Wynn is 6 Months!

Our baby boy is growing up so fast! Every day he learns and discovers something new. So we decided to film his 1st taste of solid-ish food, rice cereal. I'm pretty sure he loves it! Happy Easter and Happy 6 Months Wynn!!

Wynn's 1st Meal from Ivey Pictures on Vimeo.

How to Fry a Turkey

You might think that frying turkey is kind of a new thing, but the Ivey's have been fryin 'em since the dawn of time! It is definitely new to me. I am still in training and hope to someday earn my black belt in The Art of Frying Turkey from my father in-law, Master Rodney.  This is what I've learned so far! Smaller turkeys are best! Somewhere between 10-11 1/2 lbs. If they're too large they might not cook all the way through or be able to fit easily into your pot. You want to make sure the PEANUT OIL can totally surround the turkey. Your turkey MUST be totally thawed out and dry!!! This will take about 4 days in the refrigerator. Pull out all of the innards and inject with your choice of seasoning. The Ivey's use a highly guarded ancient secret recipe that takes 80 years to achieve access to. All I know about it is that it's a Butter Creole injection. So here's a link to one I found on Google.

This is Papa Charles Ivey. He was the Master of Masters at frying turkeys! I'm not sure when he fried his first, but judging by the age of this Oldsmoble, he was already a seasoned pro back in the 80's! {Also, the Ivey's backyard sets the perfect scene for frying turkey. It's like a waterfront campground complete with a fire pit, oyster table, citrus trees, pepper plants,  flora, fauna, antiques, and little characters everywhere!} The older the pot the better!Heat the peanut oil up to 350 degrees. Make sure you don't put too much oil in the pot, it will start to boil and overflow when you put the turkey in.Here's the Master at work! Very slowly placing the turkey in the oil while the flame is turned way down or even off. Notice he also has shoes on!While the turkey cooks at 350 degrees for 3 minutes per pound plus 5 minutes, we hang out at Susan's hide-a-way on the creek.We like to shoot stuff while waiting!This is Krissy's little sister Cassie. She shoots the turkeys for us! lolYou don't want to get shot by this gun!Don't mess with the Church of Christ!!!! Backyard guardian.The oil temperture will go down when cooking but you want to try to keep as close to 350 as possible. Your meat thermometer should be about 165 degrees.This is me taking the finished turkey out. You can pretty much read Rodney's lips as he tells me "you don't ever want to wear flip flops when frying a turkey". Yes, dripping hot oil on your feet is painful! Note taken!!The Master in his element! Now just wait to cool and drain and the turkey is ready to be served. The peanut oil can be saved and reused about 4-5 times.And of course Wynn is next in line to learn the Art of Frying Turkey! Hopefully one day I will learn Susan's Peanut Boiling Recipe!!!

(PS - FRY TURKEY AT YOUR OWN RISK)

 

Krissy's Wedding Gown Drawing

I wish I could say this was my idea but it wasn't. One of our friends asked me to draw her wedding gown as a way of preserving it rather than storing it in a box.  I knew that drawing silk would present certain challenges so I had to change a few things from my usual style. I wanted to draw Krissys gown first to make sure I could even pull it off  (and I just wanted to draw hers first of course:). I wound up with different paper, pencils, and even using powdered graphite for the first time.  The result was something unique and will forever be a reminder of our big day! Click here to see another drawing! Krissy coming down the isle. I'll never forget it!! Photo by Mark Pennington It now hangs in our dining room!

Drawing Number One!

This is my (Chad) first real drawing. Drawn way back in 1995 when I was 18 for my Drawing 101 class. I can't remember exactly how long it took to complete but I know I spent all of my spring break at my parents dining room table working. It was the only assignment I completed.I have sold many prints of it over the years and I have been offered thousands for the original. I guess I'm sentimental, I have never been able to let it go. I'll probably give it to my son someday!

PS. I got a B in that class because I skipped school too many times and went surfing!

To see our light paintings click here

Wynn is One Month

Everyone said time will speed up when you have kids. Man were they right!! The last month has been the fastest of my life!Here's our baby boy Wynn Garrett at one month. We are so happy and thankful for him!!!

PS..  I spelt wEIghs wrong!! Sorry!!!  -- Chad

I'm a Daddy!

The best day of my life came on 9-9-12! Here's a few words and photos about the day my son was born! --In case you haven't already seen it, Doug and Laura at Take One Productions made this (promo) video for us. This is how we told our families we were pregnant!

Ivey Pictures Promo Video from Take One Productions on Vimeo.

Krissy and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on 6-16-12. As a surprise, I loaded up all of our camera gear and drove to Big Talbot Island before dinner. I set the camera on a tripod and took this photo of us. Krissy is about 7 months pregnant here!

Of course we felt ridiculous taking pictures of ourselves!! This is what most of the pictures looked like :) Our moms got together and threw a super nice baby shower for us! Here's a few of the details.Thank You so much to all of our family and friends that came to this shower and others! We appreciate everything you have done for us and we are very thankful for each and every one of you!!This is Krissy at 9 1/2 months pregnant. She never lets me post pictures of her but she's sleeping now!Here's one of her belly while I'm at it!!!! We don't have any photos when Krissy went into labor and here's why. She woke up at 6 A.M. with contractions about 4 minutes apart. Within 20 minutes they had escalated to 2 minutes apart and were much more intense. We threw a couple of things in the car and raced off to the hospital, a 45 minute drive. I made it in 26!We made it just in the nick of time! Wynn Garrett Weeks was born at 12:04 PM via emergency C-section!!I managed to grab these photos of Wynn through the glass at the nursery. I'm not sure if I was more stunned that he was here already or at that head full of thick, black hair!!Wynns first bath. I didn't know how to do it so the nurse had to show me!This is one of our wonderful nurses, Andra. She has been at St. Vincent's as a newborn nurse for 43 years. She was Krissys nurse when she was born!! Wynn was sleepy after his bath!The next couple of days at the hospital was a magical time for us! We had plenty of time together getting to know Wynn and visiting with some our closest friends and family.It's hard to believe Krissy is in a LOT of pain in these pictures. She couldn't even walk! She still looked great regardless!!This is Krissys mom. She instantly fell in love with Wynn!Krissys dad was very excited! He can't wait for Wynn to be big enough to play! My mom also fell in love with Wynn right away!My dad was also really excited!! And he's really pumped we had a boy,,,,someone to go fishing with!!!These are our doctors and great friends, Mike and Paula Phelan! We can not thank them enough for everything they have done for us!!Paula came by every day to check on us and visit with Wynn!This is Shannon Phelan. Krissy has helped to raise her since birth!We were so happy to get to see Weezie Phelan. She drove in from college when she heard the news! This is PJ. She was Krissys nurse at her pediatricians office when she was little. Pj used to have to hold krissy down to give her shots! We didn't know she now works at St. Vincent's! Krissy and her family were so happy to see her and she helped make our stay there so much more special! Thank You PJ!!!My Aunt Dottie loves Wynn! We were so happy she and my cousin Tara came to meet Wynn.These are some of our wonderful neighbors, Cecilia and Gordon. Gordon had a doctors appointment so they stopped by. We were so happy they did!My mom and dad got us these flowers from Bold Blooms! Krissys mom was given this little ceramic baby stroller when Krissy was born. She kept it all these years! After the hospital we stayed at Krissys parents house for a few days.

This is my mom holding Wynn. She looks exactly the same in this photo as she does in old photos when I was Wynns age.Wynn and his 0-th birthday cake! Next year you'll have a candle little buddy!!Great Grandma GinGin and Papa Bill couldn't wait to meet him!Great, Great Aunt Dee! She loves Wynn and was so happy to see the family grow!!These are our nieces. They are going to have so much fun with Wynn!It was kind of sad to cut off our hospital tags. We didn't want it to end!Grandma Noni (Susan) gave Wynn a bath. Pretty sure he loved it! We finally made it home after a full week. I snuck a few photos of Krissy and Wynn while they weren't looking! Wynn's favorite place is in his mothers arms!We are so lucky to have such talented friends! Thank You Jamie Smith for the family photos below and Jill Stonier for doing Krissy's makeup!  Our first family photo. Taken in Wynn's room in front of his huge chalkboard (In case he wants to practice being an Artist!).

And don't forget about Haole!!  This is what she did when we came home with Wynn!!

Thank You again to all of our family and friends for all of your help, support and awesome food!!!!! Chad, Krissy, Wynn and Haole

Promo Video - Take One Productions Cakes - Gilmons Bakery Baby Shower Invitations - Heather O'Brien Design  Flowers - Bold Blooms Family Portraits - Jamie Smith Photography Makeup - Jill Stonier Other Photos - Us!