Father’s Day Weekend

I typically take pride in the fact that I put lots of thought into getting someone the perfect gift, but Dad (Granddad) is always one of the hardest people on my list!  I was so excited when Mom (Gramma) said she had the perfect gift idea for Dad.  She said all he wanted was a family workday, which is really not my strong suit, but since that is what he wanted, we packed the car and headed to Kentucky to celebrate Father’s Day, Uncle Justin’s birthday and give Dad his “perfect gift” of pressure washing the house!  Other than providing a fun, upbeat atmosphere with great music and dancing…I was pretty much useless in helping.  I did run errands, checked on Charley at Granny Katherine and Papa’s house, occasionally scrubbed the house, handed people things, and took pictures!  We didn’t have a tall enough ladder to reach some parts of the house, so Dad had to use the bucket truck.  Gramma wasn’t a fan, but Charley loved going on a ride with her Gramma and Granddaddy!  Even after 6 hours, Gramma’s wasp sting, my burnt hand, and Craig and Granddad’s exhaustion, I figured it was totally worth it to give Granddad exactly what he wanted for Father’s Day…. until I found out it was Gramma’s idea and not what he asked for!  I guess a happy wife makes a happy husband at the end of the day.  We did have an excellent dinner at Texas Roadhouse and went for a family Jeep ride with the top down.  Charley was so cute with her hair blowin’ in the wind!

On Sunday, we went to church, and Granny Martha fixed an amazing lunch with a roast, corn, carrots, green beans, mashed potatoes, slaw, rolls, and fried squash.  Most things were fresh from the garden, which made them even tastier!  I made a fruit pizza for dessert, which was pretty yummy, too!  Needless to say, I tried to get some good pictures of Miss Priss with Granddaddy Charlie, Granddad, and her Daddy…. but just like everything else, we must be going through a phase. 

Even though I didn’t get perfect pictures, nothing else compares to the fact that Charley is one blessed little girl to have such amazing men in her life.  Her Granddaddy Charlie and Papa love spending time and playing with her, and I honestly can’t say how thankful I am for those relationships.  I cherish the fact that I had great-grandparents growing up, and I thank God daily that Charley has that same blessing.   I have always known that Dad would be good with my kids, because he is such a kid himself and is always getting a new buddy; however, I didn’t know he would be this good of a granddad. He adores Charley and you can read it all over his face and in the way his eyes sparkle when she is in the room or when he is talking about her!  It’s absolutely precious.  As far as Craig goes, I have zero complaints in the Daddy department.  He has far exceeded my expectations, and I love the relationship they have and the special moments they create together.  

Happy Birthday Uncle Justin

As far as work goes, this Momma has pretty much had it made these past few months being able to work from home and spend lots of time with Charley…. until the month of June!  I spent one week in Baton Rouge, LA, and am currently on my way to Denver, CO.  In the middle of these two trips was Uncle Justin’s birthday.  I guess the timing couldn’t have been better, because he got to spend lots of time with his niece last week.  From what I hear, they are becoming great buddies.  He sent me a picture of Charley outside swinging and a picture of her wearing his “sh’s” (shoes).  Needless to say, it was super cute and exactly what I needed since I missed her like crazy! 

Justin wanted us to celebrate his birthday at the Kountry Kastle… no complaints here…I love that place!  So, all of us (including Granny Martha and Granddaddy Charlie) went to the Kastle for diner.  The food was amazing, and Charley was terrible!  All she wants to do is play, but I was determined she was going to sit in the high chair, even though Granny Martha, Gramma and Uncle Justin were really wanting me to get her out so she would stop crying.  I figure the Kastle is pretty used to “disruptions,” so for the most part, we fit right in.  Well, we fit in other than the fact that we were probably the most over dressed, had the least number of tatoo’s, and the only table that just ordered Coke and Diet Coke!

Happy Birthday Uncle Justin!!!!  We love you!

Birthday Parties

You know life has changed when most Saturday’s are filled with kiddy birthday parties!  Unfortunately, we aren’t always able to make everyone’s party, but we lucked out this past month and got to go to two parties for some of Charley’s favorite friends!  Sam had his party at Pump It Up.  It’s such a great place for kids to run, jump and play to burn off some of that wild energy!  Charley was a little small for most things, but LOVED going down the slide with her Daddy!  They did that over and over!  On another weekend, we went to Kentucky for the Twin’s 1^st Birthday Party!  It was Dr. Seuss themed and super cute!  Charley spent most of the party outside playing with her cousins Hadlee and Hunter.  She had her first and second Caprisun, just like the big kids…. she squeezed most of hers on the ground since she is insisted on holding it herself.  I didn’t get the best pictures since she was so busy, but I did manage to get a few.  Happy Birthday Friends!

Build-A-What?

A few weeks ago, Logan, Aunt Haley and Alec came to visit for the day.  We didn’t have much planned other than eating, shopping and going to Sweet CeCe’s, so when we walked by Build-A-Bear, we just had to go in.  It didn’t take long for Logan to pick out what he was going to make.  I am pretty sure it was a Chipmunk…. once everything was chosen, stuffed, given a heart, sewn up, bathed, dried, dressed, combed and named, the final product resulted into Alvin Hulk.  Alvin Hulk made numerous changes throughout the day back and forth between each alter ego.  Charley set her sights on a “da” (dog) as soon as we walked in the door.  She wagged that “da” around determined to take it home with her.  Even after we stuffed and sewed up her “da” with a heart and barking sound, we had to trick her into taking it and not the one on display.  Alec was so good with Charley.  She followed her around, picked her up, and played with her all day!  She was especially helpful in Build-A-Bear when it came to naming our “da!”  When she was little she built a “da” too, so we went with her suggestion of Belle as the name.  Belle wasn’t complete until she had two red hair bows to match Charley!  This is the second year in a row that we’ve had a fun Nashville day with Logan and Aunt Haley…Logan and I are already planning fun things for next year…kind of funny since its only June and I am sure we will do something fun before a whole year passes by, but Logan and I still really like talking about next year’s fun day!  We are thinking The Lion King at TPAC will be the perfect fun time together!  Who knows, we have a whole year to come up with something!

Uncle B and Aunt Court are having a BABY……GIRL!!!!!!!!!

I am not sure how to display my excitement in writing, but I am jumping up and down just thinking about how much fun Charley, Harper and Baby Girl Steele will have together!  I can’t believe that nine years ago this summer I was meeting Rachel and Courtney for the first time at Lipscomb.  Its so amazing to see how God works in our lives.  Little did we know that we would all be the best of friends, see each other meet and marry our husbands, and one day have babies together….baby girls at that!  I can only imagine a Girl’s Dinner down the road where we tell our daughters about all the fun we’ve had together and the memories we made at Lipscomb, pledging Delta Sigma, eating at Elliston Place, performing in Singarama, being bridesmaids in each other’s weddings, hosting showers and parties, vacationing, and celebrating each other’s birthdays.  If I had my guess, the kiddos will probably roll their eyes and tell us to stop talking about our glory days…but for now I will hope that they think we are the coolest Momma’s ever!

Anyway, with all of that being said, we were so happy to be with Uncle B and Aunt Court when they had their Gender Reveal Party a few weeks ago.  They had a cookout at their house, and everyone had to bite into their cupcake to see if Baby Steele was a boy or girl!  I couldn’t resist, and watched to see their initial reaction, which was pure excitement!  Ever since the party, my head has been spinning with shower ideas!  So happy for Uncle B and Aunt Court and can’t wait for Charley’s new BFF to arrive especially since we are practically neighbors…not exactly, but living in Mt. Juliet classifies us as neighbors in my book!

Happy Mother’s Day

For the month of April, I am pretty sure I spent something like five nights in Tennessee, so for Mother’s Day I decided I would rather stay in Mt Juliet.  Not necessarily the best choice because I missed seeing everyone in Kentucky, but the three of us had a good day/weekend together.  We spent Saturday taking Miss Priss to Toys R Us and Chuy’s.  She was pretty terrible, but that was pretty much the theme of the weekend.  Normally I would blame it on teeth, but it’s beginning to look like I might be using that excuse every day at this point.  On Sunday before church, I opened up what I consider one of if not my favorite gift of all time from Craig and Charley.  I got two of the sweetest cards and a fabulous Tory Burch bracelet.   (Thanks Jenny for introducing Craig to Tory Burch!)  I LOVE IT and wear it all the time!  As far as getting a good mother-daughter picture to remember the special day….not so successful, which is appropriately fitting for Miss Priss that weekend. 

Miss Priss

It’s so funny how certain names sort of “stick” after a while.  I think we have all thrown around different terms of endearment for Charley, but some fit her perfectly.  For the most part, we have landed on Baby, Princess, Buster, Sister and of course, Miss Priss.  Uncle Gar calls her Chuck, which really got under my skin at first, but I am actually starting to secretly like it.  I try not to dictate what people will call her, because I certainly know we won’t be able to control what she calls people; however, there was one nickname from Craig that I had to pump the brakes on.  When she was little bitty, he started calling her “Hun,” which sounds pretty innocent and sweet.  Unfortunately, I spent five years waiting on a guy at Belew’s that said “Hun” before and after everything else he said, to the point that we nicknamed him “Hun.”  That alone wasn’t enough to seal the deal on not calling her “Hun,” because Dad told me a long time ago that “Hun” was born without a butthole and he knew him as “No-Butthole Baby”…regardless if that is true or not, every single time Craig used the word “Hun,” I giggled inside and thought of “No-Butthole Baby.”  I finally had to fess up and ask him to pick another name!

For the most part, Miss Priss is what we call her and it is so fitting.  She is such a little firecracker full of personality with a mind of her own.  I have joked lately about how I waited for 9 months to see who she would be, and all I should have done was look in the mirror.  She prisses around swinging her arm, wags around purses, wears an arm full of bracelets, tries to put her sunglasses on her head, pretends to put on lipstick, and makes some of the funniest attitude faces that a 15 month old can possibly make.  When I was a little girl, I always remember Grandma Ina calling me Miss Astor.  I recently found out that the Astor family was a wealthy family that was on the Titanic….I guess Grandma Ina was on to something!  

This is Miss Priss at her finest!