Rowan's First Birthday

While we were in Louisiana we also had a small birthday party for Keith's godson Rowan.  Due to an illness in Courtney's family it was decided rather than have the big party that had been planned for the little guy, we would just have a small get together during Thanksgiving.  Everyone was in one place and it worked out great!

The birthday boy's sweet treats!  Those cake pops were AWESOME!  Oh how we love us some cake pops!

Courtney had asked the bakery for a smash cake and she got a whole 8 inch round cake!  Needless to say the little guy was slightly overwhelmed by this monster!

Singing happy birthday to the little guy!  He had about the same reaction Ella did when we sang to her - basically looked at us like we were nuts!

The little guy sure did enjoy his cupcake though!  He has definitely inherited the love of cake from his mom and me!

I know someone else that enjoyed some cupcake too!

This poor kid has such a sweet tooth!  Luckily her daddy was nice enough to share with her!

Happy Birthday Rowan!  Hope you enjoyed your birthday and we are so glad we got to spend a little time with you while we were in Louisiana!  I still can't believe these babies are already 1!

LSU Vs Arkansas

While we were in Louisiana Nona agreed to give up her ticket to the LSU v Arkansas game and allow us to go while she watched Ella.  We were so glad to finally get to attend our first LSU game in 2 years!  

Two of my wonderful friends came and met us at the tailgate and we were able to snap a quick picture of the three of us before we headed into the game.  I have been friends with Laine and Talia since highschool.  Talia unfortunately moved away to Alabama for college, but Laine and I both attended LSU and were in the same sorority.  We have all moved away from eachother now (Talia is in New Orleans in her 2nd year of OB-Gyn Residency and Laine is in Houston) but we do our best to see eachother when it allows.

My camera has a great panoramic feature on it and I tried my best to get a picture of the stadium.  There is nothing like being in Death Valley for a game!  The atmosphere is just amazing!

The winner of the LSU v Arkansas game get "The Boot" trophy and Arkansas has won it 4 of the last 5 years so we were really hoping to get it back and keep our undefeated record!

The final score was 41-17 (though at the beginning of the game LSU looked rough!).  LSU was able to keep their undefeated record and head to the SEC championship in Atlanta (which they have now won and are headed to the BCS championship in New Orleans-just waiting to see who we play!)

It was great to be in Tiger Stadium for the last game of the season and especially with two of our best friends along with Keith's dad, his brother, and his brother's girlfriend.  We had such a blast with everyone!

Two of our favorite people after we had won the SEC West!  Everyone was so pumped up and the atmosphere was just amazing on campus after the game.

Of course Keith and I couldn't take a decent picture for such a memorable moment!  Oh well we tried and we definitely enjoyed ourselves!

GEAUX TIGERS!

Thanksgiving 2011

For Thanksgiving this year we loaded up the car and headed to Louisiana for a nice relaxing 5 days.  Well at least we thought it was going to be relaxing!  Our first night at Nona and Papa's ended up in a 3 hour trip to the ER (don't worry Ella ended up being fine) but other than that the remainder of the week stayed very uneventful!  We had a great trip that included lots of family and friends, an LSU game, a birthday party, a visit from Santa and even an impromptu family football pick up game!

We were finally successful and getting a decent family picture of the three of us!  Ella was even looking.  This was after not alot of sleep thanks to that ER visit but for once we are all happy and smiling!

My little monkey of course spent lots of her time in the wagon on Thanksgiving day (it is her favorite place to be).  Luckily there were lots of people there to pull her around and she even had her favorite little buddy to ride along with her.

I swear this baby is always full of smiles!  I don't think in 1 year that I have ever seen this kid cry!  He definitely enjoyed his wagon rides too.

Nona really enjoyed having her girl around for a few days and spent lots of time chasing her up and down the stairs.  They were both all smiles after some delicious food which included lots of fried turkey, all the Thanksgiving casserole staples, and Keith's favorite Oyster dressing!
Somehow after lunch while the younger boys were throwing around the football, an impromptu pick up game of boys versus girls got started.  This might have been the funniest thing I have ever watched!

Bre got very into it!  Hey Bre, don't let DZ see this or they will have you playing on all of the Intramural teams!
My dear husband even showed the younger kids how it was done!

Luckily we only ended up with one casualty when Papa Ron laid out for a catch and broke his cell phone case.  No real injuries though!

I have lots of other posts from all of our activities during our week in LA and I will slowly get those up!

Rowan's Baptism

This past weekend we headed to Baton Rouge for Keith's godson's baptism. Since we used to live in BR we were able to see lots of friends along with Keith's family while we were there which was wonderful!

We stayed with my old boss and good friend Sarah and her husband PJ in their beautiful new house. It was great to see them (I lived with Sarah almost a month during our transition to Tyler) and spend a little QT with them!

Our first major event while we were there was lunch with some of my old coworkers and their kids!
This is Gianmario and Ella. Gian was born three weeks before Ella and they were so funny together! I couldn't believe we actually got a few pictures of them looking at the camera!

Doesn't this picture look like they just got caught doing something they weren't supposed to! I know if we still lived in BR these two would be the best of friends - and probably get into LOTS of trouble.

Saturday evening Keith's parents kept Ella over at Keith's aunt and uncle's house so they could get a little QT with the miss and we could spend some time with Brad and Courtney without the kids. I think it was probably the first time in almost 3 years that the 4 of us went out without a kiddo! It was wonderful and we went to our favorite place in BR, Parrain's! So many fun memories of that restaurant!

Sunday was Rowan's baptism and reception. We were able to see so many of Keith's family members which was great!

Here is the little man waiting for the service to start. This child is the best behaved baby ever! I think I have only heard him cry twice and it was more like a whimper than a cry. He is just so laid back and will just go with the flow at all times. It is probably a good thing cause his older brother is always in constant motion!

The proud godparents (also known as Parrain and Nanny in LA)! You could just tell that both of them were so excited to be godparents for the first time. I am pretty sure this little man is going to be quite spoiled by the two of them.

The parents and godparents with Rowan. (from L - Keith, Brad (Keith's cousin), Rowan, Courtney, and Melissa (Courtney's cousin)).

Parrain and his little man! Rowan was so great taking pictures. He makes the funniest pictures and just hams it up for the camera!

After the baptism, there was a lunch and reception at Courtney's aunts house so everyone could hang out for a bit. I was able to snap a few pictures before Ella crashed!

Ella letting her Gigi love on her. I know Gigi was so glad to have all three of her great grandchildren at the same place as her for once. Normally none of us get to be home at the same time so it was wonderful!

Godparents with their godchildren. We let them switch kids for awhile and I know Keith was having fun playing with a little man and we all know Courtney only dreams of having a little girl. I always tell her she can borrow mine any time she wishes :)

A quick picture of Nona, Ella, and Papa. I was surprised that she ACTUALLY smiled for once in a picture. She is getting much better when she sees the camera come out!

We were so sad to actually have to come home on Monday after eating such great food and being able to visit with all of the friends and family. It's ok though, another trip to LA is coming up in two weeks. This time we will be headed to Lafayette for a wedding and I can not wait! So many of my friends from literally all over the world will be in!

The Stomach Flu of 2011 and Ella's First Trip to LA

Well on Wednesday night, Ella came down with her very first sickness. Unfortunately it was the stomach flu and it was not pretty! I am pretty sure I will never forget Keith calling from the living room as I was making dinner saying she threw up and then walking in the living room to see both him and her covered head to toe! It is amazing what can come out of such a little person!

Of course the great stomach flu of 2011 hit the day before we were supposed to make our very first trip to Louisiana as a family of 3. We contemplated not making the trip, but decided Thursday evening that we would suck it up and head out. So we hit the road and made it to Lafayette about 10 pm. Of course after an uneventful ride to Lafayette you would know that I woke up Friday morning with the BUG!

So needless to say our 3 day trip to Louisiana contained a lot of this... and of course this...

It was not a fun few days but we did get to see a lot of family which was nice and it was so great for all of them to meet little miss Ella Kate. We did warn everyone before they entered that they were entering at their own risk and we have unfortunately had a few casualties along the way. Keith's dad, aunt, and cousin have all come down with it! Whoops!

As I have already shown over my last few posts, I am the worst photo documentor ever! I really wish I was better especially since Ella Kate came along but I am not, at least this trip I had an excuse!

Here are the few pictures I did take!

Ella Kate and Mrs Dottie. Mrs Dottie has just been waiting for the little miss to come and visit her. Sure hope she survives without the bug!

Sunday we drove back to Lafayette so Ella Kate could meet the Guillory family!

Olivier and Ella Kate (Olivier and Scarlett are the latest victims of the bug). Unfortunately she was a little grumpy when we got there but she tried really hard to take a picture!

It was a great trip to Louisiana but I sure wish we hadn't been sick the whole time! Maybe next time we will be able to stay healthy so that we can actually enjoy our visit and eat all of the good food! Do you even know what it is like to go to Louisiana and have to just eat bread for 2 days... no fun at all!

Trip to LA, Baby Shower, and 33 week check up

This past weekend we headed to Louisiana for what would be our last trip before Ella Kate's birth. I have officially been placed on no travel as I have hit 33 weeks!

We left on Thursday after work and made the 4 1/2 hour drive to Lafayette to stay with my friend Amy. It was almost 10:00 when we made it there so straight to bed we went.

Friday morning we went and visited Amy's family and this is what I was welcomed with:
You can't really read the cupcakes (which were funfetti which is my favorite) but it says "We Can't Wait for Ella Kate!" and yes the cupcakes were delicious but I tried to not eat to many!

After a short visit, we headed to Baton Rouge to eat lunch at Capital City Grill with my old co-workers from the Road Home, one of which is due 9 days before me. It was so great to see them and I hope to see them when Ella Kate and little Gianmario get to meet in a few months.

Here we are after lunch Diana, Me and Ella Kate, Caroline and Gianmario, Keri, and Krystal. Four of us shared very close quarters while we worked for the Road Home and I don't know how anyone got any work done with us around!

After we finished with lunch we headed to Covington to finish off our weekend. We went to one of my favorite restaurants, Zea's, on Friday night and if you are ever in New Orleans, Lafayette, or Covington near a Zea's I highly recommend eating there and get the corn grits! After dinner my good friend from highschool, Talia, who is an Ob/Gyn resident in New Orleans came up to Keith's parents to visit since she got stuck on call during the shower on Saturday. It was so great to see her since it has probably been almost 2 years!

Saturday was my baby shower which was just great! We had a really good turnout and Courtney, Eve, and Breanne did such a great job! Here are a few pictures:

The delicious cake! (Sorry it is sideways... I thought I fixed all the pictures!)

With my wonderful DZ friends! I am so glad they got to come in for the shower! April, Jordan, me, Kelly, and Alexis.

Courtney (hostess) and I. Courtney is due with baby #2 December 8th and she knows what it is and will not tell me! She is killing me! I am going with boy though I have secret hopes its a girl!

Courtney's diaper cake she made! She did such an awesome job with it. Oh to be creative!

Opening gifts! This little dress was made by an Amish woman and has a matching bonnet! So adorable! It was given to me by Keith's grandma

With the great-grandma's (Keith's dad's mom on left and Keith's mom's mom on right). They both have great grandson's so this will be the first great granddaughter!

Saturday night we stayed low key and just grilled hamburgers and hung out. I was ready to crash early and was probably in bed before 10!

Sunday morning we left pretty early since we had a 6 hour trip in front of us. We did make a pitstop in Lafayette though for brunch with Amy and her family and my friend Katie and her little boy Tanner. Katie and Tanner were in from California and I was so glad it worked out that we got to see eachother!

Katie, a very unhappy Tanner, and I at Blue Dog before it was time to hit the road for the last 4 1/2 hours. Though after eating all of that wonderful food I just wanted to go to bed!

It was such a great trip and it was so wonderful to see all of the family and friends that we got to see. Made me realize though that the next time we make that trip, there will be a baby in tow! So Crazy!

Today I had my 33 week check up (only 7 weeks to go!). My doctor was out of the office so it was just a quick check up with the nurse. I have officially hit the 30 lb mark (AHHH!) but they say that everything sounds and looks good and that I am still right on track. I go back in 2 weeks and then will start my weekly check ups from there. I can't believe it is getting so close!

Red Beans and Rice

Well this weekend with the cool weather around and all of the football on TV, I decided it was time to tackle making a Cajun favorite from scratch! I don't have the patience to make a roux so that knocked out a gumbo and etoufee, so Red Beans and Rice it was!

I decided to try one of Emeril's receipes as he is a wonderful Cajun chef and I figured that was the best place to start.

So here goes...

1 lb Red Kidney Beans

Rinse and sort beans then place them in a large bowl. Cover the beans with water by 2 inches. Allow to soak 8 hours or overnight.

3 T Oil
1 ½ c Onion (diced)

¾ c Bell Pepper

¼ c Tasso or Ham (chopped) - I actually used some left over pork chop

½ t Salt
½ t Black Pepper
Cayenne pepper to taste

3 Bay Leaves
2 t Thyme
2 T Parsley

1 Ham Hock
½ lb Sausage
3 T Garlic

6 c Stock/Water - I used all Chicken broth

Preparation

In a large pot (I used a cast iron pot that is pretty deep) heat the oil on M – H heat. Add the ham/tasso and cook 1 minute. Add the onions, bell peppers and season them with the salt, black pepper and cayenne. Cook until the veggies are soft (about 4 minutes).
Add the bay, parsley, thyme, ham hock and sausage and allow to cook until the sausage has browned. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute.

Add the beans and the stock. Stir well and allow to bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to M – L and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally until the beans are soft and start to thicken (about 2 hours). If the mixture gets too thick, add ¼ c of liquid at a time.

Mash about ¼ of the beans with a spoon (I took out some and pureed them in a food processor) and then continue to cook 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the bay and then serve over rice!

Surprisingly for my first try and made from scratch red beans, I have to say I did pretty good. Keith really enjoyed it even wanted to take leftovers to work today!