We were fortunate enough to meet up with my family in Charleston a few weeks back. We stayed only about 24 hours, but were able to go out to dinner, go to the beach (albeit cold and windy), open presents, take a carriage ride around Charleston, and then do some browsing around the city’s shops and market.

But all that paled in comparison to seeing family I haven’t seen in far too long!

My handsome men, Easter morning, in front of our azaleas in full bloom. We went to both Mass and the UMC service, for a serious dose of Easter jubilation!

In August (I’m months behind, so sue me), we were invited to a local soccer game, the Wilmington Hammerheads. We brought both boys, Harper who seemed more interested than he appears in the game below. ( I swear, getting a 3 year old to sit and smile on cue is impossible.) We didn’t finish out the game, but Harper loved seeing it in action!

Some things are just too cute!

As Harper gets older, we are slowly assigning him chores. I typically don’t say “chores” though, I typically tell him that he is “helping the family.” This is his first attempt at setting the table. He’s actually getting quite good now, but only if I give him specifics (ie. “Get the forks out” “Put the plates on the table”). He also puts the silverware away (except the sharp knives). I feel that it is important for Harper to learn that we all help the family!

Harper loves to have his picture taken. I was using the camera, and he climbed over the couch and onto my back “Take my picture, Momma, take my picture.” So I did.

Harper loves the camera and will jump in front of it at any time. Corbin on the other hand, is so startled by it that all his pictures look like this:

I have recently discovered that I need more pictures of me, tom, and general life because I have mostly picture of just the boys! I’ll work on it, I promise!

Dad came for a visit in early December (yes, I know, it’s January and I’ll try harder to blog more frequently) and we had a wonderful time. Dad hadn’t been to Wilmington ever (we’ve been here for almost 4 years) and since he didn’t get to come when Harper was born, he came when Corbin was born. We had a GREAT time. We, of course, went to beach (yay for unseasonably warm weather), we went to dinner at Front Street, and Dad introduced me to the wonder that is the rutabaga! Seriously, how have I gone 28 years without rutabagas?

Having Dad here was a reminder of how nice it can be to have family locally. He had to leave after a week, but I hope he and the family can visit again soon…

Sometimes the best family photos are the the candid ones, not the studio-portrait–everyone-smile–and-look-slightly-to-the-left ones. Here, Harper is furious that we are attempting to get him to hold still for just one family photo during a trip to a downtown festival. But this is the first all-4-of-us family photo, and we were going to take the picture, gosh darn it!!

Here is an example of the amazing care I received from my midwife and her assistant – home visits to check on me and Corbin post-partum. Harper loved these visits and was fascinated by the stethoscope. He went around listening to Erin’s, Tom’s, my and his own heartbeat.

Here are all my men, both big and little. By the time we had gotten home from the hospital, Corbin’s uncles had sent him Notre Dame gear, and the following Saturday, all the guys in the house dressed up for game day. Tom credits the spectacular Notre Dame win that day on the overwhelming support radiating from our small apartment in Coastal Carolina.

For the holiday weekend, the family traveled to Erin’s for a bit of fun and celebration. We had a fantastic weekend – filled with a fun, but odd, museum (The Museum of York County). They had a walk through story book, African animal collections, a planetarium, local geography and more. We had a splendid time. Afterwards, we picked our own peaches at a South Carolina farm and enjoyed fresh ice cream after our time in the sweltering 100 degree heat. And lastly, we enjoyed time at Erin’s new place, including the development’s large, kid friendly pool.

We didn’t catch fireworks this year, but all the other wonderful memories more than made up for it!

Growing up, birthday parties were generally a family affair. I did have some memorable “friends” parties (my 16th birthday Hawaiian murder mystery party comes to mind), but generally birthdays were my favorite dinner cooked by Mema, blowing out candles and opening presents from family both present and not, and then playing with Nate.

Here, there is no family. Just friends. I wanted to celebrate Harper’s birthday and didn’t know how to do it without family (Tom’s family came to celebrate Harper’s birthday last year). So we went with the friend birthday party.

Preparations were done – but the big one I neglected was that by choosing the park that does not require reservations for their shelters, I had completely missed there was MS Walk-A-Thon that was going on that day. The parking lots as far as the eye could see were packed. People were everywhere. Shelters were full – there were tents and booths everywhere. I have to admit – panic mode commenced!

There were crowds and live music and finally we found a little out of the way shelter, with the tiniest picnic tables I’d ever seen and overrun with ivy. But it was beautiful, far enough from the crowds to not be bothered, but close enough to hear the music. And so the show went on.

The party itself was a success. I got some cute decorations, had goodie bags and hidden “dinosaur eggs,” Tom grilled some wonderful burgers and we all played and talked in the park. Harper had a lovely time and we made some wonderful memories! But maybe next year, we’ll just do the family party…

My sweet little boy turned two. To celebrate, I took the morning off and brought him to the Children’s Museum of Wilmington. He fell in love with the train tables and spent most of his time there, collecting the trains and running them on the tracks. We also had fun digging in the garden, visiting the “dentist” and the Teddy Bear Hospital. But the train station was the winner, and here is Train Master Harper, overseeing his kingdom.

Harper is soon to be a big brother. I’m not quite sure to what extent he understands that. We point to my lower abdomen and say “Baby,” to which he responds by patting his belly and saying “baby.” However, he’s also, with his father’s encouragement, began talking to baby. Does he know why? I don’t know. I’m not even sure if he’ll understand if we can get baby to kick him in the next few months. But either way, it is adorable! And come September, he’ll definitely know!

A lazy day in the house, with some of the most adorable father son bonding I’ve ever seen.

After a nice, sunny almost 80 degree day, we decided to head to the beach in the late afternoon. We couldn’t resist. Wrightsville Beach starts charging in March, and we wanted to enjoy the sand and the sun on a glorious February day.

But by the time we actually got the shore, the sun had started to set and the chilly nighttime air started to set in. We only stayed for about 20 minutes, but we still had a nice time.

For New Year’s, we traveled to Charlotte to visit Erin. Erin has come to Wilmington so many times we can’t even count! We exchanged Christmas presents (you can see the adorable elephant sweater vest Harper got and the Giant Microbe – a brain cell – that Erin got from some crazy lady).

We played dominoes, watched Toy Story 3 (the most depressing of the trilogy), toasted champagne at midnight, walked around some shops and watched Harper play on the playground.

What a nice way to bring in the new year.

Tom, Harper and I celebrated Christmas at home this year.

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated the true spirit of the season at Pine Valley UMC in the afternoon, after which I started Christmas dinner preparations. That was followed by more rejoicing at St Mark’s Catholic church, with a beautiful mass. Once at home, we got into our new flannel Christmas Eve jammies and read A Night Before Christmas with Harper. Tom and I cuddled and watched all the Doctor Who Christmas specials to date and then snuggled into bed.

The next morning, we gathered presents and stockings by the tree (no mantle place). Christmas morning was full of lovely surprises, a wonderful breakfast, watching Harper open presents, lazing around, Christmas Dinner, naps, cleaning up, Christmas movies, and phone calls with families.

All in all, we’re setting up some great Christmas traditions for our little family.