Soup for the Soul at Thanksgiving

Spending time with family is truly "soup for the soul." Even the moments of craziness (kids crying, not sharing toys, underfoot in the kitchen while you're cooking, into every messy thing possible, etc, etc) were good for the soul. I looked around yesterday after everyone had left and had a couple thoughts: Wow, for the first time in 4 days, my house actually looked clean. And, for the first time in 4 days, it seemed cold and empty (until my kids woke up from their nap - then not as much). But it impressed upon me how much it really means to spend the holidays with family. The house was so full of life and energy - I loved it!
Jackie, Connor, Noah, Ian, Nanny & Pa arrived Tuesday, and departed Saturday in the late morning. And so, the adventure began . . . a few pictures from their visit:

Lots of walks and wagon rides . . .


All the boys . . . Boys, Boys, and more Boys . . .

Cam and Ian (being held by Pa) . . .

the attempted group shot - no one seemed to want to cooperate, except Ian (surprisingly!)

Noah, tell us how you really feel about having your picture taken!

the Bates family, just before Jackie & Connor's dinner out at Fearrington (Matt & I's Christmas present to them!) . . . .

Family times the living room . . . Nanny holding Cam with Ian "helping"

Cam, ready for his walk around the neighborhood . . .

Noah, watching TV

Grey, Ian and Connor

Cam, showing off his fat little legs . . .

To the playground! Ian in the swing (and Grey was in the swing next to him) . . .

Jackie and Grey - same color eyes!! Wow!

Grey standing on the rock in the park . . .

Wagon ride down the street to watch Pa and Noah fly the airplane . . .

Ian, ready to jump ship . . .

Noah loved to play with Grey and Cam (he especially liked to pull Grey's bink out and then give it back) . .

Ian liked Noah's Christmas present from Pa the best!

My boys!

Trying to remember everything that we crammed into those four days is hard!

• Lots of walks to the playground and around the neighborhood, and to see the model homes
• Grey and Ian did a couple wagon rides
• Jackie and Connor did several trail runs
• Noah and Pa flying the airplane
• Lots of play time at the house - scooters, puzzles, legos, train paint set, race car track
• Evening movie time - my fave was the Sherlock Holmes movie! (Eat Love Pray was a real bummer!)
• the Dry Ice experiment - at least an hour of entertainment
• Tons of cooking and Eating - Carly's pork tenderloin that turned out to be something else (mystery meat!), Lasagna, Thanksgiving turkey dinner! pumpkin pie!
• Sally, Shelton & Becca's visit
• Jackie and Carly - Fearrington Spa getaway! with seaweed wraps!
• the Jordan Lake Christmas tree farm on Friday afternoon - where everyone first stopped at the wood shed to get hot coco and hot cider - then onto to shop the trees
• Jackie & Connor -dinner at Fearrington on Friday night (we won't mention their bill!)
• Saturday morning - Noah helped decorate the Christmas tree
• Morning time was always my favorite - coffee and bagels with everyone gathered in the kitchen & living room -cozy!
• and of course, all the cousin time together (very special)

The only thing that made me feel better after everyone left was to start planning our next family adventure . . . trip to Baltimore possibly in January (and perhaps to Little River as well), family beach trip in May or Sept?

Oh, and Cam's 4 month doctor visit went very well (2 shots poor baby!). November 8th - Cam weighed 13.56 lb (17 th percentile) and was 25.25 inches long (55th percentile).

Happy Hallowing

This time, recent pictures! All of these are from the last 2 weeks . . .

Cam now sits up in his bobby chair all by himself!


Is someone trying to reach me? I'm ready to talk!




Walking with his "hippo" walking toy . . . almost 16 months and still not quite walking independently, but getting close . . . (look at the concentration)



Me and my brother . . .

Cam, in his johnny jumping chair . . .

Cam, eating his johnny jump up chair . . .

Grey's first haircut happened Saturday 11/6 . . . a memorable occasion

Daddy cutting the curls . . .

The night of the "hallowing" was not very happy - Grey actually hated his costume and repeatedly tried to rid himself of it . And eveyone who rang the doorbell elicited a screaming tantrum from Grey (he does not like the doorbell).

Grey and mom out for a little trick-or-treating. We actually only made it to about 4-5 houses b/c mom's arm was about to fall off after carrying him around. No walking on Grey's part. And he certainly wasn't interested in taking any candy - he just stared at everyone who tried to offer it to him, like "who are you? and why are you trying to pawn this stuff off on me?" (oh, and if you can't tell, mom is supposed to be a gypsy)

this year, Cam was the Doctor in Training

Get tigger off of me!

We're about to do what? Not sure I'm on board with those plans!

One more picture of the (almost) walking . . .

Cam has his 4 month doctor appt tomorrow, so we'll update again after that!

Celebrating 4 months old with 3 month pics . . .

Cam is 4 months old today, which I find really hard to believe! You blink your eyes and a month is gone. Cam is doing great, loving life and loving his big brother. He loves to watch Grey, who can amuse him for a significant amount of time. Cam is a talker, too - cooing and babbling, excited squeals when he sees Grey doing something funny. But watch out, if he starts crying, Grey is quick to follow suit. (Mommy has to escape to her mental beach house when this happens.) Cam is also a TV fan and will sit on your lap, mesmerized by the TV. Eating about 5-6 times per day, and pooping almost as much. And, best of all, sleeping through the night (since about 10 weeks old.) I really can't complain.

A few pictures from a month ago (end of Sept). Cam is about 3 months old, and Grey is about 14 months.

Grey is obviously not happy about something . . .

Grey, giving his brother some love . . . (which means a "gentle" head butt)

I will post again soon with some 4 month pics of Cam . . . it takes my camera all night long to upload pictures - so I am going to start now!

Our Great Escape . . .

. . . to Ocean Isle Beach. We loved every minute of it! 1 Moore Street, our canal house, was simply perfect - wide sweeping decks overlooking the canal. Lots of porch swings to relax on. Swimming in the canal, boating in the waterway, and all the people around who love our boys! We really didn't want to come home.

Grey's opinion of the beach was, well, somewhat lacking in enthusiasm. He was not a fan of sand on his hands (or feet or eyes, for that matter), nor saltwater in his face. The waves were fun for a little while, until he received one to many splashes in the face. All-in-all, I think the beach will have to grow on him . . . a perfect picture of his "beach" face . . . ('please, I don't want any sand on my hands!')



Mom and Grey, relaxing on the deck swing, enjoying our beautiful view . . .

the house . . .

the steps to the canal . . .

our back deck . . . so nice! many evenings spent out here with a glass of wine (or beer), listening to Jack Johnson . . . the ultimate relaxing way to spend a vacation

view from the top of the stairs, looking down on the living room . . .

our master bedroom . . .

view from the deck off our master bedroom . . .

Brian, Lindy, and Addison joined us for the first weekend . . . our first morning on the beach . . .

Grey and his grandmas, with dad, first time in the ocean . . .

Cam's favorite way to spend his time - in GG's arms!

Grey's first boat ride (this life jacket was a little too big) . . .

Boating with Stephanie and Jim . . .

Aunt Becca and Cam . . .

Grey and Aunt Becca on the swing . . .

Matt and Becca, out for a ride on the jet ski (or wave runner, as James called it) . . .

Our visit to David's (Becca's husband) sister's house . . . these are her two little girls, Margaret and Liza (maybe Grey is not a fan of girls yet) . . .

Our night out to eat with Stephanie and Jim, Becca and David, to Inlet View . . .

Grey, giving his brother a love pat . . .

My good friend, Christina, came to stay with us for a night (Friday night), this is her little girl Anabelle (one week younger than Grey) . . . Grey's face says it all.

In our little swimming pool with the Little family . . .

Last ride on the boat . . . Grey fell asleep on Aunt Becca (the sun is tiring!) . . .

floatie time in the canal . . .

Grey's first attempt at tubing . . .

Beach pics of the family . . .

Cam's first "sand between my toes" feeling . . .

I definitely had a hard time leaving! I really love the beach . . . and it was so nice to spend such a relaxing week with our loved ones. Mom and grandma (GG), along with Sally and Shelton, stayed with us Saturday (8/14/10) to Wednesday. Then Stephanie (our nanny) and Jim joined us for the rest of the week. The boys had an absolute ball! We hope to make this a yearly beach trip . . . that is, of course, until we finally buy our own beach house! :)