Miss You, Mommy

Back to reality alright. Today I opened the sales office at Whitestone for the very first day. Wow, what a lot of preparation that took! It was go, go, go all day long (unfortunately, not from prospective buyers knocking down my door) so I was especially tired when I got home. Wes was cooking dinner and Watson was sitting on the kitchen counter supervising and Watson yells out, "Mommy! I missed you today Mommy." Wes swore that he did not coax him into saying that. I could have cried. That is just what I needed to hear after a long day. I missed you, too Watson.

Back to Reality

We had to come home today and I am so very sad. But we are bringing home a lot of wonderful memories of family time together. We enjoyed our last night on the beach with a picnic ("sand" sandwiches, thanks to Watson) while we watched the sun go down. Wes and Watson caught more crabs and Sophia slept.

Watson has amazed me with his vocabulary. He told me yesterday to look at his shadow. I don't know how he learned what a shadow is, but he seems to notice every shadow we come across now- palms trees, birds, etc. He also told me to look at his footprint while we were walking on the beach one day. "Mommy's big," he announced. Thanks buddy for pointing out what big feet your mother has.

We "left" all of Watson's bobbles for the crabs. He kicked the habit halfway into our trip and has only asked for them once - tonight when he went to bed. I told him that we left the bobbles at the beach for the crabs. He said, "Okay, Mommy," and that was that. I am sort of sad that he doesn't want them anymore. He is growing up and I am going to miss seeing his beautiful dimples and eyes shine around his binky. His bobble smile was such a cute thing and will forever be ingrained in my mind.

Now it's back to work. I am very thankful that we had such a wonderful trip.

Priceless

Dozen Oysters from Buster's - $2.50

Ice cold Corona with lime - $3.50

Sharing them with Watson - Priceless.

There really are some things money can't buy.

(I really don't think Wes let Watson sip on the Corona. Although he is looking a little guilty....)

Dewey Destin

After a fabulous day at the beach, we headed for Dewey Destin for a little fried seafood. Of course, you don't have to order it fried...but why be good on vacation? If you have never been to Dewey Destin, you have to picture the greatest dive you have ever patronized and then add water and pelicans to get the full effect. They serve food out of a trailer and you eat on picnic tables on a rickety old pier. Perfect. The first thing Watson did when we arrived was to take off running down the pier. Nothing like a pre-dinner heart attack for Mom. After the feast, Wes and Watson meandered around the pier checking out the boats and looking for fish and crabs. When we arrived back at the condo, Wes made the discovery that he didn't have his shoes. After much deliberation, he concluded that he had left them on the bumper of the car. I think he was was distracted by Watson who chose to run across the parking lot (running away seems to be a theme here?) with cars passing through. We drove back and found his shoes in the road about a block from Dewey. He was lucky, only one tire mark on one shoe. Of course, I had to give him a hard time. Who leaves their shoes on the back of the car? Actually, it sounds like something I would do.

What We Love about Destin....

1. Grouper sandwiches at Pompano Joe's
2. Heated Pool at Edgewater Beach Condominiums
3. Sugar white sandy beaches
4. Lunch baskets at Dewey Destin
5. Strolling through Baytowne Wharf
6. Fresh seafood from Skipper's Market
7. Italian dinners at Graffiti
8. No work!!!

Disgusting

Watson has been on the egg kick. If you ask him what he wants for breakfast - eggs. For lunch - eggs. For dinner - eggs. You get the picture. Wes cooked him eggs one morning but used a different pan. Watson took one bite and gagged then said, "These are disgusting!" as he pushed his plate away. Poor Wes. He is such a good cook and I don't think he has ever heard anyone say that about his cooking before (Well, I forgot about the Jambalaya dinner...another story).

Last night, we decided to take a little break from seafood and eat at La Paz. On the way back to the condo, Watson was sniffing and snorting and said, "Get those boogers Mommy. Boogers." I asked him if he needed to blow his nose as I was handing him a tissue and told me yes, which he will never admit. He snorted some more then handed me back the tissue. Ahh, the joys of motherhood.

We stopped at TCBY for ice cream and Watson didn't want to eat just his. He wanted my scoop, too. I am trying really hard to teach him to share, but there a couple of things I really don't like to share. One is grilled cheese sandwiches, another is bacon and the other is ice cream. I dutifully surrendered. I suppose mommies need a lesson in sharing sometimes, too.

I had enough of the sharing lesson this morning when he wanted to eat my breakfast (yes, we had bacon!) after he had finished his. What's a mother got to do to get some food around here?

Luckily, he didn't want my lunch, which we enjoyed on the balcony of our condo after a long morning of beach and pool. I could so live here!!

$3 Shovel

Watson is having the time of his life at the beach. We call him Mr. Congeniality because he never meets a stranger. So far, he has made friends with Clayton from Montana, Brooke from Tennessee, Madison from Georgia, Amal from Pennsylvania and Chet and Jax from Tennessee. He will just walk up to a kid on the beach to share his shovel or say, "I Watson." He has told us numerous times while watching off of our balcony, "I want to play with those kids," pointing to the playground or the pool. One day, he was walking along the shoreline, splashing in the puddles, and he kept walking and walking. I thought that surely he would turn around and head back my direction when he realized how far away he had walked. Instead, he started walking with another family and I had to run to retrieve him. A Baywatch moment. Me, running to save my son from running off with some family from Connecticut. Wes picked up a beach shovel at Dollar General and it has been the best three dollars we have ever spent. Watson loves his shovel. I am amazed that he will share it at all.

I do not think Sophia cares for the beach. It is so very bright and windy so she cannot sleep very well. We could put Watson on beach towel for a nap at her age and carry on with our day. But, she wants to be on her belly snuggled up in bed. We have taken her a couple of times in her infant carrier and I think she may be getting used to it. She must get used to it because her Mommy loves the beach.

My favorite time of day to be on the beach has always been in the evening when the sun begins to set and the sky turns brilliant shades of pink. This week has been extra fun with a two-year-old. Watson and Wes have caught crabs in his net and the moon has taken over where the sun left off. Watson looked at me one evening and said, "It's dark Mommy. Sun went night-night." I replied, "Yes, sun went night-night." Watson said, "It's tired, Mommy." He noticed the stars and was so excited about the moon. I told him that stars are up in heaven, where Jesus lives. A few minutes later, he wanted to check on Sophia who was tucked away from the wind in her infant carrier. He told her, "Fia. I Watson. Jesus lives up there." So sweet indeed.

"Get Crabs, Scoop that Dirt"

Watch out Florida..here we come! We left for sunny Destin a day later than planned because Wes was so sick. I tried my best to pack up our car the day before when I realized that there was absolutely no way all of our stuff was going to fit. Going to the beach with two kids (one a baby who requires a pack-n-play, a seat, a sun dome, etc.) is a lot different than going with one kid (who still needs all of his sand toys, inside toys, books, etc.). Wes' parents were gracious enough to swap cars with us for the week. While we were finishing loading the car, Watson crawled into his car seat and waited. He was so excited about going to the beach! He kept saying, "I wanna get the crabs. Scoop that dirt." Our drive down was easy. After we arrived, we unpacked and put the kids down for naps. Watson slept, and slept and slept. We debated about whether or not to wake him up for dinner, but decided that he probably needed to sleep. Bad, bad decision. At 2:30 am, he bolted into our room and exclaimed, "I wanna get crabs. I wanna scoop that dirt!" We tried to explain that it was the middle of the night and he needed to go back to bed until the sun came up. He crawled in bed with us and tossed and turned until he ran us out of bed at 4:30. When Wes turned on the lamp, Watson jumped up and down on the bed and clapped his hands. "Yeah, get crabs. Scoop that dirt. Yeah MOMMY! DADDY! SCOOP!" Sophia had awakened at this point. Wes and Watson were the first ones on the beach in 51 degree weather. They watched the sun come up and saw a school of dolphins tossing around a big fish. Watson got to scoop the sand and he was as happy as he could be.

Pollen, Pollen Go Away

This week has been marked with illness at my house. I understand the the phrase "cough up a lung" because that is what I thought Wes would do. I knew he was really sick when I left for an appointment on Thursday and Wes was lying on the sofa at two in the afternoon watching Ice Age....without Watson. Watson did not go to school either day this week because the pollen had gotten the best of him. "Hold me Mommy, hold me," I heard repeatedly. I did my best to keep him inside and away from the evil allergens. Whn he started feeling better, he would stand at the window and watch all the neighborhood kids playing and say, "Look, Mommy. Kids playing. I want to go outside. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!" I felt like the worst mother in the world for depriving my child of playing outside. Sophia and I have the crud, too.

On a more positive note, my little, bitty baby is turning into roly poly. At her four-month checkup on Thursday with Dr. Ken, she weighed 15 lbs. 5 oz. and was 25.5 inches long. She was an angel!

Last night Wes and Watson cleaned out Watson's fish tank since the algae had taken over. We were happy to find the fish still swimming this morning. Watson told the fish, "Hi fish, I'm Watson. What doing you?" That seems to be the phrase of the week. He introduces himself to everything. Hi hammer, I'm Watson. Hi eggs, I'm Watson. Hi Fia, I'm Watson. If you sneeze or cough, he says, "Bless you, Mommy." We have been blessed a lot this week...thanks to the pollen.

Eleven Years and Counting

It is so very hard to believe that we have been married for eleven years! Not to sound cliche, but time really does fly when you are having fun. We thought that we would take a trip or at least go away for a night to celebrate. But, we have been so busy lately that we just wanted more than anything to enjoy a quiet evening at home. A quiet evening with wine, candlelight and music (and not of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Bob the Builder variety!) uninterrupted by munchkins. With the kids at the grandparents, we dined on surf and turf, prepared by my resident chef, Wes. It was quiet and definitely relaxing. Our anniversary celebration day was complete when we got to sleep in this morning. What a treat! Wes is truly the love of my life.

The "Y" Factor

I seem to find time only once a week to post, but I suppose something is better then nothing! Earlier this week, we spent a couple of rainy days in Dillard, GA. Wes' parents had rented a cabin so we went for a visit. The trip up was quite interesting and very loud because our children needed something constantly. Watson asked four million questions and Sophia was hungry, sleepy, hungry, sleepy. I squeezed into the back between carseats to feed her and Wes had to pull over every once in a while so I could get her out to burp. Watson pointed out every piece of work equipment that he saw. So, every two miles he shouted as loudly as he could, "Tractor! Tractor, Mommy tractor! Did you see that tractor? You missed it? Tractor, Mommy. TRACTOR!" He called the smaller ones "baby tractors". How observant. I was so very happy when we arrived so I could unfold out of the backseat and my ears could quit ringing. After lunch, Wes and Nana took Watson fishing in the pond. Watson had his own rod which he learned to cast. I was surprised that he wanted to play with the crickets because he will not touch his fake, play bugs at home. The next day after breakfast (Watson ate five eggs), we took a little drive to Cherokee, had our picture taken with some Indians and panned for rubies at a roadside mine. Watson found some pretty rocks in his bucket but we didn't strike it rich. He enjoyed playing in the dirt the most. Watson's souvenir from the trip is a wooden snake which he calls "Snakey." For some reason he keeps adding a "y" to the end of his words. "I don't want that soapy. I want some more milky. Read that booky." He also calls ants "anks". We stopped at the Piggly Wiggly and while I ran in to grab a couple of things, Daddy, Nana and Dub told him that I was coming back with a pig. Well, needless to say, I did not come back with a pig and Watson was so very disappointed. I told him that it ran away because it was the best thing I could make up on a moment's notice. The next morning, Watson looked at Wes and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Mommy let that pig run away?" Why am I the bad guy? I just ran in for some diapers and now I am evil because I cannot keep up with a pig.....Life is just not fair.

Sophia sneezed this morning and Watson said, "Bless you Fia. Bless you Fia. BLESS YOU FIIIIIAAAAA." Perhaps he didn't think she heard him the first time. It was very sweet.