Week 20, Big News All Around!

Okay, so I'm REALLY late with this post, but better late than never I suppose!  It was a week of very exciting news.  I hate that I probably can't remember the more minor details of the week (ie--Tommy and Ethan stories), but that's what I get for waiting!  That said, I do remember that all of us were sick the majority of the week.  Davey and Tommy had strep throat, Ethan had an ear infection, and I just had some kind of virus.  So, that might also account for the lack of wonderful "funnies" from the week :) 

Luckily, it ended up being a very memorable week for other reasons.  The first huge news arrived on Thursday, in the form of Steven Hancock.  If you'll recall from a previous post, he's a good friend of mine from high school, but as of Thursday night, he is now the happy fiance of my sister-in-law, Becky!  Here are a couple of pictures of the newly intended couple:

The happy couple!

Becky's new black pearl engagement ring :)

We got some more very exciting news on that same night (from another Becky too!)--our good friends Becky and Lee Farlow are expecting their second child!!  Becky was actually 18 weeks when this was taken, so I'm thinking they should be finding out any day now what they're having!  Can't wait to find out!  Here's an adorable little picture of their first, Natalie, proudly "announcing" it to everyone:

Natalie proclaiming her new title! 

Friday morning was an adventure!  We went back to the gym for the morning, and then after my workout, we headed to Jordan Lake to meet up with Eleanor and her son, Caleb.  It started out as a beautiful day in the morning, but by the time we arrived to Jordan Lake, it was REALLY windy and decently chilly.  But, we decided to let the kids try to play in the sand and water some anyway.  Caleb and Ethan were 2 peas in a pod--sitting at the water's edge, happily splashing themselves with as much water as they could conjure up!  Tommy wasn't as exuberant as the others, but I was really proud of him for getting his feet wet, and not having a huge problem with the sand (which he used to absolutely hate!).  I did feel terrible though, because I didn't think to bring a change of clothes for them (I was expecting HOT)!  So, after much hustling around to gather up all of our belongings and literally rounding up the boys from the playground, I finally got them back into their car seats!  Although they were well behaved, I think the visual of 2 very mobile toddlers going in different directions was a bit of a revelation for Eleanor!  I think she said something like, "Okay, now I see why you prefer for them to play in an enclosed space!"  Here's an adorable picture of 1 year old Caleb (birthday was on the 15th!):

Caleb sitting in the sand at Jordan Lake

On Friday night, I took the boys out of the house so Davey could rest.  We met up with Leslie and her 3 girls at Michaelangelo's Pizza in Holly Springs.  The boys did pretty good there--much better than our last try at eating out with them, although Ethan had to be "restrained" in a high chair since he wouldn't sit still in the booth!  The highlight of the evening, at least for Tommy, was "The Clawwwww" toy machine that was in the back hallway of the pizza place.  He thought he was at "Pizza Planet" from Toy Story anyway, so the added credibility of "The Claw" being there was so exciting for him!  He sat perfectly still after I told him we would play the game one time after dinner :)

'The Claw'--shocker here--we didn't win!

 On Saturday, Steven and Becky came over for lunch (but, mainly to see the boys!).  The boys were happy to give Steven their stamp of approval as they showed off for him the whole time :)  Then, on Saturday night, it was back to my parent's house for another Saturday night family dinner--it seems we are making this a tradition of sorts this summer haha (I think it's been like 6 weeks in a row or something crazy like that?!).  We're always happy to eat yummy free food and have help with the boys! 

On Sunday, we FINALLY felt decent enough and had the time to load up those amazing shelves in our garage that Keith Griffin built for us.  I could not be more thrilled with the outcome--what a HUGE difference!!  First of all, now I'm not scared to walk into the garage, which is always a plus :)  Secondly, everything has its own place finally!  Finally, this opens the door to further organization--woohoo!!

Full garage shelves and an empty garage floor--yes!

The week ended with more awesome news.  A good friend of Laura's, who became a new friend of mine at Laura's birthday party last year, gave birth to their first child on Sunday evening, Caroline Caldwell White!

Ready to leave the hospital with fanfare!

Jayme and Caroline <3

Week 19, Snot, Sunshine, and Silly Faces!

Week 19 didn't start out on the right note.  After making it out fairly unscathed from bringing the boys back to the gym with me for a couple of weeks, we finally got hit with the sickness bug.  On Tuesday morning, Tommy was diagnosed with strep throat and on Thursday Ethan was diagnosed with an ear infection.  So, the first part of the week was filled with not-so-happy boys and a decent amount of snot, mainly from Ethan (that boy's nose is like a spigot!).  Because they weren't feeling well, we had to keep them kind of quarantined at home on Monday and Tuesday.  By late Wednesday morning though, Tommy had been on his antibiotic for 24 hours, so he and Ethan headed over to Goggi's house for one final play-date with Kathryn and Lily before Kathryn heads to UNCW next week (CAACAAWWW--Go Seahawks!!).  They seemed to have a really fun time playing in the new pool that Gramps set up for them--Tommy was the conductor of whose turn it was, while Ethan loved getting splashed and slid into!  Check out the videos below :)

After that fun-filled morning, Davey and I met over at Goggi and Gramps' house for a nice family meal since Bill's brother, Jamie, flew in from Montana for Mother's Day.  It was really nice to see him, and the boys were allowed to stay up extra late to hang out with everyone!  I also had my first taste of rhubarb in a strawberry rhubarb pie that Grandmother made, and I really liked it--maybe I'll tackle making some myself later in the summer!

Speaking of making things--nice segue--I had to make sure the men in my life were going to be well-fed while me, Laura, and my Mom went to visit my Grandma for the weekend!  We left on Thursday after Laura and Mom got off of work, and we stayed until this morning--woohoo!!  But, before all the fun began, I wanted to make a little "thank-you" meal for Davey, Nolan, and my Dad for letting us go!  Soooo, I made seriously a boatload of pork tenderloin, edamame fried rice, and fresh sauteed apples for them to eat while we were gone!

4 small pork tenderloins resting after being seared and finished in the oven!

               

The sliced pork tenderloins drizzled with pan sauce :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edamame Fried Rice

Yummy sauteed fresh apples :)

The purpose of our trip was two-fold.  First of all, my Grandma was having a minor but slightly invasive procedure done on Friday morning to determine if she would need a stent or some other more major surgery later in the summer.  She had an angiogram (I think?!), and miraculously was told that no further surgery was needed at this time!!  A previous, less thorough test had indicated that it was very likely that she would require a more invasive/serious surgery, so praise the Lord that she doesn't for now!!   The second reason was for all of us girls to celebrate Mother's Day weekend together.  We always enjoy every second we get to spend with Grandma Jan!!  Laura and I were able to go to the beach for portions of the day on Friday and Saturday, BUT we were both "blondes" this weekend and left our memory cards at home!  We both had our cameras but they were pretty stinkin' useless to us without those cards!  So, sadly no pictures of the wonderful views from the beach and from the Oceanic restaurant, sitting on the pier :(

While we were in Burgaw, the guys had some fun of their own!  Davey, Nolan, my Dad, and the boys decided to get together on Saturday night for some burgers on the grill, french fries, and baseball!  Apparently a good time was had by all, and Tommy in particular decided it was time for him to hang with the big boys.  I got a call around 8 or so on Saturday night from a very excited Daddy saying that Tommy took himself to the potty and pooped in it without any prompting or drama!  So, maybe he's finally starting to get the pooping in the potty thing!

THANKFULLY, my Mom did bring her very nice camera (her Christmas present from all of us last year), so we got some pictures at Grandma's house but we were too scared that we might get sand in it at the beach.  The four of us gals really got silly by the end of the weekend, and Grandma was probably the silliest of all!  She was totally out of it on Friday, but by Saturday afternoon, she was definitely feeling like her old self!  Laura and I both have kind of "patented" funny faces that we make, which are affectionately known as "Angler Face" (Laura) and "Turtle Face" (Emily).  You've got to be pretty close to us to have seen either however, as they aren't the most beautiful faces on the planet!  That said, Grandma and Mom decided to give them their best shot as we goofed around in the yard :)

Mom, Me, and Grandma

Laura and Grandma Jan

Me and Mom--time for a knuckle sandwich!

Me laughing at Grandma Jan's initial attempt at "turtle face"!

Grandma's best turtle face!

Me and Laura in our nautical-inspired outfits :)

When we got home around 11am this morning, we went straight over to my parents house for a Mother's Day lunch in honor of me and my Mom :)  Dad and Nolan took care of all of the food--barbecued chicken on the grill, chicken flavored rice, brown sugar baked beans, and 2 types of muffins!  I had a wonderful Mother's Day celebrating with my family (and taking a 3 hour nap after lunch!!).  After the boys woke up from their naps, we headed on home.  I had a wonderful present waiting for me from Keith Griffin--built in garage shelves--woooohooo!!  I can't wait to start organizing!

SO MUCH STORAGE SPACE--THANK YOU SO MUCH KEITH!!

I had a wonderful weekend, but I sure do love being home with my little family.  I know this is massively cheesy, but I truly feel like everyday is Mother's Day for me.  Davey treats me like a queen, and my boys bring me joy every day.  I am so very very blessed. Take a look at Tommy wearing my beach hat--a.k.a. his "Buddy cowboy hat"!

Tommy pretending to be Woody from Toy Story by wearing my beach hat!

Week 18, Boys will be boys!

Okay, so I'm a little late with this week's post (I'm sure you've all been hanging on the edge of your seats), but here it comes!  Week 18 was kind of a hoot--well, to me and Davey anyway :)  The week started off with Tommy running towards Davey, presumably to hug him as he came home from work, and then right at the last moment instead of stretching out his arms to embrace his Daddy, he instead held out his fist right at shoulder level.  Now, the shoulder level of a 3 year old is roughly waist level to an adult.  So, Davey's welcome home present on Monday was a decently hard punch in the family jewels that immediately took him down for the count.  Ethan, not wanting to miss out on any of the fun, proceeded to jump right on Davey's stomach as he was rolled on to his back in discomfort.  Thankfully Daddy is a great sport!!

On Tuesday, our day started out like it normally does.  We went to speech where Tommy did a fantastic job "reading" several small books with 3-4 word combinations that are unfamiliar.  Then we headed to the gym and the boys played while I worked out.  I was feeling a bit more tired than normal afterwards, and I had a lot to get done around the house, so we decided to stop off at Starbucks for a "Mommy's drink" as Tommy says.  They always give Tommy a sticker, which he usually places on the chest buckle of his car seat.  Well, we get home, and I hear Tommy in the back saying, "Stuck, stuck"--which I naturally thought referred to him being stuck in his car seat.  Not so.  I get over to his side of the car, open the door, and find the giant Starbucks sticker stuck right on top of his head.  It was REALLY stuck--so stuck that I had to cut it out of his hair.  Incidentally, I think I may have discovered a new OT technique for haircuts!  He actually stood still and let me cut it out of his hair, probably because when he initially tried to fight it, his poor hair was really getting pulled in the sticker!  I wanted to take a picture soooooo badly of it sitting on the top of his head, but he was so upset about it, that I couldn't bring myself to do it.  That said, I didn't feel bad at all about snapping a couple of pictures afterwards!

 Wednesday brought a couple of surprises.  I actually lost 2 pounds, BUT i was having one of those days where you can tell you're lighter than usual for some reason, soooooo I definitely don't expect for that to stay this week.  That was the good surprise.  The not-so-good surprise was waiting for me in Tommy's underpants after nap on Wednesday.  So, we plop it on in to the potty, and Tommy says, "Nice work Tommy, nice work" in a genuinely pleased with himself manner!  BOYS!

On Thursday it was back to the gym, where I was informed that Ethan tried to escape from the daycare and nearly succeeded, as he just walked out with a group of a few other families and their kids until all of the Moms thankfully realized there was an extra kid tagging along before they got to the parking lot!  I can't believe the staff actually admitted that to me to be honest!  Anyway, after the workout, we ran home, grabbed a picnic lunch and headed over to Hit and Run to meet Granddad and play some baseball! 

Our little champ from the back!

Yayyy!!  I love baseball!

Does this helmet make my head look fat?!

Okay Mom, I'm tired now--game over!

On Thursday night, I went out to get some flowers for our yard and to run a few errands.  While I was out, I got a phone call from a very excited Daddy (which I always love!).  He couldn't wait to tell me that Ethan was very clearly calling him "Daddy" and asking "Where Maaaa-maaaa?".  He also said Ethan was saying "kiss" and blowing him kisses, and then at the end of the night actually rubbed his eyes and said, "sleepy"!!  It's like everything just started clicking with him in terms of speech lately.  He also now says "please" and "thank you" regularly like his big brother!  However, while Tommy has been a good example in that way, I'm not sure it's the best manners to run up to Ethan and say "Sorry Ethan!!" as you're in the act of intentionally pushing him down--a little problem we've been dealing with this week with big brother!

On Friday morning, the boys were in for another treat after the gym.  Granddad came over to our house to help us plant the new flowers I had bought the night before.  We filled up a large plastic storage box with water and just let the boys have at it with a few beach toys.  Watching them play out there was HILARIOUS!  I am so bummed that the camera ran out of batteries, because I didn't get a chance to take any pictures :(   Tommy would carefully take the literally 2 inch watering can that came inside his "beach toy bucket" and fill it up with water from the container, then slowly and methodically carry it over to the roses, trying his best not to spill one drop until he could "water the plants like Granddad"!  Meanwhile, Big Red is nearly inside the water bucket and is splashing as hard as he can and trying to get as wet as possible!  Again, the differences in my 2 munchkins!!  Here are a few pictures of the completed landscaping that I took the next day:

The boys were SOAKED when we finished, and we came in and changed clothes.  Tommy didn't eat lunch, which I thought was odd, but since Davey and Nolan both don't eat really when they get hot, I didn't think too much of it....until dinner....when Tommy ate some fish sticks and immediately projectile vomited them!  He was SO ADORABLE, which is a phrase I never thought I would use describing throw-up!  He just looked down after he had thrown up and very sweetly said, "Excuse me".  C'mon--tell me that is not so stinkin' cute?!  So, it seems like we made it a full 2 weeks back at the gym before the sickness bug hit us--sigh, oh well.

Saturday morning was more of the same unfortunately for Tommy.  We had planned on cleaning out the garage all day, because our good friend Keith Griffin has so generously offered to build us shelves in there next weekend.  Grandma was planning on watching the boys for us again, but we decided we better just keep an eye on them instead.  Since the boys weren't feeling up to snuff, they were way more laid back than usual, and we essentially had a 'movie morning' and all snuggled on the couch together the whole time--it was peaceful and sweet :)  That evening, we had a wonderful and relaxing Cinco de Mayo date at home together.  We rented Hugo and ate movie candy and nachos while we watched it!

On Sunday, we missed church so as not to expose anyone else to whatever Tommy might have.  Davey kind of handled the boys while I got to work in the garage.  After naps, Goggi helped us out by watching the boys for a couple of ours before their Small Group started so we could finish things up in there, which we actually did (for now, haha)!  After a quick, fun impromptu dinner with the Griffins, it was time to head home to try to stay awake with Davey while he worked on the website.  Laura came over for a couple of hours, and we started the movie "Moneyball", which was really good!  It was a very fun ending to another fun and busy week!