May Updates

Sorry for such a long blog post, but I haven't had time to get on and post. Busy with work and fun. We've traveled to Charleston a couple of times and to NC for the weekend. I came home from NC with the start of a nasty cough and turns out I have bronchitis. Taking lots of meds including steroids, antibiotic, cough syrup, and mucinex d. On day three and hoping things start to clear up soon although I don't feel so hot right now.

We celebrated Michelle's birthday a couple of weeks after her actual birthday and headed down to Charleston the weekend of May 12th. Mom and Dad kept the girls, and we all stayed at Michelle's house. It has been a long time since we've been able to celebrate Michelle's birthday with her. We met up with some of Michelle's friends and had a really fun time. We went to Tabbuli's for dinner (and great live music!) and then to the bar with all the slushy drinks (I don't recall the name, but I've been to the one in Savannah) and then to Wasabi's. Although it was cool out it was really humid! That is one thing we can't seem to get away from :)

The next day was Mother's Day so we grilled out at Michelle's house. It was a lovely day of being pampered and just spending time with the family. I love being a mother. Scott and Addison got me a bird feeder and two small citrus trees that can stay in pots on the sun porch (when the time comes I will bring them in - key lime and meyer lemon). The lemon has two lemons on it but they aren't ready yet. Addi and I planted some herbs in small pots and daisies in a pot she made me for mother's day.

Just hanging out.

lemon

lime

My new bird feeder

The next Saturday (May 19th) was the March Madness dinner with the family. We had 18 people over and cooked a huge meal. It was the first time that Scott and I participated and the first time we have had people over. As the losers of the March Madness bracket (Missouri!!!???!!) we were in charge of hosting and cooking the entree, which included fried flounder and fried shrimp (Uncle Donald's choice as the winner). YUM! We also got to keep Jocelyn overnight, which was a wonderful treat. Michelle worked a double and it was Mom and Dad's Saturday to watch her so they brought her to our house. Michelle had to take Charles to the airport really early on Sunday so it was easier for us to watch her overnight since we were going to be in Charleston the next morning.

The next day (May 20th) we headed to Charleston to meet Michelle and for Elise's christening. After the christening we all headed to Derrick and Sally's for lunch. We had a great time and love that we get to spend more time with them now that we are closer.

My attempt to get them to take a picture after church...

The bubbles were a hit!

Another attempt at getting them to take a picture together

Just playin'

Sisterly love!

Cooking up some food and just having some fun cousin time

This past weekend we went to NC to visit Carrie and her family and to meet her new little one, Dalton (May 25th). Addison had a great time with Mary Elizabeth and is excited for them to come visit. Of course she wanted to kiss on Dalton. M.E. has grown so much since we last saw her in December! How time flies. We went to the Townhouse for lunch and everyone was excited to see Scott. He hasn't been able to go to NC with us in a while.

Dalton - around 1 month 

Then we headed to Belmont to have dinner with my Aunt Sr. Michel and Sr. Mary Andrew (or Sr. Boo as she is known to all of us). Mom and dad met us in NC that evening and we had adjoining hotel rooms so we were able to put Addison to bed and hang out with mom and dad in the next room. The next morning we got up and went to Sr. Mary Andrew's 60th Jubilee (May 26th). This was to celebrate her 60th year of being a Sister. of Mercy. It was a beautiful mass and Addison behaved so well. I was worried since it was almost a 2 hour mass and celebration. I am still thinking of some of the things said during mass and was greatly impacted by it. The music was breathtaking, and Addison really enjoyed sitting right next to all of the musicians. After the mass there was a reception. The food was fantastic! The trip was short but nice. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the family and only saw Sr. Soledad and Aunt Libby briefly on Saturday, but it was still nice to see them all. Dad, Scott, and Addison headed back to SC and Mom and I headed to Ikea. Oh what fun we had!

St. Gabriel Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC

She is so excited she can't handle it!

A toast!

It was so great getting to spend the last several weekends with friends and family. I love being close to home for this very reason. Here are a few pictures of the house. We are still in the process of getting things organized so I will take pictures as we go.

Sun room - once we get everything in for it I will take more pictures.

Addison's playroom - in the office space downstairs

The playroom is attached to the living room - I love the french door.s

living room 

A Month in Pictures

Jocelyn's Baptism April 22, 2012

Family

Sweet baby girl! 

Wearing the same gown Michelle, Addison, and I wore

The Proud Parents

Sisters!

Parents and Godparents

Josie and Papa

Just Hangin' Out 

Playing at Mimi and Granddaddy's

Eli and Addi playing at Sitti and Papa's

I'm ready! Let's play ball! 

Cousins just hanging at Addi's new house

Easter Sunday & Addi Updates

We spent Easter Sunday with my Dad, Michelle and her family, and Charles' family. Mom went to Belmont to spend Easter with her brother and his family who were visiting for the weekend.

Here are some of the pictures from our day in Charleston. I wish I had a picture of the cake Michelle made. It was so pretty!

wearing the ears the Easter bunny gave her

PaPa with the kids and the dogs :)

We could not get a good picture of them in matching pjs

Addi is thriving at her new school. Being in the 3-year room has been great for her and she enjoys learning about the sounds letters make, learning how to trace various shapes, and participating in group activities. Her teacher is really creative. Some of the things they have done include writing stories together (each child tells the next part of the story...the end result is hilarious!), going on leprechaun hunts (for St. Patties Day), painting rocks, etc. She gears a lot of their activities around letters of the week (painting rocks was during "R" week and bringing in sun shades (sunglasses) to wear to search for he leprechaun that messed up the classroom but left gold chocolates was during "S" week). Now when she sees letters she not only says the letter, but she also says the sound the letter makes. They do a lot of physical activity as well and can go to the gym if it is rainy or cold/hot and of course there is a lot of structured and unstructured play. The only downside is that at 4:00-4:30 it turns into an afterschool program which is basically TV and playtime for the remaining kids. We do our best to pick her up by 4:30, which is where being close to family is beneficial. Mrs. Marie works next door to me so she picks Addi up once a week usually and has already been really helpful as all of our parents have. It is really wonderful having them around to be a part of our day-to-day lives. Addi has also become more independent and wants to do EVERYTHING herself! She is starting to have tantrums, which aren't fun for anyone. Her vocabulary is constantly increasing and she picks up not only phrases and actions but tones from people. She still loves to read and likes to pick out books each night. Sometimes we read them and sometimes she reads them. She is starting to get where she wants to wear certain things, but we are able to still give her options. She is really imaginative which is good, but sometimes she scares herself thinking that a dinosaur is in her room or that the lion is going to get her. We play Candy Land and Match, and I am going to look into more preschool level games that we can play together. She likes to honk at Aunt Nita's, Mimi and Granddaddy, and Sitti and Papa's houses each time we drive by. She says, hit the button and wave hi to X. She can still wear a lot of her clothes from last summer and seems to be growing taller and losing her baby fat. She now tells us that she is a big girl but she still likes to cuddle and occasionally asks to rock like a baby in which we hold her like a baby and cuddle and rock.  Time sure does fly!

Dying Easter Eggs and Updates

Last weekend Uncle Joe, Aunt Janine, Mike, and Matt came by on their way to Hilton Head. Michelle brought Jocelyn so we could all hang out and so they could meet her. That afternoon we dyed Easter Eggs. As far as updates go, all is going well. We are moving into a rental at the end of this month. It is a lovely house with old charm and is only 10 minutes from my work and Addi's school. Scott's commute to Columbia will only be 30-45 minutes so it will be great that we will be closer. I am really enjoying my job. I've been making progress on my dissertation the last couple of weeks as well. We love Addison's new school and her new teacher is amazing! Here are some pictures from last weekend.

All ready to dye eggs

Addi dressed herself...dress with tutu underneath and black rain boots. 

Just shy of 4 weeks old

Jocelyn and her Sitti

Watering the flowers

Scott Meets Jocelyn (March 17th Weekend)

The following weekend we headed down to Charleston so Scott could meet Jocelyn. Scott was finally in town and starting his transfer with UPS that Monday so he didn't have to go back to Florida. It is so nice finally having him home.

While in Charleston, we went on a walk with the kids. Once we got back to the house, we were all standing around and Jocelyn was sitting in her car seat on the floor below our feet. We hear Addison say, "oh she's heavy" and all look down to see Addison holding Jocelyn. We had to talk to her about asking permission before she picks up the baby. We also had to be careful that we didn't put her in Addi's reach. Needless to say, Addison is in love with her new cousin and always wants to hold her, help take care of her, feed her "under my shirt" as she told Michelle, and see pictures of her when she isn't around. I had fun taking pictures of Jocelyn while we were visiting. I included a few of them below. She slept most of the time so I had no problem getting pictures. I could hold her all day long. She is so adorable and cuddly! She was only awake a couple of times while we were there so it was a miracle I caught it on camera :)

Already into her Irish heritage

Mama, she's trying to get me!

Just watching "her baby"

One of the only times she was awake