Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers
Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

First Beach Trip of '08

Friday afternoon after Henry's nap, Brad and I packed it up and headed to Folly. We had such a nice afternoon and evening and Henry loved being able to roam around freely in the sand. After we'd had enough, we were invited to stay at the Smoak's beach house for dinner. Lowcountry Boil...our FAV!!!

Henry loving the water...
and the sand...

and the shells...

and Daddy lovin' spending time with his buddy...

a tip for moms: the huggies swim diapers are NOT pee pee proof. henry was fussing the whole way there and we couldn't figure out why. well when we took him out of the car seat he was SOAKED. and so was the car seat. i would be fussing too! lesson learned!!!


Monday, April 28, 2008

I've Been Tagged...


Ok, so here goes....


5 Things on my To Do List:
1. Go to Publix
2. Cook dinner
3. Make Henry's lunch for tomorrow
4. Drop off record release form to pediatrian's office
5. Take back August Rush to Blockbuster (very good movie)

5 Snacks I enjoy:
1. Chocolate Milk Shakes
2. Reece Peanut butter cups
3. Peanutbutter and Crackers
4. Cheese and Crackers
5. Chips and Salsa

5 things I would do if I won the lottery:
1. Put a wad in savings
2. Put a wad in Henry's college fund
3. Buy a deep water lot in Charleston and build dream home on it
4. Get a financial advisor and INVEST
5. Give to charity

5 Bad Habits:
1. Bite nails
2. Gossip
3. Addicted to sweets/desserts of any kind
4. Obsessed with internet and checking emails/blogs
5. Holding grudges

5 Places Lived:
1. Dacusville, SC
2. Easley, SC
3. Clinton, SC
4. Grand Lake, CO
5. Charleston, SC

5 Jobs I've Had:
1. TCBY...yogurt server
2. Carpenter Brothers Drug Store...milkshake maker, sandwhich heater upper
3. MUSC Institute of Psychiatry BICU...alzheimers unit caretaker, poop cleaner upper, psychotic episode manager
4. The Bridge Assisted Living....Marketing and Admissions Director
5. Hilton Hotels....Sales

5 Friends who read my blog that need to start one too:
1. Margaret
2. Cecilia
3. Hanna
4. Courtney
5. ???

5 favorite things to do on the weekends:
1. Go to the beach
2. Take walks with Henry
3. Go out to lunch/brunch...anywhere you can sit outside!
4. Take Henry to the park
5. Grill out and drink beer with my husband



Ok....now I TAG Jean and Sarah!!!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Bubba and Doo Doo

Henry is absolutely enamored with Bubba (Buster) and Doo Doo (Lucy)! This is how he pronounces their names. And they've really gotten used to him too! They lick his face and he chases them around. He throws his food and they clean it up. It's really working out well for everyone!


Thursday, April 24, 2008

Ladies Man

In our neighborhood, the girls outnumber the boys by about 5:1. My friend Kiki has 2 girls and there seems to be lots of pig tails and big bows running around the hood. Everyday we come home, Henry immediately looks across the street to see if "the girls" are out and ready to play. As soon as I put him down he makes a bee line to the Taylors to be pulled, pampered, babied, pushed, and prodded. And he loves every minute! Can't get enough! They are ranging from 3-6 and love to have a fun little boy to play with. We went outside to play after supper tonight and by the time we knew it, it was 7:00 and time for a B.A.T.H!!! This boy was filthy and literally sweating and had to be dragged in!


"Come on girls! Follow me! You too Sparky!'

"I'm the king of this castle!'

"Aaaaaahhhhhhrrrrrggggg!"

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Monkey Business

A few pics of my little monkey....




Friday, April 18, 2008

Talking

Still can't figure it out, but I put a new one up.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Walking

I can't figure out how to upload videos from DropShots yet, so go to:
www.dropshots.com


Put shelbyearnst in the user search field at top right.

Friday, April 11, 2008

One Fabulous Night

Turning 30 ain't so bad when you're surrounded by people who love you enough to go to THIS much trouble just to make you happy!
Brad, Daniel, Frankie and Douger SLAVED for days in preparation of my perfect birthday dinner. I've put some pics of the menu and a few selections of the meal, but it just won't do it justice. It was in one word:
SPLENDID!!!


The Menu

The Caesar Salad Prep Table

The Chefs in table side Caesar Salad action

The Birthday Girl and her man

The Chef and his first mate

The Lovely Host and Hostess

The Chef and his gal

The 30 year old and her 30 year old BF

The FINALE
(unbelievable...truly!)

Thank you to my incredible family and friends for such an awesome evening! I love you all more than you know!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

30


CHEERS!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

13 Months

We have a MOBILE TODDLER! Henry is now walking around and getting better and better every day. He still reverts to "the crawl" when he really needs to get somewhere, but I say by the end of the week he'll be upright full time! What a new world he has awaiting him in the upright position. What a new world for me! Much cleaner little paws and knees and toes! Brad and I were talking last night about how proud we are that we've all reached this milestone together. It's a good feeling as a parent to see your child succeed at something he's obviously been working towards for a while.

This month has been a challenging one with the new allergy diagnosis, but we've tackled it head on and are already on such a routine with meals and snacks. It's becoming second nature. Henry hasn't been effected in the least and is really a great eater. He still loves veggies (broccoli, carrots, peas, green beans, butter beans) and gobbles those up first thing. He loves chicken nuggets, french fries, hash browns, turkey hot dogs, ham, crackers of any kind, lorna doone cookies, graham crackers, and soy yogurt. And thank goodness he really likes his soy milk!
The toddler tantrums are here! The boy lets us know when he ain't happy or if we've made him mad. We're doing our best to curb these little fits with firm no's and there have even been a couple time outs. However, I think he's too young to really understand what those mean. He's generally ok after a few minutes or some redirection.
This (above pic) is his newest obsession!
We have balls throughout the house, in the car, in my purse, in the diaper bag and will be purchasing one for Mimi and Pops house. I knew boys liked balls, but I didn't realize the love affair began this early. He calls tomatos, avacados, and anything else that is round a "baaaa". HILARIOUS! Brad, of course, loves this and I secretly do too! This month his verbal skills have improved drastically. He talks all the time now! Most of the time we don't understand him, but are getting really good at figuring it out. He loves to point to your nose and say "no" and to your eye and say (with this little yankee accent) "eye". He repeats much of what we ask him to and is really starting to understand some of what we say.
This boy is very curious and is still into everything. He has now figured out how to open drawers and turn on the bathtub. SCARY! I'll be purchasing drawer locks and hopefully they make something for the tub.
He is still a great sleeper. Goes down and 7:30 and up usually at 6:30 or 6:45. 2 naps at 10:00 or 10:30 and 3:00 or 3:30.
We are looking foward to what the next month has in store for us!
I love you my little sweet potato more than I could have ever imagined!!!

Lowcountry Cajun Festival

We went to the Lowcountry Cajun Festival today at James Island County Park and had a blast! There were TONS of people, a live Cajun Band, jambalaya, fried crawdads, and big jump castles. We met the Luckie's there with their 2 kiddies and and they loved playing with each other. It was a gorgeous day in the Lowcountry and summer is definitely on it's way!


My cute little Cajun

Relaxing in the sun

Playing with Peyton and Carson

Dancin' to the music.



















By the end of the day, Henry's face was beet red from playing so hard and completely filthy! Signs of a great day!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Steps

Henry has officially taken his first steps!
Brad and I have been kneeling down and calling for him to walk between us, but he has been real hesitant. However, on Tuesday when I dropped him off at Mrs. Brenda's he took 4 steps from her to me! And since then he's taken 5 or 6 or 7 randomly b/w us or b/w the table, etc.
So, it won't be long now until he's off and running!

Friday, April 4, 2008

I Want...

The HGTV GREEN HOME!


Perfect. Beautiful. Gorgeous. GREEN.
Located on Hilton Head Island...just a hop, skip, and a jump from Chucktown. I think we could relocate, don't you Brad?!?!
Hee Hee
I'll be entering to win EVERY DAY at www.hgtv.com

Thursday, April 3, 2008

New Blogger

Yeah Cameron! I've added a new link to my blog!
I bugged my cuz today (via email) to start a blog so I can stalk it and she DID IT! She's gettin' hitched in August and it will be so much fun to keep up with her during her "wedding season"!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Allergy Update

I wanted to give an update on Henry's newly diagnosed food allergies. Several weeks ago at H's 12 month checkup he was diagnosed with egg, milk, and beef allergies. This was determined by a blood test ordered by his pediatrician. While we trusted the word of the ped, he is not a specialist and really had no advice for me other than a website to reference for my MANY MANY questions.
Brad and I discussed our options and talked to other parents and were referred to Dr. Thomas Harper. He is, in a word, AWESOME. He's an allergist that specializes in pediatrics and is clearly in tune with the special needs of a toddler. Kind of goofy acting and just able to connect with Henry. We saw him on Friday and had a battery of skin tests as well as blood tests done. This was no "day at the park" mind you, but neccessary in order for us to figure out the best way to feed our growing boy. I go back for a conference with Dr. H on April 25 and will get definitive answers and some much needed guidance on our lifestyle change.
Now, let me say that I am aware that ALLERGIES are the business that this doc is in, so his take on this whole deal may be to the exteme. Food allergies seem to be so much more common these days and I attribute it (partly) to the EXTREMELY ANTICEPTIC world in which we live. I will not have Henry living in some "bubble" and turn him into a weirdo vegan, but I do want to get solid, professional advice and then make my own decisions on what to feed my family. The more diligent I am about keeping certain foods out of his diet, the sooner he will grow out of these allergies. I am really starting to become a pro at reading food labels, packing healthy lunches, and preparing good healthy dinners for Henry.
So, that's where we are with all of that! I'll keep you posted!