life lately, according to my iphone.

We haven't done anything real blogworthy lately. Just the usual day to day. We have had a few visits from some long time friends, taken a couple of trips to the park on pretty days, and I got a new look, prompting Elliott to scrunch his eyebrows at me with a look that says "you sound like my Momma, but you sure don't look like her." So although life has been fairly uneventful, here's a look at what we've been doing through the lens of my iPhone:

[I broke my social media fast and came out of hiding on instagram. I won't be returning to Facebook any time soon, but I couldn't stand being so out of the loop on what my friends are doing. I guess it's just a curse for our generation, we have to know what our friends are up to daily. I'm praying that I can keep it from consuming my life by just being a part of one form of social media. We'll see. But, if you're interested in seeing mundane day to day pictures, like I am, you can look us up @love_is_in_the_hair.]

highlights

Whew, we had a busy week and now that it's wrapping up, I'm finally relaxing. I'm kicked back in bed with my macbook and a cup of tea in preparation for another busy week. But first, here are this week's highlights:

*a follow up appointment and good report for 

elliott at arkansas allergy and asthma

*a tea party with an old friend

*taking dinner to a couple from church 

who just welcomed a new addition

*celebrating gary's 29th birthday

*a midweek play date with friends, 

*joining a local running group

*going on my first run since last April 

*an online "hangout" with the order

*giving our 2 week's notice at elliott's daycare

*enrolling e in a mother's day out program (a $330 a month savings!!!)

*cooking 3 times in one week

*a birthday party for e's friend, max

*chaperoning elliott and paisley's chick-fil-a date

*a baby shower for a sweet friend from church

*movie night with caleb and laura

*homemade cookies

*a day trip to arkadelphia to visit gary's grandparents.

I have a feeling this week's highlight will be the "mommy time" I have planned for wednesday: a visit to the dermatologist, followed by a massage and a pedicure. My poor toes are long overdue for some TLC!

a glimpse into our weekend.

Gary was away on business this weekend. Elliott is cutting a molar and running fever. Not a good combo.

We went to a dear friend's adorable gender reveal party Saturday morning, and shortly after finding out she is expecting a sweet baby boy, I had to whisk E away to my Mom's house for a breather. He was into everything he could reach, crying and turning into a limp noodle any time I tried to pull him away. The party was packed and he wanted down on the floor beneath everyone's feet. I struggled alone to carry around a squirmy, fussy 22 pound weight, while attempting to make polite conversation. 45 minutes later, I left drenched in sweat, wanting nothing more than a strong drink and deep tissue massage.

Thankfully, our afternoon was better than our morning (thank you infant's Advil), and we had a nice play date at the park with Brooke and Paisley, followed by E crashing for a two and half hour nap, during which I cleared out our outdoor closet (to make room for the bikes I'm dreaming of purchasing this spring) and organized our messy pantry.

Sunday morning E was, once again, super fussy and I was feeling the stress of 4 days alone with a one-year-old piling on, but at 3:25 Sunday afternoon Gary touched down in Little Rock, and life returned to normal. Elliott was in bed by 6:30 and we were enjoying takeout and catching up on our shows from the past week via Apple TV mirroring (this whole no cable thing has been working out nicely, btw) on our living room floor by 7:30.

I sure did miss him while he was gone! Sure, it's fun to have the bed and computer all to yourself for a night, but anything after that is just plain lonely. And as far as taking care of E goes, we make a good team. Props to the single Mommas out there, you are amazing. I'm certainly not cut out for it!

Life the past month, according to my iPhone:

[1] making christmas gifts for the grands [2] plates

[3] snow mix in the making [4] christmas goodies for neighbors and friends

[5] my new obsession (thanks, meghan!) [6] haunted hotel (!!!)

[7] hunter and katie's mississippi wedding [8] husband and wife

[9] snowed in [10] new year's eve toast [11] ringing in the new year right

[12] my bestie (and "August"!) and me [13] cheers to 6 years

[14] anniversary breakfast in bed for my hurney [15] local lime

[16] salsa and margaritas [17] my hot date [18] water baby

[19] e's first kid's meal [20] fog over the rock

The Empress.

This past weekend, Gary and I celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss. Sure, we've had ups and downs, but I can honestly say there have been more ups than downs. Over the past 6 years we've made a house a home, traveled the world, opened a successful business, and started a family together. I say it a lot, we're blessed, and we give all the credit to the Lord for walking with us through this journey together. I know life will have its fair share of downs too, and when it does I'm so thankful that we'll have each other to lean on.

Last year we weren't up for doing much of anything for our 5th anniversary since Elliott was only 8 days old, so this year Gary planned something extra special for us, and even kept the details a secret from me until we arrived!

Friday evening, we dropped Elliott off at my parent's for the weekend, and headed to Bonefish Grill for a late dinner, followed by a late movie. We saw Silver Lining's Playbook, and we didn't get home until 1:30am! It felt like old times. We're  night owls, so a late movie on a Friday night was a common occurrence for us before E. I haven't been out that late since before he was born. It was nice to not have to be in for the evening at 7:30, or to have to worry about being up at 6:30 the next morning. In fact, we slept until close to 10, and had breakfast in bed before heading out for shopping and lunch at a new local Mexican restaurant. I racked up at Anthropologie, using my Christmas money, and I've felt like a new woman sporting my new wardrobe this week.

But, the real surprise came after the eating and shopping, when we pulled up at The Empress bed and breakfast in downtown Little Rock. The Empress is a mansion that was built in 1888 and was restored and turned into a bed and breakfast 20 years ago. Gary reserved the Hemingway Suite for Saturday night (knowing my love for the works of Ernest Hemingway). We were welcomed with Hemingway's favorite amaretto liqueur when we opened the door, and shortly after we had settled in, 2 massage therapists arrived to give us a couples massage. Shortly after that, a bottle of champagne and a tray of bread, cheese, fruit, and desserts arrived! I was in heaven. He even remembered our wedding DVD. We spent the evening relaxing and enjoying the beautiful room while it stormed outside our window, just like it did on our wedding night.

After another night of uninterrupted sleep, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast served to us by the owners of The Empress in the dining room, before heading to pick up Elliott. What a wonderful surprise from a wonderful husband. I seriously can't wait to grow old with this man! Here's to 60 more years of wedded bliss.

Our first White Christmas!

As promised here are a few pictures of our little man in the snow on Christmas. He didn't mind being out there if one of us was holding him, but he wasn't too keen on getting in the snow. I can't blame him though, it was really cold. Little Rock got the most snow it has seen since 1963, around 10-12 inches, over doubling the record for the most snow on Christmas, which was only 4 inches! I'm so glad we could experience this record breaking snow in our lifetime, even if it did knock out our power for 2 days.

Top 10 of 2012:

2012 was good to the Grant family! We are actually sad to see it go. It was a year of change, growth, and intense joy. It will be one of those years we will always look back on and smile. So, let's do that now. Here's our top 10 of 2012.

1. Welcoming our first child, Elliott Knight Grant in January of 2012. Hands down the best day of my life! He weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces and measured 20 and a quarter inches long. We were so relieved to hear he was perfectly healthy. Our top 10 could easily be all about him, but I'll just list a few.

2. Seeing Elliott smile at us for the first time, and later hearing his first laugh. It made all of the sleepless nights and dirty diapers worth it, and it continues to bring joy to our lives every day.

3. Running my first post baby half marathon in Nashville, TN when Elliott was 3 months old, making this my 4th completed half marathon. (My running has since slacked, but we'll save resolutions for another post...)

4. Joining the entire Grant family for their annual Getaway to Arkadelphia. Many were able to meet Elliott for the first time here. We also enjoyed a special family celebration for Gary's grandparent's 65th wedding anniversary.

5. Having Elliott dedicated at our church with both sides of our families (great grandparents and great great grandma included!) in attendance.

6. Taking a family vacation to Seagrove Florida. After many months cooped up in our house with a new baby, it was a breath of fresh air to have a change of scenery, and as an added bonus, my family and our friends Brooke, Jonathan and Paisley joined us.

7. Finishing our 3 year lease at the Salon and signing on for another 2 years in historic Park Hill. Our 2012 team consists of myself, 3 stylists, a barber and a massage therapist. 

8. Gary earned the award for number one salesperson at Jenkins Enterprises, increasing his sales by 23% over last year, and beating his personal goal for the year!

9. Celebrating our first Christmas as a family of three. Having Elliott with us for Christmas made the whole season more magical. We loved shopping for him and introducing him to our Christmas traditions.

10. Marveling over the 10 inches of snow we got Christmas night, making this our first ever white Christmas! We felt like we were in a Christmas movie driving to my grandparents as the snow fell, and watching as it continued to fall from the window behind their Christmas tree during Christmas dinner. Simply perfect!

See what I mean? It was a good year, so it's been kind of hard to say goodbye, but I'm excited to see what 2013 holds for our family. It will take a lot to top 2012, but I'm hopeful. We are so very blessed! I hope that 2012 was good to you, but if it wasn't, I hope that 2013 will be a fresh start full of new blessings. Happy New Year, friends!