Happy Birthday Brandon!

Happy birthday to my awesome husband!  Yep - you guessed it - Will was born on Brandon's birthday (and also my nephew Baron's birthday), so we have lots of celebrating to do today!  Actually, we're not doing that much today but we did celebrate in bed this morning with a Spongebob card that sings "Happy Birthday." 

Anyway - I've already done a post for Will so this little tiny one is for my favorite man in the whole wide world - my husband :)  He is my best friend and the best daddy to our two little guys.  He is always supportive and willing to step up to daddy duty for all my wild hairs - whether that be training for a triathlon, dinners with my girlfriends, or sewing lessons.  He is often the calm to my crazy and the laid-back to my wound-up. 

I love you so much Brandon and I hope this year will be your best one yet!

XOXO

Happy 4th Birthday Will!

Four years ago today, our lives changed forever.  Our hearts doubled in size for the first time and we welcomed our first child into the world.  At the time, I'm not sure that we realized exactly how drastically our lives would change that day, but it was a change that has shaped me into the person I am today - a mother. 

(Yes my kid has no helmet, is riding downhill and has a sucker in his mouth.  He was under the supervision of an unnamed grandmother and I digress...)

Will - you seem so big to me today.  Sometimes I look at you and wonder how you became so big overnight.  I remember those first few weeks of life with you and how your father and I had no idea what we were doing or how we were supposed to raise you.  Our biggest worries were whether or not you would continue breathing if we took our eyes off of you, whether you would ever want to not be held, or if you were getting any nourishment whatsoever after you constantly projectile vomited after every single feeding.  These days our worries have transformed into how you are behaving at school or if you'll ever stop walking on your tippie toes. 

You are such a joy for us.  You are sweet and thoughtful.  You are smart and unexpectedly hilarious.  Your thought process and insight sometimes keep us smiling for hours after you've long forgotten what you've said.  You are such a great big brother.  You love Brooks with your whole heart and I truly believe you will do the same with your new baby sister in a few months.  After a squabble over a toy, you will hug Brooks and say "I love you Brooks.  You're a great brother and a fantastic baby."  You love your momma and often chase her to the door for more kisses in the morning or you'll beg for more snuggles at night.  You loooovvvveee to help your daddy or your Pappaw with outdoor projects like cutting the grass, weeding the flower beds, digging holes or fixing a board on the deck.

You are a worrier by nature and very cautious when faced with a new situation, whether it be a new friend or a new slide at an unfamiliar playground.  I can see your little wheels turning as you try to think through each situation or conversation.  You never seem to let things go, often asking about a situation several weeks or even months after it has occured.  For example, about 6 months ago we passed a brush fire on the side of the interstate and you asked why the woods were on fire.  I half-heartedly replied that someone probably threw a cigarette out of their window.  Of course I knew as soon as I made that statement, that I shouldn't have said that because it would send you into a world of panic about what exactly a cigarette was.  I tried to explain my way out of that conversation without too much detail for a 3 year old and forgot about it.  Two weeks ago, we passed another brush fire on the side of the road and you said very matter-of-factly, "The woods are on fire again.  Someone probably threw a cig-red out again."  I had to ask you to repeat yourself twice before I remembered our conversation from 6 months ago.  You never seem to forget.

I often forget that you're only 4 years old and find myself trying to reason with you like I would an adult.  Your little southern accent and mannerisms make you a hit where ever we go.  You like to put your hands out like you're explaining something and say "Welllllll, actualllllyyyyy...." when you're trying to reason with someone.  Lately, you've been using a lot of new big words like "actually, investigate, vehicle, fantastic, conversation, etc..." 

You still suffer from what I call "first child syndrome", which is a little bossiness, a little whininess, and a lot of drama mixed together.  You like to get your way, whether that be a corn dog instead of pasta for dinner, going outside when it's too wet, or watching Octonauts when the only thing on is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  You definitely don't like to pick up after yourself and you often manipulate your brother into doing your chores like taking your shoes to your room or picking up your books.

Your favorite things to do include playing outside (especially playgrounds), building forts with the couch cushions, listening to stories - whether it be a book or some made-up story from your Poppa, watching your favorite cartoons (mostly Octonauts), and you've recently started pretending a lot more - pretending that you're a pirate on a ship, pretending to cut the grass, etc.... 

You are still an incredibly picky eater.  Your list of approved foods include chicken nuggets (but apparently not the kind that I just bought from Costco), hot dogs, corn dogs, grilled (soy) cheese sandwiches, some grilled chicken, peanut butter (and sometimes jelly) sandwiches, all fruits, green beans, steamed broccoli, cooked carrots, peas, "mash-me-a-taters" (mashed potatoes), french fries and some sweet potato fries if they are covered in cinnamon.  You love soy or coconut yogurt, bacon (which you call "hogskins"), cheese eggs, and waffles or pancakes.  You've only recently started requesting syrup for your waffles or pancakes.  Up until then, you ate them plain because you absolutely LOATHE having your hands messy or sticky.  You seem to have sensory issues - your teachers tell me you don't like to participate in messy projects at school either. You've just learned to eat with a spoon this year and I swear it was because of this issue.  Up until this year, you would try the yogurt yourself, drop a little on your shirt or get some on your hands and then FREAK OUT to the point where you refused to eat anymore.  You still don't like the mess, but instead of freaking out so bad, you just immediately want it cleaned up - which you're getting better at handling yourself. 

You love cupcakes, but only eat the icing.  You love candy, especially chocolate, sweet tarts, suckers and chewing gum.  You're surprisingly trust worthy with the gum chewing thing.  Mostly because you're afraid to swallow it based on your fear that it will "stick to your belly." 

You're afraid of the dark and have nightmares on a regular basis.  Sometimes you remember them and sometimes you don't.  If the dream is severe enough, you will go back to it once you fall asleep again, causing you to be up screaming about every 30 minutes on those awful nights.  We have to be very careful about what we say around or to you, and especially what you see on television.  Even things that don't scare little kids seem to scare you enough to worry about them for days.  You're my little "thinker" I say because you will dwell on one thought for days and worry about the outcome of a situation for much longer than I would guess most 4 year olds do. 

You are playing baseball this year, which has been hilarious for your parents to watch.  You like to bat, and loooovvvvveeeee to run the bases.  You couldn't care less about fielding and you try your best to get off the field during your time in the outfield.  I don't think you've gone after one ball all season, but that's one of the things I love most about you - no matter what the other children are doing, you tend to do your own thing.  Your favorite toys right now include nerf guns, water guns, your toy horses, your Mobigo, tractors, helicopters, Toy Story toys, Batman and the little hexbug that came in your Easter basket (if we can just quit losing it).

You don't take many naps, only the occasional one when you fall asleep in the car from grandma's house to our's.  You love to "stay up late" which usually means we let you fall asleep on the couch rather than in your bed.  We started using this as an incentive for better behavior at school and it seems to do the trick when we need it to.  For the record, you usually only make it about 30 minutes longer than you would if you were in your bed before we look over and see you zonked out. 

You have grown so much this year - physically, mentally and emotionally.  You make me so proud when I see you try new things even if you are intimidated.  The first time you stood at the plate to bat was extra special for me.  You're the youngest kid on your team and you walked right out there with that helmet that's too big and eventually hit the ball.  You were so proud when you made it to first base, that I could hear you telling the coach "I hit that ball and ran fast as lightning- just like this!" (and then he had to catch you and bring you back to stand on first :)  I was so proud of you that day for not letting your fear of new things stop you from trying. 

One of your favorite things in the world are those greeting cards that sing or make noises.  So this morning when you crawled into our bed at 6:30AM, we surprised you with a Spongebob card that sings "Happy Birthday" when you open it.  You smiled so big and played it over and over.  You said "Can I take this to school and show my friends!?" We ended up accidentally leaving the card at home when we dropped you off at school and when I showed up to bring cupcakes for your class, you said "Thanks for the the cupcakes, Mom but I forgot my card at home."  That's when I pulled the card out and you were sooooo excited and you smiled sooooooo big as you showed your card to your buddies and teachers.  You were such a happy little guy at school today and hugged your mommy so hard for bringing you cupcakes.  I'm pretty sure you were happier with that card and those Buzz Lightyear cupcakes than you would have been with any toy I could have given you.

I can't wait to see how you'll grow this year.  I know that you'll be such a big helper when your baby sister gets here.  You've already offered to let her sleep in your room so that you can check on her :)  You are so innocent and such a great little character.  I love who you are and I hope that you lose some of the whininess, but keep your strong-willed, head strong nature about you.  I want you to always be your own person who never grows tired of snuggling with your momma.  Your brother loves you like crazy and your daddy and I could never thank you enough for turning our world upside down 4 years ago and teaching us so much in the years since then.  We love you Will!!

Bean 3 Has a Name!

Well after much debate and discussion, Brandon and I have finally agreed on a name for our little girl.  You have to understand... Brandon and I have never really had to seriously consider what we would name a girl.  Sure, in the early stages of each pregnancy we had various names that we thought were "cute" for a girl, but we never had to really think about a little girl's name.  And now that we are having a girl, and this baby will be our last, we've spent lots of time making sure that this name is perfect for our one and only little girl.

When naming our boys, I wanted names that were strong, classic, do-anything names.  For example, I could see a "Will" as teacher, athlete, banker, lawyer, etc....  and I feel the same way about the name "Brooks".  For a girl's name, I want the same - a strong but pretty name.  I thought about how each name we considered would look on the desk of a writer, a banker, a doctor, and how it would look on her wedding invitations.  And then of course, I ran each name by our boys to see how they could pronounce each possibility.  Some were pretty funny - for instance, Caroline was "Caw-wow-wine" and Greer was "Gweeawr" - so although cute, those had to be eliminated.  Will was hung up on naming her Cheryl.  I found this hilarious, because I swear he doesn't know one single Cheryl - not a teacher, not a cartoon character, not even one of those obnoxious kids on Barney was named Cheryl.  After weeks and even months of insisting, much to my delight, he finally let it go.  Knowing my kid like I do, he would have totally called (and told everyone we know) that her name was Cheryl no matter what her name really was, so I'm glad he's over it.

Let's start with her middle name.  This one came to me one day while we were in the car.  My mama's middle name is "Jo" - named after her daddy and my grandfather.  Just "Jo".  Brandon's mama's middle name is "Ann" .... sooooo what better middle name for our little Bean than "Joann"?  That way, she has a piece of each grandmother (and a little bit of her great grandfather) in her name.  So sweet :)  There was no debating over that one.  We both agreed pretty quickly on her middle name - Joann.

We went 'round and 'round with the first name, but we eventually landed on a name that I believe is pretty and sweet, yet a little unexpected - Tessa :)

So our little Bean's name will be Tessa Joann Rutledge.

Why do I suddenly have the urge to go have something monogrammed??  Perhaps to make it more official??

Life With Boys

Today I am linking up at Kelly's Korner with other mommies of boys.  Of course, I'll only be able to say "we're all boy" for just a few more months, but I think I still qualify for this link up :) 

Oh my, what can I say about life with our two boys.... it's always interesting to say the least.  First, let me introduce you to my little men:

Will is our oldest - and will be turning 4 in just two short weeks.  Will is smart, loving and witty.  He is an old soul.  I often say that he is a 50 year old man trapped in a preschooler's body.  Even his teachers would agree!  He speaks with a strong southern accent and says things that you would never believe unless you heard them yourself (not bad things - just too old for him).  He's not obviously shy but is a little introverted at times.  He does NOT like to sing, dance, or to be silly and rarely gets excited.  His current favorite things (because we all know how often these things can change) include horses, helicopters, hexbugs and building forts.

Brooks is our baby (at least for the next 3-4 months).  He turned 2 in February, so that makes he and his brother 22 months apart.  He is smiley, good-natured and more independant and outgoing than his older brother.  He is extremely tough and will knock your lights out if he feels like you've wronged him.  Brooks throws all caution to the wind and cannot be left alone for one.single.second.  He is just now forming little sentences and I secretly love that I'm the only person in the world that understands more than 25% of what he's saying.  His current loves are tractors, tractors, and tractors.

Our boys are very close to one another.  They are rarely apart, but when they are they will ask about the other the whole time - "Where is Brooks?" or "Will at ballpark?"  Their closeness is so fun and sweet to watch.  The only downside to having two boys this close in age is that they do tend to fight over things a LOT - and by "things" I mean anything - toys, books, seats on the couch, food, me, etc....

Life with boys is fun and right up my ally.  In fact, I'm very nervous about welcoming our 3rd child and 1st girl in a few short months.  I find myself wandering the girl's section at clothing stores thinking: Aww. This is a cute dress.  Wait.  Here are matching leggings.  Am I supposed to get leggings?  What if they're hot?  And here are the bows.  Wait.  Am I supposed to get a $7 bow that matches this one outfit? Is the bow too big?  And what if she has no hair - am I supposed to buy one of those stretchy bandy thingies?  Where are those?  Why do they sell bows but no stretchy bandy thingies???!!! And then I just walk away empty handed and find myself in the boy's section looking at cargo shorts and graphic tees.  That's my kind of easy.

Life with boys is not for the faint of heart.  They eat dirt.  They bring you bugs.  They play in the toilet.  They may or may not pick up poop if given the opportunity and they will most certainly always pick up super fun things at the park like empty cans and cigarette butts.  I say things on a daily basis that once out of my mouth, I think: I can't believe I just had to say that.  Things like "Put your doodle back in your underwear" or "Yes daddy has a doodle.  No mommy doesn't have a doodle" or "Do NOT grab your brother's doodle!  You may only touch your OWN doodle!"

But if you're reading this, you've probably found me from Kelly's Blog and you are probably also a mother of boys.  And you, if anyone, can relate.  And you, if anyone, also know that there is just something about the way a little boy loves his mommy that makes life with them that much more precious.  I wouldn't have our family any other way - with two awesome little boys and a sweet little sister for them on the way :)

Random Thoughts

Easter Recap

I hope everyone had a great Easter.  We had a great time spent with family and friends.  Here are my thoughts on Easter 2012:

*Since when did Easter become Christmas 2.0?!!  I mean seriously - I'm guilty of giving my kids an Easter basket stuffed with lots of Spring/Easter themed goodies, but I've seen the pics some of you have posted on Facebook of your kids' Easter baskets and I'm amazed that 90% of the pics showed an abundance of toys, games, books and electronics (and even a freakin' tricycle) spilling out of the baskets and onto the floor.  I mean if you have to stack your kid's Easter presents around his basket, there is a good chance you missed the idea behind the Easter basket.

*Second thought - next year, NO MORE CANDY!  My kids brought home more candy from their two egg hunts than they did after hitting 200 houses in our neighborhood at Halloween.  I gave one bag full away and took another bag full to work today.  And we still have a HUGE bucket full.  Yuck.  No more.

*Third thought - even though your spoiled rotten kids received tricycles and Nintendo games as gifts for Easter (still can't get over that), they looked cute as pie in their Sunday best.  Here are mine:  

I think they used some new reflective fabric in these outfits - wow.

Brooks' first time on a horse

Will's first time on a horse (which he loved but you can't tell based on his expression)

I love this picture - he's on a mission!

Will looks so grown up here (and yes - count on at least one child to ruin their outfit before the egg hunt.  Happens every.single.year)

Bean 3 Has a Name

At least I'm 99% certain that she does.  Now that we've finally agreed on a name, I'm a little nervous to announce it out of fear that Brandon will change his mind and go back to saying he's not sure about it.  Maybe I'll make that my next post?  My next post will be my 100th - maybe Bean's name is special enough for that kind of celebration ;)

My Blog

I ran into an old high school classmate tonight (we can call ourselves old now that our 10 year reunion is upon us!) and she was very sweet.  She told me how much she loves my blog and how it really lifts her spirits, makes her laugh and makes her feel good.  I can't tell you how awesome that makes me feel.  I read a LOT of blogs - some of them are too materialistic, a lot of them feel too much like Sunday School and MOST of them are fake.  They paint this wonderful picture of life - their children are wonderful, their husband is perfect, and they most certainly have the cleanest house and cook 3 fresh from-scratch meals every single day.  Not me.  I just can't.  I try my very hardest to be real on here.  My kids are far from perfect, we eat out (or in but quick) a lot, I pay someone to clean my house, and I'm not so perky that you want to scratch my eyeballs out all the time.  I love Jesus and I'm so thankful that he's taken care of my family the way he has, but you won't see too many Bible lessons on here.  I just need a place to get my thoughts out.  To clear my head.  To get out my frustrations, anxieties and excitements, and this blog does that for me.

There are people who read my blog just to make fun of it.  There are those people who have said (to my face) "Oh let me guess - will you put this on your little blog?" or say "I just don't get it.  Who are you talking to?"  OR my personal favorite - "I just don't have time to read or write blogs because I spend time with my family instead of sitting on the computer."  That's great.  I hope that you spend that quality time with your kids showing them exactly how to be a stick in the mud with the attitude of a bull frog.  

I've never missed one single exciting, happy, sad or important moment with my children because of this blog.  In fact, my biggest momma's boy is asleep beside me right now because he fell asleep watching Diego in our bed.  I really wish people would use this blog as a way to relate to other parents, other wives, working moms, or women who have husbands battling some awful disease.  I hope that you're reading this blog because you love it and it makes you feel good.  If you're reading this blog because you want to make fun of it - well then, you're wasting more time than I've ever wasted writing it.  

Easter is Here!

I feel like I was just recapping our Christmas morning, yet here I sit writing about our Easter plans.  How come time couldn't go by this quickly when I was in high school counting down the days until Spring Break?!  It seems all you need to do to speed up time is have a few kids.  All of a sudden, you will be trying to find the emergency brake so that you can have a few minutes to scoot off to Target and buy enough picked-over Easter trinkets to fill a couple of baskets.

I try to avoid a TON of candy in the Easter baskets.  Both grandparents also make baskets for the boys and that always equals sugar overload in the days and even weeks following the big holiday.  When this happens, FOR THEIR OWN PROTECTION, I remove all the good extra sugary candies like the Reese Eggs and stash them in my office a very safe place :)

I hope the boys like their baskets this year - they have EXACTLY the same items in their baskets, except their sandals are different colors and their beach towels have different Disney characters on them.  Inevitably, the wrong kid will get the wrong color or character and they will fight over the same one.  I couldn't help it though, sometimes I just get sooooo sick of having two of everything.  It's like living in a weird Groundhog Day time warp zone every day of your life. 

They are both getting these awesome bubble gum egg pooping chickens. (These are always voted the year's worst candy due to the "pooping egg" thing.  Whoever votes on those surveys obviously doesn't have 2 & 3 year old boys!)  

Ohhhh and their both getting this fun bath soap (am I the only one who remembers this stuff!?) -

They are getting Play Doh Easter eggs-

Brooks is getting these Sanuk flip flops-

And Will is getting these (I tried to find two of the same style, but had no such luck)-

Brooks will be getting Disney's Cars beach towel -

And Will the Toy Story - 

The rest of their baskets are filled with bunny-shaped rice krispie treats, pastel colored M&M Minis, pastel colored sour gummy bears and a chocolate bunny of course.  

I had actually bought them sunglasses and a couple of books but ended up giving them to them earlier for no particular reason other than I love to surprise them from time to time :)

My original plan for today was to dye eggs with the boys.  Unfortunately, I am writing to you now from the bed because I seem to have pulled and/or strained a few muscles in my lower abdomen/hip area and I have now been sentenced to spend the next few days "off my feet" as per my OB.  I'm not really sure what happened - the only thing I can imagine is that my 2.5 mile (which I have always done 3Xs/week) walk was just too much Thursday night because all of a sudden, while I was at work on Friday, I started having terrible sharp/achey pains in my lower abdomen.  I couldn't walk without wiping the tears out of my eyes.  I feel fine when I'm sitting or lying down, but the pain comes as soon as I try to walk :(  So here I am.  In the bed.  I would try to sit in a chair and dye eggs anyway, but the idea of sending my husband the grocery store for Kool-Aid packets, olive oil, eggs and white vinegar is pretty humorous.  I did manage to get the boys' baskets filled while sitting in the bed.  Now if I could just figure out how to finish tagging the stuff I plan to consign Monday night.....

A Quick Weekend Getaway

Brandon and I have lived less than 5 minutes away from this exclusive 5 star resort for nearly 6 years and have never been inside it's grand gates.  It's not that we didn't want to go to Barnsley, but let's face it - when we want to go on a getaway or vacation, we usually want to get away and we just never considered laying down the money to vacation in our back yard. (We had both visited Barnsley before it's incredible renovation on elementary school field trips.  Back then, it was just the gardens and the ruins.)  You can read up on the history, romance and tragedies of Barnsley Gardens here.

The service at this resort is incredible.  When we walked into the registration lobby, the clerk said "Hello Jessica.  Let's get you to your cottage."  I almost looked down to my shirt to see if I had accidentally worn my bank name tag in!  After signing in, the sweetest little man escorted us to our cottage.  The little cottages are so cute, luxurious and cozy.  Here is our cottage for the night:

The cottage had a separate living room with a sofa, chair & ottoman and a small table and four chairs.  The living room also had nice plasma television and a small bar area with a sink, coffee pot, mini fridge etc...  The bedroom was just as nice with a huge king-sized bed and a cedar armoire that smelled so good I could have slept in there.  My favorite part of the cottage however had to be the bath room.  The toilet was in a totally separate room altogether (like not even in the bathroom), but the actual bathroom had solid white mosaic tile floors, a grand claw foot bathtub and a separate standing shower flanked with more of the pristine white mosaics.  The bathroom floor wasn't the only flooring worth mentioning though - the entire cottage was covered in the shiniest, cleanest pine hardwood floors that I've ever seen (and with just the right amount of "creak" I might add).

After getting settled in, Brandon and I quickly headed outdoors.  We walked just a few hundred feet away to the entrance of the gardens, and then on through the the mansion ruins.  The weather was perfect for our walk - not too hot and we could vaguely hear rumbles of thunder off in the distance.  It was kind of the ideal mood for walking through the gardens and ruins of Barnsley (which legend has it is haunted by Julia Barnsley's ghost).

From the looks of the gardens, we had just missed all the tulip blooms.  A few still had their blooms, but the azaleas were blooming and were soooo beautiful.  I planted a couple of azalea bushes last spring, but alas.... they didn't survive :(

The ruins are so hauntingly beautiful.  You can't help but imagine what life inside this mansion in the late 1800's must have been like - with more than 4,000 acres of beautiful gardens surrounding you. 

Now I'm sure this chandelier has been added through the renovations, as this is a well-sought after venue for weddings and other romantic rendezvous, but this mansion was the first dwelling in this area with indoor plumbing.

If my backyard were this beautiful, I may never step inside the house...

After checking out the mansion ruins, we walked through the gardens to find what Brandon remembered as the family's cemetery.  I didn't remember that stop on our elementary school tour, but it has been proven that Brandon has a much better memory of such events than I do. 

We did find the cemetery, complete with the Barnsley family plots (only one of which was marked).  We also saw some lesser decorated, but still marked grave sights scattered among the woods near the family's cemetery.  Brandon remembered those as the family's slave's grave sights.  I didn't get any pics of the cemetery.  Too morbid for my taste, but still neat to see.

We saw this big guy on our walk back to the cottage from the gardens.  The thunder was getting a little closer and we had dinner reservations to attend to.  He was getting his picture made by several other people enjoying the gardens, but for some reason when I tried to take his picture, he jerked his head up and started hissing and almost growling at me!  I did what any other girl in my shoes would do - I threw my husband at him and took off running!

We also walked back through the mansion through the rear entrance and heard this beautiful dance music running through the mansion.  We didn't think much of it, again because of the types of events in the ruins it isn't unthinkable that they have it rigged with various romantic lights and sounds, but then we turned the corner and OOPS!  We walked right into this room where a lovely young man was asking the question of a lifetime - complete with rose petals, music, dancing and champagne on ice.  We tried as quickly and as quietly as possible to get out of there, and then only on our way out did we notice the rose petals leading through the gardens and into the ruins.  So much for this guy's romantic plans :/ 

We had dinner reservations at the Woodlands Grill on the resort that evening.  There are actually two restaurants on the resort grounds, but the Rice House (the more upscale dining) is closed January through April each year.  We were more than excited though to try the Woodlands Grill.  From our friends who are members at Barnsley, they all recommend the Grill over the Rice House anyway.  

They seated us right in front of a gorgeous window overlooking the driving range and practice putting green.  It was such a beautiful evening and we sat right next to Bobby Cox, the newly retired manager of the Atlanta Braves.  It's not unusual to see him here in Adairsville, as he has an "off-season" home here, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that most other patrons of the restaurant left him alone to have dinner with his family. 

We ordered the chili cheese nachos as an appetizer.  They were soooo good. 

I haven't been able to eat much chicken with this pregnancy (which is strange and new to me), so I of course opted for my protein of choice lately - steak :)  Oh.My.Goodness.  This was a bone-in ribeye (at least three inches thick) with asparagus, red potatoes, and mushrooms covered in a red wine sauce.  Believe it or not, I actually ate most of it.  We enjoyed our conversation and surprisingly, we didn't talk about the boys at all.  We talked about work, Bean 3 (Brandon has finally conceded to my choice for this baby girl's name.  I think he was just being stubborn all along, but he'll never admit it ;)) and we had lots of laughs over screwing up that guy's moment of a lifetime.  Brandon said the guy needed an interruption because he had inevitably set the bar wayyyy too high with that type of proposal and needed a good reality check.  He said the guy will have to live up to those standards for the rest of his married life....  (insert eye roll here)

After dinner, we walked back to our cottage through the streets of equally adorable cottages and then through the Beer Garden.  The Beer Garden is an outdoor (and much lower key) dinner option at Barnsley.  They have picnic tables set up under strings of paper lanterns and garden lights with an order-at-the-counter style burger, hot dog and beer stand.  They had two huge televisions showing the March Madness basketball events.  I could imagine that Brandon and I would have made a stop here for a few after dinner beverages had Bean 3 not been present ;)

We passed lots of couples playing the various lawn games - croquet, frisbee, horse shoes, etc.. and several more either making their way to the Grill or off to the gardens.  A few people were horseback riding, or renting bikes.  Not very suitable for me and Bean 3, so we just retired to our cottage for the night.

Fully intending to sleep past our boys' usual wake up time of 6:50 -7:00AM, we woke up promptly at 7:30AM.  Special thanks to the sweet little bird that sang us awake so early right outside our window :)

Because we were awake anyway, we walked back down to the Grill for breakfast.  While they do serve menu items for breakfast, they were also having a breakfast buffet that we had heard rave reviews about, so we opted for that.  I filled my plate with bacon, fruit, a cream cheese crepe and warm pancakes topped with fresh fruit preserves and syrup.  They sure do know how to make a pregnant girl happy at Barnsley!

After breakfast and a cup of coffee, we walked down towards the spa and pool area of the resort.  I've heard wonderful things about the spa at Barnsley, but we had so much in the way of yard work to do on Sunday, that we didn't have much time for that.  I did want to make a special trip down there, however because I had been told by a little birdie that Barnsley had planted a tree in my late cousin's honor right in front of the spa.  Sure enough!  Here is the cute little tree - I just had to take a picture.

We had a wonderful night at Barnsley Gardens.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone - even if you do live right next door.  They also have special accommodations for the even the smallest members of your family.  In addition to the pool and (obviously) lots of roaming room, they have little bicycle/tricycle rentals, a playground and even children's menu items at the Grill.  I don't see us taking our little bits there anytime soon though - Barnsley would have a few more "ruins" after my boys made their rounds!