Happy Birthday, Judd

You are half a world away, but we are thinking of you today. Charlotte made you a card (show in the video), she writes suprisingly well for a 2 year old. We love you lots and can't wait to see you. Happy, Happy Birthday.

Visitors

Yesterday afternoon Aunt Emily and Lilly arrived to spend the night with Charlotte and I. Charlotte screamed and ran around the house for the first 15 minutes or so - she was SO excited to see her big cousin Lilly. They played together while Emily and I chatted.

We got our bathing suits on and drove to the pool only to be greeted by some thunder. We went back to the house for an hour to let the thunder pass. Back to the pool we went and swam in the drizzle. We didn't mind - you are getting wet anyway, right? After swimming we had "cheeseboogers" at Five Guys followed by ice cream from Bruster's for dessert.

There was more playing and swimming this morning - it all began earlier than Lilly would have liked.

It was a great visit and we both had such a good time. Charlotte napped for almost two hours after they left - the first nap in 3 days! Lilly was a wonderful big cousin and I feel so lucky to have a sister-in-law that I enjoy spending time with. Thanks for making the trip guys!

New Fridge

Monday we broke down and purchased a new refrigerator. We felt it was only a matter of time until the one we had gave out. It came with the house, which we bought 7 years ago, and we don't know how long it has been in this house. But it looks OLD. It was to the point where it looked dirty no matter how much you cleaned it. We also wanted to go ahead and get one before the old one died - I wanted to be able to pick the one I wanted and not be at the mercy of inventory, etc.

The new one isn't top of the line, but it sure is a big step up for us. The water and ice maker actually work!! Can you believe that this will be the first time in our married life that we have a working ice maker? How have we survived? :) (My sensitive teeth and I have been just fine sans ice - but I know my southern husband has been missing it)

A couple of things I learned in the process of buying this fridge:

1. Did you know you can cash in Delta SkyMiles for gift cards? One of the places you can get a gift card for your SkyMiles is Lands End. Did you know you can use Lands End gift cards at Sears? It's pretty cool. We ended up cashing in our SkyMiles for $600 - money we could use towards the purchase of the refrigerator.

2. If you have a working second fridge, Georgia Power will come pick it up for you and give you $35. Our pick up date isn't until 7/31 - so it takes a while, but not a big deal since we can just leave it in the garage until then.

Edited to Add:
I didn't know this was such a point of contention. Yes, I refrigerate my peanut butter. It tells me to.

A Card for Granddad

Charlotte announced that she was going to make a "card for Granddad" today while I was packing our lunches for the pool. I wasn't paying much attention to her, I could just hear her coloring, cutting, and stickering away. About 10 minutes later I looked over to see Spongebob on her nose and ears. Then she came over and put a Spongebob on my nose too.

Grandad, your card looks like a big piece of trash - but I'm sure you'll think it's art. The best part was - she was thinking of you this morning. So was I when I realized Spongebob was still stuck to my nose as we pulled out of the driveway.



PS. Meghan - I hope you are enjoying Charlotte's wardrobe - she picked this outfit this morning all by herself.

A Little Prayer for Patience

This is a little something I will be repeating over and over again while I stare 9 days in the face of solo parenting. It has already calmed me by just typing it.

A Great Day

I'm sitting here at 6:54 AM on July 4th typing a blog post. Today would have been my 9th Peachtree. I love running the Peachtree. It is such an awesome energy. This year, though, I decided not to run it 6 months pregnant and out of shape.

Instead, I'm enjoying a few quiet moments by myself with my cup of coffee before the day gets going. Not sure what is in store for us today. We stretched Charlotte's limits yesterday, so I'm not sure if we'll make it to fireworks tonight or not. I hope all of you have a wonderful day.

Yesterday was a fantastic day for us. Judd and I woke up wanting to "do something". The forecast was awesome, and we knew it would be a great day to be outside. We ended up deciding to pack up and head to Anna Ruby Falls and Helen, GA - we would see where the day took us.

On the way up we stopped at Jaemor Farms to pick up some peaches and blackberries. Judd and I drooled over the peach ice cream, but it was only 10:30 AM and I didn't want Charlotte's system to have that much sugar yet. So, we got back in the car and kept going.

The traffic into Helen was pretty bad, but we ended up getting to Anna Ruby Falls around lunch time. We had a picnic by the stream, cleaned up, and went to the base of the trail. Charlotte rode on Judd's shoulders the half mile up to the falls. When we got to the top I said, "You OK?" (directed at Judd) and Charlotte replied, "I OK, I not tired." There was something about the fact that Judd carried one child while I carried the other that made me so happy at that moment. It's like the baby was already there with us somehow.









After hiking back down (Charlotte actually walked the whole way by herself), we drove over to the beach at Unicoi State Park. Charlotte and I changed into our bathing suits and we all played at the lake's beach for an hour or so. It was about 3 pm at this time and Charlotte hadn't even thought about a nap. It didn't seem to phase her, though, she was in a great mood.

15 minutes into the car ride home, she got really quiet in the back seat. We looked back there and she was completely out.



As Judd and I got closer and closer to Jaemor Farms, we talked about quickly stopping for a peach ice cream cone. The decision was made, we were going to go for it while she was asleep. I crept out of the car and ran in to get us each an ice cream cone. I just knew she was going to be awake by the time I got back to the car - but she wasn't! Judd and I ate our cones (they were awesome!) as we drove. We kept giggling about it - that we were eating these ice cream cones, and Char would be SO upset if she knew about it. I told him that if she woke up we had to quickly throw them out the window. He mentioned that she'll probably wake up and sniff the air and say, "wait a minute, it smells like ice cream in here!" It just made us wonder about how many times our parents did stuff like that - or maybe they wouldn't do something that mean?

We got back to the house, rested for a while, then went to a friend's house for a outdoor movie night. It was a good time, but the movie didn't start until it was dark enough - around 8:30 pm. For Charlotte, this was getting late when she didn't have a good nap earlier in the day. Needless to say, a complete meltdown ensued when we told her it was time to go home. She stayed close to that meltdown state until she finally passed out around 9:15 pm.

So, we probably pushed her limits a little far yesterday. But, the day was SO much fun. I loved taking a day trip with our little family. I love the memories that we made and how happy we were together. Charlotte is to a point where these days are possible - sure there was a meltdown at the end of the day, but I think even she would agree that it was worth it to have the freedom from a schedule for a day.

Fountains

Charlotte and I headed up to Suwanee to play with Allison and Marshall in the fountains at Suwanee Town Center. The weather was cloudy and it drizzles most of the time we were there. That didn't stop Charlotte - she had a BLAST. She loved running through the fountains and ran for about 15 minutes straight.

Mr. Marshall wasn't so sure about it all when we got there - but waded in towards the end. He preferred showing Charlotte how he could play golf and mow the lawn. Allison set up a spot for us to have a picnic lunch and brought a couple of Marshall's toys with her - golf clubs and a lawn mower.



As always, it was great to see them and catch up with the Dawson's. Next time we'll try to pick a day when 4 bus loads of day campers aren't simultaneously unloaded into the fountains!