Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's Back To Work I Go

Well, we knew this day would come. Today is my first day back to work after maternity leave. I'm praying that the day goes by fast and that Wrenn and Parker have a fun day with our new nanny. I'm going to miss these two nuggets!! Wish me luck!

Lots of Love,

-Jessica

Birthday Celebrations and a Road Trip

Okay, so it's practically the middle of September already, but I wanted to capture these pics from August. 

August looked a little like this....Wrenn turned 2 years old, Parker turned 3 months old and I celebrated my 35th birthday! Crazy town! We had a couple parties to celebrate with family and friends and ate LOTS of cupcakes. Yum!

 2 Years Old 

3 Months Old 

We also went on our first road trip as a family of four. We drove to Lexington to visit Dan's family and then to West Virginia to see my Grams and Aunt Cheryl. Parker did awesome in the car and of course was a hit with everyone! Wrenn watched enough Bubble Guppies while on the road to turn into a Bubble Guppie. Oh well, you do what you gotta do. Ha!

 Parker and Great-Grammie 

Snuggles with Great Aunt Cheryl 

 Wrenn and Great Uncle Mark picking apples in Great-Grammie's backyard

 Parker sporting his new hoodie with Great Aunt Cindy

 Swimming with Daddy at Aunt Kim's 

Hope you have a great weekend!

Lots of Love,

-Jessica

Summer Travel Recap

You may have been wondering were I've been since it's been almost two months since my last blog post.  My summer is a little different than most others as it is my busy time at work when I clock numerous hours of overtime and spend way too much time away from my family.  Needless to say, not the most fun way to spend your summer.  Somehow in the mist of all the crazy work hours I was able to squeeze in a bit of fun.  Hattie and I took a road trip for a short, but fun filled girls weekend in Chicago visiting Jess and Wrenn.  One week later we were on the road again accompanied by little man Harper for an overnight stay in WV to visit some old high school friends.  Hattie and Harper had a blast spending the night at great grandma's house.  Shortly after, it was off to Seattle for my first work trip of the summer followed immediately by a trip to Traverse City, MI as I played the role of bridesmaid for one of my good friends.  The picturesque wedding took place in a beautiful MI vineyard.  As I write this,  I'm gearing up for my second and final work event and praying for an Indian summer so I can maybe enjoy our brand new patio (pictures to come soon!) before the cold weather seasons set in.   I hope your summer was a bit more relaxing than mine, but the one thing that I have learned through all the hustle and bustle that comes with my summer work schedule is that no matter where my travels take me, my heart is always at home with my family.

Lots of love,

Fun Family Visits

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours was jam packed starting on Wednesday (ok, so Wednesday isn't really the weekend, but when you are on maternity leave you can pretend that everyday is the weekend especially when you are having so much fun!)

Dan's parents, his sister Kim and her two sweet little boys, Gray and Cannon came to visit us from Kentucky on Wednesday. We had a nice low-key evening taking the babies for a walk around the neighborhood and chowing down on some pizza. Thursday morning we were up bright and early to head to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Wrenn and Gray loved it! Wrenn was super pumped about the monkeys and the polar bear. She loves these videos from our trip and asks for "ah-ahs" (what she calls monkeys) and "bear" every time she sees my phone now.

Before leaving the zoo, we decided to take Wrenn and Gray on the carousel. Dan and I thought for sure Wrenn would love it since she is a total daredevil and loves to spin in circles. WRONG...she hated it and cried almost the entire time it was moving. Gray on the other hand seemed to love it!

All smiles before the carousel started moving.

And hating it once it started moving.

Friday morning, we tried to get some photos of the all the babies together before Dan's family headed home, but it pretty much turned into crazy town.....

Notice how Gray is M.I.A.? He wasn't having it. And Wrenn is clearly over it. Ha! 

 Bubble Guppie trance

 Wrenn wanted to hold Gray's hand, but he said "no way, I'm outta here!"

Handsome little nuggets! 

Later Friday afternoon, my sister and Hattie arrived for the weekend. We headed out to the park so the girls could play before bedtime. Love these photos of Wrenn and Hattie!

Sleepy ride home

We took the girls and Parker for a walk Saturday morning, then it was off to the pool!

Look out pool, here we come! 

Parker caught some zzzs Saturday afternoon while the girls played together, drew pictures and worked on sharing.

This little guy loves to sleep!

After Ginger and Hattie headed home Sunday morning, Dan and I took Wrenn and Parker to a small petting zoo in the neighborhood. Wrenn made a beeline for the chicken and then waved to the pig saying "hi, pig, hi" about a million times. Parker slept through it all :) 

Hi pig! 

It was a crazy fun "weekend"!

Lots of Love,

-Jessica

Happy 4th of July from the Other Twister

I just love this holiday.  We spent ours going to a parade and snapping some pop-its. It was a rainy day so a lot of our planned activities including making smore's and watching fireworks got cancelled, but we still had a great day!  My favorite part was snapping these cute pics of the twins playing outside. 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!  

What did you do to celebrate? 

Lots of love,

 

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July! We spent the day at the park, grilled out and watched fireworks from our back deck on our new lounge chairs. It was a great day! 

Lots of love,

Jessica 

Parker Reece

Introducing Parker Reece 

Born: May 24th

Weight: 7 lb 13 oz

Height: 21 inches

Big Yawn

Ready to head home

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