so.. it's been a while (part 1)

I can't believe it's been since February that I have posted on my blog.... now given I forgot my password. I randomly decided to try again today and somehow it magically came back to me. I don't even know where to begin.. I have so much to catch everyone up on that I have to do it in two parts... yes I have that much to go over. So let's dust the keyboard off and get started ;)



March 2016

I really do love the month of March. It's my all time favorite (besides the Holidays) because it's my birthday and anniversary month.

This year I turned the big 2-3 and this is the first bday that I really wasn't all about celebrating and making a big deal out of. I decided the only thing I really wanted to do was hang out with my boys. Dakota took the day off and we went to the beach for some raw oysters! Peg leg pete's is delicious and has a variety of yummy food. I even treated myself to a virgin pina-colada (getting crazy over here). After lunch we headed to the Gulfarium and showed Walker a ton of pretty fish and different species. We even watched a dolphin show! Walker was so intrigued. I love watching the world through his little curious eyes.

The next few days fly by and it's our 3rd wedding anniversary. Once again, we didn't do anything big. We had bought new bedroom furniture with our tax return money and said that was our present to each other. We also had a cruise coming up and was trying to save as much money as possible for excursions and such. We both had to work and decided to have a nice night in eating chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. Dakota even surprised me and turned on our first dance song. He started twirling me around and dancing in the kitchen. It was just one of those nights you won't forget. It was also baby free... so that was a nice touch too.

April 2016


This is one of the months that I had MIXED emotions about. My baby boy's birthday month. Luckily I had some time mentally to prepare myself since his birthday was towards the end of April, but still... when April 1 popped up on the calendar it was like a punch in the gut. WHAT?! How in the world did his first year go SO fast? I wanted so badly to blog his first birthday, but now it was so long ago all I have is pictures. So readers.. be prepared for some first birthday spam.

Walker's birthday fell on a Friday this year so Dakota and I both took off of work and spent the day with our little guy. He woke up to birthday pancakes and a new toy. His daddy had to go above and beyond for his birthday present and still to this day he rides that thing almost everyday. Once we all got ready we went to Chili's for lunch and ordered him a kids meal.. since he's not a little baby anymore!! We had some coupons for Babies R us and decided to take him there. We got an invite in the mail from Babies R us that if you bring in your little on on their actual birthday they get a surprise! Walker got a birthday crown and a balloon which lasted all of 5 seconds. Really just enough for me to get a picture. It was cute though because it was his day and he knew it. That afternoon we stopped to get ice cream as one last treat before going home. We had to prep for the birthday party coming up!!

The next day was his birthday party and I was up super early to clean the house and get all the decorations up. His theme was airplanes and it was a huge hit. Thanks Pinterest for hooking your girl up once again. I had been planning his birthday party since he was 8 months old. Buying things here and there. Dakota probably hated me at some point because I was always getting something in the mail and stashing it with the other 35928592 boxes in the laundry room.

His birthday party turned out amazing. Great weather, fun people, and yummy food. I won't lie when I tell you I already know what I want to do for his 2nd birthday.

May 2016

This year May was a fun month for me. I graduated College with my BAS degree, hubs took me cruising as a graduation present, and I started my weight loss journey. All of the three listed were a first time for me.

On May 7, 2016 I walked across that stage and received my diploma. It was the greatest feeling ever knowing I finally did it and I made my loved ones proud. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I don't think I have ever smiled so much! After I walked across the stage I had to take 42762 photos with my family and of me in my cap and gown. It was literally a moment I had dreamed of. Honestly, I didn't think I was going to graduate. Having a baby really slowed me down and I had failed a few classes and gotten off track... but I got my crap together and made it happen.

On May 9, 2016 the hubs and I were in New Orleans waiting to get on our cruise ship. I had never been to New Orleans before and let me just say... it's not somewhere I would want to live or visit often. High volume of people and traffic.. not really for this small town girl. I was super excited to get on that cruise ship though!! We sailed on the Carnival Triumph and had a blast. We went to Mexico and had authentic Margaritas/Tacos, went to a Mayan village and swam in the underwater caverns, went free diving in crystal clear water, lost tons of money in the casino, and so on. It was one of the best vacations I have ever had. We were away from our little one for 5 nights though and that was pretty tough. Coming back home to our kiddo was the best feeling ever. We have a cruise planned in March for our 4th wedding anniversary. We are flying to Puerto Rico and I have my countdown set!

While on our cruise I hated every picture I took. I wore a one piece bathing suit, and felt super insecure about myself in anything I wore. I hardly posted any pictures of our cruise because I just felt gross. So when we got back I weighed myself and I couldn't believe I had put on another 5 pounds to my already high up there weight. I weighed 180 pounds.... um excuse me?! Those numbers ate at me. I was the heaviest I had ever been and all my confidence was thrown out of the window. I didn't feel pretty and I hated my husband seeing me naked. So I decided it was time to get all of this baby weight off and get back down to a healthy and more confident weight. At first I was just dieting and didn't do any exercising. The first few weeks were extremely tough.. I was the definition of Hangry. I was used to eating whatever I wanted and my portion control was crazy. Eating smaller meals and always feeling hungry really made me get depressed. I told myself that I couldn't do it and I was ready to give up.. .once again. I guess I'll just be fat and use the baby weight excuse. One weekend we met up with my in laws and had lunch. She had just lost 20+ pounds and looked so good. They were about to go on their cruise and were super strict on themselves. I asked her how she did it and the obvious diet and exercise was the answer. She showed me her before and after photos and I was so envious. I wanted to be that girl in the photos. If she could lose all of her baby weight, then so could I.

That night Dakota took pictures of me and I'm so glad he did. I knew I was big, but I just really let myself go. I cried that night and was so mad at myself. I promised I would take this weight loss seriously.. I had to. My health depended on it.. and really so did my marriage. I knew my husband loved me, but he wasn't as physically attracted to me. I mean how could he be? I decided to join a bootcamp and I am still to this day glad I did. It has really kicked my butt in shape. I get up every morning at 4:45 am and workout starts at 5:15 and I get done around 6. I have gotten used to it now, but I had to make myself go in the very beginning.
I am SO extremely happy to say that I have lost over 20 pounds and tons of inches. I lost ALL of my baby weight and more. I'm still dieting and exercising.. my goal weight is 140-145 depending on how I feel! Right now I feel amazing... I finally look myself and feel pretty in clothes. I'm so glad I took this weight loss seriously because I never want to go back to the "old" me!!

Sorry for the novel, but I have been away for a while. Stick around for part 2!

An eventful weekend (recap)!

Friday I had to work and for the last few weeks I have been at an office in Tiger Point covering for them while they are waiting for their new receptionist to start. I usually don't work on Fridays, but last week I did and I'm sure glad I did! The doctors took the whole office out to lunch at the Grand Marlin! I literally haven't been to the GM in a few years! They told us to order whatever we wanted and I got sweet tea and the fish tacos... delicious! Both of the Doctors I work for currently are so nice and definitely worth the drive out there. With my job I travel and go to different offices throughout the week that need coverage. I'm PRN so I only work as needed which is awesome because I am full time in school. I graduate with my Bachelors in May so this job is pretty sweet for the time being. After work I met my MIL at the mall to pick up Walker. I hung out with her, my sis in law, and her boyfriend and shopped around. After the mall we went to Ichiban for some yummy sushi! I fed Walker some cucumber salad and he loved it. He also had a bit of eel sauce and rice. The boy loves food and is not a picky eater at all.

"Hannah's bf Cole trying to make Walker laugh"

Saturday morning was pretty chill. Dakota had to work and I had pictures scheduled for 2:00 that afternoon. We played and really just wasted time until it was time to leave. My friend Kirsten is pretty handy with wood and a hammer and always makes really cute stuff! Well she made a little setup for kids to take pictures and of course I had to take advantage of it. Walker did SO good. She was his last baby for the day and she said he was the best. Seriously, I have the happiest kid and everytime he's infront of a camera he knows to smile. Thank goodness because I don't want to pay for something and him frown the whole time. We were done in about 30 minutes and I can't wait to get the CD in the mail. Once we left there we headed to Target for an essentials trip. Of course I can't go in Target and not get Walker something cute. I ended up spending way more than I wanted too, but clothes are essentials right? After we left Target we went to visit Dakota at work. I always am anxious to visit Dakota because his job isn't an office job where he's there 8 hours a day. He's a Paramedic and always running calls. We actually were there 30 minutes before he got a call and it was so nice visiting with him. Of course he was eating Walker up and was loving every minute of it. That night we ate at my Granny's house and she watched little man for a little bit while I finished up some homework.

"Behind the scenes of Walker's V day shoot"

"Walks and Daddy <3"

Sunday morning I did laundry and cleaned around the house until it was time to leave for the Ervin's Gender Reveal party!! I was with Chandler when she found out she was pregnant and I have been waiting for this party forever it seems like. She is 14 weeks and did a blood test to find out the gender. It was really cute and the theme was Valentines. I wish I would have snapped a few pictures of the decorations, but my hands were full with Walker and other peoples babies. It was so creative how they found out the gender! Our friend Jordan knew the gender and bought silly string. Well she put two in the middle for Ben and Chan to shoot each other and then put the rest of the cans in a circle for us to shoot them once we found out. Little did we know that Jordan had a trick up her sleeve!! When Ben and Chan shot each other the silly string was PINK! We all started cheering for them. She already has two girls and we were all hoping for a little boy, but once we started shooting them it was BLUE!!!! The shock on their face was priceless. Everyone started screaming and Ben about died from excitement. So little baby Ervin is a BOY and due August 7th. I am SO excited. I get another little baby to love on and Walker gets a best friend to grow up with. Jordan and I are already planning her shower for June!

"Getting all clean for the reveal"

"IT'S A BOY"

"So much fun"

"Love this family"

That night we all went over to the Ervin's house for some pizza and to watch the Superbowl. Of course I didn't do much watching of the game and had girl talk and wine with my besties and watched the kiddos play. Chandler was already shopping online and looking at everything boy related. This little guy is going to be SO spoiled and SO loved.. It kind of gave me the feels and a tad bit of baby fever. This time last year we knew we were having a little boy and getting ready to have our first baby shower for Walker. However, just the excitement of her baby keeps my ovaries happy (for now). JK...

"Walkie and Uncle Josh"

It was an exciting and eventful weekend for sure! I'm super excited for this weekend because Dakota is off and I get to spend every minute of it with my Valentine's. :)

Weekend Recap!

I haven't done a weekend recap in lord knows how long! I decided to do one from this weekend (even if it is a little late) because there were so many firsts and I loved every minute of it.

"Oh I love Christmas time"

Friday, I worked a half day and met my mother in law and Walker for lunch. We ate at Chili's and it was so good. I haven't been out with just my MIL in a long time and I really enjoyed her company. We caught up and talked about the kids and Christmas plans! Walker was so good the entire time and even watched some football that was on the T.V above us. Once we left I loaded Walker up and we headed to Hobby Lobby to meet my bestie and her little girls. I needed to find some gifts for some family members and she wanted to look at some Christmas decorations. I seriously love this store. If I received gift cards from everyone for Hobby Lobby and Kirkland's I would be one happy girl. After we checked out we headed to the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner. We decided to cook for the guys instead of going out. The menu consisted of Salad, Spaghetti, and Cookies. My husband decided to eat 6 which didn't leave much for everyone else because the second batch was accidentally burnt! While we over there my best friend was surprised with some BIG news! She's expecting Baby Ervin #3 !!!!! To say she was shocked in an understatement. I was feeding Walker and all of a sudden I hear her screaming from the bathroom. They just announced the pregnancy on Sunday and it's seriously the cutest thing ever.

"Baby #3 announcement"

Saturday, Dakota and I took Walker to the mall! We wanted our little guy to get a picture with Santa! We waited in line for about 30 minutes and I was nervous about how Walker would react. Some other kids just started at him and gave really uneasy looks to their parents. Some others screamed, and guess what my child did? He pulled on Santa's beard and gave us a big smile! He loved it & I love how the pictures turned out. We put him in some suspenders and a Santa hat and he was the cutest thing ever. I'm going to cherish these pictures forever! I can't believe it's already my baby's first Christmas! After we left the mall we headed to the Gulf Breeze Zoo to look at the Christmas lights. We met all of Dakota's family and their church friends. The lights were super cute and Walker was sitting in his stroller just staring at everything. He really enjoyed the flashing lights and I'm sure if he were in my arms he would want to get his hands on the ones that were hanging like icicles. We also went on a train ride and he smiled the entire time. It was pitch black so we didn't get to really see any of the animals, but it was still a fun time. Walker didn't cry the entire time and let me take several pictures of him. Usually he gets tired of the flash, but he was the one flashing that gummy smile!

"Walker and Santa"

"Three generations of Ward boys"

"Walker and Cole"

"Us on the train ride"

 

Sunday, Dakota took Walker to church while I stayed home and got ready to go to school. It's finals week and I had to meet my group for the second to last time. Once I got home I found Dakota in the backyard with one of his friends clearing out the trees and burning piles of sticks. I even helped out a little bit before it got dark. We are wanting to have a clean backyard with a fence and a concrete slab for Walker to play on! We live on a main road so we don't want him playing out in the front yard. Once Dakota is done clearing out all of the trees we can start building our fence! Oh I can't wait! I have an idea of how I want Walker's FIRST Birthday to go, but we can touch more on that later.

"Can't wait for the end result"

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!

Thanksgiving 2015

This Thanksgiving was our first as a family of three and that made it all the more special! I knew the Holidays would be fun with a new baby, but I didn't realize how warm it would make my heart. Just seeing Walker with all of his family members and how excited everyone was to celebrate with him made my heart melt all over the place. Last year on Thanksgiving I was pregnant and we all couldn't wait for him to be here. Now that our little turkey is here and already 7 months old blows my mind.

"The cutest turkey you ever did see"

We started off the morning with a fun little Photo shoot of Walker in his cute little turkey hat! (Side note: I went to three different Targets to find this hat)! He is always so smiley and in the best mood when he first wakes up. His face is also swollen which makes his cheeks that much more juicy and adorable for pictures! I took so many cute pictures, but obviously only uploaded 1 to social media... because let's face it, really only I care to scroll through 10 of the same pictures of my child! After taking up all of my storage capacity on the camera scroll I fed Walker some breakfast and we did our daily routine. He played in his exersaucer/walker and I cleaned up the house and did some laundry. Dakota was finally up at this point and we just relaxed on the couch. We didn't need to be over at my Granny's house until 1 and she lives right next door. We all took our showers, got ready, and popped my green bean casserole in the oven! Once we got to my granny's she had a huge feast laid out. My dad brought Walker his own sweet potatoes that he ate on while eating some of my mashed potatoes. I let Walker have some Thanksgiving food and he loved it. After eating we took tons of pictures and let out food settle until digging into the dessert. My brother's girlfriend is from New Zealand and she brought a homemade dessert that was literally heaven in my mouth. Truthfully, I couldn't tell you all that was in it.. but I didn't care. It melted in my mouth and I'm ok with that.


"What I'm most Thankful for"

"My sweet boy"

"<3"

"Eating his sweet potatoes"

 

After socializing with my family we had to leave them to go visit Dakota's side of the family. We switch off every year and we went to Dakota's last year, but still wanted to visit them because of it being Walker's first Thanksgiving. When we got there everyone was laying on the couch about to fall asleep. From what I could tell they had a yummy feast as well. I brought a Black Friday ad for us to look through and I didn't see that many good sales, but I still wanted to go. Dakota and I left Walker at his moms so we could go to Target. It was a bust... literally was a waste of time. Usually I go in Target and get a couple people checked off on my Christmas list, but I couldn't find anything. We ended up getting a few random things for each other, but I would have rather stayed at Dakota's parents and spent more time with them. When we got back to his parents Charlotte was still over there and they were playing and being cuties as usual. Walker loves to watch his daddy juggle which is what both of these kiddos are doing in the picture. I snapped a video of Walker laughing his little heart out, but Charlotte was either unsure of what was going on or didn't find it funny, lol. Either way it was a fun night and I enjoyed watching the kiddos!

"Watching Dakota juggle"

All in all it was a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'm so incredibly thankful for my two guys. I know with more of the Holidays coming up and Walker getting older will only make them more fun! I hope everyone else had a good Thanksgiving filled with lots of stuffing and stretchy pants!

Holland Farms & Halloween

"His First Halloween"

Saturday was Halloween, and what better way to start the day than to take Walker to his first trip to Holland Farms! His Daddy had to work, but we met my Sister In Law  and her main squeeze with their little one. We got there a little earlier than them so we went ahead and played in the corn box, and with some pumpkins. It was so cute watching him play in the corn box. He wasn't too sure what it was and mainly watched the other kids play and smiled. He's so curious of older kids and you can tell he wants to play with them. Once everyone else got there we walked around with the kids and showed them some farm animals and took pictures at photo props. Walker is around babies quite often, but for some reason when he's around Charlotte he reaches for her and wants to give her "kisses" which is usually sucking on her head. It's the funniest thing and Charlotte just sits there and looks at us like is he really doing this again? They are so precious together and I'm so glad that they will always have each other to play with.

"Playing in the corn pit"

"My sweet pumpkin"

"Watching the older kids play"

"Giving Charlotte kisses"

 

 

 

Once we left the farm we went to lunch with them and then headed home. Walker was way past overdue on his nap and cried the whole way home from lunch. I tried to lay him down before we went over to my parents house for dinner and trick or treating, but he was fighting it. Finally I gave up and let him play in his pack n play. He played the whole time until it was time to go. Once we got to my parents he was a little fussy and then after dinner when we tried getting him ready in his outfit he screamed the entire time. Poor guy was exhausted. The weather ended up being bad anyways, so all we wanted to do was take pictures. We took maybe 5 all together and only 2 turned out ok. It was the cutest outfit ever and I was so excited to see him in it, but again he's only 6 months old. If he's not having a good time it's not going to happen. Next year will be a lot more fun with the whole dressing up! After we undressed him I cuddled him in my arms and he was out like a light. 

"The cutest Lumberjack"

"Our one picture before the meltdown"

Overall, it was a perfect first Halloween with my little guy! Holidays are so much more fun with him. I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas!