A Little Trick for a Grin

If you have kids and like to take their picture, you may agree that it can be hard to get a genuine smile out of them.  Well, I tried something the other day and it worked!!!  I did it again this morning and documented.  Here we go...

Make a sad face!

 Make a mad face!

 Make a surprised face!

 Make a happy face!

I will take it!  Anything that is a game is usually more fun, which happens to include taking pictures.  She will eventually catch on and I'll have to figure something else out, but for now, I'll take it!

  Happy Hump Day! :)

Weekend Recap: Weekend Before Last (Part Two)

So that same weekend that Brad and Katie and Janette were out of town, I had fun ideas for things Jack and I could do!  I took these pictures of him in the wagon as the crew was preparing to leave....

I just love that sweet face and beautiful eyes (yes, I think they are beautiful!)...

Literally within minutes of them leaving our driveway, Jack started acting lethargic.  And wanted me to hold him.  And then this happened...

This, boys and girls, is NOT normal!  And he felt really warm.  So I took his temp and it was 103.  So off we went to a walkin clinic!  He had an ear infection (and also, looking back on it, I think this was when the Hand Foot Mouth Disease started)!  So we started meds and headed home to eat a light lunch and snuggle.  I watched a Lifetime movie while he slept snuggled against me.

After he woke up, he felt a lot better!  Not 100%, but definitely an improvement!  He has started trying to actually sit at this picnic table...

He loves playing with blocks too!  Mainly throwing them though!

And I got a quick pic of him in his Braves hat before bedtime.  I call this is "Uggla face"!

This is Dan Uggla - one of the Braves player.  He always has the toughest expression on his face when he is at bat.  And he's pretty easy on the eyes too :)  Go Braves! 

Sunday morning we clearly didn't go to church.  We headed out on a walk - it was beautiful morning!

And after some more playing and eating lunch, it was naptime for Jack!

He was bright eyed and bushy tailed when he got up.  He loves Sadie SO much!  I just love this picture!

And one last one - I don't know how I actually caught a smiling picture of him.  He is usually a blur of activity!

What a weekend!  Glad he felt better and the rest of the crew had a great time!  I did enjoy the snuggles and down time for sure.  Just hate that he got sick!  And he actually got a little worse before he got better - he ended up being diagnosed with Hand Foot Mouth Disease and an ear infection in the other ear the following Tuesday!  And he is teething - poor dude just can't catch a break! :)  Glad he's doing better now!

Weekend Recap: Weekend Before Last (Part One)

Before I get TOO behind, I wanted to do a post about the fun adventure Katie had with Brad and Grandma!  Last weekend (weekend before last), they headed to Atlanta to go to some Braves baseball games!  Brad was determined to make it to a game or two before the end of the season - and they barely made it!  They went to the last two games of regular season play!

Here is Miss Priss before they left!

Do you think she was excited? Ha!

And a group shot before they hit the road!

They made it in time to check in to the hotel and get to the ballpark and walk around before the game.  Their tickets were amazing - and in fact, the Pitching Coach, Roger McDowell, gave Katie a ball before the game started!  She thought that was so special - and I think Brad was slightly jealous :)

She picked out a hat at the game!

And doing the chop - she loves that (and yelling "CHARGE!!")!

They stayed the whole game (which had an exciting end but unfortunately not a win) and then had a snack before bedtime.  Katie was up WAY late!

The next morning they got up, got ready, ate breakfast at the hotel, and then headed back to the ballpark!  Their seats weren't as good (according to Brad) but they had a great time!

It was even better because the Braves won - and they won big!  They headed out from the game and finally made it home at around 8:45 that night - Katie had a big weekend for sure!  Here she is wired after telling me all about the games - I didn't think she would ever go to sleep!

So glad they got to have such a fun time at the ballgames!  Check back to see what Jack and I were up to while they were away!

Lady's Lunch

Earlier this week, I met a good friend for lunch at a local, yummy place - perfect for a girl's lunch!  Stephanie and her family used to be our neighbors at our old house.  And I'm so glad that we still keep up with each other.  Her girls have grown up so much (like high school kinda grown up) and it is so nice to get perspective on parenting and life too :)  We talked kids, dogs, famous people...doesn't get much better than that!  Can't wait to get together again soon!

Airport Meet Up

On Monday, one of my roommates from college and her hubby had a layover at the Nashville airport, so I took the kids and went to visit!  The timing was perfect - we went after Jack's nap (so he was in good spirits), and there was a Tootsies outside of security!  They ate a late lunch and we had an appetizer and got to visit.  And since we were at Tootsies, there was live music - so the kids were quite entertained by that!  We hadn't seen each other in about 14 months, so it was great to spend some time with them - even if it was only like an hour and a half!

Here I am with Robyn - we kind of coordinate with the colors of Tootsies!

 I got Katie to take one of me and Robyn and Justin!

 And an attempt at a pic of them with the kids - silly Jack.  He thought Justin was going to rescue him from the stroller :)

Hopefully we will get together sometime soon - they live in Gainesville now (if I had been thinking, we would've gone for the UT - UF game...oops!), so I feel certain we can find a time to get together one way or another :)  Love you, Beeno!

From Silly to Sick

Well, yesterday the kiddos were full of energy and zip in the morning and then it was a different story when I picked them up!  Katie was whiney/tear-y, exhausted, saying her stomach hurt, wanted to sleep, etc.  And Jack had a rash that had gotten worse throughout the day, so after loading up in the car (and saying hi to Cee Cee who stopped by because she was in the area), I as on the phone with the pediatrician.  They had an appointment available about 20 minutes after we talked, so we headed straight there.  Jack had been on amoxicillin since Saturday (story to come in the weekend recap) and they wanted to make sure he hadn't developed an allergic reaction!  

So glad they had two available appointments...our normal pediatrician is off on Tuesdays (of course) so we saw a different one whom we had never seen - he was great!  And he saw both kiddos....both of them have ear infections (Jack's is despite amoxicillin for 4 days) and Jack has a lovely case of Hand Foot Mouth!  Poor buddy.  They said the ulcers in his mouth look like they are healing so he is over the hump.  And looking back, Katie had a rash across her chest last week, and I bet that's what it was!  So, we stopped at the grocery knowing we would be at home most of tonight and tomorrow and then swung by Walgreens for the meds for the kids and headed home.  

After dinner, we watched a show and then it was bedtime.  Katie got ready for bed and fell asleep before I could even tuck her in - poor thing...we didn't even get to read her new book!  And Jack didn't complain one bit about going to sleep (I did read him his new book)!  

Look at that sweet face.  I can see her sweet baby face still when she sleeps - melts my momma heart!

Sadie was concerned about her and stayed on her bed with her.  She loves Katie!  I love how good she is with both kids - but she and Katie have a special bond for sure!

Thank goodness they are both bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning!  The stronger antibiotic is working its magic on the ear infections and Jack's rash seems to be almost gone!  Now for a relaxing day with the kids at home - and hopefully sending them back to school tomorrow (barring any more fevers today)!

Morning Silliness

We were actually ahead of schedule this morning, so I tried to get a few pics of the kiddos! Let's just say I was sweating by the time we finished, but I think I got some pretty cute ones!

Jack is at the stage where he clearly does not want to sit still - ha!  Katie is a trooper (only for so long though) and will try to keep him in his lap...this was how it started...

 And I repositioned him and got this - I love Katie peering around smiling!

 And then this one.  Can't help but laugh - Jack is a mess!

 And Katie helped make funny faces to get him to smile for a picture by himself - and it worked!

 And once I gave him Sadie's ball, he sat where I wanted him to!  I think he is saying "ball" in this one :) - he is so proud!

 And laughing at sis - I love how she can make him smile and laugh!

 This boy is growing up WAY too quickly!  

 And a couple of Miss Priss!  I put Jack in the car and snapped a couple of Katie before we loaded up and headed to school!

 She is looking way too grown up these days too - slow down, time!

I know I've been MIA lately - I will be back with a weekend recap and a few other posts this week!  Have a super day!