Southern Tour, Part 2

Part 2 of our tour commenced a couple of weekends ago in Cartersville, Georgia....known to some as Colliersville :-) This is the hometown of my BFF, Nancy Collier Traywick.

We were once college roomies, and I love that we still find time to see each other at least a few times per year even though we live states apart. While Nancy lives in a town in Alabama that I won't call by name...let's just say that it begins with an AU and ends with a burn...her parents still live in Cartersville and that is where the fall reunion of sorts took place. Like I've mentioned before, our sons are just 4 weeks apart so it was great to hang out and watch Judah and Braylen play. Saturday, we had an amazing lunch with Nancy's family (thanks Meme and O!) at Barnsley Gardens. Notice Judah has graduated to a high chair now...such a big boy :-)

Following the lunch, we decided to try our own little fall photo shoot with the boys. Although chilly, it was a very beautiful day. Here I am loving on my little man in preparation for the photo shoot.

Some of my favorite shots of the day...

Happy Judah!

Pensive Judah

Sad the lighting isn't so great for this one...we were battling one fierce sun that day...

but love this one of the boys.

During the shoot, there was an entertaining game of paci tug-o-war.

Braylen won.

Judah got him back later by smacking him to the ground. 

They made up in the end. 

Later that evening despite an Alabama loss to LSU, Nancy was still trying to convince the boys to attend The University of Alabama. The title of this book (Judah's new favorite) is "I Want to Go to Alabama."

Roll Tide Anyway!

Stay-tuned for Part 3 of our tour. We're headed to the Music City and the Bluegrass State next week!

Southern Tour, Part 1

Judah has quickly learned of his mother's deep love of all things Southern, including--but certainly not limited to--sweet tea, college football, home-cooked meals (known to some as "soul food,") small-town living, hot & humid summers, hospitality, minding your manners, flip flops in October, southern drawls, saying "hey" to everyone who passes you by, beautiful beaches of the Gulf, Sunday services, bluegrass, and did I mention college football?! While we do reside in North Carolina, I am often reminded (especially by my family) that it is not the "true South" (aka deep South). I have to admit, they make a pretty strong argument but that's another post. In the recent months, Judah began his 4-state tour of the South, which will end with Tennessee and Kentucky this month! The first stop was the "Heart of Dixie" in October to my hometown in Alabama. Although very short, this was such a special trip for him, as he met so many family members and friends for the first time. Traveling without your husband via plane with your 6 month-old makes for an interesting trip, but Judah did great...mommy was just tired!

Judah loved meeting his family. Even though he was exhibiting some pretty strong stranger anxiety at this point in his short little life, it's as if he instantly knew they were his family...they loved each other immediately!

Judah meets his Great-Grandmother

Judah meets his Great-Granddaddy Joe...kindred spirits :-)

Hi K-Pop!

Loving on Aunt Amy

And cousin Marlee (I promise he is not bigger than his 6 year-old cousin...but it sure looks like it in this pic!)

Cousin Maggie

Uncle Wes...I think he got the most amount of spit-up love from Judah :-0

During our short trip to Bama, Judah was also able to squeeze in a little time with his new best buds, Sawyer and Braylen--sons of two of my very best friends, Brooke and Nancy. And I promise we did not plan for them to all wear their cute Alabama attire. That's just what happens when three college friends get together with their adorable boys on a fall Saturday in Alabama...yet another reason I love the South.

Best Buds-Braylen, Sawyer & Judah

I think Nancy nailed this conversation they were having a this point....check it out here.

So Sweet!

What a fun day with beautiful friends!

A Roll Tide Halloween

In the Nix household, all elephants are affectionately known as "Big Al." (For all of you non-SEC sports fans out there...can't be many..., Big Al is the mascot for The University of Alabama, where Jeff and I went to college). We have so many Big Al's in our house (including our dog Allie's favorite toy of 7 years that is literally falling apart), but none have been cuter than the Big Al in our house on October 31st...

 And before we move on to Turkeys, here's one more "Boo!" for the year....

Butternut Squash and Boo's!

My favorite veggie! 

 Keep watching til the end...apparently mommy's "boo's" are funny and scary!

Punkins!

Judah loves all things orange; it is obvious that it's one of his favorite colors (in addition to yellow). While sometimes this can be negative (i.e., Tennessee Vols, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, etc.), most times it's a positive thing--especially this time of year! Although Judah seemed to enjoy his first trip to a pumpkin patch, his mommy and daddy enjoyed it much more! I had no idea that we would actually get to pick our pumpkins off the vine...way cool. Of course, Judah was the cutest punkin' of all!

Hats with Straps, Anyone?

Well, this could be a problem this winter....

Judah looking adorable in his hat before our morning walk

 Look mom, I've learned to take it off myself!

The look that makes mom laugh hysterically

Clearly, he's doing this all the time now because this is how found him when I went to get him out of his stroller on a different day...little stinker :-)

Play Date!

Although I'm not terribly fond of the term, "play date," that truly is what commenced last week...my friend and I set a date for our boys to meet and "play." Friend and co-worker, Alison Bernard, recently adopted a baby boy from Ethiopia. In fact, we were in Ethiopia meeting our boys (who are just one month apart, by the way) at the same time this past summer! We used different agencies and as you have read, our "free" time in Ethiopia was limited, so unfortunately Alison and I did not get to meet up while in Ethiopia. I'm embarrassed to say that it has taken us three months to plan this "date," but hey--we're both new moms so we've been pretty busy :-) Anyways, Judah had so much fun with his new friend, Truman. There was hair pulling and toy stealing (by Judah only), but we think fun was had by all! I mean seriously, are these not the two cutest babies you've ever seen?! Yep, that's my Judah eating his truck :-)

Post-cuteness Epilogue #1 :
What are the chances that your desktop computer and your camera are broken at the same time?! Pretty sure it's slim chances, but I happen to be included in those odds. Anyways, because of faulty equipment I am super behind on my blogging. There has been lots of October excitement for Judah that mommy has yet to capture in our little electronic journal here...a trip to Alabama to meet his aunt, uncle, cousins, Pop, great-grandparents, and BFFs; a trip to the pumpkin patch; lots of new foods he's tasted for the first time--the list goes on and on.
Our computer is up and running now (for the moment) and our camera is currently at the Canon Service Center with plans to return home (fixed, I hope!) in about a week. Anyways, I've had to rely on my old camera as well as other people to take pictures and send to me--so bear with me, I hope to catch up soon!

Epilogue #2 (with more cuteness): Our little man is now 7 months old! Happy Birthday BooBoo!