Family Cook-Out

After Aunt Jennifer's Bridal Tea last Saturday, Nan and Papa were nice enough to host a big cook-out for the families. This included 16 people, my parents, Jennifer and Lyle, and Lyle's family that came to town for the Tea. This was a great get-together for their families to meet each other and talk about the impending wedding. I wish I would have taken more pictures (as always) but here are a few that I snapped. The pictures I wish I would have taken were of the food, you should have seen the food - there was so much. We feasted on ribs, baked beans, squash dressing, potato salad, coleslaw and bread and they had a cake in honor of the happy couple! The food was delicious as always! We have come to expect no less :)

The first picture is Hayden and Pap (my Dad) - doesn't she look adorable? These pictures are priceless to me, because there was a time not so long ago that Hayden wouldn't let either Granddaddy hold her, but those days are gone.



This picture is Hayden with Aunt Jennifer and soon to be Uncle Lyle - Hayden is not so sure about him yet :)



Papa playing with Hayden - she loves his facial hair!



And lastly Nan and Hayden after everyone had eaten. Hayden frequently gets lots of kisses!

Hayden's First Bridal Shower

Hayden's 1st Bridal Tea was this past weekend and to make everything even sweeter it was for her Aunt Jennifer! The weather was horrible outside, but it was a nice event for Jennifer and of course she looked beautiful. I was so proud of Hayden for behaving nicely. Actually she was picture perfect. The Tea was at Catoma Baptist Church and right off the room where the shower was held, was a huge basketball court that was empty. Hayden had a blast, she had never seen so much open space. She walked the entire floor and was all smiles. We had a great time!



Here is Hayden with the Bride-to-Be!

And of course here is Hayden's favorite face to make while smiling - just precious.

After a little while Hayden got hungry so Gram (my Mom) started letting Hayden sample some of the good food. She was not sure what to think about grapes, but since Hayden is not a picky eater, actually she eats everything including old food, dirt and rocks (I know) she decided it was ok.

And here she is with Nan (Brian and Jennifer's Mom) just about to eat a cracker.

Easter 2010

I wanted to take a quick picture of Hayden and Daddy on our way to Gram and Pap's for our Easter egg hunt and Lesley's birthday dinner.



Fun little family shot - Hayden's new face for pictures!



She had a great time playing with Reagan while visiting at Gram and Pap's house.




Hayden and her Gram - can't wait to watch this relationship, Hayden is in love!

Here is Hayden's loot from the Easter bunny. She did pretty well I must say, especially for her very first Easter!

She was trying to figure out if she could eat this, pretty much all she does with everything she gets her hands on these days - will it ever end???

Hayden's new face - every time I say "smile" she does this, too cute!

Here's Hayden playing with her new tweety bird from Nan and Papa, aunt Jennifer in the background! Wish now, that I had gotten more photos with Nan, Papa, and Aunt Jennifer. She had a fabulous time the whole weekend and we just love having people over, Hayden enjoyed showing off all afternoon!

Profound Sadness

I am struggling to write this post, but felt I should and ask everyone for your prayers. Yesterday afternoon around lunch time I was leaving a meeting in Birmingham at Legion Field and my cell phone rang. It was a good friend of mine, she started her conversation by saying "I am so sorry to have to call you, I have some really bad news and I hope it doesn't ruin your day", of course my stomach dropped and I said "ok, go on". She was calling to tell me that two very dear friends of mine had lost their 3 1/2 month old baby girl. This hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't hear much else of what she said and I don't remember driving home at all, I was in a complete fog. The Lord got me home safely because it certainly wasn't me, most all I did was cry the whole way home and talked to God. I do remember having to pull over because I needed a break, but after almost three hours I made it home. This is a drive that usually only takes me an hour and a half.

I don't really know any details, just that she woke up yesterday morning as a happy little baby, giggling and laughing. Her mommy dropped her off at daycare and at some point that morning they put her down for a nap in the crib and twenty minutes later they checked on her to find her unresponsive. The paramedics tried unsuccessfully for over an hour to revive her. My heart hurts!

Why do things like this happen? I have prayed non-stop for the comfort of this sweet family. I have prayed for her sweet life to mean something, for God to use this for His Glory! I know he will, but I still want to know Why this happened. As a mommy myself, I don't see how you survive this, but I know God does not put more on you than you can handle. As Christians we all know this and through him, all things are possible!

Since hearing the news I have thought so much about them. How do you wake up one morning with a happy baby and before the day is over have to start planning a funeral? Find a little baby casket and something beautiful to bury a child in? It doesn't seem fair!

These things happen everyday and there is always a reason, we have to Believe this! Please pray for this sweet and precious family, they certainly need to be lifted up in your prayers.

2 Years and Cotton

Today is Brian and I's 2 year anniversary! At the same time I feel like I can't believe it has already been two years and I can't believe it has only been two years. I can still vividly remember hoping and praying to find my soulmate, but my how that seems like so long ago. I feel as though Brian has been in my life forever and that makes me happy.

Brian and I met years and years ago while we were both out with our friends. I remember thinking how cute he was and how beautiful his eyes were. I can close my eyes and still picture him standing there and how I had butterflies in my tummy. We talked and he got my number and yes he called, but the timing was off for both of us. Years passed and I still thought him every now and again and wondered what he was doing or where he was and then low and behold in October of 2006 we ran into each other again. He was with the same group of guys that he had been with all those years before. When I saw him walk in I was determined to not let him slip away again, so I proceeded up to him and hugged his neck and promptly gave him my number (but only after I found out that he was single). Our first official date was that following Friday night, November 3, 2006. He picked me up at my house in Montgomery and we went to dinner at Bone Fish Grill and we talked for what seemed like forever. For those of you that know me well, you know that I am hard to read and it is even harder for me to open up my heart and let someone know how I am truly feeling. I had a wall around my heart and that was a hard wall to break down, so even though we had met back up Brian wasn't sure how I felt and he almost gave up on me, but thank goodness he didn't because here we are and the rest is history. Brian proposed to me on Thursday night, August 30th, 2007, and we were married seven months later on March 29, 2008, at Frazer UMC.

Enough history - for our anniversary celebrations I have wanted to follow the traditional gifts that you give each other each year. For instance on the 1st you give "paper" gifts. Brian and I (not creative) decided last year that we would give each other nice cards with our thoughts of the first year included. We went to dinner at Sommer's Place and then went and spent the night at the same place we did on our wedding night, the villas at Wynlakes. It was surreal walking in to the same place one year later. Exactly the same, yet so different because I was 7 months pregnant this time.

Anyway, this year the gift is "cotton" - we did follow this but decided to also venture off course a little. For Brian he picked out an outfit, shorts and a nice shirt, and for me I got myself a cotton skirt and top for Spring. But as a little extra I got Brian an I.O.U coupon book. This was just a little something cute and fun, it has 15 tear out coupons for Brian to hand to me whenever he wants something. These include breakfast in bed, a fancy dinner out, homemade dinner in, couch potato for the day, a massage, day of nature - you get the picture, just things that I would normally never do. And lastly I got us the book "Love Dare". This book is from the hit movie "Fireproof" and is suppose to be wonderful for your marriage. It is a 40-day challenge, includes devotionals for each day and a dare to go along with it. I am doing this first and sometime later in the year Brian will have his turn. I can't wait to see how this all turns out. I truly hope Brian sees a difference in me!

One last gift from Brian to me was a pair of pearl earings - I had no idea these were coming. Brian knows how much I have always wanted a pair of real pearl earings, but I never in a million years would have guessed he would have been so thoughtful and gotten these for me.

Happy Anniversary - can't wait to see what another year brings us.

And P.S. next year's gift is leather, this should be easy since I think it would be the perfect excuse to update our furniture in the den (just kidding Brian, don't have a heartattack)!!!

Not that you are interested, but here are a couple of pictures of us from our wedding and honeymoon - arrgh, I have been trying to add two photos for an hour and I can't figure out why it won't let me, maybe later.

Spring Break in Washington D.C.

Visiting with Congressman Mike Rogers - 3rd District

Visiting with Congressman Parker Griffith, he is an extremely nice man. I believe he represents the 1st District, this would include where my aunt Sherry lives in Florence. You would be proud to have someone like him representing your interests.

And finally visiting with Congressman Bobby Bright, he represents the 2nd Congressional District, my district, and yes while he is a Democrat, he voted NO on the healthcare bill as well. As a Democrat he was in the minority on this vote, but thought it was the best thing for our nation and State, thank you Congressman Bright.

Ok - so I don't really get a Spring Break, but it was that time of year last week while I was there. There is nothing quite like spring time in Washington, it is so beautiful and a sight to see if you have never been there during this time of year. The cherry blossoms are blooming and the weather is almost picture perfect. I have been to Washington too many times to count and each time I go I look forward to it. Now that I am working with ARPA I have to go each Spring to lobby and educate our delegation on the benefits of parks and recreation. You would be surprised to know how many people only think of little league when they think of parks and recreation, but it is so much more.

This year I had a little more down time and the weather was incredible, in the 70s the entire week I was there. I had a few meetings scattered here and there, but I was able to walk around and take in Capitol Hill, my favorite location. Most of you know that once upon a time I dreamed of living here. How different my life would have turned out if I would have taken that step. But as we all know God had different plans and those plans were far better than I ever could have dreamed. I love politics, actually I thrive on it, but last week I was thankful for my life here in Alabama. Politics in Washington is a way of life, they live it, breathe it and sleep it. It is really 24/7. And last week was no exception - while I was there it was only days before the historic healthcare bill was voted on. Don't get me started on this piece of legislation and you better believe when I was there I asked each and every Alabama member of the Senate and Congress their views. I wanted to make sure they were doing the right thing. They all looked tired and defeated and each one had a very strong opinion on it. They were all against this and couldn't believe that in today's economic situation that this bill was likely to pass. I was proud to be an Alabamian, they all voted NO.

I didn't take any touristy pictures, wish I would have, but I did get a few with our representatives.

Where does the time go?

The older I get the more time seems to just fly by. I will never forget while in high school, an older teenager and I were talking and she told me as I was wishing my life away, that once you hit 16, the years just seem to all run together. This has never seemed more true. I vaguely remember the last few years of high school, my college years, or the years since. I can say that my time at Auburn seemed to past by all too quickly (although I am sure my parents would not say the same thing). I can't believe I was there for 5 years and now they are gone in the blink of an eye, nothing left but memories.

On with the reason for this post...I can't believe Hayden's 1st birthday is quickly approaching! Brian and I are planning on converting the back guest bedroom into her playroom. It isn't that she really needs this playroom, because I am sure she will still be in the den with us all the time, but we really need some more space to store all of her toys. Our den/family room is starting to look like a toy store and I am always stepping over toys, diapers, clothes, burp cloths, etc. I can't wait to get her little room in order.

We love our house, but one of my major gripes about it is the size of the 3 other bedrooms (the master is heavenly). They are all so small and there really isn't enough room for all the big plans I have for them. But I wanted to give you an idea of a few of the things I am planning on doing for her playroom.


First we are going to move the bed and night stand out. I am going to leave the dresser in there for some extra clothing storage for her. Next we are going to get her a tv and dvd player for all her movies - she already has almost all of the disney movies and I am sure we will start collecting other little toddler movies soon. I bought her a monkey rug for the floor for Christmas and we have plans to get her very own chair, with her name on it - here is a picture of the one we are going to order: Here is the picture of her rug that we got her for Christmas and an example of why we really do "need" this playroom.


And a similar toy box/chest for her room.


And finally my favorite part - a couple of months ago I was out at Hobby Lobby while looking for picture frames and ran across some vinyl lettering for the walls and couldn't resist buying this one. I love the way these look in homes, how they looked hand-painted on the walls. I hope this one turns out. The one I bought is not this color, but more neutral and brown a perfect match for our house.



I can't wait to see how it all turns out - I am sure it will only stay nice and neat for a few days, but this will be after all Hayden's room, not mine. I hope she loves it, because we sure love her!>