First Gulf Shores Trip in 2013

I love going to the beach.  I like playing in the ocean, finding shells, people watching, swimming in the pool, walking around, eating seafood, and shopping.  The beach seems to make me feel free.  We are fortunate to be able to take several trips down to Karla and Jim's condo several times a year.  All five of us left Friday around Daniel and Dillan's nap time.  The idea was for them to sleep during most of the ride.  Daniel doesn't like riding.  The plan seemed to be working at first.  They both went to sleep.  We made it to Greenville and had to get gas.  Before we got back on the interstate, Daniel woke up... then Dillan too.  Dillan was happy and content.  Daniel was for a little while.  Then he got fussy.  We went into ignore mode.
We made it to the condo and found out my best friend Natasha was staying at one of the houses behind the condos.  David was happy because Camden was with them.  Saturday morning we woke up at 6 as usual.  Daniel is an early bird.  We ate and got ready for the beach.  On the way over we ran into Natasha running.  She's dedicated.  We walked across the road and set up camp on the beach.  I was surprised the babies seemed to like the sand.  They played in the sand and David looked for shells.  After a while, Natasha and her family joined us.  We lasted about 3 hours at the beach.  The water was rough so we couldn't go out far.  We only had one incident where Daniel went head first into the edge of the water.  Chris rescued him.  :)
We left the beach and had a quick lunch upstairs and went on to the pool.  It was getting close to nap time.  Later that afternoon we went to the new Tacky Jack's and ate, bought scratch tickets in Florida, ate Dippin Dots, and went to the state pier.  We like to go there and see what everyone is catching.  The first catch was a stingray.  We watched the man cut the barb off.  David was intrigued and so was I.  As we walked further, we heard someone say that's the 4th or 5th shark hooked in the last hour.  We had to see what the fuss was about.  A man had a 5 foot bull shark on the line!  We watched him reel it in.  the stroller was up against the edge.  Dillan decided the shark was hungry and threw his nice leather sandal right over the edge!  He had to go barefooted the rest of the time because I didn't pack any other shoes.  Typical!
Sunday we ate at The Oyster House on the way out and then stopped at the Tanger outlets.  I got a little bit of shopping in before heading home.  We had a good trip!  I can't wait for the next one. 

Mothers

Mothers Day is tomorrow and it has me thinking... Thinking about me being a mother, my Mom, Walters Mom, my Mawmaw and Granny, and the women wanting to become a Mom.  It makes me feel a sense of thankfulness for being blessed with 3 sons, having a great mother, a helpful MIL, a loving Mawmaw, and a funny Granny.  I have learned things from all of the above.  

Some of my favorite moments of my Mama are of her teaching me how to do a backhand spring.  I still remember her having me between the living and dining room spotting me over and over.  I also remember landing on my head once.  I remember her being the class Mom and helping my teachers and Josh's.  I loved going on day trips with her when I made honor roll.  I remember her surprising josh and I with a trip to Six Flags and we fussed the whole ride there.  Sorry about that!  She planned and gave helped make our wedding fabulous!  She gives good advice when I want it and when I don't.  Our 3 boys have an amazing Granny who loves on them, plays with them, and spoils them.  I am thankful god chose me to be my Moms daughter.  

Karla has become a good grandma.  While I was on bed rest for 13 weeks, she and Jim helped take care of David.  Now they watch Dillan and Daniel once a week.  If they didn't do this, the awesomeness of having the boys stay home wouldn't be possible.  When David has a 7:30 baseball game, she comes over and stays while the babies sleep so I can watch David play.  For this, I am thankful.

My Mawmaw... The sweetest lady I know.  She loves everyone and wants everyone to be happy.  I remember going to her work and cooking goodies.  She always scratched my back.  She let me wear her makeup.  She would sneak milkshakes to me and josh at 11 at night.  She broke all the switches.  She cooks for all of us.  She is amazing.  
My Granny had 10 kids and too many grand kids to count.  We saw her each Sunday growing up.  She always made me bread pudding.  She kept lemons in her fridge that I loved to eat.  She was funny and didn't t even know it.  She would tell all the cousins to "play pretty."  She offered me a cigarette one time when I was about 16!  I thought my mom was going to croak!  Bahahaha!  She was a trip...

I always knew I had amazing women in my life.  After having my own children, I realized this even more.  God first blessed us with David James.  He was such an easy baby.  He was so cute and chubby.  Then we prayed for another child and were blessed with 2.  They have brought even more joy.  They keep us entertained and busy.  They are into everything!  They love their Bubba.  I always wanted to be a good Mama.  I want them to remember me as a fun Mama who taught them about the Bible, disciplined them, played with them, showed them love, and made them feel special.  I love being the Mama of all 3.  They make me happy.  I enjoy taking them places and giving them new experiences!  I m thankful for the chance to be their Mama. 

Happy Mother's Day!

 

Biscuits Ball

We haven't had great luck with watching the Montgomery Biscuits.  One night when we were a family of 3 we went and Walter got sick so we had to leave early... very early.  Another time Walter took David and the game was rained out. 

Last Friday, David was supposed to have a baseball game of his own.  The rain earlier in the day rained the game out.  David saw a Biscuits commercial earlier in the week and stated he wanted to go to the game.  They were doing free food for kids and fireworks. I came home from work and we decided we would go to the Biscuits game.  Carrie, who keeps the babies, was working as a Biscuits Bunch that night too.  We wanted to go see her in action too.  Our tickets were awesome.  We were on the second row right behind home plate.  We could see everything. 

David enjoyed his food.  He always does.  He had a hot dog, Sprite, and an ice cream sandwich.  As the night went on it got colder so we had to have us some hot chocolate too.  The team played great and was up 17 to something.  We saw some homeruns hit and a foul ball that went into one of the suites.  David was bundled up in a jacket, two hats, gloves, and a blanket.  He was still freezing.  We kept asking him did he want to go home but he wanted to stay for the fireworks and to do a game or something with Carrie.  She got him up with a bunch of kids to dance and he was on the jumbotron.  He said he was embarrased to dance at first but then he wasn't.  It was almost 10 when the game was over but we made it.  The fireworks were great and David made sound effect the whole time.  The boy can't be quiet.  He says he is like his Pawpaw.  His words, not mine. 

Anyway, we had a great time making memories.  We are thankful my Mom stayed up late to keep the babies too.  We are blessed to have so many people who are happy to help us with our team... kids.

Here Batter Batter

Baseball season is here!  Usually it's Walter and I playing ball.  This year we are sitting out and David is playing.  This is his first time.  We never signed him up before because we didn't want to start him too early.  He has many years to play!

He had his first game about a week ago.  His first.time at bat, hittin off a machine throwing 39 mph, he got a hit!  He was smiling ear to ear and so were we!  He played left field and didnt have any action.  No need to worry.  He has some mad dance moves in the field.  His team won the game.

His second game, he moved to lead off batter.  He didn't have as much luck.  No hits.  The third game he was 2 for 2!  We are so proud of him and he is having a good time.

Spring is Here

I love Sring time.  It is such a beautiful sight in Alabama.  Kids can go out in the yard and no one gets too hot.  This year we had Spring Break the last week of March.  E first several days it felt like January.  It was cold and the wind could blow you away.

We planned on going to Gulf Shores the first weekend for David's birthday.  We were going to go to Mobile and take the kids to the Explorium.  Well, baseball and two of his friends' birthday party got in the way.  David decided to stay here and do those things and go to the beach another time.  This decision took a lot of processing for him.  First, he had to make sure he would eventually do all activities.

Saturday he had birthday pancakes, went birthday shopping, and to baseball practice.  That afternoon we all went to the mall and played in the arcade.  David loves playing games.  We ate in the Food Court.  Then it got too dark to stay at the mall.

Sunday, after church, we went to the party at Wonder World.  The kids had a great time playing laser tag, skating, and jumping in the inflatable.

We hung out at the house the next few days.  Thursday I took a road trip with my friend Amber down to Orange Beach.  We met Marcy, Amy, and Jenny there.  It was some much needed relaxation, eating, and shopping time.  We all fell asleep on the beach.  That's a first!

Saturday the Easter activities began.  David and I died eggs.  The babies' cold turned into a low fever.  Walter ended up staying home with them while David and I went to Pine Level to Easter with some of the family.  We had an egg hunt, fished, ate, and rode around on 4 wheelers, golf carts, and mules. I love spending time with family.

 

Sunday was a day to celebrate the Ressurection.   The music at church was awesome!  We went to Aunt ReRe's for Easter lunch.  I met Calloway people I had never met before!  Again, we ate and fished, and had an egg hunt.

I love my family, friends, and the fun times we have together.  God has blessed us, and blessed us, and blessed us some more.

Our 1st Baby is 7

Our first miracle baby will turn the big number 7 Saturday, March 23.  Seven years ago our 7 lb 15 oz baby entered this world at 3:14.  Walter and I had prayed and prayed for a healthy baby.  After 2 miscarriages ( at the time) healthy was all we asked for.  God gave us that and more.  

This  seven year old has amazed us.  His intelligence is amazing.  He is great at math, reading, and science.  He reads on a third grade reading level in the first grade.  He probably knows more about the Bible than me.  He cares about others.  He uses manners... Most of the time.  He loves and plays with his brothers.  Talking is something he really seems to enjoy.  He can come up with an excuse like no ones business!  This boy is way more than I could have ever imagined.

After saying all the above, yes, birthdays are a celebration around here.  A celebration of life and love.  Since David is a "Spring Break" baby we decided to have his party a week early.  We had it last weekend.  He invited friends and family over and had a nature hunt outside.  The kids ran around and played.  They hunted items in the woods on the trail and followed clues.  David also got a cool rocket they played with after opening presents.  Everyone had ice cream cake from Venice Gelato, dirt pudding, Goldfish, and s'mores snack mix.  

Walter and I had planned a trip to the beach to surprise David.  We were all going to go to the museum in Mobile since he loves science museums.  Those plans have changed due to ball practices and another birthday party.  David decided we would go a different weekend.  We will stay home and enjoy each other for now.  

Happy Birthday to my biggest baby...other than Walter!  

New Things

Things change so quickly.  It's amazing how fast children learn.  We went fir Dillan and Daniel's 18 month check- up a couple weeks ago.  dillan is 28 pounds and Daniel is 26.  They look like there is more than 2.5 pounds in between them.  I guess because Daniel is shorter too.  His head is larger.  It's a different shape.  We went out to eat Friday night and a lady asked me what is their age difference.  I didn't think fast enough and I said none...they are twins!  Like I've said, they are so different

They are saying so many new words!  Her are a few:

Daniel-

•  Mama
• bubba
• pow
• paw (for pawpaw)
• sponge bob
• hot (in a Granny voice)

Dillan-

• Mama
• sponge bob
• granny
• no
• Snack
• More
• Boat
• Pop

David James is turning 7 this month on the 23rd.  We are planning a nature hunt here at the house for his party.  David is excited and so am I.  He is such a special kid.  God has blessed us with him for 7 years!

We have another celebration this month.  Walter and I celebrated 9 years of marriage on the 6th.  9 years!  Time sure does fly.  I'm not sure he would say the same.  Haha!