baby Gwinn's shower

today was the big day for baby gwinn's baby shower! what a perfect and hot day! :) i co-hosted it with hilary and laura (2 of andrea's best buds, and 2 friends that are dear to me as well!). i feel like they did all the work and it turned out great! what a awesome turn out!

the abundant gift tables!!

the spread: we had hot dogs and all the works!

the grillers/muscles of the operation: russ and jon. :)

guests: my friend angel's little cuties, colton and connor.

more guests: stasha, her son and husband, michelle and carla.

co-hostess and game leader: laura! :)

co-hostess, hilary, showing a basket full of goodies!

the sweet mommy and daddy to be: andrea and jason. :)
(there's wyatt checking out the goods!)

the hostesses and one of the guests of honor:
hilary, laura, andrea and me!

Pollock Wedding Weekend: Reception

so, since we were in the wedding we have no pictures of it! that and picture taking may not have been allowed anyway? but we do have a couple pictures from the reception! (if anyone has pictures of wyatt, matt or ali please send them so we can add them to this post! thanks so much!!)

the sweet Mr. and Mrs. Pollock's first dance

father-daughter dance

claire (on auntie ree's lap) in a cute bib our friends the Rays gave her

super pretty wedding cake

feeding each other cake...nice or mischievous?

cleaning up the mischievousness!!

Pollock Wedding Weekend: Getting Ready!

The German Club Manor, where John and Ash had their reception, has a really nice women's restroom that has a great area for getting ready for weddings. we made good use of it for hair and make-up prep and then put our dresses on in the church's choir room.

the girls getting ready

myra helping ashley with final touches :)

ash and mom in the choir room minutes before the big moment!!
aren't they both so pretty!

Pollock Wedding Weekend: Bridesmaid Brunch

matt's mom, with the help of Grannie and Brenda (his grandma and aunt), put on a super yummy brunch for ashley and her bridesmaids. there were scones, mini muffins, mini cinnamon rolls, cran-orange bread, fruit salad, the best quiche ever, coffee and juice...i think that's everything! it was all so delicious and fueled us ladies for the big day! :)

the spread!

the family:
grannie, aunt brenda, judy (mom/ "nana"), claire, ali, ash, wyatt :)

the BRIDE and her bridesmaids:
dana, jessica, adrienne, ASH, cynthia, myra, ali, kelly
(and ring bearer: wyatt!)

Pollock Wedding Weekend: Arrive in Blacksburg

it has finally arrived, john and ashley's wedding weekend!! we are so excited! we drove to blacksburg this morning and the fun has just begun! it's so pretty up here. we had a yummy pizza dinner with the family. then once the kids were asleep it was off to do some wedding preparations!

wyatt's 1st professional haircut

wyatt has had many "homemade" haircuts, but we weren't feeling confident enough in our technique to give him the one he would have for his aunt "asheesh's" wedding! so i took him to Snip-Its. it's a place that only does kids haircuts. he was excited to go in, because there were toys, but not so happy when i tried to get him away from the toys and into the chair. i got him buckled in the chair, with little debating, and the hair stylist tried to get him interested in a little video. it worked, even if he did sit there with a grump-a-dump look on his face through the entire haircut! at least he barely moved! gooooo bubbie!! :) it turned out pretty cute too! now he looks good enough to be a ring bearer!

farmers market

the kids and i decided to surprise matt and show up at the farmers market today! it's his 3rd or 4th time selling. he had a nice little area and all the other sellers were really friendly and fun to talk to. he started out with potatoes, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and blueberries. as you can see from the pic, the tomatoes and blueberries were the first to
sell out.

potatoes, squash and cucumbers from our "farm" :)

cary farmers market: our booth is on the left, on the other side of the green canopy.
our canopy is blue, but you can't see it in this photo. you can barely see our
table to the left and up a little from the table under the green canopy.

IN proof!

the kids and i just got back from indiana, and i am so bad about taking pictures that this is the only proof i have that we actually were there!!! we went up for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary gathering and to visit family. it was a great trip that FLEW by! i can hardly believe that we are already home! it was so good to see everyone and let them meet claire. wyatt and claire also did really well on the road trip. it's usually between 11-12 hour drive and i think that it took us about 14 with the extra stops, not bad. i'd do it again! :)

proof that we were in IN:
claire sleeping in my cousin angie's arms,
in my grandma's kitchen! :)

2 peas in a pod

matt and wyatt intently watching and listing to a video of a tractor someone is trying to sell.

and a cute pic of claire!

after nap

after wyatt's nap (if claire is already up from her's or they decided to nap at different times!) she and i go in his room to get him out of the bed. i always lay claire on his bed so i can get him out and change his diaper. he wasn't quite ready to get out of the bed this afternoon, so he and claire were attacked by the "mommarazzi"!! i am only posting one of the many flashes they were exposed to!

claire's 1st food

claire had her first taste of food – baby rice cereal! she was so cute trying to eat it, kept pushing it out with her tongue! it was so runny, the way the box tells you to prepare it. definitley won't make it so runny tomorrow.

excitement about eating food

going for it!

that's all??

big "cheeser"

the classic "wyatt cheese"

sweet napper

claire was just too sweet snuggling with her "burpie" for me not to take a picture!

morning walks

i've finally decided we need to get into more of a routine again. so, for starters, we are trying to walk in the mornings! matt retrieved the roomie double stroller (so generously given to us) from the attic and today was our first day! i think the kids really enjoyed it, and so did i! it was right around claire's nap time, so she napped. wyatt brings a toy, juice and snack – all that and a nice ride outside, who wouldn't be happy with that! i don't think i heard two words out of him! we'll do it again tomorrow...and hopefully the day after that, and the day after that, and so on!

later today...

just thought i'd share some cute pictures of the kids playing!

wyatt with his puttet friend we've named "gilbert" the goat

claire was playing quietly, but wyatt can't take not being part of the action!

sweet baby claire!

sittin' pretty

she's not eating food yet, but she finally joined us at the table for dinner! :)

"coyen"

after church we had lunch with our dear friends paul and nancy, then headed home to put the kids down for a nap. once they were up, it was such a pretty day that we had to be out in it. this is a picture of matt and wyatt in our little "coyen" field. (wyatt's way of saying corn!)

wyatt running into the back yard to see "dada".

the "small" garden. (the "coyen" is the "big" garden, not pictured.)

wyatt's favorite place, the truck's driver seat AND with daddy!

the girls! (claire and mommie)

cute outfit by grandma renfrow :)

she's out!

a cute claire taking her afternoon nap!

happy 2nd birthday wyatt!! – part 2

wyatt's 2nd birthday was a far cry from his 1st birthday celebration! sorry buddy. i just didn't have the time or energy to do any more! i think that he had a fun day though. (aside from the fact that his mommie made his 2 yr doc appt for today...oops!! at least he only had a finger prick, which he watched the whole thing and didn't wimper a bit. he actually seemed really interested in what the nurse was doing and didn't act like he felt anything! amazing.) his grandma eakright came and spent the day with us, later that day uncle jay and "auntie ree" came for dinner, and then his neighbor friend rachel came over after super! i also made him strawberry short cake. he loves fruit and cake icing doesn't seem to agree with him for some reason, so it seemed like the perfect birthday cake for him. :)

wyatt's 2nd birthday – part 1

we had a fun weekend in virginia with lots to celebrate: matt's mom's birthday (fri), bridal shower for ash (matt's sis) on sat, mother's day (today), wyatt's birthday (tomorrow)!

wyatt's thoughtful grandma "nana" had a yummy cookie cake for him and his aunt "asheesh" gave him this super fun tent!

jumpin

claire's tryin' out the doorway jumper. she's definitely not jumping at this point, but she seemed to enjoy being in a somewhat standing position! i think she was in it for a little over a hour!

bug bites

poor wyatt is so sensitive to "bug" bites....mosquito or spider, we don't know? this is the second time that he has been bitten around the eye. he woke up this way this morning. it actually looks better in this picture than it did earler, it was almost all the way shut this morning.

like father...like son

wyatt looking through a tractor magazine, need i say more?