Monday, July 22, 2013

Reunion 2013

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We had another successful McDaris Family Reunion in Asheville NC in July.  Pop Pop and GG came for a visit and took the boys to the pool which is always a treat.  We met up with Ashley for a traditional Mellow Mushroom pizza dinner the night before the reunion and topped it off with a fun night of dancing, ice cream and a firehouse visit.  Dylan got a lot of smiles running around town in his Superman cape, too.  The reunion was a lot of fun, good food and lots of family catching up.


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Monday, July 15, 2013

OBX Vacation

July brought a very exciting Ward family beach vacation. It was especially fun because we hadn’t been doing OBX beach vacations since the boys were born (the drive is just too far when they’re really little) but we thought they were old enough to be entertained by movies in the car so it was time to give it a try.  We also learned that there’s nothing better than the promise of a McDonald’s happy meal for good behavior :)  John and I were able to go down a few days early while the boys stayed with Grandma and Grandaddy which was so nice.  We even decided to do a helicopter ride around the islands!
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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Last Day of School

Sean finished up his first year of “pre” Preschool in May.  He made a lot of progress in the past year.  When we started, they actually had to take him outside because he would scream and yell so loud when I left that he “scared the other kids!”  EJCP-6406
I was always a bit worried about him because he’s one of the youngest in his grade (our cutoff here for school is 8/31 and his birthday is 8/14) but he never seemed to be affected by it and was a real trooper.  He ended up making a bunch of friends, many of whom he’ll go to elementary school with over the next few years.  How exciting!
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Friday, June 21, 2013

Dylan’s 1st Haircut

You might remember Dylan’s little curl (ok, rattail) he had right up to his first birthday.  I loved that little lock of hair.  It took me a little too long to have it cut but really, what’s the rush?  You can only have long shaggy baby hair once.  But we finally bit the bullet and took him in to have his first official haircut after his birthday.  He loved it!
Before:

During
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After!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Swim Lessons

We finally enrolled the boys in swim lessons this February.  Most of my mom friends have been doing this for “years” and are now on to soccer and gymnastics with their toddlers.  Slow and steady wins the race in my book (at least that’s what I keep telling myself to make me feel better).  Plus, that means I would have been in a bathing suit swimming around with Sean at 8 months pregnant and that just doesn’t sound like my idea of fun.  If Momma ain’t happy ain’t no body happy.  I’m on a roll today.

Anyway, for the first session we got in a bit late (and by late I mean 2 minutes late at 12:02 a.m. Super Bowl Sunday night/morning – when did we turn into these parents?!) and the only opening was on Sunday afternoons at 4.  This was not good for several reasons, but most importantly because that meant we had to wake Dylan up from his nap and had to force Sean to nap between 1-3 which is not an easy feat for a 3 and-a-half year old.  We learned the hard way that it was better to wake Sean up from a nap rather than not have him nap at all… a ton of screaming, tears, and parents doing that I’m not looking at you but I’m looking at you to see how you’ll handle this look turned into a pretty bad Sunday afternoon early on in the game.  Lesson learned.  Sean-1, Parents-0.  But once we got into a rhythm it wasn’t so bad and the boys are much more comfortable in the water than when we started.  We decided to sign them up for the 2nd session (still in progress) and Sean can now put his head under water and I can push Dylan underwater and he pops up like he swallowed a life jacket (life saving? probably not but cute nonetheless).

The boys think the best part of swim class is that they sometimes get a bath in our tub with the “bubble jets” which, to 2 toddlers, is basically the best thing on the planet.

Poor Dylan looks like he’s taking a mug shot, doesn’t he? I swear he has fun! Well, most of the time…

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And If Having Your Youngest Child Turn a Year Older Doesn’t Make You Feel a Little Sorry For Yourself Because ‘If He’s Getting Older You’re Getting Older’…

This picture will.
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Now some of you may look at the picture and say “Wow, look at all those chins!” but I beg to differ.  I see a concerned mom just trying to keep her youngest son from going head-first into the #2 sparkler candle.  I should get a medal.
Who bought that dangerous you-shouldn’t-put-stuff-like-this-in-front-of-a-toddler birthday candle you ask? uh-hum, well, I did.  So I guess I deserve this picture then, don’t I?

Monday, June 10, 2013

Dylan Turned 2!

We basically celebrated all month! 
Notice the red nail polish on Dylan’s big toes?  He LOVED having his toenails painted!

First, we had a family party with cake and presents…
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… and then we went to Richmond and celebrated with Grandma, Grandaddy, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Marshall & Aunt Megan!!_SC01127_SC01128_SC01139
Complete with a visit from Mickey Mouse!
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But Dylan wasn’t so sure…
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Neither was Polly…
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But Sean was really happy!!
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Until he got a small boo-boo that Grandma had to fix.
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But all was better quickly :)
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And just look what Sean and Dylan have to look forward to! haha
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We can’t believe our baby is 2.  He’s such a joy – he makes us sing, dance, smile and laugh daily.  He makes us better. 
We love you, Dylan.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

School’s Out for Summer

Sean and I celebrated his last day of school for the year with a big chocolate milkshake at the diner!
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Monday, June 3, 2013

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Surprise trip to MD

I was in New Jersey for work one Monday in May and was asked to be in DC Thursday.  Normally I would just decline but I was asked to coach some of our top performing female managers in our Women’s Initiative program (I’m such a fan of this program, it’s really helped me a lot at work).  I couldn’t say no!
To make the most of it, we decided to make it into a mini trip. I took Sean and Dylan with me so they could spend time with Pop Pop and GG while I was in DC… a win-win.  It was my first time flying with them alone and I have to say, it went really well.  Ok, so when I got to my parent’s house I had to take another shower before heading down to DC but at least we made it with the stroller, our bags and my sanity!
I was still able get out of buying a ticket for Dylan since he was under 2 so that was great, and he ended up sleeping on both flights as soon as we took off.  The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with that kid I tell ya.
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Friday, May 24, 2013

I’m Coming Back to the Blog (I hope!)

So it’s been a few days weeks since I’ve blogged and honestly I have things from back in March that I haven’t posted about.  It’s a strange thing, this blog, because it’s always something that’s just sitting in the back of your mind, reminding you that’s it’s unfinished and in bad shape. It’s important for me to keep it up though because every year or so I have the past year printed into a little book that I’d love to give the boys when they’re older. When they’re talking to each other one day and wonder what in the world their parents did to make them so weird...  that’s where this blog comes in.  A little reminder of the mostly good stuff that’s happened (when I have time to recap it all!).  Blogs are so personal and everyone has a different tone, message and purpose they’re trying to get across.  I’m certainly no writer and have no skills to really share (maybe how to cross your eyes or create a totally awesome spreadsheet but that’s where it stops) so a baking, crafting, healthy eating blog is not for me.  So I figure since I got to about page 5 in Sean’s baby book and … hmmm… where is Dylan’s baby book?… I might as well try to keep track of our craziness through a blog.

I’m planning to get back on the wagon (back on the bike? back in the seat? how does that saying go?) in very short order.  So far I’ve finally put my pictures on the computer from the camera and honestly I think that’s a very good start.  Maybe over the long weekend I can tell you about some things we did in March ;) Fingers crossed. But the weather looks like it’s gonna be nice and it would be fun to take the boat out. Or maybe go to opening day of the pool.  Well at least I can take picutres and tell you all about it next fall.

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The boys have started to watch TV shows together.  This was a few weeks ago on a Friday night. They were watching one of those family shows where the kids and parents compete in various games to win a prize. I wonder if I can get John to audition so the 4 of us can compete one day? You know that’s one of the things on my bucket list - playing on Wheel of Fortune. Maybe this would suffice?

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Sean’s New Bunk Bed

Sean had been growing out of his crib-turned-toddler-bed for a while but John and I couldn’t decide what to do next with his room.  After a lot of deliberation, we decided to get him a bunk bed.  Our hope was that one day soon, he and Dylan could have a “sleepover” in Sean’s room when family comes in town and we need an extra room or, more importantly, just for fun.  Deciding on a bunk bed was only half the battle though, because these days there are about a million different types of layouts and material for these things.  Who knew?!
We ended up getting one that has stairs up the side, drawers all the way around (even each stair is a drawer!) and a full bed that you can wheel around for an easier time making the bed.  I have to admit, I’ve been on the top bunk a few times and it’s a ton of fun.  Dylan has been trying to persuade us to let him sleep in there one night, too.  Maybe soon :)
The night before the bunk bed’s big arrival…
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Playing the next day…
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Over the summer we’ve been making it more cozy by getting fun green sheets for the top bunk and a reading light for the little shelf area so we can read our bedtime books in the “cave.”  All in all I think it was a success!  My biggest fear is hearing those words from Dylan in a year… “Why can’t I have a bunk bed?  Sean has a bunk bed!”
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