat (his present weight is 18 pounds... he is still in that same carseat, but that's another story) arriving home for the first time! the last one is two nights ago, after his party ended. he was all ready for bed, just playing for five more minutes ; ) no matter how many new toys he receives, he always manages to find his favorite one.

our baby boy is ONE!!

January 17, 2006. Greyson celebrated his very first birthday at home with his family and friends. i just wanted to share a couple quick pictures from this evenings' festivities, before heading off to bed. greyson is tired, daddy is tired, mommy is definitely tired!
getting a little help blowing out the candle, from mommy & daddy. greyson was a lucky boy... he had two cakes! one big "ONE" and another itty bitty personal cake.
some of the guests: parker, gunnar, greyson, zoie, cameron, & logan. at the party but not pictured in this shot were jordyn and baby jonas. Kyleigh was another friend invited, but she wasn't feeling well. we missed her!
greyson had a wonderful party and a wonderful birthday! he wanted to thank, everyone who came to his party, gave him a gift, or wished him warm wishes!! he is so blessed to have so many friends and family that care about him so much!

birthday girl

this is jordyn. she is silly, she is sweet, and you know what today is? it's her third birthday!!! jordyn holds a very special place in my heart. i have been her nanny since she was only two months old. i have witnessed a lot of her first, i know a lot of her likes/dislikes, i can make her giggle at any given moment, but i can't believe she is already 3!

3 tags... 1 combined post!

hi there! i've recently been tagged three times, finally getting around to fulfilling their request! thanks again shannon, chris, & jen!

five weird habits:
1. i put tons of cream (and equal) in my coffee, but i have to have it just the right color before i'll drink it. i also own three tinkerbell mugs and if they are all in the dishwasher, i'll usually skip the coffee that morning. -weird!
2. i have to sleep on the right side of the bed, with one leg out.
3. when i vacuum (which is a lot, bad habit from my mom) i have to move everything! i can't just vacuum around things. AND if i see any dust on greyson's toys... i vacuum them all off.
4. it makes me crazy if my saved emails reach two pages full. i immediately start deleting.
5. i listen to greyson's music in the car -even when he's not with me!

Four jobs i've had:
1. SAHMama & nanny (currently)
2. flight attendant
3. waitress
4. worked in the recruiting office at college

four places i've lived:
1. mount vernon, MD
2. cleveland, TN
3. charlottesville, VA
4. salisbury, MD

four of my favorite movies:
1. when a man loves a woman
2. i am sam
3. the breakfast club
4. gone with the wind

four of my favorite tv shows:
1. the CBS morning show
2. anything on food network
3. the young and the restless
4. nanny 911

four of my favorite foods:
1. veal marsala
2. any kind of seafood
3. any kind of fresh fruit
4. rice pudding

four places i'd rather be right now:
1. on a cruise -with jim & greyson
2. getting a massage
3. touring the Hawaiian islands -with jim
4. when i had greyson. really! i had a wonderful birth, and i'd re visit that moment over and over if i could.

are you free tuesday night?

ha-ha! just wanted to finally share g-man's first birthday invitation! as most of you know i *love* making cards/invites. i have made our Christmas cards and most birthday cards for years. i love the excuse or occasion to make a new card, and having greyson has given me plenty of new excuses to make them. . . valentine's day cards, thank-you notes, and now birthday party cards! since his birthday falls in cold january, we decided to go with a snowflake, winter ONEderland theme. i figure i'll have plenty of time for the dinosaur, spiderman, thomas the tank engine themed parties! :) we have had SO much fun planning & shopping! the decorations include: snowflakes of all sorts and sizes, balloons, streamers, party hats, noise makers.... the appetizer include: party meatballs, a chocolate chip cheesball (cream cheese), chips/dip, an artichoke and spinach dip... the dinner menu includes: yummy cream of crab soup with bread from panera and chicken noodle soup & chicken nuggets for the kids.... and of course BIRTHDAY CAKE for dessert!! the guests include 9 little munchkins and their parents. i'm so excited and i can't wait for tuesday to get here, but i just can't believe that my baby boy is turning one in TWO DAYS!!!!!!!

Introducing...

Storm Douglas Hartman. He made his entrance
into the world last night at 8:10 pm. My friend
kelly and her husband, Greg had their second
child. Mommy & baby are doing wonderful, and
are expected to go home tomorrow morning if
all is well! Big brother Avery couldn't be more
excited. A few moments after his brother was
born, he was able to come and take the first peek
at his new baby brother. The nurse was still
cleaning him and poor Storm still had a lot of
"stuff" around his little mouth. Avery looked down
at his new sibling and declared: "he's good at
blowing bubbles!" Yes, sweetie he sure was!! :)

sweet cheeks

i am so excited! my new lens arrived in the mail yesterday. i waited and waited all day, hoping my UPS man would have a little package for me... and he did! it's a canon 28-135 mm. i really needed a bit more zoom, and boy does it have it! i've been playing around with it since it arrived (taken about 80 shots so far). this, by far is my favorite. i know to some this photo may seem like a reject, but not to me. i love creative photography. capturing the littlest detail. like here: that chin (my chin), those lips, those lashes, and those SWEET CHEEKS!!!!! yes, this one captured my heart.

a thought for today

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors...but they all have to learn to live in the same box. huh!

future dentist?

greyson received several baby "tools" for Christmas (ie: hammers, a toolbench, etc.) including this drill. for some reason though, he has decided he likes turning on (it only rotates slightly) the drill in his mouth! either his teething is in major overdrive, or we've got a future dentist on our hands! nana will be so proud (my mom is a dental hygienist)

*please pardon the mac & cheese stain on his shirt, we had just finished lunch! the boy *loves* his pasta!!!!

on another note- has anyone else experienced delays when including a picture on their post today? just wondering if i was the only one.

toothy... two of them!

i finally got a good shot of the toothy this morning. as of yesterday, we offically have two of them. although his newest can be more "felt" than seen -ouch! just thought i'd share. such an exciting journey.

goals

each new year brings about an urge in me to be a better person. deep down, i know it's just another day like any other, but i can't control the desire to make lists, to organize, and to feel that i have a fresh start. i've been making lists. i even took every single one of greyson's books off his shelves (all 148 of them.... gasp!) i jotted down the titles, typed them up in word and printed them out. for what you ask? well, i want to make sure we get to all of them, not skipping a single one. why? because my number one, most important goal (btw-i don't do resolutions, i do goals) for 2006 is to be the best mama to my little gman. to read new stories to him everyday. to expose him to as many new (and familiar) words as his little ears can handle. it's that important.

my other goals

• to achieve toned arms again
• scrapbook more often
• splurge on good coffee every now & again
• to be a better friend, not just wife to jim
• to tackle one or two new recipes each week
• to master my camera (stop relying on auto)
• for jim & I to do our couples devotions -every night
• to make my bed everyday [ drywall mom] :)
• stop procrastinating

what are some of your goals for the new year?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!! i'm here, and finally posting. it's taken me a week to get back to normal, yet i still can't quite seem to get organized! It might be the fact that Jim has been home from work since Dec. 20th. It's been really nice, having an extra set of hands... but strange and definitely not the norm. everyday feels like the weekend. anyway, we had an amazing Christmas. Greyson didn't wake-up that morning until 8:30! it was so much fun watching him crawl up to his new rocking horse. He had a big time opening his gifts from Santa. he received lots of fun puzzles, blocks, books, trucks, and a few ornaments too. i *love* ornaments and try to add a few new ones each year (especially from Hallmark). Christmas day was a very relaxing day, we only left the house once to visit the Disney's. Jordyn and Greyson exchanged gifts, she gave him a super cool tractor and wagon with farm animals. his favorite part of the gift, are the light up head lights! The rest of our day was spent welcoming friends & family at home. Greyson's nana gave him a magically carousal. i will post a picture later. we love it mom! Jim's big gift to me was a sony handycam -awesome! but, my favorite gift from him was... my flute. i know, your thinking a flute. what? well -i told jim earlier this year that i had always wanted to play the flute, but choose the clairnet. back then, :) it was the less expensive instrument. fast forward to Christmas morning 2005... he gave me a flute. I've been so excited, i bought a beginners music book and have practiced almost everyday! so as we have entered into a new year, i just want to take a minute to wish everyone a joyful year. i'm so grateful to everyone that cheeks in here. i *love* hearing your comments and greetings. it's been quite a year for our family -full of firsts! we love to keep busy and being able to share our lives with all of you has been so much fun.