...grady jackson...

at 29 weeks pregnant, my sister brynn went into labor with her second baby. because she was dilated to a nine by the time they got to the hospital, there was no stopping his early arrival. the doctor did an emergency c-section and little baby grady jackson arrived on friday, august 29 weighing only 3 lbs. 3 oz. and measuring 16 inches long. so little, but so perfect! it's really pretty amazing.

we were able to go up to the hospital yesterday to see him...and he is such a pretty baby! he seems to be doing as well as can be expected and will probably be in the hospital another 2 months or so, until his lungs are fully developed and he's breathing completely on his own. at times like this, it really makes you stop and appreciate all the miracles that modern medicine can provide.

here he is, all snuggled up in his very own incubator...(and it did actually look snuggly, not quite as nice as the womb, or his mommy's arms, but he looked as comfortable as possible considering the circumstances.)

mommy's gentle hands. the nurses told brynn that they would probably let her hold him for the first time sometime this week...i'm sure that moment can't come soon enough!

his little head is full of dark, dark hair...hopefully it stays!!

danny & brynn are such good parents! kalle & little grady are very lucky to have them. i'm always amazed at brynn's calmness during situations like this. she takes it a step at a time and shows such a sense of peace throughout it all. she really accepts what is and makes the very most of the situation. a great teacher she is!

on the way out of the hospital...kalle was loving this!


keep them in your prayers please...and have a happy sunday! :)

...emerson's room...

one of the things i was most excited about buying our own home was that i would finally have a chance to paint the walls and really do whatever i wanted, wherever i wanted! so we've been in this house for about 7 months and i just finished emerson's room a few weeks ago. i do have a few finishing touches here and there that still need to be done, like spray painting the basket on the floor, filling the picture frames, and something needs to be done around the little book shelf. but other than that, it's done & i'm really happy with how it turned out!

so, i really wanted to paint a tree on her wall...i was nervous about doing it, because if i screwed up, i'd have to repaint the green, and then try again, and it would just turn into a big pain. but it wasn't that bad, i just found a picture of a tree that i liked and used that as a reference point...it's definitely not perfect, but it works! and the pom-poms, i bought a martha stewart kit from michael's...very easy because the tissue paper is cut and ready to go. but if you're feeling extra crafty, there are simple instructions here.

i painted these little birds right above her door. i just found some little birds that i liked on the internet, saved the image to my desktop, resized them in photoshop, then printed them out, cut them out, and used them as stencils. so easy!

i got this idea from another blog like a year ago. so it's been so long, that i can't remember whose blog it was, but i liked her idea. i found some paper that was color coordinated with the room and used that for these little pictures on canvas. then i hot glued the buttons on...another really simple, cheap, and cute way to customize your wall decor...

okay so the swirly, twirly canvas picture thing...i bought some swirly chipboard embellishments, painted them black, covered them with glitter & then used mod podge to glue them to a canvas that i painted pink. then i cut off the ends of some sparkely brads and hot glued them on randomly. it's messy, but easy...and trust me, i'm all about easy.

the best part of all...i'm pretty sure emmy likes it...

...a happy six years...

we celebrated our sixth-year anniversary this last weekend...so my parents were nice enough to take the kids for a night while we headed up to the zermatt resort in midway. we had a great time! i love my kids, really i couldn't imagine life without them, but sometimes it's easy to forget how much fun it is to spend time with just the two of us without the craziness that sometimes comes with raising two kids. friday night, we treated ourselves to sushi & "the dark knight"...which i liked...a little scary for me, but good. and saturday we did a little swimming, eating, and shopping. it was such a great get-away!

i liked this picture of chad...so handsome!! ;)

my friend heather told me that the zermatt had an amazing bakery and that i needed to make sure and take my camera when we went over there. she was very right...they had so many yummy looking desserts. i wish i could have tasted them all...but this one really caught my eye, hmmm...i wonder why...

okay, so i have a new favorite place to eat...it's the "cuckoo cafe" in midway...right on main street there. swiss days is coming up on the 29th & 30th of august i think, so for those of you who like to go up there for the occasion, seriously you should go eat here. i promise, you will not be disappointed!

and i present to you, the most amazing panini sandwich in the whole world!!! i'm serious, they really are THAT good. i'm not one to rant & rave about my food forever & ever...but i really can't wait to go back up there so i can have one of these again. really.

we walked past this cute little old gas station, and i had to take a picture...it's actually for sale & if i had $890,000 i just might be tempted to buy it and turn it into something fun. i'm not sure what i would turn it into, but i'm sure i could think of something!

...mr. & mrs. jeremy field...

so anyone that knows me, knows that i LOVE weddings! i always have...and i think i probably always will. they're my favorite...especially when the bride and groom are people i love. we're so excited to have jen in the family. she is so good to jer & i really don't think he could have done any better for himself. it was such a great day for everyone.

just out of the temple...(notice zac, he LOVES his uncle jer & wanted to be everywhere he was. he even asked me after the reception if he could leave with jer...not the best idea.)

pictures with jen's family, the holderness's. they are such nice people...it was fun getting to know them throughout the day.

grandma beattie & cousin chanel.

the luncheon turned out beautiful...i especially loved these centerpieces.

so my flash was driving me crazy. i still haven't figured out the indoor/low light photography thing. so, these pictures from the luncheon aren't the best...but i had to get some pictures anyway. these are the cute little favor boxes that debbie put together...she filled them with chocolate covered caramel melts, white candy coated almonds, and lemon heads.

and here's the program for the luncheon...very elegant.


the beattie girls...heidi, grandma beattie, chanel, cindy & cute little dallas.


the reception...

okay, story about this beautiful cake. jen's sister-in-law made it, and she did a great job! anyway, we got to talking because i have a fascination with cake-decorating. well, turns out she has taken 3 out of the 4 wilton cake decorating classes that i posted about a few months ago. i took the first class, and haven't signed up for any more, but after seeing this, it definitely motivated me to take the rest of the classes.

so yes, now that the wedding is over, and summer is quickly coming to an end, our lives are beginning to calm down a bit. it's been a very fun filled summer with so many fun reunions with family and old friends. i've loved it...

...twenty-eight is GREAT...

it was fun being in boise for chad's birthday this year...we had a day filled with swimming, relaxing, present opening, extended family visiting, and mom & dad field treating us to goodwood's for dinner & a yummy cookies 'n cream icecream cake for dessert...chad's favorites!

i bought chad these things called "the perfect push-up"...which are pretty cool, i'd have to say. but zac & emmy loved them just as much or more than chad did...they turned out to be a present for the whole family, it was great. zac is now my official perfect push-up coach. he seems to have it down already...impressive, i know!

...boise bound...

we're off to boise this afternoon...where we'll be celebrating this guy's 28th birthday tomorrow...

and the marriage of these two love birds...jeremy & jen...on saturday! we're very excited...

and for the fun of it, if you want to see my latest addiction/time waster, click on this icon:

...camping no more...

remember this picture?? this was from our nice little camping trip that we went on with my family. we went up to my parent's property for the weekend. so you have to know that thanks to my husband, i'm a little bit paranoid of bears & mountain lions...all that crazy wild life out there, right? my dad was so good to reassure me that we'd be just fine. and we were just fine, so that was great. even though i was a little freaked out at times, i went home saying, "when are we going up next?"

well...notice the tent that emerson is sitting up against on our nice little camping trip...

my parents went up to the property again last night with some friends for a little barbeque...and this is what they found on that nice canvas tent that emerson was leaning up against...BEAR PRINTS!! and please notice the claw marks...

and they were ALL OVER THE TENT!! and this was not just a little bear...my dad said they were up about six feet high!!! aaah!!

so no...i told my dad i will NOT be going back there until a cabin is built. and when i go to the cabin, i will be running from car to cabin and stay inside until i leave. talk about crazy!! i'm just glad we weren't there to witness it! :)