Girls' Weekend at the River Market in Little Rock

I got home late last night from my girls' weekend, and boy was I tired!  My exhaustion was definitely worth it though, because we had such a wonderful time.  Our weekend was packed to the brim with lots of shopping, trying out the local restaurants, visiting a park, going to the mall, attending the local holiday craft market, and we even made it to a comedy club and a piano bar!

One of the most amazing parts of our trip was when we ran into my great friends Chris and Carrie from high school/college.  I knew Chris and Carrie lived in Arkansas, but I wasn't sure which part exactly in relation to where I was going to be over the weekend.  I also knew that Chris works in a famous and very beautiful hotel, but again I wasn't sure which one or where it was.  Being the ditz that I am, I didn't think to contact them on Facebook to see if I was going to be near them before we left for our trip.  On Saturday morning several places we were thinking of trying for breakfast ended up being closed, so we decided to have breakfast at The Peabody hotel.  When I walked into the lobby I was struck by how beautiful it was.  No sooner were we seated for breakfast than my phone was ringing and it was a number from my hometown!  I had a bad connection and couldn't hear who was speaking on the other end.  Not a minute or two later, here come my friends Chris and Carrie!  What an amazing surprise!  Not only did I get to hug them and chat with them, but we also got to meet them for dinner that evening.  How funny that of all the places to have breakfast I went to have breakfast at my friend's hotel without even realizing it!  I am very excited that if we make this an annual trip I can make plans to see them again, and this time I can do it in advance!  :-)

By the way, if you have never been to Little Rock, the River Market area was beautiful and so much fun!  There were so many interesting shops and places to eat, and none of them were chain restaurants, they were all unique and for the most part seemed locally owned.  A lot of places in the area had different things they were famous for:  one place had amazing Chicago deep dish style pizza, another place was known for great beer that was brewed in the restaurant (not that I like beer, just an example), another had an awesome brunch, and one place was even known for having a purple milkshake!  

It was a weekend of kid-free fun and I enjoyed every minute of it, but I did miss my babies quite a bit and I thought about them a lot, and wondered what they were doing and if they were having a good time with Chad.  The report from Chad was that they were really great for him all weekend.  He took the kids to the mall and rode the carousel and the train with the kids by himself.  He even took them to Red Lobster for dinner one night and he said several people remarked on how well behaved they were.  Chad even managed a trip to Walmart with the kids in tow to pick up a few extra groceries.  I was so glad to hear that everything went so smoothly, although I was not shocked, since I have such great kids and they have such an awesome Dad.  

Here are a few pictures from my trip:

Me and my girls' weekend companions!  

Such sweet and fun ladies!  

Dinner with the awesome Chris and Carrie!

This park in the River Market area of Little Rock was gorgeous.

Beautiful Fall colors!

I had to take a picture by this Boston Terrier statue for my mom!

Horsin' around!  :-)

Whew!  This morning I was so glad to be home and get to see my babies!  I have been giving them even more hugs and kisses than usual, just because I can!  

Favorite Family Photos Fall 2012: Part 2

As I explained in yesterday's post, I am out of town today for a girl's weekend, so I have prepared this post ahead of time so I won't compromise my daily posting for NaBloPoMo.  Today's post features my favorite photos from our second photo session with Brady and Chloe in October.  Hope you enjoy them!

Up until these sessions, we hadn't taken any professional family photos probably since the babies' Christmas card photos last year.  I am so happy we were able to capture so many precious moments and I am so thankful for my friend Carlea, who was so amazing to take these photos for us (while 8 months pregnant I might add!), and so patient with our wild toddlers.

I hope you all are having a great weekend!  I will be back tomorrow!  :-)

Favorite Family Photos Fall 2012: Part 1

I am going to be out of town this Saturday and Sunday for a girl's weekend!!!!  I have pre-written two posts for Saturday and Sunday so that I will not mess up my daily posting for NaBloPoMo.  I am very excited to be going on this trip, as it will be my first ever night(s) away from Brady and Chloe, and Chad will be on his own with the kids for the first time this weekend.  He watches them quite frequently for me on the weekends long enough for me to go shopping, get my nails done, or have lunch, and also during the weekdays if I have a Mom of Multiples meeting and twice a week for my Zumba classes at the gym, but never for whole days and nights.  I have every confidence he is going to do an amazing job and I am not the least bit worried about Brady and Chloe.  I know they will all do great!

That being said, for my weekend posts I have prepared some of our favorite pictures from two recent family photo sessions we had in October.  Some of you that follow the blog know that we are very lucky to have a very dear family friend who also happens to be an AMAZING photographer.  She took Brady and Chloe's newborn photos and also their Christmas card photos last year when they were about 10 months old.  Her name is Carlea, and if you live in the Houston/surrounding suburbs or even the Austin area and are in need of photos for any occasion, you will not find a better person for the job.  Her business is Carlea J Photography and her website is here.  Currently she is on maternity leave as they are expecting their first child right around Thanksgiving, but I believe she will be available in January or February 2013.

We ending up doing two photo sessions since the first one was a little rainy, although I still think the pictures turned out so great.  The first one is a fall theme and featured our family, while the second one is more summery and focuses on the kids playing in the park.  Today I will feature some of our favorite photos from the first shoot.  Hope you enjoy!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Leaving on a jet plane!

This afternoon I am so excited to leave for my girls' weekend trip to go to a holiday craft market in another state! I am so busy today packing, cleaning, making sure every room has diapers and wipes readily available, laying out clothes for the kids to wear, and cooking some pasta for the kids to eat while I am gone.

I know my husband will do an amazing job watching over the kids, but I will miss my babies and I will miss him too!

Hope you all have a fun weekend!

Handprint Christmas Ornaments 2012: The Remix

While I was pleased with our handprint ornaments this year, when we were done I felt they lacked a "certain something," so I added more glitter paint (what doesn't get better after adding more glitter paint?!?) and the kids' initials to their ornaments.  I think it added just the right amount of Christmas flair.  

Have a great day everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: The Parents

Handprint Christmas Ornaments 2012

Last year we started the tradition of making handprint Christmas ornaments for our families.  I was excited to do it again this year since the kids would actually be able to help with the painting process.  Just like with painting pumpkins, Chloe was really excited to get her hands messy and paint away, but Brady was not thrilled at all about the process.  He didn't mind pressing his hand into the dough to make an impression, but when it came time to paint the ornaments he was NOT happy.  In fact, he was so unhappy I didn't even get a chance to snap a picture of him painting his ornaments.

I did get a few pictures of Chloe painting and of the finished product though, so I will share those with you:

I am looking forward to sending these out soon to the grands and great grands.  I am already getting in the holiday spirit this year!  Before you know it I will be one of those crazy people who starts playing Christmas music waaaaay too soon!  :-)

Parents of Multiples Halloween Social

The local Parents of Multiples group I belong to held a Halloween social a couple of weeks ago where the kids could dress up in their costumes and have snacks, do a "Boo Hunt" for treats, play on the playground, and bounce in a jump castle.  This was the first Halloween related event we went to, but it will be my last Halloween-related post.

Brady and Chloe wore costumes to this event that were given to them last February by their Nana and Doodah (my Dad and Stepmom).  They were a lion and a chicken and they looked so adorable in their costumes!  Many thanks to Nana and Doodah!

They had a blast getting treat bags, running around on the playground, but by far their favorite part of the Halloween social was jumping in the bounce house.  I was a little nervous to let them do it since most of the kids at the social were older and bigger and I couldn't go in the bounce house with them, but they weren't afraid at all and loved every minute of it.  In fact, we had to practically drag poor Brady from the bounce house.

It was a fun family event and I am so glad we are part of a community that has so many family friendly things to do!  I have some pictures to share with you:

A rare family picture with all of us together!

What a cute chicken!

He was an adorable lion!  

He just wanted to live in the bounce house and never leave.

Having so much fun!

Bouncy bouncy!

Sliding with Daddy.

What a fun day we had!   Well folks, I think that is a wrap for Halloween posts for 2012!