Shelby's Photo Shoot

A few days after Shelby was born, one of my besties came up and she had her first photo shoot! It was so much fun and we ended up with a million super cute pictures. Here are a few of my favorites. She was 5 days old when we took the pictures and I think the camera loved her!
(If I do say so myself!)

You can check out my cute friend's blog here, Photo Blog Here, and Photography Website here. Seriously, she is so great and if you live in Ohio you need to call her to take family photos and/or any other shots you might need. She does fantastic work and is super creative.

I heart you Katie!

Just because some people have been asking how we came up with Shelby's name I thought I'd share. Nick and I have LOVED the name Shelby since we found out I was pregnant with Seth. So, it's been in our back pocket for a while and sometimes we even found ourselves talking about our Shelby before she was really in the plan yet.

As for her Middle Name Ellen, we named her after my dad's mother. Jean Ellen. I wanted to give her Jean as a middle name, but decided it made her sound too much like a country music singer or something. (Shelby Jean) So, we went with Ellen. I didn't know my grandmother very well because most of my life she had Alzheimer's disease and didn't really know who we were. Anyway, she and my grandfather adopted my dad and his twin brother when they were a few years old and if it wasn't for that decision ... who knows?

- So that's the story on Shelby Ellen -

4 Years ...

... And What Do We Have To Show For It?

4 Years, 2 Kids, 2 Bachelor's Degrees, 3 Moves, 1 Year of Law School Down

Today is our Anniversary. I'll be honest, until I got a card in the mail from Nick's Grandma I didn't even remember. I kept thinking, Oh yeah, that's at the end of the month. But, this month has totally flown by and here we are!

So, here are a few snapshots from the big day. Does it crack anyone else up how YOUNG we look? I'm scared to see what I look like after this summer is over ... I'm pretty sure I've shaved a few years off my life with all the stress and anxiety I've got going on. LOL

- I love you babe ... can't wait to meet up this weekend in Kansas! -

Our Life As Of Late ...

Well, Nick has been gone over a week now and I'm not going to lie IT HAS BEEN HARD! I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but man! Poor Seth is having a hard time adjusting to Nick being gone and having baby sister taking up some of my time. He's acting up when I nurse, which is hard because it's not like I can run after him while I'm nursing. So, to top it all off both of my beautiful children were sick this week. Fever, vomit, diarrhea, the whole 9 yards! It was AMAZING! blah!

Anyway, between the kids being sick we had one day of some type of normalcy. Seth was feeling better (before Shelby was sick) and we headed to playgroup with our friends to play in the pool. Seth and his friend Felicity were taking a snack break.

Shelby was enjoying being out in the sun for a little bit.

It was a fun pool day. It was super hot and all the kids had a blast!

When we got home and changed it was nap time. I put Shelby down on Seth's bed with him for a minute while I was getting a few things done. When I came back they were just looking and smiling at each other. It was so cute, and luckily my camera was just in the other room so I snapped a few pictures of the precious moment!

Even though it's hard on him sometimes, Seth is such a cute big brother and loves his little sister.

She's getting so big!! She's such a tiny peanut and everyone who sees her for the first time can't believe how small she is. But, she's getting so big compared to her arrival and she's changing so much everyday! This is the outfit we brought her home from the hospital in and it's finally actually fitting her.

Okay, so once Shelby got sick I started to slowly loose it. I hadn't slept much for a week and that was making me loose my mind and feel like a crazy person. I called my mom Friday morning to vent about my frustrations and express my concern for Shelby being sick. They work in the LDS St. Louis temple once a month and it just happened to be their weekend to be there. They decided to cancel working and come up and help me out for the weekend. Yes, I did feel a little incompetent once they told me they were heading up for the weekend, but it was great to have them here. My mom took Shelby at night so I was able to get more sleep than I have in 2 weeks combined! Both my mom and dad played with Seth and he was able to get some much needed one on one attention from someone. Even though they were only here for 36 hours and I'm headed home on Wednesday anyway, I honestly think I could have lost my mind this weekend if they hadn't showed up. They were my life savers .... I'm not ashamed to admit it.

On Saturday Night we roasted marshmallows and had s'mores. Seth wasn't really into the s'mores, but he ate all the ingredients separately.

It was such a beautiful night. Perfect for hanging out on the back porch and enjoying the breeze! Shelby was eying the s'mores ... maybe in a few years girlie!

Shelby and grandma were night time buddies so I could get a good 2 night's of sleeping in! :) (which makes for a much more happy mommy!)

Seth decided he'd just eat the chocolate by itself ... what a cute mess he is!

Grandpa Wofford got to see baby Shelby for the first time this weekend. The verdict: he thought she was cute! (I know shocker!)

We only have a few more days on our own before we fly to Kansas for a few weeks. I can't wait to be home and see friends and family. I'm dreaming of all the adult conversations I'll have (lol...there's only so many days of talking to a toddler before you start loosing your mind!)

Brother and Sister

Seth is doing a pretty good job adjusting to having a little sister and not always being the center of attention. Every once in a while he'll say or do something to act out a little (well, the last few days have been a little crazy) but he's so loving and cute with Shelby. It's really fun to watch them interact with each other. Her umbilical cord finally came off so we could give her a real bath. Seth thought it was pretty fun and wanted to help.

He also wanted me to take a picture of him too ... there you have it!

She wasn't too sure about the new bath procedure, but she ended up liking it.

She cleans up pretty cute huh? Look at those string bean little legs! Those socks are the tiniest things, and they are so huge they are barely touching her ankles to stay on ...

She's so calm. Seth was the same way ... but, I'm not complaining.

This is my favorite new born outfit. I bought it when my mom was here and have been dying to have her wear it! It's huge still, especially the pants (they are pretty much up to her armpits!) but isn't it so cute?

Tiny toes!

Super Seth! He came up with this look all by himself the other night ... what a crack up!

Seth made Shelby a pink build-a-bear to bring to her at the hospital. He loves loves loves his bear MAX and can't sleep with out him. The other night they were hanging out together (the 4 of them) in Seth's bed before bedtime!

I can't wait till they're a little older and can be buddies ... neither can Seth!

So, Everyone keeps saying how similar Seth and Shelby look as infants. I put a few pictures of Seth when he was just a day or 2 old. I can definitely see the similarities, but I think they each have their own things going on too.

Check out the 3 pictures below ... What do you think?

Strawberry Fields

This week I decided to suit up and take Seth to playgroup. They were going to pick strawberries in Michigan and I've been REALLY wanting to go pick! So, we headed out and Seth was really excited. He informed me that, "I'm really excited to pick the big juicy strawberries ... but I'm not gonna eat any of them." Well, whatever? We had a fun time and Seth needed to get out of the house and see some friends.

Cute kiddo

He thought it was pretty funny how heavy the strawberry box was getting!

This is Seth's little buddy Jake ... aren't they the cutest?

While we were out, Nick stayed home with Shelby so me and Seth could have some time together. We took advantage of the last time dad will be around for a while.

Seth showed Dad and 8 lbs of strawberries we picked....yum!

They were so delicious I was snacking on them the whole way home .... so sweet and juicy!

We immediately made fresh strawberry lemonade ... which was a big hit with everyone!

We also made yummy strawberry shortcake. We also made yummy waffles in the morning covered in fresh berries! Yummy week at our house!

Shelby is getting bigger. We took her to the Dr and she's right back on track with gaining weight. She's trying her hardest to get to be a big girl so she can fit into her fancy wardrobe selections! :)

One night we decided to let Seth give Shelby a bottle so he felt a little more included with helping out. He thought it was pretty fun ... and Shelby gulped everything down!

Her first bottle was a success!!!! (thanks to her big brother)

Don't you wish you didn't have a care in the world?

This dress is pretty much HUGE, like all of her clothes, but I'm dying to have her wear all her cute clothes. So, this week we started just going for it even if things were a little big.

More cuteness to come soon!