My baby is growing up...

I was going through some pictures to figure out what to frame for the grandparents for Christmas (surprise, grandparents!), and I came across my favorite pictures of Ford from when he was a little bitty guy! I figured since I didn't start blogging until he was 9 months old, I was allowed to add a few "old" pictures! I can't believe in 5 weeks I'll have a 1-year-old!

3 days old

This was the picture on his birth announcement...I think he looks JUST like my dad. It's pretty disturbing when the first thing you think of when they place your baby on your belly after hours of labor is not, "Oh, he's beautiful and perfect and I love him so much" but "Oh my God, he looks just like my father!"

3 months old

I LOVED the bear suit! Unfortunately, I don't think Ford shared my opinion.

5 months old

Just call me frugal...or REALLY cheap!

This picture doesn't have anything to do with the post, but isn't it funny? It's Ford & Maryn at Ben & Jerry's in Charlotte, and it's a good thing it doesn't have sound or you'd hear two hysterical moms laughing like hyenas from behind the board!

Joseph and I are all about saving money these days. We've always had a budget, but we'd gotten very debit card happy as of late. If the money was gone for the month, we'd just swipe it! So we decided that for the month of September, we'd lock up the debit cards and really focus on sticking to the budget. And we've done a good job. But it's the last week of the month, and inevitably, the grocery envelope was looking a little slim. But I was determined to make it work.

I knew we could eat dinner from the freezer this week, but there were some staples that we had to have. Like milk. And bread. And chocolate chip cookies. And since the "Chip Mates" that I bought last week didn't go over so well with Joseph, I knew I would have to get the real deal, his beloved Chips Ahoy. And since Ford has had a turkey hotdog for dinner going on 3 nights now, I figured he'd probably need a little variety, not to mention nutrition, as well.

So this morning during Ford's nap, I raided Joseph's junk drawer and put all the change I could find in a ziploc. I got Ford up, fed him another delicious hotdog, and set off to Wal-Mart, because I wasn't about to go to Kroger for what I was about to do.

We got our groceries, just the bare essentials, headed to self-checkout, and I set up camp. I gave Ford his sippie cup and some Cheerios, rang up my loot, and proceeded to pay for my groceries with $17.26 in change. It took me 8 minutes to get it all in the slot. There was a family behind me with three kids, who I assumed were home schooled, and they just stared in awe. After the first 3 minutes, the mom went around me, but the kids stayed and watched! When I got to the pennies, they started counting. But I just held my head up high and kept at it! I figured I was helping them learn to count change, a very important life skill.

I could have very easily used the debit card, and saved myself some time and a little bit of dignity, but I walked out of there feeling pretty proud of myself! Now I'm going to go pop a bag of Great Value popcorn and curl up with a good book!!

Happy 30th Birthday, Jennie!!!

We had so much fun getting to spend your birthday weekend with you! Thank you for being the best sister and sister-in-law ever! We love you! Joseph, Sarah, and Ford

It's not who wins or loses, it's how you play the game...

We went to my sister's 1st softball game last night. She's playing with all the teachers she works with, and for the first time ever, I sort of missed teaching! They all were having the best time together! Unfortunately, they're not exceptionally talented in the game of softball, but they definitely had more fun than the other team! We got there 4 minutes into the game, and the other team had already scored 6 runs! I think the final score was 24-7. But if they can step up their defense, I think they have a shot at the playoffs...I'll keep you posted!

Brooke and Shealy in the "cage".


Go Aunt Bug!!

My Parents Deserve a Medal

We are in the process of building a house! It hasn't been nearly as stressful as I thought it would be. Luckily Joseph and I have very similar tastes, so it hasn't been a battle to pick things out. The housing market in Auburn is extremely slow right now, so the only thing we were worried about was if we would be able to sell our old house. It was a great little starter home that we had put a lot of work and sweat into, but there were many houses in and around our neighborhood also for sell. We knew that our new house was going to take at least 6 months to build, so we went ahead and listed our house with Ashley Smith Durham (the best realtor in the WORLD!!). Well, our sweet little house DID sell, and much quicker than we thought! The buyer wanted us out in 3 weeks! So my wonderful, amazing, generous parents let us move into their finished basement, and we've been here since the beginning of August! We're hoping to be into our new house by Christmas. Believe it or not, we're actually pretty content here. My parents have been incredible - available if we need them, but otherwise they give us our space. The dogs love it here. My parents live on a big pond, and Mac is down there swimming every chance he gets. They just do donuts around the house, running and rolling and having a great time! It's been wonderful having extra hands around to help out with Ford, and we've all gotten incredibly spoiled!

I'm posting some pictures of the new house. A few disclaimers...the brick is not going to be the color it looks; we're getting wash on it and it will be much lighter! It looks a little odd right now, but they assure me that's how it's done. We will have 4 bedrooms, and we're going to use the largest one as a playroom. Our yard backs up to the Kinnucan's yard, and apparently he's not too thrilled about having neighbors because he built a 10 foot fence! It's HUGE! But somehow his dogs are on our lot every time we are there! It's a brand new neighborhood with a lot of young couples with kids, so I think it will be a lot of fun for Ford. I'm sure we'll be posting more pictures as the house progresses!

Front of the house - I love the arched door!

There will be a covered porch running the length of the house with a deck coming off of the back. We got cable run to the outside and I have a feeling this will be Joseph's favorite spot!

We're the only house in the neighborhood with a wood-burning fireplace. Joseph insisted on this; apparently, the Martin men take great pride in their fire burning abilities, and who am I to stand in the way of this time-honored tradition?

Or maybe this will be his favorite spot...the walk-in crawl space, otherwise known as the man room! Joseph has all sorts of plans for this room - it will have a concrete floor, electricity, and store all of his tools. I think he would have had cable run down here, but I had to put my foot down! I think they're starting to sheetrock it early next week, so things are really moving along!

The Birthday Parties

Joseph got to celebrate his 28th birthday 3 times! The first time was in Seattle, with steak, baked potatoes, and wilted spinach...yum! Then we went out to eat with friends Monday night to Amsterdam's, and he got a delicious BBQ Chicken Pizza. On Tuesday night, his actual birthday, my mom made his favorite dinner at his request - baked chicken with gravy, rice, and green beans, topped off with his favorite dessert, banana pudding! I didn't get pictures of the first two celebrations, but here's dinner with my family.

Even though it was Joseph's birthday, the main attraction was Ford!


Mmmm Dad, that meringue is delicious!

Would you rather have me or your new golf shoes?

Happy Birthday Joseph!!

Happy 28th Birthday to the most incredible husband in the world! I love you!