Everleigh Isabella Kelley - 5 Months and Counting

Everleigh’s Monthly Photos:  This mommy's attempt to capture our Baby Bear's growth in relation to her “Letter E"... Continued. 

You would never be able to tell just by looking at these pictures that this sweet, smiling baby girl was dealing with a NASTY case of the sniffles.  And congestion.  And coughing.  It’s almost WORSE that way for me though.  She’s so happy and sweet BUT can’t BREATHE and has trouble falling into a deep sleep at night.. tossing and turning.. thrashing her legs and arms and never fully getting the rest she needs.  Poor thing.  This mommy feels so bad for her.  We’ve tried everything.  Motrin for the slightly elevated fever… An air purifier in her room in case it’s allergy related.. Vicks Plug Ins…the DREADED bulb syringe thingy that Everleigh (like most kids, I’m sure) HATES!  These parentals are running out of options here!!  I know there’s not much else to do but wait and let it run its course… but, I’m OVER IT!  Boogers BE. GONE! 

I am glad though that this sniffle business didn’t hinder our 5 month photo session this week.  A couple days late (but who’s really counting), here’s my sweet Baby Bear at just a smidge past five months, as sweet as ever.  And of course because I can’t pick JUST ONE… 

(To see her past monthly photos...click HERE or... HERE or...HERE)

Well...what you doin' up there Mommy?!?!

By the end of our "shoot" she had wriggled her way down the chair to her baby yoga position.  lol.. 

Silly Bear :) :) 

Won't You Be My Valentine, My Valentine, My Valentine

In honor of yesterday's Ooey, Gooey, Love Fest...and to keep the sweetness going for the rest of the week, I'm sharing what has to be THE. CUTEST. VIDEO of OUR sweet, little Valentine that has been taken of her so far.  I know I've said this before, and I'll KEEP saying it, but, how in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks!!! did we produce SUCH and A.DOR.ABLE child?!?!  Seriously?!?!  Melts my heart every single time I look into her big....scratch that....HUMONGOUS brown eyes!!   

Thank you SOOOOOOOO MUCH  "Grandma" Lisa for taking this video and capturing Everleigh's sweet, 20 week, 2day old, goodness for everyone to enjoy!!  

Now....Won't you be my Valentine, My Valentine, My Valentine.. ;)  

What a Difference a Year Makes...

Dear Sweet Baby Bear,

It’s amazing what can happen in an entire year.  This time last year, on February 5^th, 2012, (your cousin Kenzie’s birthday) we found out we were pregnant with you.  Your dad and I had been mentally preparing for that moment for months… but when that stick came back positive, we knew our lives would never be the same.  From that moment, we wondered about you, we dreamt about what you would be like, how we would adjust to fit you into our lives and what you would look like.  That day, celebrating your cousin’s 4^th birthday, not ready to let the world know you were growing in my belly, we held in the biggest secret of our lives… and it nearly killed us.  :)  (in the BEST, most NON-tragic way possible of course...lol)

Those nine months, with you growing safely in my belly, were the longest, AND SHORTEST nine months of my life.  In the beginning, it seemed like FOREVER to get to that next sonogram.  Because I was considered “High Risk”… I watched what I ate, gave myself insulin injections multiple times a day and nervously awaited every single doctor visit.  A year later, here you are and that time without you, seems like forever ago (and also seemed to pass in an instant).  How did we ever get along without you?  You slipped right into our lives like you were always here.  Your furry sister Macie is coming around (FINALLY!!) and you’ve made us the happiest new parents around!  Your smile alone can turn any frown upside down and I thank God every day for letting us be your parents.  

NINETEEN weeks later… you’re more BEAUTIFUL than I could've ever imagined.    

At Your Four Month Check Up

(Four Months, a Week and 3 Days Actually)  

16lbs 15oz.  25" long   

You, at 22 weeks (in the womb ;)

The day we found out you were a GIRL!!  :)

Soup's On! & My Sweet Charity - Chef Chad Kelley

I'm always so proud when my Chef is written about in some form or fashion.  Over the last few years, as the Executive Chef of some pretty great restaurants here in Dallas, Chad's had so many opportunities to take part in a number of great and note worthy events and fundraisers.  Last week he joined a whole slew of top notch Dallas chefs for Soup's On!, a fundraiser for Stewpot Alliance.  Apparently it was one of the best turn outs they've had since its creation! 

To read more articles featured on My Sweet Charity, who ran this story online yesterday, check them out HERE!!

Besides the beneficiary and the support of First Presbyterian Church, the one common factor of the years has been the dedication of the participating chefs. And while the guests like Robyn and Don Conlon and their family, Fred Hegi, Hayley Hamilton, Gary Cogill, Erin Mathews, David Nichols, Brent Christopherand Sarah Nelson checked out and bid on the amazing piece of art by Stewpot artisans, the chefs (ChefRandall Copeland of Restaurant Ava, Chef Bruno Davaillon of Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, ChefOmar Flores of Driftwood, Chef Keith Hanks of The Capital Grille, Chef Al Havens of Salum, Chef Jason Maddy of Oak, Chef Danyele McPherson of The Grape, Chef Chad Kelley of Café Pacific, Chef Janice Provost of Parigi, Chef Anastasia Quiñones of Komali, Chef Abraham Salum of Salum, Chef Nathan Tateof Boulevardier and Chef Host Jason Weaver of Omni Dallas Hotel) assembled in the kitchen with Chef General Brian Luscher going over the POA. He advised his team of top-notch chefs that everything would go according to plan, because “these folks have schedules.” He and the others had made arrangements for almost any situation. If there was a guest who was vegetarian, there was a soup for that one. If someone was lactose intolerant, there was another soup prepared and ready to be served. Each chef had not only prepared enough soup for 60-70 people, they had also provided their recipes to be given to the guests.

Danyele McPherson, Anastasia Quiñones and Janice Provost

Then they were all off to their stations for final arrangements. Well, almost all of them. The three lady chefs (Danyele, Janice and Anastasia) huddled to see the newest members of the Dallas culinary scene — Anastasia’s four-week-old baby daughter, Isabella. No, the baby wasn’t there, but mom had plenty of photos on her smartphone to show off the most adorable baby with the fattest cheeks. It was Anastasia’s first day away from the baby.

Joan Mason and Wes Moore

While the chefs prepared for the soup presentation, guest speaker Wes Moore chatted with Honorary Co-chairs Joan and Elvis Mason. The Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and

Karen James and Wes Moore

Visual Arts Varsity Choir performed magnificently. After buttonholing Wes, Karen James tried and tried to find her table. First Presbyterian’s Rev. Dr. Joe Clifford and his wife Jennifer chatted

Steve Blow and Jennifer and Rev. Joe Clifford

with Dallas Morning News columnist/emcee Steve Blow. Hockadaisies (Hockaday students) had floor plans ready to advise guests where their tables were.

The room started filling with the aroma of soup, as bowls of soup were presented to the tables. The sound of spoons and china coming together was heard as guests lapped up the last bits of their soup. “Oh, WOW!” was heard throughout the room.

Gail Davis

Then it was on with the show recognizing some of the notables in the audience, including Mayor Mike Rawlings. Rev. Clifford advised the crowd that if all things went according to Trish’s and Kay’s plan, Soup’s On! would cross the million-dollar mark. Trish and Kay announced that Gail Davis would be chairing the luncheon next year. They also revealed that guests were in store for more goodies in addition to the chefs’ recipes. They would be taking home soup bowls designed by the Saturday School Children and a commemorative coin that sculptor Brad Oldham had created in honor of Soup’s On!

Brad Oldham

What they didn’t reveal is that Brad also created spoon sculptures to be presented to each of the chefs.

As the chefs were announced and entered via the back of the ballroom, all were cheered with some receiving high-fives as they passed friends.

Who’s the best chef in Dallas?

Then it was time for the chefs  to get back to their restaurants after a group shot, and for the guests to enjoy the entree course and speaker Wes, who told of his journey from a challenging childhood to a success story of today unlike a young man, who was also named Wes Moore, but is spending the rest of his life in jail. It was the same talk that he gave last June for Jonathan’s Place, but the passion and inspiration were still amazing. At points in his talk when he would pause, the silence in the room was breathtaking. The room was devoid of even the sound of coffee cups being returned to their saucers.

What was the highlight of his talk? Expectations. As Wes told the group, it’s not a question of not living up to one’s expectations. That was the problem. Both of the Weses lived up to their expectations. Each man’s expectation was just different.

With that in mind, the luncheon proved that the Stewpot Alliance expectations are not only “lived up to,”  they’re surpassed every year, thanks to volunteers, sponsors, patrons and the chefs of Dallas.