Grape Picking on a Hot Day

A couple of weeks ago, Evan and I decided to stop by the local farm with our friends Sarah and Edward and Mary and Kalina to pick ourselves some grapes. It was a hot day, but we worked hard to fill our buckets. The grapes were a bit high for the babies to pick, but they enjoyed picking a few while being carried and helping mommies put them in the buckets. I think it's so important for Evan to see where his food actually comes from. Too bad we didn't pick enough for Daddy to make some wine!

(Picking grapes is hard work!)

(Evan helps with the bucket.)

(The babies sample their pickings as Sarah serves.)

Our 15 Month Old Navel Gazer

Our little boy is 15 months old already! Not that long ago, people were commenting on what a cute little baby we had. When I was at the park recently, someone commented on my adorable toddler! That's definitely what he is now, a toddler!

He's getting into absolutely everything and has an insatiable curiosity for the world around him! He's not just walking around, he's running! This leads to a few more bruises and scrapes on the knees, but he's loving it! He's also figured out how to climb on the couch, and I'm sure the bed is not far behind. His newest obsession at the playground is slides. He loves to climb up to the top and slide down backwards on his stomach. Evan is not so keen on the swings though. After loving his own swing when he was little, he freezes and screams every time we try to put him near a swing at the playground.

Every day Ian and I continually marvel at how fast he's picking up things and absorbing new information like a sponge. His vocabulary is somewhere between 5 and 10 words, maybe a few more if you include his sign language. However, his favorite word is somewhere between a whine and a grunt whenever something isn't happening quite the way he wants it to. He understands most things that we say, whether he chooses to listen is another story. He knows most of his body parts and can point to them when you ask. Yesterday we got out the color flashcards and he even knew about 5 colors when you asked him.

We had his 15 month appointment last week. Developmentally, he's doing great, as always. He's also got 5 teeth and is working on more. The doctor was a little worried about his growth. Apparently, he hasn't gotten any taller between his last appointment six weeks ago and this one. So, we're headed over to see the endocrinologist next week to make sure he's still growing appropriately. I tend to think he's just a bit on the short side, look at his parents! Mom looked back at my baby book the other day, and I was actually 1/4 of an inch shorter than Evan is now when I was his age. I will keep everyone posted on my little short boy. Here are his percentiles.

Height: 28 and 1/2 inches (below the 1st percentile)

Weight: 21 lbs. 7 oz. (10th percentile)

Head Circumference: They didn't even tell me how big (above 100th percentile)

Needless to say, Evan definitely does everything his own way. I can wait to watch him grow up!

As he turned 15 months, he also developed another obsession, belly buttons. He figured out that he had one while we were at Grandma Rose's house, and since then, we haven't been able to put him in a one piece outfit because he has to have access to the belly button at all times. Not only does he look at his own frequently, he also will walk up to random children and adults and try to pull up their shirts to see theirs. My favorite was when he was sitting next to me in the mall play area the other day and tried this with the lady sitting next to me while I was looking the other way. Oh well, at least he's curious!

While We Were Out

Recently, Evan and I have been traveling a lot, and unfortunately, because of Ian's busy work schedule, he hasn't been able to come with us. The recent trip to Tennessee was no exception.

I wanted to let everyone know that Ian has not just been twiddling his thumbs while we have been away. During our last two vacations, he has headed down to the coast with our friends Patrick and Carrie for a little scuba diving. He even managed to get his advanced open water certification! While we were in Tennessee he headed out into the Atlantic for some great wreck diving.

It makes me a bit nervous every time Ian goes out, but I'm so glad that he enjoys it. I promise to join him again someday. Maybe when he finds a dive site without any of those pesky waves!

Here's some of their pictures from the trip:

Tennessee, Tennessee

I have been trying to get out to Tennessee to visit my grandma and cousins ever since we moved back to the east coast. So, I was so excited when the timing finally worked out, and we were able to head out west to Jackson.

(Evan is very excited about Grandma's house!)

The only part I was worried about was the drive. I am very used to long drives, but I knew that it would be hard on Evan. Fortunately, my fabulous mother-in-law, Jennifer was up for the challenge. She agreed to come with us for the drive. That way she also finally got to meet my Grandma Rose. So, we started at about 8 in the morning for Tennessee. 11 hours, 2 stops, and many miles later, we arrived unscathed at grandma's house. The drive was very uneventful. Jennifer only had to dive from the front seat to the back seat to quiet baby fussing once!

We were thrilled to be at grandma's house. It was great to see Grandma Rose and for her to see how much Evan had changed since she had seen him last at 3 months old. She wasn't expecting him to be quite so fast! It was also really nice to introduce two of my favorite people to each other: Grandma Rose and Jennifer.

Evan loved Grandma's house as much as I always have. He walked in the house and immediately noticed her key collection. He had to take keys out of the containers one at a time and hand them to various people around the room. Evan's favorite part of the house was definitely the cats out in the back yard. He loved watching them as they came up to get their food and rested on the back swing. He would frequently walk around the house meowing until we lifted him up to see the kitties.

(Evan sits in the red chair we all sat in as kids.)

We were also lucky enough to get to see my aunt and uncle and my cousins while we were there. We had planned the weekend so everyone could be in the same place at the same time. Sarah, John, Emma, and her husband Dave all took the time to head up to Tennessee, and we were so glad to see them all!

On Saturday, everyone got together at Aunt Beth and Uncle Roy's house to celebrate Grandma Rose's birthday. They have a beautiful new home and it was great to get a tour! We watched a little football, and Evan got to meet the many Heatherly dogs. He especially got along well with Emma and Dave's dogs, Jack and Luke. We also had a fabulous dinner! It was full southern fare-Grandma's noodles (thanks Emma), deviled eggs, roast, squash casserole, okra, cornbread, black eyed peas, green bean casserole, and probably a bunch more that I can't even remember. It was so good! If only Evan would have sat still and tried a little. After dinner, we watched Grandma open presents, Emma and Evan had a few too. Then we tried some of Sarah's delicious chocolate birthday cake.

(Emma makes Grandma's famous noodles.)

(Sarah entices Evan with some snacks.)

(Dave introduces Evan to Jack Jack.)

By the end of the long weekend, Evan was getting along great with his family. At first he was a little resistant to other people holding him, but he had mellowed by the end. He loved playing with my cousins and watching Grandma dance in her red slippers. Jennifer and Grandma Rose had also become great friends, which made me very happy. It was a fabulous weekend, but the long drive home on a dreary Monday morning came way too soon. We love Grandma's house and can't wait for the next time we get to go to visit!

(Evan and Grandma happily read while I sit by and watch.)


(New friends-Grandma Rose, Jennifer, Evan, and I)


(The happy family)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

So, I'm a little behind in my blog postings, but I wanted to share a few pictures from Ian's birthday celebrations at the end of August. We decided just to celebrate as a family on his actual birthday because it fell on a Monday. Ian opened presents (Evan and Rip helped), and we enjoyed some yummy Mexican chocolate birthday cake. Ian enjoyed all of his birthday presents and thanks everyone who helped make his birthday so happy. He got a bunch of cooking books which he has been pouring over at night before bed, a cheese making book which we have already tested out (yummy, cheese), a trip to go wreck diving off the NC coast which was a lot of fun, and many other lovely gifts.

(Evan helps Ian open his new shoes.)

(Ripple helps too!)

(mmmmm, cake)

A few days before Ian's birthday we decided to have a few people over to celebrate. So, we invited our friends Stefanie, Vince, Patrick, Carrie, and Gary to come over for a potluck and some games. We definitely ate well that night! It was great to be able to celebrate with some good friends and play some games afterward.

(our friends and our feast)

(Carrie takes a rest in Evan's ball pit after our feast.)

Happy Birthday Ian!

VA Beach Rock & Roll Half Marathon

Labor Day weekend was the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll Half Marathon. Our little family drove up to Virginia Beach on Saturday morning, ready for a fun weekend filled with sun, sand, and running. I had been preparing for the race for a long time so I was ready to get started.

When we arrived we went to the registration expo and signed in. Then, we walked down to the beach, and we all checked out the waves. Virginia Beach was a little different from other east coast beaches that we had been to. Ian said it reminded him of a European beach with the number of people that were there-it was packed! Evan danced with the waves for a while and got himself so sandy that we required a change of clothing into my new race shirt before we got in the car and headed to the hotel for the night.

(Ian and Evan play on the beach.)

(Evan enjoys the sights of Virginia Beach)

(Playing on the beach is exhausting!)

The next morning we woke up at 4:30 to make it to the race on time. Actually, I didn't even need the alarm because I was just laying in bed anxiously as one does before a big day. Evan and Ian, however, were not so ready to get up. We made it down to the race starting line with only a few minor transportation glitches and I was ready to race!

At the starting line, everyone had to find their given starting "corral" based on how fast you thought you'd finish. That way the slow people wouldn't be in the way of the faster runners. The starting gun blew at 7, but our corral, #16, didn't start until about 7:20. There were about 22,000 runners in all, and it was quite a feeling to cross the starting line among the throngs of people.

(The race begins)

The race was great, there were several bands and cheerleading squads along the way to keep up entertained, and the course was nice and flat. I thought the best part was when the lead racers started heading back and passed us as we were heading out. It was amazing to see them flying by us, and it inspired me to keep going.

(The leader passes by)

(I speed by during the race--not quite as fast as the leader.)

I crossed the finish line after 2 hours and 23 minutes. I saw Ian and Evan right before I finished which was really nice. Afterwards, we headed over to the booth for the Organization for Autism Research which I was raising money for and met the other runners with the organization. It was neat to talk to everyone and find out why they were running and who they were running for. There are always so many interesting stories about why people are running in these races.

(The Organization for Autism Research runners)

(My family at the finish line)

After the race the boys changed into their bathing suits and we all played in the sand on the beach. It's amazing how much more interested in the beach Evan was this time than even a few months ago when we were at the Carolina beach. He chased the waves and Ian and dug around in the sand. Again, he was a very sandy boy by the end of it.

It was a fabulous weekend with my family! I am so grateful for everyone who supported me in my race. Thank you to everyone!

(It was a great weekend, but boy was it tiring!)

Tropical Breezes

When Ian and I's 7th anniversary rolled around in July, we decided we wanted to go on another adventure, like we have so many times in the past. Conveniently, Ian had some frequent flier miles laying around, so we decided to leave on a jet plane and head some place warm and tropical.

We picked the Bahamas because we had never been to the Caribbean together, and we wanted someplace where we could just relax. How could we relax with an energetic Ripple-puppy and an Evan running around getting into everything? The short answer is, we couldn't! But, our wonderful in-laws in Charlotte were feeling the need to be worn out for a few days, so we left both the boys with their grandparents. It was my first time being away from Evan overnight, so I was really worried, but I knew he was in good hands.

So, on Friday morning, with Hurricane Bill taking a path many miles to our North, we headed out on a flight to Nassau. You'd be amazed at how easy it is to get through an airport when you aren't carrying a baby and a puppy and all of their luggage. Ian and I marveled at how we used to think traveling was difficult. It was a piece of cake!

Our one interesting experience on the flight out happened while we were still in the Charlotte airport. When I walked by the US Airways club, I noticed a scruffy looking guy standing by the door that looked a lot like Billy Bush from Access Hollywood. I asked Ian what he thought and he agreed although we couldn't figure out why he would be in the Charlotte airport. Then it dawned on me, the Miss Universe Pageant was going to be that weekend in The Bahamas, and I was almost certain that it was none other than Billy Bush that was hosting. Sure enough, he hopped on our plane, in first class, of course, and sure enough, on Sunday night he was standing there hosting the show. It was our brush with fame for the trip, HA!

Once we arrived in The Bahamas, we stepped out into paradise. We arrived at our hotel and checked in, then went to our room. Our view was spectacular-we were steps away from the beach and the pools. Ian and I couldn't resist! We hurried into our bathing suits and spent the rest of the day lounging under some umbrellas and in the ocean.

(The view from our hotel room)

(The beach out our window)

(Our room)

(Basking with a good book)

(The view from our beachside dinner with first night)

After a fabulous night's sleep where we were able to wake up whenever we wanted to, we decided to head in and explore downtown Nassau. It's a great historic mix of tropical and British architecture. You might think you're in England except for the fact that everything is painted pink. We went on a walking tour of the city. The coolest part was definitely the Queen's Staircase leading up to Fort Fincastle with views of the whole island. We also did some shopping in the famous Straw Market before heading out for lunch.

(Parliment Square-one stop on our tour of town)

(The Queen's Staircase)

(A view of the harbor from Fort Fincastle)

We ate at a place called the Fish Fry which is a collection of Bahamian seafood restaurants. We ordered the Conch salad, Conch Fritters, and snapper. The Conch Fritters were sold out, the Conch salad was not really my thing, but the snapper was fabulous, bones and all! After we left, I was still determined to try Conch Fritters, so we walked down the street to another restaurant at the Fish Fry and sampled some, yummy! Conch is pretty tasteless, but the fritters were fabulous anyway. All in all, a delicious sampling of Bahamian cuisine.

(Our first lunch stop, The Seafood Haven)

(Goldie's-our conch fritters stop)

The rest of the day was again spent lounging on the beach. We even tried snorkeling at the rocks just off our beach. You'd be amazed at how many fish were sitting right off the shore. Ian even saw a sting ray!

On Sunday, we headed out to do some more snorkeling with Stuart's Cove, a dive company in the area. We went to three different sites and had a lot of fun. I was a bit nervous at first because I forgot my dramamine and motion sickness bracelets, but oddly enough, several other people on our boat succumbed to motion sickness, but I was fine! How strange!

(At Stuart's Cove before snorkeling)

The first two snorkeling sites were teeming with fish. We had bought fish food because we thought that would attract more fish to us. Little did we know how many fish we would actually attract! We were surrounded with fish, nipping our fingers and stealing our food, a very neat experience. I wish I could tell you all the different types of fish and coral that we saw, but I just know they were all really beautiful.

(Ian diving off the boat at our first site)

(The view from our second site)

The third site was a little further off shore. This was where we would snorkel with the sharks. I didn't know what I thought about this, it made me a bit nervous. They sent a diver down to the ocean floor with a box full of meat to attract more sharks to the area. Then, they sent us all out into the water holding on to the boat's tow line (can you say "shark bait"). Fortunately, the box of meat kept all the sharks on the ocean floor, and we got a nice view of some hungry sharks just a few feet below us, yikes! After we were all safely on board, they pulled the food up and we got to watch the sharks feed on the surface. Needless to say, I was glad I was safely on the boat.

(Sharks feeding at the third site)

The next day, we decided to check out some more Bahamian cuisine at where else, The Bahamian Kitchen. It was a local restaurant that we had heard good things about. It definitely lived up to its reputation! The food was fabulous! I had some grouper fingers with delicious lime tartar sauce, macaroni and cheese, traditional rice and peas, and fried plantains. Ian had some more of the local snapper.

(lunch at the Bahamian Kitchen)

After our delicious lunch we took a ferry to Paradise Island to see the famed hotel Atlantis. It was definitely something to see. There were shops, pools, beaches, restaurants and water slides through shark pools. There was also an aquarium with a manta ray that had to have been more than six feet long and a casino. It reminded me of a hotel I might see in Vegas. Ian and I toured around and then did a little gambling. I lost 10 dollars in the slots, but Ian doubled his five dollars and left with 10, so we didn't do that badly.

(A view of Atlantis from the harbor)

(The manta ray in the Atlantis aquarium)

(A beautiful glass sculpture in the casino)

Once evening rolled around we changed clothes and headed to the exclusive Cove portion of the Atlantis for dinner at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. We had heard so much about it from Audra's experience at the New York branch that we had to check it out. It did not disappoint, from the fabulous cornbread muffins in the bread basket to the churros and chocolate sauce for dessert. It was all delicious! For our entrees I took Audra's advice and had the pork tenderloin with sweet potato tamale with pecan butter sauce. Ian had salmon with a twice baked potato with horseradish sauce. We definitely ate well that day.

(A full Katy after a delicious dinner at Mesa Grill)

The next day we did a little more basking on the beach and then headed to the airport. We were sad to leave paradise, but we were missing our boys by that point and were anxious to see them. It was just the break we needed, and we came back refreshed and ready for the fall!