Summer Days (revisited)

Last summer was the first time in a while we had a summer vacation at the same time and location as some of Dave's family. His sister Chanie and her family came along with us on an adventure to the Alabama coast to enjoy the beaches and summer fun. Our niece, Natalie snapped this beautiful shot of her son Riley at the beach, it was high time I scrapped it. We're looking forward to another beach time vacation in just forty-two short days!

I've got more adorable photos to scrap from that vacation and Shabby Miss Jenn's lovely kits are perfect for them! Click on the image to see a larger version in my gallery at SMJD along with full credits.

The boys and Auntie Brittany

One of Claire's dearest friends Brittany came over to visit with the boys on Tuesday, we had a lovely visit and I was able to take photos of the boys with her and created these layouts using Shabby Miss Jenn Products. Click on the images to see larger versions.

Bumbo Buddies

Its never been easier to learn how to sit and strenghten the muscles required for sitting as it is now... with the bumbo! Alex and Eli both love sitting up and being able to look around. They have been sitting up for twenty minutes or so at a time and even when they're not in the comfy chair, they want to be upright and sitting as often as possible. Thank heaven for those people who come up with, design and manufacture these wonderful aparatus for the wee ones! In these photos the boys are 4 months old.

Kissed Studio/Shabby Miss Jenn Contest

Results for this contest will be revealed on Saturday, May 31st. If you haven't yet sent in your link, you can do so to katy@kissedstudio.com Good Luck to everyone!

Happy Memorial Day!

All you digital scrapbookers ... check out the sale at our store today! I I hope everyone has a happy and safe Memorial Day!

Click HERE: Kissed Studio Template Store

Wild About You

Kali's birthday was special... mostly because she had a ton of people there who really love her a lot. Lauren and Brie are Krista's best friends and they adore Kali and she loves them a bunch!

I created this layout using Shabby Miss Jenn's adorable Wild Animals kit. Click on the image to see a larger version of the layout in my gallery at Shabby Miss Jenn Designs.COM

Kali is Now 4!

I loved creating this layout to commemorate Kali's 4th birthday party. She is just too adorable and sweet. I love this photo of her right before she blew out the candles on her cake!

I used Shabby Miss Jenn's Peony Berries kit to create the layout, the brown paper is from her Loveshack kit. Click on the image to see a larger version of the layout.

Who's Growing Like Weeds?

The boys surely are doing that! They're getting so big so fast... you would hardly think they were born five weeks early. They've almost tripled their birth weights of 5 lbs 9 oz and 5 lbs 10 oz and are about fifteen pounds!

I captured the photos I used in this layout in May and used Shabby Miss Jenn's kit "Flea Market Studio" which is featured this month in scrapinstyletv.com. The other two layouts were created using Shabby Miss Jenn's "Lil Guy's" kit, which is a favorite of mine for scrapping my little boyfriends! Clicking on the image will allow you to view a larger version of the layouts!

Four Months Old!

Where has the time gone!? Feels like they were born day before yesterday ... how can it be that they are already four months old?!

They had their four month visit at the doctor just this past Tuesday, they're both weighing almost 15 pounds and had their second round of baby shots. We see little white teeth showing just under the gum surface, its still early yet, but at times Alex is bothered with a little teething discomfort, looks like his will pop through first, only time will tell. They're noticing one another a lot more lately and are having regular stare downs. They smile and coo at one another too. They're such sweet boys!

The boys spent the night last night (Wednesday), which is fast becoming our little tradition. Mom and Dad get to do a few things around the house and we get extra time with our favorite little guys! They are such good boys on their nights over, even though they just had baby shots on Tuesday, they slept from 9 pm until 4:40 am this morning. They woke for bottles then went back to sleep until around 7 am.

Summer Swimming Lessons

Kali, Maddie and Riley started swimming lessons with Jeanne yesterday at Riley's Papaw Ricky's pool. They're definately going to be little fish kids by the end of the lessons. Kali isn't afraid of plunging under the water to learn how to swim. She's a pure natural!

Kali's Big Luau Birthday Bash!

Kali's Luau Birthday party was a blast! All of her favorite people were there (and her Daddy was there in her heart). Here are special photos with Mama, Nanny Lexi, Lauren and Brie, Erica and Paren Davey... and of course one with Hannah Montana!
The day was filled with lots of fun activities, loads of wonderful gifts, a yummy Lilo Hula cake, the limbo, a new bike from Lolli and Pop, a fun jump and games! Everyone had an absolute blast!

Eli and Alex were at the party too, here's Eli with Nanny Erica and Alex talking and smiling with Daddy. The boys were well taken care of by their Great Grandmas the whole afternoon. Click on the images to see larger versions! I'll be scrapping lots of these photos soon!

Three new layouts!

I've had time to scrap in the last week so I'm posting a few of them here for your viewing pleasure! The photos are all from a trip to the zoo with Kali, Alex and Eli.

Click on the images to see larger versions and full credits for them in my online galleries. The first two were created using Shabby Miss Jenn's new Wild Animals kit and the last one was created with a kit called French Country from a new designer I discovered this week Julia Makotinsky at Little Dreamer Designs.

Happy Friday!!

Super Simple Template Contest

Kissed Studio and Shabby Miss Jenn Designs are combining efforts in a super little contest with great prizes!

Kissed Studio will award two $25.00 gift certificates to the template store.

Shabby Miss Jenn will award four $10 gift certificates to the Shabby Miss Jenn Designs store!

Rules for qualification: 1. Use the free template. 2. Use a Shabby Miss Jenn Product.

PSD and Lumapix Fotofusion templates in 10x8 and 12x12 are in the free zip file that can be downloaded here:

Kissed Studio Free Template #16

Here are some samples of layouts created by our friends at SMJ and Kissed Studio!

One Happy Day by Katy

Katy used Shabby Miss Jenn's Sunshine Blossoms

Blow by Cathy

Cathy used Shabbyful Kit

Darling by Shabby Miss Jenn

Shabby Miss Jenn used kits:

Hipster Moms, Peony Berries and Flower Stand

Rock by Jodie

Jodie used these kits: Papers from Weeds and Daisies, Hipster Moms and Peonie BerriesButtons, stitching and Word art from Hipster Moms and Peonie Berries

Please upload your layout to your favorite online gallery then email your link to Katy at katy@kissedstudio.com to be entered into the contest for the prizes!

Could they be mirror twins?

Eli and Alex have dimples... Eli's are on his right cheek and Alex's are on his left cheek. Both have a dimple in their chins. I'm so happy to see their smiling faces when I get to their house on the mornings that I spend the day with them. They're such happy boys! Makes me wonder if one will be left handed and one right. Pop is left handed, so is their aunt Jamie. We'll have to wait a few months to really know this. They're such little cuties!

A Mid Afternoon's Nap

Clicking on the layout will take you to my Shabby Miss Jenn Designs gallery and you can see a larger version of it there and full credits.

Eli and Alex spent the night on Friday night and we had a good night. They're such sweet boys! They left for a few hours and were back visiting when we had a crawfish boil with my whole family on Saturday evening. Kali had a great time playing with all of her cousins and we enjoyed visiting with family!

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all of you mom's out there a fabulous day! I shot this photo of flowers at River Ranch on a Scavenger Hunt with the Lafayette Photographic Society, such lovely shades of pink!

Happy Birthday Kali!

Tonight we're taking our girl Kali out for pizza and fun for her fourth birthday dinner. She's such a sweet girl and growing up way too fast, it feels like she was just born and she's already getting ready for pre-school! Happy Birthday Kali from all of us... we love you! Pop, Lolli, Nanny Alexa and Aunt Erica, Paren Davey, Nanny Claire, Alex and Eli too!

Overnight Guests

Our house was quiet tonight despite the fact that two babies were spending the night. Pop and Erica went to Lafayette to Academy for boots for Pop and then to the book store afterward. After Alex and Eli arrived, Eli slept and Alex played in his swing for about an hour, then they decided to switch places, Alex went right to sleep after being changed for bed and Eli took his turn playing for a good hour and fifteen minutes. They were very quiet and content when they were awake and slept soundly after their last bottles. Eli ate his about 9:45 PM and I had to wake Alex at 10 PM to give him his last bottle.

Funny Sidenote...

... as soon as someone at Avery Island notices a new post to the blog, the number of visitors jumps up by dozens. Thanks for visiting the blog, please do comment and let us know who's watching the kiddos as they grow! Thanks!!

First Trip to the Zoo

... for Alex and Eli! They loved being outdoors and they were so curious about all the sights and sounds! There were bus loads of children there for class trips and watching all those smiling faces from their stroller was fun for them. They're too little to really see the animals in their cages but the one that caught their eyes was Gabe the Giraffe. He's very large and has interesting designs that babies just love to look at and this is where we spent our time while Mimi, Kali and Riley rode the zoo train and watched the alligator show. Those activities took place in the sun and the giraffe cage was in the shade and was the perfect place for the little guys. Kali and the girl peacock were dressed to match as you can see in the lower left photo. Don't they both look lovely in cream and brown? Riley and Kali had a wonderful day with the boys. After visiting the zoo for almost three hours we had lunch at Chili's, Krista met us after she was finished with school. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Sunroom Nap

The boys nap in the foyer/sunroom for about twenty minutes after they eat their noon time bottles before moving to their cribs. It helps them keep their bottle down and also provides them with a nice daily dose of sunshine. Click on the image for a larger version and scrap credits in one of my scrapbooking galleries.

Three Wonderful Little People

Last week on Thursday Kali and the boys had a wonderful day. She sang to them and played with them for hours. They love watching her because she is highly entertaining and always thinking of little songs that will make them smile. Their eyes are always on her and they watch her roam around the room when she is at their house. She adores Alex and Eli and loves playing 'little mama' when Aunt Claire's at work. The boys are becoming little socialites and love making eye contact with people, smiling and cooing and looking for a response. Its amazing how much they are changing weekly and how much they've grown. I'll be going for a little visit with them in a few minutes, even though the nanny is spending three days a week with them I am still going to see them as much and as often as I can.