Monday, June 16, 2014

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!)

Garlic Expressions Classic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing & Marinade



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"

BETTER-THAN-TAKEOUT CHICKEN FRIED RICE from Rachel Schultz

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....

Hello Little Scout - Baby food breakdown




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!!  




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10 comments:

BLovedBoston said...

This is just too sweet for words! The end with all the photos Andrew made while tasting oatmeal were so adorable - wasn't sure and then he's like - I love it!! Sounds like a pretty wonderful weekend!! You should go back and watch Shadow Recruit - it was actually pretty good! Happy Monday!

MakeMeUpMia said...

What a perfect weekend girl, I love all your pics. Sounds like you have some special men in your life! Love the little gift you made him :) Ok, so I especially love your hubbies tank, we're getting ready to move there so it gave me a big smile!

Pamela {Sequins and Sea Breezes} said...

All of your grilling looks amazing! Twice baked potatoes are my fav! And that coffee ice cube idea is genius!

<3, Pamela
sequinsandseabreezes.blogspot.com

JMO said...

What a fabulous lookin' bunch and photos!! So glad the weekend was great! xoxo

Eloquently Emily said...

Looks like y'all had a great weekend! I love the family photo from church, Andrew is getting so big! Have a great week love!

Katie said...

I can talk your head off about baby food :) Call me this week!

Elle Sees said...

what an awesome weekend!! is it wrong to be jealous of your baby's lashes? boys always have the best lashes!

Mess of Beautiful Chaos ♥ said...

All that food looks amazing, your little one is too cute! And coffee frozen into iced cubes is one of the best things ever, I may or may not have put it in some Baileys before, ha!

Meghan at Champagne & Suburbs said...

What sweet pictures of Andrew! Looks like y'all had a great weekend! Thanks for linking up with us! xo

Court @ Sweet Home Alabamian said...

Wow, you have captured some really great memories here. Looks like you snagged yourself a great babby daddy, lol. :)