Happy Memorial Day Weekend

The weather has been pretty nice in Charlotte so Van and I have taken advantage by doing a lot of walking! He loves being outside in the fresh air and often catches his afternoon nap while we are strolling. We even walked to Derek's office so we could visit him at work!

Walking past the practice field for our Carolina Panthers.

Telling daddy all his ideas for new products to sell!

Uncle Josh - what's for lunch? My fingers aren't very satisfying!

All that work tired him out! Don't think he's quite cut out for an 8 hour workday!

He loves it outside so much that sometimes when I can't get him to fall asleep for his nap I will plop him in his stroller, walk around the condo until he falls asleep and he will take his nap out on the patio!

We've been spending a lot of time with family and friends and trying to get our house ready for us to move in.

Hanging out with his Papa Utz

Ella and Van (they are 2 days apart!!!!)

Van's first crush

My future's so bright.........

I've got to wear shades!

Van is obsessed with hats!

Van is now 24 weeks old! We've been trying new solid foods with him and he is loving every minute of it! When I am getting his oatmeal ready he sits in his highchair and screams "MMMMMMMMMMMMM! MMMMMMMMMMMM!" Then when we are feeding him he opens his mouth really wide and leans forward so that he looks like a baby bird! Derek gets a kick out of feeding his little bird. Some of Van's favorite foods thus far are bananas and sweet potatoes but we've also tried pears, apples, peas and avocado.

Sweet potato face

More please!

Let me try........

I've got the hang of this!

Van's favorite toy

Van is on the move! My friend Martha gave us this Elmo walker, that belonged to her son Cole, before Van was born. When she gave it to me she told me that Cole didn't really like it much. He used to just stand in front of it and bat at the toys.

SO, I assumed Van wouldn't like it much either. BOY was I wrong!!! He loves this thing and he's gotten really good at running in it. Not so great on direction but he's getting there and getting where he wants to go. We've had to start baby-proofing because he is all over the place, grabbing and pulling whatever he can get his sticky little fingers on!

This provides hours of entertainment for me and Derek! Baxter and Hurley are a tad frightened by the whole thing. As they should be, when he learns how to maneuver his MoMo you know he's going straight for them!!!

Enjoy : )

Baby and the Beach

Our little beach babe

Our family (not the greatest picture). Hales I'm going to need your help taking one over the fourth!

This past weekend we went to Kiawah Island for Jay and Rebecca's wedding. Derek and I wanted to take Van with us since he had never been on the beach before so we asked my parents if they would like to come too. That way we could have a mini family vacation and Van would get to spend a lot of quality time with his Nana and Colonel while Derek and I attended wedding festivities!

It was a weekend full of much happiness! I just love going to weddings where your marriage is strengthened by witnessing two people you love get married to their greatest love and best friend. Jay and Rebecca made a gorgeous bride and groom. Rebecca looked like an Old Hollywood movie star and Jay was simply dashing. Both the rehearsal dinner and wedding were stunning, elegant, and straight out of Coastal Weddings magazine (if there is one!). Everywhere you looked people were smiling, laughing and having great fun. Thank you Jay and Rebecca for including us in your special weekend. It was an honor and privilege to be a part of your celebration. We will remember it for years to come!

We spent the afternoons on the beach and it was so fun to see Van's face as he experienced the ocean for the first time! Mac, Libby and Betsy Grace joined us both afternoons under the umbrellas for family beach time. Van and Betsy Grace had a grand ole time! On Saturday we had more friends join us for beach time but I was really bad and didn't take any pictures. : (

Van had the giggles every time a wave came up and crashed into him!

Van and Betsy Grace playing in the sand

Daddy and baby beach time

So happy hanging out

Learning to walk

He was mesmerized by the feeling of wet sand between his fingers. I thought for sure he was going to try to eat it but he just held onto a fistful of sand until I pried open his hand and rinsed it off.

Thank you mom and dad for taking such great care of Van. We know he enjoyed every minute of it. I'm so happy you got to spend all that time with him.

We have a beach baby for sure on our hands. We were off our normal nap schedule this weekend but Van couldn't keep his eyes open for long when he was listening to the sound of the waves crashing into the sand.

He fell asleep in daddy's arms sitting out on the patio

Here he fell asleep during a walk on the beach! Love the arm!

My dad caught a picture of Van eating his foot!!! Little booger didn't stop eating his toe for Grandpa!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to both of my fabulous mothers and to all my mommy friends. You are all amazing women and I am so lucky to have you in my life!

Mom, thank you for all the love that you have given me through the years and all the love that you continue to bring into my life. Only now am I able to recognize the depth and strength of a mother's love. I never knew I could love someone more, would be willing to give so much of myself to another person, be so in love with someone, amazed at a life I created from scratch, until I had my precious baby boy. I oftentimes hold him in my arms, eyes full of joyful tears, and I just stare at him in awe. What an amazing life God has given to me. Then I smile even more to think my mom felt the same way about me when I was born and how blessed am I to have a life that was full of such love from the very beginning. Mom - you are inspiration to me. Thank you for being the greatest mom and for giving me such confidence as I begin my journey of being a mommy.

Mama Utsey, thank you for everything you do for me, Derek and Van. Thank you for raising Derek to be an amazing man. He has a heart of gold and a pure soul. He is my very best friend, a wonderful husband, and an incredible father. That all started with you. I am eternally grateful for you and I love you with all my heart. Thank you for always treating me like your daughter and friend. I am so lucky to have you in my life as another great example of what being a mother means.

Today was a lovely day. Derek, Van and I met mom, dad, Candace, Clay, Jereme, Selwa, Mama Utsey, Papa Utsey and Josh out at the lake for a delicious Mother's Day brunch.

Sitting down for brunch

Hash brown casserole, Sausage, Egg & Cheese casserole, Butterscotch Scones, Bacon and you know we had Bloody Marys and Mimosas!

I love getting all my family together in one place and just enjoying the day. I was even able to get everyone to stand still while I took a thousand pictures!!

Dad - "How do we look? (Show him the picture) Dashing!"

Look at that beautiful baby bump!!!

Nana gave me this Elmo - he's as big as me!

Uncle Josh and Papa Utz playing with Van

Two peas in a pod

My first Mother's Day

Josh and me

My big family - love them!

The Utsey's (love the bunny ears dad!!!)

The Luke's

Elmo and Van - BFF's

Van's gift to me this Mother's Day - he cut his first tooth!! I noticed a little bit of blood on his burp cloth then after he spit up I saw some blood on his onesie so Derek looked into his mouth and said there was a slit on his bottom gums. I took a closer look and sure enough there is a little white tooth peeking through. Poor little Peanut was in some serious pain. But it was nothing that a little generic children's tylenol and baby orajel couldn't fix.

Umm mom, something hurts.

You can see the little spot of blood on his burp cloth. : (

My boys - thank you for making this Mother's Day so special!

Van's First Triathlon

Yesterday Derek participated in the Jetton Triathlon at Lake Norman. It was Van's first experience watching his daddy race. The day could not have been more beautiful. I throughly enjoy going to all Derek's events, not only for the pride I feel watching my husband challenge himself physically but people are always so friendly.

Derek did a great job as usual though he says he needs to start running after his bike rides in order to train better for the next race. Which I believe is next month! He is doing three sprint triathlons (swim 500-700 yards, bike 12-15 miles and run a 5k) to train for his Half-Iron Man (1.5 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run) coming up in September.

Swim Daddy Swim (the water was so choppy from the wind)

Run Daddy Run

Van daydreaming about his first triathlon

Derek finished 43rd out of 247 people

Daddy and son