Playing at the park...

Well, we have lived here in Greensboro for a week now!  And I am proud to say, we are almost completely unpacked!  We leave tomorrow for a vacation for the week - so we wanted to get the house "comfortable" before we left... and I think we did it!  Yay!  After dinner tonight, we all went to the park!

It is awesome how close things are!  We are loving the area we live in now!  We literally walked a couple blocks to this little park.

Colin loved it, of course!  

He was excited to go down the smaller of the two slides.  Then he worked his way up to the bigger one!  He had a smile the whole time =)

And Garet had to give it a try too - guess since Colin was having so much fun, he wanted to give it a try...

This was the big slide.  Colin went down on his tummy:

When he got to the bottom, I could hear his giggles echoing up the slide!  It was too cute!

This little park had enough swings for all of us.  We had a blast! 

Moving with a toddler...

Garet and I talked about how we were going to handle moving with Colin.  We knew that it was going to be crazy because: 1. it was happening so fast,  2. we had a lot going on other than moving and, 3. we had a 20 month old. 

We decided that we were going to leave out as much as possible of Colin's things and we were going to keep with his schedule as much as we could.  During the month before the move, we packed up most of the house.  The week of the move, we really got down to business and packed everything except what we needed for that week.  In Colin's room, we left almost everything "normal".  I took down all the pictures and shelves from the walls - and Colin noticed: "uh oh," he would say and point to the wall. 

(yes he has food on his chin)
Since Colin's dresser isn't too heavy, we just left his clothes inside.  And since he has an awesome toybox, we left all his toys in his room too.  We were able to just throw the toys inside and move the whole thing.  Downstairs, since I had the cubes, we just left all his toys out there too.

On moving day, Colin woke up in his room.  Then when my parents got there, mom took Colin and they played in the backyard.  While he was outside, we got all his things out of his room and packed on the truck.  We had heard that some kids can be a little traumatized by seeing their furniture being disassembled and their rooms cleaned out.  We also got Garet's office completely cleared out.  I put a few of Colin's toys in the office, so when Colin and my mom came in from playing outside, he had a "new" playroom.  Colin never went back into his room.

We made the move here during Colin's nap.  So he slept almost the whole drive here.  The first night in this house, Colin slept in a pretty much empty room, in his pack'n'play.  He is really awesome about sleeping in new places, so it was no biggie for him to sleep that night.  The next day, we unpacked the truck and by Colin's nap time (1:00) I had his furniture and all of his stuff in his new room. 

He amazes me daily, and he has handled his move like a champ!  The first couple nights in his new room, he would talk himself to sleep longer than usual... but he still got himself to sleep.  With how we like to move, it's good that he did so well =) 

And we are here...

Saturday:
Garet called Uhaul and they told him that the truck was avalible at 12:30 that day!  (a day earlier than we thought!)  So we figured, let's go - let's do it!  To get prepared, Colin gave Garet a massage...

Then we went and got the truck!  Colin LOVED it!  "Tuck, tuck!"

He looked so little in that big 'ole truck!

Garet and I went ahead and started packing up a lot of our stuff before we went to bed that night.

Sunday:
My parents came!!  They were a HUGE help!  We were so busy getting things on the truck!  For lunch, we ordered pizza, and we all ate on the floor.  Colin was enjoying his chair on the floor so much that he sat there for like 15 minutes after we all had gotten up and gotten back to work!

 By 2, my mom and I loaded up Colin and Suzi and headed off to Greensboro!  Colin napped for about half of the 3 hour drive.  Garet and my dad got there about 8 that night.  We all decided not to try and unpack the truck... we just got what we needed for showers and sleep.  I think we were all exhausted!

Monday:
We woke up and Garet treated us to breakfast in a cute little shopping area right down the road (I love this shopping area - there is seriously any store you could ever want!)  Then we got back to the house, and started working!

(by the way, I love this big window in our living room!)
My parents stayed and helped until we got the truck completely unloaded.  We are so thankful they were able to come and help us!   We tried to keep things as "normal" as possible for Colin.  I'm sure he had to be a bit confused, but he was such a trooper!  He didn't seem fazed at all!  In fact I think Suzi was more nervous than any of us!

We are still unpacking... but we have enough of our stuff unpacked to do day-to-day things.  And we got Internet today, along with our [basic] cable - just in time!  So You Think You Can Dance is on tonight! 

Last few days here...

Our last few days here in Whiteville have been super busy.  We are trying to get everything we can in boxes... but there is only so much I can do with a toddler running around!  So, after a couple hours of "helping" Colin needs to get outside!  So, aside from packing we have been:

• Playing basketball:

Check out that stance!  Love the boots!  And I believe he made this basket!

• Checking the "mal" (mail) with Daddy:

• Playing in the water:

When we go outside, I think, "Colin doesn't need his swimsuit on... we aren't going to get wet", and almost everytime, he finds some bucket with a little bit of water in it and pours it on himself.  So, I figure, what the heck - let's just cut on the water.  So, most of the time he is soaked in his clothes.  Oh well.  That smile is worth a wet kid =)

• Visiting one last time.

We all went to see the new addition - Scott was only 5 days old here!  What a sweet boy!  His mom and dad (Rachel and Justin) were probably the first people we really met here.  They were so awesome welcoming us to Whiteville! 

Other than that, we have just been getting things together.  I think tonight is the last night here in Whiteville... if all goes as planned =) 

Wind in my hair...

Today, we went to Wilmington so Garet could turn in all his FINAL work stuff, and his car.  So we were all in a car together on our way home.  Colin was starting to get a little antsy - who can blame him, an hour there, and hour home, I was antsy too!

I told Garet to roll down the windows (we have them locked since Colin can roll down his own window), and Colin had a blast!!!!  I managed to get a video.  I would say, "1... 2... 3..." and G would roll down all the windows!  Please ignore me - I tend to be a goof ball when it comes to Colin =)

Packing...

We have been busy packing around here!  When we found out we were going to be moving, Garet got really motivated and packed a LOT of the house!  Now that we a date to move, we are all super motivated to pack!  Colin is a big help!  Yesterday, I watched him collect things.  He was pushing around this toy:

And I got a closer look at what all was in that little compartment:

2 cars, 1 cell phone, 1 sharpie, 1 pen, and a lego.
Colin has enjoyed balling up newspaper and throwing it in the boxes.  And when we are writing on the boxes with the sharpie (the one in the compartment), Colin is busy "writing" with the pen (the one in the compartment).

Garet also cleaned out his company car.  The whole time, Colin was watching at the door: 

I don't want to be overly confident, but I feel like we have almost everything packed up!  Minus the things we will need the remainder of this week.  Colin even got in a box!

What a sweet boy!  We have boxes at every turn in this house.  And Colin's room looks so bare - nothing on the walls, I took down the shelves, half his books are gone... and it really hasn't fazed him.  Every once in a while he will point to where a picture had been in his room, like he is wondering where it went.  But he is just as happy as ever =)

After a hard days work of packing, it is good to take a nice long bath...

Check out how long his hair is!!!  You would never know because it is so curly! 
Love him so much!

Crazy...

as in, we are crazy.  That's just how we roll...

We got all packed, and headed to Charlotte.  Our plan was that Colin, Suzi and I would hang out in Charlotte while Garet went searching for a rental home in Greensboro.  We figured it would be too crazy to have Colin with us while we went from house to house, in and out of cars, not to mention I am a stickler on his schedule and that would have been a nightmare!  So, we got all ready to go.

My parents went out of town, so we had their house to ourselves.  They had just picked veggies from their garden, so Colin decided to help.  He put them in a bowl...

... and let Suzi have a sniff...

Those two are so cute.
We also got to play outside a lot.  The weather was so nice!  Colin looks so big here!

By the way, while we were playing around here at the house, Garet was busy driving all over town looking at houses.  Any spare time I had, I would be on the computer trying to find new rentals there were being posted.  Or I would be getting texts from Garet of addresses and I would Google Map it.  You know that when you type in an address you can view it via satellite online.  So, I would get an idea of what it looked like.  I at least could look around at the surrounding areas.

Colin is such a blessing.  What a little light he is!  No matter the stress that's going on, he is so oblivious and happy!  He decided he wanted in this baby toy!  He thought it was hilarious!

Colin and I drove up to meet Garet and see some of the "top prospects".  It was a fast trip, and Colin did amazing (I shouldn't be surprised anymore, he is so good!)  By the end of the day, we had found a house!!  By today we had a lease signed.  So it's official, we have a place to live!  Yay! 

Back at my parents house, Colin found Papaw's shirt.  He wanted to put it on a run around.  =)

So, we went out to dinner tonight to celebrate the fact that we had a place to live!
Oh and to make us a bit crazier... our move in date is the 18th.  Of June.  Next week. 

Hanging out outside...

I have decided that any time we can get outside and play - we will be there!  Colin LOVES to be outside, and the weather has been awesome!  We played in his watertable:

He likes to scoop the water...

... and then pour it onto the deck...

It's funny... the watertable doesn't stay full of water for long.  Colin likes to get all the water out as fast as possible.  Then he wants it refilled... and then he will flip the table over to dump it.  Crazy kid.

We also played a bit of basketball!

Colin is getting so good at making the baskets!  And it is precious when he does because he will clap for himself!  =)

Then we traveled into the backyard so Suzi could get some attention.

Suzi is so funny with Colin when they are in the backyard!  She wants sooo bad to play with him, but she is careful not to hurt him.  She will grab her ball and run straight for him, then stop and turn around when she is a couple feet away.

Look at those curls!!

I LOVE IT!!!!

We obviously had to grab some handfuls of dirt!

He will pick up the dirt, then turn around and scatter it around.  Makes you wonder what he is thinking. 

I love hydrangea!  It is so pretty when it blooms!  And bush at this house is huge!  It's taller than me!

Anytime we are outside, Suzi wants to be right there with us!  She isn't a fan of the water (AT ALL), but she's out there with us anyway!  Mostly she runs around with her ball.  Sweet girl.

Today it was raining this morning... so we were stuck inside all morning.  With a 20 month old, that is tough to do.  We did some drawing to pass the time...

Whenever I let Colin draw, he always gives me a marker to draw with him.  What a sweetheart!

After Colin's nap, it finally cleared up outside!  So we played with his wagon... and ran into some fire ants!  Luckily they didn't get on Colin (even though he was pulling the wagon) but they were ALL over the wagon!  Crazy how fast they move!

After dinner, Garet and Colin went to play in his water outside.  Colin has figured out how to use the hose...

Don't know if that's good or bad...

One last picture - Garet got this on his phone.  Suzi jumped into Colin's room (we have a baby gate up) and decided to hand out kisses.  How cute that Colin is all puckered up!

6 years ago...

I married the love of my life!

That morning I woke up in Lake Lure Inn, showered, dried my hair... and then the power went off... in the whole town!  My [now] sister-in-law and cousin were freaked out - how were we going to do hair?!  But I was calm.  I knew that no matter how crazy my hair looked, I was going to be marrying my best friend!

We went to my family's campground down the road, where we had a back up generator, and did our hair.

The weather was perfect!  Everything went so smoothly!  Garet and I were married outside at Lake Lure Gazebo, then had our reception at Lake Lure Inn.  It was perfect!  We even drove away on a horse drawn carriage. 

It is amazing to think of everything we have been through over the past 6 years!  It has been the best years of my life and I can't wait to experience many many more with my handsome man!

Toes in the water...

We figured, since we are moving, we better get in as much beach time as we can!  So today we went to Sunset Beach!

When we got to the beach, Colin got soooo excited about the sand!  Check out that sweet little foot!

He wouldn't even consider going down to the water, he wanted to play in the sand!  We brought a few of his beach toys and he would scoop up some of the semi-wet sand, then run behind our canopy and dump it on the dry sand =)

I tried to show him how to make a castle with one of his toys, but he was much more interested in smashing it!

Finally, we got him down to the water!  Can you see me all the way at the water?  And Colin was running full speed ahead!

Once he was down at the water, he LOVED it!  He kept kicking so the water would fly up!  And he would run out, and when a wave crashed he would run back in!

We all had so much fun!  We packed a lunch so we ate a little picnic out there too.  Here is Garet and Colin waving to me:

And then my camera battery died.  Which was good I suppose... that way I could just enjoy being there!  I get so wrapped up sometimes taking pictures - but I just don't want to forget any second!! 

We had a great time, then got home and relaxed the rest of the day!