Our Poor Henry :-(

Our poor Henry had a cough for a couple of weeks and then woke up twice one night last week in the middle of the night and complained that his cheek really hurt.  Even though he woke up feeling fine, I decided to take him to the doctor the next morning.  I am glad that I did because our doctor said that his ear looked like it was on fire with a really bad ear infection.  He put him on a antibiotic and said he should feel better quickly.  

Well he really did feel perfect until Friday, a couple of days later, when he broke out into itchy hives.  This happened numerous times over the weekend and we had to give him Benadryl each time.  The following Monday Henry did not have school so after it happened again I took him back to the doctor.  The doctor was pretty convinced that he had developed an allergy to the antibiotic.  Trey was not convinced with that diagnosis (and I am not 100% convinced either) but because we really had no other changes occur we are going with that.  The doctor said that there is no need to subject him to allergy testing unless this happens again later on for another reason.  

Whatever the reason, I hope it never happens again.  I am so very sorry Henry!  :-(           

"No need for any medicine Henry! My smile cures all ailments!" ;-)

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

We are definitely in the midst of fall here in Charlotte with all of the falling leaves! This is quite a different experience since we moved from a neighborhood where we had one tree total in our front yard. We had to rake just once in the fall to clean up all of its leaves. ;-)

It is a different experience for the kids too! We bought both kids their own rakes so that they could "help" us. Henry was helping sweep up one day and about a minute into it he stopped, dropped the broom, and said, "This is hard work.  I am going to play!" :-)

It might be hard work but we are all loving fall in our new city!

"Eeek! We are being swallowed by leaves!"

The Beauty of Technology

Technology can sometimes be a really nice thing.  For instance, when Trey is not going to be able to make it home to see the kids, we will send him a picture like this...

...and he sends us a picture back!  :-)

That way there won't be a day where we have to miss seeing each other's smiling faces!  ;-)

Some More Park Pictures ;-)

Donuts with Dad :-)

A couple of weeks ago Henry's preschool had Donuts for Dad so my two handsome men got to spend the morning together!  

Charlotte couldn't let them get a picture without her!  

Trey came home and said, "Man, that preschool is no joke!  They are actually doing real learning!" :-)

Thanks Henry for letting Daddy come and hang out with you and your friends!  We love you Big Boy!

When Mommy's Away...

"When Mommy's away, Daddy lets us...

...dress ourselves, 

go to a farm to climb and run on hay bales,

drive a tractor without a drivers' license, 

feed goats,

pet sheep,

and even helps us with a school project!"

"That Daddy is the best!"

My Weekend in Chicago :-)

I was so lucky to be able to take a weekend trip to Chicago to visit some of my absolute favorite people...my cousins, Sarah and Emily, their husbands, John and Reggie, my Uncle Eddie and Aunt Evie, and my newest favorite person, Emily and Reggie's little one, Ella!

Honestly, it was the perfect weekend.  I was able to see both Sarah and Emily's beautiful homes.  I was able to laugh and talk and catch up with everyone.  I was able to stay up late and sleep late in the morning.  And Sarah, Emily, and I were even able to get a fantastic girls' night out!

I also got lots and lots of wonderful cuddle time with sweet, precious Ella!  

I did not forget about you, Chester!  You are one of my favorites too!  ;-)

Thank you Sarah, John, Emily, Reggie, Aunt Evie, and Uncle Eddie for a fantastic weekend.  I only wish we lived closer so we could spend time together every weekend!  I am so very lucky to have family as wonderful as all of you!

Thank you also to Trey who took on the challenge of a weekend with both hooligans!  And since you made it look so easy there will be lots more weekends away in my future!  ;-)

And Emily and Reggie, there was no doubt that you both would make wonderful parents but you guys really do make wonderful parents!  Ella is absolutely beautiful and she is so very lucky to have the both of you!  :-)

P.S. We missed you La La!  :-)

We love cupcakes!

Trey surprised us by bringing cupcakes home from the hospital and we were all thrilled!  So much so that Henry now asks every time he comes home whether he brought us anything!  :-)    

(In case you were wondering, Henry wanted to be a tiger on this particular day so that is why he has whiskers drawn on his face..haha!)

I just thought this was a cute picture of Charlotte eating a cupcake at a friend's birthday party.  She really thought it was tasty! ;-)

A Crafty Mess

So Henry has never really gotten into arts and crafts.  He will participate for a short time but I usually end up finishing the project while he is off playing cars or Legos.  On the other hand, I love to paint and color and put together fun projects.  I decided to be brave one rainy morning and get the paint out for Henry and Charlotte.  I had brushes, sponges, and veggie stamps for them to use.  Charlotte decided she did not want to use any of those things but would rather use her hands and feet.  It was a big mess that ended in a bath for Charlotte but she loved every minute of it.  Maybe we will stick with crayons and stickers and hold off on the paint for a little while!  :-)   

My little "artist"...   

He is so deprived!

One morning Henry was pouting because the poor, poor thing didn't have anybody who wanted to play Legos with him.  I was rather impressed with his pout so I told him to make his best pouty face so I could take a picture.  

And here it is!  Don't you just feel so sorry for him?!  

"I'll play Legos with you Henry!" :-)

They love each other.

They drive each other crazy. Henry pesters Charlotte and Charlotte pesters Henry. Henry does not want Charlotte to play with his toys and Charlotte only wants to play with his toys. They might have moments where they fight and push each other's buttons but...

...they love each other.

And they have a Mommy and Daddy who could not be more in love with them!  :-)

A Lazy Morning

Friday mornings tend to be lazy around our house because Henry does not have school.  Last Friday they pulled all of the cushions off of the couch and played with them for well over an hour.  Then they decided to take a rest so Henry made a bed out of them for he and Charlotte.  :-)  

P.S.  Henry does not have a shirt on because he is "Muscle Man"!  I don't know where he comes up with this stuff!  Haha!  :-)

Krispy Kreme Grand Opening

A couple of weeks ago we decided to head to the grand opening of Krispy Kreme for breakfast!  

Mommy and Charlotte were very excited!  

And Henry was thrilled about his sprinkle donut and chocolate milk!

"Yummy, yummy!"

I know I keep mentioning it but we are loving spending the weekends with Trey!  We went from having maybe one full weekend off a month with him to now having him home with us every weekend!  It has been fun! :-)

Sleeping Beauty ;-)

We are still trying to figure out a good nap schedule for Charlotte.  She is down to one nap a day but we have to pick up Henry from school right during that nap time.  She will usually nap in the car on the way to pick him up and then when we get home I can move her to her bed and she will sleep another hour or so.  That works most days but there are days that she wakes up early in the morning or sleeps in later and then that nap schedule is thrown off.

On those days we will walk in a room and find her like this...

...lying down underneath the kitchen table...  

...or fast asleep on the couch!  ;-) 

Mommy loves her Charlotte time but it is always nice to have her still, peaceful, and quiet!  :-)

A Football-Filled Weekend!

We just had a weekend filled with football fun!  On Saturday night we had some friends over to watch the South Carolina/Georgia game!  Boy, was that a fun game to watch!  Well maybe just if you were a South Carolina fan!  ;-)  Trey and I are fans of teams that tend to blow it when things are going well so we are really hoping South Carolina keeps the winning streak alive at LSU next weekend and then at Florida!  Yikes!  

"Go Gamecocks!  You can do it!" 

And then on Sunday, Trey was offered two tickets to the Carolina Panthers football game so Trey was able to take Henry to his very first NFL game!  :-)

That is one handsome Carolina Panthers fan!

Henry received the royal treatment at his first game.  He not only got to eat a hot dog, chips, and orange soda but he got to eat in the club level lounge complete with heat and a band!  :-)

He and Trey stayed through the 3rd quarter and had a blast although a Panthers win would have been nice!  ;-)  What a fun weekend!

A Visit From Memére, Aunt La La, And Kate

At the end of August, Trey spent five days in Germany for a conference. The kids and I were absolutely thrilled when my mom, sister, and niece (who is three months older than Charlotte) decided to visit us from Nashville during that time! Naturally where would we take them while they were here?  Parks! :-)

Kate and Charlotte taking a ride on the big, purple dinosaur...

Three cousins enjoying some time on the swings...

So I feel really bad but while they were here we introduced Kate to The Wiggles and she became as obsessed as her younger cousin.  I do not know what it is about that group but Charlotte gets unbelievably excited when she hears their music and she passed that love onto Kate!  We sent them home with a Wiggles DVD and Laura said that she has not wanted to watch anything else since!  It certainly is unfortunate that The Wiggles are not nearly as enjoyable for the parents!

Charlotte and Kate dancing to their first boy band crush, The Wiggles!  ;-)

"Memére, Aunt La La, and Kate, we cannot thank you enough for making the long trip to visit us!  We loved every single minute of you all being here and we cannot wait to be together again!  We love you!"

(How beautiful are these three?!)

Who needs expensive toys?!

One of Henry and Charlotte's favorite toys is a plastic bin. I will fill the bin with plastic balls and the kids will pretend it is a ball pit.  Their absolute favorite though is when they take turns sitting in the bin and I pull them around the house.  (Good for lots of laughs, bad for my back!)

Or they will each have a bin and sit in them side-by-side to watch television.

They also use them to make funny faces. :-)

"Squishy face!"

Old-Fashioned Soda Shop

A couple of weeks ago we treated ourselves to dinner at an old-fashioned soda shop here in Charlotte. The food was delicious and the kids were dancing throughout dinner to the fun music. And of course, we had to test out their homemade ice cream after dinner!

"Of course! All of our meals end with ice cream!"

"Next time we should skip dinner and eat LOTS of ice cream!" :-)