2014 Myrtle Beach Vacation

Vacation?  What vacation?  Well, my friends we went on a vacation the first week of June but I never posted about it.  Not shocking since my posting has drastically dropped off recently. This whole full time working mom of two thing is exhausting.  You'd think after 2 months of being back from vacation that I'd have edited all the photos I took, but no.  So prepare yourself for loads of beach pictures.

Addie is my beach baby.  She couldn't wait and asked if we were at the beach about 50 times during the car ride down.

Graham, on the other hand, hated it.

Addie wasn't happy that I asked her to sit next to Graham.  Too much time wasted that she could have been jumping over waves.

We took a break from the ocean for one day and did some walking around shops. Addie was prime age for "I want, I want" so every corner we turned we knew we had another battle to fight.  This was one of those battles.

Each year I try to capture a couple beach photos for memories sake.  Two is much harder to photograph than one.

Addie won't let me pull her hair back.  Instead she insists on holding it to one side.

I love this picture because Graham has had enough.

A family of about 15 was walking up to take some family photos and one lady offered to take our picture while the rest of the family stood behind her and jumped up and down trying to get Addie and Graham to look at the camera.  They caught their attention.  Addie looks confused and Graham terrified while Rick and I smile patiently.

Vacation was fantastic and I cannot wait until next year when Graham is up and walking around, not eating sand and I can relax a little more.

-stephanie

Graham is Baptized

When we baptized Addie, she was 6 weeks old.  This weekend, we baptized Graham...at 8 months old.  The whole second baby problems where everything gets delayed and isn't as urgent as the first time around.  It was actually quite funny how large Graham was in comparison to the other babies.

Addie with her godfather Joey.

Graham loves water.  I'm actually quite surprised he didn't try to flip over and dive into the water while the priest poured water on his head.

Instead, he just stared at the priest and blew raspberries the entire time.

My little man.  It's amazing how babies can look so much like their mother but at the same time like their father.  I see me in his eye shape, nose and mouth but somehow still see Rick.

We selected my friend Katie to be Graham's godmother and Rick's youngest brother Zack to be his godfather.

And yes, Katie swallowed a watermelon.  :) 

She's due literally any day now and we can't wait to meet her little guy!

-stephanie

Easter 2014

I know what you're thinking.  It's May 5th and you're just now telling us what happened Easter weekend?  Yes, that is what I'm telling you.  Easter weekend was fun but busy for us.  Saturday we did an Easter egg hunt at the local high school.  They had 3 different age categories, luckily we were in the first.  The egg hunt was more of an egg scramble (haha) but it was on the hs football field.  7000 eggs were spread across the football field and then a helicopter flew over and dropped another 200 or so eggs to start us off.

The hunt was over in about 20 seconds.  Just before the countdown began I told Addie she would need to run as fast as she could when they said go. She did!  She got a lot of eggs.  Three is definitely the age for egg hunting!  

That afternoon, we went to Rick's parents house for Easter lunch.  His mom set up an Easter egg hunt for Addie.  Since she's the only grandchild old enough to hunt she didn't have to rush through the hunt and found a lot of good stuff.  

Sunday morning we woke up and ran out to see what the Easter bunny brought the kids.

Luckily, Addie does a great job sharing with Graham and gave him his bucket to go through.

Basically everything in the basket was found at Target, most of it in the dollar spot section except for Frozen and the Carter's hair clips.

Graham's basket was full of baby snacks, a couple squeaky chewable books and the dream lite I found on clearance for $7.50.  The kid loves staring at the lights coming out of these, not so much what they display on the ceilings.

Sunday morning we went to church then went up to my parents house for lunch and another Easter egg hunt.  This one had some of my cousins children and, surprisingly, did very well wit them there as well.  Sometimes she shocks me with her sharing skills.

If only I could get her to behave at dinner and not put her feet on the table in the restaurant.  Ugh!

-stephanie

Santa 2013

It was a success!  After a 90 minute wait, one tired baby and one cranky toddler, our visit with Santa was a success.  I'm so proud of Addie for not only waiting that long but for also talking, though softly, to Santa and not crying!  

There will be no posts on the blog tomorrow or Wednesday due to Christmas so until I write again, Merry Christmas to you all!

-stephanie

Elf on the Shelf Arrives

We finally did it.  We busted out that Elf on the Shelf.  I had originally planned to get it out on the first of the month but the more I thought about it the more I thought Addie wouldn't really get it.  Plus, I didn't want to do all that work if she still isn't at the age to comprehend.  So I waited until closer to Christmas so I didn't have to move him as much.  Saturday morning was the day!

I spent Friday evening getting everything laid out and prepared so I would just have to quickly throw the breakfast down and make the hot cocoa.

Addie and Rick went out to his parents lake house Friday night so when she got home she saw Santa had a package delivered.

She loved her donuts.

The hot cocoa with marshmallows was also a huge hit.

We had about a 5 minute conversation after reading the book as to what the elf's name should be.  She continued to say, "I don't know" or "nuffin" when we asked what his name should be.  I was tempted to name him nuffin but it seems he may have received a name over the past several days.  She's started referring to him as Frosty.  We'll see if that sticks.

-stephanie

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween 2013

We went to the pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago and I just never had a chance to upload the pictures.  Life with two and all.  So this post is a mix of pumpkin patch photos, pumpkin carving and Trick or Treat.  Our favorite u-pick farm is where we always head (apples, blackberries, pumpkins, etc). 

 

Rick and Addie headed off to play while I nursed Graham in the car.

That's the tough thing about nursing.  I miss out on this stuff when I'm nursing Graham.

 

How flipping cute?

 

I caught up with them in time to find our pumpkins. 

 

This is a terrible picture of me but I love it of Graham and that Addie has her hand on my shoulder.

 

Of course I take great photos of them.  I've got to teach this guy how to take a decent picture.

 

Addie and I decided on Halloween night that it would probably be a good idea to start carving out the pumpkin. 

 

She hated it.

 

Doesn't like the pumpkin guts touching her.

 

She kept saying, "ew gross" anytime her arm touched the side of the pumpkin.  I promptly grabbed some guts and tossed them on her foot.  :)  That probably wasn't very nice of me.

 

I love how she's holding her hair out of the way.

 

Then it was time to trick or treat and Addie was uber excited.  Even a little rain and high winds didn't stop her.

 

Sometimes when I say smile, I think, maybe I shouldn't have asked her to smile.

 

Then this happens.

 

We keep trying.

 

Then it gets crazy.

 

 

Finally we get a good photo.

 

 

And a ton of candy!  Mama loves candy!

 

-stephanie