Abby's 3rd Tooth Fairy Experience

One would think that once Abby had two lost teeth under her belt she would be comfortable with the whole losing-baby-teeth idea. She is still not. She does not want to loose her teeth, whether they grow back or not. Everytime it has been somewhat traumatic. I think it's because she is the first of her 5-year old friends to lose teeth.

She begrudgingly allowed me to take these pictures. I was trying to make it a big deal.

The worst part is that the tooth fairy forgot to come. :) We told her she'd gotten up too early and that if she went back to sleep maybe tooth fairy would come. Stephen went to room to "sleep", too. So the tooth fairy must not be a morning person, either.

Brody Turns One

I cannot believe it has been a year since Brody was born. It feels like yesterday that I was running around trying to get car seats installed at the fire department. He was so cute in his little glow-worm outfits (bili blanket). I still think of Brody as a little baby, but he is certainly growing quickly. Since we've started table food, he's been astonishing us with how much food he can put down. He eats more than both Abby and Sydney put together, most meals. When picking his
name we imagined him being a quarterback, but he's eating more like a linebacker!

Brody is so much fun right now. He laughs at just about everything. Stephen loves playing rough with him.

When I walk out of the room he doesn't like it so he'll crawl on his belly as fast as he can to try to catch me. It is so heart warming to see him "sprinting" for Mama! He always prefers me to hold him. It's so sweet. He is also very cuddly. He's been putting his head on my shoulder (as if he's hugging me) before I put him down for naps and when he wakes up. He also does that to act shy when people smile at him.

He smiles at everyone. We cannot walk into a store without him catching eyes with somebody. I am so grateful for him. The girls are, too! Sydney calls him "Boo Boo" and "Buddy" and she takes toys to him wherever he is in the house. Abby tries to read books to him and is constantly wanting to find clothes to put on him. They both talk to him with really high pitched voices and are so sweet and gentle with him, now. Sydney loves sitting next to Brody in the car. She still keeps him from crying by singing, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" but she can also make him cackle, just by making silly sounds and faces. Every time Abby walks up to Brody he smiles and points at her. I just love watching them all interact.


To celebrate Brody's 1st Birthday, we had family over Saturday for breakfast and cake. Brody really liked his cake. He had two servings of breakfast casserole and then ate almost all of his cake. He would have finished it but we took it away from him when only a fourth of it was left. Here's a video and some pictures:

Introducing the cake:

Digging In:

With Daddy and Mama then Mimi, Pop, Abby and Sydney:

Playing with Nana, Posing with Aunt Martha and Aunt Betsy:

Brody is one, Gran is ninety-one! Gran gets a mouthful:

Brody with his sisters - pure jubilation:

Brody's First Haircut

Brody had his first haircut at Jelly Beans tonight. He was so distracted with the Sesame Street toy he probably wouldn't have noticed Tracy was cutting his hair - until it was time to have his bangs cut. He didn't like it a bit. She had to hold his face really tight to get him to be still enough to have them cut. He didn't like that, either. But, Tracy the hairstylist won the battle and now you can see his ears AND his eyes!


Here are some pictures:

Commando Crawler

Brody's physical therapy is going very well. He is holding a sitting position most of the time and has started commando crawling.

Some pictures of Brody working hard with his physical therapist (in his pj's):

Beach Trip

Our 10 day vacation (as I love to refer to it) was a blast. We started with a trip to Columbia and 34-0 win over NC State. We visited with Mama four 4 full days. Here are pictures of Brody and Abby there:

Yes, I KNOW what this picture of Abby must communicate regarding my parenting skills. Yes, I did stick her in front of the computer to play a game online. It was a PBS.org game. Her sister and brother were napping. There was nothing else to do. And yes, I did put her in a highchair. I was being creative!

On Monday, we met Gran, Aunt Martha, Joseph and Megan at the beach. Mama drove down later in the week.

We stayed in our favorite beach house.

We spent most mornings on the beach.

We spent most afternoons shopping and eating things we cannot get at home. The girls got huge lollipops from a candy store and were so excited I had to take a picture.

We visited the Citadel and took updated pictures on the chapel steps.

We celebrated Gran's 91st birthday, while we were there. I am so grateful for her!

Our kids all loved the beach. Abby loved jumping "over" the waves. Sydney loved trying to run away from them. Brody loved eating the sand and pounding the ground with his hands to make noises. I loved being away and with all the family. Stephen loved staying up as late as possible talking under the stars.

And as previously mentioned, tropical storm Hanna provided some drama and some windy days (see below) but in the end, her bark was much worse than her bite.

We were able to finish the trip home in our comfy new car. The vacation was everything vacations are supposed to be.

Tropical Storm Hanna

TS Hanna brought rain and wind to our vacation but she also helped us get our car! Seriously, lots of people didn't show up at the Honda auction because of the hurricane threat so we were able to get a great deal on a Pilot. It's garnet. Yes, just like the Gamecocks. It matches our shutters, our living room and our kitchen decor. What's not to like about garnet and black?

We are very grateful for a car that is large enough for our family. God is always good to us to give us just what we need when we need it.

I'll post more about our beach trip later. Have lots of emails, laundry, etc. to catch up on!

Abby's First Week of Kindergarten

Abby has completed her first unit in Kindergarten. We studied the 7 days of Creation she made a Creation Book to illustrate what she learned. Sydney was a willing participant for most of it, making a book of her own.

My friend, Greta, brought up an interesting point the other day. Our girls are not going to have stories about how wonderful their kindergarten teacher was! I am hoping, however, Abby will have great memories of the activities we get to do and the things she learns. At this point, homeschooling has been a real joy!