Sons in the City

I am happy to report we had a fabulous time at Granny's house. Chase is, and has been for sometime, fascinated by the fact Granny lives in the city. She actually lives in the suburbs but that is close enough for Chase. When we do have to venture into the actual city, Chase refers to it as "Down town city".



We headed up on Friday morning with my mom riding with us. My brother drove her car up last night. On Saturday, we rested and didn't really do much although Noel did attend his first movie, Wall-E. He did incredibly well. That child is simply the most easy going, affable baby I have ever known. I am constantly amazed by my little miracle man.

Sunday was mom and Chase day. After Mass we went into "downtown city" to the Discovery Place children's museum. We intended to stop and get a bite to eat on our way but we were at our exit before we knew it. As good luck would have it, I missed the turn to the parking garage and we ended up passing a grocery store about a block away. We picked up the makings of a picnic lunch and made our way to a bench to eat. We found a pretty fountain to sit by instead.

After lunch we headed to the museum. We watched a really cool IMAX movie about prehistoric sea creatures and then went to explore. There were so many cool exhibits, and the place wasn't terribly crowded so we took advantage of everything. Here is Chase completely wrapped up in the Rain Forest Creatures show and pics of what had him so enthralled. Because of the dimensions of the picture I cannot place it horizontally, but you get the idea.



I thought, mistakenly, that Chases' favorite exhibit would be the dinosaurs, but he was far more fascinated by the simple machines. Do I have another engineer on my hands?

On Monday and Tuesday, we went to Carowinds a large amusement and water park. Monday, Granny and Noel went with us but Tuesday they opted out. Here are some shots from Monday.

We arrived home on Wednesday exhausted and out of our routine (which is not a big deal except for a certain 6 month old I know). The worst thing about vacations is that they must end, but we were awfully glad to get home to Daddy, and best of all to do so safe and sound.

We're taking our show on the road.

Inspired by, and jealous of, all my traveling blogger friends, I have decided to take the kiddos to Charlotte to visit my mom and take advantage of all the city has to offer. Unfortunately, daddy has to stay home and work. He claims to wish he could go with us, but I suspect he is going to relish his time home alone. I am certain this trip will provide us some good blogging material.

Another reason to procrastinate

When I was working on my blog the other day, I went ahead and prepared a Wordless Wednesday post. I was so smugly proud of myself for planning ahead. However, the posts appear in the order they are created not the order they are published. I am sure I could fix this, but I don't have the time to invest in figuring out how. So, please scroll down for your Wordless Wednesday enjoyment.

Half a year's time

Here is Noel six months ago...

and here he is now....

I always tell the college freshmen I teach that, "Time flies whether you are having fun or not." I did not coin that phrase but it couldn't be more true. The past six months at our house have been incredibly fun thanks to this little blessing, and they have flown by. As my dad said to me on Sunday, " You definately got the fat, happy baby you always wanted." Noel is pure joy and I try to enjoy every snuggle, giggle, and even diaper change. Next thing I know he will be diving in the pool just like big brother.

Diving Dude

Here is Chase perfecting his latest pool trick, diving. He is a natural in the water, but I guess growing up with a pool has made that possible. He is such a good swimmer that I wanted him to join a swim team in a neighboring county. He was all for it until he found out that you had to do certain strokes then there was no talking him into it. He only wants to swim "his own way".

Wordless Wednesday

Puppy Love

Decked out Dad

Finally, I am uploading the pictures to go along with this post. Above is the hulk colored windchime.

Noelly crashed out on the nearly finished deck.

Happy Belated Father's Day to all Dads!
Blogger is not cooperating with me this weekend, thus no pictures. Chris has been working tirelessly with all his free time to put a new deck on our house. It is almost finished, thanks to his dad who has been donating all his free time to help! We had a great Father's day weekend. Chase presented his dad with a handmade birdhouse and a handpainted set of windchimes both of which he made at VBS last week with his best buddies Aydan and Ansley. Without pictures I can't really do the post justice, but before I even saw the windchimes Chase made me guess what color they were. The answer, which I guessed incorrectly because of my ignorance to the entire spectrum, was Hulk. I bet you didn't know that was a color either.
He also made his dad's card, which he turned into an envelope and put thirty cents of his own money in and then taped up tighter than Ft. Knox. I later heard him ask his Nanny to guess what he was giving his dad for Father's day. When she said the has no idea he said, "Cash, I am giving him cash." He knows what Chris likes.
Our family is so blessed by the dads, grand dads, and God fathers in our lives. We love each of you!

They just keep coming.

So, Chase skinned his knee up pretty bad yesterday. It took both Chris and I to clean it before bed last night as in one to hold (me) and one to swab on the peroxide (Chris). It was very dramatic. As Chris was tucking Chase in and being accused of not knowing the pain Chase was in, I hear Chase say, "Did they have peroxide back in the old days when you were growing up?" Of course, Chris started laughing and Chase wanted to know why. Chris told him that he doesn't think of when he was growing up as the old days. So, not getting an answer to his original question once it is quiet again Chase says, "Well, did they have peroxide when you were a lad?" A lad, really, what six year old says lad? We were both laughing hysterically at this point and Chase was taking it very personally. "What are you laughing at?", he demanded. I told him it was because he thinks his parents are so old. "Well, you are,"he replies matter of factly. So we are, so we are.

Chase-isms and Noel News

Chase is one of those kids you should follow around with a pad and pencil so you don't forget the funny things he says. Here are two of the most recent Chase-isms. After showing me his latest trick on the trampoline..."I should be on Oprah". "Why Oprah," I ask. "Didn't you just see that trick." Enough said.
The next one requires a little explaining. Chase's Peepaw (my dad) has been cooking BBQ with his buddies for as long as I can remember. They used to cook whole pigs once a year and now they do Boston Butts with a lot more frequency. Friday afternoon we were swimming with Pop Dickie's girls. We ended up at the shop where the BBQ happens and then it was time to go. I was putting Noel in the van when Chase disappeared. He snuck back down to the shop. After I finished scolding him for slipping off he said, "But mom I really just wanted some of that Boston tail."





Mr. Noel continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Whenever I hold him and give him his bottle I just marvel at how huge he is. He looks like a toddler. He is right on track with all his baby tricks. He has been sitting up for quite sometime he was way ahead of schedule for that. I think we can attribute that to a, how shall we put this, firm foundation. Week before last he finally rolled over. I think the assets that helped him sit early kept him from rolling. There is a lot of baby to get from front to back. His latest trick is a "Buh" sound. He practices saying it all the time, and rolls his lips all the way in to give it more force. It is really cute, and Chase just know he is trying to say Big Brother.

Wordless Wednesday

Help Me!

(No babies were harmed in the making of this post)

Playing Catch up

As I mentioned previously, the past two weeks were just a blur so I am playing catch up with my posts. These are some pictures from Chase's last day of school. Right now he attends a private Christian school and there were only 11 other students in his class. He had a great year!





Ms. Lloyd was Chase's teacher. I could not have imagined a better one. She gave the kids (mostly the parents) plates with their pictures on them as an end of the year gift.
I have to say the last day of Kindergarten was a little easier than the first day. I didn't shed any tears but it was definitely bittersweet. I can't believe I am the mother of a first grader.

Two weeks notice.

Yikes! It has been almost two weeks since my last post, and what a two weeks it was. Chase finished up Kindergarten, we celebrated my Grandmother's and Mother-in-law's birthdays, played at the lake for Memorial Day, and Chris ended up in the hospital with a mystery illness.
I honestly felt like I was in an episode of House or, in our case, Scrubs because we are definitiely a comedy. On Wednesday morning Chris calls and after a casual five minute conversation nonchalantly mentions he is having chest pains, so he is going to the ER. I honestly thought he was joking. I met him at the hospital to find that not only was his chest hurting but the entire left side of his body had a tingling sensation. The ER doctors quickly ruled out heart attack and then stroke, and orderd a CT scan of his brain. This test showed a small spot on the right side which needed to be confirmed by an MRI. The MRI did confirm the spot, at this point it was 9:30 pm and we had been in the ER for 12 hours. Chris was admitted and we were told he would see a Neurologist first thing in the morning.
First thing in the morning turned into 5pm. Needless to say, that was one of the longest days I have passed. The Neurologist told us the spot they saw was a "congenital cyst" and was harmless and not the cause of Chris' problem. That was wonderful news, but we still didn't know what the problem was. This meant another night in the hospital for Chris and more tests in the morning. This was so frustrating for Chris because he basically felt fine other than the tingling.
At last, on Friday afternoon, one of his many blood tests revealed a vitamin B-12 deficiency. According to the doctor, this can cause many strange symptoms that can mirror stroke, MS, or even Alzheimer's disease. In most cases of deficiency, it is because the person is unable to metabolize B-12. The cure is monthly injections, which given all the terrible things it could have been is not bad at all. I think we are going to get a second opinion on the cyst just to be on the safe side. I am so thankful we have access to good medical care and lots of prayer and well wishes from our awesome family and friends.