Weekend with friends

This weekend we had a great time with Katherine and Matt. It is hard to believe that 8/9 years ago Katherine and I were living it up in Grad school without husbands or children. Our lives sure have change, but definitely for the better. We both have fabulous husbands and terrific children.
Nelson (21 months) and Pinckney (15 months)

We had a fabulous time this weekend. From the pool to the symphony to lunch on Sunday. It sure is fun to spend a weekend with really great people. When the Daniels left, Stephen and I both commented that we loved spending time with Katherine and Matt and how easy and fun they are to be around. We hope to see them again real soon. Thanks guys for a GREAT weekend. We cannot wait to meet Baby Daniels. Just think, we will go from a party of 7 to a party of 9.

Concert in the Park

Saturday night was an absolutely perfect evening. The Daniel Island Community Fund hosted the Charleston Symphony Orchestra at Smythe Park for a concert in the park. It was one of the evenings that makes you thank God for all that he has provided for you and your family. It was one of those evenings that makes you fall in love with the Lowcountry all over again. The weather was gorgeous, there were no bugs to speak of, the company was tons of fun and the food... oh the food was just divine.
Stephen and I were so excited that Katherine and Matt (and Nelson) came to join us for the weekend. It is so much fun to share a weekend and a fun event with such special friends. It had been way too long since we had seen these two.
The story of how Katherine and I met is really amazing and the fact that we have so much in common including the people that we know. I can't imagine my life without her. It is such a great feeling to meet someone and just know that you are going to be friends for life no matter where you are in the world.Right next to our tent some of our great friends had a mexican theme going on. We went over and munched on some of their food and it was DELICIOUS!
Our theme was the Daniel Island Yacht Club. Katharine and Bryant did a great job on the decorations. Everyone brought fabulous food. Our menu included: marinated shrimp, pork tenderloin, tomatoes & mozz, chicken curry ball, cucumber sandwiches, spinach dip, cheese and crackers, peanut butter brownies, key lime tarts and cookies. It truly was a gourmet picnic.

We should have won the best overall picnic, but I don't think the judges came down all the way to our tent. A lot of hard work and fun went into to putting together the event. What made us feel really good is the news reporter for the Post and Courier came by 3 times to see if they had announced us as the winners yet. There is always next year!
After the concert there was a spectacular fireworks display over the lake. It was a perfect night and one that we hope becomes a tradition from year to year.

3 year old MMO graduation week

This week has been filled with activities that celebrate the end of school. Fordham's class celebrated with a water party at the beginning of the week. It would have been lots of fun if the air had not been so cold. He put two feet in a pool and said forget it. His classmates enjoyed the party and I enjoyed chatting with the other moms.
Today we attended his end of the year concert and graduation from the 3 year old Mother's Morning Out program. The songs and children were adorable and of course we have the program on video tape. My pictures were not very good because we were back from the stage. Fordham participated in every song, but I would not say he followed all the movements. We do have some blackmail videotape for his wedding...
As the names were called they played "Pomp and Circumstance." I am going to be an absolute wreck by the time he graduates from high school. I was doing fine until he ran off the stage, saw me taking a picture and gave me a big hug. I am so proud of this little boy and he is just moving to 3's kindergarten next year because of his birthday. We will miss all the girls in his class but at least his two buddies have the same issue with birthdays and they will be in his class next year.
Congratulations sweet boy! There are many more graduations in your future. Before we turn around you will be graduating from college. We love you tons and look forward to all the exciting things the next school year is going to bring.
Thanks J for representing all the grandparents. We are glad that you could come up for such a special day. We missed those that could not be here.

Why my children and I probably will not eat dinner tonight

The temptation was just to great. I heard that Cupcake had opened in Belle Hall and that was the end. I have been to the store on King St. one time. I fell in love with the cupcakes. However, parking (or lack there of) on King kept me away. Now, there are no excuses when there is one about five minutes from my house. Baby #3 REALLY wanted one this afternoon so instead of having a healthy snack I surprised the boys and took them here. We had so much fun. Every now and then it is okay to ruin dinner with a tasty treat.
This is a fantastic business concept. It is expensive, but I still came away with a cupcake card. Only five more to go and I get my 12th one free. We had to bring some home to Stephen. I told him that these cupcakes to me were like his fancy beer. Good and expensive. Yum!
The flavors that we bought: Chocolate chocolate, Chocolate vanilla, red velvet (the most popular), Vanilla vanilla, black and white, and cookies and cream. My favorite is the vanilla vanilla. Fordham insists that his is chocolate chocolate. Don't just call it a chocolate cupcake. It is a chocolate chocolate cupcake.
These cupcakes are huge. Usually I split them in half for Fordham, but I don't think that I could get away with that now.
Pinckney split mine with me. The boy has the sign for more down pat. He signed more for what seemed like hours. I see many more trips in our future. If only we could walk there to burn some of the calories.

In my box this week

We are absolutely loving being members of the Ambrose CSA. I thought that maybe I should keep track of what is in our box each week and maybe even post recipes that we try. This week our box includes: Probably the last bit of strawberries, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, red potatoes, kohlrabi, onions, two packages of different lettuces, cabbage, dill, and zucchini.

We are really glad that all the collards and turnips are gone. They were yummy, but I like seeing color in my box!

First weekend at Wildhill

I hope that this will be the first of many weekends out at Wildhill. The weather was beautiful. I always leave here feeling very peaceful and alive regardless of whether or not we got to relax, worked on projects or woke up at the crack of dawn with children. It is always fun though the Pinckster is going to be hard to chase around out there this summer.
J and Poppa volunteered to keep Pinckney on Friday night to give us a chance to set up and spend some time with Fordham. F woke up at 7am asking to go fishing. He could not wait to drop a line in the water. Fishing with a 3 and 1/2 year old takes A LOT of patience especially when said 3 year old does not have any. There was no relaxing for Stephen as he was constantly rigging a fishing pole, checking the crab pot and throwing the cast net. I don't think he was really complaining though. It makes you feel so good when your child wants to do what you love to do. Fordham wanted to catch a fish so bad. We did not have much luck in the fish department, but we did catch a ton of crabs.
J, Poppa and Pinckney joined us about lunch time. This child was ready to get in the water, however it was too cold for mom and dad. I held him over the edge and let him dip his feet in, but I was not about to get in the water.
Fordham braved the water and floated around in his life jacket for a bit. It did not last long though.
My husband taught my 3 year old to hold a crab. It really made me nervous. I am almost 33 and I still will not hold these suckers. I wish that my sense of fear was not so developed. I guess I kept thinking that if he gets pinched he will never go near a blue crab again.


Our best luck crabbing was with the crab lines. I absolutely love to crab. I baited the lines (yes, I touched raw chicken, but its really crab food) and dropped them in. Stephen's comment, "You have them to shallow." Oh yeah, well look down there where there are 3 crabs on ONE line. You don't mess with the master crabber. Needless to say he was the brunt of many jokes the rest of the weekend. Good thing he is such a good sport. We caught a ton of crab and had tasty crab as part of our dinner.
Good thing Stephen does not mind cleaning the crab. That is NOT my favorite part.

We had a FABULOUS time at Wildhill and are so excited that the weather is warm. We headed home early Sunday because of all the storms, but it still was a GREAT mother's day weekend. I got to be with my boys and my wonderful mom (and dad) and we got to all spend some great quality time together. If this is a preview, the rest of the summer is going to be fantastic!

Pinckney 15 Months

Fifteen months and going strong. This little boy is a ball of energy. I really do wish that I had 1/4 of the amount of energy that he has. I swear that he is the reason that I am losing weight. Even though our house is baby proofed he can find what we have missed or ways to get around something to get into T-R-O-U-B-L-E. How could you not love that face though? He is always throwing smiles and hugs our way and we just love it.
This month Pinckney has really started to make the truck noises while he plays with cars, trains or trucks. He still calls everything "baa" except he says mama and bye bye. He signs "more" though he does not use it in the right context or I don't understand what "more" he wants. He babbles constantly and I know that he is telling us something important. Fordham likes to interpret for him, "Mommy, he told Wappoo to lay down."
He is into anything his big brother or his daddy is into. He lights up when his daddy gets home and wants him to pick him up for some snuggle time. It is really cute. Some of his favorite things are: blue dog (stuffed animal/blanket he takes to bed)
music (this boy can boogie)
workshop
dog food (he has probably eaten an entire bowl since he was born)
being outside
swimming
eating
We went to see Dr. Scott for the 15 month well check. She checked out his eczema and has given us a better treatment plan. She said that all looks great on this active little boy. Here are his stats:
weight: 22lbs 12 oz (30th)
height: 30 1/4 '' (50th)
head: I cannot remember
vaccines: DTaP and Chicken Pox

Pincky P, you keep us on our toes, but we have so much fun with you. You keep us smiling, laughing and both you and your brother make us fall into bed at night. We are so glad that God chose us to be your parents. We love you!

Mommy

Because it is too funny not to post

This is what Fordham wore to school today. His DINOSAUR rain boots (not just rain boots, you must say the dinosaur in front) that are to big for him and his rain jacket that is really too small for him. He insists on it being zipped. I did put his crocs in his backpack and let the teacher know they were there. When I picked him up he still had on the DINOSAUR rain boots, but they were on the wrong feet. Oh to be three.

16 week check

Yesterday I had my 16 week checkup even though I am 17 weeks. It drives me crazy when the md checks are off from the actual week of pregnancy that I am on. I am going to have to get that back on track somehow. I had blood taken as another part of the nucleofold test from last month. I did not know about this blood draw so I was a little surprised. The nurse said this test was for spina bifida. I almost told her not to do it, but then I thought, might as well rule it out. Here are the other stats:

weight gain: -.5lbs (I was shocked by this because of my cravings)
bp: 104/62
baby's hr: 146 (Pinckney's was 144 at this checkup)

I am measuring right on schedule. My uterus has definitely come out of my pelvis so the "bump" is there but it still feels "fluffy" to me. I pretty much wear maternity clothes all the time. They are the most comfortable. "Bob" has come out of the closet. For those of you that do not know, Bob is my body pillow. Stephen and I call it Bob b/c really it is like having another person in the bed. It is amazing how much better my back feels when sleeping with "Bob." I think this is the earliest out of all the pregnancies that he has made an appearance. I am feeling great, but craving some strange things. Right now it is colorful candy. Like skittles, starbursts, jelly beans, taffy etc. I am not sure if it is good or bad that Halloween happens right after baby #3 gets here.
Anyway, at our next appointment we will have the "big" ultrasound. No, we are not finding out the sex of the baby. :)

As a side note, I officially felt the "swoosh" of baby #3 last Monday, April 28th. Now, I feel him or her everyday.... small tiny jabs here or there. Hard to believe that I am almost halfway there with my last pregnancy.

Betsy's Birthday Party

Yesterday was the perfect day for a birthday party in the park. We helped Betsy celebrate her 2nd birthday with lots of fun activities.
We fed the ducks so much food that they will probably not have to eat for a week.
We played with balls, bubbles and even looked at "live" ladybugs. Both boys had an absolute blast.
Thanks Betsy for inviting us to your party. We had a great time and wish you many many Happy Birthdays!