An old (as in we haven't seen each other in years), dear, sweet sweet friend came in town a few weeks ago, and it was SO SO fun to get to hang out with her for a bit and catch up!!!  We were best friends back in middle school until she moved away and haven't really kept in touch.  Our families have crossed paths over the years, so we've kept up that way, but it was SO much more fun to actually catch up with each other face to face!!  We met once at my house for our kids to play.  Then a few weeks later she came back in town and asked me to help/assist her on a photo shoot!!  She is an AMAZINGLY talented photographer (www.catherinegikas.com)!!!  This was SO much fun!!!  a family of 4!!! wow!!  Very cool to watch her in action!  Then, she cooked dinner at her aunt's house!!!  (dinner was mostly prepared from Shreveport Organics) and it was spectacular!!!

BUT before dinner my friend snapped a few quick pics of my kiddos!!  These shots were taken in less than 10 minutes...probably closer to 5 minutes!!  AND Beckett was NOT into it (and needed a haircut as you can see in the last 2 pics)! 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think it's so much fun to see "old" friends!  I hope that we can catch up again and again over the years! 

Beckett's 1 yr and family pics

Beautiful pics thanks to Nicole Spikes Photography!

 

We had these taken back in July around Beckett's birthday.  Some family shots and some for Beckett's 1 year!

 

Random fun stuff from the summer...

I know this is lazy...but this is how it goes these days!  these pics are at least a month or 2 old by now, but this is some of the fun we had this summer! (in no particular order)

 

 

Ruby Belle is 3!!

(Note: this post is 1 month late! I've fallen behind!!)

 

I can hardle believe my first born is 3!  It seems like yesterday that I woke up at 2am and told my husband that I thought we needed to go to the hospital.  She has been such a beautiful, fun, little spit-fire of a blessing!!!  Always keeps us going and smiling! 

3 yr stats:

Ht: 35 inches (10th-15th percentile)

Wt: 29lbs (15th percentile)

 

 

Ruby Belle, we LOVE LOVE LOVE you!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! You are beautiful...inside and out! You're such a tiny little thing! But there's SO much fun bursting out of that tiny stature!!

Birthday morning...balloons and sprinke pancakes (didn't get a pick of those!)

 

Your birthday was celebrated for quite a few days, but first we woke up to balloons and sprinkle cake pancakes, spoiled you rotten and went to church.  Then we had a birthday lunch w/Mimi and Pops, complete with cupcakes made and decorated by you and Mimi!!  Then we had cupcakes with your friends at school.  Then we had a birthday party for you and your friends at Acrosports!  You and your friends ran around, did the obstacle course and played in the ball pit until you were red-faced! 

the pink ("for the girls") and blue ("for the boys") cupcakes you picked out! 

 Ruby Belle, we LOVE you!  You keep our days & nights interesting, keep us laughing, and keep us learning!  We love to see the world through your sweet 3 yr old eyes and LOVE see your personality bustle through.  You're a picky eater...but we're working on that.  You usually wake up with a smile on your face asking for "sunshine" (aka Raisin Bran cereal - you all know the sunshine on the box!).  You love your "treats" and are learning (sometimes unwillingly) to learn more vegetables than green beans.  You love to play outside.  You don't watch much TV, but your favorite show is Chuggington's.  You love princesses, dress up and purses.  You always want your own version of what mommy has (if I have a scarf, you want your scarf, need to carry your purse when I carry my purse, etc.)  You LOVE your school/day care and your teachers and friends.  Every day I ask you, "what did you do at school today?" and you always reply, "Play and Eat."  You LOVE LOVE LOVE your little brother and try SO hard to teach him right from wrong and help out and you adore playing with him!  You really like to pick out your own clothes, but still want me to pick out your panties most days!  You love to read books before bed and say your prayers.  You are beautiful, tough, tiny, strong-willed and sweet.  We cannot wait to continue to love on you day and night and watch you grow!!! 

Like I always tell you, You're my favorite little girl, Ruby Belle!!!         

My Sweet Sweet Niece is here!!!

Baby Tilly Ann arrived at 2:04pm on August 7th, 2012.  and she is SO stinkin' cute!!  and SO little!  She weighed 6lbs 1oz and was 19in long.  She is just adorable!  I couldn't hold her (since Beckett had the stomach virus thing the day before!), but have since gotten to hold her and I am totally in love...well, I was totally in love LONG before I held her...that's just the way the sentence fell.  Anyway, Ty and Stephanie are doing great as new parents and Tilly is just a precious little one!

Here she is! 

See any resemblance to Ruby Belle?  or Beckett?  We've gotten so many, "she looks so much like your kids" or "she looks just like Ruby Belle" or "she looks like a Jordan" comments!  I personally think she is just the prettiest little thing!  So perfect and tiny!  

Ruby Belle does too, we've been praying for her at night for months, but now Ruby Belle's prayers are more like, "thank you for Tilly coming over to play," "thank you for Tilly taking a nap and then coming over to play" (for the record, they have not "played" quite yet!).  It's SO sweet!  I cannot wait to see the cousins grow up together!!

Congratulations, Ty and Stephanie!!!  We're SO excited to watch this sweet little girl grow up!!! 

Beckett - 1 year old!

*Note post is almost 1 month late...
So, I never really posted the 12 month update on Beckett, mainly because he was about 2 weeks late getting to the doctor for his shots (due to waiting on insurance to kick in w/my new job) and then when we did get to the doc he was sick.  This is how it went down...I got to day care to pick him up for his doc appointment and he was lying in the teachers arms, getting his temp taken and a little pale and fast asleep.  I can't explain how pitiful he looked.  Then they informed me that he had just thrown up quite a bit and fallen straight to sleep.  Poor boy!  So, good thing we had an appointment already, but as soon as I stepped my first step into the lobby of the doctor's office he began puking again...this time, all over me.  (thankfully I quickly backed out of the door and none got in the lobby.)  I have to say this is the first time a baby has thrown up on me that much...and it's not fun...especially in public.  And Ruby Belle was with me (she was really a good helper) and then we were at the doc's office for 2 hours...oh, I smelled terrible!  AND Poor Beckett was SICK!  He continued to throw up/dry heave off and on throughout the 2 hours.  BUT, it was just a really short-lived stomach virus.  After a shot at the doc's we made it home, he dry heaved once and then he slept it off!
So, anyway, here we are...

1 year stats

Wt: 23lbs 4oz (75th percentile)

Ht: 31 1/2in (85th percentile)

Head Cir: 18 3/4in

• SUCH a happy baby! 
• LOVES his sister, and loves fighting over toys w/her ;-)
• LOVES baths and water (as long as it's not too cold)
• likes to throw things in the tub and then out of the tub (this applies to almost anything, not just the tub)
• LOVES life - laughs a lot
• Takes over and destroys any room he's in and then moves on to the next!!  ha!  
• mostly fussy when he's tired
• transitioning into 1 nap/day (per day care)
• only sleeping "good" or through the night 50% of the time??  still working on "sleep training!"  I don't know what happened to this with him!  it was fairly easy with Ruby Belle and done in less than 3 months...ha!  
• eating 3 meals a day and 2 snacks.  only bottle is one before bed.  Also has a snack of baby cereal, greek yogurt and milk (mixed together) before bed - I promise he sleeps better with this in his belly! 
• eating "real"/table food - likes are hit and miss, but always Cheerios...always.  sometimes - meatballs, noodles, spaghetti/lasagna, mixed veggies, cheez-its, beans, bread
• still has a little blue to his eyes, but getting a little more hazel-ish
• has 12 teeth and his 2 eye teeth are coming in!  a mouthful!!
• wearing size 4 diapers
• wearing size 12-18 month clothes

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little boy!!!  He is so huggable, cuddly, crazy and destructive!  And definitely a momma's boy!  

Does this look like a 1 yr old?!  

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, BECKETT!!!  We can't wait for all the fun, loving, wild years to come!! 

pool day!

Well, quite a few days are pool days around here, but we've had lots of them lately with swim lessons and the hot, hot, hot weather.  Most recently though the kids have had a little more fun! 

My dad is in his yearly/bi-yearly draining of the pool and painting of the pool at Southside.  So, while he was working, the kids really had a blast playing in a mostly drained pool where they could both touch and wade.  

Dad power-washing and Beckett loving the  50 meters of freedom to crawl around! 

she found this chair in the water and loved sitting in it! 

Wading w/Mimi

  

Loving that she can stand up in the deep end! 

Now, it's time to brag on my sweet little budding swimmer!  

Ruby Belle has been taking lessons for a few weeks now with Swim America at Southside.  Seems silly since I come from a family of swimmers and swim coaches, right?!  BUT, she has really learned WAY more than we could teach her! Hhere's a little clip!

Beckett's 2nd 1st birthday!!!

Maybe a few days late, but we celebrated again!!  We really did it right with this 1st birthday (at least in my mind!)...we had 3 small birthday celebrations all spread out to make his birthday last a few weeks!  This also meant we got to eat cupcakes and party 3 times!  Ruby Belle was stoked!  And each time I would say, "we're having Beckett's birthday party today" she would say, "Ooooh!  And then it's MY birthday party?!"  So sweet and cute!  So, we had 1 birthday with my in-laws, one with just our small little family and then this one with my family.  They all pretty much went the same way - Dinner, cupcakes, bath for Beckett, then presents.  I loved every minute of watching this little guy each time though!

Sorry for the picture overload...just captured the sequence! 

it begins...

thinking hard about his next move

??? don't ask!  it's this crazy face he makes!!!  

hmmmm...getting serious about the cupcake

Oh, yeah!

taking it down!

"ugh, this cupcake business is intense!"

oh, man

feeling accomplished!

Total celebration!

Happy Birthday, Beckett!  You are such a special little man!!!  This face is contagious and a perfect description of life with you!