A few lessons:

It's Fall!  Time for cool(er) nights, jeans, boots, pumpkins, leaves, and FOOTBALL!  Gator football to be exact.

When I heard Texas A&M, who are located about an hour or so outside of Houston, were joining the SEC, my first thought was, "oh my gosh, I hope they play the Gators and I can go to the game!"  Well, the college football gods were smiling on me when they created the schedule, and the second game of our season was set to be against A&M in College Station.  I immediately called my friends with season tickets and asked them to purchase as many as they could.  Being the great friends they are, they came through with 6 for us.

We were joined by some of my friends from college, (one from Dallas, one from Houston, and two from Austin) and ventured into Aggie country.  As we stepped onto campus, we were wondering where everyone was.  It was eerily quiet.  You see, in Gainesville on game day, there is not a square foot of campus that is not occupied by a tent covering a spread of food, some sort of alcoholic beverage, and a group of friends wearing their Orange and Blue finest.  There was a steady stream of maroon t-shirts walking in the direction of the stadium, so we joined in.

As we neared the stadium, we finally saw a huge group of tailgaters...wearing ORANGE AND BLUE!  Of course we were thrilled to be amongst our own, but we were still wondering where everyone was.  Don't people tailgate in Texas?  I thought this was a huge football state.

Steve, being a native Texan, kept defending A&M, "they will all be closer to the stadium," "they must be on the other side of the stadium," "we always just had a party at the frat house before a game" (yes dear, they do that at UF too...but there are still many fans spread out around campus).  Once we made it to the SW corner of the stadium, a sea of maroon appeared and we had finally found the tailgating location. 

Lesson #1: A&M could learn a few things from the SEC about tailgating.

We were looking for a friend of ours at an Aggie tailgate and I have to admit, I was dreading it.  Being used to the fans of other SEC schools (and sadly, even my own precious UF), I was expecting to be met with fake smiles, trash talking, and awkwardness.  I could not have been more wrong!  Instead, we were greeted by this very friendly man named Dwayne who immediately filled our hands with beer and food and thanked us for making the trip to Aggie-land.

On our walk into the stadium, a couple of Aggies walked up behind us and as we braced ourselves for some expected harassment, they proceeded to ask us where we were from, if we were having a good time, and wished us luck with the game.

I hate to admit this, but this actually made me nervous.  Where were the harassing and rude comments about how bad they were going to beat us?  Where were the yells of pride for their school to let us know who's house we were in?

During the game, if a bad call was made, they didn't boo....they are too polite for that.  Instead they made a hissing sound to show their disappointment.  When they took the lead, there were no chants of "go home losers" or "not so tough in the SEC" being made.  When we won, there was no poor sportsmanship.  Instead, we were told, "Good game guys.  Thanks for coming and drive home safely."  I turned to my friend and said, "They must have rigged our cars for explosives.  Why else would they be so nice?" 

Well, we got in our car with no explosion and made it safely home.

Lesson #2:  The SEC can learn a lot from A&M about sportsmanship, class, and manners.

Thanks for having us Aggies and welcome to the SEC! 

Watch out Ryan Lochte

First and foremost, let me just say....GO GATORS!  They are representing in full force at these Olympic games.  That being said, the future Gator in our family is very into the Games and thinks he might like to compete in 2032.  He will be 20 and in peak physical condition. 

Last night, during his bath, Davis began his training. 

He is also coordinating his wardrobe to his new-found athleticism. 

 

This is what he does....EVERYDAY!

The only problem is that because our last name is Callaway, we already had plans for him to be a golfer.  He has until his first birthday to figure it out.

Tie one on Tuesday

At Baby Boot Camp, where Davis is one of only 3 boys and about 15 girls, the mommies of the gorgeous little girls decided to start having Tu-Tu Tuesdays, where each of them shows up in their most beautiful tu-tu.  It is a riot.  Well, not being one to be left out or out-done, Davis decided to start Tie one on Tuesday for the gentlemen.

 

Because it's hot out, and this was a mid-morning event, Davis opted for shorts, rolled up sleeves, and a loosened tie to keep things a little more casual.  As soon as I can find an orange and blue rep tie in his size, he will be ready to go rush ATO at UF.

We met up with Steve for lunch and Davis was ready to go to work with Dad.  They even matched a little.

Steve didn't go for "take your son to work day" today, but Davis isn't giving up hope.  Who wouldn't want to buy a suit from that face???

What happened to my baby?!?!?

What happened here?  Recently, Davis became 5 months old, outgrew his 3 month clothes, started eating solids, and had his first kiss.  Davis' personality is really starting to come out, and I like it a lot.  He is extremely easy-going, smiles a ton, and doesn't know a stranger.

His 3 month clothes aren't fitting anymore, so it is time to box them up and pass them on to his cousin.  This is making me very sad because he has the CUTEST 3 month wardrobe.  I mean, look at this:

All I know is someone is about to get some awfully cute hand-me-downs.

Davis has eaten several foods now.  So far, cereal = doesn't like, sweet potatoes = likes, broccoli = hates, carrots = not sure about yet, peas = seems to like, apples = likes, apricots = doesn't like, peaches = LOVES!

Here's the man in action:

Sweet Potatoes

Peas

Apples

Finally, Davis had his first romantic encounter with a lovely lady.  She is a little older and was more aggressive, but Davis really doesn't seem to mind:

 

He's growing up kids.

Get in my belly!

Davis attempted cereal for the first time last night. This is how it went:

He was proud of himself.

Do I have to exercise? Can't I just eat this brownie instead?

This week will start my 4th week of Baby Boot Camp, and I am so proud of myself for sticking with it.  I have never in my life exercised on a consistent basis....who are we kidding, I have never really worked out period.  There was a stint in college where I went to the gym almost everyday for about a month, but that's about it. 

Having a baby changes almost everything in your life, but one of the things I am struggling with the most is what it has done to my body.  Maybe that makes me extremely vain, but it's true.  I can manage through night after night of interrupted sleep, changing dirty diapers all day, constantly walking around with a spit-up stain on my shirt; but when am I going to fit in my clothes again?!?!?

I, like many pregnant women, had these big plans of exercising through my pregnancy and then training extra hard to bounce back right away after giving birth; but then my couch got in the way.  And then there was the pizza, and the chicken wings, and the ranch dressing....oh the glorious ranch dressing.  I surpassed my weight-gain goal by 10-15 lbs during pregnancy and then immediately lost all but 10-13 of it - things were looking pretty good.  But then I hit a plateau and not a single pound miraculously fell off.  In fact, some crept their way back on - sneaky little rascals.  Enter Baby Boot Camp.

Being fairly new to Houston, I wanted to make some friends who also had young children and so Baby Boot Camp seemed like a way to kill two birds with one stone.  As I like to believe is the case with most things, I was right!

I ventured out to my first class feeling a little nervous that my lack of athleticism would be blatantly obvious.  There were about 10 other women in the class with babies ranging from Davis' age (14 weeks at the time) to around 2 years old, and they couldn't have been more friendly.  I pushed myself to complete every exercise to the best of my ability...which became less and less as the class went on and my muscles were crying out for mercy...and was so proud of myself at the end of class.  I had made it!  The class meets three times a week, and so even though I was having trouble walking, I attended every class that week and got to know some of the other moms a little better. 

It has only been three weeks so I am not expecting to see immediate results (I think that is why so many people give up working out after about a week or two), but I can definitely tell that my legs jiggle a little less, and if my soreness is any indication...I will be in great shape in no time.  Steve claims he can see a difference, but I think he just needs to have his eyes checked....sweet of him to lie though.

My favorite part of class is that we essentially have a personal trainer who keeps us moving and pushing ourselves, but we can also trade war stories and tips during the lower impact exercises.  Then there are the babies!  Toward the end of class, almost all of the babies are out of their strollers and either crawling around trying to eat grass, or their moms are holding them using them as weights during workout.  By the end of class, I can only imagine how it looks to passerby's.

Here is the website for Baby Boot Camp - they have them in almost every city: http://www.babybootcamp.com/  The class I go to is StrollFit in Houston West

Last Monday, I went to baby time at the library with some of the moms from class.  Here is Davis with his new lady friends:

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  I hope you all have enjoyed the long weekend and had some time to celebrate with friends and family. Most importantly, I hope you have spent some time thinking about what this holiday really means and remembering those who have given their lives so we have the freedom to BBQ (or whatever else you did this weekend). This day makes me really think about the family members who are left behind. We appreciate you and your loved one's sacrifice!

We went to our friends, Jim and Maggie's, house yesterday to grill out and swim in their amazing pool with some of their other friends who have kids. Davis was definitely the youngest one there, but he knew how to party...in between naps. Steve and I kept watching the boys, who ranged from 20 months to 9 years old, and envisioned our futures. Oh boy.

Here are some pictures from Davis' first swimming experience. The water was as warm as his bath water is, so he probably thought he was just in a big bath and wondered why he had to wear so much clothing. 

I love his outfit!

Laughing at daddy

LOVES his daddy!

Just wanna kiss that handsome face. 

Keeping an eye on the bartender. 

That's how its done!

Trying to steal dad's margarita.