It's Pool time!!!

This happy boy is ready to splish and splash in the water!

Today was our very first trip of the summer to the pool, and boy did we have fun! Hayden was so excited to be there. I didn't really know if he would have a good time or not because I figured the water would be super cold, but he LOVED it! Surprisingly enough, the water wasn't even really all that cold. Hopefully he likes the beach and pool water on vacation as much as he liked it today! I brought a play ball with us today, and he had so much fun throwing it around in the water and chasing it. Who knew a single ball could be so much fun? He also loved splashing the water on me... so much fun! We have a little mushroom the water falls over the top of, and I was certain he would not want anything to do with it, but he actually tried it out and seemed to like it. He never would walk under it alone, but we would do it together and he would really get a kick out of it. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm chasing him in and out of that mushroom!:) Our first day at the pool was a huge success and we can't wait to go back. I couldn't get a ton of pictures, but I did manage to snap a couple...

Yes, he was literally running for the water... don't worry I'm
gonna teach him we don't run around the pool,
but it was too cute not to snap a picture
before I don't allow it anymore!:)

This ball kept him entertained the entire time...
he would throw it, it would sink, and he would go get it.
Over, and over, and OVER!:) Apparently, SO MUCH FUN!!!

This was during our little snack break...
can you tell he enjoys pool time?!?

We also have a little coconut tree that shoots out
water occasionally and he was very
interested in how it worked...

I asked him if he was having fun at the pool and
this was his response! He literally started
clapping and saying "yeah!"

A picture can say a thousand words....

I love how you can't even see his hands... hilarious!

Especially when you have Kahlia taking them! A good friend of ours, Kahlia Mitchell, takes some of the best pictures ever! We were lucky enough to have her shoot some of Hayden back at 16 months and I am soooo glad we got to do it. Hayden loves her, and she definitely has a knack for bringing out the best in him. I must add here that I did have to go to some pretty extreme measures to get him to participate in some of these poses, but it was well worth it! The people downtown probably thought I was a lunatic, but it sure made for some great photos!:) I say a picture can say a thousand words because sometimes you look at a picture and think, "Oh, nice picture", and other times you look at a picture and an entire story fills your brain. These pictures create stories for me. I often find myself looking at these images just imagining what Hayden was thinking while the camera was going off. My imagination has created a multitude of stories just from looking at one single still shot. The single image that was captured just says so much. I could probably write stories for each of them(some about Hayden and some about what the picture of Hayden makes me think about), but we'll just stick with captions for posting purposes... I don't think you want to hear all my made up stories! Here are some of our favorites...

This one is Gigi's favorite... it is SO Hayden! Oh, and if you know
my Grandaddy, you can totally see him in Hayden in this pic!

He likes to take his shoes off even in photo shoots!

And hats... he loves, loves, loves to take off his hats!!!

Our big ONE year old!

I don't know how it worked out this way,
but I love that you can see his little belt!

One very happy little boy!

Awwww... poor guy!

This was one of those times where everyone downtown
was making fun of me for how I was acting!
Hey, I got the laugh didn't I!?!

Doesn't he look like one of those old paper route boys in this pic?!?

This messy hair just cracks me up!

Oh, how I love this face!

And this little collage just captures it all...
one facial expression at a time!

Thank you a million times Kahlia! I love them all... to think these are just some of my favorites! As you can imagine, I have them up all over the house and they look great!! You can see more of Kahlia's work at www.jkmitchellphtography.com. If you ever need a photographer just let me know... she's definitely at the top of my list!:) I can't wait for us to do it all over again soon!

Now we have a nurse in the family!

Family pic!

Congrats Auntie May! This past Saturday Meghan graduated from Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University in Atlanta. We are so excited for her! Now if we can just find her a job and keep her close by... that's the next step!!:) Surprisingly enough, Hayden did great at graduation. And I am talking about the actual ceremony... he was a little angel. I seriously thought I would have to walk him around during the whole thing, but he just stayed right on my lap or right by my feet the entire time and never caused the first bit of commotion. It was great! Well, technically he did cause a little commotion when the rest of us did... when we got to clap and cheer after all the names were called. I kind of like when they let you cheer after each name because it just makes it fun, but this time they didn't want us to do that, so believe it or not, we followed the rules and waited until the end to do our screaming! I guess it makes since not to celebrate after each name, so the next person can hear their name, and it certainly makes the ceremony shorter, but I am still a fan of the cheer right after the name is called. Lets face it, I like to see how loud we can get!:) I know Auntie May loved hearing us cheer, even if it was right along with everyone else! After the ceremony was over, she had a little lunch celebration at Park Tavern on Piedmont Park. It was awesome. The weather was perfect, the food was awesome, and the company was great! Lots of family and friends were there to help her celebrate. We were sad Matt couldn't make it, but he had to work.:( Don't worry though... I took some pictures so he didn't have to feel like he missed out on too much!

Can you tell she was pumped to finally get that diploma?!?

We took this right after the graduation was over...
can you tell Hayden didn't want to be in it?!?

Our Park Tavern pic... it was so pretty here. Piedmont Park
is literally right behind that fence and Hayden
absolutely loved watching everyone.
Especially the dogs!!!

I have no idea what they were doing with the tree,
but it sure looks like a fun time to me!

Hayden and Uncle Troy had fun playing together,especially
with this rock, so I just had to snap a pic!

I had to leave this one for last... don't they just make the cutest little fam?

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Cute little family pic!

A couple of days late that is! I just had to share these pics with you because they were so cute. Matt and I have been going to celebrate Cinco since the beginning of time(it feels like anyways!), and this year we got to bring Hayden along. We actually got to go eat on the 5th, but I just didn't get around to posting that night, so I figured better late than never! I must admit Mexican food just isn't the same without a giant margarita, but we still had a great time! There aren't really many Mexican restaurants we love around here, so we always have a hard time deciding where to go. We decided on La Cazuela this time and what a great decision we made! The food was great(and 20% off!), Matt's huge beer was cheap, and Hayden even got himself a special little mini sombrero! So cute! I'm sure we'll be playing with that tons around here!! Oh, and I must add there was a live band which REALLY helped us out! It totally entertained Hayden and he even got up and went dancin' on the dance floor! I'm sure we'll be back sometime soon for more entertainment. Until next year, Happy Cinco Everyone!

These new faces he has decided to make when asked to smile crack me up!
He still does a "real" smile when he really wants to, but most of the time
it is a version of one of these crazy faces. I think they are hilarious!

On his way to the dance floor, sombrero and all!

Ruff, Woof, Arf.... Go Braves!!!

Group pic in the big chair!!

Sunday was Bark in the Park at the Braves game and of course we just had to take Sydney to cheer on her Atlanta Braves! We all had a great time. We knew Sydney was going to have a blast, because she loves it each and every year, but we weren't too sure about Hayden. Last year was his first game, and he slept through quite a bit of it, so we didn't quite know what to expect this year. One thing was for sure... we knew there would be NO and I repeat NO sleeping!!! We were right about that! He was wide-eyed and ready to go from the time we got out of the car. He LOVED the game. He got so into it. I really couldn't believe it. We have ourselves a baseball fan! He clapped when he was supposed to clap, danced when he was supposed to dance, and even yelled when he was supposed to yell(I guess that part doesn't surprise too many people!). Needless to say, I think we will venture to Turner field a few more times since he enjoyed it so much. We'll just make sure to get seats where he is able to stand and walk around a little, since that is what I think kept him happy!:) Oh, and the Braves won, so that made it even more fun! Sydney had a blast as always. She loves getting to socialize with all the other doggies! We saw tons of different breeds. Sydney mostly sniffed, sniffed, sniffed, but Hayden went straight for the mouth and gave a sweet dog a kiss(yes, it did make me a little nervous!)!! There was no doggie ice cream for Sydney to enjoy this time, but she did eat an entire piece of ice straight from my hand. She must have been as hot as we were! As always, we had so much fun and can't wait to return and cheer on our Braves!

She had a blast even with her hair covering one of her eyes!!:)

Walking to our seats...

The view from the top!

Some of the many dogs...

But none quite as cute as this one!!!

The huge coke bottle!!

I said he had a great time, but at some point this did happen!

And this when Daddy was trying to get a pic of us in our seats!

He loved getting to look through the railing...

Check out Sydney's hair flying!!! It was super windy!

Momma and her babies!

And what game would be complete without the PJ's for bedtime?!? You know me... I just had to get pics in the baseball PJ's!

Having a blast climbing on his chair!

When I ask him to smile he now gives me this half fake smile!!
He's like, "let's get this picture over with already!"

He also loves jumping on his chair! I should probably
put an end to this, but it just looks so fun!!!

Mischievous look huh?!?

So cute!