Cookout!

I'm running a little behind here on the blog, but that just means I'll have more to write about this week! Last Thursday we went to a neighborhood barbecue in Lakeview sponsored by a grocery store and the neighborhood civic organization. It was really good and a lot of fun! They had a live band, barbecue rib and chicken plates and watermelon, and door prize giveaways. It was a good thing we got there early too because the line grew very long very fast (that's probably the worst grammer ever). They are going to do this every other Thursday until August, so we will probably try to head out there a few more times, since we don't have much of a grill at home and don't have much experience cooking ribs and chicken on the grill. And it's just a lot of fun!
Enjoy the pics!

The Hostess

Here is a picture of my sister Keri, and now I will tell you a funny story that happened this weekend...


Arnold's birthday was Sunday, so that night we decided to go to a seafood restaurant on Lake Pontchartrain. When we get to the door, the hostess asks us how many, grabs some menus and takes us to our seats. As we are taking our seats at the table, the hostess places our menus down and says, "And here's a kiddie menu for you." (talking to my sister). HAHAHA!!! I about died laughing. Then she goes one step further and says, "And I'll be right back with some crayons for you." HAHAHA! It was all I could do to contain myself when she came back and handed the crayons to my 16 YEAR OLD sister. Keri was embarrassed, and I had to hang my head to keep from laughing right in the hostess's face. If you could only know the humiliation this brings to a 16 year old. But really, we got a kick out of it and laughed the whole night about it.

Here's a picture of me and Keri coloring the kiddie menu...



Now here's a picture of the final product...



By the way, this same hostess also asked me if Peyton needed a kiddie menu...yeah right, Peyton doesn't have one tooth, sure, she can eat chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese.... haha

Peyton's new buddy

This is Peyton and her new friend, Ella, a golden retriever. It's our friend's dog, not ours.

The Eternal Dress

This is a picture of Peyton in my Easter dress from 27 years ago!







This is a video of Peyton laughing and playing. I just can't get enough of her laughing!

Innocence

Last night, we went over to some friends' house for a barbecue. We had grilled chicken, hamburgers, grilled zucchini, green peppers, grilled corn, and beans. It was yummy! (I just wanted to make you hungry.) Our friends have a little dog named Molly who is very energetic. The last time we were over there, about a month ago, Peyton was scared of the dog. However, this time, she LOVED the dog! She thought it was hilarious when the dog would run around and jump up and down. She giggled the whole time. She loved it when the dog would sniff her feet and lick them. It was so funny because she's never just laughed that much at something. You usually have to tickle her or make a funny noise to get her to laugh, but the dog was just being a dog, and she thought that was hilarious.

This made me start thinking about the innocence of babies and children. Everything is new to them and fascinating. They are so curious and want to explore. I remember as a child being so excited to go to Carowinds (for those of you South and North Carolinians, you'll know what Carowinds is), an amusement park in Charlotte, that I couldn't sleep the night before. Now roller coasters give me headaches. I remember being so excited to play in the ocean when we would go on vacation. Now I'd rather just sleep on the beach. I miss that excited feeling and that energy!...sometimes don't you just wish you were a kid again?

A Happy Father's Day for Everyone, Kind Of

This is my sister's first day watching Peyton, and I'm sure she's having a blast. Let's see, she's already pooped on her clothes(Peyton, not Keri) haha. She only took a 30 minute nap at lunch, and she started screaming when I left to come back at 1. I'm sure she's already ready to quit, and this is only day 1. Babies sure do make life interesting.
On another note, Keri and I went shopping Friday, and I bought some stuff to redecorate my living room with...pillows, curtains, a lamp, and a plant. This made me so excited because my living room has been blahstown, the capital of blahsville, usa for three years now. I tried to get it all finished before Arnold came home from work so that he would walk through the door and be like, "OH, it looks so nice in here, did you do something different?" instead of "What is all this stuff and how much did it cost?" Unfortunately, we were running a little late, so it was more like the latter. So happy Father's Day to me!
But Arnold did get his favorite, a gift card to Best Buy and some Reeses Cups. Then he pulled his back out. Happy Father's Day to him! :( Pray for a speedy recovery.

Daddy's Home!

Arnold is FINALLY back from the Southern Baptist Convention. He was gone to Indianapolis 8 days and 7 nights. That's just too long! We weren't sure if Peyton would treat him like a stranger or not (she did the last time he had to go to a conference for a few days), but she knew her daddy. Arnold basically sat at a booth for several days peddling his "goods", hoping someone would stop by. Haha. Don't know if you know anything about the Convention or not, but all the different entities set up booths to display their services, products, programs, etc. Arnold had to represent his job at the seminary which produces demographics for churches. While he was sitting at the booth, all the conferences were going on, so he really doesn't get to participate. Last year the convention was held in San Antonio, and i went with Arnold. It was a lot of fun, even though it was SO HOT and I was five months pregnant. My mom left Wednesday, and Keri (my sister) is at our apartment gearing up to watch the baby. And so this leaves me at work. :( Actually, I have a really good piece of news to share in a few days maybe. I can't reveal anything just yet. Don't you hate that? Maybe it will keep you coming back to read.

For those of you interested in info on the baby...Peyton has started pulling up to a standing position everywhere now...the couch, your leg, the crib. For the past two mornings, she's been standing up in her crib clinging onto the rail crying. It makes a sad picture, like she's trapped in jail or something. I need to take a picture and post it. :)

Grammy Visits New Orleans

Grammy and Peyton in Jackson Square

Jackson Square

Grammy, Peyton, and Keri at City Park


My mom and my sister arrived in New Orleans early Sunday morning, and we've had a lot of fun. My mom is only going to be here for a few days, but she was DYING to see Peyton, so she bit the bullet and spent the money to fly down here. Hey, at least she gets a free "hotel" room, aka, my apartment. It's funny what grandparents will do to see their grandchildren. So far we've visited City Park, which was not a pleasant experience (there was a woman who was mad and screaming and cussing at the top of her lungs) and the Creole Creamery...a cool icecream shop on Prytania...very good. Yesterday we went to the French Market and Aunt Sally's. This is a tradition for my mom and sisters. Anytime they come to New Orleans, they HAVE to visit the French Market for some cheap deals and Aunt Sally's for pralines. Peyton is LOVING all the attention. She hasn't been nearly as whiney the last few days, so it's given me a break. Before they got here, she was following me around the house and crying. (Her dad's gone to the SBC Convention). She's discovered that she no longer has to sit on the carpet and cry if you leave the room, she can now crawl to wherever you are and cry. :) I will try to post some pictures this afternoon.

Evolution of Dance

The evolution of dance...

Pics of Peyton

She likes her new toy that Grammy sent her.

a big smile


a short video of me trying to make Peyton laugh

PS-Thanks for all the prayers for my grandmother. The doctor was going to put a stent in her artery, but after opening her up (or whatever they do) they determined that it wasn't necessary. So now they've put her on a bunch of medication and she has left the hospital. This is good news! My mom also told me that she's feeling better. Thank you so much for praying....prayer sure does work!

NOPD

Yesterday afternoon, Arnold was coming back from the doctor around 4 pm and was at a red light when a motorcycle rear-ended him. No one was injured, thank goodness. He was stopping at a yellow light, and the girl on the motorcycle thought he was going to sail on through. Anyway, they called the police after it happened, just to do things properly. Arnold was in our old Buick, which had a little black mark on it, but her bike was messed up. For some reason, she wanted a police report for her insurance (even though it was her fault!). Well, they waited two hours in the hot, boiling Louisiana sun for the police to get there. Finally they decided to leave. Around 8 pm we get a call last night from the police. They asked him if they were still at the scene of the accident! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! Four hours later they expected them to still be waiting on the side of the road for a fender bender?! It's a good thing nothing serious really did happen. Crazy. But that is New Orleans for ya. For anyone who has ever lived here, you will totally understand this story.

Please pray

Please lift up my grandmother in prayer. She had a heart attack the other day and has pneumonia. She's 89 years old, so it's very hard on her fragile body.

Thanks for the prayers...

Joy

The Babysitter

Peyton has started really crawling all over the place, so it's interesting that she wants to be held just as much as ever these days. Actually I think she's having some separation anxiety issues. She does not want to take naps and she DOES NOT want to be put to bed at night. We used to just put her in the crib and she would go to sleep without a fuss, sometimes a little fuss for a minute or two, but nothing much. Now she is SCREAMING her lungs out and sitting straight up in the crib. She just wants to be held! Next Sunday, my sister and mom are coming to New Orleans. My sister is going to be staying with us for a month and keeping Peyton. Haha! She doesn't know what she's getting herself into. We are going to pay her though.