Dentist, Shoes, and Exercise

How's that for a post title?? HA!  Anyways, seems like we have had another busy week!  Katie went to the dentist on Tuesday - and got a clean bill of health!  They really are so nice there...and always so speedy (which I most definitely appreciate).  Here are the two kiddos before we headed out.  I think Katie has figured out that if she just cooperates the first time, then she doesn't have to sit for forever!

 And here she is at the dentist.  Doesn't she look so long here?!  She was watching the TV on the ceiling while she got her teeth cleaned.

 And on Wednesday we went to my mom's house to play for a while.  And here are the kiddies before we left.  Katie likes taking the pictures in her dot chair - and it actually works out great.  They both fit in it perfectly!

 And yesterday, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast (as a family - pretty fun treat on a Thursday!) and exercised and ran some errands.  Here is little man.  He is 11 weeks old today!  I love this outfit on him.  So cute!  And...he wore shoes for the first time!  That definitely makes him look older I think!  Love this picture!

 And here they are loaded in the stroller before our walk.  Katie looks gigantic in there.  But I'm glad she will sit there for now.  I am looking forward to using a single stroller with the dude while she is at school - that stroller with both of them gets heavy!  I guess that makes it a good workout though :)

I am doing a pretty good job with the exercise.  I have walked 11 out of the last 13 days!  And when I say walk, I mean like crazy hills pushing a stroller that weighs 65 pounds for 30-35 minutes - a good workout for sure!

Brad is off today and Monday, so I am looking forward to some good family time this weekend.  Oh, and college football too :)  I can't wait to get decked out in our UT gear tonight...and our Auburn gear tomorrow night!  I know by October I will be counting down to the end of football season, but for now, I am super excited!  So for now, War Eagle (and Go Vols for Brad)!!

So Much To Do, So Little Time

There are lots of things that I really want to accomplish.  And it frustrates me that I cannot seem to complete any of these projects.  I know, I know...I should cut myself a little slack since I do have a 3 year old and a 2.5 month old.  But I am pretty bad about starting projects and not finishing them.  I have had half-made washii tape coasters on the kitchen island for a couple months.  Oh, and I have all of the supplies to make sponge balls in a bag on the island too.  And I have the fabric and cloth diapers on a table in our bedroom to make into burp cloths.  And a humongous stack of clothes that I need to enter in the online system and tag for an upcoming consignment sale.  Oops.  I.need.to.finish.these.projects.  I need to just get my sewing machine out and give it a go.  But I certainly don't want to do it when Katie is home.  Good news?  She starts preschool on Tuesday!  Do I hear angels singing?? I think so!  She is going to love it I think - music class on Tuesdays, devotion with the other 3 year olds on Wednesday, and library time on Thursdays.  She will be going three days a week (obviously) and I think she is going to really enjoy it.  And it gives me time with little man.  I can either be productive or decide to relax and snuggle! Over the summer we've been somewhat preoccupied and I cannot wait to tackle some organizational and other projects! These include keeping Jack's baby book up to date, putting pictures in frames to display, organizing the art closet, organizing the guest room closet, organizing Jack's room (we have been just tossing things in there since he doesn't use it yet), learning to use my sewing machine, getting back into couponing, decluttering, going through Katie's toys and putting some up/organizing the rest, oh...and and EXERCISING!!!  Seems I've got my work cut out for me, huh!  We shall see how this goes.  For now, I'm looking forward to Brad having a 4 day weekend...and THE FIRST WEEKEND OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL!! So exciting.  War Eagle!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm back into What I'm Loving Wednesday!  Last week was the first time I hadn't linked up in quite some time and it felt weird - so I am glad I am back!  Here's what I am loving today!

I'm LOVING this about a girl's butt.  I remember tearing this out of a magazine years ago and I just came across it again not too long ago!  

I'm LOVING this representation of fans in each state and what teams they root for.  It is better when the picture is larger, so you  may have to click on it.

I'm LOVING this!! HA!  And that is so, so true...

I'm LOVING this quote - and the pink chevron background!  I had seen the "I believe in pink" part but had never seen the whole quote.  So girly!

 I'm LOVING this verse - and the way it is presented here.  May have to have this printed and displayed somewhere.

 I'm LOVING that when I painted Katie's fingernails and toenails most recently, these are the two colors she chose.  A girl after my own heart for sure!  I love pinks on my fingers and fun colors on my toes!

 I'm LOVING these two.  They are just so fun and definitely keep me on my toes!

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

Guest Book: A New Spin

This is a long overdue post, but I am just now getting around to doing it!  When I was pregnant with Jack, I saw an idea where you get a book that is either having to do with the theme of a birthday party or your child's current favorite and have guests at a birthday party sign it.  I do love that idea, but then I decided I wanted to do something similar but for when I was in the hospital having Jack.  I thought this book, God Gave Us You, was very appropriate, and I thought a smaller board book would be easier to have out at the hospital (and a good size to just throw in the hospital bag).

 I had the book and a Sharpie pen out for visitors to write a note to Jack in.  And I sure am glad I did this.  It also makes me really wish I had thought to do it when I had Katie.  Oh well :)  It is so neat to go back and read what people wrote to him.  And the message of the book is sweet as well.  Another thought is to leave it out once you get home and have visitors that stop by to meet the wee one or bring a meal sign it as well. 

I don't know whether to put this away in his "baby box" or to keep it out to read.  This copy may have to go into the baby box and then get a separate one to read to the kids.  Anyway, I thought this was a fun idea and wanted to share!  Oh, and I am pretty impressed that I remembered to have all but one of our visitors sign it!  And I got her to sign it not too long ago, so we are all set!

Food Trucks + A Wedding

Saturday was such a fun day!  It was a lazy morning for sure - but then we got ready and walked to the neighborhood pool.  A couple area food trucks had set up shop there and I had been wanting to try them both for a while (and luckily, the two that were there were literally the two I have been "stalking" to see if they ever are near us - and they ended up in our neighborhood together!).  The Grilled Cheeserie has gourmet grilled cheeses - and the ones we got were absolutely amazing!  And then Blue Monkey Shaved Ice was great too!  I had been craving a sno cone since I was pregnant with Jack and finally got a good one!  I had a Tigers Blood one - coconut and strawberry...yummmm.  Just thinking about it makes me want another one right now!  After we finished up, we ventured home - and got stuck in the rain.  It was so fun - I hope they come back so we can walk there again!

And then it was time to get ready for a friend's wedding!  I was excited to get to dress up and have an adult night out.  The wedding was nice (and at a beautiful church) and the reception was straight out of a movie.  It was stunning - and the food was great...the music was great...so great! 

Me and Brad before we headed out

The setting of the reception - it was held at the symphony here...absolutely beautiful! 

Us with our neighbors - so fun to have a night out without kiddos!

The happy couple!  I saw this picture on Facebook and love it...and isn't their cake beautiful??  Congrats to them!

Friday Fun

We had a fun morning Friday!  We got up (and Katie actually slept in some!) and went over to the neighbors' house and they had made waffles and eggs for breakfast (and I had coffee too - definitely a treat)!     The girls played outside for a while and then we decided to take a walk.  We headed to the playground in our neighborhood and let the girls romp around.  The boys were great and slept the majority of the time!  After a while, we trekked home.  I actually lost my cell phone on the way back and had to retrace our route and thankfully found my phone!  Whew!  It was such fun to get to play with them in the morning - and it is amazing how the girls are in such a better mood when fresh in the mornings as opposed to exhausted in the evening :)  Jill had taken the day off from work since her sister got married this weekend, so we definitely took advantage and had fun!

Here are the kiddos!  Katie was so excited to go to Stella's house in her jammies - and then get to go to the playground!  And there are the boys fast asleep! 

And in the big sister class we went to, they said all kids attempt to breastfeed a babydoll if their mom is breastfeeding.  Katie had never tried that...until Friday...at the playground.  And she was so serious about it! Hilarious.  Oh, and another first at the playground...peeing in the woods.  She said she needed to go potty and there aren't bathrooms there, so I helped her squat near the woods.  She was so proud and wanted to tell everybody about peeing in the woods.  

Science Fun

First of all, when did my sweet pea turn into such a little lady??  Earlier this week, we headed to a local science center with some friends and had a blast!  We have had a family pass since last fall and only used it a grand total of TWO times.  Pretty silly.  I may have to renew it - I discovered that they have a great play area for kids 6 and under.  It's a great area to let Katie play while I feed Jack - and for Jack to play once he is more interactive!  Here are a few pictures from our day.

Before we left - so sweet!

 She loved building with these!

 And she was slightly obsessed with driving this truck - she kept asking me to sit in the back while she drove!

 Crawling through a tunnel to see the dinosaurs

 And when we were leaving - LOVE this picture!  And love this girl :)

SUYL: Laundry Room

It is time for another post for the Show Us Your Life series over at Kelly's Korner!  This week, the room is the laundry room!  And I actually caught ours looking somewhat decent (I admit that I did throw a pile of Jack's dirty clothes into the washer so they wouldn't be in the picture).  I think my favorite feature of the laundry room are the cubbies we had done.  I have little letters to spray paint and hang on the canvas bins so each person has their own spot.  We also have the "art closet" in the laundry room - it needs some attention and re-organization for sure, but there it is!  When you walk in from the garage, you have to go through the laundry room/mud room to get into the kitchen. Oh and I do love that we have a utility sink in there as well.  It is nice to have a "dirty sink" (or a place to rest the baby bathtub)! 

We do want to "fix up" the laundry room.  That project will wait until our washer and dryer need replacing though.  When that happens, we will get front-loaders for sure.  And then we want to get a granite countertop done, cabinets or better shelving installed (so that we better use that space), and a nicer looking sink installed.  Oh and we want to repaint in there - a serene color for sure...maybe a nice gray.   

I find lots of inspiration on Pinterest (of course) and thought I'd share that.  I  love that quote on the wall.  And the idea of installing a bar next to cabinets is genius!  I like the organized feel of that top right picture.  And that picture under the hanging bar is an open space where each family member has their own laundry basket - love that!  On the bottom right, I think finding a hiding place for all the brooms and cleaning items is pretty smart too.  And that is an example of how nicely organized cubbies can be.  One day we will get there.  It will be great when the kids get older - they will have their space to put their bookbag and papers and all that!  And under that is the laundry room with a TV.  That would definitely make folding clothes (on our granite countertop) more entertaining!  And I also like that lost and found art for the wall for socks, etc!  Would definitely be cute!  One other idea I had for the laundry room on that wall between the washer/dryer and the cubbies is to do a family command center with a calendar, list of chores, paper organization, etc.  Sounds pretty lofty, huh!  I am hoping our washer and dryer make it for a while longer (especially since we just bought a minivan and want to build a deck still), but I can't wait to do a nice laundry room (which will hopefully make me want to do laundry)!  I can't wait to see what ideas everyone else has!  Happy Friday!

Weekend Recap

What a fun weekend we had!  Glad I was able to do this before another weekend sneaks up on me (not that I have any problem with the fact that it is almost time for another weekend)!  We had some good, quality family time - so fun!  Friday night, after Katie went to bed, Brad and I layed on the floor with Jack for some tummy time.  After that, we rolled him over and he was SO active!  And he has been that way a couple of times a day since then!  And then Saturday morning, after we got up and ate breakfast (Brad made French Toast, which was amazing), we went on a walk through the neighborhood!  Whew - it is a good workout!  If you could see the hills, you'd understand :)  Then we went swimming (another post coming on that...let's just say that Katie is JUMPING OFF THE DIVING BOARD AND SWIMMING) with our friends.  After eating dinner, Katie helped Brad sort coins.  She did a great job and it was a good activity for her to start learning about money and how there are different types of coins!  It also helped from a counting perspective - yay math!  Since she did a great job helping, she got to keep a few of the coins and put them in her piggy bank.  She had never gotten to do this before, so she thought she was hot stuff.  She woke up Sunday asking if her money was still in her piggy bank - ha!  Brad and Katie went to church Sunday morning (we aren't taking Jack just yet - and I definitely appreciate a quiet house).  Then he headed to play golf and I took the kids to the zoo with my mom!  She hadn't been in probably 12+ years, so we were glad she could go with us!  Jack did great and Katie loved it!  She did great too - she walked the entire time!  Usually Brad is with us so she can ride on his shoulders, but not this time!  Katie was all about the goats - and then one of them tried to eat her dress!  She was less than thrilled about that.  She also, of course, loves the carousel!  The elephants were very active and cooling off in the water.  It was a great zoo trip for sure - and we were all worn out!  Hope you had a good weekend - and can't wait for another one!  

*The pictures from the weekend start on the top left and go clockwise*

Time Got Away

I had good intentions to do a great post today, but these two have been so fun today! We haven't done much, but it has been great! I promise a fun post tomorrow, but for now, these two cuties are getting all my attention today!!

My Babies + Amazing Friends

A few weeks ago we got some of the cutest things in the mail from some friends!  It was a baby gift for Jack and a big sister present for Katie...she had gotten some cute outfits and hand-sewn their initial on the outfit.  It is hard to tell with the lighting in these pics, but they are adorable!  When Katie opened the present, she took her shirt off and wanted to wear her new outfit immediately!

Something else that I've wanted to mention in a post is how blessed we are with all of the support we have had since Jack was born.  We had so many friends and family bring us dinner (which was a HUGE relief!) and bring cute, special things for Jack (and even sometimes for big sis, too)!  Right now I am looking at a list of thank you notes I've still got to write - there are 17 people on there!  And that is after having written that many already I think!  Wow - thank you to everybody for your support and love.  We definitely feel it!  I feel like we are sort of getting into a routine now.  I know it will change in a couple of weeks once Katie starts preschool, but for now, we are doing well and enjoying all of our time together!

Good Morning!

What a morning! It started with feeding the dude and pumping - and then some snuggle time with Katie in our bed!  And then I got up and headed to the chiropractor to be adjusted (with the 90's station on the XM station on, of course).  It was simply amazing - I hadn't been since the week I had Jack and my back was so stiff (I think I turn weird and all that when I feed Jack), so it was very needed!   I felt like a new woman when I left there!  And to top it off, I had time to go through the drive thru at Starbucks for a tall skinny white chocolate mocha.  YUM!  Hope you have a fantastic Monday!  I'll be doing a weekend recap tomorrow!

Craft Time

About a week and a half ago, we decided to stay home in our jammies and do lots of art!  Baby Jack was snoozing on a blanket on the floor and it was really nice to have time with just my girl!

 I had been planning this activity for probably three months, and we finally did it!  We read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and then did some tissue paper art!  I found some clip art of fish and printed them out so that Katie could use a glue stick and torn up tissue paper to decorate them.  She loved it!  We will definitely be doing tissue paper art again soon!

 Next, we got out a stamp and paper kit and she had a blast putting stamps and stickers on papers.  She decided she wanted to make a bunch and send them to the grandparents, so when she was ready, she put them in cards and helped sign her name!  Then she cleaned up and wanted to do some painting.  I bought actual watercolor paper a while back (thank goodness).  When she paints, she always has a really wet brush, which tears regular printer paper up.  The watercolor paper is thick enough that it absorbs it and does great! And since it is kind of expensive, I cut the sheets into quarters to make it last longer.

Towards the end, Baby Jack woke up and was happy as could be!  I bet he will love doing art too (just maybe not with princess stamps and stickers)!