We traveled over to New Bern today to see Granny and Grandpop, Uncle Rich and Aunt Vickie. The kids were so excited to see them! Nathan has such a good memory of things he saw last time we were there. We had a wonderful visit (although always too short), but Lauren was losing steam without a nap and Nathan started using Uncle Rich as a punching bag! Nathan loved helping Grandpop with the luminary lights/bags and Lauren enjoyed all of Granny's trinkets. The house looked beautiful, all decked out for the holidays. Thank you to all for a great lunch and putting up with the scrubs for several hours! We look forward to another visit soon. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving from the beach! What a great time we had with our cousins Maddi and Shane. The weather was beautiful especially on Friday. We ate our Thanksgiving dinner at an all you can eat Calabash buffet. They had absolutely everything you can imagine - the traditional turkey dinner to crab legs to stuffed sole and on and on.....
Broadway at the Beach was decorated all in the Christmas mode. Uncle Chip was on board with the holidays, but Aunt Lesli says it's too EARLY!! We had a wonderful time and can't wait to get back to NY and see ALL the family, on both sides! Get ready, here we come.....rest up! haha

A chat with Santa - look familiar??

Poor Lauren - She was so excited to see Santa. Even standing in line and watching him talk to the other kids, she was all smiles UNTIL it was her turn. Nathan hopped up like it was his job and Lauren cluthed all 4 limbs snug around mommy. After prying her off, she sat motionless and crying until Daddy "saved" her. Then she was fine and sat with Daddy while Nathan told Santa everything on his list, and even told him what his little sister wanted. Maybe next year we'll get a picture with Lauren smiling!

Such a SWEET big brother! She wanted a "maaa" aka kiss, and to my total amazement, he leaned in to kiss her nose! One of the few precious moments from the boy who does not like hugs and kisses unless on his terms!

Getting ready for the holidays

Here's a picture of the kids just before going to see Santa. Both were very excited, although Nathan did express concern that Santa might "scold" him for getting 2 yellow lights in school last week.
It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is around the corner. The kids are doing great. Nathan loves school (although he's had a few yellow lights lately!) and Lauren does not stop talking EVER! She's a chatterbox. The kids have been watching Polar Express at least 4-5 times a week. It has become the new favorite for Lauren (see ya Teletubbies!) She loves the scene towards the end when Santa appears. As for me, I'm pretty sure I've got the lines memorized now.
They are excited to see Maddi and Shane at the beach next week and then lots of relatives in New Bern a couple days later - Gramma and Grandpa, Granny and Grandpop, and Uncle Rich and Aunt Vickie. We're looking forward to seeing everyone and will certainly post some pictures after our trip.

For those that haven't heard, our beloved Bayli Roo recently had some trips to the vet and after an ultrasound, found to have a large mass on her liver - it is cancerous. We have decided not to do any surgery or chemo because she is 14 yrs old and we just don't want to put her through it. She's doing well right now besides being very lame in the back end and somewhat deaf. Her sidekick Kita is fine but it will be hard for her when the time finally comes to say goodbye to Bayli.



We hope everyone is doing well. See y'all soon!

What an awesome Halloween the kids had! We were out until 8:30 and Lauren was going strong the entire time. We walked with several of our neighbors. Here's a picture of the kids with Charlie, Nathan's favorite school bus buddy. And a picture of Lauren with Hailey and Jordon who just adore her. I can't believe how much candy they got! We hope everyone had a great Halloween! See y'all soon -

Nana visits

Nana flew down for a visit and we had such a great time! The weather was beautiful minus a rainy Saturday, but we managed to cram lots of fun into just a few days. We went to our favorite park and got 2 huge pumpkins at a pumpkin farm. Nana even got to see Nathan's favorite place - Adventure Landing - where we miniture golfed and played all sorts of video games! And we watched The Wizard of Oz so Lauren could get ready for Halloween! We loved having Nana here, although Lauren stated several times "I want Papa here at my house"!! We missed you Papa -

Lauren's story

Now Lauren loves to tell stories, and usually we can decipher what she's telling us, but this particular dinner time story had us cracking up. This is only a couple minutes of her 30 minute rambling....

Myrtle Beach

Here's a few pics from our recent trip to the beach. The kids had a great time playing in the ocean and in the several pools and hot tubs. Lauren took a header in the ocean as she got a bit too brave (following lead from Nathan of course) and a big wave wiped her feet from under her! She hopped up though and went back for more. The weather was beautiful and warm. We ate at Joe's crab shack of course, and went to Alligator Adventure. A much needed getaway for all!

Lauren's 1st day of Preschool

Just like her big brother, Lauren couldn't wait to put on her backpack and head off to school! She did great on her first day and still loves to go each Friday. She is making new friends and loves to play with the baby dolls.

Nathan's 1st day of Kindergarten

Nathan was so excited for his first day of Kindergarten. He ran to the bus stop with Bob trying to video tape him, and me trying not to cry while squeezing him tight!

After 3 weeks of trackout, he started back on Monday and he has gotten green lights on his progress reports so far.

We are so proud of him!