White Wedding/Rocky Mountain High

We left last Wednesday, 7/22 for Wade's (my brother's) wedding in Estes Park, Colorado. It was myself, Don, Kate, Mom, Dad, and my 81 yr old grandmother. I was very anxious about the trip considering I would be flying across the continent with a 9 month old. I wasn't sure how the altitude would affect her and the popping of ears on the airplane. Can I just brag for a second on my little girl? I could not have been more prouder of how she adapted. She did great on the flight (that turned out to be direct versus nonstop, which means we stopped in St. Louis on the way there and stopped in Austin and Houston on the way home). I love Southwest due to them being extremely reliable but stopping alot kinda gets old. Anywho, once in Denver, Wade picked us up with a rental van (he works for Enterprise). We had tons of luggage and Wade drives up with a Dodge van. I am thinking "NO WAY we are all going to fit in there with our luggage!" Where there is a will there is a way! We did, even though we had luggage underneath our feet and in our laps. We drove about an hour where we arrived at our destination. It was beautiful! Colorado is always breathtaking BUT this season it is especially green due to all the rain. Let me just say, "God spent a little more time in this region." :) So we arrive to Gretchen, Wade's fiance, who has unlocked the rental house for us. It was decorated extremely cute and we all settled in. That night we ate rather later at a Pizza/Sandwich place in town. It was yummy then hit the sack.

The next day we met up with Gretchen's mom, mom's boyfriend, and aunt. We went to the Baldpate Inn which is a very old hotel situated in the mountains and has hundreds and hundreds of old keys hanging from the ceiling and along the walls. Several that I noticed encased were from Hitler's home and the space shuttle Challenger. Pretty neat! This was about the time that my grandmother is feeling winded and my mother is experiencing symptoms that she is not sure is altitude or blood sugar. So we didn't stay long up there and made our way into town for some lunch. Right after mom takes a few bites of her lunch, she passes out. Yes, scary, yet something she does on occasion. Still scares all of us. She came out of it quickly. Thank goodness. It has something to do with her blood sugar, being off schedule and stress. She does get signs before she will do this but she was confused on this trip whether it was the altitude or blood sugar. After that we went back to the rental and took naps and got ready for the girls trip out that night. That night all the girls were treated to a dinner downtown and it was alot of fun getting to know each other better (by the way, Wade left out Thursday morning for his bachelor party 2 hours away and didn't come back until rehearsal time on Friday). Right before this we met Gretchen's sister Megan, her husband Paul, and their 8 month old daughter Heidi. It was SO nice to finally meet them because we had heard alot about them but had never met. Megan and I have become buddies through facebook and we couldn't wait to see how the girls interacted. Funny fact about Heidi and Kate is that Heidi is suppose to be around 3 weeks older than Kate but is actually a month younger. Heidi came a week late and Kate came almost 7 weeks early. The girls wanted to touch and scratch each other's eyeballs out so it was a success!

Friday we got ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at our rental house. Wade rolled back into town from his bachelor party within minutes of being in really bad trouble. The rehearsal and rehearsal party was a success. We had pizza and salads and met alot of Gretchen's dear friends. It wasn't too big and very laid back.

Saturday was the BIG DAY. Wade acted very anxious. Around lunch he wanted to go take a hike in the woods by himself. WHAT?!?! I think he ended up going to the hotel where he would get married and hung out with some friends. By the time we arrived an hour before wedding time, Wade was extremely laid back and ready for the party.

Leading up to wedding time I was trying to stay out of sight of Kate because she hadn't had a nap afternoon and I was afraid if she saw me it would be time to eat and sleep and we couldn't let that happen because she was going to be one of the main parts of the wedding. Her and Heidi were to ride in a red wagon that dates back to when Gretchen's dad was a kid. Very sentimental in that Gretchen and Megan played in it as a kid and Gretchen's dad has passed away. Right as it was time for the girls to be pulled down the aisle by 2 handsome boys (age 6 and age 3), Kate is asleep in Don's arms and Heidi was not in the mood so was thought to have to be carried down. As soon as Don puts Kate in the wagon she pops those eyes open and grabs on to the sides. She did great (I smile as I type this, SO PROUD)! Heidi was put in the wagon half way down because it was decided last minute to give her a try in the wagon but the boys had already started pulling. No pictures of this besides rehearsal due to Wade and Gretchen not hiring a real photographer. Gretchen's mom is sending a cd that her friend made so hopefully there will be some on there. :) The rest of the wedding was considered a "wetting" (it was outdoors on a balcony) due to the showers that started as I was reading my poem to Wade "My Brother is From". I plan to type it up so I will share as soon as I have it typed up. Wade and Gretchen did great through the rain and I feel like it made the wedding even more of a hit due to it calming everyone's nerves.

The reception turned into a big party when Wade grabbed 2 guys who play the guitar (including himself who plays guitar) and another friend who played the drums together and they formed a band. Before that music was being played from Ipods. The drummer assembled his drums from trashcans and pails used for drinks. It was a great performance. One of the guys stood up to the be the lead singer (not Wade who was told to lip sing by his Music Teacher in high school). They even had a groupie sitting behind the lead singer. Ha! I think Sweet Home Alabama lasted 30 minutes. Fun times for all! Most importantly, Wade and Gretchen had a blast!

Sunday we wrapped up with a trip in the Rocky Mountain National Park. It hailed on us as we approached the summit and my grandmother freaked out by saying such things as "that sheriff we passed is going up there to tell everyone to come back" and "do we have a flat tire, BOTH SOUND FLAT". Ha! Guess you just had to be there! I was a little nervous too. It looked like ice on the road and there were no guardrails. Talk about ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH! :) That night Gretchen's family came over to our house, we grilled out hamburgers, watched Wade and Gretchen open wedding presents, and sang songs as Russ (Gretchen's mother's boyfriend) played on his guitar. It made for a fantastic wrap-up.

Monday, 7/27 we said our goodbyes to Wade and Gretchen, wished them well on their honeymoon trip camping through Colorado (they went to Costa Rica earlier in the year) and made our trek back to Alabama. I love Colorado but there truly is No Place Like Home. :)

If you want to check out any pics from the wedding, check out my facebook profile. I am too lazy to post all of those again. :)

MMM 3

This morning there was a nice little Fall-like breeze outside so I decided to take my mangy mutt and cup-Kate for a stroll. Really I was doing this for the mangy mutt who could drop a few lbs...maybe 3 or 4... 1/4 of his weight. Anywho, so I told mangy mutt we were going walking and he got all hyper and followed me around the house step for step until we made it onto the driveway. We start down the road and we didn't get but 3 houses from ours and he is trying to sit in the road. I yank him along. Then we make it onto another street/main street of the subdivision. Kate starts pitching one big time when I realize she doesn't have her hat on (that I had ran back into the house to get to make sure she doesn't get too much direct sunlight in those baby blues). This was another big time fit, with her normal arched back and spastic arm movements. So here I am on the busiest street of our subdivision taking Kate out of the joggling stroller and holding her with just a diaper and t-shirt on. I put Petey in the jogging stroller and tell him to SIT. Ain't gonna happen but he did start climb the seat and finally rested upon being strolled facing backward with one paw rested on the side of the stroller. I am sure we were a sight to see. (too bad, no camera...just envision it)

SO glad Petey got the exercise he needs!!! :)

P.S. Chunky Monkey #1 weighed in at 18lbs 12 ounces at her 9month checkup. She was 27 and 1/2 long. Not sure about the head but she was 50% on weight, 50% on height, and 75% on head.

Not 1...Not 2...BUT 3...

in 1 week! Hello first teeth-Es! Yep, Mamey was SO sure Kate would have a tooth by Monday of this week. She was right. I forgot that I felt something in there on Monday and went about my business. Yesterday mom shouted as she saw Kate's 2 bottom teeth, "I see teeth!" Yay! So yesterday I saw for the first time her 2 bottom teeth popping through. Today I ran around with my friend Ashley and she informed me there was a top tooth too! Man, oh man! This is my first sure sign that she is, indeed, growing up. Bitter sweet I tell ya! Okay, don't have a picture of the teeth for this post but will post a pic of her in her new dress. :)



And confirmation why yard sales are good...I bought a $70 glorified umbrella stroller yesterday at Babies R Us and today I bought a $3 yard sale umbrella stroller. I am taking the $70 stroller back. :)

Sleepless Days, The Wild West, and Reunions

I am going to start letting my pictures do more talking. But basically, Kate sleeps really light these days so she doesn't get much sleep in at her normal nap times so she was found the other day this way (SO SAD!):




Yesterday wrapped up our 3 consecutive night VBS where we had speakers for the adult class every night. Okay this is kinda sad to admit but I am not sure the exact phrase of our theme but basically it was like a Wild West theme. I was the craft helper. :) Here is all of us the last night...



And today I met up with some girls that I was best buds with in high school. This is the first time we have hung out in a LONG time and it made me so happy to be back together again. We couldn't take a group picture because we didn't want to bother anyone going into the restuarant so we had to divide the group up. There is a VERY funny story related to what my friend Jessica is wearing. She has a 3 month old and he got a little messy. Fun times!

NINE, She Starts to Shine!

Another month goes by and our girl is just as sassy as ever. She has definitely developed a little personality for herself. She pitches little fits everytime she thinks she is being put down whether it be in her crib, in her entertainer, on the floor, or in her highchair. Yikes! Sometimes they don't last that long. She also will lock her legs in place so that you can't sit her down. Do I smell some serious stinkiness!?! She is still only sitting up but I have a feeling crawling is coming very soon. She reaches far and wide for everything within her perimeter these days to touch. She rolls back and forth, from her stomach, back to her back, and just smiles everytime she completes a set. She has been doing this for a while but it is like it just clicked that this might equal freedom for her. She is still an extremely good eater and would probably open her mouth if you were on your 10th bottle of baby food. It's kinda like running a marathon for her, just past the 2nd bottle, it's just another bite/mile. She has taken her back arching to a whole new level now. Instead of doing the "Worm" where you push yourself off the floor then fall back down in rhymic motion, she does that on her back across the floor from some mean back arches. She has started going to cradle roll class at church and really enjoys the teachers singing to her and giving her new toys to stick in her mouth. She loves when you sing to her and especially her "ABCs". It always seems to calm her down. She loves picking up Petey's ball and attempting to stick it in her mouth, grabbing Petey's paw in a tight hold, and petting Petey. She sometimes will do this mischevious little snicker with it like she is getting away with something. She has got to have one of the sweetest little laughs EVER. It truly melts my heart and for that moment in time, I feel pure joy in my heart. She is starting to become a true talker and loves to hear herself. Sometimes she will continually kick it up a notch until she is making a loud back of the throat (I-want-to-bang-my-head-against-the-wall) noise. It's so funny to watch her face sometimes as she is making these noises because she becomes so proud of herself the louder she goes the more serious her face becomes. It's like she is telling us something very important and we all must listen. She doesn't have a favorite toy right now or food, but I will say she is a big squash and carrot fan. On the fruit side, I would say pears are her favorite. Last week she weighed in at 18lbs. She goes Tuesday, July 14th for her 9th month checkup. I will report back on her statistics.

Kate, Keep rocking our world little country girl! :)

All American Girl

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Another crazy holiday behind us. I do not know if you can blame all busy-ness on me. Friday, Don, Kate, Petey, and I headed to Smith Lake to join my parents. We floated around on floats and ate hamburgers. It was so nice because there was a nice little breeze. Kate even joined us on the pier in her little swimming pool. Thanks to mom for making our visit so nice by watching Kate the majority of the time so I could swim. We drove home that night to leave 4th of July morning to head up to Cleveland, Alabama to join Don's dad's family, for a midday meal. It was at Don's uncle and aunt's house and they made it SO nice. They had a nice deck and underneath the deck they had a porch swing in the shade along with a plastic baby swing. Kate LOVED that! We will be purchasing our very own REAL soon! Didn't get any pics of that...too bad. After that we headed up to Don's mom's family's side. This side there were 12 children so normally it is crazy there but this holiday was surprising laid back with not as many. They love to get together and play Rook so I took a few pictures of that. Don's team came in 2nd...too bad! :) Kate got tons of attention there after her cousins, Ryan and Reid had to leave. She was eating it up! Thanks to her grand aunt Faye and distant cousin Alyssa for entertaining her. We headed back to Don's parents that night and saw some fireworks along the way, especially passing over the causeway at Guntersville lake. The next day we went to church and then headed home. The kids (meaning Petey and Kate) are exhausted which means it was a great holiday!

Also, when I was trying to think of a title to this blog post, I couldn't help but use "All-American Girl" and think of that Carrie Underwood song. When I found out I was pregnant, that song would not leave my head. I always thought I would have a boy first just because my mom did so I thought I would be the same. Everyone was telling me by the looks of me, it was a boy. When I found out it was a girl, I knew that I should have listened to what my thoughts were telling me. I love my little girl!

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Mini...or is it MAXI- Cooper!

Baby Cooper Ethan Southern entered the world this morning at 7:21am weighing a whooping 9lbs and 4 ounces, 21 1/2 inches long. Red hair, of course (just like the big sisters)! My good friend Keri is doing great. Kate and I arrived at Brookwood Hospital around 7:30 to a waiting room full of Keri and Ethan's family. My friend Brooke was also out there. We discussed we felt just as much like family considering we probably see those kiddos more than our neices and nephews. I am so happy for them and can't wait to go back tomorrow night and hold him. I was unable to this morning because by the time they had her situated in a room, they had to take Cooper to the nursery to be put under a heating lamp due to his temperature dropping. I guess you can say Kate is already "head over heels" for Coop considering as we were trying to leave, Kate's stroller turned over as I was trying to place her in it. Thankfully I had a very good grasp on her but she did scream from fear. I think I overweighted the handle part of the stroller with a baby bag, camera and purse and then of course from Kate's mean arch of the back when being placed in her carseat. :) Here is baby Toopah (as Ella will pronounce it):





Also, we found out our other church friends, Ryan and Kelly are having a boy. Another couple, Carl and Cheryl are finding out today the sex of their baby. If it is another boy that there will be 4 consistent boys whose parents attend our church since Kate arrived. Before Kate, there were 4 consistent girls and then 1 boy, then Kate. Not to mention that Kate has 2 sets of boy cousins in her world. One on my side (my cousin's boys) and one of Don's (Don's sister's boys). Where are all the girls?