Weekend at the Lake

This past weekend my friend Kelly invited us to her family's lake house on Tim's Ford Lake. It was beautiful!!! We had great weather, great company, great food and conversation. Mary Paul had so much fun playing in the kiddie pool and sitting in the middle of this huge round float!! Bryan and I had fun on the jet skis and tubing....but I think the award for Most Fun Had During a Lake Weekend goes to....Daisy the Wonder Dog!!! She loves the water and played and played and played all weekend. The dog who never tires got off of her bed for breakfast Sunday morning (we got home late Saturday night), ate and then went right back to sleep.

Where Pacifiers Go to Die

I lose pacifiers all the time. For the last two weeks I've been using only 1 pacifier because it is the only one I could find. Then on Wednesday, I couldn't find that one either. I was getting ready to drive to Knoxville and the pacifier would be crucial in helping Mary Paul fall asleep in the car. Since learning how to stand up, Mary Paul can often be found standing in her crib with her pacifier 4 feet in front of her on the floor, where she threw it (she'll either be a softball player or a quarterback). I decided to look behind her crib. As you can see I located the secret pacifier graveyard. The previously mentioned pacifier was discovered in her crib hiding in a blanket.

This weekend my husband ran in the 2007 Nike Hood to Coast Relay. This is a relay race that starts at the top of Mt. Hood in Oregon and ends at the coast in Seaside, Oregon. He was on a team with, I think, 11 other people. They took turns running legs of the race. Bryan ran 3 legs from 8-10 miles each. He might have a couple hours in between each leg to sleep or eat. During the race, there is always someone from your team running. There were 12,000 runners this year, so about 1200 teams. Nike actually flew in 70 pro teams to compete. Bryan's team did very well, finishing in about 24 hours. They were like the 130th team to finish, so pretty good out of 12oo teams. All proceeds went to the American Cancer Society. Since Nike sponsered the race, he got a pretty cool T-shirt. Mary Paul and I missed having him here with us, but were glad he got to participate in the relay. The team he ran with has invited him to run again next year. Mary Paul is excited about that because she'd like another medal to play with.

Long Time No Post

I've been very busy these past few weeks and have had no time to post. Mary Paul is growing and doing new things all the time. Nap time is not so nappy anymore since she has learned how to stand in her crib. She still loves books and is crawling all over the place. We went to Atlanta for a girls' weekend with my mom and sisters and had a blast. Popsicles, cookie cake and a fairy outfit were among the highlights. We also had a visit with Aunt Beth, Uncle Brian and Grandaddy and Grandmommy. Whew!!! It's nice to be back home and rest up.

Time To Baby Proof

Well, Mary Paul is officially mobile. She has been dragging herself around on her stomach by her elbows...like a low military crawl. Now she is crawling. It is time to baby proof our home. I guess I'll ask my sister Samantha for advice on that since she and Dave just finished getting their house ready. I don't think Daisy has any idea what she is now in for...or maybe she does. As a side note, I knew I had a squeaky voice, but I had no idea it was this squeaky.

Funny Video

I don't know how many of you know, but I am a good friend of Courtney's and I married her cousin, so we are now related!!! Our babies are exactly a month a part, to the day, Will is 4 weeks older than Mary Paul. This video was taken at a wedding about a month ago. It is so funny. I am so excited that I learned how to upload videos to my blog!!!

I also have some good pictures of Mary Paul, who is almost crawling and loves, loves, loves books. She loves to look at them and turn the pages. She rarely attempts to eat them. Maybe she'll be a reader. She also is a huge poser for the camera. On Sunday I took Mary Paul hiking at Percy Warner with a friend. She loved riding in the pack, but I must say that after three miles in 92 degree heat with 25 pounds on my back...I was hot and sweaty. Mary Paul loved the ride though!!

Family Vacation to Fripp Island

It has been quite sometime since my last post so this one is a doozie. We have been very busy. We went on a family vacation with my side of the family to Fripp Island, SC and had a blast. This was Mary Paul's first long trip away from home. She did very well!!! She loved, loved, loved the water and the beach. She would sit forever in the tide pools or where the waves rush in, but she can't because she'd get sunburned and I'd feel awful. We went to the beach, the pools ( three different ones on the island), to Charleston to have dinner with Bryan's cousins, rode in golf carts all over the island, rode in a swing at the playground and so much more. Plus we got to see all my sisters, brother-in-laws, nieces and nephews, plus two of their friends, and of course G-mama. We also had a pirate party our last night there. My sister Samantha, her husband Dave, and my mom panned out two different treasure maps that required golf carts and going all over the island. Each team (2) started out with different clues and then when they found the right spot found another clue that all ended up at a treasure!! We had such a great time, and I'm looking forward to the next family vacation!!! Thanks G-mama!!!
This picture is not at the beach....I just thought it was cute.

Landon loved the beach and would have stayed all day were naps not a requirement.

Andi and her friend Allie at the crabbing dock in the marshes.

Mary Paul and Daddy enjoying one of kiddie pools.

Mary Paul with Aunt Samantha.

Addi as close to the sand as she would get. She did not love the beach or the pools.

John and his friend Spencer.

Mary Paul with Georgia, Bryan's cousins' (Randi and Michael) dog.

All the son-in-laws at the pirate party sporting pirate tattoos.

Aarrggh...that's one intimidating pirate.