My 2014

My highlight of 2014 was this:

Meet Parker Henry Ford. Born on Wednesday, November 5th at 5:47 p.m. This little nugget weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces and he was 21 1/4th inches long. He came out kicking, crying and peeing!

We found out we were expecting Parker in March. This was a huge HUGE surprise to us. I feel like life just kind of happens to Jeremy and me. We don't really make a lot of big plans (besides a weekly dinner menu, if that). We go about our day to day routines and big things happen along the way -- a trip, new house, new car, babies. This is probably why we are so good together. We just take things as they come our way.

Here are some of my favorite memories from 2014:

This kid. He makes everyday fun. In the car, he loves for us to play "round and round and round and round" also known as "Wheels on the Bus." He does the motions to "Itsy, Bitsy Spider," "Happy and You Know It" (and taps his chin for "and your face will surely show it"...hilarious) and "Skinny Marinky." Never a dull moment in the car!

He was an LSU football player for Halloween (you aren't surprised). We had trunk or treat with our Sunday School class and our trunk tied for first place for the decorations. It was a fun tradition we started with our littles as they went from car to car getting candy and goodies!

Stop it. He's saying "cheese" and he's dressed like an Indian. Can't even handle this cuteness.

Connor and his baby Par-ka on Christmas Day. What a special Christmas we had in Baton Rouge with these two sweet ones.

This summer we took a trip to Hunt, TX, with friends and spent a long relaxing weekend on the Guadalupe. It was a fun vacation and we enjoyed playing outside, the Crider's rodeo and late night games! 

Love doing life with these people. This is our Sunday School class...and they have so richly blessed our lives.

Parker man at just 3 weeks old! Filling out his 3 month clothes already. I sure loved being home with him every day during maternity leave. 

LSU didn't have a remarkable season, but Connor loved tailgating and going to a game. His favorite part? The band performance at halftime! "More band" he kept saying!

Before pregnancy really kicked in (and the summer heat) I spent three mornings a week running with these girls. They were worth waking up at 5 a.m. for. We ran several 5K's and enjoyed pushing each other and staying in shape together. Hopefully I can get back in the running game again in 2015!

We moved! We have a bigger home in a darling neighborhood that is perfect for our growing family. We've really enjoyed making our new house into our home and settling in. We are enjoying the extra space and the YARD!

Connor turned 2 by doing his most favorite thing - riding the choo-choo! This year, he fell in love with choo-choo's! There's nothing sweeter than seeing your child get so excited for something! He had the best time at his birthday party riding the train at Hermann Park. He would move his arm up and down and say "choo-choo!" and say "Mama ride choo-choo; Dada ride choo-choo; I ride choo-choo!" 

This was definitely an unforgettable year! Here's to 2015!

Connor's First Tailgate Party

Disclaimer: I did not attend LSU - I am a graduate of HBU. But, I did marry LSU. For more details, please visit www.fordfamilytailgating.com. Enough said.

Many weekends in the fall, J and I can be found in the armpit of Louisiana - Baton Rouge. We are third generation season ticket holders to LSU football games. We are huge Tiger fans in our family, and couldn't wait to introduce Connor to the fun traditions of Ford Family Tailgating.

FFT began in the 90's as a true tailgate. One cooler, some food, and around 12 people tailgating out of a van while the kids tossed a football in the parking lot. That simple idea has since morphed into a 60+ person party complete with games, TV, a sound system, trailer, signage, a full four-course menu, t-shirts, a cookbook, a twitter account (follow us @fordfamtailgate), a strong presence on Facebook, and a website. It's quite the production, put on by J's parents, family and friends. But, I can't stand to imagine Connor growing up without tailgating. I guess it's because that's how I "grew up" into the Ford family.


This past weekend we took Connor to his first tailgate party before the Auburn game. J was so excited to get our little munchkin out there he could hardly stand it. It was really sweet, actually. I love watching how proud J is to show off Connor.

Connor's laugh is my most favorite sound! J was dipping him down in front of the fan and back up again - Connor thought that was the greatest!

And this is what he spent most of the day doing...crawling all over the porch, and attempting to crawl down the steps! His knees were some kind of dirty!

This is Connor's gameday face....he will do it on command. It's absolutely hysterical!

He loved pulling up on Pops' toolbox and pulling the handle up and down. 

This is Andrew. He's the son of Jeremy's lifelong friend (literally, they've been friends since birth). Andrew is seven and he LOVES Connor and hardly let him out of his sight at the tailgate party! They're making the gameface...but really Connor is making the "I didn't take a long enough nap and I'm cranky face."

Our friends brought their puppy dog to the party, and it loved giving Connor kisses. Connor tried following the puppy all over the place! Excuse me, I just need a moment to bask in all of Connor's adorable-ness in this picture. GAH! I canNOT get enough of him!

Sweet boys! How cute is Connor's lil tailgate chair?

Well this is embarrassing...how did my adorable front porch decoration end up in here?

Geaux Tigers!
B

Maybe you saw me on TV?

We were those people yesterday. The ones crashing College Game Day, not wearing the school colors. But, we couldn't help ourselves when Game Day came to Houston for the UH game. We spent Friday night working on our masterpieces - signs - and I must admit, they were pretty impressive. We got lots of attention carrying our LSU signs, dressed in purple and gold in a sea of red. It was a blast!

Check us out! Our friend Jacques is holding my sign (my arms were getting so tired...)

Geaux Tigers,

B