Avonlea Brooke is Here! (7-29-09)

Avonlea, pronounced Av-on-lee is here early! She arrived yesterday, July 29th at 12:42pm weighing in at 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 18 1/2 inches long. She's a teeny tiny little thing and looks just like her big sister! Esther had no delivery problems and she blessed us with her presence after 20 minutes of pushing! Watching a live birth is amazing! I've had the pleasure of doing it twice already and each time I am in complete awe at the process. Yes, I know what to "expect" but it's truly a miracle to watch it unfold before your eyes! I even cried...again. Here are a few pictures of her. I'm so happy for the Eddy family of 4!

Just born, before cleaning!

Mrs. Pat putting on my pink 2009 delivery outfit after my bath.

Now I'm clean, snug as a bug and showing off my pink bow.
Steven and I visited this morning...she wouldn't let go of his finger!

Weekend Pictures with the Eddy Family!

I offered to take pictures for Esther and her family in a variety of locations over the weekend. By no means am I claiming to be a wonderful photographer, but it's something I wanted to do for her. We had A LOT of fun and Arianna was truly fabulous. In just about every picture she would say "cheese Kwisty" and look towards the camera. I've already been warned not to post any bare belly photos so you won't see all my shots. Just thought I would share a few with you! Baby Avelyn ______ Eddy will be here in one week, if not sooner!

Arianna was ready to head home with her shades on....

3rd Anniversary

My camera cord is not functioning properly and for some reason I can't pull pictures so this one will have to do! Earlier this week Steven and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. Yep, exactly 3 years ago we were boogie boarding, reading people magazine on the beach (girls were) and laughing it up with 16 of our closest friends and family. We celebrated this year by going to a recommended straight up Italian restaurant called Mama Mia's in Nashville! Don't be fooled by the outside, it's literally a hole in the wall from 1989 but the food is delicious! It's run by a Sicilian family and if you know anything about true Italian's...they can't be rushed so don't expect to get in and out quickly. We enjoyed ourselves and thank Mary for introducing us to the little place. Afterwards we went and got ice cream...it was my cheat night people so I had to indulge myself. More pictures coming later!

Georgia...on my mind!

I met with my college girlies again for our quad-yearly (if that's a word) get together and this time it was in Atlanta! We went to stay with Abigail for a long weekend and along the way we spotted Young Jeezy and his entourage! (or at least the van, sorry we yanked the camera out of the car as the light turned green)

Some of us enjoyed IKEA so much we danced and road the flat movers...wonder what I was saying mid sentence!?
We spent the day inter tubing, rafting and riding the water slides at White Water. I think the highlight of the day was a little black boy (who didn't know me) found out I was a teacher and told me he was from Atlanta but went to CRES for a year. (AS IF) Then, he asked me if my nick name was "Mrs. Blossom" to which I replied, yeah that's me. Oh, the people watching, bathing suit choices and tattoos at the park were fabulous. We even saw a girl lose her hair weave! Yep, it fell out on a ride.
Before heading out to dinner at a fabulous Mexican Restaurant named Cinco!On Sunday we shopped til we dropped at the Dawsonville outlets before heading home at 6pm. We had a great weekend, thanks for hosting us Abigail!

18 Days

I made it to day 18 earlier this week! 18 days without: sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, cokes, milk, bread, carbs (minimal). These are some of my favorite things and I've had none! I am on an organic diet consisting of meat, veggies and fruit for 28 days. So far it is totally working. I haven't had a migraine (except girls night when I cheated) I have had ZERO, yes folks, ZERO stomachaches, pains or anything of the sort. After months of odd stomach aches and unknown pains, going to both a doctor and acupuncturist and realizing the treatment plan was almost $4,000 I had to do my own research. I am definitely allergic to milk and possibly gluten so by taking them out of my diet, its apparently the reason for the stomach pains.

I've found success through Jordan Rubin's book PERFECT WEIGHT AMERICA (PWA). It breaks down the dirty dozen, the foods you shouldn't eat and everything else is fair game. It was an easy read and as time progresses, it's getting much easier to do. I've lost 6 1/2 pounds in 18 days which is a healthy 2 pounds a week but the best part is I am pain free! Yep, no stomach pains. Imagine waking up every day with a stomach ache for no reason and then following this plan and not having any pains. Yes, it's hard not to have the food I want (only for first 28 days) but it's a small price to pay for your health. After the first 4 weeks, you begin to add back and so on. AND the best part is you get a cheat meal once a week, typically on the weekend so that is something to look forward to. If you want more details, I will be happy to share!