Date Night

My mom and dad kept the boys for us this past Friday to allow me and Jamie a few hours together. Jamie's brother, Wes, and his wife, Haley, joined us and we went to the Marriott for appetizers and to hear a few local musicians. The music was great but the company was even better!





Wes likes to pose for the camera.  Think he's been watching America's Next Top Model?  I'm sure Tyra would be proud of that smyze.



But who could resist coming home to these two sweet faces!

Red, White and a Blue Jeep

We had a wonderful time these past few days, spending our Memorial Day weekend with lazy days by the pool, delicious meals off the grill, and enjoying time with our family.  Saturday afternoon, we took the boys to Forest Hills for Collier's first pool experience.  Jamie's mom met us up there and we all sat around the baby pool with the kids.  Collier was hestitant at first since the water was so chilly but he quickly warmed up to it.  Since we weren't sure how our first pool attempt would go, we left his baby float at home, but he loved letting me hold his hands while he walked around in the pool.  He had a great time until nap time crept up on us and then he was over it.  One differance between these two boys is that Noah would go to sleep where ever and Collier wants to be IN HIS CRIB with no distractions other than his mobile, paci and giraffe blanket.  If we are out and about, Collier rarely falls asleep because he's too busy watching everything around him.  Noah would doze off while strolling at the mall, outside at the pool, ANYWHERE.  It made our vacations very easy because he would play in the pool and then nap on a lounge chair and Jamie and I could still lay out at the pool. 

I took the kids to the Cypress Lakes pool with my mom and sister on Monday while Jamie spent the morning on the golf course.  This time we brought Collier's float and he loved floating around in the baby pool.  The water was shallow enough so that his little feet touched the bottom and he was able to wade around in the water on his own (while in the float).  Unfortunately, our little guy seems to be teething pretty hard so he only lasted about 45 minutes until he got really fussy.  The only thing I had for him to chew on was his sippy cup but that kept him happy for just a little bit.  I failed to bring any Tylenol so we took both the boys back to my parents house for naps.  By that time, Jamie was finished playing golf and he watched the kids so that I could get a little alone time to soak up some sun at the pool.  Jamie was on Cloud 9 because he shot his best score ever at 1 under par!  He was ecstatic and to top it off, he beat my brother-in-law (who played golf in college) so that was icing on the cake.

After eating delicious steaks with baked potatoes, sweet corn and grilled veggies, we went outside and Noah rode his jeep up and down the street.  The jeep was his birthday present from Jamie's parents and grandmother. We had to order it from Walmart.com and it arrived this past week.  Jamie and I put it together and we charged it up so that he could play with it this weekend.  He had a BLAST riding in it all over the place.  He was laughing hysterically and having such a great time that even our neighbor heard him and came out to join in on our fun.  He hasn't quite got the steering down just yet and half of the time he doesn't watch where he's going, so it will be awhile before I let him take Collier for a spin!  Now I know how my parents felt when I first got my license and Lindsay wanted to ride with me. :)  Afterwards, we enjoyed a yummy dessert that Lindsay and Derrick made and loaded up the kids to head home.  Memorial Day is sort of like the kick-off to summer and judging on the high temperatures, I would say summer has definitely arrived.  We had a great Memorial Day and it was never far from my mind that we were able to enjoy our early summer day all because of those in the military.  Thank you to our troops for your dedication and sacrifice to our wonderful country and its people!

At the Forest Hills Pool

Cypress Lakes -- taking a swim break

Teething



Rollin' down the street...

Here's a couple of videos of Noah riding his jeep up the street. PLEASE ignore my loud voice and laugh! Why is it that I always sound so much more country on a recording that I think I do in person?!And my laugh..ugh!  I asked Jamie tonight if my laugh was really that bad and he just smiled... so I guess there's my answer! :) I'll have to remember to talk much quieter (or keep my mouth shut) when I'm holding the video camera next time.

Just A Cruisin' from whitney brink on Vimeo.

Noah Cruisin' Part 3 from whitney brink on Vimeo.

Six Month Pictures

Captured Studios did Collier's 6 month pictures for us at the beginning of May and once again, I was super pleased with them!  Seriously, it was so hard to narrow them down because they were all so good.  Here's a little sneak peek...

This session was much easier than the 3 month session and he was full of happy smiles and giggles.  He did tire out (no pun intended!) a little towards the end though.  I'm already thinking ahead to what I would like to do for his 9 month session... always the planner!

Annual Momma's Getaway

Back in April, after Jamie and the guys went to the Masters and had a little golf getaway, Chenequa and I decided that we also deserved a vacation.  Surprisingly, our husbands agreed with very little convincing on our part and our plans were quickly arranged.  Chenequa has a 23 month old and an 8 month old so we both have our hands very full.  We love our kids dearly, but 3 days to ourselves without having to worry with bottles, diapers, or naptimes?!  To say that we were excited was an understatement and the countdown began!  I was even able to talk Jamie into letting us take his prized Jeep Wrangler which made it even more fun (as long as I promised not to drive over 65mph and not to "be careless"... as though I'm some wild college kid!) :)

The day finally arrived and on Thursday, Chenequa and I headed south towards Destin, FL.  Since I met her in Athens, we made a pit stop to visit our friend, Amanda, who had just delivered her new baby boy, Sam, one week prior.  After being on strict bed rest for preterm labor, Amanda delivered Sam 5 weeks early and despite his itty bitty appearance (around 4 1/2 lbs), he is doing amazingly well and is 100% healthy!  Alot of prayers were said for this sweet baby and his momma so it brought tears to my eyes to get to see him perfectly okay.  Its nothing short of a miracle that he was born so early and didn't even have to spend an hour in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit!

After our visit with Amanda and Sam, we hit the road and arrived in Destin around 7pm that evening.  On our way there, Chenequa's mother-in-law asked us if we felt like birds out of our cages... we found that to be so funny so it became our "slogan" for the trip.  After checking in and freshening up, we ventured out for a late dinner and didn't get to eat until 10pm... yes, we were definitely child-free!  Having had such a long day of driving, we decided to head back to the hotel for a night of uninterrupted sleep. 

The next morning, we ate a late breakfast at Another Broken Egg Cafe in Baytown Wharf in Sandestin.  It was delicious and I can't wait to eat there again when we go back as a family in a couple of months!  After stuffing our bellies with a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant (me) and an omelet filled with cheese, mushrooms, and green peppers (Chenequa), we headed out to the gorgeous beach of Sandestin.  With it being late May, the weather was PERFECT.  It was warm but a nice breeze kept us from getting too hot.  We were in heaven just relaxing in our beach chairs, listening to music, sipping on fruity drinks without a care in the world!  Of course, it's never a dull moment and shortly after getting settled into our chairs, the bottom of Chenequa's chair BUSTED and her butt landed right in the sand!  We laughed until we cried!  Chenequa joked about how that knocked her self-esteem down quite a bit however, those chairs have been in my garage for quite some time and are at least 6 years old so she shouldn't feel too bad!  After several hours in the sun, we decided to head back to our hotel to get cleaned up for dinner.  Once we had arrived in the room, I realized what a TERRIBLE job I did putting on my tanning lotion.  It said "even coverage spray" so I didn't rub it in, just sprayed it on and I had the WORST tan lines ever.  My arms and chest were spotted with places where I did and didn't get sun... it was quite a sight!  We got cleaned up and headed out for Destin Commons to do some quick shopping, each found something to wear for that evening and headed back to the hotel to change.  Our second night, we chose Louisiana Lagniappe, my absolute favorite restaurant.  I've been eating there since I was a kid and every time, I choose to have the Grouper Pontchartrain.  It is by far the very best seafood entree I have ever tasted.  And it definitely didn't disappoint!  Following our delicious dinner, we met up with one of my friends from high school.  She had flown in that evening with 3 of her college friends for a bachlorette weekend, so we all went out together.  We went to the Swamp to listen to music and (of course, dance), however, the band was far from the kind you dance to.  More like something you would head bang to...not my cup of tea, however, they did play a few songs we recognized. A DJ played during the band's breaks so we were able to get some dancing out of our systems.  After a fun (late) night, we made a Whataburger run and hit the bed.

The next morning we woke, grabbed breakfast and got out in the sun.  This time we decided to hang around the pool.  I worked really hard on trying to 'repair' some of my terrible tan lines from the previous day.  After another several hours of chatting and laying out, we got cleaned up and hit the outlet mall in Sandestin.  We both lucked up on some really cute finds from J.Crew, Nine West and Fossil.  After shopping, we headed to The Back Porch for our last dinner in Destin. 

The following morning we set out around 9am to head home to our babies and husbands.  I thoroughly enjoyed my getaway but by that time, I was ready to be back home with my family.  Three nights away was just enough; any longer would have been too much.  I owe a HUGE, GINORMOUS thank you to Jamie.  My parents were out of town until Saturday afternoon because my dad was getting chemo at Vanderbilt so Jamie took care of the kids by himself the whole time I was away.  Thankfully, the kids were perfect for him the entire time and he really enjoyed his time alone with them.  He even got Noah to school on time Friday morning.  Every time I would talk to him, he was as cool as a cucumber and he never once called me stressed out.  Can we say Super Dad?!  He even managed to do some laundry, wash dishes and have the house straightened up.  Things like that make me love him even more! :) 

Chenequa and I had the BEST time!  It's so great to be able to have some time for ourselves and that our husbands recognize that we deserve it.  I'm not sure I have laughed so much and so hard in a long time!  My kids and husband are my world and I would never ever want to go back to the way things were prior to them, however it is very nice to be able to have some "me" time.  I think that things like this allow me to be a better mother!  Since Chenequa and I planned this trip pretty quickly, none of our other friends were able to come; however, we've decided to make it an annual event so that they can make it in the future.  This is something we are definitely going to stick with for years to come because every mom needs some ME time with her friends!

And by the way, when did it become the trend to have bird feathers in your hair?!  We spotted these in several women's hair... and I'm not talking about young teenagers, I'm talking about grown women our age and older (for example, a woman in her 50's... granted she also had long gold fingernails and was sporting a gold teeny bikini).  It was almost like those hair wraps that we used to get when I was in middle school, except it was bird feathers somehow sewn in all through out the hair.  It was strange and kind of creeped me out.  I don't like snake and alligator skin on any kind of accessory... they give me the willy's and those bird feathers did the same thing!  Has anyone else see this?? 

Beach Bound!!!

First night -- Dinner at Joe's Crab Shack

Thanks to Jamie for lending us the Jeep!

"Two Birds Out of our Cage"... except we don't have bird feathers in our hair!

Beach time

Heading out our 2nd Night

Dinner at Louisiana Lagniappe

  

Last night -- Dinner at the Back Porch



Happy 7 Months, Sweet Collier!

Sunday, May 22nd marked my little boy's 7 month "birthday!"  And what a memorable day it was because he began crawling!  He's been trying for a few weeks and even crawled forward a few feet last weekend but he waited until yesterday to really begin doing it consistently.  Its so entertaining to watch him spot a toy out of reach and work so diligently to get to it.  I can't believe that I've now got two little boys on the go!  Not only is he crawling, but he's also going from all fours back into a sitting position AND while he's crawling, sometimes he'll straighten his legs so that he's crawling using his hands and feet rather than his knees.  I feel like he's learning something new almost daily!  We lowered his crib this evening because I feel like he'll soon learn to pull up on things so I definitely don't want any accidents. 

I've begun hearing some consonants in his babbling such as "ba" "da" and "ma" but no words yet.  He has started realizing when Mama (or Daddy) leave the room and fusses for us to come back, rather than being so easily distracted as he has been in the past.  He definitely loves attention!  He's been kind of fussy the past couple of days but I'm almost certain that it's because he's teething.  Although, the fussing is pretty minimal, it's more than what's normal for Collier (since he rarely fusses).  Collier has some very grabby little hands and if I'm not moving fast enough, he will grab his baby food container and stick the whole thing to his mouth!  He will also grab the spoon in an attempt to feed himself.  Needless to say, mealtime has become quite messy.  He still LOVES to bounce away in his jumper and he enjoys when I read to him and Noah.  We are now doing baths in the tub without his bath sling, so he is able to sit and splash away, which he loves.  I can't wait to see what he thinks of the pool this summer!

As each month passes and Collier gets a little older, he becomes more and more fun.  Just when I think it can't get any better, amazingly, it does!  He is the light of all of our lives and I look forward to what each and every month holds!  Happy 7 Months to my sweet, smiley, always happy Collie-Bear!