blackberry picking

Last week Gigi was off of work Tuesday - Friday and her and Poppop joined us for several activities all week. Tuesday they came with us to our usual storytime at the library, then to the park for a picnic lunch. On Wednesday we went to the pool and then on Thursday we went blackberry picking!

This place was awesome - it was about 40 minutes from our house, out in Concord in the middle of nowhere. Without directions it would have been impossible to find. We pull up and it looked like it was just someone's house (which we were worried about because they don't have a website or anything). But then, you drive down this little dirt path that goes to the back of their land and there are the most blackberries you have ever seen. I mean, rows and rows of awesome looking blackberries in various stages of ripeness... and no thorns! I thought that Caleigh would love it because she loves picking and eating cherry tomatoes, blueberries, and picking strawberries. She was in a funk when we went and after a ladybug landed on her arm while we were walking through the rows she was pretty much done (she is terrified of all bugs). This pic below is so real life - my dad is picking berries, Caleigh is freaking out in the background about bees (there were like 2 there that day), and I am trying to smile and look cute while Andrew isn't the least bit interested in taking a picture. Blackberries are one of our kiddos' favorite foods and they ate almost every one that they picked. Blackberry in mouth... Andrew actually attempted to pick some off of the vines. At one point he crawled over to one (a red one) and tried to pull it off but because it was red and not ripe yet it didn't really want to come off of the vine. So he pulled again, no success. So he leaned over and put his mouth on it and pulled it off that way. And then after taking a bite he promptly spit it out - too sour, lesson learned! Good thing I chose old clothes and dark colors for this guy - he was a gooey mess! And when the kids got tired a picking they did a little playing. We had a blast. Gigi remarked that seeing the abundance of fruit must really be similar to heaven or like the Garden of Eden - fruit from the vine in glorious abundance. We had a great time and might actually make another trip out there this season. For dinner we had a wonderful blackberry cobbler - yum!

andrew is walking!

Wow - I can't believe I haven't posted on the blog yet that Andrew is walking. He started taking a couple steps at a time the week after his birthday party (the week of June 20th) and got exponentially better by the end of that first week. I think I posted on Facebook that he was officially walking on June 24th. Since then we have been trying to capture him in action (which proved extremely difficult since he loves the camera so he would plop down and crawl to it since that was the faster way to get what he wanted). We finally got some footage of him walking - this was taken on July 2nd (about 12 months and 2 weeks old).

I love that he is walking - I really like the walking stage and I think it makes a lot of things easier. I am looking forward to the day he is really fast so that I don't have to carry him as much (though it means I will probably chase him more) - those almost 23 pounds of sweetness give my arms quite the workout. We are so proud of our little buddy.

wow - 6 years already!

Wow - it has been 6 years since we got married (on Saturday - June 26th). In some ways it feels like we have always been together (this year is the anniversary of us knowing each other for 10 years) - and in some ways it is hard to believe we have been married for 6 years already. I am thankful to be married to my best friend and these years have been such a joy. For our anniversary we had a staycation weekend in Charlotte. It really felt like such a long vacation and it was awesome! We took the kids up to the Dyers' house on Friday evening and left them for the weekend (thanks Bampa and Gammy). Friday night we went to dinner and a movie. Saturday we slept in (as in 8 am was the latest I could sleep) and got bagels for breakfast. After breakfast we spent the day at the US Whitewater center which is in Charlotte. If you are in Charlotte you should definitely go - it was so much more fun than I could even imagine. We started the day there with the climbing wall.

On which I completed 3/3 of my runs and Adam completed 0/3 (I still love you babe). Most posed picture in the history of pictures... (thank you to my facebook friends for pointing that one out). After climbing we did flatwater kayaking and then hightailed it out of there in time to catch the US versus Ghana World Cup game at our favorite bar (Picassos) with some friends. After we unfortunately watched the US lose that game we went back out to the Whitewater Center to do the high ropes course and the zip line. We finished the evening with a late dinner and TCBY. Sunday we slept in (slightly later this time) and went to church before meeting Bampa and Gammy to pick up the kiddos at lunchtime. We had a blast and it was so great to spend so much time together, to sleep in in our own beds, and to celebrate 6 years of marriage. Thanks be to God!

and THE puppy dog party

This morning we had a family puppy dog party for Andrew. The Dyers, the Adams, and Kayla came to celebrate with us. Andrew was in such a good mood when the Dyers got there (probably because he was being held and entertained) - I captured this (blurry) picture of them while he was laughing hysterically.

We had quite the all-American spread to celebrate our puppy dog loving American boy. We dined on hotdogs (get it - hotdogs at a dog party - unintentionally ingenious - also one of Andrew's favorites) with all kinds of toppings, chips and homemade salsa, potato salad, baked beans, watermelon (another of A's favorites), and puppy dog cake. After we ate we watched the video we made celebrating Andrew's first year of life and then we opened presents. Andrew was too busy to catch a good picture of - but I love this one of him standing up - he looks so old to me! Come on Mom, can't you see I'm busy here. The chaos - notice how Caleigh is right in the middle of it. No chance she was going to miss 'helping' (read: unwrapping his presents for him) Bubby open his gifts. Andrew decided he better make a quick getaway. After presents we sang Happy Birthday to Andrew and ate cake. By round three of the birthday celebrations, Andrew knew exactly what to do with that cake. And a couple of videos of the madness...

We seriously had to take the cake away after he had eaten half of it for fear that he would make himself sick. He went to town on it! He was a hoot.

And a big mess. We had a blast celebrating our sweet boy!

doggie party prep

These are the cakes I made for Andrew's party today! I am so excited about them! I worked Friday night and while I was at work Adam baked the cakes and after I got off of work (at 11 pm) I cut them out and iced them with the first layer of white icing (which included an emergency 11:50 pm run to the grocery store for more icing). I cooled them in the fridge overnight at got up early to finish icing them. I am so thrilled with the way they turned out.

Cake for everyone... Pawprint cupcakes... And Andrew's personal puppy cake... (It's a Bailey cake!) I can't wait to seem him dig in to it!

Andrew's one year update!

We had Andrew's 1 year well visit today so I figured it was appropriate to do a 1 year update.

As for stats, Andrew is:

• Weight: 22 lb 8 oz (46th%)
• Height: 31 and 1/4 inches (90th%)
• Head Circumference: 17 and 3/4 inches (32nd%)

I've been thinking he is getting SO heavy but it turns out he is the same percentage as he's always been.

Love this picture of our sweet boy... For some reason we have been seeing this face ALL the time. He will make this face and breathe heavily in and out of his nose from time to time - it is really funny! Other things Andrew is up to:

• Eating - We give Andrew the same table food that we eat and he used to at least try and eat most everything but over the past couple weeks he has become SO picky. Lots of times he won't even try things unless it is a cracker or fruit - he loves fruit - especially blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, watermelon, and bananas. Besides crackers and fruit his favorite foods are hot dogs and spaghetti. We have weaned him down to 1 bottle first thing in the morning. Then he will drink whole milk from a sippy cup at lunch, post-nap snack, and dinner. He has done great with the transition and after we use up the rest of the formula we have we will drop the morning bottle (probably this week).
• Sleeping - We have pretty much dropped Andrew's morning nap - on some days (maybe every 3rd day) Andrew will seem really tired so we will put him down for a 30 minute nap or so - or sometimes he will fall asleep while we are in the car around 9 or 10 and sleep for 10 minutes or so and this will tide him over until his afternoon nap. In the afternoons he is sleeping at least from 1 - 3 pm and sometimes until 3:30 or 3:45. He is going down for the night around 7 (or whenever we can get him in bed) and waking up around 7 or 7:30.
• Skills - He took 4 steps in a row this morning! Every time I look at him he is just standing in the middle of the floor. He is standing all the time and just this morning he took 4 consecutive steps. He is getting so close to walking - he pushes everything in site while walking and tries to take steps pretty often. Andrew loves to give kisses, play peek-a-boo (when asked where is Andrew? he will cover his face and then take his hands away). He just started signing more and all done or he will try to say them instead. He will try to imitate several words such as ball, bye, all done, and more but he doesn't really say them on his own. He will also babble dada and mama but not really say them as referring to us.
• Quirks - When Andrew is content (likes what he is eating in his high chair) he crosses his legs at the ankles - cute! He hates to be confined or to be stuck somewhere which means he loathes having his diaper changed (won't stay still at all!), hates being dressed or undressed, dislikes his car seat (he likes it a little more now that we turned him around), doesn't like riding in the stroller, and doesn't like being held in lap when he could get down and move. That boy is on the go. He loves balls, water, and pushing anything that can be pushed. He loves to take things out and then put them back in. He still loves doors. He is in to everything - I turn my head for a second and he is playing in Caleigh's potty. Gross! He is so speedy and so curious; he is totally different from the way Caleigh was as a baby. He is also super brave (or fearless or clueless of dangers) - especially in the pool - he will climb in and out of the baby pool and while in the baby pool he will crawl with his chin and mouth in the water (so that just his nose and eyes are above the water) and go everywhere. It is really funny and cute because it looks like he is doggie-paddling around, but he makes me nervous. I have to try to strike a balance between letting him explore and experience consequences and learn, and keeping him safe, and not being overprotective. It is tough! He definitely knows what 'no' means and he is surprisingly obedient. He loves balls and is really good at throwing the ball and then receiving it when we roll or bounce it back to him. I really think he is going to be a leftie. Both my dad and Adam's mom are left-handed. The other day Andrew crawled over to one of those doodle pro boards, turned it over so the drawing side was up, picked up the pen with his left hand, and started drawing little dots and lines on it. I was so impressed!
• Randomness - Andrew is finally getting his top teeth! In the past 2 weeks he has gotten 1 top one and it looks like the other one is just about to pop through. The other 2 top teeth (just outside of the middle ones) are super swollen and will be the next ones to come through.

We are so blessed by our little boy and couldn't imagine our lives without him. We are so thankful to God for the gift of his life!

birthday celebration round 2

On Monday we celebrated Andrew's birthday as a family. I made quite the spread for our little guy (who ate next to none of it - he is going through such a picky stage!). We had carolina blue funfetti iced chocolate cupcakes, homemade lasagna, bread, salads, and peas for the kids. It was so yummy and Andrew did actually eat a couple bites after fussing in his chair for the first 15 minutes of the meal.

He's one! Um yeah Mom, I know what that is. Just give me the good stuff. Caleigh is really enjoying this week of parties (and thus sweets) too! "Smile Caleigh"... No Andrew, not the hair... Although I don't have any pictures, Andrew also opened one of his gifts from us (a pair of Robeez sandals) and his gift from Caleigh (a ball popper that you push - which he loves). We loved celebrating you on your big day little man!

birthday party round 1

On Sunday we started our week of celebrating our little man with a (rained out) pool jaunt with the Dyers and then a yummy cookout at their house. They got cupcakes for little A and we sang Happy Birthday to Andrew (and Caleigh kept saying, "Mama, I wanna sing Happy Birthday to Yaya" - she was having a hard time understanding that her birthday was in November). I love this picture of him - he is looking at the cupcake/candle in such eager expectation!

And (as is probably customary with non-firstborn children) Andrew knew exactly what to do with that cupcake. With Caleigh on her first birthday was the first time she had ever eating any sweets or anything with added sugar and she didn't like it at all! With Andrew we feed him healthy food in general but he gets cookies at the grocery store, etc. He loved it! And so did Caleigh (I think she ate 3 cupcakes that night - and before anyone calls DSS on us - they were mini cupcakes!). 'How big is Andrew?' Not a good game to play post bath with cupcake hands. You can see his tiny first upper tooth in this picture! Finally (when the cupcake was gone) he remembered that the hat was on his head. With a little frosting still in his nose (and his hair matted down in a funky side part)... Thanks Dyers for helping us kick off our birthday celebrations!

Andrew is 1!

Andrew is 1 today! Can't believe it has been a year since we met this sweet little guy. Here is a glimpse of his first year...

We are celebrating the little man all week so look for posts of all of our parties!

CFA!

So... we have a confession to make to the blogging world (aka the one person who reads this blog). Adam and I are officially obsessed with the new spicy chicken sandwich at Chick-Fil-A. We love anything spicy and their sandwich is so good! Since the sandwich debuted at the beginning of June we have been spotted in CFA weekly (maybe twice one week). One evening it was captured on film...

As our eyes watered from the spicy goodness, Caleigh enjoyed a cool treat. And she is pretty excited about our new obsession because it means, "Chik-ya Mama, I go Chik-ya." And because it means, "I get ice tream Mama."

And Andrew couldn't really care less because: 1. he doesn't like to be confined to his high chair, especially not for extended periods of time and 2. he doesn't like or eat meat - no meat - not even CFA. This is really blasphemous in my eyes - how can a child of mine not like CFA? I am sure he will come around.

So when he gets too loud in his high chair we resort to giving him random things to play with. Including but not limited to - napkins...

He is one cute, loud mess.

Did I mention how much Caleigh likes CFA... ("I wanna eat at resturaunt Mama" or "I wanna go out eat")

bathtime at the Dyer household looks like...

A lot of sibling 'love' (which looks like Caleigh over-loving Andrew and Andrew loving every minute of it).

Caleigh repeatedly attempting to bathe Andrew - which looks like Caleigh pouring cup after cup of water on Andrew's head and Andrew dealing with it - sometimes better than others.

And it looks like Andrew climbing all over the tub - often going to 'Caleigh's side' which prompts a hysterical response from her, "Noooo Andrew, that my side!" But sometimes she will let him stay for a minute so that I can snap a quick pic of their fabulously cute backsides.

Oh and did I mention it is LOUD!

(forgive that video where I forgot to stop recording while rescuing Andrew)

And then there is the post-bathtime struggle to get the kids in their PJs... why do they oppose this so much? I will never know - but it is always a battle - unless we just let them play...

At least they are cute!

Caleigh-isms

Here is a taste of what we have been hearing around our house lately:

• Mommy, Yaya (Caleigh) go tee-tee. I'll be right back! This often makes us double over in laughter - there is something about a 2 year old saying, "I'll be right back" that is just hilarious.
• Mama, I sick. I need medicine. (the kids both just got over double ear infections)
• No Mommy (in a loud shrieking voice because I was trying to help her), me do it all by self. Caleigh is obsessed with doing things "all by self" right now. She has been seen lately wearing her undies pulled either half way up or all the way up over her belly button (mom undies if you will). She has also been seen wearing pajama pants backwards due to this new "all by self" trend. She is also huge on swimming "all by self" in the big pool (all by self with the help of a little floatie on her tummy and also water wings).
• I need parmesan cheese. Because she is absolutely obsessed with parmesan cheese. (Probably because her mother also is and often sets bad examples that include dumpting parmesan cheese into my hand and licking it off). Which is why Caleigh said at dinner tonight, "I want parmesan cheese in my hand."
• I thirsty. I need apple juice. Yes, she definitely 'needs' apple juice.
• Oh no Mommy, Yaya got an owie.
• Yaya all done night-night. We are hearing this SO much - especially at 6 or 6:30 when she has been waking up lately. This is especially brutal when I have worked until 11 pm the night before and not fallen asleep until 12:30 or 1ish.
• I hungry Mama.
• I tired. I want to go night-night. Oh how that statement is music to my ears.
• One, two, nine, two... This is how Caleigh counts. She knows the numbers but completely out of order and that is also how she counts. She is really good at counting up to 2 though. For example: "Look, Mama's earring. Look, Mama's other earring. One, two earrings." Or one, two knees. Or one, two shoes. The possibilities are endless.
• Oh no Mommy, a fly. Need fly swatter. Because she is totally terrified of all flying things, especially flies and bees.
• Caleigh has been repeating everything, everything. Including some interesting things that Adam and I might say while changing Andrew's poppy diaper that is everywhere... Whoops.

***Caleigh is definitely in that stage of mixing up verbs which I find to be hilarious. We are noticing so many idiosyncrasies of her personality come out. She is very hesitant in general. She seems to have a control idol (maybe all 2 year olds do!) - for example, in the pool she is fine if she is floating and 'swimming' all by herself but if she flips over on her back or someone (her parents) tries to get her to do something in which she would be out of control (jumping off the side, going down the water slide, jumping off the diving board) she absolutely has a complete melt down.

***Caleigh is so shy. In new social situations she is definitely an observer. She likes to be in the background in public (although she is an entirely different child at home!).

***Caleigh is also SO dramatic. This is definitely partly a two year old thing and also probably partly a personality thing. Every thing that happens, from a fly being in the room to bumping her hand on the table requires a disproportionately large reaction. Which is so not me. Although my little peanut looks so much like me I think that our personalities are so different in some ways. Where I was/am a rough and tumble tomboy, she is a feminine and prissy and 'all girl'. She loves to pretend to be a mommy. She loves to wear dresses every day (heaven forbid I try to get her to wear shorts... or to not let her pick out her own dress). But she is stubborn (don't know where she got that from...). And she is smart. And beautiful (that trait is clearly from me... just kidding). And she absolutely, completely, 100 percent loves her brother. And her mother and her father. And when she sees an owie on my leg and bends down and kisses it, my heart just melts. While some of that sounds good...

***We are in the stage of complete meltdowns, or terrible twos. Now I know why they call them the terrible twos. Eighteen months to 2 years was really hard. Then 2 hit and until Caleigh was almost 2.5 I really didn't know what the big deal was with the "terrible twos". Well. Now I know. Caleigh will be walking around and might (very gently) bump her hand into a corner of a table and she will absolutely lose it, screaming, "Oh no Mommy, Yaya got an owie." Which is so hard for me to deal with (growing up as a complete tomboy and still being somewhat of one today) - I am used to 'sucking it up' and not making a big deal of things. Which is exactly how I parent her ("Caleigh, just brush it off. It is fine."). And I have no idea if this is correct or not. I am really struggling with parenting her well right now. One huge lesson I am learning is (interestingly the first bible verse in Susan Hunt's "My ABC Bible Verses."): Proverbs 15:1 says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Sometimes when Caleigh is being completely unreasonable (as all 2 year olds probably are) and super dramatic and frustrating I will want to respond to her questions in frustration, in annoyance. But I am thankful that God's good word reminds me that a gentle answer to her will turn away wrath. If I respond harshly to her, it will stir up anger within her soul. I pray that I parent in a way that pleases the Lord, a way that is gentle but firm. Disciplining in love. It is such a struggle! Parenting definitely shows me the ugliness of my sin (much in the same way that marriage does). My prayer is that as we enjoy her and the silliness of this age and as we struggle to parent in the midst of this trying stage that we will love her so well. I am reminded often that, "Love is patient, love is kind... It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs... It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." (from 1st Corinthians 13). I am challenged to be patient with my sweet oldest child, to be kind to her. To not look out for my own self interests or what would be the most convenient for me, but to but her as I love myself. I am challenged to not be easily angered, to not remember her sins and to forgive her quickly, as Christ Jesus has forgiven me and is infinitely patient with me. I am challenged to always hope for her - to be patient as I wait for positive results with her. And most of all to persevere in loving her well. Even when it seems hard (because I am so sinful and so selfish). I am thankful that God's love for me has never failed and never will fail. So I pray! For perseverance. For patience. For peace. That I would grow in love towards my daughter. That I would love her well. That I would parent her well. That I would carefully consider my words to her and that I would respond gently to her. And that I would enjoy her - the beautiful gift she is to our family.