Jones is going to be...

A BIG COUSIN!

We couldn't be more excited about baby Fyke making his/her appearance this fall!


As excited as my entire family is, nobody is feeling the excitement more than big-brother-in-the- making, Henry. He wanted to wear his big brother shirt to school after he found out so he would "remember to tell all his friends"! He is the best big brother already.


One of my favorite pictures from the New Orleans trip: We were eating brunch at The Court of Two Sisters and Kristen comes back to the table with ice cream and a plate of lemons. Gotta love pregnancy foods!

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

My friend, Hope, and I took our boys to Ocean Springs for their first St. Patty's Day parade last Thursday. The two daddy's were still at work, so we ventured over to my favorite Mississippi coast town alone with Jones and Hayes. It was a really cute, but small, parade. Like really small: I think there were four different groups in the entire parade. But it was festive. Great crowd, a high school band, horses,a fire truck and beads. What more could you want? And the boys laughed and smiled throughout the entire thing. Except when they were eating the beads. Cute boys.

The Clydesdales were the main attraction. They were beautiful!

11 months

In hindsight, I should have just edited the month into his pictures each time. Or bought those shirts with the months printed on them. But I started with the sign and I am committed to finishing out the year with them. This is seriously the only one I got from his 11 month pictures. He destroyed this sign in record time.

Playing outside on his 11 month birthday:

One more month until my baby is one. Unreal.

At 11 months, Jones:

* Is an eater. Big time. Loves anything I put out there for him to eat. Loves avocados, bananas, eggs, and grilled cheese the best.
* Sleeps from about 7:30 - 7:30

* Very chill. Except when it comes to his food. I can't feed him fast enough!
* Loves to snuggle and give open mouth kisses

* major loves: his daddy, Sophie, being outside, baths, the park

* Is so close to walking. All he needs is some one's pinkie holding his and he can go. He stood up this morning for about 5 seconds without holding on to anything before he realized it and slowly sat down. Once he gets confident, he is going to take off.

* Will snuggle on the couch and watch Baby Einstein before bedtime. It's my favorite thing to do. It's the only time of the day he is still.

* Can climb up the ladder to his slide by himself. Loves to slide.

I love this sweet boy more than I could ever try to express. As a friend once said, it is love redefined.

NOLA

Laura's 30th Birthday trip to NOLA!

Perfect. Perfect weather. Perfect food. Perfect company.
Girl's getaway with my sisters and cousin - Perfect.

This birthday girl didn't let a cast on her leg and riding in a wheel chair ruin her party!

A few highlights...

Wine party waiting for the birthday girl when she arrived in our hotel room:

Birthday dinner at Red Fish:

Brunch at The Court of Two Sisters:

Shopping and eating on Magazine St.:

Relaxing after our time at the spa:

Cafe du Monde:

Enjoying the sites:

And we only got lost once!

one for the books

Jones and I spent the night away from each other. Three actually! Do you know me? This is a big deal. I have a bit of an obsessive/paranoid nature. This used to not be the case, but my mother instincts are a bit much. At any rate, we did it. My sister's 30th birthday party was planned months ago, so I knew Jones needed to be on a sippy cup by the time I left. My child never took a bottle of anything, so I thought it would be an uphill battle. It wasn't! He was perfectly OK with my milk in a cup. I was the weak one, not him. But with me out of town for three days, he had no choice but to take the cup. And he was perfect. What a relief. He slept great, ate great and played hard. And since I knew he was with Trey and my mom, I was able to relax and have fun. Can't thank those two enough!

So in my opinion, this trip was one for the books in many ways. Yay Jones and the sippy cup!

Lita and Grandaddy visit

My parents stayed with us last weekend. How I wish this was an every weekend occurrence. What a treat!

Jones (and Grandaddy and Lita) had a big time playing in our neighborhood park...

Please notice his wind blown hair. This kid has gotta get a haircut!Our friends met us at the park. Pretty sure the two dads had more fun than the boys.

Grandaddy bought Jones a soccer ball. He is in love with this thing. And is pretty good at kicking it already!

Saturday night we went to The Halfshell. It is one of my very favorite restaurants here. Although, I will admit, I haven't branched out much since I have lived here. I tend to stick to what I know and like.

It was my parent's first trip to The Halfshell - they loved it! So yummy.

Trying his first lemon
Sour...

but wanted more!

While they were here, I made Key Lime Pound Cake from this month's Southern Living. Oh my. It is mighty fine. It may have been as pretty as theirs in the magazine and I made have not used real key limes, but it was still delicious. Trey has already asked for another. They have several pound cake recipes this month. I may try them all. I may also gain 20 pounds in the meantime.

So here is the recipe. Try it for yourself. Delish.

Key Lime Pound Cake
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lime zest
1/4 cup fresh Key lime juice

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 325°. Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (12-cup) tube pan.
3. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack.
4. Prepare Key Lime Glaze, and immediately brush over top and sides of cake. Cool completely (about 1 hour).

Key Lime Glaze
Ingredients
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh Key lime juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Whisk together powdered sugar, fresh Key lime juice, and vanilla until smooth. Use immediately.

Come back soon, Grandaddy and Lita!