Daddy's Little Buddy

Micah is a daddy's boy. When I come around, he hugs me and he loves me. But when Daddy walks through the door, it's "DADDY!!!" and a full run to greet him. He really only wants me above Daddy when he's hurt. Joe has been doing some yardwork lately from your normal mowing to full blown landscaping. Micah loves to help him. I caught a couple of cute photos over the last couple weeks and thought I would share.

I'll have to share some pictures of the completed landscaping that Joe did. He and Micah did a great job! :)

Family Time

After Martha and Tim's visit, Joe's mom (Nana), sister (Aunt Susan), and our nephew (Aidan) visited the following weekend. We were disappointed that Paw was unable to make it but had fun anyway! Of course I have hardly any pictures, but Nana and Susan should be sending me some soon. I'll post then. They arrived on Friday afternoon. Micah was so excited to see his Nana. She is the only other person he recognizes in a photo besides Mommy and Daddy. He doesn't even recognize himself! If we show him a photo of himself, he says, "Aidan!" In fact, we have a family photo hanging in our bedroom. He walks over to it and says, "Daddy, Mommy, Aidan!" Too cute! Anyway, Micah was just as excited to see Aidan. Aidan is 2 and 1/2 and Micah thought everything he did was hilarious. Aidan loved to make Micah laugh. Needless to say, they were a couple of wild children during this visit, but it was wonderful to have them together since we don't see each other very often anymore.

Saturday was a beautiful day so we decided to take the boys to the zoo in Memphis. Joe and I bought a membership a while back. After 3 visits, it's really paid for itself. This was our second visit in about a month. Anyway, the boys had a wonderful time, especially Aidan. Micah at least noticed the animals this time, but Aidan was really into it. He likes to pretend that he's a tiger so he really enjoyed all the big cats. Of course Nana bought them souvenirs...an elephant for Aidan and a lion for Micah. Aidan wanted a HUGE zebra, but it was $33!! It was funny watching him carry it around the gift shop. By the end of the day, both boys were exhausted. This picture was taken on our way out of the zoo.

The rest of the visit was really spent relaxing and shopping. Joe did some work in the yard while the ladies tended the children. Nana and Susan were supposed to leave on Tuesday morning, but the weather forecast was calling for snow all day Tuesday through the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. Since they would have to drive right through that, they decided to stay one extra day. It didn't take much persuasion to convince Nana to stay :) I think she was a little glad for the snow to give her an excuse to see Micah a little longer. She hadn't seen him since January, and I know it was very difficult to wait as long as she did between visits.

I'm glad to have had a weekend to ourselves without visitors for Easter since we've had company two weekends in a row, but I really missed them after they left. It was nice for Micah to have someone to play with, and, I can honestly say, I love Joe's family just as much as my own. I am a very family oriented person so being far away where we can't go see them whenever we like has been difficult. So I was thankful for a long visit, and we'll be traveling to North Carolina the first weekend in May. See you again soon Nana!

Visit from Friends

My good friend Martha and her fiance Tim came for a visit a couple weeks ago. I was so excited to see them. Tim and Martha had a bit of a whirlwind romance so I have not been able to get to know him as well as I would like since I have not been living near them for quite some time. I believe they began dating last summer and were engaged right after Christmas. So, this was the perfect chance to get to know him better and have quality time with a good friend. I knew he would be wonderful because Martha wouldn't have it any other way.

They arrived late on a Thursday night. Joe worked on Friday, so the four of us (don't forget about Micah) took it easy. Martha and Tim were exhausted. Once they were up and about, we took a quick trip to Target. This is one of Tim's favorite stores. I knew I liked him :) I cooked chicken and dumplings for dinner...yummy! Saturday was a bit more eventful. We took Micah to the park, where Martha and Tim had just as much fun as he did. After naps all around in the afternoon, we made the hour or so drive to Memphis for some barbeque on Beale St. Yummy again! Our choice was Pig on Beale...Pork with Attitude. Joe and I had been here before and really enjoyed it. After dinner, we went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to pick up some candy and Maggie Moo's for some ice cream. Then we headed to the mall to get a little exercise.

While we were in Memphis, the NCAA tournament was in full swing and Carolina was playing that night. We walked by a sports store in the mall, and, what do you know, they are selling Carolina T-shirts! I thought I had finally escaped the oversaturation of Carolina gear when I left NC. I mean, everywhere you go in NC, they sell Carolina gear. Big Lots, Wal-Mart, Target, any speacialty sports store, flea markets, whatever! Wolfpack fans get no love because we are people who actually went to the school or have some tie to the school rather than every other Joe Blow in NC who just came out of the womb a Tarheel fan. Sorry all you Carolina fans out there...that's my rant for the day! Congrats on the NCAA championship. They are a good team...as much as it hurts to say it. I'd just like to see a little more red around as well.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah...visiting friends. Martha and Tim left early Sunday morning. All in all it was a good visit. I'm so glad we got to share some time together. I will be in their wedding in July and was beginning to think I may not see them until then. It's just difficult getting back to Raleigh right now. I wish them both the best and can't wait to see them again soon!