Take me out to the ball game...

On Friday Night, Andrew's whole family went to the Greenville Drive baseball game. It was so hot! But we had a great time. This was Michael's first baseball game, and he had a blast.

Andrew game him a peanut shell to chew on, and he loved it. As soon as it would get soggy, we would give him a new one to chew on.

We ended up leaving after the 5th ining, which was around 9:00. Michael had reached his limit. but he did really well during the game. Especially, since he didn't nap much during the day on Friday.

Thanks for the tickets Amy! Go glad you were here to go with us.

Walking Everywhere!

Here are some clips of Michael walking around the house. I can't believe how good he is walking, and he isn't even a year old yet! He is doing such a great job!

Catching Up

Here is what we have been up to since we got back from Florida:
- Andrew changed jobs! He is now working for Miracle Hill Ministries. That means he is working during the day again. Yeah! No more third shift!!

- Michael is walking EVERYWHERE! I will post a video in a separate post.

- I have been busy planning Michael's First Birthday Party. You can check out this post for all the details.

- We had a couple play dates with Jessica and Lydia. Love them!

- My cousin Matt and his son Robert have been here visiting for the past couple weeks.

- We went to the Peach Festival and had a great time. We went to the parade in the morning. In the afternoon, Andrew and my Dad competed in the Corn hole competition. They won 2 games and lost 2 games.

Waiting for the Parade to start

My Dad playing Corn hole

Andrew playing corn hole

Michael slept through most of the corn hole competition

- Celebrated our niece Maggie's 3rd birthday.

- Took a trip to Augusta, GA, and Michael met his great aunt and uncle and two cousins for the first time. (pictures to come in another post)

We have had a fun couple of weeks and will stay busy for the next few weeks.
- This week, Andrew's sister Amy is coming up from Florida.
- Play date with Jessica and Lydia.
- Baseball game on Friday night.
- Will be getting everything ready for Michael's Birthday Party!
- Celebrate my niece Lindy's 6th birthday.
- I will be turning 29 on August 10th.

1st Birthday Party Planning

Michael's first birthday is just two weeks away and I have been in party planning mode. We are having his birthday party at the local country club's pool. With as many people that will be coming, (20, just in my family alone) there just isn't enough room to have it at home. I think a pool party will be a lot of fun.

Here are the invitations I designed and made.

This is the front if the postcard, and on the back is all of the information about the party. I had them printed from vistaprint.com. I got a great deal too! A few weeks a go, livingsocial.com had buy a $50 gift card for $10! So I only paid $10 plus shipping for 100 invitations (that was the smallest amount I could order). So, I've sent out a ton of invitations. I love that the front is really more like a "birthday announcement" and people can leave it on their refrigerator like they would a birth announcement.
There really isn't a "theme" for the party, more like a color scheme. I am using bright summery beach colors. I am also adding touches of beach/ocean items.
Like the cupcakes for example.

I ordered these from Sam's Club. I am getting the small cake,with the star fish on it, as Michael's smash cake. Everyone else will have cupcakes.

As far as decorations go, I bought several beach balls and swim rings to have floating in the pool. We will also get balloons to tie on the fence that goes around the pool. The balloons will be in the four colors that are on the invitations. And that is it. Not a lot of decorations at all.

One thing I am most excited about making for the party are the favors. I am going to try to make these:

I got a crab, a number 1, and a letter M cookie cutter and I will try my best to make them look as cute as these do. I found the idea here:
I found a recipe for sugar cookies and a recipe for royal icing. I also found a great tutorial on how to make decorative sugar cookies here:
I am doing a test run this week to see how they turn out.

I am so excited about Michael's birthday party. Everything is coming together great and i think everyone will have a lot of fun. Now we just have to pray for no rain on the day of the party.

Walking to the Dream - Week 20 & 21

Week 20
Total Walked:28.26

Week 21
Total Walked: 26.04

Total Walked: 347.82
Total Left to Walk: 197.18

Walking to the Dream - Weeks 18 & 19

Let me just say, I kicked butt these past two weeks! Being on vacation actually involves a lot of walking around.
Week 18
Sunday: 5
Monday: 4.14
Tuesday: 4.15
Wednesday: 2
Thursday: 3.05
Friday: 6
Saturday: 5.63
Total: 29.97

Week 19
Sunday: 4.10
Monday: 11.74!!!
Tuesday: 5.40
Wednesday: 8.31!!!
Thursday: 4.73
Friday: 2.25
Saturday: 5.36
Total: 41.89!!!

Total Walked so Far: 293.52
Total Left to walk: 251.48

Which means... I am more than half way there!! Wooo Hooo!

Please Vote for Michael!

Go Here to vote for Michael!

Thanks! You can go vote everyday in the month of July, so please go back and vote again.

Our Animal Kingdom Lodge Vacation

This past week, Andrew, Michael and I were at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge in Orlando, FL. We are part of vacation club, and had wanted to go to Hilton Head, but there were no reservations available, so our only option was Orlando. And since I really wanted to go on vacation, we went with what was available. It is no secret that I am not a huge fan of Disney World, especially no in July. So, I made a deal with Andrew, we could go to Orlando, if he agreed that we would do this as cheap as possible and as relaxing as possible.  If we had gone to Hilton Head, our days would be spent at the pool or beach, and then going to dinner. That’s It! No running around, no waking up early and staying up late. Just a nice, quiet, relaxing vacation. So, that meant to park tickets and no dining plan.  The parks are great, but in July, with a almost 1 year old, it just sounds more miserable than fun. So, Andrew agreed, and we made reservations for the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We got there Saturday evening, and went straight to our room. We had a Savannah view room, and all throughout the week, we saw so many different animals right outside!

Our days consisted of waking up, going to the pool, coming back to the room for a nap, eating lunch, walking around the resort to look at the animals, taking another nap, eating dinner and going to bed. Andrew’s family was also there, but at a different resort, so we met them two different days to swim. As far as vacations with an almost one-year-old go, it was pretty relaxing. We did get up a lot earlier than we usually do on vacation, but that is because a baby will only sleep for so long in the morning.

For the 4^th of July, we spent the morning at the pool and then went to watch the fireworks over the castle from the 11^th floor of Bay Lake Tower. It was a great view.

The best part of this vacation was watching the animals. I could sit and watch them for hours. It was just so neat. My favorite animals were the giraffes. There were about 3 or 4 different ones we saw during the week. The ones we saw the most were the Mama and baby giraffe. The baby was only 11 months old, just like Michael.  The zebras were also very cool to watch. One day, as we were walking around we saw 6 or 8 zebras running around a chasing each other. They were running through the ponds and all through the Savannah. Later, we asked a guide about it, and he said that that is what healthy zebras do. If you see them running and are very active, that means they are healthy and happy.

One night, Andrew’s parents asked if they could take Michael with them into the Magic Kingdom and to dinner. We, of course, said that was fine. They were going to the Crystal Palace for a character dinner with Winnie the Pooh and his pals. Michael has never seen any characters, so we weren’t sure how he would react. They said he did fine, and really didn’t pay much attention to them. I am waiting to get the pictures from their camera, and I will post them, when I get them.  Andrew’s dad also took a bunch of pictures at the pool, so hopefully I will have those soon also.

This was one of the best “Disney” vacations I have ever had. We would definitely go back, and do the same thing.

11 Months Old

Michael is 11 months old. I can't believe it. Only one month till he is 1 year old! How did this happen so fast? Here is what Michael is up to at 11 months:

- He now has 8 teeth.

- He is no longer taking a bottle at all. He gets all of his formula in a sippy cup.

- We have started transitioning him from soy formula to milk formula, but have had a little set back. We got to 90% milk based and 10% soy, and he started have some issues, so we are having to go back a little. We are really hoping that he will outgrow his milk allergy.

- He started Walking!!! He took his first steps father's day weekend and since then, he has gotten more and more brave. He still prefers to crawl, or walk if he has something to hold onto.

- He is started to eat a little more table food, but still prefers the purred stuff. Just a few of the foods he has tried are: turkey lunch meat, bacon, tomato, hamburger, french fries, corn bread, and corn.

- He weighs about 23 pounds and is 31 inches tall.

- He is still in size 3 diapers (they last a long time) and wearing size 12-18 month clothes. He has gotten taller, but his weight hasn't changed much, so clothes are just fitting him differently now.

- He still doesn't say "Ma-Ma"  on a regular basis. He has said it a few times, but I think it was an accident. He has started saying the "Na" sound and also the "Ba" sound.  

- He took his first trip to the zoo this month. He didn't seem to really notice the animals, but he had a good time being pushed around in his stroller.

  

- He went on a trip to Charleston with all his buddies, and had a great time.

- He also spent a week in Orlando, FL at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

- He celebrated his Daddy's first Father's Day. He got Andrew a new pair of tennis shoes and a card.
- He has started sleeping really well at night again. He is also taking at least one good nap a day.
- We love him more and more everyday, and are so thankful for what a healthy happy baby he is.

Babies Adventure in Charleston

WARNING: This post has a TON of Pictures

This past week, I spent a fun week in Charleston, with my three best friends, and their babies. We had a great week, just hanging out and spending some great quality time together.


Jessica and I drove down Monday afternoon. What was supposed to be a 3.5-hour drive, turned into a 7-hour drive! We ran into a horrible accident on the interstate, and were stopped in traffic for way too long. Then they detoured everyone through a small town, and that just added to the mess. On top of the wreck, and the detour, both babies (Michael and Lydia) were leaking out of their diapers. It was not a pretty picture. At one point, I got in the back seat, in between the car seats, and tried to keep the babies happy. It worked, but it made for one stressed out Mama.




We finally arrived at Julie's house, to find out that her A/C had gone out, and that we couldn't stay with her. So, we got back in the car, and drove to Jennifer's house. It is a good thing they both live down there, or we would have been getting a hotel room.


Vacationing with 3, one year olds is not exactly what you would call relaxing. It was a lot of fun though. For the most part, we hung around Jennifer’s house.
We did spend some time at the pool, and all of the babies really enjoyed that. Jennifer has a great park near her house, so we spent some time there as well.

We also went to the beach. Our reason was to get pictures of the babies and after about an hour, we were all ready to head back to the house.

The rest of the days was spent coordinating naps and meals. After the babies went to bed each night, we got out the games and had a great time. We laughed so hard!

I love these girls so much, and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I especially love that we are all doing the “Momma” thing together.