Pictures and More Pictures!!! I think I should become a Photographer!

Here are some more pictures of the girls. I'll narrate as they go along. :-)

(Descriptions below each photo.)


Kaitlyn in her crib. These days, it seems like she only sucks her thumb when she's holding duckie...her ABSOLUTE favorite toy without a doubt. That being said, we immediately went out and bought two more. We own three duckies! No chance we'll be without one that way. (We own three of Nicole's favorite toy too...although it seems that she's not as attached to her "favorite" toy as Kaitlyn is. I mean, Kaitlyn will stop everything when she sees duckie. Nicole isn't like that with her "bug.")


Nicole just getting out of the bathtub in her duck towel.
Kaitlyn at her friend Lily's first birthday party.

Nicole, also at Lily's birthday party.

Both of the girls at the party. Boy, mommy and daddy have gotten super creative when it comes time to feed the girls 'on the go.'

Playing with Lily's balloons. Hope she doesn't mind. :-)

Photos in the backyard after the party becuase, yes, mommy does think she's a photographer. Yeah right! We do have a nice camera though, so part of me thinks, hey, if I figure out how to work this awesome machine, maybe I can save money on professional photos...although, I know my desire to spend money will still lead me straight to the studios. How'd you like that run on sentence?

Oh, and speaking of professional shots. I'll put link at the bottom of this post to some photos we had made about 2 weeks ago. A girl was portfolio building so we got a good price. They are the first shots we've had done of the girls outside. They turned out really nicely. Her blog only has a "taste" of what she shot, but we were happy with them. Our photos are her "A Family Affair" entry. And if you're curious what Brad and Ceylese's kids look like these days, their post is right after ours: "Rain, Rain Go Away."

OK, back to the pictures...

Still in the backyard.

Moving to the front yard (pesky mosquitoes) to capture a shot of Nicole about to try to eat a leaf. Yep, she'll eat just about anything. We're constantly prying bark and rocks out of her mouth too. And that's getting dangerous these days because, unfortunately, Nicole seems to be a biter. Ouch. Look out! We tell her no, but I think she's a bit too young to grasp it yet. In the meantime, we just reign her in when we see her open mouth approaching Kaitlyn. It's mostly after they take toys from one another. Guess we need to work on sharing next, huh?

The girls got this table and chairs from nanny Joanna for their birthday. We thought we'd try it out for snack times. They seem to really like it. Like being at a little cafe. And when the weather cools down and the aformentioned mosquitoes are gone, we'll move it to the back deck and really get the full cafe experience. :-)

Here's the link to the professional outdoor photos: www.atfirstsightphotography.blogspot.com

Pictures of My Beautiful Girls

The first two are left over from Hilton Head. I meant to share these but forgot to upload them. In each picture, the tide caught hold of their toys and so, off they go, crawling after it. Then a new wave comes in and takes the toy a bit farther. So, they keep crawling. It was entertaining.

Just some random photos around the house.

This past weekend, we went up to my parents house. Brad, Ceylese, cousin Mackenzie and cousin Blake were there too. The first photo is of Mackenzie, Kaitlyn and Nicole (L to R). They had such a good time up at the lake. As I've said before, they LOVE the water, so this was perfect!

Hilton Head - Finally - and a Walking Update

I still haven't updated on Hilton Head, so I'll touch on that quickly and then on to the walking update.

As defined by every mother:

-A vacation: Time away from home with lots of relaxation and time to do whatever you want whenever you want.

-A trip: Same old stuff, different location. :-)

So, what does that mean? About the second day, Mike looked at me and said that we weren't on vacation. Instead, we were merely on a trip. I immediately agreed. Let's face it. Taking care of two one year olds is taking care of two one year olds. It doesn't matter if you're in traffic congested, smoggy Atlanta or the beautiful picturesque beaches of Hilton Head. It was work. Don't get me wrong, we had a fantastic time and enjoyed the extra time with Kaitlyn and Nicole that an Atlanta work week doesn't afford. However, it wasn't really a vacation. Do you know that I was so delusional when we left that I actually thought I might come back with a tan. No way.

Kaitlyn and Nicole LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE water. Doesn't matter if it's a bath, the pool or the ocean. They loved it! No fear!!! The first day (and all the days after) we would put them down on the sand, and they would take one look at the ocean and crawl straight to it.

Ok, now for walking:

Nicole is really getting it. She walks very slowly and carefully, but she gets there. She can go several feet - maybe up to 10 feet?

Kaitlyn can walk maybe distances of only 4 feet. She takes 4 or 5 good steps and then comes clumsily down. It's truly hysterical to watch. It's like a drunk baby. :-) Good stuff. We're enjoying watching them figure this whole thing out.

By doctor's definitions at their one year check up, they were both officially walking. I just figured that since they turned one exactly one month ago that we'd be there by now. I didn't realize that from the first steps that it took this long to get "good" at walking. I should probably be thankful that they aren't all over the place quickly yet though. It will happen when it happens.

Oh, and some good news for Kaitlyn and Nicole. Sesame Stree LIVE is coming to Atlanta in September and we got tickets!!!!!!!! They're going to love it! I'm SO excited. Yeah!

Fourth of July - Finally!

Here are the last of the Hilton Head photos. If you scan back through all of the vacation posts, it looks like I've been able to weed our 440 photos down to 37 for you all to enjoy. :-)

All of these were taken on the Fourth of July!!! We all had our patriotic clothing on - the Barbrees were all about the red, white and blue.

I still owe you all a general update on the trip though.

Even More Photos - Told You We Took a TON!!!

STILL not even to the 4th of July. That will be my next post. Enjoy these other photos.

More Hilton Head Photos

Sorry...still no time to do an in depth post about the trip, but I do want to get some more photos out here. And these photos still don't take us through to the Fourth of July yet, so check back...more to come later.


Elizabeth and Jeana, this is just for you!!! The above photo is of us at GREG RUSSELL!!! Yes, we took the girls to hear him sing in Harbour Town. Thought you'd get a kick out of that.

Above and below: Just playing around on Greg Russell's stage one afternoon.

And here we are with Daddy on Greg Russell's bleachers. Elizabeth and Jeana, are you laughing yet?

Above and below: LOVING the swings in Shelter Cove after a relaxing outdoor lunch one afternoon. Don't know why Kaitlyn looks blurry. I have other non-blurry ones, but this was too cute to pass up.

Hilton Head Photos

I'll update more about the actual trip later, but for now, here are a few photos. We took a mere FOUR HUNDRED FOURTY photos!!!!!!!! It's taking quite some time to sift through them online to find the best ones for the blog. For now, here' s what I have. There are certainly more to follow later.