Happy Birthday Charlie

Oh My God. Charlie is one. Time for baby #3. JK--well kinda.


Charles Alan how much you have grown. I can hardly believe that a whole year has passed since we brought you home from the hospital. I feel like you were just born. Seriously. I had to look back through my iphoto and make sure that I didn't just blink and you went from newborn to one. AHH!
Charlie is such an awesome baby. So different from Samuel...not that he isn't awesome, just different. He was such an easy baby, aside from the reflux and the sleeping upright until he was 4 months old. But he is so laid back. He is so content (or was until very recently) to just sit back and watch all the happenings around him. He has taught us so many things about being parents. Sam taught us how to be parents, Charlie has just sharpened our skills. I saw a book the other
called, "How to Have Your Second Child First." Ahh, how much easier it would have been. I think we would have had a few more....maybe we will. I digress.


You are an amazing little man Charles. Your dimples are so magnetic. You cannot help but be awed by that amazing smile. Your firsts seem like such a blur. Your first smile, your first laugh and when you first crawled are not fresh in my mind but I know they were spectacular. You went on a road trip when you were four weeks old to MD for Meghan Livie's wedding and Sam's birthday. Then you flew for the first time at nine weeks old to Atlanta to Uncle Geordy and Aunt Lindy's wedding. You met lots of people and everyone ooohhh and aaaahhhed over you.

We had an after baby shower because you decided that you needed to come a little early. We also bought a white couch right after you were born--dumb. You projectile vomited on the couch no less than 1,000 times. Thank God we bought the protection plan. You were pretty much crosseyed in every picture for the first few months of your life. It was adorable.

We started feeding you cereal at 4 months in hopes that you would start sleeping through the night. No such luck. Still to this very day you eat like a champ. And now you are sleeping through the night!

You still aren't walking and I still snuggle you whenever I get a chance. I had you while you slept today as a matter of fact. You are so grumpy from teething but that's ok. I know you will only be small once and I will only get to kiss and snuggle you for so long before you start pushing me away! I love you and can't wait to see the little boy that you will grow into!

I love you!

Mommy

check below....

I have previously started lots of posts and then had to save them...well it then publishes under the DATE that I started them. So needless to say you will have to scroll down :) I will try to copy and paste into new posts so this doesn't happen and/or just finish a damn post!

Another Recipe

I know, I know. I neglect you. But please don't be angry. Here is the best grilled corn salad you will EVER have.

I got it from RecipeGirl.com ummm she is the bomb. Also tried the heath bar ice cream sandwich cake. Delish!

Anywho here is the recipe.

Grilled Corn Salad

GRILLED CORN SALAD
www.RecipeGirl.com

5 ears corn on the cob, shucked
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded & diced
1/2 cup red onion, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 medium jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
3 Tbs granulated white sugar
3 medium limes, zest and juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Grill the corn, dry, no oil. Cut the kernels off of the corn after grilling and place them in a large bowl. Add the bell pepper, onion, cilantro and jalapeno.

2. In a separate bowl, combine mayonaise, vinegar, sugar, lime zest and juice. Whisk to combine the dressing indredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Pour the dressing over the vegetables (you may wish to dress the salad lightly and not use all of the dressing, so add a little and then assess if it needs more) and toss gently.

Servings: 8

Cooking Tips
* Flavors are better if make it 12 to 24 hours ahead of time.

Read more: http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/09/02/grilled-corn-salad/#ixzz0xS8ZYsvM

Happy 5th Anniversary Gregory

Ok--so it is October and we celebrated our anniversary in July. Greg loves me and thank God he does! So it has been a long five years that we have been married. We have done an amazing amount of stuff since we have been married. Our first year of marriage was bliss. We did a lot of eating, drinking and loving. We were blessed with having great friends and family close by. Madelyn was born and we were lucky enough to enjoy having a babe that was adorable and started preparing us for what was to come!

We visited a great little town, St. Michael's and Tilghman Island, for our 1st anniversary. We stayed in a bed and breakfast, played golf and went for an amazing sail. Ahh, the life of leisure that we were so anxious to throw to the wind. It was a blast while it lasted. Not that we didn't have almost five years of DINK (dual income, no kids) life that we took FULL advantage of.

Year two was full of ups and downs. We found out we were pregnant in February and also found out that we would be moving to NC! WOW! The day we found out we were having a little boy was incredible. Greg was so overjoyed and I cried, a little, b/c I wanted a little girl. God knows what he is doing! Chipotle was the celebration of choice! Then we had a couple of trips to NC to house hunt and we had a rocky road but found an unbelievable house. It was a give and take. We lost a great house with a terrible backyard but gained a pretty incredible house with a pretty incredible backyard, not to mention neighbors! The day we settled on our humble abode we received some pretty bad news--that our baby might possibly have Down's Syndrome. Talk about being on such a high and then being brought to your knees in an instant. After a couple of doctors appointments and an amnio we discovered that the baby would not have Down's.

I moved to NC the last week of June and we celebrated our 2nd anniversary at the Melting Pot. We came home to our new neighbors setting off fireworks in our driveway! Welcome home. After the move and what felt like 100 business trips, our baby decided to join us early....seven weeks early! Sam was in the NICU for five weeks and boy did we not have any idea what we were doing and/or in for! We made it to year three with a few falls and lots of pick me ups! Talk about your major stressors!

We loved our first year with Samuel. We were so overwhelmed and out of our minds but we loved it. He was a challenging baby but we loved him to pieces. So comes July 2, 2008. I can't even remember what we did. Must have been memorable...I think we watched a movie, on demand.

July 2, 2009. I was pregnant with babe #2. I was HUGE. I put on a fancy dress and we went to Cheesecake Factory. I looked like a giant blueberry but that was ok! We were in baby bliss. We were about to welcome another little boy into our lives and we were thrilled. Ahh, little did we know, that chaos was about to ensue. It has been so fun though!

July 2, 2010. We actually got to get out of the house. Suzz and George were here so both boys were well taken care of and we went to Flemmings Steakhouse. It was a rough time for us. We were both very stressed about several things going on, jobs, cupcake envy, family, both extended and OUR family. But I think through devotion to each other and to that family, we pulled through and once again there was light at the end of our tunnel. Our struggles are not new and I think that all families at one point or another have to face difficult decisions and tasks but I that we accomplished these with teamwork, it sounds queer I know, and love.

I can't wait to see what this next year holds for us and can't believe how lucky I am that you harassed me into dating and then I harassed you enough into marrying me! I love you, Greg! Happy Belated Five Years!

Beach Time Round 1

We went to the beach a few times this year. We went to visit Anna in Myrtle after she moved there and we were really lucky to be able to stay at Eli's Dad's place. The beach was WAYYYYY funner this time around. The first time we took Sam, when he was about nine months old, it was miserable and I was certain that it was going to be the same with Charlie considering they were about the same age. I'm such an optimist! But it was truly fun!

Charlie actually LOVED playing in the sand. We had to stop him from eating it quite a few times but otherwise he had a blast. We also brought a blow up pool so it kinda corralled him so he couldn't go very far. The surf was mild enough that we could sit on the sand and the kids could play right there in front of us. Sam had a blast with Greg jumping the waves. He even did it on his own, right where the surf broke closer to shore. It was adorable.

Mom was there too and was a HUGE help. She is so much more of a beach girl now then I think she was when we were little but I could be totally wrong. She took both boys in the water and had a great time helping Sam build castles and bulldoze just about everything! She bought him a sand toy that was a dump truck or some sort of episkater (excavator) and Sam just about had a heart attack.

Charlie actually napped on the blanket. It was hotter than Hades but we striped him of his wet suit and he zonked right out. He woke up quite a happy little beach goer. We actually had to drag Samuel off the beach.

Jeannie's Wedding

We had a beautiful day for Jeannie and Bob's wedding on August 15th. She was a very nervous bride but a beautiful one! They were married at Jefferson Patterson Park at 11 am (ish). The weather was cloudy but nice on the water.

Jeannie and Bob had a unity sand ceremony to fully commit to each other :) It was so nice that all the girls had a part in that!

Here is my one shot at an artsy photo.


And here is the fam! Nothing like being twice the size of any of your family put together :( SFD.


Jeannie's reception was held in the barn pavilion that they have on site. It was GORGEOUS! I loved it. The pavilion is very rustic and was set up beautifully. Jeannie hand wrote quotes onto each of the table cloths and handmade the favors that were called, Suminigashi. It is a ancient Japanese paper marbling. BEAUTIFUL!


Their first dance was cute--quite a variety of dance styles but so romantic. You can totally tell these guys are in love! YEAH!

Design

God knows what I have done to this blog--I hate the color change with font but I love the background so bear with me while I experiment!

Thanks!