Father's Day

We woke up Sunday morning and made some blueberry muffins for daddy.  Then we woke him up to eat breakfast and open his gifts.  Joshua made him a tie, which he has on in the picture below.  (Sadly, that's the only picture we got of the two of them on Father's Day...oops!)

We hope you had a terrific Father's Day, Derek!  You are such a great daddy!

After breakfast we got ready and drove down to Albemarle for Father's Day with Derek's family.  Joshua got to see a lot of family on Grandma's side.  We ate a yummy spaghetti lunch and ate some yummy veggies out of Grandma and Ga Ga's huge garden.  

After lunch Joshua and his cousin Riley went for a dip in the blow up Shark pool.  They had a blast!

Grandma, Uncle Rahn, Poppy (J's great grandfather), Aunt Pam

We hope you had a terrific Father's Day, Derek!  You are such a great daddy, and we love you so very much

Worst Sister Ever

I neglected to wish my sister Angel a blog happy birthday way back on June 16th.  So....

Happy Belated Birthday Aunt Angel!

Beach Weekend

A couple of weekends ago we went down to Oak Island with some friends.  We had such a good time!  Joshua absolutely loves the beach!  He doesn't seem to be scared of anything on the beach.  He would crawl right on down to the water and let it hit him.  This surprises me (that he wasn't scared) because at home he is scared of quite a few things...just to name a few...the vacuum, the broom, and the fly swatter.  The only thing that didn't go so well for him (and us) at the beach was sleeping.  He did NOT like to be left in the bedroom by himself to go to sleep.  He also did NOT like to sleep late in the mornings.  So, going to sleep took some effort and sleeping in late wasn't happening.  We dealt with not having much sleep, though, and had a lots of fun!

My Baby's Growing Up

Joshua is 11 months old today!  Holy Cow!  I'm not even gonna think about what one more month brings.......

We are on our way out the door to go to the beach for the weekend with some friends, so hopefully I'll be able to document what Joshua is up to at 11 months when we get back!  (Actually, we aren't going out the door right this second, but I'm packing like a mad woman while the little one sleeps.)

One more thing....

We are toothless NO MORE!!!!  That's right folks!  Just two days shy of his 11th month birthday, Joshua finally cut a tooth!  He's been working on his bottom two front teeth for a LONG WHILE.  Now he has something to show of all his hard work!

Gosh, my baby is growing up.  Someone hand me a hanky.

Mr. and Mrs. Bustle

Congratulations Brandon and Ashley Bustle!!

This past weekend was a busy but oh so fun weekend!  One of my best friends, Ashley, got married!  Ashley and I were pretty much inseparable in high school.  We did everything together.  When I moved away to college in August of 2000, she came with us to help me move in.  I remember standing in the parking when they needed to leave and crying our eyes out.  We DID NOT want to be apart from each other.  We have never lived close to each other since, but we remain great friends.  I would love to move closer to her so we could hang out like we used to.  Brandon is an awesome guy who you can tell really loves her, and it would be so fun to get to see them all the time.  Who knows....maybe one day.  We do really love living in the Raleigh area with our church and our friends here, though, so we are torn.  Anyway, here's a recap of the wedding weekend!

Friday morning Joshua and I headed to Albemarle to drop him off with his Grandma.  I left there in the pouring rain to go to Restaurant 46 in Kannapolis for the bridesmaids luncheon.  The food was good and the company was even better!  It's been a while since all of us girls from high school have been together, and it was wonderful to spend time with everyone.  Ashley gave us some awesome gifts for being a part of the wedding.....cute terrycloth dresses to wear on Saturday while we were getting our hair and stuff done, pretty purple earrings she had made to match or bridesmaids dresses, and a gift certificate for manicures!!!

Ashley and Erin at the Luncheon

We left the luncheon and went to CC & Co. for our manicures at the spa!  Sadly, I forgot to take any pictures of our time there.  After our time at the spa, a few of us went back to Ashley's parents' house to hang out until the rehearsal.  The rehearsal dinner was at The Bistro.  The food was YUMMY!

All the girls at the Rehearsal Dinner

Saturday morning we met at the church and then headed back to CC & Co. to get our hair done.  The ladies there treated us so well.  We had our own room to relax and hang out in while we waited.

Meghan (Brandon's sister), Blair, Kara, Jennifer, & Ashley

We stopped by the What-a-Burger to get Cherry Lemon Sundrops on our way back to the church!  We took a cute picture of all of us outside with our matching dresses, done-up hair, and drinks.  I didn't have my camera out, so I'll have to get that picture from someone else.  Back at the church we got ready, had pictures taken, ate a little, and waited on 6:00 to roll around.  The time until the wedding seemed like it was going so slow, but then all of a sudden it was time to get in position, and before we knew it they were married!!  Ashley looked absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!  The reception was at the Hotel Concord.  It was a lot of fun!

Congratulations again Ashley and Brandon!  We are soo soo happy for you two and can't wait to see you again hopefully very soon!!

**Check out our Flickr page for all of the pictures from the weekend.

And thank you Grandma and Ga Ga for taking care of our little man all weekend!

Long Overdue Reunion

This post is overdue.

Way back in May....almost a month ago.....I had my Meredith College five year reunion.  I mentioned it in this post.  Johanna and Sarah (or as we refer to her....Farr) both came to Raleigh for it.  It was so very good to see those girls!  It was just plain good to see all of my girls from college, even the ones that live in the Raleigh area that I never see.  Seriously, we should do better about getting together.  Anywho.

Friday night of that weekend we had a cocktail party at the President's house on campus.  (It's funny thinking about Dr. Hartford (the president of MC) as we named our toilet after her our sophomore year.)  Every class that ends in a "4" or a "9" is invited to the reunion.  So we'll have a reunion every five years!  The cocktail party was fun, and the Band of Oz played.  Afterwards, the class of '04 had a pajama party (we didn't actually spend the night just wore pajamas) where we had a chance to catch up with just the girls in our graduating class.  My roomie Jo and suities Sarah and Abby stayed in the good ol' MC dorms to reminisce about old times.  It was fun going back to sharing a bathroom with those girls.....ha!  Some things are definitely different this time around.....let's just say someone had a baby in the last year and had to bring her cow machine with her...not naming any names....  We were able to reconnect which was just awesome.

Saturday night Jo, Abby, and I opted out of the really expensive class dinner and went to Olive Garden for a great dinner.  If you know me, you know that is my favorite place to eat.  Then we went to Pullen Park to play the "shoe throwing game" on the swings!!  Johanna and I hadn't done that since college.

Sunday morning we met Sarah and Johanna's parents at NOFO @ the Pig for brunch.  Derek and Joshua met us there, and Sarah's parents thoroughly enjoyed meeting and loving on my little man!

Johanna came back to our house to spend the night, and I had the pleasure of getting up at 4:30 Monday morning to take her to the airport.  (I got nothing but love for you, Jo, but seriously we'll have to work on the whole flight situation next time.)

It was a GREAT weekend!!  I can't wait for our next (wink2) reunion girls!

4 Years

Four years ago today we began this adventure!

MELTDOWN

Last weekend I had my 5 year Meredith College reunion!  (More about that in another post.)  It was so very good to see some friends who no longer live here and came for the reunion.  Johanna, my best friend and college roommate,  flew in from Texas.  Joshua and I went to pick her up from the airport on Friday afternoon.  I had it all pictured in my head about how awesome it was going to be.  I even took the camera to take a picture of Joshua and her meeting up at the baggage claim.  Well things don't always turn out like we plan, and I found that out for sure that day.  Johanna's plane got delayed to start with, so I had to reconfigure Joshua's schedule for the day.  I decided to just leave for the airport a little earlier so that Joshua could take his afternoon nap in the car.  He almost always sleeps in the car if it is around nap time and we are on the highway.  He did in fact fall asleep about 5 minutes after we left the house.  I was excited thinking that things were working as I had hoped.  About 15 minutes later he was awake and screaming in the backseat.  I had planned to just ride around with him in the car so he could sleep until closer to when Johanna's plane was suppose to finally arrive, but with him screaming I went on to the airport.  I thought that if I just got him out of the car seat and strolled him around the airport he would calm down and maybe even snooze a little bit more.  He did calm down for maybe about 5 minutes, but then he lost it again and proceeded to have the biggest meltdown I have ever seen.  Carrying him didn't work, the stroller didn't work, driving around didn't work....nothing.  He had just eaten, so I knew he wasn't hungry.  He had just reached his max for not napping and wanted me to know it.  I decided that since he was screaming, and it was getting a little embarrassing in the airport and the airport parking lot, that I would stick him back in his car seat and just do laps around the airport until Johanna's flight finally arrived.  I couldn't leave to go home because she could be there any time and my house is not close to the airport.  An hour after the screaming began her plane finally got there.  I jumped out of the car and got in the back seat as soon as she came out to the curb.  I informed her that she would be driving us home.  I don't even think I said hello, and I definitely didn't even hug her neck...gasp.  About 5 minutes before we got home I decided to go ahead and take his shoes off so that hopefully he would go down for a MUCH needed nap as soon as we walked in the door, and shortly after the shoes came off he was asleep.  I think we got about 3 minutes of silence in the car.  So, an hour and 45 minutes after the screaming began he finally went to sleep.  I got home with a huge headache and shot nerves.  Johanna and I went off to the reunion later that night and had a great time, so the day wasn't a total bust.

This meltdown was definitely a first for me.  It was NOT fun, but I'm sure there are worse meltdowns and tantrums to come...ha!  

10 Months Old

Joshua is now 10 months old.  He's been that old since May 12th.  It's been busy around here, so I haven't had time to sit down and organize my thoughts.  He has changed so much in just a months time.  Here is a list of some things he's doing at 10 months.

-walks all over the place with his push toys (When he does this he laughs and gets the goofiest grin on his face like he's so proud of himself...and we are proud, too!)

-says mama, dada, ba (ball), bye bye

-waves bye bye

-claps

-high fives

-sometimes will put his arms over his head when we say "how big is Joshua?"

-pulls up on EVERYTHING and can transfer from one thing to another

-makes the funniest faces and will repeat them if they make us laugh

-enjoys throwing himself on our pillows piled in the floor

-laughs all the time...soo cute!

-is eating a lot more table food (we are finally getting a handle on that gag reflex!) and eats just about everything we offer him

-favorite foods are yogurt and sweet potatoes, and feeding himself bananas

-seems to be learning the word "eat" and the sign for it because when I say that to him with the sign he goes over to his high chair

-enjoys beating two objects together (like today he had 2 star rings from his star stacker and seriously beat them together for 5 minutes until his arms finally tired out)

-can shoot baskets with his little basketball goal (he actually likes to put balls or really anything into boxes or baskets, etc)

-loves going for walks in the stroller

-loves to swing (when I take him on walks and we pass our neighborhood park he fusses if I don't  stop to let him swing for a little bit)

-still takes 2 naps a day for about 1.5-2 hours each

-is such a happy and well behaved baby and we are so thankful!!!

Mother's Day Weekend

I had a wonderful first Mother's Day!  We dedicated Joshua at church in a special ceremony.  My mom and Granny came up to spend the night with us Saturday night so that they could get plenty of time in with Joshua.  Derek's parents and my sisters came up Sunday morning.  We really enjoyed having all of them at church with us!  I think they all enjoyed it, too.  We all came back to our house for lunch before everyone left for home.  Thanks for coming guys!  We had a great day!

I have to say, though, that Derek's mom had me laughing.  Our church has a band and puts the words to the songs we sing up on screens.  Donna made a comment after church about how the last time she went to our church we all sang songs.  We informed her that we did indeed sing songs that morning as well.  How could she have missed that?  Ha!  Apparently, she wasn't wearing her glasses and couldn't see the words on the screens, so she just assumed that the band members were singing for us.  Haha....Donna, you know I love you!

Mom, I know this is late, but I love you very much and couldn't ask for a better mother!

Unfortunately we didn't take pictures at church of the dedication with our camera, so I'll have to get one from someone else to post on here.  (Just imagine a super adorable baby boy with blond hair and blue eyes and you'll probably be picturing what Joshua looked like that day!)