Doctors, Tutus and Picnics...Oh My!!!

The title of this blog sums up our activities last week and weekend. Not sure if I mentioned it in a previous blog or not, but my New Year's resolution for 2008 was to get a physical. I decided that it was important to get a complete blood work-up so that I will have some baseline numbers established in my early 30s. I am not a big fan of doctors in general, mainly due to all the drama I experienced in college dealing with my heart arrhythmia. So I am proud to say that I faced my fears head-on by going for my physical last Friday. I really liked the practice and the doctor I saw. They all made me feel comfortable, which is important for me given all of my anxiety and phobias. I went back for a fasting blood draw on Monday of this week to assess cholesterol, glucose, thyroid, liver function, and kidney function. Should have the results from the blood work any day now, so hopefully all is well and I can say I came out of this medical experience on a positive note!

Saturday, Sarah paraded around the house in her ballerina tutu and matching headband. She even attempted a pirouette or two for us. Guess she must get her dancing skills from her dad, because as most of you know, my ballet career was short-lived due to my lack of gracefulness and inability to do a cartwheel (still can't do one to this day, by the way).

After church on Sunday, we headed to Pullen Park in Raleigh for my company picnic. Despite the intense heat, we managed to have a nice time. Duane enjoyed meeting some of my coworkers, and Sarah enjoyed playing with the hula hoops and bubble machines. We took her for a ride on the train at the park, and she also enjoyed a ride on the carousel. After all the heat and activities of the day, she crashed in the car on the way home and proceeded to nap until 5:30 that evening!

So far, this week has been pretty typical for us. Sarah seems to have a bit of a cold right now, but it is certainly not slowing her down at all! Without sharing all of the details, she has been making some progress with potty training. She has successfully used the potty twice in the past two weeks: once at home and once at preschool. They continue to work with her each day at school, so hopefully she will get the hang of it soon! Her vocabulary continues to develop each day it seems. Right now she enjoys singing her A-B-Cs and counting, although the letters and the numbers are not always in the correct order! She has also recently discovered M&Ms, and she LOVES them!!!! Guess we hid the pleasures of candy from her long enough...there is no turning back now. At least the M&Ms have been somewhat educational...she names the color of each one, so it is a good way to practice her colors!

No big plans for the upcoming weekend. We'll probably just take it easy and maybe look at some more potential neighborhoods. If the weather stays on the cooler side, I am sure we will take a trip to a park so that Sarah can enjoy some play time.

Hope you all enjoy these last few days of summer! More updates to come!

Our Labor Day Weekend

We had a very fun and action-packed Labr Day weekend. It all started with our nearly 6 hour drive Friday evening from Cary to Anderson, SC. We left Cary at 6:45 Friday evening, and finally rolled into Mimi and Papa's driveway around 12:30 am Saturday morning. What should have been a 4 1/2 hour drive was painfully extended due to 3 or 4 standstill traffic jams we encountered on our journey. Sarah held up pretty well through the trip though, despite the fact that she didn't really nap at all on the way down. Everytime I would tell her to close her eyes and go to sleep, she would just say "No eyes Mommy, no eyes." It was pretty cute! She was excited to see Mimi and Papa when we finally did arrive, so she got her second wind and stayed up until about 1:00 am!!!!


Saturday morning she spent some time swinging outside with Papa, and we also took her on a short wagon ride in Mimi and Papa's neighborhood. Uncle Jimmy and Aunt 'Risa came over around lunchtime, and we all ran some errands together before heading to the SC Upperstate Fair for the evening. Sarah had a great time at the fair...she LOVED riding all the kids' rides, she enjoyed all the animals in the petting zoo, and she even took a pony ride! Here are some pictures of her enjoying her evening:


Riding the carousel with Papa

Posing in the stroller with Mommy

At the fair with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt 'Risa

Riding the Treasure Hunt ride with Mimi

Riding the firetruck with Daddy

Pony ride!

Getting kisses from the llama

On Sunday we just took it easy. Sarah wanted to go on the swing again, and wanted Papa to push her so high that her toes touched the leaves of the trees. She would say "I touch the trees, I touch the trees!" And then she would giggle so much when Papa would push her and her toes would touch the leaves! I guess she enjoyed it a little too much because she suffered from motion sickness and got sick in the swing! So after we got her cleaned up and calmed down, she crashed for a LONG nap! We just hung around the house most of the day and rested and visited...it was nice!

Monday morning we headed out early so we could have time to stop off in Charlotte to visit with Grammy and Paka. We arrived at their house around 11:30, and had a nice visit and lunch with them, Aunt Kristin, and Sarah's cousins Madison and Brady. My friend Jennie and her daughter Julia stopped in to visit as well, and it was GREAT to see both of them! We hit the road again around 3:00 to finish the drive back to Cary. Luckily, the traffic was not bad at all on Monday, so we got back home around 6:00, which gave us plenty of time to unpack and wind down a little before starting our week.

The short work week was nice for all of us. Duane and I had typical work weeks, and Sarah had a pretty uneventful week at school. She spent most days in the 2 year old classroom, and she will officially be moving up to that room next week. She seems to have adjusted really well to her new classmates and teachers, so we are thankful for that.

This weekend will likely be uneventful as well. We are expecting bad weather from Tropical Storm Hanna tonight and tomorrow morning. I am supposed to head to Winston-Salem in the morning for a hair appointment and to visit friends, but we will see if the weather is on my side! Sunday will just be typical for us: church, grocery shopping, and laundry to get ready for next week!

That's all the updates for now! I'll post more when we actually have something else that is somewhat exciting to report! Take care!