Swim Lessons

Tuttle and Gigi started private swim lessons today at the YMCA. I was so eager to get Tuttle into lessons, so he could be independent in the water. We plan to spend A TON of time at the pool this summer!

 

 

The kids were excited to get into the water with the instructor, and Maggie and I enjoyed watching them through the window. We are signed up for six weeks of  thirty minute lessons, but I plan to keep it going until both Tuttle and Gigi are confident in the water.

 

 

Bring on warmer weather and pool time!

Celebrating Sweet Friends

This weekend was full of celebrations for two sweet friends. Jay and Gram were so helpful watching Tuttle and Maggie, so I could attend two showers. :)

 

Saturday I drove to Madison to attend a wedding shower for Loribeth at Grandmommy's house. Loribeth is marrying Jay's cousin, Jamie, next month, and I could not be more excited that she is officially joining the family. Loribeth attended our wedding six year ago.

 

Jackie and Aunt Alice did such a great job with the bridal shower. The food was delicious, especially the cake, and Jackie planned some fun games to keep everyone entertained throughout the party.

 

 

Jackie, Aunt Ann, Allison, and Aunt Alice

Loribeth and Aunt Alice



 

We dressed up Loribeth's two sisters and Allison in toilet paper dresses. :)

 

Sunday morning I could not wait to attend Weston's surprise baby shower! Weston and I went to college together and were sorority sisters. :) She currently lives in Virginia, so I had not seen her for a while. It was wonderful to have our college group back together (minus Shelly, who just had baby Porter last week, and Danielle, who is due with baby boy #2 in a few weeks.)

 

 

Weston is not finding out the gender or revealing name choices, so it was fun guessing. I am crossing my fingers for a girl, so we can shop together!

 

 

Genesis and Rachel did such a nice job on the shower. They served brunch, which included an egg casserole, bagels, donuts, biscuits, bacon, and mimosas.

 

Everyone has such exciting things going on in their lives right now. I loved every second of catching up with these girls. We have come a long way from The Summit in Athens.

 

 



We cannot wait to meet Baby Smith! He/she will be baby #7 to be loved in our college group of girls!

 

On a side note, Gram braved the movie theater with both Maggie and Tuttle by herself, and it was a success! They saw The Lego Movie, and Tuttle is still talking about it. Apparently Maggie devoured enough popcorn to feed an army. They love their fun adventures with Gram!



Weekly iPhone Pictures

Here are my favorite iPhone pictures from the week. :)

 



Happy Valentine's Day!

After all the snow and ice, we FINALLY returned to school Wednesday and celebrated Valentine's Day with Tuttle's class. Jay and I had given the kids a small gift and huge cookie dessert on the actual holiday, but it does not really feel like Valentine's Day until you can take cards to your friends. :)

 

Tuttle had worked hard on his valentines. He is getting so good at writing his name that I asked him to write on each valentine for his friends. We spaced it out over several times because writing your name fifteen times can get overwhelming. I think he has inherited my desire for perfection- he messed up on a few and became very upset, so I taped a white square of paper over the typos, and he wrote it again. He was so eager to help stuff the bags, too. Sweet boy.

 

 

Tuttle wanted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle valentines, so I ordered individual candy pizzas for each friend. Everyone knows how much the turtles love pizza!

 

 

Maggie was so excited to join in on the fun. We went to Bible Study before the party, and she kept saying, "Party!" to remind me that we needed to head to Tuttle's school as soon as possible! :)

 

The parent volunteers did such an impressive job on the party for the Treefrog Class. Every student loved all the special treats, and I swiped a few myself. Yum!

 

 

We spent a few extra minutes on the playground after the party before returning home to examine all the valentines. Can you believe we were wearing snow gear a week ago?

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Photo Room

I realize that any time I want to take a posed picture in the house I will send the subjects to our front living room. I guess it is because the light is good, and it is always clean! Looking back on our weekend, I captured three separate events in our "photo room." :)

 

We spent Friday night relaxing at home. Tuttle and Daddy played a little Nintendo before bed, and Maggie was the cheerleader! I was able to begin organizing for my next consignment sale in March.

 

 

 Saturday we hit the ground running. Grandmommy and Grandaddy came early to visit with Tuttle and Maggie. (Let's be honest, they do not really come to see us at all!) The babies enjoyed showing off their new toys from Disney and eating valentine candy with Grandmommy and Grandaddy.

Tuttle is taking after his mommy by practicing his photography.

 

 

 

I snuck off with Tuttle to get a haircut. Luckily he is officially over freaking out in the chair over a haircut. The experience is MUCH more pleasant now. He looked so handsome. Later that day, I caught him looking in the mirror in my room. He announced to himself, "Wow. You are cool and handsome." I wish I had that confidence in the mirror! Haha

 

After Grandmommy and Grandaddy left, I decided to drag Tuttle and Maggie to the CVS Minute Clinic to get my ears examined. I was a little nervous since we were skipping naps, but I was having a rough time with discomfort and reduced hearing in my right ear. Unfortunately we had to wait TWO HOURS, but Tuttle and Maggie were creative and found fun things to entertain themselves, including the sunglass display and the rack of walking canes. A little Supermarket Sweep rounded out our waiting experience- Cleanup on Aisle 3! :)

 

 

Sunday we continued our streak of church. Jay had to go into work, so we missed him, but we are so proud of how hardworking and dedicated Daddy always is for our family.

 

 

The final adventure of our weekend was Stella and Dylan coming over for a playdate. Tuttle was VERY excited about seeing his friends. (I nannied Stella and Dylan when I was pregnant with both Tuttle and Maggie.) Tuttle and Dylan ran around the house like crazy, and Stella played so sweetly with Maggie. They are both so big! I am thrilled we are still a part of their lives.

 

 

Bring on the week. We are ready!!

Snowed In Part 2

We typically go years between any snowfall in Atlanta, but this year we were hit twice in just a few weeks! This time the threat of ice kept people home and safe.

 

We did not really get outside yesterday except for a quick walk around the neighborhood. The babies enjoyed staying warm inside and both took three hour naps!

 

 

Early this morning the powdery snow began to fall, so I bundled the kids up to play after a late breakfast.

 

 

We walked to the end of our street for some sledding and hot chocolate with friends. Tuttle must have sledded down the hill ten or fifteen times and hauled the sled back up to do it again all by himself. I even went down with Tuttle and Maggie one time. It went fast! :)

 

 

After several days cooped up in the house, we have all gotten a little stir crazy, but I have LOVED the extra time to snuggle with Tuttle and Maggie.

 

 

The snow has been a lot of fun this year, but I am REALLY ready for warmer weather now. :)



Disney World

We just returned from our first family trip to Disney World. We planned a last minute vacation a few weeks ago for a long weekend in Orlando. Everyone had such a fun time, and we created such special memories with our babies.

 

 

We decided to spend two full days at the Magic Kingdom only, and it was such a good decision. We checked off all the important rides and did not feel rushed at all.

 

Our ride down to Disney World went very smoothly. The babies napped and watched classic Disney movies to prepare for the special surprise since we did not tell them where we were going. :) Unfortunately we experienced car trouble as soon as we arrived at the hotel. My car started to overheat. Luckily Jay was able to get it started again, and we crashed into our beds around 11pm.

 

The next morning we were up bright and early (6am!) to shower and head to the Magic Kingdom. We ran into traffic at the gates to Disney World, and again the car started to overheat VERY quickly. Jay merged across three lanes of traffic, successfully completed a U-turn in the grass median, and headed for the closest Pepboys. He called a taxi to pick us up, grabbed breakfast at Chickfila for the family, and off we went to the Magic Kingdom. If it was not for Jay's quick thinking, our first day at Disney could have been a disaster spent waiting on a tow truck to pick us up! Thank you, Daddy!!

 

A sweet friend told us to arrive as soon as the park opened to beat the crowds. It was the best advice! There were no lines at all, so we were able to zip through all of our favorite rides.

 

 

The kids loved Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World, the Mad Tea Party (the teacups), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Our favorite reaction to any of the rides was the teacups. The kids' faces were PRICELESS!

 

The weather was not in our favor in the entire weekend. It was not the warm temperatures that we had been dreaming of after the snow in Atlanta. It was cold and rainy the whole time, but Tuttle and Maggie were so happy that we were able to forget about being uncomfortable. :)

 

We caught a performance from Mickey and friends at Cinderella's Castle. Both babies were completely captivated. Maggie could not stop pointing at Mickey and Minnie.

 

 

If you know me, you know I had the kids' outfits planned out completely. The rain forced their cute clothes to be covered all weekend, but I did peel off their raincoats for a quick picture in front of the castle.

 

Maggie was over the paparazzi.



 

 

We grabbed some lunch outside the park and finally napped at 4:30. We spent the rest of the night relaxing in the hotel room with pizza and a movie. I'm sad to say the next hiccup in our trip happened around 2am when I got sick, and it went on for four hours! Yuck!

 

I knew I had to rally because we were at Disney, but I was practically crawling into the Magic Kingdom with wet hair and no makeup (hence why I am not in any daytime pictures on Day 2). The smiles from Tuttle and Maggie made the day much better, though, and I made it through!

 

We started the second day with a visit with Pluto. Tuttle ran right up and hugged him. Maggie was interested, but she clung to Jay for safety. :)

 

 

 

Tuttle had BEGGED the first day to ride the race cars, so we headed there next. Maggie was too short, so I walked around with her while Tuttle and Daddy zoomed around the track. He LOVED it and is still telling everyone that it was his favorite ride the entire trip.

 

 

After the Buzz Lightyear ride, we stood in line to meet Pooh and Tigger. Maggie was very interested in getting to the front of the line, and she actually did not shy away once she was up close and personal.

 

 

Everyone enjoyed the carousel as our last ride. Then we let the kids pick out several surprises at the gift shop. Tuttle said it was like Christmas. :)

 

 

After naps we changed clothes and headed to Downtown Disney for dinner at the Rainforest Café. Downtown Disney is huge and full of life, so it was the perfect end to our first trip to Disney. The Rainforest Café is decorated with animals, trees, and aquariums of fish from floor to ceiling, so the kids were captivated the entire meal.

 

 

Disney World was such a fun time with my little family. It was so special to watch the babies experience the magic!

 

On an important side note, Jay was the driving force behind this trip being such a success. From single-handedly dealing with the car issue to tackling Disney with two small kids and a pathetically sick wife, it highlighted how lucky I am to have Jay in my life. I love you, Mooch!