Christmas Pics!

Merry Christmas from the Barksdale crew!


Heinz loved going to Charlie's play!




SAA-SDS Gingerbread House 2015


Finally away from Santa... still not super happy!


Christmas morning at home!


Slim Jim in his stocking for the WIN!

Present time!



Heinz Family Christmas --- I was a horrible documenter and took literally NO pictures of our Christmas celebrations with my family. We went to a beautiful Christmas Eve Mass at St. Brigid Catholic Church. Then we had yummy food prepared by my Mama and opened gifts with my family. On Christmas Day morning we hosted brunch at our house. We had tons of yummy food and drinks and watched TV and talked until almost 3:00 pm. It was so fun! We headed back to my parents house a few hours later and enjoyed a yummy Christmas steak dinner! Katie did snag a few pics of Heinz with Colby and Mary Burke!



Barksdale Christmas in New Hope! We enjoyed a wonderfully warm Christmas in New Hope. We celebrated Christmas with the Clark family the night we got there. It was so fun to visit with them. We had a lovely dinner prepared by Teresa and Bobby (Brad's parents) and then we opened presents! We all received and gave such amazing things! On Sunday, Brad and I went to Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Columbus. Heinz stayed home with Nana and BB. We ate a quick breakfast and then went to church at Mt. Zion Baptist church (Brad's parents/Brian and Amy's church). Heinz and Ronni-Beth were dressed in matching outfits so I definitely got some pics. We had lunch at Grandma Barksdale's (Pat) house and then opened presents there. It was so fun to see the Parson family and to enjoy such a yummy meal! I didn't take near enough pictures but here are the ones I snagged.

Heinz and Mawmaw (Brad's grandmother) playing!




Barksdale cousin photo shoot! Ronin-Beth's first Christmas and Heinz's second!



Giving RB some kisses! I could never catch the kiss perfectly! Darn camera flash!



Dear Heinz,
Oh what a wonderful 2nd Christmas you had! We love you sweet boy!

xoxo,
Mama

Christmas in Memphis & New Hope!

The Barksdale crew had a wonderful Christmas season full of family, fun, giving, receiving, Mass, and of course yummy food! This was Heinz's second Christmas and he loved it! He wasn't totally enthused with ripping wrapping paper off of presents but he got more into the spirit as the Christmas celebrations went on. He was completely spoiled by his grandparents and other family members and I'm not quite sure where all of these toys are going to fit in our house... it will all work out. We will just move the couch out if we need to. KIDDING!

There were horrible storms and tornados that hit in the area just days before Christmas. This truly broke my heart. While we drove to Brad's parents house in New Hope we were able to see some of the damage that these awful storms did to trees, homes, and businesses. My heart broke for these people... especially days before Christmas. We also had a family friend of ours lose his mother and grandmother in a tragic car accident the day after Christmas. In moments like this I have a hard time not questioning God and wondering WHY? Why do tragedies like this happen? Why do they happen so close to family filled holidays? In the end, I know that His plan is perfect and His hand is on everything we do. Those two sweet women are in paradise with Him and will be reunited with their family one day. Please keep all of the people affected by these horrible tragedies in your prayers.

A few weeks before Christmas, I was able to bring Heinz to the SAA-SDS Gingerbread House to meet Santa... let's just say Heinz is not a huge fan. Whenever he sees the picture in our house he looks at it and says.. "NO NO NO!" Let's hope I didn't scare my child for life! He has to love jolly old Saint Nick! Mimi and Kim came on Friday to enjoy the awesome shopping vendors and the yummy wine/appetizers that were being served. On Saturday, Mimi joined Heinz and me for some more shopping at the Gingerbread House. After, we went to lunch at Bogie's where Heinz threw up everywhere after coughing/gagging (he is my son indeed). Needless to say, we left quickly and our lovely lunch ended there. No pictures included. ;-)

I loved spending time with my siblings, their kids, and my parents. It is such a crazy crew when you get us all together. We missed having A.J. with us but I text with him and he had some fun Christmas plans in NYC. I am going to visit him (with Mimi and Jamie) in February -- which will be here before we know it. Ben and his crew will be here either today or tomorrow (they love surprise entrances) -- we can't wait to spend time with them! We loved driving south and visiting with Brad's family. So refreshing to see them and to see Heinz in a different atmosphere --- he loves all of the animals at Nana and BB's house. We are so blessed to have two incredibly different yet incredibly amazing families. This Barksdale crew loves their family SO BIG!

The weekend before Christmas, Heinz and I joined Mimi and JoJo on a trip to Mobile to visit Ben, Teresa, Connell, Clara, and of course the STAR OF THE SHOW Charlie. We stopped in Starkville to pick up Anna. It was so fun having her with us. She is a part of the family -- DUH! Charlie had a very adorable role in the play Elf. He was a fabulous elf and his ended the show with an AMAZING round off and then a FABULOUS split landing. Heinz thoroughly enjoyed both the matinee and the evening showing of Charlie's play. We were so happy that we were able to go!

We will be celebrating Mimi's birthday and the New Year in just a few short days! I will post more about the New Year in a blog to come. I know this will be an awesome celebration full of family, friends, libations, and of course food.... oh and a birthday cake!

**I got a new cell phone and my 1000000000000 pictures are still currently loading onto my computer so I will upload a Christmas picture blog soon.

Dear Heinz,
You had such a Merry 2nd Christmas. You are so loved sweet boy. You are starting to talk so much and it makes us so excited. You should see your Mama and Daddy --- we clap when you say chip which sounds like ship and we scream and giggle when you say clock --- you sometimes leave out the "l" though -- which could be a problem. ;-) Your personality is starting to blossom... like your parents you are super sweet sometimes and then sassy at other times. Look, you can't help who your parents are. HA HA. We love you angel baby and we are looking forward to celebrating the New Year with you!

xoxo,
Mama

Full force football!

Heinz has been dominating his second season as a True Maroon Bulldawg fan! This baby boy LOVES football and LOVES Mississippi State. He screams at the game (tv and at the stadium) and when he sees the M-State sign he says "Staaaaate!" Makes his parents proud... Corny and sad but oh so true! Hoping to finish out this season with 2 W's but if not... We will still be back next year! ;-) 

Here is some photo footage of a fun football season! 

We loved getting to see our Starkville friends while we are there! Especially this girl! We love you, Anna! :-) 

Love these girls!!! 

Love cheering on the dawgs with this man! 

Such a fun time seeing some of the Ward family in Starkville for the MSUvAlabama game. Such a great family and life long family friends for sure! 

Heinz had a blast for his second Halloween! We went to Murfreesboro, TN to visit Katie, Jack, and Mary Burke. Colby was out of town and we hate that we missed him but we had a fun time celebrating Halloween with those three! Mimi came a long with us! Katie made yummy food and we did some fun trick-o-treating. At first Heinz was a little embarrassed to show off his costume...

Then he was a little upset about his costume....

Then he absolutely loved his costume...

I absolutely love this baby Mickey who only liked carrying his candy bucket once it was full and heavy! #independent #stubborn #likewho? 

This sweet boy loved relaxing on his Aunt Katie's awesome back porch. 

Here are a few more pictures from our first fall as the Memphis Barksdales. 

He loves ringing that cowbell!!! 

Heinz loved that Daddy broke out his boots. We love boot weather. Brad calls it "our season" --- it gives Brad a little more  vertical inches above me! ;-) 

As much as we love driving to Starkville for football weekends.... We love spending time at home! Heinz is like is mama --- he's all about snuggling up on the couch and watching some good TV. While his good TV is Mickey Mouse or football games... I do sneak in a few Bravo favorites. ;-) 

Here are some lazy day pics of our baby boy!

He's out!

You say lazy? We say laid back. :-) 

Looking forward to a wonderful holiday season! I love November and December! The decorations, the music, the food, the family, the meaning of the season! ||| everything!

We love you, Heinz. 

Xoxo, 

Mama 

PS -- I love the Heinz loves to "read!"

Life and the BEACH!

We love spending time with family and friends but we also love to be lazy and stay at home sometimes! Here's our baby boy at home! 

Shoes. Shoes. He loves saying this word and be loves wearing mama and daddy's shoes! See below ha. 

Snuggle bugs :-) 

Heinz loved going to the park with Mimi and Maggie one day! He did not want to leave! 

We are so excited to have another member of the Barksdale family! Brads brother Brian and his wife Amy welcomed a baby girl into this world! Our new niece (and cousin) was born on September 17th! Ronni Elizabeth (Ronni-Beth) Barksdale is so perfect and beautiful! We love her so much already! 

Heinz loves her already! Crying whenever she cries and giving her a kiss or two! :-) 

Heinz and Brad went to the Memphis Tigers game with my dad, Nick, Bennett, and Johnny. They stayed for the whole game and got home at 11:30 on a school night! True football fans right there! 

Heinz loves his JoeJoe! 

Fall Break came way quicker than I thought it would and I was so excited ---- we went to the beach! October 2-7 and it was wonderful! To some beach goers it may have been a tad chilly -- this hot natured family loved it ha ha! This was Heinzs' second trip to the beach and he absolutely loved it! 

At first I was nervous because this is what he did the first time we went on the beach...

He completely stopped. Frozen. Would not move an inch. Crying the whole time. 

Once he got used to it he absolutely loved the sand. The gulf? Umm this boy is a fish. He literally would have just kept on walking into the waves if we would let him. 

Look at my boys. Be still my heart. 💙

Beach baby model status. **three adults did have to sing the whip and nae nae to snag these pics. #embarrassing #devoted 

Family Lulu's picture. (Insert long story about how mama free up going to Lulu's before it was so cool and fancy and when it was on Mobile Bay!)

Heinz loved spending time on our 12th floor balcony! He loved early morning snuggle selfies and evening chats! 

Heinz loves his BB. We loved spending our days at the beach with Nana and BB. (Brads parents). 

Without an ounce of planning --- we were at the beach the same time as Katie and Mary Burke. We had dinner with them on Saturday night! So fun! 

As you can see -- Heinz was not totally cooperative for this photo shoot. I was able to snag this sweet one of these birthday sharing cousins. We love you, 

MB! 

Brad and I went to mass at 8:00 on Sunday. The readings and the homily were a beautiful reminder of the importance and the honor it is to be married... Esp to be married in the Catholic Church. God has us attend 8:00 mass at St. Thomas by the Sea for a reason, I just know it! We were able to sit with Mrs. Jane and Mighty Quinn and chat with them after. I loved it! So good for the soul -- I love those two so much!  After mass we were LUCKY again to spend a day in the sun with family. Katie, MB, Ben, Teresa, Connell, Clara, and Charlie came to our condo! Jamie also got to the beach on Sunday too! We went to the Hangout for lunch and spent the rest of the day on the beach enjoying the beautiful weather! The Hangout is so fun!!! And the food is yummy! 

#hailstate 

Heinz crew minus quite a few! 

Heinz loved having cousins there to play with him! And test with him! 

We loved the beach and can't wait until our next visit!!! After such busy and exciting days at the beach this baby slept so hard! 

Didn't get a picture but when we ate at sea n suds Heinz slept in my arms the whole time! He's getting heavier but I still love those sweet and sweaty snuggles! 

We love you, Heinz. 

Xoxo, 

Mama