Baby Samurai

Hi, all! There has been a lot going on and between getting sick (we have been passing it back and forth) , working and chasing Little Dude, I have just had no time for an update! So, here is a long over due one.

The 7th was my 26th birthday, yay!!!! I suddenly feel more adult, which is fun. Don't worry though, I have tons of kid-like antics just waiting for the right time to cheerfully jump out! Heehee! The family all got together that weekend at the Cheesecake Factory in Raleigh. I LOVE cheesecake and I definitely got my fill over the weekend! You may be wondering about the picture above...yes, that is my little boy as a Samurai, Kung Fu extraordinaire! He was actually playing with two straws, crazily laughing, and standing on a table at the restaurant, but thanks to the amazing skills of my brother-in-law, Fab, Little Dude's funny facial expression has been put to good use by transforming the straws into crazy martial art gear. The head band adds a lot too. And the crazy animae background. Awesome, Fab! So, not only did I have a birthday party at the Cheesecake Factory, but Little Dude used his Kung Fu skills to fight off bad guys who tried to eat my cheesecake....I know, I live an amazing life. Hahahaha!!!!

I have not gotten the pictures from our NASCAR adventure off the laptop and onto my home computer, so I can't post those pictures like I promised, yet. Until I can, you will just have to trust me that it was super fun. I think Bill and I will go back to another one again-maybe next year. We will definitely have to go with our awesome friends Joey, Cat, Travis and Brandon because they made the whole event fabulous and informed us of what size coolers and what to bring in the coolers for the stadium! Having frosty refreshing beverages made everything nice, even in the heat. Next time we will have to sneak some sandwiches in, too! Also, we will have to go to a shorter race. The one we went to in Charlotte was the longest race of the year, and after about 400 miles I'd had my fill of race car fun. Also, at that point the beer ran out....maybe that is why....haha!

Our Friends, Sarge and Carma, are finally off of bed rest now (well, it was only Carma that had to be on bed rest) and just hoping everything keeps going well til their little princess arrives. She is due the end of July, so Carma, you are almost there! Yay! Also, our friends, Nance and Gabe had their little girl in April of this year and named her Ava. I just got pictures, but again, they are on the laptop, so you guys will just have to trust me that she is just the most beautiful little girl....and she looks a lot like Gabe right now, so Gabe, I guess that means you are beautiful! :)

Little Dude is trying to walk and keeps falling....I am amazed he has not gotten bruises all over his face and knees....I guess baby's are just made for the falls that come with walking, eh? He does super well if he can hold the wall or furniture and walk beside it. Anywhere else he falls right away. Earlier today he grabbed his dresser handle and started walking along the dresser. Then, silly me, I told him I was so proud of him practicing his walking, so he looked at me, let go of the dresser and turned to me.......then fell like a TREE. FLAT on his FACE. Ouch. So, now I have made a mental note to not distract him while he is trying to walk unless I am close enough to catch him before he flattens his nose. Amazingly, he didn't get a bruise or anything, even though I was so sure he was going to get a knot on his forehead from where it hit a toy.

I have been spending time trying to save my roses, since I let them go last summer and fall while we were in Oak Ridge, TN. I think I only lost one bush, three have come back strong, and 3 others are kinda struggling, so hopefully after all the work I have been putting out in the yard during these very hot days the 3 struggling ones will be able to bounce back. As a side note, I will just let you know that I love roses and taking care of them; however, I am allergic to their thorns. Yes, their thorns. Not the flowers, I can have them in the house, smell them all day and be fine. BUT, if I get even one scratch or a thorn prick the whole area turns red and itches like crazy. I have never heard of anyone allergic to rose THORNS, but since it happens to me every time, I have decided that I must be. This makes taking care of my roses a challenge which I usually address by just wearing long sleeves, but since it has been so hot lately, I have just put up with the short periods of itching. So there is an odd tid bit about me for you.

Also, in a bit of news I heard on the radio last week, some scientists in Britain (I think, I might be wrong) have found a way to create stem cells from SKIN cells. Isn't that awesome? They have not tested on human skin cells, but it was working on the rats, so it could be a very good possibility.That is very exciting! It would be very cool if that worked out! Also as a side note, anyone who is pregnant can donate their baby's cord blood (which contains stem cells) to research or to helping other children. The one in Raleigh is Carolina Cord Blood and you can also tell your OBGY-N or check at your hospital of choice to see how to go about donating. I donated my little guy's cord blood and it is nice to know that so many stem cells can be salvaged and used to help others while bringing a life into the world-it's like a double gift!

A huge congrats go out to our brother and sister, Fab and Leigh Anne on becoming home owners! Yay!!! They got a super cute, awesome house too....guys, I'm going to be coming over to use the pool...just letting you know....hahah :) Our friends, Alan and Adrea, are actually moving into our neighborhood and they close on their house the end of this month! YAY! We can just walk over and hang out now! Now with two of our college buddies(Alan and Mike) and their awesome wives living in our neighborhood, we have decided to try to talk our other friends into buying here as well....think of how fun it would be!!


Well, I think that is all the update for now. I will work hard to get on more often, but honestly, as long as I have no voice (yes, I am that sick) I think I will just be drinking hot soup and watching Little Dude play.