Dear Weston

Dear Weston,

Any day now, your world is going to change.  Mama and Daddy are going to go to the hospital and have your brother or sister.  You aren't going to be the center of our world anymore.  You will be sharing that with the new baby.  However, our love for you will always be the same.  Our love will not be divided, only multiplied.  After all, YOU are the baby that made us a Mommy and Daddy. 

You will be a GREAT big brother.  I'm sure it won't be smooth at first, for any of us.  None of us have done this before; Daddy and I have never had two children and you've never had to share your attention.  I worry that since you have no idea what is about to happen, that you will act out and get upset more quickly.  I hope in a few years that you and the baby will be best friends and will grow up looking out for each other.  Daddy and I believe that, if God sees fit, every child should have a sibling.  This way, you have a buddy, a confidant, and someone to share inside jokes with. 

I can't wait for you to meet your sibling and watch your love grow for them.  I know you will be confused because for the last 10 months, the "baby" has just been my belly.  You have shown the baby love by kissing my belly and that was enough.  The baby hasn't made any noise, wanted any of my attention or wanted you to share any of your toys with it. That's going to change and I know you won't understand.  That's ok though.  I will do my best to explain everything to you as we go along.  I know you will be such a great helper for Mommy.  You can bring me diapers, help feed and soothe the baby and bring the baby toys.  You are such a smart boy, so I know you will teach the baby so much.

Yesterday, knowing that our one-on-one time is short, I let you come and watch a movie (Cars 2, your favorite right now) in my bed during naptime.  You were absolutely thrilled when I brought your blankie and pillow into my bed. About 5 minutes before the movie ended, you fell asleep.  I just laid there and watched you sleep and cherished the time we had together. You seemed to really enjoy having the opportunity to be in Mommy and Daddy's bed.  Babies don't get to take naps in Mommy and Daddy's bed, just big boys like you.  We'll definitely have to do that more often.  I hope you will want to continue having quiet time/naps in our room.

I hope you have fun at Mamma and Papa's house and enjoy playing with the puppy dogs.  Please don't be scared that Mommy is in the hospital.  You were born in a hospital too.  Hospitals are where it is most safe for your brother or sister to be born.  I will miss you so, so much while I am away.  After all, this will be the longest that I will have been away from you since you were born.  You can come visit whenever you would like and before you know it, Mommy, Daddy, brother or sister and you will all be back home starting our new life as a family of four.

Please don't ever forget that we love you very, very, very much and always will.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

What Have I Done?!

I have a doctor's appointment this morning.  As much as I'd like the doctor to give me an induction date so that this long, painful, sickly pregnancy can come to an end, I don't want to know when the last day with just Weston will be.  I'd also like to go into labor on my own, since I had to be induced with Weston too.

Ten months ago, it seemed like a really good idea to give Weston a sibling.  However, now that I have a very short time left, I'm wondering how big this mistake is.

Now, I am NOT calling Baby #2 a mistake AT ALL.  The "mistake" I am talking about is all in my head, I'm sure. I'll bullet point and rationalize these thoughts, maybe it will help.

• Weston is not going to get all of the attention anymore.  How will he deal with that?
  Weston is two.  He won't remember the difference and after a few weeks with the new baby, he'll adjust just fine.
• Weston is only two and has no idea what is about to occur in his life.
  Weston IS only two, so he won't remember life before the baby arrives.
• Weston is and has been my and Doug's primary focus for almost 26 months now. How can I give him adequate time and attention, especially in the early weeks when I am so exhausted I can't even see straight?
  That's what teamwork is for.  Each parent focuses on one child.  One-on-one defense, I guess.
• What if Weston hates us for having another baby?
  Weston doesn't know what hate is and when he does find out what it is, the baby will be old news.
• I've been told parenting two children is a lot harder than parenting one.  It's not just double the work like one would think.
  If parenting subsequent children really was as difficult as people have said, there wouldn't be nearly as many siblings in this world as there are and there certainly wouldn't be families with more than 2 children.  If I go into parenting two children with no expectations of how our daily life will be, I will be neither happy, nor disappointed if something doesn't work out.
• Will Weston be scared seeing me in the hospital and unable to go home with him?
  When I was hospitalized for hyperemesis, he came to visit and didn't seem scared.  Of course, it was only one night and he's older now, but hopefully he'll still not care.

These are only a few of my concerns, but only time will tell how they all work out.  I'm also pretty sure that I'm not the first nor will I be the last mom/parent to have these concerns.  Everyone tells me to just breathe and enjoy having my children close together, because soon my fears will be dating, college and an empty nest.

Another Giveaway at ELF: A Family Blog

Weston's birthday was yesterday (a post will be forthcoming, pending pictures from relatives, as Doug and I FAILED as parents and took ZERO pictures yesterday). Therefore, I don't need any birthday invitations currently.  However, we are building a house and having a second baby, so we do need invitations for that.  

Since I had a baby shower little more than two years ago when Weston was gestating, I don't think it's necessary to have another one now.  We may have a "Sip N See", which is Southern thing for people to come see the baby and have a light lunch, which we would need invitations for.  We could also have a housewarming party to celebrate our new house and obviously invitations would be in order for that as well.

All of this to say, over at ELF Family Blog, Libby is teaming with Tiny Prints to give away 25 invitations.  This is an awesome giveaway that I'd be thrilled to win!

Go over to the blog and enter to win.  I did!

Father's Day

I realize Father's Day was more than a week ago, but I am just now having time to post.

We started Father's Day at church.  When we got home, my parents brought over home-cooked breakfast.  After breakfast, my dad and Doug opened presents.  Weston, the dogs and I got Doug splatter screens for cooking, a DVD he wanted and made him a candy card.  We got my dad a movie theater gift card.  He really enjoys seeing movies.

When we finished opening gifts, we all took a nap.  It's our thing.  Ha. 

When we got up, we headed to an early dinner.  We then came back to the house to play games and then went out for dessert.  It was a very restful and fun day.

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend, Doug, Weston, I and my parents went to south Georgia.  There we met up with my in-laws and went to an amusement park/water park.

We thought we'd get into the hotel around midnight, but it was actually around 3am when we got there. :-(  It made for an early morning when we needed to get up a few hours later.  Surprisingly, Weston was in a great mood all day.  

On Saturday, we went on a few rides at the amusement park, but it was 100 degrees and between my pregnant self and Weston's little body, we couldn't stay in that heat too long.  We ended up spending the entire afternoon in the water park area.  Weston LOVED the lazy river and the kids water area.  He didn't want to get out of the water.  It's not all that surprising, since his mom and dad are huge water people too.  Saturday evening, there was a concert in the park, so we stayed for that. The Band Perry was performing and even though he had swam all day, only had a short 20 minute nap and about 3 hours of sleep the night before, Weston danced through the whole concert, cutting up and entertaining the people around us.

On Sunday, we went back to the park.  When you buy a ticket at the amusement park, you get in a consecutive day free, so we figured why not go back?!  It was a little cooler on Sunday because Tropical Storm Beryl was heading in our direction.  We went on the few more amusement rides and then headed over to the water park area again.  We spent the entire time in the lazy river.  The only reason we got out of the water is the sky seemed threatening and we were getting cold since there wasn't any sun.  After we got dried off and changed into our clothes, the sun came back out (and stayed out).  Isn't that the way it always is?  Doug's parents and brother left to head back to Florida since they had work on Monday.  The rest of us wandered around the park a little longer, but as soon as we put Weston in his stroller, he fell asleep.  Doug went on a roller coaster and then we headed towards the gift shop to get Weston a souvenir.  When we left the park, we went looking for dinner and spent about 2 hours hunting down a non-chain pizza place.  There weren't any open, so we ended up at Pizza Hut.  While we were in there, it got very windy and started pouring.  Beryl had arrived.

On Monday, we headed back to Alabama.  We went through Atlanta and met up with my uncle and aunt.  We ate at the Varsity, which is so fattening, but so yummy!  We ended up getting home in time to go to our Monday night trivia game, where our team took first place for the 3rd week in a row.  

We had a fabulous weekend and hope you did the same. :-)

Mo Isom

As I have previously mentioned, I am a HUGE fan of LSU.  I was going to go there for college, but ended up staying in Florida.  My aunt and uncle went to LSU and Fall 2013, my cousin is planning on going there as well. 

As you may or may not have heard, there is a girl trying out for the men's football team.  She wants to be the placekicker and has been working out with the team for several months now.  

This girl's name is Mo Isom and she was on the soccer team for 4 years, kicked a 90 yard goal, has been on the honor roll, was Homecoming Queen, her list of accomplishments goes on and on.  She is also an awesome Christian.  She had two horrible and traumatic events occur within 10 months of each other, which had her at polar ends of her Christian walk.  You'll have to go to to Mo Isom's website and read about all of her accomplishments, but also the trials she has been through.

I follow Mo on Twitter.  I saw on Saturday that she tweeted she was going to be speaking at a church in Nashville.  Since I live close enough to Nashville, I asked Doug if we could go see her speak.

Yesterday, we went to First Baptist Church Nashville to hear her speak.  She shared her testimony and challenged the high school seniors (who were being celebrated yesterday) to go out into the world and not be afraid of your Christianity.  She warned them that they will face temptation and adversity, but that God will not challenge you beyond what you can handle.

After the service, Mo was standing in the foyer greeting people.  I spoke to her for a minute and then I asked her to take a picture.  She readily agreed.  She is so nice and very down to earth.  If I could re-live my life, I would like to be like Mo Isom.

Mo is such an inspiration and excellent role model for young adults.  

Mother's Day

Yesterday was my second Mother's Day (although I was pregnant with Weston for Mother's Day 2010).

Doug and Weston did a really good job of loving on me yesterday, as they do every day. 

*A disclaimer: I think that Mother's Day is another holiday thought up by retailers to make more money.  I feel that children are a huge blessing and there doesn't need to be a day set aside for mothers (or fathers).

We started the morning at church and then met my parents for breakfast.  Afterwards, we went home and all three of us took a nice nap.  When we got up, we started getting ready to go to dinner.  We decided to go early so that we could beat the dinner rush.  We pulled up to the restaurant before 4:30 and we were told it would be an hour wait (which it was).  Guess we didn't beat the rush. 

While we were waiting to be seated, I opened presents from Doug, Weston, the dogs and my parents.  We also gave my mom presents as well.  Doug got me a book I've been wanting to read, Weston got me the Beauty and the Beast DVD because I want to collect all of the Disney movies, and the dogs got me a new iPhone cover.  My parents got me a fan to help combat the hot Alabama summer since, lucky me, I will be pregnant until the end of August (or that's the plan).

We got my mom a picture frame from Weston that says "I love you Mamma".  I saw a deal on the frame and since we can't find anything with Mamma on it, I decided to order it.  And then it occurred to me that I should have waited until Grandparents Day in September.  Oh well, she enjoyed it.  We also got her a chaise lounge for her back porch so she could sit outside and read.

Mother's Day 2012 was a very nice day and I felt celebrated, even though I don't deserve it.  I'm just doing what I've always dreamed of doing- being a Mom.

Making New Friends

A warm welcome to those of you coming from Kelly's Korner! 

My name is Ellery and I live in North Alabama.  I am married to Doug, an engineer and I am a former teacher, now SAHM to Weston, our almost 2 year old son and a new baby due in August.  We have a Great Dane and a black Labrador.  

I enjoy going to church and hanging out with my family and friends.  In the fall, SEC football is on as much as possible.  We are a house divided between University of Florida and LSU.  Living in Alabama and Auburn territory is difficult, but we make it work.

We've lived in North Alabama since November 2010, but I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida and have lived in Mobile, Gulf Coast Mississippi and Texas.  I would love to live where it snows on a regular basis, but I do enjoy Alabama.

This kind of sounds like a personal ad, so I am going to stop here.  Maybe we can be friends?

Giveaway at ELF Family Blog

As I've mentioned before, I am very vigilant of my blog and what I share.  I don't post pictures of my family and I don't post my last name.

Over at ELF Family Blog, there is currently a giveaway for memberships to Safe Shepherd, which is a cyber-safety company.  They help remove unwanted information off the internet and to companies that sell that kind of info.

Go over to the blog and enter to win.  I did!

http://www.elffamilyblog.com/2012/05/safe-shepherd-giveaway-sponsored-post.html#more

Black Mold

I am VERY allergic to mold, mildew, microspores.  Every time I would go into the kitchen (which is a lot), but especially when I was near the fridge or sink, my nose would start itching and I'd start sneezing.  Doug looked in the fridge and he looked under the cabinet and he couldn't find anything either place.  I figured maybe it was just me and dropped the issue.

A month or so ago, I thought I heard trickling or water noise in or near the refrigerator.  I thought it was odd, since we don't have an ice maker in our fridge/freezer, so I mentioned it to Doug.  He again looked in the fridge and couldn't find a source.

Then, about 10 days ago, I noticed a leak under the refrigerator. It wasn't just water, but brownish muck too.  I wiped it up and went about my business.  Then it happened again and more water came gushing out.  We realized this was happening when we ran the dishwasher or sink.  My dad, who is a plumber, looked at it for us and realized that there was a leak in the wall.

Since we are renting our house while waiting for our house to be built, we called the property management company.  Today the guys came out (and are actually still here) and have had to remove the cabinets, sink and dishwasher to fix the leak.  At this point, they realize our kitchen is filled with black mold and that the leak has been happening since the house was built.  It's just now making itself apparent by leaking out of the wall.  The mold has been building up for some time too. Now, we have to have people come out and clean all the black mold out of our house.  This is so much more of a nightmare than I thought it was going to be!

All of last summer, I was really sick.  I went to umpteen doctors and specialists to try and figure out why I was remaining so sick.  Now with the evidence of black mold, the pieces are fitting together as to why the doctors couldn't find anything.  It's environmental. Doug, Weston and I have been living in mold hell the entire time we have lived here and just didn't know it.  I'm sure my OB would be thrilled to know I am carrying a baby in this environment.  Ugh!

Telling Doug

The October after Doug and I got married, I bought a Christmas themed scavenger hunt for me to send Doug on to find a gift with.  The first year, his gift at the end was a Mouse Trap game from the baby on the way.  

Since I really didn't have a gift in mind for this year, I decided I would take a pregnancy test after he left for work and that would be his final gift.  I wasn't going to wait until Christmas Day to let him do the scavenger hunt, so I thought about when a good time would be.  We got engaged on December 21, so I decided that would be a good day to test and give him the news.

The night before, I was so excited about taking a test that I didn't sleep. The next morning, I needed to go to the bathroom pretty badly, but I wanted to video the test result, so I didn't want to take the test until Doug left for work.  When Doug's alarm went off, he didn't get up.  When the second alarm went off, he still didn't get up.  I gently woke him up and explained he needed to get going. I then went and fed the dogs, let them out.  I basically did anything I could do to get him out of the house ASAP.

When he finally left, I RAN to the bathroom and took the test.  I then videoed the test until it turned to 'pregnant'. That afternoon, while Weston was napping, I set out all the scavenger hunt clues.  The final clue was on our bathroom mirror.  It said:

"Three years ago today, you gave me a ring

I wonder what THIS December 21st will bring.

Go get Weston for your gift."

I had put a "Big Brother" shirt on Weston and I figured right before Doug went in to his room, I'd hand Weston the pregnancy test, sanitized obviously.  Doug usually gets home at the end of nap time, so I thought the timing would work out well.  Of course, wasn't that the day that Doug got out of work late.  I made Weston stay in his crib until Doug got home, so needless to say Weston wasn't the happiest or most cooperative camper when Doug finally went in there.  I don't have pictures either.

Since we had been trying, Doug sort of suspected I was pregnant, but had no idea that was the gift at the end of the scavenger hunt.

Baby Details!!

Yesterday we went for our fetal assessment scan.  Because I have been so sick, there were days I wasn't able to take and/or keep down my prenatal vitamins.  Therefore, I have been terrified for weeks that the baby wouldn't be healthy.  I wasn't worried about Weston's ultrasound, but this baby has been different.  He or she is perfectly healthy.  Everything measured well and looked great. Praise God! That made me a very happy mama! 

I will be 21 weeks on Friday and I am due on August 24th.  We do not know if we are having a boy or a girl.  We didn't find out with Weston either. I have documented how much I would like a girl, since I already have a boy, but if I have another boy, I don't have a doubt in my mind I will love it like crazy.

When you have an older child, you don't need as much "stuff" as you need when you are pregnant with the first one.  When I was pregnant with Weston, I was dragging Doug with regular frequency 45 minutes each way to the closest Babies R Us from about 8 weeks on.  Of course, now that we have a Babies R Us 10 minutes away, I've only been once.  With this pregnancy, I didn't feel like it for a while and since I have felt better, I've found better things to do than be sucked into the baby store.  Because we didn't know what gender we were having the first time, we bought a lot of gender neutral things. We plan to re-use Weston's car seat/stroller combo, swing, bouncer, pack n play and crib.  Those are the big items that cost so much the first time around.

Here's an ultrasound picture of our sweet baby from our appointment yesterday.  Do you think it's a girl or a boy?

New Beginnings

As I alluded to in my Valentine's Day post (almost 2 months ago!), I was very sick for the first 2 months of the year.  I was hospitalized 3 times in about a month.  The worst part of the fact that I was so sick, is that I chose to take the chance that I would be sick.

You see, last Fall, I was getting baby fever and Doug and I had been discussing trying for another baby, so that Weston and the baby would be close in age.  After an unfortunate November, December arrived, as did this: 

 Doug and I were thrilled and told both sets of parents on Christmas Day, at which point I was only 5 weeks, which was early to tell anyone, but how often do you get to tell your parents on a major holiday that they're going to be grandparents again?!  

I don't know if I've mentioned it on the blog, but when we got pregnant with Weston, it was a COMPLETE surprise! In fact, we had no clue we were pregnant and we were certainly not planning on a baby.  We'd only been married about 6 weeks when we got the positive.

At the beginning of January, I started having nausea, which morphed into extreme nausea, which further morphed into hyperemesis, or extreme vomiting.  I couldn't keep anything down and therefore I was not getting nutrients and more importantly, the baby wasn't getting the nutrients it needed.  As I said above, I was in the hospital three times from mid-January to early February.  During my stays, I was given lots and lots of IV fluids with nutrients in them.  The first two times I was hospitalized, I felt better for a few days and then I started feeling bad again.  The third time I was hospitalized seemed to do the trick and I haven't had to go back since.  

I thought my nausea with Weston was bad, but it was a cakewalk compared to this pregnancy.  Doug and I thought we wanted 4 children, but as sick as I've been this pregnancy, I think this baby may be the last one.

Doug and my parents have been so great throughout this whole thing.  Luckily, Doug has a job where he can work from home if needed.  My parents live about 5-10 minutes away, so they came and took care of Weston when Doug couldn't stay home.  They all took such great care of me and helped me through one of the sickest times in my life.

I will provide more details tomorrow.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day y'all!  I've had a rough month (+), but hopefully I'm on the mend.

Doug and I went out to dinner.  Weston stayed with my parents.  It was a very nice evening.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm going to fill out a survey.  Boring, I know, but at least I'm posting.

How long have you and your significant other been together?  3 1/2 years

How did you meet? (What’s your love story?) We met through a mutual friend. Doug was in town for Labor Day weekend and the friend invited both of us to go to trivia night.  We enjoyed each other's company and ended up going out 3 more times that weekend.  Shortly after, I got a job closer to where Doug lived and that was it. Here's the full story.

If married, how long have you been married? 2 1/2 years next month 

  

If you are married, where did you get married? Big or small wedding? We got married at Kirkwood Presbyterian Church in Bradenton, FL.  Our wedding was medium-sized.

  

Do you have any nicknames that you call one another? Not really

. 

Name 3 things you love most about your honey. #1 His love for his family #2 His work ethic #3 His ability to be incredibly laid-back, in turn keeping me calm (or trying to).

 

Tell us how he proposed.  After recreating our first weekend together, he took me to the park where we sat for many hours talking and proposed to me by the dolphin fountain.

Is he a flower and teddy bear kind of guy, or strawberries, champagne and rose petals? He brings me flowers (not always roses and not always red) on occasion, not just Valentine's Day, but otherwise, he thinks outside the box.

Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or a pop a movie in and relax on the couch? Definitely a movie and couch type of girl.

Tell us one thing you’d like to do with your significant other one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere? I'd like to take our child(ren) to all the baseball parks in the U.S. (and the one in Canada).  This would allow my hubby to share his love of baseball with the children and allow me to see the U.S.

Tell us what you plan on doing this Valentine’s Day. We will try to go out to dinner, exchange gifts and spend time with Weston.

Are you asking for anything for Valentine’s Day? Nope, I'd be perfectly happy with sitting at home staring at each other, no gifts exchanged, if it means spending time with my husband and son.

Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love. Always remember why you fell in love with the person.  Date nights and being silly together help too. ;-)

Alabama Won

Congratulations to Alabama for winning the National Championship.  Y'all played harder and obviously wanted it more.

LSU just didn't show up.  They didn't try and looked like a pee-wee team, not like one that won 13 games in a row.  I don't entirely blame the coach, since he did coach the team to the aforementioned 13 wins in a row.  I blame the quarterback and offense for not using logic and adapting when the plays they were trying didn't work.

The bottom line is Alabama came to win and LSU didn't.  At least the SEC has won another title (six I think) in a row.

I'm looking forward to the 2012 college football season. GEAUX TIGERS!!

BCS Championship

Tonight there is a little football game in New Orleans called the BCS Championship.  The LSU Tigers, who are 13-0 will be playing the Alabama Crimson Tide, who are 12-1, their only loss is to LSU.   Don't get me started on why these two teams shouldn't be playing each other for the National Championship.

I am a HUGE LSU fan and cannot stand Alabama.  This is for a few reasons. 1) Alabama and LSU are arch rivals. 2) I live in Alabama and have to deal with Alabama fans and their "Roll Tide" garbage all around town.  What does Roll Tide even mean? And who has an elephant for a mascot?  

However, the biggest reason I do not like Alabama is that they are pompous and wicked fans.  I recently watched a documentary that detailed the intense rivalry between Alabama and Auburn, the other major university in this state.  One of the Auburn fans pulled an innocent prank on the Alabama campus.  To retaliate, a fan from Alabama went to Auburn and poisoned (killed) all of the trees in a certain area of campus.  That is taking it way too far.  At the end of the day, it's just a game.

Anyway, off my soapbox.  The teams are playing in the Superdome, where my beloved Saints play as well.  LSU went to the Superdome in 2003 and 2007 to play for the Championship.  We won both years, so I am hoping that will bring us good luck tonight.

I am not delusional though.  I know that this will be a very hard match-up (we only won by 3 points in overtime when we played them earlier this year) and that LSU will need to come ready to play.  I think it will come down to who wants the championship more.  

My score prediction: LSU-17 Bama-13

Doug's score prediction: LSU-15 Bama-9

Twas The Night Before The BCS

Twas the nite
Before the BCS
And all through N’Awlins
The pits were a smoking
The crawfish boilin’

The banners were hung
In the Superdome with care
Knowing LSU & BAMA
Soon would be there

The Tigers were nestled
All safe in their beds
While visions of Shady’s
Danced in their heads

And Nick with his pitchfork
And Les in his cap
Were drawing the game plan
No time for a nap

When out in the Quarter
There arose such a clatter
It startled Nick Satan
And Les the Mad Hatter

A guy yelled “Go Bama”
Another “Roll Tide”
The Tiger fans
Turned from Jekyll to Hyde

They shouted in Unison
Bama Sucks; Tiger Bait
For Bama was the team
They all loved to hate

Dusk turned to dawn
And fans stumbled home
In just a few hours
They’d all fill the dome

The game soon kicked off
It was lively and quick
Bama scored first
Which gladdened St. Nick

Les calmly bent down
And chewed on some turf
He wouldn’t be outcoached
By a little red smurf

Now Jordan
Now Spencer
Now Kenny
Now O’Dell
On Reuben
On Russell
On Jarvis
Give em’ hell

To the end of the field
And into the zone
Let’s go score some points
And bring the title home

The O started rolling
And soon they did score
The crowd went wild
Mike let out a roar

But the Tide seemed to beacon
The ghost of the Bear
And right before halftime
A kick sailed through the air

It soared through the uprights
Both mighty and true
Alabama had 10
To 7 for LSU

The bands took the field
And put on a show
The crowds hit the john
They all had to go

Meanwhile in the locker
Adjustments were made
The second half game plan
Was carefully laid

The second half kickoff
Went to the Tide
LSU tried to trick em
And kicked it onside

The Tide did recover
And started their drive
But the Tiger D stiffened
The crowd came alive

Between the Freak
And the kid named Mingo
They were all over the field
Like an old lady at Bingo

They went back and forth
A heavyweight battle
The fans got real nervous
But Les didn’t rattle

Who would you trust
A coach who eats grass
Or one who looks distressed
As if he has gas

We should all thank St. nick
And bend on our knees
It was he who chose Culpepper
Instead of Drew Brees

The clock ticked down
Only 10 seconds to go
Bama punted the ball
Time to put on a show

He weaved through the Tide
As if they weren’t there
They grasped at his jersey
And came up with air

He crossed the goal line
As the clock ticked to zero
Once again number 7
Was the LSU hero

The crowd did erupt
The journey was through
The National Champions
The Tigers of LSU

And I heard him proclaim
Over cheering and taunts
Honey Badger gets
What Honey Badger wants!

New Orleans Saints

I am a HUGE New Orleans Saints fan.  I lived near New Orleans when the Saints won the Super Bowl in 2010.  Because I was pregnant and the residents of New Orleans are unpredictable around Mardi Gras, I didn't end up going to the Championship Parade, but I watched it on tv, wishing I was there.

Last year, they only got as far as the 1st round of playoffs, at which point, they quickly lost to the Seattle Seahawks and my hope for back-to-back championships was shattered.

Tonight they play the first round of playoffs again at home against the Detroit Lions.  A lot of people are saying that the Lions are going to come and surprise the Saints with their talent.  We'll see what happens at 7:00.  If they win, they will play the San Francisco 49's next weekend.  If they lose, I don't have much pro football to watch until August.  None of the rest of the teams are all that exciting to me.

All I can say is Geaux Saints!!

Trivia Night

Tonight Doug, Weston and I met up with my parents and went to a local Mexican restaurant for trivia night.  We had a lot of fun playing the game.  There were about 8 teams tonight and our team came in 3rd and won a $5 gift card to the restaurant.  Not too shabby for our first time.  We will definitely be going again!

We already have plans to meet up with a co-worker of Doug's and his wife.  Fun date night for the adults.  Weston can stay with his Mamma and Papa, which breaks all of their hearts.  LOL.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012!!

Obviously I had trouble keeping up with the blog last year.  I think I set my own expectations too high, posting every day.  I'm going to try to be a better blogger this upcoming year.

I have several things going on this year that are exciting, beginning with a new pen pal that I was matched up with through Leslie's blog.

I'm not making any resolutions for the year, but I am making goals.

• Be a better blogger
• Spend more time "present" with my family and friends (less iPhone, computer, iPad time)
• Enjoy each day
• Eat healthier

I hope everyone's 2012 is better than 2011.