June Randomness

I have received many comments on my "random" posts. I love that everyone loves these so much. My others are usually events or thoughts but these.. well, these are my life. In the raw. Most of them are taken on my phone, pulled from Facebook or sent to me via text from the hubs. I guess I will keep up the random posts. I love them and am happy to hear that you do too!!

So we begin.. 20 weeks! I made it 20 weeks. This is HUGE to me. I finally feel like I can relax (somewhat) and enjoy this pregnancy. I have been worried since the beginning for multiple reasons. I have constantly been waiting for that moment to breath a sigh of relief. This pregnancy is completely different than my first. And everything scares the crap out of me (I will save that for another post)  Did I mention I made it to 20 weeks? Halfway? Yep, there is a smile :)

And as you are well aware by now.. we went on VACATION (part 1, part 2) !! This is Chaz yelling "WE ARE GOING ON VACATION!!" God love this kiddo!!

Playing in the car in the mall in Grapevine.

Making pancakes with Papa. This is one of his favorite things to do. If for some reason we don't make breakfast when we stay at mom and dads, he will tell us about it all the way home.

When we returned from vacation I hung out with my parents, brother, Lisa and her granddaughter. One evening we went on down to The Station in Bentonville. If you haven't frequented this establishment... YOU MUST!! It is heaven! We let the kiddos get ice-cream. I think Chaz was more excited about the old school wooden dip spoon. And yes, he is in his pjs. I have no shame!

A trip to the dentist. He loves the dentist. He is very good and does everything they ask him. We walked out with a good report and ZERO cavities. This doesn't really surprise me as he doesn't really like sweets but we have been pretty laxed considering it is summer. Either way, great report! Good job little buddy!

We play HARD in the summer. Every weekend is crammed packed with activities and outside fun. As a result, we nap. And we nap HARD!  Don't worry. I'm not that mom that overtires my little one. We do a ton of activities but we also make sure we get naps AND get to bed on time (well, except when all those Hills get together ;)   This nap.. well it required the "Too cools"

Old navy cart.

and the famous "car shot"  We have a ton of these. Mostly because he sacks out after whatever said activities we have done that morning. Once he is out, we transport him to his bed for naptime.

This was the "too cool" swimming time during Hillapalooza.

As we were cleaning out the outside toys for the Hill kids to come over Chaz came running in the house.... SCREAMING! "MOMMA!! He is HUGE. He is going to eat me!! AGGGGHHH....Bring your phone to take a picture" Yes, this IS my kid. And here is what he found. The picture does it zero justice. The thing was huge, it kinda warranted a scream.

This one makes me giggle. So, when the Hill kiddos were here I purchased "Kid size" ice cream cones. In true form, I totally forgot them (and the ice-cream) when it came to dessert time. A few days later I decided to whip them out to give Chaz a treat. He had been really good that day. Now when you look at them like this.... you may wonder why I am even talking about them.

Here you go.. is that better? HAHAHAHA!! They are tiny! I mean, I am all about limiting the amount of sweets my little one consumes but this is just silly. Silly, I say!!

Oh well, the boy liked them. Or actually the dollup of ice-cream on top. I don't think he ate a bit of the cone.

We take a picture of my belly every week. I put them in a small 5x7 photo album with the picture on the right and notes from the week on the left. By the time we have a kiddo, I have this nifty little flip book of sorts that shows how I grew and what when on during the pregnancy. It is a great keepsake! This week I, or rather Dane, got a special kiss from a cutie in his "too cools"

 

BEAUTIFUL Hydrangeas from my front yard. LOVE!!!

 Another day... another Spiderman goes to preschool.

Guess what we lost (actually I think we may have left them at Mad Pizza but either way, they are gone!) Yep, the "too cools"  I had to make a special trip to Academy Sports to purchase a replacement AND backup pair. When I got home I told Chaz I found them in my car. You see.. you have to get smarter as they grow up. If I were to bring them in with the tags on and tell him I got him another pair, it would have never gone over.. Instead, I had to tell a little white lie. It is for his (and my) own good. The backup pair are hiding until we lose this pair.. you know it will happen. 

I have to warn you.. I have saved the best, absolute best, for last. Yes, this is a REAL sign in a REAL hotel.. One of my lovely FB friends posted this picture. And I share it with you. There are multiple funny things contained in this one small piece of goodness. Enjoy!

 Hope you enjoyed the June Randomness!!!

Why wouldn't you go mini golfing in 98 degree heat?

Not to mention 6 months pregnant.. Well, I let my husband convince me to take the boy mini golfing the weekend of 4th of July. We were smart enough to go in the morning but it was still well above 90 degrees! It was ok when we were at the top of the course as it is surrounded by trees and shade but when you get closer to the bottom there is no hiding from the blistering sun. 

Chaz was super excited to go mini golfing. I am sure it has something to do with the fact that he can "legally" wield a metal object at a hard colorful ball. 

His technique was a little off...

no matter how hard his father tried to correct him.....

but all in all he was pretty good.

He had little patience for the game and we quickly learned that if we didn't move fast enough he was moving on without us. We basically got one shot. If we didn't get a hole-in-one.. he was taking over. He would say "Ok, I will make it in for you." A couple times of whacking at the ball, then he would go over and either push it in the hole with his club or kick it in. The game really began to resemble soccer in the end.

And the famous Gator Golf drink. Lemonade in an animal shaped sports bottle. Chaz loves them. And of course, we have an entire drawer full of them at home.

Ryan got an hole in one on the last hole --which is great because you get a ticket for a free game. And we were able to convince Chaz that he got a "Holy one" (as he says)  It was HOT as you can tell by the sweaty hair but it was well worth it. I love making these memories with the little guy!!

HIllapalooza Photoshoot 2011

Yep, we did it again. The last time was Hillapalooza 2009. I cannot believe how much the kiddos have grown in 2 years (and we added 2 more) As expected, it was a challenge but how can we not have a photo shoot when we have all the Hills together??!?!?

We used Novo Studios again. Philip is simply phenomenal. He is patient and lets our family be as crazy as we wanna be! We used him to photograph my side of the family last fall and will use him again this fall for our maternity pictures and Chaz's 4 year old pictures. Stay tuned.

This is hands down my favorite shot of the day. I had to start the post with my favorite picture. Why not?! I actually think I was wrangling some other Hill kids when Philip took this. I was so, so pleased when we got them back. What a pleasant surprise :)
And these are two of my favorite group shots. Yes, we managed to get some good ones of all 19 of us (and counting) Chaz refused to let go of my hands but I didn't care. I think they turned out awesome.
and you gotta be a little silly sometimes!
We started with the family shots (Yes, professional picture are almost the only time you will see me on this side of the camera. Sad really, we are trying to get better!) I love these!
And of course we had to get some with the belly. Roughly 6 months pregnant.
Marcy and Cam's kiddos did great. I think they are a little used to getting their picture taken.

Jackson (3) Campbell (1)

and the Clawsons. Well, this is how it started. No amount of dancing or acting nutso in the background was going to get these little ones to look and smile. Brandon wasn't having it.. We really wondered if they would get good pictures of just their fam..
and this happened. Are you kidding me?? How stinkin' cute is this family? And how did the kiddos sit so perfect. Well, there was a lot of dancing and craziness in the background. They did great! These pictures are SOOOOOO good!!

Ben (3) Anna (5) Brandon (3)

Excellent pictures of the NC Hills. As usual, Madilyn is her regular stoic self. So serious for a 1 year-old.

Brady (10) Madilyn (1) Sydney (6)

How do you get the stoic little one to smile? Well, you blow zerberts on her arms. Duh?!?!?
And then we got all the kiddos to sit still. WHAT?!?! Yep, that takes talent. And some crazy antics from the daddy's/uncles behind the camera. Whatever it takes!
More silliness.
Grandparents and all the grandkids. Well, except the one on the way. That would have been a little weird to have my belly hanging out on the side. Hee. Hee.
And if you go down the row, this is what you get.
Ok, so here is the trick. We promised the kiddos if they sit still and took good pictures they could spank Uncle Mike. Again, whatever it takes. I heart Philip as he gets these awesome candid shots that really show you how we "behave."

More of the NC Hills. I love this one below. I wish our family would have done something similar. It is a great shot.
And my SIL has to-die-for-eyes. Gorgeous!
The Clawsons. I love this one, too!!
This is probably the picture with the funniest story. So, remember the ones at the top of this post.. the ones where Brandon wasn't so happy? Well, it is all because of this school bus. You see the boys are working on potty training and this was Brandon's prize for pooping in the potty. Yep, kind of a big deal. He had a grip on this thing for a week. BUT Meg didn't want it in every picture (I can't really blame her) Philip was great and got a picture of Brandon and his school bus. Again, we all have the memory of the potty school bus and this picture will trigger that memory for years to come. Oh, and see that picture above of the three Clawson kids? Guess what is in Brandon's back pocket... Yep, the school bus. Whatever it takes, folks!
I think this is adorable. Even if Campbell is a little grumpy. It was getting close to lunchtime. Who can blame her?
The NC Hills and a little more arm blowing.

Mah and Dah with their kiddos.
More grandparents and all the grandkids.
And the parents of all these crazy kiddos.
It was Mike and Meghan's Anniversary so they got some shots of just the two of them. I think they are adorable. And they look halfway rested for having all those kiddos :)

We had the photoshoot in downtown Fayetteville. Around the square there are some cool rocks and a little waterfall. Philip got some great candid shots of all the kids just hanging out.
I will cherish these photos for years to come. I love to compare from year to year. These pictures will hang in the hallway of my home along with the ones from years past. I often catch myself just staring at them, completely amazed by how these kids have grown. Next year we will do it all again, adding another little one to the mix.