Father's Day

Happy Father’s day to my awesome husband! Brent is an amazing dad and husband…I couldn’t have handpicked a stronger, more compassionate, loving, supportive husband and dad to share this journey with. I feel so blessed in every aspect to have my very best friend as my husband. Owen is blessed beyond measure to have him as a dad. Owen loves Brent so much! You should see his face when he gets home from work. It amazes me how much Owen wants to be just like his daddy…he often refers himself to “daddy’s sidekick”…and that he is! It is so beautiful how he wants to be just like him and he does EVERYTHING that Brent does. Thank you Brent for being an awesome daddy and husband, Owen and I adore you!

You had me from hello

I could not ask for more

Thank you for being a "kid" with me

Thank you for holding me tight when I am uncertain and scared

I look up to you in countless ways

"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world."

Hello Thomas!

O has always been a huge fan of Thomas...he has the trains, the DVDs, the PJs...he loves his choo choos! When we found out Thomas would be at Tweetsie, we knew we had to take him. We went on the last day and it was perfect..great weather and the crowds were not bad. O was so excited as soon as we got there and when he saw Thomas hit eyes lit up and he yelled "All aboard"! It was so funny. We were a little skeptical about how he would do on the chair lift, but he loved it and we got to ride it many times. He even said he wanted to ride the ferris wheel, but as soon as he and Brent got to the top, I think a little fear set in. It wasn't anything a big hug from Daddy wouldn't solve. He still mentions being scared of the ferris wheel. He loved the go carts and the smaller train ride (we rode everything many times)! O did so well and he didn't even stop for a nap while we were there. We were there until about 5:30 and within 5 minutes of getting in the car to leave, he was out like a light. We had so much fun and look forward to going back next year.

All aboard!


Tweetsie inside the carriage.

Family pic!

Here go...up the mountain.

Not too sure about this...

Let's go faster Mommy..

Slow down Daddy..

O was so excited to see Sir Topham Hat

O got his cool t-shirt and this neat whistle.

O and Mommy outside some of the shops.

O getting Thomas painted on his face.

And of course, Daddy had to have some fun too (far left)

Doesn't look like this ride was too popular with all the empty seats!

Fun at the pool

Owen loves the pool! He could seriously stay there ALL day….I try to avoid going by there unless we are going, because he gets so excited and is very disappointed when we do not pull in. The weather had been so hot that we have been taking full advantage of it. He loves going down the kids slide and playing in the fountains…splashes up a storm and just has a ball! He also loves the big pool and to my surprise he jumped off the side of it into my arms….it took a little coaxing, but he did it! I am super proud of him! Love summer time…there is just so much to do at this age! Can’t wait for some more pool fun!

All smiles....loves the water



A little scared the first time....after that I bet he went down it a hundred times!

Beach Fun

We had been talking about heading to the beach in the early part of the summer, but didn't know exactly when. On Thursday, Brent came home and asked if I wanted to go the beach Friday afternoon and come back late Monday. Of course I didn't want to pass it up, so I started packing. We were all packed and ready to go when Brent got home, so off to Topsail Island we went. We had a blast! The weather was perfect..low 80s the entire time. O really had so much fun. Last summer, he was so fearless and would take off towards the water. This time, he was definitely interested in the water, but would not go down there without us by his side. He loved building sandcastles and digging in the sand with his little shovel. When the tide went back out, he loved sitting and playing in the "pools" as he called it. We were a little anxious about how well he would sleep in his pack 'n play, but he was so tired at the end of the day, we slept like a rock! We had an awesome time and hope to go back before summer is over. On Sunday evening we were able to take a few minutes before dinner and go out on a walkway near the intercoastal waterway to take some pictures.

Strawberries Anyone?

Strawberries….YUM…one of my favorites…right behind blueberries that is :-) A few weeks ago, Owen and I decided to take a little trip to a local strawberry patch…what fun! As soon as we started he immediately began to eat them, as most 2 year olds would do. He loved picking and eating them. When we got home we washed them up and pretty much for the next week we ate strawberries on everything…cereal. oatmeal, ice cream, strawberry short cake, etc…I am not a big fan of freezing them…they never taste quite the same to me…strawberries were an extremely popular theme for the next week! I wish strawberry season lasted longer...I love fresh, red, sweet strawberries...they are so very yummy!

YUM....how appropriate is this shirt...chomp! ha! totally unplanned!

picking

and more eating

sweet boy looking for more strawberries

Last Day of Preschool

O's last day of preschool was Wednesday, May 25th. The Monday before the last day, the school had a picnic for all of the kids. It was so much fun. I am one of the room moms in O's class, so I was abe to see all of the fun that day. They had neat games planned and yummy snacks. O absolutely loves school and has come such a long way since the first day of school. It makes me so happy that he loves going to school. FOL offers summer camps and O is signed up to go to quite a few. Each session consists of a three day program and it is focused on a certain theme. Can't wait to see what fun that brings!

O's class enjoying snacks.

O chasing bubbles. Better be quick!

Olivia, Bryce, and O at the bubble machine.

Hold the rope! So cute!

Happy Mother's Day

Brent wanted to do this post, so I was glad to hand over my laptop and let someone else add to the blog.

First off, I'd like to wish all of the moms out there a special "Happy Mother's Day". Today is a special day to make sure the moms in our lives know how much they are appreciated. With our busy lives and schedules, it often goes unsaid too many times. Owen is one lucky little guy, he has the BEST mom in the world. My wife pours her heart into making sure her family is #1 in her life. She is so caring, loving, and devoted to O and myself. She willingly makes many sacrifices for our family and is always thinking about us and how she can make us happy. Seeing all of the smiles on O's face makes me incredibly happy and also makes me so very proud to be married to such an awesome woman. Happy Mother's Day to all of our moms, and especially to you honey.

Boys Day at the Zoo

It's definitely time to dust off the camera and get back into the swing of blogging. Sorry for being absent for a while. We have been pretty busy and have taken full advantage of the warm (actually hot is a better word for it) weather we have had the last couple of months.

Since I am always with O during the day, Brent wanted to have a special day with O. At the end of April, Brent took a day off of work and the 'boys' went to the Zoo. They had a ball! O was so excited and it was perfect...low 70s, no crowds, and the animals were very visible. They left after breakfast and stayed until 5pm that evening. Of course, they took a long ride after lunch so O could take a nap (talk about a pricey nap with gas prices!). Brent said that O never asked to be carried, he was such a little trooper and had the best time. That's good considering he decided not to bring the stroller. We are lucky to have such a great place to visit so close to home.

Owen getting ready to go down the slide at the kid's play area.

What fun!

Owen at the rhino exhibit.



The giraffes were really close.