First Family Outing

We made it through our first family outing with both children and I was surprised how well it went. Both kids were so good and content. This may sound bad, but I was expecting the bottom to fall out.

As you know, we had an appointment with Portrait Innovations for Spring & Birth Announcement Portraits. We held visiting the Disney Store and seeing the Easter bunny over Katie's head, if she took good pictures and was well behaved. If she began acting hyper or antsy, all we had to do is mention the Disney Store. Buddy, she'd straight up real quick and beg us to let her go to the big mall. Colton was getting hungry right at the time they called us back to begin taking pictures. Ugh! I was so hoping that a 1/2 oz. of milk would tie him over a few minutes. I ended up feeding him between shoots and we took the opportunity for the photographer to take most of Katie's pictures before Colton. This was a good idea because by the end of the photo shoot, both kids were getting tired, hungry and bored. Of course, we got several pictures because they were so good. Why is it that I never leave that place without spending less than $100? Hey if you've ever had your portrait done at a Portrait Innovations, you know the tons of pictures you receive, so you can't resist. I always have lots of pictures left over after mailing them out to everyone. I put most of today's pictures on our photosite for your viewing, but here are a few of my favorites:

We had some time before our pictures would be available for pick up, so we went ahead to the Galleria. I had to return a nightgown back to Belk that Katie received, so we spent a lot of time in there. I love the Belk at the Galleria so much better than our little local store because they have such a wide variety than we do. Anyway, Katie and I found two pretty sun dresses that she had to have. One reminds me of the sixties A-line dress with huge watercolor type flowers in bright colors like fuchsia, yellow & green. The other dress is a light blue with mermaids & ocean life all over it. So cute and it was only $12! Colton received a Belk gift card, so I used it to get him his very own piggy bank and a cute sailboat overall outfit. Can you believe he wears a size 3 months? The newborn sleepers, he has seems to be too short on him. By this time, I was already beginning to wear out. Ugh! I miss shopping so much and was getting aggravated because my right side was giving me fits. I sat down for a little bit and felt okay enough to take Katie to the Disney Store. She was so excited! They had their flip flops & sunglasses on sale. I could pick two items for $8. So, Katie wanted a pair of Ariel flip flops & sunglasses to match for just $8. I made it out of there cheap this trip compared to the past. Usually Katie begs me to get her all types of stuffed animal characters. It wasn't long before she jumped into the big pile of stuffed characters. When I shamed her and got her out, she grabbed all the ones she liked and put them in pile in the floor to play with. The store was pretty empty and my back was killing me, so I let her do it. Doug couldn't believe what he was seeing when he made into the store. He asked me if the pile of animals in the floor were already there or if Katie did it. I admitted that I let her do it. I guess he thought I was being a terrible parent for letting her do it, but I was so tired. We stopped by the food court to get me something to drink. Katie asked if she could ride the carousel. So after we ate our snack, her and Doug went for a ride around. I've got pictures on my phone that I'll have to share with you at another time. Too late to download right now. I wanted to stop by Gymboree before leaving the mall. Unfortunately, Gymboree wasn't were it use to be and I was too tired to turn around and go looking for it. Me and the kids will have to go on another trip to Bridgestreet one day and shop at that Gymboree. That sounds like a nice Spring Day outing. I did stop by Hallmark to look for birth announcements and didn't realize how expensive they were. A pack of 10 cards that you draft out on your computer was $15. That seemed so high. I told Doug about it and he suggested that I design my own on our computer. I want them to look nice, so I don't know if I want to do it or not. Meanwhile, I'll check out BAM, OfficeMax & Hobby Lobby for birth announcements.

We had such a nice day and hope we have many more of them.