Memphis and Mississippi

Okay, where did I leave off?? Yes, Westin's and my trip to the Homeland :).

When we left G-pops and D's house, we were on the move to Memphis. I have an old friend who lives in Memphis. We have been friends since Sophomore year in High School. Chris Taylor is an amazing person and an amazing friend. The last time that I saw Chris was at his wedding. He married a lovely person, Emily, and they now have an almost 2 year old, Caroline. My how times have changed! Also the last time I saw them, Chris was in the process of remodeling their other house--he was making it into a masterpiece! Now they have moved up to bigger and better climes (even though they are right around the corner from their old place)-and I can't wait to see what he does with a much larger canvas! It was great to see Chris and it was super fun for him to meet the Bean. We had lunch at the Barbecue Place (and for those of you who think I am being flip, that is really the name of one of the BEST places to eat barbecue..not just in Memphis, but the country.) Bean's introduction to Barbecue was complete.

Then we were off to Grandpa and Grandma Moore's place in Michigan City, MS. Never heard of Michigan City?? Join the club, but it is almost due East of Memphis, and really close to Holly Springs. Holly Springs is special to me because when I was a girl, Mom would take us to Memphis and we would stop in Holly Springs to eat lunch at this little diner. I had no idea that just outside of town on the Moore Farm, was this boy who would one day be my wonderful husband..just got chills? That's cool, me too. Mack was nice enough to take me on a tour of the Moore Farm in his cool Scrambler (pictured above..and Westin got to hang out with Grandma Moore during the tour). I got to see some of the many ponds that Dalen fished in when he was a boy. I got to see where John Henry (one of Westin's namesakes lived) and I was totally blown away by the size and beauty of the place. I can appreciate why this land holds such a special place in Dalen's heart. Westin also got to charm the socks off of Tom, Dalen's Uncle. It was such a nice visit with Grandpa and Grandma Moore.....and then we were off to Noni's.....

Bean's Day with G-Pops

Today, Westin was left in the care of G-pops while D and I shopped. I am trying my best to abandon my homeless not so polished look of a graduate student/post-doc and embrace the new professional, but functional, look of an Assistant Professor. This sort of transformation requires the help of trained professionals and a highly patient shopping partner (Thanks, D!). Thankfully, Westin was in good hands, so I could relax on that front. Westin went to the bank and wonderful variety shop in Mountain Brook called Smith's (where he most certainly walked out with new toys-he just loves the crinkly sound of cloth toys). G-Pops also took Westin (and Willis) to the McWane Science Center. This is a magical place with all sorts of fun things! Although, please note the following reactions:
Straps on the BOB (Incidentally, NOT part of any McWane exhibit).............entertaining and tasty.
Cool outer space exploration............BORING!
Cool Potato Head exhibit.............BORING!
Giant stuffed turkey..............WICKED COOL!

Ah, the life of the Bean. Tomorrow we are off to Memphis and Mississippi. See you there! Thanks to G-Pops for an awesome day!

Beans on Bourbon

Okay-for the record, despite our taking our baby boy to our local brewery a lot, Westin most certainly did not get BOBed down Bourbon St.. Clearly, this was overprotective, as I witnessed not just one baby/toddler on Bourbon past 8:30 pm, but multiple young ones-some even perched precariously on stools in daquiri bars. Sorry for keeping you in a plastic bubble, Westin-you might get to venture onto Bourbon Street when you are 40-okay, 30. Wait hold up--we were in New Orleans?? Yes, yes indeed. On the 11th, West and I arrived in Birmingham around 10:30 pm, only to get up the next morning and drive to New Orleans (with the gracious help of G-Pops and D, of course). Was this pure craziness or a really cool adventure? Well that is a very fine line isn't it? But I dare say that the trip was more than worth it. When I scheduled this Southern odyssey, it was very important to me that Westin meet his Uncle Raymond-and so it was. Our little Monkey charmed Uncle Raymond and it was so nice to visit with him again! Westin loved listening to Uncle Raymond talk, loved all of the mirrors in his condo, and loved hanging out with G-pops. As a special treat, Westin also got to meet D's sister Debbie. It was such a nice trip!! Back in Birmingham, we had Sunday dinner with family. Westin charmed cousin Matthew and Uncle Dayn. Aunt Diane gave Westin this super fun soft birdhouse filled with birds of different shapes and noise making capabilities...some birds being tastier than others :). We missed seeing cousin Christie, but wish her the best of luck in Denver and are so proud of her for making this very big transition. Good luck Christie!!

On this trip, Westin has tried redfish, veal, more hummus (a new favorite), ice cream (at first he did not like the cold, but the creamy goodness won out in the end), mashed potatoes, corn..well you get the idea. The solid food movement is gaining momentum :). We feel very lucky to have such a wonderful family. Stay tuned as Westin as I travel up to Memphis and over to Mississippi and then back to Birmingham again to see more family. Doesn't it feel good to be loved? Have a great week everybody!

Ice Cream and Cake and Cake!

Hello, and Happy Birthday.......
to me :)
Westin and I are in the middle of a REALLY BIG ADVENTURE in the South, but we took a little time today to celebrate my 33rd, I mean, 26th birthday. This morning West got blueberry pancakes (blueberries from the awesome Pepper Place Farmer's Market in Birmingham) and tonight he got cake...which I thought that he loved, until I found it in his seat and his belly button, and well everywhere, but apparently his mouth. This evening I had a lovely dinner at Do Di Yo's, which is a lovely Mediterranean restaurant in SoHo (that would be South Homewood to the rest of you). It was so yummy! It was a pretty perfect birthday-except that my wonderful husband is in Montana.

Tomorrow (yes fans of Westin, I mean tomorrow), I will start to recount our incredible journey in progress, but tonight I leave you with a lovely riddle. See what happens when you start to venture home is that Memory Lane is so very close (even if it is not represented on Google Maps), and because this is my birthday, then this riddle will feature two people that I love very much. Now, with the clues above, which picture is Auntie Shannon and which picture is of Master Westin??
The resemblance is uncanny, no?
















PS-Dalen and CopperDog, we miss you very much and wish that you were here--although Copper darling, it is exceptionally hot and muggy, so we wish that you were here in a wading pool especially made for you :) Love to you both and thanks for a happy birthday call!

The Return of the Moores, Daly Days, Hardtimes Bluegrass Festival, 8 months OLD!, and the start of fire season

Clearly, there is a lot to talk about. Life is not dull around here!Grandpa and Grandma Moore came back in town and stayed for about 10 days. Nobody can get enough of Westin! :) Grandma Moore treated us to homemade dinner almost every night and Grandpa Moore kept us all entertained. This was a nice reprieve during a busy guiding season for Dalen (Dalen, who? We hardly see him around here anymore) and for me-who is busy busy trying to finish up an experiment at work-not to mention packing, writing a paper, trying to remember what day it is......

This past weekend was Daly Days.It is the one weekend in July when Hamilton celebrates our founder, Marcus Daly. There is an antique car show downtown (which Grandpa Moore loved!), sidewalk sales from the shops, and kicked up Farmer's Market, and a Saturday evening Brew Fest. Also on Saturday was the Hardtimes Bluegrass Festival about 10 mi south of Hamilton. We all went, and man, was it fun! It was a really nice mix of people. The music was good and not too loud-Westin sees very little live music, because I am convinced it will endanger his hearing. Anyway, we relaxed in some shade, Westin ate his first watermelon.If you haven't guessed, it is crazy hot here. [Okay so to all of you in southern climes, it won't seem that hot to you, but anything above 82-makes me uncomfortable and grouchy. It's like I never grew up in Alabama or something :)] Westin loved the music, and when other people would clap, he would look around and start clapping along.

Also on Saturday, Westin turned 8 months old! He has 8 teeth and is working on some more. He still loves squash, but is branching out to apricots, raspberries, chicken, steak, spinach and potatoes, pancakes-and well, of course watermelon. He has figured out his tongue, how to stick it out and, most recently, how to blow bubbles and blow raspberries. We spent all morning blowing raspberries. He is not crawling yet, but I have a feeling that it will just happen all of a sudden, because he has the strength, but he really doesn't see a need to motor about-or he just might be a butt scooter. Right now as I am writing this blog, he is either trying to tap along on the keyboard (which got him moved to the floor), so now he is sitting tugging on my skirt for attention and blowing raspberries and squealing. He is becoming quite the little character. Oh-he has also learned to take off his diaper-we haven't had any major disasters associated with this new skill, but it really is only a matter of time :). In case you haven't noticed, I love this little baby boy of mine-squeals, disasters and all.

Westin and I have been trying to relax today after such a busy Saturday. We noticed this plume on our walk back from the grocery store.....and so fire season has been officially ushered in. This fire is east of here and hopefully won't smoke up the valley, but it is likely the first of many. We will breathe deeply now, to help us hold our breathe later. Have a great week everyone!

Dear Baby Abby,

I am so glad that you are home with your family after 3 weeks in the N.I.C.U. Congratulations Jamison Family (Wendy, Todd, Hannah-banana, and introducing the unflappable Baby Abby)!!! May you love, laugh, and always have a rubber ducky to chew on.Love,
Baby Westin

Thank you, Noni for a wonderful visit!

My mother came out for the 4th of July. It was a lot of fun to have her here. It was also fun for her to see Westin again and get his hugs. He has changed so much since her last visit! The most significant probably is that he didn't cry nearly as much :). Okay, so he is teething, but at least there is room for happy baby in between the discomfort. She got to see some firsts along with us...Westin has started to babble in hard consonants. In fact, Dalen swears that he said 'Dada' on the 4th of July. Mom and I heard it; I am not going to tell you that he was wrong. However, Westin needs some help with context. He was cooing at his toucan in his exersaucer at the time. (Sorry, Sweets...just sayin'). Sweet potatoes have been deemed edible with the addition of apricots..who knew? Now all I have to do is add the sweet potato/apricot combo to just about anything (okay, maybe not peas) and it gets scarfed down. Of course, West has also learned how to feed Copper--who now relishes in having this little person in our midst. Suddenly, West serves a purpose and all is right with Copper's world again. Copper got lots of love from Noni too (mainly after West went to bed). It was great to have Mom here. She even helped me pull the house from chaos when we only had a 2 hour notice for a showing. Thanks, Mom!

Now I know some of you (Aunt Shannon) are seriously bummed that I have not blogged lately. How are you supposed to keep up with this......or this....(Um, yeah, that is totally my son riding CopperDog. Can you say Parents of the Year?)

if I don't just blog already?? As a disclaimer, trying to sell a house, close on another house, finish (ha ha ha) things up at work, and hold down the fort while Dalen is crazy busy with trips (Yay!) kind of wipes a girl out. I know, no excuses! I will do my best, despite all of the stress and craziness, to at the very least post pictures like this: (Even though I am sure that there was a much easier way to get home from the Farmer's Market, but at least now you know the B.O.B is amazing for so many reasons.)