We Love Visitors!

My mom and brother came for a visit this past weekend. "Nana" came bearing gifts: a groove table, toothbrush, and toothpaste...fun!

She really loves this table. There are so many different things she can do. Here she is grooving to the music!

Saturday, we picked up lunch at Sonic and headed to First Union park downtown. It was HOT! After lunch, Uncle Chris pushed Arden in the swing, and I got some picks of her on the bears.

I got some really nice pics of Arden and Uncle Chris near the gazebo and the river. Then we headed to the Cow Cafe for some ice cream and the Pepsi store for....well, you know...Pepsi!

Our last stop was Bear City Fudge. One word: yum! Arden was completely wiped out by this point.

Aunt Catie stopped by that evening and showed off her "new" Jeep. Even though she lives in Greenville, I hardly ever see her. She's such a social butterfly!

I found this cute dress at Walmart for $2, and Arden wore it to church on Sunday. I let her chew on a weed, and she let me take some sweet pics.

Monday we went to Atlantic Beach. Chris hasn't been to the beach out here yet, so we knew we had to take him. We were actually going to go to Fort Macon beach. However, after making a stop at Wings so Chris could get some flip-flops, we decided to go for Atlantic Beach. Adam and I actually hadn't been to Atlantic Beach before, either, because it's usually always packed. This time it wasn't, and it was actually pretty nice. It's not such a "hike" to the water like at Fort Macon. The water was pretty rough that day, but we still had a good time.

Adam and Chris dug Arden a sand/water pit, and she had a blast! And, of course, Arden fell asleep in her dadoo's arms.

We'll be heading to Greensboro on Thursday, so we won't have to wait too long to see these people again. Yay!

New Bern City Pool

New Bern opened a new pool this year. It's not a huge pool, but it's a really fun place for moms to bring their kids. There's a really great kiddie area, and there's a fun water slide for people 48" and up. Kids 8 and under are $1.50, over 8 are $2.00, adults are $2.50, and moms are free...can't beat that! I took Arden there for the first time last Wednesday...only $1.50 to get in! We met some people from church. Arden seemed to like the pool, especially the swings. We stayed for a little less than two hours. We were on the brink of leaving when the manager of the pool came around and told everyone the pool was closing for the day due to "fecal matter" in the pool. Someone poohed in the pool! Gross! We got a free pass out of it, though...score!

I couldn't get any pics of Arden in the pool during our first visit since Adam wasn't there, but I got a few during the break.

First sippy-cup experience...she loves it!

The sippy cup kept her occupied in the car, too.

I stopped at McDonald's on the way home for a chocolate shake. Arden fell asleep by the time we got home, so we just chilled in the car for about 20 minutes.

I love freckles!

We went to the pool again this past Thursday, and this time Adam came along. I had to use my free pass before the season ended! We got there at 2:40 p.m. and found the pool doesn't open until 4 p.m....I guess because school started again. So we drove downtown and checked out the public library. We hadn't been there before. They have a really cute children's section, and I found out there's a Tots reading time on Friday mornings. I'm going to check it out sometime. Anywho, back to the pool we went!

Since Adam was there, Arden got to slide down the frog slide. We also got pics of her in the swing. She didn't seem as enthusiastic about it this time...maybe because there weren't a lot of people there. She loves kids!

It really wasn't all that hot at 4 p.m., and Arden got the shivers. Adam wrapped her up in a towel, fed her a bottle, and she passed out. He's such a good daddy!

OBX: The Rest of It

Last Monday morning, we woke up bright and early and headed toward the Outer Banks. We had to catch a ferry to start our little adventure.

We were an hour early for the ferry, but that's better than being late. We hung out in the visitor's center and bought some souvenirs.

Arden's favorite thing about being on the ferry was not being in her car seat.

The ferry ride from Cedar Island to Ocracoke was 2.25 hours. Adam was able to get Arden to take a little nap. He's such a great daddy!

My little tree frog!

After we saw the Ocracoke lighthouse, we boarded a ferry to Hatteras. This ride was free and lasted only 40 minutes.

Before we headed to Cape Hatteras lighthouse, we stopped at Wings. Adam lost his sunglasses at the Ocracoke lighthouse, so we both bought a pair. During the stroller ride from Cape Hatteras lighthouse to the car, Arden fell asleep. She remained asleep even while being buckled into her car seat.

Arden needed a diaper change, so we stopped at a visitor center before we hit the Bodie lighthouse. Adam went on a dock and found some turtles. Then we crossed the highway and discovered a nearly-deserted beach. We were very tempted to hop in the ocean right then and there, but there was no time.

For dinner, we ate at Dirty Dick's. Their slogan is "I got my crabs from Dirty Dick's" Restaurant. Gross, I know. We went there, because Bro. Card said he'd never eat there because of their slogan. I ordered the fried green tomato parmesan. The tomatoes were good, the pasta not so much...it was too spicy for me. Oh, and Arden enjoyed her first french fry. The waiter was all up in her face. There was a point where she got scared and cried a little bit...poor thing! She fell asleep on the way to the hotel. Unfortunately, she woke up when I attempted to put her to bed.

We took the co-sleeper for Arden's bed, and it was quite the chore getting her to go to sleep. She's not used to sleeping in the same room with us, nor us with her. She didn't go to bed until around 10:30 p.m. She tossed and turned quite a bit during the night and woke up at 5:30 a.m. So not cool! Adam got up with her and took her to the beach to watch the sunrise. I stayed in bed. He got some beautiful pics of her...

(this one being my favorite)

...and of the sunrise.

After breakfast, we finally made it down to the beach. We were there between 8 and 9 a.m., and that's the only time we actually spent at the beach. Like I said in my pervious post, we definitely needed an extra day.

This is my favorite pic from the trip. I just love how I caught Adam in the background...it was a happy accident.

This little cutie loves the beach!

She also loved the sand pit Adam dug for her...not to mention the sand itself.

Hmm...which rock should I put in my mouth?

After the beach, we showered off and hopped in the pool. This was Arden's first time in a big, chlorinated pool. Adam did all kinds of tricks with her. She seemed to like it.

We checked out of the hotel and headed to the Wright Brothers memorial. We didn't realize it until it was too late that it costs $4/person to get in. All we wanted was to take pics of the monument. We parked and took the long hike up to the monument. Not sure why I wore corduroys that day, but I was so hot and miserable. The view was definitely worth it, though. Then we took the long walk in the blazing sun to the restrooms and then the car. Before we left, we drove the car to the back of the monument to see a model of the plane. There were plenty of parking spaces back there. Wish I would've known that before!

After we saw the Currituck/Corolla lighthouse, we had lunch at Uncle Ike's. The service was really slow, but the food was good. I had a turkey BLT. The pick in front of the "seahorse" is from our hotel, the Ramada Inn in Kill Devil Hills. Anywho, it took us 3.5 hours to get home. Adam had to go back to work that night, poor guy. We enjoyed it, though!

So we accomplished a lot in less than two days. We want to go back and take a real vacation...see the things we missed, play some mini golf, and just relax on the beach. We are so blessed to live near the coast!

OBX: The Lighthouse Tour

When we went to Cape Lookout last Monday with Amy and the gang, we caught the lighthouse bug. So, we took a quick trip to the Outer Banks on Monday and Tuesday. Our main goal was to see all four lighthouses on OBX. We saw the first three on Monday and the last one on Tuesday. A lot of time was spent in the car. The next time we go to the Outer Banks, we'll take an extra day and just chillax.

I'll post other pics from our adventure in another post.

Ocracoke

Cape Hatteras

Bodie

Currituck/Corolla

Back-to-School Bash

This past Saturday was the Primary's Back-to-School Bash. I got there just before 10 a.m. and was melting not 10 minutes later. It was so HOT! I followed my class around from activity to activity: water balloon toss, photo booth, slip and slide, and giant bubble making. Actually, I ran through the grass screaming at the end of the water balloon toss, because I stepped in a fire-ant pile. So not cool! I even saw the pile and made a mental note to not step in it, but I got distracted while taking pics. Before I knew it, my whole foot and bottom of my pant leg was covered in ants. Thank goodness for the waterhose at the slip and slide!

Anywho, throughout the year, if the kids brought their scriptures to church, a rock was placed in a glass jar. Once the jar was filled, the kids would be rewarded. The reward came at the activity: ribbon bookmarks. I had a ribbon bookmark in YWs, so I thought it was a pretty cool idea. The kids had to make them themselves. I think the girls liked them a little more than the boys...ha! At the end of the activity, we all got popsicles...perfect!

This was how the water balloon toss was supposed to go, but it didn't work out.

My ant-bitten foot. This was taken the next day. The bites itched so bad for two days. I even woke up in the middle of the night Saturday because I needed to scratch them. AH! My foot actually looks much worse now, but the bites don't hurt or itch anymore...thank goodness.

10-Month-Old Cutie

I'm finding it hard to believe Arden is 10 months old today. That means in two short months she'll be a year old. Where has the time gone?! I really need to seriously start losing the baby weight. I wonder if I can lose 20 pounds in two months...ha!

Arden is still a little thing. She's in 6-month-sized clothing, and even some of that is still too big for her. It's ok, though...she's petite like her mommy!

I'm mesmerized by how much Arden learns each and every day. She's crawling all over the place, although her tummy still remains on the floor, and she pulls up to standing on anything that's the right height. Before I know it, she'll be walking! Since she's become so mobile, she hates it when I change her diaper. She always attempts to crawl off the changing table and screams when I have to hold her down. It's like wrestle mania!

Arden hasn't quite mastered feeding herself finger foods yet, but she gets lucky occasionally. She loves Gerber oatmeal! Her new favorite snack is mini Cheez-It crackers. She's still toothless, so she chews them up with her jaw and gums. She also loves bread and whatever else I stick in her mouth. She gets really excited when she sees me drinking from a cup...she always wants a sip!

Arden's new favorite thing to do is breathe loudly in and out of her nose. She wrinkles her nose when she does it. If I want her to do it, I just do it first, and she'll start to do it. It's so cute!

Arden is a great sleeper at night. She almost always sleeps at least 10 hours straight, and every now and then I get lucky with a 12-hour night. One night, she was so tired and went to bed at 7:35 p.m. and didn't get up until 7:45 a.m.! She hasn't gone to bed that early again, though. Naps are still a little iffy. Sometimes I'll lay down with her on the couch or the Aerobed and nurse her until she falls asleep. I love taking naps with my baby girl! Other times, she'll put herself to sleep in her crib...but that doesn't happen often enough. She did take a 2.5 hour nap in her crib this morning, though. It was great!

Here are a few of the many pics I took today. Enjoy!

Lately it's been hard to get her to smile for the camera, so this is a treat!

Just waving those arms!

Awww...another smile!

Too many cute pics to choose from!

She sees a bug and tries to catch it.

She's sucking on an apple core and does the "nose thing" I mentioned early. Cute!