Happy Father's Day

Happy First Father's Day, James! I hope it has been a good one. I remember when we had the ultrasound when we found out we were having a boy. We were both so shocked. We just knew that we were going to have a girl. James was thrilled to be having a boy, but he didn't seem as excited as I thought he would be on the drive back from the doctor's office. We both went on to work afterwards and them came home that night and James was changing clothes in the closet and he yelled to me in the other room, "I'm going to have a son!" I knew right then that he was awfully excited...as excited as James gets, anyway! James, you've made a great dad. Case is a lucky boy and I'm one lucky lady! You deserve at least one day out of the year to have things your way... The first time James held Case!


This is James' Father's Day present. He got a mouse pad with photos printed on it. I didn't know that people still used mouse pads, but James does. He uses some nasty old one from some company I've never even heard of, so I thought he could use a fresh new one with some of his favorite people on it, including his dad and his dad's dad, in honor of the occasion.

And, of course, I have a dad of my own, who deserves to be honored today as well, so Happy Father's Day, Dad! Here's a pic of him with Case.

Here are a few tidbits about my dad for your reading pleasure:

1. Before my dad was an attorney, he was a coach, and although I did a lot of yelling and screaming out on the track while learning to run hurdles, I do credit him for my track and field state championships. I never much was too keen on practicing. I mainly ran track to flirt with boys during track meets which, I'm sure, drove him crazy.
2. He took me fishing once with my brother and I never got to go back because I liked to talk too much and too loud, which apparently scared the fish away.
3. He also taught me how to drive a stick shift. That experience, I'm sure, wasn't overly pleasant for him, but we both survived!
4. And last, but certainly not least...When James asked him for permission to marry me, he never really said yes. But, I guess he was okay with it, seeing how things turned out!

So, Happy Father's Day to two of the best dads I know!

Not So Sleepless in Seattle!

Well, this week, work has brought me to Seattle, Washington....and....it's official, I LOVE Seattle! Traveling for work has often times left me wanting to move to the cities I visit...Ft. Worth, Minneapolis, Charlotte, San Diego and now Seattle. Yes, I would like to live in Seattle. Yeah, I think it rains more than in Memphis, but it's a beautiful city! When I left Memphis on Wednesday, it was nearly 100 degrees, humid and miserable. When I arrived in Seattle, it was 68 degrees cloudy with the sun peaking out now and then and wonderful! We had a little down time and walked around downtown. My favorite part was the Pike Place Market District.


Fresh fruit and veggies everywhere as well as bakeries, t-shirt shops and more. I even bought Case the cutest hand-knit beanie that looks like a frog.

Fresh fish, of course, that looked delicious. And when someone orders one, they toss it to the counter. Flying fish everywhere! Very fun to watch!




This is a cute little flower shop near our hotel called, buckets. Too cute!

And here is a pic of my, "fill from the ceiling" pedestal tub in my room. It was awesome! I filled it up and watched So You Think You Can Dance while I soaked. Needless to say, I had no trouble sleeping after that!

And as much as I have enjoyed this great city, I'm looking forward to seeing my boys tomorrow!

Lindsey Lissau Photography

A few weeks ago Case had his nine month portrait session at the Botanic Gardens. They turned out so cute. Lindsey always does such a great job. Again, if you're ever in search of a good photographer, be sure and check her out. These are just a few of my favorites. There are many, many more where these came from. I don't know how I will ever decide.

What a weekend!

This has been one crazy weekend! It all started on Friday afternoon. On my way home from work I noticed in my rear view mirror that a black wall of clouds was headed toward Memphis. I also heard some tornado warnings on the radio for counties in Arkansas. I called James and told him to try and leave work so he could get home before the storm could get to our house. I hate storms and didn't want to be home with Case by myself. So, when Case and I got home we were standing on the front porch watching for him and in about a span of 10 seconds or less, the wind picked up so fast and so strong that we barely had time to get inside and get the glass door shut before limbs just started falling from the sky like rain and I screamed! It was amazing how hard the wind blew, but it didn't last very long. The worst part was over in about three minutes. Yes, James was in his car during all of this and I was more worried about him than anything. Anyway, we were without power all night and didn't sleep much, so we headed to Dyersburg on Saturday morning to see James' grandparents and to enjoy some air conditioning and TV! Sorry the pics are blurry. I don't know what happened...

Case with Pa Neal

Yes, we pulled a "Britney Spears" but please don't turn us into CPS. When we got back to Memphis on Saturday evening, Poplar was shut down close to our house due to a snapped power pole, so we had to take a detour and traffic was backed up so bad that we just got Case out of his seat and he helped James drive.

When we pulled into our driveway we saw our porch lights on and started screaming in delight!

Ridin'

Here are a couple of videos of Case riding on his big Tonka truck. He loves this thing and it won't be long until he can do it by himself!

Live at the Garden

Last Friday night, James and I were lucky enough to get to go to Live at the Garden for the summer concert series that was kicked off with Sister Hazel and Train. i forgot how much I love "Champagne High!" :) Our agency is a sponsor so we get a table up front for every show and a crew from the office went and we had a great time. A big thanks to Priscilla for babysitting Case at the last minute! It was nice to have some time out with friends! And what a great night to be outside. It was even a bit chilly toward the end and there were no mosquitoes!

Here is a view from our table before the show started.

Kendall and her hubby, Keith and the yummy food and pretty flowers they brought! (I contributed candles and napkins) And if you think we went all out...WRONG. Some of these tables were decorated ridiculously cute, and rest assured, that if Kendall had had more time to prepare, that ours would have outdone them all!

Lisa, Kristen and Mike

James and Me

Casey and Lindsay (Lindsay is the photographer that takes all Case's pictures)

Lisa and her man, Ryan (Gotta love 'em even though they're northerners)

Don't ask about his one...it's an inside office joke. These are some of the gals I work with every day and part of the reason I have the best job ever!

Outdoor Fun

Yesterday, the weather was, what I would call, perfect! 82 degrees with no humidity...ahhh.....So, James and I headed outside to do some much needed yard work. Case just chilled on some blankets and had a snack and watched us work. He stayed out for almost an hour. He loves to be outside! When we weren't looking he dumped out all of the vanilla wafers and made quite a mess!

Now, all cleaned up...

Lately

It's been awhile since I blogged about my little man, so it's time for a little catching up. A couple of weeks ago James and I walked into his room and saw this... Yep, he's pulling up on EVERYTHING now, which has made for a few bumps on his head, but he's getting the hang of it. The funniest thing is when he stands up and can't figure out how to sit back down. So after about 30 minutes of standing, he doesn't know what to do besides cry. It's kind of pitiful yet a little funny.

Last weekend I went to a brunch/mini shower for Kristin, one of my friends that now lives in Nashville, who is having a baby in September. I forgot my camera, so I'll have to wait to post pics when I get them from someone else that was there that did. Saturday afternoon, she and I hit the movies for a good chick flick, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. It was very cute. I'm a huge sucker for cheesy girly movies like that and I loved it!

Sunday was our end of the year cookout for our class at church. Here are a couple of pics of Case with Grant. Isn't he a natural? I think this only lasted as long as it took me to take these two pics. He handed him back over to James as soon as he could! But I know that he secretly enjoyed every second! :) We're trying, Mandi!

Rebecca and Hadley

Garner getting a sip of water from her daddy while sitting on his shoulders. This takes real talent, people!

Case was snuggling with Leslie, also a natural! Even more natural than Grant, if it's possible! :)

Jesse, I'm glad I documented this occasion with you.

Fifth Anniversary Tribute

Okay, so I'm just a little behind on my anniversary blog, but better late than never, right?

May 22, 2009, officially marked mine and James' fifth wedding anniversary. I can't believe that it's been five years already. We technically haven't celebrated yet. Things were just too crazy busy for us in May, so at the end of June, James' parents are coming to babysit Case and we'll be headed to the Hilton for the night followed by sleeping in and room service for breakfast the next day and then off to the day spa for a couples massage and then lunch together at Deli Mexicana before returning home. Sounds like an awesome way to celebrate to me and I can't wait!!!

Here are some photos taking you through just a sampling of landmarks of the past five years...My wedding photographer shot my photos with film, so I had to have these first few scanned in...


This would have been a really great shot if James had been ready! It shows the back of my dress which was my favorite part.

I know James will be embarrassed about this one...he's not a fan of kissing pictures, but it's our wedding, right? So I had to include it! :)

This one is from our Honeymoon in St. Lucia. We loved it there and check out how tan I was! Haven't been tan since...sigh....

The next major event in our lives was getting our doggies, AJ and Brisky. Aren't they precious? Housebreaking them nearly killed us, but they made great additions to our family and I can't imagine our lives without them.

We celebrated our second anniversary in Mexico and it is officially our favorite vacation spot.

For our third anniversary we headed to Europe. We thought we better get our "big" trip in before we settled down to have a baby. We had a great time and spent four days in Paris and four days in Rome. Photo above was us sharing a romantic kiss on top of the Eiffel Tower (sorry, James for another kissing pic).

And of course, the Colosseum in Rome.

And this one speaks for itself. Last August we welcomed Case into the world and our lives were changed forever...in a good way!

And here we are back in Mexico this spring. In case you haven't noticed, we love to travel. It's our favorite thing to do together. Unfortunately, it's not free, so we've sacrificed other things to be able to do it. Hence the reason we still have all tube TV's in our house and all hand-me-down furniture!

Anyway, of course our marriage, like any other, has gone through a few trials and tribulations, but we've made a lot of great memories in the past five years and here's a quick little tribute to my hubby!

James, here are just a few of the things I've learned about you since we've been married that I did not know beforehand:

1. You've made for great dad (I will admit that I wondered if you would be, but all my fears about that vanished the day we brought Case home)
   
2. You will eat anything I put in front of you...thank goodness
3. You will wear anything that I buy for you, although I've never tried seersucker...
   
4. You do not like to "sleep in" on the weekends...I however, do
   
5. You are a serious backpacker :)
   

And to what do I deem as the "key" to our marriage success? The most important of your qualities, that I already knew when I married you, which is your laid-back personality and your patience that enables you to put up with me all the time! If not for that, we never would have made it this long! So here's to you and all the many memories that the next five years will hold for us!