7 month photo shoot

We had an AWESOME shoot with my favorite baby photographer, Carrie Scruggs on Sunday, February 12th. I just got back the proofs and I am in LOVE! Sorry for the mama bragging but this post is dedicated to showing off my adorables. They got a little out of order and I'm not rearranging. As my middle schoolers would say #aintnobodygottimeforthat. You will probably notice a few more pics of Holden. He was in a great mood and very photogenic that day. Emma Cate cried whenever we set her down so not so many great ones of her but Carrie was still able to caputre a few of her sweet expressions.

I wanted a hooded towel picture and am pleased with what I got :)

Love her hand on his tummy like "hold on buddy, I've got this"

Comparison picture (above at 7 months below at 1 week old) Same basket

bath time fun! Love the action shot!

Emma Cate slipped and went under and was not too happy.

Hey Mom!

my sweet princess

right after this picture we heard Emma Cate coughing and realized Holden had started to pull the pearls pretty tightly and was "trying" to "choke" his sister. Gotta love siblings!

naked babies! Emma Cate did NOT like the feel of the rug on her bare tush.

this one LOVES his toes and being naked!

my cuddly bear!

Envy & Balance

I went to a Kelly's Kids party last night and got some major house envy. I've been having it a lot lately. Come to think of it, I've been having a lot of envy lately. I'm working on balancing replacing that envy with contentment and appreciation.

As a new mom, I see a lot of things, people, and lives I am envious of. I am envious of families that can afford for the mother to stay at home. We are working on this but not quite there yet. The catch 22 of this is that I could stay at home tomorrow IF we were willing to give up a few things. Maybe not have the highest trim level car, maybe not dress my kids in boutique clothing, maybe not have the highest level of cable TV, maybe not go on vacations. I WANT to be with my kids but I also want to live the way that we have always lived. Where do I find the balance? Would I be as happy without the material things? I should be, but will I?

I am envious of all the fashion bloggers in adorable outfits. I have pretty much given up on shopping for myself and am wearing the same winter clothes I wore two years ago. I get much more pleasure out of dressing my kids! BUT I still see these mom's and bloggers in adorable clothes and I want them! I also wonder how they afford them? Jay and I make a pretty good living but am I able to order everything I like that goes on sale a Jcrew? No.

I am envious of interior design blogs (maybe I should stop reading blogs...). These houses are beautiful and I don't see how their owners have the time dedicate to scouring antique shops and thrift stores to decorate their homes. I felt like I LOVED my home when I decorated it three years ago. Now, I feel like I need an entire new color palate and "grown up" furnishings. The butcher block countertops that I found so much character in now seem cheap. I question why I ever went with green glass tile backsplash. Why didn't I do a classic white subway that would last me for years?

I am envious of parent's that can afford to send their kids to private schools. After working in one, I feel like the kids to have a big advantage. The classroom distractions are much less and the curriculum is geared towards critical thinking versus learning for a test. I know though that students are missing out on diversity and aren't being exposed to real world issues like poverty.

I am envious of a lot of things. At the same time, I go through moments, especially when I am praying over my children at night that my heart swells with gratitude. I am thankful. I am thankful to God for a nice home. it's not the biggest or the best decorated but it is filled with love and that's enough for me. I am thankful for a caring, present, hard-working husband who loves me unconditionally. I am thankful for the father that he is to our children. I am thankful for my children. It took us a lot of hard work to get them and I am so thankful to God and to modern medicine. I am thankful for my supportive, close knit family. I am thankful to my parents for all the lessons they taught us growing up. I am thankful that I am well rounded, I can appreciate fine things but know that they aren't everything. I can appreciate all sorts of different people. I can appreciate that I learned not to judge people based on things, in fact, I appreciate that I was taught not to judge at all.

So how do you do it? How do you remember to remain thankful and happy while pushing away envy. Can envy be a good thing? How do you stay grounded while appreciating nice things. Where is the balance? Can you let me know how to find it?

Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's Day! I took the day off work because Emma Cate had physical therapy in the middle of the day and enjoyed spending the day with my loves :)

We started the day with PINK breakfast of banana and greek yogurt. I used beets to dye the food and it worked perfect! 

Emma Cate at physical therapy

My mom made them matching outfits! I have more pictures on my big camera, just need to upload them!

Gran came to physical therapy with us to learn some things to do to help Emma Cate. We took a little trip to the mall afterwards and enjoyed window shopping!

Had to add in a picture of Holden from V-day too! This little booger is so cute and loves hanging out on our bed while we get ready!

After we put the kids to bed, Gran was nice to watch them while we went on a little date! We headed straight to Dean and Deluca Wine Bar in Southpark. Wine bars are our favorites! I love a quite place, a bottle of wine, and some great small plates. We enjoyed our date and great conversation. I think we stayed and talked for 2 and half hours!

Jay was avoiding the blog!

Hope your Valentine's Day was sweet!

Welcome Back

So I'll save you the blah blah excuses about why I haven't blogged and just run a little stream of consciousness of everything.

1. If you are pregnant or nursing, did you know that you can get a free breast pump? Call your insurance agency about it. I currently have a medela freestyle that I take to work and a used pump in style that I use at home. The pump in style is on the fringe and so I called my insurance company and found out I qualify for a new pump in style for free (well I know I'm paying health insurance each month but still...)

2. Kate Spade's Saturday line. Cute Kate Spade at a lower (notice I did not say low) price point. Some stuff is a little too out there for me. Some is adorable. Shop the pop up shop.

3. I like this top. May just have to buy it.

4. I have been buying entirely too many children's clothes. Anyone else feel like all their money goes to dressing their children?

5. I spilled my entire smootie on me and my car this morning. Great start to Friday.

6. I have a huge cheerleading weekend. My high school squad is performing at their pep rally today. My middle school has 20 games to cheer at over this weekend because our 4 middle school teams are in a huge tournament that we are hosting. I'm praying for a little peaceful time with my kids between all the madness.

7. Cheer ends in a week. Our season is soooo long (August-February) and as much as I love the girls, it is time for a break!

8. Now we will switch to stream of pictures and thoughts:

do not hold your baby in the air over your head after a bottle. this may happen.

how cute are they in sweats and vineyard vines?

The weather was nice so we took the bottles outside and soaked up the Vitamin D. I just love the sun on the babies in these pictures.

this is my mad face.

loving those lashes.

Emma Cate LOVES to be tickled under the chin. She laughs like a cute crazy person. Video to follow.

Holden loves to pull on things. This includes anything on Emma Cate's head.

Hey girl (I think those are going to be her first words).

I participated in my first consignment sale! I plan to keep the really memorable outfits and consign the rest. It amazes me how fast these babies grow! Some of this stuff still had tags on it because they simply couldn't wear it fast enough. 

Lazy sunday morning. Holden wakes up earlier than Emma Cate and we enjoy one on one snuggles with him in bed. 

Pretty in pink

Curious in blue. A little note about Holden. We've started calling him Spatcho. We have no idea why or what it means but the name is sticking. Jay started calling him it first and as much as I didn't like it, I broke down and started calling him that too! He is our crazy little spatch. 

My middle school squad had a competition in the dreaded Chapel Hill this weekend. Jay was father of the year (as usual) and handled the kiddos all by himself. I had no idea there were changing tables in the men's restroom (grosses me out to think about it) but he used them and changed two kids and feed them. I give him lots of credit because handling two out and about by yourself is hard work!

my cheerleaeders

waiting for awards.

On sunday we met up with the family at Ihop after church. Of course we had to take some pictures of the adorables.

Taters and Aunt Allie (#2 out of the 3 sisters)

My kids love driving out of cup!

My early riser is always in need of an afternoon nap. We had some snuggles in bed before he fell asleep on me. Too cute.

Our photographer came on Sunday afternoon and gave me this little sneak preview! Love them!!!

Sink bath.

So we decided to put the kids in the tub for pictures since this is normally their favorite place. We usually use PUJ tubs behind them and always keep a hand on them in tub. So for this picture jay and I stood on either side and tried to catch the babies as they slid around. We had a few bumped heads and some tub water was swallowed but I am pretty happy with the picture we got!