A Derby Gathering

We decided (very) last minute to have some friends over for the Kentucky Derby this past weekend.  We had so much fun having some friends-and their kids over! The Conners came with Brad and Jane and the Grosses came with Owen and Emma.

Eddie cooked a big pork shoulder and everyone brought sides.  We made mint julups and had a great time hanging out with friends!

The kids loved having friends over...

 

 After dinner, the crew went on the back porch for some ice cream sandwiches.  The kids all sat in a row.  It was too cute not to take a picture! (of course Hank had to be right there with everyone)

 The kids played outside and got filthy so we decided to throw them all in the tub! They had a great time all taking a bath together--haha!

The Grosses weren't ready to go home, so they put the kids to sleep at our house so we could keep hanging out! We were going to put Owen on Cal's floor and Emma on Andy's floor, but Owen and Emma like to share a room at home so they wanted to be together on Cal's floor and Andy didn't want to be left out, so he went in there too!

Everyone fell asleep...but Andy.  At 11:15 he was still in the room talking to the walls and hollering down to us.  Eddie went upstairs to lay with him...and never came back down...! ha!

Sweet Owen fell asleep hard....

 Cal was in his bed, then Owen, then Eddie, then Andy, then Emma! A worn out crew!

It was a fun night with super fun friends.  Eddie and I feel so blessed and lucky to have such great friends in our lives.  Good people, good fun!


 

#carriedaway: week 14

Week 14:

Day 113: Sophie was having none of Andy's antics.

 Day 114: added a homie.

 Day 115: I'm in DC!!! I have a little stomach bug, but I'm in DC!!!

 Day 116: the Carries do DC

 Day 117: I missed them more.

 Day 118: one brother woke up cranky. The other broher offered to hold him until he felt a little better.

 Day 119: because grocery shopping alone would oh so boring.


 

Nap Time

This is a judgement-free zone.  Okay?

Nap time everyday for Andy was a battle.  A straight up battle.  I figured maybe it was time to drop it altogether, but when he wouldn't nap, I would pay the price right around 5:00.  Things got ugly.

But I was so sick of fighting that daily battle!

And then one day I let him watch a movie on the couch.  And within 3 minutes he was out cold.  And then the next day, he asked to have rest time.  ASKED to rest.  He curled up on the couch and was out almost instantly. 

I am sure pediatricians around the world are cringing.  I am sure I am doing some form of lasting damage. 

But you know what? The kid takes a great nap on the couch! He loves it! When he was in his bed, it was taking me at least an hour to get him down and then we had the struggle to get him to sleep at night again.  It was exhausting and I didn't want to spend an hour of my day fighting with my sweet guy. Clearly, he still needs the nap since he is back to taking one almost daily. In the past 7 days, he has napped 6 of those.  And on the day he didn't nap, he rested upstairs in the playroom on the couch with Cal. 

See how sweet he is when he sleeps on the couch...??

Why am I overly obsessed with taking pictures of this kid sleeping?? I think he just looks so peaceful and sweet!!!



 

Soccer

Things around here feel so busy lately and I feel so slack about blog postings.  I am currently an arts and crafts freak making stuff for Andy's 3rd birthday party (how can he be three? Honestly.)

One thing keeping us busy during the week is soccer! We have practice every Tuesday and Thursday with games on Saturday.  Many of these have been rained out this spring, which is fine by me! I am usually worn out come 5:00!

Andy started the season off "playing" for the Ducks with Cal, but he soon decided he wasn't quite ready to play.  He is still young and doesn't meet the age requirements yet anyway-- we are just friends with the coaches and they let him play. 

Cal still loves soccer.  He eats it up.  He loves running around the field as hard as he can.  He loves games too-- he asks every single time we have practice if today is going to be a game or not. 

 Picture day was last week... my brother challenged me to get a picture of Catherine.  He didn't think I could do it. Boom.

The (huge) team of DUCKS! They were missing quite a few this day still...

and, while I was taking a picture of the little players, I turned around and saw Andy doing this. 

Just taking care of business!

Soccer season is almost over...only a few more weeks! Then we move on to....swim team...!?!?! (maybe...we are still a little unsure of this one!)


 

#carriedaway: week 13

Week 13:

  Day 106: rollin' with the homies #beachbound

 Day 107: first bottle of bubbly gone by noon.

 Day 108: definitely a GOOD Friday.

 Day 109 (a): dying eggs and making messes....

 Day 110 (b): Their faces are too sweet not to make this the pic of the day.

 Day 110: how they rode home from the beach.

 Day 111: I missed my popup workout today with a sick nug so instead I  found other weights to lift!

 Day 112: just call him Beckham


 

A weekend in DC!

For Christmas this year, Eddie's sister gave me a card.  In the card, she wrote that for my Christmsa present, she was buying me a plane ticket to come visit her for a weekend in DC! I was so so so so SO SO excited for this trip- you have NO idea.  Carrie and I are close- duh- and we have a blast when we are together! I couldn't wait for uninterrupted fun time with CB!

Fast forward to last week....

We came home from Easter at the beach on Sunday.  Sunday night, Andy threw up.  The stomach bug has been traveling around Chapel Hill at a crazy pace.  It hits the kids first- and they typically throw up and then spend the next day sleeping.  Andy followed that exactly.  He was up Sunday night sick and then slept a bunch on Monday.  Also the standard for this bug is for the adults to get hit...HARD.  My friends Sally and Ramsey both had it and both described it as feeling a bit like a truck hit you after running a marathon.  Great!

I was determined to not get this thing.  DETERMINED.  Nothing would interrupt my weekend away in DC!

Friday, I headed to the airport feeling great.  I had two bloody Mary's

 and some lunch and got on the flight.  As I was getting on board, the news on the TV at the gate was sounding the tornado watch alarm.  Apparently, it didn't worry American Airlines, so we headed to the runway in our itty bitty little plane.  We had to sit on the runway for a bit and the plane was seriously shaking in all the wind.  It was crazy!
When we finally got clearance to take off, I can honestly say it was THE roughest flight I have ever been on.

Let me just say- I am not a nervous flyer.  At all.  It takes a lot for me to be nervous.  A LOT.  I am Eddie's balance when we fly-- he isn't what we would call calm.  But on this flight....I had a death grip on the arm rests-white knuckles and all- and actually said the Lord's Prayer...! Seriously! ANY WAY!

I landed and CB was waiting for me and texted that we were going straight to happy hour, suitcase and all! I am always up for happy hour so I was excited!

We hopped on the metro and headed into town. My stomach started churning a little bit, but we thought maybe it was the bumpy flight (and the bloody marys pre flight).  One sip of wine at the wine bar led me to believe otherwise, but I was determined to feel fine!

After several trips to the restroom (ahem) and hearing Carrie describe the kind of food we would be having that night for dinner, I seriously thought I was going to get sick all over the bar.  Carrie could tell I wasn't feeling well and the second her friend got up to use the bathroom, I told her I was sick.  I was achy and extremely nauseous. She canceled our dinner reservations and we headed to her (adorable) condo.  I curled up on her couch and we watch Crazy, Stupid, Love in hopes of Ryan Gosslin making me feel better.  Carrie ordered dinner in and I wore a track in the floor between the couch and the bathroom.

Saturday morning, I woke up, determined to mind-over-matter this bug.  I told myself I felt great and I was ready to see DC! We had big plans for the day....bottomless brunch, walking down by the cherry blossom trees, seeing monuments, etc etc...

We headed to brunch with a friend and I had the mindset to be feeling great! The food was Asian-y brunch food.  I ate some of it, but it wasn't sounding too good to me.  I sampled a few things, but didn't eat a whole lot.  The champagne, on the other hand, tasted great.  I am assuming the bubbles of the champagne had the same effect of gingerale- it tasted great and soothed my stomach.  So I drank. And I drank.  And I drank some more.  Not real proud of myself here. 

Also- I should note that, while at brunch, I got a call from Eddie that Cal was sick at a birthday party.....a birthday party where he dropped him off with Sally.... I was texting Sally and Eddie and feeling about as close to the worst mother ever for not being there with my sick kid.  THANK GOD for Sally.  She took him into the shower and bathed him while waiting for Eddie to come pick him up.  I mean.... good friend right there, I tell ya. 

Back to Saturday in DC...we walked around and saw some cool stuff and I decided to document the walk....

 We worked out way down by the monument where I took a little "nap" under the trees.

 After being there for a while, CB suggested we head back to her place for a little nap.   A power nap on the couch helped and we got dressed and headed over to a friend's house so I could meet her.  Meghan was SUPER sweet and I loved meeting her family, but right when we walked in, I got a hot flash (I am an old woman!) and then CB made margaritas for everyone.  I had two sips and felt a tad bit like death.  I think CB saw I was turning a bit green so we headed to the restaurant where she made reservations.  It was an adorable place and the food looked amazing! After my third trip to the bathroom (ughhhhh), and zero sips of wine....(!!!!), I came back to Carrie asking for to-go boxes (I am such a loser!).

We headed home and I curled back up on the couch.  Carrie had to text a friend we were going to meet later on that I wasn't feeling well --- blah!

Sunday morning, I woke up actually hungry.  I ate a piece of cold pizza from the fridge and it actually sat pretty well!  We went to brunch at THE best place with another one of Carrie's friends.  It was soooo yummy, and I was able to eat it all! woooohoooo!

The her sweet friend drove us to the airport (Carrie rode along just for fun-ha!) and then Carrie and I said bye before she took the metro back home! She was SUCH a good sport putting up with me.  She made so many fun fun plans, and we didn't get to do any of those things... all the more reason to repeat the trip!!!! I loved DC-- haven't been there since being an "adult" (I use that term loosely...see above pictures of said napping....) and would love to go back there again!!!!! Carrie was an awesome host and I can't even imagine how much fun we would have had with a healthy tummy-- we had soooo much fun even with me not at 100%!!!!

 I got set on the airplane ride home with my unsweet tea (I am still off of diet coke!) and my kindle (reading Chelsea Handler's new book) and looked forward to hugging my little guys-- and one big guy!

I always love the hugs I get when I come home from being gone.... they are sweeter and tighter and longer.  I missed this crazy crew!!!

THANK YOU for having me, CB!!!! I love you so much and can NOT wait to come back and visit you again!!!!!