Our trip to Atlanta and Ella's Party!

Cass went to the Catalyst conference in Atlanta this past week so Caden, Calder and I tagged along and went shopping and played while he was at the conference! We stayed at Mimi and PawPaw's house and had fun. I was able to see the girls from our Sunday School class at a baby shower while we were in town! It was nice to see familiar faces :) I have met a lot of people in Alabama but nobody I really do stuff with yet. I've been so busy trying to get settled and get the kids adjusted that I haven't really plugged into anything yet. I am planning to take a cake decorating class and a sewing and smocking class soon so that should be lots of fun!

Calder has not liked his carseat since he was born. We even bought a big one and turned it backwards to see if it would help. On the way to Atlanta he cried the ENTIRE trip and even made himself sick from crying so much! He cried in the car EVERYWHERE we went there but on the way back, we started off the trip with 15 minutes of silence and then a little later he went a whole HOUR without crying! While he was crying, Caden was talking NONSTOP! I love being a parent and am thankful to be able to have a crying baby in the car with me but I will be glad when he starts to like the car!



These pictures were taken at The Holiday Shop in Birmingham. When I was little (and all growing up) we would go there every year around Christmas! It's only open from October 1-December 24. A mother-daughter own it named JoyceAnn and Inez and they are just the sweetest ladies. I love the movie You've Got Mail and this reminds me of The Shop Around the Corner in the movie because of how personal it is! I took Cass and Caden in there on one of our previous trips to Birmingham but now that we live here, we can go every year! The store is in the old family barn and it's just so nice to walk around and look at Christmas things! We bought Caden and Calder an elf to have out at Christmas. It's not the elf that messes up your house and stuff, this lady decided she didn't like that and wrote her own elf story about an elf that comes to your house on December 1 and does good things for you all through the holiday season. He is to teach you that Christmas didn't start in the north pole, it started with Jesus, being born in a manger in Bethlehem. He is to teach them to do nice things for others, too! I thought it was great so that will be one of our little traditions each year! We got some great pictures while we were there, too!

We really miss our old Sunday School class and it was nice to see some of the girls while we were in town! So many of them are so talented. One of the girls made our curtains for our bedroom and Calder's room (I'll post a picture as soon as they are up), another one did some applique shirts that are PRECIOUS (I'll put pictures up soon and it's pretty much Caden's fall wardrobe!) and another one was going to take pictures of Calder but we ended up with a conflict and didn't get to. She's great, though. If you live near ATL and need some great pictures, look her up! Her website is www.sugarplumphotography.com




When I am pregnant, every time, I CRAVE Sno Biz! I even got on ebay and bid on a HUGE machine once. The man ended up letting me cancel my bid because I was a crazy pregnant lady out of my mind. They don't have Sno Biz in Atlanta and they didn't in Macon when we lived there, either, so it was always a treat in Birmigham and Cleveland when we would go there! I could eat them ALL day and we never leave Birmingham without one (or several). Plus, they are a super cheap treat! I was ordering ours, yesterday, on our drive back and Cass took a picture of my obsession! I had to post it!
On our drive back, we stopped at Ella's birthday party in Trussville! It was a clown/circus party and Caden had so much fun! Ella is precious and so is her baby brother, Hudson. They had mini-burgers for lunch and everything was so cute! Caden wasn't even scared of the clown...we were shocked that he sat on his lap! It was a nice stop on our drive back (and a great break from Calder's crying :) )

Caden's favorite treat is Dunkin Donuts and they don't have one in Tuscaloosa. While we were in Atlanta, we took Caden to get his favorite chocolate donut! He wanted sprinkles on it, too, so the lady was so nice to go in the back and put sprinkles on it! He loved every bite!


When we are out, I wear the Baby Bjorn and Calder is always in it! Caden wanted to get in it the other night so Cass put it on and they were being silly! I'm surprised he still fit!
For Hannelie's shower, I made my first cake for anyone outside of the family to see! It was lots of fun decorating it. I have lots of improvement but it was fun for a first time thing! We had lots of fun at the shower and we can't wait to meet Lindie when she arrives!!!

We got this monkey costume at the Pottery Barn Outlet while we were there. Caden tried it on. He has a Beaver costume already so we will have to decide what he will be for the Fall Festival! We don't really do Halloween at our house but I still think it's fun for him to get dressed up! He was walking around making monkey noises and I just love it!

Sassy, who cuts his hair, has a dog named Dexter. Every day when Caden eats his cereal, he drinks the milk and says he is being Dexter. It's cute! Cass took a picture the other day while he was eating!