Alec's Tonsillectomy

Everyone please keep Alec in your prayers, he is having his tonsils and adenoids removed on Wednesday. He will be staying in the hospital overnight. Jack had this same procedure done when he was the same age as Alec, they don't like it! Please pray for him to have a speedy recovery! Thanks

Garden City 2008

This past week we went to Garden City Beach with my mom's family. All 6 brothers and sisters and their children. We really had a fun time and got to do lots of fun things. This year everyone was a lot wiser and we got 2 beach houses instead of one. I don't care how close your family is or how much you love each other 25 people in one house is a bad idea!!! This year all people with young kids were in one house and grown ups were in one house, although I am not sure my male cousins qualify as grown-ups. A few mornings Patrick and I were up with the children at 7:00 and the cousins had not gone to bed yet!! I swear I do not remember ever doing that!!!!
We pretty much played on the beach every morning before the sun came out full force and had some activity planned for the afternoon. Mom and Patrick took Anna and Jack to the mud bar one afternoon. Anna had been last year but this was Jack's first time sinking up to his knees in mud. He didn't seem to even have a problem with that until millions of fiddler crabs started emerging! He does not do crabs and I don't know if he will want to do the mud bar again. They had the annual mud fight on the bar and when they came back Anna's entire ear canal was filled with black mud! Poor Patrick forgot to bring old shoes to wear so he wore shoes that were 2 sizes too small and had terrible blisters later. Everyone enjoyed Bates' new boat especially Jack. He went out one time for well over an hour and had no desire to get off the boat. He had his captain's seat picked out and was happy as a clam there. One day Patrick went knee boarding with Jack looking on from his seat. When they got back I asked Jack "How did Daddy do kneeboarding?" His response was.. "He did good but then he fell off and drowned one time." To Jack if you are fully submerged under water for any length of time you have officially drowned. Alec loved everything about the beach especially hanging out with Cousin Laura who is 6 months younger. Anna especially loved being with her big girl cousins and their friends and she could have stayed on the beach until sundown. We managed to stay for 5 days and that beats our 4 days last year. Maybe next year we'll make 6!!!

Anna's Latest Stage Performance

Anna took a camp this week at Town Theater with her favorite teacher, Ms. Jamie. It was a fairy tale camp and they worked on Hansel and Gretel. Today we went to the theater to see all the kids perform the fairy tale skit. Anna played the part of the witch!!! Her main excitement from this part was the "costume." She said "Mom, wait until you see my dress and my hat. The dress has feathers on it!" I was really blown away by how well she had learned her lines in a week. Up until this point she has had only one or two lines in the plays but she had 7 or 8 lines this time. She didn't forget any!! I was so proud of her! She is really very funny about the whole acting thing. She told Patrick Monday when he dropped her off for her first day of camp, "Daddy, this is what I want to do for my job." She cried today when the play was over, just like she has after each one. She told me yesterday that a another girl in her class that had never been in a play before asked her what to do if she got "stage fright" ? Anna's reply to her was, "That can't happen." Patrick bought her flowers last night and she was so excited this morning when he gave them to her. After the play was over she got to come out in the audience in her costume to see her guests... Jack and Alec were both so funny looking at her. Jack was touching her as if she was some kind of Movie star. He couldn't take his eyes off of her! We had a very nice time today.

The new member of our family... Coley!!!

Patrick and I went away for the night in June for 24 hours of rest and relaxation. We however found a way to make our lives a little more exciting and busy. We got a puppy for the children!!! It wasn't the kind of dog we were originally looking for but it turned out to be much better choice. Coley is a cutie patootie cockapoo who can be an inside dog, only gets about 20 pounds, and does not shed!! Patrick and I never saw ourselves as small dog people but I now can surely see some advantages. The kids had no idea we were getting a puppy. Anna has been asking a lottttttttt lately about when are we going to get a dog, "the cats aren't fun!" I knew it was time to get a dog when one day I found her setting up an obstacle course for Missy and she was going to try to train her. For those of you who know Missy, you get how that is going to turn out. Missy has not wanted to be an inside cat since the day we got her and her mind was made up when babies started toddling around. Needless to say when we brought the puppy in the house the kids went crazy with excitement, except Alec. Alec was not sure of the puppy and was a bit afraid of him, but after a couple days he started coming around. Coley has been a really good dog so far. We are in the midst of trying to house train because we are determined to have a house dog! He seems very smart and very loving!

Visit to Grandpa and Lori's

The weekend of July 12th Patrick and I took Anna and Jack up to Franklin, NC to visit with Grandpa and Lori. Nana was kind enough to keep Alec who does not enjoy the car (understatement) and had been fighting ear infections again. We had a very nice scenic drive there and once we got there the kids were busy the whole time! They got to experience lots of things they don't see at home on a daily basis. They picked plums, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, apples, and vegetables which they thoroughly enjoyed! They came close to making themselves sick on Blueberries. They both rode Grandpa's tractor, made homemade blueberry and apple pies, birdwatched and visited with the horses! Jack found a pair of binoculars that he had stuck to his face just about the whole time, he will surely need a pair of those for his birthday. Anna would have stayed outside the entire time if we had let her, she really enjoys nature. On Sunday Grandpa took Anna and Jack to dig up their own worms for fishing. This was the part that Anna did not enjoy quite so much especially the idea that we were going to have to put a hook through a worm. She said she wasn't going fishing but later changed her mind. I might have told a small white lie...we may have just wrapped her worm around the hook... luckily it didn't become an issue. Grandpa's pond was stocked with fish so catching a fish was a sure thing and that is definitely what you need for a 3 year old and a 6 year old. From the time the worm hit the water it wasn't 3 minutes before they had a bite. I'm afraid Jack would have lost all faith in fishing had he not caught something. Jack and Anna both caught their first fish on Sunday and the excitement for them was overwhelming. Jack caught a few large catfish and Anna caught a giant trout, it made their day and made Jack's whole year! We had a really nice visit and look forward to visiting again.

Litchfield 2008

The weekend before July 4th Patrick and I took the babies to Litchfield like last year. We had such a great time again! We stayed in the building that is directly next to the waterpark so it was very convenient. They were all old enough this year to really enjoy the splash pool, lazy river, beach, etc. At night I don't know who was more tired, us or the kids!! Anna found a live Conch under the sand that people came down the beach to see, so it made her feel very special! Anna had no fear of the ocean which I am not sure is a good thing but at least my ocean fears have not been passed on to her. Jack took his fishing pole and spent a lot of time just casting into the ocean. He was sure he would catch a shark or something exciting!! He also enjoyed his Spiderman kite and flying it all over the beach. Alec spent most of his time digging in the dirt and snacking!! He had a great time covering Patrick with sand! He actually was a little bit scared to go in to the ocean too far, but has no fear of pools! We took a visit to the Shark mouth beach store again, went a few times for ice cream, went once to the marina but mostly we just stayed at the resort and relaxed. Looking forward to doing it again next year!

Jack's 3rd Birthday!!! We love you!

We celebrated Jack's birthday at the bowling alley at his request. He had been bowling one time before this and he really enjoyed it. He can barely pick the ball up but he has the best time watching it roll "sloooooooooowly" down the lane. Thank goodness for gutter blockers! Jack had a dinosaur cake but I am sorry to say that was his second choice. I was unable to fulfill his first request for a "Jonah and the Whale" cake. Let me tell you. I searched high and low. I called every bakery in Columbia and just about every one asked "what kind of cake???" There is a story behind this Jonah and the whale thing. This is Jack's favorite story of all time up to this point. He can tell you the entire story including words and phrases like "Ninevah and the sea will be calm again." He is hilarious. He will also be glad to tell you the story of David and Goliath fully equipped with words like Israelite and Philistine. But back to the birthday.... he had a great time and even enjoyed the dinosaur cake. Happy Birthday buddy, we love you!

Hole in One!!!!

The last day we were at the beach, Patrick played golf with James, Allen and one of Allen's friends. They were on hole 7 at a beautiful golf course called True Blue, Patrick hit his shot and saw it land close to the green. Everyone was apparently trying to find the ball until someone looked in the hole for laughs and saw it in there! Hole in One. Congratulations to my husband who does not get to play golf as often as he should but he may have to start now! Anna insisted on getting him a cake before he got home from golf and we had a small celebration for him.

Family Beach Trip

We went to Garden City Beach last week with the Darby clan. We were busy!!! The kids had a great time because the more excitement the better and there was definitely some excitement. When you have 24 people in one house it gets very interesting. Nobody got sunburned (we love our ONE STEP AHEAD sunsuits, so convenient!!!) and nobody was seriously injured (major accomplishment)! Jack still was not fond of the sea grass, Anna was still a waterbug, and Alec still was not afraid of anything! We were very lucky to have a pool where we were staying and Jack was much more calm in pool water, he must take after me! Looking forward to next year!

For a link to the children's SPF suits:

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=525797&parentCategoryId=100180&categoryId=100182&subCategoryId=100184

Litchfield Trip

The Monday after we returned from Arizona we left for Litchfield Beach for our little family beach trip. We had a wonderful time and pretty much followed the same routine everyday.
AM-beach, naps, PM-beach and waterpark. The kids loved the beach! It was really Alec's first time seeing it and I don't think Jack remembers ever seeing it so it was exciting. Patrick said it looked like Alec was reenacting the baby sea turtles trek to the ocean. He would crawl to the surf and keep going with the waves crashing on top of him, he thought it was hilarious. However, this does not seem to follow the cautious child stereotype! (See Alec is Walking post). Everyone had a blast digging in the sand, building castles and finding sea clams. Patrick and Anna, the waterbugs, spent lots of time out in the waves and left the cautious people up on the beach. Jack had one day where he was not at all pleased with the sea grass that was washing up on the beach. Truly the beach was just about covered in this nastiness. He would have nothing to do with it. He wanted to leave right away and would scream when it came near him! The schedule of that day looked more like AM-pool, nap, PM-pool. Leaving was not fun. Anna and Jack were very sad to be leaving the beach and Alec was sad to be getting in the car period! So we stopped by one of the local "hard to find" Eagles or Wings stores. We bought shells to take home with us so that they could "remember" the beach until we came back in August!!!

Our Arizona Trip

Patrick and I went to Phoenix the last weekend of June for his annual company meeting. Thank you great big to Mom and Teddy for watching the babies! We had a really wonderful time. The resort where we stayed was extremely nice and getting to experience the West for the first time was fun for me! The heat is hard to describe. It was over 110 degrees all the days we were there. When you walk out of the A/C and into the outdoors it feels like stepping into a pre-heated oven, the heat hits you like a wall. It doesn't seem to affect the people who live there. The great thing is there is no humidity, I had 3 great hair days!!! One man who lived there said it hadn't rained since January. Friday, Patrick was in meetings so I shopped and read and relaxed it was so much fun, but I started missing the kids after about 5 hours! I always call too much and they get tired of talking to me. Friday night we had a great company dinner and meeting and I was able to meet all the people Patrick works so close with, they were all very nice. Saturday Patrick and I went to the water park at the resort and acted like college kids. Rode the water slides (I rode the kiddie slide), sun bathed, floated in the lazy river, and drank fruity drinks. The drink we "shared" was called Shark Bait and was served in a plastic fish bowl!!! Very cute! Sunday we flew home and couldn't wait to see Anna, Jack and Alec, four days is the longest we've been away. They were asleep and looked very angelic. We put their "peace offering presents" I mean souvenirs in the bed with them and they very excited when they woke up. I'm sure the excitement was because they were happy to see us and definitely not because of the gifts, hahahahaha!!

The Wizard of Oz

Anna and I were lucky enough to get to go see The Wizard of Oz at the Town Theater last Saturday night (thanks to GG). We had a wonderful girls night out. We ate dinner at the Italian Pie and then headed down to the show. I didn't know if she would be able to stay awake for the whole thing since it didn't even start until 8pm, but she was wide-eyed until 11pm. She loved the show, it was very well done and very much like the movie. Anna told me afterwards that she wanted to do that and she wanted to be Glenda the good witch (probably because of the puffy pink gown and wand). She is signed up for classes at Town Theater starting in September but we have discussed that usually you start off as a munchkin and work your way up to Glenda!

Alec is walking!

Alec has started walking everywhere! He took his time (15.5 months), but he has gone from crawling to almost running. The pediatrician informed us that most children that start walking late end up being "cautious" children, I definitely see this as a good thing, I hope he is cautious at 15 years the way he is at 15 months! He has such a sweet personality already, and can certainly hold his own around Anna and Jack. He is saying "mama, dada, bot bot and ball. The boy loves any kind of ball and already has quite an arm on him. He and Jack already are wrestling and rough housing, I hope they stay such good friends!

Jack is potty trained!!!

Patrick and I have been stressing out all summer over getting Jack potty trained by the time he starts Kathwood, he has to be potty trained to start in the 3 year old room and they didn't have any openings in the 2 year old room. We have been acting like we are calm, cool, and collected to him, trying not to put any pressure on him. I got him some Bob the Builder big boy briefs and he really has done great since then. Bob is placed in a strategic location on the briefs and our ploy was "be sure you don't wet Bob." It worked, he can go to Kathwood!!!! He is so excited about his new school, he already has his Spiderman bookbag and he has decided that his teacher's name is going to be Mrs. Watermelon Head. We don't know who his teacher is yet but I am thinking she may not take too kindly to that name.

Anna's on the St. Joseph website

Please check out the St. Joseph website, our little Anna's picture is in the photo gallery. The link to St. Joseph is on the right sight of the blog. Anna's buddy Reagan is the child to the far right in the middle column.

Coffee seeds

I think most everyone is aware of the fact that I am fully addicted to iced coffee and expresso. I am not particularly partial to any brand in particular except for the fact that STARBUCKS is very close to my house and strong! We have developed a routine in the mornings when I stay at home. The children and I follow Patrick to Starbucks (usually we are not looking our best at this time either) he runs in gets me a Venti Iced coffee with a shot of expresso and I am good for the whole day. I really hope we don't get stopped on the way home from one of these little expeditions because the kids are most always still in pajamas and no shoes wearing half of their breakfast. Unfortunately Anna, Jack, and Alec are fully aware of my habit. Anytime we pass the notorious Starbucks sign they ask if we are stopping. The other day Anna was really wanting to make a trip to the Fresh market (one of their favorite hangouts), her ingenious method to persuade me went like this: "Mom, me and Jack need to go to the Fresh Market and you can get coffee "seeds" I saw them there one time!" She is too smart, and I need to lay off Starbucks. I'm working on it.

It's been a long time!

I am so sorry it has been eons since my last update. It's a short story. The blogger website changed enough to throw me into computer confusion (which doesn't take much by the way) and it has taken me this long to figure it out. I finally just got Patrick to help me. Why didn't I do that to begin with you ask, seeing as though he does that for a living? I don't know maybe because I'm a mother and my brain does not function properly at times!!!!! Anyway a lot has been going on since our last posts. I hope you enjoy all the new stories!

Anna's Birthday Party Photos

Anna's Birthday Party

Alec on the go...

Alec has started crawling in the past few weeks. This afternoon I was out in the backyard taking pictures of the kids. This was taken as Alec was crawing across the yard towards me.

New Years Eve!

We had a wonderful New Years Eve with our little family and some other little families, for a full exciting description and wonderful pictures please visit: www.whatsbakin.blogspot.com