St. George Island 2009

July 25, 2009

We had our annual beach trip with all of the family on July 25th this year. Things were a bit stressful, as my Grandmother Gigi was in hospice, and we didn't know whether Dad would be able to come. He decided to come down on Saturday, so he and Mom drove down together.

This year, we stayed in Casa Paradiso. It was nice, because the house had enough bedrooms for our whole famiy (which is very hard to do, as we keep growing bigger and bigger!) Rob had to stay at home for school and work, and he met us down there on Tuesday. So on Saturday, I loaded the boys up and drove to Tallahassee to pick Kelsey, Wendell, Emma and Avry up from the airport.

We ended up getting there very early, because I am a stickler for getting places on time, and Caden was SO excited about going to the beach and seeing his cousin Emma!!!

Caden with Emma

After picking them up we headed to the beach. It was just gorgeus. By the time we arrived, everyone was there except Mom and Dad. We headed down to the beach on the first day, and the boys enjoyed themselves. I made Caden wear his lifejacket, despite the fact that he is an incredible swimmer. I was worried about the undertow! Liam was a daredevil, and would walk right into the water! It was a bit scary.

Caden playing on the beach

Liam upset that I put him down!

The week went well, although my grandmother passed away on Wednesday. My Dad had left on Tuesday morning to be with her, so he was able to spend some time with her in hospice as she had wished.

We thoroughly enjoyed eating at the Blue Parrot, carrousing downtown Appalachicola with my sisters and sister-in-law, and generally just sitting on the beach and relaxing! What a great trip!!!

Me, Rob, Liam and Caden -- best group shot of all of us!

Caden Helps Cook!

Caden loves to help cook. Usually, on the weekend, he and I will make bacon, eggs, and sometimes grits for breakfast! He loves breaking the eggs into the pan. He does a good job, and usually cracks it just enough so I can break the egg the rest of the way!

He is such a good helper.

Here are some pictures from the other day, when he and Daddy were making carrot-mashed potatoes!

A Night Without the Greene Beans

July 11, 2009

Last night, Rob and I thoroughly enjoyed a night out with friends, without the Greene Beans. Our friend G. had a surprise birthday outing for his wife K.

First, we went out to eat at The Brew Pub. There were two other couple's and K's brother there, as well, plus 2 kids. The Brew Pub brews their own beer. Rob and I are both suffering from colds this week, but we partook of a few home-brewed beers. The Blonde was nice and relaxing! For dinner, I had the sauteed crab claws, and the blackened chicken Caesar salad. It was amazing to sit in a restaurant and peacefully eat food. Usually our restaurant visits go something like this:

"Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom"

"Caden, sit down!"

"Mommy, I knocked over my drink. I need a new one! Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..."

But not last night! It was quite enjoyable, besides the stuffy nose that both Rob and I shared!

After dinner, G. surprised K. with a riverboat cruise. He had tried to get tickets for the dinner cruise, but they were completely sold out for the whole month of July. Instead, we enjoyed the patio cruise, complete with music, and they sung K. "Happy Birthday" too. Rob and I enjoyed ourselves, and the breeze on the Alabama River was fantastic.

A view of the RSA tower and the Renaissance at night.

Rob and I with the Riverboat behind us.

Liam's Walking!

July 9, 2009

It's official: Liam is walking! He has been taking a few steps here and there for the last 2 weeks, but now he walks everywhere. Last weekend we bought him new shoes. He already wears a size 6 Wide! Big BOY!

He likes his New Balance shoes, and he frequently tries to put them on his feet. He has not been successful at that yet. He also has not been successful at walking in the shoes. He can walk fine barefooted, but as soon as the shoes are put on he picks his foot up too high and falls down. It is too cute! He will learn with some more practice.

Ain't

Ain't ain't a word, ain't ain't in the dictionary (although now it is!), and we ain't going to say ain't no more.

This is what I told Caden today. I think my Dad told me this when I was I young. All I know is that we weren't allowed to say ain't, and to this day that little word grates on my nerves. Something about it bothers me, and now my child is saying it all the time.

Just today we were talking about another little boy and I said "He's 4 and a half, just like you."

Caden looks me in the eye, his big blue eyes glinting and his hair curly from the humidity and says "He ain't 4 and a half."

Ughh--is it best to ignore?

Liam loves his blankey!

Liam is a baby after my own heart (I slept with my blankey until college!). He absolutely LOVES his blankey. He has some beautiful blankets, such as the green one my Aunt Lynn made for him, however he likes a blue and white cotton blanket. Here are a few pictures of him with his blankey:

Father's Day 2009

Father's Day 2009 was fairly busy. I let Rob sleep late, while I attended to the boys. Around 8:30, I sent Caden to wake up Rob. He didn't do it nicely by crawling into the bed and cuddling next to him, no, he decided to walk into the room and shout "DADDY, GET UP!"

After his rude awakening we gave Rob his first gift, a pencil holder with a photo of the boys on it for his desk at work. He liked it, but I think he was more excited about receiving his "real" gift later that day at Big Mommy's and Big Daddy's house.

After doing a few things around the house that morning we decided to head on over to Big Mommy's and Big Daddy's. They were excited to see Liam and Caden! Caden's cousins soon arrived, and they were in the pool almost immediately. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera died so I didn't get any pictures of the day. Rob did his favorite things on Father's Day: 1) Grill and 2) watch the Red Sox game.

Shortly after the kids pulled themselves out of the pool, we opened presents. Not only were we celebrating Father's Day, but we celebrated Mom's birthday and Kaileigh's birthday too! After everyone opened their presents I showed Rob his gift. He was surprised that I bought him a smoker, but he was also a little disappointed that I didn't buy him the flat-screen tv he's wanting for years. There's always Christmas....

Here's a picture of Rob (and Caden) with his smoker. The thing is a monster. Rob is excited to cook with it this weekend. This morning, he said, giddily "Lauren did you know I can cook with wood in the smoker?" So exciting!!! Somehow I think a BBQ may be planned rather shortly...stay tuned.

A Fun-Filled Saturday!

I'm not sure how we're going to get through this summer. It has been HOT! This past weekend we had a lot to do.

On Saturday, I took Liam to Gymboree Play and Music. He had a great time. He is cruising a lot now, and I'm sure he'll be off and running away from his brother, in no time!

After Gymboree, we went to Caden's last t-ball game. It was 10:30 in the morning, but the heat was already stifling. One of my friends said it's like living in an oven, and seriously, that is what it was like. The coaches, god love 'em, decided we would play just 2 innings, mainly for the sake of the parents who had to sit there in the heat. We received Caden's group photo, which is a classic, with the kids looking bored and none of them smiling at the camera! His solo photo was great, and Coach Jimmy said he was very photogenic! Then, BIG MISTAKE, Coach Jimmy gave Caden his trophy...since this was the last game of the season. Well, after that Caden wanted to have nothing to do with t-ball. He sat in the grass, and moped. He hit the ball and walked slowly, like a snail, to the base. Then he parked himself beside my chair and wouldn't move. I was intent that he play the last game of the season so I insisted Rob take him out to the Outfield. Rob basically dragged the kid out there, sweat pouring from both of their brows, and they stood in Right Field. Almost instantly, one of the Blue Jays (the other team) hit a ball directly towards Caden. He ran, but not hard enough and Sierra ended up getting the ball. Well Caden had a complete and utter meltdown, nose running, tears mixing with the salty sweat, and that was our last day of t-ball!

After t-ball we had an hour before our play date with Gibson and Caden H. (Mommies had fun too!) at Dreamland BBQ and the Splash Pad. I told Caden he had to stay on the couch to rest, and I even called Gibson's Mommy, to tell her we might not be able to make it, but Caden shaped up!

Dreamland was a bit nuts. The only table was right next to the Waitress Station, and the kids kept running and playing, banging spoons, ripping sugar open and eatting it. At one point, Caden was trying to open a packet of mustard and ended up squirting it all over his face. It was hysterical, and I would have taken a picture but he immediately started to gag and I thought he would throw up. He kept saying "Disgusting!" over and over again! So funny!

After Dreamland, we walked down to the River Walk and over to the Splash Pad. It was a long, hot walk in the 102 degree heat. By the time we got there, the boys were ready to splash and so were we, but unfortunately we weren't dressed appropriately. Oh well, the boys stayed cool, and we suffered in the blazing sun! Caden, Gibson, and Caden H. loved running through the water. Towards the end of the play date, a train came by and Caden and Caden H. started running off towards it. Tina yelled to Caden H. to come back and asked him where he was going. He says "Caden and I were going to run and catch the train!"


We had such a great time that day! Driving back in the car, Caden struggled to keep his eyes opened. He kept saying he just wanted a fruit snack and some water. He literally fell asleep as I was taking a right into our neighborhood. Luckily, Daddy woke him and he had his beloved fruit snacks before he hit the sack at 4 PM. He was so exhausted he ended up sleeping through the whole night.

Wart Removal

If this blog is still up and running years from now, I'm sure that Caden will kill me for sharing this story. Here we go:

Some background on this: Caden has a nasty little wart underneath his nose. It has been there for about three months, and I made an appt with the dermatologist so that they could take a look at it, but they can't get us in until August.

So anyway--I went to the eye doctor today and ended up getting out early. I decided to go ahead and get Caden. I arrive at the school and his whole class is on the playground, but he is not there. I immediately was concerned.

I went up to his after school teacher Miss Kailyn. Caden is not in trouble (thank goodness!) But Caden H., one of Caden's friends, pulled Caden's wart off his face and it was bleeding a lot, so they sent him to the office, and they were in the process of calling me about it.

I get to the office, and Caden is sitting there. His face has stopped bleeding, and the wart is completely gone! He smiles and says "Hi Mommy!"

We got in the car and I asked him what happened and this is what he said:

"Caden H. and I were playing doctor on the playground. Caden was the doctor and I was the kid. Caden H. asked me if I had anything that bothered me. I told him my wart was bothering me. Caden H. said let's just pull it off. So I let him pull it off!"

I asked "Did you cry?"

Caden says "No I didn't cry, but it hurted a lot!"

The kid cracks me up. I can't believe he let Caden H. pull it off. Now I just have to put Compound W on it and hope it doesn't come back. Miss Kailyn says maybe Caden H. will be a doctor, if so I don't think Caden will be a returning patient!

It's been awhile, but we're back

Last post: December. Today, June 12, 2009. What many things have happened since December?

1) January: We move into a new house. Welcome Home!

It looks pretty in the snow, doesn't it? This picture is actually from March, when we had our 2nd snowfall in 2 years here! Pretty amazing! My child may actually end up knowing what snow is, even though we live in the South!

2) March: We take a trip to New York to attend Pamela's wedding! It was amazing. We loved seeing everyone, and the kids enjoyed the trip as well. Caden thought the big buildings were amazing, but none of us were fond of the dirty subway. I was able to see my cousin Caitlin too which was great. I was also able to meet up with my good friend Katherine and her son Danny. We went to the "dinosaur" museum with them, and then spent some time playing at their apartment. It was great to see her and Danny!

3) April: Liam turns 1! The year went by so fast--bittersweet. My baby is growing up. He is still not walking, just crawling and cruises. He thinks it is funny when he lets go and stands by himself without holding on. He often claps his hands. He says "buh-buh," "ball," "car," and "Caden." He still loves cars, and he chooses to play with them over almost all other toys. He and his brother are now partaking in sibling rivalry quite frequently. Oh--the years I have to look forward to!

4) May: Caden finishes K3. Where has my baby gone? Caden is done with K3, and ready to move on up to K4. He is an amazing kid! He loves Science, animals, and swimming. He has a thirst for knowledge and loves to learn. I cherish the time we have together at night when we snuggle in his bed, and I read him a book. He is fiercely independent which sometimes frustrates his mother and father, but, I'm told eventually it will be a wonderful quality.

5) Caden starts t-ball. World of Organized Sports: BEWARE! Caden has now arrived. He is naturally left-handed, yet he wants to bat and catch right-handed. The first few practices, he stomped off the field because his glove didn't fit. It is slowly getting better. He now says he likes to go to t-ball. I think it also helps that the team is made up of kids who go to his school. He loves batting, but he doesn't quite get the concept of teamwork. He'd like to catch every ball that is hit, and no matter how many times I try to explain the concept of sportsmanship, he just doesn't get it.

That's the wrap!

Christmas 2008

December 25, 2008

This was Liam's first Christmas. Caden wanted a bike, and he wanted a lot of super heroes, plus a red Power Ranger. I had to work on Christmas Eve, but we were able to leave early at 12 PM. We went over to my Mom's house, Chris, Leisa and the kids came over, and we began by opening the presents from Mom and them. We called Allison so that Kiersten and Big Daddy could read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to Rowan over the phone! We had a wonderful time being all together that night!

Caden had a wonderful time opening presents, and everyone had a great time eating and singing Christmas caroles.

We went home so we could get the boys in bed. Caden went right to bed, anticipating Santa Claus' visit and all the toys and candy he would receive the next day!!! His eyes were huge when he saw the toys that Santa brought him, including his Big Boy Lightening McQueen bike and his Super Heroes. Liam also really enjoyed his Fisher Price Jungle Set. He sits and plays with it for hours!

All and all it was a wonderful Christmas! In the afternoon we went over to Big Mommy and Big Daddy's and Caden rode his bike around the circle with his cousins. They all played well, and we had a great time too!

Thanksgiving 2008

We spent Thanksgiving at Mom's house with Allison, Jeff, Rowan, Marge, Frank, Chris, Leisa and the kids. It was a nice quiet Thanksgiving. Rob made the turkey, and Mom made turfuki. At one point the turfuki went rolling off the counter and onto the floor! It actually tasted pretty good, but I really enjoyed the turkey Rob made!

Liam enjoyed a few bites of turkey, cranberries, dressing, etc. He is a very big eater!

Caden enjoyed the turkey, and that was about it!