July's Ramdom Ramblings

• Abby was sitting on the couch with an icepack for one of her boo-boo's. (She really didn't need the icepack but, it has princesses on it, and they always help you feel better!) In her most dramatic voice she exclaimed to me "This ALWAYS happens to me!" referring to getting boo-boo's. Its tough being two!!
• Abby has a bad habit of sticking her hair in her mouth or her nose. Whenever I tell her to take her hair out of mouth or her nose she just looks at me and says "Oh, sorry Mommy." I don't even think she realizes she is doing it.
• Lately, when Abby gets in trouble for something and she starts crying she has been saying "Zoe got a boo-boo". I have no idea what this means or where it came from. When she finally figured out that wasn't having any effect on us she is now telling me I scared her when she gets in trouble.
  
• Abby had just gotten out of the tub and she was standing on her stool getting ready to brush her teeth with just her towel on. She started twisting and smiling at herself in the mirror and then said to me, "look at my boobies. What do you think they are for?" I responded with "well, everyone has them." She then looked at me and said "Well, Nolan doesn't!"
• We took Abby for a walk and Abby asked if she could marry me. I told Andrew about it one night at dinner and she was listening (as they always do) and then said "Well, I can marry Mommy and Daddy!" I guess she felt sorry for leaving Andrew out!
  

Sneaky Pete

We had a repeat of last week in Destin, except this time we had Sam and Nolan along for the fun. First we went to the free movie which was Surf's Up. It was very cute, but I think it was still a little too grown up and long for the kiddos. In fact, I think Sam and I enjoyed it more than they did! After the movie we hit up the splash pad so the kids could run around and burn off some energy while they stayed cool. Sam and I weren't so lucky, I can't speak for her, but I was HOT! It wasn't overcast like it was last week and I just wasn't able to stand it for as long. After a while we headed to Panera for lunch and that is where the title of the post comes into play.

The kids had been good during lunch but for some reason they wanted to take their shoes off in the restaurant. This is actually a running theme for Abby and she usually asks first and is pretty good about listening to me when I say no. Anyway, we got through all our lunch and we were sharing a cookie and the kids started acting a bit weird. They were turning away from Sam and I and giggling, I didn't think much of it. But then, Sam noticed that Nolan's shoes were off and he got in a little bit of trouble for not listening. All the while, I was oblivious and until I got up to do something I hadn't noticed Abby's shoes were off too. She was totally letting Nolan take the fall for something they both did wrong! I gave Abby a talking to as well and as we were getting ready to leave the man at the table next to us started to chuckle and said to us "I just have to say, I was very entertained watching you all during your lunch. I was trying to figure out who was in charge." I said to him, "Well, obviously its the two 2 year olds!" And then he said to me, "Yeah, I figured as much. Especially when the little girl turned her head from you as she was taking off her shoes and said under her breath, well Mommy can't see me now." What a sneaky little girl!!!! We all had a good laugh, but I think I am in trouble in the years to come if she is already thinking like that!

A great day in Destin

Last Tuesday Abby and I headed to Destin Commons for the free kids movie they have every week in the summer. Last week was Charlotte's Web. I was a bit surprised when the movie started and it was the real version rather than the cartoon and I was a bit worried Abby wouldn't be all that interested. I was wrong, she sat through the entire movie and seemed to really enjoy it. After the movie we went out to play in the splash pad. It was really hot and she wasn't too into it so we opted to go have some lunch instead. We had a nice girls lunch at Panera and afterward we headed to the ice cream shop for a little treat. The ice cream shop was right across from the splash pad and after our ice cream Abby decided she wanted to play for a bit. She was having a blast. She played in the water and on the playground for a couple of hours and then we finally headed home. We had a great day together just the 2 of us!!

Here are a few shots of Abby playing at the splash pad:

Such a Little Lady

Sitting like a lady, eating a popsicle.

A Wonderful Big Sister in the Making

I can already tell that Abby is going to be a wonderful big sister and here is some proof:

Abby holding Baby Wes' hand so that he could fall asleep more easily in the car.

Here is Abby putting some lotion on my belly

And here she is giving the baby a kiss. She has been telling me for weeks that she loves the baby in my belly. The little bean is lucky to have such a wonderful big sister to look up to!

Abby's Close Call

It was actually VERY SCARY and could have turned out VERY badly. We were playing in the guest room and Abby was looking in the drawers of the dresser which is mostly empty but I guess when she pulled the drawers out, it threw the entire dresser off balance. The whole thing started to topple, complete with the tv on top. I caught it with 3 fingers while sitting on the bed just before it crushed Abby who was sitting right underneath it. I screamed for her to move because I didn't know if I could hold it. She moved and I was able to get the dresser back up with some sort of super human strength that moms seem to pull out of their butt's when their kids are in danger. I don't think I realized how close we came to a disaster till I was laying in bed thinking about it last night. I am just extremely thankful for how things turned out.

Donovan's 1st Birthday Celebrations

We had yet another 1st birthday to celebrate this month. Jake and Jamie's little boy Donovan turned one last week. They invited us and some other folks to Hooters for dinner on the night of his actual birthday and then we went to his party on Saturday. Hooters was a lot of fun, we got a very cute picture of Donovan with all the Hooter's girls and they were doing some kind of cruise promotion so there was dancing and other activities. Nolan and Abby got in on the fun and were following the Hooter's girls all around the restaurant and dancing, it was very cute! The birthday party was also a lot of fun and a big success. Thanks Jake and Jamie for including us in the festivities!!

Now that is a ladies man if I've ever seen one!

Jake, Donovan, and Jamie

Abby dancing around Hooters

Donovan opening his presents

Abby and Nolan in the dog's kennel at the party!

We tried to get a picture of all the kiddos at the party but it was nearly impossible. This is the best we could do.

Abby and Nolan sat nicely together on the couch after the fact, stinkers!

Trip to New York

I was able to take a quick trip up to NY for the weekend to visit my grandparents. It was so nice to see them, although the trip was short. I made the trek without Abby. She stayed here and enjoyed some quality time with Daddy. They stayed just as busy as I did, but she did get sick the day before I came home. That wore on my nerves a bit, I felt very helpless but Andrew took good care of our little girl! I had a good time in New York. I was able to spend some time with my cousins and we went into the city one day. We spent hours walking around taking in the sites. I was pretty proud of myself, I wasn't sore or anything even with all that walking....that is until 2 days later when my back was so sore I was hardly able to walk!! Overall it was a great trip and it was wonderful to see the family! Hopefully it won't be so long in between visits next time!

My sister and grandpa....you are never too old to sit on Pop-pop lap!

My cousin Lyndsay (in the middle) with my cousin Kristen's kids, Avery and Greta. They are too cute!!

We celebrated my Grandpa's 82nd birthday while were in town and here are the girls helping him blow out the candles.

Me and Lyndsay

Waiting for the train to go into the city. From R to L: Aunt Lynda, myself, cousin Lyndsay, Greta and Duke

Me and Greta

Lyndsay, Greta and me trying on the awesome glasses in the city. These are all the rage!

My grandma, Greta, Duke and myself before I left

Adult Night Out

While we had a house full of guests we were able to sneak out on the town one night without the kids, thanks to Peter and Susan who stayed home to babysit. We went out to dinner at Blue Point in the Destin Commons. It was so nice to be able to relax and eat a non-rushed meal among good friends. Believe it or not this was also the first time that we have been out with both Sam and Brian at the same time without the kids! Crazy!! After dinner we stopped at Bit Burger for some German beer and then we headed home and the rest of the crew played some beer pong. It was a great night, something that doesn't happen nearly enough. Thanks again to Peter and Susan for watching all 3 kids so we could all go out, you guys are the best!

John and Becca at dinner

Jason peering out from between his bottles of wine!

Andrew and I at dinner

The gang at BitBurger

The boys with their liters :)

4th of July

I have been a blog slacker for a while, but I do have a good excuse. I had a house full of people over the 4th and I left for a quick trip to New York the day after all the guests left. So, without further ado, here are the pictures from the 4th of July. We had a party complete with beer pong, washers, corn hole, a kiddie pool, and enough food to feed an army! The party was a complete success mostly due to Peter and Susan and all of their help. It wouldn't have turned out nearly as well and the food wouldn't have been nearly as yummy or plentiful without their help, so thanks a million!! Here are some pictures of the festivities.

Tara and Alex

Rob and Dan

Abby and Nolan splashin' around

Abby and Nolan playing a game of washers

Bec, John and baby Wes

Sam, Nolan, Abby, myself and Susan watching the illegal fireworks show put on by Andrew and the neighbor.

Abby and Nolan sharing a kiss during the fireworks.

A full house

We had a full house over the holiday weekend. John, Becca, and Wes were here from Germany (John was at SOS in Alabama the 5 weeks prior), Jason and his lady friend Angela were in from the DC area and Susan and Peter were here from Wisconsin. We had a great time with all of our visitors and kept very busy the whole time they were here. We had a big 4th of July party (more on that later), we headed to the beach, ate lots of yummy food, spend time catching up and even managed an adult night out thanks to Grammy and Grampa babysitting the little ones. Here are a few pics (with more to come in later posts) from our time with friends and family. Being a military family isn't always easy but the people we have met through out our time in the AF are amazing. We have a great time when we are all together (although its not as often as I would like). Thanks guys for making the trek down to the redneck riviera, it was great seeing you all and can't wait for the next mini-reunion!!

Abby and baby Wes snuggling on the couch. (I think we will be calling him baby Wes till he goes to college!)

A friendly game of beer pong. Andrew and Becca were partners, I was the line judge seeing as how I am pregnant and all.

The opposing team: Angela and Becca

A group shot (minus Andrew). We were playing pass the pigs....I was score keeper. There seemed to be a lot of activities going on this weekend in which I couldn't fully participate, but I had fun anyhow!

Angela and Jason

Grammy and Grampa playing in the sand with Abby in Destin

Baby Wes soaking up some rays.

Crab Island

We took our first boat trip of the summer out to Crab Island a few weekends ago. It seemed like a perfect opportunity because John, Becca and Wes were in town and the weather was perfect. Both the kiddos did really well on the boat and Abby wanted to be in the water the whole time we were anchored out at Crab Island. She has turned into quite the little fish these days! I spent a little time in the water but then I got stung by a jelly fish. It didn't hurt as bad as I would have thought (it was probably a small one), but it was enough to get me out of the water. The boys stayed in with the kids and went for a walk to see the huge bouncy slide they have. It was too steep for Abby to go down and she was very disappointed. While the boys had the kids, I was hanging out on the boat with Becca and Wes and it was a bit rocky. My pregnant stomach couldn't handle it any longer and I began to throw up off the side of the boat. The boys came back just in time and we headed back to shore. Even with the couple of mishaps, we had a great day and I can't wait to go back out!!

Abby and Daddy at Crab Island

Wes on the boat

The daddy's and the kids

Abby helping Daddy drive the boat back to shore