Beach Vacation

As I mentioned in my last post, we spent a few days down in North Myrtle Beach last week. We left Wednesday after Mason got out of school and came back Sunday morning. My parents are there every spring and fall for a week each time, and they always get a large condo with plenty of room for all of us.

The drive down was somewhat of a harrowing experience. I've quickly learned traveling with two small kids is not for the faint of heart. Mason was recently potty trained and this was the first trip we've made sans pull-ups. I was a little nervous because he still has a fear of public restrooms. About halfway down, I new he had to go, but he kept saying no when I tried getting him to the bathroom.

At one point, we had to pullover in a church parking lot to calm the screaming baby. It turned out she pooped and had a blowout. We took the opportunity to try to get Mason to pee in the grass, but still no luck. As soon as he got back in the car, he was doing the pee-pee dance in his seat, so I knew he was in dire straits. We stopped at one of those Myrtle Beach welcome centers and we both tried for several minutes to get him in the bathroom. I even bough some M&Ms from the vending machine for bribery... still no luck. Finally I took him kicking and screaming into the largest stall, pulled down his pants and waited. When he just couldn't hold it anymore, it happened. He peed all over himself, all over the floor, and worst of all, all over me.

You know the trip is pretty rough when three out of four people in the car needs a change of clothes before you get to the destination.

Once we got close to the beach, we started seeing the smoke from the wildfires that were all over the news last week. At first we thought it wasn't too big a deal, but when we woke up smelling BBQ in the middle of the night and couldn't even see the ocean from right across the street due to all the smoke in the air, we knew it must be bad. The fires were across the waterway and not in our immediate area, but we saw the smoke all weekend. Ash and burnt debris washed up on the beach shore for several days and the smell was in the air the whole time. It was such a blessing that only homes and property were lost, not any lives.

Since that day was my birthday, Mom and Dad had pizza and birthday cake waiting for us when we got to the condo. Mason and I blew out the candles together since his birthday was on the 6th.

Mom and Dad were busy doing their Shag Club thing, so we were on our own most of the time. Each day we spent doing the same thing... outlet shopping in the morning, beach in the afternoon. On the second night there, we put Lauren to bed and my Mom and Dad handled Mason's bedtime for us while Dave and I went out for a birthday dinner. We didn't go anywhere too special... just Olive Garden, but it was a wonderful meal. We split a dinner so we would have room for wine, dessert, and coffee (which we usually don't get). We haven't had a date night since before Lauren was born and even then, it was a rare treat.

Mason loved playing at the beach this year. He had fun building sand castles, chasing after birds, but most of all, playing in the waves. I thought the water was pretty cold, but he didn't seem to mind. Last year he was rather scared of the waves, but not this year. Lauren loved playing in the sand too. At one point I accidentally let her fall face-first into the sand and she ended up swallowing some (as evidenced by her poop the next day) but she seemed no worse for the wear. Just like Mason before her, she seemed to really like nursing and sleeping out by the water.

The trip back home Sunday morning started off pretty good. Lauren slept and Mason sat nicely watching his DVD. I knew the potty issue would come up again and it did. We stopped at a rest area, but we couldn't get Mason to go in of course. He really needed to go, so I suggested we just pull his pants down outside in the grass and wait. He did go, and I think it was a little less tramautic this time. We drove for little while longer and then he asked to go pee in the grass again. So we pulled off the road and this time, he did it with no problems at all. I think he liked "watering the flowers". We're definitely going to remember that trick on our next trip.

I think both kids had a great time. Dave and I did too. Thanks to Mama and Daddy for having us join them. We'll meet you down there again in September!

1977 Was a Good Year

It was the year I was born. Since my birthday was last week, I thought I'd share a few of my baby pictures. These are all courtesy of my mom who recently scanned in her old school slides.

I was born in Memphis, TN. Here I am day or two old, still at the hospital.
I'm told this one was on the first day home from the hospital. My Grandaddy is holding me. I think my brother is not too sure about having a baby sister in the house...

..but I guess he got used to the idea. Now it looks like I'm not too sure about having a big brother...

We eventually warmed up to each other. I'm around three months old in this picture. I see a lot of Lauren in this one.

For my birthday, we had nice little vacation at North Myrtle Beach this past weekend. I plan to post some pictures of our trip in my next blog. We stayed in a nice condo with my parents who were there to take part in the yearly spring Shag festivities. Mom made a nice birthday cake for me and Mason (who's birthday was on the 6th), and she and Daddy watched the kids for us while Dave and I enjoyed a very rare dinner date. I also enjoyed shopping at the outlet mall and hanging out on the beach. Dave was even able to get by without working too much on our vacation. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

A Half Birthday

On April 13, Lauren had her half birthday. (Yes, 6 months already!) So last week, I took her for her 6-month checkup with Dr. Smoak. She's 75th-90th percentile for weight (17lbs, 15oz) and 25-50th percentile for height (25 1/4 inches). She's doing very well and has had a few milestones since my last update about her. She's standing up pretty well with assistance, she's working on getting up on hands and knees, she started eating solid foods, and she just got her first tooth this past week. With the exception for the heat rash on her neck that won't go away, and the waking up 2-3 times a night to eat or just because, I can't complain. She's one happy baby.

Here she is having her first solid food meal (oatmeal with breastmilk) she also had her first sip of water that day.

I'm still struggling with figuring out when and how many times to feed her, and how to get this new thing worked into our routine. Plus she doesn't seem to be taking to eating quite as easily as Mason did. I've tried oatmeal, rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and bananas all at different temperatures and consistencies, but she doesn't eat more than a a few small tastes at any time and spits out most of it. I know there's a learning curve, so I'm not sweating it yet. Cutting that tooth might be factoring into this as well.

Here's a random pic that's just too cute not to share. I'm so happy that Mason just loves his baby sister.

An Anniversary of Sorts

April 20, 1997, 12 years ago today, Dave and I officially became a couple. We were just friends since our first week of college one and a half years earlier. We even had our first date that fall, but things never really clicked past friendship until spring of 97. Who knew then that we'd be married with two children 12 years later?

This is our first picture ever taken together. It was probably taken in May or June of 1997. We were 20 years old.
This next one was taken in the hall of Dave's dorm at Georgia Tech, right outside the door where we first met. It was right before Dave took me out to celebrate our one year dating anniversary and my 21st birthday two days later.

We went to the revolving Sundial Restaurant at the top of the Westin Peachtree hotel in Atlanta. Pretty glitzy for a couple of poor college students. Dave bought me a way too expensive peach daiquiri before our fancy dinner. Over dessert, he gave me a beautiful sapphire and diamond promise ring. He kept that promise, and 4 years later, we were married on June 1, 2002.

It's been a wonderful 12 years with my best friend. Love you, sweetie!

Easter Weekend

Thanks to beautiful weather, we had a very nice Easter weekend. Saturday we joined the neighbor kids for the annual HOA Easter egg hunt. Mason had lots of egg hunting practice last week, so by Saturday he was a pro. He cleaned up!

Sunday morning we went to a very lovely church service. I was proud of Mason for sitting very nicely up front during the children's message. (See Lauren's previous baptism blog for the reason why.)

After church, Mason worked out in the yard with Dave. He loved pretending to be Handy Manny with his goggles, hammer, and crowbar while helping his Daddy remove the old screen from our back porch. (We're preparing to re-screen it.)

This week is spring break for Mason. I'm working hard to think up fun activities to keep us all happy this week. The weekend can't come soon enough.

Three Years Ago Yesterday...

... I became a mother. It was the hardest but most wonderful experience I will ever have in my life.

We checked into the hospital at 6:00am on April 6, 2006 - a little anxious because of the low fluid and irregular heartbeat that was diagnosed at the midwife's office the afternoon before. After settling in and getting hooked up to the unwanted but necessary monitors and IV, the process began and I was induced. We sat, we paced, we danced, we rocked, we bounced, but as of 3:00 that afternoon, I was still 5-6cm dilated - just the same as I was when I walked in the doors that morning. I planned to do this with no pain medication, and I had been experiencing what I would later call pretty tough, but tolerable pain. To move things along, we reluctantly agreed to let midwife Tina break my water, and the REAL fun began. After almost three hours of the some of the most excruciating pain in my life (a close second to the kidney stone of 2008) my beautiful son was born at 5:55pm. Memories of that pain quickly faded away.

He needed just a little oxygen to help him get started, but Mason was a very healthy baby despite the potential complications that worried us. The irregular heartbeat disappeared by the time we went home on April 8.

These are just a few of my favorite pictures of his first few months.

His whole life, and even before his birth, Mason has been a very active little boy. Not content sit still, he's always on the move and constantly wants someone to play with him. From his mother, he gets his single dimple, his love of puzzles, and his picky eating habits (with me it's fruit, with him it's vegetables). Everything else about him is all from his Daddy. He loves letters and numbers, has a great knack for remembering things, and can make himself burp whenever he wants to. He's stubborn to a fault, learns very quickly, and loves playing on the computer. He likes to rough-house, has a great sense of humor, and loves his baby sister.

He probably isn't the easiest kid in the world, but I would never change him. He is such a blessing. Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Birthday Fun

It's hard to believe, but my "baby" is turning 3 years old tomorow, April 6.

Instead of doing a party this year, we decided just to do some fun family things. So on Saturday we started with our usual family breakfast of sausage, eggs, and tater tots. Then we headed out to the park to meet the other MOMS Club families for the annual easter egg hunt and some fun on the playground.
After that, we came home to play outside a bit with Mason's new bubble machine, courtesy of Baba and Grandpa from Orlando. Then Mason got to choose where we went for lunch: Chick-fil-a.

After all that morning fun, I thought for sure he'd take a pretty good nap, but it was not to be had. Sadly, I think Mason believes naptime is something for two-year-olds and no self-respecting three-year-old would be caught dead having a nap.

So since the weather was so beautiful, I talked Dave into taking us all to Carowinds with new season passes. We spent a couple hours in the kids area. His favorite ride was the kiddie swings... he rode it 6 times. On the way home he told us seat numbers he sat in and was exactly right. He also knew the number of the boat and helicopter he rode in. (It seems he has a knack for remembering numbers.)

For his birthday tomorrow, I will drop Mason off at school and come home to work on his birthday cake. He requested a "blue" cake, but I just can't bring myself to make one. Since his second choice was "brown and red", we'll go with chocolate pound cake with strawberries. I think I have Dave talked into taking the afternoon off, so that will be a nice surprise for Mason. But I don't think he'll care much once he sees the new truck he's getting for his present.