So much going on...

Well, I guess I will start from Wednesday night. Antonio gives Tatum her baths at least 95% of the time and she just loves bathtime with Daddy. We decided that since she didn't like the big bathtub by herself, maybe she would like bathtime with Daddy in there too. And we were right, she loves it. Daddy(Antonio) put on his swimming trunks and jumped in to play. She splashed, kicked, tried to float(I guess that's what you call it), etc. Here are some pictures...






On Thursday, I met my new work partner in person. First impression of him is that he looks JUST LIKE one of Antonio and my friends. He is nice looking and very laid back. We talked for about 2.5 hours about some work stuff as well as other things. I think we are going to be an awesome pair and I can't wait to get out in the field with him after training. He is very willing to help me whenever possible and I couldn't ask for a better partner!

On other work news, I got my new computer, my AMEX card, and my training material in this week. I still can't believe I got such a great job with an awesome company. Sometimes I feel like I am going to wake up and this is all going to be a dream. I am sure after Monday, I will feel like this is real because I have LOTS of information to learn in such a small amount of time. Please keep me (my head and brain) in your prayers that I can stay focussed and do well on all of my tests over the next 5 weeks.

On Friday, Jessica, Courtney, Maddison, Tatum, and I all went to the Botanical Gardens to try and have a photo shoot for the girls. It was a perfect Friday. The weather wasn't too hot or too cold. The sun was shining, and we didn't have to work. All was perfect, or so it seemed...

We got to Botanical Gardens and fed the girls right away because, as we all know, babies are usually much happier after they eat. After eating, we walked around and looked around. I have never been to Botanical Gardens, so when I saw some people feeding the fish I was just amazed how the fish were going crazy, so I had to get some pictures...


There were just so many fish that they were on top of each other. For a split second, I thought about putting my hand down just to see if I could grab one out of the water, but then I decided not to because I thought the people feeding the fish might think I was crazy and yell at me. I would have let it go immediately, but these people might not have known that. I mean, what if they tackled me or pushed me in or something even crazier? Now that would have been embarrassing...


Then we were off to take pictures. Tatum didn't like the sun in her eyes and I don't blame her. She wouldn't smile and didn't like being on the ground. Here are some of the pictures. I am thinking that maybe Antonio and I will go back next weekend or something because Tatum loves to smile at her daddy. Antonio hasn't ever been to Botanical Gardens either, so we were thinking that we would take a picnic or something and make an afternoon of it. Who knows, maybe I can talk him into getting a membership there! Anyway, here are the pictures...



We took outfits to change the girls and I am glad we did because after a few pictures, Tatum spit up on her pink dress. I changed her into the next outfit. I don't know if you can see it too well or not, but I embroideried her name on the outfit with my machine! I was so proud of myself because I was scared I would mess up and then the outfit would be ruined, but I didn't mess it up. I think it turned out great! The pictures, however, did not turn out so great.
After like 3 pictures in this outfit, Tatum decided to start fussing and I knew she was sleepy. We moved over to the tulips to try and get a few pictures. Maddie, Courtney's daughter, went first and she put down a blanket so the girls wouldn't have to lay on the ground. I put Tatum down and what did she do? She went straight to sleep. See??

We decided to call it an afternoon and try again another day. Tatum was OUT! I moved her from the ground to her stroller and she didn't move!
When we got home, Tatum slept for a while and when she woke up we went outside to watch Daddy do yardwork and enjoy the beautiful weather. We were outside for about 2 hours and she just LOVED it! After all the yard work was finished, we came in, got cleaned up and went to dinner with our neighbors. We had such a great time with them and hope to do it again soon. Tatum was in bed by her usual 8pm bedtime.

Saturday was great! I know everyone THINKS that their baby is the smartest baby in the world, but I have PROOF that Tatum is the smartest baby...She usually sleeps 11-12 hours at night and wakes up about 7:30am. Well, I woke up this morning at 9am and I was a little panicked because Tatum was still sleeping!! I jumped up and went to check on her and she was fine, but still asleep. She didn't wake up until right before 10am!! She just KNEW it was the weekend and her parents wanted to sleep in, so she slept in too! How smart is that!?!?

When she woke up, we fed her and she played in bed with us for about 30 minutes and went back to sleeep. We all got up at 11:30 and ate lunch. After lunch, Tatum and I headed outside for a walk and Daddy decided to wash the cars. After the walk that Tatum enjoyed so much, we sat outside and watched Daddy work. Our cars look great thanks to Daddy!

After the outside fun, we got cleaned up and went to Keith's house to watch the Memphis Tigers game. Antonio and I were so pumped up to watch the game and see the Tigers win another one. We were VERY disappointed when Memphis lost today. There were many missed calls we could blame the loss on, but it wouldn't change anything. Fact is, the Tigers lost today and they will not continue their journey in the NCAA Tournament. While I am very sad to report this, our team did have a great season and Antonio and I enjoyed watching the games. These guys on the team should come back to Memphis with their heads held high, because we still love them!! GO TIGERS!

New Beginnings

As if I wasn't already excited enough about my new job, I talked to my partner today and he got me even MORE excited!! We talked over an hour about everything just trying to get to know each other. He and I have a lot in common and I can already tell that this team is going to be GREAT! We are going to meet up tomorrow to talk more before the whole group gets together on Monday. I think we both have lots to add and contribute to the team, so I am looking forward to getting thru training and getting started. He has also been successful with our company,and he will be going on a trip to Hawaii that he won! I must admit, I was a little worried about who I would get paired up with, but not anymore. I know that he has a great work ethic and I plan on us going on another trip next year! I will keep you all posted on everything.

Until next time...

It's True What They Say.....Time FLIES!

I have realized that Tatum is growing so fast, but I have not wanted to admit it. Tonight I was looking back at some picture of her and decided to post several so everyone can see how much she has changed over the past 4.5 months. Enjoy.....

There are of course many more picutres, but that is all I am going to post for now. I hope you have enjoyed watching Tatum grow through pictures as much as I have enjoyed watching her grow everyday. She is the highlight of my and Antonio's lives. We love her so much and are amazed at how fast she is growing. We love to see her develop and learn new "tricks". Her newest one is fake coughing. I have helped out lots in developing this talent. Over the weekend, I would fake cough and she would smile. Now she fake coughs with me. I just love it!

Christmas in March

Antonio and I put Tatum to bed, as ususal, at 8pm Friday night and decided to put together something new for Tatum. We got out her JEEP walker(Thanks Brandy!) and put it together. Saturday morning was so exciting! Tatum woke up at about 7:30am and we fed her. After she eats she is in the best mood, so we brought her in the living room and put her in her new walker. She is still a little small for it because her feet don't touch the ground, but she still liked it.

In the next picture she is checking out the horn. It isn't very loud when you push it, but it was loud enough to get her attention!

So, if you see this face cutting you off in the streets, please call Antonio or me and we will take away the keys!

After the newness of the car wore off, I put some bunny ears on her that I got from Target. I just wanted to see if they would fit, but I had to snap a picture too.

Then we moved on to the flower headband. I had to capture a picture of that too! I plan to have a photo shoot and take more pics with the flower and bunny ears headbands sometime this week.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have an embroidery machine now. While I love it, I am still a little limited in what I can do because I can't sew things with it, so I haven't been making burp cloths. Well, I got some fabric glue this week and went to work. Here is a picture of just one of the 4 burp cloths I made.

Something to Think About

I know I JUST posted a blog, but I found this and wanted to put it on here for you guys to read.



Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take usto McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers And fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers whoare in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day.............

Bittersweet

Today was my last day of work at Cintas. I went in about 8:30 this morning and took all of my stuff in and placed it on my desk. I talked to a few people, cleaned out my desk, and left around 10:30. I went and watched Memphis play basketball and then went back at 3pm to do my Exit Interview. I am so glad that today is over and I never have to think of Cintas again. The past 4 weeks have been the worst 4 weeks since I started at Cintas THREE years ago. However, at the same time, I made some great friends there and I just can't imagine not seeing these friends anymore. I hope that we stay in touch, but also realize that staying in touch with so many people in the future will probably not happen. We shall see...

On to another topic...As you all know, it is MARCH MADNESS time! I LOVE baskeball and especially Memphis Tigers basketball. However, I have never made out a bracket to pick who I think will "win it all"...well that was, until this year. Antonio and 3 of his co-workers decided to form a group on the Fox Fantasy website and invited me to join the group and compete with my picks. I did my bracket on Monday and finished it in about 10 minutes.(I didn't put much thought into it.) As of today, I am #1 in the group! I am beating ALL of the guys and I think it is SO FUNNY!! I have gotten 24 out of 28 games correct. I am even number 8014 out of 314,209 total participants!! I am just loving it. I will keep you posted on how the bracket finishes out because we are all so close that anyone could win it in the end.

Finally, I haven't taken pictures of Tatum in a while, so I decided to take some pictures of her last night when Antonio was giving her a bath. Here they are below....

I just LOVE her beautiful BLUE EYES!!!

I think this is my favorite picture of her that I took last night. Her little personality is growing so much everyday and she just cracks me up!

Bathtime really makes Tatum sleepy and one of her new habits is to rub her eyes when she gets sleepy. I just think it is THE CUTEST THING ever!! I know, I know, I am so cheesy, but if you have a baby, you understand.

This next picture isn't the best one of her, but it does show off her beautiful eye long eyelashes. Plus, she is really using her hands these days to reach out for everything. I was talking on the phone yesterday and she kept grabbing it. Her age right now is so much fun. I love to watch her discover new things!

Tomorrow we are planning to work in the yard if it is pretty, so Tatum will have to play in her swing, exersaucer, or something outside while we get a little work done. I will be sure to take some pictures if it is nice.

We also took Tatum on a walk last Sunday after church because it was so pretty outside. She LOVED it. We dressed her up and put some sunglasses on her and off we went. (Sorry I forgot to take pictures.) She loves the outdoors (I think every child does) and I can't wait for it to get warmer so we can spend more time out there.

Finally...

Well, after much waiting and keeping quiet, I can finally announce that I got a new job!! I no longer have to talk about toilet paper and paper towels everyday or look down everytime I walk in a building to see what kind of mats they get. That's right, my days at Cintas are over forever after Friday!

I got a pharmaceutical sales job and I am just so excited about it! It is with an awesome company with amazing benefits!

How did this happen? Well, I returned to work and walked into a bad situation that I just didn't know if I could deal with and a situation that I DEFINITELY did NOT want to deal with. I did LOTS of praying (and so did many of you) and tried to be very optimistic about my situating because I knew God was not going to throw anything my way that He didn't think I could handle. Well, I worked and did my appointments and recruiters started calling. Long story, short, I went to an interview and got an offer I could not refuse. God ALWAYS has a plan. It was the answer to my prayers for many reasons. Don't get me wrong, I know that I am going to be working my butt off, but it will all be worth it. I will actually be appreciated as an employee. No overnights! My territory is small with the most time in my car will be an hour. I am SO excited!! YAY!!!

My last day at Cintas will be this Friday and I am taking next week off then I will be starting my new job on March 26th. I will be doing home study for two weeks and then I will go away to training in New Orleans for three weeks. The three weeks will be the hardest because I won't get to see Tatum and Antonio everyday. However, they will fly me home the second weekend which happens to be my birthday weekend! Then I have to go back for one more week and I will be home. It will all be worth it in the end. I know that Antonio is going to take great care of Tatum. He is already an AWESOME help and they will be fine. It is me that I am worried about. I already plan to do lots more scrapbooking next week in my free time so that I can take my book with all of Tatum's pictures in it with me to training. I also told Antonio that he better send me picture messages on the phone so I could see Tatum. I am just scared that Tatum is going to start sitting up or something while I am gone and I am going to miss one of her BIG firsts.

Anyway, that's my big news! When I returned to work I felt like i was going through a Quarter Life Crisis and now I feel like I just landed my DREAM JOB at 25! What a roller coaster these past few weeks have been!

New Pictures of Tatum

Here are some new pictures of Tatum that we have taken since Sunday. Sunday in Memphis it was pretty cold, so we put one of Tatum's coats on her and she was too cute, so I got the camera out before church. The coat was a little big, so she was having to "peak" out at the camera...

I think she definitely has my color eyes. Her eyes are SOOO blue and I just love them!

Next are some pictures of Tatum's new talent. She now tries to hold her bottle every time she eats! She does pretty good, but eventually she pulls it away from her mouth and gives me or Antonio this horrible look like we did it. After the look, she breaks down and cries until she gets the bottle back in her mouth.

Finally, when I was getting her ready for daycare this morning, I decided to put a hat on her because she was having a VERY bad hair day. As you can see, she liked the hat, but it is still a little too big for her.

That's all for now. I will try to be better about updating with some pictures.