Monday Musing | More Photography Fun

This was kind of a laid back weekend for us.  We got a lot of work done in the garage and can almost fit both of our cars in the garage.  This will mark the first time since moving back to Va that we can both park our cars in the garage.  Yippee!!  Now if we can just KEEP it clean and de-cluttered...well, that's another story.  :)

I also had my second mentoring session with Beryl, from Be Young Photography.  While she is a fantastic photographer, she is also a wonderful teacher and I learned SO much from her and am so happy to have stumbled across her Momtography 101 Class.  When I ended up not being able to take that class, due to a scheduling, she offered the option of a one-on-one mentoring session.  While this was a bigger financial investment on my part, I am so happy that I went for it, b/c I think than it will turn out to be an in-valuable opportunity.

For the second half of our mentoring session, Beryl came to our house and we did a mock photo shoot.
I'm so excited with how these images turned out.  We started in the front yard, but quickly moved around back to the play set, when the boys started to get restless...it was fun for them to play, and I got cute shots....of Tyler and Kate at least.  Luke just wasn't interested this time!

Working with Beryl was amazing and I'm so excited to be on my way to making my photography dream a reality!

Monday Musing | More Photography Fun

This was kind of a laid back weekend for us.  We got a lot of work done in the garage and can almost fit both of our cars in the garage.  This will mark the first time since moving back to Va that we can both park our cars in the garage.  Yippee!!  Now if we can just KEEP it clean and de-cluttered...well, that's another story.  :)

I also had my second mentoring session with Beryl, from Be Young Photography.  While she is a fantastic photographer, she is also a wonderful teacher and I learned SO much from her and am so happy to have stumbled across her Momtography 101 Class.  When I ended up not being able to take that class, due to a scheduling, she offered the option of a one-on-one mentoring session.  While this was a bigger financial investment on my part, I am so happy that I went for it, b/c I think than it will turn out to be an in-valuable opportunity.

For the second half of our mentoring session, Beryl came to our house and we did a mock photo shoot.
I'm so excited with how these images turned out.  We started in the front yard, but quickly moved around back to the play set, when the boys started to get restless...it was fun for them to play, and I got cute shots.  Beryl is a FANTASTIC teacher.  I can't speak highly enough about her.  Not only is she a great teacher, she's a wonderful lady and photographer, too.  ;)

Monday Musing | Tyler's T-ball Debut

This past week our family became an official baseball family, with Tyler playing his first t-ball games.  They were fun...kind of long...but still so fun to watch these little 4 and 5  year olds get their introduction to baseball. 

Tyler's first game was so cute.  He did very well hitting the ball...

but needs a little more focus when base running.  Haha, we'll get there though.

 

We also had our first t-ball pictures taken.  I was pleasant surprised at how well nine 4, 5 and 6 year olds did with their team photo...not too shabby!  :)

Score!!

So, over the summer we ventured into the world of swim team, and this fall Tyler has officially made me a soccer mom!  Now that he's turned four, he's officially old enough to join the thousands (literally) of other kids in our area who play soccer in the fall.  I was a little leary of having him on a team, not because I didn't think he'd be able to kick the ball (b/c he actually kicks it very well), but more so because I wasn't sure he was old enough for a structured game (with competitors and a referee!...really for 4 year olds?).  But anyway, we decided to try it.  Yesterday was our first match of the season.

The first two practices were a little hairy, so we weren't sure what to expect on Saturday.  It could have gone much like practices where he sat on the sidelines and watched, b/c he didn't think he could do it like the coach wanted, or he could have not wanted to get off of the field.  Care to guess which one?  It was a little of both actually.  Here he was mad that he wasn't in...but later on he was sitting with me upset, b/c he didn't think he was doing well enough!  But honestly, for the first time participating in a structured sporting event, he did pretty well.

Here they are in pre-game...coach is giving them the run-down on rules of the game.  I mean really, with just two practices under our belt, this could be interesting.  Luckily this is a U5 team, so a few of the kids have played a couple of seasons already.

 Hoping he remembers he can't touch the ball with his hands.

 It's ok to use your head though!

 

Here they are pointing to their goal.  Not that it helped much...each team scored at least one goal for the other team.  One thing I really appreciated about the league is that for the U5, they do have referees to help them learn the rules of the game, but they do not actually keep "score".  So, there is no real winner or loser at the end.  Helps to not defeat the kids spirits at such a young age, I think.

 Tyler's first goal...he did a great job kicking it down field and into the goal!

 This little one couldn't quite remember that you can't touch the ball with your hands!  :)  She tried to pick it up and run with it, each time she got close to it.

 Kate, hanging out with daddy, enjoying the game.  Too soon baby girl, it will be your turn...and with two older brothers to teach you all about the game, I bet you're gonna be an awesome soccer chick!

Look at that form!  Ready...

 Set...

 

Kick!

 

Cavity Free are We!!!

While I was in the hospital having Katelyn, there was a news story on the Today show that prompted me to call and set up dental appointments for the boys.  I had been meaning to do this for Tyler since last fall, but then I got pregnant and it slipped to the wayside.  The news story said children should have their first dental appt when they get their first tooth, so I realized Luke was overdo for a check up too.  I've heard great things about a local pediatric dental group, so we decided to check them out.  They were fantastic!!  They have a large open area with the chairs were the hygenists do the cleanings, so that if you have multiple kids, they can actually all be seen at the same time.  I was able to sit there and watch Ty and Luke at the same time, so we were in an out in less than 45 minutes.  Not only was the staff super efficient and speedy, but they were so friendly and patient, too.  Tyler was squirmy and Luke was a little uneasy with the "stranger", but both of their hygenists were so great with them.  And the Dr. was wonderful, too!  Final results??  Both boys were 100% cavity free.  Good to know all that ice cream they ate with Nana and Pap this summer didn't have any negative effects.  :)

Here are the boys checking out the awesome fish tank in the waiting area.  They had 2 nemo fish and a Dory.  Big hit!!

They gave the boys these cool sunglasses to wear, to protect their eyes from the super bright light.

Not only was this our first trip to the dentist, but it was my first outing with all three kiddos all by myself.  Luckily Miss Kate behaved herself, too!

 All-in-all it was a great visit.  Hoping our visit in February goes as smoothly.

Our baby girl is here!

After 39 long weeks, we finally have met our precious baby girl.

Katelyn was born Monday, July 26 at 11:12 in the morning, weighing 7 lbs, 11 oz and measuring 20.5 inches long.  That's exactly how long I was when I was born, too!  She's longer than either of the boys have been.  Let me tell you, this little gal has completely grabbed us by the heartstrings.  She is amazing.  Here she is just a few hours old, being introduced to everyone.  Can you see Luke's face?  He was so excited to see Mommy and meet baby Katelyn.

 This weekend, daddy was scared of having a little girl and today, holding her...he looks as comfortable as can be.  Everyone told him that having a daughter was amazing, but I'm not sure he really got it.  I think he gets it now, though and it is so beautiful to watch.  Hmm, makes me get teary eyed just thinking about it!

 The boys are in love with her, too.  It is so precious to watch.  Tyler is the proudest big brother and very protective of her already.  And Lucas just loves her to death.  The smile on his face when he looks at "baby" (as he is calling her, hopefully we'll get him to say Katelyn before too long) is so incredibly precious.  He really is taken by her.  I remember Tyler not being too interested in baby Lucas, but Lucas is so VERY aware of her...in fact, I'm thinking we are going to have a little trouble helping him to understand that she's not quite ready to play with yet!!  Poor little girl, with Daddy and these two older brothers, she's going to be one very loved and VERY protected girl.

We are so excited to welcome this little girl to our family and can't wait to watch her grown!

A Jumpin' Good Time

Can you believe that this little guy...

is now this not so little guy?

For T's fourth birthday we celebrated with a party full of friends at Jumpin' Jimmy's.  It was a GREAT time and all of the kids had a great time.  This was the first time we did a party away from the house and the extra expense was so worth the convenience of going somewhere, messing up their facility and coming home to a still clean house!  Plus, being 34+ weeks pregnant, having no prep or clean-up was almost a necessity this year.  :)

And honestly, it was such a hit with all of the kiddos.  They really loved all of the bouncing...

They even had a Scooby Doo house.  :)

Daddy took a turn coming down with Luke.  He was having a hard time climbing to the top, so Daddy helped him.  They both had a blast!

and the timing was perfect.  Just as they were all bounced out, it was time to head to the party room for pizza and cake.

 Since he has become a huge fan of Scooby Doo, we HAD to have a Scooby Doo cake.  

He loved it and did a great job blowing out all of his candles!  Wonder what he wished for?...probably to watch more Scooby Doo shows!  :)

This little girl even came dressed for the party!

They had an awesome throne for the birthday boy.  All of the kids had a lot of fun sitting in it.

A great day for a great little boy.  Happy 4th birthday Tyler...we love you so much and have loved every minute of the last four years with you!!

New Rooms for the Boys

With little baby girl coming this summer...isn't she cute?

Anyway...with new baby girl this summer, we had to do some rearranging of bedrooms in our home to make room.  Well...I guess we didn't HAVE to, because we did play with the idea of putting the boys in a room together, but since they are both such great sleepers, we decided that putting them in a room together might just be begging for sleeping troubles.  And, since we were fortunate to have bought a home with unfinished space for a 5th bedroom, we decided to finish out that area to give us room for all of the kiddos upstairs, and still have a guest room.  Our old guest room is the only upstairs bedroom with direct access to the hall bathroom that the kiddos will share.  I didn't want baby Kate being bothered by Tyler needing to use the restroom in the middle of the night, so I vetoed the thought of leaving everyone where they were and just transitioning it into the nursery.  And, b/c I am fearful of Lucas having easy access to a bathroom in the middle of the night, we couldn't just move him into that room and leave Tyler in his current room.  That being said, we had no choice but to move Tyler to the old guest room, Lucas to Tyler's room and put Katelyn in Lucas' old room.  Yes - musical rooms it is!  Haha!!

It was a bit of work to get it all prepped and moved, but I am so pleased with the results.  I love walking by their rooms and seeing how it all worked out.  I love how much more of a home a coat of paints makes a house feel.  After a year and a half, I'm truly feeling at home! 

So, for the room makeovers - I gave each of the boys a coat of blue paint and then a bold stripe through the middle of the room.

Tyler - of course - chose red...

 and it was green for Lucas!

Katelyn's room got a fresh coat of a beautiful light green with a brink pink stripe...so cute! I LOVE it! 

Woo...Pig...Sooie (sorry if I butchered spelling, Pop and Aunt Rachael)!!

Aunt Rachael sent the boys these adorable U of A (University of Arkansas for those of you who don't know that Pop and Aunt Rachael are alumni) t-shirts. Tried to get the boys to model them for you Rachael...haha!

Tyler did a good job. Now, let's add Lucas...

Aah yeah...doesn't really want to sit still.

"Ok Tyler, hold onto him".

"And Luke, you've gotta look at the camera."

And that would be the best we could do until the silliness began.

Uh-oh...Luke took a little tumble. Good thing daddy is around.