lake gaston

This weekend we got to head down to Lake Gaston in North Carolina again with the fabulous Lansing fam. They were kind enough to share their amazing lakehouse, delicious food, and excellent boating expertise with us.

Doug wakeboarding

Addy's happy but clueless she's on her first boat ride

Now Doug's on the Sea-Doo (what a rough life, right?)

The gang hitting up the beautiful but almost-too-warm pool (jumping into the lake was what really cooled you off)

The professional lounger

It was great to chilax and laugh with Ted, Joy, and Miss Amelia. Such a blast!

she humors me

no town like yorktown

We brought Addy to Yorktown beach the other day, and it was her first time experiencing the sand, waves, and wonder that is beaching (we're guessing this visit didn't count).

It was a SUPER hot day, so we were grateful for our umbrella, the refreshing water, and the clouds that came to save us mid-afternoon. It was a great day with great company, but regrettably that company included crabs, jellyfish, and SHARKS. Yep, about half way through our visit we saw about 5 or 6 dorsal fins sticking out of the water just beyond the ropes they have set up there. Everyone on the beach was entranced. They were only there a few minutes before they swam away.

times have changed

I'm not sure what to think when I realize I spent over half an hour listening to Sandra Boynton songs online and learning them so I can sing them to Addy.

And I really liked it.

(Just in case you'd like a piece of this action, please enjoy some free Sandra Boynton downloads here.)

first father's day

Addy seemed to love celebrating Doug's first official Father's Day with him. What a lucky pair.

dream dads

Happy Dad's Day to the rock star dads in our lives! I know Doug and I feel so blessed to have grown up with loving, talented, hilarious dads.


And it's been really amazing for me to see Doug take on the father role this year. He's such a kid-friendy guy that I never doubted he'd be a great dad, but it's one thing to see him play with someone else's kid and it's quite another to see him play with ours. Addy lights up when she sees Doug, and it's a credit to how much he loves her, plays with her, and takes care of her. No one can make her laugh like he can, no one is more protective of her (even me!), and no one says "Seriously, can you believe how cute she is?!" more than he does. Addy seems to think the world of him already, and clearly she's no fool. :)




I sure do love you all!

bathing beauty

Just this week Addy made peace with her bath. Now she kicks and splashes (on purpose!) and doesn't scream her face off. Phew!

claustrophobia

One of the priorities in my life is keeping my mouth and nose uncovered to create the optimal breathing situation. I can't even fathom putting something over my face for longer than a second.

So when I go in to check on my napping daughter and she looks like this,


I panic. And I panic because she does this ALL THE TIME. And she loves to sleep this way, pulling her blankets, her stuffed animals, her shirt, or her dress onto her face. And every time I find her sleeping like this, my very soul starts gasping for air.

Why, Addy, WHY?

(Really, when I came in today the blanket was over her whole face and torso, but I couldn't even leave it there long enough to take the picture.)

a good laugh

This is just really hitting the spot for some reason. The most random "Walker, Texas Ranger" moment ever.

Please watch and please laugh.

mr. mom

These past two weeks my cough has decided to escalate to a whole new level of suckiness. I feel okay during the day (not normal, but okay), but come late afternoon and evening, I'm a coughing, vomiting mess. Fun! That means Doug has really had to step things up, making dinner, taking care of Addy, taking care of me, and on and on. He hasn't complained once, and I so appreciate his awesomeness.

And a shout-out to Addy who's also putting up with having a lame mom. Whenever she does a fake cough and then smiles at me I think, "She's going to fake cough at the kids in kindergarten, and nobody is going to want to be her friend." Poor Mooch.

PS- I went to a pulmonologist today, and fortunately he doesn't think it's asthma. He still thinks it's allergies that have wreaked havoc on my sinuses and lungs. I'm going to do some allergy testing in a few weeks and try some different medications until then. I wish he had diagnosed it with something we could fix overnight, but hopefully we'll be able to get things under control soon. For the sake of Doug's sanity and Addy's social skills in kindergarten, I hope it's very very soon!

can't catch a break

Here we are on Skype with our 3-year-old nephew Mason last night. The poor guy was playing at home on Sunday, jumped off the couch, and somehow landed funny on his leg. Turns out he broke his tibia in two places! Apparently he was a champ in the ER and he's handling the pain fairly well, but nobody likes to see a super-active kid like Mason sitting around in a cast. So sad.

We're cheering for you, Mase... get well soon!

PS- Here's a better pic that Kadi sent. I'm glad he's smiling (he's such a cute kid...), but still doesn't that just look so sad?!

bottle bliss

After months of failure and frustration, Addy finally took a bottle this week.

I think the look of relief on Doug's face says it all.

We'd tried different brands, temperatures, milk givers (dad, grandma, etc.), times of day, and on and on, but apparently the stars weren't aligned until this week. Booya.

duck tale

There are three ducks that are suddenly living in the greenway behind our apartment, even though there is nary a body of water in sight.

Today this duck walked right up to our sliding glass door, quacked at Doug a few times, and then walked away. We assume she was asking for directions.

addy meets the pool

She hates the bath, but it was worth a try.

el dentista

This morning Dr. Doug has his first appointment with his first patient. She needs some pretty extensive work on some of her front teeth (no pressure!), and she only speaks Spanish.

Sink or swim, my friend.

Doug will be in the clinic every day for a while now, getting assigned his own patients and being responsible for all of their work. I'm even going to go in on Thursday as one of his patients and have him check out my teeth, and just for good measure I'm going to ask that he only speak Spanish. Should be good fun.