"Two" Year Old Pictures...

We just received our "proofs" from Anna Lauren's "two" year old photo shoot. If you would like to look at them, the link and password are below.

Get ready...she was full of smiles the day we took pictures so there are some beautiful pictures...I don't know how we will ever pick our favorite!

Go here http://www.jcarawayphotography.com/ and click the brown circle.
Enter “annalauren” as the password

Enjoy!

We Love Our Daddy...

Since today is Father's Day, we let our Daddy plan his day...Anna Lauren and I agreed to do whatever he wanted to do today to celebrate Father's Day. And with that being said, I'm not sure if he didn't plan a day for Mommy and Anna Lauren...we had so much fun just hanging out with our Daddy and doing his "planned" activities!

He asked if we could just sleep until we woke up...no alarm this morning...Anna Lauren cooperated, and we all slept to 7 AM. At our house, that is a LATE morning and one we all enjoy from time to time.

We then went to Waffle House for breakfast...yes, we played hookie from church, but I think we all deserve a "hookie" day from time to time.

After we all took a nap, we went to the pool and swam for a little while.

Then we stopped by Jumbo (hole in the wall Chinese joint Matt loves) for takeout and Matt and Anna Lauren ended the day with a treat from the ice cream truck.

What a fun day we had just being a family and enjoying our daddy! Matthew, thanks so much for being the daddy you are to Anna Lauren...you will always hold a special place in her heart, and we both love you so very much!

Fun Happy for Father's Day...

If you know Matt, you know he loves to have "fun"! So as I was strolling through Walgreens the other day to buy his Father's Day card, I happened to see a Slip 'N Slide. I knew he would think it was great fun so I picked it up as his "fun" Father's Day present.

And as I said in a previous post, Anna Lauren demands we stay on the go so I decided to give him an early Father's Day present so she could be entertained on a HOT Saturday afternoon for a couple hours. And let me tell you...we all played on the Slip 'N Slide and had the best time...probably the best $9.99 I've spent in a long time!

Proud...Proud...Proud...

This morning, Matt and I had the opportunity to be a very proud Uncle and Aunt! Our 11 year old nephew, Reid, competed in the Ronald McDonald Kids Triathlon. He swam 200 yards, biked 6.2 miles, and ran 1.2 miles. He had a great race, and we are so very proud of him!

Reid (#83 - blue shorts with goggles on) waiting in line to get in the water to start the swim...

Jake, the supportive brother, who decided to be too lazy to train. He says he will do it next year...he got a hard time today because there is no reason he should have not raced.

Swimming...4 laps (down and back is 1) is a long way for a 11 year old who typically just swims for fun and starts and stops when he wants. He did it though and that is all that matters!

Coming out of transition to start the bike, which is by far, his favorite. Didn't get that from Aunt Mandi!

Uh oh...has a little bit of Uncle Matt in him...he had to get his computer just right before he took off.

Coming in on his bike...I love how "focused" he looks in the picture!

Starting his run...and let me tell you...it was HOT! He was smart though...he drank a few sips of water and then poured the rest on his head to cool him off.

Almost to this finish line...

And he did it...ladies and gentlemen, we have another triathlete in the family!

And probably the highlight of Reid's day...they let them get back in the pool to cool off after they finished.

And the higlight of Anna Lauren's day...getting to "cool off" in the pool with Reid...she loves her some Reid and Jake!

Just Annoying...

My mom was in town yesterday so she picked Anna Lauren up from school and came to our house. Once she got to our house, she called us at work to let us know our house was hot and there was a good amount of water leaking from the ceiling in our bedroom.

Matt and I left work and headed home to check things out because we wanted to get in touch with someone fast because it is 100 degrees...let me translate...HOT...VERY VERY HOT!

The end result...air conditioner unit froze up, leaked through our ceiling, and we needed freon. Freon...not so bad...$155 later, our house is cool! Nothing we cannot handle!

Water leaking through ceiling...ANNOYING...because now we have to find someone to repair the sheet rock, possibly deal with the insurance company, etc. It is like I told Matt, the money part doesn't bother me as bad as just having to deal with it...just one of those annoying little things.

For those of you that don't know, this furniture got the name of the "porn" chair and couch while Matt was in college. He was devasted when the couch was lost at his parents house during Katrina and now the ottoman. We are down to just the chair...although it has been around, I'm sure the insurance company will hear that is a "very nice" ottoman. And to Matt...it is!

And here is our ceiling...it looks a little better now that it has dried, but it will definitely need to be repaired.

Sweet Abby Grace...

This past Wednesday, our good friends Bo and Lisa were blessed with a beatiful daughter, Abby.

Anna Lauren has swim school on Wednesday so we were going to wait to see Abby until Thursday, but we just couldn't wait so we grabbed a quick bite to eat after swim school and headed to the hospital.

Anna Lauren "loves" babies but is not so sure about the hospital so it took her some time to warm up...however, we did manage to get a "quick" kiss on Abby's head before we left. No worries as we will visit Abby at her house, and I'm confident Anna Lauren will not keep her hands off.

Bo and Lisa...she is a beautiful little girl, and we cannot wait to visit one day real soon!

Mandi, Anna Lauren, Abby, and one very very proud grandmother!

Free Entertainment...

Unlike her Daddy and Mommy, Anna Lauren likes to be on the "go"...always doing something! Unfortunatly, she is not content staying at home playing with her toys...toys? what are those? I'm telling you, the kid never touches her toys, and I know you find that hard to believe, but I really am telling the truth. When we returned from vacation, mom was like...Mandi, I never pulled her toys out...she was not interested in toys all week. Think mom was hoping for those toys so she could get a break!

Anyway, last Saturday we decided to go out to Renaissance to waste a couple hours...we had dinner at Sweet Peppers, let Anna Lauren play in the water, and then took Anna Lauren to Barnes and Noble to play with the train table / look at books. It was a fun "outing" and probably one we will do again because other the supper, it was FREE!

Anna Lauren thinking she is something because she has got her foot on the water so it will not shoot up...

Anna Lauren that it was great fun to get a "running start" and run "fast" into the water...

Mommy and her sweet girl...however, if you ask her if she loves her Mommy she will quickly say "nope, love my Daddy". She is her Daddy's child...for sure!

Anna Lauren playing with the train table at Barnes and Noble...

A New Friend...

The time has come and our sweet friends, Bo and Lisa, have checked into the hospital with plans for induction tomorrow morning. Anna Lauren is excited about meeting her new playmate, Abby, and she anticipates she will arrive at 2:30 tomorrow. For those of you that don't know, it is always 2:30 in Anna Lauren's life and everything happens at 2:30...no matter what you ask. This all started from her wearing my watch one day...we asked her what time it was, and she said 2:30...from that day, it is ALWAYS 2:30!

To check out a fun clip of Anna Lauren visiting with Miss Lisa as we were giving her our final words of wisdom last night go to Jennifer's blog.

Week in Paradise...

Matt and I have returned from a wonderful week in what I would call paradise! We had a fabulous cruise and the best part of all is we had just "us" time with no interruptions!

Anna Lauren did GREAT! She was such a "big girl" for her Nanna and seemed to do just fine away from Mommy and Daddy for a week. And words cannot express our many thanks to Nanna, she kept her all week, and we did not hear one complaint. This morning they even got up and went to eat at Waffle House so we could sleep in...just when we thought our vacation was over. Thanks so much Nanna...you are the BEST!

I have tried to post just a "few" pictures...this was hard as I had to sort through 300 plus pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Day 1: Miami

Leaving the Port of Miami...this is South Beach...

The relaxing has begun...we were watching from the balcony as the ship set sail from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas.

Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

Just getting off the ship to enjoy our day in the Bahamas...headed to the Hilton to enjoy the beach for the day.

Matt enjoying the pool at the Hilton...

Matt decided to add a little "adventure" to his trip by trying out the kayak at the Hilton...

This is a view of the Hilton, where we spent the day, as we were leaving Nassau. The worst weather we had all week was in Nassau...we had about 2 hours of rain during the day and then again when we were back on the ship leaving.

Mandi above and Matt below...formal night...however, we opted not to dress formal. I'm telling you...we were relaxing this trip...even when it came to getting ready for dinner!

Day 3: CoCo Cay

We went on a jet ski tour in CoCo Cay, which was probably one of the highlights. I don't know that I have ever seen water as pretty as we saw once we got pretty far out on the jet skis...

Yes, you are looking at a starfish. This picture was taken while we were sitting on the jet ski...I'm telling you, the water was unbelievable!

Matt snorkled in CoCo Cay while I took a nap and bathed in the sun.

In CoCo Cay, the ship just anchors in the middle of the ocean, and you are tendered from the ship to the island.

This is a picture of the island of CoCo Cay as we were sailing away...

If you look in the middle row of chairs, you can see me on the end. We got back on the boat and just hung out by the pool and enjoyed sailing away...

Day 4: Key West

We didn't have big plans for Key West so we just walked to the Southernmost Point and took a few pictures, shopped a little, and got back on the ship. We were sunburned and it was a a million degrees so we just wanted to get in the pool and relax.

In the theatre waiting for the farewell show to begin...

Last night in "paradise"...