Good, I mean Awesome, Friday

Today has been just an awesome day.

First of all while I was in a meeting this morning I got "Boo'd" by a co-worker. Not sure who it is, but I got a treat bag and now I have to "Boo" two people. I like secret, fun stuff.

Secondly my friend and cubbie-mate Rebecca got our Park it Forward Award at work. She gets to park right up front all next week. Woo Hoo!!!

Thirdly Rebecca and I got to meet Lisa Leonard at lunch today. She was in town for Talk of Alabama and decided to do a B'ham blog meet-up. It was so much fun meeting her. She is just as nice in person as she seems when you read her blog. She had her jewelry there and it was AWESOME to see in person. So Pretty!! I need a piece. Rebecca and I took pictures of course. Ok only Rebecca took pictures, but I got to be in them. Yay!!!

Lisa Leonard, Rebecca and Myself

And lastly I am performing tonight at the Leeds High School Homecoming game with my fellow Alumni Majorettes. There are only 10 of us, but we rock it. We got a standing ovation last year when we performed with the band. This year we are up front and center. All eyes on us. Hope everyone remembers the routine. Fingers crossed for us. I will post a picture of us next time. Evan is taking it tonight for us before the game.

So you see why this has just been an AWESOME day???

Happy Friday!!

Wordless Wednesday: Yum!!!

Reese eating and wearing his 1st Birthday cake

Reese in one year

Thankful Thursday

So I asked my friend, and mommy blogger, Becca what Thursday's were on blogger and she said Thankful Thursday. So here is mine.

I am very thankful that 1 year ago yesterday I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Reese. We both had a very long day. 14 hours of labor after the induction. Family and friends were coming in all day visiting and what not. I took several naps and ate yummy ice chips. It finally came time for Reese to get here or do a c-section. Me, my doctor, nurses and of course Evan starting working to get Reese out. After only a few pushes he was here. Joy to the World!

Evan was scheduled to cut the cord after the doctor got Reese out and everything. Unfortunately that didn't get to happen. My doctor was spanking Reese a little to get him to cry, but he wasn't. He wasn't even breathing. The doctor called him a "smurf at birth" because he was blue. The rushed him to the warming area and called the breathing team to come quick. Luckily they manage to get Reese breathing and responding before they even got there.

Evan went over to the area with Reese and I could tell he was crying. It was a very emotional and confusing time. He said when he looked over at me I was so calm and didn't look worried as if I knew everything would be ok. He said it calmed him back down. He said there was just a peace about me.

We had already called the family to come down the hall, but had to push that back a few minutes. When they would finally come in we told them what had happened, but that everything was fine. When everyone saw Reese he was pink, happy and crying.

So what am I thankful for on this Thursday and everyday?
That God allowed me and Evan to keep our new born baby boy and have a wonderful year with him so far and hopefully so many more to come.

About the header

All of the pictures used in my header are the iPhone pictures I took throughout Reese's first year of life. They are mostly of him, but also include Sidney, Evan, my mom and dad and myself. I got teary eyed looking back through them.

My New Design

So I finally came up with a new design. I got the idea when I wanted to put a collage of photos on my desk top similar to Becca's screen saver. I googled "How to make a collage in photoshop and up popped a site for Shape Collage. It is so much fun. I made a collage of pictures from Reese's first year in the shape of his name and that's where I got the idea to make Keller and voila, I have a header and button. I hope you like it.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday, Reese

Happy First Birthday Reese!!!
Yes, it has been a whole year since our Little Buddy got here. What a year it has been too. He has grown so much and it seems too fast. I have pictures to prove it, but I can't believe it's already here.

This morning we looked confused as we sang to him and opened his cards from family. We sent snacks and treat bags with juice and animal crackers to his class. Yum!! I know he won't remember it, but I hope it is a great birthday.

Happy Birthday, Little Guy!!

We managed to have him hold still for a couple of pictures.

Change is good ... I hope

So I changed the name of my blog to My Keller Life. I have been wanting/needing a change for a while now and so I did it. My header and button still say Flip Flop Mom and as soon as I come up with a new one that will change too. I am excited about this change. I was never crazy about my name anyways. I just picked it so I could get a blog going. Lame. I know. So keep your fingers crossed for me that I can change the look too.

Chillin'

This is how Reese chills in his pool.

OMG .... This is Fun

Last Christmas my mom bought this airplane for Reese. Of course he was too small for it, but what if she couldn't find it again. Finally, he is big enough to sit on it. We turned it on and OMG. He smiled and laughed the whole time. He mostly stopped the propeller from turning and then when it didn't turn he tried to turn it by hand.

Summer Time Fun

So this weekend we went to the lake to celebrate the 4th. My mom bought Reese the pool pictured above. It was his first time swimming and he loved it. I put him in he Nemo bathing suit and dropped him in. He splashed around with his toys. Then I guess he got a little curious and headed for the side. He stood up in his Mowgli (Jungle Book) stance and started crawling/walking out. Of course he got grass all over him. He later discovered he could crawl back in and that the grass magically disappeared. He had so much fun. For the long periods of time he actually stayed in the pool, he laid back and chilled as seen in first picture.

The Vintage Pearl Giveaway

First off, I love the Vintage Pearl. All of the jewelry is so beautiful. Unfortunately I haven't been lucky enough to win a giveaway yet, but I am still hoping. This year for Mother's Day I dropped hints like crazy for one of the pieces, but my husband didn't catch on. So I am still waiting for a piece. I might just go ahead and buy one for myself. Maybe to me for the BIG 30. I love a lot of the pieces in the store. So hard to pick just one. For the giveaway she is doing at the moment I would have to pic this necklace. It is so pretty. I would want both kids names on it or maybe one word such as family, believe or something just at inspiring.

A trip to Star Lake, Hoover, AL

last night we went to hoover to meet up with my in-laws for dinner. they have been in las vegas all week for a jewelry show. totally. jealous. of course they posted on gowalla every time they went somewhere fun to eat and such. we decided to meet at the purple onion on 31 for dinner. of course we got there first since they were coming from the airport. since evan grew up in that area he knows of cool places to go. so we decided to kill some time and let the kids get out and run around. well sidney ran around. reese mostly sat. it was a fun outing. there were ducks everywhere. some mallards, some geese too. there were also these ugly ducks with red bumpy faces that looked like their parents were a duck and a rooster. totally. weird. looking. so i thought i would share some of the pics i took of reese enjoying the ducks. enjoy!!!

a giveaway you should check out

so I was reading through twitter and a friend posted about a giveaway for handmade recess. her site is so cute and so is this giveaway. I wish I could win one. I haven't ever won a blog giveaway. this is definitely one worth winning and a blog worth following.

Daily Thought

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’”

― C.S. Lewis

Daily Thought

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

― Buddha

Daily Thought

“There’s no half-singing in the shower, you’re either a rock star or an opera diva.” ―

– Josh Groban

Daily Thought

“Don’t go through life, grow through life.”
― Eric Butterworth

Daily Thought

“I still love making hamburgers on the grill. I guess whenever I eat them childhood memories come up for me.”
― Bobby Flay


Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Daily Thought

“A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking. ”
― Earl Wilson

Daily Thought

“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.”
― Oscar Wilde

Daily Thought

“I would rather lie on a sofa than sweep beneath it.”
– Shirley Conran

Daily Thought

“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
― James Arthur Baldwin

Daily Thought

“I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.”
― Jackie Mason

“Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful.”

― Sophia Loren

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.”
― Anthony Brandt

“Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.”

― Elizabeth Murray

Daily Thought

“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.”
― Author Unknown

Daily Thought

“I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.”
― Anna Quindlen

Daily Thought

“As we grow older, our bodies get shorter and our anecdotes longer.”
― Robert Quillen

Pulling up

This morning Reese managed to shock me by pulling up a little in his crib. Time to lower the mattress.

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was awesome. My 11th one with Sidney and my 1st with Reese. :)

Evan and Sidney made me and my mom a cinnamon roll breakfast and my dad made eggs, bacon, etc. We sat outside on the deck and it was really nice. We talked and opened gifts. I couldn't have asked for a better day.
Here is what I got

And of course the Handmade Gifts

Daily Thought

“Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people’s bad manners.”
― H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Daily Thought

“Stress is the trash of modern life—we all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.”
― Danzae Pace

Daily Thought

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”
― Jamie Paolinetti

Daily Thought

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

Daily Thought

“A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.”
― Dorothy Canfield Fisher