This is for you Ragdolls!

So I went to my 10 year high school reunion last weekend (which was a blast), and so many old friends came up to me saying how they had loved reading my blog and keeping up to date with our family.  Only I hadn't updated it in, oh just about eight months.

So here I am...  Making an effort to blog again!  I probably won't be back to every day posting any time soon (the reasons I quit blogging- crazy busy job, toddler, life, etc- are still there), but I hope to get back to the place where I love writing and taking pictures and reconnecting with old friends.

And here is a pic of my favorite girls, the Fat Kids, still friends after 14 years! 

Thankful (for Fat Kids) on a Thursday

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that my best friends from high school in New Orleans are fondly known as the Fat Kids.  We have been getting together for an annual Christmas party for 13 years now.  (Or maybe it's 14- Casie, I know you read the blog, correct me if I'm wrong).  It usually entails a lot of food, the most wonderful slush drink that Tara makes, a dirty Santa gift exchange and a really good time.

Girls have come and gone from the party, but the seven of us have been there through it all: the trauma that can be an all-girls high school, boyfriends, bad friends, jobs, family mess.  We have stayed together despite moving away to college, getting married, having babies. 

So today, I am thankful for my trip to New Orleans to reconnect with the girls that defined my teenage years, rescued me from depression, supported me through anything, stood in my wedding, celebrated the birth of my daughter and will surely take me to the nursing home in fifty years.

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126.  The Next Generation. We have started the second generation of Fat Kids- Christine's little Laynie, Claire, and Holly's little Savvy- just born this October.  What we will do next year when Christine has a boy, I have no idea.

127. The Ornaments.  We do a dirty Santa gift exchange every year for around $40 with an ornament.  But the ornament has really become the best part.  One year, I got a Lucky Dog stand ornament and my other favorite is two flowers in a flower pot that says Best Buds.  I scored an awesome deal on my gift this year, but the ornament is still the best part. 

128. Good Food.  We bring our A-Game to the party when it comes to food.  Whether it's artichoke balls, crab dip or stuffed mushrooms, the food at these parties is always amazing.  And a tribute to why we started calling ourselves Fat Kids in the first place- we love to eat!

129. Reminiscing.  After a few cocktails, we seem to remember more than we forget.  It's such a good time to sit around the table (or we may brave the fire pit outside if there were more than a few cocktails) and just talk about after-prom parties and ringing the bell at Holy Cross after a Friday night football win.  There's talk about how much has changed, and those things that are still.the.same.  We need to start writing these down before we get old and really do start to forget!

130. My Beautiful Fat Kids.  Here we are at last year's party.  There was an awful flood that night; Claire was only eight weeks old, Holly had water coming into her house from a leak in the roof, I think Preau may have walked to Casie's from a few blocks away.  But despite it all- we were together- and this is what it's all about!

I won't be able to comment much, but you can still linky...

Thankful on a Thursday for Fat Kids

This week is all about my Fat Kids.  They are my group of friends from high school that are still friends ten years later.  We still get together for every wedding and every bab and every.single.Christmas.  We don't miss.  Not even one.  It's the guarunteed single night of the year that I can catch up with some of the women that still mean the most to me.

Yes, there are other things to be be thankful for, but I have these great pictures that Christine took at Holly's shower, and I can't help but share them in the process of telling you how much I love the Fat Kids.





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61. My Girls.  We have been through a lot together, as if the stressful high school years weren't enough, and we've stayed close.  These girls stood beside when I got married, when I was big and pregnant with Claire, and I can't wait to see what else the future has in store for us.

62. Claire's Girls.  I am so glad that Christine, Holly and I are all blessed with girls so that they can continue our great friendship.  And Christine was an invaluable resource to me since Laynie is about eight months older than Claire.  She's talked me through teething, first foods, car seats and a lot more.

63. Good Times.  This is Holly's beautiful diaper cake, and the one they made for me was just as awesome.  And not only was it pretty, I went quite some time before having to buy any diapers!

64. Even Mom joins in on the fun.  She's always so hospitable and loves for the girls to come over.  Only thing is, she can't hang with us and heads to bed long before the last glass of wine has been poured.  We love you mom!  I am so thankful to have grown up with these girls and their moms as well.

65.  Good Friendships.  I am so glad to have these girls in my life, and I actually can't imagine my life without them.

And I was really late in commenting last week, but I promise to try and do better.  So link up here and I can't wait to read your always beautiful and inspiring Thankful on a Thursday posts.

Family and Fat Kids and Babies Galore!

Claire and I had an awesome weekend!  We flew to New Orleans after work Friday (although my shoe broke and I had to email my entire company in search for superglue to put them back together!) and while we were a wee bit delayed, Claire had a great flight.  Honey and Pop picked us up and we headed home for some good times.

Kristen came over and Christine brought her sweet Laynie bug, who is only eight months older than Claire.  We had a few glasses of wines with a lot of catching up and a lot of laughs.  Saturday morning, mom and I had manicures, pedicures and massages (yes, I know I am spoiled) while dad kept Claire.  After a little playtime and some lunch, mom and I headed back out for some shopping (even more evidence I am spoiled).  We picked up a dress for Claire for Jay and Grace's and a few things for the Rehearsal Dinner.

Mr. Jerry and Mrs. Brenda came over for drinks before we all went out to dinner at Vincent's (my absolute favorite place in New Orleans).  I had a bowl of corn & crab bisque soup with seafood ravioli and broccoli.  I always get stuffed on the bread sticks- I think Claire will take after me on this because she went through at least a couple- but this time I restrained myself and actually had enough room to finish my wonderful meal.

Sunday was Holly's baby shower, and let me tell you, it was a.maz.ing.  Like the centerpieces at the bad boy were nicer than the ones I had at my wedding.  I'm sad I didn't get any more pictures this weekend, but I'm sure Christine with her awesome camera (that I am oh so jealous of) got plenty.  Hopefully she'll share with me, and therefore share with you.

It was sad leaving again, but we had another great plane ride home last night, and even made a new friend.  She actually lives close to us and works in the same industry as Luke.  Hopefully we'll find each other on Facebook.  (On a side note: How did we live before social networking?)  She sat next to Claire and I on the way down and she found us again on the plane ride back!  Yesterday, the flight wasn't full, so Claire sat in between us and made quite the mess. 


I cleaned up as best as I could (after taking a picture of course) and tried to apologize to the flight attendant but she just gave me the sided eye. Obviously she doesn't have kids.  But at least Claire looked adorable while making a mess.

And as always, coming home from a vacation just makes you feel like you need a vacation even more.  So it's back to work.  Hopefully, I'll find some more time to breathe and when I do I'll try to squeeze in a wee more blogging here and there.  Thanks for sticking it out with us!

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom."  Isaiah 40:28

Surprise Flight!

I hope my Fat Kid friends don't read this (and I'll write a post about how we got that name- it's what we call each other fondly) because I am going home to New Orleans to visit them today!  

One of our Fat Kids is Holly- also affectionately known as Hurl- is knocked up with little Savannah and is having her baby shower in NOLA this weekend.  I looked at the flights and they were too expensive.  Luke had something to do and I didn't want to drive with Claire by myself, so I chalked it up as something I would miss as a consequence of moving far away after high school. 

That was until my mom had a Skype session with Claire last weekend and decided she wanted to see her in person (it's no longer about me, it's all about the baby now, and I have come to accept that) so she bought me- since Claire can't fly by herself quite yet- a ticket to fly home this weekend!

So off we go!  I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share after this fun weekend- which will also be crammed with trying to help mom and dad get ready for my brother's wedding which is in ONE MONTH!  We are T-Minus four weeks until Jay and Grace tie the knot.  Lots and lots to do, but I am starting it off with drinks by the pool with good friends tonight!

Happy Friday and enjoy the weekend with people you love!

Love at First Flight!

So our first airplane flight was a success! Claire took a little bit of a bottle at take off but otherwise slept the entire time (although, it was only an hour flight). We landed safely in New Orleans to the open arms of Honey and Pop, a lovely dinner that Claire then proceeded to scream through and a few easy nights for mom as Honey took over so I could get some rest.

Claire made the rounds at Ochsner and Nu-Lite, and even cracked a few smiles for the crowd. The highlight by far was her attendance at the 12th Annual Fat Kids Christmas Party. Since most of the people that follow this blog are pretty close to Luke and I, you probably know who the Fat Kids are. But if not, this is the most amazing group of girls that I have been blessed enough to call my friends since freshman year in high school. And we have a Christmas Party EVERY year, this year being the big 1-2 (we're almost teenagers!).

We already have a little Fat Kid (Laynie) and now Claire to carry on the tradition. Pictures are coming, although Santa may have upstaged Claire (you'll see what I mean when I post the pics)