Our week with Mimi

We had such a fun visit with my mom! It was nice to spend the week here at our house before heading off to St. Augustine, Fl for the weekend. I'm so sad that the week is over, and that we aren't for sure when we'll see her again next. But we're hoping that it will be us visiting her in Texas sometime this fall!
There were lots of smiles from this little guy

Hours of coloring Evenings spent outside And endless hours of special Mimi time.
We survived the weekend in a hotel with a toddler, but not without many doubts on my part. I had to stop and try to locate my sanity a few times, but none the less it was a fun experience. Eli slept over 10 hours both nights. It will be fun to tell him about his first hotel experience someday. We stayed at the Casa Monica hotel in St. Augustine. It was 5-star, lavish, elegant, and maybe not so kid-friendly. I was terrified that he would break something, cause a scene in the formal dining room during breakfast, or all of the above. He really did great considering the circumstances. He may have fallen head first into the bathtub while I was getting ready, but that's to be expected right?! He jumped on the bed, ate breakfast in bed, and loved every second of his hotel stay.
St. Augustine is just beautiful. We took a sightseeing train tour on Saturday and saw as much of the city as we could. Eli is getting big into trains these days, so we figured it was a win win for everyone. We didn't exactly catch all of the museums, etc...but we sure did find our way to the carousel and playground! After 3 times on the carousel and lots of playing, we headed back to the hotel and let Eli swim in the hotel pool.
Here he is showing us what a 'choo choo' says.
He was so cute on the train ride, waving to any and everyone.

We rode until we were all dizzy!
Saturday night we had dinner with a really fun family. Tom was speaking at a good friend's promotion ceremony on Sunday, so we were invited to their house for a cookout. I was hesitant about taking Eli, but was excited to find that there would be other kids for him to play with. He was absolutely the center of attention all night. The little girls were fighting over who was his 'mommy' and Eli played right along. They followed him around for hours making sure that he had as much fun as a 1 year old could have.

Horses are for riding, right?!

They carried him around like a baby, and fought over who would hug him next.
Amy asked me several times if she could keep him, and why she couldn't become his real life mother :)

Baby Fever

It seems like everyone around us is having babies this month! It's brought on a serious case of baby fever in our house(ahem..in me). My husband would like to pack this so called 'fever' up and send it far far away. Our newest nephew Luke Thomas Smoak was born on Tuesday, my good friend Molly gave birth to a sweet little girl, Amelia today, and several others are due to deliver within the next several weeks. Up until this weekend, I hadn't had my hands on a newborn since Eli was that size. I got hours of snuggle time with baby Luke on Sunday, and it brought back such sweet memories. It also reminded me of how fast that time flies by, and how much we forget about those days. It's just hard to remember Eli being that small. From the sweet little newborn noises, to the fresh baby smell, there's just nothing better! Baby Luke seemed to be enjoying his first few days at home, after a few days spent in the NICU, we were all anxious to get our hands on him. Well, all except for Eli. We had to practically pin him down to get a picture of him with his newest cousin.

He was briefly taken with the tractor on Luke's onesie. Uncle Dan with his youngest nephew :)

He slept the day away!
I do know that this little boy will be loved to pieces! He has two big brothers that absolutely adore him, and a bus load of cousins that can't wait to meet him! He's the perfect addition to the family, and we're so glad to be able to watch him grow up.
Sweet boys! I've never seen older siblings adjust so fast and well to having a new baby in the house. They simply can't get enough of their baby brother.The boys played so well, and always seem to enjoy their time together. Eli just loved playing on their big boy beds.

We're very much looking forward to Mimi getting here tomorrow!! We'll be spending the week here, and then heading to St. Augustine, FL on Friday for the weekend. We'll miss Dan while he's away on his 'guys weekend,' but I'm sure they'll have a great time! Here's to hoping that Eli's first hotel stay is one full of only good memories! :)

Lately

We've had no trouble keeping ourselves busy lately! We've been spending lots of extra time at the pool with friends, and it has really made the days fly by. It's like we're trying to soak up every last bit of summer sun while we can. Although we've really enjoyed our summer days, I've never been so ready for fall. I'm ready for trips to the playground and long walks without the humidity to go with it.


Eli got his first glimpse of life from the lake in our neighborhood. He wasn't too sure!

He's so busy, yet keeps himself pretty well entertained throughout the day...



He climbs, crawls and explores every square inch of our house.

He has a thing for pigs! This makes me so happy mainly because he shares this love with my grandaddy. Everytime we make a trip to VA, Eli comes back with some obnoxious singing/dancing/oinking pig. We have quite the collection going. My grandad has always collected piggy banks, and Eli is so enthralled with each and every one.

This is his newest and most obnoxious pig. You pull his tail and he lets out a high pitched squak that will go on for hours. You press his foot and he sings the loudest most ridiculous song. And of course Eli belly laughs each time as if he's never seen or heard it before!
My husband and son will both have my head for this one day...but it's just too funny to pass up. Eli took one of my headbands to Danny this weekend pleading for him to put it on his head. I won't lie...he looked pretty cute!

Danny and I are thrilled that we're going to be a part of something called Journey groups through our church. We'll each meet with our own men and women group each week, for about 9 months straight. It's a huge, yet wonderful commitment that we're both really excited to make. We'll be starting up in September. We're praying for each of the leaders, and for all of those involved. It's such a great way to form really strong and lasting relationships, and to learn from one another.

Finally, I haven't ever mentioned it here before, but we'd love your prayers on something. We've been consulting with Eli's pediatrician this last month about some 'concerning' brown spots on his abdomen and neck, and will be following up with a pediatric Dermatologist on Thursday. It could be absolutely nothing, but it also could be something serious that would send us to MUSC for further testing. Our pediatrician has been great about fully informing us on the good and the bad possibilities, as well as keeping our minds at ease. We feel much better after our last visit, and look forward to getting a specialists' opinion this week.

Go Braves!

Our weekend getaway was just what we needed! It may not have gone just as planned, but thats what made it such a great weekend! As we were pulling into Atlanta Friday afternoon the sun was quickly disappearing and the rain clouds were taking over. We had tickets for the Friday night and Saturday night Braves games. We decided to grab an early dinner and then head over to the field to see what would ever become of the rain. Being the optimistic and carefree weekend we were determined to have, we went to the field with no umbrella or rain gear of any kind. It rained, and then poured, and then rained some more. We made it inside the stadium where we were able to stay dry for hours while we waited out the storm with 50,000 other Braves fanatics. After nearly 3 hours of waiting, and right before we made the call to leave, the rain stopped and it turned into an unbelievable evening! Other than the fact that the Braves lost and the game didn't end until nearly 1:00am. We were all beyond tired by the end of the night!
We had the pleasure of being there for Tom Glavin's induction into the Braves Hall of Fame. I know that was really neat for Danny since he grew up watching him play.

We had GREAT seats for both games. With the Braves currently being in 1st place, it was a really exciting time to be in Braves nation! The fans were tons of fun, and the place was packed out. Mike and I had a hard time containing Danny. He's always been quite the Braves enthusiast :)

Saturday was an even better day. We slept in later than we have in YEARS. I drug the guys to the mall as payback for the previous night, and they were more than patient. There was just no way I could be in Atlanta and not get inside a mall. We ate at amazing restaurants all weekend, and enjoyed every second of our time together. We were really excited for the game Saturday night. The weather was perfect, the Braves won, and we were up close and personal for a free Sara Evans concert after the game.
We hadn't seen Mike since our wedding almost 3 years ago. We had a lot of catching up to do! He was a wonderful host and we were so glad to have him show us the ropes while we were there. Atlanta can be a bit overwhelming if you don't know your way around!
Chipper! He's been a favorite since we were both little.
<> The Braves celebrating a big win!
I've always been a big fan of Sara Evans, and of all the country concerts I've been to I've never had the opportunity to see her perform live. We were so lucky to have been given such amazing seats for the game and concert.




Eli was SO incredibly good for his Nana & Pop-pop. It's good to know that he can survive a night without us :) We were all so glad to be back together, and those 3 days felt like weeks. It was a refreshing weekend for everyone, and we're so thankful for grandparents that are so willing to make that possible for us!

Local vacationing!

We've been doing what some may call a 'staycation.' You act like tourists and vacation in your own town :) We spent Saturday at the beach in Sea Pines, and today we headed back out to Lawton Stables to do the petting farm and trolley rides. We were right there mixed in with all of the other sweaty vacationers. We had such a fun day. Eli could have stayed and talked with the smelly animals all day long. He didn't seem to mind that it was miserably hot out and close to sending everyone into a heat stroke. He absolutely loves animals of all kind. He stuck his head, arms and legs right into their pens, and even felt the need to kiss any animal that came close enough. It was precious and gross all at the same time. We already can't wait to take him back next summer for pony rides.

Getting ready for a big smooch!

We had the trolley all to ourselves for half of our ride...it was so nice!
The best thing about being around tourists is that someone is always offering to take family pictures!


Having a snack with daddy while waiting for the trolley to come.
He loves a good horsey ride!
We're really making the most of the rest of the summer. We've been spending a lot of time at the pool with friends, and have a lot of fun things coming up in August! Dan and I are really looking forward to a weekend getaway this weekend to Atlanta. Nana & Pop-pop will be watching Eli at their house, and I know he'll have so much fun. This will be our first time away from him since he was born, but I know that we're all finally ok with the idea :) We will be spending time with our good friend Mike who lives in Atlanta, and going to several Braves games. We've been talking about going to Braves games together since before we got married. It's about time we're finally going!

We just found out that Mimi will be coming back for a visit in just a few short weeks! We may even get to spend a weekend in St. Augustine, FL with her and Papa Tom as well! So many things to look forward to, and so many things to be thankful for.