This is what happens....

....when you let your 2 year-old color while you vacuum. 

Wade's Baptism

Wade was baptized this past Sunday (or " 'tized" as our little friend Libba calls it!) and we had a great time entertaining family at our house afterwards. We have been in our house for a year now and it is finally starting to feel like us.  Did you know that in the past year we sold our first house, moved into our second, renovated it - gutted 2 bathrooms and added a third, got pregnant and had a baby. It's been a big year for us!

Here are some pictures of the baptism, the family, and a few shots of our house that my mom took while getting ready for a family brunch. It was a rare occasion that all of the toys were out of sight!

The family. Right before going to church.

One of my favorite photos of the day!  My mom caught this unsuspecting moment.  Doe Doe (my dad) was talking to McCord about how Wade was going to be baptized at church today and McCord would get to go in front of the church next to the baptismal fount and be next to him and what a special privilege that was to be the big brother.  I think he understands much more than we give him credit for.  

This is my mother-in-law, Gee Gee.  Wade is wearing the gown that she was baptized in as an infant.  Since then, Bo and his sister wore it during their baptisms as well as each of our children.  We are so thankful for Gee Gee for sharing this special tradition with our family.  In retrospect, I wish I would have gotten a picture of all of the people who have worn the gown.  It would have included: Gee Gee, Meredith (my sister in law), Bo, Emily, Kyle and Will (Meredith's kids) and McCord and Wade.  Amazing!

And here's the house.  I pulled out my collection of vintage children's prayer books and used them around the house as decorations for our brunch. 

We hope to renovate this kitchen one day - but we're slowly making peace with one another. 

The playroom - it takes a beating every day, got to love a hard working room!

And it would only be fitting to include Wade's prayer for the day, the same prayer McCord offered on his baptism.  

God in heaven, hear my prayer,

Keep me in thy loving care. 

Be my guide in all I do. 

Bless all those who love me too. 

Amen. 

Wade is 2 months old!

Hey there little guy!  

Wade is a happy, sweet, easy going little guy and he's surprised us a couple of nights by sleeping 9 hours at a time!  He has been smiling and cooing.  And snoring. 

His little disposition reminds me so much of his older brother at this age, and they even look alike too!  In fact the below picture is McCord at 2 months wearing the same outfit as Wade in the above picture.  Who's who?

I'll have to post a picture of Wade in front of the maple at a later date - we've yet to get a good afternoon without rain to get outside.  

You better.

Summer Snapshots

This week...

...and I've had fun playing around with the new photo editing website.  Pic Monkey.  Fun stuff!

Mc's Birthday Party

Thank you Poppie & Gee Gee for letting us host Mc's 2nd birthday party at your house!  We loved spending this fun day with family.  Many thanks to Mc's cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents who made the day so special for him!

Happy 4th of July

We joined in the fun this year at our neighborhood's annual Johnsonville parade.  Some of you folks who grew up here can probably tell me more about the details of the parade's origination, but we think it started with a family about 20 years ago, who just decided to start their own 4th of July parade in the neighborhood.

Everyone was invited and there were no rules to join.

Little has changed.

The parade lasts for about 30 minutes as everyone walks around the neighborhood together.  This year there were at least 150 people - a couple of buses even brought in kids from a summer camp up in the mountains!  Everyone was decked out with homemade decorations for strollers, bikes, wagons.  There were a few convertibles, someone dressed as the Statue of Liberty, a handful of patriotic dogs, and lots and lots of kids.

The Johnsonville queen was crowned, everyone sang "God Bless America," and then the parade was officially underway!

We smiled, laughed, sweated, and waved through our 30 minutes of fame.  The whole experience was a hearty slice of small town Americana pie and we were so glad to share this delicious memory with our boys.