Trip to New Orleans

People often use a picture of St. Louis Cathedral to represent New Orleans.
Our second night there, we were walking around in the Quarter, and I took the picture above. It, too, is a picture of St. Louis Cathedral, but it was taken from the back of the church. I think it is very powerful....

I am having to backtrack a little bit here....

In mid-February, Brad presented a lecture at a medical conference in New Orleans. Of course, not being able to resist, I insisted on going with him. :) We had a blast! We were there Wednesday through Sunday and had a wonderful time! Many thanks to Dede and Gigi for tag-teaming and babysitting the girls back in Augusta!

Brad and I did many things while we were in New Orleans. It was my good friend, Melissa's 30th birthday while we were there, so we were lucky enough to be there for her party and get to see her sisters, Stephanie and Mandy, as well ~ also wonderful friends; they might as well be our Family! Regretfully, I do not have pictures from that night, but I am hoping to get them from Steph or Missy. Anyway, we had fun visiting, eating at Jacques Imo's, and going out afterwards.

Our first night there, we met Melissa and Jeff out for a quick dinner and drinks at Superior Grille. Thursday, we had lunch at Commander's Palace (Brad's first time ever!), and to walk off our amazing meal, we walked around Uptown for quite a while. Of course we walked through the cemetery and visited some other landmarks Uptown. We ate at Acme that night ~ so yummy! On Friday, we had breakfast at Cafe du Monde and met the Wilson girls, Jeff, and baby Banks (SO PRECIOUS!!!) for lunch at Domilise's ~ the world's best poboys! Brad returned to the hotel to prepare for his lecture, and I shopped on Magazine with the girls. After that, I was able to attend Brad's lecture, which was really terrific! That night was the party and dinner at Jacques Imo's. On Saturday, we ate at Camillia Grille and walked around Uptown around the Carrollton area. Then we headed down for an afternoon Mardi Gras parade ~ again, Brad's very first one! We ran into an old friend of mine, Beau Bethune, during the parade, and we stopped for drinks along the way at The Columns.

The trip was over entirely too quickly. We piddled around in the Quarter on Sunday, ate a good lunch, and had to catch a plane that afternoon. We are already looking forward to our next trip, which hopefully won't be too far away!

La Fayette Cemetery No. 1
(I always love cemetery pictures ~ especially in New Orleans!)

Brad loved his first Mardi Gras!!
(Watch out, Beau! I am sure he will be calling about next year! :) )

I have always loved looking up into the trees at all of the beads during and after Mardi Gras ~ I just wish they showed up better in pictures!

Commander's Palace

The Columns

View of the parade from the porch at The Columns

At Camillia Grille ~ made from several of the notes left on the building, begging the historic restaurant to reopen, after Hurricane Katrina

Beau ~ I promised you that you'd make the blog! :)

A Streetcar

Audubon Park
I spent hours here when I lived in New Orleans, studying for my certification exam, reading, walking Stanley....

My first house ~ 7922 Willow Street

My second house ~ 1838-A Upperline Street

As always, we can't wait to go back!!

Alli Lane's FOURTH Birthday!!

Our sweet little FOUR year old!!

A look at birthdays past....

2 Days Old ~ 2005

1st Birthday ~ 2006

2nd Birthday ~ 2007

3rd Birthday ~ 2008

Happy Birthday, our sweet little girl!
You are growing up way too fast....
You have blessed us in more ways than I can even begin to express. We began loving you the moment we found out you were coming that night in the emergency room in Dothan in August, 2004, and that love has continued to grow over the past 4+ years.
What does Mommy always tell you?
"How much do I love you?
I love you more than the world!"

Banner Pictures

I have gotten several comments on the pictures of the girls I used in the banner for the blog. So, here they are, full-sized. I think they turned out pretty cute!
:)
(To see larger reproductions of any pictures on the blog, just left-click on the picture.)

Alli's First Report Card!

In January, Brad and I met with Mrs. Scroggs, Alli's teacher at Episcopal Day School, for the Mid-Year Parent-Teacher Conference, and to receive Alli's very first report card. Needless to say, we got a fabulous report on our little girl! We were not surprised to hear that Alli has good language skills (she has always been a little talker!), is a happy little girl, and is sweet to her friends. She was marked as HD ("Has Developed") for all of her readiness skills. In our first conference with Mrs. Scroggs at the beginning of the year, she said, "As far as I can tell so far, you have the perfect child!" This time, she said that she still stands by her first assessment. :)

WAY TO GO, ALLI B!!!
Mommy and Daddy are super-duper proud of you!!

Dear Daddy...

Alli & Elizabeth having some sweet sister time!

Dear Daddy,

You always tell us how much you hate being away from us so much because of your crazy work schedule... SO, we decided that we would give you a little taste of what we do during the day so that you don't feel like you are missing quite as much....


We get ready for special events at school...

Alli dressed up as Little Bo Peep for Nursery Rhyme Day.

...we play princesses & ponies, and read lots of books!

Boots reading one of her favorites in her little chair in her room.

We act silly...

Boots is on the fireplace (a no-no) and signing "horse," and Alli is playing dress-up.

...make messes for Mommy to clean up...

The result of turning my back on Boots to get supper started. Believe me, this is only a fraction of her mess! :)

...do Arts & Crafts...

Alli painting a magnet for Keith during Mommy-Alli time.

...and have a few quiet moments together, just us girls.

Our sweet girls!

We learn to accessorize pretty fabrics...

Alli & Addie Dayne choosing their favorite fabric swatches from the clothing show Elizabeth and I host, Brinkley's Berries.

...and how to drink from a straw cup.

PROOF that Boots is finally drinking from a cup!!! Yippee!!!

We dress up...

Alli as "Fancy Nancy"

...and we dress down.

Boots showing off a bun!

We learn our letters, and how to spell and write our names...

Alli drew a person (who is scared, she said), and her name, all by herself!

...and how to do sign language.

Boots signing "more."

We have special outings, and Mommy-Alli time...

Alli & Mommy at the Fancy Nancy Party at Barnes & Noble.

...and we learn how to self-feed.

Boots feeding herself blue yogurt. As you can imagine, it was everywhere!

We have lots of fun!
But most importantly, we miss you every minute and look forward to running into your arms when you walk in the door at night.

Brad and his little girls on a "snow day" in Augusta (right before Alli went to ballet).

WE LOVE YOU, DADDY!!
Love, Your Girls
(Alli & Boots)

Thankful Thirds for March

1. Our computer is back!! After crashing and spending 3 weeks in the shop, our computer is finally back at home ~ which means that I have access to email and facebook, and that I can UPDATE THE BLOG!! :)
2. Mom is okay. During the "Southern Blizzard" that hit the South over the weekend, she had an accident on I-185; she hit black ice and spun out, ending up in a ditch. She is utterly exhausted, but she is fine.
3. Brad and I have several options as we begin to look ahead at where our little family will be at the end of his fellowship in June, 2010.
4. Answered ~ and even "Unanswered" ~ Prayers. And of course, my Faith.
5. Boots has weaned!! Yes, you read that right. After 14 months of breastfeeding and refusing the bottle and sippy cup, we have finally weaned hardheaded little Boots onto a straw cup. Woo-Hoo!!
6. Boots is healthy and fine after her hospital visit 2 weeks ago. We still may need to figure out the "root cause" of her problem, but she is doing well now and we know that nothing too serious is going on with her.
7. Four years ago this month, on the 16th, I gave birth to our precious Alli! I am now planning her birthday party, which blows my mind. I am speechless, we are so blessed!
8. The Grocery Game ~ I still have not "mastered" it yet, but I have begun saving a lot of money on our grocery bills.
9. The red bird that lives behind our house. He just adds such a spark of bright, hopeful color in the backyard!
10. A husband who is perfectly happy playing princesses and ponies with his two little girls.