ATL

So first let me apologize for lack of pics lately and way too many posts that run long. Hate to say it but this one won't be any better so grab a drink, kick back and get ready to read ;) Robert and I were able to escape for a weekend alone without kiddos to Atlanta...Yep you read that right we went to the ATL for our anni! Most couples living this close to the beach would have done that and honestly we normally do too but something inside me just craved a weekend in the big city. So Friday we kissed our kids goodbye and headed towards GA.  I had been sick earlier in the week so I still wasn't feeling 100% but was determined to go and have a good time anyway. We got to The Hyatt Regency downtown and checked in and had enough time to grab a drink before heading towards our apt at The Art of Touch massage place in Midtown. If you ever need a massage and are in ATL check them out! They were great! Claude did my massage and he was wonderful! I left feeling more relaxed than I have in a while. After massages we decided to head back to the hotel and shower off the oil then grab dinner somewhere nice...I mean after 10 and a half years together and 7 years of marriage we deserve a nice dinner right?!?! We walked about half a mile through Centennial Park to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Neither of us had ever eaten there so we decided to give it a go. The steaks themselves were amazing cuts of meat, super tender, and cooked to perfection however I am a bold flavor kinda girl and sadly they didn't have enough seasoning on them or any for that matter. But it was still delish. We had an amazing bottle of wine from France and ended the night with bread pudding on the house for our anniversary. Score!!! We then ventured over to Hard Rock Café and listened to a little bit of live music. However I was exhausted and we went home early.

Saturday we woke up craving breakfast! So we found a little diner about 2 miles from where we were and decided a morning walk wouldn't be so bad...I laced  up my chuck taylors and we hit the pavement. Most of the walk wasn't too bad however the last .8 to mile was kinda sketchy! I think I even stopped at one point and asked Robert if he thought it was safe to continue. We pressed on in the dead of the summer sun (it was around 12 in the afternoon) and finally arrived at Thumbs Up Diner! My oh my it smelled like heaven! We wrote our name on the list and waited about 5 minutes before being called. The prices were ridiculously cheap ya'll! Like so cheap I thought I ordered a side of something and ended up with two meals! I ordered a Belgian Waffle that was soooo good I thought I would die! It was make the eye roll up in your head good....I am not even kidding lol. Then I ordered some sautéed potatoes with onions and peppers and topped with cheese. They were good but nothing like that waffle...yum now I am craving it lol. The coffee was great and so was the service. Robert had some kind of scramble thing he said it was good but not nearly as good as my waffle. We left super full!!!! We will def go back! If you are ever in ATL look it up! We went to the one near GA tech campus. We were also super thankful for our phones because we managed to walk back through the GA Tech campus which was WAY less scary and made for an enjoyable walk back. Once back at the hotel I changed T-shirts and we went to The Sweetwater Brewery. Nothing overly exciting here. We did the tour which wasn't that interesting and then listened to some live music. By 4 I was dying of heat, had a headache, and was just plan ready to leave. We went back to the hotel where I napped and Robert did some pool time. Dinner that night was at Poor Calvin's in Midtown and it  was pretty good. We had the Lobster Mac n Cheese which was good but I didn't think it was anything overly special. However, I ordered the Pineapple fried rice with homemade beef jerky and it was DIVINE! It had raisins and pineapple in it which sounds bizarre but ya'll it just worked somehow!!!! It was pretty AMAZING!

Sunday we loaded up our stuff and drove over to Highland's Bakery for brunch. It was good I had a grits and black-eyed pea dish that was good but a tad too spicy for breakfast. Robert had French toast and it was delish! The coffee was great and I have heard their cakes and stuff are too but we were too full for dessert. We then ran to the mall which ended up being a bust because they didn't have what I was looking for. We topped off the weekend with a stop by Roberts parents house to say happy fathers day then did dinner at my grandparents to get the boys. It was a great weekend and I really enjoyed a nice carefree weekend but I sure was happy to see my kiddos. I missed them tons!

Life equals Whirlwind

Whew let me tell you this week and a half has been INSANE!!!! I don't even know that a whirlwind describes how crazy I have been the last week! Here is what we have been doing the last week!

Sunday before Memorial Day we spent the day at the Lake with my Aunts fam and mine as well. It was a relaxing day of sun, fun, boat riding and fishing off the pier. I might be a city girl but there is something about the lake that just makes me almost feel country...ALMOST ;)

Last Tuesday Robert and I helped chaperone the youth trip to Six Flags over GA. I was really nervous about all the kids going and being "responsible" for them but it ended up just fine and we had a great time! The park was quiet for the most part and the lines were fairly short.

I went on a 4 hour road trip alone to Spring Hill TN to help my best friend finish packing and get moved into her beautiful new home. I moved non-stop from Thursday morning until Saturday evening at 6 when I left for the 4 hour trek back home alone. Exhausted doesn't even describe it but we got her moved in and everything almost completely ready for Baby Murphy to make his arrival in the next couple months. I CANNOT wait to meet this little guy!

We started VBS at church this week. It's been a week of hanging with my favorite toddler,Huxley, in the nursery. Lucky me I got to spend the week in his class. Big brother P got to enjoy Preschool VBS and has had a blast. He even had a nap this afternoon in the car ;o) Although I know he is tired because he has begged to stay home the last two days...He is supposed to go next week too with my mom...guess we will see what happens then huh.

Yesterday was a sweet friends birthday and she invited us to come hang out at the pool. The boys and I loaded up sunscreen in hand and spent four glorious sun soaking hours with her and her daughter, mom, niece and nephew by the pool. We then had dinner and got to enjoy time with her sweet family. Even Robert managed to make it after work. It was a great night :o) Both boys were WORE OUT. So was I...I was asleep before 10 ;)

Monday we got to celebrate one of my favorite little girls on earths birthday! My niece lil miss SAS turned four! We celebrated with slip and slides and pools. The boys had a great time and both were super sad when it was over. Happy birthday sweet girl! Aunt Jen loves you!

Today I went on an hour long ride in search of a pair of shoes. Sadly they apparently didn't have the size shoe they said they did that I needed so basically I wasted gas to drive to Alabaster. O well Hux and P both got naps so its ok :o)

Other than that nothing much to mention. Life is moving on fast as ever and we are just holding on trying to enjoy the ride. Next week should be slower and I am looking forward to a much needed relaxing adult weekend away in Atlanta.

What have we been up too????

So it has been some time since I updated this blog but have decided to try to get back into blogging now that I am no longer on facebook. Shocking I know but it has been two months and honestly I don't miss it that much. I do miss my friends but I don't miss the excess time allotted to checking fb a million times a day. So what have we been doing with all this new found time you ask???... Well honestly just spending more time with each other as a family. Here is what is going on with the Martins the last few months:

Me: I have been doing lots of playing with the boys. That's pretty much it these days lol Laundry always needs to be done and I keep our house tidy and clean but they are my first priority and I find myself opting to play with them over the mundane of deep cleaning my house...they are only little once right??? I messed up my foot 6 weeks ago and am still having to sport flats :( Those of you that know me know this is KILLER for me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE heels and am one of those people that just looks weird in flats bc I am most comfy in a heel. So I am learning to love flat sandals and converse right now which is OK. I have also kinda sorta been throwing around plans with a friend to start a makeup business. (insert high pitched squeal here) :)   She was lucky enough to be asked to do makeup for a photo shoot on six young girls and asked if I could come help with make up. Of course I said ummm yes!!!!! We spent 3.5 glorious fun filled hours applying makeup and chit chatting with 6 sweet young women. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a beautiful partnership and things will go up from here. Please keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer. It's what she and I really want to do. We would be strictly go to you mobile make up. So if anyone wants to let us practice or needs a make up artist let me know and we will set something up.

Robert: Robert is working a lot finishing up an audit with PWC but things should slow down for him in the next week or two. When he isn't working he is here helping and playing with the boys and spending time with us as a family. It's been nice having him here and I know the boys love it too. We have a trip planned for our anniversary in June and cannot wait to spent a couple days in Atlanta kid free to wind down and enjoy walking around a big city together and eat hot meals without whining or complaining. We will miss the boys while we are gone but its sooooo nice to get out of town and reconnect with each others undivided attention.

Preston: Preston will finish up Mom's Day Out (MDO) this week and be out for the summer.  He has learned soooo much while there three days a week and he is looking forward to starting Pre-School in September. I cannot believe my oldest will be five soon!!! He has started playing with an imagination and acting out scenarios. His favorite movie of the moment is The Goonies (or Begonies as he calls it) His best friends at school are twins Ed and Eli and his best friend at church is Ethan. Its so sweet to hear him talk about them like they are all brothers. He is growing up so fast. He got his first big boy haircut and we let him buzz it off like Justin Timberlake. I let him choose it and he was so proud of it. I have to admit its really cute and honestly has been soooo much easier to take care of over the longer hair I tried to keep him in. He used his first bad word in a sentence not too long ago at target. Thankfully it wasn't a bad bad word but it wasn't a good one either so he got in trouble. Thankfully it hasn't happened since. He got his first award the other month in school for helping out when everyone else wasn't listening to his teacher. I was so proud of him I might have cried. I am so thankful he listens to his teachers even if he doesn't always obey me. He loves Les Mis and fights with his little sword when they do its adorable. Other than that not much to report on him. He is growing like a weed and his head already reaches my sternum. Crazy right?!?! Either he is really tall or I am really short.

Huxley: my oh my where to start with this little one. He is 22 months and boy is he a firecracker! He runs everywhere and loves to push his lawn mower around. He is talking up a storm and sings all the time ( I don't know where he gets that from ;)  )  His current fav songs are If you're happy and you know it and a song he calls baby that I made up. HE loves Yo Gabba Gabba specifically Muno and Brobee. He is sooooo incredibly sweet too. He gives out kisses all the time and often asks for kisses too. He will hug you tight and pat your back a few times then give a sweet good rub to follow. He still carries a blanket (bopbop) and still calls his cup Bup. He uses his hands to tell stories (like I do) and has lots of expressions. Although, with all that sweetness comes the mean-ness too. He is a hitter, kicker, and on occasion a biter. He will hit you if he doesn't get his way then throw down into an ear piercing temper tantrum. He is stubborn and strong willed and most times spankings don't work too well on him but he still gets them anyway. He knows what he wants and how he wants it and while it's the thing I dislike the most about him at this point in time it is something that I hope he holds onto for the future. He doesn't let anyone push him around and make him do something he doesn't want to or feels strongly about. Hopefully this means he will be a leader one day and not so much of a follower. The only following I hope he does is following his dreams and following God. This strong willed-ness has also caused him to want to potty train waaayyyy earlier than Preston ever thought about potty training. While we are still in diapers he uses the potty anywhere from two to 5 times a day depending on the day. I am not ready for it but at the same time I am because diapers are expensive y'all. Oh and did I mention he will be starting MDO in September? He will go two days a week and I am really looking forward to having two days to get stuff done on my own although I will be sad that he is gone. I have gotten so used to him being here all the time.

So there you have it. Nothing too overly exciting going on here just moving through life day to day and enjoying being a family. What have y'all been up to?

How far is too far?

So I was surfing the web and came across this article that I thought was appropriate to share. As a mother of two boys I find myself trying to teach Preston (Huxley is obviously a tad young) that we are all different and that God makes us a certain way. That we are all beautiful no matter our looks or circumstances and that we should be compassionate to all people. This article really struck me. As a girl that has ears that are less than perfect I completely felt compassion for this 14 year old girl and understood how having it fixed would "make it all better". However at the same time I am enraged that she felt that she had to have surgery not only on her ears but also have plastic surgery on her nose and chin at the same time just because. Some may say you have no right to judge and I don't and I am not judging. Having been in her shoes I remember thinking how if I could just have surgery all would be better...when my mom offered to have my ears done I remember thinking how easy it would be to do that but what kind of message would I be sending those that "bullied" me? Having them fixed would only make them win. In the long run it made me stronger and made me realize that we are all not the same and that no one is perfect. It taught me to be compassionate to those who have it worse off than myself and to those doing the bullying (they are obviously sad with their lives if they feel the need to put others down to feel better about themselves). It taught me to be strong and comfortable in who I am period! Yes I could have gone out and gotten them pinned but now its just one more amazing thing about myself. I define who I am not society. I decided to embrace myself, love myself and realize I was made perfectly by my heavenly Father and He knows better than me.  At 14 we are all awkward and gawky. I feel stronger about myself now than I ever have. Yes I might be heavier than I would like to be and definitely considered obese by societies standards but I don't care. I love myself. While I understand her mom just wanting to make her daughter feel better and stop the pain (I really do understand I would probably feel the same way with both my boys) I wish she had built her up instead of agreeing that she needed surgery. High school can be really cruel I get it but its just a point in life, a chapter in a book, that will pass and be forgotten with age. Don't let those bad times define you as a person and use your differences to help others in the future.

What do you think? Do you think they should have done the surgery?

ONE YEAR!!!!

Wow where has the time gone?!?! This time last year I was not so patiently awaiting Huxley's arrival! I was swollen beyond belief and everyone I saw said I wouldn't make it over night and that baby was coming any second...they were wrong lol. As I look back at this sweet boy I am reminded of his birthday and how he was such a blessing and still blesses us every single day. I thought I would take a second to write down a few things Huxley is currently doing since you know the second kid always gets the shaft on pictures and baby book memories...

Huxley at a year:

He is smiling and laughing A LOT!

He waves and says bye bye and blows the most delicious kisses complete with a MUAH...so cute even if he misses his mouth sometimes in excitement and blows kisses from his forehead ;o)

He is cruising around furniture like its is nobodies business...if I could just get him comfortable enough to move away from the furniture he would be running everywhere.

He can stand unassisted for a little bit...even though he thinks it is an opportunity to bounce.

He has decided that throwing himself off the love seat is a fun game!!! I have learned to hold his ankle when he is up there...I decided his middle name should have been Danger...

He LOVES spaghetti and Spaghetti O's...like growls out an MMMMMM when you feed him. I think its his fav dish thus far.

He says a good bit of words...bye, hello, mama, dadda, bubba, it's good, stop, dog, I did it, car, Thank you (he said once and has yet to say it again but the lady he told said it was a def thank you and I agreed)....I know there are a few more but you get the drift.

He has started holding the phone to his ear and saying bye bye and hello.

You can chant go go go and he will pump his lil arm up and down...be still my heart it's the cutest thing EVER!

He doesn't like his feet in the grass.

He LOVES and I mean LOVES like  no other to be pushed in his lil car or the wagon outside. He could do it all day long...and cries when you stop.

He is a grazer. He doesn't sit long to eat...I hate it but am trying to embrace it and shovel in the food as fast as possible before he decides to wander ;o)

He has stopped sleeping through the night!!! Yes people my wonderful sleeper wakes up every night sometime between 2 am and 4:30 am....I don't know what to do about it. I have tried letting him cry it out like I did with Preston but he just gets louder and cries 10 times longer than P ever did. This all started when the major ear infections hit...now I am thinking teething??? I go in and feed him and give him more Advil and he goes right back to sleep...any advice...I am terrified of what the battle will be like when i take away that bedtime bottle.

He is already starting to hold his own with Preston...He gets pushed and popped a couple times a day and he is quickly catching on...I think he is going to be my hitter :o(

He is stubborn and hard headed and hand pops mean NOTHING to this lil fella.

He is so sweet and LOVES to hug P and wrestle with him. Its the cutest thing ever.

He also throws one heck of a fit! Complete with rolling on the floor and flailing about. It's entertaining and funny now but I know it won't be in a few months.

That is pretty much it for now...Have I bored ya'll to tears??? I will try to update more often and also update when I get his one year stats!

Is it possible...

that L'oreal Kids is the best shampoo ever?!?!? I ran out of my pantene and had to use Preston's shampoo...I topped it off with my pantene conditioner and oh my goodness! My hair is so soft and so shiny and it looks dare I say it...HEALTHY?!? I am even going to pick up another bottle soon lol So if you have hair like mine give it a try! Or even if you don't give it a try... I think you will like it!

FINALLY!

Guess who finally broke past her Plateau weight?!?!?! I didn't think I would ever make it there but running on the treadmill 6 days a week has already helped me A LOT! I can now run a definite mile and sometimes 1.5 without stopping at 5 mph. I am doing 2.5 miles every day but Sunday! Now I just gotta drop this last 18 lbs and I will be one happy girl!