The need to let it go

Happy 2014! Hope y'all are eatin' your peas and collards for some luck and money in the new year! Our New Years dinner is being reserved for this evening when my mom whips up some southern goodness; in the meantime, we've made do with leftover pizza and crockpot meatballs for lunch. We're healthy around here.

I hope your hangover (whether alcohol or sleep induced or both) isn't too bad. We spent the better half of NYE with good friends and our kids. Hellraisers lemme tell ya! All of our guests were gone by 10:30, and I sat on the couch, drinking a Strawberrita, waiting on the ball drop. At midnight Adam and I kissed, hugged, got in the bed, and passed out. Isn't it funny how the picture of NYE in our heads never turns out to be reality? In my mind I'm wearing a short, sparkly dress, a pair of gorgeous Jimmy Choo's, false lashes, and drinking lots of bubbly, while having the time of my life, and taking a ton of Instagramable pictures. Reality: I'm in my leopard-print Fab'rik leggings (thanks Meg) because not only are they so cute, BUT they also have an elastic waistband which is a must these days, and my JSimp black wedges.....that came off within 15 minutes of putting them on. Sigh. NYE 2015 is my bitch- mark.my.words.

I woke up this morning feeling a little underwhelmed, and just not as excited for a new year and clean slate as most people are. If you look on FB most people's attitudes are "out with the old, in with the new" and I totally get it, and that's probably the mantra I should be repeating right now, but I'm just not feeling it today. Maybe I will tomorrow. It might be a month....or more. The thing is, 2013 was a wonderful year for our family. We had a beautiful baby girl, bought a home....Hunger Games: Catching Fire finally came out! (I'm not joking.) I'm just not ready to kick 13 in it's ass on the way out. Look, I'm crazy. The day after Christmas I'm usually spiraling away in a deep, dark place crying into my stocking while stuffing my face with Reese's Pieces. In 2008 I had the double whammy of Christmas being over AND finishing the fourth and final book in the Twilight series. Wow- talk about meltdown. Adam found me in our tiny bathroom, crying the buck-tooth ugly cry, cursing Stephenie Meyer. My mom says that was my weird year- bahahah.
I'll get with the 2014 program eventually. I just need time. I'm not one that embraces change, but once I'm there I'm good. While I slowly rip off the bandage, I'll be thinking about resolutions for the new year because what's better than a clean slate, right?? Here's a few:

• To blog more. I know I say this every year, but I need to set it in stone. I love my blog, and I love having a place to unload my crazy thoughts. 
• To not be so overly sensitive and/or read too much into anything. I'm dramatic; sometimes it's great, sometimes it sucks.
• To lose 15 pounds. I still have 5 pounds of baby weight + 10 extra pounds of pre-baby weight that needs to come off. I would, at some point in the near future, like to wear something that actually buttons and zips- woohoo!
• To have more patience with Aaron. He's at that age where (Lord, help me) some days he drives me crazy....and I let it show. Not good.
• To cherish my husband more. He's a good man and I'm a lucky girl.
• To pay off debt, save some moolah, and buy a new car! 

That's a pretty good start, right?  What are your resolutions?

~LL

Merry (belated) Christmas!!

Hi friends!

Hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas!!   It went by too fast, didn't it??  We have had a big year with the birth of our baby girl, and our new home, so Adam and I decided not to exchange gifts and just give to the kids and it worked out great.  Santa must have really thought Aaron was a good boy because he racked up: a bike, basketball hoop, computer, new train set, a tent, a train set, etc.  Harper got baby doll(s), clothes, a few toys, and an exersaucer.   Her Christmas gift to mom was a big, beautiful laugh on Christmas Day- melt.my.heart.  We are so incredibly blessed with these beautiful children!

Between my parents and Adam's parents I racked up as well! Riding Boots, the Naked 3 palette, some adorable shearling-lined Moccasins that I'm obsessed with, a photo printer, clothes, etc.  AND, I'm typing on my brand-new bluetooth wireless keyboard- whoop! I'm spoiled. So spoiled.

Here's some pics of our last few weeks:

Aaron decorating his tree.  Sweet baby!

She's smiling all the time now & I love it!

Goofball

JT with the girls

Jessica's birthday dinner

My cousin, Kate's, gorgeous wedding with the hubs

My  sister's gorge

"Twas the night before Christmas"

Santa's letter to Aaron

Now, a rundown:

• Dean cheated on Tori.  Shocker?  Absolutely not. The fact that he told his mistress he was in a "sexless" marriage?  What a dbag.  Obviously you didn't have a "sexless" marriage, dude.   She birthed 4 of your children, and almost died carrying your fourth.  You're a freak.
• Y'all know I was ALL about watching "I Am Britney Jean" on E! and I was pleasantly surprised at how normal she was.  Go Brit-Brit!  Now, who wants to go to Vegas?!?!
• We still need to talk about Queen Bey's new album, but I have a baby that wants Mom so I gotta go.  Next time it's on!

Happy day after Christmas!!

~LL

Let the Groove Get In!

I cannot believe Christmas Eve is a week from today. This randomly hit me as I was vacuuming this morning; a week from today we'll be in full-blown Christmas craziness. Luckily, we are DONE with Christmas shopping, and all that's left to do is gift wrap. Have I mentioned that I just properly learned how to wrap a present....last year...at the age of 30. Yep. I've always been a gift bag girl, and when I did attempt the art of gift wrapping let's just say that I could have easily passed it off as Aaron's work. I decided last year, "Time to grow up, Hayley. This year you will wrap.every.damn.present." And I did. And they were presentable. This year can only get better, y'all! This time next year, I'll have a gift wrapping room. Looks like somebody's found their inner Martha- whoop!

In other random news, I found a dress to wear to my cousin's wedding this weekend. It's adorable! After hitting up Dillard's, and realizing that I can only afford to shop their clearance racks on a good day ($110 and up for a cocktail dress- no thanks!) I popped on over to Lizard Thicket (http://www.shoplizardthicket.com) and found my LBD. Here's a pic:

I love it. The top is a halter-style (which is always flattering) and pinkish-gold-bronze sequins; the skirt is A-line and very flattering as well. Look, I need as much black and "flattering" as I can get right now! I'm wearing a pair of nude pumps and gold jewelry. Adam's wearing a skinny tie with his suit (so handsome!). We are just so excited to dress up, drink, and dance. It's been too long!

In other news, this picture has hit the web and I can barely contain myself:

Do you see that?!? ASkars and Prince Harry....in a pic... TOGETHER. Agh!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even handle this. Who's more delicious?!? I can't decide! Both of them don't mind getting naked that's for sure. ;)

Who watched GMA this morning? Thoughts on the Katy Perry/John Mayer video, "Who You Love?" Here's mine:

- Her makeup is gorge in the video. Very fresh and natural. 

- I love this song.

- I think they might be the real deal. As I type this, he's probably gotten all relaysh-phobic again and dumped her via Twitter. 

In an effort to save the best for last, guess who's going to see JT tonight?!? This girl!!!! I'm trying not to think too much about it because I have to stay in mommy mode until 3:30 when I blow this joint. The last time I saw him in concert was 2007 (come to think of it, that probably was his last tour) and it was amazing.  There will be a blog post on the concert by Friday- hopefully by Thursday. I'm not even going to attempt a blog sesh tomorrow as I will probably be way too hungover from Phillips overpriced Chardonnay. Holla!

"She kill me with that coo-coochie-coochie-coo"- TKO y'all.

Yes, I did just write that- whoop!

~LL

P.S. We still have to talk about Queen Bey's new album- holy s---. Amazeballs!

Venting

Two blog posts in two days....what, what!

No, on the real....I need to vent. I'm exhausted. Shit literally hit....the floor yesterday afternoon. I picked Aaron up from school, and he kept on complaining that his neck was hurting. I just assumed he fell down during recess, blew it off, and headed home to fix lunch. Aaron was unusually quiet on the way home, and as soon as we walked in the door he headed to the couch to lay down. Me, still clueless, checked his tempature-nothing, but I went ahead and gave him a dose of Ibuprofen just to take the edge off. A little while later I notice that he had that glassy, "I'm totally going to puke" look. It occurred to me at that moment, "I probably should get a towel," and you better believe as soon as I grabbed it I was catching puke in my hands. My poor baby- he was crying and so confused. After I managed to get him (and everything else) cleaned up, I checked his temp again and it was 99.7- low-grade but higher than normal. I called the Ped just to double-check and they said just to bring him in to be on the safe side, and I'm glad I did because my little guy has strep. Bless his heart, he's on ten days of antibiotics. I'm just hoping and praying I don't get this junk. I'm popping Airborne like candy.

On top of all that dramz, baby girl decided she was not ready to go to sleep until 1 freakin' AM last night. Yeah, I wish I was lying. And, she was up by 6 this morning to eat. We have got to get this kid on a schedule. I am the walking dead. Y'all should see the black under my eyes.....it's scary.

Anyway, if you're reading thanks for listening. I'm fixing to give Harper her last bottle and head to bed myself. Wish me luck!

*I promise to blog about things other than puke and schedules next time.

~LL

Tis the season for fun!

Ugh....sorry I'm so slack about updating my blog lately. Half of the reason is I just haven't had the time and the other half is the fact that I hate blogging from my iPad. Don't get me wrong, I love my iPad but I miss a keyboard. Where is the best place to get a keyboard for the iPad, btw?? This is a Christmas wish (hint, hint) for all you family members reading this blog!

Since I last blogged, my mini-me hit the 2 month mark! Here's her milestone pic, is she not the cutest?!?

I heart her. <3<3

Since I last blogged we've gotten two month shots (the worst), hosted 25 family members for Thanksgiving, and Catching Fire finally hit theaters (lerve)! 

With Christmas finally upon us we have already been in full swing with Christmas parties and get-togethers. My Macon girls came up to Gtown (we missed you, Brooke!) for our annual Christmas dinner/gift exchange last Friday night, and last night my Griffin girls and I got together for the same. I wore my Fab'rik leather leggings to both parties because:

1) I am in dire need of new clothes and have nothing "partyish" to wear

and

2) They work like Spanx in that they're so tight they hold in this post-preg/post-section belly. 

Maybe Santa should bring me a treadmill for Christmas?

Adam and I celebrated six years of marriage this past Sunday. Besides being married six years, we've been together 8 years this past October! That blows my mind. Almost a decade I've been with this man....crazy. Here's to 60 more anniversaries, babe!

Thanks Graceology for this amazing pic- it's my fave!

The rest of this blog entry is going to be bulleted since baby girl could wake from her nap at any moment:

* I am nursing a maj hangover today. Last night Natalie introduced me to Cran-Brr-Rita's and let's just say we hit it off. Yolo.

* The one good thing about today is that I woke up a with a case of bed-head that legitimately looked good. Have no idea how that happened, but I am thankful. The good man upstairs knew I needed one less thing on my plate today.

* Paul Walker's death. So tragic. I am so sad about it. Now I'm psychotically googling him. Did y'all know he had a girlfriend half his age? AND, that he was just in Macon eating at Chillis the Sunday before Thanksgiving?? So, so sad.

* Are y'all watching Scandal?? If not, you need to. It's ah-ma-zing.

* Aaron is out of school for 3 weeks starting this weekend. Lord help me.

* My precious cousin, Kate, is marrying her adorable fiancé, Ben, December 21st and I am so pumped for their wedding! Still need a dress to wear.....ideas?? I'm definitely thinking LBD. I'm putting the hubby in a skinny tie. This will be our first spend-the-night away evening from both kids. I could not be more excited!

Alright, gotta go. Promise to update sooner!

~LL

It's all relevant

I can't believe it's already Monday again! Where did the weekend go?? Granted, we didn't hardly do anything. Although I'm starting to venture out with Harper a little more, I'm still not comfortable taking her tons of places- with all of the sickness and germs going around right now I'd rather keep her at home. Since Adam works all the time and barely gets to do the things he wants to do, he headed out to watch the Ga/Auburn game Saturday at a friends house, and I stayed home with the kiddos. I find it crazy that I freely admit to not giving a sh... about football, but have my TV on the game when Adam's not around. Heck, I even paused the game for a diaper change so as not to miss anything. Who am I?? This is cray.

I'm not gonna lie- I was experiencing some postpartum blues this weekend. At the top of the list- this post-preg bod. I am starting Weight Watchers today. Although I've lost all my baby weight (and a little more) I'm still pounds away from where I need to be. And it's not like I've been trying super hard- I'm not going to turn down a trip to ChickfilA or anything. I need to be putting baby girl in her stroller and walking while Aaron's at school. Maybe I'll start that today.....or tomorrow.

Another thing irking me? Shitty friends. Yep, I said it. I have had my feelings hurt not once, not twice, but three times over the past week over these so-called friends. I'm having a major case of "left outitis"- (tried to make that work). If you're reading, you know who you are. The people that host parties, dinners, etc. and only invite an exclusive group. How high school is that? Over it. FYI- I would never purposely leave anyone out because I would never want to hurt anyone's feelings. But I guess that's just the type of friend I am.

Damn. That felt good.

Anyway, this is not a "I'm feeling sorry for myself" post. This is a "taking notes- moving on" post.

In wonderful news, my good friend Brooke gave birth to her beautiful baby girl, Brinley, last Thursday. I had the pleasure of meeting her last night, and she's such a love muffin! Congrats Brookie!

Friday, while racking my brain for gift ideas for Brooke, I came up with this: a newborn survival kit:

 

Inside I included: a bottle of wine (standard), Dry Shampoo (because y'all know we don't have time to do this hurr), Mascara and Lip Gloss (because most of the time if you do get ready that's all you have time for), a pack of gum (let's be real: we're so sleep-deprived some days we can't remember if we brushed our teeth), and a magazine. These are things that helped me survived those first few weeks in the trenches. 

Hope all of you have a fabulous Monday! Gotta get my little buddy ready for school!

~LL

I will survive!

Up until I had Harper, getting up at 5:00 seemed almost laughable. Although I am technically "one of those morning people," getting up at any hour before 7 (pre-baby) was a lost cause.

Not anymore.

Every day around 5 AM, my little posse (Harper and Sophie May) and I sleepily walk the hallway, prepare bottles, coffee, etc. and begin our day. After Harper has her bottle and is settled back down, I head back to my room, stare longingly at my bed, and hop in the shower. Because as much as I want to crawl back into that comfy bed, I know that with a three year old waking up soon that ain't happening. 

And our day begins.

And you know what? I'm getting the hang of this (early) early bird thang. I must admit that it's nice running errands and getting them done before noon. It's nice not looking like a ragamuffin (most of the time) when I drop Aaron off at school. Of course, every time I think we're onto something, Harper throws a wrench into those plans. Days that I think to myself, "Girl, you got this- this is a piece of cake," Harper's fussy all day, doesn't nap, and decides to take a massive poop while I'm wearing her in the Moby at the grocery store. Ahhh....the life of the mom of a newborn- so glamorous!

We are surviving. We are making it- some days just barely. I know six months from now I'll barely remember the exhaustion of this time- I hope so, anyway! 

All this being said, she is such a little love. A mini, baby girl version of my Aaron Mo. I am crazy about her. Her hair's already getting long in the back (true story) and she's wearing three-month clothing (she likes to eat like Mom!). She's still sleeping in her Rock and Play sleeper in our room, and we're trying to transition her to her crib which is not easy. 

In an effort to not let Laughing Lolly be ALL about baby, let's catch up on some other stuff:

- I need a new car. That '98 Toyota Avalon (AKA: The Mamakat) is not cutting it anymore. It especially looks gangster right now because a routine oil change turned into having to put on my full-size spare tire as my back passenger side tire was about to blow due to a nail that's obviously been there for ages. That wouldn't be bad, except for the fact that they didn't put the tire back on my car's actual rim, and instead put in on a random black rim. Who am I? Joker's Wild?? Jesus. Headed back to the car shop today. In the meantime, Adam and I have made an executive decision that I need a "newer" car, in other words used but like new. So begins the car search....

- Hunger Games: Catching Fire starts next Friday. Aghhhhhh!!!! Who's going with me? I must admit, I've pretty much left JHutch in the dust and have now jumped the Liam H bandwagon- he's so much hotter to me now that he's dumped that twerking, foam-finger Miley; however, I will always be Team Peeta, y'all. Ride or die.

- I've been pretty bored with Walking Dead this season (all those body fluids are seriously grossing me out) and made my dissatisfaction known on FB but had to retract my statement as "The Guv-Nah" is back. And you know, I'm just gonna say it, I think he's hot. There. I said it. Hatas gonna hate!

Gotta go now. I will *attempt* to update sooner than later. Enjoy your day, friends!

~LL