last week...

I went back to work the Monday after vacation - on August 31st.  Andrew was 11 weeks old.  I was nervous to go back but it has been a really smooth transition.  The kids have done great without me home and it has been good to get back in the swing of things at work.  I really do enjoy working part-time.  My work schedule and my job are such blessings - I really appreciate Adam, and Gigi and PopPop, and Gammy and Grandpa's help on the days that I work!  Working some makes me so thankful for the days I am home with my sweet kiddos.

Awkward picture - she was about to fall down but somehow she steadied herself and Adam caught the image on film. Beautiful baby boy... The best I can get so far with both of them - the definitely look related - Andrew is looking more and more like Caleigh...

vacation!

The last week in August we headed down to Lake Keowee in South Carolina (near Clemson) where my parents rented a house for the week.  The house was on the lake and had a dock with a jetski, a kayack, and a canoe that we could use.  Even with 2 kids it really was a relaxing vacation - Andrew helped us out by sleeping through the night the first night of vacation (and everyday since then).  Adam and Caleigh posed on the jet ski...  Funny story - we could not figure out how to get it started because there was no keyhole - we spent a whole day looking for a keyhole but it is actually too old to have one - you don't even need a key!  We took a family ride with Caleigh around the cove - she was a big fan!

We played golf on Monday which was really fun (I miss it!) and then on Tuesday and Wednesday we rented a pontoon boat.  This is how Andrew enjoyed the boat...We found a fun beach area and docked there for swimming and playing in the sand.  The first time we found it on Tuesday night Caleigh and Karen weren't wearing swimsuits - oh well... And we forgot the sand toys... And we forgot a swim diaper (nice bum)... But she enjoyed it nonetheless... Caleigh took a turn driving the boat with Uncle David. And posed on the boat one last time... We explored the lake on the boat and had a great time tubing and sunning and cliff jumping (one of my favorite things!).  On Thursday and Friday we relaxed - played at the pool, walked the dogs and watched them swim, worked on puzzles, played Super Nintendo, played games, ate ALOT, and generally enjoyed each others company.  On Friday we went into "town" to go out to dinner at The Steakhouse Cafeteria.  Surprisingly it does not actually serve steak - the choices were fried chicken, flounder, or liver and onions.  It was such a downhome place but the food was really good.  Caleigh took a ride on PopPop's shoulders after dinner. And we found Pop Pop's kitchen - at our Pop Pop's kitchen you can find excellent omelets, grilled cheese, homemade bread, salads, and grilled chicken or steak... not sure about this Pop Pop's grill. And a family picture - some random girl took it on the fly, only took one picture, and it turned out awesome.  

Thanks for such a fun and relaxing vacation Gigi and PopPop!

bailey likes bubbles too -

A funny video we took at the lake...

busy weekend before vacation

The weekend before vacation (8/14, 8/15, 8/16) was SO busy for us!  On Friday night we celebrated Mary's 30th birthday party - 

Do we look hot?  Not looks hot, but temperature hot?  Because we were - blazing hot - it must have been 105 plus humidity there... Happy 30th to my sweet friend!  On Saturday morning we had a women's thankful brunch at church and it was awesome to hear about how God has worked in the difficult circumstances of several women.  On Saturday afternoon a crazy lady (my other sweet friend Carrie) was so gracious to open up her home and host a shower for another one of my good friends, Melissa.  Melissa is (hopefully) leaving for Prague soon to be a missionary and is due in September with her second baby (and they don't know if it's a boy or a girl!!! so brave...).  We celebrated in very European style with a tea party and Carrie was the hostest with the mostest...There's Melissa...  Cherith and I in a totally un-posed shot... Congrats Jake and Melissa and Sam - we can't wait to meet your new little one soon!

Then on Saturday night we had supper club and Lauren Reddick hosted.  Everything was set up beautifully and several of us said that we felt like we were at a wedding reception or something because we ate on a long table on her front porch.  It felt very elegant and southern and casual at the same time.  Here are the guys hanging out in their front yard...Beautiful setup -  A couple of the girls: Evyn, me, Mary, and Carrie - we missed Cherith and Lauren in the picture... All of the guys - Rob, Jordan, Tyler, Drew, Dave, and Adam What a fun weekend of fellowship - we are very blessed.

the week before vacation

We took some pics of the kids on Saturday morning - this was the best we could get...  Caleigh was too interested in Andrew to look at the camera.

The other day Caleigh started bringing me all the bows she could find and saying "wanna wear dis" which means, "I want to wear this."  So I put in all the bows.  This picture makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it.  She is holding diapers which must be somewhat heavy to her (but you can't see them in the picture) and so she looks like she is slumped over in a classic first day of school pose or something like that.  I can just see her saying, "But mom..."

And from the looks of this bath picture we are getting to the age of the posed 'smile.'  So much less cute than a real smile but it will do...

Who knew those bath letters stick to people too?

milestones

I am updating the blog from vacation at Lake Keowee in South Carolina with some exciting milestones that little A has achieved.   On Thursday before we left (8/20) Andrew rolled over from front to back! He did it twice that day at separate times and has rolled over several times since then. Yay little A - he is much earlier at 9 weeks and 4 days than Caleigh was at 15 weeks when she rolled over. Also he is sleeping through the night! Before we left we were trying to let him cry it out at night which was not going so well - he was up so much just fussing and naturally I thought that when we left for vacation he was going to do horrible with sleeping (new place, not his bed, etc.) but he has done great! On Saturday night (8/22) he went to bed at 8 pm, I woke him up at 10 pm for a dreamfeed, and then I put him right back to sleep and he didn't wake up again until 7:15 am!  Since then he has not looked back from sleeping through the night - he had a couple of earlier mornings - one at 6:15 and one at 6:25 but otherwise he is waking at 7 on the dot.  Here's to hoping this sleeping trend continues.  I forgot how much I love sleeping.  So happy vacation to us!

no is her favorite word

Adam captured this funny clip the other day when he turned on the camera to snap a quick picture of Caleigh and didn't realize it was on video mode.  Caleigh did not want to be filmed (she is in an anti-camera phase right now) and told Adam all about it.  No really is the word that she says the most, all the time...

little A is 2 months

On Friday Andrew turned 2 months old!  In some ways I can't believe he has only been with us for two months - he seems like he has always been a part of our family.  And in other ways it has been a hard two months!  People have asked often what was the hardest transition - 0 to 1 or 1 to 2 kids.  When someone asked us a couple of days ago Adam adamantly answered 1 to 2 and I answered 0 to 1.  It has been hard in different ways. 

0 to 1 was really emotionally difficult whereas 1 to 2 has been physically exhausting (one always needs something - especially with both so young) and Caleigh has had a difficult time adjusting and has been extra whiny and needy.  She is getting a little better with that but it is still just a hard age.  Our little A is just as sweet as can be - his medical issues have been fine this month (although he is so sensitive to what I eat... Chinese is not his friend) and we are enjoying him being more and more awake.

Andrew has this curious birthmark on the back of his head (and a big red one on his neck too)... there is some debate as to what it looks like so I will leave that up to debate.  Hopefully it will fade in time but his hair looks to be very white-blond so it may still be visible.

As far as differences between our kids - Andrew seems to be incredible social - more social than Caleigh was at this age.  He is extremely interested in people and voices (like all babies) and upon hearing voices he quickly starts cooing and gooing right back.  Going along with that he has a harder time going down for naps and to sleep at night because he much prefers to be in our company than to be in his lonely boring crib in a dark room.  Caleigh always preferred her crib to being held or rocked to sleep but Andrew would prefer to be held all day long.  Also Andrew is always starving!  I think this might be a boy but it seems he needs to eat all the time (and I know he is getting plenty of milk) - he can't make it more than 2.5 hours during the day.  Thankfully he is finally only waking up once at night to eat; I feed him at 10, he goes right to sleep, and then he will usually wake up once between 4 and 6 am to eat.  It is so exhausting to have not had a full night of sleep in 9 weeks and we are looking forward to the day he will sleep through the night.  Caleigh was sleeping through the night at 6.5 weeks so we were spoiled in that department.  One of the other differences we notice (which might also be a boy versus a girl) is that Andrew is so strong!  It took Caleigh until 4 months to be able to hold her head up the way Andrew is in these pictures - he even seems like he may roll over any day now. Andrew's 2 month stats: 

• weight: 12 lb. 1 oz. (61st%)
• length: 23 in. (55th%)
• head circumference: 15.5 in. (37th%)

He is definitely a growing boy (up to closer to the 55-60th percentiles from the 30-40th percentiles) and brings us so much joy!  Also just to document we (I) have a little lullaby I like to sing him: Sweetest baby Andrew has eyes as blue as sky, sweetest baby Andrew likes to cry and cry, sweetest baby Andrew has a button toes, sweetest baby Andrew has his daddy's toes, sweetest baby Andrew is mama's only son, with sweetest baby Andrew the fun has just begun, sweetest baby Andrew is our little boy, sweetest baby Andrew is sister's favorite toy... the verses get more and more random from here but you get the idea.

pics of the week

my two handsome men - 

and one sweet nosy little goose - 

a little sassafrass

Already obsessed with shoes - that must be an inheritable quality.

little picassos

Last Thursday Carrie had us over to paint their new sandbox.  We stripped down the kiddos and let them loose to work their magic.

Caleigh was hard at work with the green paint - until she got too curious, touched her paintbrush, and then freaked out because her hands were dirty.  That's our little priss. Maggie did a fabulous job with the red. Sam showed us how boys paint - look at that yellow masterpiece. (and Will - in the background - showed us his fabulous new walking skills) Ta-da... the finished product.  The kids did a great job and the sandbox looks awesome and very kid friendly.  Thanks Dirks for a fun morning!

pool time with pop-pop and gigi

Another Friday morning adventure with the grandparents...

pure bliss

Caleigh reading at 20 months

Caleigh is 20 months old and her language is developing so rapidly.  My favorite thing she has been saying lately is "wanna read this?" - she says it over and over and it sounds more like "wanna-re-dis, wanna-re-dis, wanna-re-dis."  She will bring us books all the time asking us - "wanna-re-dis." Her favorite word continues to be "no" and she continues to talk to us all the time as if we know exactly what she is saying.  We don't often know what Caleigh is saying but find ourselves making up what she might be saying and repeating it back to her - if we don't, she will keep saying the same sentence over and over.  She must think that we don't hear her unless we repeat something back.  Here is a video of Caleigh reading on a Saturday morning - 

We have tried to get a video of Caleigh's 'tricks' - all she can say and do - but she is very camera-shy - as soon as we get out the camera she won't perform.  Looks like we have an introvert on our hands.

awesome kabobs

We had these bad boys for dinner last night.  Of course Caleigh would only eat the rice but Adam and I ate at least 3 kabobs each.  Adam did a great job grilling them and though the prep took a while (but was done during naptime) there was basically no cooking by me between 5 and 6 which is a rarity.  These are officially my new favorite dinner.

summer Sunday picnics in the park

Several Sunday nights this summer we have had picnics at Freedom Park with friends.  It has been a blast enjoying each others company, each others kids, and especially cupcakes...

Maggie - 

Henry wishing he could eat Maggie's cupcake -  Sam -  And our sweet Caleigh Grace -