Charles Knox

baby

Cecily Blanche

baby

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

He's Waving!

Ok.  I know you can't believe it, but it's two posts in one day!  I just had to document this.

You all know that I'm a complete spaz, especially when it comes to my sweet baby boy.  I'm always worried that something's wrong or he's not progressing like he should.  Well, my fears have been calmed a smidge.

Yesterday, after our neighbor, Charlie, came over to chat, we told Knox to tell Charlie "bye-bye" like we do to anyone we see these days.  Well, he little right hand started opening and closing, even though it wasn't held up in the air.  And he did it a second time after we said "bye-bye" again.  Today, as Knox and I ran all over the place, he always charms some person into talking to us.  As we left each one, he little hand would start working, and he would get so excited.  I'm sure I upped the excitement factor for him, since I would shout, "good boy", "you're so smart", etc.

So when you see the little stinker next time, you might get a full out wave accompanied by some spastic comment from his spastic mother.

Mission: Ten Year Reunion--Complete

Well, after a year or more planning my ten year class reunion, it has finally come and gone--thank goodness.  It has consumed a lot of my time, and Keith have been great in being understanding in all that has gone with it.  I have been asked by him many times what I learned from the process, and the correct response he's looking for is, "That I'm not doing it again!"

It was a long, difficult process, but I'm glad I did it.  I believe fun was had by all, and I'm most excited about the fact that there were no more cliques!  Everyone socialized with everyone, and thoroughly enjoyed everyone's company.  I'm so glad that I graduated with a class of amazing people.  I just hope that we don't have to wait another ten years to get together--but I'm not planning it! :)

My very brief summary of the days events goes like this.  BBQ lunch in the park from 11-2 for all classmates, significant others, children and teachers from our years in school.  It was great to be able to have teachers and students socialize in a casual setting.  Now, my family and I are personal friends with all teachers that attended.  My father has been a teacher for going on 31 years!  So it was great seeing my classmates relate to them the way I always have.  Anywho, the big event was dinner, dancing and drinks at the Marriott.  Dress was "coat & tie", so every one was all dressed to impress, making the evening a little more special.

The entire day's events would not have been possible with out several people.  Jessie, my co-planner, who's been with me throughout the entire process.  My friends, specifically Jayma, Cook and Tiffany, who have been there for moral and fiscal support.  Tiff also did the slideshow that was a huge hit at the evening event.  My husband for not attempted to shoot me through everything, but I'm sure he thought it a time or two.  And last but not least, my parents.  Again, they too, were there for moral and fiscal support, but they went above and beyond.  My mom kept me organized when at home, and my father helped with lunch set-up and volunteered to be my "bouncer" at the evening event so no one would crash the party.  I can't ever thank all of them enough for EVERYTHING they did.

The lunch with one of the teachers

Me and my sweet Jay

THE Girls!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

I Heart Autumn


We love fall in the Rogers Household.  We love fall and everything that comes with it--football, holidays, cooler temperatures that are more conducive to playing outdoors.  Knox has loved the out of doors since the day he has been born.  Can't get the kid to calm down, then take him outside.  He's instantly calmer when he's in the open air.

SO with the more bearable temperature, we have been taking advantage of spending some quality family time outside, watching Knox toddle around, crash, and figure out how to get up again.  I think a combination of being outside and watching Willem get to standing on his own, has culminated in the wild man's noggin.  He can finally get to standing all by his lonesome, without the aid of any props for leverage.  This just goes to show that my little man does thing all in his own time--most babies stand before they ever walk.  Knox has been walking for almost two months and has just now gotten on two feet without pulling up.  Ahh, the wonders of little minds.

In other Knox-related news, he's still not waving or clapping but if you say Patty Cake with him sitting in your lap, he'll move YOUR hands in the appropriate manner and in the correct order.  He will not attempt this by himself.  Laziness or sheer genius?  Time will tell, I guess.  He also got his first flu vaccine, with the second dose to follow in 30 days.  We didn't know if Bug was allergic to eggs, since he's never had any, so we had to hang out for 10 minutes following the shot to ensure he didn't have a reaction.    Turns out, he can eat eggs to his little heart's content--no egg allergies here!  Daddy and I will be following Knox's precedent by having flu shots on Friday, while we are in Alabama.  Nothing wrong with Georgia flu shots--only going to the drug store down from Ma Jack & Big Daddy's for convenience, and so I can hold Daddy's hand while he gets his.  There is a small fear of needles there. :)  

S0--happy first of fall!  Go get your flu shots, so there is less chance of spreading the bad bug around!













Saturday, October 11, 2008

Fabulous Surprise from a Fabulous Husband

After my last blog of not acknowledging our 2nd of any year wedding anniversary, the hubs got a wild hair and planned an amazing night out for just the two of us (the last time he did something so romantic was when he proposed!).  Apparently, I did so well in budgeting for groceries and working my coupon mojo, we had extra money after paying a third of Keith's credit card bill.  That money was used without my knowledge, but the results make me not care what it was used for!

I was sent an email at 7am on Friday, telling me to wear my "sexiest dinner attire" and to have Knox's dinner ready for the babysitter by 6:15pm--and that's all I needed to know.  I didn't even know who the babysitter was!  And those that know Keith and I well, also know that we are horrible at keeping surprises from each other.  Despite our past history, he stuck to his guns and spilled NO beans, what-so-ever!  It really got me excited for the evening--I started getting pretty at 3:00pm!  Once Keith got home from work he still wouldn't say a word, but I threatened life on who was keeping Knox.  Turns out, my ATL BFF, Holly, had offered her services earlier that week to keep the wild man.  She brought her son, Willem, who is only two months older than Knox, and her two daughters, Haiden, 12, and Tylar, 8.  Knox hasn't been around Will since May--turns out he LOVES Will.  He actually hugged him and just couldn't get close enough to him.  It actually resembled a WWF Smackdown, and Will didn't love it as much as Knox did.  He'll learn to  be gentle--eventually.

So on with the mystery date.  I asked questions thinking I could pull the twenty questions game out on him, but I only got about 2 questions out of him.  The directions were in Suzy Satelite and Keith passed this place twice.  I saw the name of this place on Suzy once we passed it, seeing that the place we were going to was Two Urban Licks--I was like were in the world is he taking me?!   Totally freaked me out.  He figured it out and next thing we know we were having our car valet parked and walking into this amazing, tall ceiling, open warehouse restaurant with amazing decor.  We asked for a table outside, but in this warehouse type restaurant, everything is outside when it's large garage doors are wide open during this amazing time of year.  As we were being seated, a hostess put flowers on our table.  I was like that's sweet, but was kind of weirded out by what flowers they were.  Any time Keith has ever gotten my flowers, they have been the most beautiful.  Now, not to sound like a flower snob, but these were RED CARNATIONS, with BABY'S BREATH and a PINK bow.  Not Keith at all.  I very politely told him thank you for the flowers and he harshly whispered back, "I didn't order those type of flowers--I ordered roses!"  THANK GOODNESS!  I was just glad that he made the extra effort to make me feel special!  Anywho, we had an amazing dinner with an amazing view, and before dessert a man came by the table telling us that we had the wrong flowers and brought a vase with three roses (for the three years together) that was the correct arrangement.  Now no need for Keith to make phone calls and take names! :)

Like I said before, the main reason for the dinner, other than celebrating our married life together, was celebrating how well we've done at sticking to our budget. I told Keith that we needed more us time, which he agreed, so I think if we continue to do well with the budget, we plan on doing one really nice dinner a month--without the wild man.  Plus, I think he (Knox)  enjoyed the night away from us, playing with kids his own age!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Happy 2nd 3rd Anniversary, Honey!


Most of you know that know us, know what the title of this blog post means.  For those that don't, let me explain.  Today is the third anniversary of mine and Keith's second wedding.  No, we were never divorced--just married twice--well not legally.  

Here's the in-depth story.  Keith and I were already living together when he popped the big question at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC on November 6th, 2004 after only a year of dating.  I was working without health benefits, so I was paying out the wazoo for Cobra Insurance.  Taking this and other things into consideration, Keith and I decided to make it legal on January 7th, 2005.  We got our marriage license, signed our paperwork, said a quick "I DO" in front of a judge, and within 20 minutes we were Mr. & Mrs.  Now, I no fluff chick, but I still wanted the celebration of family and friends accompanied by the pictures to capture the event.  So we (my mom and I) planned a beautiful, and budget friendly I might add, wedding that took place on October 8th, 2005 at The Montgomery Place of Sheffield, AL (right outside of Florence, AL--my hometown).  It was still a special day because Keith and I had decided not to exchange wedding bands until we could do so in front of family and friends.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking, "Oh you're so lucky to have TWO anniversaries!"  Well, I'm no lucky than you my married friend.  I had to agree before the second wedding even took place that there would be only one "official" celebration of our marriage, but that the second one would be recognized.  So, we officially celebrate our day of marriage on January 7th, which now happens to be my little brother's girlfriend's birthday--how fun?!  That is the day of the official wedding anniversary for two reasons:  1) it was the day we were first legally married (that's when I changed my name too) and 2) unfortunately, my grandfather, my mother's father, wasn't able to be with us in body on our celebration day in October--he had been in the hospital and passed away that morning due to complications.  We won't ever forget our wedding celebration day, but I like to keep it as a day to remember Papa John--I do like to think he still made it to the pretty wedding. :)

So my sweet Barge, thank you for a wild, crazy and amazing three years!  I'm glad I get to see how the rest of our lives unfold--with you.  All my love!


Me with all of my bridesmaids, honorary bridesmaids & my flower girl

Keith and all his groomsmen

Cutting the cake

Pucker up, sweetcakes!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Picture Update!

The beautiful bride, Jilly, and her hubby!
Image from Melody Hood

The bride and her maids (I'm on the far left!)
Image from Melody Hood

First impression of the Pumpkin Patch in St. Florian, AL


That's more like it!

Another great photo (Yes, Grammy, I'll be getting you a disk of these soon!) :)

Checking things out

I love mums in the fall

At Daddy's work picnic in the jumpy thing

He didn't know what to do so he just stared at the other kids, and mommy looked a fool crawling in there with him!

A new favorite picture of my two favorite men...:)

Long Overdue

So, I know you were in desperate need of a long overdue post.  I can't help it!  There has been so many things going on and I hardly know where to start.

The most obvious is to start with one of the most important events, which is also the one that happened right after I left off last.  My sweet AOPi big sister, Jill was married to her life love on September 20th.  I was bestowed the honor of being one of her bridesmaids (matron to be specific).  Jill was stunning in the gown her mother, Jan, made.  It also included lace from her Mimi's veil that adorned Jill's veil.  The location of the event, a llama farm, was almost as amazing as the bride.  I know you are thinking, "How in the world is a llama farm pretty?"  Let me tell you it was a perfectly manicured world of it's own.  Now, you did pay an extremely SMALL price of swerving up Signal Mountain to get there, but it was DEFINITELY worth it!  The reception was held in an open air barn, and was so beautiful not much decoration was needed.  We had a wonderful time with wonderful people, location and weather.  You couldn't find a more deserving person as Jill, to have such an absolutely amazing wedding to her absolutely amazing prince charming!

The end of that fabulous weekend started a bittersweet week of Knox being with his Grammy and Grandaddy.  They and Knox's uncle Brian and aunt Julie meet us in Chattanooga, where we had a fabulous lunch at Big River Brewer and made the "hand off".  Thankfully, the wild man was asleep during that process, so my waterworks weren't engaged.  I think all parties involved had a great week.  I worked on one thing or another, continuously while he was gone and it made me realize that it's amazing that I ever get anything done when my sweet baby is home with me.  Again, I would never trade that for the world, but I got a little impressed with myself.  Okay, so it's not a major task, but I'm proud of myself!

After our little "break", we headed back to TN/AL to pick up the wild man.  In addition, Daddy got to go hunting and Mommy worked on more reunion stuff.  (I think I have said this before, but I would now like to restate that I'm excited about the reunion, but SO READY to NOT be planning it anymore--and so will Keith!)  We will be returning to the homeland yet again for my big TEN YEAR REUNION that myself and a new friend from high school, Jessie, have been planning for OVER a year!  Our turn out isn't quite as high as we expected, but it will incredibly fun to reconnect with old friends.

In more current news, I am now in LOVE with yet another food market--the Dekalb Farmers Market.  It is amazing in a complete different way than Aldi. :)  This is not your average farmers' market, either.  It's your normal fresh produce (and by "normal" I mean, any and EVERY form of fruit and vegetable), fresh cut meat of any form, any kind of cheese you could possibly dream of, a whole wall of spices and herbs, fresh made bread, pastries and bagels all with organic flour, walls of exotic and natural grains, teas, canned goods--you name it, they had it.  In addition to the heaven spread before Bridgette and I, they have a cafeteria and pastry/dessert counter.  We decided to have lunch and OH MY HEAVENS!  All ingredients are straight from the isles and oh so good.  We didn't even make it to the "salad" side of couscous salad, chickpea salad and etc.  The hot side was anything from Indian, Greek and homestyle cooking at it's finest.  EVERYTHING on both Bridgette and my plate's were fabulous.  And of course, we had to grab a few desserts on the way out--and some for the boys.  Even with all the amazing food, we managed to get out of there with only spending about $25 each--including lunch and desserts!  I wish I had my camera because their website doesn't do them justice!

So that's an extremely brief summary of our past 2-3 weeks.  Pictures will follow (or precede, depending on how you read the posts!)