Sweet Cousins…almost!

Since sweet Carter has arrived we have dealt with quite a few jealousy issues from Maddie. I mean I can understand why she feels the way she does. Before he came along she was the center of everyone’s world, especially her Mimi’s. Then all the sudden this new little person is here and she is having to share the spotlight. She is confused and doesn’t understand, but we are working on it. Things have improved significantly, but by no means are over with. Just a couple of months ago, she would just get so mad that she would just lash out and hit Carter or throw something at him. We have tried it all. Give more attention to Maddie, time-out, hand smacking, hand squeezing, and lots of NO’s! We are getting through it and she is getting so much better. She actually is very sweet with him lately. We have really tried to encourage her to play with baby dolls and “take care” of them. She rocks them, feeds them, gives a pacifier, changes their diaper, and her favorite is to burp them. It has seemed to work. If she is rough with her babies she gets a time-out. She seems to be catching on…slowly but surely. I am certain that Maddie and Carter will grow up super close. I know she loves him and boy can she be sweet when she wants to be. It just melts my heart when she leans over and gives him a kiss or her excitement when she gets to see him. I wonder what they will be like when they get a little older and how will they interact with one another? It will be interesting to see what they are both like. Until then, we will continue to help Maddie understand that she has to be nice to Carter and that he is here to stay!

Yearly Beach Picture

I guess we have started a little tradition of writing Maddie’s name and the date in the sand when we go to the beach.  What a difference a year makes—it sure did fly by!

 

Last year we had to hold Maddie up…

 

This year we had to snap the picture before she ran off…

Charleston Trip

We headed to Charleston for a few days to celebrate Grandma McCoy’s retirement.  She had a HUGE party at her house with all her friends.  After teaching for many years (don’t actually know how long) she has finally decided to retire.  We couldn’t be more happy for her!  This was a big trip for Miss Maddie because it was her FIRST time meeting her Aunt Sarah!  Sarah has lived in California and now in New Orleans so we just keep missing her when she is able to come to South Carolina.  Maddie loved spending time with her Aunt Sarah, especially when they played the piano together.  Sarah is a wonderful musician and it looks like Maddie might take after her, which would be great!  While in Charleston we were able to meet up with our friends, Ian and Jessica and their little guy, Houston at the Isle of Palms.  We had a great time playing on the beach, but it sure is exhausting!  Maddie loves the waves and wanted to go out in the water so the waves could hit her.  We have a beach baby on our hands.  After a few short, but fun days in Charleston we headed home so Daddy could get back to his studying.  His step 2 board exams are coming up in two short weeks, so please pray for him.  I know he is going to rock the exam, but he is so stressed out with all of this studying.  The local library has been his home every day for the past month.  Then at the end of August he heads up to Philadelphia for another exam.  We are so ready for these tests to be over with!  But on a good note, he is officially a FOURTH year medical student.  Just ten more months and he will graduate!  YAY!

 

July 4th Weekend

We had a pretty busy weekend.  On Saturday I went with my mom to pick out her new kitchen appliances!  After almost twenty years she is getting new stainless steel appliances, although my dad ONLY liked black (I think he would have loved these). She has been on the roll lately-new tires, new roof, and now new appliances (dishwasher, oven, microwave, range, AND refrigerator!)  I’m excited to be able to use them, too! 

On 4th of July, Gabe, Maddie, and I went up to Table Rock for the day.  We tried to think of somewhere that had a swim area that was close enough to Greenville.  We have been up to Table Rock several times since we have been together and it was the perfect little place to go for a few hours.  They have a small swimming area and lots of sand for Maddie to play in.  She loves the sand and water.  While we were there the lifeguards out of nowhere yelled for everyone to get out of the water.  After a few minutes of everyone trying to figure out what was going on, we realized that a little six year old boy was missing and they needed to make sure that he was not in the water.  It was a scary situation and my heart was pounding so fast thinking that a little boy could have drowned.  After about thirty minutes of everyone being confined to the beach (they wouldn’t let anyone leave) the little boy was found safe and sound…he had wandered off up on a trail.  It made me realize how fast things can happen.  It is pretty easy to keep a hold of Maddie at this age, but when she gets older we really have to be careful, especially around water. 

After the lake we walked up the trail a little ways to a small waterfall.  There is a decent little swimming area, so we got into the water and let Maddie get close to the falls. It was freezing, but she seemed to enjoy it!  I was so exhausted on the way home that I fell asleep almost instantly, but our little hyper child decided to be awake the whole way home after only sleeping about thirty minutes in her stroller.  I kept waking up to her randomly pointing to her knee and yelling “knee” and other random things.  Yes, she is out of control.  We got home about 4:00 and quickly changed and got back into the car and went over to Natalie’s in-laws for a cook out.  We enjoyed some awesome food and good company.  By the time we got home, I was completely exhausted.  We got Maddie to bed, I took a shower,  and then collapsed in bed just in time to see fireworks outside of our bedroom window.  We had a great show from our neighbors.  Who needs to go somewhere to see fireworks when your neighbors spends hundreds and hundreds of dollars to entertain you?! 

Happy Independence Day!!     

 

  

Happy Birthday Daddy

Another year has gone by and Dad is not here to celebrate his birthday. He would have been 55. Still young. Way too young to be gone already. There isn’t a single day that I don’t think about him and all the wonderful things he is missing. He would have been an amazing “poppy” to Maddie and Carter. They would have rocked his world and he would have loved every minute of it. Last year we had a beautiful tribute to him with all of our family, but this year it was a whole lot simpler. We grilled ribs, ate cake, got out his tractor, and sent balloons off to heaven. We sure do miss you, Dad.