What's New

Riley Kate you were 21 months old today. You are a handful but what a joy! You are really challenging me and my patience lately. I remember these days with your sister but it was different back then because I only had 1 little girl to deal with...now, thank the Lord, I have two!

You are such a blessing to us! The best part of my day is waking up in the morning, going upstairs to your room and being greeted by your beautiful smile! You love to "pretend talk" to me as soon as I walk in the door. You are pointing and trying to tell me all about your dreams and what you want to do that day (at least that's what I tell myself) but of course - none of it is actual language. It's just Riley Roo talk. I ask you if you slept good that night and you shake your head 'yes' every morning. Precious!

Then there are parts of the day when I am quickly reminded of the struggles a mom of a toddler must endure. You DO NOT like to sit in the buggy at the grocery store! You want your independence and I understand that, I am a VERY independent person - ask Nana, I always have been. I try to encourage that in both you and your sister but come on...in the grocery store??? It's not the time to figure out how far Mom will let you wonder down the isle - while I listen to Avery say "Hey Mom, Mom, Mom, hey Mom!!! Look at my chipmunk stand on the box of pasta! Mom, you aren't looking! Mom! Watch my chipmunk!" and check items off my list as quick as humanly possible. So, since we HAVE to go to the grocery store or anywhere else with a shopping cart, for that matter, I hope we can quickly get through this stage. P-L-E-A-S-E!!!

You DO NOT like to be told what to do. This includes having to hold hands in parking lots - you either A.) fall to the ground and start crying  B.) yank your hand away and take off or C.) kick and scream as I carry you to the car, squirming and trying to get back down on the ground, only to do A & B again! It's a real treat going out in public with you! Thanks for that! :)

On a positive note:  You do enjoy blowing bubbles outside. It's one of your new words too. "Bubbles"

You are slowing down on your eating habits. You love breakfast and eat a pretty good lunch but dinner is hit or miss. Sometimes, just what I think you wouldn't touch, you gobble down! I made crock pot lasagna last night and you had 2 helpings - but I must say that it was pretty yummy. :)

You are still using your paci. You only have it in your room/crib when it is time to sleep. We started that about 2 months ago and it's been working great. You even take it out of your mouth on your own and put it down in your crib before you get out. I'm hoping to give it up entirely before you turn 2...so you better enjoy it for a few more months! :)

I think you are about to cut your bottom 2 "eye" teeth - also known as cuspids or canine teeth.You constantly have your fingers in your mouth just chewing on them with that part of your gums. I feel bad because it seems to be taking forever for those last 2 teeth to come in. Soon enough, baby girl, hang in there.

Riley Kate, I love that when I look at you, I see your Daddy. I love that you dance when you hear music - no matter where you are. I love how you run with your arms up to the sky - as if it makes you go faster. I love that you adore your sister and you copy everything she does. I love that you still bring things to me so I can help open or close them - helps me to still "baby" you in a way. I love that you LOVE to sleep. :) I LOVE YOU!

Only 3 more months and you will be TWO!! Whoa!

Berry Pickin'

The girls and I took our first visit to the strawberry patch this morning. We've been wanting to go but have just been busy with other things for a while. So, we went - just the 3 of us. It was fun! It's rare that we do anything like that with just us girls because we are usually with friends. We really enjoy being with our friends and I think it makes life sweeter to share fun times with others. But today was nice. It was low key and I just let the girls do their own thing.

We started picking strawberries and didn't get very far with it. Avery picked about 7-8 and she wanted to move on to the animals and homemade ice cream. So, before we quit, we let Riley pick a couple berries herself. They made it to her container without being squished, but then she stood there and picked up each one and squeezed the mess out of them. YUCK. Luckily it was only 3 of them...that could have been M-E-S-S-Y!

We moved on over to the homemade ice cream...oh YUMMO!!! Avery picked strawberry with sprinkles, Riley had vanilla with sprinkles and I choose cookies and cream. :) It was fabulous! Riley made a big mess, but we were outside, so who cares.

After the ice cream, we went over to see the animals. Avery remembered that last year we saw a bunch of dogs in their cages so we went looking for them. This year we only saw one little guy...he looked so pitiful but Avery said it was because he didn't have any friends. :( I said it was because it was hot. 

The girls found some goats to feed hay to. I am not the biggest fan of outdoor animals...so it's really hard for me to step back and watch them pet and try to feed random barn animals, but I did. I mean, you just wash your hands afterward and try to keep everyone's fingers out of their nose and mouth in the meantime, right?? (If you know my girls - that's a full time job! haha)

Well, it was a great time. The girls didn't want to leave BUT I can only take so much stentch of a barn - I am a city girl. Maybe we'll go back to see the baby goats that should be born any day. :) We'll see.

Last Day of Preschool

Avery had her last day of preschool at Memorial Baptist yesterday. She had the best teacher this year Mrs. Siegel. We LOVED everything about her and we thought she was just the neatest teacher. You could tell that she enjoyed what she did but above all she genuinely cared for the kids!! We wish we could bottle up her enthusiasm for children and take it with her throughout Avery's school years!

Avery also had a really sweet teacher's assistant - Mrs. Conboy. She joined the class halfway through the year and jumped right in with both feet. We will miss them both. 

The end of the year party was fun. The kids ate pizza on the floor and used a big tablecloth as their table. It was something different and fun for them. Of course, Avery ate 2 bites of her pizza and cupcake and was done - she wanted me to save the rest for later...ha!

The rest of the party was play time and then they sat around and sang a few songs for us. 

I took a few pictures of their caring tree - the kids would get a leaf, bird, flower etc. added to the tree when they did something nice or helpful for someone else. I took a few pictures of the things Avery had on the tree.

We've decided to keep Avery home next year from preschool so today was a little bittersweet. There were a few factors that went into that decision and I believe we are doing the right thing for our family and I am looking forward to more time with her next year!!! So long preschool!

Greenville Rec 5k

Shelley and I participated in our 3rd 5k this past Saturday. It's our goal to run a race every month and so far we've stuck to it. This was a tough race. It was a trail run at a local park - with sand, little hills and tree stumps to dodge. It was my first trail run and I didn't like it much! :) And even though it started at 8:00 in the morning, it was stinking H-O-T!! I really miss our early training days back in January and February when we thought we were cold. It's much easier to run in the dreary misty cold - it feels so good!

Well, I am going to persevere and make it through this summer. If I'm still running races in August, that will be quite an accomplishment for me! Maybe one of these days I'll beat my original time.

My time: 32:20

So proud of my "Sole Sister" Shelley - who finished 2nd in her age group with a time of 31:37. Whoo hoo! We really missed our buddy Melissa - it wasn't quite the same running without her!

Sand in our toes...

We took a last minute trip to the beach this past Sunday. The weather was too good to stay home and we didn't have anything else to do - so we went for it. Well, I take that back, there is always yard work, house work and stuff that can keep us busy around the house but we ignored all those things and loaded up the van. On Saturday we went to Lowes and bought this Quik Shade Instant Canopy.

I've been wanting one for a while. We always take an umbrella and struggle with it blowing away or not being enough shade. So, we made the investment and I couldn't have been more excited! We spent 5 1/2 hours on the beach. That's a record for us at any one time. We usually get so sick of reapplying sunscreen (I'm a sunscreen NUT!) and just become drained from the beating sun, that we give up and leave after 2 1/2-3 hrs. 

We ate lunch under our canopy,

Riley Kate took a short nap under our canopy,

and Daddy buried Avery under the canopy

So, what I'm saying is we were able to spend a lot of time out of the sun, so we were able to spend more time at the beach! Win, win! Can you tell I love that thing?

Anyway, our time was so fun! Avery met a little friend at the beach who she ran around and played in the sand with. It was cute.

Avery looked for seashells and was so excited about each one, even though most of them were imperfect and broken. She would wash them off and put them down in a bucket 1/2 full of water to save for later. 

Riley was a little hesitant at first but after we put her down and let her explore on her own time and in her own way, she really had a great time.

It was a great day and we left just in time - it started to rain on the drive home. I'm so thankful we live close enough to the beach to visit for the day. Even though it's a huge hassle to pack everything up and you get sand in places you don't really want sand...it ends up being fun all around and that is worth it all! So, stay tuned for more Beach Adventures this summer - and you know the first thing I'll be packing....my canopy!!! :)

Jewel Kade Giveaway!

Please visit my friend Traci's blog for an awesome giveaway. I will be hosting a Jewel Kade party in 2 weeks...so stay tuned for details.

Mother's Day 2010

What a splendid day I had! My only request was to spend the day with my family just doing nothing special. But there ended up being a few very special moments throughout the day.

1st was my very yummy breakfast in bed. Oh, the best part was not that my hubby set his alarm so that he would wake up in time, but that all 3 of them crawled into bed with me and we all ate breakfast together! That meant the world to me, it was one of those "my cup runneth over" moments.

Next was church, followed by a yummy Mexican lunch at our favorite local place. One of the other highlights was that Avery usually cries at the thought of going to this restaurant because there is a balloon man there who makes different shapes with the balloons. We usually have to go in and check to make sure he isn't there that day and then tell her it's "all clear". But today, was my choice and I really wanted Mexican. Wouldn't you know that the balloon man was there. Avery buried her head in Ryan's neck all the way in. Riley Kate and I stopped and he made us a heart. When we got to the table and Avery saw Riley's heart she spoke up and said that she wanted to go get a balloon. I was so proud of her for being so brave! She even stopped and said bye to him on the way out! Success! It's the little victories in life, isn't it??

The rest of the day we hung out at the house, visited with some neighbors, went on a bike ride, and munched on my yummy ice cream cake. It was wonderful!

To top off my day, my husband changed all the dirty diapers today! Thank you babe!

T-ball

Avery had her 2nd t-ball game this weekend. Daddy and I were out of town for her first game, so we were so excited to get to watch her play. She looked adorable in her new team shirt and hat. She did a great job playing with her team and following the t-ball rules. I could see a little frustration when she tried to run after the ball and some of the other boys would get to it first. But I'm hoping that she continues to try and that at least once or twice she will get to the ball first. Here are a couple pictures from yesterday.

Bahama Trip - Day 2

Today was another great day to be in the Caribbean! The weather was beautiful. I woke up early than I wanted to, headed downstairs for a quick breakfast and then made my way to the gym for a workout. I will be running another 5K in less than 2 weeks so I really needed to exercise on this trip.  To be honest, I feel a little less guilty eating bad when I work out that day. I know that's not the point of exercise but some times it gets me through.

After my work out, I went back to the room and skyped with the girls on the computer. It seems that they are having a blast with Nana and Grandad and I have nothing to worry about back in NC - that makes my heart happy.

I met up with my mother-in-law at one of the 11 pools and we enjoyed a relaxing morning sitting and talking and reading our novels.. My mother and father-in-law always go to the Zaxby's conference trips as well - it's a great time to have with them once a year.

Well, I could go on describing every event of the day but I will just end with the biggest one I can think of.

Today I conquered the Leap of Faith water slide!

Let me just say that peer pressure is a powerful thing! I would have NEVER gone on this ride if I hadn't been shamed into doing so, or the fact that I willingly walked to the top with my own two feet - what was I thinking.  It's a 60ft almost vertical drop through a clear acrylic tunnel submerged in a shark-filled lagoon. By the way, I didn't see the sharks because my eyes were shut so tightly for the entire 4 second ride! I made it to the bottom only to have water floating in my head and the biggest wedgie known to man but surprisingly I still had my voice. I was sure I had left it halfway up the ride - I feel sorry for anyone that heard my screams and was back at the top a little hesitant about the ride themselves!

Anyway, here is my picture - I was so proud of myself! Can you tell?

Bahama Trip - Day 1

We left the house early this morning. Thankfully we only had to drive to the local airport in Greenville to catch our flight to Charlotte and then on to Nassau. I am not a huge fan of flying...the only thing I can blame it on is the news and the fact that I am unable to control what happens on an airplane. The fact is that if I really have a problem with someones driving, I can just drive myself. Or, if it's Ryan, I just say "slow down" or "don't follow to close". But when it comes to flying, I can't say "move over Mr. I can do a better job". It's really more of a lack of control and the ability to trust that freaks me out! Haha But anyway, I willingly boarded the plane and took my seat, knowing that the only way I could go on this vacation to paradise was to fly there! There are no bridges to the Bahamas!

Our flight was very uneventful - Praise the Lord - and we were on the ground by 3:30 this afternoon. We waited in the customs line, took our seats on the taxi bus and held on tight as the driver drove through the busy streets of Nassau. Driving in another country is one of the most interesting things. We think we put up with some crazy drivers here in the US, but really, we have it easy! I always walk away from a taxi ride in a different country with a new appreciation for why they put horns in automobiles and the desire to use mine more often! :)

We skreached to a hault, after about a 40 minute drive, in front of the Atlantis Hotel and Resort. It was beautiful and finally I could breath. It's funny how you just think that a special event, a trip, some time away or whatever it is you are looking forward to, might never come. But then it does and you have to stop for a minute and take it all in. We made it! Now it was time to relax and enjoy it.

We took care of all the necessary stuff - check in and registration for the conference. The next few hours we spent exploring until it was time for our 80's themed welcome party. No, we did not dress up but we did enjoy looking at those who did. There were some great characters tonight. We saw Madonna, The Ghostbusters, The Karate Kid and Mr. Miagi, Hulk Hogan, The Blues Brothers and many crimped hair, leg warmer wearing women. There were also a few metal heads with spiked hair and mullets. So fun!

We had a concert by JT Taylor from Cool and the Gang. He was pretty good but to be honest, I was 10 when the 80's were over, so I didn't really remember many of the songs he sung but it was a good time nonetheless. He was good entertainment. :)

After a long day of travel and a little too much 80's excitment, I am ready to crash. I hope to sleep in tomorrow morning. After all, that's really the reason I came...sleep and sun! :)

To be continued....