My Super Sweet 2 Birthday!

Abbey did the most amazing job planning Reed's birthday party. It was a blast!



She made a "hot air balloon" cake for him. It was really cute.



Reed was super excited when he arrived at the clubhouse for his birthday party. He was mesmerized by the balloons and bubbles everywhere!



It was very exciting to him.



His friend Karsten came from his school.



Of course, his very best friend Britton was there too.



Miss Betty, his Sunday School teacher, Raleigh, Miss Jennifer, Miss Holly, Nana Sprinkles, my goodness, there were so many people there to help Reed celebrate.



Even Kay Kay came!



Pop was excited to see Reed.



Aunt Ava personalized Reed's shirt.



Reed's friend Haden from school came to the party and helped Reed open his presents since he wasn't really into opening them.



Reed and Britton were interested in some of his presents.



Britton and his Auntie Meghan gave Reed this cute red car. Reed loves his new car.



Aunt Ava and Lola helped Reed put together a puzzle.



Poppy and Reed were silly!



Enna and Reed admired his MANY (seriously) balloons!

Reed's birthday was a great success! I think everyone involved had a great time!

A Little Birthday Update

Our internet is uploading pictures at a snail's pace, so we are unable to post any of the 270 photos from the most awesome birthday party any two-year-old has ever experienced. Abbey did a fabulous job pulling this one off. I will be on the phone in the morning calling Comcast and "encouraging" them to get our internet moving! I am not really thrilled with paying for internet service when I am not getting full service! Is anyone else out there having trouble with upload speeds? Anyway, I will give a full update tomorrow with or without pics.

Date Night Update

Monya came over to keep Reed so Abbey and I could go on our Valentine's Date.



My team at work gave me a Cheesecake Factory giftcard for Christmas, so we happily headed there for our dinner date.



CF has a new "small plate" menu and a bar menu from 4:00-6:00 that has smaller selections of many of their menu items.



We had Mexican Tortilla Soup, Sliders, Fried Cheese, Fried Zucchini, Sweet Corn Fritters, and Calamari. We got a really nice selection of food for a really nice price.



For dessert Abbey had apple struesel cheesecake and I had tiramisu. It was delicious.



Reed and Monya apparently had a great time playing.



Tomorrow, Reed is going to be in hog heaven for the weekend because Uncle Bill is coming to help us get ready for the birthday party on Saturday.



Then, Enna and Poppy are coming in tomorrow evening. Uncle Trae might be coming in.

On Saturday, Lola, Pop, Aunt Aba, and Uncle Bookah are coming.



Lots of other people are coming for the "birday party". Reed is going to be even more spoiled after the weekend I think!

Balloons for Me?

Last night, we had a Sunday School party which was a scavenger hunt. What Brandon didn't know though, was that it was all a ploy to get him to his SURPRISE 30th birthday party! He was pretty surprised.



The only problem was that Reed thought that the party was for him, because there were balloons there, and Reed believes that where balloons are so must he be.




The party was so much fun. We had a karaoke machine and it was a blast. Brandon really loves karaoke, and between the two of us, we really got to ham it up. If I had time, I would upload a little video of the guys singing "Elvira".




It seemed like every time that we saw Reed, he had a few more balloons. Our friends thought it would be fun to tape them to Reed since he didn't seem to like the slip-knot way of having them on his wrist.




It was really funny. Reed LOVED the balloons! He also loved the "buffet" style food. He enjoyed grapes and even pulled a whole bag of chips to the floor. Thankfully, Tamara didn't care, and she thought it was pretty funny.





It was a great party and we want to wish Mr. Brandon the BEST 30th year ever!

Fun With Enna and Poppy!

Okay, I think that Reed is making it clear that he is ready for me to set the aquarium up that he got for his birthday. He loves looking at Enna and Poppy's fish.



Today, Reed:

1. Went to Wal-Mart with Enna and then Dollar Tree. He scored not 1, but 2 balloons!

2. He played on the tractor.



3. He played with Uncle Trae.

4. He played in/with the water hose.

5. He discovered bugles (the chips).



6. He went to bed at 8:30 with no fuss (and we weren't here!).



Today, we:

1. I went to teach my conference.

2. Abbey got to get dressed all by herself with no help from Reed.

3. Abbey got to read and watch TV.

4. Reed and I took a nap.



5. We got to eat at Old Venice (another Mississippi must-go).

6. We went shopping and didn't buy a thing (not even from Target!).

7. We went by our old house in Brandon.



8. We went to McAlister's and enjoyed tea and conversation with one another without interruption. It was nice. The little things are great aren't they?



Enna got Reed one of those little ferret and ball things from Cracker Barrel. Reed was thrilled, Abbey—not so much.

Welcome Baby Cooper! 7/11/08

Enna and the girls got on the road this morning around 7:00ish, I think. I can't remember the exact time, but that really doesn't matter does it. We hated to see them go, because it was so much fun having them here.



I wish that my family lived closer to us! We miss them so much, and we would love for Reed to be able to grow up with them closer to him, but so far I have been unable to convince them to move up here. They have jobs that can be done anywhere, but my company is only located here in Nashville, so I can't really relocate!



Around lunch, we were able to meet baby Cooper! I am going to have a special bond with Coop because we share the same birthday. The Batson's came along with us, so here's a pic of the Daddies and Sons.



Coop is a chunk! He is so cute and sweet!



Reed was not nearly as thrilled with Cooper as he was the balloons that Cooper had received.



Mommy got a chance to hold Cooper. It was hard to believe how light he was. Even though he's a big baby, he's not as heavy as Reedman.



Here's a pic of me and Coop.



Reed did eventually find Cooper interesting. I think we need to work on the word "gentle" with Reed.