Weekend Getaway!

Sidney Lowe and Brian on King St in Charleston!

Naylor and Lalon enjoying dinner with Ava James Friday night!

Beautiful Live Oaks lining the drive of Boone Hall Plantation.

Dan our carriage tour horse; a Belgian Draft horse.

Me and # 3; 6 months pregnant

Brian and I just before we left Charleston.

***DISCLAIMER***

I got a bit long winded on this entry, but wanted to cover it all - enjoy!

Brian and I (well, honestly, probably a little more me, but he didn't disagree or stop me!) have been talking for a while about taking a weekend away from the kids to do something fun just us before Baby # 3 gets here. Well, all this talking, talking, talking and time is quickly passing us by; when I looked at the calendar, suddenly we're in full blown holiday season and then come January I'll be bigger (and less likely to risk accidentally sending myself into an early (ier) labor). So, after a few quick phone calls and bribes, we decided to take off this past weekend.

Friday afternoon, I loaded up the car with bags, pack n plays, booster seats and kids and Brian and I were off to beautiful Charleston via Clinton. Christie and Jamie were getting the kids for the first part of the weekend and Annie and Pa were lined up for duties throughout. Too bad for Christie, we literally dumped them out, threw a few bags in the door and were on our way after a very quick visit. We made great time though and rolled into Charleston around 9pm. We agreed on the way down to have a light snack (luckily I had packed a bunch) and push through to get there and eat something local instead of McD's on the way! After checking in and a quick re-fresh, we walked over to Hank's where we had dined with a friend before and had a great meal (including the deepest / tallest pecan pie I'd ever laid eyes on). Then, with me being pooped and full, we headed back to the hotel to crash.

Saturday was a day of adventure. We've been to Charleston a couple of times and decided this time to visit a local plantation as well as walking the Market area downtown and taking a carriage ride. I'm glad that we went to the plantation house, the trees lining the drive were beautiful (think Twelve Oaks from Gone with the Wind, which we later found out were actually painted glass all made in Hollywood), but other than that we were a little disappointed. However, it was something we wouldn't ordinarily do and I'm glad we tried something new. So back to Charleston it was and Brian is on the edge of his seat driving as he's seeing the NCSU v UNC-CH game score tied in the first few minutes. Once back in downtown, we decided to find a quick bite to eat at a local place a friend suggested that should have the game on. As we're making our way, Brian sees Sidney Lowe (NCSU's basketball coach) on the street just inside a store and freaks out. So we go back, he says hello and gets his picture with him - on Cloud 9! Then we learn from Sidney that "all of us" (meaning a ton of NCSU folks) were at the bar we had just walked past, so we went back. It was packed full of State fans and every tv in the place was tuned to the game. Brian did his thing and we found a small place to sit with some nice folks, we got some sandwiches and almost had several heart attacks watching that game; I once thought I may go into labor... WHAT A GAME!! If Brian were typing this, he'd be sure to mention 4 yrs in a row that we've beaten Carolina, so B, that's for you. :) After the game, we learn that just by chance, we had come to Charleston the same weekend of a bball tournament that NCSU was playing in - small world. So the remainder of the weekend was filled with random high-fives and "Go Pack!" as we walked around. Afterwards, we headed for our carriage tour with our horse Dan and a quick peek in the Market (most of it was closing up by the time we finished our tour) and then to the room for a rest. As much as I had hoped to sleep in, I guess I'm trained to be up early now, because I was wide awake around 7.30 am, but unlike other days where I can nap when the kids do as needed, we were going, going, going so by 7pm I was like the walking dead! The baby quickly corrected our downtime though and reminded me we needed to eat (the appetite is full on just in the past week, I'm sure my weight gain is more where the doctor's have been wanting it by the time I go to my appointment next Monday), so we changed and headed back out. Another great dinner experience, this time at Magnolias where the food was divine - best part for me was the mixed berry cobbler (oh yeah, I boxed up my dinner so I could have dessert, don't worry!). Then again to the room to crash.

Sunday morning I was able to "sleep in" until about 8.30 and it was quite delightful. After leisurely getting ready and packed up, we headed just a block down for breakfast at Joseph's (which has been featured on Rachel Ray's Food Network show?!). While waiting for our table, we're talking with some NCSU fans that were also waiting and then I realize - hey, we sat next to you at the bar watching the game - crazy! Two real nice guys from Wilmington. We then proceeded to eat and I had, without a doubt, the largest portion of French toast known to man... and it was perfection! Brian did help me out and we almost finished it... I'm going to attempt to duplicate at some point. Then a little more walking about the shops and Market and we were ready to hit the road to see the kiddos. We did drive down to the Battery and walked around there before we left too.

Sounds like the kids had as a good of a weekend as we did. I know Naylor had fun with his cousins because all morning today he's been calling for Anna (I guess maybe he thinks she's upstairs or something, because he keeps yelling for her!). On the way home last night he said "Pa, Robert, trucks, dogs" almost the entire ride... From our quick report, Naylor got to go with Annie & Pa to Phil Hudson's Farm Day (a neighboring farmer) and see tons of cows, horses (he has those huge Draft horses) and ponies and even got to go on a pony ride! Lalon and Ava James stayed home for naps and Anna was at clogging, but Anna did get to go later in the day. They played with Annie's dogs (she has 2 new CUTE Yorkie pups that are adorable and they are blonde!); they saw the cows a couple of times (I understand this was Lalon's favorite part, almost jumping out of her seat she was so excited) and playing outside. I think Naylor is definitely ready to head back down for Thanksgiving and see the cows some more. After the reports we were getting via text while on our trip, I told Brian that they wouldn't want to come back home with us!

A fun trip all around and it was great for me and Brian to have a quick get away to one of my favorite places! BIG THANKS to Christie, Jamie, Annie & Pa for tag teaming and keeping the kids safe and happy for us - we knew they were in great hands. Now they can all have a small break before they end up tag teaming again (at least for a few days) when # 3 gets here... I didn't mention that part to them when they signed up for this past weekend - ha!

New layout of downstairs

This is a random post, I'll admit, BUT (!!) one that I am so excited about! You can walk in our house now and for a minute almost think that adults live here - hooray! We no longer look (at first glance at least), like a full time daycare facility and nothing at the moment could make me happier. Now, if you stand back and take a minute, you'll see young ones are absolutely present by the amount of sippy cups and milk spots littering the floor - don't be fooled; they are still here!

We've turned our downstairs office into a play room. When we bought the house, of course Brian was working from home for IBM... that no longer being the case and having two toddlers and one more on the way, I needed the real estate for the overwhelming amount of gear these two have collected. Nevermind the endless stuff that will come back out of hiding once # 3 gets here (bouncy seats, swings, etc...). So the office is on a guesstimated 2-3 year hiatus to the 3rd floor and we now have a play room.

So far, the kids really love it and go in there and really play, which is awesome. We had an extra tv, so it's in there for them too, along with their chairs, train table, storage and house. It's perfect. And for me, at the end of the day when I want to just sit down, I can relax in a den that looks like a den. I found a leather coffee table ottoman at Sam's Club for a great deal, so that is our coffee table for now and works great. We do still have our really nice one, but I'd like to keep it really nice, so for the next few years it will stay in the attic storage where it is safe from little, sticky, harmful hands.

Minor changes in the scheme of things, no real purchases to make it happen, but a great transition for my sanity! Thanks to Brian and a slew of good friends that helped move everything since I'm temporarily incapacitated from doing such.

I've made great strides in the nursery too. It may not appear that way if you were to walk in, but the dresser has been cleaned out, the closet cleaned out, baby clothes sorted by gender / size, and all things baby are in that room. Over Thanksgiving, I hope to bribe and/or con Uncle Kevin into helping Brian move the tv and stand from the nursery to the 3rd floor and then we'll be as done as we can be until after the Christmas holiday when all of our house guests have departed.

Luckily, we have everything we could possibly need (and probably a little more) other than diapers of course! In January, I plan to put all the pieces in "place" and begin washing a few of the gender neutral clothes to have ready for Baby Higgins once he or she arrives. Oh, and no... we have not even really talked about a name; we've been too busy moving furniture! :-)

Practice Run for # 3

Today Naylor, Lalon and I watched Michael Jr. for Candice and Michael - what a fun treat! He is now about 10 weeks old and just as precious as he can be. Unfortunately I had my hands full with 3 and didn't think to get the camera out, which is a shame since they were all so cute together!

Naylor showed interest in a baby for the first time and was very helpful and attentive to Michael Jr. When I was fixing Lalon's milk, Naylor gave MJ about 10 kisses and tried to give him his pacifier and told me that MJ needed juice (while holding his bottle). Naylor also told Lalon "shhh" with his finger over his mouth when MJ was "night, night". It was really sweet and gave me some hope that things will go that smoothly when # 3 gets here. Lalon didn't show much interest in general. She did crawl over and check him out when he got here, but other than trying to steal his pacifier was content with him just being around.

Tonight after MJ left, Lalon was checking out the bouncy seat and when I wasn't looking crawled up in there and was turning it on and off - here's just a quick cute picture of her.

Lalon's 1yr photo proofs

Our sweet little angel!

They are online for viewing for the next week. www.MichelleStudios.com click "Client Slideshow" and the password is lalon (case sensitive).

Brian!

Naylor's newest trick started over the weekend... He now occasionally will yell out, "Brian!" instead of Daddy if he sees that Brian isn't responding to his Daddy name. I didn't notice it at first, but Saturday we were in the bedroom getting ready and Brian heard it and stopped in his tracks. Then later that day, Naylor was looking out the kitchen window at Brian on the back porch, so he knocked on the window and yelled Daddy a few times, but when Brian didn't answer he screamed, "Brian!".

Yesterday morning he was walking around with the play cell phone talking away and I asked him who he was talking to and he responded, "Brian" and went back to the play room to continue talking!

Miscellaneous Update

Lalon went for her 1 yr photo shoot last week (proofs will be ready for viewing within 2 weeks, will keep you posted), as well as her 1 yr well check. She passed everything with flying colors and sadly had to get 5 shots, but she was a champ! Dr. Artman was very pleased with how far she's come since those days of being 5 1/2 lbs and 9 days in the NICU - you'd never know it by looking at her now! She weighed in at 21 lbs, 14 oz (60th percentile) and I don't remember the height, but it was 35%.

I think it is safe to say that her first official word is "uh-oh" - last week she started using it when she'd drop something and has continued to do so. She will babble ma-ma, da-da, but doesn't use it for us specifically and she's really using uh-oh as appropriate, so I think it wins out. Also, if you ask her what the cow says, she'll respond, "moo". I guess she just picked that up from us doing it with Naylor because it isn't something we've actually "worked" on, but she definitely has it down!

I went to the dr yesterday for a check-up on # 3 and got another good report. I think there may have been just a little too much excitement and jumping at the NCSU game on Thurs, because Friday and over the weekend I've had a few Braxton-Hicks contractions, but if I take it easy for a while, they'll go away. The dr said for now it's fine, but if they increase to come in to the office as a precaution given my history. There is definitely a belly now - will need to take a picture soon for the baby's book, but still haven't gained any weight, but the dr said that was okay for now too because baby was growing on track still.

Naylor is still doing his thing and will be starting a part time pre-school in January. He has thoroughly enjoyed the back yard (as have I!) since it has been fenced in - and it's great for wearing him down for bedtime!

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday Brian!

Fred and Wilma at the Bennett's Halloween Party Saturday night

Two little monkeys trick-or-treating!

This has been a weekend of fun! For the first time in a LONG time, we (and by we, I mean Brian) haven't had to work on the back yard, so we've had fun doing nothing! We had a Halloween party at the Bennett's on Saturday night, so Brian got to sleep in on his birthday and then we had a cookout with the neighbors today. There were games for the kids including eating a donut on a string, pie eating, a bounce house and a pumpkin carving contest. It was a lot of fun and we had a huge crowd. Kevin joked that he was going to rename our street Wisteria Lane... it is a lot like a tv show or movie around here sometimes.

We took the kids to just a couple of houses to trick-or-treat, got a token picture and then headed back. Brian and Kevin headed down to help Blake scare the poop out of all the neighborhood kids as they dared to enter the Tunnel of Terror! I'm sure there will be lots of screaming coming from that direction soon.

It was a fun day all around and I think Brian had a great birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy - we love you!!