Waggin' at the Waterpark

Our Parks & Recreation District sponsors a special day at the end of the summer season, where dog owners can bring their canine "kids" to the waterpark to go swimming before the pool is drained for the winter. It is a fantastic idea that raises money for local pet charities and the Greenville County Rec Department. Decked out in our black lab attire, we took Winnie this morning, and it was ridiculously fun for everyone in our family. Initially, I was a little nervous about Luke not understanding that today's outing was only for his "sister" and other dogs, but as you can see, he made himself right at home in the pool with the pups:


I think you may have to be a pet owner to fully appreciate the joy we experienced as our furry girl splashed and swam in the pool today, chasing balls, and playing with friends. If only the slide were open, I could have taken a photo of Winnie and Daddy sliding down together (to match the one of Luke & Mark from earlier this summer):


The funniest part of this picture is the lifeguard in the background, ready to blow his whistle at a misbehaving pet, and prepared to "rescue" an inexperienced swimmer:


Here are our kids, running at full speed around the sprinklers:


Both Luke and Winnie were completely tuckered out from a busy morning of water fun, and decided that snuggling together for a rest was a great idea:

Decisions, Decisions

I am having a really difficult time making decisions right now. From the most ordinary, small things (I stood in the pasta aisle of the grocery store contemplating penne vs. rotini for at least 5 minutes) to the bigger issues (like what color we will paint the nursery), it's all very complicated to my pregnant, muddled brain. During a recent visit to the home improvement store, I wandered to the paint section and picked up some paint swatches/samples in various shades of pink, so we could choose a color for the walls of Sprout's room. When I checked out to pay for the other items that I purchased, the cashier raised her eyebrows at me and suggested, "Why don't I give you another bag for ALL of your paint samples?" I knew that I had grabbed more than a couple, but they are free, and I wanted to make sure that I considered many different shades of pink (since I didn't have Sprout's new pink toile crib bedding with me and wanted an exact match). When we got home, I dumped the paint samples out of the bag and told Mark that we were going to decide on our paint color. His eyes almost bulged out of his head and he said, "Carrie, how MANY did you get?" After counting, I realized that I picked up 87 different sample cards (no exaggeration), and most had 3 different colors on them, totalling 261 slightly different shades of pink. I tried to explain to Mark that I didn't want to miss the "just right" shade of pink, so I covered all of my bases and picked up almost every version of the hue that was in the store. Mark sarcastically commented that now we don't even need to paint the nursery: We can just tape up all of my sample colors on the walls and create a pink mosaic of the 261 different shades. I was not amused.


After much deliberation, we have narrowed down about half of the colors (huge progress!), and at this rate, Sprout's nursery paint decision will be made right about the time that she leaves for college. I'm hoping that a burst of decisiveness will hit me soon, and I will just pick one. If only I didn't love/appreciate pink so much, this would all be a lot easier...

In other news, Luke has decided that giant stuffed animals/mascots are one of the most exciting parts about being 2 years old. We recently attended the annual NICU reunion at Greenville Memorial Hospital where Luke was born, and he was beside himself that Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and "Buddy" (the hospital's MD bear mascot) came to the party.









Luke also decorated a cookie (using almost an entire jar of sprinkles), was entertained by the clowns, received stickers & a gift, ate cake, and loved checking out the ambu-la-la that was parked in front of the hospital:




I looked around at all the other families and children present, thinking about how each parent has a unique story about their baby in the NICU, and a special reason to honor the medical community that helped our newborns in those first, overwhelming days and weeks. I said a little prayer of thanksgiving for my happy, healthy boy, and then made the decision to have another piece of cake to celebrate. After all, I'm eating for two, and luckily, some decisions are never hard!

A Taste of Fall

Although it's not officially fall yet, we've had cooler temperatures here (hooray for the end of the 90 degree mornings!) and we're in the mood for autumn activities. This weekend, we took our annual day trip to Sky Top Apple Orchard (in the mountains of NC), and spent a gorgeous morning picking apples, tasting the fruits of our labor, and sharing a picnic lunch. Both Luke and Winnie ate more apples than they picked, and once they started tasting the delicious fruit, it was difficult to tear them away! We had a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful scenery and weather, and here are some of our favorite pictures from the day:














The below slideshow (also in our Winterhoff Family Photo Albums) includes the rest of our pictures from our apple picking fun:

Breaking News!

This afternoon marked a huge, shocking milestone for our family, as Luke is napping in his "big boy room" and not in the crib for the first time! My child is such a creature of habit and routine (Hmm- wonder where he gets that...) and he knows that after lunch every day, we prepare for nap time. Today, I told him to go ahead upstairs while I let Winnie out and cleaned up from lunch. By the time I joined Luke, I found him lying in one of the twin beds in our guest room, surrounded by his stuffed am-i-dals, and covered with his new bedding that arrived in the mail earlier this week. We have been talking to Luke about moving into his big boy room soon, have just ordered his new furniture, and recently had a window seat/toy box built for the window nook. I anticipated moving Luke from his nursery only when he was ready (which I envisioned to be months from now!), and certainly not until his furniture had arrived, the room was painted, and we were able to mentally prepare with lots of build-up and excitement about this transition.


This afternoon, we snuggled in the bed together, read some stories, and then I told Luke it was time to go to back to the nursery and get into his crib to take a nap. However, Luke declared, "Baboo sleep in big boy bed!", and so I assembled his new bed rails and tucked him in, assuming that the novelty of napping in a different place would wear off quickly and we would switch to the crib in about 10 minutes. Without a video or audio monitor to let me know what was going on with my toddler, I strategically placed myself across the hall in the playroom, in a comfy chair which directly faces the door to Luke's new room. There were several attempts by Luke to come to the door, but I told him to get back into the big boy bed or else he'd have to go to his crib, and when I last checked, I found a peaceful, sleeping toddler in the bed.


I am astounded and am questioning several things:
1) Is it really going to be this easy?
2) When did my baby grow up?

It just goes to show that despite all of my careful planning and contemplating about "just the right time" to implement big (and little) changes, Luke has once again shown me that when he's ready, things will just fall into place. Here's to a hopefully long afternoon slumber and sweet dreams for my big boy!

Lil' Slugger

Tonight we went to our annual Greenville Drive baseball game, and we had a blast! Luke talked about going to the baseball game all day in anticipation, and when we got there, he was absolutely thrilled to ride the trolley from the parking lot to the baseball stadium. He kept calling it a bus, and pointed out the wipers, the driver, and the bell (his favorite song is still "The Wheels on the Bus). When we got into the stadium, Luke saw Reedy Rip'It, the Greenville Drive mascot, and practically jumped out of Daddy's arms to hug the giant green frog. Each time we saw Reedy during the course of the game, Luke would exclaim, "LOOK at that FROG!" and run up to him. It was adorable at first, but we became slightly embarrassed when Luke became an offical stalker of the mascot, chasing him all over the stadium and running up to Reedy while other children attempted to have their picture taken with him.


The other exciting highlight of the game was that Mark caught a foul fly ball! He was holding Luke on one hip, and made an amazing one-handed catch with his other arm. Mark gave the ball to Luke, and Luke clutched it tightly for the rest of the game, holding onto his special treasure. Of course we had to show the ball to Reedy, too!


This is the third year that we have taken Luke to a Greenville Drive game. The first time, he was in the Baby Bjorn, and just a few weeks old. Last year, we brought the stroller, but were exhausted after chasing around an active toddler who wanted to explore every part of the stadium and didn't sit still at all. This year was delightful: We sat in the grass for awhile, shared a soft pretzel with our son (no organic veggie puffs this time!), watched over 2 entire innings of the game (double the time of last year!), and Luke really seemed to enjoy the concept of baseball. Mark and I commented how much easier it is to go places with our child now, and then we looked at my belly, laughing as we realized that we have just a few more months until Sprout arrives and that changes again. But how fun it is to think that next year, we'll be going to our annual baseball game as a family of four!

Mommy's big boy!


My guys (proudly posing for their all-star shot) with their baseball!

Chuck E. Cheese's

We took a trip back in time last night, to a childhood place that Mark and I both remember as being lots of fun. After spending a dreary, rainy Saturday inside, we decided that everyone needed an exciting family activity, so we took Luke to Chuck E. Cheese's for the first time. It is an understatement to say that Luke LOVED it! He ran from ride to ride, told us that he was going to "play special games", and was especially drawn to the characters. He couldn't stop giving hugs to that lovable, anthropomorphic mouse, and we literally had to tear him away from the bulldozer ride at the end of the evening. The pizza wasn't quite as amazing as Mark and I remember from our childhood, and the building seems to have shrunk (we both have memories of the place being so enormous!), but it was certainly magical to our son, and that made it worth every last token!

Hugs for Chuck E. Cheese:






Completely enamored by the "dancing mouse":




On the bicycle balloon ride:


Riding the train with Barney:


Playing "Whack a Shark" with Daddy:



Luke's favorite ride (what a boy!):

Pregnancy: The Highs, The Lows, The Hormones

Since I am almost at the halfway point through this pregnancy, I thought it would be a good time to write an update about what's going on recently:

The Highs:
People keep asking me if Luke has any idea that he is going to be a big brother. At first, I thought that he had no concept of what was going on, but he's proven me wrong on several occasions. One evening during Luke's nighttime prayers, he recited with me: "God Bless Mommy and Daddy, and Luke and Winnie..." All of the sudden, he grinned, looked up at me, and said, "And Sprout." I almost burst into tears of joy. I have no idea how he knew to insert this very appropriate addition, but he's said it every night since. Sometimes I just can't get over how amazed I am by my son, which leads me to story #2:

Several weeks ago, I asked Luke where Sprout was. He lifted up my shirt and pointed to my belly. I was so impressed, and we showed Daddy our new "trick" when Mark got home from work. We did it again, and Mark cleared his throat and said, "Carrie, you realize that Luke is pointing to the birthmark on your stomach, right?" After testing this theory a few times, we realized that Luke did indeed believe that Sprout was a mole/birthmark, but you can't win every time. Luke more than made up for it at our ultrasound last week. As soon as the ultrasound tech told us that it was a girl, Luke announced, "Baboo have a baby sister!" I wish we could have recorded it on video, but I know that I'll never forget that moment and the sense of joy and pride that I felt.

My sweet boy bringing Mommy a pink hydrangea (my favorite flower).

It's been a very exciting coincidence that all of my play group friends here were pregnant at the same time. All of our firstborns are within 6 months of age, and our second children will also be born within 6 months of each other, and all in the same order as the older siblings! Everyone was pregnant with the same gender as their first pregnancy, too, but Sprout has proven to be the only outlier. It's so much fun to go through this experience with my Greenville girlfriends, and we all can relate to each other's experiences, share in our stories and be in the same stage of life.

First, Second, Third, and Third Trimester Bellies (May 2010).


The Lows:
I really don't have much to add to this section, except for the inappropriate belly rubs that I get from complete strangers (such a violation of my personal space!). I feel great right now, but am already starting to realize how the second child may receive much less attention than the first. While I was pregnant with Luke, I pored over multiple pregnancy books, imagining the changes occurring to the fetus in my body as it grew and developed. We took weekly photos of my "bump" and were completely consumed by the new life that was going to join our family. This time, I rarely even open my weekly e-mails which compare Sprout's size to a random piece of produce (i.e. "It's Week 18, and your baby is the size of a large heirloom tomato!"). I'm so busy chasing around an active toddler that Sprout really has taken a backseat while in utero, but I'm trying not to feel guilty that I'm not sending her peaceful, zen-like vibes all day. I'm also slightly nervous about how I am going to divide my attention between 2 children, give each one 100% of my time, energy, and resources, and how Luke will adjust to having to share his mommy with a new baby (after almost 3 years of having me all to himself), but I know that it will all work out somehow.

This adorable little man certainly keeps me on my toes!


The Hormones:
1. My brain has officially turned to mush. In the last few days alone, I have completely lost my mind to Pregnancy Brain. I put away an unwashed pan in the cupboard, only for Mark to find it at lunchtime today and exclaim: "Gross! What IS this?" I just shrugged and replied, "I made grilled cheese yesterday." He looked at me incredulously. I also found an almost-full jar of jam returned to the pantry instead of the fridge, and a bag of frozen peas misplaced in the fridge (vs. back in the freezer). Tonight in the shower, I couldn't remember if I had shampooed my hair already (so I washed everything again to be safe), and I went to the grocery store solely to buy apple juice (after Luke asked for me to get it for 4 days), and I came home with an entire bag full of groceries, but no juice of course. Lastly, Mark asked me to do a load of whites because he was out of undershirts, and I insisted that I just did them a day ago, and that he needed to search his drawers again (since surely I had folded everything and put the clothes away). Two days later, I found the washed, but unfolded clothes in the laundry basket buried underneath a bunch of dirty things. Sigh. I also asked Mark the same question 5 minutes apart because I couldn't remember if we had already had a conversation.... the list goes on and on. It's very frustrating, but Mark reminded me that I had similar cognitive deficits while I was pregnant with Luke. Of course I don't remember.

2. Shortly after we found out that we were expecting another baby, I quickly calculated a Jaunary due date, but realized that since Luke was born 5+ weeks early, that this baby may be an early Christmas present. I started thinking about the meaning of Advent ("coming"), and how it is a preparatory season of looking forward and waiting for Christ's birth, and how poignant that will be to us this year as we await our baby's arrival into the world. As I tried to put this into words, I said to Mark, "Christmas is going to be so special this year. It'll be just like the Virgin Mary, as she waited for Jesus to come..."

I think Mark had trouble focusing on my rambling at that point, because he calmly interjected, "Yes, Carrie, it will be EXACTLY like that. You, riding a donkey into Bethlehem, giving birth to our Savior, in a stable surrounded by farm animals..."

Ok, so maybe it was a poor word choice on my part to compare myself to the Virgin Mary, but I was hormonal and overwhelmed by the brand new information that we were pregnant, etc. and I didn't know how to express my thoughts coherently.

So in the meantime, we continue to prepare, look forward, enjoy each moment of the craziness, the laughter, and the joy that our little blessing is already bringing to our family from within my belly!

Week 18 Bump (Yes, this is the first picture that we've manage to take since Week 10, but at least I'm wearing pink for Sprout!)