Our litte dawg and his first big game...

October 18, 2008 will go down in history in the Dennis family. For on this beautiful day, Jackson attended his first UGA football game. It could have been stressful, it could have been hard, it could have been raining, it could have been hot, he could have been whiny, there could have been tears, we could have said 'never again'...but it was none of those things. It was....absolutely perfect. All of the expectations Brad and I had bulit up in our minds were completely and totally exceeded. I know many of you are probably thinking..."Is she kidding? It was just the kid's first football game and she's making it sound like his college graduation or something." If you're thinking that, you're right, you're sane, and you don't know my husband :) His love for Georgia football is something I cannot explain or even understand...all I can do is support it because it is so important to him. And as a father, he longs for his sons to have the same love (can someone please find me another word?...this doesn't even begin to describe it) for these Georgia Bulldogs as he does. And so, on Saturday, Jackson went to his first game with Mommy, Daddy, Chief, and Kikye. Hope you enjoy this selection of the near 100 pictures from the day's events.

The cake to commemorate the event (Brad had a similar cake for his first game)

Tailgating







Headed to the stadium...

FIRST QUARTER

Playing with the field glasses kept us entertained...


SECOND QUARTER
A sucker to keep us sitting still for a little while

Meeting Hairy Dawg...doesn't Jackson look thrilled?

THIRD QUARTER
We're over the game, and much more interested in Mommy's compact hairbrush


FOURTH QUARTER
We're back in the game (but still have the hairbrush)...

...and we're over it again

One exhausted little bulldog :)

Too bad this little bulldog couldn't go...he would have been the cutest fan there :)

Happy Happy Halloween!

Jackson cracks me up. He is all about MORE. He always wants more juice, just one more cookie, pour the water in the water wheel in the bathtub one more time, hey why don't I yell more than that kid, add one more generation to his already great grandparents...thus calling them great great grandma and great great grandpa, and now he says Happy Happy Halloween. Not just one happy, but two...MORE.
October has been hard (and is it really only half way over?) at the Dennis house. So I have not been able to blog like I have wanted. There's a lot you have missed, but for now, we'll just go with our trip to the pumpkin patch this past weekend (yikes, it didn't turn out as I had it planned in my mind!) and the other Happy Happy Halloween festivities.

Jackson picking out his pumpkin


Luke hanging out, trying to stay awake (5 seconds beofe he puked EVERYWHERE)


He thought the pumpkin was better used as a pacifier...maybe why he puked?


Me with my boys after getting the pumpkins in their spot..big one is Mommydaddy's, medium one is J's, and the small one is Luke's (and yes, my photographer husband had the fan all set up to get that wind-blown look)


Showing Luke his pumpkin (last year he called pumpkins "cockies"...I miss that)
Now pay close attention to the next 3 pictures...keeping an eye on Jackson's pumpkin.




I don't know if he was afraid Luke was going to take his pumpkin, or what. But he hides that thing in the pumpkin basket every time we go outside. Too funny...

Results from our annual Halloween cookie-making extravaganza...


Hope everyone is enjoying their October :)

Family Movie Night

pajamas, popcorn, m&ms...
cherry coke for mommy, dr. pepper for daddy, sprite for our little man..
snuggled under mickey 'cubbers'...
sweet angel nesteled between us...
littlest angel snoozing upstairs...
lights out...
flicker of finding nemo on the tv...
life doesn't get any sweeter...

Home again

After travelling across the country and back...TWICE...we are finally home. I won't bore you with too many details, and so I don't become long-winded (which may not be possible), I thought just some little nuggets of information might work better...
~arizona is hot, humidity or not, it's still just plain hot
~away games are awesome, especially when they are far away, there are TONS of fans there, and we win :)
~if you happen to be landing in phoenix and you suddenly fear that terrorists are trying to take down the plane with rockets, do not be alarmed...it's just a sun devil home game and they have just scored, thus shooting fireworks off of their little mountain into the arriving planes
~i still don't understand my husband's desperate need to have our picture taken with a cactus...one of the most awkward moments of my life...see picture
~i could have had gasoline in my bottles instead of breast milk and no one would have been the wiser
~don't ever check your luggage at the phoenix airport...ever
~there needs to be a universal, strictly enforced, definition of a carry-on bag
~maui is one of the most beautiful places on earth...it takes a long time to get there, but it is well worth it
~if you have the chance to take a second honeymoon with your husband, do it...even if the thought of leaving your babies at home makes you sad...sipping a mai tai by the pool takes the edge off of the sadness :)
~you can swing from a rope like tarzan into a plunge pool, even if you're 29
~6 dudes wearing matching bathing suits and beer bottle sunglasses is never cute or cool...even if you are part of a wedding party
~my little boy would have loved the pool...9 water slides, rope swing, baby beach, water elevator, lazy river, volcano, waterfalls...LOVED it
~there is no way a hamburger should cost $18
~brad and i make a pretty awesome kayaking team
~those underwater cameras are crap...not one of our snorkeling pictures were usable
~the only thing that made the miserable performance by the dawgs against the roll tide any better was the fact that we were watching it in our bathing suits from a tiki bar above the pool
~i think the security guy at honolulu airport thought my breast pump was a bomb...he tested the entire thing for gun powder
~did i mention maui was beautiful?
~don't fall for it when they say they are "upgrading" you to bulkhead seats...in exchange for more leg room, they also "upgrade" you to a metal seat
~i don't ever want to see my breast pump again
...enjoy the pics!

Just because...

"I declare..."

On Friday, Brad and I leave to go out of town on two back-to-back trips. First, we will be going to Tempe, Arizona, for the UGA/Arizona State game. Then, we will be headed to Maui where Brad is presenting some research at a trauma conference. I know I should be overly excited about these trips, and don't get me wrong, I am very excited...but as my fellow mothers know, I am sad about leaving my little ones (and my animals) for so long...
I have no doubts that they will be loved on and cared for beyond measure by their grandparents...but just the shear distance away that I will be from them is tearing at my heart...
All this said, I am still breastfeeding my precious little Luke and am determined (and hopeful) to continue when I get back. I have been pumping like crazy and have over 2 gallons of milk to last him while I am away (you should see my freezer!). So my pump will be travelling with me in hopes that I can keep my supply up while I am away and possibly bring some back with me...at least from the first trip to Arizona. So in anticipation of this, I checked out the rules and regulations for travelling with breast milk on an airplane. Here's what I found...
-Up until about a year ago, if you were travelling with your child, you could carry as much pumped breast milk on ice as you wanted...if you were travelling without your child, you were limited to your 3 ounce bottle that must be contained in your lovely quart sized zip-loc bag along with your other liquids (obviously logic was not a part of making this rule...if your child is with you, you don't really have a need for the stored milk)
-Today's rule states that "breast milk is allowed in reasonable quantities exceeding 3 ounces and is not required to be in a zip-top bag. Upon arrival at the security checkpoint, you must declare these items for inspection"
After reading that, Brad and I couldn't help but envision some sort of ridiculous Michael Scott type scene at security...




I declare....BREAST MILK!!!!!

GO DAWGS!!!

I realize I am a week late in posting this, but things are a little busy and blogging is low on the list. Brad and I were very fortunate to be able to go to the home opening UGA football game against GA Southern. I don't even know when the last time was I actually attended a home football game. Brad's parents were kind enough to keep the little men while we went to the game. It was probably the hottest game I have ever been to, but it was fun and brought back a lot of memories from times past...when there were no little babes to tend to, tailgating was an all day event, and I was just a college girl cheering on the dawgs with her high school sweetheart....

Pre-game picture at the house (pre-make-up for Mommy)

At the game

Meanwhile...back at the house

Where did you get that shirt?

Two of a kind

I often look at Luke and Jackson and think

"Wow, they are so different."

But then I look at pictures of the two of them and think, maybe not....

(Jackson is on the left, Luke on the right)

My precious little blessings