beach day 5-7

On Friday we spent the morning at the beach and it was awesome but sadly I was having too much fun to take any pictures. On Friday after naps we went to play putt-putt which we were all pretty excited about - the one we choose had a train that you ride to the top of the course (which Caleigh was thrilled about).

And we hope Andrew is a natural - though he didn't get actually get any shots in this round... he certainly looked the part. We had a great time and on Saturday morning Adam's parents drove down from Charlotte. They stayed with the kids on Saturday (and showed them an excellent time at Alligator Adventure and at the pool) and Adam and I went to play golf (which I love and even more, I love playing with and spending quality time with Adam). After golf we headed to the Winds on Ocean Isle Beach which is one of our most favorite resorts because it feels so tropical. We loved the tiki bar and sitting by the beach without kids (wow it was so much more relaxing). We had a great dinner and ice cream and then we had fun walking on the beach that evening and even more, we loved going to bed early and sleeping all night with no interruptions. We had a great breakfast and then drove down to North Myrtle to grab the kids, pack up, and head back to Charlotte. We got back to Charlotte around 3 pm - just in time to quickly unpack before lifegroup and the Lost finale. And now it is back to the grind. But we had such a great time together as a family and I am so thankful for it and for the great memories we made while we were there.

beach day 4

On Thursday it was overcast again so we dressed the kids alike (on accident), packed them up, and headed to the outlets. As a treat Caleigh and Andrew got to ride the mini carousel and Caleigh loved it.

And Andrew didn't really know what to think. And by lunchtime it had cleared up. So (as we did pretty much every day) - we ate lunch and put the kids down for naps... then I went to the pool to lay out and read for 1.5 to 2 ish hours (every day! it was awesome! and now I am tan!) while Adam worked on the computer (boo work) and the kids slept. When they got up around 4 we headed to the beach again and miraculously after a lot of encouraging Caleigh got over her fear of the water and she wanted to 'fly' in the waves (meaning we hold her arms and swing her through them) and she kept going a little deeper that I was comfortable with but I loved it that she was having fun. And I captured this shot of Adam working on a sand castle with Andrew... I hope it is the first of many shots of my guys working/playing together over the years to come. And I finally got a picture of this little peanut - she was a busy girl on the beach. I love the beach around 5 or 5:30 pm - it isn't as hot and the aren't many people out there and it is awesome to sit in your little beach chairs and have your kids pour sand on your legs and cover your feet while you drink a beer. And it is equally awesome to watch you sweet munchkins chase the birds on the beach. And I wish I had a shot of Andrew bear-crawling his way after Caleigh to do whatever she was doing. Caleigh was pretty obsessed with sitting in holes while we were there so we would dig her a hole and she would sit in it and play for quite some time. This time we covered her feet with her 'sand silky' and made her a pillow too and she felt so at home she figured she would suck her thumb and rest. What fun! And it really was fun every day we were at the beach but that doesn't mean it wasn't a huge hassle getting everybody in swimsuits, putting on sunscreen (especially when you almost 1 year old wiggling machine isn't a fan), loading up the car (yes, boo, we had to drive to the beach), getting out of the car, carrying all the stuff down to the sand, setting up the tent and the chairs, and finally sitting down. Only in a couple of hours to pack everything and everyone up, walk up to the shower, rinse off all sand toys and beach chairs, rinse off kids who don't like the cold water soaking them, put said kids in car (wet and grouchy and cold), rinse off grown-ups, drive back home, unload kids, bathe kids, cook meal, etc. So it was so fun and by the end the routine of getting to the beach and getting back didn't seem as hard as it did the first day (as in, by that time, we knew it was worth the work). But it was exhausting... so by the time the kids hit the sack we were ready for some real R&R (including but not limited to lots of dessert, beer/wine, and movies).

beach day 3

On Wednesday we spend the morning at the beach and Caleigh found her fear of the ocean. She was totally fine on Tuesday and when we first got there (at like 8:30 am - gotta beat the bad sun) - and then an hour or so later she was totally freaked out by the waves. And if you would try to coax her into the water she would point toward the beach and say, "Mama, I wanna go that way." And because you love her so much and don't want to hear her scream you quickly oblige.

After the fear set in... This little man was bear-crawling his way all over the beach. And after Caleigh played in the sand for a little bit her hands were a little sandy and (we all know how she doesn't like to be dirty) she had to head in to the tent to clean them off with a towel. This is the only shot of me on the beach at all... and Caleigh's hand is in front of my face... and Andrew is meticulously eating the sand. But he is so cute. Let me tell you... all that sand is not easy to clean off of an 11 month old boy. Mom, it's bright out here.

So I need to do downward-facing dog? We had a blast on Wednesday at the beach and after naps on Wednesday we went up to Cherry Grove and met the Vaughns who happened to be at the beach the same week as us. They let us (Caleigh) play in the baby pool at their hotel and I wish I had pictures of that because it was the most excited she had been the entire trip. She LOVED it. The Vaughns have 4 awesome kids who stayed with our 2 little kids and babysat them while the grown-ups went out to dinner. It was awesome to have some adult time with such great conversations (and our kids had a blast too) - thanks Vaughns!

beach day 1 and 2

Last week we went to the beach! Adam's parents rented a condo on a golf course in North Myrtle Beach for the month of May and graciously let us go and stay for a week. We were thrilled at the chance to go, as Adam was on the second week of his two week break from his 2 nights a week (6 pm - 9 pm) Wake Forest MBA classes. It was such a treat to get to be together as a family for a whole week and I really wished that it didn't have to end. But alas, it did and now we are back in the grind. Here is a recap of our week.

We drove down on Monday morning and got to the beach around 5. Tuesday morning we woke up hoping to head straight to the ocean but it was cool and rainy-ish so we went to the aquarium instead. It was great!

Although the kids did love seeing the fish the favorite part of the excursion was climbing up (there was a little kids ladder in the back) and then sliding down this shark's mouth... basically a glorified piece of playground equipment. They loved it and Andrew was like some kind of monkey climbing up and then sliding down on his tummy.

I love this shot even though the lighting is terrible and it is blurry. Sweet boy. Siblings gotta hug... We came back for naps and then by the afternoon the clouds rolled out and we headed down to the beach. Andrew is wondering why I am not coming along in this shot... See how clean his face is? This is before he discovered how yummy the sand is to eat.

beach prep

We tried on Caleigh's swim suits to make sure they fit well and 5 minutes after I helped her put this one on, this is how I found her...

Guess she is excited that it is summer! And she is very adamant that if she is wearing a swimsuit she MUST also be wearing a hat... very adamant. We are super excited for our beach trip! This is Adam's second week off (of MBA classes) and we are thrilled for this chance to get away with just our little family of 4. We are going to North Myrtle Beach and will stay from Monday until Sunday. On Saturday Adam's parent's are coming down to stay with the kids and Adam and I are playing golf and spending a night up at Ocean Isle Beach. Yay! We are super excited!

11 months

Wow - Andrew is 11 months old. I just did his 10 month update and we have only had one major change since then - last week on Monday (5/10) Andrew started being able to stand up in the middle of the floor without holding on to anything. He will then just stand momentarily by himself (not making any attempts to walk) and then plop back down on his bottom. He has excellent balance. It is so surprising to see him stand alone like this.

Andrew is also cutting some major teeth. He still only has 2 teeth, both on the bottom. There are 2 on the top that are trying to poke through now and causing him much distress and grouchiness. Otherwise he is such a great little guy. I don't know if this is a second child thing or what but he plays SO well by himself. He could be in his room for an hour and just crawl around and stand and play with a variety of toys. He still drinks out of bottles but in the next month we will have to start the transition to all sippy cup and start giving him tastes of real milk. I think he is going to be so smart - he seems to be very self-motivated to do things well and will practice the same things over and over again (putting balls in container a certain way, etc). It will be neat to continue to see his little personality develop. This is 2 minutes in the life of Andrew - mostly a boring video - but it does show his lack of fear and love of opening and closing doors.

it has been hot!

It has been quite warm so far this spring/ almost summer. To help with the heat we got out this 'duck pool' which is actually supposed to be used as a baby bathtub. Go figure. We filled it with water on the porch and the kids had a blast playing in it (actually Caleigh hogged it most of the time and Andrew just banged this little shovel around). And it is only May. Wow.

caleigh update

Caleigh wearing her work shoes...

Caleigh has been talking up a storm lately and basically can say any and everything (when she wants to of course, she is quite shy).

-She likes to talk a lot about her school next year. (She is going to go to preschool 2 days/week for about 3 hours.) She talks about how she will go to school next year, that Walker, Harrison, and Milla will all be in her class. And that Bennett and Wyatt will be in another class but at the same school.

-She is concerned with things being 'broken,' even things where it sounds a little funny like toilet paper.

-She has been talking a lot about the beach because we are leaving for the beach next week!

It is hard to believe but at the end of this month Caleigh will be 2 and a half.

In other news, Caleigh is doing fabulously on the potty training front. This week we started just letting her sleep in panties at night (instead of a pull-up) and we double-sheeted her bed just in case (fitted mattress pad, sheet, another mattress pad, second sheet) - that way if she does have an accident we can just take off one layer in the middle of the night. We wake her up and take her to the bathroom before we go to bed but otherwise she stays dry and is doing so well!

gardening

My mom helped me pick out flowers and vegetable plants and graciously planted them for us to put on our porch (thanks Gigi!). Although I never thought I would say this, I am super excited to have a yard one day where I can plant a garden and tend to flowers. For now we are experimenting with our urban version of a 'garden'. Without Caleigh's help I would honestly probably forget to water the plants sometimes but she always wants to help. She loves being outside (as long as we don't see any flying bugs - all of which are bees to her... and all of which she is completely terrified of and she will make sure everyone around her knows all about it - usually at least a couple of times a day she tells me that "bumblebees live outside" as if to reassure herself that they aren't inside).

I am trying to remember the names of all that we have planted but I think those in the rail pot are purple petunias, the pink ones are geraniums, and the yellow ones are marigolds. In the big pot closest to Caleigh there is a Better Boy Bush tomato plant that just produced its first tomato - though it is not ripe yet (and there are little yellow flowers that indicate there are several more to come). Yay! In the other pot closest to the camera there is a jalapeno plant that is looking a little puny but does have new growth on it. The yellow plants in the stand are more marigolds. We love our little urban garden. And Caleigh is sporting her sassy pose... The growth of these plants and seeing the flowers bloom makes me think of so many analogies from Scripture using gardens and specifically the analogy in Isaiah 58:11 (which was actually the life verse we choose for Andrew) - "The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." My prayer for my family and I is that in life we would depend on the Lord to guide us and come to the Lord for water that never fails (John 4:13-14) so that we will be like our little porch garden - full of blooms and fruit and pleasing to the Lord.

sweet carolina boy

playing together

The kids have been playing so well together these days. Of course we have to referee the occasional fight (usually Andrew messing up something Caleigh was playing with or Caleigh pushing Andrew over) but they do great together. The other day they were playing farm. (Look how Andrew is sitting - he kept standing up holding on to the barn - hilarious.)

Oh, hey Mom. Seriously... you are taking this picture now...

warmer weather

As the weather has gotten warmer we have really enjoyed spending time on our porch - eating dinner out there, grilling out, and doing things like roasting marshmallows over the charcoal grill (what? - are we really those people).

Adam was hard at work over our tiny grill. Enjoying the fruits of his labor. And in other news Caleigh got her first real 'owie' that she really cared about. She was actually extremely distressed over it. Literally the first day that she wore shorts she bit it hard on a concrete driveway and scratched up her knee pretty bad - there was a fair amount of blood. We were talking with some friends about what Caleigh's personality is like and one of the things we realized about her is how concerned she is with things being out of place. She is obsessed with everything being in its correct place and for her this boo-boo was out of place and not supposed to be there. I think she was more upset about that part of it than it actually hurting. We have definitely heard a LOT about this 'owie' and all about her band aids. We are enjoying the warmer weather though!