Emma's on the move and Drew's on the potty!

I splurged on a fancy sling before Emma was born, but it hasn't been quite what I wanted. As it ends up, she loves the Baby Bjourn carrier that I already had! I carried her in this for a long time today, and she was completely content and happy!

She hasn't rolled over yet, but that doesn't mean she's not mobile! Here's Emma relaxing on the floor.

...and then about two minutes later...

...and another two minutes...

And if we don't strap her into her bouncy seat, she tries to escape!

So, Emma is working on these early milestones, and Drew is working towards his most important and hardest milrstone of all...POTTY TRAINING!! We started on Friday evening and stuck with it all weekend. He knows when he's gotta go and starts doing the dance, holding on, and panicking...so it was a little stressful. We got candy to help encourage him to just sit on the potty and relax. He had several accidents on Saturday and three successes. On Sunday he kept holding it and not going, or he'd just go a tiny bit each time. We had another three successes though. I'm nervous what this week has in store for me w/o Chad's help during the day! And I'm working a few hours everyday, so he'll be in childwatch!

Here's Chad and Drew taking a break from the potty - his natural ability with the baseball bat is quite impressive:

Beach trip 2010

We went on our annual beach trip with Chad's family this past weekend. We got there late Wednesday night and then on Thursday it was a stormy day. So, we all went to Wal-Mart to pick up some odds n' ends. Here's Drew and Olivia being cute and holding hands in the store!

It cleared up enough in the evening to go out on the beach for a little bit. Here's Chad and Drew coming in from playing in the water.

And me and Emma sitting on the beach. The wind was blowing so hard the entire trip - and it seemed to put her to sleep every time we brought her outside.


Then Friday and Saturday were beautiful, sunny days! Drew loved the ocean and sand! Here he is with Chad getting a mouthful of salt water!

What a cute father-son picture!

Drew posing with his spelled out name. He now recognizes his written name and will sometimes say "D-R-E-W" if we ask him how to spell his name.

And here's me and Drew playing in the water.

Drew and Olivia in the sand.

Chad and Grant playing with the kids.

Drew swam on his own with swimmies! He went around and around the lazy river.

We brought Emma down to a shady area right next to the baby pool and she'd sleep in her stroller. I got her out a couple times and we even dipped her feet in the pool. It was SOO windy (see the nice wind blown hair!) and it just put her to sleep!

Here's Drew pulling himself out of the water and cheesing!

On the last evening we all went to play putt putt. The kids did really well until about the 15th hole - then they'd had enough! There was a train, tunnels, bridges - Drew was in heaven! Emma was awake the entire time and liked watching all the action. I even gave her a bottle between shots and held her a little. It all went much smoother than I thought!

Here's Drew "teeing off!" He actually had some good shots, but he also liked to pick it up and put it a couple inches from the hole so he could hit it in and hear us cheer!

Here's the whole clan taking it easy as we let another group play through so we wouldn't be rushed.

We had a great time and the vacation was TOO short! Each night we stayed up until 12:30 or 1am playing cards, and then Emma would wake up around 6am, so I think Chad and I are a little tired! But it was all so worth it. Drew loved every minute of being in the pool or at the ocean. The kids were so well behaved each evening when we went out to eat. Thank you Susan and Alan for a wonderful vacation!

On a side note - Emma has been sleeping through the night EVERY night for the past couple weeks. She goes down around 9:30pm (same time as Drew) and gets up around 6am or so (when Chad is leaving for work). It is so wonderful! She can roll to her side and often sleeps like that now. And while we were at the beach she discovered that she can put her hands together - and she stares at them and puts them in her mouth and makes really loud smacking sounds. If we just look at her and say something silly she smiles right away and will laugh. She's starting to develop a little personality!

Dan Nicholas Park

We took Drew and Emma to Dan Nicholas Park this morning and we had a great time! We had taken Drew there a year ago and were amazed at all this place has to offer. Here we are at the Train Station where we bought our tickets for the different attractions.

First we went to see the animals. I looked through older pictures, and here's Drew in July 2009 looking at the black bear.



And here's Drew today, July 2010, looking at the black bear! First of all, look at how he has stretched out!! And second of all, I wonder if that's the same bear?!

The other bear started walking back and forth in front of us, and Chad told Drew that he was looking for Drew. So, Drew is telling the bear, "I'm right here!"



Close up of Mr. Bear! He's huge. We read that they can be as heavy as 880 pounds - I think this one is close to that!

There were other animals that we looked at (not nearly as exciting as the bears) and then we went to a petting zoo. We were a little frustrated with Drew because he was "so afraid!" of everything and wouldn't pet the animals - it's a phase he's going through. He tells us he's "afraid" of lots of things. Hopefully it will be a fast phase!! After that, we got a personal ride on the train. Last year when we came to this park it was packed - today we almost felt like we had the place to ourselves! It could have been the heat (nearly 100 degrees), but there's tons of shade, so it wasn't so bad. We have a little fan attached to Emma's carseat, so she was cool enough in the stroller. I think she liked the train!

Then Chad and Drew got to ride the carousel all by themselves.




Emma was making silly faces in the stroller while they were on the carousel!


Then it was lunchtime! We brought sandwiches, strawberries, chips, and Starbursts for dessert. Drew loves Starbursts! But they are used as special treats (when he goes potty, cleans up, or is an extra good listener).

Lastly, we played a round of putt-putt. Drew did a great job! We didn't keep score and we were laid back about where he set the ball down. He understood the goal was to hit it in the hole and he had some really good shots!

Here's a video of Drew playing putt-putt. Hopefully he'll be able to play at the fancy courses on our beach trip next week! If they are really busy with lines between the holes, then I'm not sure we can keep him entertained while waiting for his turn! We'll see!

After playing putt-putt, he took his hat off and he was soaked with sweat! So, we called it a day and got in the air conditioned car. Here he is snacking on some chips (another favorite treat of his, which he very rarely gets to have).

Emma did a great job at the park. I held her for part of the time while we were walking around and when we ate lunch. But most of the time she was content in her stroller with her fan on her. She slept for part of the time too. Emma hasn't been the best napper lately, but she has been a wonerful sleeper at night. We get both kids in bed by 9 or 9:30pm. Then Emma will stir a little around 2 or 3am, and I'll put her pacifier back in a couple times (which I can pretty much do w/o waking up all the way!). She won't wake to eat until 5ish. Then she'll sleep again until 7 or 8am. She still likes to turn her head mostly to the left, and it's starting to rub her hair off. We thought she might keep her hair, but this past week it was been rubbing off a whole bunch! She has rubbed it off the sides into a mohawk!

I wonder if it's all gonna go??

Tummy time on the boppy! It requires a serious face b/c it's hard work!

Happy 4th of July!

On Saturday, we got together with Chad's mom's extended family. We get together with them every year for the 4th of July and for Christmas. Chad's 3 cousins (Erika, Shannon and Jeff) have 10 kids (and one more on the way) amoung them, and then with Drew, Emma and Olivia - that makes 13 kids!! And we got a picture of them all!!

Drew had to sit down next to Granddad to watch the game of "HORSE" going on.

Drew joined in the game of HORSE...until he got hit on the top of the head with the ball. Oops!

Drew had decided to wake up early on Saturday, and then he missed his nap while we were at the family gathering, so he wasn't quite himself...but he had a blast anyways! He got a short nap in on our carride home and was able to stay up for fireworks that night. We drove up to Mooresville and found a spot close to the Lowe's YMCA where they were shooting them off. While we were waiting for it to get dark, Drew was telling us how tired he was and he looked like he wasn't going to make it through the show.

Emma stayed awake for the first 10 minutes or so of the show - she just gazed up at them. The noise didn't bother her at all.

Here's Chad and Drew watching the fireworks. Drew really liked them - loud booms and all!

Then on Sunday, we went to the 4th of July celebration at Birkdale. There were lots of firetrucks, so Drew got to sit in one (again!).

Here's Chad and Drew watching the parade. Kids decorated their bikes, trikes, strollers, wagons and dogs and walked in the parade. It was really cute and I think Drew is looking forward to riding in it next year!!

I found one of Drew's old onesies that said "USA Baby," so that's what Emma wore! Here we are watching the parade. Emma was sleeping peacefully in her stroller until the firetruck in the parade blew his horn!

And here's Chad and the kids!

Here's Drew in his red, white and blue.

I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July!! Today is Drew's cousin Will's 2nd birthday. I told him that this morning, so he's been singing "Happy birthday, Willy!" all day!!

Emma's home "photoshoot"

Drew was napping and Emma was her usual happy self, so we did a mini photo shoot. Then she decided to snooze, so I decided to go ahead and post the pictures!

Her feet looked so long when she was born, but I think she's grown into them now!

A profile shot


Looking up at her fan

Happy girl smiling for a picture. She looks like Drew here.

Laughing!

And here's another video of her cooing.

The girl that is always with Emma in the mornings at the Y when I'm coaching or working out asked me if it's okay that she calls Emma "Em." I've actually found myself calling her that too. I wonder if it'll stick...