Christmas morning pictures are finally edited.  I finally get a chance to sit down and do a short and sweet personal blogpost.  It's been MONTHS.  Sad.  Life is full of kiddos, a hubby, a spoiled doggie, a photography business, homework, etc.  It's BUSY people but we are very blessed.  I guess the sad reality is that I'm very lucky to be able to do a blogpost once a year lol!

Nevertheless. . . here are pictures from Christmas 2013 morning!  We had wonderful holiday with our friends and family and the boys loved having Bert the Elf on the Shelf this year for the first time.

Chase Parker Turns THREE!!!

Chase Parker celebrated his birthday on July 25th.  I can't believe my baby turned THREE years old!  We celebrated his birthday about a week early this year because Zachary and I were going to be out of town on his big day.  That made me very sad but I was glad that he was home with his Daddy to enjoy his ACTUAL day.  Zach and I headed to Tennessee for Kelsey's wedding but we called him on his birthday and sang to him.

He did have a big time at his family birthday party on July 14th.  He loved all the attention for sure!

He has grown up SO much over the past year.  This time last year he wasn't saying much. . . BOY has that changed.  He says every word in the dictionary now it seems.  Such a vocabulary!  He is a typical boy - always testing my limits.  But, he has the most loving personality.  VERY VERY lovable.  He will come up to me and say, "Momma, I haven't gotten a kiss from you in awhile!  Let me give you a kiss!"  He wraps his little arms around me constantly.  I love love love how affectionate he is.

He is still infatuated with heads/hair.  His favorite thing to do is run his hands through our hair.  So hilarious.  He's into riding his plasma and tricycle big time still.  I think he's definitely ready for a bike this Christmas.  Following in his brother's footsteps, he loves loves loves trains big time.  Of course he goes on all the train adventures with Papa and Grammy now and has a blast.

He is doing so well in school too!  He goes three days a week and apparently is very well behaved.  ;)  How do they do that at school lol????

It hit me the other day that I will probably only have one more year of "babyhood".  He's still small, he's still overly affectionate, and he still loves and adores us more than anything.  That won't last long.  He's my last one ya'll!  That made me sad.  (But not sad enough to have another one!)

I recently did a "professional" photoshoot with him.  He was PERFECT for me!!  You can see his full shoot here on my business site:  http://elizabethbirdwell.com/my-big-man-turns-three/

Here are a couple of my favorites from the shoot:

I love my little dude so much - so proud of him!!  

What We Have Been Up To. . .

Well I haven't caught quite up with May and June yet so let's go back and cover those first!!

Here are a few pics from Chase Parker's Mother's Day Luncheon at his preschool. . .

You can see him in the first row very middle with the fishie around his neck.  This was his look the ENTIRE program.  No participation lol!!  It was hilarious to watch.  :)  Nevertheless, he's still CUTE!

I did enjoy my Mother's Day which I covered in the previous blog post but I hadn't edited this picture yet. . . I loved spending some time with my own mom that day.  I love this picture of us together.  She means the world to me!!

We also enjoyed a weekend trip to Destin for Memorial Day. . . it was hot but nice.  The boys enjoyed the beach so much!

I did get my PF Changs fix while I was there. . . YUMMY!!

And the month of June also brought a graduation celebration for my nephew!  We are so proud of Aaron!  He graduated with MANY honors.  Summa Cum Laude, National Honor Society, National Merit Commended Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction Award, Principal GPA Award for all 4 years and a GPA of 4.52.  WHEW!  He's definitely earned the right to be called brilliant!  We are proud of him!!

We've been enjoying our summer so far. . . recently had a fun trip to the Butterfly Museum in Gainesville.  Try it if you've never been. . . it's awesome!

  

 

  

 

Both kiddos have been enjoying swimming lessons twice a week too.  Miss Erin does a terrific job and now, even Chase Parker is swimming like a fish!  They both love it!!  Since it's been raining SO much here in the past 2 weeks we've not had a chance to go recently.  It was nice to finally get to swim again today with Daddy.  We had a blast!!

Paul has been keeping busy with work, flying and now working out.  He has impressed me with his diligence in getting back in shape.  I am so proud of him.  We both are doing the Body By Vi shakes that we love.  The difference is I'm wanting to lose weight and he's GAINING lol!  BIG DIFFERENCE!  But, it's nice that the shakes work both ways depending on how you use them.  :)

My photography business continues to amaze me.  I have the most wonderful, creative, photogenic clients!  I am so blessed to be BUSY!  I love that I can stay at home with my kiddos and have a fun summer yet still follow my passion and enjoy my photography.  I love it so much.  In fact, be on the lookout for a couple new projects that I am going to be involved with soon.  One has already launched. . . a new venture I am involved in From Her Lens.  When you get a chance check it out!  I also will be making an announcement very soon about a volunteer project I'm starting.  SO excited about this!!

And, we recently enjoyed a rainy, 4th of July.  Even though the fireworks were cancelled we still enjoyed time with our family over at Grammy and Papa's house.  

And Zach and I enjoyed a recent date night.  It was fun to have some one on one time with my little big man.  I love him soooooo much.  We spoiled ourselves rotten.  Chicfilet for dinner, then we went to see Monsters University movie with popcorn, coke, and junior mints.  Can't beat that!!  We had a great time.  I've noticed lately that he doesn't want to hold my hand as much in public.  So sad.  He's only SIX!  This isn't supposed to happen yet!!  But. . . he still wants to snuggle at home so that makes me happy.  I have two very lovable children. . . always wanting huggies and kissies as Chase Parker says.  I complain too much about them wanting to hang all over me all the time but I really shouldn't.  Pretty soon that snuggle stuff will stop too.  :(

Zach and I will be traveling together to Tennessee soon!  He and I are going there for a week for Kelsey's wedding.  I'm the photographer and he is the ring bearer.  I cannot WAIT to see him in that little tux.  And, I cannot wait to see my sweet niece walk down the aisle.  It's going to be quite a day!!  I will miss my hubby and Chase Parker so much though.  We are celebrating Chase's 3rd birthday next weekend because Zach and I will be out of town on his official birthday.  That will be tough for me to miss.  :(  I had a recent photoshoot with Chase to capture his 3 year pictures.  He did SO SO SO well.  I was so happy with how they turned out.  I'll give you a sneak preview before the entire session hits my photography site.  Isn't he the MOST ADORABLE 2 YEAR OLD ABOUT TO BE 3 YEAR OLD!!!

While we were there I snapped a few of Zach too. . . HANDSOME DUDE!!!!

Chase Parker's full session will be posted in the next couple of weeks so keep an eye out for it!!

Well, I guess that's about it for an update. . . I'll leave you with a TON of cute pictures as usual!!