Happy Birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD!
YOU ARE AN AMAZING FATHER AND HUSBAND!
HENRY AND I ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE YOU!

We Love You,
Shelby and Henry

Tis' The Season

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Thanksgiving!

We headed to the upstate on Wednesday morning to spend Thanksgiving with my family. We got there at lunch time and Nana and Papa took us to the Turn house for a yummy lunch. Henry and Papa had a big time riding around the golf course on the "golfart" and throwing balls on the practice green. That's all Henry has been talking about since we got home.

Wednesday night Owen, Brad, Sarah, and Bradley came over for chili and drinks and we had so much fun seeing them. Henry loved little Bradley and tried to pick him up a few times, so we had to put a halt to that quick :) Bradley is such a cutie and it won't be long until he's keeping right up with the big boys!

Nana nominated herself to sit between the two wild men and she had her work cut out for her. They both launched sweet potatoes and turkey across the room, but seemed to enjoy their turkey day meal!

Henry and Conner had fun seeing each other and they loved having Avery to play with all day! Conner has gotten so big and is such a sweet little boy.

Nana and Papa cooked it up good this year! We had 2 turkey'....Papa's was brined and grilled on the green egg and Nana's was an 18 pounder that was baked to perfection in the oven. Both were DEVINE!
Everyone was in charge of bringing a dish this year and it really worked out so well! And Nana didn't have SOOOO much to do.

Papa and Henry were in charge of keeping the fire alive in the chiminea outside. Henry was mesmerized by the flames!

He was especially enamoured with Nana "the great's" canes. He liked to push them around the room acting like it was a "bacuum". So cute!

He loved being able to spend some time with NTG...he called her "Grape".

We have so much to be thankful for this year!

Shakin' Milk

Last night we had dinner at Mimi and Pop's and Pops was kind enough to make us all chocolate milkshakes after our delicious BBQ. We were all in the living room drinking our shakes while a certain little boy kept going from person to person asking for "some". We told him that is was a milkshake. Well by the end he was in the middle of the room dancing in a circle and yelling...

"SHAKIN' MILK"!

*pronounced shakin' meeelk

His interpretations of some words crack me up!

Child Labor

*henry's new favorite activity

Terrible Two Tantrum

We got a taste of what's surely to come on Friday night. Little Hanky threw a super sized, nasty, throw-down, air suckin', FIT! And it was all over which shoes he wanted to put on. Yes, it seems that shoe selection is enough to elicit a full blown terrible two tantrum. He would bring his Vans to Brad and he would start to put them on, then change his mind all of the sudden, and want his boots. This went on for about 15 minutes and by the time it was over, all the shoes were in the top of his closet and the boy had gotten himself so out of control that it was hard to bring him back. The devil himself had moved in for just a little while. Finally Brad was able to calm him down by taking him out of the room and talking softly to him. Very sweet and patient Daddy. Very frustrated and impatient Mommy.

The funniest thing about all of this is that our buddy Graham was here and witnessed it all! He is single and i'm sure will NOT be having children ANY TIME SOON!

Boys Will Be Boys

While I was away for the day and night, noshing on delicacies such as sushi, fillet Mignon, and wine, my boys were left all alone to fend for themselves. I was in shopping heaven with my wonderful MIL in Charlotte and scratched off MOST of my Christmas list. So proud of that! But, fear not, they fended just fine! Brad reports that they did a little shopping themselves, had some buds over for wings and football, and even fared well with Hank's little...stomach bug (still dealing with the runs, but no vomiting, so we're happy about that). I checked in between Nordstrom's and Anthropologie (can I say heaven), and Brad seemed to have it ALL under control!

Henry enjoyed traipsing around the house in the Daddy's shoes....

... attempted to make a fort, but not quite as good as Mommy's

...Played a little game of 'destruction' on the train table!

...Hide and go Seek/Climbing on Furniture

didn't mean to put this in twice, but it IS kinda cute...


I was one happy gal to come home to these two last night. To a clean house AND a made up bed, I might add!

Love is...

...getting on your hands and knees *with rubber gloves* to clean the lime green hued, chunky poop, out of the bathtub that your son just deposited! And smilin' the whole time.

Yep! That's L.O.V.E.

Flu Shot DENIAL

Since Henry is allergic to eggs and egg is one of the components in the flu shot, we had to go and get skin tested with the batch that they would be potentially giving him. Well, his little sensitive skin reacted which meant he COULD get the shot. But, it would have to be done in a series of 7 intramuscular shots with 15 minutes in between each one. AND then 30 minutes after the last one to make sure he wasn't reacting. That's about 3 hours worth of sitting in the office with an active toddler getting stuck over and over again. It really seemed more like torture to him than good, so I consulted the allergist and decided against it. He said that if I watch Henry very closely for signs of the flu and get him in the office within 48 hours, then he could get Tamiflu on board and hopefully lessen the impact of the flu. Brad and I have both had our flu shots and I will be taking every precaution to keep him well this winter. I am having a little bit of guilt now, but know that I made the right decision for Henry. I seriously think he would have a major doctor/shot phobia if I made him go through that. And, he is NOT asthmatic so he is not in a high risk category.

So, wish us luck this winter!

Gratitude

I have to write this down so I won't forget it. This morning on the way to the allergist to get Henry tested for the flu shot (another story for another post), Henry realized that we had left baba 'his blanket' behind. I knew we would need it for what was surely to be a looong morning, so even though we were running late I whipped it around and went back for it. I pulled into the driveway and ran inside to get it. When I got back in the car he had BIG crocodile tears and was sooo glad to get baba in his arms. A minute or two later as we were riding down the road Henry clutched baba tight and goes "Tank You Mama!" I about melted right there in the seat. We've been working hard on please and thank you, but this was the first time he's said it to me unprompted. I was so excited!

The Coastal Carolina Fair

Henry took his first of many trips (i'm sure) to the FAIR and, my ooohh my, did he take it ALLL in! He loved the lights, the smells, the junkie food, and even those crazy carnies! He rode several of the kiddie rides, even though I swore I'd never let my child ride on one of those transportable hunks of junk. I mean, we passed about 10 of them last Sunday coming down I-26 en route from the State Fair. How easy is it for one of those bolts to come off? And do you think those "carnies" notice? Anyway, I digress.

He was fine and I even rode the dumbo ride with him...until I remembered that I can't ride the 'roundy rounds'. Almost lost my Fiske Fries! So the Daddy took over from there and they had a ball! I can ride the fastest, most treacherous of roller coasters, but don't get me near a Tilt-A-Whril! Ask my Dad. He's cleaned many a car floor mat from my, hmmm, up-chuck. (Thanks Dad!)

Giant Corn Dogs were a fav of Brad and Henry

Loved the Horsey

...and the Bee

....and a great time spent with Mimi

Until next year!

New Blogger and Election Day

My cousin Courtney has now joined the wonderful world of BLOGGING! She is expecting a little bitty next July and I couldn't be more excited for her! She's no bigger than a toothpick and will no doubt be the cutest little preggo ever. Can't wait to follow your journey to motherhood Court!

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Good luck to all you voters out there! On my way into work this morning I saw several beastly lines and am getting a bit nervous about the wait i'm sure to encounter at 3:00 when I go. At least i'll have Brad to keep me company! But, no matter, I'll wait as long as it takes b/c this election SOOO important!

Every vote counts!

Superman

*new superman pj's courtesy of Mimi and Pops

Hanna and John Engagment Party

Last night my whole fam met up in Columbia for an engagement party for Hanna and John. It was at his parents awesome farm and was so much fun. We had great oysters, fried shrimp, cold beer, and big bonfires.

This pic was a bit later in the evening if you can't tell...hee hee!

The two dads gave great toasts and had the bride to be in tears.

The Earnsts with the future Estills

It is very rare that we are ALL together in the same place, so we were excited to get a family photo!

The toasts


Congratulations Hanna and John! Thanks for such a great time!