oak.island

This past weekend we went to Oak Island. We went with Josh's mom and dad, and his brother Sam, and Lyndsey. We left around lunch time Thursday and we got there around 4:30 or so. My plan was for the girls to nap on the way there. Well, Emma didn't nap at all, and Ryleigh napped 15 minutes. But they both were wonderful and happy the whole way. We loved being there with family and spending time with everyone, but my little Ryleigh bear fussed and whined the WHOLE weekend. She was never happy. She almost acted like she didn't feel well, but I don't think anything was wrong with her. I think just being in a different place, with not a lot for her to do, and a lot of people maybe overwhemed her. I really don't know what her problem was. We couldn't really do anything there because Ryleigh would usually fuss. She is not usually so fussy and now that we are home she is fine, so maybe next time will be better.We did have a few fun times, but lets just say, I was more than happy to come home.

Between getting unpacked, eating dinner, and setting up the crib, we didn't have time to really do too much Thursday night. Friday morning we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart to get a few things. Josh and I ended up getting Emma a little fishing pole. She played with it ALL.WEEKEND!!! I am so mad at myself because I just realized that I didn't even get a picture of her with it. She liked to go fishing off the back deck and even in the house. After I put the girls down for their nap Josh and I went on a little lunch date while Josh's parents stayed with the girls. We went to Provisions. They have the best cheeseburgers ever. I hadn't been in a year and a half so it was long overdue. It was so nice to go to lunch with just Josh and enjoy sitting by the water.

Friday afternoon we let the girls go swimming in the little pool that we keep down there. Emma loved playing in the water. Ryleigh wasn't a big fan of it.

Saturday we went back to Walmart because we needed a few things for Ryleigh. But we didn't really do too much else that day except play. Some family friends came over that night for dinner and we enjoyed visiting with them.

Sunday morning I took the girls to the pier and then we took the girls out on the beach to play.

Emma LOVED playing on the beach. Ryleigh liked it at first but then she got tired of it very quickly. While we were out on the beach, Josh took the DSLR but I also wanted to take my small digital camera because it does video. Well, when Josh was washing Emma off in the ocean the

camera fell out of his pocket and is now ruined. :( However, we were able to get all of our images and videos off the memory card so I was happy about that.

Sunday afternoon we took the girls to the waterway in Southport and then to Leaky Tiki for ice cream. Then Sunday night after dinner we went back out to the beach to take pictures of the girls. I will post those in the next couple of days when we can edit them. They turned out great and I can't wait to show you. Overall, we had fun, but we are really glad to be home.

A Survivor

I want to take a few moments to talk about my mom. I haven't talked about this on my blog before because I didn't want to say anything that my mom didn't want anyone to know. But I think everyone knows now. The end of last year my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I can't even begin to tell you what it's like to hear your mom tell you that. I cried for days and couldn't believe this was happening to her. She seemed so clam and so positive though. (Even though she may have been terrified inside, she never let it show) She started chemo in January and once that was done she started radiation. I'm so happy to say that TODAY was her last day of radiation. She is officially DONE!!!! Praise God. My mom has remained positive and she has soldiered through this with such strength and poise. I have never been more proud of my mom as I am right now. I have seen her in a whole new light and it makes me appreciate her so much more. I can never thank God enough for given her the strength to get through this. I know there were probably days that she was down and maybe felt a little defeated but she turned to the Lord and he never let her down.

Mom, I am so proud to be your daughter and in my eyes, you are strongest woman I know. I love you with all my heart and I'm so glad that you are now a SURVIVOR!!

naps:list:packing

I've been busy this morning getting everyone packed up. We are leaving for the beach tomorrow and there is so much to do before we go. Two little girls require a lot for five days. We had to run to Target this morning to stock up on some diapers and wipes to take with us. My mom always makes fun of me because I'm a "list" person. I make a list for everything and I like having everything that I need put down on paper. I always start packing atleast a week or so before we leave because I like to add things to bags as I think of them,and that way I don't forget anything. I can't believe that I am just now packing the day before we are leaving. I made this list last minute(I know, I was a little late this time) but atleast I have everything written down that the girls need.(all these pics are with my phone....not great)

I have to have everything done tonight because Ryleigh has an appointment at 10 and then we are coming home to eat lunch and then leaving. We are hoping the girls will nap good on the way down there and that way when we get there, they will be ready to play.

We are ready for a much needed vacation. I'm looking forward to taking the girls out on the beach. Ryleigh has never been on the beach before so I can't wait to see what she thinks of it. The last time we went, she was about 2 months old and she stayed inside while we took Emma. I'm glad she's walking though. It makes things a lot easier.

And just for fun, here are a couple pics of the girls napping. Emma has to have so many things to sleep with now. It seems as though she adds something daily that she wants to nap with.

Our Weekend

*Get ready...this is a long one!

This past weekend kicked my butt!!! I woke up this morning so sore and tired. Josh has been searching craigslist for a while now looking for a used playset that we could fix up for our girls. They are few and far between and you have to catch them as soon as they are posted or they get taken. Well over the course of three days, we found 3 different ones. They all stated they were in "great" condition and we thought they would work out great. Well after a trip to Raleigh, Charlotte, and north Fayetteville we quickly discovered that other people's definition of "great" was our definition of "needs a lot of work, and definitely not worth the price they were asking". I was getting very discouraged and figured that if we just kept looking surely one would pop up. Well, Friday night after we got back from Raleigh we were searching online and found one at Toys R Us on clearance that would be perfect. So Saturday morning we went and got it.We had Katie's birthday party on Sunday so Josh didn't have much time to put it up. He did it all by himself in 10 hours. He did awesome. He worked very hard and I am so proud of him because it was about 90 degrees while he was working on it. The finished product turned out wonderful and Emma is soooooo excited that she can now go out in the back yard and swing. (pictures further down) Emma spent the first 2 1/2 years of her life not being able to step out her back door and play so it is so wonderful that we can just go play whenever we want now.

So as Josh was busy putting up the playset Saturday, I spent the morning making things to take to Williams surprise party that afternoon. We headed to Autumn's house around 2:30 and William showed up around 4:00 and was surprised with all his friends and family. It was sooo hot outside and I had a tough time keeping the girls cool and hydrated but they had fun. Autumn got a band(well there was two guys...I guess that's still a band though?) to come play, and they were really good. After the party we came home, got the girls in the bed and continued working on the playset until after dark. I will wait until Autumn can post her pictures before I show you the party.

Sunday morning Josh finished up the playset in about 5 hours and I cleaned and got ready for Katie's birthday party that I had at my house. Today is Katie's 20th birthday!!! SO, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!! Katie's party was zebra themed with a touch of pink. We played outside on the playset and played cornhole. We grilled brats and hotdogs for dinner and had chips and watermelon. I hope Katie had a good time at her party.

Here is our new playset!

After everyone left Josh and I got the girls a bath and put them to bed. Then we both crashed in the bed and watched the Billboard Awards. We are both exhausted. This morning I have been catching up on laundry and playing with my girls. After their naps, I think I'm going to take them to the Kernersville Library for the first time so we can get a card and they can pick out some books.

We are leaving for the beach Thursday around lunch time so this week is going to be busy making lists and getting everyone packed!

Hope you all have a great MONDAY!!

little funnies

I have been meaning to blog about the little funny things that Ryleigh and Emma are doing and saying. I love having this blog to look back on and I just want to make sure to remember every little thing.

Emma:
-She is very into "boo boo" these days. Anytime she hurts herself she wants a band aid. She always says "look mama, boo boo". She has even started requesting band aids even though she's not hurt.

-If Ryleigh takes something that she had or that she wants, she says "come back here Ry bear".

-Lately when Emma gets popped because she has done something wrong, she says (in the most pitiful voice ever) "hurt me mama, mama hurt". She always has these big tears rolling down her cheeks and it breaks my hurt.

-She is in love with jelly beans, but she calls them "jet bean".

-We were outside the other day and a man and his son rode by on their bikes and Emma pointed and yelled as loudly as she could "Look mama, bicycle". She kept screaming it over and over. The man laughed and waved at her.

-She has a loud voice that she constantly speaks in. She doesn't know what it means it talk normal or quiet. So she is always yelling "mama,mama,mama", or "daddy, daddy, daddy" until you answer her.

-Emma gets a flintstone vitamin every night and she calls it a "min".

-She calls my mom "ana" instead of nana.


Ryleigh:

-When Ryleigh gets mad or upset she will stand up but put her head on the floor. Kind of like she is getting ready to flip over, but she will stay like that until she calms down.

-She loves to give kisses, except right now its still the open mouthed kiss. But still cute as can be.

-She wakes up some mornings and immediately puts her fingers in her ears. She will walk around like that for a while.

-Sometimes when she watched the Backyardigans(which is her favorite) she will lay on her side on the floor for the whole episode. It's almost like shes too lazy to sit there.

-She often walks around with her hands swaying in the air. Josh calls her a little gorilla.

There are so many more things, but I'm just going to have to add them as I think of them.

Catching Up

I haven't blogged in almost a week, mostly because there hasn't been much going on. I (sadly) haven't even taken out my camera either. But things are about to get busy around here, so it's nice not to have much to do. We've been having several rain showers and thunderstorms lately. It poured here most of the morning. This past weekend we went to Lowe's and picked out some flowers to plant. We got some petunias. They were pretty and cheap. :) I'm hoping they will spread out and look really pretty in our flower bed and around our mailbox. Josh put out grass seed a little over a week ago, so it should start growing in too and make our yard pretty and green. I am hosting a birthday party for Katie on Sunday so I'm hoping the yard and my flowers will look beautiful for all our guests. We'll just have to wait and see.

Emma and Ryleigh are doing great. Growing like weeds of course. Emma got her first pair of real flip flops last week and insist on wearing them everywhere. The first time she wore them they came off her feet every 15 seconds but now she walks in them great. They are so cute too. She will come in the door and kick them off just like her mama.

Ryleigh has been sleeping through the night for a while now. She rarely gets up anymore, and if she does, I usually just lay her back down and cover her up and she goes back to sleep. But the other night we put them both to bed around 7:30 (like usual) and Ryleigh was back up at 9:00 running around her bed, banging on the wall, and she even managed to take her pants off. She stayed up until 1:00 playing in her crib. I finally got her to sleep, but she was up at 4 and then up for the day at 6:10. I don't know what got into her, but she has slept good ever since.

We have a really busy weekend ahead, so I have to get everything done for Katie's party this week. I still have several things to get, including the food, so I better get busy. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of the kiddos soon. (that's the only reason you come to the blog right?) :)

strawberry pickin'

This morning me and the girls met my mom and my nanny at R & M Strawberry Farm in Kernersville. I am not a fan of strawberries but Josh and the girls love them so I know they won't last long around here. I haven't take the girls strawberry pickin' before because last year Ryleigh was just a baby and Emma was still a little too small. But Emma absolutely LOVED it. She wanted to carry the bucket and pick her own. Once she figured out she could eat some, she loved it even more. Ryleigh just kind of walked around trying to find ones that she could eat. We really loved spending time with my nanny...who Emma calls "gammy". After we left the strawberry farm we went to eat lunch at Cagney's. I hadn't been before but my mom and nanny had. I had a meatball sub and it was pretty good. The girls really enjoyed spending the morning with their nana and "gammy". I have a feeling we will be going back once we run out of these strawberries. My pictures didn't turn out great. :( I used my small digital camera so I wouldn't have to juggle the big DSLR and the girls. But I still think they are cute.

::little fishies::

Our Weekend

This past weekend wore me out. It was really busy but fun. I enjoyed being with all our family and celebrating. Saturday morning I had a yard sale at my mom and dads house. Autumn and I had one about a month ago but it got rained out so we decided to do another one. I got up around 5:30 Saturday morning and didn't go to bed until about 11 that night. I was exhausted. We had Josh's parents and his brother Sam over for dinner that night. Sam fixed some ribs and we also had grilled chicken and baked potatoes. I meant to take pictures but got too busy and I forgot. But here are a few of the girls that I took before they came over.

Sunday afternoon after the girls got up from their naps we headed to Stokesdale. I picked up moms mothers day gift that we all got her on Friday and Josh and I put it together Saturday night. We took it with us on Sunday and sat it out in the yard so we could all surprise her. She saw this in Lowes one day and daddy said she loved it, so we knew it would be perfect.

We left my parents around 5 or so and all headed up to my Grandma Lucie's house for a cookout. Of course I didn't get any pictures because we were all running around chasing the girls and trying to get them fed. We left there and came home to get the girls a bath. They both slept awesome last night. They must have been exhausted. After the girls went to bed Josh and I went outside to do a little work. It's nice that we can wait until after the girls go to bed when it's cooler. Josh put out some grass seed and fertilizer so I'm hoping it will make the yard look a little better.

We really had a great weekend but I'm glad to get back to our routine and rest a little. Josh went out of town this morning so it's just me and my girls tonight. I filled up the pool a little while ago so that the water can warm up a little. I'm gonna let them swim for a bit when they get up then we might get some dinner. I love spending time with just my babies