just like me.

It's no secret that my little one is her Daddy's twin. From the moment she popped out I have heard "she looks just like her Daddy!" and that has never wavered. There are flashes when she looks a bit like me, but more often than not, those two are twins.

And that's okay with me. Because she's pretty darn adorable and he's pretty cute too. And makes a pretty girl. So there's that.

But I'd be lying if I said that I don't search her face constantly for something of me. I don't usually find it but there's other ways she's like me; we have the same feet, the same birthmark on our thighs, the same thin hair, and the same light eyes.

But more than the physical differences is how much alike we are in personality. And y'all, that part is scary.

We share similar (ie identical) attitudes, stubborn streaks, tempers, and smart mouthedness (just made that a word). It's lead to many, many fights already and I know will bring many more to come.

The older she gets though, the more I'm seeing individual qualities from each of us that are shining through in her and this morning? I saw that hands down, my child got her love of animals from me.

Yep. That would be a baby squirrel. And my kid is in love.

Last night on our run, my friend and I stumbled upon this baby squirrel in the sidewalk headed for the highway. Because I'm a sucker lover of the furry creatures, I couldn't just leave him to get ran over. I knew if I messed with him, there was a possibility the Mama wouldn't come back, so I grabbed a plastic bag (trash in someone's yard) and moved him to the other side of the tree he obviously fell out of, with the hopes his Mom would come back.

Stacy and I continued our run (in the pouring rain natch), and then ran back by to see if he was still there. He was. He was absolutely soaking wet.

Again, because I'm a sucker lover of the furry creatures, I couldn't leave him, so he came home with me.

After getting up every two hours last night to make sure his heating pad was still on, I'm ridiculously excited that a rescue group is coming to get him today. But it was fun for the night.

Also, seeing how excited BG was with him makes the night worth it. Oh, and she named him "Heart" as in "I love you sweetHeart!". Yes I cried as she said that over and over while petting him gently. I love her heart.

Looks like the animal lover gene made it to another generation. This is one way that I am thrilled that she is just like me.

And yes, she got scrubbed down after this. Don't you worry...

sww

It's Wednesday (thank goodness) so that means it's time to link up with my girl Shannon again. My brain hurts so bare with me. Today I'm saying So What...

-If I stayed up way too late watching Teen Mom last night. I can't believe I don't have that drama to tune into weekly anymore. Also? they make me feel like I've got all my ish together. Also? I want to adopt all of those kids. Especially Leah because she reminds me of my sweet girl.

-If I'm completely bonkers for Big Brother this season. I'm hardly on Twitter anymore but I straight up have the spoiler timeline running constantly. I cannot get enough.

-If I've slacked off on my running big time the week of the race. Way to go killa. Please let me survive this run on Friday.

-If I've hit the point in this move where I just want to be at the new house. Thinking of the good byes ahead is making my stomach hurt. I just can't...

-If I am so terrified of the birds at the lake that I seriously wonder who will save my child if one of them gets her because she got to close. She might be on her own on that one...
-If I'm only partially kidding about that top one. This girls does NOT do birds.

-If I've eaten at least one king size Snickers bar each day for the last, heck, I have no idea. It's been a while. I'm a stress eater. So I'm eating a lot these days. Don't care.

-If I don't really get Pinterest. I like it, don't get me wrong, I just don't get it. I don't think I'm doing it right.

-If I can't quit shopping for Fall clothes even though I cannot buy a thing. Man... this stinks. I need to win the lottery. Or play it. Whatever.

That's it. That's all I've got. Y'all have a great day ladies.

(almost) wordless wednesday

So before this happened, this happened.

My girl had her last day in the toddler program last week. She has officially moved into two year old "preschool". There's more of a curriculum and more structure and more of a "school" feel. No more simply babysitting. Sigh... She's growing up too fast.
And while there wasn't a huge change because the summer program was only two months long, I do love a good comparison photo so here it is.
And she totally changed. She's way too big now.

home sweet home.

Expect many posts like this over the next few days as I work out what is going through my head and in my heart...

Almost exactly two years ago, we packed up our little home and moved away from Savannah to the Upstate of South Carolina.

A job change sent us scrambling, but we serve a mighty God who blessed us quickly and we were without a job for under two weeks before a new one was handed to us. A new one that was four and a half hours away from all of our friends, most of our family, the church we loved, and the first house that was home to our family of three.

It was the house we brought our very longed for baby home too, the house we gave our lives to Christ in, the house where our marriage grew as our individual faiths grew.

It was home.

I can still remember coming to this town two years ago and thinking "this will never feel like home". I distinctly remember pulling up to a busy intersection and thinking how weird it looked and how this town just didn't look like one I could feel truly comfortable in. It felt so foreign to me.

Now? that intersection is the last intersection before I am home. I know it like the back of my hand. Our neighborhood pharmacy sits on one corner. It's where we've made many late night (and for Mr. P) early morning runs for diapers and milk and chocolate.

On the other corner is my cut through to work when the traffic is out of control. On the other corner is the QT they've been building forever that I was beyond excited for it to open and bring me daily $.49 drinks.

That intersection is now as familiar to me as breathing. I know it's a guarantee that someone will run the light. That someone else will make a funny left and back up traffic. That if I get through that intersection, I'm home. I'm back with my people.

And just like that intersection, this town has become familiar to me. I've fallen in love with the area. The hills, the lake, the weather. I've fallen in love with the small town traditions; the Christmas parade, the Farmer's Market, the tree lighting, and even the Block Party (although I think I just love the idea of the Block Party since we've yet to go to one. This week it's happening).

Moving to this town gave me a shot at my dream of SAHM'dom and then gave me the chance to realize that wasn't for me. It gave me an awesome part time job that still left me plenty of time with my sweet girl but also introduced me to some amazing coworkers who quickly became friends.

This town holds my daughter's school in which inside holds her sweet "friends" (her words not mine). Where a sweet teacher sent me daily text pictures of my girl and taught her her "model face". Where three little girls went from schoolmates to the best of friends. Where my child soared in learning and in her social life.

This town lead us to a church where we've seen God do some amazing things. Not only in the lives of people in our community, but in our own life. We've been through a lot these last couple of years and through it all, we've seen our faith grow by leaps and bounds. Having a church we both love and look forward to attending each week has helped that growth so, so much.

I found amazing friends here. One of my closest friends in the world lives here and it breaks my heart to leave her. In such a short time, we became like sisters with that kind of comfortable friendship that takes no effort and is able to just be. I've made a good friend that I'm able to laugh with and cry with and just spend time with in yoga pants and flip flops because neither of us care to put on airs (Tiff you know I'm talking about you!). I've made a friend that I can sit and talk with for hours upon hours without a single lull in the conversation because we both have that much to say and truly enjoy what the other is saying.

This town went from being a spot on the map that I didn't even know existed to home. Our home. I've grown in ways I couldn't have even imagined here as has my family. And while it absolutely breaks my heart to leave here, I know we'll be back and there will be numerous visits. I've got people here now. People I'm invested in. People I love.

I know we're following God's will in this move and that's why I know it will work out. I'll lick my wounds for a little while and I'll cry a lot, but at the end of the day, I know where we head next will eventually become home. We'll eventually form new relationships and put down new roots. Plus? I'm heading off with my people. And if there's one thing I've learned in my (almost, sob) thirty years, it's that home isn't a building. It's where your heart is. And my heart is with my people; Mr. P and BG (and even the pets). So let's do this.

Sunday Social

I'm linking up with Neely for her Sunday Social today. I figured with as much time as I spend on the Internet, I could handle these questions! Go link up!

This weeks Questions: All About the Internet
1. What is the first website you log on to each day?
-Gmail, then Facebook. I feel like this is probably a super common answer.

2. Give us some funny websites you visit that we need to know about
-Suri's Burn Book
-Kate Middleton for the win
I spend way too much work time laughing at these. My coworkers don't find them as funny. Clearly something is wrong with them.

3. Pinterest or Facebook? Why?
-Facebook. Pinterest gives me too much of a case of the "I NEED!!"'s. No bueno.

4. Twitter or Instagram? Why?
-Instagram. Hands down. Twitter overwhelms me and has too much nonsense.

5. Favorite youtube video...post it!
-This changes daily. Currently?


I won't even tell you how many times I've watched that. And I die every single time. People getting scared always thrills me.

6.Biggest online pet peeve?
-Oh goodness.. Instagram sales are a new one. I get people selling stuff but it irritates me when it clogs up my feed. Daily OOTD's (agree with Neely on this one) and.. I guess that's about it. I usually just click out of something if it annoys me and come back later.

good friends.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've been surrounded by friends.

This is not a "look at me I'm so popular!" post, but just stating a fact. I'm a people person. I thrive on being surrounded by people. They make me smile and laugh and make me feel whole. I adore my friends.
Thankfully, I've managed to pick some pretty awesome ones. I'm still friends with people I met in elementary school. My best friend in the world has been that since we were eleven. My college roommate is still basically my sister. And my party partner from college? Now my fellow toddler Mom and the mom to one of my daughter's closest friends.

Everywhere we go, I find people and they make their way into my heart. It's inevitable. So if it comes time to leave, it sucks, but then I get to add another city on the map where people I love live. Which is kind of nice.

In this way, my daughter is exactly like me. She thrives on her relationships. She's good on her own, but when she's with her buddies, she just lights up. She adores them. To watch her now, is just like watching me some twenty five plus years ago. She lets people in and quickly, forming deep relationships in a short amount of time.
It's probably one of our better (and sometimes worst) qualities.

BG has made two amazing friends at her school here. It's the kind of relationship that we as adults strive to have with our friends. They laugh together, argue at times, play hard together, whisper together, giggle together and are basically inseparable.

When they aren't together, they talk about each other. Even their teachers remark on the depth of their friendship and how much they truly enjoy each others company. They've gone so far at school as to try and split them up at times to encourage other friendships, but they always end up back with each other. They just plain love each other.
And this relationship is the one I am the most upset about leaving if we do end up moving. Yes, I've made amazing relationships here, but in this day and age, it's really easy for me to keep up with my friendships. BG doesn't have a Facebook, or a blog, or a Twitter account. She can't pick up her phone and send a quick text or make a quick call.

A few weekends ago, we packed up and headed to spend the afternoon with the family of one of these little girls. As I watched BG and her buddy interact, my heart ached at possibly taking her away from this group. Simply put? I am more upset about leaving these two little girls behind than anything else.

I get that BG is just two years old, but this is going to hurt her. And for the first time, Mr. P and I are going to have to explain a loss to her that she's not going to completely understand. This is going to be hard.
In my head, I imagined these girls being those sort of lifelong friends that I have. Those friends you can say "oh we've been friends since we were babies!" and it be true. The kind of friends you grow up with and change with and never stop caring for. And in my head, that ends if we move. Which sucks.

But in reality, it might play out just like her friend back in Savannah. We moved from there and I was devastated that K and BG wouldn't grow up together and wouldn't remain friends, but the opposite is actually happening. Every time we go home, they pick up like they never were apart. When we're home, BG asks to see pictures of K and wants to talk about her. She doesn't just forget her.
And that's what I hope happens again. I truly hope we can maintain these friendships for her while helping her to grow new ones elsewhere. And perhaps someday, she'll be as lucky as I am; to have friends all over this country that she loves dearly and feels so lucky to count as friends.

(almost) wordless wednesday

So this happened...

Sigh. Where is life's pause button?!?

And yea, I'm totally getting the "Mom you better not pull this ish in front of my friends" look in that first picture. She is her Mother's child.

Savannah (recap) (day 3)

So I should finish these recaps huh? You can find Day 1 here and Day 2 here.

Our last day in Savannah was much like the rest of our trip. We did a lot of laying around and hanging out and chatting. We managed to make our way out to eat with my aunts and granddad, but that was the extent of our activity for the day.

Oh, I made my family dress up in our Fourth of July clothes for a family picture since we didn't have one for the year. They were pleased as punch about that. That would be the extent of the activity for the day.

How cute are the girls in their matching SheShe Made outfits?! I wish I could have gotten some better pictures, but they were not feeling it. Oh well.

We had to soak up as much time with the sweet baby as possible. I think Mr. P might have the fever.. He'll deny it forever though.

It was the perfect weekend. It was low key and perfect and I already need to go back.