Family Fun

We just recently took a trip to Baton Rouge. I wanted to share some family pics with all of you. Baton Rouge is always a tricky trip b/c we have Justin's family who live there and my sister with her kids. Splitting our time evenly and feeling like we got to see everybody is always a challenge but we always try to cherish the time we have with both families when we do see them.

G-maw (Justin's mom). Of course Briggs is all smiles and thinks his hat she got him is funny.


Pa-Paw (Justin's dad) with Briggs. Briggs has this face like... what in the world is going on...but he is all ready for the LSU game.


Uncle Landon (Justin's brother) is FINALLY holding baby Briggs. Landon isn't too excited about holding the little bitty babies but when they are at the fun age like Briggs is...it's his little buddy.


Rah-Rah (my mom) came into town to help Abby with her two boys. My mom was in grandma heaven with all these grandbabies. Here is a pic of her with the two smallest ones. Brooks (Abby's baby) is on the left and Briggs (my baby) is on the right. These two little chunkers are just one week apart and are already best friends (they just don't know it yet).


Here are me and Abs with our babies. We love getting them all together. Everybody in their LSU gear and ready for the game. And your eyes are not tricking you...I am holding her baby and she is holding mine. We pretty much swap babies as soon as we see each other so we can love on them both.


And here are the three babies. From left to right...Brooks, Cade and Briggs. Cade is the oldest and the trouble maker of the group...SO FAR. Can't wait to see what the future has for these three....they are already so much fun to have together.


So there are the pics of all the family so far. It was a fast weekend but we always leave amazed at what we can cram into one weekend in Baton Rouge. We are about to take a trip to Florida to see my parents and brother so there are more family pics to come.

My Favorite Things I ♥ - Part 1

Here are some random things...and yes they are random...but try to follow...

I know the picture of this baby is PRECIOUS...but try to look past my sleepy little buddy and notice the pacifier in his cute little mouth...that would be a "glow in the dark" paci. Perfect for in the middle of the night when IF your baby wakes up and you're fishing in the bed for a pacifier.


This is a stain stick...it's basically a bar of soap and I'm telling you...this bar can get almost anything out of clothes. Since Briggs has been here...we have gotten to put this bar to use and it has proven true to all the tests so far.

In this picture you are focusing on the blue thing around the bottle with Briggs' name on it. It's called an inchbug label. Word on the street is...a mom came up with this little contraption that slides on your bottles, sippy cups...you can fill in the blank. It has your child's name on it and helps to identify their cup with all the other little cups it can get mixed up with (at daycare, church nursery, etc.)


This was my "back to work" present that my husband bought me indirectly. He told me I could get a "treat" and since he makes the moolah around here....I picked it out and made the purchase but he was so pleased with the gift I bought for him...not really :)
Anyway...every girl has to have a good bag/purse and I LOVE this thing! It has so many compartments, it's cute, the color is neutral and it holds a lot.

Tasty Tuesday - Chicken Puffs

Chicken Puffs

3 oz cream cheese
3 T melted butter
1 can chicken
1 tsp chopped onion
2 T milk
1 package crescent rolls

Mix cream cheese and butter. Mix remaining ingredients. Make 4 rectangles out of the crescent rolls (smoosh the perforated edges on two of the crescent rolls to make one rectangle). Put the mixture in each one. Pull up the corners of each rectangle and twist over the top. Bake 350 for 25 minutes.

Your final product should look something like this. It sounds a whole lot more complicated than it really is. Basically...just put the mixture inside the crescent rolls and close it up, then cook.

Birthday Boy

It is here...the big 3...0...! I still remember 10 years ago when we were starting our twenties. Oh how they time flies by and to think of all the things we have come through...mountains, valleys and everything in between. We have so many great memories together and today was just another one to add to the books. Here is a little glimpse of Justin's day...

I surprised him at work with a cookie cake and birthday boy hat. Some random guy helped me get into his office (because all the doors are locked without a key card), I had the candles lit and since no one had much notice except me walking through the office with a cookie cake, cardboard box and 30 candles smoking...no joke...I was singing happy birthday all by myself with a trickling of his coworkers following the smoke...but it was all good. No fire alarms went off...thank goodness. He was surprised :)


And just for the record...he wore his birthday boy hat all day and started a new tradition at the office...effective immediately...everybody has to wear the "birthday hat" on their birthday...we will see how that goes :)

Then I had decorated his car...wanted to make sure everybody knew it was his birthday and THIRTY at that :)


Then I crashed his lunch with his friend Lee from work. J's pick is Momma Goldbergs. He would seriously eat there every day if he could. I think it was suppose to be a guys lunch...but they got a plus one. We had fun though.


Then he gets home just in time to play with little buddy for a little bit and he got to love on him a little bit before bedtime. These pics melt my heart. Makes me want to have ten more babies with that man.


And to finish off a fun day...We had planned on going out to eat, but it's a little more complicated these days with Briggs. He eats right in the middle of when we would be eating so it wouldn't be much of a celebration together. One of us would be feeding, burping and rocking the baby. Dinner will be another night very soon for just the two of us...so tonight we settled for Chic-fil-a and a netflix movie. Which was Justin's pick..I know..he is so complicated...JOKING!


Well that was his day in a nutshell. When I asked him how his day was...he said it was full of surprises and more than he could have asked for. I'm so thankful for the husband, best friend and father that he is. Can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays together.

Play Group

I wish there was a better picture to illustrate this post...but try getting 4 babies in one picture without anyone crying or falling over...definitely the challenge for the day :)

But anyway...you get the idea...here are some of our new friends. From left to right: Annie, Smith, Briggs, and Grayson.


This is our second time to attend this playgroup. It's been fun getting to know other moms and their babies. You might be asking yourself...what does one do at a play group. Ha...well seems that none of us were quite sure either when this group formed. I think the invite email said something to the effect of..."I've never been a part of a playgroup and I'm not sure what you do at one, but bring your babies and we will figure it out"

So thanks to Tiffany who gathered us all together and got this off the ground. Briggs and I have definitely enjoyed visiting with other mommies and babies. As Justin says...it's more for the moms to socialize...NOT QUITE JUSTIN! I mean...there is some critical information shared at these gatherings :) Does it count that most of us are first time moms who don't have too much experience with this motherhood thing :) Seriously...it does help to know other people struggle with the same things you do every day. Maybe a better name would be "support group", or at least until our babies are old enough to actually play together...haha.

More than anything it's great to share life with these ladies and learn about their stories, watch our babies grow together, and encourage one another. We just hang out for however long...everyone usually gets fed (adults included), changed and have a nap in that timeframe. We have had some good times already and look forward to many more to come.

Tasty Tuesday - Banana Pudding

One of the staple desserts in the south is definitely Banana Pudding. I wanted to share a recipe that I often get special requests to bring to functions, friends birthday parties, etc... I will give you a tip..in order to make this work out right, you gotta get yourself one of these bad boys (a KitchenAid mixer). My grandmother gave me this, and it makes a serious difference when you're cooking/baking recipes.

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding
Paula Deen

1 12oz container frozen whipped topping, thawed (I have used an 8 oz and it tastes just as good)
1 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 5 oz box instant vanilla pudding
2 C milk
6-8 bananas
2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies

Line the bottom of a 13x9 dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top ( I usually can't get a whole bag on bottom)

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, (I prefer using the KitchenAid Mixer), combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. I have tried this recipe multiple times without the Mixer and it is very hard to get the cream cheese mixed without lumps by hand. Note: make sure the cream cheese is VERY SOFT or it won't mix well. And as much as I hate to say it...go ahead and use the real stuff, not fat free. It makes a difference in this recipe. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies (I always have a few cookies left over).

Your final project should look a little something like this:

Tip: I have used other fruit besides just bananas in this dish. I have added strawberries and blueberries and it was really yummy.

Race Ready

Well we did it...our first official 5k race was this morning. It was such a great event in Homewood, AL. Our race was to benefit Camp Smile-A-Mile which is a really neat organization that allows children with cancer or who have had cancer, to participate in the camping experience. Briggs and i were honored to be able to participate and support the cause.

Here is picture when we were about to leave at 6:30 AM to get to our race...


And here is our little man...all smiles...and in his baby armour. Check out his sweat bands...cracks me up every time I look at this picture. A friends sent us that outfit and it was PERFECT for our race today :)


Here we are in a group of runners... thumbs up and smiles from mommy.


And here we are after it was over. Still smiling. Briggs and I run/walk our neighborhood almost every morning so I wasn't concerned about not finishing. We often go further than 3.1 miles a day...I was just trying to not be last :) I will say, it was pretty challenging in the sense that there were some pretty steep hills on the course. Our neighborhood is very flat...so making it up those bad boys was a challenge and then with a jogging stroller...yeah. There were a ton of people and it was interesting trying to weave in and out of people during the race...but we did it and didn't run over anybody.


This is pretty typical from our running in the neighborhood...it puts the sleeper hold on little buddy. This ride was a little more bumpy than our neighborhood course and I think it made him sleep even that much harder. We made sure his belly was full and his diaper was changed...he was down for the count (his little hood even fell down on his eyes and he didn't even flinch...haha).


And here we are just after the run...he is sacked out and I'm all sweaty...but is was very fun. We got some flyers for more upcoming 5k races in the Birmingham area (and are stroller friendly)...so looks like we may have more of these in our future.


Justin and I love the Homewood area. If any of you are looking for a nice, low key area to hang out..this is your place. Because the weather was so great, we ended up walking over to the main strip after the race. We had such a good day... got some lunch and just hung out. It's a very family friendly area. People walking, running, kids everywhere, people with their dogs, lots of good food, little shops to look around... It's a great little area of Birmingham. We love the style down there...but I will say, the old sidewalks and uneven surfaces can make for a challenging trip without a jogging stroller. I have been out there with my Snap-n-Go stroller and it's pretty challenging to get in and out of the door thresholds and on and off the sidewalks. Thankfully we had our jogging stroller today and that puppy will roll over anything. Either way..it was a great day and we still love Homewood with their uneven surfaces and lack of sidewalk ramps.