Beach bums!

We just returned from our annual beach trip to Emerald Isle, NC yesterday. What a great week! We shared an oceanfront house with Dad & Cindy, Eddie & Emily, Mark & Dina Hamric, and their daughter Erin & her friend Caroline. We were the first to arrive last Saturday, and since we didn't have a key to the house, we took Tyler out on the beach. We weren't sure how he would take it this year. He didn't hate the beach last year, but he wasn't as excited as we thought he would be. This year? He LOVED the beach. He LOVED the water. He LOVED everything about it. He had a blast picking up shells, digging in the sand, wading in the water, jumping waves with Mommy & Daddy, all of it. As soon as we got there, he took off down the beach and before we knew it, he was soaking wet from head to toe in his clothes - and he didn't care at all. We knew right then and there that we had a beach bum on our hands for the week.

Our friends Chris & Carol Bowler (from Jacksonville, FL) were also at EI for the week with their family. They stayed a mere 1.8 miles from us, and we were able to hang out with them a few nights, as well as eat lunch with them and go to the NC Aquarium with them. It was wonderful to get together with them, as we don't see them often. Their daughter, Emma will be 4 in September and Mason will be 1 that same month. We are planning a week long trip to Florida in September to spend some time with them, and after this time with them, we are so excited to get down there for some more quality time. ther visitors included Maw Maw Ange & Paw Paw Jim, as well as Bridges, Jay, Wagner & Waylon. Tyler had a blast playing with "the boys" and we all loved spending more time with the Radicks & Spivas.

We spent the majority of our time on the beach, as it was a beautiful week (with the exception of Monday which was about a 90% washout). We saw porpoises one day, and even found a beautiful starfish one day too. But we did visit the Aquarium with the Bowlers and Erin & Caroline on Wednesday. We were able to see the newest exhibit, CRUNCH. Crunch is a 165-pound, 150 year old allligator snapping turtle. As a turtle lover myself, I was thrilled to see him. The kids were more interested in the sharks and stingrays. But we all had a great time, as always. The otters were very active as we walked by, and Emma & Tyler even got to hold a small crab on the outdoor decks. The snakes were disliked by, well, everyone. But we were fortunate to have the aquarium practically all to ourselves, as most everyone went on Monday when it rained.

We also went out one day and bought Tyler a new pet - a hermit crab. We picked a little one that was affectionately named "Frog" (his name has since moved to a more fitting "Crab"). I had decided that maybe we should get another crab to keep this one company, so on Friday Eddie & Emily returned with a much larger crab in a SpongeBob Square Pants shell. Tyler immediately focused in on him and his name is "Bob Pants". So Bob Pants and Crab are living harmoniously (for the most part) in their cage and we've had a lot of fun with them so far. Travis & Tyler have a project together later this summer to build a much larger cage for them using some old wood we have around the house, as well as some chicken wire. They'll have a great time together on that!

Overall, we had a wonderful week, and we're very sad that we're back to "normal life" tomorrow. We loved being able to spend quality time with everyone. And we were thrilled to see how much Tyler loved the beach. We can't wait for next year's trip. But as sad as we were to leave, it's always nice to get back into your own bed and back to your old routine. That is, unless you come home to a leaking pipe and mold in your breakfast nook, which is exactly what happened to us. Long story VERY short, we had the leak repaired today and have ServPro cleaning the mold and wetness. The leak appears to have been happening secretly & quietly for 10+ years, and it just all compounded while we were gone. We hope to get some answers soon as to what will happen in our kitchen and breakfast nook, but it looks like this will be a rest-of-the-summer process. What a way to come back home, huh?

The rest of our summer includes many trips to the pool, a Snead family reunion in early August, as well as one more trip back to Lynchburg so that we can attend the annual fishing club social. We went last year and we all had a blast so we can't wait to do it again. The Spivas and Radicks will be there, as well as Dad & Cindy and Em & Eddie. Other than that, we don't have much on the travel calendar as we lead up to the Florida trip in late September. But we'll find ways to pass the time!

Big boy bed!!!

That's right, folks. As of today, Tyler has "graduated" from sleeping in a crib and is now in his very own "big boy bed". This bed is actually a twin bed that is the bottom bunk of a Cargo bunk bed that used to belong to my brother Eddie. For being 20 years old, that set is in great condition! Dad always says that if a nuclear bomb went off, the only two things to survive would be cockroaches and that bed. It's sturdy stuff. And perfect for another little boy! Anyway, our pediatrician had recommended keeping Tyler in his crib for as long as we could. She said as long as he wasn't climbing out or hurting himself, there was no need to rush the transition. So we didn't. But with our week-long beach trip coming up, we felt now was the time. Tyler will be sleeping in his own room, in a twin bed, at the beach. We didn't want him to be disoriented or weirded out about sleeping in a big bed that week, so we decided to stop being lazy, assemble the bed (and toddler proof the room) and let the kid sleep.

Tyler has slept in a double bed at Dad's house a few times, and it was his decision to do so. He sleeps very well in a big bed, so we weren't too nervous about his move. But you can't help but have a little bit of nervousness when moving your baby - er, big boy - out of the only bed he's ever known. It makes the fact that he is growing up so real. Big boy bed, drinking out of cups that aren't sippy cups at meals, moving the straps up in his carseat to the very top level, becoming so independent in everything that he does. Tyler may be ready for this, but what about Travis & I? Are we??????

Anyway, Travis assembled the bed this morning, and Tyler watched with great enthusiasm. He wanted to "help" and he was so interested in the whole process. He got very excited when Travis brought the mattress in and the bed was finally put together. He took his first nap in the bed this afternoon and when we peeked in on him he was curled up in his side, surrounded by his stuffed animals and blankets, napping peacefully. Putting him down for bed tonight was just as easy, though I did have to go in there once to soothe him and reassure him that all of his "friends" were in bed with him, just like in his crib. We haven't heard a peep from him since, and we're hopeful that the rest of the nights will be this easy. Our little boy is growing up........

Tyler's new role in life

No, he's not going to be a big brother. :) He's a COUSIN! Tyler's very first cousin, Landon Hunter Bilyeu, was born on June 19th weighing in at 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 inches long. He is the son of Travis' sister, Jenn, and her husband Brian. In addition to being Tyler's very first cousin, he is Trav's & my first nephew! We were very excited to meet Landon last Friday (on our way out of town to visit Dad & Eddie in Lynchburg). Tyler was less than thrilled to see me holding a baby again, but felt better once he was able to hold little Landon himself. Landon is a very alert little man, and absolutely adorable. We can't wait to have him grow up with Tyler. Congrats, Jenn & Brian!

Last weekend we also headed to Lynchburg to visit Dad & Eddie. We spent Saturday at Cindy's sister's house because she has a pool. It was the first pool experience for Tyler in 2009 and just like last year, he LOVED it. He was jumping in with no fear (but there was fear on all of our parts), and he wanted to swim everywhere (which made me mad that American Family Fitness wouldn't let him take swim lessons at age 2). He had a blast, and we're glad that our community association's pool is open now so that we can go on weekends. We have a water baby - er, toddler - for sure!!! We were joined that day by Cindy's great-niece KK and my dear old friend, Sarah & her little girl Kyra. What a fun day!

We also headed over to Uncle Eddie's house to visit with him & Emily. They've done a lot of work to the house, and I was anxious to see it all. Emily's done beautiful things to that house, and it's looking great! They have painted severeal of the rooms, gotten new TVs (happy early birthday little brother), added curtains, and all sorts of other things. Tyler got to visit with Maverick (Em's dog), Deacon (Eddie's cat), and Nelson (Em;s really big fish). He had a great time "walking" Maverick on his leash in the yard and petting Deacon. All in all, it was an awesome weekend.

And now we are 2 weeks away from our week in Emerald Isle with Dad, Cindy, Eddie, Emily, Mark, Dina, & Erin Hamric, and so many others! This year, the Radicks and Spivas are camping out but hanging out with us during the day, and our dear friends the Bowlers will be there that week too! Tyler will have lots of kids to play with this year and we're so excited! The countdown is on!!!

Gone to the races!

Travis heard that Colonial Downs (horse racing track between Richmond & Williamsburg) was having a Fan Appreciation Day today. Admission was just $0.25, hot dogs, drinks, chips, & programs were $0.25 a piece. Tyler is obsessed with horses these days so we figured that he'd really love this. So after nap today, we drove the 25 minutes to the track, and as expected.....HE LOVED IT. His favorite part was definitely the actual races, as he could clap and cheer the horses on. But he did enjoy watching them at the stables, and just running around. We'll definitely have to find another time to take him there. Here are some pics and a video of our afternoon. (And yes, Tyler did get another haircut today. This is the shortest that his hair has ever been, and he looks like such a big boy! No worries, the curls are not gone!!!!!)

EXTRA: This is our 3 year old hydrangea. We bought this thing as a teeny, tiny little plant back in 2006. We never in a million years thought that it would get THIS big!!!!!!

Annnnnnnnnnnnd, a haircut picture too. :)

Travels galore

The past two weekends have been filled with travels for our family. Two weeks ago, Tyler & I took a little trip up 95 to Fredericksburg to visit with my friends from Mary Washington for my 10 year reunion. (I've been out of college for 10 years???? Yikes.) Travis left the next day for a business trip to New Orleans. Last weekend, we packed Tyler up to stay with Gramme & Granddad while Trav & I enjoyed a relaxing weekend in VA Beach at a B&B. It must be summer!!!

My "reunion", as it were, in Fred-ericksburg was a lot of fun. We met up at Heidi & Riley's house with Shoshana & her two girls, Meredith & Marty and their 2 kids, Andrea & her daughter, and Jim & his new wife Kathleen. We had a great time playing inside and out, and thank goodness that Heidi had some Backyardigans on DVR when things got hairy. I think Tyler had a great time playing with all the girls that were there, though sharing is still something that he has issues with (he's 2, after all). It was great to see some old friends, though it's still hard to believe that it's been 10 years already.

Last weekend, Travis & I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. In some respects it feels as if these 5 years have flown by, and in others it feels like we've been together for an eternity (in a good way). We went to a B&B in VA Beach and have a beautiful room with a great spa bathroom. We enjoyed just being away from home and walking on the beach. It really got us in the mood for our trip to Emerald Isle coming up in just 4 weeks. Tyler had a blast with his grandparents, and got to visit with a VERY pregnant Aunt Jenn, as well as Great-Grandma Smith. He went to cousin Jordan's baseball game in Louisa and had fun just running around. It was a great weekend all around, but we were all happy to be back together.

There's lots more travelling on the calendar for this summer!

Whew! Long time, no blog.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately! Long story short, we had some laptop issues and it had to be sent back to Toshiba to be fixed (yay for warranties!). I was using the backup laptop, and didn't want to add new pics to it since I rarely use it, so I decided to wait. Well, the new laptop was delivered today and we are back in business! Things have been getting busy around here, as warmer weather is here!

We've been spending lots of time outside, and can't wait until our community pool opens so that we can get a few swims in too! (Yes, our pool is the only pool in the entire US that didn't open as scheduled on Memorial Day. Don't ask. We're pretty ticked. Stupid community association can't plan appropriately.) Tyler has been spending lots of time on his trike, pushing his new bubble mower, chasing poor Winston (the cat next door), playing with the neighbor's kids, playing in their sand box, climbing trees, and picking up rocks from the street. He's such a boy. He's got tons of scrapes and bruises and cuts. We'll keep Band-Aid in business this summer, I do believe.

We had a cookout with our neighbors on the street for Memorial Day. Our next door neighbors, the Brants, are moving to Tennessee in a few weeks so this was also a goodbye cookout for them. We'll really miss them, as they have two kids that Tyler loves to play with. But we had a great time at the cookout, and Tyler loved playing with Noah and Ella on the swingset. Oh and he loved making silly faces when he saw the camera too.

In other news, Tyler has some news of his own - he's been pee-peeing on the potty more often!!! We are definitely nowhere near full potty-training, but he's showing a real interest and is doing a great job. He went to the potty at school at least once a day all week, and today he went ALL DAY LONG. His teachers were so proud and so are we! And he's been regularly using the potty at home, especially before bed. We reward him with Backyardigans stickers (I know, you're shocked) and it's working very well. We'll just keep encouraging him and hope that the behavior continues. Maybe we'll be done with diapers by fall?????

We have a busy summer ahead of us. Tomorrow we head to Frederickburg to hang out with some of my friends for my 10 year college reunion. 10 years!!!!! Next weekend, Tyler will be spending the weekend with his Gramme & Granddad Snead while Travis & I head to a bed & breakfast in VA Beach for our 5th wedding anniversary. We'll head to Lynchburg a few weeks later, and before you know it, the annual Emerald Isle trip will be here!! We can't wait to get some R&R. It'll be a fun summer, that's for sure!

And on a final note, CONGRATS to our friends Lori & Brian & big brother, Evan. They welcomed Jason Bamford to their family on May 28. He weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz. and was 21.5 inches long. He's precious and we're so happy to welcome him to the world!!!! (Jenn & Brian, you're next!!!!!)

Remembering Mom

Today is the 3rd anniversary of my mother's passing. There isn't a single day that goes by that I don't think about her. I miss her and love her as much today as I did 3 years ago. The hole in my heart that she left is just as empty as it was 3 years ago. But there is a fullness in my heart that helps ease the pain of her loss. That fullness is Tyler, and it is because of him that I have not lost my mind over losing my mom too soon. There isn't a single day that goes by that I don't thank God for this little boy. And for the time that I had with my mother. And I know that my mom would have LOVED this little boy. She would have spoiled him and he would have been the center of her world. I hate that she doesn't get to know him, and that he doesn't get to know her. But we'll just keep telling him stories about her, and he will know her as well as he can.

This past weekend we visited Nana Scoggin and played in her beautiful yard, and with her neighbors' miniature horses. On Saturday, we drive to Union Mills with Nana, Grandpa, Uncle Eddie, & Miss Emily. We let Tyler play in the cemetery and he was introduced to catepillars, which he LOVED! The weather was beautiful, and we had a nice, quick visit there. And so, I won't say any more. Just enjoy some pics from our weekend.

We love you, Mom. And we miss you every day.

1st dental checkup!

Tyler had his first trip to the dentist this week! I was really nervous about the whole thing, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected! We talked about the visit all morning, and on the way to the appointment. When he got there, he had a blast playing in the waiting room. They also have all glass walls so you can see other kids having their teeth cleaned and having the dentist examine them, which I thought was awesome. So Tyler watched lots of the kids sitting patiently and we talked about how they were going to look at his teeth & clean them. The hygienist came out, introduced himself to us, then told Tyler about all of the prizes he was going to get if he was good. Bribery can be very powerful - sometimes.

Tyler calmly followed him back to the exam chairs, and picked out a toothbrush. And that’s where the calmness ended. He wasn’t having anything to do with Andrew, the hygienist. Andrew showed him every piece of equipment, told him what it did, let him play with them, etc. Tyler only wanted to sit in my lap, and even then he wasn’t buying what Andrew was selling. Dr. Dawson finally came over and calmly talked to Tyler and we got him to settle down enough to have Andrew brush his teeth and Dr. Dawson could look in his mouth (while I sat in the exam chair with my arms and legs over Tyler’s arms and legs to lightly restrain him). He did just fine during that part, it was just getting him there that was the challenge!

Anyway, no cavities and a mouth full of beautiful teeth! His second set of molars are on their way in, but we already knew that from the way he jams his hands in his mouth all the time! Tyler walked out of there with a handful of Backyardigans stickers, a bouncy ball, a new toothbrush, and a goody bag with “Bob Pants” (aka Spongebob Squarepants) on it. We go back in October for his next visit.

Even though the visit wasn’t peaceful and perfect, we’re really glad we decided to take him now. He’s got the first visit behind him now, and we feel good knowing that we’re taking good care of his teeth and that they have come in well.

We're headed to NC tomorrow for the weekend. We'll be staying in Browns Summit with Nana Scoggin, and making a trip to Union Mills on Saturday with Grandpa, Uncle Eddie, & Miss Emily so that we can visit Mom & Papa Scoggin's graves. April 27th is the 3rd anniversary of Mom's passing, and we thought that now would be a good time to visit. Pics to come.

Easter 2009

Well, the Easter Bunny did indeed visit our house this year. But not before we dyed some Easter eggs as a family! Tyler had a great time with the dye job, but got a little impatient as he had to sit and wait for the color to darken on the eggs. Travis read Tyler several Easter books in the weeks leading up to the big day, with his favorite being a Winnie the Pooh Easter book (which Tyler even took to school to share with his friends!). Easter morning, Tyler came down the stairs to find that the Bunny had left lots of goody-filled Easter eggs all over the house. He had a great time finding the eggs (and cracking them open to eat jelly beans at 8:00 AM), then pronounced loudly "EASTER BUNNY!!!!" as he saw his loaded Easter basket.

Playing with our new toy

Thanks to Woot.com, we are the proud owners of a Flip video camera. I had Flip envy when the Clarkes were here visiting for Tyler's birthday party, and when one was being sold on Woot for a discounted price, I jumped on it. Our digital camera has the capability to take videos too, but we've already found that the quality is 100 times better with the Flip. So, enjoy a few videos from the past week.

Ring Around the Rosie

Bedtime stories or be silly? Be silly.

Just some new stuff

We've been pretty busy here lately - another Home Depot kids' workshop (he made a racetrack this time, well, I did), testing out a new jogging stroller (I'm determined to get in shape this spring), a little bit of grilling outside (Tyler loves to help cook!), getting 2 year pictures taken (I am so glad that we don't have to do THAT for another year - whew!), and just enjoying the gradual change to spring (though we wish it would come on a bit faster). We have lots coming up too. A quick visit from our dear friends the Bowlers this weekend while they are in town from Florida, a visit to Lynchburg to see Grandpa, Uncle Eddie, & Miss Emily next weekend, then Easter the weekend after. Busy times ahead! Before we know it, the pool will be open, Aunt Jenn & Uncle Brian's little boy will be born, and we'll be heading to the beach (with Grandpa & Eddie, AND meeting up with the Bowlers there!.