MS State Fair #TBT Edition

I did not grow up going to any sort of Fair. I feel that this has added to my adult obsession with the State Fair, but I don't know. I just love it. I love the sights, the rides, the food, the sounds, and *most* of the smells. Yesterday's trip to the Fair has brought back a flood of memories. Prepare yourself.

My favorite Fair memories start back in college when we would go at least one night while it was in town. We rode rides, ate food, and acted a fool. I know for a fact that my body was not in decline then as I rode the same ride yesterday and woke up with a stiff neck. Joints and discs ain't what they used to be. Mammaw Megs will survive. ANYWAY, those nights with those girls are some of my most favorite memories.

Then, I made Anderson take me to the Fair when we were dating and married. Every time he would inform me that we could go on such an awesome date for the same money we spent on chicken-on-a-stick and funnel cake, but I would never change my mind. I am a carnie in spirit.

Last year was Beau's first time at the Fair, and I know that he will grow up loving it. We even got to take sweet baby Caroline last year. Because the Fair should be experienced by all.

This year Beau rode his first rides. And one was successful! Beau's most favorite part of the Fair was the petting zoo. And I can't say I blame him. I love that part too. And the pig races. I hope he grows up loving the Fair with his cousins and his Nana.  Because they are the best. Nana and Aunt Bec even rode a ride with me. They get family members of the year! The laughs and squeals were worth it!

Yesterday was a great day at the Fair. Even though the temperature was close to the temperature of the surface of the sun. We played hard and the kids were awesome. Seeing the girls laughing, screaming, and having a ball made me so excited to watch Beau grow up each year at the Fair. I love having yearly traditions, for future comparison shots haha.

See ya next year!

Well, Shut My Mouth

The end times may be upon us. This weekend I found myself and innocent child in a place where I never thought I would be. That's right. North Mississippi. Oxford, MS. To be specific. The Grove, MS. To be more specific. It is usually hard enough to endure for an Ole Miss/LSU game. But this. This was Ole Miss/Bama. The things you do for family.

We went to go see my aunt, uncle, and cousins. My best friend cousins to be more exact. And that was my highlight! We did have a good time visiting. And I didn't have a dog in that fight, so I was more than happy to have the victory in the visiting that was going on. I will tell you that the atmosphere was WILD. I also walked approximately 490395395 miles while pushing Beau and my blisters on my feet are a physical reminder of the hell I endured. haha.

It was a great visit that was too short, and made me wish we lived closer together. I mean you know you are close when you eat a slab of ribs with no utensils in the Ramada Limited in Batesville. Limited in comforts and amenities. We said our goodbyes, and it always makes me sad.

Sunday, we had the pleasure of visiting with Bubba's parents all day and that was delightful! Beau had the best time running wild and free.  He even wore his daddy's jacket which was downright precious. There is something sweet about a 1980s jacket on your little babe. Riding around on the farm and eating delicious food was the perfect end to a wild weekend. (I am conveniently leaving out the LSU game on Saturday because this is an archive of my memories and that memory I can live without).

Top three takeaways from this weekend:
1) Ole Miss fans are just as awful as I remember.
2) Bama fans are just as awful as I remember.
3) Family is the very best and worth suffering to see. :)

Five on Friday

-one-

Yesterday, Beau man went for his very first haircut. It was time. I cut his hair myself once because a young man can only live with a rat tail so long before people begin to assume that it is by choice and not nature. However, he was due for the real deal. The whole shabang. The sweet girl made him look so sweet and little boy. I died when she took out the neck and ear clippers, which led to Beau laughing at the tickles.  Only mine and Bubba's hairy genes would lead to a one-year-old with side burns.

-two-

I am so excited for this weekend that I can barely make it through today. I finally get to meet my best friend since the age of 6 little girl! I cannot wait to hold AC. And, it will be so fun to hang out with Emily! It is sorta ironic and yet totally fitting that we are missing our high school reunion to reunite instead with just each other. In the words of Gretchen Weiners, "you can't sit with us!"

-three-

Last night, I engaged in what can only be described as total couch potato behavior. I do not apologize. Scandal was back. And I like all of America want to be Olivia Pope. However, in reality, her life would totally stress me out. I am probably the least Olivia Popey person there is. Things are very rarely handled. And I wear far less awesome clothes. So, really I like her in theory. I also tried to watch How to Get Away with Murder (which, longest title ever, what will it be shortened to, Murder? weird.) I liked the characters, but couldn't watch due to flashbacks of law school and it made my stomach hurt, and that just isn't entertainment. Maybe I will try again and repeat THIS IS NOT REAL. Get a grip.

-four-

Beau is ready to cheer on the Tigers. He may even get to meet Mike. Raising him up in the way he should go.

-five-

It is still very surreal that Beau is one and basically a full blown human now. Sometimes, I try really hard to remember what we did on weeknights without him. I can only come up with sleep excessively, eat leisurely, and drink, which this leads to my next thought of how on earth was I skinnier then. Yet, even though I truly cannot for the life of my remember what I did before him, I cannot believe he is already one. That seems so old. I can only imagine what my thoughts will be like when he is 5, 10, 15, 27, 42... Babies don't keep. I recently downloaded the Timehop app and had so much fun. In the same day I will see a precious newborn Beau picture, my nieces as nuggets, and then me in an Afro being Scary Spice in college. And that is probably a pretty great picture of my life. Time sure moves fast. I hope my wrinkles slow down. At lunch, I am getting a fine line assessment from Erin.

Happy Friday!!

Beach Bum Baby

According to the calendar, September 23rd is officially the beginning of Fall. Although in the Sip, we can catch Fall at the end of November for about a day. As an end of Summer tribute, I thought a look back at our two beach trips this Summer was in order.

May 2014:

September 2014:

We were lucky enough to bookend our Summer with family beach trips! May with Bubba's family and September with mine. Both of these trips were precious gifts. We got to relax and rest and play and make memories with the people that matter the very most to us. We also got to eat copious amounts of seafood and that by itself is such a treat. It was crazy to me to see how much Beau grew this Summer. In May, he was a baby. He kinda crawled sometimes, but mostly sat and took it all in.  In September, he was a wild man toddler that we couldn't stop even if we wanted too. Beau loves the beach, just like me. But he is oh so fair, just like his daddy. God bless tents and sunscreen and swim shirts... I sure hope the swim shirt looks as cute on when he is 13. Haha.

Hanging with Papa and Caroline. Watching the waves.

Beau is so lucky to have four grandparents that love and spoil him. I hate that I did not get pictures with Bubba's parents. We did take professional pictures, and they are fabulous. I will have to do a post of them on their own. Not only does he have the best grandparents, but the best cousins! He loves to chase and play with all of them... even when the admiration is one sided.

If I could choose one picture to sum up our family of three, it would be the one above. I love the fun we have together. I also love America.

Speaking of America, one of the best moments of our September trip was watching the Miss America pageant.  I am probably the least "pageant" girl that there ever was, but my love of the Miss Louisiana, Miss Mississippi, and Miss America pageants runs deep. During the pageant, I watched virtually with Emily, Susan, Whitney, and Lesley. It's kinda amazing what technology can do. I laughed hysterically during the greater talents like ventriloquism and sitting criss-cross applesauce playing a solo cup. Bring back the gold standard of flaming baton twirling.

The best part of a beach trip is that the activities are minimal. I mean to recap each day would be summed up by: woke, ate, sat on the beach, ate, sat on the beach, ate, and slept. Which mind you is perfection. Although our activities were minimal, I am forever grateful of the memories made, like walking with Adickes to get ice cream, seeing the boys play in a puddle, hearing Caroline sing happy birthday to cousin baby beau, or watching/laughing at Beau faceplant in the sand. So, as Summer ends, I salute the warm sun, white sand, and beautiful water. 

Can't wait to be there again in 2015.

Well, Hey There!

Summer came. And it went. And I didn't post one thing in this little space. Hopefully, my memories will serve me well in my old age when dementia has set in and I cannot remember what we did last Thursday, much less in the Summer of 2014. Who am I kidding? I already am like that. Regardless, I do want to start back up writing our stories, if for no one else than me and the Nanas. Because no matter how mundane, I am told these are the best days of our lives. And you won't find me arguing.

I won't try and reverse and catch up on 3 months of activities, because DAUNTING. But, I will shortly recap the adventures of Summer O' 2014. GREAT. Every last thing we did and every last day was great. Sure, there was hand, foot, and mouth disease and fussing here and there, but I would not change a moment... Except for HFMD for 9 million days.

Now, let us start in present day. Here is our family as we look now. Or as we looked on 9/6/14. 

We have a one year old. Woah! Beau is so fun this days and into everything. Likes: eating, pounding on things, the dogs, crawling, cruising, outside, food, his daddy, his mama, and bath time.
Dislikes: getting his diaper changed and generally anything that makes him slow down. Also, shoes.

He is roughly half my size. Small babe, he is not.

Other than hanging out as a family we have been doing what we do best. Having fun, cleaning house not nearly as often as we should, playing outside, and eating good food.  I guess I was inspired to come back and begin telling our stories because its a new school year, and I believe I will always be a slave to the August to May year.  So, my August resolution is to write more. Be it about Beau. Let's be real, he will frequently be a topic. Or random happenings in my days. Let's be real, again, those moments are always plentiful.  I just want to write them down.  So, when I am old and grey--or oldER and greyER--I can look back and see what a perfectly, wonderful, ordinary, but great days we had.

So, hello again. I promise to myself to be back soon. Thanks to my reader (singular). Love you, Mama. 

On Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas past, present, and future. Today is technically my first real live action Mother's Day. Last Mother's Day, I was in this condition. 

So. Huge. Well, this Mother's Day we won't comment on the *still huge* status. But I do have some other thoughts. Mother's Day is a day when we all are thankful for our mothers. And let me say I feel thankful for both my mother and my mother in law. Probably more on this Mother's Day than any other. As I have started to get just how hard it is to raise a little one. 

In my head and on Pinterest, this is how I believed motherhood would look like: 

Reality hit this morning as I tried to capture our first Mother's Day in photo form: 

And our best: 

Beau with his eyes closed. Faking it till we make it. Picking the picture I look best in, just doing my part to insure future therapy over terrible childhood photos. 

Next, we made it to church. Only to have a blowout in our church clothes and then proceed to get the contents EVERYWHERE, including the wall of the house of The Lord. I know those nursery workers are praying hard for us now. 

But inspite of all of those things, bad pictures and lots of poo, I am so happy and thankful to be Beau's mama. Maybe more so because of all these things. I am so thankful he is mine for this little bit. I am so thankful that I am the one that gets to embarrass him with terrible pictures. 

So happy Mother's Day to all of the moms with real pictures and doo doo on the church walls. I am with you! 

Kisses. 

 

April! Where'd ya go?

Wow. April is almost over. I don't even know how that is possible. All month we have been running around and having a blast! 

At the beginning of the month, we celebrated Elliott's 3rd Birthday!! I was at the hospital when this little peanut was born and that feels like yesterday! I cannot believe Elliott is 3! She is so full of life and fiesty. Love her. 

The next week, Beau and I headed to the Coast for a work conference. Nana Sheryl came with and it was so fun having them both there in my down time! Beau loved everything outside and it made me so excited to go to the beach and pool this summer! 

We had a little bit of down time and went to church and school and watched Bubba play church softball. The weather has been so nuts that we have actually had a legit Spring. We are totally making the most of all the nice weather! 

Our last big adventure was heading up to Batesville for Easter. I totally regret not getting pictures with the grandparents. But we had such a fun time! Playing outside, eating crawfish, just laughing and eating. My heart is so full there. It just feels like going home. 

April isn't over, but sure is speeding by. I have this sneaky suspicion that I am going to look up and it will Beau man's first birthday! I can't even. 

Summer. I feel you. See you soon. I know more adventures await!