good times doing some "group therapy" at daniels, our favorite restaurant in the bay. (that was the name of the band.)
Life as a working single-but not anymore-engaged mommy raising a three year old toddler and maintaining sanity all with a smile and style to boot. We play and work and clean up and make messes and make mistakes and give kisses and love being together. We pick out cakes and dresses and flowers and we love being loved. Really, truly loved.

game in the superdome since katrina. it's been on local tv since 3 pm this afternoon-concerts and coverage. i loved watching the cowboy mouth concert on tv this afternoon-the police shut it down, however, because the crowd was so large.
hyping up for the concert in baton rouge this weekend....i am SO excited. i've been a fan of theirs since 1998. i bought the tix weeks ago....and i can't believe it's this weekend. i dreamed about it last night. i LOVE LOVE LOVE watching them in concert. i don't know what it is but they are my favorite.
my wonderful husband and my darling daughter. i am so blessed. i've been working on scheduling volunteers every day , as well as keeping the house in order. we have company this week-andy's employee amanda and her husband ronnie are moving to the coast, so they have been with us since sunday and are leaving thursday. then this weekend, andy will be traveling to atlanta for the WIC general assembly and i'll have the larroux kids as well as kate. also, a's sister christy and friends are coming for a visit and we will head to nola for some fun. they will stay for all weekend. then next week, amanda and husband will return to hunt for homes.

things i've learned this past year:
i think i'm a smarter, stronger person since this time last year. i can't imagine my life without kate taylor. i'm so excited about her party on saturday. i want to celebrate how much i love her. i've been so busy lately. we've been landscaping our yard each day-trips to lowe's, andy on the skid steer, dump truck delivering dirt. it's been hot, but good.
been doing a lot of scheduling and cleaning the house. working in the yard means, tracking in a lot of dirt. extra vacuuming.
I cleaned out the car tonight. lots of milk stains on the leather.
i've been slowly decorating for the barnyard party. that's fun to do.
tomorrow i have lunch with a friend at 11 and then a meeting with andy with a client in gulfport. we have a babysitter for most of the day, so that will be nice.
i thoroughly enjoyed my spa weekend. i've already chipped 3 toenails from all the yard work, proving my pedicure to be a waste. but i loved it. my highlights/haircut are my best ever. i enjoyed the massage and just the quiet time with no one expecting anything from me. it was hard to leave but it was fun to see kate's face after i'd been gone for 3 days. her jaw dropped and she smiled a big one.
but---i'd go back to the spa anyday.
we biked, we swam, we tanned, we ate, we shopped, we slept. soooo dreamy.
for being a good mommy for one year, i upgraded my diaper bag AND purse to one bag. i got it in a green paisley, not shown. i can fit my (2) phones, wallet, diaper, bottles, etc. so easy, especially with a 28 lb bundle of joy. so i'm working the mommy tote.
i'm making kate a shirt for her birthday. so far my friend kim is making her a cow print skirt with pink dangling balls, and i've got a white t with pink polka dot ribbon trim. it's going to be so cute, hopefully!
kate got a pair of strawberry robeez in the mail today from a friend in louisville. she took so many steps in them-she loved them. what a great gift.
i got her a cute canopy for her bed-it's yellow with orange tassles-very dreamy. it makes her nursery very cool.
can't think of much else. life is good.
all in all, a busy, busy week.



i watched the laguna beach season 3 premiere last night. it was kinda stupid. 1) all the girls look the same. 2) why do they spend 14 minutes talking about "are you going to the barbecue?" i mean please. go or don't go. 3) do they even go to school? 4) i loved seeing the veterans, much more than the newbies. i think they should have followed the older girls. 5) can jessica not be happy single? she gives all the guys such a hard time. she drives me crazy. 6) positive note: a girl named Cami. Although she doesn't spell it right, it's rare to hear my name on tv. but i don't really like her much.
She should send me a thank you note-she's living the high life in the house on a soft bed in the laundry room. i feed her, pet her, and kate LOVES her. kate gets so excited to see her. andy and i know we did the right thing by re-adopting her! i'm not a dog crazy person. i love animals but....rosie is special i guess.
every morning when i open the front door, this is my view. 3 people live there. a man, a woman, and their son. i think they each live in a separate fema trailer. isn't that sad? they don't seem to be making much progress on their house. they seem to like the trailers because they are always in them. i dunno. they have dogs chained up under the trailers. 2 of them are campers and 1 is a fema trailer.
I looked out the window and there was an eerie glow. like, after it rains and the sun comes out. i went out the front door to capture this picture. one side of the sky was bright bright blue, fading into purple, then a yellow/orange glow. and this was the cloud. what an awesome painting God did! it made me think of Him and His creation. you can see the fema trailers at the bottom. rosie has been sick, so that's been extra to deal with. i'm not as sick, and andy is still coughing but we are pulling through. kate is doing well. we had a meeting at work today from 8-2 so i was worn out because i had to take care of kate during some of that time because she knew i was there (she was at church with an intern) and was giving the intern hell. so i couldn't take the crying anymore and i brought her into the meeting and i sat on a blanket in the corner with her. it was kinda fun but tiring. andy is in new orleans with our pastor right now so i'm at home holding down the fort and cleaning it up. my friend melanie had a baby today! that is so amazing. i can't wait to call her tomorrow and hear all about that little boy. i wish so badly i could get in the car and go see them but i know that it's not feasable with little kate. 3 hour drive one way. babies are so amazing! it's amazing how God planned that whole process out.

they also cancelled "what i like about you," "living with fran" and all these other goobie shows i liked to watch. oh man. at least i still have desperate housewives, grey's, what about brian. oh and don't forget laguna beach.
but i will want to know whatever happened to the sorelli sisters! i guess i'll never know.
in other good news, "the office" comes back on sept. 21. ah.
A few small joys pictured here: kate doing her own bottle, a cute bow i made for her, rosie being a great inside dog and loving kate, kate watching "little einsteins" and being thoroughly entertained.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures ever. Several reasons:
