Calling All Guest Bloggers

Since I am basking in the glow of new motherhood and learning all about life with a little baby boy I would love to take some guest bloggers on Suddenly Snowden until I am back in the swing of things.

If you are interested in being a guest blogger here please contact me by either leaving a comment on this post (don't forget your email address!) or by contacting me directly at nicoletsnowden@gmail.com.

I am not picky about topics so you are free to write what you like. If you do need topic ideas here are some that I would love!

• Motherhood/Pregnancy (since I'm consumed by those topics at the moment!)
• Military Life
• Recipes
• Traveling/Vacation - favorite vacation destinations, favorite vacation memories

Of course you are not limited to these topics, anything goes!

Please let me know if you're interested. Thank you so much!

Welcome to the World Parker!

I am so sorry to have been MIA for a couple of weeks but I have a pretty good excuse... Honey and I welcomed our baby boy into the world on Saturday, May 12! His name is Parker James and he weighed 4 pounds, 8 ounces and was 17 inches long. 

He was early by 5.5 weeks so he needed some extra attention in the hospital to make sure he had a healthy set of lungs and a healthy heart. Honey and I are going on Day #13 of living at the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital with our baby boy but we will be bringing our new little love home very soon!

I am so happy to report that Parker is in excellent health and will live an absolutely normal life with no complications resulting from his premature birth!

I will post our "birth story" soon and in the mean time would love to take some guest bloggers to keep some posts coming until I am back in the swing of things. (Separate post to come on soliciting guest bloggers.)

In the meantime feast your eyes on this adorable face (so what if I'm a little biased)!!

High Five for Friday

Today I am participating in a link up that my super-adorable-bloggy-friend Tammy from Tammy Fantasyland introduced me to! Like me, Tammy is married to a man with a demanding job AND she’s expecting her (second) baby just two weeks behind me! Thanks so much for introducing me to this cute link up Tammy!

What a*great idea* to reflect on and share your 5 favorite things recently! The link up is hosted by Lauren @ FromMy Grey Desk.

So here are my High Five’s for Friday:

I am loving having my husband home with me! He was gone for work for a little over a month and while I kept myself plenty busy I still missed him something awful!

These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are to *die* for! We have not had these delicious treats in maybe a year or so (can you imagine?!) Ever since going gluten-free and eating “clean”. But I made them for my husband recently and am happy to announce that They. Are. Back. in our lives!! Since these cookies have *oatmeal* in them they are technically “good”, right? Right? (I will post this recipe soon – you must indulge as well!)

Going into Baby Parker’s nursery daily, ok several times a day, gets me so excited for this little ones arrival! I still have some more touches to make – I know the walls look bare but I have BIG plans for finalizing the room!

 

No changes this week other than the shower loot is spread out all over the room. I'll be washing, sorting and organizing that next week!

On a related note, my husband and I had a little too much fun playing with the new video monitor we just got...

These Yosi Samra flats are hands down the *most* comfortable shoes I have ever worn! They are seriously like wearing bedroom slippers everywhere. I found them in a boutique in New York a couple of weeks ago and have already decided that I will need a few pairs!

(sorry for the cell phone pic)

The weather this week has been ahhhhh-mazing! We pretty much went from winter to summer here in the south, so right one miserable season to another… But this week the weather has been WONDERFUL! Today was like an actual *spring* day!! Yay!!

High Five, it’s FRIDAY!! Have a great weekend!!

Atlanta Picture Dump

While I was visiting my home town outside of Atlanta, Georgia a couple of weeks ago I got to celebrate two of my *most favorite* people’s birthdays: my mom, "Twinkle", and my nephew, "Lil D"! Aside from these wonderful celebrations the trip also included work (blah!) and visiting with a few friends (yay!). 

Here is a picture dump of my super fun trip HOME! 

The Birthday Girl, my mom "Twinkle" and my dad "Bing"

We had a *fabulous dinner* at Salt Factory in Downtown Roswell where my parents live

 After dinner we walked across the street for cupcakes! I had strawberry (left), Bing had chocolate (center) and Twinkle had peanut butter & chocolate (right). By the way I was totally torn on getting the strawberry or the peanut butter/chocolate!

Before:

 

After:

YUM!

A few days later we met up with my brother, sister in law and their precious children to celebrate Twinkle's big day! Look how *excited* Lil D was about our dinner party!

Who doesn't love COOKIE CAKE!?!?

Twinkle & Baby R:

Twinkle & Lil' D:

Clearly we *love* to celebrate in my family, so a few days after that dinner party, we all attended Lil' D's SECOND BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!! My babies, Daphne and Cash, came along too and Cash was so *excited* when Lil' D came to see him! Cash absolutely adores his little cousins!

Lil' D even kissed Cash through the fence!

 

Lil' D's birthday party was a farm-themed party and my sister in law, L, did a *fabulous* job putting it all together!

 

And now be ready to be *super impressed* because L made this cake! I mean made it, like, first she mixed flour, butter, sugar and other goodness together to make the 3 cakes, then she built the cake into a barn, field & pond and silo, then she iced them to show the detail. WOW!

Even the sprigs of "grass" that you can see sticking up are editable Easter grass! The cake was incredible and tasted soooo good!! L is so talented!

There were pictures of my brother, R, and my sis in law, L, when they were about Lil' D's age too! So cute!

Some of the cute farm-themed decorations:

I was in *love* with these adorable centerpieces!! Look how cute!! A stainless watering can with a bandana tied around it (some tables had blue, some had red) with a tomato plant and flower "growing" in it. Precious!

Lil' D was so cute opening his gifts!

R had a great time too!

Lil' D knew just how to blow out his candles!

So proud of himself! 

Trying out his new tractor:

A big red tractor brought the farm theme to the yard: 

And so did these bales of hay sitting around the patio!

The farm theme was just too cute and Lil' D had a wonderful time at his second birthday party! 

I was able to get a picture with my adorable "littles" too! Aunt Cole (me!) and Baby R: 

 Aunt Cole and Lil' D, who is 2 - I can't even believe it!

So What Wednesday

It’s time to say SO WHAT Wednesday!! As usual I am linking up with Shannon over at Life After I “Dew” and… 

This week I’m saying:

So what if… I’m so excited to organize the shower gifts I received this past weekend? I can’t wait to wash and put what we have so far into the dresser and closet and then organize the changing table baskets. No Parker won’t be here for six more weeks (God willing) but I am so excited to get his things put *away*!

So what if… I loved having Honey come to the gym with me? He came to work out with me on Monday and is coming again today! He is the best “coach” and workout partner for me, just having him there makes me feel like I can do *anything*. I love looking over and seeing him working out right next to me, there’s just something about that!

So what if… I have serious pregnancy brain? I was not prepared for this…

So what if… I love grilling out… nearly every night? Chicken, burgers, vegetables… love, love, love it all!

So what if… I went to our first birthing class alone? I’m learning that military wives do a lot of things alone when they have to. Last week it was attending birthing class alone for me. Fortunately Honey is home and going with me to class tonight! I’m looking forward to having him there!

Well that’s it for this edition of SO WHAT Wednesday! What are you saying SO WHAT to this week?

My First Blog Award

I am so excited to share that I was nominated for the *Liebster Blog Award* by not one but two of my favorite followers!! Thank you Mom FITting it All In and Tammy Fantasyland!! If you don’t already follow them then please check them out. My day is not complete until I have read what these ladies are up to!

So what is the Liebster Blog Award? Well Liebster is a German word meaning dearest or favorite and this award allows the recipient to share 5 of their favorite blogs that have 200 followers or less. We also get to share a little bit about ourselves along the way!  

Here are the rules:

• Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog by mentioning them and linking back to their blog
• Copy and paste the blog award and rules on your blog
• Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed by linking them on your page
• Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog
• Share 5 random facts about yourself

I am so excited to nominate these remarkable women:

Lindsay @ The Whitelaws

Jessica @ Williamson’s With Love

Katie @ Lee Family Happenings

Leigh @ All You Need is Love

Sarah @ The Not Quite Military Wife

As promised, here are Five Random Facts about me:

I have been shark diving with Great White Sharks off the coast of South Africa. I love sharks. Yes, it’s strange but I can’t help it. So I got to have a dream come true when I was on safari in South Africa and had the opportunity to go shark diving with great whites! Of course I was in a cage (only experienced divers would be in the open ocean with these creatures!) but they swam within inches of my face. It. Was. Amazing. !!

 

I love chocolate. I can restrict myself when I need to but I absolutely love chocolate! I think chocolate is usually best when paired with caramel or peanut butter. Yum!

I am a total water girl. I love to be in, around or near water! We have a creek in our back yard and the dogs and I can be found down there nearly any given afternoon. Our wedding took place steps from a mountain lake in North Georgia. Growing up my family had a lake house and my brother and I were like little fish that swam around every waking moment. My parents take our whole family to the beach every year and I love that week at the ocean. My favorite water sport is wakeboarding and I am so excited that summer is practically here so I can get back in the water!

I was a dancer my whole life. My mom put me in dance class when I was around 5 years old and I *loved* it! I did all types of dance and was at the studio nearly every evening after school. In high school I was on our dance team and loved performing! I danced until college and then my priorities changed and I didn’t dance nearly as often aside from a few dance/aerobics classes. I wish I never would have stopped! 

Although our first date wasn’t until 14 years later, I met my husband in high school. If you’re a regular follower then you already know our Love Story and how he took me back to where we first met to Propose to Me. My advice to high school girls would be to pay attention to the polite, well-mannered boy sitting across from you in art class. He may just be the man of your dreams!!