Kelsey Claire Stephens

Kelsey Claire Stephens

June 7, 2011

1:09 pm

6 lb, 4 oz

Miss Kelsey Claire joined her big brother Hayes in the Stephens family! I think she looks just like Hayes. Maybe just chunkier.I volunteered to take these pictures of Kelsey at 1 week and I think they turned out pretty well! We did have 3 additional kids running/crawling around us in the hot summer heat, so it was quite the feat. Hayes carrying some very special cargo in that trailer!!!
Sweet sibling moment

She finally opened her eyes as we were finishing up!

CONGRATS Alison, Brian, and Hayes on your precious little girl :)

Constantine Stalking

I have had a love-hate relationship with the reality show The Bachelor/Bachelorette since it started way back when. I used to run pools with students and co-workers in my office at MUSC to see who would "win" the final rose. Before the days of blogs, a girl named Lincee in Texas started doing Bachelor recaps and it would slowly get forwarded all the way to me in South Carolina. Now Lincee's recaps (yup, she's still doing them!) can be read at her blog ihategreenbeans.com. Check them out if you're a fan...very funny stuff!

Along the way, I got a little bored with it and gave it up for a few seasons. But like all good train wrecks, you eventually have to watch. They sucker you in with dramatic editing and exotic locations.

ANYWAY...this current season of the Bachelorette is ridiculously cheesy as usual, but of course I'm watching. And there happens to be a local Atlanta boy that made it to the top 3. His family owns a greek/italian restaurant in Cumming and my friend Valerie eats there often. When she saw they were hosting a viewing party, she knew just who to call to rally the troops. Valerie, Alicia, and Alicia's friend Kristen made the trip with me for dinner, Ben F.'s wine, and a glimpse of Constantine himself.

We did have an awesome dinner. The food was great. If I'm ever in the area, I will definitely go back! Ben F.'s wine was sold out by the time we ordered, but we did get to see Constantine and his entire family. Alicia made friends with his dad! We watched the episode and cheered with the crowd. It was quite an experience!
Alicia and Kristen, showing loving hearts

Valerie and me, showing a heart being stabbed!

On our way out, we pushed our way past the groups of 13 year olds and talked to Constantine. We even got this great picture. He is really cute in person and handled all the attention well!

What a fun night to act completely immature and ridiculous! I loved it!

Beach iMovie

This is my first attempt at making a video with iMovie on my laptop. It was so fun to make, but I spent WAY too much time messing with it. If I could get good enough to do it quickly, it would be worth it. Thanks to everyone who gave song suggestions from Facebook!

Anyway, ENJOY!!!

Fernbank = Dinosaur Museum

Like most parents, I love the summer because it's a fun schedule-free time to do "different" things with your kids. I had the best intentions at the beginning of the summer when I highlighted, circled, and listed "things to do" in Atlanta this summer. We've only done a few of them and it's almost August, but we're trying to knock out a few more before Wade has to go to school every day in the Fall. So I rallied some friends (and Nonna) to join us for a day at Fernbank Museum.
They've just finished a designated kids' exhibit that is awesome. Very interactive, great for a variety of ages, and different than the pool. I put Wade in his brightest tshirt (which happened to be a hand me down Fernbank shirt) and was prepared to do a lot of chasing! Luckily Nonna kept Bree entertained, while Ragan, Mandy & I tried to keep tabs on 5 heads in a sea of kids (whose moms had the same idea).

Maggie & Wade doing the Tarzan
Chomping like an alligator
Building walls and tearing them down
Running through the virtual waterfall

Then we moved on to the Atrium and dino skeletons
The sensory exhibit



And finally the Mystical Creatures exhibit. It was a combo of mermaids, dragons, and mythical sea creatures. The "info" was geared towards an older audience, but the "visuals" were super cool for our little guys and gals.

Next on the to do list; STONE MOUNTAIN LASER SHOW!!!

Bree's First Repeat Holiday

One of my favorite parts of this blog is being able to quickly look back from year to year, event to event, to see how our children/lives have changed (or not). And I just realized the 4th of July was Bree's first holiday in 2010, when she was just 2 weeks old. Her first REPEAT! Even though she would have no memory (of either), we always have PICTURES!!!

Bree, July 4, 2010 (2 weeks)

Bree, July 4, 2011 (1 year, 2 weeks)

4th of July

I always love the 4th of July! It's right in the heart of summer and carries with it so many fun and festive traditions. This year, it also brought a lot of nasty weather for Atlanta. Luckily the rain held off for the morning's Peachtree Road Race. Beau ran it in record time as usual.

Then we spent the day with Poppa and Dede at the condo. Wade thinks it's the coolest place in the world. Elevators, great views, a pool, and lots of different toys...what's not to love? It's also the best place to watch fireworks on the 4th.

Someone's proud to be an American...
The Calvert family joined us for the fireworks. Wade was thrilled to have Avery come play and I've never seen two children play so well together.

They would quietly run from room to room, sharing toys, giggling, watching movies on an ipad, and being so sweet to each other. I barely even knew they were there!
Wade the non-hugger even went in for a big squeeze...Then the 1.5 second body contact was too much for him and he had to push her off..."BRUNTER" had fun too, they just require a little more supervision at this age...

While we were waiting for the Lenox fireworks, we saw different shows going off around town. Good thing Bree got to enjoy those preview shows, because she didn't make it for the delayed Lenox show.
After being postponed for almost and hour, the fireworks finally started. They were worth the wait!

Dede and her friends at the party...

Happy Birthday and Independence America!!!