Busy Weekend!

We had a busy weekend this past weeekend! I thought I'd share what we did and a few pictures!

FRIDAY:

Friday was a normal work day for Ben and I. He went to work I was home with Legree and Ian. Ben and I decided we wanted to go out to eat. Well, going out to eat with Legree is no fun right now! He used to be an angel in restaurants. Not so much anymore! He thinks he's supposed to talk to everyone around him and walk around the whole place. So usually one of us has to take him outside so he doesn't disrupt everyone at the restaurant while the other eats and then switch off. Not exactly a relaxing dinner! So, we generally try to get Legree in with the grandparents when we go out to eat. So, he went and hung out with my parents while Ben and I went out for dinner.

SATURDAY:

Early Saturday morning I got up and went to a kid's consignment sale. I got some good deals on some clothes for Legree for the fall. Which I'm a complete sucker for a good deal on kids clothes!!Then Legree and I met Carter and Mrs. Shelley (and Campbelle, but she's still hanging with mommy for a few more months!) at the zoo! We had a blast! We heard the lion roar, played on the playground, feed the birds, saw lots of animals and had fun! Legree loves Carter and had a good time chasing him around!!

Then we came home and took a much needed nap!! Then we headed off to Irmo to eat dinner with our friends the Best's. I used to work with Ashley and we were pregnant at the same time. So, we love getting the boys together to play now. They are so cute walking around everywhere now! I remember when we were just finding out we were having boys, our showers, etc. Anyways, we had a yummy supper, took the boys for a walk around the block in Logan's new wagon and hung out for a bit. We had a great time and so did the boys!!

SUNDAY:

We went to church and then we went out to Ben's parents house. Legree of course loved seeing all the tractors and the DOONNNS (Donkeys to the lay person). He is not scared of them at all! He runs down to the fence, sticks his hand in there and pets them everytime he seems them! He even tried to stick his hand in one of their noses this time! GROSS!

Oh goodness.. .she's on her soap box again!

Ok, so I know this blog is SUPPOSED to be about our family and what's going on with us etc. But I'm going to use it as my soap box to preach a little on for today...

I admit it I LOVE reading celebrity gossip. It's my guilty pleasure. I have ZERO drama in my life, so they keep be entertained and shaking my head constantly. But the cover of this People magazine really got under my skin! Take a look at it and see if it bothers you...

Why on earth is People after the Duggars and applauding Jennifer Aniston?? They are criticizing this beautiful family for welcoming the idea of another child. While cheering Aniston on to having a child without a husband. What happened to the notion of dating, marriage and THEN children? Children need a mom AND a dad! Both are equally important for equally important reasons.

The Duggars have 19 children and are there for them, support them, do not rely on any government assistance, have no debt, and are raising God loving children. Their children don't get into any trouble and are a BLESSING to society. A lot of people critcize the Duggars saying the older kids raise the younger ones. I really don't see that and I regularly watch their show. I'll be honest I used to think the same thing! But first off, there is NO way those kids are that well behaved if their 14 year old sister is RAISING them. Secondly, I always see Michelle and Jim Bob spending time with their kids, having devotions with their kids and guiding their children. Also, yes the older kids help out with the younger children. They help out, they don't raise them! And I think kids this day and age need more responsibility. This also helps teach them how to be good parents when they are older. Also, the younger ones help out!! Ever seen a three year old sweep and mop for real?? Watch the show, you will on there! They do it with a joyful heart and NEVER complain! Serious folks... watch the show! It's amazing! And no, they aren't slaves either... they clean up and they have TONS of fun together. Even the parents play with them!! I see them as someone I look up to! No, I don't ever want 19 children... but they are raising kids who believe, love and fear God first and fore most. They also have children who work hard and do it willfully and joyfully for their family. Also, they are completely debt free!! It's just amazing to me!! Why are we criticizing them again??

Now, Jennifer Aniston and other Hollywood types think that all you need is some money and a nanny to have a kid. Kids need so much more then that... and deserve so much more then that! They need a loving mother and father to raise them (like the Duggars). Children are NOT status symbols and something to be toyed with. They need to be loved for, taken care of, disciplined and guided in the right direction. God instructed man and woman to be married and THEN have children. This new notion of living togheter before your married, having kids before you get married, never getting married etc etc etc is so sad to me! This is what's wrong with society today. God help us all!

I pray that Ben and I can teach Legree and our (God Willing) future children to want to be more like the Duggars... and less like Jennifer Aniston!!

I fed a crab a pretzel! And other fun beach memories...

We went to Garden City Beach this year for our first trip as a whole family with my parents. It was a blast! We rented a condo that was on the very end of Garden City, actually in Murrells Inlet. It was beautiful there! The condo actually was on the intercoastal waterway and had its own peir to go fishing or crabbing on. It was also on the second row off of the ocean, so not a long walk either! It was perfect! It also had a nice pool that overlooked the inlet. Our condo was on the first floor right by the pool which made for easy in and out. Here's a view from the pier at our condo out into the inlet...

I wanted to do a small recap of every day, but my memory is just not that good! So, I thought I'd share some of the highlights (and lowlights) that I do remember!

It was such a special trip having Legree with us. While, it wasn't as relaxing as beach trips in the past, it was more more entertaining and fun!! I used to sit out on the beach, get as good a tan as I could and read my books/magazines. Ohh not anymore! We can only stay out there an hour or so at a time before it was nap time again and I spent my whole time chasing Legree around! But I am NOT complaining... I LOVED every second of chasing that little booger around. He was so unbelieveably cute out there. As I was chasing him around and seeing his cute smile I said a little prayer to God and told him I knew I didn't deserve such a precious and wonderful child and I'm not quite sure why God intrusted ME with this sweet little miracle, but I couldn't be more thankful!!

Anyway, here's the highlights...

-Getting the car packed to the brim with all of our stuff and my parent's stuff! My parents, Legree and I rode together on the way there. Ben came later in the week due to some work obligations. We had every square inch of the Trailblazer packed down, including the roof!


- Arriving to find our really nice condo that we booked REEKED of cigarrette smoke.... thankfully the rental company gave us a nicer condo minus the horrible smell!


-Going to dinner at Gulfstream (California Dreamin's Seafood restuarant down there) the first night and Legree acting AWFUL!! I had to take him outside and miss my entire meal. He's usually an angel in restuarants but he decided he wanted to talk to everyone and was going to scream until I let him get down, walk around and talk! I took him outside and away from bothering everyone instead (and away from my yummy meal)

-Going to dinner at Mcdonald's the next night and he was a complete angel! UGH, why couldn't he have acted right at the nice place and horrible at Mcds?


- Going to our sister church congration in MB and hearing an amazing sermon from my pastor's 1st cousin! Pretty neat!

- Watching Legree giggle with delight when Grandaddy would go under the water and come back up... that was his favorite!!

- Legree chasing all the "bawww" (balls to the lay person) around the pool

- Legree discovering and falling in love with "bawooooos" (balloons to the lay person)

- Everyone stopping to tell us HOW CUTE Legree is! One guy even stopped jogging on the beach, came over to me to tell me... I love it!

- Legree flirting with the girls in the pool. They were teenagers and thought he was SOO cute. He'd wave at them and walk over to them and as soon as they start talking to him, he'd hold his hands over his face and turn around like he was shy. They'd giggle and say how cute he was... then it'd start all over again, precious!

- Legree running all over the beach for no reason, just because it's fun!

- Legree sitting in his swimming pool that grandaddy and Uncle Forrest dug for him. He wasn't leaving his precious area!

- Legree eating sand over and over again! We couldn't get him to stop!

- Legree learning what fish were... and calling them "ish"... So stinkin cute!

- Keeping Legree awake till 8:30 (a pretty tough thing to do since his clock is set to go to bed at 8:00 every night) till Ben got to the beach! He was so excited to see his daddy!

- Snuggling in the bed with Legree (Legree never sleeps good on vacation when he shares a room with Ben and I, he always wakes up around 4 or 5 am and crys, so I usually get him up and put him in bed with us and he goes right back to sleep). I woke up at 9am one morning and we both had slept in extra late and we were spooning! It was probably one of the most precious moments as a mommy!

- Ben and I taking a walk out on our pier at the condo and found lots of blue claw crabs out in the inlet. One of them was missing one of his pretty blue claws. We took pretzels out to snack on while we walked, so I threw the poor little guy one. He snapped that pretzel up and went to town. If it got away from him he'd reach his one little claw out till he found it and gobble up some more. I was so proud that I fed a crab a pretzel!! There is probably one stuffed little crab out there right now!!

- Seeing Legree's big smile every morning when he realized Grandmommy and Grandaddy were there and him jumping out of my arms to theirs!

-Taking Legree "downtown" Garden City and seeing his delight when he spotted the race cars... he wanted to ride one so bad, but he couldn't!

- Going out to eat and not having to do the dishes... not something we do a lot at home, so it was a nice treat for me!

- Outlet shopping with mom and Legree, need I say more??

- Legree discovering how much fun it is to rip all the clothes off of the racks at the stores...

- Eating Painter's Ice Cream... quite literally a life changing experience! YUM!

- Getting Legree his first pair of "Crocs" (I'm too cheap to buy the real thing, but we found some nice knock offs for $3.99, can't beat that!)

- Getting a good tan!

- Seeing Legree getting a little bit of a tan. I deligently and faithfully put sunscreen on him. I reapplied and made sure he had plenty on him, but he still got a little bit of tan! It's precious!

There so many more, but I'll leave it at all of these for now... we had a great time and I'm READY to go back now!! Although it is nice to be back home... now, onto this mountain of clothes I've got to get washed...

I like my..

CHICKEN FRIED!!!

Adjectives

When Legree was born I always wondered what he would be like when he was 1. Why the magical number 1? Why not when he's older, like 5? Or when he's all grown up? Well, I do wonder what he'll be like at 2, 3, 4, 5 and on up. But I guess when he was a newborn I couldn't see any further then 1 and thought that was just FOREVER away, much less all grown up!!

Well, now that he's one 1 I am so amazed at this little man!! He is more then I ever could have imagined. It's amazing how they change over the course of a year, I mean truly AMAZING! So, I thought I'd list off some adjectives to describe my little man and some pictures over the past year....

Funny, Silly, Smart, Hungry, Energetic, Talkative, Determined, Loveable, Kissable, Huggable, Crazy, Bossy, Friendly, Smily, Laughable, Overwhelming, Sweet, God's Child, Sinful, Short, Good, Awesome, Daddy look alike, Cute, Quick, Terrific, Mommy hog, Spectacular, Amazing, Healthy, Joyous, Lovely, Runner, Walker, Messy, Brave, Blue Eyed, Precious, Small, Strong Willed, Valuable, Humorous, Delightful, Adaptable, Laid back, Exceptional, Eater, Loved so very loved, Blonde haired, Strong....

I could go on and on and on but I'll stop for now...

Legree's Food Diary

Legree loves food. Plain and simple, he LOVES it! He hasn't turned any food down yet and loves ANYTHING we put in front of him. He's always been a great eater, from day one. The first day we fed him rice cereal I expected half of it to be all over his face and the other half to be all over the bib. That's what everyone told me happens. The baby just doesn't know how to eat or open their mouth or swallow the new food. So I expected him not to eat much and it was really just practice. Nope, not my little porker, he opened his mouth as wide as he could get it and inhaled any cereal we would give him. The first picture below is of the very first time we fed him. As you can see he had a knack for opening his mouth wide like a little birdy and waiting for the food. He did this the WHOLE time he was eating baby food. Opened his mouth as wide as it would go and wait for the food. As you can see in the second picture here... he opened WIDE! No lie he did this every time... HILLARIOUS!

If we went to a restaurant or had friends or family over to eat with us everyone would marvel at how well he ate, how he ate and how much he ate! I never will forget going to the beach with my mother in law when Legree was about 9 months old. We went to a restaurant/bar place for supper. It was 1st week for the college kids so they were at this place drinking and having a good time. Legree got a hold to my pickle spear (as he often does) and went to town. Literally all of the college kids stopped partying, celebrating and drinking to watch Legree eat. That's impressive! He ate two whole pickle spears in NO time! Below is a picture from that trip. This was at Subway and he was eating a cookie...

Legree eventually got to the point where we just couldn't buy enough baby food to fed him. By the time he 6 months old he would go through 3-4 jars of baby food in one sitting, sometimes more! I asked the Dr. if I should be feeding him so much. It felt odd feeding something so little SO much. Especially since I always heard their stomachs are about the size of their fist. He's always ate much more food then the size of his fist! So, we started feeding him more and more table food. He of course fell even more in love with food!!

I make no bones about it, I have a tiny kid! I mean what can you expect to come from a 5'3" mommy and 5'8" daddy? Neither one of us are very big, so we never expected our kids to be big. But Legree is TINY! Most of our friends kids or relatives that are younger outgrow him in no time. He's normally around the 30% for weight, 10% for height and 75% for head circumferance. He's short with a big head, what can I say! So I always worry with the amount he's eating he's going to suddenly balloon up.... but alas he never has. He's so busy all the time and goes 90 miles an hour, I guess he works it all off. But gosh he eats alot!! Most mornings for breakfast he'll eat more then I do!! For example, this morning for breakfast he had 3 pancakes and a banana!

So, I made a food diary. I was going to do it for a week, but I lost track over the weekend. But I got a full 5 days in. I wrote the food diary so that I could show his dr. at his next dr's appt. I've told the dr. before he eats a lot but I don't think he understands the magnitude of this!! HAHA... so I wrote it down just for reassurance that it's okay that he eats this much. I know, I know but I'm a first time mom and I need reaassurance on everything. And if he wasn't eating at all, that would be concerning, so if he's eating a lot it's concerning for me too, LOL. I worry about everything I admit it! HAHA! If nothing else it'll be good for Legree to see when he's older how much he eats....and whenever we sit down for a meal and I see the amount he packs away, I wonder, what's it going to be like when he's a teenager???

Here are some more pictures of Legree eating over the past few months and then the diary...

Legree's Food Diary 7/26- 7/30

(all amount are approximate, I didn't measure or count out exactly, he also normally drinks around 24 oz of whole milk a day and another cup or two of water)

Monday - 2 1/2 blueberry pancakes, 1/2 cookie, 10 puffers, 2 pieces of Pizza Hut Pizza, one whole tomato, yogurt, 1/2 can of beans and weenies, 1/4 cup peas, 2 bananas

Tuesday - 2 blueberry pancakes, yougurt, plum, 1/4 waffle, 1/4 cup peas, 3 chik (s0y) nuggetts, 15 veggie sticks (like potato chips, but made from veggies), 1 tablespoon ranch dressing, 1 tablespoon cake batter ice cream, 1/2 cup macaroni and cheese/peac mix, 4 slices of turkey sausage, 8 veggie sticks, 3 slices of cucumbers

Wednesday - 2 blueberry pancakes, 10 veggie sticks, 1 graham cracker, 1/2 cup macaroni and cheese/pea mix, banan, 1 cup of mixed fruit, 3 tbsp refried beans, 1 cheese quesidilla

Thursday - 2 blueberry pancakes, plum, 7 puffers, 1 peanut butter cracker, 3 cucumber slices, 3 fish sticks, 1 tsp ketchip, 1/4 cup green beans, 1 whole sweet potato, 1 peach, 2 tomato slices, 1 graham cracker, 2/3 cup spaghetti, 1 ear of corn, 1/2 banana

Friday - 2 blueberry pancakes, 1 peanut butter cracker, 1/2 cup green beans, 15 veggie sticks, 1/2 peanut butter and jelly sandwhich, 1 chik (soy) nuggett, 1 tsp ranch dressing, 1 cup mixed fruit, 2 pieces of Domino's pizza, 1/2 slice of birthday cake