On The Road Again

The following takes place between Monday, July 16 and Thursday, July 19. (If you watch "24", you read the previous sentence hearing the voice of Jack Bauer.)

On Monday, Mom told me that my Grandma Allen and Aunt Maureen would begin driving up from Florida to New York on Wednesday to see the rest of their family. Since I missed my grandpa's funeral in December, my heart immediately told me that I would somehow meet up with them as they would be passing through within a 2-3 hours drive from where we live. I called Maureen on Tuesday to find out the route she would be driving. When she said they would be stopping in Florence on Wednesday, I told her, "I'll bring the kids and meet you there for dinner." She was concerned about me driving alone with two small kids. I told her that I didn't mind but maybe Mom could come with me. Either way, I was coming. Yes, I'm working on getting the sin of pride out of my life thinking I can handle anything that comes my way all on my own. Well, thankfully Mom after thinking it over agreed to come with me. Most likely out of fear that I was serious about going alone if she said no. (Mom, I'm so glad you came so I didn't have to follow through and "prove" my stubbornness.)

Wednesday afternoon, Mom, Philip, Braewyn and I got on the road for our 3 hour drive. Mom was very apprehensive as to whether she would need me to find her a bathroom along the way and if so how long she would be there. She was also concerned about how the kids would handle the drive. Praise God, she didn't have any bathroom emergencies and the kids were great. Both Philip and Braewyn slept the first two hours. We then stopped at Wendy's at which Mom, me and Philip went potty! It did make it so much easier having Mom with us as she stayed in the car with Braewyn while I took Philip inside.

We arrived at the hotel and were very excited for Maureen to meet both kids and Grandma to see big boy Philip (she saw him once at 6 months old) and meet Braewyn. We had dinner at Ruby Tuesday just across the parking lot from our hotel. No driving! Philip is getting quite the rebellious toddler which makes being in nice restaurants a mistake sometimes. After finishing our meal, we all visited in our hotel room as Maureen's two dogs were in their room next door. Maureen is a hobby photographer and took many great shots of the kids. Once they get back to Florida, I'll be asking her to email some so I can add them to the blog. Our time together seemed so quick (3 hours to get there and 3 hours together), but it was so worth the trip. Aside from our salvation in Christ, family is the next most important thing. Grandma and Maureen would be heading off on the next leg of their trip at 5:00am so we said our goodbyes Wednesday evening.

Mom was a big help in the hotel room after they left as she bathed Philip while I fed and then bathed Braewyn. I settled Braewyn in the pack-n-play right beside my bed. We had brought Philip's toddler airmattress because I feared he might fall off the hotel bed. After seeing how the pack-n-play made a good side rail, I asked Philip if he wanted to sleep in the big bed. He said, "Yes, Mommy. You and me can sleep together!" You would just have to hear how he says 'together' to know how cute that sounded.

I fed Braewyn around 2:30am, got kicked off and on through the night by Philip and then woke up for the day around 6:50am. Braewyn was hungry again and Philip needed to go potty. The carrots were still on his sleeping pants (i.e. he was dry)! Mom had called a girlfriend whom she's not seen in 10+ years who lived in Florence during our drive there. Mary Blanche called back and it was set for her to come visit with Mom at the hotel around 9:30am. I walked to the lobby to get a light breakfast for us while getting ready in anticipation of Mary Blanche's visit. We had talked about going out to breakfast once she arrived. The way it worked out, Mary Blanche arrived at 9:45am, she and Mom talked in the lobby until 10:55am, I was busy packing and cleaning the room (check-out time was 11:00am), thought I lost my keys and turned the place upside down, Mom and Mary Blanche joined in the key search, and then at 11:20am I found them... in the pocket of my diaper bag where I always keep them!

We then headed back to Ruby Tuesday for another semi-successful meal until Braewyn got hungry and Philip got rowdy and wanted to leave. We said goodbye to Mary Blanche, I nursed Braewyn in the hotel lobby, Mom used the bathroom, and Philip played. Our drive home was just as successful, thank you Jesus! We made the same half-way stop and I again took Philip in to use the bathroom. This time, he had just woken up and in the bathroom stall refused to try (he was in sleeping pants so I wasn't that worried about it). The kid has successfully graduated from potty training school: after not going when we stopped, he then tells me he has to go potty just as we're about to turn onto my parents' street, he runs inside and we discover the carrots are still there. Didn't wet his pull-up on a 3 hour car trip while sleeping half the way! I can't even do that, not that I wear pull-ups of course!

It was a really good two days and was confidence building for both Mom and me. Now I hand it to Lori even more for joining us singlehandedly at the beach for 4 days.



Grandma meeting Braewyn.



Maureen and Philip watch the train go by.


The stairs to the second floor were right outside our door. Philip had serious cabin-fever and wanted to go upstairs. We had our first "stranger" talk after he ran away from us on the second floor.



Here is Maureen walking the dogs before bed.



Here are my two angels sleeping. Braewyn was still on Gentian Violet as you can see.




She looks so sweet. It reminds me of when Matthew and I went to Boston when Philip was 4 months old and I gave him a bath in that hotel sink!



This is Philip in our Boston hotel. Do you think they look alike?



Philip enjoying breakfast in the room.



This is Mom, Braewyn and Mary Blanche. It was nice seeing her again and I know she and Mom really enjoyed their visit.

Friday's Feast #152

Haven't posted one of these in a while but since I have a free moment (ha! I'm just stalling before getting back to everything I need to do!), here's this week's.

Appetizer: On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how much do enjoy watching sports on television? I'd say 8 because I really do like watching football but no matter the sport, if I'm watching it that usually means I'm watching tv with Matthew and I like being with him!

Soup : If you could completely memorize any one work of fiction, which one would you pick? It has been so long since I've read any fiction which I would consider for this that nothing is coming to mind. If we're being realistic about actually being able to do this, I'd say I could memorize one of Philip's books.

Salad: What is your favorite breakfast food? Homemade breakfast burritos (scrambled eggs, bacon bits, shredded cheese and salsa inside a tortilla shell)

Main Course: Name something fun you can do for less than $10.00. Take Philip to the Barnett Park fountain -- it's free! He's so cute trying to catch the water.

Dessert : How long does it usually take you to fall asleep? Less than 5 minutes.

Prayers for Bethany

To everyone reading this blog, please pray for my friend Bethany. She is 26 weeks pregnant (due mid-September) and in the hospital having contractions. I pray the doctors have gotten the contractions to stop using medication. As I was in the hospital with the same thing for Philip at 32 weeks, I can tell you it is scary. For Bethany it's probably a little scarier as she has two other boys, Cohen almost 4 and Brasen 2. Please lift up Bethany and her husband Bert during this scary time. Bethany was on bedrest with both of her sons and delivered Brasen a month early, but baby boy #3 needs to stay put for a few more months.

More Videos

This video was shot last month and Philip looks older to me today even since just then. It's a really cute video, but funnier since watching it with him several times this morning. He kept asking to watch it again and would laugh at himself when he falls down in the video.


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Here's another cute one and shows how much Philip really does love his sister Braewyn. The first thing you hear Philip say is, "This little piggy had roast beef." He finishes the piggy story and then starts asking her if she can see her face in the hanging mirror.


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Philip meets Shrek!

Matthew read in the paper that Shrek would be appearing at a local Chick-Fil-A so I had it on the calendar and awaited the day to come. I hadn't told Philip about it in case it didn't work out, but the day finally came this past Tuesday, July 17. Matthew had a Deacon's meeting that night so I would be taking Philip and Braewyn myself. Jo Ellen had taken Emma to see Dora there and advised to wait until the end to avoid the big crowd. Well, I prepared dinner for us at home so Matthew wouldn't go to his meeting hunger, then got us ready and headed out the door for Chick-Fil-A. We left the house at 7:11pm and Shrek would be there only until 7:30pm. It was a feeling I'm going to try my hardest not to have again: will I let my child down knowing he wants to see/do whatever and he might miss it due to my tardiness? Needless to say, I was glad not to pass any cops on the way. To add to the excitement, just as we're turning onto the road where the restaurant is located, Philip says, "Mommy, I have to go potty." Oh and I forgot to mention that it was raining pretty hard too.

We got to Chick-Fil-A at 7:22pm and found no crowd at all. I actually even told the woman walking around with Shrek (Matthew said she's called a handler!), "Please wait for us. We need to go potty." Philip being the potty-champ he is recently, made it easily to the bathroom, went potty, washed his hands and then was ready to meet Shrek. I really didn't know what to expect from Philip but he acted like he and Shrek were old friends: gave him a hug, gave him high-five and said bye. The "handler" told all the kids (Philip and one other little girl!) to say bye to Shrek because he had to go back to his village. Doesn't she know he lives in a swamp? Either way, you get to it via behind the Chick-Fil-A counter! I was really excited for Philip to meet his "hero". Don't know if Philip really bought into the idea that it really was Shrek or not. Like Jo Ellen, I was a little disturbed by the experience. Not the fact that he really didn't look like Shrek at all (kind of a mentally challenged toddler version of Shrek! Please don't take offense.), but it was the muteness (is that a word?). I can't stand silence when it seems so unnatural. I wanted to scream at Shrek, "Say something!" Maybe because it was so quiet in Chick-Fil-A. I've never thought about it with the characters at theme parks.

Our Purple Princess

Braewyn is such a joy and wonderful addition to our family. It's finally to the point where I am forgetting what life was like without her. She and Philip are doing pretty good together still however he seems to be getting more rambunctious by the day and unfortunately I am having to become more protective of Braewyn by the day. She's a tough little girl so I think in a few years Philip will have a run for his money. In the above picture, he isn't hurting her. She was crying before he entered the room, and Philip just climbed up next to Braewyn in hopes he could make her stop crying. My sweetie boy.


Where's Braewyn?


There's our little angel, sitting up so pretty.


This is her on Saturday afternoon. Pretty little face with soft pink skin and lips...


and this is how she's looked since Saturday night! Thrush returned last week. If you're not familiar with that, it's a yeast infection which infants get in the mouth. She had it at two weeks old which we treated with liquid Diflucan (the same stuff women take for vaginal yeast infections). I suppose her pediatrician Dr. Shelley didn't want Braewyn becoming immune to that prescription because when I called the office saying that she had thrush again, I was told to buy Gentian Violet. It's an antifungal medicine which I've come to learn has been used for years to disinfect wounds and can clear up thrush in babies. However it is HIGHLY staining including skin! We apply it with a q-tip to Braewyn's lips each night before bed. The first night Matthew and I called her our little goth girl as it was strange seeing our baby with dark purple lips. By morning this is what we get! She sucks her hands while going to sleep so the purple is smeared all over her! I was hesistant taking her to church like this but time and again after I told others what it was, they would say, "I used that on mine too."


Mom came over to visit today and loved giving Braewyn a bottle. Please continue to pray for her as she still has pain every few days while going to the bathroom. Even worse than that is the confinement she feels when using the bathroom and being in there for 15-20 minutes at a time, SEVERAL times a day. I cannot thank Jesus enough for bringing Philip and Braewyn (and in a few months, Mike and Andrea's baby boy!) to our family during this hard time for Mom. Braewyn has that special God-given ability to brighten Mom's spirits no matter what her day has been like.


No better medicine than to cuddle your sweet grandbaby even if she is a purple princess!

Go, Philip! Go, Braewyn!

It's exciting when both your kids are hitting milestones at the same time. As I mentioned before, Philip is potty training. The last two days we have had no accidents. He is even beginning to tell us when he needs to go potty! Tuesday morning was very sweet as I heard him saying, "Mommy, I need to go potty" over the baby monitor. I rushed in there, got him off his bed, and said, "Let's go. Hurry, hurry." Pulling his pajama pants down, I saw the carrots were still on his sleeping pants! (Explanation: Philip no longer wears diapers. In the pool, he wears swimming pants, i.e. Little Swimmers water diapers; at naptime and night, he wears sleeping pants, i.e. Walmart White Cloud pull-ups which have Bugs Bunny across the top and carrots on the crotch area which disappear if you wet the diaper.) He had stayed dry ALL night. After peeing a good bit, I told him to run and tell Daddy. It was so sweet how excited Philip was to said, "Look Daddy! The carrots are still there!"

Last night, he did wet his pull-up but during the last two days, he's had NO accidents. This morning after taking off the pull-up, I let him run around in just his pajama shirt. Twice he went potty to pee all by himself only afterward telling me he had gone potty. Then later in the morning, he headed off to the bathroom again but since I noticed, I followed him in. He went poop this time too! I think the kid's got it!

Braewyn's big accomplishment is sleeping through the night! Well, from midnight until morning but that's big for someone who has not slept more than four consecutive hours in MONTHS!! Tuesday night, I fed her at 8:00pm, gave her a bath, tried to put her to bed, she fussed for a while, Matthew held her on the couch, and I slept from 10:00pm until 11:45pm. That's when Matthew came to bed and asked if I wanted to nurse her again. I did. I then woke up at 4:19am wondering if Braewyn would start crying soon. I waited a while and then walked to the bassinet to make sure she was ok. Yes, sleeping soundly and breathing softly. Uncomfortably (nursing moms know!), I went back to sleep. Matthew's alarm went off at 6:45am and the girl was still sleeping! Miracle! Last night, I fed her at 8:30pm and followed with a bath. She did fall asleep in the bassinet after 15 minutes of crying. At 11:00pm, I woke her, fed her and put her back down. This morning, I heard her whimpering around 5:20am. Wanting to see if she would fall back asleep, I waited, but then got her up to eat at 6:00am when she began to cry. Praise the Lord! I'm feeling somewhat rested today! Let's pray this is a continuing trend.

I titled this post as I did because after one of Philip's successful trips to the potty, I began singing, "Go Philip! Go Philip!" He proceeded to join me in the song. I really want to get it on video as he is SO CUTE singing and dancing. The boy has some real moves!

My Perfectly Average Baby Girl

Friday, I took Braewyn for her two-month check-up. It was nice hearing the nurses say she was gorgeous (which I agree with and continually thank the Lord for His awesome job with both of my children), but more exciting was for our pediatrician Dr. Shelley to say, "Braewyn is the perfect two-month-old. She's 50th percentile in weight, length and head size!" That astounded me as Philip has always been 15-20th percentile in weight and height and 75-80th percentile in head size. He's just lean but really smart! Anyway, Braewyn is currently 11 pounds and 22.6 inches long. It will be interesting to see if Braewyn continues at this level or drops lower. She's my sweetie baby girl... that's all I know! She did cry pretty loudly after getting her three vaccinations but it was mealtime which made everything better. We have a tough little girl but I can't wait to see what her personality will be like. A girly-girl who wants to wear hairbows or rough and tumble playing with Philip's trucks! A little of each would be nice.

Potty Training Week In Review

We are SO proud of Philip. It really was the right time to potty train him as he has taken to it so easily and plus it allows us to give him extra praise just in case he is having any jealousy over Braewyn being here. If you read the prior post, he began wearing underwear last Monday afternoon after requesting to use the potty. I was hesistant but decided to go for it and not look back.

Monday evening went well. One accident, but thankfully Philip was on the back porch watching Matthew cut the grass. Before bed, he was back in a diaper as will be the norm for some time.

Tuesday morning and Philip doesn't want to try to potty after waking up. His diaper was pretty soaked so I thought maybe he had just gone. Well, pajama bottoms and diaper off, underwear on. We tried to potty about an hour later, but nothing. "Good try," I tell him. About 30 minutes later, pee on the carpet! Can't remember how the rest of the morning went, but I don't think any more accidents. After lunch, we read a book before nap and then tried to potty again. Yippee, pee and poop! Again Philip was so excited at seeing me get so excited. He wanted to call someone to tell the good news. We had called Aunt Lori the day before and I didn't want her to think we'd be calling each day he pooped, so Philip asked to call Uncle Jonathan instead. We left a message and then told Daddy our good news over the phone as well. Diaper for nap time. Philip slept until almost 5:30pm but woke up with a very wet diaper. After dinner, he tried to potty, but nothing. Matthew and I then took the kids to Walmart to pick up some things for our July 4th get-together the next day. Yeah, Philip! Dry underwear all the way to Walmart, throughout the store, the drive home and even stopping at a fireworks stand! Upon getting home, Matthew took him to the bathroom and then Philip pee-peed!

Wednesday, Matthew was off work and unfortunately neither of us stayed on Philip that closely. Two accidents in the morning. A good long nap and then off to our friend Kristie's house for her July 4th party (our 4th year attending!) with Philip in underwear! On the way over, I asked Philip if he wanted to tell everyone that he was wearing underwear. He said no so we didn't make a big deal of it. However after Matthew took him to the bathroom the first time at Kristie's house and Philip came out saying, "I went potty!", the celebration was on! Everyone began giving him high-fives and saying, "Yeah, Philip, I'm so proud of you." I don't think he minded everyone knowing after that. Well, we spent from 5:30pm until 10:00pm at Kristie's and NO accidents! Praise the Lord. We even spent the last 30 minutes down by the lake watching fireworks (which scared Philip by being so loud) and we traveled home with Philip in the same underwear in which we left the house. (Post to come about our July 4th.)

Thursday was another good day. I took the kids over to visit my friend whom we call, Mrs. Cordie (that's her first name). She will be 93 next week. We became friends when I began bringing her CDs of our Sunday services 4 years ago. She is still sharp mentally, but is slowing down physically. However, she can hold a two-month-old baby girl as I chase a toddler around her house. Philip went potty there and no accidents again. That evening we ventured out to Kohl's and all went well as well.

Friday I left Philip with our neighbor Tracy and his friends, Emily and Anna Grace, while I took Braewyn for her two month check-up (post to come). Tracy apologized for not watching him closely enough as he had an accident and she graciously washed his shorts, underwear, socks and tennis shoes! Thankfully, they just put in hardwood floors throughout their house a few months ago so no damage was done. Friday night, Matthew and I decided it would be nice to go out for dinner. We picked a Chinese buffet restaurant which provides enough choices for us all to enjoy. Next was the mall. That was a little intimidating as the bathrooms are few and far between. Praise God, Philip made it through the night like a champ! No accidents. On the way home, I asked Matthew what constitutes "completely trained". I don't remember what he said, but I feel Philip is well on his way there. At least during the day.

Saturday was a full day too and overall successful. We started out going to the local farmer's market in search of great home-grown vegetables. Side story... We found a HUGE zucchini (probably a foot long and four inches in diameter). The man who grew it actually gave it to me free of charge after I had bought some other vegetables. He said I only had to fix this special recipe with it: make spaghetti (boil spaghetti, brown hamburger, mix in tomato sauce), cut zucchini in half length-wise, scoop out seeds, fill with spaghetti, cover with parmesan cheese, cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. It was awesome as we ate it for lunch on Sunday! Anyway, after the market we had lunch at McDonald's and then drove to Funtasia, a mini-golf place. Matthew played arcade games with Philip while I fed Braewyn and then we headed out to Hole #1. Those who live in town know it was around 90 degrees on Saturday! Yes, the four of us sweated profusely but had a good time. Philip actually tried to play golf for the first 6 holes, the next 5 he pretended to play baseball and just threw his plastic club in the air, and then we left on Hole #13 as it was then 2:15pm and well into naptime. Still no accidents throughout our game!

Saturday evening, Matthew and I attended a wedding so my parents kept the kids. Unfortunately, Philip pee'd on the carpet just 10 minutes after we left and later had a poop in his underwear. If the grandparents love him enough to babysit these days, I suppose that they've signed up to clean up the accidents too.

I must be honest that the first few days were emotionally taxing on both Philip and me. As of today, I think that he's realized this is now how life is. When he woke up from his nap today, he called for me (he stays in his room until we go get him out) and said, "I need to go potty." Sure enough, his pull-up (Walmart brand White Cloud training pants work great!) was dry and he pee'd right away in the toilet. Just have to get the poopies in the potty and master "Hold it down" as we say when he's going pee on the toilet. You parents of little girls lucked out of that one. It's a shame when your son makes it all the way to the toilet but then his underwear end up wet anyway from the spray coming out under the seat!

Today's Updates

Mom's sister Cindy's mother-in-law Betty still needs prayer. For those who hadn't read my earlier post, she had the lower portion of one leg amputated a week ago. Mom spent last week with Aunt Cindy and Uncle Greg (Betty's son) and visited Betty one time in the hospital. Mom said she was in a lot of pain and had developed pneumonia as well (she already has emphezema). Mom was staying with them to help Cindy take inventory and price all the products for the new pet supply store she and Greg are opening. Pray that things will go well with the store as it has been quite stressful for them on top of going up to the hospital most days too. Finally, keep them in your prayers also as my cousin Melissa (their daughter) had a miscarriage. Mom said Melissa is handling it well and said she told her, "Nick (her husband) and I grieved at the hospital. We know God has a plan in all this." Melissa, you are in my prayers and I wish I could come spend some time with you.

On a different wavelength, Philip had another poop in the toilet today before his nap. This morning was pretty tough as he didn't want to sit on the toilet at all (he did three times before 10:00am without doing anything). He kept saying he already did like he thinks you just sit on the toilet once a day and don't worry about it until the next day. He did pee in his pants just before 10:00am but then successfully took a walk in underwear with me and two neighbors and their kids. As Jo Ellen so thoughtfully put it, it's not like the lightbulb has fully come on in his head, but the dimmer switch has been turned on! I suppose it's up to me to continue to slowly but surely push the switch up until he is trained completely. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

God is faithful even in Potty Training!

Potty training was the current thing on my list of hurdles to cross in raising children of which I was very fearful. God had blessed me again (thus far at least) and miraculously I began potty training Philip today out of his own desire! My goal was to "train him in a day" this coming Saturday. That was putting enough pressure on me to see if that method really worked. I didn't see the harm in it because if we didn't get it perfected that day, we would just continue working with Philip over the next several days like all other parents do. It was just the fact of actually jumping in with two feet which made me scared. I have a character flaw of thinking if I can't get something just right, I may as well quit. This is only the latest of many obstacles where I've been reminded that parenting doesn't play that way. No quitting once that sweet baby enters the family.


Anyway, here's how today played out and how God took the pressure off me. All week, I've been telling Philip how great it would be to wear underwear instead of diapers. He even tried on a pair last week just so I could see if he could pull them up and down. Well, before his nap we usually read a book. I thought we'd go ahead and pull out "The Toddler's Potty Book" which he had received in his monthly, free book club. It was all about the little boy being a "big boy" and how easy it was to use the potty. I finished the book by saying, "Philip, this Saturday we can start using the big potty. Won't that be fun?" Here's where God intervened! Philip immediately said, "I want to use the potty NOW." When your child wants to potty, you go! Praise the Lord if the child didn't go poop! And to make it even better, he went right into our toilet and not the little potty. I say this because we had been sporadically letting him go on his little Pooh Bear potty several months ago. This however involved dumping the pot into our toilet and washing the pot. Well, the potty book we read showed the boy sitting on the normal toilet with a stool beside it. That's how Philip wanted it and I was excited to discover that our Pooh Bear potty could snap apart and the green seat snaps onto the full-size toilet seat while the yellow chair folds together to form a step-stool. Up onto it Philip climbed and did his business.

Well, a diaper went back on before his nap and it was wet when he awoke. No pressure. I took it off and asked him about wearing underwear. He said he wanted to and I reminded him to stay dry (we did try to pee but he must have just gone in the diaper so nothing happened). However as the afternoon turned into evening he did go pee three more times on the potty. He did have one accident before dinner but thank the Lord again because he happened to be on the back porch watching Matthew cut grass. After dinner, we tried again but he didn't have to go (he did go just before dinner). I was a little nervous as we headed out to take a walk. Philip did great! He rode in the double stroller two-thirds of the way sitting on a towel and then wanted to walk the rest of the way home. No accidents!

My growing-up-too-fast boy is now fast asleep in bed (with a diaper on obviously). We'll see how tomorrow goes. I'll let you know.

Our Family Vacation, Part 2

(Scroll down to read part 1 first and then return here.)
Tuesday morning, Lori, Matthew and I got our families ready and headed out again for the beach. God blessed us with beautiful weather and with Oak Island being primarily a privately owned island (no high-rise hotels in sight!), the beach was never crowded at all. After returning to the house for the kids' afternoon nap, we all got ready and went to dinner at a great seafood buffet restaurant.

My family under the cabana.

Hannah enjoyed "swimming" in the ocean. Too cute!

Hannah and Philip enjoyed their meals together at this small table. Grandma Mary had gotten this made for Mollie and Paul as small children and it was so thoughtful for Elise to bring it for our little ones.

Tuesday night, the two of them began acting SO silly together and had all of us adults just rolling with laughter.






Wednesday was Lori's last day at the beach so instead of getting sandy on the beach, we all drove up the road a bit (actually cutting an hour off Lori's drive time home) to tour the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial. It was a fun excursion but just a little tiring especially since Lori had Madeline and I had Braewyn strapped to our chests in baby carriers. Those steep ladders/stairs are a bit more tricky to maneuover with infants in tow. Philip however thought this was the BEST playground he had ever encountered. Half-way through, Grandma, Elise, Arden, Lori, Kelly, Hannah and Madeline decided to go back to the snack shop area, but I followed Matthew, Paul and Philip who just kept trudging forward. I thought we would meet back up with the rest of them in just a few minutes, but instead I felt like I would be in the bowels of this ship forever and never see Braewyn again (Elise was holding her for us!). Matthew says we were in there for only 30 minutes but all the twists and turns made it feel much longer to me. I do feel a renewed appreciation for our military men and women who have served on such battleships. I was there for about two hours and cannot imagine living in those quarters for months at a time.

Philip and Paul are in the bottom right both wearing blue shirts.

Philip loves to pretend to drive anything with a wheel.

"Look at me! I climbed up all by myself." I told Kelly that people probably thought she and Paul were Philip's parents the way they helped him through the boat. Thanks guys!

After returning to the house, Matthew and Philip walked out onto the dock. Throughout the week, Philip enjoyed spotting the boats and jet skis going down the Intercoastal Waterway.


Here's the view from our back porch. If we lived here, I would definitely want to own a jet ski.

Thursday morning, Matthew and I headed to the beach with our kids for the last time. Paul, Kelly and Arden joined us for a little while after lunch. It was such a nice time. I forgot to mention Philip's priceless comment about the beach which he said on Monday.

Philip: "Mommy, I want to blow bubbles in the water."
Me: "Honey, I don't think you will want to. The water is kind of yucky. There is salt in it."
Philip: "Mommy, there's salt in it? Is there pepper in it too?"

Matthew and I were blessed to have a date night on Thursday evening. Grandma, Elise, Arden, Paul and Kelly kept the kids while Matthew and I drove to the neighboring town of Southport. We found a really picturesque restaurant called Fishy Fishy Cafe. Here I am while we were waiting for our table.

As you can see our food was wonderful. It was a really nice time to be alone with Matthew just being tourists without having to chase a toddler or comfort a fussy infant. We stopped at a local gift shop to buy Philip an Oak Island t-shirt before returning to the house.

Friday consisted of packing and cleaning the house. Renting a house is definitely my new favorite way to vacation at the beach. Cooking our own meals during the week made it much more affordable and everything just seemed more relaxed with having the space to just hang out. However, we were all ready to go home. I love looking back at Philip while he watches movies in the car. It's a chance to see my always-on-the-go toddler looking quite peaceful.

Our Family Vacation, Part 1

Finally, I have a few minutes free to post about our wonderful family vacation. First, a BIG thank you to Matthew's Aunt Elise who allowed us to join them. The home in which we stayed is owned by a friend of hers who allows only 1 or 2 friends to rent it for the week. We were so blessed to have had this opportunity as it was so relaxing and a wonderful time to be with family.

We headed out Friday, June 15 to stay the weekend with Jonathan, Lori, Hannah and Madeline. We were looking forward to seeing them all again and for them to meet Braewyn. Obviously, Hannah and Philip were overjoyed to see each other again, but the love/hate toddler relationship began quite quickly. It was especially funny to see them "fight" over the babies. "She's my sister!" "No, she's my cousin!"


Braewyn and Madeline just bouncing together.

After a great weekend together (we toured the children's museum where Jonathan works, found our "dream" house - just $1.4 million, and attended church), it was time to drive to Oak Island, NC on Sunday afternoon. Matthew drove our car with Philip and Braewyn, but I joined Lori as she and the girls were coming for just half the week without Jonathan. He unfortunately had to work, but I'm so glad Lori decided to come as we had some great times together. Anyway, this is our room in the house. We got the biggest room to fit both kids' beds. It really worked very well.

Monday morning came and we tried to get everything together and head to the beach as soon as possible. It was just a 5 minute (if that) drive to the beach. At first, I thought it would have been nicer to have been right on the beach, but having the view of the Intercoastal Waterway just added to the appeal of the location (pics to come).

Braewyn and Madeline were content on the beach seated in their carseats. My mom reminded me to bring the cabana which we had used on the beach when I was younger. It really made this trip do-able with such small babies. I was SO excited when Lori said she had a bathing suit Braewyn could wear. I hadn't bought her one as a 6-week old really doesn't swim, but isn't she precious?!

Philip was a little hesitant to walk into the ocean alone, but with his daddy, he was fearless!

Making sandcastles was also fun for him. However being the rambunctious toddler which he is, he never let Matthew get too far in building anything too big before kicking it down.