Monday, September 6, 2010

Labor Day Weekend & Brenton's Baptism

September 4, 2010: The annual "Daddy - Son" helmet pic in honor of the Vols season opener.
Neyland Stadium looked awesome with the new brick facade. It was definitely time for a make-over! The Vols opened the '10 season against UT-Martin and totally beat up on "little brother" with a 50-0 shut-out win!
On Sunday, Sept. 5, Brenton was baptized at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church by Pastor John Wood. He and Noah were fantastic during the service. Noah loved sitting in church with us and listening to the choir and band. When Pastor Wood took Brenton from Eric's arms, Noah turned to us and said, "Hey, that's Daddy's!" What a funny moment! He's so protective of his little brother. After the baptism, Eric took Noah to his classroom since we knew he'd never make it through the sermon :) While walking down the hallway, Noah kept turning back to the sanctuary saying, "By songs!" and pointing his finger in the air like he was keeping in tune with music.
Here's Grand Don, Aunt Alyssa, Gigi, Noah, Eric, Tyra, JenMommy and Uncle Andrew after the service in front of a beautiful magnolia tree - the same tree we stood in front of after Noah's baptism on May 4, 2008.
This is the same blanket Noah had on the day he was baptized. It's a beautiful handmade blue and white blanket that we'll pass on in our family for years to come!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

End of Summer Wrap-Up

On July 12, I went back to work after an 8-week maternity leave. Eric took this photo before I headed out the door to take the boys to school. We did the same thing with Noah after my return to work when he was 16 weeks old. I honestly thought I'd be fine dropping Brenton off on his first day because Noah's been attending the same school for a year now and I'd gotten to know all the teachers really well. Boy was I wrong! When we got to school, I took Noah to his class first and then headed to the nursery. I'd brought all Brenton needed the week before, so all I had to do was give him to his teacher, Miss Sherri. Well, I started to cry before I even handed him off! She was so sweet and said I could call or text her as much as I wanted to. Sherri sent me a text picture of Brenton later that morning and said he was having a great day so far. Since then, B's been doing great and as of this week, is no longer the youngest in his class because a 6-week-old boy is in there with him now.
Here's a picture of the boys playing together on the floor. They were both hamming it up for the camera! At the end of July, we went to my 10-year high school reunion. We went to Eric's 10-year reunion last year, but this time around I had to plan it.  It was a great weekend and I loved catching up with everyone, but I'm not going to lie...it's been tough planning it for the past year and taken up a lot of time, especially with a newborn! Eric was a huge help and my committee was great. If you want to see more pictures and read a re-cap, visit http://hendersonvilleclassof2000.blogspot.com/. We had a blast and loved seeing everyone.  
We had a great time for Alyssa's 26th birthday, too. Mom a.k.a "Gigi" came up and we celebrated at Bayou Bay and goodies from The Cupcakery.
Brenton is definitely getting more animated lately...just check out this face!
Here's Jennifer (JenMommy) hanging out with the boys on a beautiful summer day. It's tough to try and get a good shot with both boys, but they did great here!
On August 7, we went over to Addie's house to celebrate her 3rd birthday party. Noah devoured a strawberry cupcake while Addie enjoyed the frosting of two cupcakes. They are hilarious to watch together. He loved playing with water balloons, water guns and with Addie in the kid pool. As soon as Noah arrived, Addie grabbed his hand to show him around...she just melts my heart!
On August 18, the boys started the first day of the 2010-2011 school year. Noah was promoted to the older 2s class and we love his new teachers. He's been much more interested in going potty lately, too. I meant to get a picture of the two of them together July 12 on Brenton's first day, but just couldn't get my act together that morning! It can be hectic dropping them off and picking them up at times with bags, bottles, blankies, Noah's lunch, etc, but I love giving them kisses goodbye and seeing them first thing after work. Noah is a big help, too. For the first week though when he and Brenton started going together, Noah wanted me to carry him while having to carry Brenton in his carrier at the same time. Needless to say, my arms got a nice work out for a few weeks. Now, Noah runs to the front door carrying the security card and lets us in the front door.
On August 22, Brenton and I went to AOII Bid Day. Of course he had to wear red! It was great to catch up with the girls and show him off as he flirted with over a hundred cute college girls :) Noah stayed home and napped while Eric got some time in on the PS3.
There's a cute story behind this photo. Brenton was in his crib having tummy time and playing with some toys. Noah was standing on the side of them crib watching him when I grabbed the camera and took some pictures of Brenton playing. I kept telling him to "say cheese!" Well, after a few shots of Brenton, Noah looked at me and said, "I say cheese, too!" and tilted his head to pose. We love these little guys so much!

Eric's been super busy with work events lately and went to a conference in mid-August at Ole Miss. He ate some great food and got to hear Archie Manning speak. We're so excited for football season to be here and can't wait to cheer on the Vols this Saturday as they take on UT-Martin!