My Good Friend Heidi... and Her Boys

You may remember my good friend Heidi.    Well she was due on the exact same day as me, and we had our baby boys 13 hours apart!

Our older boys are only three months apart and are good friends too.

One day we ran into each other at the park and that was the first time we met little "Snuggles."  Or should I say big Snuggles, he weighs about three pounds more than Carter!

"Bubbers" was very interested in meeting Carter too.

Today we got to visit them at their house for the first time since the babies were born.  The older boys both love trains and had a fun time watching Casey Jr. on the computer.

They were in awe if you can't tell. ;)

Then of course Heidi and I had a great time taking pictures of the babies together.  She's the one that got me started with my love of photography!

The boys loved eachother from the very beginning!

Aren't they sweet?

Snuggles has the prettiest big blue eyes I have ever seen!

I only wish I had taken Carter's clothes off fr the occasion too.

Then we could really see their size difference.  Can you believe they're almost exactly the same age?

This is my absolute favorite!  Look at those big blue eyes, and you can still see Carter in the background. ;)

Bubbers wanted to get his picture taken with his little brother too.  So sweet!

I'm so glad our boys are such good friends, and I'm excited to see them grow up together!

Jam Making

Today my friend Britni taught me how to make jam.  Just look at her in her cute apron that matches her pink kitchen.

We started off with the blackberries Gabe spent the night before picking out of Brian and Britni's backyard.

We needed some empty jars too.

And pectin of course.

We started off by reading the instructions.

Those told us to wash and strain the berries before we did anything else.

Then I got to mash all of the blackberries.

Luckily Britni let me borrow an apron so I wouldn't get it all over my shirt. ;)

I measured it to make sure we got the right amount.

Then it was time to add a ridiculously big amount of sugar.

We mixed it and then filled up the jars.

Now they're ready to be sealed!

So we made sure the water was the right temperature.

Then got the pot ready.

I almost dropped a few trying to get them down in there.

But eventually they were all submerged safe and sound.

So we put the lid on and let them do their thing.

Here's the finished product!

We're so proud of our work!

But while we were working this is what the boys were doing.

Resting...

and playing video games?

p.s.  Gabe took this picture, not me, this is his idea of watching the kids and now I've got proof. ;)

Carter's 2 Months Old

Here's Carter on his 2 month birthday.  Isn't he sweet?

For the occasion I decided to take some pictures of him and some 2 year pictures of Preston. 

Of course we were late for church because I wanted to get some before Preston spilled food all over himself at nursery.

Lucky for me he even smiled for me because I promised to give him some candy... that doesn't work all the time.

What a sweet boy I have.

I love his entire outfit, but his new shoes are my favorite!

I did end up getting him to smile for me for a picture or two after church right before his nap. 

and he even held Carter for a picture or two.

I have a picture of Preston that he had taken at JCPenney when he was 6 weeks old in this same outfit, I decided to try to take a similar one of Carter.

My sweet little 2 month old.

Look how chubby his cheeks are getting!

I think I got some cute pictures considering the circumstances, Carter wasn't exactly happy....

At least Preston was, that's all I can say.

Too bad Carter was hungry.

Preston really enjoyed his candy and still kept letting me take his pictures.

Silly silly boys.

Later that night Preston went to give Preston a hug, but got a little too close. ;)

It's so cute to see them together, I'm excited to see them grow up!

Today is a Sad Day

Preston learned how to open doors.  I knew this day would come sometime, but was kind of hoping it wouldn't. ;)  You would think he would have figured it out a long time ago...  I guess we'll have to get some of those doorknob covers so he can't get out of his room, or into his closet when he's supposed to be asleep!

Italiano

This past weekend we tried an Italian place in town that was highly recommended to us.  We're always open to new things and would love to have another restaurant to eat at closeby so we decided we would take the plunge when we were too hot to cook.  We decided to celebrate Gabe finishing his summer class for his Master's program.  I was so glad!  It's nice to have him around at dinnertime now.  Only one semester and one class to go, yippee!

Preston and Gabe had fun coloring while we waited for our food.

We all enjoyed the decorations, even the italian words we don't understand, it was a nice atmosphere.

And of course we all loved the food.  Look at those yummy blobs of cheese and fresh basil!

We'll definately be seeing a lot more of this place, especially since kids eat free on Thursdays!