A BELATED BIRTHDAY WEEKEND RECAP

This past Sunday was my birthday and I enjoyed a low key weekend with my family, Elle and Walker and then had a big girls dinner to celebrate .  Kenny was feeling under the weather because he has staph infection and it was very painful and the antibiotics he was on had him feeling gross but we still managed to enjoy ourselves!

On Friday night we went over to our friends Margaret and Jay's house for a cookout.  We didn't tell Elle who was coming so she was thrilled to see a lot of her closest friends there! It is always nice when the parents and kids are friends.  Makes things easy!

They had the best time on this hammock.  Throughout the night they all sustained some sort of injury.  They played hard!

Hamburgers and cheetos!

On Saturday, my mom and sister came in town bringing lots of edible goodies to derail my diet! My mom brought me petit fours from my favorite bakery in Hattiesburg and Annie brought me my favorite cupcakes from Memphis.  Then I asked my mom to make my favorite meal because going out to eat with two small children wasn't my idea of a relaxing celebration.  So my mom made my absolute favorite! Chicken enchiladas. Saturday afternoon was one of Elle's good friends birthday parties so I took her to that.  It was another fun outing since all my mom friends were there too.

Kate, Ella and Elle

In the meantime Nannee got some Walker time!

Sunday morning I asked to sleep late.  And of course when it was time to sleep late I just couldn't.  I was so mad.  So I had Kenny make my coffee for me and layed in bed and watched DVR while everyone cooked me breakfast. The rest of the day we spent hanging out as a family.  My mom and sister left around noon.

I just had to include the next picture because Walker had his first big boy bath that Sunday night.  Sitting up in the tub all on his own.  He loved it! 

Big sweet boy!

Monday night my friends were so nice to get a group of some of my closest girls together for dinner and drinks out.  They surprised me with a spa gift certificates and other happies along with a birthday cake and covering my night out! It was so fun to see everyone.  I can never have too much girl time!

Group pic!

Blowing out the candles!

Another year older! I don't care all that much about birthdays but I am happy to say at this age I am exactly where I want to be and where I always hoped to be in my life. Grateful for Kenny, my children and my friends and family who make my life what it is.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2015

Well the big day came and went and I could not of asked for it to go any better.  I am pretty sure I have mentioned in previous posts that I was struggling a little bit with the decision to send Elle to the private school here.  They dismiss at 2:30 and that is a big change for us.  I knew she was ready maturity wise but I was not sure if I wanted her to be away from me that long.  

We spent the last week going to Parent's Orientation and Meet the Teachers so by the time Monday morning rolled around we were super excited!  Although I had to pull her out of bed.  She wasn't ready to wake up.  My child who has always been an early riser does not want to wake up for school.  I have had to drag her out of bed the last two mornings!

The Sunday before the first day of school I took her over to swim at our friends house all afternoon.  We came home and took baths and relaxed the rest of the evening.  I was putting Walker to bed and Kenny found her like this.  Poor thing! Worn out from the summer!

She never woke back up.  Went to bed around 6:30!

So once we were up and at em Monday morning Elle was ready to go! She was so excited to wear her new uniform and carry her new backpack.  It was only a half day so she was a smidge disappointed that she didn't get to take her lunchbox or use her nap mat but no huge issue. After we were dressed we had to have a little photo shoot of course!

Please notice Kenny in the door window of this one.  I love this picture of Elle 

but Kenny makes it so creepy! 

In this one she was telling me that I needed to be quiet so not to wake up our pet wolf spider that we named Charlotte that lives in our guest room window.  Life is random with a four year old!

One with her cute backpack she picked out!

Starkville Academy takes carpool pretty seriously but they said you could walk them in on the first day.  I parked in a business parking lot near the entrance which was closer to Elle's classroom so all the cars were driving in past us to the rest of the school so I did well holding it together because I did not want all the people driving by to see me lose it.  I did get choked up when she reached for my hand as we walked to her class.  Then I got choked up when I told her I had to leave after I had given her hugs and kisses and I pointed out the play dough that was out on a table.  She asked if I could go with her to play with her and I had to tell her no.  That I had to leave. Then I turned and left.  And now I am crying typing this.  

On the first day of school a bunch of my mom friends all meet for breakfast at City Bagel after drop off.  It is a great way to visit and get your mind off of first day jitters.  Plus it is fun to hear how every one's drop off went. I was so grateful for it this year because by the time I left it was almost time to go get her!

When it was finally time for pick up I was so anxious to pick her up! So so so ready!  I couldn't wait to get her in the car! Carpool is really crazy the first weeks.  But I finally got to her and had her in my car.  The first thing she told me was that she made a new friend named Violet.  She must of really clicked with the little girl because it is all she has talked about and was so excited to go back on Tuesday and see Violet!

Excited to be home from her first day of Pre-K!

After Elle had some lunch at home we headed out to meet our good good friends Sarah and Abigail for a son cone and for them to see each other.  They are at different schools this year and were already missing one another from a busy summer!

Look at these sweet girls in their uniforms.

It really was a fantastic day.  But my mama heart is missing her like crazy.  Every day I am watching the clock waiting for pick up because I want to go get her and hear all about her day.  She is having so much fun!

WALKER MONTH 9

It has been a great month with Walker and the days are flying by.  Walker is in a little bit of a fussy stage at this moment because he is frustrated.  He is officially sitting up and is so close to crawling.  He just can't seem to figure out how to get that forward momentum going. He can get on his knees and rock back and forth and sometimes even go backwards. He does manage to get where he wants to go a good bit of the time but he really wants to be mobile.  We will be in so much trouble when he is able to get around.  Even without crawling he is already into everything.  Always grabbing, always exploring.  The biggest mistake you can make with him is give him something thinking he can look at it for just a moment and then take it away. Mad is in understatement.  He throws a huge fit.  Head back and screams.  You have to quickly distract!  

His sleeping is still okay.  The past couple weeks he has been waking up kind of early and I have been trying to avoid giving him a bottle but I am thinking I am going to have to keep giving him that 4 AM bottle so he will go back to sleep a little longer.

He started Mother's Morning Out last week and did really well.  He didn't nap the first day but I am okay with that because hopefully we will take a good afternoon nap.  I would really like to drop the morning nap but I am not sure if we are ready.  

He is still loving his food. Really loving his food.  Some of his favorites include meatballs, tortellinis, french toast sticks, bananas and strawberries!

Alright here are some pics from Walker's last month!

He always seems so happy in his high chair and smiles big for me so I have lots of pictures of him in his car seat!

We are trying to teach him to take his own bottle.  It is not working!

We were sending Daddy a selfie to say hi when he was out of town.

I love this picture of them! He is wants her to back up.  You can just tell.

Visit from Gramma!

Trying trying trying to crawl!

Sweet pic with Gramma!

Daddy! Wake up and play with me!

Morning picnic!

First day of Mother's Morning Out in the Butterfly Class

GETTING READY FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR

Well summer is winding down and we have loved our warm days.  Sprinkler days at preschool have been greatly anticipated and pool days have been long and leisurely. Elle went to a mother's morning out program three mornings a week because she loves it, sees all her friends and it gives me some one on one time with Walker when he is not napping.  Her summer teacher was wonderful and Elle loved her a whole lot.  We are even having her babysit for us tonight! Ell has been counting down the days!

But as August 10th approaches we have been busy preparing for our first days of real big girl school. I will be honest in that the choice to go ahead and send Elle to Pre-K at Starkville Academy was a difficult one.  If I kept her at Methodist  her day would end at 12:30.  With Academy it won't be over until 2:30 and that is just a huge huge deal this Momma heart. Okay I can't even type about it any more because I am going to start crying.  But she has been my best buddy for the last four years so we will both be adjusting for sure.  

She is completely thrilled and cannot wait.  We talk about it every day all day.  I know she is ready and is going to have the best time.  We received our teacher assignments last week and she is with a fantastic teacher that I can't wait for her to meet this week.  She is  going to learn so much. So with the start of the school year looming we have been getting ready.  Ordering all of our gear and new uniforms and soaking up the last days with our friends.  A lot of Elle's friends will be in different places.  Some are going to a smaller Christian school, some are staying at Methodist and some will be at Starkville Academy but in different classes.  

Elle and Abigail.  We took this picture because Sarah (Abigail's mom) texted me saying they looked like there were straight out of the 80s because Abigail dressed herself that morning and I braided Elle's hair to give her curls. These two besties crack me up.

One afternoon we got home from the pool to find Christmas had arrived on our doorstep.  We received our brand new backpack, lunch box and all of our uniforms on the same day.  So naturally a fashion show was in order!

For Elle's backpack I looked at Pottery Barn and Garnet Hill and chose a few patterns that I liked and thought Elle would like and then presented them to her and let her choose.  She chose a different one than I would of chosen for her but it is precious with her name and monogram on it.  Plus she doesn't say "cupcakes." She says "cupcakes." Remind me that she is still my baby kind of.

Trying on her new backpack and lunchbox.  Both about as big as she is.

Then we tried on all of our uniform choices.  She will only be wearing jumpers but I ordered different patterns and cuts. I took a picture of her in all of them but don't want to spoil the first day of school with too many pictures.  

Trying on the whole get up. Uniform with logo and backpack and lunchbox.  I cried when she was trying them on.  

Elle's sweet PDO class enjoying Popsicles on a hot day.

There was one more right of passage that was necessary for Elle to start school.  The dreaded booster shots.  Kenny and I asked who she wanted to go with her to get her shots and she chose me.  I was glad. She was so brave.  She knew she was getting shots and was still really brave.  They made me hold her hands while they gave them to her and she did cry and I felt so horrible but she recovered quickly and I was so proud of her!  Because shots mean you should get a treat afterwards I gave her some options and she chose sno cones.  She got a grape one and I got my favorite Dreamcicle.  She ended up loving mine and eating most of mine and none of hers.  Since then she just gets a dreamsicle for herself.

Waiting on our son cones.

She always wants to take a silly face after I make her take a picture.

All these pictures were taken on Elle's last day of PDO.  But it will also mark her last day as a preschooler at First Methodist too.  I know, cry cry cry.  Funny enough there weren't any of the boys present.  It was just all of Elle's closest girl friends.  So my friends Mary Martha and Kim sent us a bunch of pictures.  

Audrey, little girl I don't know her name- I have never seen her before, Mary Mack, 

Ella, Elle, Abigail and Miriam

Little girl I don't know, Mary Mack, Ella, Kate, Audrey, Austin, Miriam, Abigail, Annie and Elle

Cate and Elle

Making silly faces

This is such a fun time so far but my goodness it is so bittersweet.  My stomach physically hurts just thinking about Elle growing up and leaving preschool.  Funny enough we will go with Walker tomorrow to meet his PDO teacher.  So we aren't done with the preschool all together for a while.  Lord help me when my last child walks out of their on their last day.  Okay.  Can't.  Going to cry.

LAS VEGAS TRIP 2015

For the last three or four years I have accompanied Kenny out to Las Vegas a few days early before he stays out there for furniture market.  This is the second year that our very good friends Margaret and Jay did the same thing.  Margaret works for Kenny so Jay is her plus one. Last summer I was 20 weeks pregnant for the trip. This time I was not!

This picture was taken at 5AM on the way to the airport with my selfie stick.  We had big plans for the selfie stick but didn't really end up using it that much!

We arrived in Vegas around 11:30 AM on Sunday and immediately changed into our swimsuits, grabbed some lunch and hit up our favorite spot, the pool!

That night we had dinner reservations at STK per Kenny's recommendation.  STK was by far my favorite meal we have ever ever eaten in Las Vegas.  I want to go again for sure.  The food was delicious and the wine was great and the atmosphere is so fun.  Very pretty and classy but then they have a DJ playing the most fun music!  It really is the best place!

Before we took a cab over to the Cosmo we had a pre dinner drink at my favorite casual Wynn Cocktail bar. 

The girls.

The gang!

This is my favorite picture from the trip.  We are all looking snazzy and I think the chandelier looks so pretty behind us.  The Cosmo is a pretty place.

The next morning we all woke up and the Wynn Spa.  Kenny got a deep tissue and I just got a normal massage.  It was the one of the best massages I have ever had.  Pure heaven.  After the spa it was time to head back to the pool of course.  

That night we had tickets to see LOVE at the Mirage.  Kenny and I saw it on my first trip out to Las Vegas but Margaret and Jay had not seen it before and it is soooo incredible so we definitely didn't mind seeing it again.  We went and ate dinner at one of our favorite Wynn restaurants La Cave.  It is a tapas and wine bar.  After dinner we headed to the Mirage for a drink and then the show.  

Blurry picture  I know I know but I like what I see when I squint. Ha!

Hey cutie husband!

Its the girls again!

I was a little over wine after dinner so for the show I chose a simple wells drink. Kenny and Margaret wanted wine but wanted more than one glass so they wouldn't have to get up during the show.  The guy ended up pouring them almost an entire bottle of wine EACH!  It was so nuts!

The winos.

After the show, Kenny and I actually gambled a little.  We rarely gamble but on this night we had so much fun.  We pretty much only play roulette because we know how, the odds are good and it is a game that you can really piddle for a long time and not lose that much money. We started with $100 and got up around $70 or $80 dollars and ultimately broke even.  That is perfect for me.  Didn't win. Didn't lose.

Our last day we slept a little later and had a leisurely breakfast before going to...you guessed it the pool! By afternoon we had more than enough sun and decided to get ready early and reconvene downstairs so the boys could smoke some cigars they bought and have a drink before we went to Carmines for dinner.  We walked outside and then came up a ramp to La Cave so we could get a glass of wine and who do I make eye contact with as I come out on the restaurant's patio! P. Diddy! Or Puff Daddy! Or whatever he is calling himself but still I literally met eyes with him.  And at first I couldn't believe it.  We kept walking and as soon as we got inside I turned around and Kenny was like "yea it was him." Margaret and Jay had not even noticed.  As we waited at the bar for our wine we saw his security detail by the door and several of his crew sitting in the bar too. We had to walk out the same way so we got another good look at him as we went back out to the courtyard and also noticed more security sitting all around him.

As he got up to leave I took this picture! Our brush with fame!