Summer 2013 Picture

We recently won a mini session from Lizzy Nicole Photography!We had the best time with Ashley and are so thankful for these pictures that capture our family at this time of life. I especially love some of Sims' little smiles. They are the perfect 2 year old smiles/faces and I'm glad to have a record of them. :) 

Going to the Pool

...or as I like to call it...

Why do people always tell me I have my hands full???

Miles' car seat and diaper bag were both in the car. I had to carry those into the pool too. :)

We had fun though!

Camp Update: The girls had the best time and have talked about it non-stop. They are already talking about going for a full week next year.

Claire lost her first tooth 2 weeks ago at Rick's parents' house!

Sims' "smile" strikes again!

Camp Westminster

Our friends told us about this great camp just outside of Atlanta called Camp Westminster. It's run by a PCA church and our friends have been involved with it for years. In fact, their oldest daughter is a counselor this summer. 

Thanks to Boo and Papaw, Kate and Claire are over there for the First Timers session. It's a 4 day/3 night introduction to camp and the girls were so excited to be able to go! Here are the only pictures I took when we dropped them off. I'm hoping they'll be just as happy when I pick them up! :) 

Getting so old!!!

Henry and Jack also wanted their picture taken. 

And so did Sims. I really love this picture!! All of our kids at age 2 have had this great "smile."

 It's always been so funny to me! This really is his "I'm happy and trying to have a good smile," smile. :)

Here's a picture of the First Timers from their Facebook page. Kate and Claire are on the front row. 

Our Big SURPRISE!!!!!

We surprised our girls with a trip to Universal Studios at the beginning of the month. Apparently, you can get amazing deals this time of year. Rick's parents kept Henry, Jack, and Sims for us. His dad did a lot of the heavy lifting for the week because he's retired and Rick's mom is a school teacher. We are so thankful for them and the way they love our kids.

We only told our parents and siblings about the trip because didn't want word to get out and ruin the surprise for the girls. They were watching TV early on Monday morning and a commercial for Universal came on. They were both talking about how much they wanted to go and at that exact moment, Rick told them to go look on the front porch. We had placed a stuffed owl outside with a letter saying they had been accepted to Hogwarts and that their term started that day! :) They were very confused and couldn't believe we were actually leaving right then! We had packed the car the night before so we told them to run and put their clothes on because we were leaving!! It was one of those moments I don't think I'll ever forget. It was so fun!!!

Miles came with us because I'm still nursing him but It worked out for the best because he helped us out on ALL of the rides!! We were able to do child swap which is a lot better than it is at Disney World. The entire group waits in line together (there were no lines and it was 79 degrees - perfect!) and then I'd ride the ride with the girls while Rick and Miles hung out at the front of the line. As soon as we finished, Rick and the girls got straight back on the ride (no waiting), while Miles and I hung out. They got to ride everything back-to-back! It was great. I highly recommend taking or borrowing a baby next time you go. :)

Here are some pictures:

Hogsmeade

Ollivanders

Hogwarts - best ride ever

Inside the Best ride ever

One fish Two fish ride!!

Made them have their pic made with Barney :)

The Hulk Ride - Fun!

I think I wore them out. :)

I'm so thankful we were able to go!

Why I haven't blogged in awhile...

....No, I am not pregnant. Although, can you blame me for wanting one more when I get to look at this face all day long????? :)

I think he really likes me.

Ok, moving on, even though I don't really want to.

I found this little ebook and have been working hard!

http://www.amazon.com/42-Days-to-Fit-ebook/dp/B00B4FRV6G

http://42daystofit.com/

It's called 42 Days to Fit, or as I like to call it, "How I Lost 12 lbs and 9.5 inches in 6 weeks."

It always takes me about 9-10 months to lose my baby weight (if I lose it all) and by then, I have always been pregnant. I have been pregnant or nursing for over 9 year now (minus 3 months in between a few kids.) I cannot tell you how much weight I have gained and lost having 6 babies in 8 years. 

I picked up some bad habits in those 9 years so I decided it was time to change those and see if I could actually lose my baby weight faster this time. 

I love this program because it's completely sustainable and not "crazy" like some of the plans that are popular right now. There are different food and exercise challenges for every week so you don't feel overwhelmed. 

When I started, I could only run 1 minute without stopping. On Wednesday, I ran 5 miles without stopping!!!! Did you hear me-I said 5 miles!!!!!!!!! That is crazy. I am not a runner and have NEVER been a runner.

I also was addicted to Diet Coke and during the 42 days, I had nothing to drink but water. I have kicked a lot of bad habits, added some good ones and I cannot tell you how much better I feel and how much energy I have. I don't need to take naps anymore during the day.

I can also fit back into most of my pre-pregnancy clothes and Miles is 3 months old. I have NEVER been able to do that before. I still am about 4 lbs away from my pre- Miles pregnancy weight but I know I've gained some muscle weight and like I said, my clothes fit! 

I weighed X before I was pregnant with Kate and (X+8) with Miles. I'm going to keep going with the plan and we'll see where I end up. 

I'm hoping Rick and I will run a 10K soon, but I do not know whether or not we'll do an actual race. I have a hard time spending money to run. :) We're going to run more hills and do speed drills now to help us decrease our time.

It's about to get hot so I'm getting a little nervous about running. :) I'll try and update with how everything is going at the end of the summer. 

I'll be back soon. Claire turned 7 last week and the girls have their ballet recital coming up soon. :)