Singing Super Star (kind of)

Brooklynn had her bi-annual school program. We weren't able to attend but Meemaw took our place (thank you MeeMaw)! Here are a few pics from the "concert". We were informed that she did her usual...looking around, partly participating. You can only get away with that when you are that cute! She is in the middle row, far left with the blue dress. Seems she is singing and acting here! Yeah!

Nolan was there and was her biggest fan (he has been to the last three programs)! What a supportive cousin!

I love to ride my bicycle, I love to ride my bike...

Brooklynn LOVES to ride her bike this year. We have tried to get her to learn to ride it for the last two years but I guess she was saving it all for now. Here is her in action!

Happy Birthday Mom!

My moms birthday is today! Happy Birthday Mom! We took the 2hr 45min trip up north to spend the weekend with her, celebrating both Mother's Day and her birthday. She took us to her mother/daughter brunch at church on Saturday morning. The three of us had a nice time. There were even puppets there that Brooklynn enjoyed seeing. It was a very relaxing weekend. I hadn't been "home" in a long time!

Settling in...

As spring is here and the weather is finally cooperating we have really enjoyed our new home! Brooklynn has met many neighbor kids and if the weather is nice she is outside for hours playing with the "boys". However, we just found out last week that a little girl her same age, going to the same school next year, same grade, lives only four houses down! I am so excited! The only girl on our cul-de-sac and she is just perfect for Brooklynn!

Heath got his boat in the water last week and has taken a few rides and thrown a few casts since. We are in the slow process of looking for a used family boat that won't capsize in the busy part of the lake and has a bit more cushion for your bum! His fishing boat does well for him but not so much for me!

We have designated May a month of working. Slowly but surely our house is becoming more settled. The trees in our back yard have come in and it has taken on a new look. Each day we are more and more excited about our choice of house. God blessed us so much during our move and purchase of our home! We go to the specialist on Thursday and will hopefully find out if we are having a girl or boy so the nursery will be next on our list!

Sweet (Home) Alabama

As our family vacation we spent a week on the beach in Orange Beach, Alabama (basically Gulf Shores). It was a great week with lots of sunshine and water fun! I won't go through each day but we spent most of our time at the beach. Heath enjoyed getting up early and going to relax and/or play his guitar on the beach. We would fix something for breakfast and then head to lube up with lotion and off to the pool or beach. The pool was right outside our sliding glass door and the beach was just beyond the pool. The view from the beach of our condo.

And now a view from the condo of the beach. It was also nice for Brooklynn because the pool was heated so she could swim in the morning and night without being too cold. And even I got in a few times! That is Brooklynn in the life vest and our room is right behind the person laying out. A very convenient location! One thing that stood out at the beach was how many shells there were. We spent hours looking and digging for seashells. We brought home some great ones. The waves were different each day and Heath was able to body/boogie board a few days. Even Brooklynn surprised us and joined him the last day, which was the day of the biggest waves while we were there!

Here is Brooklynn boarding on her own. She doesn't hit any waves for awhile, but she is patient and it pays off! As you can see, the waves are pretty big in the background. We were able to use this shallow part for her to board easily. She was up and out again!

There were some highlights away from the condo as well. We ate at the famous Lambert's Cafe where they throw rolls across the room to you as well as come around and offer random food (like you see here - fried okra). We tried to take the Dauphin Island ferry from Ft. Morgan but after waiting an hour and a half we were informed that they steering broke down! So instead we played putt-putt and Brooklynn got in a few laps at the track. She was awesome at go-carts. Impressed us very much with her driving (quite different from her Barbie car at home).

Lambert's wasn't the only exciting place we dined at. We spent a wonderful coastal evening on the Intercoastal dining at Lulu's (Jimmy Buffett's sister's restaurant). Brooklynn was a guest of honor as she went to sing on stage with the two-man band (watch it until the end as she gets control of the mike).

Her and daddy danced along with the music too. It was a great family place and Brooklynn couldn't stop talking about it. You will have to ask her all about it.

On our way to MS we stopped in Mobile, AL to see the U.S.S Alabama battle ship. Although we didn't take the time to go through it was neat to be on the bay and see some of the enormous battle vehicles and ship.

One of the main reasons we visited MS, where Heath was born and spent most of his early years, was to visit his father's grave. He hadn't been back to the coast of MS since his father's death so it was a long overdue visit. We put one of the bats that we got in Louisville on the grave (where the flower vase was supposed to be). It was an emotional time for him.


There were some more positive places he took us to as well. Here is a picture were we ate lunch - on the "beach" park. We got his favorite food, Ed's drive through (surprise, surprise it was cheeseburgers, fries, and a coke) and came to the coast. He reminisced about his mom bringing him here when he was a kid. However everything was new thanks to Hurricane Katrina.

We spent most of the day stopping in to relatives and close friends of his father to reconnect and catch up on old times. It was quite an emotional day for Heath, but a good one and well needed.

Although we drove straight through to get home on Sunday, we made it a two day trip on the way down, stopping to enjoy several places. The first place (it was a spur of the moment choice as well) we visited was the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory. We were able to see bats being made in the factory and learn about the history of the company. Heath was in high heaven as we were able to see and even take batting practice using famous Major Leaguer bats. Here Heath is holding Mickey Mantle's bat - they made him wear gloves!

Heath has trained her well - she found a Cubs bat in the gift shop!

We even got mini-bats with the tour. It was a nice time but I think going through once is enough in a lifetime.

After a couple more hours on the road we stopped and took the historic tour of Mammoth Cave. Here we are outside the cave entrance.I have been there several times but it was a first for Brooklynn and Heath. We were able to see a couple bats - luckily they were sleeping high above us on the walls. I'm not sure what kind of bats they were but Brooklyn thought it was a chicken nugget on the wall! Ha, Ha! Here is Brooklynn inside the cave.On our way out of the parking lot we ran into a few scrawny deer. They let us within feet of them! We fed them some of my Subway sandwich bread and an apple (which they didn't even eat!). I would have thought they loved apples?!

We were supposed to hit the Grand Ol' Opry Hotel before hitting the sack in Nashville but after all our walking (several miles) I was pooped! I wasn't the only one either! So instead we checked into our hotel, ordered pizza, and were asleep by 8:30! We got up the next day to visit the hotel before we headed the rest of the way to Orange Beach. Brooklynn really enjoyed the hotel and all it's beauty. She had been there twice before, once at 2 1/2 months and again at 9 months, but obviously she has no recollection.

Overall it was a WONDERFUL trip. Brooklynn has been asking many times to go back. Feel free to check out all our pictures at shutterfly: http://drebailey.shutterfly.com/

Florida Visit - Preggo at the beach

Can't tell too much, but my "bump" showed up last week. It is that hard in between time that people can't tell if you are pregnant or just have a bigger belly!

Heath and I left early Friday morning to head to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The weather was perfect! High's in the mid 80's and low's in the low 70's and completely sunny the entire time! We spent Friday lunch and afternoon lounging at the beach and in our hotel room. We wanted to stay on the beach so we went cheap. Wasn't anything to talk about but it did have free parking, free continental breakfast, and was across the road from the beach. I wouldn't have stayed there if I wasn't with Heath, my body guard!

We met up with Beth and her entourage for a "rehearsal dinner", even though it wasn't following a rehearsal. We went to a place called BoKampers, named after the old football player Kim Bokamper as he was the owner. We sat caddy-corner from him and watched while he did live radio programs. Pretty cool. It was a nice time visiting with everyone.

Saturday was much the same as Friday. We took a morning stroll on the beach, layed out and played in the water in the afternoon, had a burger at a tiki hut on the beach and took a rest after that in our room. We got ready and stopped at Sawgrass Mills (a huge outlet mall) to window shop before the reception.

The reception was at Tom's parents house 1/2 hour west of Ft. Lauderdale. They had a gorgeous house and land. The reception was poolside, beautifully decorated in light blue and brown. They had caterers and an open bar (which I partook in the water all evening). Her cake was beautiful, very unique (not quite sure what happened to the side), and tasty too! Beth Anne was beautiful and became extremely emotional by the end of the night. We sat at a table with Michelle (my high school friend in the red) and Julie (Beth's best friend from college).

Beth Anne and her niece, Olivia, who made the road trip from Kokomo, IN! She is 9 mo. old.

Between Friday night and Saturday night, Heath had wined and dined Tom and his brother, Ryan. They want him to come back for a guys weekend and take their boat out on the ocean to fish. Heath and Ryan just couldn't resist the urge to jump in the pool before the night was over. It's always a party with my hubby.

Ryan, caught mid-air in his initial flip into the pool (nice take Andrea!). Julie is on the right.

It was definitley a unique Easter for us as there was no church, Easter baskets or dinner. But we did enjoy the beach, the pool and our stroll along the boardwalk in Hollywood, Fl. We ate at a little restaurant along the boardwalk, watching what there was of a sunset (we were on the wrong side of Fl to see it).
The view from our table at dinner at Ocean's 11.

Night time beach shot on Hollywood Beach.

Even though we had perfect weather, scenary and lots of relaxation, we were ready to come home. The plane ride home kicked my butt - the descent got to me and I ended up having to use the barf bags. So embarrassing! The sickness stuck with me through the rest of the day...welcome back to Indiana! Rain and sickness. Oh well, we leave for Orange Beach, AL in a few more days!

The rest of our Florida pictures can be seen at: http://drebailey.shutterfly.com/

Girls Road Trip to Michigan!

Brooklynn and I went to visit Trisha in Kalamazoo, MI this weekend. It was an easy trip up 69 and over on 94. Took us 3 hours 15 minutes both ways. Brooklynn spent her car ride with her leapster, DVD player, and crayons n coloring book. I on the other hand hand both hands on the wheel because there were 20-25 MPH winds all the way there!

We met aunt T at McDonalds by her house and had a late lunch. We spent the rest of the day lounging at her pad (Momma wasn't feeling so hot that evening). Aunt T has a pet squirrel (kind of) that she feeds peanuts. Brooklynn and Charlie became acquainted.

Saturday morning we got up and around and spent a couple hours at Bounceland. Brooklynn and T had lots of fun in the bounce houses!

We headed for lunch at Billbo's pizza, T's favorite. I have to say we enjoyed it as well! After that we hit the mall and I found some curtains for our living room with Trisha's help. Now to just get them up and working! The rest of the evening was spent in front of the tube watching the final four. Since T lives in Michigan now it was all "Go State!". I was also rooting for them - got to root for the Big 10 baby!

Sunday we got up and started the trek home. We didn't stop either way - that is a lot to say for a pregnant lady and a preschooler! It was a nice and relaxing trip but it is always good to be home sweet home.