baby boy is ready for his close-up, megan's birthday dinner, a lake weekend & pimento cheese

This morning I went to the baby doctor to finish up his anatomy ultrasounds. The only thing they needed to still look at was his heart flow, and I am happy to report he checks out! He is on target for his size and weight. Today he is 1lb 15 oz, a big boy! See how cute he is? We just love love love him to pieces...

here he is with his mouth open and sticking his tongue out

oh, what a sweet schmoopee

Earlier this month Megan had a birthday and I'm just now getting around to posting these photos (bad friend! bad friend! the shame!). There was a family celebration and Lottie Sue and I attended (Matt was out of town). Megan's big gift was a digital camera that hopefully she won't break, it's specially made to withstand such trauma. She's somewhat known for breaking items (just ask our kitchen), but I think it's just part of her charm.

the birthday girl

Tommy grilled veggies and chicken kabobs, plus there was corn on the cob. I was cutting the corn off the cob for Lottie Sue while she picked up a piece and went to town on it. She often surprises us with the things she knows.

nom nom nom nom nom

Mary Ann made the cake for Megan, and during a phone conversation Tommy and Mary Ann encountered a miscommunication. Mary Ann asked Tommy what Megan's favorite flowers were and he told her/she heard dandelions.

Megan's favorite flowers are daisies.

abstract art de dandelions

here i am hugging lottie sue while she pushes away

lucy enjoying cake

After the cake and gift opening was over the kids ran around the yard. I grabbed a few of Lottie Sue.

lottie sue is such a cutie pie

Kim, Clay, Max and Lucy had a birthday gift for Lottie (even a homemade card!) - thanks so much guys!

lottie sue reading her card

And now for more photos from this month...Becce and Mike went to Vegas for a trip and Harlan was in Knox Vegas for a few days. We kept him one night and had such a great time. He and Lottie get along pretty well and if I had to break them up (only one time) it was because they both wanted the same toy. The day after we had Harlan I took the kids up to the lake for a pool day since Harlan was staying with BB the remainder of his vacation. When the Apples came in we spent the weekend at the lake.

driving up the kids held hands - too cute

safety first

lottie sue and moi

mike and too-cool-for-school harlan

lottie sue in matt's shades

becce about to throw harlan overboard - i mean,
becce holding on tight while harlan looks at the water

uncle matt and harlan love to boat

the kiddos, holding hands - again, too cute

once we were ashore, lottie sue spied ducks and had to say hello

we met granray and granbunny at the restaurant,
lottie and harlan "drove" their car for a minute

on the way home they both wanted to drive the boat and honk the horn
(they kept on honking it, i wonder how annoying we were boating out of the marina)

mike, harlan and becce say bye to the sun

lottie sue driving the boat
(grandaddy would literally let her drive it, lots of right turns)

harlan's turn, he was very fond of the horn
(if i had a dollar for every time...)

Anywho, I am now officially caught up on my photos - woo hoo! Once you get behind it is daunting to get caught up.

• Mike is training for his first marathon, it goes down this October in Chicago. He's raising money for Team World Vision. If you have a few bucks to spare, give him some. I know he would appreciate it.
• Food for thought, read about How the Food Makers Captured Your Brain.
• How does this sound? A trip to the grocery store for only 10 ingredients to feed you for a week. Awesome!
• Next year there will be 10 nominees in the Oscar's Best Film selection.
• Little One-of-a-Kind Design is giving away a nap set - please check it out! If you like hip and cool baby items that is...
• Oh yeah, I am on a quest to find the best pimento cheese recipe. It's my new project. The stuff you buy at the grocery store is icky and slimy if you ask me. I like homemade stuff. I've made two recipes so far and this one is my favorite to date. Matt roasted the red peppers for me instead of buying a jar of pimentos and I think I'll trade out the pickles for jalapenos next time. It's super yummy and Lottie Sue and I have enjoyed it all week. If you have a favorite recipe send it to me, I'll try it!
  

Alrighty, it's time for Shoobie Doobie Doo DANCE - I must sign off. I hope you are watching...

sticky fingers & smoochin

me no like sticky fingers

Greetings Earthlings. I am posting a ton of photos from this past weekend. Lottie Sue had two birthday parties and loved every minute of them. She got so excited when we sang "Happy Birthday" and would clap with much enthusiasm when it was over. The only time she became upset was when we gave her a cupcake to eat. She DID NOT like the icing on her hands, she couldn't get past it. I think maybe she had one tiny bite but really wanted out of there. She still made a mess so I took her upstairs and gave her a quick bath, then she was all smiles again.

I'm just going to start laying down the photos, there are a lot. This is after we sang Happy Birthday. Matt video recorded it and one day when I take the time to get into it I'll post it (along with 100 other videos we have). These were taken right before she got mad, when that happened I whisked her upstairs for that bath.


I had all intentions of making a really cool Elmo cake, but Kroger seemed a lot easier. The baby cheesecakes are courtesy of Grandma Wix.

elmo overload

And here are a few photos from the gathering...

grandmothers with grand babies, max and mary ann venable and lottie sue with her bb

And here is a photo of Lottie Sue's first smooch, I think overall Max kissed LS six times but she was always game.

lottie sue venable has a nice ring to it

max kissing ls again (that's max's mom, kim, holding LS and you'll see megan on the right with max's new little sister, lucy)

lottie making beautiful music (and please know that this bow is not exactly where i wanted it, she won't let me put bows in her hair anymore and it's all i could get)

lottie sue and max loved tickling the ivories together

bb with the birthday girl

aunt shirley (along with her husband stan, giver of frog puppet you'll see below) with lottie sue

lottie sue about to break granbunny's leg, but she was a good sport about it

here we have megan feeding baby lucy

lucy in her pilgrim bonnet - adorable

And after the bath Lottie Sue had a few gifts to open...

Here I am with the birthday girl...

We also had a small birthday gathering that night and I have a few photos of that as well. I must thank Carrie for sending some of these, she was quick to capture moments.

carrie and lottie sue at play

we gave her a baby cheesecake, it was after dinner and she wasn't very interested

birthday girl with her birthday crown on (it lasted maybe 4 seconds, nothing stays on her head these days)

kat, kenley, moi, a wide-eyed megan and elmo

lottie sue eating the maracas (gift from kenley) while i lean in for a pose

more elmo overload

That concludes Lottie Sue's first birthday. We really had a great time, Lottie Sue especially loved the attention and she was just so darn happy and cute.

This week she's been teething. She doesn't feel well and she is super clingy, I feel like a Siamese twin. I hope that it pushes through in the next few days, or even better right now as she is napping (ha ha ha). Anywho, I'm signing off - post to you later!