A Beautiful Sunday in Charlotte

Yesterday was sunny and seventy here in the Queen City, so Joel and I took Gary to a park near St. Patrick's after mass. Gary had a wonderful time playing with the other kids and climbing all over the playground. Then we took a walk along the stream that runs through the park. As we strolled, Joel saw a crayfish and caught it to show G. Gary was afraid of it at first, but he settled down when Joel told him it was like Sebastian the Crab from "The Little Mermaid." When Joel let the crayfish go, G took off running. Then he tripped and fell face first into the only mud puddle within fifty miles. Needless to say, this cut our park excursion short! We made our way back to the car, stripped him down, cleaned him up the best we could with baby wipes, and dressed him in my sweater. Thank God it was so warm! After all this excitment, Gary fell asleep during the car ride home! Gary's muddy clothes. Surprisingly, all the stains came out!
Gary passed out in my sweater.
Later, we met Abby for some shopping and met some of Mike's relatives. Karen, Lisa, and Chelsea were very nice. Gary warmed up to all those girls pretty fast...he even pretended to do their hair while we sat outside one of the shops!
Here is Gary swinging between Chelsea and Abby on the way to another shop.

Gary said a tearful good-bye to Abby when we were done shopping. Have a safe trip home, Auntie Abby!

Welcome, Abby and Mike!

Abby and Mike got to come visit us today!!! We were so happy to see them. Mike's brother lives in Matthews (about ten minutes from where we live), so they were down from Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with Mike's family. Hopefully we'll get to have some more hanging out time before they have to leave again!

Mike, Auntie Abby, and Gary.
Gary hugging on his Auntie Abby. When Abby and Mike had to go, Gary pouted, "No go away." He really misses all of our Ohio family (we ALL do).

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day, and got as stuffed as we did! Joel, Gary, and I travelled to Greensboro, NC, to have Thanksgiving dinner at Dan and Stephanie Stein's place. They also invited two more of their friends, Matt and Shayna. The food was EXCELLENT! I think I'm still stuffed today. Thanks to Dan and Stephanie for their wonderful hospitality!

As soon as we stepped into Dan and Stephanie's, Gary saw the piano. He was in heaven, and he played with it for the rest of the afternoon. Here he is singing with Stephanie.
Chef Dan making some "good eats."
The Phone Bandit strikes again...
...and again! I think Gary played with everybody's phone! He even knows how to take pictures!!!

A Good Day

Today was a good day. Joel snapped this picture while Gary kept popping in and out of his "friends."

Afterwards, we got a package from "EE," a.k.a. Grammy Kay. It had the most delightful toy for Gary inside. This Curious George rocks back and forth on his rocking horse to the music of the "William Tell Overture." Here's Gary watching his new toy slowly rock off the coffee table.
Here's Gary putting Curious George back on the table while still giggling about his previous fall!
And here's Gary jumping up and down and clapping to the "William Tell Overture."
This Toy is a big hit!! Thanks Grammy Kay! Gary also loves the tape of you reading the Curious George stories. He settled down and listened to the first two on the tape today. When you would ask a question on the tape like, "Isn't that wonderful?" Gary would answer you! It was so cute! Thanks again, Grammy Kay!

Dubie's New Shirt

Gary got a new shirt from Granny Poopoo today. It's sooooo cool!!! And Gary just giggled when he opened up the package it came in because he he knew who was on it!!! Thanks Granny Poopoo!!Gary wearing his Beatles shirt while I try to tie his shoe. Mommy and Gary in their Beatles shirts!
Swinging with Daddy on this "cold" late fall day.

Yeah, Baby!!!!!!

Michigan 39

OHIO STATE 42!!!!!

The Vega Family and Friends root for the Buckeyes from Charlotte.

(Could ya hear us in Ohio?)

The big fans pose before the feast!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and Buckeyes (sorry everyone, we ate them all!).

Joel, Stephanie, and Dan cheer on the Buckeyes.

Jesse and Andrea playing with Gary.

Our friend Kate watching the game.

Gary loves Brutus Buckeye!

Gary drinking and pantless: a true young fan!

(Don't worry, it's apple juice in a clean beer bottle!)

Enjoy Your Steak!

Happy 32 Anniversary to Mom and Dad!

May you have many more together!

Spaghetti!!!

Yum!! Check out these hands!

"CHEEEEEESSSSSEEE!!!!!"

As requested by Granny Poopoo, here is a picture of Gary in his Elmo shirt. Gary LOVES this shirt. He gets so excited when I pull it out of the dresser! Sorry the picture's a little fuzzy. It's hard trying to get this kid to pose three seconds for a snapshot!

And here is the newest addition to our humble abode. We had our new-to-us Whirlpool washer and dryer delivered last night! They seem to work well; I've already done three loads this morning! It's sooooooo nice to be able to do a couple loads while I'm still in PJs! And the coin laundry was really getting expensive, so I hope this will save us a little money in the long run.

Apartment Pictures

I finally had the time to take pictures of our apartment and post them here today! Enjoy!

The fall wreath I made for the front door.
The livingroom from inside the front door.

Apartment Pictures (continued)

The otherside of the livingroom.

The deck off of the livingroom. Our view is mostly wooded. (Pretty!)

The other side of the deck.

The livingroom, diningroom, and kitchen from the deck.

The kitchen from the diningroom.

Apartment Pictures (continued)

The other side of the kitchen from the dining room.

The hallway from the dining room.

The bathroom from the hallway.

The rest of the bathroom.

Gary's room from the hallway.

Gary's room from his bed.

Gary's bed.

Our bedroom from the closets.

Our bedroom from the dresser.

OH....IO!!!!

Oh we don't give a damn for the WHOLE STATE of MICHIGAN,

'Cause we're from OHIO!!!!!!!

GO BUCKS!!!!!

Splish-Splash I was Takin' a Bath...

As you can see, Gary had a great time in taking a bath today. He loves playing in the water! For some reason, he also likes to eat the bubbles. Here's hopin' Johnson's and Water is a non toxic cocktail!!

"I think I tooted!"

Action shot!

This moon's for you, Granny Poopoo!

This One's For Holly...

...Who requested everybody break out their senior pics from her blog. WOO-WOO! Look at the background on mine! I was seventeen when this picture was taken in 1994. It seems so long ago! I also had a great time in high school, but my favorite NKOTB was JORDON KNIGHT! HA! And I still have the Jordan doll Grandma Jo got me for Christmas one year! Go NKOTB!!!