Give a Rhodeso some chocolate ice cream...

And leave her unattended for a few minutes....and this is what you may come back to!

Love my little chocolate monster, but boy can she make a mess! :)

Weekend roundup!

In an effort to keep the blog updated, just wanted to post some pictures from this past week/weekend from my phone!

Rhodes loves to do two things - she loves to find something for the day/week/night that she is obsessed with and wear it/hold it/take it everywhere with her while it is her current obsession. Last week - it was this shirt! (Note to self: Stop spending all of my money on cute matching smocked clothes - Rhodes prefers to dress herself and usually goes for a more casual look!) She wanted to wear it all day, then to bed, then again the next day. Also, in an effort to stall going to bed, she tries to think of anything in her power that will get us to come back in her room or keep us from leaving her room at bedtime. During the pink shirt obsession night, she stalled trying to put together an outfit (she also likes to wear snow hats out during the day - quite the fashionista!) and went to bed exactly like this...shoes and all!

(And, yes...once we have potty training completely 100% - we have two big goals coming up...get rid of pacifier and move to a big girl bed! I am stalling trying to keep this girl my baby forever!)

We had a fun weekend - kicking it off with the Blue Devil Walk. We didn't go to the game b/c Ryan and I already had plans - but we walked over to the stadium and watched the blue devil walk with the girls - love this time of year and so fun to get to walk over with the girls. On the way back, I was struggling up a big hill, pushing Ali in the stroller - but loved the view we had from afar of Rhodes on her daddy's shoulders!
We made our rounds on Saturday to three different parties - two birthday parties for the girls and a wedding shower for good friends of ours on Saturday night! The only pictures I came home with were from one of the fun birthday parties that we all went to! It was at Miss Mamie's cupcakes and then Marietta Pizza Company and the girls were so great (even after eating cupcakes before pizza!) and we all had a great time!





Every now and then, I can feel a hint of Fall in the air and it gets me so excited!! Loved being with our little family this weekend and having a few nights out with Ryan and friends! Looking forward to lots of fun family time to come this Fall!

First day of school today!!! Rhodes' version!

My sweet Rhodeso was so excited this morning to wake up and go to school! After my post on Sunday about the lack of sleep and accidents - it's possible I un-jinxed myself! She went to bed at 5:15 pm on Sunday night and didn't wake up until 7:00 on Monday morning - yay for sleep! (and slept great last night too!) And, we have had zero accidents since Sunday - yahoo! I was able to send my baby to school today in her big girl panties after all! :) Rhodes and I got up this morning and made breakfast and just chatted. She named all of her friends that she is excited to see at school today and I am on pins and needles waiting to hear how her first day went! :) We love our little Wooga and we are so proud of her and the little character she is!


Rhodes was so excited to get to school that she did not want/have time to fool with the Mama paparazzi! Just to give you a glimpse of our attempted photo session...

(Ryan had to get to work early for a closing this morning, so Ali was the photographer!)

And, after documenting Ali's first day so well yesterday with a picture of her with her new teacher...unfortunately, this is the best I could do for Rhodes! :) She went right in and didn't look back! I considered asking her teacher to get with her and hold her so she would look at me - but, with a couple sad kiddos, she had her hands full - plus, why prolong my goodbye and maybe make Rhodes sad in the end?? I have to admit, it felt kind of weird walking out of there with both of my little girls in school - but, felt so good to know that they both looked so happy when I left and did not even look back! :)

**After pick-up note** Rhodes had an AWESOME first day! I wish I had a tape recorder so you could hear her excitement and her review of the day when she got in the car! She was a chatterbox and told me everything she did and all of the friends she played with! This Mama had MISSED her today - I mean, she had gone to school last year for the same amount of time - but we had quite the summer of togetherness and I missed my baby today! Plus, she goes to lunch bunch until 1:45 and I picked up Ali at noon (she will usually have ballet on Tuesdays but class does not start until September) and I just wanted to run in there and sneak a peek and grab her to hear how her day was going! And, after two years of having to walk in and get my toddler, it was bittersweet to pull up and see my "baby" standing out there, looking like such a big girl with someone else walking her out (not needing her mama!) - made me tear up a bit! But, the tears were quickly wiped away when I saw and heard the excitement and the fun she had had that day! SO so proud of my baby girl!

It's the first day of school today!!!

Happy first day of Pre-K to my favorite little 4 year old!! Ali was so giddy all day yesterday and woke up with the biggest grin on her face today - couldn't wait for her big day with her little friends!! I was one proud Mama today (and every day!)....love this little sweet pea!
First day in the 4's at school!
Rhodes prefers to be the photographer...even if it's just with a cassette tape!
Say cheese!

Ali with her new teacher, Mrs. Hills! (once you get to 4K - you are big time and start calling teachers by their last names!) :) We love her already! Ali walked right in, gave me a big hug, then, as we said goodbye, she ran out into the hall and gave her little sister a big goodbye hug. Melted this Mama's heart!

The first day was a big success! When I picked Ali up, she was a chatterbox telling me about all of the friends that she saw and played with - plus, she got to be the class leader on the first day! She got to pick where we celebrated after school - she chose Zaxby's and a trip to the School Box!

Striking a pose at lunch...

Having fun!


Here's to a great year! More pictures to come tomorrow after Rhodesy's first day!

Back in the swing of things!

Happy Sunday! We are all excited b/c we are kicking off back to school week at the Patrick household. Ali starts Pre-K tomorrow and could not be more excited. She has a precious class full of cute little friends, great new teachers and such an eagerness to learn - she makes her Mama and Daddy so proud! I know this is going to be a great year for her and I am going to soak up every minute of her 9-12 days (Mon-Thurs) and our Friday mornings together before she starts big school next year! :)

Rhodes starts big girl school on Tuesday! She is so excited to be a big girl and to get to go in carpool line two days a week. We had meet and greet last week for both of the girls and they both loved it! I also love Rhodes' teachers and her cute little class (even though there is only one other little girl and 8 boys!!) and I think she is going to have a great year! Rhodes was literally running the halls after her meet & greet saying "This was SO much fun!" ....sure makes me Mama feel good to know she is in such good hands and loves it! :) We are so, so proud of her - but, we have had some setbacks the last few days. For some reason she has had lots of accidents and is kind of moving backwards in potty training - just in time to start school! :) We are not quite sure what is going on - but she has also been waking up in the middle of the night and screaming/crying for an hour or so - not good for a prego mama who is already having trouble sleeping! To top it off - the first night she started the sleep deprived nights, I had already woken up sick (sore throat, pounding headache, and ugly cold to go with it!) and have been feeling under the weather the last few days. Thank God for Ryan and for the weekend! I think this family just needs to get back in the swing of things - back to a good routine, good sleep and a regular schedule! It is the perfect time for school to start around here! :)

And, just an update on Patrick baby #3! I went in for my 13 week appointment last Monday (8/15) and, after our ultrasound, we moved our due date from 2/20 to 2/23. I'm thinking a Valentine's Day baby would be perfect! :) (or just a healthy baby any time in February would be perfect, of course) Since this is our last baby, we are planning on NOT finding out the sex this go-around. Never in a million years did I think those words would come out of my mouth, but, I have to admit, it is pretty exciting wondering what this baby will be. Let's just see if I can do it and not lose my mind (not being able to plan!) before February...fingers crossed I don't give in! :) So far, everything has gone smoothly and honestly, it's hard to even find time to think about being pregnant while chasing around the older 2! I hope to keep the blog updated often with pregnancy news as we anticipate the arrival of our baby next February. We have a busy year ahead of us and we are so excited for what lies ahead!

Without further ado...

Ryan, Ali, Rhodes, and I would like to introduce you to the soon-to-be newest member of our little family...

Baby Patrick #3

*Coming into this world mid-late February!*

(FYI - Just 2 pictures of our little bit from different views - there's only one baby in there!)

We are all so excited for this new addition and can not wait for February!!

As good as it gets!

Life as we know it is pretty darn good...although I have a feeling it's about to get even better! Tomorrow marks the first day of school for Marietta City and it is hard to believe that some of Ali's little first friends will be starting kindergarten. I can't believe that in one year my first little baby will be heading that way as well - so glad I have an entire year to let it soak in. I have a feeling this time next year, I will be a basket case! We have enjoyed a fun summer - but I can't believe it is already that time for school to start again! We still have about a week and a half to enjoy before our daily routines kick back in - and I have a goal to enjoy some lazy summer mornings/afternoons with nowhere to be! Unfortunately, we did not get enough of those this summer - but, then again, I'd probably be stir crazy and pulling out my hair if we did! So here are some pictures to enjoy to sum up our July! Before you look, let me preface by saying - most of these are iphone pictures and about 90% of them are blurry - but you get the idea. I am so jealous of people that come back with picture perfect memories of the beach vacations, etc - I am not one of those...but, I did live in the moment and hope I remember these days. One of these days, I will be better about taking pictures - but, until then, I need to find someone that will follow me around and take great photographs of our memories while I am busy making them! :)

We rung in Ryan's 31st birthday mid-July and celebrated by going to my cousin, Jessica's rehearsal dinner in Atlanta that night. The whole wedding weekend was beautiful and Ali was in Heaven getting to be the flower girl! Rhodes also thought she was the flower girl...but, our little busy bee two year old was not quite ready for the big role! (maybe by the time Uncle Sig gets married one day! :)) Ali loved every second of it and we were soo proud of our little flower girl. She also developed a quick crush on the ring bearer and had fun playing chase and giggling at all of his jokes all weekend long! (we are going to be in big trouble with this little flirt one day! yikes!)


The girls both stayed out way passed their bedtimes both nights - but had the time of their life (no exaggeration - they were in Heaven!) dancing the night away. There is nothing that these two Patrick girls love more than singing and dancing and they were truly the belles of the ball! (well, the young belles of the ball - of course the bride stole the show!) They did not stop dancing until we dragged them out the door after 10 pm...they danced with anyone they could - daddy, Papa, Uncle Sig, Uncle Ty....we had some worn out girls after this wedding weekend! As long as the music was going, their little bodies were moving to the beat! (again, excuse the blurriness...and let me know if you know of someone to fill my full-time photographer needs) :)

Daddy and his girls...
Papa and his girls...



Dancing buddies

Sharing Papa and Uncle Sig...

On Sunday morning, we got up early, cleaned our house for a showing that day and heading to SSI. We spent one night at our beach house, then headed down Monday morning to Amelia Island to stay at the Ritz for a few nights...it was perfection! Ryan got to play golf, surprised me with a mani/pedi at the Ritz spa and we had lots of good (crazy?) family time!

Searching for seashells...




Heading to the awesome pool...
The girls did a Ritz pirate scavenger hunt and got some fun glowsticks to wear at night....always such a struggle to get these two to smile and look at me at the same time! :)
After our short, but sweet adventure to Amelia, we headed back to our home away from home (St Simons) for a week. We relaxed, ate well, swam a lot, played putt-putt, and even ventured out to Summer Waves water park one afternoon to check it out! We all had fun - but, it made me realize that I am not yet ready to head to White Water just yet - maybe next summer!


Ali was a competitive little Putt-putter..
But, Rhodes preferred dancing on the sidelines...

Making beach breakfast faces...



Fun at the Summer Waves!

One important note - when we arrived in St. Simons our first night of the trip, Rhodes also decided that she was finally ready to say "goodbye" diapers and pullups and "hello" to big girl Tinkerbell panties. Hallelujah! A few weeks later, we have a diaper-free house for now and although there are still accidents sometimes - I could not be more proud of my little Rhodeso! There was a time (probably a month ago and before) I thought I would be sending Rhodes to kindergarten in diapers b/c she just refused to use the potty - but she proved me wrong and she is such a girl girl now! There are many mornings, though, where Rhodes decides she would rather go without any pants (easier potty access) all morning long - and run around outside panty-less (with just her pajama top on), so we are working on that! :) Love my little character!

Here I go on a blogging roll!! Let's see if I can keep it up!