a visit from Grandpa & Grammy...

At the end of September, Jeff and I went to a conference in Wake Forest so my parents came down to stay with Deacon for a few days.  They had a blast, as usual.  And with their smart phone technology, they captured some of their time together...

 [they read LOTS of books over the weekend.]

 [and took LOTS of trips around the tracks over the weekend.]

[ I *AM* BATMAN.]

Thanks, Momma & Daddy, for taking such good care of our boy!  We know you had a good time, and Deacon loved having you here!

Mother's Day weekend...

I had such a good weekend with my boy last weekend for Mother's Day.  On Saturday, Jeff went golfing with some of his friends so Deacon and I went to play in the park up the road...

 

[it startled me how big/grown he looks in this one...]

 

And then we went up to a new strawberry farm (close to home!) to pick strawberries!

Deacon did really good finding strawberries to pick.  He liked carrying the bucket and he lasted for probably a good 20 min or so.  Everyone at the farm thought he was adorable and kept giving him these ginormous, outrageously shaped berries to eat.  He was loving that!

 

[instagram photo -- so in love with that app!]

 

When all was said and done, we picked almost 4 lbs of beautiful, yummy strawberries!

Saturday evening, my boys took me out to eat for dinner, my choice.  I chose Blue Water for the outside dining and yummy menu.  We don't eat there often because it's all the way down at Wrightsville Beach, but it was so pretty out, I thought it would be a nice night for it.  And it was.  :)

Deacon enjoyed seeing all the big boats on the water, listening to the seagulls, etc.  And he charmed anyone who would look at him, of course.  He's a show-stealer, that one. :: wink ::

 

[another instagram photo -- it's how I capture my life in real time]

On Sunday, we went to church, of course, and then went home for naps.  Around 4:30 or so, we decided to head to the beach -- our first official trip (with bathing suits and everything!) of the season.  It was absolutely perfect out there.  The water was a little chilly but the air temperature with the sunshine was so nice.  Even the wind was minimal which kept us comfortable.
 

 

[instagram again :)]

 

[here's another one that makes him look so grown... :: sniff ::]

I love being this precious boy's mama.

playing at the park...

A couple weekends ago it was so nice outside, we decided to take Deacon to the park.  We grabbed lunch at McDonald's and went down to Soundside Park in Surf City for a picnic and playing on the playground.

 

Deacon loves being outside and every time we take him to this park, I'm amazed at how much more he can (and will) do than the last time we were here.  This is the same park we had his 2nd birthday party at, and he tackled more this time than he did only 5 months before.

 

He seriously is growing up before my very camera lens eyes.

 

I got so many great shots of him this day at the park that I had a hard time narrowing down what I was going to post here so just prepare yourself for a massive (adorable) photo explosion...

random Christmas-ness // part II

Next up: SLEDDING. 

 

I mean, for REAL.

 

This ain't no joke up in IL.  They have a "sledding hill", y'all.  With an official sign and everything.  So when you say you're going sledding, THIS is what you mean.

 

[just trying to get to the top (without spilling the kid), for cryin' out loud]

Obviously, Deacon had never been sledding up to this point in his short life, and if THIS is what true sledding is, then neither had I.  A new experience for us both.

Neither one of us a big fan, after the fact.

 

 

[yeah, I am NOT laughing here.  That is not laughter on my face.]

 

I mean, I guess if you grew up here and you had all the GEAR to go out and spend the day in sub-zero temps sliding down a hill made up of 4-5 inches of really packed down snow (and when I say "gear", I don't mean the sled), then sure.  I guess that would be fun.

 

Not so much for us born-n-bred NC folk.

 

 

Nonetheless, word on the street is you haven't experienced winter in Freeport unless you've gone sledding at Krape Park.  So we did (the total time we were out there doesn't really matter, right??), and we can now say we're in that club.    The I'm-bored-let's-go-freeze-our-behinds-off-at-Krape-and-try-not-to-hit-any-trees club.

 

 

[one of the 2 other times Deacon went down; Grandpa Duane flipped him (purely by accident) and we were NOT getting him back on that sled after that.]

 

2nd birthday...

2nd birthday party...MUCH different than the first birthday party.

 

Instead of a small family gathering at our house, we partied it UP at a nearby park in Surf City with lots of friends and wind.

 

Yes, lots of wind.  Brrrr.  The party was from 10am-12pm on Nov 3.  Hello, fall!

 

Yeah, I took a risk.  You never know how it's going to be around here.  Had the party been a little later in the day, we would've been fine, but the cold didn't seem to bother the kiddos.  Just the adults.

 

Go figure.

 

 

 

Anyway, we still had lots of sunshine in attendance so that did wonders to ward off the chill.  The kiddos played on the playground for the beginning of the party and then when they started getting hungry, they wandered over to our shelter to grab some party snacks.  We had:

 

chocolate chip pumpkin bread

cheeseballs

goldfish

white cheddar popcorn

cupcakes

(cute little) mini water bottles

 

I did make most of the decorations again this year (it was a train theme), but couldn't do as much as last year since we had to set up outside.  Most of them were on the food table, but I did make a banner than no one could read cuz it was so flippin' windy. 

 

Nice. 

 

It said, "Choo-Choo, Deacon's 2!"  I hung it in our house for a couple weeks after his party, just to get some more mileage out of it.  :)

 

After everyone ate their fill, we spread out a big mat on the ground and let Deacon open his presents.  He did pretty good.  He never wanted to stop opening presents, though he did like to look at each present after it was out of the wrap.  You know, instead of just tearing into the next one. 

 

He gets that from his mama.  ;)

 

 

 

Once again, we had our awesome photographer Larry there to take photos for us.  Best idea I ever had.  He gets all the credit for these fantastic shots of such an important day in the life of our family...

 

 

 

Happy birthday, doodle bug!  We can't believe you're already a happy little toddler!  You bring such joy and laughter to our lives -- we're so blessed that God gave you to us.  We can't wait to see what the next year holds for you.  Love you with as much love as our hearts can hold!