Memorial Day

Since we have been here in NC we have had the chance to visit many of the beaches around here. We go to Wilmington as often as we can because my cousin Bryan lives down there with his cute family. Most of our friends fromGreenville  go to Atlantic Beach because it is the closet to home, about 2.5 hours.

 We decided to make a day trip out to Atlantic beach with the cute Given family. Their daughter Allie is the same age as Bristol and they had too much fun together! It was fun to watch them build sand castles, run in the waves, watch the fish and fly the kite! Burke absolutely loved crawling around in the sand and climbing on the beach chairs. He is starting to get over wanting to eat the sand. However, he forgets he has it on his hands and puts his hand into his mouth.

It was a beautiful and sunny day. We loved being there and enjoying a perfect day!

(Burke and I tried out a new carrier, ergo.. Didn't love it as much as the moby, but he did fall asleep!)

7th Anniversary

As we celebrated our 7th anniversary, it's amazing to think about all that we have been through. We have moved 3 times, lived in 3 states, graduated college, and started college again, and have had 2 children! It has been a wonderful 7 years and excited to see where we will end up. So many changes have occurred over this last year with me graduating with my RN and the birth of our beautiful son. It has been a wonderful year! Love you to the moon and back, my Sammy!

#kellycousincruise

We had an amazing vacation with 4 of Sam's cousins and his brother Scott and all of their spouses. We went on a royal Caribbean cruise to Roatan, Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico. It was delightful!

We met everyone in ft. Lauderdale on Sunday, Mother's Day, and headed straight to the beach! We ventured around with Scott and Michelle that evening to tour Sam's mission. We drove down to Miami and ate at a great restaurant that served food from Sam's mission. 

On Monday afternoon we boarded the cruise ship and went straight to grab some food and head to the pool! We did a lot of game playing, swimming, relaxing, chatting and catching up! It was so great to see everyone, it's been years!

When we got to Roatan, Sam and I decided to go zip lining and spend the rest of the day at the beach snorkeling. It was gorgeous! We had so much fun zip lining and actually got to do the largest zip line tour there, which was awesome! The reef we snorkeled on was amazing and beautiful! 

In cozumel, we spent the day riding around the island on scooters with everyone! It was a blast!! Until, Scott and Michelle had their scooter break down and we had to attempt to chase down the owner to get a new one. About 2 hours later, and thank goodness for Sam speaking spanish, we were able to get another and head to the beach. Sam and I rented a kayak and spent the afternoon kayaking and snorkeling. It was very relaxing! 

An amazing vacation indeed! Can't wait to do it again in 5 years!! 

Bristol's getaway- The duck pond! And, other happenings around here..

Bristol is in love with the duck pond that is located on the medical school campus at ECU. It really is just a short walk across the street and it is a very quaint location. We love going there on nice, sunny days to enjoy all of the ducks and the nice walking trail that goes around the pond. She loves to feed the ducks and run around all of the gazebos. It really is just nice to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors. This particular Fall day was amazing. Sam took the kids while I was working and the leaves were beautiful. There is one tree that had red leaves that almost looked hot pink! Just beautiful.

Bristol is growing up so fast, especially now with a new baby it seems like she is acting so much bigger now. She has learned how to climb a tree that is outside our town home. She wants to do it every chance she gets.

Burke is just as cute as ever. He is sucking on his toes all the time, riding around in his walkers and loving his sister like crazy! They really cannot get enough of each other, as long as she doesn't get too rough.

We are getting ready for the holidays around here and decided to make a thankful turkey. It turned out to be a really good activity to look at how much we really do have to be thankful for. Bristol loved making the colorful turkey!

Burke is 5 Months

October 31, 2013

Dear Burke,

Today you are 5 months old. It has been a wonderful, exhausting, busy and crazy 5 months but we are doing great! You are becoming an amazing little boy with a beautiful soul that exists inside. It is starting to shine through and your personality is inspiring. We have had so much fun with you, especially since you are able to appease us by smiling all of the time. Bristol is still all over you, now starting to tackle you and wanting to play with you. You take it will stride and smile and giggle. Some new things this month:

-You have 2 teeth now! Your two bottom teeth came in this month. You were a champ about the whole teething bit and was only a little fussy. 

-You are yelling very loudly, still. It is kind of your thing..

-You rolled back to front this month. Very exciting milestone!

-Your favorite thing to do is to roll around the living room when placed down there to play. We will put you in one spot and them turn around and you are all the way across the room. You have masters the rolling bit.

-I am trying to teach you a little sign language, like milk and all done, and you laugh and giggle at me every time. Especially when I do it when you are nursing. It is pretty cute!

-You love laying in your play mat and playing with all of the toys, but you especially are intrigued by the mobile that is above you and you try to pull it down every time. Everything has to go into your mouth, even if you can't get it..

-You have found  your feet  and you cannot get enough. You constantly have them in your mouth, sucking on those little toes

-This month you went to a babysitter for the first time. You did really well, slept well and ate well. You also make me so happy when I pick you up because you know who I am and get really excited when I hold you. You burrow your head into my shoulder and giggle. I love this!!

-You said Mama, well, that is what I heard, but it was probably you just making sounds! I loved it regardless. 

Being back to work for about a week now, I have missed being with you every second of the day. But, with that being said, I do cherish the time we do get together. Even though this sounds crazy, I love the sleepless nights that I am up with you nursing because that is the time for us to

bond. It is a very special time for me, especially since I know it won't last forever. Thank you for coming into our lives and being our son. We love you so very much.

Love always,

Mommy

Halloween 2013

One tradition that I started with our little family was a Halloween themed dinner. I have done it every year since Bristol was born and have loved it. During my high school days, I went to family home evening at one of my friends home who had 7 children. She did this every year for Halloween for her kids for the monday FHE before the holiday. I loved it! I knew that was something I wanted to do for my family and have enjoyed doing it. This year we really went above and beyond and bought dry ice to make a witches brew. It was a hit! Our menu included Jack-O-Lantern Quesadillas, Bug Salad, Pumpkin Soup, Mummy Hotdogs, Mummy Pizzas and capris (just cause we love it). It was very yummy and we had a lot of fun with Bristol who was very excited!

This year for Halloween we went trick-or-treating with our friends, the Smiths. It was a lot of fun to get out there with the kids and especially with Bristol because she loves everything about dressing up like anything (especially princesses, though) and getting free treats! She was Tinker Bell and Burke was Peter Pan. I was able to make his outfit in a jiffy and they were so perfect together! (Even though a lot of people thought he was Robin Hood.. grr..) Regardless, we had a great time out in the 70 degree weather going door to door in a really nice neighborhood here in Greenville.



Bristol also had a lot of fun participating in her preschool/daycare Fall Festival, which is really just a Halloween party for the kids. It was good to see her with her teachers and friends and to play the fun games and get more treats! Just what she needs. Either way, we enjoyed this holiday this year and it was really fun to see her enjoy it just as much!

Minor Kitchen disaster

On a sunny afternoon, while Sam was home from work with Burke (his sitter called out sick), water was boiling on the stove for Sam to make some Cream of Wheat. Burke made some noises upstairs and was waking up from his morning nap. Sam went upstairs and was distracted by Burke needing a diaper change and forgot all about the water. After about 30 minutes, Sam realized that he was boiling water and ran downstairs, leaving Burke upstairs, thank goodness. When he found the dry, extremely hot, pot on the stove, he went to take it off the burner without even thinking and melted metal poured out of the pot, onto the counter and to the floor. It was crazy, a freak accident that was unimaginable. Our kenmore pot had melted, and melted all over the place. Sam was barefoot, but thank goodness only had a minor burn. We were grateful the kids were not there, for if they were, it would probably had burned them. Bristol loves that corner of the kitchen when we are cooking and I just know that is right where she would have been. 

I write this because Bristol has been saying her prayers every night and praying for daddy and that his foot would be okay and that the kitchen would be okay. She will not walk into the kitchen because she is afraid it will burn her. She talks about it with everyone and is so worried and concerned. She keeps asking when we will fix it. Her concern is so sincere and sweet. We were very lucky that everyone is okay, just a new floor and counter will be in our near future!