Living The Dream

This boy...

It's been awhile since I did a real update on Brady...I can't believe he'll be 27 months on the 12th! He is growing and changing so much and we're noticing lots of funny little things he's been doing. Need to document them here, so i don't forget :)

-he still says "waah" for "yeah", but now he also says "wep" for "yep". i wish i had some video of it...so freaking cute!

-he talks in complete sentences now and thinks he's a total grownup with the things he says. he says words like "actually" and the other day out of nowhere he said "untangle" when he was playing with a ball of Mimaw's yarn. crazy!

-he loves to jump...he will jump across the house, jump in his crib and when we're at gymnastics he will jump on the trampoline for pretty much an hour straight.

-he still loves to eat and will eat almost anything. he's pretty vocal about things he doesn't like, but isn't hesitant at all about trying new things.

-he'll eat any meat at all as long as you give him some  A1 sauce to dip it in. jackson was not a dipper at all, but brady loves all condiments...ketchup, mustard, ranch, you name it!

-he's still a big boy, but is definitely thinning out a bit at this point. he weighs about 36 pounds!

-he still likes his personal space and gets irritated when jackson comes around and bugs him if he's not in the mood to play. he's very independent and plays SO well by himself! it's hard though when your big brother is very co-dependent! :P

-he and jackson bicker all day. "that's mine!" or "i had that first" or "jackson said poopy!". this is something so foreign to me, since i never had siblings, but tom swears it's normal. oy.

-he loves that Jason Mraz song "I'm Yours" and everytime it comes on he says, "This my song!!" or "Me LOVE this song!"

-he saw his first movie last week...took them to see Up. They both loved it and Brady kept saying the whole time "this so cool!" and then when the movie got a little scary he said "me no love this show, mommy, this BAD show". lol. 

-he's obsessed with Star Wars thanks to his brother. He loves R2D2 and calls him "r-tootie". heeee!

-he's very polite..always says please and thank you and even remembers to say "bless you" when someone sneezes. so sweet!

-he does NOT like to go to bed. if we're out for lunch and are coming home, as soon as we turn into the neighborhood, he says "NO TAKE NAP!" and he'll whine until you put him down. Then he's out like a light in seconds. Same thing at bedtime too. We were thinking of getting him a big boy bed, but I think we'll wait till this phase is over. ;) 

One more thing before I go...Jill Marie, wrote a great review here on CK's Easier Than Ever 2 special issue and she's giving away a free copy to one lucky commenter. Be sure to check it out! Here's one of my layouts that made it into the book...

Happy Thursday! :)

4th of July...

I was hoping to post earlier, but man, this day really got away from me. I've been on a mission to get all my scrappy things done early this month since we're taking a week vaca to Indiana from the 18th-25th and then I'm headed to CHA for a few days that following week. So, first things first...I posted a challenge over at KI today. The challenge is to add a whimsical feel to your layout...this little fishy was inspired by one of the fish on this towel in the PBKids catalog. :)

 

Onto the 4th of July...we had a blast this weekend! The kids were up SUPER late both nights. They both usually go to bed around 7:30/8pm, but were up till almost midnight both Friday and Saturday night. whew. Luckily, they were such troopers and were so good! Friday night we went to that baseball game I had posted about last week...the Clearwater Threshers are the minor league Phillies team. It was really fun and we're talking about making it a tradition now. It doesn't get much more American than baseball, hot dogs, beer and fireworks. ;) Here are some pics..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and some HAPPY news for me....I'm a finalist in the Cosmo Cricket DT search. Keeping my fingers crossed! :)

I hope everyone has a great rest of the day. I'm stuck here waiting for the GE repairman to come and fix my fridge. It hasn't been cooling properly for a few days now. I'm looking forward to restocking the fridge!

Happy 4th!

I've been thinking a lot about Aunt Di these past few days....this was her holiday...the one where she planned our trips to the beach and dressed in full red, white and blue garb each and every year.  For as long as I can remember, my family has been staying out at the beach for the holiday weekend.  Di loved the beach and loved having everyone there together in one place. But this year, we are celebrating a little different...the Clearwater Threshers have a game tonight with a HUGE fireworks display after the game and 23 members of my family will be there together. We are really looking forward to doing something fun and different! And I know Aunt Di would have loved this too. This photo was taken 2 years ago at our 4th of July celebration...can't believe how much Jackson looks like a BABY!

 

I hope everyone has a happy and SAFE 4th of July! And a small PSA from me...please make sure your kids are wearing SHOES around fireworks and sparklers! One year, I wasn't wearing shoes and stepped onto a lit sparkler...I had to sit w/my foot in the cooler for the rest of the night. :(

  

Our Weekend at the Beach...

13 families, 4 glorious days at the beach...aaaaaah! It was perfect...the kids all played together, the adults sat back and relaxed, we ate and drank and had the best time! My boys ADORE the beach. Brady cried when it was time to check out of the hotel...saying "no go home...stay beach!". lol. Living in Florida, we tend to take advantage of having paradise right here at our fingertips and we don't go to the beach nearly as often as we should. But after seeing them enjoy it so much this past weekend, we will going a lot more often now! Some of my favorite pics from the weekend...

 

 

 

 

 

Would love this one more, but Brady is rubbing his eyes...he is constantly rubbing sunscreen into his eyes...anybody else's kids do that? oy.

 

Jackson and my friend, Faith's, 3 boys...

 

 

 

I highly recommend getting some of your friends together and taking a group vacation! So fun!

And some layouts to share...these 2 from the June issue of CK.

 

 

And one last one...from the July issue. This is my niece, Cassidy...her parents call her "the terrorist" b/c she's full of trouble. lol. But she's sugary sweet too when she wants to be :)

SC July Reveal...

So, life got the best of me during June...with the planning of my Aunt's memorial party and helping my Mom get all her affairs in order, it's been so hectic and busy that most days I don't know which way is up. Luckily, I have been able to squeeze some fun time with friends in too and took a vacation at the beach this past weekend for 4 days with 13 other families...so much fun! More pics coming later this week! :) Doesn't Jackson look thrilled in this one? He was having such a great time, he did NOT want to stop to take a photo. :P

Anyway, the July SC kit is lovely, as always. I could have made a ton of layouts with this kit if I'd had more time.  I actually ordered the Director's Cut add-on too, but it's still sitting here.  Hopefully I'll be able to play with it next week! Okay enough talking....here's what I *did* manage to get done...

 

 

 

 

The main kit and 2 of the add-ons are still available, so run and get yours while you still can!! :)

Okay, and one last thing...I'm not much of a put yourself out there kind of person anymore, but when I heard that Cosmo Cricket was having a DT call, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try. Their products are so fresh and unique and I'm a huge fan. Here are some Cosmo things I've made recently...

 

 

 

Okay, more pics tomorrow from our weekend at the beach...happy Wednesday! :)

KI goodness and a sneak for Jen...

A BIG box of KI Memories loveliness just arrived on my doorstep and totally brightened my day! Lots of goodies from the April/May/June releases...check them out here: http://www.kimemories.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=shopki.cataloghome I'm really wishing I had more time because I'm dying to make stuff with all this new product! I'll have to wait though...still working on my Aunt's slideshow, editing photos from 2 sessions and working on my projects for the July SC kit. And the boys have been sick on top of it all. Brady had pink eye over the weekend, then Jackson got the pink eye. Brady had a cough and a sore throat and now Jackson caught the sore throat as well. Oy. I feel like we're back into winter or something with as much as these boys have been sick lately. :P

So my friend, Jen, wanted some 2-year photos of her little guy, Jonah and thought it was a good idea to go ahead and do some family pics as well. It was a stifling HOT afternoon, but they were such troopers. The kids were all over the place and made me work hard, but it was so worth it.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Thursday! :)

Maternity Session...

I want to thank everyone for the emails and comments about my aunt. I really appreciate all the support. We're trying to take things one day at a time. She didn't want a traditional funeral, but rather a big party to celebrate her life (totally her style!). We've been busy planning that and I've been collecting photos from everyone who knew her to put together a slideshow. We rented a big movie screen and projector so that we can play it for everyone at the party.

I was lucky enough to photograph two amazing families this past weekend. I promised Loriana a sneak peek, so here you go:

 

 

And a super quick layout I did for a challenge over at 2peas to scrap something boyish.

  

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. I'm looking forward to a night of scrapping with friends tonight. I got my July SC kit in the mail yesterday and I've got big plans for it. ;)

She's Gone...

A week ago today, my Aunt Di passed away. She died in her sleep and we were all there by her side. It's been a really hard thing for my family to deal with. She's the first of 7 siblings to go and at only 53 years old, we all feel like we've been cheated out of lots of good years with her. It's hard for me to imagine her not being here anymore. The boys are taking it well, so far. Jackson had a few days where he was pretty sad and was asking lots of questions, but he seems to understand. He asks me almost everyday if he can look at pictures of her. I'm going to make a hardbound Shutterfly book with all the pictures of she and the boys together, so that the memories don't fade. I'm having a really hard time with the realization that, even though she was a huge part of their lives, Brady won't remember her at all and Jackson's memories will probably be pretty foggy.  It's my mission now to keep her in our hearts and keep reminding them how wonderful she was so they remember that about her. I'm not so good with words, but I thought I'd post some of my favorite photos of her and the boys. Thanks for all the love and support over the past few years. She put up a good fight against her cancer, that's for sure. And up until the very end, she was laughing and shopping and partying like she always did. We miss her so much, but we believe with all our hearts that she is in a better place now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing...

So the big SC reveal was last night and WOW, be sure to check out the DT gallery. The girls did some amazing things, as always! Also, I believe that the Cherry Pop and Shirley Temple add-ons sold out in record time, but there are still some Rootbeer Float add-ons available. And actually, Rootbeer Float was my favorite :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, that's all I've got for now...we're off to the gym this morning. Have a wonderful day!! :)

Studio Calico Reveal...

It's tonight! Be sure to check out the AMAZING June kit! I usually only have a long enough attention span to complete 3 maybe 4 layouts. I always have plenty left over, but almost always end up splitting it all up when I'm finished creating for the reveal gallery. Well, this month I managed to whip out 6 layouts. That's HUGE for me. This kit is so fresh and fun and I'm really really loving the Cosmo Cricket stuff lately. SO fun!

Here are a couple of sneaks...be sure to check out the full versions of all the DT layouts tonight at midnight when the gallery goes live.

 

 

I hope everyone had a great long holiday weekend. These short weeks get me all confused on which day it is. It totally feels like Tuesday today. :P We had a lovely weekend celebrating Memorial Day with family and friends. The boys became little fish and are totally obsessed with the pool now. We're convinced we need to have one here at the house...they enjoy it SO much!

 

This one of Jackson just cracks me up! I posted these on Facebook as well and one of my friends said he looks like some sort of summertime superhero. heeee!

 

What did you all do for the holiday weekend? Don't forget to check out the SC reveal at midnight! See you over there! :)