MMGK Baby Shower

On Saturday, Mom and I helped throw a baby shower for my oldest and dearest friend, Mary Michael. She and I have been friends for over 25 years...WOW...that makes us sound really old! I love her and her family AND we got to throw it with another one of my oldest friends, Elizabeth and her Mom. Even though we had seen MMGK about 6 weeks ago, I feel like (sorry Mary) that she had really popped out! Her belly is SO cute and makes me think back to that time during my pregnancy and it is such a FUN time!

We decorated in blue since she is obviously have a little boy AND what made it even more fun was that she and her husband have already settled on a name! So she got TONS of monogrammed things....Even the petit fours had his initials on them. Congratulations, MMGK and BT!!! I can't WAIT to meet the little guy in a few months.

"I do it!"

Luke is getting to be such a BIG boy and it shows, not only in his physical development (i.e., clothes/shoe size, running, JUMPING, skipping), but also in his psychological development. He has recently reached the "I [can] do it!" stage and when he says it, he means it. Don't even try to help until HE deems it necessary. It is so cute and marks yet another milestone in his little life. In the picture above: when he gets thirsty, he brings the gallon milk carton to us where ever we are saying "Heavy!" and "I drink, I drink!" Thankfully, he hasn't figured out how to open the top yet! :)

He has also become such a big helper! He likes to help load and unload the dish washer. He has his own special drawer where we keep all of his plates, bowls and sippy cups. He seems so pleased with himself to be able to put his things where they go, And it's just his height!

"I clean it!"

"I eat crackers!"

He also has his own cabinet where he can go to get his snacks. He usually gets whatever snack he wants, in this case cheeze-its, then goes to his special drawer to get a bowl, and then brings them both to us for a little "help" getting a hand full into his bowl.

"I get it or I clean!"

We are still working on this cleaning concept and MOST days he will clean up his toys without much fuss. I made up a silly "Clean Up" song that I sing and he says "Sing mommy!" and he will clean as long as I sing that song. We will see how long this lasts, but for now it works.

"I ready go!!!"

He has also started wanting to walk down the stairs by himself. It's still a little scary to me, but my only rule is that he HAS to hold onto the railing. He is also already a social butterfly! If he sees me putting on my make up or putting my purse on my shoulder, he runs over and says "Hold you! I ready go!" He LOVES to be ON-THE-GO!

"I water plants."

"I dress!"

Again, another skill we are starting to master, but it's still a work in progress. It's SO much fun to watch him try :)

And finally....."I DRIVE!"

Thanks to Papaw letting him 'drive' last weekend, this is ALL Luke wants to do when we leave or when we get home! As soon as we un-click the last latch on his car seat, he LEAPS out and climbs into the driver's seat to DRIVE! Anyone up for a joy ride???

Hummingbirds!

The hummingbirds are back!!! I could sit and watch them for hours!!!

Birthday Dinner

We got to have a "grown up" (GM kept Lukie for the night) joint birthday dinner this past Saturday night at True to celebrate Kyle and my birthday. The food was delicious and it was a great night out with the fam! Thanks Mimi and Doc for a fun celebration!

The "L.A." burger....

I met Jeremy for lunch at Callaghan's this past Wednesday.....and why meet at this Irish Pub on a random Wednesday afternoon, do you ask???......The L.A. Burger!!! They only have it on Wednesdays and it has to be the most heavenly burger on the planet! As you can see from the description above, it has beef mixed with conecuh sausage (and for those of you not from south Alabama, conecuh sausage is HANDS DOWN the best sausage you will ever taste), pepper jack cheese, spicy mustard, cole slaw, and pickles. 

And it took this "fake" blonde a few minutes to figure out why they call it the "L.A" burger b/c why would they name this Los Angeles California if it has Alabama sausage in it? Then the light bulb clicked...it stands for "Lower Alabama." Yikes, that's a little embarrassing!  OK, moving on...

Now, some of you may be thinking....YUCK....I HATE, spicy mustard/cole slaw....and, that is what I said....BUT I decided to try it just they way they recommended and I have to say that I am in LOVE!!! Anyone in the Mobile area will have to head out on a Wednesday and get the best burger in the world! Let me know what you think, if and when you get to try it! (Note: This is NOT a paid advertisement and the opinions in this post only reflect the views of this blogger!)

Wedding, Hide and Seek, and Home

Congratulations to Bill and Beverly, who tied the knot on Sunday! It was such a sweet service. 

Luke had so much fun playing with his cousins! He wanted to do everything Jared did! Jared and Emily even taught him how to play Hide and Seek. This is Luke and Emily "counting." You had better hide fast b/c they are still learning their numbers, so their "counting" went something like this "1....2.....6...7....10!"

On Monday, it was a quick lunch at Chick-fil-A, a ride on the choo choo at Hamilton Place mall, and then it was time to head back to Mobile. It is about a 6.5 hour drive and after the drive home, Jeremy and I decided that the next time we drive it....we will have a DVD player!!!

Payne Cookout

It was a beautiful afternoon for a cookout and everyone had worked up an appetite after the golfing and swimming! 

Mmmm...homemade ice cream! It was delicious! I had to savour EVERY last bite!

After dinner, it was time for a friendly game of H-O-R-S-E!...

and what's basketball without a little slam dunk here and there!

The best part of the day, according to Emily and Luke, was playing in the dirt!

The best part of the day, according to Madison, was playing with the little kitten that found it's way into Papaw and Mamaw's front yard. Too bad, we ALL have too many cats as it is and had to send it on it's way. 

Jared was such a sweet older brother/ cousin and took Emily and Luke on a wagon ride ALL over the yard!

Proof positive that it was successful day!!! 

Papaw's Pool & old friends!

After the golf outing, it was pool time! We had a great time swimming with my cousins and old friends, Greg, Ashlee and Haylee.  

We had to take some time out to check out the dogs in their pin behind the pool. 

I kept asking daddy to throw me "higher, higher!"

Check out Miss Priss...just chillin' on the side of the pool! I was amazed at how good a swimmer Miss Emily was! 

We had a great day with Nicki and Greg and their two sweet girls!

Best Buds!

We were in GA for a wedding this past weekend, so as always, we try to cram as much fun in as we possibly can! Jared LOVES his Uncle Jeremy and hardly lets him out of his sight when we visit. Since all of the guys were going to play golf on Saturday morning, guess who was invited to join the club?....yep,  you guessed it, Jared! Uncle Jeremy even bought Jared two new clubs for his very own. 

So CUTE!...I mean, HANDSOME!

Thirsty Thursday, Bay Bears, & Kyle's pitch

For Uncle Kyle's birthday, we went to the Bay Bears Game and it just so happened to be Thirsty Thursday. I LOVED watching the band practice before the game. 

Check out Dad's glove....he said he's had it since he was 10 years old. Too bad we didn't get a foul ball come our way... I would have been ready.

Since it was Kyle's birthday AND aunt Liz has connections with the Red Cross, Kyle got to throw out the first pitch of the game! I thought it was SO cool that my Uncle was out on the field "playing ball!" Since he has connections with News Channel 5, he even made it on TV. Happy 29th, Dude!

First Day of school...Take 2

Here I am posing for my first day of school pictures looking like such a big boy with my back pack! The reason this is the 1st day of school...take 2... is because I broke my leg the second week of the summer session during playtime outside on the slide. So , technically, I only went for one week last time. This is the start of a brand new school year that will hopefully be broken bone free!

Mommy said I was such a big boy and she was a little saddened, but happy, that I walked right in and didn't even need her to hold my hand. She was taking pictures like C-R-A-Z-Y, just like always!!! She is just glad that I am too young to get embarrassed by her picture taking antics, yet!

I walked right in after knocking on the door and, unlike my first day of school at the beginning of the summer, I happily walked right in, dropped my back pack and went straight for the toys. I didn't even look back and thankfully there were no tears (for me or for mommy)! Mom LOVED seeing my name and all the backpacks lined up! She is a little silly sometimes.

At 1pm, when Mommy came to pick me up I was "jumping" off the small 1/2 foot window sill and other kids were following my lead. What can I say? I am ALL B-O-Y, all the time!!! I had a great time at school and I can't wait to go back on Thursday!!!! My daily report has two major sections an appetite section and a mood section with check marks. It said that "I ate everything." and Today I was: "happy, friendly, chatty and curious." Mom did great, too! She said the only time she was a little nervous was during playground time which is from 9:30-10:00. It's ok, Mommy, I will be fine and I will be extra careful on the slide! I promise :)

The twist!

C'mon Baby, Let's do the twist! Have a happy Monday everyone!

The Cheese!

After getting a much needed hair cut, we met Uncle Kyle and Aunt Liz at the Chuck E. Cheese! 

I loved riding the choo choo (even if I had to sit next to this purple dinosaur)......

shootin' hoops with the boys.....

trying to play skeet ball even though I kept throwing the ball overhand instead of rolling the down the lane...

eating peppa-o pizza.....

and my all time favorite thing today was riding the horse! I kept yelling 'yee ha!'