Babies Everywhere!

This weekend I had the privelege of spending time with three new little ones and some old friends I haven't seen in months.

Natasha and Chris brought their new baby girl to church for Easter for the first time on Sunday. Reid is holding his new little sister in her pretty pink blanket.

On Monday we met my friends Mandy, Candice and Stacey at Olive Garden in Pensacola. Mandy had just flown in from Arkansas and Candice had come to pick her up and take her to her parent's house. So we all made it a gathering of the mommies...plus Ron.

The second baby is John Paul Jones, Mandy's first baby. The third pic is of Remington Cade Jackson-Montague, Candice's third child. John Paul and Remy were born on the same day in January and they both look just like their mommies...at least for now. The fourth pic is of Blake Van Houten (20 months), Stacey's little boy. I snagged this photo before his spaghetti arrived. I haven't seen him since he was two weeks old when I went to Crestview to help Stacey with him after he was born. His big sister Allison was also there and has grown so much since I saw her last year. She's four but is really tall. The last pic is of the whole group. Ron was gracious enough to take it at the restaurant for us before we all piled in our cars and went our separate ways. That's me, Kady, Stacey, Blake, Remy, Candice, Allison, Mandy and John Paul. It's a miracle we got the toddlers to sit still long enough to take a picture.

Easter 2009

Well it was Kady's second Easter but the first year she ever got to hunt Easter eggs. We had a practice run at our church the weekend before. By the time we got to Grandmother Dean's, she was an expert hunter. She figured out really quickly that we were looking for colorful "balls" (her favorite thing as of late) and that those fit in her basket just a well as sticks and leaves and whatever else she could find. The top two pics were of the egg hunt. After the third egg, Kady decided to investigate what was really in her basket and popped a squat right under the clothesline. Papa Gene helped her. It's amazing he can still crawl around on the ground like he does.

She was a little cranky since she had her 15 month shots two days earlier. So getting pictures was a hit and miss. She's blowing kisses in the third picture. The fourth one is of Papa with all his great-grandbabies. He's holding Lily, Chris and Natasha's new baby girl. Reid is holding John Luke, who is his little shadow, and I had to hold Kady since she was being so finicky. The last one is right after the horrible, 35 second ride from the church to Grandmother's house. She hates being strapped into the carseat, but juice always seems to do the trick.

We also had Emma Lynn, my cousin Keith's little girl, Emma's brother and their mother, Christy. Keith is in Iraq and will be home next month. She and John Luke had the most fun with the egg hunt. Kady was in her own little world.

As an Easter gift, Kady's sitter Karen gave her a big cardboard page book called "The Easter Story". We've been 'reading' it but you know how that goes with a toddler. I can't wait to teach her the real meaning behind Easter and the rest of Holy Week. Without Easter, Christmas just doesn't mean a whole lot.

Kady's Mississippi Birthday Party

Kady had two parties. One at Nanna and Papa's house and one in Mississippi at our church. We had a pretty good turn out. I decided to do cupcakes instead of a cake. The big one on top was hers. You can see by the pictures she had a pretty good time destroying it. In the teddy bear picture you can see her sleeve is covered in icing. The one of her feeding Ron is really cute too. She got a beautiful pink and black dress, a couple other outfits, two stuffed animals, a toy dog with a pull string, an activity chair, sandbox toys and a push/ride-on toy. She's used the activity chair so much it already needs new batteries. I ordered her sandbox a couple of weeks ago but it hasn't come in yet. I'll haveto post the pictures from Nanna and Papa's house next.

Kady's One Year Photos

I realize it's been WAY too long since I last posted a blog so here are Kady's one year photos. My friend Anna works for a local paper and is trying to start her own photography studio. She met me at Landrum's Country last week in Ellisville to take these. I wish I could post them all! We changed Kady's clothes about 4 times. I asked Anna to only post the best ones because I would never be able to choose. And I was right. They're not all black and white. These were just some of my favorites. The ones in the blue dress were the best. The second one is her chasing the gigantic cat who lives at Landrum's who kept spying on us. The fourth pic is of her in the saints outfit her Gramma Joyce got her and she's hugging her build-a-bear bunny in the matching cheerleader outfit. The last one is her trying to escape down the steps of the chapel on the grounds. I don't know how I'm ever going to choose which ones I want. Help! Haha!!!

Kady'

More Gatlinburg Pics

Ron was wearing a Superman shirt and there was this red phonebooth in the middle of the shopping village. We couldn't resist. Had to try several times for this shot because Ron kept crackin' up.

We stopped for a photo shoot at this beautiful spot. We're standing next to a river that ran along the side of the winding mountain road between our cabin and the city of Gatlinburg.

Just a friendly (yeah, right) game of poker with Jelly Belly jellybeans. We ate more than we "bet".

Kady all snuggly and warm in her stroller

Me and my "Punky" at the Aquarium.

Thanksgiving in Gatlinburg

Kady petting a sandcrab. She would've put it in her mouth like everything else if she could.

Me and Kady inside the tube at the seahorse display.

Ron with Nicole, 3, Kady and Macie, 2, at one of the many, many "fishie" tanks.

Ron and Kady doing their "thing" at the pancake house. *Ppppttthhhh!!!*

We just returned from an awesome week in Gatlinburg. Since two of Ron's brothers have moved a million miles away this past year we decided that Tennessee was the 1/2 way point for us to get together. We ate our Thanksgiving meal on Tuesday, went to Dollywood and the Aquarium on Wednesday and shopped on Thursday. We also went through a haunted house thingy. It was awesome. Megan and Talley weren't so thrilled but it was funny to watch them go through it.

Anyway, as you can see, the balcony view is breathtaking. There were 17 of us in our three story mountain side cabin. The owner decorated it like Christmas just for us so we had a Christmas tree and everything. You can see Kady had a blast. She really like the aquarium and riding in her stroller. The pancakes we ate at breakfast were as big as your head...and there were four head-sized pancakes per plate. The omelets were just as big. Ron was happy.

It was pretty chilly up there too so we all looked like eskimoes running around Dollywood. All you could see of Kady was her two pretty blue eyes in her pink camoflauged bunting bag her Papa Larry bought her at the Bass Pro Shop (notice she's also wearing the camo overalls he got for her). She was so cozy she didn't move once she got in her stroller. We've decided the family is big enough now so we're all just going to plan a trip together every year instead of exchanging Christmas gifts.