Turkey Day

We got home on Monday night from a great visit to Savannah for Turkey Day. The boys and I were there for 8 days, and Matt, Abby and Ross were there for 5. As always, it was a fabulous time. Highlights of this trip included Alec running his first race (and Abby and I clocking our best 5k time ever - 23:30,) putt-putt, Alec getting to play more golf on the real course with my dad, a trip to the beach, a boat ride where we got to feed the dolphins, a holiday boat parade downtown, lots of basketball, football and baggo, and tons of great company and food. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful place to visit and we can't thank my Dad and Retta enough for all their hospitality. Here are a ton of pics, so be prepared.

Charlie charmed everyone all week long.

Alec got some more use out of his knickers, and I had to laugh b/c I had to plan my suitcase usage for the trip based around what bag was big enough to hold my 4 year olds golf clubs.

Running his race, he did great and didn't have any issues with not coming in first, which we were a little worried about.


Charlies loves this jumper, here he is observing basketball.


Turkey Day, I can't get Alec to smile at the camera to save my life

Brotherly love, or a choke out

Watching Mr. Tabasco fry the turkey

Check out Alec in the background




Ready to eat

they both loved Thanksgiving dinner

Cruising around, he is getting very confident and has started to let go with both hands

the beach at Tybee Island

Tuncle Toss and Alec braved the freezing water temperature


More races

Charlie loved cruising the beach, and didn't ingest too much sand



Chasing birds


Seeing Alec with these dolphins was priceless, probably the happiest and most excited we have ever seen him.

This is him watching them jump in the wake of the boat


A little scared

but he LOVED it.


Enjoying a traditional southern meal at Mrs. Wilks boarding house in downtown Savannah


and headed home. Aside from our jet having to turn around mid flight due to mechanical problems and land in South Carolina for hours, the trip was perfect!

Catching Up

Just a few pics from the last week. It's starting to get cold, so we have had to bust out the winter wear and start thinking about more stuff to do indoors.

Charlie continues to be adorable and get into non-stop trouble.


We took Alec to the bowling alley for the first time last weekend, which was a lot of fun, aside from the fact that Alec was very upset when he couldn't bowl any strikes....lord help me with that child's uncontrollable competitiveness.

Charlie was quite the observer

His own style




Hoping that if he turns, the ball will too

Lots more leave raking


In the outfit he wore for school pics, posing with the Thanksgiving turkeys Grammy sent he and Charlie.

Hand painting

and baths

We're off to sunny Savannah on Sunday and can't wait. Alec is running his first race on Thanksgiving Day and we are excited to see if his hard training work pays off. Happy Turkey Day!

8 Months

It's funny how different you are with second children. With Alec, I was always really excited about him getting older throughout his first year. I couldn't wait for him to sit-up, to crawl, to walk, to talk. With Charlie, I am the complete opposite. I can't believe how fast the months are flying by and it really makes me sad to see how much he is growing up right before our eyes. I really wish I could just press pause, but, I can't, and little Charlie certainly doesn't seem to want me to:) Month 7-
* Charlie pulls up on everything. He then lets go with one hand and balances very precariously before letting go with both hands and wiping out. He falls and bangs his head ALL the time, but he is not all all dettered by his bumps and bruises, and he continues to climb on everything. I am sad to say that I will not be at all surprised if he is taking steps on his own in the next month. * He has started to moan and grunt very loudly at us when he is unhappy. It's actually an awful noise and one that we hope doesn't stay around too long. He is usually moaning/grunting while he eats b/c we don't feed him fast enough. I have found that dumping finger foods onto his tray helps a lot with this b/c he can then shovel food into his mouth on his own while we refill his spoon. * He is a pig. Matt is constantly telling me to stop feeding him b/c he thinks he is eating too much, but according to my doc he will let me know when he is full, which isn't very often. * He had his second ear infection this month (crazy for us b/c Alec has never had one) and he was a very unhappy boy. We were up with him throughout the night for about 4 days in a row, which was really hard on all of us. He is totally back to normal though and back to sleeping through the night, which makes us all happy. * He still loves to babble mama, and baba and squeals, shrieks, laughs and giggles all the time. * He still loves to be held and I am trying to hold him often b/c when he's not in my arms he is getting into some kind of trouble. His favorite things to do are dump over the dog dishes, pull leaves off all the plants and eat them, pull over the fireplace utensils and then bang them around flinging black soot and dust everywhere, find every power cord in the house to pull out and chew on, and pull up on every single thing he sees, specifically the most unstable and dangerous things in the house, like glass candle holders, Alec's toys with wheels, and doors that open. He's a maniac!! * I still get stopped by at least one person a day who tells me how much Charlie looks like his big brother Alec!
* He is still a very content and happy boy. He has started to show a bigger preference for me this month, but he still adores Alec and Matt and is happy to be held by anyone and he will smile and chat away with whoever catches his eye. Happy 8 month birthday our liitle Ruchie Pip, we think you are the coolest and cutest baby ever!






Balancing on both knees is also a new favorite position that results in face plants quite often

I love this b/c he is gazing up at Alec:)

Fall Fun

Thanks for the adorable hat Drammy, it's perfect....

vintage Alec:)