Throw me something, mister!

So, it has taken me a week to upload these pictures on here. Seriously. Between my computer, my toddler, and my patience, that's how long it took.

Carnival season (that's what they call it down here, y'all) was fabulous. Everything I'd heard it would be and more. For all you skeptics (those of you who are thinking...you took your kid to Mardi Gras?!) keep an open mind. Mardi Gras isn't what you see on tv. Well, I guess it is if you go down on Bourbon. Which, by the way, they don't even have parades on Bourbon. The street is too narrow. Major misconception. Carnival is very family friendly. (see the pictures of the ladders). It's basically like a giant tailgate (minus the game but plus ladders) on steroid's. The SEC ain't got nuthin' on these people in these parts down here.

Moving on...

These two came into town for their first Mardi Gras. Mariah (being the exceptional Catholic that she is) had already been to Nola in her younger years, but this was Bill's first time to the city and to Mardi Gras. We had  alot to do in a few days, y'all.

Of course we had to take them to here to eat breakfast. Can you say "Fat Hen stack, please". Yummy goodness. Same place Andrew takes all his recruits for breakfast. If you come to NOLA, you must try it.

Here are the ladders I was referring to. They start setting up these days and days before. People stake out their spots and rope it off with caution tape. They mean business.

All my night time pictures of the floats aren't very good and they don't do them justice at all. They are all so beautiful and each parade has a theme which is pretty neat.

Here's right around the corner from our home. The floats were lining up for the parade to start.

A little chilly for an early parade at 10am. But worth every second. We came back with a huge garbage bag full of throws for Cooper. Toddler = lots of throws.

Throws = beads, stuffed animals, plastic cups, bracelets, and anything else you can imagine.

Between the floats, they have marching bands. From high schools and colleges all over the USA. We saw several from Memphis. These bands march 8 plus miles from start to finish.

Sweet friend....so happy they came to visit!

Do you recognize these girls?  We ran into Andrew's team on St. Charles.

More sweet friends. Here is Coop with two of his leading ladies in NOLA. Bianca and Bella. Bianca's dad is a doctor and she is Venezuelan. This kids speaks Spanish and English perfect...already!!! Can you believe it?! And Bella's dad, he is a dentist. In the Air Force. We have met so many cool people down here!!!  And their mom's are great friends of mine!

Finally....a family shot.

A good example of a beautiful float. This was from Rex. All the parades have names. Rex is the oldest Krewe in Carnival.

Coop was mesmerized by it all. The ladder helped ,too!

Who Dat!!!

Sweet friends, again. Can you see Bella's dimples?? 

Here are my NOLA mommas!!!  Musi and Carrie!

Cool Tulane VW that followed their van. This lady was stingy with the beads. I wanted a Tulane bead for Cooper. She wasn't having it. She kept saying, step back please. It think being in the parade got to her head just a little.

Of course, the coolest part of all of Mardi Gras was that all the floats were pulled by tractors. And if you know Cooper, you know he LOVES tractors and is obsessed with anything that resembles one.

White Haven HS in Memphis.

Celebrity sighting!!  This is Will Ferrell!!!  So cool! He was king of Bacchus.  Each krewe/parade has a king. He is in town filming a movie, so here he is!!

We got so lucky that our friends Ellen and Matt had a ladder. And their son Ben was happier on the ground, so Coop got to sit in it with his sister Ellie! Cooper loved it!! He got to see everything.

This float was from Bacchus. Seriously it was about 4 or 5 floats long. A huge gator. People were throwing their beads back at the float into the mouth of the gator.

A cute picture of all the kiddos from Rex. (Minus Charlie, BiBi, and the babies). They are all so sweet together. The two on the ends are twins (Ben and Ellie).

Here is an example of some very large beads.

Cooper is getting very tired at this point, but still hanging on. Notice the head scratch and yawn. Just like his dad.

LSU's marching band. Not Pride of the Southland, but they were very good.

Well, that just about sums it up. It was all a blast and everyone should experience Carnival Season, like a local. The best part about it all, it was FREE!!   Come to NOLA next year!!

PS- many more updates to come. Big move coming up!!!  New home pictures to follow!!

Crazy boy

Cooper set this up himself.

He is wild I tell you.

He loves to jump off of things. Which is exactly why I always climb up to the top of the big kid playset at the park. Cause I'm afraid he might jump out of one of the openings.

Anyway,

here is his homemade set-up.

Jump off the tractor headfirst onto the pillow.

And a smile afterwards!

This is him waiting for me to tell him it's okay to do it again.

Okay, who am I kidding. He is doing it again no matter what I say.

Calling all his buddies telling them what he is up to.

Poor Jack wonders when Cooper is just going to relax so he can get some rest.

He is freshly shaved from here.

Helps the dog hair from taking over our little home, but makes him look kinds sickly if you ask me. He loves it though.

There is alot going on around these parts. Parades started to "roll" big time today. St. Charles is all set up for Carnival season. 10 days of this!!  You think I can survive?? See where it says Napoleon on the map??  We live there. One street over. So the madness is just beginning!!!

Next weekend thru next Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) will be crazy!!  Everything shuts down on Monday and Tuesday of next week to celebrate carnival season and Mardi Gras. We are going to get into the spirit, hopefully, so I will keep you posted!!

Could be our first and last Mardi Gras in Uptown right in the middle of it all. We are (cross our fingers) trying to by a house in Madisonville!!  (A small, quaint river town of about 10,000 people). Close enough to Nola, but nice and quiet.

I'll keep you posted on that :).

Friendship

I have been so fortunate my entire life to have such great friends. Friends you talk to everyday and some you don't. Friends that understand different aspects of your life because they have experienced it. I've found friends in all different places and stages in my life.
Here is a good example of friendship:

Friendship has never been more important to me since, now, I am a mom. Especially since I am a stay-at-home mom.

I cried on the phone many times to my bestie back home about not finding friends in New Orleans. About feeling isolated in my home. About not knowing ANYONE. I mean, Andrew is awesome...but I need good girlfriends like peanut butter needs jelly.

So this brings me to all of these pictures. They are from a party at my friend Musi's home. She and her family are wonderful. Have you seen Modern Family? She is Gloria thru and thru.

It was a NOLA mommas party. That's our mom's club that we made up!!  You see, I've met so many awesome stay-at-home moms here. And we all kinda met up at the same time so it wasn't like I was entering into a group that already had a bond. Each of us have our own story. How we "got in" to the club. Who we met that said...hey, I want you to meet my friend so and so. And you should be a NOLA momma!!

All our kiddos are about the same age, too!!  Its so perfect! There are six of us...so far. We do "thirsty-thursdays" once a month (minus the kiddos of course). We work out together. We have playdates at our homes. We swim together with the kiddos. We do gymnastics together.  We have parties at each other's homes.

Most importantly, we talk. About being a mom. About all the challenges it brings. About all the responsibility it brings. About potty training, snotty noses, sales on kids clothes, cool toys or games, snacks, and everything in-between.

Having these girls (who come from all over the world!!) has really made my transition here so much easier. I thought I would have too much time on my hands. Turns out....I have no time because I am always doing something!!  Coop loves it too, because he is around other kids his age almost everyday.

So, thank you NOLA Mommas. (all of which are not pictured) May we all be friends forever.

Gymnastics day Wednesday

Wednesday is gymnastics day for Cooper. He has been going for about a month now and is loving it!!  He gets so excited everytime we arrive in the parking lot and does not want to leave when it is over.

Since we started, I have noticed some improvements in Cooper. He is learning to wait his turn (he actually did this today!)

He is learning to follow directions.

He is learning to jump (which he can now do) and has better balance.



 He loves the trampoline, the balance beam, and anything he can tumble on. The good thing about the gym - everything is padded. It's hard to get hurt even if you fall.

 We have made many new friends...both Coop and I...so its always good to get out and talk to other moms while Coop is releasing some energy.

It's already up to 60 degrees here. When Coop wakes up, we are headed to the park with Jack...gonna go by Whole Foods to pick up a chicken (they are on sale on Wednesdays) and head to the gym with daddy!! 

Whew I'm gonna be tired tonight!!

See y'all later!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and other

I hope y'all had a great Christmas....we sure did! My parents drove down from Knoxville and spent a week with us in 'Nawlins. I think we are all still recovering from all the fun stuff we did while they were here (more on that later).

Cooper loves his new tools he got from Avery for Christmas.

They go perfect with this workbench daddy Santa built for him. Isn't it cute?

Santa brought mommy a gift card to Anthropolgie and a night out by herself!!  All you moms out there know what I mean!!

We spent this morning at the Parenting Center just down the road. Basically, its a giant playroom (indoor and outdoor) where kids can play and mommies can chat. Every city needs one of these. I swear, if I ever move back to Knoxville, I'm starting one. Membership is $100 bucks a year. And totally worth every penny. We go there at least once a week....sometimes more. They also have free apple juice and graham crackers for the kiddos.

I have met some great moms there that I now can call "friend". They have made my transition to NOLA so much easier.

I hope to blog more in this new year.....I know, I know. I say that every year.

I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for our little family!!!

ps- andrew is going to the sugar bowl game tonight at the dome!!!  he got free tickets from someone he played golf with the other day!!  whoop whoop!!