Lately (summa time!)

We've had a handyman here this week to do some work on our deck and take care of some other various homeowner issues, and we've mostly had to be home for him to get the work done, so we've been creative in finding ways to stay cool and not go stir crazy...

We finally put up our Eno hammock in the backyard. The littles LOVE it.

We celebrated resident and fellow graduation with the OBGYN department at UNC, which means Stuart is officially a chief resident! Next year we will be celebrating his graduation! Whew.

These friends moved to Nashville earlier this week for Chris to do a pulmonology/critical care medicine fellowship at Vanderbilt.  Chris and Jill are two of our dearest forever friends, and we already miss them lots and lots.

Froyo date with the boys (during a quick moment when we were able to sneak away from the handyman)

Boys playing guitars one evening (James is obsessed with daddy and his stringed instruments these days)

Watching the handyman paint off the deck

Watermelon! 👱❤️🍉 A summer love affair.

Sam playing with a big boy toy in the living room tent (which last made an appearance when we had 12 inches of snow this past winter)

Living room tent

Sam is amazing me with what he is willing to eat... Just such a stark contrast to the picky toddler in the house. Here, he is enjoying pesto whole wheat pasta with mozzarella cheese (which was followed by steamed summer squash and cherries, all self-fed). 👶❤️🍴 An all-the-time love affair... Sam loves food!

Cut these flowers from my garden to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. I'm so happy with our gardens this summer!

James doctoring his toys (note the stethoscope).

And our dinner date on our 5th anniversary. We took the littles to get sushi. This sums up our life right now:  Stuart in scrubs, juggling children.  Wouldn't change a thing in our beautiful life (except maybe more minutes with Stu... Even if he's always in scrubs!).

Samuel: 10 months

Only one more of these monthly posts (after this) before our boy turns ONE YEAR OLD.  Almost impossible to believe.

This month, I've definitively decided we have a redhead on our hands.  Some days it looks like the color above (no denying the orange hue), and others it's more subtle like strawberry blond or auburn, but it's there. 

I think Samuel has gotten a lot more fun to James recently - he is faster at getting around (still an army crawl), and does more with toys than just chew on them (though that remains the primary activity).  But also, Sam has started getting angry when James takes his toys from him... working on sharing!  Above, he is playing with James at the play space inside the mall.



As referenced above, Samuel has got quite the speedy army crawl.  He bounces and rocks on his hands and knees but doesn't get anywhere, so he's happy to resort to dragging himself with his forearms :)  He has also pulled up several times to his knees to reach something.

Our feeding paradigm shifted just in the last week.  I have been trying to get Sam to feed himself, but he would just pick up something and then shake it off his hand, as if he didn't like getting his fingers dirty.  But then, he realized IT'S FOOD!  He is still happy to be spoon-fed (thankfully, since we need to use up our frozen purees), but he is also quite proficient at feeding himself with his almost-pincer-grasp and his two little bottom front teeth.  And we've been working on a sippy cup, though he mostly prefers to chew on it rather than drink anything from it.

Sampling of new foods:

Plain yogurt

Egg (yolk and white)

Salmon

Peaches

Cherries

Summer squash

Whole wheat pasta (our go-to: fusili)

Hard to know what his favorites are, because he just gobbles up everything, though the peaches and summer squash disappeared quicker than most.  I'm so impressed, because he even fed himself the salmon without hesitation!

I don't want to call it his first word yet, but I think Samuel says "da" in reference to Stuart.  These last few weeks after Stuart returned to work, when Samuel wakes up and I carry him downstairs, Samuel will whisper "da" and look around.  I now realize that it could also be his word for James ;)  Because he always looks for James first when he first wakes up.

Sam is still quite the good sleeper, with bedtime at 7pm, easily sleeping until 7am or later the next morning, and two naps during the day (typically around 9am and 1:30pm - the second one timed to correspond with James napping!).  He almost always wakes up happy, just chatting with himself and checking out his rain drop mobile until I come in to get him.

He is our sweetest darling, and it is so fun watching him grow!

Lately (stay-cation version)

After Stuart returned from Zambia, he had 10 days off to rest before returning to work.  This is what we did all week...

This photo got lost somehow, but this is James at RDU waiting for Stuart to get off the plane.  We got there about 10 minutes early, and he kept yelling "Daddy, COME HOME!"

We went out to diner with our favorite people to celebrate the Regans' 10th wedding anniversary (a happy accident on our part for scheduling on that evening!), spend some time with the Merricks before they move to Nashville, and for everyone to see Stu after his return.





Our people.



We went minivan shopping, and James picked out this car instead.





Lavender harvest!  I spent a lot of my time in the garden Stuart's week at home...  The weather was nice, and I had another adult around to corral the kids!  The lavender is doing awesome this year.





Date-night-turned-anniversary-dinner!  We decided last minute to go out, and our babysitter wasn't available, so Casey came over and stayed with the boys for us so we could go to dinner.  At dinner, we realized that we wouldn't get another chance to celebrate our anniversary, so we had an extra drink to celebrate that!  5 years!



A trip to the Museum of Life and Science





Stuart has been back at work for two weeks now, and is about to start traveling again for fellowship interviews (through the end of August), but we loved our time off with him while it lasted!

The time has come...

You're looking at (reading about) a family with a new-to-us minivan!  I actually was not very excited about it, and Stuart was the one who has been researching it for months and was even willing to trade in his Nissan Altima to get the minivan!  On the way home from CarMax, Stuart was honking at other minivans and telling "Hey! We have one, too!"

However, I just took her on her virgin voyage to Target, and I have decided everyone is right. The embarrassment is totally worth the convenience.  I do cry a little on the inside when I look out and see it in our driveway (because it doesn't currently fit in the garage with the way we have everything arranged...) but I know I will be so glad to have it for our next family road trip (and for everyday use, too, once I get over myself)!

Lately (while daddy was away)

Stuart made it home a few days ago!

We had lots of adventures while he was away.  Here's a little of what we were up to...

Chatting with daddy over breakfast while he was on his flight to Dubai



James wanted to go to Zambia, too, so he packed his suitcase one morning.



Trips to the farmer's market (bounty this week included beets, flower bouquet, kale and strawberries)



Lots of playground visits



A visit from Aunt Beth!







Another farmer's market visit (only strawberries and flowers this week)



(plus some pastries for breakfast)



Early morning snuggles (boys woke up earlier than usual during the weeks Stuart was gone)





Almost all meals were picnics



Discovered this gem at the library, and it's one of our all-time favorite books now



Sam's 9 month check up with Dr. Z



Aunt Case came over one evening to help with baths and bedtime.  Priceless, she is.



A (6-turned-11 hour) road trip to WV to visit my grandparents (Mamma Acree and the Parsons)































Road trip meal tradition



Veggie plates to share!




Hanging on Mamma Acree's patio swing



Enjoying morning coffee



Playing with Mamma Acree







Playing with Coco at Mamma Parsons' house







Reading with Pappa Parsons



Road trips are hard (this was our lunch picnic on the way home at a rest stop somewhere in VA)





We all were sick to varying degrees while daddy was gone... James looks it here (we were at the mall to shop and play, and he just wanted to be carried.  Poor baby).



We are so happy daddy's home!