Papa's Celebration

Sunday night we got together to celebrate my dad turning SIXTY!!!! His birthday was actually a couple weeks ago, but we just had the opportunity to celebrate since he was in town!  Katie got to swim with him (and Brad) and then we ate dinner!  It was nice to get to visit with him, Robbin, and my grandparents.  It was the first time they got to meet Jack!  I meant to get a picture of them with Jack (and Katie, for that matter) but did not even think of it when my camera was out!  Hopefully I can get one of them together soon.  I did get the kids with the birthday boy (or is it birthday man since he turned 60? Hm.) - here is the series of pictures.  Can you tell it was later in the evening?  Katie was a goofball - I love in the 3rd picture that Jack is looking at them wondering what on earth is going on...

Happy Birthday, Dad!  We love you!

Team U-S-A!!!

As I'm sure most of you know, the Olympics are going on (and if you don't know, you must be living under a rock)!  We had some friends over to watch the opening ceremonies (and I have to say...I was not too impressed) and eat pizza - so fun!  Katie had a blast playing with Stella and Chloe and we all enjoyed pizza and hanging out.  Of course Katie and Jack had to be all set to watch the Olympics - they had matching shirts!  I wanted to get their picture before friends came over...

I was afraid that this was all I would get - Jack was crying and Katie was clearly not into it...

 But I got a good one!

 And one more!

 Here are Katie and Stella with their pizzas they made before we put them in the oven!

And one more set of pictures in their outfits.  I think we will be wearing these some more over the next couple of weeks!

I think our TV was on NBC watching the Olympics the vast majority of the weekend - I love watching swimming and gymnastics, so it has been great!  Go Team USA!

Sister Love

 Katie loves Baby Jack so much - we went to a birthday party...just the two of us...and she got sad that Baby Jack wasn't with us!  I am so glad she loves him - she thinks he is pretty special and I think the feeling is mutual.  She will even cooperate with pictures with him (most of the time)! She really likes it when he is on the floor - she lays with him and loves on him and shows him stuffed animals...so sweet!  I think the third picture along the bottom is so sweet - it looks like she is just studying everything about him!  I sure do love these two sweetie pies!

SUYL: Displaying Pictures

Today I am linking up with Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life Series - and this topic is how to display pictures!  Now, if you have followed this blog for long, you know I love pictures.  My problem is getting them printed and into a frame!  And I have lots of space to display them - it is just a matter of doing it!  We have built in bookcases in the living room that is a great space for displaying them - especially on the "countertop" over the cabinets (I have one of the sides pictured on the top right).  My goal is to put frames out and then decide what pictures to put in them.  It was actually on my mental to do list for before Jack was born - oops.  Another space is at the top of the stairs (middle right picture).  I have our Christmas card picture done on a canvas and hang it there.  I have thought about doing a small gallery wall here with family pictures over a small sofa table or something.  And in the bonus room, we have lots of space - over the couch (top left picture) we are aiming to do a gallery wall of Tennessee and Auburn things, but we could also use that space to do a gallery wall of family pictures.  I have a feeling sports items will end up there - it is the only place I'd be ok hanging sports things!!  The middle left is the collection of items we have for the sports gallery.  And we have a large entertainment center in the bonus room where I have some pictures.  I should probably move those and just put those downstairs or on the bookcase in the bonus room - that way legitimate entertainment items can go into the entertainment center.  And then in the master bedroom, we have a few pictures on the dresser (bottom left picture).  We used to have quite a few but I wanted to simplify.  And then on the bottom right, you will see that there are spaces on either side of the window near my side of the bed - my goal is to get two matching frames and put both of the kids' hospital newborn pictures on either side of the window.

I guess I have a hard time deciding what to put out and what not to - I want to simplify and declutter, but I also love pictures.  I can't wait to get some ideas from other people's posts!  And of course there is always Pinterest :)  I am going to consider this a "before" of my display of pictures.  Hopefully I will tackle that project soon and can do a follow-up post!

Big Sis, Lil Bro

I just love this picture - in fact, I just ordered a big print to frame for the wall! My friend Mari is a photographer (Mari Wilkes Photography) and she took this when she brought us dinner one night (the kids happened to both have the outfits on, so it worked!).  Isn't it amazing?!  I love how the colors pop!  I know we will love this picture for many years!  And I also love the outfits too - I ordered those from my little legacies!

Like Father Like Son

Everybody thinks that Jack looks a LOT like his daddy-o, and I have to say that I totally agree.  I took this picture a couple of weeks ago, but I think it is hilarious.  And they even look alike when they are sleeping!  So sweet :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday boys and girls! It is already Wednesday again - sheesh!  These weeks are flying by it seems!  Anyways, here's what I'm loving today...

I'm LOVING that I actually watched every single episode of The Bachelorette - it had been so long since I had watched and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Is it sad that I feel a sense of accomplishment for watching an entire season? HA!

I'm LOVING that she chose Jef.  He seemed pretty odd to be at the beginning, but he quickly grew on me. And they actually seem to be in love and genuinely happy.  I hope it works out for them!

I'm LOVING the rumor on the street is that Sean may be the next Bachelor.  Count me in as a faithful viewer if so.  Whew!

I'm LOVING this - I need to frame this at the front door for when we have company over :)

 I'm LOVING this shirt for Katie for Friday night!  That's right - she will be decked out for the opening ceremonies for the Olympics.  And Jack will have a matching onesie!  I can't wait to have all of the events to watch on TV - go USA!

I'm LOVING this crazy girl.  This was her at TJ Maxx this morning - she really wanted these pink sunglasses.  HA!

 I'm LOVING this sweet boy - his smiles are so infectious - I can't help but smile when he greets me with a gummy grin!

What are you loving today?? Link up {here}!

Swim Lessons

Katie did a great job in her swim lessons last year, but she clearly could not swim independently this summer.  With that said, we decided to do some swim lessons this summer.  I kept putting off checking into it, but luckily my neighbor payed for 2 sessions of 4 lessons and only ended up needing the one session of lessons.  So we are doing the other 4.  Katie has done 3 of the lessons (I think she has her last one tomorrow) and has done great!

 She is working on swimming towards the steps and putting her arms out to catch herself.  She is actually tall enough to stand up in the shallow water - crazy!

 And her teacher has been using the noodle to help her swim with her arms and legs - like in the picture below, she holds the noodle behind her and helps her float and swim.  The idea is that she can get good doing it this way and eventually get rid of the noodle!

 And if Katie doesn't want to do what she asks, the teacher figured out that she can make the noodle talk and cheer Katie on and she laughs and loves it - and does what she is being asked to do!  Who knew!

 And of course this little guy just sleeps through it all!

I'm hoping Katie will be in a good place after her last lesson, but we may do another session of lessons to keep working on the skills.  I think we also need to do them maybe in the winter so it isn't a whole year between doing swimming lessons!

Family Park Fun

Saturday we were all lazy bums until we finally decided to get out of the house late afternoon.  We had eaten a late breakfast which led to a late lunch - otherwise we would have had a picnic at the park too!  We played and then Katie rode her tricycle around - she is getting much better about keeping her feet on the pedals and actually using them!  Of course Jack slept the whole time we were there which was nice.  Here are some pictures of our time at the park!

I love this one.  I actually just took it to make sure my camera was focused, but I think it is neat (in an artsy fartsy kinda way)!

There she is!  She and Brad had a fun time going down the slide!

Swinging was oh so fun too!  I pushed Katie while she played on the swings next to Daddy.

Daddy was swinging really high!

And then after playing a little more, it was tricycle time!

The park has a neat bridge that we went across.  I love this picture!

We worked on using the pedals to go as well as stop (as opposed to putting her feet down on the ground)!

Daddy tried to demonstrate - hilarious!

Going back over the bridge - it was hot out there!

Look at those rosy cheeks - I think she had been playing pretty hard!

And this was what Jack did the whole time we were there!

And this was etched into one of the picnic tables.  I thought it was neat.

Hope you had a great weekend! Happy Monday!

Katie vs Jack: 5 Weeks

People have asked whether or not I think Jack favors Katie at all when she was a baby - and I would definitely say yes!  He has expressions that remind us of various family members, but all in all, he definitely favors his big sis!  Here is a comparison of each of them at 5 weeks.  Katie was definitely more petite than Jack is (just look at his cheeks and chin!), but there is definitely resemblance.

Awake

Asleep

What do you think??

Princess Party

Earlier this week, I took Katie to a friend's birthday party at a salon that is for kids (actually, it is where I took Katie for her first haircut).  I wasn't sure what to expect, but man was I impressed!  And I sure wish it had been around when I was little!  It was a crew of girls that were all in the same class at mother's day out last year and they all had fun seeing eachother again!  After they all arrived, the high school age girls that work there took them and let them pick out a princess outfit - and then did their hair, makeup, and nails!  Then the "big girls" taught them some dance moves to a couple Hannah Montana songs (I have a video of Katie dancing that is hilarious - not sure I can upload it on here though) and then taught them how to be a princess (smile, wave, curtsy, etc).  After all that was done, they each had their turn on the catwalk to show their skills off.  And then it was time to put their real clothes back on and eat some cake!  They all had a great time - in fact, Katie asked to have her party there as we were leaving. :)  We shall see!  And yes - I do realize there is more to life as a little girl than prissing around, but boy was it cute!  And as long as she's well-balanced, bring on the frills and fun!  And no, these are NOT the first steps towards a Toddlers and Tiaras career!  Oh, and on the way out, Katie picked out a little Hello Kitty she wanted, and she picked a matching sock monkey for Jack - how could I say no?!  Here are some pictures!

This is the life...

 I think this one is my favorite! So cute! 

 From the back - upside down fairy wings and all!

 About to be a princess train and let the store see how pretty they look (while the Quad City DJs song was playing...you know the one...)

 Her turn on the catwalk - getting sprinkled with glitter!

 All the princesses!

 Katie with the birthday girl

 The goodies Katie picked out for herself and Jack - she thought it was great that they matched!