Sing Along

Jemma, although a Reed, has Packard and Stone blood running through those veins...she loves to SING!

While Brandon's parents were here, she graced them with several performances, but their favorite was "Good Morning Baltimore" from the movie Hairspray. I am sorry to say that this is not her best performance...we got a really great video of her, but accidently filmed it sideways (I tried posting it anyway, but Blogger didn't like it and said there was an error with the vidoe...), so...we did film it a second time, and this is a few clips from that time through.

She get's a little CrAzY sometimes...true to Jemma...there's hip-action, spit showers, a lot of watching herself in the tv...come on, who hasn't used the tv as a mirror before?, and she's even wearing "Nina's" hot pink socks...gotta love those! :)

Enjoy!!!

The Rest of the Pics...

So, I said I'd get the rest of these pictures up here from the zoo and Brandon's parents coming to visit, so here they are!

Brandon, Jemma and Papa checkin' out one of the black bears.

Papa and Jemma.

The girraffe :)

Nina and Carter...I noticed, he's not smiling in most (if not all the pictures) he really is a happy boy...just not a performer for the camera I guess...

Ben & Tina a.k.a. Mom & Dad or Nina and Papa :)



Thanks again for coming up to Oregon! We loved having you two!

Nina & Papa came to town!

We have been so blessed to have family that makes time to come and visit regardless of where we are living. Brandon's parents were here last week and we LOVED having them! Thanks Ben for all the BBQing and for building our new 6ft. shelf! You're aMaZiNg! Thanks Tina for laying down with Jemma at bedtime, for lending your camera for the filming of Carter's birthday and Jemma's "performance" (I'll be posting that soon :), and for teaching Carter to say "Papa". You are both so patient and loving with our children and they love you back!

The weather was, hmmm, typical for Oregon...rainy and overcast for the most part. But Thursday it cleared up nicely, so we headed to the Portland Zoo! (A perfect activity for Carter's First Birthday!)

Here are a few of the pictures from our zoo excursion:

Nina and Papa with Jemma and Carter

Jemma trying to get a better look at the ducks.

Brandon and his "Mama".


Carter, a perfect ANGEL the whole time I might add, in his beloved stroller.


Our little family.


We got a really good look at the black bears while we were there and even got a shot of it with the camera, but for some reason, blogger isn't letting me upload any more photos...I'll try again later...the orangutans were pretty lively too...we got to see the little baby elephant (sleeping, but still cute! He's TEN MONTHS OLD now!) In fact, a lot of the animals were sleeping...the polar bears (our family's favorite!), the tigers (what's new), the giraffe was up though! He's HUGE! (Again, in my file of photos not yet uploaded...)

Anyway, we had a FABULOUS time with Brandon's parents. Thanks guys for driving up here to hang out with us! We loved having you!

Happy FIRST Birthday Carter!

Carter turned ONE YEAR OLD on May 14th.

It is INSANE how quickly time goes by. I seriously feel like he was a brand new baby just a month or two ago.

We feel so blessed to have this little guy in our family. He is ALL BOY and very nicely balances out the girly stuff in the family.

His favorite toy is...a ball. (The rubber bouncy ones are best if he's playing in the kitchen, otherwise any ball will do. He LOVES to kick and throw them around.)

His favorite foods are "ba-na-na-na-nas", dried mangoes, string cheese, grapes, ham, chicken, beans (like kidney, pinto, etc. kinda beans) yogurt and eggo waffles.

He can say "bye-bye", "baba", "dada", "ball" (he pronounces it "baw"), "mama", "papa" (just learned that one a day or two ago when Brandon's parents were here visiting) and "uh-oh" (pronounced uh-uh, but with the right intonations).

He is just like Jemma with the walking thing...he is totally capable, but not quite ready to take off...although, he did take a few steps on his birthday and today!

Anyway, here's a little video of his birthday festivities. :) It''s a little uneventful...we missed his afternoon nap cuz we went to the zoo, so he's a little on the tired side I think. It's like 3.5 minutes long...we were SHOCKED that he didn't eat/mawl his cupcake...we may never have a child that does the whole "mash the cake up and make a HUGE mess" thing on their birthday.

We sure love this little guy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARTER!

Portabellopixie

So, about a month ago, I found this super cute dress pattern (Portabellopixie Boutique Patters by Sandy Henderson) at our local Craft Warehouse...they also had a rather plentiful supply of AdOrAbLe fabrics, so I decided, it was time to do a little sewing again.

I would have taken a pic of the pattern, but our camera is missing...Jemma has become quite the photographer, but just can't remember where she played with the camera last...who knows, it could have been me too...I take the camera EvErYwHeRe!!!

Anyway, I chose the simplest of the three dresses in the pattern and was really pleased with the outcome. The technique used around the neck, sleeves and waist is called "shirring" and was SOOOO fun!!! I will definitely be using this pattern again!

Sharee and Natalie, if you wanna try it out some time, give me a call, cuz I can totally picture your girls in this little peasant dress!