My BIG Girl...

Well I feel like I am constantly writing about Chase and not so much about Audrey. So I decided to give her an entire post to herself just for the heck of it. She is growing up SO quickly it is crazy. The biggest deal was her getting potty trained this summer! We talked and talked about it and she had no interest in it forever. Finally the week before we went on vacation (4th of July week) she decided she was ready and went from diapers to none in a day. Oh how I love not buying diapers for both of them!

Audrey starts pre-school in a couple weeks which is exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. How is she old enough for pre-school??? She is very excited about "school" and I know she is just going to love it. She is going to be a little upset when I drive her instead of the school bus picking her up (she wants to ride the bus SO bad!).

She has become quite the big girl this summer which has been fun and frustrating to watch. She has turned into quite the little boss and is very opinionated on everything. She is very clear what she wants and doesn't want, which is great except when she can't have what she "really wants". I have found myself in constant battles with her arguing over the silliest things. She argues because she "wants it" and I argue back because I'm supposed to be in charge... Right?? She has become very picky about what she wears and we spend a great deal of the time the morning discussing which dress she is going to wear. She will only wear dresses and has only a few that make the cut weekly which proves to be challenging when one of them is dirty. I am a little nervous about her fall wardrobe, but I think it will be fun for her to go pick out some clothes at the stores herself for the first time (she picked out shoes today, not shoes I would EVER buy, but she liked them so who am I to say no).

She seems to like being a big sister which makes me so happy. Chase loves her and always wants to be right next to her doing what she is doing. She is adapting to this, and depending on her mood is a great with him or horrible. Her mood dictates the household to be honest, we cross our fingers at night that she is in a good one because it makes for a much more pleasant evening... She is the sweetest thing when she wants to be but I have no doubt I have met my match...

Beach, beach and more beach...

We have had thee best weather this summer I could not be happier! Which means we have made it to the beach almost every weekend this year... Fall is definitely sneaking up on me (is it really Labor Day next weekend??) but we are getting as many beach days in as we can before the weather turns. The kids continue to love going to the beach which couldn't make Charlie and I any happier. While neither kid is into the water, they keep occupied for hours digging in the sand and running around. We have another heat wave this weekend, I will take this weather while I can!

fifteen months...

So I missed 13 & 14 months, where did the summer go??? Chase is rapidly turning into a full fledge toddler, which is both scary and exciting at the same time. He is my baby (as I remind him constantly) and it is sad to see him leaving the infant stage. But at the same time this is such a fun age and he is developing quite a personality. He is no longer my mellow baby. He is super curious, taking right after his father and sister, and is into everything… It amazes me what he gets, like that lids go on top of things and that a paint brush needs paint and just silly things that I feel like he is too young to understand. His words are far and few between, he says da-da, momma (though not to me), yes (I like this one!) and that is about it. While he is a man of little words, he communicates very well and loves to have his voice heard. It is frequent that he and Audrey run around after each other in circles each screaming as loud as they can. He will point at what he wants and take your hand and lead you to what he wants so he certainly gets his point across. And if you don’t oblige you are likely to get a mini temper tantrum, nice… Recently he has turned into Audrey’s shadow which has been difficult for both me and Audrey. He wants to do everything she does, which totally makes sense. It frustrates her because he is in her face constantly and she doesn’t understand that he wants to play. Or he will take her toy full well knowing it will make her mad, that is what little brothers are for though right? I’m having a hard time telling Audrey not to do things that she is able & aloud to do, but that Chase isn’t . I.e. jumping from the couch to the ottoman. She doesn’t get why she is being told not to do things and usually ignores me. Then I have a 15 month old doing things that he so shouldn’t be doing and freaks out when I tell him no. Good times… All in all I am happy that they are finally playing together. I am well aware I will be breaking up fights for the rest of their lives, but I’m ok with that right now.

Chase is still a pretty good eater. I won’t say he is great, he definitely has issues with texture (hates rice and that kind of stuff) and eats limited veggies, but he is ok. He is obsessed with feeding himself with a fork and spoon which is cute but proves to be very messy at mealtimes. He loves meat, grapes, yogurt, applesauce and chocolate pudding (actually anything sweet, he also got his fathers sweet tooth). We did get some disturbing news a couple of weeks ago. We found out that he is allergic to peanuts, I fact I still haven’t fully taken in. He had an incident at daycare that lead to us getting him tested and sure enough he tested positive. He is not allergic to tree nuts which I guess is good, though I don’t plan on giving him anything with nuts anytime soon. We go back in a year to re-test, but it sounds like the odds of him growing out of it are very low.

UPDATE: Chase weighed in at 30 lbs 5 oz and measured 32" at his 15 month appointment, staying on his curve, above the line for weight and 90th percentile for height...

Summertime and the Livin's Easy...

If this isn't summer I don't know what is...

Afternoon on the beach with goldfish, drinks and friends...

Lobster and farmers market corn for dinner...

And a little ice cream for dessert...

Hope you are all enjoying your last days of summer as much as we are! A big thanks to Heidi & Justin for having us down to their familys beach house yesterday, we had an awesome time!

OBX = Cousins

One of the best parts of vacation was that the cousins got to hang out, old and young. Charlie's cousin has 3 girls, 4, 3 and 6 months which is awesome that they are so close in age with Audrey and Chase. The girls had a blast together collecting shells, having slumber parties and playing play dough and much more. Chase enjoyed running after them way too much which is only signs of trouble to come. Liza the baby wasn't able to join in the running around fun, but I have no doubt that next time we see them she will join right in the pack... The girls are too cute, all with blonde hair and basically the same size, just look for yourself...

OBX = Awesome...

So we have been back from our summer vacation to the Outer Banks for a week now, and I am so overwhelmed with all of the pictures that I have been scared to do a post! So here goes...

We drove down to the Outer Banks to spend a week with the majority of Charlie's family. I am still amazed that we were able to get everyone together for the trip. We came from all over (and all drove), his parents from Chicago, his sister from the D.C. area, and his aunt, uncle and cousins all from Tennessee. We had 13 adults and 5 kids under 5, nuts right? We rented a huge 9 bedroom house right on the beach which was pretty awesome. We woke up to the waves every morning, I really could live like that. We also had a pool which was great and worked out well for hanging out in the afternoons while the kids napped... We really did a whole lot of nothing while we there which is totally Charlie & I's style. We had awesome weather except one day that was a little overcast (and kind of welcomed because it was SO hot every day) and we took full advantage of the beach and the pool every day. The kids had fun, though doing a beach vacation is obviously a little different with kids then with just adults. Audrey had a blast with her cousins. Chase had fun, but the poor thing was off in the beginning of the week and we finally brought him to an Urgent Care clinic on Wednesday and of course the kid had an ear infection and is getting more teeth (I have no idea where they are going, his mouth is full!). Typical I guess, but he was much better the rest of the week after the medicine kicked in. Anyways, it was great spending time with family that we don't get to see enough. We even got an adult cousins dinner out which was pretty awesome! Hopefully we can do it again... Now this past week has been back to reality. Charlie and I are already planning a vacation for January sans kids, we need something to look forward to right??

Happy Birthday America...

Well I can't believe that 4th of July weekend has come and gone already... It seems like it was just Memorial Day... We had an awesome weekend, I don't remember a 4th weekend with this perfect of weather. It was 90 everyday, but no humidity, just perfect beach weather. I got to spend the weekend with my bff who was in town with her boyfriend (a big thank you to Aunt Jaime for all her wonderful gifts she brought:). We spent the 4th on the beach and I couldn't have been happier. Oh and I happen to turn a year older today. For some reason it isn't bothering me. Surrounded my my wonderful family and friends, there are no complaints...

Hope all of you had the same fabulous weekend I did! We are in gearing up for vacation mode now, we leave next weekend to spend a week on the OBX wth Charlie's family, CAN'T WAIT!!!!