This past week

Phew! I am falling so behind on blog postings.... hoping it doesn't become a trend this summer.  I will just have to do the best I can and post pictures to remind me of everything going on.

Last weekend, Eddie played in a golf tournament, so I was pretty much on my own with the kiddos.

Friday, I got the kids ready to go to the pool.  We were going to the gym first, but I just put them both in swimsuits to save one extra step.  Cal LOVES wearing matching suits with Andy.  I have no idea why, but I am not complaining-- it makes it easier to spot both of them at the pool.  

 This won't end well...

Walking out of the gym and heading to the pool...

Both kids LOVE the pool so much.  It is a LOT of work for me, but it is sooooo worth it because it almost guarantees a nap out of BOTH boys that afternoon.  

Last weekend, since we were on our own, we did two-a-days at the pool.  We went in the morning, came home for naps, and then went back after naps until bedtime.  I even bathed them at the pool and put them in their pjs so we just came home, brushed teeth and crashed-- it was pretty awesome! No complaining from momma!

Before we headed back for our afternoon swim, the boys each had their suitcases and said they were going on a trip.  Too funny....

Andy rocked his Camp Sea Gull shorts...

And we both rocked our TCU hats back to the pool. (I am wearing a strapless bathing suit.... I am not naked. Not that that needed clarifying....but...you know).

It's a process to get out the door.  It seems to take forever to go to the pool.  I have to pack their changes of clothes, extra swim diapers, snacks, etc and then they debate shoes.  Cal loves wearing his flip flops to the pool and Andy tries to wear his, but he can NOT walk in them.  But they are cute still...

Saturday morning, we had a birthday party at the club for Anna Claire.  It was a princess theme and she even had a princess come and read a story to the kids.  My boys looked at her and then headed outside to play- ha!

She had cakepops as favors and the Williamson boys thought these were pretty amazing...

 Check out Andy's face in this one...

After the party we went to....you guessed it.... the pool!!!! 

Saturday was also a special day... it was my mom's birthday!!! She went out that night to celebrate with my dad so I called the restaurant and had a bottle of bubbly sent to their table.  She's a special lady who deserves the most special day ever!

We celebrated my mom's birthday on Sunday at the pool.  We all met there when it opened and had fun with the family there.  I didn't take any pictures....! But we spent the morning there too.

We certainly had our fill of the pool this weekend!

I took this picture of our playroom using the panoramic view on my phone.  This was after Cal had "quiet time" in there.  Seriously.  I walked in, looked around, and walked out-- after shutting the door.  Out of sight, out of mind? Nah.  I cleaned that mess up.  Couldn't take it.  

Monday morning, I had to take my car in for an inspection and to have my brakes checked.  I got Andy dressed---

 ...and then Cal HAD to wear the same shirt.  I swear, he loves to match his brother!!!

We dropped my car off and then walked over to U Mall to kill time.  It was not a whole lot of fun.  I let the boys go into Roses and each get a $5 toy to help keep them occupied.

 It turned out I needed brakes replaced on my car so my mom came and picked us up and brought us home for naps.

I honestly have NO idea what we did Tuesday. Not a clue.  I worked out.  We might have gone to the pool? I have no idea....but I DO know that I threatened to cal Manning, our Elf on the Shelf.  Yes, I sure did.  

Wednesday morning, after the gym, we headed back to the pool.  Brad was there and Cal was SO excited to see him!!! Cal and Brad have always been buddies, but they went to school on opposite days this past year, which made play dates super hard.  Hopefully they will get to play a ton this summer.

Speaking of calling the Elf on the Shelf.... I put these two in time out.  You can see how scared they were of their punishment.  Trembling in their boots, really.   

And on Wednesday..... this happened.  

Well, sort of happened.  Andy tells me when he pees (in his diaper) some of the time, but not all of the time.  He always tells me when he has to poop and when he poops.  He has not gone pee or poop on the potty ever.
He walked into the bathroom Wednesday afternoon and said "I poopoo!" So I walked in to check his diaper and there wasn't anything in there.  I told him to go ahead and go and he replied, "no! I go here!" pointing at the potty.  So, I took off his diaper and sat him on the potty and he pooped! It wasn't a full poop--at ALL.  Turns out, he was a bit constipated (TMI...sorry!), and the poop was super hard.  He had a hard time getting the rest out in his diaper (again, sorry).  BUT, he did go on the potty and we made a huge deal about it.  He loved calling people on the phone so we called Mimi, Poppy, Grandma, and Grandpa.

Look familiar????

Thursday morning, I took my first Zumba class is almost three months.  I have missed it!!! It just always happened that I had something on a Thursday morning-- field trips, doctors appointments, out of town, etc etc... anyway... it felt good to be back!

My friend Julie was in town helping her sister-in-law register for her new baby, so she brought her son over to to play with us.  We had so much fun!

Cal had "quiet time" in the playroom and wasn't being very quiet.  He stood at the top of the stairs asking me for his super heroes, which woke Andy up after only sleeping for an hour and a half (grrrr).  That sounds like a great nap for some, but for Andy, Mr. 3.5 hour napper, it was NOT enough time.  He got up crank-tastic.(I will be writing a whole post on the terrible threes.....)

I didn't know how to kill the time between then and bedtime since it was pouring down rain.  So we went to get frozen yogurt! A treat for all!

And finally, today... FRIDAY! I have been doing metabolic effect workouts.  My friend is an ME instructor and I talked her into posting daily workouts.  They only take 25 minutes and they are KILLER.  This was the picture I sent her after today's workout.

I was a sweaty, exhausted mess!

If you want to try one of the workouts, here is the first video she sent me
. 



It is a nasty POURING rain day here today.  Hoping the rain leaves us so we can have some outside time this weekend.  We need it!


 

Two year check up

My little two year old had his well visit this week and I wanted to document his stats here...

weight: 29lbs 8oz (75th%)
height: 35.75 in (90th%)
head circumference: 51.5 cm (99th&)---->however, he was overly due for a haircut, so I am blaming some of this on his curls- ha!

He was a trooper at the appointment and our sweet pediatrician was pleased with him.  He did have to get a shot and he was none too thrilled about that.  The nurse gave it to him before the doctor came in so when she walked in, he burst into tears (again) and I told him to go show her his booboo.  He walked his little diapered rear end over to her saying, "yook! yook!" while pointing to his band-aid covered shot.  I mean, melt your heart right there.

Andy put on a show for Dr. Kathy and talked up a storm.  I brought a bunch of his favorite books and he was so into me reading them with undivided attention since we dropped Cal off at a play date (!!!) that when the doctor came in to talk to us, he was not having it.  He wanted me to keep reading and not lose focus.  

After the check up, Andy and I ran a bunch of errands together and he was AWESOME! The terrible twos were about to send me to the looney bin, but I *think* we may have turned a corner! He was happy as can be- never cried and was super happy the whole morning!

So much so that I decided to take him out to lunch... and he was the happiest kid ever! I had the best day with my sweet two year old!

For my own records:
Andy goes to bed around 7 and sleeps until 6:30/7:30 depending on what time Cal wakes up
Andy takes a nap every day from 1:00 until 4 or 5 (I am soooo lucky)
Andy is SUCH a great eater.  He loves fruit and tomatoes and will eat whatever I give him
Andy loves books and loves to be read to-- he brings me a book to read to him at least 10 times a day
Andy still has his lala and blankie and doggie and pillow and.....(the list goes on and on)
Andy's vocabulary is growing daily and he really does not stop talking
Andy has more personality in his pinky toe than he knows what to do with.

Andy is our fearless little wild man, but we are just head over heels in love with this kid.  He gives the best hugs and kisses and loves to snuggle up.

How can my baby be TWO???


 

Start of Summer Vacation

Technically, Memorial Day weekend is the start of summer... at least in my book it is!

We came home on Tuesday from our beach trip and spent the morning at the vet with Hank so I didn't get to go to the grocery store.  We literally had no food in the house so we headed to Moe's for family night! Cal insisted on wearing the Superman shirt like Andy's (thank you, target) and he also insisted on both of them wearing their capes. And after the full day we had, who am I to argue?

Since it was family night, they had a balloon man come and make the kids different things.  Andy got an airplane and Cal got a sword.  

This made me laugh so so hard-- Andy was concentrating really hard on sticking the "nipple" end of the balloon (y'all know what I'm talking about?) in the ear of the guy sitting behind Eddie.  He had SUCH focus and determination and the poor guy behind him was trying to be sweet and ignore it.  This whole scene caused Eddie to be totally flustered-- he began sweating profusely-- and tried to contain Andy's airplane (notice his hand). The combination of Eddie's fluster-ment, Andy's determination, and the stranger's patience was more than I could take.  I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face.  Eddie kept saying "this isn't funny.  carrie.  this is not funny." and the more he said it, the more flustered he got and the harder I laughed.  I couldn't catch my breath at one point.  Ahhh... it's the little things...

 We left soon there after because Eddie was worried we caused a scene- there was a BALLOON MAN there walking around.....WE certainly weren't the scene causers! We tried for one more picture with their new balloons...

Now that it's summer time, we are hitting the pool almost daily.  It is a sure fire way to wear these wild things out!

Checking on the pup.... he is starting to feel better, thankfully.  The first day back after our vet visit, he was so pitiful.  We made him sleep downstairs so he wouldn't have to climb the stairs (we brought his bed down) and he seriously seemed depressed the next day.  And then when we let him out before bed, he ran up the stairs-- there was no way he was going to let us leave him down there again over night.  Sweet boy likes to sleep with his parents :) 

On Wednesday, I had a meeting at the club so I took the boys to meet Eddie for dinner while I met.  They have been loving matching things lately....so I figured why not??

 I *think* our terrible twos are on their way out... this kid has been nothing but sweet lately.  Can someone knock on some wood, please?!?!?!

And how sweet are they snuggling each other... this turned into a wrestle fest.  But it was cute.  For a hot minute.  

Summer time is here! We are enjoying being outside as often as we can. 

 

Memorial Day Weekend

We had the most wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I took about a thousand pictures and will be adding more once I get the cord from my good camera...

We left on Wednesday after naps.  I packed and loaded the car while the boys rested and then Eddie got home, Andy woke up and we were off! We hit a little bit of traffic, but not too bad at all.  The boys still sit in the way back, so Hank had some room to ride...

 For dinner, we stopped at Smithfields for some BBQ.  Their kids meals are to die for, for all you NC people...

Of course, I ended up in the back for the majority of the trip-- at least there's room for me in between the boys' seats.  Hank was happy to have me near too.

My dad decided to build a sandbox for the boys so Thursday morning, dad took Eddie and the boys to Lowes to get some of the materials.  Mom and I went swimsuit shopping!

 The clouds were moving out a little and the sun was coming through so dad got to work making a really cool sandbox!

We stayed at the new house down there and we had a boat over at the old house.... Eddie and Cal went over to get it-- Cal kept his lifejacket on in the car.  Safety first!

Hankers had a BIG time at the beach.  BIG.  Bless his heart, he played so hard the first day and then was limping the rest of the time.  We thought he was just sore from playing so hard, and then we realized it was more than just soreness.  After a visit to the vet, it turns out he broke his toe (a few times).... more on that in a minute...

Andy's favorite thing to do in the mornings was get Grandma's phone to look at her pictures.  He was happy as can be scrolling through her friends.  

His other favorite thing to do was to take golf cart rides around the neighborhood! 

It was a beautiful day so we loaded up our family and headed over to the beach.  Eddie wanted to surf so we threw that on the cart too.  It's hard to see Andy, but his little head is peeking out too...

 Watching Eddie surf...

 Andy wasn't too sure of the beach.  He didn't love it.  He was a little whiny, and then would be fine and laughing and then whining again.  I still got some good pictures while we were there...

 (and I am all about the matching bathing suits right now....I think they are so cute!)

After some time on the beach, we headed over the the neighborhood pool.   The boys had a blast swimming and Andy must have jumped in 100 times. 

We took everyone back to the house for lunch and a rest and then Eddie and I went back to the beach for a stroll... it was heavenly!

Whatever morning this was (they are all running together), we woke up and it was a little chilly up on the deck.  I got out my usual go to entertainment: bowls filled with water and ice and handed out two slotted spoons.  Bam.  

It was super warm down in the yard so we set up the kiddie pool and the sprinkler and had fun!

 (see what I mean about the matching suits?)

 Might be hard to get a tan this summer....

Then, our friends came over and Anna Claire and Cal played so hard together! You can see Hank in this picture, not feeling great :(

 Dad offered to take Cal and Anna Claire on a boat ride-- they insisted on holding hands the entire time.  TOO cute

poor pup...

One morning, dad took Andy on a golf cart ride and he came back quickly and told everyone to get in the cart; they had something to show us.... we had no clue what to expect, but we hadn't brushed our hair/teeth and there was not a stitch of make up on our faces.

Well.... best surprise ever....

Our neighbors are golden retriever breeders!!!!

 (ignore the makeup-less-ness and the ratty hair-ness)

 I mean.... come on! How crazy cute is this?!?!?!?!

 Forget BABY fever! I got me some PUPPY fever!!!! hahaha

We headed back over to the beach, this time Eddie wanted to try paddle boarding on the beach.  He did great and then the boys wanted to "surf" too...

 Hank kept watch over at the house (can't you tell he doesn't feel well?? He never stays still this long)

 Another golf cart ride...

On Sunday, it was Anna Claire's birthday so we headed over there for a little cookout.  How funny are these pictures?

 She said, "CalBoy, dip me way far back and kiss me!" and her dad screamed NOOOOO! hahahahaha So funny!

After the party, mom and I walked over to watch the sunset over the sound...

On Monday morning, we woke up and took the boat over to Beaufort for breakfast.  Andy nestled into my dad and Eddie and passed out cold.  He looks so uncomfortable, but he was happy as could be!

After brunch, the boys rode up front so they could see all the boats and of course wave to them all

Monday night we had Eddie's grandma over and we celebrated her birthday.  She loved getting to blow out the candles with both of her great grandsons on her lap. 

We decided to try to avoid traffic by leaving Tuesday morning really early.  The boys did great on the way home! We did have to make three stops in the first hour (breakfast, gas and Cal had "poopoo coming right this minute!"), but once we got through all that, we were smooth sailing home.  I handed out the iPads about halfway through the trip and both kids were happy!

On our way home, I called the vet and asked if I could bring Hank in.  I had the pleasure of taking both kids and a 100 pound dog to the vet-- not easy! At least Hank wasn't at 100%...made it a little more manageable.

They did an x-ray and said that he did break his toe...and it was looking pretty nasty.  She said that, just like a human, when a toe breaks, there isn't much you can do for it.  She gave us some pain medication to help him and we were on our way.  I have a picture of Andy from a long time ago playing under this exact table... funny. 

Despite the hurt doggy, it was SUCH a fun weekend (well, really it was almost a week...).  Makes me excited about all the fun we will have down there this summer!