Throw Me Somethin', Mista!

It's been A WHILE since I've posted anything new, but now that Emma has started sleeping for longer stretches of time, I'll hopefully be able to start up again.

So, this year, we all decided that we were going to go to Thibodaux for Mardi Gras. Jay and I hadn't been since before Truett was born, and we thought that it would be a good chance for us to introduce Emma to our Thibodaux family and friends. Plus, what better excuse to go home than for Mardi Gras???

My sister, Emily even joined us, which was great, because I can't even remember the last time she came along on family 'vacation'.

So, on Thursday, Jay and I loaded up (and I mean LOADED UP) the Expo and headed out. We waited for Emily and Sarah to get home from work/school because they were riding with us. We also thought it would be a good idea to travel at night so the kids would sleep most of the way. That's pretty much the way it went, with the occasional, "Is THIS Mardi Gras?" from Truett whenever we'd stop to stretch or get fuel! :) We got to Thibodaux at 2:30 in the morning, and being that Truett was WELL rested, on top of his excitement to finally "get to Mardi Gras", he didn't go back to sleep until 4:00 a.m.!

Friday night, we all went over to Aunt Mollie's house for dinner. As usual, her house was full of good friends, good food and good times. She is the ULTIMATE 'Hostess with the Mostest"!

Aunt Mollie, Mom & Emily

We ate, drank, danced, laughed, etc...Truett even had a few drinks - of WATER FROM THE FOUNTAIN in my aunt's courtyard! Yeah...he woke up the next night with fever and throwing up. I'm pretty sure it was from whatever was growing in his tummy from drinking that water! hahah!

On Saturday, Truett had a playdate scheduled with the Diedrich and Folse clans. It was great to catch up with a couple of my girlfriends and watch our kiddos play together. Liz has a great house with a HUGE yard, so the kids had a blast.

Later on that night, we all headed over to Gooey's for a crawfish boil. In my dad's family, the kids almost out-number the grown ups, so there were kids all over.

Grace, Kerrington and Emma (all about 1 month apart)

Kursten

Emma and LeeLa'

It was good times for Truett. He ran around in the yard, jumped in the bounce house and had so much fun playing with all the kids.

We, of course, enjoyed some AWESOME crawfish and the pleasure of everyone's company.

Dan and Bosco...Boilers Extraordinaire!Emily, Sarah & Mom enjoying some mud bugs!MawMaw, Sarah & John Sherman

"Say hello to my little friend!"

Emma and Gooey

Emma and her Papa

Sunday morning, we woke up and started getting things together for the parade. In Thibodaux, there is always a celebration and I often describe it as the more 'family oriented' version of New Orleans. The Sunday before Mardi Gras, there is a big parade, which was even bigger this year, because they decided to combine 2 parades back-to-back. So, we got our stuff together and headed over to Gooey's.

Truett still wasn't feeling 100%, partially because he was so tired from being up sick all night, but he was so excited. We loaded up the wagon and headed for the parade.

Truett and Olivia heading to the parade

Emily and Sarah waiting for the fun to start!

Jay and Truett waiting for the parade

Once the parade started, Truett was having a great time, for the most part. He caught a pirate patch and thought it was the coolest thing! There were a few others who really enjoyed the things they caught at the parade, too. :)

Arrrrrgghhhhh!

Aunt Donna and her prized loot from the parade! :)

Emily and her stuffed heart

Sarah and her giraffe

Truett did eventually tucker out and slept in the wagon for the rest of the parade. Emma also took a nap during the parade (are these REALLY my kids????).

Once the parade was over, we headed back to Gooey's house and waited for the parade to make its way back around the parade route so we could watch it a 2nd time. This time, Truett and Emma were both ready! Truett had caught up on his sleep and was ready to catch more beads.

It's funny the way it usually goes because by the time the parade is ending, the people on the floats either have nothing left, or they rationed their beads so much, fearing they'd run out, that they end up having a ton of beads left and are trying to get rid of them! I'm thinking that in our case, there were a lot of folks who hadn't thrown out enough beads along the way because we RACKED UP on beads!!!!!!

The next day, we packed up, loaded up and headed back home, leaving all but one pack of beads behind. Truett brought Mardi Gras cookies and his beads to school the next day. When I picked him up, all the kids in the school were wearing their beads! :)

We had a such a great time and are really looking forward to going back next year.

Happy Valentine's Day

So, I was in charge of organizing Truett's Valentine's Day party at school. He has a cute little group of kids in his class, and their moms are really good at volunteering for stuff. This made planning the party very easy. Of course, it doesn't hurt that we kept things as simple as possible! :)

Everyone had brought Valentine's to hand out, so the kids all decorated lunch sacks that could hold their cards and treats. Truett was so proud of his!

After they were finished, they had cupcakes and water. They were initially supposed to have heart-shaped muffins, since the party was at 9:00 in the morning, but the mom in charge of the muffins burned them and thought cupcake were a good alternative. Nothing like a class of 2 1/2 year old hopped up on sugar all day! hahahah!

This is Bella...Truett's new love interest in his class. She started about a month ago and she is starting to replace Aubrey. I might add that Bella is a Louisiana girl, so maybe Truett's following his Papa's lead! :)

Ms. Gwen, Truett and Ms. Debbie

Happy Valentine's Day!

Miss October

A friend of mine gave this outfit to me before Emma was born.

I thought it was so cute and couldn't WAIT for her to wear it. Well, once Emma finally got here, I couldn't find the outfit!!!! So, here we are, 4 months later, and Jay found it in the hall closet.

Needless to say, our little 15 1/2 pounder doesn't fit all that well into 0-3 month-sized clothing anymore! I couldn't resist, though. I had to get at least one picture of her wearing it. :)

Polly Kathryn Miller

As I was going through and adding pictures to blogs that were waiting to be posted, I came across the blog about MeMaw's birthday.

Since writing that blog, MeMaw has passed away. She had been sick for a while and after having a stroke, her health continued to decline.

I realize how much of a blessing it was that we were able to have one last birthday celebration with her. Not only that, but when her health started turning for the worse, she wasn't very talkative and had stop interacting as much with others.

On the day of her birthday, she was actually talking a bit and making comments to people in the room. It was definitely the most alert we had seen her in a while.

I am so glad that Truett was able to see her and that she was able to see him and recognize him. I hate to say it, but I really believe that Truett was her favorite! :) I know she's looking down on him daily and smiling!

We love you so much, MeMaw, and will miss you terribly.