Our trip to NC

So last week I packed up the boys and headed up to do something I used to do every summer when I was a kid--spend a week at Nana & Papa's!  I was bound and determined I would do this alone, so as to prove my independence.  For the most part the trip went well.  The trip up was nice and quiet, although it did take about 5 hours to get there (it's like a 3 hour trip).  About 1/2 way in Camden told me he had to pee so I pulled off at the rest stop--then I sat there thinking "how am I going to do this.  .  ." I strapped Evan in the Baby Bjorn and headed up to the ladies room.  Once Camden was done, I took a turn (yea, if they have cameras in there I would like to play back the footage, I'm sure it's quite a sight to see a lady with a 22 lb baby attached to her hovering over the seat) and then we headed on our way!  15 minutes later I hear I'm hungry, and I'm hungry screams from the back seat.  .  .so we stopped AGAIN! :)  We did finally make it, and it felt wonderful driving up Sleepy Hollow and seeing my grandparents house!!


MONTREAT

Montreat is where I used to go to a youth conference every summer in high school about 20 minutes from Asheville.  It's a very special place full of memories for me!  I have taken Jason and Camden there before when Camden was about Evan's age, and I was excited when I found out my friends Robert & Morgan would be there for a youth conference at the same time I was in Asheville.  I took the boys on Wednesday, I wasn't really sure what we would do, but I knew there was a great playground so if nothing else we could park it there for a little while so Robert and I could catch up.  Much to my surprise Camden wanted to play in the creek!!  I had told Robert that he probably wouldn't b/c he's too much like his momma and lord knows I don't like non-chlorinated water!  Camden took his shoes off, took his shirt off and hopped in!!  I so wish Jason could've been there to go in with him.  Really, he made me see it in a different light too!  If I could've hopped in I would've, but then Evan would've been unattended on the side of the creek!  I really wish I could've just walked all around, but 3 year olds aren't big into reminiscing--so I just took pleasure in knowing that he enjoyed Montreat, we'll definitely head back up next time we are there!

WEAVERVILLE

My Aunt Le and Uncle Leigh live about 20 minutes from my grandparents in a little town called Weaverville.  The boys and I decided to give Nana the night off and drove up there on Thursday for pizza and play time with Aunt Le and Miles.  My Aunt has the best house, and her property is just beautiful.  You seriously could go and walk around all day up there and not ever leave her yard!

Had I not had Evan in the Baby Bjorn, I would've walked all over with Camden!  As it was, I did have Evan in the Baby Bjorn so I thought it best to stay closer to her house so I could sit when necessary!  

Camden took right to Le, I wasn't surprised though--she's always been great with kids.  Whenever we came to visit she would have special books and games for us to play!  As it was, she had chosen the most awesome gift in the world for an energetic 3 year old--A ROCKET LAUNCHER!  Camden was overjoyed, as was I because it gave him something to do, and a reason to run b/c he had to go get the rockets once they were launched!  

After Camden played with the rocket launcher a bit we strolled around, played hide and seek, and looked for the bunnies that Le kept promising!  We found one too--or Miles found one rather!  He stood there for about 5 minutes pointing it, it was amazing--that dog definitely does not have ADD!  In the end the bunny got away, but Le said he and Miles play that game just about every day!

We had such a great time with Aunt Le.  Camden helped put the pepperoni on the pizza, and she gave him little mini grapes (I've never seen those before), and let him try every cookie he wanted to, even when he wouldn't eat the first one he took!!  After dinner we watched some sponge bob and chit-chatted and then headed home for bed!

HEALTH ADVENTURE

Our last day we decided to take the boys to the Health Adventure downtown.  It's sort of like a kids museum, with an emphasis on health in part of it.  They also had an Arthur exhibit which I thought was supercool! :)  Everything was kid sized and Camden loved it.  They even had a green screen where you could choose and star in different videos!  You know I was all up in the middle of that--much to Camden's dismay!  He just wanted to direct us all to our seats and push the buttons!  They are actually opening a new bigger and improved Health Adventure next year I think--for anyone who is going to be in the area!!  

bubble wall

Evan in the Bjorn--I know, I'm a glutton for punishment, but he loves it!

Camden playing librarian!  His Aunt Le would be proud!

Camden showing mommy his mad skills in the kitchen!

My little engineer--this tube had air blowing out of it and you could shoot balls out of it, they had pvc pipe so you could build different tubes--he was all over it!

All in all it was a good trip!  We had some firsts, Evan's first eggs and Camden's first fireflies, and of course rock hopping!  I would love to do it again next year, but we'll have to see if my grandparents can handle us again! :)  The food was delicious--as always.  I would really love to detail every meal, but I might lose some of you so I'll end it here!  Camden and I are headed to the lake this weekend, I feel certain that will make for some good blogging next week.  .  .

EGGS!

Evan-eight months already!

In honor of Evan turning 8 months old, I thought I would just try and jot down some things about the boys! As hard as staying at home can be, one benefit I've found is that I'm really getting to know my kids! That's not to say that you can't get to know your kids or you are less of a mom if you work, trust me, I've done the working mom thing as well--I'd say they both have their pros and cons. I've just really tried to savor my moments with them--it's hard for me to "let things go" like the dishes, and laundry, the bills, etc--but I'm really trying to do this sometimes and just soak up my time with them!!

Evan:

Last weigh in was last week and he was a SOLID 22.6 lbs!!  I'm not sure how long he is, but I can say that he is in clothes that Camden was wearing his second summer!  

He has yet to get any teeth, but I'm expecting their arrival any day now!! We've had some pretty raunchy diapers lately! He was chewing on one of Camden's foam letters in the bath tonight and I SWEAR there were 4 teeth imprints--bless him if he's getting 4 at once!

He's loving food--I've even had to cut back on it so I can get all of his formula in him!  He no longer gets a bed time bottle, which is sort of sad for me because it seems pretty soon!  So far he's had grits, eggs, brunswick stew, mac & cheese, banana, watermelon, and of course ICE CREAM! :)

Favorite word: DA-DA, it's pay back b/c it took Camden forever to say it!!  Whenever Evan is happy he just shouts Da-Da Da-Da, every so often when he's crying I get a MaMa--thanks kiddo!!  We will have to fix that before Da-Da gets home :)!  He is a chatter box, much more social than his brother was/is!  

Favorite hobby: playing with Camden, and playing in the mirror!!  I've never heard such wonderful laughs!!  He's also VERY ticklish--I love it!

He's not crawling yet, but he's awfully close--he gets so frustrated when he falls!!  He also LOVES the water!  Pool & bath!

Camden:

His last weigh in was also last week and he was a very solid 36 lbs.  Not as heavy as I thought, but he's been doing lots of running and swimming this summer!  He is still a very picky eater, but we are working on it.  I'm learning to just not stress over it!  It's been a tough for me, but learning to let this battle go is the best thing I've done over the past month or so--it has eliminated a lot of unnecessary stress in our household!  His favorite food at the moment is Fruit Loops, Yogurt, and most fruits!

Camden is truly the best big brother I've ever seen!!  He LOVES playing with Evan and making him laugh.  The sweetest thing ever is to look back when we are in the car and seeing him fast asleep holding Evan's hand!  I'm so hoping that this will continue as they get older!  I know I'm asking a lot, but I do want them to grow up to be close!  Siblings are wonderful!  

He LOVES "Ponge Bob Pare Pants"--I have to get that on video before he changes it!  That is probably his favorite show.  Not the best one he could cling to, but I've seen worse!  He told me the other day his favorite colors are red & blue, very patriotic!  He is really starting to use his imagination when he's playing.  Sometimes I sneak up on him just so I can listen to him!  Favorite toys of the moment are cars, trains, and the rocket launcher he got from his Great Aunt Le!  He has also really gotten into swimming this summer!  Last weekend he even started swimming without his water wings!!  

He is very chatty with me at home (sometimes it drives me to drink-ha :) ), but if he is around other people he almost immediately clams up!!  He's painfully shy, I hate it for him, but I was the same way.    

The other day my grandparents and I were talking about where Jason was and my Papa mentioned something about his Daddy being in Iraq--Camden immediately said "A ROCK???" :)  I quickly explained that he wasn't in A ROCK like Jesus (he recites the Easter story as Jesus being in "a rock" and then he's not in "a rock" anymore b/c God got him)--but in E-ROCK--"it's this whole other country"(his daddy would like the Forest Gump reference).  I think he got it! :)  

We had a great trip to NC last week!  I'll blog more about that later.  Now it's time for Big Brother and then bed! :)  Hope everyone is doing FANTASTIC! 

Family Support Pool Party

So this month the Seabee wives decided we wanted to do something a little different for our meeting. Since it was our July meeting, we decided a pool party was in order! :) Gets us outdoors and allows some of us to soak up some sun, or get water logged with the children in the pool. Mom and Dad were gracious enough to let us have our party at their pool and a great time was had by all!!

For those of you that aren't on facebook--Jason commented the other day about one of Camden's pictures. He asked if I could "get one of him smiling"---um, yea, okay. . .easier said than done! Everyone at the party saw the comment and went on a mission to get pictures of Camden smiling! It wasn't too hard since he was in the pool and had 2 sets of his grandparents there to dote on him!!
I think everyone had a good time, and we definitely had some good food!! Uncle Betty's hooked us up with some pulled pork, pulled turkey, and chicken fingers--YUMMY! For those of you in the area, if you need BBQ that's where it's at!! They are just good people, and the food is always delicious--I don't even like BBQ, but I'll eat it there!
www.unclebettysbbq.com

POP QUIZ! :) NAME THAT BABY!

Just for Fun!! Enjoy!

I was able to capture this today when I snuck up on the boys!  I got so tickled that they were having so much fun with just a blanket! :)

Evan eating grits--he loves them, I think he just likes the texture on his tongue or something!

Stone Mountain!

So, I was very excited last night to get to take Camden to the Laser Show!  Growing up in this area I just feel like it's a rite of passage really!  We used to go at some point every summer--planned or unplanned, and I do hope that we can do the same with our kids!!  If you've ever heard the song Chicken Fried, and let's be honest here--we all know I'm the only one who just heard it for the first time recently, it reminds me so much of trips to the Laser Show.  .  .

My girlfriend Krissy and I had been talking about it for a couple of weeks and finally picked a date to go.  I didn't want to take Evan so I needed to have it all worked out, thus the planning!!  Of course it rained on Tuesday so we weren't sure if we would be able to make it, but the sun pushed on through so we could make it all happen!  We packed PB&J, fruit, chips, juice boxes, and oreos got settled on the lawn and let the kids graze and "run barefoot" (I think Camden was the most excited about that part)!!!

Camden & Olivia (I'm thinking they were watching the train)

Look Mommy--they do have ice cream!

Say Cheese!!

Once dinner was taken care of and we had about 3 bathroom breaks the sun started setting and the glow necklaces came out!!  Again, this is another rite of passage I think!  You have to get one EVERY time you go--I did, even when I was a teenager and buying my own!  We got all of the kids necklaces and watched them put them on, take them off and swirl them around!!  In addition to the necklaces they were also selling super cool swords, light up sunglasses, and bubble blowers--these were $10 so I opted for the necklace!!  The group in front of us all had kids with swords and bubble blowers, must've been from the nicer part of town!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I would never buy the sword or bubble blower, but I just wasn't doing it for this trip--the economy is in the tank, everyone knows that!! :)  Camden really wished OUTLOUD that he could have one of those swords but I told him the necklace would be a good memory.  Then Krissy and I watched our children merge with the "well-to-dos" and play with their bubbles and swords!! :)  So it all worked out!!

Camden and Mommy before the show!

Olivia, Camden, & Abigail playing with expensive bubbles

So--the show started with a BANG!!  This didn't go over so well with Camden!!  Fireworks are NOT his thing!  After the first one went off he was pretty much done.  I did get him to calm down and just as I was promising that there would be no more.  .  .BANG.  . .go figure!!  Even better, when it was all over--I mean the lights came up and everything I pried him out of my lap and SWORE THEY WERE DONE.  . . HAHA--nope, some more shot off (I think by accident), so we might be having some trust issues now!!  They didn't have that many when I was a kid!  I loved it!  I always have though--I'm goofy like that.  I always cry when they play Georgia, and I'm Proud to be an American (which by the way has been completely removed from the show, so I may have to boycott)--it's all about tradition!  The only thing we had missing was Daddy--but he will be here next year, and hopefully Camden won't be so scared of the fireworks!!  All in all it was a great night, and even though Camden sat through 95% of the show like this: 

We enjoyed some much needed Mommy-Camden time!!

Excuse My Dust!!

Hey there!!  Please bear with me while I work on updating the layout of my blog!!  I'm tired of looking at dots!  I'm sure it will change several times while I try to get it all figured out!