Congratulations Carter and Emmerson

This past weekend Brian and I had the honor of becoming Godparents to Carter Riley - Carter and cousin Emmerson Riley were baptized together in Charleston SC. The weekend could not have been more beautiful and the both babies did wonderful during the ceremony. I have included a picture of Carter wearing the robe to the traditional christening gown that is 103 years old and has been worn by every member of the Riley Family -absolutely beautiful. We had such a fun weekend hanging with our dear friends the whole Riley & Deason Families - Thank you so much Kim and Chris for hosting our crazy crowd and thank you Mandy & Brian for the wonderful honor of being Carter's Godparents! We Love you all!

Happy Halloween

I personal have never been a big Halloween fan, not one to dress up, and definitely not a night owl - but I do thoroughly enjoy the excitement of kids at Halloween -and their precious costumes - and Connor had big plans for his first Halloween to stroll around the neighborhood with the "big" McDowell kids -but instead we decided to stay home with our first ear infection -not fun. We did get to attend the Halloween party at Cherokee on Wednesday before he started feeling bad so i did get a few pictures in his Pooh costume. I really don't let Connor watch much TV, and for the most part he doesn't care much about TV, but his attention span doubles when Pooh is on -it is precious, so it was fitting that he was Pooh for Halloween. I also included a few more pictures below -we have had a crazy few weeks, including one very fun adult night out to the Rascal Flatts Concert, and my mom and I took a girls trip to Chicago for my National ADA conference -we had a blast, I highly recommend Chicago as one of my all time favorite cities, and also highly recommend the Broadway play Wicked - absolutely wonderful! To make the trip even better Brian did a fabulous job as a single parent for a few days and I think Connor loved the "guy time"

Connor's 10 Month Photos

Connor recently had a photo shoot with our good friend Thelen Wright and I wanted to share some. Thelen did a great job and even found some smiles on a grouchy boy that morning

Go Dawgs!

Road trip to Athens - some of us came out ahead of others but we all had a great time. Brian and I went down with Tom and Jenny Moore and thanks to the Rileys were able to stay in an Athens hotel -impossible to find! We had a great time tailgating and even didn't mind fighting the crowds after the game. We also got to spend a lot of time with my brothers Ryan and Brett in town for the game -we tried to hang with the college kids but only made it until a little after midnight, what parenthood will do to you! Connor stayed in Knoxville with his Nonnie and Grandad - (thank you so much for helping!) but he definately was supporting the right team!

Car Wreck

First and foremost -everyone is OK, but yes Brian and I got into a car wreck last weekend, obviously fairly bad -luckily Connor was not with us. We were leaving Margot MacDonald's beautiful wedding reception at Hoslton Hills Country Club and unfortunately chose Magnolia Avenue to travel home - the accident happened right in front of good ole Catholic High where an oncoming vehicle turned left without yielding. Brian did not even have time to hit the brakes -we hit them at probably 40 mph. Brian and I only had some bumps and bruises, the other vehicle did have 2 children in it, one not in a carseat - she was sent to the hospital for observation for 24 hours - no outstanding injuries found. A female passenger also had a injured vertebrae - again released from the hospital. It certainly is a wake up call and reminder how quickly life can change, and how blessed we each are for everyday.

San Franscico and Napa Valley

Brian and I just got back from our first long trip away from Connor - Hard as it was to leave, we had a great time just the two of us! We spent a few days in San Francisco exploring the great city -I would definitely have a tighter rear end if I lived there -hill after hill after hill! We toured Alcatraz, ran through the Golden Gate National park, explored the piers and Fisherman's Wharf and had some wonderful dinners. We spent a little longer in wine country -wining and dinning! we also made time for hiking the Muirwoods -amazing, had a great bike trip through lower Sonoma, and several vineyards tours. It really is amazing how much goes into making wine. It was a great trip we highly recommend but it was certainly wonderful to see our little Connor smiling at us again!!