Beach and Books

Walking the boardwalk to the beach with our friend Carson.

The weather this week finally has been warm...like in the 70's warm. It has been so wonderful. Mike, Will and I have literally lived on our little screened-in-back porch. We sit, relax, eat, read and play out there. I love it!

Monday, since it was so nice, Will and I met some friends on Sullivan's Island for a play-date of sorts. Let me tell you, a play-date at the beach is my kind of get together. I think I could get used to this!
playing with friends.
Will did play with his friends, but he found that chasing seagulls was a lot of fun also. That's him in the back ground, on the move again!

Now, I know I've said it before, but Will now loves to read. He will bring us books constantly and want us to stop everything and read to him, which of course we do. Unfortunately, he always brings the same book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear or Farmer Will.
Brown bear is about to drive us crazy! We hide it, but he always seems to find it. Anyways, I found this tonight. I think I might let Will watch this a few hundred times to see what he thinks!

Baker Will?

Our cake of choice: chocolate with cream cheese icing
Today Will was playing in the pantry and pulled out the cupcake liners. I hadn't baked a cake in awhile, and I had all the stuff, so I figured why not. I even thought, you know, I'll let Will help me. I let him help pour in the water and oil and let him touch the eggs as I cracked them. His little face was so funny! Each time we poured something in the bowl he would say "Oh!" and laugh. He watched as I put the batter into the cups and even watched as I put them into the oven.
After we had mixed the batter, he didn't want anything to do with the hand mixer, but he loved waving the spatula in the air like a sword!

Now, everybody knows the real reason that you make a cake at home: so you can lick the spoon and the bowl! I let Will have one of the beaters from the mixer and this is what happened:




He loved it...and was covered in cake batter. But, good things must always come to and end. Here's what happened when I took his mixer beater away:
Wow! Talk about a meltdown! Don't worry, he didn't stay upset too long!

Our day at the beach

So...its been a few weeks since this happened, but we had a nice weekend in mid-February. Now that we live at the coast, we decided to spend an afternoon at the beach. We packed a picnic lunch, a bucket, shovel and a ball and drove the 25 minute drive to Folly Beach. I wondered how Will would do, the last time he was at the beach he was 10 months old. He liked it then, and he liked it now. Granted, we only played in the sand, but still he had so much fun. He filled up his bucket, chased seagulls and had fun dumping sand on us. It didn't seem like we did too much, but as always, a day at the beach makes you tired. Needless to say, all three of us took a good long Saturday nap when we got home.

Another Boy!

This morning Mike and I went to the doctor for an ultrasound. Around 18-20 weeks they like to take a look at the baby's heart, brain, spine, etc. to make sure that all is developing well. They can also tell you the sex of the baby, which in my opinion is the main reason you want to have the scan done. The first thing the lady asked was, "Do you want to know?" to which I answered "Um, Yeah!!" So, we got the news that we are indeed expecting another boy, which we are thrilled about. I would love to have a girl one day, and if God sees fit for that to happen, then I will be happy. But for now He has chosen to bless us with 2 boys. Yes, I know my life is going to be crazy chasing after these two little ones, having impromptu wrestling matches in the living room, and living at the ball-field, but I can hardly wait to do it!

17 months

Our little Gap model!
Here are some new pictures of our little man. He is getting bigger, faster and smarter everyday! He finally said mommy, but prefers to say daddy. He also loves to say yes and he is trying his hardest to jump. He is a little booger, but we love him!
Playing at a playdate at our friend Laurie's house. The hat and the push toy were the popular toys of the day!


It looks like he is saying "What did I do?". We were at Barnes and Noble after going out to eat for Mike's birthday.
Playing in his turtle classroom at church. He was the first kid that day.
Driving mama's car, or so he thinks!

Snow? In Charleston?

Will and Mike making a snowball.
Yesterday we got the first measurable snow here in Charleston in 10 years. They'd been predicting it since Thursday night, but we had to see it to believe it. I mean, we live minutes from the beach, and beach/snow just don't go together. The crazy thing is, we didn't get a dusting, we got a couple of inches. And they are already talking about more snow for Monday. Wow...and we didn't think we would see snow for awhile after leaving the Atlanta area. All in all, Will like playing in the snow. It was his first time to be out in it and he loved running and crunching in it. When we finally decided to come in, he cried to go back out.

So much to say...

It feels good to finally be settled into our new life. We have been here 3 weeks now and it is starting to feel like home. There for awhile, Mike and I joked about how it felt like we were on an extended vacation. But, I think we have gotten somewhat of a rhythm or routine now which makes life easier, especially for this new stay-at-home mom. Will has adjusted fine to the new house which is has made life easy as well. Speaking of Mr. Will, I'm sure some of you are dying to know what he is up to. Here are the highlights:
1. He now officially says daddy and can make the connection when he sees Mike.
2. He can snap his fingers. Yes you read that right, and he snaps at us as a last resort when he wants something. Little stinker!
3. He sleeps in a big boy bed...well, we converted his crib into a day bed. He didn't sleep in it when it was a crib so we are giving this a try. We've had some success.Will's big boy bed.
4. He sprints everywhere...he doesn't walk or run, and he's so fast!
5. He loves to play outside. Charleston is supposed to be warmer than Atlanta, but so far it has been wet and cool. We look forward to spring.
6. He now loves to read! This one is huge for me. He now wants to sit in his chair in his room and have me read to him. I love it! FYI...his favorite book right now is Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see. I pretty much have it memorized!

I LOVE THIS KID!

I realize that I have not said much about baby #2. Of course right now we don't much other than the due date, July 25, 2010. I actually go on the 18th to find out what I am having. We are excited to find out. I am praying for a healthy baby, first and foremost, but I wouldn't mind if it was a boy. I love Will so much and would love to cuddle with another sweet baby boy. I also have a ton of clothes and this baby would be in the same season as Will so I wouldn't need much of anything other than diapers. Call me practical, but that just seems to make the most sense. But, secretly, I would love to experience a daughter. :)

In other news...River Church has officially launched! Our first service was last Sunday, 1/31/10. We saw 190 people walk through the doors of Orange Grove Charter Elementary School. It was amazing to see God show up in such a big way! I am helping serve in the children's area, specifically toddlers. We had at least 15 in our room. Which was a lot, especially when they all decided to cry at the same time! We are continuing to pray for upcoming weeks, months and years of glorifying God through River Church. Check us out at riverchurch.com.