Good Times with Good Friends!

Jenny, Mandy, and I went to the beach Saturday night for some girl time with no children. Can you believe it? I left Laura and Weatherly with Brent for two nights!!! Weatherly was almost a year old before I spent the night away from her. I guess I'm just more relaxed with Laura and I really, really needed a break. Brent is a great father and husband! I don't know many men that would keep a two year old and 3 month old. He went to see his parents and sister/brother-in-law/nieces at the lake so I'm sure they helped out, but he was the one sleeping in the room with both girls and waking up to feed Laura. Thanks so, so much Brent! Jenny and Mandy both live out of town so we hardly ever get to see each other. We had a great time and were able to do some shopping yesterday (only because the weather was horrible - we would have much rather been on the beach). It was so nice to be able to try on clothes without being in a hurry and get a honest opinion from a friend. Last night we went to the Market Common and ate at Tommy Bahama's Tropical Cafe'. The atmosphere was nice and the food was absolutely delicious! I highly recommend it! Today the weather was perfect! We got on the beach early and just relaxed. We even got in the ocean for a good while too. The water was pretty calm. It has been forever since I have been in the ocean further than my knees. I had forgotten how much fun it is to ride the waves (the calm ones)! Here are some pictures of our fun time. Check out Jenny in her bikini - can you believe she is 18 weeks pregnant??? She looks so good - if you didn't know how small she was before you would never know she is pregnant!

Girly Girl FUN!

Last night Weatherly asked me what I had on my toes. I told her it was nail polish and asked if she wanted me to paint hers. Of course, she said yes. I didn't think she would sit still for me to paint them, but she did. Here is a picture of her with her legs crossed showing off her polished toes. It was so much fun and we didn't even spill any!

My friend Mandy and her little girl Mary Elizabeth came to visit us this morning. The girls had so much fun playing together. Mandy and I enjoyed catching up with each other, too. Thanks so much for coming to see us, Mandy. I wish you lived closer so Weatherly could "go see Mandy" as she says. Mary Elizabeth is a doll!
Here is a picture of them taking a nap.

Juggling Two

Having two little girls only 22 months apart is challenging, but oh so much fun!!! There are definitely times that I wonder why I had them so close together, but I am so happy I did. When things get really chaotic and I think I am going to lose my mind, I just have to remind myself of how very blessed I am to have 2 healthy, beautiful, and precious gifts from God. Weatherly is definitely in her "terrible twos" and can be challenging to say the least. I am amazed by some of her fits. For instance today while in line at Zaxby's she heard me say that I wanted honey mustard dressing with my salad and that gave her the idea that she wanted honey mustard NOW (I don't even think she knows what it is). She whined and begged for honey mustard for at least five minutes. It cracks me up that toddlers think if they want it, then it must happen. I think she thinks that all she has to do is say I want something and say please and it will fall from the sky. After the honey mustard incident she begged to go to the bank to get a lollipop. I have only been to the bank with her twice and she remembers that the bank is where they give you lollipops. It is so cute listening to her express herself even though sometimes she does it at the top of her lungs. She is very verbal and I often have to remind myself that she is only two. She is certainly proving that being two can be difficult, but I really do love this age because she is learning so much and says the cutest things. When she hears a loud noise, she will say "that scared me." Brent loves to hear her say, "Daddy you scared me." I think one of my favorite things she says is, "That's MY mama" while shaking her head yes. She does the cutest thing when she is asking for something. She will shake her head as if saying yes while she asks for it and says "please." When she does something wrong she will almost immediately say "I'm sorry" and if she hurts someone, she will say "I'm sorry, I kiss it" and then kisses where it hurts. Not exactly the best behavior, but at least she says I'm sorry. Here are some pictures of her putting on make-up. This is one of her favorite things to do. She loves to sit on the stool in our bathroom and "put on make-up" and "fix my hair."

Here she is saying cheese.
Angie and Frank came over Tuesday night to eat with us. I noticed that Laura had an outfit that matched Tyler's so I changed her so they would be dressed alike and we took this picture. Aren't they adorable! Tyler is going to be a heartbreaker! Thanks for coming to eat with us, Frank and Angie! We had a great time! Weatherly absolutely loves the two of you.
Weatherly on her bed with her baby doll - She asked that I take her picture "holding the baby." Then she asked me to put Laura in her bed with her and her dolls and take a picture. She is such a girly girl. I think it is going to be even more fun when Laura is able to play with her big sister. I am hoping they will be the best of friends.

Notice the band-aids on Weatherly's legs and elbow. She doesn't have that many "boo boos" but begs me to put band-aids on her. I have learned to pick my battles and this is one I often won't fight. I tell myself, if she wants a band-aid, what will it hurt???

Sweet, sweet baby Laura! I just love the smiles and coos. It warms my heart when I start talking to her and it is evident that she recognizes that I'm her mother and smiles back. It is such a rewarding feeling!

Weekend FUN!

Saturday morning we put Weatherly and Laura in the bed with us when they woke up. Saturdays are so nice because no one has to get up to get ready. We can usually just relax and lay around for a while before we get ready for the day. Here are some pictures of the girls.


Weatherly after her bath wearing her "bunny towel."

After going out to eat breakfast we headed to Mt. Pleasant to visit my good friend Crystal. We meet her and one of her friends for lunch. Weatherly was so well behaved at lunch. I think it was because she sat beside Crystal and had someone besides her mama and Daddy to talk to. Thanks for meeting us for lunch Crystal. We had a great time!

Weatherly on her daddy's shoulders. Notice she is wearing her "puppy" aka child leash. Brent didn't want to put her in a stroller so she had to wear this so she wouldn't run from us. Yes, she will run from me. A couple of weeks ago after Mother's Morning out, she darted across the church parking lot. I had to chase her with Laura in the carrier. It was quite a site to see! I was soo upset with her, but she is just so darn cute when she says "Can't catch me!"

Weatherly Year One Video

This is a video Brent made last year before Weatherly's first birthday. She has changed so much! It's hard to believe how fast they grow. I thought time went by fast with Weatherly. Time goes by even faster with the second one. I guess it's because you are soooo busy juggling two little ones. Brent is going to do another video with some pictures from Weatherly's second year. Hopefully, we can post that in the next couple of weeks.

More sleeping adventures!

OK, so Weatherly slept all last night in her big girl bed! Yeah! But.......for her nap today, she didn't. Apparently, she felt the need to do some cooking before going to sleep. After about 5 minutes of being in her room, this is what I found. Notice, she has a hotdog from her kitchen set in her hand. And of course, her paci's. She only has her paci's when she goes to sleep. The paci fairy comes and takes them when she is not asleep and then brings them back when it's time for bed again. We took her paci away during the day at Thanksgiving. Everything was going well until Laura was born and then since Laura has a paci, Weatherly thinks she needs one too. The paci fairy thing seems to be working though.

Swimming with Jayce

Jayce and Tara came over this morning. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and then let the little ones swim some in Weatherly's small pool. Of course, they got bored with the swimming after only about 15 minutes. Tara went to Subway to get us some lunch and then they played inside. After all the fun, it was time for a nap. Here are some pictures of our "play date."

Weatherly getting ready to slide. She was so excited. Tara mentioned that when she was a little girl she always thought the people that worked at the water slide telling you when to go were so cool. She thought it would be a fun job. Today she had the opportunity to try her dream job!!!

Laura inside in the swing.

Jayce getting ready to slide.

After the slide.

Weatherly waiting for her towel.

The 4th of July at the lake with family

This past weekend we all headed to the lake to visit with Brent's family. Weatherly always loves seeing her Papa, Nana, Brandi, and her cousins, Chandler and Riley. Chandler and Riley do a great job of entertaining her. They seem to play very well together. Brandi, Papa, and Nana all helped out with taking care of the girls. Nana kept Laura so I could go on the boat with everyone and Brandi was so willing to hold, feed, and rock Laura. I think she would have taken Laura home with her if I would let her. Thanks for all of your help. Here are some pictures from the weekend.
Brent and Weatherly on the jet ski


Brent and Riley on the jet ski


Brandi and the girls


Weatherly on the jet ski


Weatherly floating

Fun with Cousins!

Today my newphews came over to visit while my sister in law went to a doctor's appointment. My mother was with them and we were able to get this picture. We have tried in the past to get a picture of all her grandchildren, but have been unsuccessful. It's hard to get a 7 year old, two 2 year olds, and a 10 week old together for a decent picture, but I think this one is pretty good. Thanks Kathy for helping me out earlier today with Weatherly. She really loves you and your boys. I know Laura will too.

Weatherly's Sleeping Adventures

When we found out we were pregnant Weatherly was sleeping good in her crib so we bought a new crib for the new baby. My hopes were that Weatherly would stay in her crib at least until she was 2 1/2 years old. Well, that recently came to an end. Weatherly learned how to climb out of her crib a couple of weeks ago. I managed to keep her in it for a little while longer, but those days are over now. I asked her doctor how I should handle this. He told me to teach her how to get in and out of it safely and she should be fine. He suggested that I make sure her room is "child proof" before we put her to bed and lock her in the room. I put one of those covers over the doorknob on the inside of the door so she couldn't get out. Please don't think I am a mean mother, but I insist that she gets a good night's sleep. I strongly feel that a lot of children these days don't get enough sleep and therefore are fussy during the day. So I REALLY want Weatherly to get a good night's rest so I did it. She didn't cry or fuss, but she apparently got out of her crib as you can see in these pictures. These first two are from the first night. When I looked at the monitor to see if she was still in her crib, she wasn't but I didn't hear her playing or crying so I went into her room. This is where I found her.


These next three pictures were taken during her nap. Just like the night before, I didn't see her in the monitor and didn't hear her crying or playing. When I went in the room, I couldn't find her. I knew she hadn't gotten out of the room so I searched everywhere and found her behind the kitchen set with her favorite baby doll, "Ben." Just like before she was sleeping hard. I actually accidently hit her head on the kitchen set when I was putting her in the crib and she didn't move. She slept in the crib for the rest of her nap.



Yesterday we turned her crib into the toddler bed and the first two pictures show how she fell asleep. It appeared as if she was going to sleep in her bed. Boy was I wrong. When I woke up to feed Laura at 4:00 and looked at the monitor to check on Weatherly, she was not in her bed so I went into her room to see where she might be. This last picture is what I found. I couldn't believe it. Why does she insist on sleeping on the floor when her bed is right there? She doesn't cry to get out of the room or ask to sleep with us. She just finds a cozy spot on the floor or as you can see from the last picture here, under the bed.



Anyway, these are Weatherly's sleeping adventures. She sleeps so hard and doesn't even flinch when I take the pictures or move her. I guess she is sleeping good. Wonder where she will sleep tonight?????

More Beach Fun!

Here are some pictures of Laura and Weatherly on the beach. Laura only stayed out for a little while, but she seemed to enjoy herself while out there. Weatherly absolutely LOVED everything about the beach.....the water, sand, and all the people. She doesn't seem to be afraid of anyone or anything. She would just walk down the beach without a care in the world and run in the ocean without fear.

Weatherly loves kissing her little sister and apparently couldn't resist a kiss on the beach. It makes me very happy to know that she loves her little sister. I'm hoping they will be the best of friends when they get a little older.







Weatherly and Jayce playing in the ocean - These two little ones love each other. It is so cute to watch them play together and love on each other. I am going to have to post a picture of them hugging at Weatherly's Easter Egg Hunt in March. It is just too cute not the share.

The Hug

Summertime Fun!

This summer has been very busy for us. The girls and I spent about 2 weeks at the beach - some with my family and some with Brent. Here are some pictures of us at Ripley's Aquarium.




We also enjoyed some of the rides at Broadway! Weatherly had a blast and Brent and I had just as much fun watching her!





Of course Laura couldn't ride anything. Maybe next year. She seemed to enjoy riding in the stroller (which by the way is massively large - double strollers are quite big).






My sister-in-law and my two nephews came to the beach for a couple of nights. Nicholas is about 5 months older than Weatherly and Nolan is seven years old. Weatherly and Nicholas love playing with each other. Nicholas and Weatherly adore Nolan and love giving him hugs. It is so much fun watching them interact with each other.