More camera talk

This is proof that: A. Joe's camera definitely takes better pictures than mine, and B. Joe is a much better photographer than me. The pictures that Joe took today of Nealy and Sophie are truly stunning. I still like my little point and shoot, though. I don't have the skills for all that photographic power.

Playdate!

Some of you might remember when I posted pregnant pictures of Bethel and me a while back. Well, Bethel's baby Sophie came the day after we took those pictures, and Nealy came 4 days later. We finally managed to get them together for a play date today while Bethel went for a job interview (they've "met" before, but not for long periods of time until today).

I was so excited to have Sophie over - you know how much I love to play real life baby dolls. Like this time one time with Jacks:He wasn't all that happy with me because I decided to try this outfit on him while he was still sleeping. He might have been mad at me, but doesn't he look adorable in this vintage knitted onesie? Still totally worth it....

I did a good job of restraining myself this time, and I only changed their clothes once. Luckily, I had these matching outfits from the bags of hand me downs from sister. I should have prepared more wardrobe changes before Sophie arrived, because I would not have restrained myself if I had more outfit options readily available.

Here are the pictures of their good time. Shortly after this, Nealy had a hissy fit and Sophie dozed off for about 10 minutes before deciding she needed some bottle.

Our trip to Gainesville

Nealy took her first road trip over Memorial Day weekend to see my sister and her family in Gainesville. It was a large family gathering. My Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary Lou came over for the day from Jacksonville, my parents were there, and my brother came over for the evening on Saturday. It was a really great visit.

I didn't take many pictures because we were very busy keeping up with the kids, but here are a few highlights.

Laura gave us a clarinet concert.....

Jacks took a bath with Jean Louise.....
Jacks practiced his Blue Steel.....
Carrie stole that baby.....Then Queenie stole that baby.....

Jacks played with his Chet.....

Jacks bossed everyone around.....

The biggest event of the trip was meeting the new addition to the Westmark family, Rocky. He is a Toy Australian Shepherd, and he is gorgeous. Jacks is still afraid of dogs, so he didn't make very good friends with Rocky. But isn't he pretty?
And we all made it home in one piece! I rode in the back of the big truck with the babies. Nealy slept most of the way while Jacks and I hid under the blanket to avoid seeing the scary interstate traffic in the pouring down rain. The ride home got a little rough when Nealy decided she was completely done with riding in the car, and she screamed for about 2 solid hours. So, needless to say I was a little tired long before we got home. Joe did a good job of getting us up and down the road safely.

Summer has officially begun, folks! We're going to have a great one, so stay tuned.

Nealy meets Ryan

Look at these two beauties!!

Well, this isn't their first meeting, but it's the first one where I whipped out the tiny Nikon to capture the moment. Joe, Nealy, and I were out and about when we thought we might make a visit to Drake since Jenny, Bill, and Ryan were up there hanging out. Their Aunt Bev was there, too, which is who they're both smiling at in the picture above.

Ryan came about 3 weeks before Nealy, and you can tell in the pictures that she is clearly older and wiser. Here she is staring Nealy down and sizing her up. Nealy does not seem to know that she's being silently judged.


Then, we lined them up on Jenny's desk (which made Bev very nervous), where Nealy practiced her gymnastic abilities while Ryan expressed her displeasure with her mother for not holding her up on her shoulder like she would have preferred at that moment. Already, they are both more concerned with their own agendas. So typical for a couple of prisses.


They are already quite a pair!

Pretty Girl

I'm sure you'll agree, her shirt don't lie.

Touch a Truck

Downtown Opelika had possibly one of the greatest events of Jacks's young life: the Toys for Tots Touch a Truck event. They blocked off Railroad Ave, and they had every type of large truck you can think of available for children to explore. They could climb in and around all the trucks, honk the horns, listen to the sirens, pull the air horn cords - for a little boy into little boy things, this was hog heaven. As soon as we drove up, Jacks knew that this was a party that he wanted to go to. He went running toward the activity beaming from ear to ear. He got to get in and explore a UPS truck, a school bus, a police car, an ambulance, a fire truck, a power truck (that had a cherry picker - no they didn't allow anyone in the cherry picker, thank God!!), a military truck, a Mack truck, an 18 wheeler, assorted tractors and gators, a Life Flight helicopter, and an excavator. What a wonderful event!
The line to get on the excavator was exceptionally long because they were letting kids get up in the seat while the operator showed the kids how to move the arm up and down and turn the machine around in circles. I kept a place in line with Nealy while Joe and Jacks explored the helicopter. It was finally Jacks's turn to get on the excavator, and the helicopter decided it was time to take off. So, all excavator turns came to a stand still while they cleared the area and took off. How do you explain to a 2 year old who has waited patiently for his turn that he has to wait a while longer? Luckily, the helicopter taking off provided a great distraction, and Jacks got to visit with one of his classmates in the meantime.
Whoever came up with the idea for this event really knows kids, because I can't remember the last time I've seen so many giddy children. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.
We took tons of pictures, so I'll try to upload the highlights.


Nealy was thrilled to be there....her excitement was hard to contain.
Jacks ran into his friend Minor. They had to plug their ears when the helicopter flew away.


Jacks FINALLY got his turn on the excavator - I think we got about 40 pictures of this for a play by play account of these 3 minutes...

Heirloom Rockers

My mother just returned my newly refurbished rocking chair for Nealy's room, and the end result is amazing. It was originally a caned chair, although it has not had caning in it for more years than we know (Mom cannot remember if it has been caned in her lifetime). It has been upholstered several times over the years, but it is much more beautiful caned which my mother generously had done for me. If I was a better blogger, I would have a before picture, so I hope you can still appreciate the after shot without the before. I'll tell you that it has most recently been upholstered in icky green velvet. Here it is with the cushions on it that my mother made to match Nealy's room:
The coolest part about this rocking chair is that it belonged to my great grandmother Mamie. I like to think of all of the babies in my family who were rocked to sleep in this chair, including me and my sister and brother, my mother, my grandfather, and all my cousins and assorted aunts and uncles. If that chair could talk.....

Jacks also has an heirloom rocker in his chair which belonged to Joe's great-grandmother. There's something so special about having that kind of personal family history in each of my child's rooms. Here's Jacks's rocker with his super cute cowboy themed cushions:I hope I'm carrying on a long and wonderful family tradition by keeping these rockers in action.