Weekend Fun- Part 2

Carrie, Nickie, and I

Well we got back to the Nicholson's house Saturday afternoon and got ready for the cookout. We had the best time with old friends and even meet some new ones. There were 14 adults and 10 kids there so needless to say it was loud. We were so glad to get to see Nickie and Brooks as well. It has been too long since we have gotten to hang out with them and we have missed them. Little Cole will be here soon! Thanks to Carrie and Brandon for great food and drinks! All of the kids had so much fun and were too cute. Wade sat at the kids table and did so well sitting still. I was a little worried because he has never sat in a chair besides a high chair. He looked like a big boy. We had so much fun talking, eating and watching the kids play. Wade was a little ham and was showing off so much. He was doing "knuckles" with everyone and had a blast playing with Tanner and the big kids. He loved their big bonus room and all of their toys. Josh taught him the word "dunk" and he loved playing basketball with the boys. He even found a new girlfriend, Shelby. I almost died laughing when Wade walked up to her and did "knuckles" to her face (I had to tell him she did not know what that was and we do not do it to other people's faces) after he tried knuckles he then got really close to her face and tried to kiss her. Josh was so proud!

Here is Wade sitting at the kids table like a big boy. He did so good sitting still and eating. I still laugh when I look at the next picture... this was another sweet little boy's hamburger and Wade decided to take it off his plate and have some! I promise he did have his own food too.

 Here is Wade and his new girlfriend Shelby, this was Wade after he tried to give Shelby a kiss. I think he was blowing a kiss in the picture. He really loved Shelby.

Here are some pictures of the kids playing. I love this picture of Wade and Stokes. They look just like their daddy's in this picture. Wade had so much fun playing with all the kids and playing outside with Josh.

Well we were worn out from the sun and all the driving/playing so we decided to go ahead and spend the night. Brandon and Carrie were so sweet to invite us to stay and we had a blast. The kids did not go to bed until 10p and they were exhausted. We all stayed up and chatted for another hour or two and then headed to bed. We slept in their bonus room and when Wade woke up he was in heaven with all of the toys! Tanner was so cute and when he came upstairs to see us he said, "Hey, did you guys have a good nap." It was so cute. We all got up and fed  the boys and let them play a little bit and then we went to Panera for breakfast. It was so good. We were so sad to leave but needed to get home to do some things. Wade was so tired he slept almost the entire way home. Thanks again to all of our great friends.... it was so good to catch up.


This was Sunday morning when the kids were eating breakfast. I love this picture of all the boys and just know they are going to grow up to be great friends even though we don't live in Greenville anymore. Hopefully we will still be able to get together every couple of months so the boys can play and so we can all catch up!

Weekend Fun- part 1

Well this past weekend was one of the most fun weekends we have had in a long time! Our really good friends, Brandon & Carrie, invited us over for a cookout for Brandon's Birthday Saturday night. We were so glad that I was off this past weekend and were able to go. I really wanted Josh to get to see Wade play at Splash ground so we decided to head to Kinston first and then to Greenville. Well we could not have been more excited when our other great friends, Jennifer and Stephanie, and their families along with the Nicholson's decided to come also. We met Jennifer and Stephanie and their husband right after we got married (we were all in the same bible study.) We are so blessed to have such great friends in Greenville. We missed Jamie (Jennifer's husband) but we all had a great time catching up. Between the 4 families we have 5 boys and one little girl on the way! The boys had a blast and so did the big kids. Here are some pictures of everyone at the splashground.

I love the picture below of Wade... this is timid Wade. It only takes about 2 seconds of standing still and watching for this child to realize he is not afraid of the water. After the minute or so he stood there he was wide open the rest of the time. Now remember Wade is a hungry boy so we would have to stop a couple of times to eat! I never have to worry about this child being hungry he will always tell me "yum yum" when he wants to eat. I guess he was burning off all those calories with all the running and playing he was doing. I love the second picture too because it is an action shot of him. He just got finished running under the arches that have a water mist spraying out of them and was laughing so hard!

Here are Wade and Josh splashing a little bit. This area is an all time favorite for the Mommies because this is where we love to sit and watch the kids play. Water pools around this area and it is the perfect place to sit and stay cool.

Here is Wade eating his gogurt! I think he would eat yogurt for all three meal if we let him. The second picture is of the girls catching up (there is one random little girl in the picture who loved playing with the babies.) The other two big boys were running around playing. It was so nice to get to spend some time together, it had been too long. 

Love this picture of Josh and Wade. I wish I would have had my video camera because they would run around in circles under the water and Wade would laugh so hard. He would say "more" when Josh would stop running around. I am so glad Josh got to go this time because I know how much fun Wade had playing with him (I think Josh had a little bit of fun too.)  After leaving Kinston we grabbed lunch and then we had to go pick up our DVD's that we had made from our camera. Of course it was no where near Kinston or Carrie's house in Ayden; it took us an hour and a half to get there and back but Wade slept the entire way so it was worth it. I know he would have not napped well at their house because he would have been too excited. Carrie and Brandon were so sweet to give us their room and bathroom so all three of us could shower and get ready before the cookout. We had so much fun at the cookout. I took so many cute pictures of the kids but I will save that for my next post!

Backyard Fun

Well Thursday night Josh and I decided to go ahead and blow up Wade's pool that he got for his birthday. We did it after he went to sleep so we could play in it on Friday. Wade was pretty excited when he saw it Friday morning and was even more excited when Mimi brought him a basket full of pool toys. Here is Wade on Friday morning before we put water in it. He was so excited and would run and bang into the sides and just laugh so hard. I waited to put water in it during his nap and bargained with Wade that if he was a good boy at the gym we would play in it afterwards. Well Wade must have been listening because he did really well at the gym (they had to call me out but it was because of a dirty diaper.) Miss Whitney at the gym even told me he asked for "Momma" and it was the first time he has ever said it without crying. I was so glad to see him playing when I picked him up. Now if we can only stop the crying when I drop him off!

Here is Wade so happy that we put water in his pool. He had a great time playing but his favorite part was when I put the water hose in to add more water. He loved playing with the hose.

We played in the water until Josh got home and then we grilled out for dinner. I went inside to cook while Josh and Wade grilled out. I heard Josh calling me and I came out to find this... Wade licking the BBQ sauce out of the jar. He was so cute but such a mess! Wade has now learned to "dip it." Today we went to eat and I look over at him and he has his little arm stretched out and is saying "dip it." He loves anything you can dip food in; ketchup, BBQ sauce, ranch etc. At least we can now get him to eat his vegetables as long as we dip them in Spaghetti sauce!!!!!!!!

Playdates

Wade and I have had a busy week with playdates. Of course I did not remember my camera for either one of them??? Something about getting out the door with 5000 things in my hand and a squirmy child who wants to get down and walk just makes me always forget things... usually my camera. If it wasn't 100 degrees outside I would just leave it in my car. Tuesday we headed to the mall because they have a little indoor play place and air conditioning (which is very important these days.) We met two of my good friends from high school and their kids there. They are both pregnant so the mall was a good choice for them. Especially since Andrea is due in 10 days. The kids had a good time, Wade was a Momma's boy most of the time and just stood and watched the kids. He warmed up after a little bit and started running around. After playing for awhile Wade and I went and got a pretzel for lunch and shopped around a little bit. We had a really good time. I miss my friends in Greenville so much but it really helps having some good friends here and getting out and having play dates.

Today Wade and I ventured to Greenville to drop off my movie camera and stop by work and see the girls ( I miss working with those girls so much.) We had a blast together the 5 years I worked there. A guy in Greenville is putting all of our video's on DVD's with menu options and I am so excited. We have a year's worth of video's we can't wait to watch. After a short visit on 1 West I headed to one of my best friends, Carrie's, house to get ready to head to Kinston. She was so sweet to invite Wade and I to go with her and her girlfriends to the Splashground in Kinston. Well let me tell you if we still lived in Greenville we would go every week. It only cost $1 to get in and is perfect for young kids. It is like a little water playground with about 5 or 6 sprinkler type things for the kids to run around in. The moms can just sit in the little bit of water that pools around and watch the kids play. It is so much better than a pool for Wade's age because I do not worry about him falling in or drowning. Wade loved it. He would just run around and get wet and then come back for me to wipe his face once his face was soaking wet. I am so mad I forgot my camera. We are going to go back in July sometime so I will make sure I take it then. Thanks girls for including us; it was so much fun. I wish Apex had something like this. We can't wait to take Josh next time... he will love it as much as Wade. The best part is it is refreshing even when it is 98 degrees outside. I guess because the water doesn't sit and warm up like it does in the pool. Wade was asleep about 4 minutes after we left!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to two of the best Dad's I know. I know my dad does not read this blog but I do want to wish him a Happy Father's Day and thank him for everything he does for us. We really appreciate it. I also want to wish Josh a Happy Father's Day from Wade and myself. Wade is one lucky little boy and I am so thankful he has Josh for a dad. Josh is so much fun and is teaching Wade something new every day. This weekend he has taught him to "show his muscles," while grunting. It is so funny!! I just love watching them together; it makes me smile. I have to say Wade must know it is Father's Day today because I have only gotten to hold him one time today and every time I take him from Josh he cries. I took him to change his diaper today and he started crying for "Dada." I looked over at Josh and he had the biggest smile on his face, it just made my day. So thank you Josh for everything you do for Wade. You are so special to him and he loves you so much. Happy Father's day.

Here is Wade bringing Josh his Father's Day present. He did such a good job because it was actually heavy for such a little guy. Wade picked out Mario Cart for the Wii and a new grill cover for Josh. I think Josh really loved them both. Wade was so excited to give Josh his gift it was so cute! Notice Charlie sleeping in Wade's chair in the second picture. Well now that Wade can climb into his chair he has gotten this "mine" mind set and when he now see's Charlie laying in it he immediately says "out" or "down" and tries to push him out or sit on him. Bless Charlie's heart he has been sitting in that chair for months.

 We have had a busy weekend and I had to work last night and tonight. Friday night Josh and I had a date night with our good friends Britt and Erin. We had so much fun going out for Sushi and then for ice cream. We didn't do much Saturday, we ran some errands, and then I went to work. Today we went to church and Wade made it almost the entire service... they had to call us out the last 10 minutes of the service. Hopefully one day I will be able to drop him off without worrying. Happy Father's Day to everyone!

Here are some pictures of Wade on Father's Day after church. I was trying to get a cute picture of him in his sweet outfit but of course this is the best one I could get. He was so excited to be outside (even though it was so hot) and he was running everywhere. We headed inside after giving up on the photo shoot. I finally got a picture of Wade climbing... this is something new he started doing last week. He gets so proud of himself when he gets up in the chair.

Playdate!

Today we had a playdate with two of my best friends from college Claire and Erin and their children. We had lunch and took the kids to Marbles. I went to nursing school with these girls and they were both in our wedding. Natalie was working today; we missed having her with us. She was also in our wedding and she introduced Josh and I. These 3 girls are the reason I survived nursing school; not to mention we had a little fun along the way! I wish we all got to see each other more... Claire lives in Charlotte and Erin lives in Greenville (she only lived two houses down from us- another reason we hated moving!) We always have so much fun together. Next time I see them hopefully it will be for a girls night (so we can all talk more) and we will not be chasing children around! Between the three of us we have a 6 mo old, two one year olds, and a three year old. All the kids were so good today and had such a great time running around and playing. The hardest part was trying to get a group picture; we were able to get a couple of cute pictures that I will post tomorrow. Every time we would get one child still for the picture the other one would run away. Drew (Erin's 3 yr old) did great staying still but our sweet one year olds were not having it. We got our exercise chasing Wade and Katelyn around!! Thanks girls for such a fun time... can't wait until our girls night.

Here are all the kids at Roly Poly where we ate lunch, and here is Wade driving the B-Bus (school bus)

Wade and Katelyn- this was the only one I got with them both sitting and looking!

The ball pit... one of Wade's favorite places. This time he wanted to put the balls in the buckets. The next picture is of Wade, Katelyn and Drew. Drew was anxiously waiting for the balls to drop.

This is the best picture I got of all 7 of us...Erin, Drew, & Graham; Wade and I; and Claire and Katelyn. Thanks girls for a nice day out!

Recovering

Well yesterday Wade was finally back to his normal self. It took almost a week! He had Roseola... I diagnosed him after talking to a few friends and after I saw his rash. The good thing is he should never get it again... similar to chicken pox. It starts with a really high fever, extreme tiredness and lack of appetite and after the fever breaks the horrible rash comes. The rash only lasted 2 days, so that was good. It does not itch either so at least it didn't really bother him. He still slept three hours yesterday and we slept in until almost 9am so I think he is still tired but other that than he is eating and playing!

Yesterday we went to walmart to get some things and Wade was playing on the toy isle and fell and hit his head on the bottom of the cart. The poor child just can't get a break. He has this nice bruise on his forehead. He has also mastered climbing in and out of his little chair yesterday. I was just waiting for him to fall out of it! I am so glad he is walking better... when he was sick it was almost like he had muscle aches or was dizzy because he could hardly keep his balance. It was like he was learning to walk all over again. So I guess we will go back to the gym daycare later in the week. I am torn with taking him because I don't want any more germs but at the same time I know I can't keep him home in a bubble like I would like to do. I keep hearing if they get all these germs now they will not be as sick when they start school. I am hoping this is true. I will have to post of picture of Wade's rash soon. Its hard to see in the picture but it looks like he had measles. I was so thankful when we woke up this morning and it was gone!

Weekend part 2

Sorry this is another long post... here is what we did the rest of the weekend. Wade did horrible going to sleep Saturday night he kept saying "out" and pointing to the door. This at least made me realize he was feeling a little better. Finally he fell asleep laying on me and he slept pretty good. He got up at 7am which is early for him. We tried to get him to eat but he wouldn't so we headed outside to around 8am to play. He played for a little bit with us then mom was nice and took him and Josh and I went back to sleep = heaven! We slept over an hour and around 11am I brought Wade back in to sleep. We decided to let him lay with us and we all rested together. I couldn't sleep anymore so Josh "agreed" to stay in bed with him. It was so nice for Josh too, he never gets to just lay in bed and sleep. Wade slept over two hours and around 130p we got him up. He was still not in a great mood so I took him out to my aunts big float because I thought he would love playing on it...wrong. He pretty much hated it. So we came back over to mom and dad's and he played on his little boat and in his pool. He loved it. Here is Wade driving his new boat toy the neighbor gave us and having his first popsicle. He had not eaten hardly anything all day so I was so glad he enjoyed his popsicle.

After playing a little while longer we headed down to the little beach area to watch Josh ride the jet ski. Wade was in heaven throwing rocks and playing in the lake. I had to put his life jacket on because he was getting so brave and walking out pretty deep. He even put his face down in the water a couple of times. I can't wait for next summer when he is a little bigger...hopefully he will still love the water. Here are some pictures of all of us playing. My dad had to head home early for a cookout so it was just the 4 of us. I just love the black and white picture of Wade running away from Josh and laughing. It just makes me smile. I was so glad he finally started feeling a little more like himself!

After playing in the water we decided to take Wade on his first jet ski ride. At first he was not too sure about it but after a minute or two he was loving it. I love this picture...Josh has taught him how to "do knuckles" and if you look at his little hand in the air he is doing it. I think he thought he was "cool" riding on the jet ski at 14 months old! Next time we are going to try pulling him behind the boat in the ski tube. We stayed in the cove area by our house; I was too scared to take him out to the "big water." We are hoping as he gets older he will not be scared of the water, jet ski or boat. My sister and I grew up tubing, skiing, etc and hopefully Wade will love it too. We had a good time Sunday. We headed home around 5pm and Wade was so tired. He was asleep before we even got to the highway.

He slept the entire way home and was still fussy when we got here. I think he started feeling bad again. I had to take a picture of this... he fell into Charlie's toy basket and got so mad. The normal Wade would have just laughed but since he was not feeling well he immediately started crying. Of course I had to laugh at him because it was so cute. We are heading back to Winston and the lake in two weeks and I hope we have a well child when we go this time.

Weekend part 1

Well this weekend was a little bit crazy so I decided instead of writing a book I would split it into two post. Please don't feel like you have to read all of this I just use this blog as a journal/scrapbook so I tend to "talk" too much and it may get boring. I know one day though I will love looking back at these blog books and will laugh at the weekend Wade was so sick with Roseola! He started getting sick last Wednesday with a high fever. Finally his fever went away on Saturday but he still feels bad today. If I would have known how bad he was going to have felt we would have never traveled. So here goes... Thursday night Josh called me at work and said he is playing and feeling much better. (this is why we decided to head to the zoo Friday morning) Well he woke up Friday and I knew he wasn't back to normal but silly me decided to take him anyways. So mom and I packed everything up and headed to the zoo. Mistake number 1. It was so hot... way to hot to have a sick baby out. Well of course his lovely fever is back at this point but we are already on our way so we kept going. He was a trooper and so good at the zoo; I think mom complained more about the heat than he did. She blames her age on that one. We didn't stay too long because we knew he felt bad but we did get a few smiles while we were there. The nice part was that he didn't feel like walking so he did not mind riding in the stroller. Well we finished up at the zoo and headed to Chick-fil-a to cool off and get lunch. Well Wade would not eat anything except a few bites of ice cream... we tried everything. We went to Hobby Lobby and Big Lots to look around and he slept in the stroller the entire time. He still had a fever so we kept trying the motrin and tylenol but nothing seemed to help. I just felt so bad for him because I know he felt horrible. Here are a couple of pictures of Wade not feeling well and of him and his shopping cart Mimi bought to try to make him feel better!

My sick sick boy... this was when he woke up from his nap and his fever was 104. I just hate seeing him this way.

Well after lunch/shopping we decided to head to Winston instead of the lake. We were planning on going to the lake for the afternoon but he felt so bad we thought the less time in the car the better and that we would just go ahead to Josh's parents house because we were staying there Friday night. We had plans to spend the night with them and stay all day Saturday before heading back to the lake Saturday night for my cousins birthday cookout. Well I was so excited to find out Josh's parents had the day off so we could go ahead and go to their house and spend the afternoon with them. I thought Wade would have been so much happier getting somewhere instead of being in and out of the car. Well I think that Wade had just had it with me at this point and I feel so bad because he was not in a good mood while we were at Josh's parents house. He had moments where he would play and smile and moments where he was just ill. I hate that he had to be sick because I wanted them to see the sweet happy Wade we see all the time. I think being away from home and being sick just was not a good combination. However he did sleep well at there house- it is so nice they have a really nice crib for him and he really loves it. Saturday he was up and down all day...happy one minute and upset the next. He has still not eaten much since Wednesday and he hardly ate anything all weekend. Josh's mom and I pretty much tried everything even ice cream but he only ate grapes. Thanks so much to my great in-laws for putting up with us and helping try to make Wade feel better. We can't wait to go back in two weeks and hopefully Wade will feel much better and he will not be sick. Saturday night we headed to the lake for my cousins cookout. I will post about that tomorrow and put some pictures up from Sunday!

Here is Wade and my mom at the zoo. We did have a lot of fun... mostly me laughing at my mom whining the entire time about being hot. She said she can't wait to go back with us again... in December! The bottom picture is Wade once we got back to the car. This child never sleeps in his stroller so we knew he must have just felt awful.