Happy 5th Birthday Christian!

Yesterday we attended Christian's 5th birthday party. He had a huge double water slide with lots of kids clamoring to go down it. Of course Preston and Bennett jumped right in too! My little daredevil was bored going feet first after a few times, so he copied the big kids and went on his belly, feet first and then head first diving into the pool at the bottom. He had a ball!


Bennett went down consistently for about 30 mintues, but was then ready to go inside and play "baby" with Henley. It was a beautiful day, and we all enjoyed watching the kids go down. With them all being a little older, this was the first year that Steve didn't have to wear a swimsuit and go down with them. We just enjoyed a cold beer from the sidelines.

Christian telling me he is FIVE!















Shannon's homemade creation: Mario Birthday Cake






After pizza and cake, we watched Christian open his gifts. Shannon told us that Christian is really into transformers so we got him a couple costumes that he and his friends could dress up and play with around the house.

I think he liked them! All in all, he had a great birthday and got tons of cool gifts. We love you Christian, and are happy that we got to spend time celebrating with you.

Clean Plate Club

As you all know, we have had problems with Preston eating for a long time. Though he is eating better now, some friends (Ashley and Mary Michael) shared with us something they do after their kids eat a good meal. We were taught this little song, which includes hand slapping on the table and chanting "Preston's in the clean plate club, Preston's in the clean plate club" over and over again. We started it as soon as we returned from our first beach trip in June, and it was a hit with the kids.

This morning, I was watching the kids play with Bennett's baby dolls. See for yourself...

One Month Left!

This past Monday marked the beginning of a long month of nothing officially on the calendar for the kids to do. So I have been trying to figure out things to do to get out of the house everyday, and hoping it is "fun" for them (rather than just running errands). Each day starts with a little time at YMCA gym nursery. Thankfully I have three Y's within a 5 mile radius of my house, so I switch it up a little to keep them happy. Afterward, we have done some other activity to wear them out... swimming, visiting the McWane Science Center, family photos, playing in the yard and making cookies.



Friday night we tried to do the movie at Homewood Park, but unfortunately they cancelled it due to wind. Since we didn't know this until we got there, the kids and I were disappointed. So when we got home, we set up our lawn chairs in the living room, ate popcorn and watched "Tangled" on our TV instead. The kids enjoyed the novelty of that, so there were no hard feelings.









Saturday morning, we met my brother, niece and nephew at Treetop Adventure. It is a huge place with a variety of games for toddlers to middle schoolers. They have go-carts, mini golf, mini bowling, laser tag, water balloon launching, jungle gyms, inflatables and a ton of arcades. We got there when it first opened, so it started off okay. However, it got more and more crowded and hot and I quickly grew tired of the place. Having to spend a lot of money on silly games to win tickets to "buy" junk was very frustrating. To top it off, I was bent over putting Preston's shoes on and got clocked in the head by a skeeball (think round brick) thrown by a two year old with bad aim. I know it was an accident, but it took everything I had to not lose it, so I called it after that. We quickly piled into to car and headed home. Both kids were sweaty and tired, and I had a raging headache forming.


With a whole month to go before school starts on Sept 7th, I will be forced to get creative with activities and/or playdates. However, as most parents know....the busier your children are, the happier they are and the better they sleep. Now if we could just get a break in this heat, we could add some other fun things to our list of future activities. Stay tuned...

An Update on Preston's Diet

I never gave you all an update from Preston's upper GI....everything was normal. His tonsils were also evaluated, and though they are a little larger than an average child his age (a 3+ on a 1-4 scale), they are not large enough to warrant removal. So, we got a detailed list of serving sizes and foods that we are supposed to offer Preston for his 3 meals and 2 snacks each day. In addition, we were told to cut his milk back from 20 ounces to 12 ounces, and use water as a substitution.

We are a week and a half into this new diet, and things are going okay. He is eating table food for all meals, but they still consist only of the foods he was eating previously. He still refuses to eat all fruits and veggies, and try anything new (except waffles....which he now eats). It is very frustrating to me because he is not eating a healthy diet, but I guess that is what I am supposed to do right now. I am hoping that within the next several weeks he will begin to try new things.

Today I asked him what he wanted for lunch, and he said "I want baby food." I gave him a look (because he knows we don't have anymore in the house), and then he said "I am not a baby, just a boy who wants baby food." He made me laugh out loud. That kid is one stubborn little boy!

Avalon Family Reunion 2011

We just returned home from another wonderful family reunion in Avalon, NJ! My cousin, Debbie, was once again the hostess with the mostess.... planning all of the meals and activities for the week, offering her house as the meeting ground for all 20+ of us, and cooking all of our dinners!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Deb for everything!!!





The trip started off a little rough, with a delay in Birmingham, causing all of us to run like maniacs through the Atlanta airport to try and catch our flight two terminals over with only 20 minutes! We did it, but it was not without Preston falling while running (and consequently crying), frustration by Steve and I, and sweating by all of us! We ran up to our gate, and collapsed with exhaustion only to learn that it was delayed as well (would have been nice if it was posted on the monitors throughout the airport, huh?). Oh well, we and our luggage made it!



Arriving in Philly worked out fine, and we made up all lost time in the air. As we were walking to baggage claim, Steve noticed someone familiar. He asked the gentleman if he was Cornelius Bennett, and sure enough he was! Steve told him we were from Birmingham and big Alabama fans, and then I quickly told him how people asked if Bennett was named after him (he laughed). When we made it to our destination, Steve went to get the car while the kids and I stayed back to gather our bags. As we were waiting outside for him to drive back and get us, Cornelius came up to me with an autograph for Steve. What a nice little memento to start the trip!




As expected, traffic was awful all the way there, and with tired kids and limited food choices to offer my picky son, we just powered through with the snacks we brought from home. Unfortunately Preston's belly didn't want the peanut butter crackers and orange juice he consumed so he later threw it all up over himself and his carseat. Once again we were tested, but I remained calm (shocker, right?), and hopped back there to clean him up with the baby wipes. It wasn't perfect, but it worked and we didn't lose anymore time.



When we finally arrived, we divided and conquered again...Steve to the grocery store with our already prepared list and then to the liquor store for our essentials, while I stayed back with the kids to unpack and make up our beds. It worked out well, and then we were ready to relax and start our vacation!! Debbie and John made a great dinner, and as always...we did a lot of catching up! Later that night (after we put the kids down), Brian, Lisa, Kurt, Jimmy, Rob, Steve and I hit one of the local bars - The Princeton. Brian's internal was bartending and she treated us well. We did a little dancing and then stumbled home (gotta love a small beach community where you don't need to drive).


Sunday morning started off a little rough, but nothing a mimosa couldn't cure. So after rehydrating and eating, we made our way to the beach. The kids played for a couple of hours, and then we got lunch and took them home so we could all nap. Most of the week went about the same, with a few different things sprinkled in....like two morning bootcamp classes on the beach, morning walks on the other days, a happy hour, an evening in Atlantic City (which consisted of a great dinner for the group minus the four little ones, and then gambling for the guys), another nice dinner out for the adults followed up with more dancing for Debbie, John, Steve and I, ice cream at the Avalon Freeze, lots of beach time, and the most popular.... hanging out at the Forrey's talking, eating and drinking. What a fun week it was!!












The weather was gorgeous all week, with the exception of a little fog one day and some REALLY high temperatures yesterday (but as long as we were in the water....we were able to fight the heat).


The annual family reunion is always something we look forward to, and I feel so blessed that I get the time to hang with my family, and my children get the opportunity to get to know their cousins that don't live in Birmingham. Thank you Mom and Dad for always renting the house that is so close to the beach and Debbie's!



Enjoy the photos.....

My First Shave

My cousin, Debbie, gave Preston a shaving kit for Christmas and we just broke it out this evening. (I know it has been 6 months, but we put it in a drawer and forgot about it) The kids found it and were dying to try it out, so I waited until Steve got home from work to "teach" them how to shave.

Pres was a little hesitant with the shaving cream until we put him in front of the mirror so he could see himself. Steve instructed him on how to shave and then rinse off the cream under the faucet, and then he took over. After he was finished, he wanted to do it over again!

Of course, nothing is complete in our house without BOTH kids trying it. So Bennett had a turn with the shaving cream on her face and then shaving. Though I explained that women shave their legs and men shave their faces....she wanted to be just like Pres and her Daddy.

Thanks Debbie for the entertainment! We love you!