Spring Break 2011

We had the honor of spending 5 days at the Caribe Resort with the Haygoods this week, and we had a blast! I have tons of pics, so I will try and keep my wordage short. It was Spring Break in Baldwin County, so that's what we owe this nice little beach retreat to. To be honest, the word "relaxing" doesn't really come to mind when I describe this trip. Taking 2 babies with us and accommodating 2 different schedules called for a lot of sacrifice and selflessness. WAY unlike my spring break trips in the past! However, watching Knox's face go down the water slides and play with all of us in the pools and on the sand was way better than any of the relaxing trips I've taken in the past.
Lee was sweet enough to stay up in the room with the kids during nap time EVERY day (from about 1 to 3:30 ish or 4), so that did allow me some time to just lay at the pool with my sister and chill out a little. He rocks. We did a lot of rotating with Greer. We took her with us to the pool as much as possible and let her lay and sleep in her little mobile swing. That puppy has been clutch!! Thanks again, Misty! There were times when it got a little hectic toting all of our kids- and stuff that comes along with them- around, but it was so worth it. I am so thankful that we were able to go on this trip. I am thankful that I have a husband that works hard so that these trips are possible. I am thankful that both of our parents did a great job of instilling a strong work ethic in us so that we understand and appreciate the value of things like this.
And lastly, I am super thankful for the Haygood girls :). These 3 are like little babysitters 24/7. The obsession they have for Knox and Greer is precious, and Knox DEFINITELY feels the same. I am sure Greer will as well when she gets a little older. Knox's laughter filled the hallways and bedrooms of the condo for the last few days because he was so entertained by the girls. Constantly. I love watching him with them, and they never ever leave his side!
Oh...and we added a nice treat to the mix. We stayed back with the kids one night and let Robyn and Dane have a date night, and they did the same for us. That was awesome! I always love the chance to have dinner without kiddos with my husband. Thanks for an awesome time, Haygoods!

Heading to Lulu's

The girls fed him breakfast every morning, and gave him some lessons on body parts and words while he was trapped in his seat :)

 I mean, they even followed him and played with him during bath time...

And of course they had to join the fun. 

Greer's set up

Knox wanted to check on her and make sure she was cozy...

But then he saw a cute girl walk by and was quickly distracted. "Call me!"

Burying Abbie in the sand

 Feeling the sand for the first time :)

After lunch and nap time, we went and conquered the slides!!

He LOVED them! Timid at first, but after he went down once, it was " Gain! Gain! Gain!" after each time he went down. Lee and I MAY have sent him down by himself a few times on the slide below. Hilarious. One sent him and one stood at the bottom to wait for him. Sometimes he came out backwards. That boy didn't care. You could hear him yelping and laughing all the way down. His mother might have ridden them a million times herself...

And of course he had to break for a snack from Cha-Cha and regain his energy to ride the slides 100 more times...

Riding the Trolley with Daddy

Smiling a lot lately :) 

 Hanging out in the condo while big brother gets to go play. Oh well...she'll catch up with him next year.

Doughnuts and beignets for breakfast one morning...

The girls begged for him to have a chocolate doughnut with them so they could see him get messy. He didn't disappoint!

Loved the elevator rides

PLaying peek-a-boo with Abbie in the sliding glass closets

Love this one

Check out those black feet!

"I think I'll have some of those...."

"And a bite of that..."

Look at Abbie cooling off his oatmeal. She is such the mommy bear

I walked in and found Lee sipping his coffee while Carley had baby duty. She didn't seem to mind...

 Oh, don't doubt dancing Elmo made the trip...

Tee-time with Daddy

And wouldn't you know that we planned on taking beach pics the last night we were there, and by the time we came in to get showered you could not even see 10 feet in front of you due to heavy fog?! BOO! Guess that just means we will have to make a trip back soon! 

Lord, thank you for my family, the beautiful weather, the MANY laughs that were had this week, and most importantly for providing for us and allowing us to have a family vacation. Without You none of these things would be possible!

The Challenge

Last night was our weekly discussion of the book Crazy Love. We all know how I feel about the book, so I won't bore you with continued details of my love for it. Anyways, our discussion last night led to a conversation about how much time we waste during the day doing things that are really...pointless (for lack of a better word). We always talk about "back in the days" when we were raised...how we don't remember being inside that much, how we were so filthy dirty from playing outside most of the time, ZERO technology, and how life just seemed a little bit simpler during those days. Maybe we were young and naive, but it sure felt that way to me.
Before I get too off track here, let me tell you about the challenge. My friend Teal and I decided to nix facebook for at least a month. Reason being that it just ate up so much time that we could be doing other things- like focusing more on bible study, playing OUTSIDE with the kids, and actually picking up the phone to call a friend instead of checking out her status to see what she was up to. You know...takin' it back to the old school, if you know what I mean. Hear me when I say that I love Facebook and feel that it is such a great way to stay in touch with people. I really do. For me, it's more of a personal conviction. It has become so much of a habit for me to just check status's frequently during the day, and I honestly haven't talked to the majority of those people in years. I guess I am realizing that there are so many other things that I could be doing, so I am hoping that by deactivating the account I will be able to focus more on what's really important to me. Girlfriend ain't ganna lie...it is probably going to be a tough loss, sadly enough. But I do hope to find myself refreshed after this "hiatus".
In the meantime, I will continue to document our lives through the ole faithful blog, shooting for once a week.
I thought about stopping that as well, but I really really love the documentation that I have going on here, and like I've stated in the past, I hope the kids will get to read it one day. Plus, I really do enjoy reading details about family and old friends and keeping up with everyone children. I think there are honestly like 5 or 6 blogs I read, and oddly enough I have come to love the families that I am reading about.
So, that's that.
Secondly...training is going slow, but going. I am pretty sore, but as they say "no pain, no gain", right? I just keep reciting 13.1...13.1....13.1 in my head as I'm slowly running.
Thirdly...The Lawsons are about to spring break it with the Haygoods! Whoop! We will be vacationing at the beach all week, and my husband will be with us the entire time!! My heart is super full right now. Stay tuned, and have a great weekend!

Training Has Commenced...

Not sure if I know what I just got myself into, but tonight I signed up for the half marathon in Atlanta for the first weekend in October. My hands were shaking as I registered online, but I know that it is something that I needed to do. I need a goal to work towards, so hopefully I will be steadfast with commitment and discipline in training -  starting TOMORROW. I have never done a half marathon before. My hope is that I will one day be able to complete a full marathon, and an even bigger hope (probably far fetched) is to complete an Iron Man. I know, it sounds ridiculous, and who knows if it will ever happen in my lifetime, but I have a LONG way to go and I have to start somewhere. My friend Brady is an amazing, disciplined, and motivated runner, so I know that I have her (plus my sweet husband) in my corner encouraging me and helping me, and I'm so thankful for that.

Here's to many hours of pounding the pavement...