The rest of our Charleston vacation

Believe it or not, we actually did a few things that were NOT wedding-related when we were in Charleston!  Or at least sort of not wedding related.  First, when we got there Wednesday, I went to Brie's bachelorette party in the evening.  We did a lingerie shower with champagne and strawberries and cheese in the Marion Square Park in Charleston.  It was SO much fun. 

Next, we hit Basil for some Thai food. YUM. Delish! After, we took a rickshaw to a bar that I can NOT for the life of me remember the name of.  We drank $2 PBR in a can.  You just can't beat that!  Then it was off to the Market Street Saloon for some dancing.  Well, what happens at the Market Street Saloon STAYS at the Market Street Saloon!  Just kidding, it was all innocent fun, but I just want to leave y'all guessing :-)

The next day for lunch, we all went to Triangle Char and Bar for lunch.  More YUM!  (Please someone give me some grease!!!) I love to eat, and Charleston has some awesome restaurants.  They had killer sweet potato fries with apple butter for dipping.  Even Natalie liked it.  After lunch, she wanted to go sit with Brie, and we snapped this picture of the two of them, looking super cute.

The rehearsal dinner was a lot of fun too.  It was at Magnolia's downtown.  VERY good food.  Brie surprised Cory with a special personal message to the happy couple from Craig Finn, the lead singer of the Hold Steady.  Mindy, Brie's sister, has a friend of a friend who knows him (or something like that!).  Anyway, they recorded him giving a shout out to Cory and Brie.  It was super cool.  The Hold Steady is one of his favorite bands, so he was ecstatic! 

We also got to spend some time with my mom's family.  I was with Brie and the girls most of the day Friday before the wedding, so Todd took the kids over to the Holiday Inn where my family was staying so the kids could FINALLY meet some of my relatives.  In the picture below, Aunt Patti is getting some quality Grant time in, with Aunt Barbara and Aunt Sara.  These are my mom's three older sisters.  My mom is the 4th of 7, right in the middle!

We also went out to dinner with the fam Saturday evening.  We went to the restaurant at the top of the Holiday Inn, which was pretty good and had amazing views of Charleston.  Here, we put a napkin on Natalie's head and called her Little Brown Riding Hood.

AND we had lunch with my cousin Stasi and her funny (and taller than Todd) husband Adam!  Here, he's wearing Natalie's shades...

Next, we enjoyed a horse and carriage ride in Charleston on Sunday.  It was so nice- the weather was beautiful and warm.  We got the most "desirable" route along the battery and Rainbow Row.  Apparently, there are like 5 or 6 companies that run horse and carriage trips but the city only allows a certain number of the carriages out on the road at any given time so it doesn't clog up traffic so much.  They also have different routes so they are evenly spread out through the city.  So when a carriage is ready to go out, it has to go by this little stand and get a ball from a bingo machine.  That ball dictates what route the driver will drive, and there are 7 different routes.  Pretty cool!  You can pick up a carriage at the Big Red Barn.  Natalie got to meet a chicken on our way there.

The house below was in the movie The Notebook, which is one of my favorites.  You know the scene where Rachel McAdams character Ali has a big fight with her mom and storms out?  That was filmed just inside this doorway.  Obviously a bunch of other people wanted to go see this too!

We also got to go to dinner with Cory and Brie Sunday evening.  We went to the Fat Hen and it was awesome!  I had the pork, and Todd had the skirt steak.  We would like to go back to Charleston just for the food!  Coco got some quality niece and nephew time in.  Don't Cory and Grant kind of look alike in the picture below?

Natalie told Cory that they had to walk down the ramp together, rather than taking the stairs.  So of course, he obliged.  I thought this was a very sweet picture of the two of them.

Lastly, we tried to go home on Monday, but once we got to the airport (and through security), we found out that due to bad weather in Atlanta, some of the passengers were re-routed through LaGuardia, which was our destination.  When riding standby, if the planes are full, we don't go anywhere. So my mom advised us to go to Cory's house because that would have been far better than sitting in the airport with two little ones.  But Cory and Brie were home sick, so we couldn't go there.  Talk about FRUSTRATING!  Meanwhile, Natalie decides that she really, really, really wants to go on an airplane and since she can't, she has the biggest tantrum EVER in the airport. Yep, we have become THAT family!

So we found a hotel near the airport with a shuttle, a bar, and a pool.  Thank you Radisson, for saving the day!

Natalie decided to sleep in the extra queen bed "like a big girl" while Grant took the pack and play. I honestly don't think there was room for another pack and play in our room thanks to all of our luggage.  So to make sure Natalie didn't fall out of bed (she's a WILD sleeper, all over the place), I placed pillows on one side of her, and I slept on the other side.  Well, I was head bunted in the head once, in the ribs once, I was bit, I was yelled at (in her sleep), and basically did not sleep at all.  And somewhere in the 2 am hour, Grant took a massive poop and I had to change his diaper (he is not a fan of wallowing in his own poo).  As if I wasn't tired enough! 

But in the morning, in the shuttle on the way to the airport, I heard Natalie say to her daddy, "I liked sleeping with mommy last night!"  I mean, what can you say to that???

I will leave you with one final pic from our vacation to Charleston.  A picture of one handsome little dude!

The Wedding of the Year

So my little brother got married.  And for some reason, that is really weird to me.  It's not that I didn't think he would ever get married.  I just still see him as the little kid who pestered me and followed me around everywhere.  Grant really looks up to his big sister Natalie.  He is always smiling and laughing at her-- probably more so at her than at either Todd or me.  I hope Natalie realizes how lucky she is to have a brother that admires her so much.  I'm sure she'll find him annoying when she is young, but I hope that they grow up to be as close as my brother Cory and I are.

The wedding was simply awesome.  I'm not one for cheese and mush... but this was really a spectacular event.  Everything was simple and sweet and beautiful.  And everything seemed to just flow.  There was just so much love for the happy couple, and it was such an honor to stand by them on their big day.  Anyway, where was I?  Whew, I got a little carried away there!  Cory and his beautiful bride Brianna (who seriously, looked like a movie star!) were married at St. Lukes in Charleston, South Carolina.  ("Married?  MAH-WEED! Jeez...")

Natalie did SUCH a good job as the flower girl.  Admittedly, I was kind of worried.  She had been practicing her "walk" at home, and did a great job at the rehearsal, but you never know how little kids will act in front of large crowds.  She was so sweet- she really worked the crowd on her way down the aisle, looking both ways at all of the people and smiling.  It was so cute!  I don't have any pictures of it (yet... if anyone has one, please send it to me!) but we have a great video that captured the whole thing.  Too bad the video is too large to post here on blogspot!  You'll just have to take my word for it.  She rocked the house.  Here is a picture of Brie giving her a pep talk before the big walk down the aisle. 

Little man was super cute in his new outfit (from Nana, of course!). The pageboy hat was a big hit. He looked like a total southern golfer in this outfit. Cory loves boating, so I thought the sailboat vest was a nice touch.

After the wedding, we took pictures outside.  While we were waiting, my brother's friend James snapped a few pictures of us with our camera...

We clean up pretty nice, huh!?!?  And check out this picture... I challenge you to find two cuter guys on this planet!  Look at these handsome fellas!  I can't get over how cute they are!

Next came the reception.  Natalie got to ride in the limo with us to the reception.  It was her first time in a limo and it was all she talked about.  The limo had lights that changed colors on the ceiling and it was all she focused on for the 15-20 minute ride.  "OOO Mommy, look!  They're green!  OOO Mommy, look!  They're blue!"  And on, and on, and on... Sadly, I didn't have the camera with me.  Next time.

The reception was SO neat.  First, we took pictures and everyone enjoyed the cocktail hour under the canopy of trees.  In the picture above, you can see where the white tables were.  It was right out of Southern Living.    Next, we moved to the reception under the tent where we got our groove on.  Good music was played by Cory's new brother-in-law (Brie's sister Mindy's husband) Sean, and everyone had a really good time.  Seriously, do these two belong together or WHAT?

Sorry about the red eye guys. I tried to remove it, but it kept giving Brie weird gray eyes that weren't exactly centered on her eyeballs.  Dinner was delish (pulled pork, shrimp and grits, lots of delicious rice and veggies, etc.)  I most especially appreciated and enjoyed the whiskey bar. YUM. Thank you Makers Mark and Coke, for making my night so enjoyable.

Then it was time to leave.  The final song was a killer tune by The Hold Steady called "Killer Parties."  This most assuredly was a killer party.  Cory was a total rock star.  He and his thankfully more demure bride were escorted to their awaiting limo by the throngs of friends and family who were blowing on party horns to the beat of The Hold Steady.  My brother LOVES to work a crowd.  I'm not kidding, he missed his calling as a politician.  He was totally in his element.  The timing of the song and them leaving was really perfect.  Of course, I couldn't escort them to their car.  I just couldn't do it.  My mom, Aunt Annie, and I stood in the back and cried.  (Which really didn't make any sense, since we were all meeting at the Blind Tiger for the afterparty!!!)  I don't know why we were all so teary eyed.  I guess there is just something final about your little brother getting married.  He's no longer the little kid who took the blame for my Crayola artwork near the front door of our house (in exchange, I would let him sleep in my room because he was afraid of the dark).  He's not the little guy who Emma and I played chase-around-the-house with.  He's not the chubby cheeked little dude who ate Cheetos and Albertson's fried chicken on the boat with me.  He's a man, and he's married.  He may be Brianna's husband now, but he'll always be my little brother! 

Congratulations Cory and Brie!  (Or as Natalie would say, "CocoBrie!")

Preview of the Wedding blog

For those that don't know, my brother got married this past weekend to his longtime love, Brianna.  It was a beautiful ceremony and reception in Charleston, and the weather was perfect. (WHEW!  Everyone seems to blame the weather girl when the weather isn't good!).  Natalie and I were in the wedding, and below, are a few pictures my dad took.  I'm still uploading my pictures and video.  So here is a sample of what's to come...

The happy couple:

The next one is my favorite of Natalie and me (at Triangle):

This is one where we were being funny:

And here is a cute pic of Natalie at the church for the rehearsal:

Grant's 6 month stats

The stats are in... little Buddy G went for his 6 month appointment today and here they are:

Height:  27.5 inches (80th percentile)

Weight: 17.5 lbs (40th percentile)

Head circumference 45 cm (80th percentile)

He is catching up in weight and head circumference.  He doesn't want to be outdone by his big sister. He also got a few shots, and this evening, we are going to give him rice cereal for the first time.  Can't wait!

The long blog about my brother's wedding is forthcoming.  I don't like to blog without pictures!

Grant's first time on a swing

Little buddy took his first ride on a swing on the swing set in our backyard.  Natalie was there to show him how easy it was. 

As you can see, he was indifferent about it.  Pretty much how he is about everything in life, except eating, sleeping, and pooping!

Channeling Albert Einstein

Natalie woke up Saturday morning and her hair looked like this.  Seriously, we didn't tease it or anything. 

I think those of us who grew up in the 80s will be a bit envious... this hair did not even require one can of Aqua Net!  I think she's ready for the next Motley Crue reunion tour!  Although below, I kind of think she looks like Albert Einstein. Don't you agree??? 

Where's Natalie?

I bet you're wondering why there aren't many pictures of Natalie lately.  Well, she has recently decided she does not want to be photographed.  So I have to capture pictures of her when she is not paying attention.  Otherwise, she yells, "NOOOO!" and runs away. 

So I wanted to take a picture of her new haircut.  This was all I could get.  It's pretty cute.  She loves going to Snip It's.  She loves getting a lollipop.  She picked a cream soda dum dum-- which happens to be my favorite.  She picked it because the wrapper had green on it, and that is her favorite color.  Kids are so funny.

The next picture is of her and Todd watching the Boston Marathon.  It runs right by our new house.  We are only a block or so from Route 135, which is where the Marathon runs.  What you see here are the front runners (pun intended!) in the men's group off in the distance a bit.  The wheel chair division goes first, then the women's, the men's, and finally, everyone else.  It's quite the circus atmosphere when everyone else runs through.    Some people dress up in funky costumes, a lot of people write their names on their arms or legs (so you can shout out, "Let's go Mike!" or "Come on Jennifer, you can do it!").  My friends who run marathons (because you KNOW I don't run!) say this really helps their morale.  Sometimes the people respond back to you (like, "Thanks!" or a nod of the head).  Then Todd and I giggle.  ("Hee hee, they spoke to us!").  Yes friends, we are dorks!  I can't wait for the kids to get older, as I think this will be really fun for them. Lord knows Todd and I think it's really funny.

Grant, in a series

Before I had kids, I didn't have any idea how hard it was to actually capture good pictures of kids.  Which made me really realize why there are so few pictures of me as a baby/little kid.  Chances are, the kid is not going to cooperate (not necessarily on purpose) and you're going to take about 10 bad pictures before you get 1 good picture.  Back then, our parents used (gasp!) point and click cameras that had (get this...) FILM!  Film wasn't cheap to develop, so most pictures went to waste.  Thank goodness for digital cameras and the "delete" button!  Let me demonstrate, using my sweet boy Grant as an example...

Picture 1:  Hand in the mouth.

 

Picture 2:  Eyes are closed.

Picture 3:  The drunk look

Picture 4: Partially sticking his tongue out.  And he looks startled.

Picture 5: Hand back in the mouth.

Picture 6: Getting better...  Come on little guy, give us a smile!

Picture 7:  Hey, this isn't too bad!  Finally a decent picture!

Picture 8:  BONUS!  There's my dimple!

Sleep Sweet Sleepyheads

I just love it when my kids are asleep -- and not just for the obvious reason.  Grant is so peaceful and sweet. 

Natalie, my wild child when awake, is the same in her slumber.  This is what we often come in to find in the mornings.

Pillows, covers, and sheets are so overrated!!!!  Apparently keeping your entire body in the bed is too!

First Tooth!

Grant got his first tooth!  I almost cried when I felt it.  My baby is growing so fast!  I have felt a hard lump in the area where his two bottom front teeth are for several days now, but yesterday morning, it had broken through.  It's his bottom right front tooth.  Todd and I tried so hard to get a picture of it this morning, but the camera wasn't cooperating.  Oh, and neither was Grant... every time I went to hold his mouth open, he would push his tongue out right over the tooth. 

Okay, I captured a picture, but it was hard.  He has been getting VERY grumpy in the evenings, maybe due to being tired, or maybe due to the teeth that are coming in.  Who knows.  But last night he was crying (for about 20 minutes, ugh!) so I thought that was a great opportunity to snap some pictures!  Oh you're so mean mommy!  Funny... when I look at the picture on my computer, I can see the tooth plain as day.  But now that I've uploaded it to the blog, I can't see it at all.  Trust me, it's there!  Oh well, maybe I can snap a few more during this evening's grumpy time. :-)

Tired little guy

Little man fell asleep in his jumperoo, just like this:

And he fell asleep on Todd's lap as we were singing happy birthday to him on his birthday!

Little guy has just been worn out lately!  The older he gets, the more he's getting on a schedule, and he can't be up past 7:30, or he's exhausted and grumpy (or falls asleep on the spot!).  I love my little guy!

Sox-Rays game

Todd and I got to enjoy a rare night out for his birthday Saturday night.  As you know, his birthday was actually Friday.  But Saturday afternoon, we dropped the kids off at Helen's for the NIGHT (my first night away from Grant!) and went down to Boston Beer Works to meet up with Les and Ingrid.  Les and Todd were friends when Todd lived in NYC (they both worked for the BOP).  Now we all live in Massachusetts!  Anyway, we got to see a rare event at Fenway.  The game from the night before was postponed due to rain, but it was tied 1-1 in the 9th inning.  Since the umps wouldn't allow them to start the next game without finishing the first, they played innings 9-11 before the Rays won the game.  Then, there was about 30-45 minutes between games.  The second game didn't start until after 9.  AND... they stopped selling beer after the 1st inning!!!!!  WHAT????? 

We were sitting in my coworkers Matt and Greg's seats in right field, in the bleachers.  It is a good seat... since there isn't a bad seat at Fenway to begin with.  But we were pretty miserable since it was in the 30s and raining.  It wasn't raining too bad, but just enough to make us pretty miserable. 

But there's always Dunkin' Donuts hot chocolate to keep us warm!  And despite 2 run homers from Pedroia and Youk, and a solo shot from Marco Scutaro... the Sox still lost 6-5.   

Happy Birthday Todd!

Happy birthday to my wonderful, funny, smart, amazing, goofy husband and help-mate, Todd! 

My babies

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my babies????

I just love these kids.  They are so fun.  Grant loves his big sister.  He laughs at her so much... and every time she comes in the room, he is all smiles.  Don't they look alike in the picture below?

Lastly, Grant is pushing himself up pretty well these days.  I'm hoping he at least rolls over before Natalie did (around 7 months!).  Both kids seem(ed) content when they were babies.  Like if Natalie were sitting, there wasn't much that could motivate her to reach for toys or start to crawl.  She was just really happy sitting in one spot and looking at the world around with her and playing with her own feet.  Grant seems that way too.  If you lay him on his belly, he usually just lays his head down and is content to lay there and suck on his hand!  But sometimes he does push up...

He can push himself higher than this, but I thought he looked so cute here.  I just want to kiss those cheeks!

Todd's shoulder surgery

Todd's shoulder surgery was a success!  Thanks to Maureen who took the kids at 5:30 am since we had to be at the outpatient center at 6 am (yawn!).  And thanks to all of the prayers and well wishes.  Todd's surgery actually started closer to 7 am and went until about 9:15. 

It took a little longer than they expected (although I expected that.  When does it ever take exactly the amount of time they say it will???).  They shaved off a bit of his shoulder blade, which got rid of the bone spur he had, cleaned out the bursitis, and checked on the small tear he has in his labrum.  They decided there wasn't much they could do about that.  Apparently, he also had some worn down cartilage, and by removing the end part of the collarbone, it allows soft scar tissue to form so that he doesn't have bone rubbing on bone again.  NICE.

This is my favorite pic.  It makes me laugh (but grateful) that they "autograph" the shoulder they are going to work on.  Just in case.  You hear stories all the time about doctors removing the wrong limb or some other awful procedure mishap.  So here are Dr. Tierney's initals on Todd's shoulder!  Say bye bye shoulder!

Todd was a little woozy coming off the general anesthetic, but he wasn't nearly as loopy as when I went with him in 2004 to get his endoscopy.  He was talking all kinds of crazy nonsense then!  This time, he was alert and awake and eating graham crackers and apple juice.  Just like pre-school.

We finally got home around 11 after dropping his prescription off at CVS.  I ran out to get ice and pick up the prescription and when I got back, he was asleep.  But after he woke up from his nap, he said he felt great.  He watched movies the rest of the day and had to wait for the nerve block to wear off before he finally could feel his shoulder.  But between the pain meds and the large ice packs he has on his shoulder, he is doing okay.  He says it's sore, but isn't awful.  I hope in a few weeks, he is finally pain free!  It's about time!

Prayer requests

My wonderful, sweet hubby is having surgery on his shoulder tomorrow.  They think the surgery will take somewhere between 4-6 hours.  The surgery includes a distal clavicle resection (cutting off the end of the collar bone or clavicle) and subacromial decompression (cutting off the tip of the shoulder blade). Hopefully, it can all be done arthroscopically. Todd has been having a lot of pain in his shoulder for a few years now, so hopefully this will do the trick!  (It had darn well better, since they are cutting off about 1/3 of his collarbone!).  Prayers for me are also welcome, since Todd will not be able to lift the kids for about 6 weeks.  This means lots of work for Mommy!

Also, I need some prayers for my Uncle Dave.  He had a valve in his heart replaced yesterday and the surgery went well.  But he need some prayers for a speedy recovery!

Lastly, one of the blogs I read (Toddler Planet) by a woman in the DC area who is an astrophysicist and a mom (no kidding... I've never known any astrophysicists!!!) just got told that she has a recurrence of breast cancer.  http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/  I don't know this woman, but she is a mom, just like me.  I can't even imagine what she must be going through, or how scared her little boys and husband must be.  She is having surgery today to remove some tumors from her lymph nodes.  So send lots of prayers her way!  Her name is Susan Niebur. 

I will keep you posted about how Todd is doing tomorrow!

Natalie's Boo Boo

So, last week when she was at daycare waiting for lunch to be served,  Natalie fell off of her little chair, foward and onto the table, where she split her eyebrow open.  Maureen called Todd to let him know, and he took Natalie to the doctor to get it looked at.  Thankfully, he did not call Mommy until AFTER the whole event was over.  Smart Daddy.

So they used this special skin glue on her face to close the wound.  I hadn't heard of this before, but I really like the concept.  No stitches?   Boy, this would have saved me a lot of agony when I was 4 and had to get stitches in a similar place on my face (right next to my right eye). 

In the picture below, you can barely see it, but there is a bit of purple glue still holding on strong to the end of her eyebrow (toward her temple) of her left eye.  Don't mind the orange Skittle mess on the rest of her face.  Someone had a little too much fun with her Easter candy!