The topknot!!

After a lesson from our neighbor Julie, I decided to give a try at giving Miss Summer a top knot. I realize a 3 month old little girl really shouldn't need one, but her bangs are already getting into her eyes. It looked so adorable!! The korker bow is one of Kaycee's minis from over at Prissy Miss Boutique. Such a pretty little girl!



And, because no post is complete without a picture of Garrett . . . here he is enjoying his scooter outside this weekend.

Pictures from Sunday

Special thanks to Sam for taking these fabulous pictures--we had such a great time with Flotilla 67!!

Brad and Julian (who gave us a ride on his wonderful little no-name boat!) as we arrived at Elliot KeyJust arrived :-)
It was windy and bumpy and my Garrett immediately announced "I NEED TO GO PEEPEE"
so this was the best picture we got.

Garrett exploring the mangroves in the arctic waters :-)
For goodness sake, look at the jacket I had to wear . . .
My feet were numb after the first 10 minutes, he made us stay for an hour.
Summer snoozing in the sling for Brad


Daddy's girl

I asked him if it would scar his manliness to wear her among all his boating buddies . . .in a teal sling :-) He was a good sport. My dear husband turned 30 yesterday--I sure do love him to pieces!! I hope he had a nice birthday--we relaxed at home and spent somet time in the hammock when the kiddos went to bed.

Another Crazy weekend

I'm so bummed the weekend has come and gone already--it flies by way too fast. This weekend was pretty crazy, but in a good way. I got to have a little night out on Friday. We then went to a cookout at at Miss Allison's on Saturday and boating with Brad's Coast Guard Flotilla on Sunday. We stayed at Miss Allison's until WAY past the kids' bedtime, but they both did so well. Garrett had a blast playing with his buddies. Oh, and Brad and Garrett also hung some lights on the outside of the house.

Sunday was the first boat ride for Summer, and the weather was less than favorable. I didn't bring my camera, so I have no documentation. She hated her life jacket, but otherwise was a doll. She napped there and back. We spent several hours on Elliot Key picnicing. Garrett was very excited by the whole thing--he loved that we were on an island and having a picnic. He also ate us out of house and home while we were there . . . one container of fruit salad, four cups of mandrin oranges, 2 hotdogs, a yogurt, a string cheese, and 2 cookies later, he spent 2 hours playing in FREEZING cold water. We had such a blast though. Summer spent most of her time in the sling, which BRAD wore. Nice break for me there! The only downside of the day was that Garrett decided to touch one of the grills and burnt his hand. But in typical fashion, he only cried for a while. After the fact, he told Brad "I have an owie. I'm okay, but it hurts." It could have been a lot worse, hopefully now when we say HOT he'll really get the idea. Poor guy!

Sorry there are no pictures . . . I'm finding it hard to lug the camera lately, and I frankly am too busy enjoying my kids (and chasing after them) to even get it out half the time. More this week, I promise! We're making cookies tomorrow with our playgroup, so that should be fun!

Our Week, In pictures (And a few words!)

Another Busy Week!

Monday: The Zoo
Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa C, we got to renew for another year of fun @ the zoo!

While we were getting ready, Garrett decided he needed to read "The Big Race" to Summer
(Sporting a sweet little outfit Miss Allison gave her)
Pretty girl chilling at the zoo
"Honeybee!"
"Hippopotamus!" Garrett loves this thing. . .
Riding the cool frog at Amazon and beyond

Enjoying the water table with Kianna

Drums with Kianna and Miss Sylvie


Tuesday: The park and a Christmas craft
I forgot to take my camera to the park . . . but here are the kids before we left

Summer wearing adorable butterfly bibs from Miss Katie

Garrett showing off his cars . . .

Wednesday: Preschool Playdate
I worked, Miss Allison babysat Garrett . . . crazy day, no pictures

Thursday: Work, work, work and crappy weather

Friday: Palmetto Bay Park
(LOVE this park!)
This was supposed to be a playdate, but ended up just being Allison and I. I took the Crider kiddos because they are fabulous and because their mom needed to shop!

Garrett and Claire
G loves to balance on this fun thingie now

Summer sucking her thumb
(Note the open fist, silly girl!)My handsome man

Another fun little activity on this playground
Monkey boys . . . Mark, Randon and Garrett

Whew, I'm tired even reviewing this week. And a crazy weekend is ahead . . .

Prayers . . .

Please keep our good friend Mark, his wife Macy, and their dear little angel Zoey Kate in your prayers. Zoey was born 10 weeks early, but is doing well. Please lift them up in your prayers. There is a link to the right to their blog.

Christmas Pictures: The Out takes

You know there will be a lot of them, what with a two year old, a jack russell that does not like the two year old, an infant, and, well, Aspen. Picture overload ahead--some of which are truely horrendous, yet appallingly entertaining.

Take 1: Sunday night (Thanksgiving weekend)

Garrett: Summer, why are you crying?
Aspen: Zzzzz
Summer is still not impressed

Santa's evil elf?

The ONLY semi decent picture from our first attempt
(Its a little over exposed)

Take 2:
Tuesday morning of last week.
Yes, it took me that long to get brave enough to try again.

Not sure about Summer's face!

Summer: Oh no, is he going to steal my bow again??

Garrett looking a little GQ
A little much in the smile department for Garrett.
Besides the dopey faces, not the grey dog silhouette.
This is probably the only picture I will ever get where Garrett is petting Haylee.
She thinks it is a fate worse than death.
If the blanket had covered more of the railing, this would have been the one.
I love every single face!
Garrett, seriously!

This was the runner up for our Christmas picture.
The dogs are even smiling, but Brad didn't like Summer's silly face (Yawn, maybe?)
Haylee gave up and ran to hide.
This would have been so cute, if Summer hadn't been too tired to hold her little head up!
Definately a pose to try again next year!

Oh Christmas Tree

Brad and Garrett found us a beautiful Christmas tree this year (here it is pre-decoration). Garrett had an absolute BLAST decorating it--he's so excited this year. He LOVES looking at all the Christmas decorations. We went to a Christmas tree lighting at city hall and he loved that too.

The stockings are hung, and the house smells like pine. I LOVE this time of year!!

Summer's horns--silly little girl!

Garrett helping Daddy do the star

Aspen wishing he could get the neighbor's cat.

Why ladders are always a bad idea in my house

Hanging an ornament with daddy.

Yummy Treat

Garrett and I made marshmallows dipped in chocolate and gave them as early Christmas yummies.

My Awesome Bargin . . .

I don't have a picture, but I am REALLY proud of the bargin I got over Thanksgiving. Brad and I decided to go get bikes because we had a 25% off coupon for Sports Authority and I have been DYING to get a bike to ride regularly. Well, the following week, my bike went on sale for $100 less than we paid. So I went back and asked them to give me the sale price. WELL, the lady who rang me up gave me the $100, and also left the 25% off THE ORIGINAL PRICE. I saved $189 on a $329 dollar bike, meaning I got it for better than Half price. Go me :-) We've been riding a ton since we got them!

Have I mentioned lately . . .

That things are CRAZY?? Thus no regular posts. We're good, just extremely busy. Its "that time" again at work. Summer has been stuffy, and Garrett is just a crazy handful. Not to mention playdates, finding time to workout, clean house. Shower . . . you get the drift . . .

Quick summery--did a "Work Out before you Pig Out" workout with Lisa on Thanksgiving Day (Thank you Allison for the suggestion!!), missed out on good company with the Shumans because of Summer's congestion (which is coming and going, so I've decided it isn't anything other than a cruddy reaction to how cold it has been) . . . Got ourselves bicycles, which we've spent a lot of time riding (10-12 miles, go us!). Brad attempted to shop on Black Friday (there was a really good deal on a wagon), but struck out. We vegged the rest of the day, and did a bit of online shopping (bike trailer for Garrett at half off!) Went to a sneek peak of the new section at metro zoo on Saturday. They had a ton of fun things that Garrett loved:

Did some Discovery Toys stuff over the weekend, but otherwise spent time with my kids and catching up on sleep. Got the Christmas stuff out of the attic, but haven't put much up yet. Did lots and lots of work.

Kiddo update: Garrett's sleep continues to be a struggle. But oh well. Summer is fantastic, and Garrett continues to be the best big brother . . . She loves the walker when she is awake, and pretty much hates to be laying down. She loves tummy time though, as long as someone is around to entertain her. She continues to sleep fairly well.

Below are a series of pictures from the weekend of Garrett playing cars with her. He is so great, he'll share his cars and show her how to play with them. He is always worrying after her and making sure she is happy. As much as he drives me nuts sometimes, it warms my heart beyond measure to see how wonderful he is with Summer. He is never, ever careless with her. He's the best big brother a little girl could ask for, and she seems to know that. You can really see the dynamic between them in the photos.