Lots of Pictures! Busy Summer!

Baby Lane Merrill - Born June 25th, 2010

I got to be there right after he was born! He is precious. We are so happy for Keith and Meredith.

We went to Grandfather Mountain with Kelly and Joseph last Saturday

Grandfather Mountain - There was a beautiful view! We were a mile above sea level.

We visited Grandfather Mountain and walked over the swinging bridge. I was quite nervous going over and a little more relaxed on the way back

Poppy sharing his cantaloupe

Playing in their pool at Nana and Poppy's'

Family 4th of July picture at the Simpson's'

Addison and her Daddy on the 4th of July

Little Miss Kaitlyn

Aunt Kim and Cousin Sawyer at the 4th of July cookout at our neighbors Lonnie and Shirley's house

Sisters having fun!

Addison and Kaitlyn playing together. They look so sweet together, only thing is the next second Addison pulled her straight down on to the hardwood floor! Kaitlyn was not so happy.

Kaitlyn with her great granddaddy Simpson

Josh, Linda, Frank, Jenny and Jeff (It had been a while since last family picture)

Addison loved the sprinkles on Daddy's Cake

We celebrated Josh's Birthday some more when we got home with Nana and Poppy

Family Picture

Mommy and one of her girls in the dress aunt Kim bought her

Daddy and his girl

Kaitlyn wanting to be outside with her sissy

Addison with a little sun on her face

Claire and Kaitlyn

I love this picture! So sweet.

Daddy with his girls

Poppy and Kaitlyn, Obviously the sun was in their eyes

Mama and Daddy on Josh's 33rd Birthday! We went all out and tried Ruth Chris Steakhouse with the help of his parents! Our meal was over $100!!! It was good though. We had to take Kaitlyn with us and we will never forget this experience. I don't think she has ever been that bad in a restaurant. Go figure!

Aunt Amanda with cousin Claire

Addison eventually started warming up to the ocean

The girls sharing a chair, I had to give Kaitlyn Puffs the whole time on the beach so that she wasn't eating all of the sea shells and sand

Kaitlyn at the beach in her new high chair/booster seat

Addison holding her cousin Daniel

She went in fine and started playing with the toys.

Addison's first day of Summer Day Camp

Addison went to her first day of summer day camp at a church in Hendersonville. Josh and I both took her and I figured she would do fine since she does well at the nursery at church but I was still a little nervous and sad to take her. When we dropped her off, she went straight to some toys and then when we picked her up she cried because she didn't want to leave. So I guess you could say she enjoyed her first day of summer day camp. As we were leaving she pointed to the playground and said "hot" so I guess she thought it was hot outside. I thought it was cute.

I went to Trust School at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC for a week at the beginning of June. I was gone from the girls and Josh for 8 days!!! It wasn't easy. Josh had to arrange his schedule to where his parents could keep the girls when he was at work. Both Josh and his parents were glad for me to get home due to them being worn out after 8 days. Poor Josh got sick while I was gone which meant his parents had them even more. I was able to speak to Addison on the phone a few times and then I had Josh and his mom hold the phone to Kaitlyn's ear so she could hear my voice. When I got home I wandered what the girls reactions would be. Kaitlyn crawled to me as fast as her little arms and legs would move with a big smile on her face. Addison's reaction wasn't quite as welcoming. She just smiled at me and said "mama". It got home on a Friday afternoon and then we went to a Sunday School gathering that night. Saturday we packed for the beach and then went and picked up Josh's grandmother for her 90th birthday party. We got home around 9 pm and packed the car and got to bed. We then headed for the beach at 4:00 on Sunday morning. We decided to try leaving really early to see if the girls would sleep most of the way. Addison actually stayed awake for the first 1 1/2 hours but she just sat in her car seat and stared out the window. Kaitlyn never really woke up when we transferred her to the car. They did really well on our ride to the beach. We were at the beach by 8:30 am. We had called ahead and they let us check in early so it worked out well. This was a family beach trip with Aunt Amanda, Uncle Ted, Cousin Claire, Aunt Miranda, Uncle Brock and Mimi and Papa. Although Mimi didn't make it because she was sick. We stayed from Sunday to Sunday. The girls loved the ocean and the pool. We were interested to see how Kaitlyn would react to the sand and ocean since she was old enough to crawl around. Well she loved it! When we first sat her down on the sand she got a big handful and sand and put it in her mouth. After we got that out she then proceeded to try and put every sea shell she could see in her mouth. After she got a little bored of the sea shells she then tried crawling out into the ocean. She wasn't timid one bit. Addison on the other hand was a little nervous of the water but then she finally warmed up to it. I would say she liked the pool better. At first she didn't even want to get in the pool but the second day we went to the pool we couldn't keep her out of the pool. She kept jumping in to Daddy. We had a great time with family. It was so nice to spend so much time with the girls. I really didn't want to go back to work because it was really nice to hang out with the girls and not have to worry about housework that I wasn't getting done.

Let's see as far as milestones. Kaitlyn is now 11 months old. When I got home from Trust School, Kaitlyn let go of the couch and stood alone without holding on to anything. Then while at the beach she had two more bottom teeth break through. She also has learned to wave. Recently she has started biting some. She has bit my arms a few times and she has bit Linda's chest a few times. I am not sure if it is because her teeth hurt or what. She is also a nightmare when trying to change her diaper. She uses all her might to flip her body while you are changing her. I have had to start popping her little hand and it has gotten a little better. She also said "mama" the other day when I walked in from work. We just realized Sunday that she has her 7th tooth! Since this post has taken me so long to write I need to add that Kaitlyn took her first steps on July 12th! (Last Monday) She walked from Linda to me when I picked her up after work. I was so happy that her first steps were to mama.

Addison is 26 months. She continues to learn more and more each day. A few days ago I was on my way to take the girls to the Simpsons' and we had just left the house and she said, "Bye Daddy, Good Luck" Not sure when she heard us say that... She also says, "Sure thing" and "Yeah, Yeah" and nods her head yes. She uses the potty when we take her but we still haven't committed to it yet. We need to work on this. She still loves her thumb and her blanket. Today she went to Summer Day Camp and Linda asked her about her day and she said "Push" and then "Kicked" We are hoping that she didn't push and kick another child but we are not sure. I am assuming if she did maybe the teacher would have said something to us.