Ford's Baptism

Our sweet baby boy was baptized at St. Patrick's Catholic Church on Saturday, November 17. We had a full house of friends and family that joined in the celebration and Father Joeseph DeAurora led the service. Just like we did with Annalee, we decided to have the baptism on a Saturday, so it was just a special service for us, and there would be plenty of time for celebration after.

Ford's godmother is my best friend from home, Amanda. Al and I have been buddies since softball days at West Mobile County Park. Her dad was our All-Star coach and she went to school with my middle brother Rob.  We immediately hit it off and spent countless weekend, summers and evenings at each others' houses. She was a year older (and wiser, ha). We were besties though high school and when she went to Auburn her freshmen year, I quickly followed. We did our own thing on the plains - she pledged ZTA and I pledged AOII. She studied Business and I was in the College of Liberal Arts. But we were Dunkin' Darlings together - hostesses for the Basketball team - and spent almost every game day together.

Her parents are like my second family, and mine just the same and I couldn't have imagined a better god mother for our sweet baby boy! Amanda is full of laughter, love and had the biggest heart. I have always known Al would be one of my children's god mommas and I just knew that Ford would be the perfect match. She and her husband flew up from Mobile for a fun weekend in Lex.

Ford's godfather is a dear friend from Virginia, Matthew. Matt and his wife Megan instantly become some of our best friends when we met shortly after I moved to Lexington in 2009. They had just gotten engaged and we followed just a couple months later. That same year they moved within a block of both of our houses and we spent almost every day together - cooking, eating, drinking, volunteering, going for runs, etc. We were spoiled to have each other and I will forever cherish that year of fun we had! Matt is a fraternity brother of Jesse's - from a different chapter - but they were instant buds. Matt is an amazing father, devoted catholic, and the ultimate example of a true gentleman. We know he will be an amazing role model for our sweet baby boy.

Ford wore Jesse's baptism outfit from when he was baptized in 1979.

It was our first real party at the new house, and it was AMAZING to have so much space to spread out! Here are a few pictures from the day.

CHEFS Catering delivered a beautiful spread and Sweet Treats Bakery made an amazing cake for us - there wasn't a slice left come Monday morning. We had little chocolates from Cocoa Mill for everyone as the left and University Florist and The Jefferson delivered beautiful flowers for the day. It was a very "local spread" if I do say so myself, and made this Chamber lady very happy! 

Proud Papa

Also, I used Photo Affections for the invitations and they turned out beautiful. 

It was such a perfect day with family and friends. We are so lucky to have a wonderful catholic community here in Lex for our children to grow-up in. Feeling very blessed! 

December One

I made a promise to myself to get back to the things I love the most this December. We've been gearing up for the holidays, decking the halls, penciling in lots of time with family and friends and starting a few new traditions of our own.

 I have also taken a good long break from blogging and I miss it. Here's to hoping this December I slow down and take time to document all the fun we are having.

Happy December 1!

"Jingle" - our Elf on the Shelf - came to visit this week and Annalee is thrilled! She runs downstairs every morning to look for Jingle and make sure he came back from the North Pole. We weren't sure if she would really "get it" yet, but she proved us wrong. Our big girl is full speed Christmas all the way... just like her Daddy!

I may have mentioned this before, but J LOVES Christmas. I mean, don't get me wrong, I do to - but he really LOVES it.

We have a new house to "Deck the Halls" and it has been SO much fun!!

We trimmed the stairs with Magnolia garland, which I love! It may be my favorite decoration.

Making the garland last week - with a beautiful bolt of plaid ribbon I scored at TJMaxx for $11.

We also discovered Annalee dolls, and Mom bought one for Annalee this year. A fun new tradition to start. This is our cute little Santa Annalee doll. I had never heard of them before, but a co-worker of J's told us about them after Annalee was born. Last week Mom and I stumbled upon them in TJMaxx and they are so cute!

We added one more stocking to the mantle this year - a train for Mr. Ford. We get our stockings from Lands' End and they are great quality needlepoint at an awesome price point.

We also started our advent calendar that my sister-in-law made for us years back. However, this was the first year we added a special treat to the day for Annalee to find. She was SO excited running out the door to Mimi's this morning.

Cheers to a great Christmas season and seeing the joy through the eyes of a child. It's so amazing to remember how special this time of year is and be able to share that with our little ones.

We have our local Christmas parade tonight and are making Gingerbread houses tomorrow. Then it's time to cheer on my Auburn Tigers in the SEC Championship game. War Eagle, friends!!