April

Our little family has had an incredibly busy month.  We have had lots to do nearly every weekend, and in his spare time, Paul has been prepping our house for painting.  April has brought heavy rains and tornadoes to our area, but we survived unscathed.  The May flowers should be spectacular.

Happy Anniversary, Paul!

Paul and I have been married for four years today.

We were married at St. Francis Catholic Parish on the campus of The University of Alabama on a beautiful autumn day.

Our wedding program had a typo.  Instead of "Best Man," Paul's brother Daniel was the "Beast Man."  We knew about the mistake but didn't correct it.

Our wedding was during the Alabama vs. Tennessee game.  Alabama lost.

Our priest's residence was burglarized during our ceremony.

Our reception was at the L & N Station in downtown Tuscaloosa.  Paul had milk and cookies in lieu of a traditional groom's cake.

My cousin Hunter ate nothing but cookies.

Caught up in the excitement of things, I neglected to pack a suitcase for our wedding night, so I had to wear Paul's shirt, boxer shorts, and shoes out of the hotel the next morning.  It was that or the dress.  If we hadn't have been carrying a wedding gown it would have been the best/worst Walk of Shame ever.

We went to New Orleans for our honeymoon and stayed at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street.  The details of the trip are a little hazy, but we ate a lot of delicious food (I gained 5 lbs.), ate Beignets, went to the aquarium, and made some friends who brought us to an uptown bar.

Since we've been married, we've:
bought a house
bought a car
traveled out of the country
adopted four cats (and fed countless others)
had a baby
adopted a puppy
run half-marathons (Paul)
watched half-marathons from the sidelines (Lauren)
had another baby on the way

Happy Anniversary, Paul!  I love you!

Our Weekend in Baton Rouge

This weekend we traveled the 350 miles from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to visit Paul's family.  Besides it having been months since we had visited BR, Paul's youngest brother had turned 21 earlier in the week and a celebration was in order.  Another brother of Paul's was visiting from Atlanta, so six of the seven "kids" were there.

Friday morning Paul attended the funeral of a high school friend, and while the circumstances were not ideal, he was able to see old friends that he rarely sees.  Meanwhile, Joey and I had lunch at Zeeland Street Market with some members of Paul's family.  I braved listeriosis and had the club sandwich with avocado.  Three days later and I'm still feeling fine, so I don't think the risk was too high.

Friday afternoon was spent with some of Joey's seven cousins.  On a side note, Baby Losavio will be the ninth grandchild for my in-laws, and the seventh granddaughter.

Gabby, Baby Valerie, and Joey (and Paul's feet)

Joey, Evie, and Gabby

In the South, in the fall, Saturdays are Gamedays, and this weekend was no exception.  On Saturday, LSU hosted Tennessee and there was a lot of activity in Baton Rouge.  We were able to visit a family that Paul was close to in high school for some cocktails and seafood gumbo.  For the game, we headed over to Paul's grandma's house to watch her get excited about replays.  Really, it's a great place to watch LSU football.  The LSU game was not pretty, and they barely scraped a win. 

"What's worse than Les Miles' clock management?  Tennessee's math."

Alabama had an important game against Florida on Saturday night.  In 2009, Alabama defeated Florida to win the SEC Championship.  Alabama went on to become the 2009 National Champions, a title that Florida held the previous year.  The Florida Gators never stood a chance.  The Crimson Tide won 31 - 6.  Roll Tide!

We watched that game at Paul's sisters new house, complete with a play room for the kids.  Joey had a such a great time that she didn't want to leave.  I found her getting ready for bed with her cousins when it was time to go.

On Sunday, Joey's papa, Paul, and I took Joey to see Mike the Tiger, LSU's live mascot, yes live mascot.  It may seem strange or cruel (or cruelly strange) to have a live tiger in the middle of a college campus, but the tiger is well-cared for.  It's enclosure is worthy of a zoo. 

Mike VI

After our visit with Mike we drove over the Mississippi River for donuts.  My little piglet had two donut holes and then a chocolate donut.  And she would have eaten more!  

We had to hit the road for Tuscaloosa after a family birthday dinner of lasagna and cake.  It's especially hard to leave town when everyone is together.

The kids are "taking a nap."

We arrived home late on Sunday night.  I woke up this morning sandwiched between Paul and Joey, who was sleeping on top of Macy.  We need a bigger bed.

Last week Joey gave our camera a bath, so most of the pictures from our trip are on Paul's phone.  I'll post some pictures when I can.

I had hoped that the rice trick would revive the camera...

Dear Abby....

I'm in need of some advice.  Please leave a comment if you've got any.

Joey will be (almost) 3 years old when her baby sister gets here.

Although she is really excited that she's getting a baby sister, we're concerned that she might resent the baby for taking away our attention and engage in disruptive or attention-getting behavior.  It's inevitable that she will do things to get our attention once the new baby is here, but I'd prefer if it didn't happen all the time.

How did you prepare your child for a new sibling?  I'd also love suggestions for books and/or videos that you've used.

Funday Monday

Paul had spent 10 days on a business trip in Chicago, so he understandably took the day off of work today for our epic day of fun.

We had lunch at Kuk's in downtown Tuscaloosa, a Chicago-style lunch spot that serves hot dogs, sausage, and Italian beef among other things.  Paul had eaten all of these things while on his trip, but apparently didn't get enough.  I had my first ever Italian beef sandwich...mmm.  We will be going back.

We decided to leave our car at Kuk's and walk down the hill to the Tuscaloosa Riverwalk.  Unfortunately, sidewalks are either damaged or non-existent and there are no crosswalks.  The only pedestrians we passed on the way to the river were crackheads or heading to AA.  The Riverwalk is gorgeous but it would be wonderful if it was more accessible from downtown.

Where's the sidewalk?

On our way back to our car we stopped at the new municipal park in downtown T-Town.

The lovely not-for-kids-to-play-in fountain.

Paul loves climbing trees.  More about that tomorrow.

After all of that walking we were in need of some fro-yo. 

We decided to check out the new Bryant-Denny Stadium expansion and ended up breaking and entering.  For real.  The door was unlocked and we walked right in.

All of this fun is exhausting.