Connor's first Tennessee game!

Oh, I just can't even tell you how much I loved this weekend. First off, my dad and brother were here. Dad hadn't seen Connor in 3 MONTHS! It was seriously killing me for him to go that long without seeing him. Dad, we can't go that long anymore? Ok? Ok. Secondly, we took Connor to his first Tennessee game at Neyland Stadium! Matt thought we were crazy for taking an 8 month old to a college football game, but for the most part I knew it would be fine. Here is a nice little warning: this post is going to be full of pictures and a couple of videos. And maybe a little wordy. Sorry!

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to get ready to go and wouldn't you know it that was the day Connor chose to sleep in? We actually had to wake him up at 6. That hasn't happened in a looooooooong time. That little stinker is usually bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5 am. Anywho, we woke him up, packed the car and hit the road.








He was so excited to have people in the back seat. Papaw and I were happy to fulfill his every need for attention. Around 8 o clock I could tell he was getting sleepy, so we turned on his music (his baby mirror has a little music player attached to it. It is amazing!) and marveled over his utter cuteness while sleeping.

We didn't make it in time to see the Vol Walk or watch the band. I was a little sad because I wanted to get a picture of him with Smokey, so we'll just have to do that next time.

We had to take a picture in front of the new stadium, which wasn't an easy feat with Connor. For some reason Lance and Dad didn't make quite the loud and crazy noises to get his attention like I do.

Doesn't the stadium look nice? They did a great job.

We headed over to the student center to grab lunch and avoid spending too much money in the stadium. Matt's Aunt Kim, Uncle Doug and cousins Luke and Ben met us in there to see Connor. I was so hungry to the point of feeling weak, so I felt like I completely blew off Aunt Kim. I gave her a hug and then ran to the pizza line to get some food. By the time I got out of line she was gone :(. Thankfully, I'll get to spend some time with them next week at Thanksgiving!! I was told I had about 2 minutes to eat my piece of Sbarro's pizza before we had to go sit in the empty stadium and watch all of the other fans find their seat go to the game. If you've ever had Sbarro's before you know that was no easy feat! It was seriously the best Sbarro's I have ever had. I would be in serious trouble if I was a student at UT! We finally got to the line only to realize we had to go through the line to check our bags. I thought Matt was going to blow a gasket. I try really hard not to laugh at him when he gets like that, but it is so hard not to. I tried to tell him that I am a big girl and could go through it by myself, but he wouldn't hear of it. I love that my man likes to protect me! I went through first since I was carrying all of the bags and Dad and Connor were behind Matt and Lance. Come to find out they said we were supposed to have a ticket for Connor! I never dreamed they would want one for a baby under 1 year old! He can't even walk! Thankfully, they let it pass. We talked to some other people that even had their baby in a carrier and they had to get a ticket for her. Crazy!

We got up to our seats and they were absolutely perfect. One day last week I had asked Lyndsey, one of my friends from church, if she knew anyone that had 4 tickets for the game. She told me her dad did and asked if we wanted them. We jumped on it and I am so glad we did. Thank you SOOO much Ray family!



All of my favorite men in one spot!

The flyover was awesome. The best part was the shadow of the plane going over the field.

We had to make sure his hearing was protected. ;) That was another reason our seats were perfect. We were at the very top, so it really wasn't that loud.

Connor had his bottle then fell asleep. Matt and I were talking about how we tiptoe around the house and can't get him to go asleep and he comes to a stadium with 76,000 screaming fans and sleeps for the whole 1st half!



This girl read her US Weekly the entire game! It was cracking me up. I can't believe she paid $60 to read a magazine!



I'm not going to lie. I really thought this would be a close game. It was far from close. In true Houston Nutt fashion, Ole Miss didn't make much of an appearance. Hence no after the game video! I think Uncle Lance would have chucked my video camera over the rail at the stadium had I tried!

Just as we predicted, Connor lost it about an hr from home. Thankfully dad pays a million dollars a month for Lance (cue eye roll from Lance) to have internet on his phone, because I pulled up some Veggie Tales videos on YouTube.

I just hate to see him cry in his carseat. I feel so helpless. I actually think it makes it worse when I am back there with him. He gives me the most pitiful faces!

We came home, put the sleepy little man to be and ate a whole lotta chili. Perfect ending to a perfect day!

I truly owe my love of football to my dad and brother. Some of my fondest memories are of watching football games and going to football games with them. It is for that reason that I am so glad they could be here to enjoy seeing Connor at his first game. I know for a fact that it won't be the last time and I am already looking forward to the next time!