Busy Saturday

I didn't have any wedding festivities this weekend. And it's a good thing because I had three other events to attend on Saturday.

First, I met Mom and some of the ladies from Jericho UMC at California Dreaming for lunch. It was fun to see everybody. Most of them were heading out to do some shopping after lunch, but not me.

From there I went to a baby shower for my friend Barbara's daughter, Christy. Christy had this great dish that I can't wait to serve somewhere. I don't know what you would call it, exactly. Maybe Apples with Caramel Crunch Dip. I think that's what I'll call it anyway. So here's how it goes:

Apples with Caramel Crunch Dip

sliced green apples (maybe Granny Smith) ***
8 oz cream cheese
1 container caramel apple dip (from the produce section, heated slightly to spread)
1 bag toffee chips
1 bag chocolate chips (I think the mini chips would be good here)

Spread your cream cheese onto a round platter leaving about 2-3 inches on the border. Then layer the caramel dip, toffe chips and chocolate chips on top of the cream cheese. Line the apple slices around the border. The guests use the apple slices to scoop the dip.

*** note on the apples: If you want to cut your own apples, you will probably need 5 or 6 and they will need to be drizzeld with lemon juice or orange juice to retain color. The hostesses purchased several bags of pre-sliced apples at the grocery store that had lemon juice already added.

Needless to say, this recipe was a big hit. People just stood around the tray and ate like it was their job.

From the baby shower, I went to Mrs. Sandra's house so the girls could go to Rebecca and Zach's going away party. I also got to visit with Melissa, Olivia, Melanie, Margaret, Jonathan, Zemp and Mrs. Sandra before we left for the party. John and Amy hosted the party at their house and we all had a great time. John's food was, as always, outstanding! Those were probably the best shrimp and grits I'll ever eat.

It's been awesome having Rebecca and the boys home for a while. Hopefully they will be back close by in a few short years. Army life sure is interesting and ever-changing. I can't wait to hear about Monteray and Guatamala. We'll sure miss them! I know Rebecca will keep that blog updated, though.

P.S. To Becky Y., don't forget to let us know about the ear thing!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 1st birthday to sweet Olivia!

Happy birthday to Sandra (Na-Na Guh-Guh)!

Pumpkin Olivia,

Thanks for inviting me to your birthday party this weekend. I had a great time watching you eat your very first taste of cake (and sugar for that matter). I also enjoyed watching you eat lots of Gold Fish (they're whole grain after all!) and watermelon. Your birthday hats were adorable and all the food was yummy. Your mommy did a great job planning your party. Your house looks great and so does your yard. I especially like your new wall upstairs and your new bookshelf.

It was lots of fun watching your mommy, daddy, and Auntie Melanie play on your daddy's new tube out on the lake. Your mommy can drive the boat really fast! All the food was yummy from the pimento cheese your Grandmother Askins made to the chicken salad and ice cream your Guh-Guh made to the pesto pasta salad your mommy made. I couldn't pick a favorite.

I can't wait to visit again soon. Oh, and remind your mommy to email me pictures of your special "kitty" cake.

Love,

Auntie EB

Wedding Weekend

Mom and I traveled to Hotlanta this weekend for the wedding of my childhood friend Jennifer and her new husband Lawton. Mom was pretty nervous about the driving aspect of the trip. Since we weren't staying near downtown I wasn't too worried. I had all my driving directions printed out and we made sure to travel prior to "rush hour(s)." Dave wasn't able to join us because he had to work. We have another wedding in a few weeks for my cousin in Nashville and he's taking time off then which meant he had to sacrifice this weekend.

Friday night, Jennifer's aunt and uncle hosted a great party at their amazing home in Alpharetta. OMG!!!! Think guard station with mandatory check-in, rolling hills with manicured yards, and beautiful, multi-million dollar homes. Jennifer had requested food from her favorite barbecue restaurant and it was delicious. The evening was very laid-back, casual and comfortable.

Saturday morning Mom and I set out to make sure we could find the wedding location in Decatur. Then we headed to IHOP for a yummy spinach and mushroom omelet and pancakes. Afterwards we headed back to the wedding site to see if Jennifer needed any help setting up. Jennifer had everything very organized and setting up didn't require much effort on our part. Jennifer has always been very resourceful, creative, and crafty and she made some very simple, tasteful decorations all on her own.

When the set up was done, we got to visit with Jennifer, Lawton, and Jennifer's parents, Kathy and Jim, at Jennifer and Lawton's house. When it was time for Jennifer to get ready to head to her salon appointment, we followed Kathy and Jim to the Dekalb Farmer's Market. I wish we had something like this place near home. It wasn't like the outdoor farmer's market you might envision. It's a huge indoor market with a prominent fresh seafood department, lots of unusual produce, spices and seasonings, a great cheese department, and lots of ethnic foods. Navigating through the market was a bit like driving on the Atlanta freeway, though. If you paused too long or went to slow, you risked getting run over.

From there we headed back to the motel to meet up with Melissa, Elliott and Olivia and visited for a while before getting ready for the wedding. We got to the wedding just in time to visit for a few minutes with sweet Kerri Anne, Jennifer's roommate and mine and Melissa's suite mate from college. It has been nearly 3 years since we've seen her!

The ceremony was short and very sweet lasting about 10 minutes altogether. Then we had cocktail hour while the caterer finished setting up and while they took pictures. After the bride and groom were introduced we sat down for a delicious dinner. Then the dancing started! Everyone there participated and it was so much fun! I took Sandra and Melissa back to the hotel and then went back to the reception to pick up Mom. Everyone had a great time. It was a simple, uncomplicated event minus lots of the traditional wedding "stuff" and it was perfect.

We're so glad we were able be there to celebrate and offer our congratulations. It always great to be home, though. Two more weeks and we'll be heading to Tennessee to do it again.

Friends, Family, and Fun!

This weekend was a busy one which is unusual for me. Typically I am at home cleaning house, grocery shopping, doing laundry, watching old movies on TV, and the like, and that suits me fine. But every now and then several events fall into the same weekend making it seem like I actually have a social existence. Unfortunately, Dave had to work so he wasn't able to attend the events with me. Everyone missed him, especially me.

Saturday morning I went and visited with Miss Sandra, Melissa, and Olivia (a.k.a. Pumpkin). We were all invited to a wedding shower for mine and Melissa's childhood/high school friend Jennifer. I had a great time visiting with Olivia. Thankfully she's still not crying when she sees me or when I hold her which I understand is what happens to some other unlucky folks these days. In fact, she seemed quite enthralled with me. I was the first person she saw after waking up from her nap, and she laughed and smiled! We had a great time bonding.

Jennifer's shower was really nice. We haven't seen her in such a long, long time. Though we didn't get to spend a lot of time together we did get a chance to catch up some. Jennifer got to meet sweet Olivia for the first time and we all got to meet Jennifer's intended, Lawton. Olivia had a great time entertaining all the ladies who agreed with me that she was the most adorable thing!

After the shower I visited with the girls a bit longer, but then I had to head to Mom's house to meet up for a special trip to Mom's home town. Mom and I had a good time talking on the 2-hour drive there. There was a fundraiser in the form of an auction going on at the private school where all 3 of my uncle's children graduated and where my aunt teaches and one of my cousin's attends. The reason we went to such an event was that my cousin, Laurin, who is a singer and choreographer, was performing. My uncle also sings and is well-known around those parts as is Laurin, and the local folks always consider it a treat to hear them sing. Two of Laurin's friends from the Alabama Theater had the night off and were able to come to dance and sing with her. They were a cute couple named Brandi and Beetle.

It was an interesting evening. The live auction was very exciting and several items went for what we thought were obscene amounts of money! For example, my cousin Laurin is engaged to a man named Joey who plays guitar for Toby Keith; well, Joey was able to get an Epiphone guitar signed by both Toby and all three members of the band Rascal Flatts. That guitar ended up selling for $5,800! We were all shocked! In the end they raised over $50,000 for the private school exceeding their goal by more than 100%.

Mom and I spent the night at my cousin Debbie's. She, her husband, and daughter bought and live in my grandparent's old house. It's always neat to be back in that house because I have so many memories. It's a neat, old Victorian-style house built around 1899 with screened porches that wrap all the way around the house, vaulted ceilings, big rooms, etc. On Sunday morning we all gathered at my uncle's house across the street for a big, tasty breakfast. We had a great time recounting episodes of our favorite TV shows, agreeing on the magic that is TiVo (or in my case DVR), and going over plans for Laurin's wedding in April (We are all heading to Nashville for the big event!).

We had a good time seeing and visiting with the family. I was also happy to be back home with Dave and the animals, though. So until next time, which will be in 6 weeks for Jennifer's wedding in Atlanta....You know where to find me!

Finally!

Baby Olivia Maree arrived last night, July 16th, a few minutes after 8 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 13 oz's and 20 1/2 inches long! She's a big baby! You can see in the photos how chubby her cheeks are and she's already got rolls on her little legs! We can't tell yet who she looks like. Her hair is light brown and she's very pink.

As I was leaving Walmart yesterday afternoon around 2:30 with a cart full groceries, my cell phone rang. It was Melissa calling to let me know that her water had broken and she was on the way to the hospital. She sounded pretty calm at first then anxiously stated that she didn't want to go! I rushed home and unpacked the groceries then headed down the road to the hospital an hour away. Dave had to go to work so he couldn't go with me. I got there in plenty of time to be a part of all the action.


Melissa decided long ago that she would have a natural birth if possible. She endured the intense labor amazingly! I was lucky enough to be able to stay in the room as part of the photography and moral support team. Also in the room were Elliott (obviously), Melanie, Sandra (a.k.a. Guh-Guh) and Julie. Julie shot video and I took still shots. Melanie served as the birthing coach which she's been able to do for a few of her friends and she did a great job! Sandra had a hard time knowing that her baby (Melissa) was in so much pain but she stayed very calm.

Melissa sees Olivia for the first time after leaving the recovery room.

We took bets with the nurse that the baby would arrive by 8 p.m. Everything was going along very well until the time came to start pushing. Unfortunately the baby's heart rate began to drop and after checking the baby's vitals with an internal monitor, the midwife quickly determined that a C-section would be necessary. The next few minutes proved a bit scary with all the hospital staff hurrying around the room getting Melissa ready for surgery as quickly as possible. We could hear the announcements over the intercom and the staff talking with each other in the hallway which heightened our anxiety. Everything happened so fast. Because Melissa had not had any drugs up to this point and because there wasn't enough time to do a spinal the anesthesiologist had to put her completely to sleep. Elliott was able to stay with Melissa until she was under but then had to step out of the operating room. All of the hospital staff were great and they acted very quickly. The baby was out in less than five minutes and we could immediately hear how strong her lungs are.

Here's Aunt Melanie staying with Olivia in the nursery so that Elliott can be with Melissa in the recovery room.

As it turns out Melissa was destined to have a C-section because the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck TWICE! We had to wait for Melissa to wake up to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. Both Melissa and Olivia are doing great today, though Melissa is in a fair amount of pain from her surgery and says adoption sounds like a great idea for any future children. One thing is for sure: Melissa gave her mom the best birthday present ever!

I'm an Aunt...Well sort of!

Baby Abby has arrived as of 7:10 last night! And what a beautiful girl she is! I got a call yesterday morning from Anitra saying she was at the doctor's office and was in labor and her water had broken! I finally got a hold of Greg around 1:45 and he said that Anitra had just had an epidural and was feeling much better and enduring some serious labor. I decided to wait a little while before heading up the hospital. When I got there around 4:30, the waiting room was already full of Anitra's and Greg's family and friends anxiously waiting to hear some news. Anitra gave it her all for several hours and Abby just wasn't wanting to show herself so the doctor decided to do a C-section. Everything turned out great. Anitra and Abby are doing very well today and will be going home (to their new house) on Thursday.

Baby Shower

Last Sunday, May 28th, Julie G. and I hosted a baby shower for Melissa and Elliott at their lake house. Melissa and Elliott have been working very hard to get the house ready for Baby and for the shower. Elliott is quite the carpenter and handy man though he intensley dislikes his carpenter duties. Regretfully I do not have pictures of the baby's nursery, but the room is complete with custom-built shelves compliments of Daddy Elliott! The nursery is so adorable! Everything turned out great for the shower too. We had a nice turnout and the parents-to-be received lots of adorable and useful gear for baby. Everyone enjoyed themselves, including the hostesses. Those who remember what the lake house used to look like thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the hard work that Melissa and Elliott have done to make the lake house their home. So Melissa now has just 6 weeks to go--that is if she makes it that long. We are hedging bets as to how much longer it will be until "Delivery" day. I'm betting she's got 4 more weeks at least. That way she can attend our annual Folly Beach week coming up June 18-22. One thing's for sure: Thanks to all of their friends and family, Melissa and Elliott are now prepared for baby's arrival.

Here's a photo of the generous gifts that Melissa and Elliott recieved.

Melissa and Elliott had lots of help opening presents!

Margaret stopped moving long enough to take a picture with GuhGuh and Grandpa.

Baby update

Well, I don't have any new pictures of Melissa to post since she threatened me with the termination of our 25-year friendship over posting the last pics of her. But she did invite me to attend her 3D/4D ultrasound today and I have attached a picture of what a 4D image looks like to show how incredible it is. We had a room full of viewers including Elliott, Sandra, Melanie, Margaret and myself. I earned my position in the room by filming everyone's facial expressions upon seeing the images of Baby A. In a word, it was amazing! It is unbelievable to me that we have the ability to see pictures of a what a baby looks like before it's born. It's nothing like the old ultrasound pictures you've seen where you're left questioning, "Is this supposed to be a baby?" Thanks to Melissa for including me in the experience!

Now we just have to wait to see if the little monkey is a boy or a girl. Everyone seems to have a very strong opinion on this matter except for me. Maybe I just don't like to be wrong and that's why I haven't formed my own opinion. We'll find out soon enough (this is week 30). Next up for Baby Askins in the coming weeks: 3 baby showers and 2 belly casts.

Growing Bellies

My two best friends, Anitra and Melissa, are expecting their first babies this coming July within two weeks of each other. Anitra is having a baby girl! Melissa is having....a surprise! I have enjoyed watching them progress through their pregnancies and see the physical changes they are going through. Last week I visited Melissa (in her 25th week of pregnancy) and took a few pictures of her growing belly. Melissa's special 29th birthday request was a chocolate pound cake and I figured that was an easy wish to grant. This is a photo of Melissa preparing to enjoy her birthday treat. I will see her again tomorrow night and can't wait to see how her belly has grown in the past week.

We are all looking forward to meeting these babies! We are scheduled for our annual (and possibly last) Folly Beach trip the week of June 18th. Anitra will be too pregnant to attend and it's iffy that Melissa will be able to come (according to her husband). However, knowing Melissa every possible effort will be made to ensure her attendance. After all this trip has been a highlight for us since we were wee children ourselves. Since we're thinking Melissa will go full term (or longer hehehe) we're planning (fingers crossed!) on her attendance. One thing is for sure, Melissa's mom Sandra, sister Melanie, and niece Margaret will all be there with their swimsuits on!