Are we in South Carolina yet?

That's what I heard as we pulled out of our driveway, and then every five (or less) minutes or so of the eight hour journey to Bluffton.  Sylvie and I were road trip buddies to go visit BFFs Bailey and Lucy.  Sylvie had never made the long drive there, so this was a very special treat for her.  She really was a trooper and basically watched Max & Ruby all day while I drove and tried to remain patient each time she requested our ETA.

We spent the next two days playing, going to the beach, singing Veggie Tales karaoke, crafting, baking cookies and Rice Krispie treats, playing dress up (Bailey makes an innovative princess dress by wearing a dress around her waist), eating snacks, watching more Max & Ruby, not sleeping due to sheer excitement, loving on a very-easy-to-love Lucy, letting Uncle Nate play "monster," and wishing we lived closer to our best friends.  I'm pretty sure they had fun...the night before we left Sylvie asked when we were going to plan our next trip to South Carolina and apparently Bailey cried all day when we left.  This made me very sad and I'm sure made Aunt Carey's day even more super special than it normally is, what with working full-time from home, running the office side of Nate's business and mothering two children, two cats and a dog.

We made it home in one piece, after surviving rain/tornado-like activity, extreme tiredness for the chauffeur, and a barf in a Starbucks cup courtesy of the passenger in the backseat.  No speeding tickets this time, praise the Lord.  Although I had a killer excuse since I had no idea if she was going to spew again, or if by some horrible twist of luck I started spewing.  This actually crossed my mind and I thought, how are you supposed to drive and be sick at the same time?  That's why God gave us the gift of two parents, in case one needs to hurl, the other one can drive.  Or so that one (me) can sleep in the front seat and avoid the constant stream of questions from the munchkin.

We will get to see them again soon at an AU game and then for Thanksgiving.  Time seems to be no object for our families, though, as we all just pick up where we left off each time we are together.

Blue Moon ice cream.  Ew.

Lucy makes sure she gets some too.  This one can EAT.

Cookie time.

So cheesy.  Always smiling and so expressive.

Loved the frosting.  I really don't think she could be like me any more.  Second child=best child.  Not that I'm biased or anything.

God Bless,

Katie

PS...Rosie is holding her own at 37 pounds at six months old.  She and Sylvie play and fight like siblings...the dog is constantly torturing Sylvie and finds it hilarious, and Sylvie finds joy in pulling on her mush very hard and laughing.  I do not think any of this is funny, since it means I have to listen to a whiny, "Nooooo, Rooooosiiieeee," all the time from the torturee.  Hoping they both outgrow this stage soon.

July 2013

We had a super busy July.  I'm really looking forward to the normal routine of school and church activities.  We traveled almost every weekend this summer and the packing/unpacking thing is getting on my nerves!

We headed to Destin for a rainy July 4th.  It was of course great to get to spend some one-on-one time with Baylin, and we were sequestered with family at the cottage, so it was still fun.  We even saw some fireworks!  But the rain this summer has really put a damper on our plans, no pun intended.

Happy 4th!

Sweet cousin Janna will play with Sylvie for hours.  They had matching red, white and blue tattoos. 
Janna will indulge that kid like none other.

Cousins in matching outfits, and no one puts a baby to sleep better than Nanie.

Sparklers with a protective cup.

Love these two buddies.  Would love to know what they were talking about.

Sylvie enjoyed her first alone trip to Mimi and Poppy's in Houma for a weekend.  From the looks of the pictures, I think she had a great time and will want to go back over and over.  Parrish and I really didn't know what to do with free time at home...Movie?  Eh.  Dinner?  Eh.  Golf?  Eh.  Bored?  Yes.  Lonely for Sylvie?  Yes.  I couldn't wait to pick her up on Monday in Mobile.  She was so big I didn't recognize her!  I guess I was really eager to get home because I also picked up a hefty speeding ticket, too.  Back to traffic court in September.  Guess I didn't learn my lesson last year.

Feeding the turtles in the bayou.

Fun with birds at the aquarium.

A Sylvie fish!

Begged to ride the trolley, then missed it.

Hot day.

Lunch at Felix's, a big girl who is old enough to stay with grandparents by herself!

The next week was my birthday week.  Yikes to 32.  I have gotten over my fear of aging, so this really was no big deal.  I was super excited to get to host my family in Destin for the weekend.  Hard to believe that I've been with Parrish for over 10 years and this was only the second time they've stayed at the beach house.  Aunt Carey and the girls drove all the way from SC and we had a great time.  We had a quick trip to the gulf due to stormy weather, ate at Old Bay Steamer, shopped and played at the splash pad at the Commons and ate at Vintij.  The guys were supposed to play golf but got rained out, so now they have an excuse to head south again soon to make it up.  My mom was sweet to indulge me with a GF cheesecake and lots of other goodies.  It was a great birthday!  Now on to planning Sylvie's 4th!

Girlies on the beach.

Rosie getting big at about six months old.

Special tea for the birthday girl.

Sand is delicious, according to Lu.

Sassafras.

Munchkin would not cooperate, but B was ready to pose.

We've had lots of at home this month, too.  Highlights:

First soccer camp.  Not ready to play this year, I think, but def next year.  She had a great time and really could hang with the boys, especially with her pink shin guards and socks.

Ready to go!

Sweet kiddos playing dress up.

Making homemade dog treats for Rosie.

Constant dance party/dress up at our house.

Thought this was hilarious.  I gave her a toy catalog to circle a few things she'd like for birthday/Christmas.
She circled the laptop on the order page...not for sale, my dear.  But go for the gold, anyway.

Sylvie had two weeks of Dance with Us at Andalusia Ballet.  Girl loves to dance.  
She's taking two classes a week this year.

I hosted some girlfriends at the beach and we kicked off the weekend with some paddle board yoga with our resident natural lifestyle guru, Shanda.  It was awesome and I'll definitely do it again.  So challenging in a good way.

YOLO (an annoying catchphrase but appropriate here since Shanda works for the company!).

Headstand attempt and success.

Crow, my white albatross.  So challenging, even on land.

We showed our house once in July (no dice), we hosted a AU Club Senior Send-off for incoming freshmen from Covington County, Sylvie has had croup (or some other mystery illness), I've decided to take up golf after one stellar lesson, I saw an endocrinologist for lingering hypothyroid symptoms (with no new diagnosis...guess no news is good news, but I still feel crummy), Parrish is nursing a foot injury (acquired while trying to play soccer with kids half his age) and learned Sylvie weighs a whopping 27 pounds!  Whew!  

August holds the beginnings of school, dance, football season and a trip to South Carolina to see the cousins.  And if it's anything like July, a whole lot more is in store for our family!

God Bless,

Katie

Best buds

Got to share this fun pool and DQ day!  Sylvie and Ollie, BFFs.

God Bless,
Katie

Baylin Elizabeth King

Meet Sylvie's newest cousin (she has 12!), Baylin!  She is much bigger than this now, but this is when we met her for the first time while in Auburn waiting for Rosie to get better.  We love getting to pass clothes down to her and Sylvie can't wait to babysit.

God Bless,
Katie

Nashville & the AGD

Parrish received his Fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry in June (a dental distinction that he earned by getting tons of CE hours and passing an exam...next up, earning the Master distinction, yikes), which meant a fun trip to Nashville for the induction for us and Cousin Camp for the munchkin.  I'm not sure who had more fun!  The trip was really nice...great hotel, amazing food, good company and of course, pride for my super smart and dedicated spouse.  Plus I really like Nashville...it's so clean and musical, two of my favorite things.  I picked some great restaurants, got to see my friend Mer's new baby, Charlie, shopped a little, slept in a little, went to the Relache spa at Opryland (TOTALLY recommend this), made some new friends and got to spend some time with dental school friends in north Alabama.

I don't have any pictures from Cousin Camp, but my dad made us a really cute photo book to commemorate the first annual event.  Sylvie, Bailey and Rosie attended this year, and hopefully Lucy can go next summer.  They did crafts, ate a lot, played a lot, Sylvie got a wasp sting on her chest and succeeding in completely exhausting my parents.  Sylvie had a ball and can't wait to do it again.

Getting his award from the Prez of the AGD.

What a dork.

Drs. King, Fontenot and Sarasola, FAGD.

Great view from the new Music City Center.

Dr. Bill joined us for the festivities.

New friends from Florida and Louisiana.

We enjoyed several date nights.  This one at Virago, eating sushi outside overlooking downtown Nashville.

Poppy's twin but from 30 years ago.  Cajuns are hilarious.

Dressed like twins, as usual!

Another date night at Silo, my favorite.  Farm to table food and knowledgeable staff.

A bunch of smart dentists who know a lot of inside dental jokes.

After a yummy dinner at Suzy Wong's, we attended a concert at the Ryman, then headed to Lonnie's in Printer's Alley.  The night was totally ruined by the underage girls getting WASTED with their moms.  Losers.  

I had a great time on this trip, but I was so ready to pick Sylvie up.  I am so used to having her as my sidekick, I really didn't know what to do without her!  She'd rather be at JJ & Ferg's than anywhere else, so she could've cared less to come home, but I was READY.  Love that little twerp.

God Bless,
Katie