Mardi Gras - Bayou Mama Style!!

For all of you that don't keep up with this kind of stuff, yesterday was Fat Tuesday! Scarlett and I stayed in Metairie and took in the parades with the Bayou Mamas.

Here's Scarlett in her Mardi Gras finery, getting ready for the parades.
Here we are at the parade. Scarlett's chilling in the pack and play.


All the kids came to join her

Baby on a leash. Getting ready before the parades started coming by.

Here's all of us! From Left to Right - Tonya, with Grayson, me and Scarlett, Stephanie with Brooke, Emily with Parker and Julie with Elizabeth.
Here we are when the floats started coming by
Babies on the shoulders. Even 20 lbs gets heavy!
Here's a sample of what the floats looked like. The first parade was full of these type of floats with the parade marshal, etc. This one has "Sugar" from Survivor. In between these floats were marching bands and dance teams.

Next came 2 truck float parades. There were over 200 of these trucks that rolled through throwing stuff!

Easter Basket

I finished Scarlett's Easter basket today! It was my latest sewing project and I know I always say this, but it was more difficult that I had anticipated!! Simply the bulk of all the fabric, stuffing and batting made it a little hard to handle on the machine, but I got it done and I think it turned out quite cute! Now on to my next sewing projects! Next up - a new outfit for Scarlett!

Diva

Check out this girl and her awesome shades. She was LOVING this having all of us ooh and ahh over her in Emily's sunglasses.

Happy Valentines Day!

Our valentines day started out a little rough yesterday, as Scarlett took a tumble into the futon first thing in the morning. She's got a little scratch and a goose egg, so she'll be sporting a Hello Kitty bandaid for a few days, but she's doing just fine. We watched Little Mermaid with some ice on her head, so it wasn't all bad - for her anyway! For being such a brave little girl, she got to pick out a toy at Target. As you can all imagine, it was a princess! Here she is sporting her bandaid and playing with Sleeping Beauty bathtime princess:



Later that night, she opened up her presents from us. She got some princess sandals (which she loves and insisted on wearing today, even though it's only highs in the 60's, so not quite sandal weather). She also got a Disney princess Wii game, which I'm pretty sure she'll be playing very soon. In the meantime I guess I get to learn how to play it and let her watch.
Cameron sent me roses earlier in the week. Aren't they pretty?? I got him a Wii fit (well, I guess technically he got himself a Wii fit...). He surprised me last night with a new bracelet too! I love it!
We wrapped up our Valentines weekend this morning with brunch at Copeland's. It was delicious! I'm so full I can't hardly move :o)

Hope everyone had a great Valentines day too - and less injuries than we have here!

We are going to be STYLIN!

Yesterday was craft day for the Bayou Mamas, so we all made matching t-shirts to wear to the Mardi Gras parades on Fat Tuesday. We decided to give each other "indian names" based on inside jokes we have. I am Mama Choking Acorn. Here's the story behind that one, since I'm sure everyone is wondering on that one. When we first moved here, I joined MOMS club. Well, that went south and I created my own club with Emily - thus Bayou Mamas. Anyway, when I was airing my grievances with the old club, I told the Pres and VP that I didn't like the park they went to because my 9 month old child was crawling and picked up acorns and I kept pulling them out of her mouth, which didn't make for a relaxing park experience. Anyway, the VP emailed that if I couldn't TRUST my child not to eat acorns, maybe I just shouldn't come to their park days. Haha...right, trust my 9 month old not to stick everything under the sun in her mouth. Anyway, my name is a last jab at them! My fellow mamas are Mama Likey de Firewater (Emily - pretty self-explanatory), Mama Missing in Mississippi (Tonya who hardly ever stays in NOLA since she's always going home to see her parents), Mama Crackberry (Stephanie who is ADDICTED to her blackberry) and Mama with the .40 (Julie who is a cop). We are going to add feather boas to our t-shirts to complete the look. Also, we created really awesome foam koozies.

Here's a picture of our t-shirts. I'll be sure to post LOTS of pictures of us in them in a couple weeks!

Little Rascals parade - the start of Mardi Gras!

Scarlett and I went to the Little Rascals parade today. The official start of Mardi Gras for us! Scarlett was a bit apprehensive at the start of the parade (of course they lead off with police cars and sirens, so who could blame her?), but after awhile really got into it! She danced with the bands and cheerleaders marching in the parade and even got the hang of waving at the floats so people would throw her beads.

One of the floats


Scarlett watching the parade
At home after the parade. Look at her loot!

The things we get in the mail...

We got our Wii Fit this week (Happy v-day us!) and Scarlett has just had a field day with the box!
Scarlett also got a Valentines present in the mail today - cute new outfit from Grandmommy and Grandpa Mark. Thanks!


I ordered Scarlett a bathing suit and some shoes last week since she's outgrowing EVERYTHING!! She's in a size 5 shoe now, which completely caught me off guard. Luckily she has a pair of tennis shoes and crocs for now, more to come soon! Anyway, I also got her a bathing suit at the same time. She'll need it in a matter of a couple months down here.

True girl that she is, she carried it around all day and insisted on wearing it for a little bit. Here she is modeling it in the box...
Bye, mom, I'm off to swim. Don't worry, the princess car knows the way!

We're on our way to an "adult" living room!

It's not completely adult because the floor is still covered in toys (partially because Scarlett plays down here a lot, partially because she has SO many toys that there is just no where else for them to go), but the rubber playmat is DONE!! We got a real area rug this weekend and with the new addition of the La-Z-Boy that arrived this week, we are looking good around here! A few more finishing touches here and there - addition of some wall art and some curtains and we will be set!

Here's a shot of the new carpet. And Scarlett and toys.
Carpet and La-Z-Boy
Scarlett has decided that this new comfy chair that has shown up is exclusively for her use. She loves to sit in it - but only by herself! If someone else is sitting there, she walks over, demands for them to get up and to set her in the chair.