Sleepover

Alex has been asking for a while when he can sleep in our bed. He’s never spent longer than 5-10 minutes in our bed after wandering to our room in the middle of the night. For some reason though, he’s been begging to sleep in our bed. Tim had to work out of town Monday night, so I told Alex he could have a sleepover in my bed. He was SOO EXCITED! I told him to bring whatever he wanted to my bed while I was singing to Spencer. I came into the room to find his pillow and about 10 stuffed animals! He ended up sleeping like a champ … I did not! It was an adventurous night, but I loved it!

This is how Alex fell asleep.

The next morning … notice my pillow is halfway off the bed!

This boys has always been a crazy sleeper! This is how we found him a week ago.

Special Times with Spencer

When Alex was 2, we were always busy with play dates and adventures. I will always treasure our special Alex & Mommy days. Now, it’s Spencer’s turn! We’ve been having a bunch of fun exploring parks, going to Kindermusik, or playing around the house while Alex is in school.

Riding the roller coaster backwards at the park.

Double-fisting it around the house.

Spencer loved the aquarium! He kept calling the sting rays “butterflies”.

After some trial and error, we’ve found a great Kindermusik teacher.

Spencer was a very careful muffin baker. I was impressed!

Thankfully, he’s a very willing shopping partner, too!

Mother’s Day 2015

I had a great Mother’s Day! We enjoyed a lazy morning with chocolate muffins (thanks Mom!), bacon, and eggs. I also finally got to grind my new gourmet coffee beans Tim brought back from his work trip a few weeks ago … my Mother’s Day gift was a new bean grinder. The coffee was wonderful!! The boys and Tim gave me a card, then Alex remembered he had a gift and card for me from school (which I knew … I had to tell him to hide it in his dresser so I wouldn’t see it when I cleaned out his back pack). I was so proud of his hard work that I got all teary-eyed. Then Tim and I had to explain that silly Mommy cries, even when she’s really happy. Poor boy was so confused! I think what got me the most was that it’s the first time he’s written “Mom”.

After breakfast, we washed up and headed to a Lego expo. It was neat to see all the Lego creations … and we found out there’s a kid’s competition that involves building a car. There were very few entries, so we’ll have to remember to get Alex to enter next year!

I hope all my Moms and Grandmoms had a great day as well! We love you!

Front of my card from Alex

Inside of my card from Alex

Front of bookmark from Alex

Back of bookmark from Alex

The curly-heads together on Mother’s Day.

Mommy and her silly boys.

Mommy and Spencer on Mother’s Day.

Dinosaurs at Imaginon

Remember Imaginon, the really cool children’s library in Charlotte? I took the boys back to Imaginon the week of my birthday to see Dakota and Friends, a dinosaur puppet show. This wasn’t just any puppet show though … Dakota the Deinonychus is a large man-sized puppet … kinda of like a mascot. Alex was so excited to see him, especially since we were able to find a few videos on YouTube the day before we went. Poor Spencer was pretty scared at first. It took quite a while for him to be brave enough to sit on the Triceratops!

It was so funny to see the trailer and the dinosaurs sticking their heads out like livestock.

Spencer had no interest in petting the baby T-Rex.

This video will not show in the emails, so you’ll need to click here.

A Sick Christmas and a Quiet Blog

We had a rough Christmas! Tim came down with the flu on the 21st and was absolutely miserable the next few days, especially Christmas Eve. Spencer came down with a much milder version on Christmas Day. I started feeling bad soon after that, and Alex was sick on New Years Eve. Ugh! Thankfully, the boys and I weren’t near as sick as Tim. Everyone is better but me … I finally got meds (zpack and an inhaler) last week for a cough that wouldn’t go away, no matter what I tried. I didn’t have many problems with the flu, but I was apparently left with a respiratory infection. I feel much better and am finally sleeping, but my cough isn’t 100% gone. Hopefully I will continue feeling better … and hopefully we are finished with being sick!

So, if you’ve been wondering what is going on with my blog, now you know! Between the flu, taking care of everyone, and just relaxing with Tim home over the holiday break, I just didn’t get around to working on my computer. Now that Tim’s back to work and Alex is back in school, I’m trying to get the house back in order and my blog back in shape. Be patient … I have lots to post!

My Mini-Me

Almost every time I post pictures on this blog, my parents email to say how much Alex looks like I did at his age. I finally had the chance to pull out a photo album and was amazed to see how similar we look. I love my cheesy mini-me!

5 Years!

Happy Anniversary to my sweet hubby! We’ve been married for 5 years and have been dating for 9 … our first date was September 21, 2004. I love you, Tim!

We looked like babies back then! One of our first road trips to the Blue Ridge Parkway – fall, 2004.

I loved getting married to you on the Charleston Harbor. Let’s have an anniversary party in a couple years on the same boat!

Cooking With Mommy

Alex has started taking an interest in my activities in the kitchen. Since I want him to grow up knowing how to cook healthy meals and to have an appreciation for good food, I’ve decided to find little ways for him to help around the kitchen. So far, he’s helped me dump cans of beans and corn in the colander for chili, “helped” me dice veggies, and helps unload the dishwasher. I plan on getting braver and letting him help more often – I just need to embrace the mess that will come along, too!

Alex is using a butter knife to “help” dice carrots.

After dumping/rinsing cans of corn and beans in a colander for chili, Alex couldn’t get enough – I ended up letting him play another twenty minutes with a bowl, the cans, and some more water.

Getting fancy with his water play.

Mommies Get Sick Too

After Alex eventually felt better, Tim and I developed the same nasty cold. Let me just say that it’s hard to keep up with a super active toddler when you aren’t feeling well! Needless to say, I wasn’t spending much time taking pictures or working on this blog. Once I did start to feel better, Alex and I were ready to get out of the house. So, we bundled up on a cold, rainy day and went to the mall to ride the choo-choo.

Watching the choo-choo just after arriving at the mall. Check out his awesome new jacket!

Waving the choo-choo into the station. He was very concerned it wasn’t going to stop for us!

I wish this one weren’t so blurry, because it’s sooo perfect! (We’re on the train now.)

Waiting to hand the conductor his ticket.

Desperate Parenthood

Alex was napping, Daddy and I were decorating the porch for Halloween, and we wanted frozen margaritas. What are parents to do?

Put the blender on the porch, of course!

Getting Caught Up is Tough!

September has been a ridiculously busy month! By the end of this weekend, I will have helped throw two baby showers, attended an out-of-town bachelorette party, and played host to family 4 out of the last 5 weekends. Alex and I have attended play dates/events almost every morning, and we try to walk on the beach with Daddy after work a few times a week. That’s not even factoring in the grocery shopping and piles of laundry and dishes. I’m not complaining – we love having visitors and who doesn’t love a good baby shower and girls’ reunion/beach weekend? I’m just giving my excuse for the lack of posts lately. Don’t worry – I plan on devoting Monday’s nap time to catching up on this blog. I have some great posts in mind from the last 2 weeks. Make sure you visit us next week and enjoy yesterday’s beach pictures and video on my other post from today.

Flash Back

Going through Alex’s clothes the other day, I found this old shirt Beth and I wore when we were little. Dad brought it back from the National Guard Tank Commander’s Course for us. Notice the year is 1986! Now we just need to find a picture of me wearing that shirt!

I Learned My Lesson!

Alex and I ran into Toys’R’Us for a few things and I learned a big life lesson! If you let a toddler out of the buggy to try out a chair, he will make a bee-line for the Power Wheels on the next aisle. When you try to put him back in the buggy after letting him admire the Power Wheels, he will kick and scream and you will have to carry him on your hip through the check-out and to the car. Lesson learned – but I did get some cute pictures before his melt-down!

This is What We Do

This is why I love staying at home with my baby – I get to do this all day long!

Here Mommy, read another one!

Uh-oh … Daddy caught us!

Bye-Bye Boat

Well, we finally lost our minds and sold our boat. Well, I guess it's more being responsible than losing our minds, but we are still going to miss her. Tim and I bought our boat in 2008 before our wedding and spent lots of fun summers learning the Charleston area rivers and Intracoastal Waterway like the back of our hands. We have so many great memories on the Amber Maria and hate to part with her. At the same time, we are excited to start saving some money to one day buy a house here in Wilmington (anyone want to buy our house in Moncks Corner?) and to maybe adopt an old 4x4 beach truck before that. Since you can drive on two parts of the beach down here, we think we'll be spending much more time on the sand with our little sea turtle than on the water in the boat. We also know we can't spend all day out on a boat with a toddler and just hate seeing her not being used. We lovingly spent all day Monday washing her - she's going to our old neighbors from SC, so we wanted to hand her off in ship-shape. Here are some pictures of Alex inspecting and washing the boat. (I'm sure he'll be glad for her to be out from under the house ... he'll have even more room to play!)

Waterfront Dining

Alex and I went to eat at a great restaurant called The George in downtown Wilmington while Grandma and Grandpa Murff were in town. Alex loves any excuse to be outside, so he did great job being patient during lunch. Thank goodness for passing boats and people watching!! Of course, Grandma and Grandpa provide quite a bit of entertainment as well! Too bad they live 5 hours away, because Alex adores them!

I love this little guy!	Here, Mommy, have some bread.
Is there something on my face?	Chillin’ with the Grandparents.

Nachos

I made nachos from leftover fajita filling for lunch Sunday while Alex was napping. Of course, he woke up in the middle of eating these nachos, so we figured we give him a taste. They were definitely a hit! It's taken a little while, but Alex is finally getting a little adventurous with food - especially if it's food I'm eating! So, for the first time in a long time, here are pictures of Alex ... with me! (I'm usually behind the camera, so it was nice to have some pictures taken of me, even if I hadn't showered!)

Hey Mommy, I love you. May I have some nachos?	Say cheese!
More!	Being silly.
Being sillier.	How do they eat with this thing?
But I really want that fork!	BUT I REALLY WANT THAT FORK!