Out Here in the Open, mmmmm Motorboatin’

<< Did anyone get that song reference? No?  Oh.  Well, now that I've peaked your curiosity, it’s a pretty clever (for me it’s clever anyway) reference to that Pontoon song by Little Big Town. Ok, no, we don’t own a pontoon but we DO have a motorboat. Close enough? >>
We’ve been having a really good time with the boys on the boat this year.  Last year was difficult because Dylan was so young and anyone who’s ever put a life jacket on a baby knows that they don’t ever want to put another life jacket on anyone’s baby ever again. But now they’re both big enough to enjoy the boat (AND not complain about wearing their jackets) and it’s been a lot of fun.  They get to take a backpack of toys and Sean gets to pee off the back of the boat so they’ve been more than thrilled.

Look closely at the pictures below...  both boys were sound asleep.  Now, I can understand Dylan.  He wasn’t even two years old at the time.  But Sean cracks me up.  He was sitting straight up with that watering can held up for over 30 minutes.  Now that’s tired!

Reunion 2013

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.

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!

Words to live by

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!” 
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!

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

After!

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…

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.


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?

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…

… and then we went to Richmond and celebrated with Grandma, Grandaddy, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Marshall & Aunt Megan!!
Complete with a visit from Mickey Mouse!

But Dylan wasn’t so sure…

Neither was Polly…

But Sean was really happy!!

Until he got a small boo-boo that Grandma had to fix.

But all was better quickly :)

And just look what Sean and Dylan have to look forward to! haha

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.

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!

Sometimes Crabby

Always cute…