How Do They Do It?!

This SMILE makes every day a GREAT day!!!!!!


Well, we have (kind of) survived our first 6 weeks of going back to work and starting daycare. But I must ask...How Do You Do It?! How do people go full speed ahead, be a super mom, be a super wife, super teacher and great friend and feel like they have actually been all those things...oh! and not get sick!?!? A day as a mom, whether it be a stay at home mom or working mom is tough and bringing all these school germs home is not helping The Martin household.

We have overcome just about all the illnesses there are in the book ever since...well, ever since the Parsley Pair were born... I know this date well because Mary Carlisle and I have been trying to go meet her newest besties but every Thursday or Friday disaster strikes and Boom we go down and go down hard! Aghhh!!! This week it is the stomach bug, allergic reaction to amoxicillin, double ear infection and now breathing treatments for the lil girl! :( Make it stop! We want to kiss our friends, Minnie & Tully!

But by the end of the day or at the end of a week there is nothing greater than coming home to these sweet faces...my wonderful family!

UT Stadium Tour...Go Vols!

My Aunt Angela, Cousin Payton & her friend Kristen came to visit us this past week! The girls are thinking about coming to UT in a couple of year for college, so Chad called a friend (that i didn't even know he had! hehe!) and we got a tour of the Stadium! It was incredible!!!...I wonder what other friends he has that i don't know about... :)

V-O-L-S...GO VOLS GO!!! V-O-L-S...GO VOLS GO!!! V-O-L-S...GO VOLS GO!!! V-O-L-S...GO!!!

Put me in Coach! I'm ready to play!!! GO VOLS!!!!

LIVE FROM THE MEDIA ROOM...MARY CARLISLE & FAMILY!!!

UT Bound? Call Chad and we will help convince you to go UT...hehe! I am ready to go back after the day we had! A visit to the practice field, different levels of the stadium, locker room, media room, into the letterman's room and on the actual field! This was the best day!!! Who's ready for football season now?! I AM!!! and so is Mary Carlisle :)

Mary Carlisle says..."Let's Do This People! I have my shades on...I've touched Smokey! Let's get on with this tour!"

Look at this little girl sasha'-ing around the field...

future vol dancer? future vol cheerleader? We Hope So!!!

WOW! Mary Carlisle thinks this is pretty amazing!!! I think so too!!!

Check out my kicks! Orange patent leather!

Our Crew...Mary Carlisle, Chad, Colleen, Payton, Aunt Angela and Kristen...future Vols, I hope!

First Week of School

Wahoo!!! My First Day of School!

I can't WAIT to meet my new friends and show them my fancy backpack!!!
Am I stylish or what?! ...Watch out new friends...I'm ready to play!
Fwew! Watch out new friends...I'm resting up for tomorrow! :)
Getting clean from my first day! Bubbles are the best! :)

Excited...Sad...Anxious...Exhausted...Joyous...& Lonely are all the emotions that have run through me this week as my little Mary Carlisle started "school". Ugh! Knowing this day is coming and actually going through it are completely different! I hate it and she loves it, so I guess one of us just has to get over it and move on...ME! :) She is a little social butterfly and loves playing with her new lil friends, so at least she is spending her day smiling and playing & eating and sleeping! Well sleeping has been an issue considering she doesn't want to stop playing to stop and sleep! :) hehe! The first day she spent her nap taking out and putting in the kids paci's and the second day she passed out and woke up an hour later talking for the second half of her nap! haha! She just wants everyone to know her thoughts and be a helper! Who can blame her?! :) She is a sweetie and i think they are SUPER LUCKY to have her...Because that is how I feel when I have her!

We Heart America

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

What a great weekend of

boating...

friends...

fireworks!!!!

CARPE DIEM (that is the name of our boat)

is #1...

She is such a little mimic and a little lover...

i love it!

Kisses from my daddy makes me laugh....He is so funny!!!
Awww!!! She loves her daddy!
Major is Mary Carlisle's lifeguard! ...so far so good! :)
Our little swimmer!
Sweet Daddy helping fill up with fresh water...He is a keeper! he's not even worried about his work clothes getting wet....C'mon daddy...get in with me!!! There is PLENTY of room! :) hehe!

BBQ Birthday Bash

Julia & I are so lucky to celebrate another birthday party together! Her birthday is july 1 and mine is july 2! We are also so lucky to have the most loving husbands who enjoy planning us parties...together! hehe! Chad having the most out there ideas and Bailey bringing him back to earth... they make for a great team! If you don't remember our last party Chad hired a magician and clown to entertain our guests...this time we said "NO entertainment!!!" hehe! A little worrisome he would get his beloved Sunshine Monkey Shine to perform, again we are very thankful Bailey is a part of the planning as well! :) hehee!!!We had an AWESOME party, great weather, fabulous food and lots of loving friends!!!
Happy BIrthday to US!!!

Thanks Chad for a wonderful day and birthday Party! You're the Best! :) I must brag on my husband a bit...My day started out lounging around with my sweet hubby, lil girl and Major...then off we went to brunch at the Gourmet Market as we are heading home (or so I thought) Chad continued driving and driving until we arrived at Spa Visage were he and Mary Carlisle literally dumped me off and said "we'll be back to pick you up!" I was left to get a Spa Pedicure and an hour Massage....How heavenly!!! When I did get picked up and brought home there was a birthday sign hanging up and behind it was a brand new light fixture for our dining room!!! I could not have been more excited! Now, you know you're getting old when you get excited about lighting...haha! Truly I have been dying for a new one since we moved in 4 years ago...that brass embarrassment HAD to go! :) Then my new toes and relaxed body went to get ready for my Partaa'....Hoo! Hoo!!!

The Stickers everyone wore at the party...hehe! Aren't they the cutest! Although I would rather have a 27 on my crown :) hehe!

Surrounded by wonderful family and friends...even a few surprise visits from Nashville! My dad, step mom and step sister surprised me at my birthday party and Dori!!! So Thoughtful!!! I realize I do love surprises! Dori not only surprised me with a birthday visit but had a helping hand in all the planning! She used her fabulous event planning to put table tents on all the tables, a decorated board and everyone wore stickers with Julia and my smiling faces! hehe! What a cute touch! OH and provided the yummiest of yummiest cakes of all for us! I have to tell you we are one step away from celebrity status :) The baker for our cake also created Vince Gill and Amy Grants daughter with her wedding cake! AGH!!! It was scrumptious!!! Thanks DORI!

ALL SMILES...

Don't you just love it when someone squeezes your cheeks real tight like this....hehe!!!
FOR ME?!?! I get to drink out of this cup? It's as big as me!!! I'm SOooo excited!!!
Cheese!!! I love to pose....
Woohoo to boat rides!!!
As though she was a wild woman on a shopping spree she entered the Baby Doll aisle at Target screaming...BBbbaaaaabbeeee!!! Thankfully we gained control leaving with one new "baby baby" doll and some new wheels...She's a shopper like her mommy! :)

What Would You Do For A Klodike Bar?

Mary Carlisle has become quite the little road tripper! Whether she is angelically dreaming with her "bebe" or letting Major head to dreamland while she goes to town rubbing on his ear! ( What a trooper he is! ) She has become quite the car rider...and thank goodness since memphis is a long ride!

Mary Carlisle LOVES being at her Great Grandmother's house...she got to enjoy her first Klondike bar! Heheh! And in my opinion she would make for a great commercial selling this product...She will become your best friend to get more of this tasty treat and a little diva if you take it away! hehe!!! :)

The Lil Nugget got to stay with her B & Papa while Chad and I stayed downtown for his work events. We enjoyed hanging out on Beale Street listening to music, watching the flippers and even going to see the Peabody ducks! It was fun feeling like a tourist! :) You would never know I grew up here...seriously! I went to the Rendezvous for the first time! haha!

Four Generations...Isn't Big L a hottie?! She turned 86 years old during our visit to Germantown! WOW! I hope I am as active as she is when I am that age...Mary Carlisle kept her Great Grandmother in stitches the whole time...It was wonderful hearing Big L laugh so much!

TRIPLETS!!! What a treat! During our visit we got to eat lunch with one of my favorite little families... You may know them as The Harrisons but I refer to them as The Itchy's...Jonathan, Alicia, Evie & Ramsey and their lost triplet Mary Carlisle...hehe! boy we're we a sight entering lunch that day! If anyone can do it all it is Alicia! In my opinion she is "Mom of the Year" and has rock hard arms to prove it! :) I am so impressed with her multi-tasking skills...I could take a lesson or two from her! Their girls are precious precious PRECIOUS! I just wish we lived closer so Mary Carlisle could play with her twins more often!

What good little eaters they all are...You should have seen the floor afterwards...haha!!! Major would have been in heaven!