Reid’s Event

Ok I have the best friends ever in the history of friends. Seriously, the only thing missing from the shower was the photographer for Southern Living. My photos can’t do its’ grandeur justice. Absolutely hands down the most amazing event ever. I can’t call it a shower because it was so spectacular it has to be dubbed an event.

Whitney Pettit, JJ Warrington, Gena Pope, Marsha Marquerdt and Kayla Vance all set the standards of what a baby shower is all about. They brought out the fine china, the silver flatware, the linen napkins, and silver serving platters. There were monogrammed petit fours, homemade cheese straws, fresh fruit placed into a carved watermelon shaped like a baby carriage, a divine cheese ball, spinach artichoke dip, finger sandwiches, and pink punch. I know I’m missing something but it was all so overwhelmingly phenomenal I don’t mean to.

The décor, seriously, absolutely amazing. Genas’ house is gorgeous and made the perfect setting while Whitney totally out did herself with creativity and details; the awesome friend that she is still claims she had fun doing it! I still, 8 days later, am shaking my head not getting over how much effort went into every aspect of this shower. When I walked in and saw one of the fireplaces had my Raggedy Ann doll from when I was little holding my twirling baton (my first ever baby gift) with photos of me growing up along the mantle I was like, whoa. Then underneath draped photos of Chip when he was little. Priceless. Then the other fireplace had Hill’s framed photo, Reid’s sonogram photo framed, my and Chip’s framed wedding photos, the shower invitation framed along with 4 little pink pots filled with moss and moss covered letters coming out of each dainty pot that spelled out R-E-I-D. Absolutely breathtaking. Hung so carefully from the mantle were 6 adorable appliqued outfits that Whitney made for sweet Reid. I am so humbled by everything and everyone and all their efforts made to make everything so absolutely stunning. Nothing went unnoticed.

Reid was showered with tons of girly things like gowns and bloomers and jewelry and bows which I’ve become totally enamored by; and many practical things as well like diapers, wipes and pink bottles that are needed very much. No doubt that this girl is loved immensely and she’s not even here yet. Makes me have happy tears just thinking about it. How lucky am I? My little girl and I were surrounded by not only my mother and precious friends, but Chip’s moms’ friends. I cannot explain to you how special of a day this was for me.

Thank you to all of the hostesses’ as you have assured me that I am the luckiest girl in the entire universe. I am forever grateful for your friendship and love. And thank you to all of the wonderful guests that attended. Although my mother in law could not be there with us physically, I know everyone there felt her there spiritually. What a special day. Thank you.

Mama Lou’s visit & Ava’s visit

We’ve had a couple special out of town guests weekend before last. Mama Lou (my mom) flew in on Saturday night, September 8th from Texas! Hill even made her a special sign to hold for when she came out of the security gate at the airport. I think that EVERY person that came out of the terminal was so glad to see Hill even though his sign said “Welcome Mama Lou!” Even the people that were waiting on their people to arrive were loving him and his precious sign.

Once Mama Lou got her luggage, he was such a big helper to help his Mama Lou roll her big suitcase all the way to the car in the parking garage. I think he had ulterior motives. He knows what’s in Mama Lou’s suit case when she comes. Toys and books and all kinds of Hilly-treats. Sometimes I wonder where she packs her clothes.

Then, Sunday morning our friends from Nashville came over for breakfast before they headed back out of town. Elizabeth Steele Kaiser and her husband, Mike, along with their two little girls Ava (who is Hill’s age) and Anna who was born in February and I was so patiently waiting to meet for the first time!

Hill was such a flirt and acted a little bit like a show off twirp towards Ava. He didn’t want to share his “big wheels” even though he NEVER rides the dang thing. I’ve never seen him so flirty to a girl his age. He loves older women, like Hollee Cheek Casey who is his ultimate friend girl, but I have to say look out Hollee, Ava may be taking the rein.

Elizabeth (Ed) had hoped to come to Reid’s shower that afternoon, but being on a Sunday afternoon it would have put her and her family back to Nashville late. Honestly, it was so nice and much easier to be able to sit with Ed and actually catch up and play with the girls in a relaxed environment. So it all worked out, I think.

Cookie Fun!

So I’m a stalker. My friend, Amanda that did the cake at JJ’s shower…I want to have her talents. She made some sugar cookies for a family fish fry and decorated them as precious fish. I was awe struck so I emailed her and she let me know how to do it…yet my cookie or icing didn’t even remotely resemble hers. It was still good and edible, but not smooth and non-crumbly.

I wasn’t going for award winning my first go round even though I made enough icing to ice every kid in Attala County’s birthday cookies from now until next summer. And, it’s a good thing I wasn’t looking to win an award because the furthest my cookie could travel without crumbling into 14 pieces was my, Chip and Hill’s mouths. But hey, they were really fluffy and good! Even better by the next day.

I did manage to smear some lumpy white royal icing onto the cookies and bought some icing markers for Hill to decorate them with. At first Chip was like – WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING? He thought I was using a Sharpie permanent marker to color them with on the icing and then feeding it to my family. I may not be able to cook, but seriously, I’m not that stupid. You don’t eat permanent marker ink, you sniff it! Duh! So once he found out what it was he thought it was cool and joined in the fun. I noticed that he (Chip) wouldn’t eat a cookie until he colored it first. Such a kid at heart.

Here are our masterpieces. *Chip made the fish & jack-o-lantern, mine is the sunshine, and Hills’ is the “colorful” one.

*Then the picture of Hill’s face while eating his cookies is hilarious. It’s his new picture face that cracks me up. He’s such a dork.

Sibling Class

Chip and I did all the birthing, breastfeeding, car set installation classes provided when I was pregnant with Hill; and now that the anxiety of the first rodeo is over I wanted to focus all that energy at preparing Hill for his world to be changed…totally changed.

Earlier in August I’d signed him up for a sibling class that the hospital I’ll deliver at provides for free to big brothers and sister to be. I wasn’t really too sure what to expect because it was only an hour long from noon to 1:00 pm on Saturday, September 1st. It’s really for 3+ year olds but being that my son is so intellectually advanced they said it would be ok. (kidding, I think they thought in their head, well he’ll be 3 in five months anyway and if he acts stupid then you are with him to take him away)

We were to bring a doll. Ikes ok, I only have monster trucks and dinosaurs so I ordered a doll online – it’s a present for Hill to give Reid for when she gets here. I’m sure Reid wouldn’t mind if we gently used her doll to prepare her big bro for her arrival. It’s precious. It has her name monogrammed on the dress and it was my first step into girl-toy-dom.

We arrived at 11:45 and sat in the lobby with another family that had 2 girls, a boy and another girl on the way. The girls had their American Girl Dolls and the dolls hair and outfits matched the girls’ hair and outfits. I was frightened. Their mom and dad assured me that this is a gift that grandmothers buy at Christmas when they get older because they are expensive but they do have generic clothes available to fit doll and kid. I was still scared of all these options on a doll and to clone them like my child. I’m sure Reid will have an American Girl Clone, I mean Doll, but I won’t lie – it was weird how much they looked like these kids. For now, I’ll stick with my monogrammed name on dress doll, which was a huge step for me.

When we got to the classroom a little girl and her mom were there waiting on us. They are expecting a baby boy. These kids were older than Hill, by a couple years or so. They understood more of what was going on, but didn’t have as much to say about it as Hill did…of course, he is my son, so he talks a lot and asks a lot of questions and makes too many statements out loud. First things first, Hill got a t-shirt that said he was a Super Big Brother and had a Superman logo on it. Are you kidding me? My kid was so worried about that shirt the whole time. He couldn’t figure out if he wanted to just stare at its’ awesomeness or wear it - so on and off on and off the shirt went during the whole classroom presentation.

In the classroom the nurse familiarized the kids with items they may see while they are visiting mommy at the hospital and what they do to the baby when he/she gets here. Showed them the footprint cards, their hat, blanket, bed, eye drops, booger sucker, stickers, ID arm bands all the while assuring them that their baby and mommy are being very well taken care of. We looked at pictures of how they used all of these items on a new baby and Hill asked me if those were pictures of Reid. (sweet noggin’) I told him that Reid was still in my tummy but that was a picture of another new baby.

Then it was time to utilize the doll and learn to put on a diaper. I have to say that Hill did a remarkable job at putting on the diaper. We can totally build on this and make him an official diaper changer. I was proud.

The nurse went on to explain other things and then asked if there were any questions or if anyone had anything to say. I asked Hill if he had any questions and he said no. I asked Hill if he had anything to say. Yes, yes he did. He said really loud (as he gets that from his mother too) “My mommy has a baby in her tummy!” The sweet nurse humored him and said, “Wow! Is it a girl baby or a boy baby?” Hill said, “It’s a girl her name is Weed Cath-win.” I’m sorry it just melts my heart EVERY TIME I hear him say that.

That was a way for the other kids to interact, that silly Hill the ice breaker. The nurse asked the other kids if they were having a brother or sister and if they had names. No one had names for their babies yet. I will never understand how people aren’t as OCD as I am. I guess the lady about to birth her 4th I can understand, I don’t think I would have any brain cells left to know my own dang name by that point, she was awesome though. She said that when she had her son it took the hospital coming in and saying, “Ok you’ve been here 3 days, we can’t let you leave without naming this baby.” So they named him Jackson. Great name, I just wonder if they felt like they had to ‘settle’ on a name or felt rushed. Anyway, moving on.

Next we got to tour the hospital. The kids got to see the brand new babies in the nursery window and relate all the items they saw in the classroom onto real live babies. We got to tour the labor and delivery room and also the regular rooms. The nurse said that this is where mommy will lay and this is the uncomfortable couch daddy will sleep on. We take good care of everyone here. When you come to visit mommy you can sit with her, but don’t jump or sit on her tummy because it might be sore. Very basic but important things that I realized really benefited Hill and his little inquisitive brain.

I’m so glad we went. It made the hospital a more familiar not so scary place and that way when Hill is there for the birth and visiting he won’t be as intimidated and worried because he’s been there before. Brilliant idea, so glad we went. Hill loves his Superman big brother shirt; he got colors and a coloring book too. Hill is a certified big brother now! We've totally got this big bro thing down.

Labor Day at the Country Club

Every year the Country Club has their Labor Day events. There is the archery tournament, the fishing tournament, the children’s fishing tournament, the Bunko tournament, the swimming competitions, horseshoes, the watermelon seed spitting contest, the cupcake walk, the treasure hunt and then we wrap up with our bi-annual meeting and dinner. This year Hill was able to participate in a few of the events (the treasure hunt & children’s fishing tournament).

Here is a picture of our little first place winner of the 2012 Children’s Fishing Tournament (tied with Branson Grantham.) We are preparing him to be captain of the Ole Miss BASS team when he gets to college. It’s a sport now, it is non-violent and an injury free environment. His mother is his biggest fan. I hope one day that he can be sponsored by Oh Boy O’Berto beef jerky and Toyota Trucks to fulfill his fathers’ life- long dream of being in the fishing circuit. You think I’m kidding, but I am not. I don’t care if it sounds a little Ricky Bobby like (Talladega Nights, movie) I’m reaching for the stars here. Golf or Fishing. No harm inflicted injuries by others. (Remember, I want to keep him in a bubble.)

There was a great turn out this year and hopefully this will be the last year we have to swim at this pool! Membership voted to build a new pool down by the lake where the old tennis courts are located. We are super excited! Not sure when it will be complete – it’s anticipated sooner rather than later! Yay!

Social South Socialites

Looky, looky, at these two fancy pants that made the July / August 2012 edition of the Social South magazine. My two little socialites were photographed at the Natchez Trace Festival earlier this year.

It’s all gone to Hill’s head. He’s telling me to have my people call his people to discuss things. It’s always his way or the highway. I swear the other day the sun was in his eyes and he said he needed me to find his sunglasses as he held his hands over his tiny fragile mole eyes. He always has to do things first and it’s always his turn. He dictates his wardrobe to me. I have to cook his food, wipe his butt, run his bath water and the list goes on and on.

Oh the woes of a mother to a mini celebrity.

JJ’s Baby Shower

Sweet Baby Girl Warrington will be here Monday, September 24th and we were excited to shower her mommy with love and goodies on Sunday, August 26th. Although we didn’t get a hostess picture it was me, Whitney Pettit, Gena Pope, Amanda Hays, Amanda Triplett, Dana Nichols and Melissa Steed. Everyone played such a significant role and the party turned out fabulous!

*Amanda Hays made the cake – it was not only BEAUTIFUL it tasted fabulous. She is also a magic woman with the camera so I stole most all of these pictures from her blog.

*Melissa did the flower arrangement and her talent is beyond measurable.

*Amanda T, Gena & Dana fixed some awesome foods.

*Whitney coordinated everything to a T, found precious invites and graciously hosted it at her house.

*I did the punch, as that is my forte and I have the most awesome punch bowl in Kosciusko, MS. I’m not bragging, it’s true. That is by far my most used wedding present ever. I also did the pink plates and napkins then busted out my Francis I silverware as I cannot think of any better occasion to use frilly fun things than a baby shower for a sweet tiny girl.

Then also, Whitney and I (mostly from the creative brain of Whitney) appliqued a few onsies for Baby Girl Warrington. I just love doing this. It’s so fun!

Can't wait for Harvey's baby sister to get here!

Super Hero’s To the Rescue

We were over at the Pettit’s and Tanner and Hill came running into the living room asking, “Do you need help? Do you need help?”

These two crack me up. Hill is such a monkey see monkey do when it comes to whatever Tanner is doing. Hill wore this hot felt costume ALL NIGHT LONG and refused to take it off. I sure love these little guys.

Jack’s 3rd Birthday Party

Friday, August 24th our friend Jack had his 3rd birthday party as a swimming party! Hill had never been to a swimming party before! It was a dinosaur theme and Hill called it Jack’s T-party which sounds weird, but he meant it as in Jack’s T-Rex party. Hill even wore his dinosaur swim suit!

I have to note that the dinosaur swim suit is a hand me down from Harvey and is a size 6-12 month, even though Hill is in a 2T this b-suit still fit and it goes to show you how tiny of a hiney (and legs) my bugga boo has.

We picked Tanner up and headed to the party. The kids had a great time. I’d forgotten Hill’s floaty which was a mistake because he fell in, but thank sweet 8 lb baby Jesus his left arm caught the noodle float that he was using as a ‘fishing pole’, his right arm knew to grab the side of the pool (THANK YOU SWIM LESSONS THAT PAID OFF EVEN THOUGH HE HATED THEM), the life guard was 1 foot away and I was 2 feet away. I’m not too sure he even got his hair wet. He didn’t seem too alarmed because it’s like he knew he had it under control. He’s very opposed to taking risk, especially when it comes to water, he respects it. For that I am grateful.

They ate pizza, cake, opened presents and swam. It was a great 3rd birthday for Jack Vance!

Vacation to Orange Beach 2012

Ok you got a brief post of our vacation while we were on it (August 20th), so I won’t do too much talking (yeah right). Only pictures. Hannah is 11 and has now started junior high (as of the week after vacation) and is absolutely the most amazing kiddo ever. Hill is 2 and a half and is a silly independent mama’s boy or since my dad was there (Papi) he was a total Papi’s boy too. Everyone else could go jump off a cliff for all he cared…the entire trip.

After our sonogram appointment we drove down to Diamondhead, which wasn’t really in the plan, but worked out well and gave us a head start for Saturday to head to Orange Beach - - Or as Hill wanted to call it Blue Beach. My dad wanted to see our lot in Bay St. Louis as he will be designing and advising us on what to do when the time comes. So we met Mimi, Hannah & Papi Friday around 6:00 took them to the lot and then went and ate at the Jourdan River Steamer. Yum. My family had driven to Biloxi Thursday and stayed at the Beau Rivage on Thursday and Friday night, I think Hannah wants to live there. Chip, Hill and I stayed at the condo Friday, then we all went onto “Blue” Beach for vacation!

It rained a lot so we relaxed, but we still got to enjoy swimming, boating, beaching - yes I did the sand for my son and he hated it as much as I did because he got dirty. Yay! I told my step mom that means I only have to do the sand one more time in my life to give Reid her opportunity then I’m done. Hopefully.

Side Note: The picture below of my dad wiping his face off with the towel was like 1 minute after he was trying to body surf and he couldn’t stand up because the water had pulled his bathing suit to his knees. So glad I missed that. Too funny though.

Also the picture of the silver tub with turkey and lettuce in it is the hermit crab Chip thought Hill needed. His name is ‘Daddy’ the hermit crab and hopefully he has survived life in the back yard because neither he nor I were happy with his living arrangements in the house.