Self-Portrait

Self-portraits....not quite as easy as I thought...

I feel like I don't have many pictures of me interacting with the girls especially Tilley alone with me.  I try to get the camera out and give it to Matt as much as possible but he hates being asked to take pictures about as much as he hates being in them and then its just a mess because I really want him to take the picture and he really doesn't want to take it...or I should say he gets annoyed when children don't cooperate and let me tell you children and photography rarely cooperate as you want them to.

Anyways...I had Tilley to myself on Friday night so I attempted to grab a couple pictures of just the two of us.  Getting the camera set up correctly, getting it to lock it focus where I wanted it, and then running to get in the picture (so I didn't have to use a remote) was hard work.  Here are take 135, 228, and 307 respectively....  Not really but that's how many pictures I felt like I took before I even got these that I am decently happy with.

Taking these pictures has made me super super super excited to get out family pictures taken by a photographer in October.  I have specifically chosen someone whose style is very journalistic so hopefully we will get a lot of the interaction or inbetween moments as I like to call them when we have our session in late October.

Our Trip to Iron Station

Last weekend we took the girls to visit my grandparents in Iron Station.  It had been a while since they had seen the girls and I was beginning to miss them terribly myself so with my busy season ahead I knew we had to fit in a trip while we could.

We left Wilmington on Friday afternoon around 115 and didn't arrive at there house until 730...yep, over 6 hours later!!!!  It should have been a 4 hour trip!  That's traveling with an 8m old for ya.  Tilley was doing really well; however, her first breakdown ofcourse had to coincide with a conference call for Matt so I had to pull over to feed her, change her, play with her, etc. etc.  If it wasn't for Matt's conference call we probably would have powered through that breakdown.  Oh well....gotta do what you gotta do!  An hour later we were back on the road.  Tilley fell back asleep and Randal Jean watched The Wizard of Oz...all was right with the world until 530 hit.  It was time for Tilley's dinner and she was not letting us push her dinner so we went off course and went to Matt's brother's place in Charlotte to feed Tilley.  Uncle Kirk had a concert to go to so we only saw him for 10 minutes but Randal Jean had a good time sharing icee pops with his roommate, Mitchell.  After Tilley's dinner we were back on the road again and finally arrived safely at my grandparents.

Friday night we didn't get to do much as it was getting late for the young and old (and who am I kidding....6+ hours in the care wore me out too!). 

Saturday we spent the day playing in my grandpa's shop, out in the yard, and in my grandparents basement.  My grandma go to hold and love on Tilley all day while Randal Jean made great memories with her cousin, Houston.  My grandpa unfortunately wasn't feeling all that great for this trip either (remember the last trip) but no worries this was more of a bug nothing as serious as last time.  Despite not feeling well he still hung out where ever we were to soak in as much of her great-grandbabies as possible.

On Sunday morning we woke up and headed out to the Panther's game and if you have already read that post you know our drive home was much smoother :)

Enjoy these pictures from our time in Iron Station.

Randal Jean playing in my grandpa's shop.  I spent countless hours in the shop when I was little and hope my girls will get to make many fond memories there as well.

 Tilley on the work bench....no worries Matt is just out of the frame:)

 Randal Jean and Houston amusing themselves as Great-grandpa George looks on

 My great-aunt Faye came to visit us

 Grandma Jean getting her tan on, ha!

Love Love Love Love Love...all day long!

 Daddy and his baby

 Tilley and Houston

 Playing in the grass Eating the grass

 "This looks fun..."

 Uncle George with his mama!

 These next two pictures make my heart so very full

 

Randal Jean goes shrimping

One night last week Matt took Randal Jean shrimping after work.  It seems they both had a great time; however, the bounty may have been a little greater sans a 2-year old but who cares....memories were made :)  After they got home Matt dumped the shrimp in the sink and Randal Jean watched them swim around for a bit before she got distracted by something else (story of her life....).  By the time she thought about the shrimp again Matt had already prepared them to be cooked the next day.  Here is the conversation after Randal Jean saw the prepared shrimp:

Matt: Randal Jean look the shrimp are all ready to be cooked (showing Randal Jean the shrimp in a strainer).
Randal Jean: Daddy, where they faces?
Matt: (Opens the trash can lid) I had to take them off because we only eat the tails
Randal Jean: Daddy, put their faces back on
Matt: No, honey we don't eat their faces we eat the tails
Randal: Okay, we just eat the tails....Eat 'em all up!

Randal Jean has since talked about faces quite a bit she even told me she was going to eat my face, bones (what she calls my collarbone), and belly button....toddlers are nothing short of constant entertainment!

For the record the shrimp they caught were probably the best steamed shrimp I've ever had in my life!

Goober:)

Eating cold pizza...the decision for Randal Jean to go with Matt was last minute and at dinner time so her grabbed 3 slices of cold pizza to take on the boat thinking that would be enough for both of them.  Randal Jean ate all 3!

  

If I know my daughter I'm pretty sure she was telling Matt what to do :)

The shrimp!...or "shrimps" as Randal Jean calls them

 Randal Jean looking at the shrimp in the sink (with heads on at this point, ha!)

Hello there!

Why, hello there beautiful little girl :)  I love it when I'm greeted with a smile at the end of nap time.

Go Panthers!

This past weekend we took the girls to their first Panther's game.  It happened to also be the first Panther's game that I had been too since I was pregnant with Randal Jean...my how things have changed :) 

We "tailgated"/pre-gamed (can you pre-game with kids?) at Kirk's apartment in downtown Charlotte then headed out to the game just as it started to rain.  It rained the whole walk there and while we waited to have the diaper bag searched but it stopped when it was time for the game.  Tilley got a bit antsy soon after the game started so I took her out of the baby bjorn and she ended up sleeping through the second quarter.  All the while Randal Jean was clapping and doing the Panther growl.  Just before halftime it started to rain again so I took shelter with Tilley and headed back once it was time for the 3rd quarter.  Both girls were fantastic for the last half of the game.  On the walk back to Kirk's apartment Randal Jean fell asleep in Matt's arms...so glad he was carrying her.  Once we made it back to Kirk's I fed Tilley and we got on the road around 6 to arrive back in Wilmington just after 10.  Tilley slept the whole way and after watching The Wizard of Oz 1 1/2 times Randal Jean finally fell asleep too.  Both girls transferred easily to their crib/bed....I think we can say the day was a success!!!

 Classic Randal Jean....

 

  

Kirk and his girlfriend, Julie

 

Julie and some of the other people that were also at Kirk's before the game...the child-less crew thankfully didn't seem to mind that two babies crashed the party

 Some iphone and point-and-shoot (circa 2003....its an antique!) photos

   

Matt's genius idea to give her a red Italian ice while wearing gray....

 Sleepy baby

 Worn out big girl!

Finally some cooperation

We needed an updated family pic for Randal to have at preschool so after arriving home from a weekend away with the girls I set up the tripod for this quick pic.  I didn't have expectations or high hopes for this picture which should be evident by my pajama-like clothing (which I promise are real daytime clothes) and barely there make-up.  Well I guess looking like absolute you know what is the catalyst for my girls to both look at the camera at the same time....go figure!

Look-a-likes?

We have been hearing a lot of, "oh my Tilley is starting to look so much like Randal," lately.  I was agreeing but after this comparison I think she still looks pretty different from her sister.  You can tell they are sisters but they definitely have their own look.

This picture or Tilley was taken today and the picture of Randal was taken on September 17th, 2010 so Tilley is at 7m and Randal was 6m but with Tilley's previous weight issues they are about the same size. 

First Day of 2's

Randal Jean had her first day of 2's this today :)  I can't believe summer is officially over and we have started back to school.

Enjoy!

 Getting ready for our walk to school

 Comparison to last year's first day of school