MORE WITH THE MEEKS: October 2011

My Marilyn Monroe

This past week has been an extremely LONG one. Mymother (my grandmother Jane),"The Queen" passed away and she is being TERRIBLY missed. Most all of our family flew in to be there....cousins & relatives from NJ, NY, Dallas, Huntsville, Birmingham, Houston, and all over. As much as we all dislike funerals, its a sure way of seeing how much someone was loved and this lady certainly was. I heard so many wonderful things about my grandmother and instead of crying, I found myself laughing at the stories. For those that shared happy thoughts/stories, THANK YOU...just what we needed.

I miss mymother terribly and it will only be worse closer to the holidays but she's pain free now and back with my grandaddy, I must remind myself to stop being selfish. She is certainly better off!

Just a few pictures I had on my work computer.

Miss you MYMOTHER!!!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Kate, Melinda & Linda!

This past weekend I celebrated 3 birthdays:
1.) My friend Holly's little girl, Kate, turned ONE.
2.) My mother-in-law turned another year older. (women don't tell their ages!! )
3.) And Nic's grandmother turned another year older.

Kate's birthday was at Holly's parents (The Whitaker's) house. I couldn't stay long but I did get lots of quality time in with the babies before I left! I played with baby Bailess majority of the party (bc Kate was napping).

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Kate is walking

Bailess LOVES smiling for me!

Precious Baby!

For my mother-in-law and gmaw in law (ha ha), we had all of Nic's family over for dinner.. Parker's, Meeks' and Williams. We have never done this many for a "sit down" dinner so I was a bit stressed on where everyone would sit. 18 mouths to feed means 18 chairs.

Oh how I love it when a "compulsive purchase" (as Nic refers to them) comes in hand. A few weeks ago, I found 2 beautiful antique pieces that I COULD NOT LIVE WITHOUT. A 1920's server (with BEAUTIFUL detail and a deep drawer) and an English gate leg drop leaf table. I begged Nic for 2 days to let me borrow his truck. Finally he gave in and both tables found themselves as bedside tables in our master bedroom. They both work perfectly because they are tall and wide enough for lamps, picture frames, magazines and all the junk that tends to pile up. When I bought the drop leaf, it came with 6 wooden/leather antique chairs-which I intended to consign or something because I didn't know where to store them. Luckily they stack well so Nic let me keep them too=) For the party, I pulled the table into the den and extended both sides up. Extra seating for 6 now! Nic actually complimented the table and told me what a great purchase it was (this is something we VERY RARELY see eye-to-eye on).

Saturday morning Nic got up early with me and we went to the Farmer's Market for fresh flowers, vegetables and pumpkins.

Dinner included beef burgundy over cheese grits, port tenderloin with roasted vegetables, green bean casserole and sweet potato biscuits.

Pumpkin Flower Arrangements

Birthday girls

I fell in love with the mini pumpkins and had to figure out a way to incorporate them into the table setting. I must say....making the slits int he pumpkins and shoving cards in them is harder than it appears! Next time, I'll be using superglue!

The Meeks

Green Bean Casserole

Pork Tenderloin

Pork Tenderloin over roasted vegetables

Ryan & Taylor

Makenzie & Logan

Precious Tyler

Chef Nic

Sweet Potato Biscuits

My new drop leaf table =))

Jackson is here!!!

This past Friday, Jennifer & Dan finally got to lay eyes on their precious baby boy, Jackson Sharpe Ratliff. His arrival has been LONG LONG awaited! Jennifer had him at 6:34pm Friday evening. Her entire family (LITERALLY) was in the waiting room all afternoon waiting on his arrival. Jennifer went in for her check up on Friday morning and they told her she wouldn't be leaving without a baby. MUSIC TO HER EARS!

I left work at lunch and never went back.... I just knew any minute I would get a call to head to the hospital and I needed to be fully prepared! I think I called Jennifer and her poor sister 100 times asking questions and reminding them to text/call me. FINALLY at 6:15 her sister texted me saying she's 7-8 cm, come on. I made it just in time. I got to sit with Jennifer's family in the waiting room until Dan came out to announce Jackson had been born. The excitement and love that filled that room was absolutely the best thing in the world. Every aunt, grandparent, sibling, cousin, etc sat in that room and I got the honor of being with them and also got to meet Jackson in his first 30 mins of life.

Jennifer looked amazing (as she has this entire pregnancy) and baby Jackson is an absolute DOLL! He is healthy, weighing in at 8lb 9oz. This baby is truly loved and Jennifer and Dan already seem so "natural" as parents.

The entire pregnancy Jennifer kept saying how she wished she could have Jackson on September 30th because its her moms birthday (also her great-grandfathers).....this goes to show....prayers work =)