Darby Acres Farm

Let me just brag for a moment – this is my 200th post!

Alex and I met a few new friends at Darby Acres Farm this morning. The farm is small and behind someone’s house with a lot of land. Out of our other two adventures to family farms – Bee City in Summerville, SC and Old McFaye’s Farm in Wilmington, NC – I’d say this is our favorite place so far! There were several animals to feed and pet, including llamas, alpacas, and a mini donkey! Alex was too scared to let the animals eat out of his hand, but once I showed him how to just hold out his cup, he was thrilled! He was definitely partial to the little goat that kept following him around. I guess he’s always had a thing for goats – they were his favorite at Tregembo Animal Park in Wilmington, too! After seeing all the animals, there were several antique tractors and fun ride-on toys, then a huge dirt/sand pile and playground. Alex had so much fun that I had to carry him kicking and screaming back to the car. I definitely got my work out, and I’m sure we’ll be back soon!

Attempting to feed the alpaca.

Check out his face – these guys make him a little nervous.

He was so thrilled to have the goats so close to him!

This little guy bullied his way into Alex’s cup.

Alex didn’t seem to mind, though I did eventually have to pull the cup away for him.

Sitting in a “go, go, go car” after checking out the antique tractors.

Pure delight!

Random Oscar Mayer Weiner car behind the bunny houses.

First outdoor trampoline experience – he LOVED it! But no, we are not getting one!

Finally … Sunshine!

Alex was so excited to finally see sunshine on a day we didn’t have errands to run that he insisted on going outside in his pjs this morning – even before breakfast. I should have known he needed to perform test flights on his newest rocket!

You can see him counting down … the camera caught him saying, “two”!

After several test flights and a walk-about, Alex asked me to fill up his pool so he could play in the water. He doesn’t like to get in the water, but he loves scooping and pouring. Since he’d found a sponge from the last time I cleaned his pool, we decided to set up a car wash. The funniest thing about these pictures is that my little man hates not having his clothes (including socks) on at all times! I brought him inside to change him into a bathing suit, but for some reason he insisted on his diaper and new sandals:

Just a Day in May

Alex has had a rough few days as a two-year-old, so I was very relieved to have my happy-go-lucky toddler back on Wednesday! Good thing, because I had an OB appointment and errands to run! Here’s a taste of our fun day and an update on Baby.Next!

*Alex woke up to find a construction paper rocket from Daddy on the table. How exciting! Rockets are his new obsession of the week!

*When I told him we needed to get in the car to meet Daddy at the doctor’s office, he insisted we visit Baba instead. Not sure which Grandma he wanted to see – but he wanted one of them!

*Alex was so excited to see Daddy’s truck at the OB office and thought it was hysterical that I got out and he got in. I have such a wonderful hubby – he took Alex to Target to do some shopping while I went in for my appointment.

*Hard to believe that I will be 31 weeks tomorrow! Time has gone by so quickly!! Baby.Next’s heartbeat sounds great and he is growing just as he should be. My belly is huge, but he is measuring perfectly and my weight gain has been very minimal (but still healthy!). We’re still on track for a July 11th due date – though I haven’t made up my mind on C-Section versus labor. The doctors I’ve met have been wonderful and I am SO GLAD I’ll be having this baby in Charlotte since I was not a fan of my Wilmington doctors. Here’s a peek at baby’s face from an ultrasound at 28 weeks: this is a profile shot of his face. You can make out his nose and mouth – then you can see his eye and his little fist in front of his face. He moves around all the time, so this picture was the best we could get!

*After the appointment and oohing over Alex’s new shoes he bought with Daddy, I took Alex to Starbucks. Silly boy drooled over all the treats while I ordered my coffee, then ended up choosing a juice box and fruit pouch. I guess juice boxes are more exciting than cookies when you cut your kid’s juice with mostly water! Afterwards, we went by the park:

Wearing his favorite Mater shirt and new sandals!

Almost a year ago! This was taken June 13, 2012 – and he still loves the steps!

My sweet Alex is such a gentleman! He was several steps in front of me on the sidewalk when he veered off into the grass. I was planning on walking along the edge of this puddle, but Alex, looking very concerned, said, “No, Mommy! Stop” and motioned for me to follow him in the grass. I guess he didn’t want my shoes to get wet!

Grandma Lisa Visits!

Alex was really excited to wake up Sunday morning to hear that Grandma Lisa would be at his house soon! He was so impatient for another Baba to walk through the door! He loved his new “car truck” (you can see it loaded with eggs in the photo) and even loved meeting Lisa’s friend, Bob. The two of them were definitely the stars of the day! Thanks for visiting!

NC Transportation Museum

We’ve decided to take some mini-adventures while we are still a family of three – so last Saturday we took Alex to the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC. Tim actually told Alex about the museum Friday night before bed, so Alex woke up and immediately asked for the trains and trucks! Poor thing had a hard time driving the 40 minutes up the road!

We arrived just in time for their hourly train ride. The train consisted of 6 or 7 cars that traveled the rails around the old train yard, stopping at several points of interest. Alex was very excited when he heard the first “choo-choo” and loved viewing the other trains from his seat.

“Let’s Go!” All ready for his first train ride!

Watching the train tracks go by.

More choo-choos!

The NC Transportation Museum has one of the only restored and one of the largest roundhouses in the country. The roundhouse was packed with several engines and rail cars. We also got to peek at several renovations – including a HUGE building filled with antique cars, trucks, and planes we hope will eventually be open for tours. Alex loved running from train to truck and marveling at how big everything was!

Both Tim and Alex enjoyed looking at the toy tractor exhibit!

Alex was very impressed with the traffic light – thanks, Go Dog. Go!

Working the controls!

Showing us the big wheel.

Alex did not want to leave! We had tons of fun, and will certainly go back soon!

Katherine & Harper’s Wedding

On Friday and Saturday, Tim and I celebrated Katherine and Harper’s wedding! Katherine lived across the hall from me freshman year and now we live only 30 minutes apart! The five of us have gotten together often since we moved to Charlotte, so we’ve been especially excited for this weekend.

While Alex would have looked quite dashing in a tux, we chose to leave him with Baba & Papa and take advantage of two date nights. Friday night, I picked Tim up from the airport just before dinner and Katherine’s pre-wedding reception.

College besties – Allison, Katherine and me!

Alex enjoying a picnic with Baba & Papa while Mommy & Dada enjoy a night out.

Saturday night was the wedding and great reception at Dressler’s Restaurant. It was so much fun to have two nights out with my best friends and their guys! Of course, it was even nicer to have two nights out with my hubby – especially before this baby arrives!

We clean up rather nicely, don’t you think?

Amanda and me discussing due dates (Amanda, May 11 and me, July 11)

A quick hug with the beautiful bride before heading home.

Alex spent the evening playing with his new car “whee”, aka slide. No, we didn’t trade Kovu in for a black dog – my parents were puppy-sitting my sister’s dog, Onyx.

Feeding Dinosaurs and Ducks

We spent lots of outdoors time with Baba and Papa last week. I guess we were getting in all the sun we could before this crazy wet weekend we just had.

Alex had a lot of fun showing Baba all his tricks in the back yard. They played games like: 1,2,3 run down the hill, or 1,2,3 run and throw pine straw in the air. We also created a really awesome system of roads and railroad tracks on the patio with sidewalk chalk. I’m so bummed that I didn’t take a picture before the rain washed everything away. At least I did get a picture of Alex helping his dinosaur (which used to be Tim’s) eat a tree:

While waiting for Papa to drive up on Thursday, we explored a park in the neighboring county and stopped by a consignment store for a little shopping. Good thing I always travel with a bag of goldfish, because Alex really wanted to feed the ducks that were following him around.

 

Big big thanks go to my parents for cutting the grass, weed-whacking, pulling up weeds, changing the air filters and generally taking care of Alex and me (and baby!) while Tim was in Mexico! I was relieved to have extra hands around and Tim was glad to have the clover in the backyard cut before our 2 inch rainfall this past weekend!