OBX - Days 1 & 2

When Jacqueline and I were kids - the rents brought us down here to the Outer Banks with dad's sister and her family every year until I was in college. Last year - Jac came up with an idea to start our own yearly tradition of going to the beach together with hubbies and kids. Brilliant I said and there started the research! Todd found us an awesome house in Duck and booked it - June 13th - June 20th.


Ben and I left Friday night to break up the trip for Taylor and stayed with Nanny. Saturday morning we got - had breakfast and hit the road again. The trip was pretty easy - minus one little traffic backup - we were down here just minutes after Jac & Todd. The house wasn't quite ready for us so we decided to hit up Scarborough Faire to find something for lunch. We went to a little pizza place and all enjoyed the yummy food......

We walked around the shops for a bit before we went and got the keys to the house. Boy was it worth the wait! It's amazing - Todd did a great job! I don't have pics yet but I will soon! We did the normal first day stuff from there on - got unpacked - went to the grocery store to stock the house - I made dinner for us and then we enjoyed some wine on the deck.

This morning was exciting for me! I couldn't wait to take Taylor to the beach. After breakfast I got her dressed in one of her new bathing suits.....

We were off!! We got down to the beach and set up a spot. Then - just as I was getting ready to put Taylor down - she let me know - loudly - that she wanted NOTHING to do with the sand. Ok - no big deal - we walked down to the ocean and got the same reaction. Not exactly what we were expecting but totally fine. She got passed back and forth for a while and then sat in her new little chair from Nana and was perfectly content.....for over an hour!

Finally - today was even more of a special day as Jacqueline and Todd celebrated their 1yr wedding anniversary! Congrats guys - Love you both!!

Until next time!!

BIG Thanks!

Thanks to all that voted in the Caniacs photo contest! It worked - TAYLOR WON!! Won what you ask? Just bragging rights it looks like but that's good enough for me!

Click HERE to see for yourself!

A day of Firsts.....

Today was a day of "1sts" for Taylor. She took her 1st trip to Lake Anna to see Aunt Heather's daughter Jessica's softball double header. She had her 1st Happy Meal from the Golden Arches (LOVED IT) and most importantly - she took her 1st few steps ALL BY HERSELF!!! OMG - BIG DAY!

Honestly - I didn't even see it coming. She was playing on the floor with Ben and she was pushing herself up off of him into a standing position, and would keep it for about 5 seconds. After multiple repetitions, Ben stood her up against our ottoman and sat back to see what she would do. Well - she took a few steps - that's what she did. 3 was the most she took before falling face first into his lap. They were 3 steps that I will never forget. I was asked if I cried when it happened? Nope - I was jumping up & down screaming like I had just won the lottery! HA! Dear Crazy! ;0)

Here are a few pics from our softball/happy meal adventure.......

Oh What Fun....

.....Taylor is 1!! Can you believe it? You can? You're a liar! Ben and I sat here a week ago tonight talking about how we were admitted to the hospital that night a short year ago. We went through the events of the days that followed and were just amazed at how quickly we had gotten to that point. A year (and a week since I'm a slacker) has passed since our little Taylor was brought into our lives and we wouldn't change one single part of it!! It's been a fun ride and we're looking forward to seeing what this next year will bring.

We had a little BBQ for her bday last Saturday. She got to see lots of her friends (not all of them since we were a little limited on space) and got lots of new clothes and tons of fun new toys to play with. What I thought would be the highlight of the day - the cake - didn't turn out the way I thought it would. Would you believe she didn't care for it!?! She truly is her father's daughter as he's not a huge fan of desserts. HA! Dear Crazy.....

Click Here for our May pictures!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Vote for Taylor!!!

So here is what happens when we leave Taylor alone with Aunt Heather for a little while.....

Last week during the hockey playoffs - Heather brought over one of her North Carolina Hurricanes jerseys (sweater for those that want to be technical) - layed it out in front of Taylor and took her picture. Purely innocent right? She then sent the pic to our friend Tony who lives down in NC and is a HUGE Hurricanes fan because we knew he would get a kick out of it. What we did not know was that he posted the pic on a Canes fan site and she is now a finalist in a photo contest! HA! Dear Crazy!

So your job now is to click HERE so you can vote for our little CAPS fan that is posing as a Canes fan for the time being. Voting ends at noon on June 5th and you can vote twice a day!!

Game Over

Well - it was a fun ride but the season is over for us CAPS fans! The last few weeks were pretty intense watching the playoff games - the wins, the loses - the multiple overtimes....sad day! In the words of all Washington teams fans.....there is always next year. HA! Dear Crazy.....

Backing up to the weekend. Friday night - Ben, Lauren, Taylor and I went to Friday Night Live in Herndon. It was a beautiful evening and the band was great. Amanda took care of us like always - and Taylor did pretty well despite the fact that we kept her up a little past her bedtime. I also ran into some people that I hadn't seen in a long time so that was a BONUS!

Sunday was my first Mother's Day! It was another gorgeous day - it was great to spend it with my little girl and she is the best present I could have ever gotten. We went to the Bradley's that night for dinner along with Melissa and the girls. Billy is home from Tech so it was great to all be together.

Ben is in Dallas for ""work". And by work I mean he and his boss are in TX for a golf tournament with one of their customers. Heather was kind enough to come and stay with me so I didn't have to yell at the TV alone. She's a good friend. ;0)

On a serious note - an old friend of mine that I went to school with from Elementary through our first year of college at Delaware has passed away. It's a terribly sad time for his family and enormous circle of friends. I'm keeping his mom and sister in my thoughts.

It's officially past my bedtime.....until the next post!

April Pictures and quick recap

I was working on Saturday and I ran into the Poplawski's! Mrs Pops was kind enough to remind me that it has been a few weeks since I had updated my blog so I promised there would be one soon. I apologize for the delay - it's been a BUSY crazy last few weeks.
Here is a quick recap.....

4/17 - Ben took a trip to the ER for a severe allergic reaction to at the time we didn't know what it was. He had a similar (not near as serious) reaction this past Friday after taking Aleve for a headache. This time he only had to go to Urgent Care and was feeling better shortly there after. He has an appt with an allergist this Wednesday so we are hoping that we can get this all figured out so he doesn't have any more field trips to the doctors.

4/18 - We went to Member Appreciation Day at the Credit Union. It was pretty cool but will be more fun next year when Taylor is able to play the games. Later that day we headed out to Winchester to Marcelo & Gretchen's house to celebrate Gretchen's bday.

4/19 - Taylor and I had a fun day of shopping with Miss Lauren. It wasn't so much shopping as it was an excuse to get outside and walk around the Outlets.

4/22 - Antonio's bday dinner!! Always a good time to see everyone!

4/24-4/26 - Weekend at Nanny's with the WHOLE family! We were celebrating milestone birthdays and anniversaries.

In between all of this we have been making sure to catch the CAPS games! WOOT!

I worked the bar this past Saturday. It was Game 1 for Caps vs Pens and I have a few friends that are Pens fans that came to keep me company. Needless to say - I was happier than they were when the game was over. After work, Ben met me at work and we went to Jen & Josh's for the evening. Heather had offered a few days earlier to come over and watch her Bulls game (sad day for her) while Taylor slept so Ben and I could have a night together. Thanks girl!!

The April pictures have finally been put on Snapfish. Click HERE for the link if you want to check them out!