Outer Banks - Part 1

Last week we went to the Outer Banks for a few days and shared a house with our long-time friends – the Flynns and the Brueggemans. It was an absolute blast. Jackson had SO much fun with Nate, Zach, Emily and Kate. He loved sharing a room with Nate! Some highlights were eating out for some incredible seafood, mommys shopping at the outlets, playing games after the kids went to bed, seeing Currituck Lighthouse, and of course the beach. Each morning we hit the beach and Jackson stayed in the water nearly the entire time. He absolutely is obsessed with riding waves on his boogie board and doesn't mind being pummeled by waves one bit. We stayed very close by, of course. He still shows no sign of fear. I really wish I had him on video.

Hannah camped out under the canopy. We converted her little tub to a beach bed and she slept to the sound of laughter and waves. We had to dip her toes in, though.

I love this picture of her holding her hat and sucking her thumb!

Our camera died mid-trip (so sad!), so we'll post some more pics that our friends took when we get those.

Question - Does Hannah Look Like Daddy?

Every seems to think Hannah looks a lot like Dad. Although some are saying that she is beginning to look like Jackson in his baby pictures. Here are a few shots of Daddy as a baby to help you decide!

Hannah's photo shoot

We had our first session with Mishmash Photography on Sunday and here are just a few of the great pics she got of our little princess...

Hannah was more interested in "talking" to Amanda and the camera than smiling for most of the pics. Our little social butterfly. Mike has been scanning some of his baby pictures and I hope to post them here soon to show you how alike they look. In case you haven't noticed already. :)

Thanks Amanda!!!!! We LOVE them!

Jack in the Box

I love the imagination of the four year old mind. Jackson comes up with the silliest things and takes us on countless adventures. Sometimes I'm shocked by his little wit. Like the other day when he spent hours playing with this big plastic bin. It was a clubhouse, a ship, a cave, a rocket, and probably more... it's hard to keep up. But what made me chuckle was when he got in, put the lid on, hummed "Pop Goes The Weasel", and made himself pop up at the end. He announced proudly that he was the jack in the box. Witty indeed.

A Little Photo Fun

I discovered today that Hannah had finally gotten big enough for her tutu and headband that Aunt Amanda made her. We had a little dress up fun!

Weekend with Mimi and Granddaddy Pete

We had a wonderful weekend with Mimi and Granddaddy Pete! Jackson was so excited to see them and waited on the front porch for them to arrive.

Who wouldn't? They spoil him to death! :) We had fun weekend filled with Chuck E Cheese (for the guys), shopping (for the girls), dinner at Jackson and Granddaddy's favorite Red Robin, and lots of playtime! They brought him a new Leapster game that he is obsessed with (and they probably wished they had given it to him as they were leaving!).

Of course, they were thrilled to see Miss Hannah and how much she had changed in the last 2 months.

She was happy to see them as well!

Missing you guys already!

2 months and tall for four

What an amazing 2 months it has been! This little girl has come into our lives and completely turned it upside down for the better. She is absolutely precious and perfect. I am so utterly and completely in love with her!

At her Dr. appt today we got the new digits -- 11.3oz (75th%) and 23 inches (75th%). No longer such a pip squeak! She was so funny at the appt as she smiled at the doctor and cooed at him.

Here's the update on what she's up to:

• Still likes her paci, but LOVES to suck on her fingers or fist. Occasionally the thumb when she can find it.


• She's already showing signs of being a little social butterfly. She coos all the time. Even to her toys and pacis… but, especially to her brother.


• Lost a lot of hair, but has 10 or so random strands that are 3-5 inches long. If they keep growing we can do a great 'comb-over'.


• Daddy loves to see her in purple. He claims that purple is her color. (does anyone else find it funny that he has an opinion about this at all?)


• Generally such a laid back baby. Cries when diaper is dirty, hunger, or trying to go to sleep.


• Holds her head up very well for long periods of time.


• She has been sleeping fabulously (6-8 hour stretches!) - except for when we went away for 2 weeks and took her out of the familiar. One thing that is such a blessing is that she will feed and immediately go back to sleep. With Jackson it took work and lots of time to get him back to sleep.


• Still loves her bath… gets very excited when she knows she’s about to get in.


• Has the hiccups all the time. Seriously at least 8-10 times a day.


• Huge smiles with twinkling eyes.


• Guaranteed smile when her big brother is around!


• Twice when I have changed her diaper she has looked at me and raised one eyebrow with an expression that was purely MIKES. It was eery.

Some updates on our 4 1/2 year old:

His new obsession is the movie Toy Story. He doesn’t have any character toys from the movie, but he has designated some of his toys (a fireman toy = woody; one of daddy’s old toys= Buzz Lightyear, etc) . He wants us to play Toy Story with him (or reinact the movie) all the time!

He dotes on his sister and is really a great helper. I couldn't be more pleased with how well he has done with our new addition.

When asked how old he is, he now says "tall for four" because so often he hears "oh, you are so tall for four years old". So funny!

He announced to me the other day that his favorite dancing is break dancing. I have no idea where he got this from. He keeps asking me to show him the moves... why does he think I [mommy] know them?? Mike showed him the 'Wave' the other day.

Ocean Isle trip

We were home from CWR for a day and a half before we reloaded up and headed to Ocean Isle with Daddy's side of the family. There were 14 of us all together. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed some wonderful time together in the sand, surf, and loafing around the house.

Jackson's love for the waves did not waiver since last summer. This year he really got into the boogie board and was able to ride the waves all the way onto the beach. He also endured many "wipeouts" - for the most part they did not even phase him. A new thing this year was to bury his beach toys in the sand and put an 'X' in the sand for people to come and find the buried treasure. Jackson also loved all the time with family, especially running around with cousins Ethan, and Elijah.

Hannah spent some time on the shore under the umbrella. She was just the right size to lay sideways in a beach chair and snoze away. We tipped her toes in the water a little - she really didn't seem to even notice it. Her favorite part was the bath after coming back to the house.

"Hi from the beach, y'all!"

Don't they look like they are in a line up??

We're too pooped to write too much, but here are a few more shots from the end of our week at camp:

Jackson and Courtney in the middle of their "giant swing" ride.

In this cropped image, you can really see Jackson's smile while on the Giant Swing with mom!

Hannah in her swimsuit looking cute!

A classic sunset at camp.


Hannan in her baby Bjorn.

One of the boys at camp shared his rocket with Jackson.

Hannah takes a dip!