Red White & Blue...in August?

Well, I am finally getting around to posting some of our 4th of July pictures...Yes, I do realize that it is already after August 4th, but at least I am getting them posted, right? Caroline absolutely adored her 4th of July dress (I thought it was pretty cute as well). Andrew continues to be a happy baby (taking after his big sister). Our only complaint is that he is a BIG drooler (I just can't keep enough bibs and burp cloths in the house) -- but if that is our only issue, I figure we are very blessed. We have enjoyed summer, but we are ready for the HOT temperatures to taper off and Fall to arrive. Caroline LOVES playing outside, but sometimes during these hot, summer days we are only able to go out in the early morning and evening hours. Caroline will be starting Pre-school in September. She will be attending our church's program Mon, Wed & Fri from 9-12. She is really looking forward to it. She is hopeful that they will teach her to read. She often tells me that she, "wished she could read the words." I think it is so cute how eager she is to learn. She truly is a sponge these days. I am busy planning her 3rd birthday party (Princess, of course). It is so hard to believe that she will soon be THREE. Andrew is coming up on six months - yes, he is still our chunky monkey (much like Caroline was), but we all love his rolls and bubbly personality. Caroline continues to be endeared toward Andrew. I will have to post some video of the two of them soon. Our latest news is that we are officially an Aunt & Uncle and Caroline and Andrew have a new cousin! Reagan Montgomery Mays was born on Sunday, August 9th weighing in at 7lbs 7oz. We are all eager to meet her!

Hilton Head 2009 Part II

Here is the long overdue Part II posting of our family beach vacation. At the end of June, we loaded up the van (and I mean "loaded" up the van) and took Caroline & Andrew down to Hilton Head. We did stop over in Statesboro on the way down to see our niece's nursery. It was decked in pink and green and all ready for Reagan (she is due Aug 11th).

These are pictures of everyone who went on the trip: Ben & me, Caroline, Larry (my brother) & Ansley (34 wks prego- doesn't she look great!), Andrew & my parents:

We were somewhat concerned about keeping a four-month old baby out on the beach for too long, but thanks to a friend of mine, we had a great baby canopy which was ideal for the beach. We also had a huge tailgating tent that we put up to mark our spot on the beach (I was amazed by how popular these have become).

Caroline was immediately hesitant about the ocean. She liked playing in the sand and sitting with us on the beach, but taking her near the water was another story. We were just thankful that she was not down at the beach when a shark was spotted.

Pure panic as she nears the water.


If you look at the picture below you can somewhat make out the shark. It is just a little right-center.



Caroline had fun playing in the sand and enjoyed tearing down all of the sandcastles we all tried to help her build :)

To get the picture in the center, I told Caroline to say, "ice-cream" she immediately looked up (she had been ignoring me before) with a BIG smile!

Andrew, on the other hand, did not seem to mind the ocean at all. Dipping his toesies in it was quite fun since he was the only one we could seem to get to go down by the ocean.

Both kids really liked the pool. Caroline stuck to the steps the first two days, but as soon as she met her new friend, Ashley, it was off to the deep end for her! Ashley was from Smyrna. Ben and I enjoyed meeting her parents and hanging out with them by the pool. We called the girls the "pink hat" club. It was too cute to look in the pool and see two pink hats bobbing along.

Caroline also had fun blowing bubbles and eating ice-cream! Although the two kids were the center of most of the trip, it was nice hanging out with my family and relaxing on the beach.

Hilton Head 2009 Part I

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We were fortunate to get to continue our beach trip tradition with my family this year. The destination we chose was Hilton Head. We chose Hilton Head for two primary reasons: 1) shorter drive w/ 2 kids and 2) close to Savannah for my 34 week pregnant sis-in-law (which is where her doctor is located). We couldn't have asked for a better location and ammenities. Our condo was HUGE and convenient to everything. We enjoyed spending time with family, playing in the sun and making memories with Caroline and Andrew. Sorry this post has taken me a week to upload but when you take nearly 1,000 pictures sifting through them is quite a challenge :) This post will be my first of two. The slide show is of our beach portraits (w/ Ben and I serving as the photographers--hee-hee). We tried to get a family photo but w/ a 2 yr old and a self-timer none of them really turned out (both kids crying, Caroline running off, or wind blowing hair everywhere). Yes, it was quite windy when these pictures were taken so let me go ahead and apologize for my crazy hair (of course Caroline's looked quite pretty - she doesn't get that from me). Enjoy the slideshow and check back for post #2 which will include our candid beach and pool pictures from the week.

Has it really been 4 months...already?

It's hard to believe that Andrew is already four months old. As you can see from the picture he is a "healthy" boy! I took him for his 4 month check-up on Wednesday. Andrew received a good report. He weighed in at 16lbs (72 percentile) and was 26" long (82 percentile...I think). The doctor commented on how strong Andrew is and mentioned that he appeared to be ready to rollover (I think it will definitely be soon). He actually liked the vaccine that he got to drink. The nurse said most babies gag on it and try to spit out, but not Andrew...he actually slurped it up and then smiled :) The two shots were a bit of a different story. He cried before but not during the shots and then he screamed after the shots. He fell asleep on the ride home and was fine after that. Caroline loved his army wounds (bandaids). Andrew really is starting to look more and more like Caroline did at this age (face rounding out, legs chubbing up, etc). My mom took him to have two pictures mirrored that we had of Caroline at this age and the similarities are scary. I will try and post them side by side soon.

Well, we are headed to Hilton Head tomorrow so I'm sure my next post will be of sandy beaches and sunny skies! Caroline is so ready to go to the beach...she has been asking to go since we left last year (literally) :-).

A Birthday for Daddy!

Last night we surprised Ben when he got home from teaching guitar lessons by hanging a BIG HBD banner across the fireplace mantle. I drew out the banner and Caroline colored it. We even traced everyone's hands and wrote messages on it. We then all hid in the playroom to wait for Daddy to walk in the door.

Of course, typical of most men, Ben walked in -- didn't call out our names or think it was odd that no one was around, nor did he even notice the banner hanging in the living room. He then walked up stairs...all the while, Caroline and I were trying to keep Andrew from giggling (he was on a roll). Caroline and I would whisper to each other as we hid behind her princess playhut. And then sometimes, Caroline would forget and start talking in her regular voice and I would remind her we were hiding. She would then whisper while holding her finger up to her lips, "oh yeah, we have to be very, very quiet, it's a surprise.". Too cute! Ben finally came downstairs (he had changed clothes and looked for us upstairs).

When he walked toward the playroom, we all yelled "SURPRISE." And in the process I scared Andrew and Ben half to death....the moment was priceless!!

For Ben's birthday we all gave him Keith Urban concert tix. We went to the concert Sat night. Ben LOVED the guitar solos and said it was one of the best concerts he had ever been to-- I guess we did good :)

Bathtime Buddies!

So I tried something new...I let the 2 kids take a bath together. This was Caroline's idea of course. I have now done this successfully twice, and both kids seem to really enjoy it. Here's what I do... I fill the tub w/ just a little water, put Caroline in the back corner, and then I lay Andrew on his back in the water. I had to laugh when Caroline immediately started washing Andrew. She started with his toes and said, you have to get all in between the toesies, Mommy, then she moved up his legs and said, you have to get him all sudsed up really good, and then she finished by tickling his tummy. I'm assuming this is what she has observed Ben and I doing when we wash Andrew. It was too funny to watch my 2 yr old bathing her 4 month old brother. And, Andrew just loved it -- he was grinning from ear to ear!

Once Andrew is all clean, I grab him out of the tub, dry him off good and put him in his pjs. I then add more water, toys, bubbles, etc and Caroline starts splishin' and a splashin'. It amazes me how well she understands that she can't splash water or have toys in the tub while we wash Andrew. This has been a great experience so I plan to keep it up. I told Caroline that as soon as Andrew gets big enough to sit up, we can put more water in the tub and they can play together...she liked that idea.

The other night, while Caroline was still in the tub, I was flying Andrew "super man" style toward her and they were both just a giggling...when Caroline stops, looks up at me very seriously and says,"Mommy, I want Andrew to go back in your tummy." I asked her why, and she said, because she wanted a "new" baby. I laughed and said, awe but Caroline why would you want another baby when you have Andrew...and she splashed the water all around as a BIG smile drew across her face and said, I'm just kiddin' Mommy. I like Andrew. Too funny...she was just watching for my reaction -- she's doing that more and more these days that is for sure.

Family Photo Fun!

We have a new family photographer that we are using. Veader Photography was recently started as a side business by a good friend of mine, Shawn Veader. He took Andrew's newborn pictures in early March - http://veaderphotography.com/clients/andrew/ and did an awesome job, so we decided to have him do a family photo shoot for us at the end of May. The photo shoot helped to capture Andrew at 3 months as well as provide an opportunity for us to get some great shots of Caroline. You can check out the proofs by going to http://veaderphotography.com/clients/the_applings/ Caroline was quite the typical 2 year old during the photo shoot, so we were impressed at how many good shots Shawn got of her.