Corine has been working really hard on getting our wedding video done and I’m so excited about it! I love that we’re getting to see it so close to our anniversary, it brings back all of the wonderful memories of that day! So far, she has a wedding recap video online and its so awesome! Wade and I laughed and smiled through the whole thing. Its beautiful, touching, funny, sad (to see Hayden so small)… thank you so much Corine for working so hard on our video!
Family visits January 3, 2008
As I mentioned before, Wade’s family was in, visiting from Charlotte, NC. They stayed for a long weekend and we had a nice time with them. Hayden had a blast while they were here, he was constantly dragging them into his room to play. As we usually do, we ate a lot while they were here 
Wade cooked a delicious seafood gumbo their first night and we had steaks on the grill another night and Tampico’s take-out (YUM!) They also went to eat boiled crawfish another night, but Hayden and I just wen to Sonic They were able to come to Lafayette for Ethan’s baptism and after lunch at Harbor Seafood (remind me not to go there again, I didn’t enjoy it too much) they flew back home on New Year’s Eve. We hope they can all visit again soon and maybe we can convince Wade to take a trip up there
I took these and some others on Saturday when Jess was able to come visit. It isn’t often that they are all together, so Ms. Tammy asked me to take some. I wish I had a different location, the fence in the background aggravates me! But other than that, I thought they came out cute.
After we had lunch, Wade, Hayden and I headed to the Westbank to see my mom and dad and to pick up my new glasses (I’ll have to take some pics) The three of us were going to go to the camp for NYE, but Hayden was so exhausted from the holidays, that we decided to ask my parents if he could stay with them. They were happy to do it, so Wade and I headed to the camp for a quiet NYE. We sat around a bonfire, drank a little and popped fireworks. We were in bed shortly after midnight. Next year, I really want to take Hayden with us, I think he would have enjoyed running around the camp with the other kids there and watching the fireworks.
NYD we had a yummy traditional meal (cabbage rolls, black eyed peas, pork roast) and then headed home, all 3 of us absolutely exhausted. Wanna know how tired I was? Well, I NEVER rent or watch movies, I’d rather sit around on my computer and work or surf the net, but Tuesday night, I was too tired to even do that. I rented 4 movies and set Hayden up with his DVD player next to me on the bed and we watched movies for a few hours while Wade watched football. So far, I’ve watched The Heartbreak Kid (VERY funny) and The Nanny Diaries (cute, I only got it b/c I read the book). And I’m halfway through I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Wade and I will probably finish them this weekend, if there isn’t too much football on
Christmas Day December 25, 2007
Our Christmas day began at about 8am when Hayden woke up and came into our bed. We asked him if he wanted to get up and see if Santa came and he said, “no!” lol Wade went into the living room to turn on the lights and get the video camera read while I changed Hayden’s diaper, then we sent him out into the living room. At first he kind of just stood there, and looked around. He spotted his Cars case first, and played with that for a few minutes. He grabbed one of the cards and yelled, “Flo!” … I didn’t think he’d know that character! Then we started to point him to other toys – he got lots of goodies – a train table, art easel with tons of supplies, a TV gaming system, Elmo laptop, Play Doh, and a Mr. Potato head family, which I think is his favorite. He’s been playing with “tato-head” all day! He really loved his train table, too, and has played with that a lot. I think his favorites are the train table, Cars and Potato Head, though he played with his T-ball set a bunch, too. He also got a fishing pole from daddy, which he has also been playing with a lot as well as a Mickey Mouse doll from both of us.
After Hayden had opened all of his gifts and was playing with his stuff, Wade and I exchanged our gifts. We both really got lots of stuff this year. Wade is such a thoughtful, good gift giver. He did a lot of research to pick out just the right things for me. He got me tons of photography stuff including books, filters, props, oh and my flash! Which he tricked me into thinking he didn’t get. I got him a Dremel tool kit, crawfish boiler, turkey fryer and lots of framcd photos for his office as well as some smaller items. We spent the morning relaxing and checking out all of our new “toys.” We got dressed and headed to his mimi’s house in Metairie at about noon and we spent a couple of hours there. Hayden got even more great toys there, including some Melissa and Doug puzzles and blocks, a Curious George book and Thomas DVD and some money. We had to bring his “tato-head” with us in the car, too lol.
I’m looking around and realizing that we’re entering the stage where toys have tons of pieces. I really need to get Hayden a book case and tons of plastic containers so we can keep everything nice and organized. I can’t stand when pieces of toys get spread all over the house. At least once a week I go through Hayden’s room and the living room and make sure that all toy pieces are together in the same spot. Its going to get harder and harder with all these new toys!
So now, we’re exhausted, but happy. Hayden is just getting out of the tub and will be going to bed soon. We have one day to recouperate and get things cleaned up for Gigi, Gramps and Uncle Corey to come. Hayden is so excited that they are coming. He hasn’t seen Gramps and Uncle Corey in 6 months, they aren’t going to believe how much he’s changed!
Christmas Eve December 25, 2007
What a great Christmas it has been! Hayden was at such a fun age this year and I know it will only get better as he gets older! Christmas Eve was spent at our house, so it was laid back and relaxed. We spent the early part of the day cleaning, cooking and getting ready for my mom, dad, sister, Chad, Ethan and Chad’s brother to come over. We had such delicious food! Wade and I cooked roast tenderloin, homemade mashed potatoes, baked macaroni and green bean casserole. Everyone came over at about 3:30 and we all ate immediately because we were starved! After dinner, we exchanged gifts, and we all got some really nice things! I was shocked when I opened my first gift from mom and dad and it was my backdrop stand! Then the next one was a pocket bounce for my flash and then a lite dome … apparently, Wade had sent my B&H wish list to my mom, so she got me these from my list. I was so excited! I love photography goodies! I also got some beautiful fleur de lis necklaces and a bracelet and a few other things. Hayden got a lot of great things as well. He got a basketball goal, which he is so cute playing with, I’ll have to take some pictures of him tomorrow. He got a really cute Elmo garage and car set from nanny and lots of other toys from grammy and grandpa. Ethan also racked up for his first Christmas! About an hour or so after we opened the gifts, we were all sitting around, wondering what to do next and Wade was putting out all of the trash. There was a black garbage bag by the door and when he looked in it, it was filled with more presents! Apparently, mom had forgotten about them, so Ethan and Hayden got even more lol! What was really funny was that Hayden’s portable DVD player was in there and none of us noticed when he didn’t open it the first round of presents!
Everyone packed up and headed to Mandy’s house not long after that. We were all so exhausted already from the weekend, but we still had more celebrating to do! Wade and I let Hayden watch a dvd on his new player and then finally put him to bed about 8pm. We were surprised when he actually went to bed the first time! We had told him Santa wouldn’t come unless he went right to sleep and before he went to bed we put out cookies and milk and told him Santa was coming through the fireplace. Wade and I spent the rest of the night drinking wine and relaxing, just spending some quiet time together before we headed to bed pretty early ourselves. Sorry I was seriously lacking in the picture taking on Christmas Eve, I only have a handful of pictures!
Hayden opening his gift from Nanny
Ethan opening his gift from us
Our living room after Santa came!
More Christmas party pics December 24, 2007
Our family got together at my mom’s house yesterday to celebrate Christmas and it was really a fun day. Its always nice to have so much of our large family get together in one place. We even had Brad, Heidi and little Laken with us this year! I haven’t seen them since Laken was first born, 3 years ago! We also got to meet baby Aiden, Blake and Kristen’s new and very gorgeous little guy. We had so many kids and babies this year, our family is growing so much! We did miss the Livingstons, though as well as Jenny and Robbie with their family and Aunt Cindy. It wasn’t quite the same without you guys, I hope you all have a great Christmas! We had so much good food, including a yummy fried turkey that my dad made. And sweets, did we have sweets!!! And I made some coffee punch, which I had first had at Corine’s baby shower … it was a big hit!
Hayden got so many nice things from everyone, so thank you all so much. He loves all of his new toys and goodies! He had such a great time playing with all his cousins, too.
My handsome little man:
Mandy and Eleni
Playing his harmonica, which we had to take away b/c it got so annoying lol
So happy with their grandchildren!
Hayden playing with one of his favorite gifts, a bag full of dinosaurs
Ethan practicing his new skill of spitting lol
I know, we’re mean, but you know you are laughing out loud, too!
I know I’m biased, but he’s the most gorgeous baby EVER (except for Hayden )
Beautiful baby Ivana, chewing away on that finger
Our newest little guy, Aiden and his daddy … look at those gorgeous blue eyes!
The newest members of our family
The sweetest little girls
Laken is such a doll and she loves babies!
More family pictures here:
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| Christmas 2007 |
And some more of our Christmas baby photos here.
Let the festivities begin! December 24, 2007
Hayden and I got to New Orleans Friday afternoon which started a looooonnnnggg weekend of Christmas festivities. Don’t believe me about how long and tiring they were? Its now 10am on Monday and Hayden is STILL SLEEPING!! Friday night was relatively relaxing and calm. It was just Hayden and I with my parents, so we had a yummy dinner at Lil’ G’s and then settled down to watch tv and relax. The next day was full of running errands and preparing for our family Christmas party on Sunday as well as our girl’s Christmas party on Saturday night.
The girl’s Christmas party is an annual tradition that I look forward to every year. All of my girlfriend’s from high school get together every year to have dinner and do a gift exchange. This is the 3rd year that I’ve been attending and it really is such a great time every year. This year we had the party at Courtney’s house, Rebecca’s younger sister. We had delicious roast (made by Rachel’s husband, thank you Jimmy!), yams, macaroni, cheesy potatoes, artichoke casserole (thanks mom, it was a hit!), dirt cake (I had two helpings, Rebecca, send me that recipe!), cheesecake and of course, wine. Our gift exchange actually got a little hostile this year, for the first time! We do the naughty Santa game where everyone brings a gift and we all pick one to open. The first year I went, only one person stole a gift (Courtney) and we teased her about it b/c she stole from Maggie, who had just lost most of her stuff in Katrina just a few months before. (We love you Court!) So last year, no one stole gifts from each other. This year was a different story. There were so many great gifts that everyone wanted everything! I wouldn’t have stolen any if my original gift, a beautiful picture frame (we all know how much I can use those!) wasn’t taken from me. So of course, I then had to steal this awesome fleur de lis suitcase from Dana, which she had stolen from Courtney. In the end, though, everyone wound up with gifts they loved, which is always the case anyway.
We also got to spend time with Quinlan, Dana’s beautiful new baby girl, who is an absolute doll. It was great to have here there and we passed her around like a little prop, taking pictures with her!
From left to right: Courtney, Rebecca’s sister, Rebecca, who I’ve know and been good friends with since our Key Club days in high school, me, who looks funny b/c I set the timer and ran into the picture, Renee, another good friend who I’ve known since high school, Andrea, Rachel’s SIL, down in from from left to right, Tobie, Rachel and Dana, all good friends who I’ve know from high school, Quinlan, Dana’s 4 month old baby girl and Dana, Rebecca’s best friend from high school.
I love love love Quinlan’s expression in this picture lol
Sorry we didn’t get a pic of you and I together Bec! I guess we’ll have to get together again soon so we can get one
The rest of our party pictures can be found here: Girl’s Christmas Dinner
And here are some more pictures of Quinlan that I took: Quinlan’s Christmas Pictures
Corine’s Shower July 29, 2007
Today was Corine’s shower and it was really nice and went well. Saturday night we all got together to do all the food and get things set up. Dayna did a great job with all the planning and had chosen a tea theme, so we made all kinds of tea sandwiches and Dayna had made different types of scones. It was all really nice and the cake was TOO CUTE (and so yummy!) Corine got so many nice things, I think they are all set for Ethan’s appearance! I didn’t take any pics, but Corine’s husband was there and I’m sure he got plenty, I can’t wait to see them.
Friday night I finally got to see the new Harry Potter movie, though I didn’t enjoy the experience. Mom and I went to a late show and had a bunch of idiots were behind us that talked the whole time. We finally yelled at them and moved halfway through. The movie was pretty good, not my fave, but I think once I see it again I may like it more.
I’m also about midway through book 7 and its SO HARD to put it down! Wade took our copy to the camp this weekend so I didn’t read it, but mom had a copy and I couldn’t help myself! I try so hard to take my time and read it slow, but I just can’t, its way too action packed!
Back from our honeymoon! June 6, 2007
We just returned from our honeymoon in Jamaica on Sunday and it was wonderful! We spent 7 days at Sandals Whitehouse, which is a beautiful resort! The weather was pretty crappy when we first arrived on Sunday afternoon and after a 2 hour bus ride through Jamaica, which is a very poor country, we were a little depressed, tired and shell-shocked once we arrived at the resort. We had a late dinner at Bayside, which was very good. I had lobster bisque and chicken cordon bleu and Wade had a NY Strip. We also had our first pina coladas which were SO GOOD! They add a shot of dark rum to the top of it and at first I was nervous, but once you taste the rum, you are hooked! It has the best taste, I could probably drink it straight (if I had to lol)
The next day, we headed out for a buffet breakfast at Bayside, then found a spot by the main pool. We spent the morning reading and drinking more fruity blended drinks. We were able to try all sorts of different drinks – Dirty Banana, Hummingbird, Jamaican Smile, Miami Vice – all of them are good and most of them taste just like smoothies, so you really don’t get hungry if you are drinking throughout the day. For lunch, it was jerk chicken at Bluefield’s along with some more fruity drinks! Every Monday night they have a Caribbean buffet at Bayside along with music, dancing and a show. The buffet was ok, we quickly figured out that most of the buffets weren’t good and didn’t really find much we liked on them. We saw they were making drinks in real coconuts so Wade tried one, but it wasn’t good – it was just coconut water and rum, tasted like watered down rum, yuck! After the buffet, we watched a steel drum band from Kingston. The guys with them were so funny the way they would dance. After the band they had all these weird acts that reminded me of being in the Quarter – there was a unicycler, some guy that danced over bamboo poles and a balancing act. We left after a little while because we were tired.
Tuesday morning we again spent the day at the main pool and on the beach. Wade bought some masks and we dove around some rocks, where he found all kinds of interesting stuff. He was like a big kid! I was afraid he’d get his hand bitten off by something b/c he kept sticking it into holes trying to grab spiny lobsters. I believe we had Eleanor’s for breakfast that morning – French toast, bacon, eggs, etc. We wound up liking this place better than the buffet and ate here often. For lunch we tried Arizona’s, a Tex-Mex place, which was not very good. They had good nachos for 2, though, which we enjoyed. That night we were so tired, we just went to dinner at Giuseppe’s, the Italian restaurant. Our meal that night was ok, Wade liked his chicken parm, but my spaghetti wasn’t good. The dessert though was WONDERFUL! Wade had tirimisu and I had a chocolate canoli, yum! We stopped by the White Night party, but I was too tired to dance or anything, so we headed back to the room.
I know not everyone will be interested in this long review of our trip, but I want it for future reference I’m going to take my time posting, though, bits at a time, so for now, enjoy the pics!
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| Honeymoon in Jamaica |
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