Happy Halloween!

From our little chicken!

Go Saints!

In early October we got the opportunity to go to New Orleans for the first time! We were thrilled to have a great reason to go - seeing our good friends Chris and Michelle Reis. We had a lot of fun catching up with them and exploring the French Quarter. Their house is in the garden district so we got to see that really neat part of NOLA. We did all the touristy stuff on Saturday in the quarter then on Sunday we got to go to a Saints game before we left! Thanks to mom and dad for keeping B for us - we were much more mobile and able to explore without her! Here's the adorable Saint's outfit Chris and Michelle got for B! She wears it most Sundays this fall! Go Saints!
Kolsh and Ty - our loving hosts! :) These guys are the most fun boxers ever! Michelle and I went on a couple of long walks with them - even saw Sandra Bullocks house on one of them!
Me and Matt outside Cafe DuMond (officially my new favorite coffee)

Chris and his defense buddies before the game (Chris is #39)

Me and Michelle in the Superdome

At the game!

Who Dat!

Chris in action - he got to play much more than usual for about 2 quarters because the safety in front of him got injured...unfortunately so did Chris :(

Another shot of C in action!

Thank you so much Chris and Michelle for an unforgetable first time in NOLA! We are so sad Chris was injured at this game, but it was a great trip until then! Get well FAST Chris! Love you guys!

Happy B'day Matt!

We celebrated Matt's 29th b'day yesterday in style! We had a pretty good day - I say pretty good b/c Matt had to work most of it :( that stunk...but when he got home we celebrated as much as possible on home call! haha - he has such a good attitude!!! I'm so thankful for him! Here's the cake I made...this is a Kate Marshall recipe - thanks Kate! If you can't tell...it says "H b 2 U"...that was the best I could do w/ the toppings! His b'day cake is sitting on his gift - a hand crafted cornhole set! My cousin Dave is an engineer and loved making these for Matt. He has precision in everything he does, so I knew these would be awesome boards! He got the official AL paint and everything! Thanks cuz!

Matt practicing - he didn't need it b/c his competition was terrible (me).

We brought B's exersaucer thing outside so she could be our cheerleader! It was too nice of a day to stay inside!

We were pretty bad at first...but by the end of the day Matt was great! The verdict is still out on me.

Go vols :) I had to get some orange bags!

B playing w/ dad's b'day hat from Auntie Em and Jonas

Playing w/ dad on his b'day...we love you Matt!

8 Months...a little late

So yes, I have a lot to catch up on - one of those things being that B turned 8 months while Aunty Em and Jonas were here visiting last week! It was also Avie's 2 month mark - so we had fun comparing them! Here's what B's doing at 8 months...mostly for my remembrance - I know this isn't earth-shattering!!

- B eats baby food just ok - sometimes she doesn't care. Her favs are green beans, green peas, sweet potatoes, anything with apple in it, doesn't love puffs yet - she chews them and spits them out!

- She loves to sit on the floor and play with anything that isn't a baby toy (remote, cell phone, shoes, paper)

- She LOVES the toy her Nanny and Pa Pa got her where she can walk all around the house and bump into my legs!

- She learned to crawl this month and crawls all over the place! She particularly loves the furniture where the TV boxes are, and my basket of yarn...which can get messy.

- She loves Elle - she tries to crawl towards her but Elle is too fast - she has scared Elle with the walking toy thing (by running into her legs) so Elle pretty much runs whenever B gets that look in her eyes.

- She says "ma-ma" a lot - but I still don't think she knows what it means...she's working on "da-da" but right now it sounds like "ni-ni"

- She does ok in the car seat - not as good as she use to - but she's pretty tolerant of my errands :)

- She wears 9-12 mo clothing depending on the brand, she's in size 3 diapers.

- I think she weighs around 22 pounds and I have no idea how tall she is but it seems to be kind of tall

- She LOVES her bath - she could spend hours in the little ducky that is her bath tub (thank you Grimms!)

- She is a very happy baby - she giggles a ton and loves attention - she is smiling more at strangers and absolutely LOVES it when daddy comes home. She grins so big and wants to go see him (even with his nasty scrubs on!)

Here are a couple of 8 mo pics...

Brooklyn and DaddyPreview to Halloween...Jonas as a monkey and Matt as a chicken! :)Brooklyn and Avie "playing" on the floor!

Avery is so happy to be two months old! What a beautiful little girl!

Shack BBQ - lots of pics!

Time to catch up on the blog! A while ago, gosh, maybe three weeks, me and B went up to Nashville for a night to partake in some Ray family fun. My brother called to let me know that a new date was set for a "Shack BBQ". We use to do this little family reunion in the summer, but its so hot we decided to shoot for early fall this year and I think it will be a new tradition. It was so much fun! B and I just went up for the night but it was totally worth it b/c Matt was on call. We got to see a bunch of family and enjoy an early taste of some nice fall air! Enjoy the pics below - as you can see, we had a lot of fun! Thanks uncle Brian for coordinating! Brooklyn getting to know Mai Mai (my great aunt on my dad's side) a little better!

B doesn't go anywhere without her office! :) Such a work-a-holic :)

Brooklyn and Aunt Cindy

Jonas holding Matt...er...Brooklyn

Brooklyn loving on her uncle Brian

Brooklyn learning to be a redneck from uncle Cuz (not his name...a loving nick name for my cousin)

Brooklyn and Mister

Auntie Em is excited about the food!

and Brooklyn...

the hayride leaving for a tour of the farm - this was my mom's dream come true!

I love this picture of the farm - I have such amazing memories of growing up going to this farm with my grandfather (Gang Gang). He taught us so much in life and some of our most fun lessons were at this farm. Where I learned to shoot guns, try to shoot skeet, and try to dove hunt! I almost shot the dog! :) I appreciate all the love and time my grandfather put into my life and this farm will always remind me of it! I hope we go there forever!

me, Bebe, and Brookie

Brooklyn and Uncle Coo Coo

Thanks Uncle B for putting this shin-dig on - we loved it!

Mr. No-Sholders

I killed him!!! I'm so proud of myself! If you are my friend on FB you already saw this, but if not...I killed my first (and hopefully last) snake. I've seen a few dead on the road in our neighborhood but this one was in my neighbor's driveway! I was going to just walk away like I didn't see him but then I'd think he was in my house for the next week. So, my mom told me to get a hoe and just do it! So I did! He squirmed for like 5 minutes but I was persistant! I had to defend my daughter!!!! hahahahah GROSS!!!