My Little Artist

Henry prefers to color in the nude. Look at that bod. Please ignore my sorry excuse for sharks that I drew for Cohen.

Back in Jax

We just got back from a week of fun in the sun in Jacksonville. We had the best time playing in the sand and splashing in the water with some of our best friends and family. With Cohen and Henry around, vacations aren't quite as relaxing as they used to be. Instead, the days are action packed from sunrise to sunset.

Cohen and his buddies, Morgan and Tyler, eating cookies

Katie and Tracy before heading out to Ocean 60

Hendog hangin' out

Cohen pointed to the Lemon Bar and immediately said, "Mom, I want to go there. I want to go to Wemon Bar."

Family fun on the beach

We spent the majority of each day playing on the beach. It was fun but exhausting. Just ask Henry...

This is how Henry rolled at the beach. At almost 25 pounds and not walking, it's hard carrying him everywhere.

Henry wearing David's Masters hat

Cohen munchin' on crackers

Cohen could have looked for dolphins in the ocean all day.

Cohen and GG

Katie and Meg

We did some paddle boarding with Pop

Me and my mini-me

David and his

More dolphin searching

The beach makes you hungry, so we visited most of our favorite spots - Al's, Ocean 60, Ichiban, Sliders (2 times), Salt Life and Joseph's

Cohen on the jaguar

Being away from the beach for 13 years really makes you appreciate where you are from. It is so sad to leave our friends and family and the paradise we grew up in. We are happy to be back in Charlotte, though, but we can't wait to plan our next trip down!

Thanks to Rice and Amanda for letting us stay at their beautiful condo on the beach! Thanks to all of our friends and family for making this trip so special. Every day was filled with fun and memorable times. I would have to write a novel to recap them all.

Birthday Weekend

My boys definitely made my birthday weekend fun and special! We went Uptown to the EpiCentre Friday evening. Cohen and Henry had the time of their lives walking around, riding escalators, splashing in fountains, eating dinner at Firehouse and ice cream at Coldstone. All four of us were worn out by 8 pm.

Saturday morning, Cohen and I made a quick trip to the mall. We got milkshakes at Chick-fil-A, bought a squirt gun at Dick's Sporting Goods and rode the Choo Choo Train around the parking lot.

Hendog stayed cool at home, splashed in the pool and ate popsicles.

Saturday night, we celebrated at Aria and Whiskey Wharehouse's rooftop bar, Top Shelf. It was so fun going out with Laura, Mike, Brooke, Michael, Heather and Clay!

It amazes me how quickly a year passes. I am so blessed to be surrounded by my wonderful husband, beautiful boys and amazing family and friends.

First Haircut

Henry got his first haircut today, and it is too cute for words! He is such a laid-back baby most of the time, so the haircut went very easily. He woke up from his nap with wild hair (it usually doesn't shoot straight out on both sides!).

Henry just sat with his sucker while Miss Erin clipped away. Notice big brother, Cohen, in the lower corner. Cohen loves going to see Miss Erin because he knows he will get at least two suckers and one trip to the candy machine.

Look at that sweet boy.

Last night, Henry gave us a good scare. We had our first 911 experience. David and the boys were playing in the backyard, and David turned his head for one second. Henry got something stuck in his throat (we think a small piece of a stick). David beat on his back while Henry went through spurts of screaming, crying to silence while gasping for air. He eventually swallowed whatever it was right before the fire truck showed-up (the highlight of Cohen's week). Thank God he's okay.

Fun Fourth

Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday, so we spent the entire weekend celebrating! We played hard for four days straight...I am exhausted. The weather was beautiful but hot, so we did a lot of swimming and eating popsicles to stay cool.

Cohen used to love when I took pictures of him, and he would totally ham it up for the camera. Now, he get so shy and won't look at me!

Off to the pool...

Both our boys are water babies. They could stay at the pool all day long. Cohen wants to "swim" the entire time we are there. He loves going under the water, and even if he accidentally swallows a gulp of water, he comes up with a huge smile on his face and says, "AGAIN!"

Henry crawls and splashes around the baby pool, but he also loves bouncing on the steps in the big pool and practicing his kicking and floating.

On the fourth, Cohen went to the "Big Park" and spray ground with David in the morning, then we all walked to church for the Annual Fourth of July Bash. We had a great time playing on the water slides, dunking Pastor Mike in the dunk booth and eating cheeseburgers.

We spent the rest of the afternoon splashing in our blowup pool.


The shy face again -

Cohen and Henry both love popsicles. Henry can hold his all by himself!

We closed the day with a fun cookout with good friends and good food! The boys were wild, so we didn't get any pictures except for a quick one of Henry with Aunt Laura and Uncle Mike.

Cohen spent the entire day saying, "Appy Birfday Amewica!" He was so excited the whole day...especially for the birfday cake.

And Henry...He was just happy to celebrate his 10 month birthday on the fourth. He partied like it was his first birthday.