Jennifer's Wedding is coming up soon!!

My middle sister Jennifer is getting married in about 6 weeks and the festivities are now upon us! We had a great around the house shower for Jennifer and her fiance Jeff in Homewood Saturday night.
This was their first party and they were very excited to get to see family and friends back in Alabama after moving to Tampa over a year ago.

Unfortunately my great aunt, Juanita, passed away and her funeral was on Wednesday. Both of my sisters came in for the funeral... Marcie from Nashville and Jennifer from Tampa. They along with my mom decided that little man needed to spend some time with them since everyone was staying at mom's house. Anderson has spent the night with mom a handful of times, but never for more than one night. Since I had agreed to help out my friend Casey by hosting a Castles and Crown's children's clothing show at my house on Thursday afternoon, we decided that if it was going to work we would have to do two nights. I was thankful for the break, but I missed him so much that I thought I might just go get him Thursday night! He had a blast with both of his doting aunts and his Gigi! Jennifer even rocked him to sleep one night! A habit that it took several nights of crying it out to break a few months ago!! Thanks Aunt Jenn!! Anyway, he had a great time and they enjoyed seeing him and I got to have a great show at my house without a baby underfoot. Jeff and I even snuck in dinner at Depalma's Thursday night!


Saturday was the party for Jenn and Jeff...yes it is weird that we both will be married to Jeff's...what is even more weird is that they are both attorneys! Nothing like a few lawyers in the family! HA! Anyway, we had a mexican theme and the food was catered from one of our favorites...Moe's!!
Yum Yum! They got to visit with some friends from college and law school and even some oldie but goodie friends from high school! The wedding will be here before we know it!!

Caroline Sanders Degraffenried is here!

My old friend Jennifer and her husband Ryan welcomed their second little princess into the world Tuesday afternoon. Caroline Sanders was born at 2:05 and weighed about 6 and a half pounds. She looks more like her mommy that Stella Grace did at this point, but who knows how quickly that could change! Jennifer was in good spirits when I visited Wednesday afternoon, and the new bambino is just beautiful!!

Giulianna...superstar!!

We've always known how beautiful Anderson's little girlfriend Giulianna is, but our secret is out!! Jennifer took her to a studio in Birmingham to have mother/daughter portraits made a few weeks ago. Needless to say the pictures were gorgeous...how could they not be?? For those of you who don't know our very good friends Matt and Jennifer, let's just say they are a Tuscaloosa version of Barbie and Ken! Sickening, I know!! :-)

Well the photographer, Amanda Traywick, called Jennifer last week to tell her she wanted to use one of the shots for her studio's full page ad in the August edition of Birmingham Parents magazine...the picture is below! Giulianna will be giving autographs soon...I'm pushing to be her agent!! HA!

Don't look if you have a weak stomach!!

It has certainly been an interesting few days at our house. They say bad things come in threes, so when Jeff had a wreck last week and Anderson came down with a horrible stomach bug we should have known something else was going to happen! Well we didn't have to wait long! Anderson LOVES telephones. Jeff found an old landline wall phone in a closet and decided to cut the cords off of it to keep Anderson from strangling himself...can you see where I am going with this?? He grabbed a box cutter and cut the cords along with two of his fingers. I heard him say pretty forcefully "Lindsey you need to come and get the baby". I could tell by his voice that something was wrong. When I rounded the corner I nearly tossed my cookies....there was Jeff holding a very bloody towel.

Jeff was a medic in the army and actually was a pre-med major before deciding to go to law school instead, so he was completely calm. After looking it over though, even he had to admit a trip to the ER was in order. Luckily, I was able to call our trusted neighbor Moira to come and look after Anderson so I could drive Jeff to the hospital. It was Anderson's bedtime and we knew that the ER would not be a quick trip, so I wanted him to stay at home. Moira saved the day and ran right over and off we went. We arrived at the ER around 8:00...after several stitches and a tetnus shot we FINALLY got to go home...at 11:30!!! Jeff has a very high tolerance for pain, so he hardly winced as the cleaned his wound and tried to put him back together again.

Here is a pic of his hand...pretty yucky!! He will most likely lose a chunck of meat and flesh on his forefinger. It was sliced so deep that it is barely hanging on...ICK!!!

Mooovin' and Grooovin'!

Last week right before we left for the beach I met several mommy friends for a playdate at CHOM in downtown Tuscaloosa. CHOM stands for "Children's Hands on Museum" and has been a Tuscaloosa hotspot for the 10 and under sect for about the last 15 years. I actually worked there to get service hours while I was in High School! They have lots of different exhibits that varying ages would enjoy including an old fashioned general store, a barber shop and the ever popular bear cave! They also have classes for different ages and host birthday parties.
Anderson and I along with about 6 other pairs headed into the museum to attend the "Moving and Grooving" class. Boots Plott and David Barton Rains are pictured above...they will no doubt be a force to be reckoned with as they grow up together in school. All of them are ALL BOY! Notice in the picture that Anderson is trying to figure out how to use the latch in order to escape!! Back to the class... It is very similar to Kindermusik, but you can just pop in at anytime without having to sign up or commit to several classes.

Anderson loves music, and he usually tries to "help" the musicians...see the birthday thread about my friend Dawn who played at his party. Anyway, as soon as we arrived, late as usual...does anyone with children really get anywhere on time??...he launched right up through about two rows of older and much bigger kids right to the front and proceeded to try to climb the leaders leg. She finally just leaned over and picked him up. That's my boy...he's no wallflower!

Changes in Latitude...

Well we headed south for another beach trip last week. My Dad and his wife, Martha, rented a beach house for the family for five days and we decided a free beach trip was definitley worth making time for! We had quite the houseful, but it was so much fun to get to see everyone and spend some nice relaxing time by the sea! It was me, Jeff and Anderson, My dad and Martha, Martha's daughter Erin and her son Cayden, her other daughter Shelley and her boyfriend Jarrod, My aunt Delane and her two kids, John and Walt...thank god for a five bedroom house! Ha!

The first night We just sort of hung out around the house. Jeff decided to treat us
all to a great shrimp boil. He really is a good cook! We went to the beach, but Anderson didn't really enjoy the sand too much this time around. This is our fourth
trip down this summer and he loved the beach all of the other times, but this time he decided the sand was "icky". He did really love playing with his cousins, John, Walt, and Cayden.

We shopped a little here and there...Anderson got his first pair of crocs. They are
so stinking small!! We got him a blue tie die pair that has neoprene to help them stay on tiny feet and of course a crimson pair!! They will look great with his bama jersey at tailgates this fall!
We ate at Lulu's for lunch one day and let Anderson watch the seagulls and boats go by. He was completely fascinated. He loves birds! Luckily, since Anderson wasn't exactly thrilled with the sand, we were able to go and visit my best friend Ashley
who was also down at the gulf on her family vacation to play in their pool! They stayed at the Caribe, which I have to say has the one of the coolest pools I have ever seen! The resort has 3 pools outside, a pool inside and a lazy river that you can float in intertubes around the resort. Pretty swanky! Anderson was glad to have
a little swim time...sand free! Ashley has a little girl Lily Kate (3) and a little boy, Will who is a month older than Anderson.

We had a great time, but are glad to be back home again!! Since we have been gone so much this summer, Jeff has issued an edict that we are not going out of town ever again...we'll see how long that lasts! ;-) I've posted some of my other favorite pics below...enjoy!

Mary Alice is here!!

My friend Paige and her husband James welcomed their sweet baby girl this afternoon! Mary Alice Cain arrived at 12:34 pm weighing in at 5 lbs 11 oz and stretching out to almost 19 inches long. Paige was induced this morning and didn't even get her epidural until 8 cm. She is a trooper!! Paige is over the moon and convinced...just like any good mama...that her baby is the most beautiful baby in the world!

Paige and I have known each other since around 9th grade and have been friends ever since. We both met our husbands around the same time and planned a joint bachelorette party in New Orleans with another friend that was getting married, but Paige...in true Paige fashion...decided she couldn't wait to get married. She and James hopped a plane to the Bahamas and got married early. By the time we went to New Orleans she was already married!! HA! She is the short haired blonde on the left in this picture...Congrats Paige and James, and welcome to the world Mary Alice!

This past weekend was a treat indeed! Jeff and I decided we needed a little mid-summer break to be adults and somewhat Baby-less! My mom (GiGi) generously offered to keep the little guy for us so we could plan a weekend of fun. Jeff gets a little carried away with any project he is involved with...he's a bit of a nerd! :-) Anyway, by Tuesday or so of this week he had a typed itinerary for our baby free weekend!

We checked in at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham. It is a lovely hotel that is attached to the Riverchase Galleria, home to shops galore! The hotel was great! A room with a very nice cushy bed, and my favorite...a big old bathtub! I love nothing more than a good soak in a hot tub! We spent the weekend shopping and eating. We are always up for either of those activities! Jeff planned a special dinner for us at one of my favorite restaurants in that area, J. Alexanders. Their Steak Maui is to die for and they also have a great wine list! After dinner that night we headed over to the Comedy Club to see John Witherspoon. He was hilarious. We really did laugh so hard we cried. We slept in the next morning to a whopping 9:00 am! I didn't know Jeff was capable of sleeping that long. He is always an early riser! I guess the stresses of parenthood and work got to us so much that we really needed to catch up on some un-baby-interrupted sleep!

We have done this one other time since Anderson's birth. We left him with mom and checked into Ross Bridge for some down time. We love these little getaway weekends. We are still close enough to get to Anderson quickly if we needed to, but we get a nice relaxing weekend away! We've found that when you do this and try to stay at your house you end up spending the weekend on projects you don't have time to do with the baby around, so we prefer to stay away from the chore list! It was a great time for us and Anderson enjoyed spending time with his GiGi.

Happy 4th Of July!!!

We spent today relaxing by the pool and eating some yummy grilled food! Jeff let me sleep in this morning, and after I got up we just sort of piddled around the house until it was time for Anderson's morning nap. After he woke up we headed out to the pool. We love spending our summers at Northriver Yacht Club. It is a lovely area that includes a golf course and a couple of pools, gym, an art museum and a couple of restaurants. This is all surrounded by gorgeous homes and cliffs overlooking lake Tuscaloosa. I loved coming there as a teenager because it is so tucked away that you feel like you are on a vacation and not in Tuscaloosa anymore! I spent many a summer on the lake and swimming in that pool. It is kind of cool to be able to take my little boy there now! The main pool has a great view of Lake Tuscaloosa that you can sort of see in the picture of me holding Anderson. They have a baby pool that is just deep enough for him to be in with a float and he can still touch the bottom, so he just scoots all over the the place kind of like he is using his float as a walker.

After a nice afternoon at the pool we decided to have a little cook out. Our friends Jennifer and Matt came over with their little girl Giulianna (She and Anderson have an arranged marriage in their future!). Jeff just got his "Mack Daddy" new
stainless grill delivered, so he wanted to BBQ pretty much everything! We cooked new potatoes, corn, chicken, quail and sausage...all of this for only 4 adults! I think
we will all be taking our tums before bed tonight! I also included an action shot of Anderson walking. He is getting so big! He now prefers to walk rather than crawl.

Anderson is off to the races...He is officially walking!

It was Ladies Night...

I had the pleasure of spending Saturday and Sunday in Birmingham with some old girlfriends from "back in the day"! :-) Jeff was kind enough to keep Anderson all day Saturday and that night and the next morning, so that I could catch up with some of my very favorite girlfriends! We all met at my friend Dee's house to kick off our evening. She was quite the hostess, providing strawberries and champagne along with a cheese and fruit platter! Yummy! We all enjoyed catching up on each others lives which are pretty diverse... we had a couple of moms, a couple of "marrieds," but no children yet... a couple of gals with very serious boyfriends and of course the fun single gals!! It's so fun to hear every one's stories!

From there we headed over to "26," a cool little trendy restaurant in southside for a delicious meal and more wine than I think any of us expected to drink! We had a great time at dinner laughing about the stupid stuff we all did at one point or another usually involving an equally stupid guy...By the time we left I think the waiters were pretty ready for us to take our giggle boxes and go away!

We headed down the street to a new hotspot "Twist and Shout"...It's a fun dueling piano bar. We danced and goofed off and spent too much money trying to get the guy to stop playing the Auburn and Tennessee fight songs! After that we weren't quite ready to go home, so what's a girl to do?? The double B! Also known as Bellbottoms! This is quite possibly the cheesiest bar/dance club you could ever imagine. In fact, it remains quite empty until after midnight...why, you ask...because no one is drunk enough to want to go there until after midnight! You usually get a mixture of bachelorette parties, people coming in after weddings, and girls like us that are having a fun night...but then you have the truly scary people. There were plenty of those there that night as well. People that are likely to conceive a child on the dance floor, for example. Inevitably there is always some big redneck fight and Saturday was no different. It was a great place to people watch...or do aerobics on the empty dance floor like Scarlotte and Jennifer!

Some time after 1:00 am we headed home...way past my bedtime, but it was so much fun to spend time with people you wish you got to spend more time with! On Sunday I actually slept until 8:30. It was so exciting to be able to sleep in. We had a little breakfast and then I was ready to head home to see Anderson! I enjoyed getting a break from mommyhood, but I sure did miss the little guy!