Ok, I totally rushed through that last post because the only thing I want to talk about is my NEPHEW! Jude Samuel Causey made his debut at 9:22pm on Saturday, September 20! After an insanely long labor, Meagan ended up having to get a c-section - and she was a total rockstar! (And yes, every sentence in this post is going to end with an exclamation point!)

The midwife finally came out and gave us a thumbs up! Cigars for everyone!

Wendell, I mean PawPaw, is quite the cigar connoisseur and was so excited about these!

Nathan finally came out to personally deliver the amazing news, and told us we would have to wait another 10 minutes or so to see Meagan and the bebe. Of course, at this point it's about 11:00pm and we're all dying of anticipation!

We finally got to the room and Meagan looked amazing! Seriously, I would have guessed she was on a beach vacation. AMAZING! After introducing us to Jude Samuel Causey, it was time to play Pass the Baby! I made sure Adam and I were last - after all, we weren't at the hospital as long as everyone else!

Andddd my heart burst!

 Proud Uncle Adam!!

We love you so much, Jude!!

And now for some other pics Adam snapped... 

Grandma (aka Big Deb) in the role she was born to play!

Aunt Kelsey!

I mean, really? He's so perfect!

The next morning, I walked the dogs and came back to Adam standing at the front door all ready to go and see Jude. We hung out at Starbucks for a bit and then headed up to the hospital to deliver some coffee to the new parents and get some quality snuggling time in before everyone else showed up!

Uncle Adam is kind of obsessed! Who can blame him??

Look who opened his eyes! It's crazy how much more like a little person he looks like with his eyes open.

LOVE HIM!!!!!! I was holding him when he sneezed for the first time, so I'll make sure to remind him of that every day for the rest of his life! Now Adam is determined to be the first one to make him laugh.

And because I obviously can't go longer than a day without seeing my favorite person, ever - I headed back up there last night to hang out with Meagan, Debbie, Carol and the babe!

Hey, Jude!

He has a little jaundice (am I saying that right?), so he had to spend most of the time in this little alien device, but that's ok because I still love staring at him!!

Life's hard!

I did get to feed him and burp him, which was kinda sorta the highlight of my year, so far! Adam was at bible study, so he couldn't join us - needless to say, he was beyond jealous!

How obsessed is too obsessed? The limit does not exist! YOU ARE SO LOVED, JUDE!!!

showering baby causey

I can't wait to look back on this in a few months and say "Remember when we used to call him Baby Causey?". Meagan and Nathan have decided on a name for my nephew, but have chosen not to share it with anyone (wise decision). In the interim, he has been lovingly called "Baby Causey", and Kelsey and I threw Meagan a shower to celebrate him on Sunday!

We decided to go with a book theme because A. we know Meagan loves to read and will love to read to this little bundle, B. there were so many food options to go with it and C. it was cute, of course!

You can't even tell she's pregnant from the front! Seriously, the cutest.

I think the mantle was my favorite part! It was so simple to execute, but turned out so adorable.

Kelsey was in charge of food and she ROCKED it out!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: cupcakes in the shape of a caterpillar

The Cat in the Hat: strawberry and banana skewers

The Stinky Cheese Man: cheese and crackers

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish: goldfish

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: meatballs

And our favorite part, Pregatini Punch.... with drowning ducks. Haha - they would not stay up!

Guess Baby Causey's birthday! I guessed September 21 so I can forever sing him September by Earth, Wind and Fire.

For the guest book, we had people write him a message in "Oh, the Places You'll Go".

Our "game" was to have everyone pick a few alphabet letters and draw a corresponding picture to make him his first alphabet book. I should have taken some "after" pictures, but I forgot. Needless to say, some are more artistically inclined than others (I purposefully sat this one out) - but it is filled with love!

For the party favors, we wrapped up chocolate chip cookies to go with the always-relevant "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". Kelsey did the adorable wrapping - bravo!

We love you Baby Causey and we can't wait to meet you!!! And it'll be nice to finally know your name. 

the past 60: new job, new additions, fun times

Well, I believe I have officially beat any previous record of lapses between posts! Rather than write a post for all of the VERY exciting things that have been happening in our life, we'll do one of those photo round ups that I'm so fond of. Looks like I left off at the Braves game (wow, this has been awhile...).

The week after the Braves game I kicked off my event season with Taste of the Nation Charlotte on April 16.

(Obvi I had to take some time to hang out with my friends.)

Followed by Taste of the Nation Palm Beach on April 23.

 Post-event drinks at Buccan with our favorite waiter, Francisco!

Spent the weekend with Barb in Orlando! She is one of my absolute favorite people.

And Taste of the Nation Atlanta on May 8.

I work with some amazing people!

This year's Honorary Chef, Carmen Quagliata from Union Square Cafe, was so fun!

Handsome was able to join!

4 weeks, three events and more then $900k raised for No Kid Hungry! I'd say it was a successful use of my time.

The day after Taste of the Nation events, you typically sleep in and try to relax that morning before heading into work to start doing clean up work. Well, Atlanta clearly has a curse on me. Last year, I had to get up at 6am to meet our movers at the storage unit (long story short, don't ever use Smart Stop Storage on Powers Ferry).

This year, I had to get up at 4am to head to Stamford, CT for my final interviews with Nestlé Waters. (Oh, yeah. That happened.) I got the JOB! I'll be handling the fine dining key accounts for San Pellegrino, Acqua Panna and Perrier in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. SUPER excited, because I still get to work in the hospitality industry, with chefs and restaurants I already know from Share Our Strength. Nestlé Waters is a Share Our Strength sponsor, so I still get to be involved - which I'm also excited about. Funny story, I actually posed with an Acqua Panna bottle while we were in Italy to prove to Share Our Strength that I was "working on vacation". It was meant to be!

In May, my best friend got engaged on her birthday - and I had been scheming with her now-fiancee for a couple months to surprise her. They returned to Colorado Springs from their engagement trip to San Francisco on the night of Friday, May 16 - and I was there to surprise her! I actually flew in on Thursday, so I was able to spend Friday in Denver with my cousin, Christopher, and my ex-manager/friend, Jamie. So much fun!

Christopher works for Native Roots - a marijuana dispensary. I was so interested in how everything works (since it's legal out there) and he literally speaks a different language. So many "industry terms" I'm clearly not aware of. Proud of him for working so hard at something he's passionate about (ha)!

 Corn hole with Christopher at Viewhouse

Jamie!! Love her.

 JACK IN THE BOX!!

The newly engaged couple looking so cute in their California shirts.

She officially asked me to be her Matron of Honor - let the fun begin!

Being touristy at Garden of the Gods.

Final night - we had Thai food and watched TV. So thankful for times with this person.

After a quick stop in Florida the next week for my Share Our Strength Farewell Tour (I named it that, of course), it was back home - finally. The next weekend - Memorial Day - we celebrated my dad's birthday. Jeff and Katie flew in to surprise him and we had some good ole fashioned Reaves Family Fun. I love when the whole family gets together!

The whole fam!

 Cards Against Humanity!

Hank, please help yourself.

Birthday dinner at Del Frisco's Grille.

Atlanta Food & Wine Festival was the following weekend, and after a day of volunteering with Allison we were able to hit up a couple events. We went to the Chef After Party at Empire State South on Saturday, May 31 and the Tasting Tents on Sunday. Good times!


For our volunteering, Allison and I were the sous chefs for Buttermilk Kitchen. It was my first time dealing with food in that type of setting, but we totally rocked it out. (haha - I'm sure.)

The following week I took off between Share Our Strength and starting at Nestlé Waters. I didn't take a break between MLT Creative and Share Our Strength, and felt like I didn't know which way was up! The break was so great - very relaxing, with some sun, friends and family sprinkled in.

Adam was a groomsman in his old roommate-groomsman-friend-Kirklan's wedding at the Robson Event Center on Friday, June 6. As always, we had a great time with those North Georgia, peeps.

Kirklan is a huge Batman fan, so he had this fun picture taken of all the groomsmen as different superheroes...

 ..Adam was Thor!

Randi was stunning!

After party with some of our favorite people at the Monkey Barrel.

Sunday we spent celebrating Jillian and Austin's engagement party. Can't wait for their wedding next March!

I saved the BEST news for last... ADAM AND I WILL HAVE A NEPHEW IN SEPTEMBER!!!! (Well, we're not having him.) Meagan and Nathan are expecting the little bundle on September 18, and she has to be the cutest prego, ever. All of us Baker girls went shopping for Baby Causey last week and I just about died. I also broke the seal and have now been buying way too many baby things for this little bebe. Eeeeeeek! We are so excited for this little miracle and can't wait to spoil him rotten! We love you, whatever your name is!

It's a BOY!

Celebrating the exciting news!

Shopping for Baby Causey last week. Ugh, I can't even handle how cute baby clothes are!

And finally, here's a picture of my favorites. Hank has a newfound fascination with looking out this window and Ruthie is just OVER it. Love this little fam of mine!