Happy Memorial Day!

Before Jones was even born, Jeremy and I decided to take him to the lake for his first Memorial Day, and that's just what we did. We headed out Friday after Jeremy got off work and spent Saturday morning at the Hayesville Parade.  That's what made us want to take him there in the first place! Jones didn't seem all that enamored with the floats; he did, however, love sitting on the truck bed with his Pop and Nan! Well, I SAY he wasn't enamored with the floats, but when a certain John Deere Gator passed by, he could not take his eyes off of it!

Later that same day, Jones took his first boat ride. He did great, even helping Pop to steer the ship before falling asleep in his Nanny's arms. The next day, though, he was less excited about the boat. Actually, I think it was his life vest that he wasn't excited about. Poor little guy couldn't even get his thumb in his mouth for the massive layer of foam across his chest. He seriously cried all the way to Boundary Waters before finally crying himself to sleep.

The next morning, Jeremy and I went to Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church.  Visiting there is one of our favorite parts of being out at the lake. Jones stayed home with Nan and Pop. Monday, he got to go on a stroll at the dam with them, while Jeremy and I went to some antique shops, and Tuesday, we all ate breakfast at the Country Cottage before Jeremy, Jones, and I drove to Atlanta to catch our flight for Omaha.

All in all, it was exactly what we hoped it'd be - an incredibly relaxing weekend, made all the more relaxing by the fact that Mrs. Pressley got up with Jones every morning!  Bless her little pea-picking heart.

Here are some videos of the first boat ride and way more pictures than you could ever care to see of Jones's first visit to a place I'm sure will figure very prominently in his childhood memory bank!

Shoes-y Little Post

UK vs. UL football at Commonwealth, 2005

So it's no secret that I kinda, sorta have something of a thingamajig for my sister's four kids. Cammy Doodle was the first. Born with a headful of hair and a piercing shriek that could cut the glass of his bedroom window, Camden was the first (little) man I ever loved. I fell hard; I fell fast; I fell completely. 

It's never been all that hard for any of the kids to get whatever they wanted out of me. I've never had much money, but what I HAVE had has been spent on them. Happily and without hesitation. $6 dog-shaped cupcake for lunch? Yum-mo! $27.50 to ride three poorly-constructed throw-up thrills at a carnival in the mall parking lot? Let's do it! $75 to get your face painted up like a pirate's?  I don't know how I'll make my rent, but ABSO-SMURF-LY. 

Disney 2007

In fact, last nite, Jeremy and I took three of the Four I Adore to Cold Stone (Payton stayed home, choosing solitary control of the TV over ice cream). Afterwards, we ambled through a gift shop and came across a stuffed, great white shark. Camden and I both went through a raging great white shark phase, so when we saw it, I said, "Camden, if they'd had that when you were a kid, I'd totally have bought it for you." He responded, "When I was a kid, you'd totally have bought me anything I wanted. In fact, you'd STILL buy me anything I wanted."

To be honest, the whole subject of "buying things for Camden" has been a hot topic, since we were in Nashville last week. Cam and I were strolling Jones through the hotel lobby, and Cam remarked - for the 13,000th time - that his baby cousin "NEEDED" some Nikes. Specifically, his baby cousin needed some LeBron James Nikes, and oh yeah, while I was at it, why didn't I buy a pair for the first of the Four I Adore?

Chuck E. Cheese's - 2005

Now, I am about as concerned with the brand of my 7 month old's footwear as I am with the brand of my 7 month old's clothing. In other words, I am NOT AT ALL concerned with brands, because whether I spend $3 or $3000 on an outfit for Jones, it still ends up either covered in spit up or soaked by a leaky diaper that I didn't change soon enough. Why in the name of good stewardship would I spend a small fortune on the wardrobe of a mess-making machine?

But I digress ...

For my favorite almost-14-year-old, though, the name on his basketball shoes becomes the name on the back of his basketball jersey. Much as I love Camden, though, $300 for "LeBrons," as he calls them, is even more than Aunta can spend, though, as I told him, "I DEFINITELY would, if I could."

Maui - 2009

Thankfully - for the sake of my marriage - I cannot.

Camden, on the other hand, cannot stop talking about how much Jones "NEEDS" Nikes, so today, he came in from being out and handed me a bag. In it was a pair of shoes that he'd bought WITH HIS VERY OWN MONEY - NOT mine; HIS. NOT Mom's; HIS. Apparently, Mom had taken the kids to the mall; Cam said he needed to walk down the hall for a minute. She didn't know where he was going, but when he came back, he'd made his purchase.  In so doing, he made my day and, with his thoughtfulness and generosity, he gave his little cousin more than just a pair of Nikes.

He gave Jones some very big shoes to fill.

Thank you, Cammy Doodle.
I love you to the moon and back again!
44 million kisses, K

I like the way ...

... Jones rubs his head when he's going to sleep.  From what I hear, a lot of babies do this, but this is another thing I'm gonna miss when MY baby grows out of it.

Sometimes, his hand will park over top of his eyelids; it's as if he's holding them shut, so I won't dare to open them.

As if I would ...

Happy Man

Do you want to hear the best sound ever?

Behold.

Fast Times

Today at Cooter's Dukes of Hazzard Museum - Jones's second visit in two days, by the way - we discovered that our little "good ole' boy"has the NEED ... the NEED for SPEED!

He's doing great in Nashville, though he's getting even fewer naps that the few he typically takes, but he's rolling with his nomadic parents, as I knew he would.  I was wondering about the time change and his bed time.  Should I put him to bed at 7 p.m. Eastern, as he's used to, or 7 Central, as in Nashville?  Well, both nites that we've been here, he's started melting down at 6 p.m. Central, which answers that question: he is an Eastern Daylight Time kinda kid.

So am I.

Last nite, while Jeremy and I went to the Grand Ole Opry with Brooke and Michael, Jones stayed with his Aunt Sissy, and today, he had his second photo shoot with Brooke.  She got some really, truly, SUPER cute shots, and I cannot wait to see them all in living color!

Here are some pictures of our trip so far.

OH!  And how could I forget?!

Jones had his first tastes of both grits and sausage gravy yesterday. I swear he ate more of my grits than I did. I can't blame him. The Loveless Cafe knows how to make some grits.  He liked the sausage gravy, too, but I was less willing to share that.  Actually, that's not true at all.  I was trying to keep his milk-based foods to a minimum.


NOW, here are some pictures of our trip so far ...

Biscuit with the Loveless Cafe's famous biscuits

He was flirting with the ladies at the table beside us.

Jeremy gave Jones his first bite of a biscuit;
it was slathered in strawberry jelly.

continuing to flirt with
folks at the Loveless

flirting with Brooke

Magic time!

"Just the good ole' boys, never meanin' no harm!"

second of two (?) visits to Cooter's

cruisin' cousins

Lila put Jonesie in a chokehold.

beautiful boy on our hotel room bed