Weekending and Celebrating

First of all, 

let me wish a Happy Father's Day (belated!), to my dear Daddy!

Dad - you have been an incredible blessing to me over the past 30 (eek!) years.  Your support, unconditional love, advice, encouragement, and humor have gotten me through both hard and happy times.  I could not imagine a more perfect father for me and Brad.  And now, you are a grandfather!  What a joy it is to see your love for Andrew, and I can't wait for the adventures the two of you will have!  Thank you for blessing my life more than you will ever know.  I am SO lucky to call you Dad!  

the three best Dads I know!

And to My Love, 

Happy First Father's Day!  The best day of my life was standing beside you at the alter, and I couldn't imagine how life could get much better than it was that day. 

But oh, how it has!  Life is so sweet and beautiful because of you - and I am honored and blessed to be your wife.  And now, you're a Daddy!  My heart simply could not be fuller.  The way you love Andrew is truly breathtaking, and I hope he grows up to be just like you.  Thank you for your patience, your faith, your servant heart, and they way you always put your family first. 

I love you so very much.  

Now, onto the weekend!

Friday afternoon, the UPS man knocked on our door with a very special (and yummy!) delivery :)  

A late baby gift (turned Father's Day gift), that was a cooler filled to the brim with steaks, burgers, bratwursts, pies, and twice-baked potatoes....oh my!  

It was perfect timing too, because, it was 4:30pm, and I hadn't even thought twice about dinner plans yet! 

It was a beautiful evening for grilling out!  

And we really enjoyed those yummy steaks and potatoes!

(by the way, have y'all tried this salad dressing - it is our absolute FAVE!)

Saturday, after John made us a delicious breakfast, 

we headed out to explore and hike around Duke Farms .  It was the perfect day, 75 degrees and sunny!  We had the best time being outside, and visiting the gorgeous Orchid garden!

That afternoon, while John watched the World Cup, Andrew and I decided it was the perfect opportunity for a long nap - and it was pretty glorious.  We've had a few rough nights this week with Andrew waking up with gas (any tips?), so an afternoon nap is kind of like a week at the spa for me right now.   

That night was low key - we made my favorite "Better than Takeout Chicken Fried Rice"

and we rented this (John's choice of course!) 

I have to be honest, I loved the beginning, and then I fell asleep.  

Remember when I said we've been having some rough nights....yeah, I just can't stay up late anymore like I normally can!

Sunday, we went to Church (very convicting sermon on our purpose in life - which I've been thinking about so much lately!)... and because we were actually dressed (and somewhat put together!), I got a family pic snapped of us!  It was another amazing day, a perfect one to celebrate John's first Father's Day! 

Instead of a big gift, John specifically asked for some artwork from Andrew - so we had a fun time making some last week for Daddy's big day :)

We spent the afternoon grilling out again (oh how I love Summer!), and John got to wear his favorite kind of outfit - yep.  That's a tank top.  No shame :)

And John's mini-me in his own vintage tank!  (It was my brother's when he was a baby!)

Yummy Burgs and Brats!

Mommy and Daddy weren't the only ones eatin' well over the weekend.  

This little dude had his first taste of Oatmeal Cereal!

Success!  He loved it!!  

Moms - any tips/advice for introducing solids??  If you did rice/oatmeal cereal, how long did you do that before fruits/veggies?  Any favorite books or blogs on homemade baby food?  

Found this one on Pinterest....

Oh, and one last thing - 

have y'all ever frozen your leftover coffee into ice cubes?  

Genius!  I'm not a huge coffee drinker, but I added some coffee cubes to my Iced Chai Tea latte this morning, and goodness it was yummy!  

Hope y'all had a fabulous weekend!!  Happy Monday!!