Mardi Gras Mambo

Since we were going to be heading out of town for the Mardi Gras holiday (more on that later), we decided that we had better squeeze in a few parades before it was time to hit the road. Enter "Family Gras."  We got a spot at Lakeside Mall and had time to grab a bite to eat before the parade began. Stella met a Honeybee and they posed together...

Mommy and her two favorite girls waiting for the parade...(notice Stella's nifty turtle bracelet)

Cille was a big fan of the bracelet...

"Throw me something, Mister!"

The Clydesdales...

That lady looks a little bit like a peacock, doesn't she?

Stella was so excited about her beads...

Cille was pretty pumped for her first Mardi Gras...

You can see the parade going on behind her if you look closely...

Oh, and you can't really tell, but her shirt says "Mardi Gras Princess"...

Ready to go home and straight to bed...

Meet our new friend!

For many months now I have maintained blog silence on a very exciting topic. We are so excited to have a brand new friend. Meet the cutest new kid on the block, Skyler Paul Zeringue...

Here's Cille checking out her future bestie...

Stella was also very excited to meet Skyler.  I'm sure he would have been just as excited to meet them, had he not been so exhausted from that long walk to our house...

Oh, and he may be small, but Skyler already has a well-established web presence. You can keep up with all this activities through his blog or his twitter account. We love you, Skyler! And your parents are pretty cool, too.

Pinkalicious Herself

You may have noticed one very important person missing from that last post...Pinkalicious herself!  The line was a little longer to meet the star of the show, but finally it was our turn...

Stella was eager to cuddle up right next to Pinkalicious...

Stella had a nice long chat with her while getting an autograph...

I'm not sure what she told Pinkalicious, but it must have been very interesting...

The rest of those cute girls in tutus are Stella's friends: Lauren, Julia, and Molly...

They love Pinkalicious so much that they all chose that theme for their birthday parties...

I am not so sure how Pinkalicious felt about all this coziness...

This is not the same picture from above, it only looks like it.  Can you pick out five differences?

Cuddle time for Stella, group photo time for everybody else...

Tickled Pink

On February 26th, Daddy, Mommy, Mawmaw, Pawpaw, and Mawmaw Shirley took Stella to see the musical Pinkalicious at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge.  Feel her anticipation...

We got all "pinked out" for the performance...

After the show, Stella got to meet Pinkalicious's mom...

And her dad...

And even Peter!

They even autographed her new Pinkalicious book for her!

Disney Trip

Once we return home, I'm sure we will have a number of posts to get everyone caught up on our trip to Disney. In the meantime, follow Scarlett on Twitter by going here.

Dancing with Chuck E. Cheese

Stella had a great time dancing with Chuck E. Cheese...

...and playing games!

Mardi Gras Half Marathon

The Mardi Gras Marathon....it's a race that has been pretty important to our family for a few years. Back in 2005, I ran the half for the first time. The next year I came back, sacrificed a few toenails, but made it all 26.2. Damon signs up for it every year, but always manages to find some excuse to just collect the swag and skip the race. This year, we both signed up for the full course. Ludicrous, right? Of course right. What were we thinking? We have two children under three and full-time jobs. Sometimes we are just dense.

A few days before the race, I decided that I wouldn't let a little thing like not being prepared stop me from participating and having a great time. After all, the race fell on February 13, which was my Grandma's birthday. My grandma was my absolute favorite person in the world, and I say with love, she was also a tad bit stubborn. I vowed to make this race my "Ode to Stubbornness" in honor of my Grandma.

I completed the race. My time was not a PR, but I was not concerned with time, so who cares? It was actually a liberating experience to run and not be a slave to the watch. Along the way I enjoyed the scenery, took as many bathroom breaks as I wanted, chatted up some losers from The Biggest Loser, and had a great time. One of my only problems was all those annoying people with their beeping Garmins messing up my zen. When looking back, there were several things I could have done to be better prepared for the race:

1. Train. I kind of skipped this part, with the exception of a few long runs about a month before the race. I am sure Hal Higdon would be mortified, and for this, I am truly sorry.

2. NOT eat a foot-long Subway tuna fish sandwich at 9 p.m. the night before the race.

3. Sleep more than 4 hours the night before the race. Instead I opted to spend a couple of hours crawling around in the cold attic looking for a dress that was actually not even up there. Oh, and I spent some time looking for Body Glide also. It rocks.

4. Break in my running shoes BEFORE the race.

All in all, I had a great time in spite of all my mistakes. It only hurt for a few days, so I don't think there was any real harm done.  If you have a burning desire to see me hobble over the finish line, visit the "Videos" tab up top.  If you MUST know my time, google it.

By far, the absolute BEST moment of the race was reuniting with my cheering section afterwards.  Damon braved the crowds with Stella strapped to his back and Cille in her stroller.  They were at the finish line when I crossed, and though none of us saw each other, it really meant a lot to me that they were there to support my insanity.  Oh, and they brought me chocolate frosted donuts and chocolate milk from the Hole!  Soooo much better than the crap the race organizers were trying to pawn off on people.

Also in the race that day were two special friends who did everything right and deserve a great big round of applause, or high five, or ice cream sundae, or something for their awesome accomplishments! Here is Emily, who completed her first full marathon, looking fresh as a daisy around mile 25...

See what I mean about training?  It pays off!  Another big congrats to Tricia Raney, who completed her first half-marathon that day!  Way to go, girls!