Pink Fire trucks

Joe has started walking well in the last couple of weeks. He took his first step or two in early September, but didn't really put more than two steps together until the middle of the month. As soon as he got the hang of it, he has taken off! (He has a little ride-on football toy that he used as a walker for a couple of months. He practically jogs when he uses it, and for a while we thought we were going to have to take it away in order for him to learn how to walk.)
He LOVES to be outside, and he enjoys "mowing" the grass. Sometimes he gets stuck, and when I try to help him, he take my hand and pushes it off the mower...definitely becoming more independent.



Yesterday one of the local fire stations hosted the "Pink Heels" touring fired department. They are a group out of Florida who have pink fire trucks and the firefighters wear pink gear. As you can probably guess, the idea is to raise awareness of breast and other cancers that tend to affect women. They allow survivors and their loved ones to sign the truck.

 

There's no place like home!

Brent and I went to the LSU-MSU game in Baton Rouge on Saturday, September 18. (The boys stayed in Lafayette with the grandparents.) We had a wonderful time, eventhough the game wasn't very exciting (LSU won 29-7).

Brent and his childhood friends, Kirk Graham and Shane Seyfarth

Trina, Jodie and me! GEAUX TIGERS!

Happy housewarming and happy birthday!

Todd and Rebecca moved to Memphis from Minnesota a year ago. In August they finally got to move into their dream home! We went up for a visit and were able to celebrate Todd's birthday while we were there. The house is amazing, and we are just thrilled that Todd and Bec are close enough to visit often!

Fall semester: Back to school & Tailgating

Every year the university president hosts a cookout for faculty to kick off the new year. Jack has been terrified of mascots until recently; last year at this event he did not take his eyes off Bully out of fear that he might approach us. (He wouldn't go ANYWHERE near Bully, he didn't even want to jump in the jumpers because Bully was near them.) What a difference a year makes!

Some friends of our from Jackson, the Copelands, came up and tailgated with us before the Memphis game. Andy and Margaret have two girls, Margot and Madison. I remember when Margo was Jack's age, and now she's a teenager! (The boys and I didn't stay for the game.)



Emily, Joe and Jack

NYC 2010

Last we went to NYC for a family vacay. We flew out of Memphis, so we had lunch at Todd and Rebecca's house before Bec drove us to the airport. It was Brent's birthday, and Rebecca had a great birthday lunch complete with balloons and deluxe cupcakes. (Of course, I neglected to take pictures of the table and decor, but here's Jack with some of the balloons right before he released them.)

This was Joe's first flight and Jack's third.

Aunt Pat met us at the airport and took Grandmommy, Jack, Joe and the luggage in her car. Brent and I took a cab and met them at the apartment. (Side note: Last year when we got home from our trip, I kicked myself for not taking pictures of the apartment so that we could remind Jack about NYC living and talk with him about the trip. Well, once again, I didn't take pictures at the apartment, which means I also don't have any pictures with the Marinos or Nolans.) We got there in time for dinner Friday night. Saturday we met some of my college friends, Karen Bernard and Corie Pierce, and their families at playground in Central Park. It was great to see them!

Jack standing in the middle of the playground watching the other children. He's kind of an observer when it comes to crowds and sometimes takes a little while before jumping in.

Jack and Asher crawled around and ate Cheerios and crackers off the ground while the big kids played in the water.

After getting dried off, we found a hot dog vendor and grabbed some lunch as we walked to Rockfeller Center to check out the new Lego store.  Then, we played around on the plaza for a few minutes before we each headed off toward home.

This is the expression that I see often these days.  A month or so ago when he was teething pretty heavily, Joe started sticking out and biting on his tongue.  He's still teething off and on, but I think that is has become a habit more than anything.


Right before we said farewell to the Bernards and the Pierces we ran into these furry friends hanging out on a street corner.

Sunday started with a bus ride and ended with ice cream at Dillon's Candy Shop.  The middle was spent walking around the streets of Manhattan.

This is how Joe spent quite a bit of the walking and busing around the city.

Stay tuned for pictures from Monday and Tuesday
 

Happy 4th!

The three daycares around Main Street have a Fourth of July parade every year. Eventhough Jack is home for the summer, we decided to go visit his friends and let him march in the parade.



My little helper

Joe was perched on the base of this stand. I was pretty sure he was going to topple off, but as I clicked the picture, he managed a flawless dismount.

Amazing pictures

So, I'm not even going to try to repost the pictures that Tricia took of our family and the Bells and Lagraizes on our vacation...there are just too many and I would only end up duplicating her post.  So, go here http://www.bettydonnephotography.blogspot.com/ and admire Tricia's amazing talent!