Roll Tide Anyway....

If I were to blog about the actual logisitics of the game it would be way too depressing, so I'll just post pictures of the friends we had over! We cooked a big pot of Chili and another pot of Taco Soup and settled in with several friends to watch Alabama's lack of offense against FSU...I'm not bitter! ;-)


Anderson intently watching the game! He's such a fan...Just like Mommy and Daddy!





Our neighbors Rusty and Moira came over with their two children, Lily and Jack. They are big Ole Miss fans...we love them anyway!! :-)



Jeff, Judson, Dad and Martha


We finally gave Dad his Birthday gift! It is a ride along in a race car at Talledega with a professional driver. Happy Belated Dad!!


Lily and Anderson cheering on the Tide!!


Mommy still managed to squeak out a smile despite the dismal performance by our offense!





At this point in the evening, Anderson felt he could complete more passes than John Parker, so he headed off to try to rescue the tide. It's just too bad he couldn't make it in time!

School Days!

Anderson is learning at such a fast rate that it is hard to keep up with it all, much less find the time to post it in a blog! But here will be my feeble attempt!Ha!!

When we decided that I would stay at home with Anderson, one of my concerns was that he NOT become a "mamma's boy". You know...you've seen them before. The kids that fall to pieces at the slightest separation from mom or are socially unable to play well with others...i.e. SHARE!!! Therefore, we decided not to shield Anderson from opportunities to be around other children as much as possible! We started by sending him to the church nursery on Sundays, which he handled like a champ with the exception of some normal separation anxiety recently. I also scheduled lots of play dates with friends that had children Anderson's age. Then we enrolled him in Mom's Morning Out. I won't go into detail on where he is due to paranoia and cyber-safety issues! However, we have been so pleased! He really loves going to school. It has been great for me too! :-)
We started him out in the Spring at 2 mornings a week and now he goes in 3 mornings a week. He has about 4 classmates and two wonderful teachers. Almost all of the teachers have children of their own in the preschool, so you know they are seasoned Mom's with a loving touch.

In the Spring and Summer it was really more about interacting with other children, but now that he is in the big boy one year old room it is like real school! We even got a supply list on the first day! I had to go and buy my little man a lunch box and backpack, crayons, a folder and other supplies! I almost died when I opened the list! He's only ONE!!! How in the world are we already to the point of needing a backpack?? I was skeptical at first, but boy have I been surprised at the things Anderson has learned lately!!


At school they have circle time where they have to sit on the rug while the teacher reads a story...I thought....hmmm... a room full of toddlers..sitting and listening...yeah...right! Well, she now has all five of them up to twenty minutes during story time. Their goal is to hit 30 minutes by the end of the semester! I didn't even think Anderson could understand the command "Sit Still!" She said the first week she kept having to pull him back on the carpet, but after that he understood and started sitting down right when it was time to. She said that even though he is the youngest in the class he usually sits still the longest. As much as he loves stories and books that really didn't surprise me.


They also have art class regularly. I love getting his masterpieces in his folder at the pick up time! We even framed one and hung it in our foyer. A couple of weeks ago they had "colors" week. Each day was a different color. The kids were asked to wear that days color clothing, they read books featuring that color, played with toys that were that color and of course made sweet artwork with that day's featured color.
This week they are working on Shapes!


They have a great routine of switching up gym playtime, outside playtime, music class, art class, story time, and many other activities. They usually do a couple of school wide activities a semester. When I pick him up they have a detailed list of what they did that day, how many diaper changes he had and what kind they were, what he ate and drank and his overall demeanor for the day. I really feel like he is so well taken care of!

There are some school-wide activities as well. At the end of August they had an "End of summer Luau". The parents sent snacks and the kids dressed accordingly. It was adorable!The older kids even have chapel and other activities like gymnastics that are more age appropriate, so we have a lot to look forward to! The four year old program is great! Both teachers are former kindergarten teachers, so they basically take the kids through that curriculum a year early. They even have events that involve the parents like Muffins with Mommy and Donuts with Daddy.

We Love school!

Where's your nose? Anderson at 15 months old...

Fun on the Quad...

We had a great time this weekend! I met my Mom in Birmingham Friday afternoon to hand over Anderson for the weekend. He was so excited to see his GiGi! They did lots of fun stuff like feeding the fish in the pond and riding Pop's golf cart all over the property! It was a nice break, but I was so ready to see his sweet smiling face this morning!!



While Mom had Anderson Jeff and I got some date time! Yeah!!!
We went out for a nice dinner Friday night and then to hear the Lava Lamps at Chuck's with our friends Jennifer and Matt! It has been a while since we were out past 11:00, but we had a great time! Jeff's friend Chris and his friend Clint flew in from Texas for the game and stayed at the house this weekend. Saturday morning me and the "boys" got up to watch Gameday broadcast from Tuscaloosa....and the curse lives on!
Everytime Corso and friends come to t-town we LOSE!!! I think next time we should only allow them to cover it using a simulcast from Auburn....




We headed out to the quad earlier than usual since we didn't have Anderson. We were able to walk a lot and do a lot of people watching which happens to be one of my favorite things to do!! It's a good thing we had fun on the quad because losing in overtime was anything but fun!

The Perfect Weekend...

I am almost certain that we are coming off one of those rare "perfect" weekends that you just happen upon once in a while! Our perfect weekend started on Friday afternoon. The Children's Hands on Museum (CHOM) had their annual football kickoff party with Big Al! Of course I had to get Anderson all dressed up in his cute football outfit to see Big Al! We met some friends there including David Barton and Giulianna. At first he was curious, but cautious! He wanted to see the gigantic elephant, but he wanted me to be holding him.
Then in an effort to let the photographer get a picture, I sat down with Anderson and Big Al. As soon as I got up to try to leave him for the picture he decided he was really not Ok with me leaving him there, even if I was less than a foot away!As you can see in this picture Anderson dug his fingernails into the ground in order to pull himself as far away as possible. After that we decided to hang out in the room, but at a healthy distance. We even got some pictures in front of the blow up fake Big Al as a practice run!
Slowly but surely Anderson warmed up to the big guy enough for us to get some decent pictures. Afterwards, I took him by Daddy's office for a surprise visit. As stressful as Jeff's job is, anytime Anderson and I pop in is a welcome break!Daddy got to take him around to all of the other secretaries and partners to show off his little man!

Saturday morning we awoke to a beautiful fall morning. The weather is finally starting to turn cool in the mornings!!! We settled into our usual Saturday schedule of waffles and Sports Center. Later in the day the babysitter came to play with Anderson and Jeff and I headed out to tailgate and attend the game. While eating ribs on the quad we enjoyed watching Miss. State beat Auburn and Florida beat Tennessee. We were elated at our prospects of winning against Arkansas on a weekend where both Tennessee and Auburn lost SEC match ups!

The game was one of the best and scariest I have ever attended. By the time it was over I felt as if I had played to game myself!! There was a crazy electricity in the stadium. I feel like we are finally back!! If we can win against Georgia we should be ranked...what a great start to a season! After a close game we luckily pulled it out in the end, but not without a series of near heart-attacks on mine and Jeff's part! All I can say is I'm so proud of our guys for pulling out a 4th quarter win, and I would vote for McFadden for Heisman any day. He was nearly impossible to stop! What an athlete!

Sunday we woke up to gorgeous Fall weather and took Anderson for a nice walk around the neighborhood and then headed to church. A perfect weekend indeed!

Reception Pictures

The reception proved to be long, but fun! As soon as we arrived at the Wynfrey I began working on Jennifer's bustle. I think more curse words spewed from my mouth in that 15 minute period than in my whole life! It was a French Bustle with over 18 color coordinated ribbon ties. To top it off the seamstress' idea of "color coding" was to use cream and white! Not exactly easy to tell apart in a dim room!!

At least the wedding coordinator was able to secure a separate room for the wedding party to go to upon arrival to the hotel. We were able to kick our shoes off and eat food they had brought in from the reception room. Anderson decided to flirt with the flower girl during this time and I think in their own little language they made plans to meet up on the dance floor later!

The Coconut Cowboys, one of Jenn's favorite bands from college, were able to play at the reception. They truly were great. Anderson was the very first person on the dance floor. He was awed and amazed at the guitars and bright lights. He clapped and spun and stomped...it was hilarious. Then Addie the flower girl made her move. She marched right up and grabbed both of his hands for a dance. Much to my surprise he was receptive. Jeff of course mentioned that he like his daddy knows a pretty girl when he sees one.

Anyway, we danced the night away and then sent Jeff and Jennifer off to Cabo amidst brightly lit sparklers. They enjoyed their day and as I heard today are enjoying their honeymoon. I knew she couldn't make it a week and a half without talking to me! :-)

Here are some random reception pics...

The Wedding

I meant to post this right after the other post from the rehearsal, but Anderson ended up with pink eye and a yucky cough, so I have been tending to him for the last several days...but without further delay, here are the pictures from my sister's wedding last Saturday. It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky. Thank goodness it was also much cooler than the 105 temps we were having a few weeks ago!

Anderson fell right before the ceremony and busted his lip.
I swear this kid is going to be my reason for having health insurance!! Anyway, luckily Jeff was able to catch the blood before he ruined his little outfit. After a minute or two he was doing fine and ready for his big walk down the aisle!


Unfortunately his walk the day of the wedding wasn't quite as adorable as the one the night before during the rehearsal. Then he actually blew a kiss and clapped for himself! This time there were people in the pews. Everyone thought that would scare him, but I know my child. He is no wallflower. My fear is what actually came to fruition. He started out wonderfully. He was so cute toddling down the aisle in his linen white out fit with his sweet little bare feet...and then he saw them...all of the people! So what does he do?? Try to talk to them of course...ALL of them. About halfway down he started trying to go down the aisles to say hello to all the guests. Of course everyone was laughing. Jeff finally came up behind him and put him back on a straight course down the aisle. Once he saw me and the fun set of stairs at the end of the aisle he was focused. The plan was to have the babysitter sit on a front pew and usher him out a side door once he completed his walk. Well he got there a little quicker than she could slide down the pew. Anderson was climbing those stairs and no one was going to stop him!! Luckily the groom bent down and picked him just in time to avoid a catastrophe. From there the babysitter took over and we were on with the ceremony.




It wouldn't have been my choice to use such a little one as a ring bearer, but it meant so much to my sister that we do it. She was adamant that she didn't care how bad he messed up. She wanted him to be a special part of her special day. In between lots of laughter I did tear up at the sight of my precious little boy taking all of those big boy steps down the aisle. What a day!!

Rehearsal for Jenn's Wedding

Last weekend my middle sister got hitched!! She is now in Cabo San Lucas for the next week and a half enjoying a much deserved honeymoon! The wedding weekend got started early on Friday morning for us. We decided that since the reception was at the Wynfrey Hotel it would just be easy to get a room there for the weekend, so that we could be close to Jennifer and available for help. We learned on a beach trip earlier this year that sleeping in the same room as Anderson is not doable.
He is a bit of a light sleeper. He goes to sleep at 7:30 and since we would be coming in both nights much later than that we didn't want to risk waking him up as we closed doors, washed faces, brushed teeth, turned lights on and off, etc.. So we book adjoining rooms...Expensive but worth it!!



Anderson did so well with his ringbearer duties at the rehearsal. The wedding planner had all of the wedding party placed on the stage when Jeff let him loose for his practice run! He walked straight down the aisle and stopped at the end.
Everyone clapped and made a big deal of it. He then looked up at us and blew a kiss and started clapping for himself. It was hysterical!!


Afterwards, we headed downtown to the Summit Club for the rehearsal dinner hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Cowley.
My good friend Jennifer took Anderson back to the hotel for us, so we could enjoy a toddler free evening! The view was great and the dinner was scrumptious! Nancy and Frank even surprised Jennifer with a sign that flashed "Congratulations on your wedding Jennifer and Jeff." Several wonderful toasts were given. One of my favorites was the one that 5 of Jennifer's bridesmaids wrote. At each of their weddings they have written a poem for a toast that is specifically about their friendship with the bride and all about how she met her groom. It was too cute! We also enjoyed a slideshow with pictures of Jennifer and Jeff as they grew up. At the end of it Jennifer surprised us all with a videotaped toast (she is terrified of public speaking) to her groom that was one of the sweetest I've ever heard. There wasn't a dry eye in the house!

Drown 'em TIDE!!

Football season has arrived here in our beautiful college town! One of the things I have enjoyed about living back in Tuscaloosa has been being back in the heart of the magic of football season in t-town! This season is really special with the arrival of our new (and very expensive) coach...Nick Saban! The buzz started from the minute we hired him and Saturday as he ran on to the field for his first game the atmosphere was downright electric. I even teared up!! It has been a long time coming for the Crimson faithful. After too many mediocre seasons, we are ready to win some games and after watching Saturday night...I believe we are finally going to do just that!!

I have loved football pretty much all of my life! I was one of the few cheerleaders in high school that actually understood the game and knew the difference between offense and defense! ha!!
When I was the Varsity cheerleading coach at Hoover, I actually borrowed game tape and made my girls sit down and watch it and learn the rules of the game. The moms thought I was the anti-christ...the dad's, however, loved it! When Jeff and I met our first date was to go to a UA game. He tells this story all of the time! We were in the stands and I was screaming at Shula for poor play calling on 3rd and 18...please, anything but up the middle! Anyway, Jeff says he knew immediately he would marry me! I have been known to be a little on the animated side more than once! I plan on raising Anderson that way as well! The other day we were at a local bookstore and they had some Auburn stuffed tigers. Of course, Anderson went right for them. I scooped him up and quickly said "No No...Dirty!" The man in line next to us laughed so hard I thought he was going to pee on himself. Hey you have to start them young!

Between the two of us I don't think we have missed too many home games in the last...ummm...let's see...20 years! I grew up here so that was just what you did on the weekends in the fall...it was expected! Jeff grew up in that other state to our north...think lots of orange...ick! However, he was always the kid in elementary school wearing an Alabama jersey on the Friday before game day! Everyone in his family were big UT fans! In fact Phil Fulmer is from Jeff's hometown, but my honey was all about the Tide...even then! When he told his dad he was in fact coming to school in Tuscaloosa he said "Oh no son...tell me something else anything else...tell me your gay, just don't tell me you are going to Alabama!" Well he did and then stayed for law school and never left. Tuscaloosa can have that effect on you! Only a few escape it's charm and even then they usually end up back here like I did!

We are excited about our new coach. Some are saying he's a jerk...not nice
enough...not media friendly enough. I don't care if he's nice...I want to win and preferably against Auburn! I even can say from experience that he is a very personable guy in the right circumstance! Jeff and I were at dinner at Depalma's one night and in came the coach and his wife. He sat down right next to me at the bar as we waited for our tables. I couldn't resist and turned around to tell him how happy we are that he is here and that we hoped they liked Tuscaloosa. He was polite...said thank you but that was it. However 5 minutes later he turned to us and struck up a conversation about great places to eat in town and told us all about the movie he and his wife had just seen. He was very nice...very personable and warm. Then we went our seperate ways, but as he was leaving he took the time to come all the way over to our table pat Jeff on the back and tell us to have a great night. For weeks Jeff told people that we had "Dinner" with the Sabans!!Ha!! We do run into his wife a good bit as they live about 4 neighborhoods down from us. Last week Anderson and I were at Publix and he was super fussy, so I handed him a yogurt to hold and fiddle with.
He proceeded to break through the foil top with his teeth and ended up with strawberry yogurt smeared all over his face. None of this I realized because I was unloading groceries at the register. She politely pointed it out and laughed and even helped me as I struggled to keep him in the cart and fish out wipes from my diaper bag. Too funny!! Here I am in this awful and sticky situation and who do I have to be next to in line...none other than Mrs. Saban!


We took Anderson out to the campus Friday night to take some pictures of him in his birthday jersey. They really turned out great! We even took him to dinner at Phil's on campus. That is where Jeff and I met on our blind date before walking over to the game together. We had to show Anderson where it all started! Maybe one day he might get to wear a real jersey...never hurts to dream, right??