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Remember that movie, Short Circuit?  The robot goes around saying "Five is Alive, Five is Alive".  That’s been my favorite "annoying" saying for the weekend.  Caleb is officially FIVE.  I can’t believe it.  Five seems so big, and I still feel like he is three.  But it was so fun to celebrate him this weekend.  Derek and I are especially proud of the shark cake that we whipped up late Friday night.  A shark party with six 4 and 5 year-old’s is just plain FUN.  Water baseball, pizza, cake and ice cream…Caleb said to me, "I didn’t know life could be so fun."  And that says it all. 🙂

My mom came to help with Samuel, order pizza and provide background support…Thanks Mom, and Steve, Kay and Mark too!  My friend Shelley offered to stay with her son Matthew and take some pictures.  That is the most wonderful thing to say to a mother who’s hosting a party!  One, because she’s an amazing photographer, and two, because it gave me the chance to just enjoy Caleb and the party. Thanks Shelley!

Now I’m off to do some serious cleaning!

That’s how long we’ve been married today.  9 Great Years!

And tonight we get to go out for dinner and a movie (thanks Mom!).

But NEXT year, I get diamond earrings and a trip to Hawaii (right, hunny?)!!

It seems that’s all we do with Samuel lately.  But, of course, he’s worth the worry.  He’s had a cough for several weeks that has gotten worse with time.  No other symptoms, just this cough that is worse at night and makes him sound like a purring cat at times.  Saw the doctor on Monday and she was convinced it was pertussis (whooping cough).  And after some reading, I was convinced too…he showed all the signs.  But the test for it came back negative.  That’s good.  But now what.  We’ll just deal with the cough.  Some nights he cries thru it because I don’t think he can catch his breathe.  On Tuesday night, his lips and tongue turned blue during a coughing fit, and we called the doctor. **Sigh**  par for the course with this little guy.  But he’s still as smiley and content as ever…that’s the good news.  And he’s trying to sit up on his own and very proud of himself.  He’s also sticking his tongue out a lot and starting to imitate us.  I love this baby!

Some of my favorite things from our trip:

1.  Samuel…watching everyone with him was so fun.  On the last night, Olivia was saying goodbye and he just plopped his head on her shoulder…too cute!

2.  Watching my boys enjoy the ocean…Caleb loved the sand, Jacob loved the surf. 

3.  Enjoying my family.  Derek didn’t take his laptop…what a treat!  And we had a good time spending time together.  Derek would wake up early every morning and take one of the boys to the beach.  And I got to take a fun bike ride with Jacob on the beach as well.

4.  Savannah…I loved seeing the old houses and eating at Paula Deen’s restaurant.  I can imagine myself living there a long, long time ago. 🙂

Now that’s some serious southern cooking!

5.  Fourth of July…cooking out, fresh shrimp and swordfish, grilled corn, and fireworks right over our heads on the beach.  It does not get better than that.

6.  The Ocean…fine, soft sand/warm clear water.  I have never enjoyed spending a lot of time in the ocean, until now.  I loved being out in the water.

7.  Family Pictures on the beach.  I’ve always wanted these, and they turned out even better than expected!  I can’t wait to get them.

8.  FAMILY.  I LOVE being a part of this family.  I have two of the coolest guys around for brothers.  I have a sister-in-law that is a gem.  My mom and her husband are the neatest grandparents and so good to us.  And we have so much fun together.  Sure there were a few tense moments :).  But all in all, I just truly enjoyed every minute of our time together…especially the game nights (Catch Phrase and Balderdash), the eating, and the time enjoying the beach and pool. 

take a family of five to the beach, you get this…

But you also get…a pocketful of memories that will last a lifetime.

We had a FABULOUS time on Hilton Head Island.  I’ll be sharing some of my favorite pics and memories this week, in between loads of laundry.

Heading out tomorrow.

So thrilled for time with family, time at the beach and the Fourth of July (my second favorite holiday).

I think we could stay for a month with all of the stuff I’ve packed.

Here are some pics of my new favorite house accessory…my "party fridge"!  My Dad and Christy gave it to us because of their upcoming move.  It’s in my teeny, tiny laundry room, which isn’t fun.  But I LOVE it.  My grandmother (Betty) used to have an "extra" fridge in her laundry room, and it’s where all the GOOD stuff was.  I loved going in there just to look at what she had.  So now I have one, and I was quick to stock it with beverages. Derek said to me last night, as I grabbed a DP…"you’re enjoying this aren’t you!?"  YES, I am. (The Diet Dew is for my neighbor Donna…she keeps Root Beer for me).

This little guy is 1/2 a year this weekend…6 months.  And such a sweet, easy baby.  I just love having him.  He found his bottom lip today and has been sucking on it…like a little old man with no teeth.  🙂  And baby boot camp has been successful…no more swaddling!!  And he only woke up once last night between 11 and 7:30 am).  Yippee!!

Ok…that’s all, folks. 

Happy Fourth!

to build the ark!!

If we keep seeing this lovely image on the forecast, we’re going to have to!  I can now understand how THE flood must have been.  We’ve had pockets of rain all day, every day, with breaks occasionally.  Imagine it raining all day every day with NO breaks.  We’d all be toast (my boys are eating it right now…)!

Amazing…I’ve never seen this much rain in all my life! 

Here’s hoping the beach has no rain next week.  Hilton Head, here we come (as soon as we pack the whole house and do 18 loads of laundry).

 

Samuel is such a delight.  What a blessing he has been to our family. 

He’ll be 6 months this Sunday…6 MONTHS!  I can’t believe how fast the time has gone.

I nurse him 4 times a day.  He gets 2 bottles of formula a day.  AND he is loving baby food…fruits, veggies, oatmeal, etc.  LOVES it.  And is a fast eater.

He is so pleasant…smiling, happy, easy.

But he is STILL not sleeping well at night.  Waking up 2-3 times.  He still likes to be swaddled – tightly.  And he is a big "binky" baby…loves the pacifier.  And he’s still in our room.  So when he wakes up, I inevitably get up, swaddle him again and stick the binky back in.  And he goes back to sleep, usually.  And then late morning between 4 and 6, I usually have to feed him to get him to go back to sleep.  But he eats a TON during the day, so I don’t think he needs me to feed him yet again.

I’m tired.  Really, really tired.  Exhausted, in fact.  I wake up grumpy because I haven’t had enough sleep. 

So this week is "BABY BOOT CAMP".

As hard as that is. 

I’m going to stop swaddling him.  And I’m going to move his crib into the study, down the hall from me at night.  And I’m going to have to let him cry it out…at least for a little while. 

I need him to learn to self-soothe.

But right now it’s naptime and he’s in my room, moaning…trying to sleep, because he’s so tired, but not able to because he’s not wrapped up. 

This might be a rough week… 🙂

Here’s some cute pics of our baby.

Had one of those mornings today…

Kind of felt like THIS book there for a little while.  But I am a grown-up (at least I play one in real life) and I realize that things could have been MUCH worse.  And for that I will always be grateful.

Headed to the Blueberry Patch this morning.  Got up at 6:30, shoved some breakfast down the boys and headed out by 7:30.  It was sprinkling, but I was not daunted.  We would pick blueberries, period.  It is a summertime tradition.

Drove a little over an hour north of here.  Pulled up to the farm with two very excited boys and one happy baby.  Was collecting my things in the van, and the owner came to the window.  "We’re closed", he said apologetically.  "We’re just too wet for pickers today".  WHAT?!  I smiled sweetly at him as I prepared to turn back around and face two devastated, bawling, upset little boys.

It’s ok, guys.  Secretly, fuming.

But I am convinced that there is nothing that a cold Sonic drink can’t fix.  That mixed with Rascal Flatts (the boys’ favorite) blaring thru my speakers.  And we even stopped at a grocery store to get some blueberries. 

So that went well.  We had a good "lemons to lemonade" experience, and I think we came thru it with flying colors.

Then we got home…

And I found these in my garage. (You can thank me later for posting that link).

Now…if you know me well, you know that I freak out about mice.  Those aforementioned creatures are like mice for me.  They give me the weebies. 

So I was getting them out of the garage, when Caleb, my bug-loving-son, decided to PICK ONE UP.  That’s when I lost it.

I jumped up and down like a little girl, and screamed "DROP IT! DROP IT! IT’S DISGUSTING".  I screamed so loud and so high, that my throat is scratchy.

Go ahead…laugh.  I’m sure it’s funny.  But, both boys were crying because of my ridiculous childish behavior.  Not to mention, scary approach.

So just when I thought I was handling life so well and being a good example to my boys…well, let’s just say I blew it.

Is it tomorrow yet?! 🙂

One more thing…

in case that story didn’t make you laugh, maybe this will.  This home was a mile or so away from the blueberry farm.  I LOVE the porch seating.

Are you ready?!

I worked out this morning.

Ran. walked. on. the. treadmill.

**GASP**

I know, I know…this is BIG.

Now let’s see if I can do it tomorrow.

🙂