Tiger for a day

Last Saturday was a big day in college football for our family. LSU played (and sadly lost) to my sister's alma mater, Auburn.  And MIZZOU (University of Missouri) played, and beat #1 ranked Oklahoma. 

Do you see a theme here with these three teams? Well, they all have a tiger as their school mascot...unless you get really technical, Auburn has a war eagle and tiger. I never understood that. 

Anyway, we all had a tiger to pull for in college football on Saturday!

Jackson was being super silly and I thought it would be fun to dress him up as a Tiger for the day. *This is not his Halloween costume, but a "hand-me-down" from our neighbors.

I hear that my dad showed off his lil tiger pictures all day:)

Jackson says ROAR!

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What's cooking?!?

Yes my friends, that is the question I got from the Mr. when he walked through the door last night - What's cooking?!?

I got home from work and transformed into a domestic diva! Mr. has his first trial outside of worker's comp court on Wednesday.  So, I wanted to do something nice for him. And I'm sure most of you that know me are wondering how cooking something would be nice.  Well, laugh all you want, but I cooked and it was easy and delicious! How often do those two words go together when it comes to me cooking?!?

Here's what you need for a domestic diva chicken pasta dinner:
one rotisserie chicken
one or two jars of your favorite pasta sauce
one box of your favorite type of pasta
one container of ricotta cheese
one package of shredded cheese
some herbs: basil, parsley, garlic, salt

Step-by-step directions (with photos for other domestically challenged divas like me)
chop up chicken
preheat oven to 350
bring a pot of water to a boil, pour in box of pasta

mix together: chicken pieces, ricotta cheese, and herbs

strain pasta when done (after about 8 minutes or whenever it's not crunchy)

mix in pasta and pasta sauce with chicken, ricotta cheese, herbs and pasta sauce

pour into a casserole dish
cover with shredded cheese

put in the oven for 20 minutes
give the baby a bath

call your Mr. home from work
nurse your baby, put him to bed, and wait for your Mr. in this:)

Totally joking about the apron, that was taken for a work promotion. No worries, I was in my pj's by the time Mr. got home!

 But we enjoyed a yummy dinner and that's all that matters:)

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Random thoughts inside my head

Lately I feel like I can't get the wheels inside my head to stop spinning. I literally have a thousand conversations going on up there and I can't stop. I'm pretty sure that a lot of it has to do with our decision to sell our home. Change is not something I'm good at, never have been, never will.

So what exactly is going on up there, well let's see:

Should we really try and sell our house or refinance, pay down our note, 

and see where we are in a year financially?

What if we wait a year to sell and the housing market is worse than it is today?

If our crazy cat lady neighbor sells her house before we do, do we still want to move?

My favorite children's boutique opened up in a little house pretty much in our backyard. 

Mr. is freaking out a lil bit about this:) 

Why do so many house have HUGE master suites and itty bitty living rooms? 

One day I'll be at a point in my life that I care about my master bedroom. 

But, I'm not there yet. I want a HUGE living room that opens up into my kitchen!

And in that HUGE living room, I want this or this.

My house is all red, and I am thinking our next house will be all tans and blues.  

I need a little calming serenity like I feel at the beach. 

I love the style of almost everything on this site.

Speaking of the beach, I cannot wait to go here next Summer.  

And I hope that we make a little John Thomas while we are there:) 

Did I really just put that in writing?!?

I'm loving these jeans, but I put myself on a spending freeze and I'd like 

to win the little contest I have going on for myself.

A spending freeze 9 weeks before Christmas, I am certifiably nuts!

I need to find Jackson the perfect Christmas pjs.  I love our pj tradition.

My sister is having a baby, a real life baby.  I cannot wait to see her as a momma.  

Unfortunately, she lives 1,000 miles away.  

So I won't be seeing to much of her as a momma or my sweet Amelia bug:(

If we can't sell our house, then I may knock out a wall and build out my family room.  

Mr. thinks I'm crazy.

I think a little demolition would be just what I need right now.

I'm losing weight, but seriously not trying too at all.  

I'm not sure if it's because I'm running a marathon in my head 

or if there's something wrong with me. 

I weigh less now then I did on our wedding day.  

And I had a personal trainer do get that way.

My mom thinks that I look sick.  I think hope that Action Jackson is just wearing on me.

I miss my Grandma.

I love having a big family, but the thought of coming up with unique Christmas 

gifts for 4 sets of parents, and 8 siblings (and their families) is just plain overwhelming!

Anyone have good ideas for presents in bulk, ha:)

I think that Jackson can talk, he just chooses not to.  

And it makes me question my parenting skills or lack there of.

Funny how I think I have a lack of parenting skills, but I've been 

accused of thinking I was God's gift to children.  

The person that accused me of this will never know how this made me feel.  

I think about it daily and it gives me hives.

I'll never understand how the loss of a football team can ruin someone's night.  It's just a game.

Mr. made me let down my spending freeze guard Friday night and we had the best

Friday Family Date ever.  Seriously, it was too fun and I love my boys!

I know my nursing momma days are coming to an end soon and it makes me so sad.  

I love the bond that Jackson and I have during that time.  

How do you know when the last time is really the last?

How much is too much to spend on Christmas cards?

I love that putting things down on paper makes you feel better. 
Well it makes me feel better:)

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Through the eyes of a toddler

Last Saturday was our first house showing, which didn't result in an offer, so we headed over to Loli & Pops for breakfast.  Jackson didn't sleep great the night before, what's new, and was incredibly clingy all day.  I debated whether or not I wanted to run away or relish in this I only want Momma and everyone else better get away from her phase.

The weather was gorgeous, and I was actually able to lay out for an hour while Pop and my brother entertained Jackson.  So I guess I technically ran away for a little while:)

Mr. and I debated all morning over whether or not we should leave Jackson to run to Baton Rouge for the LSU game.  At one point I even thought about sending Mr. by himself and staying home, but that wasn't very nice.  On the other hand, leaving him with anyone in his mood wasn't nice either.

It was homecoming, so the game wasn't supposed to be a close one.  So we ending up bringing Jackson with the intentions of leaving before the end of the game.  To all of our surprise, we had the best time as a family of three!

Watching Jackson experience the traditions of LSU football gives me goosebumps.  Seriously, his eyes light up.  He claps for all the plays, good or bad.  And he LOVES the band.  He shakes his little butt and does a little dance.  Poor boy has no rhythm either:)

And I have to say fellow Momma's, having a diaper bag certainly makes transporting Mommy Juice very convenient.  I may or may not have mixed up a sippy cup or two with said Mommy Juice for the game.  Remember my morning, I needed it, please don't judge:)

The group we were sitting with was awesome.  I love that we are in such a family friendly section.  There was even a group of college guys that played football with Jackson for the entire 2nd quarter.  I still question who was more entertained by their little game of catch, the boys or Jackson:)

After a bag of goldfish and pretzels, a sucker from another nice momma, and some pieces of cotton candy from the kids next to us, it was time to go.  Jackson got wiggly and was a sticky mess, but it was the end of the 3rd quarter... about 3 quarters longer then I thought we'd last at the beginning of our day.

I love these memories we get to make, and am so thankful that Jackson is a social kid.  However, I hate that LSU is all about making money and requires everyone to have a ticket.  Yes, even when Jackson was weeks old at his first game he had to have a ticket to get in.  We've lucked out on having extra tickets so far, but I think Jackson will have to sit out the BAMA game.

Hope y'all have a great weekend, geaux tigers!

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Wordless Wednesday - Geaux Tigers!

I was a brave Momma yet again...Jackson spent Saturday night with us at Death Valley. More on that coming soon, but this is supposed to be wordless:)

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Rombach's Pumpkin Patch and Pony Rides

I know y'all are probably wondering how long I plan to drag out our St. Louis trip in blog posts, but I promise this is the last one:)

For as far back as I can remember my parents took us to Rombach's Pumpkin Patch in St. Louis at least once every Fall. It's somewhat of a St. Louis tradition. My dad would always let me pick out the biggest pumpkin I could find, no matter what the cost. This little treasure hunt was one that I looked forward to every year. I remember some years when my pumpkin weighed more than I did and we'd laugh at my dad trying to get it home and on our front porch.  Even better than that were the evenings spent carving masterpieces in our pumpkins for Trick or Treat.

Last year Mr. and I took Jackson to a little pumpkin patch here in Louisiana.  It is a cute little patch set up at a local church.  It did the trick, and we'll have our own little memories there with our family.  However, Stephanie and I were both beside ourselves that we were in St. Louis for opening day at Rombach's! Yet another fun memory we got to re-live from our childhood together, with our toddlers.

We let the kids run around and check out all of the pumpkins and festivities.  Jackson was simply amazed, I think he thought the pumpkins were hundreds of balloons.  His latest obsession.

Our trip wasn't complete without letting the kids ride the ponies.  Landrie and Ella sat like little princesses the entire 3 laps, while Jackson was little unsure of what we had signed him up for!

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Tailgating with a toddler

It's no secret that LSU football is a big part of our lives. Remember this post, we once went an entire season without missing one game! I'm sure there are days that Mr. wishes we could live that life again.  Life is different with a toddler, what can I say.  Jackson has changed things up just a little bit!

Gone are the days that Mr. wakes before sunrise to head to Baton Rouge on gameday. Forgotten are the Saturdays spent cookin' and drinking at the tailgate until kickoff and long after the stadium lights are turned off for the night. And the drunken debacles of the Krewe of WTF {this could mean what you're thinking or it could also stand for Wilson Tailgating Friends} are just memories of the past. 

Don't get me wrong, we Mr. still bleeds purple and gold, it's just a little different tailgating with a toddler in tow. We made it out to the home games last year, but Jackson was an easy baby. He'd sleep on my chest, even when we watched the LSU Golden Band from Tigerland march down the hill. And was small enough to be held all day.

This season we've only made it to one game, and we rolled in to town about an hour before kickoff. Most people looked at us like we were insane for bringing Action Jackson with us. But, I have to say, he did great. Thankfully we had some other kids around us, and I had a bag full of snacks to keep everyone happy:) Not to mention the fact that I leave Jackson Monday-Friday, so leaving him all day Saturday isn't an option in my book.  The weather has been fabulous and we all love to be outside!


I digress.

It's days like this though that make me look forward to the future. To the days that Mr. and Jackson will spend together on a football field. And when Jackson truly shares in his father's passion for the purple and gold.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love my boys?!?

We'll see how brave I feel in the morning, Jackson may or may not be coming with us again. I mean, it's homecoming and maybe Mr. will let us leave at halftime. The score should be a lot to a little at that point:)

Hard to believe this was my little guy last year!

Geaux Tigers!

 

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Family Photoshoot in St. Louis

Do you ever have one of those days were it feels like the stars are aligned just for you? Well the Friday we were in St. Louis was totally one of those days for me, and I loved it.

Jackson and I slept late, got dressed, and I grabbed a coffee to go. {Mr.'s law firm has an office in St. Louis, so he woke up and went to work every morning.}  We picked up some flowers and headed to my grandma {and grandpa's} to put flowers on their grave.

Up until this day, the weather in St. Louis was unusually hot and humid. But, on Friday, Fall was finally in the air. I drove with the windows down and told Jackson stories about his great-grandparents.

I arranged beautiful red roses in a fall bouquet for each of them and Jackson played with a bird named Wade. It felt good to shed a few tears and then Jackson and I were on our way.

Did I mention how wonderful the weather was?!? As we drove with the windows down and the music playing, I decided to run into the mall to see if I could find a long sleeve shirt for the football game later that night. And I did, first stop, perfect black shirt!

So, Jackson and I headed back to my sister's house to nap and get cleaned up for the game. I sent my sister a text telling her that I wanted to get some family pictures when she got off of work, outside, in this gorgeous weather...

My sister took it one step further and brought her good teacher friend home from school with her. This friend of her's also happens to be an amazing St. Louis photographer! See how the stars are aligning???

I grabbed my guys and we loaded up in my sister's car and headed to downtown Eureka for a little family photo session. The sky was bluer than blue, my boys were cuter than cute and now I have a picture perfect memory of my picture perfect day!

Thank you Katie for capturing us at our best, I can't wait to have a new house to cover the walls with these pictures!!!

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