The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

Weekend Recap

What a GREAT weekend!  Our little family of 3 had so much fun together.  I documented most of it on my iphone so here we go…

First, on Friday, Susan wanted to get Maxwell ready for the Kentucky Derby so she got him all dressed up…maybe he’s got a career as a jockey someday?

Maxwell was a little distraught when I told him that I didn’t think elephants were allowed in the race!

He perked up again when he got to meet our neighbor’s new goldendoodle puppy Friday evening though.  Pictures coming tomorrow and, man oh man, get ready for adorable!  On Saturday we ran all sorts of errands, including a trip to Old Navy.  While there, Robert spotted this cute little straw fedora and popped it on Maxwell’s head…

We could not stop laughing!  Given that it was Derby Day and he looked ridiculously cute in it, we of course went home with it!

Maxwell wore it the rest of the day and, surprisingly, never pulled it off his head!  Later, when he was done with dinner, he even asked for the hat again!

Even though it wasn’t Mother’s Day quite yet, Robert did let me pick the movie Saturday night – Black Swan.  Good but very weird and I’m really not sure about the ending.  Have you seen it?  hmmm….

Sunday was Mother’s Day!!  My first with my sweet baby boy.  He greeted me that morning with a huge smile and an awesome case of bed head…

It doesn’t get much better than that…or so I thought!  I must have been very good these past 8 months because Maxwell and Robert spoiled me rotten!  Robert made me pancakes and Maxwell got me flowers.  That would have been enough but that was just the beginning!  Maxwell gave me the best book – Dr. Seuss “Are You My Mother?”  Can’t wait to read it to him over and over again!  He also got me a gift certificate to go spray tan as much as I want this summer!  woohoo!  🙂  Robert then gave me an awesome e-recipe book – kind of like a kindle for the kitchen.  Awesome!!  It didn’t even end there – Robert also picked out and bought an outfit for Maxwell all on his own!  Look how cute…

I love the green shorts!  the back is the best part…

too cute!  We then had a fun afternoon doing things around the house and – surprise surprise! – working in the yard.  We seem to work in the yard every single weekend.  We went to the grocery store later today and Maxwell once again asked to wear his new hat…

He’s just too much.  I am such a lucky momma and can’t believe I get to spend every day with this sweet, sweet little boy!!

I hope all you mommas out there had a great weekend too!!

To GJ, SuSu and LuLu

Maxwell is so thankful to have such fantastic grandmothers and such a wonderful great grandmother!  He wanted to send you all a very special message…

Sweet, huh?  Maxwell then looked at his message…

and realized it was so sweet, it was good enough to eat!

After he chewed on it pretty good…

his mouth looked like this…

So, I ask you three wise mothers a very important question…Crayola markers are non-toxic, right?!  🙂

Wishing you all a VERY happy Mother’s Day!  Thank you so much for all that you do for us.  Wish we could see all three of you today and give you a big hug around the neck!

Friday Favorite

When we did Maxwell’s baptism a few weeks ago, I had a photographer meet us afterward to take some pictures of all the generations together.  The photographer, Lauren Ustad, did such a great job that I decided to make her today’s Friday Favorite!  If you need a good photographer in Birmingham, I definitely recommend her!

You can check out her work here:  Piper Photography

Here are some of my favorite shots of hers from the day….

I could kiss his sweet cheeks all day long!

I specifically asked her to take this shot so we could get a good photo of the knee socks!

With Susu, Dodo and GJ…

Granddaddy, Daddo and John….

The three Max’s all together!

With Granddad and Lulu…

The whole Brown clan – love Maxwell’s face in this one…

and the whole Patterson clan!

With Daddo and GJ.  Someone really should have told Robert to unbutton his jacket here…  🙂

It was a great day and I’m so glad Lauren was there to capture it!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!  See you Monday…or maybe Sunday.  😉

NYC and Tornadoes

This week has been an adventure to say the least.  On Tuesday night, I had to go to New York for work.  It was my first time leaving Maxwell and I was not exactly looking forward to it.  My mom came into town to watch him because Robert had to be out of town for work as well.  Simply leaving him was hard enough but then we had the added threat of severe weather and tornadoes.  Scary stuff.

Luckily I was in training sessions at work all day Wednesday in NY and not able to look at the AL weather online.  Had I been aware of what was really going on, I don’t think I would have made it through the day.  As I’m sure you’ve seen, the destruction in Birmingham and several surrounding cities has been immense and tragic. I didn’t fully grasp what happened until I got home yesterday and started seeing all the images.  Luckily, our house was safe and we maintained power the entire time (400,000+ did not).  Unfortunately, my quick 24 hour trip got extended due to a cancelled flight Wednesday night so I had an extra night in the city.  Robert jumped at the chance to escape NJ for the evening and drove in to take me out on a little date night in Manhattan!  If I couldn’t be with Maxwell that night, I sure was glad to be with Robert!

*To my NY friends – I’m so sorry I didn’t call.  My trip was originally so short and fully booked with work commitments.  By the time I realized I would be staying Wednesday night as well, it was just too late to try and make any plans.  I promise I’ll call you next time!  🙂

Another funny little aside, I didn’t have a hotel room booked for Wednesday night and had trouble finding one available.  Luckily Robert was able to use his Hilton points and get me a room at the Waldorf for free!  ooh la la!  When I walked over to check in, all the streets were barricaded, there were huge sanitation trucks parked all in front of the hotel and police were everywhere.  The culprit?  Obama.  He was staying there that night and the security was in full force!  There were also tons of future NFL players in the hotel for the big draft Thursday night.  It was a zoo.  At least I felt safe!

I finally made it back home yesterday mid-day and I sure was glad to give this little guy a big hug…

Please excuse my appearance.  I had been up since 4:45 and already dealt with 2 cancelled flights and an hour long delay.

While it was terrible weather in AL, it was beautiful up in NY.  Loved the tulips lining Park Avenue…

I even took a little photo for Maxwell.  A bus.  With wheels.  They go round and round you know!  🙂

GJ was the BEST babysitter a girl could ask for.  She kept Maxwell happy, fed and safe!  She even sent a few pictures so I wouldn’t miss him too bad…

Even though my mom was here, Susan still came over yesterday to take Maxwell to his last Patty Cake Time for the season at the library.  She’s the best!  My mom tagged along and snapped a few pics with her phone…

Maxwell loves patty cake time!

Overall, it was an adventurous few days that I hope to never repeat.  I am very glad to be home!

By the way, here’s a sneak peek at some of the photographer pictures from the baptism 2 weeks ago.  I’ll share more next week.

Piper Photography blog

I hope you all have a great – and safe – weekend!

More Easter

We woke in Montgomery on Easter and had a great time getting to visit all morning.  We then got dressed up in our Easter finest!  Maxwell loved his little sailor outfit and kept saying “Ahoy!” all day.  🙂

After that picture, I put my big camera up and didn’t get it out the remainder of the day. I just needed a little camera break.  I clearly can’t cut myself off 100%  though because I continued to snap away with my point & shoot and phone camera!

All dressed up and ready to go!

Posing with LuLu and Granddad…

Ready for lunch at the club…

Look who sat in a high chair the entire time and didn’t fuss one bit!

He really was SO good all weekend long.  Such a little happy guy!

At lunch we gave him his first cracker to suck on…

He wasn’t exactly a fan!  Maybe he’s a sweet and not a salty?  His favorite thing about the cracker was being able to crush it in his hands!

Katie and Anna were also all dolled up in their Easter frocks…

After lunch we headed back to Robert’s parents house to hang out.  Here’s some pics from my phone to round out the afternoon.

I love these chubby legs…

Here you can really see how blonde and wavy his hair is getting…

We headed back to Birmingham late Sunday afternoon and Maxwell was just worn out from all the fun…

I hope you had a wonderful first Easter sweet boy!  You were so good all weekend and charmed everyone with your cute dimples.  We can’t wait to see you hunt some eggs next year!!