Kiawah Island 2013

We left for Kiawah Island on Sunday night after I worked the weekend to meet up with Brad's parents, his brother, wife and their two kids. We woke up and Craw was just sooo excited to be at the beach. He had been talking about the beach all weekend and knew he would see the ocean, sand, seashells, and go swimming. Each morning I went for a 2 mile run and then we would all cook big breakfasts before getting all sunscreened up and heading to the beach. We would get to the beach between 10-11 and all the kids would play until 1-1:30. Then everyone would come in and we would give the kids a shower and all make sandwiches for lunch. After that we would put the two boys down and Brad, Brian, Hope and I would usually go ride bikes for a few hours. I absolutely looove riding bikes at the beach and I would usually ride bikes two different times a day. Sometimes before the beach sometimes while at the beach. When the boys would wake up we usually would get showers and plan our night for dinner. We would eat some good seafood and then let the kids run wild at the house until bedtime. It was a perfect little routine each day with lots of fun, energy, and some relaxation too.

 

 

 

Craw played in the sand at the beginning and would run in circles with Hope and Carter just having fun outside. As the day went on he would start splashing in the ocean. Then we asked him if he wanted to get in the ocean...well he loooved it. As in would giggle and screech and want more and more waves to jump over. The only thing making him come to shore was the burning salt water in his eyes.

 

Craw doesn't like sitting still so dinners consisted of us bribing him with iphones so that he would sit still like his cousins and enjoy dinner. Thankfully, he really likes peanut butter right now and we could usually get him to eat a sandwich at dinner each night.

 

The 3 of them just lovvvve each other. Craw is either playing with Carter or having his best buddy Hope show him new things to get into.

 

He wanted to learn how to play this beach game so bad. He would ask us to throw the ball and he would try soo hard to hit the ball with the racket...

 

 

We went to the marina for dinner and he loved the bridge and boats and running around the fountain.

 

This is so sweet of Craw and Carter running out with the boogy board. They didn't really know what to do with it but Brian would usually get them to have a ball playing on it in the ocean.

 

The kids each had an ipad and during downtime you could usually find them each with their own ipad. This particular morning they decided to share the ipad while eating breakfast.

 

Brad, Brian, and I took the kids to the end of the island to see what all was down there. Hope rode behind Brian's bike and I toted the two boys in the trailer. When we got there it was really quiet and people were everywhere. There was a school of dolphins swimming really close the shore and they kept surfacing every few minutes..too cute

 

Craw's favorite person in the world--his paw paw. He just adores paw paw and lights up whenever he sees him. Paw Paw is always soo concerned about Crawford and I have just loved watching their relationship turn into the sweetest thing. Craw always wants paw paw--in the ocean, when he wakes up (he either hollers for mama or paw paw from his bed)...I just love how paw paw would get in the ocean and jump the waves with Crawford...

 

I could hardly ever get a picture of him standing still...he was constantly running from the water back to the sand and beach chairs having a ball.

 

One night Brad's parents let the kids go out on their own for dinner and kept the little ones. We decided to venture to the ocean course at Kiawah for dinner. It was paaaacked. I couldn't believe that the golf course was 10 miles from where our house was. The island isn't the big so it's crazy how far out their this ocean golf course is. It was beautiful! We loved enjoying a glass of wine watching some golfers finish the 18th hole as the sunset over the ocean.

 

We obviously don't go anywhere without Craw's obsession--Thomas. Bath Thomas joined us at the beach and he loved pushing him through the sand

 

On our last night we took the kids out after dinner to get some sunset pictures of them at the beach in their navy and white. Of course trying to get them all to look at the camera and smile is a different story.

 

 

We love this special week we all share together. It's so fun to see that each year will be fun in a different way as the kids get older and enjoy different things. We are sooo grateful to his amazing parents who plan and treat us to a fun week at the beach. We will always remember the fun memories we all share together there.

Crawford at 2.5

Craw,
I was just reading over your last post in March. I can't believe how much you have changed since then. You are at the adorable age where you come up with the most hilarious saying and we have no idea how. For instance, it was thundering and raining the other night and I said "hurry hurry we gotta get in the car"...when we got in the car you wiped your forehead and go "phewww that was close."
After mastering the single words and mini phrases like "no mommy cawford do it" you started saying funny things like "look mommy I tall" or "wow that was bumpy ride", "this is so delicious daddy", "I did it taaa-daa", "2 more minutes minutes." Now you talk in sentences and repeat everything that we say.
You know your name is Caw-ford Red (R-E-D two D's) is what you say when we ask you your name.
Your favorite foods were pizza and chick-fil-a for the longest time--surprise surprise. You now loooove peanut buttaaa and will usually have banana with peanut butter for breakfast, peanut butter sandwich for lunch and sometimes even for dinner. You are still very picky. Sometimes you would never touch what we are eating and other days you gobble up anything. I know there are certain things you will always eat but for the most part you would rather go hungry than be forces to eat something like grilled chicken and vegetables.
You wear size 3t shirts and shorts still can wear 18-24 months. The 2t are just so long so I have learned a lesson about buying ahead the hard way. Your shoes are a size 7 and that hasn't changed in quite some time. We have been working on potty training and you do great a) at home and b) when you are naked with no underwear on. Obviously consistency is key and I guess when everyone else that helps takes care of you gets on board we will eventually have you potty trained.
You still wake up wanting nana and papa every day. You ask about the multiple times a day. If you get hurt or we discipline you then you alwaysss want nana. "I want my nanaaaa" You are very much in love with your cousins and ask for Hope, Carter, Bobby, Amy on a daily basis. Aunt Cat will get added to the end sometimes too..I think you get confused that she doesn't live here.
You can sing songs on your own with us understanding what you are singing. Ex. Wheels on the Bus, Old McDonald, I've been working on the Railroad, etc
You can clearly sing your abcs and can point out all the letters and can trace most of them thanks to the ole ipad.
You always ask to go to the park. Then we get there and you would rather run around all over the park than actually play on the equipment. During the spring, you went to the park at least 3 days a week.
You are obsessed with trains still. You got to see Thomas the Train on tour at the Tweetsy Railroad. You went with Nana, Papa, daddy, Bobby and Carter. You guys got to ride on Thomas and play with all things Thomas. You still talk about the "black engine and red engine" every.single.day. You would rather go ride a train than just about anything else in this world. You wake up asking to see "big engine." When I pick you up from school you ask to go over choo choo tracks. There has never been a day that you haven't played with trains, talked about trains, or begged to go ride on a train. We have "George the Train" at the rec center and you ask to ride him every day.
You also started loving bridges...you wanna go over bridges, under bridges and get soo excited when you see a bridge.
You finished out your Tues/Thurs mother's morning out in May and then in June you started another "day camp" on Tuesday/Thurs. You always have adapted to these programs great unless it is papa dropping you off. I think it's because when you see papa you think you are hanging out with him all day so when he leaves you you cry and say you don't want to go. Completely different story when I go to leave you...you say "byeeee mommmy have a good day!"
It's funny how you know directions. You know which way to turn to go to nanas house, which way school is, which way to the park etc.
You are just the funniest little guy and we couldn't love you anymore than we already do. We pray for you every day and you continue to amaze us with all of the thoughts you come up with, songs you learn, and information that you remember. You are the biggest blessing in our life and we just love waking up to the sound of your voice each morning

New House - Part 1

So we finally decided on a lot and house plans.  The lot took about 1 month to find and the house plans a month.  We picked a lot in Montebello which is 2.2 miles from our previous house so we are still close to downtown and almost exactly the same distance to my parents house.  We wanted good school and a subdivision with a pool, tennis, clubhouse, ec.  Montebello has it all.  We looked through numerous plans to find the right one for our needs.  After searching through probably 100 plans and on web sites day and night, we found the Wilshire plan by Living Concepts, based in Charlotte.  It had everything we wanted, a nice size kitchen, huge master suite, 3 other bedrooms, a play room, a rec room (for the adults...pool table anyone?), and outdoor living space.   We have submitted for our construction loan and are awaiting approval for the ARB that the specs on our house will suffice with Montebello standards. We are supposed to close on our loan and lot by May 31st. We will post updates as the building process moves along.

Crawford at 2

 

We have had a fun and busy couple of months in our new townhouse. We have not really gotten "settled" per say but we are living quite comfortably and enjoying our time in Greer for now. I am still only 10 minutes to work and Brad's parents are around the corner helping out all the time! I joined a new gym (the Y) and while it's not my favorite I am enjoying some of the classes there. Brad is about 20 minutes from work and has done fine with the transition. I don't get to pure barre as much as I was before and I am obseesssed so I am missing that the most. As far as being close to downtown we haven't missed it too much yet because it has been cold but once it warms up we will miss being soo close to the fun Thursday/Friday night activities down there.

In the past few months Crawford has just taken off in his speaking. He can say any word you ask him to and he puts small phrases together such as "I want..." or "Crawford do..."

He says "thankyou/welcome" as one phrase whenever you get him something he asks for.

3.2.1 blast off or get ready, set, goooo are 2 of his favorite phrases.

You used to call yourself "wa wa" because that is what Carter calls you but you finally learned "tafford" and that is what you call yourself.

You can count from 1-10 all by yourself and can count to 20 with some assistance.

You can say your abcs with some assistance (you know what comes after which letter you just get lost sometimes on your own)

Anytime one of your trains doesn't work you ask for "battery/screewdriver" in a really fast voice as if it's one word.

You love hiding from us and the popping out to "scare us"

You are beyond obsessed with trains...it used to be just trains as in "CHOO CHOO" and "choo choo tracks" but you got the Thomas bug and you are in love. You know the engines by name and number and seriously wow me because I have no idea how you can tell the difference by their suttle change in shade of color. You always have thomas or percy in your hand. At nana and bom-paw's house you literally have a whole train caravan. You have James, charlie, henry, bash, harold, diesel, gordon...and they have a whole print out of all the trains and you know them all (literally it's a list of like 40 trains and you know their names)

We found a church we have been going to since the fall called Newspring and you love going to it. You always come home with a coloring book page with a verse on it and I never knew how much you were taking away from it. But I asked you who was in the picture today and you said "God" and when I asked what you learned about in church you said "Jesus" (melt my heart)

You love playgrounds and ask to go there to play.

You can tell us when you have sticky diapers so it is probably time to really try this potty training stuff.

You don't make it through a day without asking for nana and bom-paw, hope, car-terr, amy, and bobby. You are so attached to them all and just light up when you see them. I am so happy that you get to spend so much time with them and I know they love you just like you are their own child.

Your eating habits are beyond hit or miss but anytime I ask you what you want to eat you say "chick chick" (we can thank nana for that)

You always have to have the silky part of my pillow to fall asleep (we even have one in your crib now because you just rub it until you fall asleep)

Whenever you get hurt and start crying you say "I want Nana" We don't know why but you do it for me, daddy, and bom-paw

We love having nicknames for you and we usually either call you "crawfy" or "goose"

You are willllld after bath time. It will be like 9 pm and you are bouncing off the walls running around, singing, talking just happy as can be.



 

Here you are devouring a cookie instead of your lunch (since it was Easter we let it slide)

As you can see healthy eating isn't your friend...You looove pizza

(morning breakfast in your second favorite jammies "choo chee jammies"

You just love sweet ---cookies, ice cream, milkshake (again we can thank nana for that) but look how happy you are with these milkshakes

You got to play in the first real snow since the winter you were born. It started coming down so fast and heavy and we just immediately put on warm clothes and headed to nanas house. You and Hope just ran around and had a ball (it was freezing and it didn't seem to bother yall at all)

 Since joining the Y I have talked to you about the pool and you ask to go to the pool almost every day. daddy took you one Saturday morning and you loved it. You start swim classes in a week.

 

You spend lots of evenings with daddy while I am at work and I always love getting these great pictures to brighten my day!

You are at the age now where you request the pajamas you wear. You always wore train pajamas but you kept saying "no I want schoool bus jammies" ...I didn't even know where you got that from but I began the hunt for school bus jammies and since finding them you ask to wear them every night!

 

You play sooo hard and sometimes you try to push through the afternoon without a nap...here you are asleep standing up next to daddy...you are silly

We went downtown for family dinner. You have gotten sooo much better out at restaurants...you eitehr sit and eat what we feed you or watch thomas or mickey on the iphone and stay pretty content

 

 

I love watching you be so independent with your trains and then I love how you will come cuddle and say "love you mommy" and lay with me until you fall asleep. You are soo sweet and playful and happy and just have the best time every day. You know how to brighten my day each morning and you leave me laughing in the evening. You are our best friend and we love you to pieces!

Vail/Beaver Creek Ski Trip

 

Ski trips are Brad and my absolute favorite trip! We have alwaaays wanted to go to Vail and we were so excited that the same Greenville crew from last year wanted to come too! We ended up getting our house in Arrowhead because of the cost of the houses in Vail. We didn't really know what that meant at the time but we ended up loving being in Arrowhead just across the street from the lifts to Beaver Creek. Brad and I got in early Wednesday and headed straight to Vail on our way in from Denver. I had always pictured Vail being the most beautiful place on Earth. When we got there we walked around the village and had lunch. It was not as magical as I had once envisioned but I think that is because I like every ski town we have been too...I can't even begin to decide which one I like the best! After having lunch in Vail, Brad and I drove to our house and I went to check out Pure Barre class out there. We then picked up Zach and Brandi from the airport and we all enjoyed dinner in the Beaver Creek village. We woke up early and ready to ski. The other two couples got in late Wednesday and we all enjoyed eggs and pancakes thanks to Brad and Zach and then hit the slopes.

We decided to ski Vail the first dayto check out the hype and see which day we wanted to come back to Vail. It was the most crowded mountain I have skied at yet. There were lots of catwalks and  just crowds everywhere. We had a great first day all getting comfortable skiing/snowboarding. We followed Tyler (the best map tour guide) and we all stuck tether skiing greens/blues. We took a lunch break for some pizza in Lionshead village. We tried out listening to our ipods this year and we loved it. By the end of the day we were all of course sore and exhausted! We came home and all soaked in the hot tub and played games. Then Ashley made us all a chicken and rice dish and we finished the long day out playing catch phrase.

 

The next morning we were all up early again. I headed to pure barre and then the guys cooked a delicious breakfast again. We decided to ski Beaver Creek (we were hoping for less crowds and better ski conditions). It didn't take us but 1/2 an hour to realize how much better we liked Beaver Creek. The runs were much more open, less crowds, better conditions, and I thought it was prettier there. We could ski greens/blues without having to do a bunch of catwalks and we made our way from Arrowhead, to Bachelor Gulch and then on over to Beaver Creek. We were loving it (despite the lack of any fresh snow). The other 3 girls decided to get massages and hang low but since I don't get to ski much I chose to hit the slopes. I absolutely love this kind of vacation more than any other we take. We are with friends, we exercise, we usually see snow, we sit in a hot tub, cook dinner together, and enjoy a glass of wine.

 

We met the girls for lunch in Beaver Creek village (after spending half the day with the guys taking me down blues where I thought I was literally going to die). We all enjoyed lunch and then sipped a cup of starbucks on the way up the lifts to catch a second wind for the day. We came home this day and again relaxed in the hot tub before getting ready for dinner at a restaurant in Edwards (which was a mile from the house). We were all soo giddy about the expected snow the next day that I think that is all we could talk about and wait for. By 10:00 we were out because the days were long and exhausting!

 Saturday-Beaver Creek (snow day)

Thursday -Vail (sunny and warm)

Dinner -Friday night in Edwards



Lunch-Thursday-Lionshead Village

 

Friday-Skiing Beaver Creek

 

 

Saturday-bundled up and ready for the snow at Arrowhead lifts

We were probably the first 20 people out on the slopes in the snowstorm and it was a whiteout!

On Saturday we woke up to snow everywhere! It was snowing and everything was covered and we were all soo anxious to get to the slopes as early as possible. We ate our eggs an got bundled up! We had such a great morning skiing in the fresh snow. It is so much easier to ski because you just glide down the mountain without being scared out of your mind when you hit a thing of ice. I saw Brad bust and go flying like 30 feet he lost his ski and we had to dig up his pole (glad he finally listened and wore a helmet). We kept going up and down lifts skiing in the fresh snow while our fingers and toes went numb. We again made our way to the Beaver Creek side of the mountain. We took an early lunch break simply becuase it was so cold! I tried to keep up with the boys on our last afternoon but they all seriously fly down the mountain as I slowly go side to side saying a prayer the whole way down. I was finally comfortable on blues by the end of my 3rd day and wish we could have skied 4 more days. We went looking for souviniers (I always like to get an ornament from where we went on vacation.) We then hit the hot tub one last time. We had a delicious spaghetti dinner and sat around talking and playing games the last night. I hope we continue this tradition as I seriously look forward to it all year round.

 

Crawford was in great hands with Nana and bom-paw and we facetimed with him at least twice a day. I wish I could say he missed us but he just looooves him some nana and bom-paw and he probably didn't even realize we were gone. I missed him sooo much and I can't wait till he can come and fly past me on the mountain like all the little fearless toddlers do.

 

We had a great time in Vail/Beaver Creek. We decided on this trip we liked Beaver Creek better than Vail but maybe it was due to ski conditions or crowds (who knows) ...either way both are soo gorgeous and I just can't imagine having those mountains in my backyard...I would looooove to live out there!