Weekend Fun

Thursday began with our last swim lesson for the summer. I was a little disappointed with the session in general but this last lesson was really good because we had a substitute teacher and no one else showed up! So it was like a really good private lesson.

That evening, we met Waylon at school for the open house there - Noah moves into his new classroom tomorrow ('The Young 3s') so it was a meet the teachers open house. He seems to be excited about that - he'll be back with the bigger kids and I think that's good - he's one of the oldest in his class now. We had a nice dinner out afterwards that evening

Friday, we ran some errands and were supposed to go to the End of Year party at school but I had some trouble getting him down for nap - course then he slept 3 hours, so we missed it.

Saturday morning, we had Eli's 2nd birthday party to attend! It was so fun - bouncing in the bounce house, playing on the playset, pizza, cupcakes, presents - what else could you ask for?!

Stella Dot, Eli, and Noah - friends since before they were born!
(I met their moms in prenatal yoga)

Stella Dot and Noah coming out of the bounce house

Baby Cole (Eli's little brother) enjoying the festivities!

Cupcake time!

Present time - notice how Noah is really excited about watching Eli open his presents - this boy loves balloons!

Most of the kids on the couch at the end of the party.

Noah slept well after the party and Waylon and I took turns running a few more errands and getting things done while he slept. Saturday evening, Waylon left for Greensboro to visit his longtime friend Steven and his wife, Kate, and go to a golf tournament with VIP tickets. After he left, Janet, Frank and Maddie came over to play and get some energy out of the kids. Frank was a brave man and joined two very pregnant ladies and two toddlers - although we put him to work and sent him out for food - he came back with food AND beer. :-) Always love these cute shots of Noah and Maddie....





Sunday was Jennie's wedding shower so it was a busy day. Since Waylon was gone, I dropped Noah off at Stella Dot's house Sunday morning before heading to Megan's house to set up. Nana and Grandad picked Noah up from her house around 1:00 and brought him back to our house for what should have been a nap but I think he was too excited to sleep so he had NO nap yesterday! It was a good experiment though cause he was pretty good most of the evening and went to bed very easily last night. They had a good time.

The shower started at 1:00 and was a success. Everyone seemed to have a good time and Jennie got some good things. We all can't believe the wedding is in two weeks! How exciting!

The hostesses and the bride:
Anise, Jennie, me, Megan

After the shower was over and (mostly) cleaned up, I headed home to relieve Nana and Grandad. Waylon got home around 6:30 and, like I said, bedtime was a breeze!

Next up this weekend - Noah and I are headed to MD on Thursday for the weekend. Last big trip before the baby is born!

3D Ultrasound!

Waylon and I went to have a 3D Ultrasound done this afternoon. Here are some pictures of our little girl!

I guess she's happy in there!

So expressive!
Our little Gene Simmons!?

So cozy

She has some hair!

We also got a video of the entire 30 minute session. When we got home, we watched it again with Noah and he was so excited. He kept saying 'That's MY little sister!' and at one point, went running into the kitchen to get Waylon and ran back into the living room, pointed at the TV and said 'Look! MY little sister!' It was so cute. Last night we spent some time looking at scrapbooks and telling Noah about how he used to be in Mommy's belly and now his baby sister is in there and she'll be coming soon. I think he's really getting it. He also loves to go see her room. He's going to be such a good big brother.

We also pulled out Noah's old 3D ultrasound pictures and you can definitely tell that she looks different than him. Their noses are different for sure - it will be interesting to see how they compare when she joins us! :-)


Here are a few pictures from last night - Janet and Maddie came by for a few minutes and Noah and Maddie were too cute for me to resist taking pictures....

This one cracks me up!!

Girls Weekend at Lake and Boys Weekend at Home

This past weekend was a treat for everyone! I got to take a weekend off and relax at the lake with my girlfriends and Waylon and Noah got to spend some quality time together - as did Nana and Grandad with Noah, too! Waylon says I should go away more often - maybe I'll take him up on that! :-)

First, Noah's weekend -- Thursday morning, Nana and Grandad came over bright and early to keep Noah for the day while Waylon was working and I left for Jennie's bachelorette weekend. They went to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh and had a great time. Noah told me all about touching a snake on the phone that night! Some pictures of their day from Nana and Grandad...

Back home watching TV

Waylon was home with Noah on Friday and they went to Monkey Joe's and played for a while - Waylon said he was a little unsure of his footing there. Maybe he'll get the hang of it a little more at Eli's jumping birthday party this coming Saturday!

Nana and Grandad also kept Savannah this past weekend - from Saturday morning to Sunday morning - so Waylon and Noah met them at Pullen Park on Saturday morning. I think that was a hit and Noah apparently rode the boat ride about 3 times. Waylon sent me a text picture that was so funny - he was so serious driving those boats!! Some pics from Pullen Park





The rest of the weekend, Waylon kept Noah busy and vice versa. They were both pretty worn out by the time I got home on Sunday afternoon. I think they loved being together so much though. Good thing cause I think they are going to really bond come October! :-)

Now, onto my weekend -- Jennie, Megan and I left Thursday morning and stopped at Triangle Town Center to have Jennie's makeup done as a practice run for the wedding. It was fun to just take our time and not worry about being anywhere at a particular time.

Isn't she beautiful!?!

When we finally made it to the lake, we went grocery shopping and settled in for a movie at 5 pm! It was a nice quiet evening with just the three of us...

Here we are with our drinks - Jennie with her Lambic and Megan and I with sparkling cider!

Yup, that's right, Megan is pregnant! She's officially 'out of the closet now, so I can talk about it on here. I'm so excited that she'll have a little one to play with ours in February! Congratulations Megan!!

On Friday, we spent lots of time out on the boat just relaxing and everyone else started trickling in. Natalie (also pregnant due in February - YAY!) and Holly got there around 3:00 and Anise arrived around 7:00.

Jennie and her 'Palmatierita' as she calls them.

On Friday night, we did a mini-bachelorette celebration at the house. Just a few of the silly embarrassing things you have to do for a bachelorette, right? Except we didn't do them in public. :-)

Here's her reaction to one of the gifts...

Saturday, Jennie's future sister-in-law, Jennifer, showed up bright and early and we all had a nice breakfast out on the porch - then it was more fun in the sun!

Natalie and Holly

Jennifer and Jennie

Megan and Anise

Me! --- relaxing! :-)

Holly and Natalie left Saturday afternoon and the rest of us went to dinner at a restaurant right on the lake. You can't tell in this picture but the lake is right behind us and it was beautiful.


On Sunday, we spent some more time on the lake in the morning then packed up and headed home. I was excited to see my boys. I wondered if Noah might be a little clingy to me after I got home (he was like that after we got back from the beach) but he wasn't at all. I mean, he was excited to see me but obviously had really enjoyed his time with Daddy. Like I said, good sign!

Tag Team Weekend

Whew, this was a busy weekend!! I guess I say that every week that I post though, huh? I should be used to it by now! We've just been traveling so much this summer that when we are gone, we are slammed with fun - and when we are home, we seem to be slammed with errands and house stuff - not to mention getting ready for baby stuff!

So here's our weekend update. Thursday was Savannah's birthday and she came over to play! She's fully walking now, so it's easier for them to really play now. Noah kept wanting to hold her hand and take her places... so cute! Here they are taking a milk break together.


Then, Friday was my birthday! Noah and I just hung out all day - hit the mall in the morning just to get out (but stay cool!) and had a nice quiet day together. Friday night, Nana and Grandad came to play/babysit and Waylon and I went out to a very nice dinner at The Irregardless Cafe. Very yummy!

We had lots of plans for the weekend which seemed do-able - and I guess were - but barely! So Saturday morning, the tag teaming started. It started when Waylon went out first thing to mow the lawn, try to beat the heat, and get back in before my pedicure appointment at 10:30. Of course, the lawnmower broke during this time, so he wasn't able to get the whole thing done. Noah and I hung out and played and when he got back in, I left for my pedicure and he took Noah to the grocery store. We met back for lunch and while Noah was napping (finally after struggling to get him down!), Waylon and I primed the walls in the nursery. After Noah woke up, we headed over to Andrea, Sean and Savannah's house for Savannah's first birthday party. Because Noah went down late, we were late to the party and missed the outdoor swim activities but we made it in time for cake! Savannah wasn't quite sure what to think....

Watching the present opening with Daddy

A big birthday kiss for the birthday girl!

We stayed until bedtime and thought Noah would fall asleep on the way home but I guess that late nap kept him up! He went down easily after we got home though.

Sunday morning first thing, Waylon played with Noah while I went up and did the cutting in on the first coat of the nursery. After I was done, we swapped and Waylon went up to do the rolling. Just as Waylon was finishing the painting, Noah and I headed over to Maddie's house for a playdate with Maddie and Stella Dot. While we were gone, Waylon finished mowing the lawn.

3 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Tickling with Maddie

Getting ready to watch the 'Potty Power' video :-)

After we got home, there was another handoff and I went to start the second coat of cutting in - Waylon put Noah down for his nap and headed out for a few other errands. After he got home, Noah and I watched Peter Pan while Waylon finished off the second coat in the nursery! Phew. Then, it was time for dinner with Waylon's parents and Andrea, Sean and Savannah again - this time to celebrate my birthday with them!! :-)

After we got home and put Noah to bed, I was so tired but too excited about the paint in the nursery and ended up pulling off the tape and then putting the whole room together (can we say NESTING?). I think it turned out great! Still have to get some things on the wall but besides that, the only things left to do for the baby is to get down the rest of the 'gear' from the attic and wash clothes! I'm so relieved to have things done in advance so I don't have to worry about it.



The plan for the next month is to concentrate on Jennie and Cory's wedding festivities (and throwing in one last trip to MD, too) then I'm hoping to try to really relax the last month of the pregnancy! We'll see how that goes. :-)

This weekend is the 'bachelorette' weekend at the lake - so I get a weekend off and Waylon and Noah get Daddy/son time - they are both very excited about that!

Fun stuff - new car, playdates, lake and new orleans

This past weekend, Noah and I headed up to the lake to spend time with my parents while Waylon and six other guys went to New Orleans for Cory's bachelor weekend!

But first, a quick update on the previous weekend! We've been thinking about replacing one of our cars with.... a MINIVAN!.... for a while and we've been doing online research but hadn't had a chance to actually go test drive anything. We spent a marathon evening while Nana and Grandad babysat and spent the next day looking as well. We weren't planning to actually move on anything but we ended up finding a deal we couldn't pass up and jumped on it! So last Monday and Tuesday evenings were crazy trying to get all that sorted out. But we did and we now have a new (to us anyway) 06 Honda Odyssey. It has all the bells and whistles and we are so happy!

Car shopping with Noah - he picked out his ride!

Our new ride

The night we brought the car home, we showed Noah that it has a DVD player in it and he wanted to watch Pinocchio so we sat in the garage and watched about 15 minutes of it before bedtime! :-)

In between car shopping that weekend, we spent a lot of time with Maddie and fam! Saturday night, we met them at Moe's for dinner and the kids got to run around on the patio afterwards. They seemed to really enjoy that. The next morning, we took them to our pool which was so fun! See more pictures on their blog - I didn't do well with the pictures! Then later on Sunday afternoon, Janet and Maddie came over so Janet could go through Noah's old clothes so she can use them for her new little boy who will arrive in about a month! Noah and Maddie had a good time playing and somehow both ended up in Noah's bed! :-) I really wish I had gotten a picture of that.

Daddy and Noah at the pool

Noah sitting on the bins of his outgrown clothes.

Thursday morning, Waylon left bright and early to head to the airport for New Orleans. They had a really great guys weekend away! We all missed each other though and were glad to be reunited when he got home late last night. Waylon has no evidence of the weekend, so there's no pictures of his fun times - maybe that's a good thing!! :-)

Noah and I left Thursday morning also and Noah really enjoyed watching the movie 'Cars' on the way to the lake! We had a great relaxing weekend with Grammy and Papa. I was a little nervous about how Noah would do since we had a rough time with sleeping and him being clingy at the beach. He did great though and I really got to relax and enjoy. Grammy set up a new big boy room for Noah and he loved it! Pictures....

Feeding the fishies at the marina

Noah and Grammy made me an early birthday cake. It was hilarious watching Noah 'help'. He helped with the writing and did some of the flowers - eating most of them, too of course. Then she turned him loose with the red icing. It was so funny.


When it was time for dessert, they lit candles and sang Happy Birthday to me. Noah sang the whole song and blew out the candles - twice! (he insisted we do it again!). :-)

Papa took Noah fishing... he used a real fishing pole with real bait. No luck this time but lots of nibbles!!

Noah always has to drive the boat. This time, he really did a good job with steering and seemed to kinda understand what he was doing! He's going to be driving the boat for real very soon...

...and then Papa can relax!

Just a cute shot, I thought!

On Sunday afternoon, before heading home, Grammy got Noah and Papa one last treat - ice cream cones!

Noah and I headed home after nap yesterday and Waylon got home around 1 am. Noah was very excited to see Waylon this morning and so was I!!