Keeping It Real Wednesday

As if Mondays weren't bad enough this was our ride home on Monday.  Mary Frances was fussing the entire time (for some unknown reason) and Jackson would start to cry too because Mary Frances was upset.  Please  help me Lord.  On the bright side, my prayer life is the best it's ever been!

Baby Dedication

We had Mary Frances' baby dedication last Thursday night at church.  Because our church is so large they have to do it on a week night so we don't interrupt normal services.  There were 20 or so babies there the other night.

 Each family dedicates their child individually and not in a group. Even though other people are there you pray as a family with our pastor and promise to raise your child seeking after God.  It really is a family dedication and not a baby dedication since Mary Frances will make her own decisions about being a God follower.  We just promised to foster it.

 We absolutely love our pastor (Chip Henderson), but he is a state fan :(.  Oh well, God loves all sinners.  Any way, right before we walked up I told Jackson to tell him "Go Rebels."  It was so funny.  Chip said he REALLY needed to pray for us.

 This is a flash forward to what Mary Frances will look like!  Her Aunt Anna.  Although I think she looks like Buster sometimes too.  It's the round face and thick hair.

 I absolutely love getting to be with our families and take famable pictures.  I'm just sad that Buster isn't in our family picture.  We'll get one at J-Man's birthday though.

I love my little family and love this picture.  I know I am bias, but Mary Frances looks like a little doll.  We are so blessed and will never be able to thank God enough, but I sure will try!

Southern Belle Sunday

What is so Southern Bellish about a naked baby you ask?  Have you seen the movie Ya-Ya Sisterhood?  Well, there is a scene in that movie where the ladies (who live in the south) take off one night in their unmentionables in a convertible to cool off.  The bottom line is, it's hot down here!  And our little Franny Bean is a hot box!  I took her out of her car seat (above) after church and there was a huge sweat mark where her head was and her church clothes were sopping wet from sweat.  She hung out for a majority of the afternoon in her diaper trying to cool off!

Besides, everyone likes some good naked baby pics!  Have a great week!!

Fratty Friday

Sorry for the delay fans - Jackson always has a cough.  I think it is a product of us keeping him too clean as an infant.  Any way, he was coughing in the car on Friday and spit-up milk every where.  It was not a pretty scene (as you can see) and I didn't get Fratty Friday pictures taken. I usually take them at home, but I was going to do a special addition at school. Oh well, maybe next time.  So this late Fratty Friday edition features Jackson hanging out on the patio at the frat house on a warm Friday afternoon.

 And from my experience at fraternity houses sitting around without a shirt on really is normal.  They even have a basketball goal for the boys to play on!  And if it is anything like the KA house while we were in school you would fine a deer being skinned on the back patio during deer season.  It's just how they roll.

 So again, sorry for the delay, but we'll just say our frat star was having a rough day.

5 Months Old

Mary Frances is 5 months old today and we have her baby dedication tonight!  I cannot believe she is already 5 months old!  It seems like just yesterday I had her.  But time flies when you are having fun or so busy you can't catch your breath.

 At 5 months old she loves her baths, smiles a lot, has even started laughing, is mesmerized by her brother, eats cereal, English peas, and bananas, sleep from 8:30 to 5:30, eats about 6 ounces every 4 hours, wear 3-6 month clothes and a size 2 diaper, loves her paci, holds her head up like a champ, still sleeps in a cradle next to our bed (don't judge), loves playing with her feet and rings on her car seat, and is the sweetest most laid back baby ever!

 Everyone that sees her says she looks just like Jackson.  I see it sometimes, but I think she looks more like her own little person.  J-Man just looked like his Dad's clone.

 She just goes with the flow and only gets upset when she is hungry or at baseball games.  Like her Big R, she hates baseball.  Other than that she is just along for the ride.

 We love her so much and are so blessed to have her in our lives.  She is the best little surprise I have ever had!  And from worrying how I would make it with 2 under two to not being able to imagine life without her.  Now, if I can just keep her little and sweet and skip the teenage years I will be in good shape!

Jackson's 23 month post soon!  Poor guy has not had a post all week.  He's so neglected.

Keeping It Real Wednesday

Matt snapped these pictures the other morning before we left for work and school.  Franny Bean just hanging out.

 She was wearing her little purple dress her Gaga got her.  It is one of many.  I mentioned she looked good in purple and now she is overflowing with purple dresses.  I told Matt I was going to start telling everyone she looks good in Armani and see what happens.

 Just hanging out watching some Mickey Mouse Club House with J-Man.

And playing with her feet.  This is what her hair looks like if you don't keep it fixed.  And on that note - when is it ok to start using hairspray and nail polish on little girls?  I haven't yet, but my the time she is J-Man's age I can SO see it happening.  And don't judge, I'm just keeping it real!

Video Tuesday

I need to step it up on the J-Man videos, all I have today are 2 of Mary Frances.  He won't slow down long enough for me to video him.  I'll see if I can't do better this week!

This first one was Mary Frances just hanging out with me after her Bubba went to bed and Da-da was working!

And this one is her doing her new kicking and flailing routine.  She's always on the move!

I know I mentioned this the other day, but she will be 5 months old in 2 days!!!  Crazy!

Southern Belle Sunday

On this very special Mother's Day my Franny Bean posed for a little photo shoot.  I think she likes her little soft doll Gran gave her.  I am predicting it is going to be her version of 'Dougie.'

 She didn't want to smile at first, she was going for the more serious look.

 But when Matt came back to her room she started to smile.  It melts my heart how she will smile when she sees one of us or Jackson.  It is so cute.  I think her and Jackson has their own language.

 She is getting so big and even tried English peas for the first time today.  She loved them!  So far she has cereal and bananas under her belt.  After this week of English peas we will move on to a new conction.  I have only given her baby food I have made so far.  I have broken the rules at daycare and taken homemade baby food rather than the packaged stuff.  I'm going to see how long I can get away with it.  I'm a rebel I know.

I know we eat processed food, but I want to keep her away from it as long as possible.  She'll get to eat pop-tarts with her brother soon enough, but I will say that dude likes his fruit!  He eats fruit most every night so maybe I am on to something.  So far now she is an organic baby and I am waiting to expose her to our overly processed foods until she is a little older.  That's it for now from our Southern Belle, but be on the lookout for her 5 month update.  She will be 5 months old on Thursday.

Side note - Thursday is also the night of her baby dedication.  Pictures to follow.

Fratty Friday

Red seersucker shorts - check
Ole Miss cap - check
Navy polo (with collar popped) - double check
Ole Miss football stadium in the back ground - check

 Add all that up and you have today's Fratty Friday!

 He kept pointing to the stadium and saying "Ta-Da!"

 He knows it's a magical place, sometimes.  More recently it is a place of heart ache and pain, but hopefully that will change soon!

 It better change before he is old enough to comprehend it!  Because if he has to put up with all the heart ache we have had to endure the last several years I am going to be really mad!  He better only remember good years!  Not Coach O or Couch Nutt years!

Ok, I am off my soap box!  For today J-Man was having a blast and looking super fratty outside Vault-Hemingway!  Happy Friday everyone!

Oxford

I posted the pictures from Patrick and Eliza's wedding and now I will catch everyone up on our trip to Oxford in general.  Love is probably a good word to describe how we feel about Oxford!  We don't get up there as much as we would like, but when we do it is amazing!  I have also decided that if we don't sell our house and get a bigger one, we will just use the extra money to buy a condo in Oxford.  Seems logically, right?

 This was Mary Frances' first trip there!  Other than the baseball game she had a blast!  I will get to that in a minute though.

As soon as we got into town we got a fabulous square parking spot AND then we went into Ajax and got one of two prime tables in the window!  We knew we were in for a great weekend!

 J-Man at the baseball game!  He loves them!!  The music, the girls, the candy, and oh yea, the baseball!

 Our Franny Bean on the other hand doesn't seem to be a baseball fan.  This was her and Matt in the beginning, but she didn't stay happy for long.  This is her second baseball game and the second time I have had to sit outside because she was screaming.  Which is not like her at all.  We had determined that it is the noise, but the very next night at the reception the loud band did not phase her a bit.  Apparently she takes after her Big R and hates baseball.  She is going to have to go hang out with him while we go to baseball games b/c I can't keep hanging out under stadiums and in the car when she throws a fit.

 Saturday morning/afternoon we met Uncle Buster and Sarah at Bottle Tree!  We had a great time and the kids loved getting to see Uncle Buster!  It is so rare we get to see him that we tried to soak up as much time with him as we could.

 I think Franny kind of looks like Uncle Buster.

And J-Man and his Coco!  He loves him some Coco!

Other than Ole Miss losing to LSU the weekend was fabulous!  So good spend time with everyone and take in some Oxford food and Ole Miss baseball!

Keeping It Real Wednesday - Wedding Edition

Patrick and Eliza's wedding in Oxford was a blast!  Let's put it this way, the night ended with the wedding party, groom and father of the groom in the pool at the reception!!  Now that's a party!

 Here we are before the outdoor wedding!  So fresh and not sweaty!

 You can tell by J-Man's hair how hot it was.  It got curlier as the night went on!

 Baby sister was a huge hit too!  This was a rare moment where she was cooling off and not being held.

 Little B-Bear was in the wedding and it was SO good getting to spend time with him!  I miss him so much!  And don't worry Gaga, I will send this picture to Walgreens for you.  Big R said it is a framer!  Oh, and one thing I do want to point out though, we look NOTHING a like.

 J-Man was too busy hitting on women and dancing to hang out with Uncle Buster!

 This sums it up....

 Hitting on the women.

 More attention from the women.  He doesn't care of you are 8 months or 80.  He likes women of all ages.

 More ladies and some dancing.

 And more ladies.

And more dancing!  We had a fabulous time and we are so happy for Patrick and Eliza!  Congrats guys!