Happy Birthday, CB!

Today was a VERY special day.  Eddie's sister, Carrie Williamson, also known as CB, had a (big) birthday! The boys were VERY excited to sing her a birthday song.  Of course we had to take some pictures in front of a sign too!

Of course there were some outtakes too...

CB, when you read this, we hope you realize how much we all love you and the boys ADORE you.   We hope your day was as special as you make all of our days!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo!

ps- get ready to celebrate with the bozos soon :)


 

British Virgin Islands

We had a SUPER fabulous trip to the BVIs last week.  It was one of those vacations that you will be talking about forever and never want to forget....or stop looking at pictures.  I took some on my phone and some on my camera, but the best ones are going to be from our friend's camera, which was a water proof camera so they could take it on shore when we left the boat. 

The weather was amazing and we had such a fun group on the boat with us.  For those not familiar with what we did, we were living on a sailboat and sailing around the BVIs.  There were three couples and then our crew, Paulina and Jason.  Jason was the captain and Paulina was the chef/first mate.  It was seriously.....fabulous.  Not much else can describe it!

It is a VERY non-glamorous trip.  We wore bathing suits and t-shirts/cover ups the entire time.  So much so that I packed everything (including sunscreen and shampoo) for the week in this duffle bag:

...and at the end of the trip, I had a big stack of clean clothes that were never worn.  It really is VERY low key. 

Some days we showered, some we didn't.  We never wore make up. We sometimes would brush our hair.  Mostly we just tied it up. 

We left Friday morning SUPER early.  We were scheduled to fly out from Raleigh to Philly, but Philly was about to be hit by the super snow storm, and given my luck with traveling, we called US Air asking to re-route us.  They switched our flight to leave at 5:30am through Charlotte instead.  It worked out perfectly. 

It was C-O-L-D leaving Chapel Hill on Friday, but we were heading to the warmer weather....

After Charlotte, we flew to San Juan where we got on one of these little planes.  If you know Eddie, you know this was a BIG deal. 

That head over my shoulder? That is the captain.  We were literally touching him.  On the way home, Eddie actually sat in the co-pilot's seat.  Teeeeeny tiny plane, that is for sure!

I know this is shocking, but our bags didn't make it.   I seriously have the WORST luck traveling! Luckily, I threw a bathing suit in my carry on bag and Eddie borrowed on of Cam's suits. 

We got to the marina and to our boat Friday and immediately had some rum punches :) People were asking what the boat looked like so I tried to take pictures to show it all....

This was the main galley-- the kitchen area is just to the right of where I am standing,  and to the right of Paulina is their bunk.  There were two bunks on each side-- a bunk had a bathroom and a bed-- not much else!

On the back of the boat, they kept these coolers fully stocked! And under the benches in the galley up above, they stocked up with extra liquor/beverages. 

Up on the front of the boat, there were six cushions we could sit on.

We would wake up and Paulina would make some fabulous breakfast.  After eating, we would set sail to another spot-- sometimes we would stay there through lunch and then sail on to the next spot, and sometimes we would stay there the entire day-- it depended on the location and the weather. 

I apologize for all of the bathing suit shots.  We literally lived in suits the entire time we were there.  I put on real clothes ones and they got soaked on the dinghy ride.

We swam into the Baths, which is a really neat area of HUGE rocks that form caves.  Our friends took their camera in there, so hopefully I will be adding more pictures from there once we see those pictures.  This was taken from the screen on the back of their camera.

Playing around on the back of the boat is my favorite thing to do.  Our boat had a paddle board and two double kayaks. Allyson was a natural on the paddle board.  (also, can I just mention that this woman has a 5 year old boy at home....AND TRIPLETS.  Yes, TRIPLETS--just a little older than Andy.  All boys.  Doesn't that just make her even cooler? I seriously love Allyson--super laid back and easy to get along with! I think you have to be with all those boys in your house!) 

Eddie asked me to put sunscreen on him.  I was drinking.  This was funny to me.  I have a weird sense of humor, I think. 

We got to White Bay early to get a good spot and we got a perfect one! Eddie immediately jumped into the kayak to try to surf some of the waves in.  Eddie is a very active person and he never had a chance to get bored on this trip!

Jason and Paulina again... they are engaged and just about the sweetest couple ever.  She is NOT a sailor and never spent much time on a boat.  Jason talked her into this "adventure" together so she is learning to love it.  They totally made our trip even more fun.  Super laid back and funny-- how can you not love them?!

We did a whole lot of swimming, sunning, talking, LAUGHING, and drinking...oh, and eating.  Paulina might not be a pro sailor, but she could cook the most amazing meals.  Pretty sure I gained 50 pounds this week.  We would eat breakfast, sail to a spot and then she would put out snacks, then we would eat lunch, then swim a bit, then she would put out snacks, then we would eat a huge dinner with a dessert.  NON-STOP eating. 

I can't really write about what's going on in the background of this picture, but I can say I have not seen Eddie laugh this hard in probably...well, ever.  My abs literally hurt the next morning from laughing so hard. 

These pics are out of order-- sorry! This was before swimming in to White Bay, home of Soggy Dollar and the amazing Painkiller! We also walked over to Ivan's where Kenny Chesney shot his video for "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem." We love both of these bars and had the best day on the beach there. 

The next day, I took a little snooze on the paddle board...

And once again, Eddie got to get some of his energy out.  Jason pulled Eddie behind the dinghy! He knee boarded and then surfed.  This little place was Jason and Paulina's favorite spot in the BVIs.  It was a lot like a lake-- very private and calm and very very amazing. 

It is really hard to find the words to describe the water down there, and I find that pictures just don't do it justice...

This is one of my most favorite ones from the trip.  He looks so happy and the water looks so pretty...

There will be a second post coming with more pictures once we get them!

We flew home on Friday, and (shockingly) missed our connecting flight in San Juan.  Seriously.  Y'all this streak has GOT to end.  But, it worked out okay, because they flew us through Charlotte again instead of Philly-- totally not a big deal. 

The trip was incredible and the people on our boat were all wonderful.  You certainly wouldn't want to do this trip with high maintenance people.  The other couple was friends with Cam and Allyson so we knew they would be fun too.  I didn't get many pictures with all of us, but they are on the other camera so you will see them more. 

We were ready to see our boys when we got home.  Friday I was in a bathing suit and Saturday is was SNOWING.  Sheesh!

Being back in reality has been pretty much a slap in the face.  Cal was up a ton in the night on Sunday and every time I got up to deal with him, Hank would get up and pace behind me-- which he never does.  We woke up Monday morning to find he needed to go number two.  Badly.  So he went on the floor of Cal's room.  And it was not small.  At all.  In fact, it was larger than a large cat.  And also, Cal soaked through his diaper and soaked his sheets. And also, Andy has decided he's obsessed with the potty and wants to (pretend) to go all the time. He pulled off his diaper to "go" and when he didn't go, I went to get a diaper.  He then peed all over the floor. I bent down to clean it and didn't see phase two of his pee and put my hand directly in it.  That's a lot of bodily fluid for one morning.  Welcome to the real world. 

Back to dreaming of warm weather....


 

Sailing....

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we will be doing this....


 

on this...

source

around these...

source

Thankful for a hard working husband who earns these amazing trips.

Thankful for a company who believes in rewarding their employees.

Thankful for my mom who is willing/able to keep these boys this week....

I am soooooo going to miss these kids.  As always, I am emotional thinking about leaving them.  I can't kiss them enough or tell them I love them enough.  I just hope they know that they mean the world to us. 
(sappy, huh? I know, I know, I know)

This trip is MUCH anticipated and much needed.  Bring on the BRIGHT blue/green waters. And the painkillers (the drink, not drugs). And the white sands. And the caribe. 

And Mom, have fun with the boys... just know they like to do the worm every night before dinner. 

xoxo


ps- if you see my boys around, give 'em a BIG fat hug. 

 

Moms know best

My mom really is the best. I know I write about her all the time on here, but I really and truly, honest to goodness do not know what I would do without her. 

We are leaving to go on our trip to the BVIs this Saturday (wooohoooo!) and my mom is amazing enough to keep both of the boys while we are gone.  This is extremely kind and we are so so so appreciative. 

watching the super bowl half time show.  just a little sex ed for my buddy. 

he made it to the (almost) end of the 3rd quarter

I made it to the almost start of the 4th quarter...thanks to eddie for capturing this one

This week has just been one of those weeks so far...I mean, it's only Tuesday-- how can I say that, really?

This weekend, our garage door broke and our cable/internet went out.  Eddie lined up Time Warner Cable to come Monday morning at 7 and, after being up at 5 with Cal who was having trouble sleeping since he stayed up too late watching the super bowl, I was out of it.  They called Eddie's phone at 7am Monday morning and he didn't answer it because he didn't recognize the number.  They rang the doorbell, which got the dog barking something WILD, so once I saw it was them, I ran down the stairs, setting off our house alarm causing Cal to go into hysterics.  All of this by 7:05. We came upstairs to get ready for our day after having breakfast and I saw Eddie didn't squeegee the shower walls-- really no big deal, but since I spent ALL day Saturday cleaning the house, I didn't want to see water spots right away.  SO, I got in the shower-- fully clothed-- to squeegee the walls and accidentally hit the nozzle with my elbow, dousing myself--again, fully clothed--in water. 

In conclusion, yesterday was SUCH a Monday.  Since the garage door is broken, we have to load up in the driveway, which is TOTALLY not a big deal.  But for Andy, as soon as he hits the driveway, that's his cue to run run run run run and not stop.  So I was chasing him around the yard trying to get him in the car (without stepping in dog doo) and when I caught him, he literally beat the tar out of me-- he is a strong one, y'all! Basically, I was ready to throw the towel in on the day by 9:26am. 

A killer leg workout helped. 

Also, flowers from my mom helped.  A lot.  She knows I love tulips-- they just make me happy.  She saw some while she was out running errands and picked them up.  I mean-- how thoughtful is that?? She was right-- I DO love them and they make me so SO happy.  It's the little things in life!

And today, it was Andy's day to have special Grandma time with my mom.  She suggested I bring him over right after taking Cal to school so I could have the whole morning to tackle my to do list...WITHOUT CHILDREN! I am pretty sure she had tennis plans or a lunch with girlfriends or a fun something or other to do, but she heard the desperation in my voice and just knew-- Momma's know best!

 My amazing mom kept the above little rascal today and I got a ton done. 

Mom, if you are reading this: THANK YOU for being you. 

Here's to a FABULOUS rest of the week!

 

February 1st!

How in the WORLD can it be February 1st already?? Time is flying by, I swear-- and these boys of mine are growing like weeds. 

Part of the reason they are growing like weeds is because we eat all of the food we put in the cart while still in the grocery store.....

This little nugget just doesn't seem so little any more.  The terrible twos have hit HARD over here. When he is sweet, he is the sweetest thing EVER, but at the drop of a hat, things switch and he has thrown himself on the floor in a full out scream fit.  Wednesday, after being at school all morning, he did not nap.  DID.NOT.NAP.  He has never missed a nap.  He usually naps 3-4 hours.  Yes, HOURS.  So an afternoon sans nap was a rude awakening for me.  Yesterday, the fit he threw in the parking lot of the gym was flat out violent.  He flung himself backwards (on the asphalt) in a puddle.  I grabbed his arm about a millisecond before his head bashed the pavement.    The "fit" continued for about 5 minutes of screaming, thrashing, hitting, yelling, etc etc.  And then, next thing I know, he's smiling at me like this...

And this...

 He is a strong-willed little boy and when he doesn't get what he wants when he wants it, all hell breaks loose.  And, he is STRONG.  If he doesn't want to be put in his car seat, it is just about impossible for me to get him in there.  Wish that was an exaggeration.  It takes every bit of my strength to get him strapped in.  There will be more posts on this, I am sure.  Get exciiiiiited!

I let Andy sit at the kid table in the family room for lunch the other day as a special treat.  He loved it!

But then he really wanted to join Hank on the floor!

I think Andy's appetite has increased lately too.  I think that's why he didn't nap on Wednesday-- we went to dinner that night and he ate 3 full plates of food and icecream.  Today, he was not napping so I took some apple sauce to his room and he chowed down,  then passed out.  Guess it's time to up his intake!

Cal has not napped once this week.  In fact, his last nap was early last week.  He has quiet time for a little bit, but then he is up and at um and wanting some entertainment.  I found these awesome books at a store here, so we are working on letters.  He LOVES doing this! He was concentrating so hard on each page.  

Every night, the boys take a bath.  And every single night, Andy gets in the tub and pees.  We know it's coming, he knows it's coming, Cal REALLY knows now that it's coming.  So I brought down our old potty training potty.  We are NOT potty training this kid right now.  I repeat-- we are NOT even attempting to potty train him.  But we wanted to have him sit on it before bath each night to try to get the pee in there instead of the tub.  He hasn't gone yet, but he sat and thought it was pretty funny.  He also tries to go in the big potty by standing next to it, like Cal.  Andy is not tall enough to go in that potty, but refuses to stand on a stool.  He walks up to the potty, pushes his mid-section up to it, leans a little, and then turns around, swinging his arms, and looks to all of us to cheer for him- ha! This one is a character! 

He is such a character that we were not surprised when Cal came running into our bathroom the other day saying "Andy got in the bathtub and turned on the water and he is wet!" Sure enough-- Andy let himself in the tub in his pjs and turned on the water.  He thought it was hilarious.

Yesterday, after the meltdowns that occurred at the gym, we headed to the playground to run run run and have some release of energy.    Cal didn't have school because of parent conferences so both kids had a ball playing in the freeeezing cold. 

Last night, Eddie had dinner with a client, so I made super simple croissant roll ups with cheese, ham and some Dijon mustard.  I am just sayin'-- they were amazingly good.  Cal, my picky eater, at 2 and a half. Andy had a ton too, obviously....

Annnnd last night, bath time-- I mean, there are so many things to say about this picture....

This morning, the boys were having some fun...

 These are all out of order-- we went outside the other day to play at grandma's house.  Andy was running as fast as he could push this thing-- all the while holding his lovie in his hand. 

 Hope y'all have had a great week!!! We are leaving for the BVIs soon.... and I am kicking myself for eating that biscuit this morning....UGH. 

 

Football Fanatic

Cal Williamson is slightly obsessed with football.  That is nothing odd in this family, I guess, but he now knows wayyy more about the NFL than a lot of people.  My mom got him this book, 1st and 10, a top ten list of everything NFL related, and he loves it.  He has the entire book memorized, including names, teams, etc etc.

In honor of the Super Bowl this weekend, I thought I would share some of these videos.  I know some of you have seen these on facebook, but I better document them here as well...

(can't get this one to load! will try again later)