Beach- Day 2

Well we had another beautiful day at the beach. It has been warm but there is a great breeze so it has not been too hot. The water is perfect- it is cool but not cold. After breakfast and a quick Walmart trip (it is bad when your one year old yells "walmar" when we get into the parking lot) we got ready and headed outside. Josh and I took Wade and Peyton outside and they played so well together. Josh built them a "pool" (we would call it a hole but not them) and they jumped and splashed and swam in it. It is so much easier and safer than chasing those wild ones in the ocean. After playing awhile Wade says "inside" and we knew what that meant... so we headed in for lunch and a nap. Well he sure was tired because he slept 3 hours in his pack-n-play. Josh stayed inside to watch ECU play and I sat outside and read and even took a 30 min nap. It was heavenly!! I don't think I have done that since Mexico in May.

After Wade finally woke up and had a snack we lotioned back up and went back out for a couple of hours. Matt and Kendal were leaving so while they were packing the "bus" (that is what Peyton call their van) we brought some bread out to feed the birds. Wade loves birds so much and was so excited to see all the seagulls. Actually it took a lot of work to get the birds to come near us. Go figure any other time there would be 30 birds around driving us crazy and today we had to chase them and try to get them to eat our bread. The kids had fun feeding them though. After Matt and Kendal headed home we went back out for another hour or so. Wade just loves the beach and has run and played so hard these last two days. He was covered in sand today; it was everywhere. He never wants to sit in my lap and about four times today in climbed on up and covered me with sand as well. Needless to say he went right in the bath when we got in. We went out with Josh's parents for dinner and had a great time. We tried to make it to the outlets since we had babysitters but they were already closed. We will go tomorrow; the outlets are one of my favorite things to do at the beach.  I love all the great deals and Wade needs some school clothes!!!! That just makes me laugh because he is so little but he does need some new fall stuff for MMO. I hate we have to leave tomorrow but we are going to stay all day and head back around supper time. We can't wait to come back in October.

We attempted to take a few family pictures tonight and a couple of Wade. We have one from one year ago standing in the same place. I have to say this year was not as easy... we had a wide open one year old who did not want to stand still for a minute. Here is he posing with his new sunglasses on.

Beach- Day 1

Well we got to the beach last night and Wade did great in the car. He stayed awake for about an hour and then we stopped to eat and after that he slept the rest of the way. Once we got inside he of course wanted to play and stay awake a little bit. He was ready to go at 715am this morning and everyone else was sleeping so I took him out in the stroller for a long walk until the others got up. He just loved looking at the seagulls and the water while we walked. He does not love his stroller but today he just sat so still for an hour. We came back in and Peyton and the boys were up and they played for a bit. We all walked to McDonald's for breakfast and you should have seen the people staring at us. We looked like a parade. We had Wade in his jogging stroller, Peyton in her stroller and the twins in the double stroller. We just smiled and waved.

Well wild man was so excited he kept saying "beach." He has been saying it all week and had no idea what he was saying. We got back to the condo and 30 min later we were all packed up and headed out for the day.... more stares because of all our kids and their "stuff." The babies slept in their stroller and Peyton and Wade had a blast in the water and playing in the sand. He was not scared at all and actually scared us a couple of times. He wanted "daddy" to play all day! I think he is more fun than mommy. We had to head in after about an hour or so because he was getting hungry and tired. He laid right down and slept for a little over 2 hours. Nana and Poppy were here then and he was ready to go. We went back out for a couple of hours and enjoyed watching the kids play. I am tired just thinking about how much running around they did today.

We went across the street to Barefoot for dinner at California Pizza and to let the kids walk around and ride the carousel. Nana and Poppy rode with Peyton and Wade and they were so happy. They both got off the carousel and wanted to go again. Wade looked at it and said "again." We had some tired babies when we got home tonight. I don't know how they made it until 930p but they did. We had such a great time today. Thanks to Nana and Poppy for a great dinner and for the carousel rides!! I took way too many pictures but here are some of my favorites from today. Can't wait for round 2 tomorrow. Here is our attempt for a family photo... ps. I know I look about 4 months pregnant but I promise I am not it is just because of my dress and the way I was leaning into Josh.

17 Months

Wade is 17 months today. Can't believe next month he will be a year and a half! He is changing so much every day and we just could eat him up he is so sweet. Every now and then he will act out but I have to say he is mostly so sweet and sensitive. We need to toughen him up because he just gets his little feelings hurt so easily. The other day at the park a little boy told him "no" and he just burst out into these big crocodile tears and ran for me. He was just pitiful. We are at the beach today and he has just had blast. Here are a couple of pictures of Wade on his 17 mo old birthday

Here is what he is up to:
-weighs 25.5 lbs, over 31.5 inches but not sure exactly how tall he is.
-size 3-4 diapers and 18-24mo clothes (he still wears some 12 months occasionally)
-takes one 2-3 hr nap each day and sleeps 11-12 hours at night
-eats pretty much everything but loves cheese, apples, and grapes the best
-only wants to eat his snack in a "bowl" now. He wants us to give him a bowl instead of putting his snack on his high chair. He yells "bowl" at every meal.
-drinks only milk and water...we tried juice once but he is not a fan and I haven't pushed it since
-talks all the time and is now putting words together like: bye bye daddy, daddy work, more please, big dog, stop sign, green light go etc.
-loves to sing...he does his ABC's and it is the cutest thing, he has the tune down pat but you can only pick out two or three letters- B, D, and P and he hums the rest. "Sings" along in the car with his music
-has gotten way too picky about his music choice and will actually yell or scream and say "no" if he does not want to hear a song
-used to love Hokey Pokey last month now he hates it and wants either the numbers song, abc song or the counting song. His other favorite....thanks to my mom is Miley Cyres "Ho Down Throw Down" He loves the Boom, Boom Clap part and says that until we play it (He calls it Boom Boom Bop.)
-Has a obsession with school buses, stop signs and rocks. He will scream and get so excited when we see them.
-knows the letters A and D in his name that hangs over his changing table
-can count to three
-learned how to catch a ball in August and is doing so well with it
-loves his "pappy" and wants three in his bed at all times
-told me something was hurting for the first time in August...he said "boo boo" and pointed to his mouth one night when he was getting his I teeth in.
- loves to go "out" and would stay outside all day if we let him
-loves the pool, lake and ocean and has no fear
-says "amen" so loud when we say the blessing and prayers (he has been doing this a few months now I just forgot about it)
-walked back to his room last week and said "night night" and pointed to his crib
-still loves to play with balls and blocks the best
-loves any and every dog (he scares me because he just walks up and tries to pet them all)
-loves birds second best to dogs and his daddy- he has become quite the "daddy's boy" these days!

Our sweet boy is getting too big too fast. We love this age and are not quite ready to tackle the terrible two's yet. We just want to keep him sweet and innocent a little longer.

Wade, we are so thankful for you and we want you to know how special you are to us. We are so lucky we get to be your parents and we love you very much!!!!

Meet the Teacher!

This morning Wade had "meet the teacher" day at school. We went for 30 minutes and the kids played while the teachers talked to the parents. It was nice because we got to stay and it made Wade happy. I have to say I was so worried that he would be the only one who cries in his class but... he will not. Some of the younger kids would not leave their parents side to play. This made me feel better, knowing we won't be the only one with tears next week. Wade was happy and wide open running around and playing. Sadly they will see a different child when we leave next week. I am just hoping he will calm down and realize it is fun. His teachers were great and it seems like they are going to have a fun year. Here are Wade's "getting ready to go" pictures. I just love the last one; I think it turned out so cute!

I thought it was so cute....their goal for the year is to have the kids sit down for story time etc. and stay seated and to be able to line up in a line to walk outside or to the gym. I think they will have their work cut out for them. There were 7 kids there today: 4 boys and 3 girls and one child was not able to come. It looked like Wade was the second oldest in his class but I am not sure (he may just be big?) Here are some pictures we took today. I know the first day will be crazy so I figured I would go ahead and take a bunch today while I had Josh with me.

Summer Fun

Well I have to say I do love summer days and playing outside but this family is ready for fall! Josh has a little problem during these hot months of summer.  We will call it... "excessive sweating."  He can be outside 5 min and you look over and sweat is just dripping. (I have no idea how he gets on hot roofs all the time.) He has to take a couple of shirts to work so he can change after being outside. Now I am not bragging or even exaggerating (well possibly a little) but I really don't sweat. Actually I do but it takes a lot. It is so frustrating at the gym because I feel like you really need to have a good sweat to have a good workout. So if I go in and do a 30 min low impact (like walking) forget it. So I have started doing the hour long classes like zumba and combat and then I leave feeling like I got a good workout in. Well back to the point... Wade has inherited Josh's issue "excessive sweating." The problem is he loves to go"out" and will point to the door and just beg. However it has been so hot if we stay out 10 minutes his head is drenched with sweat and his little face is beat red. So Sunday we had a TON of yard work to do and Wade wanted to go out after his nap. Well I knew if we went out to play he would be drenched and would need a bath so we decided to go ahead and fill up the pool and just let him go at it. He had a blast running around and then cooling off in his pool while Josh and I took turns cutting the grass. We also got the sprinkler out... I don't know why we have not done this before but Wade loved his first sprinkler experience. My dad even stopped by on his way back from the lake and played for a bit. Here are a couple pictures of Wade playing.

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday. Excuse the outfit it was right after nap time so we were not dressed yet. This is Wade holding Charlie's dog toy and playing fetch with Charlie. They are so much fun to watch because they actually play together now. Wade will just laugh so hard when Charlie is chasing him trying to get his toy. Here is Wade "hiding" in the hallway or taking a rest break from Charlie.

And here he is.... worlds youngest rapper!!! This picture just cracks my up. Josh loves to teach Wade things while mommy is at work. Most things he teaches him are important things that Wade needs to learn some day. However teaching our one year old to say "yo yo" and to "rap" into the microphone was something Josh thought was important. I am not sure it was on my list of things to work with Wade on but Josh felt like he needed to learn it! I have to say it is pretty funny to listen to him try to rap into the microphone. Boys will be boys ( I just keep telling myself this.)

We have big day tomorrow.... Meet the Teacher day at Wade's new school. We are going shopping today with Ashley for a new outfit. We are also heading to the beach tomorrow. We can't wait. We have not been in a year (yes this is crazy my in laws have a wonderful place a N. Myrtle.) I guess that is the down side to working every other weekend. We are however going to try to go again in early October before it gets too cold. I just know Wade is going to love it. Hopefully the storm will turn and go the other way and we will have nice weather.

What a difference a year makes!

If you would have asked me one year ago if I like Apex my answer would have been... I miss Greenville. I have always loved Apex but we just really thought of Greenville as home after living there almost 10 years. It wasn't so much that I missed the town of Greenville but I LOVE the people there. I do miss the college town feel and football season tremendously. We have some great friends there that we miss dearly. On a happy note after living here a year now( its hard to believe this weekend last year we had an almost 5 month old baby and we were packing up the moving truck to move!) I can truly say we LOVE it here. Don't get me wrong it has taken a little bit of time to love it but we have met some really great people and enjoyed getting to know old friends again. If I could move my Greenville friends here I would but now after living in this great town I don't think I want to move again. It is such a great place for young families, it is so safe here, all the schools are wonderful, and it just has that "homey" feel. (not sure if that is a word?) So I wanted to show everyone why we love it so much. Downtown Apex is one of the main reasons. We love walking down there and spending our evenings downtown. That's why we are thrilled about our new house... it is even a closer walk that what we have now. Our new house is just .6 tenths of a mile from Downtown. Now you can spend your nights in downtown Greenville (Josh and I did that probably way too much) but it is not the same family oriented experience. We went downtown tonight for dinner and shopping and there were tons of family and kids out doing the same thing. I got a few stares taking pictures of the stores/restaurants but its ok! I will have to do this again at Christmas because it is so neat that time of year. They have horse and carriage rides and shopping nights and the decorations are precious!

Here is the church where we got married... This is my "home" church that I grew up in. Since we moved back we are going somewhere different but this church is very special to us! It is on the corner of downtown.

I was standing in the church parking lot when I took this. The black awning is the cutest little bakery (they have the best desserts!) Across the street is Anna's pizza and pasta. You can eat inside or out and it is really good.

This would be my child trying to go into the Ice Cream Shop before we went to dinner. He knows what he likes! We love walking downtown when its hot out and getting a special treat. There is also a new frozen yogurt place but I decided not to take pictures of everything or we would be here all day! So I just picked my most favorite places.

Love Love this cute boutique. It has the best clothes and the cool thing about this is they order from New York and big cities but they only order each piece in a S,M, & L. So they get three of each and that is it. So if you see something you like in your size get it because that is the only one they will have and they don't order more. They get new items all the time since they only keep a limited selection.

Two other favorites side by side. On the left is Green Pea Baby... love their baby stuff. It is a little more expensive but all of there clothes and bedding is made from organic fabric. They also have the best toys and puzzles. Tonight we went in and I noticed many expecting moms standing around... they were getting ready to have a cloth diaper class! The store on the right is called "All Booked Up" and it is a used book store.

Here is Wade trying to find some books to bring home. This store is so cute and decorated so well. They even have a little coffee and hot chocolate corner in the back and some great big chairs where you can sit and enjoy a book and a drink! I should be getting paid for all this advertisement!!!!

This is where we eat most of the time. You can eat inside or outside here too. It has a bar area and lots of TVs so it is nice and loud in there. The food and service is great too. We ate here tonight and were so happy there were kids all around us! Wade did pretty good though, he got a little loud while waiting for our check. They have live music Saturday nights but we haven't tried it out yet.

This is Peak City bar and Grill. Apex is called the "Peak of Good Living" hence where they got there name from. This is where we do not take Wade... we go here for date nights or girls nights. Great food but not so much kid friendly. It is quiet and quaint. We always eat inside but they have a really nice outside sitting area under the black awning. The brick building beside this is the Fire Station and Wade loves walking down to look at the fire trucks. If you keep walking down past the fire station there is one more section of shops. We didn't walk down that far but there is a coffee shop, hair salon, pilates studio and some other little shops. Back the other way is La Rancherita a Mexican place that has been here forever and a really cute jewelry and purse store called Surcee. Just didn't get around to taking those pictures but they are both some of our favorites too. Oh I forgot the cute candle/gift shop that I love. They have the neatest stuff there. Great gifts for a special present.

And just because I could not resist. I know I am partial but I just think he is just one of the cutest little kids!! He had a blast running around playing downtown. He even met a cute little girl (an older girl probably 2 or 3) who he gave a high five to and then blushed. I almost died... I have never seen his cheeks turn red before. He got embarrassed after the high five because she was too cute!!

4 Funny Things!

Wade will do something to make me laugh daily but today he has out done himself so I knew I better blog about it because I will look back when he is all grown up and just laugh at my silly boy.

The first thing he has been doing is talking about his balloon. Now let me tell you it has been many weeks since his beloved balloon went to meet Jesus. My poor child is still talking about it today. Every time we get in the car. He starts talking and at least once a day I hear "up up sky" and he pauses and then I hear "baoon" (balloon). Bless his heart he is still upset about letting go of his balloon. Well I made the big mistake of talking about "pappy" (paci) going up up in the sky one day when we get rid of it. Well now he will occasionally say "up up sky" "pappy." So I have stopped talking about getting rid of that because I don't want to upset him anymore. He is so sensitive about these things!!

Speaking of pappy today I just randomly asked him while we were having an in depth conversation what his favorite toy was... well you guessed it. His answer was "pappy."

It is funny what kids pick up on because just today he started saying something new. When we pull up to our house or even when we pulled up at mom and dad's he said "home" with a big smile on his face. I always say this because usually he has about had it in the car seat and I say "Yeah we are home!" I guess we are spending too much time at my parents because he thinks their house is home too.

Finally the last thing he did today made me want to just pick him up and squeeze his sweet face. I always let him sleep with his fan on and after he is asleep I go in and put his thin blanket over him. Well today I guess he was not all the way asleep; I quietly walked in and covered him with his blanket and all of a sudden those big eyes open up and he has this HUGE smile on his face, he didn't say anything just stuck his little arm up in the air and waved at me and then closed his eyes again. Almost like he was saying "oh hi thanks mom." I wanted to just grab him out of the bed but I just let him sleep. Good thing because he slept for 3 hours so I guess he was tired. Most days he sleeps 2 1/2 hours but usually once or twice a week he surprises me with a good 3 hr nap!