The Jersey Shore!

The Smiths invited us to join them at the shore for a long weekend. We beat all the traffic by driving down in the rain. When we got to the shore the sun came out. We ended up having a great Saturday.

After we got settled in we took the girls to the Seaside Boardwalk for some pizza and games. Nola tried a fishing game. At first we thought it was pick the fishy but it was a magnetic fishing pole. She had fun and won a prize!

Jay persuaded her to get the "LSU" fish.
We did see some LSU basketballs but we didn't try to win them.

Nola & Daddy!

Nola rode the carousel and didn't even cry!
YAY!

What a big girl!
We couldn't believe that she would stand by the statues and not freak out.
I guess she is better with characters that don't move!
At least this weekend!

Is that Uncle Matt?

Family Pic

The Smiths

It was really hot so we finished off the night with some frozen yogurt AND sprinkles!
YUMMY!

Lily LOVED it too!

Superdads!

Sunday morning Nola got to feed the ducks breakfast. She got so excited every time the ducks came up to the back.

If you haven't noticed, Nola is definitely in a mimicking stage. We caught her playing redneck golf and she kept saying "Watch out Mom. I don't want you to get hit!"
Which we had been saying to her the night before. Too cute!

Hurricane Bill was in the Atlantic and causing CRAZY waves at the beach. Despite all the warnings, a few people were out in the water Saturday night. We saw a bunch of police and rescue divers about to go in because someone tried to swim and was pulled in by the current and taken down the beach about 10 minutes. I'm glad all worked out, but come on.

Sunday morning we headed to the beach for a morning run for Caitlin and I while the dads pushed the strollers. Before we left we took the girls on the sand to watch the waves. Lifeguards were everywhere and the waves were coming so far up. It was a little scary but Nola LOVED it! I've never seen the water come so far to the street. CRAZY!

Good Friends!

Nola LOVING the water!

Jay & Nola

Sunday afternoon Jay took Nola on the wave runner. She loves the 4wheeler so I figured she would love this too. And she did!
(Side story: We planned on bringing our wave runners but if you haven't heard, our moutaineer, which isn't even paid off, has a huge hole in the engine, not sure of all the technical terms. Call Jay for that! Anyway, we are getting a new engine and it is covered under warranty. Thank Goodness. We should get it back next week!)

Nola & Daddy

Lily Paige
Already walking and not even 1 yet!

After feeding the girls an early dinner, we took them to get ice cream at the Music Man in Lavallete. You pay to get in and get to order ice cream in the old glasses. Then, the waiters and waitresses sing and dance for you. It was really cool!

Yummy! Yummy!
They said no pics but I snuck in a few!

Nola and Lily were engaged the whole time. They do little skits for you and include peole from different tables. Of course, Jay and I were both picked from our table.
Good thing we're good sports!

After visiting the fudge factory/gift shop and pretending to order fudge (saving calories), we got the girls t-shirts and Nola carried her shopping bag to the car.

We put the girls down for the night and the 4 of us headed out for a late dinner and drinks at a sports bar, where Ryan set up a competition for us. We played as couples and started with darts, shuffleboard, pool, basketball and ended with PhotoHunt. And YES the Andersens WON! Ryan is still mad. HAHA!

Monday morning the guys headed out at 6am to play golf and of course Nola woke up. We took her outside to feed the ducks and play.

More fun in the sprinkler!

SMILE!

Nola took this of Lily!

Smiths: We can't thank y'all enough for such a great time!
We really wish we could have stayed longer but we will definitely stay longer next year!

POTTY UPDATE: Nola did a fabulous time potty training this week including the weekend while we were away. We did have to come up with some creative inticing at times, but Nola went on the potty pretty consistently. She still does not tell me when she has to go, so no panties, but it is coming along.

Nola & I are leaving Saturday for a week, headed to New Orleans before school starts! I can't believe the summer is almost over! Boo Hoo :(

More Pics

The Wiggles!

We went to the Wiggles concert at the Izod Center with the Atwells, Smiths, Danas, and Amy & Maddy. We were so excited to get there, we forgot the camera. Thankfully, Caitlin had her camera. Nola LOVED the show! She danced and sang the whole time.

Guess what?! The MOVERS are coming to New York in November and we got tix. Can't wait!

Pics

Hot Days!

The last few days have been pretty hot here and we've definitely
been swimming in our pool to stay cool.

Nola freaks with her vest and floaties, even though she floats, she won't let go of us. Monday we got her to get in a raft too and all of a sudden she could do it by herself.

She will even take the floaties off and swim in the raft,
but if we take the raft away...she FREAKS!
(Don't you love her glasses, she put them on herself!
All she is missing is her fanny pack!)

STROLLERFIT!

Some of y'all know that I joined a mom's workout group called Strollerfit. I saw the ad right after I had Nola but I though it was a class just walking and pushing strollers, BOY WAS I WRONG! Some of my friends go and Ann is an instructor so I tried a free class in the spring and it was just what I was looking for...a lot of cardio, strength training, and abs. It is perfect because it's just like having a personal trainer but with other people in the class and I get to bring Nola. She is engaged the whole class and at the end she gets to play with the other kids. I've been going pretty consistently 5 days a week, 1 hour a day, missing only a few classes. I've only lost about 5 lbs. (I like to eat!) but I definitely notice that I have my muscles back and have lost inches. I feel like an athlete again. Fortunately, they are starting up a wed night class and sat mornings so I can keep going.
This is the first excercise program I have stuck with and I LOVE it.

Monday morning was client appreciation day. After class the owner, Stephanie, hired a storyteller for the kids and they had a raffle. The kids were asked to dress up for it and Nola was all in!

CHEESE!

Caryle, Sydney, and Emily

Nola & Emily

Sitting nicely before story time!

One of the other moms..isn't her daughter so cute!

Story time...one of our mom's read the story and the book lady did sign language.

What a treat!
(No I didn't win the raffle...RATS!)

"I know Mom, I owe you 20 squats for eating this mini bagel!"

This has really been an awesome experience for Nola and myself...she is constantly mimicking the exercises we do...squats, lunges, even sprint runs with her baby stroller ( I thought those were done in high school)... it is too cute...I will try to get a video. Also, she counts down now AND she is seeing how important it is to exercise! I promise they didn't pay me!

2 year check up!

Sporting her Ed Hardy hat from the Markleys...too cute!

Nola finally had her 2 year checkup!
STATS:
weight: 25.15 lbs (30-40%)
height: 33 1/2 in (40-45%)
head circumference: 19 1/4 in (80%)

That afternoon I had to wake her up from nap for the appt so she was already crying but when I told her we were going to the dr., she FREAKED! She kept saying, "Mommy, you go to the dr. I don't wanna go!"

Hence the crab apple sticker!

I promised her a Munchkin if she was a good girl!
( I know I said I would never be THAT mom, but I caved! And it worked!)
Nola only got one shot and that is it until 4, except for the flu shot, so that is a relief!

Other Updates:
Milk-switched to 1% due to her getting other fats throughout the day...she is a pretty good eater!
Sleeping- is much better over the last two weeks-No more crying or waking up!

Potty-going pretty consistently at home both pee-pee and poopies, but still a control thing and she says no when she feels like it. We are doing the reward system-1 M&M for pee-pees and 2 M&Ms for Poopies. She loves to get praise for it and sing the song, "Pee-Pee in the Potty!" She is wearing diapers and pullups. We tried just putting her in panties but she peed right in them and didn't even flinch about it so we are not there yet.

Picnic Playdate

The Doktors had a bunch of the mom's club kids over for a dinner picnic.
Of course the first thing they wanted to do was play!

Lena & Billy

"Who wants some lemonade?"

Around 5, they put blankets out for the kids to picnic!

Sydney Rose

Some peace & quiet for 5 minutes while the kids were chowing down!

Nicky & Christopher

SMILE!