Mardi Gras, New Orleans

Last weekend was SO much fun! I've been to New Orleans many times, but I've never been for Mardi Gras. Our friend, Joey, invited us to stay with his aunt and uncle that live near New Orleans, so we took him up on his offer. We've stayed with Aunt Nanny and Uncle Bert a few times before for New Year's. They are very sweet and generous to let us all crash at their place.

We all piled into a Suburban on Friday afternoon and had a fun six hour road trip. Chris flew in from Phoenix for the weekend, and he and his fiance, Logan, joined us as well as Erin, Joey's girlfriend.

On Saturday we grabbed lunch from the Come Back Inn - red beans and rice, and a muffaletta to go. New Orleans' food is so good! Afterward we headed  uptown to the parade route and to meet up with the other part of our group that had driven in separately. We joined them at the RV that we all chipped in to rent for the weekend. For 12 of us, we each paid $60 to have the RV from Friday night through Monday. That might've been the best $60 I've ever spent! I'll elaborate on that in a minute.

Me, Logan, Erin

We walked down to the parade-watching spot that Nanny and bert had staked out for all of us at the corner of Orleans Ave. and North Carrollton Ave. Joey told me that standing at corners along the parade routes are the best places to be. The floats have to slow down to turn, so there's more time to get beads from the floats.

Here's a picture of us at out parade spot. It's not very flattering, but it's the only one I have of us from the weekend. It's so hard to make him get in pictures!

In the background, you can see ladders on the ground. I had no idea that people bring out tons of ladders to get up higher to get more beads!  Here's a photo of Harrison, Joey, and Chris:

Rain was threatening all day, so we went back to our RV that was parked close by for a few hours of playing cards and watching the weather channel. The eye of a massive thunderstom was going to be on top of New Orleans right around the 5:30 start-time of the parade. We headed back to our spot around 5 and then came the DRENCHING rain! My jeans were soaked almost instantly! Figuring that the parade would be cancelled because the storm didn't show any signs of letting up, we sought shelter again in the RV. After trying to dry off a bit, we heard that the parade started on time and the rain was down to a drizzle. A few of us decided to venture back out and at least stay to watch 20 minutes of the parade. I'm so glad we didn't throw in the towel! Endymion was so much fun that I completely forgot that I was soaked. The floats were very beautiful and elaborate!

I ended up with a massive amount of beads! All I had to do was yell, put out my hand, and try to make eye contact with some of the throwers! Contrary to popular belief (what I had imagined prior to this trip), women aren't usually 'flashing' along the popular parade routes. I'm sure it happens, but none of us witnessed that all weekend. The environment is actually pretty family friendly. I think all of the raunchy stuff happens on Bourbon Street and down in the French Quarter. We didn't even go to that area once on our trip, and I didn't miss it at all. I enjoy that area, I just don't want to get close to it during Mardi Gras! 

We got home around 10 or so, and most of us decided to crash for the evening. Harrison, Chris, John, and Kenny weren't ready for the night to end, so they went to some bars near Tulane.

On Sunday, we all went out for brunch at The Cheesecake Bistro. The food was very good...crawfish ravioli and Peach Bellini! Afterward, we dropped Harrison off at the D-Day Museum. In the past, everytime he went to New Orleans he planned to visit the museum. Each time, it never worked out for one reason or another. He was so excited to finally get to tour the museum, even though he knew it meant that he'd have to walk three miles when he was finished to meet us at the Bacchus parade!

We met up with everyone at the RV, which was parked in a new location for the Sunday afternoon parade, Bacchus. It was on St. Charles Street, which has the longest stretch of beautifully unique mansions that I've ever seen. Our RV was perched right in front of what might as well have been a castle.

In addition to providing shelter from the rain, it was nice to have a place to takes breaks from the chaos outside. The main reason we rented it was to have a place to use the bathroom all weekend. Many people rent port-a-potties since it's near impossible to find bathrooms. Many establishments require that you buy a drink before you can use their restrooms. There are some areas with public port-a-potties, but by the time you've finished standing in line you've missed a chunk of the parade!

There she is!

We hopped on a trolley and rode past all of the beautiful mansions, Tulane, and Loyola. We ended up at a bar, Cooter Brown's, where we drank a beer and ordered some good New Orleans pub grub. Again, I opted for the muffaletta, which is our favorite sandwich ever! I saved some for Harrison since I knew he'd be hungry after his long walk back.

Here's the gang, minus Harrison and me (the photographer):

Erin, Joey

Logan, Chris

Jameson, Katie

Laura (kind of hidden), Kenny

Beth, John

We found Harrison back at the RV. He thoroughly enjoyed his three hours at the museum and wished he'd had more time there. We headed out to Bacchus but arrived late and missed seeing Will Farrell as the Grand Marshall. We didn't have a great spot to watch, but some very nice ladies let me and Laura stand on their ladders for a little while.

After the parade, we went back to Cooter Brown's for a while. From there we went to a lively dive bar called F&M's and then arrived back at Nanny and Bert's at 2am. I keep forgetting I'm not in college anymore.

On Monday, we went to brunch with Nanny and Bert and then we were on our way back home. Somehow, Harrison, Joey, and I caught a second wind and went straight to Niffer's for our usual Monday night trivia! I definitely paid for the fun weekend on Tuesday when I had to get up for work!

More on the twins and their big sis...

Our newest nieces are doing great! They're a little over two weeks old now. Harrison and I visited them on the 15th and took a few pictures (the last two of the photos of them are from my camera; the other photos I stole off of facebook). Kellye updated Paige's carepage on the 20th, and here's a little bit from it: "At their last weigh-ins, Avery was 4 lbs 15.5 oz and Ella was 4 lbs 10 oz. We are so pleased to see how well they're growing and developing. However, the more Ella gains, the more she looks like Avery. Nate had me paint one of Avery's toenails pink before cutting off their hospital bracelets -- just to make sure we can tell them apart! Big sister Paige is doing wonderfully! She is enthralled with her babies and "talks" to them in a very sweet voice. She's still learning how to be gentle with them; both Avery and Ella have gotten a few fingers to the eyeballs. Still, she loves to pat them and even hug them!"

She goes on to say that Paige recently had a checkup and the doctor told said she "is the 'poster child' for infant heart transplants. They are so pleased with how well she looks. Her echocardiogram was "beautiful" and her lab work was all within the normal ranges."

SNUGGLING SISTERS:

AVERY:

ELLA:

PAIGE:

Office redo!

My office is SO bland! It's in the interior of the building, so there are no windows and the lights are those bad halogen tubes behind Plexiglas. Because I spend a lot of time in my office, I decided it was time to liven things up a bit. Here are some before photos:

Recently I raided Hobby Lobby and got all sorts of great items marked down by 66%! I always have a 40% off coupon too. I got a bunch of little things to set on shelves, but they were all black...B-O-R-I-N-G. So, I bought teal and paprika red (Home Depot), ocean blue and cherry red (Wal-mart) spray paints. The Sunday before last, I had myself a little spray-painting party in the back yard.

On Pinterest, I got the idea to spice up my office's bookshelf by adding either contact paper/wallpaper/or wrapping paper to the back of the shelf. I found a great black and white damask wrapping paper from Wal-mart and bought double sided tape to attach it. It took me all of 30 minutes and I love the way it turned out. I also love the way my Hobby Lobby items ($5 per item) look with a fresh coat of spray paint!

 With the recent changes, I think Hippocrates looks happier on the shelf!

My office needed an extra seat for the pharmaceutical reps that come by to discuss their products. My office is limited on space, so I needed a very small seat. I found a great, although very tired/beat up, small bench at the thrift store in Auburn. I dusted, sanded, cleaned, primed and spray painted this bench. Then I tried my hand at my first ever upholstery job. The seat unscrewed from the bench very easily. I almost just put the fabric on top of the old fabric, but it was pretty nasty, so I got rid of it. When I did, I realized there was another layer of upholstery (in terrible condition) underneath. When I went to remove that, I realized that the 'batting' that was originally used was PINE STRAW! EWW! But it was also kind of neat because I knew that the bench must have been practically ancient! I wonder what its story is. Anyway, the board happened to be a lovely piece of cedar, so I wrapped it in 3 coats of batting and then put some lovely leftover fabric on it. I love the way my $6 thrift store find turned out! I added a little pillow for some extra comfort and color. I made the envelope pillow cover. You can kind of see the bench in the photo above, but here's a close up:

I bought two $7 lamps and two $5 lamp shades from Dollar General to go on top of my filing cabinet. I sanded, primed, and sprayed the lamp bases teal. I bought the lovely turquoise planter from Hobby Lobby (only $7 since it was 50% off this week)! Eventually I'll get around to getting a nice green, leafy plant to put in it. I replaced the lame, freely hanging, anatomy poster with a vintage poster of the human skeletal system (which I framed using a simple $10 poster frame with Plexiglas). Here's the file cabinet area now:

I'd like to eventually add a tall coat/umbrella rack in the back corner to hang my tote, lab coats, 'brellas, etc.

I saw this easy art inspiration on Pinterest, and decided to copy:

I spray painted a 16 x 20 canvas light ocean blue. Then I dipped various sized plastic cups and lids in white and teal acrylic paints and transferred them to the canvas. I let the paint drops fall where they would for added character. Now I've brightened up my wall a little bit and matched the rest of the decor:

I'm so happy with the way everything turned out! The best part is that I no longer get headaches from the hideous overhead halogen lights. The five lamps put off a nicer, ambient light that makes me feel relaxed and happy to be at work.

On a side note, I thought I'd include a photo of my new couch pillows at home. My friend, Erin, found these burlap monogrammed pillows at Scott's Antiques in Atlanta. Can you believe that she found our initials? Our couch pillows match the blog name! I love them! As for the other pillows, I made them out of Pier 1 place mats.



The twins are home!

Ella got to come home Thursday (after about 5 days in the NICU) to join her twin sister, Avery, and her big sister, Paige. Don't they all make a beautiful family of five?

Congratulations, Nate and Kellye!

Hailey's Baptism

After getting home from the hospital late on Friday, Saturday was another eventful day! Harrison and I went up to Newnan for our niece, two-month old Hailey Marie Swartz's baptism. She was so good during the whole thing; and her brothers were very well-behaved! Isn't this a cute family photo of the Swartz's?

Mommy, Aileen, and the newly baptized Hailey:

Julie Swartz, Suzanne Swartz, Janet Swartz, Bill Swartz with Ryan, David, Harrison

Blake with Aileen, Andrew with Hailey, my mom and dad, me

My Dad (otherwise known as Pops) with granddaughter, Hailey

My mom (otherwise known as Gigi) with granddaughter, Hailey

After Mass, we went back to the Swartz's for a great dinner. Andrew and Aileen made Jambalaya (I'm told to pronounce it JUM-ba-ly-a, but I always mess it up). For dessert we had some delicious pettifores that Julie had gotten from a bakery and KING CAKE that Andrew's parents had brought from New Orleans. It was SO good!

Ryan and Blake wrestling with Uncle David

Wrestling each other and Aunt Trey

 Pillow fight with Aunt Trey

Update on the twins:

Avery is still doing really well; she and Kellye will likely get to go home tomorrow (Monday). They can go anytime they want so that Kellye and Nate can visit as much as they can with Ella. I'm sure Kellye will be back at home for the National Championship kickoff, as she's a HUGE LSU fan! Ella is progressing along, but will likely come home a few days later. Both girls had echocardiograms today and their hearts look perfect!

Twins!

Today started off as a mundane Friday. I have Fridays off, so I usually run all of my errands then. While I was at the dentist (new patient at this office) I got a phone call from my brother, Nate, saying that he and Kellye were at the hospital and she was going to have an Emergency C-section in the next five minutes. Right then, the dentist walked in to introduce himself. I pretty much hung up on Nate. The dentist was trying to make small talk when he noticed how out of sorts I was. He asked me if everything was ok, and I blurted out something like this: "twin babies...coming now...1 month early...my brother...my 15 month old niece...heart transplant...anxious!" He told me that it was probably in my best interest to reschedule our appointment due to the state that I was in (this was after they'd already taken Xrays). I checked out, got in my car, and hit the interstate immediately. Two hours later I was in Marietta with my family.

Kellye gave birth to Ella Claire Cunningham first, at 10:26 who weighed in at 4lbs, 13oz, and was 16.5 inches long. Avery Ann Cunningham arrived just after, also at 10:26. She weighed 4lbs 14oz, and was 18 inches long.

We met up with Nate and got the story of how the events had unfolded for them. Around 7am today, Kellye started having sharp pains. Nate was supposed to be in an important meeting for work at 7:30, but Kellye asked him to hang around for a little bit to see if she felt better. She's a tough one, so Nate knew that she wasn't crying wolf.  The pain became so intense that Kellye said she couldn't go anywhere. Nate said something like 'Oh, no, you are not staying here. There's no way I'm delivering babies today.' He put her in the rolling office chair and rolled her out of the house! Luckily, the lady who occasionally watches Paige was out running errands and was able to stop by and pick up Paige for the day. Another bonus is that Nate and Kellye live about two minutes from the hospital.

While checking into the hospital around 10, Nate overheard some doctors saying 'she's ready to go now.' He thought they were talking about someone else, but then quickly realized it was Kellye. Once they'd put the monitors on Kellye, they realized that Baby A's (who would later be known as Ella) heart rate was dropping. They told Nate and Kellye that they were going to operate immediately and fully sedate Kellye because she had Abruptio Placenta (where the placenta spontaneously starts to tear away from its attachment to the uterus - life threatening to the fetuses if not delivered quickly).

Ella had suffered the most distress with the Abruptio Placenta, and her APGAR score was 0 at birth. After a very quick CPR, she was doing awesome with a five minute APGAR of 8 (that's pretty much perfect)! Avery came next and she was pink and healthy, but both needed to be admitted to NICU for surveillance with their premature state.

Avery was able to go to Nate and Kellye's room around 6:30pm after her temperature had stabilized. Here are a couple of pictures of her that I snapped with my phone (I didn't pack my camera since I didn't go home after the dentist):

Ella was having a little trouble with her respirations being too fast because some fluid had gotten into her lungs during the delivery. The idea right now is that she'll probably stay in the NICU for a few days until her breathing improves. Please pray for the health of these babies! Here's a photo of Ella that Nate took:

My uncle pointed out that Ella Claire's nickname will likely be E.Claire. Cute!
It's unbelievable that Nate and Kellye showed up at the hospital at 10 with practically no expectations and 26 minutes later they went from a family of 3 to a family of 5! Paige is a big sister! She joined us at the hospital later in the afternoon:

In less than 5 years, Harrison and I have SIX nieces and nephews (Ryan, Blake, Paige, Hailey, Ella, and Avery)! We are a very happy aunt and uncle! Hailey's baptism is actually tomorrow night! Nate and Kellye are her Godparents, but I'm thinking they won't be able to make it. Andrew's parents will be standing in as proxies.

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Happy birthday, Avery and Ella!