Swans, Pool, BBQ, and Friends!

Swans, pool, BBQ and friends pretty much wraps up our Memorial Day weekend. Saturday afternoon, we drove to Sumter, South Carolina to see the Iris Festival at Swan Lake with our friends who are moving to Washtington D.C. this week. We had a great day together! The lake is absolutely gorgeous and the irises were in full bloom. It was fun feeding the swans and watching them chase each other around. I never knew swans could be so aggressive! We saw ducks and baby ducks and turtles. It was a gorgeous day to be out!

Mark was determined to get himself some fried food while we were there. It was a festival after all. He settled for a strawberry smoothie, a funnel cake and a corn dog (none of which can be good for you). Yet he was still hungry! It'll be good to get Mark away from the South. I don't think they eat fried food in Oregon, just organic!

Then on Memorial day, we took all the kids swimming to the pool at our apartment complex. It was such a gorgeous day here in the South! As you can see, Macy would only dangle her feet by the pool's edge. The water was pretty cold so I don't blame her for not wanting to get in! She didn't go much father than this. Mark DID get her in to the water but not without some kicking and screaming! Nick on the other hand, LOVED it! The cold water didn't even phase him. The kid is a heater so it was probably relief for him! Karlee was not a fan!

Later that night, we went to BBQ with friends. Hamburgers, potato salad, spinach dip, chips and watermelon...isn't this really what Memorial Day is all about! I ate to my heart's content! Yum!

Weekend in Richmond!

Over the weekend, we went to visit the McCormicks, our very close friends from dental school who are now living in Richmond, Virgina. It was one of those last second things but we are so happy we went! We had so much fun catching up and being together!

Mark was attending a conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Friday so he was more than halfway there. I packed up all the kids in the mini van and drove four hours to pick him up and then we drove another two hours to Richmond together. Adam and Emily were such great hosts and showed us all around the city and some of their favorite spots. One of the historical sites we stopped to see was St. John's Episcopal Church where Patrick Henry delivered his famous speech in 1775 "Give me liberty or give me death."

Macy and Tucker were so excited to see each other and were practically inseparable. As you can tell by the pictures, we were always telling them to kiss. It was so fun to get all of the babies together too. Little Berkeley is a doll and such a good baby! Emily even arranged a babysitter for Saturday night and we left all five kids (babies were all in bed) and went to dinner. It was WONDERFUL! It's funny how it's always so easy to pick up right where you left off with friends even when time and distance separate you! We have met so many wonderful people at all of our stops in life and even though I get so sad every time we have to move and say good-bye, I feel that my life would be so different without any of you in it!

Our First Home!

We just got a call from our Realtor in Oregon congratulating us on our new home!!! We couldn't be more happy about it! It is in a great neighborhood with a community pool, playground, exercise facilities, clubhouse and great walking trails. We can just see our young family being so happy here and we can't wait to move in!!!

A HUGE thanks to my parents for flying out to South Carolina to watch all of our kids so Mark and I could fly right back to Oregon. We were gone for five days and looked at too many houses to count. It came down to two homes. We actually put an offer in on another house that we loved but we just couldn't get this home (shown above) out of our minds. We were so unsettled about it all. After stressing over it for a week and losing sleep, we ended up retracting our offer on the first home and putting in an offer on this one. We cannot believe how much better we feel and how much more excited we are! This is how home buying should be!

We absolutely LOVED Corvallis while we were there! We checked out a few preschools for Macy, went to lunch with the staff at Mark's new office (whom we just LOVE), had dinner at the home of the dentist Mark is going in to practice with and ate at some really fun restaurants. Corvallis has so much charm!!! I found the greatest toy store there. We bought Macy an umbrella. I'm sure she'll be needing one! The rain makes everything so green and the valley is just so beautiful!

We close on our home on the 7th of July! We are really excited for this next chapter in our lives but also sad to be leaving all of our friends here in Columbia. We have really grown to love this place and there will be so many people and places that we will miss!

Here are some shots of the inside! I love all of the arches and windows. This home is so light and bright! It makes me so happy and I can't wait to decorate! We'd love for you all to visit us!

Front entry, living and dining area!

View from the family room looking into the kitchen!

View from the upstairs bonus room looking out to the bedrooms!

Cute square windows in living room!

What's in my bag?

A few weeks/months ago, I was tagged by my friend Jamie to reveal what's in my bag! As I was cleaning out my diaper bag from church today, I decided that now would be the perfect time to show you what a mother of twins and a two year old gets to pack around with her.

-Diapers in three different sizes. Size 2 for Karlee. Size 3 for Nick and a pull-up for Macy just in case we get stuck somewhere there isn't a bathroom.
-Wipes & disposal bags for stinky diapers
-Two bibs. Two burp clothes. Two bottles. Two containers of pre-measured formula since Nick drinks 6 oz. and Karlee drinks 4 oz.
-Two pacifiers
-Sippy cup for Macy, raisins and fruit snacks for bribery
-Coloring book
-Macy's purse that she insists on taking with her but then I end up carrying it!
-Toys for babies
-Things for Mom: Wallet, cell phone, Eclipse gum, hand sanitizer, lotion, lip gloss, ibuprofen!!!

Gone are the days I could just grab my purse and go! Now, it takes me a good 20 minutes to get out the door...

... but they are so worth it! (You too, Macy!)

Lezlee, Amy Elmore, Alyssa, Katrina Guymon and Jamie Adair--you're it!

Karlee Rolls Over!

Of course, Karlee would be the first to roll over! She IS my scooter-bug! I've spent the last two days coming to her rescue to roll her back over, since she only does so good on her stomach for so long. She has ALMOST conquered rolling from her stomach to her back, but not quite! She is so funny though...the second, I roll her back over, she rolls right back on to her stomach and the fun starts all over again for me and her! Isn't she cute, though? I don't know what to do with her hair except let it grow! It's her signature!Here again, Karlee on her stomach and Nick just chillin'. Who knows when this guy will start rolling! He hasn't even attempted! He's much more interested in toys and fascinated with his hands to even realize he can move. Karlee, on the other hand, is not in to the toys so much. These two are so different! It's so fun seeing them together! I am just loving it!

Kenny Chesney -Poets & Pirates Tour

A week ago, Saturday, I went with some of my favorite girls to the Kenny Chesney concert. It was such a fun day out for me! Mark stayed home with all of the kids and survived (to say the least)! He now has a whole new appreciation for what I do every day! It was good for him! He was a little nervous at first but totally pulled it off! Of course he would...he is such a great dad!

The pre-show started at 4pm with Gary Allen, Leann Rimes, and Brooks & Dunn. Kenny didn't come on until 9pm. Apparently this was Kenny's sixth year coming to South Carolina and he has sold out every time at the Colonial Center. This year he sold out in 30 minutes so they moved the concert to Williams-Brice Stadium and sold out to a crowd of 45,000 fans. It was awesome! Go country fans!

All the girls!

Gary Allen singing "Her Man" and "Best I Ever Had."

Next, Leann Rimes performed, wearing a South Carolina Gamecock football jersey/made dress and 4" stiletto heels!

Here's a little taste of Brooks & Dunn singing "My Maria." Loved it! Then my camera died!
(Push Pause of my music so you can hear this!)

Finally, Kenny came on a little after 9pm. He made his grand entrance being raised up on a platform at the end of the catwalk. After singing a few lines, he suddenly stopped...next thing we see is him leaning over, trying to stomp his foot lose. His foot had gotten stuck in the lift and according to the headlines the next day, he "crushed a few bones." The show still went on but it was obvious Kenny was in extreme pain. He was limping, trying to run all over the stage and missed a few lines here and there when the pain got too much. It was hard to enjoy the first half of the show because we were all so worried about him! His staff soon got the picture he was hurt and handed him a cup with a little something in it to ease the pain. By the end, Kenny was certainly loosie-goosie! It was pretty funny!! Uncle Kracker came out to sing a few songs with Kenny and he'd obviously been drinking something too! It was still a sweet concert and hats off to Kenny for putting on a GREAT show despite a broken foot!