Odds, ends, and what-nots

Doesn't she just look like a handful? She's naked and climbing into the empty shelf in the media cabinet. Her little buck teeth and new snorty laugh are just too cute for words. I had to croppity-crop-crop to hide all her lady parts. Love her!

A much needed visit with Great Frank. His place has THE BEST front porch rockers. I could stay there all day.
Someone else looks pretty cozy...

And here, in a not so cozy moment. This was not child abuse, I promise. Or it wasn't intentional anyway. We went to Ichiban last weekend with Mike, Lu and their girls and this was Keatyn's first Hibachi fire. Not a fan. You should have seen the sweet snuggle Jimmy got after this.
But first, he got the post fire pout...
Bless her heart. The things we do to our poor children.
Gingie got a ride on the 4 wheeler. We found out last week, that she has a malignant tumor in her back. Because of it's location and her age, we have chosen not to try to operate or do any treatment. She will be 15 on December 1st. So we're gonna love her and enjoy her for as long as God gives us! She is an irreplaceable part of this family.


Playdate with Brooklynn and Bentley...
Grazing in the grass...
Like a true girlie-girl, she squealed and pulled her legs up the first time Jimmy put her down in it. We thought for a brief moment we finally found a way to contain her. Put a blanket down in the grass and she'd be trapped. But she got over it real quick and has even taken to eating it on occasion. It's great fiber I hear.

Papaw bought this wagon for Trace when he was a baby, and he did the honors on Keatyn's first ride...

And then of course, big brother had to take a turn. And mommy had to take a Xanax.
Good times!

A (long overdue) birthday bash

My family finally got together for "Sunday Dinner" last weekend to celebrate the birthdays from July, August, September, and October. We haven't had one since Keatyn's baptism in June at Papaw's marina. There were so many names on that cake, there was hardly any room for a candle, flower, or icing squiggle.
Nalin got the honor of blowing them all out since she was an August b-day. Someone looks a little jealous...
My beautiful "baby" cousins... all grown up. Man, I'm old.




Long overdue, but well worth the wait!

Make new friends but keep the old

About 2 years ago, I reconnected with one of my best friends from elementary school, Diane. If you had told me in the 6th grade that 15 years would go by without having seen or spoken to each other, I would never have believed you. We were inseparable. But she moved away when we were in high school and we completely lost touch. A few years ago, her parents moved back to Chattanooga, but by then Diane had moved to New York to work as a concierge at a Manhattan hotel. There, she met her hubby Raymond, when his construction company was hired to renovate her hotel. They moved about 20 minutes outside of NYC to Rockland County and now have an adorable little girl Juliette. She has lived a completely other life since we were friends, while I've been living 10 minutes from our childhood homes the entire time. It's crazy...

Without her, I would never have pulled off Jimmy's surprise 40th birthday trip to NYC last August. She booked our hotel, our dinner reservations, our boat ride and told me all the in's and out's of NYC vacationing. A far cry from the little world of Hixson I've never left!

She was back in town with Raymond and Juliette for her brother's wedding a few weeks ago and we all got together for the Ronald McDonald Fall Festival at the Riverpark. It was a great day!






Cutie pies...
I'm so grateful to have reconnected after so many years and share in the joys of parenthood with her!

Eight Months

Keatyn, you are 8 months old today! I can't believe it.
You are a wild woman!! Already, you are crawling all over the place, pulling up on everything and just this week have started "cruising" just a little around the couch. I'm still in disbelief because your big brother didn't do any of this this early. Mommy thought she had a little more time.

You're still trying to master the "getting down" technique.
I walked in to get you up from your nap the other day, to discover you standing in your crib...
Your entire upper body from waist up was above the rail and you looked poised to do a nose dive into the carpet. Within minutes, daddy had lower your crib to the lowest level. I don't think we had to do that for your brother until he was a year old. You are growing up way too fast!

You've mastered the wave. You wave hello and goodbye constantly and it's quite adorable...
Ever since you had a cold a few weeks ago, you've become a mouth breather and that little tongue is always out. Speaking of tongues...
You love to crawl over to the air condition vents in the floor and lick them. Yes, lick them. I'm assuming they feel good on your teething gums because they're cold. (But honestly has anyone ever thought to clean their floor vents? It never occurred to me to do so, until I saw my baby french kissing one.)

You are wearing a size 3 diaper, 6-9 month clothes and have 2 teeth on the bottom, and 3 teeth coming in on the top. You are EVERYWHERE and rarely sit still for a minute. You are obsessed with the laptop/computer, and anything that daddy handles on a regular basis (remote, cell phone, coke can etc...)

Your little head looks like it's been in a prize fight from all the spills and bumps you've taken in the last few weeks. Right now you have a scratch over your eye, one on your cheek, a scab by your ear and a bruise on your forehead. Yet, somehow, you're still the most beautiful baby I know!

You are freakishly strong when you want something or want to get out of a certain position. Your abs are a force to be reckoned with. You typically exhibit this superhuman ability when you are up to your neck in poop and I'm trying to clean you up. I literally had to cut a onesie COVERED in poo off of you the other day, because it was just simpler than trying to pull it over your head. Apparently, the prune juice we mix with your cereal is working!

You still love being outside, being held any chance you get and are extremely social. You have the most contagious, raspy laugh and I could eat up your chunky little legs. You love to crawl from the living room into the kitchen while I'm cooking dinner and play in Ginger's bowl, that is unless you get distracted on the way by your reflection in the dishwasher.
I'm still astounded everyday that you are here and mine. You have won my heart little lady and I adore you!