This past weekend, we were able to visit Jeremy’s hometown…Chattanooga.
It was officially Will’s first roadtrip. And we figured out that Will does not love being in his carseat. And he is not one of those magical babies that falls asleep in a car.
That’s ok…we’ll keep him anyhow.
It was really really fun to get out of the house. It was even more fun because we got to see some folks and introduce them to our newest little guy. Here’s Ben & Liz. We are trying to peer pressure them into having a baby too. We used phrases like “oh he never cries.” and “the poop smells like buttered popcorn” and “they practically take care of themselves”. We’ll see, I guess.
We also got to meet up with our friends Dan & Heidi. I have a girl crush on Heidi. She’s so fun. And pretty.
Apparently Will thought so too.
And we also got to see some of our future best buddies that we have arranged for Will to befriend.
This little guy is Hayden. Remember him? He was born right around the same time that Will was a little twinkle in my uterus.
Oh and we also met up with Asher. Asher is Jeremy’s cousin’s son.
So I guess that would make him Will’s second cousin. Or second cousin once removed. Or first cousin twice removed. I never remembered how that works. Let’s just say they are related.
And that he is a cutie patootie. Man, I could gobble him up like bacon.
Between all the new friends, the cookouts, and the naptimes, we also met up with Jeremy’s mom & grandma. They are still deciding their names. You know…their grandparent names. Right now they are considering GranB and GG. Will already has a Nana, a Mummum, and a Grammy…so it’s kinda tough to come up with something a little different. What do you call your grandma?
Oh and did I mention that while I was there, I totally left Will with Jeremy and got to attend an adult only event? Yeah. My boobs didn’t leak once because of a crying baby. And I got to sit down. It was pretty amazing. It was a baby shower for my friend Jill…she’s having a girl if you were wondering. Yeah, I know. Pink zebra is hot for boys right now too.
By the end of it, I was really missing my boys. I couldn’t wait to get back to them. It made me realize that I am oh-so-content with my life. I don’t want a big house or a fancy car or a million dollars in the bank. I love having simple pleasures. Like a little boy who sleeps 8 hours at night. And a husband who still tries to cop a feel when I wear shorts. And pictures of kittens.
So that’s our weekend. What did you do? Anybody lovin simple pleasures lately? What are they? And for goodness sake, tell me that those baby cats are the cutest thing you have seen since Will Bower!
My mother’s name is Barbara and my kids called her GrandBarb, which she always liked. Somehow over the years it got shortened to Gram . . . never Grammy!
The children are all so beautiful. Congratulations to all!
Names: Mema, Bebo, BPa & BMa, Bugga, Grans…
Great photos! What lenses are you using? Do I spy a 50mm and 85mm??
Hey Harper,
Just 50mm…good call 🙂
XO – katie
I love Chattanooga!! I’ve lived here my whole life!
I was wondering if that is Keven F. in one of the pictures? Is he Jeremy’s cousin? If it is, we went to college together!
So glad you had fun in Chatt-town! 🙂
Oh pfew… you like baby cats… we can still be friends 🙂
By the way, I think this might be the first post with a recent picture of YOU in it and you look fantastic! Motherhood suits you! Geez, talk about a girl crush….
Hi SarahKL,
Yipperdoodle…Keven F is Jeremy’s first cousin. Isn’t he a doll? I adore him and his little wife, Brooke…but there isn’t much about Jeremy’s family I don’t get all giddy about 🙂
XO – katie
Another quality Will Bower in the world! Yay!
-Will Bower
I kept waiting for the dramatic….And Will met Clara Petersik….But, alas, that never came. Oh well, maybe next time.
You look great and it looks like you guys had a good time visiting with family and friends.
Simple pleasures….For my boys to eat the dinner I fix them, for the sun to shine, hot coffee in the morning and my hubby to tell me I look beautiful. Yep, I live for simple pleasures.
Have a good day!
So many babies in your lives right now! What a blessing! Thanks for sharing your photos.
I had a Mamaw and Papaw…and my mom and dad go by Grammie and Poppy 🙂
Erica at ericaharless.blogspot.com
I evacuated to Chattanooga from New Orleans the day before Katrina hit. I thought we’d only be staying a few days but everyone knows how that turned out. I ended up finishing out my semester at UTC where my Uncle teaches Economics. Everyone is SOOO nice there!
As for Grandmas, our’s wanted us to call her ‘Sugar'(leave off the ‘r’ like ‘come here and gimme a lil Suga’). She didn’t want the typical Grandma name. I think it’s so cute & sweet so I might have my grandkids call me that too.
My Nana goes by GG to my cousins’ kids, and it works. My husband calls his grandmother just “Gram”. Could always look into other cultures too, if they wanted to come up with something different – a quick Google just brought up a bunch of websites!
Sounds like you guys had a great weekend 🙂 I’m not a cat person, but those kitties are adorable for sure. My simple pleasure lately? Being able to drive with the windows down almost every day. <3 Summer Weather.
Babies who sleep 8 hours a night, and a husband who still tries to cop a feel when I wear shorts.
LOVE life!
Great post as usual!
Oh, Will is so adorable! Especially in that little polo onesie. Sounds like y’all had a blast! My weekend consisted of some wedding planning, a little shopping at Anthropologie, and baking a Coca-Cola cake for my mom’s birthday.
I have a Grandmama, an Oma (German for grandmother) and a Mama Bertha. My mother is Mama Jane.
My daughter calls my mother Gammie. she is trying to say Grammie but she doesn’t say her r’s. The rest of the grandkids call her Nana.
We’ve got a Nana, Gaga, Nana Dorothy, Papa, Grandpa Alex, Papa Dan… there is the “original” Nana and “original” Papa and then creations from there.
LOVE this post! I adore how your write! (Probably because you write the way I think…) HAHA!
Enjoy that precious Baby and Boyfriend of yours!
My kids have a Mimi and Poppy and a Mom-mom and Pop-pop. I called my grandmother “My Grams”. (I was a little possessive). I also had a Pop-pop and a Poppy and Nanny.
We’re a MomMa and PopPa bunch. (pronounced “maw-maw” and “paw-paw”)
My kids have a Mimi (She wanted to be Grammy – my oldest gave her the name “Mimi”) and Poppy and a Mom-mom and Pop-pop. I called my grandmother “My Grams”. (I was a little possessive). I also had a Pop-pop and a Poppy and Nanny. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do – kids will pick thier own name for them and they are always the BEST names. Kids I nannied for (A hundred years ago) called their grandmother “No-no” – she was pretty much the only one who told them “no” when they were little 🙂
My daughter calls my parents and in-laws : Mamaw, Papa, Pappy, and Grandma
Charming pictures!
The grandparents in our family are called Nana, Nona (I think…whatever the Italian is), and Bama (the oldest couldn’t say grandma and it stuck).
I have a gentle suggestion that couples who are child free shouldn’t be asked or encouraged to be otherwise. Even when comments are made in jest, it can be hard to take regardless of why you don’t have kids. I’m really thankful that no one has asked me about that…I’m not sure how I would respond.
I wanted to be called mimi as a grandma. When my first grandson came along he called me nonni. So that is what I am …. nonni. I love it.
My Mom was “Gammy” and my Dad, Pop-Pop. I’m the youngest of 9 and produced 3 of their 27 grandkids.
Near the end of Dad’s life (he passed away last November at 91.5 years of age) his adult grandchildren started calling him G-Pop, which he loved — it was so hip!
My mom is Noni, and my grandma is Nana and my great gran was Noina. My dads mother and her husband are GG (name) I call her Minnie … dont ask long story.. so she is GG Minnie. My husbands side is just grandma (name).
love all the pics…. looks like you guys had a nice trip. oooh and loved that cake at the shower… too cute!
Simple pleasures??? Hmm.. hearing my daughter laugh. or being tickled by her daddy and saying “oooh daadaa” while laughing. Warms my heart!
So many cute babies in your life. That Asher is a cute little baby nugget!!
Growing up we always called both Grandmas Grandma. And distinguished between the two by using their name, i.e. Grandma Niece (her name is Bernice).
I have to stop first to say how gorgeous little Will is! I typically think all babies are ugly until their personality starts to come in, but what a cutie!
I laughed when you asked what we call our grandmas. I have a grandma I call “Grandma Bubblespa” and before my grandpa passed away, he was “Grandpa Dipchip”.
Lol, my grandma had a hot tub so my brother would try to ask if he could go in grandma’s bubble-spa, which evolved into “Grandma Bubblespa”. As for Grandpa… well, grandma was calling him a “dip-shit” when my brother overheard and said “dip-chip? What’s a dip-chip?” So, he became Grandpa Dipchip.
Thanks for posting!
xoxo,
Caitlin @ That House on the Corner
Amazing pictures. Man, I need to upgrade my camera :0)
Will is the cutest thing in the pics! You must be very proud.
My little Jack has 4 ‘grandmothers’ they are called:
mootie
mema
great gramma
gramma
Hi Katie,
I just want to compliment you on your crazy beautiful pictures. You have a real talent for photography! Doesn’t hurt that your family is gorgeous 🙂
Anne
What beautiful babies and KITTENS! how could you NOT love the kittens ; ) haha, love it.
I have a Nana and a Grandma, my great grandma was Gran-nan.
My daughter is 5 and she calls my mom Granna and my husbands mom Grammy. I really like Granna. It’s different but yet still grandmotherly.
“And a husband who still tries to cop a feel when I wear shorts.” – This had me laughing out loud at work. Gotta love handsy hubbies 😉
I like GG as a grandma/great-grandma name, it’s easy and sweet. One of my grandmother’s name was Jo and we called her JoJo – creativity with actual names can be fun!
Looks like a great time!! The pic of Will smiling at Heidi is too cute!
Hey katie! I love the blog. My brother & sister are way ahead of us on the baby thing – so our parents have already decided their names. My mom’s family is very german so she and my stepdad chose Oma and Opa which i love. And my dad and stepmom are mimi (french i think for grandma) and papa. Not sure how well the babies will do with pronouncing the names since they’re both less than 1 year still. But we’ll find out soon:)
I called both my grandmothers ‘nanny’. My mother in law want so to be called mammy when we have a child. I love GG though it so cute! I also like gre gre. I am still trying to talk my mom on taking on the gre gre name for when we do have babies of our own.
By the way the kitten picture and comment-SOOO funny!
Oh my goodness, in that first pic of you and him he looks just like Jeremy! Love that!
We’ve learned that whatever you teach your kids to call the grandparents, it doesn’t always work out the way you plan. My mom is “Mooma” (long story…) It comes out “Ma.” My mother in law is “Grammy” and it comes out “Mammy.” Both of them are even more cuter than what they wanted to be called! My favorite that I’ve heard is “Butter.” They were teaching their kid to say, “Grandmother” and that’s how it came out. It’s so cute!
Will is adorable!!!!
My parents go by Lolli and Pop!
Looks like you had a great time! We call my husband’s mom Grammy, and sometimes Goo-Goo Grandma (my niece started that). And my mom is Baba, short for the Polish word for Grandma, which I can’t really spell or pronounce properly. 🙂
I call my grandmother Mimi.
Hold on, Will sleeps eight hours at night? Like, IN A ROW?
Man, what an overachiever!
Sandra –
Actually he has officially hit that milestone where he is sleeping eight hours in a row only waking once to eat. I am pretty sure he’s trying to get on my good side before his terrible two’s. That little suckup 🙂
XO – Kbow
This weekend was like any other…until, I got engaged! Makes me appreciate pretty much everything, haha! Especially cute pictures of kittens 🙂
Katie,
I also feel like you about simple pleasures and just being a mom and a wife. Right now I’m enjoying my 3 children and I love to just lay in the hammacks and talk or gaze at the sky or get up and have a cup of coffee with my husband before he goes to work. I couldn’t be happier!!
I call my grandma: “mamita” which is spanish for “little mommy” and I called my grandpa :”papito” which again is spanish for “little daddy”.
Will Bower….. wheelbarrow… .say it fast… *laughing*…. depending on the accent, it works.
What a cutie!
I was looking at this just now and my husband said, “did Britney have another baby?” He thought you were Britney Spears! Pre-crazy, shaved head Britney! The Britney whose posters plastered my friends’ walls in college. Talk about a girl crush! I just thought you might get a kick out of that. Not sure if you’ve heard that before!
Actually Julia, I do get that alot. I think I have one of those generic faces that looks a little like everyone. Since highschool, I have been told I look like Britney, JLo, Kristen Davis, Jennifer Love Hewitt, some girl from Cheers, several people’s cousins, the mom on Gilmore Girls, Ali Landry, and numerous others that I fail to remember. It’s weird because I don’t see it…but I guess it’s better than hearing “you know who you look like? richard nixon.”
XO – katie
Heeee! Okay, I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks exclusive breastfed babies have poo that smells like buttered popcorn! In the early weeks, I honestly think it does! LOL!
LOVE that picture of you with Will. You look so happy being a mom! 🙂
We were a traditional family… Grandma/Grandpa followed by their last name. Boring, right? I love GiGi. We have a friend who is GiGi to her precious granddaughter, which is perfect since her name is Gail. And there’s always Mammaw.
Dude that cake is awesome.
I’m glad you had a fun weekend away!
Kudos to you for getting out of the house and having some non-baby related fun 🙂
We had been ttc for 2.5 years (with lots of medical help and what not) and none of our friends/family knew. Every time they would make a comment about “You guys are next in line to have a baby! Come on hurry it up!” it would kill us inside.
Just a heads up about your friends that you were casually joking around with…I hope they aren’t going through infertility like we were because the pain is indescribable.
Hi Samantha,
Sorry to hear all the pain you guys went through…I have heard other people say that infertility is excruciating! As for our teasing…we know that they want to start trying in a couple years…but in our selfishness we want them to go ahead and contribute to the gene pool now…I guess we will have to wait and see what happens. I think they are still enjoying their honeymoon period…and since they got married only two years ago, I guess we can’t blame em for making it last 🙂
XO – Katie
Katie – Will has your exact smile!! In the picture where he is laughing at Heidi, his eyes crinkle just like yours do when you are smiling in pictures. I always thought he looked more like Jeremy, but after seeing that one, I’m changing my mind!
Gorgeous photos! Glad Will had his first road trip!!
Simple pleasure in life are the best!
heather
I love the little kittens! So cute. But then again, I do have 2 cats that look ridiculously similar to the kittens in the picture.
You look fantastic btw!!!
The pictures are too cute! I just had two “grandmas.” Nothing too creative 🙂 I’m jealous of your weekend… i spent the weekend packing, taking down wallpaper and getting ready to move into my house I purchased in Smyrna, GA! I’m new to the whole blogging adventure.. but here is my start.. http://notyourgrandmashouse.blogspot.com/
Your house is an inspiration!!
my grandparents are Mema (grandmother) and Geda (grandfather) – fun, original names that are easy for little ones to say! we plan on calling my boyfriend’s dad “Popcorn Houser” when we have kids – we were watching a documentary about hillbillies and there was an ancient, moonshinin’ Popcorn Sutton and it just tickled us because he was like a highly exaggerated version of his dad! I don’t think we’ll tell our Popcorn Houser where the name came from… maybe just go with Pop for short ;c) Good luck picking the names!
wow you take such amazing portraits and have such beautiful family and friends!
I had to comment and tell you what a c-a-uu-t-ee Will is! AND I didn’t see Mimi mentioned. My mom is Mimi and my (ultraconservative chemist) dad is Bubba. He got this name from my niece. When she was born 20 year ago, they thought they were too young to be grandparents so they called themselves by their “names”. My dad goes by Buddy! This was when Bill Clinton was being called Bubba AND to add insult to injury he got a dog named Buddy about the same time! The moral of the story is be sure they pick their names now because if they don’t they will be stuck 2o years and 5 grandchildren from now!! Sheri
great pictures! your little boy is SO cute!
Growing up I had a Grandma and a Nana. Now that I have kids my parents (to them) are Gracie (actually born out of the idea of Gra-C – my mom’s name is Carol) and Papa, and my husband’s are Abuela (Boo-la up until just recently when my daughter could finally handle the Spanish pronunciation) and Grandpa. My kids have a Bisabuela and a Grandma Great as well. I always thought Gigi was a cute name for a grandma. My cousins’ grandma was called “Budda” (not Buddha, Bud-da). I have no idea why come to think of it.
hi katie, did your families work out their names? i’m just reading this post and thought I’d tell you about my late grandmother. she was known to us grandkids as nan/nanny our whole lives. but when my older sister was pregnant with the first great-grandchild she announced that she’d like to be called GG! we freaked out because she was suffering from dementia and as a good baptist lady had never been interested in horseracing or any other kind of gambling! when asked for clarification she simply said – ‘great grandma = GG’ – priceless!!
she is no longer with us but sophie (that baby in my sister’s belly) can point her out in photos and it always makes me giggle!
Yup Jane, they did. It was actually the main topic of discussion when we revealed we were preggo. Now we have a Nana, Pappap, Happy, Mummum, GG, GrandB, Grammy & Gramps.
XO – Katie