Beach Again

"Turner, get away from the edge." "Turner, No!" "TURNER!!!" Baby goes flying into his carrier (aka his primary residence), and I in all my grace fly into the lazy river to save my fearless firstborn. I am not kidding - John Burke was probably airborne. Turner, however, was holding his breath and bobbing up and down, beginning to struggle to get to the top. I pulled him up and he coughed a second and started laughing. I was trying to calm him yet scold him, and realized he wasn't all that shaken up. Of course not. The lady behind me was hysterical. Screaming and flailing her arms about Turner. Maybe I should have been that hysterical, but what is the saying - This ain't my first rodeo? I haven't had to save him before, but I wasn't totally shocked that he helped himself into the water. And I was watching him like a hawk. I was proud of him for holding his breath - he knew what to do! Not that I trust that he could again...

A few feet away from where he so casually hopped in the water (and minutes before he took off his floaties)

We went to Panama City Beach last week to Heath's parents' condo for the week. It was glorious. Here is one of the reasons.

Look at that baby smile. He has started to laugh so much more - I love it!

Meet my friend Kina. She works with me at Mother's Day Out. She was one of Turner's teachers last year. I asked for her for my anniversary. Well, I just convinced Heath to let her be my anniversary present - a helper for the beach! She was outstanding. She knew what to do because she has spent hours and hours and hours with Turner over the past year. She knows he won't drink milk - just water out of a straw and/or ice. And that he is addicted to peanut butter M&Ms and Teddy Grahams. And his duck and paci. Anyway.

She also loves Slump-a-lump. She held him and made him laugh and coo, and he loved every second of it. Even today in the nursery I looked down the hall, and he was asleep in her arms. Shameless little thing.

Our friends the Bennetts were next door at Splash, which has an indoor water "park", splash pad, 2 pools, a hot tub, and a lazy river. Right on the beach. Heaven for families with a 3 month old, 6 month old, 20 month old and 4 year old!!

We had a ball taking turns with the kids in the pools and at the beach, and thanks to the wonderful husbands and Kina, we had time to ourselves a little bit. Ahhh, amazing!! I read a book and a half! I love to read, but rarely get to do so. It was divine!!

Jami with her two boys (you're welcome, Jami)

The weasel when he actually had on his floaties

The girls and our boys in the lazy river - Kina's favorite hangout

This guy hanging by the water - what he does best! Unless he is rudely awakened by a near drowning :)

We did have a little altercation at the beach. Not surprising. Here is what happened. Our family went to dinner with the Bennetts at a great place in PCB called Spinnaker, just kidding. Called Boatyard. We had a great meal and were walking and talking by the cars afterward. Heath was down by the other car (Jami's rocking van!), and Kina and I had walked back to my car with the boys. Since we were packed in our car, Kina asked me to load the baby in because I had to swing his seat (gently of course) to the middle to pop him in. I opened the door and popped him in, while Kina was putting Turner in. Then I started to get in the car when a large angry lady started tapping on my window.

She starts saying "SHE opened her door into my car." She was pointing at Kina, and I wish you could have seen Kina's face. Well, this rubbed me the wrong way. SHE (Kina) stayed in the car, the mature route. Well, I did not. I hopped over to the lady (lovingly pictured above) as she starts pointing again. I stop her and say, "SHE didn't open the car door. I did. I had to put my child in the car." She shows me a scratch that looked like someone had taken a tiny white pen and nicked the side of her car. I looked, and it was white, so I figured I had done it. I apologized as she began rubbing it furiously. I helped her do that. Insert large redneck husband/boyfriend who insists he can "see the metal" underneath the scratch. "Baby, get their insurance information. We gon' have to file it!" This didn't sit well with me. I went and got Heath and told him that the nice couple wanted his insurance information. He handed him a piece of paper with his office phone number on it. Well played, I thought. Don't worry - they began to pull out their camera phones (which Kina later noted they were temporary Go phones as she watched from inside the car). They said "We gon' need to photograph this for insurance."

If you know me, I am what some might say confrontational. I want to be sorry, but I'm really not. When we were driving home, Heath noted that I didn't do anything to diffuse the situation. I told him I have never been accused of being a diffuser. As I am typing this, I realize more what he was talking about. Oh, well. He loves me.

The money shot - or the money saver for us!

All that to say, I pulled out my cell phone as well. Then quickly replaced it with a camera from the car. I took these pictures. This made them squirm a little. But, they got in their cars and left after I suggested that maybe if they had parked correctly, I would not have hit their car. And we needed to agree to disagree. They weren't thrilled, and didn't get the cash and/or insurance goldmine (ha) they were after. I think they barked up the wrong money tree! The funniest thing was that our friend Jim watched their car leave and was shocked it wasn't a porsche or something, the way they were carrying on.

Anyway, I wanted to blog about it that night, but my husband thought we should all cool down. He is the diffuser!

I was "diffused", too, with the view of the ocean below us like this picture. This was taken one of the nights we decided to eat in. Heath and Jim made burgers, and we let these turkeys run around free. Very fun!

The rest of the time we relaxed, ate, went swimming, sliding and a lot of floating. And enjoyed beautiful sunsets like this one. Perfect time of year to go to the beach - what a blessing!

Taken by Heath - photog extraordinaire

Ahh, relaxation!

This Guy

Next week it will be a year from when I found out I was pregnant with this little guy. This time last year I was getting ready to put my 8 (almost 9) month old into Mother's Day Out for the first time. Little did I know that I would have little brother coming in this year at 4 months!

Here he is in his baptism gown that my mom made. A couple of Sundays ago, we had him baptized at Covenant. It was very special because our pastor baptized me as a baby, and then Turner last year. He is about to retire, so we were glad he was able to do it!

Afterward, we went to Irondale Cafe to celebrate with lunch. It was Heath's idea to do this, and I was hesitant at first. I am used to just going to my parents' house. However, this ended up being great! They reserved a room for us in the back, and we were able to sit there and the kids could play without bothering everyone else! The boys had a ball with Kate, and then Pop Pop put Kate in the "crusher" (a classic of my dad's).

Mom has a broken thumb, but she was still able to smock this little outfit for John Burke to wear after he was out of his gown (which Heath only refers to as a dress).

She said Turner was very kind to come up and squeeze it for her. He is a giver. About the little outfit - I was very careful to put it on a hanger to take in the church. Good thing we were able to spill Turner's milk cup (why you ask? Because it was full. Because he has had less than an ounce of milk since July 30th. Awesome.)

Aunt Kelly and Uncle Jonathan

The guest of honor with Pop Pop and Grandad

So, about 25 minutes before the service started, I was on all fours in the sanctuary spilling milk off the floor and his prized little outfit. Luckily, there is a washer and dryer in the nursery, so it was crisis averted!! There was a little spill on my dress, of course. Nice reminder to worry less about being "perfect" that day and focus on committing our child and parenting to the Lord.

Turner was also helping us with that lesson. We made it up to the front of the church with him, and he lasted about 2.5 seconds before squirming and squealing. My attempt to bribe him with M & M's to be quiet failed when we left them back with MeMe and Pap in the pew. So, he was pointing and jumping. On his second trip up to the choir loft behind us, we put the backup plan into effect. I sidestepped the pastor mid-sentence and threw him at Lindsey, who quickly ran him out. Count on us for reverence in a sermon. I was not embarrassed, however, because I predicted this would happen with a 20 month old in "big church."

Thank you to our friends and family who came to celebrate this day with us! A reminder that God has blessed us so much with these babies, but we have an awesome responsibility to Him for them! "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

MeMe and Pap with their boys

My little responsibilities - can't decide if Turner looks more like a Nascar driver or an astronaut in the next picture - random.

John Burke gave out these little goodie bags, since he didn't have a cake!!

The Bottle Battle

Well, these days are over. 2 babies with bottles I mean. This picture was taken at a restaurant at the beach. John Burke doesn't take bottles very often, but for Turner they WERE his favorite thing. He has been drinking whole milk out of them since 10 and a half months. I have known that I need to break his addiction. I tried before his 15 month appointment. Heck, I have tried giving him sippy cupys with water, juice, etc. since he was 6 months old. Wouldn't/Won't do it. Well, at his 18 month appointment, John Burke was 2 months and I told his doctor that by the next time she saw him, he would be off the bottle. I intentionally waited to break him from it while I was at the end of my pregnancy and had a brand new baby. But, we are on a break from Mother's Day Out until September, and I thought this would be a good time to rip away his precious bottle. As if there is ever a good time!

This weekend we didn't have a bunch going on (ha - except our 6 year anniversary - Happy Anniversary, Lobster), so we did it. Cold turkey. And this weasel has been on milk strike since last Friday night. He will not drink very much of anything - just a little bit of water out of a straw. And that is only because I am scared he will dehydrate. Not really, but his little dramatic self is looking skinnier to me already!

Ughhh. Needless to say, we have had several meltdowns this week - and he is a strong-willed son of a gun. Definitely my child. The doctor (and everyone else I talk to) promises me that he will drink milk again. I hope so - not so much in the last 6 days! If you have any ideas let me know - I have tried every kind of cup under the sun, chocolate milk, etc. Help!!

Shirt in honor of Shark Week. Just kidding. Trying to suck down some form of liquid in a popsicle.

In spite of his teenage girl mood swings from bottle detox, he has been doing some funny things. Poor thing looks older than he is. When people talk to him (like in the store today), he only knows a few responses - "hey", "thank you", "please", "bye bye", etc. It is awkward when they say things like "What is your name?" and he says "Hey!" Then, "How old are you?" "Tant-u." I laugh and apologize - I want to (and sometimes do) say, "I know he is tall for his age, but he doesn't know a lot of words!"

Then today, he was screaming in the car. It only stopped because I had to pull over and walk up the busy road near our house because my set of keys had flown off the top of the car (for the second time in 2 weeks! Last time, it was Heath walking up 280 though!). Anyway, we came down the hill and I saw a turtle ducking into his shell right as I was hitting it. I screamed "OH NOOOO!" while wishing it had been a squirrel. Anyway, Turner started laughing hysterically for several minutes. I guess that cracked him up.

These legs courtesy of Mosquito Bite McGee. Too much fun this summer outside! Sadly, I didn't notice them - his teachers at church showed me. Then they made fun of me for not bathing him enough. They said a good mom would have seen the large bites in the bath. Oops. In my defense, Heath knew nothing of them either and claims he has been spraying him all over with bug spray!

Tonight Heath had to water our grass. He decided to let Turner play in the water (his other major addiction in life).

It was hilarious to watch him scream and squeal. Until he escaped oh so casually down the street!

Then our sweet neighbor drove up and told us she had bought this pool for her grandkids, and they weren't using it. Redneck paradise!!

Meanwhile, this guy is doing a lot of watching his crazy brother and smiling. However, it is near impossible to catch it on camera. These are the best I could do!!

His little cheeks are getting so chunky! And, he is beginning a love affair with his loveys - hippo and tiger. Reminds me of the untimely death of Mr. Lion (Turner's lion lovey) a few weeks ago when Heath "didn't lose him" somewhere across Birmingham.

We have been swimming a lot to try to make it in this heat. Here is what John Burke did while we were swimming.

Safe, huh? Anyway, this was York and Turner this time last year at the pool. And, then this year. They are so big now!!

And, for no good reason - I am going to show you a little carpet miracle that happened in our house this week. This is a before picture.

I know, shameful. I noticed it most when one of my friends told me it looked like there had been a fraternity party in my den. Then, a 5 year old who was playing at my house the other week said "What are all these spots on the floor?" Busted. Time to get them clean.

Here is an after picture - they steam cleaned (and significantly spot treated) the den yesterday. Pretty amazing to me! It is sad that I am this excited about carpet. Being a grown up is so glamorous!:)