Pool Time

I'm thinking Jeff Foxworthy probably has a redneck joke for people who keep a swimming pool on the same back deck that is home to three bbq grills. If not, I'll sell him the rights to it b/c we're currently all over it. That's right. One gas grill. One charcoal grill. One grill that doesn't work but came with the house and is affixed to the deck and hasn't been removed in three years b/c I'm too lazy to crawl under the deck to remove it. Oh yeah, and one kiddie swimming pool. All on the back deck. Ahh...ain't South Carolina life grand?

This pic was taken moments "before" drinking the pool water from the shovel and moments "after" Mel and I told her not to. Sometimes I think independence is overrated. Why can't they just do what you tell them!?!

Bailey and Mel chilling by the pool.

Bailey and me chilling by the pool. Pasty-white looks good on babies, but not on daddies. I need some sun.

Also, the previously-mentioned "grill that doesn't work" is situated in the background. Maybe I can use it as a planter. :)

A little waterslide action! It's not all that action-packed really, b/c her feet hit the other side of the pool as soon as she clears the slide. This is actually last year's pool, which was plenty big enough for a one year old. We're about to upgrade to a bigger one with a built-in water slide!!! Ooh!!! I promise it will be action-packed once I lube the slide with baby oil. :)

Bailey looking cute as always.

"Oh my!!!" - Part 1

"Oh my!!!" - Part 2

The Kids' New Rooms

So, I know it's kind-of late to be posting pictures of Bailey's and Palmer's new rooms seeing as how Palmer is due to arrive pretty much any day now. But, better late than never. The first set of pictures, obviously, are of Palmer's new room. We went with a nautical theme. This used to be Bailey's room, but we moved her over to the guest room. As with Bailey's nursery two years ago, Mel and her mom did a lot of great work.

This pic was taken from the doorway leading into the nursery. We left the layout of the room the same as it was when it was Bailey's room. In fact, the crib is the only piece of furniture that changed when the room was converted from Bailey to Palmer.

Palmer's crib. Mel's mom made the crib sheet out of some fabric that Mel and I found. The praying teddy bear is from Grammy and Papa and the cow on acid (I mean, the colorful cow) is from one of my friends, Joey and his wife and son.

Mel and her mom put together some drapes using the same fabric that was used for the crib sheet as well as some other coordinating fabric we found.

Here's another shot of the drapes.

Also, Mel had the great idea of punching grommets into the fabric and using rope to hang the drapes to continue with the nautical theme. Besides painting the room, punching the grommets in the drapes was one of my main contributions b/c it involved hitting things with a hammer.

Palmer's changing table and chifferobe. The ship's steering wheel above the changing table actually came from Lowe's. I found it one day when I was looking at grass seed. There was an isle with lots of yard porn (I mean, "decorations") and there it was. Why anyone would stick a ship's steering wheel in their yard is beyond me but I'm glad I stumbled upon it.

Here are a couple accents on top of the chifferobe. Mel cut and pasted some ships from the fabric used for the crib sheet and bottom of the drapes onto the lamp shade. We bought the ship on ebay and Grammy sent us the name train.

The three small shelves on the wall were leftover from Bailey's days in the nursery and we knew the camera would go on one but we needed something for the other two. These two nautical lamps were another ebay purchase and work perfectly.

Here's Palmer's hamper that Mel sowed some of the drapery fabric onto.

Mel also used some of the drapery fabric to create a "P" plaque to hang above Palmer's crib. We hung some more rope around it and plan to add some small cutouts of ship flags around the rope.

This is a view of Bailey's new room (formerly the guest room) from the doorway. We stuck with the same theme as she had in the nursery.

We converted her crib to a toddler bed. What better time to make that adjustment than when also adjusting to a new room. Bailey had a little trouble adjusting to the new room for a few nights (until we moved her clock over and the ticking sound we think did the trick), but she had no problem adjusting to the toddler bed. She rarely even gets out of it and she's only fallen out once.

We purchased a daybed (via craigslist) with a pop-up trundle (underneath) for guests to sleep on when they visit. There's no chance of anyone waking Bailey up once she's asleep. I just hope our guests can get some sleep with Bailey sawing logs just a few feet away. She can really put the saw to the wood sometimes.

This is Bailey's new dresser that Mel and her mom found at an antique furniture store just outside of Greenville. It's a great piece of furniture and is in great condition.

This bookshelf came free with the daybed we purchased through craigslist and works great in the corner of the room.

Trip to Mobile

If you like pictures of Bailey (and why wouldn't you) this post is for you b/c it is full of them. We made the trek to Mobile, AL, for a weekend in April to see Cassie, Justin, Harrison, and the newest member of the family, Lucy. This was also our last opportunity to see them in Mobile as they will be packing up and moving to Morganton, WV, soon for the start of Justin's orthopoedic surgery residency!

Bailey enjoyed playing with and wearing Harrison's Mardi Gras beads.

Bailey crawling inside a long colorful tube of Harrison's. She and Harrison loved crawling in toward each other from either side.

The two cousins following bathtime.

Not many people know this, but whenever the moon is full Harrison morphs into a bat and flies around flashing people. Here, Cassie falls victim.

Bailey putting her shoes on all by herself and giving me an "I don't need your help, Daddy" look.

So, its not quite Summer yet, but that didn't stop us from filling the swimming pool with warm water from the bathtub so the big kids play for awhile.

Harrison having a little "flavored" water straight from the pool.

Papa taking some video of the kids playing in the pool. Mel is holding Lucy in the chair.

Bailey staying busy filling cups up with pool water. Maybe she was mixing up some more drinks for Harrison.

Bailey climbing to the top of the pool slide while Mel has a mild heart attack.

One, two, three, GO!!!

This is the look I got immediately following Bailey's slide into the water. What you didn't see was her losing her balance as she entered the water and going straight under. I've never seen her get to her feet as quickly as she did this time. No tears, though, and she even tried the slide once or twice more without any encouragement from us.

Bailey and Harrison practicing for the next big Olympic sport...the two person, co-ed luge.

This and the following pictures were taken at a local playground we visited for a bit Saturday evening. Bailey and Harrison loved running through the corridors, up the stairs, and sliding down the twisty slide.

This was a kind-of suspension bridge for little kids. It was a black mat suspended a few inches from a platform below so that is swayed and bounced as kids ran across it. Big fun for Bailey and Harrison except when bigger kids came flying through.

As you can see, I'm not enjoying myself or anything. I'm simply trying to keep up with Bailey.

Harrison going down the twisty slide.

Bailey going down the twisty slide.

Harrison again.

Bailey and Grammy atop the playground structure.

Bailey putting on the brakes mid-slide so she can play...

Peak-a-boo!!!

Running with a full head of steam toward the twisty slide for probably the 30th time.

Here she goes again with her adoring fans waiting at the bottom.

Harrison was quick to follow.

Bailey negotiating the tight corridors on the way up to the twisty slide.

Even Grammy got in on the action.

Harrison cruising down the slide.

Bailey showing a little style as she slides on her side.

Here I am helping Bailey and Harrison hold baby Lucy. This is the first time Bailey has held another baby and it just doesn't seem right that she's already old enough to do so.