where to begin?

we've had a long week. rett found out wednesday morning that his dad had passed away. he was in shreveport when he got the call and had to drive home. he came to my office and then went to his brother's. i can't even imagine. it appears that he died peacefully in his sleep. we're grateful for that. i came home yesterday and rett is on his way home now. please pray for us as we walk through this journey.

olivia only got to meet "granddaddy hamby" a few times but we know we'll be able to tell her stories of what a great man he was.

in honor of him...

at olivia's christening in august

in july at his house

the day we came home from the hospital. he had dozed off holding olivia and woke up right as i took the picture!

he became a photographer after retiring about 6 years ago and he was awesome! we have thousands of his photographs on a computer. one day olivia will be able to look at these and know he was great! maybe she'll have his talent!

there's an awesome video of him (and some of his work) on this website - www.wellsfuneralhome.net

her first game!

*disclaimer* - i look horrendous in these pics... humidity and long hours does not do me well but we all had a great time!

we're so proud. olivia was a "champ" yesterday. here's how our day went...

6AM - wake up, feed, get dressed

7AM - leave for the "race for the cure" in monroe

8AM - watch daddy, jackie & john run the race

you can see barely see olivia's pink breastcancer sticker on her bib - but she was supporting!

as they ran by i yelled "slow down" - i didn't have my camera ready! the girl by john just looked at me like "are you crazy"! that's rett behind john.

jackie trucking it

8:30AM - watch daddy, jackie & john finish the race11:30AM - start tailgating in the rain, sun and steam! it was HUMID yesterday!
6PM - game time
9:15PM - game over; dawgs win!

it was a LONG day and olivia did great! considering she took about three 30 minute naps ALL DAY LONG she did awesome! she only cried once; after the game when we were loading up from cleaning up the tailgate.

i'm so glad we took her. now that we've done it we know it's not nearly as bad as we imagined! as long as she cat naps throughout the day she's fine. she entertained everyone with her smiles and giggles and met lots of friends at the game. i think we can say she was officially the youngest fan in the stands!

just for grins

look how much she's grown!

4 months old!

rett and i are officially the parents of a 4 month old precious little girl! where does the time go??? we'll be starting rice cereal this week. she's playing in her exersaucer and jumpy thing on a daily basis. growing so fast!

went to the doc for her checkup today and she did great!

14 pounds even (50th %)

24 1/2 inches long (50th %)

happy 4 month birthday little girl!

i couldn't decide which photo to post so you're getting all of them...

pics from the week

i'm tired so i'm just posting pics from the week. enjoy!

reading with mommy

trying out the jumper for the first time
daddy dressed her - just look at the duck shoes - he said "but they match, they're both yellow". poor thing.

cheering for the dawgs at WOW - we weren't wow'd by their performance.

there's just something about a baby in footie pj's...

who let the dawgs out???

tech didn't. they fought a good game but just couldn't overcome the auburn tigers. boo hoo.

emery, eric and hudson came over to watch the game with us. we grilled hamburgers and emery brought this hot corn dip. yum! we had a great time watching the opening game of the 2009 season. wish it would have turned out better...

i think olivia and hudson had a good time too!

her is our future cheerleader and their future football player! can you believe he's 6 weeks younger than olivia!

our first game day family photo!

ready to cheer on the dawgs!

and b/c you always were your's school's gear the friday before all games - olivia wore her tech polo to daycare on friday

i'm a sucker...thank you budlight for the fan can

up next, navy. they scared the crap out of ohio today. hope we're ready!

lsu better be scared.... going into halftime only up by 4 to a team that was 0-12 last year... but something tells me they'll pull it out. they somehow always do.

diptacular!!

oh my! i've hit the jackpot. just ask emery how much i love dip (she does to)! we could eat dip all day everyday and not get tired of it. we actually took dips to work today just to have something to munch on all day!

boomama is hosting a "diptacular" blog tour. here are my favs...

keep in mind that here in louisiana it's still HOT until about half way through the season. therefore, the first half of the season gets "liquidy" dips and the second half gets anything with mayo, sour cream or cream cheese.

dope dip

2 bunches cilantro - chopped

2 small cans chopped black olives

2 small cans chopped green chilis

1 bunch green onions - chopped

1 can zesty italian tomatoes - drained

1 pound shredded mexican cheese

zesty italian dressing

1 package taco seasoning mix

chopped jalapenos - optional

tony's seasoning

mix all together in a bowl and chill. serve with the big frito scoops.

salsa

1 14.4 oz can hunt's diced tomatoes with roasted garlic

1 can "hot" rotel

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

cilantro - use however much you want - i like a lot so i use a lot

half of an onion - doesn't matter which color

salt, pepper, tony's

combine in blender and blend away

**this is really spicy. if you use the regular rotel and a purple onion it's bearable

corn dip

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayo

2 green onions - chopped

2 jalapenos - seeded and chopped

1 jar pimentos - drained

2 cans whole kernal corn - drained

4 oz shredded monterey jack cheese

4 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese

mix all and chill. serve with the big frito scoops

and, this isn't a dip but super good tailgate food...

pretzels

1 1/2 bags of pretzels

1 ranch dressing packet

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp red pepper

1 cup vegetable oil

combine all ingredients and pour over pretzels evenly coating. bake for 1 hour 15 minutes at 250 degrees.

there's sooo many more but this is enough for now.

here's a hint of what olivia will be wearing tomorrow...in this picture it's not finished. it's finished now and super cute!