Welcome to Erin Putnam's blog!

My husband, Todd, and I have been married for 5 years. We have a 2 perfect children named Presley and Nate...and Lucy the chihuahua is still around, as well. We live in Memphis on Mud Island and really enjoy it! We have a great group of friends and you'll almost always find us together cooking out in someone's yard or at Movie and a Pizza...leaving the island is a rarity! I hope you enjoy my blog, as I try to keep everyone updated on our lives.

About Me

I like the pool, the beach, and any water - warm weather combo. I like shopping for Presley and Nate...way more fun than shopping for myself. I like cooking when I don't have to, running when the weather is perfect, the day the maid comes and my house is clean (even if for a little while), grocery shopping, minivans, pregnant women (just not me), a bubble bath and a sudoku puzzle, baby pictures of my husband, my hair the day after it was washed, reality TV, Oprah, when Todd takes the trash out without me asking, half-baked ice cream (I could seriously eat the stuff every day!), watching my babies sleep, talking about memories of my mom and grandmom, someone else choosing the restaurant, when the car beside me has spinners, strawberries and melted milk chocolate, and funny songs on your ring tone. I don't like feeling I need to exercise, folding itsy bitsy clothes, computer problems, hot leather seats, bugs, sun glasses that are too tight on your head, alarms, annoying girl drama, paying for daycare when it's closed, long fingernails, hugging people I barely know, people who use the word 'love' too liberally, and tacky children's clothes. All and all, I think I'm pretty normal.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Oh my....






I survived this weekend!  It was very hectic...and I finally got my first good night's sleep last night, so figured I'd update my blog.  

For starters, Presley had been very sick with a sinus infection.  But, Friday she woke up and could actually open both eyes, so we decided to head to the delta for Trevor's class day.  It was a lot of fun...wills, slide shows, etc.  Presley was squirmy as usual, so we spent most of our time in the corner of the gym playing.  But, when the lights went off and music started for the slide show, Presley went fast asleep...it was so sweet!  

After getting back to Memphis, Todd said he'd keep Presley and let me mosey down to BBQ fest for a bit...which ended up being a late night.  Todd worked on Saturday and Presley woke up bright and early (as expected)...So, that was night 1 of little sleep.  

Saturday morning, I had to bake the 2 layers of Presley's cake.  The first layer messed up, so it was trashed.  But, thank goodness, the next 2 tries were successful.  Then, while the cakes were cooling, Presley and I headed to a friends Crawfish Party.  I only planned on staying a little while, but it was so much fun we stayed for 3 hours!  There were a lot of other children and toys and Presley had a big time!  

So, back to the house about 6:30...time to finish that darn cake.  I had to make the fresh strawberry filling, make the icing, put it together, ice and decorate it.  That was all finished around 11.  So, I headed to bed.  Around 1:30 I woke up, totally awake.  I think it was a combination of being anxious about Presley's party the next day and the fact that I drank 3 sodas on Saturday (I rarely have caffeinated drinks, let alone 3 in one day?!?).  I laid there until about 3, then decided this was crazy...I was awake, I might as well get up and get ready for the party.  So...that's what I did.  I blew up balloons, cleaned up, got out my serving dishes and arranged them, etc.  Around 5am I realized there wasn't too much more I could do at the time, so I tried to go back to sleep.  I think I got another 30 minutes to an hour, and just got up again.  Cleaned some more, started cooking,  thawed the punch, etc, etc, etc....

So, before I knew it, folks were showing up at  my door.  We had such a good turn out and everything was great!  Presley was in a pretty good mood, all food was good, cake got rave reviews, she got some great gifts, and she had such a great time!  Aimee, Bert, Harper, Annellise, Raanne, Philene, Grandaddy Bell, PopPop, and Memaw were all here.  Plus, the majority of our Memphis friends showed up.  So, I'm thinking we had around 40-50 people!  After everyone filtered out, I cleaned up for a while (yet, somehow the house is still messy?!?), then just relaxed.  Todd told me to take a nap, but I declined because I didn't want to mess up the perfect night of sleep I was going to get.  I started watching Desperate Housewives, thinking it would end at 9 and I would head to bed...then I realized it was the season finally and it went until 10.  I struggled through it and my head hit the pillow at 10:01 thinking I was about to get the best sleep of my life.  Silly me.  At 11:30, I woke and knew I was about to be sick.  Todd was upstairs playing the play station.  I managed to make it up there to tell him...which I try to do since I have this crazy fainting problem (I didn't faint, thank goodness).  2 hours later and 10 pounds lighter, I made it to bed.  So, I got about 5 hours of sleep that night.

Needless to say, I had a very lazy Monday.  Presley had to go to school at 10 because she is moving to another class and needed to do her visit.  She visits for an increasing amount of time everyday for 2 weeks, then officially moves to the 'walkers' class.  So, I had the day to myself.  Todd and I grabbed lunch at Mrs. Cordelia's, then I headed to the pool with Maggie (my friend that is about to pop...she is definitely having that baby this week!).  Why I only put sun screen on my face, I do not know, because now I have a white face and bright red body...only on the front that is.  It's very attractive.  

I went to get Presley from daycare, for her 4:00 appt for her 1 year check-up.  Everything was fine.  She is meeting or exceeding all of her milestones.  She was 22.9 lbs (75th percentile) and I can't remember the length (but I know it was right above the 50th percentile).  She got her 3 shots like a champ....cried for a second, then is totally over it.  She's a tough kid!  So, we headed home and had a lazy afternoon.  And, finally, I got my good night's sleep last night 8 and 1/2 hours!!!  Whoo Hoo!!!  

Here are some weekend pics...

Sunday, May 4, 2008

a beautiful weekend






We had some beautiful weather in Memphis this weekend.  So much so, we couldn't resist going to the park on both Saturday and Sunday.  Presley got to swing and play in the rocks for the first time.  She had gone down a slide before and really liked it, but she liked playing in the rocks most of all!  We also blew some bubbles...big fun!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Planning the party




Who would have thought that planning a first birthday party would be so labor-intensive?  What to serve...what to give as favors...do we need hats...do we need big AND small plates...etc, etc, etc.  Whew...it is fun, though.  I sent out the invites today.  They ended up really cute.  I'm going to attempt to make the cake myself.  I did a "practice cake" a week or so ago and it turned out pretty good.  I figure polka-dots couldn't be that hard...and it wasn't.  I'm not saying it looks professional, but it definitely looks good enough!  
Todd and I went on a mini-vacation this past weekend...up to St. Louis and saw a Cardinals game.  It was really good...they won, had a couple of home runs, and a fight.  Our plan was to see 2 games, but the temp really dropped and the Monday night game was supposed to be 35 degrees...NO THANK YOU!  So, we headed back a day early...which worked out really well.  Holly had just delivered her little girl in Oxford.  I had to go pick Presley up in Batesville, so we just scooted right on over to Oxford and met baby JoAnna.  Who would have thought itsy-bitsy Holly would have an 8 lb 10 oz child...a week early!  Despite a rough delivery, JoAnna is a beautiful baby.  
Here are some pics of Presley playing outside today.  She is so sweet!