Stokes got re-evaluated with his speech therapist and he no longer qualifies for speech therapy! His last appointment was on Wednesday, January 13.
He has definitely come a long way in being able to communicate in 2- and 3-word phrases. I'm proud of him for the progress he's made and am glad that he no longer requires therapy.
Here are a few of my favorite things that he says:
"Hold you" - which is what he says when he's asking me to hold him (instead of "hold me") - it's so cute!
"Bless you, Mama" - he says this when I sneeze
And my very favorite....
"Love you, Mama" - heart melting.
Congrats to my Stokie for graduating from speech therapy!
And so that he's not left out, here's a little video of William being goofy and talking a little. And poor thing, bless his heart, he has a stye in his eye.
In related news, Ryan has a new speech therapist. Details and an introduction coming soon!
The East Coast got hit with a big snowstorm last week and little old Greenville wasn't left out. We didn't get feet of snow or anything, but got several inches of ice with a few inches of snow on top of that.
I was in Buffalo for work at our Sales Kickoff meeting and missed all the snow day fun. Thomas's Aunt Suzy was here staying with Thomas and the boys while I was away. I'm sad I missed out but was glad to get some pictures to prove that Thomas, Suzy and MaSha got the little guys bundled up and outside to play in it before it all melted!
William, Thomas, Ryan and Stokes
Thomas and Suzy with Ryan, William (in the bushes) and Stokes
MaSha with Ryan
MaSha + grandsons
MaSha and her boys, having fun in the snow
Leading up to the storm, Layla was wearing her snow boots in anticipation and my little shoe lovers couldn't help but to try them on and model for Layla's camera!
Stokes in Layla's boots
William in Layla's boots
Ryan in Layla's boots
Poor Suzy got stuck at our house, due to poor driving conditions, and she ended up having to stay through the whole weekend. I was glad that she didn't try to drive on dangerous roads, and was selfishly happy that I got to see her a little when I got back!
The boys with Aunt Suzy!
So my travel up to Buffalo and back to Greenville was basically a big disaster both ways - flights delayed, connections missed, extra nights away and in hotels not previously planned on, etc. I was supposed to get home late on Friday night, but didn't get home until late on Saturday night. I missed my family so much! I did get to have a little fun in Buffalo while I was away though. Here are a few pictures from Buffalo with co-workers:
Stacey and me in the back with Renee and Trish in front
Stacey and me with the Buffalo Sabres mascot
Stacey and me all bundled up and watching hockey
Work hockey game - all players are employees
Renee, me, Trish and Stacey at Left Bank restaurant
It was "pouring snow" in Buffalo on Thursday night
and Stacey and I ran out of the restaurants, sans coats,
to get a quick picture! Us South Carolina girls
aren't sued to all that snow. it was really pretty!
I alluded to the fact that Thomas and I went to Phoenix to see our Tigers play in the National Championship game. We bought a travel package with some of our favorite tailgate partners. We actually bought it way back before Christmas. It was a cool deal because it was a package that was only valid IF the tigers made it to the National Championship (I will refer to it as NC for the rest of this post for shortening purposes, so keep in mind NC is not North Carolina!) and was non-cancellable in that case, and if the Tigers didn't make it past the Orange Bowl, there was no cost and we wouldn't be stuck paying anything. As soon as Clemson won the Orange Bowl on New Year's Eve, we knew we were IN for the NC game. Leading up to the trip, we were so excited. I got so "journey proud" that I woke up at 4:30 AM for three days in a row before we left. Fifi, Jerry and MaSha were willing to stay at our house and keep the boys for us to go on this (potentially, but hopefully not!!) once in a lifetime opportunity.
Our flight to Phoenix left on Saturday, January 9 out of GSP airport. It was a charter flight and there was another charter flight going out of GSP right around the same time. I am not exaggerating when I say that the entire airport was orange and purple. The whole community embraced the Tigers and the airport had orange and purple balloons and the screens that weren't being used for flight info said "Go Clemson!" It was just so cool!
Carole, me and Corey
Clemson takes over GSP airport!
The gang: Thomas, me, Carole, Corey, Susan and Rick
We had a tiger paw stamp and an orange ink pad, so while we waited on our flight, we stamped $2 bills. Our group had about $800 in $2 bills ready to spend in AZ! While we were stamping, lots of people came by and showed us theirs or made comments - we all had this common thread and everyone was thrilled and just so happy to be there.
Stamping action
I had an expectation of our charter flight that it was going to be this huge party. I thought we'd be up and walking around, popping bottles, cadence counting, dancing and general flight mayhem. I was picturing it as a private jet with some Hollywood megastar - think elaborate music video style. It wasn't quiteeeee like that. We did do a cadence count a few times, our pilot gave us a "go tigers!" on the intercom, and we purchased one in-flight beverage, but other than that, it was a regular flight that just happened to be filled with orange and purple clad tiger faithful. HA!
When we arrived in Phoenix, it was beautiful!!! Here we are getting off the double-secret extra plane door (they only let really awesome people come out of this door).
Susan and Corey exiting the plane
The scenery was just so amazing! The sky was so clear and we could see this beautiful mountain range right from the runway.
Me, Coco and Carole
Coco and her Clemson flag sticking out of her bag - LOL
We took the charter bus to our hotel, checked in, got our game tickets, settled into our rooms and then decided we needed to do some stalking...
Corey and Carole on the charter bus
Stalking time...
Thomas and I headed over to the team hotel, the Hyatt, with Susan (Carole's sister) and her husband Rick. Susan got the inside scoop and found out where the players would be staying. Corey and Carole wanted to change rooms at our hotel and told us they would meet us over at the Hyatt. Big mistake. Huge!
As soon as our Uber car pulled up to the hotel, I kid you not, the first person I set eyes on is CJ Spiller! He is one of my very favorite former Clemson players. He was just standing there outside the front of the Hyatt. We were in the car and I was like, "Y'all, that's CJ Spiller standing right there!!!" and could not contain my excitement. We wasted NO TIME in getting out and running over to him and gushing. I told him that we loved him and how excited we were to meet him and of course, asked him to take a picture with us. The hotel concierge did the honors for us with the cameras. I was completely star struck. CJ was so incredibly nice! I couldn't believe that Corey and Carole weren't there!
New BFF at the NC, CJ Spiller
The Hyatt was done right - they had National Championship stuff everywhere. All the windows, staircases, even the banner behind the check-in desk was decorated with Clemson and NC signs/logos/ etc. Very cool. I snapped pics everywhere!
Huge NC logo on window overlooking
outdoor veranda, visible right from the
front doors
Clemson, ACC and NC logos on windows near elevator
We saw this magnet on a car in the parking lot and loved it!
I mean, I would totally vote for him! ;)
Thomas, me, Carole, Corey, Susan and Rick in front of the
big 2016 sign outside the Hyatt
We're at the NC, baby!
We had some apps and drinks the Hyatt bar, but after seeing CJ, the rest of our Hyatt visit was relatively uneventful. All the players must have been busy in practice or meetings, so our stalking was stalled. After we realized we weren't going to see any other players, we left to go to Old Town Scottsdale and dinner.
Dinner spot: The Mission
We had reservations at The Mission and enjoyed it so much! This was probably my favorite meal during our entire trip to AZ.
Guacamole made at the table
So delish!
Thomas and me at dinner
Thomas, me, Carole, Corey, Susan and Rick
Cheers!
The next morning, Sunday, Thomas and I weren't able to sleep in too much, so we left early to walk to Old Town for some breakfast. It was chilly but such a nice walk!
Our hotel, the DoubleTree in Scottsdale
Views on the walk to breakfast in Old Town...
Camelback Mountain
Lots of NC gear in Phoenix!
We had breakfast at Morning Squeeze. Thomas and I had eaten breakfast here during our last trip to Phoenix and really liked it, and it was within easy walking distance, so we went back this trip.
Thomas and me
Matt Owings came out to the NC with his family and he was able to meet us for breakfast on Sunday morning!
Thomas and Matt
Carole and Corey
Carole paid with a $100 stamped with tiger paws ;)
After breakfast, we walked back to our hotel and met up with a friend of ours, Justin McCrary, to go on a hike. We were originally going to go to Pinnacle Peak to hike, but after talking to our concierge, we realized that it would be a really long drive and might be hard to find a taxi/uber back, and we didn't want to spend the whole day hiking, so we went to Camelback Mountain, which was close to our hotel, to do a hike. We were able to take a hotel shuttle to the entrance to the hiking area - so convenient!
Justin, Thomas and Matt - ready to get their hike on!
Danger ahead - beware! ;)
The views on our hike were amazing!
Thomas and me
Our gang
#squadgoals
Susan and Rick
Corey and me with our tiger rag
Cactus
Rick and Susan
Action shot on hike
The hike started out pretty easy, but slowly got a bit harder. Corey, Susan and Rick only did a bit of the hike and decided to turn around. Justin, Matt, Thomas and I decided that we wanted to make it halfway up, to the Saddle of Camelback Mountain (they say it looks like a camel and the saddle part is the dip right in the middle). We heard, and took their word for it, that the 2nd half of the hike, past the Saddle, up to the top of the mountain gets a little more difficult and might not be suitable for beginner hikers. I'm not going to lie - we were all a bit winded at times and thought we might be sore following our hike. It's was a little more than we had bargained for, but once we had our mind made up, we were going to do it!
Our group in the Saddle
Go tigers!
The guys
Matt with the marker - #25 on the mountain
Pointing out the Cholla Trail sign, this was the trail that
we were hiking.
See how hard this hike was?!?!?
We were doing "extreme hiking" - haha!
There were SO many Clemson people on the hike, It was awesome. Everyone would say "Go Tigers!" as we passed each other. What do you know...we ran into some Clemson people we knew!
Thomas with Chris Welborn
Thomas, Matt and Trey Welborn
The hike actually took us probably 1.5 hours from start to finish. After we got back to the hotel, we had about 45 min to shower and get ready for the day in order to catch the Uber with the rest of the group. We grabbed a ride out to Hopdoddy Burger Bar and had a great lunch!
Corey, Brittney, Susan, me and Carole
Cheers, Matt!
After lunch, we were ready for more stalking action and went back to the Hyatt! Yes, we are weird, but you gotta love it.
Carole, Corey and Susan at the Hyatt
We saw a "private area" sign along with a curtain that blocked off an area near the lobby. We decided it must be something important, so we took a seat in the hallway and got comfortable to get full stalking advantage!
Thomas and Matt
Carole and me
Hanging out with our $2 bills - sorry, I'm obsessed
Our stalking wasn't all that fruitful, so we went back to the bar and Carole gave us all a gift....dickeys. It's a long story, but you know how Dabo always wears dickeys (or full turtlenecks lol) under his sweatshirts? Well, we all now have purple dickeys to wear! We call them...wait for it...Dickeys for Dabo! And yes, we love Dabo so much, but can all agree that the turtleneck under the sweatshirt is NOT a good look. Bless it. Here ya go...
The story and unveiling of the dickeys
Dickeys for everyone! And yes, we are wearing them over our clothes!
So then we went back to stalking....this time for good reason! We saw PLAYERS! We talked to several of them, but mostly just took pictures. I do not know who everyone is. Sorry. Wish I knew.
p.s. I think they actually kind of liked being stalked.
p.p.s. just so you know, there were lots of other stalkers there - not just us ;)
Players at elevator
more players!
Hunter Renfrow!
This WALK ON was the MVP wide receiver of our team
during the NC (according to me), if you happened to watch the game!
Go Hunter!
Carole wanted to be in a picture with the players LOL
The Davis twins - I did actually talk to them b/c I know
their sister. ;)
Banner behind check-in desk at hotel - pretty legit.
We were PUMPED at seeing all those players - regardless of whether we knew who they were or not. It was so fun!
More pics in front of sign - this time with better lighting and
with Katie and Brittney
Official team bus pulling in
We left the Hyatt to head downtown to the Playoff Playlist Live, which was basically an outdoor concert/pep rally/fan area.
Beautiful views on the drive...
Corey got this shot of the Clemson cheerleaders and baton girl
during Tiger Rag
Go Tigers!
SportsCenter taping
We love the Tigers!
When it started raining, Corey
put her dickey on her head!
We ran into our old buddy/Thomas's fraternity brother,
Drew Neiderriter (spelling??)! YES!!
John Cougar Mellencamp played!
So we were out there waiting for a long time and it got cold, so we only stayed for a few John Mellencamp songs and then headed to a nearby bar to get warm and get food!
This place, the Tilted Kilt, was completely full of Tiger fans!
Scott and Brittney
Corey and her bestie, Kelly Gibson
Thomas and me
Corey paid cash at restaurant and got $2 bills in change from
her server - no kidding!
When we were tired, we got an Uber back to the hotel and had a nice night of sleep before the big day.
GAME DAY was Monday, 1/11/16. We got up and walked close by to another breakfast place. There were lots of Alabama and Clemson people there. I thought it was so cute because this old local fella stopped us as we were walking to our table to tell us that he was cheering for us. :)
Yum Yum - biscuits and gravy for breakfast in AZ! ha
When we got back, we got ready for the game and of course had to take pictures in front of all the official game day props set up at our hotel.
Number one!
Our package included a ride to the stadium on a chartered bus, but the bus wasn't leaving the hotel until 2:00. We started planning out our day and realized that the game was at 6:30, and we knew the lines and security to get in would be crazy, so we knew we had to plan to start going in to the stadium at 4:30 and that with game day traffic and the distance from the hotel to the stadium, the chartered bus wouldn't get there until probably about 3:00. That only left 1.5 hours for tailgating - clearly not enough time. A game ticket got you into the official NC tailgate, which began at 11 AM. We didn't need a million hours to tailgate, but definitely more than 1.5 hours, so we had to Uber over to the stadium and left our hotel around 11:30ish.
We were all sooooooo ready and so excited! This was the BIG day that we had been waiting on for so long (34 years to be exact)!
Corey and her $2s
Susan and Rick
T-Bone
Carole, me and Corey with our tickets
and Susan photobombing
We got there and were in awe. The stadium looked great and there was so much signage and cool things to see and do. The Championship Tailgate had concerts, live ESPN broadcasts, cheerleaders, former players, concessions, lots of fans...I could go on and on!
Clemson on the stadium
Corey and Carole
Thomas and me
We walked around the tailgate a while and checked out the scene. We saw a line forming noticed that people were lined up to take a picture with Tajh Boyd. Other than CJ, I really, really, really wanted to see, meet and take a picture with Tajh. I had friends that ran into him and took pictures and I was so envious! I immediately got in line and wouldn't you know it, as soon as we were like 2 people away from the front of the line, he had to go and I didn't get my picture. I was crushed. But I found out he lives in Greenville so I will continue to stalk. I will meet him one day!
At one part of the tailgate, they had a Heisman House set up. Thomas and I noticed that CJ was going to be making an appearance and got in line to go in.
CJ!
Surprise addition - Jacoby Ford!
We didn't know he was going to be there but love him, too!
Jacoby and CJ filming an ESPN spot
One of the ESPN guys asked the crowd if anyone wanted to ask CJ and Jacoby a question. I totally raised my hand. He came over to me and told me where I'd be in the order of people asking questions, so I could prepare, and I was ready! I was actually super nervous and my palms were sweating. There were a lot of people in there and I was also really nervous to talk to my boys, CJ and Jacoby!!
Thomas is so cute and took a video of my rookie interview with famous athletes. A future career in sportscasting? Me thinks not. But I was proud that I did it and had so much fun, despite the nerves!
Check out my video!!!
Tailgating pictures!!!
I ran into Laura Haseldon! KKG :)
The Tiger Band was playing Tiger Rag
Drum major
During the tailgate, I received some pictures of the boys. I left very specific instructions that the boys HAD to wear their Clemson jerseys on the day of the game. We needed all the luck, after all!
Pictures sent via text:
Layla and the boys ready to cheer for the Tigers
Stokes, Ryan and William
Here's another one
I love getting these pictures!! I missed my babies so much and was so proud to see them in their orange.
ScanSource friends - me, Casey, Carrie and Katie
Huge tailgate party! This is how we roll.
Me with Ronnie Ficco - KKG :)
I randomly ran into Katie Cosgrove and Molly Gardner - KKGs :)
These two were in my pledge class and I hadn't seen either
of them in YEARS!
My very favorite Chi Os!
Katie, Whitney, Elizabeth, and Lauren - where did Sam go?!?!
Tailgate party at Rick's daughter, Ginny's, spot!
On the way back to another tailgate, we saw my
favorite Tri Delts! This was Blair and Rachel.
Blair and I got to spend some quality time together
and then we hung out with this random guy for a few minutes LOL.
Clemson nation!
We took a few minutes to FaceTime with the boys.
I know these pictures are terrible, but our wifi connection
wasn't awesome, but we loved seeing and talking to them for a few minutes!
FaceTime
The tailgate was so fun and I really loved seeing so many people I knew. It honestly felt like a home game with all the familiar faces. I kept running in to old friends and acquaintances. It was really so awesome. NC = home away from home. Tiger fans travel well. No doubt about that.
Time to go into the game. Approaching the entrance, things got REAL. The nerves were starting to spike.
Entering Club West
This is a beautiful scene at a football game - LOTS of
empty stalls and no line for the bathroom. Hooray!!!!!
We found our seats and let out a huge sigh to try to relax and take it all in.
Can you tell we got there early? Hardly anyone else there yet LOL
The Peerys at the NC
Walking around we ran into Linda and Steve Owings!
These are Matt's parents and the nicest people ever!
Woop woop!
That's right.
The players doing their "All In" walk towards end zone.
Mike Lowe, one of my college buddies from Sigma Pi,
was sitting right near us!!
We met up with Matt before the game!
3 Tigerteers (like Musketeers but Tigers - get it? ha)
We were glad to be sitting in the Clemson section, but Clemson made up the majority of the fans in the stadium. I don't know the final tally, but it looked to be 60-70% Clemson. Lots of orange! It was amazing.
Tiger paw
Team entrance
On the field action
Proof that the boys were at the 2016 NC, too!
They will appreciate this picture one day!
So proud of my babies.
All 5 of us at the NC
About to put some orange in the end zone
DeShaun breaking records at the Natty - what what!!!
Final Score: Clemson 40, Alabama 45 :(
The game ended and we had to go get back on the bus to get a ride back to the hotel. I realized later that we missed the Clemson alma mater. I hate that I missed it but once the confetti started falling, I thought it would be just an Alabama celebration. Bummer.
Thomas and me back on the bus, post-game.
A little down but not out!
Let me say this - I was SO PROUD of my Clemson tigers. They played with a lot of heart and played an amazing game. Although I wish we had a different outcome to the final score, apart from that (minor) detail, I could not have been happier with that game. Seriously. Leading up to it, no one was giving us a shot of competing against Alabama, and the fact is that we were playing better and beating Alabama in the trenches. We got surprised with an on-side kick and had a few blown coverages that relinquished our lead and got us into a hole without enough time left for us to crawl out. Hey, that's OK. It's a game and you can't win them all. But we played so well and showed the country that we are a legit program and CAN and did compete with SEC heavyweight, Alabama. You can't ask for much more, as the losing team, than getting nothing but positive press and respect from all the commentators, and even the Alabama fans. Our players played their hearts out and made Clemson Nation and the Clemson Family so proud. There was no doubt that they BOYG (brought their own guts) and their hearts. I hate it, especially for the seniors and DeShaun Watson (he wins my MVP trophy for the game) that they didn't win the game, but they were able to leave with their heads held high. We were playing against the Heisman winner, Derrick Henry, but DeShaun Watson looked like the shining star on the field. And guess what - he's only a sophomore and will be back next year and he will be even better!
I love this: after the game, Kirk Herbstreit said, "These are two championship teams, they only give out one trophy." How cool is that? I loved hearing and seeing all the love being given to Clemson on TV. I mean, seriously, when do they ever talk about the losing team more than the winning team?
Although it was a very expensive trip and I really thought we'd be leaving AZ as the Champions, I do not regret going. Not one bit. It was an incredible experience and we had a great time!
I think Clemson will be back in the NC game before another 34 years goes by. And when it happens, I'd like to be there to watch history being made. Next year's NC is in Tampa and I have connections in Tampa. Then two years from no is in Atlanta, which is a no-brainer. Fingers crossed that we can make it happen! Go Tigers!
Corey and me at breakfast the morning after the NC.
We both wore our BYOG shirts. <3
Thomas and me heading to the airport -
just as proud of our Tigers as when we came
The Peerys are still ALL IN with the Tigers and hope that we will CU in Tampa next year. GO TIGERS!!!!
