Surprise Party!

Well, we pulled it off. 7 months of planning (by Ryan Mahtani) to surprise Kristin for her 30th Birthday went off without a hitch...well, sort of. First of all, expecting 10 girls that e-mail Kristin EVERY day, to keep this kind of secret for so long was torture. We had a string of secret e-mails with her left off and a string of e-mails with her in them. It was getting confusing. Anyway, the party was at the WindCreek Hotel & Casino in Atmore, AL. We had a private ballroom with our own bartender and a nice dinner. A few people ALMOST ruined it, but judging by her reaction I don't think she knew. Imagine how you would feel if you thought you were getting away with your husband ONLY for a romantic weekend and you walk in the room and see 40 of your closest friends & family! Her face:





Her reaction was priceless and you could tell she was genuinly surprised. Our group of friends also surprised her with a scrapbook we had made of pictures from the past. We put all the pages together when we got there.



The night really reminded me that I cannot "hang" as well as I used to. I guess babies and age really change the way you go out. We still came in at 3:30 am and it was so obvious none of us are used to this. I also have one word to describe my face: POWDER! Thanks for it MAC counter lady. I look like a ghost.








I can't wait to see you girls again in Austin!

Grandaddy

It has been a weekend of extremes. First, my grandfather passed away last Tuesday and his funeral was in Prattville Friday. He has been physically going down for years and just recently had to have heart surgery. He just never could bounce back from the surgery and stayed in the hospital for 8 weeks before his digestive system shut down. The blessing was that he didnt suffer for long and he never had to live in a nursing home and never was "off" mentally. I am very greatful for the impact he had on my life. He was there for every play, recital, football game, holiday ect that I had. He loved his family more than anything. He has 3 children, 8 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. My dad gave the euology and did a great job capturing the essence of Grandaddy. He was anything but boring and we have several moments and memories that will live on forever.

Honey & Grandaddy (Thanksgiving 2009- thanks Amy)


He would want his family to celebrate his life and we did back at their house after the funeral.

Mom, Dad & Baker Man



Dad, Claire & Baker Man

Abby & Baker Man

My cousin Daniel and his fiance with Baker & Hayes


The other extreme is the surprise 30th Birthday Celebration I went to for my dear friend, Kristin Mahtani, in Atmore, AL on Saturday. New post to come with pictures from the party. We were able to keep the secret since September! Its been a long wait for this party. She of course was floored and bawled when she saw all 40 of us in the ballroom! We even made her a scrapbook from college days. Pictures and more details on the party to come...

5 Months!

I feel like each time I post about Baker getting older I say "Time is FLYING" but it just is...seriously. I just have to reiterate how good he is though. He's just laid back and easy to "read" as far as his fussing goes. I pretty much know what he will complain about and what he will be happy with. Currently:

He weights approximately 14 lbs (maybe a bit more since the last time we weighed)
He is a little over the 50th percentile in height and weight.
He is a big hand eater.
He can take his paci out and put it back in by himself. Although most of the time when it goes back in its upside down or sideways. We don't judge him for that though.
He loves his "Jump N GO" although he doenst know how to jump.
He loves his exersaucer.
He loves his Mommy & Daddy alot!
We just discovered he thinks "Peek-A-Boo" is hilarious! I hide behind the footboard and pop up. Gets him everytime.
I can't tell if he loves rice cereal or not. He eats it fine, but squeals the whole time I'm feeding him. I havent decided if its a good squeal or a bad squeal. Stay tuned.
His favorite toys are: Rings, rattles, books, the cats, baseball game (fisher price), and the toys on his bouncey seat.
He still sleeps from about 7:00 pm to 6:00 am although he has been getting up more like 5:30 these days which is not fun..or 4:30 for me on Sunday morning. Nice.

We are getting geared up for Easter and being 5 months old so we took some pics. These arent the best, but he just wasn't in a picture mood yesterday. We have an Easter basket coming too! I ordered it from PB Kids last week and its precious. I can't wait for it to get here!





I also got a picture or two of Baker and his friends in the "Bye Bye Buggie".

The Weekend

Thursday night I went to see "The Wizard of OZ" at the BJCC that Birmingham Broadway Series does. The cool thing is that this tour show uses some local children for the munchkins. They auditioned several "groups" to be the munchkins and the Tuscaloosa kids got it! These are the kids that do Children's Theatre here. Most of them were in Annie. I know they had a blast doing it. Its a big deal! Here we are with Autumn after the show.



Friday night I stayed home with my two favorite boys! Saturday I left bright and early for Claire's bachelorette party in New Orleans. We got lucky and were upgraded to a MUCH larger hotel room.


We had a great time, but Claire got sick and couldnt even go out for her own party. This is what she thought about that.


We went to the "Cats Meow" for the majority of the night. Jamie and Anna were having a great time...


Until Anna got kicked off stage for wanting to dance with the staff to "Single Ladies".


Cute cake


Of course I can't do a post without one of the Littlest Man. He thinks bathtime is inappropriate for pictures.


I wish this wasn't blurry b/c his cowboy outfit is super cute!

Rice cereal

We gave the little man rice cereal for the first time this week. I learned that he really needs to eat it AFTER his bottle b/c he is not a fan of eating it while he is hungry. This solid food business makes him angry.



Yesterday at daycare they let him ride in the red "buggy" which is the cutest thing I have ever seen. They can fit 9 babies in it at once. They are all strapped in and its so precious. I left my camera upstairs when I saw him in it but I hope to get a picture of this ASAP. He is just so big...and happy. This is the face he wears most of the time now. I could just eat him up.

Well...

Z did not place in the pageant for one reason only...she forgot what to do once she got onstage. Yes, she was supposed to walk a certain "pattern" that could have been altered a little and not been a problem, but Zoe went blank and walked on and immediatley back off. As you can see from the picture below, she also threw in an impromtu "arm on hip" move that we did NOT practice. Whatevs. However, she did end up winning "Most Photogenic", so that was a plus. She looked great and was not disappointed. This may be the first and last pageant, but it was a good time. The funniest part was after I put her make up on she said "I look like you!" I guess I did her make-up the only way I know how which was a heavier version of my own.




As for Saturday, the weather was so great we definately needed to go to the park. Zoe wanted to do a picnic so I had an excuse to use the picnic basket we got as a wedding gift! It was a lot of fun. We also snuck in a trip to Yogurt Mountain which is a huge hit at our house. Its self serve on the yogurt and toppings and they just weigh it for the price. I love that!



Little Man is also cutting a tooth so we have been dealing with that. He hasnt been too fussy about it yet, just drooley. Not sure what we need to do about teething. We gave him a frozen teething ring that he seemed pretty uninterested in.

Zoe

Meet Zoe Jones. She is one of my two step daughters. They live with us 50% of the time. They haven't gotten enough blog time in the past so here is her profile:


- She is in the 3rd grade at Woodland Forrest Elementary
- She loves to sing, sing sing and is VERY good!
- She takes ballet twice a week
- She takes piano
- She is a very good student and a very good reader
- She has a very likeable personality and is full of positive energy!
- She LOVES Baker and is so sweet and involved with him. Not an ounce of jealousy from this girl. Just love.

Tomorrow night, she is going to be in her school Beauty Walk. I am her complete pageant coach which is very exciting. Now, I've been in a few pageants in my time, mainly school, but I do love them. In a previous post I made great fun of Toddlers & Tiaras for obvious reasons. Zoe will NOT have a flipper, a spray tan, or a hair extension. Also, you will not find me yelling from the audience at her for messing up in any way.

She will sport an aqua gown with sequins at the top and a full chiffon bottom. Pictures to follow. I hope she wins. Good Luck ZKat!

As you can see, Baker is on the mend. He had a musical session with my friend, Erin, on Saturday and quite liked all the dancing. He is also D-O-N-E with being sick. See face. Erin was sweet to hold him at lunch for a few.