Five on Friday SNOW day!

It's a SNOW DAY for real today! It's early and we already have a couple inches on the ground. They are calling for over 28" through tomorrow. Needless to say, we are settling in for a long weekend indoors. Which means, puzzles, PJ's, snuggles, and happy hour at 4, or 3. Or Bloody Mary's at 10 - no shame.

I thought I would join the Five on Friday link-up today, since I have lots of time on my hands - which happens, never. YAY! I thought it would be fun to list five things that are going to keep us busy today, and a few good things to fill our tummies.

{one} We started the day with simple French Toast made with leftover french bread from shrimp scampi earlier this week. I love making french toast when I have good bread laying around.

We also had a couple of Wright's Barrel Aged Bourbon Bacon no the side. It was ok. Great for sandwiches, but maybe not breakfast. Not bad with french toast though.

{two} A good bloody mary is a must for a snow day. When I worked at the Oyster Bar in Perdido Key we made our homemade bloody mary mix, and to this day it's still my favorite, however, this one is pretty close.

• Ingredients
• 1 48 ounce can of tomato juice, or about 6 cups
• 3 tablespoons prepared creamy hot horseradish
• 3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 2¼ teaspoons celery salt
• 3 teaspoons garlic salt
• Tabasco sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon celery salt
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• Pickle-infused vodka, or regular vodka if you prefer

{three} Apple, Cheddar, and Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese. I am grilling up a big batch of these for lunch today. A grown-up grilled cheese. Perfect for a cold day!

{four} I love a good puzzle. It's been years since we did a puzzle, but you better believe I'm going to dig one out this weekend. Something so simple and fun about puzzle time.

{five} A little online shopping anyone?  Old Navy is having a 50% off sale, and get an additional 15% off Clearance with code ENJOY. I love these Boat-Neck Tee's and I already have this Embroidered-Yoke Top. Both are on sale today for $12. I picked up this Funnel-Neck Sweater for $15 - a cute look with leggings and boots.

Have a great snow day friends! I nice break for us after a couple of really busy work weeks.

Sippy Cups and Baby Food

We have passed the 7 month mark and guess what folks, it's time for the Sippy cup!

Some would say we were sorta late on the food train, but it really does take time and planning. And really, let's be honest, who has all kinds of extra time laying around during the holidays?

Sorry sweet pea. We are adjusting to this whole parenting thing.

We started with rice cereal at Thanksgiving. At 5 months and 29 days, ahead of the plan - score.

Not for long. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our child tried exactly two foods. Bananas and Sweet Potatoes. Which both she loved! Well, sorta. Add in 10 days of travel at the end of the Holidays, and next thing we knew it we were past the 7 month mark going on 8, with very little variety in her diet.

I digress... we were talking sippy cups, right?  So, we just started introducing a sippy cup after meals, or umm... fruit/veggie snacks, and Annalee is loving it! The only sippy cup we have right now is a cup that came with a Makenzie Child's toddler set we received as a gift.

Have you all seen these sets? So precious you guys! If you are looking for a great gift - this is it.

But, it's not exactly "6-month old baby friendly". I pretty much just hold it while she sips water.

So, we are on the hunt for the perfect transition cup. These are some suggestions I've gathered from other moms. Tell me, what's your favorite?

Dr. Brown's 

Nuk

Lansinoh

Munchkin

Tell me momma's, what works best?

As for baby food. We are on a roll.  Well, almost.

We made a big batch of green beans - not the biggest hit - but we are still trying them. Bananas and Sweet Potatoes are also still a big hit. We tried baby oatmeal and blueberries last weekend and those were also a hit! Tonight we made a big batch of chickpeas and blueberries. A Carolina Charm favorite.

Next up, apples, sweet peas, and corn. Still introducing one at a time for these, so hopefully by 8 months my child will have moved to her second hand to count the number of foods she has tried.

See variety.

I think we are getting better at this baby food thing. Updates to come!

If you knew me in high school

get to know you posts are so much fun. Like karli said, "it's like a little sneak into the past that you didn't get to be a part of" and it's also really fun to think back to such a simpler time. i mean...when was the last time you thought about the person you were in high school?

if you knew me in high school...
i had nooooo idea what to do with my curly hair. It was earth kinky curl or a frizzy mess. 

if you knew me in high school...
i worked at the flea market, making fresh-squeezed lemonade.

if you knew me in high school...
i played three sports. volleyball, basketball and softball. i think volleyball may have been my favorite... and the sport i was the worst at. maybe it was fun to be the kid that only played occasionally.

if you knew me in high school...
i was totally the teacher's pet. I was your student council "secret pal", National Honor Society president and even got the Principle's award senior year. Does that count as biggest brown-noser? 

if you knew me in high school...
my house was the party house. my brother was one year older, so we always had guys and gals hanging around. 

if you knew me in high school...
i didn't drink. or do anything against the rules. some cool kids called us the kool-aid gang. #totallyjealous

if you knew me in high school...
i thought i was cool. did i mention the kool-aid gang? we totally thought we were the popular kids, now that i think about it...i'm not sure i was. but what a nice world to live in. completely oblivious. however...

if you knew me in high school...
i was my sophomore class president. i also ran freshman year and junior year and didn't win. i finally got the hint and just didn't run senior year. 

if you knew me in high school...
i had zero style. but, i rocked some serious ribbons with my uniform. yes, ribbons in high school. did i mention i never had a boyfriend? 

if you knew me in high school...
i ate terrible. until senior year when i lived off animal crackers and pink lemonade. healthy right? i lost something like 38 pounds on animal crackers. how is that possible?

if you knew me in high school...
i shared a 1990 black jeep wrangler with my brother. aka, i drove once in a blue moon because he was older.  but, it was a pretty awesome car. 

if you knew me in high school...
i took honors classes and graduated with a 3.98 gpa. but i wasn't one of those naturally smart kids. i'm still a terrible speller. 

if you knew me in high school...
i was every guys best friend. and no ones boyfriend. whomp. whomp.

if my hubs knew me in high school...
he would have never dated me. we probably would have ran against each other for SGA president and he totally would have won. 

see, that was harmless... don't you feel like you know me now? I certainly had a good laugh.  grab the button above and play along. 

Reading Along | Food for Baby | Coloring for Momma

Sorry for being MIA these days. I'm here! Just reading along.

Elise, I love your new blog - HerHeartandHome - so perfect and so you.
Meg, I'm so happy about Baby #2.
April, I'm loving the Tipsy Bunny Bows.
Karli, you keep me laughing on the daily. Thank you!
Classic Annie - I'm loving watching Molly Anne grow. It's fun that her and Annalee are so close.

I keep thinking, man I need to blog about that OR O, I should share that, etc. But it just never happens to make it onto the blog.

So what have I been up to? Watching way too many episodes of Fixer-upper. Trying to find ways to re-decorate our little home. Actually planning out meals for the week, yay! And reading your blogs. It's so inspiring to see how many women out there are doing the same things on the daily. Cooking, cleaning, looking for deals on baby products, clothes, food, and wine. Yes, lots of wine.

Just a few updates around the Lyons' den.

Annalee is sitting up now. O yea, she's also trying to climb.

And yes, she loves her V-tech stand learning walker. Did I mention that both Grandma's got her this for Christmas. Guess it was the hot toy this year. It's awesome though. She loves playing peek-a-boo with the barn door and holding the phone, of course.

We have been enjoying some really yummy, healthy meals this week. My favorite yet was Balsamic crock-pot pork from Skinnytaste. It was so easy, healthy and the best part, the house smelled wonderful when we got home.

This momma actually made a few big batches of baby food this week and love having it handy and ready to go for the mornings. April gave me some great tips on packing for daycare, we picked up some small 4 oz. ball jars and they work great! Just pop out a cube (or two when we can start mixing) and we are good to go. We don't have a Baby Breeza, just the food processor.

Did I mention I've been coloring?  Santa brought me an adult coloring book and this weekend I finally broke it out for some fun. It's fun to feel like a kid again.

Ok, time to get back to the grind. Happy Tuesday, Y'all! 

The Best of 2015

Happy New Year friends! 2015 was a busy year for us, and the blog has suffered a bit from that. Some months I only logged in 4-5 times for an update, but that's ok,  rest assured I was keeping up with all of you... and soaking up the days with my little one. Trying to pretend that the days haven't been flying by.

2015 brought us our greatest joy - and some of our saddest days as well. I like for this blog to be filled with joy and delight - capturing our days, nights and happy memories for my little family, but April of 2015 was a really hard month for us. We lost Jesse's dad, unexpectedly, on April 17th. Just a month before his first grandchild was born. To say that every day since has been hard would be an understatement. Don't get me wrong - we have been blessed with the most wonderful little girl - but it's hard not to think about all the joy she brings us, and how much joy she would have brought to Mr. Wayford. We see so much of him in our sweet Annalee though, and it's a constant reminder that God is watching over us and continues to bless us everyday.

With that aside, it's been a beautiful year for us! Here are the Top 10 Posts of 2015.

one. Baby Lyons | Week 38... She's here!

two. Baby Lyons | Week 25 ~ Guest Blogger

three. Rock-a-Bye Baby Lyons

four. Baby Lyons | Introducing Miss Annalee Estelle

five. An Ornament Exchange | Holiday Party Favors

six. Four Years | My 4 favorite things about YOU

seven. Amelia Island Babymoon

eight. House Remodel: Guest Bedroom

nine. Traveling with a Newborn

ten. New Car and Weekending

....and in case you're curious what 2014 looked like for us, the Top 10 posts of 2014.

Many thanks to each of you following along. It's so fun looking back at our life via this little space.

Annalee Estelle | Seven Months

Annalee,

What a joy the holiday season has been with you. We have always loved the holidays, but to watch your face light up at the lights, pretty packages, and decorations has been our greatest Christmas joy! This month you have grown the cutest little personality. You finally rolled over from your belly to your back and laughed in amazement. Quickly there after you started rolling over in your crib - staring at us from all fours when we come to get you in the mornings.  You love to chew on anything you can get your hands on, and have started to get upset when we take things away.... especially our phones and cords. Why do you love those so much? You started sitting on your own, which has given you a whole new view of the world - no more laying down for you - you would much rather be up and talking. Mommy and Daddy are your favorite, which is fine by us! We love that you know who we are, and it's sorta cute when you get upset when we leave. Sad, but so cute.

Seven Month Highlights:

• 16lbs, 3oz., 27.7 inches, 17 in head circumference, still rocking those bright blue eyes and are blond hair - that is really starting to fill-in.
• Wearing 9 month clothing and 6-9 month pajamas \\ Pampers size 2 diapers
• Nicknames: Anna Banana \\ Sweet Pea \\ Pumpkin \\ Little Bit 
• Tricks: You finally rolled over {from belly to back} on November 29 \\ You also rolled from back to belly in your crib on December 12 \\ You love focusing on small things and grabbing things with your fingers \\ You started sitting on your own around December 13, but really got the hang of it around Christmas
• Favorite toys: Stand and play station with train \\ Sophie \\ Frog seat \\ All Books \\ taggy blanket \\ Your baby doll from Papa Sam
• Favorite books: The Christmas Story \\ Tinsel Tots \\ The Spirit of Christmas 
• Food: Momma's Milk, Bananas, Rice Cereal, and Sweet Potatoes
• Trips: The Greenbrier to meet Santa and home for the Holidays to see Gramma in NC and my family on the Gulf Coast. 8 hours is about your max in the car, but you were such a good sport  
• Holidays: Your first Christmas was magical! {And Momma's first birthday with you - number 32 - does that count as a holiday?} 
• Cheered on your Auburn Tigers during your first Iron Bowl - at home in Lexington, of course. 
• Attended your first Lexington candlelight processional and Christmas parade
• You know your name and turn when we call you!
• You are still a great sleeper - we went through a bit of a growth spirt right after your 6th month birthday, where you started waking more at night - starving. But that only lasted a few nights and after a week or so, you started sleeping through the night again. 
• You are not much of a long napper, but you are getting better. We can tell that you sleep better at night when you nap during the day - so we are working on naps. 
• You are laughing so much and talking up a storm! Da, Da, Da.... Bah, Bah, Bah
• You had a little cough/cold this month - but it worked it's way out without a trip to the doc.
• You started sitting in your Bumpo seat and seem to like it.
• For Christmas you got a door jumpy from Santa and you love to jump, jump, jump.

Seven Month Favorites {Items We Couldn't Live Without}:

Stand and Play \\ Pineapple Boppy \\ Bumpo seat \\ Reindeer Wubbanub \\ Playmat \\ Humidifier \\ Bibs \\ No Pain-apple Teether \\ doorway jumper \\ taggy blanket 

Pictures from this month:

Lexington Candlelight Processional

My first Iron Bowl. War Eagle!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Enjoying some bananas in my new Pineapple bib.

Celebrating mommy's 32nd birthday

Visiting Santa at The Greenbrier.

Christmas Morning at Gramma's 

After Christmas Mass

2nd Christmas on the Coast

Jump, Jump!

One // Two // Three // Four // Five // Six