Alert! Alert!

As I mentioned in the last post, we had some family photos done last night. The photographer came to our house and just started snapping away! We headed to Little Mulberry Park for some outdoor pictures and she was just great. Kyle and I kept joking that we had a babysitter for the afternoon. While she was taking pictures of Jackson they would just traipse all over that playground and he had a new best friend. She was quick too! She already posted a little sneak peak on her blog. Go check them out at her blog. I would post one here, but stupid me forgot to ask for permission. I'll get on that though, because I think the one of all 3 of us would be an amazing header for the old blog!

Unfortunately, Avery is moving to Texas at the end of this month. But she is going to be coming back in our area occasionally to book sessions. I know for sure we will be booking again!

Fun times

Hot husband teaching adorable son how to bowl. MELTS MY HEART!!! We took Jackson bowling for the first time last week and we had a blast. Look, he even got his own little pair of bowling shoes. He actually had a higher score than me in the first game. I really stink at bowling, but it is so much fun! If y'all live anywhere close to Dacula, you need to go to the brand new bowling alley. It was so clean and nice. I've never been to a bowling alley where I actually felt safe using the restrooms. Good times, good times!

Jackson and I packed up for the weekend and headed to visit with family in North Carolina. My mom graciously went with us too. We all hopped in the car on Friday morning and had such a fun time. Jackson had another first while we were there. First ride on a LIVE horse.

My aunt Robyn led him around on her son's horse. He was a little iffy about actually being on the horse, but he loved petting them and looking at them. There were 2 mules in my grandmother's pasture, and Jackson just kept begging to go over there and see them. We had to tell him that the "horsies are taking a nap", to keep him from darting across the road to go see them.

It wasn't all fun and games while we were in NC. Mamaw always has something going on. SO, we picked blueberries, picked green beans, picked cucumbers, etc. I can't say that I did all of that. I stayed back and watched Jackson some of the time while Mama and Mamaw slaved away. Mamaw was lying down taking a little afternoon rest while Mama and I went and picked blueberries on Friday afternoon. Y'all, picking blueberries is not fun. You have to dig into those bushes, and move them all around, and stretch, and bend, and you get the point. We brought our cool whip bowl back full of blueberries, and I was pretty proud of myself. After Mamaw woke up she asked us why we hadn't picked more! Too funny. She really is a workaholic at the youthful age of 87.

We did get some relaxation while we were there too. Lots of front porch sitting went on.
As far as my memory goes back, I can remember loving this front porch. I would sit in my Papaw's lap and laze the afternoon away. We had family gatherings on this porch. My best friend Mandy and I were swinging too high and broke the swing. (We promptly got a stern talking to by Mamaw who told us that we needed to go on a diet. Then she offered us some home made pound cake with strawberries.) I would climb the rails on the porch and pretend that I was in a Broadway musical. Lots and lots of good memories. And this weekend I watched my little one play away as I sat on the swing. That is what they call full circle, y'all.
It was nice to get home, but it was great to get up there for the weekend. It was one of those "good for the soul" kind of trips.

This week is going to be even more busy, so I really needed that little weekend! We're having family pictures done on Wednesday. Do any of y'all stress over this like I do? We're having the pictures made at our house, which is even more stressful because everything has to be clean! You can check out the photographer here. She takes the most gorgeous pictures and I can't wait! We're also heading down to Florida for a long weekend. So.... should be fun! I'll be back next week with an update and some pictures!

Slowly, slowly, slowly I'm starting to feel more like a human and less like a sloth. I'm heading towards my 12th week of pregnancy and everyday I feel more energized. For a few weeks there, it was pretty rough. It was all I could do to get home from work and get dinner together and have Jackson in bed. I don't remember being that tired when I was pregnant with Jackson, but I guess being pregnant when you already have another child is a whole different ballgame.

Summer has been full and lovely, though. We've had lots of great time outside and lots of time with loved ones. Here's what I found Jackson doing one night when I was watering the garden: I know, we're in a drought. But I don't think he had it on too long. That spicket is pretty loose, so he managed to turn it on himself. I think it was on just long enough to drench himself good and for me to run in and get the camera. Every kid should have this experience, right? Sweet summertime.

Jackson has also become kind of obsessed with youtube. You remember this from a few years ago?

Here's Jackson's version


Please excuse my excruciatingly annoying voice in the video. Try to focus on the cute little boy who is dancing. Do I really sound like that? Wow. Jackson is so animated when he sings the song, but gets a little shy in front of the camera. It is hilarious, though. I promise you that.

Our 4th of July was great. A day full of swimming, laying out in the sun, lots of good food, and fireworks. What can get better than that? Here's the little man with a sparkler:
That just screams danger, right? A 2 year old with a lighted object in his hand. But we all walked away unharmed. Here we are at the fireworks, trying desperately to get a family picture. This is the best out of all of the attempts:Kyle's talking, Jackson's not looking at the camera, and I... well for starters, it's obvious that is way past my bedtime of 8:00pm. But we did our best.

What else, what else??? Oh, WE AREN'T HAVING TWINS. I know I had informed some of you that this might be the case. The midwife thought at our first ultrasound that she possibly saw two babies. But our 2nd ultrasound determined that it is just one little peanut in there. I never really felt like it was twins anyways. If it was, I think I would have gone into a mild state of shock. But the one little one is doing great with a strong little heart and seems to be forming beautifully!

I can't think of much else that needs updating right now. We've been pretty predictable lately. Work, eat, sleep, play, etc. I am going back to part time hours. That is a blessing, for sure! I hope you are all doing lovely!