Bittersweet

I had one of those moments tonight. I knew that I would have these moments when I moved here to Georgia, but it dosen't make it any easier when they happen. I knew that I would miss really important things while being away from my family and friends, but it really hit home tonight. I'm so happy to announce that my sister Lorie and her husband Micah are pregnant with their first child. I'm so excited for them as they make the transition into parenthood. They can't even begin to imagine yet the wonderful road that they've started along and how very much it will change their lives. I can't wait to meet my niece or nephew. God has truly blessed our family and I'm so thankful to Him for his blessings--I just wish I could be there. It was so hard tonight imagining they joy that my family got to experience together and knowing that I couldn't be a part of it. It's so hard to think about Lorie going through the whole pregnancy and not being there to experience it with her. It's almost incomprehensible that I might not be able to be there when the baby is born. I just hope that God will make a way for me to be able to share this with her, perhaps by us hanging out in Kentucky for the entire month of April? I hope that these musings don't in any way take away from the joy Lorie and Micah have in their announcement, I'm just trying to record how I feel. Lorie is due April 26th, just two days before my birthday. I can hardly wait to find out what they're having!! Congratulations Lorie and Micah!

Lorie and Micah hanging out with MY sweet baby, May 2008. Their baby will be almost exactly a year younger than Tristan.

Gulf Shores Part 4

On Sunday morning, we headed outside for beach portraits. I had planned on doing them the previous night, but it was cloudy and gray and overcast. I hoped for better weather the next morning, but when we awoke the weather was cloudy and gray and overcast. We just made the best of things and I think the photos came out pretty well despite the lack of sunshine. Let me know which are your favorites. We could not get Maura to smile for anything, but she at least looked at the camera in some of the shots.


Probably the best standing photo.

Sweet little man smiling and Maura looks miserable!
I think this one is my favorite.


Grammy and her sweet babies. She was the one who took all the photos, so Good Job Grammy!

Sorry, Mom, I have to point this out. Check out where Tristan's hand is--he knows where the good stuff is!

Looking to the left.
Looking to the right. I love how similar their body language is in these photos.
Tristan the turtle.

Sweet momma's boy. He really is a momma's boy too. I just had to go "rescue" him from Brent, who dared to try to rock him to sleep. Tristan was screaming bloody murder!

Three generations of family. Thanks, Mom, for helping to make this vacation possible!!

Gulf Shores Part 3

These photos are from Saturday, our last full day at the beach. I'm always sad when our vacation comes to an end. There is always so much planning and anticipation that goes into a vacation that it doesn't seem possible that it could be over so quickly. This was a short vacation for us this year and it seemed even quicker because Brent was only able to be with us for two and a half days. Despite how short it was, we had an awesome time.
Brent and Maura waiting patiently for us to get organized enough to head for the beach. It did take us forever to get organized in the morning. Thank goodness that my mom was there remembering all the things I forgot!

Grammy and Tristan. He's a giggle monster!
Sweet boy fell asleep on the beach. Look at him nursing in his sleep. So cute!!
Maura and Daddy building a sand castle. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the finished product. It was really something!! Maura and I went and found a bunch of seashells to decorate the top wall of the castle.
This is what happens to a chunky four month old when you put him down to sleep in an infant seat without strapping him in. He sunk lower and lower and lower! He slept really well in the tent we put up. I'm glad we had it--there was a sandstorm going on at the beach and our blanket was completely covered in sand.
Mommy and Maura enjoying a fun day at the beach. I enjoyed collecting shells with my girl. She was impressed by all the shells, even the cracked and ordinary ones. I think we could learn a lot from the enthusiasm of a two-year old. Somehow it's just sad to lose that wonder at the world around us.

All tired out from a big day at the beach. Pretty much every day by lunchtime she was worn out. She dragged herself through lunchtime and I've never seen her so glad to go down for a nap. We got some marathon naps out of her on this vacation--3+ hours. I LOVED it!!
Maura at her own personal swimming pool. This late in the season, the resort was pretty empty. The baby pool at the resort was not very inhabited and we only saw two other children using it the whole time we were there. Maura took over this pool and really enjoyed it.
This pool was JUST RIGHT. I think the hurricane really cooled down the big pools, but this little one was really nice. It was shallow too and I loved that we could sit up on the deck and just watch her enjoy herself.
I need a vacation from my vacation. I always stay up way too late on vacation and I'm tired out when we get home!
Brent caught a sand crab for Maura on Saturday. She'd been looking for them the whole time we were at the beach and she was thrilled when Daddy actually caught one.



Check out the hilarity that ensued. Uncle Jeff had stayed the night with us and he's the camera man. You can hear him laughing the whole time.

More local wildlife. I think this guy is a blue heron? He was fishing in the surf on our very last beach walk. We were so sad to leave the beach! I don't know when we'll have a chance to go back. Hopefully we'll get back to the beach before we move back to Kentucky.
On our way home, we didn't leave until lunchtime and we stopped just outside of Gulf Shores at a place called Lamberts. Mom had eaten here before and she said it was a fun place to go. It's called "The home of the throwed roll" and now I know why. They actually throw the rolls to you. They also walk around with big pots of side items and offer them to you. You pull off a paper towel and they plunk down some fried okra. My kind of place! Tristan loved all the things to look at on the ceiling and walls.
Me and my little space cadet. I think she's focused on her roll.
Brent and I enjoying our lunch out.

Here's a picture of the guys throwing out the roll. If you wanted one, you just raised your hand and they lobbed it to you! We did witness a few missed catches while we were there. We had a great lunch, but as we were about to leave and I pulled Maura from her highchair, I looked down to notice poop all over my arm and leg. YUCK, YUCK, YUCK. In my two and a half years as a parent I have not witnessed anything more disgusting. I have no idea how to even clean that up short of throwing the child in a bathtub. I feel sorry for the diners around us and for those in the restroom who had to witness that horrid display. So, for the second time in four days, I had to seek out a complete change of clothes, plus shoes for my girl. Needless to say, we went back to diapers the very next day. That was one of those moments that makes you reflect back on those easy days pre-children when I could go on vacation without having to change disgusting poop pants. I wouldn't trade it, but every now and then I do remember it longingly!! Other than the accidents along the way, we had such a great time. Stay tuned for our beach portraits--I know, can you believe that there could be MORE photos from the beach?!?

Gulf Shores Part 2

Day 2 and 3 of our beach Odyssey. Grammy, the kids and I headed down to the beach early Thursday morning to soak in as much of the fun as we could before lunchtime. Although it was overcast, it was the perfect weather for the beach because it was warm and breezy. We were very comfortable--maybe a little too comfortable because I neglected to put sunscreen on my shoulders and paid for it later that day!

Tristan was a little overwhelmed by all the sand and sun and got a little fussy at the beach, but I put him down for a nap right on the beach and he felt more cheerful when he woke up. I took his vibrating infant seat down to the beach with us and it was the perfect spot for a quick nap! We were definitely the only ones on the beach with an infant seat! You should have seen Mom and I travelling down to the beach with two kids, two beach umbrellas, a tent, four towels, a beach blanket, three chairs, an infant seat and beach toys. We looked like we were moving out to the beach!
Maura was so excited to get out there to play in the sand and water. Grammy bought her this cool bathing suit that protected her skin from the sun and solved that little sand up the bathing suit problem we've had in the past.
Grammy and Tristan, bathing beauties! I pulled every single beach related outfit out of Tristan's drawers and closet for this vacation. He wore a sailboat, an octopus, a crab, a surfboard, and a fish outfit while we were there. He looked so cute!!
Maura thought it was hilarious to sit at the very edge of the water and splash with her feet. She loved running in and out of the waves and tiptoeing through them. She also loved pretending that she was a little pony running in and out of the waves tossing her head. She has a book about a pony running in the waves and she was so cute acting it out.
Brent drove down on Thursday night to spend the rest of the weekend with us. Happy Birthday Brent. What a lucky guy! He got to celebrate his birthday at the beach on Friday!

Brent at 33 years of age. What a successful guy--a wife that loves him, two kids that are crazy about him, friends that care about him, beloved by his students and athletes, superiors and subordinates who respect him and he's totally sold out to God. I call that success.
Unfortunately, by the time we made it down to the beach on Friday, this is how it looked. We stood there for a few minutes and watched the storm roll in and then noticed a funnel cloud forming at the edge of the storm. As we watched, it touched down on the water and became a water spout. I ran for my camera, but just missed it. The pseudo-tornado and the lightning and thunder that accompanied it convinced us that it wasn't going to be a great beach day. We headed for the indoor pool and made it just in time to avoid a downpour. We had a good time hanging out at the indoor pool. We sat in the hot tub for awhile talking with some people from Alabama. While we were all sitting there around the tub, Maura walked up to a guy with a short haircut and put her arms around his neck. When he turned and she realized he wasn't her daddy, she shot away from him and ran over to Brent and put her arms around HIS neck. It was so funny. I still remember grabbing a stranger's hand in a store and that feeling I got when I realized that it wasn't my mother.
Sweet Tristan's favorite pastime at the condo. The wall behind the couch was all mirrors. Tristan loved to stand up on the couch and stare at the mirrors. He'd smile and let out big belly laughs. It was hysterical.
Mommy and her kiddos at the beach. Many of you know that potty training isn't going so well for Maura. We've tried her in Pullups for the past month to no avail. I decided that while we were at the beach in mostly tiled areas, we would go with just training pants. Well, my poor decision ushered in an unprecedented amount of accidents for us. Starting on Thursday night, while we were out shopping, Maura managed to fill her Pullup so full(probably because I had spent the whole day telling her she wasn't allowed to poo poo or pee pee in her bathing suit!) that the Pullup basically exploded, sending pee all over the floor of the Gymboree outlet. I whisked her out to the car for a change and had to dump pee out of her shoes. I had to dig into the bag of freshly purchased merchandise for a new outfit! On Friday night, I put her in training pants and she wet through them. I took them off and let her run free for a few minutes before bath time. BIG MISTAKE! She stood up and was covered from her bottom down with disgustingness. Brent gasped and said, "OH MY GOSH! WHAT DID YOU DO?" Maura looked down and immediately burst into tears. There's more poo poo stories to come, but I'll save it for the next post. Bet you can't wait!! And, on that note, I'll show you the "cake" I made for Brent. Yum.

Maura was so excited about opening presents. She's WAY into parties these days. Check out the video clip at the end of the post. When I put her down for a nap, I told her that when she woke up we'd have a party for Daddy. Well, I don't know what she expected, probably a circus tent like I constructed for HER party! When she walked out into the main room, she looked around and burst into tears. It didn't look like any party that she'd ever been to. There were no balloons, no streamers, no decorations of any type. We weren't able to convince her that this is how an adult's party looks until she saw the cake and presents. It was so funny. I guess being over the top about birthdays might raise the bar a wee bit too high when it comes to the types of parties that this little one might expect! Anywhoo, Maura opened all of Brent's presents in the time it took me to take this photo. NO LIE! We couldn't stop her!
My brother Jeff drove in for the evening to help celebrate Brent's birthday. He just loved Tristan, who he described as "chill." I guess you could say Tristan is "chill." In a strange twist of fate, Jeff is the sibling who has seen the kids the most since our move. We'll be seeing the rest of my clan next week,though, when we fly up for my cousin's wedding.
Maura checking out Brent's presents. She wasn't too impressed by anything. Nothing flashed, or made noise or anything!
She did stick around for all the opening, though, just in case it got more interesting.

Tristan and Maura with Uncle Jeff. What a great way to celebrate a birthday!

"I want a party!"