first day of school (i.e. dylan's lucky day)

My baby had his first day of school yesterday. He was excited about this day coming so it was hard for me to be sad about it. Plus, he'd kinda driven me nuts all summer so I was ready for him to be out of the house. =) He had told me the day before that he would walk in by himself with the "big kids." Of course, that shocked me and made me a little sad. When it came time to drop him off at school he had changed his mind. He wanted me to walk him in. So we spent 15 minutes waiting in the massive line of cars to park so we could walk in. As I was pushing Jackson in the stroller and Dylan was walking next to the stroller, he turned around to Jack and said "I'm going to miss you Jackson." So sweet!!! Well we got to his classroom and his teacher put him to work. I'm pretty sure that was the hint to parents to leave. LOL Only because it's a tactic I used in my teaching days. Well I couldn't help snapping just a couple pictures before I left. =) I gave him a kiss (or two) goodbye and Jack and I left. After he got home yesterday he said his favorite part was lunch. Go figure! Hopefully there was some learning and playing mixed in there somewhere. We did see his teacher last night when we went out to dinner and he thought that was VERY cool! So sweet!!! We let him pick the restaurant for dinner (well, sort of - we refused to eat at "Old McDonalds") and he got to get a special desert since it was the first day of school. As we were loading up in the car after dinner, he proclaimed it to be his "lucky day." He got to go to school, meet new friends, eat out of his lunchbox, go to PE, pick the restaurant for dinner, get a special desert, and see his teacher again. Sounds like the perfect first day of school to me!

Oh one sad note to report - he was very disappointed that his teacher's treasure chest is actually a "basket. Gasp!!! =)

And now for the pictures:
The VERY important lunchbox and lunch. Thank goodness we didn't have to have a mesh lunchbox (their backpacks are required to be mesh or clear). Lightning McQueen had to represented somewhere. =)
On the front step, posing for pictures. He was actually telling me how he wanted to pose. LOL
With his teacher, whom we all love. Thank goodness!!!
Signing his name that he brought his lunch. He was so proud that he wrote neatly. I love that kid!! Notice anything - he's a leftie. I need to do a layout about that!
All packed and ready to go! I saved this for last because I wanted to post it with last year's picture. He's grown so much!!!

pictures of the boys

Summertime is here! We've been spending a lot of time on the go so we decided today to just stay home. Now I know why we've been on the go so much. Staying home ALL DAY with two kids (one of which is teething and the other gets bored every 5 seconds) makes for a long day. But we survived. =) I've been in a major creative slump lately. Trying to break out of it, I broke out the camera and tried shooting in full manual. With two kids that won't be still for more than 2 seconds it made for a creatively challenging experience. LOL Here are some of my favs. These are two crazy boys!!

in the blink of an eye...

This little guy has gone from a teeny tiny baby to a "grown up" 5 year old. It happened so fast but I've enjoyed (most) every minute of it. =) Happy Birthday to the sweetest, most tenderhearted, unselfish, creative, fun, and cutest boy I know!! Thank you so much for making me a Mommy. I love you, Dylan!

great friends think alike

Ok, so I've been a little behind on checking blogs lately. Sorry, girls! Apparently, Elizabeth and Virginia both tagged me. You have to post the 6th picture in the 6th folder of your pictures. Well, I'm a fairly new computer so I don't have 6 picture folders so this was the 6th picture in my 2009 folder.=)No, I don't normally go around taking pictures of the newspaper. This picture was taken for my "picture of the day" back on Jan.2nd or 3rd. My husband went to the game so I wanted to have a picture of the results (which weren't pretty!) for our 365 album. Is anyone else still doing this project? I'm doing it but I've accepted the fact that I will not a picture for each day of the year. It's just too much to remember to bring my camera everywhere I go. My friend, Kelly, is doing an awesome job with this challenge!!! She's such an inspiration!

disneyworld pictures

For anyone who's been waiting (um, Kelly) I've finally gotten our pictures from Disney World posted. Keep in mind that I shot 95% of the trip in automatic and there's VERY little editing done. LOL Oh, and there's a ton of them too. Sorry about that!
link to pictures

big boy!

My baby pulled up for the first time today! Luckily, I had the camera nearby so I was able to snap a few (dozen) pictures. Here are my favorites. I just love that proud look on his face!
Here are some pictures I took on a recent walk through our neighborhood.
Doesn't Jack look so happy here? LOL
Don't forget about the crop at Scrap4Life this week! Jen has some great challenges posted!!!

seven months

My baby turned seven months old last week. We didn't actually do a "seven month photoshoot" because we did Halloween costume pictures instead. This time around I'm posting different pictures from his 7th month that I liked. Before I get to the pics, though, here's the stats on the Little Dude.
- he has 5 teeth (two on bottom and three on top)
- tried real banana mashed up and he didn't like it at all, in fact there was some lovely gagging going on
- likes real applesauce and mashed potatoes
- taking 3-4 bottles a day (we're tying to wean him off the bedtime bottle)
- takes 2-3 naps a day
- "Thomas the Train Trackside Tunes" is his favorite show to watch - he gets the biggest grin on his face when it comes on (thanks, Paulette!!!)
- is learning to scoot around and does it pretty quickly
- his favorite toys are his "keychain" with pictures and music (thanks, Brooke!), any small (but not too small) toy he can chew on, and the "farmer" see-n-say
- sucks his thumb when he's sleepy or mad
- LOVES the bathtub
- can sit up for a few seconds by himself
- finally giving us a good belly laugh (usually when he's being tickled)
- literally smiles his biggest smile when you put him in his bed to go nite-nite
- the spit up is getting better (on most days)
- pulling on other people's noses, ears, cheeks, etc. is a big source of entertainment for him these days
- he likes to watch the cat walking around (she's black, white and brown)
- he was a puppy dog for his first Halloween

I realize that a couple of the pictures look the same but his face is just a little different in each one and that's soooo him. He makes a million different faces!! And now for the pictures:

I just love this pictures of the two of them!
Not the best "photography technique" wise but I love the angle/perspective of it.

And this picture will be hanging somehwere in my house very soon!!! I love it!

pumpkin patch

Since today is Halloween, I thought it appropriate to finally post our Pumpkin Patch pictures. Dylan went with his class and had a pretty good time. They had lots of activities to do (jumpy jumps, pony rides, petting zoo, etc.) but unfortunately he was all about the pumpkin. That was his main focus for that day - finding his pumpkin. He didn't care much for anything else. =) Here are some pictures from our day.
He LOVED riding the train!!!

My future daughter-in-law. =) She looks like she's up to something there. LOL
The poor animals in the petting zoo had no idea what was coming. 20 four year olds yelling at them - poor animals!!
This little guy is a friend of Dylan's. Isn't he just adorable?! (I hope his mommy doesn't mind that I posted his picture.) =)
And, finally, the much anticipated pumpkin!
Happy Halloween!!!

five months

Yup, he's five months old. Time is just flying by!!

A few facts/milestones about the little man this month:
- eating cereal and LOVING it
- has two teeth now =)
- discovered his feet (so cute to watch!)
- takes a 7 oz. bottle every four hours and cereal for a morning snack or evening snack
- naps a little in the morning, 3-4 hours in the afternoon, and then another little nap before bedtime
- LOVES to play in his exersaucer (he smiles and flaps his arms when he sees it!)
- flaps his arms like a crazy boy when he's playing (even with toys in his hands)
- (already?!) showing a preference for his left hand
- can roll from tummy to back and from back to tummy
- scoots a little bit on his tummy
- can sit up (very) briefly by himself
- his "piano" is his favorite toy
- won't sleep anywhere but in his bed
- will take his paci out of his mouth and plop his thumb in (he's a VERY loud thumbsucker, too)
- weighs a little over 15 pounds

And of course we have to have pictures. =)
(I just ADORE that look on J's face when he's looking at Dylan - such love!!!)

summertime fun

We're totally enjoying summer at our
house. Being lazy, playing outside in the water, eating and sleeping whenever we feel like it....we're loving it! Here's a few pictures I took of my little man this past week.



























































I've gotten some scrapping done this past week. Not nearly enough but it'll have to do. =) I've got sooooo many pictures I want to scrap. There's just not enough time in the day.