February is almost over!

Ugh, time just flies doesn't it? It's already been almost a month since my last post, and February is almost over!

I. SUCK. I feel like some of you have given up on me and my poor widdle blog. My apologies. I've been super busy...with nothing and with everything. Does that make sense?

Currently, I am working on a wedding coming up in April and it's going to be awesome! I'm super stoked!! It's the whole shebang (as opposed to a day-of gig) so I've had lots of researching and shopping and designing to do, plus meetings with vendors, etc etc. I'm happy to be busy working though. It keeps me on my toes and it's what I love to do, so bring on the planning!

I am also still working on my website, Facebook page and branding. I don't want to rush this part of the process because I want to be able to launch the full package all at once. No half ass Facebook page. No web page "still under construction".  No jumping the gun. You understand, right?
Patience. It.WILL.happen. (and by the way, I'm actually speaking to myself when I say this). But please, in the mean time feel free to spread the word about Project: Fête! We are in full effect, just not cyber yet. Lol.

And in other news...

My grandmother left this passed Wednesday to fly back to the motherland. Boo. It's been so wonderful having her here for the last couple of months.  She was just commenting on how Koen has changed soooo much since she first arrived in mid-December. At that point, he was 5 months old and still in the cuddly blob stage. Now he's a little more rigid (meaning less of a blob) and still very cuddly :)

I'm so happy that she was here to share in some of Koen's 'firsts'. His first Christmas and New Year, his first time eating solid food, his first time sitting up on his own, his first time drinking from a sippy cup, his Christening, and now, his first tooth! Yep, finally! It's just a razor sharp tip at this point, but we're very excited about it.

Mami has also experienced a couple of her own 'firsts' while she was here:

She saw her very first Mardi Gras parades...ever

Evening parade...Krewe of Orion

 

It was Koen's first Mardi Gras parade as well

Also, she was able to celebrate my mom's birthday with her in person, for the first time in like 30 years (ok, obviously not a true first, but still).

It was such a special day for both of them

We were all so sad to see her go, but I think she's already making plans to be with us for the Holidays again this year!

Thank God for family. I would be lost without mine :)

xoxo,
mama V!ck

Lions, Tigers and Bears....oh, Where?

Have any of you been to the Audubon Zoo lately? It's been since, like, 3rd grade for me. I have the vague memory of a loooong bumpy bus ride from AP to NOLA, complete chaos with my classmates, eating lunch on the branch of a big oak tree with my besties and a loooong bumpy bus ride back. Oh, and some stinky animals somewhere in between. That was circa early 90's.

This passed weekend, Mr. V!ck and I decided it would be a good time to revisit this nostalgic place. So off we go, bebe in tote. Daddy carried Ko in the harness so he could see all the animals (joke, I know) while mommy tried her hardest not to run over small children with the stroller. 

We saw flamingos and rhinos and giraffes and anteaters and leopards and an orangutan reading a magazine. For real. And parrots and gorillas and elephants and wild dogs and gazelles. But mommy, for some reason, only thought to bring out the camera when we were in the Louisiana Swamp exhibit....like I haven't seen a million damn snakes and alligators in my life. Stupid. And that's really all I got photos of. Stupid.

So here's goes:

gators

nutria

otters

turtles

and coons.

...really? 

Stupid.

By the way, we must have skipped an entire part of the park because it wasn't until we were on our way home that we realized we didn't see the first lion, tiger or bear. Oh, my!

xoxo,

mama V!ck

3 day weekend!!

Having a 3-day weekend is always exciting, no matter what for. It's like finding money in the pocket of your coat. But what's awesome about this 3-day weekend is the SUNSHINE! After dealing with all the damn rain {for what seemed like FOR.E.VER...} we finally got some dry weather and warmth on our bones.

And what better to do to start off the weekend than take a little drive down to the city.

 {St. Louis Cathedral}

{Place d'Armes Park}

 {I don't the know the name of that bridge... you know the one}

 {one dem gamblin' boats. Mississippi Queen, maybe?}

 {Jo on the River Walk}

 {don't let the photo fool ya....she enjoyed herself}

And  Koen got his first taste of NOLA, too.

{at the park}

{feeding pigeons in the French market}

 {and passed out on Bourbon...}

Saturday was spent at home mostly.  I brought mami to the farmers market in the morning, then for a stroll around downtown. The rest of my day was spent (for the most part) at the house where I busied myself hanging artwork on the nursery walls.... finally.  Turns out I didn't do the frame cluster after all. I just couldn't get it right. I think the problem was the size of my frames and the space I was working with. So I kept it simple:

The walls still seem bare, in my opinion, but I'm happy with this little bit of progress. It'll just have to do for now.

Then... Sunday morning.

It started off just as any other: coffee, tummy time, laundry. Then Gabe says, "hey, I think I'll go check that rat trap {yes, we had a rat issue} in the attic. I think I heard something."

OK, no problem. Little did I know that was going to turn in to something from National Lampoon.  As Gabe descended the attic ladder, carrying the cage with the furry gray rodent in it, the front door of the thing flings open and out jumps the rat into our hallway. The rat was literally air born and all I could do was scream like a sissy and shut myself into the guest room with Koen! I did manage to spill my coffee all over the floor in the process.

But wait, the fun doesn't stop there....

Where does the rat run for safety? The nursery, of course! At this point, I've gotten the courage to step back  out of the guest room. "Did you get it?! Did you get it?!" I ask Gabe frantically, just as I see Mr. Rat scurry along the floorboard behind the crib.

Immediately, Gabe and I go into "oh sh*t" mode. How are we supposed to catch a loose rat in the baby's room? He fetches a shovel, a rake and a cardboard box. The plan is to corner the rat and get him to run into the box. Should he try to make a run for the door, I am to smash him with the rake. If he goes the other way, Gabe is to smash him. Easy peasy.

After about ten minutes of back and forth with this damn rat (he's super speedy, y'all), he disappears under the crib.  I move the crib to get him to come out. Nothing. Then low and behold,
I see the little acrobat climbing up the back of the crib (his little whiskery face staring at us) on to the humidifier. Being that the humidifier is on a stand that's a little top heavy, the thing began to wobble and in order to save his tail (pun intended) the rat leaps into the air on to...drum roll, please....the BABY'S MOBILE!

Picture this! The rat swinging and twirling on the mobile and Gabe and I lose it! We're screaming and laughing hysterically. Garden tools are all amuck. Complete chaos ensues. I will spare you the details of how the battle ended, just know that there is no longer a rodent problem.

If only we'd gotten the whole thing on video. You'd have to have seen this ordeal for yourself to believe it! And that was a all before breakfast.

Hope you all had a fantastic 3-day weekend. SHOUT OUT to my bestie Mindy who is celebrating her 2 year wedding anniversary on 1.22.13. Whoop whoop! Congrats!

xoxo,
mama V!ck

It's 2013!

We are already two weeks into the new year and getting things started off right!!  So what's been going on lately in my little world? let's see.....

As you may know, my family was in town from France for the holidays and Koen has grown especially close to them.

{Koen avec mamily}

{Koen, mamily, mami et tati}

{Koen avec tati Muche}

This little boy has been spoiled rotten since they got here. So much attention, dancing, singing and love, he couldn't be happier! {nor could I}

Also, I hit a milestone in age. Yes, this girl celebrated her 30th birthday on the 7th.

 {not bad for 3 decades, right?}

{yummies from mah bestie Katie}

{mama got the spins after blowing out 30 candles!}

I have to admit, my twenties are sort of a blurr, but that's only because memory loss is a side effect of old age {and mommy brain}.....  I mean, it's not easy to remember 10 years back. Geez, I have trouble remembering what day it is.

My friend asked me "did you accomplished everything you wanted to by age 30?" YES. I. DID.

College degree(s)

Home

Husband

Baby

I'm so looking forward to what my 30s have in store for me...new career, more babies (ha! my uterus just cramped up), growing old(er) with my hubby, traveling.... who knows?!

This past Saturday was a special day as well. Koen was christened, along side his new little cousin, Lily. We were super excited that Lily and Koen could share this special day together.

{the day after Lily was born}

 {Koen with his godparents}

{Koen and his beautiful cousin Lily}

What else?...Oh! Koen turned 6 months today! Ahhh....how time flies! 

Our little tater weighs 16 pounds now, and is just over 26 inches long.  He may not be the tallest, but this boy's well fed, ya hear!  He started eating solid foods on New Year day! Carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, yellow squash and apple are all he's had so far and he loves it! Mama can't seem to shovel it in fast enough ;) 

Koen still doesn't sit up completely on his own, but he's trying. We see him straining in his car seat restraints, trying to sit up. {There has to be 6 pack abs under all that baby fat!} 

I think 6 months is a pretty exciting time for us. I can't wait to see what's in store.....Koen's first Mardi Gras, perhaps?!?

Hope you all are enjoying the new year so far. Stick to those resolutions. Don't give up!

xoxo,
mama V!ck

Five, Four, Three, Two...

Yessir, only 2 days away from the new year {next time, Mayans, next time}!!

I can't believe how quickly we moved through this 2012. This year brought about MANY changes in our lives. We got our first "family car"... and just in time because this time last year is when I was beginning to have suspicions about being pregnant (because obviously, the 6 positive pregnancy tests didn't convince me). We celebrated our first anniversary in 2012! And Mr V!ck got a good promotion (right after I got canned from my job) #luckyme #burnjasper

2012 was the year of the baby- boys, especially. Besides our little bundle of joy, we welcomed our nephew, Jai David, into the world, as well as petit Maxence and his cousin Victor in France, my cousin's little girl Lily and most recently, my gal pal's boy, Ty! Not to mention there were at least 10 other babies born recently to people I know! Whew! Koen won't be lacking cousins or companions! And that means 2013 has a LoT of first birthday parties in store. I love parties!

Speaking of parties, one of my resolutions, or 'goals' should I say, for 2013 is to launch my event planning business Project:Fête! to the public. I have enough events under my belt now to show off on a website and social media sites.  I'm sooooo excited about t it! Once it's all in full swing, I'll be sure to post up and hopefully YOU (my faithful followers) can help spread the word ;)

With less than 2 days to go, I'm anxious to get the new year rolling! It's going to be a great one! I wish you all the best 2013 has to offer. PEACE. LOVE. HEALTH. PROSPERITY.

Xoxo, mama Vick

playing photographer... bloopers

I thought that as the proud owner of a DSLR camera (remember the one I got for Christmas last year) as well as the proud owner of a new baby, that I would document the hell out of his milestones. Any excited wannabe photog parent would, right? Well for those of you who don't know me well, I tend to lean on the procrastination side..

His nursery still is not complete. oopsie. His birth announcements went out after he already turned 4 months old. Oh wait, nope, 5 months. oopsie. He never had newborn pics taken because I was supposed to do them. oopsie. And all the photo sessions we've had up to this point have not produced results I was expecting. It seems though, that most times, folks only like to share the 'good' pictures. You know, the ones filled with great smiles, eyes open and hair perfectly coifed. Personally, I always find humor in the 'blooper' pics!

Allow me to present

Exhibit A: Spring pics

well hello there, Stella.

(insert your own caption here)

Exhibit B: First Halloween

 attempting to be creative. FAIL.

not as thrilled about his first punkin as mommy was. obviously.

yeah...and he really loved his first Halloween costume.

Exhibit C: Fall pics

that session went well...

Exhibit D: Christmas pics (taken in 2 different sessions)

Baahaha! What can I say?? For some reason, I am always the one smiling when I see these pics! I think they're hilarious!

I'd love to hear about your holiday photo mishaps.

xoxo, mama V!ck