Golfing With Daddy

One of Owen's favorite activities these days is playing golf with his daddy! Noni & Grandpa gave Owen a set of his very own clubs a few months back (plastic of course!) and they are some of his favorite toys. It is so precious to watch the two of them out in the yard together. Owen is incredibly observant, watching Tony's every move and then mimicking him, just so. I really need to get a video of Owen lining up the ball and pulling the club into a backswing--he actually has pretty decent form! I'd say he probably makes contact with the ball 8 times out of 10--not too shabby for a 17 month old, eh?! Enjoy these adorable pics of Owen & Tony out in the yard tonight :) Getting some pointers from Daddy

What a natural!

Contemplating his next stroke ;)
Now it's time to use Daddy's clubs!

Yeah, I like this one!

Oh, this one's a little heavier

Check out the concentration :)

Okay, time to call it a day!

Meeting Catherine!

Last week we were very fortunate & blessed to meet little miss Catherine for the very first time! It was such a joy to finally lay my eyes on this wonderful, darling little miracle baby and also have some much needed and much overdue catch up time with her sweet mama, Katie! On Friday morning we had some special "just girls" time with Emilie, Sara, Cori, Katie, and me. We met at a coffee shop to eat breakfast and chat. It had been quite a while since we'd all had some time to hang out and it was exactly what we all needed! We definitely missed our other sweet friends who couldn't make it, but we're all saying prayers & keeping our fingers crossed that everyone can be at our annual Girls Weekend this fall!

On Saturday morning we met at Sara & Richard's house to hang out. Emilie & Lee were headed to the beach that day so they didn't make it, but Katie, Catherine, & Cori were all there--along with Sara's mom, Linda, Tony & Richard too. It was so fun to watch Jack, Catherine, & Owen all play together. Catherine is such a smiley, happy baby girl and she sure held her own with those boys :) Here are some pictures from our visit!
Then on Sunday we got to see them again! We went to Catherine's 1st Birthday party which was so very special and exciting. It was emotional to reflect on how God has carried their family over the past year, but all glory to Him for the celebration of sweet Catherine Marie turning 1! We had so much fun celebrating Catherine and visiting with sweet friends. Thank you again, Katie & Donnie, for including us in your baby girl's celebration, we were so honored to be there!

Mississippi Trip

The weekend before Tony headed back to work, we took one last summer trip with to Mississippi. Kelly came with us, but unfortunately neither Robert nor Chris was able to join us due to work. First we went to Aberdeen, to Tony's grandmother's house (dad's side) for a visit and delicious dinner. Owen played outside on the swing set and had lots of fun running around all over the porch. That night we headed to New Albany to see Tony's grandparents on his mom's side, Daddy D & Dean. Lots more wonderful food and good visiting! We even helped D shell some peas--D has a fabulous garden! Late the next afternoon we headed to Pickwick to Tony's aunt & uncle, Ronny & Pat's, lake house. Tony's cousin, Dan, & his wife, Robin, & their 3 kids--Reese, Charlie, & Banks joined us that evening. The next day D & Dean joined us as well. We spent almost the entire day out on the lake boating, tubing, & just floating around and letting the kids play in the water. It was a great end of the summer trip--we had a lot of fun!

Beach Trip, Take 2!

We were so blessed to be able to take TWO trips to Orange Beach this year! We headed down mid-July with our good friends, the Dunns for round two at the beach. We had an awesome, relaxing trip with absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather! Our friend, Matt, was even able to join us the last part of the week. We don't see him very often as he lives in Shreveport, LA so it was very nice to get in a visit with him too! Here are our pictures, enjoy :)

Visit with the Montgomerys & Puppies!

About a month ago (yeah, yeah, I know I'm WAY behind...) Owen & I went to see my sweet friend Renee & her daughter, Bailey for lunch and to swim. We had a great time visiting with them as always! Unfortunately Bailey's & Owen's nap schedules didn't match up too well so we didn't have a lot of opportunities to take lots of pictures of them playing together. Renee's parents breed basset hounds and one of the dogs had just had puppies so we were able to play with them a little bit while Bailey was down for her nap. Here are some cute pictures of Owen playing with the puppies. They were only 3 weeks old at the time and so stinkin' adorable! Owen was pretty gentle (for the most part...) with them and the mama dog was very trusting to let my baby hold hers! The Montgomerys just moved to Asheville and we're way bummed to see them go, but know that fun & amazing things await them in the mountains! We miss ya'll already and can't wait to come and visit!!! :)

A few of my favorite things...

I'm talking websites that is. As if anyone really needs an excuse to spend more time online, but I just wanted to share a few of my regular sites that are definitely worth a peek if you want to check them out...and have the time to spare!

Disclaimer: I cannot be responsible for the time that will magically disappear or the daily addiction that may result from looking at these sites.
Okay, you've been warned ;)

Okay, so the first one is for all you Bachelorette fans out there. It's called I Hate Greenbeans and it is too funny! The blog author, Lincee, recaps each episode, adding her own commentary and basically telling it like it is and saying all the things the rest of us were thinking as we watched the most recent episode. I look forward to reading this blog almost as much as much as I look forward to watching it with all my neighborhood ladies every Monday. It's too cute so all you Bachelorette fans should definitely check it out! (Oh, and I didn't discover this on my own--thanks to Stacey for telling me about this website!)

The second is Young House Love (formerly called This Young House) which is the blog of an adorable couple, Sherry & John. They got married, bought a really old, outdated house, and did a complete home makeover--well, I say did, but it's really an ongoing project. They've been featured on HGTV, the Nest, and Better Homes & Gardens, just to name a few. I can't really do this way cute site justice, you'll just have to check it out for yourself. Though you may want to read my disclaimer one more time before you proceed, I'm just sayin'....
(again, not an original discovery, thanks to Renee for this one!)

Okay and the last one isn't a website, but I ordered it online, does that count? It's Jillian Michael's (yes the scary lady from The Biggest Loser) 30 Day Shred! Again, this came by way of referral of my sweet friend Renee who highly recommended it. You can also check it out here on Amazon if I've perked your curiosity. Basically you spend 20 minutes a day for 30 days doing her circuit training workout. I haven't actually started it yet, but it's being shipped to me as I type and August 1st is go time baby!... I am SO EXCITED about this! I know if it has Renee's seal of approval it's got to be good...not to mention the 1,250+ raving reviews on Amazon :) (I'm not joking, I seriously couldn't find a negative review). I hear it's a HUGE butt kicker. I can't wait...updates to follow I'm sure :)

4th of July Fun!

We had an AWESOME Independence Day celebration with our wonderful friends--the Huggins family! Ashleigh & Joel invited us to the Huggins family celebration of Joel's mama, Kaal's, 60th birthday celebration on the lake. We had a wonderful time boating, tubing, jetskiing, swimming, and spending fun times with the Huggins. They are the sweetest, most welcoming family and we absoultely love them to pieces! They have some family friends that have a GORGEOUS house right on the lake and they were sweet enough to open their home up to us. Here are some pictures from our absolutely wonderful 4th of July!

My silly goose :)

Owen thinks it's so funny to take my sunglasses off of my face and put them on himself. I just had to share these pictures of my silly little boy! Oh, and I often call him a silly goose so he repeats me and says "goose goose!" when he does something funny, it's too precious! I'm a little goose goose!

Sweet Summertime

Our garden is in full bloom and we are loving it! We have an abundant supply of homegrown tomatoes, zucchini, and jalapeno peppers. We also have several fresh herbs that we try and use in our cooking practically every day. No sign of the bell peppers yet, but I'm thinking they'll be here soon. I even gave it a shot at making my grandfather's pepper jelly and it turned out great! Tony & I are going to make as many batches as we can from our jalapenos so we'll have plenty to last us till next summer as well as some to give away too.

Almost every morning Owen and I head out to the garden to see what's ripe and ready for picking. He loves to try and pick the marigolds when I'm not looking, which are the only thing he can reach through the fence. I don't mind him picking one or two of them, but he always wants to shove them in his mouth and run off on me so it's become his funny little game. What a little stinker :) Headed out to the garden 1st thing in the morning

Little stinker trying to see if I'm looking so he can nab a marigold!

Our Garden!!!

Jalapenos, almost ready for picking

Homegrown tomatoes, does it get any better?!

1st batch of pepper jelly, so good!

Owen loves the garden just like his mama!

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day to the most wonderful husband I could ever ask for. You are an AMAZING daddy to Owen and I am so blessed to be your wife :) You are the most patient, kind, thoughtful, loving person I know and I fall in love with you all over again every day. My all time favorite sound in the ENTIRE world, is listening to you interact with our son. Whether ya'll are wrestling on the floor, reading a book together, or you're singing him to sleep--it is precious music to my ears. You light up Owen's life and he looks up to you so much, probably more than you even realize he can at 15 months old. You are his hero. You are his role model. You are his father...and a darn good one too :)
I love you!

Orange Beach

We took our first beach trip last week down to my grandparents' house on the bay in Orange Beach (yes I said 1st trip--we plan on taking at least 1 more beach trip this summer!) We met my parents and their friends, the Bakers, there last Monday. The Bakers were a lot of fun to have with us and they even brought their jet skiis which was an extra special little treat. The Bakers left on Wednesday and then the rest of us finished out the week there and headed back on Sunday. Unfortunately, Owen got a fever on Tuesday night and had it until Thursday evening, which wasn't fun at all--especially for him, poor baby :( We made the best of it though and took turns staying with him and rotating going to the beach, to the workout facility at my parents' condo, and riding around on the jet skis in the bay. Tony & I even rode the jet skiis over to a little restaurant on the water one night and had cocktails & an appetizer. It was so much fun! My parents condo has an AWESOME pool with a kids area that has a walk in pool and fountains shooting up out of the water. Before Owen got sick, he really seemed to enjoy that area the best :) There is also a lazy river which is an absolutely fabulous place to grab a tube and a good book and float the day away. We had a wonderful time in Orange Beach as always and can't wait to go back again later this summer!!! Oh, and I'm happy to report that Owen is 100% better now by the way :) Here are some of my favorite pics from our trip. There's quite a few, but I just couldn't narrow it down any more than this--they were so many great ones!
Sunset dinner at Cobalt

My cute parents

My little sweetness


Cutie diggin' in the sand!

Owen's 1st jet ski ride :)

Waving at Geebee & Pops on the dock