St Simons Island/Florida trip

We had a great trip! We drove over 1200 miles and Garrett did great. We left at 6am on Thursday morning because we knew he would fall asleep as soon as we put him in the car. We drove until it was time for him to eat and that seemed to work out great. We drove to St Simons Island in GA and it was beautiful. We've been thru there a few times before but have never stayed. We went to the pier village and had a great dinner on the water. We even saw some guys catch a huge hammerhead shark from the pier. I have to admit that since we have a little one now, I love smocked clothing! I've always loved it but now have a reason to buy it :) I found a store down there that sells it and they also have a warehouse where many things have been marked down. Needless to say it was dangerous for Tommy to let me go in there by myself :) Garrett now has an outfit for his first birthday!!

He didn't fuss one time on the way down there and we had him all over the place once we got there. On Friday we drove the rest of the way to Florida. It was so great getting to see our friends and their sweet babies! It was also pretty entertaining watching them interact with one another. We also drove down to Daytona to see our friends parents, had lunch on the water, and did some shopping :)

We also had our first encounter with an angry man at a restaurant! Our kids were great, didn't make a peep and this restaurant was noisy! He was drunk and tried telling us that our kids ruined his meal; we weren't even sitting near him and that we needed to "take control" over our kids--in hindsight, I should have asked how he proposed to do that to 6 month olds :) Needless to say Tommy was not a happy camper and let the guy know what he thought. We always have some sort of adventure to tell about. And granted I know I'm a bit biased about NC but here people will smile at you and even speak to you (even if you don't know them); there are a lot of unhappy people down in the sunshine state!

The 3 amigos :)

Long Weekend :)

I love long weekends! Don't get me wrong, I really love my job and being around those great (well mostly great) kids all week. But, it's nice to sleep in, catch up on things around the house, or just do nothing! We've had a great weekend so far. We spent yesterday at the beach and it was so nice. Hurricane Earl didn't really do anything here so that was good. However, because of the rough seas, there were lots of shells that washed up on the beach. We even found a few sharks teeth. Tonight we're headed over for a cook-out with some friends.

There's nothing new on the adoption front and I've really had that "baby itch" over the past week. I just really want something to happen. I know it will but we just have to wait for God's perfect timing. We did email our social worker because we're thinking about taking a cruise next year and wanted to see what she advised as far as being out of the country, especially if we haven't been placed yet. She told us it was fine; just to let her know that we wouldn't have phones and everything could wait until we got back. Kind of scary in one way but in another we still have to live our lives too.

Tommy's Grandma is not doing well. She told his mom that she feels weaker and feels like she is slipping away. She's also gotten really swollen lately too. It's like that double edged sword, we want her here but we don't want her to have to suffer either. She's such a strong woman and it's hard to see her hurt.

I'm looking forward to having the day off tomorrow and sleeping in a bit!

Weekend Getaway

First, thank you all for your kind comments on the cupcakes. I was really pleased at how they turned out! The best news, the office that received them, LOVED them! It was a huge hit. So we'll see if this turns out to be a little side business for me. It's not out of the question because I love doing it. I'll post some more pictures of my other pieces next week.

This weekend, actually this evening, Tommy and I are headed to Myrtle Beach for a weekend getaway. His parents have a condo there and gave us a weekend and show tickets at Christmas. We haven't had a chance to use them until now. Bailey's pretty excited because she's coming with us--she loves to go! I think we may even go to a water park on the beach front. We're also going to do a little "back to school" shopping for me :)

I'm ready and we need this right now. Tommy needs a break from work and I've been stressing a little lately on the adoption situation or lack thereof I should say. I'm so thankful that I have such a supportive husband!

Summer Vacations

It's always fun to get away but it's nice to come back home! Usually we take a big trip in March when I have spring break, but because of the adoption expenses this year we've scaled those trips back some.

Two week ago I went with Tommy's Mom and Grandma to Biloxi, Mississippi. They've always wanted me to come along but because of other trips or having to miss too many days of work, I haven't been able to go. They go to get away and to gamble. Now, I am not a gambling woman :) But I knew it would be fun to experience something different. Let me just say you would never know that our country is facing economic hard times if you could go inside one of these places! I had never been to Mississippi so that's another state I can mark off of my list. It was extremely hot down there but I made good use of the pool! It was nice just to sit back and relax. No agenda, no schedules, and no dinner to cook! We had a great time together and I enjoyed being with them. Tommy's Grandma has been battling lung cancer for almost 2 years now and she's not doing well so I treasure the time that I got to spend with her. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Where we stayed

The Hard Rock Casino next door to us

The beaches of Biloxi (the oil was 13 miles off the coast at this point)

Last week, Tommy, my mom, and myself went to the Outer Banks of NC. We had a great time! Tommy had never been so we gave him the tour! We started at Currituck on Monday and came down to Kitty Hawk. Then we went further south to Cape Hatteras and eventually made it to my favorite island of Ocracoke!

Tommy is afraid of heights but he rose to the challenge and climbed the lighthouses with us; you can only climb Currituck and Hatteras. The view from the top was beautiful and well worth the 12 story climb :) We also went to the Wright brothers memorial (first in flight) and did some fishing at Hatteras. Ocracoke is a small island, only 14 miles long. However, the "town" is only 1.5 miles long so everyone walks or rides a bike or has a golf cart. It was hot (heat index at 105) but it is so peaceful there. Everything closes around 6:00 at night, even the restaurants close at 10. You can hang out on the docks and talk to the locals which was a lot of fun. During the day we took a boat over to Portsmouth island and rode on ATVs. That was a lot of fun. We found a lot of shells, even the rare scotch bonnet, and saw the empty town of Portsmouth (basically the hurricanes ran everyone away).

The funny thing about being there, we had no cell phone coverage. It was so nice! Tommy's work constantly calls him when he is away so it was nice to not have to worry with the phone ringing. However, we did remember that we hadn't told our social worker we were going anywhere so we were relieved once we hit "land" and didn't have a call from her.

Currituck Lighthouse

The view from the top

Wright Brothers Memorial
Bodie Lighthouse (obviously under construction)

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

We made it!

The baby shark

The stingray (we actually caught 2 of these)

Ocracoke Lighthouse

Getting ready for the ATV riding at Portsmouth

Catching up :)

I know I've been MIA for a few days! I tried posting through my great iph.one but it didn't work. I'll have to work on that.

I just returned from a "girls trip" to Biloxi, Mississippi. Tommy's Mom and Grandma invited me to come with them. Actually they've always wanted me to go with them but because of work or us being out of town, I could never get away. They go for the gambling; it's their little escape from reality I think. It doesn't really interest me but I had a great time lounging at the pool and taking in some new sights.

It really is beautiful there. The devastation left behind from Katrina is still very apparent. Our driver told us on the beach highway, out of 28 colonial homes, only 3 remain. Right now, the businesses are starving for tourists. Many people have changed their plans because of the oil. It wasn't there, yet.

All of that aside, we did have a great time and it was fun spending time with them. Tommy's Grandma has lung cancer and we don't know how much longer she'll be with us. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Tommy's on vacation now and on Monday we leave for the Outer Banks! He's never been and I'm excited to show him all the ropes there! :)

No news on the adoption front, with the exception that now we have been waiting 4 months.