Weddings, Birthday Parties, etc

We have had several busy weekends here lately!! We celebrated Jackson Brien's first birthday with him in Atlanta last Sunday and had so much fun at the party!!!

Mandy, Jackson, and Sam

Ellie insisted on helping Jackson with eating his birthday cake!!

And he didn't seem to mind sharing!

Ellie trying to figure out if she wants to jump in...

Ellie going in for a kiss for the birthday boy!!! He seems to like it!



THEN, this weekend we headed down to Pensacola for Leigh and Brett's wedding!! We had an absolute blast, and Leigh made the most beautiful bride! I wish I had some pictures from the wedding, but unfortunately I didn't get my camera out all weekend. Congrats Leigh and Brett!! We are SO happy for you!


After the wedding festivities, we headed back up to Birmingham today to celebrate Miss Katherine Crowe's first birthday!!!!
Anna Kate, Katherine, and Blake

Look how stinkin' cute this birthday cake is!!!

Blair Verdigets made the party all the way from Atl!!

Ellie had a blast at the party...she's starting to get the hang of these bday parties and figured out real quickly how much fun they are...especially the cake! Swingin' at the party...

I think she has done this at every party...playin' in the ice...

And, she did a lot of this...

"Diving" in and out of the bouncer!!! In and out, in and out, over and over again!!

Before we left the party, she had to lean in and give the birthday girl a sweet hug and kiss...
Happy 1st Birthday Jackson and Katherine!! We had SO much fun at your parties!!!

First Day of School

Backpack, check. Lunch box, check. Paci, check. Blankie, check. New dress that Lollie was supposed to have ready by her first day of school...not so much! Lollie, we hope it's ready soon! And yes, she insisted on carrying every bit of this!

This is about the best picture I got. I wouldn't say she was exactly thrilled about her first day of "cool" as she would say. She actually started Mother's Day Out at our church today so I guess it's technically not "school" but close enough for this Mom. She has been going to a little program at our church for the last 3 weeks that has gotten her warmed up for this big day so she actually did really well. She still cries every time I leave her, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that will change very soon. It still breaks my heart every time though!Getting in the car w/ her backpack. Notice the mud in the background? Yeah, we don't quite have landscaping at the new house yet. Rain, Rain, go away so we can get some grass so my 2 little rats aka dogs will quit tracking muddy pawprints all through my house! I question having 2 dogs quite often but am always reassured that they're nice to have around when I see Ellie's face light up when she sees them. I guess that's worth all of the muddy pawprints!!!!!!!!!! We've officially moved in and are trying to get settled and finish unpacking box after box after box. We are loving all of this space!

Just checking in...

There is not much going on around here except packing boxes and keeping up with E! We had a rough time last week battling an ear infection, but we're all better now thank goodness.

Always the entertainer. I found her in the living room like this the other day...

Do you like the ensemble? Monkey pj pants, ski bunny t'shirt, socks, blue and orange paci, and a pink hat! So I hear putting Vicks on their feet w/ socks helps when they have a bad cough. I'm convinced it works so we did this for a solid week! Oh, and the "boy paci" is thanks to Poppy. When she was in Atmore for the week they somehow misplaced all of her pacis so my dad ran to Walgreens and came back with blue pacis! We'll just call them her "Auburn pacis!" She obviously doesn't care what color they are!

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We are getting SO close to being finished with the house reno! The movers are officially set for Tuesday at 8:30 am! Woohoo! We ran over yesterday to let Ellie put her handprints in the wet concrete along w/ her name and the year. She thought it was hilarious and so much fun!

Hope to be back soon with pics of the completed house!

She's Back!!!

My baby spent 1 night with MeMe and 5 nights with Lollie and Poppy this past week down in Atmore, and boy did we miss her! She had an absolute ball going to visit the doggies at Poppy's work, riding the golf cart with Poppy, and seeing her great-grandmothers! We are SO glad to have her back though! I don't know what my parents did, but she came back saying a LOT of new words! It's amazing. Some of her words...tree, cheese, house, bee, teeth, gone, seat. Yes, some of the words are a little random, but I'll take anything! She is also nodding her head "no" a lot. For example, "Ellie, do you want to go night night?" She proceeds to shake her head no! It's hilarious, but I try not to laugh in front of her. It's not so hilarious when I put carrots, bananas, blueberries, turkey, etc etc (anything healthy) on her highchair tray, and she shakes her head NO and throws it over her shoulder! Lollie and Poppy, what in the world did you let this child eat last week?! She usually eats everything I give her! I will say after one day of having her back, I am exhausted! Whew, she keeps me on my toes!

We had her 15-month appt (even though she's 16 months today) today, and she was a very big girl during her shots. I always dread the shots, especially as she gets older. As far as stats, she weighed 26 lbs. 6 oz. (88th percentile) and was 32 3/4" long (95th percentile). That's the lowest she's been on the chart for weight since she was born!! Dr. Stone said she was growing as she should, and she looked great!

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We had another busy weekend celebrating these two...Brett & Leigh!!

We girls spent Friday night having dinner at 26 and then back to Hotel Highland for Leigh's Lingerie Shower.

Saturday night we gave them a couple's shower... Hostesses from the couples shower

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Two weekends ago, Rusty, Ellie, and I traveled to Gatlinburg for a family reunion on my mom's side. We rented an awesome 6 bedroom house, and it's probably the first time I can ever remember everyone on my mom's side getting together and having an actual bed to sleep on! Mom has 2 brothers and 1 sister plus all of the kids and now great-grandkids!!

Pit stop at the Tennessee Welcome Center. Someone couldn't handle the 6.5 hour drive! Someone's Mom couldn't either! It was the longest drive ever!

Poppy chasing Ellie at the rest area.

Her new thing when we go outside...sticks.

She had a blast being the only baby there! That meant a LOT of attention from EVERYbody!

My cousins and Grandmama

My girl cousins and Grandmama

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Lastly, I have been feeling like Ellie is just bored lately so I decided to try a new activity..."doing artwork." I bought some toddler Crayola markers and a sketch pad. I should've known better! She spent the entire time eating the markers and drawing on the floor in her bedroom...

This is what she looked like after about 10 seconds...
Luckily they washed right out/off!
So much for new activities!

Congratulations Susie & Travis!!

Rusty's younger brother, Travis, got married this past Saturday. We had a very busy weekend with all of the wedding festivities and had a great time seeing lots of family and friends we haven't seen in a long time!

Mr. and Mrs. Travis Prewett!

Ellie and I went to the bridesmaids luncheon at Greyhouse Grille on Friday...

Me, Aunt Susie, MeMe, and Aunt Ton Ton

Ellie spent the entire luncheon walking around w/ lemons...

Ellie's sweet cousins...

Mallory and Madison

MeMe and her girls...no boy grandbabies in this family!

Ellie with Maddie

Mallory, Mary Mykal, and Maddie at the rehearsal

Rehearsal Dinner

The reception was at a place called Flower Stems which was very cool!

Me, Maddie, and Uncle Chad (Rusty's older brother)

Ellie even made it to the reception for a little while!

Pretty cake...

And, of course, the night just wouldn't have been the same without Rusty pulling out his moves on the dance floor!

Look closely...Rusty doing the worm...

He's been complaining all day about the bruise on his knee from doing the worm last night! We had a great weekend and are so happy for Susie and Travis. Congrats guys!!! We love y'all!!

Our Life = Chaos

This wild thing...

+ this little project...

+ hosting parties for Aunt Susie & Uncle Trav...

= CHAOS around here lately!! That's why we have been so MIA w/ the blog!

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Most of you probably already know, but for those of you who don't, Rusty, Ellie, and I are currently going through a MAJOR renovation project and hope to be moving sometime within the next 4 weeks! I was able to snap a few pics this past week of the progress and pull some "before" pics so you can see the transformation!

The front of the house "before" obviously!

The Kitchen before (don't you love the peach?)...
The Kitchen now!!!

which opens to the great room (Rusty and I love lots of natural light)...
The Dining Room before (pls notice the lovely windows that HAD to go)...

The new Dining Room...
Ellie's Bedroom before...

Ellie's Bedroom now...no more blue!!!
Ellie's Bathroom before...
E's Bathroom now...

Back of the House before...

The Back of the House now...

Plus a few features/rooms that I have always dreamt of having!!

A Mudroom/Desk Area for all of our JUNK that we love to set down the minute we walk in the door...Now hopefully my dining room table won't be full of junk ALL of the time! It's currently the "catch all" for everything from my purse, keys, cell phones, Ellie's shoes, and more random junk!

A Playroom for all of E's plastic!

Right side of house w/ side entrance, carport...

So needless to say, we have been VERY busy around here lately. I am hoping to have this renovation project behind me very soon!! I honestly didn't know what we were getting ourselves into with this, but I know it is all going to pay off in the end! More pictures to come once we get to the end of the project!

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Back to the other fun stuff we've been up to! Uncle Travis and Aunt Susie are getting married this Saturday, August 1st, and we can't wait!! A couple of weeks ago we threw them a little Mexican fiesta at our house and had a great time!

Before the party, Ellie was helping me w/ the decorations...

Rusty & Blake at the party...

Me & Leigh (who is marrying Brett on Sept 19th!!! woo hoo!) at the party...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We have also had a little time to get together with friends...Mallory & Ellie playing in the wagon. Notice sweet Mallory just sits in the wagon while Ellie proceeds to climb in and out, in and out, over and over again. My little busy bee never sits still! These sweet babies only have one more week of Aunt She She keeping them, and then she's off to Auburn to start grad school. Ellie and I are still in denial about this HUGE transition. We are going to miss her SO much around here!!
As for my busy bee...I feel like I haven't updated you in so long on all of her little accomplishments. She's doing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" in this picture...

Ellie is 15 months now, and I just can't believe it. She is trying her best to talk and repeat everything we say and do which can sometimes be scary! We are getting to the age where you really have to watch what you say and do! For example, Lollie was in town a few weeks ago and very lightly pushed Lilly out of the way w/ her foot, and said "No Lilly." Well, now Ellie follows Lilly around, kicking her and saying "No!" She has also started walking up to things she knows she shouldn't get into and looks at me and says, "No no." Which is what I say to her ALL of the time! It's hilarious! She is still extremely energetic and keeps us on our toes at all times!!

I'll leave you with this....just plain sweet...
I guess she still looks like him, huh? I hear it everywhere I go!! ha!