8 MONTHS!!!

Emily is 8 MONTHS OLD!!

How has the time gone by so fast?

This is as close to crawling as she gets. I have to put her in this position.

She can't do it herself. She'll stay like this for a minute or so, sometimes

rocking back and forth a little bit, then she flattens out on her belly.

We went outside to enjoy some of the warm (okay, HOT!!) weather.

Chillin' on the blanket.

Ivy playing in the sprinkler...

Ivy at her swim lesson...

A busy month...

It's been a busy month...

First was a Mother's Day "brunch" at Ivy's school. All the mothers were invited to have muffins and juice. We also go to go to music. Here's a picture of Ivy during the brunch.

Next came my birthday. I turned the BIG 3-0!!! Richard's parents were so sweet to come and watch the girls so we could have a much needed lunch date. We went to Carrabba's and then we wandered around the Apex Peakfest (a local street festival with local arts and crafts). It was a great birthday! Here I am with my cake. Richard's mom, Pat, made the cake and then she let Ivy decorate it while we were out to lunch.

My birthday was followed by Mother's Day. Here are the girls sitting in a box after helping me open my gift.

The day after Mother's Day, Craig and Marilyn came over and brought Winston. It was so fun to see him and Emily together. If Emily doesn't crawl soon Winston might beat her to it!!

Ivy LOVES her sister. And Emily loves her right back. She never fusses no matter how rough Ivy is with her...

Emily started clapping...

The next weekend, we went to Greensboro. We wanted to introduce Emily to her Great-Grammy.

And Emily was baptized. We had her baptized at Richard's family's church. It is the same church where we got married and where Ivy was baptized as well...

OBX Trip 2011...

We made our annual Outer Banks trip just before Easter. This year and last year we headed North on highway 12. We reached Corolla, kept going, and headed north on the beach. The house we rented was about 9 miles north of where the pavement ended. It took 20-30 minutes of driving on the beach to get there. Here are lots of pictures from our trip...

DAY 1

This is the fence that is on the border between NC and VA. It was put there to keep the wild horses on the NC side.

A horse in the canal...

Wild horses came to visit the house almost every day...

This is the canal that was behind our house...

Emily enjoying some sunshine on the porch...

Uncle Russell brought his boat - he and Richard took Ivy out for a few minutes...

Ivy loves fishing with her Daddy...

Ivy on the dock...

Uncle Russell resting after a long day of traveling...

Aunt Mary relaxing with Lady...

Ivy "helping" in the kitchen...

Grandma Pat cooking dinner...

DAY 2

Aunt Judy and Ivy walking on the beach...

Emily enjoying her first time on the beach...

You don't usually see speed limit signs on the beach...

Aunt Mary and Uncle Russell

Horses on the beach (these were the same 3 that visited our house the day before)...

Ivy splashing in the tidal pool... This water was FREEZING but she didn't seem to notice...

Aunt Judy and Emily...

The horses were done with their time on the beach; they headed for the dunes...

DAY 3

Aunt Mary and Uncle Russell on their boat...

Richard in a kayak...

Lady...

Aunt Judy practicing horseshoes...

DAY 4

Ivy and Richard climbing up to Jockey's Ridge...

Ivy running on Jockey's Ridge...

More running...

Ivy at the Wright Brothers Memorial...

Ivy stood in front of this marker - it was marking how far the Wright Brothers flew on their 3rd attempt. We took this same picture with the 2 marker last year...

DAY 5

More horses...

Mama and her little colt.

She looks a little thin in this picture but overall, all the horses seemed very healthy...

Passing the time while waiting in line to climb the Currituck Lighthouse...

Here they go (I stayed down below with Emily)...

Grandma Pat, Ivy, and Richard at the top of the lighthouse...

Pat, Judy and Sandy at the top of the lighthouse...

And they're back!

Ivy with a bear at the nature center...

Ivy on a bridge - that is the Whalehead Club behind her...

Ivy and Richard outside the Whalehead Club...

Aunt Judy teaching Ivy about horseshoes...

DAY 6

We had an Easter egg hunt a few days before Easter so everyone could join in...

Later that day, we went for a long walk. Ivy got tired so we took Emily

out of the backpack carrier and put Ivy in there. She fell asleep...

It was Dick & Pat's 44th anniversary. Happy Anniversary!!!

DAY 7

More horses came to visit. This was a mama and her little filly...

More warm weather = more play time on the beach!

We drive up to the NC/VA fence and go over to the VA side. There aren't any trucks there

so we don't have to worry about Ivy running out in front of someone...

There was a group of volunteers cleaning up the VA side...

Emily doing her scrunchy face. The white on her face is sunscreen...

Emily loved the sand and surprisingly didn't eat any...

She loved the sand...

We had such a wonderful time - we're already scheduled to go back again next year!! We'll have two kids running around so it should be lots of fun!!