beautiful Savannah

Today we had to leave Hilton Head. We stopped in Savannah, GA on the way home. We drove around for a while just looking at all the beautiful old buildings, trees etc. then we finally parked to find a place for lunch. We ate at Paula Deen's restaurant, "Lady and Sons". We were just walking by there and didn't think we would eat there because it's such a famous place the wait is at least 2 hours long. We walked up, told them how many people, then went and sat down to eat. It was good and Myles LOVED the sweet potatoes. We finally made our way home after stopping a few times. Myles was SO excited to get home and in his crib...it took him a really long time to go asleep because he was just enjoying being in his crib and kicking the rails etc.

last day on the beach

This morning it was a little cloudy so we went to the indoor pool that had a hot tub and kiddie pool. Luke and I took turns playing with Myles so we could each get in the hot tub. After we left that area it was already sunny. So we ate some lunch at the "Island Grill" by the pool. Myles had his first french fry....which of course he loved - so we didn't give him much.

After Myles had a little nap we went out to the beach. Myles loved pushing his little cart on the sand. It's been a great first family vacation...we dread going back home tomorrow.

my beach chair

In 2008 when I got pregnant, we shared the news with Luke's parents sometime shortly after we found out in August. Not long (maybe a week or less) after we told them Luke's mom bought a beach chair for Myles. It has Mickey & Minnie Mouse on it, as well as Pluto. If I'm not mistaken, I think it was the first baby item she bought - and she's bought a lot of baby items for us :) . Almost 2 years later we finally get to use that chair. We hated waiting so long to use it, but it was well worth the wait! Myles loves to sit in it and he especially loves sitting in it for his snack in the shade on the beach. Myles is so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents, we love them all so much!

p.s. I think Myles is kind of learning how to smile at the camera and he's so funny when he does his "picture taking" smile.

this kid loves the beach

Well as our first full day at the beach we had a blast again! We went to the beach in the morning, then went back for lunch. Then we went to the pool for a little while, then back to the room. Then after that we went back to the beach. Myles had 1 nap this morning, but that was it. I remember always seeing a picture of me when I was little of me curled up sleeping on the beach with a towel around me....I don't know how that happened because the ONLY way we can get Myles to sit still in his beach chair is for a snack. We've had lots of shade/rest time - s0 he had a lot of snacks today, haha. There's lots more to talk about, but it's vacation - time for ME to rest!

1 word...BEACH

We haven't been to the beach in 2 years and Myles has never been so today was a wonderful day for us. We got up super early and left Boone around 4:30. After a few stops and a visit to the grocery store we checked in a condo in Hilton head at noon and got ready for the beach. We didn't make it out until around 3 but it was awesome. Myles LOVED the water, he loved to crawl in it and he even walked a little and jumped some waves with daddy. We also let him try out the pool for a little bit, which he loved too. What a great day of 'firsts'. Having Myles here at the beach is so different than our vacations before him, but we both agree that now vacation is BETTER!

it takes him a while...

Ever since Myles was a tiny baby we haven't rocked him to sleep. I know that may sound bad, but we've figured out how humans work...and we know as he gets older and bigger it would get harder to rock him to sleep EVERY single night. Our going to be routine is usually bath (every other night because of his eczema), brush teeth, read the book called "woof" about a dog, then we tell him goodnight and lay him in bed. He usually just lays there very still until we leave the room...then he starts playing and sometimes talking happily. If he fusses we know he's not feeling good or something and we'll give him some extra love - but overall he's always a happy boy. So i got a quick shot of him tonight playing with his feet. I've been telling him how we're going to the beach..so i think he's excited to meet the ocean and get in a swimming pool for the first time!

this time tomorrow i'll be typing from the laptop at the condo in Hilton Head!

this one's for dad

Daddy's favorite drink is Mountain Dew. We're packing up for the beach and I had some things piled up in the floor..including some Mountain Dew's. Myles wanted to play with them, so I let him. It's been a busy day - we're going to the beach on Thursday...we can't wait!!!!!!!

a few more steps

Myles takes more and more steps every day. Today he was walking from this play thing he stands up at to the couch. He's so funny when he walks. He has a lot more balance than he did...even last week. He's so cute though, he picks his knees up so high and kinda waddles. Tonight after his bath we put his pj's on and had to pull them up really high so he wouldn't walk on the pant legs. He's so awesome!

relaxing on the couch...sort of

Since it's been such a crazy weekend Myles hasn't had very much rest and he hasn't been home in his crib with his toys etc. all weekend, plus I've been very tired so Myles and I stayed home today while Luke went to church. Myles has been taking 1 nap a day recently, but today he took 3...yes...3! I didn't really rest when he napped though, but I feel good about getting a lot of things done around the house. One time today when Myles was playing in the living room I was resting a little on the couch and he kept coming up to me and I'd pull him up on the couch then he'd get down, then he kept doing that over and over. So i tried to snap a picture of him laying on me 'pretending' to rest.

walking with a kid stroller

Today we were at church practically all day. They had several meetings and events for the youth conference today so we were there to help. We hung out with Amanda some more and had a lot of fun! The nursery at church is practically Myles' home this weekend, haha. There's a little 'cart' I call it, in the nursery. It's really a little kid's baby doll stroller. If Myles would have pushed that around last week I would have had to hold it because it's not very heavy and he would have pushed it out from under himself and fell. Today, he actually pushed it by himself without me having to hold it. There were a few times he pushed it a little faster than his little legs could catch up to, but he's doing great!

reading on the road

Today we took the day off and drove to Charlotte to pick up Amanda, who is the speaker at our youth conference at church this weekend. Myles took advantage of all the time in the car, he took a couple naps and he also read some books - he's so smart.

*~ moon walk ~*

It's been a busy week for me at work with all of our International Country Directors here for meetings. Today after work we had the department picnic. This year they rented several moon walk things from a company in Boone...you know those things that a plugged in and they have the air in them. They had one smaller one for kids and then some bigger things for the grown ups. When we got there I was hoping there wouldn't be too many bigger kids in the small moon walk so we could get in there with Myles...but there was no one in there; in fact, there was no one on ANY of the blow up things. We had SO much fun bouncing with Myles in the moon walk. Then there was one with 2 slides and we crawled through that and I held Myles when we went down the slides, it was a good work out for us and just total fun for Myles :)

opening and closing cabinets

we all know it - cabinets are the most amazing things to 1 year olds. The kitchen cabinets are a little hard for Myles to open, but he loves the bathroom cabinets. Today on the playground at daycare, they said Myles crawled up and slid down the slide by himself. His butt was soaking wet when I picked him up so I took his pants off for the ride home. Then we did our daily 'bird bath' as my mom has always called it and I changed his clothes. In the middle of that Myles wanted to play with the bathroom cabinet doors, so I got a quick picture.

Chunky Monkey soup with Nana

Today I had meetings at the Cove in Asheville with work so Myles stayed with his Nana. They had a blast. In the morning Popi Gabe was there and was making 'Chunky Monkey' soup...which consisted of some small hard toys and several monkeys from the 'barrel of monkeys'. Myles also took a very long nap today - from 12:30 to 3:00. How come Myles can't sleep that long when he's at home with us on the weekends? I guess nana just has some special 'nana powers' :)

Grandmomma and Grandaddy Sink

I needed to go to Asheville on Tuesday for some meetings at The Cove for work. So today after work we rode to my moms so she could keep Myles all day on Tuesday. I wanted to surprise my dad so we stopped in Burnsville to eat supper with them. We made time for a quick photo then had some supper at Western Sizzlin'. Myles ate SO much food. He's been eating a lot lately, I guess since he's playing more and trying to walk more he can eat more. We had a blast and I think we were all sticky after that meal!

I'm not afraid of a little puppy

It seems like we're always extra busy on Sunday's - but we're ok with it and we usually enjoy it - because Luke and I were both called into the ministry. Today after church we had a 'meet and greet' I guess you could call it, for the new people at our church, which of course involved a great lunch! Then later that night at church we had the privilege of being a part of and witnessing one of our good friends get ordained - what a powerful service! In between those things, Myles and I came home for just a little while and he played with is friend "aju aju" (translation = puppy). My step-uncle gave this dog to Myles when he was still very little. He's just now getting to where he notices it more. Myles loves it when things chase him so I chase him with this dog. I can see fear in his eyes every now and then, but usually he loves it! Thanks for the dog uncle Larry.

a Saturday at home

Today was a great day! Sometimes I have a really hard time picking just one picture to put up about the day we had. We are always busy and the past few weekends we haven't been home very much, but today - we were home! This morning we woke up early, Luke ran and Myles and I had some pancakes. Then me and Myles went to a yard sale, and ran to some other stores around town. After hanging out at home for a while we went downtown. We went into one of my favorite stores that sells a bunch of cool beads etc. and I bought this small $5 homemade ring. I never buy anything for myself, so it made me feel very special and it was fun! After we went downtown we ran by the grocery store and then grilled some special black bean burgers. They had ground beef, mashed black beans, red onions, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and a little salt and pepper. Then we put pepper jack cheese and salsa on them. They fell apart, so we'll have to work on that next time, but they tasted GREAT. Myles is more excited about walking today and wanted to do it a lot. He's still not doing on his own, but getting better with just holding one of our hands.

taking some steps

Myles is so funny - he's been taking a few steps here and there when we ask him to walk toward us. Usually when he gets close he'll fall into our arms though. This was a picture of him walking toward me and falling toward - which he loves.

time with daddy

This evening I had to go eat dinner with some international field staff from work that we were getting ready to send across the world. Luke and Myles hung out for a few hours and played together. Myles absolutely loves coming home in the evenings. You can tell he KNOWS where he is and he knows his toys. He was so dirty again today so I took his shirt off to put a clean one on. He then got really excited about playing and just kept playing without his shirt on. I wanted to get a picture of him and his daddy but when Luke picked him up he got upset because he wanted to be down playing. So...that's why he's fussing in the picture - he's still cute though!

dirtiest day ever

When I picked up Myles from daycare today he was outside on the playground. With very rosy cheeks and a runny nose he looked up at me like "lets go home mommy." I didn't realize until I picked him up how dirty he was. He had dirt all over his pants, shirt, hands and face...not to mention under every single fingernail. I tried to get a picture of his dirty face, but this picture just doesn't do justice. This is definitely the dirtiest Myles has been since he came into this earth. I don't mind for him to explore the dirt and be dirty though, he's gotta be a kid!

Oh - and more importantly....Myles took his first steps on his own today. Over the weekend he kind of took one step here and there on his own, but today....today he took at least 3 steps on his own, and to me, that's walking. I actually got a video of him doing this, but I cannot figure out how to get it loaded on the computer. Hopefully soon I can get a pic of this most amazing event!

super balloon

get this....on April 10th we had Myles' 1st birthday party. That morning I went and had a mylar balloon blown up at the grocery store. Today is May 11th and today was the first day since April 10th that this balloon stopped touching the ceiling. Myles loves this balloon. We keep it in the kitchen area so he's always pointing at it and he knows when I say balloon...that's it! I have had balloons to stay in the air for a long time before, but no other balloon can compete with this super balloon. So I got a picture of Myles sitting on the couch playing with the balloon.

1st day as a Carebear

Today Myles started in a new daycare class. On the way to daycare I was talking about it and he seemed to get happy - making a very cute picture for the day! They said he had a great day, he ate good and slept from 12 - 2:30. They said he woke up at 1:00 a little bit, but went right back to sleep. Surprisingly they said he's not crazy about going outside to the playground, but they said all the kids are like that at first, they just have to get adjusted. They said today he played a little longer outside before he started crying, so that's good. He was so dirty when we picked him up. He was playing with a little duck in the car and his dirty face and hands got the duck dirty.

*notice in the photo...his right had looks like a ghost.

Mother's day!

Today was another very busy, but good, day. I got up at my normal 5:30 and got ready then Myles got up around 6:30, we got him ready and fed and packed some things in the car and headed to church in Wilkesboro. Then after church we rode to High Point to visit Luke's parents. We took some strawberries and I made some strawberry short cake. Myles had so much fun with his grandparents and aunt Ashley - he even said "heyyyy" to Ashley (it sounded like it anyway, right Ashely? - haha). We had some Mexican food for dinner and Grandma fed Myles and he loved stuffing the rice in his mouth, then he started sipping on his milk and just being silly and he was putting his feet up on the table, it was funny - so I got a picture...notice the little white sock up on the table. I have 3 wonderful moms...my mom, step-mom, and mother-in-law and I love all of them very much and am SO thankful for them! I'm also very thankful to be a mother. Since I was little, my dream was to be a mother and I just feel so lucky and fortunate! There's nothing in the world that makes me happier than being a mother, wife, daughter, and sister.

pre-mother's day, mother's day

Today was such a wonderful day! We went to Burnsville and had lunch with my dad, step-mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Then we hung out at my step-mom's jewelry/gift store and with their little dog, Opal. I got some great photos of Myles and Opal playing. Then after that we drove to Weaverville to see my mom and step-dad and had lots of fun playing in the yard, riding in the wagon and going to eat pizza! There were WAY too many cool pics to choose from but one of my favorites is this one. For us today was mother's (grandmother's) day for Grandma T and Nana Cruz! :)

last day as a 'tadpole'

Today was Myles' last day in his current daycare class. At the daycare he goes to each class is named something different. The class is called the 'tadpole' class. The room he's going to is the 'carebear' class. It's a HUGE change - which I'll explain more about on the Monday blog. But today i posted a picture of him with 2 of his teachers, one of his favorite teachers wasn't there this evening when I picked him up. Notice the red 'buggy' thing on left - there are about 6 seats in this and they ride around in this a lot, Myles loves it!

p.s. Myles got a little sunscreen in one of his eyes, that's my it looks a little funny - he's ok now :)

humpty dumpty in a box..

Myles love his humpty dumpty in a box that he got for Christmas from his Nana Cruz. That's right...instead of a 'jack' in the box it's 'humpty dumpty'. He's grown a lot since Christmas and he now tries to turn the little knob. He still doesn't understand that you have to wait for the end of the song for the humpty dumpty to come out of the box, he's always trying to open the box before it's time to open. It's very cute. Oh - also, he got bit in the head today at daycare by a little girl. Apparently she bites all the new kids and he's easy to get because he can't walk yet. He's ok though, I'm sure one day he'll bite back one day :)

I don't wanna wear the water ski's

on May 10th Myles moves to a new class at daycare the 12-18 year old class. He's almost 13 months old, but they didn't have an opening until now. The past few days he's been going to visit his new classroom for a couple hours each day. In that class he's required to wear shoes. He has a pair of sandals he's been wearing the past couple of days...but this morning I went to put some other sandals on him. I thought they were still a little to big for him but I wasn't sure. So I put them on him and let him crawl around in them this morning. He kept stopping and touching them. Then he crawled over to the sandals he's been wearing all week and started putting those up against his feet. My dad would probably call the bigger sandals "water ski's"...that just sounds like something he'd say...so I took those off and put the ones Myles wanted on. One day he'll want to wear the water ski's :)

too many to choose from

Myles is always doing something cool. Today when we got home he was playing with his "drum sticks" (the 2 wooden spoons). He banged on the "drum" (his pot) for a while but then he got his books out and started banging on them. So I took some pictures of that because it was cute...but i'm really going to stick to the 1 picture per day thing...so my picture of the day is of him holding his sippy cup. I've been trying to teach him how to hold the sippy cup up so he can get stuff out of it, because he's just been trying to suck on it without lifting it. Then suddenly tonight he decided to lift it up to his face...and not only that - he really put it all up against his face - what a funny little man!

the professional crawler

As a mom I must brag - Myles is a great crawler and a lot of times if there's something he likes he'll get it in one of his hands and crawl with it. One of Myles' favorite things are the remote controls. This evening we were in the living room and usually if we walk out of the room he'll follow us. So i hear Myles coming down the hall and I can tell his crawling sounds different....Myles must have something he likes in one of his hands....I turn around....he's got a remote in BOTH hands, not just one of his hands. He was also crawling just perfectly and tromping down the hall as loud as a horse.

busy day

I have to admit - today I didn't take a picture because it was such a busy day. We had a special speaker at our church for the morning service and we also had a special evening service. Luke had to teach a class at church that evening too...so after the morning service Myles and I drove back to Boone, then we drove back to Wilkesboro for the evening service. Anyway - I have another picture from Saturday that I'd like to use. At John Mark and Amanda's wedding we went to on Saturday, Pastor Reggie was the officiant (is that the correct word)? So we got a good picture of him with Myles and Dawson (Pastor's youngest son who's about 5 weeks older than Myles). Dawson and Myles are good friends - hopefully Myles will start walking soon so he can keep up with Dawson, who's been walking around for a while! They are so cute together!

* ~ happy birthday mommy ~ *

well I guess everyone has to get older - today is my day. Getting older isn't as exciting as it used to be, but today was a great day! We got up and went to breakfast at the Sunrise Grill which was really good. Then later on we went to the mall and then a wedding! We were going to grill out tonight, but I wanted pizza instead - extra cheese! Then I had some of the wonderful extreme chocolate Godiva brownies Hollie made me!!!