July is flying by!

Over the last few weeks we have kept busy around the house, the library, and the YMCA. Our most recent adventure has been Abby's swimming lessons. We were going to enroll her in the Mom and Tots swimming again, but the teacher has taken the summer off. So, I talked to the aquatics director at the Y, and she told me to go ahead and enroll her in the Pike swimming class with the understanding that we would pull her out if it didn't work. This class is for 3-5 year old beginners, so she is still quite young for the class. Since she is so fearless in the water we really thought she needed some formal lessons. She is actually doing quite well. We are pleased with how well she is listening to her teacher and following directions. She is still working on putting her head back in the water when they try backstroke and she is hesitant to jump off the side of the pool. She may need to take the class over, but that's fine because we just really wanted her to be exposed to the water this go 'round. Wow, this is starting to sound like report card comments...school must be around the corner unfortunately. Other than swimming, Abby is still enjoying our weekly library story time. The summer reading program is coming to a close, and we have the end of summer party this coming Tuesday.
We also have a lot to report with our Tylerbug. He is scooting EVERYWHERE! I can leave him playing in the living room, come back a minute later and he is down the hall looking for me. He is not crawling on his hands and knees. He prefers to army crawl where ever he goes, but hey, it works! He is babbling more and more, and yesterday we started to hear dada for the first time. He can be really loud sometimes, but I think he's trying to talk over his sister:). He almost pulled up yesterday on Abby's block table. He made it to his knees. He is getting stronger with his sitting up. It is so nice now that he can sit in a restaurant high chair and grocery cart. He's still an easy-going little guy for the most part, but he is very much a Mama's boy. He tolerates Daddy, and will even have some fun with him if I'm not around. But, as soon as I come into view, he fussing and holding his arms out to me. I secretly don't mind, but it does make it hard to get things done because he wants me to hold him, or is crying for me to hold him quite a bit. Well, unless he is crawling and getting into something he shouldn't. Then he is perfectly content without me:).
Enjoy the pictures of our cuties!

July 2009

Vacation 2009

On Monday, June 29 the Williamson crew embarked on an eight day journey. This was the longest we have ever been away from home with the kids (including when we just had Abby), so we were quite nervous about packing enough and how temperments would be. To our surprise, packing for 8 days was not much different than packing for a night or two when you have small children. You just need more clothes. And the kids were surprisingly well behaved (although you always have moments). We spent four wonderful days in Sanford with Granny and Papa, and then four days in the Boone area with Nana and Grandaddy. Here is a journal of our journey:

Monday, June 29: We left for Sanford around 2 in the afternoon. We got to Sanford after 5. Quick dinner and then Todd had to rush off to a memorial service for a friend's father.

Tuesday, June 30: Despite temperatures in the 90s we went to the NC Zoo in Asheboro. It was actually not too bad temperature wise because most of the zoo is shaded. Abby had a ball! Her favorite animals were the flamingos, pronounced "flumingos." Tyler liked the zoo alright as long as the stroller was moving. You'll see a picture where he's screaming in the stroller because we stopped. The big drama for that day was that in our haste out of the door in the morning we left Tyler's milk, baby food, and bottle in Sanford. I had a can of formula in the car, but without a bottle that's not much help. I ended up having to find a secluded area to nurse him. And of course, I didn't have my nursing cover-up with me, so I did the best I could with a large burp cloth. Wow, I really earned my mother of the year award with that one!

Wednesday, July 1: In the afternoon we took Abby and Tyler to the Marbles Kid's Museum in Raleigh. It was awesome. She was able to do most everything in there. We really appreciated that because most places are more geared towards kids and have little to offer toddlers. There is a huge area with all kinds of real-life things that are on a kid's scale. A boat, ambulance, fire truck, post office, grocery store, kitchen, and more...all with props for them to use. Tyler even got in on the action in the "Baby Marbles" section where he could roll around basically in a padded room...hahahaha. That evening we drove up to Kara and Christopher's house and had a yummy taco dinner.

Thursday, July 2: In the morning we went to a great little park in Sanford with Granny and Papa and then had lunch at the Dairy Bar. After lunch, Todd took Abby and Tyler home for a nap, and I drove up to Raleigh to see Kara's ultrasound. I had never seen one that wasn't my own, so it was a special treat for me to be there with her. I even got to see the 3D and 4D images. Wow! I had thought about having a 3D with both Abby and Tyler and now regret not doing it. The regular 2D ultraound was also very detailed. We were able to see the valves moving in his tiny heart...which was no bigger than your fingernail! What an AWESOME God we have! It reminded me again just what a miracle life is! We are certainly fearfully and wonderfully made.

Friday, July 3: Friday held a frenzied morning of repacking the car and grocery shopping for the mountains. We did manage to see out of the back window, and we didn't have to ride with anything in our laps! We left Sanford around 12:30 and grabbed lunch on the road. After a very long ride (the last hour of which was a very curvy mountain road and a screaming, hungry Tyler and a fussing, hungry Abby) we made it to our "cabinet" as Abby would end up calling it. This was near Linville Falls. That night we ate at Famous Louise's Rockhouse Restaurant, famous for being built in three counties. It is where McDowell, Burke, and Avery counties come together.

Saturday, July 4: Tweetsie Railroad! We had a great day at Tweetsie. Not too hot and not too crowded. Abby liked the train okay until the cowboys started running around and shooting. I think she was just a little too young for all of that. She really enjoyed the rides, except for a little helicopter one she couldn't ride with an adult. We did a lot of uphill walking. We saw the baby animals in the deer park. Tyler LOVED the goats! I held him close to the fence and he would just laugh out loud. We left Tweetsie and went to dinner at the Mellow Mushroom (a lot of fun) in Boone, and then watched fireworks in a sweet little town called Crossnore.

Sunday, July 5: Proved to be a rainy day, so we packed up and went to Linville Caverns. Really cool cave tour. Both of the kids did pretty well in there. Afterwards we went to the original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis. Neat place, but very crowded. Everyone had the same idea on a rainy day. We also rode to West Jefferson to see Fresco paintings in a little Episcopal church. After dinner at Bandana's BBQ restaurant, we were pretty tired and went back to the cabinet to rest.

Monday, July 6: It was a cloudy morning, but the clouds were supposed to clear up. So, we hiked Linville Falls. Yes, we took the children. We'll push a stroller anywhere :). We hiked to the first set of falls and they were beautiful. Somehow I don't have a picture, but we really enjoyed them. Then the trail got too rough/uphill to push the stroller, so Nana watched Abby and Tyler so Grandaddy, "Justing" as Abby calls him, Todd, and I could hike the rest of the trail. Long, hard walk uphill but the view was worth it. On the way down, there were a few sprinkles, but I didn't think much of it. When we got back to where Nana was with the kids the bottom fell out. I mean pouring, and a half-mile curvy trail to get back to the welcome center and our cars. And you guessed it, only one small umbrella between the seven of us. And to make it better, we had left the rain/sun canopies to the stroller in the car. It was a long, cold, wet walk back. So, the zoo incident was my nomination for mother of the year, but this sealed the deal! Later that afternoon we visited Todd, NC. Apparently Todd is so special that they named a town after him! We concluded our evening by eating like hogs at the Daniel Boone Inn.

Tuesday, July 7: Packed up and went home. We were 1.5 hours into our trip before we got out of Boone because of road construction, but the kids held up remarkably well.

So, here we are back at home, still getting back to our normal routines. We enjoyed vacation, but boy are we glad to be home!

Oh, and Tyler has grown up so much in the last two weeks. He's now sitting up unsupported for long periods of time, making a grabbing motion for things he wants, and scooting across the floor. It's time to babyproof the house again...this time the problem is Abby's smaller toys!

Vacation 2009

June Photoshoot

On Tuesday, Amy and I decided to take the kids up to Greenville for Tyler's 6 month pictures and to try and get a good family portrait taken as well. We scheduled an appointment at Portrait Innovations since our previous experience there had been so wonderful.

We arrived and were able to head in immediately for our shoot. This time instead of having two people working with the kids we had our lone photographer. Couple that with Abby being full-fledged in the terrible twos and it's amazing we got any pictures that were worth purchasing. Below is an album of some of the pictures from the shoot. Hope you enjoy them!

June Portrait Innovations

School's Out for the Summer!

And the students think they're the ones excited about school getting out for the summer! Hahahaha, what they don't know is that this pair of teachers have them beat in that department.
All kidding aside, it has certainly been a busy close to the 2008-2009 school year. Both of our school were testing and retesting for EOGs, which equals crazy time in the schools! Todd had to administer the regular EOGs for his homeroom class (the whole "make your mark heavy & dark, no stray marks" bit). He then had to adjust and readjust his schedule numerous times to accomodate for remediation and retesting. At my school, it meant that my teacher assistant was pulled away for testing, no resource or duty-free lunch. I love my students, but 7.5 hours straight (for 3 days in a row) with 21 rambuctious first graders who have to remain quiet is enough to drive a saint insane! And then the whole process repeats itself with the remediation/retesting thing at our school too.
But THANKFULLY Todd and I made it through with our sanity relatively intact and we are ready to enjoy our summer with Abigail and Tyler. We are looking forward to the summer reading program at the library, many trips to the aquarium, the Todd family reunion, time with Granny and Papa, and any other adventures/trouble we can get into. Todd will stay busy with the Marine Science Academy and Teacher Academy. I get to be a stay at home Mommy for a few precious months! Now on to what you guys want to read about: updates on our cuties!
Abby continues to be a typical two-year-old. Meaning: periods of her being the cutest thing in the world immediately followed by massive on the floor crying tantrum because she heard the word "no." Despite this, we still can't get enough of her! She is so hilarious talking. Our new favorite are the "gobbles" that she wore at Lowe's to do her kids craft project. You also have to push the "ringbell" to get someone to answer the door. One of her newest obsessions is wearing band-aids. On any given day she is wearing one on a real or imaginary boo boo. It's one of the little battles I choose not to fight. If she wants a band-aid, she gets a band-aid. One less tantrum:). Abby also has a new bike. It's a real bike, just very tiny with training wheels. We went to Wal-Mart to get her a trike, only to discover that our girl is already too tall for one, and fits on the bike perfectly. She still doesn't quite understand pedaling, but she will get the hang of it! She is becoming more and more in love with Tyler everyday. She cried the other day when Todd left him at the babysitter so he could have some father/daughter time with her!
Tyler is finally rolling over! He waited until he was 5 1/2 months old, but he finally did it! He is now rolling everywhere! His new favorite pastimes include the johnny-jump-up, the exersaucer, and his playmat on the floor. You do have to be in his sight, or all of those things are no longer fun and he is finished! He is sitting up when supported. I will be glad when he can sit a little better in the grocery cart so I don't have to lug that heavy infant carrier everywhere I go! He continues to eat very well. My summer project is to work on getting him into a regular breakfast, lunch, dinner eating schedule. He still likes to eat every four hours like a newborn. What can I say? My boy likes to eat! He goes for his six month well baby check up on Thursday, and I will be curious to see what he weighs!
We'll keep you posted on our summer activities!

MayJune 2009

Our busy world!

We've kept quite busy in the past several weeks. We've taken a family trip to Sanford on Mother's Day weekend, Mommy went to Meredith for her college reunion, and this Memorial Day weekend Mommy took her assessment center test and we've had a wonderful cookout with the Varley/Davis/Rackley crew.
On our Sanford trip we were happy to celebrate Papa's birthday, along with Mother's Day. Daddy was technical support for Granny's computer while Mommy took Abby and Tyler out to play. We enjoyed church with our Shallow Well family and having a relaxing weekend. Well, as relaxing as life can be with a toddler and a baby!
Mommy had a blast at her Meredith reunion. It was so nice to see her Meredith girls! We've all become Mommies or Mommies to be, so you guessed it, all we talked about were kids. Mommy had a kid-free weekend, which was very nice, but strange.
This weekend we made an afternoon out of going to Greenville for the Assessment Center. While Mommy took her test, Daddy, Abby and Tyler played outside. Afterward, we kept cool with slushes from Sonic and enjoyed their really nice playground. Very clean and kid-friendly. We did a quick lap around the mall, and then went to Chili's to eat.
Today we went to Uncle David and Aunt Barbara's river house down the county for a Memorial Day cookout. We were so blessed that Uncle Doug was able to come out of the hospital for the afternoon to join us. Lora and Jake were also there with baby Lillie. The hammock proved to be a good place for a photo op, so Mommy went a little crazy with the camera, especially when Tyler and Lillie were hanging out together on it! They are only about 2 weeks apart in age.
In the last few weeks Tyler has really done a lot developmentally. He continues to eat well, and can now FINALLY roll over. He hates to be on his belly. He also had discovered that his toes are a built-in plaything for him and is fascinated by those wiggly things! Just yesterday he was able to get one to his mouth to explore! He loves to jump when held upright...I guess the johnny-jump-up is good practice. Abby's development is mainly with language. She has also become more spontaneously affectionate. When she found out that I bought a new box of band-aids, she told me "Mom you're the best." So cute! Things lately are also "hurtable."
Enjoy the pictures!

May 2009

Growing Up!

We have certainly done a lot of growing up in the Williamson household over the last few weeks. Here are some updates on our cuties!

Abigail: Abby is doing a great job with the potty. Very few accidents and is pretty much out of pull-ups, only wearing them at nap and bedtime. She continues to sleep in her big girl bed. She's beginning to stay awake for longer after we put her in there. Sometimes she'll talk/sing for an hour or so. This new lack of sleep is contributing more to the "Terrible Twos" and we have had a LOT of tantrums to deal with. This too shall pass. Despite the daily tantrums, she also makes us laugh daily with the things that come out of her mouth. We're working on counting, and she knows the /s/ sound is the letter s. Never too early to get in some phonemic awareness! (You can't tell I teach kids to read for a living can you?) Her new favorite book, which is almost completely memorized, is Mouse Count. Really cute book for a toddler!

Tyler: Tyler has also transitioned to his big boy bed (his crib, as compared to his bassinet). Abby calls it his choo-choo bed since it has a train theme. He does well in there, but I think the wide-open space was an adjustment since he was used to being crammed into his old bed. Tyler is still trying new solid foods and LOVES to eat from the spoon. In fact, we are having a hard time getting all of his milk in since he would rather have solids. He's now eating applesauce, green beans, and carrots. He won't eat prunes now that he's experienced tastier options. We've tried peaches this weekend, but he surprisingly isn't a big fan. We'll try those again later. Next up...sweet potatoes!

Easter 2009

Here are some pictures of our sweet babies over Easter weekend. We've had an Easter egg hunt at Mema & Aunt Nan's, an Easter egg hunt at Shallow Well, and a chilly but beautiful Easter Sunday at Shallow Well. Thanks to Todd for the beautiful pictures of Abby at the very end...she looks gorgeous. The reason she's by herself in those last couple of pictures is our Tyler-man decided to play roly-poly and did a face plant in the dirt :) He's okay, just has a bruised ego...if someone four months old can have a bruised ego.

Speaking of Tyler, he had his four month check-up on Friday. He now weighs 16 pounds, 11 ounces (good for 95th percentile) and is 25.25 inches tall (around 60th percentile). He still has a little head, according to people who measure head size, only in the 25th percentile. Apparently he's a big boy with a little head. He's been eating rice cereal for about a week and we just introduced prunes today (not Dad's first choice for foods, but oh well, spaghetti and chili will have to come later).

We also have some pictures of Cowgirl Abby from earlier today at Union Point Park. The pony she's riding is named "Beauty" and she also enjoyed the swings, bounce house, and getting her "purple king hat" temporary tattoo.

Enjoy the pics!

Easter 2009

Union Point Kids Day and Tyler Prunes