Our Little Sleeping Beauty!

I love the way Ella covers her face while sleeping!!!!!!!!! Such a "Little Drama Queen" in the making!!!!!!!

A "Playdate" with Savannah!

Carson and Savannah had a mini playdate yesterday! They enjoyed a picnic of jelly sandwiches, Cheetos, pears, chocolate milk, and chocolate chip cookies! Savannah loved "mothering" Ella! She is going to be a FANTASTIC BIG SISTER soon!!!!!!!

A Visit to Walterboro!

On our way home from Hilton Head, we stopped by to see Bobbie! Bobbie always has the best prizes for Carson and Ella. Carson knows that Bobbie will always have something waiting for him. The sneaky little boy that we have on our hands, went straight into Bobbie's room to "find" his prize. He came out of the room saying he saw a Walmart bag, and he thought he felt something that belonged to him in there! Bobbie bought Carson a Spiderman board book game and bought Ella a set of soft block teethers. Carson and Ella both loved their "goodies"! Mommy and Daddy enjoyed the fruity snacks! :) We met Aunt Donna, Uncle Chris, and Cousin Dawson for dinner before heading home! It was a very short, but nice visit to see Bobbie!

Hilton Head "FIRSTS"!

2007 Hilton Head Firsts!

• The first time we traveled to the beach with two children
• The first time Carson really enjoyed the pool
• The first time Carson jumped into the pool without landing in someone's arms
• The first time Carson climbed a lighthouse to the top
• The first time Mommy spent a majority of the time in the condo with a little girl who didn't like to be hot
• The first time Aunt Liz traveled to the beach with us
• The first time Mommy did NOT worry about getting a suntan
• The first time Lizzie has been obsessed with getting a suntan
• The first time Carson walked around everywhere by himself and didn't need a stroller
• The first time Ella has SLEPT late for three consecutive days
• The first time you could ride a golf cart on the boardwalk to the beach instead of having to walk the entire way
• The first time Mommy made one five minute trip down to the beach
• The first time in a LONG time Mommy has had a delicious breakfast cooked for her everyday- - - THANKS GRAMMY!
• The first time it has taken two cars to carry all of the stuff we would need for four days at the beach
• The first year we didn't go to Wild Wings to eat at Hilton Head
• The first time Carson saw a live shark
• The first time things were "AWESOME" to Car
• The first time my very grateful and excited son slept with a new pair of shoes he got

Mommy's Annual Beach Photo Shoot!

I have made it a yearly tradition to have a "photo shoot" on the beach just before sunset. This year was a bit more challenging with two! But, the MOST challenging part was not Ella or Carson - - - it was DADDY!! He acted like the sand was some sort of atomic bomb or deadly material that would harm his baby girl. He did not like for the sand to touch Ella. I had to be very quick with the pictures! I did capture a few really cute ones of the two together. Carson won the BEST behaved family member AWARD for the photo shoot! He really enjoyed his Hershey Kiss reward!

Fun at the Park!

Carson enjoyed playing at the park at Harbor Town! Mommy really loved the park because it was CLEAN and there weren't too many kids there! :)

Swimming at Charlene's House!

Last Friday Sara, Carson, Ella, and I went swimming and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Charlene's house! She is the "party girl"! Lunch was wonderful! She grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. She had every kind of chip you could ever want. She even had the BEST chocolate oatmeal cookies for dessert! After we enjoyed lunch, it was time to swim. Carson was so excited about swimming in his new Spiderman swimming suit! He was so brave! Then, he got into the pool and fell face first into the water!!! That was all it took!!!!!!! He didn't want to swim anymore!!! This was Ella Roo's first time ever in a swimming pool. She didn't like it at all. Her first "swim" only lasted about three minutes. Brittany was so WONDERFUL to keep Ella inside while Charlene, Sara, Carson, and I played in the pool. Carson only would float around for the rest of the time. We had a WONDERFUL visit together! It is always nice to be able to spend time with your friends and NOT have to talk about or worry about school!

The BIG Reason Behind the Lack of New Posts!

A PICTURE is WORTH a THOUSAND PIECES of JUNK!!!!! :)

-Or-

A THOUSAND PIECES of JUNK is WORTH a PICTURE!!!!!

For months now, we have talked about having a yard sale to clean out our house and attic. Well, I just didn't know what I was getting myself into!!!!!!!!!! I haven't gotten rid of any of Carson's clothes since he was BORN! Yes, that is almost 5 years worth of clothes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have decided (WELL to be completely honest SARA has decided for me) that I do not NEED all of those clothes!!! It was hard, but I only "saved" the really special outfits that had meaning behind them! We also sorted though all of the "baby" toys that we could get rid of which filled up about 5 tubs! It has taken us three days/nights to sort, price, organize, etc. for the sale! I couldn't have done it without Sara's help! She is the one, however, who convinced me to do this! :) Meriel, Sara's friend, has become Carson's new DINOSAUR friend through all of this!! We are about to have one Gigantic yard sale tomorrow!!!! I just hope all of the hard work was worth it!

(Kelly, you should stop by to look at all of the BOY stuff!!)

Our Blue-Eyed Baby!!

Big Brother is the BEST!!!

A Busy and a Little Stressful Week!!!

To begin, I think our little "happy" baby is away at summer camp!!! The last few days around our house have been filled with "screams" from an unhappy baby! Very often throughout the day, Ella will begin crying very loudly for no apparant reason. Well, I am sure there is a reason, but not one I can truly pin point. I go through my entire list of "What ifs..." What if she is hungry? What if she is just tired? What if her tummy hurts? What if she's teething? What if it's her ears? What if she is just a spoiled little girl? What if... Finally, I connected the recent change in behavior to the recent change in her diet- - - the INTRODUCTION to cereal! I decided yesterday NOT to feed it to her again to see if that could possibly be the cause in change of behavior. Don't ask me why I decided to try to help out on the day her daddy was going to have her all day! She had a better day, but when I got home in the afternoon, she had a few episodes! We will see how today goes...

We also found out this week Car has "officially" been diagnosed with having meatal stenosis and is going to have to have surgery next month. I say "officially" because we have known that for a little while, but received an official diagnosis from a urologist on Monday. You know there is a problem when your child has to go to the potty three times within thirty minutes! I am still waiting on a phone call from the doctor for the date of his surgery. It will be very minor. I just worry about him being put to sleep and the recovery!!!

On Wednesday, I had to go to the dentist and have a crown. The procedure took 2 1/2 hours, and for those of you who really know me you know how I feel about dentists!!! I had plenty of "gas", so I was able to remain "GAG FREE" throughout the whole procedure. While he was working on the crown, he found a cavity - - - so that had to be filled too! The greatest part of the whole visit was walking up to the front desk and hearing the receptionist say, "It will be $610.00 today!" Yikes! Just when you thought you had a little money with no summer daycare expenses... After my two and a half hour visit with the dentist, I had my first tutoring session! It was a great experience! I really enjoyed the time I had working one-on-one with one of my former students.

Today should be a pretty "normal" day. (I HOPE!) We are leaving tomorrow for Hilton Head, so I have to run to pick up last minute beach things for my two darlings. I have to begin the "massive" packing for two also. Our entire house will be traveling with us to the beach too. We are also going to go to Charlene's house in the morning for a cookout and swimming! Tomorrow should be an "action packed" day! Hopefully I will have lots of pics to post!

Well, the little "princess" is calling...

Our Perfect Four Month Old Princess!

Today Ella "officially" turned four months old! I can't believe how fast time is flying by with her! I have been very blessed to spend most of this past month with her. She has changed so much. Over the past month she has rolled over, found her feet, tried eating from a spoon, gone on her first weekend trip to Bobbie's house, learned how to grasp objects, overcome the cradle cap dilemma, gone to her first birthday party, and thickened up her thighs just a tad! Ella is such a happy baby! She is full of smiles and coos unless it is close to her feeding time! When she gets sleepy, she will rub her little eyes. She takes little cat naps during the day and continues to sleep well at night. She is almost ready for her crib, but her mommy is NOT! She is a little small baby! I am told at least five times a week how "tiny" she is. Carson continues to be a WONDERFUL Big Brother! He gets so excited with all of her tiny milestones! She will go for her four month well baby doctor visit in about a week. I will post all of the "official" stats then. Ella Roo is our little angel!!!! :)

ON A SIDE NOTE - - - Did you notice her Irish Cassidy Leprechaun ears????? Bless her! At least she will have hair to cover them up!

It's Time for Cereal!!!!

Ella DID NOT enjoy her first experience eating rice cereal with a spoon! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better experience!

WE SURVIVED...

Car makes a cute soldier!

Ian wanted a picture of his daddy on his cake! :) Too sweet!

Ella enjoys a "conversation" with Auburn!

For all of those inquiring minds who were wondering if the Wonder Pets "SAVED THE DAY" and helped us survive our journey to Columbia today, I am glad to say that we made it back home safely! Our trip to Columbia started off pretty smoothly. When we were 10 miles outside of Columbia, we ran into stand still traffic!!!!! Carson had to potty, and Ella was beginning to wake up because the car was stopped. I tried to convince Carson to unbuckle and use the bathroom in a milk carton. He refused, and just kept asking how much longer! Then the whining began. I am not a very nice mommy when he gets into whine mode. Anyway, after about 30 minutes we began moving at a pretty good speed. We got off the exit and Ella begins screaming! Carson was getting frustrated and trying to "make" her take the passy she didn't want. I was just hoping the seven miles we were supposed to be driving to their neighborhood would quickly pass by. We made it, unloaded our "house", and joined the party. Ella of course was hungry, and it was time for me to pump again. I fed her, made more bottles, and finally joined the party. Carson was having a great time with his friend Ian and the new friends he made. Ella was pretty content for about two hours. Then she began SCREAMING again. After trying Baby Orajel and everything else I knew to try I fed her again. I rocked her to sleep, and placed her in Auburn's crib for awhile. As soon as she woke up the SCREAMING began again. I immediately jumped to "she must be hungry again!". I decided to be safe, I would just make an "all formula" bottle! Ella would have NO part of that!!!!!!!!!!! She screamed and refused the bottle. So, I thought maybe it was too cold. So, I heated that up in my much-t0o-slow bottle warmer. Nope, that didn't work either. SCREAMS!!!! SCREAMS!!!! Mommy's blood pressure rising... So, now I took out the last bottle of mommy milk and used the way-t00-slow warmer again to heat that up. In the meantime, I spilled a big glass of Pepsi all over Nicole's counter, spilled milk in the floor, and was about to cry!!!!! Warm mommy milk was the answer! I fed Ella, quickly loaded her up, fought with a little boy who didn't want to leave, and got back on the road to HOME! The ride home was great! Both of my precious children were angels on the way home!

The Petty family are dear friends of ours. Carson used to stay with their son at Ms. Lynn's. Nicole and I found out we were pregnant at the same time! Our due dates were exactly the same. I ended up delivering two days before Nicole! :) I received a call from Nicole several months ago saying that Zane had received a job promotion, and they would be moving to Columbia. They lived in an apartment while their "BIG" beautiful new home was being built. When they finally moved into their home, Zane received his "orders". He would be leaving within a few days to report to New Jersey for training, then off to Iraq. Nicole is such a STRONG person. Zane was serving in Kuwait during Ian's entire first year of life. Now, he has been called to serve again, just after the birth of Auburn. Please pray for this family as they prepare for a year or more of separation! Pray for Zane's safety and for Nicole's strength. Ian is having difficult times, so please pray for him also.

The Wonder Pets Have Arrived...

I insisted that Carson had his picture made with all three Wonder Pets!

He insisted that he had his picture made with...
ONE
AT
A Time!

If you have been following Aunt Lizzie's blog, you will know about Carson's desire to have the new plush Wonder Pets that he saw on a commerical! The "rotten" little boy knew exactly who to call when he saw the commerical and heard his mommy say that they are "too expensive". (That is my new favorite expression about EVERYTHING, and it's still working!) Aunt Lizzie, of course, ordered them for him. He was SO excited and IMPATIENT! He thinks that as soon as you order something it should arrive on his doorstep. I explained that the Wonder Pets had to travel on an airplane, then get on a truck, then another truck... He then asked why they just couldn't travel on their fly boat. His next comment was "I know why. That would be too 'expensive'!" He has that expression down pat! Well today as he was playing outside while his daddy was washing the cars, the PACKAGE arrived! He was so excited! Everything happened SO fast, I couldn't even grab the camera! The box was torn open and all the Wonder Pets had "jumped" out! I love to see Carson so excited! And to know that this had NOTHING to do with BASEBALL... The Wonder Pets have already traveled to dinner tonight. A sleeping arrangement has already been established and changed. At first all three Wonder Pets would be separated at bedtime. I would sleep with one, Carson would sleep with one, and his daddy would sleep with the third one. Poor Ella would just miss out! When it came time for bed, all three Wonder Pets ended up sleeping with Car. Tomorrow our new friends will journey with us to Columbia! You never know, maybe the Wonder Pets will SAVE THE DAY tomorrow when I try to travel with two alone!

Thank you Aunt Lizzie!!!!! You're the BEST!

Our Little Flower Girl!

When Carson Goes to G.G.'s House...

MORE TOYS...LARGE TOYS for our house!!!!

When Mommy Grows Up...

When I grow up I want to be a photographer! I have been modifying some pics tonight. Here is one. This was the END of the photo shoot!!!!! This was her way of saying, "NO MORE SMILES TODAY!!!!!"

Ella's Four Month Photo Shoot!

Today I took Ella to have her fourth month pictures made. I know it is a few days early, but next week is a little crazy for us. G.G. was kind enough to watch Carson while I took Ella today. After the library episode the other day, I wasn't brave enough to attempt pictures by myself with two. Carson didn't want his picture taken. I told him at six months, he didn't have a choice!! There isn't much that you can do with a four month old and a four year old anyway. I am posting just a few! I will post some of the silly ones later!

The "JOYS" of Two!

One of my favorite summer activities has always been taking Carson to "storytime" at the public library. We have made it a "summer tradition"! I couldn't wait to be able to attend two storytimes each week. We would enjoy lap babies first then stay for the preschool storytime. I allotted plenty of time this morning to get ready. I made sure Ella was fed, so she wouldn't be hungry at the library. I neglected to think about trying to take a "sleepy" baby to the library! That is actually worse because at least if she were hungry, I could take care of that rather easily. Getting her to sleep in a public place is a total different story. We arrived right after storytime began. (I just can't make it to anything on time anymore no matter how hard I try!) I got Ella out of her seat and put her on my lap! All was great! Ella was sitting and smiling, and Carson was being a BIG BOY sitting beside his mommy! :) This continued throughout the entire two books and several songs. Lap babies was over, and we still had thirty minutes to wait for Carson's storytime to begin. The crying begins. The walking, pacing, rocking, walking, patting, pacing...began. Nothing was working! Ella was fighting SLEEP! I finally got Ella and Carson outside and tried to swing the hundred pound carseat back and forth. In the meantime, a friend that I used to teach with walked up with her little girl, and I started talking with her. I heard Carson stand off the side say "This is the worse day of my life!" He was so upset that we couldn't stay for his storytime. My friend offered to take him in with her little girl so I could try to get Ella to sleep. Finally, after rocking for about ten minutes Ella fell asleep. We went back in and was able to enjoy Carson's storytime. And for our lunch date with G.G. that was to follow... THAT WAS A COMPLETELY different story!

I don't know if I will attempt this again! Two is definitely harder than one... Kelli told me so!!!! :)

Baseball, Baseball, Baseball!

Okay, so I feel that I am always posting something about baseball. Baseball is Carson's obsession! He wakes up in the morning playing baseball! He suits up in his gloves and begins "pitching" at the door within ten minutes of waking up. He plays periodically throughout the day and waits for Daddy to get home in the evenings to play more! AND every single time we go to Grammy and Papa's house, there has to be a game of baseball!!! Tonight the entire family, excluding me, joined in on the game! Carson had a great time despite his "bone injury" that his "Grammy caused"! You never know we may have a future Atlanta Braves player in our family... HIS DADDY SURE WOULD LOVE THAT!!!!!!!!!

Photo Shoot!

While Grammy, Papa, Lizzie, and Carson played a game of baseball I decided I would "play" photographer! I captured a few cute pics of Ella Roo! She is growing and changing so fast!!! It is hard to believe that in just a few days she will be four months old!