~Going Home~

As part of attending Shanbrad's wedding, we stopped off in my 'home' town.  I moved to Plymouth when I was 13, spent the first three years hating it, and spent the last two years devising my plans to leave.  While I made friends there, I knew it wasn't where I was going to come back to.  I wasn't planning on being a 'townie'.  I also didn't think my parents would still be living there eight years after I left. 

And while I didn't plan to come back, as soon as I left for college, Plymouth became my reference of 'home'.  When people asked where home was, where I went for holidays, or spent my short summer breaks, it was always Plymouth.  As my college experience was not the norm, my summers were not spent reacquainting myself with my home town, but rather I would pop in for a short three week visit.  Same thing with the holidays. 

 When I moved to South Carolina, I raced home to Plymouth whenever I could.  Or rather to my family, who was still in Plymouth.  It was at that point that I started to realize I was loosing my ties to the town.  Yes I still had a few friends that I saw on the occasions thats I was in town, but I was beginning to see pieces of the town that I grew up in slowly changing. Even the high school that I had attended and formed most of my Plymouth memories at was scheduled to disappear.  

As we were driving up on Wednesday, and back down today, we passed through New London, Connecticut, where I spent four years after I left Plymouth.  While I would never refer to New London as home, driving through there it felt like it was just yesterday--and not four years ago--that I was driving around that little town with my best friends going to Dunkin Donuts or Target and Coldstone.  Those memories are still so fresh.  We are going back there next year for my five year reunion, and I have a feeling that it will feel like it has been no time at all since I graduated, despite how much our lives have all changed.

On this short trip, the small amount of time we spent in Plymouth made me realize that as a town it isn't home anymore.  It is simply where my family lives.  On the surface it seems like the same little town that I remember, but if you dig a little deeper not much is the same.  Families have moved on, new stores have been built up, and the town is growing.  I had to run into Walmart on Thursday, and as I walked the aisles I realized I recognized no one.  Maybe they are some of the same people I once knew, but at this moment I was just a stranger in a town that I once lived in.  But I have to remember that while Plymouth has changed a lot in my mind, I have changed too.  I'm not the same girl who drove around in a periwinkle Kia eating boxes of nerds and singing at the top of my lungs with my friends.  Instead I strolled into Walmart in my minivan six months pregnant enjoying the solitude of a quick trip to the store by myself.  

It has been eight years since I really could call Plymouth home.  And I don't think I will call it home again.  For now, and probably until my children are grown and gone, the DC metro area, whether it be in Virginia or Maryland, will be home.  My family will still be in Plymouth, but now it will probably be called going to Grandma and Grandpa's house rather than going home. Plymouth will always be a part of who I am, but  I guess I've truly grown up now and finally left 'home'.  

~A Few Quick Things~

Thought I would pop in real quick for just a few quick things!  Here goes:

~ Today is Rudy and my second wedding anniversary!  While I can still remember the day very clearly, I can't believe it has only been two years.  And saying yes to him remains one of the happiest days (along with the birth of Rowen) of my life thus far, and I am looking forward to many more happy years with him.  The man knows me far too well, and right now I am typing this on my 'gift', on the couch right next to him, which is exactly where I want to be!

~Tomorrow we are leaving for Shannon & Brad's Wedding!  All of the little details I have seen so far (especially the invitations designed and created by Shannon's mom) have been amazingly cute, so I can't wait to see how everything pieces together!  And an added bonus of the wedding is we get to see lots of great friends in one place!  

~Rowen will be spending a few nights and grandma and grandpa's while we are at the wedding and I am sure he will have a blast! Here is he is dragging his bag down the hall tonight and I sent it to my mom telling her he was all ready to go!

~Baby Brother feels like he is growing like whoa!  The last few days I have been pretty uncomfortable and feel like I'm stretching, and right now am praying for a little relief from growth pains in the next few days!  

~Rowen on the other hand is eating us out of house and home, literally! I don't know where that child puts all of his food but the only time of the day he stops moving is when he is eating, and he would sit and eat for hours if you let him.  I shudder to think what it will be like having to feed him, and possibly his brother who may have an appetite like his, when they are both teenagers.  I may be investing in more than one wholesale membership to keep them fed and happy! 

I hopefully will be stopping back in with a few pictures this weekend of our little New England trip! 

~Rehoboth Beach 2012~

A couple of weeks ago we decided we wanted to take a small overnight after the 4th to the beach, and we chose Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.  We heard great things about it being family friendly, and it was a short, scenic, three hour drive away.  

We left at about eight on Thursday morning, and rolled into town around 1130.  We decided en route to try and eat at the Dogfish Head Brewpub.  My dad is a huge Dogfish fan, and it got pretty good reviews online so we gave it a shot.  And I'm so glad we did because the food was amazing!  It is all organic and locally grown, and for those that can drink they had a pretty spectacular beer selection.  It is definitely on our list of places we will go back to when we visit in the future! 

After lunch we strolled around town and stumbled upon an adorable little amusement park on the boardwalk. It was hot, hot, hot, so it was nice to get out of the sun for a little while!

Rowen was feeling a little under the weather when he woke up, and you can definitely see it in these pictures, but he muscled through it, and really enjoyed the boats!

Now if you came to see pictures of my child frolicking in the sand, or cute little sand crusted toes, your dreams, and mine, will be crushed.  ROWEN HATED THE BEACH!  Screamed bloody murder when we tried to put him down~death grip on dad, trembling feet, and a constant whine while looking at the water. Not exactly what I had envisioned while packing his bathing suits earlier in the morning.  Maybe he will just be a pool kid like me.  Either way, for documentation purposes, and to one day tell him how we took him to the beach and he hated it (when I hopefully won't be able to drag him out of the water) here are a few pictures....

On Friday morning before we left we went down to the pier again one last time to see if we could get him in the sand, but there was no fooling Rowen.  All of his obligatory 'first beach trip' pictures and not one smile...

I think his favorite part of the beach may of been the free hat he got from the firetruck museum....

Aside from Rowen not liking the beach, we had a great time! We loved Rehoboth, are definitely planning to visit again in the future, and loved that it was a quick and quiet getaway. And the best part was when we got back Friday we still had two days off to relax!  

~Half Way to Turkey Day~

On this past Thursday, I reached the halfway point in my pregnancy.  And since little brother is due on Thanksgiving, that means theres only 20 weeks left til the kick off of the holiday season.  Getting to this point seemed to happen sooo much faster this time.  I remember last time thinking I'm never going to get to 20 weeks.  But that is the curse of the second pregnancy I guess because I have someone else who occupies most of my time and is making this whole process seem like it is going faster.  And I know the second 20 weeks will be even quicker, and I have already been taking baby steps to get everything in order!

For this post I will do some of the normal 'pregnancy post' things to remember where I am at on this journey....

How Far Along....20 weeks!

Weight Gain....As of Thursday morning, I was 1.7lbs under my starting weight.  We are healthy, I'm eating better this time around (no double fisting Chick-Fil-a milkshakes) and I am doing four mile walks whenever possible throughout the week. And I drink water like a camel because it is so damn hot! One of my main goals for this pregnancy was to not gain a pound a week, and I'm glad I safely made it through the first half maintaining a healthy weight.  

Maternity Clothes....pretty much everything except for some dresses and shirts/tank tops.  

Movement.....I have been feeling him for about two weeks on the inside, which is way earlier than with Rowen.  And yesterday we got some of our first good kicks on the outside!

Cravings....Ice water with a splash of pink lemonade, it has become one of my summer staples!  I definitely feel like I have less room this time around, so smaller portions are a must.  If you asked Rudy what I crave he would probably say pizza!

Best Moments This Week....Yesterday when we were at the beach, all three of us were being lazy in bed before getting up, and little brother started to move.  Rudy got to feel him for the first time with big brother laying between us, and the whole moment made me a little weepy! We also got little brother's first Christmas ornament with his name on it, so I think we officially have a name!

What I'm Looking Forward To....On Monday we have our long anatomy ultrasound and I can't wait to see the little guy again!

And just for comparison, here I am pregnant at 20 weeks with both my boys (I'm really happy I remembered to take some iPhone photos of progress last time)....

I hope you all are having a great weekend and staying cool in this oppressive heat! 

~The Olympics~

There are a few things that I discovered about Rudy while we were engaged and I was at sea.  One of those things is his love of the Olympics.  If there was an olympic sport for watching paint dry, Rudy would diligently be fascinated by it.  He loves the stories, the struggles, and the victories, no matter who wins.  In the last few weeks we have watched recaps of past games, analysis of the upcoming games, and the olympic trials almost every time they have been on TV.  And in a few weeks when we depart for Shannon's wedding, we will be double checking our DVR to make sure we don't miss a minute of the action.

Now this is one of those little traits that you wouldn't know about my husband if I didn't tell you, and is one of the little non important things we have in common.  I happen to love the olympics.  Soccer, Gymnastics, and Figure Skating are a few of my favorite.  I still remember watching these two skate...

And I remember watching these games...

all while wearing my lucky commemorative olympic sneakers that I fought tooth and nail not to wash that summer for fear that they would loose their magic. 

Maybe its the fact that I can remember key memories from childhood in relation to the olympics that makes me cherish them so much.  Like my beloved sneakers, or my cabbage patch doll I named Mia after my idol.  Or the 1994 Olympics, when my dad brought me home the commemorative olympic dolls from his deployment in Norway.  Or the 2008 Olympics, when I had just graduated the week before and stood outside the Olympic Park in Beijing only two short days before I met my sister Shannon for the first time.  The olympics are bonded to those memories and so many more.  

  

And I hope that one day my boys will grow to love the olympics like we do.  That one day they will remember sitting around watching the moment one of their idols claimed gold, and the sheer excitement that they felt cheering for their country.  Rowen won't remember the 2012 Summer Olympics, but I'm sure I will remember something about him in relation to the games.

Last but not least I had to share the Olympic Mom commercial, which makes me ball like a baby every time I see it.  While I may not have been an olympian, it reminds me of my mom (and dad too) and how much they gave all in the pursuit of my dreams.  

~2012 Half~

Its so hard to believe that it is already July 1st!  This year has literally been flying by! And with the start of a new month there are always a few things I need to catch up on with the blog.  Sorry for the picture overload!

~In a little under four short weeks we will be heading to New Hampshire for this lady's wedding! I still need to get my dress altered, find shoes, and finish up some other details, but I can't wait for her day! I can't believe this picture was taken over six years ago! 

~ We are headed to the beach!  Thankfully with the fourth falling in the middle of the week we were able to take the end of the week off, and are planning an overnight at the beach in Delaware!  Rowen has never been the beach and we are sooo excited to take him!

~Hopefully, Rowen enjoys the beach more than he did his little pool.  A couple of weeks ago I read about an inflatable pool and grabbed one for Rowen off of Amazon.  While he did enjoy the splashing...

Most of the time he was not happy...

And Jack was the only one brave enough to get close to the wee terror....

The crazy storms on friday saved us the decision of whether or not to keep the little pool as it was picked up and blown away! My fingers and toes are crossed that he likes the beach better!

~Continuing with the water theme, every Thursday is water play at daycare.  The kids have to show up dressed in their swim gear and they get to go outside and run through the sprinklers and play with water tables.  The first week Row loved it, last week apparently not.  But I was able to snap these pictures of him because it was the first day that I let him take his backpack, which he loves.  Putting this thing on is pretty much the only way I get him out of 'fun town' in the afternoons without a scene!  Excuse the 5 am bed head!

And that is big dog he is carrying as well!

~ With this crazy heat this weekend (thankfully we didn't lose power) we spent most of our time inside.  This afternoon I decided to tackle Rowen's room and de-clutter, and I'm pretty sure after spending two hours in there I could compete for hoarders.  Thankfully being pregnant makes me want to purge as much stuff as possible, so his room is looking a lot better at this point! 

~Lastly, a few more pictures of the man child.  I think eventually he will be grateful to have a brother so I stop taking his picture all the time!  Rowen is in love with our sunglasses.  Now he won't keep the pairs  I bought him on to save his life, but he could play with ours for hours.  I was able to get a few pictures of him 'wearing' my sunglasses!

I hope you all are staying cool and everyone had a wonderful weekend!