Seven Pounds

Courtney is at Mama Lyn's house so Todd and I got to go to dinner and a movie tonight. We saw 'Seven Pounds' on the strength of the Will Smith name alone - we knew absolutely nothing about the film and boy were we glad. Figuring out the plot was a lot of fun. I highly recommend this film - we really enjoyed it.

My Family Christmas Part 2

This is part of Christmas photo-taking. My brother Breck and his wife Jen came after Christmas to our house to celebrate, and here is a photo of all of us taken with the trusty tripod. Unfortunately I don't have pics of My Family Christmas, Part 1, in Asheville. In all the childoproofing, baby-chasing-dog, wrapping-paper-shredding, I forgot to pose a group shot of my father and stepmother with us.

Christmas

Christmas Eve in front of the fireplace.
Courtney Christmas morning, enjoying her new toys.

Trip Home - 13 Hours

Not on anyone's top ten list of things to do - drive 13 hours with a 1-year-old. We did it on the 23rd coming home from Asheville to Jackson. Hour one was the worst - I-40 goes through a mountain pass and Curtain Climber got carsick, depositing her breakfast all over herself, the carseat and the car. Mommy felt a bit sick herself after that. I crawled into the back seat to clean her up and help her - we couldn't stop right away because through the pass there are no exits, so we kept going to Sevierville, TN, and stopped there at the trusty McDonald's playland (our 2nd visit there this trip alone). We changed her clothes and our attitudes and kept going. One of Todd's best ideas EVER is tossing a roll of paper towels into the back seat on any car trip. You just don't think about the multitude of ways those can be used until you really need them. Courtney was fussy but watched Baby Einstein and we all sang songs (went through the kids song CD twice!) to keep her calmed down. But truly, she couldn't have behaved any better if she had had a halo. After 10 hours of riding, we spent an hour in Meridian at the Chik Fil A play land (by the way they have diaper changing stations in the mens room there - they have won a lifelong fan in me!) and by then it was her bedtime, and she slept the final couple of hours home. We left Asheville at 8 a.m. Mississippi time and got home 8:45 p.m. Mississippi time, so it was more than 12.5 hours.

It's Cold Here in Asheville!

The temperature is in the 30's here in Asheville, but the whipping wind makes it feel like much colder. Today Courtney, Todd and Grandaddy took a 10 minute walk and that was enough! Here they are bundled up.

Playplace

I am going to rant here. We have never been so thankful for a McDonald's Playplace as we were today on our trip. We stopped there for an hour and let Courtney blow off steam before getting back on the road. She and we had never played at a McDonald's playground before, and they are great. They're indoors and have a variety of things for all ages. But here's my rant. Todd took her into the bathroom to change her diaper and they don't have diaper changing facilities in the mens' rooms at McDonalds! What? So I had to take her into the ladies room for a diaper change. I mean you might expect it at other restaurants but at McDonalds, come on! That really jangled my chain. Here she is enjoying the Playplace.

On the Road

We have spent the better part of a day traveling to Asheville, N.C. to see my father and stepmother. Courtney has been a surprisingly peaceful travel companion! We spent the night Friday in Ft. Payne, AL, and the rest of the way on Saturday.

Counting

Courtney thinks it's fun when we count to three. We do it a lot of course - on the count of three remove her shirt over your head - on the count of three pick her up - etc. So often she'll say "one" and want us to say two and three....and she sometimes joins in on the three. Here's video.

The Bigscreen

Santa came to our house early this year and brought this big screen, which makes Todd really really happy. Paco also helped Santa out by making the slot in our entertainment cabinet bigger so it would fit. (Courtney loves the box this thing came in!)

Todds Family Christmas

Tonight Todd's sister Kim, her husband Charles, and Todds father Mike, came over and we celebrated Christmas with them. Kim was in town showing her dogs at a dog show, so it worked out that everyone could be here at the same time. Here's Courtney playing with Pop (and she can say 'Pop'), and below, Todd and Charles and Mike and Courtney. I just realized I did not get Kim in a single photo - sorry Kim!

Christmas Photo Session Gone Awry

Mama Lyn and I tried to take Christmas photos of Courtney today, but did not get anything special. So I'll use some photos from earlier in November for the holiday cards. Here's the best that I got. She was extremely interested in the Christmas lights, and I was allowing her to play with them only because of the photos, but that was a disaster because she stepped on a light bulb and broke it and the sole of her foot bled through her stockings. So lesson learned!

Courtney and the Fun Birthday

I am late posting these fun birthday videos from 11.8 . . . enjoy.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Brookhaven at the home of Todd's aunt Dolores. Here is Courtney tormenting Charles by touching him as Mike looks on.
Courtney really liked Todd's cousin Kern and sat in his lap a lot.
Todd's cousin Kensy has a downtown loft apartment in Brookhaven and she gave us a private tour. The apartment is on the Brookhaven Tour of Homes so we were thrilled to get a sneak preview. Pictured in Kensy's kitchen are Kensy's mom Jody, Kensy, Kensy's grandmother Dolores, me and Todd's cousin Kay. This is the only group photo we took all day and it being Thanksgiving I really should have taken more photos. I should note that Dolores spent days cooking and preparing for us and we owe her a debt of gratitude for the love she put into the meal and hospitality.

Planting Pansies

I took a 1/2 day from work today (it's the day before Thanksgiving and the day care was closed 1/2 day) and took advantage of the daylight hours to 'play outside' and plant some pansies. My potted plants were looking terrible - most had been killed in the recent freeze - so I had bought some red and white pansies. Mama Lyn was here and she took photos of Courtney helping me with the spade. Remarkably she has stopped putting everything in her mouth so I didn't have to worry about her eating dirt, this time. As for the above, that's Kitten chasing some bubbles, or 'buh-buhs' as she calls them.

Courtney Discovered the T.P. Roll

So I walk into the bathroom and she has discovered the t.p. roll. She had to climb up onto the magazine basket to reach the roll, and she had unrolled all the paper from it. She kept telling me "up" - she was proud she had climbed up on the basket to get there.

Groupie @ Fondren Unwrapped

Little one screaming while an unnamed teenage band plays in the background (at left) - she really liked the music and crowds at the Fondren Unwrapped event tonight. I was doing something earlier in the evening, and I met Courtney, Todd and Carl at the Fondren event, which is like a big street fair with lots of music, free food, and tons of sidewalking crowds. When I got there I dressed her in my jacket from the car because the temperature was plunging and she was wearing only a sleeper. Later I found her heavy jacket in the stroller bottom...don't know why Todd didn't mention he brought one...he just let me dress her in my too-big hoodie. :-) So anyway back to her liking the crowds - she is always saying 'hey' to strangers and waving. It's hard not to look at and talk to a little baby who is speaking to you. So for me, it's like going to the store with a pint-sized Lauren Conrad. :-)

Southern Miss Blackout Game

Today was the Southern Miss blackout game at The Rock, and it was the last home game of the season. There is a new end zone balcony area where anyone can walk, so I ventured there and took these end zone shots. Southern Miss won convincingly!
Julie and me wearing our 'black out' attire. Todd and Jimmy were also there, but there's not a good picture of it. But they were similarly decked out.
After the game Todd and I went onto the field, which I haven't done in years. We wanted to touch the artificial turf, and watch the band's postgame show (pictured).

The Lil Chair

Since Courtney was always climbing into her car seat and sitting down, we decided to find a baby-sized chair. This one is surprisingly sturdy and even if she falls out of it, she's not falling far. She likes to sit and watch out the window (below), while reading a book (above) and even watches Dancing With the Stars in it (while clapping to the music).

Kitten's First Birthday!

Today was Courtney Kitten's first birthday. She was sick with a bad cold and had to go to the doctor in the morning, but after sleeping most of the day she was able to enjoy her party with all her grandparents and several aunts/uncles. Above, she is wearing her favorite shirt with a cat on it. She will carry this shirt around saying 'cat, cat' so we had an orange and black themed cat party. Also above, she was playing with balloons -her first time to have a balloon - and her hair was sticking straight up.
This is the cat cake I made for her. The eyes are jordan almonds and the whiskers and mouth are licorice. I had intended for it to look MUCH better than this, but that's how it turned out. I also made cupcakes.
Here's Courtney eating her cupcake. She had never had cake before, so it was new to her. She got icing stuck to her hand and tried to shake it off. Eventually she got the hang of it and ate the cupcake successfully.
Here's Courtney enjoying the new swing she received as a present. Todd finished our back yard deck just in time for the party and also installed chains so we could hang Courtney's swing on the deck. She loved it!
Here's the whole birthday party group in the picture - the only person not looking at the camera is the birthday girl. Front row from left is Mike (with sun over his face), Todd, me, Courtney, Lyn, and Breck (standing). Back row is Charles, Kim, Harold, Mary Lou, Ron, Jimmie, Jen. Thanks to all for coming from so far away for the party! Lyn came from Hattiesburg, Mike came from Natchez, Kim/Charles came from Monroe, La., Mary Lou and Harold came from New Orleans, Breck/Jen came from St. Louis and Ron/Jimmie came from Asheville. That's a combined 20 hours of travel time each way!

CC's First Halloween

Today Courtney woke up with a terrible eye infection which we assume is the dreaded 'pink eye.' The doctor called in prescription eye drops and said she would continue to be contagious for 24 hours after beginning the eye drops. So that blew some of our Halloween plans out of the water. I had taken a vacation day to help out at the day care's Harvest Festival, but we did not get to go to that because of the contagiousness. Todd and I had volunteered to help at the neighborhood Halloween Bash at our neighbors' house, but she only came for a short time (with Mama Lyn) and stayed in the stroller most of the time. We couldn't let her get close to other kids so were trying to be cautious. However, she looked cute in her kittycat costume and really enjoyed wearing it! The photo above is of her in the antique dresser - which is our storage place for diapers. Sometime Friday she discovered how to open the dresser door and climb up on top of the diapers. She was quite proud of herself.
If you zoom in on those photos you can probably see that her left eye is red and swollen. Although she was irritable on Friday, her overall mood was good. Here she is standing at the Halloween Bash. As for the candy, she did not get any, although I did let her have a treat - a 100 calorie pack of Chips Ahoy, which she inhaled.

No Fail Quiche

I can't believe I haven't blogged about my no fail quiche before, but I just did a search of past posts and apparently I haven't. Whenever I'm stumped for dinner, I make a quiche. I keep frozen pie crust on hand at all times for this. Tonight, I decided to make one with some leftover cooked shrimp and a bell pepper. Here's the recipe.
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/2 cup of something with fat in it - either mayo, reduced fat mayo, or sour cream or reduced fat sour cream
3/4 cup whatever cheese you have on hand, shredded
whatever vegetable you have, chopped
whatever meat you have, optional

Cook your pie crust in the oven alone for 7 minutes. While it bakes, beat your eggs with a whisk. Add salt, milk, your fat ingredient and shredded cheese. Whisk. Stir in chopped veggie and meat. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until set. Easy.

CC and the Bath Water

A certain little someone at our house loves to take a bath. Here's a short video of her enjoying tub time.

Mockingbird Play

Tonight we saw the play, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Jackson's New Stage Theatre, and we both really enjoyed it. We have both read the book (me within the last year) and a lot of the dialogue was straight from the book. It was very moving and thought-provoking.

Jackson Zoo

Mama Lyn and I took Courtney to the Jackson Zoo today. Truthfully she was more interested in eating cheerios and drinking from her sippy cup than looking at animals. But those darn monkeys caught her attention. I tried to keep going past the monkeys because of my sharp disdain for them, but those are one of the only things she focused on!
Here's a bear...
Here's a zebra.
And here's Mama Lyn and Courtney at the end. Special note - Todd visited the Jackson Zoo when he was almost exactly a year old. We have photos of both of his parents and him on the trip (they lived in Brookhaven at the time so it was an hour's drive). I'll try to scan those in.

Jalissa Left Today

Jake and Melissa left today to resume their world tour and eventually land back at home in Sydney Australia. I was at work today but Todd and Mary Lou and Harold took them to the airport. Above, Jake, Melissa and Todd.
Mary Lou, Melissa and Jake.
Melissa and Courtney. Courtney got her first trip to the airport today, seeing them off.

Oh So Spoiled

Curtain Climber got used to being picked up 24/7 this week with Jalissa and MoMo and PoPo here for an entire week. She also did not go to day care, so wasn't on a strict routine. This is her 'pick me up' request to Jake, who took this photo. We have enjoyed having the Australia crew here in town, as well as the Westbank crew. Courtney misses them a lot!
Here's Courtney with Jake and Meow.
Melissa, Jake and Courtney.

Courtney Saying Hey!

I just thought this little video was cute! Mary Lou took this video I believe in our back yard.

Walking in Memphis

Today we visited Graceland, Elvis's home, in Memphis. It costs about $30 and comes complete with an audio tour. Pictured above - me, Bill, Hermine, Tommy and Rita.
We also visited the Memphis Zoo - the entrance is guarded by these animal sentinels (above) who were charmingly dressed for Halloween.
An 8-day old baby giraffe was romping with its parent at the zoo. We also saw white tigers, giant pandas and other impressive exhibits. Lots of kids were there - it made me want to take Courtney to a zoo.
Tonight at dinner at Spindini in downtown Memphis, my friend Bill pulled out his Elvis glasses and sideburns for effect. I had to snap a pic.

Cue the Duck Bedlam

The mob scene today at the Memphis Peabody, where they release the ducks at 11 a.m. each day with all the fanfare of a movie premiere, complete with red carpet, emcee and flash photography.