4 Year Wedding Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to us! It was 4 years ago today that me and my best friend and lover exchanged vows and entered into the covenant of marriage. Words cannot truly describe the love I have for my husband. Matt is an amazing man and I feel so lucky to have snatched him up. Matt is selfless and kind, loving and funny. He is so laid back and even keeled. He loves politics and loves to study God's word. He has a passion for people and writing and speaking. It's so neat how the Lord picked out such a great person that compliments me so well. He is so encouraging and my favorite thing about him is that we have SO much fun together! I am just so blessed in so many ways. It is neat that we are here at camp where we met and fell in love on our anniversary! Coincidence?? I think not!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I'm in love with my family!!

A visit from the Irish

Today a family from our church came up. Joe came to give his testimony here at camp and he brought his wife and 4 boys. We had a blast playing with them all day. Ethan tried so hard to keep up with their boys who are almost 4, 6.5, and 7 years old. The smallest one is 3.5 months old. Ethan pointed to the baby whose name is Keegan and said "Kee". It was so cute. He is really trying to talk more. He was pushing his own stroller down the sidewalk today and went off the grass in front of the camp nurse and her daughter and Ethan looked at them and said, "stuck"! It is neat how he is trying to use his voice more and more.
Anyhow, we had a fun day playing down in the lake. We saw a bald eagle as we were showing Joe and his family around camp. They are just such majestic birds.
We were down in the low ropes course and Ethan was standing on a huge truck tire and fell off head first. My poor boy! He was fine, but it look like he about broke his neck. It is amazing how God created our bodies to be so resilient.
The campers once again are in love with Ethan. There are 2 girls that have to say hi to him before every meal and in between. He grabbed one by the hand on one side of him and the other on his other side and escorted them to the dining hall porch. He looked like such a ladies man holding these girls hands on both side of him. He also gave the same girls kisses tonight before we headed inside for a bath and bedtime. Except Ethan likes to kiss on the lips, so I had to do some extra washing tonight because he kissed so much! Well i'm off to bed. This heat and my son are wearing me out!

Ethan cracking up watching the Shield's boys jump off the caboose
On the low ropes course
Mr. Independent in the water....until he falls and goes completely under, then he wants to hold my hand, ha ha
Splashing up a storm
Fascinated with the mud puddle

Survey says

I just put Ethan to bed at Camp, so I thought I would complete my tag. I was tagged by Jen.

RULES
1. Answer the questions using only one word.
2. Tag four others.

Where is your cell phone? Counter
Your significant other? Amazing
Your hair? Ponytail
Your mother? Loving
Your father? Protective
Your favorite thing? Streams
Your dream last night? None
Your favorite drink? Frapachino
Your dream/goal? Mommy
The room you’re in? Boxcar
Your hobby? Blogging
Your fear? Clowns
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Wherever
What you’re not? Satisfied
Muffins? Blueberry
One of your wish list items? House
Where you grew up? Florida
Last thing you did? Bath
Favorite gadget? Camera
Your pets? None
Your computer? Great
Your mood? Emotional
Missing someone? Mom
Your car? Need
Favorite store? Kohls
Like someone? Yes
Your favorite color? Blue
Last time you laughed? Today
Last time you cried? Today

I tag: E, My mom, Erin, Amanda

Battle scar

Our first night at camp was a great one. I slept SOOOOO good. Ethan did too. We both slept in until almost 8:00 and ended up getting to breakfast a little late. After breakfast Ethan and I were walking back to the boxcar. When I got up the stairs I put him down to open the door. I yelled in to Matt to come get his plate of food so I could help Ethan inside. In just a few seconds, Ethan had tried to walk down the 4 concrete stairs and fell face first and rolled. It was AWFUL! This is now the second time this summer where I have seen AND heard my son's face hit concrete. I quickly took him to the nurse. While she was cleaning his head we noticed blood coming out his mouth. What a scare! His tooth had cut the inside of his mouth. But that freaked me out at first because I thought he was bleeding out of his mouth because of the head trauma. Anyhow, he is fine and will be fine, but it made me a little nervous about what the week may hold. Needless to say I am holding his hand everytime he goes up and down the stairs from now on although the first week we were here he was going up and down all by himself all the time.
Well off to lunch.. here are some pictures of his battle scar.

We're back!

We arrived at Camp Willow Run for Matt's second week of speaking this summer. We were greeted very warmly by the staff. Matt said that he must have not done too bad of a job last time we were here because they were actually happy to see him. Ha ha! The camp director's son who is about 10 years old said, "Boy! That baby has grown in just a few weeks!" I do sometimes feel like Ethan grows taller over night but I never know how others perceive him, so that answered my question. Ethan seems to recognize the place, but wants to explore it all again like he's never been here. I am hoping to get some good nights rest in and maybe some naps during the day because I am just real tired. I will post some pictures this week, but nothing like when we were here last. Until next time...

Gatlinburg Trip

Home sweet home! We are home for less than 24 hours before we pack up and leave again. We are exhausted. We got home around 3:30 this afternoon. I started some laundry, ran to fill mom's car with gas & ran it through the carwash because we borrowed theirs for our trip, I then ran to pick up my car from mom's, then stopped by Target to buy some groceries for Camp next week, came home and started another load of laundry, fed Ethan and now sat down to blog some pictures before I start packing again! WHEW!
We had a great time in Gatlinburg with Matt's family. Ethan was a bit fussy this week and I almost threw him in the shark tank at the Ripley's Aquarium (so just kidding!). I think this month of traveling is tuckering him out. I know we all we be glad when August gets here and we slow down a bit...but we need to have 1 more fun week at camp and then we'll think about that.
Anyhow, this week we shopped, ate, went to Cade's Cove, went to the aquarium, played cards, went to the pool, and just enjoyed family. Cade's Cove is a neat park that has about a 7 mile road through a historical settlement where people lived in the 1820's. Along the way you stop at their old churches, cabins, and barns to tour it. It is a sectioned off state park so you see wildlife and beautiful mountain scenery. That is where we saw a mother bear and her cub running through a field. Ethan's favorite part of the trip was climbing up and down the house stairs with his Granddaddy and following his cousin Jackson ("Jacks" as he calls him) all around. Here are some pictures from the week.

Playing at a park
Bath time with cousin Jackson
Family picture at a mini-petting zoo
Ethan checking out the goats
Huggin' his cousin "Jacks", such sweet boys
At the aquarium
Shark swimming above us- we walked through a huge tunnel that went underneath the shark tank- so cool!
Ethan & Granddaddy in an aquarium??!
Checkin' out the sting rays

Sweet cousins touring Cade's Cove
Me and the hubby
Brothers holding nephews
So pretty!
Family picture at Cade's Cove

Internet issues

We are experiencing some internet issues at the house in Gatlinburg. I have tried to post pictures twice and lost my blogs. I will post them all and give details of our trip when we get back. We are having a blast. Even saw a bear and her cub at Cades Cove. Stay tuned for a blog with pictures coming Saturday or Sunday.

Gatlinburg, TN

We are here! We got here last night and after a late dinner and a late night trip to the grocery store, we finally got Ethan to bed around 10:00p.m. He always does so well when we bend his schedule and I am so thankful for that. The house that the in-laws rented is nice! Gatlinburg is such a fun little town. This morning we made another trip to the grocery store and drove around downtown a little bit. Ethan is currently napping, along with his daddy and we are waiting for the last of the family to arrive this afternoon. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but have no fear, there will be some! Off to grab some rest as well.

Packin' the suitcase

So we are packing up tomorrow to head out of town again. We are leaving Sunday afternoon for my in-law vacation. We are heading to Tennessee for a week with Matt's dad, step-mom and that side of the family. We are excited as this has started to be a family tradition. Last year we went to Lake James and had a great time. We rented a huge house and went boating and caving and whatnot. This year we are going to Pigeon Forge, TN. As soon as we get back from this trip we are doing laundry, loading up the car and leaving again for our second week at camp. August is turning out to be just as busy as we have a wedding, a beach trip with Matt's old roomate, wife, and daughter and another trip to Florida. We are going to my Grandma's 80th birthday/family reunion. God is so good and he perfectly orchaestrated Matt and I to be able to go to FL for FREE! Plane flights and all. Thanks to some generous family members my Grandma will be able to meet Ethan for the first time. So anyhow, I need to eat this up because after these next few weeks there will be no more trips until next summer. (Minus a possibility of Matt and I going on a Missions trip to Belize in December- which I am also super excited about!)
So thats that.
Good news, Ethan seems to be doing better with the hitting/biting. I am trying to be firm yet loving and consistent. I know it is a phase and it will be over with soon. Next thing on the agenda for him- taking away his paci. He is now 17 months old and I plan to take it away very soon. He will not be one of these kids that is over 2 years old still using a paci. Maybe fine for others, but I KNOW he doesn't need it. I don't want to wait until he's too old and have a major meltdown, so we'll see.
Off to do laundry and start packing...

Calling all moms....or dads

We are having some major issues with Ethan biting and hitting. I need help. I don't know what to do. So far he has only done it to us, but it has got to stop. My mom and I thought it may have been him acting out because he was frustrated with the pain he was experiencing when he was sick. But now that he is better he is still acting out. Ethan has always been pretty obedient for his age. We have been so proud of him and he still is a wonderful child with a sweet personality. BUT, he hits when he is frustrated and has started biting. Not biting out of anger necessarily, just biting. He bites us and he bites our couches. Any ideas? Any advice? I feel badly about "popping" him when he hits, because what does that say about hitting?! We will reprimand him for hitting or biting and right after he will do it again. The main thing we are trying is to just be consistent and loving. I have to keep myself in check that i'm not reprimanding him in frustration and I am also trying not to raise my voice. The last thing I want to do is become a yelling parent. So anyhow, I am hoping this is just a stage and that he passes right through, but for now it is difficult.
p.s. I don't think biting is from teething because he has most of his teeth already. We are now accepting comments :) please help!

Remodeling

Now that I found this website from my friend Blair that gives cute and free templates, I am doing some remodeling. Let me know what you think!

On the up side

Although Ethan is still a little clingy with his mama, I think he is on the up side of getting better! Yesterday was the real turning point. He ate more of his meals and didn't take pain medicine as frequently as he has. His fun little personality started showing a bit more too. So I am praying that he is getting better. His papa gave him an elephant that he loves. Yesterday he was hugging it and cuddling with it. I threw it in the crib with him when he was waking up from a nap and he just laid back down to cuddle with it. Thank you papa!

You know your baby is sick when...

he takes a 4.5 hour nap! Sometimes I think Ethan is getting better, then he will have a down time. He seems to be acting out in behavior too. I am not sure if he is just frustrated because his mouth hurts or what. He is biting everything including his mama and dada and that is NO fun. Then I will reprimand him for that and he will hit. I sure hope this is part of the sickness and that is passes on when the virus does. I don't know if i'm just tired from being sick as well and finishing out my antibiotics, but this kid is wearing me out! I keep praying that the Lord will give me patience with him because I know he doesn't feel well. Makes me think about how I act when i'm not feeling well. My parents have been great by making us dinner and buying us lunch today. It has been VERY helpful! We desperately need to go grocery shopping but haven't been able to since we got back from camp. So much to do and although I work from the home I still don't feel like I have time to do it all! And still through this all I am trying to remain grateful because we are truly blessed in so many ways. There could be worse things going on with us and I praise God that we do have our needs met. We love our family and friends and know we don't show it nearly enough as we should.

We're home

We're back home and it feels great! I have a little bit more unpacking to do, but the laundry has been started and that is a big task! Ethan is still not feeling good, he is actually currently screaming from his crib. He needs a nap but was so excited to be home and see all his toys that he doesn't really want to sleep. Praise the Lord he didn't get sick until the last day of camp otherwise it would have been miserable. He is just in a lot of pain between the ear infection and the sores in his throat from the virus. It really has made me grateful for how happy of a demeanor he usually has. The Lord knew I couldn't have handled a fussy baby. So anyhow, we all gotta rest this week because the next 2 after that we are on the "go" again! Off to comfort my baby boy...

SICK

Well Ethan's fever got progressively higher this afternoon. It was 103.8 while he was on Tylenol. I called his pediatrician's office and they said that he probably needed to be seen. So after a car drive over an hour away to a branch of his dr.'s office...they determined that he has an ear infection AND hand, foot, and mouth. SO, no wonder my poor baby was fevering and crying and whiney. This is the sickest he has ever acted. We got an antibiotic for the ear infection and the other virus just needs to run its course. Hand, foot and mouth is where kids actually get little blisters on their throat, hands, and feet. So it is very painful... the equivalent of strep or getting your tonsils taken out. They recommended no salty or spicy food, and do cold things like jello, ice cream, and yogurt.
So anyhow, I hope he gets better soon because it is so hard to see him like this. Thankfully we are returning to the comfort of our home tomorrow morning! It has been a great week here at Camp! Lives have been changed and 190 kids have been challenged physically, mentally and emotionally. Some kids told their counselors that Matt is the best speaker they've ever had at camp, so that is encouraging! We can't wait to be back in a few weeks!

P.S. to Quick Update post

The reason Ethan was so tired was because he is sick :( He has 102.1 fever so please pray for him. He must have caught something from a camper lovin' on him! He woke up from his morning nap long enough to eat something here in the boxcar for lunch and then went straight back to sleep. I can tell my poor little guy doesn't feel good at all!!

Quick update

The camp is flying in a high ropes specialist to see if they can fix the course. He is flying in this morning and will hopefully have some good news for us about fixing that recreational area.
Ethan is so zapped that I just put him down for a morning nap. It's 10:45 and he was falling asleep on me outside during the camp wide field games. He hasn't taken a morning nap since he was 10 months old or something like that. He and I went for a long walk this morning and instead of pushing him in the stroller the whole time, I let him walk a good bit of it and I think it just wore him out already.
p.s. I am still the champion in the shape-o challenge. Matt has started this challenge here at Camp Willow Run since I told him about me doing it in the days of my youth group. I was unbeatable growing up and I still got it! Some boy had it down to 12 seconds and so they all challenged me to race him this morning and I beat him! HA! Bring it!
(2 people race each other, each having their own shape-o to see who will beat the other)
Off to enjoy our last day of camp this week...

A lot of catching up to do

So much has happened in the past two days. I already mentioned the big storm in the previous post so I won't put too much detail into that again. We've had big storms almost every afternoon but other than that the weather has been wonderful here! The lake water almost a little too cold sometimes.
Ethan is doing wonderfully here at camp. The director's wife has made several comments about his easy going personality and how good tempered he is. (She hasn't seen him at night when he's ready for bed!) We really are blessed to have such a good boy who LOVES being outdoors. He stands at the door and begs to go out or picks up his shoes and tries to put them on like, "hello mama, what are we waiting for?!"
All the campers are in love with Ethan. They try to hold him, hold his hand and walk with him, high five him and whatnot. There is a table full of girls behind our dinner table that smile and stick their tongues out at Ethan in playfulness. He smiles back and mimics them by sticking his tongue out. They think that is hilarious.
So anyhow, we've been busy bee's the past few days, swimming and down to the gym to play pin dodge which is a form of dodge ball. We took Ethan canoeing today and he did so good. I just stood him between my legs and he stood there perfectly still the whole canoe trip.
I have mixed feelings about tomorrow being our last full day of camp. I am sad that we have to leave when Ethan loves it here so much, but happy for rest and relief and then I remember that we'll be back here in just 2 weeks to do it all again because Matt is speaking 2 times this summer!
Here are some pictures of our happenings the past 2 days!

Ethan playing with a giant block set
Father/son time on the dock
My little David Hasselhof
Us going crazy in the boxcar when the power was out for 2 hours
Ethan helping pick up storm debris
Family canoe trip- sadly didn't get that many good pictures
Ethan writing in the sand like mama- he played with that stick for 20 minutes! Throwing it in the water then swimming to get it and doing it all over again!
My boy flexin' for the girls!

BAD storm

We pretty much had a mini-tornado here at camp last night. A huge thunderstorm came through right after dinner last night. We lost power for about 2 hours. We just got internet back up and running. I will have to post later because we are about to head to dinner. There are trees and limbs down all over camp. A tree fell behind the camp director's boxcar and knocked off their power box so they had to move out until it got fixed. The same tree nearly landed on his car. It was literally inches away. A huge tree fell in the middle of the high ropes course and a tree that anchored the zip line that goes into the lake fell. We aren't sure yet, but they may not be able to use the high ropes course the rest of the summer. Instead of doing the staff bible study time that they do every day, the staff worked around camp to clean up this morning. They had dump trucks and saws going all day long to clean up the debris. It was crazy! SO, we are safe and sound but I will have to post again later. Thanks for your demands for pictures and blog posts, I feel honored ;) ha ha.

He keeps going and going...(this post contains a lot of pictures by request from the grandparents)

My son is not only wearing himself out, he is wearing me out too! Today was another great day here at camp. We all slept well last night and he even slept a little later this morning. We made it down to the lake again to swim. Ethan's favorite things are to pop the bubbles that gather on top of the water and to run into the water then run back up on the sand, then run back into the water and then back out. At first I thought he was just falling into the water on accident, but I soon figured out that when he ran into the water he just wanted to dive. He went "under" a few times today and loved it.
This afternoon while Ethan and I were napping we got a fierce thunderstorm. The lake was white capping and the waves were coming up onto the dock. It cleared up pretty quickly and was sunny again. We made our way down to the gym to play some basketball and late this afternoon Ethan and I went for a long walk and saw some cows down by the entrance of the camp. They were so captivated by Ethan and I that they all gathered by the fence and stared, it was kinda funny and creepy at the same time.
My little one is now tuckered out and fast asleep in bed. He was practically begging to go to sleep. I thought to myself "wow, its only Tuesday...i'm ready to go home!" I've been doing most of the chasing after Ethan because Matt is either giving sermons, preparing to give sermons, or out playing with the big kids and I gotta tell ya, i'm having a hard time hanging with my son. He just wants to run and run. There's no walking anymore here at camp, he's in over drive!
***the pictures posted in a funky order, sorry about that!

Ethan riding on the camp golf cart
Family picture at the end of the day
The whole reason I bought a bottle of swimmer's ear drops!

All Ethan wanted to do was put the balls up on the rack and then throw them back off again

The cows captivated by Ethan in the stroller

Popping bubbles

"I LOVE CAMP!"
"I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!"
NO fear!

And we'll do it all again tomorrow...

Running everywhere

We survived our first day at camp with a 1.5 year old boy! He had us running EVERYWHERE. He literally takes off running as soon as he gets out the door. It has been hard as a mom to let him go and not make him hold our hand. I know he needs this freedom, plus its nice to be free myself! The morning started off at 6:30 a.m. as our precious son would not let us "sleep in". After breakfast all the campers spread throughout camp and sit wherever they want and do a personal bible study/devotional time. They are littered throughout in the grass and sidewalks. Ethan thought it was funny as he passed every single camper on the way to our boxcar to say "BOO!" It was very cute, but we tried to tell him we have to be quiet during this time. ha ha. We went to the morning sermon that Matt gives and stayed for the music in the beginning. Ethan loved walking up to the front where the band plays. He danced and clapped his hands and smiled real big. He is such a ham in front of people sometimes. After that he and I headed to the lake. He is such a fish! I brought a little sand bucket and shovel and he wanted nothing to do with being on the shore... he wanted water! I had to drag him out kicking and screaming when it was time to go. This afternoon he and I were both tuckered out and took a good 3 hour nap! It was much needed as I have not been feeling well lately. The day finished out for us with some walks around the recreation areas such as the climbing wall and high ropes course. We went to the evening service for some more songs and he and I shared an orange ice cream pop at their canteen time. Todays weather was BEAUTIFUL! I know rain is in the forecast so I was glad to get out and enjoy the sunshine and breeze. Here are just a few pictures from our time here so far.

Ethan and daddy snuggling on the couch before the evening service "vespers" on Sunday night.
Ethan enjoying some music at Vespers.
A few of some of the boxcars from the lake dock. Behind the trees there is another row of boxcars that are black.
Matt playing soccer with some of the kids...he still runs like a 16 year old!
Ethan and I taking a dip, we didn't get many good pictures because daddy wanted to go play soccer (as seen in the picture above)

MUCH MORE TO COME!

Camp Willow Run

We arrived here at camp this afternoon. Ethan had about a 45 minute nap in the car, but boy was he hyper and in heaven when we got here. I think i've heard the word "choo choo" about 100 times already today. (For those of you who don't know, the campers sleep in old converted railroad boxcars that have bunk beds, air conditioning, and bathrooms.) So he is in "choo choo" heaven. He is already trying to keep up with the camp directors 3 sons who are roughly 10, 7, and 2. They also just got a new puppy today so Ethan is loving on the "dog- woof woof".
I just put Ethan down for the night and Matt is currently in the evening service giving his first of 9 talks for the week. There are roughly 190 kids here this week and we are very excited for what the week holds. Stay tuned for pictures!
p.s. I taught Ethan to say "cheese" and smile when I take pictures...hopefully we'll get some good cheesy smiles this week! He is SO cute when he sees the camera because he starts going "cheeeeeeese"!

4th of July

Yesterday was a great day! We got Matt's parents to babysit Ethan for the whole night. Matt and I were planning to go see the big fireworks down in Raleigh. The past few days I haven't felt very well and I discovered I had white puss pockets on the back of my throat. (YUCK!) So we decided to skip the fireworks and stay home. We went for a walk and played cards together and enjoyed a night to ourselves. I cleaned like a mad-woman to get the apartment nice so when we come back into town it won't be a wreck. I mopped and vacuumed and scrubbed the bathroom down. Then a HUGE storm came out of nowhere. The big fireworks got stormed out, so I was glad we didn't try to go see them afterall. The lightening storm was HORRIBLE. It literally was popping all around us. I swear it struck right outside our apartment. I RAN from our kitchen into the living room where I snuggled in the arms of my husband on the couch until the storm left. We were glad Ethan wasn't here because the storm was so bad it definitely would have woken him up. So it was a very low-key night. I ended up sleeping in until 9:30 this morning. I haven't done that in who knows how long! It was so great!! Ethan got dropped off back here mid morning. It's amazing that even though we enjoy nights to ourselves I truly miss him so much! Every time I walked by his room I would look in and think, "my little boy should be sleeping in there right now".
Anyhow, this afternoon I decided to head to the Dr. office because my throat is nasty. It doesn't hurt real bad like strep, it only hurts where the white sack is. They ruled out strep and think its just a bacterial infection. Could possibly be mono! I've never had mono and i'm praying against that. He gave me anti-biotics and said it should clear it up but if i'm still feeling real tired and run down in a few weeks then it is probably mono. (The mono test came back negative, but he said it might be too early to detect it). So i'm resting and whatnot before we head off to camp tomorrow! I am praying I have energy to keep up with my son all week!

Living out of a bag

In the next 3 days we will be on our whirlwind trip of July! Sunday we leave for Camp Willow Run, where Matt and I met and fell in love! He will be the camp speaker for 190 7th-9th graders for the whole week. We are super excited for many reasons. One of which is that Ethan will be old enough to enjoy some of camp. Last year he was 5 months old and I spent most of the days indoors. I have a feeling I will be seeing more of the lake this summer.
After camp we will be home for a week, then its off to Tennessee for a family vacation with my husbands side for a week. Then we will be coming home long enough to do laundry and sleep in our bed for a night and then we will head back to camp because they've asked him to speak 2 weeks this summer! That week he will be a speaker for 190 6th-8th graders. SO, needless to say, we'll be living out of a suitcase for the next month for the most part. YAY! I am super excited! I am SURE i'll be blogging because we get wireless internet at camp, so be looking for pictures!!