FIRST BIRTHDAY!

He has already changed so much in the last three weeks! Anyways, we celebrated Blayne's First Birthday with family and friends in our church gym. It's a great space and he loved playing with the basketballs! Of course, the next Saturday he started walking, so my family missed it by a week. :( Luckily, we are flying out to Texas Memorial Day weekend so my parents can see him toddling around! He's near full out running now! Pretty adorable!

More beach pictures!

1) Family pic on beach

2) Blayne and Rory (our friends' 18 mo. old)

3) name in sand

4) cool dude w/bruise from fall the night before :(

5) loving the waves

Spring Beach Trip to Ft.Morgan, Alabama

Again, I get the worst blogger award for the month. Oh well! As soon as we got back from the beach, we got ready for Blayne's birthday and family visiting plus work on top of that. I'll talk about the big 1st birthday in another post with pictures.

Now about the beach! We decided to share a condo with our friends, the Oleksik's, this year b/c we knew we'd both be planning vacations around the same time. It was super! They have two girls, ages 4 and 18 months. We love them so much!

We left on Tuesday afternoon and spent the night in Prattville at Ben's Aunt Cindy's house. All his other aunts and uncles came over for a yummy cookout. Blayne tried to stay awake as long as he could. It was nice to be with all of them.

Wednesday morning, we got up and got on the road headed south! About 10 minutes before our exit, we got pulled over. It actually was quite hilarious b/c of the officer's accent. He said, "where ya headin?" and we told him the beach. Then he proceded to say, "well, alby darn, you almost made it!" He let us go with a warning, thank goodness, and a good laugh!! Only in LOWER Alabama!!

We got to Gulf Shores, ate lunch, went to Walmart, and then headed to the condo way out in Ft. Morgan. Little windy the first day and half, but then the rest of the week was perfect! We ate at the Orginal Oyster House, Lambert's, and a new to us place called Cottons (filet mignon was amazing!). Good eats, good tan, lax schedule = great vaca!

Another good, relaxing vacation! 3rd time to the beach for Blayne. our neighbors actually make fun of how many times we've been to the beach in the last 9 months. I LOVE IT!

Masters Sunday

The Masters Golf Tournament is a big deal in our household. Ben has been fortunate enough to go to one day of practice rounds there the last two years. This year it didn't work out, but we all wore our shirts in support.

It was a beautiful weekend here, but unfortunately the pollen is back again. Thankfully, we are headed to the beach for the rest of the week! We are so excited and all packed! April is a good month for us to get away before both of our busy summers kick into full gear. Plus, when we get back, Blayne will be moving up to the one year old room at his daycare. He goes two days a week for five hours. I thought he had to wait until he was walking, but the director said he could go when we were ready! YAY! Although, I have a feeling he's going to be walking by his birthday anyway, which is only two weeks away! WAH!!!

I know after being off the rest of this week I will miss him so bad when I go back to work next Monday. He's such a sweet boy. As soon as he starts walking, I'll be sure to post a video! He's very very very close!!

So the next post will be about the beach!!

Easter 2010

Easter weekend my dad from up from Auburn. Saturday, Ben and I both had to work. Our church egg hunt got postponed from the previous Sunday because of rain. Dad watched Blayne while I ran the egg hunt. Then, we went to Moe's for lunch with Ben. After everyone got an afternoon nap, we grilled out and ate on the deck.

Of course, on Easter we all went to church. I had to leave early b/c it's such a big day at church, but before I left I made sure to dress Blayne in his Easter outfit (which was a handy me down from a friend). After church, my dad made his way back to Auburn and we went to Manchester for the afternoon with the Harbin's. Josh and Alisha came over too. Poor Ben's allergies got the best of him, so he took another two hour nap like he had Saturday. Meanwhile, Blayne was the energizer bunny and kept going without a nap. He even made it all the way back home that evening without falling asleep! Go figure! Needless to say though, as soon as we got home and gave him a quick bath, he laid down and fell asleep within five minutes.

My mom (from Texas) also sent us an Easter basket or should I say carrot with a bunny. It's cute. Can't wait for Blayne to use it next year, when he'll be a little more into the egg hunt rather than just throwing them. I'll try to post a picture of that and our Easter basket for him later.

Next post....Masters Sunday!

Catch up!

So it's almost been a month since my last blog post....sorry! I'll try to catch you up!

First, Blayne and I went to my grandma's house in Florida for a long weekend. My cousin Erin is expecting her first child in July, and we had an early baby shower for her. This was also the first time Jarod and Erin got to meet Blayne! They live in Louisiana, so we don't get to see each other much. We also got to see April and Ella! April and I are 6 months apart, and Ella and Blayne are 4 1/2 months apart. It's so fun to get them together, and we hope too as often as possible so they are close like we are.

The next post topic will be Easter! More to come...

A visit to Auburn and Monkey Park!

Pictures (top to bottom): my dad holding Blayne after his nap, static hair from slide, train ride, swinging, sliding again, on campus w/our neighbors abby and rebecca, dad and blayne at becca's game!

The first weekend of March we went to Auburn for a visit. Friday night, we ate at Cock of the Walk with dad. It was super good! SO much food! Then, Saturday morning we had a big breakfast as always with Dad and we headed out to Becca's soccer game. She is a 17 yr. old neighbor who plays on a select soccer team in Chattanooga. Her team played in a tournament in Auburn for a college showcase. One game an Auburn scout was at her game! She'll be a senior next year, so we have high hopes!!

After the game, we took the Whiteside's to another classic Auburn restaurant, the Barbeque House! After that, we took them on a driving tour of campus and pictures in front of Samford Hall! Then, Ben went to play golf with Rick, our new brother in law, while dad and I took Blayne to the Monkey Park in Opelika! He loved sliding, swinging, and watching all the other kiddos! I grew up going to that park, so it was fun to take him there!! Many mores outings there in the future I am sure!

The rest of the weekend flew by. Cookout Saturday night, visited with more friends, and then attended 10th St. for worship. It was fun for everyone there to see Blayne and to get so many hugs from people who've known me my whole life! Then, we hit the road to get back home before small group at church.

Great weekend "home"!

More posts to come! This month is loaded with fun happenings!!!