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.

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!