Charlie is 2!

My baby turned 2 on Sunday.....

We had a house full of guests this weekend for his birthday party. James' mom, brother, sister, and his brother's girfriend and little boy and my dad all came down on Friday! It was chaos...but lots of fun!

Lana and Lenzy pulled through for me once again on the cake!

We had a FOAM party! 34 people were in attendance! It was a crazy party!

Bananas, Monkeys....you get it ;)

Once the foam started falling, all heck broke loose! The kids went nuts! It was like a giant bathtub....sans bathtub and water!

We thought we were going to lose someone under all those bubbles.

He loved them the most :) He ran the whole afternoon. Let's just say he slept REAL well that night!

I secretly wanted to dive right in....but refrained. boo.

who knew water coming out of a cup could be so exciting!?

This lasted for a solid hour. It was fun to watch. Kinda made me wish I was a kid again, myself.

Running....

Time for cake and ice cream!

Charlie managed to stick his hand in his cake prior to his party.

Grandma and Charlie

A small fight broke out during gift time...no worries though, no one was injured and Lightening McQueen took a time out.

but only for a minute. Melanie, I thought of Isaac when we got this!

bowling ball set...

another ball pit.

and a fun lawnmower that blows bubbles

And a cool new Diego tricycle!

My Charlie is a sweet little boy.

He loves his jee jees (blankets) and he loves to sleep.

He's been an amazing sleeper ever since he was born.

He babbles NONSTOP.

Ask anyone who's around him!

He says tons of words but one we still haven't figured out yet is, "Gheela"....this word is repeated throughout his day and he even throws in a "McGheela" sometimes.

Anyone?

We've given up and now say it along with him!

He likes to chase birds and lizards...hasn't caught one yet, but come very close.

He loves Diego and Dora and Cars...in that order I would say.

He isn't a very picky eater.

He loves red raspberries and all types of fruit basically.

He could live off of fruit!

He gets his feelings hurt easily :(

My nickname for him is "Wubbsie"

He calls himself that...except it's "bubbsie"...so cute.

His hair bounces when he runs, and he is always running.

I love his hair and don't see myself cutting it anytime soon ;)

He still sucks on his two middle fingers, but only when he's got a jee jee in his arms.

It's usually an instantaneous movement....grab jee jee, insert fingers into mouth.

He's still in his crib and hasn't tried to escape its confines yet....I'll keep him in there as long as I possibly can :)

I love my wubbsie and wish I could keep him small forever.

He is so fun.

Insomnia

It's 2:30 in the morning and I can't sleep.

I have a Mercy Me song stuck in my head.
I am singing only a part of it over and over again because I don't know the rest of the words.
While I sing that part of that song, it's God With Us, in case you were wondering, [love it]
I am making a mental list of all the things that I [think] I must get done this weekend.

Charlie's birthday party is this weekend and we're having a house full of guests. Looking forward to it....just seem to have a lot to do. I'm making him a Monkey Cake. Future posts shall show if it was successful or not :)

Tonight, or last night I guess, we began our Ladies Bible Study. We're doing the Beth Moore study on the book of Daniel. I love that woman. I wish we could be BBF. She is such an amazing woman and I am really looking forward to burying my nose in some Daniel for the next 11 weeks!
I'm a nerd and came home with my fresh, new handbook all excited, showing my hubby. "I get homework! I shall buy a new pen and highlighter tomorrow!" See, nerd.

Why do our minds run rampant with unimportant ideas, thoughts, etc. Especially at 2 in the morning? I guess this is when some of the best ideas come to fruition. At least for me...
[Still singing Mercy Me]

The dog has serious snoring issues.

I'd really like to wake James up and have him sit and talk to me until I'm sleepy. That's selfish, isn't it? I did do that one time, when we were first married. Of course he was like, "oh sure, honey....here, let me rub your arm while we chat the night away. Who cares that I have to get up in 3 hours for a long day of work." Now he'd snort and turn the other direction. Ha. So would I, so I can't blame him.

It probably doesn't help that I'm staring wide eyed into a blaring white computer screen.

I remember as a kid, my mom would have the same problem. Sometimes I would wake in the middle of the night and she'd be in the kitchen on her hands and knees scrubbing the floors. In the wee hours of the night! I always thought this was a strange sight. But now I get it. I could totally go scrub me some floors right now, but I did all of them already today, I mean, yesterday.
I think back to watching her do that, and wonder what was going on in her world. Was she really just not sleepy? I'd venture to say no. She probably had a million things running through her mind, a million stresses of being a single mom, and I had no clue [at the time] what was going through her mind, what challenges the next day was going to bring her. And I sit here and stress over such trivial little things. Shame on me.

I think I'll try the sleep thing again. But not before I pray. Does anyone else ever fall asleep praying? Anybody? I used to feel so guilty for doing that...now I kind of see it as a blessing. What better way to fall asleep than to praying to our God? Sweet dreams.

Now you go pray for me that I am nice to my kids in the morning, when I'm not wanting to get out of the bed because I'm tired......

Destin 09

I'm unfortunately not writing to tell you that we've picked up and relocated to Destin, much to my dismay. I don't understand why we can't move here. It is the perfect place. I keep telling James that they grow trees and grass in Destin too. He says, "You'd get tired of the beach." To that I say, "Oh contraire, mon frere." He's not buying it....and I'm not giving up just yet.

James had a triathlon this past weekend and so we made a 5 day vacation out of it. I didn't want to leave and whined and stomped my feet a lot. But had to give in eventually.

We were up and at the beach by 6 am Saturday morning. The weater was beautiful. There were rain clouds all around, but stayed away all day.

Charlie just had to bring his jee jee to the beach and drag it all through the sand.


Just prior to the start of the race. Oh, by the way, there are ALOT of pictures in this post. :)

Jackson and his friend, Micah.

Getting ready to go...this was James' first triathlon where he had to swim in the ocean. He was a little nervous about the jellyfish factor, but we didn't hear of ANYONE getting stung by one!

Daddy's biggest fan with his "ironman" shirt on.

Micah, James, Brandt

Coming out of the water with a thumbs up...that's a good sign. This looks like a baywatch picture...ha.

Taking off for his 20 mile bike.

We were making fun of him for wearing these shorts. He usually wears his spandex, but I think someone was feeling a little self concious this morning. Did I mention he took those shorts out of the "lost and found" box at our gym? He said they had been there for months...that's my husband. Oh, and it's not the first time that this has happened.....

James and Corey, our friend from the gym, finishing up together. James finished in 1:53.

That clock starts when the race actually begins. James was in the last wave, so his time starts when he enters the water...didn't want you to think I was lying or anything :)

Hern, Corey, Micah & James...all Franco's guys from Mandeville.

James usually makes a beeline for the food tent postrace. A big plate of "free" food makes for a happy James.

Charlie chugging a juice.

So we went out for dinner one night and Jackson insisted on wearing his new jeans. Actually he picked out this whole outfit and spiked his own hair. He sauntered around with his hands in his pockets all evening saying he looks "cool." I am in trouble.

He asked for a piece of gum, stating, "It's cool to chew gum."

Charlie could care less what he looks like.....

Gilmore Family Pic. Notice Jackson's hands....too cool for school.

This is Baby Evie! She is squishy and soft and all smiles. She belongs to Micah and Sara. I want to steal her and make her mine.

Charlie was laying the kisses on her big time!

Precious!

Riding a bear at the Orvis store.

We all met for ice cream at the best ice cream shop in Destin.

Charlie went with Mint Chocolate Chip. My personal fav!

Not sure what he had...but look at those big brown eyes. I told him he was a cutie and he quickly retorted with, "No Mom! I'm cool." sigh.

Breakfast then beaching it all day!

Sunday morning we took the boys to Destin Commons where they have a cool splash pad and play area.

Just call him "Fluff"

This one was just hanging around until Bass Pro Shop opened its doors...then he was out!

I want out of the boat!

There was lots of this going on.

Charlie got bored and started chasing birds. And he got pretty darn close to catching one too.

Lookin' kinda special here. He was running...

After the fountains, we headed here for some church on the beach. Good stuff.

Tim with his double glasses on...preachin' the Word.

Didn't have to worry about the kids being too loud in church!

Charlie managed to get his paws on some communion juice...and chugged it.

Jackson told me he loved God....but just a little. Ok, we'll have to work on that.

Our ocean vessel. This was a great idea.

Doesn't it look like we're in the Caribbean on some remote tropical island? The water was amazing. See why I want to make this my permanent home? I think I'd get some visitors then!

I turn my head and this ocean creature is swimming (for lack of a better term), towards me.

That's better :) Those are Jackson's ginormous goggles too.

My hot little sis and me...She's available, ya know???

He really did catch this little fishy. It also came back to the condo with us. He said it was coming home with us too...hmmmm, where did that little fishy go?

Me and my Charlie.

Splashin' in the water

I love the ocean. Not only for the obvious reasons, but man, do my kids (and myself) sleep so well at the beach. We all napped every afternoon. It was the best.

Looks like we're in a pool doesn't it? I love Destin!!!

Ready to call it a night.

Driving home yesterday. boo. I wasn't about to let the world see my face. I was bumming it yesterday.

This is how Charlie gives a "thumbs up." We do this often in our house. And Charlie has watched all of us do it. But being Charlie, he has his own version. So I guess he gives the beach a "thumbs up."

oh wait, that'd be a "two thumbs up" Can't wait to do it again.