The Gilmore's

December iphone shots

2011-12-12T16:39:00.001-06:00

I've come to rely waaaay too much on my iphone camera.
I don't think I've even had the Canon Rebel out of it's bag in 3-4 months.
Shame. On. Me.
In my defense, it's just much easier to take a pic with my phone and it automatically uploads to my itunes through space aka: icloud.
gotta love technology.

It was a cold day in December in South Louisiana.
Georgia wore her bear suit :)

She tried rice cereal for the first time a little at about 4 1/2 months.
She was totally uninterested.
I kept shoving it down her throat though, and now she likes it!

Her PB stocking came in the mail just in time for Christmas!
Charlie made quite a cute stocking model.
He's for hire too!
inbox me.

I leave Ga and her Dad home alone for a few hours and find them bundled up in the backyard in a hammock.
Georgia was sleeping.
James' butt looks like it's grazing the ground...

Thanks to Pinterest our elf, Snelf, came up with some very clever ways to entertain the boys during the month of December.

My cousin, Stephanie, invited the boys to her kids school for a Christmas Breakfast.
They got to decorate gingerbread houses, eat pancakes and listen to the story of Jesus' birth.

Outside they had a cool petting zoo!
Jackson spent several minutes and quite a few laps around the pen to catch this nifty chicken.

Emma caught one too and we had ourselves a photo!

They also had a live Nativity Scene!
The cow was pooped and the lamb was uninterested.
I thought about placing Ga in the manger....

Jackson said she looks like our Elf on the Shelf...ahahha

The kids in front of our Christmas tree!
We went with tall and skinny this year.
Real estate is slim in our living room.
This one was a beauty and a steal for only $33 :)

The lady waiting to be seen for her 4 month checkup.
so...i whip out the iphone camera...

I love her sweetness :)
She is such a happy baby.
She's getting so active too!
up on all fours and rocking!

Finn, the Santa wonder cat.
He hates us.

My pretty little lady in her bumbo.
What a great invention!
Didn't have one with the boys!
We're currently using it as a highchair.

Up next? Christmas!!

November has come and gone too!

2011-12-10T21:33:00.000-06:00

Champy is 11 1/2 years old.
His bones hurt.
He has arthritis in his paws.
He deserved this therapeutic doggie bed.
Note: He NEVER leaves it! Can be found in it at all hours of the day :)

Jackson being silly on Halloween night.
We live somewhat in the country.
We had ONE trick or treater.

Georgia sucks her thumb or goes for the pacifier.
Just whatever the lady prefers at the moment ;)

Sleeping in her carseat.
She's finally getting used to the car!
Thank goodness...it took her 4 months!
She loves to snuggle and have a blanket touching her face.

Bathtime with her nightly supervisor, Charlie.

playing around with hipstamatic app...

Although it looks like it, she cannot sit up on her own yet.
She was propped against the couch.
I'd love to know what she's thinking here!

Every afternoon this is the scene at our house.
Jackson comes in from school and I put Georgia in her Bumbo chair and she watches her brother while I help him with his homework.
Love this.

She loves the Bumbo chair but definitely lets me know when she's had enough.
She starts bucking and throwing her body to the side..
so funny, like she's trying to escape.

Jackson had to create a turkey for his classroom and decorate him any way he wanted.
He went with the camouflaged LSU turkey :)

Georgia having a moment with her butterfly :)

We love LSU football around here!
On gamedays we get all decked out!
National Championship here we come!

OH, we love the STEELERS too!

James set her down on the couch and made her dine solo..
Poor baby!

These two love each other.
Charlie talks so sweet to his sister.
He calls her "his baby"

Hanging out with her favorite toy!

My little Indian came home from preschool right before Thanksgiving break all decked out.
He named himself "The Deer Whisperer"

Christmas is next!

Thanksgiving. Baltimore Style

2011-11-30T14:45:00.000-06:00

Since my mom is temporarily residing in Baltimore with Steve in the hospital, we packed our bags and all flew there to be with them for Thanksgiving.
Jackson and Charlie were making a rainbow out of their froot loops.
My anal son, Jackson, made sure they were ROYGBIV :)
Charlie was just ready to ingest them...

The plane ride was good considering I flew with all three kids S-O-L-O.
I ain't skeered.
oh, and it was a direct flight.
That really helps!
So the kids and I flew up on a Monday night. The airline lost Ga's carseat and we were at the airport til 11 pm filling out "paperwork".
They gave us a loaner...which, just so you know, I prayed the entire car ride to the hotel that we would not have a wreck.
Poor Ga was sitting straight up facing backwards and leaning forwards...it's hard to explain.
but we made it all in one piece and her seat arrived at the hotel the next morning.
James and Lana flew up Wednesday morning and Beau and his girlfriend, Ryan drove over Wednesday afternoon.
We all stayed until Sunday.

My Aunt Mary and her kids, Annie, Paul and Molly all drove over from Indiana on Tuesday afternoon and we got to hang out.
We went to dinner at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion.
It was tres yum.
We had quite a fun time :)
I love getting to see my cousins....it doesn't happen enough.

Wednesday morning we got up and battled wind and rain to go sightseeing.
We opted for the Children's Museum first.
This was at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.
Such a cool city!

Some random blue Christmas tree that they boys insisted I take their pictures in front of :)

We made it to the Children's Museum and the boys had a blast.
Jackson was sitting in a lifesized footprint of a dinosaur.

Next he got to lay on a bed of nails.
Really! Real Nails!

After wandering through the Children's Museum for a few hours and catching BEAVERS! in the Imax theatre, we took a water taxi across the Harbour to meet up with James, Lana and my mom for some lunch.

Charlie enjoying his ride across town.

Mom, Mary, Molly, Annie, Me and Lana
all beautiful ladies :)

My cousin, Annie, Aunt Mary and cousin Molly
We had a fun day.
Lunch then straight to the best gelato shop then some shopping....

Yes, we drug these goobers with us.
They know they had fun!

Me, Mom and Lana

After we had had our fill of wandering the streets we called the shuttle and it took us back to the hotel.

The boys LOVED the notion of not having to be in a carseat.
We had to pin them in the corners though cause they thought it was funny to stand up and when the driver braked, go flying forwards...heh heh yeah real good parenting

After dinner in the hotel restaurant, we got cozy in our jammies and relaxed.

...with a glass of wine

Gilmores!

On Thanksgiving Day we took the shuttle to the hospital and visited Steve for the morning.
Mom brought him down in his wheelchair and we got to hang out with him in the lobby.
We did some interesting people watching.
Beau confiscated a rubber glove from who knows where and showed Jackson how to get in trouble with it...
that's what uncles are for, right?

Ryan and me :)

Nonna and Ga
she sure does love her Nonna!

Uncle Beau and Charlie

blurry pic of milky face!

a picture of us as a family.
We love Papa and it was great to all be together.

So I was being optimistic one day and thought I could possibly get ONE photo of our family.
We were in the lobby at the hotel.
Georgia obviously didn't want to be in the pic.
Jackson is making a goofy face.
Charlie is uninterested....
it's really too much to ask, apparently.

After we left the hospital, we went to Thanksgiving lunch at a restaurant in the Intercontinental Hotel.
I was once again thinking I could get a photo of my kids.
This is the best I could do.....
such a great pic of the back of my daughter's head!

Me, Beau, Ryan and Lana

Jackson and his Aunt Lana

The hotel had some beautiful displays in their lobby of white pumpkins and flower arrangements.

While we were in Baltimore, Ga turned 4 months!
Such a big girl!

Friday we did some more sightseeing!
We walked around and found this huge Coast Guard ship.

The boys sitting on a huge propeller. or is it rudder?
propeller is airplane?
rudder is ship?
help.

the boys got to go aboard the ship.
They were so excited!

We walked to the Baltimore Aquarium next.
It was one of the best aquariums I've ever been to.
We caught the dolphin show.
Ga was in a daze.
She loved the dolphins flying through the air.

It was a very impressive show!
See that dolphin flying through the air up there?

Jackson was bummed because we had to stand in the aisle because we go to the show late...oh well.

Better photo of flying dolphins.

We took advantage of the rainforest and had a great photo op!
This is actually a good photo for once!

When we left the doors of the Aquarium, the boys spotted this submarine in the water.
You can take a tour of the submarine but I would rather eat dirt.
Toooo claustrophobic for this gal!
We'll just take a pic and act like we toured it boys!

It was a busy week.
It was great to spend time with my mom and to see Steve.
We are still praying for his recovery and that they'll get to leave Baltimore very soon!

my best friend's wedding

2011-11-16T14:13:00.000-06:00

So, my best friend in the whole wide world got married in November in Hilton Head, SC
She had her sights set on this amazing little chapel before she even had met her mate!
I can't say I blame her...it was just that. Amazing.
The whole wedding, actually.

And I've only got a few measly photos that I snapped with my iphone to prove just how amazing it was... tear.

The bride, Ronni, [in pink] and her bridesmaids.
Michelle, myself, and Ronni's sis, Annie :)
The rehearsal dinner was at Robert Irvine's restaurant, EAT!
It was tapas style.
It was yum.

We stayed at the Westin in HHI and had a beautiful view of the Atlantic!

Annie, Ronni and moi the morning of the wedding at the salon getting all beautiful and some mimosas to go along...
[this pic was BEFORE we were beautified, just in case you couldn't tell]

Ronni went with an awesome birdcage veil to go along with her BHLDN wedding dress that was dually awesome.

Sisters! on our way to the chapel in a 20 person stretch hummer...
let's just say we had lots of room on the way over!

Ronni made a truly stunning bride.
She was/is beautiful and I just stared at her all day :)

Me and my best friend!

This is a really bad picture of the limo ride but we had so much fun driving around HHI for an hour and a half listening to some gangsta rap and whatever else ronni had on her ipod...fun stuff.

Me and Michelle!!!

a group photo of friends :)
We all went out to dinner on Saturday night for some good seafood.
L to R:
Shannon, Me, James, Georgia, Michelle, Chad, Julie, Katie, Brian, Ronni and Jason!
sorry for the red eye...

What a fun weekend with friends!
I miss my girlfriends dearly and wish I could see them more often!
Congrats to Ronni & Jason
I love you guys!!!!

where did October go?

2011-11-05T14:11:00.001-05:00

This post is full of randomness.
We were home for one weekend in October.
It was hectic. Fun! But hectic.

We went to Destin for our friends wedding one weekend.
Big breakfasts are a must for us ;)
James is always the cook with his little sous chef, Charlie.

I stuck to making bloody marys for everyone ;)

[blurry pic]
Jackson supervised the pancake production.

Georgia decided to forgo breakfast with us and settled herself down in front of the tv for some nfl gameday previews!
She always insists on holding the remote too....

On the 25th, Ms. Georgia turned three months.
She is growing up too fast and I'm afraid her first year is going to go by in a flash :(
For her three month checkup she weighed 12.5 pounds and was 24 1/2 inches long! She grew 6 1/2 inches in three months!

James went to PA for 10 days this past week on a hunting trip on the farm.
The kids and I met my mom at her house in Fla last weekend.
We weren't staying home!
I was a little nervous about driving with 3 kids by myself for 4 hours, but they did great!
Jackson may or may not have gotten out of his carseat several times to stick a noonie or bottle in his sister's mouth....just sayin'
***
We stayed in our jammies til 11 am on Saturday...ate dinner, shopped, and mom and I stayed up late after the kids went to bed in the "girls living room" [ha] and talked and drank wine.
It was relaxing and so nice to spend time with her.
I've missed her these past months!

Since it was Halloween weekend, we took part in the Destin Commons Halloween trick or treating.
It was Saturday night and ended with fireworks.
This also meant I was off the hook taking them trick or treating on Monday night [score]....

Randomness:
this is such a bad pic, but Charlie fell asleep one afternoon on the couch just like this.
He never naps anymore and for him to just conk out is very unexpected.
Georgia had to sneak into the pic too :)

Another weekend in October we went to Arkansas to visit James' family.
The boys were watching Polar Express in 3D in the car.
So funny....

James' brother's little boy had his 5th birthday party when we were there so we went to the park.
Daddy long legs and his girl were enjoying the swing.

We put Georgia in the baby swing and she started to fall asleep....I think we're gonna have to get a swing set at the house!

Charlie, Charles, Chuck.....He has taken over his sister's playmat.
Enjoying an afternoon snack and watching some nickjr.

3 months pic! Belongs up there with the other one.... oh well.

Superman costume made for a super happy Charlie.
This is what he wanted to be sooooooo bad.

Nonna and her grandkids at the Baytowne Wharf.
It was a beautiful chilly fall day and we walked around all afternoon.

The boys HAD to have their picture taken with the huge marlin.
Very cool!
This is Nonna and Poppa's favorite restaurant in SanDestin :)

closeups with Georgia while her brothers are playing on the playground.

Nonna kisses are the best!

My blue eyed lady with her brown eyed brothers.
Love this pic :)
Jackson's got the whole, "I'm the oldest brother in this bunch serious pose" going on.

My little pink leopard!
found on clearance at Party City for $9.99
I hate spending money on Halloween costumes!
She's a cutie though!

The boys had lots of fun going store to store trick or treating. It was a cold night and Georgia's costume was warm and cozy and perfect!

Random penguin.
My little cop wanted a pic with him.
cute :)

after trick or treating mom and I were hungry for Marlin Grill.
We always sit in the same corner booth so we can pin the kids in.
Jackson took our pic.

We woke up Sunday morning and all piled into Nonna's bed.
The boys played Angry Birds on Mom's ipad for two solid hours.
I drank too much coffee and Georgia got lots of tummy time.

This was mom's solution to not having a bouncy chair for Ga.
She said she used to do this with us kids because she couldn't afford a bouncy chair for us.
She gave Georgia her first lesson on applying makeup.
Less is more!
Go for the natural look!
Georgia was all ears :)

October is over.
Can't believe I've got to start thinking about Christmas already....

gigi is 2 months!

2011-09-23T16:52:00.000-05:00

Georgia's feeding time falls right around the time I'm making dinner.
This [along with several other factors] have led to a late dinner or perhaps, no dinner some nights...
Hasn't happened much, but when it does I have three disgruntled boys looking at me and one happy, full, milky smiling girl looking at me.
The solution?
In comes Georgia's oldest brother, Jackson.

Note: [I don't know why my couch looks so shiny. It is not shiny. It is not pleather as it looks here.
It is scratched up and has dried milk and crumbs and dirty finger marks and who knows what else lingering in every crevice...Guess the flash doesn't help.]

This plan is working out beautifully!
Granted, this plan just started last night....
Lana is usually home and tends to baby girl while I'm conjuring up somethin' in the kitchen.
But when she's not.....baby girl gets fed by her brother!
She doesn't care who feeds her as long as someone is on the other end of that bottle making sure it's contents flow to her mouth and nowhere else.

It's tough being a two month old.
eat. sleep. poop. eat. sleep some more. be cranky. be happy. poop...well, you get the picture.

She was smiling for me.
I swear.
It's as if she shuts it all down once that black contraption, also known as my camera, gets shoved in her face.

Our sweet angel baby is two months old!
She's a super duper sleeper!
Goes between 8-9 hours at night!
She'll eat around 8-9 at night and always like clockwork wakes at 5 am for another feeding and will go back to sleep til about 8am.
Love. It.

Lady has a serious aversion to the car.
Screams. Her. Head. Off.
She's starts as soon as I place her in her carseat.
We're in the car quite a bit during the day dropping off/picking up her brothers...
I feel bad.
But there's nothing I can do.
I really hope she grows out of it soon!

If she were my first child, you'd probably be looking at more pictures that you'd like.
But since she's my third child...sadly, these are all I've got.
I am a bad mom.
I've got lots on my camera on my phone but that's such a pain to upload to here.
I will get better.
[but not making any promises]

Miss Priss has blue eyes!
Finally! One of my offspring got a gene from me!

She is such a sweetheart.
She's beginning to make a little noise when she's smiling at someone.
If it's loud, she will startle herself.
It's so funny :)

She's a belly sleeper.
Has been since she was two weeks old.
She holds her head up so well already and likes to stand when she's being held.

We call her our little pterodactyl because she "squeaks" when she cries.
It's the cutest, saddest, teenie tiny little whimper of a squeak.
So funny.
She saves her full blown screams for mommy when she's in the car.

Charlie has dubbed her "honey bunny."
I call her "Lady"
James calls her "miss Priss" and "baby girl"
Jackson is the only one that calls her by her name.

Poor girl is going to be so confused :-/

We love you, GiGi ;)

Charlie is 4!

2011-08-30T10:38:00.001-05:00

My sweet Charlie turned 4 on August 30.
He requested a pizza party at Mellow Mushroom!
How fun!
How easy!

A pizza party requires a pizza cake.
I found some cute ideas online and this is the result.
Super cute!

He had a mouth full of pizza so of course when he went to blow out his candles,
well, you can guess what happened...

Our handsome four year old!

Opening presents!

Grandma and Georgia were at the other end of the table talking to each other :)

Can't go wrong with some monster trucks!

Charlie got a special delivery on his birthday from his Nonna and Papa.
He was so excited that they were ALL for him!

Enjoying a healthy bowl of Cocoa Puffs for his birthday breakfast....

So excited that he turned 4...finally.

Getting ready to go to school on his birthday with his "4" shirt on.
The boys love wearing their number on their birthday :)

This child is super lovable.
He is always happy.
If he's not, a quick tickle session [or food] will set him straight again.
He loves to play t-ball, shoot his bow and arrow and play football with his big brother.
He loves smoothies and pizza and fruit.

He's a cuddler. Very touchy feely.
He tells me he loves me at least 10 times a day :) [lucky me!!]
His favorite movie right now is Rio.
He loves to play Angry Birds.
He loves to sing and hum.
I will catch him humming a song we sang in church and it makes me smile.

Charlie is notorious for his funny stories.
I could start his own blog full of "Charlie stories"
I forget them so quickly :(
Here's one from today:
Me: "how was school today?"
Charlie: "good"
Me: "What did you do?"
Charlie: "Well, we played a game on the playground."
Me: "oh. What kind of game?"
Charlie: "I was the dad. Collins was the baby. Addison was the mom and Zara was the dog."
Me: [my mind is wondering which way this story is going to go...so I ask:
"Well, what happened?"
Charlie: "The mom and the dog were sleeping together."
Me: "You were the dad. What were you doing?"
Charlie: "I went to work mom."

hahahahaha. I called James and told him his story. Of course, he laughed. "teaching him early! Daddies go to work!"

He's so funny.
He's so busy.
We love you so much, Charlie Warley!

I have three kids..

2011-08-18T20:21:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share some random pics of Georgia and the boys since we've been home from the hospital with her :)

I'm not a huge fan of gigantic bows in little girls hairs...but this one is cute. And massive.
Large to say the least.
It stayed on for .2 seconds...

Miss Priss sportin' some hot pink animal print.
rawr ;)

She was super alert this day.
I think about 2 weeks old.
I took her into her room and we had ourselves a lil' photo shoot!

This picture about sums up the boys and their sister.
Hands all over her at all times and up in her face.
Notice baby girl's face...poor sister.

Her first real bath after her little cord fell off.
She loves the water.
It totally relaxes her.

Hello!
She looks like my mom in one of my mom's baby pictures.
I'm gonna have to hunt it down and compare the two....
Did I mention I love her lips?

This is one of my favs :)

We didn't have a pack of D batteries for about a week so the boys took it upon themselves to manually swing their sister. I had to monitor the speed at which baby girl was flying through the air.
It could have gotten out of control.

My mom got to get away for 3 days and come down and see us last weekend.
I don't think she put Georgia down unless she was sleeping or going to the bathroom.
I could maybe be wrong about the last part...ha!
She left Monday morning but got to see Jackson off to school on the school bus.

....waiting on school bus.
James took mom to the airport.
Seems Georgia isn't a fan of her car seat, or perhaps it's just the car.
I wasn't about to drive across the lake with a screaming newborn and back...thanks honey :)

Nonna and Charlie :)

We love you Nonna.....hang in there

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-08T16:00:00.002-05:00

I think I can honestly say that we all have been looking forward to this day. It was a loooong hot summer. I was super duper pregnant and didn't want to leave the comforts of air conditioning or my couch, to be honest, most days! They were very excited to start school :)

Jackson's first day of FIRST grade!
He got a new backpack and school shoes and was ready to go :)
Two of his friends from Kindergarten are in his class this year so he was happy to see some familiar faces.

Charlie was so excited to start preschool this morning too!
He will go 5 days a week from 9-1.
He's going to the same preschool he went to last year so when I picked him up this afternoon he told me all about all his "frands" he saw.
I asked him what he did in circle time today and he said, "No Mom, it's square time now."
ha.
[follow-up: I asked Charlie's teacher if they called it square time now and she just laughed. She said they replaced the circle rug with a square one this year but that they still called it "circle time." Apparently Charlie thinks otherwise...he cracks me up!]

Brothers.
Total opposites.

Georgia and I are kinda excited to be home alone ;)

Georgia Mae

2011-08-01T16:02:00.079-05:00

Introducing our sweet baby girl

Georgia Mae.

She was born on Monday, July 25, 2011.

She weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.

She is very loved by her Daddy.

I'd say that's a beaming smile :)

She came into this world with a healthy set of lungs!
She let everyone know she had arrived!

I was induced 2 days before my due date.
James and I went to the hospital Monday morning at 4 am to begin the induction. They started the picotin drip around 6am. I was only 2 centimeters dilated when we went in. I began having some strong contractions right away. At 9:45am my Dr broke my water. He advised me to go ahead and get my epidural because he thought I was going to progress quickly, being it was my 3rd child. I didn't argue with him one bit! Epidural done at 10:15 and I became a happy girl. I got checked at 10:30am [15 minutes after epidural] and was at 4 cm. This was good! 11:40am I was 5cm! At 12:15 I was having very strong contractions steadily at 3 minutes apart. At 1pm I got checked again and I had progressed to 9 cm! Time for the nurses and Dr. to come in and set up. I was nervous because it was all happening so fast....
At exactly 1:20pm our Georgia was born. I only pushed twice. It was crazy. It was honestly the easiest delivery.

Soon our crowd in the hallway came flooding in.

Jackson and Charlie were so curious.

Charlie was instantly in her face.

Jackson was a little more reserved...but not for long.

Look at his sweet face.
He was sooooo proud.

James' mom, Jo Ann, with her first Granddaughter.

and she was my smallest baby....
AND my last!

The boys were watching the nurses bathe her and get her all cleaned up!

Look at those happy faces!

Everyone said you could hear her all the way down the hallway screaming.

She has a full head of dark hair :)

All of my babies had full heads of hair when they were born.

Add caption

She inherited James' long legs....and feet apparently.

She loves getting her hair washed!
They said she was so calm and relaxed when the nurse was washing her hair.
I copied the nurse at home and wash her hair like this.
I swaddle her and run her head under the facet.
Loves it.

Look at that crazy hair!
Jackson loves holding her.
And he's very gentle with her.

Charlie....not so much.
We can't decide who she looks like yet.
I'm still holding out hope that her eyes will be blue.
There's serious potential there too!

Jackson said she needs to have brown eyes so she can hang with the boys.

All my boys have pretty brown eyes.

I'd like to have one blue eyed child like me...we'll see!

She is perfect.
We are so happy to be home.
She's a great sleeper and is a really good baby.
I am so blessed :)

Baby Girl Nursery

2011-07-08T16:09:00.002-05:00

Let me start by saying that I have had way too much fun decorating this nursery.
I didn't get into it as much with my boys.
I mean, I had fun picking out all of their stuff....
but girl stuff is waaaaay cuter!

We, meaning, me, Lana, James and my mom have all done our share of transforming the guest bedroom/office into a girly nursery :)

I had the hardest time figuring out what colors, bedding, etc. I wanted to go with until my mom handed me a Serena and Lily catalog.

First of all, I had never seen this company before.
[Where have you been all my life??]

My mom gets every catalog ever published sent to her house for some reason.

Let's just say, I fell in love with it. I love their style and uniqueness.

We had to buy a crib [Tar-jay] because I got rid of the boys crib when Charlie was done with it...

My mom and I found this cool table at an antique store on Magazine Street in New Orleans last summer.

We brought it home with glass shelves in it.

I thought it would be way cooler if it had wood shelves in it!

My friend, Nikki, has this husband who is super handy with woodworking and built these for me :)

Nikki did the distressing and paint job on it.

I think it looks amazing.

[many thanks to Nikki and Dan, the Man.]

The drapery panels were the last thing that I purchased.

I was running out of $$$,
Let me rephrase that...
I ran out of $$$ way before these curtains, but a girl's gotta have some sort of window coverings on her windows so I found a way!

.......found these white and green polka dot panels at PBK.

I think they go great with the colors :)

For some reason I kept my changing table that we had bought for Jackson. It's from PBK and is still in great shape. I had the baskets from Jackson and Charlie but ordered some personalized girl liners to go in them.

Sorry the lighting is so bad in these.

I haven't figured out the secret to all that yet.
The pink is really a very pale pink.
It's not pepto bismol pink as it appears here....

Bought this butterfly mobile at PBK a couple of weeks ago on clearance.

I love it!!

Hopefully it won't freak baby girl out because the air vent blows on it and the butterflies come to life :)

We had to keep this bed in the nursery for visiting moms and guests.

I think it will also come in handy during those nighttime feedings.

We didn't have room in here for a glider, so the bed will have to do for now.

I had all the white bedding beforehand, so I just reused it.

My Grandma Reeger quilted the blanket on the bed.

It is the perfect match :)

She does this for all of her great-grandchildren.

It's something I always look forward to receiving :)

Baby Girl will be #10 for her!

Then she'll be getting another one in December from Chelsea!

Ok, a chandelier was a requirement for baby girl's room.

I've ALWAYS said if I had a girl she was going to get a chandelier in her room.

Perhaps this stems from me always wanting one as a little girl [and never getting one, thanks mom]

Just kidding, sort of. not really.

So I saved my $$ and found one that worked perfectly.
It's pale, pale pink.
I added the ceiling medallion and cord cover to up the fancy-ness factor :)

This chandelier caused a major fight between my husband and me.

He didn't understand why the existing ceiling fan couldn't suffice.

He told me to take it back.

I told him no.

He hung it for me two weeks ago.

He said he really liked it.....

There you go :)

The iron headboard is actually two antique gates that I hung overlapping to create a headboard.

It was something that we had already had prior and I really like them so they stayed.

Baby girl has a doll and pink jee jee's waiting for her

[as Charlie calls them].

He has tried to take that rabbit lookin' thingy there on the right to bed with him on several occasions....

all failed attempts.

Her closet has been fun to organize.

I think we've got one of everything Tar-jay has in their baby aisles :)

I'm telling ya, I'm sooooo ready for this baby!

I made the ribbon bow hanger [super easy]! But now realizing I should have made it longer...

Does anyone have a Moby wrap/sling?

I bought one and am hoping I am smart enough to figure out how it works.

This isn't even the HALF of her clothes, people.

I'm gonna have to change her clothes three times a day just to say she's worn everything!

I appreciate all the mommas who have given me their great hand-me-downs too.

Such a blessing when you're starting with nothing!

Mirror shot at 37 weeks and 3 days.

By the way, I waddle now.

Ok, I fiddled with repositioning these photos at the top and failed so they're coming in last even though they should be first :(

Lana and Charlie tackled the paint job one day when Jackson was at school and I was out running errands.

He may or may not have been more of a hindrance than a help to Lana...

After she painted 3 walls pale pink [Benjamin Moore "Elephant Pink"] we tackled the feature wall.

This design was featured in the Serena and Lily catalog.

They had painted wood floors white and stenciled this design around the border of the nursery.

It was super cute.

But I wasn't about to go painting some wood floors white...

so we put it up on the wall!

It was a tedious job.

It was back breaking [for me] laying on the floor with a "Laser" and Lana penciling in a straight line.

But we got it done :)
Where there's a will....there's a way!

She did a fantastic job of taping and painting [Benjamin Moore "Wales Green"] and doing two more coats.

We were so nervous to take off the blue painters tape.

It ended up perfect :)

I don't have any artwork on the walls yet.

I think we're going to stencil her monogram in the middle of the feature wall once we figure out what we're going to call her besides baby girl.

My talented, artistic, previously mentioned above, friend, Nikki, is also painting some artwork to hang above her crib.

Can't wait to see those!

Can't wait to see baby!

Thanks for joining me on my little tour.

Hope you enjoyed :)

countdown to baby girl has commenced :)

2011-06-25T10:23:00.001-05:00

The boys and I crafted today.
We made a paper chainlink to countdown to baby girl's arrival.
32 days...
32 chainlinks.
I got this idea from Christmas time when Jackson's kindergarten class made one and they counted down the days until Christmas.
It saves me a lot of repetitive conversations that go along the lines of, "Mommy, when is the baby coming?"
Sometimes I answer with, "Today I wish"

This one said he "needed" to make a funny face.
Jackson and I didn't let him get ahold of the glue stick too much.

Anyways, Jackson is too particular about his work and Charlie could care less.
I tend to lean towards Jackson's way of thinking in this case too.
Poor Charlie, two perfectionists at one project.
He's doomed.

I cut the strips on my board and let Jackson glue the links all together.

Here we have our final product!
32 chain links!
Jackson pointed at the one at the very top and said, "Mom, is this the day you will go to the hospital?"

I said I hope to be there much sooner than that last link.
He didn't get it.
But I know I am so ready to not be pregnant anymore.

I just want her in my arms.
We're all ready to meet her.
And so we wait.....
oh, and contemplate on what we shall call her besides "baby girl" for the rest of her life.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-21T15:34:00.001-05:00

This Father's Day the boys and I decided to have a Scavenger Hunt for James.

We woke up and I cooked breakfast for everyone and then came the fun part.

Jackson had no clue what a Scavenger Hunt was so I had lots of explaining to do.

I think we'll make this a tradition around our house from now on....it was so fun to plan too :)

His first clue led him to a stack of cards to read from all of us. They happen to be hiding in Charlie's bed.

The next clue led him to the patio where he found a new grill brush....
Very much needed.
We go through lots of grill brushes.

Reading the next clue lead him to the kitchen where he discovered a larger than life pancake flipper.
[I failed to take a pic of that, sorry]
Charlie quickly took control of it and made a paddle out of it, smacking all of us on the butt with it.

The last clue [there were only 4] led him to our bedroom.
I swear he thought it was a new tv [the way he ran to the tv console and swung open the doors gave it away]...hahaha

but it wasn't ;)

What have we here???

Oh, here are the clue cards that I made up.
I got stuck on clue two and had to call in some reinforcements...
My friend, Michelle, is a master rhymer, no seriously....she really is.
I sent her all the info and she emailed me back asap with really cute ideas.
Thanks Bert :)

I love that happy surprised face!!!
Who can go wrong with an iPad2 for Father's Day?!

We love this man very very much.
Happy Father's Day to the best Dad and Husband ever.
:)

Lately

2011-06-16T18:31:00.003-05:00

Lately, we've been layin' low.
Could be because it's sweltering hot outside.
Could be because I'm carrying a baby in my belly the size of Texas and am miserable :)

Charlie has learned how to swim now on his own and is very proud of that feat.
He's got his "gaggles" and James' swim cap on and about to do some serious swimming in Nonna's pool.

We did go to Destin last Tuesday thru Sunday.
Our friends Rob and Tara from NY met us there and we had a great week together.

James, Rob and Charlie buried Jackson in the sand.

It didn't last long...

Jackson started to freak.

Every morning we were at the beach the boys wanted to do whatever exercise Daddy was doing.
This morning James and Charlie went running and Jackson decided to bike.
I decided to reaquaint [sp?] myself with my king sized bed again....
have fun boys!
Momma's goin back to bed.

They crack James and I up.
They want to do whatever James is doing.

One morning Jackson had extra energy so when they got back from Jackson's bike ride they had to go for a run.
I was in a deep slumber.

If you haven't been to SanDestin they have a really cool area called Baytowne Wharf.
It's family oriented with lots of restaurants and games and activities, etc.
Their newest attraction are the hampster balls!
These were not here in April....

Giant air filled balls floating on a shallow pool.
$10 per kid for 5 minutes of play.
Someone hit the jackpot on this invention...

Charlie having a go at it.
He was so funny to watch.

This would be a great toy to have in one's backyard.
Or at a birthday party.

back to May 19.
Family pic outside of Mr. B's Bistro in New Orleans for my birthday dinner.
a stranger took this pic.
It was windy.
Charlie wouldn't cooperate.
Yummy food
:)

and here I am in all my glory at 34 weeks.
only 6 more to go.
or less...I hope.
it's been a rough one.

That's about it.
We're all just waiting on baby to arrive!

5i50 New Orleans Triathlon

2011-05-15T15:13:00.006-05:00

James had a triathlon race this morning in New Orleans.

It was an inaugural race called the 5i50.

The race consisted of a 1.2 mile swim,

24 mile bike

and 6.2 mile run.

The swim part of the race was cancelled early this morning due to the conditions of Lake Pontchartrain.

The water was really choppy.

Oh, and if you've been following the news, the Bonnet Carre spillway opened up and is currently flowing from the mighty Mississippi River into Lake Pontchartrain.

Let's just say there was alot of debris and logs floating in the lake this morning.

James and his friend, Tad, were super happy they didn't have to do the swim part.

I don't blame them!

This is our friend, Micah, who placed first in the Clydesdales Division [over 200 pounds].

...and here comes my husband across the finish line.

I was watching this poor boy trying to give James his medal.

Excuse me Mister?

um, here's your medal.

Don't you want it?
James had no clue...

He was searching for his boys :)
And he found them!

His little cheerleaders :)

Wait until we get a girl in the mix!
I noticed this woman to the right taking their picture...

I wonder if she works for a newspaper or something?

Guess who got a sweaty hug and kiss next!?

James and his training partner, Tad.

They have done many races together over the years.

They also make sure each other get to the gym at 4:45 AM FIVE days a week!

Ah, here we are.

Family picture.

7 months pregnant :)

Way to go, James. We love you!

Finish time: 2:24

Gilmore Garden 2011

2011-05-14T18:30:00.006-05:00

Let me just start by saying that we LOVE where we live :)

It's been an interesting [to say the least] last 4 years with housing situations...

and we feel truly at home now.

We will have been in this house for one year in June!

...and we don't plan on going anywhere for a LONG time :)

One of the first things we said we wanted to do when we bought this house was to plant a garden.

We've got corn.

We've got squash.

We've got tomatoes.

We've got eggplant and bell peppers too!

and everything seems to to be growing happily!

James even built a garden for Jackson.

It's right next to the "big" garden.

He prays for his garden to grow every night.

It's so cute.

I told James he better start praying for his garden to grow or we're only going to be eating out of Jackson's garden... :)

Hopefully, we'll be eating the harvest in a month or so...

and here's my little bitty herb garden!

I've got basil, parsley and rosemary.

I've managed to kill off my mint and cilantro....

But I'm going to try again.

It's amazing how much rosemary I use!

I love to marinate chicken breasts in Italian Dressing and rosemary for a day then grill it.

Sooooo delicious!

Jackson's Kindergarten Graduation!

2011-05-13T17:37:00.005-05:00

I can't believe this firstborn of mine is graduating KINDERGARTEN.

sniffle....sniffle....

He LOVED Kindergarten.

He loves school.

I am so thankful for that.

They had a cute program in the gym this morning and sang songs and performed for us.

Here Jackson is the "L" in COOL, as in school is cool....

dancin' machine!

He gets it from his mama!

[certainly not from his daddy] ;)

Can you believe we snagged front row seats???

We arrived 30 minutes early and lo and behold there were three seats right smack dab in the middle of Ms. Wolfe's class.

I was thrilled.

The past three years of preschool programs we've been in the back row.

no joke.
As you can see, he's thoroughly enjoying himself :)
There were 23 kids in Jackson's class this year.

Ms. Wolfe is such a a great teacher.

So structured, calm and can be silly with the kids.

She was a perfect match for Jackson.

....an answered prayer for me.

Belting out some tune.

All of their voices were so sweet.

It was fun watching him perform.

Jackson getting his diploma.

I can't believe how fast this year went.

It seems like yesterday I was dropping him off on his first day of big school!
So proud of himself!
Jackson and his teacher, Ms. Wolfe

I think I shall frame this.

I still have my kindergarten diploma somewhere too :)

Was going to scan this in, but got lazy and just took a pic.

Just wanted to document his day.

No doubt, I cried.

double whammy being pregnant and hormonal.....

Jackson brought this home from school today.

I thought it was funny in the box that says, "I liked learning about....and Jackson wrote "munne" [money]

ha!

cracked me up :)

First thing he asked me after the program was over was, "Mom, will you check me out?"

and I did....

I love you Jackson! You big FIRST grader now!

Jackson's 6th Birthday!

2011-03-16T08:12:00.006-05:00

Happy Birthday to Jackson!

Jackson had a very busy week with lots of visitors!

His Nonna came to see him the week of his actual birthday.

Jackson wanted to go to the Hibachi for his birthday dinner.

[Can someone explain to me how to make pics I take on my phone appear bigger when I upload them to iphoto??]

...and I think he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

He dressed himself...

and ate everything on his plate and his Nonna's plate.

He loves Hibachi!

[I do too!]

Look at that belly!

That pic was out of order, but we're going to just go with it...hey, at least I'm blogging!

We came home from dinner and got quick baths and ate some yummy birthday cake.

My mom looks scared?

Who needs a fork?!

I asked Jackson if he wanted to bring a special snack for his classroom the day of his birthday and he said he wanted cupcakes and oreos.

I researched some recipes and found Oreo Cupcakes.

Sorry I don't have a pic I took, but here's one from the website.

My mom and I made them after the boys went to bed Tuesday night.

They were so yum.

--------------------------

We saw my mom off on Thursday and Friday afternoon another shipment of visitors arrived for the weekend.

I think Jackson is loved :)

We decided with all these fun visitors in town we should have a CRAWFISH BOIL!

Grandma Reeger enjoyed hers!

Another tiny pic that I can't seem to make larger...

These crawfish were huge!

We ended up boiling about 115 pounds!

James did a great job!

We put all kinds of yummy vegetables in our boil.

Sausage, corn, artichokes, mushrooms [my personal fav] and potatoes...

we did have some leftovers.

But surprisingly, most of it got eaten!

Thank you to everyone who came and pitched in.

It was the perfect night for a boil.

Let's do it again soon :)

------------------------------------

The Weekend!

Friday afternoon James' mom, Jo Ann and Zach came to visit for the weekend and so did my Dad.

I was browsing the internet to find something fun for us to all do Saturday morning and thought taking everyone to a gator ranch would be just the thing.

Insta-Gator Ranch was only 4 or 5 miles down the road from us too!

We loaded up and scheduled the 11 am tour.

Our tour guide letting all the kids touch the alligator.

They're actually very soft.

Charlie needing to keep his distance in the safe arms of Granddaddy.

One of the pools of alligators just waiting to get bigger so they could release them back into the wild. We got to watch them eat a live mouse.

Exciting stuff I tell ya..

This guy wanted me to take his picture with his alligator. He was an employee and I seriously think he came straight off the set of The Water Boy or Swamp People.....haha

He was soaked with alligator water by the time he was done. He had so much fun. Everytime a baby would swim by, he'd drop the one he had in his hand and snatch the next one up.

This one was a little apprehensive...

Notice the biting of the lip, like, um, yeah, I'm ready to go home and watch nick jr. and eat some goldfish mom....

He was man handling this babies!

It was so funny to watch him.

Future Insta-Gator employee perhaps!

Jackson, Dad, Zach, Me and Charlie.

At the end of the tour and ready for some lunch!

This was a fun experience for the kids.

Very informational.

I think I now know everything there is to know now about the Louisiana alligator

And I think I've already forgotten....

--------------------------------

This year Jackson wanted his birthday party at the bowling alley.

Ok!

That's easy enough :)

What an easy birthday party this was this year!

We showed up with a cake from the grocery store and we've got an instant party on our hands!

I'm gonna have to do this more often.

The kids had fun......so did the grown ups. They were bowling in the next lane over :)

waiting for the balls to return...

Grandma Reeger and Me

Blowing out his birthday cake.

He said he wanted a Bowling Cake this year.

I opted out of making his cake this year....and I'm glad I did.

What a long week!

Grandma Reeger was in town visiting Richard and Dana's new baby so she got to join in on the festivities! I hate that it's a blurry pic!

A group picture but we're missing some kids! It's hard to get everyone together at once...

Jackson had so much fun at his bowling party.

We had such a busy week celebrating his birthday.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Jackson who is getting so big everyday. Not only with the funny things he says but his demeanor is changing.

The temper tantrums are starting to subside [whew!] and he's becoming a more socially interactive person. He's always be so shy around other people.

Jackson loves working outside with his Daddy.

Jackson loves to ride his scooter and boss his little brother around....

He loves to play baseball.

He loves school!

His teacher, Ms. Wolfe, told me on Tuesday that her and all the other Kindergarten teachers have a nickname for Jackson. Apparently, he's known as "The Ladies Man" on the playground. Ha! She said, "Jackson's always got at least 8 girls chasing him around the playground and he just loves it."

His favorite foods are pizza, asparagus, corn, meatballs and chicken nuggets. His favorite snacks are graham crackers with peanut butter and the occasional Menchie's fro yo :)

Love you big boy :)

ASE Mardi Gras Parade

2011-03-03T11:19:00.006-06:00

This is a post about Jackson's Kindergarten Mardi Gras Parade.

So you're wondering why this mug is posted all over the place?

Because he's a special one....

Because he's the little brother...

Because he's the spectator.

Here's the other spectator waiting for the parade to start.

Buddies, is what they are :)

Wasting time with the camera.

Making funny faces.

Nice double chin son.

You look like your mama right now.

Once the parade began, they turned the camera from themselves to the reason they came out to this fun event.

[I was walking with Jackson in the parade, hence the reason Lana was snapping pictures].

There we are!

This was a really cute parade.

All of the kindergarten classes were assigned an animal and dressed up as the animal.

As you can see, Jackson's class were all zebras!

That's me behind Jackson stealing the Starburst out of his classmates bags and eating them.

I'm pregnant.

No excuse other than that :)
Having so much fun!

That's Jackson's teacher, Ms. Wolfe, right behind him all decked out in her zebra garb.

She's a WONDERFUL teacher and I am so happy that Jackson has her this year.

She makes learning fun!

We didn't know this cute little lion cub, but isn't she the cutest thing??

Love their costumes!

Their class was special because they got to ride in a trailor pulled by a 4-wheeler.

Ms. Wolfe's class had to hoof it.
Looks like Charlie made out pretty well!

[I think he's got some Starburst in his chubby little cheeks too....]

Throw me something mister!!!

Lots of fun.

It was all over in an hour and only a mile from our house.

How fun.

Happy Mardi Gras!!

The Long Road Home

2010-12-23T14:38:00.005-06:00

We loaded up the SUV and headed for PA on Tuesday after Charlie's Christmas program at preschool.
I was already expecting this road trip to be a pain and wanting to strangle my children after 18 hours in the car.
Gotta say though, it really wasn't that bad!
Everyone behaved themselves!

Our Elf on the Shelf even graced us with his presence....
The boys LOVED that!

James brought these camo neck pillows home from Bass Pro.
The boys wore them the whole trip.
They wouldn't share with their mom :(

We drove for 10 hours straight on Tuesday and ended up getting a hotel room in Louisville, KY.
They had a decent continental breakfast and we were back on the road by 7:30am.
Arrived at Nonna's house at 3:30 that afternoon.
It snowed most of the way from Cincinnati to Pa.
But the roads were clear and it was a pretty sight!

Wednesday morning Chelsea, and her boys, Carter and Elliot came over to play.
I thought it would be a fun idea to let them decorate a gingerbread house.
I've never done this myself, so I was interested in trying it.
How hard can it be right?

Very hard, when the piping bag full of icing bursts open all over the house.

Or when the walls won't stay "glued" together and keep collapsing in.

Disastrous.
Where is my pastry chef, Steph, when I need her?

Of course, 3 sets of eyes were on us as we were trying to get the basics covered...

ok, this is progress!

Looking like a gingerbread house!

The boys got to decorating right away.

Serious faces!

Half of the candies got eaten.

"No More!" was not understood, but ignored as two mothers were yelling to their boys.

That's my two hands holding the roof up as the boys decorate.

It would not stay up!

Then I read the instructions that say, "Allow gingerbread house to dry for 2-3 hours before decorating."

oh, well, that's just not going to happen today.

Charlie looking devious as always...

Carter analyzing the shoddy construction of this house.

[and chomping on candy]

getting there!

[my fingers are still holding it up]

ok, done!

I stepped away and two seconds later...

collapse.

we decided that the gingerbread house was just going to be a candy land.

We failed.

We also threw it away after the boys left the room.

Maybe next year I'll read the instructions BEFORE construction starts...

Merry Christmas!

Gilmore Family Pics Dec 2010

2010-12-09T09:41:00.008-06:00

Our friend, Tony, who happens to be a really good photographer, and who also takes our Gilmore Family Picture every year for our Christmas card met us in a field one sunny December day.

It was a rushed Saturday afternoon and no one was really in the mood for smiling for the camera.

But I insisted.

I had to get Christmas cards ordered and in the mail.

Pronto.

It was burning a hole on my "to-do" list.

There's always one kid who doesn't want to cooperate with photo shoot rules.

Jackson was not that kid this year.

It was Charlie.

And as you'll notice, Charlie was in none of the photos except for the very first one I posted, which just so happened to be our Christmas Card pic.

It had to be.

I had no choice.

Jackson and his doggie, Champ, whom he loves very much.

At this point, Charlie is screaming crying and not wanting anything to do with Tony or his camera.

At least he got Champ's attention!

Mr. & Mrs.

I was like 3 months pregnant in these pics and trying to hide it because we were leaving for PA in a few days to spend Christmas with the fam and they didn't know yet!

Tony didn't even know....

It wasn't hard though, I wasn't showing much.

I do recall having serious nausea that day though...

Ahhh, here we go.

Charlie ruining the day for [me].

James in the background hightailing it back to the car.

He had had enough too.

In and out in less than 15 minutes. Nice.

Just can't imagine next year's session with a 6 month old and two kids and a dog.....

That's going to require some major bribes!

My Little Patient

2010-12-02T14:41:00.002-06:00

Charlie had his tonsils and adenoids removed on Tuesday.

He's still in a lot of pain.

Two days later and he's still not eating much.

Or drinking much.

I'm on top of that though!

I do not want to have to go to the hospital because he's dehydrated....

so I'm forced to force liquids :(

He hates me right now.
Watching tv on the couch.

This had been his location since we got home from surgery.

Pillow--check.

JEE JEE--check.

Nick Jr.--check.

Nap?--check.

I hope he feels better soon.

In the meantime, I've almost caught up with my pathetic excuse for a blog!

I am determined to be caught up before Christmas pics!

Hence the reason for Charlie's birthday post earlier. His birthday is in August....yet just got posted today :/

Pumpkin Fest 2010

2010-12-02T08:43:00.006-06:00

The boys and I flew up to PA for the annual Pumpkin Festival at our family's farm this year.

Yes, it took place in October.

Yes, I know it's December.

Such is life these days....

oh, and facebook doesn't help matters either!

It's much easier to post pics on facebook.

But I am doing this blog for my kids.

Someday I'll make it into a book for them.

That way it can be a keepsake and great for remembering their childhood!
I love this time of year at the farm.

Beautiful colors everywhere!

The weather was nice.

Not too hot, not too cold.

Of course, the first thing they wanted to do was go on a hayride.

We talked our cousins, Elliot and Carter into joining us!

The four of these guys together is hilarious!

Can't wait til Elliot can be more of a contributor.

[Chels, if you have anymore boys, then we're really doomed.]
Brothers :)

The sun was so bright!

Found this crazy boy in the corn bin.

Let's just say I was fishing kernels of corn out of my washing machine for weeks.....
Sweet brothers.

They really love each other.

Except for the occasional throwdown here and there ;)
Nonna and the boys.

Such a great pic!
Ok, funny story.

The weekend before we were in PA, my cousin, Steph, and her kids were in PA. She snapped a pic of my mom wearing a fanny pack [gasp!] [oh the horror]..I know what you're thinking.

She sent it to me and immediately I texted my mom and said, "Take off the fanny pack before someone gets hurt."

She didn't know that Steph and snapped a pic of her wearing the fashion faux pas and was in a little bit of shock.

Busted!

Long story short, she sported the "crossover" the following week that I was there.

No worries.

I confiscated the fanny pack.

It no longer is a temptation for Cindra :)

Jackson is getting taller!
Charlie with my cousin, Mike's little boy, Zach.

Boys everywhere!
My job was to collect $$ for the hayrides on the day of the festival.

Jackson was my helper.

He needed to take the occasional hayride out to the field and check things out.

A white pumpkin!

He collected several of these over the weekend.

And we forgot to take them home with us.....oooops.

Jackson wasn't too happy with me when we got back to LA and he went looking for his white pumpkins.
This is my friend Kenny's little boy Max.

Such a cutie!

Max, that is....not Kenny
I don't know why the sky is so blue and crisp on fall days...

I love it!
This is a picture I snapped of the farm looking down from the top of the hill.

Just to the left is Grandma Reeger's house.

That's the market straight ahead...

Love this view!

odds and ends

2010-10-15T19:19:00.004-05:00

I am a horrible blogger.

It's a fact anymore....

Lana's birthday was Sept 27 and we went to dinner to celebrate!

Del Porto is one of our favorite local restaurants so that's where we headed.

The Gilmores :)

My boys!

[Charlie's going to kill me someday for the bowl cut...]

the birthday girl and me

I packed a bag of "quiet toys" to keep the boys occupied.

It's sort of a NICE restaurant and we're still working on table manners :/

Hey look! James likes quiet toys too!

They love their Aunt!

I think the feeling's mutual.

Birthday kisses from Jackson

We went home for birthday cake. I made a scratch chocolate cake.

It was soooo yum....

all 29 candles!

yes, Charlie is naked.

No, I don't know why....

At least his hand is in a good spot.

Lana's got her glass of milk ready for her cake.

Happy Birthday, Lana!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Random pics:

The boys sporting their Steeler and Saints jerseys on game day :)

matching missing teeth!

Jackson pulled his loose tooth.

Charlie had his removed by the dentist..it was rotten.

On the airplane to go to Penn to see Nonna for Pumpkin Fest

Yes, I had to fly with these two goobers.

They are very well behaved [most of the time] and do a good job of sitting for stretches of time.

Leapsters, coloring books, dvds, snacks, stickers, tic tac toe all do a good job to pass the time too :)

Gone Fishing!

2010-09-06T16:36:00.010-05:00

James took us fishing on Saturday morning!

The boys were so excited!

They laid out their own clothes the night before, down to which belt and hat they were going to wear!

We got up at 5:30 am headed down to Hopedale, La.

It was an interesting drive.

You have to go through Chalmette to get to Hopedale.

Chalmette was an extremely devestated area after Katrina and I hadn't been down there in about 4 years.

There are STILL abandoned houses...

There are STILL spraypainted signs on the fronts of houses.

On some old warehouses and vacant buildings, you can still see the waterline.

It was sad.

But two little boys were so pumped to go fishin'!
Charlie laid the sunscreen on thick!

He kept telling James and me, "I cited to go fishnin"

Sidenote: Charlie had a tooth pulled last Thursday. His mouth was so numb that he bit his lip and it looks horrible. It looks like he's got a wad of chewing gum in his mouth, but it's just his mangled lip. Poor baby!

`
James was excited to get me on a boat!

I haven't been fishing on sooo long!

And I like fishing!
It was about an 1 hour 15 min drive from our house.

I packed us a lunch and we had a great time.

James was the first one to catch a fish.

Black Drum!
Someone [James] was super impressed with my casting skills.

What can I say?
James and I were super busy casting the boys lines and watching them non-stop so that no one went overboard...

It wasn't exactly a stress-free experience.

But it was fun, and we'll do it again.
This one was making me nervous standing at the front of the boat hanging on to NOTHING.
He caught some baby catfish that we threw back.
Unfortunately, Charlie caught nothing.

He kept chucking Doritos and canteloupe into the water...

Me and my boys.

They were EXHAUSTED at the end of the day.

We had a yummy fish dinner that night.

It was seriously so good.

We are making it again tonight!

Barefoot Contessa: Mustard Roasted Fish

Make it!

We used Redfish that we had caught, I'm sure you could use any fish.

We're already planning our next trip :)