favorites of andrew from the lake

As I post this I realize Andrew 2 months older and he seems so different. It amazes me how much babies change at this age (and at every age pretty much). He seems more and more like a little boy to me every day. My sweet monkey with his sweet smile on the day before our trip.

On the way... Almost all the pictures I have for him are of him sitting and playing in the sand, #1 because he did that a LOT and #2 because those were the only moments that he was actually sitting still - otherwise he was way too busy to be bothered with looking at a camera for a picture.

Or pictures of him eating. Sweet baby Tarheel. Such a concerned look on Bubby's face... Just trying out the water wings... Guys can wear purple too, right? Andrew - I apologize in advance that your tummy is poking out in this shirt. And a shot as we are walking out the door at the end of our trip... do we have to leave?

favorites of caleigh from the lake

The day before we left for vacation - July 31st... wow that was a long time ago - I am so behind in posting pictures but better late than never.

On the way... Checking out the water. And my little rule follower loved wearing her life jacket and would not step one foot on the dock without wearing it even if I told her it was ok just this once. Sweet clean peanut. Caleigh could often be found reading - or begging someone to read to her - she loves books. Storytime was the favorite pretending game of the trip. She loved to say, "it's storytime" and lead us though the opening song ("open, shut them, open, shut them, give a little clap clap clap, etc") and then literally read the book from memory. So cute! Love the pigtails. One of many treats on the trip. She was a fish in the water - very independent and brave (as long as walking in the very icky mud on the bottom was not required). This is my FAVORITE picture - pretty much ever of Caleigh. (I have probably said that about a bazillion pictures). I do love this picture. It shows such a glimpse of what she is like - SO loving and caring and concerned about others (even her baby Abby). Love how she even has baby Abby's silky in this picture.

major blog update - lake pics from AUGUST

I am so behind in blogging and mostly because I have been wanting to post these pictures of our lake trip from August. The weight of all these posts to share was making me procrastinate and overwhelming me. But alas, I am just going to do it and be glad it's done! We went to Lake Murray the first week in August and it was such an awesome trip with the Adams'. My brother came down from New Hampshire to join us for the trip - and he was named official photographer for the week. He took every picture that I am going to post and they are all spectacular. I want to basically hire him to follow our family around and just take pictures of us all the time. This is the fabulous house we stayed in.

Some of my favorite memories of the trip are sitting outside on the deck at this time of day eating a slow dinner as a family and just relaxing.

We enjoyed our dock.

And many sunsets.

Such a great trip - I am about to post a thousand pictures of it!

uh oh

I am totally overwhelmed with how much blogging there is to catch up on! We have had such a busy season and blogging seemed to be the one ball that I could let drop for a little while. As fall starts I hope to catch up and get back in the swing of it. For now I will just post something that our sweet little observant Caleigh said today -

Caleigh: Uh-oh Mommy.

me: What's the matter Caleigh?

Caleigh: Mama - your hair is in your eyes. You need a hairbow.

I probably could have used a hairbow (if I wore them) them at that point. Oh well. But it is funny to see how Caleigh is so observant of the world around her. She is always taking things in; she loves for everything to be in its correct place. Along with this she notices if Adam and I ever talk in a non normal tone - as in if one of us is frustrated or we are having a more tense conversation and she is quick to ask, "What's wrong Mommy? or What's the matter Mommy?" Which is often so convicting. Why is it that marriage and having kids is like the most convicting thing ever - it is almost always through interacting with those relationships that I see my sin.

marcy's 28th!

Last night we celebrated one of my best friend's birthdays. Marcy and I have known each other and have been such great friends for 10 years now. Actually Marcy's birthday probably marked the 10th year I had known her, as we met at the beginning of freshman year at Carolina. It is hard to believe it has been 10 years since I first stepped foot on that beautiful campus. We enjoyed a fun dinner at Cantina.

from left: Jessica and Beau, Kim and Wade, Marcy and my Adam above her, and then me and Marcy's Adam above me

It was so neat to reconnect as we have such a long history of friendship (among all the girls - I have actually known Jessica and Kim since middle school and all the way through college as well). We are all in such different stages of life now: newly married, married and newly pregnant, newly dating, and married with 2 kids (nothing new about that one). We had a fun night of fellowship reminiscing, telling stories, enjoying great food, and celebrating one great birthday girl. Happy 28th Marce!

cooking whirlwind

I was a cooking machine this morning - I made 3 chicken pot pies this AM (1 for us and 2 for friends with newborns at home) and my first batch of homemade granola. In an attempt for 20 minutes of peace to finish up the pies I attempted to get the kids to watch a video. Caleigh loves Curious George and also loves to watch a show when she gets to from time to time - but Andrew not so much... I sit him on the couch like a big boy and hoped for the best.

He sat still for about 90 seconds and then decided his goal on Monday was to master climbing on to and off of the couch. The practicing several times (and falling several times) really entertained him and I was able to finish this cooking fete. Everything turned out wonderfully (except for my kitchen which was an absolute disaster).

the case of the missing battery

Hint... it is not in the picture below (praise the Lord!). So on Thursday night we had the first of what we suspect to be many unexpected trips to urgent care/ emergency room with our little guy. Andrew is all boy and we expect no shortage of blood, stitches, injuries, etc. Thursday afternoon was nothing special - it was raining and so the kids and I were home playing on the floor. Andrew would periodically walk away from where Caleigh was playing beauty shop with my hair (which I actually love, expect for when Andrew was trying to join in by whacking my head with a giant round brush and then ripping it out of my hair... and even that I love because it is so funny and so boyish). At some point in the afternoon he was carrying around a little travel alarm clock and I didn't really think anything of it. I packed up the kids because they were spending the night with my parents while the kids played some more. Adam got home and we took Caleigh to potty one last time and at that time we saw that the little alarm clock was laying on the bathroom floor and the back of it was open with the battery missing. We looked everywhere for the battery - (especially knowing Andrew's tendency to hide things) - we scoured every cabinet, drawer, trash can, shoe... we looked under every piece of furniture we own, in each toy chest or box, in the shower, in Andrew's diaper, under every couch cushion. The battery was gone. I was 97.9% positive that he did not swallow it - he doesn't have a tendency to put things in his mouth. But... it was a AAA battery which is pretty small yet probably still somewhat difficult to swallow (I would think). I was around Andrew all afternoon expect for small periods and I would have expected if he did swallow it that I might have noticed him coughing or swallowing a lot or something. But the fact was the battery was completely gone and the only explanation was that he put it in the potty (pretty likely) and it got flushed or he swallowed it (less likely, but still a possibility). I called the pediatrician and the said that basically I had to take him to urgent care or the emergency room to get a x-ray to verify that he did not swallow it (b/c it was a battery - his stomach acid could erode the outer covering and cause battery acid to burn his esophagus and stomach lining, etc). So we took our first trip with him to urgent care and got this awesome x-ray taken. Andrew did well for the x-ray and the kids were both remarkably well-behaved. As soon as the x-ray tech saw his x-ray she said, "there's the battery" (the bright spot near his hips). In my mind I'm thinking that is too big and too low to be it but I was still a little freaking out... and then she realized that the bright spot was from the snap on his shorts. And there is no battery in that cute little x-ray (don't his little tiny ribs and cute narrow hips look so adorable?). All in all it was a pretty quick trip, we got some peace of mind, and praise the Lord - he did not swallow the battery.

old videos

In honor of Andrew being (almost) 14 months I wanted to post a couple of videos that I LOVE from when he was between 12 and 12.5 months.

I love this look at Andrew and his love for balls of all shapes and sizes. I marvel at how God makes boys and girls so different at such young ages. As soon as Andrew picked up a ball it was as if he immediately knew how to play with it, how to throw it, how to roll it. It seemed like we had to 'teach' these things to Caleigh. I remember sitting on the floor with Caleigh when she was a baby and trying to teach her how to roll the ball back - but with little A it's natural.

This is just a glimpse of some playtime with Andrew while Caleigh is still napping one afternoon. I love how at the end he sees himself in the mirror and then looks behind the mirror to see if the baby is there. So cute!

This is a video from our trip back from Chapel Hill and it is a little showcase of Andrew's "tricks" at 12.5 months. Try not to get motion sickness while watching it...

sweet cals

We got back from vacation on Saturday, August 7th after spending a great week with my family at Lake Murray in South Carolina near Columbia. My brother was the official photographer so I am waiting to post his pictures.

I was thinking today about a conversation that Caleigh and I had on vacation. Caleigh shared a room with Andrew on vacation (just like at home) - he was in a crib and she was on the bottom bunk of bunk beds. At home she has a handle lock on the door so that she can't come out of the room unless we open it from the outside, but she didn't have this on vacation and thus struggled a lot with getting out of her bed, opening her door, and coming downstairs or in to one of our bedrooms. Unfortunately she received several spankings for disobeying.

Once after she came out of her room (with the excuse that she had to potty) she didn't get a spanking and as she sat on the potty we had a sweet conversation.

me: Caleigh, when you disobey Mommy it makes God sad. It is called sin. All sin makes God sad. Mommy sins too.

Caleigh: "Mommy sin too? Mommy get out of her bed and disobey?"

me: (laughing) Mommy does sin and disobey God. Sometimes Mommy gets angry and that is a sin or Mommy is mean to one of her friends and that is a sin. All sin makes God sad. But you know what? Because of Jesus, God forgives us when we sin. [Thank you Lord that when we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.] Who helps you obey?

Caleigh: "God." (she already uses this as an answer for so many things - typical Sunday School response, but correct)

me: That's right Caleigh. When it is hard to obey you can pray and ask Jesus to help you obey. So when you go to bed we will pray and ask Jesus to help you stay in bed and obey Mommy and Daddy.

I love her little heart and the way it is making connections - the main way that she sees her sin is through her disobedience. (Which is the main way I see my sin too. Without the law given to us in the Old Testament we would not have even known what sin was - see Romans 7) But on vacation her main disobedience was getting out of bed - so naturally she thought that if Mommy sinned too then Mommy must get out of bed. It really was so funny but so sweet to see her sweet little heart.

bats live where?

Caleigh and I have been having such funny conversations lately. I was asking her yesterday where several different animals live - such as bees, monkeys, turtles, frogs, birds, elephants, etc and she answered each one perfectly... until we got to bats.

me: Caleigh, where do bats live?

Caleigh: Bats live in Babies Crawled Away.

me: No, Caleigh where do bats live? (because I didn't really understand what she was saying)

Caleigh: Bats live in Babies Crawled Away.

me: Oh, the bats live in your book, The Day the Babies Crawled Away.

Caleigh: Yes, bats live in Babies Crawled Away.

One of Caleigh's (and my) favorite books right now is called, "The Day the Babies Crawled Away." We read it a lot. And there is a line in it that says "They crawled into a cave. You cried, 'Babies behave.' But the babies loved bats so the babies just waved." And Caleigh now thinks that bats live in her book - missing the cave part. Hilarious.

poppop's birthday and july pics

Some random pictures from this month - my little guy collecting things...

And climbing in one of his favorite spots - He moving all the time so that I can not get a clear picture! And we celebrated Pop-Pop's 63rd birthday! We are so blessed to have him so close and I absolutely adore seeing him interact with and love on our kids. Happy Birthday Dad! We celebrated with a "surprise" dinner - because how impromptu can you really be when you are going to dinner with 7 people, including 2 people 2 and under. It was great!

A is 13 months

Andrew is 13 months as of yesterday and I read a quote today that I thought adequately described how I feel about my kids growing up and time going by:

"It is interesting how as the days go by nothing seems to change, but when you look back everything is different."

Andrew is a pro at walking - he is all over the place. He is also proving to be the ABSOLUTE pickiest eater that ever existed. Adam and I were talking today at lunch about how before Andrew when we saw a kid that screamed in his highchair and wouldn't eat anything (except peanut butter or something else equally kid friendly), we would totally judge the parents and think it was the parents' fault for always giving in to the cries for a different food or catering to their child. Not anymore. Lord - we repent! We are going to take the plank out of our own eyes now! Andrew is so picky - we put him in his high chair, give him his tray with his dinner on it, and he takes one look at it and immediately starts crying his eyes out - and after an entire day of crying and neediness from him we cave and give him something he likes just to make it quieter at the dinner table. So basically he eats fruit and carbs. And that is pretty much it. Here's to hoping that this is just a phase! But we love our sweet boy - stubbornness, persistence, pickiness, and all.

don't worry about it

Yesterday, right after Caleigh woke up from her nap she was laying in my lap as I was sitting on the floor of my room. Andrew was in there with us and after a while walked out of the room. I thought about it for a minute (briefly pondering all of the troubles he could and often does get in to - playing in the trash, pulling out all the toilet paper, splashing in the toilet water, eating something unknown from the floor...) and then said to Caleigh -

me: "Caleigh, Can you sit up for a minute? Mommy needs to get up."

Caleigh: "Mommy, not worry about it."

me: "What?" (it wasn't very clear)

Caleigh: "Mommy, not worry about it. Andrew be right back."

Hilarious that my oh so perceptive daughter sensed my anxiety about all the things Andrew was potentially getting in to and felt the need to reassure me not to worry about it - that Andrew would be right back. So I didn't worry about it (I usually don't really worry about it which is why Andrew gets in to so much mischief) and Andrew did come back in a few minutes.

impromptu chapel hill day trip

On Saturday we woke up with the day ahead of us and no plans and we decided to drive up to Chapel Hill for a quick day trip. We grabbed bagels for breakfast and then left Charlotte around 10 and arrived in Chapel Hill around 12:30. Andrew slept for about an hour in the car so he was feeling quite rejuvenated for our campus jaunt. After a lunch at Ham's on Franklin Street we walked around some of the shops. Caleigh decided to complete her cheerleading outfit with pompoms and a loudhorn - somehow she knew exactly what to do with them... maybe I should prepare myself for actually liking/respecting cheerleading as a sport.

She got a little jaded by the 2nd store. But was refreshed by a ride on Daddy's shoulders. Family photo... Andrew - I apologize in advance that your tummy is hanging out in this picture. There was a little tackling going on. One of my favorite pictures of the 2 of them so far... We're going to school now Mom - see you later... After the campus exploring we headed over to Maple View Farms for some homemade ice cream to top off the day before our drive back to Charlotte. We had a blast returning to our roots and we were so proud of ourselves for doing something so impromptu with the kids.

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.