And the winners are.....

A pic of doodle in all her cuteness. Don't you just love her new bathing suit.

Here's what (I know) you've been waiting on.....the winners!

Monday's Contest-Melissa is the happy owner of a new monogrammed burpcloth.

Tuesday's Contest- Susan won a set of cute Thank You cards. I use them ALL the time. You can never have too many!

Wednesday's Contest- I really enjoyed reading all the comments and will admit that I had to have some help to pick the winner. I liked them all! Lindsay's comment made me roll with laughter. Doodle is "Hot and Wrinkle Free!"

Thursday's Contest- Surprise Leigh! You have won some Burt's Bee's diaper cream. I L-O-V-E it and Emma likes that it keeps her rash free!

If you won a contest this week, please email me (clemsonkate@yahoo.com) your address,real name, (if I don't know it) and instructions about your gift. (what colors? what fabric?) Thanks to all who participated. I wish I had enought money to give you ALL gifts. Enjoy your long weekend!! Hey, that's a gift in itself!!

Surprise Contest

It's the fourth contest of the week....a surprise! Don't you just love Surprises!I know I do. People have a hard time surprising me, I always seem to find out. Your surprise gift, one of my favorite baby items. No hints...but if you have a little one, you will love it too!

~Any-Who!~ To win the contest today, you must write about me on your blog. Somewhere in the post, you must link back to my blog. Please leave a comment on this post if you have entered the contest. That way, I will know to check your blog. I am so excited to read all about myself today.

**Send good luck and prayers our way, JAP (aka my Handsome Hubby) has an interview tomorrow!

Picture Perfect Contest

I got this idea from MckMama over at My Charming Kids. I'm sure I will not have nearly as many potential captions, but this adorable photo needs a caption. Yes, this is little doodle in the dryer. She was having a ball! (No, I don't normally let her sit in the dryer, but we were taking the clothes out and I thought it would be a cute picture!) I will pick my favorite caption and announce the winner of the contests on Friday. You will win.......

A covered diaper case. I made the one above for myself. Got the idea from my favorite, absolute F-A-V-orite store, Swoozie's. You may pick the colors and may suggest the kind of fabric you would like. Nothing too expensive ladies....the governor of our GREAT state just cut our paychecks!!!! Remember you may still enter to win the contests on Tuesday and Monday. Winners won't be chosen until Friday!
Happy Humpday!!

Things I'm Thankful For Tuesday and Contest

I am trying to make a list weekly of things I am thankful for. Sometimes you can get so caught up in what you want, that you forget about what you already have.

I am thankful for:

1. summer break~ yes, I love my little darlings, but right now, I am a little tired of teaching and the kids are little (let's say A LOT) tired of listening. 15 days until summer break!

2. Mornings~ Emma has the cutest grin on her face every morning. I love being the one to get her out of bed and I love when she sees me for the first time each morning and her face lights up!

3. Colorful Felt Tip Pens~ I use them for grading, writing notes, pretty much anything!

4. DaVinci's Subs~ I could gobble one up right now. They put entirely too much meat on the sub, but MAN they are delicious!

5. Macaroni and Cheese~ My absolute favorite food. Homemade is the best. With LOTS of cheese.

Of course, I am thankful for all the great things in my life: God, Husband, Emma, and Family!

***If you would like to win something today that you might be VERY thankful for, you must become a follower of my blog. It's very easy! Just click Follow this blog in the upper left corner. Winners will be announced on Friday! You may still sign up to win Monday's contest too! Don't forget! Good Luck!!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to another Not Me Monday, a blog carnival hosted by the interesting blogger, amazing mother, and Jesus lover, MckMama! Please go read her amazing blog!

I did not buy every magazine about the terrible crisis of the Gosselin family. I think I am a little addicted. I really enjoy thier show and am terribly saddened by the news. I hope that they can work it out, expecially for the kids. I am anxious for the show to begin next Monday, but until then, I have not read...People, InTouch, and many other gossip mags trying to get my fix. No Not Me!

I did not completely enjoy the last show of DH. (Desperate Housewives) I think I might boycott the show if Mike didn't marry Susan again and can't believe that Lynette is going to have TWINS....AGAIN! And Bree...oh my goodness. It will be interesting when Susan finds out what she has been up to! I could not watch the show again tonight. Absolutely not me!

I absolutely DID NOT cheat on my Soup Diet this past week and eat about 4 Nabisco Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies. (really 6, to be honest) Hey, I was hungry and all we got to eat that day was soup and veggies! I went out to finish the diet with minimal cheating. I think I have lost about 5 pounds. No where near the 17 (!!!!) that they say is possible! Oh well, back to just eating healthy and exercising.

I cannot believe that I DO NOT still have Emma's umbilical cord stump in the tray on my nightstand. Nope, Not Me! It fell off....oh....3 months ago. I just can't seem to throw it away, but everytime I look at it, I just wonder what do I think I am going to do with it. Put it in a scrapbook? Ewww! Display it in Emma's room? Even more Ewww! I guess it will stay right where it is until I decide what to do with it!
Lastly, I would absolutely NOT have plastic surgery ( if I had the money) to get rid of the extra weight and stretch marks left over from my 9 months of housing this adorable little bundle of cuteness. I did not gain a plethera of pounds and have NOT found it difficult to loose it. Maybe it's because I cheat on my diets. Ummmm, just a thought! I definately DO NOT wish that I had my pre-pregnancy body back. Certainly NOT ME!

Let the fun begin...

Alright ladies and gents....Today marks the beginning of CONTEST WEEK! Every day will bring new and exciting things! I will be posting a different contest every day. Winners will be announced on Friday. You may enter to win as many contest as you would like, but you may only win one. (Let's be fair!)

Today, you are playing for .....(drumroll please).......a a very adorable monogrammed burpcloth! Similar to these. Oh so cute, I have several and I love, love, love them! They make wonderful baby shower gifts too!

**To win, simply leave a comment on this post. Tell me your name, where you live, and how you found my blog. Any additional comments about the adorable little cutie above wouldn't hurt either. Don't forget to include what you would like monogrammed on your burpcloth, should you win! Good Luck and Let the games begin!

Flashy Four Month Old

Emma Doodle turns FOUR months old today! Man, the months really ~fly~ by! She is such a sweet baby. You can tell from the pictures that she is a joy! She loves to smile and is rarely upset. She loves to cuddle with cute boys (expecially Daddy!) and has never met a stranger. This month, she survived her first fever, learned how to roll over, started grabbing for toys and playing with them (really, they just go straight into her mouth), and was an excellent traveler as we went out of town FOUR weekends in a row. She also spent her first week away from Mommy and Daddy and "Mommy" lived to tell about it. (Thought I would die!) Emma helped Mommy celebrate her first Mother's Day this month and today she met some of my students for the first time. She attended her first wedding and stayed out WAY past her bedtime, but your Uncle Reese only gets married once! Emma is the best thing that has ever happened to me (and her Daddy). Every day I am amazed at how much I love her and how much she has changed the way I view the world. I praise God every day that I have a healthy and happy baby. Happy Four Months Birthday Emma!

Show us where you live, Friday!

So I don't know the Webb Family personally, but I read their blog thanks to our good friend, Lindsay. Her little boy, Walker, is adorable and I simply loved looking at her GORGEOUS living room last Friday. My husband won't allow floral prints and too many pillow! :( Anyways, I got this idea from her blog. I hope you enjoy taking a peek into our house. Today, I will show you our office. I still want to do a lot of things in the room, but maybe I can get some ideas from my blog friends. This is one of my favorite rooms in our house and I spent a lot of time in there blogging, facebooking, watching tv, playing with Emma Doodle, and simply just hanging out.

You can tell my husband picked out a lot of things for this room. I bought him the golfing pictures for his birthday a couple of years ago. I love all the colors and hopefully, one day, We will be able to paint this room. Who knows when we will have time.
JAP just H-A-D to have this TV and the Playstation that is hiding underneath it. He never plays it, but I'm not going to say that it was a waste of money. No not me!

I too love pictures. We took down a lot of our pictures when we had our house up for sale. These are the photos we have coming up our stairs. I love looking at them. To tell you the truth, we need to replace some of the photos. Pronto!

ABSOLUTELY beautiful curtains made by my very talented Mother-In-Law.

Love, Love, Love pillow too. Hubby hates, hates, hates them! Says they are useless.

We enjoy going to the Masters every year. Our house is full of Masters memorabilia.

Go Clemson Tigers! My husband and I both graduated from there and we are HUGE fans!

And, my computer. Yes, it is MY computer. I just simply share it with my husband when he occasionally checks his email and makes bets on football games. This is where I sit to blog and do all of my most favorite things. Of course, you can see who is our screensaver....little Cutie!

Awwww...Sick Little Cutie

I got home from work today and Joan Aubrey (my sis-in-law) told me that Emma slept most of the day today. I thought "That's odd." I continued to talk to her about Emma's day, she was giving Emma a bottle. When Emma finished her bottle (and I had clean hands...I always feel so dirty when I get home from work), I picked her up. First thing I noticed, she is BURNING up. Took her temperature...101.9! On hyperspeed, I called the Peds office. "Bring her in", the nice nurse said. I think she could tell this was our first baby and it was her first "big" illness. Poor little thing! I totally wish I could take her place. The very nice doctor (and pretty nice looking too) told us everything would be fine. Looks like she has an URI- Upper Respitory Infection. Treat her with Tylenol and plently of love and hugs. No problem! She should be fine in two-three days. I hear a little peep from the sickling now...must go give love and hugs!

A little something up my sleeve

I will be hosting some blog contests next week. Make sure you check the blog every day! I'm excited Ya'll! (yes, Ya'll is a word....means you all)
**In other news, we quite possibly have some B-I-G changes coming our way. Don't want to announce anything yet (ever heard of jinxing), but I think we might need the power of prayer for this ladies and gents! Hopefully God's plan will coincide with ours. **

Not Me Monday

I am totally late and it is almost Tuesday, but here goes...my first "Not Me Monday" post. "Not Me" is a blog carnival started by McMamma.

I totally DID NOT have the school nurse check my head for lice today. Two, count them TWO kids in my class have lice and I spent the entire day scratching my head and totally freaking out that I had lice. I was doing the play by play of what I would have to do when I got home....bath (scrub, scrub, scrub), disinfect EVERYTHING, wash EVERYTHING, I was going to be up all night! Thankfully...."There ain't no bugs on me, There ain't no bugs on me, There may be bugs on some of you mugs, but there ain't no bugs on me!"

And, I did not absolutely tell a child in my class that I would give him a "gold slip" if he sat in his seat and didn't say a word all day. You would have to know this child to know that he does not EVER stop talking. He tells me everything and I mean everything. He even told me one day that he found a tick on a very private part. Ewww! I just said "Thanks for letting me know, did you get it taken care of? Good, now go to your seat." **He lost the "gold slip" not ten minutes into the day...the tardy bell hadn't even rung. Does this make me a bad teacher? Hope not!

There is NO WAY that I went to Sonic twice today to buy a large sweet tea. I totally could make tea on my own, I do know how, but I guess it is just a combination of laziness and "darn good" tea. Too bad, I never made it there during Happy Hour. Maybe I'll go tomorrow and get my tea for half price....or maybe I should just suck it up and make my own.

I DID NOT, I repeat DID NOT have the best Mother's Day ever. My wonderful hubby and amazing daughter surprised me with breakfast in bed and the most gorgeous ring I have ever seen. It is A-B-S-O-LUTELY beautiful...Emma's birthstone. I am definately NOT going to pass it down to my absolutely beautiful daughter when she is older. We spent the rest of the day worshiping our Lord, eating lunch, lounging, and grocery shopping. What a great day!

**Soup Diet starts tomorrow. Crazy and I will post about it later, but simply HAVE TO get rid of this baby weight so I can wear my clothes again. ***

Little Babbling Baby

Don't know how to turn this so it won't be sideways. Can anyone help?

Birth Announcement Photos

Randomness

Emma is growing like a weed and talking up a storm. She loves to sit and babble! Before long, she will be writing these posts!
Emma got here first "love" note from her boyfriend, Charlie. So sweet! I guess it tasted good too!

We finally sent out our birth announcements. I will post some of the awesome pics in my next post. A big THANK YOU to Kendall for taking the great pictures!

Lindsay's quest

Could you live a week without TV? Our friend, Lindsay, will soon find out. She is on a quest to watch no TV for the entire week. I know I would definately miss certain shows, but now that Emma is here, I rarely spend any time watching tv. I do, on the other hand, spend a good bit of time of the computer...JAP calls me computer nerd.

These are my "can't live without" shows

1. Desperate Housewives~ Love, Love, Love it. So much drama and crazy story lines. It's my guilty pleasure...well that and Celebrity News Shows!

2. Grey's Anatomy~ I missed my calling, I think. I should have definately stayed with nursing. I love watching all the cool surgerys and of course...who would mind staring at McDreamy for an hour every Thursday night.

3. Brothers and Sisters~ major drama on this show. My husband doesn't even want to watch it anymore...so much drama in the LBC, it's kinda hard being Snoop D-O-DOUBLE G.

4. Criminal Minds~ Scary, but I like being scared out of my pants one night a week.

5. Jon and Kate Plus 8~ Kate drives me insane sometimes and I don't like all these things I am hearing about Jon, but the kids are A-B-S-O-LUTELY adorable and they say the cutest things!

Well those are my favs. If you would like to read up on Lindsay's week without TV, check out her blog, When a duet becomes a trio. I'm thinking I might give up the computer for a week. Boy, would my hubby love that!

Bear with me....

I didn't get any great pictures at the wedding. Stupid me, I left my camera in my mom's car and she had to park almost two miles away from the reception site. Needless to say, I was not going to walk to the car to get my camera in heels....my flip-flops were in the car too. Boo! My cousin, Bobby, drove my mom's car up closer towards the end of the reception and I finally took a couple of pictures. So I introduce......

the B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L bride, Meredith Isbell Alexander. She is the most adorable little thing and I love her to death. So glad she is now an official part of our family.

Bring on the Rain

Yesterday my baby brother and his beloved, Meredith were married. They got married at Pendleton First Baptist, the same church were I was married almost three years ago. It was an absolutely beautiful ceremony. Even the good Lord himself made his presence known....during the vows after Reese (my brother) said "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," a loud clap of thunder shook the church. It was perfect timing and the whole church erupted in laughter. Too cute! I guess us Alexander's can't have a wedding without a thunderstorm. It rained during my reception too, but they say it is good luck! The reception was held in an old refinished barn. It was G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S! I enjoyed catching up with old friends, introducing them to little Emma (she was a BIG hit), and dancing the night away with friends and family. Reese danced a little too hard. Poor Reese broke his thumb break-dancing and had to leave the reception and head to the ER. The doctor said he broke it in three places and put him in an aircast. Now, THAT will be a story for the grandkids.

***Pictures coming soon! I am still at home with my parents and didn't bring my camera cord to upload pictures. This is our last weekend of traveling for a while, pray that we make it home safely! Have a super Sunday!