Cousin fun at Nana and Poppy's!

We just got back from spending a great week and a half at my parents house in Clinton, Missisippi. It was wild and chaotic with all 5 cousins there, but it was a lot of fun, and Rylie and Jack LOVE to see their cousins Landrum and Pace. We had a fun time celebrating Pace's first birthday, and he loved getting to have cake for the first time! It is so fun to spend time with my sisters and their families. We look forward to the next time we get together as a whole family at Christmas- it will get just a little bit crazier, with another new baby to add to the mix- my new nephew, Luke, who will be born in September. The cousins just keep multiplying- we will soon be outnumbered!

Olivia Anne

Here are a few pictures of Miss Olivia Anne, born on April 27,2009. She is such a blessing to our family, and such a sweet baby girl. Rylie and Jack love having a new baby sister!

Trick or Treat!!!

Halloween was a fun night had by all! We had some friends over to eat pizza first and carve our jack-o-lantern ( a little late in the game I know- but when it is 85 degrees here, it would have rotted had we done it any earlier!).A nice treat this year was to have Mimi going along with us, much to the jealousy of the other grandparentals! She was so excited to get to be a part of the giant sugar fest! Then it was off to neighborhood trick-or-treating! Rylie decided she would go as a ballerina ( yeah! already owned this costume, it was from her recital in May) and Jack went as a monkey- although people kept thinking he was a bear- do bears have bananas attached to their costumes? Oh well, he was really adorable!

Lots of candy was aquired, lots of costumes were admired, and definitely all of the children were wired! After filling their buckets to the max, and passing them off to mom and dad, because they were just "too heavy", we made our way back home to admire the "goods" and greet a few trick or treaters of our own. It was a fun, if not warm, Halloween had by all!

The Beach..... in October?

Yes! We went to Florida in the middle of October, and let me tell you it was fabulous! The weather was awesome, and we were able to spend everyday on the beach playing in the sand. It never rained until the last night we were there, so it was great. Jack and Rylie are at the perfect age right now, and loved getting to play on the beach for hours at a time ( under very heavy layers of sunscreen mind you!). However, Jack had acquired a very nice tan and his hair had turned almost white by the end of the trip! Rylie on the other hand is our very fair child, so we were just thrilled that she didn't burn! They had a blast looking for seashells ( okay - so maybe that was more exciting for Mommy and their aunts, but I do think they looked for them.... like once!) Their greatest joy was just playing in the sand, making all sorts of concoctions and building sandcastles or volcanoes. It was such a great relaxing vacation, and so nice to have our house within walking distance of the beach. The best part was that we were able to go with my whole family, mom/dad, grandma, sisters and husbands, and cousins. We had such a wonderful time of visiting and hanging out, making memories. It has already been suggested that we make this an annual trip- sounds good to me! Although this time next year, we will be making the trip with 3 kids instead of 2, so that might change the dynamics- traveling with a 6 year old, 3 year old, and 5 month old, for 12 hours, hmmmmmmm........ well I have a year to get my mind wrapped around that idea!

Splish, Splash! We were taking a bath.....

Soapy faced Rylie!
Jack is so serious!
Happy to finally be clean!
Me too, Mommy!
Having fun in the bubbles!

"Summer of Jack" part 2

Just wanted to add these few pictures to help reinforce my title for the previous post. I think we may be letting him try out for celebrity circus ( i can't believe that is even a real show)- as you can see from these pictures he enjoys perching on top of a knob to get better access to the sink area. He also has been known to scale the iron railing on my neighbors porch. We are 99% sure he is part monkey- or maybe just all boy.

The next few pictures are of Jack when I discovered him in my bathroom one day, after a way too long period of silence. You will notice the preferred face decorator of choice that day would be Mommy's lip gloss. He had gotten a hold of my make up bag, and was just going to town!

Lastly, just a couple of him enjoying a tasty, summer treat. A cherry push up pop. I am not really sure how much actually was digested and how much he ended up wearing. But, either way, he sure was having a good time!

"It's the Summer of Jack...."

( Seinfeld fans will notice my subtle nod at the episode where it was "the summer of George".) Well this year, it is "The Summer of Jack" - throw the gates wide open, cuz here he comes, there is no holding him back, and he is bound and determined with his new found independence to make it be known to the world, that in no uncertain terms will he be referred to as "baby Jack". He is definitely learning to assert himself in whatever way possible to get this point across, and wants to do whatever the "big kids" are doing. He has not a timid bone in his body, and seems to know no fear...... which is why this child at the ripe old age of barely two was promptly enrolled in swim lessons for the first two weeks of June. I know we are not supposed to compare our children, but it is especially difficult not to when it comes to this issue. Rylie, is my more cautious , reserved child, and for instance it has taken her 3 years to finally decide that she actually does like swimming, and going under the water really isn't that bad. Jack on the other hand was the first child to volunteer to jump off the diving board during swim lessons. I will say that he did cry for about the first 3 lessons, but only when the teacher made him go under the water to swim for her hands, then he would come up crying " No more, mommy, no more" " All done now." But the rest of the time he was happy to be in the water, and after about 3 days there were no more tears. I will say that on about day 6 of the 10 days, I was still not sure whether he was going to pull it off, as you see, he was being referred to as a " lazy kicker" and just wouldn't get those legs kicking to get to his destination. But in the last two days, something must have clicked and he was using those legs! I know that all the swimming we have done in the last 2 weeks has helped him build his confidence and given him more practice, I am just amazed to think that I now have 2 swimming children. Rylie has turned into a little fish in the last two weeks ( all hail the power of the Little Mermaid goggles- they seriously have given her super swimming power- we will be in serious trouble if anything should happen to those goggles!)and Jack who now knows the basics, and therefore believes he is now invincible in the water. He is still insisting that he can walk across the pool by himself, he just doesn't get it that he is not quite tall enough for his head to not be under water! This summer is going to be very interesting indeed!