Monday, June 30, 2014

June in Review

June was a busy month for us which made it fly by even faster than the last few months. 

We found a Sonic 10 miles from our house and tried it. 
We joined a new mom's group and played at a park and at Stay and Play Cafe with our new friends. 

Porter perfected the art of self-feeding. 
Paxton started preschool exactly 10 days before the school year ended. He went twice and brought home two adorable art projects.


Porter took lots of high chair naps as we made the transition to one nap. 


We took an anniversary trip to Wrightsville Beach where the boys got to put their toes in the ocean for the very first time. 

We played with our friends. 

We went to Virginia Beach and had a blast!


We cooked out with friends. 

We visited Duke Park again now that it's warm, got Duke shirts and ate at Elmo's. 

We celebrated our favorite guy on Father's Day. 

And enjoyed a whole month with him home without work trips. 

The boys and I went to Toys R Us one Saturday while Jared was playing football and came home with a water table. 

We spent most nights outside. 

We got our money's worth out of our science museum membership. 

And since we couldn't make it to Vegas to see it live, we watched Grandpa Mark's wedding on TV. 

We went to Hillridge Farms with April and Ben and Emeline. 

We finally tried Locopops and now Paxton asks to go to the Popsicle store daily. 


We went to the pool with our original Mom's group. 

And tried out Pullen Park. 

Porter started picking out books and bringing them to me to read. 


June was fantastic. It was full of awesome weather and good friends and new adventures and quiet family time. We aren't homesick anymore; in fact, when I think of home I finally think of this house instead of the one we left behind. July will bring us another trip to Oklahoma complete with a family lake trip, a first Fourth without family, and maybe a day or two in the triple digits and possibly a baby taking his first steps. We're ready.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Fourteen Months

Porter is 14 months old already! He still doesn't seem like a "toddler" to me yet because he's still not walking and his face still looks like a baby face, but he is definitely starting to hit milestones that are making him seem older.  
Porter is not walking. He isn't really close to walking. He has taken one step a few times, but only if we trick him into it. He will only stand alone for a few seconds and also only if he is tricked into it. He can walk behind push toys at lightning speed, even the ones that barely help him with stability, but he is staunchly refusing to walk. Unlike with Paxton, I'm not worried about it. I know he'll do it when he's ready, but for now I'm soaking up the extended crawling phase. 
His talking and social skills are a whole different story. He can repeat tons of words correctly when we ask him to (today he repeated apple, ap-uh). He uses up, down, and out correctly. He says "mmm" when he wants food. He says "outside" all the time. He says mama, dada and pa-pa (Paxton) but I'm not sure he uses Mama to refer to me, I think he just says it. He shakes his head no to indicate that he isn't supposed to do something or that he doesn't like the food we're giving him. He gives high fives, kisses and snuggles. He points to things he wants and says "da" (that). 
He can point to his nose and tummy on command. He knows the cow says "mmm" (moo) and the lion growls. He knows how to pause and play TV shows which drives Paxton crazy. 
He loves to drive cars around and make vroom noises and will make a siren noise for firetrucks. He likes any toy that makes noise and any toy Paxton is playing with. He has already figured out stacking blocks and will help clean up when asked or when he sees someone else cleaning up. The last time we were at the science museum, he crawled around and picked up the blocks and took the balls back to their box. He loves to be read to and will pick a book out and bring it to me and say "up". 
He refuses to eat most meat and all vegetables (except the occasional sweet potato). He will eat almost any fruit, dairy or bread. If we give him a bite of meat or a veggie, he makes a horrible face and scrapes it out of his mouth and throws it on the floor (he might be a little dramatic). He looooves milk and will drink as much as we give him. 
He is such a chill little guy. We can take him anywhere and he is happy. He doesn't require snacks or toys for shopping trips, he's content to just look around. He is always happy and he hates getting in trouble. He's still a snuggler and a mama's boy which I am soaking up while I can because I know all too soon he'll be too busy for me. 

(Pax and Porter at 14 months)

Hillridge Farms

I took the boys to Hillridge Farms today with our friends. It was a little bit of a drive, but defintely worth it.

We went with our friends, which defintely added to the fun. 

The main attraction for the boys was a huge splash pad. Pax and Porter are both big fans of any water-related activity so this was a big hit. 
Porter and Emeline think snacks are the best part of any outing. 
There was a huge slide that Paxton and Ben loved. They went down about 16 times. 
Porter and Emeline just got to watch. 
There was also a corn pit that all the kids loved, lots of animals and a playground. It was a perfect day. 

Friday, June 20, 2014

Virginia Beach

Last weekend, we made the trip to Virginia Beach. Before we moved here Jared had to go to VA Beach for a commercial shoot and ever since then he was excited to take us sometime. 

The boys were so excited to get to the ocean. 
The beach was perfect. The sand was smooth, the waves were calm, it wasn't too hot or too windy and every few minutes, an airplane flew over. 

After we played for a few hours, we walked to our hotel room and changed for dinner. Even though the bathroom was completely covered in sand by the time we got the boys cleaned off, having a hotel on the beach was a complete lifesaver. 

We got dinner and walked to the boardwalk where they were having an art show. Porter hadn't had his afternoon nap so he slept in the wrap while we walked. We found a playground for the boys to play on and looked around at some shops before we headed back to the hotel. 

The next day, Jared had to meet some clients after our hotel breakfast so the boys and I headed to the pool. 
Jared had lunch with his clients so the boys and I ordered lunch and ate at the pool. We had a blast. 

Once Jared got back, we checked out of the hotel and went back to the souvenir shops. Paxton had randomly asked for a necklace on the beach the day before and hadn't forgotten about it, so we took him to pick one out. By the time we got to the shop, he was requesting a green necklace and a sucker. He got both and Porter got a t-shirt. 

Jared wanted to stop at Doumar's for some ice cream. He said it was famous after it's appearance on the TV show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. He had Paxton at ice cream. 
After ice cream, we headed home. We randomly saw a Five Guys about three minutes after Jared had been talking about it so we had to stop for dinner. We got caught in a ridiculously torrential downpour on the way home. We couldn't see at all and were more scared to be stopped on the side of the road than to keep going, so we kept going. After a few miles, we made it to the other side of it and got home safely. 

The trip was a blast. Paxton and I have a tiny obsession with staying in hotels and everybody loves the beach. Living so close to beaches is defintely a perk to living here.