First Trip to Edisto

Our first beach trip as a family will be very memorable! Remsen has been vacationing in Edisto his entire life, so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to take JR to Edisto for Memorial Day Weekend for his very first beach trip. As I blogged earlier, getting there took a little longer than we expected (note to self: don't travel during 5-7 pm fussy time).

But we made it and had a wonderful weekend with friends and family. Although the water was a little too cold for swimming, JR braved it with his daddy, stuck his feet in the sand with his mommy, and took a little snoozer in the beach tent. He also showed off his belly (please excuse the baby midriff)....




Plus, we learned what to pack for a beach trip, how to jam as much as possible in the RAV-4, and realized we probably need to buy that rooftop storage after all...

Meeting the cousins...

Last week was a big week for JR...he saw his cousins Abby (at left, with JR at Venus Pie) and Mackenzie on Tuesday night. Abby is six weeks older than JR--it is amazing how great her hand/eye coordination is already!

Then JR had a big weekend with cousins Mary Mac, Bo, Groves and Ella at Edisto, even if getting there wasn't that fun...some babies love carseats, but not this baby!

Once he was at the beach, though, it was smooth sailing. He loved to watch Groves and Ella play!

Fun with Gance

JR's days with Gance are numbered, as he starts "school" on June 9th...just thought I would share some fun photos that show the dynamic duo in action.

Favorite threads

My new favorite place to find funky, personalized baby clothes is a great company called Sandbox Threads (see link). We have ordered some fabulous designs for JR (below, headphones T-shirt). The quality is great; I love that the company is close by in North Carolina and that the owner is a dad who started the business to spend more time with his family. I also enjoy all of the designs (so much so it took me three days to determine what I wanted to order!), especially the "activist" designs!If you have a chance (and have a kid to dress), please check them out!
http://www.sandboxthreads.com/

Cereal face baby

Our baby loves food. He has had no trouble nursing, taking a bottle, or having formula. He likes to lick pieces of apple (supervised, of course) and stares at us as we eat dinner in his presence...his facial expressions always seem to say "Hey, mommy, I want some of that bacon!"

(His thighs say the same thing)

We were reading the baby bible last night (What to Expect...The First Year) to figure out if JR is old enough to start to eat food (well, not FOOD, but rice cereal, etc). There are a lot of ideas about what is age appropriate, but the book suggested, as it should, that each baby develops at a different pace, and although the general age range is 4 to 6 months, it might be earlier or later depending on the kid. It suggests looking at developmental signs to know a child is ready...can hold head up, is interested in trying new food, etc. Bottom line, our kid is hungry and ready; thus the reason for this blog....let the rice cereal BEGIN!!!

New nursery art

JR's nusery now has a second Marius Valdes painting...a fish to join his dog (we also have a Valdes bird in our kitchen)...

You, too, can buy a Zoo Valdes: http://valdescreative.blogspot.com/

Happy Mother's Day 2008

I enjoyed a great first Mother's Day! The day included a mean game of Scrabble with my mom, shopping with my boys, and a steak dinner with Emme. Plus, Remsen and JR sent me flowers on Friday--what a great surprise!In other news, JR is growing bigger and bigger! At almost 15 weeks, he is just over 16 pounds and 25 inches (yup, short and squatty). He is so happy--he smiles all the time and chuckles out loud, a kind of deep belly laugh. He "talks" a lot and is now making motorboat sounds. He is also big into drooling...perhaps working on his future teething skills?

Exciting Weekend in the 'Burg

The Parrish family enjoyed a great weekend...with sunny weather and lots of activities going on, it was hard not to have a happy time...Friday night marked the beginning of Spring Fling festivities, including our favorite event, the annual Steadman Hawkins Classic downtown professional cycling race; it is the signature event for Biketown and our friends at Partners for Active Living do a fabulous job with this celebration. We enjoyed seeing friends, eating BBQ, and feeling the rush of air on our faces as the pro racers flew by... Remsen even shot a brief video and posted it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux0Td2a6Xyk

Spring Fling is a great City event; the busiest streets in downtown Spartanburg are closed for pedestrian traffic, bands on stage, and carnival food booths....ahh the smell of funnel cakes...

Saturday afternoon JR, my mom, and I attended a baby shower for Gina (my roomate from Wofford). She is due in July, as is our friend Amy, for which we attended a couples baby shower on Saturday evening. The evening shower had a surprising twist to celebrate the Kentucky Derby... guests put in a "donation" and drew the name of one of the horses in the race. I must be on a lucky streak; Big Brown won me $70 and a first place trophy! Yahoo!

Last but not least, our kid is getting great at talking! We posted a video of him in his crib, talking to his beloved Clemson Tiger mobile. It is shadowy (that is from me, standing in the way of the light!), but a fun movie of our happy baby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irPcpL29PYw

Single white male seeking...

Single, white, slightly balding, 15 pound 3 month old seeking flat screen t.v. and Baby Einstein programming.

No joke, baby J.R. is taking after his mommy and daddy and their love for television!