Alaina's Famous Dance

Alaina seriously loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She also really likes the Minnie "Bow-Toons" that are short little cartoons between the 25 minute shows. 

Here is an example.

She really likes me to sing the opening song of the show and dance to it. Today, Harry got a video of her doing just this. Please excuse my terrible singing (but Alaina likes it, so that's good). 

Beach Weekend

This past weekend Harry, Alaina, and I headed to my parents near Wilmington, NC for a little beach get-away. We had a fantastic time and got a couple of great beach days in!

My sister, Martha, and her family stopped by for dinner and some play-time after their trip to the beach.

Luke, Alaina, Alex, and Madison playing on the slide.

The kids found a dragonfly and were mesmerized! 

Alaina and Madison

 Alaina and her babies all set up (Alaina did this and when I came around the corner she yelled, "cheese!")

 Happy Beach Baby

My little girl and me on my birthday. :-)

Alaina running for the waves... she LOVES the beach. 

Just before we left we found a lizard outside my parents front door. Alaina was obsessed with him and wanted us to take a picture... it turned out pretty well.

Daddy's Fashions

Today, Alaina sported her Daddy's fashions and it was really cute. She asks about him all the time during the day and I always tell her, "Daddy's at work." Today she told me, "Daddy work, toe broken, Daddy home!" She has recently started speaking in short phrases and I love what all she tells me. I can tell that she misses him a lot during the day so she made up for it by wearing some of his things.

First she found Daddy's belt. It had to be doubled up but she could wear it!

Next, wearing Daddy's shoes. Notice they are both right shoes and not a matching set. We don't seem to have any left shoes hanging around anywhere (other than collecting dust in the closet). I wonder why that is... (see "Surfer's Toe" for more information). 

Also, FYI, we won't have any left shoes floating around here for at least 3 more weeks but the surgeon doesn't think Harry will need to have a pin put in his toe. Yay?!?)

Alaina or Cookie Monster?

This video is a lot like my days with Alaina... requests for cookies and milk, sentences with poor grammar, and lots of dancing. 

A Walk in the Park

In the mornings, Alaina and I like to go for a jog (or sometimes a walk) in our community park. We also enjoy stopping to feed the ducks. This is a little video of our duck encounter today.

Alaina loves feeding the ducks. This morning, even after 3 pieces of bread, she wasn't done so she offered up her own snack... Teddy Grahams. I was skeptical, but the ducks and the goose ate it! We always end our visit by saying, "see you tomorrow!"

Story Time

Most Fridays, the public library in Davidson hosts a story time for toddlers from 11-11:25 (which is plenty of time). Today, Jessica, Beth, and I took the little ones there for a story, some dancing, lots of running, and a picnic.

Liam, Zack, and Alaina

They had a great time and I hope we can do it again next Friday!

Happy Independence Day

Yesterday, we celebrated our country's birthday. Alaina and I started the day with Harry's extended family (Harry had to work half of a day yesterday). We also got to visit some of the farm animals; Alaina's favorite were the baby birds.

After the family reunion, Harry, Alaina and I went to celebrate with friends. Alaina's two best buddies were there so we all had a great time.

Alaina, Liam, and Zack

All three of them are 3 months apart. Liam is the oldest, born May 2010, Alaina is the middle, born September 2010, and Zack is the youngest, born December 2010. 

Having fun in Liam's room. Of course Alaina is the daredevil jumping on the bed while the boys sit and play. This picture really shows her personality. 

Happy Birthday America! 

Thank you to all the men and women that serve that allow us to have this great country!

Surfer's Toe

Many of you may have heard of Turf Toe or Tennis Elbow, injuries associated with particular sports. This past weekend Harry was afflicted with Surfer's Toe. You may have never heard of Surfer's Toe but it is real and it is kinda gross. You see, Surfer's Toe happens when you are in San Diego and you try to learn to surf. You start by practicing on dry land by balancing on a teeter-totter type board (between the size of a skateboard and a surfboard). While trying to balance on this board, you may fall off and get Surfer's Toe (meaning you fracture a chip of bone off your toe right at the joint). If afflicted with Surfer's Toe, you will need to be in a walking boot for  awhile and hopefully you won't need surgery, too. Poor Harry.

 Harry's newest fashion accessory... his Surfer's Toe boot. Luckily the boot blocks your view of his Surfer's Toe.

Alaina has heard us talking about his boot, so she pulled these out of her closet yesterday to wear around the house. Her cowboy boots are much cuter than Harry's Surfer's Toe boot.

Bed Head

Every now and then Alaina wakes up with the cutest hair! Today was not one of those days. 

Alaina's Weekend With Grandma and Grandpa

This past weekend, Harry was in San Diego to attend training with Insulindependence, so Alaina and I headed to Wilmington to spend the weekend with my parents (and go to the beach). Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

On the way, Alaina started laughing hysterically in the back seat of the car. I turned around to see her balancing her cup on her head. She then announced, "cup hat". It was so cute!

Alaina is a true beach baby! She loved playing in the water (she wasn't the least bit scared even if she did get knocked down by a wave), she loved playing in the sand, and she loved people watching on the beach.

Alaina also loved playing at my parents' house. She was a chef and a pony groomer. 

We had a great weekend... thanks to my parents for having us!!

Dancing Queen

Alaina loves to dance. She has started really dancing with her arms more recently and I tried to capture it on the way home from the pool today. 

She was exhausted but it was still really cute.

Games

I have loved spending more time with Alaina the past few days (now that I'm on summer vacation... woohoo). Yesterday I got out a game to play with her, Chairs. The object of the game is to stack as many of the chair pieces as you can without knocking the stack over. She is still a little young, but she really enjoyed trying to stack and line up the chairs. 

Another Concert on the Green

Yesterday, Harry, Alaina, and I met Joanne and Gary in Davidson for our second Concert on the Green this season. The was a Big Band playing a lot of different music and we really enjoyed the weather, picnic, and the company.

This is how we roll... literally. We load up the wagon with all of our picnic items, including Alaina, and stroll to The Green.

Alaina enjoying the music.

 Alaina played the diva and had Joanne fanning her to cool off.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers out there... including these guys!

Harry and Alaina

Father's Day 2012 - Davidson's Concert on the Green

My Dad, Wayne, along with my grandma, me, Martha, and Clay

Niagara Falls -around 1986?

Harry's Dad, Hugh, along with Laura and Harry

"The Beach" - around 1986?

Hiking and Splashing

Today, Harry, Alaina, and I went hiking at Lake Norman State Park. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Harry carried Alaina on the hike and I carried most of our other supplies in our hiking pack. 

Our family picture.

Alaina fell asleep during our hike and ended up in some uncomfortable positions. 

 

After our hike, we had a picnic in the park. 

Finally, to end the day, we went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Eez in Birkdale. After dinner Alaina played in the fountain and had a wonderful time!

Anniversary Weekend

On Friday, Harry and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. It was also my last day of school... talk about an awesome day!

This is us, 9 years ago, in St. John on Honeymoon Beach.

We celebrated on Friday by taking Alaina to the pool. Then, Saturday night Harry's parents came up to babysit Alaina so we could see a movie and get dinner. It was wonderful. We saw the Avengers (loved it!) and ate dinner at 131 Main.

Harry knows me all too well and got us this delicious cake from La Patisserie in Mooresville for dessert.

On Sunday, we met a lot of our friends in Davidson to see Band of Oz at Concert on the Green. Alaina had a ton of fun dancing to the music and eating picnic style. We will absolutely have to do this again!

We somehow made it though the entire weekend without getting a picture of Harry and me together. Rest assured, we are as beautiful, young, and thin as we were 9 years ago when we were married.

A Family Weekend

This past weekend Harry, Alaina, and I went to Fayetteville to celebrate my niece and nephew's birthday. Alex is now 3 and Madison will be 7 this year. The whole family was together for the first time in over 2 years. We had a wonderful time celebrating birthdays and being together. Hopefully it won't be 2 more years before we are all together again.

 

Bottom Row - Me, Alaina, Luke, Madison, Alex, Karen, and Weston

Middle Row - Harry, Dad, Mom, and Clay

Top Row - Edward and Martha

The Cousins

Madison, Alex, Weston, Alaina, and Luke

The Pool

Alaina is, without question, a water baby. She loved the beach and she loves pools. Yesterday she swam and played in my sister and brother-in-law's pool and today she played at our community pool. This was our first visit to the pool and she really enjoyed herself. 

The Crazy Toddler Dress-Up Stage

Alaina has been picking out some unusual outfits/accessories lately (see the post about NYC glasses and a jacket on an 80 degree day for additional proof) and today was no exception. This morning she refused to take off her favorite pajama shirt because it has monkeys on it... OK, so she wears the jammie shirt with her shorts. Then, when she came downstairs for breakfast, she put on a beach hat and sunglasses, indoors at 6:45 AM. As I came downstairs Harry called out, "I think we've entered the crazy toddler dress-up stage." 

Need more proof? Alaina watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while playing with blocks wearing her new life jacket this evening. I have to admit, this is one stage I think is hilarious and I can't wait to see what awesome outfit she comes up with next.

Beach Baby

This past weekend, Harry, Alaina, and I visited my parents in Wilmington and spent a couple of days at the beach. Alaina loved playing in the water and destroying sand castles.

Day 1: Oak Island Beach

 The beach AND bubbles equals yay!

Day 2: Caswell Beach

She was fearless in the ocean despite the large waves from the tropical storm.

Alaina LOVED the bucket of sea water.

Last night, Harry and I left our little lady with her grandparents and headed to Southport to eat at Provisions, Co.

Waiting for a table on the docks.

After dinner, we went for a walk on the small beach down the road. 

Captain Thompson's House (he was a river pilot captain on the Intracoastal Waterway in Southport. 

Views from the beach.

 Looking back at Provisions.