The Gay Family Blog

Music with Dad

2012-01-24T10:31:00.000-06:00

January Is Almost Over....Yikes!

2012-01-24T09:40:00.000-06:00

January has been a busy month. It started with family in town for the new year, we tackled the chicken pox (yes you can get them even after you get the vaccine) and we are wrapping up with the final stages of potty training. My baby is getting bigger everyday and becoming a little boy!

My family all came for the new year. We postponed Drew's tonsil surgery. Several days with my mom, sister Jane and their wild boys, including my brother-in-law Kevin. Drew had a wonderful time with Dalton and Tom Alan. He is big enough now to play with them and they have enough energy to keep up with Drew. Lots of ball playing in the yard and a trip to the Natural Science Museum. Gigi and Papa came the next week and poor Papa was worn out by the time he left. I stopped counting after about 10 games of hide-and-seek. Drew loves to be scared and my dad loved scarring him. Having 3 girls was not a good thing when it came to scarring kids...we were not enthused! Drew, however, is making up for it. He would laugh so hard when he was scared that he would fall on the floor.

Kevin has been able to sneak in some duck hunting here and there and I have taken a couple of work trips. Our four day MLK holiday weekend of rest was interrupted with a mild case of the chicken pox. As Drew told us "I stay home. I got the Pops." The chicken pox these days are nothing like they used to be. The vaccine helped to shorten the run and the symptoms were fairly mild. He had about 10 bumps on his back and neck and then several on one hand. He never complained and never ran fever. We were very lucky! Kinda like the strep infection in his sinus cavity last year it is one of those 1% chance things. I am hoping he continues the trend and his 1% carries over into his school studies and he is top of the class!

We took advantage of the rainy weather last weekend to spend some time at home and gave up diapers! (WOOOHOOOO....I feel like we get a raise this month!) Drew did great! He figured out real fast he would get a (sur)"prise" if he went on his own and by the end of the day he had two trains, a garbage truck, two bags of skittles, Cheetos and three stickers. I think he would stop and start just to get another "prise." By the time Kevin came home Sunday Drew was VERY proud of himself. I had to run to the grocery store and left Kevin and Drew with strict instructions to remember to potty. When I got home and asked Drew if he had gone to the potty he was very excited to tell me Daddy had let him "pee-pee in the flowers." Lovely! Lord, please help me.

2012 has already started off with a bang and we are looking forward to a great year.

Happy 2012

2012-01-09T22:43:00.000-06:00

Christmas and New Years at the Gay house was WONDERFUL! Drew got over his sickness just in time for Christmas, but not soon enough to go ahead with his tonsil surgery. (That will have to wait til a later date!) We attended Christmas Eve service at Galloway and then Christmas morning service as well. Since Drew had been sick we let him stay in "big church" for both services. He did pretty good. I have to admit the candle lighting during the singing of Silent Night made me a little nervous (flashbacks to my sister catching her hair on fire!) When the song was finished Drew exclaimed "Happy Birthday Jesus - we can blow the candles!" In the eyes of a child it looked a lot like a birthday party! We did have a little issue on the way to church trying to explain where Jesus was. The weekend before we took Drew through the live nativity at another Methodist church in town, affectionately known as "Mr. John's church" since that is where Kevin's law partner John attends. As we pulled into the parking lot Drew explained "Jesus not here. He's at Mr. John church." Kinda hard to explain. Even better part was that he told us later when we drove by the church that had previously had the live nativity "Jesus went to Mr. John's house." Funny what he comes up with!

Christmas morning was a blast. Only one rookie parent mistake to note - for future reference don't park a motorized toy in front of your shins or the Christmas tree! Drew loved his John Deere tractor, Woody doll and collection of wooden blocks. It was cold and rainy, but we found a quick break after church to take Woody for a ride in the trailer! Skype has truly changed the world! We were able to Skype with just about all our family so Drew could tell everyone about what Santa brought. It is so much fun to watch Christmas through the eyes of a child!

Getting ready for Santa on Christmas Eve

Setting up the Nativity Scene...with a few extras

Christmas Morning

My family came in shifts over the New Years weekend and Drew couldn't have been more excited. I have yet to download pictures from my camera, but will post those pics soon. I am in DC tonight and missing my guys. Love this place, but it was home many moons ago. Ready to be home.

A Christmas Gift

2011-12-21T17:19:00.000-06:00

Jaye Germany & Kevin Gay
Duck Hunting

Anyone who knows us knows Kevin and I have a very different view of the holiday season. My holiday season begins with Halloween and goes right through New Year’s Day. Kevin, however, enjoys Thanksgiving week! We have had some Christmas misfortune which he cites as the continuing reason for his reluctance to get in the spirit of the season. After our first Christmas together “my” Christmas decorations (which I might add may have been improperly stored in the attic) crashed through the roof of the garage onto our cars. Three years later, during the first Christmas in our new house, we woke one morning to find our (once again may have been improperly secured) tree lying in the middle of the dining room with broken ornaments. I was so distraught Kevin couldn’t say anything other than “we are not going to let this Christmas thing kick our butt – I will fix it.” I have always loved the holidays. Christmas Eve is probably my most favorite church service of the year. It was a family time for us growing up. For a number of years we spent Christmas Eve with the Rudolph’s and then in later years with the Findley’s. It was always a time of togetherness, friendship, great anticipation and happiness. Kevin has slowly grown to enjoy it more each year.

When Drew was born we made the decision to stay home at Christmas. I yearned to share my wonderful family traditions with Kevin and Drew. Kevin will even admit that last year was real good. No hustle, no bustle, just a lot of time together enjoying each other. This year has been a different story. Kevin has not been in the mood for any Christmas. I was surprised he even put up the lights. Work has been very busy for both of us and it makes getting in the spirit extra hard. Not to mention the underlying disappointment related to duck season in Mississippi. Just aren’t enough ducks and both of Kevin’s duck hunting buddies are gone. One moved and the other is on active duty in the Middle East. Things just haven’t been too jolly.

And so last week began as another Monday in December inching closer to Christmas Day with very little Christmas cheer at our house. I continued my daily routine of Christmas music and Christmas décor with no encouragement from Kevin. He just hasn’t been in the mood. He told me this weekend, after the events which I am about to share unfolded, that he actually said a prayer on Tuesday on the way to work to please help him get in the Christmas spirit.

The Lord always hears our prayers and this time he answered pretty quickly. After settling into his office Tuesday morning Kevin received a vague message from his friend, Jaye Germany, in Iraq. “Can you help me?” Kevin immediately responded with confirmation of his willingness. You would have to know Jaye Germany to know you never know what you might be agreeing to help with. Jaye and Dana have been our friends for several years. We originally met at church when we were both expecting our first child. Anyone will tell you Jaye is the life of the party with a unique sense of humor. Jaye and Kevin have a friendship that is hard to explain…they have nicknames for each other?!? We will just leave it at that. We were both sad to see Jaye be deployed in August. Jaye has two young children and his wife, Dana, was in her final semester of nurse practitioner school. It was hard to watch your friend go to war and his family sacrifice so much with him away.

Well the “can you help me” message evolved into a plan to surprise Dana and the kids with his arrival home for the holidays. Kevin began to reflect on the true gifts of Christmas. Jaye’s flight was long and delayed. Kevin and I both waited by the phone as spotty messages came from Jaye telling us his status in transit. We finally got the call that he was in Atlanta and would be arriving in Jackson the next morning. I can’t tell you how honored we were to walk into the Jackson airport to pick up someone who has given up so much for our freedom. It was awe-inspiring. As we stood in the airport watching Jaye walk up the terminal I saw the gift of Christmas. I saw the light in my husband’s eyes as he welcomed home his friend, the grace of a man who was doing nothing more than coming home from work and the gift of a friendship which we are so blessed to have. Jaye surprised Dana and the kids with the best Christmas present ever. Thank you, Jaye, for letting us be a part of your return. We will always remember what it felt like to help give someone else the wonderful gift of a family together for the holidays. No gift can ever thank you, Dana and the kids for the sacrifices you have made. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Drew saluting Jaye as he got off the plane in Jackson

Our wish for you this season is that you find a way to experience Christmas through friendship and family.

Merry Christmas.

Fun Times!

2011-12-19T13:10:00.001-06:00

We rarely remember to use our video camera, so the addition of video to the iPhone is a VERY good thing. We have taken some video recently and wanted to share.

Drew LOVES playing "ball." Any kind of ball will do. Right now football and soccer are the balls of choice. I think golf is probably his favorite, but I have outlawed the use of golf tees on the living room carpet so he has put his clubs up for the winter. He is pretty accurate with his shot which is a good thing since he generally laughs so hard running that he falls down! Here are a couple of shots from the past week. The best ones of course are right before bed, which means Dad has on his pjs and Drew is half dressed!

Thanksgiving Fun

2011-12-02T15:26:00.000-06:00

Playing Farm!

Thanksgiving Day

Yummy Turkey! Dad is the best turkey frier!

Resting before we head to Moultrie!

Santa!

Santa's helper! We love Aunt Wanda!

Not the look of excitement to see Santa we had hoped for!

Everyone got their picture taken with Santa, but Drew was still not persuaded!

Christmas is officially here.

Hanging the Wreaths!

Thankful & Grateful

2011-12-01T17:26:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving is truly my most favorite holiday of the year. I am sure it has something to do with the fact that we take a full week of vacation together and try to unplug from our busy lives. This year vacation was on hold a few days as Kevin finished trying a case in North Mississippi. In the end the defense verdict made it all worth it, but it is hard to be patient when vacation is waiting around the corner.

We headed to Georgia on Saturday morning and spent the week, as Drew says, "playing farm at Nana's." He couldn't have had any more fun! Riding tractors, chasing his cousins and being the center of Nana and Granddaddy's attention. It was a good time. We enjoyed a great shopping trip to Thomasville, Georgia. If you have never been you should. It is an old Georgia plantation town with beautiful architecture, sprawling plantations, good shopping and of course, amazing food at the never miss George & Louie's. I love it every time we go!

As always Nana provided more good food than we could have eaten. Jace and Jackson provided the entertainment. Granddaddy took care of the sausage balls...well kinda. And Aunt Julie was the paparazzi. It was a fun week with family.

I am on a plane now headed home from a quick trip to NYC. It is beautiful at Christmas, but holy cow too many people! Ready to get home and start some Christmas decorating! Kevin hates it, but I am ready for a tree! I can't get more than one picture to download to the blog so it will be tomorrow before I add any, but I wanted to go ahead ad blog since Aunt Sue made it pretty clear I better stay on top of it! (Aunt Sue, some video for you very soon!)

On a sad note, Mississippi lost one of its great leaders yesterday. My former boss and mentor, Governor Bill Waller, passed away. Governor Waller gave me my first legal job while I was in law school and hired me as a lawyer the day I passed the bar. He was a straight-talking gentleman who loved God, his family and the state of Mississippi. He wouldn't miss a chance to tell you it was "his state" and loved to be called Governor. He told me one day as I left for court "tell the Judge I was Governor when we passed that law and we didn't intend for it to apply to me." The best story I have from my time at Waller and Waller, and there are so many good ones to choose from, is when Gov. Waller proudly announced my bar passage in Clarion Ledger newspaper. I got several calls when the Sunday edition came out telling me to grab a paper. I was baffled to find a quarter page ad not in the normal business announcement pages, but in the Obituaries section. Surely this was a mistake. Nope, Gov. Waller proudly explained "gotta get your monies worth....Obituaries Section is the most read part of the paper." Hard to argue with that logic. I want to publicly express my sympathy to his family and all of his work family who he loved and valued, including my friend Susan Woods. We met while working together at Waller and Waller. Thank you Governor Waller for all you did for me and the people of Mississippi. I am grateful to have spent time learning from you.

Happy Halloween..From Woody!

2011-10-31T15:54:00.001-05:00

We have had a weekend full of Halloween fun. Drew was finally convinced, after much coercion, to put on his Woody vest. He decided awhile back he was not wearing the vest. Kevin claimed Drew knew vests weren't cool. I don't know what the problem was, but I got a whole lot of "I NOT LIKE THAT!" I didn't even try to force the bandanna. Once I got it on and we all clapped he was ok with it for a while. The hat on the other hand was a big hit as was the pumpkin. Toy Story is the only movie he has watched to this point so it is his favorite. He watches bits and pieces of it just about every Saturday morning. Loves Woody and Buzz and I have to say it really is a cute movie.

Fall Carnival at school was Friday, but I only got one picture. This is Drew and his friend John Merrell. They were so excited to have on the same shirt.

And then Saturday night we had the 1st Annual Timbercrest Fall Carnival. We had a WONDERFUL time. My mom, Dalton and Wiggy came in for the weekend as well. As I look at these pictures of our neighborhood I am reminded what small-town southern towns are all about. 4 planning emails turned into a party with more than 100 kids! It was great. Drew spent all him time on "his hayride" with Kevin. What wonderful memories and a great time for us all.

Peyton Woods
Isn't he just too cute!

Wyatt & Shea Long

LOVE this Pic of Dalton, Granny, Drew, me and Kevin

A Busy October

2011-10-21T16:46:00.000-05:00

The good news is life around the Gay House is great with lots going on and lots to look forward to...The bad news is I have not had a free minute to blog. I have had quite a bit of travel in the last month which has meant Drew and Kevin have enjoyed some 'guy time' together. Drew now understands what it means for Mommy to go on a airplane and understands it means a surprise when I get back. He proudly carries his "table car" aka cable car I got in San Francisco and tells his friends "my mommy go on a plane."

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks. I promise to blog again very soon. We are headed to the pumpkin patch tomorrow so there will be some fun things to share. I also will get the pics we took at the fair. Drew LOVED the petting zoo. He had no interest in the rides until the Bobcat loader came through the cow pen and he proclaimed "I ride Mommy!" No doubt he is his father's child. Have a wonderful weekend.

Drew's First Bubble Bath!

Building A Castle

Destroying the Castle

Kevin, Drew and I walked with Lawrence's Coffee Crew last week in the walk to defeat ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease. My dear friend, Shea's father passed away last year after battling this horrible illness. It has destroyed the lives of so many and affected so many families. People are fighting this disease everyday with little hope. We were honored to walk with Shea and her family in honor of her Dad. Kevin and I feel passionately about this cause and would encourage all of you to add the ALS Association to the list of charities you support. Thanks, Shea, for letting us be a part of this day!

Showing Mom the latest chin injury
We were lucky to not have to get stitches!

Last, but not least, this is Drew's new winter coat that he finally had a chance to wear this week. When asked what it says on the front (it is his initials - aGa) he replied "Drew Gay's Coat." Of course it does...funny stuff.

September, September

2011-09-21T16:32:00.000-05:00

We kicked off September with a WONDERFUL visit from Aunt Pam. She flew to Jackson for the weekend. Drew was so excited to go pick her up at the airport. So excited that he decided to throw up all over her on the way home. Luckily, after a day of fever he recovered and we enjoyed the rest of the weekend. On Sunday Pam took me on a early birthday trip to see The Help. It was really great. It was taped in Mississippi, some of it was filmed here in Jackson where the book is based. Such a wonderful story to see on the big screen. In many ways Jackson has changed a lot and in others not so much. We had a wonderful time. It was so good to see Pam! She starts nursing school in January and is really doing great in Dallas. So proud of my baby sister!

His first Dallas Cowboy football!
Spent some time practicing calling the hogs, too!

I am on a plane as we speak headed home from a conference in San Francisco. Had a great trip to a wonderful conference! Got to spend some time with my friend Julie who is a also a hardworking mom! Always fun to share stories. And, yes, I did leave on Kevin's birthday. (No wife of the year award for me this year!) We celebrated this weekend several times and I have no doubt Kev and Drew will live it up the next few nights without mom. Love those guys so much! All is well in our house and we are enjoying cooler weather, football and lots of good evenings with friends. Drew is getting bigger and more vocal every day (I can't imagine where he gets that!) If he isn't chasing a ball around the yard he is "playing farm" in the house. Our friend Justin gave him a farm set for his birthday and it is his favorite. Complete with tractors, trailers, cows, pigs, fence and farmers. (In Drew's world it also includes a Thomas the Train.) It is so much fun to watch him play, create and learn. Truly amazing to watch a child grow. I trying to make sure to document "firsts" on the blog since I have woefully failed at the whole baby book thing. So this week we add ate a whole apple to the list. Picture to come soon.

End of Summer

2011-08-24T15:48:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe that it is the last week in August. Where has the summer gone?!?! It has been a great one. We have taken some fun trips and really enjoyed some quality family time. Summer is now my second favorite time of the year! I LOVE FALL! I love the anticipation of Thanksgiving, football, state fairs and dinner on the patio as the temperature starts to drop.

Drew is really enjoying his new class at school. No more sippee cups and as of this week we are moving into pull-ups. He can't get enough ball these days. He wakes up in the morning read to play ball (golf, basketball, baseball, football, you name it) and most nights goes to bed asking if we can go to a ballgame. He and Kevin have been rooting for Georgia in the Little League World Series. He is just mesmerized watching the boys play.

Just a few fun pictures of daily life around our house. We are learning fast you have to be careful what you say. Kevin dropped some eggs at breakfast a few weeks ago and Drew has repeated the S*** word several times since! And, one more parenting failure at our house. When you tell your child to get in the bath tub make sure you really mean it. Can't be mad when he was just doing what he was told!

When we aren't playing ball we are playing FARM!

Fish Face Kisses

Last, but not least, I wanted to share a pic a friend of ours sent a few weeks ago. Local elections took place for the District Attorney position. A friend of ours sent a picture of his ballot writing in Kevin Gay for DA. Pretty funny! Needless to say he didn't get elected, thank goodness!

Family Time

2011-08-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

July was wonderful! Several much needed vacations for our family! All of that to say my blogging has been slow. We are back now and enjoying getting back into the routine of life and looking forward to fall...my absolute favorite time of the year! However, this summer really made great strides on the list of favs. It has really been fun. Drew has gone from being our toddler to being a little boy. He talks non-stop and is so much FUN! He moved into the "big kids" room at school a couple of weeks of ago and potty training will begin soon. Daycare has gone from being mostly care focused to classroom style. They are learning new things every week. Last week on the way home he started screaming "RARRRRRR" in the backseat. When I asked what he was doing he informed me "Mommy, I a lion, scare you." Funny. It was jungle animal week at school!

The last week in July we were able to spend some time with Kevin's family in Georgia and make a trip throw Atlanta to see my grandfather, Pete. It was a great trip.

As most of you know my grandmother Sue died in December. After her death Pete decided to move into assisted living for some company. He has really done well. It was so great to get to spend some time with him. I have to say I was a bit surprised to meet his new girlfriend! He hadn't bother to tell me about his romancing. She was doll and he seemed very happy. Both had been married 50+ years when they lost their spouses last year and are really doing well keeping the other company. I realized when we got home I didn't get any pictures of Phyllis and Pete. I will do better next time.

After we visited Pete we headed to the mountains in Helen, Georgia for a family vacation. And when I say family I mean Kevin's entire family. There were 15 of us sharing a cabin in the beautiful Georgia mountains. Drew was in heaven with all the attention and all the cousins. We really had a wonderful time together.

It is a gorgeous place to vacation!

Breakfast with Uncle Ed

This is the ONLY pic I got of Tiffany and Kaitlin.
Love it! Pretty good way to vacation!

Living the Dream!

2011-07-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

What a difference a year makes! Last year we spent a week in Destin visiting places like Emerald Coast Emergency Care and CVS pharmacy. This year we enjoyed a week of vacationing bike riding, swimming, riding in golf carts, taking naps and lots of other funs times. It was a much needed vacation for us all. We had a wonderful time!

Hanging Out On the Patio

All of that to say, Drew did NOT like the actual beach. The sand was not his friend. Kevin and I have never been big beach goers, so I am not sure why we thought Drew would like it. I think he put his feet in the sand a total of 3 times and hated it. Lucky for us we rented a house this year on the bayside of the Sandestin resort. It was perfect! A lot of room, great pool and most importantly golf course access! If you asked Drew his favorite part of the beach he will tell you "golf cart" and "tunnel." We made at least two trips a day through the tunnel which connects the bayside to the beachside. For a 2 year old a tunnel is as thrilling as a rollercoaster. On the last day we were there Drew walked out to the driveway and pointed "Mama truck, Andie (our sitter) car, Drew cart!" The golf cart was his! He and Kevin spent most evenings hitting the ball on the green outside our backdoor until Drew was so tired he could barely walk back to the house.

View from our back porch!
Hitting the ball with Dad.

Thanks to Drew's favorite sitter Dandi (Andie Partridge) Kevin and I were even able to enjoy a few date nights out. Andie is a wonderful sitter and we were so lucky to have her go with us. THANKS Andie, we all love you!

Playing with Andie!

I can't tell you how many times during the week I looked at my life and said "I am so very blessed." These really are the times of our lives. We listened as Drew sang his ABC's (kinda.....Ah, Be, C, D, Euh, Fuh, GGG, hijk, ellmmmno, PPPPP, qRstOHHH(U)VVVV, x...sing me) Pretty close, but not quite. Kevin kept reminding him of his friend Molly from school. I can't tell you how many times I heard Kevin say "Drew, you have got to get the ABC's and Numbers, Molly Carr can say them all and count to 20!" Pretty funny! We had an amazing week and I am so humbled in these moments of family time with how very good God is. God is good all the time.

Breakfast on the Patio

Trains at the toy store during the afternoon rain

Like Father, Like Son!

Lunch at the Whale's Tail

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-05T15:06:00.000-05:00

We had a great weekend with friends and enjoyed some home time. We leave for our Florida vacation next week so we spent the weekend getting ready. On Saturday Drew and I headed to see the Canton Hot Air Balloon Race while Kevin headed to play golf. The website said it started at 7 a.m. so I figured if we were a little late it wouldn't matter. WRONG! Hello, RACE, generally means everyone is gone on time. Don't know what I was thinking. Anyway, it turned out better than planned. When Kevin arrived at the golf course which was in what appeared to be the flight path of the balloons he called to say we could probably catch a glimpse from there. Little did we know they were landing at the field next to golf course. We were able to see all the balloons land and get up close and personal. No crowds and No lines! It was perfect. Hot air balloons on the horizon on a summer morning in Mississippi are breathtaking.

"Mommy, I want a balloon and a boat!"...
followed by "P(laaaa)leasse!"

The weekend of Drew's birthday Papa and Gigi were able to make the trip to Jackson to visit. We hadn't seen this since before Christmas! Drew had changed a lot and they really had a great time.

Drew is into everything these days and every day is a new experience. He decided he liked my shoes better than his the other day. Hard to reason with a 2 year old about why wearing mommy's shoes won't work for school. I finally convinced him when I told him he couldn't go on the playground unless he wore HIS shoes. He was agreeable at that point to change!

And, last, but not least, we will have more pictures to come in the next day or so of our new bed. We converted Drew to a toddler bed. So far so good. He even informed me this morning "Mommy, wait, I fix." and then proceeded to try to make his bed. God bless him, he is his father's child!

Drew's 2nd Birthday Party

2011-06-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful time on Saturday at Drew's 2nd birthday party. Lots of friends and fun.

The party actually started on Friday with cookies at school. Everyone was happy, except Drew who was worried I was going to drop the cookies and run. He wanted to GO! His teachers, Ms. Melora and Ms. Candice were so nice to let us celebrate! He loves his class, despite the face in the picture!

Thank You Mr. Justin for the 500 piece John Deere tractor set and the sleeping bag!

We will get you back one day!

Breakfast at Chick-Fil-A was a hit.

Loving some chicken minis and the indoor (air conditioned) playground. Special thanks to Kristen Mullen at CRUMB bakery for the cute cookies. They were perfect!

Touring the Flowood Fire Department

Loving the Fire Truck....until they turned on the lights!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2011-06-17T09:21:00.000-05:00

2 years already?!?!?

My how time flies when you are having fun. What a wonderful gift we were given on this day two years ago. We are looking forward to cookies at school later today and then the party tomorrow. The party will be a much lower key event than it was last year!! Breakfast at Chick-Fil-A and then a trip to the fire station. As Drew says "Big Fun." We initially planned on a sandbox for the birthday, but eventually went with the trike. He was so excited when he saw it in the driveway this morning. He kept saying "Birthday Bike." Looks like we can retire the stroller. Our little boy is growing up so fast. Kevin and I have loved everyday of these past two years and love all that life has for us. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful "village" of family and friends to help us raise our son. It definitely takes a village!

Happy Birthday, Drew! We love you!

Here is a video from this morning on the way to school.

(As a side note for my husband, I was driving, but was able to prop the phone in the passenger headrest!) And, yes he is picking his nose. I will take the nose-pickin, which is likely caused by the itchy nasal spray for his allergies, over a sinus infection any day. One day he will really be glad I caught this on tape!

Loving the new "cycle bike"

Last, but not least, a special Happy Birthday to our niece, Kaitlin Chaney. You are a wonderful, beautiful, special, smart, funny, happy, stylish, creative person who we love very much. Don't let anyone change you.

Happy Birthday!

Memorial Day Weekend and More

2011-06-09T09:33:00.000-05:00

As promised, here are some pictures from our Memorial Day weekend. Thanks to my mom we were able to enjoy a night in New Orleans to celebrate the wedding of our friends Jack and Jennifer McCants. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. Quintessential New Orleans at a beautiful home in the Garden District. Jenn was stunning. We are so happy for them and so glad we were able to share in this exciting time. Kevin and I really enjoyed the break. In case you are looking for great places to eat in New Orleans, as if there aren't a million, we had three great meals - Lucy's Surfer Bar, Tommy's----LOVED the duck and then brunch on Sunday at Luke. It was a wonderful night away with friends.

Mr. & Mrs. McCants

Kevin thought everyone just wanted his picture.

Apparently he didn't realize he had my very cute gold purse under his arm.

Gotta love a man who will hold your purse!

Kevin & Amanda

Drew really had a great time with Granny and Dalton. Granny showed up with an early birthday gift, which probably helped. He LOVED the tent and tunnel which took up half of our living room Gotta love gifts from the grandparents! I am not sure Granny and Dalton were prepared for the energy of a two year old. There was a whole lot of "Granny Watch" and "Granny Come" and "Granny Go Park." He had so much fun that I don't think he even knew we were gone. Makes it a lot easier to leave when he is having so much fun. We are hoping they come back soon!

Poor Dalton was worn out. He had been pulled in every direction and was a great sport about it. So much fun to watch cousins play together. I have feeling it won't be long before Dalton thinks he is too big to play. He has grown up so fast.

Most of you know our friends Susan and Chris Woods. Their son Peyton who was born earlier this year and is getting so big. They stopped by on Sunday to see us at the park. Drew was fascinated with Peyton. It was the first time Kevin had gotten to hold Peyton. This little boy has LOTS of family in the area so you have to grab him when you can. Everyone wants a turn with this cutie. I am looking forward to the years ahead when Drew and Peyton can play together and Susan and I can actually talk again. These babies have sure taken away from our girl time...lol. So much to look forward to with our boys.

Playing with Peyton

One last picture. I may be a Mommy now, but I am still a very proud aunt. Tom Alan graduated from kindergarten last week. Isn't he too cute in his cap and gown!

Let Summer Begin!

2011-06-03T09:01:00.000-05:00

After a crazy spring we are looking forward to summer. Temps are already in the 90's here in Jackson and I think they are expected to top 100 today with 100% humidity. Gotta love Mississippi. We kicked off our summer with a wonderful weekend in New Orleans to celebrate the marriage of our friends Jack and Jennifer. It was a beautiful wedding and Kevin and I enjoyed our weekend escape. My mom and nephew came to stay with Drew. They had a GREAT time. I didn't make it to work with my camera this morning so pictures from the visit will have to wait until this weekend.

We are officially counting down the days until birthday #2. I cannot believe it has been 2 years. Time is flying! Unlike last year birthday planning didn't start in February. I realized yesterday we were 3 weeks out and I was way behind. This year will be much smaller! Drew's only request when Kevin asked him what he wanted for his birthday was "chicken." We are efforting that request and it looks like it will be breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. He is his father's child! Enjoy some pics from the past few weeks. I am hoping to find time this weekend to get Memorial Day weekend pics up as well. Have a great weekend!

Watermelon...Officially Summer!

Drew tried watermelon for the first time last week.

Mr. Chad fried fish and had a chilled watermelon ready to go.

I think Drew would probably eat anything he saw Jack and Aaron eat. He loves these guys!

Kevin learned the hard way not to take Drew to Best Buy.

I am not sure what exactly happened, but apparently getting out of the store was a challenge!

Feeding the fish at Pelican Cove

We have a great outdoor restaurant on the Reservoir called Pelican Cove and take my advice...EXTRA goldfish! Drew went threw a whole bag feeding the fish and ducks, but it was worth it. Kevin and I enjoyed lunch with little interruption!

(Note the sunglasses hanging around his neck...just like Daddy.

And no, we did not by our 2 year old Costa sunglasses!)

Getting Better

2011-05-13T12:49:00.001-05:00

Blogger has been out of service this week so I haven't been able to post. I am testing the the blog app on my iPad to post a few pictures from the week (while getting my hair cut!). More blogging to follow soon. We are on the mend at our house. Drew's PICC line was removed Tuesday and he is back at school. We are all so glad. Lots of changes at our house, but we are doing good. I had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day and we are enjoying the weather with lots of dinners on the patio. So much to be thankful for!

glad to be able to take a bath again after the picc line came out.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Stronger, Happier and Thankful!

2011-04-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

How do you re-pay someone for taking care of your child or praying for your child. It is something I have thought about a lot over the past few weeks. We have been so very blessed by the doctors, medical staff, home health care providers and loving friends who have stepped up to help Drew fight his infection. All I can do is say thank you to everyone who has cared for and prayed for Drew. Kevin and I are grateful for each of you.

Drew continues to get stronger and healthier everyday. It looks like he will continue on antibiotics for another 14 days and then we will re-evaluate. We are hoping that will be enough to knock out the infection once and for all! He has been such a trooper through this process. When they told me they wanted to put an IV in my two year old's arm I was NOT optimistic it would stay there, but thus far he has left it alone. He is somewhat baffled about why we keep cutting the tops off his socks and putting it on his arm! However, as long as he gets a sucker at some point during the process he is willing to go with it. As I have said before medicine is NOT my forte. Thank goodness my husband handles it quite well. When the home health nurse came to change the dressing last week I cried as much as Drew did!! We hope he will be done with this very soon.

Easter Morning

We were able to get in some Easter Egg hunts this past weekend and the Easter Bunny visited us on Sunday. Drew thought the idea of finding "Easter Balls" (i.e. Easter eggs) was pretty fun! We had a wonderful neighborhood hunt on Friday morning. The Gammill's on our block host it each year and it was the first year Drew was big enough to go. We had fun. We have a great neighborhood!!

Jack, Aaron and Drew at the Easter Egg Hunt

On that note, I will share with you our nomination for Family of the Year. Chad and Celeste Adams and their boys Jack and Aaron live 3 houses down. As our boys get older they have really begun to enjoy playing together in the afternoons. When Drew wasn't able to go to daycare this past week we didn't know what we would do. Celeste came to the rescue and kept Drew for us this week. Drew LOVES the Adams!! I am worried he isn't going to want to go back to daycare. He had a great time!! Their generosity, kindness and love for our little boy has been overwhelming. Oh, and not to mention that they brought us dinner too!! It really makes you believe there are still good people in this world. No matter how big your town is you can still have neighbors who you call friends. The Lord truly puts people in our path when we need help and they were definitely our blessing this week. Thank you Celeste, Chad, Jack and Aaron for taking care of Drew!

Jack entertaining Aaron and Drew during snack time!

Aaron and Drew "helping" with the laundry.

Easter Blessings

2011-04-22T15:01:00.001-05:00

Drew this morning...long sleeves for a while, but still pretty cute.

When I blogged last week and said life was crazy busy I had no idea what was coming this week. Let me start by saying Drew is home and slowly getting better. Thursday, a week ago, after numerous sinus infections that wouldn't get better with antibiotic treatment Drew went in for "routine" adenoid surgery. During the surgery our ENT also did a sinus irrigation and took a culture of his sinus' to see if they could put a name to what was causing the infection. We were told 99% of the time these don't show any growth since kids have been on antibiotics prior to the surgery. All went well with the surgery and by Saturday Drew was doing well. (He ate a WHOLE cantaloupe!) We noticed Sunday evening he was tired, cranky and had a little fever, but they told us to expect a little of that.

Off to school we went Monday morning. As I got my coffee at the office Jennifer let me know the ENT AND the pediatrician were personally on the phone....YIKES! Turns out our little over-achiever was in the 1% and they found infection. After lots of consulting with all of the doctors and a long wait to get in line for the procedure, Drew was admitted to Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital to have a PICC line inserted. The line will allow us to give him antibiotics over the next month to fight the infection which is not treatable with normal antibiotics. It was not fun and we are glad to be home. Most people who know me will tell you I DON'T DO needles or blood very well. I will cook for you all day long, but don't ask me to change the dressing on your bloody knee. Amazing what being a mother will change!!! After two training sessions with home health and passing the requisite social worker approvals, we were sent home to administer the meds. Drew has a IV line in his arm. It broke my heart the first time I saw it, but I have to say modern medicine is amazing. We are so very lucky to be able to bring him home. We will give him medications once a day for several weeks and keep our fingers crossed they do the trick.

At the hospital cruising the halls in the wagon.

For all of you who have called, emailed or tried to catch up with us in the last week...THANK YOU! We are all three so grateful for your love, prayers and support. To our sweet church family, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are so very thankful for the many angels in our midst. And, so many people to thank for all they have done to get our boy better. Dr. Manisha Sethi and Dr. Kyle Gordon are two of the best doctors we know. If you need a pediatrician or an ENT in Jackson they are amazing doctors. To all the nurses on 2C at Batson, thank you for taking good care of all 3 of us. To all the patients on 2C (most are teenagers) thanks for bearing with us as we made laps in the hall. I think on Tuesday night we logged 28 laps in the wagon. Thanks to NUCOR steel who sponsored the wagon that was likely our only saving grace from a very unhappy little boy.

Drew continues to get better and I am actually a little nervous about the amount of energy he will have when he gets rid of this infection. If he was operating at partial energy for the last year we are in trouble! The prayers and love for our little boy have put the events of Holy Week in perspective. My how God must have wept to watch his son be nailed to a cross. May you find peace this Easter and love those around you with a new joy for life. Happy Easter!

Spring in Oxford

2011-04-15T14:30:00.000-05:00

Walking in the Grove

Ole Miss Campus

Oxford, MS

In case you haven't been able to see "mini-me" in action, you can see it now. They even walk identically! I have intended to blog all week long and it just hasn't happened. It has been another crazy busy week. Meetings in Atlanta and then Drew had his adenoids out on Thursday. Everything went well and we are home today with a little boy who is ready to get out of the house. Hopefully this will help cure the sinus infections and we can finally stop visiting our friends at the Kroger pharmacy for antibiotics. It looks like he will have to have his tonsils out, but that will have to wait until he is a little older. Something fun to look forward to....not!

Luckily, in preparation for this busy week we had a WONDERFUL spring weekend in Oxford, Mississippi. Georgia played Ole Miss in baseball so we enjoyed a two beautiful days of baseball. We stayed with our friends John and Amy MacNeill and to say Drew enjoyed himself would be an understatement. It was so much fun. Thanks to my law partner we had great seats at the ballgame. (Drew now thinks you can have unlimited hot dogs and popcorn at baseball games.) So good to get away and just spend some time together. The weather was great and the azaleas and dogwoods were beautiful!

Meeting Colonel Reb

Initially Drew got a little confused as Colonel Reb resembles another bearded man in a red suit. He learned quickly that one says "Ho, Ho, Ho" and the other says "Hotty Toddy!"

Drew and Mrs. Amy

Georgia vs. Ole Miss

Drew kept wanting to know where the dogs were.

And, no, we did not wear our Georgia attire to the game out of respect for our friends who shared their tickets. We dressed in neutral red and white!

Mr. John was "helping" Drew with his golf swing.

And we wonder why Drew thinks he is so much fun...he is just a big kid!!

Some Pics from the Past Few Weeks

2011-04-02T12:19:00.001-05:00

Visiting Mom at the office is a lot more fun when Ms. Jennifer lets you watch the cars go by from the 8th floor window. He loves all the attention he gets when he come to work with me. Never know what you may find around here. He was pretty surprised to open Mr. Jack's door and find a puppy dog. He thinks this place is pretty cool.

Chasing Georgia. Poor girl. She never gets any rest. Don't worry too much about her. She is rewarded with all kinds of "snacks" from Drew. She had eaten about 15 cheez-its today before I realized Drew was sharing. Georgia loves Drew. Sleeps outside his window every night.

Finally able to move the slide he got for Christmas out of the living room!

Our favorite Boy Scout!

(Kevin's sister, Tiffany's, son Austin)

A pic of Austin with his derby car trophy.

Golf with Daddy

2011-03-30T13:02:00.000-05:00

Drew and Kevin spent last Saturday afternoon on their first golf outing to Whisper Lake. Drew has been practicing his swing IN THE HOUSE so I was glad he was able to get out and play. Kevin got some great pictures. It is obvious they had a wonderful time.

And, yes, he looks more like Kevin everyday. What have I gotten myself into?!?!

Happy Spring!

Not happy about leaving.

Notice the skinned knees and dirt.

Proof of a good day!

March - Happy Spring and Happy Birthday

2011-03-24T09:16:00.000-05:00

Our spring is starting off with a sprint. We have been busy, busy. Absolutely loving the longer daylight hours and the extra time we have to play when we get home. I think we have been to the park across from our house just about everyday for two weeks. The weather has been fabulous. Drew is growing and we have new words EVERY day. It is amazing! I almost had a wreck last week when he sang his ABC's from the backseat on the way home! He is growing so fast. The word "mine" is a favorite as well as "outside," "close the door," "more" and a slew of words relating to what he wants the dogs to do "fetch it up," "kennel up," and "back dogs" are just a few.

A few weeks ago at lunch after church Drew heard us sing Happy Birthday to our friend, Mona Couey. Ever since it has been the song of choice. Occasionally it is Happy Birthday mixed with Jesus Loves Me, ABCs or even the La La La La part of Brown Eyed Girl. It was perfect timing with all of our friends and family birthdays this month. So here is a snippet of Happy Birthday from Drew to Aunt Julie, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Pam, Tom Alan and Wiggy. Hope you all had great birthdays and even though we aren't close by to celebrate we love and hope you had a great day.

THANK GOD!

2011-03-02T16:03:00.000-06:00

We have had a whirlwind of a week and it is just Wednesday. Drew had a great weekend and then Sunday night started not feeling well. By the time we made it to the doctor Monday morning his temp was 102. Not fun. After 3 strep tests, a RSV test and a flu test they finally did a finger prick. The tests came back positive for Mono. Yes, I said Mono. Next question - no, I didn't know toddlers could get mono either, but yes they can. Next question - yes, it means he has to stay out of daycare for 4-6 weeks. Hello, we both work, what do we do now. Luckily we have a wonderful doctor who wanted to do more testing to confirm. We went back this morning and tested again. After 2 days of worry and fretting today's test came back NEGATIVE. She thinks it may be a sinus infection paired with some sort of strep. He isn't contagious and will be on antibiotics for several weeks to get it handled. So back to school tomorrow and I am off to the airport shortly for California. Needless to say it has been a long week already. Drew just wanted to go to school and couldn't understand why we weren't going each morning. He stood in the hall yesterday morning saying "FWINDS, Mommy, FWINDS" aka Friends. He brought me my shoes and got his hat. He was ready to go. He will be glad to get back tomorrow and we will be glad he gets to go back. We are blessed to have a healthy, happy little boy. It is times like this that God sends us little reminders to be thankful for his health and for all we have. We are so very blessed and are grateful to God for all he has given our family, including NOT giving us mono this week.

Just a few pictures from last week and weekend. Some pre-haircut and couple with the hat on post-haircut. Happy week and thanks for all the prayers and concern.

Helping Dad with the puppies.

In case you haven't heard we weren't busy enough so Kevin got not one, but two more dogs.

They are Brittany spaniels (bird dogs) and Drew loves them.

Loving this spring-like weather.

Got his new golf clubs at Wal-Mart on Saturday and insisted on a hat.

He pulled the bag all over the place.

They look just alike from the back, too!

Little Kevin and Big Kevin.

I love this picture.

First Haircut

2011-02-27T20:59:00.000-06:00

As you can see from the pictures Drew's first haircut wasn't a peaceful, relaxing day at the salon. Despite the dum-dum sucker, some smarties and Toy Story cape he was having none of it . He was NOT happy about getting his haircut. I have to admit I had a moment of "we don't want to do this anymore," but Kevin insisted it was time. His blonde curls were starting to look like wings around his ears and his curls down his back were a little long. At dinner Friday night the nice couple at the table next to us said "boy or girl." Kevin gave me the look and I knew it was time. He looks so grown up with his new cut. Still a few curls, but a cute little cut. Special kudos and thanks to Mrs. Amy Dunn who did a great job with a screaming little boy. She even was able to save a curl and gave him a very cute my first haircut certificate when he left. If you or your little one needs a haircut in the Jackson area give her a call at Glow. Thanks Mrs. Amy!

CONGRATS!

2011-02-24T16:46:00.000-06:00

WELCOME

George "Peyton" Woods

February 21, 2011

6 lbs 13 oz

20 inches

Proud parents are our dear friends Susan and Chris Woods.

We have been impatiently waiting for Peyton's arrival. I have to say I was SOOO excited I could barely sleep on Sunday night. Kevin and I were privileged enough to be there when Chris brought Peyton through the hospital doors to meet the world. (Thank goodness I wore waterproof mascara.) He is a beautiful, healthy baby. Chris and Susan are going to be great parents! We have been telling Drew for weeks that Mrs. Susan and Mr. Chris were having a baby. We didn't expose the hospital to Drew, but he got to see the video Monday night. He kept saying "Weyton, Weyton" Susan and I have been through lots of life together these past 10+ years. Raising our boys together is going to be amazing. No doubt they will be best friends!

Congrats, Susan and Chris, we love you and are so excited to watch Peyton grow up!!

Drew helped color this sign for Mrs. Susan and Peyton.

Unfortunately this is the best picture we could get of him holding it.

Happy Valentine's Week

2011-02-20T21:25:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Week. Sorry I didn't get these up sooner, but we have been busy, busy. The wonderful spring weather has meant we have spent most nights this week and most of the weekend outside. We had a wonderful Sunday School party Friday night and then celebrated the engagement and upcoming wedding of our friends Jennifer Alexander and Jack McCants last night. Mixed in with several trips to the park it was a busy weekend, but a good one. Drew had a busy week last week. He enjoyed his school party. I got caught in a meeting, but thanks to Miller's mom got some fun pictures. Based on the food left on his shirt when I picked him up Monday it was a good party. He LOVES school.

Valentine's Party at school -From left to right Zo, Phoebe, Joe, Caroline, Molly, Caroline, Miller and Drew.

I LOVE this picture. This is Phoebe eating her Valentine's cupcake. She is precious! The look on Drew's face is priceless.

Loving his Valentine's balloon.

Kevin has informed me my days of dressing Drew in these type outfits are numbered. He told Drew all the kids at church this morning would make fun of him. I thought it was really cute. I am going to make sure to get the most out of the these times that he doesn't complain about what he wears.

Winter Fun

2011-02-04T15:38:00.000-06:00

Life at our house is good. Where did January go?? Time seems be flying by. Drew doesn't sit still much these days. He has learned to get his own cheerios (anytime of the day), evaluate the dog food bin in the laundry room (despite our assurances that there is plenty) and as you can see from the pictures open and get into the fridge. You will be glad to know the door will not close with him inside no matter how hard he tries!!!!

We are home today with a snow day with no snow. Lots of ice and now some rain and cold. Drew is ready for spring and I have to say so am I. Last Saturday it was nearly 70 degrees so he was able to get out a little and play. His ride-a-long car is now a push-a-long. We loves jumping curbs and hitting all the puddles. He is talking non-stop. He informed me this morning he needed "juice and toodles"...that would be juice and mickey mouse clubhouse. He isn't a big tv viewer, but loves Mickey Mouse and Elmo. He is fascinated with helping and I am hoping that sticks around for a while. If you have trash he is your man. He puts everything in the trash for us. We have had a slight problem differentiating between the trash can and the laundry basket, but he is getting better. He loves to tell you "Tanks" (thanks). He will tell you thanks for just about anything and everything. Saying the blessing when we eat is also a new fascination. He LOVES saying the blessing. This is a very good thing, however, we have had a hard time understanding you don't have to say it more than once just because some one gets up and sits back down. I told him after the 5th time the other day we had prayed enough...Kevin informed me we couldn't say that to him. Always learning and laughing. He is more fun everyday. We have had a great start to 2011.

He LOVES his car!

Dressed for school and hoping the playground is open today!

I came in and found him in his drawer in the kitchen with my down vest on.

He was so proud he had put it on himself.

This is what Kevin has been up to lately.

The duck hunting has been great this year!

Two Sundays in a row he has shot and cleaned his limit in time to make it to Sunday School and church.

It will come as no surprise Drew's first animal sounds were Quack Quack.

This boy knows about ducks. We can't crossover a bridge without him looking for ducks on the water.

Doing all he can to get in the fridge and close the door.

Not sure what he thinks he will do if the door closes, but he keeps on trying.

Flying to Georgia for Granddaddy's Birthday

2011-01-25T13:03:00.000-06:00

We left on a jet plane to Georgia for a long weekend to celebrate Clayton's 70th birthday. Only a little delay, which was surprising considering ATL looked like ORD (Chicago-O'Hare). Drew loved the plane, but loved people-watching at the airport even more. It was a wonderful trip. Spent Saturday morning at Kevin's family reunion and then Clayton's party was Saturday night.

Special kudos to Aunt Julie for supplying the pictures. About an hour into the trip I remembered what I had forgotten to pack...THE CAMERA! The pic above is Drew on the plane taken with my iPhone. Not a great pic, but at least we have one. Julie was gracious enough to share her pics and you can see from the below she is pretty talented. The sunset behind the picture of Drew and Aunt Tiffany is Amazing!

This one was taken by Aunt Tiffany! Drew loves a tractor!

Drew and Megan

Playing in the pine straw with Jace!

Alex and Jackson enjoying the porch.

Clayton's 70th Birthday Party

Aunt Betty introduced Drew to Potato Chips.
He couldn't get enough.
Apparently she decided he should share his goldfish too.
I love this pic!

A little bit of confusion. Everyone always thinks Kevin and his cousin Heath look alot alike. You can see from the pics that other than hair color they do. Unfortunately Drew didn't understand this and confused Heath for his Daddy. Poor baby was really confused when Heath spoke and he knew it wasn't Kevin.

Megan and Aunt Pat

Lavon and Aunt Pat

Sisterly Love!

Some of us missed Jeff.
Some of us had a good time without him.
Just saying!

Jackson - loving the hair!

WALKING!

2011-01-14T14:00:00.000-06:00

We are happy to report that after 3 physical therapy sessions and months of worry (by me, not Kevin) Drew is finally walking!! It seems that he just didn't want to walk. The physical therapist was wonderful, but she finally told us he had no problems and walked fine at therapy. He just didn't want to walk at home or school. My sister's college roommate was one of 8 (I think it was 8, anything more than one sounds like a lot!) and she told us one time that when her youngest brother walked all the siblings were so excited. They yelled into the kitchen to tell her mom "He's Walking"...her mother's response "push him down we don't need another one walking in this house." She obviously knew how things worked with toddlers. Now that Drew is walking nothing is safe! However, he still only walks when he wants to. We are just having to learn we have a little boy who will do things in his own time and his own way. (Can't imagine who he gets that from.) We took a lot of video, unfortunately Kevin and I sound like crazy people on most of it. We are clapping and cheering with every step. I think Drew just keeps walking to see if we will keep acting like crazy people.

His vocabulary is growing daily and his understanding continues to amaze me. He still is pretty partial to "Mine" and "No," but has taken an interest in trucks, tractors and knowing everyone's name. On the way to school in the morning he goes through his list of friends names. PheeeBeee(Phoebe), Mwillwer (Miller), Zoe(Alonzo), Carowowine (Caroline), Mawlwee(Molly) and of course Yam (Mr. Sam). It is so much fun to hear him talk and start to put words together. When the stop light last week turned green he yelled "GO MAMA" from the back seat. Scared me to death.

We had a WONDERFUL New Years with my family. We missed Pam, but Mom, Jane, Kevin, Tom and Dalton all came for the weekend. Drew loved having the big boys in the house. While they were here we went to the new Mississippi Children's Museum. It was AMAZING. Things for kids of all ages. Drew's friend Harrison joined us and we had a great time.

Drew and his friend, Harrison, watching the cars race and playing in the big car.

Drew and Granny

Drew and Aunt Jane.

Aunt Jane turned 30 on Christmas Day so we celebrated while they were in town.

Granny brought Drew a wagon full of blocks for Christmas.

Drew thought the blocks were great, but you can see from the last picture he liked the wagon too!

Dalton

Dalton and Tom Alan

There were a whole bunch of blonde headed boys in our house!

As I type this I am sitting in the Jackson airport waiting to fly out with Drew for the first time. We are headed to South Georgia for Kevin's dad's birthday. With all the recent winter weather in ATL we weren't sure we would even have a flight. We have been delayed this morning, but hoping the rest of the day goes smoothly. So far Drew is enjoying people watching. Flying with a baby is a definite challenge, but I am hoping it beats the 10 hour car ride.

Angels Among Us

2011-01-04T16:41:00.000-06:00

As many of you know the woman God sent to ‘grandmother me’ for more than 30 years became a real angel on December 20th. Sue Rudolph was one of the most gracious and loving people I have ever known. In her son’s Pat’s words, “She lived a good life, died surrounded by her family, and touched many people's lives along the way.” For those of you who knew Sue you likely would add your name to the list of people she touched along the way. Sue comforted me when I was sick, reassured me when I was scared, celebrated my life achievements and loved me unconditionally. We were all blessed to have her in our lives. I could spend days listing all the ways she and Pete touched my life. I hesitated adding this post to my blog, but after prayerful consideration decided it was something I wanted Drew to have as part of the his life story.

Some of my first memories of life are of the Rudolph’s. Sue and Pete had a home that was full of love and happiness and in the eyes of a child full of excitement. There isn’t much to do in Gurdon, Arkansas, but my memories are grand. Sue taught me how to love your husband, children and life unconditionally. She worked hard to find ways to help others help themselves. She made sure dreams were opportunities waiting to happen. She never let you shoot for anything less than the best. She and Pete were a true model of living life to the fullest.

My mom used to recall the time I announced at 5 years old that I intended to go to Harvard. When Pete asked what I wanted to study at Harvard, I proudly announced “I am going to be a teacher.” Pete and mom laughed and Sue told me I would be a wonderful Harvard educated teacher. As I grew older the challenges in life grew larger, but she never let me lose sight of my abilities to be greater than myself. When I was at Hendrix I would regularly receive cards and baked cookies in the mail telling me to work harder and dream big. I still have many of those cards and when things in life are hard I read them. The art of note writing was one of her many gifts in life. When I left for a year in Washington DC she told me to stay away from politics, but learn everything I could. (She was never a fan of politics after Pete’s time as mayor.) They visited while I was there and took me to the Smithsonian. On December 23rd, two days after her death, my annual subscription gift to Smithsonian Magazine, from Sue and Pete Rudolph, arrived in the mail.

When it came to boys in my life Sue never took much interest in who was coming with me for a visit. Until I introduced her to Kevin. She had heard about him for months before we finally took a trip to visit Northwest Arkansas. On day two of our trip Sue decided she and Pete had somewhere to take us. After a full day of touring wedding chapels of Northwest Arkansas Kevin was really trying to figure out what he had gotten into. At this point we were JUST dating with no talk of marriage. She knew though. She told me as I left that night he was the one. I remember clearly her words, “the Lord only brings the right person into our lives when you are both ready, you are ready to love.” She was right. A year and a half later, fresh out of knee surgery Sue and Pete attended our wedding.

Just a short time after our wedding Sue and Pete moved from Northwest Arkansas to Atlanta. I was beyond excited. They would be closer to Jackson and they were now “on the way” to our visits with Kevin’s family. About that same time I found out I was pregnant. We made our first trip to visit in August of 2009 with an 8 week old baby. Other than my wedding and the birth of my child it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. As she held Drew and kissed his head she told me she always knew I would be a good mom. Just a few months ago we made the trip again with a rambunctious 15 month old. Sue and Drew played on the floor together. I am so glad I remembered the camera that day. It was the way I want to remember her. Just a few short months later I sat in a hospital holding her hand. Trying to tell her all the things she meant in my life. There wasn’t enough time or energy, so I prayed and just tried to make her comfortable. She would have been so pleased to see all her boys together again celebrating life. I think she waited for them all to be together before she let go.

Although we will miss her deeply, I am reminded she is now serving in the role which she had prepared and trained for her whole life. She is no longer an angel in training, but an angel who is with me every minute of every day. So even though I broke down at Target when the Hi-Ho-Cherrio display greeted me in the toy section and wiped away the tears as I used her recipes and the apron she made for me, I remember life on earth is only preparation for greater things.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-29T13:21:00.000-06:00

It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Kevin and I had a wonderful Christmas in Mississippi with Drew. Although we miss being with family it is so great to be able to spend time together and enjoy Christmas through the eyes of our little boy. The wonders of modern technology allowed us to Skype and cell phones meant we talked to most everyone. As you may remember from my post last year we decided to stick to the 3 gift rule. As Kevin said Christmas morning "I can see how people get addicted to buying for Christmas, this is sooo much fun." It was fun. Drew's three gifts were pretty simple: a climb and slide, a pottery barn chair with his name on it (which was my consignment find of the year!) and a toy guitar. Christmas Eve service at Galloway was wonderful and then home for brisket Kevin smoked that afternoon. We spent Christmas Day at home. In fact Drew didn't change out of his pj's until after nap time. Just a great day to relax. We didn't get snow Christmas day, but got HUGE flurries the day after. It didn't stick, but it sure was pretty. We are so blessed and thankful for all that we have, including the love of family and friends. If you are reading this blog that includes YOU. Christmas was bittersweet this year, but our faith and love helped us truly experience the meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Putting on Drew's Christmas PJ's and Rudolph socks.

Plate for cookies for Santa.

Thanks to Ms. Haley and Sawyer for having us over to a pottery party.

What a wonderful idea and a family keepsake!

Santa came and left some fun stuff. He had a pretty easy year with assembly of gifts, thank goodness.

Christmas Morning

This gift from Santa that arrived at our door about a week before Christmas.

A We Three Kings snow globe. Drew was in awe. He has really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Great-Grandmother Diane!

Skype with Nana, Aunt Tiff, Uncle Jeff, Kaitlin, Austin, Alex and Graddaddy.

LOVES his guitar!

Rudolph!

2010-12-10T15:14:00.001-06:00

Drew's Christmas program was last Friday and it was so much fun. Drew loves his school and teachers and you can tell. They sang Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and every time they said nose Drew pointed at his nose and yelled "NOSE"!

Drew and Mrs. Jackie

Jingle Bells....trying to figure out how the bell works instead of singing along.

Drew and Ms. Tiffany

Drew and Mrs. Mary

And we couldn't miss getting a picture with Mrs. Molly. She is our fantastic babysitter who Drew loves.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-06T15:39:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful visit to Georgia. It was so nice to spend a whole week with family and friends and we had some GREAT weather. All of that said, if you haven't experienced South Georgia GNATS you don't want to. The cold weather usually beats us there and they are gone in time for Thanksgiving. This year they hadn't left yet. Drew would wave his hands in front of his face and say "BUGS! BUGS!" Poor guy, they wouldn't leave him alone. Of course the logical solution would be to go inside...he would hear nothing of it. He loves the outdoors! Kevin hauled our Polaris to Georgia and you can see from the pictures Drew had a blast. He would wake up in the morning going VROOM...VROOM.

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite time of the year. We enjoy a week of vacation and getting to see so many people we don't get to see enough the rest of the year. Drew went to his first parade. A good down home Christmas parade in Lenox, Georgia. He ate his first sucker and watched the rest of the parade in awe without ever letting it go. Nana and Grandaddy spoiled him as only grandparents should. From Fruit Loops to Christmas dance music he had a blast. We are home and settling back into our routine. Looking forward to a fun Christmas.

Playing with Jace

Jace

Getting ready for Thanksgiving lunch...isn't it pretty.

Jackson...and some cornbread dressing...YUMMY

Like Father, Like Son

Getting ready for Santa and the parade

Drew REALLY loved Chrystal when she let him play with her phone...can we say spoiled!

Thanksgiving Week in Georgia

2010-11-25T14:22:00.001-06:00

We will have to post our pictures from Thanksgiving week in two different parts or maybe even three. I think Drew is going to grow up thinking he is famous since it is like paparazzi following him with all the flashes of cameras around here. We were able to leave a day early and make into to Adel late Friday night. We ate dinner in Alabama and put on Drew's pajamas. He slept the rest of the way! We are so lucky to have a baby that travels so well.

On Saturday morning when I woke up to go to downstairs a small voice greeted me at the staircase and said "I don't know you. I'm Eli." After I got over the surprise I met the first of the Lindsey family. The Lindsey's were in Adel visiting family and friends. They are good friends of Kevin's mom and stay with her when they come. Drew enjoyed having three other little boys in the house to play with. We had a good time getting to know Joel, Melissa, Eli(5), Beckett(3-as of Sunday) and Schaeffer(5 months)...they stay busy with a house full of some great little boys. We got to help celebrate Beckett's 3rd birthday before they headed to home St. Louis. It is funny how you have people pass through your life sometimes who without even knowing it are able to provide you with a perspective on your life that you sometimes forget. Thanks, Melissa, for helping me remember how much I have to be thankful for. Always good to spend time with another mom who has great advice....FYI, if you are the mother of a young child get a sound machine!!

Eli posing for the camera

Beckett the Rock Star playing his guitar.Schaeffer

Teaching Drew all about cotton.
Kevin is hoping he is a farmer and NOT a lawyer!

Hard to believe this field had already been picked and there was this much left behind.

Joel, Melissa, Eli, Beckett & Schaeffer Lindsey

(Holding up 3 for Beckett's 3rd Birthday!)

Drew LOVED that we came all the way to Georgia for the Beckett's 3rd Birthday party. So nice of the Lindsey's to leave us the balloons behind when they left. We are slowly "loosing" them.

Beckett is being VERY patient.

Below is an example of a GREAT MOM!

Melissa whipped up these MVP baseball cupcakes up not only on vacation, at someone else's house, but with her three boys and mine all running through the kitchen stealing twizzlers. It is amazing what our kids will inspire us to do. Thanks to the Lindseys for letting us share in Beckett's birthday!

LOVING the Fall Weather

2010-11-11T15:51:00.000-06:00

OK, so most of you follow this blog to see Drew, but I couldn't resist sharing this picture of Kevin and I. It was taken on one of our date nights at a fundraiser for Community Place here in Jackson. We had a great time and the photographer for a local magazine took this shot. He was nice enough to share a copy. Life is Good.

I honestly can't believe we are only two weeks away from Thanksgiving. It is bittersweet. It is my favorite holiday and favorite time of year and I hate to see the season flying by. We are looking forward to our week in Georgia. Drew is practicing his "Nana", but Granddaddy is a little harder to spit out. Hoping my trial in Alabama will settle or else it won't be much of a vacation for me.

Things at our house are busy, busy. Drew is into everything and getting MORE teeth. He has 20+ teeth these days. Unbelievable. He is talking more and more and it is so much fun. When we left daycare last week he turned to tell his friend Phoebe bye which sounds something like "Bye Feebeee" he also turned and said "Bye YeeeS-Us." Took me a minute to figure it out and then I realized he was waving at Jesus on the poster on the wall. A lot easier to write that daycare check when your child is telling "YeeeS-Us" hi and bye. What a wonderful ministry in our church.

Just a few fun pics for the week.

Dr. Gay - waiting for his flu shot.

Anything to distract him.

Helping Dad.

Don't want to walk, but willing to climb a ladder! Go figure.

Talking away!

Kevin's family friends, Ellie and Bill, stopped by the week before Halloween. I was so caught up posting Halloween pics I forgot to share these. It was so nice to see them and Drew enjoyed their visit.

Funny Faces!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T14:52:00.000-05:00

It wouldn't be fun unless we started out the trick-or-treating with a little crying. He was not happy to be near the scarecrow in the bale of hay all alone.

Despite some teething issues we did make it down the street to a couple of houses before he fell asleep early.

Fall Carnival at Galloway Children's Center

Drew and his pals, Miller and Phoebe. Too much fun.

Drew wasn't sure about face painting

He was VERY excited to find goldfish crackers at the end of his fishing pole.

Mom and Drew on the hayride

Drew with his teacher Mrs. Jackie.

The look on his face is him concentrating on the "Reptile Man" who came with the petting zoo. Drew had no interest in the alligator and Kevin left when they brought out the snake!

Galloway UMC Fall Carnival

In addition to trick-or-treating we also got to spend time with lots of our friends at the church carnival. Drew loves Rachel (and Catherine) Wiygul.

Drew and Phoebe in costume at the church carnival.

I forgot my camera, so this is the best I got. They are great friends.

They rode around in the wagon sharing a cup of juice.

Mac and Cheese

2010-10-21T20:58:00.000-05:00

Fall seems to be flying by. It is my favorite time of the year. I can't believe daylight savings is only a few weeks away and then Thanksgiving. Drew keeps growing. His vocabulary is expanding. He still prefers "no", "dawg" and "mine", but banana and wagon are a couple of our new ones. Drew is a great eater. Loves pretty much all vegetables and fruits. We enjoy our evenings of wagon rides and dinner together. Last week we introduced Drew to macaroni and cheese (getting him ready to visit Nana in November). He loved it, but boy was it a mess.

We got a quick visit this week from Gigi and Papa (my dad and stepmom). Drew was sick the morning of the day they were coming through. He bounced back by the time they got here and we had a good visit. He even got to take Papa to fried chicken day at Primo's.

Drew & Papa

Playing with Gigi

Teeth, Teeth and More Teeth!

2010-10-11T10:24:00.000-05:00

Drew is cutting teeth faster than we can count. I think we have counted 13 or 14 now. His molars are coming in this week. Doesn't seem to bother him much, but it sure looks like it hurts. With all these teeth we have to make sure to brush. Brushing is quite a challenge with a 1 year old. We are using a trick a friend shared and it really seems to work. We let him watch himself brush his teeth in the mirror. It is pretty funny. Thought you might like to see it.

Bound to be a Georgia Boy!

2010-10-04T20:08:00.000-05:00

Boots, shorts and his horse...no doubt he is a country boy at heart. This is one of my favorite pics. He loves his rocking horse from Nana and Granddaddy and has just gotten tall enough to make it rock. So fun.

Along with the boots he insisted this weekend on wearing his hat. Cracks me up.

It is easy to see from the below pictures Drew will always know his Georgia roots. While I was gone to the beach a few weekends ago (which also happened to be the weekend Georgia played Arkansas) Kevin realized Drew didn't have any Georgia shirts that fit. For some reason the Razorback shirt that I left on the top of his pile of shirts wasn't acceptable??? He quickly rectified the problem and we now have several! We are enjoying the start of cooler weather, college football and the countdown to Thanksgiving. We love FALL.

Our accomplishment for the week is....we now can use a fork.

And, yes, it was to eat some fried chicken. He was sooo proud of himself.

Learning to Dance

2010-09-22T16:59:00.000-05:00

Life at our house has been good the past few weeks. Kevin and I both enjoyed very, happy birthdays! Drew tried to sing Happy Birthday to both of us! Kevin has taken a couple of guy's trips dove hunting and I enjoyed my first girl's trip away since Drew was born. Had a great time with good friends in Sandestin. It was nice to take a deep breath and take a look at life from afar. Taking a step back and looking from the outside in can really help your focus. What a wonderful life we have!

Drew is doing great and really more fun everyday. I loved this video and thought I would share it with you. Drew loves music and LOVES to dance. He hasn't quite got the snapping down and his rhythm is still a little off, but he has a good time. He definitely got Kevin's love for music.

On the Road Again - End of Summer in South Georgia

2010-09-08T14:03:00.000-05:00

After our visit to Atlanta we headed South to visit Nana and Granddaddy is South Georgia. It was good to see them and to get to spend some time with Kevin's sister Julie and her family and the Griners. Drew was worn out from chasing Jace and Jackson. He is trying to walk more and more, but only if you hold BOTH hands. It is like the game freeze-tag if you let go. He stops dead in his tracks. So funny. It was a fun time and we were glad to be able to take a few days off and make the trip. Looking forward to our Thanksgiving trip when things are a little cooler and maybe those Georgia gnats will be a little better.

Playing in Nana's Cabinets

Drew and Aunt Wanda

Playing with the phones and trying to figure out how to get the Dawwwgggg (Drew's word for Dog - I think it must be a UGA thing) out of his kennel.

Uncle Ed & Drew

Playing with Mr. Donnie

He laughed and laughed when Donnie chased him around.

How to make any kid your best friend....Teddy Grahams!

On the Road

2010-09-06T16:14:00.001-05:00

We spent last a long weekend last week on the road to Georgia. First to Atlanta to visit the Rudolphs and then on to South Georgia. I am happy to report we had a great time and came home with a happy, healthy baby. We have now made two trips without any sign of sickness and we are sooo thankful! We took a lot of pictures so I will have to blog in two parts to get them all on.

Atlanta was good. Pat was good enough to make sure the heat left before we got there. We arrived to 87 degrees at 3:00 in the afternoon! We spent the night at the new Embassy Suites and against my better judgement Drew ate his first meal at one of his Dad's favorite restaurants, Ruth's Chris. In my defense let me say it was the hotel restaurant and we did ask before we brought a one year old. I was surprised to learn they had high chairs and a kid's menu. White tableclothes, creamed spinach and filets....and no major incidents. We did get "the look" when we walked in. The "please lord don't let that crazy couple who brought their one year old sit next to me" look. Drew really did exceptional and, unfortunately for us, liked the food. Between sushi and filets he already has a very mature palate. You can see above he also thought the luggage cart was a lot of fun.

On Friday we spent the morning at the Rudolph's house. It was hard to believe it had been a year since our last visit. Drew played with Sparky and helped Pete read the Gurdon Times. I can remember thinking I was grown-up when I used to help him read the Gurdon Times. That was nearly 30 years ago and I used to read it to see how many times I could find the name Rudolph in the paper. Gurdon is a little quieter these days and not much news to report. We shared a picnic lunch we had brought from Jackson and really enjoyed our visit. Thanks to Pat and Teresa for the hospitality and to Pete and Sue for letting a one year loose in their living room.

Drew playing with Sue

Drew and Pete

Drew and Sparky played chase

Drew as on to Teresa trying to steal some baby kisses

Granny's 60th Birthday Weekend in Arkansas

2010-08-18T15:31:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful weekend in Arkansas for my mom’s 60th birthday. Drew enjoyed spending time with his Granny and getting some boy time with his cousins, Dalton and Tom. We got to see a lot of family and friends some of whom hadn’t even met Drew.

Drew went on his first trip to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. He wasn't really sure what to think. I am still keeping my fingers crossed he won't like it and I never have to go there again....I know that is probably not going to happen!

Aunt Jane used this opportunity to return the favor for all the times I spoiled her boys wth loud toys and trips to places like this.

We enjoyed a birthday dinner at Cajun's Wharf with close friends and family.

It was so great to get to spend time with everyone.

Sally and Elisabeth Kalkbrenner.

Hard to tell who is mom and who is daughter. I hope I look this good when Drew is 6, much less 16.

Wiggy, Kevin and Anita Osweiler.

I used to babysit Kevin & Anita's kids who are now in college and grad school.

Kevin O. is nice enough to entertain Kevin G. when we come to town by spending some time on the golf course. And, yes, you are probably thinking there are too many Kevins at this table. In fact there is even one more. My brother-in-law Kevin was at the table too. A lot of Kevin's in one place!

Joyce (talking and not liking cameras as usual) and Paula.

So great to introduce them to Drew.

Enjoying the End of Summer

2010-08-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

We have had a busy, HOT past few weeks here in Mississippi. Kevin and I are staying busy with work and Drew is staying busy with school. Despite the heat he is still enjoying being outside. We spend most evenings on the patio watching Drew chase the dogs in his walker. He loves the outdoors. Below are a few pictures from the week. We are lucky to have such a happy baby!

This was Drew's first experience with crayons. He acted like he knew what he was doing and only tried to eat them once or twice. Unfortunately I left the picture on the table when we left. It was quite a masterpiece.

Breakfast at Primo's before hitting the pool

Proof Dad feed him green beans while I was gone last week. I think the teachers at the daycare really wonder if Kevin is serious when he picks Drew up in the afternoons when I am gone and says "Guys night! Beer and Chicken Wings!" I wonder sometimes too!

Last, but not least, Drew discovered the buggie car at the grocery store. Just like the one Granny gave him for his birthday that he insists on riding in every night....except this one has TWO steering wheels. Too fun.

A Good Week!

2010-07-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

We have had a good week back at home. All I can say is we have a little boy who likes his routine. He is happy, healthy and growing everyday. It is so much fun watching the world through the eyes of your child.

He LOVES his sunglasses.

This was in the waiting room at his follow-up doctor's appointment. Too cute.

He is also becoming very clever when it comes to getting what he wants. He likes to eat his goldfish by the handfulls. His snack bowl is equipped with a plastic lid that makes getting more than one goldfish hard. This he how he got around it. He pulled about 10 goldfish out one-by-one, placed them on the carpet and then proceeded to eat them 3 at a time.

And, last but not least, this is Drew's Spring Class picture. Despite his less than enthused appearance we have had a wonderful first year at daycare. He will move to his new class in the next few weeks and we will miss Mrs. Molly and Mrs. Jamie SOOOO much. Luckily Mrs. Molly will still be around to babysit! Drew loves his school friends.

Mrs. Molly Rushing, Mrs. Jamie Lattimore, Phoebe Graham, Molly Carr, Drew Gay and Caroline McCain

Beach Trip

2010-07-12T11:11:00.000-05:00

Our family vacation to Destin and Drew’s first trip to the beach is over and we had a wonderful time. The week didn’t go exactly as we had planned, but we have come to expect the unexpected these days. Despite the large gushing oil well in the gulf Sandestin was beautiful as ever. There were signs of the oil with a few tar balls in the sand and HAZMAT crews striking the beach at night, but nothing too bad yet.

Once again we shared a condo with my law partner and our travel buddies, Jack and Jennifer. Things were a little different with a baby in tow and they were so gracious to stay with us again. Drew thought Jennifer was pretty cute. Every time she came in the room he would grin and blush. It was too cute.

We were lucky enough to take some help with us. Kevin’s cousin, Megan, is a college student in South Georgia and met us in Destin to play with Drew while we were in continuing legal education classes. All I can say is Drew LOVES Megan! They had a great time together and really bonded. We are now on a mission to get Megan to come to nursing school in Jackson! (I think her mom and brother would kill me if I try too hard.) We are so grateful for her willingness to put up with us for a week. She was so great! I know she stays up on the blog, so Megan, when you read this you will smile knowing Drew waved both hands in the air when we were looking at the pictures. I promise to get a picture very soon!

We did have an uninvited guest this week….a dreaded ear infection. Drew made it a whole month with tubes with no problems and then Monday of vacation got an infection. We spent Tuesday in the condo hanging out, which wasn’t too bad since it was storming. Special thanks to Dr. Gonzales at Emerald Coast Urgent Care. If you ever have a sick child in the Destin area they really are good. Even more thanks to Drew’s ENT Dr. Gordon and Dr. Rey who both were available by phone to consult with the local doctor. We will go tomorrow to see if it is gone. Praying this is our last one for a long time. We are concerned that he seems to get sick EVERY time we travel. With no family in Jackson that could make life complicated.

Breakfast with Dad

Despite the brief interruption we fit in some pool time, beach time, good food and even Drew’s first bike ride. I am not sure what he liked more the bike ride or the helmet. He wasn’t too sure about the sand and we didn’t venture into the water much. Sunday was the 4th of July so we watched fireworks from inside the condo. Drew was pretty amazed by it for the first 5 minutes and then he was out like a light. Hard for a kid who goes to bed at 7:30 to stay up. With Megan there I was able to get in some retail therapy and pool time with the girls. Kevin got in a few rounds of golf. All in all it was a wonderful week. We are glad to be home and back in our own beds. We will unpack and unwind today and then back to the grind tomorrow.

Birthday Weekend

2010-07-05T13:59:00.005-05:00

It has taken me a while, but here is the last installment of birthday pictures. We were so glad most of Kevin’s family was able to make the trip to Mississippi for the party. Kevin’s sister Julie and her family came from South Georgia with Kevin’s parents and his sister Tiffany and her family made the 13 hour drive from North Carolina. We don’t have the opportunity to get together much so it was a lot of fun. Drew really loved playing with his cousins and having everyone come his house for a change.

Playing with Aunt Tiffany---Aunt Tiff and Uncle Jeff re-paid us for the Star Wars light sabers we gave their kids several years ago for Christmas.
Drew loves his new air ball toy that shoots out balls and yells "hooray."

The frisbee golf course at the park across from our house was a BIG hit!!

Kaitlin was the target!

Austin was too cool

Jace isn't too sure about the camera

This is one of the only pics I got of Jackson. He was our photographer for the weekend when he wasn't on his iPod.

Loving Aunt Julie

Showing off his Andy tricks. He loves Andy and Georgia. Not surprising one of his first words was "Dawwwgggg". Another favorite word is "Side"-which means outside and generally is followed by alot of jibberish if we aren't moving fast enough. He is definitely an outdoor baby. In a few years I suspect we won't see much of him when he gets home from school in the afternoon. Hard enough now to get him in for a bath. Lately we have found wonderful dinner time peace. We feed Drew while we are fixing dinner and then he runs laps in the walker around the patio table while we eat. Kevin thinks he is training for NASCAR since he only turns left around the table.

We are at the beach right now for our first family vacation. Kevin and I have been coming down for the Mississippi Bar Convention for years, but this is our first with a baby in tow. We barely made it here. I am not sure how three people need so much stuff to travel, but we didn't have any room to spare. The Tahoe was packed and we needed the tow rack. I promise to post pictures soon. Drew loves the pool and loves taking walks. He even enjoyed watching the fireworks on the beach from our condo window last night. He hasn't felt very good today. We are hoping he is just worn out and will bounce back. It is raining outside so it is a good day to stay in and get some energy. Kevin's cousin, who is in her second year of college in South Georgia, came down to help out with Drew. Looking forward to some nights out with Kevin. Beach in Destin is beautiful today. HazMat crews come out at night to clean the beach. So sad. It is like a scene from a bad movie. No reports of oil or tar bars so far. We are sticking to the pool just in case.

Promise to share pictures.

Happy Summer!