2 Months

Rush Chivvis, 2 months

He is up to 14 lbs, 1 oz and looking good, if I do say so myself.

(outfitted by Uncle Craig and Aunt Katie)

North Carolina

We just returned from an amazing week at Wrightsville Beach. It is just outside of Wilmington, North Carolina...we love it there! This time, we were joined with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law and their kids. What fun! Winnie loves her cousins, and was having fun non-stop. She loves every part of the beach...sand playing, wave jumping, splashing. The weather was amazing. It wasn't too hot so we could stay on the beach all day long. We headed into Wilmington a couple of times for eating out, a Cape Fear River cruise, a trolley ride through historic Wilmington, and a bit of shopping. Rush was, of course, a perfect angel the duration of the trip. Winnie seemed to grow up a bit, hanging out with the "older kids." She had her first ice cream cone, her first popsicle, and seemed to create her own fun while we were on the beach. She became "Papaw's girl," and anytime he wasn't around, she would ask, "Papaw go?" We had a great week and are very thankful for family!

Winnie and Andy enjoying the waves

With my Mom

A special dessert after yummy pizza restaurant...Luna Pops

Jenny, Ryan, Me, and Andy

Winnie and Papaw

Even Rush enjoyed a little ocean air!

Andy and Rush, in his cute little whale shirt from his Grandma and Grandpa Murphy

A Googie trick...Winnie's mood salvaged with "Super-Woman" bands made out of gum packages

Remi and Winnie in matching outfits. These super cute rompers belonged to me and Jenny about 30 years ago. My mom saved them, and I'm so glad. I love them!

Bad Endings

Sometimes Winifred is so sweet with Rush...

Sometimes she is not (this picture just caught the beginning of a nice swat to the noggin)

My Babes

I love comparing the way Winnie looked then to the way Rush looks now. They both have the sleepy eyes they inherited from their mother. Our man is now 2 months old! Rush is very laid back and sleeps the day away. He has the sweetest personality and is starting to laugh and smile when you talk to him. We love this little guy!

The Big 8-9

My grandpa turned 89 this year, and as always, we headed to Branson to ring in the birthday with the entire Dean Family. This year was especially important, because Grandpa just got inducted into the Army Ranger's Hall of Fame, but wasn't able to attend the induction ceremony. My Aunt Patsy and Dad went to Georgia and accepted his award and gave his speech in his place, and we got to watch a DVD of the event and Dad presented him with his medal. We are all so proud of my grandpa. He's the coolest! It was a fun weekend for us to spend with family, and Winnie had a blast playing with her cousins, especially Clara and Remi, who she seems to be getting old enough to hang with. A professional photographer even came and took family photos, but Winnie cried most of that time because she had to leave her little bike toy to be in pictures. Rush, as usual, did a great deal of sleeping:)

Winnie playing with Remi and Clara

Winnie sucking down a Flavor Ice..big treat for her on the special day

This photo sums up how Winnie was during the photography session. Remi and Clara look so scared of her! I would be, too.

Rush with his great-grandpa

All of the cousins with their great-grandparents. Grandma Winnie did not like the heat.

Sweet Grandpa worn out from the day and sleeping on Jenny

Al Turns One

The birthday boy!

Swinging with Miss Linda

Last week, we headed out to Washington to celebrate Al's first birthday at his grandparent's house. We had a great time just getting out of the city for the day. Winnie loved playing with all of the toys at their house and getting to eat some cake and ice cream. We love the Reinbergs, so it was great to spend time with them!

Winnie and the boys...not much getting along with these three on the slide

The Best Time

Andy went to Boulder this weekend for Mark's wedding (he didn't take any pictures or I would post one. they are a beautiful couple...especially Kara on the wedding day) Not wanting to be alone with Puddy, Winnie, and Rush for 5 days, I headed to Arkansas for some family time. We had an AMAZING weekend! Winnie really had a blast and seemed like such a big girl around her older cousins. We did so many fun things! And, looking back through all of the photos, her and Remi became best buds while we were in Conway. We spent the night with my brother and sister in law, Matt and Michele, and their kids-Grace, Owen, Clara, and Pierson, on the way down. The next morning, we decided that it would be fun for Grace to come to Conway with me, so I had a travel buddy! I am a terrible aunt, as most of the pictures I took were of just Winnie. I need to work on that. I was just super careful about documenting what she did, because I knew Andy would be excited to see the photos. I'll sum up the weekend in videos and pictures:

This is Winnie having fun running and jumping at the Jump Zone.

This place was like heaven for her!

But Aunt Jenny looks like she's having more fun that the kids:)

And the highlight of her time, the slides!

She looks like a rag doll, but she wanted to go down over and over.

Remi and Winnie...it's always about the belly for Winnie:)

This pretty much sums up Rush's weekend.

Doing ballet during a famous Dean Family dance party.

Sorry, Jenny, this was the one with the least amount of your footage.

It could have been A LOT worse. The fast dancing ones were awesome!

A couple shots of the Sunday brunch Jenny and Ryan hosted

After brunch, the kids did science experiments. They made geysers and volcanoes.

Even Winnie got to make a geyser!

Going down the "roller coaster" with Cousin Remi.

They had more fun doing it together than when they rode alone.

So sweet!

"Washing off" with Remi and Finn

Bathing beauties. Doesn't Remi have the prettiest hair?

That's if you notice anything other than the cute little cracks.

And the big hit of the weekend. A octopus straw cup--a gift from the McEntires that Winnie would not put down. I didn't even know she could drink out of a straw!