"I so stylish"

Today Shelby decided that she was going to be a trend setter. When I got home from taking JP to the doctor (more on that later) Shelby had taken most of her hair ties and put them on her wrists and ankles. After I commented on how cute she looked she proceeded to tell me, "I so stylish". It was so funny and so we went about the rest of our morning until nap time with her new fashion statement.

And other news from the week....not only is Shelby "so stylish", she is also pretty smart, well, I am her mom aren't I:) Anyway, we got her a big 24 piece jigsaw puzzle from the zoo a couple of weeks ago and decided to open it on Sunday before church. Now, keep in mind that this is the first time that it was opened. She instructed Pratt to put the top of the box where she could look at the picture and then put the whole puzzle together by herself. I know, she is smart, isn't she.

So yesterday as we were getting our day started I noticed that JP was not walking and every time he tried he would fall down with a little whimpering. As I took note and watched closely, every time he went to put pressure on his leg he would fall and you could tell that it was hurting. Thankfully I was able to get him into the doctor at 9:30 in the morning and they ran some tests on him to try to determine what was wrong. They pricked his little finger for a blood test. He did not like that one bit and by the time I walked into the next office for his x-rays he somehow managed to get the band-aid off and the next thing I know I have blood all over my shirt. So we went back to the pediatrician's office to get another band-aid which we were able to get on more securely this time and then went back into the x-ray reception room to wait for him to be called. Unfortunately this wasn't the first time that we had been in the spot for x-rays, back in October we thought he might have swallowed something and had a chest x-ray done. While he was cooperative the first go around, this time he was less than pleased to be laying down on a cold, hard table while someone took pictures of his hips. After his pictures were done we went back to the doctor's office where they said everything came back fine and to watch him through the afternoon. His follow up appointment was today and they think that he was just having some side affects from an infection that he had a few weeks ago. The good news is that by late afternoon yesterday he was starting to walk again, he was limping, but at least he was putting weight on his left leg and today he is getting around really well. And that is our drama for the week.

Half-Nudist

Everytime we come home from where ever we have been Shelby immediately starts to get undressed. She runs right into her room takes of her shoes and socks and then her pants. If at any point after that she has to go potty, she takes of her panties and doesn't want to put them back on. It is a little strange, but I am hoping with time that things will change. Anyway, when we have guests over we always make her wear her pants and panties so the other night Rob was over and Pratt took Shelby to the potty. The conversation went something like this...

Pratt: "Okay Shelby, let's get dressed and wash our hands."
Shelby: "Why?" (this is currently her new favorite word, everything is followed by a why even if that isn't a proper response to what was said."
Pratt: "Because we have guest over and we have to be dressed when we have a guest."
Shelby: "Who is our guest?"
Pratt: "Rob."
Shelby: "He's not guest, he's family."

Anyway, Pratt did manage to convince her to get dressed and we had a nice visit with Rob.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday was Pratt's birthday! He turned 30!!! Happy Birthday!!! We had a fun day. After Shelby's end of the year party for school we went to the grocery store and got the fixin's for a cake and some balloons. I let Shelby pick out the balloons and she decided on the ever beautiful purple Barbie princess balloon with some little purple balloons to go with it. Everything is purple these days. Just the other day she informed us that she wanted her room painted purple. Anyway, back to yesterday...Barbie??? I was totally shocked! I kept asking how she new about Barbie, where she had heard about Barbie, etc. Every way that I thought of that I could phrase the question I asked her, but of course I never once got an answer. A mystery to be solved!!! We don't have any Barbie anything in our house and as far as I know she has never heard that word. Oh well, I am sure that in time it will reveal itself. When Pratt got home he was greeted with a surprise of us jumping out from behind the couch and blowing a noise thingy. We also had cake that Shelby helped make. It was fun and ended up being a better day than what it started out to be.

I just had to show you these two pictures from today. One is of JP standing up on a box of clothes to be put in storage. He pushed this box from his room, into the living room, and then climbed up on top. Anything that he can climb on he does. He has even taken to standing on top of the riding toys that we have in the house.

The second picture is of our parking lot. Shelby decided that before nap time she needed to park all of the toys on wheels next to each other. She first told me, "I am going to park here." And then when I was done putting JP to bed to told me that she was going to park everything there. Maybe when she gets old enough to drive she can valet park for some extra money from time to time.

On a side note....there is a herd (I think that is the correct terminology) of wild buffalo on the loose in Bluffton!! How crazy is that!!!

Lakehouse

Week of travel

Last week was such a busy week of travel for me. Tuesday afternoon we went up to the lakehouse for a few days. What a blast!! We had such a wonderful time. Thankfully we got up there in the early evening so that Shelby and JP would have time to get all their energy out before bed time. There are over 100 pictures from our two and a half days there so it is going to be hard to pick out just a few for the blog. Anyway, Wednesday we got up and had eggs for breakfast, put on our bathing soups and sunscream (according to Shelby), and headed out doors around 9:30am. Played and played and played until about 11:00 and decided it was time to take the boat to the Goat for lunch. Of course it was closed so we got back on the boat and loaded up the car to find something else. When we got back the Rowes showed up. After nap time we played and played and played again. It was wonderful. We could just sit there and keep an eye on the kiddos and they would entertain themselves. I never thought that I could get so relaxed even with two children!!! Of course, no trip to the lakehouse would be complete without a visit to Summerton Diner. If you ever find your way up there, you have to visit this place. The food is to die for. I got a meat and three (broasted chicken-no, that is not a typo, squash casserole, mashed potatoes and green beans). Shelby had chicken fingers and JP got grilled cheese. Well, wouldn't you know it, neither one of my children ate their food, instead they ate mine. JP devoured the squash casserole and Shelby took over the mashed potatoes, and I really couldn't blame them, I got atleast two bits of each and they were so good. I tried to get the squash recipe, but the lady who makes it comes in at 4:00 am to cook and then really isn't around the rest of the day.


Thursday was a lot like Wednesday. We went out around 9:00am came back in for lunch and put the kids down for naps. Then Dana and I went back out to catch some rays and some zzzz's while the guys went to hit golf balls. After they got back and the kids woke up we took a boat ride. It was such a wonderful day. That evening we let Shelby and Carson run around naked and they had a blast. The water was a little chilly and poor little Carson got so cold that his lips turned blue.

Friday we cleaned up and made our way home. At 2:30 I left with some friends to go to Jacksonville for a Women of Faith conference. It was hard to leave the children for the first time, but I was with a great group of friends that made it easier than I thought that it would be. While I was gone Pratt said that Shelby and JP were wonderful. They listened well, played well, and hardly whined...of course, while I was gone JP slept completely through that night with no peeps and then my first night home, not even 10 minutes after my head hit the pillow he starts fussing. I don't know how, but I know that he knew that I was home. Pratt had some great help while I was gone. Shelby was so excited that Aunt Suzy and Uncle Patricio spent the night with her. Thanks so much Aunt Suzy and Uncle Patricio for playing with the kiddos. They told me to tell you that they love you sooo much!

I am going to post a slide show of pictures from the lake because there are too many cute ones to pick from.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day to all moms out there! I hope that you are having a wonderful day and enjoying your time with your sweet families!

Curly Que

JP's hair is getting curlier and curlier with each passing day. It is just wild. Shelby definitely has some wave/curl to her hair, but JP has these really tight little curls starting to form as his hair gets longer. The other night all the hair at the base of his head was curling up like a little wave crashing on the shore. It was so cute, so of course we had to take 10,000 pictures of it. Don't worry, I am not going to post every picture, but here is one or two so that you get the idea.

The hair on top of his head is also starting to curl up too. I just love it!!!

The weather here has been so beautiful; of course I think that it is always beautiful here. We have been spending our days at the pool soaking up some fun in the sun. Shelby has decided this week that she really does like the lazy river and yesterday while we were at the pool I think that she and I went under the water fall in the lazy river about 6 times and then we swam back and forth on the blue line until I couldn't do it anymore. Aunt Lala was with us so she kept an eye on JP and took a few snapshots for us. Really, I have been dreading the day that was yesterday ever since we had kids...it was the day that I had to get in the pool for my children even though I really did not want to get in the pool. It is one of those things that before you are a mom you say, "I'll never do ______ (fill in the blank) when I am a mom." but somehow you find yourself doing all those things that you swore you would never do. As most of you know, I am not a fan of anything that has to do with me being cold, especially cool water on a windy day, but alas for the enjoyment of my daughter I found myself in the pool and when all was said and done I actually had a wonderful time with Shelby.

Shelby and Aunt Lala getting some r and r after lunch.

Shelby holding on so tight while we swim on the blue line; which, I might add, is very difficult as you get closer to the end with the lazy river.

We Finally Made It!!!

About two and half a months ago we started trying to take the children to the zoo...yes, it took us two and a half months of planning every week to go to the zoo and then putting it off because of one thing or another, but we finally made it!!! Last Friday as soon as Shelby and JP woke up we headed off to Jacksonville for an exciting day of animals. The trip down was great. Shelby wasn't quite sure what was going on since she had never been to the zoo so she spent the ride asking questions and JP spent most of the ride with his face buried as deeply as he could get it in his car seat whimpering with each 18 wheeler that passed by.

It was a great day and a crazy day. I think that JP and Shelby are still trying to catch up on the sleep lost that day, but it was so worth it. Their favorite part was this one little fish exhibit by the jaguars. I think that they could have preferred to stay there the whole time because they could get up close to the glass and see the fish eye to eye. We can't wait to take them to the aquarium this summer.

Shelby's First Golf Clubs

One of Shelby's new loves in life is to go outside after dinner and hit golf balls in the yard with Daddy. She asks to do it every day and they spend as much time as she can sucker us into letting her be out there hitting balls around. Of course Pratt thinks that he has hit the jack pot! I know that he has been dying for this since the day that I told him that I was pregnant nearly 4 years ago.

Wednesday after work Pratt came home with a very special present for Shelby from Papa and Grammie....her very own set of golf clubs. (Thank you so much Grammie and Papa!) She was a little be concerned because they weren't princess golf clubs, but we took care of that right away with some princess stickers. Here are a few pictures of Shelby and her daddy checking out her clubs.....

They are the cutest little clubs ever, I am talking real golf clubs...none of this plastic look a like stuff...they are like Pratt's clubs only shorter. And the golf bag has the Berkeley Hall logo on it and everything. Last night Shelby and Pratt were outside decorating her clubs with princess stickers and Pratt was explaining to her about the different kinds of clubs, when he told her about the iron she looked at him dead serious and said, "No daddy, this isn't an iron." The only iron she has ever heard of is the iron used to iron clothes.