Baby Chancellor is on the way!

So my brother-in-law Jonathan and his new bride Laura are expecting a baby.  Well, they were very much surprised and far from expecting to be expecting so soon after their wedding, but God has plans for us and that includes creating life when He thinks is best.

I am so incredibly crazy for Laura that I forget sometimes I haven't known her forever.  I have watched Jonathan grow up and if he had ever asked me to pick the perfect person for his other half, I hope I would have been wise enough to pick Laura for him myself.  They are the yin to each other's yang.  Together they truly make a whole. 

That being said, we were all gathered on Saturday evening to find out the gender of their upcoming arrival.  Everyone was so excited, but first we had to have some goodies:

There were so many people there.  The room was filled with love for this happy young couple as they embark on parenthood.

My father-in-law Bob showing off some fancy footwear!

Jonathan's (L) and Laura's (R) maternal grandmothers.  It looks like they are swapping "war stories"!

In the middle are the Chancellors -- Jonathan's Dad and family

I had to make the photo rounds by getting some photo love from the Chancellor/Morris bunch. 

At last we had been made to wait long enough.  What is the gender of that baby?  Well, look for yourself:

It's a boy!  I am so excited, too, because now this new Baby Chancellor and new Baby Morris will be cousins and they will be so close in age.  Keep in touch with the blog because I see lots of stories of these boys getting into and out of trouble together over the years.

Once again, congratulations Jonathan and Laura.  I love you both!

Happy Easter! (A Recap in Pictures)

We had a lovely Easter weekend!  On Saturday we went to lunch hosted by Jonathan and Laura in their new house!  Laura really went all out, too!  She was quite the happy, newlywed hostess!  We had a spiral ham, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, green beans, and a terrific Easter chocolate cake made especially by you-know-who!  (That would be ME for those of you who lean towards the slow side.)

Think Rob loved my cake?

Saturday afternoon turned out to be a great, lazy afternoon at home with the kiddos.  Bobby went to the ballpark to coach, but when he got home we geared up for the next morning.

Sunday morning we woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had paid our house a visit!  The kids were super excited!  We went to early church which is a change for us.  We are usually an 11:00 AM service kind of family.  So hustling and bustling on Sunday morning took some getting used to.  But thanks to Bobby's steadfast ways, we were on time!

I was so excited to see on Twitter and other social media how many people were mentioning Christ's rising from the dead on Easter morning.  I really worry that today's society is doing everything in its power to shove Christianity into a closet or allow it to collect dust high upon a shelf.  Every single holiday has gone so commercial!  I have to admit that I lead a lot of commercialism in our home, too.  It is a struggle for me to raise good Christian children; I struggle with setting an example for them first and foremost.   But on Easter Sunday, I tried to mention Christ plenty of times more than eggs, bunnies, cake, etc.

After church we headed to my mom's for lunch.  Oh...my...goodness she made an Easter staple for us.  I was not raised on hams and gravies.  For every holiday we had some derivative of this:

 ...pictured above is the results of a two-day cooking event...homemade lasagna with secret family-recipe sauce and all the works! It's wonderful! We had a plethora of desserts to sample, then it was on to a very exciting egg hunt for the kids!

Well, it's time for a few "shots" and then we will call this day done!

I love this woman!

I love this man!

Me and my sister-from-another-mister!

This is real life on film...sometimes you just have to put the camera down!

Happy Easter, everyone!  This holiday is a wrap!

Laura became a Mrs...Part 1

Well, hello there!  I am finally recuperated from all the hilarity that ensued in the two weeks leading up to Jonathan and Laura's wedding.  As I write this, the happy couple are making their way home from a fantastic honeymoon and I am sitting on edge waiting to hear all about it.

Before Laura could get hitched, the bridesmaids and some of her closest friends threw her a lingerie/bachelorette party.  It was held one week before the wedding at the beautiful home of Bridesmaid Kendra's parents. 

No party would be complete without a bustier cake, but this one was actually red velvet.  Oh sweetnees!

Laura got some beautiful presents, but something tells me this was not something she wore on her honeymoon...

Here are almost all of her bridesmaids lined up, ready to go out:

And finally it was time to hit the road... we dispersed from the party but reconvened at the historic Tutweiler Hotel in downtown Birmingham. 

From the Tutweiler a limo picked us up and took us to some local night spots.  What bachelorette would be complete without her veiled appearance?  We were good to Laura.  We put nothing vulgar or phallic on her.  Rather, we dressed her up like the princess every bride should embody...Cinderella!

 Let me remind you, my faithful readers, that I am with child.  So it was extremely interesting, to say the least, to spend the evening club-hopping.  Bottled water and fresh air were my best friends.  Luckily we had VIP hookup and I had a place to sit down.  But forgive me for being a social butterfly.  The band was playing such fabulous music that I rarely noticed how tired I was.  Plus, it's Laura.  It was never an option to not go to her bachelorette party.

A mere seven days later Jonathan and Laura got married.  I cannot and would not spoil the big reveal of her big day, but I do have to share three images:

That's my guy in the middle and the happy groom on the right.  Love my men!

Rob (right) and Ryan R. made handsome ring bearers!

Caroline was one of two flower girls.  Once I get the go ahead to blog all about Laura's wedding, I will tell you all about how disasterous Caroline was.  But in light of how perfect the wedding was -- as a whole -- I guess Caroline's behavior was not that big of a deal.

Needless to say the wedding photography previews are breath-taking.  But just wait until you see the bride...my newest SISTER-in-law!

National Championship in NOLA!

  
  
[Warning...this is a very picture-heavy post, but I'm cramming a wonderful weekend into just one post...plus I'm back-log blogging.]

So how y'all doing?  As I mentioned yesterday, I spent the month of January adjusting to a new (yet old familiar) lifestyle.  But too bad for me because the Morris clan had previously arranged plans to travel to Houma and New Orleans, LA for a little ol' football game.  Can anyone scream "Road Trip"?

PS: I'm not actually "showing" yet.  But with a combination of the windy day and the unflattering top...YUCKY!

Notice Lorie's black and gold attire above?  Well, on Saturday the N.O. Saints were in a playoff game.  As much as we all love the Crimson Tide (and we DO!) the Saints are like, well, saints in the area. So we spent Saturday hanging out and getting ready for some NFL.

By the way, it's nice having a best friend with a fresh seafood market in the family.  Anyone want some fresh raw oysters on the half-shell?  Thanks for that fine shuckin' Shane!!!

Well, finally Sunday arrived.  We got up super early and make the 1 hr drive northeast to New Orleans.  It was on, y'all.  Eight (8) of us piled into our Expedition and headed to the Crescent City, prepared to show them who was boss! 

In Jackson Square, this guy was playing "Sweet Home Alabama"!  Um, Awesome!!!

We ate lunch at this little cafe and I swear, I had the BEST muffaletta...ever!!!

There really is music on every corner!

Some sights and fun in the city!

Did you know that you can't just TAKE a shot in the bars?  Men have to "retrieve" the shots, and women have to go after them.  Oh well, it's alcohol, so it'll kill the germs, right?

I...uh...there are no words!

Rashad Johnson, Alabama c/o 2009 DB (top, center) and his buddies were in the city partying, too!

Finally, it was the day of the big game!  Some of us (not me) woke up feeling a little, well... But sweet, beautiful Whitney was all about her Bama Houndstooth pride! 

So, what do you do when you wake up with "your mind right" on game day but you realize you have almost 8 hours until kickoff?  Play cards, of course!

There was plenty of good ballgame food, but we were in southern Louisiana, so there was also a king cake, natch...

This poor tiger's tag says "Roll over the Tide!"  I don't think so!...

It's finally game-time!

Heck Yeah!

Look how happy he is! And check out that score...21-0 baby!

Trust me, they'll both be celebrating tomorrow!

And, that's a wrap for this fun-filled long weekend in Louisiana!  Thank you Shane and Lorie for opening your house to all us crazies.  We love you bunches!

P.S. ROLL TIDE!  NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, BABY!  #14!!!