Mozart

19 months

At 19 months, someone is really rockin and rollin.

 23 pounds of sliding, 

exploring, 

mischievous boy.  

So big, he can now maneuver the Tot Lot by himself.  

Well, most of the time.  

He loves his Daddy that's for sure.  

He's also picked up a few new words:

Raughley "waa-ee"

water "wawa"

bird "buuu"

cookie "coo-coo"

ho ho "hoo hoo"

and 

Carl "caaa"

The words seem to be coming to him exponentially faster than before, which is fun to watch!

All that learning will wear a person out though!  With 15 more days until he's 20 months, who knows what all he will be saying by Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas... someone was a big helper to Daddy yesterday while we picked out our tree.  We're decorating tonight!  

A Day Like Today

It's hard to be sad on a day like today, 

when there's so much to be thankful and happy for.  

Like friends

football, 

and fellowship

It was a great day to be an Alabama fan.

We spent the day with family, 

enjoying the weather and the excitement of a possible victory.

and when that victory didn't come?  

We still had a great time being together.  

There's always next year, right?

And to top it off, I got to meet my Dad's childhood hero.   #22...Can you guess who it is?

So another Iron Bowl is said and done, and who ended up being the lucky one?  

Roll, Tide, Roll!

Turkey Day

So Turkey Day was planned to be three huge family days:  Wednesday night at Aunt Libbie and Uncle John's, Thursday at the Lake, and Friday, the Big Game.  (hence the picture of the 7 layer dip)

But, as things tend to do, the plans did not happen the way I had hoped.  Chase got sick, Raughley was close to getting sick, and so we stayed home.  

It gave me some thinking to do, about being Thankful for what I have, instead of wishing I was with my large extended family.  

I have an incredible family, a home, friends, my health, the list goes on.  

So my table for three felt suddenly fuller.  

The three of us ate what I had cooked for the lake, plus what we had in the pantry, and it turned out to be a pretty good Thanksgiving meal if I do say so myself.  

Special thanks to the Hildreth's and Carl, who pulled through with the Turkey and cranberries, plus other leftovers, and we were set!

I like to think of it as making lemonade out of lemons, or a good lesson in perspective. 

(My menfolk are much better now, and life is good!)

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Stock The Bar

This post is packed with pics, just to let you know.  

William and Frances Ellen had their Stock the Bar/Kitchen Shower this weekend, hosted by all of their friends. 

It was really fun to get to be with the girls and guys that I know from high school and college, and meet newer friends of theirs as well!

They got a lot of amazing gifts, and will certainly be putting them to use sooner than later Im sure ;)

William and his buds

Our family got to go to the party also.

Chase made it back from the hunting camp for the affair!

William's buddy Brian, whom Chase has adopted, or he adopted Chase, not sure how that worked out.

We had cousins and friends alike

And a great spread of food.

What is this bowl of deliciousness you ask?  Cherry Bombs, you can't eat just one!

I took lots of family shots

And got to be in a few as well, thanks to a very enthusiastic Baldwin

Then, we gathered to watch them open gifts.

FE's sister Ginny taking copious notes

The Bride and Groom ready to open, 

What do we have here?  

The whole party...  I had to hold the camera over my head and therefore it would not be still enough to capture a non-blurry pic.  This is where a tripod would come in handy?  

Great shot of the Bride!

The doggies seem to play some role in each event we have...  Here they pop up on coasters!

Of course, the night would not be complete without a little "Ice Ice Baby"

Mom and Dad

We took some massive group pics.

The Bride and her MOH"s

Sisters, Sisters, 

Love the obligatory family pic, a must have at all parties.  It's hard to believe the wedding is only 6 weeks away!!!