Keeping up with Drew and Emma!

Valentine's party!

2012-02-13T05:26:00.000-08:00

Drew finally got a BIG BOY bed!! Well, his crib had turned into a toddler bed, and then we just converted it to a full sized bed... So far, so good - I think he likes it!

Drew signed all his Valentine's for school. Most of them said, "Drem," but hey, that "W" is hard!! lol

Drew's class has a party for every holiday and the parents are in charge of putting together the activities. I was one of the parents in charge of the Valentine's party...and it was a success! Here's Drew concentrating hard on decorating his mailbox for the Valentine exchange.

Peek! Couldn't stand waiting until the end of the exchange to see what cards and treats he was getting!

The kids sat in a circle with their mailboxes and then took turns in the middle of the circle handing out their Valentine's.

"Cheese!"

The CIRCUS!

2012-02-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

Chad's parents took us all to the circus as a birthday present for Drew. Drew LOVED it! It was in the middle of downtown Charlotte where the Bobcats play. There was a lot going on the entire show - some of it made Emma a little nervous, but she liked it for the most part. Here's Drew with his new circus gear! Enroll him in clown school!

The elephants were huge! Pretty amazing!

The tigers were very cool!

The tigers moved really slowly and kept showing their teeth!

LOTS going on!

WOW!

The horses were pretty neat - they ran SO fast in those tiny circles!

I loved how the elephants held onto each other's tails. Emma kept making elephant sounds when they came out!

Drew's basketball and random pics

2012-02-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

Once again, these are out of order...

70 degrees in February!! We got to run around outside and burn some energy.

Here's the end of Drew's last basketball practice - he did so well this year!! (Amazing improvement since he took the same class last year!)
I'm rushing around in the morning trying to get Drew ready for school, and Emma and my bags packed to go to the Y...and here's what the kids are doing...

We've had some amazing February weather this week! Here's Emma out in the backyard climbing around on the picnic table.

Here's Emma putting up with closeup pictures. =)

And a silly cheesey smile!

The poor little winter flower in the backyard.

Drew has gotten really good at dribbling! He'll even look up and keep going.

Emm actually wore her little headband for several hours!

Drew and Chad practiced some bounce passes before Drew's practice.

Emma chased basketballs around the gym. She likes to squat and sit on them. =)

On our way to take Drew to school. Emma loves her furry boots!

Drew was supposed to shoot a little jumpshot, but if he'd been dribbling this would have been a decent layup!

Drew is obsessed with racing and being first - to the point of it even being an issue on the playground at school! BUT, we're trying to teach him that at basketball, it's a good thing and a fun thing to race... He's pretty fast and would have won this race if he didn't stop to look at all the other kids. haha

Drew practices the "give and go" with Chad at home, and here he is doing it at basketball practice. Before he went, he reminded Coach Matthew to raise the goal up for him to shoot...

A few of the kids got to dribble/shoot the ball while the other kids practiced defense...so funny!

Random pictures/videos

2012-01-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Here's Charlie trying to relax while Emma pokes his belly. I went over to pet his belly after this and he kicked me with his claws. Guess I see where I stand...

Last night we took the kids to Zootastic - a two mile trail though a park with Christmas lights. It was their last night of the season. They also have animals and other things to see, but we just went to drive through and see the lights.
70 degree January days mean bike rides around the neighborhood!

Drew and I were laughing so hard at Emma's hair every time she got to the bottom of the slide!

And as soon as she got to the bottom of the slide, she headed back up to go again! Drew taught her how to do it and held her hand to help her until she figured it out - so cute!

They liked to go down together!

Cheese!

The kids were dressed up to cheer the Hoosiers on to victory when we played Ohio State!

Drew practiced his dribbling and passing with Chad part of the time!

Emma practied her cheers. HOO HOO HOO HOOSIERS!

Emma can do her forward roll on the floor, so now we're moving on to some strength and conditioning to get her ready for uneven bars. =)

Emma is starting to string words together like a cave man! "Mommy, Drew ba pop!" when Drew's balloon popped was her favorite sentence - she told me about it for a few days! Drew fell and cried and she came to me, "Mommy, Drew ouch!" Yesterday she figured out how to say "apple juice" and said it a whole bunch. She even took her cup to Charlie and kept saying, "kitty, apple juice."

Christmas in Lenoir

2012-01-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

On Monday, December 26th, I woke up with some sort of stomach bug. I felt awful all morning, but better later on. So, we were able to still go to Chad's mom's family gathering in Mooresboro. Drew played out on the playground most of the time. Emma I think was worn out from all our traveling and Christmas in general...she wasn't a happy girl until one of the little cousins swang with her on the playground! Then we all headed to Lenoir to eat dinner and exchange presents. We all stayed the night and then got to see Nana the next day. Here's the pictures...but not in order! I'm having issues with the website...

Here's Chad and Drew playing with baby Owen. Owen is looking more and more like Grant!

Drew and Olivia played with their new Etch-o Sketches!

Emma loved her new penguin hat and gloves - they match her red coat!

Emma got lost in her big bag of presents!

Drew got monster trucks!

Baby Owen was so happy the whole time we were there! Such a good little baby! It's hard to believe he's already 3 months old!

I was so happy Nana got to come over - it was her first time meeting Owen. She loves playing with the kids! And Emma really liked her key that she wears on a necklace! haha

Christmas Eve and Christmas at home!

2012-01-03T17:51:00.000-08:00

This website is driving me a little bit crazy...sorry, the pictures are out of order, and I can't figure it out!!

Drew got the Monster Jam Wii game that he'd played in Florida with Parker and Will! He is definitely in to monster trucks right now.

Emma got a new baby doll - and she came with a diaper bag w/ a diaper and wipes in it. She loves babies and really likes pretending.

The baby also came with jars, spoons, bottles and a bib!

Love the wrapping paper mess!

Drew really tore into the presents this year!

Emma wasn't sure how to get into the presents. She'd tear off itty bitty pieces and need some help! Santa brought her a Hello Kitty necklace and the First 100 Words book (which was Drew's favorite book as a toddler - he totally wore his book out!).

Here's the kids, bright and early at 7:30am DYING to open their presents!!

On Christmas Eve night, Emma put the new coat on her baby doll that my parents got her. Emma loves hats (and calls hoods "hats"), so she really likes this outfit on the baby!

We let the kids open one present each on Christmas Eve...slippers!! And I got monkey slippers from Julie!

Chad's parents stopped over in the afternoon on Christmas to see the kids. I think the kids had missed them - we hadnt' seen them since Thanksgiving weekend. But by the end of the day, they were worn out! I was sitting on the couch, and Emma squeezed in with me!

Christmas in Indiana

2012-01-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

I can't get the computer to let me rearrange the pictures...so they are out of order. I apologize! =)

Wednesday, December 21, we headed to the airport bright and early and headed to Indiana to celebrate Christmas with my family. Wednesday evening, my sister and her family came over to hang out. Then Thursday, our whole family got together to decorate cookies (yearly tradition!), exchange presents, and eat a Christmas dinner. Then Friday, we took the kids to the Commons Mall and then headed back to my parents house to play some Family Feud (which I think the men won EVERY round!). Columbus has been doing some major renovations since I moved away - and the Commons Mall is one of them! It is totally different than what I remember. When I was a kid we played on the little indoor playground at the mall...but now it is like no other playground I have EVER seen! Here's Emma on the playground.

And Drew peeking at Emma.
And everyone from Columbus knows about the Chaos sculpture!

And here's the playground...amazing! The climbing part is for 5-12 year olds. Drew started to try it, but it was really busy and he was much smaller than the other kids and about got trampled.

Cookie time!! My mom made a bunch of dairy free sugar cookies and gave each of the kids some icing and sprinkles to work with.

Drew figured out his Leapster Explorer that my parents got him pretty quickly - he loves it!

Emma got headbands! She wore them all at once...but now I can't even get her to wear them one at a time. I won't give up though - they're so cute!

Ben got a Wii game, so the boys had to try it out upstairs - Parker, Drew and Tim.

The newest Greenlee baby - Jackson Edward - is so SWEET! And tiny! I think Julie said he was just 6 lbs 11 oz the day before we got to meet him (at about 12 days old). Emma was very interested in him, and didn't even get jealous when I held him. She'd just say, "baby," and wanted to touch him.

Look at her tongue sticking out in concentration! Uh oh - like mother like daughter!

The kids take cookie-decorating VERY seriously (especially Will!)...but Drew was the licker this year (seems like every year one of the kids starts licking the cookies and then has a pile of cookies to themselves! haha).

Ah ha! Caught them both eating on the job!

My dad went and dug out my old keyboard for me - the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Christmas vacation begins...and we're off to Indiana!

School Party and other videos

2011-12-17T11:15:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday was Drew's Preschool Christmas Party. Each class had their own party in their classrooms. They had brownie santa treats, and Drew (I) brought gingerbread cookies for everyone. (And while Drew was handing them out to his friends, I saw Emma swipe his and eat part of it!! haha) And they made a craft to leave out for Santa. Emma wanted to help - and Drew actually let her scribble on it some too! It was very sweet how he wanted to walk Emma around the room and show her everything. The teachers even sent home a wrapped present for each child, which was a very cute book. And there was a bag for the parents that held 6 ornaments he'd made over the past few weeks. Those are definitely keepers and are hanging proudly on our tree!

Then they played some weird game where they all pulled on these paper things and they were supposed to pop open and find a surprise. But of course they pulled everyone on top of each other!

And the best part - they sang a song to all the parents! Drew had been practicing this song at home...a bunch!!

In the video, you can hear Emma yell, "Dreeeew!" in the middle of their song!

Drew is nearly obsessed with the Fresh Beat Band show...he gets upset when we don't get to watch it! And it usually falls right around dinnertime, so we rarely miss it. At the end of each episode, they sing and dance to the same song...and he knows all the words and all the moves! I caught the end of the dance on video! LOL

Emma finally got a turn at the Wii! I didn't think she'd know what to do, but I guess when you watch everyone else play, you figure it out! I wish I got on video when Chad told her to "run!" and she ran right off the board and into the bench! haha

My parents didn't want us to have to fly home with their gift to the kids, so they had it sent to our house. It arrived yesterday, and the kids HAD to have it put together - they were so excited! So, Chad got to work on it when he got home - and they love it!

Santa and some random pictures

2011-12-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

We met Santa at the Huntersville Christmas event...and this is as close to Santa as Emma would get! Drew, of course, sat down and told him all kinds of things!

Emma gave Rudolf probably 5 hugs! Every time we'd get her back in line to meet Santa, she'd escape and run over to Rudolf again!

Here's Emma modeling her red coat and Santa hat!

We made snowmen with all things that the kids love - marshmallows, graham crackers, icing, craisins, pretzels, oreos... but they wouldn't eat them! I guess b/c they all had touched each other?? Or maybe b/c they are a little scary looking...

Here's two silly kids on the couch!

Here's Emma posing in front of the Christmas tree. I was attempting to get some cute pictures for Christmas cards, but I didn't end up using these...maybe I should have - they're pretty cute!

And here's Drew with his Christmas-card pose that I ended up not using.

I love this one! I might have to print it and frame it!!

We discovered some gingerbread cookie mix that Drew can have so we made lots of them!! I think we'll make them again for Drew's Christmas party at school this week!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving Day we went to the parade in downtown Charlotte. It was great weather (in past years, it's been freezing or rainy). We thought Drew's reaction to the marching bands was pretty funny... (sigh of relief!)

CHEESE!!

Emma wanted to get down and run around, so it was a little hard to just sit and watch. She's at that tough age where she doesn't want to be in a stroller, but she is a really fast runner and just takes off if we set her down.

Then we came back home and I got our turkey in the oven. I even got to run to Old Navy and score some great deals while our dinner was cooking. Then I hit up several stores at midnight and didn't get home until around 2am or so! On Friday, we went and picked out our Christmas tree - the first time we've had a real one!! We decorated it while Emma was napping (just too risky to have TWO helpers! We only lost one ornament with one helper - not sure we'd have any with two!) Do you like how Drew did a candy cane display right in the center of the tree? =)

And the finished product!

Then on Saturday we celebrated Thanksgiving with Chad's family. Poor baby Owen wasn't feeling the best and was giving Grant and Sherry quite a scare, so it was just us and Chad's parents and Nana. After eating, we headed outside to play. Here's the kids with Granddad and Grandmom and Nana.

And here's our family of four! (it's black and white from something else, and I just forgot to switch it back...)

This picture is so sweet or Emma and Nana.

Emma LOVED the four wheeler and cried when it was Drew's turn!

We ran out of time to make Drew's muffins on Friday, so we brought the ingredients and made them there.

The week after Thanksgiving, IU played NC State - which rarely happens!! Here are the kids wearing their NC State gear as we are heading out to go to the Y.

This was Olivia's dress, and it looked really cute on Emma!

Parents visit & Drew's school performance

2011-11-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

My parents came down for a visit a couple weeks ago. We had great weather, so we went for walks at the park and played on the playground a couple times. The kids liked walking out on the dock to check out the lake.
Drew likes how Grandpa pushes him on the swing - HIGH!! He keeps saying, "higher, higher!" And when we went to the park while Chad was at work on Friday, Drew said, "I wish Daddy was here to see this!!" haha

Weee!

Here's Drew and Grandpa walking through our neighborhood.

Last Thursday Drew's school had a Thanksgiving celebration. The kids all sang songs, and then we had a big lunch. Here's Emma wearing Drew's turkey hat...upside down!

Drew was so giddy and excited (must be pretty cool to have both parents come eat lunch with you!!). He even knocked over his whole drink!

He knew all the motions to the songs and was VERY in to the performance! (front and center)

He especially liked when the crowd clapped...so he did too!

Drew and Emma play really well together (for the most part!) I love catching moments like this in pictures!

Mountains, Halloween Party, Trick-or-Treating

2011-11-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

October 22nd, Susan and Alan watched the kids for us...overnight!! That was a first for us! We headed up to Boone and went on a 5 mile hike and then got to go out to eat with NO KIDS!! We had a great time - especially on the hike! We did the Boone Fork Trail (I think that's what it was called.)

There were some challenging parts where we had to climb across rocks - and amazingly enough, we both stayed dry!

Close up of sweet Emma! I can't believe my baby is 18 months old!

And here's a close up of Drew! He is growing so fast - and not just tall, but is getting broader and stronger! He loves doing strength things (like putting his hands on the ottoman and his feet back on the couch so he's in a push up position, and walks his hands and feet back and forth! haha) and is dying to learn a handstand!! Maybe he'll be the football player that does a backflip in the endzone!

Drew and Emma helped carve the pumpkins. Here's Drew trying to convince Emma that's it's not totally disgusting...she didn't believe him! She reaching in once, but then kept her distance!

Our pumpkins weren't the best...and slugs kept eating them at night! yuck! here's the back of the pumpkin that we carved. I talked with a bunch of others that had the same issues - and apparently the flooding that we had in September caused the pumpkins to not be the best quality.

Drew loved helping with the gooey goo. They had caved a pumpkin at school, so he was a pro!

Charlie loves his baby Emma!

Last year I hosted a Halloween party for Drew and his friends, so this year my friend Ayesha hosted. The kids had a great time! Here's Emma the bumblebee at the Halloween party!

Here's Drew as Elmo before we left for the party. Emma kept wanting to hug him!! haha

The kids had a blast on Monday going Trick-or-Treating! We started off our adventure at our neighbor's house. She goes all out for every holiday - especially Halloween!

Here's Drew and Emma making their way down the street. We only went down one street and back (which still took a long time and earned them LOTS of candy), so we could get back and let the kids hand out candy. Drew really liked that part. Every time the doorbell rang, he scream, "More customers!!" And he was all about saying, "Happy Halloween! Have a good night! Thanks!" LOL

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

We met a few friends at the Pumpkin Patch on a Sunday morning a couple weeks ago. The kids had a great time on the hay ride, feeding the animals, and picking the perfect pumpkins. Unfortunately, one of the ones we picked wasn't so perfect. After a few days on the porch, it wilted and then we found it completely smashed beside the steps. I think some of the critters that eat my flowers decided to snack on our pumpkin every night until it just fell a part! At least our two bigger ones are holding up!

Emma wanted to take the dog home with us! She hugged all over him and chased him around!

The pumpkin had a sign, "do not sit," it didn't say "do not drum!"

Emma and Drew getting ready for the hayride!

Emma and I on the hayride!

Family shot on the hayride! =) Don't the kids look thrilled... I think they were just getting impatient and ready for the thing to move! haha

Emma loved the animals and had no fear! She'd feed them and reach in and pet all of them. She likes to point at their eyes and say "eyes," so we had to keep an eye on her!

Drew was a little nervous to let the animals eat out of his hand (understandably). But he finally tried it and thought it was pretty cool!

After the animals, we took the hayride to the pumpkin patch and searched for three pumpkins to take home. Emma liked these two!

And here's Drew's pick!

Later that day we attempted pig tails again in Emma's hair!

And here's our big hitter practicing! He likes watching the World Series on tv!

Gymboree!

2011-10-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Emma finally did her month of free Gymboree that she'd won last year in a Halloween costume contest. She loved the class! There's lots of singing, clapping, marching, and music - which are her favorite things. I was very surprised at how fast she picked up on the songs and the routine of the class (they did a lot of the same activities each time, and Emma would know what to do right away and remember from class to class). They let the kids explore around the room, and then when they sound the tamborine, we all meet at the mat for a quick activity. As soon as she would hear the tamborine she'd run to the mat and join in (even if I wasn't over there with her yet). All the kids are mesmerized by the bubbles at the end of class!

They got to climb up things and slide down - while saying "UP" and "DOWN." Now she says "up and down" all the time at home!

Silly girl - she loves the squishy mats! I took her into the gymnastics center (where I work) the other day and she had the whole place to herself - she was in heaven running around all over!

Touch a Truck

2011-10-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

Drew got in trouble and got taken away by the police!! Just kidding...we went to the Touch a Truck event! The kids got to climb into tractors, fire trucks, police cars, and all kinds of things.

Here's Chad and Drew with the Bobcats' mascot.

He started pointing at me a whole bunch, and I had no idea what he meant...then he started walking on his hands! (I had a gymnastics sweatshirt on! LOL)

Drew got in Kasey Kahne's race care! The guy with the car said it is the actual car that Kasey is using in his next race, they just didn't have all the interior pieces in it. COOL!!

Yeehaw! It's farmer Drew!

Here's Emma playing with some weird toy from the blood bank truck - what a silly girl!

Giggles!!

HUGE tire on a tractor!

Drew and Emma driving a fire truck.

Sharing the driver's seat!

Drew giving the Panthers' mascot, Sir Pur, a high five.

One last summer day at the park!

2011-10-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

One day at the end of September, we had some awesome weather - so we packed up some toys and headed to the park. We brought the baseball bat and sports stuff for Drew and some bubbles and things for Emma. Well... this is mostly how it went. haha!

Wind must be blowing (check out her hair! haha).

Here's Emma running the bases...with the bat and her juice!

This was the first time in a while that we got Drew's bike out...and he could do it all on his own!! I think we were as excited as he was!

Here's a video of him riding his bike. And the next time we went out after this - he could go even faster!

Baby Owen was born!

2011-10-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Grant and Sherry welcomed Owen Houston Nelson to their family on September 20th! We came over to see them a few days later, on the weekend. Emma kept pointing and saying, "baby." And whenever Sherry would take him upstairs, she'd look all over, "baby? baby?" And Drew was so sweet, sitting real close to get a good look, and he kissed him on top of his head several times! It seems like every year we get a picture of the cousins with Olivia's BFF Gracie. The first time we took the picture, Drew and Gracie were 4 and 5 months old and Olivia was just a couple weeks old. Then a couple years later there's a picture with baby Emma in the group (bright red and screaming crying! lol). And now here's another one with baby Owen!

He is such a beautiful baby!

I loved holding him! He opened his eyes to look around a little - but mostly just slept!

Here's Susan and Alan with all FOUR of their grandkids!

We got to their house in time for lunch - the kids were so cute eating together at Olivia's table!

It's hard to beleive baby Owen is already a month old!! My camera wasn't working, so it has taken me that long to upload these pictures!!

Indiana Trip & First Day of School

2011-09-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Today was Drew's first day of Preschool! I think he was pretty tired from our long day in the car yesterday, but he was still pretty excited. He did great and had fun! Emma was the one that had a hard time. We came home after dropping him off, and she looked around, sat on the floor, and cried (tears and all), "Deeewwww!!" It was so sad...and sweet!

This past weekend (Labor Day Weekend), we went to Indiana. We drove all afternoon/evening on Friday. Then Saturday morning we went to my sister's house. They got their guinea pig out for Drew and Emma to play with it. They fed it a celery stick!

Later that day, everyone came over to my parents' house (excpet my sister, she had to work). We even had a redneck fireworks show before a huge storm hit!

Then on Sunday, we went to Ben and Julie's to swim and eat dinner. Chad threw the kids around a little in the pool - they both love it!

It was cold out (only in the low 70s), and Emma kept shivering and I thought she was done swimming. So I took her suit off...then she wanted back in! That's why she's only wearing a swim diaper. :)

Cheese while swimming!

Here's the infamous boat from our beach trip! Hannah, Lynsdey's friend, Will, Emma, Drew and Lyndsey all squeezed in!

Then we ate pizza for dinner and got the baseball gear out!

And the kids jumped on the pool cover!

Then the adults took ove the baseball game! Here's Tim hitting.

Then my mom got to hit. This brought back memories of my brother pitching and my dad catching! Although, I don't think my mom would have tried to hit off my brother if it was a real baseball back then! This was just whiffle balls! My mom is quite a hitter - I think she knocked a few of them into the neighbor's yards!

Drew and his buddy Will!

The kids love my parents' piano!

Last days of summer!

2011-09-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

We went out to eat with the kids the Friday before my birthday. Then on my birthday, we packed a lunch and headed to our favorite park - Jetton. We ate on one of the the big decks on teh lake. It was very relaxing. It wasn't too hot, just a little windy since it was also the weekend that Hurricane Irene was hitting the east coast.

Drew was playing doctor and checking Chad out.
Emma and Drew were watching a squirrel. He was carrying things around and then went down and waded in the lake!

After we ate, we walked almost a lap around the park (1.5 miles) to the playground. Here's Emma peeking!

I was cracking up at Emma's wispy hair sticking straight up every time she'd swing forward! Her hair is getting thicker in the back, but still pretty thin and straight!

Drew loves to go as high as possible!

The day after my birthday, Sunday, Chad ran in the Warrior Dash. At first, we'd planned to do it together, but I chickened out! It is a 5K race (3.1 miles) that has 12 or 13 obstacles in it (jumping in and out of dumpsters, horizontal cargo net, wading through a pond and climbing over logs, crawling through mud under barbed wire, etc.). They set this race up in all different locations all over the country and people travel all over to be in it. There were over 10,000 participants in the Huntersville race - over 500 started the race every 30 minutes. Needless to say - it was awesome! Chad's parents came and watched the kids, so I could go watch Chad run. I am glad I didn't do it (I just HAD to see it before i put myself through it!), but I'm excited for next year - and I think we've even recruited my sister's husband and hopefully some other friends and family! Here's the start of Chad's heat - around 500 people ready to go!

Spectators were close to the last two obstacles and the end where they jumped over fire and crawled through mud under barbed wire and ran to the finish line.

This is the obstacle that scares me a little. It's at the very end, and there's big spaces and a big drop! Chad made it look easy!

Most of the runners were covered in mud at the end, but Chad was fairly clean.

We went to the park a lot last week. The end of summer is near and the weather has been pretty nice.
"Higher, Daddy!"

The same day that we went to the park, we also went to Discovery Place Kids. Drew loves the train tables!
And here's Emma dressed as a construction worker! haha

Panama City Trip

2011-08-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

first...not sure why this is underlined...I'm having issues with this website. And I can't shuffle the pictures how i want them, so they're out of order!!

Last week, we went to Panama City Beach, FL with my family. We had an AWESOME time! We
stayed in a huge 6 bedroom house right on the beach. The boys and Emma would be the first to wake up every morning to get things started. After breakfast and some lazy time, we'd head to the beach to play in the sand and in the ocean. We'd head up to the house for lunch - and then back to the beach! We cooked dinner at the house and all ate around the huge table. Then we'd head out for an evening walk and watch the sunset. Then once the kids went to bed, we watched movies, played Wii, and sat outside in the rocking chairs chatting. We missed Tim, Marc and Sarah (who were unable to come), but I'm so glad Lyndsey still came! And it was great to see Drew, Will and Parker have so much fun together - they ran around the house, jumped on beds, built TONS of sandcastles, rode in the boat together, and danced in the rain together! Lyndsey and I took probably over 400 pictures between the two of us on my camera and Mom and Dad's camera!

We had a few storms - here's the boys dancing in the rain!
This was so silly how the birds lined up at the water!
We got a great picture of everybody on our last day!! (we'd planned on the white shirts/khaki shorts combo!). I love this picture!!

Here's Julie, Ben, Will and Parker. Drew and Emma taking a break from our "photo session."
Here's one of the storms blowing in!

The only two girl cousins in our family. There's three boys and another on the way. What a pretty picture!
Drew and Emma adore Lyndsey! Every time we head to Indiana, Drew is always asking if Lyndsey will be there.Awww!
Me and Chad with the kids. Not sure why Drew looks so angry!! haha
Ben and Julie and their boys had gone out to eat before we did pictures, so we got one shot of the rest of us.
Mom and I
Our house even had an ELEVATOR!! Which, of course, all the kids thought that was pretty great!
Drew and Chad floated around in this boat on our last day for a LONG time - Drew loved it! He was so worn out and just chilled out and chatted with Chad. Ben bought this boat for $16 at Wal-Mart, and it was AWESOME!! Lyndsey and I had so much fun riding in the huge waves in it and getting tipped over multiple times! We even got washed out to sea (not really, but we thought we were!! We got too far out and had trouble getting back! haha)
Drew and I buried Chad!
Here's Mom and Dad and the kids.
Julie and Mom even got out in the boat!
And Dad too!! haha! The hardest part was when you got washed all the way up to shore and waves kept hitting you!
Ben and Chad pushed Parker and Drew around in the boat.
Drew and Will were best buddies on vacation!
Here's Drew sitting on the balcony

Here's Emma playing in the sand on one of our evening walks. This was always close to her bedtime (we stayed on NC time, even though FL was an hour off), so I think she was ready to head in
Chad and Drew were blasting off rockets to the yard area for the others to catch.

Blasting off rockets!
Our family again, on our evening walk.
Emma was sleepy, so I was singing and dancing with her! =)
Building sand castles!
Ben buried both of his boys' legs in the sand. Will's not too sure about it!
Cheese!
When I asked Drew what his favorite part about the trip was, he said, "playing in the sand and the ocean with Daddy." =)
Emma tried to keep up with the 3 boys. She wanted to play baseball too!

Here's all the kids!
Drew and Chad in the sunset.

Will, Drew, Parker, Chad, Dad, Mom and Julie walking in the sunset.
Our beach house!

Nelson Beach Trip 2011

2011-07-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last week we had our annual Nelson beach vacation - and it was so much fun! We got there Wedensday evening with Chad's mom, unpacked, ate some dinner and headed down to the beach.

We were going to just get our feet wet...I think Drew might of well of just jumped in! He was soaked!

Then we woke up early on Thursday and got right to it! We spent LOTS of time on the beach, at the pool, on the balcony - completely taking advantage of our awesome hotel. Grant, Sherry and Olivia arrived at lunchtime and then joined in on the fun.

Here's a great family shot on the beach!

The undertoe was pretty bad and Emma kept falling down!

The guys dug a big hole and took turns putting the kids in it!

Emma's spikey hair blew in the wind. It was actually REALLY windy the whole time we were there. You couldn't set anything down w/o it blowing away!

Here's the kids ready to head down to the beach for some more fun!

Here's Olivia and Drew in their jammies, taking a break from hide n' seek with their dads to sit with Grandmom.

Emma and Chad swimming in the pool.

Emma liked running in the baby pool with her float.

Such an "Emma" face. Every time an airplane or helicopter went by (like, every 5 minutes), she'd point and say "uh oh."

Here's everyone playing in the sand.

Drew on the balcony w/ a giant CHEESE!

Here's Emma on the beach figuring out what this sand-stuff is!

Emma kept trying to do headstands in the water!!

LOVING the ocean!

Emma crawled over my sunburnt legs and got sand all over me! Ouch!

Olivia and Drew played with their watering cans every time we went to the pool. They tried to fill the dumptruck with water, but it kept rolling away with the wind.

Here's Emma sporting the ladybug suit at the beach!

Chad took a pretty neat mother-daughter picture. I really like this one!

We played putt putt on our last full day there. Drew had a few impressive shots! The teenage guys ahead of us gave him high fives and you could see his chest puff out a little - he was so proud!

After putt putt and dinner, everyone went down to gather seashells. I hung out with Susan and Emma in the room - and I took a picture of them.

After we checked out on Sunday, we headed to Ripley's Aquarium before going on home. Here's the guys trying to pet some rays.

And here's a group shot.

Emma liked splashing in the water but didn't touch any sealife.

And here's my favorite picture from the entire vacation! Drew and Olivia are in the bubble on the bottom, looking up at the SHARK swimming over their head!!

Thank you SO MUCH Susan for taking us all on such an awesome vacation!! We had a wonderful time!

4th of July

2011-07-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

We went to the Lowe's YMCA 4th of July Celebration to watch fireworks. They had a huge festival going on beforehand. Here's Drew climbing on one of the many bouncehouses he went on. He didn't know how to use his feet on the steps, so I'm pretty sure he pulled himself all the way up there with just his arms!

Here's the kids hanging out before fireworks. Emma actually snuggled up with Chad as soon as the fireworks started. I think she was a little scared at first...but ended up snoozing away. Drew loved it though!

On Monday, July 4th, we went to Chad's parents' house to feed their cat since they were out in Montana. We made a day trip out of it and headed up to Boone to have a picnic in the mountains. We found our spot at the park and started eating our lunch...and then the thunder started! Here's Emma enjoying her first Capri Sun!

And it's not a picnic w/o some fresh fruit! Here's Drew enjoying his watermelon!

After a quick lunch, Drew got to put his feet in the water...and then it POURED!!

Luckily I'd brought extra clothes for the kids in case we actually let them "swim" in the creek. We were all soaked by the time we gathered all our stuff (blanket, huge cooler, 2 folding chairs, bag of food, etc.) and the kids and hopped from stone to stone across the creek and ran to our car. We called it a day and have decided to try again some other time!!

New bike & baby pool

2011-06-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

Some of the plants we planted last year are still surprising us with new beautiful blooms!

Last weekend, we got Drew his first real bike! Chad and Drew used some teamwork (and Cars 2 shirts) to put it together. It doesn't fit him perfectly yet, but I think he'll figure it out and grow into it. He was pretty excited!

The pedals are still a little awkward for him, but he was doing good!

Emma had a high fever last weekend, and then had a pretty bad cold and slight fever all this week...which can make for a really long week stuck at home for me and the kids! She has four molars coming in on top of being sick, so she hasn't been the happiest! Although, today she was feeling better, so we played outside some.

"You've got to be kidding! You call that swimming??"

SLASH TIME!!

Cannonball!!

Emma's babydoll takes baths with the kids and came swimming with us!

They are buddies...most of the time!

Lazy 5 Ranch

2011-06-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

The Lake Norman Mommies forum has been such a wonderful thing for me and our family! We have met so many friends, learned so much about our community and things going on, and it has helped Huntersville feel like our true home. Because of that, I have taken on a position with the group as the K13 Planner. K13 stands for "kids going into kindergarten in 2013). My job (completely volunteer "job", by the way) is to plan several outings or events for the K13 members of the group each month. What's really awesome, is that a lot of these 3 year olds have 1 year old siblings - so even Emma meets friends! This morning we met at the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville. People can drive their cars through the ranch to see the animals, or you can take a wagon pulled by horses. We took the wagon, and I think that's got to be the best choice. It was AWESOME to see all these animals so up close and personal! Drew is afraid of most dogs, so I was really proud of how he worked through his fears and was feeding the animals by the end of the ride! Emma just kept barking and meowing the whole ride! haha The animals know that we have tons of food for them on the wagon, so they come right up and beg for it! And if your bucket is too close to the edge, they steal it (we lost one bucket b/c of this!). Emma wasn't too sure about it at first!

Here's all the animals behind us, picking up all the food we'd dropped and chasing us for more!

Drew's looking ahead to see what animals are next.

Feeding the animals. I wish I could remember what everything is. The guide told us about all the animals, and we'd stop and feed them and look at them.

And here's when Drew got more daring and started feeding this scary-looking beast! They told us to be careful not to get it in his nose, b/c he'd spew it back in your face! yuck!

And some of the animals were a little more aggressive - this one has his front hoofs on the wagon and is running on his back legs! They told us not to set the food near the back of the wagon b/c the animals would jump up there with us!

We didn't stop next to these animals!! HUGE horns!

Feeding the giraffe was pretty cool!

We are up in the wagon, standing on the bench to reach him! There was a baby giraffe with them that was born May1st, and it was already huge!

This was totally on their own...I had my camera out taking pictures of animals, and I'm so glad I caught this sweet moment!

Emma got more comfortable with these huge creatures being so close to us. I asked the guy about his fur - and he's shedding! Looks painful!

Here's a zebra walking by our horse-drawn wagon. We weren't allowed to feed them b/c of the angle of their teeth - they'd bite us.

Here's a llama following our wagon!

When our wagon ride was over and we were climbing out, Drew was one of the first ones climbing down with his bucket of feed, and several ostriches came over and started going nuts eating right out of the bucket! He didn't panic or anything, just kinda stood there - but I was thinking, "aren't ostriches MEAN??" I was trying to get to him, and then some of the workers came over and shewed them away real quick! Whew! Scared me to death!! Then we got to walk around another area with some other animals. Here's the kangaroos, who stared at us and then went hopping aound real fast, like they were performing.

Here's most of the crew!

Emma liked the rocks...This was too cute when the kids all grabbed each other's hands as we were leaving! Emma and Betsey (the two one-year-olds) and another 3 year old aren't in the picture. We had a group of 13, so it was a pretty successful trip! Such a unique thing - we'd never done anything like that before!

This is totally random, but Emma has been making bubbles with her slobber! She's been doing it for several weeks. At first, I thought she was just making a weird, annoying sound, but then I looked closer and saw her spit bubbles!! What a crazy little girl!! haha

Carowinds!

2011-06-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday of last weekend, Drew had his last soccer practice - and he got another trophy! He did really well with the 5 week session. You could see him improve and learn more each week - which is pretty cool at 3 years old! Then on Sunday, Father's Day, we took the kids to Carowinds with Chad's parents. Drew absolutely LOVED it! His favorite book to look at is Chad's rollercoaster book. And he makes everyone stop and watch anytime a Carowinds commercial comes on tv. I was very surprised that he had no fear or anxiety over the rides. We walked right up to the biggest coaster he could ride and he hopped on no problem - as our first ride of the day!! As soon as it stopped, he said, "let's go again!" Here's Drew and I on the other coaster (there were two little ones in the kids' area).

Emma was a little cranky when we first got there b/c she needed a nap! She wanted OFF this ride...until it started up, then she loved it! But then it stopped after we were done...and she wanted OFF again! haha

Here's Chad's parents watching Chad and Drew on the ride. Chad is wearing a red t-shirt - so you can kind of see them on the far left. They actually "won" as the ones that got their little plane the highest. So, they got to stay on and go for a second ride! This is when I was pushing Emma around in the stroller so she'd take a quick nap - then she was good to go for the rest of the day!

Here's the proud winners as they waited for the ride to start back up!

Drew liked ringing the loud bell on the boats - but it was hard to steer and ring the bell at the same time! Emma drove Daddy around with the old antique cars.

Drew thinks he's ready for the big rides!!

We ran into a couple of my friends while we were there, so the kids got to ride this one together.

We took a family shot as we were on our way out...worn out!

Summer FUN!

2011-06-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we had a cookout with our neighbors. Here's Emma and Anna playing in the pool.

And here's Leif and Drew - who kept running and doing cannonballs into the pool!

Last week, I took the kids to the Birkdale Fountains - and they loved it!

It took Emma awhile to actually touch the water. She kept running around it, and checking out everyone's snacks. But she got daring and got wet after awhile!

Here she is trying to figure out how to get the water in her bucket.

Pure excitement!

Last weekend Drew had soccer on Saturday morning. Chad volunteered to be one of the parent "tigers" where the kids chase them and try to get the red "tails." Here's Drew chasing him.

And here's Drew working on his dribbling.

This was by far his best practice - he was paying attention and doing really well the whole time - and he was breaking a sweat!

They have drink breaks several times - and he loves to use his Cars 2 waterbottle Aunt Judy sent him!

And they always finish up practice with every kid making a goal!

Then after soccer, we headed to Raleigh to celebrate Olivia's birthday! The kids (and Chad) had a blast climbing and jumping around at the party.

Here's Drew and Gracie (Olivia's BFF) jumping together. =)

This past week, Drew has been going to Vacation Bible School in the evenings. It is at the church that he will be going to preschool at next fall. He LOVED it! Tonight was the final performance, and the preschoolers did a few songs with singing and dancing! Drew (of course) was very serious, but he did really good following along. (he's in the front with the striped shirt.)

The video won't upload right now...I'll post it later! It's very cute! Drew's FIRST performance!

One night while Drew was at VBS and Chad was out of town working, Emma was being so silly, I had to pull out the camera! She used to use sign language to say "more" and "all done." But all of a sudden she started nodding her head! It was really cute, and of course she wouldn't do it as dramatically as she was before I got the camera out!

Her favorite song is "Old McDonald had a farm." If you sing the song with her, she'll say the "EIEIO" at the appropriate time!! haha

She knows A LOT of words and phrases...just can't say them yet! If I tell her to do something ("go get your milk." "Get your shoes and sit down so I can put them on.") - she totally understands and does it! She might be a little smarty pants like her brother, but just hasn't been as vocal as he was. But here she is being silly...and her dress was REALLY messy...so that's why she's half dressed!

Summer is here!

2011-06-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

...here's pictures from a couple weeks ago...

When you live in the ONLY neighborhood in the area that doesn't have a pool...you have to make do! We've had so many days in the 90s already - so we pulled out the blow up pool for the kids! Here's Chad and the kids. I love Emma's face! And look at Chad and Drew's eyes/eyebrows...identical!

Me and the kids...before the pool had warmed up!

The Ladybug bikini!

Popsicle break!! Both kids LOVE popsicles!

They are so silly! Chad calls Emma's little dresses and rompers her "Cindy Brady dresses."

She left these glasses on the whole time we were hanging out! Hopefully she'll wear them when we go to the beach.

Emma loves the chair that Drew got for Christmas. She figured out quickly how to climb in and sit in it. Well, just recently, she also learned how to stand up and jump in it! yes, I usually tell her "no" and end up folding it up and hiding it...but I had to get a picture of the naughty little thing. She's always looking at me, smiling, while she does it!

The other day I was doing some work on the computer, and it seemed really quiet, so I peaked around the corner and this is what I saw! So sweet! They had all the books pulled out and were reading together!

It has been one year today since my grandma passed away. Here are the daisies from her house growing strong in our yard!

I absolutely LOVE how Emma is attached to the blanket my grandma made just for her. She sleeps with it every night and at naptime, and will drag it around if we let it escape her crib. "Emma" is the girl's name that my grandma told me she liked, and I loved the name. I like to think that Emma has a special connection to my grandma, and I know she's watching over her. Love you, Grandma!

Memorial Weekend in Indiana

2011-06-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, a tree fell on my parents' garage in a bad storm. We almost cancelled our yearly Memorial Weekend trip to Indiana, but we came anyway! It was amazing to see just how BIG the tree was!

I think we're all just so thankful it was the garage, and not the actual house! And especially not their new addition on the house!

Here's Drew telling Parker and Will all about the tree and how it fell.

And Emma didn't seem to notice the tree. But she was laughing at my sister while we all checked it out.

The workers got their cherry picker stuck in the mud and left it...so we thought it would be a good idea to get the boys up there! Drew and Will were excited about it, but Parker took some convincing that it was a good idea!

Here's Parker and Emma in the wagon.

The boys got to play in the creek!

And Emma was not going to be left out of this activity! Chad rolled her pants up and dipped her feet in too!

And she liked the motorcycle too!

Here's Parker, Drew and Will eating dinner at the bar. It gave us more room at the table and worked out great to have them eat over there. And I think they all three ate ALL their food, which was a first! haha

Drew in the creek - with Mr. Tree watching from behind!

On Sunday, it's tradition for us to go to my brother's house to swim and listen to the Indy 500 on the radio (and my brother always figures out a way to get it on his computer and hook it up to their big screen to watch it too, even though it's blacked out in the Indy area).

Here's Chad and the three boys in the pool.

And my brother gave the boys rides on the big turtle-thing. Drew wasn't too sure about it! Parker and Will are so comfortable in the water since they swim about every day - Parker doesn't even use anything to help him float!

Emma rode in the float for a little while.

But then she decided she needed to get out and swim on her own! She liked being thown up in the air!

We took turns throwing her up.

Here's Will with his silly goggles that kept filling up with water!

Cheese! (Emma actually started saying, "Cheese!" while on this trip! And she also says, "uh oh" all the time. And she says "kitty" and "meow" and makes a clicking sound when she sees the cat like she's calling him. She repeated a couple words clear as day "hot dog" and "thank you" but hasnt' said them since.)

more pictures from my parents' visit

2011-05-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

Here's me and Emma enjoying our awesome weather.

Emma played baseball too...sort of.

Here's Drew with his eyes on the ball, ready to get hit!

Another good action picture!

Three generations - me, Emma and my mom. We will have to get one with my grandma too next time we visit!

We got to ride in my parents' new car - here's Drew peeking around the seat at me!

This was Drew's first time in a convertible!

Enjoying the breeze!

Parents Visit and First Soccer Practice

2011-05-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

My parents visited this past weekend. We got to play outside in the nice weather, see Drew's first soccer practice, and just hang out with the kids. On Friday night, the kids went to the Y for Parents Night Out and so we even got to go out to eat kid-free. (Which this worked out great b/c Drew had a GREAT time at the Y and was excited to tell us all about it when we picked him up!)

Friday during the day, Emma was so silly and kept bringing Mr. Potato Head's glasses to my mom so that she'd put them on her! Then she'd walk around and play with them on! But she wouldn't do it once Chad got home from work.

Then Saturday morning Drew had his first soccer practice. Here's his whole "team" with their coach. (Drew's the third one, and his best buddy Luke is next to him in red.)

Here's Drew taking a break.

Drew and Luke waiting on the white line for their next instructions.

Here's an action shot!

And running with a silly grin! =)

Here's Emma watching all the action with my dad - she's ready to play!

And a couple videos of Drew. They were supposed to kick it lightly and slowly and then stop the ball with their foot on top of it. "Slowly" was not in Drew's vocabulary that day, so this one was a little hard for him.

And then they had to kick the ball and knock over as many cones as possible. He did pretty good with this and got quite a few.

And then at the end of practice each kid got to score a goal!

Baseball

2011-05-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here's Emma and I watching the boys play baseball this evening.

And here's Drew playing ball. In a couple weeks he starts soccer!

Emma on the go...with pretty nails!

2011-05-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

Emma is practically running now! She's growing up so fast, I'm not sure where this last year has gone! Here's a video of her getting around the house.

And, yes, I did paint her toenails! They're so little, it was easy to just put a swipe of polish on each toe.

She starting to try more foods - and nutri-grain bars are one of her favorites! She gobbles a whole one down pretty fast. Here she is finishing one up ...and making a really silly face for the camera!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

Easter morning, the kids were so excited to see their baskets! Emma went straight for her Zhu-Zhu pet! Drew has a cat (named "C.A.T.") and he gets so frustrated when Emma tries to play with it (he sleeps with it - it's his best friend!). So, she got a pink bunny named "Hoppy."

Drew was all about shaking the eggs and getting the candy out of them. THEN he realized there were some toys and things in there too! He's mastered his 48 piece puzzle (does it in just a few minutes), so he got a 100 piece Toy Story puzzle. He did it with Chad's help several times.

Drew and I colored eggs on Friday. These are the only ones that survived in one piece through our coloring process!

Drew's allergist told us to try to give him foods with eggs cooked in them (even though he is still allergic, eggs change their form when they are cooked inside things). So, we've done cookies from the store and I made cupcakes on Easter morning - and he loved them!

It was beautiful on Easter, so we took the front panels off the Jeep and went for a ride - the kids loved it!

Our Jeep ride took us to the park for a bit. Here's the kids on the swings. :)

We had pizza for dinner the other night...Emma is a big fan! She ate almost a whole piece! Maybe that's normal for one year olds to do - but not in this house! It is so awesome to feed her ANYthing I want! The hard part now is Drew's reaction and asking why can't he have that too. We try to make it not a big deal - "it's just food." And there are special things that only he can have. But he's been doing better at actually trying new lunches and dinners so we're making improvements!

2011-04-19T04:24:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post some other cute pictures from last week. I love this one of her pretty lashes!

Here she is playing with her buddy Annika at the park. Annika is not even 10 months - and she's bigger than Emma!

Drew loved pushing Emma on the swings - it made Emma crack up the whole time!

I love this simple picture!

...scratching her back! haha
Silly kids - almost getting blown away from the wind! This was before the horrible storms we got.
And here's the flower pots that Drew painted, and I made the ladybugs and baked them on. We gave one to Chad's parents and one to Grant and Sherry at the party.

And here's the kids and I enjoying our new table on one of our 80 degree days!

Happy Birthday Emma!

2011-04-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

We had Emma's ladybug birthday party this past Sunday! It's so hard to believe that she is already ONE!! Our baby is getting so big - she's walking all over the house, eating all kinds of new foods every day, repeating tons of sounds and some words ("boo," "hi," "wow," etc), loves playing peekaboo (she hides and peeks out at you and laughs and then hides again), she loves giving high fives and clapping when Drew makes a basket, she loves her swimming class, she carries babydolls and stuffed animals around while hugging them and saying "awww," and she smiles and laughs at anyone that looks her way! I think she, Olivia and Drew had a great time at the birthday party. Here's the ladybug cake that Emma won at the Halloween costume contest last year - SO CUTE!

And here's the (homemade!) ladybug pinata!

We grilled out and enjoyed the awesome weather and our new table!

After we ate, it was pinata time! Sherry showed Olivia the proper technique.

Drew took this very seriously! Especially when the candy started coming out!

Here's everyone cheering on the little ones.

And a video of the action.

Then it was off to the Easter egg hunt. Emma started to get over her fear of walking in the grass and moved around a little.
She even knew what to do with the eggs!

Then the kids took a break from scarfing down the candy in the eggs for a quick picture.

Then Chad and the kids rolled down the hill. HAHA!

Family picture time!

Then Emma got to enjoy...CAKE!! I don't know that she tasted the actual cake, but she sure enjoyed the red frosting! After this, she went straight to the bath!

After ALL that plus presents, Emma was ready for a nap! And the rest of us got to sit outside and enjoy the weather (low 70s and sunny) and play a little baseball, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, etc. It was a great day!!

Lenoir trip and swimming

2011-04-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

I can't beleive Emma will be ONE next week! Here she is outside enjoying our spring weather!

sweet baby girl!

Drew works on his jumpshot everyday now! Chad taught him how to shoot with one hand and guide the ball with the other, so it even looks like a REAL shot! And he's pretty impressive with his puzzle working skills. He'll do this 45 piece puzzle in under 10 minutes! I'm going to get him a harder one and see how he does! Last Sunday we went to Chad's parents' house. Here's Emma and Daddy on the four wheeler - her first ride! She didn't mind at all - just looked around with a pretty serious look on her face.
And Drew rode with Granddad. I have to post videos of this...Drew watches them over and over...and over!
Here's Emma and Grandmom. We went and visited Nana too. Here she is with the kids.

We won't take pictures every Saturday at swim class, I promise! But Chad swam with Emma this time, so I wanted to get a few shots of that. Here's Drew choking on some water! haha

Emma had a great time with Daddy!

Kick, kick, kick!

Emma walks everywhere in the house now! Even her shoes don't slow her down much. She still sits down outside and they say she doesn't walk too much at the Y.

Swimming classes!

2011-03-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

Today was Drew's first PRESCHOOL swim lesson (no parent in the water with him) and it was Emma's very first time. Here's Drew waiting on the stairs for his turn. He said they called the bubble on his back a "backpack."

I think he had fun! =)

Kick, kick, kick!

"Walking" down the side of the pool.

Emma was NOT too sure about swimming! There were a couple unhappy participants that scared her too. She had lots of frowney faces at the beginning of class and clung onto me for dear life!

She started to warm up a little and splashed. But when I held her away from me, she'd get mad at me!

She had such a tight grip on my arm! But she was pretty good at the kicking!

But by the end of class, she was relaxed and enjoying herself! yay!

Shades and Jumpshot

2011-03-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

The kids are ready for the beach!! They've both got their new shades and Emma loves her sun hat!

Chad has taught Drew proper form for a jumpshot, and he has been practicing ALL the time! He's gaining consistency and is learning how to aim - he usually makes one every 3 to 4 attempts. Not too bad for a three year old! The best part...he's totally coachable! He'll listen and try to make corrections - it's so fun to watch! Chad is one proud dad!!

...now if I can just get Emma cartwheeling soon... haha

Indiana trip and Emma walking again

2011-03-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

The kids and I visited Indiana for a long weekend. My sister and her kids were on spring break, so it worked out pefectly. My parents came to visit us for a day (evening!) and then drove me and the kids to Indiana on Wednesday. On Thursday we all went to the zoo. I was so mad at myself - I took this ONE picture at the zoo...and my batteries died! I had two sets of backups...in my suitcase at my parents' house! Argh! Oh well - I got this cute picture of Parker, Will and Drew trying to pet a shark. I took a ton of pictures with my mom's camera, so I'll have to get those from them sometime. The boys had a blast running around the zoo together. And we were all pretty surprised at how much Emma LOVED all the animals and didn't miss a thing. She'd wave and say "wow!" at every animal.

I LOVE this picture of Drew! It's so hard to get him to smile normally!

Emma really enjoyed exploring outside - especially the bridge! (of course I was hovering over her like a mommy hellicopter b/c she has no fear of crawling right off the edge!)

Nothing like a little duet bright and early in the morning!

Emma terrorized the poor OLD cat! She would speed-crawl as soon as she saw him, waving and saying her version of "kitty!"

The three boys (Parker, Will and Drew) played some baseball with my brother Ben and my dad. Here's Drew - eyes on the ball!

And here's one of Drew's decent hits. Parker's bat was a little too big for Drew. Parker could hit it really hard! Will liked to pitch it
The three boys STILL fit in the wagon...barely!! I'll have to dig up the picture from a year or two ago of the three of them in this same wagon.

My dad gave us some rides in the big wagon too! Emma was in a serious mood and just sat there - at least she wasn't scared at all!

I can't figure out what we're pointing out! haha Drew's too busy watching the tractor wheels.

My mom made a cake (I guess it's sort of an early birthday cake for Lyndsey who'll be 13 on April 15th and Emma who'll be 1 on April 16th). Emma wasn't sure about it at first, but once we stuck some in her mouth, she got a little more daring!

Today, after we got home from the Y, we decided to eat lunch outside and enjoy our 80 degree day! Here's the cheeseballs on the back deck!

Emma scrunches her nose up and does a silly grin - and I finally got a picture of it! Her little personality is growing every day and she is becoming more and more SILLY! She thinks her brother is hilarious!

Drew's enjoying our warm spring day!

And another cute picture!

In Indiana, Emma didn't walk too much - it was new territory and she explored ALL OVER on her hands and knees. But ever since we got home, we'll look over and see her wobbling around - practicing on her own. Here she is with Drew's balloon walking around today.

Emma's walking!!

2011-03-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

She still mostly crawls, but she did this several times today!!

playing outside & Sofia's party

2011-03-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

Not a lot going on...just some awesome weather! When I went to the DMV last week to get an expired license renewed (OOPS!), Chad took the kids to a pond and went for a walk. Drew told me all about the green goose poo! And here's another picture Chad took - he and Drew rode the Merry Go Round while Emma and I were shopping at Concord Mills Mall.

Today it got up to 75 degrees! Here's Emma trying to decide which leaf to eat. I loved her skinny jeans with these shoes!

Drew took a break from helping Chad with yardwork to play with Emma.

Closeup!

Playing with a stick!

Looking sleepy...

Cheese!

Filling the birdfeeder.

peek!

The whole fam!

Last weekend we went to Sofia's birthday party. The kids had a blast! Here's Emma in the pit.

I couldn't get ANY pictures of Drew - he was ALL OVER the place!! Here he is on the tumble track.

Emma's ready for some grips and chalk!

She kept falling down the slant mat.

Emma's fashion show

2011-03-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

This warm weather is getting us excited for spring, summer, beach vacations and ...swimsuits!! (on the kids at least!) Emma has two swimsuits that fit her now (and several for next year already). Her little body has been hidden in big winter clothes - these little swimsuits looked so cute. I think she'll be ready for her swim class that starts in a few weeks!

Look at the hair hanging over her ear! haha

And her hair in the back - it's been growing a lot lately!

Striking a pose! She's ready to hit the runway!

Here she is in action, playing in her room.

Emma was sitting on my lap and then Charlie came and sat on both of us. Little did he know, he was gonna get a big bear hug! I'm just glad the camera was within arm's reach and he let her hug him for awhile.

so sweet!

Last Friday Drew and Chad went to a Bobcats game! Drew had so much fun! It was a 7pm game and lasted until past 9:30, but they stayed the whole time. Then that Saturday I hosted a Scentsy party, and Chad took the kids to the park - Drew got to fly a kite for the first time! So, Drew had a great weekend! But then this week he got the flu! =( He was coughing and sneezing, but we thought it was just from helping Chad out in the yard all day on Sunday. Then on Tuesday he said his belly hurt and the fever started. Wednesday I took him to the doctor, and it was confirmed - it was the flu. And the doctor said he looked amazingly well for someone with the flu. By Thursday afternoon, there was no more fever! He's been getting sick so much lately that I was afraid the flu would drag out forever, but I think he's almost recovered!

Yesterday was an exciting day - Drew actually ate half a soynut butter and jelly sandwich!! On bread!! The kid has freaked out and has never eaten bread. I was so proud of him! We have recently added macaroni (with dairy free butter), creamed corn, sweet potatoes, soynut butter and jelly sandwiches, crescent rolls, and hotdogs to this amazingly picky eaters diet. With this kid...this is a huge deal! Last week we went to the allergist. We learned that Drew is still definitely allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts. But Dr. Norris also educated us on the development of food allergies and the likelihood that he will still outgrow this. They just did the prick test on his back, and he reacted to those allergens right away. He such a big boy and wasn't bothered by the test at all (the dr. prepared me for a meltdown and said that almost all little boys Drew's age cry and get really scared).

I haven't been the best at getting the camera out lately - I'll do better these next couple weeks!

Happy birthday Drew and my parents visit

2011-02-17T11:46:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we celebrated Drew's third birthday with a Lightning McQueen party! My parents came into town on Friday night. Saturday, my mom helped get things ready for the party - here's the cupcakes and Oreo "tires" we came up with!

We brought in the outdoor picnic table and set it up for a painting station. Drew and Olivia were the only ones interested in painting - and they had some wonderful masterpieces!

We made cupcakes that Drew could eat (egg and milk free) for him and regular ones for everyone else. Here he is just before he blew out the candle! (and I think just before the candle fell over and almost into his lap - good thing Chad set it back up before things went up in flames!)

Drew's neighborhood buddies Meena and Leif licked off the icing on their cupcakes! The birthday boy!

Emma got to wear a dress (and bow) to the party.

And she even allowed a party hat!
If you come visit this house, you better like Candyland! Here's one of the many rounds Chad and my dad played with Drew while my parents were visiting!

It was really nice out on Sunday, so we got to kick around Drew's new soccer ball and play a little baseball. I got an action shot - look at that intense face with his eyes on the ball!

On Drew's birthday (Wednesday) we got to enjoy some more warm weather and play! Here's Drew drbbling.

Me and my little buddies!!

Such pretty blue eyes! He's growing up too fast!

This past weekend Emma mastered standing up inthe middle of the room. Here she is doing it outside.

Pretty happy little girl!!

Pretty brown eyes! (and TWO big bottom teeth! top ones have broken through but aren't big enough to see much.)

Berries and bananas jar food smile!

Bathtime!

Last day of Bball and Emma standing

2011-02-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

Drew is wearing the Charlie Brown shirt and holding the Charlie Brown doll.

I think he was proud of the trophy he "won" at his last day of basketball!

Here's Drew with Coach Matthew.

Here's Emma's version of peekaboo!

She loves to stand on her own. Here she is standing at Drew's basketball practice. She doesn't grab things and cruise - she either stands still or walks behind a push toy.

Here's what you get when you try to get a two year old to carry out a play with their newly learned skills! HAHA

And here's another of Emma standing.

2011-01-31T12:36:00.000-08:00

Emma is growing up too fast! She finally waves! Her favorite game is peek-a-boo. She'll hold toys up over her head and then pull it down real quick. And if you say "peek!" she'll smile real big and keep doing it. If you're sitting on the couch, she'll squat down and put her head down and then stand up real fast! So funny! She also loves to let go and stand on her own - for up to 10 seconds! She is finally eating three meals of baby food, and she loves puffs and Cinnamon Cheerios.

I am searching for the right preschool for Drew. They are all starting registration for the fall already. He has continued to amaze me with his smarts. The other day in the car he was talking away, "We have to go to the store, eat lunch, play and take a nap. We have four things to do. No wait, we just went to the store - we only have three things to do!" He's making to do lists and doing subtraction! His new thing is to say a word and then sound out the first letter. "ball, b-, b- it starts with a b!" I think he got that from either the show Super Why or from his Alfie toy.

And Drew's quote for the week: "That lady has two BIG melons!" We call canteloupe "melon," and at the grocery store a woman had two canteloupes in her cart... good grief, I about died! At least she didn't hear him!

This past weekend was rough. Saturday morning Drew woke up really early. He laid on the couch with Chad and then got up, said, "my belly hurts," and got sick! He had the stomach bug all day - it was awful!! Lots of laundry and Lysol! So far, no one else has gotten the bug! He took his nap on the couch...Charlie joined him!

On Sunday he was better (just no appetite!), and we got to enjoy the 70 degree weather!! Here's Chad and Drew playing some baseball and Emma pushing her walker.

And this one would have been a homerun for sure!

We got Drew's wagon out and let Emma go for a ride.

Drew really wanted to pull her too.

And he wanted to see if he would still fit in it! Barely!!

This was the first time Emma had really sat and played in the grass - she really liked it!

I like this action shot - with his tongue out! haha

We hosted our neighborhood playgroup last Friday. Here's Emma and Annika - and I never thought Emma's head looked big (even though it measures in the 80th percentile) - but she makes Annika's head look tiny (but she is just 7 months old and has a 25th percentile head!). Leif and Meena were there too - Leif played with Drew's crane the whole time and Meena petted Charlie (who kept sitting with us...seriously, he's social now!!). Drew sat on his big wheel the whole couple hours that our company was there - that thing is definitely going out in the garage next time people come over!

I LOVE this picture - it reminds me of the picture that I have of Drew standing there at about that same age. The lighting is perfect in this room. Emma has on her skinny jeans (AKA Peter Pan Pants haha).

I dug up the one of Drew...WOW, they really do look alike! Everyone (even the manager at the grocery store that I go to all the time!!) tells me that they look so much alike!

Emma's 9 month appt and Drew's football

2011-01-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

Drew LOVES his Candy Land game that he got for Christmas from my parents! And he isn't much fun to play with because he ALWAYS wins!! (without cheating!!)

Drew missed basketball two weeks ago b/c all the programs at the Y were cancelled due to snow. Here he is dribbling down the court last week- he even has his head up!

Here's Emma and I playing while Drew napped.

Here's sick Emma. She had a bad runny nose, horrible cough, and a fever for several days last week. By Wednesday her fever went down and the runny nose slowed down. Last Friday she had her 9 month checkup, and we found out she has an ear infection in her left ear - the first ear infection with either of the kids!! Now she's teething pretty bad but overall, she is so much better!

I was surprised to find out that she is a little peanut at just 17 lbs 6 oz (25th percentile) and 28 inches (65th percentile). Her head, of course, is still big - 80th percentile! Her low weight could be from her lack of appetite all week. That, and she crawls all over the house - and she's really fast now!

Emma says "dada" and "mama" all the time now.

I've even taught her how to say "EmmmmMA!"

And remember when we would push Drew around on his truck, and he'd cry when we took him off?? Well, Emma has the same reaction!

Chad and Drew play basketball with the little goal my parents got him and baseball with the Tee Chad's parents got him almost every night. They even run a few football plays in the hallway. Here they are taking turns playing quarterback. Drew's getting better at throwing and catching!

naptime!

2011-01-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

Charlie has become quite the family cat lately! He lets the kids hug on him and he's always sitting with us while we're playing down on the floor. He even puts his paws up on the rocking chair when I'm rocking or feeding Emma and begs to come up there with us! Here he is taking a nap with Emma!

And here's a video of these cats and their baby!

Discovery Place Kids

2011-01-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

My parents bought us a family membership to the new Discovery Place Kids just down the road from our house - and we finally went today! It was so much fun! We were there about an hour and a half, and we probably only did half the stuff! There's tons of kid size real-life activities (milk a cow, run a cash register, be a dr, drive a race car, etc). And there's train tables, crafts, jungle gym, and so much more. Here's Drew, very in to the puppet show!

My favorite activity that we did was the baby water table! Emma loved it!

Drew loved the cash register and kept pulling out $20s and giving them to me! Haha

My gymnast!

Drew was drawn to the firetruck, of course, but was freaked out by the mannequin in uniform!

Emma showed off her new trick - she pulls up and then lets go and balances by herself!

Emma is doing great with solid food now - two meals a day of stage 2 solids (sometimes two jars per meal) and she has figured out puffs finally! She also loves wagon wheels, mum mum biscuits, and thick pretzel sticks. We've worked at getting her on a schedule (for my sanity), and she's done great. The two kids have napped at the same time the past four days!! That is a much appreciated break where I fly around the house getting a few things knocked off my to do list and then relax for a few minutes before Emma wakes up and I get some one on one time with her.

Snow Day!!

2011-01-10T14:29:00.000-08:00

We got almost 4 inches of snow last night and through this morning. Here's the proof - and it was still coming down.

The roads were horrible, so Chad just did some work from home and hung out with us for the day. Drew has had a fever and bad cold the past couple days, but we HAD to go out and play for just a few minutes. Chad's parents had brought a sled over yesterday for the kids, so we tried it out. Here's Chad and the kids getting bundled up. Emma fell over and was stuck!

Here's Drew on the sled! (We just went down the drive - it was easier than dealing with the bigger hill on the side yard, since Drew didn't feel great.)

The neighbors and their son came over to sled a few times. Here's Drew and Noah.

And then Drew and Daddy took a few turns!

Even Emma got a turn on the sled! Thank goodness the car coming through stopped for us! Oops!

Emma sat in the snow for a few minutes and wasn't too sure about it.

Then she fell over and got stuck b/c she had too many layers on!

When we went inside after playing, I grabbed a few cups of snow - and we made soy snow cream! Drew LOVED it and even had to get a straw to finish his off!

Here's Emma napping - she plays with the blanket my grandma made her while she sleeps. :)

Here's Emma trying to climb in the bath before I can take this embarrassing picture!

Random pictures and Drew's first day of basketball!

2011-01-05T17:38:00.000-08:00

Here's Drew on the back deck.

And here he is playing a little golf in the backyard.,.or it's almost a hockey swing!

We got Emma some grippie shoes for Christmas! She always pulls off her socks, and our downstairs gets pretty cold - so these are perfect!

She loves to play at the train table.

Drew's not sure he's ready to share all that stuff...

Emma has discovered the stairs and it's time to get the baby gate out!

Drew constantly begs to "play cars with me!" So, we have to get creative and come up with "games" so we don't go nuts. This one was Chad's idea - they lined up his cars, single file, from the fireplace all the way under the table and to the kitchen! Here's Drew in his Lightning McQueen jammies with the lined up cars!

Today Drew had his first basketball practice! It's a 5 week basketball session at the Y - just 45 minutes once a week. It's supposed to be for 3-5 year olds, but they let me sign Drew up. Here they are talking with Coach Matthew (in blue) before they got started. Drew is in the grey shirt - and he was very in to it!

They did a lot of dribbling - here's Drew in action!

They were supposed to be dribbling the ball all the way down the court... this was just too funny to leave out! Drew just carried his ball, and when Chad yelled out, "dribble it, Drew!" he waves at us real big! haha!

And here's another round of dribbling - he did a little better this time!

My kids rock!

2010-12-29T12:35:00.000-08:00

...literally. If you know Drew at all, then you know how he has headbanged in his bed and rocked on the couch for about two years. Well, Emma's either copying him or developing her own habits...uh oh!!

Here's the kids playing with Drew's new crane.

And Emma really did get ger two front teeth for Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-27T10:14:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, December 11th, we went to the Huntersville Christmas celebration. Here's Emma and Drew talking with Santa. We met up with my friend Jessica and her husband so Drew could hang out with his best buddy, Luke. They got to ride the train, a little airplane ride, and the big slide - Jessica has pictures (our camera broke right after this Santa picture, and we had to get a new one a few days later.).

Emma was sick Thursday through Saturday (Dec 16-18) with a 103.5+ fever, so she and I missed Chad's family's gathering on Saturday. Here's Emma on Saturday morning holding the thermometer. Poor baby!

Here's Chad's family visiting Nana for Christmas on that Saturday: Alan, his brother John, Susan, Nana, Chad, his brother and Sherry - and of course, Olivia and Drew being silly in the front.

We celebrated Christmas with Chad's parents and opened presents on Sunday morning, December 19th. Luckily Emma woke up feeling better and we got there that morning to see everyone, open presents and hang out for the day. Drew took his race track to his Granddad, "open it up!"

Here's Emma relaxing with her Grandmom.

And here's our little Santa Baby!

Here's Emma and I opening her presents.

We flew to Indiana on Monday, December 20th. We got there in time for Drew to have some lunch and then take a nap. Then my brother and sister and their families came over. It was our cookie decorating night (we do it every year!). Here's Drew really concentrating on his cookie. As soon as he finished this cookie he ate it! (my mom made special sugar cookies that he can have.)

And here's Parker, Drew and Will...this picture must have been really early in the cookie decorating activity, b/c the table looks too clean!

This is more like it! That is a pile of red sprinkles...from one cookie! They all had sprinkles all over!

We celebrated Christmas with my parents on Tuesday morning. Emma looks so excited for Daddy to get her doll out of the box!

Here's Drew opening a present.

And then later that afternoon, we went out and played in the snow. They already had several inches of snow, but we'd gotten a little more on Monday night. Here's Emma and I.

Drew and Emma in the snow!

Emma's first snow experience!

Our three awesome snowmen that Chad, my parents and I made.

Chad let Drew throw snowballs at him!

Emma's helping my parents put the finishing touches on the snowmen.

Emma and my mom.

We had to take the kids to lunch at Zaharakos - they're known for their Christmas decorations. Here's Emma with my dad.

We opened presents with my brother and sister on Wednesday night. Here's Parker "helping" Drew open a present from them. I think he ended up telling him what it was before it was open - oops!

We all got together at my sisters' house on Thursday...my parents were completely surprised that the gathering was for them! We celebrated their 40th anniversary! Here they are opening their present - a frame with a bunch of pictures of their 6 grandkids.

Then we all flew back home on Friday morning, Christmas Eve. It was an uneventful flight and the kids were very good. Emma was so calm and good - I think I even dozed off a couple times with her just hanging out in my lap! We got a few groceries and drove around looking at Christmas lights. Then we got back home, played a little with the new toys, read The Night Before Christmas with the kids, and then put them to bed. Before we knew it, it was Christmas morning and our alarm clock (Emma) woke us up around 6:30am!

Emma learned how to pull up on Christmas Eve, so she had to stand to open her presents Christmas morning.

Busy busy on Christmas morning!

Here's Emma and Drew opening presents at our house on Christmas morning.

Emma stood up after her nap on Christmas day! Little stinker!

Drew and Emma on Christmas day.

Chad's parents came over for a lasagna dinner on Christmas. Here they are with Emma and Drew.

On Christmas evening it started snowing - it was the first white Christmas in this area since 1947! And by the next morning we had about 4 inches! We had fun playing in it! Here's Chad and Drew posing with Mr. Snowman.

Snow angels...sort of.

Here's Drew and Emma from sometime a couple weeks ago. Emma looks like a little elf in this picture the way the hat is pushing her ears down!

And here's Emma wearing BabyLegs - they're leg warmers for babies and, apparently, are quite trendy! A neighbor friend gave them to me! haha

Here's Emma today pulling up and playing. She crawls fast and pulls up on everything now!

Emma crawls and she has a tooth!

2010-12-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

Emma has been on a roll lately! She is crawling for real now - and gets all over the house!! We finally pulled out the playyard so we can control her (or as Drew calls it, the cage). However, Drew has been the one playing in the playyard so far! I guess as long as his toys are out of reach, that works just the same. Here's a video of Emma crawling.

And Drew and I were cracking up at the silly faces Emma was making while I was feeding her. She really wanted her bites to come faster and she was straining to reach for them. Here's the video.

And some more big news for Emma... she has a tooth coming in!! One of her bottom teeth has broken through the gums. So, the mystery is solved. Emma had some rough days of fussing, fighting naps, and wanting to be held and now we know why!

Emma clapping and Christmas events

2010-12-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

Last week, Emma started clapping when Drew and I clapped! She hasn't done it much since - I think she's concentrating more on crawling. She can now crawl 3-4 steps on hands and knees before she drops down to her belly to army crawl. Here's a video of her clapping.

On Friday night we went to the Christmas in Davidson event. We had never been, but I'd heard a lot about it. Well, apparently everybody else did too...it was SO CROWDED! And with a stroller and a 2 yr old, that makes it hard to move through a crowd and see all the stuff. Drew got to meet Curious George (and gave him a high five), watch the horses pull carriages, listen to some live music in one of the shops, listen to carolers on the street, and see some cool decorations and even a neat toy train in a window. But mostly, we squeezed through the crowded street, turned around, and squeezed our way back.

Then on Saturday we went to the parade in Davidson and Cornelius. It is a much better parade than the Charlotte Thanksgiving parade! However, we had a surprise that we were not expecting at all while we were there...within 5 minutes of claiming our spot and setting our chairs up...SNOW! ...and ice, and sleet... But the snow was really cool! It continued to sleet and snow for most of the parade.

Drew tried to eat it.

And a video of us all trying to stay warm and dry.

We were all pretty much bundled up, but I don't have mittens for Emma. So, I let my hands freeze and I put my gloves on her.

These horses were amazing...and HUGE!

Both kids were good sports about the sudden drop in temps (low 30s) and the wet weather. We kept asking Drew if he wanted to go and he said he wanted to stay there "all weekend!" And Emma was happy in her little tent that we made her. About halfway through the parade I felt guilty that she might be cold, so I picked her up and wrapped her in our quilt...and she fell asleep! So heavy!! haha

And Emma's pretty bow - it's attached to her few long hairs!

Santa Picture

2010-11-29T16:23:00.000-08:00

Here's the kids and Santa. We're not sure how to make it bigger - but it's still pretty cute! They're making serious faces, but there were no tears!