Home alone

Tonight I'm home alone with Noah for the first time ever... and Seger's not even here! :-( Luckily, I don't get freaked out at every noise, so I'm okay. :-) I wondered if I'd be a little nervous but I'm actually fine!

Waylon left right after work today to head down to South Carolina for the first NC State game of the season (tomorrow night). I packed up tonight to head to the lake after work tomorrow and he's going to meet us there on Friday afternoon. Waylon's parents came over tonight to visit with Noah and watch him while I packed. Thanks Nana and Granddad!

On Monday, after a homebound weekend, Noah and I HAD to get out of the house!! We had a funfilled day. In the morning, we met Jacque and Elizabeth at the Holly Springs Library for what we thought would be storytime but they were on break, so we just played in their kids area for a while. In the afternoon, we went to Pullen Park and then visited Daddy at work.

Playing at the library with Elizabeth

I know it looks like he's being shy here but actually, I had to work to get this picture because most of the time when he was near Elizabeth, he was trying to hug her, or 'point' (poke) at her eye, etc.... He's our little lover!!

Playing at Pullen Park - he met a little girl named Addison there (what his name would have been if he were a girl, by the way!) and he hugged her, too.

Helping Daddy with his work.

I love visiting Daddy's work!

So tomorrow, we are off to the lake for the holiday weekend. My cousin Tracy and her husband Keith are coming, too so we are super excited about that!! Hopefully two more of my cousins may come as well... we shall see!

Off to bed now... have a great weekend everyone!

Nasty Weekend

Wednesday, when I picked Noah up from daycare, I learned that three kids were sent home with a tummy bug. We knew the ball was going to drop and it was like waiting for a hurricane to hit! Wednesday night around 1 am, the ball did drop and Noah was officially sick. Waylon had to stay home with him on Thursday and by Friday, he seemed to be better (much to our dismay, the next 'phase' hit on Saturday). Waylon and I thought we had escaped the bug but it hit me on Friday night and hit Waylon on Saturday night.

So our plan for the weekend was to go to Eli's birthday party on Saturday, visit Savannah and just have a quiet non-stressful weekend in general. Instead, we had to keep our distance from everyone and were pretty much homebound - washing sheets and pajamas all weekend! I think we are all on the upswing, though, so that's good.

Friday was a rough day. Getting Seger's stuff together and driving him there was the hardest thing I've ever experienced. After we dropped him off, we were planning to go to the mall and then have a nice dinner but that was when I started feeling sick (ironically about a 1/2 hour after we dropped Seger off). It's been so quiet this weekend and we keep thinking we hear or see Seger. Good news though... the rescue group thinks they might have already found him a home. We found out on Saturday that a couple was already interested in him before we even dropped him off. They submitted an application last week and it was approved. Apparently, they met him soon after we dropped him off on Friday and it went so well, they decided to spent the weekend with him. They are a couple in their upper 30s with no kids who lost their dog of 14 years a few months ago. It sounds like a good situation but it still is strange thinking of him with another family. We do know that he's getting lots of good attention and is probably already happier.

Here is a shot of our two boys on their last day together.



Tonight, Noah worked some more on his spoon skills... you know me and messy face pictures!!

The hardest decision I've ever had to make...

Tomorrow we are giving up our dog of 6 years, Seger.


Seger has been an interesting dog to say the least. Some of you may know the many 'experiences' we have had with him over the years. In general, though, he's been a good dog and we love him so much.

We were nervous about how he was going to handle Noah joining our family last year but he seemed to tolerate him pretty well..... until Noah started walking. About a month ago, he actually snapped at Noah while Noah was trying to 'love' on him, and although we don't think he really meant to hurt him (he left a small mark on his cheek), this crossed the line for us and we knew right then what we had to do. Seger needs to be with a family without children and with people who have the time to deal with his other various 'issues'.

We have been looking for a good home for him for about a month now and have been in contact with a rescue group in North Raleigh. They have a foster home available for him, so tomorrow we are surrendering him to them. The group has been highly recommended and the description of the foster home where he will be going sounds perfect. Waylon and I truely believe he is going to be happier and get the attention he needs at the foster home, and the group will do a great job screening permanent homes for him.

All this being said, tomorrow is going to be the hardest day of my life. This is the first huge parenting decision we've had to make and it's not fun at all.

We'll miss you, Seger.

The rest of the weekend

The whole point of this trip was to have a Crab Feast with friends from high school. For those of you who do not know the art of 'picking crabs', it's a Maryland tradition where the crabs are steamed whole with lots of Old Bay seasoning and you crack them open and pick out the meat... while socializing and drinking beer!! :-) My parents went all out in the party planning department (as usual) and we had a great time! Leah made me a birthday cake for dessert and they actually lit 30 candles and everyone sang! That was fun.

The drive home today was rough. What usually takes us 5 hours took us 6 1/2 today. We left at noon when we usually leave around 10 or so... I think that made a difference in DC traffic. Next time, we'll leave at 10 and then stop at lunchtime to stretch our legs. Noah was a trooper sitting in the car for that long. Brandy rode home with us too, so she was in the back keeping him company!

Here are the rest of the pictures from the weekend....

another park trip... we took lots of walks!

Using his old bathtub as a pool :-)

Hanging out with 'Aunt' Julie after a swim

Swinging with Aunt Leah

Pickin' Crabs!!
The Girls!
(Meredith, Ali, Julie, Robin, Katie
Brandy, Jessica, and Tina)


A big weekend for Noah...

More Pictures

This is a good way to post about my weekend... then I won't feel like I have to do a huge post at the end of the weekend!! :-) I've been even more picture happy than normal cause I'm around my parents (who take pictures all the time!) AND I have a new camera to play with!

Noah sitting in a chair I used to use when I was little...

After Noah's nap this afternoon, we walked down to the school and played on the playgrounds... Noah had so much fun! We might have to break down and get a playset soon. You'll see one picture of me trying to get back to my gymnastics roots. Funny how it was a lot easier when I was younger... I think I'm feeling 30.



I found this picture of me from when I was about 1 year old.... check out the comparison to Noah's picture!! Pretty crazy. I'd like to get a picture of Waylon from the same age range and put all three together! Genetics is amazing (yes, I'm a dork). :-)

Having a great time in MD

We decided last minute to leave NC last night at bedtime to head up to MD. It was a long drive at night but it worked out great!! Noah went right back to sleep when we got here and slept pretty well all night. He was still pretty tired this morning and is down for a nap now.

I got my birthday present from my parents!!! A new camera!! I'm so excited and have been having a great time taking pictures today. Check them out!

My handsome husband

Playing in the mall play area

I cropped this and changed the color all on my new camera... pretty cool, huh??

Coloring with Daddy

(or eating crayons... one or the other)

More pictures to come!!

Savannah's Adventures??

I better watch out!! Noah is going to get jealous that I have all these pictures of Savannah on here! :-) This weekend was nice. While my friend Nicole was gone to the beach, we managed to sneak in a few more visits to Savannah and Noah got to meet her, too! He has been so cute with her... he's interested but not jealous when we are holding her. And he looked so concerned when he heard her cry. He's going to be a good big brother one day --- one day... not anytime real soon!! :-)

The new family

Doesn't she look like a baby doll here?
Proud Nana and Granddad

This was what Noah liked the best about the hospital...
pushing the breastpump around! :-)
Sweet Savannah
Mommy and Noah
Ready to go home

Now back to NOAH'S Adventures!! :-)

On Sunday morning, we went to the pool with Amy and Stella Dot. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that day... those would have been some great shots with the two of them running around in the pool!!

Sunday evening, Nicole came back and we took her... guess where??... Mexican!! :-) On Monday, we went back to the pool again and also went to visit Andrea, Sean and Savannah again - but didn't take any pictures this time - then walked around North Hills for a while. This morning, Nicole had an early flight, so we got up at 4:15 to head to the airport. It was great incentive to go to the 5:30 spin class... very good but too early under normal circumstances!! :-) Because I had some extra time this morning, I relaxed in the hot tub at the outdoor pool after class... that was so nice!

Some pictures from the weekend....

He really enjoyed climbing all over Nicole!
Playing at the pool

This weekend, we are heading to Maryland to visit my parents and have a crab feast!! We are really looking forward to that and I think Grammy and Papa are super excited, too! They haven't seen Noah since his birthday party on July 12th... that's a long time for them!! :-)

Fun times and more Savannah pics!

Hey Everyone! It has been a busy few days with Savannah's arrival!

Yesterday was a great birthday. I had lots of birthday wishes - thanks to everyone for those, by the way - had a great birthday lunch with co-workers, left work early to visit Savannah, Andrea and Sean, and then played with my own little man for a short time before I headed back out to the airport to pick up my friend, Nicole, who flew in from San Diego!! Waylon put Noah to bed and Nicole and I went out for a nice dinner out. All in all, a great day!

This morning, Nicole, Noah and I went to Panera for breakfast and then hit the park for a bit before Nicole's friend picked her up to head to the beach for a bachelorette weekend. She'll be back on Sunday afternoon and will hang out with us on Monday before flying back Tuesday morning.

I'm hoping to get back to the hospital this afternoon to visit for a bit but we have to tag team watching Noah so he and his daycare germs stay away from the newborns! :-)

Here are some pictures from the last week or so and a few more of Savannah, too.

Playdate with Elizabeth and Lee on Monday morning

Swimming with Jennie on Monday afternoon
Andrea and Savannah
Sleeping Beauty
Meeting Great Aunt Robin and Great Uncle Ronnie for the first time

Have a great weekend eveyone!!

Happy 30th Birthday Mommy!!

Welcome Savannah!!

At 10:36 this morning, Andrea and Sean welcomed Savannah Kate to the world!
She was 7 lbs, 3 oz, and 20 inches long and is absolutely beautiful... as you can see!!

Noah was ready for the occasion - this is what he wore to school today!!