Growing Fast

Luke will be 2 months old on Thursday- time flies! He is growing fast and we are trying to keep up :)
At his 1 month check up, he had already gained nearly 2 pounds from his birth weight and grown 1 3/4 inches. He has a 2 month check up on Friday and it will be fun to see how much more he's grown. He is smiling every day, but saves his biggest grins for Evan. He has rolled over twice, but is still happiest in someone's arms which is fine by us!

 A good morning kiss from big brother Miles

 Fascinated by the mobile above the swing, just like his brothers were at the same age.

 Trying out the play gym- he likes it in short spurts of time

 Our happy boy!

 Talking to Daddy

Sometimes we're serious too :)

A Visit From Our California Girls

Julie and Kathryn flew out for a visit at the end of February. They were excited to meet baby Luke and we had a fun week together: playing with the big boys, snuggling the littlest boy, and of course celebrating the girls' birthdays!

 Aunty Kathryn arrived a couple of days before Julie and spent most of her time like this (with at least one Hamilton boy on her lap!)

 Aunty Julie also got some good snuggle time in!

 We celebrated the girls' birthdays a few times (we're all about stretching out the fun!). On Julie's actually birthday we had lunch at our favorite new place in town- Salt. Luke was a dream baby and slept through the whole meal. That evening we had yummy Italian food- The Pioneer Woman's baked ziti and garlic bread (and wine, of course). 

P.S. Miles opted to wear his Thor costume to dinner.

 The boys thought Julie and Kathryn would enjoy a 49ers party (to follow up on last year's Giants theme) so they changed into their jerseys before we served cake. Even Luke got in on the theme.

 Making a wish (or 4).

Evan was stuck at work for the first birthday dinner, so on Friday night we celebrated again…this time with Julie's favorite- lobster :) We were sure to tell her that we have this for dinner every Friday night.

On Saturday J & K took the big boys for a hike on the Chattahoochee River

 Thank you girls for the visit! Same time next year?!

Atlanta's Snowpocalypse

Eight days after Luke was born, Atlanta was hit by a big-for-the-south snow and ice storm. Fortunately our family was all home together and so it ended up being a pretty fun snow day, as opposed to the snow nightmare that it was for so many around us!

The morning the storm came in, Jack woke up not feeling great and stayed home from school. When Evan saw that the meteorologists were forecasting 1-2 inches for our area he decided to play it safe and work from home. Having Jack and Evan at home that day made all the difference. The storm ended up being worse than predicted and all around us kids and husbands (including many friends of ours) ended up stuck at school, on school buses, or on the roads for hours…including overnight for quite a few. I've never been so thankful to be at home with all of my people! It actually ended up being a fun day for the Hamiltons. The snow was beautiful, we had a fire in the fireplace, two of my girlfriends brought us dinner, and the boys had a great time playing with Daddy in the snow…good thing since we ended up being stuck at home for the rest of the week!

 Our neighborhood covered in white

 Miles and Jack could have stayed out in the snow all day- they loved it!

 Our house in the snow

 A look down our street

 Getting Daddy with snowballs!

Grammy and Pop-Pop Visit

Grammy and Pop-Pop drove up from Florida at the beginning of February to meet baby Luke. We kept Grammy very busy…with baby Luke and everything else too (dishes, laundry, etc.!). She and Pop-Pop also surprised Jack and Miles with tickets to the circus. We had a great visit and were sad to see them go!

 Grammy spent much of her visit doing this :)

Grammy and Pop-Pop with their 3 grandsons

Happy 5th Birthday Miles!

Miles turned 5 on February 4. Evan, Jack and I all have birthdays in August/September, so Miles had been waiting for his turn for a long time! We started the day with a birthday donut, complete with 5 candles. He spent the morning playing with his friend Grant, followed by lunch at McDonalds, basketball class, and finally cake and presents at home. It was a full day!

 Counting the candles on his birthday donut

 Making a wish!

Happy #5 Miles! We love you :)

Meet Baby Luke

Luke Evan Hamilton was born January 20, 2014 at 4:02 PM. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 21 inches in length (another big Hamilton boy!). He is a very good baby and timed his arrival perfectly- as in the week before 2 big snow storms shut down the city of Atlanta and closed school for a combined 8 days! We have spent most of the last month hunkered down at home enjoying our little guy. He already has his two big brothers wrapped around his little finger!

Our Year in Review

We've had a year full of fun! Here are some of the highlights:

January: 

We drove from Georgia to Florida over the boys' winter break and enjoyed 2 fun nights in Orlando, taking in Disney World for the first time! Then we continued south to Stuart, Florida and spent a week at the beach with Grammy and Pop-Pop.

February:

Miles turned 4 and we celebrated with a turtle cake, per his request. He loved it!

 March:

Jack played baseball on the Nationals and had a great season. Here he is with the game ball!

April:

We enjoyed spring break in Florida at Grammy and Pop-Pop's. Jack learned to boogie board and Miles learned how to swim. Both boys worked on their fishing skills and won ribbons at the Sailfish Point fishing derby. 

Aunty Julie also visited us in April and spent most of her visit doing this!

May:

We spent 5 days in New York to celebrate Pop-Pop's 70th birthday!

June:

We started summer vacation with a trip to the Georgia Aquarium. This has become one of our favorite places to visit.

We also celebrated Father's Day with a trip to Zoo Atlanta and a yummy ice cream cake at home!

July:

We flew to California (for 25 days!) and had a great visit. We spent 10 days in Lake Tahoe with the Choys and enjoyed spending every second outside.

The boys went hiking with Aunty Kathryn and Grandpa in Sunol. They love to hike!

August:

Jack turned 7 and was thrilled to get a motor scooter!

We also celebrated Evan's BIG 40 and were very excited to have his family come to town to celebrate!

September:

The birthday celebrations continued! Evan and I celebrated my birthday during a 4 day kid-free getaway to New Orleans. We had such a good time (thank you Grandma and Grandpa for babysitting!)

October:

Miles played his first season of soccer on the Chargers and proved to be quite the defender!

Batman and Darth Vader had a great time trick or treating with their friends (and sharing their loot with Mom and Dad!)

November:

Jack played fall baseball on the Jayhawks and his team placed 2nd in the 8U end-of-season tournament!

Miles dressed up and sang at the preschool Thanksgiving feast. He did a great job on stage!

December:

We had a great time with visits from family throughout the month. A week with Grandma, Christmas with Grammy and Pop-Pop, and New Year's with Aunty Julie!

We are excited to see what 2014 brings...namely a new baby boy!!