11 Months Old

On July 17, little Weston turned 11 months old. And the older he gets, the harder it gets to capture his monthly sticker pics. This time, it took both Ben and I (along with about 45 outtakes) to actually get one with him looking in our direction while remaining on our backdrop. His exasperated expression says it all. And forget actually keeping the number on his belly...I'll have to sweetly ask BFF Alisha if she can photoshop the number onto him this month :)
This month, Weston stopped eating baby food, preferring to eat whatever the rest of our family is eating. He has enjoyed eggs, PB&J and shrimp (yes, we have managed to try every food on the "do not feed until baby is 1" list). Westie still nurses as much as I'll let him but weaning is underway {kinda}.
He will sip milk & juice out of a sippy with assistance, but definitely not in adequate amounts.




Preschool starts next Wednesday and we are all so excited! It will definitely be a difficult transition for W since I can count on two hands the number of times he has been away from me since he was born. Separation anxiety will definitely be something his teachers will be dealing with that morning for sure. I wonder if they will up-charge me for a fussy baby? Add to that: the 1K class requires the kiddos to be drinking from sippies (no bottles) and self-feeding finger foods. No spoonable items yet. Weston will be just a week over 1 year old when school starts so he is the youngest in the class by a long shot. It will certainly be a transition from getting to nurse on demand to self-feeding cold cows milk from a fluorescent cup. We'll see how that goes. And not to mention, good luck getting 6 1-year-olds to lay down on that nap mat and actually fall asleep. Maybe that will guarantee a good, long nap once we get home that day!




Verbally, Weston has seemed much more advanced that Jackson was at this age. He clearly calls for "Mama" or more like "MAMA...MAMA....MA..MAMA" when he wants me and he calls Jacksons "Bubba" for Brother, which we just love. Other words he uses consistently are "more", "dog", "DaDa", "cat", "cracker", "bagel", "snack". He repeats words pretty well and also signs "more", "all done", "milk" and "water".




And have I mentioned that Weston is in to EVERYTHING?????












Some accomplishments this month:
1. Found dog bowls and loves to sample the dog food and
drink from the water bowl. GROSS!
2. Pulls up and cruises on everything.
3. Crawls like a pro and despite having a crab-style crawl, he is super fast.
4. Likes to sneak of the stairs where we aren't looking...
5. Loves bath time and gets pretty spastic when we start the water and start stripping him down.
6. Moved him forward facing in the carseat and he is much more content being about to see where we are going.
And as a Mommy of a nearly-1-year-old, I am struggling! This little angel's first year has absolutely flown by and as hard and as long as the days may seem, the seasons and years fly by. I am so proud of the little man that Weston is becoming but it is bittersweet because my baby boy is growing up.

Camp Cousin

Last week, our 9-year-old niece Cora came to Greenville for the week. We had been looking forward to her visit since we first mentioned it last Thanksgiving and we definitely had a fun week packed full of outings.

Monday, we started out with a trip to Costco, only to realize that my wallet (aka money, debit card & Costco card) was in my "other purse". Go figure. So we ran home and got back to Costco just in time for a jumbo slice of pizza for lunch. The cart sure it heavy with a third passenger.




I had asked Cora if she would like me to teach her to sew and the night before, and she had spent hours pouring over my fabrics, selecting the ones she wanted to use to make a pillow. I was expecting to create a basic square pillow, with coordinating fabrics on the front and back. Cora, however, wanted to sew a complicated patchwork design and was eager to create the design I sketched out.



However, after struggling with precision cutting using my rotary cutter, Cora realize my reluctance at such a complicated pattern and agreed to a much simpler, 4-square layout. After a day full of sewing while Jackson was in school on Tuesday, Cora was the proud new owner of 18" square pillow.






She had completely cut and sewn the entire pillow herself, with the exception of the minky plush backing. She was so proud of her pillow!
On Wednesday, we went to Discovery Island waterpark with a few friends and everyone had fun on the slides and pools.



Thursday morning, we headed to the zoo and Cora was so excited to see real-live giraffes, elephants & lions, followed by lunch at Runway Cafe.





We headed to Wrightsville Beach on Thursday evening to return Cora to her parents and to spend the weekend with Ben's extended family.
We enjoyed having a sweet little girl in the house for a week and look forward to Camp Cousin again next year!

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Mountains & Tweetsie

Following a fun day at Kool Park last week, we headed up to Blowing Rock to Poppy & Gigi's "Tweetsie House" to enjoy a couple days in the mountains. Despite over 50 pictures taken, we were unable to get one where all 3 kids were looking at the camera and/or not screaming.



On Tuesday, we spent the afternoon hiking & biking around Julian Price Park. We ended the outing with wading in the stream and despite the fairly hot temps, the water was still frigid. Unfazed, both Jackson & Parker ended up completely wet by the end of it.


Wednesday morning, we hit up Tweetsie first thing. We were literally the first people in line for tickets, which is a first for us since we are habitually 15 minutes late for everything!




For those unfamiliar with the NC Mountains, Tweetsie is a train-themed amusement park in Blowing Rock, NC and features Tweetsie the train, which happens to be the last operating coal-burning train in NC (I think I heard that fact...) Jackson has been obsessed with Tweetsie ever since Poppy & Gigi took him last fall so he was beyond excited to go back.


Armed with a fully-loaded cap gun and new holster, Jackson was quick to draw his gun any chance he got. Weston preferred the much quieter Indian headdress.






After a chairlift ride to the top of the mountain, we rode several rides. The boys loved the excitement!


We also visited the petting zoo. Upon entering the gated area, we were swarmed with baby goats. Jackson looked up at me with the expression of crisis and told me that "Oh no Mommy, the baby goats got lose!!" Meanwhile, Poppy was letting Weston snack on the cake cone that was used to store the goat food.


The highlight of the day was without a doubt the ride on Tweetsie. The trains pulls 3 large, open-air passenger cars and makes a 3 mile loop around the mountain. Each car is outfitted with a real-life cowboy and every mile or so, Tweetsie stops for a little performance as the cowboys defend the train from the wild Indians, etc. At one point, the Indians sneak up and run through each car on the train, making the kids scream. The boys loved shooting their guns out the window, helping the cowboys get the bad guys. And Jackson is still toting around the souvenir bullet from the cowboys gun.


We had an awesome time and both boys slept for 2 of the 3 hour drive back to Greenville. Thats hard to beat!

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Pudding Paints

Pudding Paints

Step 1: Put several spoonfuls of vanilla pudding in each cup of a muffin tin. Add food coloring to each.


Step 2: Strip baby down to his diaper and put in high chair. Cover surrounding surfaces.

Step 3: Let baby play, paint, taste, feel and mush the paints. So much fun although a bit messy.



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Kool Park

On Sunday, we headed to Poppy & GiGi's house for more grandparent fun.
Jackson's cousin Parker was there and even though the boys are 3 years apart in age, they love playing and snuggling with each other.

On Monday, after a morning at the park, we headed to Kool Park for some water fun. For those of you unfamiliar with Kool Park (yes, it is really spelled with a "K"), it is somewhat of a Catawba County legacy. Kool Park has been operating for 79 years and is a waterpark of sorts, featuring a rock waterslide, huge pool, multiple diving boards and a diving tower. It is located down a narrow dirt road, surrounded by a barbed wire fence and has a sign at the entrance stating that no re-entry is allowed due to alcohol consumption issues in the parking lot.

Within minutes of our arrival at Kool Park, it starts thunder-storming. After about 15 minutes of heavy thunder and downpouring, the lifeguards finally clear the pool. And no, we weren't in the water...but we were speechless that they were still allowing people to swim and be on the metal diving tower while it was storming. Lawless. As a lifeguard in high school, we prayed for thunder and were quick to clear the pool at even the first hint of a storm. Apparently things have changed, at least at Kool Park. We passed the time by eating snowcones & popcorn.


After 30 minutes of storming, the head lifeguard consulted his iPhone and was apparently reassured that the storm was moving out because they let everyone back in the pool...even though the storm was still raging. It was shocking, but once the thunder died down, we finally joined the crowd & got in the water.


Jackson was pretty much obsessed with the water slide and went down it no less than two dozen times. I even went down a time or two with Weston and he seemed to be indifferent.



After an hour & a half of water fun, we headed home. But I can't wait to go back next time Ben is in Hickory with us!

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Camp Grandparents

Last weekend, Ben had a "boys weekend" at our house in Greenville which meant that the little boys and I had to take off for a few days. This was the perfect opportunity to go spend some time with both sets of my parents in Hickory and try to fit in the countless activities that we never seem to have time to do when we are there. We had an absolute ball and did not slow down at all for the whole 5 days. I swear, these "senior citizens" have more energy than I do!

Friday afternoon, we arrived at Bebe & PopPaw's house raring to go. We were recovering from a post-Pottery-Barn-outlet meltdown (they didn't have the backpack we had been eyeing) and the chocolate chip cookie that helped with the attitude 180 was still evident all over Jackson's face & hands. Who cares? A huge cookie & a dirty face are so worth an hour of not whining.

We started out with a golf cart ride around Rock Barn, followed by rollerskating in the driveway...until the storm hit.
We were super excited about the yummy pork ribs that PopPaw was grilling for dinner as well as the fresh corn and other local veggies. Weston (and his 6 little teeth) also enjoyed it.



Saturday morning, PopPaw & Jackson went fishing down around Rock Barn and although J was spent after about 15 minutes of casting, Bruce finally got a bite and both boys were beside themselves to have caught one so quickly.


After fishing, we headed to the pool. Jackson continues to improve with his unassisted swimming and was diving under to pick up items off the bottom in the shallow end and even taught himself how to sit on the bottom of the pool. He is such an eager learner when it comes to physical challenges and was surprisingly attentive as I was coaching him through breath holding, arm motions and kicking.


After lunch and a weak attempt at napping, we headed up to Hickory Dickory Dock, which is a glorified Chuckee Cheese. Westie enjoyed the foam climbing blocks and Jackson had a blast in the 3-story playground and bumper cars.









Sunday morning after church, we enjoyed lunch at Rock Barn and finally managed to get some cute photos of the boys with Bebe & PopPaw! And Mommy too :)












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Kiawah - Last few days

Whew, what a fun vacation we had.

We spent another full day on the beach on Friday, soaking up the sun and playing in the water. Jackson LOVED to swim in the waves. Ben taught him how to dive under the waves and he surprised us all by doing it so fearlessly. He was definitely rocking the puddle jumper and goggles but did venture out into the big blue sans the gear and did pretty well. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck even though Ben was out there with him.



The pool is a different story. Jackson's been jumping off the diving board (in his puddle jumper) and swimming to the edge. In the shallow end, he will jump off the side of the pool unaided and swim back to the stairs. I've broken out the lifeguarding/swim teacher techniques of the past and I've taught Jackson the breaststroke and to surface, breathe in, and go back under. He picked it up on the first try and we are so proud of him.






Friday night, we went out to dinner for some seafood then stopped by Fresh Aire Village to stroll & shop. There was live music and Jackson had a blast dancing along to many of the songs that were on my wedding "DO NOT PLAY" list.















We had such a wonderful vacation and had so much fun playing and hanging out with family!


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