Jack's 2nd Birthday (141 photos), by Melanie Marsh

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Pinata!

Pinanta Jack's 2nd birthday from Melanie Marsh on Vimeo.

More to come I PROMISE!

I am having a hard time recovering from all the partying!

(And by the way...sorry that I am yelling into the camera...I am not a very good videographer!)

Two

Where do I start?

Jack,

Having you in my life has made the last two years the best yet! I thank God for entrusting me to be your caretaker in this life of ours. You are such a sweet, smart, funny little thing. The wonders never cease. I look at you, and I see proof that miracles do happen. It amazes your father and I how much you have grown into your own little self. It delights and terrifies us how much of ourselves we see in you. Just this morning as I put the dogs in their crates, you poked your little fingers in to try to pet them and said, "WuWu, I wub you"(translation- LuLu, I love you). Whoah...the same thing I do everyday. Scary to think how each thing I do touches your little world and molds and shapes you. When you get upset and furrow your little brow, you look like a miniature version of your father.
You love to drink milk and eat french fries. The sight of you with a cupcake thrills me (and gives your dad a nervous breakdown) as you hold it from the bottom and go into the icing face first! You always ask for George when it is time to sleep. You are a good sleeper- thank you for that! You are a lover of all things boating and water and we could not be happier about that! Jumping into the water has to be your favorite pastime!
Jack, you make our life fun every single day. In the interest of keeping it real, I will say that you also test our patience to the very end of the rope every single day. Still, you are all things magnificent to us...beautiful star stuff that cannot be described!
Have a Happy Birthday Son! I love you to the moon and back!

Mommy

Crackers!

I was a little lenient on breakfast because I was a bit busy and exhausted from spending our first night on the boat!

Family pic

Captain Jack is giving his first mate some orders!

Untitled from Melanie Marsh on Vimeo.

I think Jack likes the fireworks... or as he would call them..."crackers, crackers!"

You might want to hit pause on the playlist player down below so that you can hear the sheer excitement in his voice!

I LOVE IT! We had a lot of fun on the lake with "Rangy".

Zoo

The day before picture day, was a day for a traditional summer field trip..we went to the zoo!

KK and Grace arrived at our house on Wednesday afternoon and bright and early on Thursday morning, we headed downtown to visit Zoo Atlanta.

First stop was the children's playground! The playground is at the "end of the zoo". In other words, most people start at the Flamingos and work their way around, but my friend Leigh Anne advised that stopping at the playground first is a good idea and keeps you out of the main traffic! Good call Leigh Anne! After the long ride down, the playground was in order to help run off a little pent up energy. What was even more perfect was that there was a school bus on the playground. Do not ask me why, but Jack has a thing for school buses, so naturally he played on the bus FIRST! I think he was a little startled that I actually squeezed in with him:)







ALL ABOARD! Oh sorry, that is train talk...that will come in a couple of weeks at his birthday party!

Grace enjoyed the hors-ie!

The cousins had fun playing on the teeter totter together!

It didn't take long for us to move on to the rides. I figured, why not do the fun stuff while Jack was not tired and ready for a nap...

Grace was a big girl and sat ALL BY HERSELF on the train! I kept trying to reach back and hold her hand...especially when we went under the tunnel. She kept pulling her hand away and looking at me like I had two heads. I mean...come on....she is 5! Duh, Meme, she is practically grown!

Jack decided he was more comfortable sitting on my lap! Works for me!

This picture was shot before the final seating arrangement was determined. See Grace with that map? She was directing us around all day!

We did look at all of the animals, too...Here is Grace with the albino peacock- cool!

Jack was digging the albino peacock, too! It really was pretty neat.

Here we have the little boogers near the Meerkat exhibit. I did not think Jack would cooperate but he loved it! He was sticking his head all the way through!

We took a little break and KK bought us a round of Dippin Dots and Tummy Yummies (bottled koolaid is the best I can figure). KK took the opportunity to work really hard on getting a picture!

Well, look likes all the straining paid off- she got the Jack scrunchy face that I have come to love SOOO much!
On a quick side note- while the pizza that we had for lunch and the snacks and drinks available were yummy, I thought it was worth sharing for those of you that do not know, you can bring in your own stuff. I saw lots of people with coolers, etc... It would be awesome to take a little picnic lunch. They had plenty of places around to sit and eat that were not necessarily associated with one of their restaurants. We are first time zoo members and so we are all paid up on admission. A trip to the zoo really can be an inexpensive way for us to have a family day and learn a lot in the process!

We rode the carousel. Jack rode the manatee!

Grace chose the much faster leopard!

Don't you love KK's sunglasses? Man, that girl always has the best shades!

We took a picture break at the gorillas.

This is exhibit never ceases to amaze me! I am always taken back by how very human like the gorillas are.

Grace liked the giraffes. There were zebras and elephants in the area too.

At this point in the day, it was WAAAAY past Jack's nap time and starting to show. We were hot, tired, smelly, and sticky! We were at the end(or what some would consider the beginning)and all we had left were the Flamingos. We checked them out for a minute, then it was off to the car to begin the trek home.

I was just starting to look forward to the auto ignition on my car (a luxury that I highly recommend to people who have young children) when Grace ruffled her little map and chimed in "hey, we did not see the zebras". Kelly and I shot a look and then I launched into a little story about how the zebras were not feeling good, so they were not out for us to see right now. Man, I know I win "terrible aunt of the year award", but it was just one of those moments.

This tactic worked for a moment, until Grace studied the map for just a moment more and realized that we had neglected to stop at the elephants, too! DANG YOU MAP!

OK- the gig was up! I mean, even "terrible aunt of the year" knows that you cannot go to the zoo and NOT see the elephants.
SOOOO, back into the zoo we went. We saw the elephants and man they were big and stinky!

I have no documentation of this because well, I was just out of steam!
Much like I have run out of material for this post...so until next time...later gators (yep, we saw those, too)!!

Picture Day!

I am fairly certain that Kelly and I have been plotting and planning a family picture since Grace was born 5 1/2 years ago! I remember my interest peaking in the idea again when I was pregnant with Jack. Next thing you know, Josh had twins on the way. Then something random happened. I ran into an old friend on Facebook and discovered that she and her husband were brilliant photographers! Beverly Williams, an old colleague from Scholastic, and actually her whole family are a part of Chuck Williams Photography. You can check out their work here. Before I knew it, we had ourselves a family circus, uh-hem...I mean, picture day planned!


The day was really centered around Jack's second birthday pictures and a session for my niece Grace. Much to Beverly's dismay (just kidding, she was a really good sport about it), it quickly morphed into a session for my two month old twin nieces and an extended family session.
Have you ever tried to take a picture of a two year old? Add a 5 year old and two 2 month old babies into the picture(no pun intended) and my little dream photo session was starting to look like a recipe for disaster.
Well, you would never know by looking at all of the beautiful shots that Beverly and Chuck got for us! Even though the day was long, hot, and filled with cranky kids (and parents) it was a HUGE success!
All of the pictures are absolutely gorgeous! Well, all of the ones that I have seen so far. We are anxiously awaiting our gallery to be posted on the website, but so far the favorites have been to die for!
For instance, the shot you see of Jack above was taken in the midst of the shoot of the twins. He was running around being a typical fussy two year old and Beverly scooped him up and tossed him on my bed and he just giggled and smiled- perfect!




Jack at Acworth Beach.
I had never even been here. It is really nice. I look forward to taking advantage of it in the future. Chuck was brilliant on this one...Somehow he managed to catch Jack in a moment when he was not tangled up completely in the balloons! Or as jack would say "boons".
I love that it is by the lake. Jack loves the water and was actually saying repeatedly "lake, lake", "swimming, swimming". Thank goodness Beverly and Chuck brought balloons. Not only are they gorgeous in the pictures, they were a great distraction from the prospect of swimming!


Love this one! It is pure happy Jack! I think he was scooting up and down the stairs and someone caught him in a good mood!




This picture was taken at Frana Brown Park in Downtown Acworth. This was the beginning of the day and we were just warming up to the idea of the camera!

I adore this one! He looks so handsome..the only part I do NOT like about this one is how it shows me without a doubt what a big boy he is becoming. Oh whoah is me...little baby's all grow up!

This is happiness in a picture!

The sun, the water, the child running happily to a bundle of colorful balloons with the wind in his hair and the sand between his toes!

Speaking of sand between toes...I should mention, poor, poor Grace. There are no beach shots of her because it was all that she could do to tolerate Jack's pictures. She hates the sand and she was reminding us this (constantly) during our time at Acworth Beach! Thank you cousin Grace for sticking it out with us- it was worth it don't ya think?

We did some photos with Jack and Grace in downtown Acworth at the Red Caboose beside the train tracks. Jack was not really into cooperating. It was getting close to lunch time and nap time and it was WAAAAY hot! Luckily Chuck snapped a couple of quick ones with me in them and I am so glad!

A train went by and it really scared Jack. Luckily, KK was nearby and was able to calm him down so he could relax and see it up close and personal- I really like this one- it is so candid and sweet! Not long after this, we headed home for some lunch and a nap for Jack...he is starting to look like he needs it!

Unlike Jack, Grace was more than happy to accommodate Chuck's direction at the Caboose. After a bite to eat, we were all refreshed and ready to start round two! All of these clothes came from Chuck and Beverly's stash of props. They are SO Grace...She dresses a lot like this normally, just without the tutu!

Our little Diva..she has the whole picture day thing down. I think she really knows how to work it! She told Chuck that he was so smart and he knew everything! Word on the street is that she even got some ice cream out of the deal!

This is art...I mean- what an eye...MY GOODNESS!

The colors, the composition, the subject, the props...it is PERFECT!

Our Grace. This captures her sweetness and her adorable curls!

What I would give to have Jack in this picture, too. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A JOKE! He was so wound up at that point in the day. As much as I wanted it, I knew it would never work, and it works out kind of nice to get "just the girls".

This picture is great because Grace just met the twins for the first time a few hours before this was taken.

How adorable are those hats? Great job on the props, Beverly!

Our little bunnies! This is one of my favorites...

The twins fell right to sleep as soon as Beverly laid them on the blanket and they didn't wake up until she was done. It could not have been more perfect. Beverly says they are the best babies she has ever photographed. That was a big player in making the day go as smoothly as it did! If we had been having to feed, burp, change and soothe two babies, it could have been a mess!

Precious angels! I could just lean into the screen and kiss their sweet little faces.

Ahhhh...what a good looking family! It is hard to believe that my baby brother has two babies. I am so glad that we were able to capture this special time for them.

What can I say? I am a big fan of Chuck Williams Photography. They made a potentially stressful day fun!

So now I want to change gears...this is heavy, but my heart is heavy and I want to share this with anyone who might be reading.

On the morning of our scheduled photography session, Beverly was called to duty for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, an organization that provides photography for families who will never be able to take their newborns home from the hospital. When she let me know what was happening, I knew exactly who she was referring to, as I had been following the story of baby Nolen on her blog. I immediately began to cry, so I am not really sure how Beverly actually made it through such an emotionally draining day. I am so appreciative of her professionalism because she must have had a broken heart from the morning she spent at the hospital but she carried on like a trooper. I felt selfish for going through with our sessions while the Chandler's were in the midst of a parents worst nightmare. I have prayed and prayed for this precious baby and his family. Things like this continue to remind me to be thankful for all the things that I have and to strive to be present in each precious moment of this life. If you want to know more about baby Nolen, please go to their Caring Bridge website.

Somehow I never look as skinny in pictures as I really am (in my mind)

So I finally got a picture to prove that I really did see these little ladies! I never look as cute in pictures as I think I will...it must be the camera...HA! I suppose it is a good thing that now that we all have kids, they get to be the stars in the pictures!

Josh, Jarah, and the girls actually stopped over at Meme's house for a night-details to come!