Lazy Weekends

For the past few weekends we've tried to take it easy. One night I took a girl's night and went with Lindsay and Mama to a Spirited Art class. We had some dinner then took our bottles of wine and went to paint a Van Gogh landscape. When we arrived the instructor informed us that we picked the most difficult painting to do but we had fun anyway.

Last weekend Chris and I decided to have our very first date night since Joe was born. I was worried he was going to change his mind because he was so tired. He and Joe passed out on the couch about an hour before we left. Luckily, the power nap was enough to take me out. We ended up going to dinner at Dolce and then he took me to see "The Time Traveler's Wife." I have learned now that I need not go see movies that are in the least bit sad. My hormones tend to make me very emotional and it ends up being quite embarassing for the both of us :)!

Concerts in the Park

This summer we have thoroughly enjoyed the "Concerts in the Park" series at Big Spring Park. We will go with our family with a picnic dinner and possibly a bottle of wine and just enjoy the music and the evening together. We were really excited a couple of weeks ago when Adam, Lindsay, and Adalin joined us. I got a couple of good videos. My favorite is the one titled "Lindsay vs. the Goose." Adam and Adalin were feeding the geese when Adam dropped a very large piece of bread. He tried to get it back but the goose was just too quick. So Lindsay decided she was going to get the bread from the goose and ended up chasing the goose all around the park. In the end, we are proud to say, Lindsay won and retrieved the prized bread!

Joe's Baptism

The Saturday camp ended, we decided to have Joe baptized. Camp has always meant a lot to me both the place and the event so we thought that having it there would be very special. The location was at an open air stone chapel on top of the mountain at Sumatanga. It wasn't easy getting everybody up there (especially my 100 year old great grandmother) but we all made it and just before the rain came too. My dad performed the ceremony with Jay assisting. Adam presented Joe, Jonathon and Mollianne performed the music and Margaret A. did the congregational response. All in all it was different, a bit complicated, but memorable and very special!

More 4th Photos

Me and Morgan
Adam, Adalin, and Pop

Joe and his Meme

Lindsay, Adalin, and Adam...They are so cute!

Alisa and Art

More pictures from Joe's first weeks!

Joe baby in his boppy bouncer
Nanna and Joe

Pawpaw and Joe

Uncle Adam and Aunt Lindsay

Camp 2009

Chris, me, Joe, Poppa, and Beaux (the dog)

Mama and the other nurses were such a big help with Joe. Here is Trish with Joe in front of the door with all the stickers. He loved all the colors.

This is me and Blair, one of my friends from high school, who came to camp after being gone for several years. It was so good to see her again and have her meet Joe.

We were exhausted most of the week. Below, we (Joe is in his frontal carrier) are serving communion to the counselors with Pop and Barbara.

Twice a year my family and me participate with camps for developmentally disabled adults. One camp in the summer and one camp in the fall. The camp in the summer is the last week of July and lasts an entire week. We all went...my dad is one of the directors, my mom was the nurse, and Chris was a counselor. This year I was the Director's Intern and Joe came with me! I had a feeling it would be difficult for us to spend the whole week in the middle of nowhere with no A/C and without the comforts of home. I had no idea it would be as hard as it actually was though. But we made it through as well as could be expected. And I am really glad that we were all able to go since it's such a major part of our lives. However, Joe and I were excited to be heading home on Saturday!

Other Family Photos

Joe and Chino

Mimi finally got a picture with both her babies

Aunt Morgan and Joe

Uncle Bryan and Joe

The Famous 5 Generations Picture!
Joe Baby
Dede and Joe
Dede, Adalin, and Joe

Adalin and Joe....She is so sweet with him!

July 2009

I'm trying to get everyone up-to-date here but July is going to take a while due to the crazy hectic month we had. First we had July 4th which is a very important holiday in my family due to it also being my great-grandmother's birthday! She turned 100 years old this year so we had a big bash for her down in the surrounding Birmingham area. The two days prior to her party we had all of our family up to celebrate the holiday in Huntsville. To say the very least it was a lovely and memorable weekend. Most importantly to me was seeing Dede, my great-grandmother, and our other relatives who live out of town meet Joe for the first time. Dede and Joe had some wonderful pictures made together and some also with her other great-grandbaby, Adalin, by one of our talented friends, Katie. We also had our famous 5 Generation picture with Dede, Grandmama, Mama, Adam and Adalin, and me and Joe. They were the sweetest pictures that I will hold dear my whole life. The entire weekend was just fabulous to say the least!

June 2009

Well June was pretty exciting and uneventful at the same time. As if having a new born at home wasn't enough we had a couple birthdays through the month to kep us bus. My birthday was two weeks after Joe's on June 4th so we had family and friends over to celebrate. Then Adam's birthday was two weeks later. We had a lot of family time and in between we went to Concerts in the Park and hung out at home. For the most part, I had the most precious baby boy in my arms the majority of the month learning how to be a new mom and sleep at the same time. Chris and I both picked up parenthood pretty well...as well as can be expected I guess :). It was a bit scary at times but fun. And we are happy to say we got through the first few weeks with no major accidents or disasters.

Chapter One: Our Story

Our story began last May when Chris came up to me at the Whistle Stop Festival 2008 and reintroduced himself. I had met him the following December at Mason's when I came home from San Antonio to spend Christmas with the family. I didn't remember who he was but thankfully he remembered me. We spent the entire evening hanging out at the festival and then later at Philby's. I realized that night that he was the one. A couple weeks later I broke up with the guy I was dating in San Antonio and decided not to move back to Texas.

We had a really great summer together hanging out and talking about how we would travel all over the world together and be young forever! Well that all changed September 17, 2008 when, after taking six pregnancy tests, I discovered I was pregnant. To say I devastated would be the understatement of the year. Chris took it better than I did. I cried for about six weeks and my good mother comforted me. Then I decided it was time to accept it and grow up.

Chris and I had a very interesting few months coping with this new phenomenon. Eventually, we decided it would be easier if I moved into his house out in Madison. So, he let me remodel it with paint, furnishings, and decorations none of which he had and we turned the bachelor pad house into our first home together.

We settled in pretty nicely and then began the showers. Our friends and family were and still are so supportive. They provided everything we could have imagined that we needed for our son plus some great advice. So, I was prepared, packed up and ready to go to the hospital at the earliest sign of labor 3 weeks prior. But all my effort was a waste because my physician decided to schedule my delivery. We induced on May 21 and our beautiful baby boy was delivered at 2:45pm at Huntsville Hospital Women's and Children weighing in at 7lbs 12oz and extending 19.5in. That's when I realized that a new chapter and really my new life had just begun...and I was thrilled!

Introduction

I have decided to start this blog about my son, Joe, and our lives thanks to my sister-in-law, LBS. She allowed us access into her life through her blog and gave us the priveledge of following my niece through her first year allowing us to be a part of all of her milestones. Therefore, I thought I would allow the same acces for our friends and family. Plus, one day I think I would enjoy coming back and remembering how we started out and became a family....whether we liked it or not! So I hope you will join me as I describe to you our daily journeys.