All Caught Up

June was an absolutely CRAZY month for us! First was a wonderful vacation to the Outer Banks. We stayed in a beautiful beach house, located in a Corolla Light resort, which had its own pools, game room and restaurant (we did eat there, and boy was it YUMMY!) The best part of the trip, however, was the beach.

While I had not expected the water, or weather, to be warm enough to enjoy, I was, thankfully, wrong! We had some very sunny, warm days, and while the water was a tad chilly at first, it was easy to get used to (even for a water wimp like me!) and we were "catching waves" in no time! Even Jeremiah was able to get in on some water action, though he did find the waves a little scary at first. Jesslyn, at the beginning of the week, wanted nothing to do with the water, but was perfectly happy sitting on the beach as the tide came in to occasionally cool her off. And as it is with Jesslyn, nothing stops her from sucking her thumb--not rain, nor sleet or snow, and DEFINITELY NOT sand, much to Mommy's dismay...

We did try to go crabbing on the sound side. That was my favorite part. I'm not much of a crab person, but I do like fishing, and it was exciting when one of us were successful and caught a little stinker. And the day we chose was BEAUTIFUL for it. The water on that side was really warm, too, so I was walking around in there, thinking I could get closer to the crabs. That adventure ended quickly at the sighting of a "water snake." Not sure what kind it was, but as I'm not a fan of snakes in any way, shape, or form (no, I don't even want to see them dead...) I was not going to linger to find out. We stayed outta the water from that point on...

Jeremy proved to be quit the fisherman, despite having never crabbed before. I think it was a little frustrating for my Mom, as she was supposed to be our resident "expert." But she certainly wasn't complaining later that night when we were partaking of our catch (all 9 of 'em!) It was so much fun, though, I wanted to go again later that day (according to Wikipedia, the best time to go is dusk...) Unfortunately, all we caught that time was about 100 mosquito bites between my Mom and myself (not an exaggeration. ..) So Jeremy took us to get ice cream as a "reward" for trying. :)

All in all, it was a fabulous trip, and I really felt like our kiddies grew a lot while we were there. Jeremiah slept in a bunk bed for the first time, and was climbing out by the end of the week. It was really cute to have a two year old come into your room at 6:45 a.m. saying, "Mommy?" (which, by the way, he started saying while we were there! Along with a plethora of other words. I guess it took getting away from home to convince him to start using the English language. :) And Jesslyn perfected her crawling/climbing skills while there, as well. My little babes are growing so quickly! Shame how that works, huh?

As for the rest of the month, we had Jeremy's cousin, Catherine and Kris' wedding the following week. The wedding was WONDERFUL! It had a casual elegance about it, and I'm so glad we were able to attend. It started off a bit scary--I was hauling both kids and diaper bags/purse to go take our seats on the lawn (it was an outdoor ceremony,) while Jeremy went back to the van to get camera. Jeremiah decided that it was a bit too much for him, and started running back toward the entrance. Can you guess where this is going? Well, there was no stopping him, verbally, and with a 9 month old, bags and high heels in tow, chasing after him was near impossible. Next thing I knew, he took a sharp turn around the corner, right towards the street. I screamed, and THANK GOD, one of Jeremy's Uncle's was right there to catch him. I lost it. I finally caught up to him, yanked him towards me, and started bawling, while saying as sternly as I could, "You need to listen to your Mommy! When Mommy says STOP, you STOP!" He clearly felt bad to have made Mommy cry, which made me feel even worse. All while Jeremy's extended family looked on and tried to say, "Hi, Jess, nice to see you again." Oi... Hopefully we never have to repeat that adventure...

The rest of the wedding was beautiful, though. It did start to rain a bit, but luckily, cocktail hour was indoors--after you waited in line in the rain to congratulate the happy couple. My MIL took off with Jesslyn and cut in line to get in, which left me with Jeremiah, trying to follow without being as rude. Thankfully, a nice couple let me go in front of them (I was pretty much there already, but what could I do? Jeremy was all the way back in line, and I wasn't about to keep Jeremiah outside in the rain....) The rain did provide some entertainment for him later on, after dinner. All the chairs we had been sitting in during the ceremony now each had a little puddle of water on them, just waiting for Jeremiah to tip over! And he did. Every. Single. One.... It was really cute.

Our adventures at Jeremy's family farm (a cabin on the side of a mountain...) were equally enjoyable--more so for Jeremiah, I'm sure! He really loved everything about it, so I know we'll be heading back at some point. Old tractors, lots of room to roam, an old school pump for water, s'mores, fireworks, bonfires, all sorts of fun stuff for kids/boys/crazy people. ;) Maybe he and Daddy can camp out there while Jesslyn and Mommy hunker down in a b&b (though not the one we stayed at this last time! When we arrived Friday night, we had to carry our tired babies through a "deck party", thick with smoke, drunks, and loud music... No apologies from the innkeeper, just, "oh, you won't hear it from your room." But we did. So that's the end of that.)

We're glad to be home, though. I'm done traveling for a while! Two 6+hour trips in the car with two babies, back to back, is just too much. Of course, I wouldn't have minded avoiding the whole gall bladder thing, but I guess I'm glad it's over. I do feel better now. The pain is minimal, certainly not prescription pain killer worthy, but it's nice to have just in case. It has given me a short burst of energy before making me drowsy, so that's been handy for getting things done around the house. I'm not supposed to be lifting the kids, though, so that's been tough. My brother, Stephin, has been here to help with the kids, but it was obvious he wasn't happy hanging out, so he left and I'll just try to keep the lifting to a minimum. Really, I just need to make it through tommorrow. I think Jeremy can take off on Thursday, and Friday is "the 4th" (observed) so we'll be good from there on out.

And that is that. :)

On the mend...

For the few of you not on Facebook, I had the awesome luck of having surgery yesterday to remove my gall bladder. Since Jesslyn's been born, I'd been having these weird pains, which I've learned are actually "gallstone attacks". Apparently, gallstone formation is very common after pregnancy, and the attacks can be triggered by fatty foods and dairy. So if you've had a baby recently, and get a really bad stomach ach after eating, you may have gallstones!

Had I actually gone to the doctor the first time it happened, I may have been able to control it with dietary changes (avoiding fatty foods and dairy products,) as I tried to do once the diagnosis came in. However, while waiting to meet with the surgeon in his office on Thursday, I had another attack, despite not eating any junk. This attack was not as severe as the prior attacks had been, but since I had it while meeting with the surgeon, I went ahead and scheduled the surgery for the next day (they were kind enough to "squeeze" me in...)

So yes, I feel better now, I guess. There's some lingering pain, but that's to be expected after any surgical procedure. I've got some pain meds, and have been able to do some stuff around the house, so I'm on the mend. The only downside to recovery is that I can't pick up my kids, which SUCKS! Poor Jesslyn... she kept crawling up to me this afternoon (her and Jeremiah had been at Mee-maw & Poppy's house yesterday and today, so she missed me....) and I couldn't pick her up. :( I probably won't be able to do so until I see my dr. again in a week. But the Lord is good, and He has blessed us with amazing family and friends, so hopefully it won't be an issue.

OBX Slideshow

Here are the photos from our trip!


And, uh, that's it! I'll write more about it-----later! :)

Coming soon....

Herndon Big Trucks Day!

Is this right up Jeremiah's alley, or what???? The kid is obsessed with cars/trucks/anything man-made that moves! Needless to say, he was so much more excited to be hanging around big trucks than a candy store. :) Too bad the weather was kinda iffy, and a few of the other parents there (okay, it was just ONE) didn't know how to teach their kids to share and take turns (and failed to encourage such) but all in all, 'twas a fun day for him!

This was the only truck left with a working horn. Since we hit it at the tail end of the week--okay, the very last day--all the other horns were "dead." And it was LOUD! So loud that Jeremiah was on edge the whole time we were there, as most kids would just lay it on and not let up until whatever adult they were with finally talked 'em down.

"More than meets the eye..." ????

Jesslyn just kinda chilled with Mommy, taking it all in. She, unlike Jeremiah, was not fazed by the horns. Just kept smiling!

How to stop some horn-induced tears? Cookies help! :)

"HI!"

Ah... that's "the dad" that would not encourage his kids to share/take turns. Jeremy and I later saw him while in line to see Star Trek at the IMAX. Jeremy didn't believe me at first, but the more he looked at him, he realized I WAS RIGHT! How freaky is that.... glad I didn't do anything more than send some stern looks his way....

This was pretty cool--you could change the lights as you wanted. Jeremiah enjoyed doing that while waiting for his turn in one of the trucks.

Okay, seriously, am I really the only one expecting these trucks to "transform"?!?!? Don't they look like they should???? Am I really just that stuck in the 80's (and now, 00's, considering Transformers 2 comes out IN ONE MORE WEEK!!!)

Time to go! Wave bye bye, Jeremiah!

Okay, he wasn't happy to leave. He kept wanting to go back... but yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Mommy had had enough of the honking horns. :)

Mother's Day Pics

Whoops, this is a bit late, isn't it? Well, I just discovered these pics whilst cleaning out the camera. Since I finally broke down and paid for a Pro Flickr account, hopefully I'll be able to post more, sooner.

I thought I had already blogged about Mother's Day, but looking back, it doesn't appear to have been mentioned. Ooops! I tell ya, you have a couple of people make a comment about the content of your blog, and you go from blogging nearly every other day to one or twice a month. Yeesh.

Okay, then, Mother's Day! Umm.... I don't really remember much about it. :) I know Jeremy woke up, for the first time ever!, and went out to get me flowers, cards, a balloon and a little cake. I think he was going to make me breakfast, but we didn't have time, since I wanted to go to church. And since we volunteer in the nursery on the 2nd Sunday of every month, we couldn't NOT go. Yeah.

It was fine, though. Watched the kiddies, sat in the service while someone ELSE watched OUR kiddies, then headed home. My family came over in the afternoon and we did a simple cook-out to celebrate.

That's 'bout it. :) And the only pics I have are of Jeremiah playing on his swing set.

He does look sweet, doesn't he?

But yeah, that's it. No photos of Jesslyn, or me (even though I looked GOOD that day--that I remember!) Just Jeremiah. Unless I have them on my OTHER camera (that I have yet to download.) I guess that'll be another late post for yet another time... :)

POOL is OPEN!!!

FINALLY!  Jeremiah has been saying, "pool! pool! pool!" for weeks now, waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to open it so he can go in.  So Saturday, we seized the opportunity, with a beautiful, warm day just waiting for us!  

Jeremiah was so excited, he didn't care how cold the water was, he just wanted to go in!  Jesslyn, on the other hand, is a little lady, and like her Mommy, was not pleased with the temperature of the water.  Jeremy tried to take her in, and she was still crying by the time he carried her up the stairs for me to hold.  Awww...

I was quite impressed with Jeremiah's swimming skills this year.  Last year, we bought him a floaty suit thingie, so he could learn to balance in the water himself, but he wasn't quite ready for that yet.  This year, however, he's become a regular fish!  By the time we left, he was walking down the steps into the water and swimming over to Daddy like he'd been doing it all summer!  My little man--such a big boy now!  

And Jesslyn... well, she was perfectly happy sitting on a blanket with me.  :)  So the gals chilled poolside while the boys froze their bums off.  Sounds like a good day.  :)

How to suck your thumb:  By Jesslyn Wilcox

Insert thumb (left or right, doesn't matter...) into mouth.

Hand may be opened or closed--your preference.

When switching sides, be sure to gently remove thumb from mouth, first.

Commence sucking.  

The end. :)

"That?"  I think he was pointing at the boat across the pool.

Climbing out, all by himself, with a fishy in hand (it's actually supposed to help warm the water, but it was too breezy that day to use it.)

"It's not cold--see how happy we look???!"

Swimming all by himself.  What a big boy!

Jesslyn preferred to crawl around and be cute on the blanket.

"It's too cold to swim, Mommy.  Why did Daddy take me in?  It was too cold!"

"Okay, I feel better now.  The sun is nice and warm."

"Aww, c'mon Mommy, I don't wanna pose..."

Not for the quesy...

I've got some fun pool pics coming, but for now, here's what Big Fella was up to tonight.  At some point, he found a bird, killed it, and then begged to come in the house to eat it.  Well, that wasn't happening!  So he sat there.... and ate it in front of us.... Well, not all of it.  Just the head.... Gross. 

Umm.... yeah, kinda graphic.  Not for the bird lovers.   

Part 2

A Day at the Farm

This is the weather I've been waiting for!  Sunny, warm (lower 80's) just slightly breezy.  A perfect day to head to the farm!

For those of you who don't know, we live right across the street from Frying Pan Farm and Park.  It's owned by the county, so totally free to get in, but also has an actual working farm on it, complete with lots of animals and crops and tractor rides throughout (which I have yet to do, and it appears that the price has gone up, so we'll see if we get around to it...)  

On Wednesday mornings, from May - October, they have a Farmer's Market with a bunch of different vendors.  It started last week, I think, but today was our first chance to get out there and check it out so we did!  And I must say, I think it's going to be even better this year than in years past (at least the two seasons we've been here.)  Before, there was one of each vendor--one guy each selling veggies, fruit, meat, bread, herbs and spices/dips.  Now there's another 'goody' vendor (mostly cookies, cakes, muffins, etc,) and I think TWO other veggie vendors.  This is good, for me at least, because I didn't care for the produce from the veggie vendor that was there before.  And they're all priced the same (they kinda have to...) so I can go around and find the best of the best.  Looking forward to it!

Of course, we had to stop and play on the playgrounds, which were a little busy, but I've seen them busier (so I'm guessing most of the crowds had left for lunch, since it was after noon.)  It's really neat to see Jeremiah on the playground this year, because when we first started going, he would need help just walking up the steps to go down the slide.  Then he was able to do the slide on his own.  Now, he can do so much more!  But he's still very passive and cautious--if someone pushes him out of the way to go down the slide ahead of him, he just sits there and waits until he has a chance.  This frustrates me as his Mommy, of course.  If he's playing fairly, why can't the other kids?!  But alas, there's little I can do except applaud Jeremiah for being such a good sport and waiting his turn!  

Jesslyn could really care less about being there.  She kinda kept freaking out when I would go help Jeremiah with something, probably thinking I was going to leave her in her stroller alone.  So I had to carry her around most of the time, which was okay.  She did like the "walk" part of our trip, until it was encroaching on her lunchtime.  Then she'd had enough!  So we came home....

But not before we stopped to look at some animals!  I usually do this on the way out, since we got there near the end of the farmer's market.  We didn't stay very long, though...  Went to look at the piglets that were newly born, and Jeremiah sorta freaked because the bench they had to stand on was really wobbly, and I'm sure he thought he was going to fall off.  I had to keep my hands on him the entire time!  And Jesslyn, once again, thought I was leaving her, so I had to hold her, Jeremiah, and the camera, trying to shoot some pics and videos of everything.  Yesh.  

After the piggies, we looked at the baby goats and cows.  One of them "sneezed" (I think it was a sneeze) that kinda sounded like a fart (that's the best way I can think of to describe it, but I don't think it was...) and that made Jeremiah laugh.  :)  The sheep, though, not so much.  He was fine for a little bit, watching them walk in the pen, and baaa-ing.  But then he got down, waiting for me to put him back in the stroller, and was startled when the sheep gave a great big "BAAA!"  Yeah... if you know Jeremiah and how he is with loud noises, you know he didn't like that one bit.  

So that was the end of our trip to the farm!  At this point, I was once again carrying both kids (one crying and starting to make the other cry,) and trying to push a stroller.  As soon as we got outside, I tried to strap 'em in for the walk home, but Jeremiah could still hear the sheep and was not happy about it.  I was finally able to get them both in, and we were on our way.  I don't think Jeremiah was ever so happy to leave the farm.

"Get me outta this stroller!"

"What's going on over there?"  Checking out the Farmer's Market.

"Mommy, I'm too busy to stop so you can take a picture! Just let me play!"

Here, he realizes that there's "stuff" all over the "rocks" and he doesn't like it.  I had to help him up so he didn't have to touch anything.  So silly!

"WHEEE!!!!"

Checking out the piggies on a wobbly bench.  He is smiling right here, though, since I had one hand on him.

I know many a Mom's who can relate to what this mother pig is feeling, I'm sure... The video is funny, as at one point, they all stop, like they had just noticed we were there, and were watching us... Kinda creepy, actually.

The offensive goat. :)

Looking at the sheep, not too sure if he likes those "baaas" or not...

This is immediately post-BAAA!  You can see the fear on his face, as he breaks into a yell and cries the whole way out... My poor little man...