Happy Birthday, Jack!

My sweet, all-boy, Jack is two today! (Technically, not until 3:59 pm, but who's counting ;-)

We set up his train table and trains last night and did a big reveal; he loved it. Jason's got it on video that I'll post soon, but his reaction was sweet...he ran to the table, saying, "choo choo trains! choo choo trains!"

Here's a look back at Jack's first TWO years:

Dec. 2, 2008

half-birthday in JUne! "I'm six months old!"

one year old!

celebrating at his first bday party! *remember how he pinched out the candle flame?!?

18 months old! Getting a big boy bed!

Celebrating #2 in Atlanta over THanksgiving...

Ring Check!

Men - if there are any of you out there that actually read this ;-) - you'll not be interested in this post.

A friend of mine recently lost a stone from her engagement ring - so sad! I hate it for you, R!

While visiting Atlanta for Thanksgiving last week, I decided to take my rings to Shane Co (where my engagement and wedding band came from), for their complimentary check and cleaning. I'm so glad I went because I discovered that not only were a few prongs in fact, loose, but I was LONG overdue for a rhodium plating.

I learned white gold - desirable for it's strength and the fact that it's four times less than platinum - has one downside, in that over time, the metal itself can turn a yellowish color. Mine had done this, but I hadn't even noticed because it's such a gradual change. The saleslady showed me the difference by putting my ring next to one that had recently had the rhodium plating, and boy could you tell the difference! It's supposed to be done about once a year; well, we've been married over six years, and I had never had it done! woops!

But all was well because Shane Co. took care of tightening the prongs, cleaning the rings, and doing the rhodium plating, and when I picked up my rings, I could not believe the difference. They looked brand new! And I really couldn't believe it's all free - so hard to find good service these days, I think...

So, just a little suggestion, but ladies-go get your rings checked and serviced! I'm so glad I did with mine!

Funny side story...while my rings were at the store, Lucy told my Aunt Kay that "Mommy gave her rings back to the store." My aunt didn't know that I had, and she thought Lucy was fabricating some big 'ol story!

Delectable Cupcakes

Lucy is in love with Fancy Nancy books, and both sets of grandparents have been so generous in sending her LOTS of books. One of the most recent was "Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes." Lady prepared a fun decorating cupcakes station for Lucy when we arrived to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Atlanta. Lucy was so cute when she announced excitedly, "Oh! They're going to be delectable!" :-)

They had chocolate toppings, crushed peppermint, marshmallows, and icing of course. They decorated a cupcake especially for each person, complete with initial lettering! Lucy split the decorating and eating about half and half, while Jack got about two marshmallows on a cupcake before he began to focus solely on eating the toppings!

Which baby bedding?????

The baby's room is coming together - or really I should say Baby's Room/ Guest room...

We're not setting up a "themed nursery" complete with painting the walls, coordinating everything for this baby, and so I had been on a major hunt for a while for a neutral bedding, ideally something white with red accents.

Well, after searching forever and finding nothing, I found a set at Play It Again last week that would work. I didn't exactly LOVE it, but it coordinated all the colors in the existing room, and the price was right - $36. So, I bought it.

Only to get home and that very night find out that my friend Jeri had a baby bedding set that was white with red accents. Of course...

So, here are some photos of the two sets: which do you like better?

Here's the room so you can see what I'm working with...

Set I bought:

Jeri's crib bedding set up (sorry, it posted twice and won't let me delete... ;-( I really hate computers!):

cute little farmyard theme...

So, weigh in - whatdya' think? Thanks!

Christmas Lights at the Botanical Gardens

It seems Christmas begins earlier and earlier each year! We counted five homes in our neighborhood that already have their exterior lights all done up. And we were noticing this on our way to do the walking tour of the Christmas lights at the Botanical Gardens.

There were five families meeting together (thanks Molly for organizing our fun get together! ;-), and the kids had a blast running along the trail. The light displays were great, and it definitely put me in the Christmas Spirit!

Fun(ny) pictures!

Not long ago, I had fun taking pictures of Lucy dressing herself, enjoying the funny things she insisted on wearing together. She'd put together some crazy ensembles!

Well, now Jack seems to be doing that in his own fashion. For whatever reason, he absolutely LOVES wearing his helmet ("elmet") - all the time! And he calls the buckle a "seatbelt."

I was telling Jack to smile, and these are the faces he made - LOL!

It was gameday morning, so Jack was already dressed in his jersey. Jason put the AU song they play at the beginning of each game, "all we do is win!" blasting over the speakers. And what ensued was a crazy form of dancing and playing. Jason was bouncing the kids to the beat (and I imagine getting an amazing ab workout at the same time ;-)

Jack is holding his quilt in one hand, and a decorative pine cone in the other. And of course, still wearing the helmet!

As accident prone as Jack is, it's actually a good thing he insists on wearing his helmet so often! ;-)

Baby's Quilt

It is so wonderful to be anticipating this new baby without the overwhelming fear that I was feeling for some time! And so with a much lighter heart, I began working on "they baby's quilt" about two weeks ago (sort of strange referring to him or her as just "baby" since we knew the sex - and had even named - Lucy and Jack before they were even finished developing, but I have to say not knowing is incredibly exciting.)

Anyhow, it came together very easily, for I didn't choose a difficult pattern (Yes, I have learned to take it down a notch and keep life simple and FUN!) The quilt is fun and playful, colorful and made with love. All the things I know our baby will be!

So, here's some photos that show how it came together!

Okay...not sure why, but niether Firefox nor IE are letting me cut and paste my pictures, in order. So you'll have to appreciate it backwards ;-)

finished product!

the 30 squares laid out:

I sewed 2.25 in squares on all four corners of the 6 by 6 square, and then trimmed off the "outer triangle". With the iron, the triangles were pressed out, to create a square.