Keeneland in KY

Sarah, Hayes and I made the trek to Kentucky for some races at Keeneland and a wild weekend with the boys. It is such fun having nephews that are super close in age--and yes, it's wild. My face usually hurts from smiling after spending time with them! The boys had a blast playing together, and thanks to Jeremy, the sisters did too!

Luke, such a big boy!

Hayes, distracted with new toys

Joseph, super excited to have a friend his age

We got up super early for Breakfast with the Works, a buffet with games and prizes for kiddos. You also get to watch the horses/jockeys warm up for the day's races. It's not very crowded (though pretty chilly!) and it is nice to see the track and facilities. The jockeys parade the horses around the Paddock, and kids have a chance to pet them. It really was a nice morning.








After our breakfast, we headed out to Luke's soccer game. It was his last of the season so he was super excited to have his family there. What a great soccer game to watch--Luke scored his first goal of the season! Way to go Luke! We had fun watching you!!



After our morning activities, it was NAP TIME (notice Hayes is MIA in all of the pictures!). While the boys slept, Jeremy treated the sisiters to an afternoon together. So, we headed back to Keeneland and attempted to take on the track. I am glad we went this morning because it was super crowded! I couldn't believe it! Thank goodness we lucked into an awesome seat, trackside, and parked it there for the afternoon. Though we did not win big, we did have a great time together. Thanks Cate and Jeremy for a great weekend! I LOVED it!

Roll Tide Road Trip

Off we went to T-town for the Alabama/Ole Miss football game...and what a great weekend we had! We enjoyed seeing family and friends, and even better, sharing our great news with them in person. We went straight to Brad and Bentley's tailgate. I wore my new "Bama Baby" t-shirt to announce the newest fan in attendance. It was such fun to see the reaction of others--especially since I'm not really showing yet. I enjoyed seeing my godsister, Adrienne, and getting a big hug from her. My best friend Dana (who had NO IDEA) cried--so I cried! And her parents were there, and made it even more special to share with them, too. I loved it! Oh, and the football fanfare was exciting, too. It was Alabama's Homecoming, so the festivities were even more intense. We walked around and looked at the decorations (I have vivid memories of hours and hours of "pomping" tissue paper into chicken wire!). Scott and I also got interviewed for some random internet tv show since we had a House Divided. The game itself was great (from my perspective!), and it was wild to be back in Bryant Denny. That stadium is HUGE and LOUD. I LOVED it! What a great weekened :)

Lots of new posts....

Read below. I've caught you up with HALF of October. I'm too tired now to update any more, but will do a little each night this week. I lost the fancy card reader thingy that uploads my pictures and finally treated myself to another one this week. Who knew it only cost $8.00?!?!

Bama Bound....via Booneville

Know the crazy part about telling our families about our baby? After sharing the news, we told them that the secret was now THEIRS to keep! My mom about died. A few days later, she told me that she did not like having to keep this to herself. I totally understood since I had kept it quiet for 3 months! We just wanted to wait a few more weeks so that we could personally tell our close friends.

So, after a FEW phone calls to friends and giddy conversations with bosses, it was time to head to T-town to share the news with my college friends. We stopped in Booneville on the way and stayed a night with Scott's parents. Never a dull moment in Booneville.

We went to the Booneville/Kossuth football game. Scott wanted to see his high school team in action for the first time in 15 or so years. So, date night in the big city of Kossuth (population 170 in the 2000 census. No lie. Found that on Wikipedia!). At the game, I was STARVING. Guess what they offered for a low price (this is no SEC concession stand!)? FRIED OREOS. Wow. I stuck with popcorn.

Just so I have record of it....Papa chases down this pesky guy at the Farm.


I love my purse-sized camera!

Big Brother

Many people have asked if Mo knows about his new role as Big Brother. He has been well informed, however, as you can tell from the last picture, I don't think he has any intention to share anything of his....toys, house, parents, attention. Good thing we have many months to prepare him!

Birthday Dinner

A fun photograph of me and Scott from my birthday weekend....dinner with the local Sloan family at Taylor.

Happy Birthday Mary!

After the wild weekend (or month) that was my 30th birthday celebration, Scott and I thought it would be nice to host a dinner party for our family and dear friends. We wanted to have company since we'd been working hard on our house...and we thought it would be most relaxing to visit at home rather than try to fight a night out with 20 or so people. So, once the decision was made, Scott invited our company (my family and his family as well as our wonderful family friends, the Ashmores). Then we got busy planning! Who knew that a big dinner party would have so many things to consider--like plates, glasses and utensils! We had the food covered (yes, we catered out!), but did not realize how challenging it would be to have 13 adults and 3 children over for dinner! I bought and borrowed several items and we collected tables and chairs....and somehow, we managed to have a lovely and very comfortable dinner party. It was such fun! I LOVED having my closest loved ones gathered under my roof. I did miss those that couldn't make it--and will consider another dinner party in the future...maybe next year!

Awaiting our company. Momma and Luke surprised me by delivering balloons to our house at some point in the day. He thought it was so funny that the balloons popped as Reese (my Momma) was wrestling them from the car to the funky flower yard art. As you can tell from the mass of strings, there were SEVERAL more balloons when the surprise started...

Some of the seating...LOVE our open and roomy house!

A house divided. My cake showed my love for BOTH of my alma maters. I think Momma was trying to make up for last year's Denny Chimes cake!

A little help with the wish.

The entire gang (minus the photographer, Scott):

Now, look closely at this photograph. I, the birthday girl, am grinning so hard I might pop. And everyone is smiling beautifully. Except for Jeffrey, who has quite an expression--WH-HUH-AAAAT?!? This is because, our photographer, pulled a great prank on the group. He got everyone gathered together, and then counted, "1, 2....everyone say 'APRIL 15!'...." After a confused mumble combined with some wise cracks about Tax Day, Scott yelled "Because that's the day Mary is having our baby!!" P-A-U-S-E. And Scott gave up waiting on the reaction shot, so he snapped the picture, only to have the freak-out he was waiting for the second AFTER the photograph was taken....oh well! The picture is still priceless.

And, YES, we're having a baby!!!!!!!!! Sharing this news, after telling NO ONE for 3 months, with our families was amazing! I have never been so happy and surrounded by love.

Many more baby updates to come...and now you see why I took a hiatus from the blog...

Sunday Drive

A recent Sunday drive to our cabin...Mo misses his friends!!

Football = Family and Friends

SEC Football!
As you know by now, Scott and I both love football. Although it wasn't a grand season at Ole Miss we did enjoy some fun time with family and friends!

Why does this not surprise me in the least?!?


Wild and wonderful nephews--it's crazy to think that Scott and I have SIX nephews!!! We LOVE our boys and always have a good time with them...of all the roles I play, I believe I enjoy being an AUNT the most! We are so blessed :)


A good buddy, Paul, in the Grove. Scott and Paul went to high school together. He now lives in Oxford and we hang out often.