double date

A couple of weeks ago...while my hubby was out of town...I had a date with another guy! GASP! Yes, a secret early morning date. He was very charming...but a bit of a messy eater. I didn't hold it against him though. He made me laugh like no other...and you know what they say about a good sense of humor!

So.....here he is, all 25 lbs. and 30-something inches of him. Who knew I had a thing for shorties! ;)

It was sweet spending time with my baby boy, just the two of us. There's something to be said for undivided attention, huh? And guess what? I even realized that maybe he's going to be a leftie???

And before I move on to tell you about my other date...need suggestions: what brand/type of jeans do you buy for your toddler boys??? Need to get Hudson some jeans and don't feel like going from store to store. Thanks!

So..........after my hot breakfast date, the very next day I squeezed in another HOT date. Quite literally. You'll see why. A friend who has recently started her own event planning business had a contest on her fb page and.......I WON!!!!! I never win so I was super excited to just win. Thanks Tanya!!!! Lance was REALLY excited when he found out what I won: LSU TICKETS (and a parking pass too!)!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!

So my mom watched the littles and we went on a road trip for the September 18th LSU vs. Mississippi State game. Here's the only pic I have of us together and it's even a phone picture, but even though we were melting in the heat, we were super excited to be there. My first time in Death Valley...that's Tiger Stadium for all you non-SEC fans ;)

And before I show you pics from the game, let me just say that folks in Louisiana take LSU
VERY SERIOUSLY...here's proof:Yes, folks that is a purple & gold house!

So much more fun to be there than to watch it on tv! I love this pic of Lance I snuck in right when we first sat down because he's not too fond of my camera but I love how excited he was to be there. We had the best time!! Meet Mike, the Tiger, LSU's mascot! It was GOLD day in case you couldn't tell. ;) Half Time And as the night when on we cheered our hearts out along with the 92,538 fans there!! And in the end
TIGER VICTORY! 29:7

LSU did indeed rule Death Valley.
Geaaaaaauuuux Tigers!!But for me, even better than the final score.......time alone with my hubby: PRICELESS!

Eeeeeeeek! BOO!

The chill in the air...the crisp, cool breeze..................okay, it's only in the high 60°s-70°s for part of the day, but I'll take that over the 90°s we had up until last week.............so just play along, 'kay?

So........I decided to pull out all the Halloween decorations and start working on a little tablescape and some fun vignettes throughout the house.

This fun little "village" is now comfortably resting on our dining room table.

My favorite part may just be the adorable silhouettes all around the cake plate. Of course this sweet picture from last year just melts my heart! Look how little Hudson was!!! Above the village I strung some pumpkin doilies on some leftover halloween ribbon for a little unexpected detail... ...and doesn't it look cute with that lightbulb out?? ;)

The framed drawing is actually a rainbow Grace drew and colored during her last art class with Mrs. Laura. She actually deemed it her "Underwater World" and added some fishes (the bubbles on the left). But I thought the colors were too perfect not to add it here with all the halloween decor, so we just placed a friendly spider in front and voila! I'm pretty crazy about candy corn so I had to pull out my favorite glass candy corns and scatter them throughout. Grace & I had fun putting together this little garland. She quickly informed me the spiders were Mama, Daddy, Grace, Hudson, & Jaxon, our dog ;) And because I just can't help myself...the candy corns ended up here as well! Grace's favorite thing...this little vintage black cat hidden among the branches in the spooky tree! Hudson's favorite - I'm guessing since he keeps looking up at them and pointing - are the pumpkins floating from the chandelier! So there you have it.
A little Halloween booscape to brighten your day. Hope you have a Spooktacular Day!

it's all in the packaging

I've loved hats on Grace ever since she was a wee one - case in point, see the framed picture below! So I was super excited when I found Abbie's shop on etsy, HeartSmiles. Find her shop HERE.

I fell in love with the vintage feel of this hat she made... ...and asked Abbie to recreate it in colors to match Grace's Matilda Jane fall knot dress. Boy did she deliver!

There's just something about opening a package that is so pretty on the outside! Shhhh....don't tell her but I cut out that hot glued crochet flower and turned it into a clippie for the little pumpkin! And the inside didn't disappoint either. Isn't it sweet??? And it's just perfect with the dress and many other fall outfits in her closet. Thank you so much Abbie!

...and now I'm thinking we need this one...for Easter ;) If you're looking for a sweet hat for your little cutie, pay Abbie a little visit and go check out HeartSmiles. She'll take good care of you!

for the love of candy corn...

It all started with these socks I just had to tweak... And then I just couldn't leave them all alone...I had to make a matching tee! See HERE for a tutorial on how. Hard to tell from the picture but the white fabric has tone-on-tone polka dots :) Too cool to indulge mama in a picture... There, that's better!
Giving mama a little sly "cheese" smile... Laughing at her very own knock-knock jokes.
This little pumpkin of mine is
S-I-L-L-Y! But she sure knows how to keep it fun!

let the little children come to me

What a glorious day! Today we baptized our son, officially dedicating him to the Lord...although in our eyes he was dedicated to the Lord the moment we knew of his existence. It was a small private baptism, with just our family there, but I wanted a little something to put in his baby book so I made these simple invitations to commemorate the event. Our little family With Papa J and Aunt Heidi, his godmother. THANK YOU Papa J for stepping in for Uncle Pedro, his godfather, who could not be here today since he's in Puerto Rico taking care of my dear grandma.

We were so blessed that Fr. Karl, who married us and baptized Grace, also baptized Hudson. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lighting Hudson's baptismal candle from the Paschal Candle. The Paschal candle is blessed and lit every year at Easter and is used throughout the year for special occasions such as baptisms and funerals. The flame of the Paschal Candle symbolizes the risen Christ as light of the world dispelling darkness (death) as well as symbolizing His presence in the midst of His people. Praying over our son Anointing with the oil of catechumens...blessing Hudson and asking the Holy Spirit to dwell within him. Sweet, sweet boy! He was full of expressions today! These two little girlies were so well behaved! With family by our side... After the baptism we went out for lunch at Macaroni Grill. We even had a little cake to celebrate! I had grand intentions of making Hudson a cross-shaped cake and some sweet little cross cookies with his initial but with the car accident last week and the constant pain in my right hand, all that had to go out the window, so store-bought it was :(

Our waiter was too funny and put candles on the cake! The "Holy Trinity" according to Heidi...he he he He didn't seem to mind that store-bought cake one bit! Yum...Yum...Yum... M'mm, M'mm GOOD! Grace just loves being with Madeline and Madeline is so sweet to her. Love you Madeline...and I love that gap-toothed smile too! Thank you family for all the sweet mementos! Heidi gave Hudson such a sweet and sentimental gift. She had a handkerchief monogrammed with his initials in blue so that we could use it to pat his little head dry after the baptism. But the sweetest part is that she hopes Hudson will give the handkerchief to his bride for her "something blue" on the day of his wedding. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!
Thank you so much, Heidi!!! And the best part about keeping it low key with just family...all the mayhem we could raise! Check out Ella Kate's expression...priceless! These kiddos just melt my heart! "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." ~Matthew 19:14

God bless you today and always dear Hudson!
We love you more than words can say,
Mama, Daddy, & Grace