Pre-Game Gifts

This weekend Hubby and I will celebrate our fifth anniversary.  We are celebrating by taking the family to the zoo.  For a while I have been bugging hubby about getting me a new camera.  My camera was a digital point and shoot, and I loved it.  Poor thing, I took more pictures with that camera than most people take in their life time, ok maybe not that many but I seriously but that  thing to work.  When we originally got the camera it was perfect because little man was young and not moving.  A baby that cannot move is a perfect subject for a point and shoot camera...however once they start running and playing and jumping and being kids it gets harder to capture their pictures.  I gave up on the "sit right there, hold on just one picture, say cheese" posed pictures because, let's face it, you cannot get a two year old (or their one year old sister for that matter) to sit still for any length of time.  So I did some research because I was convinced my camera was broke, come to find out it's not broke...I just need a faster shutter.  (*by the way, these are my opinions and I am in no way a professional photographer so do not take my opinions to heart)  I have been reading and reading and finally decided on the Canon Rebel T3, and hubby got it for me for our anny!!! I am in LOVE!

Hubby has been wanting new clubs for a while and I wanted to get him a new set for our anniversary, but I wanted to get him a nice set that he would LOVE.  I know NOTHING about golf clubs.  I looked online and done some reading and decided on Callaway.  I went to Sports Authority to get them and they were out.  I was pretty happy about that because that bought me time to pick hubby's brain some...thank God I did because he does not like Callaway and did not want them.  He told me that he did not even want a new set of clubs, just irons...again THANK GOD I did not buy anything at Sports Authority.  So I got on the phone with the Edwin Watts Golf Pro in Destin and started picking his brain.  He told me there was a new set of Nike's that my hubby would DIE for.  I thought yea and you want me to sell my house to be able to afford them right?!  Long story short, he did not have any in stock but called the local office and they were able to put their last set on hold for me...and they were not that pricey.  So after work I stopped by and picked up his new toys Nike VR-S irons.  And he is IN LOVE!! :) 

You know I could not wait to get home and play with my camera.  I only wish I had more day light after the babies went to bed to play outside.  My favorite picture taking is macro of plants and close ups of people.  I did however snap SEVERAL pictures tonight, of the babies and hubby.  I think my next purchase needs to be photoshop...I am currently using gimp but I am not technical with my editing so I really want photoshop where I can download actions and I don't have to worry about lighting, white balance, blah blah.  I do not have any photography education so everything I know I have taught myself and read online, so I have a lot of learning to do.  That's the fun part right!?

 Again, I am still fighting with blogger so I apologize baby girl's picture is sideways.

 His famous "cheese" face.

 Does she not look like she is up to no good?

 Who woulda thunk it another "cheese" face.

He was worried about his sister, she was not listening to mommy.

 When hubby got home he could not wait to play with my new toy...until I surprised him with his then he didn't care about anything else.  In fact he could not wait to send out a text to his buddies and family telling them what an amazing, wonderful, the bestest wifey ever!!  Actually he was forwarding a picture of his new toys.

 I love taking portraits with this camera...I cannot wait to learn all the features it offers.

Hubby was enjoying posing for me too :)

So there ya have it, our pre-game gifts as I like to call it.  We decided to do them early because, I wanted this week to practice with my camera so I will be able to take good pictures of the zoo and I wanted him to have his early to play with before we left.

Again, I am so excited to finally have this new toy I have dreamed about for a long time...please leave me a comment if you have this camera or any other similar camera that you can offer me some tips or suggestions.

Little Man is Growing Up!

This weekend was his birthday. I cannot believe two years ago we brought home our brand new bundle of joy. Where does the time go? I remember just like it was yesterday, laying in that hospital bed and thinking he was NEVER going to get here. Then I remember when he was about four months old, thinking that he would never walk. Now, fast forward two years, my little man is running, jumping, climbing, laughing, talking, loving his sister, blowing kisses to everyone he meets, mocking everything his daddy and I do, and making our lives so enjoyable.

I cannot believe the little man that he is turning into, he makes me so proud each and every day. Ok, enough of the mushy stuff, let's get to his party. I actually do not have a lot of pictures because I am currently experiencing camera problems, I am working HARD on hubby for a solution to that. Thankfully I have other family members that took pictures, so I will be stealing those as soon as I am able.

Saturday morning we started his birthday with donuts for breakfast and played in the yard, little man's choice. Then him and his sister took a nap while daddy and I prepared for the birthday bash. It was fun, spending time with family and friends and just enjoying watching him play and open his gifts...perfect day for my little man.

My mom has been in Italy all week, what a life huh??  But in her defense, she was there for work so she did not even get to enjoy it that much.  But she got in late on little man's birthday so she could not be part of his party, it was sad and we really missed her.  It felt weird for me to not have her there, but she did get to come over today to celebrate with him.  So Gammy and Pawpaw came over with more cake and his presents.  When they first got here the babies were still napping so they had the pleasure of waking them up.  It's probably my favorite thing to be the one to get them up, most of the time I should say because they wake up so happy and smiley and life is just GREAT for them at that moment and when they look at you with those HUGE smiles your heart will literally melt.

So after we got the babies up, first thing we did was eat cake.  The babies were still sleepy and took a while to wake up but he was so happy to see his Gammy and so was I.  We did presents and played for a while, then the babies got tired and were ready for naps so Gammy and Pawpaw headed home.  

That wraps up our weekend.  Birthday party fun for the birthday boy...that was all it was about and it was perfect.  Thank you so much everyone that came and was able to make his birthday special for him.  We really appreciate it and love you all!

P.S. 

Please excuse the craziness of the pictures in this post...I have been having extreme blog difficulties lately and I am not sure why.  I'm working on figuring it out though...hope ya'll have a great week!

Well It's Done...

At least I think I'm done. I am surprised I was able to complete it in one day, but I'm good like that I guess!!!

A Beautiful Hump Day

Today my sister would have been 21 years old. That seems so crazy to me. I cannot help but wonder today what would she be like. Would she be in school? Or working a career? What would her career have been? Would she have a boyfriend or a husband? What kind of aunt would she have been to my babies? What would our relationship be like? Would she be my best friend? Would she still be living here? Would she be gorgeous like I remember her as a child?

I know shes my guardian angel and is so much better off in Heaven but I wish she was here with us.

But in a way I feel like she is. We named baby girl after her aunt and could not Have chosen a better name for her. See my sister was a very loving and caring little girl. She was a typical girl though, loved all things girly from pink dresses to Barbie dolls and sparkly shoes. She loved to be left alone in her room playing house and dress up. At the same time she was very good at being a typical woman as well. She would be the first to put a boy in his place, or where she thought he should be. She would gladly speak over our mother to tell the lady in the drive through at McDonald's that they should not advertise a toy that they clearly cannot provide the children when they order a happy meal. All of this, my friends, coming from a four year old. To sum her up, she was our little pistol.

When I say we named baby girl after her aunt, I mean not only did we name her after my sister but she is filling those shoes to the max. She is just like her. Although she cannot speak yet, she can point that little finger at me an "ahh" reminds me of my sister telling the McDonald's lady how she needed to find her a Disney princess like the sign said they had. Baby girl is 100% living in her footsteps and it could not make me prouder. To top it off she looks like her.

I didn't see it as much when she was first born but there is not a day goes by that I look at her and cannot see my sister...its strange how genes work. Don't get me wrong there are facial expressions she gives me that are totally her daddy but for the most part it's my sister.

Today is my sisters day, and will always be. But to honor her I want to post a pic of baby girl because she is filling her aunts shoes perfectly and I know she would be so proud!

Happy 21 birthday aunt Marie!

In Progress

Happy Sunday ya'll!!!  It is absolutely beautiful outside, but my tired munchkins are napping and while they do that I am working on my blog.  I have some much I want to do, but I am teaching myself as I go so bare with me :)

Also, remember that I have to work on this as I get time between naps and bed time...my point is this may take me several days. 

Hope yall are enjoying your Sunday!!