The Face

This is the face of a kid hanging with my cousin, (his second cousin? I can never figure out how that works) Jason on Saturday. Jason was showing him the camera on his laptop and taking silly pictures.

This is the face of a sick little boy who spent his day with Nana and loved every minute of it! I think he is feeling slightly better but I think it comes and goes. His throat is obviously very sore-he doesn't like to swallow and is drooling in huge puddles and he grimaces and whimpers when he drinks and eats. Poor fellow. We are going to see how he feels in the morning and he will go to day care if he is looking up to it. If not he will spend another day with Nana.

Oh, and I think the ice cream is working for me. We slept like a dream last night!

Father of the Year

That would be Nigel.

Right before I left for dinner with girlfriends, Kingston threw up in his highchair. We both tried to make up excuses as to why he threw up, trying NOT to believe it had anything to do with having spent yesterday morning with his little buddy Riley, who threw up twice yesterday afternoon. I was determined to go out to dinner with my girls since we were supposed to go on Tuesday but got snowed in. Nigel did not ask me to stay home, so away I went.

I got a phone call not long after arriving at Mama Kwan's. Nigel rarely calls me when I'm out with the girls. He's good like that. He just wanted me to know that Kingston had thrown up again in the bath tub and again after drinking some water. He said he was okay and didn't need me to come home. He didn't call me again until 8:30 to tell me that Kingston had not held anything down and was now throwing up nothing but liquid. It was time to come home.

When I walked in the door I saw Nigel on the couch with Kingston in his lap and a palm full of throw-up and a pacifier. Kingston was very happy to see Mom and I think Nigel was even happier! I took over puke duty and actually got Kingston to drink some Gatorade and keep it down. I held him for a bit to make sure it was staying down and then finally put him to bed at about 9:45. So far so good. Poor little guy. I hope he is over it now.

I was so very impressed with Nigel's grace under pressure. He did all the right things in a very unfamiliar situation. It is amazing how such things can make you love your husband even more than you already do. Who knew that having him stay home cleaning up puke and taking care of a sick baby could pull at my heartstrings? It totally worked. I nominate Nigel for Father AND Husband of the Year.

And I'm so happy that Kingston seems to be feeling better. Oh, and I'm terribly sorry for using the words throw up and puke so many times in one post. Gross.

She's Here!

Ella Jennings R---- was born this morning to my great friend Mere! She was 7 lbs. and 20 inches long. According to the text, delivery went great! I am so excited for her and her family and I LOVE the name that they kept secret from us. Ella is a sweet name and Jennings was the middle name of Mere's late father so I think it is so special that they used it. And especially for their little girl. Big H would have eaten this little girl up. I know he would have. He would have loved her big brother Sam to peices but this little girl would have stolen his heart. Well, stolen it again, since Mere took it right away a little over 31 years ago! :)

So congrats, Mere and Stu! Oh, and Sam. Be nice to your new little sister! I can't wait to meet her. Or at least see pictures soon!

Uh-oh. Baby fever has temporarily set in. I must go change a dirty diaper or pay Kingston's health insurance bill or something.

Wait For It. . .

So I think one of the best ways to make people check blogs as obsessively as I do is to make them wait for some news. So.

One of my best friends, and member of The Core 4, is about to have her second baby. She has a little boy who will be 2 at the end of the month and baby girl is due any minute! She has kept her name a secret from us but has let us in on the fact that she is currently 3 cm dilated, 80% effaced and her doctor expects her to go into labor any day now-maybe any second now.

Is waiting for a baby to be born not the most exciting, nerve-wracking, thrilling thing you have ever experienced?! I think so, too. So join me on the wait! I'll keep you posted as I know more details. Stay tuned. . .

Good luck Mere-Mere! We're praying for you!

A Holiday Tradition That We Actually Do

The King/Haynes family has a few Christmas traditions that we do every year. For the most part, we are pretty flexible with "celebrating" various holidays, and don't always do the same thing every year. Christmas is a little different, however. There are 3 main things that we do.

1. On Christmas Eve, Nigel, Kingston and I eat dinner at my mom and dad's house along with my Grandmama King and Mark.

2. After having our own little Christmas morning at our own house with all of its inhabitants, we go over to Mom and Dad's house for Christmas morning and brunch.

3. We have dinner at the Hardy's house one night before Christmas. (But not always on the same night each year. It depends on schedules and plans.)

Last year I was obscenely pregnant and couldn't really enjoy the yummy food for fear I would explode. (Kingston was born 4 days later!) This year, Kingston got to enjoy the tradition for the very first time. You see, the Hardy family has been friends of ours since before there were 3 girls added to their family! Before Mr. and Mrs. Hardy had kids, Mark and I would stay with them if Mom and Dad were out of town or busy. I babysat for their 3 girls as they came along. Ever since I can remember we have been having a Christmas dinner at their house. It is something I look forward to every year. There is always good food, good drinks and lots of good conversation (not to mention good presents!).

Did I mention that Mrs. Hardy was one of my favorite teachers, too? 4th Grade.

This year was no exception. Sunday night we went to the Hardy's house for dinner. The youngest Hardy was the only one of the girls to come this year. The other 2 were busy with college life/jobs/boyfriends. I missed seeing them and hope to see them at some point during their Christmas break. The youngest Hardy practiced for her Girl Scout babysitting badge (kidding) by playing with and looking after Kingston! They both had a great time, I think. Mrs. Hardy even broke out an old toy that her girls used to play with. Kingston loved it!

Kingston and his newest buddy, the Youngest Hardy

It was fun to watch Kingston open his early birthday presents and his Christmas presents. It was a small taste of what's to come in the next week. I'm already getting a little nervous about the amount of "stuff" we are going to acquire when it is all said and done. Where, oh, where will we put it all?!


Another Hardy Christmas dinner goes in the books. Thank you, Hardys for all you always do for us. You are very special people and I want you to know that you make our Top 3 Actual Christmas Traditions List! That is a very exclusive list to be a part of. Obviously.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are home from our Thanksgiving Day in Virginia. We went to Suffolk and Portsmouth and visited more family members than I could count!!! It was a good day and we made some relatives very happy by bringing Kingston by for a visit. He was so well behaved and happy all day. He made us very proud.

So, do you wanna know what I am thankful for?

• My wonderful husband, son and other immediate family members. Don't know what I would do without them.
• My job that allows me to take Kingston to work with me to avoid the crazy cost of child care. Thanks, Will and Sherry! Y'all are the best!
• All of the things that make my life so good-my house, my mini van (giggle), my computer, my cell phone!
• My wonderful friends, new and old. I would name them but I would hate to leave someone out and then have one less friend to be thankful for!
• Skittles-Man, I love those things!
• Ending most days with my favorite baby boy doing this in the bathtub:

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. We have so much to be thankful for. Thank you for viewing my Thanksgiving post. Hope you had a great day, too!

Hello? Kingston, it's for You

Kingston has a new trick! I will "answer" the phone and pretend it is for him. I put the phone to his ear for a second and then put it in his hand. He tries to put it to his ear like he is listening! It is so cute! See?

Sometimes he talks to Nana, sometimes it is his friends Riley or Curren on the line. Sometimes he gets the surf report from Pappy.


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So I haven't posted about Halloween. That's because we did a reverse Halloween and invited the grandparents over to our house for burgers and dogs instead of going to their houses for candy that I would end up eating. Lazy? Maybe. A good idea? Of course. And we even had 3 Trick or Treaters of our very own for the first time ever. (That might have something to do with the fact that we were actually home with the lights on this year instead of turning all of our lights out and hiding at a restaurant until it's over!)




Kingston wore his engineer outfit for the 3rd and last time. He made his entrance on his Thomas train, though, so it was probably the best one yet. After washing the overalls, we will officially retire them to the outgrown clothes box. The pants legs are already too short. Well, at least he wore them 3 times.


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We spent lots of time as a family unit this weekend. We went to the park twice, went for a walk, played lots in the house, and watched a movie. One of our highlights was an adventure in the laundry basket. Who knew laundry baskets could make you look so cute?

Check out those teeth!

The weekend has come to a close. Tomorrow is Not Me Monday. Nigel is going out of town AGAIN for work. The time has changed and thrown our schedule off. We have a lot going on this week. Wish us luck!

Stellan Has Arrived!

MckMama Twittered and posted only hours after giving birth to Stellan! There are pictures and everything! I seem to remember not being able to send pictures for a few days after Kingston was born since The Outer Banks Hospital doesn't have wireless internet!?? Is that even legal these days?!
So take a gander at sweet baby Stellan. He is a cute little guy and seems to be doing quite well.
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Kingston and I had another uneventful day. We did a little (and I do mean little) work this morning and then spent the chilly, windy day in the house. We went to dinner at LaFogata with Nana and Grandpa and Uncle Mark since Nigel is still out of town. Nigel doesn't quite appreciate "dirty Mexican" like the King family does! I usually try to go there when he is not in town so that I can get my fix without having the "but it isn't authentic Mexican food" discussion. I don't care what it is. I like it! And Kingston enjoyed the chicken from my Quesadilla Deluxe and some refried beans.
Nigel comes home tomorrow and Kingston and I are really glad. We have missed him this week and look forward to him coming home just in time to go Trick or Treating Under the Sea! Safe travels, Dad. See you tomorrow!

Aaaachooooo! Sniff, Sniff! Cough.

Yeah. We have colds. All of us. I started this whole fiasco on Monday with a sore throat and runny nose. That has since progressed to a full head, snot for days and a post nasal drip cough when I lay down. Yesterday morning I noticed Kingston sneezing a few times and feeling a little warm. As the day went on, so did his symptoms. By dinner time he has a dripping nose and was acting a little "off". Now this morning, Nigel has a scratchy throat. Great. Fun times.

Last night at the dinner table, Kingston was enjoying his big boy dinner of macaroni with a tomato Florentine sauce when out of the blue, Nigel burped. Really loud. Poor little boy nearly jumped out of his seat and turned bright red and started to cry uncontrollably. That was when we knew something was wrong. I mean, Nigel burps at the dinner table all the time. It doesn't usually even phase Kingston!

Trying to get Kingston to sleep was a whole other matter. If only babies could blow their nose. Every time I brought out the nose sucker-outer, he would cry hysterically. Hates it. So I would put it away and try to rock him to sleep. Finally that worked and he only woke up 3 times in the night. And how do you suck on a pacifier when you can't breathe? No good.

So this morning Kingston is rosy-cheeked and snotty. But that hasn't stopped him from playing. He just leaves a snot trail behind and the dog really enjoys cleaning that up.

There is nothing worse in life than seeing your child hurting and uncomfortable and knowing there is nothing you can do to help. I take comfort in the fact that misery loves company but I'm not sure how to explain that to a 10 month old!

Stuff and Things

We live in a really great place. Sometimes we forget it, but when we do take advantage of it, it reminds me of how lucky we are. Nigel, Kingston and I have gone to the beach almost every evening for the past week. Fall on the Outer Banks is always amazing, and this year is no different. There have been waves, so Nigel has surfed, and Kingston and I have wallowed in the sand. The weather has been perfect and the beach has been beautiful. Kingston loves to be outside and often fusses when we go inside!

I am not posting this to rub it in to all of you poor souls who live. . . no, I can't even say the dreaded word. It is too harsh. Too cruel. But you might not understand what I'm trying to say, so I will try it again. I am not posting this to rub it in to all of you poor souls who live. . . inland. Oooh. I'm truly sorry about that. I'm just sharing one of the fun, special, family-type outings we have been having this week. If you live. . . inland. . . I'm sorry about your luck. Come visit! It sure is beautiful here.
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Kingston crawled today. Now, don't get me wrong, he has been mobile for weeks now, but his favorite form of mobility has been the army crawl (effectively graying the front of all of his light colored shirts). Today he legitimately crawled. And Nana was here to witness it. In the past 2 days, Kingston has more than made up for his slow attempts at getting around. He is cruising, really crawling, and climbing on things. He even pushes his Thomas the Tank Engine toy and walks behind it! He stayed standing all by himself for about 2 seconds today! I guess he's just been saving up and is now letting it all out.
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Kingston can wave and give high 5's on demand. Well, most of the time. He often likes to wave at people who aren't really even looking at him or at inanimate objects, but that's OK. Sometimes he performs!
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My good friend Kerry is getting married in Chapel Hill this weekend. I am SO excited to see it all go down! I haven't been to Chapel Hill in a long time and Kingston has never been there, and Kerry has never even met Kingston. I am looking forward to spending a weekend with my college friends and seeing Kerry marry her best friend, Joe. I remember perfectly the day we told Kerry that she would end up dating her "just friend" Joe. We were in Chapel Hill, and I think we where headed to the airport to either pick someone up or drop them off. I also remember the morning in Charleston when we woke up to find Kers showing off the new ring that Joe had given her on the beach in the rain at 6 a.m.! So much fun.

Nigel can't go with us to Chapel Hill because he has been invited to participate in a local surf contest, The Battle of the Banks, and the waiting period for the contest starts on Sunday. If he were with me in Chapel Hill and they decided to have the contest on Sunday, we would probably end up divorced!!! I'm so excited and proud that he was chosen as 1 of 12 surfers to represent the Outer Banks against the wankers of Virginia Beach! I'm sad he won't be with us this weekend, but I totally support his decision to stick around, just in case. I am hoping the contest runs on Monday or Tuesday so that Kingston and I can cheer him on to victory! I'll keep you posted on that one.
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Have you ever tried M&M's Premiums? That's all I'm going to say on that subject (and I promise no one is paying me to plug them!).
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Please visit the CF Husband blog and show them some love. It looks like Tricia has developed a cancer that is not responding to treatment. This little family SO deserves a break. Say a prayer for them, please.
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So that was a bunch of random stuff. I looked back on my blog posts from the past few weeks and realized that most of them were Not Me Monday posts. So that means I've pretty much been posting once or twice a week. I must do better than that. I appreciate it when my favorite bloggers do better than that. So here. Random stuff. And remember that I will be out of town until Sunday afternoon. I'll update then!

New Faces, the Crib and a Butt Crack! Oh, and Not Me Monday!

Pretty catchy title, huh? I thought it summed up our Sunday. And I am going to jump the gun and start Not Me Monday a day early.




Faces: Kingston has a new "funny face" that he makes on occasion. I can't seem to figure out what triggers the face, and there isn't a specific time or place that he makes it. He can turn heads with this face and gets lots of attention and giggles from innocent bystanders when they see it. We like to joke that it is cute and funny now, we just hope he isn't still making the "funny face" when he is 15. Or even 5 for that matter! People keep telling me to get a picture of it. So without further ado, here is the "funny face":


And his new smile, complete with his 4, count em, 4 teeth and at least one more on the way any day now. Maybe the face has something to do with the new teeth. I don't know.

I AM NOT really worried that he will always make this face. Nope. I'm not at least a little nervous that it is some sort of tic that won't go away. I'm so glad I don't even have to think about it, really, because I'm not even worried at all about it.

Crib: I knew this day was coming soon. I didn't expect it to be today and I didn't expect it to happen with such fervor. Kingston can now totally pull himself up to standing in his crib. I went in to get him after he talked for about 45 minutes instead of taking his afternoon nap, only to find him standing up in the crib. With the rocking chair pulled up next to it. With the blanket that was on the back of the rocking chair draped over the Sleep Sheep sound machine. With a big toothy grin. He was quite proud of himself. And I was quite proud of him, too! Forcing him to take a nap is going to be a whole new battle now.

I DO NOT sometimes leave Kingston's sheets on his crib for days at a time. I mean, he's a baby. How dirty can he be? And it is SO easy to put crib sheets on.

Butt Crack: Kingston just discovered tonight that he has a butt crack!!! Hilarious. He was wiggling around in the tub, splashing and swishing his toys around when all of a sudden his hand landed in the crack. That was all she wrote! He dug around for a good minute or 2 while Nigel went to get the camera. We adults take these things for granted. These discoveries are quite fascinating to a small child. We let him explore!

Oooh. I don't think I can come up with a Not Me about Kingston's butt crack. I'll just let that one go.

I was starting to worry that I was losing my blogging enthusiasm. But alas, Sunday has again provided me with more fodder for my silly blog. Faces, cribs and butt cracks. Not Me Monday! Oh, and I won a caption contest on the My Charming Kids Blog!!! How cool am I?!! Check me out!

Could there be better material? You can't make this stuff up.

Going. . .

going. . .

going. . .

gone!

Able made his own doggie door in the slider screen as soon as we moved in. Kingston has been crawling to the screen and looking out. Until now. He is making a break for it! Time to keep the door closed. Sorry Abe.

Lame Mom

I am so lame. I can't seem to take the camera with me anywhere these days! Yesterday Kingston and I went to Nana's school's Pumpkin Fair and Kingston sat in the "pumpkin patch" with Nana while I picked out a good little pumpkin to take home. At least 4 people commented that we needed to take a picture of him amidst the pumpkins. Can you believe neither of us had a camera with us?! Good thing Mrs. Ward at least got a shot of us to prove that we were there!

Then today, Family Fun Sunday, we went to the park AND to the beach and didn't have the camera with us. After swinging and climbing trees at the park, I attached Kingston's hands to the hanging rings and he hung there by himself for at least 10 seconds! It was hilarious. We might have a gymnast on our hands. Nigel is hoping the male gymnast outfits will get a little more acceptable by the time Kingston would be wearing them!

At the beach, Kingston managed to avoid eating the sand-or maybe he was just planning on taking the sand that he scooped up with the neck of his onesie while crawling home with him for a snack.

My goal in the next few days is to take some pictures of us doing fun things! I swear we had fun this week. I just don't have the pictures to prove it.

If Your Mechanic Says to Get Rid of It. . .

You're in trouble. My mechanic told me that if he was me, he'd get rid of my car. And soon. I have a leaking radiator hose. Doesn't sound so bad until you find out that you pretty much have to take the whole engine out to get to the little hose that needs to be replaced. And Leon informed me that he had no idea how long it would take, and since he charges by the hour, he would guess it would be at least a few hundred dollars.

And don't forget the new boot that my front driver side wheel needs. Or maybe a new axel, depending on what damage has already been done by the missing boot. That will probably run a few hundred dollars.

Oh, and the water pump is loose and rattling. That will probably be a few hundred dollars. And I've known about a small oil leak for some time now.

Leon said he would fix as much or as little as I wanted him to, but it would probably get expensive. I confessed that if things got too pricy, I was planning on trading it in. He confessed that if the car belonged to him, he wouldn't put another dollar into it and he would trade it. And fast. And never get another Volkswagen ever again.

Don't get me wrong-I love(d) my car. I love the fact that it is a station wagon. I love the fact that it looks good and is comfortable. It is a safe car and gets pretty good gas mileage. The biggest problem (besides the now-obvious) is that every little fix is twice as difficult and twice as expensive as any other car on the planet. In an attempt to streamline the look, VW has hidden, covered and tucked away all things that need to be repaired. Do windshield wipers really need to cost $40 and be special ordered? Does a new battery really need to cost $175? Obsurd.

So I'm trading her in. Just as soon as I figure out what I want, what I can afford, and when I can find the time to go car shopping. Has anyone tried to car shop with an 8 month old? Can't imagine it will be fun. Will it be better than getting stranded on the side of the road somewhere with a car that has blown up? I'll let you know.

It's Official

Don't leave the room for more than 20 seconds. Move the dog bowl to a higher elevation. Put the vacuum behind a closed door. Make sure the sliding glass door is closed. Shut the door to the doggy kennel.

Kingston is crawling.

Not your traditional, hands and knees crawl, but don't let that fool you. This kid can army crawl across the room in 2.4 seconds flat! He doesn't seem to lift his upper body off the floor (uh oh, hope he doesn't have Mom's upper body strength-or lack thereof!) but his bum gets off the ground and his little toes push with all they have! I have been so used to going in the kitchen and turning around to see him sitting in the middle of the living room floor playing. Now I turn around and he is no longer in my line of sight. The split second thought is "who took my baby?" and then I smile and go searching for him. His favorite spots so far are the sliding glass door, the dog bowl and Able's pen. He is also obsessed with the vacuum and followed Nigel around the house yesterday as he did some cleaning! He even managed to push down the button that releases the handle and it promptly went crashing to the ground. Luckily he was sitting on the side of the vacuum and not behind it. Maybe we need to invest in a toy vacuum that isn't quite so dangerous!

So now we have the proverbial double edged sword. He is much entertained for longer periods of time by himself. However, we cannot take an eye off of him for a second or who knows where he will end up? So look out! If we come to visit, be ready to be on your toes! It's official. Kingston is crawling.

I'm Dying For a Nilla Wafer!

We always joke that Kingston should be a model for various things. Well, if Nabisco got a hold of these pics, they would for sure want him to be the spokes baby for Nilla Wafers. Check him out! Posing and everything. Makes me want a cookie!

A Bunch of Random Stuff

Kingston and I had a big day today and it all adds up to a bunch of random thoughts.

First, we said goodbye to Dad (Nigel) this morning as we headed off to Virginia with Michelle and Riley for a little shopping. Nigel left for sales meetings in California later today. He will be gone until Saturday. We are so sad that he will be gone for so long and he was sad to leave us. We miss him already! We will try to email him fun pictures and perhaps a few videos. . .

The first thing Michelle needed to do in VA was visit a friend in the hospital. OK. Check this out. A Lithuanian student, Matas, that worked for Michelle at the Brew Thru was at a party about a month ago and had a little too much to drink and dove into the shallow end of a pool. Yep, you guessed it. He broke his neck and spine. He speaks excellent English and was telling us that he remembers hitting his head on the bottom and realizing that he couldn't move. He remembers thinking that he was going to drown. Crazy. Someone pulled him out and they called 911 immediately. He was airlifted to Norfolk General where he was in a coma for a few days and they thought he would pretty much be paralyzed from the neck down. Miraculously, the kid has fought so hard that he has full use of his left leg, his arms (but not so much his fingers) and is doing crazy amounts of physical therapy a day. Matas is scheduled for 2 sessions a day, but he does at least 2 more sessions on his own and with the help of his mom who flew in to be with him. He is so driven and positive. His doctor told him that he was in the 2% of patients who recover from such a trauma. I admire this kid so much. He spoke about how he will never again take anything for granted. How he was so impressed with American doctors and nurses and how it made him want to push for change when he got home. He said he wanted to see a more positive and personal healthcare in Lithuania. He thinks he might want to study medicine when he gets home. Amazing kid. He still needs lots of prayers. His insurance from home won't cover his care here, so they are trying to take him back to Lithuania. He wants to delay that as long as possible so that he can continue to get the great care that he is getting in Norfolk. He is also worried about the 17 hour plane ride. Yikes. Say lots of prayers for Matas. He deserves them.

On a lighter note. . . ! After the hospital we went to the mall, Target and TJ Maxx where I drooled over lots of fun things that I couldn't afford to buy. Here are the things I saw today that I wanted:
1. Every pair of designer jeans in Nordstrom
2. Lots of cute tops and dresses in Forever 21 (I know, a teenybopper store but so cheap and really cute stuff!)
3. The usual cute Sandra Boynton books that Kingston loves. He has a few but would love them all!
4. I REALLY drooled over the fancy cameras at Target. I would love to play with a really good camera some day. I mean, I have such a great subject I could really just use a disposable, but for when I'm needing to shoot other people other than Kingston. . .
5. Pretty pillows to go on my ugly couch.
6. All things Target. Man, I love that store.
Needless to say, I made it to VA and home without purchasing ANYTHING (except for lunch, of course). It's pretty easy to do when you don't have any money to spend! For now, I'll just compile my wishlist and hope for better days!

A real milestone: Kingston is almost crawling. He scoots around pretty good. He can make his way across the living room somehow! So cute. He will be really crawling by the end of the week, I think.

And just to prove that Kingston is scooting:

We had a good day today. As Matas showed us, we won't take any of it for granted. We will appreciate every day.

Sunday Morning Pancakes

Another milestone in the Haynes household this morning. Kingston had his first pancake! As you can see by the pictures, he thoroughly enjoyed it. He stuffed so much in his mouth at one time and stored it on the roof of his mouth that he started crying. . . I think because he didn't quite know what to do with it! It was a fun breakfast.

And just because I love to torture the animal that tortures me on a daily basis, I found this doggie T-shirt while looking for the plug to the skillet and decided that Able should wear it for a while. Can you find him? He is camouflaged! He seems a bit subdued while wearing the T. Or maybe that is his mortified look . . !

Happy Sunday!

A Post-Worthy Day!

We had a fun Saturday! Nigel and I had haircuts in Manteo this morning (Nigel having a haircut appointment is a whole other post! Insert giggles here!) and then Kingston and I went to visit Nana and Grandpa on their boat.



Kingston played with "toys" that Nana found for him. We spent the day mostly inside the boat since it was really hot and humid outside but we did take a few strolls around downtown. Kingston is having a late summer cold of sorts. Note the super snotty nose and the glassy eyes. Poor little man.



The playground is super fun. . . for older kids. Kingston will enjoy it next year. Looking forward to that.
After our day on the boat we went to Aunt Freda's house to meet the cousins. Or my cousin's kids, whatever that would make them to Kingston and me. 2nd cousins? I don't know. Lauren really loved playing with Kingston. She was so sweet to him. She is Dave's middle girl. So pretty and really smart. The other 2 girls checked him out from a distance while they finished making their beautiful art projects! Kingston maintained really well considering he was snotty and had fallen asleep in the car on the 2 minute ride to Aunt Freda's from the waterfront. We only visited for a few minutes because Kingston was about to turn into a pumpkin! It was so good to see Dave, his new fiance and his 3 girls. I see them every 8-10 years!!


We had a really good day with the family. Definitely a day worth posting about. Thanks for taking pictures, Nana. It's good to have a camera-happy Nana around. Oh, and to top it all off, East Carolina beat Virginia Tech today in one of the first games of the college football season. Hooray! (Sorry, Lee and other Tech folks!) Way to go Pirates and anyone else who beats Tech!

Preppy Pastel Party

We just got home from a party. It was a 30th birthday party and the theme was Nantucket/Preppy/Pastels. We had to do some shopping to come up with our "costumes" since there is not a whole lot of preppy stuff in the Haynes household! I sort of strayed from the theme and went with whatever would fit. I had to go out and buy Nigel an Izod polo shirt from Belk. Kingston had a hand-me-down outfit from Sarah's little boy, Tyler, that was perfect. It was an argyle sweater vest and plaid pants. He wore his skull and crossbone leather shoes that matched. He was so stinking cute in his outfit. His paci even matched!

The party was pretty fun. It was outside at a beautiful house on the sound in Nags Head. The weather was perfect and there was yummy food. I could have eaten all of the sweet potato biscuits with country ham but people were starting to stare so I limited it to 5. We left about 9 because Kingston's little bobblehead was rolling around. The final straw was when he had his hand in a cup of icewater for about 2 minutes while his eyes were nearly closed and he didn't even seem to notice the frozen fingers.

Fun family outting. . . even if we did have to be preps for the evening. At least we got some cute pictures out of the deal! My men look good as preps. . . but I'm glad they don't dress like that all the time!