Viva la Vida

I couldn't help feeling younger and cooler this week than I have in a long time. As part of Scott's anniversary present from me, we went to the Coldplay concert at the Walnut Creek Ampitheater. It turned out to be an incredible night, with a beautiful sunset, cool temperatures, and some awesome music.

We rode with our neighbors, Rod and Anthea, and sat just a few rows away from them. They are expecting their first baby in just a few weeks. Aren't they so cute???

We enjoyed Mellow Mushroom pizza at their house before heading out to the concert. What made us feel EVEN younger was that my parents kept both boys over night! Thanks Mimi and Dudaddy for giving us a great night away!

National Night Out

Every year, our neighborhood participates in National Night Out, a program put on by Neighborhood Watch organizations. Ours includes free ice cream, balloons, glow bracelets, fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars. Is this not every little boy's dream??? Needless to say, our boys had an amazing time hanging out at National Night Out! Here's the proof:

Tyler was super excited to see a fire truck up close!

An attempt at a brother photo with the fire truck.

Carter even got to spray a real fire hose!

And Tyler's addiction to steering wheels continues. Can you see the sheer joy in his face??? We had to PRY him away from it to let other kids have a chance.

Carter even got arrested! A cop put handcuffs on him (look closely in the picture) and put him in the back of his cop car! All of this with Carter's and our consent, of course. I don't think he really got it, but we certainly got a kick out of it.

The night ended like so many summer nights end around here...playing outside SOME MORE!

It has begun...

The terrible twos that is.

My sweet little Tyler is a mere 16 months old, but I believe he is crossing over to the dark side already. I remember this tough time beginning around 18 months for Carter, but then again, Tyler has seemed to reach these "milestones" a few months earlier than even his "advanced" brother.

He is into everything he knows he's not supposed to... and he really does know now. He gets a little smile on his face, looks at you, and then continues with his devious behavior. He doesn't want to sit in a booster seat at the table anymore...evidently, he's too cool for those now. He doesn't want a lid on his cup...too cool for those, too. He DESPISES having his clothes changed for any reason, and will even rip off the clothes that you just put on. The kid can also throw a mean tantrum and hit and kick with the best of them. Some of the tantrums have been so good, I've just had to document them on camera and video. See for yourself.

Here, he's climbing in my seat at the table and trying to get into my breakfast (which, by the way, I happily share with him on a normal basis...but I didn't want him grabbing the breakable bowl off the table and spilling it all on the floor). I told him to stop and to get into his seat.

He got mad.

He got even madder.

Later that same morning, he threw a huge tantrum and wore himself out so much that he fell asleep on the door mat in the kitchen.

Now, 18 months to 2 and a half was a very difficult year for my sweet Carter, so I'm bracing myself for possibly worse with this little man. But I've lived through it, and survived, so bring it on!

But please don't start to think that this Tyler Man (as we like to call him) is not quite possibly the sweetest, cutest thing you've ever met. He is! I guess this is part of the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde complex that comes with being a toddler. When he is happy, his smile can absolutely melt you. He blows kisses and has the cutest good-bye wave ever... with his arm extended straight to the sky and pressed against his ear and his little fingers opening and closing. He gives hugs out of the blue, and has an incredibly contagious laugh. Sometimes, in the midst of a tantrum, I just look at him and think, "It's a pretty good thing that you are so darn cute!"

Here was one of his cute moments, at the pool with Gigi and Papa, exploring the plants.

Tyler Man, we love you! Tantrums and all!

The Attack

Last night, as we were playing in the backyard with the boys and Scott's dad, Tony, we were attacked by wasps out of nowhere. Everyone was down in the grass, except me, and I was standing right on the deck watching the boys play baseball. All of a sudden, it felt like a knife just stabbed my hand, and I just started screaming, holding my hand, and yelling, "Oh my gosh, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" As the others are coming over to see me, Scott starts yelling things that I won't write on the blog and ripping off his shirt. Amongst the madness, Tyler starts crying and Carter starts running after Scott. I get myself together and grab the kids to get inside, and Scott runs all the way around the house and rings the front doorbell to try to get inside. After our nerves are a bit calmed, we realize that I have one wasp sting on my hand, and Scott has one on his arm and three on his stomach. I'm still complaining how mine hurts, but Scott already seems to be better... making me think that I'm pretty much a big baby. HOWEVER...by bed time last night, Scott's were nearly gone and not noticeable, while my whole hand began to turn red and swell. The sore hand woke me up several times last night, and after Ibuprofen and Benadryl, the swelling and pain continues and is worsening today. Clearly, I know I'm overreacting, but I'm beginning to have visions of hospital trips and amputation in my head. Please pray for me and my nasty looking hand....which I'm hoping to be able to post pictures of when Scott gets home...I'm no good at pushing the shutter button with my left hand.

UPDATE: Here are my hands, as of 4:00 on Tuesday... about 20 hours after the wasp attack. Notice the hand on the left (my right hand) and how it is red and swollen. It's worse in real life... I promise.

Here's Scott gearing up to go kill wasps and knock down nests. Let's hope this works.

NEW UPDATE: On Wednesday morning, my hand was continuing to get worse and worse. More redness and more swelling, even after lots of Benadryl and Ibuprofen. At this point, I decided to go to the Urgent Care. I felt that my situation was out of my radiologist husband and radiologist father-in-law's area of expertise...though, I'm pretty sure that the Urgent Care doctor really didn't know any more. Here are pictures I took of my hands while I was waiting to see the doctor:

My normal left hand:

My swollen right hand:

To make a long story short, the doctor thought that I had a bad hand infection, that resulted from the wasp sting. He put me on 2 rigorous doses of antibiotics, and gave me a brace to hold my hand still (which I didn't even really use and later got a $75 bill for!). The redness and swelling continued to get worse that day and night... Scott even had to stay home from work, because I literally couldn't even open the kids' sippy cups. Thankfully, by the next afternoon, the swelling and redness began to go down. It wasn't until almost a week later that my hand felt totally normal! It is still a debate as to whether or not I had an allergic reaction to the wasp sting or whether I got an infection as a result of it. We may never know, but boy am I glad to have all of this behind me!

Gina Weekend 2009

To make a long (and probably not as funny to you as it is to us) story short, I have a group of girlfriends from college that we call the "Ginas."  Now that weddings seem to be slowing down, we've not had as many opportunities to pull us from all the places we are over the eastern part of the U.S. to get together.  So, alas... Gina Weekend was officially created in 2007.  

This year, for Gina Weekend 2009, Gina Cam so graciously offered for us to stay at her in-laws' home on the Reynolds Plantation in Georgia, which is home to a Ritz Carlton, 4 golf courses, and a community of beautiful homes.  Here's the clencher... Cam's last name is Reynolds.  Her father-in-law is THE Reynolds of Reynolds Plantation.  Needless to say, the Ginas were living lives of luxury this past weekend that we will probably never ever live again.  Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds were SO sweet and generous with us, and allowed us to live in this home like it was our own... at least for a few days.  

We stayed up WAY too late each night, ate chips and dip all day, had LOTS of girl talk, and just enjoyed each other's company.  This year, I was fortunate enough to only be a Gina on Gina Weekend!  Last year, I had to be Gina and Mommy, as still breastfeeding Tyler tagged along.  This year, my wonderful hubby kept both boys, and my incredible in-laws came in for the weekend, too!  Clearly, the boys were well taken care of, so I felt foot lose and fancy free.  Literally.  I just kept saying that I felt like a kid again... with no one to worry about except myself.  I did flips off the diving board (even a one and a half!), giggled, laid around, and did running jumps off the dock into the beautiful Lake Oconee.  I hadn't felt so free in a long time.

Although I THOROUGHLY enjoyed my freedom and girl time, it felt SO good to hear my Carter say "Night night, my girl" (our nightly routine) the evening that I got home.  

I hope our Gina Weekends can continue for many years to come!   

All the Ginas (plus the two Gina baby boys)... except Julie, who was visiting her hubby in Africa... pretty good reason to not make it.

I didn't take many pictures of the house like I meant to, but this is just a snipit of the area by the pool.  The landscaping is exquisite!  

The pool and the diving board that got great use!

Cam's little man, Whit, who's only 10 weeks old.

Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds admiring their grandson and daughter-in-law.  

Blair holding Holly's little miracle, Liam.

Liam loves him some carrots!

Chillin' by the pool on a hot and beautiful Georgia day.

Proof that I really did do flips.

I convinced Holly to do flips, too!

The RoBards and Duncans take Myrtle Beach!

For the past three years, our great friends, the RoBards and we have been planning an annual short vacation together.  Previously, we've gone to Pigeon Forge, TN, which is pretty much the only thing to do that is half the distance between Louisville and Durham.  This year, however, we decided to mix it up and head to Myrtle Beach, SC.  That meant quite a lot more driving for the RoBards, but they seemed to think it was worth it. 

We stayed in a nice 2 bedroom condo in the Royale Palms tower on Kingston Plantation.  (Yes, 2 bedrooms for 9 people... it worked out remarkably well, especially since both of the babies slept in pack n plays in the spacious walk-in closets!)  We ate every meal in and only left the plantation to make a run to the local (and busiest I've EVER seen) Wal-Mart.  With 5 kids ages 4 and under, it was a vacation made in Heaven!  Some of my favorite memories are:

• the daddies digging giant holes in the sand to make the kids a "pool"
• watching the kids have an absolute blast in the water park on the plantation
• the mommies and the daddies getting to leave separately during nap time to go work out
• the delicious Trader Joes meals that we whipped up in no time and for so little money
• Vivian and Carter's wedding... which took place in the condo, when the daddies were running and all the other kids were sleeping.  I think they got married about 3 or 4 times, and decided they would honeymoon at "Dudaddy's house."
• Zach thinking that the Myrtle Beach sand was the tastiest thing he had ever eaten
• sleeping in until 8:45 each morning.  Although the kids went to bed very late every night, they slept in until 8:45 each morning.  Wow, that felt good.

Carter really enjoyed the ocean and was pretty bold, until he got water up his nose.

Pensive Tyler

Leigh attempting to save Zach from the sand he was eating.  It even showed up in his diaper!

The digging of the "pool" on the beach.  Go, daddies, go!

One of my favorite shots I took that weekend... a tired Vivian, but turned out very cool.  Look at those piercing eyes!

It's always fun to get to spend this 24-hours a day vacation time with the RoBards, and we look forward to all the many memories we will make in the years to come!

Let's hear it for the girls!!!

On Tuesday, July 14th, I had the privilege of meeting the sweetest, cutest twin baby girls ever!  My dearest friend from way back when, Ellen, gave birth to her little miracle babies, Claire Elizabeth and Caitlin Irene.  Ellen had been such a trooper through her trying pregnancy, and carried those girls in her belly so gracefully.  She is already a natural mother, and the girls are doing fantastic.  Ellen has been like family to my boys and I feel blessed that I will be able to do the same for Claire and Caitlin...and I'm SO excited to have two more reasons to buy pink stuff!

Welcome to the world, Claire and Caitlin!  We've been waiting anxiously to meet you, and you're such a blessing!

I'll be honest...I'm not sure who is who.  They look VERY similar, except that Claire is smaller.

Daddy Kevin and the new proud grandmother, Irene